MICKE
ALBA
Upon meeting
Micke Alba, one might
assume the impression that here
is a good natured ordinary kid.
But
judging this book by its cover is a big mistake.
This man has an explosive history that runs the span
of the last four or five years. First off, as a youngster, he
skated under the big shadow of his older brother Steve (Salba).
who, in his own right, is one of the legendary masters of the vertical sport.
Micke has placed among the top ten finishers in contests since 1978
(circa Newark). undoubtedly making him the most consistent vertical contest skater
in the history of skateboarding. His contest wins consist of Boulder Cup (2nd Hester).
overall winner of the 2nd Hester Series in 1979, the first Gold Cup contest at Oasis, and just recently.
the first Rusty Harris Series contest at Upland. Through those years, Micke has battled the likes of
Steve Olson, Steve Alba, Stacy Peralta, Tony Alva, Shogo Kubo. Brad Bowman, Chris Strople,
Eddie Elguera, Andrecht, Duane Peters. Kiwi, Wally, etc., etc.
Throughout his career, he has ridden professionally for Kryptonics (his own model and
wheels). Gordon & Smith and Independent Trucks.
Micke is definitely the only full-on aggressive skater left from the early days (although being
an active veteran), but he is far from having anyone call him an "old-timer," and getting away
with it. He continues to terrorize "the Vert" (as proven through his recent victory in Upland), and
has expanded his horizons to include heavy street skating.
In these fast-paced days of our troubled world, Micke is not oblivious to impending matters of
importance. He is well aware of where he is going, and what he is going to do when he gets there.
This interview, which was conducted under the most extreme of controlled circumstances.
reveals the true concerned thoughts and revelations of ambitious, aggressive, no-B.S. youth.
-M.F.
Who were the skaters that influenced
you when you began skating?
Mainly my brother Steve, a couple of
his friends, Bob and Gary Lazone and a
quy named Mike. I forgot his last name.
Where did you first start skating?
About two blocks away from my house
First we were skating freestyle and doing
nose wheelies. Gary Lazone was basically
the best then, and he would always do
long nose wheelies, kick flips and stuff.
That's where we started. Then we found
this pool over on Central Avenue, at
couple of blocks away that we began
skating and that's where it all began. The
L' pool was further away, in Alta Loma,
that was about a year, year and a half
after we began skating
What was the beginning like, why did
you start? Did you pick up a
SKATEBOARDER magazine and say,
"Hey, I wanna do this?"
No, not really, I saw my brother and it
looked cool
Well, how did your brother start?
I don't know, he and Gary just saw a
skateboard, and he and his friends started
skating Next time I saw him he appeared
with a skateboard, and after we started
freestyling, we began seeing magazines
with pools and stuff, and we wanted to
give that a try.
So, you started skating before there
was a magazine?
No. SKATEBOARDER was out, but we
were skating before we recognized the
magazine. Then we saw the magazine
and saw vertical pool riding and stuff.
Fruit Bowl, things like that, started finding
pools around our house. We went and
skated the Grove Bowl, Bel Air Pool, and
Central Pool. The main pool in that area
was the Grove Bowl.
Grove Bowl?
Well, that's what people call it. Same
thing as the L' pool. It's the same place.
it's on Grove Avenue, so they called it the
Grove Bowl Then from there people who
really jammed then were Lee Gahimer,
Mike Kantu, Garret Chick, and this guy
named Dino. My brother was getting
pretty good, he was hitting tile and occa
sionally coping back then. We'd heard
about the L' pool and we went up there.
one day. We saw Mike Kantu and all
those guys up there, and they were gettin'
pretty rad. It totally started then.
That was back about when?
Uh, about 1975, 76
So, when did you first get approached
to start riding for people, and get
recognized as a fundamental advanced
skater?
That pretty much started like when
Pipeline opened and the skateparks
started coming in. They had Anaheim,
Concord Wave, or whatever it was called.
We went there a couple of times and then
Pipeline came. Pretty much when Pipeline
came, that's when they started recognizing
me and my brother and the skaters and
stuff
You guys were every-dayers and
Pipeline was your babysitter.
Yeah, for a couple of years, we lived
there pretty much, skated every day after
school. We'd skate 'til it closed or in
Summer and stuff we'd go there right
when it opened and stay 'til it closed.
We'd skate 8-10 hours a day back then.
You loved every minute of it, or what?
Yeah, it was cool back then, so many
people. About a hundred people in the
park at a time.
Every day?
Every day
Big business?
Yeah, totally cranking business, the
market was up. We skated Pipeline for
awhile and all the top pros were going
there and then they got an idea to have a
Pro Series. Henry Hester mainly put it
together, and then they started the Hester
Series. The first one was down in Spring
Valley. That was cool.
Yeah, I heard you got sick at that one.
Yeah, I got a little bit drunk, that was
when I was really young. They just kept
putting the beer in front of me.
How old were you then?
Uh, 11 or 12.
How old are you now?
Sixteen.
Either way, you're under age.
Yeah.
Who's the biggest threat in the skate
world today?
I'd probably say Stevie Caballero or
Billy Ruff. For sure. I remember Steve at
the first Winchester, he used to do An-1
drecht's and laybacks in the washboard at
Winchester, and he was such a cute little
kid, man.
What about amateurs, who would you
say are the up and coming amateurs?
Tony Hawk probably, but I don't really.
like the way the kid skates at all, he's so
skinny and all he does is a backside Olly
and grab his board on all different sides.
Makes it a trick, either Indy air, or backside
air, or backside Ollys.
What do you think of the "new elite" in
skateboarding? Do you like it now, or
back in the Dogtown days?
I liked it better back in the Dogtown
days, and also, the first Gold Cup Because
then, towards the peak of Eddie Elguera.
things started getting robotish; the style of
skating. Before that it was all like Total
Rad and Fast and Speed and go just as
high as you can.
What direction do you see yourself
going? You're not going to live off of
skateboarding, are you?
No, I got a job.
What do you do?
I work at Wendy's, fast food.
So, what? Are you gonna get married,
have kids, support a family?
Uh, later on in life, probably, after I get
my education, and get a steady job. I'm
going to college in the field of genetics, or
aerospace engineering.
What do you feel about all these crises
going on around us now. In two years
you'll come of age where you might be
drafted, how do you feel about that?
Well, if it happens, it happens. There's
nothing you can do about it.
If they call you, are you gonna go
or are you gonna run?
I wouldn't wanna go, I'd like to run,
but... But that's the thing, you know, it's
kind of an obligation to live. If you want to
live, you gotta do what the government
tells you Shouldn't be that way, I know
we're supposed to be free and everything
but...
You mean, if you wanna be free, you
better be prepared to die for it?
Yeah. I mind, but it's like an obligation
to life, if you have to do it, you have to do
it. There's nothing you can do about it,
you either do that (pause for reflection), or
die.
What do you think about the present
crisis in the Falklands, do you feel
threatened by that in any way?
Not really. No, it doesn't really affect me
because I'm not involved in politics in any
way and I think it's stupid