Martino

From Lugano to the world, Martino Cattaneo has quietly been making a name for himself on the EU scene over the past years. With an inimitable style, watching Martino manoeuvre around spots and transitions is like watching performance art. But don’t be fooled by raw talent alone, behind his style lies a calculating and brilliant mind, always analysing – with a deep love and understanding of skateboarding underpinning everything he does. Without further ado, Martino Catteneo!

Give us a little background on yourself?

My name is Martino Catteneo. I'm 31 years old. I was born and raised in Lugano, Switzerland. And I started skating when I was 11. I'm living back in Lugano right now after moving back a couple of months ago from Barcelona.

How did you find Barcelona? What precipitated the move back?

I stayed after a trip during Covid times because I would have had to do quarantine when I was returning to Switzerland, and it’s always pretty nice in Barcelona. I first arrived around April – it was good weather and good times so I just decided to stay. I ended up really liking it there and could skate so many different spots every day – it was an easy decision to stay for a while. I was living in Poble Sec by Parallel, not far from the Parallel Plaza which was a great zone.

I chose to move back to Lugano due to mainly being on trips so much - I've always felt like Lugano was the perfect place for me to chill between travels and to relax. I have my friends here so it’s a great spot to recharge the batteries in-between missions.

How does an average day in Lugano look?

It’s really pretty mellow. I just try to rest from skate trips and take care of my body. I’ll usually wake up and start with some water to try and skip the coffee and move my body, hit up a little walk, cruise around the city maybe buy some fruit, coffee, stretching, plan out my day - that wholesome life.

From there on, meet some friends, try to skate a little bit but more like cruising around the city, some flat ground spots or maybe bomb some hills… We’ve got the lake right here which is amazing to chill next to in summer as well. The easy life.

Describe the local scene there?

It's a tight, solid scene and it's always been present. Throughout the 20 years that I've skated here, there there's always been stuff going on, always skaters and people doing things.

I remember when I was small, even though the city is small, and the scene is small, we would have access to Italy because it's really close. Milan is one hour away, and there was a lot more going on in Italy. However at the same time we were in Switzerland and if we would drive a couple of hours the other way we would make it to Zurich... So it’s always been a tight scene, but it's had some strong connections with other scenes around Europe which I think has shaped it into the wider scene it is today.

Where do you like to skate outside of Lugano?

Of all the places, I definitely love Spain, the spots are amazing there, Barcelona is great and you have the weather on your side. I really like the northern cities as well like Copenhagen, Hamburg and Cologne. If we’re talking a little closer to home, Lausanne is a great zone.

What have you been working on recently?

Mostly tour videos – not really any parts or personal projects. We did a lot of trips in the first half of the year that are coming out now. I’m still keeping an open mind for ideas or upcoming projects. We released “Where is Tom” earlier this year, which was a lot of work but a lot of fun, doing the big trips with the crew, we’re all such good friends, which made the how process a lot of fun. It wasn’t always easy though, it was hard to get clips and find spots but we got there in the end. I was really motivated to do this and push my limits with my friends.

So many trips left a mark on me, Alicante was particularly special. Willow really killed it that trip, jumping off roofs and everything – just going mad.

How would you describe the vibe within the Vans team?

It's a real mix of personalities, that in a way balance each other out perfectly. It’s a tight crew so we know each other, we’ve been doing this together for a few years. For sure sometimes it gets a bit messy, it’s not easy to be on the road with two vans full of people but I would say on the whole we enjoy that entire process!

What are your inspirations in skating?

Skateboarding itself is curious to me. How you can channel your energy into it, how it functions as a collective. It’s in inspiring as a world on its own – it all inspires me, skate video culture, skate magazines, fan magazines – it’s all so interesting. As well as the vert scene from back then, I was always so inspired by all those old videos that are now on Youtube.

In terms of skaters; Geoff Rowley, Peter Hewitt, John Cardiel, Neil Blender, Grant Taylor, Raven Tershy as well as my friends – Chris Pfanner, Willow, Doobie, Schianta; the whole Vans Europe crew.

And outside of skating? What gets you fired up?

Well, there's not that much that really excites me as much as skating but I feel it’s really important to keep moving through life. Walking, snowboarding, I like to ride bicycles. I’ve been trying to do other stuff outside of skateboarding to just to explore for me - lately, rock climbing as caught my attention for sure, as it's free, it's fun - you can get really, really scared but you're technically not as in danger as skating or other activities. Other than that I like to chill, hang out with friends and chill in nature. I also love traveling outside of skate trips as well.

Favourite Vans shoe to skate in?

Sk8 Hi’s – they offer great support but they aren’t too thick. I love they way they look. The Classics in general are all great.

Any last words? A message for the internet? A message to your former self?

Enjoy the process and go with it!