 Mike Vallely - Interview. p.1 | p.2 | p.3 | p.4Video Clips: (from his Spoken Word date in Ventura) Terrorism Blues 56k, 300k CKY3 Explanation 56k, 300k How long have you had a shoe model out? 3 or 4 years. How many different types have you had? I've never redesigned the shoe but come out with new colorways each year. Now I have a second design that's coming out, it's the Mike V 2 and it doesn't necessarily replace the first one which is still out and available. Is your shoe model royalty check your largest portion of your income? Definitely, yes. It has been to this point anyways. When you were first on Powell was it your board sponsor? Yes, and back in the old days you only made a royalty. When I turned pro for Powell I made good money but it was all royalty. Now here's a interesting little bit of history for you; I changed that process. I was the first professional skateboarder to ever get paid a salary by a board company. That was kind of the bargaining chip for when I left Powell and went to World Industries. Rocco wanted me to quit Powell and join him to do World Industries and I' was going to get some ownership and he thought that was going to sweeten the pot. I was like I don't care about that I want a guaranteed income month to month. He said that was unheard of and that will never happen. I said "then I'll never ride for you". He came back to me and said o.k., I'll guarantee it and that kind of changed the process. Most professionals today have some sort of guaranteed salary and a royalty above and beyond that salary if their sales go that high. The funny thing was with World Ind. Rocco was so nervous about paying me the guaranteed amount of money, but he never had to worry about it because my sales were above and beyond that every single month I was a part of that company.  So it became irrelevant? It was there and I was looking for a little bit more security than skateboarding was offering people at the time. What has been your all time favorite skateboarding moment before you were ever sponsored? The process of starting everything, being so new, so captivating, and so interesting. Just getting that first board and just riding with my buddies and discovering skateboarding. The discovery of skateboarding is one of the most important things that ever happened in my life. It is definitely the most important. That was my favorite time in skateboarding, just starting out. What has been your all time favorite skateboarding moment since you've turned pro? Hmmm, I don't know. I never really focus on moments or accomplishments. That kind of stuff is fleeting. Is there anything that stands out? What I get off on is still being a pro on my terms. That's the accomplishment, that's what I'm most proud of. I've been able to maintain a professional career the way I want to do it. What's been one of your life's highlights outside of skateboarding? Definitely my family and having kids. Seeing them be born. Watching my daughter, who is nine years old, growing up and participating in that is amazing. We have a new baby now and getting to go through that again is amazing. Just being with my family, every night when I'm sitting there tucking my daughter into bed and spending time with my little baby before falling asleep is everything to me. What skaters past and present do you have the most respect for and why? Lance Mountain, Steve Caballero, and Tony Hawk. Past and present, because those guys were there before me and they're there now and they've consistently always been about the right things, promoting skateboarding the right way. I just have the hugest amount of respect for those guys and there's not a whole lot of skaters that are new to the scene that have contributed the same way they do and have the longevity they have. It's hard for me to really get into anyone that's come after me, not that I think I'm the end all, it's just that the guys that came before me are the ones that made the biggest difference, and to see them still doing it now still continues to inspire me. What would you rather do compete in a pro street contest or a pro wrestling match? A street skateboard contest because there is much more room for self-expression. That's why I skateboard. The individual creative pursuit. Wrestling probably offers a little bit of that, but it's not the same thing. Even if you had control of the outcome? It wouldn't really matter even if you had the control of the outcome in a street match. I'd take my 45 seconds or 60 seconds and do my thing and do it my way. In a wrestling match you have an opponent and a referee that you have to work with, and you have a promoter telling you how it has to be done. Even though you can go out there do your own thing a little bit, and change the outcome if you really want to, the end result is when you ride a skateboard your on your own and you can do it your way no mater what. I mean, I've taken contest runs where I don't even skateboard. I just throw my skateboard around the street course just for fun, For just pure self expression. You can't beat that! When was the last backyard pool you hit up? It's been too long. It must have been sometime this past summer, I can't place it though. Have you seen the Dogtown/Z-boy's movie? Unfortunately I haven't. I've missed it every time I've had the chance, it just hasn't worked out yet. Are you looking forward to seeing it? Oh definitely! I already feel inspired and empowered by it even though I haven't seen it yet. It's kinda like I know what it is and I know what it's going to do to me when I see it. I'm already feeling the effects of it. That's all I'm going to ask you. That's it? All right. Cool. Some of our readers have a few more questions. (See page 4) Mike Vallely - Interview. p.1 | p.2 | p.3 | p.4 |