I first heard of Nolan Lee through someone sending me a link to his video Suit It Up on Youtube. I thought it was creative and the skating was definitely up to par. A few months after that, Nolan hit us up and sent us the Translations DVD in which he has first part and definitely holds it down. On top of being a really good skater, Nolan’s got a pretty interesting story which always makes for a good interview – check it out below.

48 Blocks: You're originally from Colorado Springs and grew up in Florida, talk a little about your childhood and how you got into skating.

Nolan: Well Colorado was never part of my life as far as skateboarding, I grew up playing soccer, played for about 7 years before I moved to Gainesville Florida where I met most of my friends that were into soccer and some were into skateboarding. This was like 8th grade. Over the summer people changed, and going into high school everyone must have been too cool to keep skating and all kinda gave it up. That's basically around the time I kept with it, and met those few dudes that were still down to keep it pushing. The soccer kick stayed with me for another three years until about 11th grade when my coach was over-dramatic about the skateboarding and didn't want me doing it anymore. I guess you can say that's when I dropped out of school and pursued skateboarding full time. It's what I felt was right at the time and with what I was going through at home - neither soccer or school were cutting it at that point.

48 Blocks: You're living in Manahattan now, how did you end up in New York?

Nolan: To sum it up in a short story form, my placement in NYC is Billy Rohan driving to Taco Bell drive through and basically saying “drive to NY with me tonight, I will pay for everything. I need someone to help me drive and keep me awake.” I was totally game, quit my job right then, went to my house where there were 8 of us in a 2 bedroom apartment. I told them I was out and going to NYC with Bill. They all laughed as I walked out the door and said have fun. Sixteen hours later I am in NYC - it’s cold and I am sitting in Billy's SUV watching him nollie hardflip into the infamous courthouse drop. Let me say to witness that was history - today tricks are still going down there. From there I met Greg Chapman at Chapman Skateboards, Adrian Lopez at ABC Skateshop and Rockstar Bearings, I met Harold Hunter, Cinik, and all the coolest homies from all around, OG's such as Geo Moya, Rodney Torres, Charles Lamb, Scotty Schwartz, Akira, Quim Cardona, dude I could keep going but those were the dudes I looked up to here. I was in KIDS territory!!!

48 Blocks: What's a typical day for you, who are you usually rolling with?

Nolan: A typical day for me is waking and baking, having coffee, chilling with my lady, my dogs, and lurking online. Facebook is like crack! But it is good for keeping in touch. Next I try to find homies to go skate with, depending on the weather and what not. I recently purchased a Mark 1 lens for my VX and I bought a Sony FX1 HD camera so I am trying to get on the film tip more. At around eight when the sun's going down I know it's time to start getting the parties together and try to make some money. Meaning drag sexy cool people to party's - you think it’s easy but trust me it can be nerve racking. 

48 Blocks: Spotwise, where have you been skating lately. Are there any new underground spots poppin' off in NYC?

Nolan: I live downtown in L.E.S. so I try to keep it down here as much as possible and when its time to mission out I like to hit Harlem and the Bronx spots. Brooklyn is dope and so is Queens, but hell anywhere you go in NY you’re gonna find something fun to skate, no worries about that.

48 Blocks: You recently dropped a part in Translations. Talk about filming for that, where did you travel to and what memories stand out?

Nolan: Yeah Translations was dope thanks to all Patrik Wallner’s hard work and dedication! I was stoked to work on this video because he was giving me first part so I wanted it to stand out as best as I could make it and it was my first time traveling outside the of the US. I went to Barcelona and for the three days that I was there it rained non-stop. My homie Eric Searle came through too and he's balling, he was like fuck this and paid for me and Patrik to fly with him to Amsterdam to visit out friend Tarren and skate what we could find while smoking some of the best weed Euro's could buy. I was more than happy to have all that and my close friends with me.

The best and worst memory of the trip was when I had either something fucked up in my eye or I really had caught pink eye, but nobody knew so we rushed to the lil’ medical places they have set up and for 5 Euro's they gave me these eye drops and it was gone within three hours, meanwhile my girl and friends were in a panic cause after I told them I went skating and didn’t tell them I was ok. For six hours I was gone and they were freaking out wondering, when I got back to my phone I realized I left everyone in a panic frenzy and felt so fucking bad – oops! It’s a pretty funny story though. 

48 Blocks: I first saw you in your short film Suit It Up, talk a little about that. It was definitely an original clip. How did you come up with the idea and go about making it? Were people tripping off you skating
around in a suit?

Nolan: Suit It Up was an idea I had for a long time after seeing the Birdhouse video back in the day with Jeremy Klein and Heath Kirchart dressed up in suits skating. Shit was epic. My idea was more being around all these business dudes in Wall Street while I am skating around the city. I always think what if that was me in a suit in an office all day, I would be sitting there dreaming that I could be outside pursuing my skateboard dream so that's just what I did. Nolan Lee sits at his desk and has no time to daydream, he quits his office job to pursue his skateboarding career, but has no time to change, straight to the skate park to warm up before hitting Wallstreet, Brooklyn Banks, and skating whatever "suits" my needs. I even had time to catch up on the paper and have my coffee before leaping down Skate Heaven located in downtown Manhattan.  It was the craziest feeling when everyone was staring at me like what is this dude doing in a suit on a skateboard. They thought I was shooting a movie or something, I felt famous! Just imagine all the people that asked me what this was gonna be on, if I could have only told them look up Suit It Up on Youtube. Think about how many more hits I could have got. You guys alone helped me get over 2,000 hits or more, thanks again!

48 Blocks: Are you still getting boards from Zoo York? How did you get hooked up with them and who else is flowing you gear these days?

Nolan: Yes thanks to Seamus Deegan I am still getting boards from Zoo. I forget really how it came into play, but I was booted off of Shut Skateboards - no telling why, it was shady how they let me go though. After that I told Seamus what happened and he thought I deserved some boards and I started getting hooked up after that, it was a dream come true though. I guess coming from Florida, when you think of NY you think Zoo York. It was a company I always wanted to ride for and after meeting Harold and him always saying “when I start my company through Zoo I am putting you on kid” I was always hoping it would happen but it wasn't until after Harold had passed that I got to ride for the same company as him, RIP broski, legends never die! Anyhow, Iwant to say thanks to Seamus and Zoo York and also want to thank William at Osiris Shoes, and Jason over at FKD bearings!

48 Blocks: You are involved with event co-ordination. I hit up your blog and saw some photos of you crushing it on the party tip - even up in the mix Dee & Ricky. Talk a little bit about how you got involved with that and what's going on with the nightlife scene in New York.

Nolan: Basically it all started with my best friend Eric Searle - he has been crushing the nightlife scene in NYC for about five years or more. He was hired to be strategic with a certain club and look, after that he put me onto work at his old spot that he had ties with, but more did me a favor to make money in the game since he knew skateboarding wasn't gonna feed me. He also gave me a place to live for a year and a half. Thanks homie! After I learned the ropes I branched out and tried to follow in the right footsteps. Sometimes it doesn't work the way you want it and sometimes it does. Hard work can pay off at any job, depending how hard you work at it. The money is great and you meet a lot of cool, interesting, and rich people. The girls are a plus, nothing but the hottest. The clubs popping off now are some of the best - Greenhouse, Marquee, The Ave, 1Oak, Tenjune, and the Griffin. Dress to impress. Yeah, I met Dee & Ricky and their homie Swizzy at a party in the Hamptons before they signed their deal with Marc Jacobs - thats actually where they got that contact to blow there shit up. Holla!

48 Blocks: Other than skating and events, what else takes up your time these days? Any other outside interests?

Nolan: As far as my time, a lot of it goes to networking on the computer, filming / editing for different projects, weddings, photography, really anything fun or productive enough to put money in the bank and pay my bills on time. In the winter I just snowboard mostly and smoke a lot.

48 Blocks: Obviously you're hustling in a couple different lanes right now, what direction do you see yourself going? Do you think you'll pursue skateboarding on professional level, or are you not even tripping off that?

Nolan: Yeah, unfortunately I have to hustle way to many things, including things that I would rather not but yeah life is rough and you must pay the bills. So, I do what I gotta do! But as for putting it down as professional, I would love to get paid to do what I love - who wouldn't?! Especially when all your homies around you are turning pro and so many people ask me all the time “when are you turning pro?” I just laugh and reply “hopefully one day soon.” If it happens it will happen for a reason and it will be worth every minute that I put into it. Cause it's all for the love or i wouldn't be doing it. At the end of the day I didn't do it to be a pro! I did it because it made me happy, soccer was an outlet and a team sport, skateboarding is an expression of yourself – at least until your put on a team.

48 Blocks: Have you been out to California yet? If so what were your impressions of the Golden State?

Nolan: I have only been to California once about 4 years ago. It sucked too because I got hurt two days before we went and I had to see all the famous spots I wanted to skate so bad and know that I couldn't. Note - before you take a trip to skate, give yourself a break from skating before you go. I didn't and ruined my whole trip skatingwise. California seemed rad though. Good smoke and fun people!

48 Blocks: For any out-of-towners hitting up NYC this summer, can you recommend 5 places that they should go for skating, chilling, food, etc?

Nolan: Skating - Indoor 10, Battery Park, Brooklyn Banks, Courthouse, and Central Park. Food -  Deli's, Vanessa's Dumplings, Pops, Dunkin Donuts, Moes. Chilling - Thompkins, Epsteins, Max Fish, Union Square, Washington Square. Clubs – Greenhouse on Monday, The Ave on Tuesday, Marquee on Wednesday and Thursday, Greenhouse on Friday, Marquee on Saturday, and The Griffin on Sunday.

48 Blocks: What music are you bumpin' this summer?

Nolan:  Same music I bump every summer - hip hop -underground and mainstream:  Jelani ,De La Soul, Karamba, Young Jeezy, Homies, and Dipset crew.

48 Blocks: What skaters influence you nowadays and who did you look up to when you were younger?

Nolan: When I was younger I looked up to the OG Gainesville dudes, Zoo York crew, all the homies in 411's, Stevie Williams, Josh Kalis, and the Shorty's crew. Now it’s about the same shit, everyone honestly inspires me in some sort of way. Just do you, live your life, have fun with it and be happy! That's inspiring enough for me!

48 Blocks: Now that Translations has wrapped up, what's next on your plate?

Nolan: Let's just say I am always working on something. Basically, if you want to start something holler at me and we’ll see what's good. I am pretty open minded and am easy to work with. I am all about being productive, that's how you accomplish your goals.

48 Blocks: Any last words or shout outs?

Nolan: First, thanks to 48blocks.com!!!!! I want to thank everyone out there who supports what I do, helps me through my daily living, and to my mother most importantly - I love you. I want to shout out "POW!" to all my homies out there grinding!  You know who you are!