Robert Brink - Writer

Question Mark: Justin Schulte

December 19, 2008 | Skip To The Comments (1)

Question Mark: Justin Schulte
Words: Rob Brink
The Skateboard Mag February 2009

The day before our interview, 22-year-old Justin Schulte missed his connecting flight from Dallas TX to Newark, NJ by about 30 seconds and was preparing for a night of less-than-comfortable sleep on an airport floor.

“I watched my plane leave, dude!” Justin says, “And all because I had to go and buy a Whopper.”

“Is that a typical Schulte circumstance?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m pretty much the last-minute guy. ‘Oh no worries, the plane’s not gonna leave without me.’ Then I get to the front and they’re like, ‘You’re Justin Schulte right? We paged you four times.’ But somehow I foreshadowed myself blowing it. I had a feeling that something wasn’t gonna pan out right, so I didn’t check a bag in. I just carried on my bag with the skate.”

Justin was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, an area just over the hill from Hollywood and famous for producing heaps of great skateboarders—Paul Rodriguez, Mikey Taylor, Jeron Wilson, Kevin Long, Mike Anderson, Mike Mo Capaldi, Mike Barker, Torey Pudwill and Van Wastell, to name a few. According to Justin, it’s also the porn capital of the world.

Speaking of Hollywood, Justin’s first career was that of a child actor. He appeared in Go-Gurt and Hot Wheels commercials, did a voice over in The Little Mermaid 2 and starred in ABC’s Two of a Kind with Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. He even had the pair’s digits for a hot minute. Until he lost it…

“I washed my pants and with the number in the pocket. I blew it,” Justin says, laughing.

Forced into acting by his parents back then, Justin has no interest in pursuing it now that he’s older. But it wasn’t entirely bad—he’s still got money in the bank from it, and aside from a week-long stint at Jamba Juice a few years ago, he’s never had to work a “real” job in his life—and likes it that way.

“Yeah, I’m not trying to serve anyone, dude,” Justin grumbles.

Like most Valley kids, Justin grew up skating at Skatelab day after day, where he met his now good friend, Torey Pudwill. Then sprayed him in the eyes with Windex during their first encounter.

Justin admits, “I just saw Windex and like, my hand was close to it. I wanted to pull the trigger so bad and I aimed at his face. I used to be a little shit, dude. We drive-by paintballed people standing on line outside music venues, broke windshields, and, well, maybe stole a golf cart from a college campus once and wrecked it on accident.”

Justin attributes the amount of talent coming out of the Valley to the abundance of good spots there are to skate, the amount of great skaters there and everyone knowing one another, skating together all the time. But does someone like Justin, who is virtually sponsorless at his age (Val Surf and Circa and Almost flow—“Man Flow” as he calls it), feel the sting from being surrounded by so much talent? Are all his friends that are pro or soon-to-be pro passing him by? Is it harder to get noticed when you’re just “another good skater from the Valley”?

“It’s definitely a double-edged sword,” he says. “I skate with all these fools, but at the same time maybe no one stands out. Like everyone’s too good. What are you gonna do with a group of twenty dudes? Some of us just kind of get lost.”

Justin should be way further along in his skateboarding career by now and he knows it. He’s had some “circumstances” over the years, hence the “man flow” situation. It’s been a combination of the business side of skateboarding, bad timing, bad luck and even his own personality and decisions.

“In this industry you have to kiss a little ass to get somewhere and Justin’s not always willing to do that,” says Scott Mackey, long-time friend of Justin’s. “Which might have hurt him, but I feel no one’s actually given him a real chance yet.”

“I was never fully on Element,” Justin explains, “but I’d been getting stuff from them and had parts in two of their videos. I didn’t know they were gonna use my footage in the first video, Elementality, so I was like ‘Thanks for the coverage but you can’t really be using my footage like that if you don’t pay me or anything.’ And they just kind of treated me like I was out of line and big-headed.”

According to Justin, he’d been asked by Daewon Song to skate for Almost about four years ago. And he would’ve done it had Element not told him not to.

“I like the individuality over there at Almost.” Justin says. “Torey is my best homie. Daewon is the shit. He tried to help me out long ago and I’m just down for him. Element said they were gonna pay me the next month and didn’t. How come people look you in the eye and tell you shit? I come from a place where what you say is your word and you stand by it. I’d be in a completely different place right now if I was never involved with them.”

Despite a bitter taste in his mouth here and there, Justin’s confident and optimistic about the future. He knows he has to work. He knows sometimes, no matter what, getting noticed in our little world is part of the job and relies on more than just being a good skateboarder. It’s also knowing the right people or being in the right place at the right time.

“He’s skating a lot—really trying,” explains Tony Tave, Element/Circa pro and close friend of Justin’s. “He knows how to skate and skates his way and that’s what’s gonna work for him. Skateboarding is going to appreciate that and the way Justin skates in the future.”

“Justin just grew up buttery. Gimmick-free skateboarding, ” says Mackey.

“I know Atiba, so it’s all good! Justin jokes.

“Skateboarding is what I’m here to do. I feel like it’s meant to be because I have this money from acting to sit on while I sort things out. Honestly, as long as I can have fun and be with my friends, it doesn’t matter. We all love skating.”

Justin’s favorite skateboarders and inspirations are his friends. As legendary as they all are, his list doesn’t include the obvious list of Gonzes Carrolls, Cardiels, Kostons and Marianos.

“Torey can do anything thing at any given time,” Justin gushes. “Like, he can be higher and drunker than anyone and be insane. Every time he does a trick it’s some shit he just thought of that he’s never done before that he did in like, 10 tries. The type of shit that makes you laugh. I swear to God he can do anything that anyone can do.”

“Mike Anderson… that’s another one. You’ll be out skating and he’s the smileyest dude and he’s psyched to be skating. He’s definitely one of the best skateboarders. And Van Wastell has always inspired me. Now that he’s passed it’s crazy thinking about how happy he would be just being able to backtail a ledge. Him always being down for absolutely anything at any point in time gets me psyched. I skate a lot for him nowadays. I don’t even get sad when I think about Van ‘cause he makes me so happy. He’s probably just kicking it with Shane Cross up there laughing it up.”

At this point, you may still be on the fence about Justin. He’s part raw talent, part stoney slacker, part lucky, part stubborn, part victim, part perpetrator, part privileged, part smart, part appreciative, part real, part confident and part enlightened about what his skateboarding and life are all about. Sounds pretty human to me. Perhaps you still don’t care. Perhaps you’re sold and want more. He’ll be okay with it either way. It’s his first interview and he knows what matters to him and what he needs to do to be okay with himself.

“I’m really, really psyched to get this interview. Hopefully shit pans out for me.” Justin concludes. From his skating, attitude and the way he’s speaking, “things panning out” seems like it could be a reality soon.

And then, just for shits ‘n giggles, before I let him go, sI asked Justin if there’s anything that irks him about the skateboard industry.

“I honestly don’t even feel like I’m in the skateboarding industry,” he says. “I’m just, like, watching the skateboarding industry. It’s funny. You guys are mad funny. People thinking they make a difference or matter or something in skateboarding… that’s what bugs me. You can quote me on that… people thinking they make a difference.”