Videos by Matthew Jastrzemski
With additional photography by Matej Kozic
Intro & Interview by Daniel Nodzak

Matthew Jastrzemski is a rollerblader from the United States who currently lives in Zagreb, Croatia with his wife and daughter. When he’s not spending time with family, skating, or shooting photos you can find him perfecting his craft as a hair stylist out of his single chair studio. I had the chance to catch up with Matthew to discuss his background in rollerblading, artistic pursuits, and his new profile for the Blader Union Spotlight Series called ‘Gray Hair and Bad Knees.” After you’ve seen the edit and read the interview be sure to check out the bonus leftovers section at the bottom of this article. 

Hey Matthew, thanks for chatting with me today. How did you get started with inline skating?

My older brother was always into anything new. So he got one of the first pairs of rollerblades, and then never used them. Lucky for me I always got his old but basically unused stuff. I think it was around 1988. I remember they were blue Bladerunners, metal frames, no buckles and the liners were non padded and just basically some liner shaped vinyl. They were probably about three sizes too big for me. I remember wearing like 10 pairs of socks just so my foot didn’t move in them and so they weren’t so painful.

At the time i was skateboarding so naturally I started to jump down stuff or off my launch ramp. And as time went on I found myself using them more then my skateboard. I used to get my wheels from this bike shop, and the owner knew one of the original Cali guys so he would tell me how they were using skateboard wheels in the middle so they could grind, and then one day I went in and he threw a VHS to me and said go watch this... It was a copy of “Dare to Air” and thats when rollerblading really took over my life.

Oh wow so your first skate video was literally the first skate video made haha! So you've been around from the start and witnessed the sports evolution across the decades. My description here is just a general overview so I'm gonna overlook some things for simplicities sake, but what began as an unrefined sport with no rules and new tricks being invented every other week grew into a more rigidly defined sport during the hammer era. From there the rise of Mushroom Blading in the 2010s seems to have brought us back full circle to a more experimental and openminded approach to skating in the 2020's. Does any particular era stand out to you as being most significant?

Honestly they all really stand out. It was amazing the see the culture and blading itself grow from its infancy. I feel really privileged to be a part of it and still be able to skate today. 

In the beginning it was amazing. A new mag or video came out and there was someone doing a new trick. Sometimes it would be a trick my friends and I made up locally. Once we saw the acid soul we started experimenting with how you could place your non soul foot. I think this is why so many tricks have regional names. It was super exciting to say the least. 

Then the hammers came and it went from what can be done to what can we do this down or over. but going out to session drops gaps and huge rails is a young mans game for sure. 

And i think now it’s a pretty good mix of everything, and you can skate how you like and whats fun to you... Even though facebook comments will tell you otherwise. 

But I feel like now is the best time to watch skating. I feel like the average skater is older and thus has more maturity in their trick selections. Instead of going to a spot just to do the hardest thing, they go and do what feels right... For some it is doing the hardest thing, for others its just doing a stylish top soul. Its just a different time but its brought out and highlighted all these skaters who skate differently. Honestly, I don’t think they would have gotten their due recognition back in the 2000s. 

Also, I think we will see even more longevity out of current pros and skaters in general.

You left the US a few years ago to move to Europe. What led you to living in Croatia?

I knew a girl out here... So I came to visit. After a week out here we were engaged and I basically only left to go get my stuff. Been out here for just about 5 years now and its been amazing.

I'd love to hear more about your life in Croatia. Did you experience any unique challenges adjusting to life out there? How have things changed for you over the last five years?

Honestly a lot has changed but my life has been far from challenging out here. The biggest change is my wife and kid. And the support that comes from them both has really eased up my life. The culture here is more in favor of life than work.  But if there was one challenge it would be the language. It can be an issue once in a while. But I keep to my self a lot or in a small group so it tends to not be an issue.

As a blader who's spent a considerable amount of time on both sides of the Atlantic what sort of differences do you notice between North American and European bladers?

Honestly, I feel like people are people. The differences in culture are a little more subtle but anywhere you go there are good and bad people. I think anyone who blades has an openness to other bladers so I don’t see much difference. We are kind of bound by a shared passion as corny as that sounds. I think there is a bigger difference between 15-20 years ago and today in bladers then there is between bladers of different countries. We don’t really have the numbers for elitism and cliques like we did before. So people are more hyped to just see others skating than they were back then.

I understand you work as a hair stylist/barber. How did you get involved with that?

Sort of by accident. I was going to be a barber for the sake of it being a job that I wouldn’t mind doing and to keep me out from behind a desk, but really just found a passion for creative cutting of all sorts. I studied stone sculpture in college and for the most part its the same process. Removing material to create a shape.

That’s interesting because I know you’ve also got a passion for photography, and you've even contributed to Blader Union articles in the past. Would you mind walking me through your background there?

Well I got my first real camera in 8th grade maybe, and learned to use it a bit. Then in high school I took graphic arts and photography and really got into it. I actually started college for photography but about a week into school all my camera gear got stolen from my car (welcome to Columbus). Without the money to replace it I switched to sculpture and printmaking. When I was able to replace the camera, it was around the time that digital was taking over. I always had a camera but didn’t get the joy I had from film. When I got into hair I started documenting all my haircuts for social media to build clients. And I hated images from my phone’s camera. So I started to actually use my cameras again. Then I tried a leica and just felt the joy of shooting. The big DSLR cameras were just too complex for how I like to shoot, finding a camera that just let you adjust the aprature, iso, and shutter was perfect for how I like to shoot. From there it was a snowball effect from shooting hair and portraits to street photography and still life images.

As with a educational background in sculpture and being both a photographer and hair stylist I assume you're going to be spending most of your professional life trying to strike a balance between creative use of your skillset and giving your clients what they want. Does that mindset effect your blading at all or do you just go out, focus on yourself, and let your imagination run wild?

Great question. I think skating is the time that my mind is not in a million pieces, it’s a lot of muscle memory, and focus when learning something new. Blading really is an escape from my overactive mind. I basically always go out to film something, it helps to give me a little direction and motivation. I spend time thinking about the spot and what trick and how I want to film it... but it’s almost like shutting my mind off to the world. 

When I’m free skating and just cruising, that’s really when I’m shut off. No camera, no friends, no music, no thoughts, just movement. It’s really where things feel back to basics for me. I thought about doing an urban edit but I think it would kill the joy of free skating for me, where filming aggressive skating is part of the joy.

Let's talk about your edit here for a bit. How long have you been filming this piece?

The oldest clips are probably about 8 months old. But winter was super wet here so we skated a lot of p-rails in a garage. Most of it has been May till now, usually Sunday sessions. It’s been kind of a headache, I would film something, go home look at it and decide I wanted a better angle, or a different trick. So there is a good amount of left over footage. Honestly if it wasn’t for Blader Union wanting to put it out and coming up with a deadline, then it probably would never get finished.

(Watch the leftovers from Matthew’s GH&BK edit below)

What, if anything, do you hope people take away from your edit?

To enjoy yourself. Enjoy blading at the capacity that you can. I had major hip surgery in 2013 and honestly never thought I would be able to again. Between my knees and hip I have to cautiously push my limits.  Remember it doesn’t matter if you drop hammers or you toe roll, if you don’t grab your backslides, or you trulyoop savunity or not... It’s about enjoyment and pushing your personal limits... It’s about fun.

Alright Matthew I’ve enjoyed the conversation. Before I let you go here, would you like to shout anybody out?

First and foremost my wife Marijana and daughter Katja. They inspire me constantly and are super supportive of my work, photography and skating. honestly without them I wouldn’t be who I am today.

Also Tin Hadžiomerspahić for filming a lot of this section and just being down to roll.  Bojan Opačak for getting out when he can. And of course Tro Nožac for alway being there to hold a camera when no one else is available... He is so reliable and never says no.