Steve's interview!!!!!!

I'm sorry, but this is the only picture I have of Steve at the moment. You don't even know what his face looks like to be able to pick him out of a line up. Just look for the double wrist guards, that'll be a dead give away. As way of introduction, I must first say that Steve is 100% Bolts of Thunder. He skateboards purely for the love of skating. He couldn't care less about the latest trends, styles, tricks, NBDs, ABDs, hammers, and slip knots. Doesn't care. He just loves to be out with his homies and on his board, and that's what Bolts of Thunder is all about. Filming for our next video is kind of just coincidental; he's not stressing over getting the raddest footage to impress all the locals, but he's just out skating and if the camera gets him landing a trick, then great. If not, then it was still a fun day. So skating with Steve is zero stress which makes it fun and relaxed, and if the camera does come out, it's more productive as a result. Steve's also one of the nicest people you could meet. He's always smiling, laughing, encouraging people, and just having a good time. Get the point? Another reason he is Bolts of Thunder through and through is that he has willingly volunteered to carry the double wrist guard torch for the older generation. He's even taken it one step further with two ankle braces. And he's not even injured, this is just to prevent injury. So that probably puts him in the status of the smartest Thunder Bolt on the market because he's even practicing preventative measures rather than doctoring a perpetual injury. And even though, like I said, he's not on his board for the camera, he is getting footage, and we fully anticipate a full Steve Roushar part in Bolts of Thunder 4. Thanks for the good times, Steve, and here's his interview!

(MrBoltsofThunder) Steve, this is your very first appearance on the Bolts of Thunder blog. How does it feel?

(Steve) It feels very interneato!

Would you like to introduce yourself to our readers? Who is Steve and what is Roushar?

I am from the land of 10,000 lakes, home of Bob Dylan and the artist formerly known as Prince (aka Minnesota), 24 years old, married, and we're about to have a baby girl in July! I am just about to graduate from BYU and this fall I am starting chiropractic school.  I am a Gemini and was born in the Chinese year of the dragon, so that explains a lot about who I am as a person.... I like to have fun, according to the personality tests I've taken my personality color is yellow and my personality descriptor is expressive/amiable. Oh yeah, and Roushar means "rose grower" in Czech.

How did you get involved with Bolts of Thunder, and have you noticed a change in your sleeping habits since you began your affiliation?

I decided I needed to skate more often so I started to go to the Provo teen center skatepark a couple times a week and soon thereafter met Colman, Kenzo, Jon, and Zack (in that order). Jon asked for my number and has texted me to come skate ever since! I definitely have not been sleeping as well since I started skating with the Bolts of Thunder crew, but that might have something to do with my wife being pregnant too...

What was initiation like for you? Did Bolts of Thunder put a bucket on your head and beat you with baseball bats like they used to do to the old members? (Ask Dan about it, those were good times...)

It's been very gradual... I actually may still be in the initiation stage, but I think it was all started by getting Jon's back on a kickflip off the teen center pyramid. If I never landed that, who knows if I would have ever even began the initiation process. This interview may be the last of the initiation process, but who knows... I'll have to watch my back.

I'll be straight up with you, I love that you wear double wrist guards and double ankle braces. It keeps the spirit of Bolts of Thunder alive and well. Why do you sport such gear?

Basically I wear them because I don't want to injure my wrists, because they are going to be a big part of my livelihood as a chiropractor. I have fractured both of my wrists, so if I fall hard on them I am more likely to break them again. After you break a bone you are way more prone to re-injure the same bone. I usually only wear an ankle brace on my right ankle because I have fractured that ankle twice and it's super easy for me to tweak it again. I also found out that I have genetically lax ligaments (which are the support beams for your bones) so while most people metaphorically speaking have support beams of metal, mine are of fiberglass. All in all I wear them because I want to skate as much as possible without getting injured!

It's weird the more I get to know you the more I find out about your other hobbies outside of skateboarding. They're things that I would not expect because I don't know anyone else that break dances or anything like that. What are some of your other hobbies, and how did you get into them?

Well, I have always really loved music so I try to learn any instruments I can get my hands on, so I play the drums, guitar, bass guitar, piano, and I sing. I like to write songs and record them with my wife (she sings too). I have been in a couple bands that never went anywhere and I have sung in choirs most of my life. I enjoy acting. I did a lot of acting, improv and musical theater when I was in high school. I grew up with a bunch of Asians who liked to break dance, so I got into break dancing at a very young age and have done it ever since. I also like a lot of other types of dance like tap, swing, and ballroom, but I'm not as good at those types. I can make pretty much anything out of balloons too! The crappy thing about having a lot of hobbies is you don't become an expert at any of them. Looking back I think, man, I should have just focused on one of those hobbies then I could be an expert, but alas I am resigned to just be okay at all of those things. But no regrets, I had and still have a lot of fun doing all of my hobbies.

If anyone is interested, here is a link to a song my wife and I recently wrote and recorded live:    http://www.muziboo.com/mp3/the-round-0/

Also, you have a completely unique bag of tricks. You can do all the standard stuff we all love so much, but you can also do all kinds of crazy old school stuff and make it look really good. How did you learn all that, and what got you into it?

I completely idolized Rodney Mullen when I started skateboarding, so some of the first moves I learned were casper flips and premo flips. I think in a way old school tricks are kind of like break dancing with a skateboard, so I have always really admired skaters that incorporate that stuff into their skating.

Now a Bolts of Thunder scenario. Bolts of Thunder is an indigenous tribe on an alien planet, and we've located our village on top of the largest boltthuniam mine this side of the Milky Way. Boltthuniam is a rare metal only found on our planet that other planets really want. Now you, Steve Roushar, are a legless Navy Seal that has been brought by Mother Earth to our planet to live in a blue avatar suit that looks like the rest of the indigenous Bolts of Thunder crew and you are to find out our ways, learn our weaknesses, and exploit us in order to get to the boltthuniam. Here are your questions regarding this scenario:

Did you like the movie Avatar?

I have yet to see it, but I heard it was a lot like Pocahontas...only with blue people.

Have you seen Dances with Wolves?

Yeah, but I was pretty young. I think I remember seeing a ton of skinned buffalo and being pretty traumatized by that. I'll never eat buffalo meat for that reason.

Do you think that James Cameron ripped off Dances with Wolves in making his story? 

Most likely, and Pocahontas too!

And "The Last Samarai", that was a rip off too. They're all rip offs. Dances with Wolves is probably a rip off of a movie that I'm not aware of. That's not a question, just an observation.

How do you see this scenario going down? What are the Bolts of Thunder ways you are going to pick up while living in your blue avatar suit?

The native Bolts of Thunder language, especially the differences between front side and back side. The etiquette of the order things must be done and not stealing other alien's special moves. The craft of riding large transportation. The history of Bolts of Thunder and why Bolthuniam is so valuable???  

What are the special alien powers of each member of Bolts of Thunder?

Jon: The power to convince anyone to do his bidding.
Ben: Super human strength, but only when he's not wearing a shirt.
AJ: The power to stun/freeze people with the blink of his eyes.
Zak: The power to shoot yellow slimy discharge from any opening of his body for miles at light speed. (Yes, his bellybutton counts as an opening)
Kenzo: The power to make anything he wants appear in his hands (usually subway sandwiches).
Chad: The power of deception, disguise, and confusion.
Colman: The power to blind his enemies by revealing the true color of his skin, along with super human speed.
Matt: The power to produce ice cream from every pour of his body...What he does with it is of no concern to us.

In the end do you see yourself selling us out or joining us in our perpetual struggle against the man? How does this scenario end (apocalyptic battle, Jon steeling all the boltthuniam and selling it for his own personal gain, Kenzo going awire and collecting human scalps, etc)?

Basically I start to become accustomed to the Bolts of Thunder ways, and when Earth sends a bunch of PMSy hipster girls to try to ruin all of our fun and steal all of the Bolthuniam, I join forces with you to thwart off the psycho hipster girls. Oh yeah, and Kenzo goes awire and collects the scalps of all the hipster girls with a shank made from a skateboard truck, which magically appeared in his hand.

This scenario was to test your loyalty to Bolts of Thunder. Now we are going to test your fitness for active Thunder Bolt duty. When I say a word or phrase, I want you to say the first thing that comes to mind:

Loaded question

Shotgun wedding and a stain on my shirt

Stupid scenario and questions trying to trick you

Who wants to be a millionaire?

Interrogation

Cruel and unusual

Bolts of Thunder Avatar scenario

Rip off!!!

Double wrist guard

My special alien power

Coleman

Excellent camping equipment

Kenzo

Barbiezo (I hope he can find her someday)

AJ

Mystery Initials...who knows if they are really his initials???

Zak

Catching some ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ's

casper flip

A friendly trick

casper stall

A friendly place to use the bathroom

handstand to primo stall to board helicopter flip

My ender for the video!!!

Ok, now some video talk. Steve, the question that's on everyone's mind right now, are you going to have a full part in Bolts of Thunder 4?

That would be cool, but I've got to get my butt in gear!

The answer to that question is yes, so if you said anything contrary to that, we've got some talking, skating, and filming to do. Again, this is not a question, just a commentary.

What are some of your favorite parts, tricks, or moments from past Bolts of Thunder videos?

I always laugh at the beginning of AJ's part when he looks so happy to be nutting himself on the rail over the rebar gap. I liked when Jon's hands used to be strong, but they no longer are. Any skating that went down in Europe is sweet to see! I get stoked pretty much anytime I get a glimpse into the personality of a Bolts of Thunder rider, or the effort put into landing a trick. All of the music, art, and animation is awesome too!

Do you consider yourself well-versed in Bolts of Thunder trivia?

No not really... Nothing before the fall of 2012. I've got to read some older Bolts of Thunder blogs.

What are you excited for in the new video coming out?

Everyone's part! I have already missed so many of the film sessions, so I haven't seen what everyone has gotten thus far.

What would you like to see more of in this video?

Subliminal messages, strange things happening behind some sick skating, so every time you watch it you learn/see something new. 
The excellent flatground/parking lot skills of the crew... It would be sweet if someone got some flip in, flip out stuff too!
I hope Matt does a part too because I always enjoy his parts.

These are all the questions I have, so would you like to add anything else? And thank you for your time!

Thanks Bolts of Thunder for providing some excellent times and friends to my life!