Where are you from and where do you live now?
I was born on 29th September 1992 in Daugavpils City. A small town in Latvia, but big dreams you know. There's really not much going on out there.

Now I don’t really have a place to live…I live a little bit everywhere. Thailand, China, Russia, always spending a month here and there, but I don't own my own bed anywhere. I’m a famous homeless.

How did you hear about Freerunning the first time?

At first I just saw people do it in my neighbourhood and I didn't really like it, because they weren't any good. It was deep winter, and we are close to Russia, so it gets freezing. They were doing flips onto a big pile of snow and landed on their ass every time.

Some time later I saw guy do a wallflip on the street. Looking back now I know his technique was terrible, but back then I was blown away. It reminded me of the Matrix movie. Back at home I tried doing one onto my couch.

Shortly after one video changed everything for me. I at school and jumping around in the lunchbreak, nothing impressive, just little things. One guy said "Hey man! I have a video you have to see, this guy is doing the same stuff you do".

Back then you couldn't just send a link. The guy's mum wasn't home, so we walked back to his place and he played it on his computer. The video was by a guy called Oleg Vorslav and it had some of the craziest moves I had ever seen. He copied it on a CD for me and back home I watched it a million times.

Oleg's stunts were next level, but even crazier was that it was all filmed in my city. I knew all the spots, some of them I could even see from my window! Told you it's a small city. That's when I got motivated like crazy.

What was your first free running trip?

A few years later, in 2009, I made my first video and uploaded it to Youtube. 7 days passed and I got an e-mail. I was invited on a free trip to London. Someone had seen my video and he wanted me to represent Latvia at the Barclaycard Freerunning World Champions. I couldn't believe it.

I didn't speak any English, but in London is where I met everybody. So many Freerunners from all across the globe. I had seen many of their videos.

Now the competition was a different story. I was nervous! We were competing in front of a crowd of 9000 people on Trafalgar Square, the most famous square in London. Small town you remember? This means, I had never seen this many people in one place. Ever! All their eyes were on me plus live-TV! 

How did the contest go?

Amazing! No not really, I was second to last place. I feel like they didn't really get what I was doing and even though they uploaded everybody's run, mine never made it onto the internet. Except one clip from the crowd.

Later I got a little bit more used to contests.

How did you join Team Farang?

We all met at that first contest in London. We started to hang out, train, shot some videos and traveled a lot. By the time we did X-Tour, a Europe trip in an old van, I already felt like I was part of the team. 

In 2012 I came to Bangkok for the first time and we decided to make it official. That's the same trip we shot the Boss Mode video.

So why do people call you “The Boss”?

In 2009 I stayed with Jason in Germany. His younger brother David kept saying "like a boss", because it was a popular internet meme. I was learning English, so it stayed in my memory since.

The same year I won the Art of Motion contest and they asked me how I feel, I said: "like a boss" and it just stuck.

Now it means a lot more to me. It's almost like a lifestyle. I want to live life by being my own Boss. Most people don't like their boss, so for me I said "fuck it, I'll do it better, I'll be my own." It means freedom to make your own decisions. 

On the other side, sometimes there are important things I don't enjoy doing. Maybe there's a trick I need to push myself to do. So that's where I tell myself "I'm the Boss and I'm gonna do this!

It goes both ways, being the Boss means freedom and responsibility. You can't have one without the other.

What does the breakfast of the boss look like?

I like peanut butter, but it has too many calories. Way too much. Or cereal!...but, then I get bored.

I like to try new food and with all my travels it naturally changes from week to week. Wake up, try something new! I like that. Sometimes we are booked for a big shoot and wake up in a 5-star hotel, other times it's a friend's couch.

One thing that I definitely drink more of now is coffee.

Do you have a favorite place?

Not really, but if I had to pick one, it would be Los Angeles. You can do everything there. The weather is great, there are outdoor spots, different gyms and all kinds of people. 

What's your most favorite thing to do outside of Freerunning?

Recently I've really enjoyed taking pictures. Playing around with ideas, colours and editing them. I do most of it on my iPhone. I use the Lightroom and Snapseed Apps to edit.

Because of that I've also started watching a few channels about cinematography. I get inspired by the classics like Buster Keaton and Jackie Chan.

You swap lives with somebody for a day, who and why?

The Rock! Just to mess with people. You can do anything and won’t be afraid that you get beaten up.

What's your favorite Freerunning shoe?

It depends. For flow I wear skater shoes. Their flat soles keep me close to the ground and I can feel the surface. For big jumps I like K-Swiss si18. The cushioning makes the impact softer.

 Give me 5 songs you listen to right now!

I’ve been training a lot without music, so let me think. It used to be important, because I trained alone most of the time. Now I train with friends, so we chat and it doesn’t make sense to wear headphones while training.

For workout I like something like All the Way Up. Chilling I enjoy Mike Posner - Be as you are. Since I travel so much I miss hearing Russian and go through all my Russian songs on repeat. One favourite is L'one.

 One Russian word everybody should know?

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