Amazing athlete / artists have been at the heart of Lib Tech since day one. Right alongside Jamie Lynn for longevity and probably slightly ahead in terms of proliferation is Mike Parillo. Mike has been shredding and creating in or near our sphere for 30 years now. His vision of the world and his styles of art have carried snowboarding’s message of stoke around the world the entire time. We are honored to work with such an amazing talent, cheers to you Mike!
It’s been an amazing long run. You started as a team rider during the early days of Lib and Jamie Lynn. We had a poster of you doing a no grab backside air I think at Bear or Mt Hood?
Oh yeah, I remember that too, I’m 100% sure I was on an MC, too (the reason why I fell in love with Lib Tech) because that was back in the early 90’s when I was running the program at Bear and building those first parks.
What were the early days of the Bear Mtn / So Cal park scene like?
It was definitely fun because everything was new and it felt like anything was possible and it was for the most part, isn’t everything in your early 20’s? We had such a great group of friends (many of which I’m still friends with) that all got along and rode together all day everyday. It didn’t hurt that Bear Mountain ski resort gave us our own run on our own side of the mountain with our own chairlift. I’d show up at 3 or 4 am to meet with the cat drivers a few times a week and I’d do my best to explain what I wanted them to build while I sat there directing every blade full being pushed. (There was no way in hell they would let me drive a half million dollar Piston Bully back then.) We’d wrap it up right before the chairs started running, I’d do some shovel work and then I’d be testing the new stuff out on the first chair ride or until the park crew showed up and we’d perfect everything by hand.
The Garden was an amazing Volcom film… were you involved in the creative side of that as well as shredding?
Agreed, maybe the truest film to the soul of snowboarding at that time. I was luckily involved on many levels, I was acting as a team manager, grom coach, team rider, creative director, creative contributor, camp cook, trip coordinator and also cover artist, the garden art was my first real painting.
Where and when did your start snowboarding / art adventures?
Growing up in LA and street skating every minute of the day was actually the reason I started snowboarding, when I was 14 or 15. I got hit by a car and because I was in shock I acted like I didn’t get hit and didn’t tell my parents. I just limped away after taking a steel front bumper to the shins at full speed while crossing the street. This lead to some serious medical issues, I had so much swelling in my shins from the impact that it turned into a serious infection that paralyzed me within a few days. I was at school and collapsed, my mom had to pick me up and drag me to the car to take me to the doctor and after one look at me they immediately admitted me into intensive care, then the truth came out. For the first few days I was in the hospital they kept telling me they might have to cut off my legs because I had septic arthritis in my knees. Luckily after draining the fluid many many times with huge needles and effective antibiotics that didn’t happen. After that nightmare I convinced them that snowboarding was safer. This was 1988-89 and my parents owned a restaurant in Burbank CA, a few of the guys that worked for my dad, that were older than me, were into it, started taking me with them to the mountains outside LA. We’d go to snow summit and mountain high on the weekends. I was 100% hooked on the first day when I accidentally got a free lesson from Tom Sims because I was getting killed trying to learn on my own. Someone saw me get the wind knocked out of myself multiple times and came up and offered help, turned out it was the legend who I’d never even heard of, I realized soon after how lucky I was.
Why did snowboarding and art draw you in as a person?
I think that it made me feel special because it was so exotic and so new back then. I also loved the nature element and that fact that I had always been in awe of the mountains because my dad was a skier. We’d got to Tahoe when I was really young and I’d trip out on thinking of my dad all the way up there at the top of the mountain. In all honesty, I think art also made me feel this way, it was something I felt inherently good at and nobody else seemed to be doing. In high school when I performed poorly at everything school related I was proud of what I did in those classes. Art in snowboarding really kicking into gear for me when I met Jamie through out the Volcom days. I already had a deep respect for him as a rider but when he’d come stay with us in South Laguna I got to experience his other genius and it sparked a new way of thought for me… Then I got hurt again, I injured both knees filming and had to sit down for months to recover and that’s when I really started getting into it.
When did you first meet Pete and Mike / get involved with us here at Lib Tech?
I think it was about 1992 at Bear when I was riding an MC and Big Air Bob Stanislaus took notice and got me introduced to the Mervin Family which lead to me getting on the team as an ambassador and rider. It’s a little blurry when I met everyone for the first time but I do remember being invited up to see the factory and I did some art while I was visiting.
How did you start doing art for Lib Tech and what was the first graphic you did for us?
I did this weird painting of this face, it was probably one of my first 5 paintings I ever did. Anyway, I was really proud of it and I gave it to Jamie as a birthday present and he ended up liking it. Surprisingly it became the very first graphic I did for LibTech, a mini Jamie Lynn. After that I had the honor to continue doing art for Mervin because you guys kept giving me amazing opportunities and it slowly became a symbiotic relationship that continues to grow to this day.
Where in your life as an artist were you at the time?
I was at the very very beginning, I had done a few art classes in high school but that was all, I was super naive and had zero idea what I was doing, all I knew was I was trying to convey the feeling the mountains and this life was giving me.
You’ve done a lot of work with Travis on his boards what has that process been like?
Working with Travis is always very involved, very intense, highly collaborative and challenging and continue to provide some of the most amazing experiences and opportunities of my life.
What is one of your favorite graphics you did for Lib Tech and why?
That’s a super tough question… I’m pretty fond of the 24/25 Dynamo because it’s a mountain range here on Oahu that ends in my backyard, also there’s something very magical about the first graphic I did with Travis which I believe is being rerun as a cambered board this year as well.
The original “Red Tetons” Emmagator I got to ride when I lived in Jackson in 1998 was magic AF too, kinda felt like I had my own model in an unspoken way. I remember being in the tram line one day with Guch & Johan and we were all riding boards with my art on them.
Approximately how many hours did your longest taking artwork for Lib Tech take and which year and model was it?
I really wish I could say, there has been an insane amount of time put in over the years, probably more than 10,000 hours, I’ve have a big problem in the past of working for weeks on paintings then deciding I wasn’t feeling it and starting over. If there’s 10,000 hours of visible work there’s probably 10,000 that got painted over or thrown out. Also I have no idea at all of how many boards we’ve done together, it would be crazy to figure that mystery out.
What was the fastest?
I actually know this one and it was that recent UFO inspired graphic I did for the Trice Pro, the one with the imagined EM gravitational waves. It just flowed so well and it went exactly as planned in 3-4 days, still like 30-40 hours with the conceptual phase included but that’s on the quick side of things.
What medium do you like the most using when doing art for boards? describe your process back then and now. (paint, pen, pencil, digital, mixed media, “all of the above”)
It’s pretty much all the above in terms of media and mediums, what ever tool fits the job best. The digital component has become more present in the conceptual planning phase, it just helps to be more efficient and produce better options, that’s probably the biggest difference from the beginning years of basic pencil and paper with written notes on color story.
What has influenced your artistic endeavor the most over the years and has your inspiration changed over the years?
Being self taught has always lead me to draw from life experience and form ideas based on what I’m going through or where I’m located. The times with less nature in my life produced work that was more introspective or cathartic. It turns out that it’s much easier for me to make art when I’m suffering. That may also be the naive side of my understanding of creativity speaking. The works that I feel most proud of are the ones that have that strong balance of head, heart and hand.
If you could put any art you want on a board, what would it look like? (without thinking about sellability or Lib Tech or snowboard culture, just what would make you happy)
It would have to be an LED screen that constantly changes based on my mood or humor of the day, something I could program every time I go ride… a future technology perhaps? Programmable interchangeable light based graphics or motion graphics played on flexible LED base and top sheet materials…? Seems like something you guys should patent and get started on immediately before the singularity occurs. Imagine how sick that would be riding powder at night. I’m guessing there’s some crazy marketing potential there.
What advice would you give your younger artist self now?
Start investing early in life so you can have true artistic freedom and resource to create whatever, whenever and wherever you like without the constraints of life’s trivial demands.
What Lib Tech board do you like riding the most?
Skunk Apes, Jamie’s Short Round and whatever Orca is wide enough to accommodate my size 13’s.
You have always been a physically powerful athletic being but balance that with an incredible creative nature and and eye for beauty and detail. Do surfing and snowboarding help fuel the creative fires?
Wow thank you, I’m humbled! Yes they both absolutely fuel the creativity 100%, surfing and just being in the water especially at day break on the Northshore gives me so many thoughts on stories I’d like to tell, colors stories I’d like to try to recreate or just good vibes I’d like to put into whatever I’m currently working on. Sometimes I just need these activities as a way to meditate or get a head change which is very much a part of the process. In all honestly though, once in a while, surfing can be a huge set back for me, too. Because it’s so difficult it can do a number on my mental state, if I let the negative self talk get the best of me, the up side to that is all it takes is one good wave to put me back on top of the world.
What is next for Mike Parillo? Any fun art projects in the works you can share with us?
I’m not sure how much I can say right now but I am working on some really cool stuff with T.Rice again, maybe even a show this winter… stay tuned and I’ll keep you posted!
Thanks so much for 30 years of incredible art, Mikey, and blowing our minds every year with your new creations!! Here is to 30 more!
Indeed, but all thanks to you!
SHOP THE LIB TECH X PARILLO 30 YEAR COLLECTION
