BLADE LIFE: An Interview with Brett Dasovic

Alright Brett, I figured that I could come up with better questions if I could sympathize with you Minnesota kids as far as terribly cold weather goes, so I waited until getting home to Cleveland to write these. You know, step into your shoes a bit… Now that we have that on the table (pause for sip of hot chocolate), tell us a little bit about yourself.
Well, my name is Brett Anthony Dasovic, I am 23 years young, I am the type of person who gets excited about the smallest details, and is known by his friends and family for being excitable and talkative. I do my best to be articulate and care for everyone around me. I skate just like I live my life. I care about every detail, and I use that caring attitude to be productive, as well as defined, in what I choose to do with my tricks and attitude towards the sport. I am influenced by everything from music and life events, to how my friends are feeling and what my current living situation is. I am who I am, and even though it can be a bit too much for some people, I have learned who truly appreciates my attitude and demeanor, and I do my best to show them all the respect in the world because in the end that is who I am… a person in the world who just wants to gain respect, and show the same to others.

Over the years you have wholeheartedly supported a lot of companies and, through sponsorships, they have returned the favor and supported your skating. You’ve been on Razors since 2004, if I’m not mistaken; what sparked the move over to USD, and what does 2010 hold for you?
You are correct. I started skating for Razors as a shop-flow rider for an online skate shop in 2004. Through this I met Geoff Acers, who is one of the most amazing individuals I have come across in this sport. USD came about in early 2009; they asked me to be involved with the company because I was already affiliated with Kizer, which is another brand that is run under the brand of “The Conference.” I was extremely reserved at first, because after skating the same blade company for so long I was worried I would never be able to get used to skating a new company, and that is a big issue to someone like me who always wants to be skating at his most comfortable! I decided to finish filming my part for my upcoming video project, titled “TML2: The Breakdown,” skating Razor skates and after that I went about trying USD model skates because they were adamant about me skating for them. This was the first spark. Razors does a lot for their flow riders ,but even before I chose to be a member of USD I felt a certain connection, with how I choose to both skate as well as live my life. These two meshed well with how I felt the direction of the team was headed in 2010. I thrive on communication on all levels because I am a naturally talkative person, so to hear feedback and give feedback in return is something I am extremely passionate about. From the get-go USD told me that they really wanted riders who were excited about skating their brand and representing a company that has an amazing team! I made this switch and since then I feel a certain sense of pride in telling people I am a member of USD, and I feel that the general population of rollerbladers picks up on that, and they notice that I not only love what they make, I love HOW they treat me as a member of the team. In a lot of companies you can be easily written off just because you are the “new guy.” All I can say is that I got personal congratulations from Demetrios who is their team manager, Jeff Dalnas, and both of the Kelsos (whose pro model skate I am proudly riding as we speak). I could write an even longer novel but basically all I can say is that I am proud to be a member of the Stretch Crew in 2010, and you will see that more than ever before!

How did growing up in Minnesota influence the way you skate? Like, aside from the people you looked up to, do you feel like coming from this part of the country, kind of removed from the center of the industry, makes you look at skating differently?
I believe that in this day in age, location has nothing to do with how much exposure we are able to receive. I would say more than half of the recognition I have gained in this sport has come from the fact that I love to put out edits on the web and basically enjoy showing the blading population what I am up to, and how much I just love to skate all the time and get it filmed at the same time. I do look at the skating industry differently because I am not a pro rollerblader. I have not earned those stripes and I am not at the center of what is happening with the sport directly. This has vastly changed in the last few years, and I hope I can continue to move up, but when you really think about it, Chris (farmer) is from Minnesota, and he is among the most prominent skaters in our sport and is heavily involved in how we are portrayed and where the sport is headed. I want to become a bigger force within the industry as time passes, but always remember it is not where you are from, it’s what you do and how hard you are willing to work to get where you want to be!

If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be and why?
It would play out like this: I’d take the amazing spots we have here, add some color and gritty city life aspects, and transplant them to Philadelphia circa ‘06-’07, and skate all the time with the amazing kids out there — Killgore, Alf, The Kelsos, Drew, Bolino… the whole crew I stayed with.

What can you tell us about “Too Much Love 2: The Breakdown”? Does the name have something to do with all of the fun RV troubles from the Too Much Love Midwest tour?
Too Much Love is the name of a super, ultra-hipster and trendy Saturday night dance gig that goes down at our most famous music spots. I am not sure why that name stuck but it did. “The Breakdown” deals directly with the problems we had with the RV. Oddly enough, we never had any real emotional breakdowns on this trip. The whole ordeal was a very trying experience, but in the end we came out with some truly incredible footage and learned a lot about how close we are as friends, and that is what we really wanted to portray in this project. This is not a team video, this is a crew video that just happens to have a line up of truly amazing bladers. From an editor’s standpoint, having a lineup of friends who have sections like John Bolino, Michael Garlinghouse, Jeph Howard and Chris Farmer makes a job like mine a bit of an afterthought. These skaters are so unbelievably talented that the skating, and Blake’s super-consistent devotion to filming all the exceptional tricks well, speaks for itself. I basically have to just not fuck things up! The video has been seen by a select unbiased few, and I have heard very positive feedback about how on-point everything is, so I think the whole rollerblading population will be more than satisfied to add this video to their DVD collection!

As I type these, I keep taking little breaks to run to the kitchen for some Thanksgiving leftovers. Which is leaving me to wonder, Brett, how do you take your Thanksgiving dinner; are you like me, where you kind of just throw everything on the plate in no real order and give it a nice gravy bath, or do you have a fear of your food touching, providing equal plate space for each individual aspect of the meal?
Food is the funniest topic you could have possibly mentioned because Jeph and Blake give me relentless amounts of crap for being just about the pickiest eater on the planet. This aside, I cannot resist Aunt Carol’s cooking. I pile on the turkey, gravy, olives, pickles, mashed potatoes with butter and chives (yes, Jeph, I do indeed eat chives), and a host of other things such as squash, baked rolls with gravy, and some salads that are amazing. When Aunt Carol goes to work with that cooking of hers, by the end I am pretty much incapacitated. How much I put on the plate ain’t important ’cause if I am runnin’ low I just ask for another plate and refill! Thank you, Thanksgiving dinner!

Similar to the impact of Dean Coward’s “Drunk Edits”, weekly-message-board goons and blade junkies would make a bowl of hot popcorn and crowd around the computer to watch the drama unfold on the newest installment of “A Day with Brett and Jeph.” When will the second season be released on DVD/Blu-Ray? No, but in all seriousness, what was your favorite part about making this edit series, and can we expect more tomfoolery anytime soon?
The shittiest part is capturing… I thank my lucky stars that Blake usually does me the favor of capturing for me (anyone want to donate an awesome HD camera to me so that I don’t have this hassle anymore?). The best part is because it is such a good representation of how we are as a crew. Jeph is my main homie, and I am lucky as hell to have him as a best friend. Thus, when two best friends put out something that is both entertaining and well-skated, it gives everyone something to watch. Basically, we love having those days that we are not filming something serious but still want something to accomplish, and in this you get A day with Brett and Jeph! As for a new episode, we filmed season 2 ep. 8 “On a Boat,” guest starring Shane McClay and Michael Garlinghouse. The episode has been sitting around waiting to be done, due to the hectic editing schedule of the video so that it could be at shops and ready for holiday sales, and then I had to start focusing on the last semester of college, and a host of online edits (I have a new USD edit in the works as well that gives a full video review of the carbon as well as a full skating section to go with it).

When we last spoke, you told me you were graduating from school in December. First off, Congratulations! I’m in my third year of school and it’s killing me! Next, what are your plans as far as “starting your life,” and where does rollerblading fit into them?
Liiiiiiiife, life has gotten much more manageable in the last few years! Not because the workload has gotten less. In fact, it’s the total opposite. I have more on my plate than ever, but at the same time I am learning to take it as a day to day process. I want to grow up and become a functioning member in society as a freelance videographer/video editor, as well as remain an important part of the skating world. I know this will happen rather than “want” it to happen because skating and the dream of advancing my skating career, no matter how played out it, may seem is still just that… MY DREAM, and I am going to keep doing it as hard as I can until I am not able to do so anymore. I will tell you this though, I am still young and full of energy, so don’t expect to see a drop off in material any time soon. I am always going to be here providing material for the kids of the skating community to either read, watch, or laugh at! I just want to skate and promote the people that have helped me along the way!!

Was it hard for you to focus both on school and furthering your career in rollerblading?
I had a very difficult time at first choosing between school and skating. At the time I chose to skate and have fun with my friends. But as I have gotten older, I have learned to incorporate all of these positive things into one way of living, and as I near REAL adulthood I cannot say I could be happier. It has all worked out how it is supposed! I am focusing ever so slightly more on school until I graduate, but in the grand scheme of things, especially when I finally finish, skating will always be number one… forever.

According to Facebook, Brett Dasovic is listed as “In a Relationship” and don’t pretend I didn’t see those pics of you and a cute little lady smoochin’ it up — soo hawwwt! (haha) Anyway, what does your girlfriend think about dating a celebrity like yourself? Does she think blading is pretty cool?
These questions really do rule! As for the young lady in that photo, that was a girl I met when we were on the TML2 midwest tour. The girl I am currently seeing is a girl whom I met at work. Her name is Hli, she is cute, intelligent, and thinks blading is dope. Can’t ask for much more than that. 11:)

Well, I just heard the microwave beep ,so that means it’s time for Thanksgiving Dinner: Round 6 for me. I’m about to get all Rosie O’ Donnell on some mashed potatoes and gravy. Thanks so much for answering these questions, giving our readers a little insight into your daily life, and good luck with everything you hope to accomplish this year. If you have anyone you’d like to thank or anyone you would like to call a foul word, here’s your chance. Happy Holidays kids!
If I take a stab at this I know it will be an epic fail due to the amount of people who are awesome people I have gotten the chance to meet through skating. So stick to the basics I guess. Mom and Dad, Brother, main blade crew: Jeph, Blake, Michael, Shane, Chris, Dahmen, Kevin, and Bob. Thanks for always being badass and reminding me why I never wanted to live elsewhere! Sponsors: USD, Kizer, Eulogy and Con.Artist. Philly, Florida, New Jersey, Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago. Hli for being amazing, Troy, DKL and others I don’t get to see enough. Bolino for being the man and coming through with an incredible part. Lasagna, Mt. Dew, and last, but not least, John Haynes for always taking incredible photos when we go blade. Anyone who has impacted my life or my blading, thank you for everything! Go buy “TML2: The Breakdown” at your favorite blader shop!

Questions © 2009 Ben Karris
Photos © 2009 John Haynes