The Joey Leon Interview
Intro and Interview // Jake Sullivan. June 29, 2025
What does it mean to be a true “student of the game”? For snowboarders, it involves much more than understanding the nuances of a certain trick or memorizing the Cliff Notes version of our culture's history. Only those who completely immerse themselves in every minute detail of our world deserve that moniker. They aim not only to excel on their own path within snowboarding but also to understand the various roles that enable the gears of our industry to spin continuously. True students commit so deeply that, in most instances, they never get out. Although that was likely the plan all along.
Snowboarding naturally attracts these types of people. “Lifers” as they are often known. Their brains can’t turn it off. It’s a never-ending loop of learning all that came before them, pushing the line of what’s in front of them, and envisioning what will be next. Many people simply snowboard; some consider themselves snowboarders; and even fewer attempt to create a life around it. But this level of madness is beyond anything your average rider could ever comprehend.
That endless cycle of unremitting snowboard consumption is the space in which Joey Leon operates at all times. He is as true a snowboard rat as I’ve ever known—the definition of a student of our game.
To avoid burning out, riders occasionally pull back, attempting to hold onto some aspect of life outside the industry. Not for Joey, though. It’s all snowboarding, all the time. When he’s not on the road filming, his routine usually includes snowboarding all day, driving around in the evening to find spots, and finishing things up at home by watching old snowboard videos for hours. He studies the tricks and immerses himself in the music and culture portrayed in these videos from all eras of snowboarding, which has shaped his style in the best way.
We’ve been on missions together on a few horrible days, and he never seems fazed. He always has a huge smile and a strong work ethic; entirely focused on the trick at hand, regardless of whether it’s his or for someone else. It’s an infectious attitude to be around, something that rubbed off on me last winter while standing in the middle of a field in Ludlow for hours on one of the coldest days of the year. It was the kind of cold that made you want to convince everyone it wasn’t worth it, but Joey’s stoke and motivation to get the clip—despite it not being for him—kept the energy high. In the end, we got to witness Connor Cav stomp something awesome.
Joey at Darkside on the Route 100 Tour. photo: Jake Sullivan
Joey’s been down with Darkside since he first stepped foot in the shop as a young, wide-eyed 11-year-old. Riding around Killington as a grom alongside his older sister Maggie and friends like Jake Fern, they eventually formed the Spotheads crew. Years later, those videos would help put Vermont back on the map at a time when it felt like none of the industry was looking our way. Now a global AM for Rome Snowboards, a company deeply rooted in the Green Mountain State, Joey continues to hold it down for Vermont and Darkside, while still staying involved in bigger projects, like Rome’s Particle that dropped last year.
He recently released a new edit, so I asked if we could link up to catch up on what went down last winter, whether there will be a Spotheads 3, and more. Check it out!
Joey in Quebec a few years back. photo: Matt Pellatt www.mattpellatt.com
Thank you for coming through, dude! I think we should start with this past winter. What went down?
Joey: Yep. It was the very first spot of the year, I think it was November 23rd. I went to this zone to try something I was way hyped on, and it wasn’t going to work that day for whatever reason. But since we were there, I settled on hitting this other spot I didn't care about. I wasn't focused at all, and then out of nowhere, I tore my ACL. I didn't even see it coming because I walked off. I thought I was fine.
I remember seeing you shortly after, and you thought you just tweaked your knee.
Joey: Yeah, I thought it was just sprained, but I didn't ride because I know knee stuff is dangerous. Then I got it checked out a week later, and they were like, “Your ACL is completely torn”. So I scheduled my surgery for the soonest date and started doing pre-surgery PT to speed up the recovery time. That was the first day Noah (Colville) and I went out to film for the new Rome video.
You were originally supposed to have a dual role in that video, correct? To both film and ride in it?
Joey: Yeah, the plan was for Noah and me to film each other, essentially being the main filmers for the project. Going into the season, it was a little scattered. We didn't really know who was actually going to be involved. So when I got hurt, that raised a lot of questions because it was supposed to originally just be me, Noah, Casey, Maggie, and Drake, if it was possible. So that got pretty stressful real quick after being hurt. (Matt) Stillman, the Rome team manager, and everyone else were super understanding, offering support if we wanted to shift the project or bail on it entirely, but Noah and I were saying that we got this. Noah’s brother Micah had just gotten on the team, and we just wanted to make it happen. I didn't even care if I was in it or not, because we had such a good crew by the time we started filming. Drake ended up having a ton of time to commit to the video. Poly from Quebec was with us and got a few cameos, which was also around the same time we picked up Derek Lemke. By the end of the year, it went from a loose crew to, “Holy crap, we have a lot of footage”. This movie is going to be pretty awesome.
I can’t wait to see it! Something you just said that has always stood out to me about you was, “I don't even care if I'm in the video or not”. I’ve always said your dedication to other people's snowboarding is as sincere as your own. Where does that passion come from?
Joey: I don’t really know. Sometimes it's a lot easier to hype someone else up for something than yourself (laughs). There are just times when you're like, I can't wait to get after it. And then other times, you just tried something 300 times, you finally got it, and you’re just cooked.
Do you think that mentality came from the Spotheads' days? I feel like you wore the hat of squad leader for those videos.
Joey: Probably. We just learned about filming each other and figured out the flow at a pretty young age. When Fern and I were 13, we used to argue with each other about who would film who first. And then we just learned that if neither of us cares about our own clips, we will get the most clips. If you want the video to be good, everyone must be selfless. This current Rome crew had that, which is probably why it worked so well.
When did you start operating a camera? I've always said you can film and edit just about as well as you can snowboard.
Joey: Thank you, for real. I appreciate that. I got my first camera when Maggie and I were super little kids. Growing up in Connecticut, we had Taekwondo on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and next to it was a Best Buy. So we’d just go into Best Buy afterward and play with all the cameras and laptops. I remember seeing a Mac and opening iMovie and being like, “Whoa, iMovie!” It blew my mind (laughs). Maggie and I convinced our dad to get us a crappy little camera, and he bought us a Nikon Coolpix L110. I got my first HVX when I was 15. I saw one in a Videograss movie, and was like, this is the one. Tyler Mills (Darkside manager at the time) had one too. And I’ve never left that model since.
I’ve actually been using an HVX as part of my physical therapy.
Really?
Joey: Yeah, I stand on one leg holding the camera and go down and touch the ground. It's like a hamstring exercise. My physical therapist asked, “Do you have any five-pound weights?" I was like, "No, but I have a broken HVX." So I showed her, “Look, this is my camera! This is what I use.” She laughed and thought it was cool.
Where in Connecticut did you grow up?
Joey: Simsbury, about 20 minutes west of Hartford.
We all started somewhere. Joey very early on. photo: Leon Family Archives
How did you get into snowboarding down there?
Joey: Well, my dad was a huge skier. My parents met in Killington, actually. But about 15 minutes from where I grew up was a small resort called Ski Sundown. So we had been going there all the time and skied since we were little kids. I have no idea when snowboarding came to be. I'm positive that was all Maggie, though. She was like, “Let's snowboard," and I was like, “I don't know, but ok”. I was 5 and she was 7. She got a board first that we would share sometimes, and when she turned 8, she got a new one, so I got her old one. By the time I was 9, I had fully quit skiing. I remember trying to slide this tiny rail on my skis and just getting bodied over and over. Then I tried the same rail on my snowboard one day, got a 50 first try, and thought, “That felt way cooler”.
Ski Sundown, Connecticut. photo: Jake Fern
(laughs) I love that. When did you start coming to Vermont?
Joey: We started coming to Killington and doing the weekend program when I was 11. Ricker and Gillian were our coaches. I remember wanting to do all sorts of tricks, but Gillian made us do all the basics - 5050s, boardslides, and so on. I did one 5050, and she was like, “Good, now do it three more times”. I wanted to learn 180 on, and she said, “That’s awesome, but maybe next week”. They made us just hammer the fundamentals. Something about the way she said it made me not question her, and sure enough, when I tried 180 on eventually, I got them way faster. Gillian was the sickest coach I could have ever asked for. She's still a life mentor. And she tattoos us (laughs).
That’s the way to do it, you’ve gotta master the fundamentals.
Joey: Yeah, you don’t understand that when you’re 11 years old. But it's 100% the way to learn.
Finally checking off his childhood dream trick on the Slush Route 100 tour. March 2024. Killington. photo: Karlos Jeri
You mentioned Tyler Mills and Evan Ricker (former Darkside managers)...When did you start hanging around the shop?
Joey: When I was 11. That was like 15 years ago! While he was our coach, Ricker would give us “homework”, and one day he said, “Go ride Darkpark tonight”. Fern and I were like, “What the hell is Darkpark?” So we figured it out and went to the shop. I met Mills right away that day. All the guys at the shop were instantly just messing with us. You know what I mean? Just like giving us shit. That first year we started going to Darkside, Maggie and I were handed Peepshow and The Shred Remains. Those were the first two movies I ever owned. I got into snowboard videos 100% because of Darkside.
What were your initial thoughts on Darkside when you first walked in?
Joey: I thought it was the fucking craziest, coolest place ever. I don't even know. I didn't even know metal music was a thing, and I walked in and Ace of Spades or something was playing. There was the big couch, and Dakota (Whittaker), The Kid (GBP), and everyone were just posted up on it. All the Darkpark rail jams went insane that year, huge bonfires, and I was just like, this is real life. Russell Daglish was doing switch nose presses on the down bar with a Signal board, and I remember being like, “What's Signal?” You know what I mean, though? Just seeing all this snowboard culture and the scene for the first time.
That’s something so special that only core local shops can foster. I had a similar experience at the original Darkside location nearly 15 years before you. Stepping foot in the shop changed everything in my life instantly, and I've never looked back.
You had a crazy squad in that weekend program at the time: Maggie, Fern, Ryan Sihler, and George. Were you guys doing events around Vermont and meeting kids from other zones?
Joey: We would do USASA, but our crew was literally in last place at every event, except Maggie, of course. I remember going to Mount Snow, I must have been 11 and on the weekend program for about a month at that point. I was pretty good in my head, and then the first practice run I watched right before I dropped was Storm (Rowe). He went blunt same way, back lip, front 7, back 7 for his warm up. And I remember being like, “I literally don't think I've seen a 720 before”. I'm scared to hit this jump, and Storm warms up with a front 7. I'll never forget that. But Maggie always did great.
It wasn't always dead last, apparently. Joey (L), Caleb Kamins (center), and Tommy Block (R). Killington 2013.
I’ve never thought of you as a contest kid, haha.
Joey: For sure. By the time I was 13, I was like, “Oh, I definitely don't have to do these contests”.
Is this when you really began to dive deep into videos and video culture?
Joey: Yeah, I think not doing well in those kinds of contests while at the same time being handed videos to watch from people who I already thought were the coolest people in the world. I saw everyone who would hang around at Darkside and go to those Darkpark rail jams, and it was just such a different way of life. It was nothing like I had ever seen in the Connecticut suburbs. It sucked me right in.
Not to mention it’s the polar opposite of USASA.
Joey: Yeah! Everyone’s drinking PBR, and there were fires (laughs). It was sick. I feel like I didn’t know anything living in Connecticut. Being at the shop and getting these videos was also my introduction to music. I don’t think I knew any music at all before then. I’ve tried to think, and I can’t recall any music I knew before age 11. Then, that next summer, Maggie and I would just hang out at the shop all day, skate the ramp, and walk to the Market and back. Mills and Ricker started giving us small tasks to do, and afterwards gave us videos to watch, kind of like payment. The first one was Forum Vacation. I had never even heard of Forum yet, and they kept giving us videos from there. It was blowing my mind.
Good on those guys for having the foresight to pass these videos on to you. Knowing who you are today, that small gesture from those guys at the shop was a pivotal moment in your life. They could’ve just given you stickers, and who knows what would have happened (laughs)
"Maggie discovered snowboarding for us, so it felt right that she was always ahead of me."
I’ve always thought it’s awesome that you were able to experience this all with your sister Maggie, from day one as little kids sharing a board to now, when you both ride for Rome and get to travel and film together on occasion.
Joey: Yeah. It’s the best. I remember we had a lesson at Ski Sundown when we were about 5 years old. The instructor stood his glove up vertically on the snow and ollied over it. Maggie and I were just like, “What the fuck just happened?” It was the craziest thing I had ever seen. I feel like that was the spark right there for us both. Maggie got it a bunch of times. I never got over it. Couldn’t get over it, dude.
Never ollied the glove?
Joey: I never got over it (laughs). Maggie was always a little bit ahead of me. I was just always following her and trying to keep up.
Did you two ever get competitive with each other?
Joey: At one point, everyone at Darkside, Ricker, literally everyone, would constantly let me know that Maggie was better than me (laughs). But I never took it any type of way. It was healthy because we didn’t have to compete against each other. She’s the one who discovered snowboarding for us, so it felt right that she was always ahead of me.
When did you start getting sponsored?
Joey: Ricker lined me up with the Rome rep when I was 13, and I got boards from him until I was 16 or 17. Then Ricker became the Gnu rep for New England, so he took me with him. Which was fine with me because I felt like Rome was in a weird transition phase. I didn’t relate to the brand at the time, but then again, I was just a regional rep rider(laughs). I was on Gnu for a few years under Ricker, and a few after he left, when Joey Siciliano took over. Joey was the man. He helped me a lot. Got us some budget for a movie, would hook me up with boards to sell. He really looked out for me. He'd come over to drop some gear off, and we'd end up kicking it for hours and watching videos. He's such a good homie.
Front board in Quebec from Rome's Particle. photo: Max Lyons
How did you eventually find your way back to Rome?
Joey: It was my sophomore year of college, George and I were living together and he came home freaking out. He was like, “Yo, Renee's turning pro at Darkside, we’re going”. We rushed down there and got to ride Darkpark with Renee, Stale, and some of the team. A bunch of people from the company were there too. So I just went and met those guys, and then the next day Tucker (Zink) was like, “You should get on Rome. I talked to Stillman, and they'll put you on the Am team”. And then Stillman DM'd me like a whole thing the next day. He just said they were stoked to do whatever they could. And that was it. I started with a budget, which was super cool—first time getting paid!
I remember when you got on and thought it was such a good fit. Plus, seeing Rome put someone from Darkside on the team, continuing the long history between the shop and the brand, hit close to home for me.
Okay, big topic here. Spotheads. Who started the crew?
Joey: Me and Jake Fern. That was the very beginning, but it wasn’t called Spotheads yet. Everyone at Darkside would call us chooches, meaning like idiots, so we named our YouTube account Chooches. Then we made Rebirth my senior year of high school. That was our first full-length.
So you were hitting street spots already in high school? Do you remember your first spot ever?
Joey: Yeah, my first spot was at Killington. I was 13. I took the bus there to hit it (laughs). I actually learned how to back 3 on at that spot.
What was the spot?
Joey: That little down ledge by Highline. That weird bowed out thing.
You did back three onto that down at your first street spot?
Joey: Yeah, the video's still up. I still suck at back 3s, so It didn't do me much good, but I was like, whoa, this is cool. That just set the course.
Not his first spot, but an early one nonetheless. Connecticut, 2014. photo: Nick
Didn’t you make a video before Rebirth that never saw the light of day?
Joey: Yeah (laughs). It was my sophomore year of high school, and we went hard filming that year. We actually tried really hard. There was so much snow in CT that winter. I would go to Sundown after school and then try to convince someone to bring me to a spot because we couldn't drive yet. Fern had this crappy little handy cam and was taking the bus around town with his homie trying to get clips and linking up whenever we could get our moms to drive. We filmed a whole movie and brought the clips to Mills at Darkside, and he was like, “Dude, your computer's not plugged into anything. You need a hard drive.” My computer was so full that it was about to short-circuit. So Maggie tried to put all the clips on a hard drive and accidentally deleted the entire movie. We lost all that footage.
That’s brutal.
Joey: Then we made Rebirth, which was our senior year of high school. Maggie was in college by that point, so we didn't get to link with her very much at all. But that was our first video that we were proud of, you know?
It wasn’t Spotheads yet, though, right?
Joey: No, my freshman year of college is when we made the movie Mercy. We weren't even much of a crew at that point because we were young, trying to figure it all out. Then the following year, we had way more momentum. George was in on it now. Dave, who is in Quebec, was fully involved in it. Maggie was getting more time to link. That was when we made Processing Delay. After that, we were like, “We really need to come up with a crew name”.
Where did the name come from?
Joey: It just came one day. It was like potheads like weed, but we like spots. There wasn't much to it. We were like, all right, we’re Spotheads, so we just named that video we dropped Spotheads. It was just like a name. At that point, we had a more solid crew, too. Austin was in the mix. That was the first year we filmed with Zeb Powell. IV came up, and we were getting older and getting way more into filming. Everyone was in Burlington, we had such a good crew, and there was so much snow. It felt like pulling bungee was never a problem. We were always rolling 12 deep to any spot we went to. I think it was all filmed in Vermont. And Quebec.
You went on to do Spotheads 2, S12, and Not A Phase. You guys were really shining a light on the East Coast. It reminded me of the Iron Curtain era. What's going on with Spotheads these days?
Joey: It's on hold. We lost one of our filmers at one point, him and I were the ones who would coordinate everything and try to keep the ball rolling as much as possible. So when he left, it got harder to work as productively. We did S12, and Not a Phase, but it felt like everyone was going in different directions. Not a Phase was me running around like crazy with a camera, trying to make it happen.
You always filmed most of the videos, though, right?
Joey: Yeah. Somebody would run another angle when needed, but I was filming and editing those videos. Well, IV was helping me on the editing side of things. We were just busting our asses really hard with no income, really. It just felt like at a point, I was pushing people away by wanting to keep making these videos. So I was like, I just want my fucking friends. The friendships are more important. Plus, Fern was going on the Goon Tours, Austin was trying to further his carpentry skills, and that’s when Rome started talking about doing a project, which became their Particle video.
Any chance on Spotheads 3?
Joey: Yeah, absolutely. I hope that happens. Let everyone do their thing for a few years and regroup. You never have to put it to bed. When the time's right, it'll be worth it. We don't want just to put together something, put it out, and call it 3, you know? We could have done that already. We didn't for a reason.
We’ll all be patiently waiting.
What are you doing these days? I know you're doing rehab from your knee injury. What’s up with this new edit you just dropped?
Joey: You can watch it at the bottom of this page! It's a remix of some used and some unseen footage from winter 23/24. I had a bunch of leftover clips from Particle that Devin didn't end up using. I also went and filmed with Henry, JP, and Eli. I’ve just been laid up and had all these extra clips, so I decided to put something together. It didn't feel fair to make Viz go out with me three or four times and then just have his clips not sit anywhere. And same with Eli. And we got some pretty good stuff, so I put it together just as a keepsake.
I’ve watched it a bunch since you sent me the first draft. You edited it too?
Joey: Yeah.
Dude, the editing is so good. It works with the song so well.
Joey: Thanks. Yeah, I actually ended up having a lot of fun with it.
Joey: The whole state of Connecticut is just awesome. There's so much weird infrastructure. You can go from being in a brand new, mint town with perfect rails where you get kicked out of just for looking at them, then drive like 10 minutes and you're in the shittiest part of Connecticut ever with rundown buildings that you can snowboard all over. Finding the snowpack is tough because it differs the closer you get to the ocean. I mentioned earlier that my sophomore year, we had a ton of snow and filmed all winter, but we lost all the footage…that was the year they filmed Video Gracias. And so much of that movie is filmed in Connecticut. They just went there on a two or three-week trip or something, and then were like, this place is sick and just ended up staying for two months or something. So sick.
What’s your current involvement with this new Rome project?
Joey: Noah and I are going to edit it, with some help from Devin as well. The video is coming together nicely. I have some good ideas of the general direction, but I'm keeping it open for input from everyone. The crew is experienced, so it will be good to get everyone involved. Drake and Derek filmed a bunch of parts together. Casey filmed a lot of stuff with Gomez and John over the years, and Noah and Micah have been making their videos. So they will all actually have opinions, which will be nice.
Do you have any plans for next season? Or are you just staying focused on getting healthy and finishing this video for now?
Joey: I'm feeling pretty strong. I mean, I'm on my feet, dude. Those HVX dips are really helping. (laughs) But just trying to make the video as good as it can be, like one step at a time. Just focus on that for now. I would love to do another Rome video if this one goes well and the opportunity is available.
Any shouts you want to give?
Joey: Yeah, I have a lot of shout-outs. But most importantly, Mom, Maggie, Darkside Billy, obviously, you Jake, Mills, Ricker, Gillian, Tucker, Fern, everyone at Rome, and all the Spotheads.
Check out Joey's Remix edit below and keep your eyes peeled for something new coming from Rome Snowboards this fall.