Yes, I had a pro IV model with a company called Quazar but they went belly up and thus did my board.
click to enlarge
BACK TO PART 1 OF THE INTERVIEW
What was it like getting your name and photos in the skate mags?
IT SUCKED...No just kidding. It was cool. I never got a cover but maybe didn't deserve one, who knows, there was a certain amount of politics involved.
Did Dogtowners ALWAYS get respect at skate spots?
Pretty much. It could get ugly but for the most part nobody dropped in on any of us.
Who did you usually skate with?
I would say Biniak, Jay, Tony, Billy, Muir, and P.C.
Did you ever feel exploited by your sponsors? ow was it a pretty fair deal for all?
EVER???? How 'bout most of the time. The only people that didn't make big promises and then fuck you over were Jeff and Skip in the beginning and then later on I got treated well by Tracker Trucks and Gyro Wheels. Rector was a lot of fun but I never saw my last payment. Makaha sent me on tour and
that was a good experience but they too fell short on what they had offered me.
Did you save any of the money you made as a pro skater?
ABSOLUTLEY NOT.
Was Alva as bad-ass as the mags made him out to be?
I didn't know that the mags actually made him out to be a bad ass, unless you describe a bad ass as a hot skater who doesn't take any shit and doesn't want people in his face or in our pools. Tony was no more of a bad ass then any of us, I think that we all had the rep of being bad ass because of the
geographics and lifestyle that we were growing up in. None of us were outright violent people, we just were from a place that wasn't mainstream U.S.A.
Do you have any good alva stories?
Yeah, I've got a fun one. When Tony and I were both living on the North Shore of Hawaii in the winter of 1976, one time we were hitchiking from Pupakea to the Kuilima condos where Tony was staying with the late Bunker Spreckles, and we weren't getting any rides so we started to walk and all of a sudden
this car blows by us at about 60 mph loaded with local Hawaiian guys in it. Out of nowhere the car slams on the brakes cranks a U-Turn and comes barreling back at us. We hear someone yelling "GET THE HAOLES!!!" Me and Tony looked at each other and shouted to me, meet you at the Kui, and we split up and the guys started chasing us first with the car then on foot. We ran
through backyards scaled fences, and with L.A. street smarts being put to good use, left all 6 of them in the dust!!!!
We hooked up at the Kui like planned and both shared our personal get away story and then both decided it would be a good idea to go catch a buzz in the bar, or Kui Lounge. Bunker had given me and Tony permission to go have as much as we wanted to drink or eat, on him, since we were a little too pumped up from our ordeal. We proceeded to tie a pretty good one on and after we were asked to leave the lounge we headed back towards the condo unit.. on the way we started seeing all these really big bullfrogs jumping on the grass, and on the pathways. There was a swimming pool in the distance and we started picking up frogs and hurling them towards the pool, then we thought it would be fun to grab all we could carry and go up to the second level where we could see the pool better and have ourselves a little frog throwing contest.
We did just that and although it was a little ways off in the distance, we started heaving the frogs until they were all gone. After the last frog we were on our way when we heard someone yelling out "HEY YOU!!!" We looked at each other with a sort of drunken, NOT AGAIN!!! sort of look, and started to bail but the security guard was too quick and we were too loaded, so we were an easy catch. He asked us what the hell we were doing with the frogs, to which we both replied, we were just throwing them into the pool. He looked at us and just shook his head and said "YEAH BRA, BUT YOU MISSED!!!!" Apparently not all of our frogs were quite making it into the pool. We offered to help clean up the splattered frogs but he just said, "YOU GO HOME NOW!!" So we called it a night.
What was it like hanging around the Zephyr Shop on Main Street?
It was the place to hang after school or if you didn't go to school. We used to shoot the shit with Skipper all day long sometimes and would make frequent trips down Bay Street to the beach to see if the prevailing onshore winds had somehow miraculiously switched over to offshore so we could go
surf. If not and it was usually not, we would hang until it was safe to not get nailed by truancy cops, and head for the bus stop to catch a bus to a pool or school. It was a cool place to hang !!
What did you think of the "hand-standers" in skating in the 70's?
GEEKS, plain and simple. Gymnastics belonged nowhere near a skateboard but somehow some geek thought it would be cool, bad news guys, it never was!!!!
Were there a lot of drugs and/or drinking Prevalant when you were a pro skater?
There was plenty around from the time I was 11 years old right to and through the skateboarding days. I would say that to skate seriously you couldn't really drink, and couldn't use a whole wide range of drugs and still perform. I am not willing to break my or anyone else's annonimity without permission, so I have to leave it at that for now. I can say that when we
skated we skated hard, and when we partied we partied hard too, as for specifics, I can't go there.
Did you ever consider starting your own skate company as did Alva, Muir, and Stacy?
No I never did. I wasn't as famous as those guys were and didn't have the personal following that Tony, Stacy, Jay, Muir, or Biniak had, so the thought of that never crossed my mind. Plus I really wasn't that business oriented in those days. All I knew was that I got big promises from people in business and they always fell short.
Were you ever offered a signature model by any of your sponsors?
Yes, I had a pro IV model with a company called Quazar but they went belly up and thus did my board.
click to enlarge
What companies were your sponsors?
I rode for the Zephyr Team originally and then the following sponsers: EZ Ryders, Z-Flex, Sims, Lightning Bolt, Town & Country Surf Designs, Makaha, Quazar, Tracker Trucks, Gyro Wheels, Rector Skatewear, and Santa Monica Airlines (Skip Engblom's company in the late 70s).
Have you kept in touch with any of the original Dogtown crew?
Not until the movie thing happened. I've been in touch with almost everyone since then, it's been exciting.
What were the best and worst things about being a pro skater in the 70's?
I think we've covered that.
Did you save any skateboard related items from your professional
skating days? If so, what?
Nothing at all left over from the day, kinda
sad but that was the way it went down.
What was your initial reaction when you heard about the Old School Skate
Jam? A lot of the guys from the 70's were skating the bowl such as Marty
Grimes, Ray Flores, Alva, George Wilson, Pineapple, Folmer...Do you think
you'll skate next year at the event?
My initial reaction was that I thought It was a great way to get the
oldschoolers reunited for a couple days and that those that wanted to skate
or were still skating (such as TA) on a regular basis, could do some rippin'
the old school way.....Wish I could have been there and been able to see
some of the guys I havent seen for years like all the guys mentioned above
especially Marty, Ray, and George who all were from the day and the
Dgtown/Venice way. As for skating next year, we'll have to see
where I'm at geographically and how good the surf is. I'm more inclined to
stick to water sports as I'm not getting' any younger and water is a hell of a
lot softer and forgiving. Some nice banks would be killer though!!!!
"Dogtown and Z-Boys" won 2 awards at the Sundance Film Festival. What's
your thoughts on it? Should "Dogtown" be such a household name?
I don't think it will become a household name first off, 2nd the film DAMN
WELL deserved the 2 awards. If you didn't live in Dogtown and weren't one of
the Z-Boys you could never REALLY know what it was like..however the film
gives you a feel of it and Stacy, Paul, Agi, and Glen Friedman all did
a good job at reaching the general audience and getting them emotionally
there by the way the film was put together. I was fortunate enough to be at
Sundance and to be at the first 3 screenings and the reaction to the film
was seriously HOT!!! Personally for me Dogtown was a way of life and was
my home and the Z-Boys were my brothers on the streets...I sure hope it
doesn't make it into the kitchens of the world.
20-25 years ago, drugs, money, egos, and being ripped off seem to be some
of the main contributing factors to a lot of skaters doing their own thing
for their own personal gain. Do you see that happening again with the Dogtown
documentary and Hollywood planning a Dogtown movie?
I could see Hollywood really fucking things up!!!! That's why at least the
documentary tells it like it is before they get a chance to fuck it all up.
From what I understand Hollywood bought the rights to some of the guys' life
stories, what that means I don't really know, in addition to that I have no
idea what the motives of those that sold could be other than money....guess
time will tell. If it's a big hit someone is going to make money, I don't
plan on seeing a dime myself and that was never my motive. However I
refuse to EVER be ripped off by ANYONE having to do with skating again....I took enough of that in the seventies.
What should people know about "DOGTOWN" now that the documentary is
getting critical acclaim?
That it is about a culture and not just about a bunch of skate rats. Its
about brotherhood and loyalty and not all about money and fame and shit.
It's about style...A style that nobody could or will duplicate. It's about a
place that doesn't even exist anymore at least not in the way it did.as far
as the film. I hope people enjoy it and can get a sense of what that time
period was like and the feeling of living in a place like that and doing
what we were doing. I'm sure there will be people that see it and think it
totally sucks...That's cool too...It's all good......Not everyone is going to
totally dig it but I think a lot of people will....I'm happy that our story
was told, cause it needed to be.
Take us back to the first time you heard the term "DOGTOWN". What did it
mean to you then? And what does it mean to you now?
I don't even remember the first time I heard the label of Dogtown, but I
can tell you that it was before the skate craze.....Dogtown like I said
previously was just HOME!!! So when I think of it now what I think about
are a lot of different images that are gone forever....To give you an
example Main Street is now where all the rich Hollywood stars go to wine
and dine, etc...Well growing up, Main Street was a place that was run down,
beat up, for the most part no foot traffic except winos, bums, and hobos,
with your occasional street gang or surf punk members walking the streets. It
was by no means a place of glamour like today. Rent wasn't sky high cause
most people wouldn't even want to live there, now it's all SOLD OUT for big
bucks. So what it means to me now is a home from a life a long time ago
that is gone.
Was the term "Z-boys" all magazine hype?
No, we called ourselves the Z-Boys and that came from the Zephyr Team
sponsership and the surf shop logo. The magazines would have insulted us by
calling us anything else!!!!
Did you feel weird about being termed a "Z-boy" after you left the Zephyr
Team?
Once a Z-Boy always a Z-Boy...Like I said it was brotherhood!!!!
Do you feel "Dogtown" was a place and time that can be duplicated in a
movie?
I think that's the best question yet....My answer is ABSOLUTLEY NOT!!!!
As I've explained in previous answers it was something personal, but I
think the film gives people a taste of what it was like.
Tell us about any part of your present day life you'd like to share with all of us.
I live in Wellfleet on Cape Cod in Massachusetts which is a peninsula that sticks out 50 miles or so into the Atlantic Ocean. My town is about 15 miles from the tip thus pretty far out to sea. I have a seafarm which I grow oysters and clams on for a living (aquaculture). I'm married for the second
time and have a son Ian who is 5, a daughter, Kiah who is 3, and 2 stepsons, Jeremy 13, and Zachary 11. Also 2 step kids that have flown the coop, Brandon 18, and Cassandra, 21. I live in an area that is frequented by the rich and elite in the summer, all of them up here to lounge in their trophy houses for the season, and then a smallish population that lives here
year-round. I try to spend as much time as possible on or in the water and not deal with the whole tourism thing. In the winters I go away for a good stretch to surf destinations in the Carribean and also do some snowboarding in New Hampshire a couple times each winter. I also dive for lobsters in the
summer and I do clambake catering in the summer as well as shucking shellfish onto rawbars for caterers and private functions. I love my work, family, and am really pretty happy. I have some good friends that work with/for me and we have a blast!! I'm grateful to have done the whole skate scene and heavy L.A. scene, and that I'm still alive unlike some of my bros who didn't make it.. rest in peace Sean V., Bobby R., Peter V., Lonny O., Anton, Chow, David B., and the rest of the crew that aren't with us. Also rest peacefully to Phillane R., (a great den mother and good friend).
I hope surf style skating never dies out. Everything is so fucking mechanical in this world that it would be a real shame to lose soul skating too.
KEEP IT ALIVE!!
PEACE TO ALL OF DOGTOWNS FINEST
WR IV
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