Steve and I were pro skateboarders from 1985 to 1990, around the time we started tattooing. We got into skateboarding in 1977 at the same time we got into punk rock. We lived in Pennsylvania, about 45 minutes from Philadelphia.
This was cool cuz all the music from England would find it's way across the sea to New York, then down to where we were. So exciting... this was the attitude we were waiting for!
We had been listening to Kiss... what did this ever do for us? NOTHING!! We already had a dislike for this society we were living in... even at 11 years old! We would do work around he house for an allowance, take it and spend it all on records!
So many bands... Generation X, Sex Pistols, Dead Boys, the Adverts, the Professionals, Buzz Cocks, Chelsea, the Damned... god, the list goes on. The excitement we had is indescribable. Punk summed up everything we were about. It was the "f**k you!" we were waiting for. In fact to this day, our musical taste is still the same, 1977 punk, with the addition of a few other bands.
We have dedicated our lives to skateboarding, tattooing and punk rock. All of which recognize individuality, creativity and originality. You had to depend on yourself.. you didn't lose the game cuz some one didn't catch the ball, it's all you! All these things together were our "f**k you!" to the world.
Anyways... we have lived a great life due to these things... homeless in Dallas for a year, traveling the world skating, tattooing and playing music. Our first band was "the Crabs", each letter stood for the name of a band member - Charlie, Ricky, Art, Brian and Steve.
We ended cutting out Charlie and Brian and ended up with Justin Ashby. He was from England. His thick accent made us sound authentic!! We were listening to the Jam everyday. Great music, great band... great look. For ourselves, it wasn't the look, we wanted to copy, it was the instruments... the Rickenbacker guitars and bass.
Ricky got a white 4001 bass with black hardware, that thing was so f**king hot, I ended up with a red 620 guitar!!! Ricky set up our first gig at a halloween dance at a school for retarded kids. Imagine, rehearsing our first songs and getting to play in a gymnasium FULL of down syndrome kids!
We had to do 2 sets... it was in a gymnasium, the stage was real tall, like 4' off the ground and the view was perfect to see these kids with different levels of impairment, some in wheel chairs, some had helmets on, all dressed up in halloween costumes, dancing around and thrashing around anyway they wanted was the best!!
Sh*t, there was one dressed as Alice Cooper, another as Rambo "with real plastic bullets" on his belt (as he commented)... there were witches, wolf men, draculas... it was the funniest sh*t ever. Part way through the set, they told us to stop playing so they could turn on the lights because the kids were getting scared of the dark!!
We got off the stage and got our first portion of the payment they owed us - punch and cookies! No sh*t, that's what we agreed to play for!!
One girl came up to Ricky, the bassist and kept hugging him and rubbing herself on him, he offered her cookies and a teacher came up to him and told him, "wait!! don't give any cookies, in fact, don't giver her anything... she's sexually active and she wants you, the cookies and sugar maker crazier!!" ha ha ha ha ha.. we f**ked with Ricky for weeks about his "new girlfriend" at the Blue Bonnet school!!!
This was in about 1986, still have the flyer somewhere... it said "Halloween party at the Blue Bonnet school, "CRAB" NEW WAVE BAND WILL BE PLAYING. ha ha ha ha... this is all you readers get until next time...
