for a short while. Ultimately Santa Cruz of-
fered to fly me to California, which was my
main goal right after I got out of high school.
When I got the offer I couldn't refuse. Spidey
and Bob Pribble got things together for me
out there. They helped me out a lot.
Was it a shock to come to California?
It was different, but not as much as I ex-
pected. The Midwest is a larger area with
fewer skaters so they're more united and
friendlier with each other. Skaters were
harder to find. You'd see one going down
the street and you'd definitely want to meet
him. You could pretty much ride anyone's
ramp, no one cared. At that time the whole
threat of lawsuits wasn't really around.
Where do you skate the most right now?
I have to be at the SJ warehouse every
day to open the place up and watch it. I've
been craving other places to skate, but my
main focus is learning new tricks. Mainly
I've been working on vertical. I want to get
my bag of tricks going again. Before the
warehouse I didn't really have any place to
ride. I'd skate vertical every two months or
so-if I'd go to a demo or a contest or
something. I wasn't riding well. I hadn't had
a chance to get the true feeling back.
How did the whole warehouse ramp
come together? Is that something other
kids can get going themselves?
When I lived in Indianapolis I got together
with a couple friends and we tried to open
up a public gig, but the insurance costs
were way too high so we couldn't pull it off.
Then, when I came out here, we got this wild
hair to do it and make it private so we could
get insurance at a fairly low rate. We figured
that with the backing of NHS we could pull
it off. It took a long time. We didn't have
many warehouses to choose from because
the main feature we needed was ceiling
height and there weren't many places with
high ceilings. We were basically stuck with
one place so we worked on that. It took
months but it was well worth it. It's feasi-
ble. You need a lot of skaters to help pitch
in on the rent. Just prove to the people that
you can pay the rent, that's all it takes.
Did you tell the warehouse owners
straight out what you wanted to do?
Yeah. They were really cool about it. We
told them exactly what we were going to
build. We had to wait for insurance before
we could start building
The people who own the warehouse
found us a guy and he got us in touch with
a bunch of other people. We went through
about 74 insurance companies before we
finally found one that worked out.
What were some of the stipulations from
the company?
The main thing is that only team mem-
bers can ride there. Since it's not public, I
think it's not as scary for them. It's the
membership thing-full country club style.
How long did it take to build the ramps?
Four days. There's an eleven-foot high
halfpipe and a six-and-a-half-foot spine
mini-ramp. They're only four feet apart.
There's no room to spare. We also have a
little arcade there, so when guys are skating
you can play pinball.
Have you had any problems?
It costs a hundred bucks a month each,
which is expensive, but that's the only way
we can do it. The only problems are when
people aren't able to pay the rent. That really
sucks from Corey's and my point of view
because we have to tell our friends that they
can't ride there. It puts you in a tough spot.
but you've got to do what you've got to do.
It sucks having to be in that position.
What do you think you'd be doing if you
weren't skating?
I'd probably be attending college and try.
ing to figure out what to do with the rest of
my life. I went to college for a little while right
when I started doing well at skating and it
didn't work out. I had to quit after about
threequarters of a semester. I might go back
eventually, it depends on what happens.
Did any skaters influence you as you were
coming up through the ranks?
Definitely. My major influence was the
magazines. Until the video thing started
coming out that's all we had to go by. We
didn't even know what someone looked like
when they skated. I looked up to a lot of
people-Caballero, Hawk, Christian. I'd see
them in the magazines doing a certain trick
and go out and have to learn it. You'd set
goals for yourself, try to look like a certain
trick, come as close as possible, even though
you didn't know what it looked like in actual
motion.
What's it like now, skating with those guys
and beating them on occasion?
I'm totally stoked. I never planned on get-
ting as far as I did, it just happened. I can't
see doing anything else. If I wasn't making
a living at skating, I'm sure I'd still be doing
it. Now I can skate full time and concentrate
on it completely. It's more fun than ever.
What kind of tricks are you working on?
I try to learn a couple tricks a day. It's fun
learning new stuff because you feel like
you've accomplished something. For the
past week or so I've been working on the
540°. I think I'll work on that until I make it.
I don't want to get so used to bailing it that
I never learn it.
How do you work on a trick like that?
Just try to get closer each time. Get the
feeling for it and get confidence to make it.
Still, I don't feel it's that important to learn
(a 540°), and I'm not doing it just because
I want to do better in contests.
Any hobbies, interests, activities?
I like to do a variety of stuff. I play guitar
like most people do. I've been playing guitar
almost as long as I've been skating. I like to
freeboard. I've snowboarded a bit.
Are you still with the regrouped Faction?
Yeah. We're kind of missing a bass player
right now, though.
Is it true that you play with your back to
the audience, like Caballero used to?
Well, the first night we played I was a ner-
vous wreck. I'd played in punk rock bands
when I was fourteen to sixteen, but it wasn't
in front of more than sixty people at the most.
I just figured I'd play like I do in practice. I
didn't want to make it any different, I didn't
want to jump around. I'm not a rock star.
How many gigs have you played?
We've only played two. I felt privileged to
play with them because I used to listen to
them when I was younger. We're not that
serious about it, it's more or less a fun thing.
I'm pretty laid back right now, I don't have
too many responsibilities. I've got bills to pay,
but that's about as serious as it gets. I'd
probably flip out if it got too serious. I've never
even had a job yet.
Do you think skateboarding will continue
at its current pace?
It's really big right now. The problem with
skateboarding is that a lot of kids just get into
it for a trend. You don't know which kids are
going to stick with it. But I think people are
skating so well now that it's going to be taken
more seriously. Skateboarding has to be
around awhile to get (Continued on page 119)
Left: Chilling at the ice Halle in Münster. Photo: K.T
Right: Jeff Jukes a fakle floater. Photo: Keenan.
74