Bob's Trick Tips

A couple of months ago I had this rad idea to do a paper 'zine about freestyle. Well, I didn't get very far, but I did conduct this interview with Witter Cheng, freestyler and owner or Decomposed Skateboards (one of the best sources of freestyle equipment).

Witter is a cool guy, designs good boards, creates cool graphics, and has a very unique FS style. Check out the interview...

First off, tell me how long you've been skating and how you go interested in freestyle.

I’ve been skating for approximately 20 years….non-stop. I took it everywhere I went. In the 80s, my uncle who was leaving for college in the U.K., packed up his stuff and gave us his old toys. Lucky for me, I got his GT banana board. I should’ve saved it but threw it away in the mid 90s when it was my turn to go to college.

So why FS?
I snapped a ligament in my knee, tore another one, and fractured the cartilage…all from doing stairs. I had surgery on that knee 3 times. I healed up, went back to stairs and decided that I’m too old now because it would hurt A LOT every night and I was tired of taking pain pills. Freestyle is gay and safe.

What was your motivation to created Decomposed Skateboards?
Long story short…Capital Skateboards was giving Francis Lavallee and I pro models. He gave me 6 months to test out all the prototypes so I could come up with the best shape for myself. After all that work, Capital went downhill and it was taking forever to get a reponse out of them so I manufactured my own model. It was supposed to end there, but when Capital disappeared off the face of the earth, freestyle decks were limited in the market. On top of that, I was pissed that all these companies were making decks with boring graphics. A combination of that and myself wanting to get the older freestylers to pick up what they were good at started Decomposed. Why do I want the old schoolars to start? They are mentors. I want today’s generation to see how it was done and to have others to look up to. That, and it’s a tribute to the best out there. Russ Howell, Gunter Mokulys, YoYo, Tim Morris..…etc. These guys are legends! Decomposed is not about making $$ and all that but at the same time, I need $$ to keep this going so don’t even think about asking for ‘Free Stuff’.

You seem to be able to create whole new shapes and graphics pretty quickly. How do you do it? Tell us a little about your art background -- you've had some shows dealing with skate graphics haven't you?
Believe it or not, those shapes and graphics took forever to produce. We just keep it quiet. No biggie. Just art shows at the college. The professor there wants me to display my work. Believe it or not, she collects Decomposed boards.

Where (what city) are you and Decomposed located in?
Elko, Nevada

Equipment-wise, what sort of stuff would you like to see on the market? What is missing? Where do we need more options?
One HUGE gap in freestyle is the Indy 101 trucks. There is still no truck out there that would fit a 7” – 7.25” deck perfectly. Everything else is out there. We cant manufacture too much stuff because the Market there is small. Everyone keeps telling me that the freestyle scene is huge and all that. Bullshit!

Yes, that sucks. Especially since I'm sure Indy could still produce the truck if they wanted.
Yes, they can but they told me that they don’t sell enough of them to make a new mold. They broke the old one. They also have no plans (as of now) to make more.

I noticed that you got Renna on your team. You have a good team -- how do you get these guys?
I’ve always wanted Renna on my team. We’re best friends but he remained loyal to Vince for a long time. Keith is one of those guys who doesn’t really care if he was sponsored or not and I think that’s why he left Outlook. Naturally, as friends, I hooked him up with Decomposed. I don’t even know how I got some of the riders on my team. Russ and I were friends. Terry Synnott introduced me to Humeres. Tim emailed me wanting to purchase some freestyle products, my friend is the best man at Ray Meyer’s wedding,… ….etc.

Would you care to rant about the general state of FS today? Compare it to the past? Hypothesize about the future?
Nothing much to say really. Freestyle, in it’s pure form, is dead and today’s freestyle is street skating. Freestyle should not even be called freestyle, really. It should be called Flatland….and even if you call it flatland, it clashes with fliptricks (which in today’s standards is street skating). In my opinion, ‘freestylers’ just want to be different so they try to stay away from street tricks but in reality, new school ‘flip tricks’ is still freestyle. Good examples are Daryl Grogan and Francis Lavallee. What about handrails and ledges, you say?? That is still freestyle! It is today’s freestyle! What do street skaters skate on? A freestyle deck!!! Don Brown, Pierre Andre, Rodney Mullen, Tim Morris, Bill Robertson, evolved from their single kick decks to a 7.5”ish double kick around the same time the popsicle shape came out. This shows that freestyle was evolving.

Yes, I think that what we call "street" has really re-unified skateboarding. I think it was all one thing, then it was split up into different disciplines like vert, FS, dowhhill, etc. But modern street draws from all those elements. A good street skater can rip on ramps, brick banks, flat -- whatever. Still, it seems like flatland freestyle has something to offer, eh? I'm not sure what it is -- any ideas? Or are we all just insane?
Flatland, in my opinion is technical street skating. Some might call it, ‘safe’ street skating.

I'm sure that your comment that freestyle in it's pure form is dead will piss a few people off, haha, but I think I know what you mean. Even when the old NSA was hold FS contests, and the old CASL contests and whatnot, the truth is that FS was a tiny percentage of overall skateboarding. In that way it seems like we may not be much worse off now than we were then. But that brings up the question that if it is dead then what's the point?

Exactly! Any old schooler will tell you that. Freestyle was never really big to begin with. You never see much freestyle in the 80s in magazines. Maybe in the 70s but that is because freestyle is the first form of skateboarding.

Who do you think the most influential freestylers are right now and why?
Everyone at the F-forum and everyone who has a website for freestyle. The reason is obvious.

In your own FS skating, what kind of moves are you into? Favorite tricks to do? Stuff you can't do but wish you could?
I like every freestyle move and wished I was as well rounded as Gunter Mokulys, Terry Synnott and Primo Desiderio. One trick I really want to do is truck stand space walks as smooth as Gunter.

Who are a few FSers coming up that you think we should keep an eye on?
Jari Paakari and Francis lavallee.

What kind of setup are you riding now? Special modifications?
Indy 101s (from 20 years ago), 1 hard riser, 1 soft riser, hard bushings, My Decomposed deck, Moska wheels, Blistered skids.

Any hints at future plans for Decomposed?
My short term goal is to re-release Per Welinder’s Eurocana deck. He said he’ll think about it. I might also co-release a Witter model with another person (non-skater)…we’ll see. Per Canguru is also next.

Any closing comments?
!!!Buy Decomposed!!!