music or claiming one certain type of anything. I'm
just down for whatever sounds good, whatever's
pleasing to the mind, soothes the senses. I like hip-
hop as well as jazz, old blues. It could be something
on the radio that sounds good that would be in my
head for a week, and I'll love it. I'll just keep singing
it to myself while I'm skating.
What's the gnarliest trick you've ever
pulled in skateboarding?
Frontside nollie 360° double-late shove-it, out of the
bowls of Palo Alto, it was sick.
What do you think about the "I want to be
weird" trend in skateboarding right now?
Fuck all those people, 'cause they ain't doing nothing
except try to put a label on themselves, a label that
they can't even live up to, 'cause they ain't really down.
They're just searching for something that ain't even
part of them. They're looking at magazines going, "I
want to be that." Well, just be yourself, 'cause you've
got no one to please except yourself. Just be down for
yourself, and everything else will come with it. I've
been nothing but down with myself. I never asked for
anything from anybody except for maybe a cigarette or
a hit off the bong, and now I've got a model. I don't
understand how that works, but all I know is I've never
been down for any of that bullshit other than just
straight, "Let's go hang out and skate," everyday, all
day long. That's all I'm talking about is skateboarding,
talking about, "Do you remember what Gonz did back
then? It's still going on now, he's still doing the same
shit." That's all my life is is skating. I wish there was
more substance, I wish I was in some rock band or
something, but I just don't have the skills. I didn't focus
on any of that shit except my skating, 'cause that's
what meant the most to me.
What do you think about contests?
It really takes away from the essence of skating.
Skating is individuality. Skating is not a team sport.
You ain't there to win the Superbowl or nothing.
You're sitting there trying to learn a new trick. Under
the stress of, "You've got to do your line!" you can't
do it, you ain't focused 100% like you are when
you're riding down the street. You're thinking about
team managers getting all stoked on you, you want to
keep them happy, you want to make money, you
want to do it right, and that shit gets in the way.
You're not going to pull your Indy nosepick on the
wall with that kind of stress. Last year, I was at the
professional contest as an amateur, and I was under
complete control. I was stoked, skating with all these
new people, it was like a dream come true. I wasn't
worried about, "Oh, that's a superstar." It was like,
"Dude, I'm skating with these dudes. I could do any-
thing. I feel like I'm on top of the world." And I did. I
I went to the am contest this year, and it was com-
pletely different. Head trips, fuckin' puking all over
the place, stressing out, couldn't even drink a beer.
'cause I felt like if I get drunk, I won't pull my line. But
I didn't pull my line anyway, so it didn't really matter.
Pro contest, I'm some am-nobody having the time
of my life. But, I get there for some amateur contest
and bail the whole time, tweaking on myself, "Dude,
I suck." I'm not into it, dude, I'm really not into it.
Why do you feel like you got that way?
'Cause when it comes to me doing something for
myself, making an impression, it means a lot to me, so
it's kind of like your own fault. It really is your own
fault, I realize that. But at the same time, that pressure
doesn't help. I'd rather just go, sit on the sidelines, bull-
shit around, skate when I feel like it, no pressure. I can
just carve around, cruise, don't have to go for the
frontside 180° flip or switch heelflip over the fun box.
I'd rather just do some grinds, a couple grabs, maybe a
kickflip if I'm lucky. I'm not much of the flipper guy, I
really wish I was. But I'm learning. Yesterday I learned
frontside 180° flips like Marc Johnson, I'm stoked now.
I'm getting it. I'm getting it down. I'll be in there,
switch 360° flip pivot fakies, dude, I'm coming up.
What are your feelings about doing demos?
As a kid growing up, I went to demos. I went to
the Swatch Watch tour at Hillsdale Mall, saw
Rodney Mullen do his yo-yo, and was more stoked
than I've ever been. Seen Cab 360° air over a fuckin'
Honda, made my day. I wish someday I could do
that for some other little kid. If he comes up and
goes, "Hey, you're Tim. It's nice to meet you." I'd
sit there and go, "You know what? It's nice to meet
you." Many times I've done that and had some guy
go, "Who the fuck are you? Get out of my face."
That's kind of a let-down, it kind of breaks your heart
for that second, but at the same time, I'm going to do
it right. I'm going to go, "Hey, what's up, kid?" Give
him an autograph. If I got some stickers or some
product, give him that, make his day. I know that
made my day when I was young. Get a little prod-
uct, you're on top of the fucking world for the next
month. Like a set of wheels, costs the dude 6 bucks
to make, it's like a million dollars to you for some
reason. It really means a lot, and I hope I can give
some back, because I've gotten a lot. Just little
things here and there, but it's meant the world to
me. I hope I could do that for some other little
chump just like myself when I was a little chump. It'll
make me happier. It'll make me stronger. It'll make
me feel like I'm doing something for mankind. I ain't
walking on the moon, but for that second I will feel
like I'm walking on the moon.
Is there anything else you'd like to say?
Yeah, I'd like to thank everyone who I've skated
with, who stuck by me, and who's given me some pos-
itivity. Because I've seen a lot of negativity go around,
and I want to start feeding off the positivity instead of
the negativity. I'm sick of the negativity. People who've
shown me positivity have meant the world to me.
Some of those people are Greg Carroll, Phil, Paul, my
friend Greg, my friend Matt, all the guys I grew up with
from Go Skate, and on.
Politically-minded Tim pumps his fist in
support of the Black Power movement
on this nosegrind up a San Jose rail.
The old jump on the fence and yank it in to fakie trick at Yuba City.
50 THRASHER