Thrasher Magazine

Given the choice between a military draft and a life on the road, Alexey thankfully took the latter. A man without a country? Nah, he’s a citizen of the world, going full force as he charges Europe’s most unthinkable stone spots. On the heels of his new Vans part, we caught up with him to rap on his adopted home in Barcelona, sketchy ride-on grinds and what the hell’s up with that spooky cello. —Ted Schmitz

Photos by DVL


Alexey adapts to Western Europe with a slew of needle-threading rips and a steadfast focus on overlooked spots. If you’re scared, that’s the point

Hey, Alexey! The new part’s really sick. Let’s start it easy: Where you at right now?
I’m at a spot in Barcelona with my friends.

Oh, shit. You’re already out skating.
Yeah, it’s 6:30 in the evening.

I think a lot of people after a part comes out, they like to take a break or collect themselves before the next part.
It depends. Sometimes you feel like you want more, and sometimes you just want to take time to enjoy skating. I’m just thinking about what’s next and I’m gonna skate with my friends. Because I didn’t skate pretty much the last two months. This summer, I had a plate in my foot taken out. For the past three years, I filmed everything with a metal plate inside my foot. I had the plate in for all the footage for the new part, I guess that’s why there’s so many ride-on grinds.

Up to the bust, pivot yank out     Photo: Riera

Ha! We’ll get to those. Last time we talked to you, you were still in Barcelona and you were working on getting citizenship or residency. Are you a permanent resident in the EU now?
Yeah, I got the residence permit now for five years. After that I can start the process of citizenship. It’s been two years since I got residency, so in three years I will probably apply.

Fuck yeah. How’s your Spanish?
I can understand everything. I can talk a bit when I go to do things around. But to have a full conversation, like a deep one, I can't do it. I understand like 80-percent. I've been practicing the Spanish on the streets and also had four or so lessons by myself at home. But yeah, obviously I have to improve that, that's for sure.

Sick. So you can make a life out there. Are you stoked out there? You have a good scene?
Yeah, a bit. I got some friends who moved here after the war started. So I got a little Russian crew here who’s skating. And I accidentally met Dima Brylev—who filmed good amount of the clips for this part—at one of the skateboard premieres, and we got along together pretty naturally.

Back noseblunt sans ollie on a mosaic marvel     Photo: Riera

We did a piece in the mag that was kind of a heartbreaking homage to the scene in Russia before the war, and it was about just remembering the good times skating, ‘cause the scene was separating. Have you been able to maintain contact with your friends back home?
Yeah, we talk with most of the guys. And of course I keep in touch with all my friends back home. That's a big part of me.

I feel like you guys were getting a lot of momentum there. Did you feel like when you had to leave that you had to start over? Or has Barcelona pushed your skating in a way?
I’ve been traveling a lot for the last eight years. So I got in touch with the European scene with the help of Chris Pfanner. We've been traveling and skating, doing trips and videos. So I knew a lot of people from before. But I wouldn’t say moving to Barcelona pushed my skating, exactly. I think the whole situation pushed my skating. I thought, What else can I do? It’s a lot of stress when you don’t plan to move, and then that happens, like the draft. Then you realize, Oh, man, here is a risk for the type of life I want to live, and especially for my skateboarding.


He lives on Earth, but his moves are from another planet. Floater over a clay chasm

You have a plate in your ankle!
Even if not the plate, I would find a way. The most important thing for me was that I would not be able to travel a lot. I would not be able to skate with my friends all over the world. That's what made me move. The war is crazy and scary. I had my friends. I knew everybody. But I wanted to skate, and if I stayed there, it would not be possible in the way I want it. There was a big risk to cancel all the life that I built there the past eight years.

Totally. A huge part of being a pro skater is being able to get in the van.
Exactly. That's the thing that I love the most. When you have a risk to cancel this thing from your life, you're like, Oh, man, I gotta make a decision, even if it’s the hardest decision. But now, I look at it from the perspective that, Man, it's a good opportunity. You know, we live in the world. Like, we live on the Earth, and it doesn't matter which country and all that. That's my point of view, and I'm trying to keep it up.

Fuck yeah, dude. You got one fuckin’ life and you don’t wanna waste it. You’ve got a rare gift and there’s only a few places you can make a living with it—mostly Europe and the US. Last time you talked to us, you had some issues getting boards. I noticed you were skating Piss Drunx boards in this new part.
Yeah, Dusty! Dustin Dollin started Piss Drunx as a skateboard brand. Now, we've been in a good connection with Dusty. We traveled together all the time and we kind of speak the same language—mentally. You know what I mean? So he was inviting me to do that. I was like, I don't know, man. So the last two years was without the sponsor. Then another video came out and he was like, Why don’t you skate for us? And I’m like, Yeah, why not? We’re friends. It could be cool. Now I’m skating the Piss Drunx boards. We're working on a new video, which probably will come out in March or something.

Wreckless in true PD fashion, front board, through the bend

Sick. Who else is on the team?
Matisse, you probably heard about him. He’s pro for Piss Drunx.

Oh yeah, he’s gnarly.
Yeah, he rips. There’s some other guys from Belgium. Jeroen Bruggeman, the transition guy who’s also good on the street. There’s some other people on support, too, but it’s pretty much us three.

That’s a solid crew. Let’s talk about this part a little bit. It’s kind of spooky. There's this insane, haunting cello. This string score is really minimal, but it’s low and kind of unsettling. What music is that?
I like to work with my friends and involve different people in the stuff I do. The music was made by Musya Krotkova and Mark Esin in Moscow. She plays cello and Mark plays the guitar. I’ve been a big fan of what they were doing. I was trying to find the song, and it was so difficult. Then I was thinking, like, Who can give you some good spooky, slow and and kind of scary sound? Because we had some B-roll already. Half the B-roll was shot before we had the music. I just texted Musya, “Maybe you got something unreleased that I can listen to? We’re making the part now, and I would love to use something from you to support.” She sent me some unmastered songs. I pushed the play button on this song and I was like, Boom, that’s it! That’s what I wanted! I sent it to Paul Labadie who was editing the part. He said, “Oh, man, I'm not sure about this song; it’s pretty experimental. I can’t see how it fits.” But he already had the timeline, and he just put the song down without any editing, and he’s like, Oh, man, it's crazy. It looks so weird and scary. Then Paul edited it and, yeah, that's how it worked!

Yeah, and it feels fucking crazy. I was expecting something upbeat or with a rockin’ rhythm, but then I was watching it like, I’m kinda scared. ’Cause you go from these desolate, burned-out buildings into the endless woods with a handheld camcorder between really crazy tricks—like Blair Witch. It’s a really different feeling shifting from hyper-energetic, wild skating to empty, soulless, depopulated, eerie emptiness.
Yes. That was the point. That's why it's called limbo. Because limbo is like a space between the dream and reality. And it kind of made sense with how I was living. I went from Moscow to here, and I was in a kind of weird mood—not accepting that I had to move. But on the other hand, I realized that I have to do it. You remember the first album of Black Sabbath?

I’m a little loose on my Sabbath. I know “Crazy Train.”
Well, some people will know. When Black Sabbath was recording their first album, they had this song also called “Black Sabbath.” When they had their first show, the people going there, they didn't get it. They were expecting some rock-n-roll, like, fun, speed, everything, People just got scared there at the show. So that's why people love the Black Sabbath from the first time, because they got scared. It's like the horror movie.

Crooked grind off a twelve stack? Ride-on, ride-on

Yeah! You’re inverting the expectations. People are thinkin’ they’re just gonna get hyped, but then you freak ’em out. It makes an impact.
Yeah, they’re getting scared and like, Whoa, that's something else. It’s kind of art, the skateboarding in general. With the other half of the B-rolls, I filmed them with the music on. Because I like to film and it was a nice experience to film some stuff with the music on, so you film it the way it should be in the video! Connecting everything together with the key of skateboarding, it's fucking amazing.

Yeah. What’s up with these B-roll clips? Were you seeking out these desolate complexes?
It’s basically all in Barcelona. The first part with the trees is on the Monjuïc mountain in Barcelona. We went there at 6 in the morning before the sunrise. We started to film, walking around the trees and trying to find the way out. You get lost. That was the idea. Then the other part with the lights and the big towels in the concrete building, it’s an old abandoned factory in Barcelona. So the guys from here who make art, they made the exhibition, and it's fucking creepy. My friend Dima Brylev—who we film with in Barcelona—went there and said "Man, there is something for you. You will love it!" So I took the camera and filmed three hours of film there.



Not everything needs a new approach, kickflip nosegrind

Great approach. Let’s talk about some of these tricks. Ride-on grinds have kind of a bad rap right now. But you take the easy thing and find a way to make it pretty special or dangerous. Were you trying to get a bunch of them in the part?
I don’t actually care if they got a bad rap. I'm trying to do what feels good to me, you know? I’m trying to impress myself first. I’m thinking, How can I impress myself on a skateboard? Because if I do the huge 360 flip from something, I would be impressed, probably, but a lot of people now can do the huge 360 flip. It's there and there and there, everywhere. Wherever you look, there is a guy who’s jumpin’ with a 360 flip. I don't mean that it's easy or something, but it's kind of casual. So I’m trying to find a different approach all the time. I'm trying to think about the spots where people don't usually skate. And I just like the feeling of the ride-on grind, you know? It’s fun!

The one you did through the super tight pillars, it doesn’t even look like a board fits through it.
It is really tight. It’s in Poland, in Warsaw. It was really tiny. I was touching the pillars with my heels all the time. Even on the make, I was touching the pillars. So I think that’s what made me do it, and made me want to do it. I like how it looks on the footage, those two pillars. It’s got some taste in it with the architecture.

Through the keyhole to switch crooks without a millimeter to spare

Yeah, it’s a nice extra touch. It’s not just a ledge off a set. Is there someone that influences your vision of skating?
I want to say Gosha Konyshev, the guy who filmed the part in the winter. This guy was my inspiration since since I was a kid. He was always around and he was already a legend in Russia. So I was always looking up for him, like, Oh, man, this guy has got something special. He was always doing something that no one does, with a little bit of extra, as you said. And then, Gonz! Now, that's my favorite skater. He’s got such a freedom in everything he does. There is no rules in skateboarding. You don't have to do kickflip backside noseblunt bigspin out in a line. That's not obligated. Sometimes the one extra push makes the whole line better, not the tricks. So Gosha and Mark Gonzales, those guys inspire me.

That’s awesome. Speaking of being free skateboarding, do you get worried when you’re street skating in Europe as someone who immigrated in? I’m just thinking about it here, like I would be kinda nervous of getting in trouble with the law, considering the nature of street skating.
Not really, no. I'm just skating. If some people don't like it, they can ask, and I will not do it. But there was one situation when the cops came to the spot and I was kinda scared. We were in the south of Spain, in Alicante, and they came up. But Roberto Alemañ got in the mix right after and he was talking to them, then he said to me, “Move, move, move. Get lost for a moment.” Because he knew I could get in trouble. So that was a moment I got a little scared. But other than that, I’m not really thinking about it.

Backside grind down flat down for the fan

Shout out, Roberto. And when you go through different countries like Poland or France, do you get along with people pretty easy? Or do you ever get vibed out?
I don’t know. I meet good people on my way all the time. I’m lucky with that. I think the skaters in general are pretty welcoming. It's really like a huge family all over the world. When you are with the wrong people, you feel it straight away, and you just get away from this situation.

Yeah, that’s the same here. Before I lived in New York, I used to think the East Coast was a lot of vibey locals. But if you’re respectful, everyone’s pretty mellow and nice.
That’s how life goes. You get what you bring to the table. If you bring the good vibes and a good mood, you’re warm and kind to everyone, that’s what you get back. If you’re a dick, of course everyone’s going to be a dick to you. Sometimes I can be a dick, too.



Well, we’re all human. Seems like you got a good head on your shoulders. You’re bringin’ something good to the table. Europe’s pretty hot right now. You used to have to come to the US to do the thing, but it looks like you can just have a full career out there. Did you ever feel a pull to the US or have California dreams?
Oh yeah, I want to come to New York this year. Last time I went to the US in 2018, I liked it. But I was too young and I wanted to go home. Now I'm looking at it a bit different. I mean, Europe is doing pretty good. But I also want to see something else. I want to see what’s going on all over the world. So now I have a feeling that I want to come.

You’ll love it. I feel a little bit embarrassed of the US when I talk to people outside the country. Everyone saw how old and unable to talk our last president was and the new one is maybe the stupidest guy I’ve ever seen. Does it seem like we have a bad reputation? Or do you think, Why would I go over there? All the smart, cool skaters are in Europe!
I don't feel it.

Gettin’ a bird’s-eye view of this crazy world, wallie backside grab

Even if you’re lying, thank you.
I’m for real. I don't hear something like this. We are people. We are not the same as our political leaders. We’re people, and that's the most important thing. I mean, all the political leaders all over the world probably are fucking crazy.

Oh yeah. Hard agree.
In every country, the leader is fucking manic. That's a fact that I realized, so I don't give a shit about them. Yeah, that's what I would say.

Shove-it noseblunt into into the lawn landing, dude's more than human

Well, thank you for not holding it against us.
Come on, you are you. You are not American. You are just a human.

I gotta write that down. Alright, so you're with the right crew. You're with Pfanner; you're with Dustin, and you're making moves. What's your hope for the future? What are the plans?
It’s hard to say what's gonna happen tomorrow. I just want to do what I love the most. I want to open the new things in life. I just want to do what I love to do consistantly and I want to do it good.

Consistently good? Then we'll see you at Pro Skate League.
Yeah, I’m down.

If you haven’t noticed, dangerous and uncertain paths are kind of his thing. One-push noseblunt with a firecracker finish, Alexey always lands on his feet