It’s All Love — An Interview With Kevin Augustine

📝 Intro + Interview by Frozen in Carbonite
📷 Photo by Owen Basher

I have no data to support this, but the marble at Pulaski increases one’s pop by 30 to 40 percent. However, if you inspect it closely, you’ll see a map etched into the blocks — a street plan of Washington, D.C. A.K.A. The L’Enfant Plan.

After conducting some rudimentary internet research, I found that L’Enfant, an engineer during the Revolutionary War, volunteered for the job and faxed his resume (the 1700’s version, naturally) to George Washington.

Of course, he got the job.

L’Enfant’s design brought a Euro flair to the new capital, deliberately building in a series of plazas. So, when you skate Pulaski you’re in the city, skating on a map of the city — an Inception-type scenario like the Las Vegas Raiders helmet or some shit.

ANYWAY, along the same lines, Kevin Augustine’s brand of ledge wizardry brings a flair to that world-famous speckled granite. We caught up with him on a recent trip to Puerto Rico and shot the shit about — among other things — coming up on the east coast, Call of Duty, and the life-cycle of a Dunk.

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What’s your first ever memory of Pulaski? Even before skating?

I actually have a photo at Pulaski when my grandma took us down there. We were standing on the side — right where it says “Freedom Plaza.” I was probably ten, eleven. That’s my first [time] first ever, before I even skated or anything. My grandparents took me to the museums and stuff and we happened to take a photo where it says “Freedom Plaza.” This was when the fountain was on – definitely in the 90s – I want to say like ‘97,’98.

What was it like the first time you skated there?

Man, it was huge; that ledge was big as shit. We just used to go downtown and ride through – it wasn’t like, “Oh, let’s stop here and skate.” And all the big heads were down there, but I didn’t know all of them then. It was kind of intimidating at the same time. It was like “Fuck, what the hell are we going to do here?”

Along those lines, how do you do that all that flip-in, flip-out shit on that rounded-ass main ledge?

That’s from years of skating there. That’s what I know, I got used to it. It’s hard as shit — people come from out of town and they’re like, “How the fuck did you do that?” Cody McEntire hit me like last week: “Much respect man, that ledge is crazy – it’s oval.”

Were there any OGs that you looked up to when you first started coming down there?

For sure. It was always Darren [Harper], you know? Everybody knows Darren. All of them though: Pepe [Martinez], Keir [Johnson], Paul McElroy. I didn’t really know all of them, but Darren stuck out, you know? He was definitely down there when I was a kid riding through – the Pit Crew days.

What’s the wildest shit you’ve seen go down there?

There’s a lot – the cops chasing people, a high speed chase riding by. The homies getting arrested, park police pulling up undercover. The homie got locked up one night. I got away though; I left my phone and my board. All my shit was in his property, so I had to wait until the next day to get my shit.

I ask everyone from DC this, but what’s the bust factor up there [Pulaski] currently?

As far as right now, it’s sweet. I think they just hired some new guys. There’s one guy that comes – I think on Saturdays — but it’s like, “Yo, where you been?” That’s only for the past month or so, but I haven’t even seen him. I’ve been down there maybe the last few Saturdays, but he came for a month straight, every Saturday just kicking us out. As long as you don’t have beers scattered on the whole ledge, you’re chilling.

What are the unwritten rules there these days, and have they changed from when you were younger?

It’s always been “don’t wax the ledge” — for years. I mean, unless you’re down there. I gotta wax it up myself sometimes, but not everybody can wax it. So don’t think it’s sweet when you pull up. But yeah, that’s the big one. Everyone kinda knows about that.

How did the DGK thing come about?

Wade [Desarmo] came one summer. He was staying with my homie J that takes photos – J Burles. He was like “Yo, you don’t get boards?” I’m like “Nah.” He’s like “What?! Lemme see what’s up.” [He contacted] the homie Brad [Rosado, DGK videographer] — he’s from the DC, Virginia area. Wade was like “You know Brad?”

“Yeah I know Brad — that’s my man.”

“Man, we’re gonna link something up; put something together.”

A month later, there was a DGK box on my step.

For all the people out there, what is Stop Fakin’?

Don’t fake. Keep it real. Keep it 100.

How long have you and Smalls [videographer behind the Stop Fakin’ videos] been boys, and what’s your process filming with him?

I’ve known Smalls for maybe half my life. That’s my homie; we don’t even talk about skating sometimes. We’ll talk about sports betting and other shit. He has like a real government job, so he’s got to do his thing. But when we can link, we’re linking, you know? That’s like my brother. When it’s time to film, we make it happen.

Why do you think he can’t stay retired? [Ed. Note Smalls claimed in 2018 that Stop Fakin’ 3 would be his final video.]

He just can’t. I won’t let him. He loves skateboarding too much. As much as he says, “This is my last video,” I think he still has another one. His arm’s broken right now – he broke his wrist. But very soon, he will be back at it.

You mentioned sports betting before. Do you fuck with any of the D.C. sports teams?

Yeah, all the teams — those are my teams! I fuck with the Wizards, Commanders, whatever. You gotta root for the home teams. I don’t watch too much hockey; the Capitals are pretty good. [Alexander] Ovechkin all day.

Favorite D.C. spots besides Pulaski?

Pulaski [laughs].

Nah, Courthouse is pretty sick. There are these ledges across the street from Welfare banks. They’re pretty new — a couple of years old — I like those a lot.

You post footage of your son skating from time to time. How did he get into it?

I guess he just saw me doing it. I’ve been taking him to Pulaski since before he could probably walk – just chilling. He definitely got into it on his own – I’m definitely not forcing anything. I’m going to send him to a basketball camp in the summer for like a week. But yeah he skates when he wants; he doesn’t really like the cold. I’ll take him, but then he’ll be like, “Let’s go home daddy.” And I’m like, damn, I want to stay, you know? But once summer comes, then it’s all day.

We usually see you running Dunks. How long does a pair of Dunks usually last you?

I’m running through the Dunks. Skating every day? After seven days, they might have a hole in them. Less than a week.

Are there any pairs that you regret skating and wish you had kept on ice?

Nah, not really. They’re all the same to me at this point. I’m more hyped to skate them than to keep them on ice, honestly.

Did you get the [SB Jordan] 4s?

I’m skating them now. They’re fucking nice. I’ve skated 4s; they’re way different. They slimmed it down. They fit true to size, and the little [rubber] side piece – I thought it would fuck you up, but it doesn’t.

Whose footage do you check for these days?

I mean, to be honest I don’t really check check, but I’m on IG. I’ll see all the shit and be like “Oh, he’s gonna drop a part.” Maybe the last one I did that for was that Ishod one a couple weeks ago – the Spitfire one. Sick as shit. Definitely Ishod and Tyshawn. Tyshawn fucked ’em up. I was looking towards that shit at the end of the year.

What jobs, side hustles, or hobbies do you have besides skating?

I work at this stagehand company. I don’t take all the gigs, but it’s dumb good money. That and freelance – doing my own thing. I used to work construction, but I don’t anymore. It’s just hard on me, you know?

The stagehand gig gives me a flexible schedule. That way, I can skate and do other things instead of being sucked into a 9-to-5 schedule everyday. That ain’t it.

Smalls said to ask you about video games.

I play Call of Duty all the time. I play with my homie Ayoub, my man Ron, and the homie Brian that owns Crushed [Skateshop]. At one point during the winter, we played every night pretty much.

Warzone [“Battle Royale” Call of Duty variant] or multiplayer [traditional six-vs-six arena-style first-person shooter]?

Warzone. Hell yeah. I’ve seen you on that joint before. I was like “Yeah, he’s kinda sick.”

My son is beast as shit. He beasts out at solos. He gets dubs with 22 kills. I’m not with his mom; he lives with his mom during the week. But I bought him a Playstation and everything. He’ll FaceTime me: “Daddy get on the game.” He’ll hold me; he’ll get like 15 kills and I’ll get two. I had the PlayStation 5 way before it came out; I play Madden and NBA 2K too, but Warzone… I’m turning the shit on to play Warzone.

You got anything on deck for the near future?

I’m just trying to skate, stay healthy, stay pushing myself, and most important, have fun – that’s it.

Any shout outs or anything you want to plug?

Shout out my son first, and my girlfriend for putting up with all my shit. Everyone at Quartersnacks, Smalls, Jeremy, anybody that ever pointed a camera at me, anybody that films — with the iPhones or a real camera. Everybody in D.C., all the homies, Crushed Skateshop, Bob Reynolds. Just everybody that shows me love, you know? DGK, Owen Basher for taking these photos. I don’t got no hate for nobody; it’s all love. Especially ones that fuck with me, sending boxes: Spitfire, Venture. It’s all love.