The Bucky Lasek interview.

AS THE STREET SKATERS (and media focus) have slowly migrated back to the ramps, parks, and pools, it's easy to forget the high-flying greats who have been there all along. Despite his recent incarnation as a TV contest superstar, Bucky Lasek is--above all else--one of the gnarliest and most innovative transition skaters of all time. With a trick bag filled with treasures from every era, Bucky is as versatile as he is progressive.

Watching him skate a ramp can be an experience that is both confusing and inspiring. Like a complicated math problem, it's easier to shake your head and walk away than to dig in and try to make sense of it all.

But, please. Dig in. Bucky Lasek is a true legend of stoke.

You were good from the beginning, right? You were one of those kids who was sponsored after skating for eight months.

Well, I started street skating, just skating around with my pals and skating ditches and stuff. Then we found this mini-ramp and started skating transition. I kind of picked it up fast. All the older guys were like, "What's this kid doing?" I started kind of quick, I guess. I always rolled around when I was little, so when I got a little older I got into it pretty easily. Fishermen's Inn in Chesapeake was the first ramp I ever saw.

That was that big metal one?

Yeah. When I saw that, I knew I wanted to rip it. I saw Derek Krasauskas and this other little kid who was doing inverts and airs, and I knew I wanted to do what they were doing. Things worked out pretty good. It happened pretty quickly, I guess. When I first started I got asked to ride for the best team at the time by Stacy Peralta, who was the George Lucas of skateboarding. Before that I rode for Sundancer. They actually made skateboards. They'd send me this board they made that was shaped like a fish. I'd take it and cut out a Jeff Kendall shape.

You even had your own trick you'd invented for your first ad, right?

I learned that off the street ramp first. It was like an airwalk where you throw it between your legs and grab it indy That was kind of the first trick I ever invented. It was pretty funny. It was in my first ad, right. I shared it with someone else. It was an amateur's ad. New kids might think you came along with the X-Games, but you had a part in Public Domain, which came out, like, 20 years ago.

I was like 15 when we filmed that. Powell sponsored me when I was 14. Filming for that video was cool. That ramp was way out in the desert. This doctor built this humongous vert ramp for his kid that couldn't even skate. Like, "Here. Get good." I don't even think the kid skated it. It was awesome.

Was that your first trip to California?

No. I'd been out a few times before that and stayed at Tony's house.

So who was there for the video shoot?

It was me, Danny Way, Vallely, Chris Borst, Ray Underhill. I believe Steve Saiz was there.

How did filming for that video compare to filming for a video these days?

Well, it was sort of an adventure. We drove out to the desert and we got to this part where it was a dried up ravine, and we waited until we got ahold of the doctor, the guy who owned it. It was sort of sketchy. I had no idea what the beck was going to go on. We stayed there for four or five days and filmed the video part.

So you got five days. That was a step up from having to film in a single afternoon.

Yeah. We got five days to film the video. Had you heard of Danny Way before that?

Yeah. I'd skated a mini-ramp at Powell with him.

I remember reading an interview with you in Poweredge as a kid and it was about ams going pro. I remember you saying something along the lines of, "Well, I don't want to go pro but my family really needs the money." I remember being shocked that a kid would have to support his family by skateboarding.

My family has always been lower income as far as where we lived. We collected food stamps and all that stuff. Nothing too bad, but we barely squeezed by sometimes. I never got anything as a kid. If I wanted a bike, I'd get a toy bike or half a broken bike. Whatever I wanted I always had to settle for something less. I never got exactly what I wanted. I never had anything. I was grateful for what I had, but it wasn't much. So to make money from skating was a big deal. My family could finally have some things. The money kind of came and went for me, though, because I caught the tail end of the '80s big-money Powell days. What was your biggest Powell check?

I don't know. A few grand? It seemed like 20 grand back then. Vert kind of faded out, and that was that.

What were those years like? One minute you're sharing video parts with Tony Hawk in the biggest videos, and the next you're working for UPS.

No, I worked in an auto body shop. I still skated every weekend with Derek. Chesapeake was gone so we started driving to Cheapskates, two and a half hours away. After that we'd drive to Woodbridge. They had a vert ramp.

What were those lonely sessions like?

They actually weren't lonely at all. They were actually really fun. We'd hook up with the Virginia guys and the Pennsylvania guys. We actually had really good sessions. The ramps weren't all that great. They were actually only 24- or 28-feet wide, kind of limiting. But we had good sessions.

Did you ever get frustrated?

Nah, not really. I'd street skate during the week and go to vert ramps on the weekend. I was kind of bummed to be stuck on the East Coast, away from the sponsorship and the money. It definitely wasn't helping me as far as that.

I know at that time a lot of vert guys, like Alphonzo, Berra, and Danny Mayer, got really into skating street. It was almost like they rededicated themselves to being pro street skaters. Did you ever feel pressure to do that?

I don't know. I felt like I skated everything and I skated it pretty well. When I blew out my ACL on my left knee, that was when I stopped skating street. Even when vert died I was still learning new tricks. I learned a lot of switch stuff back then, too. That was a long time ago when you think about it.

Yeah. You came back into the public eye in a pretty big way by inventing a bunch of really amazing tricks. What were some of the touchstone tricks that helped put you back in the big leagues?

I'm not sure if it was just the tricks that helped me kind of make a comeback. I came up on some tough times being stuck out in Baltimore, but then I finally got the support of some sponsors that allowed me to move back to California. I moved back having just gotten married, just had a baby, so I think my motivation got bumped up a little bit. There were times that I was skating the Encinitas Y by myself, trying those tricks, trying the heelflip frontside gay twist, all that switch stuff, rodeos. My motivation was to stop fooling around, step up my game, and take it to the next level.

What's a basic vert trick that you cannot do?

I wouldn't say that I can't do something. It's more that I just don't like the way I do it. Like body jars. I can do nollie flip body jars, but I don't like doing regular ones. I remember not being able to frontside grind properly. I'd do slash grinds, where your feet are all flapping. I can do them now, but it took a while.

What are some outlandish tricks you've landed only once?

In the Birdhouse video I did a heelflip tailgrab to nose fakie. I have no idea how. Switch Madonnas are kind of hard. I've done two or three.

Did you ever catch any shit from the older East Coast vert skaters for your new style of skating?

No, 'cause I was friends with all those guys. I think since I grew up on the East Coast they were stoked for me. Some guys were probably, "What the hell is this kid doing?" I grew up with all the hessians, all the gnarlers, so they had my back. No matter where I live I'm still an East Coast skater.

Who was the gnarliest East Coast skater to do a complete disappearing act?

I'd have to say Radiation Ray. Radiation Ray was a guy from Pennsylvania that did the gnarliest airs, rode the loosest trucks. There were lots of Cedar Crest guys, too, like Dave Tobin.

What about Kentucky Boyd?

Kentucky disappeared. Phil Bouchard. There's a lot, actually. A lot of the guys became carpenters. Where are you guys?

Is Baltimore as sketchy as it seems on that show, The Wire?

Baltimore is really sketchy. I've had a gun pointed in my face for my freakin' baseball hat! That was pretty scary. Yeah, it can be rough.

Who's the best skater to come out of Baltimore?

Rodney Jones is pretty good. There are a few guys. I'm telling you, Radiation Ray was the gnarliest. He's not from Baltimore, but he was rad.

You've obviously paid your dues, but you've also had some of the wildest non-skate sponsors in the history of skateboarding. Talk about your soup deal.

Granted, a lot of things I do, if I can relate it to myself in any way, I'll consider taking it for a sponsor. As far as the soup deal, it was more based around my kids. It's Campbell's Soup, you know. The way I look at it, if it's going to help my family, I'll take it. If it's going to hurt my career or my family in any way, I'm not going to take it. Like Meguiar's car wax. I was sponsored by Meguiar's Car Finishes. I've been into cars since I was a little kid and Meguiar's is a great company, so I'm stoked. It's something I can really get behind. Why would I not want to get paid by a company that I totally back?

What are some deals you've passed on?

I've passed on a lot. It's more like clothing sponsors and stuff like that. Mainly I'll just pass on stuff to wait for something better. I've had some weird food and beverage offers.

If I've never even heard of it, why would I endorse it?

Was it hard to quit Birdhouse for Element?

It was hard just because Tony's always been behind me when I needed help or guidance. He's still there. We're still really good friends. It was more that I kind of needed something to get me stoked and motivated. With me, I do what I do and I'm not a squeaky wheel. I'm on my own program and do my own thing. I'm not the loud guy that always needs attention.

I do what I do, and then spend a lot of time with my family. With Birdhouse I felt like I'd kind of lost touch. It's street-based and I sort of felt like they didn't really care. Tony wasn't bummed or anything. He was stoked that I was doing what I wanted to do.

Here's a controversial question: What's your take on Shaun White?

You know what? I'm stoked on his power. I'm stoked on his 19-year-old energy level. He's got the boost, and he's got the bangers. He's going to grow. It's definitely a different style, though. You can definitely see the snowboarding in his style. He's not a Rune and he's not a Bob. He's got his own thing. As far as Shaun, he's definitely onto something. His hair is so marketable. He's skating a lot. The thing is, he's skated for a long time. He just didn't come up the way we came up. His parents spent a lot of time on him. Basically he was brought up in a way that a lot of kids are being brought up today, in more of a soccer-mom style. He was bred to be competitive, bred to win.

You probably encounter this new style more than anyone. What do you think? Is that kind of parental involvement a positive thing?

As far as breeding your kids to be great, that's fine. As long as your kids are happy, I think it's great to be supportive and help them succeed. On the other hand, I've seen some skate parents that should probably be thrown in jail. They should have child protective services come after them. They're raising their kids in a way that I don't think is acceptable. It's almost like they're raising their kids for those beauty pageants.

I don't think the parents who are trying to follow this Shaun White/Sheckler formula for success realize what a new and weird thing it is in the world of skateboarding. No one before has ever come up like those two have come up. What advice would you give these parents who want their kids to be the next Ryan Sheckler?

I'd tell them I think it's fine to encourage your kid, but spend just as much time making sure they're happy as you do trying to make them good at something. If they want to go to Legoland, take them to Legoland. Spend just as much effort letting them be a kid. It's not a job. If a kid doesn't want to skate, that's fine. Just because a kid is good at something doesn't mean that's all he's going to want to do. I've seen some gnarly situations. It's kind of bad. I'm not talking about Shaun or Ryan, but there are some crazy parents out there.

You're a really public figure in skateboarding. Do you ever encounter people who want more out of you than you're willing to give? When it comes to the skate kids, I always have time. When it comes to the parents and some of the fans, it gets crazy. I'll be skating at a demo or a contest, and there's a lot of pressure to do well at these big events. I'll get parents and kids who expect me to sign autographs for two hours while I'm skating a demo for thousands of people. They think that they're more important than everyone else and want me to stop and pay attention only to them. It's frustrating. Maybe I need time for myself. It's hard for some people to understand. It's a strange thing.

After a long drought, there are finally some new vert kids. Who are your favorites?

Well, Shaun is leading the pack, but as far as my favorites I'd have to say Rob Lorifice. Another kid that's gnarly as hell is Alex Perez. I don't know if people even know about him yet. He's great. Zach Miller, Chris Miller's oldest son, he has the genes. Zach's killing it; so is his brother, Lucas. You can't forget him.

A lot of the vert guys are getting into this Mega-Ramp stuff. Do you mess with that thing?

I haven't really sacked up as much as I'd like to. It was hard to even get the time to shoot the few photos for this interview, and Mega is a whole other thing that requires a lot of time and focus. Also, I can't stand wearing the gear. I feel like an oaf.

Because you have to wear full-body armor?

Yeah. You have pads from head to toe, all duct-taped up. It feels disgusting. I need to find the right gear so I'm more comfortable. I hate wearing hip pads; it feels like you've got a big o1' lumpy butt. It's kind of gross. I love doing it, but you really have to commit to the time and the gear.

You've done the loop before, right?

Yeah. I've done the loop probably 30 times.

What's the secret?

The secret is pumping up to 11 o'clock and holding your pump longer than you expect. You kind of pump up and wait. You wait, and then you see your re-entry. Kind of like when you pump a corner. You pump into it, then hold it for a second before you pump down it. It's kind of the same motion except that it's straight up. It doesn't feel like a loop. It doesn't feel like a flip at all.

If you didn't have to do demos or contests, if you were just skating for pure pleasure, describe your ideal skating situation.

I would never have left the East Coast. I'd be skating back there with Derek. Local sessions. That's the one thing I miss. It's the most fun I've ever had on a skateboard, just skating back East. You have the best heckle sessions. It's not serious. You don't have people trying lines all day. You just skate, do your thing, and have fun. Poking at each other; it's more of a barbecue vibe, except you're skating. I think I'd do that every day of my life.

You don't want to drill tricks?

It's so gnarly. Watching Danny and Jake Brown try tricks for hours and hours is so gnarly. They love it and end up landing the craziest tricks. When I have to try tricks like that it's so frustrating. It's not that fun, I'll tell you that. When you make it, it's great. Other than that, it sucks.

When was the last time you lit a good fart?

I just did one in Baltimore. We were in a hotel room. You always know when you can light a good one. It's when it's nice and hot. When you let one go and it's hot, that's a good sign that you're ready to light a fart.

Have you had any close calls?

No, but my wife actually moved a bunch of blankets out of the way. She thought some hug ball of flame was going to come out of my ass. She's paranoid.

What's some advice you wish you'd gotten as a young pro?

Stacy gave me some of the best advice, which was to set aside half the money you make to pay in taxes. Save all your receipts. Some other good advice was to loosen your truck up half a turn every week until the point where you get wheel bite. Other than that, I'd say to be more compassionate. Don't go out and spend your money on a bunch of irrelevant things. I know when I first turned pro I bought so many ear stereos and stuff like that. After skating died, I wished I had that Alpine money.

Anything else?

I'm just grateful to still be skating after 24 years. It's been a great ride.