@priceyhot

 

Aaron Yant lays down sick low impact tricks infused with a high amount of creativity.

He consistently nails tough tech moves, that we’ve never seen before, which make us want to go out there and try to push the limits at our local spots.

So after the release of his latest banging part we had to hit him up for an In Focus interview to go through each clip in his section, trick by trick, to find out his experience of making his part.

Read his interview below to discover what it was like for him to make all of these tricks before you go out and hit up the streets and have multiple gnarly slams trying to do some of these yourself.

 

 

 

 

Before I get into your part, how did you meet Shane Farber and decide to film this part?

I remember super randomly meeting him for a second at a Volcom contest in 2015, where he had made it to the finals at a skatepark and I was just there to watch my friend.

From then on I was a fan of his skating and he moved from Georgia to California a couple years ago, so I’m pretty sure at that point I hit him up and we linked in LA.

 

 

What was the first trick that you filmed?

I think it was a 180 Switch Crook through this perfect little kink ledge. I’m not sure how long it took but I probably could have done it better so maybe I was battling lol.

 

 

Also why is this part just called ‘Aaron Yant’?

I wish there was a solid reason but I think we were both maybe just a little indecisive about the name.

Personally, every name I thought of was probably kinda corny but I was most likely just overthinking it.

 

 

Where was the intro filmed with you on a bike?

We were just biking some trails overlooking Camarillo, California.

There are so many cool trails around my area its seriously like a mountain bike resort.

 

 

Your first trick is a 50-50 Nollie Bigspin Out. Never seen that. How’d it go down and what inspired it?

That ledge is a 90 degree angle so its hard to get away with many different grinds so I feel like I played it kinda safe with that one. I was just 50-50ing through it and I guess it just came to me out of messing around.

 

 

 

 

Your Slappy 180 Crook through the kinked hubba was dope, how did you learn that trick?

Thank you, I learned that trick accidentally by trying a Bluntslide on a double sider curb.For whatever reason it feels way easier to slap into and hold for longer than a regular Bunt. That mini hubba is at my old school and I always wanted to get a proper clip on it so I figured that one would work.

 

 

Your FS Boardslide to Front Blunt is tight. What was the hardest thing about nailing it?

Thanks, we actually got that one within a like 30 minutes because I had done it prior to filming with Shane.

A time I had the honour to shoot with Matt Price was when I had done it before. I’ll have to send you the sequence he took.

 

 

Aaron, Frontside Boardslide to Frontside Bluntslide: Shot by @priceyhot

 

 

Also, how did you think of doing that trick?

It’s a weird spot and it calls for weird tricks I guess,

 

 

Not many people have that one in their bag, the tune is banging, did you choose the music for the part?

I let Shane choose it. Whatever he did, I was pretty much on board for it in terms of editing.

 

 

Were you involved in the editing process?

The extent of my involvement was mainly giving my two cents on the order of the clips and where they go on the timeline.

It was his vision though, for sure.

 

 

You follow up with another FS Boardslide Front Blunt but this time on a L ledge onto a bench. Were you trying to mirror the trick from the previous clip?

That was honestly not intentional until probably seeing it while in the editing stage. I think that one worked easier actually just because of how the spot was set up.

 

 

The pair of Slappy Blunts you did are tight. Especially the one to Backside Lipslide, did you go there to those tricks and where is that spot?

That spot is also in Camarillo and its just so perfect that I likely just went there thinking I could figure something out.

Probably half of the tricks in the video were premeditated and that wasn’t one of them.

 

 

 

 

Your Wallie onto the giant football to drop off to Nose Dig is rad. Where did you find that spot and how did you think of doing that?

That was right after and right next to the bank to curb under the bridge.

I was just Ollieing onto them and seeing what I could do.

 

 

 

 

The mirrored Slappy 5-0 360 Outs you do are dope. What inspired you to do those?

Thank you, I’m not sure what inspired it but those two tricks work very well on a curb like that. The Frontside one was a little harder I think because Front Suski is weird.

 

 

Your back against the wall 50-50 looks gnarly, what was the biggest challenge of nailing that?

I’m pretty sure someone had grinded a smaller portion of it before but the biggest challenge was that my back kept scraping against the wall. I sort of had to though to stay locked in.

 

 

 

 

Your mate has a 50-50 Ollie Out over a barrier off a rock in this.Who was that?

Yeah that’s my friend Jamie McAuley and that was a pretty spontaneous one. I love that clip.

 

 

Cool, your 180 Switch Crook 180 Out on the L Ledge is dope. How long did it take you to do?

That’s at a local school, its a perfect spot that’s been around forever. I don’t think it took me too long.

 

 

Your Slappy 50-50 180 Out to Switch 50-50 is rad. What made you want to do it?

Thank you, I skate that spot all the time and figured I could pull that one in a line.

I’ve never really enjoyed or felt like my body could handle impact skating so I guess that’s why I stick to low stuff lol.

 

 

You take a big slam on that curb you Slappy FS Blunt and Slappy Back Tail but you got it. What’s your tips for good Slappy Front Blunts?

I think that Back Tail was a little tougher because it was uphill but my tip for both would be to try and scrape right in with as little jump as possible.

 

 

 

 

You took a slam on that Slappy Back Tail and Crook down that hubba. What was the gnarliest slam you had in this part and why?

It had to have been the Crooked Grind attempt because I felt my shoulder pop out and back in during the fall. Plus my sunglasses flew off and I forgot them at the spot.

 

 

 

 

Ah shit. Your Nose Manual to Noseblunt is sick. What was the toughest thing, the Noseblunt or the Nose Manual?

That spot is in Oxnard near a different spot which was what originally brought me out there.

It’s a very unique spot and it just was asking for some sort of manual to slide trick so I schemed that one up. The toughest thing was definitely the nose manual part where I had to get the right curve. This video was playing in my mind when thinking about that.

 

 

Your Blunt to Noseslide transfer is dope. What was the toughest part of making that one?

Thanks that one felt like a my war honestly. Hardest part was for sure slamming on the first day of trying it and thinking that it could easily happen again. I think I have an iPhone angle of that.

 

 

Have you had good feedback about your part?

I was really grateful for all the support that I received off of it.

It felt great to put out footage filmed on a legit camera and have the honour of it being posted on Free Skate. I’m super thankful for how it all worked out.

 

 

What was your favourite trick that you filmed?

My favourite trick was probably the Nosemanny Noseblunt.

I remember it feeling extra special because I landed it right as our friend returned to the spot with some greasy fast food that just tasted so good afterwards.

 

 

Are you working on anything new at the moment that you want to announce?

I might have some old footage come out soon with my friend Gunnar Hall but for the most part, I’ve been staying pretty local lately just skating for fun with friends.

 

 

Any last words for people reading this?

Thanks for the support!