“I’m always psyched to be in Australia,” says Sean Malto when I catch him on the phone for an interview [March, 2020]. He’s back in LA, sitting in traffic when he talks me through his recent trip to Melbourne with Shane O’Neill, Yuto Horigome, Lui Elliott and Casper Brooker for the release of Shane’s shoe. Malto clearly had a lot of fun, hitting the shoe release party, extending his stay to hang with the Aussie Nike guys, joining in on Rowan’s SOTY surprise, and catching up with his old mate, Rick McCrank, to skate the bowl in Frankston. Here’s the lowdown from Malto himself. 

As told to Nat Kassel. Switch flip photo by Bryce Golder.

Shane’s Shoe Party
I was really excited for Shane’s shoe. Obviously, I’ve known Shane for a long time; he’s a great dude, and the shoe was well deserved. They initially had a shoe release party planned for him in LA, and I was actually going to be out of town for it, and I was really bummed. But then they moved it to a later date in Australia. I hadn’t been to Australia in a while; I love that country. The party was amazing. The bank-to-bench was a replica of the spot where he did his last trick [in his new part]. There were all these little fun ledges and flat bars on a rooftop. It was so well done with the projector on the wall and all the homies out. After the party ended, everyone took it to a random skate spot – that bookshelf bank [at the Library], and we all hung out there. The entire party was like, “We all want to keep hanging out.” A tonne of people were skating the set and drinking beer. The vibes of that were so cool. 

Extending His Trip
We were there for Nike, making an Instagram edit – just having fun skating around Melbourne, but not taking things too seriously. I had been hanging with all the Aussie SB dudes: Geoff Campbell, Corey Young, Jack O’Grady, Rowbagz [Rowan Davis], Riley [Pavey] – they had such a sick crew. I went out with them one night just solo – everyone else that we came with was kinda tired and I just rolled out and skated Flinders Rail with them. We were hanging and I’m like,  Damn, these dudes are so fun and they’re all young and hungry and trying to skate and get it. I was so psyched on that whole crew. So I wanted to extend my trip to skate and hang with them. Scuba [Steve – Nike TM] was like, “Yeah, we got you.” So I just extended the trip and skated with them and I’m so glad I did, man. Those kids are so awesome and fun. And they rip. I have such an appreciation for all those guys and had such a good time skating and hanging with them. 

Rowan’s SOTY Surprise
Rowan rides for Girl, so I’ve heard a lot about him, but I didn’t know him really. I was hanging with him and getting to know him throughout the week. Then learning that he had won the Slam Skater of the Year, I was psyched to be there for him. At Girl, we’re really proud of stuff like that, so it’s good to be able to share that with our side too. So Rowbagz won the Slam Skater of the Year, right, and we gave him the whole champagne shower, and it was so sick. But he was skating so much that night and the next day. He did the gnarliest trick I’ve ever seen in person in my life.  

Rowan Davis, Shane O’Neill and Malto celebrating SOTY.

The Cover Shot
I’ve never been so scared for somebody in my life. Not to say that I didn’t think he was capable of doing it, I think he’s one of the gnarliest dudes out right now, but that’s just a testament to how fucking crazy that spot is. I think it’s an eight-flat-nine off brick, landing on brick. It’s steep. Everything about it was just really sketchy. So I got to watch him win Skater of the Year and then, days later, do one of the craziest things that I’ve ever seen in person. Man, he is such a legend, at such a young age. I was down there with everybody, like Noah [Nayef] and Jack – and we were all bracing each other, like, “Oh my god, he’s really about to try this.” And he battled it too, which was sick. I mean, to be able to get out of the situations that he got out of, and then to be able to still pull it is insane. It was crazy. With stuff like that, one little wrong move, one little hesitation, it could end very badly. And he handled it like a fuckin’ champ. 

Pile Of Mess
I went to meet up with the [Aussie Nike guys] one morning at their Airbnb. They’d all gotten McDonald’s the night before and there were wrappers everywhere and everyone’s shit was everywhere. It was like a classic skate house, which I love. You know, we all grew up in them. Those were some of the best times in my life: when I lived in a six-bedroom house with 10 of my friends. I was thinking about that when I saw people scattered, sleeping wherever they could. Then I see the Slam trophy out, in this pile of mess that they’re all in. It’s so sick. There’s the glamour of things in skating, but there’s also the real. 

Catching Up With McCrank 
I’ve known McCrank for a very long time and he ended up moving to Australia a few months ago. He did a trip out there with Keegan Sauder and I guess he just loved it and wanted to stay. I think he lives an hour outside of Melbourne in a beach town. He doesn’t live far from Frankston. He’s just been surfing and skating in Australia and he’s been loving it. When I was coming out to Melbourne, I was like, “Hey man, I’d love to see ya.” So he came out and skated with us for a day. I was grateful for that day. 

Aussie Slang
I’ve been to Australia six or seven times. Dude, I was trying to figure out all the slang. Some of the stuff just makes me laugh, like electricians are sparkys. Everything ends in a “y”, like a firey for a fireman. I don’t know if this is Australian or New Zealand, but they call a switch tré a “smoked salmon”. It might be a Kiwi thing, but Jack O’Grady would say, “smoked sallys” and I’d be like, “what’s that?” and he’s like, “switch tré”. Oh, and, “Can’t be fucked – CBF”. That stuff is so funny to me.

Back In LA
I’ve been back for a couple of weeks now. The jetlag hit really hard coming back. I was sleeping a lot and staying up a lot later than I usually do, but I’ve just been skating the park and getting back into my normal LA routine. I’ve played golf with Koston twice actually. I’m always psyched to hang out with Eric Koston, the greatest of all time. Aside from that, I’ve just been chillin’, partying a little bit and skating.