Who are you?
Rob Maatman, 20 years old, and I’m from The Netherlands (Holland).

Holland, is that in Amsterdam?
Hell no, Amsterdam is the capital of Holland.

Where do you live in Holland?
Deventer.

Where the hell is that?
It’s an hour east of Amsterdam, 30 minutes west of the German border. It’s a small city but it’s got everything I need.

Who do ride for?
Emerica Europe, Zero skateboards and wheels, Volcom Europe, Thunder trucks, and Burnside.

Burnside as in the DIY skatepark in Portland?
Nah, it’s a shop and indoor skatepark in Holland. It’s named after Burnside.

What’s your setup?
Zero (non dipped!) 8.5, Thunder 149, Zero 52mm wheels, Zero Chris Cole bearings, Mob griptape and random hardware.

What shoes do you wear mostly?
Reynolds Cruisers, Leo, G-Code, and Laced. And Wino’s when I’m not skating.

What are doing out in California?
I'm trying to film a part for the new Zero video “Cold War”. I also went on a couple trips with some of my sponsors.

How’s the filming coming along?
Not too well so far. The last few times I came out here I got hurt right in the beginning of my stay. I just had some bad luck with getting footy here.

Who do you film with when you’re out here?
Matt Winterberg and Lannie Rhoades from Black Box. They are always down to go out and are motivating to skate with. They're both really good filmers too.

So you do stay at Black Box when you’re out here?
They just tore down the Black Box park and the dorm rooms, so right now I can’t stay there. The last few weeks I’ve been staying at Lannie’s house.

Who else is staying there?
Jon Dickson and Beebee. Figgy comes over all the time, and Shaun Stulz. Richie Belton, Dane Burman and Windsor James also come by frequently.

You just went on the Halloween tour with the Zero team, how did that go?
In the beginning it was a little strange since I didn’t know allot of people. I've never really done all the demo/signing stuff in the past, but I got used to it really quick. It was also the first time I visited the East Coast, so that was sick.

Hanging on the corner, with the Zero team. photo by Joe Hammeke

Papa Smurf aka Rob Maatman, backside smith. photo by Joe Hammeke

Any funny stories you could tell us about the Halloween Tour?
I flew into the (Zero) tour happening in Boston. They picked me and Garret Hill up downtown, and within 5 minutes Jimmy Carlin was naked and dancing around in the van. That was crazy! Jimmy was farting in James Brockman's face, shit was insane! James stayed surprisingly mellow.

How was it to skate demo’s with Jamie Thomas and Chris Cole?
Strange. Chris Cole lands every trick he tries first try. He’s machine. He even has the weirdest tricks on lock. Jamie was always super motivating.

So Jamie is the real Chief?
Yeah, fo sho! Jamie and Chris had their own cars with their families, so I didn’t spend too much time with him besides the demos. It's pretty amazing that he handles business while being on tour with the family. He's a hard working man.

Tommy Sandoval (l), Rob Maatman and Jamie Thomas (r). photo by Joe Hammeke

What was the East Coast like? Is it similar to Holland?
It for sure looks more like Europe than it does California. I like it better. There is just more culture there. There are older buildings, and the spots are more raw. It’s more than just concrete everywhere. It was quite cold the whole trip, but I don’t really mind that. I like to skate in a hoodie.

Who did you room with?
Joe Hammeke, the Thrasher photographer. He was the only one I really knew since he came on the Volcom Europe trip to AZ. Super cool guy. He just snores pretty loudly, but I got used to it pretty quick.

You sprained your ankle pretty bad during the tour, what happened?
We were at this demo in Wilmington, DE, halfway through the tour. I tried a nollie heelflip over a driveway, kicked my board away and landed on the bottom of the bump. My foot slid out onto the asphalt and tweaked my ankle hard. My ankle swelled up like crazy. I limped to a bench on the side. Jamie Thomas came to over to check it out and instantly taped in my ankle, while Bama got ice. It hurt like hell, and I knew right then the tour was over for me. I was limping around for the next few days.
Once we got back to Carlsbad (at Black Box) they took me to Dr Crob, the skate doctor that all the Black Box riders go to. All of the walls in his office are filled with signed photos from all these skateboarders, surfers and snowboarders. He took x-rays of my ankle. He said it wasn’t broken, just a little tear. He told me not to skate for the next 6-8 weeks. After that I decided to fly back to Holland to rest and chill out.

When filming for a video part, your ankle shouldn't look like this...

Are you bummed to go back earlier than planned?
I’m looking forward to seeing my friends and family again. I'm just super bummed I got hurt, again! It’s the worst injury I ever got from skating. Sucks even more right now since I came out to film for Strange World, and I didn’t get a single trick on film for it.

Before the Zero Halloween tour you went to Arizona with the Volcom Europe team, how was that?
Super sick, AZ has a lot of different spots compare to Cali. Aaron Suksi and Joe Hammeke showed us around. It was hot and we had a good group.

Favorite moment of that trip?
In between Tempe and Tucson we found an empty swimming pool. We drained it with buckets in a little over an hour. We had a solid system so it went pretty quick. Frogs were jumping in an out of the water, it was crazy. It was the first time I got to skate an empty backyard bowl! I can cross that off my list.

Drain it and skate it!

Bama (Black Box TM) told me you’ve had some problems coming into the states. What’s up with that?
Yeah, the US customs doesn’t believe me whenever I fly in. This last time in Houston, Texas, it was the worst. They can’t understand that I don’t have a real ‘job’ but I still get paid. I had a hard time explaining myself in English, since it’s not my first language. The guy was being a total dick, almost aggressive and didn’t really listen to me. He treated me like I was a criminal. He called Chad Foreman (Black Box general manager) to confirm that I flew out for the Zero tour.
After 4 hours some other customs guy came to me with my passport, so I thought it was cool and I could leave. But then I had to go to this other little office. They had a whole stack of paperwork of me with photos and print outs. They did some major researched on me! A whole bunch of skate photos that they probably got off Google. They just showed me the first 2 papers. One was my SPoT profile, and the second paper had a skate photo of me, don’t really recall which one. They told me I came to the states a lot. They went through my bags multiple times (which I found out later).
Then they called Bama (Black Box TM) and he had to explain the whole story again. After almost 5 hours they finally let me go. I was on the next flight to LAX, where Lannie and Dane were waiting all that time for me. I didn’t have a phone so I asked a cop to use his phone. I tried to call Bama but he didn’t pick up. Right after that Lannie and Dane rolled up. I was super hyped to see that they waited for me for so long. It turned out Lannie wanted to leave right before but Dane told him to drive around 1 more time. Thanks again guys!

Do you feel like you accomplish more here, or back home?
I probably get more stuff on film in Holland, but it’s mostly just whatever footage. Out here I definitely get better footy.

What advice would you give someone trying to make it, living outside the US?
Ha, I could use some advice myself! Just skate I guess. I never sent a sponsor me tape to anyone.

So how did you get sponsored if you never sent out a sponsor me tape?
Showing up a contests and filming for local videos.

How long have you been riding for Emerica and how exactly did that work out?
I got on Emerica flow through the Holland distributor when I was 13 or 14. After a contest at my local skatepark (Burnside) the rep told the shop I could get some shoes. Some other brands offered the same, but Emerica was my favorite brand. And it still is. They make the best shoes and have the sickest team!

Have you been on any tours with the Emerica Team?
Not really on tour, but whenever they come to Holland I skate with them. Bryan Herman and Braydon Szafranski came to Holland for a Wild in the Streets event. I skated with them for a whole week. I also went to Paris with some other Dutch Emerica riders and we met most of the Emerica riders at Bercy (the skate spot). I still remember meeting Andrew Reynolds for the first time. The whole weekend trip to Paris was sick. I like going on tour. I always get hyped to skate new spots and see cities I’ve never been too.

Do you yourself turning pro for Emerica, Zero or Volcom someday?
It’s gonna be really hard, but it’s definitely one of my main goals right now. I’ll keep on trying. I’m already way further than I ever thought I could get.

Where do you hope to see yourself in 2 years?
I hope to have a good part in the Zero video, and a visa so I can come out often. Just try to film a lot and get some coverage in the US magazines. And I need to get my driver license, so I can drive myself around here if I have to.

Braydon Szafranski and Rob Maatman at the Emerica office.

Favorite spot in California?
Any ditch, we don’t have those in Holland

Where are the chicks hotter? Holland or America?
They are hotter in USA but most of them are annoying and stupid.

Are the naked chicks on your American cell phone annoying and stupid?
Nah, they’re better, haha!

Why do the American girls send you those photos?
I dunno, they wanted me to see that shit.

Heineken or Budweiser?
Heineken!

He'll probably drink whatever beer you'll give him!

Cigarettes or Weed?
Weed.

The Black Box dorms or the Volcom house?
The Volcom house. It’s not as productive though...

What do you parents think of this whole skateboarding job?
They didn’t like it at first, but now that they see that it’s going somewhere, they’ve been very supportive. They just don’t want me to sit on my ass all day.

I heard your dad is going to a lot of skateboard events in Holland. What do you think of that?
Sometimes it's a bit annoying, but he’s very supportive and I always have a ride, so it’s cool.

Any shout outs?
My parents and my brother Jelle, Herm and the crew at Burnside, Jamie, Bama and Lannie at Black Box, Hans, Jake, Remy and Steve at Volcom, Jeff, Steven and Fred at Emerica, Bas at Hardcore Supplies and all the homies back in Holland and in Cali!

Any last words?
Go skate, and chill!

Thanks again to Joe Hammeke for providing most of the photos for this interview. Check out more photos from Joe at the Zero Halloween tour on the Thrasher site.

Fly over to back smith, no problemo! photo by Joe Hammeke