EVAN SMITH STILL BELIEVES IN SKATEBOARDING

April 15, 2025/ / INTERVIEWS/ Comments: 21

photos: alex papke

Skateboarders love to compare their passion for skateboarding to a fire that burns deep inside them, and while it’s an overbearing platitude for most, when Evan Smith says it, we really believe it. Hell, if the fire was literal, Evan would probably throw himself in to keep the smoldering coals fed.

That’s what we love about Evan. His passion lives in excess. And through that passion we’ve been gifted years of video parts; many for Element, many for DC, and up until late for Umaverse, Evan’s own project. Unfortunately, Umaverse called it quits at the beginning of this year.

Some would say this is another addition to a long list of tough shakes for Evan. Snubbed for SOTY in the past and left to keep struggling brands alive during inopportune times, he’s seen the best and worst of the industry. Yet, his unbounded positivity and desire to keep pushing himself on a board is steadfast.

We’re excited to see where these new beginnings lead Evan, and to offer you an unfiltered conversation with him, one where we get a look into the headspace of one of skateboarding’s truest, most enigmatic characters.

Where in the world are you right now?
I’m currently in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I’ve been working for my family’s rock ‘n’ roll venue called Mr. Smalls doing a bunch of construction for them and social media shit. We just made the most steezy merch area for the venue, it’s pretty cool. I’ve been working on this space since I was a little kid. My uncle Mike taught me how to build, and it’s kind of why I moved to Pittsburgh actually.

Has that life transition been hard?
I’m not gonna lie, the hardest shift has been integrating into normal society after being off the grid for so long. It’s shocking the way people treat each other in this world, especially in cities. I’m always trying to spread some positivity and have some fun, and not take life too seriously. Before this I was living with my wife in New Mexico, off the grid.

What was living off the grid in New Mexico like and what did that life look like exactly?
I was living an hour away from any town. My wife and I would have to haul in our own water, gallons at a time, down a six mile dirt road that’s not paved, full of potholes. It’s barely even graded, so you got to drive, like, ten miles an hour. It takes about an hour just to go six miles with the water.

You really have to grow a lot of your own food out there. Occasionally we’d take trips to grab essentials, but our fridge is pretty small – you couldn’t fit a lot in it and we didn’t have a freezer either. A lot of the daily activities are just gardening and making sure that nobody fucks with your shit, cause it’s the wild west out there, straight up.

People go missing all the time, they are all gun toting homies. We would take turns on night-watch to make sure that nobody was fucking with anyone’s properties. We’ve seen dead bodies, we’ve cleaned up dead bodies. But what’s fucked is that this shit is happening in cities all over the world, and you’re just sheltered to it because you’re living your ABC lifestyle. If you expose yourself to it then, I don’t know, it doesn’t jade you or anything but I guess it makes you appreciate life a little more.

But New Mexico is one of the most special, spiritual places. The feeling of Taos, New Mexico – It’s like Albuquerque on acid. My favorite part about living there is you can see every star. You can see the colors of green and purple from inside the Milky Way. It’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I miss it every day when I’m here in Pittsburgh. It was extremely motivational because it makes you feel small, you know? It helped me appreciate life every day.



How often do you use psychedelics? Do you think they have helped you with your skating at all?
I like skating on whatever, skating sober is weird… I know a lot of people think that’s strange but, it comes down to expectations when I’m sober. I expect myself to like, be present. And skating is not like that. It’s more of a flow with the universe. Clock out to clock in, you know? I don’t like using shitty substances, just LSD and mushrooms… But It’s been a while since I’ve taken acid. The Desert in New Mexico was enough! [laughs]

What notable tricks have you landed under the influence of a substance?
Pretty much everything in my Element “Peace” part.

Do you believe in Satan?
I believe in positive energy and negative energy and how they work together to balance the cosmos, kind of like the force in Star Wars. That might sound vague, but without getting into extreme details, it’s simply the balance.

Your board brand, Umaverse, is officially done. Why didn’t it work?
Uma has passed away… Deepest regards for such a beautiful brand.

The reality of running a skate brand and also being a pro skater is not realistic at all. I tried to be a team manager, but I can’t even fucking figure out where my stickers are to put on my board. Let alone reel in Maite, Cold Dawg and Roman. I’d say the brand had tapped out. We went in a direction that wasn’t working and that’s okay. But we did punch a hole in the sky. Starting it with Thomas Campbell and working with Nathaniel Russell was a dream. I’m such a big fan of those dudes and their work. Shout out Jon Miner and Thomas Campbell for the 16mm film.

“I tried to be a team manager, but I can’t even fucking figure out where my stickers are to put on my board.”

Was it true that Puma sued you guys and it was one of the causes of the company’s demise?
Puma footwear did sue Uma. They tried to put a restraint on the way we can use our text. Internally, we ended up changing the name from Uma Land Sleds to Umaverse. I think the real reason that Puma sued us was because our names were super similar and one of our fonts was similar at a certain point, but honestly, they can go fuck themselves because that shit jammed us up!

A massive corporate company and we’re like a mom and pop skateboard company, like come on. We’re losing thousands of dollars, you’re making hundreds of thousands of dollars. So yeah, Puma tried to fuck with us, but it didn’t matter, that really had no impact on why we ended the brand. The main reason is because of sales. The hardgood [skateboard] market is not looking good and I really, really hope everyone can hang in there. Kids, if you’re reading this, tell your mom to go buy you boards! A bunch of them!

Have you been skating a lot or are you mostly working since the brand’s demise?
Since then, I’ve been skating a shit ton. I’m sitting on like six minutes of solid footy, but I don’t really have anywhere to put it. I probably should’ve put out a goodbye Uma part … maybe I could still do that?? [laughs]

What are you gonna miss most about Uma?
There’s a feeling when you see the Uma team together. It’s so fucking next level. I never know what’s gonna happen. I’ll miss that the most.



Do you have sponsors right now?
I started skating for Ipath footwear. I’m so fucking stoked they are back. I’m feeling great! Skating, traveling a bunch, and it’s really nice to be on the East Coast. Also, shout out to Drink Weird for have my back always supporting my rock and roll and skateboarding. Insane program we got going! And the people who have supported me since the beginning: Indy, Bones Swiss, Spitfire, No Hotels, Psockadelic, Happy Hour, Pepper Grip, Plus skate shop.

Now that you’re on Ipath does that require you to shower 50% less?
Now that I’m on Ipath I am only allowed to use 25% of the water that I initially used before I got on Ipath. It’s crazy. It’s in my contract, but it’s for the greater good! [laughs]

I noticed you skating Alien Workshop boards. Are you on?
No, I’m not on. I just got a box. It was pretty cool and nostalgic because I grew up watching that shit. The first skateboard I got was from my uncle, and it was an Alien Workshop with Indys, Spitfire and Bone Swiss. It’s funny, that’s my setup right now [laughs].

I’m a big fan of the brand, but I’m a free agent. And I mean, the same goes for the Anti Hero videos. Anti Hero has been the biggest influence on me as well. At the end of the day it comes down to who I want to surround myself with and who I want to skate with!

“The raw nature of skate rat culture – that’ll never die.”

Yeah, Anti Hero seems like it would be a good fit.
Just traveling, camping, and skating, that’s what we embody on our No Hotels trips. Get out under the stars on a trip with your homies and make something happen. Wake up feeling crusty and then jump on a fucking rail that you never thought you could have. There is an innate nature to skateboarders.

Nowadays it’s funny, people are showing up to the fucking skate park with Louis Vuitton bags. It’s just different, you know? And like, it’s cool, but the raw nature of skate rat culture – that’ll never die, and I will fucking work my hardest to make sure it never dies.

Everyone can have their shit, they got to pay their bills and I get it. But at the end of the day, I know deep down all those motherfuckers are skate rats and they’ll do anything for skating, even if all that shit got taken away, they’re gonna find themselves back to the skatepark.

How do you feel about the skate industry right now? Seems like all brands are having trouble.
The skate industry is definitely taking an interesting turn. It seems like there’s a big divide between the people who know the history of it and its modern ideals. I don’t think kids nerd out as much as they used to, as much as our generation did. It’s really interesting to see and ask younger skaters if they know who a certain person is and a lot of the time they don’t. I recently asked somebody if they knew who Nilton Neves was and they looked at me like I was crazy or I made up the name.

But personally, I’m not gonna let any of those things change the way I feel about it. We all come from pretty fucked up familes and the one place that we can call home is skateboarding. I wish everyone the best out there for sure. Just keep your wheels down.

You say a lot of skaters come from fucked up families. I assume this means you too? Can you describe your growing up and family situation?
Yeah my family was full of druggies and alcoholics and I really had to fight to get where I needed to go, which was the skatepark. My buddy Alex Elder who filmed my welcome to Ipath video, he was a savior in my life. We would squat at abandoned apartments and stuff. The skatepark was a place of focus in my life, it gave me purpose. Thanks to Simon and Brett for taking care of me too! Luckily the skate community has each other’s backs. It saved me.

You mentioned you had some support from your Aunt and Uncle though too, right?
Yeah. Basically, there was a certain point where my mom wasn’t doing so hot and my dad really wasn’t around. I was about 15 years old, and my uncle was like, “You’re so interested in skating, I’m just going to grab you and we’re going to build a skate park in Pittsburgh.”

Originally I was just going to stay for like three months with them, build the park and then go back to Florida, but my uncle was like, “Dude, if you want to stay here, we got your back. We got work for you too and whatever.” So I stuck around, did a little bit of homeschooling, and then eventually when I turned pro, I started traveling full time. It was fucking sick.



Your uncle was a skater back in the day?
Yeah, my uncle’s name is Mike Speranzo, he was the first skateboarder at Woodward Camp. He rode for Vision and Sims. He built Woodward’s first skate park, the classic one that’s all blue. And the blue vert ramp. That was the beginning of the legacy of Woodward and what it meant for skating and to kids all over the Northeast region. I’ve been there for plenty of summers and that shit changed my life. It allowed me to be around other skaters from different regions.

And my aunt was touring with a band, Rusted Root, which is part of why music has been such a big influence in my life. They are the band that sings, Send Me On My Way. [Starts singing the chorus] They had a double platinum album. I used to jump on tour with them when I was like eleven and twelve. They’d bring me on stage to sing that song with them. It was badass. I’d sing that song and play bongos in front of like 12-20,000 people, every night on tour. It was such a cool way to be introduced to rock and roll. Chilling backstage with Led Zeppelin and Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Santana. I didn’t know they were famous when I was younger. I had no fucking clue, all I knew was, that was music.

Do you keep in touch with your parents? Are they around?
Yeah, I keep in touch with them. They are great people, but they struggle with addiction. So do I. Everyone almost does in a way, especially with all the accessibility in this world. If it’s not drugs and alcohol, it’s porn or social media. Everyone has their thing. But they struggle with drugs and alcohol and it was unhealthy for me at a certain point, so I kinda had to set the boundaries. But I love them more than ever. True respect to them for letting me spread my wings, and letting me do whatever I wanted. That gave me the freedom to be who I am and to learn all this shit, and go through these hard times.

That’s how you actually become a solid human. All these things are just lessons in life, and if you don’t learn from those lessons, they will just keep coming back and repeat till you actually learn them. Life, after life, after life, if you don’t take the time to be like shit I need to pinpoint this. I’ve done years of therapy to figure this stuff out. How to turn a gnarly feeling into something really positive and motivational, I think that’s the way to go. Remember that life is fleeting but it’s full of opportunities, every corner you look.

“I’ve done years of therapy to figure this stuff out.”

I’ve dealt with some anger toward one of my parents. Different circumstances but feelings I am working through. You don’t have any anger towards your parents for not being around? Sounds like therapy really helped you.
Yeah, big time. I could use years and years more therapy. I’m about to enter back into that realm, because there are things that frustrate me, and there are things that make me angry. Why couldn’t I just have that family member, right when I needed them? That’s a really hard thing to go through. There’s one thing though, that we got to remember: that’s the lesson. It might be really fucking annoying and it might keep showing up, and pull on your heart strings. But that lesson is right there in front of you to learn and figure out how to move through and grow through.

I don’t know what you are going through exactly but, you got this. We support each other, that’s what we do. Skaters are the most supportive fucking crew in the entire world. I will say that, that’s the difference between musicians and skaters. You can call me any fucking time, and I got space for you.

Musicians are pretty full of themselves [laughs].

But we also rip on each other though too, no?
There is the ripping, but I think that’s healthy because it teaches the younger generation that they can’t just get away with everything. If I didn’t get hazed when I was a kid, I don’t know if I would have ever survived in this world [laughs]. I thank my homies everyday for teaching me how to not be a little fucking shithead [laughs].

Yeah, that’s fair. That’s the culture, really.
Yeah, it really is. I love our culture! I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’m not going anywhere. I’m only just starting dude, firing it up.

How has your approach to skating changed as you’ve gotten older and released as many parts as you have. Do you skate any differently?
To be completely honest, my approach to skating is pretty much the same but now there are some physical limitations. I’ve had a shit ton of injuries. I think that’s where you kind of reinvent the wheel for yourself and I’m figuring that out right now. Hucking your carcass down 12 stairs doesn’t get easier in your 30s. But I’m in tiptop shape ready for battle, trying to at least, cause I’ll never stop skating.

I heard you applied to be on the TV show Survivor before, is that true?
Yeah, I was always talking about going on Survivor and trying to be like the only pro skater to win. They’re on Season 48. I applied last year, I’m going to apply again. It would just be fucking hilarious dude.

That would be one of the greatest things to happen in skating! [laughs]
I don’t know if it’d be one of the greatest things to happen to skating. [laughs] The greatest thing to happen to skating is probably Tony Hawk doing the 900 on TV [laughs]. Giving us all jobs up until now. Tony handled it dude. And I get it, there’s some corporate shit going on. But it allowed all the mom and pop skate brands to fucking pop up throughout the years. And we owe something to that.

“I was always talking about going on ‘Survivor’ and trying to be like the only pro skater to win.”

What are you most excited about right now in your new chapter of life?
I’ve been really into music engineering. Doing a lot of studio recording using tape machines and just getting so much knowledge passed on to me. I got the chance to mix a couple band’s records and record them. I’m so blessed to be surrounded by top level technicians.

Being a solid husband, cooking a lot of really insane meals and working hard doing construction, that gets me juiced too.

And I’m super pumped on skating dude. Just having a fresh feeling. I’m not really getting paid like I was to be a pro skater.

But the craziest thing is, not getting paid like I used to is fueling my skating because it’s taking the pressure off. I can truly just enjoy the feeling. There’s a weird thing that happens when you skate for a living versus skating for fun. I’m just so happy that it didn’t destroy me and I’m still so pumped on skating, even more than ever.

I’m ready to fucking do a skate shop tour where I just rock out at skate shops and try to bring people to buy shit at shops, because that’s a dying breed as well. My goal is to preserve all the shit that we fucking started and hold it high so that this next generation can, like, reap the benefits of it all, you know what I mean?



I feel the same way, but I hope the next generation takes the baton. Right now I feel like they’re just looking at it, but they’re not really taking it.
Yeah, it’s confusing. Think about what it’s like to look at social media every fucking day and trying to base your life off of it. How confusing that must be to create an identity based off of everyone else’s identities all the time. Luckily for us, we didn’t have to fucking do that. We created our existence by going to the skate park.

I really don’t know what to do other than try to motivate people to be themselves. Because the more individuals we have, people not copying each other, the better it is for everyone. I want to see what people’s true lights are. I want to hear what their song is.

“I really don’t know what to do
other than try to motivate people to be themselves”

But how do you find yourself? What your inner song is, how do you find out who you are?
The best way I believe to find you inner song is to have two passions. Obviously skating is one if you are reading this, but another way is find a passion outside of skating that has nothing to do with your cell phone. Turn that thing off, throw it in the fucking lake, and live for a month. See what you like, see what you’re interested in. What music you wanna share with people. What movies do you like and what influences you? That goes so far. Just do anything but look at your phone all day. That shit is killing us.

But, at the same time I get it, you can benefit from it, companies can get instant gratification on this shit, but like, full length skate videos are dying. Thats not fair! [laughs]. That’s my favorite. I love sitting down watching a full video start to finish. I don’t know man, we got our hands full but at the end of the day, nothing will defeat skating. Skating will last forever. In whatever form it turns into, we’re all gonna have to jump on board and I think we are already doing it. It’s just like, I wish people would create their own paths.

Mark Gonzales was a big influence to a lot of people because he was original. He had an original feeling. He didn’t copy other people, he paved his own road. The only way to do that, is to just do it. I can’t tell anyone how to do it, they have to find out what they love, and push the boundaries. Doesn’t even have to be a skate trick, it could just be like the way you grip your board, or a shape that you made. It can be anything.

Comments

  1. wenkemist

    April 16, 2025 7:07 am

    real talk in this. I think the one episode in KOTR gave Evan really bad publicity, interviews like these really help understand that he’s a true skate rat for life and living as his most authentic self. I wish I could be as authentic.

    • Leave a reply

    • wenkemist

      April 16, 2025 7:07 am

      also props for doing and advocating for therapy. That shit is really helpful

      • Leave a reply

  2. BALOGH

    April 16, 2025 8:22 am

    Great interview. One of my top 10 all-time fave skaters and a righteous dude.

    • Leave a reply

  3. skatebeer

    April 16, 2025 10:34 am

    Damn this got trippy fast (shocker).
    “There is the ripping, but I think that’s healthy because it teaches the younger generation that they can’t just get away with everything. If I didn’t get hazed when I was a kid, I don’t know if I would have ever survived in this world [laughs]. I thank my homies everyday for teaching me how to not be a little fucking shithead [laughs].”
    ^^100%

    • Leave a reply

    • G

      April 16, 2025 12:02 pm

      I like this attitude, it subverts the narrative that pros are all negative or cynical. Dude’s been thru it and is still psyched

      • Leave a reply

  4. Bob Sahatores

    April 16, 2025 10:44 am

    This was one of the best interviews I’ve read this year. Nice work, real talk. Evan rules.

    • Leave a reply

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