Daniel Håkansson

August 01, 2007 @ 3:06 PM

Daniel Håkansson aka D-boy, Daniel who origins from a small town called Hällevik, a small fishing village, was in the beginning of year 2000 picked up by Pete Hellicar of Unabomber and made a strong appearance in Unabomber’s Head Cleaner. Not being able to find a distributor for Unabomber in Sweden, things got complicated for that whole deal but Daniel found a new board sponsor in the Swedish Blackout that came out of Pitbox distribution.  In 2005 Pontus Alv released his life opus Strongest of the Strange, in my eyes a strong and moving skateboard movie that goes deep down and touches your soul. Daniel had worked like a maniac and showed the world an amazing part filled with creative and powerful skateboarding to the tones of Sonic Youth.  Last year Blackout pulled the plug on the company and we welcomed Daniel to Semester Skateboard with open arms. D-boy has also been with Carhartt a long time, who keep him well dressed and on fun and interesting skate trips. Daniel also skates for DVS-shoes. So there we have it, all the sponsors listed. 
by Nils Svensson.

Ollie

Nils: Lets talk about Malmö. When and why did you leave home for Malmö?

I moved to Malmö in ‘98 to study electronic and automatic technique. The school was in Landskrona which is about 30 minutes from Malmö. It was just something to do really so I could live in Malmö. Surprisingly enough it was pretty hard and not as interesting as it sounds. Hehe. I endured that for one semester and then I had enough. 

Nils: So the real reason you moved down to the dirty south was to skate with your friends?

Yes, we had been going to Malmö every now and then and got to know the crew down there and then my friend Martin Ottosson moved down. There weren’t that many people left to skate with back home so after a while of very little skateboarding I pulled myself together and made the big move.

Nils: What was going on in Malmö when you came here?
Well Bryggeriet Skatepark just opened up, it was sick! Loads of good skaters. 

Backside tailslide 360 out

Nils: That was quite a big thing for Malmö. Malmö had always been kind of isolated from the rest of Sweden in a skateboard point of view…

We kept to ourselves, had our own little scene. I think Malmö were more connected to the skate scene in Copenhagen than anything else and the scene in Copenhagen was booming. 

Nils: During those years when you moved down the skate scene in Sweden was quite big, lots of competitions and demos and Sweden even had a skate mag.

Well I guess they thought Malmö was too far down, no one cared about Skåne, or that’s what we thought but we were fine. As I said, we had our own thing going. 

Backside Flip

Nils: Copenhagen was sick though. Good competitions in Fælled parken, super good skaters and Copenhagen was and is a great city.

It was definitely something different, a bit more relaxed. 

Nils: But then Bryggeriet Skatepark came....

And that changed things dramatically. Suddenly everyone was coming to Malmö and they are still coming.....invasion. It’s funny how things can turn that quick. 

Nils: Yeah suddenly we had all the demos, competitions and exposure. The pros where coming from left and right. It was pretty different for sure.  How was Malmö as a skate town then? What was so good about it?Because we had something going, even before Bryggeriet Skatepark was built. 

I think Malmö had a real east coast feeling to it. Lots of good skaters that never made it to the spotlight and lots of cool creative spots. Before Bryggeriet we used to skate in Djura, a garage that had some nice spots, curbs, manual pads bumps and that sort of thing. Every day during the Winter there was a session and I think a lot of talents were formed down in that hole. Pontus Alv, Martin Nilsson, Tobias Henriksson, Marcus Olsson, John Dahlquist, Martin Ottosson, Eros, Nicola, Horsky and Stefan all ripped. 

Tuck Knee over the spine

Nils: It’s interesting to see that a lot of these people are still a tight crew and are still a big part of Malmö’s skate scene.

Yeah, and most of them are still just as good and I think the younger generation look up to us for sure. We can still put them in place, tech or fläsk (burly). (Laughs).

Ollie

Nils: So what has happened after the birth of Bryggeriet? How has that changed the scene here?

Malmö has got a lot of acknowledgment both nationally and internationally. Lots of big competitions, demos and lots of new faces that have started skating. People are moving here from all corners of Sweden and the scene has grown a lot. Malmö is a real skateboard town now. 

Nils: Where do you think this driving force that you and the rest that are behind the skate scene comes from? 

I think since we never got anything for free, we have always fought hard for the things we wanted and even if things sometimes takes time, no one gives up. Today you can see how far you can get if you just want something bad enough and not give up. Many of the younger generation are too spoilt. They have everything served on a silver platter basically. They need to understand that nothing comes for free. 

I think Savanna, Steppeside, the barrier are good examples of that we are not afraid to do a little bit of work to get a good and fun spot. Stapelbäddsparken is another example, I mean that is a project on a whole different level, and even that is possible with a bit of hard labour. John Magnusson and the crew at Bryggeriet Skatepark worked hard to bring this dream to life. You can’t just sit at home and pick your nose, you have go out there and get your hands dirty, do some hard work and get creative. 

Nils: How come it just keeps evolving? I mean you had Bryggeriet, how come you didn’t stop there? I mean it is more than enough to keep the norm happy. 

You have to keep evolving, do something new, skate something new. To do something together unites everyone and to build something just like you wanted and then be able to skate it with your friends is unbeatable. 

Nils: There is a lot of creative skateboarding coming out of Malmö, with you and Mr Alv, for example. It feels like you are on an eternal search for new spots and experiences. 

Yes! A never ending search for something, and we don’t always know what it is....Personally I just want to find something new, something unique. I don’t want to get stuck in a circle just skating the same way and the same spots. It is the new, unique and creative that drives me. 

Backside Tailslide

Nils: Is that why you can skate everything? 

I think so, it feels more natural to be able to skate whatever it might be, I don’t want to limit myself. 

Nils: What is the secret to big ollies on tight impossible banks then?

Sorry can’t tell. No but there is no secret, you just have to become one with whatever it is that you are skating, a bank, a tranny....then you know what to do. You have to stroke it, care for it, make friends with it. 

Nils: Ok….so who do you like to watch skating? Who are the mighty ones?

Oyola, Puleo, Drehohl, Busenitz and Matt Rodriguez. They are timeless, you never get tired of those boys. Power, finesse, speed, style and unique skateboarding. Just the right ingredients that makes it perfect. 

Nils: What do you think it is that makes you keep skating year after year, day after day? 

First I think just the feeling of standing on the board, feeling the vibrations from the movement. Another big thing is your friends, those friends you spend time with are hard to be without. There is nothing better really than a good session with your best friends. Not much else matters really, it doesn’t matter what spot it is or where you are, in the end it is down to some good company. 

Backside flip

Nils: What could make you stop skateboarding though? It’s not fun all the time now, is it?

No of course there are things that is not that great. New trucks is always bad… seriously when they tore down Savanna side and our sick barrier spot, that was pretty bad. Swedish Autumn and Winter are pretty depressing too. 

Nils: So what do you do for a living?

I’ve got a really shitty job. It sounds cool but I’ve had enough. I work as a security agent at Copenhagen airport. Getting up at 4am every morning and after a while your body doesn’t feel too good. 

Nils: So you are a normal dude with a shitty job basically, no professional contracts here no? Are you happy with this situation, maybe not the job but the thing of having a normal job and skating during your spare time? 

No not really but you have to make a living. 

Backside nose grab, over vert

Nils: Have you given up on your pro dreams? 

Hehehe....pro dreams. Everyone is a pro today. It is more unusual not to be pro....seriously; sure it would be great to make a living out of skateboarding, travel around and having fun.
Nils: But you have to look to the future, we are no youngsters anymore.

Absolutely, that is important and yes, we are no spring chickens any more, even if I don’t feel that old. Skateboarding keeps you young somehow. Well in your mind anyway. I feel a lot younger than others that are the same age. If that is good I don’t know but I wouldn’t have it any other way that is for sure. 

Nils: I was thinking that there must be loads of super talented skateboarders that are very content with their situation, that doesn’t want to become a pro and move to the US, be in King of the Road and so on… are you one of them? Or do you want to sit next to Jamie Thomas in the van at the next King of the Road?

Of course I want a little slice of the pie but I’m quite comfortable where I am. I like being underground and as long as I get a few things that help me skateboard and go travel I’m happy. Traveling might be the best of all actually, that is one thing that is so great with skateboarding, that it takes you to some amazing places. 

Nils: What makes a good destination, where is your favourite place? 
Nice weather, good spots, good friends, nice food and cold beer. You can really go anywhere, if you are with the right people it will be great. It is great- just go cruising searching for spots, you never know what you will find. Searching for the holy grail, the perfect spot. Favourite place is probably Spain, it is fantastic. Love Bilbao. 

Daniel rides for Semester, Carhartt, DVS shoes. 

Jersey Barrier 360 mellon

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