Tony Hawk’s annual Boom Boom HuckJam Tour is an arena extravaganza that combines skateboarding, BMX and motocross, all set to music. The tour, which he had to subsidize with his own money when he launched it in 2002, gets bigger each year.
Hawk, who turned pro at 14, is a one-man industry, with a line of skateboards and shoes, video games, toys and a weekly show on Sirius Satellite Radio. And he still conducts demonstrations, despite being retired from competition for a half dozen years.
We chatted with Hawk via e-mail:
Q: Tell us something you’re interested in unrelated to skateboarding that
would surprise people.
A: I played the violin for nearly four years before I started skating.
Q: What’s in your CD player/iPod right now?
A: Nine Inch Nails, With Teeth; Coldplay, X&Y; Dr. Dre, 2001; Gorillaz, Demon
Days; Jane’s Addiction, Nothing’s Shocking; Queens of the Stone Age,
Lullabies to Paralyze.
Q: Do you play video games? If so, which ones?
A: I mostly play my own during the development process (which we are right in
the middle of with "American Wasteland"). Other than that, I play whatever
my 6-year-old likes on his Gamecube – currently "Mario Party" and
"Robots."
Q: Do your kids skateboard? (Hawk has three sons: Riley, 12; Spencer, 6; Keegan,
3)
A: Riley, my oldest son, is an avid skater. He is sponsored on his own accord.
Q: Have you seen Lords of Dogtown? And, if so, what did you think of it?
A: I liked it very much. In fact, I played the astronaut getting the photo-op.
Q: What, if anything, scares you?
A: Trying a new trick or technique for the first time, especially if nobody else
has tested it before.
Q: What do you eat for breakfast?
A: Either a bowl of cereal or a Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit ... and a large
cappuccino.
Q: What’s your favorite food?
A: Japanese: sushi, soba or robotayaki.
Q: What’s your favorite movie?
A: Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Q: Favorite TV show?
A: "The Daily Show."
Q: Was it more fun being in an episode of "The Simpsons" or "CSI"?
And why?
A: "The Simpsons" is way more fun because I didn’t have to get
killed to be on it. (He played a video game tester and motion-capture athlete
who is murdered in an episode of "CSI: Miami.")
Q: Do you follow other sports?
A: Not at all. For me, Super Bowl Sunday was always an excuse to go skate uncrowded/unguarded
spots.
Q: Is there anything about skateboarding today that surprises you?
A: The fact that parents encourage their kids to skate as opposed to berating
them for it. It’s about time!
© 2005 South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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