"Then and Now" with Justin Robertson

A lot of you know him now as one of the up and coming best all around riders in the sport. Justin Robertson has proved time and time again that he is going to keep progressing at an amazing rate. Whether that be in the parks or the streets. He is the first rider of the new pieces I will be starting which are going to be called "Then and Now" I am going to give you guys a look at some amazing riders and how they were when they started out riding..and how they are today. Starting with one of my personal new favorite riders, Justin Robertson. Justin is 16 years old from Tillsonburg, Canada, and believe it or not hasn't even been riding for 4 years. I was able to catch up with Justin and get his opinions on the video you'll see below, which is the oldest mini video of Justin..filmed about 3 years ago.. Here is Justin Robertson, Then.


THEN


Steven: How long had you been riding for, when you made this video?

Justin: Well i started riding right near the end of school that year like late june early july, and i finished that vid late october so about 3 months




Steven: Now at that time, what did scootering really mean to you, what did you see it as?

Justin: Well i didnt really know about sr or the whole scooter scene or anything at that time and i never had a good skateboard or bmx so i just scootered instead, it was pretty much a way to keep in touch with all my friends cause they skated at the time and i was the only one that scootered, i also loved the thrill of it and how it was so unique and different from all my friends

Steven: Nice dude, So at this time, how dedicated were you? How did you push yourself to learn new tricks?

Justin: I scootered every single day for hours each day all through summer and after school started, i'd always just do like tailwhips my super long 1 footed manuals and everyone would be like "OMG your crazy good", i never really thought it was good since thats just basic stuff so it pushed me pretty hard to learn new stuff cause i wanted to see peoples reactions after i learned harder and more difficult tricks,, that was kinda hard though cause i didnt have a skatepark, i rode flat and street sets mostly

Steven: So if you can please watch the video, can you tell me your favorite clip in it? And what time in the video that clip is?

Justin: Without a doubt at 1:14 when i tailwhip the 7 set without any catch,, i remember being sooooo happy after that cause that was pretty big for me at the time, i was scared to just hop that thing and after i whipped it whether i caught it or not i was pretty proud of myself for landing it

Steven: For sure dude. Ok, now if you can change anything about this video, what would it be?

Justin: well theres a pic at the end of it with me just looking like a retard haha if that could disapear it'd be cool, other then that i wouldnt really change anything,, if i had to pic something i guess it'd be that when i hop off those high drops i actually woulda hoped instead of pretty much rolling off them





So there you have it a young, new to scootering Justin Robertson. Now lets fastforward to the Justin Robertson we know today. This is Justin Robertson, Now.


NOW


Steven: Your latest video, has become an instant classic, were you expecting the reaction it's gotten from the community?

Justin: not at all, i was expecting a few good comments and then a bunch of critique of how it could have been better, but honestly i didnt expect that kind of reaction it all, reading all those comments shocked me haha it made me pretty happy though.



Steven: What changed for you from your "Then" video, to this video? Did you see the sport differently?

Justin: not a whole lot really, i still ride to be with friends and stuff, i do see the sport differently though, back then i didnt even think other people rode scooters and when i did find out about sr the only aftermarket parts were like sr forks, micro metal cores and like barley anything,... now i know theres a whole world out there of riders just like me and the amount of aftermarket parts/companies that have started since back then is crazyyy, the sports definitly grown a lot in just those few years and its good to know that its been growing and people are respecting it more

Steven: Yea def. You take a LOT of really gnarly slams, when you were trying those 360 whips down that 11...and kept slamming, what was going through your head?

Justin: everytime i fell i was pretty much yelling inside my head just land the damn trick already so its done with cause i knew i wouldnt stop trying untill it was landed, thats just the way i am.. also i wanted to do that trick since last october down that 11 and i never really got the chance till that day to do it, so i knew if i gave up it would just bug me constantly that i couldnt land it when i finally got a chance to throw it down

Steven: So once again, Favorite clip in that video? and time it takes place?

Justin: without a doubt its at 1:43, the 360 whip down the 11, that was my dream goal for over a year now and now that i finally did it, it makes me feel proud that i never gave up on it or chickened out from doing it

Steven: Last question, what can we expect from Justin Robertson in the future?

Justin: more vids forsure, maybe not as many since i do tend to make one like every month or so haha but hopefully bigger and more original tricks that people havent seen before,, there will forsure be atleast one more vid of me this year which im saving clips for untill it snows so you can look forward to that.



That concludes our first "Then and Now". Be sure to check Inside Scooters Blog for more "Then and Now's" and other new content. Thanks to Justin for taking the time to do the interview.



-Steven Tongson