Natas Kaupas (born March 23, 1969) is an American former professional skateboarder. He grew up in South Santa Monica, California, in the area known as Dogtown, and is of Lithuanian descent.
Kaupas attended Santa Monica High School in the 1980s.
Kaupas by his own admission remained clueless and uninterested in the mainstream skateboard subculture. He honed his street skateboarding skills by utilizing his surroundings, preferring not to ride ramps or parks. By the mid-1980s, Kaupas had discovered riding walls where he would throw his skateboard up against a wall and ride off it. He then perfected this trick by riding up the side of walls without using his hands. With this cover photo, Kaupas began to receive more magazine coverage and recognition from professional skaters. At this point, Kaupas was regularly skating with such notables as Mark Gonzales, Julien Stranger and Jim Thiebaud and pioneering what would be known as 'street skating'. Kaupas and Gonzales innovated many new skateboarding tricks and ideas, the first of which was transferring Rodney Mullen's kickflip from freestyle skating to street skating. The marketing and design of the shoe was influenced by Kaupas. He was able to use his artistic talents, which he later incorporated in SMA skateboard designs.
In 1989, Santa Cruz released a follow-up video to Wheels of Fire entitled Streets on Fire, in which Kaupas played a greater role. Kaupas' stand-out performance in the film was a new trick where he ollied up onto a fire hydrant and performed a 720 degree spin on top of it. The trick would be known as the 'Natas spin' and has also been adapted to the sport of snowboarding. The 'Natas Spin' was also incorporated into the Tony Hawk's video game series.
Kaupas along with fellow skater Jim Thiebaud, who was now skating for SMA, began a tour across America driving used Cadillacs. During the tour, the duo discovered many unknown but talented skaters who would later skate for SMA. Upon their return in 1990, skateboarding's hype had died with a slowing US economy.
Other ventures
In 1991 fellow pro skater Steve Rocco, who founded World Industries skateboards, approached Kaupas about starting his own line of skateboards. Kaupas left SMA and began 101 Skateboards. The company would become an outlet for Kaupas to employ his graphic and artistic talents. By 1992, 101 had become a major brand, however a broken ankle meant Kaupas' skating career was halted. While convalescing, Kaupas explored his artistic talents more and began to use computer graphics programs. He was soon asked to assist with the first issue of the Big Brother skateboarding magazine, which was also owned by World Industries. As World Industries and 101 Skateboards became more successful, scooping up many well-established pro skaters and new emerging amateurs, Kaupas lost interest. Kaupas received a call from Larry Flynt Publications who were interested in launching a new magazine entitled Rage and needed an art director. Kaupas left shortly afterwards however, again losing interest after a change in tone of the magazine.
In 1998 Kaupas along with longtime friend Mark Oblow formed Vita Shoes, which was short lived. Kaupas then found work in design and art with clothing companies Quiksilver and Element Skateboards. Both companies also sponsored him for their skateboarding team. Quiksilver soon promoted Kaupas to the role of graphic director and then vice president of marketing.
In 2004, Natas started a new board company, Designarium under the manufacturing and distribution of NHS. Natas' art background led him to focus Designarium on artists rather than pro skaters. He has commissioned artists to interpret his original Santa Monica Airlines Panther graphic into their own vision. Each board is produced in limited edition runs.
Filmography
{| class="wikitable"
|- align="center"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Sponsor
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes
|-
| 1986
| NSA '86, Volume 4
| Unreel Productions
| Featured skater
|-
| 1987
| The Search For Animal Chin
| Powell Peralta
|
|-
| 1987
| On the Prowl
| NSI Video
| Featured skater
|-
| 1987
| Sacto Street/Ramp Contests
| NSI Video
|
|-
| 1988
| Wheels of Fire
| Santa Cruz
| Featured skater
|-
| 1988
| Street Skating with Rob and Natas
| (None)
| Featured skater / instructional street skating video
|-
| 1988
| Sick Boys
| Mack Dawg Productions
|
|-
| 1988
| Savannah Slamma
| Thrasher Magazine
| Featured skater
|-
| 1989
| Tales from the Street
| Mack Dawg Productions
| Featured skater
|-
| 1989
| Streets on Fire
| Santa Cruz
| Featured skater / first video to feature "Natas Spin"
|-
| 1989
| Speed Freaks
| Santa Cruz
| Featured skater
|-
| 1989
| Savannah Slamma III
| NSI Video
| Featured skater
|-
| 1989
| Goin' Off
| T.R. Productions
| Featured skater
|-
| 1990
| A Reason for Living
| Santa Cruz
| Featured skater
|-
| 1991
| Quiet Storm Volume 1
| Frontline Video
| Documentary on skateboarding in San Diego
|-
| 1996
| Shit
| Big Brother
| Compilation video from Big Brother magazine
|}
Video games
- Kaupas is a secret playable character in the 2004 video game Tony Hawk's Underground 2.
Further reading
- Natas Kaupas Interview, 2009. Juice Magazine