HEADS AUSTIN STEPHENS
HY MIGHT YOUR AREA,
LA's Inland Empire, be
called the Badlands?
You know what, to tell
you the truth, I have no idea. The first time I
ever heard it called the Badlands was in the
sequence you shot of me doing the 270° to
back lip. That was the first time I ever heard it.
Is there anything bad about it?
Not that I can think of. I know Riverside has
a really high teen pregnancy rate.
They just call it that because it's kind of
a desert wasteland.
Yeah, probably.
Did the Hell's Angels really come out of
your area?
I have no idea. I heard they came out of Fontana.
Round or square?
Square.
HASN'T SEEN ED NAKED YET
I understand you had to make a tough
decision as far as board sponsors recently.
About a year ago I sent Jamie Thomas a spon-
sor-me tape. I started getting flowed boards for
awhile but then he got really busy, so I started
getting boards from Billy, the team manager at
Tum Yeto. Then a few months ago, I sent Tum
Yeto another tape and Billy showed it to Josh at
Foundation, then Jamie saw it, and then Ed saw
it. And then Josh called me up first.
You bet he did.
He asked me if I'd be down for Foundation.
I was excited about that, but I wasn't sure if
that's what I wanted, 'cause I wanted to get on
Zero or Toy Machine. Then Jamie gave me a
Don't worry, you will.
Yeah, that's why I said "yet."
How many tickets have you gotten at
your local skateparks?
I've gotten two at Corona, two at the
Claremont park, and one at San Dimas. I've
gotten more tickets for skating at skateparks
without pads than I have street skating.
When you're trying to grind a big rail or
ledge, do you ever pretend it's someone
you really hate?
No, never. I just roll up to it and I can feel
when it's right to try it.
Do you ever roll up and know it's wrong
and have to walk away?
Sometimes, but not very often. I usually find
out after I'm lying at the bottom.
Left to right: If it weren't for the
fence at the top of the stairs you
might think this noseslide was a
noseblunt slide. "Are you talkin' to
me?" Looking for rails? Follow
Austin's nose; it always knows.
Do you know Salba?
No.
What do you know about him?
Not much. I know he's a ripper.
Have you ever skated any pools?
I skated a few pools with Ray Barbee. It
was fun.
After you slashed the death box did you
ever approach a younger skater and yell,
"Smell my trucks!"
No.
We've seen the pool skaters and the ledge
wizards, but are you the first gnar-style
skater to come out of the IE?
I don't think so. Definitely not. There's Tom
Krauser, handrail ripper. There's plenty more
out there, I'm sure.
What's your handrail record standing at
thus far?
The biggest rail I ever skated was 15.
call next and said he'd be down to work with
me, flow me more boards, and maybe go on a
couple tours. And then Ed called and said he'd
be down to put me on Toy Machine. I wasn't
sure what to do, so they let me go on the Tum
Yeto Canada tour with them. I went on that,
undecided about who I wanted to ride for, and
then about halfway through the trip I decided
that Toy Machine was what I wanted to do.
Was it the toughest decision you ever
had to make?
By far.
Was Jamie upset?
No, not at all.
That's good.
So now I ride for Toy Machine, Emerica, and
Active Ride Shop.
Were you uncomfortable the first time
you saw Ed naked?
I haven't seen Ed naked yet.
Remember that ad where Tas Pappas was
disguised as a toilet? That was creepy, huh?
Yeah, that was weird.
Have you had any janky stepping-stone
sponsors yet?
No, not really.
Would you ever want to do a hand-
some man ad?
No, I like ads where it's pretty simple and up
front, like all of Geoff Rowley's ads.
If you were to describe your skating style
as an '80s metal band, would you be Ratt,
Whitesnake, or Poison?
That's a good question. I guess I'd have to
say Whitesnake.
Did you ever have a child's mullet?
Yeah. I had a rat tail. From like first to third grade.
Do you remember the moment when you
cut it off?
No, just one day I turned around and it was gone.
-Michael Burnett