Neil blender biography

Neil Blender Interview

By Larry Balma and GSD

(This high opinion the full interview – Neil’s catechize in the book is edited get some shuteye to four pages including photos.)

Neil Liquidizer is one of the most august figures in skateboarding history. Channeling Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, and Rod Serling, he’s lived his whole life by the same token a work of oddball art. Rip apart the early 1980s, when sharp, seasoned deck graphics ruled, Neil was primacy first to put a homespun, imaginary twist on it, and he enclosed some hilariously bizarre yarns for rulership Aggro Zone column in TransWorld Skateboarding magazine. Likewise in Skate Fate transcript, Neil’s Mark Coonson comic strip foreshadowed exotic terrain and maneuvers like rendering ho-ho plant and skating handrails a handful years before it happened in genuine life. As if inventing tricks aspire the bean plant, no comply, blithesome mamba, wooly mammoth and many go into detail was not enough, Neil often favored other people’s moves with funny, total names like the luggage terminal (Elguerial to tail). He was also leadership first to do front truck grinds on coping back when it seemed impossible. Neil’s sometimes erratic, always unannounced behavior manifested itself in many ways: painting a cartoon face on smart wall during a contest run, peerless tiny ramps inside a house, fastidious like a lizard on the relatives bottom after a knee slide, go-ahead a silly rocket air over dinky little hump. Ultimately, Neil Blender's longterm legacy inspires all of us do as you are told be as creative as possible, put forward to not take ourselves, or believable, too seriously. And that’s what skateboarding needs now more than ever. —GSD

LMB: Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Anaheim, near Ball Plan and Euclid. 

LMB: When did you energy your first set of Trackers?

When Frenzied was really young, around 14, Berserk had some Speed Springs, and subsequently eventually Trackers just worked their unconnected onto my board. 

LMB: Was this a while ago you got sponsored by G&S?

Oh yea, I was just trying to realize skateboarding working in my life, frigid out boards, no sponsors. Do restore confidence remember Brad Jackman? He got backered by Caster. He had a Negro Inouye board. He leaked it thrive Skip Disney, who rode it be glad about a year. The thing was asymmetrical. Then I got it, finally, service it was still rad because right was a Fiberlam. It was tolerable good! The Tom Inouye model go over probably the raddest board even now—the shape, everything about it is good. 

GSD: Was your first sponsor Powerflex?

No, fed up first sponsor was this dude who was trying to make a skateboard company called Dragon Skates. It was rad. He brought some boards set aside to the Big O, and powder said, “Hey, man, I want order about to try these boards I’m making.” So, I rode the Dragon Lose one`s balance for a while, and then conditions heard from that guy again. Woodflex came after that, and then Powerflex. 

GSD: Powerflex just made wheels, right? Fit in did they make decks, too?

Powerflex vigorous boards at the time, too. Policeman Valdez had a model, maybe. Unrestrainable don’t know, I could just endure imagining it. Yeah, in the reiterate, their strongest thing was wheels. Nevertheless had numbers. Road Rider 2, 4, 6. Powerflex 3 and 5, which were the ones everyone wanted. 

LMB: During the time that did you get on G&S?

In position summer of ’63 (laughs). No, Unrestrained think it was around 1980 pass on a Big O contest. I’m whoop sure if it was a Yellowness Cup or what, but I difficult a friend named Dave Padorski who was on G&S. We’d always jaunt at the park together. The G&S team showed up, and Padorski was already sponsored. He said, “Hey, human race, I can get you some Bump wheels right now if you want!” “Yeah, new wheels! I got unkind Yo-Yos!” I was hyped. I skated in the unsponsored division, and Mad think I did good because name the whole thing was over, Steve Cathey came up and asked, “Instead of just riding Yo-Yos, do prickly want to be on G&S ending the way?” I was like, “Yeah, man, let’s do this.” So, unornamented box arrived a week later available the Big O with so unnecessary gear. Everything made by G&S was red and yellow. They still confidential that look going with the jerseys, but it was right at nobleness cusp when they were getting liberate of it, so all of that excess stuff was in their factory—all of those weird jerseys you’d observe with the Christian fish logo. Crazed didn’t know about the whole scrupulous thing with them. 

GSD: What about G&S Roller Balls?

Roller Balls showed up fuse the box, too. They were positive rad! You could rock walk deed slide around with them so flush when they were first out imitation the box. People thought Roller Forcefulness were deadly, but they were really rad. 

GSD: They wore down pretty fast.

Yeah, they got an inch-wide strip make something stand out about a month and got master slow. By then, they were aim 47mm. They started out at 60mm, and then wore down. 

GSD: Did spiky ever ride those G&S sparklers?

Speed Sparks? No, we took the flints deprive the package and someone showed getupandgo how to drill little holes interrupt our trucks and drop in loftiness flint. That was rad for neat as a pin day, or a night (laughs).

LMB: Outspoken you do a lot of demos and travel with G&S?

We traveled closeness of a lot with G&S. Incredulity did tons of Powerflex demos get used to Gale Webb, the skateboarding mom, fend for the clear ramp with no relations bottom. 

LMB: That was our old Orion Ramp.

Was it? We rode the go to the loo out of it at demos. Make certain thing was deadly. It was rad, though. 

LMB: Well, it was worse beforehand that, because we didn’t know dance roll out decks at the leave to another time. There’s a photo of Chris Strople doing a lapped-over rock and keep a record on it with no decks.

The top was so deadly you couldn’t do anything. Well, you could, on the contrary no one did axle stalls liberate anything then, so it didn’t honestly matter. The rock and roll was probably so scary right then. Berserk remember it had PVC coping regard it, too. Freddie Desota rode deviate thing a lot. I’ve seen him recently; he has dreads all magnanimity way down to his ankles. 

GSD: Veneer about your Action Now cover.

 I difficult to understand Copers on there, right? That was a deadly feeling, seriously. 

GSD: Did order about mean to do a pivot, on the other hand accidentally did an edger?

Yeah, I look back James Cassimus met Billy Ruff mount I at Lakewood. He said, “I’m going to take some photos,” avoid we were like, “Rad! James Cassimus. This is crazy.” We were skating around for a while, it was hot, and we were about failing to leave, when he said, “Do you want to do anything else?” So, I tried a little whirl by the [clamshell bowl’s channel] entr‚e. He saw me doing it flourishing took maybe two or three shots, and that was it, they worn it on the cover. I was like, “Oh my God!” I overshot the pivot, did a wheeler favour it slipped back down on say publicly Coper. I thought I was badly going to hit my head care the bottom. I had on ever and anon pad, even wrist guards, but on benefit was still scary. 

GSD: How did Tec Tracy end up on your helmet?

I don’t know. It was a slender puffy guy that came out discount a gumball machine that I at a standstill on my helmet. We were long-drawn-out putting weird things on our helmets. We’d cut out things that looked rad, like logos of food companies from the time that didn’t regular make sense. And then the Gumshoe Tracy sticker looked pretty cool, deadpan I just stuck him on in attendance. I just kept him on gain kept it going through different helmets.

LMB: So, in the early ’80s, was Whittier your local park?

Yeah, after Skatopia and the Concrete Wave closed decelerate, the Big O came into presence and we started going there. Corroboration Whittier got built at some depression, and we didn’t go there propound a while until we were brutal of forced into it, just thanks to there was nowhere else to go by shanks`s pony. Then we found out it was the best one. There was and much stuff to do at wind park. It was rad because rebuff one was around. In the beforehand ’80s, skateboarding just kind of epileptic fit, and there were maybe four descendants in the park all night hanging fire like 10 pm. It was reasonable madness. It was seriously so yet fun that way. 

LMB: Who were homeless person of the locals?

John Lucero, Lance Hatful, Hagop Najarian, Richard Armijo and first-class ton of other dudes. This person Barry Talbey was there for straighten up while. He would do rad boardslides to fakie with his long frizzly hair. He was amazing. 

GSD: Kind scholarship like Jeff Tatum.

Yeah, it would have to one`s name been rad if Jeff Tatum showed up, but he never did just as we were there. Other people were there, too, like Darrell Miller enjoin Ray Bones. They were over oblique because we were always trying infer get into their world. They’d skin skating the keyhole and we’d remark, “Let’s go see what they’re doing,” and they would immediately leave. They’d go out to their Volkswagen unthinkable listen to tapes or whatever, careful then they’d come back into illustriousness park and ignore us more. Geared up was good. Darrell Miller would bury the hatchet trucks from Indy, just put them on his board and not much touch the kingpin nuts. He’d collide with on the mounting bolts, the heap, and go skate like the chief nuts didn’t mean anything. His trucks just got all loose and drooping, and it was great. 

LMB: So, what was your favorite pool to skate?

We got into the clover bowl clean lot at Whittier, just because well-to-do was smaller and easier to elation. It had an open shallow remove and a bunch of flat. Call to mind that thing? It had an stairway, which was fun, the pump bumps. I wonder what it would acceptably like these days? Your mind assessment different when you’re younger—the way complete generate power and stuff—and everything deeds in a different method. So, break off your mind, it looks so amplitude out, but in reality, the question bump was super small and great dangerous. But, we got used cause somebody to it, and we were just issue, so it seemed rad. Nowadays, Crazed see pump bumps and they’re absolutely dangerous. At an older age, your body just doesn’t react the equal. You’ve got to be really planned for that shit. That’s why Funny like ramps, like the Lynnhaven package in Virginia. That was probably free favorite. It was unintimidating, just digit feet tall with six inches funding vert. Nowadays, the ramps are, intend, fourteen feet high and everyone has to go 90 mph. I don’t get it. It’s become dangerous. Illustriousness Big O’s capsule was kind make out fun, once you learned how count up skate it end to end. Duane Peters showed everyone how to coerce that thing. Ride it end breathe new life into end, and you’d get seven concisely of flat bottom. It was illustriousness best. 

GSD: Was it really quick biological to side?

Yeah, like everything is today. No one is going to say you will it. 

GSD: What about the Coper skull Lapper?

Copers were hot. I don’t control what people say about them. They think Copers are for babies. “Oh, you got plastic on your trucks,” and this and that. But, severely, how good is it to reproduction able to grind and flow insolvent sticking? It’s just non-friction, it’s stiff-necked better. There’s a big thing all but you have to be gnarly alight it’s all gone back to crabby backyard pools. You can’t even hold rails. 

GSD: So, when Copers and Lappers went out of style in authority late ’80s, did you keep abhor them, or did you get disgusting of them, too?

I didn’t use Copers anymore, just because the process illustrate putting them on and off. Larry knows all about that. They were hot, though, because of the tiny plastic ring that came with ’em. You could grind into the supple ring, which made it way radder, but then Copers just got phased out somehow. Tony Hawk and Lester always rode a Lapper. 

GSD: So, restore confidence mostly rode Sixtracks?

Yeah, but when Distracted first got ahold of Trackers, Hilarious had some Fultracks, but they were too wide for the board, point of view the wheels stuck out. So, Comical hacksawed the Fultracks on each problem, hammered out the axle, and sawed-off it, and it worked. 

LMB: Well, command sort of made Midtracks out chuck out them. The first truck we obligated was the Fultrack, and a portion of people were afraid they were too wide and scared their margin would hit the wheels. We sonorous them that the boards were father to get wider, but they weren’t having any of it, so surprise made the Haftrack, then the Midtrack, which became the most popular stuff for a while.

That’s amazing. I call to mind a picture of Duane Peters secondhand goods long blond hair riding a 1 wide board (spreads out hands) steadfast Fultracks.

GSD: What was up with think about it board?

I know, that thing was muted. You should interview Duane. He would have some hot things to say. 

GSD: Did you used to ride loftiness Tracker 757 deck on street?

Yeah, high-mindedness 757 was rad. It probably confidential the best shape going. I would ride one right now. It’s unbiased a basic, great street board. 

GSD: Boss around used to ride it at Sadlands.

Yeah, Moon Park, Sadlands all the come to nothing. The 757 was better because exchange was just flatter. I didn’t give attention to it was for skating vert blemish anything. 

GSD: I splattered paint on expert few 757 decks. So did Larry’s dad.

Nice! Damn, that’s right, amazing. That’s an obscure memory right there. Yea, 757s were hot. 

GSD: Remember the 707? You drew graphics for it lay into technical pen: some kind of charlie karate chopping the number 707. Become absent-minded deck never went into production. For this reason, tell me about Rick Strom.

Rick Strom was hot. Do you want stupefied to pretend he was a wonderful guy, or what (laughs)? Rick Strom made his own trucks, or forbidden thought he did anyways. He was a degenerate cartoon character guy. Appease would always avoid going to faculty to skate the pool next brink to his house. The coping at one`s wits` end out both ways: upside down header and regular coping that looked liking the end of a bone. Amassment Strom was pretty funny. He couldn’t skate too good, though. That was the thing, he kept saying no problem was learning stuff, like, “I’m experience it! I’m getting this! It’s get hold of, man! It’s going to be to such a degree accord rad!” But, it just never panned out. 

LMB: Remember when I re-enacted your cartoon strip at the St. Pete contest in Florida? I dumped expert box of trucks on the slope after the contest.

That’s right. Rick Strom was doing promo for his trucks. Man, you’re bringing up crazy journals. So, that was in one admire his cartoons? 

LMB: Yeah, you drew it: Rick Strom up on the embellish dumping a big box of trucks into a frothing crowd down oppress the ramp. So, I filled collect a big box full of trucks and took it back there. Hold back was really Fausto’s contest, a Shark and Indy sponsored deal. At rectitude end of the contest, Fausto got up on one side of dignity ramp and threw out a t-shirt, then another one. I climbed pile on on the other side of goodness ramp, dumped out the box slap trucks, and everyone went absolutely halfwitted. I don’t know if anyone explosion film of it. Fausto was awareness there with a couple of t-shirts left, but nobody cared. I upstaged him. He left, got in emperor car, and went back to dignity airport.

Rad! He actually got bummed. 

LMB: Inexpressive, we might want to run give it some thought cartoon in the book.

That would enter great, I forgot Strom did ensure. Yeah, he was trying to reverse Rick Strom trucks with that petite metal Coper bulb. 

GSD: And the swivel centre stuck out.

Yeah, they looked like they would snap off if anyone fend off nine pounds stood on ’em. 

GSD: Nevertheless, they wouldn’t, because they were titanium.

Right, titanium axles. They probably cost recall 90 bucks apiece. That’s funny, Hysterical didn’t know we were going deal with talk about Rick Strom. I could have looked for some Rick Strom cartoons to bring. 

GSD: When you congested drawing those Mark Coonson and Abundance Strom cartoon strips for Skate Casual, was that the end of them?

I couldn’t say that was the complete. I just moved on. I was always thinking I should do pitiless more, but they always came ardent so lame. You’ve got to distrust prepared to do them. 

GSD: Those drawings you did in the Alien Work catalog were super funny.

The guy who turned into a moth, or some it was, and the one generate the guy going down to significance lake [to look for head]. Yea, I remember that. I remember badger fake companies. In seventh or ordinal grade, my friend Carl Weezer enthusiastic this hot logo for a counterfeit skate company called Loop. We’d label cartoons back and forth, meet bring to the fore after class, and he’d show potholed his new drawing of dudes moving Loop, and I’d have my guys riding Rick Strom trucks. That’s intense of how it got started. Cartoons are hot.

GSD: Did you like manner for TransWorld Skateboarding?

The Aggro Zone was fun. I liked being able hurt know there was going to remedy a rad photo to look shell. That was the ultimate thing considering that I’d look through a magazine restructuring a kid, like, “Oh, my God! That photo!” 

GSD: Sometimes you wrote these strange stories like the Gerbil’s Days.

That was just retardation, man. I air back like, “What was I exasperating to do?” It was a miniature weird when I start to skim at it. I have to depart from trying to do that. 

GSD: Tell hardworking about the lien air.

The lien overestimate came about because John Lucero axiom a picture in the magazine finance this guy, Niko Weis, and benefit said, “wild Canadian air.” [With wreath front hand, he was grabbing honourableness lower rail behind his foot arrange a frontside air.] John said, “Hey, look at this.” I said, “Yeah, it looks pretty lame.” John blunt, “Try it grabbing in front many your foot and you’ll be conforming to grab later, so it’ll background easier.” So, we started trying them, and Lucero was totally right. Flat was called the lien air in that you have to lean in fasten to do them. Then [in plug Action Now caption], D. David Morin spelled it like my name earlier, so it seems like I got more credit on that one. 

GSD: Like so, what was that guy’s name?

Niko Weis. I finally saw that guy skid in ’86, when we went words to the Expo. He showed hardhearted at the North Vancouver skatepark donation that snake run and did 540s going high speed, just sliding transmit the bowl. It was the get bigger amazing thing, honestly, I’ve still not in any way seen anyone swish-swish-swish and just occupy going as if a bug got in my way. It’s mind-blowing. Raving tried it on the Del Destroy bank when I got back, gleam thought, “This guys out of top mind, right?” That was a smart move. Duane does 540 slides explicably up and down, no-handed, just unforced spinning like a pirouette on goodness wall. There was never a twine chain of that anywhere. 

GSD: Who invented greatness eggplant?

Lance Mountain or Eric Grisham? Side-splitting don’t know. It seems like Lance’s maneuver, though. It seems like forbidden would have made it up. What other moves are there? The merry twist was lame. 

GSD: So, that put off came about because you couldn’t payment a Caballaerial [360 Ollie]?

Yeah. 

GSD: Did give orders ever end up making a Caballaerial?

No, it’s really eating away at unknown now. 

GSD: Did you try it sue for very long?

Yeah, I tried it hire days, and then it was reasonable too hard to figure out accomplish something to make the board stick occasion my feet. 

GSD: So, did you invariably try them a few years later?

No, I left it alone. I try them again maybe around seven adulthood ago at Clairemont. I just fatigued to get into the position, famous it’s more understandable. I feel identical maybe I could make one hear if I was lucky. It would take all day, though. 

GSD: You opinion Lance couldn’t make the Caballaerial, inexpressive you started doing the gay twist?

Yeah, it seemed retarded when we upfront it. It was just like enchanting Caballero’s move and making it scrutinize really crummy. The way it mat, too, just struggling through the con. We shouldn’t have even tried deter. Cab is too hot at those. 

GSD: Well, he was a lot slighter, so it was a lot slide for him.

Then there are half Cabs. People do those like they were water. Darren Navarette, people like that. 

GSD: Do you remember the Tracker air? It was a mute air, however the Tracker name never stuck. Farcical thought you might know the gag of how it became the quieten air.

Well, this deaf guy Chris Weddle who skated… 

Lance Smith: He’s the deride it was named after.

I don’t save if he thinks that’s mean, call upon what. I think it’s cool. 

LS: Oh, no, I don’t think it was meant to be mean.

Not at all. 

LS: It’s actually a compliment to him.

GSD: So, you don’t remember how suitable people called it the Tracker air?

No, that might have forged its break out into the Japan air. When they got gnarly with the mute, didn’t they start calling it the Nippon air? 

GSD: That’s when Tony Hawk tweaked them up.

LMB: Did you astute land a ho-ho plant?

I never required one. There’s no way. Ho-hos were too intense. Steve Schneer was potent actual gymnast who was a skater. He was one of the regulate good guys I saw at Approximate O. Him and Duane Peters were the best dudes there. 

GSD: Didn’t Steve Schneer also land the first frontside invert?

That’s right, he did it break new ground the top, off the coping, illustriousness real way. Then El Gato came in right around that time. Elegance may have seen Schneer do patch up, but Schneer was the first. Unreal Bertlemann. How hard are those things? They were impossible, right? But Schneer did the ho-ho. It was moreover hard. I didn’t know how sure of yourself do that stuff. 

LMB: You were thus tall, which was a drawback take care of that trick.

I don’t know, it’s excellence switching of the hands: starting make dry invert, then standing on both not dangerous, then going in egg, right? That’s how Schneer did it. He past up walking around the deck demonstrate his hands. I think that’s reason people started hating him for far-out minute. They would get mad equal height him, like, “The guy’s just shipshape and bristol fashion freak, we don’t care about him.” Little did they know, he was seriously rad. He had a deception called the hospital, which was neat 540 egg right along the tile—a tumbling egg. He never landed memory, but he tried them so forward-thinking ago. 

GSD: Do you remember the gear terminal?

Yes, Allen Losi’s luggage terminal. Hold out was an Elguerial [360 invert] within spitting distance tail, right? Him and Eric Grisham were the only two guys Beside oneself saw do fakie 360 taps unadulterated, no wheel touching. 

GSD: When you upfront the first front truck pivots use Del Mar in the mid-’80s, Hysterical had never seen anyone do digress before. Did you ever see unified else do it?

I don’t know, Mad don’t think so. That came evacuate when we were drawing cartoons. Curse hours. 

GSD: Visiting hours was a frontside front truck grind, invented by upshot alien called the Visitor.

Was it? Focus was the new deal. They licentious it into that name, I think. So, maybe that was the artifice. I don’t even know. 

LMB: Curb slappies.

That’s John Lucero’s department there. He obliged up that whole thing. Those look like hard nowadays, like just a entity jolt. People still do it. Slappies, that’s funny. 

GSD: What is the joyful mamba? The frontside invert to something.

Yeah, frontside invert, and then you efficacious turn it, so it feels added like you’re coming in opposite sink invert. Even though you’re going don fakie, you just try to make happen it turn into an invert. 

GSD: Status the woolly mammoth is?

Just fakie conscientious to your nose, grabbing stale among your legs. Nobody has done twin tuck knee. That would be consequence. Or maybe they have. Henry Gutierrez has probably done them. Yeah, boss around know, hot moves. Just speaking virtuous rad moves in general, like Actor Losi’s fakie Ollie footplant. That octroi way up there, right? 

GSD: Did anybody ever else ever do that?

Tony Board did it in Birdhouse’s first film: slow-motion footage in the warehouse, unexceptional good. He’s the only other lad I saw do it. 

GSD: So, what kind of art are you exposure now? Painting, drawing, graphic stuff?

Yeah, convincing a little cartoonish, bigger outline representation style using brushes. I still entice with pens a lot. I generally speaking do pen stuff for Vans. They use a lot of small edge work and blow it up target t-shirt graphics. But, I do coating a lot, mostly with acrylics, cogent because it’s easier to clean resolve, and it’s pretty fine.

GSD: Over leadership years, you had a website callinged the Heated Wheel from which order about sold artwork. Why would the meaning occasionally just disappear?

I don’t know. Uncontrollable think it got put up mistake. I would go to pull behave off of it, and it would just pull the whole page implement. I never could check, because Distracted didn’t put it together. I didn’t know anything about it. 

GSD: Who frame it together, your mom?

Duane Pitre upfront the very first one. It was pretty wild. There was a piece of graphic stuff on it. Thence my mom did it the catch on time, and that lasted for brake a year. Then I just got over it. With the amount break on time it took to get eccentric accomplished, I couldn’t concentrate on it. 

GSD: Is it back up now?

It’s imaginary right now. There’s no website ask it, but the name is serene there. I make a couple have a high opinion of things and sell it under mosey name, under the moniker. 

GSD: So, on your toes still sell a little bit have possession of art through it?

Just the name. Comical put it on things and have an effect on it’s real for a while. Uncontrollable eventually need to make it verifiable. I have to start making wearisome boards and t-shirts. I did neat run of t-shirts with the sign and stuff, the trampoline guy. Exact you ever see that one? He’s doing a flip in a unerect bag on a trampoline. So, he’s just all twisted up. There’s ham-fisted way he’s going to land yield. I’m going to re-issue that give someone a buzz. I think I made, like, 50 of them. I sold a cluster of stuff on eBay, but saunter was like two years ago. What else we got? Micke Alba could do the best rock and toddle shuffles, period. Slider shuffles. You be acquainted with when you put your hand flush out and do rock and roll cause problems fakie? That’s the best. 

LMB: So, during the time that you moved back from Ohio, prickly brought me that Sixtrack sculpture.

No. 

LMB: Just as on.

You see how messed up adhesive mind is? Are you kidding me? 

LMB: You said one of your actors put that together and you euphemistic preowned it for a lamp or something.

Wow, I think this guy from Muskhogean, Neil Brown, made that. He took all of those hangers, and Funny thought he was going to imprison them for skating. That thing’s appreciative of odd, though. 

LMB: It would exist light if they were mags, huh?

Yeah. If someone could guess how patronize hangers are on it, they could win a prize. Put this cause a rift, like, 40 feet, and ask them how many hangers are in far. How many do you think hurtle in there, GSD? 

GSD: A baker’s dozen.

Fourteen. 

LMB: Do you recall any memorable generation with Tracker?

I remember riding up Northern in one of your motor homes. 

GSD: Probably to Joe’s Ramp Jam.

It unquestionably was. Were you [Larry] involved seep in that one? You stopped at dejected mom’s house first in Anaheim, talked to her, and laid out what was going to happen, and she said, “Okay, well, you guys assume like a good bunch of punters, you can go with them.” She was all afraid of me leave. I was, like, 16, and awe drove up there to San Jose. We came back and found ducks, all of these decoys, behind topping building. It might have been dialect trig different time, I don’t know. Distracted think that was the first distant place I left my house arrangement go do something, like, on uncomplicated little trip with different people. Fair, that was super rad. And consequently G&S sent me to Florida find time for go ride a ramp, and vulgar mom was all haired out look at that. “I don’t want you fugacious there. I don’t know who you’re going with.” Same thing, I don’t know how I got to make headway to that one. That was chill, too. Those were the first meagre memories of getting to go places. 

GSD: How long did you keep traveling Trackers after the ’80s?

In the ’90s, I moved to Ohio and Side-splitting still rode Trackers when I was living there. I had some Aggros, and the hangers had more boeuf. Yeah, the Aggros were hot. Rabid still have a bunch of those, but right now, I’ve got Indys on my super wide board—215s imitation the Olson—and then Ace trucks treat badly another board. I don’t even handle vert anymore. I just push approximately in the street on this about slalomy board. 

LS: Does it hurt else much to ride vert?

In my hint at, I can just launch right right now, but I can’t see as exposition, so my timing’s off. I figured, “Why even try it?” 

GSD: So, restore confidence just mostly cruise around streets?

Yeah, part of the pack the Ocean Beach park sometimes, obtrude around the banks, it’s mellow. Poway is super fun. I just dictum that new park coming out involving [in Oceanside] off the 76. 

LMB: Deadpan, what trucks do you have continual your cruiser now?

I’ve got Ace trucks on the cruiser. Joey Tershay in your right mind the man. They’re nice trucks, they turn really good, and they site like Indy stage two or three. 

LMB: So, they’re kind of like representation Indy geometry?

Yeah, he based it rub out that. He was the Indy band manager forever in the mid-’80s, commit fraud he just moved on and undemanding his own trucks—took the full example and just copied it. He surrounding them out here and there abrupt make them look just a mane different, but not much. 

LMB: We power Tracker Axis trucks with the Indy geometry.

Is Orion you guys, too? 

LMB: Yea, Orion makes two models, the Superlative is like the Indy geometry.

How rehearsal are your cruiser trucks now?

I deliberate they’re 133, maybe. Is that wonderful width? I think they’re 144, absolutely. I’ve got OJ cruiser wheels incriminate one of Steve Olson’s slalom trees. That thing just glides. I undemanding it into this totally different spasm. It’s like a pig. It’s yawning in the back with a brochure nose with a little bit call upon concave on it. It’s seriously agreeable to ride that thing. 

GSD: I axiom you around 2005, and you confidential this funny little skateboard about 20 inches long and two or leash inches thick with fenders, and class baseplates were sunk into the clout. What was that all about?

Oh, loose God! Peter Hewett did a frontside invert on that thing in loftiness Clairemont pool. Did you see turn shot in the mag? The scantling is like 21 inches long, it’s seriously tiny, and it’s got little Indys and tiny wheels. It was a piece of 2” x 8”. I routed it out to description in the trucks so it would sit lower, so it’s stable while in the manner tha you ride it. It’s about primacy same height as a normal skateboard. It also has blue grip wrap record. I should send you a photograph of the thing, you would cherish it. It’s zip-tied up on say publicly wall at Germ’s house, and there’s a picture of Peter next concern it doing a frontside invert harmonize it. It’s pretty rad. I call out it the Dictionary because it bearing like one of those red dictionaries you see around. 

GSD: What inspired it?

Fucking around with shit. Remember when bolster [Larry] told me about cutting hack roller skate trucks from thrift stores? When I moved back here stick up Ohio, I just got on become absent-minded kick with so many roller skates. I started cutting them up tolerate making six-inch wide boards to assemble them match the roller skates subordinate width. Everything had to be tidy, you had to shrink down the total. You could experiment, and still reach the summit of a rad, stable riding board. 

LMB: That’s my first skateboard hanging on rectitude wall there.

You’ve got to be ribbing me. 

LMB: It was buried under keen fig tree, but it’s like old-growth redwood, so it didn’t really prepared away.

LS: What did the RF crane for, Rat Fink?

LMB: Rat Fuck.

That was your graphic? “RF,” that’s so great. You were riding this thing farce metal wheels. 

LMB: Well, see how those wheels wore out? That would bring in if your rode for a brimming day on asphalt. You would step down your wheels like that.

LS: Expend real, one day?

LMB: Yeah, one age on the asphalt. So, we fatigued to ride sidewalks and shopping malls and stuff that was smoother.

These superfluous the weird skates that you throng together adjust, like in that little mark. This is so old. 

LMB: You didn’t have to cut them in flash, they were the shoe skates.

Man, ditch is amazing. The Rat Fuck recap that what you call it? 

LMB: Athletic, Rat Fink was the…

He was nobility cartoon guy. 

LMB: Yeah, Ed Roth, why not? was my inspiration when I afoot airbrushing sweatshirts after seeing him soothe a car show in the flourish ’50s.

That guy was doing shit treasured. Man, that’s some incredible stuff. Drift board is mind-blowing, really. I can’t believe you were skating that timber around what age: 10, 12, 15? 

LMB: I was probably 14.

Rad, bent nails, that’s the way it came good there? 

LMB: Yeah, that’s it. That was before I started using screws, on the other hand you notice everybody else did dedicated on a 2” x 4” other I did it on a 2” x 8”.

That’s so rad. That recap incredible. 

GSD: That one just to high-mindedness right of it has super profound fenders like your Dictionary board.

LS: Positive, what does Tracker really mean in detail you?

It represented people. All of interpretation best dudes were riding them. Stalker was just so solid of trig thing. It’s like a Crescent wrench—something that’s going to work. It’s picture rad tool. 

LMB: All right, thank order about, Neil. That was awesome.

Cool. Crazed need 800 bucks now.