GANGCORP: DURON SIMONS

Photo: Mitch

How did you get into skating?
Just when I was a kid. What really inspired me was I seen everybody in the neighborhood and what they were doing. I just really wanted to do something that was different than play basketball or football. That’s what people was expecting me to be.

What were the early days of skating like for you?
The thing is, I skated for a bit then quit, then started skating again. The early early days was before I quit. Those were the “Du-Rag” days. That’s the name I went by. That’s when I met you at the Brooklyn Banks. You always had black high top dunks. You were like the only one skating dunks like that. I was still getting in trouble back then. Stealing completes. It was Du-Rag season back then. Struggling. But that’s why I’m where I’m at today. That’s why I do what I do now.

Why?
Because I don’t want to go back to how it was.

What made you quit skating?
Imma keep it a buck. People really weren’t fucking with me like that back then. They weren’t really fucking with black skaters like they do now. There was a few people like BD and Nate. Kane RIP. But it was rare. And I was just really impatient. I was trying to get it!

When you quit, what did you do?
I was in the hood. Playing basketball. Still getting in trouble. Still trying to figure out life.

What brought you back to skating?
Andre (Beverley).

How?
He always came to my crib. He was always like “come skate, come skate”. It was like that for two years. Jamel (Marshall) too. They’d come to my place and I’d fuck around and do three flips in slippers and socks, but I wasn’t really skating. They were like “yo, you can tre flip in slippers, you got to skate!” One day I was at basketball practice and Dre came and watched me and he said “your jump shot is tight, but you ain’t gonna make it to the NBA. I got boards and shoes for you. Come skate!”

But the day I really decided to come back, I remember I was really low at the time from getting in trouble. And Dre came in with a check. Like “yo, I’m getting paid now.” And I just remember thinking “it’s on! It’s official now. Dudes are really fucking with black skaters.” He didn’t even tell me they were checks from ICECREAM. He just told me he was getting paid for skating. Turned out it was you writing him those ICECREAM checks! But it super motivated me. I was thinking this is the dream, Dre getting paid to skate. And he believes in me.

I feel like you progressed really fast when you came back. It was clear the drive was there.
When I started skating again, I got way better. It was different. LES was all new and we could get good there. It was just nothing there in the beginning and just super dirty. But when they reworked it we could skate for real for real. Then we went to Africa for that Riders Cup contest. That was my first time out the country. That was my first time on a plane! And shit just kept going from there.

How did Gangcorp start?
From a group chat. The name came from my friend Stephan Lewis. He just named the group chat that. It’s just a crew of people. We would all be at LES skating all day. Day Day started the IG. It all went from there. Naqyan started filming on an iPhone 5 and then I bought him the death lens for it. We filmed our first video on it. A full length on an iPhone 5. We filmed it in a year.

While we were filming the video we decided to make gear. We made the G Corp tees. We started to sell them at LES. We sold a few at Labor. Dashawn has a great relationship with James. Then I went to Supreme and Marty was like “come here”. I thought I was in trouble, because I’m always doing some shit. But then he was like “why didn’t you bring the shirts here? We gonna help you sell em here at Supreme.” Over the years Carl, Ty, BB, Marty, all does a lot for me and always looked out.

Photo: Miley

Amazing. And so sick you guys filmed a full length on an iPhone. I remember seeing it on Quartersnacks.
Yeah, shout out Quartersnacks, they linked it up. We all got together to get a VX after that tho. We all sold all the gear we had, like shoes, boards, whatever. And Bernard had some extra cash that he put in and we got a VX2100, so we can film for real. That’s what we’ve filmed all the videos with since. And the fisheye you lent us! Still using it to this day.

It feels like you’ve taken on a leadership type of role with the company. Like taking on a lot of responsibility, getting shit made, etc.
Yeah, I took on a lot of responsibility due to the connections I had and just knowing what I can do. It just started to work out that way. I try to get everyone’s feedback tho. I can’t make certain moves without them. Overtime you learn how to work with everyone. Everybody is contributing.

It’s really great to see so many people at like Labor, Quartersnacks and Supreme support. With so many brands out there, why is Gangcorp unique.
We never really wanted this, it just happened. Everything was strictly organic. We never wanted a brand. We was just a group of LES skateboarders. And people have been drawn to it.

You guys are working on a new video right?
Yes.

What’s the name? Who’s in it?
It’s called Black Business. Coming out TBD. Line up is:
Brandon James. Pedro, Amir Denis, Lil Dougie, Brandon James, Stephan Lewis, Slack, Day Day and me.

Photo: Oleynik

What else are you working on?
Learning to take it easy and just letting the game come to me.

Is it your time?
The sky is the limit!