My first fanzine got compiled throughout the year 1996. It was on Jan 2nd, 1997 when I went to a local copy shop and made maybe a hundred copies of it. I kept it simple for the masses and just called it SKATEROCK Fanzine. The year 1998 saw a second issue, followed by a third one in 1999.
After that I contributed two articles to Bullet Zine Nr. 4/5: a little Skate Rock history plus an interview I did with Ray Stevens II in his living room in San Jose, April 1999.
Bullet Nr. 4/5 was something like the cornerstone for Boardstein Skateboard Magazine, which published its first issue in the year 2000. Boardstein was an independent Skateboard Magazine that was formed by a bunch of creative and talented guys, most of them making their own fanzines or videos before. Besides photos, roadtrip articles and spot reviews my main contribution was the Skaterock History series. Boardstein had to call it quits after 47 issues in 2009 and by then I had 12 Skaterock History articles in there: the 1960s, the 1970s, 1978-84 – Skateboarding is Punkrock, The Thrasher Tapes, San Jose Skaterock, Oxnard, Venice, New York, Crossing all over, Skatepunk made in West Germany (2 parts) and The Soundtrack of H-Street´s Hokus Pokus. I also had a few interviews in the mag: SUB SOCIETY, Benny, BLÄCK FÖÖSS and THE FACTION.
Besides a few exceptions most of the above mentioned publications/ articles were written in German.
The idea of putting together a book with all the stuff I researched and collected over the years dates back to at least the year 2001. Shortly after Boardstein folded, this idea that haunted my head became my mission. I knew that starting right away with the 80´s would have left a lot of doors unopened. And as history starts in the past, I had another reason to begin with the 1960s and 1970s. It took my about 2 years until a big pile of boxes filled with the Vintage Skaterock book arrived at my front door.
I can´t remember exactly when I really started working on the 80s book, but it took some years until I finally dove into it. But before that I luckily grabbed the chance and interviewed Gerry Hurtado a.k.a. SKATEMASTER TATE in April 2013. A guy I always wanted to interview for my fanzine, but was unable to track him down back in the mid and late 90´s. Tate really dug my first book, which made me very proud as he was a total expert in music with a huge record collection. I only know about 3 people on this planet (besides me) that are serious collectors of 60s and 70s skateboard music. He was one of them. It was my first interview for the 80s Skate Rock book, but unfortunately the last one he ever gave, I guess. He died of cancer on Oct. 13, 2015. R.I.P. bro!
Many more interviews followed with lots of rad people. Stay tuned to not miss the 80s Skate Rock book!
Peace
Flow