Meet designer, mechanic, handyman and all around good guy Matt Flynt. I worked with Matt when we both worked at Black Box Dist. Matt juggled the chaos like a pro, always doing whatever it took to get the job done.
When did you start skating?
Messing around on uncles’ setups at 5 (1985). Through the 80s it was skating or BMX every day. I got serious about skateboarding around 1992, after watching ‘Now N’ Later’ and ‘Questionable’.
What was your first skateboard?
It was a T&C (as in T&C Surf Designs) called “Primal Urge”. Dark red veneers with fluro blue rock-wall looking custom grip job thanks to mom. Indys and lime green Rat Bones. It was a good board, but a weird brand. First “legit” brand board was a Sims Staab mad scientist mini. White dip, huge Oingo Boingo sticker on the tail. I think that was christmas ’87.
When did you stop or slow down significantly?
I slowed down after I was working full time for a while. Maybe 2000? Basically stopped after I had eye surgery in 2009 and my depth perception went away for over a year.
What do you do for a living?
I do art stuff for a footwear brand.
When you are not skating, how often do you think about skateboarding?
Everyday. I’ve been dreaming about it every night. I’m always out skating sometime during my dream. I think it’s a sign that I’m not skating enough now.
How did skateboarding affect the direction of your life?
It taught me all about trial and error and perseverance. It made me realize that anything worth having you have to work for. Also–kids are always going to pick on other kids, but back in the late 80s early 90s, skateboarding was not cool. I would get shit all the time. (and that was in San Diego!) I can’t imagine how tough it must’ve been to be a skateboarder elsewhere! Dealing with that helped me develop self-confidence, to do my own thing despite it all. Beside all the life-lesson stuff, i can see the influence skateboarding has had on the type of art and design I’m into, music I like. It’s impossible to say what kind of adult I’d become, what job I would have and what my personality would be like if it weren’t for skateboarding, friends I’ve met because of it, the art on decks and in magazines, music and editing in videos. It was such a big part of my formative years–it’s difficult to imagine who I’d be now if I’d been into something else. I could have been as obsessed with anything I’d applied myself to, but I can’t think of another activity I would have gained so much from.
What is the connection between skateboarding and creativity?
I think skateboarding is appealing to creative people because there’s no structure, and there’s so many different ways to skate. Different terrain, tricks, style. It’s always seemed to me like creative people are drawn to it because it’s so different than anything else out there.
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