Andrzej Palenica – Bad Neighbor
Most of our insight into Polish skateboarding here at Free has been due to the Grey Area articles we’ve had in the mag and Kuba’s edits which coincided. Polish skaters owe a lot to Kuba Kaczmarczyk and the videos he’s made, whether they acknowledge it or not. So when Andrzej Palenica emailed me last year about a part he was working on, even though I’d never met him and didn’t even really know how to pronounce his name, I was already aware of his skating. He introduced himself kindly in the email and explained that this new part was not made by Kuba. Andrzej had spread his wings, left Poland, moved to Barcelona and linked up various other filmers along the way. Over the months that followed he amassed some photos as well, enough to be featured in the mag. So as the print deadline was looming Andrzej gathered some last minute pics with Gerard on the well-trodden streets of the Catalonian capital and I decided to give his interview a shot.
For the third Polish skater ever to be inter-viewed in Free (after Dida, then Fifi) I chatted to Andrzej’s mates, learned about his crazy mood swings, his architecture studies, the Polish skate injury insurance he has and got a good understanding of this young 24-year-old’s journey so far. I even learned that his name is pronounced “Und-Jay”, but for us gringos he says you can just call him “Andrew”.
Backside nosebluntslide to fakie, Barcelona. Ph. Gerard Riera
Interview by Will Harmon
So I heard you’ve quit your job to focus on skating…
Andrzej: Yeah. It was a random job here (in Barcelona). Now I’m sometimes going there and helping my boss, but it’s like an Italian bakery with desserts and whatnot. I was working full-time there, but it was tiring me so much, so I couldn’t skate. And I just told my boss that, no, I have to quit, because I have this project that’s happening probably for the first and last time in my life, so I want to focus on it.
Oh, man, that’s… Well, thanks. You didn’t need to quit your job for this project, though.
No, no, it’s just for myself, you know? I just want to do a good job and be happy with it.
You studied architecture, right?
Yeah.
Have you thought about trying to get a job in the architecture field?
Not yet. Maybe at some point I will. But right now, after my internships and all the studying… It’s a very time-consuming job, like, five days a week and after hours… You know, it’s very nice if you love it. But I guess I love skating more right now, so I’m going to stay with skating since I feel it.
Frontside heelflip, Krakow. Ph. Rafal Wojnowski
You’re young right now, 24. You just want to skate all the time, I understand that.
Yeah…
What was it about architecture that interested you, and why did you decide to study it?
It was quite random… I mean, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. My mom is a painter, so I’d say I got some skills from her; I can draw. But she was telling me not to go that route (to be a painter), because it’s very hard to compete in the art world. So I was like, “I need to find something else,” and architecture, it was in between, like something creative and also stable. It was nice, I learned a lot from my studies… Like, now I see reality differently, just the composition and understanding the surroundings of buildings, I pay more attention to it. And it’s nice skate-wise also, because I appreciate spots more for their architectural beauty.
There’s some incredible architecture in Barcelona…
Yes, It’s crazy here. I first came to Barcelona on an exchange program with Erasmus. I was studying here, and the level of the university was way higher than in my hometown of Krakow. And then I came here again for an internship last year, for three months, and yeah, the architectural scene in Barcelona is super, super developed, there’s no doubt about this.
Ph. Rafal Wojnowski
Every time I visit I’m amazed at all the new buildings juxtaposed with the old gothic ones.
It’s nice because they try to not really remove the old buildings, but like, put new life into them. The industrial areas now in Barcelona are very cool. It’s a nice area to live actually.
You mentioned drawing earlier, Fifi [Filip Dziewiecki] told me that your sketches inspired him to start doing some of his own.
Yeah, like I said my mom is a painter, so I had so many tools at home, just like tools to paint or draw or whatever, and I really liked using them because my brothers didn’t really like it. So I was just doing it alone and it stayed with me. I always enjoyed drawing and I would say doing it is kind of like meditation for me. I do it very often.
So after studying in Barcelona for a bit, then coming back again for an internship, how long have you been in Barca for this stint?
I’ve been here since October 2025.
Slappy backside tailslide, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. Ph. Gerard Riera
How’s your Spanish?
I learned Spanish luckily, because when I came here, I had made a friend who’s a filmer, and I met him before in Gran Canaria. I made my first solo trip, and I just went to Gran Canaria, and I met some homies there. One was Nau Gallardo, who’s known as Mister Kebab.
Yeah! You met him in Gran Canaria?
I met him through another friend, just in Gran Canaria. And then, the first week I came to Barcelona for Erasmus, I was just walking with my ex-girlfriend, and we were nearby Macba. And I just decided to show her Macba, just to, you know, show her where the skaters would be hanging out, and I saw him… Like, “Yo, what are you doing here?” And he’s like, “Yo, bro, I moved here, I started studying.” And I was like, “Yeah, I study as well. Let’s go skate!” And I was super lucky because he already knew some people here, and he kind of introduced me to these people. So I had an easy start in Barcelona, because I already had some friends to skate with, so that was very nice… But the thing was that all of them spoke mostly Spanish. And I was like, “Damn, if I want to have any friends here, I need to learn this language.” So it motivated me to really start learning it.
Yeah…
I did Duolingo, then did these other apps and after a year, let’s say, I feel pretty comfortable with Spanish now. I work in Spanish, and it’s okay, I can communicate.
Taildrop to crooked grind, Krakow. Ph. Rafal Wojnowski
So how are you going to survive without working right now? Or did you save up some money so that you could?
So I was working for one month, full-time, then I quit. So I asked my boss… Like today for example, I’ll just work for four hours because I just hit up my boss, and asked if I can come in only when he needs me. So basically, when he needs me, he sends me a message. I have a good relationship with him, he trusts me, so I’m super, super grateful that he’s down for that. So I’m coming in twice a week, or sometimes once a week, and just trying to survive, you know?
Dida [Michal Zarzycki] was telling me about this guy in Poland, a skater who sells insurance to other skaters, like a financial advisor… He said you got 1000 euros for spraining your ankle or something, is this true?
Yes, yes, it’s true. One week before I left home in Poland, I was sick, so one week before moving to Barcelona I didn’t skate. So the first day I came to Barcelona in October last year, I just went skating, briefly, to the DIY, and that first sesh I rolled my ankle. Like the first day, just doing a switch ollie on flat basically, and I thought, “This can’t be true! No!” And then I called this guy, because I had the insurance from him, and I’m telling him, like, “Oh man, I rolled my ankle. What should I do?” And he just explained everything to me, we filled out the forms, and I got 1000 euros for that. So it was kind of a blessing for me and a bummer, because I couldn’t skate, but I got 1000 euros for moving to another country. So it was very helpful at that time for me.
Wallie 180, Krakow. Ph. Rafal Wojnowski
That’s incredible. Do a lot of other Polish skaters have this insurance as well?
Yeah, a bunch of them. It’s a common thing in Poland. Like, this guy is hooking up everyone with insurance, and it’s worth it, and he skates!
That’s wild. Since moving from Poland, what are your likes and dislikes about living in Barcelona compared to Krakow?
There’s a bunch of pros and cons actually. The weather is the biggest difference. Obviously Barcelona has super good weather, you can skate all year, no complaining, but then summertime is horrible here for me. It’s like, super hot. And actually, I cannot stay here in summertime. I have to go to Poland or some colder places. Then I would say the connections between people are like… Okay, let me explain, so I’ve been living in Krakow most of my life, I have many close friends and strong relationships. And here it’s kind of like everyone treats you like you are temporary, you know? It’s such a transient type of place… Like, everyone here is super nice, I cannot say bad things, but I just feel like people here are not opening up so easily, because they kind of know you’re gonna leave at some time.
Frontside nosegrind, Barcelona. Ph. Gerard Riera
I see. Maybe that’ll change if you stay there for longer.
Yeah for sure. But just in general, I think, like, as you get into the city, and if you are new, you are more anonymous. For example, in my hometown, it would be more like, “Oh, there’s a new guy in the city, let’s meet him!” you know? There would be more excitement, but this is probably because there are not as many tourists that come to Krakow.
Yeah, you’re right, there are so many tourists in Barcelona, I guess people often have a different attitude there, which could make close connections harder to obtain. What do you miss about Krakow?
I think I miss my comfort zone. I just know everything so well. And life there is so easy for me. But at the same time, I don’t like it though. I love Krakow, but I don’t think I will try to live there forever. After my experience of living in another country, I’m very, very curious about a new one. I miss my homies though.
They come to visit though!
Yes! I convinced Franek [Kramarczyk] to come live with me, for the wintertime. He stayed with me for four months because he has this remote job so he can just code from the house. And then Dida came for more than a month. It was nice. This year was the best because these guys were here.
Ollie over to 50-50, Krakow. Ph. Rafal Wojnowski
And you could speak Polish again!
Exactly!
Rafski was saying that for almost every photo you guys shot last year in Krakow, the spots were a major bust. He said it was really draining for him. He told me that he said to you: “I need to take a holiday after this holiday.”
Yeah, I convinced him to stay a little longer than he wanted in Krakow. I think he got super tired after that, he was like, “Leave me alone!”, basically. But it was a great time, we were just unlucky with the busts.
Is it normally hard to skate a lot of spots in Krakow?
I would say so. I mean, it’s kind of a lucky strike, because sometimes you can skate 40 minutes at a spot where you usually last only five minutes. But unfortunately, so many spots in Krakow are a crazy bust.
Frontside bluntslide transfer, Barcelona. Ph. Gerard Riera
Well, I was going to say it’s much easier for you in Barcelona, but then I saw on your Instagram seeing that guy try to fight you after doing a wallride, and then another guy throwing flower pots down on you guys. What happened there?
That was insane. I cannot explain it. Basically, it was me and Gelek [Gonzalez] skating the wall, and there was this guy shouting from like, the fourth floor, and he was like, “Get the fuck out of here!” basically, and we are just like, “Yeah, we’ll skate for 10 minutes, and then we’ll go,” you know? We wanted to just get clips and then never bother them again. And this guy went down, and he started talking to the guy who was a filmer, and I kept trying with Gelek. We just keep skating, try after try. Then one try I’m going, I’m on my run up, and I see this guy just coming towards me, but I calculate that for sure I’m not gonna touch him. And I do a wallride then I try to pass by him, not touching him. And I feel from behind he pushes me, and I’m like, “What? What is happening?” I got pissed and started pushing this guy too. I was like, “Man, you didn’t even say a word before to me, and you start pushing me? It’s not the way humans communicate.” And then there was another guy who started screaming from the balcony, and he just starts throwing shit, flowerpots and stuff, and only some of us realised it. Dima [Dmitry Brylev] and I realised it, so we escaped. And then Gelek was trying to communicate with the first guy, and he didn’t realise that things were getting thrown down, so the next thing thrown down hit his shoulder. Joscha [Aicher] filmed it all on his phone; it was crazy.
Well, maybe trouble just follows you, haha. Who else do you usually skate with in Barca?
Miguel Bahamon and Eze [Martinez], Nau Gallardo, Evgeny Nikolaev… I also film with Dima.
Ollie, Montcada. Ph. Gerard Riera
And you’re filming a part to coincide with this interview right?
Yes, it’s by a bunch of different filmers, but I would love for my friend from my hometown, Jędrek Maczugowski, aka Icy Tower, to edit it. I just have the best connection with this guy. I mean, I have known him so long, and I like his stuff.
Rafski was saying you really have an eye for spots too, like, specifically how they look, like the aesthetic. Where do you think you get that from?
The spots I choose need to have some spice, like being abandoned or untouched. I think I built this approach mostly by my early years skating with Kuba Kaczmarczyk and studying architecture.
How do you feel about how the spots look in Barcelona as compared to in Poland?
I think in Poland they look way better. I mean, just way more ugly, which is more my aesthetic? Haha. It’s very personal if you say the spot is nice or not, you know? But for my personal aesthetic Poland is very rough, but nice. It’s what I like. I don’t know how to explain it.
Rough and rugged compared to smooth and pristine, like in Barcelona?
Yeah, I’m also stoked, because I thought it was gonna be worse in Barcelona, because I picked three places for my Erasmus studies and the last one was Barcelona. So because I had bad grades at my university, they sent me to the last pick. And I was like, “Damn, I gotta go to Barcelona. There’s no spots for me, everything there is super perfect.”
Haha. Not the kind of spots you like.
And I was like, “Oh, it’s gonna be boring for me. I’ll have to learn tech skating at Macba.”
Haha, how draining!
And then I was super lucky, because the guys I skate with here, Miguel, Eze, these guys, they skate rough spots and they can find new rugged spots. It’s super, super sick to just go around with them. Like, some days we just go out, no tricks at all, we just go through the city just to search by board and then you can find something interesting. I’m very happy that in Barcelona you can still find something new and interesting.
Gap to backside 5-0, Barcelona. Ph. Gerard Riera
The photos you shot with Gerard, are they spots he showed you or spots you found yourself?
A mix of both. For example, it’s a nice feeling when you show a spot to Gerard and he’s like, “Hmm, I don’t know this one.”
Oh I bet! So who hooks you up?
I’ve got this deal with Underground, my local skate shop in Krakow, they help me get Polar boards from the distribution. And then Kuba from Grey Area helped me to start getting things from Nike. So yeah, I’m getting shoes from Nike SB; I’m very, very happy about this.
Okay, I’m not going to say who this is, but someone said that you’re “the most moody person I know.” How would you describe your demeanour?
I guess I’m just very sensitive, you know? I try to make everyone happy, and then at some point it turns… Like, my mood changes. I don’t know, I guess I’m controlling it more, but when I was a kid, I was a very, very moody kid, very emotional. I’m just sensitive, and because of this, I can understand some people don’t like it. Like, it can be a bummer on the sesh. For example, we had a sesh on this gap to kinked rail, in my hometown, and I was trying to do a gap to crook. And then another homie just did a gap to 5-0 and another homie did a frontboard, and I was the one who didn’t get a clip, you know? And I started stressing, because there were a lot of guys on the sesh, and they wanted to leave. Or in my mind I thought they wanted to leave… And so I felt like I was wasting their time, and I got super moody. So I stepped out of the sesh, just sat under a tree, and I was just super sad for some time. But then it rained. They dried the spot, they were trying to make me happy, and I did it. Finally, my mood improves. But I cannot say why it happens to me. Maybe I have some issue, like a mental issue.
I think you’re just very passionate about what you do. Raf was saying in Krakow you were freaking out, having a tantrum, because you couldn’t land a trick, and you asked him, “Do skaters in London freak out like this?” And he said flat out: “No.”
I’m moody.
Drop-in, kickflip, Sant Cugat. Ph. Gerard Riera
Your moods, how have they affected your daily life? Is it something you think about?
Well, I think now it’s way better. But before I was stagnant, like I didn’t push forward because of these times, but now it’s better. Do you know what helped me a lot? Because in Krakow, I had a pretty convenient life, and as I came here (to Barcelona) and I was just alone and had to figure it out, my life, how it is… It helped me a lot, being alone. Because I made fundamental values for myself, which I’m not trying to change. And this helped me a lot, because before I was just dropping from one dimension to another dimension, you know? And I was just doubting everything.
So living away from home (Krakow) and alone has really helped your mental state?
More like the danger, I would say. The danger of a new place, the danger of being responsible.
So you didn’t have any freakouts filming or shooting photos in Barcelona, not like in Krakow?
Way less… I don’t know why, maybe because of the weather too? I don’t know. But no, actually, in Barcelona I feel like I’ve become way more mature than in Poland.
That’s good to hear. So what’s next for you?
Well, I want to finish my part to be satisfied, and then I’m not sure, keep skating and spread love? I don’t know what I should do in the future. I don’t want to think about it right now, because, knowing myself, I would just quit filming my part. So I want to film the part first, just focus 100% on it, and then start thinking about life.
