​Skateboarding and Video Games: A Perfect Day with Dee Ostrander

Co-created with Supra.

Dee Ostrander must have been a yogi in a past life; he's incredibly laid back when he talks about his life. And on a skateboard, too, there's an effortlessness with which he pops his backside flips and floats down handrails. He gives the impression that he could do it all in his sleep. He probably could.

Originally from Nashville, Dee started skating when he was 12 and later formed the FU-Crue, a tight-knit group of locals who, with the aid of a lo-fi VX1000 camera, put out fun video parts on YouTube. Since then, he's moved to California, but the fun aspects of life have remained important to the Supra skater, who, when he's not shredding, prefers to hang out and play video games at home rather than get wasted at a random bar. He will beat your ass at vintage Super Mario Kart and he knows all the secrets to the first Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game.

When we met him recently in Barcelona, we discovered he also has some interesting things to say, so let's get on with it.

VICE: How was growing up in Nashville?
Dee Ostrander: It was pretty good. I love Nashville. There are a lot of spots to skate, but within 30 minutes of leaving the city you could be in the countryside or the woods. Everyone knows it for country music, but the skate culture is getting more popular. When I was growing up, everyone knew everyone who skated, but now every time I go back I see so many kids that haven't been skateboarding before. It's pretty cool!

You're part of the Nashville-based FU-Crue. Do you hope it'll inspire the next generation of skateboarders?
Maybe, I guess. Growing up I looked up at skaters for inspiration, wanted to skate like them. If I'm some kid's role model, that's pretty sick. FU-Crue might have inspired some kids back in Nashville, which is awesome. Sometimes they hit you up asking, "How do I get into the FU-Crue?" and you answer saying, "I don't know, you just gotta skate with the homies." It's not like you have to get in the crew, we're all friends.

What do you love about going back to Nashville?
Nashville is the best break from Los Angeles, which is too hectic – traffic, driving everywhere. So coming back home is nice. It's mellow, even though it's blowing up – there's a lot of people moving there right now. And there's so much shit you can do: there's two cliffs where we go fishing; you can get there on your board.

You've said you couldn't conceive of life without skateboarding. What does it mean for you to be able to do it as your job?
It's awesome. It's what every kid wants when they pick up a skateboard. You think, 'I wish I could do this forever.' You can't do it forever, but I'll try to do it for as long as I can.

Does the fear of an injury mess with your mind?
I just got surgery on my knee four months ago, so it makes you feel bummed – not so much on skating, but the fact that you want to skate more. There's always a fear… I don't know what I would do if I wasn't skateboarding. Maybe I would move back to Nashville and start a business like my brother does.

In a saturated scene where everybody can pick up a camera and share their skate videos online, what makes a skate film stand out?
A good skate video has to have a hard copy, a DVD. It can't just be on the internet. You'll buy and have it forever it. I love having skate videos. I know you can pretty much do this on the web, but my brother and I have two or three boxes full of DVDs. You pick it up, play it and watch it with your homies. We keep our videos fun, and we use a lot of music the homies make. They have a band called Thrasherholics and they do shows and wrestle during their shows and it's so funny.

What's a perfect day like in Dee Ostrander's life?
I just wake up, hang out with my girlfriend for a bit before she goes to work, go skating the whole day until it gets dark, hang out with my homies, go home to hang out with my girlfriend when she gets out and go to bed. And do it all over again the next day. Easy and simple. The best way.

What do you do when you aren't skating?
If I just wanna hang out, I just watch funny TV and play video games. Sometimes when people don't want to skateboard any more they go to the bar, but I don't like it. Maybe if I'm in another country I'd go to the bar just to hang out with the homies, because it's a special occasion. But back home I don't go. I just hang out at home, skate and play video games. I play Grand Theft Auto, and then also some classic stuff on my Nintendo 64: Super Mario, Mario Kart… I had a Nintendo 3D actually, and I lost it, so that sucks.

I assume you played Tony Hawk Pro-Skater.
I played it growing up. The first one was such a classic. We got all the tapes, hit all the targets and secrets. That was fun. Remember how in the character screen, they were waiting for you to pick them and they sort of move in a funny, wobbly way? This dude did an impersonation in real life and it was so much fun!

Thanks, Dee.