"IF YOU CAN CASH IN, DO IT,
some weird studio setup with a strobe
light effect.
What were you doing?
An ollie backside grab one-footer.
How old were you then?
I was 16. Maybe 17.
What year was this, 1990?
Yeah. It was all pretty crazy; it all happened
really fast.
What did you feel like when you saw yourself
on the cover? Were you still in high school?
It almost didn't seem real. There aren't
here you were 16 or 17.
I felt pressure, and I didn't know how.
great of a thing that was to have happen to
me. I didn't know just because it was so
quick, and maybe other people were freaked
out by that.
BUT THAT SHIT'S LAME"
What year was that?
1994 or 1995. Yeah, I liked that photo because
it was a good day of skating and a good spot.
What about the last time you were on the cover?
That was basically good timing on my part. I
showed up at Thrasher, they needed a shot, and
Do you get stoked when people notice you
whenever you're out?
Hell yeah.
Do you remember the first magazine you
ever saw?
The only one I really remember is Cab doing
I know that.
What do you think about ESPN and all
that stuff?
If you can cash in, do it, but that shit's lame.
The public is still blind and pretty much igno-
rant to a bunch of stuff-the vast majority are.
Natural funbox 50-50.
Where you freaking out when you saw the
cover? Did you even know they were going to
do a full cover?
No, I don't think I did. They were just
like, "Come down and do a shoot." I
thought it was really weird. Everything
was happening really quickly for me at
that time.
really words at that point; you just go
upwards from there.
What about the second time, how many years
later was that?
Did you feel pressure?
What do you mean?
From peers at school, now that you were on
the cover of the magazine?
I did at school, yeah.
It takes people years to get on the cover, and
That was four or five years later.
What were you doing?
A frontside 180° nosegrind on a cement
bannister with a rail on top. I did that 180°
nosegrind frontside forward. I was stoked on
that photo.
they knew the spot that they wanted. I hap- a frontside invert; I thought that photo was
pened to show up and Bryce Kanights took me really cool. Like I said, I can't really think of a
out and we shot it-it was a cool shot on Army lot of photos, but the overall feeling that
Street. It was cool because I had good snaps Thrasher gave me is something I'll always
that day. I had been skating a lot-I was really remember. That's it: timeless.
psyched on it, and he was like, "Yeah, let's go
shoot this photo." I really liked the shot, how
Bryce made it square in the picture.
Where do you think skateboarding is
going to go?
It's going to keep goin' for the next few years,
But ESPN and that kind of thing just legit-
imizes skating in the public eye-so cool, if
people can make some dough off it, go for it.
Do you think Thrasher stayed away from all
that and just stuck to real skateboarding?
Yeah. Thrasher's done a couple of contests
before, and those are always the most memorable.
-Nik Freitas