I'm 40. I wouldn't want to be any other age either.
I started on a basic skinny skateboard that had something quite plush
like velour/felt on it for grip. ha ha! Various flexi boards followed as
well as many miles travelling hazardous terrain looking for anything
concrete with half a transition. Or carpark banks. I broke my wrist and
collarbone getting death wobbles going downhill. Lucky I had a helmet on
as I apparently rolled about 20 times and blacked out briefly.
I was obsessed with skating and would draw the Dogtown and Alva logos
everywhere. We lived for Skateboarder magazine and found that the ads
were just as important as the editorial. I loved the Cali take on punk
too: tanned guys with long hair, as UN-punk as you could imagine simply
putting on plastic sunglasses and skinny ties for the look. I liked it a
lot though and that style of punk became very important to me and some
friends in Sydney later on-without it we wouldn't have had Slayer or
Metallica for a start. Seeing skating in the 'Freedom of Choice' clip by
Devo was almost religious, especially the aerial over the entrance of
that keyhole bowl. I dug all the skaters-the Bones Brigade, El Gato,
Gelfand, Alva, and so on. We saw Wedge Francis, the Aussie champ, skate
this horrendously step and enclosed fibreglass bowl at Manly... just
dropped in and carved it up like it was nothing. Scared the hell out of
me that bowl!
Not having the money for yank gear (except Indy trucks) we would go to
Burwood skate shop and ask them to trace expensive deck outlines on their
own tapered plywood, cut it out and paint it up. Was actually cooler that
way, weirdly.
Anyway, all we really cared about-and something which I'm still obsessed
about in a latent way-was getting ramps built. We had 1/4 pipes, then big
half pipes. Funny thing was that they are NOISY: they're effectively big
amplifiers! The neighbours complained so we put down a sheet of masonite.
Reduced noise by about 2%. ha ha!!! The final stage, before I lost touch
with my skateboard mates (around 1980-81) was a half pipe with one side
curling over-a general drop-in arrangement. Apart from being great fun to
drop in this way, it was awesome for aerials and I managed to get up to
about 4 foot out by the time we stopped. I was also a big fan of those
mad laybacks of Jay Smith.
My mate who owned the ramp had new buddies with BMXs... so goodbye to
that.
In my opinion BMXing and rollerblading doesn't count.
In the late 80's I knew Adrian Jones, one-time Aussie champ and nice
bloke. I did some graphic design work for his company ATS and also a spot
on telly with me interviewing his crew. I skated around Bondi a lot then
moved to England in 1991. I met some nice skaters in Bristol... that's
about it: the rest has been work work work which I hate. I want to skate
where I live in Bedfordshire but would have to get up early to beat the
grommets. ha!
If I skated now I'd just want to kick turn & fakie and basically take my
time getting fit... I don't like the way 'extreme sports' and computer
games have made it skating this pyrotechnic display of 540's and stupid
macho tricks: why should it be this big corporate display thing? One day
I'd like a ramp in the back yard and tell the world to go to hell.
I'd be happy just to sit and look at it.
Damian Bennett