Bastien Salabanzi: the Thrasher interview

Thrasher Magazine, Dec, 2003 by Michael Burnett

THERE'S A LOT TO BE SAID about this young talent extraordinaire, but I'll keep it short. The first time I saw Bastien skate he was 14 and tiny. He was doing insane tricks pretty much every try and it was clear that he was miles ahead of his league (and pretty much everybody else, for that matter). He's come a long way from wherever it is he's from.

I'll end it like this: Bastien Salabanzi has the skills to be reckoned with! Boo-ya!--Mark Appleyard

What's your family like?

I live with my room and my two old brothers I grew up with. I moved a couple of times but I lived in the South of France for 10 years or something. I started to experience a lot of stuff with my friends there.

What city did you live in?

Toulon. Right next to Marseille.

Is that where you learned to skate?

That's where I kind of discovered there were some tricks and stuff with the board. I was skating before that, like, riding down hills with a massive fish board, you know?

Do you remember the first time you ever saw skateboarding?

Yeah. It was a long time. It was a snowboard station up in the mountains. I saw these guys do an ollie in the parking lot and I didn't understand what happened, yon know? I wanted to have a skateboard straight away! I went to a skateshop and I asked for a regular board--not a fish shape, just a regular double nose shape. After three weeks I received a massive fish hoard. I was so disappointed. But I didn't care. I just wanted to skate. A little later I met a guy and he was like, "You know what is an ollie?" and he showed me. That's when I finally understood what I saw in the parking lot.

Where are your parents from?

My mom is French and my dad is from the Congo, but I never really met my dad. I was little when he was around.

What about your two brothers?

The oldest one is 24, he is Danien and the other is just a little bit older, he's like, 21. His name is Augustetin.

Do they skate?

The younger one, he skates.

And you're 177

Yeah, pretty soon I'm gonna be 18.

Oh shit. Do you remember the first trick you learned?

After the ollie? I was just really excited about controlling the board. The first trick I was really stoked on was the ollie 'cause that's what made me want to skate. I didn't understand what it was all about. That was crazy when the guy showed me this trick. He did it on my own board and I was like, "That means I can do it too!"

How old were you when you started skating a lot?

This happened when I was nine years old or something.

Did you get really good really fast?

At this time I was living in a really small town so I didn't really know about skateboarding, but when I moved to Toulon and started skating with some guys who were doing some tricks that I had never seen before--grinding or kickflips and stuff like that. One time I saw a big group of guys and they were all doing tricks all over the place. I started skating with those guys. After a year and half I started to learn a lot of tricks. It was just like, everyday, "What about this trick?" and you just learn it. Without even caring about anything, I won a contest one day and then I have a sponsor.

Did it happen that quick?

Oh yeah. I won my first contest pretty much. It was pretty crazy. I was really young. I was 11 or something. It was in the South of France at Marseille. It was the first skatepark that I skated.

The one with the bowls?

No. It was a little set-up one. It was nothing that crazy. Salman Agah was judging. That was the first pro I saw in real life.

Were you nervous in your first contest?

When they call your name you get kind of nervous--you worry that you will have a shitty run, but I don't really worry about it. After you make your first trick, you don't really care. I never thought for a second that I might win or get to go to LA.

So this was that Vans contest where they flew you to the finals in California?

Yeah.

And this was the first contest you ever went to?

Yeah. Well, I went to this one contest in Montpellier. I was so little. I was still pushing mongo and this shit.

You started mongo?

Yeah, that's why I push both ways with my back foot now. My brother. It's because of my brother. He tells me, "Nah, nah. See how I'm pushing with my back foot? That's the way to do it." He made me switch.

What was your skate crew like in Toulon?

Everybody was older than me, you know? But when you start only by yourself and then suddenly you move to a place where right down the street there is the biggest spot in the town you live and there are 35 skaters--you see tricks all over the place. I was like, "What the fuck?" I was scared at first to go skate with them. We'd always meet up at that place and then we'd go to some other spots. That was good.

Did your mom let you run wild?

No. I was skating only on the weekend and on Wednesday afternoons there is no school.

So that contest you went to in LA, is that the one at Skate Street where I shot the picture of you?

The pop shove-it to tail grab? Yeah. That was my first time in America with my brother.

What did you think when you went to that contest?