ALEX STEADMAN INTERVIEW

Some would say he is the definition of “chill”, and he is without a doubt one of the smoothest riders to touch a scooter. Looking at Alex Steadman you might think he was born and raised in the state of Arizona or even California, but he was actually born in Rochester, New York. Now at 20 years old he currently lives in Mesa, Arizona. Alex started riding scooters back in 2000 when he got an Old A Razor for 100 bucks. He started off much like a lot of riders, just cruising down streets and hopping up and down curbs. Eventually though, he started trying more tricks, starting out with basic tricks like no footers and no footer one handers and eventually tailwhips. He also admits to doing one footed manuals almost that whole summer. That is most likely where his balance and control he is known for today first started out. When he started out riding, Alex didn’t know about that many other riders. He only really knew of the guys on the Razor Evolution VHS Tape. So he didn’t really have a rider to try and imitate or emulate, but he does say that starting out he looked up to Jarret Reid.

Now days, Alex is known for his style and originality when he rides. It’s almost poetry in motion when Alex gets on his scooter. He spends a lot of his time doing the tricks that he enjoys doing, not the “popular” “trendy” whip and flip tricks in the sport. Tricks that Alex does on a daily basis are things like turndowns, tabletops, manuals, fakies, and sliders. He also loves doing wallrides, but admits that they aren’t exactly easy to do everywhere. Grinds are also something Alex was never really the best at, but he can now do them pretty well. He spends most of his time riding at his local skate park which is the Reed Skate Park in AZ. Also spending a lot of time at his friend Reid’s front yard, where they usually have a nice janky set up to sesh. Overall, Alex loves street. He likes the difficulty of riding a new street spot, and having to get creative, as opposed to a perfectly built skatepark. Riders like Alex Steadman give new meaning to the term progression. He isn’t out forcing himself to learn new tricks every time he rides. Instead he is taking the tricks he already knows, and taking them to new levels and new obstacles. His trick list may not be the biggest in the sport, but with Alex, and his trick list, it is clearly quality over quantity.

After staying at Andrew Broussard’s house a few times, Alex was eventually approached and asked if he would like to join what was then called, The SR Team. Alex was stoked at the opportunity, and gladly accepted. Together with the rest of the Proto Team, Alex made them one of the most complete Teams in the sport. Having riders that can literally, do it all. Alex also loves being on the Proto Team for the whole laid back vibe the Team has, and with his chill lifestyle it must have been easy to fit right in. Now besides his Proto Teammates, some riders that Alex loves to ride with as much as possible are some of the local Az riders. Taylor, Lil Jon, Reid, and Kai are some of the many locals that Alex really likes to ride with. Alex is always thinking up trick lines for himself, and also for other riders, and Lil Jon is one rider who has no problem getting crazy lines down with huge tricks. Taylor and Reid, although not as crazy as Lil Jon, are really close friends of Alex, so naturally he loves to sesh with them. Kai is actually an inline skater, but he is also a close friend, so riding with him is still a good time. Some of the other people Alex likes to ride with that are all really good riders, but don’t get overstressed about constantly learning new tricks are, local Arizona riders, Sean, Casey, and Garret.

Future plans for Alex include going to the upcoming SD4 Competition, hopefully the next Hyphy Jam in San Francisco, and he would also love to attend the Montreux contest in Europe. In a sport that’s lacking individuality, and a sport filled riders who just follow each other like a flock of sheep, in terms of tricks and style, Alex sticks out like a sore thumb. He does things that you would have never thought of before, because you would be too focused on if you can add another whip or barspin to your next trick. He’s an individual not just in his riding, but in his personality, and who he is as a person. So while some riders spend their time trying to progress the sport by throwing more whips or more spins into their tricks. Alex is going to keep doing what he does, unique and original riding, tons of manuals, and of course lots of riding fakie. So I guess with progression, when it comes to Alex, he can be going backwards, and still keep moving forward.

Intro by Steven Tongson

Interview by Jordan Jasa

Jordan Jasa:  First off, everyone knows your nickname is “Pirate” Alex, but not everyone knows why you are called that.  Care to explain?

Well before this current SR, there was another one, and another before that, and somewhere in between when SR had some downtime, there was the TPC board.  When the SR was getting redone or whatever, the TPC board got pretty popular.  But once SR came back, pretty much everyone left it.  There were only a few left, and we became the TPC Pirates.  The fact that I have long hair like Johnny Depp in Pirates helped, and it stuck.  There were shirts (maybe more to come?), and that's what I became known as.  Oh and I make Pirate reinforcements, too.

When did you get involved in the online scene?  What was it like back then?

I'm not sure exactly what year it was, but it was when the SR was all green and black.  I think I joined the current SR in '05, so I probably got into the scene in '04.  I just remember it being way smaller, and everyone knew each other a lot more.  There weren't that many noobs that no one knew. 

Your riding hasn’t always been manuals, 180s, and turndowns has it?  When did your originality really start taking off?

Nah, I did tailwhips for  a long time.  I'm not sure when I stopped, but it wasn't really abrupt.  I know at SD1 I did a run without whips, and it probably just went from there.  Back in the day, before I was into the online scene, tailwhips and manuals were about all I did, then I started trying to ride fakie.  I think it was because all the local spots were pretty small and techy that I stuck with fakie stuff, cause that really opened up a lot of doors for lines and stuff.

To me it seemed like your progression went hand in hand with your bar width.  I remember some clips on youtube from when you had 15 wides, which included a few doublewhips, and nowadays you have 20 or 21 wide, and doing a single whip is a rarity for you.  So did you get wide bars because of your changing style, or did your bars result in the style change?

I got big bars because of my style.  I didn't lose any tricks because of it (in fact I'm probably better at whips now than I was then), I just was feeling it.  I had 15" wide, bumped them to 16", and I just wanted to go wider.  I went to one of the Cooter Cons and stayed at the Mosbruker's house and Cory made my some 20" wides, and I've been riding them since. 

Who influences you to ride the way you do?

Not many scooter riders.  It's pretty much bmx and skate videos that make me want to do stuff that's different, because most scooter videos are really boring.  Sure there are good ones that come out every now and then, but those are few and far between.  I have to force myself to watch most of the scooter videos I do.  BMX and skate videos are way easier to watch, but it probably helps that there are way more of them.  There is a lot more diversity in style there, so I can find what I want to see more easily.

Who are some of your favorite people to watch ride?

Most of the people I liked watching don't really ride anymore, or have moved onto bikes.  Jonas, Joe Oldfield, Ryan Young, those were all good riders, and they don't ride or at least put out footage anymore.  It's probably because of the bike influence that I liked them, and the fact that they don't just try to do a thousand whips above their heads, and they try/tried to do new things.  Of course McKeen, I mean come on.  Watching people I know ride is fun too, just cause you think "that's such a ______ thing to do".  It just makes it more fun.

 

What did it mean to you to get on the SR Team/Proto?

I was stoked, of course.  I like all the dudes on the team, and I can get free parts for doing what I love to do.  It was also cool because I wasn't really bugging Andrew to get on the team, he just asked me one day if I'd be down, which wasn't a very hard question.  I think it's cool because there are a lotta people who hate on my style or the fact that I don't do many tricks, and since I'm on this team they can't really say anything.  Then again, I don't go around bragging about being on a team, I actually say I'm not sponsored just so I can avoid a barrage of questions and kids crying for free parts. 

What is your favorite part about being on a sponsored team?

I like getting parts, and getting to travel places.  And I have a better excuse for putting off the rest of my life and riding.  "But it's my job!"

You’ve been called the worst rider on Proto, kids even say that you suck.  Does that effect you?

For some kids standards, I do suck.  I can't do more than two whips, I can't flip my scooter upside down or downside up, I don't bend my leg when I do turndowns, and I don't drag my heel for anything other than cali sliders.  So if your definition of a good scooter rider is that, then I am pretty damn terrible.  But for my standards, I'm pretty good.  I ride whatever, and I have more fun than all of the people who hate on my riding, so I can't complain.  I know it's been said over and over, but it's all about having fun.  I will ride my friend's front yard that has nothing but a super mellow bank and a few obstacles and have fun for hours.  I've been riding there for years, and it's always fun.  So now I'll segway into saying that you guys shouldn't complain about having nothing to ride.  You just have to change your riding to fit whatever it is there is in front of you.

On the other hand, others love watching you ride, saying that you have tons of style.  “Steezeman” is another nickname of yours.  What do you think of that?

I think it's great, I love when people love my riding.  Who doesn't?  People constantly want praise, and whenever my name is mentioned in one of the countless "favorite riders" thread, it's makes me feel like a cool cat.  As for Steezeman, I think that was actually thought up by Andrew a while back.  And now pretty much the entire AZ fixed gear community knows me as that.  I think it's a pretty dialed nickname. 

What would you say to the kids out there trying to learn every new trick, trying to keep up with the trends?

All I gotta say is chill.  I'm not saying don't learn new tricks, but learn them well.  Don't try a trick, land it flyout, then never think of it again.  Get it dialed, put it in combos, and make it actually worth something.  People always ask me what my best trick is, and I have none.  I've done some things that I was proud of, but I'm more proud of getting something so that I can do it every try.  Quality, not quantity. 

Any thanks?

Thanks to all the guys I ride with, even though they're bums when it comes to riding street (that's right, I said it).  But seriously, without them I wouldn't ride as much as I do, and I would probably be doing even less tricks than I am now.  Not to mention they're always fun to ride with, and it's a kick playing a game of S.C.O.O.T. with them.  Thanks to Andrew for hooking me up with all the parts and stuff, and thanks to my parents for funding some of my scooter trips and being cool with it.