Paul Machnau - skateboarder - Interview

Thrasher Magazine, August, 2001 by Scott Pommier

THE ROAD RAGIN' CANADIAN

PAUL MACHNAU (for the record, it's pronounced Mack-now) is one of skateboarding's unsung heroes. Paul exists in a world outside of marketing flash or outrageous fashion trends. For this reason, he's lesser-known than some of his less-accomplished colleagues, and that's just fine by him. Paul doesn't mind taking the long way there, so long as he's charging full-bore. The following interview was shot over a two-week period with the Slam City Jam contest thrown into the mix. Paul plugged away through personal drama, illness, and injury to get the job done, and that kind of dedication brings rewards that are far less fleeting than fame.

Okay Paul, where did you come from?

I'm from Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada. It's in between--fuck, I don't even know where. It's the East Kootnies, in the interior of BC.

What does the town look like?

It's a mill town, that's what it is. Full of cowboys and small-town hicks, basically.

How did you happen upon skateboarding, coming from a hick town?

My parents brought me back a skateboard from somewhere when I was 10 or 11. They went to Lake Tahoe or something, and they gave me a board and I just started skating with my friends. We'd build little ramps and go skate our local school. It was so much fun.

What was the quality of the spots you were working with in Cranbrook?

Oh, they were horrible. We had the roadside curbs and basically that was all. We had to make our own spots, build our own ramps and that sort of thing because we had the local three-stair and that was about it.

What year was all of this, '80s or '90s?

It was definitely '80s.

Like after Expo '86 or something?

Yeah, around then, maybe '87, '88.

Did the small-wheel phenomenon infiltrate Cranbrook?

Definitely. I remember taking roller skate wheels and using those because I couldn't find wheels that were small enough.

Why did you open a skateshop?

I started my shop up because there was nowhere in town where you could...

Get small enough wheels?

No, not get small enough wheels, but get any type of product that you wanted. There was a local shop that had a few boards, but never anything that people were all that stoked on, so everyone that I knew that was as into skateboarding was mail-ordering stuff from Vancouver. I started out basically to help the kids and to bring the skate scene into my small town. I didn't want to work for anybody anymore, I was over having a job, so I thought that would be the best way to keep skateboarding and have my own job and do my own thing.

How old were you when you started the shop?

Eighteen. It's called The Boarders Choice.

Is it still going?

It's still going. I sold it to a friend of mine when I decided I wanted to further my skate career and move to Vancouver. So yeah, it's still going, and hopefully it will for a long time.

When you moved to Vancouver, what kind of setup were you riding?

When I moved out here I was on either 60s or 62s; I can't remember. Definitely big wheels, I had about an 8.5-inch wide board, some Indy 146s, double risers, which I've changed--but yeah, it was a tank, I came out here with a tank.

What did the new Vancouver terrain do for your skateboarding?

I travelled out here once a month for about a year before I actually moved, just because I had started meeting a lot of people. Vancouver was the place that I wanted to be, just from the spots that I'd seen when I came out and skated around. It's where I learned to skate rails, and once I learned that, Vancouver was the place to do it because there are so many good rails out here and so much new terrain.

How long did it take for the Vancouver heads to start noticing you?

I actually got noticed while I still had my shop. Moses Itkonen came up to me and told me he liked my skating, and pretty much put me on Red Dragon clothing on the spot. Moses taught me about the skate industry and introduced me to all the people who are helping me out today.

What do you miss about Cranbrook?

Oh, I miss the freedom that you have. Whenever you want to go somewhere you just go, you don't worry about traffic or people all over the place pissing you off; that sort of thing. I like the backwoods. I like the country. I like being able to just drive off the street and go off-roadin' or go to the lakes. But it's a sacrifice I had to make to keep skateboarding.

So then how's city life treating you?

It's okay; it's good because of the skateboarding. If it weren't for the skateboarding I wouldn't want to live in a city like this. It's stressful, that's for sure.

You don't seem to cope very well sometimes.

Oh yeah, I definitely have road rage. And I'm not into big crowds, so movie theatres and that sort of thing I try to stay away from.

Does your roommate Alex Chalmers drag you out to all the skateparks?

Yeah he does, but I've always been into skating skateparks, all my life. That's all we did back in the day, was build our own parks. Alex does take me to the parks he skates the best and it amazes me. I'd never really seen that kind of park skating before.