Double-exposure frontside boardslide.
manipulate his body in all circumstances. I
can think of a lot of close seconds. Donny
Barley's got a good style and so does Jason
Lee. But I'd give it to Gonz.
How come once Zero got big, you never
tried to bulk up the roster with more
established superstars?
It seems to me that if you have a formula
that made you successful, why change it once
you reach success? Zero started with a bunch
of kids. Some of the guys are still on the team.
Those guys were really young, and so was I,
and I just wanted to start out with something
small rather than try and go out and get more
established pros-plus I couldn't afford them.
I started the company so budget. Even the four
ams who were on the team could only get
three or four boards a month, which, for a
sponsored am, is not that many. Then they
could get either wheels or t-shirts, whichever
one they wanted. It's been exciting to see those
guys come up and eventually turn pro and
become established pros. We did get one
established pro, Matt Mumford, so by the time
had to kick very many people off, but those
times we did were really traumatic experi-
ences. It doesn't happen often enough to
worry about, but that's the worst. That, and I
work a lot-that's my own issue and it can
affect other things going on in my life-in my
personal life.
What's your favorite trick? Of all time?
Sure. It's gotta be the ollie. It's the best trick of
all time.
Do you want to kick J. Strickland's ass?
For what reason?
For putting that old footage of you in his video.
No. Whatever. I heard I had footage in his
video from when I was a kid, a sponsor-me
video or whatever, and I don't really know to
what extent it is or what his intentions are, but
I'm not going to fight anybody over them trying
to make their stabs. I really don't understand it.
Why or what? I don't even think about J. too
often. He knows me a little bit, but he doesn't
know me well enough to try and dis me in his
video. The whole Piss Drunk thing, that whole
company and that video, is all based around
"THERE ARE MORE IMPORTANT
THINGS IN LIFE THAN SKATING,
BELIEVE IT OR NOT"
we started putting together the first video,
Thrill of It All, we had a good group to work
with. I wanted to make more of an underdog
company, and people seemed to like it. The
formula worked, and when I came aboard it'
seemed to all come together. If it ain't broke,
don't fix it.
Would you ever have a tech skater on the team?
I would like to have all different types of
skaters on the team, but unfortunately, there
aren't too many tech guys who like to wear
skull t-shirts. Lopez used to be into tech ledges,
and ledges period, but he has kind of moved
towards the rails, and now people probably
consider him more of a rail guy. Everybody's
got some tech abilities. Matt's good at switch.
Erik's got the flip-slides. If there was some tech
dude who was just raw, with holey jeans-I'm
not only into dudes who dress like us, but it
just seems like there's a certain attitude that
everybody on the team shares, when you like
the same music and have similar tastes. I just
want everybody to be able to get along.
Trainwreck gets pretty tech too. We've probably
got as tech as we can get without having some-
one who didn't really fit in. They might not
have fit in for other reasons, but we've always
had Zero-style riders.
What's the worst part of your job?
I'd have to say when you have to break news
to somebody that's not good, whether it's you
have to kick them off or tell them that you
and the team have voted them off. It's like one
of those Survivor issues, like one of those
nasty shows. That's probably the worst thing.
I'll remember those days forever. We haven't
reaction, whether it's cursing out a lady in a
restaurant or dressing crazy so you get a reac-
tion. Or saying the craziest stuff so you get a
reaction. Or doing such gnarly tricks that you
get a reaction.
What's some advice you wish you'd gotten when
you were a kid?
It would have been that skateboarding's fun,
but don't take it too seriously. If you can make
something out of it, that's great, but the main
thing is that it's fun. Also, that there are more
important things in life than skating, believe it
or not. That would be the single most impor-
tant thing I wish I had learned. It took me a
long time to figure out that there are more
important things in life-like my wife, my par-
ents, my God. That's the order I learned them
in, too. I learned that I could love a human
more than skateboarding. I was so fanatical
about skateboarding for so much of my life,
because it was the only thing that was always
there for me on a steady basis, and I was so
attached to it. Then I learned that there are a lot
better things out there than skateboarding. I
just try and remind kids of that.
What do you want to be doing when Thrasher
turns 30?
I want to have kids. I'd like to still be skat-
ing, obviously. I probably won't be pro. I've
only been pro for nine years, and we're talking
10 more, so I probably won't be pro. I see
myself on the business side, hopefully dealing
with some good people and getting some good
feelings out of the deal. Maybe a mini-ramp in
the backyard.
-Michael Burnett