{"id":55098,"date":"2014-05-01T09:03:04","date_gmt":"2014-05-01T16:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/?p=55098"},"modified":"2022-06-07T18:00:58","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T01:00:58","slug":"kareem-campbell-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/kareem-campbell-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Kareem Campbell"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAREEM CAMPBELL<\/strong><\/p>\n

Interview by JESSE MARTINEZ<\/strong><\/p>\n

Photo by NEFTALIE WILLIAMS<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the most exciting and humbling parts about being part of\u00a0<\/span>creating Juice is the magical times when two icons of culture literally sit down and talk story, and we the readers get to actually be the fly on the wall and listen in. This interview with Kareem Campbell and Jesse Martinez is one of the realest, most eye-opening conversations encapsulating a time in skate history that was profoundly felt and seen, yet rarely discussed in detail. Jesse and Kareem have been through more experiences over the last few decades than the majority of us will ever experience in a lifetime. We are proud to present this exclusive Juice feature with two infamous royals of skateboarding: Jesse Martinez and Kareem Campbell.<\/em><\/p>\n

My name is Jesse Martinez. I\u2019m here with Kareem Campbell in Venice in my backyard. We\u2019re going to interview you, Kareem. First question, what was it like growing up in Harlem?<\/strong>
\nIt was good. It was more of an upbringing. It wasn\u2019t really being raised because I pretty much got out of there when I was six. Instantly, I was in Cali and, a couple of years later, I was in Venice.<\/p>\n

What made you start skating when you got here?<\/strong>
\nWhen I got here, I used to hang out with my friends, Daniel Castillo, Little Davey and Nick. They used to just be messing around on a board and I used to be messing around on a board too, but I didn\u2019t even know them at first. I used to see Davey because he lived just a few blocks from me, and I used to sell nickel bags of weed. I ended up hooking up with Davey and Nick\u2019s friends from Culver City and, the next thing you know, I was hanging out with those guys every day and going skating with them.<\/p>\n

That was your first crew?<\/strong>
\nThat was my very first crew.<\/p>\n

How old were you then?<\/strong>
\nI was 14.<\/p>\n

Where were you guys skating?<\/strong>
\nWe skated in the West L.A. area and then Nick built a mini ramp in his backyard, and then we started going to Culver City a lot to skate the Culver City ramp.<\/p>\n

What did your parents think of all of this?<\/strong>
\nMy mom thought I was selling drugs, when she first met Jef Hartsel. [Laughs] She thought I was selling drugs to buy skateboards. She didn\u2019t really believe in it because it wasn\u2019t something they had seen in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Was that what they wanted you to do with your life?<\/strong>
\nNo. She wanted me to really focus on finding a study, and something that could give me a job so I could live and survive.<\/p>\n

I know that was an early time in skating, but were there any skate videos out that you were watching then?<\/strong>
\nYeah, it was the first Ray Barbee video. It might have been Future Primitive. I\u2019m not even sure. That was the first time I\u2019d ever seen a black guy skateboarding. He was wearing flannels and Vision Street Wear that looked like the Chuck Taylor\u2019s, so I felt like, \u201cOh, it is acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

When did you start getting interested in contests and all of that?<\/strong>
\nI didn\u2019t really start getting interested in contests until I started coming to Venice, and then we had the shop over here, Surf N Skate. That was the first shop that really embraced me. My first contest was a Powell contest and I ended up winning that one.<\/p>\n

Did you like skating in front of everybody and the thrill of it?<\/strong>
\nYeah. It was an adrenalin rush, especially because I was so different from the typical skateboarders that were around. I almost felt like I was representing for all the urban kids.<\/p>\n

Did you have any sponsors then? Who was your first sponsor?<\/strong>
\nMy first sponsor was Surf N Skate, and then it was Bridge Bolts.<\/p>\n

Who was your first sponsor besides a skate shop?<\/strong>
\nMy first sponsor was actually you and Jef Hartsel. You and Jef Hartsel used to embrace me and give me boards.<\/p>\n

We saw the talent.<\/strong>
\nYou guys definitely embraced me, and then there was a period of time when you guys were just flowing me. After winning the contest, Todd Hastings came up to me with Ray Barbee and then he sent me a box of ten boards. It went good for a week with Powell, and then you came around and told me that I was going to lose my fingers.<\/p>\n

[Laughs] Yeah, but I think it turned out pretty good for you.<\/strong>
\nIt definitely did.<\/p>\n

Did you skate vert and pools back then?<\/strong>
\nI definitely skated a lot of mini ramps because of the Culver City Ramp. That was the first vert ramp that I ever learned how to skate. We used to go to the YMCA, which was a bigger mini ramp, so I was learning to skate vert from that ramp. On that ramp, you really couldn\u2019t fall because you\u2019d get splintered up, so you tried to really learn it.<\/p>\n

Do you think that street and vert complement each other when you\u2019re learning, skating street and skating vert?<\/strong>
\nOh, absolutely. Yeah. It pushes your limits and it takes you to a whole other level of being able to look at an obstacle. You don\u2019t have to feel like you\u2019re limited because this thing is ten feet tall. It helps you out when you\u2019re looking at jumping down 12 stairs or 15 stairs.<\/p>\n

I agree completely. Skating is skating.<\/strong>
\nExactly. You have to learn it all the way around. That\u2019s what skateboarding is.<\/p>\n

True. When did you finally feel like you were ready to go pro?<\/strong>
\nIt really was a situation where, back in the day, we had CASL [California Amateur Skateboard League] first, so I entered a lot of contests and won quite a few of them. Once I got into the NSA [National Skateboarding Association] circuit, I placed first in that one and then I went on tour with Rocco and them and when it was time for the finals and he was the one that told me, \u201cHey, don\u2019t even worry about going to the finals. You\u2019re going pro. You\u2019ve been killing it on these tours for the last couple of months.\u201d Basically, we had been on tour for months, so we were in everybody\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

How do you feel now about being one of the veterans of the street world?<\/strong>
\nTo me, I feel good. I appreciate the whole element of Natas, you, Hartsel, Dressen and everyone that was coming up back then. You guys were the ones killing it back then, but you guys were the core. Now I feel like I\u2019m where you guys were. I\u2019m there now.<\/p>\n

\n

“It was an adrenalin rush, especially because I was so different from the typical skateboarders that were around. I almost felt like I was representing for all the urban kids.”<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Definitely. Do you remember your first video? Do you remember the first part that you ever saw of yourself?<\/strong>
\nYep. A-1 Meats was my very first video part. I had one day to film a part. We went to San Diego and they were like, \u201cHey, we\u2019re filming this video and we want you in it.\u201d They just took me around one day and put together that whole part.<\/p>\n

Did that lead to other things, because I know you guys are really into music. Did you ever wind up in any music videos?<\/strong>
\nYeah, I\u2019ve done lots of music videos.<\/p>\n

What was your very first one?<\/strong>
\nMy very first one was 311 or Kid Rock. It was one of those.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s an old one. There\u2019s definitely a connection.<\/strong>
\nYeah, there\u2019s definitely a connection between music and skateboarding because when you\u2019re skateboarding, it\u2019s a rhythm, and that\u2019s what music gives you. There are certain songs that you listen to. You know if I want to be aggro, I can listen to Bad Brains. If I want to be mellow, I can listen to Sade. It all goes hand-in-hand.<\/p>\n

How did Rodney Mullen influence your skating?<\/strong>
\nHe really made me into the person that I am. At the same time, I had the different types of skating when I was skating with all the locals in Venice and going to Santa Monica and Santa Barbara. Once I got with Rodney, I was seeing it really technical and seeing that you have to be thinking it all the way through. That\u2019s one of the things that he taught me. You have to see yourself doing it, instead of just going for it. He pretty much made me who I am.<\/p>\n

I know you had a couple of signature moves, like the hard flip late backside 180.<\/strong>
\nThe Ghetto Bird. [Laughs] Yeah.<\/p>\n

Did Rodney have any influence on that thing?<\/strong>
\nTo be very honest and straight forward, I was doing a lot of nollie hardflips and I kept envisioning doing it and then when we were at the Radlands contest, the atmosphere was so insane. You had Tom Penny and all these different guys doing killer shit. I had a hurt wrist at that time, but I kept saying, \u201cI want to make an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leave your mark.<\/strong>
\nRodney was like, \u201cNo. Stick to your lines.\u201d But I just kept jumping in there and, right beforehand, I was able to pull it off. It was probably the craziest thing I\u2019ve ever done in my life.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll be remembered for that, definitely. We know you had a good past in Venice Beach. Did Venice have any influence on your style, as you got older?<\/strong>
\nIt had complete influence. You gotta realize. Venice was style. Period. If you look at most of the skating that came about back then, Ray Barbee had style. Everyone in Venice, from Pat Ngoho to Eric D. to you and Jef, had their own style. Natas had his own style. The best thing is that I was being embraced by all of these different things and it helped me develop my own style.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing. It\u2019s something that all older pro skaters get asked once in a while. Where do you think skateboarding is heading?<\/strong>
\nAt this point, I believe that it\u2019s going to make it into the Olympics because of the consistency of the kids. I really do believe it\u2019s going to make it there. It\u2019s going to take a lot more kids. What Dyrdek is doing with SLS is good. The more the consistency keeps going, it\u2019s guaranteed to make it into the Olympics and that\u2019s where I really see it getting its big break. Snowboarding had it.<\/p>\n

Are you going to be part of that?<\/strong>
\nProbably, in the background, yeah.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re still a big part of the skateboarding industry.<\/strong>
\nYeah, I still have a skateboard company and we\u2019re developing kids and trying to keep their minds right and keep them on the right path so they\u2019ll know how to deal with the industry. Now that the industry is expanding and getting so corporate, a lot of kids are losing their actual real coreness.<\/p>\n

Obviously, you\u2019re still skating. I heard you talking about a handrail. Who do you skate with nowadays?<\/strong>
\nKe\u2019Chaud Johnson, Guy Mariano, Javier Nunez\u2026 I pretty much skate with everybody. I\u2019m traveling a lot these days so, whenever I come to town, I hit up everybody. Some people are traveling and some people are relaxing and some people are getting over injuries.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s good. You\u2019ve been around the industry forever and this is like the third or fourth time that skateboarding has slowed down. What do you think about that?<\/strong>
\nI think you can\u2019t stop it, regardless. You\u2019re going to get floods in and floods out, but now everyone likes skateboarding. I can understand that there\u2019s the fashion side of it, but once kids start to skateboard they realize the difficulty of it. A lot of them either get out or end up in another part of the business. You\u2019re always going to have that with any sport, like baseball, football, soccer and all that. They all go through their ups and downs.<\/p>\n

Now there are so many big corporations in skateboarding. What do you think about that?<\/strong>
\nI love it because, as long as the core can be employed by them to give them the right guidance, I think it\u2019s a beautiful thing. I think that\u2019s what\u2019s helped us get to where we are now. From the Tony Hawk game to Nike coming in, now it\u2019s all these big corporations. I don\u2019t think we\u2019d be where we are just on TV alone, so there would be a lot of skateboarders that wouldn\u2019t be getting the checks they\u2019re getting if it wasn\u2019t for the corporate thing. We just need to keep that core in it and not sell out because there is that core thing. You can\u2019t just take and take and not help to protect the core skaters. You have to help take care of skaters. A lot of these companies sponsor kids, but then they don\u2019t give them health insurance.<\/p>\n

Right. What did you think about those Shut Up and Skate contests?<\/strong>
\nThe Shut Up and Skate contests were amazing. That was the first contest that I ever won. Jeff Phillips. That was my break-out point. That was after there were so many differences and people were leaving Rocco. I went wearing that World shirt that said \u201cRepresent\u201d on the back and that\u2019s when Rodney really coached me and took it to another level by helping me develop lines and stuff like that. I told him, \u201cI\u2019m going to go for it.\u201d He was like, \u201cWhen you finish the rest of your lines, go for it.\u201d He believed in me and that\u2019s what I needed.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the skate scene in Texas like now?<\/strong>
\nThe skate scene in Texas is amazing. It\u2019s totally different from being in S.F., San Diego, L.A. or New York because those guys work so much harder to get recognized. They skate every day, so I feel like I\u2019m almost a kid again. Some of the best skateparks are there. Al Coker has an indoor facility, Guapo, so I\u2019m pretty much skating four days a week. We\u2019ve got the key to it, so we just mess around and have a couple of brews and relax and then we skate for two hours, get a little sore, wait a little bit and then skate again.<\/p>\n

At your age, that\u2019s a lot of skating, four days a week.<\/strong>
\nYeah, it\u2019s keeping me young.<\/p>\n

Skating will do that to you. So what was the deal between you and Russell Simmons and All City Stars becoming City Stars?<\/strong>
\nWell, that situation was right after I went through the problem with the Menace thing and me not conducting my business right. I was more taking business in a physical way, so I lost that situation with that name. When I did All City Stars, we had it all perfectly cleared, but when we went through the legal thing, he was saying that he had enough money to hold the name to where we couldn\u2019t even do business. We had good lawyers, so when we hit them with it, we put in for a generic term. We went back to 1967 when they had the All City Track Team and we backtracked them, so it would be considered a generic term. He had $700,000,000 in. That was his deal to get in for life with Phat Farm, and plus, he knew my family. Ultimately, we resolved it to where I kept the name, but he was able to license it and use it.<\/p>\n

\n

“You gotta realize. Venice was style. Period. If you look at most of the skating that came about back then, Ray Barbee had style. Everyone in Venice, from Pat Ngoho to Eric D to you and Jef Hartsel had their own style. Natas had his own style. The best thing is that I was being embraced by all of these different things and it helped me develop my own style.”<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s the best way. Why is it important to give to the next generation of skateboarders and what\u2019s the best way to do it?<\/strong>
\nThe best way is to educate them and be honest with them. Most of these kids don\u2019t know what it is, but you can tell them and express to them what you went through. I don\u2019t have any problems telling the story of my trials and tribulations because, at the end of the day, it will make that person a lot better. It can help in the form of an example of how to do business and how to expand and get your finances out of the company and get insurance. If they\u2019re going to get into a company, they have to know. When I went to get my company with Rocco the first time, he just took me to the DBA office and said, \u201cHere, do a newspaper letter.\u201d I was like, \u201cOh, it\u2019s like that?\u201d I didn\u2019t know that I had to trademark clothing. I didn\u2019t know shit. You\u2019re just going with somebody that you think is going to help and guide you all the way.<\/p>\n

Why do you still skate?<\/strong>
\nI love it. That\u2019s what I\u2019m about. I\u2019m 110%. That comes before real estate, telecommunications, anything and everything else that I\u2019m into. Skateboarding is my relief.<\/p>\n

I can confirm that. I know that you travel a lot like a lot of pro skaters do. Do you have a favorite location that you\u2019ve been to overseas?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s hard to pick one because I love Australia and New Zealand, but I love Germany too. Germany is just so huge. You can\u2019t just pick one city, because we used to just bounce around all over Germany. It\u2019s so big and they\u2019re cool people and there are good skate spots and good atmosphere. It reminds me of the States, but you\u2019re still in a foreign country.<\/p>\n

You and I have a lot of history with Steve Rocco and World Industries. Did you learn anything when you walked away from all of that at the end?<\/strong>
\nYeah. At the end of the day, I knew that they were there for me. They gave me an opportunity that was out of this world. You gave me an opportunity that was out of this world to even get to them and to be able to get where I am now. I appreciate it all because I can\u2019t really say where I would be on the path that I was already on.<\/p>\n

I knew you were right for the team and it turned out that you were one of the best long-term riders we ever had on that team. You were one of the longest loyalists. That\u2019s for sure. Besides the madness, did anything change for you when you showed up in the Tony Hawk game?<\/strong>
\nYeah. It changed because you become a household name and your checks are $160,000. I was getting money from shoes too, for like $100,000, but those Activision checks would just come out of nowhere. You get a check for $170,000, and you\u2019re like, \u201cIs this the right number?\u201d You go deposit that thing as fast as possible. You make sure you show it to the bank people, like, \u201cHey, this is me.\u201d It just changes you all the way around. You get a lot of stability for your family and a lot of other people around you that might need help.<\/p>\n

I know we\u2019re both pros, but when I look at you, in my eyes, you\u2019re legit. You can be a pro, and a legend, and be remembered. When I see you, that\u2019s what I see. Do you think there should be a standard to turn pro because there isn\u2019t nowadays?<\/strong>
\nTo be very honest, there is no such thing as a true pro now because a shop guy can turn \u201cpro\u201d and just put his name on a board. We don\u2019t have an industry standard or a union, so it\u2019s a free for all. Once they took away the NSA, it was gone. In the NSA, you had to be top three. You\u2019d be like, \u201cOh, I didn\u2019t make it. Oh man.\u201d It wasn\u2019t like it was based on a contest, but it was based on the overall. You could get fifth, and still collect enough points to make it. If you\u2019re traveling the world and you\u2019re in everyone\u2019s face, it\u2019s different. I think there does need to be a standard because, right now, you can\u2019t say who is pro except for the ones that you see on TV.<\/p>\n

Earlier you were talking about skating as your first love. What do you do besides that?<\/strong>
\nI do telecommunications. I\u2019ve been in that field. We do TV stuff now. I do production. I\u2019ve always done graphic arts because I design shoes and stuff, so I\u2019ve been in that field. I\u2019m a jack-of-all-trades. I\u2019m doing real estate still. I went and got my broker license. I never really stood still. If I have time, I utilize that time.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s smart. You always have to be doing something. Do you really think there should be a union for skateboarders where they can get full insurance? I know that right now that can be a problem. Do you think there should be some sort of union that protects us?<\/strong>
\nI think there should be a union to protect the kids. They have to realize that we\u2019re going out there and jumping down the craziest things and doing Mega Ramps and things that, at any moment, could snap, crackle, pop and you can\u2019t skate anymore. And then it\u2019s like, \u201cWhat are you doing now?\u2019 A lot of times, that\u2019s why kids ended up on drugs, because there is no guidance. If you had stuff like a union, it would help to educate kids and get kids involved.<\/p>\n

What do you think you\u2019re going to be doing soon with your career? What direction are you heading now?<\/strong>
\nI have City Stars pumping and I worked that out to where I\u2019m chasing after more of the core distributors versus the distributors that will just put your product on the shelves. It\u2019s good. Being in Texas, I\u2019m away from all the craziness here of the \u2018he say, she say,\u2019 and all that, so it\u2019s good. For me, I\u2019m going to do the business side and I\u2019m going to knock them down again.<\/p>\n

What was it like running your own shoe company?<\/strong>
\nIt was good. That was one of the things that educated me a lot more in business. I went from a skateboard company into a shoe company and I had free reign for the first three years and it was amazing. I didn\u2019t really know how much money we were making.<\/p>\n

Nobody did.<\/strong>
\nYeah. It was just having that free reign and being able to set different standards in the industry. It was beautiful. We were trying to bring back fashion to it.<\/p>\n

Yeah. The fashion before you guys wasn\u2019t too sharp. I wasn\u2019t into fashion, but I saw it.<\/strong>
\nYeah, it was all cut off jeans and stuff like that back in the Ghetto Wear days because that\u2019s what the fashion was then.<\/p>\n

Ghetto Wear was one of the first hip cool looking clothing companies. Before that Vision just destroyed fashion in skateboarding for decades, and you guys repaired it. I\u2019m not into fashion, but I saw what happened. What is the deal with Axion now?<\/strong>
\nWell, I was working with Circa for a minute to re-launch and then Raul did a little back door thing. I told him, \u201cI\u2019ve been working and getting everything prepared and it doesn\u2019t make sense for me to be paying $15,000 for trademarks around the world.\u201d Once he got wind of that, he was like, \u201cWell, right now, Circa is kind of slow.\u201d And then one legal team found out what the other legal team was doing and my team noticed that they were trying to back door me on my trademark. As you see, Axion is shut down now.<\/p>\n

\n

“That\u2019s the thing. If you have that natural talent, you can always get on there, regardless of how much pain you\u2019re feeling, or how you\u2019re feeling about somebody else. You can get on that board and do what you do and people appreciate it”<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n

You\u2019re on top of the game. Who is on the City Stars team now?<\/strong>
\nRight now I\u2019ve got Ke\u2019Chaud Johnson, Simon Lambey, Tulio De Oliveira, myself and three other kids, that we can\u2019t really disclose their names because they\u2019re the new young future for this new line. Right now the squad I\u2019ve got is really good, and these three young ones are amazing.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve got the one-two punch.<\/strong>
\nYeah. We\u2019re going to hit them in the head. I\u2019m not out to steal nobody. There are too many good kids out there. They just need grooming.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of good marketable kids out there.<\/strong>
\nYeah, you still have to find the loyalty in those kids though. I\u2019ve run across kids that are insane, but I put hundreds of thousands of dollars into a lot of kids and you build them up and they don\u2019t understand what it\u2019s like, especially when you\u2019re using your own money. It wasn\u2019t like I was using company money. I was going to Bank of America and cutting checks for $300,000 for shoes and payroll.<\/p>\n

Geez. I wouldn\u2019t know. I feel for you. I know skateboarders though and they can be a bitch to work with sometimes.<\/strong>
\nThat\u2019s why you have to get the perfect crew that\u2019s going to fit for you. They don\u2019t have to be the most insane ones. They just have to have a gift and you can bring it out.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s funny that you say that. We always said, \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be the best, but you do have to be marketable. You have to have more than skate skill.\u201d Obviously, you\u2019re in this for the long haul. What do you think is going to happen in the next 20 years in the industry for you?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019ll be in the industry. I know that for a fact. I\u2019ll be a corporate head, but I\u2019ll be a core corporate head. I think the industry is going to go for another hit because the corporate people who are in it right now aren\u2019t being guided right. I think they might have been confused when they first got into it because they didn\u2019t understand the real structure. They didn\u2019t know what skateboarding is really about. I think the fashion side is phasing down to where we\u2019re going to have our own look again. We will rebel against the system, so we\u2019re always going to be there.<\/p>\n

Is this change for the bad or for the good?<\/strong>
\nI think the change will be good, because, at the same time, it will narrow down some of these skate shops that are just spitting out pros and spitting out boards and undercutting us. That\u2019s where we need a union to stop those shops from making those boards and just turning anybody pro.<\/p>\n

You have to set a standard to go pro. Remember CASL? You had to be one of the top two or three CASL guys to turn pro.<\/strong>
\nWell, you had to be one of the top CASL guys to get into the NSA. You couldn\u2019t just get into the NSA. You had to go through CASL and then once you got through CASL, and you were a top guy, then you made it into the NSA. Then you\u2019ve got the Northern region and the Southern region and Western region and it was good.<\/p>\n

Those were standards.<\/strong>
\nI used to look forward to those contests. When we skated against the Southern guys, I knew I\u2019d be seeing Willy Santos, Kris Markovich and those guys. I knew what those guys were doing. I was going to their contests and watching them and seeing what they got. That was more of the passion of skateboarding.<\/p>\n

Yeah. Skateboarding is more than just a hobby for some, that\u2019s for sure.<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s hard too. I like the structure of skateboarding now because you have a few days to practice on the courses. Instead of getting there on Friday and doing your heat and run, and hoping you make it to the semi-finals, and then make it to the finals and over killing yourself in three days, now you have five to seven days to get to learn the course.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s true. I guess my mind is stuck in the old system. I don\u2019t really know how the new system works. You\u2019re probably right. Every now and then I look back in my mind at certain guys like you, an old guy named Duck, Stranger, and a few young guys in the neighborhood that I had hopes for like Joey Tran, Little Man and Tuma and you guys were the little crew. We used to look at you guys like you were going to be the next guys in line to take over for us. It was just like Jay Adams told us back in the day. He said, \u201cThank god you guys are here. You guys are going to take over for us one day.\u201d In the \u201890s, you started peaking and Stranger moved off to S.F. Remember those days?<\/strong>
\nYeah. It was an evolution.<\/p>\n

You wound up at World. That was a time where I could see the early effort in the \u201880s of all of us skating hard. We would cram into Skip Engblom\u2019s car and drive to the contest. There was no motor home or credit cards.<\/strong>
\nEveryone was in one hotel room. Half of us were sleeping in the car or the station wagon.<\/p>\n

It was just such a crazy time for everybody, but I saw all that come into play in the \u201890s. Even though I sort of phased out in the \u201890s, as a pro, I was still involved in skateboarding. I was still poking and driving Rocco crazy. I knew what was happening, and I could see that you and Stranger had really taken it to the limit. I was always proud of you guys. You did it. You guys made it. I was like, \u201cRight on. They did it.\u201d Now we\u2019re at that point where you guys are older now and there are new kids here in Venice. You\u2019re still part of the circle. No matter where you are, you\u2019re still a Dogtown boy. Stranger is still a Dogtown boy too. He learned how to kickflip and ollie here in Venice, don\u2019t forget. It\u2019s the same with these new kids. You\u2019ve got Froggy\u2019s kid, Haden. You have Leandre and a couple of other kids that are next in line. I\u2019m still here trying to make sure that when I leave, there is a Dogtown and we have other lineage still out there.<\/strong>
\nYou have to keep it going. I just think it\u2019s so insane, because there\u2019s so much that you\u2019ve already done. We didn\u2019t have the park. We were fighting just to keep the flat ground and a little incline to be able to put up a wall ride ramp and a jump ramp. Now you can see the evolution of where you have taken it. You need to pat yourself on the back plenty of times.<\/p>\n

That was a neighborhood effort big time.<\/strong>
\nWell, you have to realize that you were the main force behind it. You have to think about it. You were the main force behind so many of us. I probably couldn\u2019t have done some of the things that I did, if I didn\u2019t come from under you and Jef.<\/p>\n

If you didn\u2019t come to World, I think\u2026<\/strong>
\nYeah, but you have to realize that I came to World under you and Jef. We were the ones that the World guys were like, \u201cOh, these guys,\u201d but we still had the strength because you guys were so strong with them.<\/p>\n

When I told you that you had to be on World and you were going to walk away from Powell, I never dreamed it would come this far. It\u2019s amazing. Even Stranger still has his foot in the game.<\/strong>
\nYeah. Julien is so insane. He\u2019s just got a natural talent. That\u2019s the thing. If you have that natural talent, you can always get on there, regardless of how much pain you\u2019re feeling, or how you\u2019re feeling about somebody else. You can get on that board and do what you do and people appreciate it.<\/p>\n

They sure do. There were other guys in the \u201880s like Uhuru, William Hightower. He passed away about 10 years ago now.<\/strong>
\nYeah. God bless him.<\/p>\n

He was a great guy, and he was part of the younger crew that you guys were in with.<\/strong>
\nYeah, he took us all around in the Subaru. I used to stay at his house. I would tell my mom, \u201cWe\u2019re at Uhuru\u2019s house.\u201d She\u2019d be like, \u201cOkay, you go ahead then.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is funny. Everybody that we hung out with that was a pro then still has their fingers in the skateboard industry now 20 or 30 years later.<\/strong>
\nYeah.<\/p>\n

Hartsel, J.T., Dressen\u2026<\/strong>
\nJay.<\/p>\n

What do you think about Venice changing so much from what you remembered to now what they\u2019re calling Beverly Venice?<\/strong>
\nI think it\u2019s good. Now these kids are so small and they\u2019re having the opportunity to grow so fast, which we didn\u2019t have. We had to struggle. We had to have Block pull out the jump ramp and we could only have it down there for so long, until someone\u2019s board would shoot out. You know what I mean? It\u2019s beautiful. When I go down there, I\u2019m impressed every time. When I go down there and skate and bring my riders to it, they\u2019re like, \u201cThis is on the beach? This is great. Wow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

“I think he told the cops that he thought we were going to rob the store or something. When we ended up getting back in the van, Rodney floored it. We were out of Connecticut fast. Then we ended up in Chicago with a ghost.”<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is your neighborhood.<\/strong>
\nYeah. We only had the Pit for the street park back then and now we have a full park.<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t it funny how the Pit wasn\u2019t really used then? It was there, but in \u201881, \u201882 and \u201883, it was ignored because there wasn\u2019t even an ollie yet in \u201881. The Pit was something that we just looked at and the bums shot up and died there and then the early era of taggers came in. The Pit was nuts. Then here came Christian and snap, here\u2019s the ollie, and everything changed. Here came you and Stranger and the ollie started developing with all of the pressure flips, kickflips, shuvits, ollie shuvits\u2026 Those were the early pressure moves. That\u2019s when, all of a sudden, the Pit was like a skatepark.<\/strong>
\nYeah, the Pit became a skate Mecca.<\/p>\n

We had this skatepark right in front of us the whole time, and we didn\u2019t even know. By the time that you and Stranger had come of age, you were already there. You guys adapted to it so well. You remember the Pit?<\/strong>
\nOh yeah. I was so happy there. I remember the day that I was able to ollie on top of the table. That was a break through for me because it really showed what you\u2019re capable of doing. That was before we were really hitting up picnic tables and stuff.<\/p>\n

That was early tech shit for our area.<\/strong>
\nYeah. Then we had the ledges. Remember there were two sets of ledges?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right. Stranger did the ollie kickflip to your feet. We were doing kickflips but we had heard about somebody ollieing and sticking it. So we were like, \u201cOh, we have to go try that.\u201d So we went to the stage, and we were there for like an hour. I half ass made one, but my foot hit the nose, and my back foot didn\u2019t stick, but I made it. Two tries later, Stranger had it. That was the first time I ever saw it. He snapped his ollie and kickflipped the board as his rotation was ending and the board came up and met the bottom of his feet. Pow! Both his feet stuck and he just landed. I remember that moment, like, \u201cFuck!\u201d Everything changed. From then on, there was no more ollie-ing and letting your feet go. It was ollie and make your feet stick to the board.<\/strong>
\nYeah, that was good.<\/p>\n

Everything changed. You were right on the point of all that. You remember all that?<\/strong>
\nI couldn\u2019t even slappy. I was still trying to learn how to slappy. I could kickflip, but I couldn\u2019t slappy.<\/p>\n

Oh, how\u2019s that? That was the beginning of the end of street skating, I thought, when kids were learning to bypass certain tricks, which I thought were important. Turns out, they weren\u2019t. I\u2019d say the only trick we really made up around here that stayed around was some of the wall ride shit. It\u2019s still going now.<\/strong>
\nI see a lot of wall rides in Europe too. I see people getting on walls as high as they can jump and put a little pressure on to get on top. I\u2019m like, \u201cWow. Yeah!\u201d<\/p>\n

We made that trick up here, and Stranger and all you guys advanced it, like Tim Jackson. What did you think of Tim Jackson?<\/strong>
\nTim Jackson was like a beast. I hung out with him every day almost. It was the best of both worlds. You had the real Venice core and then you had somebody that had his own complete style that was Venice.<\/p>\n

FOR THE REST OF THE STORY, ORDER ISSUE #72 BY CLICKING HERE\u2026<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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