An Inspiration From The Ghetto By The Sea – Stacy Peralta

Skateboard enthusiasts could debate who pioneered modern skateboarding, especially with big names like Tony Hawk, or Rodney Mullen. But who were these two icons in the skateboard industry led by? Of course, the previous generation of skaters, who took the sport from the wave, to the air. In the mid 1970’s, skateboarding was simply just a pastime for surfers when there was no wave; the sport was dead. Skateboards at the time were usually put together with wood scraps, along with roller skate trucks, and ceramic clay wheels. So who were these individuals who paved way for skateboarding to what it has become? In most skaters eyes, the Zephyr competition team. Composed of 12 enthusiastic surfers, the Zephyr team or Zboys were known for their badass attitude in competition. The three big names of the team were Jay Adams, Tony Alva, and my personal favorite, Stacy Peralta.

Stacy Peralta was known for his style in skateboarding, and in the later end of the 70’s, Stacy was getting offers from big companies in the industry at the time. He then went pro for G&S skateboards and later left and started his own brand with George Powell called Powell Peralta. He made the team and created the Bones Brigade, which featured amateur skateboarders who later turned pro for the company including Tony Hawk and Rodney Mullen, to mention a few.

When Stacy gave me the opportunity to ask him a few questions, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to ask him. I felt like I already had plenty of knowledge on his career, and I didn’t want to come across to him as a waste of time, so I opted to ask questions that I was curious about for my self, and avoided to ask questions I could simply search for on Google. The questions I decided to ask him were mostly based off his youth, and how he was influenced by surfing. I was pleasantly surprised by how humble he was and eager to answer these for me.

I first decided to go from the star; the very beginning. When I asked him how he got into surfing he replied with saying “I was 11 years old when I began surfing and when I look back now I can’t believe I was able to learn on the giant boards of that time as they were so large and unruly and we could barely carry them.” (Stacy Peralta, personal communication, October 2018). I was so amazed he learned such a dangerous sport at such a young age. This thought led me to my next question; suitably, I asked if his parents supported surfing and skateboarding. He replied with saying “they were fine with it. They let me do it which was kind of a big deal back then, but they didn’t involve themselves in it like they might have if it was little league baseball. As long as I kept my grades up, had a job (which I always did) and didn’t cause too much trouble they pretty much allowed me to do as I wanted.” (Stacy Peralta, personal communication, October 2018). This was fascinating to me, as my parents were very much the same when it came to letting me participate in dangerous sports as a child.

I decided to start asking questions based on his time surfing in Venice growing up. I figured that asking about his peers he’d surf with would be a great start. I asked him how he met his close friends Tony Alva and Jay Adams, who later also turned into pro skateboarders with Stacy. “I met them at our local surf break in Santa Monica that was called Bay Street. We were all up and coming surfers and anyone that was good at that beach had some kind of local notoriety and so we all knew of each other because of our talents. There were two high schools in town; Santa Monica High and Venice High. Tony and Jay went to SM and I went to Venice. And then I got to know them well when we were all put on the Zephyr surf team which came before the Zephyr skate team.” (Stacy Peralta, personal communication, October 2018). Stacy and the Zephyr team or Zboys were known for bringing their style from surfing to skateboarding by staying low. I asked who Stacy’s biggest influence in surfing was growing up. He replied with stating “An Australian surfer named Terry Fitzgerald who I felt was one of the most stylish surfers I’ve ever seen in my life, he had style and power which is a potent combination. Also, Larry Bertlemann who was incredibly radical, he blew all of us Zboys away. (Stacy Peralta, personal communication, October 2018).

A big part of Stacy’s life revolved around his beloved skateboard team whom he created in 1978 called the bones brigade. The bones brigade was a skateboard team that rode for Powell-Peralta skateboard company who took storm through the 1980’s with big names including Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, and Rodney Mullen (to name a few). Peralta wanted to create a skateboard team with skaters who at the time, necessarily weren’t the best in the sport of skateboarding. I asked Stacy how he met George Powell, his business partner. He said “I met him through the skateboard industry when I was 19 or 20 years old and we just hit it off as friends. We liked each other immediately and had a lot of common interests. It was a really easy relationship. I started thinking to myself of what it would be like to be in the position Stacy was in to see these kids rise to fame, and be culture icons. Suitably, I asked him what it was like to see these young skaters rise to fame. “It was great because it took many years of hard work to help them get there and there were no guarantees that it would happen. It did not come over night, we all worked very hard to make that thing happen.” (Stacy Peralta, personal communication, October 2018).

To conclude my profile on Stacy, I traveled to the present with two questions that I’ve been curious about for some time. First I asked if he still remained in touch with the members of the Zephyr team. “Everyone is dispersed all over the country so no, not all of them. I see Tony Alva kind of often and we have a really good relationship. I see more of the others occasionally. We always enjoy seeing each other when we get the chance.” (Stacy Peralta, personal communication, October 2018). My final and most curious question I asked Stacy was if there was anything he would have changed. I thought he answered this was spot on, and super exceptional. “There are many things I would like to change but nothing big or nothing that keeps me up at night. There are things I would have liked to have done better. But all in all I’m very happy with what we have accomplished and I have no regrets. I’m grateful I was given the opportunity. We were given a very large opportunity at a time when skateboarding was a blank canva and we got to express ourselves on that canvas. It was an extraordinary experience, a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing.” (Stacy Peralta, personal communication, October 2018).

To have this opportunity to speak with Stacy was an absolute pleasure. Stacy to me was not only the person who made a famous skateboard team, but one of the major contributors to a sport that’s made a huge impact on who I am today. The feeling I had inside me when he actually responded with  answers to questions I was actually curious about was a feeling I can’t really describe; it was like that roller coaster feeling times 10. All I felt I needed to reply with was “Thank you!”.

(WC: 1306)