Welcome to the first edition of QUICK SIX. You get it. Six questions. Six answers. Kicking things off is Nashville’s own Julian Mire. We caught him just before he jumped on a bus to Detroit for the #DCOIV and he answered these when he got back (’cause he didn’t wanna type ’em on his phone).

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Hey Julian, for anyone who doesn’t know, please tell us where you live, how old you are, how long you’ve bladed, and what you do for work/school/etc.
Of course. I’ve lived in Nashville, Tennessee my whole life. I’m 23 now and I started skating around seven years ago. For the last few years I’ve held two jobs and went to school, but I recently graduated and took extended leave from both jobs till I can figure out what I want to do. In the meantime, I just want to travel and see more scenes and meet more rad people and just blade.

One of your sponsors, SouthernScum, is really pushing the “South is Rising” mantra, but the south has risen many times in blading and even right now there is a high distribution of talent that calls the south home. How do you feel being in Nashville has shaped you as a person as well as your skating?
There is a ton of blading talent in the south and SouthernScum has done a good job of making sure people know about the skating the south has to offer. As far as my own blading, I really believe that everything I do is a product of my environment and the people around me. So being from Nashville, we have a rad city to skate (good spots), but it’s really about the people and their attitudes. We have a small group of dudes, but everyone is dedicated and wants to push the scene. My friends from Nashville are really what shaped my blading and personality.

Any time we run into you at an event your wrist is jacked and there’s a new story about what happened and how it’s getting better. Ha! Can you give us the run down on what you did to that pour extremity? Have any tricks or pointers for dealing with injury?
Ha ha, yeah, I figured this kind of question was coming. The shortened version of the story is that I broke my wrist back in the day, never took proper care of it and it just never healed properly. Over the next few years I had a handful of other injuries to both wrists and hands, so the wrist guards just became a way of life. I could list all the injuries and tell you all about the shitty doctors and ridiculous bills but that would just bum you out! Most recently, January 2014, I had a small fall that tore a ligament in my thumb. I had to have one surgery, two casts and I’m still wearing a thumb guard. For any young skaters or people dealing with any injury, my best advice is to take your time, listen to your doctors and let things heal right. I always rushed the process and it never really paid off. Also picking up a new hobby while injured is good. Just sitting on your ass for months can get you really down and it’s no fun. I started riding bikes more one summer when my wrist was injured. It made being injured much more tolerable and now I still ride often.

How important are contests to you — either blading in them or even their existence? What do you like/dislike about blade events and contests?
Contests are really important in my opinion. They offer contest skaters the opportunity to really push themselves, bring tons of bladers together, and are a really good way for outsiders to view skating. I feel like most people who don’t know about blading would just have to go to a cool street contest and feel the vibe to get what we are all about. I just got back from Detroit’s Delta City Open today. It was really refreshing to see so many skaters, young and old, gathered for the cause. The scene up there is fucking awesome. Shout out to all of the guys up there for holding it down with a sick event!

Let’s say you got asked to manage an existing blade company’s team. What changes would you implement to ensure success for the brand, your riders, the sport, and yourself?
I really like this question, but honestly I don’t feel that I have the actual knowledge or experience to answer it in detail right now. I will say that I have listened to podcasts, read interviews, paid attention to social media and have a real interest in what is happening higher up in the blading industry. It seems that some pros are very pleased with their situation, while others are quite unhappy. I don’t know who is right, but at the end of the day, I know that blade companies and their riders need to have mutually beneficial relationships that add value to both the brand and the skater in some way.

Tell us about one place in the world you want to visit, why you want to go there, and who/what you’d take along to make sure you had the best possible time.
After seeing the edits of last year’s SummerClash and Roskilde Festivals, I decided I had to go. Both events just looked so epic and fun. So I saved up some cash over the year and I’m actually going later this month. None of the Nashville guys were going, but I heard the Atlanta and Texas bladers were going, so I hollered at some of them and just kinda jumped on with their plan. I’m really excited about the whole thing. I also really want to go back and experience Europe more than just blading events, but I think this is a good way to get my feet wet over there and travel around with some awesome skaters.

Thanks again for having me on the site! I wanted to shout out my Nashville crew again, ’cause they really are my blade brothers. And to all the other southern shredders: See you guys at the A-town Stomp! I also want to thank the guys at Razors, SouthernScum and Asphalt Beach Skate Shop in Nashville for all the support over the last few years. And finally thanks to all the other homies and people who watch blading online, read articles, let homies crash on the couch and are out there skating every day.

Photos by Cameron Martin and Zach Leavell
Interview by The Jerk