Skateboarding
Skateboarding
Move into the light with Marco Kada's sledgehammer new edit
Enjoy a new Checkout part and read our interview with the resurgent ripper who's putting Vienna on today's skate map.
Austria’s capital city, Vienna, performs the function that many such places do in becoming a nexus towards which skaters from outlying areas and smaller towns gravitate.
What that means is that in capital city skate scenes you don’t get one uniform style of skating, and in that respect Vienna is no different: for each ledge wizard like Daniel Spiegel, you'll also find an absolute beast like Marco Kada.
Marco Kada is an interesting character in Vienna's skateboarding world. He hails from a little lakeside town called Gmunden and on his long path from home he's overcome serious personal struggles to find himself here, today, living his skating life to the fullest.
We caught up with him back in the full swing of sponsored skate life to hear his thoughts on mega Euro tours, griptape commitment and why it doesn’t take much to be happy.
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Marco Kada – Heelflip
© Hannes Mautner
Marco Kada
© Hannes Mautner
Marco Kada – Nosebluntslide
© Hannes Mautner
Marco Kada – Frontside Kickflip
© Hannes Mautner
Hi Marco, how was Croatia?
Hi! Actually, Croatia was only one stop: we started in Austria and after that we made our way through Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania and Greece. From there, we took the ferry to Italy. The guys from the German skate magazine Irregular invited a few skaters to take the trip for their 10-year anniversary. They're gonna premiere the tour clip and release the magazine at their anniversary party.
Vienna has a pretty historic skate scene, but what’s going on there these days?
You skate aggressively, which is always nice to see – are you like that every time you go out to skate?
I mean, it depends on how I’m feeling, but basically, I just love that type of skating when you're in that mode to jump down somewhere and commit, every try. Of course, we go skate a ledge or something like that every now and then, but yeah I definitely need that dose of jumping!
How was visiting the Soviet skate museum in Belarus? Good trip?
It was definitely a unique experience to see how Soviet skateboard history developed, 'cause they were pretty much cut off from the rest of the industry. Besides that, we were really overwhelmed by the Belarusian spots; I’d never seen anything like that before.
I just wanna skate, be healthy, travel a lot… It doesn't take much to be happy
You were in California to film for Bones Bearings – would you go back permanently?
It's a good place to escape the Austrian winter… and, yes, of course I could imagine living there.
How would you like to see your future play out?
I just wanna skate, be healthy, travel a lot... just doing my thing, you know? It doesn't take much to be happy.
Who's going to be the next skater from Austria to blow up?
That's a tough one! There's a little ripper called Paul Plibrsek who lives in my hometown Gmunden. I think he's like 12 or 13… not sure about that. If he keeps doing what he does, he's definitely going to make his mark.
What’s the secret to a good, fat hardflip?
That's a pretty good question – I don't really know how to answer, 'cause I can't hardflip on flat! In my opinion it's way easier to do tricks down a sidewalk or a little gap – that way you have more time to flip and catch it.
Can you give us some last words of wisdom from the mind of Marco?
If you see griptape – commit! Can I thank my Mum, Denise, all my homies and my sponsors: Vans, Real, Volcom, Blue Tomato, Spitfire, Independent, Bones Bearings? And of course Matthias for making it all happen. Thank you everybody.
