Five Favorite Parts With Matt Militano

🔑 Intro & Interview by Farran Golding
📝 Photo by Zach Sayles, originally published in Matt and Neil Herrick’s interview for Vague Skate Mag #25

Journeys through cities are a defining characteristic of east coast and independent skateboarding videos. It’s palpable in Matt Militano’s footage, most recently his opener for Zach Sayles’ ethereal production Veil (voted one of the top ten videos of our 2023 Readers Poll and available as a hardcopy directly from Zach for the enthusiasts.)

While skateboarding that is, frankly, very difficult comes packaged with an inherent sense of sincerity, there has always been a playfulness to Matt’s skating — a byproduct of the more unexpected influences he outlines here.

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Jerry Hsu — Enjoi: Bag of Suck (2005)

Enjoi and Tiltmode showed how fun skateboarding should be and there was a great mixture of good skateboarding, hijinx and good music. Jerry’s part speaks for itself.

The Cass McCombs song [“Sacred Heart”} feels fun and uplifting, then he lights the cigarette and Sonic Youth [“Superstar”] comes on, and it feels more serious. That’s a good mixture of how skateboarding feels, in a way.

Getting to know him personally [Ed. Note: Matt started riding for Sci-Fi Fantasy semi-recently] has given me an extra appreciation for him as a person. He’s super nice and easy to talk to. In terms of his skating, I guess [knowing him] could have made me like it a little bit more. But I was already such a big fan of his parts and skating that it’s hard to like it even more.

Nate Broussard — Static III by Josh Stewart (2007)

Static III was the first of the series that I watched. They’re the best east coast videos. I love the feeling a video part gives you when people are skating in cities.

Seeing that as a kid made me want to go to a city and film there. I grew up about an hour from Philadelphia and I started going into Philly around 2009 or ‘10 because I got a car when I was 16. The first thing I did was try to go to these classic spots that are in Static and other videos. I wasn’t great at skating, but I would try to film with my friends.

It’s the filming and the editing of this part too. The Elliott Smith song [“A Distorted Reality Is Now Necessary To Be Free”] and his second is T-Rex [“Ride A White Swan”], which goes so well with it. His style is amazing, flowing through the city with great lines and cool spots. It felt like the most cohesive part in the video. All of the parts are amazing, don’t get me wrong, but I’d say Nate Broussard’s was one of the first parts where I was like, “Wow, this is a masterpiece” on both ends, [with] the filming and skating.

Jake Johnson — Alien Workshop: Mind Field (2009)

I saw Mind Field when I was, like, 15 years old. It inspired the way I wanted to skate and the spots I wanted to skate. The song [“My Girls” by Animal Collective] was so good for the time. It’s my all time favorite part.

I might have gotten Mind Field for Christmas, but it was before YouTube was “a thing” for skate videos. I had this big DVD collection and I still have Mind Field, which gets me stoked. I remember being in awe at the whole video, but Jake’s part is my favorite. The wallie to trailside at the Brooklyn Banks always stood out and he does that insane wallride down the brick double-set. I couldn’t imagine doing wallrides then and it was the first time I thought: “I have to figure out how to do this.”

It still gets me excited, but back then it made me think about skateboarding differently. He does a line at the Brooklyn Banks, a nollie backside 180 to switch manual then switch wallies a jersey barrier. It made me want to do creative lines. I’ll never skate like Jake, but it’s influenced me a lot. Today, it’s the same elements that resonate, but it’s funny — over the years, I’ll have different favorite tricks. When I first saw it, I remember that wallie tailslide being my favorite. Now, it might be the switch flip nosegrind on Pyramid Ledges or some of the lines.

I’ve met him a few times. The first time he was like: “Matt from Pennsylvania, right?” and knew my skating. He has such big Pennsylvania pride; that was really cool. The little kid in me was tripping. Jake is really down to earth. He has to know [the acclaim his Mind Field part has], but he’s such a modest dude. I think he would feel uncomfortable about it. He doesn’t see himself the way everyone else does.

Pat Burke — $lave Skateboards: Radio Television (2009)

Normally, stair skating isn’t my thing, but Pat Burke makes it fun to watch. It looks like he’s having a blast. There’s a line where he’s in a parking lot and he does these quick-footed ollies. He hits rocks, almost falls off of his board, then does a kickflip [out the lot]. Moments like that add so much personality. He does a backside 360 down this three-block and his foot comes off all crazy. I’d rather see someone do it like that than a picture-perfect back three. There’s an element of not knowing if he’s going to land the trick or not. I’d totally end up suffering and redoing it. There’s a small amount of people who can make a crazy land look cool, and he can somehow do that.

I was pretty young when Radio Television came out so I love most of the parts, like Danny Dicola and Anthony Schultz. A lot of [the video] was skating that I can’t relate to: a lot of transition and stairs. It’s all shit that I can’t do which gets me hyped. It looks like he’s having fun and that’s what matters to me. That’s what I feel like skateboarding’s about and why I love this video part. His new parts are amazing too; it’s sick to see him still skating.

Tom Knox — Isle Skateboards: Vase (2015)

Part begins @ 2:15

Tom Knox is easily one of my favorite skateboarders. He’s creative and has the eye for things that most skateboarders don’t. He finds things in London [that] I feel like nobody else does and puts together the most thought-out lines in skateboarding, in my opinion. The mixture of his skating with Jacob Harris’ filming is constantly amazing. It’s hard to pick one part because they’re all so good. Eleventh Hour was amazing, the Atlantic Drift part was so good, but I picked Vase for the songs and vibe. This is probably the part that makes me want to go skate the most.

I’m not sure if Eleventh Hour was the first I saw of him, but I’ve been following his skating for at least ten years. It’s cool to see him become a successful pro skater. I feel like he was under the radar for a while, at least maybe in America.

He really uses all of the spots that London has to offer. Those minute long lines through a housing complex; stuff like that is incredible to piece together. A lot of people can’t do that. Out of any part I’ve named, Tom Knox is the most influential in [as far as] what I can relate to. It’s the skateboarding I try to emulate. Honestly, I’d say Tom Knox’s skateboarding is an art. He’s so creative, it’s the same with the filming. That’s what makes it special to watch.

It’s not every day you see a double song part that keeps your attention throughout the entire thing. It’s more special if you can pull that off. It breaks it up.

Honorable Mentions: Danny Garcia in Mosaic (2003), Poisonous Products by Jeremy Elkin (2012)

Previously: Evan Wasser, Ryuhei Kitazumi, Sarah Meurle, Vitória Mendonça, Andrew Wilson, Ben Kadow, Chandler Burton, Pedro Delfino, Johnny Wilson, Nick Michel, Wes Kremer, Jordan Trahan, Ariana Spencer, Elijah Odom, Greg Hunt, Zered Bassett, Neil Herrick, Trung Nguyen, Nick Boserio, Elissa Steamer, Casper Brooker, John Gardner, Bobshirt, Brandon Turner, Shari White, Nick Jensen, Tony Hawk, Naquan Rollings, Jack O’Grady, Josh Wilson, Maité Steenhoudt, Jahmir Brown, Una Farrar, Chris Jones, Mason Silva, Beatrice Domond, Mark Suciu, Justin Henry, Breana Geering, Sage Elsesser, Bobby Worrest, Nik Stain, Anthony Van Engelen, Dom Henry, Bing Liu, Andrew Reynolds, Cyrus Bennett, Jacob Harris, Jamal Smith, Paul Rodriguez, Gilbert Crockett, Ben Chadourne, Tom Knox, Louie Lopez, The Chrome Ball Incident, The Bunt, Lacey Baker, Andrew Allen, GX1000, Brian Anderson, Gino Iannucci, Josh Kalis, Sean Pablo, Wade Desarmo, Chris Milic, Chad Muska, Hjalte Halberg, Danny Brady, Bill Strobeck, Aaron Herrington, Jerry Hsu, Brad Cromer, Brandon Westgate, Jim Greco, Jake Johnson, Scott Johnston, Josh Stewart, Eric Koston, Karl Watson, Josh Friedberg, John Cardiel, Pontus Alv, Alex Olson, Jahmal Williams