the [dot] | what it [dot] be

Today on the [dot], Frankie Hill puts it all out there his way in an interview inaugurating his rise from the dead. So stop by get a peak, grab a blunt, pick your nose and get nosy. Get the opportunity to trudge through Frankie’s past and present, catch a feel of his era, and the history that’s been made. See it all from a legends perspective first hand, how he skated in the early days on a future level, in his time it seemed like he was back from the future. Witness and feel all the ups and downs, and the new found success of Frankie. The skating version of “Pursuit of Happiness” starring Frankie Hill, no “Will Smith”. See what it’s like to be on the top to get thrown back down to the bottom to be rebuilt again and make it happen again and again. Because he has done it, he’s back, steady on the board, hungry and ambitious and just joyful to skate, no focus on success or aiming for an accomplishment, he’s “just having fun”!

Frankie Hill — Back from the Dead

Frankie the skater, to Frankie the lab tech. How did this happen?

After I injured my knee my step dad told me if I went to college to become a laboratory technician, he would help me find a job.

Did you ever have to preform work on a skater?

Yes, I have constructed porcelain crowns for some friends, and also I made a few dentures for some people.

What was the worst patient or situation you had on your hands that you thought was impossible to mend?

I have rebuilt a person’s mouth that had most likely been doing crystal meth or cocaine for a long time. The porcelain crowns I would make would fall out of the patient’s mouth with the tooth still in it, I thought all of their teeth should be pulled. But I’m not the dentist so I continued to rebuild their mouth till the patient ended up with all implants. Hard drugs will literally melt your teeth.

What else have you been getting into lately?

I have been skating a lot more, lately. I’ve always had a high energy level and I enjoy getting out of my box and skating down the street.

How long after you stopped skating did you become a laboratory technician?

It was six years. I spent the first two years in a deep depression, the next two years working odd jobs, and going part-time at City College, and had a hard time focusing.

How well did you handle the depression?

It was extremely hard to deal with. I lost my friends because they all skated and I couldn’t go anymore. I lost my girl because she was a fan, not someone who really cared for me as a person. I would go to sleep at night and pray to God that I would not wake up. I never knew the impact of the world as I did at twenty-two, truly I felt who I was just left me and who was left was nobody. I would hang out by myself. For two years I had a hard time getting out of bed. I’d smoke weed by myself and try to forget about reality. I went to school at City College, but couldn’t concentrate I would blow off final exams and just fail the class at the very end. My focus was lost, and I had no passion. So I just didn’t care about what was happening. I remember after two years of deep depression sitting in my bed at my sister’s house and coming to the conclusion that I was going to try, at life again. I wasn’t going to just plug along, but really give a serious effort. I knew I would have to sacrifice a lot of happiness. I knew I already lost that. So getting up and giving a serious effort to have a future didn’t bother me.

Excluding the offer your step dad introduced to you. When the injury occurred, were you fickled when it came down to what was going to be your next move?

Definitely my goal was to work at the liquor store, I had no clue what to do. I gave everything I had to skating and wasn’t sure if I had the energy and motivation to do it again with something else. The hill looked almost too big to climb, and for what to be average at best. I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to try.

What was it like being the first person to charge huge gaps?

I saw Gonzales do the EMB gap and I was too small to ollie high off flat, so I thought going off some stairs and high stuff was a way for me to stand out among all the other skaters. I didn’t realize at the time I was breaking ground, I was just trying to be original.

Can you remember what was going through your mind and how you felt the first time you started hitting gigantic stair sets?

In “Public Domain” going off the 11 was kind of scary, I remember thinking to myself I’m not sure if I could keep my feet on the board all the way down, and in the video you can see on both shots my feet come off, but I thought if I could stay crouched as long as possible I could maybe have a shot at it.

How did you break it down in your mind, attain motivation, and block out the fear so you could approach these spots?

I was being filmed by Stacy Peralta, this took my mind off of reality because at the time I was in a dream, I never thought I would ever be in that situation. When I was in the moment I wanted to show that I belonged with the best team on the planet, and if something bad were to happen, it would be okay because I went down fighting. I could live with that.

Before everything, the sponsors, the recognition, when it was just about skating for fun. When attempting gaps and stairs did any of your skater bro’s sesh with you?

I used to jump off the walls that held in the dumpsters behind Vons, and I had a friend that would do acid drops with me. I think that’s where it started, just crazy kids having fun, the big stairs and gaps only started at the 11 in “Public Domain” where I was starting to just envision trying to launch off bigger stuff than I thought I could make at the time.

I see you switched deck sponsors during this interview, why the change?

The company Unity had two owners, I am good friends with one of them. The company split into two and left the team with one owner. Bart called me and asked me if I had any names for a new skate company, I told him I used to own a skate company called Legion skateboards back in 1999. He thought about it and thought it would be a good idea. It was interesting because most of the team riders came along with him, making the transition to the new company easy. The company is run by Bart, and the riders are me, Eric Ricks, JJ Mace, Wes Heagy, Loren Donnerson, Bill Tocco, Chuck Treece, Spidey De Montrond, Hector Roman and Zippy. I’m really stoked for the future of Legion Skateboards.

Who were the official team members of the original Legion?

Dan Rogers, Pablo Favela, Damien Bravo.

How far did Legion make it?

We did a commercial in a 411VM video. I wish I could see that commercial again.

What happen to the original Legion?

The company went under, there were three owners and the company was going in too many directions at once. The company went bankrupt in the end of 1999.

There were more owners besides you? Wow, that can mislead situations. Who were they?

The other two names of the owners of Legion were Doug Salhm and Loren Manser. The reason the company went bankrupt, there was no clear-cut office to work out of. I would try to call shops on my lunch break, and that was not a sufficient amount of time to sell the product. There were also different ideas about how the company should be run. Personally I feel keeping the overhead low and the fun level high, are the keys to success. Having two owners is very hard, but having three owners is too many. I now believe that one owner is the only way to succeed, if that owner doesn’t make every right move, it’s okay because at least the company is in one direction, not three.

Let’s go back for a second, where was the first company Unity based out of?

I believe it was based out of Indianapolis.

Who were the owners of Unity Skateboards?

I know one of the owners, Bart who runs the Old Indy Skaters, a group of guys who get together with other guys and have fun skating.

I think it’s pretty clever to still represent both era’s. Who came up with the idea for you to have an old school board and a new school board with Unity?

Bart came up with the idea when he was at Unity, a lot of people who remember me are older and skate the old school shapes. I like the idea to have two shapes, not everyone likes the small popsicle boards like me.

So what really happened with Powell back then?

I was shooting a Transworld poster book. I ollied off an eight stair and over a wall that extended out, my truck hit the edge of the wall, I didn’t even feel it, and my knee landed extended. I had to push myself off UCSB campus on my ass. I went to the doctors and they said I needed surgery. I didn’t have insurance at the time, so I couldn’t get the surgery. I eventually quit Powell because I couldn’t keep up with the other skaters. Six years later my mom called a workers compensation lawyer, and it turns out I had a good case. I never sued Powell directly, I got the money from a workers compensation fund that Powell had paid into over the years. I got educated and enough money to get a Toyota Corolla to get me back and forth to school, that was it. I wanted to go back to school because I knew even if I never got a job in dentistry nothing would be able to take away my certificate of completion. One of the only things I would be able to hold onto and not have taken from me.

What happen to the other sponsors that invested in you?

My sponsors were Powell Corp, Venture Trucks, Skate Rags clothing, and Airwalk shoes. After the injury I couldn’t skate anymore and the sponsors slowly left. The word got around pretty fast about my injury and my sponsors basically dropped me because I could not promote their products.

Were there any projects around the time of your injury that you did not get the opportunity to participate in?

At that time in 1993, it was in a recession, and not a lot was happening. I’m sure there were many things I would have liked to participate in, such as I tried out for Plan B and got turned down because I believe they knew my knee was done.

If that injury didn’t block your career. How far do you think you would have gotten?

I don’t think much would of stopped me honestly, and if I would have passed away during a skate accident I would not have cared at all, to be crippled and limp away was worse than death.

You are aware you influenced many of today’s pros to go for grand canyons, like Jamie Thomas and more?

I am thankful for any influence I have on skaters, I skated at a very interesting time where things were changing quickly and I believe I was at the right place at the right time. Very thankful!

You told me you had some good news, now cough it up?

Haha, I’m still waiting on the good news, as soon as I get the confirmation I’ll let you know. I will say it is skating related and its definitely good news.

Are there any other companies you ride for?

Yes, I ride for Legion Skateboards, Tracker Trucks, Green Bananas Clothing, and Skate Crank wax.

What is “Skate Crank”?

Skate Crank is a comp that wants kids to get hooked on skating, not drugs.

Speaking of skate wax, you have your own signature wax. How did that come about?

I got on Skate Crank and they asked what I thought of having a signature wax called “Franken wax”. The concept is to kinda give off like I’m back from the dead, and I thought it was a great idea, I feel a little bit like I am back from the dead, haha.

If you came up with a slogan for the wax, what would it be?

May the streets run green with Franken Wax.

Glad to see you’re back from the dead, and things are getting back to normal. You should stop by your ex-girlfriends crib and say “Eat this” and vandalize her car. I’ll film it and broadcast it on youtube. Sounds good?

Haha, classic, it has been a long time since I’ve seen her, she would be very surprised to see me. She called me twenty years later and she asked what I’ve been doing I told her “I’ve been skating”, she laughed at me and called me old, but some people just don’t get it.

Did you think in the future you would be rewarded/remembered as a prodigy?

I’m not sure, I would love to be remembered as someone who gave everything I had to give, having the respect from the skaters that skated back in the early 1990s is enough for me.

Any hopes and expectations?

I hope to be able to skate as long as I’m alive and learn to take skating at a slower pace. I truly love to skate but I don’t want to end up back on the couch. I never gave up hope that I would skate again. I want the ride to last as long as possible.

Skate and have as much fun as you can, because you never know when the ride will end. I know I have seen it from the other side, and it made me respect skating more than I used too. I will have as much fun as I can, I don’t want to watch the party from a distance ever again.

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“Back from the Dead” Frankie Hill
conducted by Rob Larry