"I didn't give myself that nickname. I'd rather be called 'short', 'nude' or "Mike's little brother, Mark.'"
Gonz was roughly the age I am now when this interview was first published in 2002... I couldn't tell you the last time I was this motivated to go out and do a stalefish.
Thanks Mark.
11 comments:
Mobbest kickflips ever. Look at the 4th frame in that sequence!
you just helped my brain a lot. thanks again.
Great read!
Please don't forget this one: http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/3426/gonzreal.jpg
never really appreciated the Gonz until I saw Real to Reel. Of course, I was a late bloomer, and later watched Video Days and was blown away.
That rock and roll flick is so good. Oozes with style. And that lien air is dope.
@Steve M., definitely top 5 all time most mobbed out kickflips.
Also, Fabian Alomar's Gonz impression is so good.
Personally I always liked how Gonz mobbs his kickflips. It reminds me there's no right or wrong way to skate, and to me that's what Gonz embodies as a skater.
And that stalefish at Ripon... wow, I could stare at that photo all day long. So gnarly yet looking so effortless.
This interview popped up on the slap forum today.
I've never seen that interview before nor that Get Familiar part. Thanks!
I have been in the skateboard "scene" and skateboarding since 1991. I never saw why people liked him so much....now I see. In the Slap forum interview why did the black dude act like he was going to kick Gonz's ass? Black people need to chill out....it was graffiti. Always acting like a thug.
man i gotta tell a story about the gonz... especially since there's so few comments. when i first moved from MA to Los Angeles in 95' (Venice to be precise), i was skating these small manual pads in Santa Monica and Mark fuckin' Gonzales rode by on a bicycle and came back and talked to me. i recognized him right away, of course, but i was trying to play it cool... it's funny because i later went on and made a bunch of friends that were 'known' in sk8ing and it was no big deal, but i was a little star-struck... anyways, he asks to try my board and proceeds to manual the short manual pads i was at and while he was manualing them he was looking backwards... like... ollie on land in manual and then look back like you're doing a switch nose manual... no shit. then he tells me after a few minutes that he's trying to skate like he's looking like he's going backwards while he's actually going forwards!? haha wtf. i was dumbfounded.... seriously. i have nothing but respect for the dude and he is a true eccentric. we left off with me telling him about the 'pearl st. pool' near santa monica community college and how i was gonna go there tomorrow (my friend was living there at the time) and he was all 'yeah... cool... i'll come by'... he never showed up and everybody there thought i was full of shit but the story is true. 16yrs later... i got nothing to lie about. it was a wierd experience but it made mark that much more rad in my mind..
What exactly does "mobbed" mean? You mean how he pulls his foot up instead of karate kicking it out?
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