CARROLL
INTERVIEW BY JAKE PHELPS PHOTOS BY LUKE OGDEN
BLESSED WITH INCREDIBLE POP AND THE ABILITY to make every trick
look easy, it isn't hard to see why Mike Carroll got voted the 1994
Skater of the Year. At the ripe old age of twenty, Mike has already done
a lot in his life. Read between the lines and take a peek into the mind of
one of the true greats.
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How often do you get a new board?
It depends. I could through a board every
two days unless it's a really good board. If I
finally found the right concave it could last a
whole week or two weeks.
What do you think about everyone saying
that vert is coming back?
I think it's fuckin' bullshit, because all of a
sudden vert's cool, but it's like why wasn't it
cool then? People weren't making money off
their board sales so then they started switch-
ing up to street skating so that they could sell
their boards. And then there's all this media
whatever about how vert is dying so no one
wants to skate vert anymore. I think that's
kind of weak because vert was always there,
and it sucks for all the dudes who stuck with
it, and then it pretty much was forgotten for a
while. And then there's those other retards
who quit skating vert and then all of a sudden
saw that it's cool, so now they're going to
start skating vert again, which is lame. It just
goes to show that you can see who's real at
what they're really doing, just not going along
with pressure flips or whatever. Like Jason
Lee, for example.
Who do you think does the best 360° flips?
Obviously him.
Rick Howard does a good one.
Rick does them, and Jovontae. Jason Lee,
Jovontae, Rick and Ethan Fowler.
How did you feel as Skater of the Year?
To tell you the truth, I didn't really like it. I
mean, it's good when you think about it, but
when it comes down to the whole living up to
When EMB was king, Mike (left) was the prince-
bockside tailslide off the steps and onto the trash
can. Mike Carroll (above) is a mini-ramp champ.
At the 1989 amateur finals at Tower Skatepark in
Phoenix, Arizona, he kicks one-foot to fakie. Just
down the street from the Ferry Building in SF there
is a place called Hubba Hideout-MC (right) takes
the backside Smith approach.
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