Tony Hawk Surprised By ‘Pro Skater’ Soundtrack’s Impact

Tony Hawk is among the greatest skateboarders ever, and it’s hard to say he’s anything but No. 1 when it comes to pop culture impact. This is thanks largely to the 1999 video game Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and the sequels that followed. It’s one of the most iconic games of the original PlayStation era, and part of that is due to the game’s soundtrack, which is one of the most distinct and memorable in gaming history.

Hawk reflected on that during his appearance on The Late Show last night (March 3), revealing he had no idea how strongly it would endure. He said he was “very involved” in putting the soundtrack together and explained:

“It was fun because we weren’t under many regulations for that game. It had never been done before, so Activision gave us free reign to do whatever we wanted, so I definitely wanted to keep the culture alive in it and represent it well. So I just threw out bands that I heard growing up at the skate park, largely rooted in ’80s punk rock. It was like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Sex Pistols, Gang Of Four, Dead Kennedys, and I didn’t realize that that would be such an iconic part of the game as well, and people really identified with the music. I think it opened up people’s eyes to new bands and new genres.”

Check out the interview clip above. For more information, Hawk also participated in recent oral histories about the game soundtrack for Kerrang and Rolling Stone.