John Hanlon is pretty damn nimble for a dude with a 6'4" frame and size 11 sneaks. And the fact that he grew up skating with Magnus Hanson, Ryan and Scott Decenzo only means that his skills on-deck are on the level. Whether it's logging footy in the streets, warming up at the park, or representing at a contest, Hanlon's stature is tall in more ways than one. It also helps that his parents are of the pretty-damn-cool variety.

"They're 100 percent supportive of whatever I want to do. They're backin' it," he says over the phone from his folks' backyard in Surrey, BC. "I definitely don't take that for granted."

Vitals
Age: 20
Residence: Fleetwood—Surrey, BC
Sponsors: Coastal Riders skateshop, éS shoes, Darkstar skateboards, Nixon watches, Momentum wheels, Independent trucks, and Electric Eyewear.
Transportation: "I'm either riding shotgun with Magnus, or I use my mom's Golf sometimes."
Setup: "I skate Indy 139 highs, 51 or 52mm Haslam wheels and Momentum ABEC 9ers, and I skate an 8.3 inch Darkstar Machnau board. For shoes, I've been trying to stay away from vulcanized because they're killing my feet, so I've been skating the éS Cessna, and the new Rodrigo TX shoe is so sick."
Music: "I'm feelin' the same as always, pretty much—'93-'98 era hip-hop. The sh*t that's still sick after you listen to it a million times. 3 choice albums would be Wu-Tang's 36 Chambers, also The Big Picture and Lifestylez Ov Da Poor and Dangerous by Big L."
Stance: "Left foot forward for the great majority of the time [laughs]."
Switch mongo push, or regular switch push?: "Switch regular, for sure. There's a couple switch mongo pushers we've got beef with [laughs]. If you've gotta do it, you've gotta do it, especially if you're OG. I'm not gonna tell Carroll not to switch mongo push [laughs]. But to be completely honest, I can switch regular push real good because I started out pushing mongo [laughs]."

How long have you been skating and how did you get into it?
I've been skating for 8-and-a-half years-started when I was around 12. I remember being away with my family camping, and I saw a kid ollie. He taught me how to do it and I ollied on his board because I didn't have one yet. After that summer, I went to a new school and the first kids I met were skaters. By Grade 8 they all quit, and I was still down for the shred.

How did you end up becoming skate pals with the Decenzos and Magnus?
We all first met at the Cloverdale skatepark in Surrey, for sure. I knew Magnus from there. Later, a shop called Level put on a contest at the old Port Coquitlam park, and my parents brought me there in their motor home—they wanted to make a full day trip out of it [laughs]. I met the Decenzos, and they didn't know where to ditch their bags, so we put them in the motor home and my parents made them lunch. We've skated together ever since.

Smithgrind, Rich Odam sequence.

How did you meet Paul Machnau, and how did he help you with bigger-picture sponsorship?
I met Machnau because he was skating with Ryan a lot. We started skating with Paul more and he was hooking me up with boards here and there. It kind of evolved into him telling the Dwindle dudes, so I'm in their system now and they're flowing me boards.

Can you describe a standout trip you've been on in the last year?
This Darkstar trip to Toronto [the story, "Executive Decisions", appears in Concrete Skateboarding #98, Feb ‘09]. It was Machnau, Ryan Decenzo, Paul Trep and myself. I believe in 10 days there was something like 86 clips logged on Machnau's computer between the 4 of us [laughs]. It was so sick, dude. We would go to bed at 11 and wake up at 10am every day and just go street skating. The Machnau Program is the program to be on, that's for sure.

What are 3 of your favourite video parts of all time, and why?
I'd have to say Josh Kalis in The DC Video [‘03]; he just makes it look real good. That switch heel ender in his part is my favourite trick to watch in skateboarding. I'll say Ryan Decenzo's United By Fate, Episode 5. I couldn't hold back on that one [laughs]. I've skated with him for so long, but the last year or so I haven't seen him much. I knew about some of it, but alot of the footage in his United By Fate part was a secret. When I saw it, I was like, "Wow." I'm also gonna have to say Paul Machnau in the first United By Fate. Any Machnau part gets me so psyched because nobody is that gnarly and in total control, and doing it for this long. It's sick.

What's the best piece of advice anyone's given you?
"Take everything with a grain of salt", or Magnus getting told by his dad on the first day of school: "Keep your eyes and your ears open, and your mouth shut." I remember Magnus telling me about that [laughs]. It's second-hand advice from Mr. Hanson.

--------------------
Related:
John Hanlon, Brian Caissie photo
Summer Road Trip To Medicine Hat
On The Horn  with Magnus Hanson