ETNIES PRESENTS: AN INTERVIEW WITH MIKEY RAY
ETNIES PRESENTS: AN INTERVIEW WITH MIKEY RAY
Photos: @samfidlin / @altonphoto
Most 26 years old don’t got it dialed like Mikey Ray. He’s one of the best Canadian skaters out there, can skate everything from tech to gnar, rides for one of the most established shoes brand in the business, is pro for one of the sickest board brands out there and helps to save lives on the side working as a nurse.
Mikey’s a very interesting young man and we are happy we got to know more about him. From his relationship with Etnies and his favorite shoe to how he came up and what he’s up to these days. Keep scrolling for the Empire x Etnies Mikey Ray interview.
Sup Mikey, how’s everything? I’ve been good! Coming out of a foot injury at the moment and currently hanging out with my girlfriend before she heads out to work. Let’s get back to the basics, where are you from and how did you get into skateboarding? I’m from Vancouver BC and got into skating through a friend. He came on a family trip when I was a kid and brought a skateboard. We were sharing it the whole time so my dad ended up getting me a board. I’ve been doing it since! Was there any good skateparks around where you lived? Yeah. I grew up in the suburbs of Vancouver in a town called tsawwassen and it had a really huge skatepark that I was at every single day.
Any legendary Canadian skaters who were skating that park that would inspire you back then? A lot of them yeah. Ryan and Scott Decenzo would skate there a lot back then. Magnus Hanson, Paul Machnau, Gailea Momolu, Sean Hayes… The list goes on. Did skating that park everyday with those guys have an impact on you getting noticed and sponsored? Yeah I guess so. I was skating there quite a lot. I was actually at the park when I got my first sponsor. I was skating when Magnus Hanson tried to call me so he had to call my friend because I wasn’t answering. He was going on a trip with this brand and asked me if I’d like to get on. How old were you when that happened? I was about 15-16.
Fast forward 10 years later and you are both skating for the same board brand. How does that feel? It’s a dream come true kinda thing. We’re both pro on the same team. I couldn’t be happier. Talking about sponsors, when and how did you get on Etnies? I got on about 8 years ago and it’s been great. Tyler Holm at Timebomb is the one who put me on. I didn’t have a shoe sponsor at the time and Tyler called me to let me know he’d like to give me some Etnies. First time I tried the shoes was on a skate trip and they worked perfectly. That was a great way to test the shoes out. Where was that skate trip? Went to Thailand and Malaysia with a dope crew. Hugo Papillon, Guillaume Thibault, Dan Mathieu, Bob Lasalle and Josh Clark.
Epic Crew Indeed. So you’ve been skating Etnies for 8 years straight, what’s your favorite shoe to skate ? Right now I really like this shoe called the Windrow Vulc. It’s got that cool rounded “E” giving the shoe the classic 90’s Etnies look. I think it’s really cool that they are bringing back that look. Is there other Etnies shoes that you like to skate? I try new models here and there and I’d say they are all very good skate shoes, but the Windrow Vulc has definitely been my go-to for quite some time now.
What about your life outside of skating, are you still working as a nurse these days? Yeah, I’m still a nurse, but it’s been more casual lately. I can just pick up shifts when I want to work and do my own schedule. It allows me to skate a lot and to keep going on trips. Didn’t you do it for the Canadian Olympic team for a minute? Yes, I went on one trip with the Canadian team to work as a medical support. It was in Brazil for the Street League championship. My job was basically to make sure athletes dealt with injuries properly and take decisions depending on the gravity of the injuries. I would also be there to help the athletes with warm ups, stretching and that kind of stuff. Must have been a trip! Yeah, it was a cool experience to go on a “skate trip” for work. I’m friend with pretty much all the athletes on the Canadian team and with the people behind the scenes, so it was cool. I got to skate with all my Canadian friends and got to witness the highest level of skating at the contest.
Why are you not doing it anymore? This job was more suited for a physiotherapist and some things were a bit beyond what I do, but it was really fun to try it out for a bit. For example, if an athlete hurt his ankle, the physio would be able to tape it in a way that the skater could still perform on that day and rehab the ankle later. That’s something athletes need that I’m not trained to do. That said, the experience was amazing. Well Mikey, for a 26 years old, you got it figured out real good! Do you have anything in the works that we should know about? There’s a special project coming up with Etnies that I’m not allowed to talk about right now. You’ll know soon enough. Other than that, I’m rehabbing from my foot injury, getting back to work and slowly getting back on the board. Hopefully will be able to go on more trips this Winter. There’s also a few video projects in the works like the Empire video coming in November and Jenny videos coming up as well. Can’t wait to see it! Thanks!
