Interview - Mike (Not Like You Zine/Records)

1.Loud and rad greetings from Perú Hell,Mike! Hows going the things at Not Like You Zine?

Thanks so much for including me!!

Hey great to hear from you. Just landed in my new home on the east coast of the US in New Jersey. Things are crazy but good.  Everything has been on hiatus while I moved but once in settled Skate Ratz Vol 3 LP will go to the pressing plant. I'm working on a new issue of the zine all about Skate Rock and we have a couple bands in the studio working on records including skate rock legends Minus One!

2.Tell us how you put in run Not Like You Zine? Hows been the beginnings?

Believe it or not NLY started 10 years ago. It started off with me feeling so disconnected from so much that mattered to me living where I was so I began the zine and that snowballed into the label. Crazy to look back on all we've done in 10 years. So stoked on the people we have worked with and the support people have shown us.

3.Influences and motivations to keep in the streets with Not Like You Zine supporting the underground skaetboarding?

My biggest motivation is to give back to something that has been giving to me most of my life be it skateboarding or hardcore.  Zines were our form of the Internet. Geek Attack were the big brothers we didn't have and whenever you came across them you got a new issue of the zine and skated and just had a blast.  It's how we got our info and learned about cool stuff.  I just wanted to keep that spirit going.  "Spreading the stoke" as my friends Rabid Assault like to say. As for the label I just wanted to release bands that I enjoyed. Even if they don't get the support they should, being able to work with bands I like makes all the hard work (and expense )of doing a label and the zine worth it. 

4.What you think about DIY? How many DIYs have your city?

Do you mean DIY spots? They're the life's blood of skating.  When I grew up skating in the 80s in NJ we didn't have skate parks and everything in one place. You had to go out and find it. Maybe you could skate there once and never go back or maybe it would be a regular spot for a while.  Now it's the DIY spots. I've literally been in my new town for 48 hours and it's been raining no stop but once in settled I hope to get our amongst the locals and check out the DIY spots and shoot some pics for the zine too.  There's nothing like a skate spot made by skaters for skaters.  The raddest spots are always DIY spots.

5.Gimme more information about Not Like You Zine? too is a hardcore skate punk label?

Yeah the zine is all about punk, hardcore, skating and anything else I find interesting in the moment. It's really a selfish endeavor because I do it for me. I just got lucky and found a bunch of other people all over the place who have similar interests and support what I do. NLY is also a record label we've put out 40+ records over a 10 year period with more to come

6.Your top five of hardcore skate punk bands:

Wow this is one of those questions that could change depending on the day but here goes

Old school bands in no particular order

The Faction

Minus One

Los Olvidados

Agent Orange 

Big Boys . 

Every one of those bands was hugely influential on me growing up.

New bands

Fastplants

Stale Phish

Bloodstains

Slashers

Rabid Assault (those guys have the best attitudes and make every time you're around them a total party. I'm so stoked we got to work together)

7.Explain some more about the underground and diy skateboarding scene of your city.

Like I said earlier I'm brand new to this area so don't know what it has to offer yet. The city I came from is the home of the world famous Indian School ditch.  That is one of the best places to skate PERIOD!! To live close to that was a blessing. I don't destroy too many boards anymore but I def destroyed my knees haha. (It's actually wrapped in K tape as we speak) My order for spots is street, ditches, bowls. I'm not much of a vert guy and never was. I enjoy watching it but I don't have the wiring to be 10 feet up droppin in. Now I love photographing it but that's another story.

8.Where underground skateboarders can find merch of Not Like You Zine?

Our stuff is on our site www.notlikeyourecords.com and also available from cool spots like black market skates in Seattle and 518 underground in FL as well as many record and zine shops around the world. 

9.Future plans at Not Like You Zine?

Skate Ratz Vol 3 compilation LP will be next followed by Minus One's tracks from the very first Thrasher Magazine compilation finally on vinyl for the first time ever with some other tunes as well. Still collecting contributions for our all Skate Rock issue of the zine that's in the works too. Hopefully I can eventually put on a skate and music event somewhere on the Jersey Shore like I used to do in Vegas with my buddy Dean Blue Tile Lounge.  Check out his new band Dana Plato too!

10.Hey mate,thanks for your time in this interview,last words!

Thank you man it's been an honor. Always stoked when someone takes an interest in what I do so thank YOU! Just remember we all got into punk and skateboarding because we didn't want to "fit it" with the way the world was.  Do what makes you happy the way it makes you happiest. No one else's opinion matters. Skate for fun!!!