Why post an interview I did 16 years ago? Well, for a few reasons. It planted the seed that one day I could create boards, it'll give Danny Creadon a nice sense of nostalgia and I need to test out this free site thing.
In a time when skateboarding has seemingly reached its peak in popularity, it’s good to put the focus back on the true supporters and creators of this culture. Factory 13 is one of those companies, providing custom boards to whatever specs you can throw at them. Danny Creadon (Owner) took the time to roll out of bed, bypass his coffee and answer a few questions to see what makes him tick.
-So how did Factory 13 come into existence?
I started Factory13 in 1999. It came into existence out of anger and frustration because I couldn’t get a board I liked and had to start making them myself. Actually, in the mid 90's I would go to Cleveland state Univ. (I had some friends there) and go to their art dept. and use the tools I didn’t have at the time to make boards. I didn’t belong or pay to go there, I just basically lied about it. I would go in the evening time after their main classes and say that I was working on a homework assignment that had to be finished so I would get credit and they would give me a confused look and walk away. It was a lesson that I learned from other Jedi's that I have studied with.
-Is this just run by you or is there a team behind it?
It started out as just me when I created the Co. Of course my very closest friends (Lance Tranter, Tim Rigby) were the 1st people to help and support but I am the MAIN OPERATOR IN CHARGE of fucking everything. When you have too many people throwing in ideas everything gets fucked up. F13 is a manifestation of what is going on inside of my brain. We have built up a KILLER team of ragers, such as: RIPPER Ronny Malipas from Texas George Medina from San Diego Cali Marco NFT. From London England Jacob, Jeff and the Jaxprints crew from Cleveland My band mates in the Curbslappys My Vice President LANCE and a few I might have forgotten, I just woke up a little bit ago.
-How do you stay afloat as a company (Making custom boards) when you have to compete against people who mass produce boards all day long?
STYLE, QUALITY, PURE SKATER EMPLOYEES, PURE UNIQUE IDEAS motivation, chaos, unity, class warfare, whatever it takes to succeed. Fight and fight till you get your goal. Those who mass produce are cool and all, I DONT PUT ANYONE DOWN FOR WHAT THEY DO, if they want to do that that’s fine, it’s just not what I want to do. I do what I want to do and that’s the business theory I guess?
Is the price for a custom board drastically different from a mass produced one?
It’s just a little more money, not much. The average price for a custom board is like $69 and can go up to $300. It all depends on what you want, which is the beauty of custom work.
-This is a very rare company in the world of skateboarding. I think individuality is one of the cornerstones of skateboarding, is this one of the things you see as lacking in skating today?
What you just said is one of the main reasons behind Factory13. I was so pissed that skateboarding, something I love a lot turned into crap, with clone boards, clone people and cloned lives, I couldn’t take it. GOD WANTED ME TO START FACTORY13 TO GIVE THE PEOPLE TRUE FREEDOM OF CHOICE. We are blessed with FREE WILL so we gotta use it.
-I know you worked with JFA on a board series, how did that come about?
George showed Brian Brannon some of our boards out in Cali at a park and they liked them and it all rolled on from there. We are all friends now and have lots of good plans for the future.
They were 1 of the 1st punk band I listened to. When I wan in my teen years I hitchhiked to Cleveland to see them play downtown and it was so worth it. I remember walking down the freeway thinking to myself that this fucking rules.
- What other bands have you worked with? Do you hand pick your bands, do they come to you or is it a combined effort?
I just work with people I agree with and I think have unique style, so I guess that its hand picked. Sometimes they just order boards and we trade stuff or whatever, I am pretty easy to work with, at least I think so! the bands I am working with now are: JFA the Curbslappys the BRIEFS the EXPLODING FUCK DOLLS Against All Authority No Front Teeth records DISASTER RECORDS and I have some more stuff coming up soon.
-There seems to be a whole load of other facets to Factory 13 (like clothing) what else is there?
BOARDS are most important but I make deck molds too, concaves and stuff. I also design and build machinery, for board presses and other stuff. ARTWORK is fun but I'm not that good at it. My band the CURBSLAPPYS is a big deal for me.
I am now making my own musical instruments as well as a helmet that has a series of magnifying glasses that you can see weird stuff through. I feel like the mad scientist, whatever is in my mind I try to make in the carbon based world.
-How is the skate scene in Ohio? It’s good for some, bad for others. I hardly ever leave the shop here which means I skate by myself a lot, city curbs, ditches, the F13 ramp, etc.
-Are there skaters from Ohio that you feel should be recognized? Yeah sure, the dirty punk kids that don’t go with society’s fashion. The East and West siders of Cleveland must unite; we should all be recognized as a movement instead of individual heroes.
-What is in the future for Factory 13?
Never ending creativity, quality, free will design, so much I could go on for days about it, really.
Who the hell are the curbslappys?
Curbslappys are the musical equivalent of factory13
members are:
Lance Tranter
Steve Manko
Matt Shak
Me (Danny creadon)
Paul the butcher
sometimes Brandon
hopefully Billy
and whoever else feels like jamming at the time....
-Are they currently working on any projects?
YES! No Front Teeth records should be releasing a CD from us soon, or you can get it direct from Factory13. There is so much going on it will takes about 15 emails to list it all, the latest thing I am doing is getting the whole band, instruments as well as a backdrop to be all white so we can show old Godzilla movies on us when we play. ITS HONESTLY ALL ABOUT STYLE AND BEING AN INDIVIDUAL be yourself, make your own rules. Style breeds creativity and Factory13 will take it from there.
You can check out Factory 13 online at https://www.factory13skateboards.com/
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