WHAT'S HAPPENIN' | MADARS APSE

JULY 09,2020

Photo: Blabac

Check out Madars Apse in Domino. Watch Video

Yo Madars, what’s happenin'?
Back in the motherland, on the bus from Riga to my hometown Ventspils! Just fixed my tooth at the dentist, feeling good!

Where are you at the moment?
In Latvia, enjoying a bit of home time, it’s good to see the parents, help around the house & skate with the boys & girls out here. Summertime is nice, water is getting warm!

What’s skateboarding like in Riga?
A lot of untouched spots that are close to each other, awesome skateboarders & mostly rough terrain. I imagine it being kind of like the east coast of the US, just more condensed with a little Soviet flavor.

Congrats on the Domino part! How’s it feel to get that off your plate?
I feel like it’s time to start on a new project, bust out another just as good or better hopefully! You know it feels great to start with a clean slate, go to a spot & film whatever, no judgments - just freedom! I love skateboarding.

There are some wild moves in there. What inspires you to think outside of the box like you do?
I imagine the tricks I would like to see at that skate spot, sometimes it seems unreal, but I still swing at it, at my best ability and usually I get a little glimpse of hope. Then I would have to convince myself that I can do it and sometimes it works! Sometimes I just try every trick I can imagine at the spot, and the one trick that comes closest, I go with. Or sometimes a trick is asking for it itself, so I go with the natural feeling. Sometimes my friends tell me what to do too!

Tell us about the last couple months of filming for Domino? Were you stuck in the states?
I had a chance to go back to Latvia earlier, but I didn’t want to purposefully change my flight to do that. I had a feeling that the borders would open soon, so I stayed for 3 months instead of 3 weeks & left 2 days before my visa expired. I was so stoked to be able to go back to some spots & redo & do some new tricks for the Domino video. The COVID-19 was surely a blessing for me, I got to stay with the filmer Dave Hoang and it was dope to skate the empty streets with him & the homies! I even visited Wes in San Diego & got to go skate Las Vegas too!

It seems like you’re always on the move, traveling to new places. What’s the most unique place you’ve visited?
Hard to tell, but I’ll go with Tibet, the place is kind of hard to get to and it feels like a different planet entirely. The sun shines extra bright there, the altitude is noticeable and the colors of the buildings and people are vibrant. I’m trying to go back there somehow, because when I went I got hurt on the second day and spent my whole time in the hotel bed with a broken pelvis, but the room service lady and the hotel owner and the local skaters and the manager from the travel agency were super cool, checking on me daily!

Can you tell us a bit about Skate Tales?
It’s a new project for Red Bull Tv & YouTube channel. It’s a show that I host about epic personalities in the skateboarding world. Season One has 6 episodes - Bam Margera, Dan Mancina, Ethiopia Skate, Osaka Daggers, Beaver Flemming & the Yuppie family from Brazil. Traveling for this show was amazing as I got to learn so much about skateboarding and the different places in the world, it was truly amazing. All episodes are online now, check it out!

You’re a smart dude. Some may or may not know that you have your Masters in Business. Any big dreams for the future?
That’s right! I got a Masters in Business, but I ain’t got no business myself. Just supporting DC shoes & clothing, Element skateboards, Red Bull, GoPro, OJwheels, Independent trucks, Mosaic Bearings, Ashes & Paradox grip. Also here & there people send me different free product to post on social media, would you say like an influencer? I guess this is my business, but I’m staying loyal to what got me here in the first place - watching skate videos & trying to recreate in my own style.

What’s next for you?

Definitely filming a new part, not sure for what yet. Also season 2 for Skate Tales and any other project that my friends are filming for, I am down! Waiting for all the borders to open again! Until then I’ll be skating locally, perhaps a trip to Finland and might go to Munich, Germany for a little Red Bull project!