BL!SSS Magazine | February 2011 | #42 by Blisss Mag

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E VA N G E I S E L M A N

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A U S T I N

C A I R O C O R Y

F O S T E R K E N N E D Y

D A V I D E D

R E Y E S

T E M P L E T O N

J A M E S J O S H

H A R D Y H A R M O N Y

J U L I A N

D A V I D S O N

K E E G A N K E V I N L E O

S A U D E R

“ S P A N K Y ”

L O N G

R O M E R O

N E S T O R

T H E

S T E P H E N S

J U D K I N S

B A L A N C E

R V C A . C O M

O F

O P P O S I T E S

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Tomoo Gokita

BE!SEEN BE!SEEN T U R H ! ! T T O N NO

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west coast 800.225.1364 | east coast 800.621.6578 | www.alstyle.com

M O C . A S U L E I K E Z E . W W

K E N N E L L E Y

K Y L E

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF nick kalionzes nick@blisssmag.com

EDITOR

joey marshall joey@blisssmag.com

CREATIVE DIRECTOR mark paul deren madsteez@madsteez.com

EDITOR AT LARGE liz rice mcCray liz@blisssmag.com

SKATE EDITOR chris ortiz chris@blisssmag.com

SNOW EDITOR jon francis jon@blisssmag.com

MUSIC EDITOR max ritter max@blisssmag.com

ADVERTISING ads@blisssmag.com

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Jason Kenworthy, Dominic Petruzzi, Daniel Russo, Toby Ogden, Tom Carey, Brian Beilmann, Jack Coleman, Andrew Mapstone, Adam Moran, Dave Nelson, Pat Eichstaedt, Julien Lecorps, Ryan Boyes, Zach Hooper, Tim Peare, Michael Lallande, Bob Plumb, Peter Morning

CONTRIBUTORS

Matt Patterson, Willie Marshall, Daniel Russo, Liz Rice, Jason Arnold, Greg Escalante, Nathan Spoor, Tom Carey, Travis Millard, David Choe, Kai Garcia, Mickey Neilsen, Peter Townend, Hamilton Endo, Tawnya Schultz, Mike Murciano, Geoff Shively, Casey Holland, Steve Stratton, Robbie Sell, Andrew Miller, Pat Towersey, Raul Montoya, Ian Dodge, Spencer Pirdy BL!SSS Magazine 413 31st Street Newport Beach, CA 92663 www.blisssmag.com Disclaimer: Although all best efforts are made to avoid the same, we reserve the right to publish unintentional mistakes and/or factual errors which may occur on a monthly basis. No responsibility is assumed by the publishers for unsolicited materials/articles/letters/advertising and all submissions will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright and/or appropriate licensing purposes subject to Blisss’ right to edit and comment editorially. The views and opinions expressed in this magazine reﬂect the opinions of their respective authors and are not necessarily those of the publisher or the editorial team. Blisss Magazine reserves the right to accept or reject any advertising matter which may reﬂect negatively on the integrity of the magazine. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form [print or electronic] without prior written consent from the publisher.

FEBUARY 2011

Cover Art : Tomoo Gokita

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AURORAL DREAMING One of our favorite sculptors, Derek Weisberg, is having his second solo exhibition at the Anno Domini Gallery in San Jose, CA this coming month. The show, titled Auroral Dreaming, will be on display from February 4th until March 19th and is another amazing display of Derek’s attempt to answer the life long questions of mourning, suffering and death. We featured Derek’s work a while back in the November 2008 issue of BL!SSS but if you still aren’t familiar with him we suggest you check out his website derekweisberg.com. If you happen to be in or near San Jose it’s well worth a visit.

JOHN JOHN BACKDOOR CHAMP

NIKE6.0 SWOOPS JULIAN Julian Wilson started off the 2011 year with a bang by switching clothing sponsors and joining the Nike6.0 crew head to toe. Julian ended 2010 in the same fashion by making a serious run at the Triple Crown in Hawaii and qualifying for the 2011 World Championship Tour. The young Australian has played his cards right, juggling both contest duties and putting out his own signature ﬁlm in “Scratching the Surface.” Julian is one of the best in the world right now, and we congratulate Nike6.0 on adding Julian to their star-studded team.

DOWN WITH THE SHIP Derek Dunfee is a very tough fellow. Check out his new surf ﬂick “Down with the Ship” and you’ll see why. While in Tavarua a couple years back he broke two bones in his leg and was sidelined for what looked to be a long time. Instead, Derek fought back and by the 5½-month mark caught the winning paddle-in wave for the XXL Awards at Mavericks. The ﬁlm has fantastic big wave footage from Mavericks to Puerto and a compelling story to go along with it. Check out all of the time Dunfee put in and you’ll see why Volcom is lucky to have him as one of their big wave warriors.

THE GIBSON FROM SMITH

John John Florence has been crowned the 2011 Backdoor Shootout champ in nearly perfect 10-12 foot Pipeline. John John lives and breathes for Pipeline and he showed us just that by beating Pipe standouts like Kalani Chapman, Makua Rothman, Mark Healey, and Freddy Pattachia. At the end of the day team Vans took the win, and little John John walked away with a cool forty grand. Not a bad days work for a kid who can’t even legally drink the champagne that’s been showered onto him.

Smith Optics is always coming up with fresh new designs that keep us wanting more. This time they’ve come out with the “Gibson”, a rock and roll inspired shade that will have everyone reaching for their guitar picks. The shades have an old school style while at the same time having all of the latest and greatest in hi-tech optical performance. Needless to say these shades are looking solid and we can’t wait for our someone to send some our way!

Unless it’s the Cash Cab, she ain’t takin’ one. When she arrives, it’s always on time. When she’s there, you’ll know it. When she leaves, you’ll wish you were with her.

salasphotos

OLAM PROJECT

THE TOOLS OF CRIMINAL MISCHIEF Our friend Mike Vavak came by the office the other day to tell us about a new non-profit he formed called Olam. The first shirt, “Pulse”, is made from 100% organic cotton and is a one of a kind with 20% of the profit being donated to “The OC Walk to Remember,” a charity that raises money to help bereaved parents through the grieving process. Mike dedicates his effort towards helping others and the memory of his first son, Milo David Vavak. The Olam Foundation was created with a strong passion for art, surfing and living and one can’t help but be inspired by Mike’s courage and perseverance through life. Go to theolamproject.com to find out more about this wonderful foundation and head on over to Katin to purchase yourself a stylish shirt like the “Pulse” while you’re at it!

BACK IN THE SNOW

The highly acclaimed Roger Gastman is always producing masterpieces wherever he goes and his newest publication, “The Tools of Criminal Mischief,” pays homage to the gods of graffiti. The book profiles graffiti art as its own culture with a separate set of values and practices, and after reading the book you find yourself with a deeper appreciation for the graffiti world. Roger has outdone himself once again and whether it be the insight into the graffiti writing culture or the timeless images this book is a must have for any art enthusiast.

OCEANIC AWARENESS COLLABORATION Remember back in the 90’s when Arnette came out with “The Goggle” and had riders that were at the top of the sport? Since then things have gone a bit dormant, but now Arnette’s snowboard team is back and better than ever! The crew is bringing it to the next level with riders like Devun Walsh, Zac Marbin, Sage Kotsenburg and Dustin Cravin. The goggles are looking insane with diverse color ways and patterns that will get everyone psyched. Great to know that Arnette will be making our snow days that much better again!

INTERNATIONAL PLAYBOY Our boy JP Collett has made a big move this past month – leaving the ranks of Smith Optics to ﬁght bigger, better and international battles for the Skullcandy gang. Not that we particularly think that JP needs to spend any more time abroad but we’re stoked this guy is climbing the corporate ladder and following his dreams. Skullcandy is a huge company to be a part of and I know JP is the man for the job.

Provoking change is what it’s all about – that’s the primary goal behind the ﬁrst annual Art for Awareness Beneﬁt being put on by the Oceanic Awareness Collaboration. The event is taking place Saturday, February 26, from 6pm to 11pm at the Andi Campognone Project in Pamona and will feature works from over 50 artists encompassing all genres. The lists of participants is overwhelming so here is our meager attempt at a few of our favorites: The Clayton Brothers, Dave Kinsey, Dennis McNett, Jason Limon, Roland Tamayo, Mike Stilkey, Mr Jago, Craww, Adam Wallacavage, Ben Horton and many, many more. Tendollar donations are recommended at the door and the auction has something for everyone and at every price range. It really is gonna be a great time and we’ll be in attendance bidding up pieces and covering the event. We invite all our readers to come check out the artwork, bid on the auction, donate to the cause and have fun at the after party, we’ll see ya there.

LET’S PARTY

SATURDAY’S NYC Past feature artist Mike Kershnar has just completed a neat little side project with the infamous Mike Giant. The San Francisco duo just released a selfpublished art-zine titled “Let’s Party.” It features similar ideas on adjacent pages allowing you to really compare and contrast the very two different styles depicted by Giant and Kershnar. It’s another must-have for every art enthusiast’s coffee table – that is, if you’re lucky enough to get your hands on one exclusive zines.

We paid a little visit to one of our favorite surf shops in the Big Apple and we gotta tell ya that Saturdays is looking mighty nice. Well worth the visit if you make it to the big city, this store has got a little something for everyone. Opened by Morgan Collett, Josh Rosen, and Colin Tunstall over two summers ago, we’ve been trying to score a shop tee from our buddy Morgan since inception. Apparently the shop line is doing better than these dudes ever imagined and has been picked up by all types of giant account. We’ve yet to see our tees show up but at least they’ve ﬁnally got their online store on lock so we don’t have to wait any longer. Check ‘em out at SaturdaysNYC.com.

BANZAI BABY Next time you’re getting your acai ﬁx at Banzai Bowls in Laguna Beach or Costa Mesa, take some time to congratulate the mastermind Joe Bard and his wonderful wife Tiana on their new addition to the family. The Bard family will now have little Kaia Grace to keep track of around the house and if she’s anything like Joe then she will surely be a handful! Seriously though, we couldn’t be happier for Joe and Tiana and cannot wait to get a glimpse of the beautiful child on our next trip to Banzai Bowls.

TAYLOR BAG The boys at Comune have been making quite a raucous wherever they go and in the meantime have been putting out some truly unique threads along the way. But don’t be fooled, they’re not limiting themselves to strictly clothing; they recently released a couple traveling bags as well. True to the Comune style these things are dark, highly functional and quite fashionable as well. They’re produce from wax denim, feature waterproof zippers and will have heads turning wherever you show up with one of these in tow. So grab a weekend bag that’ll match your favorite pair of jeans and head and start jet setting.

PELICAN CASE In our continuous effort to keep you readers informed on how to keep your electronics dry and safe may we present to you our newest little gift from the good people at Pelican, the ¡1015. If you’re the photographer type, chances are that you are already familiar with the Pelican brand, as they have been the staple traveling photography cases for decades. With the handheld electronic generation in full it only make since you protect your gadgets with the best. The ¡1015 comes with a waterproof headphone jack so you can crank the tunes or take call while not worrying about dropping your phone in the water or taking some spray over the rail. Another must have for your traveling repertoire, do yourself a solid and get one today.

RRR

SNOWBOARDING IN CHINA Just coming off of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China has even more reason to be proud with the release of a book chronicling “A Decade of Snowboarding in China.” The book highlights the beginning of snowboarding in China as well as special moments along the way. China is quickly becoming a key player in the snowboard world and this book rings true to that. The book is being backed by the mix masters themselves, Skullcandy, and the good folks over at Burton so you know it’s worthy to add to the reading list.

ALPINESTARS SURF AND TURF Alpinestars had a wonderful holiday over in Hawaii with plenty of events to make the North Shore season even more fun. They started off by hosting a party at the Surf N Sea in Haleiwa launching their new HD Boarshort. There was live music, free Primo brews ﬂowing, and all around good times to be had. The next stop was at the Ka’huku Motocross National where the Alpinestars team made an appearance and aloha spirit was once again spread with ease. A great job by Alpinestars with both events and a big thanks to everyone who showed up!

From the makers of “RRR.001” we bring you “RRR STRRRIKE Two.” This unique book takes what us humans do best, which is making waste, and brings out the purest form of recyclable art that we have ever seen. “We make waste for a living. So now we’re gonna make waste live.” Truer words were never spoken and staring into the pages of this book gives your mind a fresh glimpse of what nature gives us to collaborate with. The RRR collaborates include a talented group of international photographers, painters, and other artists. This book is a must have for anyone who appreciates art, and we highly recommend everyone getting themselves a copy. Remember art is everywhere so pick it up and make a masterpiece!

QUIKSILVER PRO NEW YORK

New York City has always been an epicenter of media attention and a place that will be setting trends on a global level forever. A little known fact is that some of the countries most explosive sandbars produce world-class waves just beyond the city’s limits. With all of the hype being around where the newest North American WCT event will be, Quiksilver and the ASP have announced that the newest location for the 2011 World Championship Tour of surﬁng will be on Long Island’s Long Beach from September 4th-15th. The event will offer up a $1 million dollar purse to competitors, and is sure to draw throngs of fans from all over the eastern seaboard and beyond. In addition to the surf contest, there will be plenty of demos, ﬁlms, parties, music concerts and art exhibits put on by Quiksilver in New York City. Make sure to get yourself over to the East Coast if you can because the event looks like it will be unreal.

DC’S NEW SKATER A lot of hype has been going around in the skate world leading up to the announcement of DC’s new team rider. Well, the wait is ﬁnally over and none other than Chris Cole himself was unveiled as the newest team rider for the DC skate squad. Chris is one of the nicest humans around and one of the best and most consistent street skaters on this planet. Chris truly epitomizes what a professional skateboarder should be and we are stoked that DC grabbed him.

Words: Liz Rice McCray

Imagine coming home and your entire living room has been crocheted by your new roommate the pots, the pans, the sofa… I mean everything. Imagine walking down the street and seeing a crochet car or a person crocheted head to toe. Even better the charging bull on Wall Street or all the windows of an NYC building, or a lone bike out front - everything crocheted. This is not your grandmother’s crocheting - this is found objects, friends and the unknown… this is something different than what we know of “crochet” - it’s Olek, an exotic girl by the name of Agata Oleksiak, born in

Poland and a graduate of Mickiewicz University of Poland. While in NYC while in artist/residency, Olek rediscovered her crochet ability, creating a crochet world. There is something absolutely inspiring and intriguing when watching Olek work… she is completely outside of the box and beats to her own drum. Olek’s resumé well exceeds your grandmother’s sweaters and knit caps, and would no doubt make you and her confused and intrigued.

I watch while crocheting inﬂuence my work, and my work dictates the ﬁlms I select. I crochet everything that enters my space. Sometimes it’s a text message, a medical report, or found objects. There is the unraveling, the ephemeral part of my work that never lets me forget about the limited life of the art object and art concept. What do I intend to reveal? You have to pull the end of the yarn and unravel the story behind the crochet. My work changes from place to place. “A loop after a loop, hour after hour, I studied the science of culture. my madness becomes crochet. Life With a miner’s work ethic, I long and art are inseparable. The movies to delve deeper and deeper into

my investigations. My art was a development that took me away from industrial, close-minded Silesia, Poland. It has always sought to bring color and life, energy, and surprise to the living space. My goal is to produce new work and share it with the public. I intend to take advantage of living in NYC with various neighborhoods and, with my actions, create a feedback to the economic and social reality in our community.” Make sure to check out more of Olek’s work at http://agataolek. com/home.html

Words: Kelly Shannon Prior to becoming one of the leading contemporary artists in the UK, as well as a highly renowned street artist across the globe, Adam Neate was once as ordinary as a graphic designer at a Londonbased advertising agency. He spent his spare time painting, skateboarding, and listening to the Beastie Boys. Neate began painting at the request of his friends, generally painting on found cardboard or wood, using aerosols and random ﬁndings from the streets. When he would ﬁnish a piece, which was most likely to be a portrait of himself or a friend, Neate would return to the places he found the

wood or cardboard he painted and would leave the finished paintings for anyone who came across them. Whether his artwork is propped up on doors, gates, or lampposts, Neate enjoys distributing his art across London, giving the metropolis an exhibition-like feel. From an early age, Adam Neate was interested in graffiti, inspired by the colorful dimensions of the artwork. He attended Suffolk College and graduated with a degree in design. His career ultimately took flight in March 2007 when a journalist for CNN began to pick

The Flock Series : Black 3D Portrait No. 3

up on Neate’s paintings. By August 2007, Neate showcased a solo show at the Elms Lesters Painting Rooms in London, which sold out within hours after opening. In December of that same year, Sotheby’s sold his painting entitled Suicide Bomber, and Neate was able to retire from his day job as a graphic designer. After Neate’s impressive year in 2007, his return to the streets is seen as admirable and genuine. He continues to leave his artwork around the streets of London, pieces that are now worth thousands of dollars.

Greatly inﬂuenced by Picasso and New York grafﬁti artist Daze, Neate has transitioned into creating mounted sculptures. Flock, his latest exhibition displayed at the Elms Lesters Painting Rooms, layers unique materials to create unconventional portraits. The series consists of framed works that are made from acrylic, metal and sheet materials. Neate layers and overlaps the materials to create the implication of faces for these portraits. Each piece of the collection has a ‘pop-out’ quality that is sure to impress.

2011

We A CTIVIST KA L I OF S TEED LOR D A N D M ER CED ES HE LNW E I N SH OT B Y CH ERY L DUN N

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Science Lamonica :: Words: Liz Rice McCray One of our old cover boys (March 2008) Matt Gordon returns to us with his new offering “Science Lamonica.” I ﬁrst saw early images of this piece in the artist’s email to me that read my dog Tuxedo was in his own painting, “Tux’s World.” Tux became one of Matt’s good little friends when he would visit California (on RVCA trips) from his distant Michigan location. Sure enough I saw Tux looking as cocky as in real life but with a pipe in his mouth - Matt never explained why my dog picked up this new habit! I now understand why all of my correspondence with Matt the last two years revolved around his intense confusion. Essentially

“Gordon” becomes the same as his paintings and the paintings become the same as Gordon. Layer upon layer the paintings transform. The evolution is incredible - each layer more detailed then the coat before. PM Tenore introduced me to Gordon around 2005, and since then I have gotten to know the people, characters, and objects in all of his paintings. I have also seen many photos of Matt’s studio over the years… and this painting looks like a crammed but somewhat organized display of everything that somehow inspires him. Gordon offered little information about this piece but said

this is the place where “they were all born, the burton hollow ravines.” Gordon did give me the speciﬁcs though, “It’s a commission for the Louie family from Vancouver. Great family, very paintable kids. Hope they like it, as I went about a year past the ‘quoted’ deadline!” In this work, even objects under the size of a dime are perfectly legible. Gordon only paints absolute detail on objects that are crucial to the story and sometimes every object is indispensable… which lead to “back aches and a lot of unhappy nights.” The painting is 24 by 18 inches. Matt told me his eyes actually got stronger working on this painting

and he had to workout and have a strict diet just to feel strong enough to get lost in painting it everyday. When speaking to Gordon I asked him what was next, he told me a little rest then he is “hell bent on out doing this.” I saw his drawings for future work and they look very promising. Good luck! Make sure to check out Matt Gordon’s upcoming show Feb 4th26th entitled “I left my heart in Detroit” at the Hibbleton Gallery, 223 W. Santa Fe Avenue Fullerton, CA :: 714.296.9769. You can also check out and see more of Matt’s work at myspace.com/mgordon76 and http://thestudioofmattgordon. blogspot.com/.

Photo: Dominic Petruzzi : dominicpetruzzi.com

By now everyone knows the story of the girl who moves out to California to try to make it big. It’s a story that normally ends with her waiting tables at a busy diner and realizing her dreams are crushed. Then we met Ashley and she couldn’t have proved our little fable more wrong. She recently moved out to LA after graduating high school and has been working her sandy buns off. Her beauty is unmatched and her sexy ambition shows us that this sweet thing is here to stay. Expect to see Ashley’s gorgeous eyes and amazing rig all over every mainstream magazine and billboards real soon. We’re just glad that we got the ﬁrst taste! Model: Ashley Carlsness // Retouch: Huntr Cray

Photo: Bryce Kanights

Interview: Steven Reeves

Okay, let’s get the mandatory things out of the way ﬁrst, who the fuck are you? Johnny T. That’s it? That’s who I am, right? I could be wrong. Yeah, but little kids want to know more about you… age, hometown, ect? Ah… I’m uh from Medford, Oregon, born and raised. I’m 23.

So rumor has it you ride skateboards, how long you been doing that? I don’t even know... I think like 9 years? It’s 5am in Stockholm right now. What? So random, if there was a theme song to your life what would it be? Like a song that’s already out there… Old Man by Neil Young. That actually brings me to my next question, why do you

think you’re so old? I’m not old, you guys say I’m old. I get to bed early and wake up early - that makes me old? Yeah that makes you an old guy. Maybe because you live with a dude in his upper thirties, he’s rubbing off on you. I remember you even started rocking a comb-over for a while, what’s up with that? It’s cold, so I wear a beanie now. But you rocked it for a while

right? Yeah, keep it greasy. I remember you had hair to your shoulders when we were little. The only reason I had that mop is to prevent sunburns on my neck. That’s bullshit! That’s not the only reason, you were going for the surfer-bro look and you know it. Shaka brah.

F.S Feeble :: Photo: Bryce Kanights

B.S Disaster :: Photo: Ortiz

Okay, you get to see three bands live or dead, which bands would you pick? Chuck Berry, Sam and Dave, Frank Sinatra would be good one but that’s not my third pick. Let’s see here, I’ll go for the Doors.

F.S Crailbone Photo: Bryce Kanights

frontside ollie, back smith, and frontside grind. Actually kickflips too, I can’t go a day without doing one. Okay, 5 tricks you can’t do to save your life. Definitely gonna have to go with the stalefish, crailslide, varial heel, switch blunt, and inward heel rock and roll. That’d actually be pretty cool.

Chuck Berry huh? I heard when you get wasted you dance a lot. Haha… uh, what’s better than a dance ﬂoor with Chuck Berry? If you haven’t done it you need to. So you got MVP at some Red Bull contest a while ago, how Well this is supposed to be so? about skating so give me Uh, from you yelling my name 5 tricks you can’t go a day over and over and over and over. without doing. That was a pretty fun contest Frontside ollie, Frontside ollie, though.

What makes a contest fun for you? Do you skate them a lot? Contests are fun when your friends are there, I don’t do contests that much though. What is the best contest you’ve been to? I think the best contest was the Quiksilver Bowlriders in 2006. I think it was more of the whole trip but the contest was awesome. Speaking of trips, what’s the best trip you’ve been on? There have been so many trips, but I’ll have to go with the double van trip down to California. That trip was fun because we had a

F.S Tail Bash Dino :: Photo: Ortiz

really good huge crew and two shitty vans. The highlight was the morning when you called me and asked me where we were but you deﬁnitely were not with me. Oh yeah, I remember that quite well… kinda. What do you do when you’re not skating? Play video games or ride my bike or hang out with my lady. Right on, what is your favorite/least favorite thing to skate? I pretty much just like to skate everything, but I’m not really into skating rails. That was a safe answer. So who do you ride for anyways? Lifeblood Skateboards, Fury Trucks, Bones ﬂow, Photo: Ortiz

F.S Air into Cradle :: Photo: Ortiz

F.S Feeble :: Photo: Ortiz

F.S Tailslide Revert :: Photo: Bryce Kanights

Dakine flow, Ipath flow, and Jack’s Board House. I really have that many sponsors? That’s weird. What’s the deal with Lifeblood, what is that? Bryce Kanights is master-chief of the program. Basically Kevin Kowalski, Frank Faria, Cody Lockwood, Mason Huggins, and Oudalay Philavanh dispatched from Bacon to form a new one. Right on, what does 2011 have in store for Johnny Turgesen? Traveling with the Lifeblood guys, do lots of filming, trying to go to Europe again, and trying to learn a trick that doesn’t involve ollieing frontside. Sounds like a solid plan! Any last words of wisdom for everybody reading this? Skate and enjoy. F.S Boneless :: Photo: Ortiz

Ollie Photo: Bryce Kanights

Interview: Raul Montoya I can remember seeing Ben for the first time at one of the Comune parties and thought to myself, who the hell is this dude? He looked like a young Mick Jagger or was in some indie band, rather than a professional snowboarder. After meeting Ben and getting to know him, I found out that this cat shreds his ass off. Lots of dudes hate him because their girlfriend’s love him and ends up hooking up with him and he snowboards better than them. So to further the lust of Ben’s female admirers and fuel more jealousy from his haters, let’s see what Ben Rice has to say…. Mr. Rice, please state your full government name and state the number of women you have slept with. Ok, maybe leave that last part of the question out. I’m not sure if you want to disclose that kind of information. Benjamin Ruby Rice, keeping track of one’s sexual conquests is irrelevant. Fair enough, but it would have been cooler if you said how many. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you around, what have you been up to this winter so far? I have just been snowboarding, hanging with friends and partying of course. Just trying to live my life to its fullest. I know that you had a great part in the new Comune Snow Video, “Black Holes and Invisible Forces Bending Time Through Particle Deformation Creating Infinite Freedom in the Garden On The Moon,” how was it filming

Photo: Jimmy Fontaine

: to

Photo: Robbie Sell

Photo: Jimmy Fontaine for that project? It wasn’t done like your typical snow video, right? It was the best season I have ever had filming. Just going out with Diggles, Messier, Gerard, TY and the Woodman was amazing. Everyone works together to help each other in snowboarding and outside of it as well. We don’t have the typical rat race snowboard-bro filming thing going on. Filming for the movie was rad, it was so different and new, I was stoked to be apart of it. I found out from an anonymous source that you did some male modeling? Care to confirm or deny this? Don’t be ashamed of it. In

these rough economic times, everyone has got to hustle. Yeah, I worked for American Apparel. It was really funny, a good deal, and good money. Their checks were always on time and I got to model with a bunch of hot chicks and go to their parties. Kinda like a socialite, it was fun. With this winter being one of the best in a long time, where have you been shredding? I have been in Tahoe for most of the winter, handrail sliders and backcountry riding in the Buttes. Aren’t you on a Comune snow expedition as we speak? Who else is on the trip? I also want to know what

Photo: Robbie Sell

sort of debauchery has gone down, and please feel free to state names. Any arrests? Bar ﬁghts? Don’t lie either, I know for a fact, with that crew you’re with lots has gone down! I think I’m always on a Comune snow expedition. This winter has been pretty focused considering some of the debauchery. This week it has been Brendan “Jerry” Gerard, Ty Walker, Alex Scott, Alex Mertz and Corey Smith. We’re about to get on a road trip from Truckee, CA to Denver, CO for SIA trade show. We’ll make some stops on the way out there and try a shoot on some relevant spots. I think after that we’re going to try to head up to Mt. Baker and check out the Northwest. Jerry, Ty, Alex and I

pretty much party every night – just riding some chill waves. No bar ﬁghts, I’ll leave that for the douche-bags in the octagon. We’re all pretty good at avoiding the man. Is it true that lots of guys hate you because their girlfriends have hooked up with you? Shouldn’t they hate their chicks and not you? I learned how to steal guys’ girlfriends from Stephen Duke. I’m kidding, I don’t swoop anymore. I’m sure the guys were pissed but I would be pissed too. In fact, it has happened to me as well. I think it’s a part of growing up, trying to snowboard and having a girlfriend that snowboards or is into the scene. If you date a girl in the snowboard scene she’s Photo: Robbie Sell

Photo: Robbie Sell

gonna end up with dudes you know. It’s like 50 guys to every 1 girl in the scene. So yeah, shit happens. Girls are gonna do what they want, whatever. Besides snow shredding, what is Ben Rice into? Are you an artist? Are you in a band? You’ve got to be an artist, seems like everyone and their momma does art. Ha, yeah being an artist is quite relevant nowadays. I’m in a band right now with Ty Walker, Clay Dossa, Corey Smith and myself. We’re called Spring Break, we’re

gonna put out a single, ‘Negative White.’ We’re gonna only do trade-shows, trashy industry parties and Bar Mitzvahs strictly. Hmm, maybe I’ll book the band for my kids birthday party. What is a typical day for you in the winter? Or not so typical, because I don’t think you do the “typical.” Depends on the day. But more than likely I’m shredding somewhere, probably stoned and kinda hungover trying to make the best of what I got to work with. Go home for a bit

then go and party at The Village Pub in Incline Village, be out till 3 or 4 in the morning shooting pool. Wake up around 9 and do it all over again. Isn’t it nice to do what you do? Wake up, not worry about going to a job that sucks. Head out with your friends to go snowboard and get photos and ﬁlm for video parts. I’m starting to hate you now. Yeah, it’s a dream come true. But it’s not all fun and games, sometimes it’s sketchy when you can get really hurt. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, just sometimes

the spot I’m at is not fun, it’s just crazy. Last but not least. Who are your sponsors? Who would you like to thank? And any closing remarks you’d like to leave? Bataleon, Comune, Sabre, Celsius, Elm, Dakine. I would like to thank Corey Smith, Chris Friel, the Comune family, everyone who has helped me along the way, Ryan Scardigli and all the people at Bataleon and Sabre. Last words, “Too chill to live too mellow to die.”

Interview: Liz Rice McCray

I ﬁrst started chatting with Tomoo Gokita years ago when I was working for RVCA. He dealt mostly with me but sometimes he would turn our conversations over to his wife, Tomoe Gokita – yes, very similar names. Although Tomoo thinks his English is “poor”, he does a great job of understanding my emails and doesn’t give himself enough credit - years of correspondence - and if you know my emails most would describe them as “cryptic”. Yet Tomoo has

always somewhat understood them. So my conclusion is that he is far better at English and understands more then he lets on… or my emails consist of very broken English. Regardless, this is why I have forced Tomoo to do our interview in English - this way he can choose to not answer the questions he doesn’t like. Tomoo is a Japanese bad boy, or so I picture him to be (we have never met in person). His art is organic but volatile

- inspired by music, vintage wrestling, and porn. “I’m simply interested in seeking what comes out of the destruction of the complete. When you break, or destroy, something unexpected appears all of the sudden and affects the whole.” - Tomoo Gokita What more can I say… He is intriguing and always a great pleasure to deal with. Where are you from and currently living?

I was born in Tokyo, and I live in Tokyo. Will you tell us a little about your upbringing? I have heard you are selftaught with no formal art training. When did you start making art? I learned formal art training at high school. It was very, very boring. When did you decide to be an artist? Or did it just happen? Was this choice supported by your family?

I don’t understand when I became an artist... it’s very naturally. The family did neither the negation nor the afﬁrmation. Would you say any artists have inﬂuenced your work? If so, who and how? My 3 big star: Tadarori Yokoo, Teruhiko Yumura (aka Terry Johnson), and Shinro Ohtake. Anyway, these 3 are great. What other interests do you have besides art? 70’s & 80’s Pro Wrestling! How would you explain your work? I can’t explain! If I say forcibly... waste resources. Tell us about your current

exhibition/body of work, “Funland” at Aliceday? I drew a lot of drawings that was my origin. As a result, I exhibited 250 pieces of drawing and 7 paintings. Will you tell us about some of the faceless ﬁgurative woman/people in your art? Where do they derive from? Maybe... they from… uneasy, humor, deceit, masks of Lucha Libre.... Sorry, I don’t understand... What mediums do you work with? ??? Will you tell us about latest series of paintings? I talk about nothing. Nothing is

decided. What inspires you to create art and how do you keep motivated in the Studio? I inspire by the music very much. Will you explain your studio? I seem to be suffocated by a 2000 Vinyl records, a porn magazine, an old wrestling videos. You are married to Tomoe… is she also an artist? Is your name a common Japanese name, and is it unusual that your names are so similar? My wife is not an artist, but she loves art. Yes! My name is similar to a wife! But not common Japanese name.

What is the best and worst part of being a full time artist? Best = too free. Worst = too free. How would you explain your average day? The day of “The Hangover”. Where would you like to see yourself in ten years? At Arena Coliseo in Mexico City. Where can people check out your work? Any upcoming shows? My 3 new book…in Decathlon books, Seems and Pambook! http://www.seemsbooks.com/ index.php http://www.decathlonbooks.info/ http://www.pambook.com/

No other surf spot on earth is more photographed than Pipeline. Nowhere else can one single spot make or break a career or a world title. This is it. If you want to make it in professional surfing, you are going to need to dedicate a good portion of your time, energy and heart to this little stretch of sand. If you are a photographer you can get in line. And if you are a spectator, enjoy. Each year surf magazine editors rack their brains trying to figure out a spin on the North Shore story. “It’s been done to death,” they claim. “It’s the same thing over and over,” and much of it is. But no one can deny the crown jewel of the North Shore experience: Pipeline. It sits right in the middle of the seven mile stretch of coast and since the beginning of surfing history the best and brightest camped out here waiting for swell and conditions to come together. At its best – it is THE best, and that is one point that no one will debate. Today the path to Pipe is bracketed by properties owned by Volcom. Some of the photos on these pages were taken from those balconies and even the kitchen. Surrounding the Volcom properties are Quiksilver, Billabong and Red Bull houses. Every surf label in the game has staked a claim at surfing’s ground zero. The beach itself is constantly moving as sand banks drift and oscillate around the most challenging reef in the world. The cast of characters who can be found at Pipe varies wildly. Everyone from the uber-committed pro’s like Reef McIntosh and Braden Dias, to the wayward Brazilian traveler, and everyone in between. It’s where Gerry Lopez defined modern style, and Kelly Slater proved that he was more than a flash in the pan and where John-John took his first steps. One of today’s brightest stars, Jamie O’Brien grew up on the beach at Pipe and the result of his connection with it is undeniable. Like anything that spectacular, Pipeline has taken on a life of its own. It has brands built around it, and fortunes have changed hands over it. It is both a property and lifestyle. It is open to everyone and at the same time strictly monitored for locals only. It’s a conundrum wrapped in a riddle and it entices everyone who lays their eyes on it. Watching a second reef set roll on to the reef, warble open, suck in a deep breath and spit snot out on to the shoulder is something we all dream about. To see it in person is a gift, but to paddle out is to experience life in its fullest. This year Pipe has already put on a marvelous display and it appears there is no end in sight. There are countless waves being discovered on a weekly basis today. In the last two to three years places like Ireland and Chile have become world famous surf destinations. But none have stood the test of time like Hawaii’s Pipeline. Over the last decade the ASP World Championship Tour was re-dubbed the Dream Tour due to it’s world-class locations. And each year they choose to wrap up the year with the grand finale at Pipeline, further etching it’s name into the stone as surfing one true Mecca. Words: Matt Patterson

Gavin Gillette :: Photo: Russo

Kalani Chapman :: Photo: Carey

Mason Ho :: Photo: Carey

Photo: Carey

Pat Gudauskas :: Photo: Russo

Chris Ward :: Photo: Carey

Dean Morrison :: Photo: Carey

Flynn Novak :: Photo: Russo

Nate Yeomans :: Photo: Carey

Nathan Fletcher :: Photo: Russo

Photo: Carey

Anthony Walsh :: Photo: Carey

Makua Rothman :: Photo: Carey

Reef Mcintosh :: Photo: Russo

Tyler Newton :: Photo: Russo

Flannel – O’Neill oneill.com Tank – True Love False Idols tlﬁ.com Shorts – Volcom volcom.com Sunglasses – Electric electricvisual.com Watch – Nixon nixonnow.com Earrings – Uranium uranium.ws Hat – Stylist’s Own

Photography: Clifford Lidell

Stylist: Nicole Hanriot // Models: Jenna Nordschow & Haley Gibbs :: OttoModels

ottomodels.com

Dress – Ezekiel ezekielusa.com Button-Up – O’Neill oneill.com Shoes – Vans vans.com Watch – Nixon nixonnow.com

Dress – Insight insight51.com Watch – Nixon nixonnow.com

Button-Up – Hurley hurley.com Tee – Vans vans.com Bra – Pull-In pull-in.com Shorts – Volcom volcom.com Shoes – Converse converse.com Watch – Nixon nixonnow.com Sunglasses – Stylist’s Own

Top – RVCA rvca.com Shorts – Volcom volcom.com Shoes – Vans vans.com Earrings – Uranium uranium.ws

Intro: Jordan Hoffart :: Interview: Jordan Moss

Life hasn’t been easy for TJ. I can say I know him super well, but I’ve gained a lot of insight through various stories obtained throughout the years. One trait that stands ﬁrm in my head about TJ is that he is a ﬁghter. In all honesty, he probably had some of the worst odds making it in the skateboarding world. He’s practically raised himself in Toronto, a place where it rains a good 2/3rds of the year. He didn’t have money to travel wherever the contests were, or to make the move to California, he’s pretty much been taking punches his whole life and still moves forward. His lack of support has clearly made him more motivated, determined and extremely appreciative for everything he does have. He’s genuinely a good person, with a lot of integrity. I wish I could say that more often about other people. I’m proud to have him representing our home land in the skateboarding community and I couldn’t think of another dude that deserves a shot

Photo: Ortiz

at the “title” more than this dude. Aight, so let’s get a little bit of background info on my boy TJ. What’s your full name, where do you currently reside and who are your sponsors? My name is TJ Poulin/Rogers, I’m currently living in Whitby, Ontario, Canada and my sponsors are Blind, Circa, KR3W, Bones, Diamond, Venture, Nixon, Redbull, The Rail Skatepark and Scotties Skateshop. Damn homie, that’s quite the list you got there… So what exactly do the T and J stand for? And correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t your last name Rogers? Damn fool, why you trying to leak my full name man? Alright, so the T stands for Timothy, and the J stands for James. And yeah, my last name is Rogers, but I have two last names. I lived with my mom while I was young so she put me under her last name. But when I moved in with my dad, I went

under his last name, Rogers. It kinda sucks but I’m in the process now of changing it to just Rogers, not Poulin/Rogers. We’re slowly approaching winter, and I’m sure everyone knows how brutal these Canadian winters can be, what does Timothy James Poulin/ Rogers do to get away from these hectic conditions? Ok, can we stop with this full name crap? Honestly… For winter I usually leave around this time and try to go somewhere warm for about a month or so. I come home for Christmas then I go away again in the new year for another month or so and head home about mid February so I have some time to rest/heal. I try to space out my traveling so I’m not away from home for long periods of time. So you travel a lot eh? What’s your favorite place to vacate to, and why? Also, where’s the one place you would love to travel

to? Yeah, well I try to as much as I can. I love going to Phoenix, and I went to Miami last year, it’s super tight! The scene out there is just too sick. Damn, I’d pretty much love to go anywhere. But if I had to choose one, I’d say China would be my number one or somewhere really far where the scene is completely different. I feel ya homie, traveling is definitely one of the best parts of skateboarding. So with all this travel, you must be filming a lot? Are you currently working on any video parts? Yeah, I try to film as much as I can; it all depends on the weather. I’m working on a Blind part, as well as an online digital part and obviously a part in your video dumbass, SLUB BUCKS! WOOO… Aha, thanks for the shout out homie. So what’s it like filming for some of the biggest companies in skateboarding

360 Flip :: Photo: Ortiz

Big Flip :: Photo: Ortiz

Ollie :: Photo: Rich Odam

right now? Is there any planning that goes into these parts? Haha, I don’t really know… I was just filming a bunch and saving it all. Then my TM, Bill Weiss, asked me for my footage to use in the next Blind video, so hopefully that part will drop sometime soon. I’d be too stoked! I’ve been filming for the Digital part for a while now. They’re starting a website and I’m supposed to have the first part on it, which should be out pretty soon. Stoked, looking forward to seeing a K-Flip :: Photo: Rich Odam

new TJ Rogers’ edit. So when you’re not out skating/ﬁlming, what are you doing with your spare time? I usually just chill at home, stretch, kick it with the homies and play some Nazi Zombies/Call of Duty at nighttime. Sounds dope, I guess you’re just a chillin’ kind of guy eh? I know you turned 19 recently, which is the legal drinking age in Canada. Have you been taking advantage of that? Haha! Deﬁnitely not as much as I should

Nollie B.S 360 :: Photo: Rich Odam

be, that’s for sure. I got a strip club across the street from my house, its pretty badass. We go some nights to play some pool and look at some tits. Hahaha, so tight! We should go tonight… I know you love jumping down big things, so who’s idea was it for you to switch 180 El Toro? And how many tries did that take? Um… Well, I always saw it in videos when I was a kid and I wanted to skate it one day. So I went out to Cali in 2009 and went to El Toro with the homies but I got there and ended up bunting it once. I went back a year later and tried it with one ﬁlmer and tried it about 7 times. I landed on it 4 times and kicked out on the other 3. On my last one I kicked out and I was done. I didn’t skate for a week. So we drove back to Phoenix, Arizona, where I was staying at the time, and chilled out for the week. We went back

to El Toro the next week with some extra ﬁlmers and a photographer and I got it second try. I was stoked! Sounds like an epic story. I notice that you tend to tap your board a lot before doing tricks, what’s that all about? It’s that OCD shit. I used to see videos of pros tapping on their boards before doing tricks, so I thought that by doing that it helped them land tricks quicker. I started trying it and I guess I seem to think it works. It sucks, and I always try not to. But if I don’t do it I lose it. I wanna stop doing that though, it’s the worst habit! Aha, maybe I’ll have to start trying that. So how did you even get into skating? And who gave you your ﬁrst board? I started skating when I was about 9 years old. I always saw these two kids, Joel and Corey that lived at the end

of my court skating. So I would just go down and try to use their boards to skate flat with them. Eventually we started going to Iroquois, which is the skate park in my hometown. I would go almost every day. So my mom finally decided to get me my own board. Momma Poulin hooking it up! So you’ve lived in Whitby almost your whole life. What was it like growing up and trying to build your skateboard career in that neck of the woods? It’s been pretty hard. I started skating as I was moving from my mom’s into my dad’s. When I was about 10 years old my dad got into some financial problems and cutting two of his fingers off at work kind of set him back for a while. When I was about 13 I was put into a foster home for almost a year. While living at the foster home I got my first sponsor, 905 Indoor Skatepark. Once I was

about 15 I began to travel and get some more sponsors. Ever since then everything has just been working out. I’m super thankful for everything. Well, I’m stoked you found something you love to do. So, TJ, where do you think you would be today if you had never stepped on a board 10 years ago? I’d probably be doing nothing and just sitting at home playing video games 24/7. I’m deﬁnitely glad skateboarding is part of my life. Aha, that would be the worst… Well, TJ Rogers, is there anyone you would like to thank? Yeah, I’d like to thank all of my sponsors, from the past and the present, anyone that has ever ﬁlmed with me or shot photos with me, my family, and the homies. I’d also like to thank BL!SSS and Chris Ortiz for hooking this interview up.

Interview: Amber Wierenga

After wrapping up a photo shoot with photographer Quang Le, I could not stop thinking about this talented and humble artist that I just had to get to know better. Here, Le opens up about being discovered, the one who got away, Asian sideburns, throwing “artist ﬁts” and Banzai Bowls. There are two stories about you starting out your photography career; one starts with a band, one starts with a girl. Story #1 is about you and a band. You were in what band? You were on a break from a band? Your band broke up? Your front man was broken? Story #2 is about a girl. You “started taking pictures to impress a lovely girl I met under a tree”. Is this lovely girl still in the

picture? Yes, and yes, strange but true! A few years ago I use to be a glorified roadie for a band called The Aquabats. During a break from the band, I decided to go back to school and study film. During this time I decided to take a beginning course in photography because I figured it would help my camera work and that is when I met her. We used to sit under a tree, napping and talking. I wanted to impress her, and she loved photography, so I decided to become an expert in that. Every day I’d find out what she was working on, then go research it so whenever she had a question I could answer it. That train of thought pretty much forced me to be selfmotivated in my education; it was a lot of work... I think I took a whole extra semester

of college taking photo classes for her.

camera arsenal right now? As for the tech side of things, what’s in my bag varies My friend Christain Jacobs from job to job. For my gig of the Aquabats introduced tomorrow I’ll be shooting me to Pat Tenore, one of the with a Cannon 5d mark2 with guys who started RVCA. Pat 4 cannon 580 speed lights started inviting me to all sorts being connected together by of parties and events. I can 5 pocket wizards using various be pretty awkward around a lighting modifiers. Lenses vary lot of people, so I’d bring my but I’m a huge fan of 50mm camera so I had something to and 35 mm lens. I use alot do. Pat liked my photos and of Lee filters, especially for had me start working with Liz my job that I did with (you), Rice, it was that point they those were a must! I’m also a gave me my first legit photo huge advocate of Thinktank. gig which was to shoot Mickey I also have my good luck Avalon and Matt Costa for an charm, kinda like my rabbits ad. I was so scared I dropped foot, but it’s in the form of a lens and broke it. As for the my main assistant/Sherpa/ gal from under the tree, we personal driver/life coach, still talk from time to time, but Byrone Nomil, but I don’t its kinda weird and a little sad. rub his feet, kinda gross... For the tech geeks, what do you have in your

You have body of

an incredible work from

musicians and athletes to fashion. On any given day do you have a preference? My favorite things in life are movies, music, and girls, and in my own way I get to direct and create scenes and be around a lot of great music and an uncountable amount of beautiful girls. I would have to say I really love them all in their own way, but I would have to go with musicians, fashion, then athletes. Obviously music is a big part of your life, what do you like to listen to while you are shooting? Has music, or lack of music ever ruined a shoot? I employ a DJ to spin at my shoots whenever possible Yakuza YUKI. We actually built a DJ booth in my studio, just for him. I really believe that the right music can really enhance a

shoot and the wrong music can for sure kill a shoot. One time I did a job where the client said that we were only allowed to play his music. The music he had chosen was so jarring and weird, the models felt uncomfortable and three crewmembers didn’t come back for the second day of shooting.

the crap and need quality over the quantity. With the action sports, my main focus has been always portraiture, never action shots. I don’t really advertise and I’m really bad at promoting, most of my business is referrals and word of mouth, so I ﬁgure as long as I work hard, the work will ﬁnd its way to me.

Over the last couple of years at any given skate session the ratio of photographers to athletes seems at least 1:3. Do you feel like you stand out in the skate circuit or are you part of the action sports paparazzi now? When it comes to the ﬂood of photographers out there, I’ve really taken the stance of the more people there are out there, the more crap there is and really over time people get fed up with

I like your style - modern/ grunge/rockabilly. How long have you been rocking the chops and pompadour? Ahhh the hair... growing up I always sort of had my own variation of the pompadour, my friends and I have always really been into Morrissey and a lot of rock and roll, so it kind of just made sense. As for my sideburns, I’m one of the few Asians that I know that can grow them and my head is so round,

right now they are pretty out of control. I’ll admit, I did lose my mind for a moment and go through a brief faux hawk phase, but I realized one day when I had my shirt off and my hair up, that I looked just like a troll doll so that one didn’t last too long. I love your fashion shoots, beautiful and lighthearted. It seems like an extension of you. Do you have a dark side too? I really have a dark side to me, and really the more meticulous, calculated, colorful and surreal a shoot is, probably the more moody, distraught, and sad I am. I come up with some pretty crazy stuff when I am feeling blue, I’m actually in the process of decorating and laying out my ﬁrst home, and let’s just say, the stress has been getting to me...

Kenya

Matt Costa

Jasper Auge of Justice

Mike Relm

Lizard King

Travis McCoy

Rob Dyrdek

Torsion Siamese Twins

Kenya

Cairo, Egypt

Danger Mouse

Dwayne Peters

Have you ever pulled a Christian Bale on location? Or are you always the nice guy? Come on, there had to be ONE time... I actually have had a few “artist ﬁts”, really only two big ones. One time I threw a light stand down a ﬂight of stairs at a really nice hotel. The stand actually went down the stairs and out the front door into the valet area. You were so easy to work with on the photo shoot, none of the girls were professional models, shooting quarters were cramped with all of the staff and it seemed perfectly natural for you. Were you raised

Neck Face

in a chaos surrounded by girls? There are very few things that are more wonderful than being surrounded by beautiful women that have to do what you say. It was exhausting, but I’m not so sure if this could ever fall into that category of too much of a good thing. For a photo shoot we sure ate a lot. On the last day I came to ﬁnd out you are a bit of a foodie. What is your favorite city to be foodie in? NYC for sure, so much variety and culture. We have a lot of great food in California, but NYC has a variety, ﬂavor and culture that really can’t

be beat, well except for pho, no one makes it better than my mom. Why are Banzi Bowls so good? I have no idea, but I’m sure that they put something addictive in it and it doesn’t hurt to have those sweet banzai babes Ashly and Laura making them either!

NYC I love Freeman’s; the decor, the food, excellent! The Halal cart off of 53rd and 6th is the stuff that legends are made of. The Magic Castle in Hollywood always takes care of me (I was actually made a member last year), their beef wellington is magniﬁcent. I recently went to a vegan sushi joint called Cha-Ya Sushi in the bay, unreal! I met this girl Tawnee from there she’s a total fox, should have just brought her to back to Orange County with me and just called it a day.

Any epicurean shout outs you want to make? Hmmm... There are always way too many places when people ask me, of course Banzai Bowls. Bear Flag Fish Co. is truly a wonder, I’m not even the biggest fan of For more Quang Le go to ﬁsh, but it’s just that amazing. In w w w . p h o t o s a l q u a n g . c o m

SNOOP @ AGENDA: SKULLCANDY, NEFF & MONSTER

Words: Jason Arnold :: Photos: ocregister.com // Snoop A Loop // Party People // Tosh & friends // Monster babes // We want Snoop // What is Shubin looking at? // Bring the noise // Kinda Naughty // Dirty Dancer // Ever present blunt // “Yeah, me and Snoop are dowwwn!”

The ofﬁcial Agenda party went down last month at 300 in Anaheim and was brought to you by Skullcandy, Neff and Monster. With a line stretching around the corner before the doors even opened, legions of party people were eager to throw some bowling balls, enjoy libations and watch the infamous Snoop Dogg perform a DJ showcase highlighting some of his most well known tracks. The crowd got down, even initiating an impromptu “smoke em if you got em” in the men’s restroom, which sent the staff into a mini tizzy until it became clear that the Doggfather was not about to remove the ever present blunt hanging from his maw and therefore it had to be a case of “look the other way!” Friends from all walks were in attendance, from LBC OG’s to skate-gnars to newbie hipsters, all were welcome and all had a righteous time! Heaps of thanks to Skullcandy, Neff and Monster for once again throwing down an all time party!

lazz

“PSYCH OPTIC BLACK LIGHT FUZZ” @ HURLEY: DALEK

Photos: Derek Bahn // James Marshall aka DALEK // King Buzzo // Rockin’ out with guitar fuzz // Angella Luigioyo and Johannes Sandoval // Taking it in // DALEK and Hurley VP of Art Scott Patt // Dalek’s creation // Dream catching // Davey Warsop checks out the glowing ICON // Ashley, Laura & Jesse // Trip Out On Saturday, January 15th James Marshall aka “Dalek” along with Hurley presented his art exhibit at Hurley’s )( Space in Costa Mesa titled “Psych Optic Black Light Fuzz”. For over 18 months artist James Marshall has been a creative partner with Hurley exploring the concept of innovation, dimensionality, color and the power of free creativity through community. The exhibition “Psych Optic Black Light Fuzz” was the natural culmination of their successful partnership together.

Hazelmyer who have formed some of the most renowned and respected music groups in the world, including The Melvins, Tomahawk, The Jesus Lizard, Mudhoney and founded notorious label Amphetamine Reptile Records. Hazelmyer “HAZE XXL” and Dalek have collaborated on projects in the past so it was a very natural ﬁt for this group of musicians to come on to provide the soundtrack for this interactive exhibition opening.

The conceptual installations featured a ﬂuorescent, multi-dimensional sculpture located in the center of the space while the rest of )( Space was accented by a variety of neon strings and lights that became a free form interactive optical illusion. During the entire event there were live performances by infamous musicians King Buzzo, Duane Denison, Steve Turner and Haze XXL. Buzzo, Denison, Turner and

In the summer of 2009, Dalek was commissioned to create a 10 foot x 22 foot site speciﬁc painting for Hurley’s now infamous 225 Forest concept store, which is home to the Nike 6.0, Converse and Hurley brands. The commissioned painting lead to Dalek becoming an ambassador for Hurley, and now his artwork and designs can be seen throughout the Hurley brand.

MAMMOTH NYE

Words: Joey Marshall :: Photos: Matt Clausen & Peter Morning // Debbie Clausen, Brandon Splane, Mason Aguirre, Billy Stade, Eddie Wall, Mark Clausen, Chris Friel, Alicia & Frank Delgadillo // Mason Aguirre - the clock strikes 12 // Lonnie Kauk with the ladies // Chris Lyman, Sticky, Colie, & Richie // Luaren Miller, Jai Snodon, Mark Powell, Carly Osler & Smalls // DJ Dax // Are you kidding me? // Posso the Dj // Mini, Marshall, Momo, Jenna, Drew, Nick & Mikey // Chris & Andrew // Whitney Blocher & Devin Brugman Every New Years leaves one big decision: where to go? A few key places always make the top of our list: New York City, Paris, Hawaii, San Francisco, Tokyo, a secluded Caribbean island and so on and so on. But with record-breaking snowfall and a commitment as the media sponsor for the Second Annual Canyon Lodge Party at Mammoth Mountain, it was a no-brainer. With the end of the year quickly approaching and some of the craziest storms in years, we made the 6-hour drive from our ofﬁce in Newport Beach up the 395 and into Mammoth Lakes. With eightfoot high walls of snow on the sides of every plowed road I knew the New Years party was gonna be one for the record books. I had been getting calls for weeks and soon realized that everyone and their brother were my closets friends thinking that I had the golden ticket to the event. I arrived in Mammoth a few days early to partake in the most December snowfall

ever recorded. As you can imagine, the riding was incredible – every lift was open, powder runs were an hourly occurrence and everyone from Southern California seemed to have somehow made it up there. By the time the New Years Eve came around I was expecting one hell of a party. I couldn’t some it up any better. Pros, bros and hoes all showed up in full force. With over 2400 people in attendance, celebrities were spotted, the music was outrageous, bar tabs were through the roof, balls dropped, the countdown went down and the rest is a blur. One thing that does stick out in my mind is how many times I heard someone say, “Where did all these girls come from?” There’s not much left to tell ya, big thanks to the all the sponsors involved in hosting such an epic event and we are already looking forward to being a part of it again next year. Thank you Mammoth Mountain, Sabre, RVCA, The Closet, Peter Morning and of course the Clausen family.

VESTAL GARAGE SESSIONS

Photos: Jack Coleman // Jesse “Boots Electric” Hughes & Dave Catching // Vestal Garage Session // The 3 Slobs and 1 lucky lady // Brad Davis and Valient Himself // Peaches with Jesse Hughes // Analise Seltzer, Marty the one man party & Kristina Fields // Johnny Gehris & Dr. Doonan // Derek Boucher, Scott Klamecki, Nik Hennessee & Nate Elders // earthlings? // Josh Hoyer & Friend // Joey Marshall & Jack Coleman Vestal hosted their ﬁrst ever “Garage Sessions” show to beneﬁt the Brian O’Connor Fund (Bassist of Eagles of Death Metal who was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer early last year). Along with BOC’s friends and family, the Vestal crew came together to raise some cash, play some music and throw a party. The night kicked off at the Vestal Warehouse in Costa Mesa with a VIP dinner hosted by Baby Blues BBQ & Sailor Jerry. Travis Keller of Buddyhead manned the music ship and cranked out

a soul & funk DJ set that had the party dancing whilst eating their pulled pork, corn bread and baked beans. Pabst Blue Ribbon was also on tap and HAVOC TV rolled through with a camera crew to capture the evening for an upcoming “Vestal Garage Sessions” documentary. When the makeshift Vestal venue was ﬁlled to the brim, Jesse “Boots Electric” Hughes (of Eagles of Death Metal) took the stage for a special solo performance. The crowd was graced with a few

renditions of classic EODM tunes as well as some brand new “Boots Electric” solo material. A few covers (Brown Sugar!) were even sprinkled in, providing maximum blowing of minds. Just when shit couldn’t go off any harder, earthlings? (members of QOTSA, Desert Sessions, EODM, Kyuss, Masters of Reality, etc) appeared from behind the curtain for an insanely psychedelic, desert rock performance. Other special guests of the evening include Peaches,

Valient Himself (of Valient Thorr), Vice Cooler, the 3 Slobs (Andrew Doheny, Ford Archbold, Kyle Kennelly) and man of the evening Brian O’Connor. For more information regarding the Brian O’Connor Fund, please visit brianeodm.org and be sure to stay glued to vestalwatch.com for information regarding the next “Vestal Garage Sessions” events to beneﬁt various charities and funds throughout 2011 and beyond.

2011 KATIN PRO-AM

Words: Spencer Pirdy :: Photos: Hilleman // Timmy Curran // Finalists // Michah Byrne // Nathaniel Curren // Nate Yeomans // Josh Loya // Team Hurley // Sean Ward // Richie Collins // Richie Collins Past Champions Winner // Tom Curren

The north side of the Huntington Beach pier was once again the stage for some of California’s best to do battle in more than contestable waves at the 2011 Katin Pro-Am. The contest had a unique team format with four surfers on each team representing their own respective companies. Teams were rewarded with prizes as well as a cash payout of $10,000 going to individuals who placed in the top 8. Good conditions and 3-4 foot surf had everyone blasting fins and going for broke. On the final day the field was narrowed to a remaining few and standouts included Tanner and Dane Gudauskas, Nate Yeomans, and Huntington’s own Micah Byrne. When the final arrived it was down to Micah, Tanner, Chris Waring (’10 Katin Pro-Am Champ), and Timmy Curran. At the beginning it looked as though Chris Waring might have a repeat from last years victory with polished surfing and a backside snap 360 that

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had everyone hooting. Then Timmy showed he was back and better than ever with some phenomenal aerial surfing. Curran took off on a chest high left, flew down the line, and punted a gigantic double grab frontside 360 air. The crowd exploded and with that he scored a deserving 9.77. He followed it up with another solid score and earned the highest heat score of the event with an 18.50. As the last horn sounded it was Waring taking second and Timmy Curran taking the win. Timmy has decided to focus on his surfing this year and take a step away from the music scene. I think it’s safe to say that he’s on the right track. Another great Katin Pro-Am went down and a big congratulations goes to Timmy and team Hurley for taking the win! We’ll see everyone next year!

Interview: Max Ritter Word is getting out about this rock outfit from Chicago, Illinois who just dropped their sophomore LP, Dye It Blonde on Fat Possum records. These crafty kids write riffy pop songs inspired by T-Rex and Bowie. Front man Cullen Omori’s vocals are painted with reverb and submerged under anthems heavy laden with creative lead guitar licks full of bende, drawn-out notes making for some fresh glam jams. It almost feels like their tunes throw off this nostalgic vibe that would fit great on an episode of The Wonder Years. The band put out their first record in 2009 when the members were still enrolled in high school and just two years later they have quickly matured to present the polished chops of toured veterans. We hit up Cullen to talk shop about their new record, his fantasy of making an over the top Kanye West style video, and the overall progress of his chick situation. Be sure to take a listen and maybe catch them promoting their new release out on tour all month long. What’s up Cullen, why is the record called Dye It Blonde? We had a lyric from the last song on the album, which was supposed to be the triumphant closer. One of the lyrics is Photo: Ben Chappell

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“dye the whole world blonde.” We kind of came up with it because I was trying to make a Michael Jackson type song that would be about dying the whole world different colors of the rainbow and it would be a sort of peace song. I couldn’t do it; having to do too many verses for every color would take too long. So I came up with dye the world blonde and I thought it was cool. It ended up having this Rolling Stones vibe to it. Minus some of the catchy hooks, it’s almost like the lead guitar riffs standout above the vocal melodies in the mix on certain songs. It’s deﬁnitely something different that I like. Is that something you guys were trying to do? I think we are deﬁnitely really into guitar rock. I guess it kind of works that way how the guitar switches doing vocal melodies. The way that the songs are written, we don’t usually write riffs all the time. There are riffs written for the intro and outro but the riffs going on during the singing we usually write after the vocal melodies. I dunno. I think it sounds good. What was it like working with

producer Chris Coady, getting some real budget, and your ﬁrst go round in a real studio? It was a good. It was stressful because we were on a budget. We only had two weeks to do the thing. It was also stressful in the sense that we didn’t want to run out of time. Working with Chris was really good though. He knew how to reinterpret what we wanted to do in the demos in a studio setting. He offered a lot of different ideas as far as using different instruments and different amps. The one thing he also did that was cool was he produced in a way that was constructive. If he didn’t like something we would talk about it and work it out. He would never be like, “Ok if your not going to do this then fuck you I’m leaving.” It sounds like he helped you get some really classic sounding guitar tones? We spent a lot of time trying to ﬁgure out what guitar sounds we wanted. The idea was we wanted to make everything layered and lush but at the same time we wanted the guitar to really stand out. We went through a lot of equipment and amps.

There is a lot of music here to make in just two weeks. Yeah it was tough. We spent 10 days recording the drums for it and then another 10 days doing everything else on top of it. We only had like six songs really written and then we had to write four more kind of on the spot which we had never done before. The way we write is over the course of months not days or hours. You guys don’t do a lot of vocal harmonies, seems like that would work well, why not? I feel like if we did a bunch of crazy harmonies it would be too baroque pop. There are some harmonies but, yeah… not a ton. There is “Imagine Pt. 3.” I think we just wanted to have one singing voice most of the time so when multiple singing voices came in on the choruses it sounded stronger. I’ve read that this record you guys started getting into 90’s brit-pop and that was an inﬂuence. Did your eyes open up to that while touring over there? Not really over there. Over the course of tour we got introduced. When I was thinking of writing the new album I was

thinking the most memorable choruses I could think of were in the 90’s, especially with bands like Oasis. Every melody is super huge there. Everyone can sing along and it’s like arena rock vibe. I think we wanted to kind of sound like the music was stadium made but for a smaller size venue. Specifically, what 90’s brit-pop bands were you getting into? Suede and Teenage Fanclub. Your music sounds like you guys are a lot older. You’ve matured quickly as a band. Can you explain that? Just playing all the time. We played like 120 shows in 2010. We really wanted to show everyone that we are actually good musicians and play to the best of our ability. Through the lo-fi filter on our first record we got feedback like, “these kids are just getting by” or “slackers” or “ramshackle” and shit like that. I think with this new record we wanted to make everyone shut up. We were like, “Ok, we’re gonna make the really produced and elaborate sounding record so the haters can’t be like, ‘this sounds really ramshackle.’” Everything sounds pretty crisp and sharp. So you made a more polished record to kind of say “fuck you” to the critics from your previous record. Yeah, it was kind of like a fuck you this is how it should be and this is what we are capable of and we are going to put

our money where our mouth is. Every lo-ﬁ band is like “yeah um like, if I had a better recording studio it be totally different.” You just came off a tour over in Europe opening for MGMT? That’s a big opening spot. How did that go? It went really well. The crowds were as receptive as going on tour with a small band or someone more on par with us. We went on tour with Girls and it was like 600 people. Going on tour with MGMT was like 3000 a night. On some support tours people give us the evil eye and give us dirty looks and shit when we play and just look really uninterested. These crowds in Europe were really interested and into it. It was also cool because MGMT was deﬁnitely down to hang every night, so it was fun. What’s going on in your video for the single “Weekend?” It looks like your eating some pretty gnarly food. You guys are not health food junkies I take it? Yeah, what happened was we made the video two days before we left for Europe. And so we had our friends in Focus Creeps do the video and we didn’t have enough money or time to do a really elaborate video. We wanted to do a really elaborate performance thing but we didn’t have the money. So the video is us trying to spend a video budget on stupid ass things at the mall. (laughs)

Basically you guys running around town with some 5D’s? Yeah it was like, “Let’s go to the mall!” I wanted to buy a couple things and get my jacket spray-painted. We drove really far up into northern Illinois because we wanted to go eat at this fast food place and that is where we chopped the tree down in the woods there. So is all the nasty food is a play on all the snobby vegan hipsters who live off tree bark? I didn’t think of it that way. We just wanted bright color food. We were into Gregg Araki movies and stuff like that. Like Doom Generation, ya know? Should we be expecting any more videos anytime soon? I hope so. I want to make some really epic awesome music video. For “All Die Young” or something. With elaborate choreography and dancers? Yeah, like a Kanye West video where the song is only 5 minutes long but the video will be like 20 minutes. (laughs) What can we expect upcoming as far as touring for the early part of the year? We are doing a tour starting Jan 28th all over the US and I think we will be doing SXSW. I am guessing we will probably go back over to Europe. We have some bigger support dates that just got locked in but I can’t reveal

those just yet. I am excited about those dates; they are going to be some big shows. Let get to the important serious questions… are more chicks calling up since the buzz about the band is starting to pick up? I mean (laughs) I wouldn’t know. Since I got back to Chicago, I haven’t left my house. It’s too cold outside. I have been lying in my bed watching Law and Order. There are deﬁnitely some people up on my Facebook that creep me out but yea there deﬁnitely isn’t any models lining up at our door. Not yet. That was actually me on your facebook creeping you out. (Laughs) Yeah, Facebook creep! I have to privatize my account now. Last question, has anyone ever told you guys that your bassplayer Cameron, I think he is your brother, looks like Keanu Reeves with long hair? Yeah, that’s a really common comparison for me and my brother actually. Keanu Reeves is pretty handsome, I mean it’s not so bad right? Yea it’s a compliment. Keanu Reeves is super hot. So got to take compliments when you can, ya know? (laughs) Ha. Thanks Dude!

Reviews: Max Ritter

Yuck Yuck Fat Possum

Yeasayer Live At Ancienne Belgique Self-Released

Tyvek Nothing Fits In The Red

Toro Y Moi Underneath The Pine Carpark

This band will be one to watch. Young bucks like their label mates and current tour mates Smith Westerns. They ﬁt in somewhere between Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth. Their new debut record out this month has quite a few keepers. The opening track rips. Two kids in the band are from London, one kid is from Japan, and another from New Jersey. Someone want to explain that one to me? Anyway, it’s my favorite record of the new year so when I get my Grammy vote it will be going to them. Psyyyche. Serious though it’s pretty mind blowing.

The Yeasayer dudes from Brooklyn gave everyone a little Christmas present with this live album recorded in late October in Belgium. It is up as a pay what you want on their website http://yeasayer.net/. Set list features a nice mix of songs off both their records. What a great live show. How do they nail those high falsetto vocal harmonies so perfectly? I guess the question I ask myself is: how live is this? Don’t know, but Yeasayer has been doing some rad things and it’s nice to hear some fresh takes. Hopefully we will get some new tunes from them soon.

Detroit natives play primal three-chord punk that sounds like a mad transient channeling The Stooges. Kevin Boyle gets aggressive on his vocal delivery over fast and distorted numbers, yet underneath all the carnage lies a tight pop sensibility. You could say there is some high energy takes captured in these recordings. Hard not to like the catchy, simplistic vibe of tracks like, “4312”.

Chaz Bundick made big waves all last year with his early 2010 debut, no pun intended. The South Carolina native‘s tunes have been described as a mix of 80’s R&B and Stone’s Throw hip hop. If you’re into riding “chillwaves” then this is only the ﬁnest. Where the ﬁrst Toro album was more electronic and sample heavy, this new effort is strictly live instrumentation. Still the catchy trademark Toro dabbling in more experimentation with live sounds.

The Ponys Deathbed +4 EP Matador Records

Dave Hause Resolutions Paper + Plastik

Cody Chesnutt Black Skin No Value EP Vibration Vineyard

The Aquabats! Hi-Five Soup! Fearless Records

It doesn’t get anymore indie garage rock than The Ponys. Slightly fuzzy guitars and primal beats that churn slowly this band is a direct descendent of the Velvet Underground. Singer Jered Gummere’s vocals are deep and have a slight hint of Peter Murphy in them that adds another element to their NYC inspired cocktail. Funny thing is that they are from Chicago, go ﬁgure?

Hause rose out of the Philly scene playing in various area hardcore bands before fronting his current band The Loved Ones. He pals around with the likes of The Bouncing Souls and he’s got a belting raspy voice like fellow Jersey native Brian Fallon. Here on his solo debut he draws inﬂuences from the likes of Jenny Lewis and Bright Eyes and shows off his abilities as a matured singersongwriter playing tunes he says didn’t quite ﬁt for The Loved Ones.

Here is a little taste from a soul singer that hasn’t put out a record since his debut nine years ago. You might remember him singing the hook on The Roots single, “The Seed 2.0”. That was actually a song off his ﬁrst record rearranged for the Roots Phrenology album way back. What has he been doing all this time? Sounds like he has been marinating his tunes with a little Marvin Gaye for the past nine years. What we have here on this EP is about ten minutes of some serious baby making music. Dude will drop a full LP later this year keep an eye out.

These goofy new-wave punkers continue their sixteen-year career as superheroes that refuse to take anything seriously and demonstrate great pride in acting like five-yearolds. In true Aquabats fashion they deliver more awesome pop tunes about wheelie popping and shark fighting. Front man Christian Jacobs AKA “MC Bat Commander” is one of the master minds behind the TV show Yo Gabba Gabba and the creativity there speaks for itself. If you’ve never seen these guys live then add it to your bucket list. If you have been taking yourself too seriously lately then a ‘Bats’ show is probably where you need to be. Hats off to Cameron Webb on the fine production work.

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S M Y: O B R D G E S RESENT S S ! L P B

Photo: Peter Morning // Mammoth Mountain

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Photo: Ortiz

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