- Hey, I'm Tony Hawk, pro skater,
and this is the Wired Autocomplete Interview.
And, go.
Okay, let's complete the autocomplete.
First one is "Can Tony Hawk".
I'm guessing "Can Tony Hawk do a 900?"
"Still skate." Yes, I can still skate.
I still skate often, actually.
I would say three or four times a week,
especially since COVID and no travel.
I've just been either home or at my ramp.
Or actually in backyard pools
and dislocated my fingers last weekend.
So yeah, I'm still skating.
"Can Tony Hawk street skate?"
The short answer is kinda.
I went through a big street phase in the early '90s
because there were hardly any vert ramps around.
Skating was all about street, handrails, ledges,
things like that, and I did as best as I could
until I rolled both my ankles twice so severely
that it was sort of risking my sense
of being able to skate at all, again.
And so I just sort of focused in
on transition and ramp skating, been doing it ever since.
So yes, I have some dormant street skills.
I can do the handrails, and I do a few kickflip variations
but not in the traditional sense that you see,
especially on TV or, like, X-Games.
"Can Tony Hawk kickflip?" Yes, I can.
I was about 13 years old when kickflips
were actually invented by Rodney Mullen
and I learned them shortly thereafter.
I still do them, they're not beautiful.
I don't catch 'em very high, but yes, I can kickflip.
And so I feel justified when I go and ask kids,
"Do a kickflip," 'cause I walk the walk.
All right, "Can Tony Hawk still do a 900?" [laughs]
I did one a couple years ago.
I think that if I was really motivated and I had
the right incentive, I don't mean, like, financial,
I just mean in terms of, like, the emotional incentive
to do it I could probably throw one down.
If you're gonna go try a 900, the incentive is to go do it
and make it and so I know going into it if I'm gonna go try
a 900 I'm definitely gonna take a few knocks along the way.
And I have to be fully prepared for that.
It takes so much out of you just to attempt it,
there's no reason to just test it out.
"Can Tony Hawk sing?"
I'm gonna leave that for you to judge. [laughs]
Because I did "The Masked Singer."
I was voted first out in my group.
I don't know if that means I can or can't sing.
Probably not a good sign, but I think I can.
I come from a line of musicians in my family, so my dad,
he knew how to play a lot of different instruments.
My sister was actually backup singer for Michael Bolton
and for the Righteous Brothers, John Denver,
and the Pet Shop Boys, and so I feel like I had enough,
I don't know, hereditary skill to do it.
"Can Tony Hawk surf?" Yes, I can surf.
I've been surfing almost as long as I've been skating.
I don't put the effort into trying to go out
when it's good because my schedule's crazy
and so if I were to actually be chasing swells
I would have to compromise a lot more in my life.
That is one excuse, but I went to Kelly Slater's surf ranch
a couple weeks ago, got pitted, so yeah, I can surf.
"Can Tony Hawk snowboard?" Yes.
I've been snowboarding since they first made snowboards.
First time I went snowboarding was in 1982.
So I've definitely been snowboarding longer than you.
"Where was Tony Hawk born and raised?"
San Diego, California.
My dad was the Navy and he was stationed in San Diego
and he retired, lucky me, we just ended up here and stayed.
Let's see, "Where did Tony Hawk go to high school?"
Well, it's funny, I say I stayed in San Diego but my parents
actually did move around San Diego while I was in school
so I went to my freshman year at San Dieguito High School,
now known as San Dieguito Academy.
Moved to Torrey Pines High School
in my sophomore year and graduated there.
San Dieguito was rough back then, honestly,
and that's why I asked to move schools.
I was a skater, I got picked on a lot,
which we now know is bullying.
I would literally get hassled in the hallways
just 'cause they knew I skated.
I was already really small and kinda nerdy and the fact
that I skated was just, like, "That dude sucks." [chuckles]
It got a little bit better at Torrey Pines
but I can't say it was the most pleasant experience.
All right, "Where does Tony Hawk live now?"
Encinitas, north San Diego.
It's a metropolitan area, but it's not crazy
like Los Angeles where it's gridlock traffic all the time.
I just love that there's a very strong
surf, skate culture here and there always has been
and really the reason I loved it so much as a kid
is because one of the last skate parks in the US
was right here, and that was where I developed
most of my skills and really honed my style.
All right, "Where has Tony Hawk been?" [laughs]
Really? Is that really an autofill that comes up?
Where has Tony Hawk been?
Maybe they mean just in terms of in the public eye?
Where I've been, been right here, doing my thing.
Skating, raising a family, you know,
maybe I'm not on "Punked" or maybe you haven't seen me
on talk shows recently but I've stayed the course.
Just doing my thing.
I think that maybe people will start to learn
a lot more about me in this coming year because thanks
to my master class and thanks to the THPS remaster.
But where have I been?
Just raising kids and skating, that's where I've been.
"Is Tony Hawk?" I can already sense
that one of these says "Is Tony Hawk alive?"
The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated, by the way.
"Is Tony Hawk a nice guy?" [laughs]
What a strange question to ask Google.
It's just a matter of opinion.
Does Google do, I don't know,
do I have any sort of Yelp reviews on myself?
How would anyone know that?
I like to think I'm a nice guy.
I have a great relationship with my kids.
I love interacting with fans and I get to skateboard
for a living and that, I think, in itself
is what makes me friendly, 'cause I live my dream.
"Is Tony Hawk a good skater?" Again, a matter of opinion.
I would say if I had to judge myself
I'm very good for my age.
All right, "Is Tony Hawk a vegetarian?"
I am not a vegetarian, I do lean towards plant based foods.
My friend said it best was, he said, "Tony, I know you
kinda lean toward vegetarianism but I bet
you'd [beep] up a steak" and he was right, I would.
I love barbecue too.
All right, "Is Tony Hawk a boomer?"
I am not a boomer! I am Gen X.
My older siblings are boomers.
And you know something funny is somehow this is an insult.
It only means that you are part
of the baby boomer generation and that was the generation
of families that came back from the war
and then everybody was having babies.
That is what the baby boomer generation is, people.
There's your lesson in generations.
I was born in 1968. Not boomer.
"Is Tony Hawk British?"
No, but there is a British comedian named Tony Hawks.
I think he truly despises my existence
because people get him confused, they get his name confused,
they send him fan mail on my behalf.
They actually invited me on a morning show in London
a long time ago and surprised me
with him as a guest as well and then
he got to basically chew me out.
"Is Tony Hawk going to the Olympics?"
I was planning to go to the Olympics
to be a commentator of sorts, but not to be a skater
representing the United States of America.
There are much more qualified skaters and trust me,
you don't want me being there just because you know my name.
I'm 52 and I'm a vert skater.
That's a park discipline and we have such talent
in the US and they deserve to be there,
so I'd much rather be behind the mic
explaining to all you what exactly they're doing.
"Is Tony Hawk goofy footed?" Yes, I am goofy footed.
Right foot forward, and I'm not very good
at skating switch so I'm not gonna say I'm ambidextrous
and yep, I'm goofy footed.
"Is Tony Hawk sponsored by Vans?"
Yes, I am. And here is proof.
That's what I'm wearing right now.
My first skate shoe was Vans in 1979
that I insisted my dad buy for me because I saw
an ad for them in the Skateboarder Magazine and I was like,
"Skateboard shoes, I ride skateboards, I want those."
I've been through various sponsors since then
and came back to Vans and I'm thankful.
"Does Tony Hawk wear a helmet?"
For the most part I wear a helmet,
especially when I'm skating bigger ramps
and that's kinda my thing, is skating bigger ramps.
If I'm out cruising, street skating,
skating smaller stuff, generally I don't.
And I'm sure that some people would complain about that,
but it's more about my experience level.
I encourage people who are learning to skate
to wear a helmet because you never know what's gonna happen.
And a lot of times you can fall back very quickly.
I'm on a big ramp, I'm wearing a helmet,
and it's saved my life plenty of times.
If you're gonna skate vert,
you're probably gonna wear a helmet.
"Does Tony Hawk still compete?"
Not in the traditional sense.
Every once in a while I will jump into an event
if there's sort of a legends division
or maybe there's, like, a best trick thing and I feel
like I might have something that I can contribute.
I'm actually in a really good place 'cause I get
to pick and choose which events I wanna go to
'cause I'm not really trying to earn points.
I'm not trying to keep my status up like that.
"Does Tony Hawk have tattoos?" I do have tattoos.
I have this one right here, which is a Dr. Woo tattoo
of a skateboard and some planets and then,
if you can see closely, it has initials of my wife
and all of our children sprinkled all throughout here.
And I have kind of a falcon head tattoo on my ankle
that is not the finest work, I'll show you.
Do you see that? Not the most intricate work.
But the funny thing is I got it because I thought
it'd be cool, I used to wear low socks all the time.
And so, you know, any video or pictures
you'll see this hawk, and then I started getting burns
on the sides of my ankles from the socks.
So I ended up just wearing long socks after that
and now you never see it.
"Does Tony Hawk have fake teeth?" Yes, many.
[laughs] These four, right here.
I've knocked them out a few times each.
I've chipped them really badly and I chipped them again
and then there was just sort of a little piece hanging
on one side and then I ended up getting posts right there.
"Does Tony Hawk longboard?" No, not really.
I prefer skateboards that I can maneuver quickly
and that I can do tricks on.
If you do longboard it's cool,
I think of it more as a mode of transportation.
And I have some people that do tricks on them,
but, you know, hey, whatever gets you moving.
If you're on a skateboard it's cool with me.
"Does Tony Hawk have a brother?"
I do, I have an older brother, Steve Hawk.
And he is the one who gave me my first skateboard.
He was a surfer, still is a surfer.
Actually was the editor of Surfer Magazine for a while.
That first skateboard that he gave me, somehow I held
onto it all through the years and he and I donated it
to the Smithsonian a few years ago, which was very cool.
We got to fly to DC together and hand it over.
"What is Tony Hawk Pro Skater?"
That is our video game franchise.
The first one was released in 1999, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.
We kept releasing them almost every year,
stopped for a while, I wasn't working with Activision.
And then, just recently, we have decided to remaster
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater one and two literally 20 years later.
We're re-releasing them for all the new systems.
"What Tony Hawk game is the best?"
These are all subjective searches.
How is that something anyone can decide?
It's all in the eye of the beholder.
I would say the one that got the best reviews
was Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2.
I think it still holds up as one of the top 10
best reviewed games of all time.
"What skateboard does Tony Hawk ride?"
Do you want me to go get my skateboard?
So this is the skateboard I ride.
It's a Birdhouse, Falcon, eight and a half inches.
Independent trucks and bones, 60 millimeter,
skate park formula wheels.
This thing has been used, I think, exactly three days.
I will probably end up giving it away in a couple weeks for,
like, an auction item or something like that.
They usually want the whole skateboard,
which would make a lot of skaters cringe.
Because once you get used to your trucks that becomes
what you rely on and that's sort of your signature
on how you turn, and once you break in your trucks
you hold onto them forever.
I'm so used to giving my boards away,
the complete boards, that I've just gotten used
to getting new trucks all the time and I'm actually
more used to new trucks then if they're broken in.
"What shoe does Tony Hawk wear?"
When I skate I wear the Vans old school hight tops
just like I did in 1984, but if I'm chilling
I'm wearing the slip ons, like Spicoli.
Thank you for joining me
for the Wired Autocomplete Interview.
It was very thorough, it was very cathartic,
and I appreciate you including me doing your searches.
Search on.