Ten Years of Static III: Nate Broussard

"I first met Nate nearly twenty years ago, when he was just a teenager getting flowed by Adio and Planet Earth. Seeing him skate in person, he had a flow to his style like his body was a wave of water swaying with the motion of his board. While in the chaos of finishing the Adio video, I remember us realizing that Nate hadn't filmed much of anything for his part in the little am section. So, after getting a heavy push from Jeff Taylor, the Adio team manager, Nate ended up filming most of his Adio part in the last seven to ten days before the premiere. Fast forward about four years, I was living in Philadelphia and had just started to work on 'Static III.' My memory is that Roger Bagley, the Adio filmer at that time, reached out to me and was pushing for Nate to have a part in the video. But, my take away from the Adio project was that Nate was incredible to watch on a skateboard, but wasn't very motivated. So, I was hesitant. Roger and Nate were in Westchester, working on Bam's MTV show, and Roger got Nate a ride to come up to Philly to skate with me and Pat Stiener for one day. I hadn't seen Nate skate in a while at that point, and his style was even better than before, probably because he had grown up and was basically an adult now. He filmed two or three awesome clips that day, and it was obvious to both Pat and myself that Nate was a perfect fit for the video. Seeing him skate real street spots made a huge difference. I had only really seen him skate California parking lots and double sets up to that point. Nate came along on two trips after that, and only got to really film for probably about two months total before destroying his knee on an Adio filming trip. But, if you watch his 'Static III' part, it's hard to believe that it was all captured in that tiny window. I remember that he was going through some relationship struggles while we were filming and it sort of shows in his part. The overall vibe has a sort of solemn beauty to it that's hard to describe, but it seems to give his part a texture that's more substantial than just a normal skate video part.

Nate's style and presence has become part of the identity of how I visualize the whole Static series. In a legacy of styles like Jake Rupp, Bobby Puleo, Sean Mullendore, Jahmal Williams, Steve Brandi, Pat Stiener, Ricky Oyola, etc, Nate was such a perfect compliment to the series, and I think it's pretty perfect to end the "10 Years of Static III" series with this interview, catching up with someone who captured so many people's imagination when this part came out a decade ago." - Josh Stewart

How did you initially link up with Josh Stewart?

I was around 16 years old. It was on my first trip to Carlsbad to film for Planet Earth. I believe we first met at Atlas distribution. Jeff Taylor introduced us and shortly after I remember going out to look for places to skate. At the time I was really into skating big gaps and such. Josh took me to this gap known as the Adio gap the first day. I tried to ollie it, landed, and slid out. It felt quite massive, but I remember thinking to myself, "I could probably nollie B/S 180 this" and relayed the notion to Josh and he suggested that we should definitely go back with Jeff so we could get a photo of it.

I'm not sure how we managed to get back in contact with each other before we started filming for Static III. I had recently moved to Los Angeles, and I was probably trying to reach out to as many people that I knew in order to get things going again after living in Texas for a while after filming for the Adio video and going through a few injuries. Once we started talking, he mentioned that he posted something asking who would they like to see in Static III and my name came up enough, encouraging him to hit me up. Maybe it was synchronistic how it happened. I'm not to sure, but I was super excited and couldn't wait to get it started.

What was filming like? How long did you film for? Any favorite memories from filming, or a particular story or trip that really stands out? What, and why?

Filming with Josh was always fun and easy. I'm not exactly sure how long we filmed for Static III. If I had to guess, I'd say around two months of filming in Israel, France, and London, and a couple of short trips to Philadelphia and Miami. My fondest memories were in Israel. It was our first morning in and I woke up before everyone else, ready for breakfast, so I charged the kitchen for some cereal. The apartment we were staying at seemed to have crisp acoustics, so, not knowing how good they were, I started eating my cereal. It must have been two or three bites into my breakfast and I hear Josh say, ''what the heck are you eating down there, a box of rocks?" I think about that ever so often and get the best laugh.

Were you satisfied with your part, as a whole? Who had your favorite part?

I was not satisfied with my part. Filming was cut short due a complete tear of my ACL and two partially torn meniscus. It took me about a year to fully recover. I didn't want last part either. I didn't have any suggestions as to who should have last part, as far as I cared it could have been anyone else -- just not me. I guess I felt that way mainly because I had the last part in the Bueno video, Wizards of Radical [2006], and just didn't want to feel that pressure. Also, I wasn't able to film as much as I would have liked. I suggested having first part. I loved the video in its entirety. I think the credits are my favorite section. I didn't want Josh to use T-Rex for my second song, but I felt like it flowed really well into the credits.

Where was your career at the time? How did being a part of the Static series impact your career? What kind of feedback did you get?

At the time I was riding for Bueno Skateboards. Towards the end of my filming trips with Josh, the Bueno video, Wizards of Radical, was released. I felt like it gave me a ton of positive momentum, acting as sort of a segue into my Static part. It got me really stoked to have something that I thought expressed what kind of skating I liked to do and see at the time. I planned on filming with Josh as soon as we were able to get back together upon his return to the States. I came back with all the footage we had filmed together from our time together and showed it to whomever at Adio and they wanted me to go on a trip Denver a few months later, where I ended up tearing my ACL. It just wasn't the same filming in the cold temperatures as well as a different set of people. I guess I'm extremely sensitive in regards to everything in life so If I feel pressure and I'm not feeling the vibes and try to break through my comfort mold I wind up getting hurt.  

A decade on, where are you now, and how do you feel about your inclusion in the Static legacy?

I'm currently working as a full-time delivery driver for UPS. I'm not able to skate as much, but I'm still skating and doing a little woodworking. I feel honored and blessed to have been featured in both Wayne Patrick's part in Static II, and with a full part in Static III. I feel like I was granted a wish, and Josh was the genie that granted it. I receive all kind of amazing feedback due to Josh's decision to include me in the line up part in Static III. Thank you, Josh.

Interview conducted by Andrew Murrell