a barbecue going, and somebody poured
lighter fluid into this watermelon half
and lit it on fire, and right as that hap-
pened, my mom came home and she
was pretty pissed.
Who has influenced your way of skating?
The Bones Brigade. I was stoked on Cab.
He was stylish, he was good at vert, but not
too hectic, and he was smooth. I mostly
liked vert skaters like Tony Hawk and
Danny Way, even though I've never had
access to vert ramps. I thought it was such
a smooth style of skating, and floating in the
air, that was sick to me. I've always had
this desire to get on a vert ramp and just
bust out, but I haven't really gotten too
much of a chance to do that yet. But I'm
getting there. I'm trying to work on it. What
trips me out is I used to look up to the
Bones Brigade guys, and now I'm n part of
that whole thing. I go to Powell, and I trip
out on the fact that I'm a a part of this com-
pany now. And all the history that's up on
the walls just tweaks me out.
Who has influenced your way of thinking?
My mom was a big influence, and my dad
has been a recent influence. I also like what
Mike V has to say. We did a spoken word
tour, and most of the things he had to say
about skating and about life was pretty right
on. But mostly it's been me just finding my
own way. I take bits and pieces from people
here and there and just take everything with
a grain of salt and just try and figure shit
r myself.
out for
What gets you down?
When I see new kids getting into the
sport. That's a great thing, but they don't
know anything about the sport, they just
know what they see in the most recent 411.
They don't know what a layback grind or
layback air is. It just seems like there
should be a history class. It's not just a sport
or a lifestyle, it's a feeling, it's a whole col-
lective thing. People should know everything
about the sport, know all the past heroes,
the present heroes, and we've got to look
up to the guys of the past, 'cause we're
standing on their shoulders as far as tricks
right now. If Alan Gelfand never did the ollie,
we'd be hurtin'. It wo
would be
d be somebody y else,
but that's who it was named after, and peo-
ple gotta know that. I see kids trying switch
kickflips before they can ollie up a ledge or
do a wallride. That bums me out a little bit,
but they're just kids having fun, they just go
with what they see.
When did you graduate
from high school?
see.
go
I graduated in June of '93.
After that, I felt pressured
to go to college. My family's
really into getting a good
education, and I believe in
it, too, but I also believe
the
and
that when you're young, you have to get
what you can. So, I felt the big pressure to
go to college right after high school, and I
felt like I wasn't ready, but that it was the
right path and I'd feel ready after a bit,
I started looking around for colleges,
in the back of my mind, I was
I was looking at
campuses for things to skate
before I
was looking at the academics. I
I was
look-
ing at Philadelphia, New York and then
Boston, which is where I eventually ended
up going. I attended Northeastern
University, and that was good because my
family was still near and my friends were
still around me, but I was in a different
environment from when I lived out in the
suburbs. I h
I had a skateboarding wonder-
world at t my d doorstep.
Now it's 1997, and you still live in
Boston. What has changed since you
first n
moved in?
When
I first
moved in, it was a really
friendly scene amongst the locals. We had
people coming from different areas-New
Mexico, Panama, Philadelphia kids, New
York kids-and everybody was getting along
swell, just having a good time. But there
was inner turmoil within the different par-
ties, and now everyone's trying to take
sides. It's getting better, though. The
wounds are healing, but it's still been a lit-
tle hectic. And, as far as
as cops, it was
, it wasn't as
crazy back in the day. Now it's starting to
get a lot more crazy. You can't even skate
most of the spots nowadays. It's a really
conservative town, and the cops just want
to keep it all pristine. They don't want it to
Jumpin' Jehovah, a big snap means clearing
the tall part of the Brooklyn Bridge wall.
"If Alan Gelfand Never Did the Ollie, We'd Be Hurtin'."
This Beantown rail looks pretty rippable
and Charlie has no beef with that.
Wildin' Charlie Wilkins senselessly attacks
the front end of a visiting Honda with a
frontside nosegrind in Manhattan.
turn into another New York. I think
they look at New York and get scared,
so they crack down real hard.
What do you think when you see a
skater displaying his hardness and
lack of respect for fellow humans
when on his board?
In at town like Boston, you've really got
to be courteous to other people
around you. Even in a crazy city like
New York, it's just nice to do that.
People are just walking, and they have
the right to walk there. And we have the
right to skate there, I feel, but that
doesn't nullify their right to walk. All
you've got to do is wait for the street
to be clear. I just see little old ladies get-
ting hacked in the ankles sometimes,
man, or people getting scared, and that
doesn't give a good feel for skateboard-
ing to
to the general public. It just bums me
Out.
I usually try and be silent when I
skate and not mess with anybody.
What was the best spot you've
ever skated?
When I went to Vancouver, BC. We
just don't have spots and parks like
that around here. And Yuba City's an
amazing spot, too. I've also got to
give a lot of respect to those guys at
Burnside, 'cause that is an amazing
place. The skating that goes on there has
got to be the gnarliest ever.
Do you see an outdoor public skatepark
in Boston in the near future at all?
I don't. We have two spots that would be
perfect: Kenmore Square and Turtles.
Skaters should just take over Turtles and
start building shit there and improving the
natural terrain that's already there. But as far
as the city saying, "You guys can do whatev-
er you want to do," I don't think that's going
to happen. Boston's a really uptight, colonial,
conservative town.
Did you think you'd ever get this far
in skating?
I always aspired to become a professional
skateboarder, but I never thought it could
happen to me, just coming from such a small
town and being on the East Coast. It's win-
ter half the year here, pretty much, so I felt
like I always lagged behind. I always wanted
to have a good time skating and go to school
and maybe get a little bit of coverage here
and there in the magazines, but I never
thought I'd get this far.
Do you like touring?
Yeah, touring is fun. I've been touring for
the past four years, mostly the southern
states and up and down the East Coast.
Touring is great. It got me out of the area that
I was in, and it broadened my horizons, giving