nickname: Burley aka Arb
skated since: 1987
skated for SUD's from: 1992
sponsors: Sud Skates, Downtown, Petes Pizza
where you live now? Toronto
occupation: Systems Administrator for One2One, and Nightline Chat lines
you still skate? how often, etc? explain: about 3 X during the winter and 3X/week in the summer
who was your crew back in the day? Craig Felice, Dave Payne, Jamie Watson, Joe Eckmier, Joe Picher, John Casciato, Lee Napier, LeeTaylor, Lenny Horwat, Trevor Jones, Trevor Turner, Vince and Flo Siville, John Kuriata, Fat Phil, Kris Jackman, Ben Boucher, Chris O'farrel, Jeremy Martin
still see any of the old crew? Yes - Sometimes at bars, sometimes in a different province. Not as often but when I do its killah!
marital status: single
what do you miss about the old days? Everything! They were amazing and I'm glad they happened the way they did.
if you could do it all over - what would you change? Less Drugs and Alcohol (maybe not) and more video footy of everything! - Documentary type stuff.I also would have liked to learn how to skate like L.T. who some how developed a skating style that didn’t rip holes in the sides of your shoes. – Light years ahead of its time. If kids knew that was even possible now, we would have kids learning switch while preserving their shoes.
what are you into now? Skating, Jeet Kune Do, Grand Theft and T.H.U.G, Nudy Bars, Billiards, Art + Photography, BMX, Doobie Cruise’n. Trying to see what the rest of the planet has to offer. Malaysian Hookers.
fave pro's (all time): Gonz, Jason Lee, Mike Vallely, Matt Hensley, Danny Way, Ray Barbee, Eric Koston, Jason Corbett* most under rated pro
fave local skaters: The Sudz Boyz now are killin it + Mark Appleyard
best SUD team rider - All-Time? 4 Way Tie - Craig Felice – style, Mike Carr - tech, Dave Payne + Mark Pezzi – burly as hell
fave videos (all time)? Rubbish Heap, Plan B Questionable, H- Street Shackle Me Not, H- Street Hocus Pocus, Menikmati
all-time 5 song mix tape:
- ACDC - Dirty Deeds
- Bob Marley – Could You Be Loved
- Tribe Called Quest – Can I Kick It
- Black Sabbath - Iron Man
- Fire Hose – Playing in My Mind
favourite memories from back in the day? (Oh so many)
The skate sessions always spoke for themselves!
1st Day at the old store – Napier made fun of me – “OK Spaulding” I was only 12.
- We used to skate downtown everywhere on weekends before they banned it – city hall, court house, library – The library security guard used to kick us out a lot – He was a guy in his early 20’s with the killah mullet. We nicknamed him Patrick Swayzee way before Julian from “Trailor Park Boys” was teased about it. We harassed the hell out of that guy!
The Suds team tryouts back in the Font Hill Pit was something you could write a movie about – You thought the Z Boyz were hard.?? All sorts of fucked up kids would show up. I was even too scared at the time to enter. Everyone would throw their thrashed decks in a pile and Joe would choose the runs by grabbing decks at random. There wasn’t even a place to sign up.
Fuckin Rad – I get chills think’n bout that!!
The Crystal Beach contest was cool – You got to witness the suds boys tear it up along with other future legends – Justin Bokma.
Also got the chance to ride the coaster before they tore that place down!
The WILD WHEELS OF SUMMER demo was probably my favorite. LT was hung over from the night before. Danforth did the biggest layback on the vert wall, Ron Chatman was do’n lien melons on the vert which I thought was killah cause he was a street skater, Jason Lee, Gonz, tore it up as usual. Events like this were really rare and I was happy to have witnessed it. Jason Lee wasn’t even a movie star yet! Birth Place of the Suds Vert Ramp.
Doing demos at grade schools was fun. When you’re 15 and ya got the 13 and 14 yr old girlies damp in the pants, well nuff said. Some girls even tracked down my phone # somhow and started calling me. What slutz!
After one demo in 91 or 92 Joe put me on the team. Best Day of my life to date! Unfortunately because I reached my life time goal too early, I haven’t done shit since.
I loved the perks of being on the team. When Joe would drive us to contests and the warped tour in the stretched caddy, I felt like "the man" getting out of that car – I would eat dat shit up. Maybe cause that’s the closest I came to bling’n??? Fuck I’m a scrub.
The Burning Christmas Tree parties in August – Who doesn’t have a story bout that?
Footloose RIP, Ski Blow Shop RIP (I tried out for that team before I made it on Suds – sorry Joe), King Bros 94 till 94 - fuckers (I warned you guys)
Suds Basket ball Jerseys, Team Jackets ?? Fresh! Demos, Barbecues, Grape and Wine Festivities, all fun.
The Burly Gap – ya better recognize - That shit wasn’t even paved properly when I did it. I landed on a rocky slant and I did it in the fuckin dark . Call me a legend please!
