Back in about 1997 or 1998 I went to Woodward Camp. I ended up with an instructor from the South. His name was Jeremiah Babb. Miah probably has no memory of this, but I do cuz he ripped and he was my goddamn instructor at skate camp. I was a dumbass kid trying to learn how to skate a ramp feeling like a jackass while Miah cruised around kickflipping pyramids and doing switch crooked grinds. Back then he skated for a little ATL company called Raped-Inc, which was run by the current art director of Pusher Wheels, Shawn Beeks. Cut to 2003 and I moved to Athens, GA to live with my friend Jeff Benson to skate and try to attend college at UGA. Almost every weekend we would ride down to Atlanta to skate. Jeff was good buddies with Miah so he was usually our tour guide. Miah was always super good at skating and always hyped to show people around his city. At the time I think he was on Consolidated and he was one of the skaters that put ATL on the map along with guys like Stormy Pruett and a whole host of other names. He wanted to do the skate thing from the East, and not move out to California. I had a lot of respect for that. Anyway, Miah is an OG from the South who truly loves skating and he’s killed it for decades, so he was the obvious choice when it came to adding another pro to the Pusher crew. He has kids now, a house, a normal job, and blah blah blah, but the dude still skates all the time with the creativity, style and power he has always had. Read the following interview between Shawn Beeks and Miah and you’ll get an inside point of view from one of the South’s prodigal sons of shredding. Enjoy

-Pusher Rob

First off, congratulations on the birth of your second son, and will you be that dad who refuses to sponsor his own child?

Thanks man. I’ve got two of them now. It’s pretty rad with two boys. I don’t think I’ll need to sponsor my kids, but I think being a dad is THE sponsor. I gotta buy all the shit and get em from A to B at certain times. But I’m definitely not doing the skate coach/dad thing. Skating isn’t a sport to me. I’ll pass skateboarding on and they can go from there. I’ll take em where they want to go, or get em into contests, if they want to do them. But more than likely if they’re taking their runs, I’ll probably be skating the mini.

Most fathers have a hiding place to take a break from being an adult. Where do you hide, and what dod you do when no one’s looking?

A hiding place? I got a wife and an iPhone. I am easily found by whoever needs to find me. I go skating, do Bender/carpentry shit, and drink beer when the kids go to bed.

Have you had much time to skate, and where do you usually find yourself?

Liz is cool with me going out any nights I want to. It just depends on what’s been going on all day with either work or the family. But man, I’m old. If I go skate heavy one day, all day. I’m beat for the next few. I normally skate my ramp, Brook Run Park or “the parking garage down the street with the curbs and shit.”

What’s been your impression of the changing Atlanta scene over the past 10 years?

The scene is rad man. There’s so many damn skaters down here now. Everyone migrates in and out for skating. The vibe’s always good. It’s just dudes who are here to ride and live. The parks are sick! A lot of big walls and downtown is still a go, spots everywhere. The scene is still run by the crusty, broke, skate-rats that are out there sweating it out for fun.

Did you ever picture yourself riding a wheel with your name on it, that wasn’t a Seaboard Ave practical joke? (Seaboard Ave. being a classic ATL skate house from years past)

I halfway expected it to have some sort of buck tooth, big nosed, hillbilly, snorting oxycontins with a rebel flag behind him, that’s if we were going back to the Seaboard skate house days of friendship.

Is there a reason behind shaping your own decks?

I got a Ben Schroeder Pocket Pistols board one time, and just loved it. They’re more fun to ride. It feels rad doing it yourself. Stepping out of line. Working with tools and creating something.

A lot of older guys have collections of skate things from years past, like old company T’s, crazy sticker collections from the 90’s, boards up on the living room wall, old mags, old vids, etc. Have you started your own Sanford & Son skate museum, and if so, what are some of your prized possessions?

Oh yeah, I almost hoard when it comes to that stuff. Consolidated tees, Satori tees, A Tim Brauch contest tee, mass stickers, A board from my first Consolidated box that came with a post it note that said “make it count”. My friend Jay Buck’s memorial board. The first free board I ever got. Flyers from demos. Just so much. When I was getting to travel and shit, I knew that time was limited. I tried to absorb as much as I could. Especially with Consolidated. They were my favorite brand as a kid. But, the vids are the raddest. VHS Sub Zero vid was a big part of my teenage years. Underachievers, The Sheep video. The Consolidated videos.

Speaking of videos, you’ve had parts in almost all the major ones coming out of Atlanta. Are there any ones in particular that stand out to you?

The two Ruin shop videos were really rad to film. The friendships that were built in those vids and the growing process of everyone was insane. Matt Creasy made the first one when he was only 16. All of it; unreal at the time. But man, I think everyone down here knows The Dirty South vid in 1999 that Dearth did jump started the whole scene. It showed how much was going on in the city and how good skaters in Atlanta were. It branded the city. It motivated everyone. It was a D.I.Y vid of people you had never heard of made by someone you had never heard of. It wasn’t common practice back then to do that.

I’ve noticed a change in the packaging of Bender Hardware. What was the motivation behind that?

Cheaper, cleaner looking, easier production schedules, Not wanting to deal with some “ghost” man in China for the boxes. Plus the boxes were super expensive. It drove the costs up to the shops. The bolts were hard to paint consistently by hand. I couldn’t make paint rigs big enough to be able to paint more than 40 sets in a session.

What are your future plans for the company?

It’s doing well now. Almost 2 years in. I don’t have the art of running a business down to a science yet, but I’m learning. The dudes on the team are killing it and people seem to be supporting it. I want to just keep it going. I don’t know man”¦it’s hard to look into the future. I had never heard of Skate Jawn this time last year, so it’s hard to predict. Hell, my dad used to say “You gotta have the want to boy, or you ain’t gonna get shit in this world.” I have always lived by those words.

Is there anyone you would like to thank? It’s not an award show, so you can say as much as you like.

Liz, Mom and Dad, Chris Head, Shawn Beeks, Stormy Pruett, my kids, Ruin shop, Pusher Wheels, LowCard dudes, LowAtl dudes, Morico, Deck-Specks, The Seaboard Avenue crew, Skateboarding, Skate Jawn, East Coast, Shitty weather, old bones, lost flip tricks, new ramps, new concrete pits, marble ground, painted curbs, worn out ledges, walls, rippers, shredders, The Master’s Division of bowl contests, Atlanta. Everyone who buys, supports, or skates for Bender Hardware.