¶ Intro / Opening
Hey , it's Shan here . This week I catch up with skateboarder content creator and Olympic skate judge . It's Amy Massey . Amy takes us on a journey through her life so far , from growing up in the Gold Coast to moving to Sydney , to traveling the world , skateboarding , judging and much , much more . Amy's so interesting .
She literally lives a life by her own design and we talk a lot about what that looks like and how it was accomplished . She talks a lot about going viral on social media and how that can have its bonuses and also its negatives . It's a great conversation . This week's guest co-host is friend and artist , mr Steve Tierney , so tune in for a great conversation .
¶ Life by Design
Enjoy . Hey , listen . Have you seen the Chad Musker episode on Nine Club recently ?
I haven't watched it yet .
Yeah , I watched it . Oh , I watched half of it yesterday .
How did it make you feel ?
Really good , Like he spat some really good words . I don't know he's . He's doing something for himself , which is awesome . Like he's , he knows that he is his own brand , so he's making something of it and people feel like they're like buying something from him . You know what I mean .
It's like he's he's created this thing and they're like buying something from him . You know what I mean . It's like he's he's created this thing and they're supporting him , so like he's doing it differently , which is sick , and like he can understand that yeah , yeah , I wonder .
Yeah , I found it really powerful . He said that quote was the power no longer lies in the industry .
The power lies in the individual yeah , yeah , I put that on my story yesterday , did you ? Yeah I put it on my story as well . I like , filmed it and was like these are wise words , because it's so true do you think it's a really good representation of just modern pop culture ?
yeah , I just I think that everything's adapting and , uh , yeah , like things aren't how they used to be . Like , of course , there's still always going to be that core side of skating and people are going to go down that pathway , but now there's like new pathways you can go down and you can make a living from doing .
You know , something for yourself rather than something for a company . Like you could create your own company in that sense , um , which is , it's awesome . Like individuals should be getting this you know what I mean .
Like it's entrepreneurship , it is a modern day entrepreneurship and I think , instead of being like worker drones going to places we don't like , why not be an entrepreneur and create a lifestyle by design ? Do you feel like that's what you've accomplished ?
Yeah , I feel like I've can accomplish more , um , like I haven't hit my full potential in that . Like I want to do kind of what Chad's doing and create my own brand , um , eventually down the down the lines . Um , but yeah , right now I'm just I'm working with so many different brand deals and , like , obviously , traveling for work as well .
So , like my lifestyle is really busy at the moment , but once it starts settling down , like that's some , I want to create something for myself , like clothing brand , or something for , and mostly for , women skaters , because I guess , like you know , we don't , we're always buying guys jeans and stuff like that and I'd like to support women in that , in the
clothing styles I don't know . Yeah , definitely , like I've got heaps of ideas Because , like I guess , women skaters , like we , have massive thighs , so , like a lot of the jeans that you'd like a normal girl would buy , they don't really fit Cause it's got big muscles .
Obviously waist of wider .
Yeah that , yeah that comes into play . So like you'll you'll have like a wider waist , bigger thighs , and then it tapers in at the top , so like there's certain pants that you can wear that look really good .
But I want to create my own style of it yeah , so you think that's the next progression for you yeah , like definitely I want to do many things , many things you're not done , I mean not like I'm I'm not skating as good as what I used to be able to skate , like my body feels done um , but that's just with age .
And like I'm trying to look after myself now . Like I'm trying to get into stretching more and looking after my body because I'm realizing like , as as I'm getting older , everything's so much harder like warming up , like Steve speaking of older just warming up .
It can take an hour for me now , and then I'm like feeling actually good , like I can throw down after an hour of warming up , yeah , and I was like fuck , I used to just do it in like 10 minutes and be like shredding , you know , so yeah I guess it's good .
Mini ramp heaps though too . Do you find , like I find , a good , an easy way , a good way to warm up , even for street , is to just do a couple of mini ramp tricks .
Yeah , I usually do that .
Warms you up instantly almost .
Yeah , it does , and like games of skate as well . That's like another way . Like that , I like to warm up . Yeah , hit up all the guys .
Do you find when you skate like mini ramp before a street session you kind of lose your pop , Like you get tranny legs .
Like lose your pop , like you get tranny legs , like I don't know transition legs .
You know you have days where yes , for sure , but then I try to avoid it .
Yeah , do you , do you skate transition like yeah , yeah I think I'd probably class myself more as a mini ramp champ . Yeah , back in the day , like I force myself to skate straight , yeah , yeah , but I feel like I really should have started earlier hitting the ledges . But I was always training , yeah , yeah .
I mean , yeah , I like everything I couldn't like . You know how some people just like one or the other . I don't understand that , because for me , skateboarding is skateboarding , so like , I just love all of it .
But that's come in this like last , whatever 15 , 10 , 15 years , Because if our generation . It was like you with street or yeah , there's lots of more all around us now . The all around of things just amazing .
Yeah , it's much more inclusive . Yeah , do you feel that ? Do you think skateboarding is ?
Yeah , inclusive , definitely nowadays . Yeah , a hundred percent More than when you started . Yeah , when I started , it was a whole other world Can we talk about it Actually .
Can you share your experience like starting skateboarding ?
in your area . So basically , I got into skating BMX before I skated , so I was introduced to a skate park through a BMX and , uh , I grew up in housing commission , grew up pretty poor as a kid . Um , mom got me a bike one year , which I was stoked about . So I used to go to the skate park all the time on my bike .
And then , I think one day , like someone's , someone wanted to have a time on my bike . And then , I think , one day , like someone's , someone wanted to have a turn on my bike . And then they , I was like can I ride your skateboard ? And I rode the skateboard and I was like this is so much fun , like I liked it way better than , um , bmxing .
So I was like , can I like borrow this board and you can borrow my bike ? And they're like , oh , do you want to just swap ? And I was like , yeah , wow . So we swapped right .
And then I went home and I remember my mom just like going off because I'd given this expensive bike away for this like shitty skateboard , because it was all chipped up and everything .
But I was just like mom , like this is so much more fun , like it's cheaper , you know , like um , and she could see , like I was super into it , so she was just like whatever , like as long as you're happy . And then , um , how old were you ? I was 12 .
I was 12 years old , um , but yeah , like it was hard for me getting into skating because the guys just didn't think like I was supposed to do it , because I was a girl , like there was no other girl .
What suburbs is ?
so I grew up on the gold coast and I grew up skating varsity lakes yeah which before it was the old the . I don't know if you know the old varsity lake skate park , but it was horrible I tried to find images of it to like send to you guys . Um , um , I was trying to find them last night and I can't find them anywhere .
It doesn't exist anymore , I don't know Like there used to be photos of it online but now there isn't . But there was like one , one ramp there that had coping and it was the most bodgy ,
¶ Journey Through Skating and Acceptance
like , like steep , the steepest ramp ever . So I learned all my transition tricks on this crazy little like DIY thing and , um , yeah , like I learned how to drop in by myself , I learned how to Ollie by myself just by watching the guy skaters , cause they wouldn't teach me . And then , uh , yeah , basically Jesus Christ , wow .
It is pouring right now , um yeah . So basically , um , they were like , how did how ? Like how did you learn that ? And I was like , well , you guys taught me . But they were like , what do you mean ? I'm like , well , I just watched you guys do it and worked out how to do it myself , and then they could see that I was like super into skating .
So , yeah , from that day on , they just were like , all right , we're going to help you learn , right , because I earned the respect .
So at first , yeah , okay .
Yeah , so you were embraced by them .
Yeah , like of course , like they were like really good at skating and I wanted to be on their level and I'm not one to give up on something Like I will try my hardest , you know . So I just kept trying and trying to win them over and I earned their respect , showing them that I want to skate . None of them skate now . Yeah right .
Like none of them , still skate .
I'm the only one that still does it and they always message me like dude , I can't believe how far you've gone with it . And yeah , it was like it's pretty cool so you actually became friends , like through it all as well yeah , yeah , we , we , we became like really good homies so we'd like go around the area to different street spots , skate film .
We have all this footage . I don't even know where it is now , like it's all lost somewhere , but yeah , it was a good distraction from growing up . Where I grew up , you know Like there was a lot of crazy stuff like just drugs , alcohol , domestic violence . There was so much stuff going on around me that I had to get out of there .
Uh , my escape was the skate park and that's why I got really good at skateboarding , um , at a young age , cause , yeah , I just needed something to distract me from all that chaos .
Do you mind if I ask were you from a separated family ?
Yeah , so my mom , um , and dad split up when I was 10 , I believe I think I was 10 . Um , so that was a whole transition , cause my mom actually met a woman and started dating a woman , and they're still together to this day . So I got two mums .
Now it's awesome , um , but yeah , it was like a transition phase for me because I was like at that time , growing up , it wasn't like it wasn't like a thing to have a gay parent and , um , nowadays obviously it's really accepted , like , which is amazing , is amazing . Um , but yeah , for me at like a young age , it was really confusing .
I was like what's going on , you know ? Like I didn't really understand it , but it's . I was like whatever , like , if you're happy , then I'm happy , um , but yeah , as I got older , I started to understand it more .
I was like okay , I understand this , um , but yeah , so , aside from um , aside from skating , like , what other ways are you managing , yeah , your situation and the conversations around your parenting situation as well ? Was , you know , we , we having feelings of like , maybe , I guess , confusion , embarrassment , like , and how are you managing it ?
um , I guess , like I didn't really talk about it . Hey , like I , um , for me , uh , like in school I didn't really tell my friends that my mum had a girlfriend , right , like I just said , oh , it was my mum's friend , you know , yeah .
And then for years I didn't invite my friends over because I was I hate to say it but I was embarrassed because I didn't know how it was like a whole new thing for me . I was like I don't know how to take this .
And then , like as I was like I don't know how to take this , um , and then , like , as I got older so this would have been when I was like 10 , 11 , 12 , I was like still trying to work it out . And then , when I was about 13 , 14 , I was like , okay , like I get it , my mom's gay , that's awesome . Um .
And then one day I was just , I was like you know what ? I can't hide this from my friends anymore . I need to tell them because , like my mom's so happy and I like I just felt bad not telling them . So one day I finally told them . I was like yeah , so like my mom's gay . And they're like yeah , we know . And I was like , are you serious ?
They're like we've known the whole time . What do you mean ? And I was like , are you serious ? They're like we've known the whole time . What do you mean ? And I was like I thought it was such a big deal , but like just to tell my friends and they were like all cool with it . I was like , oh , okay , sweet , like it's like why did I care so much ?
As a kid you get like that .
I guess yeah , and I think it was a different time . Like you know , in a lot of ways , our society obviously has its problems , but it also has some success as well , in terms of more inclusivity and understanding and acceptance , and I think it's progressing well , would you agree ?
Yeah , 100% , and even in the skate community , like there's so many queer communities out there that are supporting each other , and like it's exactly what the skate community needs , and you you know , people are coming out like they're just , it's just like a normal thing .
They're not even coming out , it's just like yeah , I like this person , you know , yeah which is really cool to see , yeah it's how it always should have been .
Yeah , just took a bit of time together yeah , how would you reflect on your time at school ? I mean , were you a good student ? Do you think you were academically no inclined ?
just asking . I was like , I was like you know , I'd I'd be passing , like I'd be getting c's , but it was just because you didn't care yeah , I was . I mean , I was like more sporty , so basically like I was real academic in sport , um , so I was competitive like . I used to go like try and win all the running races .
I played soccer , I played cricket , basketball like I did all the sports growing up , um , but yeah , I wouldn't say I was in , like I was definitely in the dumb classes , like , right , you know how they had to have like an average joke class and I'm like they'd put me in there and I'm like , yeah , sweet , I just had my tech deck on the , on the setup on
a board skating , yeah you were in a skating .
I don't know about you , but for me I was the same and then I left school thinking I was so dumb . Yeah , it took me a lot of years afterwards to realize I wasn't . Yeah yeah did you leave school feeling like you were dumb ?
definitely . I mean , I went to TAFE after school and I was like gonna study um graphic design .
And well , I started studying graphic design and then I really liked it , but it got to a point where I was sitting inside all day long and I was like , shit , this is what it's gonna be like if I do this as a job and I'm like that's me he's a graphic designer . Yeah , true that's fine .
I was like I don't really want to sit inside .
I totally get what you're saying yeah , um and I just realized you're figuring out what you want to do , though , yeah and then my mom was like kind of bummed that I did that and she's like so what are you gonna do ? I'm like , well , I want to become a pro skater yes , oh , wow so you like you put it out there .
You met you like yeah , I was .
I always wanted to become a pro skater and I was gonna do whatever it took to get there right um
¶ Overcoming Challenges to Pursue Dreams
, and my mom she was like I mean you , if that's what you want to do , then go for it . So she was on board . Yeah , my parents were really supportive of , like , my skating career .
How old were you when you manifested that ?
I was would have been 17 , 18 . Sick , yeah . But then I had a full-time job , like I worked for Coles . I've worked for coles for 10 years .
yeah , did the hard yards checkout , chick deli um can I just jump in there , comparatively , if you look at your , if we fast forward to your , the lifestyle you live now , yeah , it's crazy .
I never would have thought I would be in this position . I am like ever right . I just even yeah , obviously we're going to be talking about the olympic stuff and , yeah , awesome , like I never thought I'd be doing that .
You know , I never thought skating would be in the olympics , so I was like it's just like no one did , someone told me like 10 years ago hey , you're going to be an olympic judge . I was like crazy what you know , yes , um but yeah so . I guess I lost track of where we were .
So let's go back . Yeah , you were working at Coles as well , around 17 , 18 , keeping things alive with your Coles job .
Yeah .
And just skating as much as possible .
Yeah . So , basically , like , I worked at Coles to support my skating career and I saved and saved and saved and saved and my , my thing was to save as much money as I can to get over to the states and , like you know , my parents they're not the most well off um , like we're not , we weren't .
We didn't grow up with money right , so it was up to me to like to work my ass off to get the money to go over to the States and do it myself . And I did that . I , like I worked my ass off . I got the money .
I booked a trip with Nixon Osborne he was 16 at the time and I was his guardian and we went over to the States together and I took him to Woodward and then , three days in to my trip , I dislocated my knee at woodward yeah , what were you doing ? um , so woodward west is like this massive rollover .
It's like on the in the indoor part of it it's basically a bmx obstacle , um , but all the girls were going over it and we're doing like a train over it . And I just came over and as I came down , my back foot came off the board and I literally like sat on my knee at the bottom , like with full pressure , like splits .
And then I just felt my knee pop and I remember , cause I had shorts on on , like I had tiny little shorts on and I remember pulling my leg around and my kneecaps like on the side , and I just start screaming like and yeah , I just remember yelling out like someone , get me a green whistle .
And they're like all the yanks are like what , what are you talking about ? What's that ? I'm like do you not know what that is like ? It's more . And they're just like no , we can just give you like tylenol , and I'm like he's not gonna do anything , like anyways , they all just like stared at me . No one helped me . I was like someone pop it back in .
No one was like . Everyone was like no , we're not touching you like we don't know what to do yeah , no one wanted to touch it and I couldn't handle it .
I was like I can't have this out anymore , so I grabbed my leg oh and I just whacked it forward , yeah , and it kind of like grinded and popped back into place and then , yeah , I just it was , yeah , it was pretty brutal . That was probably my worst injury have you ever dislocated anything ?
no , I've just got a shoulder , yeah but I've heard knees are like shoulder times 10 .
Yeah , it's honestly like was it all the popping ? Yeah , like popping it back in was worse than it popping out , yeah , and then like basically I hate to say it , but woodward was like , well , we're gonna charge you to get you a car to go to hospital and I'm like I don't have money . Like I need to go to hospital . I think I was .
I was 23 , 24 , okay , maybe I don't know , I was older , but I just didn't have the money to pay for a car to go to hospital . And I was like , yeah , I can't afford that .
And then they just wrapped my knee with all this ice and then I hit up one of the guys that , like he was a staff member and , um , we became good friends and he had a car there and I was like , bro , can you please like drive me to hospital ? Was two hours away .
And then I had those things in place first day yeah , I mean it was weird , I don't know . It was like I don't know what happened there . But anyways , he drove me to hospital and I was like in so much pain that he gave me this pen and he's like , just keep sucking on this pen . And I was like what is it ?
And he's like it's THC , just keep sucking on it . He's like , trust me , the pain will go away . And I just kept sucking on it and , like I don't know , for half an hour and the next minute there was no pain and I was just flying the whole way to the hospital , I was like , thank you cannabis , great , got to hospital and they're like what's your pain ?
out of 10 . I'm like , oh , it's like a 10 earlier , but now it's a three . It's the real green whistle .
Yeah , exactly those green whistles are so good , though , like they just take the trauma . Yeah , bad situations , don't they ?
but yeah , I guess , like the start of that trip kind of kind of set off my career and but not because I didn't really get to prove myself over there because of that yeah , um , but nixon did , nixon got to . So he , he grew up in the same area as you , yeah , so basically I'm from the Goldie . He moved to the Goldie when he was like 15 or 16 .
And then I met him in a skate comp and I remember watching him going who is this kid Like ? He's so good at skating . I thought he was a grown-ass man . I thought he was a 20-year-old man and he's like no , I'm 16 .
I was like Because he was skating strong as well .
Yeah , he seemed strong , he just looked older , he was like a man child . Yeah , right , I was like what the hell ? And yeah , we became really good friends like instantly , nixon becomes friends with everyone instantly . That's just his persona . But yeah , like his mom was like you're his guardian in the states , took him to the hollywood 16 .
He crushed it like what did he do down that ? He did back 50 first try . Back 50 first
¶ Bonding Over Skateboarding Exploits
try . Uh , that's insane . Front feeble . No , he did a feeble back lip like he just did . He back lip it . Yeah , he back lipped it like third shot it was yeah .
And then he destroys transitions as well .
Yeah , god man , that guy's atv right , yeah yeah , he's um , he's next level , that kid , and now he's over there now and he's smashing it yeah I've noticed actually he told me some , some things like some tricks . He's got Got to keep it a secret . Give us a scoop . Go , I can't , I can't , I've got to keep my lips sealed .
But yeah , I'm sure , like you'll see his part , he's filming a part . He's working towards another one , yeah .
Hey .
Jock , can we get that YouTube clip up of Amy's trick at Sydney ?
skate park .
Let's have a chat about that , sure , so that was one of the tours you went on with santa cruz . Yeah , yeah , so talk us through it . The back d on the wall at sydney yeah , so scary up there , it's fucking scary , yeah . So how did that come about ?
When , when we're in the van , I think everyone was talking about what they wanted to do , like what tricks they wanted to do in the demo , and I wanted to , like you know , impress everyone as well and impress santa cruz , and there was lots of little girls there too , and I was like I want to show them , like you know , what you can do .
And I don't know , I psyched myself up so much in the van that I was like I'm doing this like I just got into this mental state of just being like I , I'm going to land this today .
And then I remember like going for it because I was just on this high , you know , like I , santa Cruz , invited me to go on a tour with them and like , so you weren't with them as a rider .
Yeah , I was . I was Okay , so you're on the flight team .
Yeah , they were my first , my first like proper big sponsor , okay , so I had america , and then santa cruz was the next one and yeah , so I was just like I had heaps of energy .
I was excited and so who else was on the tour ? Sorry to cut you off .
Yeah , you got jake wooten jake wooten , kieran woolley , kieran woolley , henry garland , uh , eric dresson , mario mccoy , red , I think that's it . I hope I'm not missing anyone else . A bit of a lineup . Yeah , it was sick , it was the coolest .
Like there was like like in that video they talk about , there was a party van and then there was like a chill van and like eric dresson , mario mccoy and uh , someone else was in that van and it was like they were just looking over at our van , like they were so glad they weren't in that one , so you're in the party .
Yeah , I was in the party . I get what I was gonna ask her like , but what was it like being the only girl in the van ?
it was fun . They like I'm just like a skater like them , so like it's not , like it's anything different . Um , I've always skated . I've grown up skating with guys , like I always skated with guys to to make me skate better .
Um , I wish there was more girls around that I could have grown up skating with , because it it would have really been awesome to have that , but I didn't have that . So I always grew up skating with dudes . Um , but , yeah , yeah , that that back disaster , like I remember getting into it . And then I was like okay , I got into that real easy .
And then I was like I tried it again , I think I slid out a bit and then I was like not next one , this is the one , I'm doing it right here . And third shot , I just , I just did it . And I was rolling away and I was like holy shit .
Yeah , that would be so good .
And that rail too , that they just put up as well , like the rainbow rail there . It's not easy to step to that thing .
Yeah .
Yeah , I mean , is that an obstacle you like at that park ? I ?
do . If I really wanted to do it again , I could probably do it . I think I was trying one time I was trying to um front 180 out of it , like pole jam front 180 , but it's just like it's because it's a double cannon . It's kind of weird to get into . You need like wide trucks , but yeah sick .
Yeah , have you ever skated those steve like it's like a ? It's not . They're not a flat bank those walls yeah for me like being an older skater , they're like a new it's a new obstacle , like transition to flat .
What do you actually call that wait is there an actual name it's a bank , yeah tranny to bank yeah , but it's a new obstacle that's come up in skate parks .
It's getting put up like sydney park has kind of a similar one , which and then well , where transition goes into , like a vert wall oh , yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah yeah never really had them before like that wall that one particularly is just whippy the one , I mean yeah you got to be ready when you come back in .
You got to hit that that's what I'm wearing , like they're not easy skate .
I think I dropped it in like when it first opened and I was like I just went for it and I knew it was going to be whippy and I like dropped it in , went for it . I was like okay , that was kind of easy . And then like I 50'd it and then that's why I was like I want to back , disaster it .
You went up to 50 on it , yeah yeah , yeah , like backside 50-50 . Yeah , so I did a backside 50 on it .
That'd be scarier than backdecker , I reckon .
Yeah , you reckon , I don't know .
Back deep for me , I was like holy shit .
Like I've got to lean all the way in , you know , and then like Henry Gartland back , noseblended it Amazing and like , if you miss that noseblend , like you're dropping .
There's nothing there . There's nothing . Yeah , I noticed in that edit like it's a 20-minute edit of the whole tour .
Yeah .
And there's some , you know , images of you signing autographs with it seems like young female skaters . Yeah . Do you feel a sense of responsibility to be a role model for these ?
yeah , up-and-coming skaters yeah , like do you take that ?
seriously that responsibility I do .
I do like , um , yeah , for me , like I was working with some alcohol companies and , uh , it was getting to the point where I was like like it was sick , obviously , like when you're in your 20s , yeah , you're like , yeah , you're gonna take that opportunity to skate for alcohol company , um , but then I noticed that , like you know , it was probably not sending
the best message for the younger generation . Um , so it was .
it was a cool thing while it lasted , but now I'm like all right , sweet , back off from that a bit , um , just to show , like you know , younger kids that there's like just to show , like you know , younger kids , that there's like you don't , like I was trying to like do the alcohol thing in a fun way , you know , like making it more comedy .
Yeah , not like you're getting wasted , yeah .
Yeah .
So it was a hard it's . It's definitely hard to work with alcohol because , yeah , you've got to try and make it . Look , I don't know , it's just it's a hard one .
It is . It is a tricky one , yeah , but I also understand too like to maintain a certain lifestyle . You know , um , it does bring in and help make it more viable , right ?
So it's like this balance between how can I sustain this lifestyle , make it viable and then do good stuff , like I guess my question is like , do you have to mix in a little bit of that sort of stuff to keep you going , or are you past that now ?
Yeah , like I mean for me , when Fireball came to me , like it was a no-brainer because I like got the fire hair , you know , like , and it kind of went hand in hand I was like this is so sick
¶ Career Shift
, like they were giving me really cool opportunities , same as Young Henry's . Young Henry's was going to like , pay for me to go to the Olympics , right .
So yeah , basically the last Olympics I was trying to get into because I was at that level and I was like really training for it , trying to do that whole thing , and young henry's backed me and they were like , hey , we'll pay for you to go awesome . So I was , and they were the only company to reach out to do that . So I was like , all right , sweet .
And then covid happened , ruined everything , um okay , well , let's let's go back , because I think we're entering into a new phase of your life here , right , so like when you say , young henry's , we're going to pay for you to go to the olympics , like as a competitor .
Yeah , yeah , yeah so they were going to like sponsor me , and I just put their stickers on my board and then so you , you were set to qualify . Yeah , yeah , I was trying to qualify the previous Olympics .
To Tokyo .
Yeah , to Tokyo , which it would have been kind of weird , I think , because of COVID , like all these skaters had to do quarantine . It just didn't look like a fun time , to be honest .
Skating to no crowd .
Yeah , like that's what they said . They said it was super weird .
So Kieran said what I had in mind . He's just like I'm used to people . I do a 540 or a kickflip , indie whatever , and then I've got the whole crowd .
And he goes .
I feed off that yeah .
But then he's like land , it's just silence , yeah , so , um yeah , basically I was like well , I'm not gonna go in the olympics , you know like , I'll just keep skating . And then that's when I created a tiktok yeah .
So it was kind of like you sort of went okay , I don't think it is for me after all , yeah , okay , and then just took a different direction yeah , yeah .
So basically I moved to sydney and then from the goldie , was trying out for the olympic staff .
Um , when I moved to sydney I got in , I went in a while like I got a wild card to go to x games because I want to compete sydney skate park right sick did that came last , but it was like an because I won a comp at Sydenham Skate Park Right Sick Did that Came last , but it was like an experience , yeah .
And then I think a year after that , I got invited like there was a due tour competition and it was for the Olympics , right .
And .
I actually entered in park and street . So I was actually like I was so cooked after I was like why did I do that ? You know like it's a lot of skating to enter into both . Um , and then , yeah , once I like once covid happened and it kind of put a spanner in the works for not only me , for a lot of the olympians .
They all didn't really want to go through that . Um , I was like you know what I want to just work and like I got a job in a skate shop here in sydney at basement you were in a basement , right ?
yeah , I think that's the first time I kind of saw you yeah .
So I I wanted I was going to get a bar job . And then someone was like , oh , you should , you should hit up like a skate shop . You got a following , surely they'll hire you . And then I messaged them on instagram . They were like , oh , we're not hiring at the moment , but we'll , we'll definitely hire you . And I was like , okay , sick .
So I started working in a skate shop , learned so much about skateboards . I was like there was so much I didn't know about and I was like , holy shit , like I feel like skate shops should like when you go in there , they should educate you on , on , like the tracks and like what , what , what this means for this and that you know .
And that's what I would do when I learned it .
I would the new people that would come in , I would teach them exactly like how a truck size matches your board and , like I didn't even know that growing up no one told me that you know I was probably riding trucks too small for my board and stuff and I had no idea yeah , um , you ride 775 wide boards like us I think I started on a 775 I actually
think I did and then we ride eight inch boards .
Yeah , I went up to eight eight and I went to eight one and then I went to eight , two . I've gone back down to eight .
And so what are you on now ? Eight two , eight two , yeah , okay .
Do you like the wider board feel so for me it took years to get to an eight two . I was like , oh , I like transition and I also like street , so it's kind of like an in-between board . I can skate transition and straight comfortably on that width . But yeah , I was skating eight one-two-fives when I rode for Santa Cruz .
And then once , yeah , I just like one day went up to eight . Oh no , because Santa Cruz had no more eight one-two-fives . They like ran out , and then I was like what the hell ? So I went up to eight-two and went up in truck size as well , right , and I was like , holy shit , like it just made , made a difference for me in transition .
Yeah , I was like I see I couldn't cope . I tried it . I couldn't cope . I said straight back to eight inch boards and yeah the trucks that match , and what are they ? Indy one , three was that for ?
did you like that ? For I couldn't flip that for flat ground yeah .
I couldn't flip my board anymore . It was like I've gone back down to eight recently and now I can flip my board again . And then I see some of the kids some of the younger crew I skate with .
They all ride eight and a half inch boards , and then they hop on my eight inch board and do a flip trick and they're like , oh , this is so much easier .
I'm like , yeah , no shit , just because it's way too big , yeah , but yeah , I got big feet for a girl , like I got size eight men feet , so just having that little bit of extra room on the board as well feels yeah good .
I don't know so let's , let's go back . So I'm gonna get back . Actually , there's one question I want to ask you , like how old were you before you moved , when you moved to Sydney ?
I was 26 , 26 , yeah , and what prompted the move ?
Was it to continue ?
you know , basically I met a guy and I like we kicked it off and , um , I moved here for him and then , and then , like I basically never left , I was like oh , I got a job in a skate shop and yeah cool . And then I started meeting lots of skaters and , um , yeah , I just kind of started vibing with sydney because I was working in a skate shop .
I was like this is sick , yeah , meeting heaps of skaters through the skate shop and yeah , and then I started that's when I started the TikTok page , because there was like it was like a period of going into COVID and I was so bored in the skate shop so I was like , oh , what do I like ? How can I make this more fun ?
And I just started making videos , reacting like being um customers that would come in .
So , like you know , I was like I did one video where I was like the Bondi mom and like , and then I was like the , the skater dad , and like I was being these different personas and like making these funny videos , and I was like this is kind of funny , like I uploaded on tiktok and then they just started going viral .
So
¶ Internet Fame and Real-Life Recognition
, yeah , you mean like okay , yeah , well , you answered my question . I was like , yeah , what it did , inspire it and you think it was just boredom ?
yeah , it was . I was so bored .
It was during covid do you consider yourself a creative person ?
Yeah .
Cause they are quite creative .
Yeah , yeah , I mean , I'm no actor or anything like it's do you think that's actually ?
do you think that's evolved ? Do you think you've become a better actor because of those clips ?
Yeah , I guess , like I look back and on back on them now and I'm like , oh my God , like it's so bad , like I could have cut it a bit better , you know , and like edited it a bit better , um , but that's that comes with anything that you're starting off with .
Like you start realizing like you can do it better and better and better and better , and it evolves , um . But yeah , it's definitely over the over the years , um , a lot of people thought it was cringe and like that's that's fine , let's talk about this .
It's like I mean , when it started to go viral , like how was that period of time , were you just tripping out ?
it was , were you surprised ? It was weird for me . I was like because I didn't really know what tiktok was . I just was like what even is this app , yeah , and then , and then I don't know , I got like 500,000 followers and I was like that's a lot of followers .
Can you engage on TikTok , who your followers are the same as Instagram as well .
It's like different TikTok's , like I feel like Instagram's more , like authentic and like you can like relate more and like have a relationship with people on there .
Like I don't know you can message each other better and like there's stories you're watching stories on there , so it's like more engaging , whereas tiktok's like just an algorithm , so like that tiktok chooses if your video is going to go viral or not , you know and it's not really .
Do you know . Why , though ? What have you have , you know ?
because you've got experience .
So you actually , you don't actually no one knows why .
No , like , I bet I've asked , I've worked with tiktok and I asked them , like why ? And they they don't know that you've actually worked with tiktok . Yeah , well , like they've invited me to um to go in and do workshops and like , yeah , like , yeah , tiktok parties and stuff .
But research , like they've invited you to help them with research and things like that .
Yeah , no shit , like not research , it's just like I went there to ask some questions , like I just wanted to know , like how do I get more viral videos ? You know like , how do I do this ?
They're like we don't know , like we , you know like how do I do this like we don't know , like we don't know how it works .
See , the machines are taking over , yeah it's like that , whereas instagram's gonna like push your videos forward to your followers more whereas tiktok will just push it out to like random people . I was gonna say hope that it does . Well it's . It's always the one that you're like this is going to be the dumbest video .
Like it's not going to do well , and it just goes boom Right . So you're aware of that , so do you think it's a bit of a lucky dip ?
Well , back when I first started doing it , it wasn't like that . It was like I guess I was one of the only girls skaters on there at the time . Yeah , so you know Ricky Glasser , yeah , yeah , so he started one . And then he hit me up . He's like Amy , you should like create a TikTok page .
No one , there's no girl skaters on there Like it'd be such a great thing for you to try out . He's like trust me . And I was like all right , I'll , I'll go for it . And then I uploaded a video . I remember it was landscape . And he's like message me . He's like dude , take it off . Like it's gotta be portrait .
And I was like rookie , oh yeah , okay , I think I left it on there . It's like still my first video on there , um , but yeah . Then I was like okay , so portrait . And then I uploaded like all my most viral videos from Instagram to Tik TOK .
And then that's how it blew up and cause I was the only girl skater and I guess I was , yeah , just putting it out there to all the women , showing them like a different side of , because everyone was on there doing dances and like weird stuff . And I was like let's put something like a bit of talent on there , you know like something else .
And then , yeah , it was intriguing to a lot of women , because I think 70% or 75% of my followers are women on TikTok , which is totally different from Insta .
So you've been spoiled .
Insta's the other way , really yeah .
What do you mean the other way ?
So it's male yeah like 70% male on Insta . I wonder why there's that difference .
I know why . Tell us why why .
I guess , like Instagram , you can post photos , so like you can do like thirst trap photos .
Right , right , you don't really do that though .
I checked out your profile . Yeah , like I guess , because I don't do it and then I'll upload like a bikini photo . Just goes nuts Like on a summer's day . Yeah like when it's summer .
But you don know like thirst trapping daily .
No , there's like there's people out there that have like their accounts and they're just thirst traps , you know just yeah , it's like a big thing , um .
But yeah , I kind of like started um doing my tiktok and like transitioning the tiktok videos that were funny over to Instagram . At the start I was like I was like I don't want to mix them because I was scared of what how my followers would see it on Instagram .
Like skaters Cause it was like a different yeah .
It was a whole different audience on my Insta . And then one day I was just like you know what , I don't care , like I don't care anymore , I'm just going to upload them to there because I think it's funny and trying to keep skateboarding lighthearted . And then , yeah , I just started uploading it and then I guess a lot of people weren't not too into it .
Listen like , this is what I want to go into . I mean , you've got almost 2 million followers on TikTok In terms of public visibility , how does it translate IRL ? I mean , that's an acronym I heard by someone . Yeah , yeah , I'm not that cool .
There's people who notice me . I guess , do you get that ? Yeah , yeah , yeah , a while back I had like these kids are kind of aggressive . Hey , I was like kind of scared . So I was like leaving market city and these kids were like that's Amy Massey , but like full screaming . I was like , oh my god . And then they're like I was like , okay , that was crazy .
And then I kept walking and they're like I know , that's you , amy Massey , turn around right now . And I was like , oh yeah , no , I'm not turning around . Like those kids are like really aggressive . I was like , but yeah , people like do come up to me . It's cool like inspiring younger girls come up to me all the time for sure .
Um , I did a video with page tobin little little page tobin . It went so viral . So , basically , like she was this I think she was four at the time or five and I got her to drop in that extension wall at um sydney park with me .
Like I lifted her up and , like we , dropped it in together and , um , yeah , like I blew her up , like , like she got .
I'm pretty sure she went from like 10,000 followers on Insta to like 300,000 . So more than what I have on there . Like it just blew her up big time and I was like , wow , I did that , Like I started that for her , which was so cool to get her into it yeah . That's power .
Yeah , so like that's why I do what I do , because I'm just trying to inspire like girls to get into skating . Yeah , awesome , yeah .
I love that you said that . Yeah , hey , can we get one of those TikTok clips up , whichever one you got there , and maybe Amy can talk us through one ? All right , let's have a look at this one .
Let's have a look at this one . Yeah , I guess this is like taking it back to when you're a kid and you're looking at a big , like you're looking at a three-star , but it looks huge , like we've got the ipod , the old school it's supposed to be , when I was , like you know , first starting to like skate I love them .
I think gracie had it . I think it's like retro now .
She had the Nintendo DS and everything . But yeah , that's a funny .
Okay . How many views has that had approximately ? I have no idea .
I mean it's probably got a couple mil . A couple mil , I don't know . I'd have to look it up , okay .
Yeah , Can we look at another one , Jock ? What's the next one we've got up ? Oh my God this one , when skaters find a spot .
This one went super viral , really On Instagram as well . And then , like these guys in Barcelona , I think , they copied the exact same video , used my sound and everything , no . And then people were commenting saying , like you copied these guys . I was like , oh , check the date . Like I made that video first .
How did that make you feel , I don't know , I was sweet , like I inspired people to create what I created . Nice , okay that's cool .
¶ Skateboarding, Viral Videos and Harley Davidson
It is a sign of yeah , I guess that's the greatest sort of compliment . Yeah , um , when you mimicked , I like this part where there's like the beautiful mind um like , imagine like walking , were you just humping the step ?
yeah , that's why I was laughing at the start is that a thirst trap ? No , it's just basically like how you meant , how like skaters , when you see a really good spot , you're just like look how good this is . Like I always go to a spot and then I'm like looking at the stairs , like people probably driving past , like why is this ? Just staring at stairs ?
You know what I mean ? Like yeah , do you do you think that ? Oh for sure , just like , what are these people doing ?
Or you walk down a set of stairs with a rail and you sort of stop and look at the rail and everyone's like what are they looking at ?
Yeah , I'm just looking at the handrail . Like there was this viral clip the other day I'd just seen and I think it's called Skate Wife . The clip the Inst and this this wife of a skater is filming her husband like looking at a rail and stairs and she's like the commentary's so funny .
It's like this guy looks like he's trying to work out how to walk downstairs . Like it's like his first time ever seeing a stair set and trying to work out how do you get down these stairs . Like the commentary on .
It was so funny , but he was just checking out the rail and like the speed of how to get up the stairs like skate wife ?
I have to check it out . Yeah , uh , have you had a walker ryan uh , skater in america ? I had him on episode 100 , if you're listening . Yeah , um , he went on a european vacation with his girlfriend , yeah , but it was meant to be just like a romantic trip , but he's seen all these sick spots .
He's like , oh , and then he's got all these awesome videos like of his girlfriend , like all dressed up , ready to go out for dinner , in like high heels and stuff , and then like follow , filming him and filming him like trying to do a switch trade down the gap and stuff in in greece or somewhere .
It's like so funny yeah , I'm , I'm a sucker for the , the funny videos , and then , like I made so many of them that I'm like I've ran out of ideas and I'm like trying to get that creative side back again , but it's it's hard , like trying to come up with different ideas how often do you try to ?
Post , I mean like an actual like like I haven haven't posted much comedy stuff in skating because I've been so busy with all these like with Harley Davidson .
Right .
Crazy , which is sick , like I'm learning how to ride , so it's like a whole . I've been hella busy with all that , but I've got like I actually have a couple of funny video ideas lined up to film over the next couple weeks , so you will see them soon let's , let's .
Can we talk about harley davidson ? I mean , that's when I seen the . I mean , they gave you a motorbike yeah , so basically it's a loan .
Okay , they're loaning me the bike . They pay for the rego , they pay for the like um insurance , all that stuff you just keep swapping them out yeah yeah , so basically like as you get better , you get better bikes yeah , yeah . So harley was like um , we want you to do a learn to ride program . We think you're the right fit for our brand .
And I was like dude , this is so sick , like it's been on my bucket list my whole life to learn how to ride right and I was like , what , what a good way to learn how to ride right . And I was like what , what a good way to learn how to ride through harley .
Um , so they paid for my course to go do get my l's and never ridden a bike before in my life and I aced it . I was like , okay , this is way easier than driving a manual car . And then , yeah , like they , they dropped off the bike to me , put a skate mount on the side of the bike . Oh no way , yeah and like .
So I got a little rack like for my skateboard and everything and I've been riding a lot lately . I'm just trying to get used to it . It's scary in Sydney , it is Riding . It's not like . It's not me I'm worried about , it's the other people on the road .
Okay , it's not like . It's not me I'm worried about , it's the other people on the road .
Okay , Like people just , oh , yeah , them doing something . I feel like people like after riding . Now I feel like everyone should go for their motorbike license because it will make drivers aware of riders on the road . Like now , when I drive my car , I'm constantly looking out for bikes . Yeah , it just made me more aware of that yeah , so I just .
It's funny , I just got my motorbike license this year as well yeah , true , so we're gonna go for a ride , yeah , yeah well , I've been looking out for a motorbike . I was gonna buy like a vespa , yeah . So I just saw around town but I think I've got to get something bigger . But you're right , like get a harley .
Like when you go to , like say , a third world country where there's no road rules , everyone rides defensively and there's no road rage , there's no road rules , but there's no road rage . But then you come to Australia and sorry , there's like it's aggressive and there's road rage .
You know , and if you're on a motorbike , yeah , yeah , you're definitely riding defensively , aren't you ?
I think when , like , I was away on a trip and Corey Duffel was like he's like dude , like I want to let you know , like it's sick that you're getting on Harley , but like , just so you know you're going to fall off and you're going to eat shit , and I'm like thanks , man , wise words .
And he's like no'm serious , like because he's he used to have a motorbike , he's fallen off , he's eaten shit heaps . And I was like bro , I know , I know I'm gonna fall off this thing one day , but I'm , I'm doing it , you know yeah I mean it's like , do you live your life in fear of what might happen ?
yeah , and he just he was saying like if , if you ride your bike like you skate yeah expect to like , yeah , like really hurt yourself because like you send it . So yeah , that's what I mean , I'm like bro , you you send so hard , like um . But yeah , he , he , I think he sold his bike because he's he rides it like he skates .
So he's like , he's like I'm to lose my life if I keep this thing .
So you get a lot of , would you say . Overall , you get mainly love comes out of your social media accounts .
Yeah , like I get hate , but like I don't really . How do you manage that ? I don't really care .
It's like it's just more engagement .
You know , for me it's like , if you want to leave a comment like , yeah , please , I don't care .
If you want to talk shit , yeah if you don't engage , yeah , because I don't engage .
Like there might be one time like I just I might like try and say something funny back like as a joke , but then it just like spirals you know what I mean . So there's no point in even responding .
It's just like leave it . Sorry to cut you off , amy . I just feel like a negative comment on social media just has no weight . It's just , it doesn't mean anything if like it just and it gets forgotten so quickly by people
¶ Dealing With Social Media Hate
. And I just find it interesting when people allow themselves to get caught up in a debate , in comments or an argument . I'm just like really .
Yeah , because it doesn't end it doesn't end . I learned that when I first started getting some pretty hateful comments and when I first started getting big on social media , I was copying it a lot and I didn't know how to take it . What was the main ?
criticism .
Everything Like I guess like the TikTok side of it was what changed it , because people thought like I just started skating or something , like I just started getting into the scene and I was like dude , I've been in the fucking skate scene my whole life , yeah okay .
I know a lot about skateboarding and people just thought I didn't know shit and like I used to skate in , like you know , short shorts and like crop tops and stuff and like apparently it was too girly , you know , like no , you weren't still getting that kind of shit ? yeah , like I copped it .
I've copped heaps um for you know , just dressing like that and I'm just like dude . This is what I'm comfortable with . I know everyone has to . You know , wear baggy clothes and look like a dude skating like . Yeah right , I mean I want to inspire that side of the market as well with you know , girly , girls , it's like anyone can do this .
And don't get me wrong , like , look at me now I'm wearing baggy stuff , like I it is pretty cold yeah why aren't you ?
wearing short shorts today it's only 10 degrees outside yeah , so I don't know um what else they hated me for , I don't know laughing about it it's usually just bait half the time to like get you going and then yeah , actually yeah and they just they're commenting those things to get a react , reactment .
Um yeah , so if you don't give them anything , it's like there's nothing to that comes from it yeah yeah , and I just leave the comments out and get cause I I read them and I laugh .
Yes .
And like I'll go home to my mates and I'm like , well , you look at this one , you know it's for me , it's funny .
Yeah , it's good .
But there's a lot of . I get a lot more obviously . I get a lot of positivity , um , from people , way more than the negativity . Yeah , Um , yeah . When I first started getting all those bad comments , it was like what , Like I was taking it to heart , you know .
Yeah , of course , and then I realized I was like okay , like you can't let that get to you , because you're just going to like constantly be down .
Yeah .
So Do you think it's been part of your own personal growth , learning that resilience ?
Yeah , yeah , 100% . It came with age as well . Like I think , I hit 30 and I was like why do I care ? You know what I mean . Like in your 20s , like in your teens , you kind of care a lot about what people think of you . And then you hit 30 and you're just like this is me .
And isn't it a beautiful space ? Yeah , I mean it feels like it's clicked earlier for you . For me it took longer before I started to be just really like embracing exactly who I am and not scared to express it anymore . So it's rad that you've learned it .
Well , the other night , like I did this , like I did this ad at Water waterloo and they like turned the lights off . Um for this ad , for I don't know if I can announce it yet , but it was a glow-in-the-dark ad thing like so they needed the lights off and the locals were going nuts like they were so mad .
Oh , like people were skating yeah , yeah , yeah and like , but they had , like , they got permission to have the skate park and all this stuff . Um , it was all night , like they turned the lights off , everyone rocked up to skate and then they realized , oh , what the hell is this ?
and here I am just like shit like I'm about to go over here and they're gonna know that I'm a part of this and they'll start talking heaps of smack like I can't believe this is happening , like , and I'm like , yeah , I know right , she's like I can't believe it . And then next minute they're like hey , amy , we need you over here .
And I'm like , um , so yeah , like people , get annoyed with that , but it's like one night .
I'm sure they can a few hours of skating . How long are ? Were they going to skate ? For you know , come on .
It was so sick . It was the coolest shoot ever Like Shoot , shoot , shoot . Ah , I got to like sess lad through glow sticks , sick Like fluid and like smash glow stick fluid with a skateboard and stuff . It was the coolest thing . Do you love doing that stuff ? I just love glowing the dark stuff . No , like they had everything set out .
I can't wait to see what it's going to look like . It's going to be the coolest ad . Right , right , yeah , yeah , I'll have to send it to you when it comes out .
Wow , so like how would you describe your job title ? How do you describe yourself ? Like , let's say , you're on an international flight and you've got to fill out your occupation ?
Yeah , yeah , yeah . Well , it's funny when I do that . I write skateboarder and like it's . No one ever questions that . But yeah , I guess like , well , my , my resume would be content creator and skateboard Olympic judge . Yes , epic . So that's , they're my two main things . So I create content for brands and skateboarding is cool .
So a lot of brands want to work with skateboarders , which is so awesome because it's bringing money to individuals . Um , and , like you know , I'm I'm not putting out parts anymore like my . I want to . I definitely want to this year to be my 20 , 20 years of skateboarding yes and I want to do 20 tricks for 20 years .
Yes , that's the to this year to be my 20 years of skateboarding . Yes , and I want to do 20 tricks for 20 years . Yes , that's the plan this year , but yeah , so just yeah .
Content creating and Olympic judge Jock what do you want to get up ? We'll get up the next TikTok . This is fun . I've got to be straight Like I actually don't have tiktok . Yeah , just because I've got busy life too and I was like I'm just gonna keep it .
It's probably a good thing you don't have it , because it's very it's just like you could sit there all day watching . What was that ? Um , I was trying to switch crook into the bank but I just kept dying a . Let's see , this was a bit of a thirst trap video , I guess .
Right , I don't think that's thirst trapping , but yeah like this is what is thirst trapping .
Sorry , I feel like an old man . What is exactly thirst trapping ?
I guess , like looking hot towards the camera , like looking sexy and like I don't know . I guess is that what it is ?
But is it necessarily like revealing your body ?
Yeah , I guess . So , like the guys that thirst trap , like they're going to have their shirt off . They're going to like rub their body all this weird stuff .
Wait , I'm just taking some notes here . Rub the body down .
Yeah , I don't know if they get a lot of followers from it .
So okay , how did this one go view-wise .
It was sick . Honestly , I'd have to go in and have a look . I think maybe a million , I don't know , I don't know , I don't know .
So many people . Do you ever think like imagine you put all of those people in one room ?
Yeah , like that's really what's going on in one room . Yeah , like that's really what's going on , it's , it's .
when you say it like that , I'm like holy shit , yeah , that's a lot , yeah , of people a lot yeah , do you have a formula when you try and put them together , though , in yourself , or you just like don't think about it too much ?
um well , this , this clip , um especially , was edited by one of my old filmers , so I guess like , yeah , I knew what I was trying to do in this clip , but he put it all together and made it look really good . Yeah , I don't know how to skate and have fun you do .
It's so sick , like like I was just saying , like what a life you lead and I really feel like , going back to the start of the conversation , it's like we can create our lifestyle by design . Yeah , this day and age , and people are gonna hate on it , I kind of feel like it sounds like you already have this mindset of like well , let them hate , right ?
yeah , yeah , I don't . I honestly don't care , like , not everyone's gonna love you . You know what I mean . You're always gonna have people that aren't that fond of you , and that's fine , like . And for people out there , like you know , that are going through that on social media and they're worried about what people say like don't , who cares , why do ?
You care like that's their opinion . You got your own opinion , like , just keep doing what you love yes , is that how you feel , steve , when you do art like ?
do you feel like when you're creating an art piece , you are creating it so it appeals to as many people as possible , or is it because it just feels good for you personally ?
yeah , you're not thinking about and you shouldn't . Yeah , I don't think about anyone looking at it . It's completely personal and it's a hope I . Once you put it out there , once it goes on a wall , obviously , then you're like or anything you're doing is a public .
Then you start thinking about how people are going to react , but you're not thinking about , well , some people might be , but I don't think about whether they're going to like it or not , and it's usually just , yeah , super personal , personal , and it's almost like you can't , you can't let that be the way the director of producing that thing , because then you've
just lost yeah , exactly why you're doing it . Yeah , that's as long as you know what you're doing yeah , and like you're having fun doing those clips and you can tell you're having fun . It's like hilarious and cheesy and funny and that's cool .
But that's cool yeah so the skate judging like , did I ask you , how did you get into it ? Like what , what's , what triggered it and who , what was ? What was the path to getting that gig ?
yeah , it's crazy . Like
¶ Judging Skateboarding in the Olympics
how do you get into this ? Um , so basically they asked me if I would like to compete , uh , for this olympics , and I I basically came back and I was like listen , I'm , I don't want to compete in the Olympics anymore . Like so , you got offered to compete in Paris .
Well , like yeah , I got offered to do the qualifyings and and go down the Olympic pathway again , because I didn't get to do it the first time . But for me , like I want to win . You know what I mean .
And I know winning involves me jumping down like the big set , like skating the big obstacles which I I kind of sorry I keep moving your mic around I can't , uh , I can't do anymore . You know I can't , I can't hit that big stuff anymore and that's what you got to do to win , um . So I basically said give it to the next girl .
You know , let them , let them go for it . And then they were like sweet , and six months later , um , renton Miller contacted me and was like hey , amy , like , um , um , they want you to judge for street . Like are you keen ? And I'm like what ? And he's like , yeah , garrett hill like mentioned he really wants you as a skate judge .
And I was like , are you serious ? He's like , yeah , dude , he's like come and judge one of my park comps . I'll like look over you and see how you judge it . And then , yeah , I'll see , see how you go . So I did that when it judged a fivecom . And then he was like dude , you know what you're doing .
Like you've skated , you've competed for 15 years , like you know how to judge skateboarding and , to be honest , like I used to sit in my living room judging street league and being like you know 9.4 , like calling out , calling out the numbers , and I'd always be on like just spot on . It was crazy , um . So I was like you know what ? Yeah , I'll try it .
So they sent me over to rome and , uh , that was the most intense week of my life . Why ? Because it was like the travel to get there . And then you , I'm like super jet lagged . I'm judging for the first time for an Olympic series . So I was like nervous as all hell . I was like , oh my God , like why am I , you know ?
Like questioning everything , like why am I the one going over here , what , what am I going to be good at this , you know ? And then so being jet lagged , and then it was like 40 degrees every day and the the air con in the tents weren't working , like it was just blowing hot air .
So what was like 38 degrees felt like 45 degrees , and then we're sitting there for 13 hours like judging 250 men and like 170 women or something like that , and I'm like almost passing out in the booth and they had to , like someone had to come and bring an ice pack and put it on my neck because I was gonna .
I was like I'm gonna vomit , like I need a bucket , because I thought I was . I was like starting to lose my vision and I'm like trying to judge this comp . Yeah , it was full , like it was full on , um , but yeah , like I worked out the end of that week , I was like , wow , I actually really like doing this and I'm kind of good at it .
So , um , I guess Garrett Hill was like dude , you , you're awesome at this , like . And then I started getting invited as a , as a judge , to all these , the next ones . So there was , like I've been to Rome , switzerland , uh , japan , dubai , china , I think that's everywhere I've been so far . And then Paris , well , I go to Budapest on the 16th .
You just got back from Shanghai . I just got back from Shanghai and that was like the first Olympic qualifying series for having like rock climbing , break dancing , bmx and skateboarding , which was so cool . I got to go watch a bit of break dancing rock climbing how sick is that ? Bmxx .
I was like this is like all the coolest sports in the olympics and I get to like hang out and like , yeah , it was so sick , what a life man . Budapest budapest is next um , which I've heard is just like amazing for skate spots so I'm pretty keen to go there , yeah , and then yeah after that .
Um , I actually just got my flight sent to me yesterday for paris , yeah , so it's all set in .
Nervous , I'm pretty nervous , yeah what is it like in the judging booth when there's like some hard decisions to be made , like I don't envy judges , when it's like really close , we ?
put a lot of like , we're putting a lot into it . So we're there like watching practice for for literally 13 hours a day , yeah . So we're taking notes where we know . We kind of know what we're going to see , um , before it happens .
So we've already spoken about like how , where that would sit on the scale and kind of thing you know okay so um , yeah it .
I mean , it can get intense , I guess , if say someone like does a new trick that we've never seen before , and then you like got to quickly work out like , how do where does this trick sit with like a similar trick you know how do you even do that ? Well , yeah , that's why there's like five of us .
I didn't go . No , I was overseas still yeah .
Sorry , keep going yeah .
That's why there's six judges , because we're like Right , there's a head judge , five judges , so so Garrett Hill is the head judge , then you've got Vanessa Torres , corey Duffel , jb Gillet and Danny LeBron and then me . So it's a crazy lineup .
But that's a lot of experience , right .
Yeah , and that's what you need .
How does it feel to be like mentioned amongst those names ?
Like why am I here ? What do you mean ? Why am I here ? Nah , I'm just kidding . It's like , it's amazing , like holy shit . You know For sure , even Vanessa , like I , grew up watching her skate , so just being now , we're like good homies .
Obviously We've travelled the world together now , and I was like I can't believe , like I grew up watching you skate and now we're just like judging the olympics together it's crazy , just that , just to hear that statement judging the olympics again I never thought I'd hear it in my lifetime it is .
It's crazy like that . Yeah , they're like you've got to judge skateboarding um , because it is such a individual sport , you know .
Well , that was leading into one of my questions . I mean , there's a spectrum , I think , with people in skateboarding who see it as an art or as a sport . If I had to put myself on that spectrum , I'd be tending towards . I see skateboarding as an art . Yeah yeah , as you're a skate judge , but where do you see yourself on that spectrum ?
I mean , I see it as many different things and I'm sure everyone does , but I think what the Olympics is bringing to skateboarding is money and opportunities for these skaters to like make it big and like actually make good money and , like you know , buy themselves a house or whatever .
Cause , let's face it , they're breaking their fucking yeah and there's no conversation .
Actual sports Like these skaters are winning 50,000 for first prize in the Olympics , Sure Supreme .
And then if they're like , if they win the Olympics , you know their country , depending on the country is going to pay probably millions , because you've won gold for their country and it's endless opportunities for these kids , which is great and it's getting skate parks built , let's face it .
Yeah , facts , it's making those campaigns for people at local council level . It's making those campaigns so much easier . Local , at local council level . It's making those campaigns so much easier . When they go we want a skate park ? The council's like no , oh . What about the olympics ?
the council's go , oh , okay , olympics , yeah , yeah it's been crazy , since it has made it easier let's look how many skate parks are in city now , I know I want to go check out that um lane cove .
I've heard it looks sick .
Lots of transitions and they built it into the side of a cliff , yeah .
and then there's like neon lights there . Oh , there's a neon light . Yeah , like on that wall that they've built into the rock . There's like blue lights on it .
Oh has there it just looks really cool at night . So they've put some store into like art direction .
Yeah , yeah .
It into like art direction . Yeah , yeah , it's very arty , yeah sick . I like you've been there , I haven't actually even seen it .
No , I haven't seen pictures of it . Oh man , it's . It looks amazing . Yeah , yeah , it just looks hella slippery right now , like that's why I haven't gone there yet . I'm waiting for it to like .
Yeah lose that first layer you know , I love .
I'm like a massive , huge fan of DIY skate parks , like that's what I love to skate .
Yeah , that texture .
It just makes it like so much more rewarding doing like a trick on something like that , totally .
¶ Skatepark Stories and DIY Adventures
Yeah , it's a lot of challenge , yeah .
Yeah , it's like it could just be like a trick that would be deemed easy in a skate park , but because you did it on this really sketchy ground and obstacle , yeah .
And you can like eat a lot of shit .
The obstacle might actually collapse while you're skating .
You don't even know if it's working it's like built by skateboarders , like skateboarders , and everyone comes together and like puts in all this money like it sick . I donate money all the time to DIY parks .
What's your ?
favorite DIY .
Have you got one ?
There's one on the Goldie in Tweed . What's it called ? I can't remember what it's called .
There's a few People are getting so much better at it .
Yeah , I don't know . I can't remember what it's called , but it's in Tweed just past Teed heads and that place is so sick .
You know cam , oh you're gonna mention his name .
Is it courtside ? Yeah ?
courtside . Yeah , that's amazing .
What's the one where he's made this the couch thing ?
yeah that place is the best , yeah and it's in the middle of nowhere right , and they've been smart about it .
They've got to go fund me and yeah , if you're listening , go and go and donate . Please donate to that , because we need more stuff but I love that too , like that sense of community . And going back to covid , when skate parks were closed , like well , there's a diy spot near where I lived and it was like no one could go and do anything .
But we could actually have this place and police would like drive past like should we bust them ? Are they exercising ? Is that they're not at a skate park , but they're exercising ?
uh , they didn't know what to do with this oh , it just became like such a place of solace for so many people in that area , as opposed to being at home in isolation and then yeah they were able to still commune and like it was .
I got in heaps of trouble , eh why ?
because , yeah , oh , because you were posting about it , right , well , yeah .
It's so bad , but I took the opportunity to , so I seen on the Gold Coast that all these skaters went to Wet n' Wild and they skated the slides , did they ?
Yeah , yeah , yeah .
And I seen it and I was like I want to do that and I was so bummed that I wasn't on the goldie for it . I was like damn , like I could be there doing that . And then I was like wait , there's a water park here in sydney . And my housemate at the time I was like hey , like do you want to , do you want to come skate this ?
And she was like a trooper and she's like , yep , let's go , like let's , let's go skate this . So we went and uh , it was out of the 5k radius . I was like , whatever , we got there , found a way in and there was workers there . No one stopped us . We walked in , skated all the , all the slides .
I made like a clip of me sneaking in , like , skating the slides , posted it on tiktok . Yes , got like seven million views and people were tagging the water park and what they do . Uh , they contacted the police and my full name was on my TikTok , so it was pretty easy for the cops to find me .
And I copped a private phone call , like private ID phone call , and I was like I'll bet you any money , this is the cops . And and it was Wow . And they were like , oh , this is Constable Such and Such from Blacktown Police , you're going to have to come in . And I was like what , what for ? He's like I think you know what you've done .
And then I , yeah , I had to go in for a like uh , I guess an interview with the police . But I took a lawyer with me . So one of my mates he's a big lawyer , this is like serious .
He was like I'll like come and do it for free no , you're good , I just want I want you to sound as keep going um , he's like , oh yeah , teach me , teach me how to skate and I'll like be a lawyer for free , basically .
And I was like done , that's sick deal , right . So he came in with me to this police interview and , yeah , they were basically like dude , like are you serious ? Like why did you do this ? I was like as if you're not going to , like it's an opportunity , like this has been something I've wanted to do my whole life is skate .
A water park , it's COVID , the water's off . Like I didn't wreck anything , but apparently I influenced a lot of other skaters to go there . Obviously it got went viral , that clip . So that's why they were like pretty bummed about it .
And then I basically paid like a fine for trespassing and he was going to get me for like being out of the 5k radius and when that was like going to be a thousand dollars , it was like all these things that they were going to add on top . But because I had my lawyer there , like I don't think they did .
I don't know they didn't do it because I know that the people on the goldie that got busted , they had to pay like 15 000 each for leaving their gt or their area for I don't know , trespassing like this they've had to pay like big trespassing yeah , and I guess maybe they wrecked the slide or I don't know , but they had to pay big money right whereas I got
out of it pretty lucky . Um , and then , right at the end I'm just gonna say it because it happened so long ago and I don't even know who the cop was but , um , right at the end , the guy like turned his camera off and he was like hey , amy , like I just want to say , my brothers think you're so sick and I was like why are you finding me ?
Can I get a selfie ? Why are you giving me a phone right now ? But yeah , that happened after like he turned the thing off .
I was just like but I want to say something you said that they said to you oh , you influence so many people to do the same thing . Yeah , I'm like no , fuck that . Like those people didn't have to do the same thing they chose to do it . Yeah , and this is what I'm so sick of in our society of people not taking personal responsibility .
Yeah , you chose to do it and you dealt with the consequences .
Yeah .
But don't go .
Oh well , they did it . So , like I did it because they did it , so , yeah , and they , the people that went and watched my clip , they actually like wrecked the slides , so they were going to charge me for that .
And I was , like you can see in the video , like I purposely didn't , like I wasn't grinding anything or doing anything , like that was just rolling and , like you know , just using the slides as like a ramp .
Yeah , it wasn't like I damaged anything and because of that I just got the trespassing fine , but it's rad how you turn up a lawyer that didn't want to get paid .
Are you serious ?
did you teach this guy ?
must be a good dude . Yeah , well , I'm still .
I still need to teach you , if you're listening , evan speaking of diy spots , let's talk about kieran woolly ollieing in man to that tree , roof to tree did you hit like there was one of those slams ?
I swear you can hear the thud of his head hitting the ground .
I'm like when he just sort of hit the edge of the road yeah the concrete , yeah have you seen the new rough cut that um indy put out ? So , indy , you've done like a yeah , yeah , yeah you've seen it ? Yeah , and it's just like he went there four times . Yeah , I just watched that went . Like I know I love skateboarding , but I watched that went .
Fuck , I love skateboarding .
Yeah , like only a skater would think of that , you know . And then him like after rolling away and like just you know his laugh , that he has .
So , good . And did you know that , like he went to give one of the cameramen ? Because he had a few cameramen , yeah , like Rono was one of them , right , and some ? Oh , who was the other guy ? Jesse , someone .
Anyway , he went to give him a high five as he's recording with the camera , because he was so hyped and it knocked the battery out of the camera and lost the footage . Oh , are you serious ? Yeah , and it was like they're like fuck
¶ Skateboarding Stories and Epic Slams
, you might have to do that again . But it turns out rhino did get the , got the angles and got an iphone angle as well , so it was okay , but he went there four times and got beat up every single time , and this is what I want to talk to you about .
It's like you know what skaters do you think blend sport and and art like I think kieran does it the best . Like he's an olympian , yeah , but then he's out in the streets yeah , something like that and doing that shit yeah , who else ? Who else do you think's doing it ? Well , uh , I'm sorry , it's a hard question .
On the spot , but me niger , well niger is a yeah like he does it all um .
If you look at , like any of the big , top , top um big guns , you know , in the olympics they're , they're all doing it pretty well um , a lot of them are getting , like you know , fashion label , fashion label like Louis Vuitton , and like big , like , big label , like like this is crazy , but I'm with you , amy .
Like I love seeing skateboarders make money . Yeah , I love it . You know I don't begrudge it . Yeah , like , go for it . No , it's , it's so hard to do . Yeah .
It's about time . It's like what ?
percentage of skaters make money off skating . I want to , like I'm saving up to buy a house , I want to build a skate park in my backyard . That's the goals . Like , I want to have property . That's what I'm working towards , you know , do you think you'll stay in Sydney area or go ?
back to no .
Yeah , Goldie for sure . Like my whole family's in the Goldie . It's cheaper to buy up there , starting to get expensive , but yeah , it's like it's cheaper than sydney . I don't think I would ever be able to afford in sydney , to be honest , day it's not , and it's not somewhere where I see myself living for the rest of my life .
I've , um , I grew up by the beach . You know another backstory . Like I moved to fiji when I was 24 years old and lived on a remote island with no running water , no power , and lived with a Fijian family and surfed every day . So , like I , like you , know island vibes and like just having a beach close by it's like that's real special to me .
Yeah , you don't like trucks beeping their horn at 6 am .
No , that's what happened this morning . I'm so tired from that , oh yeah wow , so interesting .
Yeah , it's epic amy . So yeah , feeling tired from talking , yeah , I'm feeling I feel good .
I feel good hanging out with you too .
Have you got any more clips there , jock ? Have we done them all ?
Last one , okay , oh , is this the tuck knee maybe ?
Oh , no , this one yeah true , and people tell you they make it look so easy . That is pretty sick .
Yes , I think Skate Moss was like at the end of that clip . She's like Amy's my favorite skater . Now , that's where is that ? That's in San Diego , okay , and it is the funnest spot . It's fun . I actually , um , I died on that spot . Eh why . What were you doing ? So in another clip ? This is so bad .
In another clip , I like had a fireball and I and I , I , I board , slid it while sculling a fireball . Like a shot , yeah , like a little bottle of it . Oh , okay , like one of those little tiny shots , yeah , bar fridge , and uh , yeah .
So I sculled it while I was board sliding and then like I was like , oh , I got confidence from the fireball and I was like I want to try front lip it and I never really do front lips on ledges or anything and then everyone's like , yeah , you got that . And then I got into it like two and I was like , oh , I've got this next try .
And I was like just went for it and fully thought I was gonna do get into the front lip . A full committed , hit my board on this on the start of the ledge .
So I just went whack and just like , oh , like you got on too early yeah , like I like , like just basically like that's ledge and like I hit here , like my board just went whack and I went like that , so I smashed my chin and like my chest and I was winded and I remember like lying on the ground and I was like , oh my god , like I'm in so much pain
, and then my mouth was hurting so much and I was like , oh my god , like are my teeth there ? because my mouth was bleeding and everyone's like yeah , yeah , your teeth are there . Your teeth are there , and I was like no , like there's something wrong with my mouth , like please make sure my teeth are all there .
They're like dude , your teeth are there and they're like your chin is open , like I've got a scar on the hair , no , but like it was just open like this big gash , and I was like I touched it and they're like don't touch it . I was like I didn't know , you know straight to the bone . But what happened was why my mouth was bleeding .
This is what hurt more than my chin . I had actually bitten a chunk from the inside of my cheek , so like I bit a whole chunk out and that's why my mouth was bleeding .
But yeah , that that spot like lucky was fun until that happened I was gonna ask you what's your gnarliest slam with the knee thing , but maybe that's it .
Have you had any other really bad slams ? I did have one . I had a really gnarly one which is still giving me problems now at that Miranda Bowl . I haven't skated yet . I haven't skated either .
It's huge Like a big bowl .
It is a massive bowl . Me and George Richards we were dropping it in just like , cruising around doing fly outs like being idiots . So I was like we're just having fun . And then I dropped it in like I don't know , 10 times , nothing , like like it's easy .
And then this next one I dropped in , lent too far forward and got speed wobbles and just got pitched like full force into a wall and like the whole right side of my body whiplash Um , just like I have . I still have like fluid in my in my hip from it and yeah , it just was one of the worst slams I've had in a long time .
You know , it's always when you least expect it .
Yeah , totally Like when you just cruise especially on training too like yeah , when you just hook up on something you're on the flat before you even think about it .
But like with the advent of all these new polished skate parks . Yeah , like I know I do now go around and check , like if , like there's there's too much dust on a certain section .
Yeah , because sometimes like that real fine dust on those polished skate parks and bowls , like I just get too excited a I just go like straight in like guys , I think I'm like I don't even want to warm up , I'm just like I just want to skate , yeah , but I can't .
I have to warm up now , yeah actually you know what's helped me to keep the longevity going is like rolling foam rolling before a skate oh man , that thing's amazing that just seems like the best warm-up , better than stretching . For some reason yeah , I don't know why just because it fires the nerve endings as well .
Yeah
¶ Skateboarding Tips and Longevity
, yeah , I've got these normatic like normatic compression yeah , are they good yeah ? Yeah , right so worth it .
Okay , like definitely , if you can afford them , get a pair they . If you've got like jelly legs the next day , you just put them on , you're ready to go again . So all the lactic acid goes . I have to check All those Olympians are using them .
Crazy . Yeah , well , listen , it's been so epic and it's pouring rain . It's probably one of the rainiest days in Sydney . Great day for a podcast . I hope it doesn't affect the audio . But days in Sydney , great day for a podcast . I hope it doesn't affect the audio .
But anyway , is there anything else you want to finish on , amy ? I'll finish with just have fun in life , skate every day and be kind to people .
Nice , you're a pleasure , amy Massey , everyone you .