0056MASS
When I was 9, our family moved to a new house. There I’ve found new
friends from whom I learned about skateboards. Back then we had no You-
Tube, the main source of inspiration for tricks were the Tony Hawk video
games: after looking at how to place a foot we ran to the backyard to try
it out ourselves. Of course, we kept on failing, but then we were constant-
ly rushing back to the computer screen to further investigate the moves.
Maybe we weren‘t that good at learning, but we kept on riding day by day.
When I was 14, we have finally summoned up enough courage to go
outside into the city to ride with others. I have found a lot of reck-
less dudes with whom we started filming and uploading trick tips and
videos from trips to other cities on YouTube. Back then our master-
pieces didn’t receive a lot of views – so, people didn’t restrain them-
selves in any way in front of the camera. Maybe that is why it was so
fun to create these videos. We were riding and riding, and riiiiiding!
MASS0057
Being 18 years-old I faced a crisis: fun skateboarding vids production was replaced
by event filming with strict deadlines, moreover, I’ve stopped skateboarding after
moving to study in Kaunas where I couldn‘t find myself skating in any place or en-
joying a quality sleep in the dorms. However, skateboarder‘s instinct was rooted in
me very deeply: I have always stopped by after noticing a good rail, boardslide or
stairs – I always examined how and from which angle we could film a spectacular
shot. My skateboard remained to lie under the bed, but I didn‘t go into the street on it.
Being 22, I was about to graduate from university. I had to begin my Bachelor’s the-
sis. Even my inner voice began to whisper “Just don’t start any artsy nonsense that
only my lecturers would understand. Create something that you would be willing to
put your name on it and show to your friends!”. Having this attitude, I started meet-
ing Kaunas skateboarders, see what they are doing and launched Fully Ghetto zine.