Meeting… Mark Suciu!
Interview: Charles Paratte
Portrait: Chris Mulhern
“[…] Je savais que la première fois que j’irais, je serais impressionné!”
Less than two weeks ago, Mark Suciu dropped another part on us… Well, not another part in the sense that it was just something nice to look at –“throwaways” as they are sometimes called. No, we’re talking about some serious stuff! All filmed in one winter, in a part of the States not necessarily known for its mellow weather, either: Philadelphia!
Since that, Mark has been all over the place, as usual, and most likely skating his ass off, as this is what he seems to do. We still managed to catch up with him…
How was your recent trip to India? Was it you first time in Asia?
India was amazing, very eye opening… Yes, it was the first country I visited in Asia.
How would you describe your Indian experience?
Challenging. Skating was hard, communicating was hard, and eating was extremely difficult. And it was a great time!
You were with Sebo Walker, amongst others. Sebo seems like a rather motivated guy, isn’t he?
Yeah, Sebo is a great guy, very positive and active. He skates a lot and is able to rack up a lot of footage in a short amount of time. Just check that new Lakai Bangkok part he filmed in only two weeks.
At your age, traveling and discovering new countries or continents must be really exciting, but at the same time you have to stay focused on skating and filming, is that something you find difficult sometimes?
Not at all, the two go perfectly hand in hand. What I want to see in these countries are the city streets, the people, the architecture, and appreciate new foods. Even if I didn't make a point of touristy activities, I would see just as much, or maybe even more, during a day of skating around the city and filming.
Your sponsors send you on trips, but you also take some on your own with friends, like Paris last summer. What are the differences between the two?
Not much of a difference, there. My sponsors are awesome; I'm never really pressured to get a certain amount of skating done, none more than I already expect of myself, anyhow. So the only difference is the people I’m with.
Fakie flip in, Courthouse, NYC. photo: Sem Rubio
With a place like Love Park, does the "skate history" of the spot make you want to skate it?
Initially, yes, totally… I really wanted to go there because I had seen so much amazing skating go down there in footage, so I knew the first time I went I would be awestruck. But, after that novelty wore off, I just wanted to skate there because it’s an amazing spot. If I’m filming, though, I’m definitely thinking about what has been done and all that.
How long did the filming for Sabotage 3 take?
About three months, in total. Two weeks or so in April of 2012 and the months of September and October, with a bit of older footage thrown in.
Have you actually been living in Philly? Is that how the Philly themed Adidas part came about?
No, I just stay at my friends’ house for a little while at a time. I wanted to put out a Philly part because I had a lot of footage with Chris Mulhern already and I thought it would be awesome if he could edit something for Adidas of me. We chose to stick to Philly to give a feeling of continuity to the edit, not just throw a bunch of random clips together and slap a song on it.
For Cross Continental, you said you paid some sort of homage to skaters who influenced you (SF Library line for Carroll, 3rd & Army for Karl Watson and Sanchez etc). I heard PJ Ladd helped you to be hooked by Habitat, any plans to film some lines in Boston in the future?
Actually, Josh Kalis got me on Alien, which transitioned into Habitat. PJ Ladd got my name out there prior to all that by shouting me out on The Berrics. I was just in Boston in October, and I did indeed get some lines for PJ!
You seem rather good at setting goals for yourself, and getting there. What are your plans for the rest of the year?
Thank you. I’m at the gate now about to board a flight to Madrid for an Adidas trip, and after that I’m planning on traveling around Europe for a couple months, and definitely hitting up Paris along the way. After that, who knows? I’ll have to dream up some new trips.
Let’s get back to that Adidas Philly part, now, shouldn’t we?
