From a Juice Magazine interview with Dave “Science” Maxwell.
Skatopia is about being able to skate at 4AM and play music as loud as you want and get pissed if you want. You can blow up your car if you need to, some people need to do that, you know. I do want more skaters to come down. It’s fun when you get a good skate session going. It’s a good meeting place between the north and south. You get to see a lot of people that you wouldn’t normally see on a regular basis. That’s what I like about it.
There’s a lot of property there. The gun thing was fun for a while, but so many people didn’t understand that you don’t just shoot your gun in the air where people are camping so, guns aren’t allowed now. At first, it was only ten of us, so it wasn’t a big deal, then people started showing up with automatic weapons and shooting’em up in the air. That’s not cool.
People think the government is gonna come and raid, and maybe they will. They’re crazy, too. It’s just about having a good time. It’s just skateboarding. If you don’t skate, I guess you could go there. I wouldn’t say it’s the Woodstock of skateboarding because it’s not hippies that go there, but it has similarities. You’re camping out in tents. It’s muddy. You’re with the elements. You’re more in the elements at Skatopia than Woodstock. Woodstock had porta potties, which is pretty cool.
Reprinted by permission Juice Magazine Online