Tommy Guerrero

Tommy Guerrero
Tommy Guerrero
	Guerrero performing in 2014
Background information
Born	September 9, 1966 (age 57); San Francisco, California, U.S.
Genres	Downtempo, art rock, alternative rock, electronic, jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, skateboarder
Instrument(s)	Guitar, bass, percussion, keyboards
Years active	1980–present
Website	tommyguerrero.com

Tommy Guerrero (born September 9, 1966) is an American musician, composer, and professional skateboarder.

Early life

Guerrero was born in San Francisco, California. He identifies as being of Ohlone, Chilean, and Filipino descent from his father's side.^[1]

Career

Skateboarding

As a teenager, Guerrero was one of the prominent members of the Bones Brigade, Powell Peralta's professional skateboarding team that was successful during the 1980s. He was well known for his relaxed style of street skateboarding and his Bones Brigade footage was primarily filmed in his hometown of San Francisco—the videos Future Primitive, The Search for Animal Chin, Public Domain, and Ban This all featured the street skateboarding of Guerrero. After riding for Powell Peralta, Guerrero and Jim Thiebaud, a hometown friend and Powell Peralta teammate, started the skateboarding company "Real".

Music

After his success in the world of skateboarding, Guerrero decided to pursue his musical interests and was a member of the skate rock band Free Beer^[2] and the instrumental post-rock group Jet Black Crayon, in addition to releasing many albums under his own name. Guerrero's music touches on multiple genres, including rock, hip hop, funk, soul, and jazz.^[3]

The skateboarding video game Skate has featured numerous unreleased compositions that were written and recorded by Guerrero.^{[citation needed]} One of Guerrero's songs, "Organism", was featured in the 2005 video game Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.^[4]

Awards and accolades

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine named Guerrero's third studio album, Soul Food Taqueria (2003), #2 on its 2003 "Best of" list.^[5]

At the 2013 15th Annual Transworld SKATEboarding Awards, Guerrero was the recipient of the "Legend" award—on the red carpet preceding the awards event, Guerrero stated:

"I'm super grateful, that anyone really cares, to be honest. Um ... conflicted; I'm not one to rest on my laurels and it's hard to accept accolades for something you did thirty years ago, you know? I'd rather be appreciated for what I do now, but I ... I ... I'm super grateful ... I can't believe it [street skateboarding in the 21st century]. I mean the technical aspect, and the consistency, combined with that, is mind-blowing ... but just where it's at now, is, is insane; I mean, what Rodney [Mullen] sort of started, with the technical aspect, to a whole another level, you know? Making it extremely gnarly, extremely technical ... I'd hate to be growing up skating now ..."^[6]

Following his receipt of the Transworld "Legend" award, Guerrero invited all "street skaters" onto the stage to stand alongside him at the Avalon Theater in Hollywood, California, US.^[7]

Discography

Albums

Loose Grooves & Bastard Blues (1998)
A Little Bit of Somethin' (2000)
Soul Food Taqueria (2003)
From the Soil to the Soul (2006)
Return of the Bastard (2008)
Lifeboats & Follies (2011)
No Man's Land (2012) - released in Japan
The Composer Series – Vol. 4 (2xCD) (unknown)^[5]^[8]
Perpetual (2015) - digital release
Road to Knowhere (2018)
Dub Session (2019)
Sunshine Radio (2021)
Amber of Memory (2023)

Singles

"Backintheday" (1995)
"Junk Collector" (2001)
"Rusty Gears Lonely Years" / "Organism" (2001)
"Gettin' It Together" (2004)

EPs

backintheDay+fotraque 7inch (2002)
Year of the Monkey - EP (2005)

Concept albums

Living Dirt (2010)

Collaborations

Hoy Yen Ass'n (collaboration with former Jet Black Crayon member Gadget) (2000)
Guerrero y Gonzales – (What It Isn't) (collaboration with Mark Gonzales, released in Japan) (2001)
Guerrero also compiled and mixed a DJ mix album for the Azuli Records' Late Night Tales / Another Late Night series in 2002, Another Late Night: Tommy Guerrero.
BLKTOP PROJECT - Blktop Project (collaboration with Ray Barbee, Matt Rodriguez, Doug Scharin and Chuck Treece) (2007)
Lord Newborn and The Magic Skulls (collaboration with Money Mark and Shawn Lee)(2009).
BLKTOP PROJECT - Lane Change (collaboration with Ray Barbee, Matt Rodriguez, Doug Scharin and Chuck Treece) (2009)
BLKTOP PROJECT - Concrete Jungle (2016)

References

^ "Thrasher Magazine - Tommy Guerrero". Thrashermagazine.com.
^ Mofo (1984). Caballero, Steve (ed.). "Bands and More Bands". SPEED Zine (Live Performance Photo) (2) – via Internet Archive.
^ Garcia, Fabian. "LEGENDARY SKATEBOARDER TOMMY GUERRERO STAYS IN THE MOMENT ON HIS BOARD, AND IN THE MUSIC STUDIO". SubMerge.
^ Music, I. G. N. (October 7, 2005). "Tony Hawk's American Wasteland Rocks". IGN. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Composer Series". Downtown Music Services. 2013. Archived from the original on April 10, 2013. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
^ "15th Annual TWS Awards Presented by New Era Red Carpet Pt 1 - TransWor ..." (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. March 6, 2013. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
^ VanStyles (February 28, 2013). "TWS AWARDS". The Hundreds. Archived from the original (Photo upload) on March 3, 2013. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
^ "Tommy Guerrero". Discogs.com. 2013. Retrieved March 10, 2013.