CubeSlacker exclusive interview with Dan "Dandroid" Roberge - self made man - Skateboard company owner, musician, artist and much more! If you read one interview, this IS the ONE!
"I'm 32 years old. I've always been perceived as a "slacker" when it came to working "real" jobs in the "real" world. While I was working one of these jobs I could not seem to stop daydreaming about creative things, drawing, music, stuff like that. It’s always been kind of a curse I guess; I think I have had at least 250 different jobs. It never occurred to me I could make a living from my artwork until about 2001. Before that, I just wanted to be a rock star.
I have done a pretty good job escaping the cubicle world. I moved back to where I grew up with my wife and 2 children about 3 years ago from California and have been freelancing and paying the bills without punching a clock for most of the time since we returned. I am now a full time slacker I guess, read on..."
CubeSlacker: So Dan - Tell us about the cubicle job you had before you quit and became an independent type of guy?
Dan: Which one?? I have had so many jobs that I have actually been in a store and realized "shit, I used to work here!" I worked in market research in San Fransico for a long time for 2 different firms. Those were actually really cool places to work. I would mosey in around 1 pm with coffee and a fresh wake and bake (back before I had kids and could sleep until noon) and settle down into my cubicle to "work" which really consisted of reading comic books, drawing and shooting the shit with my co-workers, who had the same "work" ethic as I did. I also have worked in retail, but I crack pretty easy dealing with the idiot public. I worked at the Trader Joes in SOMA San Fransico for a while until I flipped out on some bitch that wanted me to double bag her 2 apples and potato chips. "What the fuck do you need 2 bags for? Save a tree for christ sakes, i'm sure your 2 apples will not bust the bag..." I then proceeded to tell everyone there to go to hell, grabbed my skateboard and left. I had a new job as a messenger the next day, but thats a whole 'nother story. Like I said, I have had so many jobs, they all kinda bleed together, and most of them sucked pretty bad, but the last cubicle job I had was about 5 years ago at an insurance agency, I had to sit there for 8 hours folding letters and putting them into envelopes, to do this work I would need to enter a trance and pretend I was somewhere else as one day felt like 20 and the people I worked with were something out of an old creepshow episode. That was probably the last straw.
CubeSlacker: What made you want to leave that office job? Were you prepared to quit, or was it unplanned?
Dan: Need I say more? Actually I quit that job the day after going to a party where I met this dude that worked as a flash animator at a local agency, he said they needed another designer and audio type guy, and I had been dabbling for the last couple years in web design so I figured I could do it. The next day, I went in to that insurance agency, worked about 20 minutes, screamed "fuck this place" and left, I never went back, they had to mail my last check. I went to that agency the same day and got the designer job.
CubeSlacker: Any funny office stories from your cubicle days?
Dan: There was the time my buddy brought some ganja cookies into the market research place and I ate 3 of them by myself, then when I was HIGH as could be, waltzed into the owners office and offered her a "Jamaican cookie" she, completely clueless, said thank you and that it would go well with her coffee she just got. About an hour later we heard a giggle come from her office (something the old hag wasn't known for) and her door closed. 20 minutes later she came running out of the office, wide eyed and looking very pale saying she had to go home and wasn't feeling too good. We were rolling on the floor laughing. As soon as she left we ordered pizzas. That was classic.
CubeSlacker: Any slacking tips? Any office prank favorites?
Dan: Well, as far as slacking, golden rule is to never be perceived as a slacker. Stay under the radar at all times, you gotta have eyes in the back of your head to know just when to LOOK busy. I have gotten awards, pats on the back, bonuses and raises for doing absolutely NOTHING. So if you work it right, you can be a star employee and the offices biggest slacker at the same time.
Best prank ever was (I don't recommend this as it is prob. Illegal) was the time my buddy put laxative in the office coffee. Our boss drank about 12 cups an hour of the crap and he must have gotten a dose good for 7 people. He put the magic into the pot at about 8:30 am by noon or so, Rudy, our boss was in the bathroom shooting his bowels into the bowl with projectile force (confirmed by BRAVE bathroom spys) That was a great day! Sorry Rudy, but you were an asshole anyway.
CubeSlacker: Your first "dream" job after the office was a musician right? What was it like being a musician? What band was it? Did you travel around and tour? Did you meet interesting people?
Dan: Actually, I was a musician at the same time as having these jobs in the bay area, back in the mid-90's. Until we got picked up by a label and I could finally quit, then 1 year later when the band broke up it was back to work for me. The band was called "Joes Friend" and a couple of the guys are still going strong in the LA area as "Human Life Index" They are an incredible band, its kinda middle eastern flavored rock. We were a high energy rock band with a crazy stage show, we trashed every stage we ever played. Yea we toured the west coast from Vancouver to San Diego twice. That was a freakin blast, some of the most fun I ever had. I can really mention most of the fun here in fears that my wife may read this interview, but yea, let’s just say I met some VERY interesting people, especially in LA and Seattle. There are some freaky women up there in Seattle! Our label eventually dropped us and I got sick of all the bullshit involved with making it work and quit. I went on to play in several other bands but I got pretty burnt out on the whole thing and never really got to into it all again.
