Search
Salba_Andrect_BondiBeach-ACOSTA

Steve Alba – Juice Magazine State of Skate Interview

Name: Steve Alba
Hometown: The Badlands, California
Age: 52 going on 20.
Sponsors: Santa Cruz, Indy, Spitfire, Vans, Hurley, Randoms, Pro Designed, Fender musical instruments.

What set-up are you riding right now?
I’m riding a Santa Cruz Salba Cruz formica bottom with Gonz graphic with old school Indy 169’s with my SpitFire Salba wheels. My griptape is from Home Depot. Hardware is Randoms, the best hardware by far.

What’s the most fun DIY, skater-built or renegade spot that you’ve skated lately?
I’v been riding lots of backyard pools and parks… No DIY lately, although I love FDR, Burnside, Washington St. and Graveside.

Have you ever built something to skate?
I have helped build many ramps, big and mini, and I used to put the Vans ramp together for 10 years, but that was a giant lego set basically made of steel with a scaffold frame. I designed Upland park’s big run with the Pipe along with Montclair’s bowl spin deal and both Fontana parks with California Skateparks and Wally Holiday. I also designed the Roman at Fontana North, but I would love to design and build a pool or two.

Who do you like to skate with these days?
I’ve been riding A LOT of pools and Fontana North and Upland. I love the Combi, but I’ve been staying in Badlands lately because my left knee is jacked.

Best skate graphic you’ve seen lately?
The one I made yesterday by hand on my board.

Best thing you’ve skated in a skatepark?
Pipeline in the day. Nowadays I love Upland, Combi and Pier Park where ya thrust over the door opening. Old Louisville was hella rad and I like the little pool with the channel at the new Houston park.

Favorite skateboarders of all time?
Steve Olson, Lance Mountain, Tay Hunt, my brother, Chris Robison, Al Losi, John Nakama, Tony Farmer, John Swope, Christian Hosoi, Brian Brannon, Taters, Adam 2, Lil Serna, Ricky Stiles, Toby Burger, Josh Borden, Kiko, Grosso, Mike Smith, D.P., Craig Johnson, Tex Gibson, Wally Inouye, Chris Strople, B.K., Ruben Orkin, Royce Nelson, Cholo from Scum and Dave Reul.

Is there anything that hasn’t been built to skate yet that you’d like to see built?
Yeah. More Salba designed stuff.

One of the best road trips you ever took?
Amarillo pipe trips, Arizona pipe trips, down under in OZ for Bondi, Pedro’s house in Brazil ranks high on the list, and going to Costa Rica to skate the A Hole with Alex Cavaletti, Lance Mountain and PineApple.

Are there any skate-related charities that you support?
I have given to many cancer-related ones.

What music have you been listening to lately?
I listen to all kinds of stuff from film soundtracks to old country like Tex Ritter to New Orleans music, like Professor Long Hair and the Meters. Lately, I’ve been listening to lots of surf music from 1962-63 and GateMouth Brown. I’m trying to learn “Okie Dokie Stomp.” I love blues, jazz and punk rock and we play Electric Gumbo in PowerFlex 5.

What do you consider the responsibilities of a professional skateboarder?
There are responsibilities?

Which skate shops do you support?
Any shop that helps me and the kids out. Up our way, we go to Utility a lot. Jokers is cool. SoCal Skate Shop has some good gear.

Favorite skate photo of all time?
I love the Waldo shot that O’Mahoney shot at Baldy pipe back in the day. I love Baldy shots because that place means so much to me, growing up in the Badlands. Any Stecyk shot. I love Craig’s words and stories. He influenced me so much in that way. He chronicled the old pools and I do it today.

What is your take on girls skateboarding?
The more the merrier.

What skateboarding memorabilia do you have that means the most to you?
Probably the Pipeline sign that was on the building that said “PIPELINE SKATEPARK” or the fact that I have the first REAL PRO contest winning board from Spring Valley and Big 0.

Who contributes the most to your local skate scene?
All of us, but mostly me and Big Serna. We do all the cleaning, rinsing and hosing at the parks.

Top three favorite skate tricks?
My top three are frontside thrusters, disasters and Andrechts. Stuff I wish I could do are pivot to fakie and FAT ollies and boneless on vert.

Do you think skateboarding should be in the Olympics?
Hell no.

What is your proudest moment in skateboarding so far?
Seeing my kids rip.

Salba_Andrect_BondiBeach-ACOSTA
This should be in the dictionary as how to do an andrecht plant. Salba at Bondi Beach, Australia. Photo by Anthony Acosta

ABOUT THE JUICE MAGAZINE STATE OF SKATE:

When we started Juice Magazine 22 years ago, you could count the number of skateparks on one hand and grindable pool coping was mostly a distant memory. Now there are thousands of skateparks all over the world, along with a vast quantity of DIY spots built to skate. In 1993, the majority of skateboarders listened to punk rock or hip hop exclusively. Now skateboarders listen to almost every kind of sound created. Two decades ago, skateboarding related charities were non-existent. Today, there are numerous non-profits giving back to skateboarding in many ways. One of the most important differences between now and then is that, 22 years ago, there was a clear division between old school and new school skateboarding. Now that wall of separation has followed the same path as the Berlin Wall, allowing for an unprecedented unification of skateboarders all over the globe. Great strides have been made for girls that skate as well as the acceptance of skate history and long overdue recognition for skateboarding’s pioneers and its artifacts. At the same time, the current generation of skateboarders is taking skateboarding to new heights, previously unimaginable. As the landscape of the skateboarding industry changes on a daily basis, and the topic of skateboarding in the Olympics rears its head once again, along with the disturbing subject of who controls skateboarding being tossed about by corporate entities, we decided it was time to take a good look at the State of Skate. We asked 20 questions to 100 skateboarders, ages 8 to 58, and found that skateboarding is as diverse as the skateboarders that are addicted to it, no one controls skateboarding except skateboarders, and the State of Skate is savage and strong. Now get out there and skate tough!

JUICE MAGAZINE STATE OF SKATE features interviews with 100 skateboarders including: Tony Alva, Dave Hackett, Chris Strople, Duane Peters, Steve Olson, Dave Duncan, Steve Alba, Tony Magnusson, Pat Black, Jesse Martinez, Bill Danforth, Jim Murphy, Ric Widenor, Lester Kasai, Glen Charnoski, Bryan Pennington, Peter Furnee, Jeremiah Risk, Ryan Smith, Jason Jessee, Omar Hassan, Cam Dowse, Jen O’Brien, Depth Leviathan Dweller, Brett Roper, Travis Beattie, Chris Gentry, CW Dunn, Chris Albright, Charlie Wilkins, Cairo Foster, Pierre-Luc Gagnon, BJ Morrill, Dr. Lenore L.A. Sparks, Sid Melvin, Jesse Irish, Packy Fancher, Greg Lutzka, Jimmy Larsen, Adam Dyet, Luis Tolentino, Greg Harbour, Frank Faria, Ryan DeCenzo, Dave Bachinsky, Johnny Turgesen, Casey Meyer, Edward Sanchez, David Gravette, Ben Hatchell, Brian Geib, Felipe Gouveia, Eric Santos, Kyle Smith, Cameron Revier, Josh Stafford, Justin Grubbs, Etienne Eden Archila, Sanzio Piacentini, Josh Elder, Eddie “Mighty” Moreno, Kevin Kowalski, Otto Pflanz, Jeremy Smith, Adam Wiggins, Jimmy Wilkins, Danny Gordon, Jake Hilbish, Corey Blanchette, Adam Legassie, Nick Santos, Trey Rounds, Curren Caples, Justyce Tabor, Andy Anderson, Sarah Thompson, Coral Guerrero, Collin Graham, Derek Scott, Ace Pelka, Sonny Rodriguez, Jarren Duke, Mikayla Sheppard, CJ Titus, Noah Schott, Emily Earring, Julian Torres, Wyatt Wisenbaker, Josh Forsberg, Nathan Midgette, Roman Pabich, Yago Dominguez, Jack Winburn, Jonas Carlsson, Kiko Francisco, Bryce Ava Wettstein, Desmond Shepherd, Matty Jessee and Luke Kahler.

FOR THE REST OF THE STORY, ORDER ISSUE #74 BY CLICKING HERE…

Follow Us

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Translate »