Alex Lundqvist Interview - May 2008

Whether you realize it or not, many of today’s top professional paintball players have alternative lives and professions that exist outside the realm of tournament paintball. Despite the few who are actually living the dream of having a salary paid spot on a team, there are relatively much more who have alternative means of income and support. One of the most interesting of these individuals is Swedish born, male model, Alex Lundqvist.

Formerly playing for Russian Legion in the PSP, Alex now plays solely for Jersey Authority in the NPPL Pro Division. His stardom isn’t simply for being a pro player, but also for becoming a star outside the paintball world. Initially making waves in the modeling industry by working with designers such as Versace, Hugo Boss, and Guess, Alex has risen to the top of male modeling and has most recently stolen the limelight by being the object of affection in musical talent Fergie’s “Clumsy” music video.

maxrof dot com reports:

[mr]: First I would like to thank you for the interview Alex. Let’s jump right into things. With a fifth place finish at Huntington Beach, beating out a lot of good teams, how is Jersey Authority feeling with Jacksonville being next week?

[al]: Pretty good, although I wish we would have gotten one more weekend in of practice. After missing the 1 to 4th cut by a few kills we are hungry to do better in Jacksonville.

[mr]: For a relatively brand new team in the NPPL, you guys did extremely well in 2007. What has changed, strategy wise, since last year?

[al]: Not too much, just getting more in the 7 man groove. Practicing communication and team work.

[mr]: Regarding game play, do you find yourself sampling from some of the techniques and strategies you acquired playing with Russian Legion in Xball, and bringing them over into seven man?

[al]: Honestly not to much, maybe break shooting and reloading while reloading. But I really find 7 man being a lot more about communication and team work.

[mr]: Most certainly, one of the biggest stories regarding Russian Legion after World Cup was your leave of the team. What was the major decision behind that and how did Russian Legion, as a whole, feel about the situation?

[al]: It was a hard decision on my part, but it came down to not having enough time for both leagues, work and family. Since I already had a World title with RL I decided to focus on Authority and 7man, which I basically had not been playing since the beginning of Xball in 2003. RL understood my reasons for leaving and they even wrote a very nice thing on their site about it.

[mr]: How is life in general for you now that you don’t have Xball to worry about? Is there more focus into Jersey Authority and its success, or are you directing that focus elsewhere?

[al]: It is much less straining with Authority now without the Xball schedule interfering, and most importantly more time for family and friends which is the greatest.

[mr]: I’m sure life can get hectic with all of your schedules, practices, tournaments, shoots, projects, etc. How do you and your family handle things?

[al]: My wife is the greatest. She has always been very supportive of what I do. She’s my biggest fan. However it is always hard to be away from your family, especially for longer periods of time.

[mr]: Speaking of projects, I haven’t heard anything from BunkerKing in a while. How is that going?

[al]: It is actually doing pretty good, considering how the paintball industry in the US has taken a hit the last few years. We will come out with some new fresh stuff soon.

[mr]: With all that said, what does the future hold for Alex Lundqvist? Do you see yourself continuing to play professional paintball into your forties? Fifties? Do you look at guys like Rich Telford, Ron Kilbourn, and Bob Long and say “Yep. That’s exactly what I want to do.”? Or does your ambition lie elsewhere?

[al]: Who knows? But as far as paintball, I’ll play as long as I enjoy it.

[mr]: Thank you very much for your time Alex.

[al]: Anytime.