Radcollector Exclusive: The Jake Lamagno Interview

To know Jake Lamagno is to love him. A committed East Coaster with a heart of gold, an eye for fashion, and one of the raddest skating styles around, Jake moved to NYC from Vermont in 2003 and seemed to be on the fast track to making it in America. But Jake had another talent and that was sniffing out a party – literally. You could count on Jake knowing where the wildest shit would be going on in the City, but you could also count on him to end the night well past dawn the next day more often than not downing drugs and drinks on a random rooftop before starting his own game of personal chicken, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, sometimes forty stories up, daring gravity to fuck with him. If you knew Jake during those days, you were scared for him. At the high point of those hazy times, Jake had a part in Nolan Lee’s “The Dirty Version” that seemed to be his big break. But after that we never heard from him again. Almost four drug and alcohol soaked years later, Jake Lamagno is back, he’s sober, and he’s not fucking around. Read the exclusive first interview with him after the jump and stay tuned cause Jake is joining the Radcollector columns, welcome back buddy!

Wallie, Houston Street, Soho, NYC.

The Jake Lamagno Radcollector Interview
By Tim Brodhagen
Photos by Darnell Scott

Who are you, where are you from, where are we at?
I’m Jake Lamagno, I’m from Massachusetts, I grew up in Vermont, and I live in NYC.

And you are a skateboarder?
Yes.

Why haven’t we heard from you in a while?
The last three to four years have been rocky ones. The best way I could describe it would be to say that I was on a rollercoaster that I wasn’t sure I could ever get off. A rollercoaster of drug and alcohol abuse. But in the last few months I hit a pivotal point called rock bottom and decided that it was time to turn it around. Or die.

How did you know that moment had hit?
It was just a feeling like I had to cease and desist on going to all the dark places and doing the dark things that had taken over my life.

That’s an amazing realization. Once you had it how did you go about making changes?
Basically I had tried to stop my abuse problems in the past but I didn’t necessarily want to 100%. But this time I knew that I wanted to, that it was crucial, and when you are ready to do that, you do it. I took some steps and through the support of friends and family I have been following a program and taking back control of my life.

Backside Ollie, Chinatown Quarter, NYC.

Did you miss skateboarding while you weren’t skateboarding?
That part of me was in such a dark cloud that I think I almost resented it to the point where doing anything other than substance and alcohol abuse wasn’t even in my plan. I honestly didn’t think I would ever pick up a skateboard again.

When you had that realization that you wanted to change, was skateboarding at the forefront of the reasons for your decision? Or did it come back into the frame after?
No. It was just time for me to take back control of my life. Once I took back that control I started to get back to the things that I love: skateboarding, art, music, fashion. Now those things are all possible again because my mind is clear. I feel like the sky is the limit.

Blunt Pop Out, Brooklyn Banks, NYC (click to enlarge)

What are some of your plans in all aspects of your life for summer 2010?
Everything! I want to travel, work on art and have a gallery show of my pottery, film another skate part, get back to my fashion line, basically work my fucking ass off to make up for these past three years where I’ve been a total fucking waste of life. I just want to work, work, work and be happy.

Layback RocknRoll, Brooklyn Banks, NYC.