, Mexico in 2006
World Industries Song became sponsored by
World Industries at the age of sixteen years and appeared in numerous video productions for the company, including
Love Child (1992). It is in
Love Child that Song documented the first hardflip on film. Song has spoken about his time with World Industries in numerous interviews, particularly focusing on his time at the World Industries indoor skate park and being involved with a company that was overseen by
Steve Rocco, the founder of World Industries and former business partner of
Rodney Mullen—Mullen would later become a close friend and mentor to Song. Videographer, Socrates Leal, who filmed a large portion of the World Industries/
Dwindle Distribution footage since the company's inception, released footage from the World Park as part of the "30 Shot" web-based project, including segments that feature Song. Leal has revealed during his narration for one of the segments that Song has always possessed a clear awareness of what aspects of his skateboarding he would like filmed and would often instruct the filmer while skateboarding.
Love Child was then followed up by
New World Order (1993) and Song has explained that the skateboarding world had significantly changed in the one-year period between the videos: Then in '93, with New World Order, things got more serious. More skaters started coming up, and if you were filming something and someone already did it, you'd have to come up with something better. From that point on, filming got a lot harder. Song had gone into further detail about this period of his life in a 2005 interview: I lost touch with a lot of girls, and then I called Rodney and he wasn't doing too good. It was a wake-up call. At that moment I felt like I was a pathetic piece of trash. They did all this for me and I was going to give it up. It was almost as though Rodney brought me into this and had supported me, and now it was my turn to support him. I just woke up and started skating again and tried to make stuff happen again. Then Rodney and me started doing our projects, and everything from that point on has been working out great. In March 2013, Song explained the initial period of the brand's formation: Gavin brought Rudy Johnson,
Jeron Wilson and
Sean Sheffey; and then for me, I brought
Marc Johnson, Rodney Mullen and, ahh, JB Gillett. And that was our team—including me and Gavin; so there was eight. I remember when it first started—me, Kevin and Brian and Gavin ... just funny how all these things we talked about on the kitchen floor, having pizza, it actually went into motion, and it was, like, "Wow, here are the first samples!" In a press release on September 4, 2012, Matix announced the re-signing of Daewon Song, Marc Johnson, and Mike Anderson to its team roster (notably absent was young and popular former rider,
Torey Pudwill). The press release confirmed the relocation of the brand to Los Angeles, and company president, Brian Dunlap, stated, "I'm thrilled with the Westlife transition so far, and bringing these guys back onto the program was key. We have longstanding relationships and friendships that were important to keep intact, and the brand image will only grow stronger with such a good crew representing for us." As of March 2013, the Matix skate team consisted of Song, Johnson, Mike Anderson, Zach Wallin, Auby Taylor, and
Matt Berger—at this time, Song, Johnson, and Anderson all had signature clothing collections for sale. Together with 686, a snowboard company, the company relocated to a new premises in
Compton, California, US in 2013. The Matix Fall 2014 catalog video, filmed in the
Sierra Nevada region of California, US, was published on the brand's
Vimeo channel. A press release from the Sequential Brands Group, which acquired the shoe brand in mid-2012, revealed that Song had renewed his contract with the company for a further three years. The CEO of the licensing and branding company, Colin Dyne, explained in the press release that "It is critically important to us that the authenticity and integrity of the DVS brand remain . By moving forward with Daewon, a legend in the skate arena, DVS is remaining true to its heritage". Song stated in the same document that "DVS has been family since 1997 and has always had my back 100% and I will always have , 100%!!! Re-signing wasn't even a question! Just needed to make sure the damn pen worked!". On August 28, 2012, Song revealed in a Twitter post that he had commenced work on a new DVS project. Song received the cover of
The Skateboard Mag, as part of a feature on the DVS Shoes tour to
Detroit, US that occurred in late-2012—the photo is credited to Anthony Acosta, a close friend of Song. Song was previously featured on the cover of
The Skateboard Mag, in a photo also taken by Acosta, skating a transitional structure that was tied to the back of a truck in
Norwalk, California, US—Acosta has explained: I found this sheet-metal halfpipe sitting on a truck bed about two miles from where I used to live. I knew Daewon was the guy to call for this natural miniramp. We shot a few things that day and ended up getting a cover of
The Skateboard Mag with one of the photos. The DVS Shoes Facebook profile published the advertisement for Song's thirteenth signature shoe model, part of the "Daewon Song Signature Series", named the "Daewon 13"—Song is photographed performing a trick on a rust-covered structure that is in a coastal location. One-time DVS filmer, Colin Kennedy, released a video compilation that he had produced with the use of footage filmed during the
Skate More period, entitled "Daewon vs H2O". The compilation shows various settings in which Song filmed skateboarding tricks in locations where water was a primary factor, including a metropolitan sculpture of a movie reel situated within a pool of water. Part of Kennedy's blurb for the video stated, "Daewon likes a challenge. Watch any of his video parts and you'll see what I mean ... You name it and he's skated it, or at least tried." The footage that is used in the video was shot between 2002 and 2005.
Deca After nine years with World Industries, Song left the company in 1999 to found Deca Skateboards, with a team that included
Chris Haslam,
JB Gillet,
Shiloh Greathouse, and Marcus McBride (
Cooper Wilt was featured in two "hidden parts" in the second Deca video
2nd to None). After three years of operation, during which time two videos—
Sneak Preview and
2nd to None—were produced, Deca ceased operations in 2002. Following the brand's demise, McBride moved onto establishing the DGK company with Stevie Williams, Greathouse rode for Stacy Lowery and Michael Sieben's Bueno brand, JB Gillet joined the Cliche team, while Wilt and Haslam remained with Song for his next board company Artafact.
Artafact Following the cessation of Deca, Song launched a short-lived company entitled Artafact in 2002, with Haslam and Wilt included as team riders—the brand was dismantled in 2003 after eight to twelve months of operation. In a 2012 interview for the "Weekend Buzz" segment of the internet-based RIDE channel, Haslam provided a perspective on Artafact in relation to Deca: "I think I liked Artafact better—the layout of the ads was always sick. It was nice and clean and there was, like, possibilities to go there, but, you know, I guess it didn't really go anywhere, so we changed it." The Almost video
5-Incher was released June 4, 2012, and Mullen is the only team member that is not featured. The film premiered at the
Art Theater in
Long Beach, California, on May 31, 2012. Song's section in
5-Incher is the penultimate part, with Haslam providing the video's "ender" (final section). On June 18, 2012, Song then released additional footage on the internet, entitled "Daewon 5 Incher B-Side Edit", free of charge. Song was featured on the cover of the November 2012 issue of
Transworld Skateboarding Japan—he is shown performing a trick from his
5-Incher video part. The issue also features a full interview with Song, entitled "Daewon Song Best of 2012", and was sold with a DVD that consisted of the
5-Incher video and the Song
B-Sides edit, among other sections. Video footage was published throughout 2013 of Song performing new tricks that had not been captured on film before. On June 25, 2013, Song filmed a transition trick that was later called a "bolt slapper", and on October 10, 2013, Song was filmed a performing a variation of the bolt slapper, the "360 shove it bolt slapper"—both tricks were filmed at the Crailtap skatepark in
Torrance, California, US. The Almost company celebrated its 10th anniversary with an event at the
Berrics indoor skate complex in early March 2014, at which team member Youness Amrani was presented with his inaugural professional skateboard deck. Socrates Leal, a longtime videographer for Dwindle Distribution, created a video retrospective of the brand's growth since inception, entitled "10 Years of Almost." At the same time as the 10-year anniversary, the company released a collaborative series of skateboard decks with the
DC Comics comic book brand—Song's deck features the
Batman character. On October 26, 2018, Daewon Song left Almost. He and
Torey Pudwill who left
Plan B Skateboards made their own project called Thank You Skateboards.
New sponsors In mid-December 2012, Song was added to the team of Brick Harbor, an online skateboard retailer that had been formed earlier in the same year. The announcement was made in the form of a brief video part, entitled "12 Dae's of Christmas", and a corresponding competition. Since the company's inception, Brick Harbor's team has predominantly consisted of professional skateboarders who had either originated from the
East coast of the US, or who continue to be based on that side of the country—riders include
Stevie Williams, Jake Johnson,
Ishod Wair, Gino Iannucci, and PJ Ladd—and Song is the second
West coast team rider to be added to the team, alongside Dennis Busenitz, whose hometown and city of residence is
San Francisco, U.S. As of February 2017, though, the company is no longer in business. During 2012, Song was recruited onto the teams of two new companies that had been founded by fellow professional skateboarders, one who had skated for a clothing company, Matix, that Song had cofounded many years earlier.
Paul Rodriguez and
Joey Brezinski's (Brezinski had signed a contract with
Tensor Trucks, the brand that also sponsors Song, in mid-2010) new bearing company, Andale, was officially launched in 2012 and Song left his position on the Bones bearing team (prior to Bones, Song had released signature model bearings and filmed a video part for the FKD company that, as of February 2013, is within the Syndrome Distribution company). Daewon is featured on the team page holding up a selection of Andale stickers and has joined former Almost professional
Ryan Sheckler and ex-Deca rider JB Gillett on the team. Song is a featured as a sponsored rider on the Glassy Sunhaters sunglasses website and online store, co-owned/co-founded by professional skateboarder,
Mike Mo Capaldi, and his brother, Vince. Shortly after the addition of Song, a signature sunglasses model, "The Daeviator", was released and promoted heavily on the relevant websites. The humorous line, "Daewon has personally blessed everyone single pair of these to give you a portion of his balance.....you're welcome." accompanied the product's page on the Glassy Store website. Loud Headphones is a company that was founded by professional skateboarders, photographers, and videographers around 2012. The company states that its "main objective above all else is to
start something that matters" and places an emphasis upon eco-friendly, low-cost packaging that allows more money to be spent on a worthwhile product and donations to its charitable partner the Let Them Hear Foundation. Song is one of the Loud-sponsored skateboarders, alongside other team members such as Sammy Baca and Fred Gall, and has released signature model earbud headphones. Song was announced as a team member of the newly formed Knox Hardware brand in early October 2013, alongside
Chris Cole. The brand was founded by Song's longtime friend and Matix collaborator Gavin, and will also release apparel collections. Gavin explained to
TransWorld Business: "Knox's DNA and the story we want to tell is the Americana blue collar hard worker." As of February 2017, though, the brand in no longer active.
Setup On January 5, 2013, Song participated in an interview with the Alli Sports website to explain the hardware that he uses for his skateboard. Notable aspects of the interview were: Song rode a wide skateboard deck for over a decade and, in the period leading up to the interview, had followed through with a decision to transition to a wide deck—Song stated, "not much of a huge jump, but ... makes a difference."; Song appreciates bright-colored skateboards for "something while it's flipping"—he cites red and black in the interview as preferred colors; Song tightens his trucks "fairly loose", with the back truck tighter than the front for stability—Song describes his front truck as "squirrelly", revealing that he strips down the components of the front truck so that there are only one bushing "below" the truck (between the deck and the truck) and two washers "above" the truck; and Song only rides diameter wheels—he states that he has tried to ride wheels, but the difference was too significant.
Sponsors As of February 2019, Song is sponsored by Thank You skateboards, Matix Clothing, adidas Footwear, Tensor Trucks, Andale Bearings, Mob Griptape, Glassy, Spitfire Wheels, and Loud Headphones.
Video game appearances Song has made several appearances as a playable character in video games such as
Grind Session,
Session: Skate Sim and the
Tony Hawk series of games. He featured as a playable character in many iterations of the
Tony Hawk series, starting with ''
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, and appears in every main game since, with the exception of Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam. He also appears in the game Tony Hawk: Ride''. Song participated in "Tony Hawk's Secret Skatepark Tour" of America, which was organized to promote one of Hawk's video games. Alongside other skateboarders who appeared in the video game, Song toured the U.S. with Hawk's entourage and performed at random skatepark locations. During the tour, Song revealed his perspective in a magazine interview: "It's pretty crazy. I'm just used to some team manager knocking on your door, like, "Dude, we gotta get up." On this one we have like schedules." Alongside
Chris Cole, Song was also nominated by
Berrics viewers as the most-wanted contestant in the
second edition, but failed to enter. Song later explained his reason for not entering contests such as Battle of the Berrics in a July 2013 interview: Because I'm just the worst under pressure. When someone tells me that I am supposed to do something, you're not going to get it. I'm gonna slam. It has to be spontaneous for me. Every once in a while, I'll get a request and somehow end up doing it, but usually, I can't. Even if it's fairly easy, I won't be able to do it. With those contests, there are all these people watching who have such high expectations for me, I can only lose. I hate it. I don't want to let anybody down so I just shut down. In early 2014, Song was informed that he was a competitor in the "2Up" manual contest that was held at the Berrics and sponsored by Matix. (A manual is a trick whereby the skateboarder only uses two wheels.) The contest was an invitational and Song competed against nine other skateboarders, and the winner was voted by the fans of the website. Song was declared the winner on March 4, 2014 and received a trophy in addition to US$10,000 cash. Song was selected, again by the Berrics, for the "In Transition" contest that ran during October 2014. The Berrics "picked 10 of the most progressive skaters on the planet to choose one location each—any location in the world—and film a full part," and Song chose to film his part at Channel Street in Los Angeles, U.S.
Awards In 2006, Song was awarded the "Skater of the Year (SOTY)" title by
Thrasher magazine. His SOTY feature article appeared in the April 2007 edition of the magazine, for which he also appeared on the front cover. After winning the Berrics' 2UP and In Transition contests during 2014, Song was voted as the most impactful skateboarder of the year in the Berrics' Populist poll. Song prevailed among a list of nominees that included
Guy Mariano and Ben Raybourn, and received his trophy on January 27, 2015. In 2017, Daewon was inducted into the
Skateboarding Hall of Fame. ==Influence==