It’s difficult to keep up with what Arturs “Mr. Boga” Bogdanovičs is up to—he always seems to be on the move. Last week, out of nowhere, he dropped a part on us. Next week, he might drop a book or something. The man’s nuts (in the best possible way, of course). We put together a little Q&A to find out more about the part and what he’s currently up to. Enjoy!
How many BS heels did you do in your part?
I think just two. There are variations, but two solid ones for sure. I got bodied on another one and decided to put out the part. I went for a check-up, but thankfully no major injury. I wasn’t disappointed that I didn’t get it—I was more like, “What did I expect?” I went specifically to get that trick, I slammed, and I was over it.
How do you know when a part is ready?
The part was ready in January. Jan [Hirt] suggested I get an ender, or at least a trick with higher impact. I was in Šiauliai in October, where I tried that BS heel. I was filming it on my phone back then and realized, “Oh shit, it’s a good trick.” I decided to add it to the part. So I waited for better weather. When it came, I drove to the spot—but still didn’t get it. I was overthinking it and got too attached to the idea of landing that trick. Now I understand it wasn’t worth it. I feel like gaps aren’t my thing anymore. I went to get a trick I didn’t even truly want to do.
Would you say it’s your second street part?
Yeah, it is. The first one was the one we made with you.
Do you like that first one we made? I don’t know if I did a good job on it, editing-wise.
I still like it. I never felt like I didn’t. I actually never compared this current part to that first one. Maybe I will at some point.
Your new part has more footage outside Latvia, right?
I have only one clip from Latvia. The footage is mostly from Spain, Germany Austria.
How was it filming so much outside your home country? Did this experience change your perspective on filming parts?
Honestly, I realized that most footage I’ve filmed in the past two years is with Peter [Mader], and Jan [Hirt] also works on a part with Peter [Mader]. Mine wasn’t planned, so I don’t think it was a special or well-planned experience for me, like “Hey, let’s film a part.” We just happened to be in the same places a couple of times, and we filmed some clips after events. The footage was piling up a bit. The peak was the trip to Valencia last October—there I realized that if I filmed enough, I’d have the part ready. It was the first trip we took just for filming. One thing I learned from this is: get as many clips as possible whenever you have the chance. It’s better for me to film even a simpler clip on camera than to only focus on bangers and come home with two clips.
You mean film more and then decide if you want to use it in a part?
Yeah. I just know I won’t have many opportunities to meet up with a filmer abroad and just film. That trip to Valencia was one-of-a-kind, so I tried to get the maximum out of it.
You seem to post a lot on IG. With that in mind, what does filming a part mean to you? A part is a rarer occasion than daily posts. How important is a part to what you do as a skateboarder?
Yeah, to be honest, IG plays quite a big role. Sometimes I catch myself posting something there that I could’ve saved for a video part. Deciding what goes to stories, what goes in a post, and what goes into a part—sometimes I make mistakes with that choice.
How do you know when you should’ve saved a clip?
It’s the scale of the trick. But sometimes you don’t realize until you put it in your story and someone comments, “Oh, that’s something people would put in their parts,” and I’m like, “Really? OK.” But since so many clips go out on social media so easily, I think, what more could I do beyond that? I want to raise the bar for myself.
Who do you ride for now? You work with some brands outside of skateboarding, right?
My main sponsors are Boards.lv and Backdoor Market. They’ve been consistent and support me mainly with gear and so on. The rest, to be honest, isn’t constant. It’s either a collab or a short-time deal or just a friendly care package. Also, the board supply has never been anything direct, but just of what the distributor has in stock. Of course, I’d like to thank the Latvian Skateboarding Federation for supporting all these trips—over the past couple of years I got financing from them due to my contest results. I filmed a lot of the clips in this part during those contest trips. I starting to work with Kalve Coffee now—that’s a brand outside of skating, and I think, why not? If we can give out boxes of energy drinks at events, why not a box of coffee? I try to pick quality brands and quality products to work with. Maybe not all of my deals and collabs have been that way, but we’re all learning.
Can you talk about Cariuma and what’s up with them? Are you on, or what’s the deal?
The shoe sponsor was another reason why the part got delayed like that. It’s not a secret what Cariuma’s reputation is in the global skate scene. I feel like they have a certain group of riders they work with, and the rest just get shoes. So everything I post and tag them in isn’t really interesting for them. I get free stuff and have no obligations—which isn’t that bad—but because of that, I get no exposure. And now that I’ve filmed a part, I show it to people, and I’m afraid that the common comment would be, “Wow, nice part—but yeah, you’re wearing Cariumas,” and I’m like, “Damn.”
So, you can’t release the part through mags and so on because of Cariuma’s bad reputation?
Pretty much. You’ve got footage your sponsor doesn’t really need, and no platform wants to take it because of your sponsor. So you’re in a kind of dead end. You just hope at least your homies will like your part—and that’s it. The skate industry feels weird right now. Seems like it’s easier to just buy your own shoes and do whatever you want.
You don’t seem like a person who would give up.
Yeah, for sure. I’ll find some other ways if I need to.
Follow Boga here