Thrasher Magazine

The King of Poods could be skating a board made out of a saxophone on TikTok or unboxing CBD cream for his YouTube channel right now, but thankfully for us, this potential Instagram pro wants to do it the old fashioned way—getting broke in the raw streets. Dylan’s already big time, but with his part in last summer’s Primitive vid, more people than just your little brother are definitely taking notice. Fun fact: Jaeb has never smoked weed or drank alcohol. Couldn’t hurt, kids!


Whether it's throwing a massive frontside flip or just flowing with a smooth line, watch Dylan elevate every session of the Scramble 

Are we saying your name right? Is It pronounced Jayb?
Yeah, Jayb. Perfect.

Where does that name come from?
Dude, honestly I have no clue.

Out of the Instagrams and onto the streets, Dylan flies a fakie flip on the first night

It’s never come up?
Yeah, I literally don’t know.

When the kids are stoked to meet you in the streets, how do they say it?
Jay-eeb. And then I’ve gotten Hi-yeb where they silence the J because of different cultures.

“My parents would be so stoked if I dated a girl from Harvard!” Switch tré, on the prowl

’Cause of your Latino heritage?
Yeah, exactly.

On this trip you got recognized by the waiter in Applebee’s. What’s the craziest place you’ve been recognized so far?
Probably Applebee’s, dude. Zach is the man! But I guess just like restaurants and stuff, nothing too crazy. Never like police or anything.

You’re kind of famous on the Internet. Why do you think this is?
I like how you started that question. I don’t think I’m that famous on the Internet. It’s like most skaters—you get a bigger following if you just post yourself skateboarding. But definitely when I was a kid I posted a lot of stuff of myself, and a lot of kids like watching other kids and so I think it’s mainly because of that. And I was just like—I really enjoyed watching social-media stuff when I was growing up and watching all the dudes skate Biebel’s park and stuff. So I was kind of like, Fuck, I guess I’ll just post a lot of Instagram stuff ’cause that’s what the kids want to see, you know what I mean?

Do you have a regular guy that you make film you all the time?
Yeah, at first when I was posting all the clips at Poods park it was my friend River. He actually works at Plan B now doing their social-media stuff. But now it’s my friend Rios. He’s who I grew up with in Hawaii. He moved out and he’s been helping me out.

Dude, it’s like a serious job, right?
Well, yeah. I think brands put a lot of pressure, especially ’cause that’s kind of like what—I don’t wanna say why they found me or why they put me on is because of social media, but it is kind of a big part of it. And so it’s like they do kind of put a bit of pressure on me to do a certain amount of posts. Not really pressure, but it’s like they expect a certain amount from me because that’s what I’ve been doing my whole life.

Yeah. Do you ever just wanna be a soul skater out there just surfing the concrete?
Dude, I’m still soul skating. I mean, I used to post crazy—I posted every single day for two years straight when I was a kid. It was insane; I cannot imagine doing that. But I guess it taught me a lot about consistency and getting shit done. But yeah, I still skate for fun most of the time, though, I’d say.

Do people around the world want to know about the magical land that is Poods skatepark?
Yeah, actually they do. I mean, I was like that. I grew up in Hawaii and I was like, That park looks so good. And I never knew where it was or anything but then one day, it was like my first time visiting San Diego that we went to it, and I was like, Oh my God, I’m staying in San Diego forever.

Dylan dances with a kicky front 50, 3,000 miles from Poods

Did your parents move partially so you could rip?
No, not really. My dad was going through some health stuff and there was treatment out here and so he did that, and then my sister was graduating middle school and she wanted to go to a different high school than the options that were in Hawaii, around Kauai. And so, yeah, it was kind of like that type of move where my sister wanted a change, my dad needed some help and I was like, It’s super good for skating.

So early on you got some attention from Jamie Thomas. Was he the first guy to reach out?
Yeah, Jamie for sure was. Jamie was definitely the first person to reach out. He just DM’d me and the shop that was sponsoring me for a long time in Hawaii and was like, Yo, I want to send Dylan some boards. Then he ended up flying out. We had a contest at that shop and he flew out for it and we met and stuff when I was like 12.

He flew out and won the contest.
Yeah, he won the contest.

How much of a dick was Dane Burman to you as a kid?
I’d say Dane wasn’t a huge dick. He’s really funny. He’s one of the funniest people I know. He’s definitely really creative in the way that he—I think it was mainly that when I was a kid I’d be so insecure and so scared to be around these guys and he would say something that just hit so hard. You know, it wasn’t like he was really trying to be a dick but he would say something that was like—I just felt so exposed. He would say some shit and I’d be like, Oh my God, fuck. I’m already so insecure about that and he just hit it home.


It’s good for the older guys to kinda give it to you straight sometimes, right?
Yeah, for sure. And I was like a little kid who needed to be humbled.

So what is it like at the magical land of Poods? What’s it like over there?
It’s nice; it’s a good skatepark; it’s good weather year round. It’s pretty much what people imagine, when they think of Southern California, I’d say.

Is there an enforcer there? Is somebody holding it down?
Probably Dane Burman.

He is tough.
I’m scared of Dane.

Who’s the king of Poods right now?
Probably Braden Hoban.

Switch heel over the most inflated grocery item of the year

Dude, he’s gnarly.
He’s so ridiculous.

What about that fool Little Toby?
Yeah, I don’t wanna call Toby the king. It’ll get him too gassed up. But yeah, Toby’s the GOAT.

Damn, he’s gnarly, right?
He’s my favorite.

He can do like inverted 720s on the Mega and switch kickflip back lip the rail.
Dude, he’s gonna be one of the best.

So did you ever think like, Fuck it, man, I’m just gonna start up a YouTube channel and chill at this park? Why’d you wanna get in the streets?
I don’t know if my goal as a kid was to go the old skate route and do it that way. But I was definitely watching all the blog dudes and all the YouTube shit growing up, so I was definitely heavily inspired by a lot of those dudes that do a lot of stuff that I guess is kinda frowned upon in the industry. But I wanted to go the main route. I think Jamie gave me a lot of guidance and kinda showed me how to do it and how it’s possible. I guess he gave me a lot of insight into what goes into being a pro skater instead of going the whole other route. But if I had stayed on the Island I might have done that whole fuckin’ YouTube skater thing.

Back tail across and in for the throngs of adoring Bostonians

So you can probably settle this for me, I’m too old to know. So who is it, Shrock or Kyro?
So I’m guessing Aaron Kyro probably makes more money. I don’t know.

Dude, who’s the king of the ‘Tube?
Yeah, I don’t know. They’re both killing it. But right now it’s neither of them, I don’t think.

Dammit. Who’s your guilty pleasure right now on the ’Tube? Who are you tuning into?
Gifted Hater 100 percent. It’s not guilty, though. I love Gifted Hater.

You want that skate gossip, right?
Dude, but I’ve been nervous watching it lately. He’ll say something about me and it hurts me for some reason. He’s so smart with his roasts that I’m like—it actually hits.

Yeah, it’s fun to watch until it’s you.
Exactly, yeah. I used to just watch them all carefree and then as soon as I heard my name I was like, Ah, this is not as fun anymore. I’m like on the edge of my seat every time I watch his videos now.

This ain’t funny. That guy’s not so funny.
Hopefully he reviews Am Scramble and calls us the worst.


Well, maybe. Did you have any trepidations about going on the Scramble?
Oh, I definitely saw that first one with Foy and Ducky and those dudes and it was super gnarly. I think they set the bar so high that like all the Scrambles after that have been trying to reach that level. So there’s definitely that. All those dudes are so good. I think the main thing is I was hoping it wouldn’t be like huge shit all the time, ’cause I’m not super into huge handrails or huge gaps or whatever. So I think that was the main thing—like, Fuck, hopefully it’s not a bunch of handrail dudes and I just have to figure shit out. But it was pretty good. It seems like we got a taste of everything.

Yeah, what’d you think of Boston?
Dude, I love Boston. I just saw Tim; he was in Lisbon and I saw him at a spot randomly. But he’s like the GOAT out there. He has so many spots. I’m gonna go back.

You made some new friends on this trip. I mean, everybody got along but who’d you really hit it off with?
Dude, Max and Noah. I love those kids. They almost came out here.

No way.
It was so sick, though. They were talking about—Max was in Korea and said he was almost gonna come out. But yeah, Max and Noah, they’re fuckin’ so sick. It’s just cool to have kids that are the same age as you that understand your humor. I go on a lot of trips with dudes older than me and I feel like I can’t make the same jokes I make around my friends at home. It’s like on that trip I felt like I could fully just let loose.


Same as it ever was...

How about those Australians? Man, they were skating everything that wasn’t tied down.
Oh my God. Dude, yeah, Kieran, Rob Pace—those dudes are so gnarly. Rob Race was half the reason I was scared to go on the trip. I was like, Dude, fuck, we’re going to Rob Pace spots? It’s gonna be fucked up.

How many kinks you got?
Zero kinks.

What about Nick Matthews? I was scared of him. Were you scared?
I wasn’t scared. I guess I’m intimidated by that dude. Not ’cause of his face, but because of his skating. Dude, he’s like one of my favorite skaters. When I heard he was going on the trip I was like, Oh, what? I thought he was already pro. But yeah, his skating is so good. And he surprised me more than I think anyone else on the trip, or maybe anyone else I’ve seen in person. His skating in person is—I don’t want to say more impressive, but just as impressive as his footage.

No, he’s fucked. He’s so good.
The first day he got seven tricks.

Keepin' up with the clips of his own, frontside heelflip

What was a trick that really stood out to you on the trip? Max’s pole jam of death?
That’s definitely a highlight. Yeah, I can not believe that one.

We had Rob Pace ollieing into the triple bank. We had him grinding the snake bar. 
The one that I keep talking about, ’cause I keep trying to explain how talented Nick Matthews is, is that out-ledge we went to that first day. He did like three tricks on it and he does switch back 180 nosegrind and he also ollied over the rail to crooked grind. That was fucked. Each one of those were super fucked singles and he’s just all mellow.

Just cruised it. So the Scramble—it’s been a springboard for people to turn pro eventually. Is that a goal of yours? Do you wanna go pro someday?
Well, yeah, for sure. As a kid I was always like, Fuck, that would be the dream job. I always wrote it on my papers and stuff. But I mean, now since I guess I’d say it’s closer, I definitely want it. It’s definitely something I want.

Yeah, if you want it, you want it. What’s your biggest takeaway from this experience of getting to go on a trip with a bunch of strangers? What are you gonna remember? What hit the hardest from his experience?
I think just being able to appreciate how dope it is to go on a trip with people that you don’t usually skate with and people that don’t ride for the same brand as you. For some reason that felt so freeing to be able to skate with people that you otherwise would probably never go on a trip with. Also, just seeing so many different types of skating. A lot of times if you’re on a brand the dudes skate—not completely similar, but they skate similar spots and there’s a similar vibe, I guess. But on this trip everyone kinda had their own steez and way that they do everything. And there’s different cultures as well.

Stompin' a classic, kickflip back tail

What about your big frontside flip? Did you think that was gonna happen?
Dude, not at all. We went there and it was like—I saw a photo of it. We were trying to find something to frontside flip that whole trip. That whole time it was kinda like, What are you gonna frontside flip? And we kept going to things that are like kinda big and I was like, Ah, I don’t know. And then we saw a photo of that one and it looked super cool on footage with the bricks. So I was like, That would be a good one. And then we got there and I was like, Ah, this run up is kinda short. I thought it was gonna be a little bit longer run up. But then I tried a couple and was sticking them but the landing was uphill and so I just started sticking and sticking and sticking and was just like, This is probably not gonna happen. And then you hopped off the van and you’re like, You know, I’ve seen this happen before. You’re gonna land it. And I was like, Oh yeah. Right, dude, I’m fuckin’ dust. Then we gave it a couple more and then randomly had one that almost felt like I slipped out but I kinda collapsed into my own body and ended up rolling away. Even in the footage you can see my wheel go up. I have tight-ass trucks and crank ’em.

Yep, that was it. I was like, Trust me. I’ve seen this before.
Yeah, I’ve seen this happen. I was like, I bet you have, but it’s not me.

Wheelbite and die six times in a row and then just magically make one.
That was so crazy.

Who do you want to see on the cover of this Am Scramble issue? ’Cause somebody’s getting the cover.
Max. Dude, I want that to be the cover so bad. Just ’cause I was shooting fake covers the whole trip on my phone so if you give him the cover I’m just gonna post that. It’s gonna be so beast.

Dylan's i-Phone-created fantasy covers            Design and photos: Jaeb

Alright, anything else you wanna talk about? 
Shout out Zach from Applebee’s, shout out Jordan, the GOAT. Yeah, I think that’s about it. Thanks, Burnett.

Yeah, man. You’re really easy to interview.
You think so?

Yeah!
Dude, I’m walking in circles. I did so many spins.

That’s how it goes. That’s what it’s like. Why’d you quit Zero?
I just felt like there were other options out there and I kinda just didn’t—I wasn’t even really skating with those dudes too much. It was kind of like me and Jamie were talking a lot but I wasn’t out skating with Dane or any of those dudes. So I feel like they always knew that it wasn’t gonna be a thing. But I don’t know, Jamie’s the best. I still talk to him all the time.

Oh, he’s sick. Well, thanks, man, I appreciate you coming on the Scramble. 

Six slams and a make, that’s just how the streets be sometimes. Jaeb jabs a frontside flip down the Leap of Gumpright