going for high airs and then I would slam.
And that's why they called me Slam Man.
That's just like kids today, they're just try-
ing to kickflip a big gap without really
knowing how to skateboard. That's the
same thing that I did. But as I grew older
and kept doing it and finally learned how
to do airs and started doing street skating
combos, then I realized that you have to
try every aspect of skating. To appreciate
other stuff, you have to know how to do it
and say, "Oh, I like it," or, "I don't like it."
Tell me about the double-kink handrail
at the end of the Blind video.
We just were driving by and I said,
"That would be killer to try to slide one
of those handrails." I think someone else
did one. I don't know, I just saw it. I was
with my brother and my cousin, and I
didn't know if I could do it, but they were
holding me up on it to check it out, and
nis
then I said, "I have to do it, they're all
here, so I've got to make it."
What about the wipe-out in the begin-
ning of the video, where's that?
That's in Paris. I was trying to ollie down
one set and then ollie again, but there was
only like four feet there. Sometimes my
mind is different than reality. I picture it in
my head, but then when I attempt it, with
that amount of speed coming down,
you're going to have to compress and
land and then ollie again. I was stupid.
there's no way that I could've ever made
that. I don't know what was wrong with
me for trying that. But if I would've gone
faster, maybe I could've cleared both sets
because it was a high drop. I think that I
could've done that.
Were you the first to 50/50 a handrail?
Yeah, I did that at that one Savannah
contest. Oh yeah, and New York at that
Eighth Street handrail, that was such a
good handrail. It was a perfect height. It
was perfect and it was square. That was a
good one. I bet somebody could probably
do like a 180' kickflip nosegrind there.
How long did you quit skating for?
Um, I don't know, like a year. And I was
so itchy, man. It's so weird when you quit.
I quit because I just got pissed because of
Rocco and shit like that. I just got tired of
it. I didn't want to do it anymore. But see,
if I'd see someone with a skateboard, and I was watch-
ing them skate, I would just enjoy it. You don't even
have to skateboard to enjoy skateboarding. And I'd just
watch them, and it was cool. You could see them enjoy.
ing themselves, and you could get a high off that.
But when you decided to go back into it full-on, did
you just realize it was what you wanted to do?
Not really. It's just, you shouldn't take it so seriously.
You should just like it and take it for what it's worth,
Appreciate it, do it, have fun. What gets me mad is peo-
ple want to market it and organize it and tell you how to
do it. But one of the things that's good about skating
is that when you're rolling, it's just and your board and
the turning and the rolling, it's awesome. People will
never really understand exactly what it's about.
What was the worst slam that you ever took?
Probably at Upland. I went to a CASL contest
with my dad and uncle, and I entered, and my
warm-up rides I was doing good, and then during
my one ride, I was doing airs out like two feet in
Awar
he'd grab Indy and then let go and float back in.
Before he started tweaking it like that, he just did
it like so insane. It was just the beginning, so he
would just ollie way out, grab Indy, he wouldn't
tweak it, it was so killer, and he'd just come back
the round, and then I started my run off by tail-in-gnarly. He was crazy. He's amazing.
dropping on the hip. For me, I thought that was
the trick, so I taildropped on the hip, and went for
like a three-foot backside air, and I locked up.
and I just went straight to the bottom and chipped
my tooth and it stung me. That was probably the
worst because I was so nervous about being in a
contest and my dad and my uncle being there,
and then I ate shit. And then I remember after
the contest, I drove home in the back of the truck
and I hid my face, I just felt so terrible, it sucked.
But it was worth it. I got third.
Could you do a kickflip frontside handplant?
I think I could do any trick that I want to do.
Why did you quit Vision?
Well, when I quit Vision, I just wanted to quit all
together and just skateboard for fun.
Who was the best jump-ramper?
Jesse Martinez was good. Back then, I didn't like
Christian, but now that I look back on it, he was
one of the best because he was doing jump ramps.
like how they should be done. Back then, grabs
and stuff were rad. Jim Thiebaud was a good
jump-ramper. I like jump ramps. I like grabbing
early. To me, that was always my favorite, grabbing
early, 360 method: you turn the first half, method,
and you're flying backwards while in a method,
and then you bring it back under you, and you
land it.
Why do you think Lester Kasai quit?
I don't know. That's what I mean, so what? They
are still skateboarders inside. They know deep in
their hearts that they have a gift to do something
that is incredible. Imagine flying out ten feet and
then wacking the small tail part of your board on
the edge of the coping and then reentering with
full speed. They will always know they have the
ability to do that inside them, and that's awesome.
What do you think Tony Hawk's best trick is?
When I was little, he was sick, man, he was my
favorite. He just did huge backside ollies, and then
Clockwise from top left: Gonz busts out with a disaster on
Alcatraz-the prison suit now hangs in the Smithsonian
Institute. Mike's little brother shows you the house where
he grew up in Southgate. When Mark wants to skate, he
likes to have fun, so these shots could all be called funside
airs. In a wet parking lot at Zuma Beach, Shorty cleared
the volcano of doom with his trademark lazy-foot style.
But they wouldn't let you?
No, they let me. And so I quit Vision, and then
Rocco goes, "No, come on, it's just because how
those people were. You can ride for me and have
your own company and do it however you want."
Then I went for it, and they turned out being just
the same as Vision, so I wanted out of it and Rocco
wouldn't give me my money or sell my half of it.
He goes, "Okay, you can have out, but..." like it
was all on his terms, not my own terms.
When you look back on skating, do you think
it's the best thing that ever happened to you?
Yeah, definitely. It's one of the best things
that's ever happened to me. Like I wrote a script
for a movie. You can have ambition and stuff, but
you'll never be able to explain it to people about
skating, how beautiful it is. It's seriously insane.
Like I could get a good high off of writing a short
story, and I like it, and while I'm writing that, I'm
having fun. That's what skating's like too, it's the
same kind of high.
What's the greatest thing you've ever seen?
One of the first things I saw was Russ Howell in
the parking lot at Paramount just doing a bunch of
360's. I couldn't believe it because back then 360's
were the trick. I couldn't believe how he kept
going and going. Then I got good at them, but I
couldn't do that many. I used to get dizzy and fall
down. Lester Kasai at Skate City, seriously amaz-
ing: Lance Mountain at Skate City, Lee Ralph.
Fifteen years of Thrasher, what about that?
The first one I got was the Mike Smith cover.
The mag is bad. Thrasher came out when skate-
boarding was dead, there wasn't shit.
Is there anyone you want to thank?
Thanks to my family, friends and everybody I've
ever skated with and I'd like to thank the surfers.
88 THRASHER