{"id":94968,"date":"2023-06-05T14:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-05T21:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/?p=94968"},"modified":"2024-01-08T09:17:58","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T17:17:58","slug":"mason-silva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/mason-silva\/","title":{"rendered":"MASON SILVA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>MASON SILVA<\/strong> <strong>INTERVIEW BY\u00a0JEFF HO<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAN LEVY AND ANTHONY ACOSTA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The first thing that comes to mind when you mention the name Mason Silva is that he is extraordinary on his skateboard and one of the nicest people you are lucky to meet. Mason\u2019s approach to the off-grid, unique terrain is second to none, with trick selections most would not even consider trying on anything let alone the spots he chooses. His musical interests are as eclectic as his video parts and reflect his love for digging for vinyl that may be overlooked by most. His accolades are well deserved and he is far from done putting his stamp in the books of skateboarding history. Here is a conversation from one generation with Jeff Ho to generation now with the one and only Mason Silva. \u2013\u00a0INTRODUCTION BY JEFF HO<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Mason. How are you doing?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What\u2019s up, Jeff? I\u2019m good. How are you?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Good. Let\u2019s talk about the beginning of Mason. Where are you from?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was born and raised in Manhattan Beach. My whole family is a family of surfers, so skating was second to surfing for a long time. I never really got super into skating until I met Chris Russell from &nbsp; Hermosa Beach and we started skating together. That was the big turning point of starting to push each other and skating vert ramps and stuff like that. From there, I just got obsessed with skating and stopped surfing as much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How old were you when you started surfing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was seven when I first started surfing. When 12 hit, I met Chris and we started skating, and then I just kind of stopped surfing as much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When you met Chris, there was a moment when you just thought, \u201cBoom, this is it. Skateboarding is my thing.\u201d&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. We were always skating vert ramps and his parents would drive us to the Combi at the Vans Park in Orange. I always felt behind because he was just another level in the pool. He\u2019s just the man. When I started skating the street course there, I felt like I found my lane. I was just progressing so much faster doing that. I was like, \u201cOh, I think I\u2019m good at this. I\u2019m just gonna start skating street.\u201d I think that was the turning point, once I got out of the pool and into the streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I love it. So your mom and dad surfed too?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. My dad is a huge surfer. He\u2019s gone on records where he\u2019s surfed for four years straight every day. My mom surfs every weekend with him. My brother was sponsored for a while surfing, so it\u2019s a whole family thing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>That\u2019s cool. Do they ride for anybody?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My brother was riding for Body Glove and then he was surfing in college contests and then he fizzled out of it because there was no real way to make enough money to live, so he got a normal job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cMy whole family is a family of surfers, so skating was second to surfing for a long time. I never really got super into skating until I met Chris Russell from Hermosa Beach and we started skating together. That was the big turning point of starting to push each other and skating vert ramps and stuff like that.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Right on. When you were young, what was your idea about becoming pro? Did you think that you might want to do that or did you have sponsors pushing you along?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. I had a few friends that were sponsored around the time. I had met Louie Lopez and I was friends with him. My friend Jared was in the same boat as I was. We would get some free stuff here and there, but we weren\u2019t sponsored. There weren\u2019t companies pushing us. Then I went to an Element contest in the valley. I just showed up and skated it and the team manager for Element came over and was like, \u201cWe would love to give you boards and make this a real thing.\u201d I was like, \u201cOh my God, I don\u2019t even know what that means.\u201d I was kind of clueless, but I was ready for it. From there, they were really cool to work with me and tell me the deal of how to be a skater and teach me the ways. That whole team was a big influence. When you\u2019re a kid hanging out with older people, you\u2019re like, \u201cI gotta stop acting like a little shithead and get my stuff together.\u201d They definitely checked me on some things and made me chill out and be a normal skater. That was a huge influence on me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What year was this?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2010. I was 14. It wasn\u2019t like I knew exactly what I was doing, so it was a big leap for them to work with me for so long. It was four years until they started paying me. They worked with me through high school and they were like, \u201cOnce you get out of high school, we\u2019re gonna do all these trips and stuff.\u201d They let me finish high school and be a normal kid first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Did you have a skateboard you liked then?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was using an 8.0 and now I\u2019m on an 8.4. I was really little back then. I was like a size 4 1\/2 shoe. [laughs] I evolved into a bigger board.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Did you have a type of wheel you liked?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back then I was riding for Autobahn because Jason Rogers hooked me up and I went on a few trips with them. Once I found Spitfires, I was hooked on those.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Who was the crew you started out with?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have to give a lot of credit to Louie Lopez. I met him because my dad was one of his teachers at a school in Hawthorne.&nbsp; think he thought I was just some kid that picked up a skateboard a few times, but I could skate by then. He was like, \u201cOh, we can skate together. This is cool.\u201d We were around the same age and he was already sponsored, so he taught me a lot about how to go about things. He\u2019d bring out with the Flip team and Geoff Rowley would be there. Skating in front of Geoff and actually landing something in front of him, I was like, \u201cOh my god. This is crazy.\u201d I just couldn\u2019t believe that he was standing in front of me because he is one of my heroes. That is one of the best memories I have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1008\" height=\"1511\" src=\"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MasonSilva_KinkedBoardslide_LosAngelesCa_Acosta_2020_BW.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-94973\" srcset=\"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MasonSilva_KinkedBoardslide_LosAngelesCa_Acosta_2020_BW.jpg 1008w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MasonSilva_KinkedBoardslide_LosAngelesCa_Acosta_2020_BW-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MasonSilva_KinkedBoardslide_LosAngelesCa_Acosta_2020_BW-614x920.jpg 614w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MasonSilva_KinkedBoardslide_LosAngelesCa_Acosta_2020_BW-768x1151.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1008px) 100vw, 1008px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">KINKED BOARDSLIDE &#8211; LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. PHOTO BY ANTHONY ACOSTA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Did you skate Venice with Louie Lopez?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. I skated Venice opening day with Louie. We were both trying this trick down the four block, and I did it before him. He was like, \u201cThis kid!\u201d That was when the clashing started. We were like, \u201cWe can battle against each other on the same level now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Nice. Did you ever do the contest thing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I did them, but I wasn\u2019t into it. I was like, \u201cI\u2019ll do it,\u201d because my sponsors were like, \u201cYeah. You can sign up for it.\u201d If it\u2019s on my own, I\u2019m not gonna go pay money and sign myself up. I still do the core ones like Tampa Pro, but I\u2019m not seeking out contests. I\u2019m not doing Street League or anything like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>There are skateparks all over now and I know you\u2019ve skated a lot of them. Which ones do you like to skate the most?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I really like Belvedere in East LA. I think Ben Schroeder designed it. It\u2019s fun. I like skating Garvanza in Highland Park too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cool. There\u2019s skate spots too. Are there spots that you like better than others?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s a couple of parking lots by my house. I just love skating curbs around here, and any ditch spot. Cruising around a ditch is one of the funnest things in skating, so that\u2019s number one for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>First skate photo in the mags?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My first skate photo in the mag was a Photograffiti in the back of Thrasher, shot by my friend, Keith. That was huge to get in a mag. Seeing that for the first time, it was such a crazy feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cool. Let\u2019s talk about the day when I met you and Garrett at the Venice Skatepark.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. That was the day that I ollied over Theia. The photo that Dan got that day is so good. I had heard that Theia was skating and I was like, \u201cShe\u2019s one. What do you mean she\u2019s skating?\u201d Garrett is crazy, and he was like, \u201cNo, she\u2019s got it. She just gets low and goes for it.\u201d That blew my mind. To be able to get that photo, it was so crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>That\u2019s a cool photo. It was good to see Garrett\u2019s daughter skating. Ginger\u2019s mom was there too, and Ginger skates a lot too.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh, yeah. She\u2019s ripping. I skated with her yesterday and she\u2019s still killing it. She\u2019s working nine to five every weekday and then skating on the weekends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>So you two have fun skating together?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. We both love skating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cThat was the day that I ollied over Theia. The photo that Dan got that day is so good. I had heard that Theia was skating and I was like, \u201cShe\u2019s one. What do you mean she\u2019s skating?\u201d Garrett is crazy, and he was like, \u201cNo, she\u2019s got it. She just gets low and goes for it.\u201d That blew my mind. To be able to get that photo, it was so crazy.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When did you move away from Venice?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We moved last year. We bought a place in East LA and we\u2019re stoked. It\u2019s just a little house in a chill neighborhood with some good food around here. It\u2019s super close to everywhere I\u2019m skating, so I drive a lot less now. I miss being by the beach and having that ocean breeze though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Right. What did you think of Garrett\u2019s HBO series, 100 Foot Wave winning an Emmy?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amazing. That was one of my favorite watches. He\u2019s such a crazy human and I\u2019m so glad everyone gets to see it now. It really showcased how wild he is and how driven he is to do what he wants to do, so I\u2019m super stoked on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>They\u2019re coming out with a season three.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. I can\u2019t wait to see it. I saw that they went to Cortes Bank and filmed. It\u2019s crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Yeah. Let\u2019s talk about the filming that you do for your parts. Are you always looking for spots to skate because you\u2019ve got some really slick videos.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you. Yeah. That\u2019s number one in my mind all the time. I can\u2019t drive around or bike around without staring left and right looking for spots all the time. That keeps me going, just finding new stuff and thinking about new tricks to do. Even right now I\u2019m thinking about concreting something in the ditch over here. There\u2019s always something to be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Some of the stuff I\u2019ve seen, it\u2019s all over the world. How does that happen?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve been lucky enough that Nike is supportive and I\u2019ve got a lot of sponsors that are down to do these big trips to Paris and wherever. I\u2019ve been lucky to be able to travel all these places. It\u2019s one of the coolest things about skating, to be able to do that. I probably wouldn\u2019t have gone myself to these places on my own dime, but if they\u2019re paying, I\u2019m going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Who are your sponsors now?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nike, Huf, Spitfire, Real, Independent and Bronson are my sponsors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1008\" height=\"672\" src=\"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MASONSILVA-BE8A4746-copy-2-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-94971\" srcset=\"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MASONSILVA-BE8A4746-copy-2-1.jpg 1008w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MASONSILVA-BE8A4746-copy-2-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MASONSILVA-BE8A4746-copy-2-1-614x409.jpg 614w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MASONSILVA-BE8A4746-copy-2-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1008px) 100vw, 1008px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">MASON OLLIES OVER THEIA MCNAMARA AND HER DAD, GARRETT MCNAMARA, BIG WAVE PIONEER AND\u00a0STAR OF \u201c100 FOOT WAVE\u201d, WITH SURF SKATE ICON, JEFF HO IN VENICE. PHOTO \u00a9 DAN LEVY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do you guys just get together and come up with an idea and put it together?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. They\u2019re super supportive. They\u2019re like, \u201cIf you\u2019re filming and you\u2019re killing it, we\u2019ve got your back 100%. There\u2019s not many expectations, as long as I\u2019m doing my thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>It\u2019s really cool because you got 2020 Skateboarder of the Year.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yep. I think that now they really trust me. They\u2019re like, \u201cAll right, you know what you\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Right on. What are we looking forward to now? Do you have some stuff in the can?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve got a part coming out for my Nike colorway shoe and then I\u2019ve got a Huf video that\u2019s going to come out in the summer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sick. We will be looking forward to that.&nbsp; Let\u2019s talk about choosing songs for your parts. Are you involved with soundtracks?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh, yeah. I\u2019ve chosen all my songs. I\u2019m super into music and I\u2019ve got all these records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do you film the part first and then go through your catalog to chose the music?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. I\u2019ll do the filming first and then watch the footage. Based on the speed of the skating or the kind of cuts and tricks we have, I\u2019m like, \u201cThis would go good with a super fast one.\u201d Or maybe I\u2019m like, \u201cThis would be good slow-mo, with a slow song.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>From what I understand, you have a pretty extensive vinyl collection. What are some of the records that you really like?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I really like Sonic Youth and Roxy Music and I\u2019ve got a couple of Circle Jerks records that I\u2019m stoked on. I\u2019ve been super into Yellowman reggae recently too.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What is one of your favorite trips?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first time I went to Japan with Element was one of my favorites because it\u2019s the coolest place ever. We went to Tokyo for seven days and it was the time of my life. It was so fun. I was just skating around and getting yelled at by security guards. It was fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Let\u2019s talk about the gnarliest interactions with security guards and cops chasing you.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My gnarliest interaction with security guards was in Tokyo. I was skating and got tackled by two cops, just for stepping on a board. I couldn\u2019t say anything because they couldn\u2019t understand me. I was like, \u201cI\u2019m good. I\u2019m not doing anything.\u201d I just picked up my board and walked away. It was so weird. I was like, \u201cWhy did they tackle me?\u201d That was so crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1008\" height=\"672\" src=\"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MasonSilva_KFFSTS_CSUNCa_Acosta_2020_02.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-94972\" srcset=\"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MasonSilva_KFFSTS_CSUNCa_Acosta_2020_02.jpg 1008w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MasonSilva_KFFSTS_CSUNCa_Acosta_2020_02-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MasonSilva_KFFSTS_CSUNCa_Acosta_2020_02-614x409.jpg 614w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MasonSilva_KFFSTS_CSUNCa_Acosta_2020_02-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1008px) 100vw, 1008px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">KICKFLIP FRONTSIDE TAIL SLIDE AT CSUN. PHOTO BY ANTHONY ACOSTA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>You were by yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was with Ginger, but it was on Halloween and everyone was out in the streets. They somehow saw me step on my board, and they were like, \u201cGet that guy!\u201d It was a big celebration in the street, but they were not down with a skateboard I guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>That\u2019s nuts. [Laughs] Are there any places that you\u2019d still like to go?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For surfing, I want to go to Indonesia. For skating, I want to go to South Korea. I love Korean food too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Right on. Where do you and Ginger like to skate these days nearer to home?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We live really close to this park in Frogtown, but her favorite park is still Venice. She always loved the bowls there, so that\u2019s her spot. We still make the drive down there sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When you first got on Element to now, have you noticed a change in what it takes to be a pro skater?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I got on Element, it was before Instagram was really a thing, so you had to go somewhere to get noticed. I had to go to contests and skate. Now people can just view a profile and be like, \u201cThis guy is probably cool.\u201d I feel like people\u2019s personalities aren\u2019t as much involved now. Before Instagram, you had to meet the person in real life and check them out. I feel like there\u2019s less of that now. Now it\u2019s like, \u201cYou\u2019re good. I\u2019ll send you some stuff. Here you go. You\u2019re on your way.\u201d It took longer for me for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Now that everything is instant, do you think that will change in the future?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It might because there\u2019s such an overload of so many skaters and so many clips coming out every day. I feel like it\u2019s just gonna all explode at one point. It\u2019s so much stuff coming out every two seconds. You\u2019ve got to slow it down and do stuff slower and really pace it out. I think my stuff maybe stands out because, instead of dropping Instagram clips every day, I\u2019m skating for a whole year and saving up clips for a big part. I think people recognize those parts and show a lot of love for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I saw some of them. You\u2019re good. You and your sponsors have a good relationship and they let you do whatever you want?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. Nike is cool and easy. Huf is easy and Real is easy. Jim Thiebaud ialways says, \u201cWhatever you want to do, I\u2019ll follow your lead. You\u2019re the guy.\u201d He just leaves it up to me. I\u2019ve got a good group of sponsors that are down to do whatever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Okay. What about the fakie flip at Tampa Pro that went viral?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Everyone thought I did that on purpose. I was like, \u201cI don\u2019t think you could do that on purpose if you tried. It was just a fluke.\u201d My foot came off and I was all nervous and shaky-legged. That\u2019s just the product of that and me not really knowing where I was and what I was doing. Sometimes, in contests, with the adrenaline, you just black out and don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing. That was a cool moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1008\" height=\"616\" src=\"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MASONSILVA1-2-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-94969\" srcset=\"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MASONSILVA1-2-copy.jpg 1008w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MASONSILVA1-2-copy-300x183.jpg 300w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MASONSILVA1-2-copy-614x375.jpg 614w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MASONSILVA1-2-copy-768x469.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1008px) 100vw, 1008px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">KICKFLIP FRONTSIDE TAIL SLIDE AT CSUN. PHOTO BY ANTHONY ACOSTA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Well, let\u2019s talk about Tampa Pro, which is super important to skateboarding. You\u2019re not a contest skater, but you go to that.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. I love to go to Tampa Pro. It reminds me of the classic days when contests were cool. That was one of the first things Element sent me out to. When I was 13, I went to Tampa Am and those are good memories. I\u2019ve got a lot of love for Tampa. It\u2019s a fun place to be and it definitely feels right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>First punk rock show you went to?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first punk rock show I went to was Pennywise. I grew up next to Jim Lindberg in Manhattan Beach, so that was my first show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What are your favorite skate stickers?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m obsessed with that Spitfire Bighead, \u2013 always the flame head. That\u2019s my favorite sticker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Best punk rock album cover artwork?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s probably Black Flag Damaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Yeah. Favorite skate team of any era?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Element team in the \u201890s was pretty sick. That was a really good crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Band you wish you saw?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I would say the Minutemen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Favorite skate photographer?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brian Gaberman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Okay. Coolest skate trick.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Frontside smith grind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Favorite skateboard?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m gonna say the first skateboard that I had on Real was my favorite. That graphic was awesome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1008\" height=\"616\" src=\"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MASONSILVA3-4-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-94970\" srcset=\"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MASONSILVA3-4-copy.jpg 1008w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MASONSILVA3-4-copy-300x183.jpg 300w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MASONSILVA3-4-copy-614x375.jpg 614w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MASONSILVA3-4-copy-768x469.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1008px) 100vw, 1008px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">LEFT PAGE: KINKED BOARDSLIDE &#8211; LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. PHOTO BY ANTHONY ACOSTA. RIGHT PAGE: MASON OLLIES OVER THEIA MCNAMARA AND HER DAD, GARRETT MCNAMARA, BIG WAVE PIONEER AND\u00a0STAR OF \u201c100 FOOT WAVE\u201d WITH SURF SKATE ICON, JEFF HO  IN VENICE BEACH. PHOTO \u00a9 DAN LEVY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Gnarliest bail of skateboard history.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was probably Brian Schaefer at Tampa doing the loop when he looped out and landed on his head. That was probably the worst one I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>First skateboard t-shirt you bought?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was the World Industries Wet Willie.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Best thing about being a pro skater?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Traveling and being able to travel for free.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Worst thing about being a pro skater?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Getting hurt because then you can\u2019t skate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Favorite people to skate with nowadays?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My favorite person to skate with is Louie Lopez because we push each other a lot. We love skating with each other, and it\u2019s competitive enough that it makes us learn new things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What advice would you give to any young skaters wanting to get sponsors?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take your time because everyone is just posting on Instagram the minute they get a skateboard and they\u2019re like, \u201cOh, yeah, I\u2019m gonna get sponsored.\u201d They don\u2019t take the time to get really good and chill with everyone and enjoy the moment. Don\u2019t focus on getting clips. Just be in the moment and skate with your friends. Be a good person and don\u2019t be too eager because I\u2019ve seen a lot of kids get pushed away because they\u2019re bugging sponsors to give them stuff. If you\u2019re a good skater, and you are really putting in the work, they are going to notice you.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/the-juice-shop\/#backissues\"><strong>FOR THE REST OF THE STORY, ORDER ISSUE #79 AT THE JUICE SHOP\u2026<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MASON SILVA INTERVIEW BY\u00a0JEFF HO PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAN LEVY AND ANTHONY ACOSTA The first thing that comes to mind when you mention the name Mason Silva is that he is extraordinary on his skateboard and one of the nicest people you are lucky to meet. Mason\u2019s approach to the off-grid, unique terrain is second to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4027,4028,4041],"tags":[14255,14262,29],"class_list":["post-94968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-interviews","category-skate-2","tag-juice-magazine","tag-skate","tag-skateboarding"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MASONSILVA-BE8A4746-copy-2-1.jpg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94968"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94974,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94968\/revisions\/94974"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}