What kind of people
influence your skating?
I'd have to say that definitely
someone like Wade Speyer
who goes at anything and
everything, who tries to take it
to the furthest limit. And Mark
Gonzales too because Mark
just has natural ability at skat-
ing. I just like stuff like that.
like people who could skate
pretty much anything instead
of just restricting themselves
to certain things
The all-terrain skater.
Yeah. People like Danny Way
and Alfonso, those guys have
just skated everything and
ruled it. People like Bob
Burnquist too
What do you like to skate?
I like to skate mini-ramps
a lot.
What's the best spot you've
ever skated?
Santa Rosa skatepark.
because, until I came out here,
I've never really skated any-
thing like that before.
Have you skated
Boomers Ramp?
Yeah, I like Boomers a lot.
How do you get motivat-
ed to get up and go skat-
ing everyday?
The sun If it's nice and
sunny and warm outside. I
just want to go out and just
skate. Just being outside and
rolling around.
Do you have a girlfriend?
Yeah, her name is
Deanne Reynolds.
Is she your partner in
crime?
Yep, definitely
How long have you been
going out with her?
Almost a year
We just recently went up to
Sugar Hill with Huf and...
who else was with us?
Ethan, Dune, Max, Karma...
Alan, the Paezes. There was
a sick session going down.
Do you like that park?
Yeah, I like that park a lot
Ethan's big ol' boosty kick-
flip and had a big stalefish,
lab
did you see that one?
He did a 360° flip too on the
box, it was sick.
How about Paez, backside
flipped that thing?
My God.
So gnarly. Levitated,
caught it, super high.
Frontside flipped it, that
was sick.
How has skating changed
your life?
Well, considering all the
travelling I've done, it's opened
my eyes to see a bigger picture
in the skateboarding world.
especially when you get to go
visit all these shops in all these
towns where they have their
skateboard scene, or whatever
you want to call it, but you
just see what kids are real-
ly into out there as far as
skateboarding, and know what
kinds of things they like, or
how it's influenced skaters,
especially younger ones, the
ones that read the magazines,
they're always trying to keep
up to date with what's going
on. And, then, besides that.
just seeing new places and
learning. It's a big learning
experience. You see things
that you've only read about or
maybe learned in school like
the Hoover Dam-and-going up
into the Rocky Mountains in
the middle of spring and it's
like five feet of snow.
Why do you skateboard?
Obviously because I love it.
So, you'd do it even if you
weren't pro, right?
Yeah, I'd do it just as much.
I would do it no matter what.
It's weird because I was never
one of those skaters who
would try to get sponsored or
sent a video tape or any of that
stuff I just skated
Tail smack, Jim's ramp
It kind of all fell right
into your lap?
Yep. Dreams do come true
That's another thing I learned.
What kind of music are you
listening to?
All kinds. I don't restrict
myself to a certain thing. Right
now in my headphones I've
got my DJ Juice tape from
New York.
What do you listen to before
you go to sleep?
Some old soul music.
Does music help you
skate too?
Yeah I like skating with my
headphones on.
It gets you in the groove?
Yeah, totally. I like it when the
skateparks have a good sound
system, because while you're
skating, you get pumped up
Do you speak Spanish?
Yeah, fluently. I can read and
write it, too. I'd like to do a bilin-
gual interview sometime. I think
that would be cool.
What about after skating?
When I'm done skating. I'm
eventually going to get into school.
I'm older, I could use this experience that I have
You're not going to stay in the skating to help other kids achieve what they want to do.
industry all your life?
I don't know. Maybe.
Start your own wheel company.
Yeah, I could do that. Or I could just orga-
nize events. My friend Junior organizes events
for skaters back home. Like stuff like that
would be fun
I could see you in a youth organization like
the Boy Scouts of America, helping the
youth fulfill their fantasies, get the dream.
What was Martin Luther King, Jr's quote?
"Keep the dream alive. When I get old. I
might be like that grandfather that has that
Winnebago that's going to take all of his grand-
What does your family think of what children around the country and be like, "Oh, I
you do?
I guess at home, the younger kids in my family
kind of look up to me because I'm doing some-
thing that I like to do, like some sort of profes-
sional, like an athlete type thing. So, maybe when
want to show you this."
Schooling them early.
Yeah, because kids need to see more than just
outside of their little neighborhood or group of
friends or what's going on at home. They need to
BF
SOUVEL GRADIN
Lipslide, KFC
see outside of that,
because that's what travel-
ling has helped me do, to
see what's going on in
other places and that
where I live isn't the only
place. People think that
where they live, it's the
same like that every-
where, but it's not. It's not
always the same in some places. And some
places, you go, and there's just more opportunity.
Just seeing more helps you think more, and it
broadens your mind,
Miles Long
Ollie, the Avenues