When I spoke to Shaun on the phone, he’d just escaped Melbourne’s most recent lockdown, grabbing a cheap, last-minute flight to Sydney to stay with his mate Jack O’Grady. In a warmer climate and with relative freedom, Shaun said he was in holiday mode, but that he might get some skating done too. He also told me about the ups and downs of shooting this feature, from hassles with local law enforcement in Melbourne to a giant turd that captured the attention of everyone at IMAX one Friday afternoon. As you can see by the array of heavy tricks he put down for this photo spread, Shaun isn’t afraid to get busy.
Type Shaun Paul’s name into Google, and your browser will autocorrect to Sean Paul, a Jamaican dancehall artist best known for his 2003 smash hit “Get Busy”. But dig a little deeper and you’ll find that Shaun Paul is a 23-year-old skater from Western Australia who lives in Melbourne. You’ve possibly seen him in the 2017 vid Bread and Butter, at the DC Supertour in 2019, and as Slam’s New Gen of the Year in 2020.
Hey Shaun, how’s your day been? What are you up to right now?
Yeah, good, I’m in Sydney at Squish’s house. I just hung out my washing. I’ve been here nearly a week.
So, you heard that lockdown was about to happen again in Melbourne and you decided to hightail it out of there.
Yeah, I booked a flight on Tuesday night when cases were starting to pop off again. Flights were only $40, so I just copped one. My friend Eli [Wolfe] was staying with me at the time, and he’s from Sydney, so we got out of there. I didn’t know what would happen, but it was half an excuse to get out of Melbourne. Knowing from past lockdowns that it all happens pretty fast,
