What are your top five skaters you're feeling as of now? John Rattray, Mark Appleyard, Dennis Busenitz, Tony Manfre, and the new and improved Jim Greco. Being known and regarded as one of the best talent scouts in the biz (i.e., Kalis, Lopez, Smithers, Allie Cat...the list goes for days), what do you look for in a skater, or how do you know when someone has the eye of the tiger? I look for a level head and a good mixture of natural talent, determination, and charisma. Generally, I find myself looking for the same promising group of traits. I've found that the more of those traits they have, the more promising the career. Where do you see the future of skating in the next five years? Flip to everything, and it will get bigger and bigger. Kids that are skating right now think of ams like Jon Allie, and that their skating is normal. Which in fact, it's far from normal. So that's where the bar is, and kids will start there and push it even further. I would also say that loads of injuries are going to happen in that progression. Name three of the most historical shifts or events in skating from your perspective. In my era, I think of the brands and videos that represented the times in which major change happened. H Street came onto the scene with the Shackle Me Not and Hocus Pocus videos and were the first technically advanced team with a lot of street skaters. Then, I think of World Industries breaking all the conventional rules and focusing on the individualism of their riders. Finally, the third would be the company that combined the charisma from H Street and some of best talents from World Industries and created what I would think to be the best team ever in skateboarding, and that's Plan B. Their videos set the pace for all modern skate videos. Your latest video has had enormous success. However there are (especially on Wiskate) a variety of skaters who criticize the handrail blitzkrieg. How do you respond to this criticism? That's all right, at least they noticed. No matter what you do, someone's going to have something to say about it. That reinforces the fact that you should do whatever you want and don't worry about the haters, cause they're always going to be there. A lot of people are saying that the stuntmen's nature of videos is slowly eroding the fun and humorous enjoyment of schralping with the homies. Elaborate on how you keep skating fun, while maintaining a strict hammer diet. I think videos should be able to deliver all the elements of skateboarding. Skate carnage buildup, then schralping with the homies (friends section), then continue to showcase the team's hard work, next a slam section showing the deal going bad, then close it with the after-credits fun section. Due to your rambunctious nature and aggressive ripping techniques, you are often sidelined and plagued by injuries. How do you stay focused and positive during these periods? When I get injured, I just shift gears and focus on the work that I'm constantly putting off. When you're not skating or thinking about it, what do you do for fun, enjoyment, and relaxation? My wife and I talk about everything including skateboarding and business. Your work ethic and attention to detail and perfection is highly regarded. A.k.a. "the James Brown of skateboarding", the hardest working man in the biz. Who else's careers and footsteps do you admire or respect? I don't think about that, I just try and stay focused. Outside of skating, who's goals or lifestyles do you admire. Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash. Legends that live on ranches while they humbly keep on keepin on. Your faith plays a huge role in your life, and in turn your schralping. How would you say it's helped you or hindered you? Asking the Lord into my life has helped me realize how blessed I am, and how thankful I should be. Everything in this world is temporary, and the only way to be grounded is to know how fragile you are, and to acknowledge what life is really about. That perspective is priceless. Your videos have a very distinct signature, from your unique rapid fire editing, to your music choices. Growing up, what were some of your favorite videos, and who's work do you like now? Growing up, I liked all the street skaters' parts; Natas, Gonz, Mike V. and Frankie Hill's sections. But, all in all, video's I liked the most were H Street and Plan B videos. Now, I find independent films and documentaries to be the most original and inspiring. Any tips for aspiring filmers? Pay attention to the basics that you need to learn, then put your own twist on things to create your own personal style. Keep it in focus, and think outside the box as often as possible. Any tips for aspiring shredders? Have as much fun as possible and enjoy the freedom of your youth. Follow your dreams and everything else will just naturally fall into place. Share something about Jon Allie. Jon Allie might be one of the most focused skateboarders I've ever seen. He will put in as many hours needed to learn a trick, then put in whatever time it takes to master it. That being said, most of the tricks in his video part happened in just a few attempts. Even all the flip to slide stuff, which I find ridiculous. He was the first real sign I saw that a new generation is here to take over. Share a Wade Barth story. When the Zero dvd comes out, everyone will get to see this one unfold. A few times a week Wade skates the Zero park, and he's always the life of the session. On a mellow afternoon, Wade decided to liven things up with a roll in on the giant roll in an office chair. It might have been one of the funniest moments I've ever witnessed. The chair exploded when he hit the bottom. Parts and wheels went everywhere, and Waders didn't even have time to put his hands down. As he got up we all fought the laughter, but we were able to tell him we had more office chairs if he wanted to try again. To our surprise he said "what are you waiting on, grab one or maybe even two." I went and took the art director's chair and the receptionist's chair. After a few more chair exploding slams, Waders made it clean as a whistle and even went over the hip afterwards. Now I'm a fan for Life!

 

 

Mike Hamilton 'Christian Archangel'

Ryan: Tell me about the rumors that have gone around about your bionic powers.

Mike: Oh yeah, the rumor that I have extra ligaments in my ankles that give me superhuman strength was one of the best rumors. That one went around for years. After that the rumor was that I wore ankle weights on my legs so I would build up strength to make me ollie higher, or something that was pretty queer. Those went around for a while. There was one after that about how I rode heavy boards like how Alan Peterson did before high ollie contests. He put together an old school board when everybody else was riding the new school boards with the little wheels. He put a nine inch board together with big old Rat Bone wheels and rode that and did nothing but ollie high everyday to try to build strength for the contest. So the rumor went around that I did that when I wasn't in town riding with everybody so I could ollie higher. But the extra ligaments was probably the best one. (Laughs)

Ryan: So why did people come up with these rumors?

Mike: I think because I was able to ollie so high so quickly after learning to ollie. I mean the first time I ever tried to ollie I ollied a board on its wheels. And then two weeks later I was ollieing paint cans stacked up. Then my second trip downtown ever I ollied up on to a picnic table and we had never seen anything like that before. I just wanted to get up on it so I jumped on it. I guess back in the day I was just so far ahead of everyone that none believed it could be normal.

Ryan: You've gone beyond the local hero status and became more of a local celebrity. Would you agree with that?

Mike: It used to be like that but what really hurt me was taking a break for so long. I used to go to the mall or grocery store and some kid would yell, "It's Mike, Mike Hamilton." Or, "Mom, you know who that is?" That was always rad always positive. But now the age gap is so different. Those kids have moved on to something else and the kids skating now are so young that they don't even know anything about skateboarding past even in their own city. So now it's more like further away people know me. I'll go out of town and people know me better.

Ryan: They don't know your real name though.

Mike: Yeah, a lot of times they'll call me "Jesus." (Laughs)

Ryan: Because of your tattoo?

Mike: Yeah. Or even a lot of times I'll go out of town and be talking to someone and tell them that I'm from Columbia and they'll say, "I heard about this guy that lives there and can ollie like anything. Do you know him?" And it's always kind of awkward because you don't want to sound like you're bragging and say, "That's me!" But at the same time you do want to say, "Well yeah, what's up, brother? That's me!" (Laughing) That one happens to me all the time! As soon as I tell people where I'm from they start asking me about it. And one time after a guy had told me about it I started skating with them and about five minutes later he came up to me and said, "Hey man, that's you! You're the guy I was talking about!" (Laughs)

Ryan: You used to write "Columbia's most hated skater." On your boardsÉ

Mike: For years and years.

Ryan: Why did you write that?

Mike: Because I have always been and always will be. Because what my friends say and I think it's totally bogus is people said they were intimidated. Because of my size and stuff and because of Martial arts and the stuff I was into. And because I got so good so quickly. I mean I don't want to say I was better than everyone else because that's bogus but back when we were starting everyone was on their normal level of progression up the ladder. I was just lucky enough that I just really flew up the ladder and skipped a bunch of it. So I would go places where everybody was skating and they would leave. And they never wanted to be around me and it got to the point where it was always that way. None would invite me to skate with them and it's always that way even today. People don't want to ride with me. I don't know what it is.

Mike's vitals
Name	Mike Hamilton aka Christian Archangel
Years Skating	11 minus four year break and minus 2 year break
Homebase	Columbia, SC
Sponsors	Salty's Skateshop, Powell skateboards, Reef shoes

Ryan: But you don't write that on your boards anymore.

Mike: Not all the time. Mainly because I'm trying to stay more positive as I'm getting older. My newest slogan is " I can." That is really starting to help me. Because for a long time it really got to me and it was affecting my skating. I've always been the guy who only got to skate four or five times a month because I lived in the boonies and I just didn't get to go downtown that often and out where I lived there was nothing to skate. And it was bad when I went downtown because there was just a couple there and they didn't want to skate with me and it brought my skating down. I would get so focused on the negative. Now I just try to put more positive images on my boards.

Kyle Berard !!~

If you were one of the few that braved the cold for the Utopia Contest, then you know Kyle Berard, if not you'll be seeing him in the future. We tracked Kyle down to Virgina Beach were he was hanging with his friends at the Virgina Beach Skatepark blasting the pyramids and slant to slants as well as commanding respect from the kids and amping up the older guys. Kyle's style is as smooth as they come and about as consistent as they get. If he shows up in your town, just kick back and watch the show.

Switch: So What got you into skating?
Kyle: Mount Trashmore. Just going up there and watching.

Switch: Now what keeps you skating?
Kyle: I have no friends.

Switch: When you started skating, who were the pros that were your biggest influence?
Kyle: PeeWee, Joe Fernadez, Julias. They were always skating at the Chesapeake Skatepark and that where I started.

Switch: How did you feel about the Utopia street layout?
kyle: I liked it. It was simple, but I thought they could have used more of the space.

Switch: How'd it feel to have two almost perfect runs against so many well know pros?
Kyle: Felt lucky. I was just hanging with Mike Peterson, it wasn't really about the contest it was about having fun.

Switch: I'm sure you heard about the checks bouncing.
Kyle: Yea, I'm glad I didn't take the money.

Switch: We heard you didn't even have a board sponser at the contest.
Kyle: Yea, well Powell paid for the entry fee.

Switch: What would be the scariest thing about turning pro?
Kyle: It would be going to a demo and the kids are ready to see some good skating, then not skating well and leaving a bad impression. I've seen some people get mad because they are not having their best day.
Special Note: Sorry for the fact there are not more street pics. We left our fuzz buster at home and had a bad run in with a U-Hual-switch

Kyle's shout outs My Family, Jon Caple, and all of 17th street, Tony Soland from the BNC is SB, all my sponsord, to Greg Chapman, Tom Brown, Paul Gomez and Bob Hurley, RP Lawncare Service, and all of the local people in Virginia, Mike Peterson, Double A at Reef, Siskar at Arnette, Big Brother for a picture and anyone else I forgot.