RC: Now skateboarding and punk rock are really closely related. Why do you think that is?
MV: I'd say music and skateboarding are closely related.
Definitely punk rock music was such a major part of the skate scene in the early to late '80s, but you know hip hop's been big in skateboarding, and now there's a big movement toward the earlier heavy metal bands, and mid '80s hair bands. Music just complements the lifestyle of skating, and really skating's not a sport, it's an expressive creative outlook, very much like music.
They go hand in hand, they always have and they always will. Music will always be part of the skateboard scene - all different types of music, but especially punk rock music, because of the independent spirit. The spirit of punk rock and the spirit of skateboarding, it's all about individuality, it's all about doing your own thing on your own terms.
RC: And you've got your hand in a bunch of other things, too. What's the Tony Hawk Foundation about?
MV: The Tony Hawk Foundation is an organization, basically what we do is help fund public skate parks in low-income communities. So we get a lot of grant requests, and we sift our way through them, and figure out who's most deserving of the money we've raised and we try to give as much money as possible to the communities that need it to help them build skate parks.
RC: Have you had a lot of good results?
MV: Yeah, we are actively participating in the growth of skateboarding in communities that can't afford to do it on their own. When you think about a non-profit organization raising money for different causes, you might think that skate parks would be on the bottom of that list, with all the things that are going on in the world and all of the ailments people face. But, at the end of the day, building skate parks makes people happy, and gives kids an outlet, and facilitates a population. I think we're doing really good work with the foundation, and I'm honored to be a part of it.
Tony asked me from the beginning of the foundation to participate in it, and I wasn't on the board. They just asked for my opinion on different things and I offered feedback along the way. Then after a while they asked me to actually sit on the board and be very involved in everything that happens with it. It's a great foundation and the work we're doing is important.
RC: It's amazing how far skateboarding has come from the days of stealing lumber from construction sites.
MV: I hear you, man. It has blossomed completely. It's unbelievable.
RC: So what's in the future for Revolution Mother?
MV: As soon as we're done touring this summer, we're recording a full-length record at the end of August and into early September. Right now we're just looking at fall plans. We're going to try to do something overseas, maybe Australia, maybe Japan.
We've got a bunch of potential club dates for late fall, maybe October and November, and then into winter, there's a lot of stuff on the drawing board, but the main thing is that we're going to stay very active with this band, pursue it through the fall winter, and through the spring right into next summer. By next summer we're hoping to be involved in some bigger tours. Just keep the machine running.
Revolution Mother's debut ep Enjoy The Ride is out now on Mike V INC.
