J.F.A. (Jody Foster's Army) from
Phoenix, Az., has been together for
almost two years now with no
personnel changes. The members
are: Don-guitar, Brian-vocals, Bam
Bam-drums, and Mike-bass.
Before J.F.A., Phoenix had no
hardcore scene, (freaks like Frank
Discussion don't count). Everyone at
the old shows were at least 20, and
danced with their new wave
girlfriends. Then came J.F.A., with
J.F.A. came the skaters, with the
skaters came the "H.B. Strut" and
clashes with the old types. J.F.A. was
kicked out of every club they played
(even after packing the club(s) on off
nights). To an outsider, the J.F.A.
Don Pendleton unleashing guitar licks, and coping licks
at a closed Whittier Skatepark.
J.F.A.
The Faction on Steve Caballeros tamp Ramsay Photo
Hailing from San Jose, The Faction
came into existence on Halloween
day, 1982. The band consists of five
members: Russ Wright, 17, on guitar
Gavin O'Brien, 18, on vocals; Steve
Caballero, 18, on bass; Keith Rendon,
16, on drums; and Adam Segal, 17, on
guitar.
They are planning to release a 45
soon and will be featured on High
Speed Productions tape of skateboard
bands.
Each and every member of this
band is very comfortable twelve feet
above ground zero with nothing but
their wits and a skateboard beneath
their feet.
shows must resemble riot, complete
with wasted kids in Indy/Santa Cruz
shirts, graffiti, and acid dropping off
of cars in the parking lot (someone
else's cars of course!)
Only Bam is actually from Phoenix
Don is from Huntington Beach
(attending school in Az.), Brian is from
Long Beach, and Mike is from Kansas
All members skate, so skateboarding
figures into their music heavily. They
get more than their share of hassles
for playing and skating, hence their
dim view of society, rules, and cops.
"Bow to no Man!"
Faction
tions above. They sing of the sadness of
alcohol abuse, anti-drog, anti-religion,
anti-sexism, anti-racism, and almost every
skateband has at least one song about,
skateboarding
A percentage of the bands tour to a
certain extent, sometimes covering almost
alt of the U.S., some go to Canada and
some even go to Europe. There has
developed a sort of circuit, culminated from
communications between groups in
different cities. It's not uncommon for a
band to play to a sold out crowd at a big hall
one night and then drive four hundred
miles to play at someone's garage,
backyard, or living room, out in what
seems the middle of nowhere, Kansas,
Montana, lows, etc. This sort of travel
instigates friendships throughout the
country, and more often than not, the
Brian Brannon "Surf punks we're not.
skateboard we do!" Day on the dirt,
Berkeley. Frontside air, Dead Cat pool.
travelling skatebands meet up with other
skaters in the little towns and session at
the local spots.
Cory, the bassist for the NECROS, an
Ohio based band, broke a leg bone skating
a ramp in Oregon, midway through one of
their tours. He just sat on his cabinet while
performing on the rest of the tour.
Don Pendleton, guitarist of JFA, claims
nearly a dozen boards for that band's
quiver. When they tour, they always plan to
do some skating, somewhere, wherever it
may be. They always pack extra Grindmas-
ters. There are skaters everywhere in the
woodwork of this and other nations.
The circumstances surrounding a
skater's influences and nature, differs from
city to city. But the one thing that is a
universal emotion from skater to skater, is
the ability to recognize and appreciate a
hot contemporary at work shredding
terrain. An amicable bond is formed.
Communications become apparent. The
main vehicle is THRASHER Magazine.
But then, just as important, are the little
local fanzines and skate rags. Here one
can obtain reports of a more localized
nature.
In the bigger cities, it seems to have
become fashionable for punk rockers to
carry around'a skateboard, some can't
even ride ten leet, while others ride in
engineer boots clumsily down the
sidewalks. What can it all mean? We may
not ever know, but it is sure happening
from Chicago to San Francisco, to Boise,
to Reno, to Buenos Aires; Brazil; to
Calgary, Canada; to Phoenix, to Los
Angeles, to Butler, Missouri; to Boston, to
Stockholm, Sweden; to Austin and Dallas,
Texas; to Tokyo, Japan: to London,
England, It finally comes to your town.
Someone once said that music is the
International Language. It's time that
someone said that Skateboarding and
Music are the International Language.
"The seventies were the age of nothing,
the eighties is the age of youth."
Lou Beaumont-Skater
Photograffiti
WEST VIRGINIA
Enclosed is a picture of my ramp I've
been writing about. None of my letters
were printed so I sent proof this time. As
you can see, it's a bowl. You can also see
that it isn't completed yet, but have no
fear, it should be finished around June
(we've been working on it since May '82,
but good things come with time). When
completely finished, it will have
platforms with guardrails all the way
around, a rounded drop in (right now, we
do elevators), and (if funds hold out)
coping all the way around.
The corners are not finished yet, but
they will go all the way to the top as does
the rest of the ramp. Carving should be
insane and we are looking forward to
some radical skating this summer.
The vital stats are as follows: transi-
tion, 10 ft. radius; vert about 2'3" ft.; flat
8 ft.; dimensions of frame, 28 ft. each side
(it's a square): corners have some radius
as trans. 10 ft.
I would like to hear from anyone who
has a ramp or is building one within a
150-mile radius of Charlestown, W.V.
That would include D.C. area; Baltimore
area; Front Royal, Va. area; Greencastle,
Pa. area, etc.
By the way, Keith Lenharr, Doug
Pensinger and the boyz welcome any
skaters to the Shady Grove Ramp in Pa.
Their ramp will be in the series also.
As far as places to skate, there is the
Monster Bowl in Frederick, Md. It is in a
public park on 7th St. (Maykeen Park, or
something). Also in Frederick, there's
the Drain. It's on West Patrick St. next to
Frederick High School. There is a ramp
somewhere in Frederick, but I haven't
found it yet. When I do, I'll write. Also,
the skate park in Manassas, Va., is still
standing. It has a small halfpipe, snake
run and a pool. You can catch great air off
of a kink in the pool.
In Martinsburg, W.V., there is an
empty pool behind Wendy's in a public
park. Kinda harsh transition, but it's rad!!
PLEASE write or call if anyone knows
of any other ditches, pools, or ramps so I
can pass the word.
The scene here is pretty good. A lot of
new skaters (little kids) are arising. There
are a lot of veterans too.
Liked your little article on snowboard-
ing in Jan. '83 issue. Would like to see a
bigger one.
Guess that's it for now. Start pounding
some nails and remember: "Old skaters
never die, they just roll a little slower."
Radically,
Parker Webb
302 Stayman Drive
Ranson, W.V. 24538
(304) 725-2314
P.S. The Annandale ramp was not
moved, come on Toke Team.
NEW JERSEY-INDIANA
I'm writing to tell you that
skating is still rad and hap
pening in Jersey. (You've
heard from us before, Brad a
Constable and Steve Herring.)
We skate every day and night that we
are physically and mentally able and if
we're not, we're at least thinking about it,
Enclosed are a file of pics from many of
our everyday skate safaris. Some were
taken on our now defunct Ft. Monmouth
ramp and the rest were taken on other
ramps and streets throughout N.J. (SO
PRINT 'EM!!)
I have just recently moved out of N.J.
(like my skate bro B.C.) to a small town in
Indiana. Iatill keep in contact with my
bros I have left behind and am looking
forward to the reunion soon. Since I've
moved here. have been lucky enough to
find a few skaters that skate and own a
rad halfpipe. They live about 60 miles
away so I mostly thrive on local street
skating
Well, that's about it for now.
'til later.
Jeff Hartsell
North Vernon, IN
P.S. Hello Steve, Brad, Murph, and
Russ and boysf Skate to live, live to
skatel
Above, Jeff Hartsell pressures off a metro van in Jersey. Photo: Steve Herring. Below-Parker Webbs
"whole bowl" in Ranson, West Virginia.