Interview and Photos by Dave Mount

Where do you live and where do you skate?
I grew up in Burton, Michigan. It’s a small town outside of Flint. I moved to Long Beach, California in 2006 and now I live in Burbank. I usually just skate around here in the Valley, but I try to go out on missions to other spots whenever I can. I really dig the areas along the Foothills; La Crescenta, Altadena, Upland. I drove to Azusa four times last month to get a trick at this barrier. Over the summer some friends and I took a skate trip to Mammoth and skated all the parks. When I die I will have my ashes spread up there or maybe along the Foothills and in the Valley too.

You are always skating different stuff. How do you usually find spots?
I drive around a lot looking for new stuff and I spend way too much time on Google Earth. I actually found Guy Mariano on there once. He was standing with his board and a leaf blower at a spot. I also found Tanner Burzinski on there, mid-session, at this bump over rail. I have a few spot-obsessed friends that run skate-spot accounts on Instagram and we all share pins. I have been getting more into fixing and making spots so I can skate more without having to stray too far from home.

Having stuff to skate close by is ideal. Who do you usually skate with? 
Mostly I just skate alone. It’s tough to coordinate with other people because of my schedule. I have two young kids and a full-time job so I usually only get a couple of hours here and there to skate.

What’s it like always skating solo? Do you run into people at spots? Do you get hyped on that or bummed other people are there?
I don’t mind skating alone. I get to pick the spot and being solo draws less attention, so sessions don’t get cut short. I always run into people while I am out and that usually fires me up. I was at this curb spot I always skate, when I heard skateboards behind me. I looked back and there were Mariano and Janoski rolling up with huge smiles. Nicest dudes ever. Guy showed me some of his clips on his phone and I told him about finding him on Google-Earth. It was totally surreal. I have bumped into them at the same spot a few times now. I’ve run into Kevin Long a couple times too and same vibes, super friendly, encouraging, just fun to skate with. We’ve shared spots with each other and I saw him skating a spot I gave him in an ad, so sick.

What motivates you to skate on your own?
I love skateboarding and I just want to keep going as long as I can. I find a really cool spot or think of a trick and just get obsessed with it until I make it happen. I still watch every video that comes out and that usually gets me pretty sparked. Lately, I have been really into Jimmy Wilkins skating. He is one of my favorites to watch. The lip tricks he does are insane and I try to take them to curbs and then to barriers. I started doing all these weird Losi grinds because of that guy.

Speaking of Jimmy, you get DLX flow, right?
Not flow, but I do product testing for them, and that keeps DLX stuff under me.

How’d you get involved with the product testing? 
A longtime homie runs hard goods over there but lives in L.A. He needed someone local to try new things and really skate them into the ground. I just throw on whatever he gives me and I skate it as hard as I can. I guess it also helps that I skate alone and am kind of secretive, so nothing gets leaked. We spend a lot of late nights in empty parking lots together reviewing wear and tear, swapping parts, talking about the goals for the products, how they should perform, comparing what other testers are saying or feeling. My setup is always kind of changing.

What does it take to successfully test product and give useful feedback?
It takes a lot of memory, always having to compare a new sample to the previous version, or a version that I rode three decks ago. I am constantly analyzing stuff in my head and trying to break down tricks and what will work best for the spot. Sometimes he just asks me to see what it takes to break, bend, or flat spot a sample, and I just go as hard as I can. Then it’s just being able to clearly communicate and explain what works and what doesn’t, what I’m feeling that might be different or consistent through the samples. I am always solo filming stuff too so I always have clips and photos to share with them.

Has your input played a role in the development of any products?
So I’m told, yeah. He keeps putting new stuff under me and we keep talking shop so it must be helpful. I can’t really talk specifics, but since they’re out now, the F4 93, it was a lot of testing to confirm changes to the samples based on feedback that pros were giving. Like, “Hey we got this note, made some tweaks. Test them to make sure they’re ready to send to so-and-so.”

It doesn’t seem like many brands actually invest much into product R+D, decks have mostly been the same for 25 years, same with trucks and wheels. Do you think there’s much room for product innovation in skateboarding?
Skateboarding has become more creative, even on the manufacturing side. The guys at DLX are coming up with such cool stuff. The advancements with wheels in the last couple years have been a game changer. Some new stuff they’re doing with decks that will be coming out soon is seriously next level. I can’t speak to other brands, but DLX takes it seriously.

Do you get paid for testing product?
I don’t get paid. I get boxes of stuff to test and that keeps me hyped. Growing up I only had shop sponsors and was on shoe flow through a rep. Getting a box now is so sick. They keep me skateboarding.

How do you support yourself outside of skateboarding?
I am a video editor and do development for a reality television production company. Basically my whole life centers around research and development.

Any last words?
I will just add that my wife buys me a subscription to Skate Jawn every year for Valentine’s Day, so having the opportunity to do this interview means a lot.