ALEXEY AKA THE WOLF / EVERY SUPERHERO OR BOSS HAS A NUMBER ONE / ALEXEY IS EXACTLY THAT PERSON YOU WANT BY YOUR SIDE WHEN STUFF GOES PEAR-SHAPED / HIS QUIET AND SOPHISTICATED DEMEANOR MAKES HIM THE PERFECT SIDE-LINE FIRST-IN-COMMAND / IN EVERY HIJINX SITUATION, I’VE ALWAYS SEEN ALEXEY OBSERVING CLOSELY FROM THE SIDE LINE / IT’S NOT LIKE HE’S SOME SORT OF COWARD / IT’S JUST I FEEL THAT THE WAY HE SEES STUFF IS DIFFERENT THAN THE REST OF US / MAYBE HE IS SMARTER, MAYBE HE JUST DOESN’T UNDERSTAND WHY A BUNCH OF DRUNKS FIND EVERYTHING SO DIFFICULT / FOR ALEXEY, I FEEL EVERYTHING IS PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD, LIKE A ROLLING STONES SONG / COMPARED TO A CAPTAIN BEEFHEART SONG / ALEXY IS ONE OF THOSE GREAT SKATERS THAT DOESN’T WASTE PEOPLE’S TIME BY PLAYING WITH SPOTS / HE KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS AND HAS THE PATIENCE TO WAIT HIS TURN AND SPECIFY THAT HE WANTS TO BAKE HIMSELF SOME BREAD / THE FANTASTIC MISTER FOX WITHOUT THE EGO / THE RUSSIAN NUMBER ONE / THE WOLF, ALSO A CHARACTER IN PULP FICTION PLAYED BY HARVEY KEITEL / THIS IS WHAT I FEEL COULD BE CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH MISTER ALEXEY / THEREFORE, THE WOLF IT IS
- Dustin Dollin
I asked my mom for a skateboard and she bought me one for the first day of school.
In my area, there was this old guy and he was skating. At that time, I thought he was in his forties. He was living in a minivan – an orange Mercedes. I saw him skate and even do handstand rides and I was amazed. Then I started skating with him, and later on, it turned out that he was a pedophile.
Until I found out that he was a pedophile. [laughs] It was about one summer.
Some rumor began to spread around and he disappeared for a while.
No. I once was in his minivan, but nothing like that happened.
"When I first saw Dustin, I comprehended that he is actually real and he exists"
At the age 16 or 17, Vans began supporting me. Thanks to Pavel Kovalenko.
Damn, I actually don’t want it to be like that.
Yeah, I guess, but I’d rather not have anybody expecting something from me or looking at me differently, because I’m just like everybody else.
Actually, I once skated Tampa Pro. Since all this Olympic movement started, it all began in Russia as well. State funding was established, they gathered a team and began sending many Russian riders on trips. We went to Europe and I spent a whole month in the US thanks to those guys. It’s a weird thing – imagine you come to Tampa Pro and you are such a nobody, everyone is seeing you for the first time. What pro are you then?
Yes! Intense! After all, we were all sharing one flat, so we all got closer. When I first saw Dustin, I comprehended that he is actually real and he exists [laughs], and then we had a great time in Morocco. Dustin is awesome, very awesome!
First thing that comes to my mind is how we had a six-hour drive to Agadir. Being on the road, drinking beers, music playing – it was really fun. We were driving quite fast, everyone yelling to the music. Doobie was taking a piss out of the open door. Gnarly! Next morning, we reminisced about it and realized how dangerous that was.
Yeah! A lot of effort was put into that part, as well as into the whole video.
About a year and a half, although we started filming with Pavel Kryukov before that.
"I showed it to my grandma when the video premiered on Thrasher. She said, “Cool video, but you guys are hooligans.”"
I already graduated from university, at the age of 21. After that, I was just skating to the maximum. I was studying logistics, but it’s so boring, especially if you know that you can live off of riding a skateboard and where it can lead you. Life happens on its own.
I want you to explain a moment in the video, where you are talking to this random guy.
It’s crazy that he is proud of his jail time.
I don’t really know. There were some trips planned and they still are, but the borders are closing. Coronavirus is crazy.
No, the second. First one was on the cover of Asphalt – a Russian skate mag.
It was at the premiere of the Oktyabr video in Moscow. Lyonya [Leonid Lukin] invited me to come over for a drink. When I arrived, there was a bottle of cognac, shot glasses, and a chocolate bar. We started drinking, discussing, thinking back, calling somebody and so we were already drunk by finishing that bottle. Yura Renov and Misha Timaev came and we all went to the premiere. I had a blackout during the premiere. Then I opened my eyes at 7 a.m. over at Misha’s home. I picked up my phone, Roman Batard from Paris had sent me a message with a photo of a mag and me on the cover. I didn’t understand what the fuck that was since I had just opened my eyes and still didn’t know where I was. [laughs]
"I was just offered to train the Chinese national team for three thousand dollars a month, but I declined that shit"
I was thinking of going on tour or just vacation since the off-season was about to hit Moscow. Pavel Kryukov told me about this festival and I took a flight there with my lady. In short, those were an unforgettable two weeks. That journey gave me lots of new connections and I want to go this year as well.
Just skating, keeping on living, and enjoying life. That is highly interesting. So many things are happening all over the place and all the time. You always see something new and you develop. If you stop, then you petrify.
I’m not even sure actually.
I showed it to my grandma when the video premiered on Thrasher. She said, “Cool video, but you guys are hooligans.” I streamed it on a TV and we both sat, watching it, and she had some funny comments. At the end, she said, “Really cool. Like a family.” It seemed like a good video to her, she liked it, but we are hooligans anyways.
She is cool, but our relationship is kinda strange. I still have a feeling that my parents think that I am irresponsible. In their eyes, I ain’t doing shit, but for me, I’m spending so much time skating.
They would respect you if you didn’t skate, but see, my father started to understand this whole subject. I approached him one day and said, “I was just offered to train the Chinese national team for three thousand dollars a month, but I declined that shit.” And now he is looking at me in a different way. That is how many thoughts about money and success are sitting in their brains.
I feel like the best and most interesting people that I have ever met, they are riding a skateboard or are into some uncommon activity. On the other hand, not everyone is born to be interesting. I don’t know how it goes.
You just flushed it down a toilet. That’s it and that is absurd.