GROHOLSKI
(From page 48)
You seem to be pretty reserved
compared to other pros (at least till
now!) as far as seeking publicity
and coverage, or just being wild.
Why is that?
I
don't have to live up to any kind
of image, like other people have to.
I don't portray myself as something
I'm not. I don't have much to say to
people. I just speak when I'm spoken
to. I'll talk to kids if they want to talk
to me; I'm not going to be an idiot
about it. I'm not a big mouth and I
don't like big mouths.
Do you have any political beliefs?
Not really. I would like it if people
wouldn't take this world for granted,
because pretty soon it's going to be
a dead planet. I'm not too worried
about it because I'll probably never
see it happen, but someone will.
What's up with New Jersey?
I like it here because I live here and
everything's kind of close together
You can drive an hour in any direc-
tion and get to killer skate spots. You
get to experience the seasons. I like
fall the most because the leaves
change and it's really cool skating
outside then. When I lived out in
California, I got bored of all the nice
weather all the time. I was hoping for
rain once in a while. As far as New
Jersey getting the bad rap, I think
people watch "Saturday Night Live"
too much. Outside the Newark area
It's as nice as you can get. I'm glad
it's not one big beach that's going to
fall off soon.
What's your favorite thing about
skating?
Backyard pools are my favorite
thing to ride, they're the most pure.
It's the most challenging because
they are not made to be skated.
Some backyard pools are more
perfect than pools that are made to
be skated in. I'd rather skate pools
than ramps. You don't have to do top
forty tricks to be skating rad in a pool;
just hitting a grind on something with
a lot of vert is enough.
What about being a pro yourself?
I don't go out and do personal ap-
pearances every weekend, I just
skate. I'd rather not do street demos,
but I'll do any vert demo that comes
up. I wouldn't trade being a pro for
anything because it's too much fun.
get to travel and skate killer stuff
while making a living. What more
could a person want?
Home sweet home. Tom busts a big ol
backside ollie on his backyard ramp.
CHILI PEPPERS beer best. I love beer. The other guys So you have an extensive music
(From page 75) good at it. I went skating
with Tony Alva once and he showed
me how to do some things. We
played at a skateboard contest once.
It was so much fun. I couldn't believe
what those guys were doing. It was
so beautiful to watch. I don't know
what the whole attitude of skate
boarding is now, but I love to watch
those guys fly in the air on their skate
boards. It makes me feel really good.
I like things that move fast and flow-
ingly. That's how I try to make our
music. To me, there are very few
things that really capture one-
hundred percent pure flowingness,
and that was what I saw that day.
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is pretty good. The
problem with Mickey Mouse is that
Disneyland is so screwed up now. I
went there once with someone who
had colored hair and they wouldn't
let him in. I mean, that's what
Disneyland's all about-a purple
horn sticking out of your head or
whatever. Walt Disney would have
loved it.
Mickey's Malt Liquor
I've gotten drunk on Mickey's Malt
Liquor before. I like dark Mexican
96
are always sober. Anthony is totally
clean. We've had really bad pro-
blems with drugs in the past. But it's
not just us who have the problems.
Those problems are everywhere.
When someone famous dies, people
make a big deal out of it, and it's like
this big tragedy. But there are poor
people killing themselves or on their
way to dying every single day
because of drugs. They're just as im
portant, but no one pays any atten-
tion to them. The whole drug thing
is disgusting. It's bad news. People
are wasting their lives and it's sad.
I don't want to tell anyone what to do,
I can only say what I want to do for
myself. I just don't like when I see
people killing themselves with drugs.
It doesn't make me feel good.
Licorice whips
a
One time Darby Crash covered
himself in licorice whips and played
show. It was one of the Germs' first
shows. I love the Germs. They were
one of the best rock bands ever. I only
saw them once, at their farewell gig.
for about one second, then I got
thrown out. I was late into the whole
punk rock thing. Punk rock was really
happening around '78, '79 and '80.
I was playing trumpet in the L.A.
Junior Philharmonic at that time.
background?
Oh, yeah. I played classical jazz
trumpet. I still play it. In fact, I played
trumpet on our album. I often play
with Thelonius Monster too. I have
a great trumpet. It's a Calicchio
trumpet, made by the only people in
the world who hand make trumpets.
This guy named Dominic Calicchio
ran the company. He died about six
years ago, but his daughter is still
making them. I got it from him when
I was a little kid, about eleven years
old. They took a picture of me, the
little guy, with him, the old man. They
made a book about him, and that
picture is in it.
What do you think of Eurogroovo
commercial disco music?
That's hard to say. It's a very big
category. Every category of music
has something to offer. I mean, you
could call Prince commercial disco,
and I love Prince.
You guys seem to be influenced by
a lot of seventies funk.
Yeah. Early seventies funk, early
Funkadelic. But we're also influenced
by sixties James Brown, punk rock,
all kinds of stuff. I'm influenced by
everything. I hear funk in things that
aren't necessarily funky. I'll listen to
Billie Holliday or Hank Williams and
hear funk. Funk is everywhere.
Little kids
I love little kids. As a matter of fact,
my daughter Clara is the coolest lit-
tle kid ever. She's always laughing
and smiling and crawling around.
She just got her first tooth yesterday.
and she's got red hair and bright blue
eyes. She's really pretty.
Did having a kid make you change?
The only way it made me change
is that I've never cared about money
before and now I have to. That's kind
of weird because I don't like money.
I mean, I like spending it, but I don't
like thinking about it. Besides that,
it's just made my life better. I've been
married about a year now.
What's your motivation in life?
I live through punk rock. I'm prob-
ably the punkest guy you'll ever
meet. You know why? Because I
have a four-door Volvo station wagon,
I'm married, I have a kid, a cat, I pay
my bills on time. I'm totally respon-
sible and I still maintain a complete
punk rockedness.
But what is punk rock?
It's me, man. Punk rock means
never having to say you're sorry.
KANIGHTS PHOTO: STEVE SHERMAN
BILLABONG