Frankie Hill ushered in a new bigger street era with big handrails, ollie variations plus the huge parking lot gap in Powell Propaganda video. All done with fluid style and consistency -street skating would never be the same as the bar had been raised.

How’d you get into skateboarding?
I got into skating one day when I was fourteen years old riding my bike
down the street and saw a skater ollie off a curb transition and was amazed
he could ollie on the skateboard higher than I could on my bike. This guys
name was Kent Knepper, a great street skater.


Who was hot then and who’d you look up to?
I looked up to Kent Knepper, Brandon Chapmen, Jake Bradley, Mike
Dominguez, and Kit Ericson, these were all local street skaters in Santa
Barbara. Mike Taylor, Mike Kresky, Robbie Olhieser, John Detman, were also a
big influence on me growing up as well.

When did you realize you were good enough to get sponsored or how’d that come about?
I skated on a miniramp in the back of a skate shop on Holister ave.
 called Wild skate shop. One day the owner asked me if I wanted to skate for
 the shop and gave me a grey sweatshirt and some Wild stickers. The feelin
 was one of belonging to something, and being part of a team, not so happy to
 get free stuff.

What were your favorite tricks and things to session?
My favorite tricks were something original, like frigid kick the wall
then crail varial the board. I liked to skate ditches and wall ride spots.

Once you got on Powell Peralta did you get to travel a lot?
I got to travel all over the world twice and had amazing adventures, even
today i feel like it was a dream.

What are some places that stand out?
Japan with Tony Hawk, Bucky Lasek, and Colin Mckay was a great trip, and
Australia with Tony , and Bucky, was a lot of fun as well.

When you turned pro street was becoming more of it’s own specialty.  Did you think it would get as big as it did?
 Yes, street skating was really taking off and skating on the street
seemed to be evolving really fast.  I thought it would get very big, because it seemed to have many
dimensions someone could get into and have a lot of fun with, and its right
out your front door, just waiting for u.

Who were your favorite people to skate with?
I really liked skating with Kit Ericson, Justin yates, Loren Manser,
Emerys Burkhower,Brandon Chapmen and Jake Bradley.

Did it take you long to land the famous huge parking lot gap in the Powell vid?
It took three tries , first one landed it perfect and was so surprised I
landed it I immediately jumped off and started yelling I'm gonna make it I'm
gonna make it. The second try is the one Powell used for the video, barely
put my hand down. The team manager said lets go you got it, I said you can
go but this is for me now, I knew I would never go back to this gap again,
so I went back up and on the third try I made it perfect, Powell didn't use
it for the video because they didn't like the angle but making it good meant
everything to me.

What are some of your favorite accomplishments?
The big gap hill at the end of Propaganda, the eleven stair ollie in
public Domain, the lipslide down the ten stair in video eight, the 360
double flip down the five stair in Chaos.

What’s the hardest trick you learned?
It was a 360 ollie double flip I did almost over the whole pyramid and
never got it on video.

What are some things you are doing now?
I like to visit old spots I used to skate now and try to do tricks that
i was trying twenty years ago but never got the chance because of the
injury, I don't try to keep up with the new stuff of today I skate to
challenge myself these days.

How is the industry and skateboarding different now than when you started?
The industry is much larger now, I find myself spreading myself too thin
in this respect, I try to put the companies in perspective, I don't try to
ask for to much, and what I do receive I try to promote there products, its
very easy to get caught up in this, and you just need to focus on why you
skate, not for what you might get out of it.

I know you’ve had some tough injuries, so how has that changed your approach to skating?
I have always been the type of skater who will try one trick a million
times until I finally land it, this approach does not work anymore, I try to
skate more consistent now, and work my way into tricks, learning how to bail
the tricks is just important to me as making them these days.


Any advice for young guns?
I would like to say  skate original, what ever you do can to bring your
own twist to your skating, if everyone does the same stuff, the originality
of the sport disappears, and its the different types of skating coming
together is what makes us unique from any other sport.

Who are some guys to look out for in skateboarding?
The guys to look out for are Chris Cole , Nyja Houston, Andrew Renalds,
 all the guys from Street League, there are many skaters out there to look
 out for that is why I think now is a very exciting time in skating.

If you could design a course or spot what would it be like?
I would want a four foot high pyramid that is mellow, and plenty of room
for speed to approach the pyramid and land, the course would be set up to go
in a circle so there would be very little cross traffic.

How do you see all the skateparks shaping the way people skate compared to just riding what you can find on your local streets?
The park skaters get to skate very nice ledges and rails and they always
know what to expect when they get there, to me its a little scary because if
the park closes, what then, that special ledge you've grown up with is gone,
the street skaters know they might get kicked out of there favorite ledge
spot so they have a backup spot, not relying on one spot to define there
skating.


What are some things you’d like to see happen in skateboarding in the future?
I would like to see designated street spots all over the city, at all
the schools, and through the towns, I don't like the idea that a city can
build a skate park then give tickets out whenever they see a skater, it
makes me feel like they are trying to round us all up in a stable like
cattle, wrong again, skating is about freedom of expression and the whole
world is our canvas.


Any goals you have for yourself  skating wise in the future?
I will continue to challenge myself in skating, and be involved in
aspects of skating  for a very long time.

Final comments?
When I was a Junior in high school I was small and skinny and was picked
on by the jocks of the school, by the end of my senior year they loved me
for being a famous skater, I see those same guys around town from time to
time and they have skating shirts on and wear skate shoes, funny how things
work out.   
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