Happy Antonio Durao Week To Antonio Durao
Photos of Antonio Durao courtesy of one of our favorite photographers, Ben Colen. Thanks, Ben.
Last week, Nike SB released a full length video, QuickStrike, featuring more than forty of their team riders.
Those forty include Grant Taylor, Erik Koston, Arin Lester, Kevin Bradley, Max Palmer, Karim Callendar, and many others who perform skateboarding at such a level that it makes me feel ashamed of myself. However, from that group, Antonio Durao’s one foots and gigantic, inhuman hops appeared on screen first.
A week earlier, the new video by Hardbody, OD, premiered in New York City, also featuring an astounding, truly-fucked part by Antonio Durao. The release of these two video parts in such close succession, and the content of each video being so dense and yet so incredibly chill has stirred renewed conversations among dorks in Instagram comments, sitting on green benches at Tompkins and Blue, and Slap’s Useless Wooden Toy Banter about whether or not Antonio Durao is in fact the greatest skater alive. The conversation goes like this:
‘Is he?’
‘Who’s better?’
‘True.’
Can’t argue with that. As one nerd pointed out, an Olympic-level skater like Yuto films a banger and people clap, because that trick is hard and Yuto did it perfectly. Antonio films a trick and people laugh, because it is so fucking insane that he did that that it may as well be a joke. Two different kinds of skating, both alike in dignity in fair skateboarding, and yet, one calls so much more for questioning, so we called Antonio and questioned him..
Hey man.
Hey, how’s it going? How’s Covid?
Oh, dude, so sick. Love Covid. This is my second time getting Covid in four months.
Damn! Four months! I’m sorry, did you get it before when it was hot?
Nah not until this year.
You probably felt dope in the beginning not getting it when everyone else was sick.
Yeah, I was a champion but no more. I’m cooked. You a big Covid guy?
I got it maybe two or three times. In the beginning I was fucking dying, and I needed sleep so bad but I was so out of it. I thought it was 2PM but it was actually 2AM, I hadn’t slept for thirteen hours, I had only slept for two. It sucked. I called the hotel I was staying at like, ‘sorry I missed check out, I’m so sorry, I fell asleep,’ and they were like, ‘check out isn’t for nine hours, man.’
First of all, do you go on Slap message boards ever?
I’ve been a couple times but no I’m not a frequent visitor.
Are you in at all on the argument about whether or not you’re the best skater alive?
[laughs] Ahh, I don’t know, man, I try to stay away from all that.
You put out two parts in what, like, eight days?
Yeah, it’s the only week I’m going to have this year.
What, so no SOTY aspiration?
Oh, yeah, I was talking to them about waiting until the last week of December- nah I’m kidding. It’s kind of weird when people do that now.
What, time it out to win an award?
I mean yeah, whatever, though, I get it if people wanna get theirs. It is funny to me, though, like, ‘Ah, I’ll wait for a couple of my parts to drop in the last month of the year.’
I mean, if you’ve got a gnarly sponsor who will give you a six figure bonus to win SOTY, do it.
Yeah, totally. It depends on the circumstance.
So it just so happens that you release two parts in a week? How does that feel?
I feel like I’m pretty zeroed out now, now I can wait another two years to come out with a part.
“There’s a lot of cliquey, ‘this brand is cool, this brand isn’t’ kind of shit - and I get where that comes from, I even agree with some of it - but I’m happy for those people, I know and am friends with some people like that. ”
I mean, I’m a fan, I’ve seen a lot of footage, I feel like your style is very chill. Everyone says, ‘oh, they make it look easy,’ but you make it look very, very easy. Do you find that it becomes quite a challenge to film a part? Are you buckling down hardcore to film? Or is this just what comes up as you go skating?
I don’t think I’m ever like that, which is nice. It’s kind of a blessing. For the Nike video, the nollie tre, it kind of was a necessity to get a last trick, so I felt a little pressure, but most of the time, 99% of the time, I’m just going out skating. I think that the less I can make this feel like a job, the better. I think that I know myself and the more this feels like a job and the more pressure there is, the less I will want to do it.
Well do you feel any pressure now that you’ve put out two very good parts? Like to one up yourself?
Yeah, that does happen to me. Sort of like, ‘what now?’ It never fucks with me when I actually go skating, but, especially this week because there were a couple things coming out, when I’m not skating, in my mind, I’m like, ‘fuck am I supposed to keep this going?’ Because I can’t put out parts every couple of months, just like, physically.
Well, I mean, switch front blunt Blubba, that wasn’t a chill trick. Am I misunderstanding? Is this just what it’s like to go skating for you?
I mean, that took a bit, for sure. I don’t enjoy going back for stuff too much, but I don’t do things right away, either. It takes time and I definitely struggle; I’m human. It’s just like, if I’ve been skating a lot lately and I’m feeling good and there’s a filmer, I will try to get something, and I will keep trying until I get it.
What do you think you’re most challenged by?
Hmm. It’s funny, man, that nollie tre- that took three times going back, and I never do that. I hate going back for shit, but in this instance, I was just like, ‘alright this is it I will give this a few tries’. Honestly, I can’t really even do that trick on flat most of the time, and I was throwing myself down this fucking thing and every try hurt; three hours in - it was probably an hour but it felt like three hours - I was losing my mind. The second time, I was probably there for an hour and a half just non-stop jumping, I was fucking destroyed and I still didn’t get it. Those parts of skating, though, I appreciate it. I used to not appreciate going back, but it felt way better. It felt good to fuck up that much and then finally do it.
More earned.
Yeah, it felt really earned. For the first time, I’m starting to feel that way about it, I guess because I’m getting older and I have to go back for shit more often now.
This is a specific question that I was asked to ask you: what’s up with your one-footers?
They’re fun! Sometimes they’re too quick and wacky, but I don’t know. The other day I saw a guy made a meme of me, it was a little ass kid on one of those tricycle scooters lifting his leg up and it had my face on it and it said, ‘Antonio Durao be like’ and I was like,’ fuck I’m never doing that shit again.’ Nah, they’re fun. I’m just trying to one foot my way through life. When I can’t kickflip anymore, I’ll still be doing one foots.
A whole one foot part would be sick!
Yeah but I gotta extend them more. Sometimes I look at them and it’s too quick, too small; maybe off a hip or something would be better than a quick foot. I don’t know.
“The other day I saw a guy made a meme of me, it was a little ass kid on one of those tricycle scooters lifting his leg up and it had my face on it and it said, ‘Antonio Durao be like’ and I was like,’ fuck I’m never doing that shit again.’”
Do you pay a lot of attention to the meme/internet side of skateboarding?
Nah, not really. Even that meme, it didn’t really affect me much. To be honest, I’m pretty bad at keeping up with social media. I’ve got like a hundred DM’s right now and I don’t think I’m going to check them. No more DM’s. I like text, I like phone calls, but no more DM’s.
You, like me, have been around long enough to see skateboarding move from video parts to Instagram clips. How do you feel about that?
I think that video parts are more special because it’s more of a project, and I think it’s more impactful than an Instagram clip, or any clip. It’s sick if you remember Instagram clips, that’s cool, but it’s not the same as having this memorable part; it’s not the same as like, Jake Johnson Mindfield. You know what I mean? It’s more special to me. I feel like you can kind of see someone’s personality more in a video part. Maybe not, though. You know, maybe not. As long as you’re fucking skating and having fun doing it, do whatever you want. I don’t want to be the old guy hater here. As long as you’re having fun, do whatever you want. I do prefer parts and it is kind of funny how it’s transitioned. I’m over here filming a part and some kid is probably making a living off of their Instagram clips, and I’ve begun to accept and open my mind to all of that; I’ve realized that I am extremely lucky to be able to skate for a living and have companies who back me.
Even if someone skates for a company that isn’t perceived as being as cool, I’m not ever going to shit on those people. That’s sick, you’re getting hooked up, you get to go skate and travel with your friends. There’s a lot of cliquey, ‘this brand is cool, this brand isn’t’ kind of shit - and I get where that comes from, I even agree with some of it - but I’m happy for those people, I know and am friends with some people like that. Those people are cool, they’re traveling, they’re making a living, I’m all for it.
The world is kind of your oyster right now, you’re in a glorious week. What do you think is the move?
Like what would I want to do in the future?
Yeah.
Take a break, that’d be sick. I know that sounds burnt, but I’ve been skating this year more than I have been in the past. I took kind of a break from skating but now I’m back to skating every day, and it feels good, but I love too many things. I have this car I’m building in the backyard- I have too many things that I like doing. I think I might be working on one or two things with Hardbody, but there’s time. Right now, I feel like I can breathe a little bit.
