Justin was our hometown Guy Mariano. He was so good that it pissed you off. I remember trying to learn tricks and it was so damn hard for me. Then Justin would roll by and say, "Come on, pussy, it's easy," and he’d do the trick I was trying right in front of me. The sad part was—that was probably the first time he had ever done that trick. It was almost like skating was a joke for him. It was just too easy. He was seriously good at everything he did. He was just blessed with talent. Justin also had such a strong presence wherever he went. Everyone wanted to be just like him. I swear, the whole town copied what he was doing. Justin was seriously great. He had such a strong influence on my life. He will always be the best in my book! - Mike Taylor

Seeing Justin Case skate was amazing. He had talent and style in abundance. I first met Justin sometime in late 1995; he was about eleven years old; I had the privilege of seeing his skating develop for about the next six years. Like Lennie Kirk, Justin was seriously ambidextrous. I remember him learning backside tailslides; within months he was doing them equally well switch. Questions of stance—or whether to hit a gap fakie or nollie—didn’t register with him. If Justin felt like doing a trick, he just did it—irrespective of difficulty or current trends in skateboarding. He was also the kind of skater who would pass up some blown-out spot to skate something new. Or try something ridiculously difficult and unorthodox at a familiar spot. Like the day he set up three picnic tables in a row at Calabash Elementary and nose grinded through all of them (see his Logic 6 part). Right when Justin started blowing up with City Stars, I lost contact with him. Shortly after his breakout part in Street Cinema (2001), he began partying more and skating less. Unfortunately, partying ended up consuming Justin, leading to him serving some time in prison for possession of a controlled substance. Recently released, Justin has been focusing on getting things back on track; he has also been skating a lot. To those of us who grew up with him—Mike Taylor, Shaun Foy, Eddie Villa and myself—seeing Justin Case back on a skateboard is an awesome sight. Along with Van Wastell, Justin set the bar incredibly high for all of us.

Interview and photo by Ryan Leach

Ryan: I first met you in Newbury Park. Were you born and raised in the Newbury Park area?

Justin: Yeah. I was born in Thousand Oaks (Newbury Park is a community located in Thousand Oaks).

Ryan: When we met, you were still debating on whether you wanted to skateboard or BMX. When did you finally decide to focus on skating?

Justin: I started skateboarding when I was five years old. But I didn’t get serious with it until I was in sixth grade. That was just a little bit before I met you. So that had to have been in ’94 or ’95. A long time ago!

Ryan: I think you were riding a Birdhouse Andrew Reynolds board then.

Justin: Yeah. But my first real skateboard was a Jason Dill model.

Ryan: 101?

Justin: Yeah, it was a 101.

Ryan: Damn. What a board to have! When we met you were already really good. I was just starting out at the time. Who else were you skating with? I imagine you met Van (Wastell) before me.

Justin: Yeah. I knew Van at that time. But we went to different elementary schools. We eventually went to the same middle school together—Sequoia. I definitely knew who he was, though, before then. We skated together a lot. I skated with a lot of older people who aren’t around anymore. I didn’t start skating with Mikey (Taylor) until three or four years later. Jim Bates was around.

Ryan: Can’t forget Stuart Faught. He ripped.

Justin: Yeah. I skated with Steve Ireland too.

Ryan: Before we go any further, let’s talk about 16 Skateboards and Steve Ireland. Now 16 was your first sponsor, correct?

Justin: Yeah, my first board sponsor. Although I did receive a package from Foundation before them.

Ryan: As annoying as Steve Ireland could be, he really got the ball rolling for you, didn’t he?

Justin: Yeah. He filmed me a lot in the early days.

Ryan: Did he send your promo videos out for you? He certainly filmed and edited them.

Justin: Yeah. Well, we kind of both sent them out to a couple of places. We didn’t really think much of it at the time. We sent one to Tum Yeto. They hooked me up with a few Foundation boards and some Pig wheels. And then I heard from 16 Skateboards just two days after I received that package from Foundation. And I figured 16 would be a good place to start because they were giving younger kids some recognition. It didn’t have a big-time pro team like Foundation.

Ryan: You got on 16 Skateboards really early. I remember Jimmy Astleford was their big name at the time.

Justin: Yeah. He was on the team. There was a kid named Devin (Brankovich) on there too. That’s about all I can remember from that time.

Ryan: What year did you get on 16?

Justin: That had to have been in late ’97 or early ’98.

Ryan: That’s right about when Mikey (Taylor) came onto the Newbury Park scene from Agoura.

Justin: Yeah, right about when I got on 16 Skateboards, I met Mikey.

Ryan: Those were good days. You really pushed us to get better.

Justin: I was just skating and having fun.

Ryan: Yeah. You were also humbling the hell out of us! I know you were on 16 before Spanky. Did you meet him through Mikey?

Justin: Yeah. I met Spanky through Mikey and then he (Spanky) got on 16. 16 was cool. We went on a tour through Southern California up to San Francisco. It was like a two-week tour. That was the first time I got to skate San Francisco—on a 16 Skateboards tour. And that was fun. San Francisco was great to skate.

Ryan: I remember some of that San Francisco footage ended up in the 16 Skateboards video (I Hate Children). That dude Ninja was filming you then, huh?

Justin: Steve Ireland and Ninja. That dude was called Ninja because he did some jump kick once and dislocated his knee. (laughs) He filmed that whole SF tour. I was on 16 for about a year or a year and a half. From there I went on Alien Workshop flow.

Ryan: Once you got on Workshop flow, your skating developed so quickly. Your skating definitely matured—you had power and pop then that you didn’t have in the 16 days. It seemed like you were having a good time then as well.

Justin: I really had a lot of fun when I was on Workshop and City Stars. Just traveling, skating, and having fun with friends. There was really no pressure.

Ryan: I remember it as a great time—being a 16-year-old kid and skating El Camino Real with you and Dyrdek. Anthony Van Engelen showed up to Sequoia and killed that rail—nollie K-grinding it if I remember correctly.

Justin: Yeah. Van Engelen rips.

Ryan: You were the first younger dude in our group to start getting hooked up. Stuart Faught might have been on flow for ATM then, but he was a bit older than us. You certainly started receiving stuff before Mikey, and I think Van was a little behind you with Consolidated.

Justin: That sounds right. I was on Alien flow for about two years. And then I got the offer to go AM for City Stars. It was great—being on the same team as my friends, trying to make stuff happen. It was good for a while.

Ryan: You filmed your Logic 6 (2000) part right around the time you were making the transition to City Stars.

Justin: Yeah. That was my favorite part that I filmed. It all just came together with that one. I had all of this footage lying around, so it wasn’t like I was even consciously filming for a part. I was just glad it got used.

Ryan: A trick that stands out from that video is the backside nose grind you did at Calabash Elementary. You stuck three picnic tables in a row and nose grinded all of them. I think you were the first person to session three in a row—at least that I know of. Most people were content with skating just one table. Talk about that trick.

Justin: I had seen people do two in a row. I can’t remember who right now—Daewon Song for sure was doing two or three, but down stairs. One of his crazy noseblunt tricks. But I figured I could do it on flat. So I just did it. Steve Ireland filmed most of that Logic part. Right in the middle of it, I met Heath Brinkley. He filmed some.

Ryan: Did Mikey get you on City Stars?

Justin: I’m not really sure. We got on at about the same time anyway. We were skating together everyday, just having fun. So it made sense. We got to travel together.

Ryan: That AM team was so ridiculously good. Kareem had everyone from Newbury Park riding for him: you, Mikey and—later on—Van. Then he had the kids from the Valley area—Spanky and Paul Rodriguez. 

Justin: I remember Paul had been on already. That was such a great time. We got to tour Canada. Mikey and I were skating so much. I remember being on tour in Seattle and it was raining. We would just hang out in front of shops, under a canopy, and skate flat ground.

Ryan: Mike almost got kicked out of high school for going on that tour. The counselor at school told him if he missed anymore of his classes, he’d be out!

Justin: I remember that. We went to Slam City Jam that time—I want to say it was in 2002. 

Ryan: Talk about your favorite spots. I know Newbury Park High School had to have been one of them.

Justin: Yeah, although those benches were getting kind of rugged. My favorite all-time spot is definitely DWP in Downtown LA. Those benches are still great. People have been skating them for ten years and you can’t even tell.

Ryan: Street Cinema (2001) really jump-started Mikey and Paul Rodriguez’s respective careers. You were certainly right there with them, skating at the same level. Tell me about filming for that video.

Justin: I was filming with Heath Brinkley a lot by that point. Steve Ireland had pretty much fallen off of the face of the earth. Honestly, I don’t remember filming much for that video. I was just always skating and having fun. I know we filmed a lot in the Valley.

Ryan: My favorite trick from your part is the nosegrind-nollie shuv-5-0 grind you do on one of the Rio Mesa benches. Besides you, I’ve only seen Rick Howard do that trick—and that was in Yeah Right, released a full two years after Street Cinema. How did you approach that trick?

Justin: I might have seen someone do it before me. I can’t really remember. Anyway, I liked doing nosegrind shuv-its. And I would mess around with that trick—just land in manual sometimes after coming off of a ledge. One day I thought about doing it to 5-0 because I could do it into manual. So we were at Rio Mesa and I tried it a few times. It just happened.  

Ryan: Street Cinema was the last part that you filmed for, correct?  

Justin: That was the last proper part I had. I was still filming afterwards though. I still have some footage that hasn’t been used.

Ryan: You had some amazing sequences after the release of Street Cinema. You switch backside noseblunted a little table at Calabash Elementary in that Ghetto Child ad. I think the last thing anyone saw of you in print was that nollie backside flip you did over that double set in the Newbury Park industrials for a DVS ad. You also had a couple of tricks in Rodriguez’s Forecast video.

Justin: What did I do?

Ryan: You do a line in Santa Barbara—on some ledges. You also nollie flip and backside flip a ten stair. I wasn’t there, but I heard both of those tricks took you about two or three tries each.

Justin: I haven’t seen that footage but I do remember doing those tricks. Yeah, they didn’t take very long. I don’t have that video. I haven’t even seen it.

Ryan: You were hitting it really hard and then dropped out. What happened around 2002?

Justin: I still enjoyed skateboarding. I was just partying a lot. Basically, I got involved in things I shouldn’t have been involved in if I wanted to keep skating. Partying took over. I started getting into trouble. That’s how the story goes. I ended up getting convicted of a felony—possession of a controlled substance. The legal system felt 16 months was an adequate sentence. So I went and did it. I didn’t have much of a choice.

Ryan: You’ve just been released from prison. I think we were all stoked to see how receptive you were to skating once you got out.

Justin: Of course. I’ve always loved skating. Now it’s fun again. It’s like we’re back to where we were before we had any sponsors. Just skating to skate.

Ryan: I think that’s something kids will never realize, regardless of whether they started skating in the late ‘70s or yesterday. That when you’re sponsored, you’re no longer skating solely for your own enjoyment. It becomes a job, and there’s a lot of pressure to perform. Certainly no one gives anything away for free in our society. Did you feel any of that pressure when you were coming up?

Justin: Yeah, that’s the problem with being sponsored. But I didn’t feel that too much. I never skated shit that I didn’t enjoy. Sure, I always went to spots. But if I wasn’t feeling it, I wouldn’t skate it. I had to have fun. I always kept skating for fun.

Ryan: Is there a memory of Van you’d like to share?

Justin: Van was just a down-to-earth guy. I remember being able to laugh with him. I love Van. I miss him. His skating was always amazing. He would skate handrails that you thought weren’t even possible. Ones with crazy kinks in them. That rail he grinded—the one in back of Sequoia—that was a straight roller coaster ride. It was like a 6-flat-7 rail that was steep as hell. Then again, great skating runs in his family.

Ryan: So what’s on your agenda now? We’ve been skating a lot since your release. And it’s pretty clear skating is coming back to you.

Justin: Right now I’m trying to live my life. I’m focusing on completing parole and staying out of trouble. I’ve been skating a lot and having fun with that. But my main goal is to complete parole; I don’t want to go back to prison for some stupid shit. I’m just tired of going in and out of prison.

Ryan: I’ve met a lot of kids—just skating around places like Camarillo and the Valley—who ask me about you. I was in New Zealand recently, skating parks, and people thousands of miles away remember you from City Stars. I think your skating had a real impact on people. I feel like you left your mark. You’re pretty humble about all of it. But it’s amazing when we go skate Borchard Park and see kids trip out when you arrive.

Justin: I was just skating and having fun. I never realized it until after I stopped, or it became too late, that people really paid attention to what I was doing. I still see kids who know who I am and it trips me out. I’ve been out of it for a while. If I’m skating now, it’s just cruising and having fun.

Ryan: Is that the level you want to keep it at now?

Justin: It’s too early to say now. We’ll see what happens. If skating isn’t fun, I won’t do it. But I can’t see that happening. I’m enjoying it. Skating with Mikey, you, and everything. Mikey has always been amazing. He’s always been great.