Article originally featured in the March April 2023 issue of Fotta Magazine
Photos by Joel Powley
Let me share with you a story that I believe perfectly sums up our man of the day Niño Magana. One of the first few times I met Niño in Milano Centrale he asked me if I could film a quick Iphone clip. The trick was subsequently landed as clean possible with graceful style only for me to completely fuck up the filming. I muttered ‘shit sorry man I think the filming is pretty bad’ and he softly said something along the lines of like ‘don’t worry actually I think I can do it better’ when we obviously both knew that there weren’t any issues with the trick.
Your ‘Skating Kills’ part you made with Patrick (Frunzio) in 2019 which was a really entertaining video. Now you’re filming a new part with Simone (Molteni). Are there big differences between filming and skating now compared to a couple of years ago?
Filming with Patrick then and Simone now is pretty much the same, we both know what we want things to look like and usually it works out. Sometimes Simone asks me to redo things, because he’s a bit of a perfectionist but honestly, I get it though filming is his thing, of course he wants it to be as good as possible. Something I appreciate about both of these guys is that we’re good friends and can be honest with each other. In my experience, it’s much better like this because we’re both on the same page.
What kind of spots interest you?
I like going to known spots and seeing what the possibilities are. In the past I skated a lot of ledges, but since my last part I have tried to be a bit more creative and look at spots in a different way to make it more interesting. For example, if there is a ledge I try to figure out something around that spot, maybe the ledge itself doesn’t really make me that hyped for some reason, so I’ll skate around and find a curb or some random thing that’s broken.
Have you had any battles while filming for this video ?
I’ve got a lot of tricks that are pending but I just recently got a trick in Bicocca, which took me four months to commit to. I felt a lot of pressure going back there multiple times and every time I just kept thinking I’ve got to land this. I really don’t want to be an inconvenience for the filmer too, sometimes I feel like I’ll bum him out because he came all the way to the spot and we didn’t get anything.
Recently you’ve been working a job at a hotel with heavy hours (11PM to 8AM) and I remember when I saw you the first few months after starting that job you looked like a zombie every time you came to skate. How long did it take you to get used to that schedule?
I naturally got used to it over time but I try to plan my sleeping time and my skating time. In the beginning, it took me maybe three months to get used to it. My body was so tired I was just dragging myself along, in my mind I wanted to do stuff, to go skate but my body just wouldn’t let me. I just tried to work on it and had a consistent sleeping routine, eating something and getting a coffee to wake myself up before I went skating. Now I’m pretty used to it but now I’ve got to adjust my routine again because it’s winter and there’s less light.
Have you had any crazy stories of things that have happened at the hotel?
Looking around at night there’s so many things happening, sometimes the police come in looking for people and checking different things. It’s crazy at night when you can see a different kind of person, the people are not normal, you really can’t see these people during the day they are like vampires or something.
Didn’t you get robbed too?
One night I was in the reception and it was nearly breakfast time so I was preparing the food and some other things when these two women who were staying at the hotel came in. They were almost naked other than a small towel wrapped around each of them. They asked me if they could get some food so I told them yeah of course just go down and get whatever you like. We went down there together because I needed to prepare some things but they went back up before I did. I had my wallet on an open shelf and as soon as I got back up I saw that my wallet was open and there wasn’t any cash in there. I checked the CCTV footage and these chicks stole my 10 Euros.
Did you call the police to come help get your 10 euros back?
No ha-ha, it’s kind of funny because they were coming down with nothing on just trying to tease me with their bodies to keep me distracted so that they could steal my money. Honestly it was okay though it was only 10 euros.
Speaking of sketchy places, how is Milano Centrale?
In my experience, you just really need to be careful because your bag might get stolen by some crazy people. This summer there were a lot of fights, there were definitely some GTA vibes, it was crazy every day it felt like someone wanted to stab somebody. Regardless, I still go there often and always have a good time.
Were you involved in any of the altercations?
Nah I don’t want to get involved and I don’t even want to get close to it. I’ve got my own shit and I’m going to leave them to do their shit. I just want to chill, to skate, to meet people. I don’t want any trouble, if I need to run I’m going to run haha.
You’re originally from the Philippines but have been here in Milan for about 6 years. What’s the difference between skating in the Philippines and in Milan?
It’s so different I don’t even know how I could compare it to here. Skating street spots in the Philippines is so hard because you always get kicked out. In Milan, we are lucky there are skate parks and good street spots you can go to but in the Philippines, there are only a few DIY spots with pretty much just a ledge and a flat bar.
Do you have any footage of you from the Philippines?
I think a little bit but I don’t really remember. We would kind of just usually go to the same DIY spots. There weren’t really any proper skate videos coming out when I was there and it was so rare to see someone filming for real, when we did film we just used one camera and shared it around.
Who is your favourite skater to watch in Milan at the moment?
My favourite skater here in Milan is Ruben (Spelta). I get a lot of inspiration from him in terms of his trick selection and his style. Everything he does always looks good because he’s so elegant.
Finally, is there anyone you would like to shout out?
I wanted to specially say thanks to my family and friends who are there for me during hard times and good times. Thanks to them for supporting me not just in skating but in life in general. I’m really grateful you guys are the best.
