As most of you skaters would know, the DC Shoes USA team was just recently in town to skate, hang out and also to promote the new Matt Miller signature shoe. We had the pleasure and honor of having a brief “borak-borak” session with Matt himself to ask him about his new signature shoe, the process behind it and also the idea behind it all. We also managed to throw in some Malaysianized questions for Matt to answer. Check out the interview below.
What is the process and idea behind the making of your signature shoe?
I basically took all my favourite shoes, everything I like about a shoe, mashed them together with DC Shoes’ guideline and came up with something.
How long did that process take?
More than a year. Yeah it took a pretty long time.
What was the hardest part about the whole thing?
I think the hardest part about it all was to decide on what you REALLY want. Because when we first started out on this project, they brought me to this room where they had like TONS and TONS of shoes with different designs , and I had to pick and choose.
Could you tell us about some of the features of the shoe?
I wanted a shoe that lasted really long, and that is why DC Shoes made a new outsole for my signature model, but yet keeping it comfy for me to skate in and also wear out. And I really wanted a shoe that could breathe, so that you won’t get stinky feet because when I was growing up, I would have shoes forever, and my mum would say “DAMN your feet STINKS!”, coz you would be skating the whole day, and you need something to air it out, and that is why I wanted to have that breathable mesh at the side to help me do that. I also wanted to have a shoe that is thin, so that I can still feel the board, but yet still being able to endure the wear and tear of skating for a long period, and that is why DC Shoes used a new type of suede called “Super Suede” for the pair. And of coz I wanted a pair of shoes that looks dope. Something which you can wear to the skatepark and go to the clubs straight after that.
What was the first thing that came to your mind when you heard to word “MALAYSIA”?
The first thing that came to mind was that I heard the skating here is awesome. I have friends, who just came to Malaysia, and they were showing me footages, and all I was thinking about is ”Man, the spots looks insane!”.
After taking a while to explain the scenario to Matt, we then proceeded to ask him our famous “Tolong or Saman?” question. Here’s what he had to say:-
Of coz I would “Tolong”! come on man! LOL
LOL! ok ok, coming back to skating, how long have you been skating?
I’ve been skating for about………. 15 years now.
So for someone like you who have been just skating and hustling for so many years before you got signed by a major brand, what would be your advice to all the Malaysian skaters out there who are trying to make it?
Just let your skating do the talking for you. Don’t worry about getting sponsored or getting signed. Just worry about learning new tricks, and have fun. If you do that, everything else will come automatically.
