188 Thrasher“
wasn’t something I was destined to do. As
I accepted that, I started skating more for
myself rather than to do all these crazy
tricks to try to make it into
a career, and that really helped me enjoy
skating that much more. I believe
overall I improved a lot more, from
getting more comfortable on a board to
looking better. I became more in tune
with myself and self-aware. I wouldn’t
say that’s the same journey that you took
but it could be somewhere along the lines
of self-acceptance.
It’s kind of backwards from what you’re saying
because I don’t necessarily look as good doing
these things, such as ollieing that big gap.
What I’m trying to say is that you can
watch someone skate and really tell when
they enjoy skateboarding. You can tell a
difference when someone has to skate for
their job rather than, Holy shit, this is the
best thing ever.
I kind of agree but it’s not something I look for
when I watch someone’s skating. I don’t think I
notice that kind of thing. I think when I watch
people skate, I see something else.
What do you see?
Ishod, for instance, is someone I can say
looks like he’s having fun but I wouldn’t say
that to myself. I would say what I’m looking
for the most is that when it appears are the
instances of complete perfection. I filmed
him do a noseblunt on the smaller vert wall
at the Grotto Lotto, which is about seven-or-
eight feet tall. It’s just the most perfect thing
I’ve ever seen. Sure, it looks like he’s having
fun because it’s not hard for him and he likes
that trick, but there are certain photographs
by photographers from the ’70s of certain
buildings of modernist architecture that I look
at as being perfectly composed—perfection in
every sense—and I felt the same way when I
watched Ishod do that noseblunt. What I think
I’m looking for are instances of just complete
unity with your board. When you achieve
that kind of perfection, there’s an absence of
technique that is pure skating.
I feel like that’s the exact definition of
technique, not the absence.
No, because you can have one good technique
without having another. You can push well to
a spot but then blow the trick. Frankie Spears
sometimes misses his ollie a little bit but
then he’ll back Smith a 20 stair with perfect
execution of the back Smith minus the ollie
in—the way he’s on the board, his arms, how
little he moves, how easy it looks for him.
So it’s the whole trick, from beginning
to end.
With this noseblunt, yeah.
Let me get this straight—it goes push,
entry, the execution of the trick, rolling
away, everything.
That was the best noseblunt ever done.
That’s being a perfectionist.
What I’m looking for is perfection, from the
little bits to the entire thing.Well, with the way you view perfection
and the means you desire achieving so,
do you feel like you could come off as
someone that might be a control freak in
terms of your skating and career choices?
No, I don’t think of myself as one because I
don’t freak out over controlling everything.
That’s what I’m interested in and I want to do
things as well as possible but I’m not going to
be a dick. What if I don’t like this interview or
the photos and I tell you guys that you have to
stop it from being pressed? No, I’m hyped on it
so far but I’ve had things in the past come out
and hated the whole thing. It sucks, but onto
the next.I meant more towards an internal battle
with perfection. Say you do a trick and
you do it multiple times. It’s a very hard
trick that you went through hell and
back to land. The clip looks good but you
don’t view it in your vision of perfection.
Would you still use that clip?
Yes, I would still use it, however, if I still have
time, I would like to go back and redo it. To
me, that’s what’s important. I varial heeled a
five-flat-five, which I was hyped on for awhile
and the footage hasn’t come out yet. To see a
varial heel is one thing but to see a good one
is completely different. You’ve added an extra
element. We’re still working on this video part
that it’s going to be used in. A year later I went
back and said to myself that it was what I was
going to do that day. Now I have that easy and
I can do it even better. I landed it a little stiff or
it didn’t hit my feet perfectly. I think that little
difference is so fucking valuable.TAKETOMO