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RANDOMS // 26 PRODUCT REVIEW // 32 FIONA ROBERTS // 34 RUNE CHRISTENSEN // 36 SHAPER PROFILE: LEE STACEY // 38 MURAL OF THE MONTH: PANGEASEED’S SEA WALLS MURAL FESTIVAL // 40 SHOP OF THE MONTH: GENERAL ADMISSION // 42 INSTAGRAM // 44 SUPER TASTE // 48 HURLEY X TRIBAL: LEGACY // 50 DEW TOUR LA // 52 VANS US OPEN // 54 BILLABONG PRO TAHITI // 58 THE ART OF JOEL REA // 62 FASHION // 70 IVAH WILMOT // 74 STOYACH // 78 DANNY FULLER: LIQUID HORIZON // 84 ORANGE SUNSHINE AND THE MYSTIC ARTISTS // 86 1ST ANNUAL WESTSIDE PADDLE BATTLE // 88 LIFE ROLLS ON “ THEY WILL SKATE AGAIN’ // 90 LA LUZ // 92 MUSIC REVIEWS // 93 GROM // 94
Artist: Joel Rea
The Cons One Star Pro x Sean Pablo
THE NOW COLLECTION supports Life Rolls On Learn more at LIFEROLLSON.ORG Available at EZEKIELUSA.COM
Editor-in-Chief nick kalionzes nick@blisssmag.com
Editor joey marshall joey@blisssmag.com
Creative DirectoR mark paul deren : madsteez madsteez@madsteez.com
assistant edi tor delon isaacs delon@blisssmag.com
EDITOR AT LARGE liz rice mcCray liz@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, Bryce Kanights, Arto Sarri, Anthony Acosta, Cameron Strand, Brian Fick, Deville Nunns, Gage Thompson, Derek Bahn, Tom Cozad, Robbie Crawford, Ryan Donahue, Joe Foster, Sean Sullivan, Delon Isaacs
contributors Willie Marshall, Daniel Russo, 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, Richie Olivares, Eric Meyers, Kelly Shannon, JP Olson BL!SSS Magazine
september 2015
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.
Art: Joel Rea If your favorite shop isn’t receiving BL!SSS Magazine please contact info@blisssmag.com
dane reynolds' new vans signature surf collection
new blisss magazine website It’s been a minute but we finally did it! Launching this month, we are pretty excited to unveil an all-new updated BL!SSS website chalk full of profiles, interviews, surf/skate videos, babes and whatever the hell you can think of! The new site will be updated everyday so you’ll never miss out on anything EVER. Don’t believe us? Log on today at www.blisssmag.com. Also, if you’re one of those weird advanced millennials who don’t view websites anymore via computer, the all new website is 100 percent mobile friendly with a sleek and simple interface, so there’s absolutely no excuses.
Introducing a brand new style to the Vans Surf line with the Black Ball SF, the Dane Reynolds collection that features a striking black-and-white handdrawn dog motif starring none other than Dane’s dog! The playful graphic created by Dane covers three silhouettes in the Vans Surf line including the new Black Ball Hi and Low SF, and the 204 Print Sandal. Inspired by the classic shapes of the Sk8-hi and Old Skool, Dane’s styles take on a minimal aesthetic, utilizing tailored structures and simple detailing to complement each pair’s comfort-driven appeal. Each footwear piece is equipped with the ultimate ease of Vans’ removable and washable Ultracush footbeds, plus the addition of a new single-wrap, lightweight, waffle-bottom outsole to ensure a relaxed fit across the board.
captain fin x marshall bros fin Designed by our friends, that are the Brothers Marshall, here’s another stylish fin template to keep you on the nose while letting your turns flow. To Malibu and beyond, the Brothers Marshall X Captain Fin Co. fins do it all with style and grace. The collaboration between both these brands is just absolutely beautiful and it brings tears to our eyes. This collection of fins ranges in all sizes and is great for your favorite pintail, squaretail logs and single-fin rides so get your hands on one today.
common side effects Be sure to visit Ed Templeton’s upcoming exhibition, Common Side Effects, at The Huntington Beach Art Center this coming week. The opening reception is September 12th at 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Aside from his huge body of work that will be shown, Ed has curated a group of local photographers to show their work as well, including Billy Sonch William, Deanna Templeton, Nolan Hall, Devin Briggs, and Grant Hatfield. Make sure to roll out for a night of art, libations, food from SeaBirds, and a live performance from Freckles. Big thanks to the RVCA crew for supporting the show; we look forward to seeing everyone there.
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volcom stone presents psychic migrations The new Veeco Film Production, directed by Ryan Thomas, is about to drop so be sure to keep your eyes out for it. With over a year and a half in the making and featuring a cast of surfing’s most capable and compelling characters, anticipation is peaking for the release of Volcom Stone’s latest feature surf film, Psychic Migrations. The world premiere is set in stone for September 17th at the Big Newport Theater in Newport Beach, right in our very own backyard. Be sure to check out volcom.com/psychicmigrations for the movie trailer and tour info.
lucid eyewear There’s a new sheriff in town and he goes by the name of Lucid Eyewear. Ok, well maybe he’s not brand new, as this eyewear company has been on our radar for quite some time, but the latest addition to their arsenal is the Titus. Designed in LA and handcrafted from high-quality acetate, these polarized shades will keep you looking sharp all the while protecting your eyes. They come with a lifetime warranty and every pair purchased helps save a child from Malaria by providing them with a free mosquito net. Get yours at lucidwear.com.
ezekiel lro now Ezekiel’s all-new NOW Collection has dropped and can be found in finer retailers across the nation. Always keeping us looking fresh as possible, it’s easier than ever to spend our hard-earned cash on this collection since a percentage of the profits are being donated to the Life Rolls On Foundation. With support from top retailers like Active Rideshop, Jack’s, Tilly’s, Sun Diego and Nordstrom, Ezekiel has already raised enough money to independently host a Life Rolls On event in 2016. It’s such a great cause and it’s awesome to see retailers and industry brands coming together to help spread awareness and bring attention to such a great foundation, so be sure to do you part and score some great clothes at the same time.
rvca presents blind girl surf club Blind Girl Surf Club is the emblem of over 40 years of friendship between Julian Schnabel and Herbie Fletcher. BGSC is a movement of art and surf culture coexisting in the name of adventure, with a history of camaraderie and a band of members influencing others in and out of the water. RVCA presents this as an exclusive one-off collection, ranging from limited tees, hoodies, and trunks that can all be found on www.rvca.com. Watch the videos, check out the photos and buy this collection!
grapes the cat We’ve been seeing and hearing a lot about this Grapes The Cat brand via social media lately. It seems like everyone who’s anyone has been posting shots and shout-outs to this particular little cat. And this fits the mold as we’ve heard rumors of his once famous Instagram handle. But back to the brand… upon more investigation we’ve come to discover Grapes The Cat is a new, must-have portable charger. Get your hands on one of these babies and never worry about being stranded with a dead phone again. With industry heavies and athletes like Mick Fanning, Luke Rockhold, Ryan Perrings, Luke Davis, Atiba Jefferson, Dylan Radloff, Corey Wilson and Mark Powell behind the brand you know it’s gonna be epic.
quiksilver 'surf trippn' collection 805 apparel Firestone Walker and the 805 Beer Company aren’t just brewing up the finest adult beverages we’ve ever had, but they’ve been making some pretty nifty threads as well. And who wouldn’t want their favorite big-ass beer on the front of the shirt? Make sure you log on to 805beer.com to get your hands on some gear before your next surf trip to Morro Bay so you’ll blend in with the locals.
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Eclectic and made for sand and salt, Quiksilver’s new “Surf Trippin” line is ready for the sun… but it’s never too serious. This all-new collection features daytime styles and beach culture inspired by iconic ‘80s surf wear. These pieces bring bright, popping colors, loose brush work with irreverent humor all the while mixing up traditional surf fabrics like nylon, corduroy, terry toweling, flannel, and knits into fashion-forward combinations. The ‘80s are back so it’s time to throw out all your grungy flannels and ripped blue jeans cause the ‘90s are played. Add some color and fun to your palate and shop www. quiksilver.com/surf-trippin-collection today.
ollie into bank | photo: oliver barton
#ETNIESJAMESON
AIDAN CAMPBELL � E�LITE
etnies.com
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@etniesskateboarding
1. Billabong, Command Backpack - $49.95, billabong.com 2. Captain Fin Co., The Dayback II - $39, captainfin.com 3. Depactus, MEP003 Wet Dry Bag - $99, depactus.com 4. Element, Explorer Backpack - $99.50, elementbrand.com 5. Etnies, Solito - $64.99, etnies.com 6. The House of Marley, Lively Up Leather Backpack - $129.99, thehouseofmarley.com 7. Hurley, Phantom Backpack - $200, hurley.com 8. Neff, Bart Steez Backpack - $60, neffheadwear.com 9. Poler, The Rucksack 2.0 - $82.95, polerstuff.com 10. Quiksilver, Pelican Point - $70, quiksilver.com 11. Roark, The Mule - $180, roark.com 12. RVCA, Hillhurst Rucksack $54, rvca.com 13. Smith, Heyburn - $75, smithoptics.com 14. Vans, Alpe DHuez Backpack - $79.50, vans.com 15. Vissla, Surfer Wet-Dry Backpack - $54.95, vissla.com 16. Volcom, Mod-Tech Dry Bag - $90, volcom.com 32
Words: Sera Waters Insides are often inaccessible places. Both bodies and homes have insides that are housed within a protective outside, layers that restrict interlopers and obscure vision. Unlike the familiarity of home and despite our bodies being our own, we are strangers to our insides; we can never scrutinize (nor necessarily want to) the visual details of our physiological workings, nor really know its unique complexity. Yet we are continually reminded, from the sensations and occasional biological abnormalities that resonate to the outer surface, the inside is bustling with goings-on to which we will never be privy. Putting surgical expertise and medical/scientific technologies aside, human folklore has often reconciled this lack of internal vision through metaphor, by resituating corporeal attributes and bodily sensations out into the world of things and stuff as a way to conjure what we cannot see. A most familiar place, and a ripe site for art practice since the women’s movement,
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is the home, which is crammed full of objects, furniture, soft furnishings and wall hangings with which we have intimate bodily connections. The artwork of Fiona Roberts collides these intimate yet unhomely realms as a way to look inside from the outside – a form of intimate surveillance. There is a catch to her discoveries however… the inside stares (and bites and kisses) back. Most encounters, at least at the beginning, happen upon a surface; it requires the development of knowledge, intimacy, or skill to finally reach inside. Whereas medical education, practiced burglary and psychological training each offer ways “in,” Roberts has negotiated her way inside using her repetitive and rather obsessed artmaking skills. These skills enact a form of care, a tacit form of knowledge that learns and comes to know its subject intimately through repeated acts. But more than this, in Roberts’ work, her attention to inserting every strand of hair, painting stretched skin, casting each finger or attaching one eye
after another with expertise has created a homely atmosphere pregnant with the potential to come to life. In the long lineage of artists since postminimalism, who have been colliding embodied practices with domestic materials and bodily qualities, what is most disarming about Roberts’ work is its aesthetic of visceral slickness. Again and again she uses camouflage as a tactic and positions mouths, eyes and bodily creases as patterns to literally become part of the fabric, yet when they reveal themselves these human accouterments surprise momentarily with their uncannily lifelikeness. The precision in Roberts’ mimicry, its emulation of a dated home at real-world scale, creates a spectator experience that is believably theatrical. Yet, despite this mock homeliness, or perhaps because of it, being inside always equates to being an outsider; this home is rife with palpable traces of its prior occupant… not you. Roberts’ tactics of camouflage, accumulation and compulsion have remade furniture and
furnishings into unhomely and activated versions of themselves. Their lips, fingers, eyes and tresses do not appear still but rather in the midst of grasping, watching and writhing as if wanting to connect outwards. Perhaps these unbeknownst biological specimens have grown from the residue of past occupants; their skin cells, nail clippings, blood specks and whoknows-what-else to be found in upholstery, in marks on walls or between the floor boards. Either way, these traces amplified by Roberts seemingly want to touch; they are past lives reaching out to present ones. To anthropomorphize in this way, other than being somewhat unsettling, points to a contemporary re-evaluation of this tendency and our motivations for doing so. Anthropomorphism, not to be confused with anthropocentrism (placing humans in a dominant position in this world), recognizes the latent and somewhat humbling forces that lie in a shag rug which has as much potential to reach out as a loved one does.
Born in the East Jutland, Denmark, Rune Christensen is a selftaught artist who has traveled the world and became fascinated with the patterns and colors of traditional handcraft, costumes and the temple decorations of Asia, South America, North Africa and Native America. Shooting all those artistic memories with
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his camera, he uses them as references for his work, both with acrylic paint and Posca/Molotow pens. The result is a collection of faceless portraits. The female characters, with their horned balaclavas and masks, remind us of the Russian political rock band Pussy Riot, but they are too busy contemplating their twins or
doing mysterious pagan dances to make punk protests. The men and children are also cryptic – half religious icons, half extras in a music video from the band Fever Ray. The backgrounds are as simple as the characters are intricate, focusing on the tattoos and cloth prints. The peaceful poise of Rune Christensen’s
heroines and heroes create a very touching mood, somewhere between childhood’s innocence and trendy Scandinavian design. To see more of Rune Christensen’s art, please go to runechristensen. dk.
Interview: Delon Isaacs
they say, is history.
What’s the average, everyday kind of routine for Mr. Stacey? Does it start at the beach or in the shaping bay? Nine times out of 10 it starts in the shaping bay or in front of the computer. I do make an effort to at least drive past the beach in the morning, even if I know my day is too full to go surfing. Where did you grow up? What factors of your geological platform made it possible for you to make a living being a shaper? We moved around a lot when I was younger. My dad is a industrial electrician and most of his jobs would be at least 18-month contracts. By the way, my dad is in his mid60s and he still works 60-plus hours a week, three weeks on one week off. I’ve got a lot to live up to if I want to become even half the man he is; he has sacrificed a lot for his family and is a huge inspiration to me. It wasn’t until I was 14 that we settled in one place really. That was a small country town in South Australia called Victor Harbor, south east of Adelaide. This is where my brother and me started surfing, and once that bug got a hold of us nothing else mattered. This is also where I found community. Surfing is this strange bond that we all share with the ocean and everything that it offers: fear, excitement, creativity. Man, I think everyone can relate to those feelings whether you be a surfer, skater, etc.
Who’s part of this elite “Staceycrew”? Which surfers are your favorites to shape boards for? What type qualities do you admire in the surfers you like to shape for? Shit, there’s no “elite” part at all to the Staceycrew, it’s just so small at the moment that there’s only a handful of friends stuck as a part of it, haha. I’d love for everyone to feel that what we are doing is fun and something they’d either like to be a part of or start doing themselves. It’s something I’ve always wanted to create ever since I was small. I’ve dreamt of being a part of the Bones Brigade. Obviously that dream was shattered when I figured out I couldn’t skate. I think it sat somewhere in my subconscious, and when I started the brand I knew I was going to have an opportunity to create my own version of a team/family/community. And that’s what we are trying to get moving now. I’m way more into making boards for people I have a connection with rather than just the next hot surfer. I have been very fortunate to have worked with and shaped boards for some amazing surfers. They push you like you wouldn’t believe and challenge every ounce of your skill to get them a board they like. Mitch Crews is and always will be my “the guy” I admire and love shaping boards for – he has been with me since the very start. Like every relationship, we’ve gone through our ups and downs but we’ve stuck by each other, supported each other, been brutally honest with each other, and grown through our careers together.
I moved up to the gold coast when I was 19. That didn’t last, but when I was 24 I went back up on a holiday. I’d kept in touch with a guy called Darryl Bulger and when I got on the coast I called him to catch up. He rang me back and said “Lee, I’ve got you a job.” I’m thinking, ‘Darryl I’m up here on holidays I’m not looking for a job’ but the opportunity was too good to pass up, and the rest, as
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Ninety-eight percent of shapers have mentors, especially during those initial trial and error years. Was there anyone like that for you when you were first starting off? I’ve had two real mentors when it comes to my shaping career. The first was Darryl
Bulger; he taught me how to hand-shape properly. Making different curves from a plainer isn’t as easy as you might think. Following the blank curve was how I started and I thought that was shaping, Darryl showed me how to create curves, and I’m forever grateful to him for that. The other guy is Matt Biolos. I’ve been friends with Matt for nearly 10 years now, and there hasn’t been one period throughout that time he hasn’t helped me out whenever or wherever he can. I love his honesty... We both have way too many kids between us too. Obviously, I’ve worked for a bunch of other shapers and I’ve learnt different things from all of them, some good some bad, but it’s about what you take from those experiences that allows you to grow in one direction or another. Outside of that, my friend Simon Haskell has been one of my biggest mentors; he’s been behind the scenes of the brand from the very start in 2009. Bob Hurley (and the Hurley family), I wouldn’t know where to start and end with this guy and what a huge inspiration he has been. I also need to say a massive thank you to all my brothers. There’s way too many to thank right here – they all know who they are. I am very blessed to be involved with the people I am and I can’t wait to see who’s around the corner to help and inspire me. What’s your go-to surfboard to shape? The special template, the one you can shape blindfolded while being hung upside down. I’ll keep this one simple. I shape boards off the computer these days. I spend endless hours designing them, constantly trying to update the files to make them better, finishing them more and more on the program so that when they come to me I can’t mess them up. Also, this helps with the consistency of the boards, so I could shape any of my boards blindfolded whilst being hung upside down.
From what I hear you used to be in a pretty thrashy little band. What kind of music were you playing back then? What instrument? Why did you stop and do you miss that type of lifestyle? I’ve played in a few different bands throughout the years. But yeah, there was one band that I was a part of that made some noise and still do. The band is called “I Killed The Prom Queen.” I wouldn’t know what genre of music to put it these days, but back then I played in a hardcore band. I think these days it’s called metalcore or post metalcore. Again, to be honest I wouldn’t have a clue... I had the pleasure of gracing everyone who would come and watch us with my vocals. And when I say pleasure I’m sure it wasn’t a pleasure for everyone listening. I sounded like a dying goat. Damn it was fun though. What do you think the future of the Stacey brand will look like? Are you pretty happy with being able to shape boards for the rest of your life? Or are there other fields of work you would like to dig into? The future is going to look like this. The Stacey brand will be an eclectic gathering of like-minded people, ready to hang, surf, travel, and adventure with each other. They will help build and support their local surf community. They will always be down for supporting good times, in and out of the water… normal dudes doing normal stuff and they will have a blast doing it. That DIY ethic is part of who I am and so it will be part of the brand’s DNA. I also believe in the saying “open minds, open doors,” so I’m willing to have a crack at what I believe in. If I fail at least I know I’ve tried. I’m in the position to help shape the way someone surfs and help them reach their full potential, and that’s exciting and scary at the same time. There are tons of things I’d love to learn to do, so let’s see what the future brings.
Interview: Liz Rice McCray We are mixing it up a little this month and have decided to feature PangeaSeed’s Sea Walls Mural Festival in Cozumel, Mexico, as our monthly mural feature. Maybe this decision was made because we had a hard time choosing just one feature mural or because the festival is for a good cause, PangeaSeed, the international marine conservation organization… or because we just love Mexico. Truthfully, it was a combination – the Caribbean Island of Cozumel, Mexico, is a very special place, plus the artists that were involved are all extremely talented. Many of them have been featured in prior issues as the monthly mural, artist profile, or even cover artists. Last but not least, we love the ocean and we want to help with such a worthy event. The artists involved in the project included 11 from Mexico and 24 from 11 additional countries around the world, all using paint donated by Montana Cans and Osel: Aaron Glasson, Alexis Diaz, Amanda Lynn, Bihcicleta Sem Freio, Caratoes, Celeste Byers, Christopher Konecki, Colectivo La Quinta, Cryptik, Curiot, CYH Jayson, Dherzu Uzala, Ever, Faith47, Fintan Magee, Honghikuri, Hueman, Ian Ross, Jack Fox, Jason Botkin, JAZ, Jesús Benítez, Kai’ili Kaulukukui, Liz Rashell, Meggs, Melhor, Naturel, NEWS, Osel Paint Crew, Paola Delfín, Phlegm, Seher One, Tatiana Suarez, The London Police, Tristan Eaton and Zio Ziegler. Make sure to follow @pangeaseed and @ seawalls_ on Instagram and Twitter, and visit PangeaSeed.org for more information. Since this is not our traditional mural feature we
thought we would interview artist David “Meggs” Hooke to get the artist prospective, as well as Tre’ Packard, founder and director of PangeaSeed.org. Tre’ Packard, founder and director of PangeaSeed.org Will you please tell us about PangeaSeed? PangeaSeed is an international, non-profit organization that collaborates through artistic and creative mediums with members of the contemporary art and environmental communities to raise public awareness and education regarding the conservation and preservation of oceans, sharks and other marine species in peril. Our mission is to (re)connect rural, suburban and urban communities with our planet’s most important ecosystem by forging a synthesis between public art, nature, and society. How did the Sea Walls Mural Festival in Cozumel, Mexico, come about? “Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans” is a project we started back in 2011, with a singular mural painted in Sri Lanka addressing the unsustainable slaughter of manta rays for use in Chinese medicine. From then onwards, we continued to paint murals across the globe including in Vietnam, Mexico, Japan, China, Taiwan, California, Florida and Hawaii. Last year, we hosted the first Sea Walls festival on the Island of Isla Mujeres, Mexico, featuring 15 international and Mexican artists. As part of the activation, the artists had the opportunity to swim with endangered whale sharks and manta rays in their natural habitat, and then, inspired by their encounters, paint murals with regards to whale
shark and manta ray conservation. For this year, we decided to go much bigger and to focus on more marine environmental issues that are relevant to the local environment. Over 30 internationally acclaimed artists all came together to transform Cozumel with large-scale murals that highlight contemporary challenges such as overfishing, climate change, coral bleaching, turtle conservation, shark finning and plastic pollution. Cozumel is a major tourist destination, and we hope that our murals will have a lasting impact on both the local and tourist communities. Any last words you’d like to add? We are very honored to be able to collaborate with some of the most respected contemporary artists of our time to shine a light on these pressing issues, and to help bring the oceans into the streets around the world. The time and talent that the artists all donate to our projects is very much appreciated and we hope to keep raising muchneeded awareness for our oceans, one mural at a time. Follow us on Instagram at @pangeaseed and help us #saveourseas. David “Meggs” Hooke, who painted a mural for “Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans” How and when did you get involved in PangeaSeed and Sea Walls? I linked up with PangeaSeed in Hawaii when painting at the Pow!Wow! Hawaii! Festival a couple of years back and was impressed and inspired by their mission, which utilizes public art to support ocean sustainability. Soon after we met, they
invited me to take part in the first Sea Walls Mexico project on Isla Mujeres, and at the same time we also started working on print editions to support the event. It was one of the best mural projects I’ve ever been involved in. ARTivism is something I’m much more passionate about and it’s super rewarding to be able to make public art, which has the added benefits of educating and inspiring others about such a vital issue as sustainable living! Will you tell us about your mural “Coral Conch Shell?” “Coral Conch Shell” is inspired by ocean acidification, which is caused by unsustainable practices such as increased carbon emissions, chemical spraying on land crops and ocean dredging (amongst others). The mural symbolizes a Conch shell, an iconic symbol for Cozumel, broken into sections to depict the percentage breakdown of how ocean acidification is destroying our valuable and beautiful coral reef systems worldwide. Acidification causes the breakdown of corals and small invertebrates, which are fundamental to the majority of life in the sea. Any last thoughts you’d like to share? Being involved in projects like Sea Walls has educated me in living more sustainably and being conscious of every consumer decision I make, down to what I eat, buy and how I live. I hope that by spreading these messages through art and reaching more people, we can make a difference and start improving our quality of life and reversing the damage we have done to the earth and each other before it’s too late.
1. Bicicleta Sem Freio / Photo: Tre’ Packard 2. Curiot / Photo: Tre’ Packard 3. Dherzu Uzala / Photo: The Stills Agency 4. JAZ /Photo: Nate Peracciny 5. Meggs / Photo: Meggs 6. Zio Ziegler / Photo: Tre Packard 7. Alexis Diaz, Cryptik, and Fintan Magee / Photo: Nate Peracciny 8. Phlegm /Photo: The Stills Agency 9. Jack Fox / Photo: Tre Packard 10. Cryptik / Photo: Dan Armand 11. Aaron Glasson /Photo: Tre Packard. 12. Caratoes x Celeste Byers / Photo: The Stills Agency
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REEMO PEARSON | 180 OVER WALL FALL 15 LEGENDARY COLLECTION AT FINER SHOPS WORLD WIDE LEGENDARYMFGCO.COM | @LEGENDARY_MFG
Photos & Interview: Delon Isaacs How new is the store? Who are the retail tycoons pulling the main strings in this operation? The store is two weeks old, so it’s still really early days, but we’re stoked… Gavin Dogan is the Founder, President and Finance finger biter. Damien Fahrenfort, washed-up pro surfer and head of marketing, and Justin Stickelman is creative design and factory sweatshop director. The store is located in the heart of Venice Beach in some pretty mental real estate. How did this come to be? What was the building used for prior? 52 Brooks is a really special place. It kinda acts as the mediator between the touristy boardwalk and hip street Abbot Kinney. The building came about through a friendship with a South African brother. The building was a retail building in the ‘60s and then became abandoned when Venice hit rock bottom. Throughout the years from the ‘60s to today it has been used as artist lofts, a marijuana dispensary, a surfboard glass shop and office units. When we opened up the store and our neon sign lit up, all the neighbors were super stoked that we brought the building back to life. Probably the coolest fact about it was that the mad acid scientist Timothy Leary once lived in it.
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General Admission, the name of the store, is also its own private label as well. Who designs and curates the clothing brand? The brand is really designed as a team effort between the three of us. Our rule of thumb is if we won’t wear it then it doesn’t exist in the store. Between the three of us we have similar styles with our own unique twist or age reach. Our initial private label launch is really focused on basics that dress men well. As a retail store what is General Admission’s mission statement? Our mission for General Admission is simple: dress men well so they can get laid, haha. All jokes aside, essentially our goal is to create a space where everyone wants to be. We’re trying to create an integrated space within the community that brings a diverse array of people together. It’s also a space that we will use to tell really interesting stories. How does this store differ than your average clothing store? How are the pieces sold in the store selected? Where we will differ than any other store will be how we create content around the people involved or the people that inspire us. It will also differ in the respect as it being an event space. Be on the lookout and follow us to keep up to date on our events. The clothing pieces in the store are selected and focused
on what we think the Venice dude is into. Our goal is to keep as much of it California, more West Coast-inspired, but also to have any Japanese-influenced brands in the store. Walk us through your average customer? And I know this is a silly question but what celebritys sightings have you got going on over there? I know for a fact that Hank Moody from “Californication” is pretty much the store’s next-door neighbor. Other than some well known artists, surfers and fashion peeps, at our first event I do know that some dude from “10 Things I Hate About You” couldn’t get into our party. In all honesty, we’re trying to avoid celebrities and rather have super interesting, artsy type folks at the store. What’s the surf scene in Venice Beach like? You guys carry a pretty unique variety of surfboards. Can you describe the collection and shapers selected? Besides a couple old-school Venice rippers and a couple new up-and-coming kids, the Venice surf scene is pretty lame. It’s pretty much 98% kooks, 2% people that can surf. The waves suck and if it happens to be good there are probably 10 times better waves elsewhere. For us, we wanna make boards that people wanna hang in their homes, so a little less function and a little more art. We
do carry a couple performance boards from a local shaper Guy Okozaki… Being a washed-up pro, Dooma curates the surfboard collection. Being in the shop the other day we noticed that the store was beautifully dressed in some pretty amazing framed photography prints. Whose work is currently being on displayed for the store? The artist is Akira Kobayashi. He’s a Japanese photographer from Tokyo that lived in Venice in the ‘60s. We saw his coffee table book called POP in Japan and knew we had to have him as our first exhibition. His photos are iconic and reference a time in Venice that people often talk about. Akira had moved to Venice thinking he was going to be a part of the beatnik generation but when he got here the hippy generation had already started, so he picked up his camera and got snapping. What can we expect to come in General Admission’s near future? A couple more stores in a few different countries, a continued effort to make our private label line cool and tons of movieedits and stories. Also, a lot of parties and events, so be on the lookout for a flyer and come by and say hi. Our goal is to bring people together and get them off their phones, unless they’re posting about us, haha.
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Photography: Dominic Petruzzi @dominicpetruzzi Model: Chanique :: @chaniqueg @elitemodella Hair & Makeup: Beth Carter @bethcartermua
Word: JP Olsen Back in the day, if you saw a lowrider on the street they were probably pulled over by the cops; today they are celebrated as a feat of fine art and precision engineering. On August 1st, Hurley and Tribal celebrated the second Annual Legacy show, featuring more than 100 custom cars, the first-ever installation of Teen Angel originals, hand-painted surfboards and Fender guitars by the world’s finest car painters and tattooers, along with a gallery exhibition honoring four families whose vast contributions led us to the zeitgeist of the present. A major contributor to the installation, John John Florence, noted, “It was amazing to see all custom work on all those cars, a totally different medium than I’m used to seeing. Crazy to see so much work and time they put into the detail.” The Legacy show’s origin dates back to the fourth of June 2014 when street-wear icon Bobby “Tribal” Ruiz and artist Dakota Gomez envisioned hosting a car expo at the headquarters of Hurley in Costa Mesa. The concept of Legacy was birthed from one single image, a photograph by enigmatic visionary of skate and surf culture, C.R. Stecyk III. The image is a shot of Jose Galan manualing past some cholos sipping Schlitz Malt tall cans in front of their ‘64 Impala parked in the L.A. riverbed. The gallery installation depicted the Tovars and DeAlbas, two of the most celebrated families in custom car building, next to the Hurley’s and Florence’s, two of the most celebrated families in surfing. The exhibit space featured hundreds of framed photos, some scanned out of family photo albums and others donated by notable surf photographers including Art Brewer, Jamie Brisick, and Jim Russi. Also showcased were pimped-out strollers fabricated for the kids, clips from John John’s new movie entitled View from a Blue Moon (edited to Sabbath and Sinatra on vinyl), a serape laden with first-place car trophies and Bob Hurley’s own Skil 100 Planer, which has been used to shape boards for world Champions Wayne Rabbit Bartholomew and Carissa Moore. But the crown jewel of the event lay in the room adjacent – a magnificent showcase of Teen Angel originals, including drawings, painting, dioramas, sculptures and an exact installation of his art studio as he had left it when he passed last March. And atop an altar adorned with his artwork on Santeria candles sat a small portrait his wife took of him 30 some odd years ago – presumably the only photo ever taken of him. Curated by David DeBacca, these never-beforeseen pieces still held the musky aroma of the cigarettes smoked during their genesis. Teen Angel is probably the most emulated and revered artist in Low Brow Chicano culture. He worked for Lowrider Magazine for a stint before fulfilling his destiny to edit and publish his own magazine. Over the course of his life he compiled the largest documentation of lowriding culture with 70 years of archived illustrations and paintings. His $1.75 magazines inspired and informed decades of kids coming up on the street of the West Coast. He coined archetypal images of big-eyed cholitas garbed in Virgin Mary gowns and whose tank tops bore the name Teen Angel in Olde English. Although Teen Angel, or David Holland, as it read on his birth certificate, lived as a recluse with his wife in East Los Angeles, the appreciation for his work is ever-growing; so if you haven’t tapped in, get on eBay and buy one of those time tablets portraying the romanced life of the varrio and the ranflas floating like giant bars of soap up and down the broadways, occasionally bouncing up at the site of 5.0 or a rivaling car club. 1. The Bob’s taking a trip down memory lane. Photo: Bahn 2. Mister Chuco Moreno, holding it down with his nephew Trip Hendricks. Photo: Olson 3. Codey Levesque puts the finishing touches on Chuco’s mural. Photo: Bahn 4. Timothy Carter Hendricks and John Alexander Florence tripping on Teen Angel. Photo: Olson 5. Four generations of DeAlba’s. Photo: Olson 6. Michael Tovar drops a knee. Photo: Olson 7. Tovar’s ‘36 master in front of the Hollywood movie set town. Photo: Bahn 8. Albert DeAlba Jr.’s ‘64 named Legacy, appropriately. Photo: Bahn 9. The Gypsy Rose, the world’s most famous lowrider which inspired the Phantom Legacy boardshort. Photo: Porres 10. Danny D’s Ford LTD is a chick magnet. Photo: Bahn 11. Lined up. Photo: Tellez 12. Chata is down with Teen Angel. Photo: Olson 13. Pegasus Car Club. Photo: Bahn 14. Purple drank interior. Photo: Bahn 15. This little dude’s first ride. Photo: Tellez 16. Bobby Tribal. Photo: Olson 17. Three-wheel motion. Photo: Bahn 18. John John taking a break during the install. Photo: Olson 19. Edgar Barrera sending it in front of the Viejitos. Photo: Tellez 20. David and Carlos Debacca psyching on Teen Angel. Photo: Olson
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Words: Ohio Dave Photos: Ortiz Imagine bombing a 5% grade, 900foot hill in downtown LA and having to navigate through a barrage of gnarly obstacles that include tractor trailer beds, dumpsters, shipping containers, gaps, rails, stairs, and jersey barriers. Sounds like an impossible dream, right? Well, leave it to Dew Tour to make it a reality and bring in 15 of the world’s most talented skateboarders for the 2015 Los Angeles Dew Tour Street Style Event that went down August 16th. The night owls of the California Ramp Works crew had the insane task of bringing this dream course to life in less than 12 hours – closing a portion of Broadway Street at 11:00 p.m. Friday and having it ready to roll by 11:00 a.m. Saturday.
Ryan Decenzo
Before the event started, rumor had it that there was a bet at the top of the hill between the Blood Wizard Chris Gregson, Ben Raybourn and Leo Romero. Dew Tour apprehended an old police car from the set of The Fast and Furious and incorporated it into their Street Style Downhill course – now the question was, who was going to hit if first and how? Raybourn sketched out early and lost some speed, so it made sense when his speed check diverted him to a mellow launch ramp that landed him on the hood of the car sliding off as he tried to cruise off of the windshield. Next up was Leo Romero, and what ensued was a Toy Machine shattering through a windshield. The already amped crowd of Los Angeles skateboard fans loved it – hell, who wouldn’t? Creature fiend Milton Martinez impressed all and earned the “Sweet Trick of the Day” with a huge backside 180 to flat off the shipping container. The Flip Skateboard team shredded the gnar as expected. Louie Lopez (4th), Alec Majerus, and David Gonzalez awed the crowd with their possessed-to-skate attitude. Unfortunately, Curren Caples was out with an injury, otherwise he may have been two for two this year after winning the first stop of Dew Tour in Chicago. Another unforeseen highlight included Ryan Sheckler and Klay Thompson (from the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors) kicking it on the course and bro’ing down like old friends. Ryan and Klay have one thing in common for sure – and that is they can make certain things look effortless. Skating down the course as if it was game six and no pressure, Ryan looked relaxed and confident he just couldn’t stick his last move, which would’ve been the biggest kick flip of the day.
David Gonzalez Ryan Sheckler
The podium runs all came down to being able to stay on the entirety of the course and being able to roll away from the last obstacle. With that being said, here are the last tricks that went down for the top three and their respective results. Ryan Decenzo finished in third with a Red Dragonapproved frontside 360, Trevor Colden’s risk-worth reward paid off with half-cab krook placing him in second, and Kelvin Hoefler threw down and sealed his skate fate with a flawless kick flip backside lipslide that earned him first place and a hefty $50K. It was raw. Everyone slammed, fought through speed wobbles, and most importantly had fun shralping and pushing one another other to skate harder and faster!
Milton Martinez 2nd: Trevor Colden, 1st: Kelvin Hoefler, 3rd: Ryan Decenzo
2015 Dew Tour Los Angeles Results: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 52
Kelvin Hoefler Trevor Colden Ryan Decenzo Louie Lopez Milton Martinez Ryan Sheckler Alec Majerus Leo Romero
9. David Gonzalez 10. Tommy Fynn 11. Pedro Barros 12. Ben Raybourn 13. Chris Gregson 14. Greg Lutzka 15. Nick Merlino Alec Majerus
Kelvin Hoefler
Trevor Colden
Tanner Hendrickson :: Photo: Lallande
Words: Albert Milo Each summer over half a million people walk through the streets of Huntington Beach and into the sand for the Vans US Open of Surfing. Vans’ gives you nine days of world-class surfing, skateboarding and BMX. Oh, and Steve Van Doren himself will personally grill you up a hotdog free of charge! The best surfers in the world battle it out for one of the largest prize purses in the industry, while today’s best skateboarders (and BMXers) rip through the Marseilleinspired course for one of the most exciting events on earth. It was a Cinderella story for this year’s $100K US Open champion, Hiroto Ohhara, who entered as an alternate into the event and made his way through the field to victory, including that of Tanner Hendrickson, who took second place. With a legendary post-heat victory speech, we hope to see Hiroto rolling around Southern California with a fresh quiver of cars. On the skate side of things, Ben Hatchell took the win at this year’s Van Doren Invitational with his super-tech mini-ramp approach, while Pedro Barros’ aggressive performance was surely the fan favorite. During setup, Vans invited out artists Travis Millard, Nat Russell, Sasha Barr, Rich Jacobs and Jay Howell to hook up the skate course with some flavor. These guys put in long hours in the hot summer sun to put the finishing touch on the course; it’s a shame that it’s torn down each year. Vans steps up this event every year and we can’t wait to see what they’ll have for us next year. For the full recap and highlights from the open, head to vans.com and click around through photos, videos and anything else you missed.
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Hiroto Ohhara Photo: Lallande
Ben Hatchell Photo: Brandon Means Pedro Barros :: Photo: Brandon Means
Hiroto Ohhara :: Photo: Lallande Ben Hatchell :: Photo: Brandon Means
Filipe Toledo Photo: Brandon Means
Alex Sorgente Photo: Brandon Means
Alex Ribeiro :: Photo: Lallande
Kolohe Andino Photo: Brandon Means
Kanoa Igarashi :: Photo: Lallande
Chris Russell :: Photo: Brandon Means
Raven Tershy :: Photo: Brandon Means
Willy Lara :: Photo: Brandon Means
Ryan Callinan :: Photo: Lallande
Words: Spencer Pirdy Photos: Tom Servais I was extremely fortunate to have been given the opportunity to travel to Teahupoo, Tahiti, during the Billabong Pro Tahiti for work. As it was my first visit to French Polynesia, and to Teahupoo, a wave that had always enamored me, I left without really knowing what to expect. Now, I could sit here and tell you all about every single heat, the way guys surfed and how the waves were, but odds are that you already watched the live webcast and have the gist of what happened. Rather than bore you with analysis of the comp, I’ll start by giving you a little insight into what life is actually like there at ‘The End of the Road’ during the Billabong Pro Tahiti from the perspective of a completely psyched-up surf nerd who tried to soak it all in like a sponge. Welcome to Tahiti Hopping on a plane for Tahiti is interesting. You’re crossing your fingers that you don’t get sat next to a bathroom due to the abundance of large French Polynesians on the flight. Besides that, the people are as pleasant and inviting as can be. The national sign for hello is the shaka and everyone, I mean EVERYONE, will throw you one accompanied with a welcoming smile and a hello. When landing in Papeete it’s about an hour-and-a-half drive to get to Teahupoo. When they call Teahupoo “The End of the Road” it’s a very fitting name because it’s literally where the road abruptly comes to an end. It’s there that, only for the Billabong Pro Tahiti, you’ll have a slue of pop-up restaurants and stores. From there you can get out of your car and get that first glimpse of the Teahupoo lineup in the distance. Eats I was told about the “Tahiti Ten,” but really didn’t quite understand it until a few days into the trip. After you’ve consumed fresh baguettes with breakfast, lunch and dinner, had the usual few Hinano’s each evening and all sorts of other dishes infused with yeast, you start to feel your shorts tighten a bit. The food is as fresh as can be with amazing fish dishes, one in particular that is a staple, Poisson Cru. This is raw fish soaked in coconut milk with veggies. You’ll have this with almost every single meal. Digs There aren’t any hotels at Teahupoo, and everyone just pretty much rents out houses or rooms from the local families. I stayed at the Teva’s compound – again some of the nicest, most hospitable people I’ve ever met – with a large crew consisting of the Billabong team, Keanu Asing, Brett Simpson, CJ Hobgood, Ryan Miller and many others who came and went. With three boats on our dock we were more than capable of reaching the Teahupoo lineup whenever we wanted in around five minutes max. Freesurfs/Lay Days Teahupoo is even that much more amazing in person. From the green mountainous backdrop, to the crystal aqua-blue underwater view of the reef and the perfect lefts firing off, it’ll make you pinch yourself. Watching all of the pros warm up makes you realize how dialed the majority of them are in waves of consequence. Parko, Ace, Wiggolly Dantas, Aritz Aranburu, Julian Wilson, Jeremy Flores and CJ Hobgood all were making it look easy out there on lay days. And when I say lay days, I mean days that would make any other session at home look like a 12 out of 10. If you really wanted to, you could get barreled out at Teahupoo every single day. The only thing that might turn you off is hitting that beautiful reef below. It’s razor sharp, jagged edges will leave you with scars. I had a few close encounters, had to chase my board through the lagoon and my haole skin didn’t fair too well. One evening our house decided to go deep sea fishing out just beyond the Teahupoo channel as it drops drastically in depth to around a thousand feet. With a packed boat the whole crew 58
Jeremy Flores
Gabriel Medina
Cj Hobgood
Owen Wright
John John Florence
was elated when they caught a couple of large-sized Trevally. Coming back in though, the local boat driver was a bit inebriated and missed the channel marker. The boat hit the reef full force and was completely dry docked in front of the scaffolding. Luckily no one got hurt, the boat was saved and everyone in town was able to have a good laugh at the story the next day. The Comp The first three days of competition were rather tough with unfavorable winds, but there was still plenty of swell in the water. Rounds one, two and the majority of round three were run in 6- to 8-foot surf with excellent ranged scores being posted all over the place. The heat of those rounds and what was dubbed “The Heat of the Year” so far was the John John vs. Gabriel heat. In the end, Gabriel got the best of John, but it was a damn fine showing by two of the best young surfers in the world right now. Both John and Gabriel could be seen taking advantage of every freesurf and fishing chance possible, showing their sincere appreciation for the ocean. After a week of lay days, the Billabong Pro Tahiti was down to its last two days in the waiting period. Luckily, these last two days provided a good combination of wind conditions and swell for the contest to finish. As round three finished in the second to last
Kai Otton
The End… of the Road Leaving Teahupoo is extremely tough. I mean, who wants to leave paradise? I caught some of the most gorgeous waves of my life, met amazing people and had daily visions of the kind of stuff you’d see on postcards. Even a lot of the pros who had lost out early on in the event stuck around because of how much love they have for this magical place. But all good things must come to an end, and if I’m lucky enough, maybe I’ll get the chance to come back one day. For now though, the contest has left town, all of the little shops have packed up and the surf paparazzi and pro surfers have gone home. The only thing that remains the same is the local community, the natural beauty of the place and the roaring and cracking of the Teahupoo reef going off in the distance.
Josh Kerr
day, Jeremy Flores came out of the gates firing with two of the best waves in round three. As I mentioned previously, Jeremy exudes amazing amounts of comfort at Teahupoo, and his round three heat against Joel Parkinson was all of that and more as he chucked himself over the ledge. Just when we were thinking that that was going to be the highlight of the day, my housemate CJ Hobgood pulled a rabbit out of the hat with a 10-point ride and eliminated Julian Wilson from the event. On finals day conditions were clean but a bit smaller than the previous day. CJ Hobgood continued his dream run and pulled out two close wins leading him all the way to the semifinals where he reached Jeremy Flores. Jeremy was the in-form backhander of the event and soon found himself in the final of the Billabong Pro Tahiti alongside defending event champ Gabriel Medina. In the end, Jeremy overtook the insanely talented Gabriel and walked away with the win. CJ Hobgood won the Andy Irons commitment award for his hard charging and dedication in the event, and I was handed a whole new appreciation for the surfers on the World Tour. Watching in person you can really see how well rounded and talented each surfer on tour really is and the level of surfing and focus by everyone is sky high.
Italo Ferreira
Against the backdrop of the visually inspiring nature that surrounds him, Australian artist Joel Rea morphs his meticulously painted images. Self described as a photosurrealist painter, he places disparate things together and forces them to interact and depict a narrative derived from the artist’s own individual responses to existence. Rea calls on his surrealist practice to muster complexity. His skill is to push, pull and load up the action of his figures within the dramatic and sometimes dangerous landscapes. His painting carries with it a history of collage, of an intellectually satisfying cut-and-paste of images harvested from his photographic excursions, which are then masterfully cemented into paint. Interview: Jeremy Geddes First off, the work is looking stunning, congratulations! How are feeling about your upcoming show with Jonathan LeVine? The exhaustion I’m feeling due to my usual pre-exhibition art marathon workload is being overpowered by a great sense of excitement and suspense. This will be my first trip to the U.S. and my show with Jonathan LeVine Gallery really feels like the culmination of the last 10 years as a fulltime artist-painter. How do feel about your last 10 years of painting? I know I can always have mixed emotions about paths I took and retreated from, or choices I backed away from. So thinking about the last 10 years, are there some key moments that you see as defining and have lead to this point? I love the fact that I can look at my last 10 years worth of paintings and see my life story unfolding; it has been a dream job so far. A real turning point for me was a few years ago was when I acknowledged I could take control of my own publicity and build awareness of my work through a much larger international platform utilizing the Internet and social media. I see my future career now as a global strategy, where as in my early years I was looking for recognition only in very specific, local institutions, resulting in a very narrow path for success. For myself, it’s worked out a lot better going where the love is. Otherwise, you can end up feeling rejected and confused, especially when investing so much of your life force into your art form. Lately the response to my work online is tremendous. There is definitely an audience for what I’m doing all over the world, so now it’s time to take my art to that audience. I know what you mean. The Internet has been paradigm shifting for the ways artists can build their careers and find their audience. I think particularly for people such as us, being in a fairly geographically isolated location with a small internal market. Having a show with Jonathan is a monumental step out of the bubble of the Australian art world. How did it come about? Firstly, I became Facebook friends with Jonathan LeVine. I had been following his Gallery for a while and was a fan, so I friend requested him but nothing happened for a while. Then in 2012, I started to think about the prospect of exhibiting my work overseas and how to get around the problem of not wanting to jet-set to all the world’s major art cities and introduce myself to gallery owners one by one. I strategized to hire a filmmaker to produce a quality short video basically introducing viewers to my painting practice, my home and
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The Promised Land
The Precision of Luck
studio life, and my family. Demonstrating the dedication to my work and my stable lifestyle in the video was a plan that paid off – as soon as I posted it online I got a wave of responses immediately. I remember Jonathan LeVine wrote a comment like “great vid,” so I jumped at the chance to start up a dialogue with him and the rest is history. It sounds like the show has been a long time in the making! The recurring elements in this series of works are very evocative. The tigers and human figures seem to have an emotionally fraught relationship, and both are placed in environments that are actively hostile to their continued existence. They spark off wonderful questions in the mind of the viewer.
See Me
Do you have a process for deciding on the elements for a painting and the way in which they are juxtaposed? I know for me it is a very internal process that happens mostly at an unconscious level and so my process is hard to vocalize, but not all painters approach their work in this way. Is this something you are able to articulate? Usually I have two different approaches, one in which I have an internal vision which I’ll sketch very quickly and then seek out the reference material to fit that idea. The other approach I use references from my photography library to deliberately push an idea out from – this method usually comes from my obsession with a particular image, whether it be a photograph of a tiger, cloud, rock, wave, etc. I don’t go in with any preconditions about the amount of detail I want in a painting, but rather decide the elements based on what best serves the narrative. I attempt to design the most potent combination rather than overkill for detail’s sake. I feel most satisfied when I can simplify an image, boiling it down from all its baggage, resulting in an emblematic visual symbol still containing all life. Sometimes
less is more, and other times, like in my latest large scale painting ‘The Promised Land,’ the abundance of characters and elements help me reinforce that particular narrative. So how did “The Promised Land” come about? What process did you go through when you were planning the painting, and how did the image evolve from conception to the finished piece? For that painting it started with the reference of the two ice/rock spires. I kept looking at it imagining the characters and scenarios happening all around it. After several drafts, loosely sketching in the elements, I then started pulling in the necessary photographic references and designing the final draft in the computer. Some of the decisions are made up by fate, especially if I can’t totally control the subject I’m photographing, like the tigers or waves for instance. Often, the results from a photo shoot are better than I anticipate and other times I’m unable to capture the vision I have in my mind so I have to work around it. The tigers featured in the painting live about a 30-minute drive from my house at a theme park, the waves are from my local surf break during a huge storm swell and other characters are referenced from a recent trip to a Singapore Zoo with also some shots of myself posing in the backyard. I really enjoy stitching all these random elements together, giving them a new ensemble existence in the form of an artwork. The process takes me back to when I was a young boy and would take several of my action figures outside to pose them in an interesting garden of rock wall setting. I would pose them very carefully creating a diorama-like scene. I believe a lot of my artistic intentions are driven by this internal need to connect with those same pleasures I felt playing as a kid. When I begin the actual painting process I start from the background elements such as the sky, then the rock, working forward to finish with the foreground details.
Clash
Solo
The Other Side
In relation to the conceptual construction of the painting (understanding which elements to add and which to subtract and how they should be properly juxtaposed), how do you go about that refining process? I find it to be particularly tricky myself, as I can find my internal radar shifting by the day. A specific painting concept will seem perfect one day but will seem glaringly faulty when I come back to it on the next. I find riding these waves and coming to a definite conclusion to be a fraught, lengthy and painful process much of the time. Do you find this, or do have more surety when ironing out the details? And do you find, once you’ve made these decisions, that you continue to agree with them through the painting process, or do you revise whilst you’re painting the work? When I’m designing the painting in the computer I usually give myself several options to edit down from. Sometimes it can be only a subtle change in a reference, like the position of a character’s finger, but even with such a small detail I give it a lot of consideration. Ultimately I find it best to walk away for a while, come back and then try to make a quick decision based on my impulsive response. When there is a lot of background detail to work though I can often keep the foreground elements optional right up until the day I have to start blocking them in. Once I commit to a detail element and start painting it, I try not to think about the other avenues I could have taken. I always look back at my previous paintings and know I could’ve resolved it better somehow, but I also believe that kind of postanalysis is a necessary condition of artistic progression and growth.
I’ve learnt to use those unsatisfied feelings as fuel to improve my future paintings. Luckily for me never being 100% satisfied with my work is a real motivator to keep painting. As a painter it’s hard not to just focus on the technical side of things and dig into the process… But your work goes well beyond technical realism and explores some evocative themes. How would you describe the work in your coming show? Are there some unifying themes, elements or ideas that you’ve been exploring? I feel I’ve been making my work in a state of automatic reaction to my life’s journey. Growing up on the Gold Coast in Queensland I spent a lot of time in and around the ocean, but in the last few years a new fear has surrounded what used to be a place of recreation, whether it be of sharks or drowning; water both beautiful and deadly is occurring frequently in my paintings. Dreamlike scenarios of falling or flying are also themes I depict regularly, perhaps linked to my fear of heights or my childhood adoration of flying superheroes. I paint self-portraits in dual identities, where the nostalgic freedom from my youth is opposed with my adult ambitions to succeed. Death is also present in every work I make as a possible outcome or threatening obstacle. Life’s one true promise is death, an inescapable event I obsess over and depict in variety. I’m also thoroughly fascinated by all aspects of nature; it’s pretty much all I’ve painted so far. No hints of technology except the clothes worn by the people depicted in my work and other motifs such as paper. Through nature I understand myself and our world more clearly. The natural world is so endlessly complex and detailed,
Photo: Chris Hyde
it really motivates me to make paintings that glorify our natural world, giving it the upmost importance. In explaining my use of other ambiguous subjects like tigers or tsunami waves in my work, I identify with philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer’s concepts of the Sublime. For him, the feeling of the sublime is pleasure in seeing an overpowering or vast malignant object of great magnitude, one that could destroy the observer. Above all, the most dominant theme I see in my own work is duality, both internal and external – a simultaneous adoration of all life whilst also deconstructing its apparent perfection. It sounds like it will be a wonderful show. They’re themes and ideas that resonate strongly, and I can’t wait to see it hanging at the gallery. How are you feeling about how it all coming together? I have pushed really hard over the last eight months,
so in that regard I’m very satisfied with the work I’ve produced. No matter how long I have to prepare for an exhibition it never feels like enough time, but I can also predict that when the work gets hung on the walls and it’s opening night I’ll feel pretty excited and relieved! “Beasts of Arcadia” New Paintings by Joel Rea Jonathan LeVine Gallery New York, NY 10011 529 West 20th Street, 9th Floor Opening Reception: September 12th 6-8 p.m. Exhibition runs: September 12th - October 10th www.jonathanlevinegallery.com
Jasmine Overalls – Billabong billabong.com Top – Volcom volcom.com Socks – Richer-Poorer richer-poorer.com Sunglasses – D’Blanc dblanc.com 70
Tayla Romper – Billabong billabong.com Bikini – RVCA rvca.com Sunglasses – D’Blanc dblanc.com
Photography: Jeffrey Thayer :: jeffreythayer.com Models: Jasmine :: @jasminevill Tayla :: @taytay_hamilton Julia :: @julia.holm Agency: Otto Models :: @ottomodels Hair & Makeup: Juanita Lopez :: @jlomakeup_
Julia Kimono – Volcom volcom.com Dress – Billabong billabong.com
Dress – Lira liraclothing.com
Top – Volcom volcom.com Shorts – Volcom volcom.com Sunglasses – D’Blanc dblanc.com
Top – Billabong billabong.com Shorts – Hurley hurley.com
Jasmine Top – Billabong billabong.com Shorts – Volcom volcom.com Sunglasses – D’Blanc dblanc.com
Julia Top – Hurley hurley.com Shorts – Model’s own Sunglasses – D’Blanc dblanc.com
Tayla Top – Billabong billabong.com Shorts – Billabong billabong.com Sunglasses – D’Blanc dblanc.com
Julia Dress – Hurley hurley.com Socks – Richer-Poorer richer-poorer.com
Jasmine Top – Billabong billabong.com Denim – Hurley hurley.com Socks – Richer-Poorer richer-poorer.com
Tayla Top – Lira liraclothing.com Shorts – Volcom volcom.com Sunglasses – D’Blanc dblanc.com
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Interview: Mike Vavak Photo: Ishack Wilmot Ivah, tell us where you’re from and a little about your family. I know you have a good-sized family and you all seem real tight-knit. How have they played a part in your surfing? I grew up in a fishing village in Bull Bay, right by a beach called Cable Hut. My grandparents moved here from Canada over 50 years ago and my dad grew up in this yard. My dad started surfing in the ‘70s. He learned from a Puerto Rican guy called Terrence Muschett who came down to Jamaica back then, when no one surfed here. They started talking and my dad borrowed his board with no fins on it and went out to try to catch a wave. He was spinning around on it and Terrence put on the fins and showed him a few things. My dad has been surfing since then (and still does), and Terrence has been a friend of the family since. No one really surfed in Jamaica back then but my dad and his friends got into it and throughout ‘80s and ‘90s it was pretty much just him and a bunch of his friends hanging out. People only really started coming down here for the waves in the late ‘90s, and that’s when my parents opened up the surf camp that we live in now. At that time, my father also set up the Jamaican Surfing Association, which helped send Jamaican surfers to compete in other countries. Once the international community started seeing these Jamaicans surf, they realized that there must be really good waves here. So that’s also helped raise awareness about the sport here. What are the positive and negatives of having a surf career in Jamaica? Even though we have really good waves, we don’t have any surfs shops down here in Jamaica right now ‘cause there aren’t enough customers to keep them alive. I only know of about 30 people who would spend their money in a surf shop, mostly because they can’t afford to. The thing is, you can buy a football for about 15 bucks and a whole group of guys can play with it. A surfboard is at least 300 to 400 dollars and only one person can use it at a time. So we can’t really support the shops in the way that we would want to, even if there were enough demand for it in the sport. Down here, I haven’t had my own surfboard for 3-4 years cause I can’t afford one and because it’s so expensive to ship one over here. So I borrow my dad’s board. Most of us rely on friends and sponsors to hook us up. You’re not gonna really have a career down here in Jamaica unless you travel, because there are no stores or companies here to promote. But the positive thing is that because so few people down here surf, you don’t really get a lot of crowd out there and you can practice more because of that. Plus, a bunch of us are lifelong friends so there’s no competition or territorialism. We make way for anyone that comes through. The whole vibe down here is good. There’s always lots of waves and almost no crowd. And the entire surf community is my family, my best friends, their families, and me. We’re all very close. How has growing up in Jamaica influenced who you are today? I guess growing up in Jamaica makes you a little rough around the edges. Jamaicans are friendly, good people, but there is something rigid about the culture that makes them judgmental and less open-minded than in some other places I’ve travelled. And there still exists some racism between Jamaicans of different skin colors. I’ve had the chance to travel so I’ve learned a different way of being. When you go abroad, you really see how all the other cultures operate, and you meet different, open-minded people, which helps you break out of that narrower way of thinking. I’m lucky for that. Also, my dad is a musician and I was exposed to live music and roots reggae my whole life. Growing up in the surf camp, we’ve held live music concerts every two weeks and there were always drum sets, speakers and other instruments lying around on the veranda. My brothers got into music as kids, and even though I focused more on surfing, music was always a part of my home life. Growing up around roots reggae music, it opens you up to a more conscious side of Jamaica. My dad’s music is more conscious and musical than what you hear on the radio or in clubs, and that made me
He’s a waterman. I like watching Craig Anderson surf too. They both have a laidback, nonchalant, effortless style of surfing that I really like. They’re surfing hard and doing big turns, but it doesn’t look like it’s that hard. It’s got a certain style to it. Tell us about the trip you just went on with the Eidon crew to The North Shore of Peru. Anything cool that you learned or discovered that you want to share? [Laughs] That was one of the best trips I’ve been on, and it was the first surf trip I’ve been on by myself. I usually travel
with a bunch of Jamaican surfers, but this time it was just me alone going to meet up with the Eidon crew, which were people from all over. It was cool to travel alone like that and made me feel a little more responsible. Before going down there, I had no idea what I was in for but I knew I was going to have fun as long as there were good waves. I was expecting more of a structured work experience, but it was pretty fun, and Lee (the other surfer) and Mark (the photographer) were so cool about everything. When Mark was ready to work, he was serious about shooting, but when it
more laid back and open to different types of people. And we’ve hosted all kinds of Jamaican musicians from Chronixx, Kabaka Pyramid, Jah9 and Protoje. I met Lee Scratch Perry once when I was a kid too. Who’s surfing inspires you? People say I surf a lot like my older brother, Inilek. There’s old footage of him surfing that I watch all the time, and I really see a resemblance between his style and mine. Also, watching that footage shows me how I can improve even though our turns look so similar, ‘cause I see how his airs are so different. And I see him doing some bigger man turns. It’s really inspiring. As far as well-known surfers, I like Rob Machado’s all-around surfing.
was playtime, it was fun. Peru was crazy. The landscape was rugged desert mountains for miles on end, and the climate was hot, dusty and dry which felt a little like Jamaica. But the food and people were a different experience. People were cool down there, and the surfers were pretty friendly. It wasn’t really a “locals only” type of vibe. It helped that we were with these
two crazy Peruvian surfers Marco and Franco. They were cool. What’s one goal you currently have set for yourself either in your personal life or your surf career? I realized that contest surfing is not something that I have a gift for. Although I can do well, it’s not my thing. I’m more into trying to surf different funky boards and to
look good surfing them. The goal is to be known for my own personal style and to make money travelling the world. Actually, I’d love to start shaping boards too, but there’s no way to do it down here in Jamaica right now. I’d be down to go learn how to do that somewhere else though if I had the opportunity. If you could take a surf trip anywhere in the world with anyone in the world, where would you go and who would you bring? I’d probably go to Puerto Rico ‘cause it’s really close and I hear the waves there are really good. Also, that’s where Terrence Muschett, my dad’s friend, lives and I’d love to go down there and surf and hangout with him. I’d go with my childhood friend Shama. We’ve known each other for 15 years and we surf together in Jamaica all the time. It would be fun to take a trip with him. What’s your favorite food? I love eating Ackee, the national fruit of Jamaica. You cook it and it looks like scrambled eggs. I’d eat it with anything. You should try it, but you probably won’t like it.
Stoyach, a word created by Doran and myself, started out in the streets over 10 years ago. The word caught on amongst a small group of friends and spread to a larger group, eventually turning into a brand. It’s whatever Doran and I are into: funny shit, snowboarding, skateboarding, music. Thanks to the homies for reppin’ so hard, some to be mentioned later, and thanks to everyone rocking stickers, buying gear, or just saying Stoyach. This past season we teamed up with TransworldSnowboarding. com (thanks, Justin Gunson) to create Stoyach Saturdays. This Web series took a look at some of the squad’s shralping from the Japanese streets to the Rocky Mountain backcountry. We followed around our friends and made edits of what we got. Big shoutout to the boys for making time to film for Stoyach Saturdays. Big shoutout to Sam Fenton for the A-grade hams as well as all the riders who helped out behind the lens as well! -Scotty Arnold Can you appreciate the idea of laughing and bullshitting with your homies while shredding, skating or just while hanging out in general? Well, then you have Stoyach in my book. We made up a word, then said it a lot (a lot) and it caught on. You have to be having a really good time and not take yourself too seriously to say “Stoyach.” When you’re having a blast and lol’ing that’s when you’re really living. Stoyach is a representation of that. Scotty and I are the originators of the term and partners in the brand, but we wouldn’t be able to do this without the help and support of a lot of awesome people in the snowboard world and beyond. I’d like to take this as an opportunity to talk about some of the riders and photographers whose photos are featured in this story. Let’s start with littlest, since he’s the youngest in charge. Alex ‘Littlest’ Sherman, A.K.A. Wiz, is on the come up! I’m so stoked for him! I’ve known him since he was a tiny little shit, hanging out at Mt. Hood causing trouble. We have ridden for a few of the same 78
Doran Laybourn – Displaying proper Stoyach on this backside-five nose-grab deep in the Colorado cunch. Photo: Aaron Dodds
Scotty Arnold – Arnie 5000 channeling his inner Nikki Mule for this #jbnautch method deep in the Colorado backcountry. Photo: Potto
Kyle Clancy – This isn’t your average freerange switch backside-three, growth hormones were added in the stomping of this beast. Photo: Aaron Dodds Alex Sherman – Deep in the Michigan Straats, on a crispy-cold day, Alex Sherman laces an even crisper nose-press. Photo: Azvedo
Colin Langlois – Showing why he got the nickname CL Smooth, Colin tweaks a smooth stalefish with his signature Stoyach. Photo: Drew Smalley
Heavy Stoyach sighting with Ozzy Henning, Scotty Arnold and Alex Sherman, all reppin’. Photo: Scotty Arnold
companies, been in the same videos and traveled to a couple of places together. He has such dope Stoyach, is a super fun homie to ride and travel with and is one of the first people we put on Stoyach. He’s been reppin’ since day one. Be on the look out for Wiz. Word on the street is he’s got a banger part in the new VideoGrass movie! Aaron Dodds and Jeff Potto shot photos for this story and I want to give them a huge shoutout for holding us down over the years. Potto was one of the first people I started shooting with and continues to be a part of amazing sessions every winter in the Colorado backcountry. Always making it wherever he wants on his 15-year-old Yamaha sled and laughing the whole time, Potto is fam for life. Dodds is the super homie to Scott and I as well. I think he shot a cover of Scotty years ago and has spent a good amount of time with the Stoyach crew in various locations in the CO country over the years. Dodds is down as fuck for a good time and some good snow, and somehow he manages to get great images of mediocre snowboarders like myself. The best thing about Potto and Dodds is they are out there ripping pow runs on the daily with us, and that passion for riding is what will keep them permanently invited. Oh, and they gave us these photos free of charge. If that’s not proper Stoyach, I don’t know what is.
Ozzie Henning – Ozzie hits road gaps in the straats with no jumps and has proper ollie Stoy. Photo: Scotty Arnold
The Stoyfathers Scotty Arnold and Doran Laybourn doing some serious “market research” in that deep duff. Photo: Potto
Nick Fuca – Who the Fuca is that doing a perfect frontside invert at Park City? Nick Fuca, that’s who. Photo: Scotty Arnold
Colin Colin Langlois Langlois –– CL CL Smooth Smooth slashes, slashes, sprays sprays and and goes goes deep deep into into the the white white girl. girl. Somehow Somehow he he manages manages to to keep keep his his nose nose clean clean in in this this photo. photo. Photo: Drew Smalley
Scotty Arnold – Scotty has freestyle-rap battled Shawn Farmer, but just because he battles legends doesn’t mean he’s gonna go at Terje too. And he isn’t with this Hakkon Flip off a backcountry hip. I believe Terje would be stoked to see his trick done with such proper Stoyach. Photo: Aaron Dodds
Kyle Clancy – Kyle said that this jump and run didn’t line up. Looks like his hands are lined up perfect, “ten-and-two” for this truck driver spin through. Photo: Aaron Dodds
Scotty Arnold – Scotty is good at tail grabs when he snowboards, not so good when he’s looking to grab a little tail at the end of the night. Photo: Aaron Dodds
Doran Laybourn – This ladies and gentleman is a proper Stoyach hand plant. Photo: Potto
Alex Sherman – “Littlest” giving this roof his hottest garbage. Can you blame him, looks cold as f*ck out there in Michigan. Photo: Azvedo
CL Smooth, or Colin Langlois or @eldulche, is seriously one amazing snowboarder and human! Colin is a dad and having daddy duties sometimes leads to not being able to be on snow as much as he used to. What is very, very impressive is that no matter how much he’s been riding he literally shows up and rips harder than anyone and stomps everything he tries. He may have to battle at times, but he knows his time on snow is valuable and he never gives up. He would literally give any one of his friends the shirt off his back, ‘cause that’s how much he appreciates his friendships and is one of the most loyal homies I know. Passion, lifelong dedication, insane Stoyach and the fact he thinks he made up the term “el Dulche” is why we love Colin, always and forever. -Doran Laybourn Ozzy Henning, A.K.A. Sker Doosh, is a talented little bastard. His skills on a snowboard, skateboard, and most importantly with a hacky sack (Skerrrdoosh), are one of a kind. Ozzy has a unique Stoyach and an even more unique ponytail. He is an awesome human who always has something to say and gets along with everybody. I am so hyped on the time he dedicated to filming for Stoyach Saturdays. Ozzy landed his own full-street edit and starring roles in all the park edits, not to mention he will have a hammer part in the new Absinthe movie as well. Thanks, boss! Stoyach is coming into its second year as a company, and we plan to keep bringing the Stoy! Look out for Season 2 of Stoyach Saturdays, follow us on instagram at @ stoyach_ and head over to stoyach.com to check some gear. Tales and I are grateful for all the support and hyped for the future. -Scotty Arnold
On August 11th, Venus Over Los Angeles Presented an exhibition of new works by RVCA advocate Danny Fuller titled “Liquid Horizon.” For the past 15 years, Fuller has also pursued a passion for photography, documenting the seascapes he has encountered while traveling the globe. Relying on little, aside from his medium-format camera and the lunar calendar, Fuller often works at night using moonlight to capture the rich gradations of color and harmonious lines generated by the ocean vistas. Shot with an exposure time ranging from a few minutes to up to an
hour, Fuller’s images both convey and encapsulate the continuous motion of waves and sky, incorporating them into a single visual entity. Fuller’s photography communicates his physical relationship with the water as his spiritual tie to the sport of surfing, to which he has dedicated his life. Influenced by artist such as William Turner, Mark Rothko, and Hiroshi Sugimoto, he captures horizon as both a participant and an observer.
Photos: Delon Isaacs 1. Anthony Kiedis, Danny Fuller & Tori Praver 2. Fuller in front of 70 x 70 pieces 3. Johnny Knoxville and wife Naomi Nelson 4. Laird Hamilton with Malibu Mayor Skylar Peak & friends 5. Ellen Page, Alia Shawkat, Samantha Thomas & Tori Praver 6. Dane Gudauskas, Reef McIntosh & Adam 7. Alexis Ross 8. A couple beautiful faces of the RVCA corporate team 9. Thomas Lynch, Sage Vaughn & Casey Holland 10. Bleu Archbold & Taylor Bonin 11. A crowd spread out through very large Venus Over Los Angeles Gallery 12. Damon Way & son Tashen
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JAMIE THOMAS TA NK O L L IE / K A BUL , A F GH A NI S TA N A C T I V E R I D E S H O P. C O M @ S K AT E I S TA N
Coastline Art Gallery, at Coastline Community College in Newport Beach, plays host to “Orange Sunshine and the Mystic Artists, 1967-1970,” which will be on display until September 26th. This groundbreaking exhibition is the first to examine psychedelic art produced in Orange County by the Mystic Artists, a loosely organized group of artists interested in alternative culture, mystical experience, and the transformation of society. These artists congregated and exhibited their art at Mystic Arts World, a psychedelic emporium in Laguna Beach, which existed from 1967 to 1970. The shop was ground zero for hippie culture in Southern California during the late 1960s and early 1970s, and rich artistic and perceptual experimentation grew out of this burgeoning psychedelic culture.
Artists who exhibited at the Mystic Arts World included Carol Abrams, Isaac Abrams, Richard Aldcroft, Roger Armstrong, Jan Peters Babcock, Tom Blackwell, Mark Blumenfeld, Robert Ronnie Branaman, Jane Callender, Italo d’Andrea, Paul Darrow, Louis Delsarte, Khigh Alx Dhiegh, Philip Freeman, Ray Friesz, Louis Goodman, Reuben Greenspan, Bill Groves, George Herms, R.L. “Holly” Hollingsworth, Robert Jocko Johnson, Julie Kahn, Steve Kensrue, Karen Kozlow, Terry Lamb, Bob Laney, Ed Lutz, Robert McCarron, Joe Miller, Dwight Morouse, Jim Nussbaum, Harve Parks, Beth Pewther, Noble Richardson, Larry Rink, David Rosen, R.L. Bob Ross, Mary Riker Segal, Gayl Stenlund, Gerd Stern, Jon Stokesbary, Wiktor Sudnik, John Upton, Gordon Wagner, Andy Wing, Dion Wright and Bob Young.
Photos: Delon Isaacs 1. Opening-night crowd 2. Michel Oren, Betty Nguyen curator of the Look Up Gallery, Gerd Stern 3. Herbie & Dibi Fletcher with Pat & Jody Tenore 4. Casey Holland & Aaron Rose 5. Dion Wrights’ Taxonomic Mandala of Life on Earth 6. Greg Escalante and Charlie Jane Pleasant 7. George Herms, Sue Henger, JP Olsen & Lorraine Carroll 8. Travis Ashbrook & Herbie 9. Man enjoying the works of Richard Aldcroft 10. C. R. Stecyk and PM Tenore 11. Spencer Croul with artist Star Shields & Hynson Johnny Gale 12. LIFE Magazine September 9, 1966 on Psychedelic Art
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Words: Shane Kendall If you didn’t quite qualify for the US Open you might have been destined to play in the 1st annual Westside Paddle Battle, presented by Cutlass and Lira. The charity table tennis tournament, held at The Wayfarer in Costa Mesa on August 1st, 2015, attracted industry locals and friends looking for some good clean fun out of the sun. A $20 entry fee got you in, and a single loss knocked you out. With an oversized $500 grand prize check as incentive, contestants showed up early to warm up the ol’ wrist and take a stab at all the day’s Ping-Pong glory. Any loss of pride was easily swallowed with $2 canned beers from Golden Road Brewing. Proceeds from the event went to The SOS Medical Clinic of Costa Mesa. Round 1 started with BL!SSS’ Joey Marshall entering the spotlight. Taking a loss, he left the table and set the standard for good sportsmanship. Wayfarer owner, Jeff Chon, too hip to my underdeveloped style, rejected most of my attempts and sent me to the loser’s bracket in the same first round. Madsteez took a higher road with a couple of victories, earning him a shot against a childhood idol and semi-retired pro in skater Tony Magnusson for the quarterfinals. Knockin’ paddles against the creator of his first skateboard might have gotten to his head, but it left him with a fond memory to accompany the honorable loss. Some woman’s worth shined as Minami swept through a couple of rounds before being stopped in a head-to-head standoff with her husband.
As sweat-drenched shirts clung to the bods of the players, this casual event was turning into something a bit more official. Spectators and KO’d participants turned to the walls for rest and a place to “ooh” and “aah” at some pro-like slams and miraculous saves that started to surface. As the brackets eventually narrowed, the finalists were brought together for a final showdown. Tony Magnusson squared off with friend Per (both from Sweden) in the championship, displaying what it takes to earn a spot at the top… be Swedish. With some razor-sharp aim and courageous returns, Tony took things all the way with the big “W” and the oversized check for 500 big ones, proving he had the skills to pay off some bills. Smiles were formed, pictures were taken, and the top three champs walked away with some replica Ping-Pong paddle trophies and a place to hide their tears behind with a set of sunglasses donated by Otis Eyewear. From novices who came to spark a dream to the dream-shatterers whose returns could spark whiplash, there was a hero for everybody that day. All in all, the event served as a fresh break from the usual and a new spin to a summer afternoon. Big thanks to Lira, Cutlass, Otis Eyewear, Golden Road Brewing and Wayfarer for an opportunity to showcase our talents, or lack there of.
Photos: Christian James 1. The one and only T-Mag throwing it down 2. The winners circle, all smiles 3. Pear with the easy backhand 4. Cutlass’ Dean Bradley & Lira’s Todd Kellogg with their better halves 5. The oversized check 6. Todd Kellogg battling it out 7. Pop-ups from the sponsors 8. Victory dance with Charlie & Madsteez 9. As action heated up the crowd got more into it 10. Lookin’ fierce but it was all fun & games 11. Jeff Chon, Wayfarer owner in action 12. Master of ceremonies, Brian Barlow
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Words: Danny Kurtzman This year’s Life Rolls On “They Will Skate Again” event at the Venice Skatepark was as inspirational as it gets. With over 100 adaptive wheelchair and amputee skaters making an appearance, this event keeps raising the bar on the Life Rolls On Mission Statement, “To inspire infinite possibilities despite paralysis.” The year-over-year growth in participation of both adaptive skaters and volunteers has been incredible to watch. With participants flying in from all around the globe, the sport is growing rapidly, and we feel honored to be involved. Thank you to LRO’s founder and our friend Jesse Billauer for his continued inspiration and support of the paralysis and physically challenged community, along with his amazing LRO staff and everyone who came out to make this day happen! We’d also like to thank our amazing and supportive sponsors Active Ride Shop, Society6, and the truly amazing and inspirational Box Wheelchair team.
Photo: Morgan Rindengan 1. Aaron “Wheels” Fotheringham taking wheelchair skating to a whole new level. 2. Ezekiel Brand Manager Danny Kurtzman, Active Pro Rider Guy Mariano & Life Rolls On Founder Jesse Billauer. 3. A young skater takes a spin in the bowl with the help of a volunteer. 4. Amazing and supportive Guy Mariano, Chad Tim Tim, and Brent Futagaki from Active Ride Shop. 5. Wheels doing a no-handed 50-50 during this year’s first Rail Jam competition. 6. Active Ride Shop Pro Skate Guy Mariano having a blast. 7. 13-year-old Ella drops in the big bowl. 8. Guy Mariano showing off his skills for all the adaptive skaters. 9. Awesome location at Venice Beach Skatepark. 10. One-handed bowl ride in style with a view. 11. Support from the amazing crowd in Venice.
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Interview: Max Ritter Photo: Andrew Imanaka After surviving a near fatal car accident scare while touring two years ago we’re happy to say the Seattle quartet La Luz are back at it with their new Ty Segallproduced sophomore album Weirdo Shrine. The story goes that producer Segall tried to put that fuzz pedal on every song but they shot him down for the most part. Fuzz pedal is the new cowbell, right? Fun fact about recording the new album Weirdo Shrine: I read you recorded the album in a shaping bay mostly. What shaper was it that lent you the space? What a nice guy… maybe we should plug his boards? Lena: It was a total accident that we recorded in a surf warehouse. Ty (Producer) had
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a last-minute zoning issue with his home studio and moved all of his gear to Tyler Frome’s shop, who graciously stopped production for a week so we could do all the tracking. His company is called Year One Surf Co. and he makes beautiful custom wood surfboards. I can’t wait to get my hands on one of them! Check them out at www.yearonesurfco.com. How did this band get so into surf guitar? Shana: I first got into surf guitar after seeing Diminished Men, a surf band in Seattle that plays amazing dark surf instrumentals. I saw them at a house party when I first moved to town and they were so amazing. It made me want to play guitar like that, made me want to take more solos, and just shred. Then, I got really into Link Wray and Takeshi Terauchi and started trying to learn their songs.
What’s it like playing Seattle shows versus LA? Lena: Hometown shows always feel good, so many familiar faces that come out. But the whole West Coast kind of feels like home to us for shows. Portland, San Francisco, LA, and San Diego always bring good times for us, and we couldn’t be more thankful.
play fun shows and let people dance. People want to dance they just need a little bit of encouragement. For the rest of the show, after the soul train, the crowd is always more wild, loose, and fun for everyone.
Tell us how near death experiences suck. Shana: Ha. I guess the only thing that DOESN’T suck about them is that they force you to realize that your time is limited so you gotta do the things you want now.
How did the video for the song Black Hole come about? Lena: It was made by Meghan Tryon. She told us her idea was to mix Looney Tunes and El Topo, which sounded perfect.
Explain making live shows fun with soul trains. Lena: We don’t always do the soul train at shows, but we find that we miss that element of audience participation when we don’t do it. Part of the reason La Luz started was to
How is the fuzz pedal Ty Segall’s cowbell? Lena: There is never enough.
Sorry La Luz for calling your album Weirdo Sunshine in my interview! La Luz’s new Weird Shrine is now available from the great Hardly Art records!
Review: Max Ritter
AC/DC Powerage Who Cares You know when you’re getting nuts on Spotify and you search to listen to Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” and you can’t find it and then you bum out? Oh yeah, me too – it happens all the time. Well, the battle vs. digital music platforms wages on for some; however, AC/DC is the latest mega artist to cave in. Their records are now available for streaming on Spotify. Let there be rock… on your watch phone.
Jonwayne Jonwayne Is Retired EP Authors/The Order Label This issue’s MC pick goes to Jonwayne, and it’s possible this is his last release. Rappers do that, you know. John Wayne the actor’s real name was actually Marion Morrison, which is weird because that sounds like a pretty good screen name for an actor off the bat, right? Funny that Jon Wayne is actually the LA rapper’s real birth name. Supposedly Marion Morrison took his screen name from rapper Jon Wayne’s great-greatgreat-greatest uncle General “Mad Anthony” Wayne, who was a G in the Revolutionary War. This is a true story… so the Internet told us.
Korey Dane Jules Verne 7” Innovative Leisure Check out a pretty smooth country roller by Innovative Leisure’s latest signing Korey Dane. Korey does a raspy crooning chugger that will melt you ladies out there.
Heavy Blanket S/T Outer Battery Records This is the J Mascis recording project that came out a few years ago so it’s not exactly new-new, but it’s notable this month because the label recently did a re-pressing of the vinyl and the record reminded me of just how good of a guitar player Mascis is. It’s a facemelting onslaught of never-ending riffing that could sound track Wayne’s World. We’re not worthy! He plays along with his “high school buddies” Johnny Pancake and Pete Cougar. If you play guitar it’s pretty fun to listen to. If not, you’ll probably hate it.
Dead Moon - Berserktown II The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA Sunday August 16, 2015 Review & Photo: Max Ritter
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Parked my Prius next to their Hearst with a DEADMOON plate. Dead Moon forever. Thanks Beserktown II.
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