The shoes, it's gotta be the shoes...

When I was 8 or 9 years old, my interest in skateboarding started to grow. Pretty much everyone in the neighborhood had a Nash or a Variflex board. I can remember going to Toys R Us with my parents to pick out a skateboard. The one I picked said “Locals Only” on it and I asked my mom if I was a local. I was really concerned that I wouldn’t be able to buy it. The levels of poser nerdy were deep, but I was too young to know any better.

There was a teen who lived down the street and he had a Vision board that he said he would sell me. I had already unsuccessfully tried to trade my Nash for a Caballero to some kids a few blocks away. I had this feeling that a real board would somehow make me better at skating. The teen down the street must have been a real jerk because instead of hooking me up, he pulled some snake shit. He knew how badly I wanted this board, because it was a “real” pro board. He took my money and before handing it over to me, he spray painted the whole thing white AND removed the griptape.

I unsuccessfully tried to remove the paint. I ended up getting some neon green griptape and I cut out letters to spell VISION on the top of the board. Even I knew it was lame, but I felt like I had to note that there was a real skateboard under that spray paint. I don’t think that board had a significant impact on my skills, but it was a tipping point. I ended up skating almost every day until I was about 18 years old. It was my main activity and how I met most of my friends.

Right before I turned 10, a 16 year old skater moved in across the street from me. He introduced me to all kinds of new music, like Metallica and Bob Marley. He played the guitar and inspired me pick up the drums. He also helped me level up from crappy ramps with no transition to a really cool launch ramp.

I ended up getting a Lance Mountain board and it definitely made things better. It’s not that the skateboard suddenly makes you better, but you’re hyped and you feel cooler. You feel legit.

The same thing happened for me with making music. Around 1994, I started buying 12 inch rap singles because I saw that they had extra songs on them. I only had a few and I would sneak into my brother’s room to play them on his combo stereo that had a turntable on top. Around that same time, I started to get into Bjork, somewhat accidentally. I tend to have somewhat obsessive music consumption habits. If I find something I really like and find interesting, I will go into collector mode. I used to look at all the British magazines at Tower Records and write down notes of things to order. I thought I ordered some Bjork CDs from the UK, but when they came, they were actually records. I decided it was time to get my own record player. My stereo setup was an automatic turntable, a Sony Discman, and an old 8-Track player/receiver. There was a way to play CDs and vinyl at the same time through the receiver, so I started to make “mixes.” I didn’t have a mixer, so there was no actual mixing. it was basically timed transitions and some smashed train wrecks. The very first tape even had some “remixes” that were acapellas and instrumentals that were not in time with each other at all. I didn’t know what I was doing. That was “Hip Hop Mix Vol. # 1” and I think I sold a few copies at school for $3. (I can’t find that tape anymore).

Just like me wanting that pro skateboard, I had some idea in my head that if I got pro turntables I would be able to make pro mixes. I was listening to The Wake Up Show obsessively and had a lot of ideas in my head about what I wanted to do. I ended up finding some Technic 1200s in the classified section of the local newspaper. If I remember correctly, I got two 1200s and a mixer for $700. It may have been $350 a turntable and maybe $100 more for the mixer. Either way, not terribly bad considering that I still use those turntables today.

Technic 1200 I bought in 1995, with the Live 105 globe stickers on the power wheel.

Live 105 was a Bay Area modern rock radio station.

Numark DM1175, it had multiple channels, but pretty sticky faders.

When I called the guy in the classified ad, he told me to meet him at a specific location. When I got there, he pulled up in a car and said “follow me.” I wasn’t really sure what was going on or if I was being set up, bu he ended up being really nice. I brought everything home and set things up. I remember trying to blend records and thinking that I either set things up wrong or something was broken. I foolishly thought this expensive new gear would somehow help me mix records. It must, it was so expensive. I actually called the guy back and he let me come over so he could teach me how to beat match.

It was not an overnight success. I would write down records that I figured out how to blend. I didn’t know anyone else who had turntables and this was the earliest days of home internet, so it was a slow progression. According to this tape, I guess I had more records and maybe a few more blends by September of 1996.

The cover was printed on a dot matrix printer.

As far as I know, I was the only kid trying to sell mixtapes at my school and I can say with almost 100% certainty that I was the only kid with a mixtape with The Dereliks and Mystic Journeymen on it. I’m sure it’s very unlistenable, but it’s essentially the first step in me ending up where I did with music.

Like the skateboard, the 1200s didn’t instantly change anything, but they made me feel more legit and inspired me to keep going with music.

(to be continued)