8.3
DUANE
PETERS
SANTA CRUZ
duansters
Interview by Bryce Kanights
W
hen did you first skate?
When my parents were together
and I lived in Upland, my neighbor
across the street had a Boss Man and I had
a Black Knight. We raced down the street as
much as possible. I was about 6 years old.
What are your best skatepark memories?
Every time a park opened we raided it. I
remember reading about Upland opening in
the paper. I was blown away. We're going,
"No way, a full-pipe!" We went out there and
there was a heavy Dogtown against
Badlands session. That's when life was
bitchin'. Adams was terrorizing, Alva was rip-
ping, Tay Hunt too. I don't even remember
who all was there, but I remember there
were lipslides on vertical back then. Ses-
sions got that heavy. It was like a gang fight,
but we were skating. It was the coolest.
I remember Concrete Wave skatepark,
which had the first pool contest ever, before
Spring Valley. Olson won it. That bastardi
never even practiced once. Every one of us
practiced all day every day for this contest..
Then they call his name and he comes out
of the hut and goes in there and works every
part of the pool. It blew my mind, the guy was
doing edge carves, on edge in the shallow
end. Arnie Houge ripped. He was the first
guy to do a tail drop.
What do you think of Thrasher Magazine?
I think it rules. I remember the day the
name was made up. I was with Fausto in
some truck. Action Now had brought in the
BMX bullshit and roller fags and whatever.
That had to go. Fausto asked, "What would
be a good name for a skate magazine?" We
were all going. "Kill Life, or..." thinking of
all these gnarly names. And he says, "What
do you think of Thrasher?"
Do you think much about world events?
Totally, yeah, I do. I'm a kid who grew up
in America who's angry at the way we did
things. Look at the way George Washington
fought for our country: "We're going to be
free. This is ours and now we own this land
and we're going to bring it up righteous."
They made up a Constitution. Now we've got
the congress wanting a 50% raise, throw out
all the poor people. The Bush administration
sucks. The whole bag is bent. Everybody in
this world is so greedy and lame. There's
nothing to do but get angry. But you can't
get your anger out with a needle in your arm.
You can't do it by drinking all day. You can't
do it by shooting somebody you hate. You've
got to look at it, remember it and take it out
on the coping. That's the only way to do it.
Who are the hottest skaters today?
Steve and Micke Alba are blowing my mind
these days. They give me incentive. Steve
rips, man, he's a machine. The raddest is
Mike Lohrman. He blazes. He's the most up
34
and coming nightmare in the world. He can
skate harder than just about anybody. I've
seen him do some death backside airs about
five feet in the air and completely upside
down. He has no control and doesn't care.
He comes in and it looks killer. Ricky Barnes
is one of my favorites, too. I think Chris
Robison is ripping right now. That guy is
going to be right up there. I can't even believe
I'm saying this, but I think Alan Losi is a good
skater. I like Alan Losi now and I used to hate
him, just because his dad was Gil and it was
a Varibot gig. Now he's not even like that, he's
proven himself totally against the Varibot
thing. He rips. He does these frontside to
nose, the whole board goes over, he's grind
ing the nose and then he brings it back in.
That's so hellbent.
What do you think of skate harassment,
when cops hassle skaters?
I think all cops suck. That's a fact. I think
it's always going to be that way, because
once they get that badge on their suit and
they get their hat, all of a sudden they're
Barney Fife. I've been beaten up by every
cop in my county. I say kick your skateboard
right in their nuts. I don't care if it makes
sense or not, it's just my way. I've been put
away too many times for doing things the way
I want to do them. Some people say I should
be in a mental institution. I don't care.
During the skate/show production of
Skateboard Mania you had the chance to
accomplish an "el rollo" in a plexiglass
pipe. Describe that ordeal.
That thing was cool. I made it 26 times
without the airbag. The only reason I broke
my collarbone is because they were driving
the loop down the freeway on the way to Long
Beach and it fell off the flatbed truck into a
ditch. It was bent like an egg instead of a
round circle. I got it wired anyway. I bailed
when I was teaching Tony Jetton how to do
it. He was the star of the show, even though
he only did one-third of the skating. Tim
Marting and I did all the trick skating. Marting
was the first guy to do a rock and roll. We
did side by side rock and rolls in the show.
We were the only ones who could do them.
It was cool. Cool board riding...it just got
sucked out.
You once said you wanted to go for an el
rollo at Baldy.
Yeah. That's a dream of mine.
There's no way you could do it.
No, I think I could. All you'd have to do is
a high backside kickturn into another
backside right over. But what I was
thinking-people are going to think I'm
nuts-I want to jump thirty-six cars, like Evel
Knievel; make it or not, who cares? My body
is already trashed. You collect all these spon-
sors. If you live, you live and if you don't, you
don't. It's still better than blowing your head
off. I've got to do something, soon. Evel
Knievel is my all-time hero, since I was eight.
Just do a launch, 36 cars, put on the old
Rectors and go. I'm serious about that one.
How many times have you broken your
collarbone?
Nine. I want to trade my body in at a thrift
store, soon. I've broken all of my fingers,
three of my toes, both my elbows, my ankles
twice. I'm battered, but it doesn't matter.
How's life with your family?
Now I've got two kids who are going to
back me up. My oldest son, Skyler, is going
to be five. My youngest son, Chelsea, is
going to be three. I rage with my kids. I love
my wife. When I met her, people thought she
was a witch, and I dug it. I asked her, "Are
you from some other planet, or what?
Because if you are, take me away. Let's go."
I've got the killer family. It's something I love.
It's something a lot of people don't have. I
didn't have one for a long time. I wake up
every morning and I've got kids who hug me.
I don't want them to be baseball players or
football players, I just want them to skate.
Are you pushing it on them?
No. I'm letting them do what they want. I
don't want to push them. But years down the
road, who knows what's going to happen?
I think something good will happen to me
some day. Every day I wake up and say good
morning, hello world. That's the way it is.
What are your future plans?
I'm in a band now called Mess. We play
skate rock and it's killer. It's psychotic and
I get all my aggressions out. I'll always be
in a band, guaranteed. I dig music and I hate
too many musicians not to be in a band. I
hate skateboarders too, but I'm too broken
up to deal with it. I'm 27 and I'll be skating
when I'm 57, but I'll be (Continued on page 94)
This Page: The Master of Disaster punks out. Next
Page: Frontside rippage in the '80 Gold Cup finals.
FLEX