Village Psychic: What’s up Hannah, what are you up to?

Hannah Tallman: Just dropping my friend’s kids off at school. I do it every morning for a little extra money.

VP: In addition to skating and doing that, you have a day job — right?

HT: Yeah, I work at a screen printing and photography studio called Lucca Mart in East LA. We do a lot of work for different skate companies. I do mostly photography stuff, including shooting photos for WKND’s website and for Sci-Fi Fantasy and Frog — that sort of stuff.

VP: How'd you get that job?

HT: I just posted on Instagram that I really needed a job. My homie Masa, he works at Palace, he was actually at Luca Mart when I posted that. He’s friends with the guys who run the place and showed them the post. A couple days later they called me in for an interview and I got the job. It’s funny, I feel weird posting that type of thing on Instagram, but I was getting kind of desperate.

I just wanted to find something a little different. I wanted something art related. I've been working there since April.

VP: Where are you from originally?

HT: I grew up in South Africa until I was about 10, then we moved to Colorado for four years, and I’ve lived in Redondo Beach, California for seven years.

VP: Are your parents from South Africa?

HT: No, they went there as volunteers. It was alongside All Nations, but they were never technically a part of the organization. They went there to build homes and help out, and it was probably the best experience of my life. I remember it all really well, even though I was so young. We met so many amazing people and it taught me to be humble and really grateful for everything we have at a really young age. A lot of people don't have anything, so it is important to always appreciate it all.

VP: Let’s talk about skating. How did you start “coming up”?

HT: I started getting boards from Baker when I was 15 or 16. I saw Andrew Reynolds at Stoner Skatepark and just asked him “What's up?”. Later that day he posted a clip from the park on his Instagram and I commented “Do you remember me?” (Laughs). He DM’d me, asked me about skating, I told him how hyped I was on Baker and then he asked if he could send me some boards. I got Baker boards for like five years. It was really sick. That’s how people started noticing my skating and how I got on Thunder and Spitfire. Baker definitely helped me out a lot.

I got on Vans through Instagram, too. Johnny Layton sent me a DM asking if I got shoes from anyone. That was about four years ago. Everything happens through Instagram these days, it's a trip.

Quick snaps. Footage courtesy of Ryan Lee

VP: It can be pretty strange.

HT: I just started getting Carhartt through Instagram. The team manager DM’d me. I'm like, “Oh my God. What's next?” (Laughs).

VP: Also, according to Thrasher you have a new board sponsor…

HT: Dude! I haven’t seen that, but someone came up to me yesterday and was like, “You left Baker?”, I was so confused. I had no idea that it was in there.

If it is in Thrasher does that make it official?

VP: Quasi seems to be very exclusive with who they select to hook up. How did that come about? More Instagram?

HT: (Laughs) Well… I was talking to Gilbert Crockett…on Instagram about something else and then I was just like “Fuck it, I’m going to shoot my shot.” and asked him if he wanted to watch my Calm part for Mess mag. He sent it to Quasi’s owner and their team manager, and I guess they were hyped on it and asked if they could send me boards.

It's crazy. I mean, Gilbert is my favorite skater, so to have the opportunity to be on the same team as him is nuts. The graphics, the team, their look, I’m just really into what Quasi is doing. I'm very hyped that it seems to be working out.

VP: We’ve heard your brother is also really good at skating, does he still skate much?

HT: Yeah, Luke. He does once in a while. He's an ironworker so he works a lot doing labor all week, so by the weekend he’s usually so dead. But he rips. He's always been so good.

Luke has always been my biggest inspiration. He started skating a couple years before me and that's why I wanted to skate. I would just want to do whatever my brother was doing. For five or six years we skated together everyday together. I eventually started watching all the skate videos I could find and getting into other skaters.

VP: Other than your brother, who’s influenced your skating?

HT: Gilbert Crockett. He's always been my favorite skater.

Extremely proper flick. Footage courtesy of Ryan Lee

VP: Who do you skate with?

HT: I have been skating with my friend Arianna Spencer a lot. She skates for Foundation, she's the best. She just moved to Long Beach last year from Chicago.

I was also filming with Ryan Lee every week. He filmed most of my Calm part. I haven't filmed with him in a minute because he was really focused on the Converse video. Shari White filmed the other majority of my Calm part. Isaiah Boughn filmed some of it, too.

VP: Potentially sensitive topic: there’s footage of you taking a really bad slam in the part. Ryan told us you guys didn’t even know what to do after it happened.

HT: (Laughs) Yeah they didn't know what to do. Also, I didn't know what to do! I've never hit my head before. I was weirdly really calm, on the inside I was freaking out. My vision was blurry, I broke my wrist and got a concussion from that one. That happened a little while ago though, so I'm chilling now.

Right before the slam. Footage courtesy of Ryan Lee

VP: Are you going to go back for that trick?

HT: I can positively say no. I’ll find another gap to grind to do. I don’t even want to look at that thing again.

VP: Do you think you’ll live in California forever?

HT: Probably. I've been to New York a handful of times and I love visiting, but I don't think I could ever live there. It's too fast paced for me. For skating, at least for me right now, it's either LA or New York. I don't really see myself moving to the Midwest, but I guess you never know.

VP: Do you feel old?

HT: Yes. I don't know why. I've always been weird about my age. I never wanted people to know how old I am and I look really young. When I tell people I'm 21 they don't believe me, it seriously happens almost every day. People think I’m like 16 and I hate that. It ends up making me think about being older a lot I guess. I hang out around teenagers at the skatepark all the time (laughs). Honestly, I know I am young and I still have a lot of time left to skate and do the things I want to do in skating.

VP: You absolutely do. What’s your least favorite thing in skating?

HT: Damn, you put me on the spot. That's a tough question. I seriously can’t come up with an answer.

VP: That must mean you're stoked about what's going on in skating.

HT: I am for the most part, I think.

VP: Let’s flip it around: what’s your favorite thing in skating right now?

HT: Nothing! Just kidding. I’m just really stoked on all the coverage that girl skateboarders are getting. Even in Thrasher. Every time I open a magazine now there are a lot more girl skaters in there. Not to mention something like Mess Mag. Shari has done amazing things with it. There are so many girl skaters with amazing style right now, and that means everything to me.

I see lots of girl skaters caring about making video parts, which isn’t necessarily a new thing, but I see it now more than ever. When I see girls putting parts out, it makes me think, “Oh, I can do it too.” I mean, I just put on my first video part, so I guess I'm part of that now.

Oh, Hannah skates Borough Hall? Yep, she’s one of the greats in our eyes.

VP: There have always been other major factors at play, pay inequality comes to mind… but it feels like emphasis is shifting away from contests for women in skating.

HT: Totally. I mean, the contest stuff will always be a thing. But to me it's way sicker to go out and have fun with your friends and film.

I also love how there's girls turning pro for all sorts of companies. I feel like it used to basically just be girls going pro for girl-focused companies. And do not get me wrong, I love Meow and Hoopla and the companies that started it for us and made skateboarding what it is today. They played an insanely important role. But it’s also cool to see skateboarding move to a new era, you know? I'm not a girl skater, I'm just a skateboarder.

Getting to Know Hannah Tallman