I
Josh Eric Swindell is eighteen
years old and hails from the Bad-
lands (Diamond Bar), CA. Josh
received his early skate schooling
at the Pomona Skatepark and went
on to graduate with a degree in ver-
tical speed from Upland University. Josh
is continuing his ramp education at the
Samurai Ramp in D-Bar along with extra-
curricular excursions to Lipslide and
Transitions skateparks in LA. He also
takes night classes on the streets of LA.
and spends time in and out of the Santa
Ana courthouse. In 1990, his rookie year,
Josh qualified seventh in the fountains
of S.F. before being sidelined with an
injury. He faired well at San Jose on the
mini-ramps and just missed the final cut
at the '91 opener in Santa Barbara with
eleventh place. He's into rare meat and
pizzas, Ramones, Social D, Bad Religion,
"You have
to get out
there and
just start
skating
fast and
barging."
the Geto Boys and collecting
old Chevys. When we talked
to Josh in April, he was in
between sponsors and just
having fun hanging with his
girlfriend Kathrina
People say you're hard to
deal with.
I admit it. It's rad to be spon-
sored and get free equip-
ment and be paid to skate-
board. I think sponsors are
good to people no matter
how much I hear people
bitch. Without them they
would be buying boards and not being
sent anywhere to skate, so I don't know
what they're crying about.
Where did you start skating?
Pomona Skatepark had already closed
when we started. We would wake up at
four a.m., get doughnuts and sneak into
the park. They had go-karts there then,
and the workers would get there early
and try to kick us out by seven. They'd
say, "The cops will be here in five min-
utes," and we'd yell back, "All right, we
got five minutes to skate." We'd wait for
the cops, then run home, sleep for
awhile, go to Upland in the afternoon
and then start the night over again.
What's going on in the streets today?
Kids see the newest stuff in mags or on
video and want to go out and learn it
just like the top pros. I see a lot of dedi-
cated kids going out and learning on
their own, but, I don't know, I didn't real-
ly read the magazines for new tricks and
stuff. We'd just say, "Hey, that would be
a cool trick," and we'd try it. We did
some corny tricks but we discovered
stuff on our own and developed our own
style. When I skated Upland, a lot of
people said I skated like (Chris) Miller
because I skated fast and had lines
down. I never said to myself that I want-
ed to be anybody else or skate like any-
body else. I think ramp skating will come
back in for a lot of skaters now that there
are more parks around.
Who did you look up to when you
were a midget?
Christian, and anybody who skated fast
and with style...Al Losi, Ray Rodriguez.
How do you come up with new stuff?
It's usually variations of older tricks
now...you get a trick wired, then start
doing it over a bigger channel or down a
longer handrail. I always try and push
myself as much as possible, until I either
get hurt or make it.
What feels good right now?
Skating fast and doing big ollies any-
where, doing lip tricks on vert. Yesterday
I learned one-footed ollie to five-o over
channels and a lipslide Smith over the
channel. Doing curb tricks on vert, I like
doing that.
Impressive tricks?
Sean Sheffey, Danny (Way) and Mark
Gonzales are always doing gnarly tricks.
Gonz does everything; he blows my
mind. I like skating with Christian on
vert, his warm-up runs are airs and tail
grabs over your head. When I skate with
Danny he's always doing rad shit on vert,
but all he does now is skate street. He
has a ramp, but every time we get there,
it's like, "Yeah, let's go ride motorcycles,
let's go street skate."
Any comments or tips for our readers
out there?
Live everyday like it's your last because it
might not be there tomorrow. Go out
there and start skating fast and barging.
Get a girlfriend to help keep you out of
trouble; it works for me. I
Interviews conducted by Kevin Thatcher
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