John Gibson
‘We were all brothers on the team (Zorlac), traveling all over the world. It was skating and rock and rolling.‘
March 2026
Why shouldn’t you mess with Texas?
If you litter in Texas and don’t pack your trash, there’s going to be hell to pay!
In your Juice interview Jim Murphy wrote that ‘Texas is the reason why John Gibson is one of the coolest skaters you’re ever gonna meet.’ How much and what from Texas make the person you are?
When I first went to California no one knew my name. I came back home. When I went back the next summer no one knew my name, but they saw me skate. They didn’t know people from Texas could skate. So, they were impressed, and they started calling me Tex.
Skateboarding was dead when you turned pro. A bittersweet moment I can imagine.
It was bittersweet. Skateboarding at the time wasn’t dead. It was because the contest just didn’t matter. The industry was untrustworthy and so it was all underground. It was just about skating with your passion, and we didn’t need contest. We just had fun but then greed came in and really ruined the scene.
You rode for Caster, Zorlac and Alva. Which one did you enjoy riding the most if you had to pick one?
All of them had their high points. Caster was good to me. My favorite because it was it was all new. Zorlac was great because it was part of the music scene and Thrasher really caught on with it. And it was so outlaw coming up from the grave. Alva was awesome. We were all brothers on the team traveling all over the world. It was skating and rock and rolling. Castor was my favorite if I have to pick one because it was skateboards surfer how to skate with style.
Zorlac was huge in the 80ies. Even I heard of them back in a small town in
the middle of Europe. Is it because of vert contests that Zorlac turned off
the lights?
No it was because they got so big they couldn’t get the boards made quick enough. They were only a few board wood companies and the top five board companies out in California kind of squeezed him out. It was really sad because it was us. It was something we built that Jeff Newton built from scratch. It’s a shame.
‘We would wait for people to go on vacation and drain their pools.’
You stopped in the early 90ies when street skating took over and became a sound engineer. Vert made a revival some years later. Do you think you should have pushed through or were you done with it?
Yeah, I did when the first X Games came. But I started aging and I had a serious injury and my family was growing. I have no regrets about raising my family.
Texas based skate podcast called Won’t Shut Up and Skate have done an episode with you. I learned that in 1977 you introduced a flat bottom to half pipes in order to have more setup time.
Back then they were literally half a pipe. McGill across the ocean basin in Florida has done the same thing around the same time.
Congrats on your 2020 Skateboarding Hall of Fame induction. Did you expect the recognition at some point or were you totally surprised?
I had been nominated since the beginning of Skateboard Hall of Fame became a thing. It just took a while till 2020 to get here so it was a nice surprise because I figured I was never gonna get in. Just be nominated. I’m very stoked to be remembered. I am completely honored. I guess you could say I feel vindicated for lack of another word. (laughing).
On their website it says ‘John “Tex” Gibson was famous throughout the 1980s for his powerful skating, hard partying, and friendly personalities.’ What do you want to be remembered by most?
Friendly Texas skater with a powerful stylish no holding back balls to the wall mentality.
‘John Gibson, one of the most naturally gifted and stylish skateboarders ever to do it. The Texas skate scene was unlike any other with its variety of epic spots, the best ditches in the world, and the welcoming and friendly vibes. Power speed and getting bio were traits seen at every session, and Gibson was the king.’
– Tony Roberts
You started in 1975. Which local skater did you look up to why?
Randy Pye skate bowl style and I was totally floored that we became friends and then he moved to Maui. Totally terrorized curbs and small ditches and I’ve never seen anything like that.
There were no parks around apart from a crappy one called Skater’s Craters, so you guys rode pools. Where did you find them? Abandoned houses or kids from rich parents that did not mind?
Hunt them out, and word of mouth. We would wait for people to go on vacation and drain their pools.
You skated pools with hand me down boards, no tail, only 3 bearings because you could not afford the fourth one and barefoot. What goes through your mind when you see skateboarders today with all the gear and choices they have?
I think they’re totally spoiled. They got it so good nowadays. Free skate parks, cement. They really don’t know how lucky they are. I envy them.
You experienced the ollie air being invented. What did you think when you saw if for the first time and how long did it take you do it?
I learned it that day when I first saw it in a magazine. Up first in the pro shop on flat ground and once I was catching air, I took it straight to vert. I had them down by the end of the day. Chris Stropel saw that and that’s why he took me to California. I just made it my own. I put my own style and flare on everything I did.
You were 14 years. First contest in California and up against McGill who you knew only from magazines. You came second because in your Juice interview you talked about the judges ‘bowed down to Peralta’ and that ‘Stacy had already talked to everybody. It’s been like that ever since.’ What did you think of it back then and now?
So, I dropped down from first place to second place in the half pipe after I had another whole day of practice and because Stacy did have words with the judges and convinced them. I figured that’s the way it’s going to be. Throughout the years little shit like this would happen. For example, a contest in Little Rock Arkansas. Everyone was there. They have a meeting with everyone. They said they’re going to put up a big sign for their practice sessions. My crew all signed up for the prime spots because we were first ones there. We chilled and when we came back, our names were erased and replaced by the Powell Team and a few Vision guys sprinkled in there as well. We were put into the last practice session which was well into the night, and we all know you can’t skate on fiberglass at 9:00pm because of condensation. We were the ones that got burned. What do you do when they do something like that? Prison rules from now on.
You stayed in Texas most of the time. Did you think your career would have panned out differently if you had stayed in California permanently?
Definitely but there would have been no Texas scene. Maybe it would have been Jeff Tex Phillips. Who knows?
You started your own board company with Lee Leal called Embassy Skateboards in 2008. It never crossed your mind to do this during your heydays?
I have no regrets. It would have maybe been cool to have started Embassy earlier but it happened at the right time.
‘What do you do when they do something like that? Prison rules from now on.’
Many call you the godfather for Texas skateboarding? Who would you give this title to?
True Godfather is Brett Anderson.
Is there anything left on your wish list?
Everything happened. I have beautiful kids. Maybe snowboarding in New Zealand, surf Tahiti and rock and roll in Sydney.
Last question. If you could interview a person, who would it be?
My older brother Jeff, because he knows the answer to just about everything. He said happiness is the key to life..