Skateboarding shaped my ears and changed my life. The sounds of metal and wood on concrete, of
urethane on asphalt, meshed perfectly with the urgent, propulsive music of bands like Minor Threat,
JFA, Circle Jerks, fIREHOSE and scores more groups my friends and I seemed to be discovering on a daily
basis. Of all the skate videos we devoured, it was Santa Cruz’s 1989 classic Speed Freaks that really
closed the door on ‘normalcy’ forever. From Eric Dressen’s opening hill bomb to Tom Knox’s curb
destruction to Neil Blender’s casual cruise through a surreal moonscape it was absolute sensory
overload! One part in particular, the closer, featured a young Mike Vallely crushing everything in his
path. The raw sounds of spinning wheels ripped through the backdrop of Dinosaur Jr’s “Freak Scene” to
carve a permanent memory.
Nearly three decades later, I couldn’t be more pleased to be involved in a project that aims to create
similarly impactful memories. Mike Vallely and the Street Plant family have begun work on a full-length
skateboarding film and SofaBurn is eternally stoked to be providing music for them to comb through.
Keep your eyes and ears open for great things this year and stay tuned to Street Plant for clips and
footage as they get it!
-Mike / SofaBurn
