Stacy Peralta, Co-Founder of Powell & Peralta, Award-winning Film Director and One of the Most Influential Skateboarders of All Time

To say Stacy Peralta had an impact on skateboarding and action sports culture as a whole is a bit of an understatement. Stacy grew up in Venice, California. At the time when he started skateboarding, it didn’t even exist as a sport. He joined the Zephyr Surf Team along with Jay Adams and Tony Alva. They formed a skateboard team and the rest is history. Stacy went on to tour the world as one of the first ever pro skateboarders. 

Stacy knew that having a career as a pro athlete wouldn’t last forever. He wanted to remaining in skateboarding and started a skate company with George Powell called Powell Peralta. He created the Bones Brigade, a team of ratbag amateur skateboarders including Tony Hawk, Rodney Mullen, Steve Caballero and it became the greatest skateboard team ever. At the same time he pioneered the action sports video with the Bones Brigade Video Show and the Search of Animal Chin.

Always evolving Stacy decided to moved career paths into film directing. His documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys based on his life won the Audience Award and Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival.

We sat down to record this episode in Ericiera, Portugal after the European Premiere of his latest film documentary, The Yin and Yang of Gerry Lopez.

Stacy Peralta Rad Season Podcast Episode

We covered a lot of ground in this 99th Episode of the Rad Season Show with one of the biggest living legends in skateboarding and action sports. Here are some of the best quotes from Stacy during our chat:

Peralta on Skateboarding’s link to Surfing

‘We emulated surfing on skateboards and that’s why we did it.’ 

‘When I rode a skateboard in my mind I was surfing.’ 

‘Our desire to ride must have been so intense that we even overcame that horrible equipment.’ 

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Peralta on Skateboarding Empty Swimming Pools

‘Los Angeles is the capital of the world for swimming pools.’ 

‘Skateboarding inside of a swimming pool was the closest form of skateboarding to surfing that we had ever experienced.’

‘The backyard pools increased the danger heavily. It increased our fear and increased our trepidation that increased our desire and joy.’

‘The thing about skateboarding that I think these kids embraced was that it’s rebellious. It’s a bit subversive. You get to break rules. But you don’t hurt anybody.’ 

‘Skateboarding somewhere on planet Earth will always be illegal. And every time you see a sign saying no skateboards to us, that’s a welcome sign.’

‘What’s so weird is we were being paid to still be outlaws because our sponsors wanted us to get pictures in the magazines.’

‘He had a determination in him that was going to overcome whatever shortcomings that he had’ – Stacy on Tony Hawk

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Peralta on Starting a Business

‘I don’t care how many hours in the day I had to work, I loved it. I was building something that was my own dream.’ – 

‘I was so much happier running a company than being a pro skater because it gave me so many more things to do.’

‘That’s one of the hardest things about making change in your life is giving up the identity that you’ve built. But it’s also the most important thing that you have to do. Because by giving up that identity, it liberates you to live your future.’

‘Shops and distributors from all over the world are telling us that this is lifting the entire sport.’ – Stacy on the action sports video. 

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Peralta on Filmmaking

‘I never knew documentary filmmaker was going to be my thing at all.’

‘I think the film has a resonance because of the life that he’s lived through yoga and through surfing and his commitment to continuing to develop himself as an athlete and as a human being – Stacy on the documentary film ‘The Ying and Yang of Gerry Lopez.’

Watch the FULL Stacy Peralta Episode on Rad Season’s YouTube channel or Facebook Page.

You can also follow what Stacy is up to on Instagram at peraltastacy and be sure to check out hisd latest documentary The Ying & Yang of Gerry Lopez when it comes out. 

Special thanks to all the people involved in making this episode:

Patagonia, Powell Peralta Archives, Zucalli Media, Mind Act, Susana Metzger, Henrique Escopelli, Fernanda Zandavalli, Hotel Vila Gale, Ericeira.