T H R A S H E R

ISSUE 413 // DEC ‘14

OVERVERT UNDER PRESSURETHE MAKING

OF THE NEW ENJOI

VIDEO

MIND THE GAPMANNY SANTIAGO

INTERVIEW

STOOPS ASIAPEPPER WINTER

& CROMER

HELL ON WHEELSTALES OF

THE SKATETANK

MANNY SANTIAGO

“TO GIVE BACK TO THE PLACE WHERE I BEGAN LIFE IS THE BEST PART.”

Where did you grow up skating?I grew up in Lowell, Ma—The Mill City—skating with Dave Bachinsky.

What were your inspirations back then? Who did you look up to?

The first three skate videos I watched were eS Menikmati, Progression #7 and Flip’s Sorry. It was Kosten, Ronnie Creager, Rodrigo TX and you. So you guys were my inspiration, along with Dave because I always had to keep up with him.

How was the scence back in Lowell?

I first got a part of the scence after my town built a couple skate parks and soon after I starting noticing more and more skaters. The skate scence was pretty good but the more time we spent skating the bigger the scene got. Especially with the younger kids and stuff, to the point where started filming, making videos. Thanks, Camera, Nor’ easter.

How was the scence back in Lowell?

I first got a part of the scence after my town built a couple skateparks and soon after I started noticing more and more skaters. The skate scence was pretty good but the more time we spent skating the bigger the scence got. Especially with the younger kids and stuff, to the point where we had ten kids who were really good and we started filming, making videos. Thanks, Camera, Nor’easter.

What was the trigger for you to move to California?

I feel like I’m pretty aware and I try to learn from other people’s mistakes––things they should have done and never did or what they could have done to try to help their career. I’ve always known that California is the mecca of skateboarding and I had to come to chase after dreams! Once I realized I can come here and ahve a place to stay, thanks to Felix Arguelles, I never left.

How was the transition coming cross country?

I can adjust to anything. As long as I got my skateboard, I’m comfortable. Skateboarding is my oasis from life and when I got here all I was doing was that, so it wasn’t hard. I wasn’t distracted by clinging onto family or friends, even though I love them all, but at the end of the day it’s skatebarding that made me happy and as long as I got that I could live anywhere.

Did you meet felix when you first came to Cali?

I visited Cali a couple times before coming out permantly and I’ve known of felix because of the Rhythm video–– even though it wasn’t my era. People would show me older videos, so I knew who Felix was and when I finally met him––just like when I meet any pro who I’ve watched in skate videos–– I feel like I’ve known them for so long because I’ve watched them skate my whole life. When we met it was pretty brief. Luis Tolentino introduced us when they were on a Famous trip. The next time I saw him was at the Oakley warehouse that looks like a bomb

shelter––something from outer space. They were having a party and I was rolling with Bachinsky. He skated for them at the time. But I didn’t drink then so I was sitting, a bit bored, until I saw someone I recognized–– Felix walking towards me. I nervously blurted out, “ I didn’t know celebrities were gonna be here,” and he just looked at me, laughed and walked away as I realized I had just said the dumbest thing I could ever say. After that I got to know him through Famous and he became a brother to me, offering me a place to crash during my transition to California. He’s mentored me ever since.

What’s up with your filmer, Spanish Mike?

I met him at Tampa Am and you know how there’s always randoms filming from the bleachers? I noticed that this one kid was exclusively filming the Famous crew: me, Luis Tolentino, Andrew Pott. So I asked him for the the footage and he was super hyped to contribute. Next year’s Tampa Am had come around and there he was again, so I invited him to hang out. I was just starting my personal website, mannyslaysall.com, and I needed help blogging and filming. Spanish Mike was young, ambitious, and a courageous kid who

“I WANNA BE ABLE TO DO THE TRICKS I GOT NOW AT 40

YEARS OLD”

“I DIDN’T KNOW CELEBRITIES WERE GONNA BE HERE”

reminded me of myself so we’ve inseparable–– connected at the hip for the past six years.

How did the MSA trademark come about?

It was back when I rode for think skateboards and we were redoing the website, but the blog wasn’t really getting updated. I was traveling like 300 daysout of the year, and as an am without much dough that was pretty unheard of. I had tons of blog content to post from my travels, saying, “Hey, here is your site.” I clicked on it and I was shocked. It said, “Manny Slays All.” I was like, “No, no, no.” That was the slogan for City skateboards which was partners with Think. And “Slays All,” that sounded cocky and arrogant. But the boss was, like, “Look, you skate, you film, you edit, you photoshop, you slay all so it fits perfect. People are not gonna hate.” I gave in and gave it a trial, blogged a ton, redesigned the site and made the acronym MSA because we had stickers and nobody wanted to put “Manny Slays All” stickers on their board. It was way too long and it felt dumb passing out stickers with your name on them, ya know? From there it just escalated and sorta got branded on its own and the credit goes to Think skateboards.

How come you’ve never come to Europe to skate? Any reaons?

Europe’s expensive! I’ve always wanted to but none of my sponsors have ever done a Europe trip. I did go to Barcelona once, but it was only for a few days. Enrique Lorenzo showed us around but we didn’t have enough time there. So I’m finally getting the chance to go back in a few weeks with P-Rod to film with Ty Evans for his Brainfarm project.

You’re a vegetarian and you don’t eat cheese or bread; what’s wrong with you?

I saw Felix do it when he turned 40 and it affected him greatly: feeling better, lookijng to take and I thought that if I could start at 25 I would be able to skate longer, so I’m just doing it for my well being. I wanna be able to do the tricks I got now at 40 years old. I’m gonna do whatever it takes to keep skating as long as I can because skateboarding is my life.

Congratulatios on opening your first skate shop. Tell me about that.

As a kid, I never thought about what my real goals are in life. As I went from being sponsored to am to pro, I started to understand what effect you have on kids around you— the younger generation. I was born in Puerto Rico but I never lived there for long. I wanted to start a distrubution in Puerto Rico because it felt so isolated and it never got the good brands, which in turn really misrepresented the skate scence there. There just wasn’t anybody there bringing in the right brands or putting on contests correctly. I teamed up with my man Fico who lives in PR to start the distrubution and now I got a group of really good friends that make up the scence there, and I’ve used my position to continue the progress. With the locals’ help, we built a skate shop together from scratch, literally putting up the walls. Once

“I TRY TO LEARN FROM OTHERS

PEOPLE’S MISTAKES”

chance to hold before. To give back to the place where I began life is the best part.

Why haven’t you gotten your tooth fixed?

The golden question. Well, here’s what a lot of people have been waiting for. I went through a lot of pain when I lost my tooth. So much that I had to go to the ER because I couldn’t deal with what was going on. When I finally got it removed, I didn’t want anything near that tooth so I had my dentist torch the hole shut. Also, my mom didn’t think it was a bad look. She gave birth to me, so if she’s okay with it then so am I.

You are the one of the nicest guys I know but I’ve also seen you lose it. What does it take to make you snap?

I mean, I treat people how I would like to be treated, also I was taught to treat people with kidness. When I snap it’s not anyone’s fault but more my own mental state. As a passionate person, I think too much or over think things. It’s not a bad thing, though, because that’s what makes me who I am. So I guess the answer is just me.

You seem to always have some new tech wizardry when it comes to handrail moves. Do you spend time doing r&d? Do you have any tricks on your bucket list?

No, I don’t do any r&d. I just like thinking outside the box while being in the box. My goal is to leave a dent in a skateboarding. Give skateboarding something for it giving me life.

Is there an NBD trick you wanna see someone else do?

I told P-Rod to nollie late flip boardslide down a handrail.

What’s up with this Ecko part coming out in November ?

Well, when Ben from Ecko approached me about skating for them, we talked about all the projects we wanted to do togetherwith the brand. He asked me if I wanted to film an Ecko video part for the Thrasher website. I have nothing but love for you guys, so of course I was down. Only thing was, I had all these contests coming up and I wanted focus on them and stay physically healthy. So I didn’t really start filming for the part till the end of August. I have a little under two months left and like 12 clips so far. Just like the 9-10-11 video part, I find myself super motivated

to go film. Well, I have no choice! I hope you guys enjoy Pound 4 Pound, my Ecko/ Thrasher part!

Last question, Manny: where do you see yourself in 20 years?

I’ll probably still have a missing tooth, maybe some tattoos, my son with be 22 and I’ll be living in Puerto Rico, running the skate shop and distrubution, enjoying life and hopefully traveling around to the contests to check out where skateboarding has progressed to.

Watch Manny’s Pound4Pound video in November on thrashermagazine.com.

“TO GIVE BACK TO THE PLACE WHERE I BEGAN LIFE IS THE

BEST PART”

Dec 2014 Thrashermagazine.com

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