Like others born with innate grace, Nick McLouth’s skating is synonymous with style.  Unfortunately for me, I didn’t meet Nick—or see any footage of him—until about six months ago. Through the encouragement of our mutual friend Sean Foy—who likened McLouth’s skating to Justin Case’s—I checked out Nick’s footage. Immediately I could see the aptness of Foy’s comparison. Like Case, McLouth skates effortlessly and has a mind for innovation. His Forecast part is filled with incredible tech stuff and one of the most proper hardflips caught on film. Having skated with Nick about a dozen times in the past six months, I can tell you that he’s incredibly passionate about skateboarding. It might not come across at first as Nick’s reserved, but get him started on a topic he likes (such as Marc Johnson, Justin Case, Alex “Trainwreck” Gall, Steve Berra; skate videos The End and H-Street’s Lick), and floodgates are opened. His recently released Recruits section was well received, giving Nick some long overdue recognition. Simply put: Nick rips. 

Interview by Ryan Leach and Sean Foy

Ryan: Have you always lived in Simi Valley?

Nick: Yeah; I’ve lived in the same house my whole life.

Ryan: In what year were you born?

Nick: 1985.

Ryan: A lot of really great skateboarders lived off or near the 118 Freeway (Mike Mo and Vince Capaldi, Torey Pudwill, Justin Schulte, Paul Rodriguez, etc.). Were you skating with any of these guys early on?

Nick: Initially, I was just skating with the people who lived down the street from me. They were all older. I was about 10 years old when I started. They were about 16. I’d see them do kickflips and I thought that was the coolest fucking thing. I really wanted to learn how to do tricks. I just skated with my friends who were my age. I skated with Mike Mo, Torey, and Paul later on when I was like 18 or 19. I don’t see them around as much due to the fact that they are always on tour, so I just skate with my homies in Simi Valley.

Sean: What spots did you skate growing up?

Nick: Hillside Elementary. It’s this school with a lot of blue-painted ledges in front of it. I don’t know of a video that I can reference it to.

Ryan: Peter Smolik skates one of the Hillside ledges in The Storm. He does a halfcab noseslide heelflip out the hard way.

Nick: Yeah, that’s right.

Ryan: You and Mike Mo have skated Hillside in videos. You do a fakie pop-shove it switch manual over one of the benches. I think it was in your Forecast part.

Nick: Yeah, I did do that. But it was in a Mag Minute section. You can only skate over the benches now because the school put rocks on top of the ledges. That place has been gone for about five years now.

Ryan: I imagine Royal High School had to have been a favorite spot of yours.

Nick: It was. I went to high school there. They built the bleachers you see in videos when I was in ninth or tenth grade. We were some of the first people to wax those ledges. There were only a handful of skaters at Royal. I usually skated with my friend Mike Marasco. He primarily films now. Royal High is only about a mile away from my house.

Sean: What skaters influenced you early on?

Nick: I’d actually just watch 411 videos all day so the skaters in those videos had a huge influence on me. The first one I had was Number 17. They used to be an hour long.

Ryan: And they cost $14.95.

Nick: That’s right.

Ryan: You have an incredible frame of reference, Nick. You know a lot about skate videos and skate history. You and I were talking earlier about how we were the last generation to come up before the ubiquity of the Internet. We were hungry for those videos.

Nick: I wanted to know everything I could about skateboarding, so I grabbed every video available. I would watch them over and over again. That’s how I learned how to skate. I would put every trick in slow motion, trying to catch how people did tricks. The first video I bought after 411 Number 17 was Welcome to Hell. I thought that was the greatest thing ever. I couldn’t skate like Jamie Thomas or Ed Templeton because I only had ledges around me. Everything they did was so gnarly—20-stair handrails. Jamie Thomas was the craziest guy out at the time. He’d lipslide handrails barefoot. In terms of tech, I was really into Marc Johnson, Richard Angelides and Jerry Fowler.

Ryan: Seven Steps to Heaven.  

Nick: That video and Marc had a 411 Profile that I watched over and over. I always loved the A- Team dudes as well, especially the section they had in the Rodney vs. Daewon: Round 2 video. I still consider that one amazing.

Ryan: Sean Foy and Mike Taylor both likened your skating to Justin Case’s. I heard he was also a favorite of yours.

Nick: Definitely.

Ryan: Did you get to see Justin Case skate in his prime? It was an amazing sight.

Nick: Yeah, I did see him a bunch of times. But the funny thing is I have never spoken to Justin. His 16 Skateboards and City Stars parts were incredible. He had the best style. I just wanted to skate like him. All of those City Stars guys were big influences—Paul Rodriguez, Mike Taylor and Spanky. That crew gave me hope because they were about my age and lived nearby.

Ryan: Was IG Boardshop your first hookup?

Nick: Yeah. I got on their team when I was 16. The funny thing is I was turned down by every other shop before I gave that sponsor me video to IG. Ironically, IG is down the street from my house; I should have given it to them first anyway. Literally 20 minutes after giving IG the video they called me up and told me I was on their team. They’re really cool. After being on IG for a year, I rode for 118 Boardshop for a while. Now I am back on IG and I work there as well.

Ryan: Most people are familiar with you through your Forecast part. How did that come together?

Nick: That occurred when Paul Rodriguez and I were riding for 118. Nigel Alexander—who is a filmer now—was on the team and also worked there. Nigel just said to me, “Hey, give us some footage for the friends’ section for this video Paul is making.” I was stoked. I had never been in a video before. Paul Rodriguez was already so popular by this point. It just so happened that we were supposed to put together a 118 video. So I had all of this footage. I gave everything to Nigel. He called me up a little later and left a voice mail: “Hey, do you want a full part in Paul’s video?” I couldn’t believe it. It was incredible—Mike Mo, Mike Barker, Paul Rodriguez and Jason Wakuzawa were all involved. But there was a catch: I only had four additional months to get enough footage to round out a whole part. I was like, “Fuck.” At the time, I was working a horrible job at Mervyn’s and going to college. So I had to film between school and work—the hardest thing ever—but I think it turned out well. On average, I only had two days a week to film, so I just tried to pull out the best stuff I could. To this day I am still stoked to have been a part of Forecast. Now I can tell my kids that I was in a video with Paul Rodriguez. (laughs)

Ryan: One trick that’s intense is the kickflip backtail, pop-out over the bottom block at Royal High School. That had to have taken a lot of effort. That’s my favorite trick in your Forecast part. That was gnarly.

Sean: Definitely.

Nick: Thanks. I’d skated Royal for so long that I wanted to try and do something different. Very few people were skating the second block. A couple of guys had tried doing noseslides over the first block onto the second one. One day I thought that I could backside tailslide the second block and pop out over the first one. I backside tailslid the ledge and popped out over the first block before I kickflipped into it. When I tried to do it with the kickflip—it took three days. I actually did pull the kickflip backtail on the first day, but the filming got messed up; it was too dark. I couldn’t do it on the second day. On the third day, I got it. There’s video of me on YouTube screaming, trying to get that trick.

Ryan: I imagine Forecast had to have been a big boost for you. Would you say that you got on Bueno off of the strength of that video?

Nick: Yeah. But after Forecast came out, I still didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know if I was supposed to wait around and have someone approach me. No clue. And anyway, I didn’t know who’d I skate for; I didn’t know which team I’d fit on. Shortly after Forecast, I saw Mark Gutterman skating Borchard skatepark. He had this crazy-looking board that said “Bueno” on it. I went home and looked the company up. There were only like four people on the team. And I knew Mark. So I asked Mark if he could talk to Stacy Lowery for me. Weeks went by and I didn’t hear anything. So I just went on the website and e-mailed Stacy directly. I think I e-mailed Shiloh Greathouse as well. Stacy wrote me back. He said that he had seen my Forecast part and to come down to Long Beach to go skate. So I did. Shiloh was there. I got along with him instantly. He knows so much about skateboarding—like who did what first, skate history-type information. So I talked with Shiloh the most. He got me on the team. We made a 411 video collaboration. Mark Gutterman and I had parts in that.

Ryan: You were likely the last guy to skate the Sequoia Junior High rail. In the Bueno 411, you crooked grinded it and popped out before the skate-stopper post. You told me that less than a month later the school took the rail out. The Sequoia rail had a lot of history behind it. Marc Johnson kickflip tailslid it in 1996—probably the first time that trick had been done on a legit handrail. Our crew skated it regularly. Mike Taylor and Van Wastell learned a lot of their handrail tricks on it.

Nick: The funny thing is I had only skated one handrail before I crooked grinded the Sequoia one. It was the 8-stair one at Sylmar. And all I did was boardslide it. (laughs). One day my friends called me out: “Nick, you’ve got to jump down a handrail.” They were calling me a pussy. So I said, “Fuck it. I’ll boardslide the 8-stair one in back.” I gave it one try. I landed it crooked. My board was still at 90 degrees; I rolled away to the side. But I did it. And I didn’t step on a rail again—until Sequoia. Eric Longden filmed that whole 411 part. Eric made me do things that I didn’t want to do. He thought of tricks for me to do because I couldn’t come up with any myself! So he said, “Nick, we’re going to Sequoia. You’re going to crooked grind the handrail there and pop off before the knob.” I just said, “Okay.”

Ryan: That skate-stopper was more like a javelin. It was intense.

Nick: Yeah. One time I crooked it and shot over. I almost racked my nuts on it. It only took me about six tries, though. And that’s the last rail I’ve skated. I wish I could skate rails. Watching other people skate handrails—I have no idea how it works. But that’s the shit I like to see. I like to watch Zero videos because their team does stuff that I could never do. Like Trainwreck—dude was going mach-10 and just doing every trick on a rail. I’ll never be able to do that.

Ryan: That’s sort of surprising, considering all the tech stuff you do.

Nick: I do that stuff all day long, so I like to see other types of skating.

Ryan: I remember Dustin Dollin listed Daewon Song as one of his favorite skaters.

Nick: Exactly. Daewon is amazing and skates nothing like Dustin—that’s probably why Dustin listed him as one of his favorites. I can watch the tech stuff but I don’t like seeing tricks that I can do or have the potential to do. I like watching videos where it’s obvious that I cannot do a single trick in the whole thing, which is why I like Zero’s stuff. But the tech videos do give me ideas.

Ryan: Bueno seemed like a really good fit for you. How long were you on the team before the company went under?

Nick: I was on for six months before that part in 411. About a month after that things started going downhill. Bueno went through Giant Distribution. Stereo and Popwar also had distribution through them. Something was shady with the dudes who ran Giant. Stereo left Giant. So then Bueno wanted to leave; Stacy wanted to do his own thing. Giant wouldn’t let Bueno keep its name. I don’t know why. Stacy was freaking out about that. He called me and basically told me that the company was over and that he would try to get something else going later on. Stacy suggested that in the meantime it’d probably be a good idea to try and get something else going with another company. Six months later, Bueno restarted as Roger. Although I appreciated everything Stacy had done for me, Roger just didn’t seem like the right team for me. Shiloh, who was the person who got me on Bueno, wasn’t involved anymore. Mark Gutterman was also no longer involved. I definitely respect Stacy. I’m really grateful for everything he did for me. He’s awesome. But I wanted to move on.

Ryan: Approximately when did Bueno go out?

Nick: Around 2007.

Ryan: We talked earlier about how you’re one of the few skaters with a college degree.

Nick: Yeah. I went to Moorpark Community College and then to Cal State Northridge. I have a bachelor’s degree in sociology.  I don’t know how I did all of that stuff. I was on Bueno when I finished my degree. I was working, going to school, and filming. It was a lot of work.

Ryan: You were working at IG?

Nick: Actually, I was at Mervyn’s. I sold shoes there for three years. I was Al Bundy. I also worked at Skatelab Skatepark.

Sean: You also worked at one other place. You know what I’m talking about.

Nick: Oh, shit. Yeah, I worked at Little Caesar’s Pizza for three days. I had to hold up a sign on a busy Simi Valley street that read: “Pizzas—$4.99.” In three days, I lost nearly all of my self-respect.

Ryan: Did you meet Steve Berra when you were on Bueno?

Nick: No. I only met Steve for the first time about a year ago. My friend Donovan Strain—Buttery Ass Donovan—he made this video called “The Buttery Ass Ledge Video.” I told him not to put it out. Had he listened to me, he would have fucked his whole life up. I think he put it on the Skate Mafia website. It’s funny, because he talks all gangster in it. I told him, “Dude, do not put this video out. You’re going to get hated on.” I know how the hate game goes. I know about message boards. Donovan didn’t. He didn’t know what putting out footage in front of an audience was like. Again, I told him, “No, do not do it.” He finally said, “Man, I’m just going to do it.” A week later he gets an e-mail from Steve Berra saying, “Dude, that video was sick. We want you to do videos for our site.” When Donovan told me this, I just thought: “Holy shit! Steve Berra just wrote you!” So thank god Donovan did not listen to me! I told Donovan to get on it so he could get the fuck out of Simi Valley. So Donovan is the only reason I ended up skating the Berrics. Donovan asked Berra if I could film a few tricks at the Berrics. Berra was cool. He said, “Sure. Tell Nick to come on down.” The first day I skated the Berrics, I didn’t film anything; I just got used to everything there. The next day, Donovan told me that Steve wanted me to do a Recruits section. I was super psyched. Berra ended up giving me every single part the Berrics had to offer; I had a Bangin’, Recruits, First Try Fridays, a Text Yo’self. Berra just told me, “I want you to be on the Berrics. I want to help you out however I can so that you can be successful.” That’s what lead up to the Recruits section which came out about a month ago. 

Ryan: It’s pretty awesome—how much Berra supports your skating.

Nick: I’m surprised by it myself. Berra is a pretty intimidating person. And that’s because as a kid I watched The End everyday. I’m going to claim that The End is the greatest skate video ever made. Steve Berra was in his prime then—doing kickflip back grinds and lipslides on handrails. No one was doing that shit.

Ryan: I remember there were rumors—before The End came out—that Berra wasn’t going to put a trick in his part that someone had done before.

Nick: That’s right. I remember hearing that, too. Berra’s part in The End is so good. I can’t stand the kids now who don’t know what Steve Berra has done. They think he’s just this guy who runs a skatepark. They’re not familiar with his Transworld parts.

Ryan: I like his Rolling Thunder part the best. I remember rewinding that kickflip 50-50 he does on that San Diego handrail over and over again. That was pushing the envelope back in 1995.

Nick: Yeah. And he’s been on the biggest teams—Foundation, Birdhouse, and Adio. Now he’s on Alien and DVS. The guy is 36 years old and I’ve seen him do kickflip back tailslides, kickflip outs. I’m 24 and I’ve never landed that trick. I’m waiting for his Battle Commander to come out. It’s going to be great.

Ryan: Berra is one of the few guys who made the transition from vert to street. It’s pretty amazing to think that if he wanted to he could probably break out a 540.

Nick: Yeah, I bet you he could. I don’t get vert skating either. I wouldn’t drop in on a vert ramp even if my life depended on it.

Ryan: Your Recruits part got a really good response. It was clear you worked really hard for it. Tell me about filming for it. I know Sean was helping you out with trick ideas.

Nick: The thing is—there had been seven or eight Recruit parts before mine. And it seemed like every trick had been done, especially if you include the Battle Commander and Bangin’ sections. The best skateboarders go to the Berrics. At certain points I thought, “I don’t think I can do this.” But I just wouldn’t let myself quit. That Recruits part was definitely the hardest thing I’ve filmed. I pushed myself so hard that I puked several times due to overexertion. I also put myself on a pretty strict timeframe. I felt like I had to have something of a comeback. I didn’t think that people thought that I had disappeared; I just felt like I hadn’t put out footage in a while. I realized the Berrics was definitely the best investment of my time. It’s viewed by so many people. I just watched all of the other parts and I tried not to duplicate what others had done before. That’s not to say I did the craziest tricks, I just wanted to bring something new to the table. I also wanted to make everything look as clean as possible. Sean and Chase (Gabor)—the Berrics’ main filmer—really helped me out with tricks. Chase would put a note on the door: “Berrics closed today.” He did that so I could come and film. Obviously, I’m not a big name. So for those guys to close the park down for me, that meant a lot. It pushed me. I’m a really big supporter of the Berrics. Those guys have done so much for me. Steve Berra supports a lot of guys coming up. A lot of the Bangin’ sections—you might not even know who these kids are but they’re good skaters. Berra can tell right away. He has an eye for skateboarding. Like Ben Fisher. I had never heard of him before and I search for new skaters constantly. And his Recruits part was amazing. In my opinion, it’s the best one yet. Berra is looking out for people.

Ryan: On the flipside, he’s looking out for the older guys too. Felix Arguelles’ Birthday Commander was really good. With the exception of some 411 Profiles, I hadn’t seen a full Felix part since Genesis.  

Nick: Yeah, and Mike Vallely too. A lot of kids don’t know Mike’s older parts. Berra is helping these dudes out and sparking their careers again. It’s awesome what the Berrics is doing for skateboarding.

Ryan: So what’s up in the future? I think a lot of people want to know when you’re going to have a board sponsor again.

Nick: That’s something on my mind too. I just want a board company to hook me up that’s psyched on my skating. I’m a little bit older now—24. So that’s why I’ve been pushing it really hard. Hopefully someone’s down for a 24-year-old AM (laughs). I’m currently riding for SML wheels, which is James Craig’s company. Other than that, Scuba Steve has been giving me eS Shoes for over a year. He’s awesome.

Ryan: He helps out Angel Saucedo too. Angel is the man.

Nick: Yeah, he helps out a of lot dudes. Other than that, I’m just going to keep filming. I have some footage I’m sitting on. Maybe I’ll do something with that. Keep doing stuff with the Berrics. I’ll help them out however I can. I’ll be around, skating.

Sean: Last question: If you could bring back any skater, who would it be?

Nick: Trainwreck. Justin Case would be pretty amazing, too. He definitely influenced me. Had Justin kept skating, he’d be pro right now and still influencing people.

Ryan: Definitely. Trainwreck would be awesome too. How do you have one of the craziest parts ever—his In Bloom ender—and never film another trick?

Nick: He didn’t even fade out of skateboarding. He was just gone in one day. No one knows what happened to him or where he’s at—vague rumors is all. But Trainwreck was the kind of guy I liked to watch skate. Tattooed up and 5-0 grinding massive handrails.

Ryan: It’s funny you mention Trainwreck, because I asked Mike Taylor about him a couple of weeks ago. Mike filmed that switch flip he does down the double set into the bank in In Bloom. Mike said that Trainwreck would start trying stuff before anyone could break a camera out. Like that switch flip—Trainwreck stuck every single one he attempted. It took him a few tries; he was apparently oblivious as to whether someone was filming him or not. Van Wastell was sort of like that but not nearly to the extent of Trainwreck.

Sean: He did a lot of stuff where there’s only a photo sequence of it. I think there’s a switch flip down a 12 stair that no one caught on film.

Ryan: Amazing. Mike also told me that Trainwreck would go straight for the backlip out of the car. No warm up ollies down the stair set. No boardslides. The intensity with which that dude skated at remains nearly unparalleled. There was a two-year span where Trainwreck had nothing but fire in his eyes. I’m still blown away by his In Bloom part, especially the Three 6 Mafia edit. And I don’t even listen to Three 6 Mafia! 

Nick: Yeah. So if anyone who knows Trainwreck reads this interview, tell him that people still remember him and that we want him back. Maybe Jamie Thomas will give him a second chance.

Ryan: Who would you like to thank?

Nick: Steve Berra, Donovan Strain, Chase Gabor, Sean Foy, Ryan Leach, James Craig, Matt Williams, Matt Daughters, Shane Auckland, Zach Driscoll (AKA, Zach the Intern), Eric Longden, Nick Vicari, Mike Marasco, Dan Egan, Brian Skor, Dan O’Brien, Matt Rodriguez, Scuba Steve, and Mikey Taylor. Thanks to everyone else I forgot!