John Drake

John is a Generation One street skater that first picked up a board in 1985. Against the odds on the shores of the Ohio River, John came out of working class Chesapeake, Ohio which lies directly across the water from Huntington, WV. Along with Ron Patrick from Iguana Skates, John developed his skills from the jump ramp era to scouring the Tri-state for contests and demos, eventually landing in a burgeoning Dayton skate scene that included Rob Dyrdek, Mark Heintzman, and John Buchanan. As Alien Workshop started its infancy, John left Assault Skateboards to join the Mothership in 1991, staying in that family until roughly 1999. Together with Rob, John would eventually move to San Diego to pursue a higher ceiling in his skate career, and eventually the two settled into Pacific Beach in the famed “Alien House”, where nearly every skateboarder that mattered in the era would pass through. John tells his story in this epic three hour interview that chronicles many of the most important moments, scenes, and figures of the Ohio skate scene. This podcast was started partially in hopes of unraveling the origins and stories behind Alien Workshop, and John delivers big time in helping tell the story as one of the earliest members of the Sovereign Sect. Im not sure there’s an Ohio skater out there who has seen and been a part of more epic skate history than John. Please check out and subscribe to John’s YouTube channel @SoleSerfer, where he reviews and provides historic information on the footwear and apparel that has influenced him most throughout the years. Shouts to John for doing this, and to @chromeball for laying the foundational information from his first interview.