Thrasher Magazine

Interview and photos by Michael Burnett

Have you ever overdone it?
Yep. Not feeling the best right now.

What name do you prefer?
Skankie.

How do you pronounce your first name?
Like “dawn.”

Like when the sun first comes up?
Yeah.

Overdone? Nothing a little water can't fix. 

AH-tech! Nosegrind 180 pop-out, middle of the ledge

Boardslide pop over. Nice hat, mate!

Tell the story when you lost the piece of pizza down your arm cast.
I was trying to eat a piece of pizza and a slice got caught in the top of the cast. I tried to get it out with the little scrubber stick—the thing they give you when it gets itchy or whatever, and I accidentally put it down further. I had to wait a few weeks.

How did the piece of pizza fall into the cast to begin with?
Eating pizza. Shit just fell out of my mouth. Then it was stuck there for two weeks. When I went back to the hospital to get the cast cut off it fell out, all black. Pretty rotten. Heavy cast story.

Pizza may slide into place, but eggs are a whole other story.
 

Sunny side up.
 

Skank sparks a scorchin’ Five Docks sesh with an eggplant channel, over easy

Work in a steel factory or nollie heel the box? Skankie always makes wise choices

Yew!

When the ice from the beer becomes the ice for the hip. 

You’ve been road dogging pretty heavy with our guy P-Stone this last year. What lessons have you learned from him?
Well, first of all the most important lesson of all is that when you take a shower in the morning you’re hydrated. That’s the most important one. One shower is equal to five glasses of water. So then you don’t have to drink water during the day.

What else?
Try not to be a cunt. And I’ve gotta go work in a steel factory for 30 years.

How did that come about?
He just went mad dog. It was a long-ass day. Long night. Stone was still kicking’ it. And apparently he worked at a steel factory for 30 years. So there was nothing I could say.

So you’re the back-to-back ESOTY. What’d you do to win the European Skater of the Year?
Skate? I don’t know.

How much planning do you do in your skate career?
Not much. Can you plan stuff?

Some people do.
I can’t. I’m bad at planning.

Bad at planning, excellent at frontside crooked grinds. 

Kambah is a trip. No coping, no flat. Thank God for the escape ladder. 

Haters will say it's hunchy. 

Did you win a prize?
Yep, I got a trophy.

Nice. Is the guy on that trophy wearing shorts like ours?
Nah, it’s just a ball. It’s just a weird trophy. It doesn’t have anything to do with skating.

When in doubt, slob it out – fastplant style. 

He's a head turner alright.  

Hawthorne and Veldhoven, holding it down Down Under.

How’s the trip going?
Great. Ishod’s been on a rampage. He just doesn’t stop. He can do anything he wants. No pause.

What are some highlights so far?
I’ve seen these guys get down on vert and transition. I’m hyped on that. Ishod’s been doing everything. I was psyched to see him boardslide through that curved rail yesterday. The fuckin’ McTwist!

Have you ever McTwisted?
Yeah. Frontside. It’s on the ’Tube somewhere. Early grab!

It's on Youtube somewhere, until then, trip on these Bondi bangahs!
 

Happier times at the pub before the attack of the Irish Midget.

So you’re going straight from this trip to three weeks of camping in New Zealand with Antihero. What’s your camping technique?
Set up the tent before drinking. I’ve tried it the other way around and it doesn’t work.

What happens?
You sleep and the tent flips the other way around. You sleep on the side. You fall out. It’s fucked.

Are you excited to start your new company with The Phelper, Wart Hog Workwear?
Yeah, with P-Stone as the CEO. We got this! There’s a lot of wart hogs around. Filming for a full part.

What happened when you fought that midget the other night?
I was smoking a cigarette and he flicked it out of my hand. He was trying to have a go. He swung at me but missed. So I took him down. Gave him two little punches. Like, what’s up?!

Over the bench and the bar, then go to the bar. 

FS Big Spin Nose Slide, darkness falling fast. Better set up the tent. 

How often do you get to fight someone smaller than you?
That was the first time, but he was confident. Maybe a little too confident.

Lot’s a new experiences in Australia.
Yep, fought a midget. An Irish midget.

Anything you want to say to the people in Australia?
It’s a good country, but don’t let it go to shit by closing the bars at ten!

Roos, cassowaries and Daan Van Der Linden – Australia is truly the greatest land on Earth.