ELISSA STEAMER
INTERVIEW BY
MICHAEL BURNETT
AND ERIK ELLINGTON
ELISSA STEAMER HAS QUICKLY RISEN TO THE STATUS OF
"BEST GIRL STREET SKATER OF ALL TIME" IN AN ASCENT
THAT HAS BEEN AS ACTION-PACKED AS IT IS AUTHENTIC AND
DULY EARNED. NO SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTING,
LOOK-AT-ME-I'M-A-GIRL TACTICS, COATTAIL-RIDE
HITCHING OR MARKETEERING JUST SKATING,
SLAMMING, AND CARING LESS ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE
MIGHT THINK AND MORE ABOUT LEARNING NEW TRICKS.
YEAH, ELISSA'S A GIRL. SO WHAT?
Erik Ellington: What's your full name?
Elissa Beth Steamer
EE: Where are you from?
Fort Myers, Florida.
EE: Are you nervous about the interview?
No.
EE: What's the daily routine of a professional
skater like yourself?
I go skating sometimes and shoot photos sometimes.
EE: What else?
I just wake up, live, and then wait for the next day.
EE: The simple life.
Yeah.
EE: Do
No.
Do you have a car?
EE: Why not?
'Cause I don't make enough cash.
Michael Burnett: What does it mean to not
have a car in Southern California?
It's hard to go skate, except Ocean View High
School or The Ashtray (Murdy Park in
Huntington Beach).
MB: How old were you when you started skating?
Eleven or twelve.
MB: What made you start?
Myself.
MB: Back to the Future?
No, my friend Sylvan.
MB: What'd you do before that?
Nothin'. I don't remember, really. Went to school.
EE: Who were some of your early influences?
Hensley. And Sheffey. Yeah, Sheffey.
EE: How do you like tours?
Tours. My life outside the jerk-off booth.
MB: What's it like when you're on tour and all
the guys you're with bring all kinds of sluts
into the van and back to the hotel?
They don't. Sometimes they get lucky, but
not usually.
EE: Yeah, it's true.
MB: What are some of your earliest memories
of skateboarding?
Just skating in front of my house, trying to
bounce on the tail. I had a Variflex, one time, but
then I got a Powell board.
MB: When did it get to the point that you had
to skate everyday?
I don't have to do it. Maybe two or three
years ago.
EE: Tell the San Francisco story.
The security guard?
EE: Yeah.
I was doing a manual at the library in San
Francisco and some huge lady just threw one of
these on my neck, like they do in wrestling.
MB: A clothesline?
Yeah, a clothesline, that's it. She did one of those
and I'm all, "What the fuck?" I was just fuckin' yelling
at her or something and I'm all, "What's wrong with
you?" and she swung me around and tried to put
handcuffs on me and I didn't want her to.
MB: Was she a cop or a security guard?
I didn't know. She was just some bull-dyke lady in
BACKSIDE AIR TO SMASH OFF
THE EXTENSION AT HER CLOTHING
SPONSOR'S WAREHOUSE.
KICKED OUT OF TEN SPOTS IN A
ROW, ELISSA FINDS SOME BUST-
FREE SOLACE IN A SOLITARY WALL-
RIDE NOLLIE OUT AT SKIP'S DITCH.
THI