Let's think of your career, why did you
start clicking, and why did you start
coming up on top?
I don't know, I was motivated by the
first Hester Series. It was neat how you
get all the skaters together, with an old
skater putting everything on, with a nice
purse, nice money, and everything, and
just the intensity and energy going through
everything just made me want to skate.
So me and my brother really started
skating hard and David Morin came
around. The guy from Kryptonics. He
pretty much became our coach, me and
my brother.
Was he like a big brother?
Not so much a big brother as much as
a father. He took us around everywhere.
Basically like a stepfather, bought us
everything, kept us totally supported.
David's a nice guy.
Yeah, he is.
So, he was pretty rigorous, like a D.I.,
huh?
There you go. Then, after David, it
pretty much motivated me to do a lot.
That's when a lot of the discipline came in
and the hard training. We couldn't go to
the skatepark and couldn't skate the
backruns anymore. It was hit the pool and
learn the tricks and, you know...pretty
much, he disciplined us.
What would you say is the most radical
thing you've ever seen?
I'd have to say my brother jumping over
Dunlap's back like in the centerfold of
SKATEBOARDER magazine. Doing a
frontside air over Dunlap.
That's the most radical thing you've
ever seen?
Pretty much. There's been some other
ones. You can go from modern to ancient.
all the gnarly edgers and one-wheelers
and berts and grinds back then. But then
you can look now and see Stevie doing
Caballerials and Elguera doing Elguerials.
The old has more intensity, that's for sure.
I mean the feeling was there, things of
that sort. It was all hardcore aggression. It
wasn't like nowadays, like for example,
Ray Bones skating smooth. I'm not trying
to put Ray Bones down or anything. I
mean, I dig the way he skates, he's totally
clean and everything, but back then, you
know, it was aggression, Alva, J. Adams,
Yeron, all those guys. I mean, all it was,
was 100% Aggression.
Exactly. 100% Aggression. Who would
you say is the most radical skater
you've ever seen all around, so far?
I'd have to go back to the olden days.
I'd probably say Steve Olson.
What skater would you say benefited
the most from competitive skateboard-
ing?
My brother Steve, because in the
beginning in Spring Valley, he won the
contest that was $1,000. Then your main
manufacturer matched it, which made it
$2,000. Then from there you usually have
a board and wheel manufacturer and
truck manufacturer, he would usually put
some money in, and for pictures in a
magazine you'd get money. So you'd
come out of every contest in a two-day
weekend with about $2,500. I mean every
time, back in the old days. Then Elguera
got into it. He got into it just a little bit late,
and the purses were down, instead it was
$700 and the manufacturers weren't
matching anymore. But I think he could
have about a grand or more, if he had
stayed in it a little bit longer.
What's the most you ever made in a
contest? Did you prosper?
I kinda came out of it in the bad end,
too. Because let's say Olson, Shogo
Kubo, Tony Alva and my brother got in it
when it was good, at the right time, made
their money.
Are you satisfied with who you're
riding for?
To a certain extent, yes, because no
matter who you ride for, you're not gonna
get everything
Do you think you could do better riding
for someone else?
I doubt it.
G&S is basically a Christ-oriented
company. Do you follow along with it?
No.
Then, basically, anybody who rides for
G&S is not a Christ-centered person?
Yeah. Not all the skaters who ride for
G&S go to church every day. I don't really
think anybody goes by it, but it's a good
idea.
Do you see a loyalty to Independent?
Yeah, there is definitely.
Then what's it like being an Indy team
member?
Independent, that's exactly what it is,
you're not obligated to do anything, you
can skate any way you want. You don't
have to enter a contest or anything, all
you got to do is get out there and terrorize.
'cuz that's mainly what Independent's all
about.
What type of equipment do you get
furnished by your promo outfits? Do
they furnish you with anything at all?
Ummm, yeah, they do.
Do you get kickbacks from profits on
your boards?
Uh, yeah.
Once a month? Once a year?
It's not so much a time thing, it's how
many boards they sell.
I notice you don't use Grind Masters
when you skate, you want to tell me
about that?
I don't believe in them, I don't believe in
any devices you put on a skateboard, it's
not right. I mean you got your board, your
trucks, and your wheels. That's all you
should have.
And ride it until it breaks?
Yeah. That's the way it goes, ride like
the old days.
You are the only non-Grind-Master
skater, aren't you?
Uh, my brother is.
I like the sound and the feel of them,
the 'bark."
Yeah, it puts more intensity into your
skating. I think it's cool, all the older
skaters do it, and you notice all the
robots, they've gotta have all these
mechanical devices. Your copers, your
railguards, all that shit. I think it's a bunch
of bullshit. For curbs you have to have
Grind Masters, I can understand that But
not in pools. You have more speed in, a
pool, all your force is going with you.
So, you'd rather, say, "ride the board
nude" as much as possible. Nude in
the sense of no truck protectors, no
nose guard, none of that stuff?
Minus all that stuff, yeah.
You don't use grab rails, either?
Well, on my pool board I have them on
right now, but I don't want them on. G&S,
they kinda told me to, but on my next
board I won't have them on. I don't believe.
in 'em, rails and noseguards, blocks and
copers and shit. I think it's all a joke. You
don't need 'em.
What kind of wheels do you ride on
your board?
G&S 50/50's, they're pretty good, all the
wheels nowadays though are basically
the same.
You slide much when you skate?
Uh, no not really.
Who's more serious about skating
now, you or your brother?
Right now, me. My brother just jelled,
he's fading, it'll happen to everybody. The
same thing with everybody, I'll stop when
the challenge isn't there anymore. But I
get challenged easier, whenever there's a
contest. That challenges me to enter and
get in the top ten, so I always try to do
that. But, like in any sport, like you have
Eric Heiden, he did what nobody else
could do, you know, in speed skating, and
he got burned out on that. So he quit and
now he's cycling. Look at Mark Spitz, all
the Olympic people, once you get to the
top, there's nowhere to go but down.
You could become an announcer.
See what I mean?
Who's your favorite skater now?
I don't really have one, just old skaters,
and MOFO's girlfriend.
What's one of your favorite maneuvers?
What do you have wired the best?
I'd probably say backside air and
inverts, carves and grinds.
When you grind, do you like to grind
mono-rail or do you like to grind just
your rear truck?
It doesn't really matter, either way is
cool
Are you into hand-plants much? Have
you ever been?
Yeah, I was pretty much for a while
there, that's what I was known for, to do
inverts and shit. I kinda majored in that
trick a lot. I mean, I didn't do all the robot
shit like twisting your body and doing all
that stupid mechanical stuff. You just did
a nice clean extended stomp handplant
What do you mean by robotish?
They skate like a robot.
Not naturally?
It's natural like us, but it's like they're
computerized. Their coach up at the top.
getting his computer to go, like a remote
control box, and he'll just say do this and
this.
What did you think of Neil Blender's 4-
5 second handstands? Do you like
those?
No. I think they're kinda dumb. I think
it's computerized or something mechani-
cal, robotish. Dumb. Waste of time. That
other five seconds you could do a hand-
plant, an extended one stop for about a
half a second, go down, still staying rad,
go up and do another rad trick and you
get twice as many points.
BMX suck?
Yeah, that shit's lame. I don't like BMX
at all.
What do you think of the judging at
these new contests?
Oh, I think it really sucks. It really does.
It's definitely not up to par. I think if you're
gonna make a sport. I think you gotta set
down some lines, set down some rules
and follow 'em. In other sports they set
down the rules and follow them. In
skateboarding I think they should make a
distinction whether you do a two-foot
backside air nice and clean and make it
and then did a three-foot backside air
totally sketchy, foot off, hang up, every-
thing. Which is going to be scored higher?
I think they should make a distinction
between sketchiness, smoothness and all
that. I think it'd be a hard distinction to do,
but I think to promote the sport, into more
things, into television, things like that
they've gotta start making distinctions like
that
Nowadays I think it's getting way too
robotish and these people are doing these
tricks that are just so far advanced that it's
stupid. I mean you can do a three-foot
backside air and get twice as many points
for doing some kind of a one-and-a-half
flip or something that's barely even out in
the first place. I think if you really want to
win a contest, all you gotta do is your
tricks, just do them bio. So bio, you
should beat 'em. No problem, 'cuz the old
way is, you do lines fast, and you do the
tricks as hot as you could. Nowadays you
go back and forth roboting and just doing
stupid tricks that are so far advanced
they're dumb. I mean STUPIDITY