issue / 15
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ART / BETTIES KLER
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EDITORIAL / 15
Life is like skateboarding; if you don’t push your limits, you can not progress. Slaming hard, pushing your limits and learning... even in life you have to try your own tricks. db.
COVER: Bugs Fardell, bs smith grind. Photo Marcello Guardigli. a brief glance
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FRAGMENTS THE PURITY OF YOUTH (DC young guns in Tyrol)
5 photos five destinations Bastien Duverdier PLACES 15 / TOGO
ART NOW! / a brief glance
BETTIES KLER
ISSUE / 15
CONTENTS
strange UNCONVENTIONAL NOISES BOOK / DIY
ANOTHER CHANCE.
HOON-RUN / from OZ to US
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EDITOR and CONCEPT Davide Biondani. (davide@abriefglance.com) ASSOCIATE EDITOR Guido Bendotti. PHOTOGRAPHERS Leo Sharp, Kévin Mètallier, Friedjof Feye, Garric Ray, Fabio Montagner, Marcello Guardigli, Eric Antoine, Alan Maag, Chiara Terraneo, Bertrand Trichet, Seu Trinh, Jacob Messex, Davide Biondani, Spike Jonze. CONTRIBUTORS Andrew Zolin, Francesco Paolo Chielli, Jonathan Levin, Danny Galli, Mauro Caruso, Jerome Campbell, Ale Martoriati, Holger von Krosigk, Niall Neeson, Simone Bertozzi. DESIGN Fake Donkey Lab.
www.abriefglance.com
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info@abriefglance.com abrief glance skateboard mag is a bulletin published by fake donkey skateboard asd. No part of this pubblication may be reproduced without the permission of the publisher. All right reserved.
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autumn / a brief glance
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davide biondani photo. a brief glance
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FRAGMENTS
Fabio Colombo, Fakie kickflip off the bank. Photo: Davide Biondani. Milano.
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FRAGMENTS a brief glance
Anthony Boudard, Bluntslide. Photo: KÊvin Mètallier. Oiartzun, Spain.
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FRAGMENTS a brief glance
Marco Giordano, Tre flip. Photo: Davide Biondani. Switzerland.
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Nick Boserio, Wallie 50-50 grind. Photo: Leo Sharp. Oz.
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FRAGMENTS
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THE PURITY OF YOUTH
(DC young guns in Tyrol).
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Photography and words Davide Biondani.
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Do you remember your first skateboard trip? Planning, organizing, leaving with your friends, skating new spots without thinking about anything ... just fantastic. I think that’s something a skateboarder will never forget... A few months ago, when Danny, DC Italy team manager, asked me to go on this trip for a week with the two youngest riders on the team, Ivan Federico and Andrea “Gummy� Casasanta, I immediately accepted. I think Danny was surprised by my enthusiastic response, I was looking forward to going on this mission with two young and talented skateboarders, since it is always motivating to go shooting with new people in new places. Our destinations were the concrete parks in Tyrol, southern Austria. Ivan and Andrea are respectively 13 and 14 years old and this was their first trip without parents and away from home. The two are really good at skating and fun to travel with; they skated every single transition we went to with big smiles on their faces, having fun and landing a lot of tricks. I knew the two were good, but on more than one occasion I have to say that I was really impressed by their skateboarding.
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The best thing was to see and feel their own serenity, cheerfulness in facing life and new experiences, their purity in living skateboarding without any prejudice, without any conditioning, with an open mind and far away from all the useless things. And it is fantastic to see in them the true spirit of skateboarding: skating for the fun of it, pushing beyond the limits, having fun and doing it with a smile on their faces. Yes, this is the true spirit of skateboarding. We skated the concrete parks of Brixlegg, Worgl and Innsbruck. The last day the rain forced us to spend the day in an indoor water park full of fun slides including one with a 10 meter vertical leap at the end. Really terrifying. Obviously we spent most of the time on this last one. The week flew by and left us all with really positive energy.
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ANDREA / bs nosegrind.
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IVAN / fs feeble grind.
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IVAN / blunt bs out.
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ANDREA / feeble grind.
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IVAN / kickflip indy.
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ANDREA / fs wallride to fs 5-0 grind. a brief glance
ANDREA / bs 360 nosegrab.
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IVAN / judo air.
THE PURITY OF YOUTH (DC young guns in Tyrol).
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IVAN / bs crail over the corner.
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5 photos five destinations
bastien duverdier
Photography and words Kévin Mètallier.
Bastien was born in the Basque Country, Bayonne specifically, in the southwest of France, where he still lives today. I met him for the first time around a decade ago. At that time, this young whippersnapper had not yet chin hairs, did not speak a word of english and didn’t go to school already to go skateboarding with his buddies. I remember being struck by the determination and the will that animated this kid on his skateboard. He couldn’t imagine yet how far his talent on his little wheels would take him a few years later. Since Bastien became a big man, traveled on all continents, learned to play well the guitar and wiped her first disappointments ... At only 24 years, the young from Bayonne, epicurean in front of the eternal, is taking full advantage of his bohemian life and has not finished to push fast his small piece of wood on the highway of life ... a brief glance
Bastien in the Tea Field - India. I made this portrait of Bastien the last day of our exciting journey in India. It is very early this morning and I asked our taxi driver to stop a few minutes to enjoy this raking light and mist oozes tea fields. We are in northeast India, not far from the
peaks of the Himalayas in the independent province of the Sikim, on the road to Kalimpong, a small Buddhist village in the
mountains where we had the chance to meet his holiness the Dalai Lama a few days earlier‌ In a few hours, we are going to be embedded in our airbus seats, on our way to a completly different setting, the West...
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Nosebonk - Abu Dhabi. For those who have never set foot in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), let me give you one little advice, don’t go there ! After spending several weeks there, I can tell you that this destination is on the top of the hit parade of the most uninteresting places that I’ve visited. These megacities emerge from the desert few decades ago only, with billions of petrodollars as Dubai, Doha, or Abu Dhabi, get an interest very relative. Countless buildings all higher than each other, which grow there like a weed, are probably impressing for tourists as us during the first hours there, before beeing quickly replaced in our heads by a feeling of ambient superficiality, with a dramatic cultural and relational vacuum. In this fake world, all just seems to be based on the trappings of wealth, the most conspicuous as possible. In other words, here is a land of superlatives, where we built the tallest building in the world, the largest mall in the world, mosques and palaces most extravagant possible... Each Native stashed behind the tinted windows of his brand new air-conditioned 4x4 and can enjoy this ephemeral masquerade... Anyway, during this time, at the foot of one of the countless glass tower that pierces the pristine blue sky, my friend Bastien Duverdier takes time to have fun on his skateboard and catch the opportunity to land a somptuous nosebump on an unexpected spot as improbable as this city in the middle of the desert ...
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bastien duverdier
Boneless into the goal – Spain. Bastien did not like football. This is probably one of the reasons that unconsciously make him finish with a skateboard under his soles rather than a leather ball in front of his toe. Training, locker rooms, fans, rankings, competitions, regulations, performance obligations, penalties... all those stuffs are not really exciting in Bastien’s life. He’s not this kind of guy who’s gonna watch football matches on TV during the World Cup, do not know the names of famous players and has no favorite team. In short, football is definitely not his thing. That day, however, against all odds, the young ripper from Bayonne was for a while in the skin of a stricker and finally put his goal... Okay, he returned to the cage with his skateboard doing a boneless but it was still a beautiful phase of play, what would say the referee ?!
5 photos five desti
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Ollie - Greece. This spot is located in the northeast of Greece, two hours drive from Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city after Athens. We already had the opportunity to go to Greece many times. If the past few months the country is mainly synonymous to most people as a major economic crisis amid political tensions. Nevertheless, Greece is a beautiful country with a great cultural treasure, and welcoming and warm people where there is a good way of living and where skate spots no lack. We are in the middle of June, the heat is stifling, and we have only one desire, go to the beach not far away and spend the rest of our day feet in the water. Before that Bastien has to accomplish his mission, flying over this colored bar with an ollie. The rough run up make it harder, but it will only takes three small attempts to get finally his ticket to the beach...
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Gap to crooked grind - France. At first glance, Bastien is a character rather quiet and serene, the kind of guy very polite, a respectable man in all circonstances, fairly measured, always helpful that does not lapse into extravagance and not trying to get noticed. A kind of ideal son... This is not exactly the case, while on his skateboard he tries to execute dangerous stunts... At this point, the ideal son i was talking just before goes away and leaves room for a madman who starts screaming insanities, throwing his board in all directions, and rips his shirt scaring the grandmothers... This afternoon, Bastien is once again turning mad after falling down few times like crazy while trying this gap to crooked grind. Fortunately he eventually stomp his trick before having to exterminate half of the town with his skateboard. It is impressive to see how skateboarding and adrenaline can change the temperament of the people, and especially Bastien‌
bastien duverdierr a brief glance
5 photos five destinations
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Togo
PLACES / 15
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Photos: KÊvin Mètallier.
Photos: Friedjof Feye.
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PLACES / 15
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Togo a brief glance
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ART NOW! /
BETTIES KLER
“I intend art as the only door through which I can experience the beautiful dimensions of my imagination, where there are no rules but only positive vibrations that have helped me get over even the most diďŹƒcult and dramatic moments of my life, transforming them into positive experiences. Painting is the primary need and most sincere manifestation of my person, and from my point of view art is directly proportional to music: one cannot exist without the other because it is the perfect relationship that gives birth to the vibration that from my heart, reaches my brain like an explosion. I have never hindered my creativity, because it has allowed me to search for the support and perfect humus for my expression, that over the years have revealed themselves to be the canvases for painting and skin for the art of tattooing.â€?
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BETTIES KLER
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ART NOW! BETTIES KLER
BETTIES KLER a brief glance
...there are no rules but only positive vibrations...
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strange UNCONVENTIONAL NOISES
Strange Skateboards in Slovenia
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WHICH ARE THE MAIN INGREDIENTS OF A SKATEBOARD TOUR? A BUNCH A FRIENDS, SOME SPOTS TO SKATE AND GOOD MUSIC PUMPING ON THE STEREO WHILE TRAVELING. SLOVENIA OFFERS INTERESTING SPOTS, THE STRANGE GUYS ARE ALWAYS A GOOD CREW TO ORGANIZE A TRIP WITH AND WITH THEM THE SOUNDTRACK IS GRANTED. WE STARTED HEADING EAST TOGETHER WITH FABIO “MOON-T” MONTAGNER, JACOPO “J-COB” PICOZZA, FABIO BOTTELLI, ANGELO NETTO, FRANCESCO MARCONATO, LED BY CHIEF DAVE MARTINAZZO WITH RICCARDO CECCATO TO DOCUMENT THE TRIP. DAVOR AND MIHA JOINED US TO SHOW THEIR SPOTS, TO GIVE US HOSPITALITY IN THEIR HOUSES AND SKATE WITH US. A BEAUTIFUL WEEK SPENT PUSHING, FILMING, PHOTOGRAPHING, VISITING NEW PLACES, SMILING, EATING, HAVING FUN ... A SKATEBOARD TOUR AS IT SHOULD BE. A FEATURE OF THE TRIP WAS THE MUSIC SELECTION ALWAYS WELL CARED WHILE TRAVELING BY CAR. THE MUSIC SELECTION DURING A SKATEBOARD TOUR IS BASICALLY VERY IMPORTANT… I TOOK PART IN A TEN DAYS SKATEBOARD TRIP WITH THE VAN’S STEREO BROKEN… A REAL NIGHTMARE. GOOD MUSIC KEEPS THE GOOD MOOD, PUSHES YOUR MOTIVATION TO SKATE AND MAKES YOU SING TOGETHER HA HA. WE ASKED EACH OF THE GUYS TO PICK THEIR SONG AMONG THOSE HEARD DURING THE WEEK TOGETHER. WHAT YOU’LL FIND ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES IS WHAT CAME OUT; A GOOD MIX OF TASTES, KINDS AND STYLES.
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Lifestyle photos: Riccardo Ceccato Action shots and opening Davide Biondani.
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Fabio Montagner / Ollie.
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FABIO MONTAGNER / SANTIGOLD - DESPERATE YOUTH. “So let them say we won’t do better Lay out the rules that we can’t break They wanna sit and watch you wiggler Their legacy’s too hard to take
Oh, we set our dreams to carry us In the middle where we were one Now we push right past to find out Or either win what they have lost”
FABIO BOTTELLI / ROGER ALAN WADE - IF YOU ARE GONNA BE DUMB. “ When you get knocked down you gotta get back up, I ain’t the sharpest knife in the drawer but I know enough, to know,
if your gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough I lit my brain with Rot-Gut whiskey ‘Till all my pain was chicken fried And I had dudes with badges frisk me Teach me how to swallow pride “
“We set our dreams to carry us.” a brief glance
Fabio Bottelli / Bs footplant.
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Miha Vogrincic / Blunt to fakie.
MIHA / DEZARIE - STRENGHT YOUR MIND. “ Youth do not know If your friend a your enemy or your friend Right now things are hectic So who is serious at playing tricks? Keep on firm meditation Don’t stop in nothing foolish Keep your heart clean and strong Let your god self be established And strengthen your mind...”
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“So who is serious at playing tricks?”
DAVOR / JOHNNY CASH HURT. “I hurt myself today To see if I still feel I focus on the pain The only thing that’s real The needle tears a hole The old familiar sting Try to kill it all away But I remember everything”.
Davor Miljkovic / Wallride.
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Jacopo Picozza / Impossible.
“The future is not what it used to be.� a brief glance
JACOPO PICOZZA / FOALS - BLACK GOLD. “The future is not what it used to be, used to be The future is not what it used to be, used to be They buried the gold, your ancestry’s sold and left Just the residue They buried the gold, your ancestry’s sold and left Just the mist of you They buried the gold, your ancestry’s sold and left Just the residue They buried the gold, your ancestry’s sold and left Just the mist of you Now what’s happened to you, look what’s happened to you What’s happened to you Now that spring is finally here Your hollow heart, your hollow heart Drive through the forest and into the night Away from the city, away from the light”.
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Fabio Bottelli / Fs smith grind the whole ledge.
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THE DRIVER / THE SMITHS - THERE IS A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT. “ Take me out tonight because I want to see people and I want to see lights Driving in your car oh please don’t drop me home because it’s not my home, it’s their home, and I’m welcome no more And if a double-decker bus crashes into us to die by your side such a heavenly way to die”.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER / MOLOKO - STATUES. “ And yes it’s hard to fake But I’m faltering in the steps I’m about to take I am sure, it’s true What is all for me is much the same to you If all the statues in the world Would turn to flesh with teeth of pearl Would they be kind enough to comfort me The setting sun is set in stone And it remains for me alone To carve my own and set it free”.
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Fabio Montagner / Bs nosegrind overcrooks. a brief glance
BOOK /
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Rich Gilligan is a photographer and skateboarder from Dublin. Published by 19/80 Éditions with the support of Carhartt, DIY is his ďŹ rst book documenting the DIY scene within skateboarding. a brief glance
Skateboarders all over the world have always built their own spots, but lately the concrete “D.I.Y. scene” seems to be very popular, why in your opinion? I think that the DIY scene at the moment is weirdly quite a trendy thing in skateboarding, which is a good and bad thing. Good in that people building more and more spots mean more fun for skateboarders in general but bad in the sense that if too many spots start to appear everywhere then more and more people will start to become aware of them and then in turn possibly shut them down. Overall though I’m all for it - the more the merrier. I hate when people get elitist about anything, especially skateboarders. Get over yourselves, we are all dirtbags. We are all used to see skateboarding documented in its action or lifestyle part, often with glossy and almost perfect images, why you focused on spots
Which is the farthest place you went to take the photos of the book? Warsaw or New Orleans probably or actually Burnside is probably the furthest location from Dublin, Ireland. Weirdly though parts of Portland reminded me of Dublin however obviously Dublin is slightly lacking in terms of the scale and epicness of Burnside and neck tattoo’s. Best DIY spot you went? Bray Bowl in Ireland without a doubt. Partly because I worked on this the most in terms of construction but also just because of the amazing sessions that went down there this summer. I remember the a brief glance
and particularly on concrete DIY spots? I wanted these photographs to be the exact opposite of what most skate photography consists of, so I kept all the pictures really simple and worked only with natural light and avoided shooting with an extreme wide angle lens. My reason for focusing on the landscape as opposed to the skaters or tricks was because the outcome of this work was never meant to be aimed as editorial content for magazines. I pictured this project as a book and exhibition during the 4 years I worked on it and I think I also felt quite jaded shooting formulated skate photos where everything is fisheye and lit with flashes to maximise the drama of whatever trick is being documented. This way of working with the landscape that surrounds the DIY spot was my way of exploring this subculture and presenting it to the world in a way which I would hope can appeal to not only skaters but to society in general.
very first session there and all my friends, most of whom are grown men were just so stoked that this thing now existed in Ireland. That session was the best fun I have had on my skateboard in a long time. In saying that the last time I skated Bray bowl I had 3 of the worst slams I’ve had in years all within a ten minutes of each other so it proves yet again that skateboarding is a cruel mistress! Which is your favorite shot of the book? I can’t decide... but I love the one in FDR in Philadelphia with the people lurking in the background that photo felt like a breakthrough image during the early days of working on this. I can distinctly remember picking those films up
from a lab in New York and getting this feeling that I was somehow on the right track with the project. It’s moments like that that keep you going on such a long term project where self-doubt and panic start to creep into your mind. Which was the weirdest / bizarre situation in which you found yourself shooting for the book? Definitely in a spot called The Peach Orchard in New Orleans. I went there to shoot it last year whilst on my honeymoon and it was in such a sketchy area. A hidden part of the city where a white guy from Dublin driving a rental Ford Mustang should not really be alone - which was exactly what happened. I was walking underneath this bridge
but this feel like a “real” photo book so I am delighted with the end result. Jad and Stephane who worked on it with me were amazing dudes and so motivated to make it all as good as it possibly could be so I actually owe them a lot for having so much faith in me. How did the book idea came to life? It was the perfect way for me to combine my passion for documentary photography and skateboarding and I had decided I was going to self-publish this regardless. Apart from this project what kind of photography are you into? As I already mentioned I have always been really drawn to documentary photography - basically photography that has a subject matter and it’s own voice
with all these crackheads sitting on couches and going up and asking them if they knew where any skate spots were around there - they looked more freaked out by me than vice versa but internally I was really really scared and I didn’t have a clue where I was going or where I even was. 10 minutes later though and I had found the spot and was skating the bowl with these local ghetto kids who were so nice. None of them had ever heard of Ireland or where it was, the whole situation was so bizarre. Is this your first book? This is my first proper book, I self published a book a few years back for an exhibition I did called “Timeline” and I’ve made zines over the years too
interests me. But overall I do enjoy a wide range of work, from Jim Goldberg’s “Raised by Wolves” work to Robert Frank, Ed Templeton and William Egglestons early work. I have always been attracted to American photography for some reason especially the landscape work of Stephen Shore and the constructed imagery of Philip Lorca di Corcia and Gregory Crewdson. I could go on and on really... Future projects you are working to at present time? I am unsure right now but I always have a few ideas on the back burner which will hopefully see the light of day soon. For now I am just really stoked that I got this book out there and hopefully I can focus on exhibiting the outcome in as many locations as possible... Thanks, Richard. a brief glance
BOOK / DIY - Richard Gilligan
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HOON-RUN / from OZ to US
Photos and words Marcello Guardigli.
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ANOTHER CHANCE. The first time I tried to go to the U.S. I lost 1200 euros. Well I lost a flight I’d booked going to Oregon. I didn’t miss the flight. My departure from Europe was denied because of passport problem. My visa was granted, but you need a passport with microchip, and in my case I had to apply one month in advance for an interview for getting a visa. I found out all this two days before boarding and in Italy there is no chance to get a passport in that time unless you are the son of the mayor of your town or you have friends in high places. So instead of going to visit Tim ”Dorfus” McDougall in Portland, I spent the 2 weeks in Barcelona. I wasn’t spewing for the money loss, but Oregon was in my dreams for a long time, and the next time I could go wasn’t until the following year. Not everything is meant to happen and probably it wasn’t the right time. a brief glance
Months after the bad luck, once back in Oz, I was talking
In LA, cabs are pretty dodgy looking in comparison
he was organizing a Hoon-Run in Oregon based in Port-
everything looks different, kind of not normal, especially
with Andrew Currie (founder of Hoon Skateboards), and land. The last chance to skate in the dream concrete state
with Tim before he was moving back to Australia with his family for good.
I was stoked on the invite for joining that trip.
During that time I pretty much quit filming and started getting some pictures published here and there.
In fact Andrew asked me if I was bringing the video camera with me, but my idea was documenting the experience as photographer.
At that time he didn’t have any photographer on the trip, there was a chance that Mike O’Meally could join us for part of it. I wasn’t worried at all being the second photo-
grapher; I could just learn a lot of things from an amazing photographer like him. The fact I had the chance of being
in the States with the Hoon team was enough to make me happy.
Between the day I spoke with Cuzza and the departure date, there really wasn’t much time to organize all my
photography gear. At that stage I was shooting everything on black and white film with a Nikon fe2 so I decided on buying a Hasselblad for colour shots, also a lot of rolls of
film. The time had arrived and the trip was about to begin.
At this stage I got confirmation that I was the only photographer for the trip, as Mike had to follow another tour at the same time.
I was pretty excited about that, I knew I could do it , but at
the same time I felt a bit nervous because documenting the whole trip was on my shoulders.
My passport was fine this time, but saying that, I was still afraid of the American customs. I had heard so many weird stories about fingers prints not matching with
passports, luggage fully tripped open and all sorts of stuff. Luckily it wasn’t my case; 15 minutes from being off the airplane I was touching my sole on California.
My first thing was to catch this cab for Venice Beach,
where I had use of a friend’s apartment for a couple of
days till my departure for Portland, where I was to join the rest of the Aussies.
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with Australians ones. In a place you never been before when you are a stranger, alone at 6 in the morning and hang-over from jet lag . The cab driver wouldn’t accept
credit cards, we had to stop to an ATM to get some cash out…damn this dude who can’t even speak English he’s
going to take off with all my gear and I’m at the start of the trip with nothing on me! All went good, he waited
for me. When we arrived in Venice nothing was open yet,
there were just some people from the council cleaning the ocean front walk and some bums hanging around. I had
to wait for the apartment key so the only thing I could do was wait…wait and wait.
Damn, I’m originally from Italy, which is not a very safe
country robbing-wise, and was feeling a bit uncomfortable here…
As the sun rose, the shops opened, people started to fill
the beautiful beach side, buskers and “removable” souvenir shops turned up suddenly, as mushrooms do after a rainstorm, giving another magic touch to the location. Time to have breakfast and the place became the same as you
can see in the movies. People everywhere, skaters, runners, surfers, chicks in bikini, normal looking people, weird
looking people, funny looking people. Any kind you can
think of you can find it at Venice beach. The atmosphere
was amazing; I could breath the creativity, good vibration
and freedom of that place. At that moment I realized why
this was the place where a lot of creative people and artists popped out from after the war era forwards, and where skateboarding began!
The apartment I was staying in was situated on the front
walk…200 metres from the skate park. After a few days at the beach enjoying the park, catching up with some aussie mates, and luckily taking a picture just during the last day with the legendary Pat Hgoho, it was time to go to the airport and fly to north.
Everyone I was to meet was waiting at the airport, Jeremy Corea was checking in at the same time as me, and the
rest of the crew formed by Andrew “Cuzza” Currie, Max
Schubert, Bugs Fardell, and Jezz from QLD were ready at the boarding gate .
SANTA MONICA / PIER Two hours of flight before landing on the Concrete Para-
The dusk was coming along; it was time for a couple of
Picked up the van and straight to the hotel which was si-
first park the following day.
dise state of Oregon.
tuated in the west side of town, not far from the city…who cares about the city…what we need is a car, beers some decent food, a bed and Burnside 5 minutes away.
Since day one the tour was on, no drama for jet lag, the
mood of everyone was hyped so we hit as refreshment the
park at Glenhaven. We caught up straight away with Tim who lives one block away.
I haven’t seen Tim for about 5 years, he’s the same, with his big smile on his face all the time, a couple of cans in the backpack, one in his hand and ready to have a roll. He’s a special human being!
drinks, a feed and to get ready for Burnside, which was our Burnside…it was built in 1990 “illegally” under the east end of the bridge where it got the name from. If the
council for any reason decides to pull it down it can do it at anytime.
The skaters who run the joint don’t care. They live as if it
will be there forever, building new sections and decorating the beautiful beast with different murals and color ways every now and then.
There are a lot of tales about the park, especially about the locals, saying they are rude, aggressive and treating strangers not at the best.
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All this is just rumor; people in there are amazing, maybe a bit rough if we want to say, but nothing about rude and arrogant.
Every single man in there gave us a good welcoming and treated us as one of them. They don’t care who you are, how you skate. They just want respect of the park and locals. They get angry if you are a smart arse, or if you leave rubbish around…there are bins…so please use them!
The colossal beauty is not easy to skate at all, but the Hoon crew
didn’t have any problem at all. From the pictures it looks very smooth but it’s not really…
But it’s Burnside. It’s perfect anyway. That morning, when we turned up under the bridge, Mel was there already waiting for us. I had never met Mel before. He’s one of the funniest and craziest skaters I had the chance to spend time with.
He’s originally from NZ and he moved to Oregon a few years ago and since then he never went back.
What a shredder! He’s nuts. He can’t stop shredding or yelling at everyone.
He calls everyone cunt…or fucking cunt! He’s not rude at all…it’s Mel, it’s his way to keep the vibe high and pump everyone up. It’s hard to explain…but without him on the trip, it wouldn’t be the same at all. From then on he was with us all the time, our guide and our smile.
After a good 3 hours of shredding, and couple and of pictures
taken, we were ready for the next spot, which was Gabriel park. I haven’t been driven on the right hand side for a year or so.
It was funny how we constantly reminded each other keeping the
right; we didn’t have any accident so I think all that yelling helped. Usually the drivers were Cuzza or myself. He was the daily driver and I was the after skating one, because usually I don’t like drin-
king during the day. I had more chances to bring everyone back to the hotel safe.
When the last session was over and the stars were shining in the
sky, it was time to pack the gear up, sit in the car and start yelling “Everybody on the car!”
I know it doesn’t make much sense in English, but that’s the way I speak sometimes. And it worked…no-one missed the ferry.
Another day was gone with more good memories and good shots…maybe.
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MEL STEWART / BS SMITH GRIND.
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BUGS FARDELL / 5-0 GRIND.
“Maybe”, because I had just analog cameras, and I had to
fact that they trusted me gave extra belief in my skills ever
and at least realize if we got something good so far.
pumped for doing their best.
find a good photo store where I could process the films Found it! It was just a couple of blocks away from our
before.So everyday the mission was on, and they were
hotel.
Cuzza has been to Oregon many times before and he thin-
the blog on skateboard.com.au and go to the lab to drop
that. He’s very precise on his plans. He had every single
Every morning I woke up early to have breakfast, update off some films and pick up some developed ones.
As soon as the guys got up, it was time to show them any shots from the previous days.
We didn’t have any scanner, so we couldn’t really see just
how good the shots were and if usable, as we were looking at negatives without either a loupe, or a light box.
They were stoked anyway on what they could see, and the
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ks it’s the best place in the states. I think he’s right about day of the tour planned.
We drove for miles and miles and hit pretty much all the parks scheduled on paper.
Cuzza is a legend; everywhere we went he had something planned trick-wise. If not he was filming the team or
shredding anyway like if he was still a young kid whom never seen that park before.
Probably all that yoga in the morning helps.
Also, he’s one of the most entertaining people I ever met.
It’s amazing when he tells stories, you listen even if you don’t want, the pas-
sion he puts into it is phenomenal, and he can imitate any voice or gesture of nearly anyone out there.
I reckon he could also have a future as impersonator! Driving through Oregon was awesome, it reminds me of Germany. Eve-
rything is green, the air is clean the sky is clear and also the temperature is very similar to the European country.
The weather was with us! For the 12 days the sunshine was on our path constantly.
Apparently before our arrival it rained for 2 weeks non-stop.
Luck or fate, we were on the road everyday enjoying the wonderful place. The only time the weather wasn’t with us happened when we arrived to Lincoln City. The sea mist was surrounding the whole town.
We couldn’t understand where we were but at a certain time the sun appeared for a bit and we realized that we were in a dream.
That park is developed from the top of a hill towards its bottom.
The first section was built in 1999 and it’s still under continuing construction. It’s amazing the amount of concrete was poured in there.
The 2 downhill sections with humps are insane, the first one which starts from the old section ends up to a 13 foot corner bowl. It’s bloody fast!
Apparently even Red Scott who built that park didn’t pump properly the last
hump before the trannie, and flew straight on to it, knocking himself seriously down…it’s no joke!
ANDREW CURRIE / BS TAIL.
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MAX SHUBERT / OVER PIPE.
The second one starts near the end of the first one, creating
12 feet long bs Ollie??? Should be OK…What a crazy kid!
another 10 foot wall. Mel was the only one with the ener-
He’s very quiet most the time, but when he’s on the board
a kind of fork. From there on just hips, which end into gy to skate that place properly.
Where does he get all that power from? Who knows….
Bloody Maxi! He’s just 20 but he got a lot of talent. he loves make the coping scream.
Max woke up again late that afternoon when it was pretty
The following days we went to West Linn, Aumsville, Do-
he had to rest from skating the park before.
and for sure Burnside a couple more times.
much dark, trying bs smith on the 13 foot corner. Probably
nald, Tigards, Windells, Battle Ground, Brooklyn Street
Just a bit earlier we stopped at McMinville. Max turned
This list of parks compared to the real amount of how
wall, landing on the next one. He claimed that gap as soon
No idea how long it would take if you had a rolled for a
out a crazy bs ollie over a 4 foot channel and an 8 foot as we arrived. I thought “are you serious?”
He even asked to Cuzza if an ollie with no grab was OK…
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many there is over there, is nothing.
few hours on every single one…probably a good 4 months though.
In Europe there are not many parks, or at least before I
can’t land it in a few tries…just because it’s one of his
The parks used to be wooden ones with some banks, ledges
Never give up! He’s still under age so he can’t go in clubs,
moved to Australia.
rail and quarter pipes; classic shitty parks. Being in Oz
for a while I had the chance to open my mind on what a
proper concrete skate park is, because in down-under there are a lot of good ones. But once you land over there…it’s another planet.
Burnside was built in 1990…in Italy during that period we had nothing like that at all…probably we didn’t even think
trams line ones. He’s very talented and can skate anything! pubs and drink ,but he’s the only one who hooked up with a girl! What a legend!
Oh yeah, Quiksilver Europe was in Oregon on tour at
the same time of ours, and Ross McGouran who was on
it, had the beautiful idea to come over with us to the next destination.
was something real.
I haven’t seen Ross for 2 years; last time was in Bondi
After an awesome 11 days of fun through Oregon, the trip
him.
Anyway…lucky I passed by Oz before going to Oregon. with the Hoons was over.
Last park to be skated, as the first must be…Burnside.
It was a Friday, late arvo when we approached it, it was packed of locals, we had an awesome session everyone charged as a maniac!
As on every tour the last night you have to celebrate, for
sure. We ended up at the Slammer Tavern with the crew that we were skating with at Burnside, Blair Heath was there too, why not!
It was a funny and messy closing ceremony night, we
woke up in hangover and most of the crew was leaving
Portland. Bugs and Jezz were the only ones staying a bit longer, and following my pilgrimage to San Francisco.
Bloody Bugs…I didn’t count how many time he asked me, “ would ya?” Man… every time we passed next to a chick. Ugly, pretty or hot, if we were walking, skating or in the car, always the same question: “would ya?”
I think was funny. In fact after a while, I started to do the same.
Bugs is a rad!
Not just his skateboarding, but also as a man.
though. It’s always good spend time with a good mate like We caught the same flight and landed on the peninsula of north California at night. It’s so weird when you go to a
place you never been before at night. You don’t realize or
understand anything at all about it. You can’t understand how big the city is, where down town is or where you
are lodged. We caught a cab from the airport and went
straight to a friend of mine who hosted us for a week. We
just knew that she lives at Pacific Heights. After 15 minutes ride, what we could see from the cab was just big hills, and once arrived we found out that we were going to stay at the top of one them.
The sun woke us up pretty early the day after. I couldn’t
waste time inside the house, and so I went to have a look around. Damn! From that hill we could see Alcatraz,
Golden Gate Bridge and the whole bay. With regret that
morning was the only time I saw the Golden Gate Bridge properly. All the other days was surrounded from a thick fog, which you could cut with a knife! San Francisco is
very unique. Not just for its hills, but for it’s atmosphere. I
think it’s magic. There are cars, tram, buses everywhere. but it’s not chaotic at all. It’s fantastic.
From my point of view is one of those people I could
During the first days we didn’t have any car, and we didn’t
being funny, talking shit, give me shit, but also listens in
oking for them. Bombing hills, and walking for miles was
spend months of tours with. I like him because he loves
what other people say. He’s also honest, as is his brother
Jack. I mean, he’s not one of those who lick your arse, or they don’t tell you what they really think. If there is so-
mething he doesn’t like, he tells you straight away, with no remorse. There should be more teenagers like him.
He gets pissed off so bad when he tries something and
know where the spots were. So we just cruised around lo-
our daily routine. The worst part was walking up hill. There are some, which are that steep that you can hear your cal-
ves scream. And the one where we stayed at the top of was the worst, which means every single evening after a long
day of skating we had to climb it. I wish we had a ski-lift at some stage.
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BUGS FARDELL / FS FEEBLE GRIND.
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We were looking for spots and a DIY we heard about but we kept getting shit direction from locals.
Luckily there was a skater at the food shop who knew where the
DIY was. Other 15 minutes of uphill and downhill the game was
on. I was a bit confused on the fact of climbing the fence with all my gear, because the area and situation looked a bit dodgy. Was
like climbing in someone back yard, so I waited a bit to see what
the go was. After a bit Bugs yells to me: “Nello move your arse in! I got a trick I want to shoot!”
So I did, because when Bugs says “I got a trick” he really does have one, and it’s good one.
The DIY was skateable but not finished yet. The end main pocket
was still in construction, so do a fs grind on the top of the bell (in the middle section) over the hump wasn’t the easiest thing to do. You have just drop and hit it because there are no lines available.
First day in SF and Bugs collects one of the best tricks of the trip. As I said before, going around SF with no car, when you are loo-
king for spots in not ideal. If you also have the “pleasure” to carry a trolley and a pretty heavy backpack full of photographic gear is even worse. It’s not that bad when you drop hills, the problem is trying to slow down when you have to avoid cars.
I didn’t get hurt from cars but my shoes where trashed, ready for the wasting bin after a week.
Bit by bit we hit all the well known spots, but I was over on wa-
sting most of the day in public transport, so we decided to rent a car and my nightmare was finally over.
I was so keen to check Fort Miley and Fort Crosby out before to
leave SF. I thought that if we had luck enough, we could get a good shot with the Bridge in background. Damn! Even that day no luck at all. We could barely see the banks and rails. No trace of the bay, water and bridge. It was a like being on the top of a hill in the
middle of nowhere and having the “lovely melody” of boats honking. Once we tried to go over the bridge towards north driving
through the famous bridge…where is the bridge? We couldn’t see
anything, we couldn’t see the red colour of it, neither it’s lines, no-
thing at all, neither the cars in front of us. Finally we went over the Bridge, (if there is one) and the sun was shining as never before.
Over the other side we hit a couple of parks, but nothing awesome though.
The following days we checked more spots, thanks to this videographer who has been living in town for a few years. We went to
check out some rails, banks, rail banks and some ledges. Every spot
was a kind of not skateable, and after one day of driving around we realize that this dude was a kind of psycho.
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ROSS McGOURAN / WALLRIDE.
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Thanks god he didn’t kill us. Ross hurt is wrist pretty bad, Bugs
opened his hand with a glass bottle trying to film a line with the
potential killer in the middle of the thickest fog ever seen before.
Since then the hunger for tricks started to calm down, but we kept our mood up anyway and enjoying the foggy scenery.
Ross was working at his interview for Kingpin at the time so the idea was to get some good shots to send over to Europe to com-
plete it. He was looking for some big rails because he didn’t have a
banger for a cover. As I said, it didn’t go that well about street spots vs. photos, but at least we went back to the awesome Flower shop. By the way, the flower shop is a small strip of concrete, probably 6 metres wide and 20 long.
Very tight trannies, various sections with pool cooping, humps and wall rides. The name is taken because in the building next to it, a
community ”hippy” lives there. They have a lot studios and activities sites: like jamming stage for bands, art creation areas, painting areas, sculpture areas and growing different types of plants. We found
out all these that second time. We jumped over the fence as usual, but after a bit someone with a beer in his hands opened the door, which is in the wall that faces straight into the park.
This guy is part of the community and super chilled. He had a big one the night before, and he spent the night in the “shop”.
He explained us the actual situation, joined the session and when was late afternoon he brought us inside to have a look around. Pretty amazing joint!
Ross got a trick! No doubt about that! He’s a legend, he’s full of
energy all the time even if he’s vegetarian! When he’s on his board and he has a trick to do, his look change completely. He becomes
pretty serious looking, he’s in a mission and he must do it. One of the most determined skaters I ever met, and also one of the most funny too. The shot turn up good, Ross was stoked about it.
We sent the hi-res away but for some reason it never got run. Sad part of the story is that it took two months to find out that the shot wasn’t used, so didn’t publish anywhere else.
I sent several emails asking if I could get a copy of the mag, because would be awesome have a shot of Ross published in his inter-
view. Finally, when I asked also for payment for the contribution to the magazine, I got a brief answer: “We didn’t use it so we owe you nothing.”
I’m happy anyway, because I spent rad time with Ross as always. Skateboarding is amazing even with this crap surrounding it!
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The times in SF was up and once again…let’s go out to have a ball because it’s the last night.
The following day I had the flight in the afternoon for LA with Bugs, and Ross early morning for Canada to visit his sister. The
party probably went a bit too hard…I woke up and Ross was still
at our apartment. Damn. Had someone missed something? Happy as always he sort out his flight for the day after enjoying an extra day in SF.
Bugs and I we spent a few days in LA, trying to skate a bit more
and get some more shots. We got one at the last minute, just before leaving, to say I salute you.
There is a song which says: in the street of San Francisco, gentle people with flowers in their hair.
Well, no one worn flowers in their hair over there, probably the
most hippy person I saw in 7 days was Ross. But I can guarantee
that the people over there are amazing as much as in Portland, Venice and L.A. Everywhere I went I had the most welcoming time ever. I was stoked to see all that.
Awesome time, awesome places, awesome people, awesome mates to have memories to share with.
A big thanks, to those ones who shared a bit of their life with me during the journey.
If I haven’t ever lost the 1200-euro flight the year before, probably all this never happen. Some things are meant to be…
SUNSET / VENICE BEACH.
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photo davide biondani
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We’ll be back in a bit.
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