First time I met Štěpán during our tour to Prague in 2021, we were just starting to film for “Neighbours”. At the beginning of the trip, I thought he is a “Silent killer” type-of-person. He didn’t speak much, and to my surprise, didn’t skate much. He mostly skated the spots he was interested in, and every time he tried something, he would do his trick in just a couple tries. Later I discovered he was just trying to be polite and show us the spots of Prague rather than to be getting his own footage. After I got to know Štěpán and we started to talk a bit more, it turned out he is one of the nicest people. He is always helpful and brings the good vibes to every sesh. Štěpán loves skateboarding in every aspect and it turns out he actually skates way more than most people do! Feel invited (Zapraszam!) to get to know what he is up to in his daily life.
First things first – I heard your cat is an actor? Can you tell me something about this?
Haha, yeah that is true. My parents bussines is based on animal production for movies and TV spots, so I grew up surrounded by all kinds of animals. Last winter I had a shoulder surgery and getting a cat helped me to heal faster. At least mentally. Recently Hayato had a role in one of the netflix shows and an ad for LEGO, we are training hard for more projects!
Hahah. Sick! Greetings for the cat and for the whole fam! Having this one of the list I can go for the basic questions like – Could you please introduce yourself? Where do you live and how old are you?
I am a Prague raised kid, living here for 24 years now. I’m trying to study graphic arts while I can, but mostly I just do anything that’s associated with skateboarding! I’m always up to something creative, lately my job is making neon lights.
Sounds cool! Do you do the job independently or for some company? How does it work? Do you still work at Darkslide Skateshop?
We are doing it with two of my good friends. We have all started Skateboarding at Stalin together. Our workshop is close to the plaza and we make neon signs and different kinds of light boxes. I had to figure out a new workplace because of the difficult skateboard market situation. I rarely work at Darkslide at this point. I do help the skateshop though. I make graphic designs or some printed zines. I also partly take care of Charge skateboards and help with the SID project.
Wow, that looks like quite a lot to do when you don’t skate!.. And when you do, please tell us where can we meet you most frequently and who do you mostly skate with?
When I’m in Prague, I most often go to Stalin with friends. There is simply no better place. Apart from that, I’m usually somewhere at the spots. On weekends I’m usually on the road somewhere, either with Darkslide or with the SID crew.
I heard you skate a lot around Prague. Vojtech and Mitch suggested I should ask about how many spots do you have in your phone?
Thousand! Since I know Prague by heart, I have most of the spots in my mind. I’ve always been a bit of a skate-nerd, looking things up in the old magazines and videos. I often choose some less explored area where I go to look for new possibilities. But lately I’ve been trying to get out of Prague a lot. There are many cities in Czech Republic that have great spots that almost no one knows about.
It seems I have to visit you more often! Can you tell me for how long are you supported by Vans now? How did all this come about?
Anytime bro! The first support from Vans came at the same time I started riding for Darkslide, so that’s 2 0 1 4 . The shop owner, Mirek Kvapil, was still the editor of the Board magazine at the time. Through acquaintances, he introduced me and Vojta Freitag to people at Vans. Time passed, people changed until you took care of us. Being able to go on trips is definitely the best part yet. Thanks to everyone at Vans who helped me along the way!
Cheers to all the good trips we have been at and to all coming ones! Speaking of travelling – filming for the “Neighbours” video we did three different tours. Which one of them did you like the most? Any cool memories or things that come to your mind when thinking about filming for the project?
Of course all of the trips were great. If you have good mates around you, it doesn’t matter where you are. But I have to say that I enjoyed Warsaw the most. The city has a lot of good spots to offer, and Kuba Bączkowski has them well mapped out. It was also the last of the trips and we all knew each other pretty well. I remember the first trip when you came to see us in Prague. We saw each other for the first five minutes and that was in a situation where your van got a boot right at the start. I remember i went to deal with the police officer and paid the fine. That was actually a nice introduction, haha. I also have to mention all the food you provided for us, I have never eaten so well on any other tour. Big up!
Ahahah. Thanks for helping us out with the Czech Police! Good introduction indeed! A[er going through these different situations, we got to know our neighbouring scenes much better. When we were at the beginning of the project did you know anything about Polish skateboarding or Polish skateboarders? Did you have any thoughts or expectations about how can that whole Polish and Czech co-operation look like?
Of course I did know couple of guys! We were on Balkans monuments tour together with Przemek Hippler. I knew some of your Youth guys too. We used to go to Poland for competitions or street missions quite a lot. So for me “Neighbours” happened naturally and I was one hundred percent sure that we will get along well!
Out of the people working on the project who did impress you the most by the way they skate? Were you really surprised with anyone?
Everyone skates really well! I was very surprised by Anna Kulig and how determined she was at the spots. I enjoy watching Dida’s trick and spot selection. But the person I have to definitely mention is Bartek Piguła. He skated almost every spot we came to and what he does is insane! From inverts to technical tricks and everything in between!
All three of them are definitely amazing. I have an opinion that you and the crews you skate with are really productive. Darkslide and Sid film skateboarding on a daily basis. I wonder how many video projects did you manage to finish and drop during the time we were working on the “Neighbours” edit?
I released three parts for SID – prager, DVA and STE_FAN. And we plan to publish another video by the end of summer. Mitch and I managed to shoot an edit from the Prague metro system called METRON and also a SCENA video paying tribute to the National Theater spot. We also went on several tours with Charge skateboards. Together with Darkslide crew, we put together the MOSTY project. For this one we travelled across the whole country looking for skateable bridges. The latest project is gonna be the Darkslide video. We are still working to finish it. The premiere takes place at the Vladimir Film Festival in Croatia. Hope to see you all there.
Not only a lot of edits but also some really good ones. Highly recommended content alert here! And please tell me what is Stepan Bares working on at the moment? You have the new SID video and the Darkslide video on the way. Can you tell us some more about these two projects? Are these the only two you are working on right now?
The new SID edit is filmed entirely on Stalin Plaza. The idea is to approach the whole spot in a different way than usual. I have been breaking down new curbs a lot and trying to invent new possibilities that the monument offers. Video is already finished, so now I’m helping to organize the premiere event. Darkslide video is gonna be full of friendly atmosphere and team spirits. We want to show the lesser-known spots from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. We are still filming some of the final clips, so that’s my main focus right now. And after it’s finished? Who knows! but we will definitely keep on rollin’!
And I have one last question for this interview: If you had the opportunity to come up with a dream skate project and figure out any location in the whole universe. What would this project be and where would you want to go?
That’s a tough question for someone who likes to travel and would like to see everything. However, if I had the opportunity, I would like the project to have some overlap and leave something behind. For example, I like the plans of organizations that help to show skateboarding in developing countries.I would love to see the enthusiasm of the locals through skateboarding. A big inspiration is my friend Martin Louzecky and his non-profit organization Skate World Better. I recommend all of you to check on what they create, it’s absolutely great! I would also enjoy an exclusive project taking place in less explored locations. Something similar to the Monuments tour. I can hardly choose one specific place right now. I like to plan things in advance, so I would have to think about it a lot first. Let’s end it with a cheesy quote – doesn’t matter where you go, it’s about who are you going with!
Not sure if cheesy or not, but it’s true! Thanks for sharing good thoughts with us. It was great to talk to you Man and I see you soon at the Vans Shop Riot! Take care Stepan!
Thank you Mateusz for the opportunity of being involved in “Neighbours”. Also thanks everyone at Vans and the whole crew that made this project happen. See you guys around, cheers!
Interview: Mateusz Kowalski
Photography: Kuba Bączkowski
