Miki Vuckovich interview

By: NATE SHERWOOD

Posted: 10/25/09

520 Views

3 Comments

Tags:

b.

1. What year did you first get into skateboarding?

Late '70s. There were a bunch of parks in NorCal, and all the "big kids" were skating. By the time I managed to get a board and learn to skate, most of the parks were gone, and no one told me that skateboarding was totally yesterday. It didn't strike me as odd that I was getting all sorts of cool gear super cheap at garage sales and flea markets. That was about 1980, and if someone did tell me the skateboarding fad had passed, I probably wouldn't know what they were talking about. Skated Winchester Skatepark for about a year before it closed in '81. Moved to San Diego in '82, where the Del Mar Skate Ranch was the center of the universe. Mine, anyway.

2. I have been a fan of your articles as well as your photos for many years. Do you still shoot skate photos?

Thanks. And yes. And never ask interview questions that can be answered with a "yes" or "no."

3. Who are some of your favorite skate photographers?

Grant Brittain, O., Dan Sturt, Warren Bolster, Jon Humphries, Tobin Yelland, Tod Swank, James Cassimus, Claus Grabke, Atiba Jefferson, Spike Jonze, and Craig Stecyk. Google each of them, and enjoy.

4. You took a stand back when TWS was starting to run Navy and other military ads and you quit your job. I believe it is rare, in any industry, for people to take a stand for what they believe in, especially when it could affect their income. I guess, since in my opinion, you have the strongest back bone in the industry; who are some other notables who take a stand when people that work in skating are trying to ruin it?

By 2001, TWS had been sold and bought and sold and bought a few times, and a number of longtime staffers had been frustrated about the disconnect between the owners and what we did. I wasn't alone, and I happened to have an opportunity to go do something more interesting (helping produce the ON Video Skateboarding video series). After 15 or so years at TWS, if I thought things were moving in the right direction, I probably would have stayed. The Navy ads were just the proverbial last straw that convinced me to go. For the record, I'm not anti-military--I just felt that a magazine whose core readership is 14 years old shouldn't push a life-and-death decision like joining the Navy, which you legally can't join until you're 18 anyway. It's the same reason you don't see liquor or cigarette ads in magazines for teens. So others left soon after, and years later, it seems like things have settled a bit for the current TWS staff. Good for them.

5. I recall Grant Britton telling me an interesting story about how you went to Russia to visit family and that the kids there molded their own trucks and shaped their own decks? I would love to hear more about it.

Find some old issues of TWS and read all about it! My family is actually from Montenegro (former Yugoslavia). I went to the USSR in 1990 as a student, and returned a few times after it broke up into separate countries. But that's not what you're asking about. Yes, in 1992 I returned to Russia to find a full-blown skate scene going. Of course, they didn't have shops and traveling was for the rich, so many skaters figured out how to make boards, cast the few pair of American trucks they could get their hands on, etc. Russians are a very resourceful bunch. A couple friends of mine traded a few bottles of vodka to some steel workers who made them a board press out of I-beams and car jacks. They used birch veneers (no maple available) and pressed some nice boards. A little brittle, but they could crank them out and keep their buddies riding.

6. What is your favorite terrain to skate?

Curbs, banks, and bowls. Never was a ramper. Ramps were always surrogate pools when all the skateparks disappeared in the early 80s. The proliferation of ramps was an admission that we were losing the battle. I never quite got over that. So given the choice, I'll ride a kinky pool before a perfect ramp--which is still sort of an oxymoron (to me).

7. Who were some of your early influences in skateboarding?

Stevie Caballero, Duane Peters, Tony Hawk, Mark Rogowski, Owen Nieder, Stacy Peralta, Lance Mountain, Neil Blender, Alan Losi, Billy Ruff, Corey O'Brien, Chris Miller, Rodney Mullen, and a bunch more pros. Also, Tom Norton, who managed the skate shop I hung out at every day in San Jose. I think every skater has that one mentor who wasn't necessarily pro or well known, but who helped you reveal the truth or beauty of skateboarding. And Tom was a downhiller/slalomer--he'd bomb the gnarliest hills on the wobbliest vintage slalom board powersliding and weaving his way down. He'd be at the bottom by the time I'd have dropped my wide-ass pool board and taken one push. He taught me that skateboarding was whatever you made it to be.

8. If you won the lottery or a leprechaun gave you 100 million dollars; what charities and causes would you donate to that are outside of skateboarding?

Mia Hamm Foundation to encourage people to register as bone-marrow donors (www.miafoundation.org), the Warrick Dunn Foundation to make down payments for homes for single parents (www.warrickdunnfoundation.org), Habitat For Humanity to build homes for people in need (www.habitat.org), Helen Woodward Animal Center which takes in homeless pets and finds them homes (www.animalcenter.org), Athletes For Hope which encourages sports stars to use their influence to help charities (www.athletesforhope.org), the Little Star Foundation which works with terminally ill and neglected kids (www.littlestar.org), National Public Radio (npr.org), The Carter Center which has been the vehicle through which President Carter has contributed so much to the world since leaving the Presidency in 1981 (www.cartercenter.org), and many others. Whatever is important to you, there is a charity that addresses that issue. Everyone should get involved in something, and contribute whatever time or $ you can. It doesn't take a lot to make a difference. Certainly not $100-million.

9. If you did not work in the world of skateboarding, what field would you like to pursue?

Photography or media work (writing, editing), most likely. Or if I found another cause I felt as strongly about, I'd continue in nonprofit work. But that's all academic. Working with Tony to promote proper public skatepark development is a dream come true.

10. What is more of pain to deal with, new trucks or new shoes?

Shoes. Trucks you can get used to pretty quick,assuming they're the same ones you normally ride. If you put something other than Indy 149s on my board, I'd have to set my board down in the direction I need to go before pushing. But shoes need to break in, and that can take a while. Especially if they're old Airwalk high tops with the cardboard footbed.

11. What do you think of bamboo skateboards?

Great idea, but I've seen some marketing materials from bamboo skateboard companies that slag maple skateboards as unsustainable and responsible for depleting our forests. Not true. Check out Paul Schmitt's videos at createaskate.org. I've not ridden a bamboo board, but it's a great material for its strength and quick growth. Not sure how it works as a skateboard. Some wood, like birch, is good and strong, but maybe too brittle or stiff. Maple will be replaced when something else comes along that's cheaper, easier to work with, grows quickly, and looks and feels exactly the same as maple. It's been proven that skateboarders will resist anything that can't mimic maple.

Thanks for your time again, it is an honor. Feel free to skip any of the questions above you do not feel. Oh yeah, can you email me a head shot as well? Thanks brother.

Thanks you, Brodie.