SEAN SHEFFEY
Di
o you remember the first issue of
Thrasher you ever saw?
Yeah, I believe it was Mike Vallely doing a
sad plant.
Like a street plant?
Yeah. It was either that one or the one before. I
know it was in '86. Also, the Mark Gonzales inter-
view at Embarcadero-that was one of the first
ones I got to see. The one with Mike Vallely had a
yellow cover. It was pretty rad.
That was right about when street skating started
to take over.
Yeah. It had this awesome background with all
these people standing around.
What was your first photo in Thrasher?
It was maybe a Luke Ogden Spitfire ad.
A Spitfire ad?
Maybe so. It was like a lien grab at Landsdowne,
Maryland. Natas and these guys were on the tour
and I got to skate with them. It was pretty awe-
some. I got to go around and check out these spots
in the area and I took some pictures.
I always remembered that picture of you doing
an ollie-to-tail on the bench at the bubble banks
in New York.
Oh! That was way back. That was before the
other pictures I said. And then I got in the calendar
with Coco Santiago, doing a doubles ollie. Ollieing
the channel doubles.
Is skate and destroy still relevant, or is it old fash-
ioned now?
No. That's the culture. There are so many kids
who have so much aggression, and skating is
their outlet.
Were you like that when you were younger?
Yeah, but I didn't see it so much as an outlet at the
time. Later you realize what it was. At the time, you
just use all your energy to skate, and then unfortu-
nately you don't have any energy left to do anything
else. Maybe if I hadn't been skating I would have
done other things-something productive.
Everybody likes to talk about all the crazy stuff you
do. What are some misconceptions about you?
I don't think there are any! I don't really know.
Everybody has their own opinion, and I can live
THRASHER
August 1992
December 1996
with it or without it. If people have heard stuff
about a certain cat, and they don't want to be
around 'em, they don't have to be around 'em. I'll
be myself. You can be around me or choose not to.
Do you ever feel the pressure to perform for peo-
ple, like, "Oh shit, everybody is gonna expect me
to get wild?"
Skating?
Skating and just being crazy and having fun.
No. That just goes along with the partying on the
weekend. It's pretty exciting being at the event,
and that just depends on if I'm there and every-
thing is going well and I'm feeling healthy and
loose. You know? That just comes with it. Later,
when I get home and I settle down, I feel like a
fuckin' idiot sometimes. I go, "What the fuck did
you just do?" after all the commotion. Some of
that is brought on by the bullshit-the politics of
it. I feel like, "Kiss my ass!" if the people at the
arena don't understand skateboarding. We're wild
kids who enjoy having fun. That's one of the only
times we can all come together without someone
saying, "Don't skate. Don't do this." I've really
come to respect and honor that. It's taken me a
long time to understand it, but some of these
times at the halls-those are some of the best
times I've had in skateboarding.
Last summer, you were coming really close. Do
you think you could win one of those?
I fuckin' hurt my leg! So I've slowed down for a
little while. Yeah, I could do well. I just need to
focus. I need to put some of the bullshit out of my
life and focus on the skateboarding.
Do you care about it? Do you want to win a con-
test some day?
Oh my gosh! I don't look at it like that. I just
think, "Fuck! If I could put a really good routine
together, I could be up there." If I did really well, I
know that feeling-I would know what the placing
should be. Once you get up in the top 10, you
start to think, "Wow. I could go there." If you're
outside, it's pretty far away. When you get, like,
15th, you're like, "Ouch, that hurts." I don't really
look to winning nowadays, because there are so
many radical kids out there, it's amazing. It's so
rad for the sport because there are so many dudes
you get to see from everywhere. So as far as that,
I don't really expect to win but I do expect to do
well-top 10 or top 20. It's tough to get in the top
20 these days!
But your lines are so hard. I know you could
cruise into the finals with some crooked grinds
and ollie grabs, but your lines are gnarly-like
all switch.
Thank you. But I know those lines will place me
high, if I can complete 'em. And they aren't really
that tough for me. There are these kids, though,
who have skated contests for so long and they're so
good with their consistency. I've had that on and
off, and now it's time to get it in gear. I'd like to, but
it's tough. Life's tough. In and out of girlfriends
and relationships, and then sponsors-so many
things. You get yanked so many ways. I enjoy it a
lot. I wouldn't have it any different. I'm happy I'm
able to do it, to be around skateboarding, and the
smell of the boards and the stickers and new boxes.
It's why I always loved skateboarding. And the
magazines, of course. That's what first brought
skateboarding to me. Before there were all these
videos, it gave me the vibe really hard-Thrasher
and the others.
Who has the best style?
As far as all-around, I like Christian Hosoi. Jason
Lee. Gonzales. Those are just some of 'em. Tony
Hawk. The style is their whole being on a skate-
board. So many people would give anything to
have any of those styles. Any of the guys on my
team: Guy Mariano, Eric. Every single one of them.
I don't know that there could be the best of all time, because
styles change through the years. But as far as true-to-form skate-
boarding, it has to be Mark Gonzales. He has the most fluid, laid
back, solid skateboarder style. Like Natas and the surfer style.
And Neil Blender-he looked immaculate on a skateboard.
That's the essence of why people started skateboarding: just to
cruise. But then everyone started doing the damn tricks, the
maneuvers, and it just went bonkers!
Who's your favorite of the new guys?
Mariano. Penny's still fresh. And I always liked Jeff
Lenoce. Fred Gall. Alex Gall. Dill. Singleton, Kevin
Taylor. All of Sal's boys are pretty hot. There's so
many. Dyrdek. He comes and goes, but it seems
like he's the new kid right now. "Rob Dyrdek!"
Oh he's that new guy!" He's rippin'.
Where do you want to be when
Thrasher turns 30?
I'd definitely like to be.
involved in skateboarding, in
the business somehow.
What do you think you'd be
good at?
I don't know. I'd like to start a
company, something small for
myself, and then build from
there. Understand the business
and then build up. Get used to
dealing with people, dealing with
the ups and downs and the atti-
tudes, and grow into a strong
businessman, not some kook
who just loses it every time
things don't go his way.
Do you have any advice for
the kids that you wish you
had gotten?
Yeah. Taxes. Don't underesti-
mate the power of the govern-
ment. We were getting like three
and four grand a month when we
"T'LL BE MYSELF. YOU CAN BE
AROUND ME OR CHOOSE NOT TO
were 18 or 19 and that shit went
like flapjacks, like McDonald's
fries. I paid for it later. Luckily I
was able to get healthy and
strong, which I did. Also, my.
sponsors are like my family, but
that's not always the case, so you
should do well for yourself. If
you do well in skateboarding,
and you give it its life, you give
people fun and excitement, and
you give it all you've got-I
believe there is room for you in
the business. Why would I try
something else? I know skate-
boarding. I know bearings. It
know the fucking bolts in my
trucks. I believe Sheffey's a
household name in skateboard-
ing. Say my name and you recog-
nize that it's skateboarding.
-Michael Burnett
Ollie.