Interview with Mr. Blue Montgomery "Protecting snowboarding for the future without setting limits" <Part XNUMX>

A_E5A5634_sCAPiTA was born in 2000.It started in the West Seattle garage, where the founder, Blue Montgomery, lives.At that time he was 26 years old.Over the course of 16 years, we have created a brand for snowboarders by snowboarders.Finally, in November of last year, the company's factory mothership, which had been a dream for many years, was born in Austria.What is the future of snowboarding that CAPiTA, a brand that will lead the world's snowboard culture in the future, thinks about?

Free Run (F): In the video of "15 Years in 14 Minutes" released on the CAPiTA website the other day, it was said that the beginning of CAPiTA was not a momentary thing but an idea. Can you tell me a little more about that?You quit your job, move to Seattle, buy a house, and launch a brand.I did it all in the same year, but it can't be helped if the development around that is also called crazy.

Blue Montgomery (B): Well, it was an idea, not a momentary moment.It is to create a brand that is driven by the concept that has been alive for a long time in skateboarding, surfing, and snowboarding.This is the most important thing for our culture, isn't it?Skateboarders and snowboarders must be the ones who will lead us to the future of the sport we love.Snowboard shape, flex, sensation, product quality, what and how to do it.It's shaping the future of snowboarding.At that time, I decided to launch a brand for snowboarders by snowboarders with like-minded friends, and started CAPiTA. The origin of the name of CAPiTA also comes from that. Per Capita (= per person) has a meaning. With the meaning of "snowboard brand for each person".

F: So did you mean that the metaphor, which is the CAPiTA logo, was also an idea from that time?It looks like a pie chart, though?

B: The metaphor logo.Yeah, it's just a metaphor.It represents our life.A pie-shaped space that surrounds the circle in the middle.The pie part represents various interests and elements in life.It can be friends, family, music, art, whatever.And the circle in the middle symbolizes snowboarding. CAPiTA surrounds snowboarding, where art, music, connections and stories are the core, so I couldn't think of anything else other than this logo.

CAPiTA was born in 2000 in Seattle, USA by Blue Montgomery and rider Jason Brown.
CAPiTA was born in 2000 in Seattle, USA by Blue Montgomery and rider Jason Brown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSHRiWAGd38
CAPiTA's own factory MOTHERSHIP has finally started!Condensed 15 years until the rider's brand started its own factory into a 14-minute movie

F: When CAPiTA started, were there any other snowboard brands driven by snowboarders?What other brands did you yearn for?

B: The brand that riders drive has been around since the beginning of snowboarding.Most of them are pretty sloppy brands, and in a way that sloppy made the brand cool.But if you want to be a long-lasting brand, you need to abandon that sloppyness and be more formal, or rather a proper foundation as a company. The keyword "core" was everything in the snowboarding scene from the late 90's to the early 2000's.Core shop, core snowboarder, core brand.The market itself was launched with the feeling that "core snowboarding is cool".But CAPiTA is the exact opposite.We've never been an exclusive brand that focuses only on the core.Welcome to any snowboarder and accept all the elements.That is the concept of CAPiTA.

F: Blue was in charge of the board shape from the beginning, right?

B: Oh, even now.

F: Is snowboarding a lifestyle because it's not just the core part?

B: That's right.You can call it a lifestyle completely.It's not the definition that was born these days, but when I met snowboarding.Well, when I was just 15 years old, snowboarding has been a part of my life, not a sport.If you think about it, it may have been more than a lifestyle.All my friends were connected by snowboarding, fashion and music, where we were heading, the people we were dating, everything was influenced by the culture of snowboarding.When I was in the third year of high school, I was captivated by snowboarding, and that was all I had in mind.When I read a magazine, I read from cover to back cover and every corner of the page, and watched it over and over until the videotape was worn out.At that time, there were about 3 rock star-level professional snowboarders around the world.Currently, the media is paying attention, and snowboarding is creating one big movement.That's why there are hundreds and thousands of professional snowboarders all over the world.That is a big difference compared to the past.When I was a kid, I was a superstar when it came to professional snowboarders.

F: That's true.Do you think there are too many now?

B: GOOD & BAD.Technology has given kids a platform to improve.Professional snowboarders have become familiar to us on TV and in magazines.You can share the fun online, and I think it's the best environment.A good analogy is Yawgoons.They are childhood friends who grew up in a small town.It has now climbed to snowboarding celebrities through the internet.But, maybe in other industries, there are no superstars.There is something that the average person has inspiration and admiration for.

F: Doesn't it have to be a superstar in the ring of competitions?Is it a local superstar?

B: Local superstars have always been around for a long time and are indispensable to the scene in that area.But from a bigger perspective, I think we need a global superstar.Something like Jamie Lynn, Peter Line, Scott Stevens.Danny Kass once climbed to that position.

B: Do you think Kazu has that potential?

A: Of course.Kazu is known all over the world.

B: Blue has always been a fan of Kazu. Long before joining CAPiTA.

B: Yeah, one of my favorite snowboarders. I couldn't think of any other snowboarder that would suit the concept and soul of CAPiTA, so when he came to CAPiTA, it was a dream come true.

F: That's the best.

Next term 1516 NEW model, Kazu's signature board.Japanese is incorporated into the graphics, and a model that combines cool graphics with specifications that maximize the rider's individuality has been completed.
Next term 1516 NEW model, Kazu's signature board.Japanese is incorporated into the graphics, and a model that combines cool graphics with specifications that maximize the rider's individuality has been completed.
The Mothership, a snowboard factory that embodies the ideals of CAPiTA, the whole picture is in the second part
The Mothership, a snowboard factory that embodies the ideals of CAPiTA, the whole picture is in the second part

Continue to the second part (updated at 2016:3 on March 4, 17).

BLUE MONTGOMERY
born February 23, 1974 in Marshalltown

E_E5A5656_sInterview & Translation: Kenji Kato, Photo: Yoshifumishimizu