How did you get into skating?
Grew up next to a skatepark in Ventspils, Latvia! Tried inline, skate and bmx and stuck with skating!

Who were your first sponsors?
Local skateshops in Riga – Champion & Boards. lv would give me element boards and es shoes!

How’d you go pro?
Skateboarding a lot, travelling, doing some contests and filming for videos helped!

What’s the Latvian skate scene like?
It’s small but tight knit. We got a good 5 months out of the year to skate outside and the homies make the best of it!

Are there any Latvian skaters you wanna shoutout?
Fricis Štrauss! Artūrs Bogdanovičs, Niklāvs Vētra – too many, too many!

What’s your favourite video part?
Stefan Janoski – Mosaic.

Do you know any kiwi skaters?
Jake Darwen, Lee Ralph 🙂 my buddy I grew up skating in Latvia with has been living in NZ – Eduards Ņehajenko!

What makes the European skate scene different to the USA?
More plazas in Europe, less hand rail skating. Smaller skate scene I think…

How’d you start doing Skate Tales?
Well my friends at Stoneface productions were already doing videos with Red Bull and they saw I was doing my own show called “Its a mad world” and they knew they could do it better! And I’ve been a Red Bull athlete for 20 years now!

What has working on Skate Tales been like?
It has been an absolute pleasure and honor to givist all these rad places and meet crazy personalities!!

What’s coming soon for Skate Tales?
Always hoping for another season! At the moment I’m in Montreal for Dime glory challenge and then flying to SF. Last two episodes this year!


How can we get you in Aotearoa?
I just need to fly out, simple as that!!

Which parts of the world and skate styles are underappreciated?
I feel like China has many spots! And regarding skate styles.. hard to tell, everyone skates so uniquely. Maybe freestyle skateboarding is a bit underappreciated. There are so many good skaters out there!

Coolest place you’ve been and why?
Tibet for a Red Bull filming was sick as that place is just so remote and high up in the mountains.

Where are you based now and what’s the scene like there?
In Vilnius, Lithuania, the city is nice with a bunch of hills and many spots. And also they got a few crews of skaters, its super rad!

How is skating and skate culture changing?
Its always evolving, I feel like its scattering all over the glove different platforms, not as concentrated as it used to be, its sick!

How is working with big brands different to local brands and shops?
Well more rules with big ones.. and more budget!

What trick are you pulling in a game of SKATE to get the homies?
Kickflip underflip.

Hardest trick you’ve learnt?
Still learning to invert!

Heelflip or kickflip?
Kickflip.

From all your travels and skaters you’ve meant, what does skateboarding mean globally?
Its a passion, a way to express and let loose out in the wild, super cool toy making people happy on the daily. And its way way more than that!

What does skating mean to you?
Its my life and I embrace it!