DC Shoe and SBTG’s Circus of Mutants Collection is just about to be launched locally in Singapore. With the tribute and spotlight of this collection being the Circus of Mutants – legendary Singaporean skate crew of the late 80’s, we managed to get a hold of these old skate cats to shed some light on some historical facts about the old skate crew.

How and why was the Circus of Mutants formed?

Suhaimi: It actually started because of the neighborhood that we lived in. You could say that we were living in a ghetto, in the east side. And I wanted to raise my younger brother (Adyll) right. So one day, we decided that if we could get enough people, we should start a skate crew. But during the late 80’s, skate ramps were a very rare in Singapore, and we had ramps, which was one of the reasons why we became known nationwide. There was this kid, Angus, who was one of the first few people that joined us, and his dad contributed some money to us to build ramps. We also picked up whatever junk that we could find to fashion into obstacles or ramps. That’s how we made a name for ourselves.

We know that there were other skate crews during that time, but what made Circus of Mutants special and why did you guys choose to be part of this crew?

Adyll: The main thing is that we never picked people to join us. It was more based on friendships which grew into a family. It doesn’t matter how skillful you are, just as long as you skated, you would have been welcome to join the family. It didn’t matter if you are young or old, good or lousy, you could join us.

Suhaimi: It didn’t matter if you were a poor kid;  you didn’t even have to dress up like a skateboarder. Anyone could ride with us. You had to look cool to fit in with some other crews, but that wasn’t the case for us. That was probably the reason why we grew bigger than the other skate crews.

What were your fondest memories of being part of the Circus of Mutants?

Lucas: Can’t remember man, I was still a virgin.

‘Mike’: What I can really recall is that I really miss those days. Stress free – you didn’t need to worry about money. Last time, $2 would get you anywhere. With only your bus pass and your skateboard. Happiest moment, I would say, is during the time that we spent together, the rest of the Mutants.

Zulkifli: For me, it was rushing back from school and just meeting friends. Life long friends. It doesn’t get easier than that I suppose. Just hanging out with friends, making sure we come back from school very early so that you could just change and grab your board. The place where they used to skate, was right behind my place. So I just came home, changed out of my school uniform and my mom would ask me where the hell I was going, and I would just tell her that I was going to meet some friends. And my mom was calling me crazy and all that.

Jupri: To me, the most happiest moment was when we finished up the ramp. That was the most important thing. Because, without the ramp we can’t ‘fly’. With the ramp, everyone could perform.

Adyll: For me, it was the fact that I had a chance to meet up with everybody. From friends, we became family. And this is passion for skateboarding and passion for everything. Friendships and passion. And even until now, we’re all still here together.

Zulkifli: I’ll tell you what’s really welcoming about this thing. You didn’t feel like you needed to belong, you didn’t feel like you needed to hang out at a shop, or you didn’t feel like you need to wear certain kind of clothes. Some of the guys they wore really tattered soccer shorts and singlets that they took from their brothers, that kind of thing, with some school shoes. So you didn’t feel like there was this need to buy the expensive Thrasher pants that would have cost me a $100, we couldn’t afford it at that time anyway. Like ‘Mike’ said you know, $2 and a bus pass. That was the attraction, that was why a lot of people hung out with us. And plus, a lot of us were Tampines boys. At that time, the only other place was Kallang (People’s Association) and it was too far. These guys skated right behind my block.

‘Mike’: I still remember, I used to wear BM2000 to skate!

Zulkifli: So it’s true right? You didn’t feel like you needed to buy expensive stuff.

Adyll: There was once I remember, we took a PVC pipe from a construction site, and used it to practice our boardslides.

Suhaimi: We always felt like we didn’t need to build things too perfectly, whatever we could use or get our hands on.

Lucas: Basically we could skate the whole day. We just need a curb. And everything was there for us to skate the whole day long.

‘Mike’: Something that I can’t forget is one of the places that we really thrashed. Funan Centre and Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station.

Lucas: Funan Banks.

Kenneth: Basically, I was just skating and following wherever that they went. If it was Funan, ok. Or Dhoby Ghaut, ok. Or even Tampines also ok.

What are the life long lessons that you have learnt from being a part of Circus of Mutants?

Suhaimi: The lesson that I learnt, is that you can’t do anything alone. Even if you come up with an idea, even if you create something, you cannot do it without people around you  giving you the necessary support. Same thing applies to my music. Credit goes to everybody. We also learnt to get along with one another very well. And from then we apply those values until now.

What was the size of Circus of Mutants at its peak?

Suhaimi: About 30 members. Even some of them are not skaters, they were BMX-ers, and some of the people who helped me to build the ramp.

Lucas: From what I can remember, during our competition days, we’re talking about 70 to 80 members at least.

Suhaimi: Yeah, including the new ones, including the people that just joined. The competition that the Police and MacDonald’s sponsored.

‘Mike’: It was sort of a family bond, rather than a lot of people viewing us as an outcast, or public enemy or a menace to the public. But what we have learnt a great deal of is really respect and teamwork.

So what happened to the Circus of Mutants? Why did it disband?

Suhaimi: Our ramps got burnt. So there was no reason for us to gather any more. There were still small groups of us skating around. And like everything else, people grow up also. But the main reason is that the ramps got burnt. Somebody burnt it all.

‘Mike’: Our ramps got sabotaged.

Is there anything that you guys would like to say to the younger skaters out there today?

Lucas: Buy more shoes. Haha.

Kenneth: Buy more skateboards. Haha.

Zubir: Appreciate your suroundings, if you can’t skate because of reason, make a reason. If you don’t have a ramp, make a ramp. If you don’t have a skateboard, make a skateboard. If old people can do it, so can you. So shut-up and go skate.

Let’s end of this session with some closing words about the late Rezal.

Suhaimi: To me he was one of our best skaters. The guy who actually help made the Circus of Mutants name big. And even after we stopped, he still skated. Very nice humble guy, he could get along with everybody. And I miss him very much. He deserves the respect of being one of the legendary skaters of Singapore.

Kenneth: Is this serious stuff? Cos, I want to say sorry to Rezal for breaking the first ramp that he built. Haha.

Adyll: I still miss him till this day.