Mark Gonzales
GONZAL
"He's got no respect, not even for himself."
S. Peralta
"He's all messed up and shit." C. Hosoi
"Why? Is he changing his name?" His
Mom
"I hold him in no regard." M. Rogowski
"Why? Is it interview time?" Brad Dorfman.
When asked the following question,
"What do you think of Mark Gonzales?"
people either look down while shaking their
heads, as if suddenly ill, rolling their eyes
skyward, or begin to recite terms and
phrases from what little they can recall of
their high school psychology classes. Why?
In the world of Mark Gonzales, rules are
not bent, they are tightened. Maybe that's
why he breaks so many. Not only on his
board but off it as well. He is what we call
a walking contradiction. On one hand he
is considered by some to be the best street
skater in the world, by others a complete
failure as a human being.
Who's right?
Someone once said some puzzles are
best left unsolved. Well, after reading this
interview and looking at the pictures you
just might realize that the person who said
it had probably just finished watching the
Gonz skate.
Mr. Gonzales, are there any opening
comments?
Hello America.
First off, there are a lot of kids out there who
want to know a few things. Like, how high can
you ollie? How many street plants can you
do? And, can you do rocket airs?
I like doing ollies, they're the best trick in street
skating. An ollie is the best trick because it leads
to so many other tricks. When you do an ollie
to 50/50 and ollie over things when you're go-
ing real fast, it's like being chased or something.
Rocket airs, I don't even do them. I can do them,
I've done them before, they're not that hard. I'd
rather just do a one-footed air that's really con-
torted. Street plants. I don't know, I used to do
them a lot, I don't do them anymore. I like to try
and keep my feet on the board as much as pos-
sible nowadays. I don't like to put my feet on the
floor and hold my board, I do tricks where I take
my feet off when I'm in the air, like an ollie air-
walk or something, but I don't like putting my
feet on the floor.
Do you think the magazines are leading
skateboarding in the wrong direction, by
showing a lot of stuff with feet off the board,
that type of maneuver?
Well, yeah. The magazines make street skating
what it isn't. They see pictures and just drop off
things and hold their board, run with their board.
in their hands, jump off things and do sweepers,
running across the benches. I don't know,
maybe I'm the one doing something wrong, but
I like to keep my feet on the board.
You're considered by many to be the best
street skater ever. But those same people
also say you are a complete failure as a
human being. Does this make you want to be
different?
Everyone has their own little reason why they
think a certain thing about a person. So I don't
want to act differently. Maybe I act differently
around different people. If you're with your dad
you don't go, "Fuck dad, check out that gnarly
ditch. I don't know, maybe some kids do. When
you're around your grandpa, you don't talk to
him about the girl you scammed the other night,
right? Or how you ripped off this company.
Do you hate street contests?
Yes.
Why?
They shouldn't even have street contests. They
should just have sessions with guys who street
skate. Because there's no way you can have a
contest and make it fair. Different guys skate dif-
ferent spots in their town. It's just not fair to have
a street contest, I don't know, it's just not right.
Who is Chavo?
Not me. Chavo is like this real smart guy and
everyone goes to him with their problems.
What kind of problems?
Girl problems for instance. Chavo was once
dating this young girl. He said, "Man, Mark, she
was so smart when I first met her. Then after at
year or so I started hanging around with her a
BRAINWASH
VICTIM
Photos by M. Foche