Eric Costello Oral History

Eric Costello Oral History

B-boying/B-girling (Dance)

Climax/Soul Control (Crew)

Smurfs (Crew)

Eric "Flip" Costello was born in Fresno, CA. In this oral history, Costello first reflects on his family history, including his great grandfather's roots in Durango Mexico, and his mother's move from El Centro to Fresno where she raised Flip and three other sons as a single parent. Costello grew up in East Fresno which he describes as racially mixed. While attending Sequoia Middle School, Costello was exposed to hip-hop music and cites the Miracle Man show on KFSR as an important source of expanding his knowledge of both national and local hip-hop music. It was during middle school when Costello also started b-boying, something he was exposed to by his cousin who was in a crew and through VHS tapes circulating the neighborhood. Initially, Costello mostly practiced b-boying alone but he began meeting other b-boys like Pablo Flores and Charles Montgomery at Roosevelt High School and was also good enough to join Smurfs as the crew's first Mexican member (something that raised suspicions from Mexican gangs). Costello specialized in "walks" but felt like he wasn't appreciated by the Smurfs so he ended up forming his own crew, Climax, with Ignacio "JR" Hernandez, Pablo Flores and his brother Alex, and Charles Montgomery. Climax practiced and battled across Fresno including at Holmes Playground, the Mosqueda Center, Roosevelt High School, and Eagles Hall. After a series of injuries, Costello quit dancing and immersed himself in other aspects of hip-hop culture, in particular, emceeing and DJing. Costello reflects on his time in Fresno's underground hip-hop scene and highlights the importance of The Mushroom as a meeting ground for like minded DJs and emcees. In part based on connections developed at the Mushroom, Costello and his Climax crew mates went on to organize a variety of events including Hip-Hop in the park at Holmes playground.

Sean Slusser (interviewer)

Oral history interview, 1 digitized recording, Straight Outta Fresno, Fresno State University

Digital publisher: Claremont Graduate University

The Valley Public History Initiative: Preserving our Stories holds all rights, title, and interest, including literary rights and copyright, to the oral histories and documents collected as part of Straight Outta Fresno: From Popping to B-boys and B-girls project. Oral history narrators retain the non-exclusive right to copy, use, and publish their oral histories during their lifetimes.

MP3

English

Sound

sof_0131

Fresno (Calif.)

Mosqueda Community Center (Fresno, Calif.)

Holmes Playground (Fresno, Calif.)

Theodore Roosevelt High School (Fresno, Calif.)