Episode 190: Stacy Peralta - Lightness of Being
Episode 190: Stacy Peralta - Lightness of Being
Appears in this episode
Let’s start with the facts: this week’s guest Stacy Peralta is one of the most influential cultural figures in our corner of the world. If you’ve stood sideways on any craft - hell, even if you’ve listened to my podcast - you’ve been influenced by Stacy, whether you realise it or not. Even my weird little career, on an extremely minor level, is following a template set by Stacy and his peers. He’s a giant, in every sense of the world.
Just look at the CV. By his mid teens, he was part of the legendary Z-Boys. At 19, he joined forces with George Powell to form Powell-Peralta. He followed that by establishing the Bones Brigade, then went on to create epoch-defining films such as The Search For Animal Chin and Ban This. A few years later, he parlayed these experiences into his current career as a director and writer, making Dogtown and Z Boys, Riding Giants and Lords of Dogtown, among others. Today, he balances a career as a highly successful commercial director with passion projects such as the Yin and Yang of Gerry Lopez, his latest film and the reason he was in London when I sat down with him.
I’m sure you get the point. Stacy’s influence is incalculable. And, as ever with this type of guest, the challenge is how to approach a conversation with such a figure. Especially when you only have an hour, and he’s spent three weeks on the promo trail essentially giving the same interview.
If you’ve listened for a while, you’ll know I try not to do the chronology or the straight, on-the-nose career debrief. Sure, I want to cover the highlights, but in a way that’s insightful, revealing and ideally less obvious. (This is, incidentally, is a big part of the How To Podcast And Interview People course I’ve been running for companies recently. Hit me up for more about that).
Anyway, I’m really grateful that the conversation we ended up having is just about everything I hoped it would be. Stacy embraced the spirt of the pod wholeheartedly and showed himself to be the curious, creative, humble, vulnerable and yet truly generous person you always hope the legends will be when you get the rare chance to meet them.
There’s so much gold in here, from somebody who has defined the board-riding conversation for a solid 40 years. I’m hugely grateful to Stacy for his time and creative insights.
If you enjoyed my conversation with Stacy, let me know 👇
Episode 190: Stacy Peralta - Lightness of Being
Hi Matt
Purple patch Matt. I relistened to Olive's pod yesterday.Her idea's about environmental personal space will reverberate with me for a long time.
Stacey has been a torch bearer for me from my early adolescence . Thus I listened with some trepidation with the knowledge that he has had to express to the open gullet of the press for the last 3 weeks. In fact you drew out his undimmed vitality . Since 'SKATEBOARD KINGS' in 1978 nothing has been the same. He understands stoke.
This is one of those episodes that gives me faith in the path that we have chosen, one that is so different from the path that our parents generation had in mind for us.
Thank you for making the effort to get this absolute legend on your platform.
One hour of mediation per day... chapeau SP!