You skate freestyle, street and transition. Sometimes all in the same session. Does that variety come from curiosity or is it just how skating has always made sense to you?
Both. Ever since I was a kid, I have been doing freestyle in my garage. Primos and caspers, you can find them in my earliest footage. In 2008 I was doing one foot primo tricks. I've just always loved freestyle. Growing up, I wasn't inspired by the current skate scene, so I was always looking on YouTube to the past, and I was very anti-ollie for a long time. I was trying to rebel against the ollie. When I turned 15, I started focusing on street skating. The long rainy winters of Vancouver forced me into the dungeons of the underground parking lots.
What does etnies mean to you outside of being on the team?
etnies to me is the first shoe company. I love that Pierre was doing all the early designs while living in his van in Venice Beach. That really helped inspire my path.
What does the Locut do for your skating that you didn't expect when you first put it on?
Board feel. The Locut does a lot, it's definitely my favorite shoe in skating. The amount of board feel, the flexibility of the sole, and the great placing of the stitching.
What's something about skate culture right now that excites you about the future?
I really see an uptick in people focusing on sideways progression. Going back to smaller obstacles to learn harder, more technical tricks. People learn a trick on a curb, then take it to a ledge, a bench or a handrail. Now we can go back to the curb and learn more. Then the next generation can take that to a ledge, a bench, a handrail.
The shoe has your signature on the tongue and custom insole artwork throughout. How involved were you?
I got full control of color and logo placement on my favorite shoe to skate.
If your part in the etnies promo was a nature documentary, what's the ecosystem, who's narrating, and what's the rarest species spotted on camera?
The ecosystem would probably be a concrete forest. The filmer, Matt King, is narrating it. The rarest species is the frontside darkslide.
