By E Wright

January 1, 1999

Sean on Marc

If you never met Marc Frank, but talked to him on the phone, you would think he lives in Compton and sells stolen watches for a living. This, however, is not true. For all the paths that Marc could have chosen in his life, I'm proud of him for the one he's on. I admire what he's doing with his snowboard talents; he's not wasting them like so many other snowboarders I know (Dufficy). Marc is the kind of person you can just watch and tell that he's a natural. He's figured out how to apply both power and grace to his riding without looking like Sparky the Flying Squirrel. Plus, Marc's a worker on the hill-a requirement to make it in snowboarding today. Take him off the hill and he's the laziest shit you'll ever meet. Then again, maybe he's just saving his energy for the next time he skates or snowboards. Marc has a very laid back approach to life.

Also, Marc is extremely loyal to his family and friends and is not afraid to give or take a punch defending someone he cares for-making him one of the most real and honest people I've ever met. He's not too quick to voice his opinion, but if you ask, don't expect him to give you the answer you want to hear.

I am grateful to have met Marc and had the opportunity to travel with him, because he's always fun and entertaining to have along-when he's not sleeping!

Interview by Eric Wright

Marc, what's up? What are you doin'?

Just f-kin' ...

Just f-kin'?

Just f-kin' ... bein' the bomb, you know me!

Yeah, you got a fuse stickin' out the top of your head.

I'm just bein' dope. That's all I do all day-just be dope.

Sounds like a tough life.

Yeah, it ain't too hard.

Somebody's got to do it.

Word, Turd! It seems to come easy ... what's up with you?

Nothin'. So is there anything you don't want to talk about?

I don't want to get into girls in this interview cause that shit always gets me in trouble. I don't want to piss nobody off.

Yeah, you just don't want to expose all your secrets.

Tell me a little about yourself, growing up, where you're from and what you did.

I'm from the north side of Denver. We used to mess with bikes and shit and then got into skateboarding. We tried to stay out of trouble. There was a little shit here and there, but we were pretty straight. That's when we were kids.

Let's fast forward up to when you were a little older.

Awww ... that's a whole different story! No, it was just skateboarding, I guess.

Did skateboarding help guide your life and keep you on the right path, so to speak?

It did keep me away from some of the bad shit that my friends were doing. I just kept skating and getting better, and then got to the point where people were giving me free shit, so I kept getting more stoked. But a lot of my friends kinda fell off and went into gangs and shit like that.

Did you ever get offered to be in a gang?

Offered to be in a gang? [Much laughter.]

I don't know. How does that work?

[Much more laughter] It's just all your homeboys are f-king Bloods, and everyone would just be kickin' it. I was always down with them, but through skating I started meeting new friends downtown. I would go places skating so I wouldn't just be kickin' it in the hood all the time. I coulda got beat into that shit, though.

What's it like going on a snowboard trip around the world and then coming back to see all your old friends?

They'll always be my friends, so when I see them it's good. They've mellowed out, but they're still f-kin' around doin' stupid shit. But I got so many different types of friends now-I just try and stay tight with everybody. Especially my friends who still skate. I respect people who can handle grown-up shit and can get their life together.

You got any kids?

No. Not yet ... I don't think so.

Is your name Marc Frank or Marc Montoya?

My real name is Marco Benjamin Frank Montoya.

Why does everyone call you Marc Frank?

I don't know. When I was really little I didn't want people calling me "Marco." So all my friends I skated with called me Marc Frank. When I came into snowboarding that was the name people first heard. I think I wanna bring back the Marco Montoya, though.

You never had a gang-banging name like Mack Thug?

Nah!

Did snowboarding come easily for you because of all the years you spent skating?

Hecka easy. It came crazy natural to me. My first actual time snowboarding I blew my knee out-I was alone and didn't know what the hell I was doing. Then I didn't do it again for like a year until some friends from school said they were going. I was like, "I got one of those in my closet." After that we started going a lot and it came real simple, I liked it. It was like skateboarding except when you do a ten-foot ollie, now it's a 60-foot ollie. That's the best feeling in the world! You know how an ollie feels so good skating, and then it gets better when you do it that big.

Is skateboarding more important to you now?

No, because snowboarding is my job. I try to take it seriously ... I'm starting to take it like a job ... I'm gonna start to at least!

Does that take some of the fun out of it for you?

Yeah. But I never let myself get burned out on it. If I'm gettin' tired, I just take some time away. I didn't really snowboard at all this summer, and now I can't wait to get back this winter. That's my mentality ... to just keep it real and do it because I'm stoked. At the same time, I have to stay organized. This is my career now, so I want to take it seriously-work when I gotta work to stay in there.

How has that approach affected your skateboarding?

My skateboarding now has turned around 100 percent. I love it more than ever!

Is that because whenever you get on your board, it's all about having fun?

Before, when I was trying to stay hooked up in skating, there was always this pressure to be all good and film and do dope shit. Now I just hook up with friends and do whatever. It's all pure fun-just go to a spot and blow it up!

Have other pro snowboarders responded to you well?

It's cool-I get along with pretty much everybody. You know, they're not my true, true friends, but in the last few years I've made some really good friends-people I love to kick it with.

Have you ever felt pressure to be anything you're not?

No, never! You know me, cuz', shit. If people don't like me, f-k 'em. I can get along without them. But the thing is, I get along with everybody. I don't give attitude to anyone unless they're trying to be stuck up. Then I'll just clown 'em. I can tell who's real and who's not-who I like and who I don't.

How long does that take you to figure out?

About one second. When I look into their eyes and listen to what comes out of their mouth, pretty much. I don't judge. I'll talk to anyone and shit, but you can tell instantly how a person is, if they're real and not shallow.

How has living in the city and skateboarding made you view resort snowboarding?

At first I was against the whole thing. I was like "f-k all these rich white snobs." Because my first year snowboarding a lot I lived in Vail, and that shit is way out of hand-money-hungry idiots and rich people who don't know how to act and have no personality. But I've learned to block all that stuff out and be open-minded. If someone does come from a rich neighborhood or grows up at a resort, as long as they have a good personality and are real people, then I'm cool with them. Everybody's different. It doesn't matter so much where you come from-it's where you at!

Do you have a lot of people encouraging you?

Everybody's down for me. I always try to get people to see there's more to life than just f-kin' Denver. More to life than just kicking it and rollin' in the city-there's a whole world out there.

Snowboarding's helped you see a lot of that?

Yeah, yeah. Most of my friends haven't really seen other cultures and how big the world really is. I try and encourage them to get out and go places. You never really learn about a place from hearing about it-you have to experience it yourself.

Do you try and have an impact on kids when you go places snowboarding?

Yeah, first of all you gotta be somewhat wealthy to snowboard-to have the means to go to the mountains and have equipment. I mean, there are exceptions because I found a way. It's not impossible, but the opportunities are harder to find. No matter where you go in the world, it's the same. I can't say I really try to reach the kids I see and tell them, "Hey get in snowboarding and stay out of trouble!" Because those kids are already in snowboarding and out of trouble. I wish there was some way to show all the little homies in the hood how to get into something positive. Get them out there. There is the Snowboard Outreach Society, that's one way, but to find the time and actually get kids is hard. I don't even know where they [the groups] get those [at risk] kids, though. They [the kids] don't come from the hood I know, I can tell you that. I do want to support that, though, because it is the closest thing to what I'm talkin' about.

Do you ever back off from things if they get too hectic or too weird?

Sometimes I do. If it's a big f-king cheese fest and I don't feel like wrecking myself, I won't go off some rock-hard kicker just to show people, "Hey, look how dope I am." And yes, I do choke at contests sometimes. I get so turned off at how stupid people look at some of these ESPN games. People look like f-kin' nerds when they're falling all over this hard-ass snow, smacking their heads, and then running up to try it again so the crowd will yell for them.

Do you want to compete at those venues in the future?

The only reason I might start to do that this year is to win that money, other than that it looks so dumb-how they ride down this runway and some announcer is just spewing stupid f-kin' shit.

A lot of riders are encouraged to put themselves in that situation to please their sponsors.

My sponsors don't make me do that because they know I won't. I've got my own style and can do shit other ways, and they respect that. That's why I'm with who [the sponsors] I am. All of them are cool that way, and they know I'm not the contest type.

How do you produce for your sponsors?

By working hard at getting good parts in videos and good shots in the magazines. Mostly just keeping my snowboarding tight and keeping my style tight. All these fools out here just doing some stupid flipping around, whatever whatever, yippity flippity-anyone can throw their arms around and drop their shoulder. To do it with style is something different, and that's what I focus on.

More tricks, less style or more style, less tricks?

Both. You need to be versatile and ride everything, and ride strong no matter what the terrain. The most important thing is to be unique and original. Don't be an imitator!

Does the life Marc Frank lives come out in his snowboarding?

It's hard to say, because when I get on the mountain and I'm with my friends, I just go wild. But, when I'm on the street chillin', I kick back and just roll-just be the mack and keep my game tight-snowboarding or whatever.