Fortunately, this interview wasn’t recorded for a podcast or radio show because there was a distracting amount of background noise crackling through Noah Nayef’s phone line. Noah was riding a Sydney train when he picked up my call, travelling from his family home in Bass Hill to UPS, the inner-city skate shop, before making his merry way over to the new skatepark at Glebe. I could hear announcements blasting over the loudspeakers at the train station, and then, towards the end of the call, the crunchy white noise of wheels on asphalt as he skated down the street towards Central Park Mall. Noah has grown from a little Monster Skatepark grom to a potential Olympic hopeful to a pure street skateboarder – held in high regard as one of the most stylish and naturally gifted talented skaters in the country. Noah was 17 and still in high school when he did his last Slam interview, but now he’s 19, focused and ready to unleash his kungfu kicking legs on The States. As he spoke of his recent experience fasting for the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, the two video projects he’s filming for, and the inspiration he takes from April’s head honcho Shane O’Neill, it became clear that Noah is both deeply humble and super driven. And when he gets his chance, I’m sure he’ll give it a bloody good nudge overseas. I know I’m not alone when I say that we’re all excited to see what comes of it.
Hey Noah, what are you up to today?
I’m just on the train now. I’m going to this new skatepark they just built at Glebe. It’s not officially open yet but you can skate there. It’s the sickest park in Sydney, I reckon. It’s like a plaza and it goes under a bridge. It’s got a slappy kinked kerb and manny pads – it’s really fun.
Yeah, it looks sick and makes good use of space under a bridge. Hopefully, other councils get psyched on that and want to do similar things around the country.
Yeah, for sure. The park’s just well thought out. It’s got