Reprinted from Coping Block Skateboarding Magazine 2009 Volume 1 Issue #2 The Mike Frazier Chat was the very first interview in Coping Block! If you missed this one and you probable did, here it is for your reading pleasure.
Aged but not old, tested but not tired, torn but rebuilt, this man machine continues to blow minds every time he skates! His office sits six feet above the coping; his work is often switched as he re-enters the skating surface backwards.
A die-hard, a journeyman, gnarly, dedicated and focused are just some of the words that could be utilized to describe this phenomenon on a skateboard.
Mike Frazier hits Stirling Skate Park every now and then with his son. Along the lip of the bowl at Stirling skateboard park sit dozens of younger skaters, their eyes fixed on the ever changing body movements, while ears are tuned into axles grinding on coping all the while contemplating the cat like quickness of Mike Frazier’s Maneuvers.
Sometimes you can’t believe your own eyes; did he just do what I think he did? Yeah, and at speed, backwards!
I was able to chat with Mike about where he’s been and where he’s headed in the skateboard arena.
So how long have you’ve been skating Mike?
Twenty-two years.
Where and when did you first start skateboarding?
Cruising the streets of Clearwater, and then one day I saw these guys with full skate pads on, and I asked them where they were coming from. They said a ramp; well two years later I found that ramp and started skating it. It was Chuck’s ramp.
You’ve skated for quite a few sponsors, whom was your first?
A local surf and skate shop, and then Zorlac, Mertz told me to send a video in and I got hooked up for three years. After I placed 1st, 2nd, and 1st in the Am series against Mike Crum, Danny Way, and others I went to Canada with Bill Weir who got me to quit Zorlac and hook up with Powell.
So how long did you skate for Powell?
Two years.
Whom else did you skate for?
I Rode for Zorlac, Powell, Bird House, Stereo, Toy Machine, Element and Santa Cruz.
Did you go into hibernation after vert skating went down?
I never stopped skating for twenty – two years except for injuries. When vert skating went down, I still skated four or five days per week.
What kind of injuries did you have?
Well, right now I’m recovering from two biceps tears, a collarbone separation and a re-injured rotator cuff that I originally hurt at Woodward skateboard summer camp.
I had two surgeries to fix that stuff and then I was in a car accident and re-injured the rotator cuff. I’m not even supposed to be skating right now. I know all the rehabilitation exercises, and strengthening with bands, weights and stretches. I have about two more months of rest to go, so I’m taking it easy.
Who’s your favorite skater?
There are so many, Rob & Ken, Monty Nolder, Jeff Phillips, Jason Jesse, Matt, Jeff Grosso, Tom Boyle.
Any advice you want to give the younger skaters?
Skate for fun, not for the fame, skate because you like it. If it’s your life, then you’re in it for the right reasons.
Push, Carve, Grind! –
If you missed the 80’s All Day event at the Surf Expo in Orlando, then you missed Mike Frazier put on a clinic that had Tony Hawk standing with his mouth open. Frazier is healed and ripping!