AVE YOU HAD YOUR HEYDAY YET?
My heyday?
Do you know what that means?
Why don't you explain it to me?
A heyday is when you're at the top of your
game, your peak.
I hope not. I mean, I don't really think of it like.
that. I just think about constantly progressing. I try
to skate my best every day and at the end of the
day, however I've skated is where I'm at. As far as a
heyday, I don't think there's any reason to try and
analyze it, you know?
What is the worst thing you have ever done?
I'm not really good at remembering things I've done.
When it comes to unpleasant things, I draw a blank.
Do you block them out?
I guess that's what it is. Maybe I just don't want to
remember them. Or I don't want other people to know
about them.
Is it better to regret something you have done
than something you haven't done?
Shit, someone just told me about that. It's better to
regret something you have done, for sure.
Do you have any regrets?
I've got a head full of regrets.
What's at the top of the list?
I wish I could have taken my skateboarding a little
more seriously when I first turned pro. I wish I would
have buckled down. I was taking it seriously up until I
turned pro, but then I just was just like, "Well, here I
am," and I kind of poked along and did my thing and
then, after a while, it seemed like I was just wasting
my time. That's why, lately, I've tried to pick up the
pace a bit.
I know you don't take crazy risks, but how do
you get yourself to try gnarly things?
I really haven't been that unfortunate with injuries. I've
gotten my fair share of scrapes and all that, but anyone
who's going through it gets those. Normally, when
you're trying something gnarly, you put getting hurt as
far back into your mind as possible. And you won't try
that thing you want to try until you're ready, and then
things will just kind of build up naturally until you're
ready for it. When you reach that moment, everything
kind of unfolds for you. If you're going to try the trick
and it's super gnarly, you just think about doing it and
usually you wind up on the other end, making it.
What has been your worst injury and what effect
did it have on you?
I broke my ankle twice. It seems like I was just
having a bit of a roll where I was injuring it. Now, I
don't even worry about it. Injuries are just part of
skating. You try not to worry about getting hurt.
Otherwise, you can't do anything. When I hurt my
ankle, we were done filming and I broke it on a
handrail. The worst part of breaking the ankle was
just all the sitting around you have to do. You're not
skating, you're not doing shit. It's not like starting all
over again, but it messes with your confidence, and
it makes it harder to get back to where you were. It's
so easy to reinjure it that it makes you hesitate. It's
just a confidence problem more than anything.
Why did you drop out of high school?
I wasn't into it. School just rubbed me the wrong way.
It's not that big of a deal to drop out of high school in
Oz. A lot of people do it. My parents were good with
it because they felt like school wasn't doing me any
good anyway.
ว
Braving the chalky surface, Matt only
stuck a dozen times before gouging
through a thick frontside 50-50.
62 THRASHER