22
Q: During the whole Dogtown vs. The
World scene, you were at the epicenter.
What was it like?
A: That was a mag trip. I just skated. We
were different than the southers though
Now I should talk about the secret Z boy
skate park where we only skate at
night waiting for the takeover now if you
print that crap, some idiot will probably be-
lieve it.
Q: Probably... What equipment set-up
do you have?
A: You should know, you just gave me
some.
Q: For the record.
A: Peralta gives me some decks. Indy
gives me some trucks... Tell that guy to get
me a couple of other T-shirts though. I wear
em to gigs and they keep getting tore up.
Q: You used to go through a couple of
boards in a session. How 'bout now?
A: It used to depend. If a board was shabby
it was gone, now I just use 'em till they're
wore out. They last pretty long but after the
tail is scraped off up to the trucks or some-
thing. I'll usually get fronted another one.
Stacy's pretty cool about it.
Q: Do you ride for him?
A: Not at all, we're just friends.
Q: What is this cult of the Z Men?
A: Naw, we skate some, 'bout it.
Q: What do you look for in a skate set-
up?
A: Nothing...one that will do whatever I
want it to do.
Q: You've got this rowdy reputation...
A: You mean, am I one of those "punk rock"
bad boys running around causing trouble?
No man, I'm an average citizen. John Q.
Public, whatever.
Q: Is your reputation Important to you?
A: What reputation?
Q: Does that mean next question?
A: Shine.
Q: You have been obsessed with swas-
tikas on your personal equipment in the
past. For once and for all, let's dispel the
skate Nazi myth.
A: I had a couple of 'em on my boards.
Q: Well, are you a Nazi...for the record.
A: No, I don't hate no Jews or nothing like
that. It's no political trip. A skate Nazi is just,
like, dedicated completely to skatin'. It's not
about killin'.
Q: Why do you put swastikas on your
sticks?
A: I guessed it looked cool...
Q: Were you aware of the way certain
Germany military symbols tend to out-
rage the mass populace?
A: I'm not a philosopher. I did notice that
they did sort of upset some people, if that's
what you mean, we just like the way they
looked. It's sort of like a tradition.
Q: Like surf Nazis-skate Nazis.
A: Yeah.
Q: How about the much dreaded Val.
You've also been labeled as the defini-
tive, consumate local.
A: The pit, huh? I've got a lot of friends from
the valley. A Val is more an attitude, just a
goon, you don't have to be from San Fer-
nando or wherever to be a Val. I know
some total Vals from Dogtown.
"What old times?"
Q: Is the Dogtown trip still strong?
A: If you mean Mutt and Jeff, the twins, I
heard they're bankrupt, and Muir and
Humpston are gonna sue 'em. The skate
party trip is still there. I see the boyz occa-
sionally; the skatin' goes on...maybe differ-
ent people but same trip. I guess there's a
lot of little dogs coming up.
Q: What do you think caused the down-
turn in public acceptance of skating?
A: Why did it go out?
Q: Yeah.
A: They took the fun out of it by trying to
make everyone skate parks and do their
trip.
Q: Who do you mean by they?
A: You know who they are, the same ones
they always are...
Q: The controllers?
A: Yeah. They took away the fun...sneakin
in to backyard pools, downhill runs...you
know, what you might call its illegal nature.
Q: I think just skating on the sidewalk
around here is a legal violation, but even
the cops know there are bigger crimes.
A: So they tell me... The people who let it
die are jerks; 'cause skating is just too
much fun to go out. We were pushing
everything so far and getting more and
more rad. Maybe it was too radical for 'em.
Q: Do you think it's gone back to the
same as, say, around 75?
A: A lot of people are skating around hav-
ing fun, so, in that way, yes.
Q: You still go to a lot of gigs?
A: Naw...out of it. Haven't been for three
days.
Q: You have any future plans?
A: Yeah, I'm gonna go cruise in Scheliga's
new Mercedes with Angel. Later.
THER
Photography by C.R. Stecyk III
"I guess it looked cool..."
23