HENDRIX
Hometown: Lewisville, North Carolina, which is right out
side of Winston-Salem. My town is so small, we don't even
have a stop light yet.
Family: My parents, Phil and Barbara, are the best, and
my little brother is pretty cool but I still beat him up.
Injuries: Too many. In December of 1990 I hyper-extend-
ed my knee and couldn't skate for eight weeks. Then two
weeks after I started again, I broke my leg. Injuries are just
temporary roadblocks that you have to look past. My
ankles have bothered me on and off for the last year, but
nothing too major. When you are hurt, you realize how
much you like to skate.
Origins: I started skating right before seventh grade with
the local neighborhood kids. That is the way it was for the
first year or so, then the other guys started to die out of it
and get into other things. I was the only one to stick with it.
Influences: I am not influenced by any one person, but I
respect Chris Miller, Ed Templeton, Jello Biafra and lan
MacKaye.
Favorite Skaters: It changes for me, but it's always been
Chris Miller, and more recently Danny Way, Alfonzo Rawls,
Wade Speyer and Brian Howard. For street guys, I like to
watch Templeton, Carroll, Howard and Eric Koston. Ron
Knigge is a flatland master and Chad Vogt can skate a
mini-ramp okay.
Latest Tricks: I have done some half-Cab late shove-its
on vert, but lately I've been working on backside revert
stuff on vert like 5-0, nosegrind, tailslide and Cab 5-0
revert. I can do frontside 5-0 frontside shove-its on a mini,
but I always slam. I did 540's about three months ago.
Define Gnarly: John Cardiel or Wade Speyer. Someone
who is so on edge, you think he will die at any moment.
How often and where do you skate? When I am at home
I skate Eastern Vert Skatepark everyday unless I am hurt.
Nowadays, I am usually on the road.
What do you think of the flatland scene? It amazes me.
It's funny seeing kids standing around in breakdance cir-
cles, rolling two feet, trying pressure flips all day. What is
scary is that those are the tricks that will happen on vert in
the near future.
Does anything bug you about skating? Yes. I never
thought it would come to the point where I piss people off
by wearing the wrong hat or "don't you dare wear that shirt,
even if he is your friend." Until I turned pro I was clueless
to all the politics in skating. What really sucks is that vert
guys don't get any respect anymore.
Contests: Contests are cool sometimes but they don't
mean that much anymore. It's not like you have to win con-
tests to sell boards. The ideal contest is one where every-
one rips and we all tie for first. I like going to contests
because that is when I get to see everyone.
Worst beef: My worst injury was the broken leg, but that
wasn't even a hard slam. A couple of my favorites were
knocking out my teeth, a concussion and a huge black eye.
Islam good every day. I feel like I'm missing something if I
don't slam.
Best terrain: For me, a rad Masonite vert ramp, because
steel is gnarly. Or a mini with all kinds of hips and spines-
indoors (so I don't get sunburned) and pretty girls handing
me Cokes every five minutes.
Future plans: Travel and go to college someday, because
that is what you have to do be anybody in the 90s.
Anything on your mind? I've seen drugs fuck up a lot of
peoples lives right in front of me, so I stay away from that
weak stuff.
Set up: My shape is 8 1/2" wide, 13 7/8" wheelbase and 7
1/8" nose and 6 1/8" tail. 50mm wheels, and Gullwing
Mags. Yes I know I'm crazy I ride Gullwings.
Music: Jello Biafra with DOA and Lard, Minor Threat,
Fugazi, Dag Nasty, DYS, Bad Religion and Descendents.
Traveling: In the past year I have been all over the United
States as well as Canada, Germany, France and the
Dominican Republic which was crazy.
World View: There are a lot of things going on in the world
that people need to open their eyes to. Not everything you
read or hear from the media is really the way it is. People
don't understand how easy it is for the government to
change the way something looks, or hide something alto-
gether. Reading books opened my eyes to this. All I can
say is read books and keep yourself informed.
Pain: Pain is inevitable, so don't even try to avoid it.
Thank You: BK at Eastern Vert, my family, my sponsors,
Paul Schmitt and Steve Douglas.
28 THRASHER MAGAZINE
While on the west coast swing, Hendrix hit the mini at Studio 43 and wasted no time with a pivot
shove-it to fakie (sequence). The next day he was at San Jose Skatepark killing frontside 5-0 to fakies
(above) on the vert ramp. Seeing Neal skate makes you want to ride.