Peter Bici experienced a golden era in skateboarding on both coasts. After getting sponsored in NYC he made his way to SF. Not only was he fortunate enough to get down with the crew at EMB, but also got hooked up with Think and Venture. After going on tour and spending some time in Cali, Pete returned to New York only to get coaxed onto the legendary original Zoo York Team and put out full part in Mixtape. Pete eventually retired from professional skating to become a fire fighter, but still stays involved through his partnership with Jeff Pang and Peter Huynh in UXA. Keir Johnson recently got the full story from Peter, check it out.

Keir: How did you first get interested in skating, do you have a specific memory of something you saw that sparked your interest?

Peter: I was 14 years old and had just graduated from junior high school that was the summer of 1987.  I was hanging out with my old friend at his house when all of a sudden I see these 5 skateboarders skating in the middle of the street, all wild and crazy doing powerslides.  My first reaction was like "wow" they looked like they were having so much fun.  I took a closer look and one of the skaters was my friend Orland Delgado from junior high in Queens, N.Y. I screamed out his name and he came over with this big smile on his face. I was like "Where you guys headed?" he said "Just skating around" I then asked "Can I go with you guys?" he said "Yeah" So I ran with them the whole day as they skated.  It was incredible, that was the day where I fell in love with skateboarding.

Keir: How did you come up on your first set-up?

Peter: It took me awhile to get a set-up, about 6 - 7 months. I had to save up and beg my grandparents for the money. When I did finally get a board it was a mini-rip saw Schmitt Stick with clear grip tape Indy trucks with pink OJ 2'S.

Keir: Good old OJ’s, what was it like learning to ride a skateboard in NYC?

Peter: My first step on a skateboard, I got on and the board went flying the other way and I was parallel in the air and slammed on the concrete. I got back on and figured out how to push. After that I would try to learn a new trick everyday. We lived on the top of this hill in Queens, so after I felt comfortable I went down it and it was fun, but scary. I never went fast like that before on anything. Lucky for me I had becomes friends with all the guys that day and we would skate together all the time. So I would push myself everyday to get to the level of skating my friends were at. We had a name for our crew we called ourselves “The Zoners”.

Keir: Your own version of “The Warriors” huh?  How did you expand and start realizing there were other dudes out skating in the city too?

Peter: Since the beginning our crew would skate to other neighborhoods, because some guys from the crew lived in different hoods and when we would hook up one of the guys would say “there’s this slanted wall by my house," and we would all go and skate the spot and so on. Then there was one place called The Brooklyn Banks...

Keir: What was it like going to the Brooklyn Banks for the first time? 

Peter: I remember one of us found out how to get there and we took the train. Back then our parents didn’t know we were going to Manhattan by ourselves, but we did anyway. The train stop was City Hall, we got off and skated down this ramp from the Brooklyn Bridge and that’s when I saw them, I couldn’t believe my eyes perfect wave brick banks! I remember going up frontside and carving down, they were BIG. It was incredible! At the end of the day I did a kickflip on the banks. I was SO stoked! There wasn't anyone there the first time, but the people who pop-up in my head are Sean Sheffey’s HUGE ollies, amazing. Jeff Pang’s ollies over the wall. Harry Jumonji’s layback power slides across the whole bank with the most amazing style. Kenny Usanamont’s ollie japans, man there were so many guys.

Keir: Do you remember the first mag you got or video you saw?

Peter: It was a Thrasher. I can’t remember who was on the cover, but I remember this African-American kid who was doing a railslide on a rail. It was Harold Hunter with The World Trade Center in the background. First video was a Powell vid with Ray Barbee. He had the smooth style and was doing the crazy street tricks. Vert was really big back then too.

Keir: How did you get your first sponsor?

Peter: My friend Peter Huynh hooked me with Nimbus Skateboards. It was a company out of New Jersey that Jeff Pang, Peter Huynh, Jim Lynch, and Bobby Puleo skated for. It was great getting free boards! It was sick; we made a sick promo too! I still have the raw footage. I think 2 years later the company went out of business and I wasn’t sponsored anymore, that was a bummer. I was skating real well and all these other guys had sponsors. The banks had a huge contest and all the Plan B guys showed up and I skated my heart out. The next day I was thinking about quitting skating cause I couldn’t even afford to buy boards and was real bummed. I get home and get a call from Jahmal Williams and he said that he wanted to know if I would want to skate for Mike Vallely’s company Television Skateboard, of course I said yes! 

Keir: Can you talk about how you made it out to Cali for the first time? 

Peter: A bunch of the New York guys like Chris Keeffe, Mike Hernandez, Hamilton Harris, Harold Hunter and myself got hired to do this Levi’s jeans skate ad. We got paid $500 bucks each which was a lot back in 1992! We took that money and bought plane tickets to go to San Francisco to go skate this place that everyone in skateboarding was talking about, The Embarcadero. I stayed with Chris Keefe, Keith Hufnagel, and Keenan Milton at Ron Allen’s place in Oakland. They were skating for Ron’s company Fun Skateboards which was a great team. I remember going to Aris and Ben’s warehouse and skating their skatepark that I saw in videos and being like “Whoa this is sick." Then seeing all the pros at EMB - Mike Carroll, Jovantae Turner, Henry Sanchez, Rick Ibaseta, James Kelch and upcoming ams like Mike York, Spencer Fujimoto, and Ben Sanchez. I was very fortunate to be there at that time in skateboarding and meeting the locals. I’m still friends with them till this day.

Keir: What kind of stuff were you doing at EMB back then?

Peter: I used to really like skating the big block, just backside and frontside talislides. Fakie tailslide to fakie. I remember doing 360 flip to frontside tailslide on the Ledge on the big 3. Fakie 360 flips too and nollie backside flips down the little 3. I really felt I was on point back then, just skating everyday and just to be so lucky being at EMB at that time in skateboarding.  It was the Hollywood of skateboarding.

Keir: How did you hook up with sponsors out there? 

Peter: I was skating Embarcadero and Greg Carroll was there. Somebody knew him from the crew and we went skating all over downtown that day. After we came back from skating Greg went into the trunk of his car and gave me a pair of Venture trucks and that’s when I got on Venture first. 

Keir: Then how did that turn into riding for Think?

Peter: I was skating for Television and came back home from California. Television was disbanding and I got a call from Greg Carroll and he asked me if I wanted to ride for Think, I said yes. I was very lucky to skate for Think cause at that time the team was seriously amazing. They had Wade Speyer, Dan Drehobl, Phil Shao, Matt Pailes and ams Joey Tershay and Joe Sierro. I would get the best boxes filled with boards, clothes, and stickers! I was very fortunate to be apart of that team. I learned a lot from Greg Carroll and the skaters on the team who inspired me to be better. 

Keir: What were those OG Think tours like, I remember seeing some Thrasher video with a bunch of footage of you with those guys.

Peter: I have so many great memories of going on my first national tour with Dan Drehobl, Phil Shao, Matt Pailes, Greg Carroll and Bryce Knights. We drove from San Francisco to NYC. We skated these downhill ditches in Nevada that went on for miles. I remember seeing Dan Drehobl kick his shoe off after slamming and it flew across the parking lot and hit this kid square in the face! Also hanging out with Phil Shao and watching him skate, so smooth and stylish. Dan’s frontside pivots to fakie on any transition. Dan placing his private parts on Joel Price’s head and Joel slapping it off cause he thought it was rat!! Hahaha.

Keir: What happened between Think and Zoo?

Peter: When I came back from California all my best friends were skating for this company called Zoo York, all the guys on the team I grew up with. I was real happy with Think, but Zoo York kept on pursuing me with money and future pro model offers. I tried my best to be loyal to Greg, but it made more sense for me to ride for Zoo. Being from NYC and all my friends riding for them. I ended up making the decision to ride for Zoo. One of the hardest things was calling Greg and telling him.

Keir: That classic Zoo line-up was amazing, what was that like?

Peter: The original Zoo had all the East Coast powerhouses with Ryan Hickey, Robbie Gangemi, Jeff Pang, Harold Hunter, Chris Keeffe, Loki, and Hamilton Harris.  It was great chilling with all my friends and skating. What more could anyone want?  It made me feel good because I am a native New Yorker skating for a NYC company at that time. It felt right.

Keir: When skating started to really explode out of NYC in the early to mid 90's who else were you skating for besides Zoo?  

Peter: Venture trucks, Empire wheels, Etnies and Supreme skateshop.

Keir: When did you turn pro? 

Peter: I turned Pro in 1997 and I used the Albanian Flag for my first pro board, which is a black two-headed eagle with red as the background. Yes, I am American-Albanian and speak the language.

Keir: Can you tell me the video's you've had footage in?

Peter: Thrashers On the Road, Think video, some Transworld videos, 411’s, older FTC vid, which is one of my favorite little video parts. Full part in Zoo York Mix Tape and a bunch of the videos RB Umali did like EST, etc. There’s some more, but I can’t remember.

Keir: Word, so how did the whole modeling thing come about for you? 

Peter: Modeling, that’s funny. I was playing SKATE in front of Supreme and Jeff Pang was talking to this lady and then he called me over. She asked me if I wanted to try out for a Calvin Klein Jeans ad. I said “sure," and she gave me the information. The address was down the block, literally 5 minutes later they took some photos of me and about a month later my sister beeped me (Yes, I had a beeper back then haha). I called her back and she said Calvin Klein had called and I got the job. I didn’t know what scale it was on at all, but when I finished it ended up being a global ad campaign, pretty random.

Keir: Yeah I was tripping, you showed up in ads everywhere back then! Now I was hoping you could talk a bit about your friend Harold Hunter (RIP).

Peter: Harold Hunter was probably the funniest person I’ve ever met in my life. We knew each other since 1988. I was very proud to be his friend and have so many great memories. There was not one day that went by that he didn’t make me laugh. I remember being in Tokyo with Harold and dancing at this club. We were throwing each other up in the air so high and laughing. Harold was great, he would hook up with a hot model one night and the next night he would hook up with a “thick chick” as he would say. He didn’t care just as long as he was having a good time. Harold loved kids too, he would always play with them and teach them how to skate. He treated everybody the same, from a 10-year-old skater to a 40-year-old neighborhood guy. To me that’s what made him so special. He always remembered your name and where you met. He was family to me. I am very proud to have known him for all those years. One day I’ll see Harold and then we’ll laugh again.

Keir: No doubt, rest in peace Harold. So lets talk about what happened after the Zoo York days for you, what was going on then?

Peter: That was a hard time for me. I was going through really hard family problems for awhile. I really wasn’t motivated to skate, so it was a weird time for me. The new Zoo was just the younger guys who were skating with us back then. I was getting prepared for the fire department and getting into great shape. I worked as a bellman at the Hudson hotel in NYC. It was pretty crazy, I went from skating all over the world to getting a “real job." I started playing soccer to get into shape, which is one of my favorite things besides skating.

Keir: Why did you choose to become a firefighter, can you give some details about how you made that choice and what it's been like?

Peter: Back in 1998, I was taking the train to my sister's place and saw an ad for The New York City Fire Department entry exam. I was drawn to it and had this really good feeling about it. So, I went to the nearest library and picked one up. I took the exam and passed. At the time I didn’t have my high school diploma because I quit school to go and pursue my skateboarding career. So, I needed a G.E.D. diploma for the fire dept. I took that test as well and passed. There are all these pre-requisites you must have in order to become a fire fighter. It pushed me to go to college and do all these things that I wanted to do but wasn’t motivated to do until I had the dream to become a fire fighter. I have been one for over 3 years now and it’s amazing and intense. It’s all I thought it would be and more. I am assigned to a ladder company, which does search and rescue in fires. It's pretty gnarly and crazy, but we are highly trained and always ready. It’s like doing a skateboarding demo, but instead of skating I’m going to a fire and have to show my skills! The hardest thing is not to slam in a fire. It's great, my skateboarding skills definitely help me on the job. I use my balance to climb the aerial ladder up a 7-story building with about 130 pounds of gear on. The civilians watch you and the pressure is on, but there’s no bank to ledge to skate, there’s only fire! Now I work and live in the same neighborhood in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Just working On UXA when I’m not at the firehouse.

Keir: How did UXA come about, what’s it all about?

Peter: My old friend Peter Huynh approached me and asked if I was interested in doing UXA with him and Jeff Pang. He told me about UXA and I was totally down for it because I liked the name and the people involved. To break down the company, basically its 3 old friends/skaters that each bring our ideas and visions into UXA. It’s great because when I used to skate for these other companies I would have ideas and they wouldn’t use them. Now my ideas get to come to life. I can relate with Jeff and Pete because we grew up and skated in NYC together. So when we have ideas for the company we can all add our styles into one. We all have this common vision, it’s an authentic skateboard inspired clothing company with REAL skateboarders with deep roots in skating. We like to share our message though our designs and concept with NYC flare and style. We are UXA in the U.S.A.

Keir: Looking back on skating, what do you like reflecting on the most?

Peter: The first thing that popped in my head was my friends, hanging out, skating, laughing and chilling. It was awesome. I got to meet so many different people from all walks of life. It didn’t matter what your family did or the color of your skin. We were all the same because we all loved to skate. Throughout my skateboarding years I loved it the most when I traveled and skated at new spots. It just got me so stoked to skate something I never skated before. My friends from skateboarding are still my friends today. Skateboarding was so good to me, it opened up my mind to explore the streets and to the road of life.

Keir: What do you think of skateboarding in 2008 in general?  Do you still have fun today?   

Peter: The skaters now are taking it another level, which is great to see! They're doing video game moves, but for real; it's so commercial now. My friend Eli Reed told me that he has a soda sponsor and is getting paid!? What? I mean that’s crazy. Just seeing Tony Hawk on TV all the time and everything! When we were skating it was more raw and underground. People would look at us like we were degenerates!  Now you have guys in business suits saying “You know Tony Hawk?” GET DA FUCK OUTTA HERE!!!!!  Back then we skated because it was something out of the ordinary and it made you stand out from the regular! It’s just different now.

Keir: Yeah man it’s definitely weird, but luckily there are still lots of guys like you to help people remember how it used to be and help guide things in a positive direction.  Do you have any words of advice for the young bucks?

Peter: Have fun skating! Don’t get caught up with trying to get sponsored and turning pro. Just skate hard and all that will come naturally. Look at the future, you can’t skate like you used to when you get older, just think of a game plan, because as soon as you know it you’ll be a fireman that has been skating for 20 years and doing an interview and telling the youth the same thing! Haha, but for real time really does fly by. It felt like a just couple of years ago I was skating EMB, it actually was over 16 years ago! Wow. Just have fun, be strong and embrace the future.

Keir: That’s really cool Peter, do you have some folks you’d like to thank? 

Peter: Ok, off the top of my head my brother Esat, Besnik,  Giovanni ANX Estevez, Chris DQM Keeffe, Jamie J-Money Story, Ryan Deep Sea Hickey, Pooky my little Pit Bull, Mike Waddya Got? Hernandez, Keith HUF Hufnagel, Keenan Milton R.I.P., Justin Pierce R.I.P., Phil Shao R.I.P., Natas, Robbie Vehicle Gangemi, Eli Doin it BIG! Reed, Javier HANDZ Nunez, N.A. Brooklyn Baby, Louis Queens Talantino, Zered Switch Basset, Giovanni The voice from the Skate video game Reda, Greg and Mike Carroll, The Carroll, Brothers FRESH!!!, Nick Diamond Tershay, Jason Pickle Dill, Eric Koston and everyone at Girl and Chocolate, Fred Still Ripping Gall, Mark Gonzales, Tim He’s SO jealous Gavin, Ian Kicks, Hi Ganoza,  Gerrard, Market St. Strippers, Kenny Usanmont,  Kiernen Costello, Rick Ibaseta, Jeremy, Henderson,  Harry Jumonji, Christian Hosoi, Michael C’mon Mate O’Meally, Julian FARRRK DelVeccio, Christian Time West,  Wade Underground Burkit, Andrew Cuzza Curry,  Al Cliché Boglio, Samir and Salim, Krim, Gerhard. C.S.C., Stochl, Daiki Hosada, the whole Japanese skate,  scene! Meg Cuz Burnie, Terry Senior Guy Quinn, Mike 19 Truck Reese, Mike Ryder, Trevor Trouble Andrew,  Steven, Black, Lodges, Hoya, Madball, Ezec, Danny Diablo, Rexha, 18 Truck Up, Ya! FDNY, Jefferson I’m married now Pang, Peter I’m married too Huynh, UXA going BIG in 2008!  All my cousins, my sister Lata, Pop, Bekim, Harry and all the people who inspired me and helped me through the rough times!  Last, but not least my beautiful and super cool girlfriend, Bridget Successful Hall, I love you baby!  Thanks Keir for the interview, I had fun doing it.  I guess that’s all for now. Be smart, stay smooth, and I’m outta here!!!!!