ASHER
ROOKIES
IM MCKENNEY CAN
SKATE ANYTHING, ANY-
WHERE, ANYTIME. He can
show up at a session and within
a matter of minutes be ruling
the place. With a positive
energy that flows through
him when he skates, he just
gets stoked on the people he's
riding with. If you ever get a
chance to skate with Tim, go up to
him and say, "hello." -Greg Carroll
Backside snow-dogger
at Santa Rosa.
Sequence: Tim goes
off the deep end.
Lipslide into the
shallow at the
Los Gatos
hills pool.
MALLI CARE
ABOUT
IS MY
SKATEBOARD
BOOKS PO
Tick
KENNEY
Tell us about yourself.
I was born January 12, 1977, at St Luke's Hospital in San
Francisco. My father Kenneth is of Irish descent, and my
mother is of Nicaraguan descent. I lived three years in Pacifica
as a child, moved to San Mateo, finished school, been skating
since the 3rd grade. I've had a lot of fun skating. I've seen a lot
of people grow up, as well as myself. Some of the first people
I loved the most were Natas and Gonz, as well as Oscar, Ffej.
Saw the guys I needed to see down at Go Skate. Another guy
Chad. They're all into Harleys now, but I still respect that.
Other than that, just been skating my whole life. It's pretty
much all I know. I'm not much of an intellectual. Never really
gave a shit about school. But I totally respect school at the same
time. It helps build character, as well as mind. I don't have much
of a mind anymore, 'cause I've been smoking pot for five years
straight, so I'm kind of retarded at this point. But I'm hoping
to grow up pretty soon here and get my shit together. Think's
giving me a chance to do that, and I'm loving it. I'm having a
good time so far.
What's a usual day like for Tim McKenney?
Wake up around 10:30, call my friends Pat and Jimmy, hook
up with them, go to B Street, smoke some dank, go skating
all day, sweat my ass off, hopefully get some photos or some-
thing. After I'm done skating. I usually go back to B Street,
drink a beer, smoke a little bit more dank, go home, and
just watch TV or something.
What was it like when you started skating?
It was different. I was just some little punk kid looking up
to all these older punk kids. The first time I saw someone
smoke weed, I started crying, 'cause I saw these older kids
doing something wrong, or what I thought was wrong. I
started preaching to them. I was a 7-year-old kid preaching
to like 20-year-olds. Now look at me and where I am.
Who are some heroes and/or people you've been
inspired by in life?
Actually, some of my heroes aren't even involved in skat-
ing. The first hero is this guy Jake Foster, a 3rd degree black-
belt. He was older and a very talented individual. I learned a
lot from him. Another would be my father, as well as my
mother. Skateboarding-wise, I look up to Julien Stranger and
Mike Carroll. Those are two completely different people,
different styles of skating, but mixed together that would
just be the ultimate skater. Mike Alcantar. My friend
Schmitty. Cardiel. Jake Phelps.
Do you feel like you have to live up to a title
or anything?
There's definite standards you have to keep, but my skat-
ing is different from everyone else's, so there's no real standards
I put on myself. I don't have to go out and do a 360° double-flip
down eight stairs to feel good about myself. I'm more happy just
hanging out with my friends and skating, progressing a little bit
each day, maybe doing a new trick a day, or not even that, just
doing old tricks again and again. It's all the same, it's just fun.
Do you consider yourself an athlete?
I wish I could consider myself an athlete, but sitting here
smoking weed all day, smoking cigarettes, drinking 40s....
Athlete's are sitting there tripping on beta carotene and all that
other shit. I don't care. I'm just trying to have fun with my life
while I'm young, 'cause I know in the future I'm going to have to
get my shit together and get some job that I'm going to hate
for the rest of the my life, so for now I might as well love what
I'm doing, just take advantage of what I've got.
Do you feel as if you're an innovator in skateboarding or
in your life at all?
I wouldn't say I'm much of an innovator. I've seen skating
go up and down, and I'm kind of in the middle. I'm just sitting
here looking at all this different shit. You go through your
baggy pants stage, you go through your Raiders jacket stage,
you go through all that shit. I've kind of stayed the same, just
stayed in my own little zone. I haven't really changed much.
My skating hasn't changed much. I've gotten better. I've got-
ten more focused, but nothing's really changed.
Do you have an image?
It's kind of like a loner image. I'm not really down for the
image, I'm not down for the scene. I hate that word "scene."
It's like anything you do there's a "scene." But you know
what? Fuck the scene, man. I don't want nothing to do with
that damn scene. I'm just in it for myself and my tight
homies. I don't give a fuck about girls and their looks, all that
shit doesn't matter to me. It's just the skating.
What's it like going on tour?
I've never been on tour. I've travelled a lot recently.
I've been to New York, that was one of the best times of
my life. Tampa, another best time of my life. Down south,
it's cool, but you've got to travel a lot. Sunset Strip, man,
never go there, you'll get harassed by transvestites the
whole time. Try to stay away from that shit. But other than
What kind of changes have you and skateboarding gone that, other places I've been, nothing but cool people,
through since you started?
It started out with 10" wide boards, going off launch ramps,
doing early grabs, not giving a shit, big wall rides, when in the
super tech days, couldn't do anything unless it was a double-flip
or a noseslide down some 30-stair ledge. Now it's kind of at a
point where it's both intertwined. That's my definition of the
way I skate right there, just technical as well as gnarliness from
ten years ago mixed together. It just makes skating that much
better. There are no rules, just whatever goes, goes. I love it
In the past year you got sponsored, then all of the sudden
you've got this pro model out. Do you feel any pressure?
I was tripping there for a little while, but I'm just think-
ing. "I've been skating for thirteen years, and what does pro-
fessional mean? If they feel it's time for me to turn pro and
I can make some money, why not? It would help me out in
the future." I mean, when are you ever ready to turn pro, be
in the spotlight? I don't give a shit about the spotlight, all I
care about is my skateboard.
people I could relate to. Portland, got there at 3:00 in the
morning, went to Burnside, thought I was going to get
harassed by a bunch of smack addicts, but I met some
dude, got a 12-pack, sat there till 4:00 in the morning getting
wasted, dropped in switchstance, and bailed. But it was still
fun, I still had a good time. Freezing. 30° outside, ripping.
What do you hate the most about life?
fuckin' drama. Anywhere you go, there's people trying to
get something from you out of you, or trying to feed off of
what you got going when the only reason they're doing that is
because they can't find any substance in their own life. That's
bullshit. I like to give a little bit of myself, but when it comes to
bullshit, get out of my face. It's all about just happiness and free-
dom. Fuck all the groupie people out there, 'cause they ain't
doing nothing but sitting on their ass, trying to feed off the peo-
ple that are really doing something.
What kind of music do you like?
All types, it doesn't matter. I'm not into one certain kind of