Daewon Song is a name synonymous with innovation and humility in skateboarding. For someone often hailed as the most technically gifted skateboarder alive, Daewon remains remarkably grounded. In a world of contrived personas, his genuine appreciation for his position shines through. Just a week after the release of his groundbreaking part in “5-Incher,” we caught up with Daewon to delve into his world, exploring everything from his unique approach to skating rocks and his fondness for a good beer, to, most importantly, his well-documented doughnut devotion.
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The Sweet Spot: Daewon Song’s Doughnut Affection
Daewon Song’s fascination with doughnuts is more than just a sweet tooth; it’s rooted in childhood nostalgia. “I was obsessed with doughnuts because my mom used to make these doughnuts when I was growing up,” Daewon recalls. His upbringing was strict, with playtime often contingent on passing “weird tests.” He paints a picture of a mother whose discipline bordered on the extreme, even recounting a story of trick-or-treating where she meticulously controlled their candy intake. “She wanted us to, I guess, live through hell so life in general wouldn’t be bad. I feel as tho she kind of prepped me for how crazy this world could be.”
Amidst this strict environment, his mother’s homemade doughnuts were a rare and cherished treat. “She would pull them out of the frying pan and then sprinkle a little light sugar over it,” he describes. “I remember biting into it and ever since then I feel like I’ve been looking for that taste.” This simple, sugary delight sparked a craving that would follow him into adulthood.
At the peak of his doughnut indulgence, Daewon admits to consuming up to a dozen doughnuts a day. “Years back I was really hitting the doughnuts hard, hitting a 6 pack for breakfast and a 6 pack for dinner,” he laughs. The physical effects were noticeable. “I was just like holy shit, I looked like Theodore from the chipmunks!” He even recalls a Matix clothing shoot where his doughnut-fueled physique was undeniable. However, Daewon has since found a healthier balance. “You can’t eat 6 or 7 doughnuts in the morning everyday and then have like a T-bone steak at Norms late night. It just caught up to me and the past 2 and a half years I have been able to pace myself and have a doughnut here and there and take it easy. It’s like I had an addiction to alcohol or something.”
His capacity for doughnuts is impressive. “Oh dude, I’ve eaten, 12 in one sitting and I’m not talking about the 60 cent ones I’m talking about the upgraded ones too,” he states, detailing his ideal doughnut experience complete with 2 percent milk to enhance the sugary melt-in-your-mouth sensation. Even Krispy Kremes, known for their lightness, are no match for Daewon’s appetite. “Yeah they are easy, you could seriously take like 7, step on them real quick and just make a flat giant pancake and have that and you’re good to go.”
Skateboarding Beyond Boundaries: The “5-Incher” Philosophy
Daewon Song’s “5-Incher” video part was met with diverse reactions, something he anticipated. “I get a lot of mixed reviews, some people wanted to see super tech skating or a lot more tranny,” he acknowledges. However, the part’s intention was deeper than showcasing technical tricks. “This part is just stuff when I’m just driving around and it catches my eye and I just pull over and skate it.”
His aim was to challenge the conventional idea of skate spots and inspire creativity. “I was trying to get across to people like if skateparks never existed and there were no actual spots, or we got kicked out of everywhere, there’s always options.” Daewon’s perspective is a defiant response to skate-stopping. “They cannot skate stop everything. I would hope they would skate stop trees and every single light post.. It’s almost to set an example like look, you guys can skate stop things but we skate everything. So maybe they should think twice about even skate stopping anything else, because we figure it out.”
The “5-Incher” part, filmed in a mere two months, highlights Daewon’s ability to find and conquer challenges in the most unexpected places. While he can effortlessly execute complex tricks on typical skate obstacles, he sought a different kind of difficulty. “I can go find a real buttery ledge and I can kickflip front krooks it pretty quickly. But skating things like rocks – the feeling of your truck against the rock, it did not grind. Nobody would know that just to get a grind thru it a decent amount was such a nightmare, I kept sticking.” These unconventional obstacles presented unique physical and mental hurdles. “I just knew it was a challenge for me. And I figured one is going to work, so I ended up getting a couple, and that’s what I got out of it.”
Even seemingly simple tricks, like a switch tre flip onto a tree, became intricate battles against the environment. “When I switch tre flipped onto the tree, that’s just a basic trick, but for me the tree kept sinking in. Everytime I landed on the tree, my wheels would sink in and I couldn’t ride off.” Daewon’s resourcefulness and determination are evident in his problem-solving approach, adjusting his technique to overcome these unforeseen challenges. “So what I had to do was when I landed on it, I almost had to jump a millimeter up off my board, so my board has a second to come down, and then I make it. But these are things that nobody will know except yourself. That’s what I mean, for that part I just challenged myself and not worry about what people were gonna think.”
The reception to his “rock skating” has been humorous and embracing. “Has anyone called you rock man or the rock assassin yet?” he was asked. “Hahah. I mean over Instagram and other people tagging it yeah. People have like even tagged me in a street full of pebbles. It’s pretty rad. I have to embrace it, it’s just what’s gonna happen. Whatever people call me that’s fine, I respect everyone out there that supports.” His closing trick in “5-Incher,” an early grab, was a deliberate choice to emphasize the fun aspect of skateboarding. “Your last trick was almost like an anti-banger. Were you trying to convey just have fun with it?” “Exactly. That’s what I wanted people to get out of that. I went to that spot initially to film a flip trick into it but I seriously got there, and just did a couple of early grabs instead. It was like who cares just go and enjoy yourself, go and have fun. I brought it back to my roots, that was the first trick I ever learned, I could do a judo off a launch ramp before I could even ollie.”
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The Unstable Foundation: Daewon’s Loose Truck Setup
Daewon Song’s signature loose trucks are legendary in skateboarding circles. His preference for an incredibly unstable setup developed over time, starting with his Grind King days. “I started doing it alittle bit after I got on Tensor trucks. Because before that, when I rode for Grind King, the trucks actually loosened by themselves as you skate sometimes. My trucks would wobble and I got used to that for year skating for them.”
When he transitioned to Tensor, a collaboration with Rodney Mullen, he initially struggled with the tighter trucks. “Then Rodney started tensor and I rode for Tensor, because me and Rodney made an agreement, he would ride for my company Matix and I’d ride for his company, Tensor. I got on, we went to a demo in Australia but I couldn’t ride them, they were too tight and weird.” In a radical move, he removed the bushings entirely. “I took out all the bushings and rode the whole demo with no bushings in both trucks. I remember thinking to myself I’d rather my board to be unstable than it seems stable and I can’t do shit on it.”
This experience led to his unique customisation. “I just went from there and then later took my trucks and started shaving down the bushings and it really started working for me. On the front truck I remove one of the bushings and replace it with 2 washers.” His setup often raises eyebrows, but for Daewon, it’s purely functional. “People trip out but i tell them I’m just used to it, it’s not some sort of shock factor. I do it cause it’s the way I got used to it and it’s the only way I can ride my board. It’s unstable.”
While his loose trucks might seem like a hindrance, Daewon sees them as a source of challenge and excitement. “Like I used to have nollie backside heels every try. Now because my front truck is so wobbly sometimes my truck just folds because there’s nothing there. You can press down my whole board to the wheel with your finger, you can wheelbite it. Since the washers are there, you get one point of resistance, a millimeter of resistance before it wheelbites. But for me that’s exciting. I like it. Because I thought I had these things wired but apparently I don’t, not with this board.”
A Career Forged in Resilience: From Hair Gel to World Industries Savior
Daewon Song has maintained a prolific output of video parts throughout his career. Aware of the potential for oversaturation in the fast-paced world of skateboarding media, he explains his approach. “You have released a ton of parts recently, do you ever worry that your footage could get oversaturated and it might not have the same effect as someone who releases footage more infrequently?” “For sure but at the same time, I think times have changed now a lot. Everything is moving so fast that you kinda have to keep putting stuff out, to let people know you are still skating and doing your thing. I feel as tho, at one point you could come out with a part every year maybe 2 years, but now a days two years feels like people don’t even know if your still skating or not.”
His dedication to skateboarding has been tested. In the mid-90s, Daewon considered leaving skateboarding behind. “Was there any point when you were ever over skating?” “Yeah. 1996 – 97 I actually considered quitting skateboarding to drop people’s cars for money. (Modifying their suspension and dropping as close to the pavement as possible).” He became involved in car modification culture in Long Beach, a period he describes as hanging out “with the wrong people.” “Crazy stuff was happening, like I got an arrow shot thru my fucking car window. There was one point where we didn’t set the jack up right and didn’t put a safety under the car and the car fell and I barely got my leg out before it came down. It would have severed my entire leg.”
It was a call from Rodney Mullen that pulled him back. “How did you get back into skating?” “While I was doing this, it was at the time when everybody quit World Industries and Plan B and started Girl. I was out of the loop and I didn’t know what was going on but Rodney called me up and I heard it in Rodney’s voice how bummed he was. It was at the breaking point, everybody quit, he thought World industries was gonna go under. I told him, he had my back from the beginning and put me on the team. I felt like I really let this guy down.” This sense of loyalty and responsibility motivated his return. “I just called up a buddy of mine that filmed, shitty camera, and I ended up filming the Trilogy video part. I had to prove to him that all the support he gave me I could give him back. From that point that on I’ve never taken advantage of what was given to me and the opportunities in skateboarding.”
He reflects on his “Trilogy” part with honesty. “If you watch that part, you will notice I was just not all there. I’m doing fakie flip fakie pivot grinds on curbs because I was trying to get back into it. I just got off a year of not even skating and almost quitting and worrying about how much hairspray I had in my hair to make sure it was nice and crispy, just silly stupid shit. It wasn’t the best part but it was me trying to get back.” Despite his personal struggles at the time, his “Trilogy” part played a crucial role in revitalizing World Industries. “After that it put me back into the public and Marc Mckee developed those Flameboy and Wet Willy characters which saved World Industries. It’s insane what can get you back on your feet, it could be the simplest things.”
Evolving and Looking Ahead: Transition Dreams
Daewon Song is not one to rest on his laurels. He is already working on new projects, hinting at a shift towards transition skating. “You are working on another full part for Thrasher already, what should we expect?” “I just wanna skate big tranny. It’s gonna be like an upgraded version of Cheese and Crackers but not as many little things happening here and there and a lot of tranny on bigger things and tricks I’ve always wanted to learn on big walls.” This suggests a new chapter in Daewon’s skateboarding journey, exploring different terrains and pushing his boundaries further.
Beyond skateboarding and doughnuts, Daewon also touches on his past drinking habits with candidness. When asked about the “Asian flush,” he jokingly deflects but then delves into a period of excessive drinking during a personal separation. “Do you ever get the asian flush?” “I get a little red but I’m pretty dark.” He then opens up, “Yeah the drinking was out of control for a while but it was because I was going thru a pretty bad separation. I slept in my car for 2 weeks straight because I was on a bender. It was like Jack In The Box breakfast burritos every morning and 17 beers every night. You should have seen how bloated I was. It’s pretty insane.” He acknowledges the stories surrounding his drinking, even recalling a humorous, alcohol-fueled encounter with photographer Reda in Australia. However, like his doughnut consumption, Daewon emphasizes moderation and control. “Yeah you seem in control and about moderation now.” “Yeah the drinking was out of control for a while but I’ve toned down my drinking just as much as the doughnuts, they’re in the same category.”
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Daewon Song’s story is one of extraordinary talent interwoven with relatable human experiences. His dedication to pushing skateboarding boundaries, coupled with his down-to-earth personality and willingness to share his vulnerabilities, cements his status as a true icon in the skateboarding world. From doughnut cravings to rock grinds, Daewon Song continues to inspire and redefine what’s possible on four wheels.
