P.B.R.: Plumb, Beer and Ridiculousness a Super Skeezy Interview With the Lizard King
Issue 209 / May 2006 More from this Issue
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By E-LO
What started out as an off-hand joke turned into a four-hour interview. The premise was pretty simple: for each question I asked and Mike Plumb answered we would drink a can of beer. Multiply this by 12 questions and you have a pretty amazing Q&A session. I knew nothing about skateboarding, but I love drinking and Mike Plumb was an up-and-coming skater on the brink of breaking it big. I had not met him previous to this but I did know his brother, Bob Plumb, a local photographer whose action sports photos have graced this magazine time and time again.
After a quick jaunt to the local grocery mart to pick up 24 cans of Pabst, we settled down in the backyard of the SLUG offices and began our conversation.
SLUG: Do you like living in SLC?
Mike Plumb: I love SLC and hate leaving here. I feel really comfortable here and all my friends are here. There are so many great skate spots and the people here are awesome.
SLUG: What is the story behind your nickname "the Lizard King?" What is the "Green Room?"
MP: The Lizard King name came from local skater Tully Flynn. We never met but I had seen him skate and I was super into his skating style. One day I was skating at Guthrie Skate Park and he just came up to me and called me the Lizard King. I had never met the dude and that was the first thing he said to me. When I lived in California no one knew my real name for three years. They all just called me Lizard. Green Room is my club. It started in Tampa when I was 16 or 17. Richie Belton, Sammy Baca and myself went to this bar, the Green Room, for a week, got really trashed and got kicked out at least six times. Unfortunately, the bar closed down and I decided to name our group after that bar. Most of my friends who are in the group have "Green Room" tattooed somewhere on them. [Mike has a tattoo of a pot leaf with the words "the Green Room" above it.]
SLUG: Just as a sort of getting-to-know-you thing, what else do you do besides skating? Do you plan on getting more tattoos?
MP: I like to hang out with my girlfriend, play pool, BBQ, hang out with the homies, bowl, hike ... as far as more tattoos, I want to get a bloody heart with a chick's name on my ribs and I want to get more skate tats. There is a rule in the house where I hang out that if you pass out with your shoes on you have to get a tattoo. I once passed out with my shoes on and now I have a tat on the back of my calf that says "Kill Me!"
SLUG: What is your signature trick? Do you have one?
MP: My trick is called the Crack Pipe. Why the Crack Pipe? When I was in San Francisco I saw several people smoking crack in the streets so when I was doing this trick I thought of a crack pipe. The Crack Pipe is a front 5-0 powerslide back to straight. I invented it when I was skating while on mushrooms and I thought the whole skate park was an ocean.
SLUG: You recently went to Vegfest. How was that? Has your diet changed?
MP: It was great. I learned about how unhealthy I was and how to eat right. Charlie Thomas is a good friend of mine and he came out to do a demo and he is vegan. He invited me out to skate with him. I didn't change my diet though.
SLUG: What do you think of technology? Do you have a Myspace account?
MP: I am not a big fan of technology or the Internet. Shit's stupid. Mark White, a skate legend here in SLC, started my Myspace page. I feel it is my responsibility to respond personally to my fans. Little kids want to know what going on and what a pro skater rides and does. I love talking to my fans. They are really rad little dudes. Currently, I am having a custom board coming out on Think!. The board will only be sold at Milo Sport.
SLUG: What music do you listen to when you do a 180 acid-drop rail slide?
MP: Depends on what I am skating. Usually it is something gnarly like Slayer, Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, etc...I am not into a lot of new stuff. It feels false and not very passionate. I feel that most new music is done just because they can do it. I think Ladytron is cool. It's techno but it's not. I would rather listen to old shit than bullshit.
SLUG: Do you think Tony Hawk is turning skateboarding into a fad or into fame?
MP: Tony Hawk has made skateboarding mainstream. He gave opportunities to other people who skate through his videogame. People now start skating because of the videogame as well. Tony Hawk's pro skater series opened the world of skateboarding to those who own a Playstation. I have started to see a lot more people starting to skate after the game came out especially girls. There are very few female pro-skaters. The only female pro-skater I know is Vanessa Torres. I had never seen a girl skating until this past year. Who says they couldn't or shouldn't skate? Girls make skating better.
SLUG: Where do you and your homies hang out at? Where are super-hot skate spots? What about your illest after-hours skate spots?
MP: I love the Starbucks at 15th and 15th. I grew up in that neighborhood. Friends of mine used to run that Starbucks as well and I used to get free coffee for two years. My girlfriend lives about a block away from me and I sleep there at night and in the morning I wake up and get some coffee at that Starbucks. I skate all of Salt Lake City. The whole valley is a skate park. You just have to be at the right place at the right time. Home base for skating is around 200 South across from Kinko's ... the Gallivan Center. The Gallivan Center parking structure is a hot place to skate. I usually climb up to the 11th floor of the parking structure, drink a beer and then skate all the way down. After hours I skate the Main St. mall. It's like melted butter on a hot muffin. The only way to skate board is to get it done.
SLUG: Are you going to be leaving this great state any time soon? Where are the green pastures of skating?
MP: I will be moving with my girlfriend in June to California. California is the skate capital of the world. Every skate mag is out of California. All the photographers live there. It is much easier to get my job done as a skater there and get photographed. The difference between California and Los Angeles is that there is more life. Everyday there is something to do every hour of the day.
SLUG: How long do you think your illustrious pro career will last?
MP: I think I have 10 more years of skating left in me. Your body veers out. I skate differently than Tony [Hawk] who skates down stairs all day every day. It is a meaner approach on your body. I don't think I'll be able to walk when I am 50. I'll skate until I can't. I think I'll be dead at 40. My life is skating. I got into skating because both of my older brothers had skateboards. Then I started hanging out with boarders and it became the most fun thing ever. It's my life and it's what I like to do.
SLUG: You went to Australia. How was that?
MP: Amazing. I didn't pay for shit. Everything was free. I never thought I would go there. People there are awesome. I was staying at houses of people I didn't even know. People who skated off the street offered me their houses. Everyone there is down for what you are doing. They were completely hyped for you being there. It was the most beautiful place ever.
SLUG: Tell me about why you skate. Also, I heard that your best friend and the person who helped your skate career the most just died. Could you comment on that?
MP: I can't explain addiction to life. I hate talking about it. Skating is not an art. I don't know what else I would do. What else would I do besides skating? I love being outside.Fausto (founder of Thraser, Slap, Think!) is one of the most incredible people I have ever known. I had been skating for 11 years and he helped me see skating as both fun and profitable. He recently died of a heart attack while riding his bike. He out of everyone didn't deserve to die. It just wasn't his time. I care for him a lot. Our friendship started at a skate tradeshow. He has some much energy and personality and that is what made him such a great guy. Fausto was the guy who put my name out and made me who I am. He has been my biggest supporter. I am not hyped on him dying but people die sooner or later. This dude wasn't meant to die. He was my boss and best friend. He took care of everything for me money, help, support, etc. He was 60 years old. I would have killed myself to keep him alive. He gave me life again and made me skate. The fact that he could see the potential in me to skate was incredible. Fausto had a passion for skating that was amazing. He didn't need to do the things he did but he did anyway. I'll miss him.
"Mike is raw as fuck and skates for all the right reasons. He doesn't skate for photos, or footage, or fame but for his love of skateboarding. In a perfect world, there would be no sponsors, no team managers, no politics, no contest, no hype, no cooperate bullshit, no one telling you how to skate, no getting kicked out of spots and free Vans. There would just be Mike and skateboarding," Bob Plumb concludes. 12 beers later we are on the lawn stretching and completely drunk. Later on that day, Mike says he is going to skate.
What started out as an off-hand joke turned into a four-hour interview. The premise was pretty simple: for each question I asked and Mike Plumb answered we would drink a can of beer. Multiply this by 12 questions and you have a pretty amazing Q&A session. I knew nothing about skateboarding, but I love drinking and Mike Plumb was an up-and-coming skater on the brink of breaking it big. I had not met him previous to this but I did know his brother, Bob Plumb, a local photographer whose action sports photos have graced this magazine time and time again.
After a quick jaunt to the local grocery mart to pick up 24 cans of Pabst, we settled down in the backyard of the SLUG offices and began our conversation.
SLUG: Do you like living in SLC? Mike Plumb: I love SLC and hate leaving here. I feel really comfortable here and all my friends are here. There are so many great skate spots and the people here are awesome.
SLUG: What is the story behind your nickname "the Lizard King?" What is the "Green Room?"
MP: The Lizard King name came from local skater Tully Flynn. We never met but I had seen him skate and I was super into his skating style. One day I was skating at Guthrie Skate Park and he just came up to me and called me the Lizard King. I had never met the dude and that was the first thing he said to me. When I lived in California no one knew my real name for three years. They all just called me Lizard. Green Room is my club. It started in Tampa when I was 16 or 17. Richie Belton, Sammy Baca and myself went to this bar, the Green Room, for a week, got really trashed and got kicked out at least six times. Unfortunately, the bar closed down and I decided to name our group after that bar. Most of my friends who are in the group have "Green Room" tattooed somewhere on them. [Mike has a tattoo of a pot leaf with the words "the Green Room" above it.]
SLUG: Just as a sort of getting-to-know-you thing, what else do you do besides skating? Do you plan on getting more tattoos?
MP: I like to hang out with my girlfriend, play pool, BBQ, hang out with the homies, bowl, hike ... as far as more tattoos, I want to get a bloody heart with a chick's name on my ribs and I want to get more skate tats. There is a rule in the house where I hang out that if you pass out with your shoes on you have to get a tattoo. I once passed out with my shoes on and now I have a tat on the back of my calf that says "Kill Me!"
SLUG: What is your signature trick? Do you have one?
MP: My trick is called the Crack Pipe. Why the Crack Pipe? When I was in San Francisco I saw several people smoking crack in the streets so when I was doing this trick I thought of a crack pipe. The Crack Pipe is a front 5-0 powerslide back to straight. I invented it when I was skating while on mushrooms and I thought the whole skate park was an ocean.
SLUG: You recently went to Vegfest. How was that? Has your diet changed?
MP: It was great. I learned about how unhealthy I was and how to eat right. Charlie Thomas is a good friend of mine and he came out to do a demo and he is vegan. He invited me out to skate with him. I didn't change my diet though.
SLUG: What do you think of technology? Do you have a Myspace account?
MP: I am not a big fan of technology or the Internet. Shit's stupid. Mark White, a skate legend here in SLC, started my Myspace page. I feel it is my responsibility to respond personally to my fans. Little kids want to know what going on and what a pro skater rides and does. I love talking to my fans. They are really rad little dudes. Currently, I am having a custom board coming out on Think!. The board will only be sold at Milo Sport.
SLUG: What music do you listen to when you do a 180 acid-drop rail slide?
MP: Depends on what I am skating. Usually it is something gnarly like Slayer, Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, etc...I am not into a lot of new stuff. It feels false and not very passionate. I feel that most new music is done just because they can do it. I think Ladytron is cool. It's techno but it's not. I would rather listen to old shit than bullshit.
SLUG: Do you think Tony Hawk is turning skateboarding into a fad or into fame?
MP: Tony Hawk has made skateboarding mainstream. He gave opportunities to other people who skate through his videogame. People now start skating because of the videogame as well. Tony Hawk's pro skater series opened the world of skateboarding to those who own a Playstation. I have started to see a lot more people starting to skate after the game came out especially girls. There are very few female pro-skaters. The only female pro-skater I know is Vanessa Torres. I had never seen a girl skating until this past year. Who says they couldn't or shouldn't skate? Girls make skating better.
SLUG: Where do you and your homies hang out at? Where are super-hot skate spots? What about your illest after-hours skate spots?
MP: I love the Starbucks at 15th and 15th. I grew up in that neighborhood. Friends of mine used to run that Starbucks as well and I used to get free coffee for two years. My girlfriend lives about a block away from me and I sleep there at night and in the morning I wake up and get some coffee at that Starbucks. I skate all of Salt Lake City. The whole valley is a skate park. You just have to be at the right place at the right time. Home base for skating is around 200 South across from Kinko's ... the Gallivan Center. The Gallivan Center parking structure is a hot place to skate. I usually climb up to the 11th floor of the parking structure, drink a beer and then skate all the way down. After hours I skate the Main St. mall. It's like melted butter on a hot muffin. The only way to skate board is to get it done.
SLUG: Are you going to be leaving this great state any time soon? Where are the green pastures of skating?
MP: I will be moving with my girlfriend in June to California. California is the skate capital of the world. Every skate mag is out of California. All the photographers live there. It is much easier to get my job done as a skater there and get photographed. The difference between California and Los Angeles is that there is more life. Everyday there is something to do every hour of the day.
SLUG: How long do you think your illustrious pro career will last?
MP: I think I have 10 more years of skating left in me. Your body veers out. I skate differently than Tony [Hawk] who skates down stairs all day every day. It is a meaner approach on your body. I don't think I'll be able to walk when I am 50. I'll skate until I can't. I think I'll be dead at 40. My life is skating. I got into skating because both of my older brothers had skateboards. Then I started hanging out with boarders and it became the most fun thing ever. It's my life and it's what I like to do.
SLUG: You went to Australia. How was that?
MP: Amazing. I didn't pay for shit. Everything was free. I never thought I would go there. People there are awesome. I was staying at houses of people I didn't even know. People who skated off the street offered me their houses. Everyone there is down for what you are doing. They were completely hyped for you being there. It was the most beautiful place ever.
SLUG: Tell me about why you skate. Also, I heard that your best friend and the person who helped your skate career the most just died. Could you comment on that?
MP: I can't explain addiction to life. I hate talking about it. Skating is not an art. I don't know what else I would do. What else would I do besides skating? I love being outside.Fausto (founder of Thraser, Slap, Think!) is one of the most incredible people I have ever known. I had been skating for 11 years and he helped me see skating as both fun and profitable. He recently died of a heart attack while riding his bike. He out of everyone didn't deserve to die. It just wasn't his time. I care for him a lot. Our friendship started at a skate tradeshow. He has some much energy and personality and that is what made him such a great guy. Fausto was the guy who put my name out and made me who I am. He has been my biggest supporter. I am not hyped on him dying but people die sooner or later. This dude wasn't meant to die. He was my boss and best friend. He took care of everything for me money, help, support, etc. He was 60 years old. I would have killed myself to keep him alive. He gave me life again and made me skate. The fact that he could see the potential in me to skate was incredible. Fausto had a passion for skating that was amazing. He didn't need to do the things he did but he did anyway. I'll miss him.
"Mike is raw as fuck and skates for all the right reasons. He doesn't skate for photos, or footage, or fame but for his love of skateboarding. In a perfect world, there would be no sponsors, no team managers, no politics, no contest, no hype, no cooperate bullshit, no one telling you how to skate, no getting kicked out of spots and free Vans. There would just be Mike and skateboarding," Bob Plumb concludes. 12 beers later we are on the lawn stretching and completely drunk. Later on that day, Mike says he is going to skate.
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Posted on April 14, 2012 by adam
the best skater in this life it least in my life.
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