Catching up with Mark Appleyard

Hey man, how you holding up these days? How’s the fam?

Good, just staying busy. Skating, making art and raising my kids .  My boy is 6, daughter is 3. Lots of love, lots of fun. Been skating a lot lately. Currently in Hawaii on a little “vaycay” as I write these answers, 

I see the you’re hosting a new video magazine called  “Idabble” can you tell me a little bit about that and how you got involved?

Yezzir, Idabble video magazine.  So I got a call from my friends Jordan Maxham and Sierra Fellers. They told me about the video magazine they started and they asked me to be a host. I went on a trip to Florida with them previously and they both seemed to think I would fit the part .   I accepted the gig without much question. 

I love that there are limited edition runs of vhs and dvd’s. Was this project sort of created to fill the void of the “old hard copy way” of watching skate videos in the new world of internet streaming?

 I think so. Something like that. It offers something different then Instagram. We’re always coming up with new segments. Travel, spots, people, etc . I think it offers a little something for everyone.

Will these issues of Idabble ever become available on the internet at some point?

Yeah. In some way or another. Digital downloads just became available at Idabble

You have also always sort of “Dabbled” in art. Drawing and making t shirt designs.. etc  Can you tell us a bit about your new artistic adventure? I believe you are painting pictures of people’s pets?

Haha, yeah I have always been involved in making art for companies I ride for. I have a line of clothes I designed for Globe brand.  The pet paintings come in waves. It started when I painted a picture of a friend’s dog. I posted it on my iG story and then some other people asked for a painting of their dog, cat, even a  pet pig. So I sometimes will advertise on my story that I’ll paint a picture of your pet for 150$ or so, and I got some “orders” from numerous people all over the world. Australia, Canada, Portugal, wherever. They know me at the post office now cause I’ve been mailing a bunch of paintings lately. Pretty funny.

Do you see your art as slowly breaking out of being a hobby and into something more?

Possibly. I’m still working on the talent part of it .. I know I have my own Style of painting and I enjoy doing it, so yeah, possibly. I try to make the painting funny in some way, so the customer gets something out of it when they see that it’s not a perfect portrait of their pet . Haha (usually they know that before they order one) 

What’s going on for you skate wise these days? Are you going to promise the people one more part??  

I am working on a video part. Hoping to get it out this year sometime. Probably will be on the Thrasher website. I have some footage I’m stoked on and I’m getting close to having a full parts worth of footage. Been skating a lot and filming a lot and pushing myself . Definitely want  to get a few more parts out there.

I  feel like in all reality skateboarding has only caught up now to the stuff you and the Flip team were doing in 2001. You guys have basically set the bar almost as high as it can go in my opinion. Does it ever just seem impossibly overwhelming to think about putting something else together?  

Yes and no. I was younger back then and I was getting tricks on film at a very rapid rate back then. I have more going in my life now and I skate a little different then I did back then and it’s not like I’m trying to out-do those Flip parts…  I’m just doing me and I feel that I am still doing things worthy, in my opinion, to put out. It’s not about the stair count. It’s about how you do it. The feeling of it, etc. 

Well one thing’s for sure. You’re one of those skaters that is always great to watch skate, whether you’re sessioning a park or giving it your all on the streets.  Anything else we need to be on the lookout for in the near future?

Thanks bud. Just an OG who refuses to stop pushing. I’m starting to think more about a company I might want to start in skateboarding or other facets of the skate industry, while still skating. I’ll keep you posted when I figure it out . 

Interview by Jesse Landen All photo’s by Brandon Alton