SALMAN
INTERVIEW BY YVETTE MOUNTAIN PHOTOS BY LANCE DALGART
BIG, BALD, BRUTAL AND BEAUTIFUL are all words to describe
the way Salman Agah rides a skateboard. From his early days
as a San Jose midget, to being voted 1993 Skater of the Year,
Salman is always down to skate. He has traveled the world,
spread the word of Jesus and allied fire hydrants switch-
stance in his quest for personal greatness.
Who would you elect as president if hang out with you," It just doesn't
you could have anybody?
Jim Thiebaud. I'd want him to be
president. I like him. His wife could be
vice-president,
What are you afraid of?
I don't have too many fears. I think
my greatest fear is not doing things
consistently, just because I think I'm
passionate as a person, so a lot of
times I'm driven by the way I feel or by
my emotions, and when those aren't
there, it's hard for me to choose to go
forth with something I might've decid-
ad to do. I can relate it to skating so
much, because if I don't feel like skat-
ing, I won't do it. But you can't do that
with everything. Like for instance, peo
ple, you can't just put them off. You
can't just put them in the corner and
go, "Okay, just don't want you right
now. When I want you, I'll come and
work. So, I think in my relationships
with people, that's a fear that I have
with anyone.
What would you say is your great-
est passion in this life?
To scare myself to death as much as
possible on my skateboard. I like that.
It just feels so good.
The adrenaline rush?
Yeah. I don't really skate hills that
much, but I remember one time it was
raining by my house, and I was skating
down the hills in the rain, and I was
just going way fast, and I ate it. I got
hurt just a little bit, but it was just the
greatest thing to feel that. And, no, I
didn't make it, I still felt how fun it was
passionately. I've just always wanted to
do whatever I can the best that I can,
just get the greatest fulfillment out of
whatever I do.
64 THER
Clockwise from left: In the early nineties, Sal stood out while all others
tried to blend in-overalls and 5-0s were what he wanted and that's
what he did. With enough beef anything is possible-switch handrail
attack by Sally from the valley. The term sweet should come to mind
when it comes to Agoh's hoolflips. Imagine if you were sitting at
home watching the tube and this big ol' bald guy smashed right
through the back of the thing and and said, "What's really going
on here?" The Ark Ramp has been around for over ten years in
different shapes and sizes. Fortunately for you it's vert and fast so
Sal can show you how happy he is about his ollie blunts on it.
Who's your favorite artist?
Kevin Ancell. He's just a friend of mine who
works for Thrasher, so I've just known him from
working with Real. His art's great, but I just like
him. The funny thing is, I haven't really done that
much with him. I haven't really hung out with him
much, but every time I have it's just been great.
What's the funniest thing you did as a child?
To me, the funniest thing was when I held up
the lady at the bank with a cap gun. That was
funny to me, but I got arrested, and my dad
was pissed. I was around nine, and I was with my
friend, this guy Barrett, and my dad really didn't
like the kid. He'd always joke around with him,
but he called him the knife boy or something.
because the guy, he had so many knives. He'd
carry so many knives around his waist. But any-
way, Him and I
used to hang
out, because I
would go to my
dad's work, and
he'd also come
with his mom
to her work, and we were just kids, our parents
were at work, we had nothing to do, so he
brought his cap guns so we could play, and one
day we thought we'd go rob the bank.
Then what happened?
He was kind of scared to do it, so I'm all, "I'll
do it," so I went up to the lady, and I said, "This
is a stickup," and I pointed the gun into her face,
and it was one of those western-style gurs, and
it looked real, and the lady freaked out, and I
went, "bang, bang! And all the caps went off,
the people were tripping, and they fully grabbed
me and were yelling at me, and they brought me
back to my dad's business, because I'd take the
deposits there for him, and he was pissed off.
Did you get busted?
I didn't go to jail or anything. I got arrested,
like they put me under arrest, I couldn't go any-
where, I was in their care now. Anyway, Barrett
and I used to hang out, and we'd hang out at