#board setup

This week I got to interview Matt @mattattack711, a skater from Arizona that wanted to share his skate story, and his perspective of skating in the wild west. He has a great blog, so give him a follow! If you would like to share your story as well, send me a message!

How long have you been skating for?

I’ve been skating for nearly 9 years now. It’s something that’s always been around my life but finally took action when I was a sophomore.

That's great! What made you want to start skating?

I used to watch jack ass all the time and my cousins and I would make up our own stunts and it kind of evolved from there. I took it a little more serious when I was in high school because of a lot of home and personal issues. It kept me from trouble and just losing my mind. It really saved my life.

I can relate to that! Jackass made us all go out and do dumb things with our cousins. I'm glad to hear that skating kept you in a good place despite those issues. Do you think people outside of skateboarding underestimate how much of an escape and good influence skating is?

Definitely. People are quick to judge and because it’s not a school sport or something parents have in mind for their kid, makes skating just a “hobby” but obviously it’s something way bigger than that. Now it’s influencing everything, including clothes and music.

You're so right, it is much bigger than that. I think a lot of parents think skating will turn their kids into delinquents, when it's keeping them away from that. It really has influenced so many things, do you think skating is growing?

I think it’s at its peak in this generation. Having skating on a bunch of platforms from the internet really is changing skating and how we see it in it’s all. People are getting crazier and creative with skating. One day you can see some 12-year-old doing a hippie jump bigger spin and the next some dude gapping off a 3-story roof. At the same time, I think businesses who would never invest into skating are now taking advantage of the whole thing and ripping off original ideas for skateboarding by skateboarders.

That's true, internet and social media have brought out the creativity of so many people. Especially the YouTube skaters who are trying to outdo each other every day. Do you think the rise of bigger brands like Nike and Adidas, who have recently broke into the skating market, are ruining the DIY aspect of skating or do you think they are reaching a larger audience?

I have always backed Adidas because of their team. Nike is the world’s top athletic attire and isn’t a surprise when they showed up to the game around 2005. But again, both brands are like I said taking the original ideas and making it their own. Perfect example is the rubber toe cap which was introduced by HUF, then domino affect with everybody else like New Balance.

It's almost like a love/hate relationship with these types of brands for those reasons. I would've personally never known about the toe cap thing because the market is so saturated with that design. But all the people who are on those teams deserve the recognition that those brands can produce. Back to you though, you've mentioned to me before that you are from Arizona, how is skating like where you are from?

Being next to California has brought a lot of their vibe over to AZ. A lot of pros come over for the ditches and the crusty spots all over since the 90s. At first, I didn’t know how skating in a place where everything is flat ground and you have to make the best to what you’ve got but then I saw A Happy Medium, which is a crew of local AZ skaters killing it all over where I was living which made me the street skater I am today. I occasionally go to the parks with my friends just to mess around. Nothing serious. I guess the thing that stands Arizona out from everywhere else is that you are skating in 115-degree weather, but hey that’s the Wild West for you! Haha! Az has definitely left its mark in skating. Already have a bunch of locals getting big sponsorships and so far to my knowledge 4 pros came from here and the others are on the rise.

I had no idea that Arizona was an escape for Cali skaters. Are there many parks or is it mostly street/ditch skating? I've heard of A Happy Medium! Jaws was in a couple of those right? It bet it was an eye opener to what you could achieve there. Skating seems much more doable when the skaters and the spots are so relatable. I can't image skating in that type of weather, it'll get 85 here and I'm already like nope, especially on the metal ramps. That's incredible, do you have a favorite AZ skater who influences you the most?

There’s parks, all pretty fun but you know... scooters. Personally, nothing beats street skating though. Yes, that’s how jaws got his start. He’s in all 4 AHM videos and I’ve personally met him when he first got on asphalt and even have a tattoo of one of his graphics. One of his teammates from birdhouse took a pic of it and was with Chris Haslem at a local park and I was fortunate enough to skate with them. Very good day. I’d say the man who really got me into skating has to be Chad Muska. Local legend for sure

Oh, so he is one of your inspirations too! Wow just surrounded by legends, what was it like skating with them? Muska is such a good choice, he's an icon!

I have so many, but he is defiantly apart of it. But ever since I started skating I’ve met so many people and been able to call them my friends and the people who help us skating. Skating with them was very humbling and fortunate experience. I was just letting them skate and they were also filming for a bones bearing edit. I also got to be a part of KOTR for next year. The Element team made their final stop in Az and I helped them with a challenge.

That's great to hear! I think with a lot of other sports it's almost impossible to meet your idols, but with skating they can just show up to where you are skating and be completely chill about it. They can be such good role models too. I gotta ask, do you have any favorite female skaters?

Definitely NORA ALL DAY! I’m so hyped there’s more female skaters, because they have really good vert style. It’s like it’s a natural talent.

Yes!! I feel like Nora is everyone's favorite right now, and rightly so! Have you tried her pro board? I'm glad you are hyped! It really is just pure talent! Her and Lizzie and Allysha make vert skating look so easy.

No but I’ve held one and looks like a great board to ride.

It's definitely a great board, highly recommend it. Do you have any advice or thoughts to share for anyone who would like to start skating?

Do it for you and everything will come naturally. Patience really is key. Be yourself and send it!

Perfect words of wisdom!! And finally, what's your board setup at the moment?