photo: charles deschamps

Many filmers have made their mark on New York City skateboarding throughout the years, but very few were as prolific in the 2010s as Lurknyc, AKA Nick VonWerssowetz.

Below you’ll find an honest chat about industry politics, getting older, and Nick’s undying love for lurking the streets.

You recently relocated to Portland, Oregon, right? How is it skating there compared to NYC?
Yeah, I moved out here in December. I’m not going to lie, Portland is so much crustier than New York, I couldn’t believe it. Algae grows on the streets here [laughs].

Since I moved out here, my goal has been to avoid being a hater. If somebody wants to film and is cool, I want to be down to go skate.

The new video you just put out is dedicated to your kids. How did having kids change your perspective on skating or what you create?
What’s funny is, my oldest kid thinks my job is filming skating, but I think I made $11 on YouTube in the past month. [laughs] Honestly my wife has been holding it down and I’ve just been living off my savings and skating. It’s fried, I’ve got two kids and I’m like a skate rat bum. I feel so bad, but shout out to my wife.

​Why wouldn’t you work for a brand and film? You’re near all these shoe brands being in Portland.
Get me the deal man [laughs]. It feels like nobody wants to pay anyone now. I’ve made almost no money filming skateboarding. That’s the truth. I think I made like $250 from Converse one time for some clips. Sometimes I look back and I’m like, “What did I do wrong?” Obviously, it wasn’t for the money, and I’m still not doing it for the money, but it never evolved into anything for a bigger brand.

You did some shit with Transworld too back in the day, no?
Yeah, Transworld would pay me a little for an episode of Mean Streets or New York Times, but I was rushing to get them episodes every month and truthfully I was making videos that I didn’t actually like sometimes just to get the money. I was going to bring back Mean Streets in Portland, and I was talking to Transworld, but I decided to do my own thing and not feel pressured. The money wasn’t worth it to me. I didn’t want to pass over my brand and aesthetic at that price.

“I’ve made almost no money filming skateboarding.”

​To make you feel better, not many people make money off the videos themselves, but the products. You had the brand Hotel Blue, did you sell a lot of clothing?
Yeah. Hotel Blue did pretty well, but I just reused that money right back into it. For a little bit I had some big orders, but then every order started getting lower and lower. I think that’s how skating is, people always want what’s new. I was also running the whole company by myself and definitely was not doing a great job at it.

And then I made some Lurknyc shit, when I dropped those hoodies I made some money off that, and I made some other product because I thought people would want it, but I didn’t really sell that much. I had boxes sitting in my crib, and I’m like, “Damn, I’m washed.”

​I heard a rumor that Hotel Blue was doing well in Japan for a while.
Bro, it was crazy in Japan. That’s why it popped off to begin with. Thanks to Yoshio and Big Wing distro.

Before moving to Oregon, what were you up to? You’ve been gone for a while.
I was living in Maine towing cars for four years because I was so burnt out. I thought I’d go up there and be able to skate, but it was not it. I did get to ride dirt bikes a lot though, which was sick [laughs]. And then I was working at my friend Jasper’s shop, called Mocean for a bit.

So you were towing cars full time?
We were trying to buy a house in Maine, and they said I needed a steady income to show. I don’t know if you know, but I’m super into old trucks, like old Toyotas. I’m addicted to that shit. So I thought I would start towing cars. It sounded easy, just driving around, so I got a job with AAA [Triple A].

​We got the house, but I was depressed as fuck. I was like, “Why am I towing cars in Maine?” For me, it just felt like I built this name in skating, and I’m just up here towing cars, like what am I doing? That sounds egotistical, but it’s true. I was just trying to support my family I guess.

“It just felt like I built this name in skating, and I’m just up here towing cars, like what am I doing?”

​How did Portland, Oregon come into the picture?
My wife has family here, and about two years ago we were visiting and i was ready to make the move before i even left and the last day of the trip I’m out getting a coffee, and while I’m driving to the coffee shop I’m like, “Yo, I wish there was just some sign that would tell me to move out here.”

I get to the coffee shop, light a cig, and I look up and there’s this McDonald’s ad that says, “This is literally a sign.” I just laughed.

​It was too hectic to move at the time though, My wife was pregnant with our second child, and we had a house, but then this company hit her up with a job offer in Oregon. She ended up not getting the job, and another year went by, and I was at the point where I’m like, “I need to get out of here.” So we put the house up for sale, and my friend Forest had a place for us to move into, so we moved in.

Once you got there, how long did Ultraman take you to film?
Three months. It was pretty much January, February, and March. And that’s dealing with the rain here. I met Alex [Lobasyuk] through instagram, which led to meeting David [his brother] and Nacho and Marcos. Ironically the first day I was skating with Sebo [Walker] was the first day I really went to film after moving and Alex hit me up and linked up. I guess their filmer had just moved away, so it was perfect timing. Then a guy in New York said I should link with this dude Remy that I didn’t know and through him I met Zan. Wild enough Remy lives on my street. Soon after Aaron and Mace started coming out and it just seemed the stars were aligning with the crew, and for not knowing anyone it was pretty crazy to have all those people in a video.

Alex [Lobasyuk] is pretty slept on, right?
Alex is too good. I’m trying to dumb down his skating, as weird as that sounds [laughs]. He’s so good so I’m trying to focus on what spots he skates and find interesting shit. With Ultraman, that’s what I tried to do when we skated and I think people noticed.

​That is something people overlook. You’re not just pointing a camera, you’re helping create the world.
Some people call me the spot nazi, and I claim it at this point [laughs]. There’s a lot of shit where I’m like, “That’s just not going to look cool.” It can be a sick spot, but it just doesn’t do it for me. Obviously, a good filmer should be able to make anything look cool, but some stuff just aesthetically isn’t pleasing, like a grey wall.

​Do you notice anything different about the 18-year-old you’re filming with now versus an 18-year -old back in the day?
Honestly, I’m more scared of what these kids think now than anyone else. This new generation is so different, like how do I make something that is cool to them but also cool to a guy that is 35? I don’t know what is cool to these kids. Ultraman was supposed to be three minutes long, and I was losing my mind editing. I was trying to make everyone happy, and I just kept putting off releasing the clip. That’s why it became like a ten minute video. I couldn’t get my shit together.

​How did it feel to release something after so long?
I feel good. But I will say, after uploading the video, I think it’s ok. I’m my own worst enemy. I’m just so out of touch with skate videos, like one of the songs I used had already been used in a Daniel Dent video, and that pisses me off that I didn’t know, but it’s whatever. At least it was someone sick. I like that dude. Sorry, Daniel

​It sounds like you’re pretty critical of your own work.
Oh, for sure. I haven’t watched Ultraman since I put it online, and if I watched it now I’d probably want to change it. Especially knowing about the song. I feel like when artists finish paintings, and are like, “I’m done,” it’s like, “Is it done? Isn’t there more that could have been done or something you wanna change?”

“I don’t want to immediately put my camera in people’s faces.
I want it to be authentic.”

​What about your work from like 10 years ago? Can you watch it?
That shit I’ll watch now. But I’d probably still hate it. I think you always hate your younger self. Maybe it’s because I have the worst self esteem. I always think what I’m doing now is better than what I used to be doing, but then I’ll see a photo of me from like four months ago and be like, “Damn, I look like an idiot.”

​I like that in the credits you listed the extras, like Anarchy Girl and Tweaker 1. It felt like an old Baker video.
[laughs] I don’t know why I did that. I was just writing things out thinking who else was in the video. I didn’t think people would read that far. I realized I missed Tweaker Three, but it’s all good.

Many LurkNYC videos on Youtube have a very high view count, higher than your average skate vids. Why do you think that is?
​I think people really appreciate the documentary style filming, like getting the random shit, more than just skating. I was actually holding off on putting out Ultraman because there was too much skating, like I needed more random shit. I’m still learning this crew of people though, so it will come. I don’t want to immediately put my camera in people’s faces. I want it to be authentic.

​How was it filming Aaron [Herrington] and seeing him in his natural habitat?
It’s funny, Aaron and I never filmed in New York, and even when I moved here we weren’t immediately boys. Maybe it’s because he filmed with Paul Young, and I don’t think he really fucks with me. A lot of people don’t fuck with me and that’s fair. Anyway, we went to skate one day because he was trying to get Polar clips, and I ended up being able to use every clip we filmed. But it’s sick skating with him, he knows a lot of spots and always has bondo and tools and anything to fix a spot. That’s really important in Portland, I think everyone’s got a rub brick, lacquer and bondo in their trunk [laughs]

“A lot of people don’t fuck with me and that’s fair.”

​I didn’t know there was filmer beef.
It’s so fried. Me and Johnny Wilson had filmer beef a long time ago, maybe we still do, I don’t know. But it was because I was filming with Cyrus [Bennett], I think. I guess he felt like I was stealing his crew. But it was just one of those things. I met Cyrus, and he was down to skate together. I understand why Johnny got bummed though. Cyrus is sick. I was hyped to be filming with him [laughs].

I remember this one time I went to film with Cyrus, and Johnny met up. Cyrus was going to do this like bump to bar on Broadway in Bushwick, and I got my camera out to film and Johnny was like, “What are you doing?” It was weird. It would have been sicker if we just worked together on something.

photo: charles deschamps

​Do you think those types of filmer beefs won’t happen now that you’re older?
I feel like Johnny was such a cool guy to me, and then once I started fading out he started to get nicer to me. It’s like he knew he won. ​Maybe it all circles back to being seen as a threat. And it’s still like that. There’s only a few filmers in Portland, and I don’t want them to feel like I’m stealing their skaters. I’m so good off drama. [laughs]

​What keeps you coming back to filming? What do you like about it?
I just like being out in the streets. I love my routine. Meet up, have a coffee and cigarette, say what up and figure where to skate, that’s the best moment for me. I like people watching and seeing the world and seeing random shit. It’s that New York shit. You can just sit on your stoop and watch shit happen. I love that, there’s a lot to look at in Portland too.

“I just like being out in the streets.”

​Are you proud of the work you created?
I mean yeah I am, but maybe there’s a lot I’d do differently if I could. It’s probably my own doing but I’ve kind of had this phrase in my head, that I’m a doormat. I got stepped on and walked over, but I was the way in the door for a lot of people. I don’t know, it felt like nobody ever reached out to me to go film once they moved on to bigger companies, but the grass is always greener. I’m lucky that I get to chill with my kids all the time, and maybe if things went differently it wouldn’t be like that.

​Did people know you were open to working with bigger companies?
I don’t know, I always thought it would happen naturally. I remember John Shanahan, he was one of my favorite people to film and travel with, but when he got on Bronze he switched it up and just filmed with the Bronze dudes. If we skated it was so he could use footage for someone else, and then he just moved on. It sucked but I get it though. if people had stayed with me maybe nothing would have ever happened. If you gotta get the bag, get the bag, but I’m still here.

​Skateboarders are notoriously bad communicators though, right?
There was this time after Covid where I couldn’t get boards made, and this kid who rode for Hotel Blue had clips come out in a different video. I’m like, “Yo, you had clips in this?” He never answered, and weeks went by before he hit me back. He finally answered, and he’s like, “Dude, I didn’t know how to tell you, I quit to go ride for them.” And I’m like, “Dude, you could have just told me.” It was way worse because he never said anything to me. [laughs]

​Now this new video, what’s next? Where do you go from here?
Just going to try and keep filming and make up for lost time. Maybe I’ll make some product, but I don’t know, there’s so many companies now and the prices are so crazy, not sure I’d even be able to sell anything.

Should Lurknyc be Lurkpdx now?
I don’t know, that’s how people know me. I would love to not have NYC as part of everything anymore. I love New York, that’s my home, but shit changes.

I don’t think people know this, but when I first moved to New York, this girl Ari [Gil] would call me Lurker Nick. When I made my YouTube in my head it was more LurkNick[NYC] Nobody would read it that way though.

Honestly, it’s crazy like I’ve never shown my face much, and I remember someone came up to me in New York and was like, “Dude, you’re the reason I moved to New York,” and I’m like, “How do you know what I look like?”

Interview by: Ian Michna
Intro: Ben Komins
Photos courtesy of: Charles Deschamps
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