Bleav in Skateboarding with Jim Gray

070 In the Patch With Cabbage Bradfield, Podcaster, Skateboarder, Musician, Lover of Skateboarding... My first ever Dual Podcast where we recorded this with the intent for it to be a podcast for each others shows, but I lagged severely and he posted his quite a while ago on his podcast. Check out the podcast as posted by Cabbage and check out some of the other people he's interviewed. FIND IT HERE So, first I start off with an apology to Cabbage, some shit in my life went a little south a couple days after recording this, and I just put the Podcast on hold while I took some personal time to fume, pout, be sad, feel sorry for myself, and so many other foolish realities we all put ourselves through. That sad, depressing bout lasted a few months, but it ended up that I just did not do any new podcasts or finish this one for almost a year, and just focused on living and staying healthy. Then, I finally decided it was time to get back on track, so here we go. Cabbage and I both do these podcasts merely for fun, and not for profit so I hope he will understand.. Please forgive me Mr. Cabbage Bradfield... Cabbage is an East Coast Skater, and we share lots of stories about skaters, doing podcasts, perceptions versus reality, skate politics, marriage and divorce, therapy, weigh loss, other podcasts and shows, our styles of podcasting etc... We are definitely a different breed of Podcasters who float to our own beat. Thanks for joining me Mini Ramp Champ Cabbage, I had a good time.. If you follow Cabbage's podcast, you may have already listened to this, but if not please enjoy.

069 Clayton Graul, Skateboarder, DIY Enthusiast, leader of @UrbanSkateProject I've seen Clayton around for years now, or at least a decade or so, just another nice easy going skater to cross paths with, or at least that's what I thought. I start seeing more and more very cool DIY spots popping up all over Southern California and notice that Clayton is behind many of them, or maybe most of them, but certainly has a heavy helping hand in the DIY Skate Spot Movement. You can see his everyday instagram @clayton_graul and see another middle aged man out skating curbs, crusty ditches, quarterpipes, and a whole lot of random stuff. Definitely loves rolling on his skateboard, that is very apparent. If you check his @urbanskateproject page you can see the many projects he is working on, has worked on, in progress etc..... He leaves tips for other DIY builders around the country about materials and tools etc.... All for the love of skateboarding, and not money, got to love and respect that. So, we sit down and chat, you will learn some of his roots, inspiration for building DIY and his opinion as well as my big mouthed opinion on public skateparks in general. I think I speak for both of us in apologizing for our dogs who just would not stop playing with each other and making noise during the recording, but hey they are our dogs, so they are perfect, right!!! Hope you enjoy my chat with Clayton, and thanks as always for listening.

Episode 068 Scott Pellet S.O.S. Friend, Skater, Hollywood Film/TV editor, TEXAN! Scott and I met over 10 years ago when he was trying to help put together a film on the history of Texas Skateboarding. We quickly became friends and have stayed in touch since then, sharing meals, skating, stories, hanging with family and mutual friends, etc... Scott found an interest in filmmaking at an early age. Being a kid who grew up in the Dallas area and riding at the Jeff Phillips Skatepark, the first major media project he put together was on Jeff Phillips. Scott's love of skateboarding, filmmaking and music have filled his life and still do. He has been working in the Hollywood TV/Film world for quite awhile now. I have been fortunate enough to get to visit him at some of the studios he was working at and see sets for successful TV shows such as The Goldbergs and Chuck. He has worked as an editor on the TV shows "Chuck" (NBC), "The Goldbergs" (ABC), "Mad Dogs" (Amazon), "Sneaky Pete" (Amazon), "L.A.'s Finest" (Spectrum), "Painkiller" (Netflix) and the Lionsgate feature, "The Devil You Know". You can check his IMDB credits by clicking on this IMDB link. You will see all the cool stuff this skater has done. I am stoked I have gotten to see a lot of it up close and personal over the years. For several years, Scott and fellow Texans Heath Cherryhomes and Jake Kirby would make an annual pilgrimage to all the local skateparks while Heath and Jake stayed with me during the summer. We were all given nicknames and Scott's was S.O.S. "Sex on a Stick". I had Texas-sized stickers of our nicknames printed for our helmets symbolizing our brotherhood.... Things we discuss in this podcast that I think some of you might find interesting are our skating adventures, his work on his first film about Jeff Phillips, his Hollywood gigs and the time he filmed interviews (including Jeff Grosso) at my house. Hope you enjoy meeting another interesting person who has passed through my life and is also a skater and very talented in other realms...

067 Geoffrey Gunderson, Vaquero Skateboards Owner, Skater and Friend Geoff is a skater and small skate brand owner I've gotten to know and become friends with over the past few years. He is a So Cal born, Oregon Raised, eventually a Nor Cal transplant, so we talk about that and our perceptions of the preconceived attitudes that come with each amongst other things. We have had some great sessions together over the last decade and we talk about some of those times... Flower Shop in SF, Weirdo Bowl, etc.... We talk skate shops vs. chain stores and what small skate shops provided for skateboarders which is so rare today. In the old days "Kooks were Kooks, but who gets to decide who a Kook is, some other Kook" We even give props to some longboarder friends of ours, so damn we must be the kooks... hahaha We talked about one of our mutually favorite skateboarders Josh Rodriguez! We both feel Josh a craft beer who has never had a model which is unbelievable, and lots of guys that have models are Coors Lite... lol we had a fun conversation and hope you enjoy it... Geoffrey skates everything, and I like that. We talk about some of the issues in sponsoring skaters, our own perceptions and what stokes us out vs what's cool to do. Both of us are stubborn and do it our way. He has a great 14 year old Danny Way story amongst others.

066 Chantelle Heroux, Founder of "Bridge to Skate" Non-Profit We talked about her nonprofit, Bridge to Skate. She does great work in South LA using Skateboarding as a tool for support, motivation, and making lives better.. I am happy to call her a friend and think you will enjoy the story of how she found Skateboarding, or maybe better said how it found her. I’d say all the people she’s helped should be thankful she got kicked off the soccer team! I know I am!! Also known on Instagram by @blondecrisis911 and @bridgetoskate. Chantelle popped in for a little chat, a hug for me, and lots of cuddling with Tiago. She has a great story including building a school that houses 27 students in Honduras. A quote from the Bridge to Skate Website... With exercise comes education, and vice-versa. The two can’t be separated when it comes to living a healthy and fulfilled life. An extension of the BTS concept of providing community support, our school development efforts have already led to changing lives. Our goal, where needed and endorsed, is to complete the “trifecta” – skateboard park, playground and school – in order to give the local community a strong foundation of growth that can lift it from impoverished circumstances over generations. I hope you enjoy my conversation with this creative, passionate, and giving human being, also known as Chanty.. We start out with a great conversation about Chad Muska which I think will entertain you..

065 Dave Andrecht, Hall of Fame Skateboarder, Podcaster, Skate Industry Lifer, Friend, Inventor of one of the Greatest Skateboard Tricks Ever. Special Guest--Bobby Goodsby, founder of the first and still running Skate Camp in America.. Dave Andrecht, AKA "The Raver", was an early air Big Air Pioneer and he created the Andrecht Handplant, one of the most seriously cool tricks on a skateboard. It was one of my favorite tricks ever. Dave also has worked in the skateboard industry most of his life, and was a key player in the H-Street story, and shares a lot of history there that I did not know about, and you will learn about too. His Sims signature model board was one of the coolest boards built in that era, and I'd kill to have one on my wall.. Most of all, Dave is just a good human. I have always gotten along well with him and anytime we've ever seen each other in the last 40 years, it's been a great interaction. I think you will be able to tell that in our interaction, we are mutually supportive of each other. Dave recently started Sk8boardnation a YouTube Channel/Podcast. He does great research and asks meaningful questions about the guests history and experiences in skateboarding, unlike me who just talks too much. Please check out his podcast on YouTube when you get a chance. He wrote down 5 pages of questions for me, and I could probably only come up with 5 questions not pages if I interviewed myself, that will tell you how deep Dave digs, and how much cool stuff you will see on there. How he got that video of my performance on "Dancing with the Stars, Yugoslavian Edition", I'll never know. Dave showed up to the podcast with an old mutual friend Bobby Goodsby AKA: Bobby G, the founder of the first US Skate Camp, and it is still running today. He joined us and we shared some good conversation with him too... Hope you enjoy this special podcast..

064 Lonny Hiramoto, Skateboarder, Friend, Shape Stealer, and former Hoodlum... Lonny is an awesome skater, and hit the pro skateboarding scene as a youngster in the late 70's. I assumed he was older than me cause he was in Skateboard Magazines when I was a kid, but turns out he was just amazing at a young age. We didn't actually meet until 20 years later, now he is a great friend, and die hard lover of rolling on his board, and he's actually two years younger than me. You'll hear some interesting stories, a bit about his Hoodlum Days, and one of the best stories ever about how legendary skater Shogo Kubo (RIP) gave him his first skateboard, just to get him out of the house, so he could make out with Lonny's sister, and even better he had no idea Shogo was a good skater, much less a legend in the making. It's one of the most random and funniest random occurences I've ever heard in our little skate network. This podcast was an accident as Lonny was just popping by to show me the sample deck he had made after copying one of my (Art School Skateboards Jim Gray Guest Model) shapes. Hope you enjoy his Christian Hosoi stories, Lester Kasai stories, and a lot more. Hope you enjoy my chat with this living legend.

063 Alex Romero, Skateboarder and Optometrist to Skateboarding Superstars, and to me too... I met Alex at the Vans HB Skatepark with my friend Chuck Walstead. Alex was just another one of us skaters, and my friend Chuck said, he's my Optometrist too... I immediately said I am coming to you. I prefer to do business with skaters whenever I can. After going to Alex, I was stoked knowing I had someone who cared about my eyes and my world. So turns out his clients include skaters Eddie Elguera, Scott Hostert, Christian Hosoi and Pops Hosoi, Mike McGill, Eric Dressen, Chuck Walstead, Dennis Martinez, Darren Ho, Nick Rosenthal, Cholo from Scum Skates, Steve Caballero, SkateMaster Tate and Mark Waters (RIP, Two Rad Skaters both gone too soon), Christian Jacobs (of Yo Gabba Gabba and Aquabats fame), Parker Jacobs, Billy Zoom and so many more.... Turns out this skater is taking care of the eyes of many of us. So, we chat about life, what takes a guy from skateboarding to Optometry School, and what skateboarding means to him and how it has and does influence his daily life. One look around his office and you'll see.... The stairway going up to his office is lined with skateboard decks and pictures with his awesome clientele. It was awesome doing this podcast with him, because I really have always wanted my podcast to be converstations with people I've met throughout skateboarding, not just pro's or people from the industry but just interesting people with different stories. I hope you enjoy, and if you need some new glasses or contacts, hit up Orange Circle Optometry in Orange, CA...

062 Thibault "TIBS" Parise A French Skateboarder on a longer deck who sells Clay.. You may need an interpreter for this episode as Tibs speaks Fringlish which is a cross between French and English..... Just play the episode at half speed and you will be OK... Tibs talks about how he came to skate on longboards after breaking his shortboard and only having the longboard he used to get to the skatepark with him, and ended up liking riding the longboard more. I support that fully, skate what works for you, anyone who tells you what to ride is a complete Kook in my book. Tibs skates fast and does tricks I certainly can't do on my mid size board.. He also owns a business called Clayer which imports Non Toxic Green Clay from France for pain relief etc..... I have used it many times and it's also great on cleaning wounds, extracting the toxins etc...... or at least it worked well for me.. I am not a physician, so these statements are not approved the the FDA, FTC, FBI, IRS, ABC, or any other judgemental tyranical organization. Being a longboarder he knows all about narrow minded and foolish thinking, and we talk about that like being told he couldn't ride in a skate contest because he wasn't a skateboarder(seriously??), and the realities of having value as a skateboarder when someone needs you, and that door closing in your face when someone more valuable comes along(I've definitely felt that door before)...

061 Teddi Dean AKA: Teddi Bennett OG Bones Brigade Member, Modern Elder Teddi was an original Bones Brigade Team Member. I used to skate quite frequently with him in the late 70's, early 80's. He had a buttery smooth surf style, growing up surfing in Huntington Beach in the 70's. He seemingly disappeared from skateboarding in the early 80's, and I always wondered what happened with him. I re-united with Teddi in 2015 and learned of his interesting life story, and decided it was time to share it with more of the skateboard world. His website describes his life pat simply "Curiosity led Teddi Dean from life as a Southern California pro skateboarder to travel as a student of the Dharma. He is now a mindfulness and meditation teacher". Teddi currently works down in Baja with the Modern Elder Academy. Obviously there is a lot of stories on that path, including his days on the Bones Brigade, and his respect for Stacy Peralta. He also spent some time in the film industry, teaches and practices Yoga and Meditation, and he shares some background of the formation of the Modern Elder Academy. He also talks about getting Stacy to come and speak at the Academy as a Modern Elder, a term I love, as I yearn to be one myself as I just turned 60. I hope you enjoy learning about or catching up with Teddi, another amazing product of the pioneering days of skateboarding.

060 Joshua Bridgewater AKA "Spina Bifida Skater" To me, Josh is simply a bad ass, and an inspiration. Born with a hole in his back with his spinal cord outside of his body, a birth defect called Spina Bifida, his challenges started early in life, including being born at all. Well, thankfully for himself and all of us, he came out kicking and hasn't stopped. I've skated with Josh many times over the last decade or so and I am always inspired by the fact that he keeps the PMA turned up high, rolls with the punches, and keeps smiling! The date we met to record this podcast and the day the pic was taken on the cover of the podcast icon, was one of the few I've ever seen him in without braces, and several times he's been in a wheelchair, but it never stops him. 40 plus surgeries in, he pads up and has as much fun as anyone I've ever known whenever I've skated with him. He is always checking out most So Cal skate events with his sweet lady Shawna and they both always have a great attitude. I hope listening to him will inspire you to get through anything you've got to get through in life. He admits it's not always easy and he spends a lot of time in pain, but if he can endure that, keep smiling, and let skateboarding help keep him sane, I think we all can. He gives back a lot as well and encourages others on a regular basis. He is definitely an inspiration to me and I think he will be to you as well. Enjoy the show, and Josh thanks again for joining me and sharing your story and your attitude...

059 S-One Helmets Dan McCashin and Chris Terins started as Insole Makers and became Helmet Icons. These two started making S-One footwear insoles down the street from my Acme Skateboards factory in Costa Mesa back in the 90's. They share their stories as they morphed from an insole company into one of the most respected Helmet Brands in Skateboarding, BMX, Roller Derby and more. I've been friends with them for a long time, have printed stickers for them for decades, have worn their helmets for a while, and have always enjoyed working with them on everything, and the great conversations we have everytime I see them, but a podcast gave us a chance to dig a little deeper. Hope you enjoy our conversation, they don't hold back to much so you may hear some surprising things. You may even get a chuckle as I try to remember when I first met them and confused where their first office was with someone else... I first recorded a Podcast with Chris Terins about 2 years ago, and didn't have the microphone plugged in so nothing was recorded, so this is a long overdue re-do. Thanks for your patience Chris, and glad Dan got to join us this time (he likes to stir the pot more than you--haha)... You can find them at https://shop.s1helmets.com/ or at almost any great skate shop..

Episode 058 TSM Skate Media Crew... Carl Carpentier, Marcelle Johnson, Tommie Zam The TSM boys have done True Skateboard Mag www.Truesk8boardmag.com for many years. They are also @tsm_media on insta as well. They've been doing a Podcast and Talk Shows based around the Skate and Music Scene for quite a while. I've sat in on their show before when they interview Ron Allen at Grinderz etc..... I like these guys and love their passion for skateboarding. Funny story is they told me that they wanted to do the show, and I assumed they wanted me to be on their show, so we set a date, and they came up to my office. I thought they were gonna start setting up their equipment and do a TSM Podcast/Show with me..., then they showed up and when I asked where they wanted to set up, they said we are here to be on your show.... It was a very classic moment and of course I was happy to do it that way. All the matters to me is enjoying conversations with people in the skate culture. I hope you enjoy our conversation and get a good laugh out of the confusion. We all sure did.

Episode 057 Mike Mapp AKA "Micro" of Ramp Tech, Possibly the longest consistently operating Ramp Builder in the World Micro is just a straight up skate lifer, who has been building ramps for decades, and runs his skate ramp building company RampTech out of Virginia. They build a variety of products from Quarter Pipes, Half Pipes, Rails, Boxes, Spine Ramps and more. He's built many amazing competition ramps over the years as well for Vans, ESPN and many many more. Skateboarding flows through his blood and he's seen a lot of changes. He has survived each and every change, and keeps on building great ramps. In the 90's I used to send Mike skateboards when the skate industry had forgotten about much of their roots and Mike and I have always shared a great level of mutual respect. You will hear stories of his views and the history of the ramp business, crazy scenes he was part of like the historic "Cedar Crest Ramp" and much more. They made a great movie about the history of Cedar Crest called "Blood and Steel", click on the words and it will link you to learn more. It's a good watch. If you know Micro, you'll be stoked to hear some classic stories, if you don't know him, you'd hear some history on the East Coast Skate Scene and about a player who helped us get where we are today whether you knew it or not. Hope you enjoy our Chat.

Episode 056 Jeremy Wray A Skateboarder, An Artist, A Daredevil, A Filmer, A Husband, A Dad, A Wraybrother, and more I like Jeremy Wray because he has a great smile, a great personality, is humble and smooth on his skateboard. He has countless amazing photos, magazine coverage, ads and boards with his name and art. He is embedded into skate history visually with iconic images like his amazing and insane Water Tower Gap he shot back in 1997 (where did 25 years go?). We talk diving boards, crazy stunts done for TV commercials and movies , artwork and sculptures, our mutual Blockhead Skateboard roots and respect, skateparks and their collision guaranteed designs, favorite daily skate spots, kids, doing loops and much more.. We probably could have gone on for another hour, so we will have to do a follow up because Jeremy and I both wanted to go skateboarding, so we did...

Episode 055 Eric Dressen, one of my favorite, and one of the best humans to ever ride a skateboard!! Definitely one of my favorite podcasts I've recorded for several reasons. Eric is truly one of the nicest souls on earth. Caring, gentle, speaks with his skateboard, not his mouth (unlike me), and he knows how to make someone feel special. He has always been one of my favorite skaters as he for decades has destroyed pools, ramps, ditches, and the streets. When Independent Trucks made it's history book, and had a release party where they sold the layout/proof pages for many of the books main characters, I bought the Eric Dressen and John Cardiel pages, so I've been a fan for a long time. We've known each other for decades and always had nothing but kind words and interactions. But, it wasn't until he came with me to Ohio a few weeks ago for the Welfare Line Skateboard Collectors Bash #7, and we spent 5 days skating, eating, laughing, looking at houses, corn and soybean fields, and flowers that we really go to spend a lot of personal time together. Now, I love Eric Dressen more than ever and it goes both ways. So what you get here is skateboard tales and history, recorded freshly off our Bromance, which I hope continues for many years to come. We talk about his path from Logan Earth Ski at 10 years old, to Alva, Dogtown, and Santa Cruz. Eric choose skateboarding as his life at an early age, we are all the benefactors. I hope you enjoy my chat with Skateboarding Hall of Fame Inductee and my friend Eric Dressen..

Episode 054 "SPIDEY" De Montrond, Musician, Skater, Surfer, Man of Style Spidey has a new album titled "Synonymity" coming out this week, so I thought it would be a good time to do a podcast. For the last several years, Spidey and I have gotten to know each other more than ever, and he's come by dozens of times and picked up my acoustic Guitar and played in my office. We've had lots of fun and I've seen his talent on many levels, something that is hard to translate in words. Check out @theGentleOrchestra on Instagram and there is a link on the profile page to his music. Spidey alongside myself, grew up in what I call the Pioneering Age of Skateboarding, when most everything done today was created. A simple time when we just skated with our friends and we happened to be lucky enough and just talented enough to sneak into the world of Pro Skateboarding. Spidey had some very memorable, collectible, and creative Pro Model boards on Santa Cruz Skateboards, went on to a music career with Capital Records, and today spends most of his time surfing and playing music. He also designed many sock variations for Merge4 socks in recent years. The conversation drifts across many areas of music, skateboarding, surfing, and more and hope you enjoy and learn something you may not have known before. Thanks for listening.

Episode 053 Beau Brown Legendary Downhill Skater and Long Time Icon in the Skateboard Industry Beau Brown is a good friend of mine. He has deep roots in the skateboard culture. He grew up in Huntington Beach in a very pioneering time in skateboarding. He raced Stand Up Downhill Skateboards primarily but skated a little of everything. He found his way into the business side of skateboarding, selling skateboard stuff for many years for Madrid, Tracker, Brand X, and worked with me at Acme Skateboards / Abc Board Supply for over a decade as well. He worked at Etnies/Sole Technology after Acme, and eventually made his way back into the deck market and today still manages manufucturing decks and other goods for some major players in skateboarding. Beau has always been dependable, stable, and independent, he is a good man to have on your side. We have been through a lot together, weddings, children being born, crazy days growing like wildfire at work, and we've watched some important stuff in our lives crumble in front of us. We've side by side through life's struggles emotionally, physically, and emotionally. Basically, you don't get better long term friends than this. The best part of doing this podcast is just having conversations with my friends like Beau, who have been a big part of my life, and a big part of skateboarding, sometimes in the foreground, and sometimes in the background. Hope you enjoy meeting or learning something new. Thanks for listening.

Episode 052 Wyatt Hammond, 8 year old Future Pro Skateboarder I mean seriously what else is there to say, Wyatt is 8 years old and skates better than you, and me, and most everyone else. The thing that will surprise you is listening to how to thinks, plans, and approaches skateboarding. I've sponsored him on my Powerflex Wheels brand for the last few years, and have enjoyed watching his fearlessness, and skills. It's been fun watching him grow into a young force on a skateboard, and I thought some of you might enjoy hearing the perspective of an 8 year old. He is amazingly well spoken. I am always amazed at all the new videos he's putting out on the regular. If you don't know Wyatt, or haven't seen him skate, just google him or check his Instagram.. @wyatthammond

Episode 051 Bud Stratford and Laura Richards, Skateboarders, Owners of Zeppelin Aero Works Skateboards, and Industry Bullshit Callers. Bud is a very opinionated, vocal, sometimes antagonistic man, and of course he doesn't hold back his feelings on controversial subjects surrounding skateboarding, and that makes me love him even more. He and Laura started a new brand Zeppelin Aero Works recently, and they are even doing a Jim Gray model (I know, why?). Bud admits in our Podcast how he straight up ripped off Acme Skateboards with his Cleveland Skateboard and Supply Co, quite an honor to me but I made them buy me lunch anyways. See, there are perks to having your own podcast. 3 listeners in 4 countries and free lunch, I think I am gonna do this forever. Hopefully you will find Bud and Laura's story interesting... Bud, found his way to Concrete Wave Magazine, did his own website EverythingSkateboarding.com and eventually decided to start Zeppelin Aero Works with Laura @zeppelinaeroworks on instagram. Their new company is dedicated to making unique and functional skateboards, something quite often overlooked by the skateboard industry. I look forward to watching and seeing what happens with Zeppelin and what kind of trouble Bud can stir up next.