DC. I always went to hardcore shows
and listened to those kinds of bands. I
just kind of stuck with it. I can handle
any type of music-you have to these
days but I prefer hardcore and metal. I
also really like this band Rorschach.
Who's your all-time favorite?
Neurosis is one of my favorites. I've
listened to them since high school and
gone to their shows a bunch. They're
fun. They have a whole bunch of slide
and movie projectors and they show
these crazy films and then both the
guitarists also play the drums on top of
the other drummer. It's just a lot of
noise, basically.
Let's get your stats.
I'm 22. I was born in Tacoma,
Washington and I pretty much grew up
in Washington, DC. That's my home.
That's where skating started for me,
downtown, watching Andy Stone, Chris
Hall, and Pepe Martinez. When DC was
blowing up a few years back, those were
the guys I looked up to. Of all those.
guys, Andy Stone was the one who
inspired me the most, just because he
was a good skater and such a nice guy.
He's still skating now, too. He was
always cool to me and just down for
skating. Those are the types of people I
like to be around, people who are down
for skating. They skate to skate, not for
whatever other reason.
Did you miss out on the DC cov-
erage boom?
No, I got a little piece of it. That's how
I got on Goodtimes. Gregg Witt, the
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owner of Goodtimes, decided he need-
ed a street skater from Washington,
DC, so he sent Peter Hewitt, who rode
for him at the time, on a train from San
Diego to DC to find one. Peter stayed
my friend's house who worked at the
shop I rode for, and that's how I got on.
I met Peter and took him to a pool..
They hooked me up. I was just a kid in
high school and I broke boards a lot
because I'm kind of big, so it worked
out well. They were my first sponsor,
and I still ride for them. It bugs me
when people talk bad about Goodtimes,
because Gregg has always been straight
with me and has always helped me with
any problems I've had. We have a good
relationship and he knows that I'm
going to do my job, so he always does
his. It seems like a lot of pros feel like
things are owed to them, but you have
to work to do your job correctly. You
have to. There are so many up-and-
comers that if you don't have constant
coverage, you pretty much get forgot-
ten. You definitely have to be on top of
filming and getting photos. It's making
it harder. I definitely realized pretty
quickly that I had a lot of responsibili-
ties as a pro.
What about the pros who
sit around every day?
I guess I consider
those guys lucky. But
for me, I like to
skate, SO sitting
around all day isn't
very appealing.
CHAN
McDon
Clockwise from above: Bouncing over the crooked line between
pleasure and pain, Pino has only the sandpapery, kinked gnar bank to
contend with. A bird's-eye view of Pino's perfect gap-clearing kickflip flight
and flawless landing at the San Diego Fashion Valley airstrip. Pino sticks
his nose up high for a quick whiff of the seating area of countless cheer-
leaders. Shoving along a quick ollie varial on the streets of Chula Vista.
McDon
DC has a pretty thick skate history, right?
Yeah. When vert was big in the eighties, there was the
Cedar Crest ramp, which was a twelve-foot-tall ramp
with pool coping at a country club. A lot of skaters came
out of that scene. Also, DC's street scene goes way back.
The street skating has always been awesome, thanks in
part to Sean Sheffey, who was someone I looked up to
growing up. I had so many of his old boards. I'm sure
everyone else did too. And then there was Brian Tucci,
I who was in H-Street videos. He was a gnarly-looking
dude, but once I ended up meeting him he turned out to
be one of the nicest guys. Then there were Andy, Pepe,
and Chris Hall, who were the superstars of the scene.
Chris Hall pretty much developed a lot of innovative
tricks-manual and tech tricks. He kind of created his
own style. Now DC's got a whole new generation of kids;
they skate at the Martin Luther King library. There are
some technicians down there.
Have you ever had any nicknames?
None that have stuck. My friend Ronnie tried to call me
Jumpin' Joe, and I'm kind of glad that one didn't stick.
Don't you have a friend named The Rodent?
Yeah. He was one of the older guys I met after I found
this empty swimming pool by my house. It was the pool
I learned to swim in as a kid. Pools are pretty scarce in DC, so
after I told three people, that place was pretty much swamped,
and all the Cedar Crest guys came skate it. The Rodent is the
Rodent; first of all, he has "Rodent" tattooed on the back of his
neck. He says he doesn't consider me a real pro because I don't
have any skate tattoos.
You could get the Tracker logo.
Yeah, except that I don't ride for Tracker. That might jinx me
and then I'd have to ride those trucks.
How'd you turn pro?
Basically, Goodtimes needed a pro. Matt Moffett and Peter
Hewitt had just quit and I had gotten a wave of coverage around
that time. Jordan Richter was still pro. This was before he became
a Muslim. So I felt up to it. Goodtimes needed ad photos and I
McDonald's
McDonal
McDonall
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was the only one getting any. The final
straw was I went to Vancouver and
entered the pro contest. I was scared as
hell. I've never been much of a contest
skater. I figure contests don't really mat-
ter that much anyway unless you can
win them. So that was that.
What's been one of your favorite
skate sessions?
I'd have to say going to Burnside
recently for Halloween. Everyone was
just skating and having a good time.
Then on the way back I stayed in San
Francisco for five days and one day I
was skating down the street and I
heard someone yell, "Pino!" I looked
over and it was the Gonz and his girl-
friend. We talked for a minute and I
ended up hooking up and skating with
him in the city. It was one of the best
skate sessions I've ever had.
Everyone was just skating and busting
out and having fun. It was really good
positive energy. It reminded me what
skateboarding is all about.
How long did you go on tour
this summer?
Well, Adrenalin is distributed by
Goodtimes now, so we went on a
Goodtimes/Adrenalin tour for over two
months. It was me, Jeremy Deglopper,
Hanzy, Toad, this guy Hans Classens
from Belgium, Justin Strubing and
Eric Mercier. The first month was
demos and the last month was all
the contests. It was an adventure
and the group was really cool. No
one was bigheaded or had an atti-
tude. I've never been on tour with
any other company, but it was
pretty hesh.
No room service?
No, nothing like that. I figure that
before I was sponsored I would go
on trips and have to pay for it all
myself, so I'm just stoked someone's
at least footing the bill, even if it's not
luxurious accommodations or whatev-
er. Even when times are tough, you still
I have to look at it like, "Look, you're
being paid to travel around the world
and skateboard." When you think about
it, it's ridiculous to complain. It's all a
learning experience too. I learned a lot
about getting around in another coun-
try and getting along with people.
Do you like San Diego?
Yeah, the weather's great, but it's
definitely hard to skate around
here. There are a lot of spots,
but there's a lot of driving
involved, too. You