Skating leaves its mark. Few who do it for an extended period of time walk away without a few scars—and the stories that come with them. But skating also imprints itself in other ways: the music we first discover through a skate video or a friend’s record collection, the artists whose work we initially saw on an overturned board at the skatepark or a local spot, the friends who turn us onto books and films that change the way we see the world, or give us an old hoodie of theirs they knew we loved, and who stick by us, even if we have to step away from skating for a while (or for good).Jean-Louis Huhta, the talent behind Dungeon Acid, knows this side of skateboarding all too well. Falling in love with skating in Gothenburg in the ‘70s, playing in various punk and funk bands in the ‘80s, mastering modular synthesizers and continuing to pursue his love of music with his solo work, writing original soundtracks that enrich and elevate two incredible skate films, being the model for Polar Skate Co.’s autumn 2019 line, and passing the torch—both his love of skating and creating—to his kids.Jean-Louis was generous enough with his limited time to sit down and chat with me about everything from bombing hills in Birmingham to whether corduroy will ever truly make a comeback. And it’s seriously worth keeping up with him, his music, and his life on Instagram and Facebook.
Interview by Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
How did you first get into skateboarding? What was your local scene like growing up?
I started skateboarding in the early ‘70s in Gothenburg where I grew up. My mom got me my first board, a plastic GX Caliber [for reference], at a small skate shop that was run by a guy called Anders Martinsson. Before that I had skated on my friends Jens and Mtume Heath’s boards that had been sent by their father, who is a famous jazz drummer living in the States.
He had sent them two solid wood rollerderby boards with non-urethane wheels. We used to skrazzle around on those until they got two Hobie fiberglass boards [like these] with urethane wheels. Eventually I started meeting other skaters and found the Banana Bowl, which was an asphalt water reservoir shaped like a banana.
I loved that spot, you could carve around there endlessly pretending you were surfing. Tony Alva visited the spot when he was on his Swedish tour. He carved around a bit did a few rockwalks, said the place was shit, which I thought was extremely disappointing.
I read that you got into DEVO through Skateboarder magazine. How much did skateboarding shape your musical tastes and development? What other bands did skating bring into your life?
I’m pretty sure it was through the mag, although it’s getting a bit blurry. We were into surf music, Bob Marley, and later, around the beginning of the 80’s, the Clash, the Ramones, B52s, Black Flag, Crass, Joy Division, Throbbing Gristle, No Wave, and all the new stuff happening. Eventually I got into buying records. My record tastes were very eclectic, spanning from reggae, British electronic music, Kraftwerk, dub, experimental, and industrial—all the good stuff, basically.
I stopped skating around ’81, took a break for a few years, and started playing in bands such as Cortex, Anti Cimex, and the Stonefunkers, among others. In ‘86 while on tour in England with Anti Cimex, I borrowed a board from a kid, went out and skated some hill in Birmingham. It felt so fucking good, and when I got home I still had my Tom Inouye Caster board with Indy trucks and Orange OJ wheels. So, I started skating again.
One day I met Gorm Boberg and Christian Östlund—they were going to check out some spot in the suburbs, and I went along skated with them and saw what was up. We became best friends and that was the start of my second wave of skateboarding.
What are your favorite skate video soundtracks?
I guess all the films that were around at the time were inspiring both to watch and listen to,
Like [Santa Cruz’s] Streets of Fire, the H Street films, and the Bones Brigade films with the cheesy music—they were really cool, too. And [Alien Workshop’s] Memory Screen.
The Converse video Please Charge was edited together without music so that you could score the film to fit the skating. What was that process like? Was it challenging to write a soundtrack to a skate video?
Yeah, I loved it! It’s great to be part of something from scratch, getting in the flow of creating. I was sending sketches to Ben Chadourne, and when we had a bit that we both liked I would proceed to develop it and arrange it to the edit. It’s different because you have to make the music go with the edit. I also enjoy working with the skatesounds, EQing, adding some effects, etc.
Was it a similar process when you worked with Grey and Converse on the Blend film?
Yes, more or less similar how we pieced that film together.
Almost from its inception, skateboarding has overlapped with music, film, photography, fashion, etc. Who were some of the skate-and-create people who first inspired you? Who are some of your favorite creators within the skate industry today?
For me, the Z-Boys for sure. That’s the blueprint coded into my subconscious as a kid through just looking at the pictures in the mags and reading Craig Stecyk’s articles.
I think back in the day I looked at skate teams and different companies, the riders, graphic designs, films, and sometimes clothes that were inspiring—and you didn’t know who was behind it all. Whereas from the early ‘90s on, you would start to see companies formed by skaters resulting in a sometimes more personal or artistic output.
Today, Pontus Alv, Gorm Boberg, the Dancer people, just to name a few. Stoked on seeing my son Vincent Huhta, how he expresses himself on his board.
Speaking of fashion, you were the focal model for the recent Polar Skate Co. Fall 2019 drop. How did that come together? And do you think corduroy is set for a big comeback?
Pontus asked if I would be into doing it and I was. I guess it’s easy and fun when you’re doing that kind of thing with friends, and something you like and respect as opposed just some clothing brand that wants to be hip.
Corduroy is cool… not sure about the big comeback, though.
You just recently returned home from a tour in the United States. What were your favorite moments from tour?
I really enjoy the consistency of playing several days in a row, because you get into your set and become more in tune with your instrument—the modular synthesizer, in this case—and it gives you the confidence to improvise more while you are performing.
Also, it’s great to drive and see all the stuff along the highways. (I wasnt driving. MX Silkman who I toured with drove.)
It’s great when you talk to someone and they’re super stoked you showed up and did a live set in their city, that might not have so many artists like that coming through. Had some great food this time around, too.
What are you most excited about these days? What’s coming up for you that has you excited?
Being in a new city (Copenhagen), making music, playing live, my kids, just continuing to do the things I love and get inspired by. Number one at the moment is finding a place to make a new studio and have all the records and other stuff—that’s what’s up at the moment. (If anyone in Copenhagen has any tips let me know!)
Spending some time by the beach learning to surf would be exiting. Lots of projects happening, too, so we’ll see what happens.
The world seems a bit sketchy at the moment. Survival is exciting.
