Larry: Since you are recreating the photo for this story, and also just because it’s the shit, let’s talk about that Slap Magazine cover you were on from 1994 with that Waikiki sunset laid out like it was for National Geographic.
 First of all, on a personal level, and there is no bias in this because I’m from Hawai‘i or we’re friends or anything like that, but I think that this is one of, if not the best skateboard magazine covers in the history of skateboard magazines. Period. Just had to throw that out there. Anyway, what was it like back then when Lance Dawes came here to shoot the pictures for that interview, and did you have any idea how great that sunset photo came out and that it was going to be on the cover?
Rene Matthyssen: Poor Lance Dawes. He had such an awful time. He hasn’t been back since. I guess getting open hand slapped by a 300-pound Samoan security guard will have that effect. The only thing I really remember about that shot was that we took a few shots on that wall in Waikiki and then went across the street to Denny’s to eat. There were a few us, and Lance says, ‘Go ahead guys order what ever you want. I’m gonna put it on the company card.” So we all order a bunch of shit. After we were done eating, we go to the cashier to pay and for some reason are waiting around for quite some time. The boys all go down stairs to chill and it’s just Lance and myself waiting to pay. After a few minutes waiting, we both look at each other and calmly exit the building without paying. We come down stairs and tell the boys, ‘Let’s go it’s a dine-and-dash baby!’ True story.

Nowadays we’re seeing a lot of skateboard companies keeping some of the old school guys relevant by giving them pro model boards. If Steve Douglas were to call you up one day out of the blue and tell you that he was starting up New Deal again, complete with a veteran’s division, would you be interested in being a part of it, or would you feel like that ship has sailed already?
If New Deal were to start a veterans division, I don’t believe I would qualify. Guys like Andy Howell, Justin Girard and Danny Sargent would definitely get the call first. But hey, if Douglas did hit me up, as long as I’m gonna get that royalty check, I’m down.

Speaking of New Deal, when you first turned pro for them what kind of input did you have when it came time to lay out your ads or decide on the graphics for your boards?
I had input on about 90% of my board graphics, I was always thinking of ideas for graphics. The company handled all the advertisements. I had to wait to see them with everybody else when they came out in the magazines. No email proof back then, buddy. That’s why my name was spelled incorrectly in print numerous times.

You were putting a King Kamehameha graphic on a skateboard almost 20 years ago and nowadays with Fitted, it seems like you’re still incorporating a lot of the same type of iconic Hawaiian imagery that you used back then. Is that something that you always intended to do when you guys started the shop?
Yes it was. When we fist launched Fitted, the brand and the store, all the other local shops were selling the Japan, LA or NY lifestyle. That wasn’t us. It only made sense to represent how we were living. There were definitely brands that did it before us, but at the time we came out there were none. I think it is what set us apart in the beginning. Now this particular look has become all the rage.