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Born on September 2, 1964, Mike McGill spent his early years in Florida before making his first trip out to California in 1978 alongside fellow Floridian Alan “Ollie” Gelfand. Through Gelfand’s connection to Powell Peralta, Mike was initially flowed some product by Stacy Peralta. After landing a centerfold in Skateboarder skating Marina del Rey skatepark, McGill was offered an official spot on the Bones Brigade. During the summer of 1984, Mike landed the McTwist, a 540 mute grab air and easily one of the most influential tricks of all time, at a Swedish Summer Camp, before officially unveiling it at the Del Mar Skate Ranch (and on the cover of TWS) that August.
Rising with the tide of the late ’80s boom, McGill and the Bones Brigade released The Search For Animal Chin video in 1987, when Mike, Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Tommy Guerrero, Lance Mountain, and Rodney Mullen became the most well known and technically influential skateboarders on the planet. McGill’s second graphic with Powell, his skull and snake model by Vernon Courtland Johnson remains one of the most recognizable board graphics of all time. After opening his own chain of skate shops in Encinitas and Florida, and his own skatepark in Carlsbad, Mike eventually departed Powell to launch his own brand, Chapter 7, during the rise of street skating in the early ’90s. In the 2000s, Mike rejoined Powell Peralta. Today, he still owns his skate shop in Encinitas, and is married with two children.
