Name: Rodney Mullen

Nickname: The King! Ok, it's really the Mutt.

Born: Gainesville FL

Rides: Regular

Skateboard set up specs: Enjoi 7 5/8 X 31 3/8 or so. Mellow tail and nose, but steep concave (Monster Mold). Tail is 1/4" longer than the nose. 50mm dual durometer Darkstars. Tensor LO 5.0. Speed Demons bearings. Tensor hardware-- it's a little lighter.

Lives: LA County, in one of the beach cities.

Sponsors: Globe, enjoi, Tensor, Matix, Speed Demons, Darkstar.

Years Skating: Started skating 1/1/77. Won my first pro contest (& simultaneously turned pro) 8/21/80.

Favorite trick: I like frontside crooked grind variations, particularly the munky flip out, or nollie hard flip. Darkslides are fun.

Favorite terrain: Schoolyards w/ tables.

Favorite place to skate: There are a couple of fun schoolyards in Lomita that have some stairs too as well to put tables down. It's fun to make your own terrain.

Who do you like to session with? Daewon, Ronnie Creager, and Marc Johnson.

How often do you skate? Everyday about 2 or 3 hours. Usually more on the weekends.

Most memorable skateboarding experience: Winning my first pro contest.

Favorite band/music: I still like a lot of old punk stuff, like Stiff Little Fingers. Old black gospel, like the Dixie Hummingbirds or Swan Silvertones. Nina Samone is awesome, and Billy Holliday. There's a South African jazz guy named Hugh Masekala that is awesome. Classical, I like Dvorak, Shostakovich, and of course Beethoven.

Pets: Two rad cats. One is 1/2 retarded, so he tends to get thrashed by the other one. I think I relate more to the retarded one

Were your parents supportive of your skating? No. But my mom understood how much it meant to me, which helped.

What would you be doing if you never started skating? Likely to be making nuclear warheads. Unfortunately, that's where a lot of my friends ended up that enjoyed studying the same stuff, even though they didn't believe it was right. Terrible dilemma. That or mowing lawns. Perhaps the priesthood.