Justin Grzechowiak’s Part in “8-TRACK” By Busted.Mic

📷 Photo by Josh Bowser

8-TRACK is latest video by Stephen Buggica’s Tampa-based Busted.Mic outfit, which has been dispatching from Florida for probably a ~decade now.

Today, we are happy to share Justin Grzechowiak’s part with you from their new one.

Now, how does a skater most closely associated with the second biggest city in New York find himself with a starring role in a video based out of the third biggest city in Florida? Well, since we first became fans of Justin’s Buffalo-based crust excavations via Theories of Atlantis, we figured Floridian x Static alumn Pat Stiener would be the one to dig up the answers. Enjoy the part and brief Q & A via Pat below.

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First things first, how do you pronounce your name? Or can we just call you Jut? What do you prefer?

Juh-hov-eeak. Classic Polish. And Jut works too. My dad called me that growing up – my friends caught on to it and it stuck.

Who is your favorite fellow Justin skater: Justin Henry, Justin Eldrige or Justin Figueroa? Mine are Justin Brock and Justin Strubing, so you can’t use those, sorry. Also, shout out Justin Case one of the best skate names ever.

Dude! I used to watch Justin Brock’s part in Southern Comfort all the time. Him for sure.

How did the connection with Stephen Buggica and the Busted.Mic crew first happen?

We originally met on a Scumco trip to Florida in 2022. He ended up filming a couple clips that made it into Striking Distance 2. After that trip I looked at Tampa in a new light. Buggica and the guys were so welcoming and down to skate, it quickly became my go-to winter getaway from Buffalo.

Growing up in Buffalo, how did the weather and seasons shape the way you approached skating?

The long winters definitely make you prioritize the nice weather when it finally comes around. It’s a nice chance to heal up and focus on things outside of skating for me too. By the time it’s March I’m itching to skate outside again. All winter I’m driving around thinking about skating and looking for spots- So then when the time comes I usually have some things in mind to try. It’s kind of a wild cycle when I think about it but it works for me.

📷 Photo by Casey Haley

It looks like this part is basically filmed in Buffalo, Tampa and Puerto Rico. What was the best out of all three of those to film at?

Puerto Rico, for sure. Starting or ending the day in the ocean is so essential on a long trip.

When you’re filming a part are you thinking of certain tricks you want to get or do you just let the spots dictate everything?

It’s always a bit of both for me, depending on what part of the process I’m at. It’s a blend of how the spot influences the trick, combined with what tricks are feeling good that day. Other times — like later in the filming process, I have to avoid certain tricks that we’ve already filmed. Sometimes, I’m trying to get a specific trick and just waiting to find the right spot for it.

What’s Buggica like behind the camera while filming? Any interesting stories?

He’s super motivated and ready to pull the camera out, which really helped me make the most of my time filming with him. He’s also a perfectionist, and was tripping about the way he filmed a couple things. I had to remind him that those little things he sees as imperfections are what gives the clips their own flavor.

Coming from Buffalo and ending up in a Florida-heavy video, do you feel like your part in 8-TRACK represents where you’re from, where you’re at now, or somewhere in between?

I think he did a great job of representing Buffalo in my part without it being only about that. I’m stoked with how he ended up fitting me into the video.

Quick hits at the end: Westside Gunn or Doechii?

Westside.

Favorite Buffalo food spot post session?

Ballyhoo or Gabriel’s Gate

Favorite Tampa food spot post session?

Los Chapos Tacos

Best gas station snack on filming trips?

Nerds clusters

Worst slam while filming for 8-TRACK?

I bodied my left wrist so bad one of the first days these guys came out to Buffalo. The worst part was we were just warming up at a skatepark. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it and go to urgent care, but I’m pretty sure I broke something in there. The first clip of the second song was right after that happened. When I was trying that, I was so conscious of avoiding it if I fell; I had a huge sigh of relief when I landed that. After that trip, I had to skate in a wrist guard for almost five months. I just kept falling on it, it sucked so bad. It’s all good now though.

Was there a clip in the part that took way longer than it looks?

There’s two that come to mind.

The ollie up, gap to back lip at night: I tried that seven or eight different times over the course of four years with a few different filmers. It wasn’t even the most difficult trick, but security would always kick us out within a couple tries. I got it with Buggica his first day in Buffalo, no security in sight. It didn’t feel real to finally roll away.

The other is the first clip in the part: the Ollie over the wall at the house spot. About five years ago, I tried so many times and stuck a bunch, but couldn’t roll away before the exhaustion set in. The run-up is really short and rough, and the wall comes up so quick. I went back a few years later and got kicked out instantly; the people who moved in were not as welcoming as the previous tenants. The spot is right in my neighborhood. I couldn’t stop thinking about trying it again, but there was constantly a car in the landing. One morning, we were driving on our way to get breakfast and the car usually blocking the landing was gone. I couldn’t help but pull over and at least look at it. I started trying and we hear someone come out of the house – to our surprise, it was a different tenant and he didn’t mind at all. He told us he would’ve moved the car for us had we asked and then offered us a Blue Light at 10 A.M. What a guy. Within 30 minutes, I did it twice and we were on our way. After all that time, I couldn’t believe it was finally over.

Favorite memory from filming the part that people won’t see in the final cut?

Busch Gardens with the guys for sure!