went to Skatopia and it was g
closed. A guy hanging out in
front said there was a park five
hours away in Whittier, so Jeff
Grosso and I went there. That
was the best park-it will
always be the best park in the
world. It had all the pools,
everything from low to high,
kidney shaped, capsule pool.
You could do everything. It was
bitchin' when we had all the
locals-Lester Kasai, Neil
Blender, Lance and Steve
Steadham. You'd always go to
that park after a contest.
Even if the session was
elsewhere?
After skating all day, you'd
still go skate Whittier all night
long.
I heard Lance Mountain had
a band there.
The Republic. They used to
play there. The skate scene
includes the whole atmosphere
and the social thing too. You
know, the girls who worked
there, Lance, and Huago.
You'd just hang out, it was a
good all-around fun session.
Nobody ever vibed anyone.
Do you remember John.
Lucero skating the curbs in
front of the park?
Yeah. John was a major
influence. He taught me how to
do roll-outs at Whittier. He Opening Page: A one-hundred percent pool-bred dude, Eric
always hung out in front of the feels right at home tappin' tail in the Chino Pool. Inset: Eric the
skatepark, sessioning on the budding bowl rider prepares his body for the years of abuse it will
curbs. He ruled those curbs. undergo. Above: A high and mighty fail grab in classic gnarly
Nash style. Right: Proof that you can't enjoy skating to the fullest
He made up slappies. I was
unless you learn how to carve.
totally stoked on John. He's
still one of the raddest street
skaters.
When did you meet Grosso?
I broke my arm at Skatopia during the
fifth grade. I was the only skateboarder
then because that was right about the time
the neighborhood kids stopped skating. I
think I had a Sims shirt on of all things.
This new kid came up to me at school and
said, "Hey, what's going on? You al
skateboarder?" and I said, "Yeah," and he
told me that he was a pro skater or
sponsored or something hot like that. He
says I told him I was a pro-skater. Well,
one of us told the other that he was a pro.
That was our first meeting, and we
became skate buddies. All through our
lifetime we've always progressed together:
1A, 2A, then 3A. My friendship with Jeff
Grosso is one of the major factors in my
skateboarding career.
44 TASH MAGAZINE
How long have you known the Alba
brothers?
Not too long. I met Micke Alba at my first
sponsored contest. I was wearing my G&S
team shirt and he was riding for G&S. I
learned how to roll into the corner and he
said, "Yeah, teammate!" I was stoked. I've
known Salba five or six years. He's
definitely someone who's come up above
his era. He's learning new tricks, ripping
the ramps, and at the Chino ramp he's
doing six-foot airs up the extension.
When were you sponsored?
It was at Skate City, my first CASL
contest. John Lucero walked up to me.
gave me a pair of Gullwing trucks and
said, "I've been talking to some guy and he
likes you." Next thing I know, I was
sponsored by Gullwing. The next day li
won the contest (thirteen and under
sponsored), Adrian Lazano from G&S
came up to me and said they
were thinking about sponsoring
me. Next month it was the
Pomona CASL and I was
bummed because he hadn't
I called. I went to practice there
the day of the contest and he
showed up with a big box of stuff
for me and said. "You're
sponsored." I was the happiest
person in the entire world. I got
sponsored, by the way on March
6. 1982, the same day that John
Belushi died.
Did you think then that you
would ever have a profess-
ional future in skating?
That was the dream. We'd say,
"If I ever had a model, this is
what I'd have for the graphic, for
the logo."
How did the graphic that Neil
drew with you driving your car
come about?
One time Neil and I were
driving down to Del Mar and he
was sketching things as we
drove. I wasn't even paying
attention and before I knew it he
said, "Check this out, I drew a
photo of you." Two years later
he said he was going to use it
for a board. I thought he was
joking. The next thing I knew I
was at a trade show and I
looked over and there it was.
How did you feel when you
first got your photo in a
magazine?"
My first photo was in the
January 1983 Thrasher, right
after the Skate City Turkey
Shoot. I wasn't expecting any-
thing like that because I'd done
pretty bad in the contest. Everyone was at
Skate City when the new magazine came.
I was skating the keyhole and they were all
crowded around the capsule reading the
new magazine. Everybody said, "No way!"
then looked over at me and said, "You're
going to be so stoked!" Kevin Staab, who
had won the contest, was there, and I saw
a little picture of him. Then I turned the
page and I had a full-page invert by the
keyhole. That made my day.
Did you ever get involved in zines?
It was hard to get a hold of them. I tried
to get one of my own going, called Slam
Skate Scene. I had the cover and the back.
ad. Also, Jeff and I made a magazine for a
school project called Create Some Hell.
What do you know about the Book of
Spide?
It's a hot book that Lance made up and
drew. It's all stories of the famed
Ricky Demontrond, alias "Spidey,"
stories he told us or things that
You've got to learn the
time where you go out to bars, but
you just do the things they do.
happened. My big contribution to it is basics, but who knows what How long have you been snow-
that once he told me that one day
Duane was on the beach beating up
Olson, and Olson came running over
to Spidey saying, "Spidey, Spidey, help
me, Duane's gonna beat me up." Spidey
said, "Oh Bulky, just get out of here, I'll
take care of him." That was a hot story. It's
a little cartoon that Lance made, and
Spidey found out and got really bummed.
Like a little zine?
Yeah, never came out though.
What are your feelings about competing
on a professional level?
I like contests a lot. A couple weeks
before a contest I always push myself a lot
more in skating. I'll learn a couple new
tricks, push myself to give all I've got. I
think that started out back when the
ASPO's (Association of Skate Park.
Owners) were every month. I was trying to
push a new trick or a variation of a trick for
every contest. If anything, contests are a
giant party where you can hang out with
your friends. You get to skate the ramp and
enjoy a fun time in a different city.
What do you like most about
skating?
It's fast and sometimes you have to
fight yourself to make a trick. Making
a trick is one of the greatest feelings,
because you've overcome something
with your feet. I always try to learn
the trick on lower stuff first, then work
up from there.
Which of your peers have made a
strong impact on your skating?
John Lucero, Lance Mountain, Neil
Blender and the crew I skated with at
Skate City. When I was an amateur I
liked the way Jeff Phillips skated
because he was a rad all-around
skater.
What do you think of streetstyle?
I'm not a street skater. Streetstyle.
contests remind me a lot of
skateparks where you've got a lot of
cement and you can just go from
bowl to bowl and hit obstacles. You
work a good line together and you do
pretty well. Look at me, I'm not the
best street skater, but I made two
twenty-cuts and one ten-cut in
contests, so I was stoked.
What was your best placing as an
amateur and best as a pro?
I got a couple firsts as an amateur.
For three years in a row I never got
lower than the top three, lots of
seconds. My best placing as a pro so
far has been eighth in St. Peters-
the basics are now?
boarding?
Three years. The first time I went I
did it for three hours and thought it
was the worst experience of my
burg, Seattle, Raging Waters and in
entire life. After lunch I decided to take
Australia.
another run and it started getting
Where have you been and what places smoother. By the end of the day I was
do you like the best?
I've been to 24 states in the U.S...
Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Mexico,
Canada, Germany, and Amsterdam. My
favorite place is Australia. I got to tour the
whole country. They have a lot of public
skateboarding terrain. It was summer and
the girls were walking topless on thei
beach, so that was a plus. It's pretty much
the same lifestyle as it is here, not like
Japan where you have to eat raw fish.
What was the worst place you've been?
I'm pretty outgoing so I like almost
anywhere I go. I've been to a lot of places
in the U.S. and thought, "This is going to
be terrible. There's nothing to do here; I'm
just out here with the cattle and the dirt,"
but I end up having a fun time because I
meet cool people. It may not be a raging
hooked.
Describe your typical day.
1
then run around doing errands like paying
I wake up about ten, hang out for a while,
bills. It seems like I'm getting more and
more responsibilities as I get older. Then I
go skating. I start off with a mini-ramp for
an hour or two. When Lance was back in
town we'd do a little skate safari and then
a vert ramp and maybe we'd try another.
vert ramp the same day. I feed my dogs at
home and then go for a night about town.
What will you be doing in ten years?
I'm definitely still going to be skate-
boarding. I'll be stoked even more if I'm
still in the competitive part of it, on the
cutting edge. If not, I'd like to get involved,
like being a team manager. Now you've
got people who are 28 and still
going. I'd be stoked to be doing all
the same tricks I'm doing right now
when I'm 31, if not a few more.
Do you foresee any significant
changes in skating next year?
There have already been some
big changes in the last year. All
these new pros are coming in and
they're pushing the level of skating
a lot higher. Since '88 there's been
a lip revolution. We'll still see some
rad ones coming up, but a lot of
them have hit their peak. I think.
we'll see higher airs, like air-to-
fakies. Jason Jessee was the only
person doing them a while back,
now everybody's doing them.
Instead of going five feet, they're
going eight feet and bringing it to
fakie. I think we'll see a lot more
adding on to lip tricks, like 50/50-to-
lipside-to-Smith grind-to-revert.
There will be five tricks in one, and
it'll carry from sixteen to twenty
feet. We'll also see more speed. I
was just looking at a board from
1987, which was only three years
ago, and it looked totally
prehistoric. No kick nose at all,
barely any concave, small. A year
ago Chuck Hults from Vision
showed me a Double Vision board
and I said, "That's pretty rad.
Chuck, but I don't know. It's a bit.
out of hand. Now I'm stoked. I wish
I could ride a double kick on vert
but for some reason I get a funny
feeling. (Continued on page 82)