Truly one of a kind, Wes Makepeace has pretty much seen it all. Born in Surrey, BC, in 1972, he's been involved with snowboarding since its inception. At times, Wes's journey through Shred Land has been a rocky one. Injuries and an ongoing wrestling match with alcohol took away his snowboard career, but music and skateboarding seem to be resurrecting his positive attitude and desire to experience life to the fullest. I tracked down Wes, whom I proudly call a good friend, at his parents' vineyard in the Interior of BC in the hopes of finding out what he has been up too and where his head's at these days. Little did I know I would get that and so much more...

You have had a ridiculous career and history in snowboarding...
[Laughing] I guess ridiculous is a good word on how I got paid for so long, but that describes it. I started snowboarding in Rosland, BC, in 1987. Which is about 22 years ago now and, uhm, I had a shop sponsor in high school down in Spokane, Washington, and did some local competitions and eventually started doing some filming after I got out of high school. I started riding for Aggression Snowboards and Twist clothing... and yeah, I went on a trip to Japan with Aggression and Sean Johnson and all the Lamar guys were there, so I jumped on with them after my little Aggression Japan tour was done and hung out for a few weeks with them. Once that trip was finished I was pretty much riding for Lamar and I did that for a few years. I think that was my funnest time in snowboarding. I traveled around a lot. I think I went back to Japan four or five more times. I don't really remember the details of anything but it was a hell of a good time! [laughs]

Was there a point where you said to yourself, "Whoa, I can make a go of this and have someone pay my way through snowboarding."?
I was doing that anyway. With Aggression, they were paying me a little bit; I think Twist was giving me photo and video incentive and I was just being a snowboard bum anyways so it worked for me. When Lamar came in to the picture I didn't really have to do anything else for work. Not that I did anything else anyway [laughing], but I could pretty much just do anything I wanted once I started riding for Lamar. I also had Airwalk helping me out. I think it was around '94, '95 when I started to get paid pretty good, and buying drinks for all my friends!

Wes signs an autograph for a fan, who happens to be MFM.

You were involved with the, I guess you could call it, the ‘Hay-Day' of snowboarding. The Whiskey days and when partying seemed to take centre stage. Was there any thought of the future back then or was it just a day by day type of scenario?
No, I mean, I still don't really think about the future. The one thing I ever did to prepare for my future was to get myself a guitar because I was like, if I can learn to play guitar then maybe I will be content in my old age. [laughing] Sitting on a porch writing some songs... But no, snowboarders don't really look to the future. Not the kids I hung out with anyway. It was live for the moment and live fast as hell! [laughs]

You are certainly not the type of guy to have any regrets but if you could do anything differently, what would it be?
Just to have never touched alcohol or drugs. I think if I never got involved with either of those things I would have been, you know... I wouldn't have gone through some of the bullshit I went through so that one is pretty easy, you know? Not that I didn't have a good time but it's like, looking back now I could have done a little bit better. [laughing] When partying comes into play you're not going to be riding as good and your priorities are different. If you are sober, your priorities are definitely... different. As you know!

Ah yes, if anyone knows, it's me. [laughing] So moving into your post-shred days, did the partying kind of take center stage or did you get away from both of them at the same time?
I always tried to do both but I remember one time I blew my knee, I think it was about 1997 in Tahoe. I was fine for a while and then I kept reinjuring it and eventually I couldn't snowboard anymore, so then all I was doing was drinking and looking for a place to play my guitar. When you don't have to get up in the morning to snowboard you just play the guitar all night... once I couldn't ride anymore there was really just partying, so... that was it.

Outside of snowboarding, skateboarding has always been a huge part of your life. Dare I say it was, and continues to be, your first love. Is that something you continue to fall back on?
Yeah, for sure... You don't have to change and put on snowboard clothes or anything like that....you just throw your board down on the pavement and roll and there is nothing that beats that. After doing that for a couple weeks and you get back up to speed and get your ollie back and start skating your park or whatever, then it's full on. Right now I'll be heading back to Whistler every weekend to skateboard. I was skating the White Rock park for a week and a half, and that place is kind of a step up from Whistler bowl, so I have been really getting into that. Right now, skateboarding and music are definitely the only things on my mind right now. My grandpa got me a skateboard when I was six years-old at a flea market and I have never, you know, from that moment I have never lost my love for skateboarding for sure. It's the first thing I ever really did... it's a mad love because it's been around the longest, I think. [laughing]

I have seen you in the midst of a skateboard session, and I have seen you in the midst of a music and guitar session, and you seem to thoroughly get lost and give yourself up to those two things. Where do you go, where does it take you?
I think you just stop thinking about anything else. When you're working or doing anything else you are always thinking about going skateboarding or playing music, you know? But then once I am doing either of those things I'm just not thinking at all. It's kind of like... you're just flowing. I don't ever think about anything that's going on in my life when I'm on my skateboard; I'm just skateboarding. It's the same thing with music. If I'm writing a song I might be thinking about lyrics or something like that, but when you're actually playing a song you aren't thinking about anything, which is nice. I think that's a good goal in life that everyone should have, to have these moments where you aren't thinking at all. I think that's what happens when you meditate too, so it's a really healthy thing to do.

In my experience I would turn to booze and partying to get away from things sometimes. Do you find it's nice and easier to escape to music and skateboarding and leave the bottle by the wayside?
Oh yeah, for sure. When I'm not drinking -- and I haven't drank now for a month and a half -- you stop thinking about the places you are going to go and drink. And once that's gone from your life, you think totally different. Right now all I think about is eating healthy and working out. It's helping me to skate better and you're not going to the bar and sleeping in and feeling like crap and all those other things that go along with drinking, so yeah, your priorities totally change.

Wes playing a late night private set at the Grenade Games.

It seems like you have kind of struggled with it, were there times where you thought to yourself, I've beaten it and I can go back and be OK...
Well, yeah... I quit for about three and a half years and then I started just drinking wine and then there are certain bars you go too where you would never order wine so I started drinking vodka and, you know, I wasn't down and out like I've been in the past. I just started thinking that I was missing out, you know? I thought I had it under wraps for a while... I think I've talked to you about this before, like, alcohol for me is something that doesn't change my personality, you would just see me having a way better time. [laughing] But after a while it's just a slow burn. It slowly takes you down and this winter again I was like, "OK, that's it!" Especially after the Grenade Games! [laughing] I kind of had a near-death experience so I was just like, "OK, that's it, I'm getting sober again!" [laughing] I mean, I have gotten sober in the past but this is it. I'm back on the wagon and I'm chaining myself to it this time, too. I want a better existence... I am looking for my lost innocence again. In the past when you aren't drinking you just have this innocence about you that you don't think everyone else has because they are drinking all the time. You're just like, "they don't know how good it can be!" You know? I didn't know how good it could be until I stopped drinking again. It feels pretty great now!

So what's next, what's on the horizon?
I've been recording songs in Vancouver with Roger Swan. We just finished a three-song demo and we are going to add two more to make it more of an EP.  Hopefully some people will want to use some of my songs in an actual snowboard video part instead of just the credits. I'm in the Guinness Book of Records for the most songs in credits of snowboard videos right now. I've got to try and break away from that. [laughing] I want someone to use one of my songs in a snowboard part, so I think I've got a couple on the way that are going to hit home in that department. Devun Walsh asked me for a song last year, and I didn't have one ready for him and felt kind of bad, so hopefully he will want to use one again and I'll give him the first choice, first pick anyway, and we'll see, hopefully someone else will want to use one too. I guess otherwise every chance I get, I will put my guitar and my skateboard into the car and go wherever the road takes me....

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Related:
Shred Rock: Snowboarders Who Make Music
Sean Johnson, The Legend Continues
Devun Walsh: Team Captain