BL!SSS Magazine | November 2015 | #99

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B A L A N C E M AT T A R C H B O L D NAT URE ORDER DARK

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O P P O S I T E S

BERT KRAK INDUSTRY CHAOS LIGHT

RVCA.COM

MAT T ARCHBOLD SIGNAT URE COL L EC TION

F E AT URED A R TIS T BERT KRAK The RVCA Artist Network Program is an ongoing venture which aims to showcase the talent of accomplished as well as emerging artists who inspire our generation and push the boundaries of creativity; providing something of substance and culture.

AG47 Zipperless Wetsuit

THE MOST FLEXIBLE WETSUIT

INTERNAL HOLLOW FIBRE MAXIMUM FLEXIBILITY SUPERFLEX STRETCH NEO TAPE

photo: Duncan Macfarlane

DAV E R A S TOV I C H E A S T CO A S T AU S T R A L I A

RANDOMS // 26 PRODUCT REVIEW // 32 HUMANTROPY OF PHILLIP OB REY // 34 CAMPBELL BROTHERS - SHAPER PROFILE // 36 BRENDAN MONROE - MURAL OF THE MONTH // 38 GYM STANDARD - SHOP OF THE MONTH // 40 INSTAGRAM // 42 SUPER TASTE // 46 MIKEY WRIGHT // 48 JOHN BRADFORD PHOTO PROFILE // 54 FASHION // 58

THE ART OF KEVIN ANCELL // 62 DEREK HYND // 70 RAFAEL PEREZ // 74 BRYAN IGUCHI // 78 KEVIN ANCELL - NOS VEMOS EN VENECIA // 82 GREGORIO ESCALANTE GALLERY - PORTAL TO THE FUTURE // 84 RUMBLE IN RAMONA 5 // 86 WSL RVCA PRO JUNIOR // 88 BEACH GOTH // 90 MUSIC REVIEWS // 92 THE GLOOMIES // 93 Kevin Ancell’s Studio

T HE

BAL ANCE

OF

OP P OSIT E S

RVCA.COM

The Cons One Star Pro

Made by Don “Nuge” Nguyen

All We Have Is

NOW Jökulsárlón - Iceland P: Julian Berman M: Callum Wilson, Ellie Fox Ezekielusa.com — 92

PHOTO - DEAN BRADLEY

Editor-in-Chief nick kalionzes nick@blisssmag.com

Editor joey marshall joey@blisssmag.com

Creative DirectoR mark paul deren : madsteez madsteez@madsteez.com

assistant editor 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

NOVEMBER 2015

413 31 Street st

Newport Beach, CA 92663 www.blisssmag.com THE ORIGINALITES

The Originalites , new singles “I cant keep her waiting” and “Roses in the Garden” available on itunes

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: Kevin Ancell If your favorite shop isn’t receiving BL!SSS Magazine please contact info@blisssmag.com

nixon.com

legendary buckets & snapbacks Our favorite headwear brand, Legendary MFG Co., just sent us their latestand-greatest gear to keep us all looking fresh for the holidays. Newest to their ever-growing line of must-have lids are the Forest Canvas SnapBacks and the Breaker Reversable Bucket. They are perfect for any and every occasion, so get your hands on these today.

outpost fest SoCal indie-band Delta Spirit is curating Outpost Fest in downtown Santa Ana, CA on November 14th. The guys called up their friends the Cold War Kids, Blonde Redhead, Beach Fossils, Tijuana Panthers and Guards to all join them on stage for the one-day music festival, which also features their favorite drinks, food and artisan vendors. It’s local and it’s gonna be a good one, so check out www. outpostfest.com for tickets and more information.

view from a blue room Over three years in the making, John John Florence and Blake Vincent Kueny are about to drop their second signature release, View From A Blue Moon.

The worldwide premiere will be going down on November 11th at select theatres in Hawaii, Australia, Brazil, California, Japan, Paris (November 12th) and South Africa. It’s free for everyone but you must reserve your seat at www.viewfromabluemoon.com before it’s all booked out. Another first of its kind, the film was shot entirely in 4K and showcases the world’s most dynamic surfer, John John Florence, along with a host of his closest friends as they travel the world redefining what is possible in the ocean. Available for pre-order now through brainfarmcinema.com, hard copies will ship the first week in December, just in time to fill your stockings.

greyson fletcher goes pro signal snowboards Element Skateboards welcomes Greyson Fletcher to their heavily stacked Pro Team. It was only a matter of time before we would see our high-octane, bearded friend land amongst his skating peers with warm support from Element founder Johnny Schilleref, RVCA founder PM Tenore and the rest of the talented Fletcher family. In celebration of turning pro, Element Skateboards has released three all-new Greyson skate decks along with a signature Independent collaboration truck, and a couple of apparel pieces will be dropping soon too.

Check out the entire collection at elementbrand.com, and congrats again, Greyson!

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John Jackson loves the Sierras. And I mean he loves them, so much so that they were the inspiration to his new Sierra Series signature boards by Signal Snowboards. And this isn’t just his name thrown on to attract sales; JJ himself played a huge role in bringing this series to life. He designed the new tip-and-tale directional quad-sidecut, chose the lightest materials available and added carbon fiber to increase strength and flexibility for a board unlike any before. His buddy from Venice helped out with the five-board design and the rest, as the say, is history. The Signal crew loved it so much it became the subject for season 5, episode 10 for Every Third Thursday. Check it out at signalsnowboards.com and grab yourself a new shred sled while you’re at it.

hurley phantom jjf ii You our friend, like John John Florence, deserve only the very best. You had a great quarter this year, we’ve noticed, and now it’s time to treat yourself to something nice. Something like the all-new Hurley Phantom JJF II. John John’s new Phantom boardshort are the same shorts that you’ve seen in his latest teasers for his mental new movie titled View From a Blue Moon. And as far as we are concerned they are the only trunks out there constructed with fucking lasers! These bad boys boast a 21-inch length for superior protection in powerful surf and are composed of a single, continuous piece of Phantom 60% stretch fabric – which enhances mobility for lightweight, in-water comfort. The JJF II are the boardshort of all boardshorts, the real cat’s meow, cop a pair over at www.hurley.com.

volcom flagship mexico We already know that everyone in Mexico is getting stoned, but now there’s a new meaning to that phrase since Volcom has just launched their first Mexican flagship store in the heart Centro Santa Fe, one of Latin America’s largest shopping malls.

Surrounded by gleaming high rises, city parks and college campuses, it only seemed right that Volcom elites Ryan Sheckler and David Gonzalez joined the likes of or Mario Saenz, Michael Scott and Oscar Moncada along with hundreds of others for the opening kickoff party. It was one for the books and a first for hopefully many more to come.

vans launches nathan fletcher capsule We trust Nathan Fletcher. He is professional surfing’s number one badass and we will support anything that Nathan indorses and puts his name on. In this particular case, he happens to be backing an all-new, exclusive Vans Capsule Collection. Taking cues from his own Native American heritage, Fletcher truly puts himself into the designs found throughout this multipiece collection. Featured above, Fletcher brings a distinctive and organic vibe to both the Costa Mesa SF and the Slip Up footwear pieces, along with a tribal inspired Rising Swell boardshort made with Vans renowned four-way Sturdy Stretch material. Topping off this collection is a NF embossed patch on a clean-pocketed tee. Look for this collection launching the beginning of this very month at a local Vans dealer near you!

R.I.P. GLEN SPACEMAN

SLOWTIDE TOWELS When is a towel not a towel? When it’s a Slowtide Towel, of course. These beautiful, artinspired water-removers are brought to us by industry veterans Kyle Spencer, Wylie Von Tempsky and Dario Phillips. Inspired by all bodies of water and their love for art, they’ve dyed fabrics, mixed paints, manipulated pixels and collaborated with artists and photographers to create their debut collection. These premium art-based beach towels are now available at Aloha Beach Club, Thalia Surf, General Admission and finer retailers across the nation.

Or if you don’t like to leave the house, you can order one on slowtide.co… yew!

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Glen Christensen left us on October 3rd with a hole in our hearts. He was a comet of human spirit and one of the most explosively creative people around. With his band Distractor, he managed to capture raw emotion onto paper, and when you got it… You really got it. His do-it-yourself energy wasn’t an aesthetic of his personality; it was just how he saw the world.

Listen closely to what’s written in his songs or poems and you’ll get that strange feeling in your spine that the words are somehow about you. In the end, he battled with time and death to make sure his friends and family, close and from far away, could say their sad goodbyes. Glen is Spaceman.

And like any true spaceman, Earth is just another pit stop on the road to the greater unknown. So in alignment with last wishes and support from the ones who loved him, Glen’s ashes will board a NASA rocket in January and launch out of Cape Canaveral. After clearing the atmosphere, Glen will be attached to a satellite, orbiting eternally and reminding us to always keep our gaze locked firmly up on the stars. (Watch: Distractor Devotion on YouTube to get your mind blown properly.)

SET TO GO OFF We’re celebrating the snowy season with tons of fun and events for everyone. From first chair, beer toast, live music and giveaways on day one to weekend movie premieres and afterparties, Mammoth is kicking off winter the right way.

OPENING WEEKEND FUNSTIVITIES

NOVEMBER 11–14

FIND THE FULL LIST OF FUN ONLINE

1. Billabong, Fremont - $54.95, billabong.com 2. Captain Fin Co, Sheep Dog - $60, captainfin.com 3. Depactus, At Sea - $90, depactus.com 4. Ezekiel, Hinder - $59, ezekialusa.com 5. Hurley, Redding - $75, hurley.com 6. Imperial Motion, Parlay - $59.95, imperialmotion.com 7. iNi Cooperative, Staple Hoodie - $80, inicooperative.com 8. Lira, Everest - $79.99, liraclothing.com 9. Nixon, Acre - $70, nixon.com 10. Poler, Mens Long Sleeve Button Up - $71.95, polerstuff.com 11. Quiksilver, Everyday Check - $48, quiksilver.com 12. Roark, Nordsman - $76, roark.com 13. RVCA, Highland Plaid - $65, rvca.com 14. Vans, Box Flannel $49.50, vans.com 15. Vissla, Serra - $65, vissla.com 16. Volcom, Echo - $65, volcom.com 32

Clockwise from action: Bobby Okvist, Derrick Disney & Eric Geiselman

Interview: Liz Rice McCray Would you call yourself a multimedia artist?

Multimedia is one of my substitutes. After my exhibition in Berlin, and after making sculptures and thinking of art installations, I consider myself more like a Visual Artist, close to a proteiform craftsman.

How would you explain your art form?

It is all about materializing my visions, like a daydream. I build a physical and sensorial atmosphere where people are in between.

As a craftsman, I need to materialize; I create sensitive cocoons, installations where the visitor looses control and needs to trust his primitive senses to go further.

As an artist, the photographs and videos I create are a poetic and raw vision of a future for humankind. I just let the viewer fall in a mesmerizing world or stay in an intellectualized comfort zone. My goal is not to trap feelings or meanings in a mono perception but to play with the extremes, the opposite, and find axis – the perfect nongravity reactions, using a mix media form.

What materials do you mainly work with?

I’m very inspired by infamous or difficultto-use material, which most of the time has a past story behind them. Because of my experience in the Parisian High Fashion, I am feeling very confortable with the idea of transforming raw materials and giving them a gorgeous, new effect. For example, by using the VHS tapes I bring my project

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to another “consciousness.” Using the tapes like dark, silk ribbons brings out an obscure luminous, glossy effect of a black leather or metal.

We must say that your sculptural Sasquatch creatures created from discarded VHS tapes left us with so many questions. How did this project come about?

This project is a part of Humantropy – play on words, morphing Human and Entropy. I built the world of “V” and these sculptures as a definition, a vision of the future of humankind. Inspired by dark romanticism and the symbolism, I created giant, primordial elements evolving in nature, dead and arid or alive and frightening. Iceland was the perfect stage. I mixed my favorite writings of Nietzsche, Orwell, Maupassant, Holy Scriptures, Buddhism Philosophy and Buto and decided to create a Genesis, a modern scripture with artifact. Like an alchemist, I connected my inspiration to an environmental and political subject.

It’s the reaction against the mass media, consequences and the overconsumption of the new technologies. Then, these five sculptural monoliths appeared.

Besides the VHS tape, what else are these beasts made of?

I’m a collector and I love the idea of finding everything in the nature. In Iceland I used to collect all kinds of plants during my trips in different fjords, such as stones and sulfur close to active geothermal areas, feathers from atop of hills, shells in a far away lost

village and dry seaweed from the shores.

I collected everything I needed from all around Iceland in very special places and towns. Collecting day after day, the simple objects took on deeper meanings for me. I used these treasures and gave them all to these beasts, the elements they deserved to be alive.

Please tell us about these wonderful, wandering creatures… What do we call them?

I made these creatures as essential elements. They are my visions of a postapocalyptic world. Five personas, delivering messages from the past in a captivating journey. Coming from the seas, the forest, the sky and the lava they are called: The “Submarine Wings and Seeds” (water), The “Shadows of Bedrock Children” (earth), The “Thousand of Njord’s Feather” (air) and The “Lavas’ Whisper” (fire). And there is V, the fifth entity, “Unknown Ashes, Unknown Voices.”

After you make these creatures you photograph them wandering around Iceland?

The places I’ve selected in Iceland are very special, powerful and connected to the energy of each dark giant. Making these creatures alive in such places, and it gave them a kind of “logo” during the shooting. And every creature transformed the landscape into an eerie planet just for few hours.

You live in Iceland now, but is this

where you grew up? Can you tell us a little about living there? It seems like everyone wants to go there these days.

I used to live in Paris when I grew up, but Iceland was my secret obsession when I was a child. When I decided to move to Reykjavik, everything became clear. I felt connected to this culture, this country. It is now my cherished homeland. Living in Iceland is living with elements; you need to follow the rhythm of the weather, sun, volcanoes, ocean and storms. You need to act like a wild animal sometimes; it’s a completely unpredictable land. There is something brutal and poetic at the same time. And I can understand why so many people want to visit Iceland; it’s a mysterious, breathtaking magnetic island.

What’s next for you?

Right now I’m preparing the next Humantropy project in Iceland. “V”HS was just the beginning of a vision; this new world will appear in 2016 with an installation. I’m also working on a visual and digital art project. I’m collaborating with Mark Klink, an ultra-talented “entity” from California, creating gorgeous and dreamlike dimensional images.

Where can people check out more of your art?

You can find my work, visions and videos on my website at www.humantropy.com and also on humantropy.tumblr. You can also follow my latest news, videos, and images on the Facebook page “Humantropy.”

Photo & Interview: Delon Isaacs What year was it when you and your brother designed your first tri-fin surfboard? What was the initial thought process behind it and how’d the first one go?

We developed the first Bonzer three-fin in the later months of 1970. The concept for the Bonzer emerged out of the need to improve the speed and stability of the extremely short boards that had come on the scene via the “shortboard revolution.” We were heavily influenced by what was going on in Australia.

Surfers such as Wayne Lynch, Nat Young, Midget Farley, David Trelore, Ted Spencer, Terry Fitzgerald and others captured our imagination. Their style and boards provided the blueprint for our direction. We loved the short length and templates of the boards, but felt as single and twin fins they lacked the speed, stability and control to work efficiently in a wide variety of waves. We discussed what we wanted to accomplish with our dad and he asked us if we had thought of trying three fins. From that point the three of us brainstormed and came up with the setup we soon named the Bonzer. The first one we made went great. In fact, I knew after the first turn that we were really on to something special.

What’s the Campbell Bros Merrill Webster definition of a “Bonzer” and where did the name come from? You know, just for those uneducated (like me).

The word Bonzer is an adjective. It is Australian slang for extraordinary or unique.

Our dad had come across it in the Oxford English Dictionary. It was the beginning

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of many serendipitous events that have characterized the Bonzer Experience for 45 years.

Did the ‘90s surfboard manufacturing industry kill the Bonzer for a little while? Have you noticed a rebirth of them with the orders you guys been getting?

Actually, about 1988 and into ‘90s were pretty good times for us and the Bonzer. We had begun to get a bit of press again and claw our way back into the game. 1978 to 1988 was the lost decade for the Bonzer. A detailed explanation of this is better left for a different forum. Suffice to say, that period began with the end of our run of free media, at the request of Gordon and Smith, and ended with the publication of a great article

by Nick Carrol in Tracks Magazine, titled Design’s Forgotten Men, and an interview in Surfer Magazine conducted by George Orbelian, titled Back To The Future.

What was it like to be a teenager growing up in Oxnard, California, during the ‘70s? What’s different about living there today?

The beach communities in Oxnard were a fantastic place to be teenagers in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. The open space, great, uncrowded waves, and being outside of surfing’s mainstream, provided us a beautiful canvas to creatively run amuck without much peer pressure. Our family moving to Oxnard from The Pacific Palisades in 1966 was a life-changing stroke of luck. Oh, the stories we could tell… some day, some day.

Who are your favorite surfers to watch (past or present) ride a Bonzer? Who

do guys get excited to shape boards for now?

There is no short answer to this question.

It really needs to be addressed in a larger forum. I can’t really pick favorites because there are just too many top-level surfers that have ridden Bonzers, given positive feedback, and enriched the Bonzer Experience. We are talking about a period stretching 42 years in which the Bonzer has been thoroughly vetted. Beginning in ‘73 with team riders at Bing Surfboards, such as Dru Harrison and Tiger Makin. Also, Jeff Hakman had a 6’8’’ on the North Shore and Ian Carins won Smirnoff at Lanieaka on a three-fin Bonzer that year. Others include Peter Townsend, Terry Richardson, Bill Hamilton, Derek Hynde, Joel Tudor, Tom Curran, then on to Taylor Knox, Rob Machado, Dan Malloy, Donavan Frankenreiter, Brad Gerlach… Moving toward the present there’s Daniel and Makala Jones, “Punker” Pat Towersey, Mick Fanning, Dave Rastovich, Ellis Ericson, Harrison Roach, Alex Knost… I really don’t like dropping names out of context like this. Apologies to those mentioned and not mentioned.

Five-fin setup or three? What’s the call?

Both. The three- and five-fin Bonzers are high-performance boards in their own right.

On contemporary shortboard shapes we go pretty much exclusively with the five-fin, as it fits better with the current high-performance approach; although after recently seeing some footage of Alex Knost tearing up Rincon on a 7’0’’ ‘70s-style Russ Short three-fin Bonzer, the line has definitely been blurred.

What’s your favorite place to travel to shape boards?

Traveling to shape has been a real gift.

England, Australia, France and Portugal are equally rewarding, because it is the people that make the place. We work with wonderfully kind, generous and talented people. Over the last 10 years a close-knit international Bonzer Family has developed, and it is one of the greatest joys of my life.

There must be or must have been a lot of trial and error developing the boards you both have shaped. Is there some type of huge benevolent graveyard of boards located somewhere in Oxnard?

The trial and error has been with improving my shaping ability. I must honestly tell you that by the end of 1972 the Bonzer concept was fully formed. It incorporated three fins (the side fins forward of the center fin) and a bottom contour featuring single- to doubleconcave with slight ‘Vee’ through the fin area. From that point on there has been only minor refinements, and the development of the five-fin Bonzer in 1983. In our opinion, and I’ll probably take some heat for saying it, but hell I’m getting old and don’t really care: Duncan and I believe that the Bonzer is the most comprehensively original design in the history of the shortboard. Since we first developed the Bonzer, Duncan and I have remained maniacally focused because we knew the Bonzer had value in terms of contributing something to surfing. Making a contribution has been our primary motivation, and we give thanks to all those who have ridden and glassed Bonzers over the years for helping us fulfill the commitment we made to ourselves. And… well, proving we were right may have a little something to do with it as well. Hey, we’re human, what can I say.

Interview: Liz Rice McCray I’m not sure why this was a difficult month to find a mural to feature but it was... Luckily (and just in time) there it was, our “Mural of Month” Brendan Monroe (past BL!SSS cover artist) painting a monster of a mural in Paris. We caught up with Brendan Monroe while in Europe to ask him a few questions about the undertaking of this installation. Thank you Brendan for taking the time to answer our questions.

Does this mural have a name?

If yes, what and why?

I’m playing with the idea of calling it “Quilt,” because it gives you a different idea of thinking of

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a flowing surface.

How did this mural come about? Who asked you to paint it?

This mural was a project for the WOPS festival in Toulouse.

WOPS stands for “Walk On the Pink Side” and pink is important because Toulouse has the nickname of the “Pink City.” The whole town is made of stone and brick buildings with a pinkishorange hue. It’s organized by artist Fafi, who lives in Paris now but has Toulouse as her hometown.

This mural looks very large – how big is it? Do you normally paint on this scale?

It’s pretty big for me, five stories,

or I think about 50 feet tall. We never measured it. I’ve seen others paint this size, so I figured I should try it. This one was particularly dense as well, so it was good a challenge.

How are you with heights?

I’m ok. I can handle it all right.

But yeah, it’s not that comfortable painting way at the top. I just try not to look down too much.

How long did it take to create this mural?

About five full days of work, plus a couple late nights.

Will you tell us a little about this piece?

It’s a part of a lot of drawings

I’ve been doing lately that are a study on flow and motion. It’s meant to be many different things at once, like a wave, or landscape, or even the motion of wind.

What was the most complicated part about this mural?

It wasn’t complicated so much as it was just a lot of painting.

There’s a lot of organization in the image too – that’s important to keep while working.

Where can people check out more of your art?

My website brendanmonroe. com and instagram.com/ brendantheblob.

Photos Jon Blaj & Kenny Mitchell What is Gym Standard’s mission statement? What’s kind of the overall vibe?

Before opening Gym Standard, there weren’t many locally owned boutiques that were offering an assortment of hardto-find products in San Diego. Much like Aloha Sunday and 5&ADime, we wanted to add to San Diego’s retail scene in a way that spoke to an audience looking for something outside of the Fashion Valley laps that San Diego has been too comfortable with.

In the early 2000s, there was a shop called Mathlab in Downtown San Diego that was a huge inspiration of what we do here at Gym Standard. It was a shop that gave you a sense of discovery with every visit — and it didn’t hurt that the folks behind the counter were also the cultural ambassadors of the city. You found a collection of Michael Lau figures from HK sitting next to Jordan’s and Dunk Pro B’s. It literally brought me out from The Gap and into the world of street culture at a time when Bathing Ape and Supreme were still obscure out here in California. At the time, there was a huge international focus on San Diego with shops like Mathlab, Igloo, Armory and StreetMachine – and for Gym Standard, I

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really wanted to bring that same energy to inspire the next generation of kids in our community.

To us, it’s equally important to create culture, as it is to share the product stories of the brands we carry. If we relied strictly on just retelling the campaigns of our brands I feel we’d be doing our scene a big disservice. On top of being a shop that sells stuff, we’re hoping to build the creative scene that we have here in San Diego.

Being in the shop you notice it’s not over saturated with a million different brands and product. What are the criteria for selecting product to sell in this store?

Well to be honest, we’re a fully independent, family-owned shop with a really lean budget. We aim to carry practical, forward-thinking labels – all through a quirky, not-so-serious buying strategy. For the most part, the biggest criteria are that we carry brands that allow us to grow at a comfortable (dare us say realistic) rate. A great thing about our brand roster is that we get to cherry pick our assortment. The brands we carry really understand what we do and let us merchandise accordingly. We deal with our community on a daily basis and we know what works best.

It’s a bit of a variety show here – we sell shoes, apparel, accessories, printed media and a good amount of plants and ceramics that my father oversees.

Unlikely pairings by mixing the high with the low, and the big with the small keeps things fresh. We’re not trying to be “cool guys” out here; we’re just having some fun.

Where did the name “Gym Standard” come from? Is there an interesting story behind it?

I’ve always found that there’s this collective sense of self-improvement whenever you step into a gym. Everyone at the gym is usually working on being a better version of themselves. It may come off really sappy, but that idea of self-improvement is something that we try and capture with our shop – whether it be through product or the events that we host. Over the last two years, we’ve hosted monthly events made up of art shows, flea markets, music and poetry readings.

Talk us through the average North Park Customer, or the types of people who pop their head into the store.

Over the last few years, North Park has definitely become the epicenter for creative living and visiting San Diego. You have some of the best local music venues

and brewpubs in this neighborhood. Our clientele include architects, designers, artists, and just everyday North Park folks on their daily coffee. It’s a pretty laidback vibe out here and the big box stores have still kept their distance – for now, at least.

What are your top five favorite magazines that you carry in Gym Standard?

With the 30-plus titles that we rotate within our newsstand, I can honestly say that we love them all. But to pick five that I’m really excited about, I would say Compost, Travel Almanac, 032c, Apart Magazine and BL!SSS Magazine.

What’s in store for Gym Standard in the near future? Are there any interesting wheels set in motion as we speak?

Right now we’re working on developing a few more cut-and-sew pieces for our inhouse line. Our first piece was a noragi/ chorecoat hybrid that was really popular for us and we’re looking at growing from there. Nothing too crazy – we just want to create a tight, manageable line of component pieces. Maybe we’ll have another shop within the next two years… or maybe a burger joint, I don’t know.

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Factor Jacket | Holiday Cropped Pant

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Photography: Dominic Petruzzi @dominicpetruzzi Model: Celeste Bright @celestebrightt :: Wilhelmina LA Hair & Makeup: Olivia Taddeo @mua_olivia_

{Keep Surfing Fun

ALL Photos: Ryan Heywood (*unless noted)

Quiksilver’s next upand-coming big thing is a 6-foot-2, 18-year-old tatted Australian by the name of Mikey Wright.

Younger brother to ASP World Tour star Owen Wright and Women’s World Tour standout Tyler Wright, Mikey is almost the perfect foil to his brother and sister’s competitive act. With one of the best, or maybe worst, haircuts in the surfing game right now, Mikey has recently been shutting all of us up with the numerous Web clips profiling his amazing abilities of big barrel riding and a progressive air game. Our uniquely reckless Australian friend is a gift sent directly from the pissed-off and bored surf Gods, who have been trying to stir things up. We were fortunate enough to get a hold of him and ask him a few quick questions.

What are your all-time favorite places to get food?

Mums cooking at home, Zamberos on the Gold Coast, Zoobs Pizza in Gerringong and Mexican food at Lennox Head, NSW. What are your favorite places to get turnt up?

France! House parties are pretty good... and Bali for sure.

What are the best places for getting waves and stacking clips?

Pipeline Hawaii, Lennox Point Oz, France, Sri Lanka, Uluwatu is pretty mental and P-Pass in Micronesia.

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Photo: TIMO

Where would you travel to just for bullshit and fun?

Ireland, Canada, Japan, Mexico and Morocco.

Who are your closest mates?

My brothers Tim and Owen… and Wade Carroll.

What are your favorite video parts that get you pumped to go surf?

Dane Reynolds Cluster part, Dane’s 1st movie too, Andy Irons in Trilogy and Clay Marzo in Young Guns.

If you were on an episode of MTV Cribs what DVDs would we find at your house?

Fast and Furious 1-7, Star Wars, Modern Collective and David Antanbra’s movies.

What are the last five random things you’ve bought yourself ‘cause you’re a baller now?

UE Boom Speaker, Macbook, new rims for dat drift car and

Photo: BOSKO

I don’t know, like, earphones.

What shit can we catch you doing when you’re not surfing?

Drift cars, snowboarding, hangin’ with the dog, watching TV… I don’t know, finding hot chicks on Instagram, haha.

What are a couple of things that bug the hell out of you?

Speeding tickets, losing my license, cleaning up dog shit sucks, my car sometimes, and trying to talk to girls who don’t speak English is a big one.

What are five things to watch out for from Quiksilver in the next year?

New Dane Reynolds movie for Quik, new clothing ranges and collaborations as well as better Instagram posts and quotes.

Curren Caples : Kick Flip

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Photos: John Bradford Skateboarder before photographer, or vice versa? How’d you fall into this profession?

Can you describe the initial year and what was going on around you at the time that kind of influenced you to go into the line of work you’re still doing now?

This is the “chicken or egg” question. I don’t think there is an answer... I skated long before I picked up a camera, but now I’d say the two go hand in hand. I think it’s hard to define two of your life’s greatest loves by giving one precedence over another. I couldn’t see my life without one or the other.

The initial year was tough. I got laid off and decided to go full force into shooting skateboarding. I tried to get unemployment but I was too honest in the interview in telling them my ambitions and they told me they were not there to subsidize my new photography business. I managed to sell a couple photos and used the money to go to the East Coast for a bit and came back with a bunch of photos to shop around. I honestly don’t know how I got an apartment when I got back to Long Beach, because I didn’t have a job and I was just hustling photos. Somehow it all worked out and it grew into something sustainable. In some ways it was the hardest year of my life, but I was having the time of my life at the same time.

Who were some of kids you first photographed?

Skateboarders are usually pretty particular with who they associate with, so did you have an initial group of guys that you would always shoot?

It’s hard to think back to when it became more than just shooting with my friends. I tagged along on some 411 filming missions with my friend Kirk Dianda, who filmed for them, and when a “real” photographer wasn’t there I’d poach photos of Jerry Fowler, Ryan Kenriech, Stacy Lowery, AVE, and other guys he was skating with. This was the late ‘90s... later, when I started making a name for myself, I was hanging out with the Toy Machine guys who were around Long Beach. I skated with Terrell Robinson a lot around then too. Colt Bowden is someone I’d shoot with who became a great friend. Tosh Townend got me on a trip he put together when I was pretty green still. It was such a mishmash of dudes, more than a single group. I was just trying to get out there; I’d shoot with anyone who was willing to trust me with their photo.

Do you remember the first skate photo that you made money from? If so, can you describe it: Who was the skater, what dinosaur of a camera was it shot with and whom did you sell it to?

I think it was a Dark Star ad of Galea Momelu. Super random.

I was skating with Ryan Kenreich a bunch and we skated an abandoned car lot and I shot a sequence with a Canon 1N. I remember being blown away that it took so much film to shoot a sequence, and that payment for the ad was barely more than the cost of the film. It actually made me question if it was sustainable as a career.

Did you hustle the freelance game for a bit in the beginning? What was the first type of consistent work you locked down? Was it for magazines or for companies?

As far as I’m concerned the whole thing is a hustle – back then, now and in between. The minute you get comfortable something changes and you have to figure your situation out again. Keeps you on your toes.

Who is hands down your favorite skater to photograph and why?

I don’t know. I’m into the variety of skaters that I’ve shot over the years. I like how it’s always changing. Shooting Nick Trapasso back when he was an am were some of my favorite times. He was relatively unknown but the stuff we were shooting was so mind-blowing that it was really exciting just to be on the sessions. You knew he was about to blow up and it was sick to be a part of it through capturing the images of his tricks. I’ve watched Nick Garcia and Julian Davidson grow up and they are two of my favorite guys to work with; just two amazing skateboarders who are genuine people that I’m super proud of. Greyson Fletcher is someone I feel lucky to shoot right now. Leo Romero, Collin Provost, Austyn Gillette, Dylan

Wes Kremer : No Comply

Jeremy Leabres : Impossible

Greyson Fletcher 5-0

Rieder, Mike Anderson, Danny Garcia, Cairo, Curren... I can’t pick just one.

I’m just eternally grateful to be lucky enough to have gotten to do what I do for a living.

What’s been your favorite skate trip ever? Describe the group, the moral and location(s).

It was a homie trip we did with a random group of guys to Australia. We called it “Operation: Handle Situation” and it was a salvaged trip that had all but fallen through, but Cole Mathews and I managed to pull a bunch of our friends into it last minute to save the whole thing. It was Slash, Nuge, Nick Garcia, Austyn Gillette, Raymond Molinar, Benny Fairfax, Snowy, Danny Brady, Justin Schulte and an injured Andrew Brophy. We got to drive down the Gold Coast of Australia with no team managers, no agenda, and only a loose plan to somehow make it to Sydney by the time we had our return flights home.

We camped in a rain forest, crashed with friends and saved our money for a couple nice hotels when we were in the bigger cities. I shot it all film and got to help lay the article out the way I envisioned it. From start to finish it was my favorite trip, because of the people involved and how it turned out in the magazine.

Tom Schaar : Stale

Neen Williams : Heel Flip

Didrik Galasso Josh Harmony

Jeremy Leabres

What’s your dearest accomplishment thus far in your photography career? I myself am pretty pumped on all those old Insight Dopamine campaigns that you shot.

I just feel lucky and proud to have the career that I have. Those Insight campaigns were a lot of fun. I’m proud that I got to shoot for Skateboarder Magazine. It was my favorite magazine and climbing the ladder there was really fulfilling.

When it went under it was like a family member died.

How’s life today? What kind of steady work have you been doing now? You’ve been in the skate game for quite some time, any plans on making a book or having a show or anything?

Life is incredible. Right now I’m shooting the RVCA team and I have a studio in Long Beach that I’ve been building for the last five or so years. I also have a beautiful wife, and a little boy and another one on the way. As far as I’m concerned life doesn’t get any better than this.

Austyn Gillette : 360 Kick Flip

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rescottmccarthy Photography: Prescott McCarthy :: @p a Model: Amanda Rose :: @xxamandaaa keup_ Hair & Makeup: Juanita Lopez :: @jloma

Dress – Volcom volcom.com Jacket – All Saints allsaints.com

Top – Billabong billabong.com Denim – Model’s own Flannel – Hurley hurley.com Headband – I’m With The Band im-with-the-band.com

Dress – RVCA rvca.com Jacket – Guess guess.com Sunglasses – D’Blanc dblanc.com

Body Suite – Billabong billabong.com Jacket – Model’s own Denim – Model’s own Sunglasses – Wonderland wonderlandsun.com

Jacket – Volcom volcom.com Bottom – Billabong billabong.com Top – Topshop topshop.com Pants – Lira liraclothing.com

Jacket – Lira liraclothing.com Tank – Hurley hurley.com Shorts – Hurley hurley.com Headband – I’m With The Band im-with-the-band.com

Interview: Casey Zoltan of Known Gallery :: The Seventh Letter So, Kevin, congratulations on the show.

Thanks dude, it’s an honor coming from you.

It’s an amazing show.

It’s got some shit. I wasn’t gonna come home with a lot of crap, you know what I mean? It’s been 30 fucking years.

It is kinda crazy for artists in general. It is one of those things where, like, I hope this show sells because if not where am I gonna put all this.

I told Pat [Tenore] if don’t sell all this shit I quit. I fucking quit!

It’s so crazy. In my warehouse we have hundreds of paintings from artists… it’s overwhelming. So tell me a little bit about this body of work?

This is the last two years of… like I said before Pat put the ball in motion, he got me healthy again, I was all fucked up, and I was like, ‘I gonna do this! I gonna fucking do this for real!’ So, it just evolved on its own, the subject matter. I was reading the paper and I would be like, ‘Fuck man, these guys are fucking shit up right and left.’

Your love life had a lot to do with this show?

Uh yeah… yeah it did. It’s strange, but yeah it really did. It kinda put me in a real raw space. It was real visceral and I was fucking wide open and it just came pouring out of me.

It’s one of the crazy things about you for me, it’s that you’re such a hard-core dude and you’re also such a hopeless romantic.

I’m fucked dude. I could watch my bro get his face blown off and I’d be, ‘Ah fuck that sucks, that guy was all right.’ And then when it comes to matters of the heart, to the curb I go.

That makes you who you are, it’s pretty amazing. So what about Pat getting you ready for this show? Because that was a big part of it, getting healthy first and foremost.

Oh yeah, when I showed up I was a month out, I would have been dead if I waited another month. And he saw me and was like, ‘Whoa dude, you’re fucked. You’re not gonna make it.’ I even went to check up and the doctor was, like, backing up out of the room when the numbers came up because he thought I was gonna blow right there and was like, ‘Brah, you’re fucking dead.’ He was gonna admit me and I was like, ‘No, just give me the meds and I’ll handle it.’ The next day I went in the gym with Steffan Lugo and humped it out.

I think I saw you probably during that time and the next time I saw you you were skinny and in the gym and getting sober… it was pretty amazing.

Well… I bounced on the sober thing. That was a futile effort really.

I gotta cut in here, a beautiful young lady just popped in to tell Kevin that she’s going on a bike ride – a real ladies man.

Yeah, whatever. See what good it does me.

As we’re speaking about Kevin and his love life…

Disastrous love life.

Getting sober, dealing with a breakup, dealing with two breakups, dealing with sobriety, dealing with kind of a lot of stuff… do you think that’s what made this body of work so epic?

I’m sure it molded it in some ways. It doesn’t matter how fucked up I am… I can be really trashed, I still work.

Really? Into the same preciseness?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m all about it. I’d have to be dead and then maybe I wouldn’t work.

So you can paint precise, clean lines, everything, drunk?

Oh yeah. It depends. I mean, I like to drink. But there were a couple episodes where I didn’t stop drinking 24/7 for like two months. In all my years I’ve never had the DT’s or anything, but the last one dude I was worked. Everybody’s human, you know, I’m not blaming anybody. It’s my deal; it’s not anybody else’s. But it doesn’t affect the shit bouncing around in my head. People look at me and go, ‘Where you come up with this shit?’ and I go, ‘That’s why I drink.’

I just gotta put those things to bed at night. Like The Heads, that piece, that five year run I did with that girl. That was a total accident. It just happened on its own. It was meant to be. I was just kinda pushing it along and it just became what it is. And that’s how a lot of these pieces start and how they all end.

Let’s talk about all the other stuff you’ve done for other artists and never really got credit for?

It was never the game in the beginning, it’s just that I could do it and they needed it. I would charge them a lot of money for it. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t give it away. I grew up around here working for a lot of famous guys and just that’s the way it rolls, you know what I mean? You did the work and they got the glory and the

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money but they’re paying, you know what I mean? And I learned a lot of shit over the years that way. So I didn’t really have a problem with it. I got my props, the people who knew knew.

You had to show, uh… you know…?

Yeah, I had to throw down and all these guys were gonna be speechless and I might even get laid off this, you never know.

But not enough people know. I mean, there’s so many things that you’ve done that are in books and documentaries and historical pieces from all types of artists; from street artists to fine art… I mean all around, blue chip artists, all around the board that you’ve worked with, that you’ve done the majority of the work the people don’t know about it and still don’t know about it.

That doesn’t really matter to me.

[Laughing] That’s amazing. Do you wanna talk about any of your past work and artists you’ve worked with?

Oh fuck, there’s just endless skateboard shit. All the old Dogtown shit…

Does it feel good to actually now be the artist and say you know what, now I’m gonna show the world what I really have?

It never really started that way. It was like, ‘Alright, I’m going home to Venice and I’m taking the arsenal of shit.’

Like I said, I wasn’t going to show up with crap and I wasn’t trying to prove anything… but I’ve fucked off for so many years. I’ve got to a point where I’m like, I’m just gonna leave as much cool shit behind as I can right now.

So this show is a homage?

Kind of, yeah. Well I definitely came home. I don’t know, it wasn’t really like, ‘look at me’ it was ‘look in me.’ I mean, I’m not gonna lie, I was like, ‘Alright, I’m gonna fuck some shit up with this.’

What skateboard stuff? Give me a small list.

You know that Banksy hanging clansman thing. I’m pretty sure he got that off an old skateboard graphic, Jimmy Debos graphic.

Who else?

And like Spitfire logo and all that shit.

I did a shitload of stuff with Barry [McGee].

What did you do for Barry?

Well… I did all the robots.

All the sculptures?

Yeah, I just built them. I did the molds for the heads. We had a lot of fun with it. Then I did some of the statues. And we got in endless fights because he’s just… triangles drive me nuts. He’d be painting triangles and the doors are gonna open in five minutes and I’d be all, ‘Come on dude, really? Get your fucking guy to do that shit.’ But he’s a fucking great guy and I’ve known him

forever.

He was one of the first people that sat me down and really told me who you are.

Oh yeah?

Yeah. He was like, “Look dude, this dude is…” ‘cause I knew you like a dude like me. Like a dude from the street.

I am like you.

You’re like me and I’m like me.

He explained to me who you are as a fine artist and who you are as a human being. Him and Pat, I would say, really broke it down to me and there were a lot of things I never knew because I looked at you like an old-school Dogtown dude. That’s just OG right there.

And they were like, “Look, he’s OG but he’s also the guy that did all these sculptures. He’s also the guys that did all these logos. He’s also the guy that kept this company together. This is also the guy that got these two together that hadn’t talked for 10 years and he made them talk.” You know, you’re just that dude. You’re the glue to a lot of what we know is current today.

When you get this old you gotta give back. I mean, I’m fucking old. Not maybe year-wise but physically I lived hard.

Yeah, you’re like a 250-year-old

man by extremeness of your life.

Pat calls me the human barnacle. I’m all about the groms and showing people shit, I don’t care. A lot of people are closed arms and I’m like brining, I’d rather have kids in here working on my shit.

You’re definitely a sharer, you share. You share your knowledge.

Well it’s stupid not too, you know what I mean? You could be a fucking prick and then when you’re gone they’re gonna be like, ‘Oh yeah, that guy was a prick.’

I think from the same generation as you in a sense of like, you share with your friends and teach your friends and you want everybody to achieve but now it’s different.

Speaking of different, your show is now in Venice and Venice is a little different now.

Oh fuck dude, I could barely find my way around on beach. It’s the way of things. It happened in San Francisco in my neighborhood. Barry and I were down in Northeast Mission. Margaret’s place was behind mine and there was nothing down there but hookers and then all of a sudden it was $45 bucks a square foot. It was nuts. It just happens. And unfortunately it just happens wherever I fucking go.

You keep getting chased out and you’re like, “I gotta go fucking find the new safe zone.”

Weird shit just happens. Like when I got

here I asked, ‘Where am I staying?’ and they were like, “You’re staying at the Sea Shore Hotel.” And I was like, ‘You gotta be kidding?’ And they we’re like, “Why?” ‘Because right next door was the brothel I worked at when I was 13 years old.’ And they all knew me and it was fucking crazy. It’s still there. And the old Surf House is still there, across from the old Zephyr Surf Shop. I walked into Star Liquor across the street and it’s still the same old fucking guy working in there. There’s still pockets of shit. I heard a gunshot go off the other night in front of Cadillac Hotel and I was like, ‘Alright, that’s cool.” The choppers flying overhead.

Ghetto bird greeting…

But then I paddle out to Breakwater and some guys punking some chick and I’m all, ‘Hey dude, she surfs better than you do. Leave her alone, relax.’ And he goes, “Why don’t you go back to where you came from.” And I go, ‘I did.’ And I took him underwater and pulled his shit over his head until he got squishy and then I let him up.

And then she fucking chewed him out.

Good for you. I think that’s something in us forever and that we are always gonna fight for something that we believe in and we have to.

That was part of coming back from the dead. That was hard, that was a fight but I wasn’t going to go out like that. I refused to do it. I mean, I almost let myself do it but I was like, ‘Fuck no! You traveled all this way and to bounce out without leaving anything behind for anybody is fucking lame.’

So you came with it.

I got with it. Plus Pat would have killed me if I would’ve died.

Speaking of Margaret, there’s a piece in here that’s a homage to her, correct?

Yeah, I wasn’t going to show it but… fuck, I was like, ‘alright.’ It’s just super gnarly. It’s that moment where she made that decision. Where she was gonna go and the kid would live. I mean there’s nothing else you can say about it. Everybody that sees it just gets freaked out.

You had a really close relationship with Margaret?

Oh, I was in love with her. I fucking loved her. I taught her how to turn. She could go straight but she couldn’t quite turn. She was great. As a matter of fact when she got pregnant, Barry and her were staying in this little shitty bungalow in Topanga Beach and my girlfriend and I were living next door. It was pretty crazy. It was good times.

She was an incredible human being. But that’s the way it goes, you know. It’s the most selfless fucking act I have ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of fucking shit. I still get all weakly about it when I look at it.

I think that’s one person that anytime anyone sees a photo of Margaret or talks about her, everybody gets a little quiet and kinda has to wipe the tears out of their eyes. Her presence was just so amazing and so beautiful.

Well, some of the guys showed up from New York at my place and instantly got weakly.

You got any good stories about Margaret?

[Sigh]… Well, sad ones. About four months before she died she just called me up out of the blue. She’s never called me before and she said she just wanted to see me. She showed up all pregnant and beautiful and stuff and we talked and we went down to the old boat docks… And I walked her to her car and she gave me a print and I was all, ‘What’s this?’ She goes, “I just want you to have this…” And in the back of my head I was thinking that something is gotta be going on here but I just didn’t put it together.

And then later I got a call and was told I better get to the hospital right now. I that was pretty much the day she was gone. I was there the day that she died. Barry gave me a guitar and he made me play for her. I told him I couldn’t play and he was like, “play.”

She couldn’t talk or barely breathe but everybody said she knew that I was there, so I played for her for hours. I’ll never forget it. And I went home that night and sold every guitar I ever had. I couldn’t play anymore for years. Yeah, it was fucking gnarly.

Tell me about you as a youth. Where did you grow up exactly?

I was a fucking degenerate. I was a little beach troll. I grew up about half a mile north of here, well this whole zone, from here to Ocean Park. When I was a little, little kid I lived on the North side of town with my parents. My father died when I was real young and my mom was a fucking train wreck so I went to live my brother on Third and Bay, which was right up the street from Zephyr Surf Shop. That lasted about two weeks and then I was just rolling down the beach. The older surfer guys just took me in… Craig Stecyk and all those guys. And then it was on, that’s when it all started.

I think what’s special about you is even though you paint these Michelangeloish-type, beautiful paintings that can be in any museum in the world you still remember your roots. And a lot of artists have forgotten them. There are a lot of artists that separate their fine art from the street art or from their surf life.

They start believing what everybody is telling them. Like, “You’re a fucking genius this, you’re a fucking genius that…” And they forget what made them what they are and I’d never do that. Once you do that it just starts falling down aesthetically. You just start doing a squiggly line and trying to sell it for eighty grand.

So what would happen if someone dumped 10 million dollars on your head?

What would change in Kevin’s life?

Nothing. I would keep working. I would maybe rent a girlfriend from now on [both laughing hysterically]… So I don’t get all emotionally whipped. No, I don’t know. I’d probably give most of it away. I’ve always lived on the fly. I’m more comfortable on a couch than I am in a bed, even if there’s a girl in it. I’ve always just lived on the fly and everything always just worked out. If I needed to get rent together or whatever it would go to the last day and then the phone would just fucking ring. You just gotta roll with it.

But if you are tied to something like money… I mean, don’t get me wrong, I not being gallant or anything. Money is money, you need it to operate, but I’ve seen the trap it lays for people and I’d never let that happen. But I’ll take the fucking money, cash that check.

Speaking of money, I mean, it’s kind of a trip because you’ve made so much money in your life… I mean, the logos, the fine art and just all the things that you’ve worked on… I mean, RVCA. You were a big part of the brains behind RVCA. I don’t know about brains… I always loved what he [Pat Tenore] did. I remember the day he told me he started a clothing company and I was like, ‘Dude don’t, it’ll fucking ruin your life.’ And he just goes, “Would you do it anyways?” I was like, ‘Alright,’ how are you gonna say no to that? But yeah, I don’t really have anything – I have my truck, surfboards, my horse and a bunch of fucked up paintbrushes and that’s about it. And I like it that way. I once put down roots and I was pretty happy but things happen. It was time to get up and just live your life. So I’m all about disappearing. I’ll probably disappear for a couple years and everybody will be like, ‘What happened to that fucking guy?’ And then I’ll come back and slap them in the face.

I kinda thought that after this show, I’m surprised you’re still here. I was

thinking, oh shit as soon as the show is over or maybe before it even opened that Kevin was gonna disappear.

No, I wanted to be here. I brought a painting that wasn’t done and worked on it while the show was opening because I wasn’t gonna staff it with somebody that didn’t know what the fuck they were talking about. It just seemed kinda rude to me to put this shit up that’s all kinda allegorical and not be around to even explain it.

A lot of my friends said, “I went to see the Kevin Ancell show” or “I wanna go see the Kevin Ancell show” and I told everybody, “Did he explain the show to you?”

Or if you go make him explain the show. The work is obviously beautiful, beyond beautiful. But, when you talk about it’s a million, I mean I’m talking a million times more beautiful.

Well, you open up a book for them and you read the first couple pages and they get it. But yeah, everything in here has a heavy story to it. And that’s always been my thing… Like in Hawaii you talk story or sing songs that tell the history of or whatever. And this is gonna sound corny but I think I’ve lived a lot of other lives because I’ve painted shit here and I don’t know where I came up with it. Like the stories and other stuff, and the way they unfolded.

And it came from somewhere else… I mean, I was a sixth-grade dropout.

What’s a difficult task for Kevin Ancell?

Oh fuck! I told you already, the chicks dude. It’s just brutal. The only thing I can really think of is drinking. Yeah, I love to fucking drink. Maybe it’s an escape, I don’t know. I met a girl opening night, you know. She was down with it. We spent like a week together or something.

Then one day she’s like, “You know, the age thing… it ain’t working for me” Was that the girl that walked in earlier?

No, no… that was a different girl.

Different girl, huh? Because you were in love with her the last time I was in here?

No, no, she’s like my kid. I got demoted to surrogate father [both laughing]. Yeah well, you gotta do what you gotta do.

Hawaii, tell me about Hawaii?

Fuck, I love Hawaii. I was there when I was real young.

How’d you end up there?

I just split; I was like 16 or something. I wound up in Kauai and I stayed for a long time. I bounced back every now and then. Then, I started going over there with the RVCA guys: Fuller, Makua and all those guys. So I was plugged in. Those are the guys along with Barca, Kamalei, Kala… and it just snowballed from there. I went back to Kauai to do the Andy Irons tribute at Pinetrees and a painting for Aunty Darcell, who died, and I did one for Uncle Bobo.

And the whole community would come out, and bring food, and it was just incredible. And they were like, “If you don’t come back, don’t ever come back!” I’m all about it. I just wanna go over there and paint shit all over the fucking place.

I spent time with you over there in Hawaii and when I’m in Hawaii with you I feel like I’m with a local. To me, I feel like that’s your home.

Yeah, I definitely could easily post up there and I probably will. But, as far as the local thing goes, they just tolerate me, that’s all there is to it. And that’s something that people don’t understand; if you’re just hanging over there it’s just because they’re tolerating you. And they’re very touchy about who speaks up for them and what they say. It goes right back to respect, you know? Same here. There’s people that lived here for 15 years they think they know something and they don’t know shit. And there’s a lot of them. Red Dog always would say, “Just because you pay rent here doesn’t mean that you are a local.” So, as long as you mind your “p” and “q’s” you’re alright. And I’ve fucked up before so I know. I came close a couple times… with my bros too.

Do you think you’re going to end up over there?

Yeah, probably. I’m definitely gonna go hang; I just got it too good over there. And it’s a good atmosphere for me.

Let’s say this, your work will live forever…

Well, one would hope. I mean, it is what it is. We could all just be vaporized next year, who fucking knows… But, there is the off chance that we do make it through all this bullshit.

I think that’s the beauty of really doing really beautiful work, someone is always gonna appreciate it. I mean, even if it ends up in a trashcan someone’s gonna take it out.

Yeah, it’s just no better or less than anybody else’s work. To me, it’s just me. You know, I appreciate everybody being supportive, but like I said before you gotta be really careful about believing that you’re better than the next guy. Now there are guys that I think are just fucking lame but I think that’s more of a personality trait.

I mean, I don’t kid myself, I don’t know shit. You just gotta move on down the road.

That’s one of the crazy things about Kevin Ancell, that you can do another show that would look nothing like any of this and it would all be just as good as this if not better and would be completely different. I mean… you’ve got a lot of masks.

I’ve got a lot of tools.

And you know how to use them.

That’s the thing, for a long time a really didn’t. Then I was like, ‘Whoa, look at all this shit, let’s play!’ And I’m patient… and I think that’s a lot of people’s problem. And I think I’m smart how I work. Because to do this kind of shit you can’t just wing it.

So when you focus you focus?

Yeah. Well… I may be drunk that night but when I get up in the morning I’m good to go. And I don’t need fancy brushes; I don’t need any of that shit. You should see my rig; it’s just burned up stuff. It’s bad.

It’s unreal. Looking at these paintings, sitting in this room… your art, your life, everything gives nobody in this world excuses.

Yeah, I tell everybody when they ask for advice: don’t believe that you can’t do anything, don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do anything.

You are the prime example of “by any means necessary.”

Yeah, I mean, fuck, I had it as bad as anybody. But I know a lot of people that had it a lot worse and they thrive. It’s only a problem if you make it a problem. I don’t always live by that but I firmly believe it. You know it’s always easy to give people advice yet impossible to take it.

It’s hard to preach water while you’re drinking wine… and Kevin likes his wine.

Yeah, yeah I do. [Chuckling.]

Any last words?

Fucking have fun man!

Photos: Jack Coleman Words: Harry Henderson (of FFFF) on Derek Hynd (also of FFFF) I’ve never really written anything about DH before. He’s much too complex a man for me to try and psychoanalyze or offer some deeper insight into his way of life. I’m just his mate. We talk about surfing, sports, girls, current events, history – stuff like that.

Steve Pezman reckons he’s “the best surfer in the recorded history of wave riding” (TSJ 23 – June/July 2013). I’ll leave it to the titans of surf culture to tell you all about DH’s influence, achievements and fuck-ups; I’m just talking shit.

Surfing, Specifically ‘Free Friction’ Surfing Derek’s been around surfing a long time, done a lot of things. Sorry to tell you reader, but he’s probably surfed longer, gone faster, been deeper and done crazier road trips than you. The guy’s almost 60 and lives for it. He counts every wave and rides it for the longest possible distance. He hasn’t ridden a board with fins in 9+ years. I think he’s created his own discipline. A lot of thought has gone into it.

Everton F.C. Everton won the ‘62/’63 season of English First Division Football (Soccer). Their prize?

Get on a ship and sail to Australia. By May 16, 1964, the champion side had made it to Sydney and proceeded to belt the Aussie national team 5-1 in front of 40,000 people, one of whom was little Derek Hynd. He’s been football mad ever since and I love it, because I too have the sickness. He’s not afraid to fly from anywhere in the world to support the Toffees at an away game on a sleety night in South Wales.

Driving DH loves a drive. He’d been staying with me in Byron Bay once, left, drove around the top of Australia to Gnarloo, WA, to go surfing, then turned around and drove back. On the way home he found a Dingo at a truck stop, his beloved Buntine (named after the highway). About eight months later he told me Buntine’s mum and sister were still at the truck stop, so he got in the car and went and picked them up. Hilux and Bungle Bungle.

Derek’s up and down the East Coast of Australia like a yoyo.

Drugs Derek Hynd has NEVER done drugs! Not once. Probably the only person I know over the age of 21. If someone can prove any different, then out him, but I’ve got no reason to disbelieve the claim. He told me too many of his friends got fucked up and or died, so he hates drugs. Enough said.

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Words: Jack Coleman March 10, 2013, was my first day arriving in Australia. I had been up the coast in Queensland for a week at the DUCT TAPE Invitational shooting with Alex Knost; this was the first time I saw Derek Hynd surf in person. It was a beautiful cyclone swell that wrapped into Noosa, and it was a dream of mine to watch Derek surf in person. All this came true, and ironically five days later I got to meet him by chance at photographer and friend Ryan Heywood’s studio. He was there working on some boards next door. I was literally star-struck when I first entered the room. I kept my cool as my heart raced inside. He reminded me of my father. He kept me on my toes and present, waiting on his every word to dictate where each conversation was going.

Someone had mentioned I was a filmmaker to him, so he looked at me, right into my eyes (head tilted to the side) and asked, “So Jack, how do you make your films?

I mean, do you make your films for hipsters or real surfers?” My heart stopped, and I uttered something vague but humble like, “I live outta my truck to make ‘em and hipsters, of course not. It’s about real surfing.” But it made me think, was I making movies for hipsters? That question, to this day, has single handedly made me change the way I approach filmmaking. Derek kindly nodded with respect (head tilted to the side), and our friendship began.

When asked by a friend a couple weeks ago about who my favorite surfer of all time was, my response was simple: Tom Curren. That was the easy answer. Tom Curren was literally a god in the ‘80s when I was growing up; he was everywhere, a world champ.

As you mature into your surfing things change, your taste in boards, waves, and surfers you enjoy watching. Well, this for me has been a long evolution that has led me to the discovery of the most innovative surfer in modern history, Derek Hynd. Little did I know Derek Hynd was behind much of Tom Curren’s later career (after the tour) as a free-thinking, wandering, soul-surfer experimenting with rare equipment during the early days of the “RIP CURL - Search” movies. The concept of shooting the best surfers in the world in remote locations came straight out of the mind of Mr. Hynd. This is but only one of his many accomplishments.

Originally from the Sydney suburbs, he was born in 1957, and then moved to Newport, NSW in 1966 where he began surfing in 1968. Derek was as radical and smooth as they came back in his day. He surfed his way onto the world tour and made it all the way to world #7 in 1981 before a bad accident stopped his competitive career short.

During a heat his board punctured his right eye, which to this day, he has lost all sight out of. Maybe this change of fortune is what lead him to a new way of looking at things, a new way of approaching a wave and life. Imagine the pain and utter agony that came with sustaining such an injury. His competitive drive gone, he retired at 25.

After his retirement Derek dove into coaching some of the top pros from 1984-88, most notably Occy, who ended up becoming Curren’s biggest rival.

This year in July, Derek was thrust into the spotlight when he paddled out with a few other locals an hour after the infamous “Mick Fanning shark attack.” A rare video of him talking to Peter King, who approached him after his session, surfaced and went viral. His words were strange yet direct, more strange was his board. Believe it or not, this was the first time a lot of people had ever seen him or heard him speak. He was riding this very long, white 11’6” Elephant Gun that he would put into drift because it had no fins.

After that interview surfaced on all the media channels, lots of people got interested in his story.

At nearly 60 years old, this year, Derek surfs twice a day with the same passion as the groms. How does he do it? I don’t know. Maybe just pure stoke for the equipment he’s riding and a healthy lifestyle, keeping away from the bad stuff. I think that’s the reason I want to surf at that age. Attacking it just the same as we all do, finding his youth, finding himself each time he exits the water. This year I was fortunate to film him surf his favorite wave, and second home, Jeffrey’s Bay. His connection with the wave is unfathomable and quite eccentric, stretching 30+ years. He began a quest nine years ago to explore the experimentation of riding waves with no fins, ‘Far Field Free Friction’ [FFFF] is what he calls it. Filmmaker Jack McCoy was there documenting Derek’s trail-blazing tests from the beginning. It has been nine years since he’s stepped foot on a board with fins, which is pretty extreme if you think about it. He has pretty much

completely committed himself to the craft, shaping the designs that will be modeled after for generations to come.

A very private man, Derek has made his way through the surf industry for 40 plus years, behind the scenes most of the time. His main path through this has been his unique perspective on surfing manifested through his writing skills. Derek is a great journalist and surf historian, writing for many publications from the early ‘80s ‘til today for huge surf mags like The Surfers Journal, Tracks, or Surfing World, just to name a few. Derek knows just about everything about surfing’s history. From its characters to its outcasts, he’s known them all. A master of winds and weather, he is a true surfer, basing his life around swells. To get inside his brain would be the equivalent of walking on the moon, or even Mars, I think. He’s just that intelligent and interesting. He shuns attention and has never “tried” to be “the guy,” which makes him humble. But to everyone who doesn’t know him, he’s a complete and utter mystery.

Derek Hynd is a living treasure to be celebrated, a vital piece to surfing’s history and story. What if the future of surfing is going sideways? I think Derek will not be fully appreciated until he is gone. Only then will we reflect on his legacy. But ‘till that time, we should marvel at his dynamic approach to everything he does in and out of the water.

Derek Hynd is a cult hero, a true innovator, but most of all he is a living legend.

@rafael_perez

Words & Photos: Bruno Park : @brundoggywobblez (*unless noted)

I first met Rafael Perez skating some schoolyards in the Valley.

We instantly clicked and we both seemed to be on the same mission to have fun and stack photos. It takes a while for a photographer and skater to get into the groove of things. Since it is a constant battle to skate street spots – getting kicked out, people hating, police, injuries… the list goes on – this always seems to hold us back from accomplishing our goals. Rafael and I were no exception to these complications that we all face as skaters. It’s even more frustrating when you know how much potential the spot has.

Sometimes you get lucky and you are able to get a lot of photos with no problems. For us, it didn’t seem like luck was on our side in the beginning. Every time we would show up to a spot there was always a problem before we even began the session. I knew it was only a matter of time before we got the wheels going, and once we did there was no stopping us. Rafael is part of a new generation of skaters whose goals are to constantly get NBD’s while having fun on their board. To me, that is the essence of skateboarding’s never ending goal of progression – skate with your friends, have fun and get BUCK! What’s good, Rafael!

What up! How’s it going?

Pretty good! So let’s get the basic stuff out of the way... How old are you, where are you from and who do you ride for?

I am 21 years old, from Los Angeles, California, and I ride for Filament Brand, Markisa Co, FRSH Headwear, Remind Insoles & Mainline Skate Shop.

How did you get on Filament?

One day I got a call from a homie I film with Kalvin Giron, he’s like, “Yo, you down to get on Filament?” He says I can get you on for sure.

I send Tim Gavin my footage so he emails me saying to enter this Instagram contest submitting four of my best clips. There were some crazy entries and I ended up winning a flow spot on the team, but then he tells me, “I want you straight on the team and not flow.”

Pretty crazy and still hyped on that.

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Heel Flip Front Board

What is your typical “day in the life” consist of?

Go to work and skate whenever I have time, mostly on my days off and when I get out early.

You have been filming a lot lately. Are you stacking footage for a video part?

Been working on a Filament part that should be coming out soon.

You skate some pretty heavy shit… big ass rails and gaps. What’s going through your mind when you’re skating stuff like that?

I think about it for a bit, and if I’m feeling it I just go for it and tell myself you either commit or get broke.

Big Flip FS Board Slide :: Seq: Eleazar Robinson

Filament has a pretty heavy team.

Who is your favorite to watch skate on the team?

Yeah, everyone on the team is so good. I like watching Moose, Billy Marks and Kevin Romar. They all have a unique style and throw down some heavy tricks. I grew up watching their videos and now being on the team with them is pretty crazy.

How did you get into skateboarding?

I got a board from Target when I was like 10 for Christmas. Been skating ever since.

Kick Flip 5050

360 Flip

What skateboarders do you look up to nowadays?

I like watching Shane O’Neil, P-Rod, Nyjah… they all do some crazy shit.

F.S Feeble

I feel like you’re a part of this new generation of skaters that have a different mindset with higher goals and to get buck! Who are some skaters that you skate with?

I know a lot of skaters that are like that, Ricky Chavez is one of them. He’s one of the best skaters I know, learns a new trick every time I’m skating with him and won’t stop trying it until he gets it. Skating with people like that pumps me up. I usually skate with Jesus Algeria, Terry Simmons and Kico. These dudes get buck and that’s why I like skating with them – they motivate me.

Ollie

Any last words?

I wanna thank Martha from Mainline Skate Shop, Tim Gavin, Jason Wakazawa, Mannie Escamilla for coming through to film these last couple of years, and also Bruno Park for still coming to shoot after I broke his camera, haha.

Thanks Rafael!

You’re welcome! :)

Photos: Ben Gavelda Interview: Blake Paul Growing up in Jackson Hole, Bryan Iguchi left a profound impact on myself and the entire snowboarding scene. Moving from Southern California into “The Woods,” Guch left his mark in every era of snowboarding.

Now an icon of the lifestyle we all live and breathe, as well as a master of backcountry snowboarding, he made it all happen out of his family home, nestled in a valley surrounded by endless snow-capped peaks. In the mountains with Guch there is a calm peaceful feeling. He’s always showing respect to the terrain. From riding the first snowboard park in Big Bear, slashing pow down the Grand Teton, or stomping a cab-nine in the backcountry, Bryan has exemplified a snowboard career that stands the test of time. Thank you for everything Guch!

Hey Bryan, you think it’s going to snow this year? I’d rather trust you than the forecasts these days.

I think it’s going to snow… I feel very optimistic about it being good; it’s just a gut feeling.

What came first, snowboarding, skateboarding or surfing?

Surfing and skateboarding about the same time, then snowboarding.

It always seems weird to me when snowboarders don’t skate or surf. How does being a multiboarder translate into your snowboarding?

For me, it’s been an evolution of riding a board. I grew up inspired by skate and surf culture – reading the magazines, watching videos, trying to emulate their style and get better at it. I always loved the feeling of learning tricks and finding new spots, and snowboarding has been an extension of that passion for me in the mountains.

Outside of the snow world, what gets you hyped and provides inspiration?

My wife and kids, art, music, skateboarding, surfing… good people.

You grew up riding in Southern California during the early progression of snowboarding. Can you tell me a little bit about transitioning from there to Jackson, WY? What drew you in?

I moved to Big Bear in 1992, the year they built the first snowboard park. I was in the right place at the right time to progress as a rider and break into the sport. I feel really lucky to have been a part of the crew back then. It felt like we were pioneering something significant… it seemed like at every session there was so much creative energy. Guys were doing new tricks and developing a new style because of the park – it was amazing. After a few years of riding and competing in the park and pipe I was feeling physically beat up and uninspired. Around that time I had a chance to hang out and ride with Craig Kelly, and he was a big influence for me. While filming for the Volcom film “The Garden” I fell in love with the backcountry. Inspired by Craig and searching for “The Garden” vibes I decided that I wanted to move to a place to ride powder, learn about the mountains, and progress as a rider in that sense. I had visited Jackson Hole in high school and it left a solid impression on me so I figured I’d try living and riding there for a season and see how it went.

What were some fun memories from Jackson Hole Mountain Resort before the crowds moved in?

My best memories are of hanging out and riding with the few rebel snowboarders who lived here when I moved to town. It was super fun getting to know them and the mountain and having a mini-ramp in my garage just down the road. I remember riding 78

“While filming for the Volcom film “The Garden” I fell in love with the backcountry. “

solo on my first big storm day, not seeing anyone, kind of worried that I might get lost.

Pioneering most of the zones around Jackson, what were some early projects you worked on there?

“Subject Haakonsen” and “TB6.”

What are some essentials you bring into the backcountry these days? I feel your kit is always a bit more dialed than mine.

This is just off the top of my head, I’m pretty rusty right now, being October and far from the winter routine. I guess it really all depends on the mis-

sion, and it’s constantly changing but when I go into the backcountry I try to pack light but be prepared for the worst. Here are some things that pretty much live in my backcountry pack: beacon, shovel, probe, extra down layer, food, water, a lightweight first aid kit, a lighter, scraper, headlamp, a Leatherman Skeletool, a minimalist repair kit (couple screws, bailing wire and duct tape). I bring a snow saw and a thin cord to dig pits. I wear an altimeter watch and carry my iPhone for emergency phone calls. Plus, I’ve loaded it with GPS topo maps and when service is available I can get real time weather info. On the long, cold days I bring a small thermos with some

hot tea or soup to help hydrate.

Your Pomeranian, Panda, seems to be an avid adventurer. How many peaks has she bagged?

I lost track – she’s inexhaustible.

You’ve got two little ones now.

When are they gonna start split boarding?

It’s probably going to be awhile… but I have a feeling they’ll let me know when they’re ready.

What’s the secret to rolling the best sushi in town?

Ask Dusty at “Sudachi” or Jason King at “King Sushi.”

Earlier last month, RVCA/ANP artist Kevin Ancell returned to his old stomping grounds of Venice Beach, California, to debut his first-ever, solo art show titled Nos Vemos En Venecia, curated by PM Tenore. The gallery displaying Ancell’s work was more than an appropriate homecoming for the night, as its location was only a couple blocks away from where a juvenile Ancell would run amuck surfing, skating and raising hell of all sorts during a pivotal era of the Dogtown scene.

Opening night for Nos Vemos En Venecia wasn’t your typical wine-and-cheeseplatter, yuppie art reception. Hundreds of fans and supporters illegally closed down the entire street of Main, flocking in and out of the venue equipped with 40oz and tall cans, pit bulls, and paint markers in high hopes to get a personal, hand-drawn autograph scribe from Ancell. Industry tycoons, legendary surfers and skaters, hip-hop musicians, fellow artists and pretty much any type of person

you can think of were found at the show, gazing at the wide array of Ancell’s highly detailed paintings.

From PM Tenore: The idea for Ancell’s exhibition was easy. Over the last 15 years with RVCA and the Artist Network Program I have been privileged to curate and be surrounded with so many amazing and talented artists. Ranging from museum shows to pop-ups in New York, Austin, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Hong Kong, I realized that my dear friend, who I was around more often than not, had never done a proper solo show. In that moment we both looked at each other and decided that needed to change… We were going to create a show for him in Venice. It was time for Kevin to come full circle and share his art in the place that began to inform his work. His artistic ability is just the tip of the iceberg; Kev is a true renaissance man.

Photos & Words: Delon Isaacs 1. The Cobra Snake 2. Fuller family & Kevin Ancell 3. C. R. Stecyk III, Kelsey Brookes & PM Tenore 4. BJ Penn, Jake Buracker & Joel Tudor 5. Dylan Goodale, Luke Davis & Curren Caples 6. Herbie & Dibi Fletcher 7. YG 8. Kevin Ancell signing canvases 9. Yvonne, Joseph Tenore with friends 10. Lance Mountain & Pat 11. Venice crew 12. Stu Green (bomb ride operator)

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CHRIS JOSLIN SWITCH FRONTSIDE FLIP A C T I V E R I D E S H O P. C O M

Chortles of excitement were sparked at the opening bell for the second exhibition, “Portal To The Future,” at the fabulouso Gregorio Escalante Gallery. The premise of this show was to identify artists the gallery aspires to work with in the future.

exquisite construction and architectural practicality, creating a beautiful showcase where she forged such an exceptional venue for pleasurable art viewing and partying.

On display were fine examples from CR Stecyk III, Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Blek Le Rat, Nick Walker, Kenny Scharf, Chaz Bojorquez, Rick Griffin, Robert Williams, Paul Frank, Nychos, Lolo (Lauren YS), Shag, Ransom & Mitchell, Sarah Elise Abramson, Liz McGrath, Kellesimone Waits, and others.

A special treat was witnessing three paintings by “Dismaland” virtuoso Jeff Gillette in his first gallery show since being discovered and devoured by Banksy’s following. If that weren’t enough, the added treat of a second show downstairs in “The Art Dungeon” by L.A.’s best-kept art secret, Jon Swihart, and his masterful figurative paintings that included his latest creation, a portrait of Mark Ryden. His bifurcated exhibit debuted a wildly humorous body of work, “The Selfie Show,” which has to be seen to be appreciated. All I can say is that any art display that got me so many belly laughs is a rare treat that I will treasure for years!

Wonderful art along with free beer, wine and ice cream made for a splendid celebration. Throngs of art cognoscenti flooded into the insta-party, which opened October 10, 2015, at exactly 7 p.m. Everyone, from the electrifying young Alla Bartoschchuk’s mesmerizing figurative poetic realism to the seasoned seminal L.A. OG street artist Robbie Conal with protégé Mear One, was getting jiggy in the new facility.

Special kudos to Carley Montgomery of New Utopia Design and Build for the

Well, if “Portal To The Future” is really a portal to the future, we can look forward to one blockbuster exhibition after another, as this Deitch-inspired facility will go toe to toe with that other MOCA inspired gallery, Hauser Wirth & Schimmel, which is scheduled to open soon on the other end of downtown L.A.

Photos: Eric Charles 1. Elizabeth and Claudette Easley with art dealer Charlie Jane 2. New Utopia’s Carley Montgomery, Greg Escalante, artist Alla Bartoshchuk 3. Dismaland Castle by Jeff Gillette 4. Graffiti and mural artist Mear One, Greg Escalante, legendary guerrilla poster artist Robbie Conal 5. “Portal to the Future” group exhibit opening night crowd at Gregorio Escalante Gallery 6. Mike Taiyou, Caitlin Gibbs, Claudia Ramirez, and Greg Escalante 7. Alla Bartoshchuk and her painting, “Lubov” 8. New Utopia’s Carley Montgomery and renowned portrait artist Jon Swihart, with some of his featured oil paintings in the “Art Cellar” 9. Lenora Claire – curator, popular pin-up model, entertainment journalist, web-series host, and nightlife personality 10. Portrait of Mark Ryden by Jon Swihart 11. Artist Elizabeth McGrath and her drawing “First Communion” 12. Actor and director Corey Landis and Heidi Johnson of Hijinx Artist Management and Publicity

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The “Rumble in Ramona” shenanigans were in full effect on Saturday, October 3rd, in Ramona, California, with vert skating’s favorite event back on! It was all there – no winners, no losers and lots of backyard brews going down in this vert invitational at its down-and-dirtiest best! The bands on hand were slaying the tunes, notably One Less Zero with Alan Losi, Powerflex 5 with Corey Miller, Salba and friends, while the vertical action went absolutely buck. Legends such as Darren Navarrette, Christian Hosoi, Zack Miller, Steve Caballero and so many more were on hand and flying high. Chris Russell went off as usual, wooing all in attendance.

Thanks Navarrette, Creature and Vans for another great Rumble in Ramona. Can’t wait for the next one.

Photos: Chris Ortiz 1. Steve Caballero : B.S Air 2. Tate Carew : F.S Air Over the Chanel 3. Christian Hosoi : F.S Grind 4. Chris Russel : Lien Judo Over the Channel 5. Zach Miller : Lien Over the Chanel 6. Darren Navarrette Cooling Off the Metal 7. Italo Penarrubia : Fakie Ollie One Foot 8. Power Flex : Salba 9. Lizzy Armanto Andrecht Over the Channel 10. Darren Navarrette : Lien Crail

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Earlier this month RVCA sponsored the WSL Pro Junior in conjunction with the 27th Annual City of Newport Beach Surf Championships, right here in our very own backyard. There’s nothing better than a communal gathering of local legends, groms and the most talented up-and-coming pro junior contestants. While the swell during the competition wasn’t the biggest waves we’ve seen this month, the weather was all time and water temps were some of the warmest ever recorded in Southern California history. Contestants, locals and families indulged in three days of amazing surfing with an endless supply of food catered by local Slapfish and Banzai Bowl restaurants. Congrats to everyone who got the opportunity to compete from ranging divisions of high school, middle school, masters & legends and a women’s class. You all killed it and we look forward to seeing you again next year!

Special thanks to Jacks, Sector 9, Von Zipper, Go Pro, Da Fin, Huevos Wax, Aquatography, Banzai Bowl and Slapfish for additional help toward the local contest!

WSL PRO JR RESULTS: 1st place: Matt Passaquindici 2nd place: Josh Burke 3rd place: Kalani David 4th place: Parker Coffin

Words & Photos: Delon Isaacs 1. Pro Jr. winner Matt Passaquindici 2. Matt Passaquindici 3. Pro Jr. finalists Parker Coffin, Josh Burke, Kalani David & Matt Passaquindici 4. Parker Coffin 5. PM Tenore with Team RVCA + friends 6. Kalani David 7. BJ Penn, Kalani David & PM Tenore 8. Nick Marshall 9. Kalani And Tyler Gunter 10. Noah Schweizer 11. Chad Towersey & Logan Dulien 12. Banzai Bowl’s Trevor Mathewson & Olivia

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Words & Photos: Klee Van Hamersveld It was a warm sunny day in late October when I embarked on what has now become an annual journey to see what the dark sons of surf music had put together for our viewing and listening pleasure. I always know that The Growlers will not disappoint, and after a few glances at the lineup over the previous month I was excited to see the eclectically diverse group of bands that would perform on the three themed stages of the massive mini-festival that is “Beach Goth,” if you can even call it that.

As I arrived I was taken back by the growth of the space needed to accommodate all the costume-clad show-goers. The area now extended across and down the street from where it was the year before. There must have been what looked like 10,000 people there. They didn’t do the rides or the funhouse this year, as there just wasn’t enough room to fit them in. As soon as I got in it was one great band after another. Some were repeats from years past, but most of all the headliners were entirely new. The crowd was quite diverse as well, young to old, and no one was out of place. There were amazing props with the traditional Beach Goth treatment, a row of vendors and merch booths, food booths and two huge beer gardens outside that you seldom had to wait in line for.

Saturday brought, Riff Raff, Together Pangea, The Adicts, The Aquabats, Tomorrows Tulips, Cat Signs, Warpaint, Old King Cole The Younger (Black Lips), Subhumans, The Drums, Ghost, The Mummies (a Jello Biafra favorite), Mac Demarco, Wanda Jackson, Grimes, Eagles of Death Metal, The Shrine, Sir Mix-A-Lot and of course The Growlers!

Plus a few others, a Rocky Horror Picture Show that ran twice daily in the small room, and Pauly Shore came out once again. There was nonstop action and entertainment! I couldn’t even get a breather between beers and bands.

Day two brought the likes of Mystic Braves, The Coathangers, The Shelters, Moving Units, Juicy J, Fidlar, Julian Casablancas (The Strokes), No Bunny, Allah-Las, Die Antwoord, Prayers, Night Beats, Del The Funky Homosapien, a few others I can’t remember, The Growlers (with an entirely different set) and Parliament Funkadelic closed out the last evening of the two-day event with about a 2 ½ hour set of the classics. Even Sly Stone was there, slinking around and doing his thang. It was once again the most entertaining festival of the year and right in our back yard! And here’s some of those photos you “never see,” Brooks. Thanks go out to The Growlers and Observatory OC for another spectacular event! ‘Til next year!

Photos (1-3): Klee Van Hammersveld (@Klee_Photo) & Isaac Zoller/D’Blanc (4-12) 1. Die Antwoord 2. The Growlers 3. Ghost 4. Toro Y Moi 5. Grimes 6. Mac DeMarco 7. The Babe Rainbow 8. Pauly Shore & Brooks Nielsen 9. Moving Units 10. DMTina and the Bumps 11. Beach Goth Crowd 12. Warpaint

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THE SOPHISTICATE SWISS JEWEL MOVEMENT V E S T A L W AT C H . C O M

Interview: Max Ritter Photo: Summer Luu Introducing “The Gloomies” from San Diego, CA! Where did “The Gloomies” come from, who’s in the band, and how did you guys get together?

I (Andy Craig) had just moved back to California from New York in September of last year and had a bunch of songs that I wanted to start working on. I met Blake and Grant through Chris, who I lived with in New York.

The songs from your first seven-inch are great. Can you tell us a little about the single LSD?

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I first started writing LSD on tour in the back of a minivan. I remember having the melody and grabbing my phone to make some shitty garage band demo of it. The song’s about leaving for a new place and starting over, basically about the move. It’s the change of everything, even if it is only for the moment. It was much more mellow and down-tempo in the original version. Once I got off tour, I started to work on it again and it finally became the faster version that’s on our seven-inch. I was listening to a lot of upbeat music at the time and I guess what you hear is the result.

Bushwick with my buddy Loren Humphrey. I got back to California and just didn’t think they felt finished, so I continued recording in Blake and Grant’s shed and that’s where we finished the songs over the next couple of months.

Where did you record the songs and who produced them?

I started out recording them in

What future releases are in the works?

We’re working on songs to release

You guys are the newest addition to Thrill Me Records.

Thrill Me Records is a San Diegobased label started by Cory and Gabe of the band Cults. They’re good friends of mine and Gabe asked if I wanted to release a single with them. They are great dudes. I love being able to work with friends.

an EP or another single. Not sure about a full-length yet, but we definitely want to keep putting out as much music as possible so I imagine it won’t be long.

What are your upcoming touring plans?

Right now we plan to start touring the beginning of next year. The rest of this year we will be playing shows around California and hopefully getting a chunk full of songs recorded.

“The Gloomies” debut LSD seven-inch is available now on Thrill Me Records! Good stuff.

Go get it!

Review: Max Ritter

Randy Newman Trouble In Paradise Warner Brothers I just got released from the padded room and straightjacket they were keeping me in. Another tough year for my Dodgers, but we’ll get them next year. You know my favorite jam though, “I Love LA.” Sing it, Randy!

We’re bringing back Lasorda – it’s on.

Neon Indian Vega Intl. Night School Mom + Pop Chill-waving… Sounds like a metallic Lamborghini with LED underbody lights and Robocop driving. Basically, the car I drive. Yew!

Ducktails St. Catherine Domino Enjoying some laid-back dreamy guitar jams by the guitarist dude in the band “Real Estate.” Some say this is a holistic substitute for Xanax.

“Headbanging In The Mirror” is a hammer, listen to it.

Elvis Costello Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink (BOOK) Blue Rider Press Memoir. When I learn how to read, read this I will.

Jacuzzi Boys The Continental Room, Fullerton, CA Sunday, October 11, 2015

Review & Photo: Max Ritter

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Cousin it? No dude, Jacuzzi Boys! From Miami, FL. I went to buy a Jacuzzi but it turns out they are a rock ‘n’ roll band. AHH! Go figure! Check out their new EP Happy Damage available now on their new label Mag Mag.

Age: 11 Hometown: Huntington Beach, CA Sponsors: Volcom, Froghouse, Electric, Sanuk, Roberts Surfboards, Body Glove, Futures, Dakine, HDX & Waterman’s Sunscreen Favorite Surfer: Kelly Slater Photo: Kurt Steinmetz

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