Volume 10, Number 4 by Color Magazine

art ⁄ fashion ⁄ film ⁄ music ⁄ life ⁄ skate! • • • • • WILL MARSHALL CORY LAKEMAN SIC ALPS METZ RYAN ALLAN CONSINVERSED • QUIK BUFFALO SOLDIERS

the

PHOTO ISSUE Alan Rodriguez Alexis Gross Andrew Szeto Magda Wosinska Kyle Shura + more!

sean malto’s kansas city • arto saari • morgan smith turner prize* • tristan unrau • green burrito records CDN PUBLICATION AGREEMENT #40843627

ISSN 1920-0412

MJ ECHELON XLK

PICO XLK LINDEN

L A K A I L I M I T E D F O O T W E A R T H E S H O E S W E S K AT E BIEBEL / JOHNSON / MARIANO / CARROLL / HOWARD / WELSH / ALVAREZ / GILLET / BRADY / JENSEN FERNANDEZ / TERSHY / ESPINOZA / HAWK / WALKER / PEREZ / photo by Colen / ad #160 / lakai.com + crailtap.com supradistribution.com / lakaistickers@supradistribution.com

GIRL FILMS AND CHOCOLATE CINEMA PRESENT

PREMIERING NOVEMBER 16, 2012 STARRING: ALEX OLSON / VINCENT ALVAREZ / BRANDON BIEBEL / MIKEMO CAPALDI / BRIAN ANDERSON / CHICO BRENES / SEAN MALTO / CORY KENNEDY ELIJAH BERLE / MIKE CARROLL / ERIC KOSTON / RAVEN TERSHY / GUY MARIANO / JERON WILSON / JESUS FERNANDEZ / JUSTIN ELDRIDGE KENNY ANDERSON / CHRIS ROBERTS / MARC JOHNSON / DANIEL CASTILLO / STEVIE PEREZ / RICK HOWARD / RICK MCCRANK / GINO IANNUCCI

www. p r ettys weetvid eo. co m # p r ettys weet

SIGNATURE MODEL

CROOKED GRIND | BLABAC PHOTO

SEE MIKEY TAYLORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S REDISCOVER VIDEO AT DCSHOES.COM/SKATEBOARDING

KENNY ANDERSON

SOCKLINER

ABRASION RESISTANT SUEDE

ALL STAR TRACTION RUBBER

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[ o ] SHURA

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In the Neighbourhood

photo can make you feel like you’re skating with your eyes closed, or like you’ve just stabbed your best friend in the stomach. A photo can repeat itself a million times or it can disappear in a flash. A photo can tell you where you were, and sometimes where you’re going, but with photography, as with any good storytelling tradition, fact and fiction are always each just a little out of reach. We come from a special place, just shy of the four corners at Main & Hastings in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, where there exists no shortage of pain, suffering or odd love— irresistible pheromones for photographers. One day, I was biking through on my way to the office. It was around 9am and activity here was average for the day: a few people pushing shopping carts, carrying bags of cans over their shoulder, searching the sidewalk for cigarettes, coins, crumbs. Except for one person. Even from far away, I could sense aggression in the shirtless man. He was either intoxicated, mentally ill or both, pacing back and forth on the corner; stepping off the curb, back up the curb, shaking his bald head repeatedly. He was African-American, tall and ripped with muscles. He wore baggy grey track pants and white sneakers. Around his feet lay two empty 4L plastic jugs; he carried another jug, full of white milk in his left hand. He was frantic and disturbed, mean-mugging everyone, flexing his abs and puffing out his chest. I avoided his eyes as I rode by, watching him crack the seal on the full jug with his right hand. He then proceeded to raise the jug above his head and pour it slowly over his scalp. The milk coated his whole head, running down his face in leggy streams, dripping from his chin onto his bare chest and all the way down to the elastic waistband of his track pants where it soaked into

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a damp grey stain. The theatricality of it all was as incredulous as any performance art I’d ever seen. I rode ahead of him and paused at the corner where I could watch safely from a distance. He shook his head and milk droplets sprayed in all directions, then he tossed the empty milk jug onto the ground at his feet and reached down to grab another full one from the sidewalk. He cracked it open and repeated his actions: Angry face… pouring the milk… staring into the street. I fumbled in my pockets for my phone. I wanted to launch the camera app so badly and take a photo. I didn’t know yet what I would do with it, but I figured it would be nice to have later, to show people what I had witnessed. But I didn’t take the photo. Instead, I left the phone in my pocket and kept biking. Was I scared he’d see me? Maybe. But more than this, I had suddenly mistrusted the camera’s ability to replicate this image as I was seeing it, as it was burned into my mind. I’m not a photographer by trade, I’m a storyteller, and I relived the scene in words to everyone I saw that day. However, in the hands of a capable photographer, like those who contributed to this issue, a single frame can become a powerful story, and not just a story with physical details, characters, plot… but one that reveals all those little bits, just under the surface. (above) Wade Fyfe, backside 180 nosegrind in front of fourcorner publishing HQ. c.2008

Dan Post, managing editor

Sitka + Color Magazine | capsule collection available Spring 2013

ss tail | photo: Nicholas

Zach Barton in the Gordo Canadian military jacket. photographed by Scott Pommier.

2003 - 2013

[ o ] YAQUBIAN

STEVE GORROW

FOS

Mandy-lyn Antoniou

Lucien Durey

guest typographer/illustrator

contributing writer

contributing photographer

contributing writer

Steve Gorrow is the Australian-born typographer behind some of the most genius skate/surf campaigns ever. His influential imagery has raised the standard, and not just in this industry, but with work spanning music, fashion and cinema along with surf and skate in a huge way. An authentic, inspired artist, Gorrow stays true to himself and never lets the constraints of money stop his creativity. Good thing, because we didn’t pay him very much to design all the titles for this issue.

Mark Foster is always down to swim to an island in the middle of a lake, or skate anything you put in front of him. He’s an avid Gwar fan who likes to drive fast and shoot guns at the range. He’s got a classy English accent and the ability to charm the pants off of anyone from any social strata. With these qualities Mr. Foster may indeed be some sort of secret agent. Starting two companies from the ground up (Heroin in 1998, Landscape in 2003), FOS moved to L.A. to help run Altamont and chase American ladies like his good pal Craig Questions 126. Keep track of him on the radio.

Mandy-Lyn is a rock & roll portrait photographer from Vancouver, B.C. Her work has been published in the UK and across North America and her specialty is beautiful young ladies. In addition to the photo-documented adventures and narrative rendezvous Mandy-Lyn offers through her website and photo diary, she also runs an online magazine for erotic content/artwork called HUBBA HUBBA. Check out some of Mandy’s dreamy babes. 50

Lucien Durey works with performance, assemblage and digital processes, drawing inspiration from popular culture and his own genealogy to deliver personal and enigmatic representations of regional selfhood. In September of 2012, Durey began a year-long residency in Creighton, Saskatchewan, exploring the Canadian cultural relevance of prospector Thomas Creighton. Durey’s work has been exhibited in several Vancouver galleries as well as the LeRoy Neiman Gallery in New York and he holds a BFA from Emily Carr University. For this issue, Lucien had nightmares about Turner Prize*. 46

Taylor Senft backside smith / contributing writer. 38

MANDY-LYN.COM

FOSFM.COM LUCIENDUREY.COM

Seq: Francisco

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Columns 08 INTRO 12 CONTRIBUTORS 23 CONTEst 24 PRODUCT TOSS 28 INSPIRATION BOUND 33 ANTHRAX 36 TRISTAN UNRAU 38 EXTRA/RANDOM 89 SUBSCRIBE! 122 SOUNDCHEQUE 125 TRAILER 128 MEMORIAL 130 LAST NITE 132 CREDITS

skate ⁄

music ⁄

CMYK

RISING SHADOWS

TOUGH CROWD

STRUNG TOGETHER

DYNAMIC DUO

Jay Brown, Adam Davies, Marc Johnson, Jon Hanlon

You can take Cory Lakeman out of the prairies but you can’t take the prairies out of Cory Lakeman. By Taylor Senft and Ali Yaqubian

INVERSE EFFECT

RANCH HANDS

Sic Alps gets by with a little help from their friends. Photograph by Andy Mueller

Green Burrito and Student Loan make partying fun again. By Justin Gradin

Gordon Nicholas reflects on a CONS trip around the GTA

Riley Hawk, Brad Cromer, David Clark and Jake Donnelly hunt skatespots in Buffalo. When in, roam! By Mike O’Meally

LEVEL 19

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FOTOFEATURE

Will Marshall is officially of age. By Andrew Norton

Keith Henry, Andrew Norton, Steve Marentette, Matt Macleod, Dylan Doubt, Josh Hotz, Babas Levrai

art ⁄

HORROR FILM

LIFE OF RYAN

Jenna Rogers gets spooked by METZ. Photographs by Jeremy Jansen.

Photography collective Turner Prize* awakens Lucien Durey’s darkest nightmares

One of Canada’s finest exports, Ryan Allan comes home to talk life, lineage and the state of photography. By Aidan Johnston

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHERS

Alexis Gross, Alan Rodriguez, Andrew Szeto, Kyle Shura, Magda Wosinska and Frances Cartier

fashion ⁄

PIPE DREAMS

Tear this fashion story by Mandy-Lyn out of the magazine and pin it to your walls, because it kind of makes you feel inappropriate

life ⁄

ARTSCAPE GIBRALTER POINT Faces ‘n Spaces

ARTO SAARI Helter/Shelter

SEAN MALTO’S Kansas City

121

MORGAN SMITH Next/Best

126

CRAIG QUESTIONS Tattered Ten

FROM THE COVER

When Will Marshall gets to a spot, there is no second-guessing; he knows what he wants and how to get it. This lofty heelflip was no exception. Will popped and caught every one he threw down this thing, but he was dealing with some unforgiving cheesegrater. After completely destroying his sweater, he rolled away with this one then grabbed a fresh hoodie from the trunk. On to the next spot… hotzphoto.

Jay Brown, ollie comberphoto.

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JAY BROWN wallride [ o ] comber.

ADAM DAVIES backside tailslide kickflip [ o ] nicholas.

MARC JOHNSON switch 180 manual bigspin flip [ o ] oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;meally.

JON HANLON nollie heelflip frontside boardslide [ o ] odam.

supradistribution.com habitatstickers@supradistribution.com

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Artscape Gibralter Point wordsby jenn jackson

photosby jeremy jansen

midst the car-free community of Toronto Island’s wildlife reserves, beaches, forests, sprawling lawns and plentiful gardens, sits Artscape Gibralter Point Lodge—part retreat, part residency, part long term artist work studios. A short ten-minute ferry ride takes residents from downtown Toronto to AGP’s private lagoon dock. The secluded retreat on Gibralter Point neighbours Toronto’s eldest landmark: The Great Lakes’ oldest surviving lighthouse, rumoured haunted, whose bright beam has observed over 150 years of Toronto’s history unfold over Lake Ontario. The enchanting property of secluded beachfront accommodates AGP’s unique campus, open to and often frequented by, hidden sculptural interventions. Geodesic domes, driftwood forts, woven fences, a sweat lodge and stacked stones blend with the picturesque setting. Impromptu art, music and dance performances are on the continuous spectrum of happenings. Although secluded, the island’s proximity to the city invites a steady flow of viewership from city dwellers. Beach bonfires and skinny-dipping in moonlight provides the perfect setting for urban escape.

[ o ] HUSTON-HERTERICH

Lucas Soi 22

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“Beach bonfires and skinny-dipping in moonlight provides the perfect setting for urban escape.” Artscape opened in 1999 in response to then Toronto Island Public and Natural Science school’s scheduled demolition. The project came together through the collaboration of Toronto Island residents, the City of Toronto and developer Artscape. Over the past thirteen years the site has provided a space for artists to occupy in the production of both short and long term resident and studio occupancy. The repurposed school building lends to a certain allowance of flexibility among the tenants. The natural environment fosters an open-ended platform for outcomes of shifted perspective and practice. Many of the guest artists describe a shift as prompted in direct relation to the experience on the island. Currently, Lucas Soi is curating a thematic residency project until February 2013. The Soi Fisher program repurposes the original independent residency platform into one that expands beyond the individual. Future programming at AGP includes: an international education and public program of studio work, as well as formal lectures, mentorships, group discussions, peer collaboration, outdoor retreats and a bonfire or two. Forthcoming faculty include Maryse Larivière, Niall McClelland and Artie Vierkant.

amateur hour T H u r s d a y s f r o m 3 - 4 p m PS T

facebook.com/colormagazine

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Show us what you’ve got! For 1 hour every Thursday (3-4pm) at Facebook.com/colormagazine you have our complete attention. Post your creative pursuits* (photos, videos, drawings…) to our wall and during that hour we’ll choose our favourites to share with the rest of the world. BONUS: Every issue of Color, we will choose one of your amazing posts to feature in print. *Do us a favour — make sure whatever you post is yours!

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Snap Shot When lining up a sequence in the comfort of your photo cave, be sure you have the goods to make your 15-hour workday comfortable. These tools of the trade won’t overexpose your whole situation. (clockwise from shirt)

SITKA badlands top CLICHÉ incipio camera iphone case CLICHÉ brabs series jb gillet deck KROOKED krushers wheels SITKA x hides in hand deerskin gloves DVS rico ct shoes MATIX gripper twill pants THUNDER shane o’neill high point trucks

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QUIKSILVER

SKATEBOARDING

COLLECTION

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Caught in Collage

Correlate the art collection on your walls and the art collection in your kit with chill board graphics that don’t overcut & paste your whole steez. (clockwise from trucks)

VENTURE t-pud grizzly trucks ALIEN WORKSHOP warhol marilyn deck COMUNE raul cargo pants QUIKSILVER pickle button up LAKAI stealth five panel hat NIKE eric koston shoes VESTAL himalayas sunglasses 26

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RALEIGH DRIFTER LS FLANNEL / NORTHRUP STRIPES FZ HOODIE

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T H E P R E D A T O R Y W O R D with john rattray

Bellyflopping off word platforms into murky spillways, chasing distant flashes of reason. Results may vary.

In Search of supai

From UMMMM to DER

thomas campbell (um yeah press & gingko press) In the early months of 2011, I was compelled to drive down to L.A. to ride out the winter. I got in my old 1989 Volvo wagon and made my way down the coast. A mutual friend put me in touch with Thomas Campbell. It was only a short drive from S.F. to visit his studio in Boony Doon. That guy keeps a lot of pots on the boil. He is nothing if not prolific, so it was no surprise to me to find out recently he has started his own book press named UM YEAH PRESS. His first book, published in collaboration with Gingko Press, reveals Campbell’s art-making process over a two year period between mid-2009 through mid2011. It’s 104 pages of exciting and inspiring work and makes you really want to get out there and do something. —andrew pommier

FDR Skatepark – A Visual History

KINGBROWN #8

phil jackson, scott kmiec & nicholas orso (schiffer)

(self-published)

The most recent issue of West Australian limited-edition periodical Kingbrown looks good before even opening the actual magazine. Sewn into a brown paper bag with a chill Mike Giant illustration on the cover, you can already feel through the envelope all the extra goods that come with the issue—a nice series of stickers and a mini cardboard skateboard that couldn’t have been done any better. The list of featured artists is an impressive group (Andy Jenkins, Jay Howell, Dave Kinsey to name a few) and makes for some really interesting interviews. 112 pages of perfect bound inspiration in a really nice format. Co-curated by Morning Breath Studio, issue number 8 of Kingbrown is the perfect magazine to flip through one day and think, ‘these dudes were killing it.’ Visit their site to get this issue and learn the Aussie definition of a “kingbrown.” —dan climan KINGBROWNMAG.COM

Filled with a plethora of American staples like trashcan-cooked corncobs, teenage girls drinking PBR and naked bowl skating, FDR – A Visual History provides a telling portrait of one of America’s first DIY parks. With a surprisingly compelling narrative, this book displays equal amounts of drunken debauchery, cement pouring and powerful skateboarding. With photos from notable photographers such as Jonathan Mehring and Ryan Gee, the book depicts everyone from Bam Margera to the late JR Nieves, along with every eccentric local in between. Highlights include locals’ stories of crackheads with guns to girls masturbating on quarterpipes (whilst being ollied over of course) and my personal favourite, a photo of a bottle rocket being lit by a cigarette. One local quote sums up the book perfectly: “You can shoot fireworks at people and you can fucking do whatever you want; fingerbang behind the pillars.” Rock on FDR, rock on. —dave paris

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Havasupai means, “The People of the Blue-Green Water.” Together, with the Hualapai, they are the keepers of the canyons, or so the info-packed Arizona travel guide book Traveling Indian Arizona by Anne O’ Brien that I’m flicking through at the library tells me. “The keepers…” It sounds fantastic and Tolkien-esque. “No words can do justice to the profundity of these canyons,” it continues. “They are as rough and precipitous as any section of the Andes or the Himalayas.” It all comes rushing back. I’d been on this hike, along time ago with Arto Saari, Glen and my wife, down through those canyons to the village of Supai... “Do you have a light?” asked Arto Saari—a stoic, enhorsed keeper at the head of a team of mules on the Hualapai hilltop; the end of the paved road; the beginning of the eight-mile trek. “Don’t smoke,” the keeper replied bluntly, adding with a laugh: “Only the good stuff.” “The Havasupai were traditionally huntergatherers, who traveled between the valleys and the mountains depending on the seasons,” the book tells me. I had no idea about this stuff when we trudged down there. “They knew and understood the webs of life on the canyon floor, on the mountains and mesas, and every level in between,” the book tells me. All we knew was that there was a creek with four waterfalls and Arto was carrying around $12,000 worth of heavy new camera equipment. We’d first seen a photograph of the upper falls in a brochure at the Grand Canyon gift shop. The falls were depicted as a magnificent tower of water, cascading over a sandstone cliff into a cool, blue, travertine pool. It looked like Rivendell— Tolkien’s serene Elven kingdom. After the eight-mile desert hike it would take to get down there, what could be a better reward than a swim in that revitalizing pool? “When you come to rushing water bordered with willows, you will begin to

realize this trip is worth the effort,” the book tells me. I look up from the book and it all rushes back: the campground by the creek, beyond the glittering upper waterfall, the pool and the moonlight winking on its gently rippling surface. That day we had decided perhaps we should hike a little further down the canyon and shoot photographs of the other falls. At this point, Glen has not yet started working as a Biology teacher in Thailand. He is young, unattached and the spirit of adventure burns in his loins. Arto is his all-or-nothing, full-bore self. He is both bewitched by the magic of photography and filled with the wanderlust of his Viking ancestry. The wife and you really just want to relax and swim in the sun. But you are a team, on an expedition. We all hiked down, beyond the steep ravine, clinging to the ropes installed to help avoid death. Arto shoots photos of the second and third falls, smaller than the first and without the refreshing swimming hole. “Aha! There! The 4th waterfall,” someone yelled and pointed. “Now we can go back and rest before the hike out.” “Nah! Those are just rapids,” Arto and Glen say in unison. A schism forms, but I am caught in the spirit of the group. We hike on in a futile effort to find the mythical 4th waterfall—a desert Niagara that exists only in the imaginations of my traveling companions whom I now realize are completely insane. I reached the pool after sunset, disrobed and leaped in with defiance of the encroaching evening chill. I climbed out shivering, wriggling little leaches clinged to my shorts. Surely these creatures don’t attack the victorious in the glorious light of the sun; only the beaten, under the shadow of the now dark, imposing cliff. All that remains is the dusty eight-mile walk that provides ample time to reflect on our mistakes.

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Tailor Made

Forensic Psychology How often have you found yourself the perpetrator of a small crime scene and with no escape plan? With some quiet all-black shoes, a tight belt and these fiery new wheels, you’ll be sure to sneak outta there before they can say: “Hey, what’s all that red stuff on your hands?”

(clockwise from belt)

COMUNE manchester belt DC straight cord pants ENJOI mark of the beast gloves CHOCOLATE marc johnson coloring book deck INSIGHT polka death top ADIDAS busenitz pro shoes SPITFIRE grant taylor hot sauce wheels ROYAL four raw gold trucks colORMAGAZINE.CA

WILL MARSHALL crooked grind pop over

#keepdiscovering

photo By: josh hotz

vol. 10 [ o ] POMMIER

FERRO CONCEPTS Before you start reading this, YouTube “Preppers.” Watch at least four videos. Begin shopping list for “End of the World” items. Include water, can opener, Kevlar vest and a good supply of gold coins for bartering. Next, you’ll need some heavy-duty military gear to haul all this shit around with you. In comes Ferro Concepts, Calgary skater Riley Boland’s handmade, lightweight, practical military gear for the modern warrior. Use it in the meantime for daily tactical trips to the store, skatepark and hidden underground doomsday bunker. FERROCONCEPTS.BLOGSPOT.CA

Pack of Strangers

Sitka X Color Capsule Collection. Spring ‘13 will see the launch of Sitka x Color’s capsule menswear collection: our first ever collaboration clothing line. With six distinct pieces co-designed by our very own Sandro Grison, the line is a reflection of the creative energies surrounding the contemporary skate culture we live and breathe. Featuring high-quality materials, pieces include: a cotton flannel button-down with workwear chest pocket and sleeve adjust, lightweight Canadian military jackets touting four front-facing cargo pockets, slim-fitting black denim pants, 420gsm crewneck with front and back leather detailing, handmade Love Jules Leather skate sling/ camera strap and a saddle-stitched notebook pack.

We’re not the only ones stoked on this collection. Celebrated photographer Scott Pommier stepped in to shoot the lookbook for the collaboration, along with Sitka skate team riders Sheldon Meleshinski, Brett Gifford, Zach Barton and Colin Nogue. A huge thank you to everyone involved, we couldn’t be more proud of how this line turned out. Available starting March 2013 at Sitka’s three flagship stores, select retailers and online at sitka.ca

To celebrate the launch, we’re sending out FREE limited edition Sitka x Color tees when you subscribe to us online! $24.99* gets you 4 issues delivered right to your door, plus this amazingly soft t-shirt featuring the collab logo.

Larry Regnarts (aka Julien Stranger) has been a silent inspiration for generations of skaters who don’t care for the spotlight, guys that just like to have fun and make their shit look good. Since his early days split between Venice Beach and charging the hills of S.F. his style has become drunken camp night fodder in the same way as the tales of Achilles used to entertain the Greeks. In what some say is long over due, Vans Syndicate has released this pack of shoes— Julien approved with artwork from Todd Francis; reuniting a duo that produced some of the most memorable board series’ for AntiHero. These two classic silhouettes (Old School and Era) in understated style, provide maximum comfort. Nicely done Syndicate.

VANSSYNDICATEZINE.COM

Yesterday/Tomorrow Sunglasses seem to be one of those things that everyone is always looking for. Even if you own three pairs, you’re still always on the lookout for that one white elephant that just fits perfectly, is wellmade and looks chill as fuck. Welcome Wonderland, a new eyewear brand that celebrates vintage shapes and quality workmanship. Also good for looking babely on the regular. WONDERLANDSUN.COM

*1yr Canadian subscription. Offer available in Canada only, while supplies last.

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Online at ColorMagazine.ca

Anthrax This Ain’t A TRAILER REVIEW East Germany: 1980. A group of friends discover skateboarding and cast aside their staunchly regimented sport programs to tear up the streets, adding a splash of colour and wild creativity to the grey tones and socialist ideology of the German Democratic Republic, and they have the most incredible archive of film footage to prove it. Or do they? The “found” film footage that director Marten Perseil feeds us, follows the story of Panik—the East German Jay Adams—who was the local

legend and at the centre of the burgeoning GDR skate scene. Panik exuded style, he was the sensitive rebel with an incendiary attitude and there is reams of film footage, almost to good to be true, capturing pivotal moments in his life. From the felling of The Wall when liberalism succeeded socialism, to one final act of desperation and rebellion, the story is all very captivating. But a story nonetheless. Despite the bit of trickery that shadows this engrossing documentary, Marten Perseil deserves to be congratulated for this expertly crafted caper because he succeeds in capturing our minds, instilling a sense of wonder and amazement while transporting us into a story that so effectively conveys the essence of skateboarding as a symbol of freedom and friendship. Though it may not truly be a blast from the past, This Ain’t California is a blast from beginning to end.

/VIDEO

GOOD MORNING, MARTEN PERSEIL! The review to the left, tickle your fancy? Then delve further into the mind of the German-born director with an extended video interview at colormagazine. ca. Filmed by our very own Benny Zenga just hours before the V.I.F.F. and Canadian premiere screening of This Ain’t California, we take you up-close and personal with Perseil on topics such as youthful rebellion and reclaiming public space, as well as what the director sacrificed to make a film he believed in. It’s all right there on our website!

12 hour film festIVAL all finalists online at skatematic.com

Hotz Stuff Ottawa local skate rat-turnedphotographer Josh Hotz has been hot on our tail for a while now, sending photos and lurking in the background of our email inboxes. Now he’s taken it up a notch and sent us a copy of his newest project, The Units, which captures each one of his crew in a silent moment, a twist on the traditional skate ‘zine full of tricks and high antics. An outsider might not see a connection to time and place, but for Josh and his friends this is a permanent record of them as individuals as well as a tight-knit crew, skating and living life together every day. Keep doing what you’re doing Josh, we’re into it.

What does it take for an online skateboard video to go viral these days? In the case of “Another Day In The Yard”, it only took one hard days skate at their local Plaza. Great work fellas, can’t wait to see what’s to come for all our online fiends out there.

12 hour film COMP: Viewer’s Choice

STRAYLIGHTPRESS.COM

/FEATURE

Nestor At-Ease Simple, no frills, nothing to get hung up on or cause any unneeded friction, sleek and recognizable upon first glance. These words apply to both Enjoi pro Nestor Judkins and his Adi-Ease colourway. Lightweight and snug fitting they quickly break in and give you that false sense of confidence that you can land every trick you try and skate like Nestor. After the first few minutes of skating them your deflated sense of skill will quickly recover once you realize that the excellent grip and flick may put a couple tricks in your reach. They may not give you the style or bag of tricks Nestor has but they may make skating a little more fun. ADIDASSKATEBOARDING.COM

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In 2001, Onethirtythree opened its doors on lower 5th street in Courtenay B.C. The shop is, and always has been, owned and operated by the island’s O.G. skate mom and son: Mary-Lynn and Corby McCartney. Most of the time nowadays, Trevor Weir holds down the shop in Courtenay, while Corb and Mary-lynn take care of the mother-ship shop, Boardwalk in Campbell River. In the 10+ years the shop’s been open, the main goal has been to keep the doors open and keep skateboards under feet. Vancouver Island has always produced some of the most talented and underrated skateboarders around, but now with the help of the internet and blogs like yougotthat.ca, the island boys are getting the recognition they deserve.

This summer we launched a weekly video feature, Last Try Tuesday, that pits two skaters up against each other for two pitchers of beer at Vancouver’s London Pub later that night. The rules are as follows: 1. Two skaters decide on a trick 2. First person to land it wins a Lazy Tuesday pitcher of beer at London Pub, BUT... 3. The other skater gets ONE LAST TRY to double the lot (win them a pitcher each) 4. If the defending skater does land it on his LAST TRY he has an opportunity to make DOUBLE TROUBLE by adding a variation to the trick after the game. If successful, he takes both pitchers from his challenger and could be deemed champion!

Harper’s Habitat Most of you out there probably have some mild interest in art & design (you’re reading Color, no?) so will be familiar with the works of the extraordinary Charley Harper. This Spring ‘13, Habitat celebrates the mid-century wildlife artist with a new shoe series, Natural Selection: all-natural plant/ fiber-based materials, water-based glues, charcoal/bamboo lining and recycled cork/ gum rubber outsoles. Three different styles, each featuring Harper’s classic Montevarde forest scene insoles and coordinated exterior colours, means this is pretty much the closest you can get to ‘au natural’ but still wear shoes. Hippies, skaters & design nerds unite!

Beast Of Gevauden vs. Deerman Of Dark Woods

Head to colormagazine.ca to watch the videos & see who won each head-to-head battle. We just won’t tell you what happened at the bar later that night.

HABITATFOOTWEAR.COM

LOUD HEADPHONES RUBBER TRACKS

FULL VIDEO DOCUMENTARY - NOW ONLINE! Last April, we ventured out with Globe shoes riders Chris Haslam, Mark Appleyard and Ryan Decenzo to set a World Record for Most Parks Skated in a Single Day. When the dust had settled after 18 hours of shredding, Haslam was the last man standing with a whopping 31 parks under his belt. Catch the entire epic film, A Test of Mettle now online or at the International Skateboard Film Festival in Los Angeles December 6-8th. VIMEO.COM/COLORTV/GLOBERECORD

If your band is the next Hot Snakes, but you’re stone-broke, CONS might be able to help you out. Converse’s Rubber Tracks state-ofthe-art recording studio in Brooklyn, N.Y. gives emerging artists and bands the opportunity to record at no cost and retain all the rights to their music. We’re pretty stoked on some of the bands CONS has collab’ed with (METZ, Quest for Fire, Kurt Vile) in-studio or at one of their pop-up studios/free music showcases at major festivals across North America. Head online for more info and to apply, then keep your fingers crossed! There are also some exclusive tracks that give you a good listen while you’re dreaming of fame & fortune

Who doesn’t love those three badass monkeys “See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil”? Taking a cue from monkey #3, Mike Anderson and photographer David Broach have launched Loud Headphones: a new line of listening devices, complete with a party horn iPhone speaker and earbuds backed by a major team of pros, like Nuge, Sammy Baca, Peter Ramondetta, Kenny Anderson amongst other heavies. Saved the best for last: $1 from every headphone sale goes to the Let Them Hear Foundation, which helps provide cochlear implants to the hearing impaired who can’t afford them. Take 10 seconds and imagine not being able to hear... now go help someone who’s imagining the opposite. LOUDHEADPHONES.COM

CONVERSE.COM/RUBBERTRACKS colORMAGAZINE.CA

vol. 10 no. 4

—

Tristan Unrau

making the present world arrangement the telos of history, 2012 oil painting, 11" x 13"

wordsby jenn jackson

oung Vancouver artist Tristan Unrau recently produced several very nice paintings of a vase, a cat and a face. In fact he created multiples; each one a version of the other, replicating over and over without origin. At first glance, you might overlook their differences as the paintings define themselves via simplicity and similarity. Their generic subjectivity offers a humoristic sensibility directly related to common imagination. We all know what a vase, cat and face should look like, there is a general shape, size and form associated with the representation of such objects. Unrau’s work plays with these shared associations. While visiting his studio I moved from painting to painting. They were easy to look at and I liked them. Despite a potential for dismissal, the poppy palette and attention to pleasurable aesthetic lured a longer look. Familiarity is not always a bore. I fell into a casual encounter of looking which initiated an afternoon of dialogue with Unrau wherein we discussed a topic intimate to his practice: the relationship between the tangible and the symbolic. That is, we took a look at what it means to represent something we all understand and know within a medium found all over art history: painting. Meaning is continually being endued into the vision of the world that we perceive. The real has entered a place of imaginary investment. Everything has the potential to represent something other than itself. Abstraction has the utmost power within the fragmented nature of our everyday. In a blurred loop of association, the imaginary and the absolute mix without any promise for materialization.

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images courtesy of the artist.

Although difference is apparent, it is not central in Unrau’s work. Representation is flipped on its head via repetition and finds itself strained to perform meaning. Unrau’s paintings act as translations and a stratification of reality. They are simultaneously ‘something’ and ‘nothing.’ He could reproduce the same content over and over with neverending affect. Secure in their stock-like quality, the paintings enable both a stand-in and a prop of borrowed potential. Meaning is irrelevantly dropped for unilateral definition. Neither held onto nor let go of, the images expand into a place beyond their material reality, a place contingent upon heartfelt yet rational proposition. Or as Unrau describes it, “a picture with no inherent telos.”

supradistribution.com alienworkshopstickers@supradistribution.com

—

A Photo a Day Keeps Apathy Away words and photosby brian caissie

ou set your alarm, wake up early, grab your camera and head out to face the world. You hope to capture one of life’s little uncertainties, but time is sensitive and your challenge to take the best possible photograph every day for an entire year compels you. Understandably, some days are easier than others, and constant inspiration is impossible, but when I started this project on the first day of the year, my personal quest was to try and attain it. The basic objective of this passion project: never leave home without my camera and challenge myself to take at least one interesting photograph each day— no exceptions. Using all of the different cameras in my possession, my goal was to capture images that reflect my skills as a photographer then assemble them into a photo journal that represents one year of my life. This project changed me. It provided me with new ways to see my world, like what months are good for weather and who were these people I spent time with, shooting photos on a daily basis? Compiling all these memories together into a single book was a real adventure for me and I hope that you too can find a way to challenge yourself.

To order a copy of Brian’s book, contact him at briancaissie.com

briancaissie.

Nick Moore, Kickflip.

1. May 1st - Skydying in Abbotsford 2. December 4th - Deep Cove hike with my girl 3. April 24 - Car museum in Salmon Arm 4. February 21 - Shenzhen China, A man with no legs pulls his mother through a shopping district looking for help 5. February 14 - Guangzhou China alleyways 6. April 27th - Escalator., Vancouver 7. May 5th - Skateboards from “The Palace” skate house, Vancouver 8. January 27th Paul Machnau, method air at Queensboro Park, Vancouver 9. April 11th - Chris Haslam, Queensboro Park, Vancouver 10. June 16th - AJ McAllister, Nick Moore and Dane Collison having fun 11. January 23rd – Feeding Whiskey Jacks on Cypress Mountain, Vancouver 12. June15th – Vancouver hockey riots colORMAGAZINE.CA

vol. 10 no. 4

colORMAGAZINE.CA

wordsby taylor senft & ali yaqubian

Switch hardflip. yaqubianphoto.

portraitsby ali yaqubian & eric cruikshank

ou’re in the prime of your life: you have a routine in small-town Saskatchewan working grueling hours to make crazy amounts of money. It’s snowy for three quarters of the year, but you’re living the life of a fat cat. Then you kinda forget what a skateboard even looks like. So is it worth leaving it all to move to Vancouver, only to live in a basement, week to week, skating as much as you want, loving and savouring every minute of your young life? This is probably one of the heaviest decisions Cory Lakeman has ever had to make, but that’s not saying it wasn’t also the best decision he ever made. After meeting the dude for the first time right before the summer, I learned that he is one of the few people that can stay so positive while being so out of commission. Having hurt himself three times over the course of putting together this interview, you can’t help but agree this guy is ripping like nobody’s business.

“Live for the day, you never know what’s going to happen”

interview.

Color: What was it like growing up skating in Regina? Cory Lakeman: Windy! [Laughs] Short summers, real cold. Eight months out of the year spent at the indoor. What were the outdoor spots like in Regina? You know, you get your little diamond in the rough. Terrible ground, but there are spots. ‘Lot of skin left on the ground back there. They just built a new plaza—soooo good, spent a lot of time there before I left. How did you start skating? When I was nine my dad brought me home a skateboard from a garage sale and I started ripping it. It was an old Powell-Peralta board: blue with a dragon on it, classic. It had the tail-skidder and the board-sliders on it. I destroyed that thing, I wish I woulda kept it, but whatever, I skated it! Rode it hard, put it away wet [laughs]. That’s disgusting. Tough crowd?

(opposite) Frontside smith grind. yaqubianphoto.

So what’s up with this indoor park? We’d all help build, always building new stuff. It’s the longest running indoor skatepark in

Canada… been around since like ‘96 I’m pretty sure, maybe ‘97. It’s really well-built. We all got to pitch in our own ideas, but the overall builder was Tiki Room. Noel Wendt is the brains behind the operations, he does it well, really knows what he’s doing. I mean there’s been sometimes where the ramps aren’t the best—wooden tranny ramps are hard to make—but Noel kills it. Why is there so much damn footage of you skating there? Good ‘ol Saskatchewan winters buddy. [Laughs] Might as well film something. So that place was more or less your training ground? Oh yeah, especially since we got to help build the stuff, so like, you could pick what you wanted to make and build up your repertoire on that. I know Eddy [Lugt] and yourself were good friends growing up. When he passed away, how did it affect you? Did you want to skate less, or did it motivate you in any way? Yeah, it really sucked right? But it definitely motivated me to skate. Live for the day, you never know what’s going to happen. He’s the

Frontside noseblunt slide. yaqubianphoto.

.corylakeman

“We go out, have a couple beers.. . next thing you know it’s me jumping off something huge”

corylakeman.

Watch Cory and Taylor go head-to-head for a pitcher of beer in their installment of Last Try Tuesday at colormagazine.ca

(opposite) Frontside 180.

nicholasphoto.

(below) Frontside crooked grind. yaqubianphoto.

first one to ever bring me out to Vancouver, he introduced me to a lot of people, so because of him I definitely skate harder then I did previously. He taught me a lot of tricks; he was really good. One thing he said to me that really stuck was: any trick you learn regular you should go and learn it switch right after, just ‘cause your mind is already working in that way, pushing in that direction. He’d be like, “Just fuckin’ turn it around buddy, it’s not that hard.” [Laughs] So Tiki Room is the shit… they’ve had your back for a while now. Why does that shop hold such a special place in your heart? I set up my first legit board there and the rest is history. They’re the only reason that the indoor park is around and why I’ve probably spent half of my life inside that place. They also got that plaza built. The Tiki Room has done everything for the Regina scene. They make a mean shop board. I ride a Tiki board whenever I get the chance. They’re sick; they feel like a solid press, even though I do skate for Chocolate… but that’s why they give me stickers [Laughs].

Do you have a drinking problem? Coffees before noon—beers after noon. Doobies in between? Possibly. Whenever you show up to the spot, you have a 12 pack and joints guaranteed. Do you need the liquid courage or are you just that dope of a friend? You know, it’s just like bringing coffees to the job site when you’re at work: everyone loves a coffee, so when you come to the skate spot you bring a case of beer, everybody loves a beer! Why hangover when you can hang on… I actually got that saying from a friend back home, definitely a stolen quote. Well I heard it first from you bud. And that’s what counts. Like I said, I started it. Just crack another when you wake up, why hangover when you can hang on? And then you turn into an alcoholic… And then you turn into Cory Lakeman.

[everyone laughs hysterically] What is it about Calgary that stokes you out? Geoff Strelow and shooting with Owen [Woyotowich]. Friendly people, no hotels necessary, you just end up having a place to stay. Have a good party after a good day of skating. So many good spots, new places to skate, compared to small town Saskatchewan. What’s your favourite part about shooting with Owen? This is where the alcohol began. It’s like how he helps loosen the tension of you trying your trick. It’s not even like we go out just to get a trick. I mean, we do, he just makes it so easy going. We go out, have a couple beers, start getting a couple tricks. Next thing you know it’s me jumping off something huge. Why are you such a cheeky fuckin’ bastard? Well, you know… I live to laugh buddy. My friends make me laugh, I laugh at myself too. You gotta make fun of everything, you gotta discriminate everything equally [laughs]. You smiled too, so it’s obvious to me why it’s worth being cheeky. What does your family think of your skating? My parents and my brother and sister have been very supportive, you know, pats on the back every time I get something published. Your mom’s got ‘em all on the wall, eh? She’s got a few [laughs]. When my friends come over I’m just like, “yeah don’t walk by that room.” What else do you do besides skating? Hang out with friends. I work a ton, but I get out and play golf from time to time. I like to swim, go to the forest and camp, cliff jump. I really like exploring B.C., I’m still rather mesmerized by all that it beholds [laughs]. I like trying out new restaurants, I spend a lot of money on food dude. So many different types of ethnic food to indulge in. Eating’s really the only reason I work. That’s definitely one of my favourite things to do out here is experience new food.

ducets… What made you quit your job and move out to Vancouver? Well buddy, once a journeymen always a journeymen [laughs]. So I’ll always have that. The money was really good back home. One day I’ll get back into welding and boss-out all over again. I’m not worried about that though. All I wanna do is skate, that’s why I moved out here. I was getting pretty over the 9-5 so I’m finally putting some dedicated time into skateboarding and starting to see production. Trying to get good. What’s usually bumping on your iPod? Some ‘G’-ass rap. Obviously Nickatina. Some good ol’ pimps like Pimp-C, Project Pat, UGK… so good. Wu-Tang. Coldest day of the year? Nickatina’s birthday, March 11, when a gangsta was born. If you’re from Saskatchewan then you must also be a ‘rider fan. How much pride do you have? Oh my god, they’re fuckin’ crazy. I’m actually going to a Roughrider game tomorrow… but I’m not that big of a fan. Owen would be proud. You know what? I am proud! We’re from a small town. Gotta have pride in something, right? Everybody in Saskatchewan is a fan of the Roughriders. I know one year they sold more product than any NFL team has, ever. Yeah dude! I remember seeing on the news this one dude who had spent $15,000 dollars by himself on Roughriders swag. Everything from the grill to the grill scraper, eh? And the dildo for his girlfriend.

You used to be a Journeyman welder in Regina, making fucking colORMAGAZINE.CA

vol. 10 no. 4

wordsby lucien durey

P —

Turner Prize* 46

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icture yourself reclined on a blanket of retro geometric print, your head resting on a velvety pillow in burnt-orange hue, while headphones and modified ski goggles flood your senses with hypnotic drones and strobing lights. As you’re lulled into a dreamlike state, your subconscious thoughts run wild and you find yourself committing heinous acts, or falling victim to atrocities sourced from exaggerated or distorted elements of the everyday. You conjure up the physiologically impossible, like the ability to fly or breathe underwater, along with the socially implausible—you are naked in public, twisting a knife into the abdomen of a friend or engaging in some spontaneous sex act. Under the spell of the Mind’s Eye Plus, an antiquated psychiatric device that uses modulated frequencies of light and sound to alter brain activity, nothing is taboo, and there to guide you through the unpacking, recording and transcribing of your innermost inklings, is the Regina, Saskatchewan art collective Turner Prize*.

Curtis’ Dream, 2011 dibond mounted c-prints, 10" x 14"

images courtesy of the artist.

Mike’s Dream, 2010 dibond mounted c-prints, 10" x 14"

“They become the naked bodies on public display, the friend twisting the knife and the autofellator.” Working as one entity, artists Jason Cawood, Blair Fornwald and John G. Hampton attempt to represent the unrepresentable, mention the unmentionable. Since 2008, the trio has extracted and enacted scenes from dreams and subconscious thoughts of participating subjects. Aware that much of the subtlety, detail and nonlinearity of dreams cannot be translated into words, Turner Prize* uses photography. Dreams are collected with the help of the Mind’s Eye Plus in various public settings—a 1970’s camper van in Regina, a street fair in San Jose, a geodesic dome in Winnipeg—then are restaged as performances for the camera with handmade props, costumes and sets. The resulting photographs are left untouched, capturing the spectacular banality of the dream’s material realization, like scenes from some perverse production of community theatre. Other People’s Dreams, as the hybrid project is aptly titled, combines performative photography, sound manipulation and live interactions and is not lacking in debauchery.

Recollected dreams are as often repulsive as they are delectable and yet it is possible to be simultaneously disgusted and titillated by your own rude imaginings. In this way, the artists have provided a valuable gift to their dreamers: the chance to humanize and give sight to these unconscious impulses, while allowing the dreamer to retain relative anonymity. As enactors of second-hand visions and dreams, Turner Prize* absorbs the potential embarrassment and social taboos of these interpreted events; they become the naked bodies on public display, the friend twisting the knife and the autofellator. The artists are not arbitrarily acting the fool however; these acts come across as noble service. Other People’s Dreams is bigger than the artists themselves; the photographs are an offering and a much-needed relief from the relatively socially conservative population of Saskatchewan. Make no mistake though, these images do capture the Canadian prairie. Beneath the disorienting theatrics and pseudo-

Meeshil’s Dream, 2010 dibond mounted c-prints, 10" x 14"

hallucinogenic babble, this series reflects a firm geographic sensibility in its restaging of mental landscapes. The photographs are just as tied to time and place as they are to unfathomable psychological expanse. We bounce back and forth between the reality and the surreal, and as we navigate the absurdity of the conveyed vision, part of the joy in viewing is in the dissection of the event into tangible production elements. We see wide-open skylines and dry grassy fields along with that golden hour, prairie sunset glow. This Saskatchewan setting is most suited for Turner Prize* and their proclaimed appropriation of, “the aesthetics of mid-century pop psychology and psychedelia,” than one might initially think. It was in a mental hospital in the southeastern city of Weyburn, Saskatchewan afterall, where Dr. Humphry Osmond conducted an extensive set of clinical investigations with Lysergic Acid Diethylmide (LSD), resulting in the first publication of the term “psychedelic” in 1957.

Przemek’s Dream, 2010 dibond mounted c-prints, 10" x 14"

Hope’s Dream, 2010 dibond mounted c-prints, 10" x 14"

colORMAGAZINE.CA

vol. 10 no. 4

—

Arto Saari 2.

words and photosby alexis gross

approached the gate at Arto’s Hollywood hideaway, wearing a wide smile and last night’s outfit. Arto greeted me at the front door and invited me into his incredibly sunny home, taking me through the dining room and into the kitchen where the sink was being used for his baby Ella’s morning bath. Out in the backyard we passed by his well-known amenity (no, not the sauna), the acclaimed 43-foot-long concrete pool: a welcome home to skaters of all ages and the scene of some raging sessions—just call before you show up! Next to the pool, inside the garage, large black & white prints featuring some of Arto’s favourite captured moments adorn the walls alongside a gnarly axe collection that he says he will use one day to build a log cabin. One of the photos on the wall is of Tony Farmer going ballistic in one of the eight pools they skated the day that picture was taken. My favourite was a behind the scenes shot of a Suicide Girls shoot he was on. The neon Flip sign that hangs against the back wall ties everything together and serves as a reminder of what has helped him to lead the blessed life he does. We made our way around the courtyard to find a fire pit filled with drawings his daughter had made. This is

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also the seating area where Arto enjoys one of his other past times: smoking American Spirits. Taking our shoes off first, we step into what would have been the living room, now converted into a well-equipped photo studio. The room is filled with postcard-like photos that Arto’s shot and this is also where his collection of incredible film cameras resides including: a Noblex medium format, Mamiya Super 23, Hasselblad 501 and Leica M7. Between this room and the office, he showed me another space where he’s been working on his website that he expects to be done in 2026.

1. Arto Saari on a Sunday morning in front of the pool. 2. Where all the prized possessions reside in his photo studio. 3. Essentials hanging on the home-made sauna 4. Fuel for the fire pit in the backyard. 5. This hangs up in the back of the garage. 6. There’s a lot of greenery around Arto’s house. 7. The stairway to the upstairs is adorned with Arto’s favourite moments. 8. Selection of his favourite equipment. 9. “Banger”—residential mutt.

vol. 10 no. 4

PHOTOGRAPHY MANDY-LYN FASHION EDITOR MILA FRANOVIC

hair and Make-up SHANNON REYNOLDS TALENT Siouxsie, BRENNA & ADRIENNE at RADKIDS, AND BRITTANY with help from Pacific Boarder, Vancouver BC

Adrienne SITKA blouse INSIGHT bralette FRUIT OF THE LOOM panties colORMAGAZINE.CA

(clockwise from left) Brittany ENJOI baseball top Siouxsie MATIX youth flannel vintage shirt model’s own FRUIT OF THE LOOM panties GRAVIS shoes Siouxsie ADIDAS shirt SITKA skirt Adrienne INSIGHT velvet dress Brenna ASHBURY sunglasses ENJOI sweatshirt LEVI’S jeans

.pipedreams

(l-r) Adrienne QUIKSILVER dress SITKA scarf HANES sweatshirt Brenna SITKA sweater Vintage pants CRAILTAP cruiser Siouxsie ADIDAS pants Vintage shirt INSIGHT jacket Turn your dreams into reality with a behind-the-scenes video from Mandy’s shoot online at colormagazine.ca

colORMAGAZINE.CA

Brittany LEVI’S jeans INSIGHT jacket FOURSTAR woven

// USA

NIAL FREDERICKSON

www.thecomune.com www.the-change.tumblr.com

something better change

2012

Photos by Clay Kessack New York City

Instagram: @poppapnug

vol. 10 no. 4

,alu

words and photosby gordon nicholas

s an object meant to reflect light in such a way as to preserve its original qualities, the use of mirrors in photography is native to its representation of such objects. While for the most part I allowed the mirrors in the following series to do just that, others were manipulated in such a way as to distort and deceive not only the reader, but the very concept of the reproduced trick. Photographed while accompanying the Canadian Converse team across the Greater Toronto Area, the following series is a reflection, and in turn, inversion of those days. (reflected) naB nodnarB .eillaW

Brandon Bandula, Wallie. colORMAGAZINE.CA

(mirrored) ltaM tnerT w edistnof

Trent Matley, fontside wallride.

trip.

(mirrored)

Noah Tynes, nosegrind.

,senyT haoN .dnirgeson

Glencoe Hogle, bluntslide to regular. bluntslide to regular. Glencoe Hogle,

.converse

(mirrored) (l-r) )r-l( Wes Loates, ,setaoL seW backside kickflip. .piflkcik ediskcab Trent Matley, switch noseblunt.

converse.

,yeltaM tnerT .tnulbeson hctiws

(reflected) (top right) Brandon Bandula, 50-50.

)thgir pot( ,aludnaB nodnarB .05-05

(mirrored) (right) )thgir( Chris Connolly, ,yllonnoC sirhC invert. .trevni .trip

Reflect on the full video evidence of this trip online at colormagazine.ca

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(reflected)

Glencoe Hogle, rock nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; roll frontside boardslide. rock nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; roll frontside boardslide. Glencoe Hogle,

vol. 10 no. 4

wordsby jenna rogers

photosby jeremy jansen

espite standardized labels like ‘post-punk,’ ‘post-hardcore’ and ‘grunge’ looming over them, Toronto three-piece METZ belt out a sound that is distinctly their own and reminds us why genres are for pussies. While constantly pushing the boundaries of live music, with screaming feedback, towering drums and a bass tone that forces into you an otherwordly pulse, this past Fall METZ signed a deal with SubPop and released their first full-length record. Now, after four years of hard work and relentless touring of North America, METZ have honed their craft with a truly unique synergy and have become known as the band that plays really heavy, really loud music, really well.

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“When you open your eyes, you are covered in sweat and all of your gear is broken.”

METZ officially formed in 2008 when guitarist Alex Edkins and drummer Hayden Menzies moved to Toronto from Ottawa and met bassist Chris Slorach. “METZ is the brainchild of three guys in their thirties,” as Menzies puts it. “We’re all pretty like-minded in terms of taste and what we wanted to do with the band.” With three inspired and talented individuals at the helm, METZ soon embodied what Bry Webb from The Constantines once described as, “one brutally heavy instrument with three heads.” While the band pays homage to the distorted, sliding guitars of The Jesus Lizard and the noisy atonal energy of bands like Steve Albini’s Big Black and Shellac, METZ have also carved out their own signature sound. “It took us a while to get our footing in terms of what METZ sounds like and I think we still experiment with that,” says Menzies. “That’s going to happen forever hopefully, not to get stuck in any one spot for too long.” This mercilessly fast and noisy sound has landed them shows with iconic bands like Mudhoney, Archers of Loaf and Mission Of Burma, and is earning them a reputation as one of the best live bands on the road. Menzies, Edkins and Slorach

last few years. “We didn’t want to sell ourselves short by getting it done quickly,” says Menzies. “It was really important for us to go over all the details—the sounds, the textures—and try to make the songs do the live show justice.” With their first incarnation immortalized on wax, it’s only a matter of time now until this experimental group reaches the next level. “We’ve already started writing for the next record. Seems premature, but we’re just sort of antsy and want to keep moving forward and being productive.” bring unrivalled energy to any room, sonically assaulting the crowd, and themselves, every time they play. “Everything goes black,” explains Slorach of being on stage, “and when you open your eyes you are covered in sweat and all of your gear is broken.” While filling every corner of the room with heavy, overpowering sound is crucial to the band’s live show, Slorach admits, “the most important part of playing live with METZ is that we are having fun.” Fortunately for the rest of us listeners, METZ have managed to channel the same frantic experience of their live shows into their recordings with compelling precision.

As METZ dive headfirst into their debut international tour they are already feeling the drastic shift in day-to-day life. “When you struggle to make time for something you enjoy so much and that you’ve worked so hard for, and then all of a sudden it’s really demanded of you, it’s weird, but not in a bad way.” With support from their peers, their label and the Canadian and international music scenes, METZ are ready to move forward as frantically and fast as their music, and the only real chance of stopping this band,might be by throwing yourself in front of their tour van.

With a series of demos, b-sides and 7”s already released, when the band finally moved to the studio to record their first full-length they were more than ready. The self-titled METZ was recorded at both Dreamhouse Studios in Toronto, with Crystal Castles engineer Alex Bonenfant, and in an old wooden barn outside of Hamilton with Holy Fuck’s Graham Walsh at the controls. With Walsh and Bonenfant’s insight and enthusiasm behind this project, METZ produced a challenging record and, most importantly, recreated what they had been doing live for the

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vol. 10 no. 4

—

Kansas City, Missouri wordsby sean malto

photosby ben hlavacek

’ve lived most of my life in Kansas and in those years of living there I’ve been fortunate enough to travel all over the world. I’ve got to see and experience the most amazing places, but there hasn’t been anything that compares to Kansas City. The skate scene, my friends, my family, the Done house, the Chiefs... all of it makes me proud to say that K.C. will always be my home.

Ryan Pearce

Sean Malto, switch bluntslide 66

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SKATE SHOP.

SKATE SPOTS.

FIREWORKS.

Escapist Downtown 405 Southwest Blvd Amazing location right downtown and they have an art space which has a show on the first Friday of every month.

Slabbs 41st and Gilham Road A million manual pads and ledges all stacked on top of each other and it’s never a bust. Occasional BBQ’s here as well.

Escapist Zona Rosa 8526 Prairie View Road It’s 15 minutes North of K.C. but you’ll probably find either Ryan Pearce or Josh White there, which is always a treat!

Barney Allis Plaza 12th and Central KC staple spot with the slants everyone skates over. Really fun, but has become more and more of a bust the past couple years.

Missouri River by City Market. Grand St. & Missouri River Celebrated my 21st birthday down there with all my friends shooting off roman candles and bottle rockets. It was the best birthday until a million cops showed up and started handcuffing people.

Escapist Lee Summit 880 NW Blue Parkway It’s kinda far from the city but if you ever find yourself skating in Lee Summit it’s definitely worth checking out. Done House Living Room 3700 Walnut When you’re in a hurry to get out and go skate, some shitty wrenches and screwdrivers will do the trick before you leave the house.

DTF down by the river Our private indoor park: perfect ledges, quarter pipes, rails and stairs to get your confidence up. Done House Flat Ground 3700 Walnut Smooth asphalt and the official KC spot to play S.K.A.T.E.

COFFEE. DRINK. Riot Room 4048 Broadway Street Huge outdoor patio; usually packed on weekends if you want to hit the dance floor. Buzzard Beach 4110 Pennsylvania Avenue This place is scummy and smells terrible but it’s a sick dive bar that most skaters end up at. Spent the last couple birthdays there.

Broadway Cafe 4106 Broadway Street Local shit, they’ve been roasting coffee in Westport for 15 years. Little Freshie 811 W 17th Street New place on the West Side. I’ve been loving the pour-over iced coffees the past couple months.

Done House 3700 Walnut Black Cats and bottle rockets go off at any given time. No one’s safe!

CHILL / WATCH THE CHIEFS GAME. Arrowhead Stadium 1 Arrowhead Drive There’s not a bad seat in the stadium and the fans are so hyped! Everyone in the party van raging before the game is almost worth it alone. London’s House 31st and Penn Dr She has a 60” TV and a grill, perfect for a Sunday afternoon.

BBQ. WILDCARD.

Done House Porch 3700 Walnut Perfect place to meet up with all the homies and pre-game before heading out to Westport. Watch out for sketchy night lurkers. Not suitable for a family environment.

Marshall Park Marshall, Missouri This is our Fourth of July spot. It’s a big open skatepark where we can camp and have the perfect firework battles.

Best Bike Ride Start at my house in the River Market, bike all the way through downtown and up the big ass hill on Main street, meet up with people at the Done House, go to Westport for some drinks, then bomb the hill on Main back to the River Market.

Arthur Bryant’s 18th and Brooklyn Best and sloppiest BBQ in K.C. Oklahoma Joe’s 47th Ave and Mission This place is on Anthony Bourdain’s 10 places to eat before you die. The best BBQ sandwiches in K.C., well probably the world!

colORMAGAZINE.CA

vol. 10 no. 4

words and photosby mike o’meally

ucked off the road about 30 minutes south of Buffalo, N.Y. the Donnelly Ranch has everything an adventurous young man could hope for: horses, four-wheelers, rope swings, a creek with a stowaway beaver and plenty of other makeshift activities which any good piece of land worth calling itself a ranch should contain. Driving up to the Donnelly Ranch, the first thing I smelled was the mouth watering scent of BBQ chicken. Over at the grill, Shawn Donnelly—father to Jake and master of this wooded manor—tended to a small mountain of delicious yardbird. It’s not often on a skate tour that you get to meet another skater’s family, let alone feel like a part of it, if only for a week, but this trip was something special. The Donnellys have, at any given time, any number of friends, neighbours and others, eating, sleeping over or just being scooped up in the hospitality and generosity of Shawn. The man knows how to make a body feel welcome. And so on that note, with the scent of Chiavetta’s Chicken Marinade up their noses, Riley Hawk, David Clark and Brad Cromer joined the Donnelly clan under the empire skies of upstate New York for a week of living life in the best way.

trip.

Not the only skater from Buffalo, but certainly one of its standouts —Jake Donnelly always hits it hard. If it’s a bouncer at Micky Ratz or a frontside flip across a big driveway bump, there is gonna be force. So far Jake’s the one that has come out on top.

(previous) Wrangled together from the tide wash of Lake Erie, this “Tricky Bone” took on a new ornament and meaning each day. It seemed to be a good omen for whoever was trying to get busy on the board. It could have also been a complete figment of a wild imagination, either way, the boys each contributed some kind of accoutrement to its bedazzlement. On the final night of our stay, Shawn flossed it out with a Blue Jay feather and we fish-hooked a weevil and a Katydid to its line thus; the sacrifice to the skate gods was fulfilled. Riley grips it tight to feel some of that magic power. Come dusk and come dark, the creatures come out into the night. Standing on the roof of the ranch, father and son traded shots with the good sportsmanship and banter of two seasoned hunting partners. How they hit anything in the low light is anyone’s guess and looking at the size of Shawn’s target, he’s one man who would never go hungry in an apocalypse. Although there was some cheeky jabbing about who actually slayed the beastical, there was no doubt that these two are best of friends and make for a fearsome pair.

Downtown Buffalo is riddled with spots. Old buildings mix with new and abandoned blocks, and for the hungry eye, there is plenty to find. Amidst a heavy session between Jake, Cromer and Riley, this handicap ramp got a serious skate beatdown. Here Riley pokes a crooked grind transfer over the end.

.inbuffalo

trip.

(right) David Clark, kickflip.

(opposite) Jake, Riley and Cromer had their way with this grimey rail and this stylin' frontside lipslide by Brad was one of several heavy moves that went down. A little skin left on the blacktop of Buffalo was a small price to pay— it's nice when the skaters come out on top. (top) Firing up the grill seems to be a regular part of life at the Donnelly Ranch and in our short time there we were treated to some handsome meals. Breakfasts of champions and dinners fit for a king, Shawn Donnelly will make a feast of anything. So it seemed fitting to appease the same spirits of the “Tricky Bone” with a grill of the lamby kind. Yes, it seems gory—guts and all—but nobody thinks about that when they are eating a finely manicured burger patty. What you see here is a man who is not afraid to get his hands red for the cause and this little bleeter was skinned, gutted, swathed in rosemary and slowgrilled for 5 hours into a carnivore’s wet dream. David Clark helped hoist it up a tree to bleed and also whipped this kickflip up to his feet and over a downtown hydrant. (sequence) A staple skate spot of the Buffalo zone, this bump to trailer has been heavily sessioned lately, and this day was no exception. Among a swarm of tricks this kickflip backside nosegrind revert was laid down by Brad Cromer in two tries.

More from the ranch plus all the Buffalo trickery online at Vimeo/colortv colORMAGAZINE.CA

vol. 10 no. 4

wordsby mark richardson

photoby andy mueller

fter eight years of blending dissonance with an unhinged approach to psychedelic garage rock, San Francisco’s Sic Alps have finally come up with an album that shakes off the rough edges and goes straight for the pop jugular. While the group, whose only mainstay over the past eight years has been multi-instrumentalist Mike Donovan, have certainly flirted with a cleaner pop edge in the past (listen to 2009’s ultra-catchy L. Mansion 7-inch single), Sic Alps have always kept the curious at arm’s length by adding in an unhealthy amount of discord. Hooks in their songs are normally buried beneath a wall of feedback and obscured even more so by Sic Alps’ penchant for recording everything at home on a simple eight-track, but even with these obnoxious tactics, they’ve still managed to attract positive attention over the years from a multitude of labels and critics, building a small but devoted base of cult-like fans that quickly devour their recordings upon release. Now, with the release of their fifth album, simply titled Sic Alps, Donovan and friends might find their audience broaden, thanks to an album that does more than just flirt within pop structures, it damn near revels in them.

“The idea was to challenge ourselves and not the listener for a change.” (top l-r) Barrett Avner, Douglas Armour, Tim Hellman, Mike Donovan

Donovan has always enlisted the help of friends with Sic Alps, from co-founder Adam Stonehouse to Ty Segall, but more than ever recently, Donovan has stepped back and put his bandmates behind the wheel with the songwriting. Tim Hellman (former guitarist for Ty Segall’s live band) plays twelve-string guitar, piano and bass all across this new self-titled record. Meanwhile Noel Von Harmonson, who did time with Comets on Fire, wrote the music for a track off the LP as well as a track off a recent 7-inch. Even Thee Oh Sees frontman John Dwyer jumped in on a session and ripped a searing guitar solo on the album. The most noticeable difference on this record though, is the addition of a string section on several of the tracks, written and supplied by Ryan Francesconi. “I gave him tunes from the Pretty Things and Colin Blunstone’s One Year as a reference,” says Donovan of the collaboration. “His instincts were right on and we ended up going with a lot of his ideas.” The overall results have made for a much more unified,

clean and listenable record than anything that’s come out of the Sic Alps camp since their inception. Compared to their frenetic 2010 double album Napa Asylum, Sic Alps is damn near regal and was the first record that wasn’t recorded at home on an eighttrack, yet they still managed to maintain that level of scrappiness that has defined them. This album combines forty years worth of acid-damaged West Coast garage rock, the elastic pop of New Zealand’s Flying Nun scene, and the mellow psychedelia of the paisley underground. When I asked Donovan about his move to bring the noise down and push the melodies to the front he said, “Yeah, it was purposeful. I guess the idea was to challenge ourselves and not the listener for a change.” Good thing Drag City Records is behind Sic Alps and has fully supported Donovan’s dramatic new vision for the band, because he has succeeded in pushing Sic Alps forward and is bound now to turn more ears toward their ever-evolving sound.

colORMAGAZINE.CA

vol. 10 no. 4

words and portraitsby andrew norton

rowing up is strange—braces, acne, going shopping with your mom—but especially strange for someone like Will Marshall. Instead of focusing on Pokemon cards, or whatever other kids do, Will was being let out of school to go on tours and get in skate mags before he was even a teenager. His formative years were basically spent at a frat party. You might even remember seeing him in old magazines or videos looking like a hobbit. Then the little guy went away for a bit… Then he reappeared, this time less Frodo Baggins-like. Now he’s 19, he’s got a car and a haircut, and he’s skating better than ever. He’s even started looking forward in life and getting a glimpse of adulthood, but you have to wonder: could it be any stranger than where he’s come from?

(l-r) Nollie crooked grind. tindalephoto.

Nose manual nollie flip. hotzphoto.

Color: Right now, I can go on YouTube and find footage of you as a 12 or 13-year old, and I can flip through magazines from the past 5 years and see your old interviews and photos. Is it weird to have most of your life chronicled like this? Will Marshall: It is kinda weird—reading an interview, seeing how I thought—it’s pretty crazy. It feels like I’ve learned a lot since then. It was way different too, I had my dad taking care of me, he was a good networker. I got introduced to so many people when I was younger. It wasn’t like I was clueless to what was going on, but I didn’t realize it was a really good thing for me. Now that I’m older, I’m meeting so many people that I met when I was younger just ‘cause my dad would be talking to this guy, and this guy, and I got introduced to so many people that I still know now.

Did you think that it was a normal childhood thing? [Laughs] To a certain extent, ‘cause skating’s all I really know. It’s not like he was really pushing it, but I just found from a young age that I liked skateboarding and my dad was backing it. He was like, “If that’s what you like to do, go have fun with it, see what it can do for you.” Now I feel like I know the people I really need to know. I think it’s definitely an advantage. I feel pretty comfortable around some of these guys, after they’ve seen me grow up. They’ve basically seen the worst out of me already, like when I was a young little kid yapping my mouth away ‘n shit, it’s more like these guys are brothers. Who is your dad, what’s his deal? Everyone’s heard of him or knows of him just ‘cause he’s the most kind-hearted dude

ever. He’s just always been backing me 110% all the time. It’s crazy, he used to play pro hockey, so he used to be a bit of a hockey dad, but he soon realized skateboarding’s nothing like that. He’d be like the dude who was driving the van. When I was younger we’d be going to like Philly or New York and he’d be the one who’d almost organize the whole thing. So when you were doing all that traveling, when you were getting all that coverage, how old were you? I was like 12 or 13 I believe. I didn’t start growing till I was like 18 or anything, and I had the fucking long-ass blonde hair, I looked like an 8-year-old or something. Was there a reason why you were hot on the scene at 13-years-old and then you

fell back from coverage quite a bit? That’s fully from high school I think. My dad was good friends with the principal there, so that was around that time period when I was skating a bunch and shooting photos. There would be times where I would just leave school to go skate. I could tell my principal, “Hey, I’m taking off, my dad’s coming to get me,” and he’d be all, “Oh that’s cool, say hey for me!” Then I went to a different school and didn’t have that privilege anymore, of skating whenever I wanted, and he made sure it was all good with my teachers ‘cause in Cornwall there’s a lot of scumbags and not many people doing stuff with their life. Do you ever feel old now? I feel like I’ve been around for a long time, but I know I’m young as fuck still. I know there’s still a lot I need to learn. 79

interview.

(opposite) Nollie flip.

nicholasphoto.

Frontside heelflip. odamphoto.

There’s been times though, like when I got a car in November. I’m responsible now, you know? I’m stoked. I finally have some responsibility on my hands: that was the first eye-opener, but if anything, it just got me stoked. I feel like I need more things like that to make me feel like I’m doing something, ‘cause it feels like I don’t really do much besides skate and chill. In what ways do you feel you’re still like a little kid? [Laughs] Well my mom still does my laundry. Would you know how to do laundry if you had to? When I went to Europe in the winter Josh [Clark] or Morgan [Smith] had to teach me how to use it, but once I’d learned how to use it, I was all good and I was actually hyped to do laundry all the time. The joys of adulthood. I think I’m pretty ready for that man, I’m pretty stoked on it. I feel like Josh would have some good laundry tips. Josh is the best, he gave me some tips on cooking, ‘cause I’d always be in the kitchen chillin’ with those guys and never be cooking. I would always just pitch them three or four bucks and get in on the meal. Definitely observed it enough that I feel like I know what I’m doing with that too now. I learned a lot when I was out there, I was the youngest dude in the house. I was the easiest dude to blame anything on, you know? Like I was the idiot. I felt like I learned a lot, I felt good about it, it made me wanna move out. .willmarshall

You still live there in Cornwall? Yeah I live with my mom, but since I got the car, I’ve basically been living out of it just going in between Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto, sleeping on couches and stuff. The thing about Cornwall too is, when I go there I really get a break from skating, I’m not even around skaters, I’m around people I went to high school with, that work in a factory, or play baseball or something. So it’s definitely a big change from a city, where you’re staying in a skate house and all you’re doing is skating, or thinking about skating. Is there such thing as too much free time? To an extent. Like, I can be at home and I’ll think, ‘Fuck, what is there to do today?’ I’ll look at the time and all my friends are at work 9-5ing. There will definitely be times when I’ll be bored and I’ll think having a job right now would be decent, but you can’t just work one shift a month whenever you want to. Berrics or Embassy—which is the better spot to be? Embassy has a lot more stuff to skate, but what you can’t tell on film is it’s hard to skate in there, because how they have it built. Some things will be on an angle and will be harder to hit, while at The Berrics, everything is just straight on perfect. If I had to skate just one place, for the rest of my life though, I’d go to the Embassy. They have tranny. I know you’ve been in contests and probably seen pros since you were really young, but do you ever fan-out still? Fuck… I’ll be watching Spenny skate and I’ll fan out, but I’m not gonna be all, “Oh my god, that was so sick.” Like, I know how to keep it in. But ya, I’m always stoked off people or their skating. I’m definitely still fanning out a bunch. When you kinda start young, you learn all the etiquette. Is that one of the advantages of being in it for so long? Ya, I feel that is one of the advantages because little things matter you know? You don’t want to be the dude out there

Backside 360. tindalephoto.

(opposite) Bump to 50-50.

saying the wrong things and blowing it, you just learn when to say what you need to say. I definitely still say things without thinking, but it’s not as bad as it could be.

hotzphoto.

Was there one time when you learned a hard lesson where you said something dumb or did something dumb on a trip? I guess that YouTube video of me at South Parc. I don’t know if you’ve seen it, it’s like, “Money in the bank,” or something like that [laughs]. It’s just me and it’s like I’m super sugar high and I’m runnin’ around skating with fake money sayin’ stupid-ass shit. A lot of people have seen it, it’s got a couple 82

willmarshall.

views, so I feel like then I kooked out pretty hard, but I was 13 so it doesn’t matter. You went on that cross-country DC trip, which is a pretty long trip to be the little dude in the van… Ya, that was 2006, so I was 13 and all these dudes are smoking weed in the van, talking about chicks. Hell, when we were in New Brunswick, they brought me to a house party and they just set me up on a Playstation 2 in the corner and were all like, “Just play some video games” while people were getting wild and shit.

Backside nosegrind revert. nicholasphoto.

(opposite) Fakie hardflip.

nicholasphoto.

interview.

Aside from skating, did you learn any life lessons from those weird van conversations or seeing weird shit go down on the road? For sure I’ve learned a bunch. Maybe not right away, but there will be times when a situation will come up and I’ll know how to react to it now because I’ve heard about other people’s stories of going through stuff like that.

How is Josh as the new DC Canada team manager? Josh being the TM is so sick; I’m really stoked on it. He’s gonna take advantage of whatever he can do. He’s gonna try to get the most out of everything for us and that’s what I feel the Canadian skate scene needs—someone really pushing it and trying to make something out of it and I feel like Josh is going to do that. He’s the Alpha male.

He’s always winning, whether it’s checking into the hotel or something else, you know he’s got it, you can always count on Josh. Responsible Josh. And he still rides for the team himself, so it’s weird to be like, ‘Yo, are you gonna send me a box or what? What’s going on with that box?’ It’s cool, because Josh kinda knows exactly what I wear too. I’m not getting Ken Block pro models, like yellow shoes.

Or maybe you will, once this interview comes out. [Laughs] Ya, if I blow it: motocross kicks. How do you feel about your skating now and where do you see yourself going? I’m stoked to be doing what I’m doing. Like I said; I’m not working, I’m not in school, so I can just dedicate all my time to it and film and shoot. But then… the future… All I really

wanna do right now at this age is just film parts and shoot photos so when I’m older I can look back and say, “Shit, that’s what I was doing when I was 19.” I’ll look back at parts today and be like, “Oh I remember that day. I ate here, I was with these guys…” I feel like that’s a good way that a clip can make you remember the whole day. I feel like nobody else besides skateboarders will really have that. I mean obviously they’ll

have pictures from their vacation to Cuba, but it’s not the same thing as being out in the streets, going through what skaters go through to film stuff. It’s almost the best thing you can do, is just try to put out coverage. And those video parts; they’ll always be there to look back on. Same with magazines. Once it’s in print, it’s done with.

.willmarshall

willmarshall.

Ollie, 360 shove-it. nicholasphoto.

colORMAGAZINE.CA

vol. 10 no. 4

words and photosby justin gradin

very city needs something really fun and cool happening, but it’s weird to think of these big cities all over the place where nothing good is going on, and it makes you wonder: how can that happen? You eventually realize, it’s not simply because they are boring places, it’s because they don’t have the right people, excited and enthusiastic enough to contribute to the culture. Luckily, Vancouver has Ryan Smith and Daniel. R ripping into the untouched territories of romantic puke and pleasure under the haircut with their respective independent music labels: Green Burrito and Student Loan. Separately, these two indie wizards do it all: release (and often sell out of) several 7-inch records and tapes from local favourites, promote events at various venues around town and deejay their own wild parties. Now, Ryan and Daniel have teamed up as event promoters to ram piles of teen fantasy pills down the geriatric shaft of Vancouver’s twenty-first digit. Look out Saskatchewan—here we come!

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Color: Why is it important for Green Burrito and Student Loan to promote live events and shows? Ryan Smith: To bring the people together and to have a very fun time; to enjoy live music. Daniel R: Well I think there’s a split between the two sides. Obviously it’s the community thing, and just showing people sick stuff, get people who play music and show your other friends music; that just grows it, you know, in the space of the vapid, vampire, empirical side of partying. Anything we do just grows from a pretty honest place and we like to share that stuff.

tricks—so insane, so sporadic and rough. At the end of it he whips out his spray can and charges full speed into the wall. He just hits it, whips out a can, then kicks the wall and just fucking spraypaints like, a huge sketchy dude looking over, fully shaded.

What events are you dreaming up right now? RS: A double cassette release, outdoor daytime skate jam, or as Daniel coins it: Ventura, California circa 1982. Cutty obstacles, a shitty flat-bar, best trick over the puddle gap, PVC coping, blast ramp into nothing… into the wall! Daniel showed me this reference video… DR: 1986 Tempe, Arizona skate comp! RS: Neil Blender does the sickest performance piece run in this contest. Dude does the craziest, weirdest, funniest

You guys had a show here at your house called The Rock Lotto, where people from other bands would sign up on a list and be put in new groups to form new bands. There were hundreds of people that showed up—including the cops. Is that the preferred style of show you guys wanna do? The DIY kind of thing? DR: Forever! RS: If I could, I would always just do it that way. It just never happens enough. It’s like an epic meeting of people and it’s

That’s your inspiration for the party? RS: Yeah yeah, like very exciting fun time… open to anyone… no sign-up necessary. Just show up and skate it off. Fenced off area, live music, four bands, two cassette releases… skate everything! [Makes the sound of shooting a pistol]

the funnest! I don’t know if we’ll ever do one like that again here because there was a police helicopter. I don’t know if they were there for us, all I know is we had the best time ever. DR: We ran out of cups in an hour. People were drinking beer out of their hands like, “Pour it here.”

Ryan, how long have you been doing this, and why the name Green Burrito? RS: Dude, making a name was so hard for me. I thought about it for so long and all the names I pick sucked. I was so bummed on it. One day I was over at Budgies Burritos talking to my boy Johnny Burgess and I was like, “Yo what’s up Johnny, how you doin’ dog?” He looked pretty bummed and was like, “Good. Just rolling this burrito. I wish I was rolling a green burrito.” We’ve rolled green burritos, we’ve tried it once or twice. And Daniel, what’s the idea behind Student Loan? You guys started doing 7-inch splits? DR: Yeah that was the start, with Natasha Lands and Jarrett Samson in the beginning of this year, but it was like eventbased, creating something physical that would be backed by something self-sufficient, like putting on an event that could then fund a record. It was about showcasing the new stuff— bands in the city that people like, that didn’t necessarily have a record out. RS: Definitely not gonna stop, gonna keep going… releasing our friend’s music and working to bring people together, showcasing local talent and having a fun time. It’s definitely been the most satisfying and rewarding time of my life. It’s like a freight train—it’s gonna keep going. It’s time to rock n’ roll.

“We ran out of cups in an hour. People were drinking beer out of their hands.”

[ o ] GROSS

I drank mine out of my pocket, I just put a straw in. Is this how you guys got working together, from being roommates, or were you doing stuff before as well? RS: We kind of just started chatting. Before Daniel moved in, we were just mutually stoked on each other. Like, we had bought each other’s stuff at shows and just talked about supporting my friends DIY label too, you know? And then he moved in, and you know, positive vibes. It’s so much more fun to do stuff together.

Adrian Lopez / Color 9.1

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Arto Saari, backside disaster.

wordsby aidan johnston

portraitby brent goldsmith

or over two decades, Ryan Allan’s photos have helped narrate the storied history of Canadian and International skateboarding, traversing epochs when photographers didn’t follow trends—they started them. Looking through Ryan’s accomplished portfolio reveals a lyricism that speaks to a bigger picture and during his trip back to Toronto recently, for the release of his Blue Tile “Collabros” tee, I had the chance to discuss his extensive career and quickly learned how each one of his photos is another part of the story. .ryanallan

“Growing up in a small town formed who I was and what I thought skateboarding was: being alternative.” Ryan sits in Toronto’s Silverline Studios, unostentatiously dressed and displaying a relaxed charm, like an old Vegas crooner in between sets. He confesses that it’s a bit stirring being back in Toronto. “It feels like coming home less each time,’ he admits. “Back in the day you’d sit on the old Adrift stoop and see thousands of people that you knew. Now there’s just so many people on the scene and I don’t know who they are… it’s a bummer to feel your city slipping away.”

But Toronto is far down the road from the endless driveways of Grimsby; his rural hometown where Ryan began skating at a time when skating belonged to a sub-culture considered lamer than Juggalos. “Growing up in a small town formed who I was and what I thought skateboarding was: being alternative, as strange as that word sounds. My crew was a weird, degenerative posse. We’d get picked on for skating. I wasn’t allowed to bring my board on the bus, I’d get called ‘faggot’ for wearing beanies and long shorts.”

Attitudes like these forced Ryan and his sandlot crew into building the town’s scene themselves. “We built a ramp in our barn with campaign signs from a local politician who’d used sheets of masonite to advertise. It said: “Vote John Monroe” all over it, so it became known as The Monroe Ramp. Kids from town would come skate it and any pro teams that came through.”

especially in California. It’s the mindset kids go in with now, wanting a Red Bull contract and wanting to be Sheckler… We did it ‘cause other shit was whack and we wanted to go skate and listen to Black Flag.”

Clearly his father’s carpentry skills had an undeniable impact on Allan, but it was his penchant for photography that really altered his life. “My dad wasn’t a photographer

Needless to say, Ryan’s transition to California living wasn’t easy. “I was used to being the odd man out. It’s so

by trade, but he’d always have a camera that I’d steal to shoot buddies skating. I just learned by looking at Thrasher or Transworld and got the gist of it. It was a combination of skating and being around my dad shooting that got me into it. He would orchestrate photo shoots with us, like one time he got us to re-enact the stuffed animal scene from E.T.”

weird for me living in California now, where the local football hero is a skateboarder and cheerleaders like skateboarders. That whole culture I do not understand. I don’t come from it and it doesn’t make any sense to me. I sound like such a crusty old dude; I’m not saying that’s the way it’s supposed to be, it’s just weird.”

(top) Arto Zared Bassett kickflip. D3X 92

Allan’s photos first appeared in photocopied ‘zines, like Hamilton-area’s 360 Spins, until one shot of Mark Appleyard made its way into the glossy pages of Concrete Powder. After years of contributing to Concrete, its west coast location became domineering and an indifference to the east coast was clear. Unsatisfied, Ryan again applied his approach of doing things on his own terms and in 1998 approached a publisher with his idea for Skateboard Canada. But as his career blossomed, so too did the industry to which he was now a part of and when public perceptions of skating changed, its counter culture identity started to blur. “[Skating] became insanely different,

.ryanallan

“What the fuck is a video for? Just let the video be the tricks and the magazine the personality.”

The gritty style of shooting that had inspired Allan had became polished and fixed. “Now everyone shoots the same photo,” he claims. “In the 80s and 90s photographers were learning as they were going and there was a lot of raw shit, like heads cut out of the frame, which was a more exciting punk-rock style. I like fashion mags more than skate mags now, they’re lighting things differently and trying new things, where skateboarding photography is just bland. There are limitations because of the time we can be at a spot, but it seems like everyone is still obsessed with getting the peak action, frozen flash shot, everything just right. But there’s like, 30 guys doing that now and it’s all the same. You just need one guy doing that and the rest should be doing something else. Sometimes I’ll pull a frame from a sequence and think, ‘I should’ve just shot a still like that.’ But if you tried to print it people would be like, ‘No he’s not in the right spot.’ It’s still too safe, people are afraid to take chances. There’s little room for creativity in magazine pages anymore.”

With many years, tours and impressive Instagram stats between Allan now and his magazine days, he pauses to contemplate whether or not the editorial world is something he’d return to. “It would be cool to do something again, but dealing with advertisers takes the fun out of it when they have an agenda. It turns on you quickly. I’d rather just put out a photo thing with no ads, pay for it yourself, take the hit but have it be your vision. I’d just like to see more lifestyle shit allowed into magazines, not just focusing on the trick, but taking in everything while the tricks happen. That’s the stuff I remember from mags back in the day, the funny photos of Jason Lee not even skating, like telling the whole story of a trip and all the characters that were there. Now you get spreads of tricks and these little tiny inlays of people having fun, but the personality is gone. It’s just trick, trick, trick… so then what the fuck is a video for? Just let the video be the tricks and the magazine the personality.”

Nowadays, Ryan Allan is occupied balancing a wife and three children in California and life on the road with the tight Gravis and Analog teams of which he is currently the staff photographer, but the next step for Ryan is never far from mind. “There’s a point where you hit a ceiling of what you can bring to skateboarding and I felt like several times in my career I hit that ceiling. When I lived here in Toronto and I was doing SBC… I wasn’t satisfied, so I bailed to work for C1rca. When I felt like I was at the top of what I could do there, I moved on. That’s just kind of how I always do things:

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(top) Javi Tom, 50-50 Javi, Baldi Sammy Winter backside 50-50. D3X

when I feel like I’m over it, I’ll do something else. In the last year I did a lot of commercial work for adidas and that really was fun, seeing what you can do with a budget, so now I’m more inspired to go work on bigger stuff. Scott Pommier and I have always had this pact. I forget who it was, but some photographer said, ‘Oh I’m satisfied with that,’ and it was kind of a bogus photo, and Scott and I were both like, ‘Dude you should never be satisfied, you should always want more.’ It’s a curse in a way, you never get the satisfaction out of the things others might, but it makes you progress constantly. Always move on and trip out.” With simply too much wisdom to fit in these pages, we whipped up an extended feature for Ryan with even more photography online at colormagazine.ca. .ryanallan

kyleshura.

1999 - 2003 Nikon F5

portrait by jon west / FUJI GX680.

Kyle Shura: Retrospective

aking notice of the subtle things his environment has to offer has always been of great focus for Shura. A photographer characterized by his avoidance of anything digital, Shura is recognized as one of Canada’s premier skateboard photographers from the start of the millennium. Embracing the human element of the craft, he celebrates purity and expects imperfections, or as he puts it, “There’s quality in shit.” His current work explores techniques with chemicals and the process of printmaking.

.kyleshura

kyleshura.

images manipulated in darkroom, 2012 / FUJI GX 680.

(clockwise top left) Untitled 1 in a series of 4 Building 1 Kasia Fryklund Solarized Untitled 4 mixed leaves and developer Untitled 5 paper/chemical imprint colORMAGAZINE.CA

Frank Cartier

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Kevin Lowry, ollie onto hubba.

Kevin Lowry, backside 180 nosegrind.

Denis Tyson, ollie.

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(above) Jamie Tancowny, kickflip into bank. (left) Jed Anderson, ollie. 102 colORMAGAZINE.CA

COMING SOON VIDEO COMING SOON

Vietnam Leica M4-P

arlier this year, Canadian photographer Andrew Szeto trekked 2000 miles across Vietnam with his pals including New York fashion photographer Geoff Barrenger, each of them atop patched-up Minsk motorcycles. Andrew documented the entire journey.

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Magdalena Wosinska Yashica T4

ree beer can make even the tamest partygoer turn into a full-fledged maniac, party pig. That’s exactly what happened on this COMUNE motorcycle camping trip to King’s Canyon, California. That, and many other awesome things, like sexy ladies skinny-dipping, drunk guys dumping their motorcycles, bad acid and homemade tattoos in the dark. Mind-numbing, existential hangovers followed and months later the mere whiff of this particular brand of free beer still causes dry-heaving from anyone who partook in the great King’s Canyon beer slaughter. —corey smith

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United States of America Canon AF35M & Yashica T4

his particular set of photos was shot during Alexis Gross’ 14 days spent on the road with the Creature Skateboards team touring across the U.S. From Phoenix to Jacksonville, Alexis experienced strip clubs, demos and skate mom mayhem. Daf Noah’s classic “What up player?” saying is still stuck in her head. See Alexis’ entire set of photos in her limited release Blood of the Young ‘zine collaboration (Winter 2012)

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Nicaragua

Canon EOS7D

n assignment from a small El Salvador newspaper, South American freelance photographer Alan Rodriguez accompanied the Chocolate team as they travelled to Nicaragua for their El Chocolate Tour and to film for the new Pretty Sweet video. Ty Evans was sporting some pretty advanced gear including a, “fucking insane camera with a Steadicam vest,” as Rodriguez remembers it. Although he was limited to the shots he was “allowed” to take with his own camera, Alan still managed to capture these few unique gems. To see even more of Alan’s Nicaragua photos with the Girl/Chocolate family, check out the full feature on colormagazine.ca

Elijah Berle, nosegrind.

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ÂŠ 2012 adidas america, inc. adidas, the trefoil logo and the 3-stripes mark are registered trademarks of the adidas group.

dennis

busenitz

frontside flip fakie manual kickflip out busenitz pro

www.adidas.com/skateboarding

vol. 10 no. 4

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RAPHAEL DOCQ 50-50 [ o ] levrai. 113

MAGNUS HANSON backside kickflip [ o ] norton.

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TYLER WARREN frontside feeble [ o ] henry. 115

116 KEVIN LOWRY halfcab [ o ] marentette.

DANE PRYDS kickflip [ o ] macleod. 117

DMODW frontside rock [ o ] doubt.

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SAM LIND 5-0 [ o ] hotz. 119

Trash Talk, April 5th Ramp Party, Vancouver BC

[ o ] LENNON

“we out here.” colORMAGAZINE.CA

vol. 10 no. 4

CITY

VIDEO GAME

— Toronto / Toronto

— Goldeneye / Duck Hunt

YOUTUBE VIDEO

TREND

— I’m always filming for one / “TomBat” for now

MORGAN SMITH

FLATGROUND TRICK

introby aidan johnston

photoby brent goldsmith

— Switch hard / Nollie flip

TV SHOW

— TV is harsh / Documentaries or The Simpsons

CRASHPAD

— Most likely my place / Nice-ass hotels I shouldn’t be in

TRIP

— Detroit (hopefully) / Peru and Machu Pichu with Momentum

JOB

— Good question / White Rose Garden centre, loading bags of dirt into people’s cars

— Being healthy / Wall rails

COLLECTIBLE

— Pro boards of homies / Skate VHS’

hen I asked Morgan about his first big pro purchase, I knew a guy like him wouldn’t flash a watch that’s waterproof to unnecessary depths, or show me a picture of his custom jet ski. No, the closest Morgan got to blowing cash on a new car was on the Big Boss Torpedo blender/juicer. It cost him 80 bucks and looks like something from infomercial hell. But hey, if this is how Morgan chooses to treat himself, well then, at least it fits perfectly with his “Keep it simple” motto. Funny how when it comes to his skating though, Morgan does everything but simplify. Not unlike the Big Boss atop his counter, Morgan blends together a multitude of styles and consistently delivers the sort of freshly squeezed skateboarding that’s way more refreshing than all that other shit from concentrate. With his pro career just starting to take off and S.K.A.T.E challengers awaiting him all over the globe, what’s next and what’s best for Morgan probably changes as much as the cartridge in his N64. In the meantime, we have an essential list from a man whose no stranger to giving people letters.

SMOOTHIE

— Spinach, Banana, Blueberry, Avocado / Same but with almonds and hemp nuts

SONG

— Meek Mill - “Ima Boss” / Biggie - “Mo Money Mo Problems”

PARTY

— Whatever comes / Lazer Quest, 14th birthday

DREAM SPONSOR — Oxford fruit market / VISA

RAMP

— SkateLoft / Commonground

BOOK

— “Psycho-Cybernetics” (it’s gnar) / “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”

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ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI

MARIA MINERVA will happiness find me? (not not fun)

After a staggering four releases in 2011, Maria Minerva issues her first full-length release of 2012 via the always exciting and innovative Not Not Fun label. Right out of the gate Minerva shows us she’s been tinkering quite heavily with her sound. Opener “The Sound” utilizes a sped-up sample that sounds like it’s ripped from some long lost record found in a thrift store in Beijing. The hyped-up Asian strings pin down a track that prominently features a shimmering wall of Minerva’s vocals, the latter of which are the signature on Will Happiness Find Me? Heavy use of drum machines, hand claps, space synths and her echoed vocals re-imagine the excitement of disco, dub and early hiphop, though all three are twisted through Minerva’s highly inventive hypnagogic lens. Will Happiness Find Me? is for the mind as much as it is for the hips. —mark richardson

After years of toiling in the CD-R underground, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti issued one of the best pop records of the post-millennium era with Before Today. Now, with Mature Themes, Ariel takes the stoned-out glam of his previous album and brings out an even sharper pop edge, all without losing the oddball sensibilities that won him a small following prior to Before Today. Songs about schnitzel drive-thrus, nymphos at discotheques and pink slime, conjure up the bent sense of humour of Ween, though the relatively clean pop of the production grounds the album and makes it palatable to your average Pitchfork reader. Despite humour in music usually falling flat and having a limited shelf life, Ariel Pink gets away with it here by backing it up with a serious dedication to crafting a boisterous set of highly addictive songs.

There is a man that collects cans in my neighbourhood and I see him almost daily. Usually I give him all my empty beer and soda pop cans and we will chat for a minute before we both get on with our day. Little did I know that this man also has a secret career as a top international model. By day he disguises himself as a can collector (most likely to keep the girls and guys away), and by night he transforms into a fashionista and playboy, getting photographed at various high-end events. When Jann Arden had tea with the Prime Minister’s granddaughter on Halloween—he was there. When Wayne Gretzky went for a dip in Kalamalka Lake—he was there. When something is happening in this city, and the who’s who and the what’s what are going to be there, you can be assured he will be there. He makes an event a party, as you will see from the cover of the newest LP by Nü Sensae. —bobby lawn

SALLY DIGE

FLYING LOTUS until the quiet comes (warp)

—mark richardson

sundowning (suicide squeeze)

mature themes (4ad)

—mark richardson

Flying Lotus redefined what could be done inside the parameters of instrumental hip-hop, with his triumphant pair of LPs: Los Angeles and Cosmogramma. The L.A. native singlehandedly pushed the boombap of hip-hop into modern beat production and subsequently spawned a label based around that sound (Brainfeeder Records) as well as a trail of imitators. With his newest record and grandest statement to date, FlyLo has toned his normally frenetic and overloaded production down a few notches and veered his sound further towards the cosmic soul jazz of which he referenced only occasionally in past releases. Lush strings, piano tinkles, chimes and wind instruments litter the record, as well as a lot more female soul vocalists, both of which lend the record a nocturnal, laidback vibration. Of course, the backbone of Until the Quiet Comes is his signature wonked-out beats, though rather than spin circles around your skull like he’s known to do, he lays them out strategically, lulling you slowly into his unique soundworld.

NÜ SENSAE

KOBAN

immaculate deception/ doppelganger 7” (fabrika records) Vancouver B.C.’s Sally Jorgensen aka Sally Dige (pronounced dee-uh) released her first 7-inch record on Greece’s Fabrika records and it is a new wave/goth experience with the aesthetics pinpointed to a tee. You may remember Sally from other projects such as her band Petroleum By-Products, but unlike PBP, here Sally is the lone member focusing on her vocals riding over-top of minimalist 1980s-inspired drum beats and keyboards that sound like gentle robots applying lipstick and eyeliner to each other in the breeze of a cold winter’s afternoon. Both songs on this 7-inch are extremely catchy and will leave you humming them for hours, possibly years. “Doppleganger” has a nightmarish quality to it, almost as if a burn victim was singing it, yet it also leaves you with the taste of a Pepsi commercial in a wild, weird way. “Immaculate Deception” has a great synth line and a really good hook and Sally’s repetitious vocals really get smashed into your brain after a few seconds, if you have that kind of time. —bobby lawn

null (broadway to boundary)

Koban may very well be Vancouver’s best kept secret. For about three years now, the duo of Samuel Buss (guitar/vocals) and Brittany Westgarth (bass/vocals), have played every dingy bar across the city’s eastside, cultivating quite an audience along the way. A year and half after their debut 7-inch single, the duo issues their debut long player, with much thanks due to the community-minded, Vancouver-based Broadway To Boundary label. Across its 30-minute runtime, Null digs up the ghosts of Manchester’s post-punk past and hurtles them across the graveyard with an industrial-strength intensity. Buss’ high-pitched guitar squeals lead the charge alongside Britt’s relentlessly hypnotic bass lines, all of it backed up by their trusty rapid fire drum machine. Britt and Sam both trade off on vocal duties throughout Null, with Sam masking his deadpan spoken vocals in reverb and mild distortion while Britt alternates between a Kim Gordon-esque speak/sing and bluntly shouted vocals. The results are an exhilarating and addictive debut album from one of the city’s hidden treasures. —mark richardson

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U.S. GIRLS gem (fat cat)

Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger are actually engaged to be married, and I’m not sure who I am more disgusted for. When I was twenty, or twenty-one, I was at a bar with some friends and this big tall stupid looking dumbo came in wearing leather pants and he had a shitty goatee and permed hair. We kept making fun of him and saying “Way to try and look like Chad Kroeger,” and, “Nice rotting vagina goatee,” and then he got all pissy and tried giving us intimidating looks. Finally, he walked over to a group of people and started signing autographs, but making sure he is looking directly at us and we were like, “Dude, the only thing worse than looking like Chad Kroeger is actually being Chad Kroeger.” Years later I met Avril Lavigne at an art gallery in West Hollywood and she was in full on wastoid party mode. I am pretty sure she didn’t come for the art (although I can’t be sure, she does have that one video where she lights a flower on fire) and she was wearing a tutu… riiiight. Speaking of marriage Meghan Remy of U.S. Girls just got married and she released this album. You should get it. —justin gradin

PUFFY AREOLAS

TALK NORMAL

1982:dishonorable discharge (hozac)

This album starts by jumping off of a ladder and punching you directly in the pie-hole with a super fuzzed-out punk blast, “1982.” Quickly it hypnotizes you in your stunned state with the A Love Supreme-esque mantra of “Not Tonight.” This record is a beautiful mess of saxophones, 60s wah-wah guitar trips and total punk intensity: a freak-out demon-fest, a raging nun-stomper. “Dark Places” repeats the lines “I’ll take you to a dark place… you’ll take me to a…” amid a washed out psych-punk guitar riff on washing machine mode, layered with solos having Vietnam and acid flashbacks. The drums sound like they are being anally raped by a sea otter, which is the perfect feelgood jam of the decade. Side B starts with “Funk Your Head Up” and moves into “By The Hand” which is a fine demonstration of reverse garbage. The songs on this record are like when people experience drug psychoses and get locked into a memory that just repeats a million times over, slightly mutating each time, until they finally breakaway to that great banana in the sky.

sunshine (a joyful noise)

Following a 7-inch split record with old school noise wizard Thurston Moore (released on Nathan Howdeshell’s Fast Weapons) comes Sunshine—the second full-length record from N.Y.C.’s Talk Normal. The album starts with the military sadness of “Lone General,” and then quickly races into the jarring and fluttery, heart attack-y drums of “XO.” Dual vocals reign supreme throughout the album: sometimes melodic, sometimes in unison, sometimes back and forth and sometimes weird. There is a definite strangeness to this album in the best possible way. It sounds like postapocalyptic music, with two girls left playing in a destroyed field. It’s romantic doomsday music that creates desperate abandon, like vocal melodies layered overtop of a blanket of eyelids on top of a field of exposed bloodshot eyeballs harvesting wheat. Listening to this record kind of reminds me of when you are pinching the skin on your elbow and it doesn’t hurt so you keep pinching it as hard as you can, but you are actually damaging the nerves. —justin gradin

CLOUDFACE

HOLY OTHER

wyre drive (nice up int’l)

held (tri angle)

Hardly known outside of Vancouver, Cloudface (aka David Reynolds) has been performing his throwback brand of electronic music throughout the city, everywhere from late night warehouse parties to clandestine art spaces. A few years into his career and Cloudface is finally getting his debut release in the form of a cassette via the local Nice Up International imprint run by Konrad Jandavs of the well-regarded No UFOs. Well it looks like the years of perfecting his live craft have resulted in some top-notch craftsmanship that permeates Wyre Drive. Eight vignettes that run the gamut from the quirky synthesizer-kraut of “Meadow-Like” and the warbled bliss-out of “Babak’s House” all the way to the sinister Analord (Aphex Twin’s most recent moniker) mimicking of “Kenyon Way Acid.” While the tracks here work well as standalone pieces, Wyre Drive is connected throughout its 25-minute runtime through the vintage hardware gear (no laptops here!) that Reynolds also employs in his live set.

The anonymous Manchester-based producer Holy Other has delivered on the promise of the short string of singles he’s been slowly revealing since 2010. Much like the other upstarts on the fledgling Tri Angle Records, Holy Other dwells in the darker corners of contemporary beatmaking, which has been given the morose and silly genre tag of ‘witch house.’ Employing micro-sampled clips from R&B vocalists which are then slowed down to quarter speed, Holy Other backs them up with off-center beats and deep cuts of wallshaking bass, slowly building up a woozy web of glitched-out and eerie atmospherics. The results are akin to The Field’s work with micro sampling, though Holy Other takes an approach that has more to do with slipping into a cough syrup drenched nightmare rather than an MDMA-fueled warehouse party. Needless to say, Held is much more suitable for late nights spent alone with a decent pair of headphones rather than a night out on the town. —mark richardson

—mark richardson

—justin gradin

BLACK MARBLE

SSION

a different arrangement (hardly art)

Black Marble is a Brooklyn, N.Y. darkwave duo that like to tickle the frowning teeth of the synthetic ivories. With their newest release A Different Arrangement, the follow up to Weight Against The Door, we find ourselves plunged into atmospheric cages of danceable drum machine beats, hook driven bass-lines, sculptural synthesizer melody derived patterns, and one man’s vocals that are beautiful, unaggressive and inspired by reading the TV guide in the bathtub; all wrapped up in a tortilla made out of the nightmares of a baby centipede, and served cold. Fuck, I wanna eat at Burrito king so bad right now. This is the type of record I could see listening to while lying down on a bale of hay with my female cousin on a warm summer’s day and just going to bonkers town on this shitty life, for real dog. Are there any Goth farmers out there? I don’t know why but this record is sending a breeze through my hair like that Maxwell ad with that guy (Peter Murphy!) getting blasted with wind in his chair, except I am in a pickup truck going to the morgue in Saskatoon. Fall in love again, for the first time. —bobby lawn

SWANS

bent (dovecote records)

the seer (young god)

Cody Critcheloe and pals are back with another all night jizz-jam party full of gender bender, dance club, lightly-salted punk biscuit, homosexual, wheelchair-friendly desire, deep inside the dark depths of one gentleman’s cave. Cody himself kind of reminds me of an even gayer Prince, or maybe an even less gay Prince (I’m not sure which), battling it out for the space inside the aesthetics portion of Humpty Hump’s mind. I don’t know if this guy ever got busy in a Burger King bathroom, but certain songs like, “My Love Grows In The Dark” make me want a hamburger dipped in toilet water on Whopper Wednesday. In all seriousness though, this is a great album for having a good ol’ fashion rug-cutting jamboree, and is even compatible for having sexual intercourse with something, or someone, inside of the refinements of a single tear’s glass jail. There was also a free download of this glam-pop-house EP available in the webisphere, making this album just like the wind, just like the water, and just like death—something that happens sometimes.

Okay, Okay, I know that this came out at the very end of August, but you know what? We had to cut a Swans album in the past, and I just can’t bear to do it again. Also, because this double CD set is just something that can’t be ignored. Swans are producing blissful enlightenments and epic songs that just seem so evil. The Swans have been re-activated since 2010, and on this album have come back with some guest musicians. The opening track, “Lunacy” comes with added co-vocals by Al and Mimi of Low, and the second disc starts off with “Song For A Warrior” and lead vocals sung by the YeahYeahYeah’s Karen O. Still, most songs are chock-full of Michael Gira’s intimidating anger and hypnotic mind-melt of repetition. And if people don’t think kids have attention spans these days, they will love that the fourth song and title track “The Seer” clocks in at lightening quick 32:14. The songs are long and are like being sucked into another dimension of artful, swirling chaotic noise-rock, where drugs don’t fuck you, but force the cement to give you a hand-job.

—bobby lawn

—justin gradin

THE SOUPCANS

good feelings (telephone explosion)

I was lucky enough to be on tour at the same time as Toronto punks The Soupcans, and ended up playing Halifax, Nova Scotia’s Obey convention, as well as a few other shows with them. Then, on our way back West, we met up again in Quebec City playing another show with these guys and we ended up at a party at this girl Manuella’s house. We all stayed up really late, except for their drummer Gideon. He was all tuckered out, or at least I thought he was. We were dipping into the deep morning and we all scrambled for a spot to crash, so I peeked in one room and there was lots of space—just Gideon on the floor at the end of the bed and one person in the bed. I crashed on the floor in the middle of the room and kept waking up to Gideon staring out the window, or just standing in the room looking at nothing. It was very hard to relax with a man just standing in his underwear and a tank-top in the middle of a dimly lit room with another person sleeping. I asked him if he was okay, and he said. “Yeah, I’m fine. I can’t sleep.” Good feelings. —justin gradin

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vol. 10 no. 4

ONLY THE YOUNG

SECONDHAND STOKE

Only the Young delivers a beautiful elegy to that one summer, when your arms were just a space for theme park wristbands and friendship bracelets, when you couldn’t turn down a double dare and when you were too young to work, but getting too old to play. The film introduces us to Kevin and Garrison, best friends, skateboarders and even better tech deckers, growing up in Canyon County, California. The arid landscape offers nothing to do, but everywhere for them to do it. They fill their days exploring abandoned mini-putt courses, building ramps and discovering those things called girls, particularly their vivacious friend Skye. Through the tender smiles and awkward frowns of these teens, we are invited to revisit an instantly familiar past, that at the time we couldn’t wait to escape. Oozing sentimentality through late night pool hops, last chances and first kisses, the film documents how doing nothing really meant everything; its delicate sensibilities reminding us of the best and worst of our formative years. If watching an old skate video has ever made you ache for the sessions of yesterdays, then Only the Young will make you yearn for everything that happened in between those moments, leaving you solemnly pondering, “When was the last time someone pushed me around in a shopping cart?” —aidan johnston

Rising from the ashes of post-millennium industry oddities, Roger has solidified themselves as the “funny-funny, ha-ha” company that we all needed. Secondhand Stoke presents us with a non-energy drink associated company ran by skateboarders doing what they do best; having fun! Tim and Eric had my brain throbbing with their, “hhihfig” maneuvers while “My Friend” Brandon made every wall in his path scream like Freddy Mercury circa 1976 Hype Park. As Cesar Fernandez overflowed the screen with buttery Canadian maple ecstasy, New York’s Bill Pierce tight-roped his way into my heart with his gentlemanly balance. Max Taylor and Ryan Holloway laughed in the face of dormant California spots and shed light on what the rest of the country has to offer with unabashed bloody slaughter. Nate Broussard makes this past generation say “Donger? Donger who?” while Nate Lacoste seals the deal with a “welcome to the professional circuit” part worthy of international applause the world over. —noel sinclair boyt

elizabeth mims & jason tippet

mike aho (roger skateboards)

Bake and Destroy (baker skateboards)

On the night of the Bake and Destroy premiere in L.A, all the homies gathered up at Dolin’s first and then pooled over to El Compadre for margaritas and grub before the show. I wore high heels and custom painted nails—once a groupie, always a groupie. Come 7pm, it was madness out front of the Vine Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. Hundreds of kids from all over the city had been gathering since early morning. I finished my beer at the bar next-door and headed outside as soon as I saw the party bus arrive with the piss drunk team including Figgy, Nuge, Reynolds et al. But it was too late. I could have pushed into the mob, but I was actually happy to watch from a distance as I got to witness the extent of these guys’ popularity and what followed. When the cops actually bombed in, the swarm of skaters was absolutely surreal! Thank god for the sneak peek of footie I’d seen at Nuge’s house a few weeks back or I wouldn’t have known that the video was actually worth getting tripped over for. I’m just gonna say, these guys are Gs, but you already know that.

SERENITY NOW cory mcneil

I knew nothing about this Calgary homie video when Tyler Warren asked us to premiere it at Lazy Tuesday in Vancouver, but apparently the thirsty Albertans did, because the bar filled up fast, and once Serenity Now hit the screens, it was nothing but trap music, spilled beer and good times. This Seinfeldthemed, trapped-out video comes correct from beginning to end with a great mix of OG Canadian spots and a few S.F./California gems. From Kevin Lowry’s flawless street skating to Riley Boland’s signature tranny skills, this video has something for every skate fan. The most impressive part about Canadian videos though, as we all know, is how gnarly the spots are up here. We don’t have the pleasure of perfectly manicured spots, so you can imagine how challenging it must be to film a video like this. That is why my tallboy is cracked and my hat is off to these boys for putting together such a ripping video. —jorden murray

—vivianne lapointe

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vol. 10 no. 4

Warning: Much of this material would make us uncomfortable talking about in front of our own mothers and does not necessarily reflect the views of this magazine.

—

Craig Questions wordsby fos

photosby gordon nicholas

met Craig at the premiere of the Heroin video Live From Antarctica in 2005 and have wanted to strangle him ever since. He’s the only person that I know who can talk through an entire Slayer concert, asking me stupid questions and ruining the whole show. He’s been the bane of my life, but a total inspiration at the same time. His enthusiasm for skateboarding is matched only by his knowledge of 80s pro skaters that most people have forgotten about. Brad Baxter, Mike Folmer, Jesse Martinez and Tim Jackson are his idols, and the funny thing is, he wasn’t even born in the 80s, he was born in 1990. While staying in Long Beach this past fall, he managed to get himself thrown out of every single bar there and on his two month trip around North America and Canada, he’s had too many adventures, skated so many spots, insulted or charmed too many girls and caused too much damage to property for me to even begin to explain. He’s a genuine wild man, a force of nature, a true character— skateboarding needs more characters like him. I still want to strangle him though, the gypo.

Color: How come you’re only 22 but you’re obsessed with the 80s? Craig Questions: The first video I saw was Propaganda, which is from the 90s and I thought that was rad, and I had some 411 and they were okay, but there was a time when I was… my dad was dying of cancer and I was really pissed off and fighting at school all the time, and I started listening to punk and TSOL and stuff and it seemed to go hand in hand. I watched Speed Freaks and I was blown away, everything about those old videos—the skating, the soundtrack, the tricks—it was so rad. What’s wrong with skateboarding nowadays? Oh God, where do I start? Rob Fucking Dyrdek, or whatever he’s called. Skateboarding is lost, it seems like it’s totally lost its soul and its edge and there’s no integrity or intensity in it anymore. You have all this dog shit street league and energy drink sponsors, it fucking bums me out, I hate it. I think it’s rad when you get characters like Andy Roy ‘cause they’re so horrible, and Jay Adams, it keeps the intensity in skateboarding. Everyone is such a sponsor rat, you go and skate a spot and you wanna do a trick on it all these kids are like, “This guy already did this.” Well who gives a fuck? Childress once said “Not in 126 colORMAGAZINE.CA

this body,” which is rad. When you’re 14, you skate a carpark and you try and do whatever you can on a skateboard, then you get to 19 and you realize how shit it all is and that half the people in skateboarding don’t even skate. If you’re really stoked on it though I think good things will come out of it. How is it being sponsored? Well I never skated to get sponsored, I was just lucky to get sponsored. If all my sponsors kicked me off tomorrow I’d still be exactly the same. Let’s talk about art school. You just graduated from Camberwell in London? Yeah, I’ve always drawn my whole life and I wanted to go to art school ‘cause I don’t think I’m gonna ever do anything else with my life. I thought I’ll go to art school it’ll be rad, all the kids there will be super enthusiastic to draw and stuff, and I get there and it’s full of idiot kids who just wanna do drugs and fuck about. It’s what you make of it though. I talked to loads of pretty girls and got to live in London.

Tell me about the interview for art school. I had to drop my portfolio off and go back at 3:00 and pick it up and there was this girl doing the same thing, so I said, “Hey let’s go and hang out,” and she said, “Okay,” so we walked around this park, and I ended up kissing her, then I said, “Hey, do you wanna have sex?” and she was like “Okay,” so I ended up fucking her in the back of this church, in the graveyard. I got mud all over my trousers and had to have my interview and I wanted to tell ‘em so much that I just fucked this girl. I didn’t though. I ended up getting in, so did she, but just for a month and she quit, I can’t even remember her name.

amazing, everyone there was rad. I keep thinking about that girl I met.

Why are you in America? I just finished art school, and I’d been drinking quite a lot, it was bad, We had two and a half months of rain, no joke, I didn’t step foot on a skateboard for months. I felt like I wanted to kill myself. I had some savings, so I just needed a change of scenery, so I wanted to come and visit you as well. We went to Canada, which was

Idiot. We got thrown out of a bar in Arizona, this kid cheap-shotted me, so I bit his earlobe well hard, there were like ten kids trying to fight us, and I was like “Come on, let’s have it,” and the security grabbed me and threw me out.

“I got mud all over my trousers… I wanted to tell ‘em so much that I just fucked this girl.”

The one you threw a drink on? No, her mate, the little blonde one. How else has your trip been? We’ve been getting thrown out of all these places and pissing loads of people off. Don’t get pissed off with me, well you won’t, but I threw a road sign through a department store window. It was massive, I swung it round and went “Wheee” and it went through this window. I’m not joking, the window was massive. I didn’t mean to smash it, I was just messing around.

Who’ve you met on your trip? I was stoked I got to meet Andy Roy in S.F., he was really cool, we went to DLX and he sorted us out with some stuff, we were supposed to meet Jason Jessee but we didn’t and I was kinda heartbroken, but maybe it’s for the best.

Wall Plant. colORMAGAZINE.CA

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no. 4

—

Jamie Collins

1979-2012

photosby matt macleod

his past year, Vancouver Island lost a skateboard legend when Jamie Collins passed away in an unexpected cliff-jumping accident. At the time of this tragedy, we had been working on a big unveiling of a top secret project: a homemade concrete quarter-pipe he’d built deep in the Tofino rainforest, to be published in this same spot of the issue. Jamie had been out at his top secret project shooting photos, trying to capture all the best angles, for both this article and his pro Instrumental Skateboards video part, but he wanted it to be perfect and planned a Labour Day return to shoot more ambitious tricks before this issue went to print. Little did any of us know that these would be last images of Jamie skateboarding on Earth.

“I felt like I was about to embark on an Indiana Jones adventure.”

128 colORMAGAZINE.CA

The whole story started with a grainy cell phone photo Jamie held up in front of Brandon Wells’ face; the two of them alone on a porch outside a party, having a smoke, drinking a Lucky lager. “I asked him what the hell I was supposed to be looking at,” said Wells. “He just sat there staring at me with a big smile on his face.” The photo showed a stack of used building materials and nothing else. He explained to Wells his idea for an epic quarter-pipe and said it just needed the perfect spot. Jamie pulled the same cheeky move at least two more times in the two years that followed: once with Matt Macleod and once with Jason Picton; each time over a smoke, or a Lucky, or both. “I’m going to show you guys what I have been working on because you’re family,” Jamie would say. “Only a couple people know and it doesn’t leave this circle until it’s done.” Picton recalls his first trip out to see the spot: “We did a ‘day in the life’ style interview. I filmed Jamie talking about the whole process of building his spot: landscaping the site, the cement bricks he made, the patio stones he’d lugged out for the flat bottom, rain collecting barrels, how he packed the sand up from the river in buckets.” Jamie also carried in forms for the concrete pours, 100 bags of concrete and rebar. All of this under the watchful eye of his loyal pup Paxton. One day, Matt Macleod finally received his phone call from Jamie saying that he had put the finishing touches on the spot and wanted to organize a skate mission. “I felt like I was about to embark on an Indiana Jones adventure,” Macleod remembers, “to find lost ruins.” To get there, Matt, Jamie

and Jason drove 20 minutes down a logging road, then switched to walking and crossed a huge fallen tree that acted as a natural bridge over a river. After the tree, Jamie guided them into the dark forest, with no trail, until they finally arrived. “It was more than surreal,” says Mcleod. “I was instantly in awe that Jamie had made something so amazing.” Jamie had already decided that this would be how he opened his Instrumental video part, with tricks on his masterpiece. “His focus, hunger and determination to put out a video part that people would take notice of had never been higher,” remembers Wells. But weather conditions that day were too soggy. Treating it as a practice run, before they lugged the HD cameras and dollies out, Jamie threw down a few basic tricks, like the one you see before you on this page. They all made an agreement to return and Jamie made a fat list of tricks he was going to do. But time went by, and people were busy, and the bugs were bad… then, just before Labour Day weekend, when they had finally decided to shoot… Jamie passed away. “I know he is reading this in heaven and smiling,” Matt offers, “but at the same time I know he’s a bit unsatisfied because of all the tricks he never was able to land.” Jamie’s passing has been very tough for everyone who knew him, made even more sad that he never got to see this project through to his pro part. “It makes you think about all the time you just let go, and how we all put things on the back burner, waiting for that ultimate ideal time to get things done,” said Picton. “Seize the day and live your life. Jamie liked things that way and he left behind an iconic spot and a legacy that won’t be forgotten.” A true Vancouver Island legend.

(above) Jamie Collins, 360 Flip.

See photos and video from the Instrumental team’s blindfolded mission to the spot at colormagazine.ca colORMAGAZINE.CA

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vol. 10 no. 4

Find your slappy place with videos from Olio Festival at Colormagazine.ca

—

Slappy Days / Rampisocial

t’s pretty hard to be Antisocial when you’ve got a mini ramp in the alley behind your shop. Daily sessions, nightly beers and even lessons for the kiddies made for some chilling times this Fall during Olio Festival. Meanwhile, down at Slappy Days the wheels were getting smaller and the pants were getting bigger during a flash mob 90s jam at The Yellow Mile. photosby gordon nicholas & stacey matthews

Louis Feller & Mikey Leblanc

Matt Soder & Morgan Hystad

Rhianon Bader

Chris Haslam, GeorgeFaulkner & Rob Rickaby

Olivier Barjolle & Cole Nowicki

Brett Gifford - Slappy blunt

Daniel Pitout

Mike Strato

Adam Richter & AJ McCallister

Kevin Greisch

Andrew Pommier & Danny Marshall

130 colORMAGAZINE.CA

Kevin Kelly 1st annual SLAPPY DAYS

Doubles Drop-in

Joe Buffalo

Colin Nogue

vol. 10 no. 4

n underwater dream sequence, some gangsta-ass island flavour and a prison break at The Plaza made for an epic 12HR Film Festival. Crowds at the live premiere were treated to four amazing entries with no shortage of NBDs and steez. Spreading the Olio love further south, Chuck Bailey Youth Park in Surrey became the site of its own Ledge-N-Dairy contest. Free ice cream meets cold hard cash—Blammo—the birth of a new format.

Watch the prison break, the underwater dream, the hesh sesh and the hustlers at Vimeo/colortv

12HR Film Competition/ Ledge-n-Dairy —

Olio Festival, 2012

‘Another Day In The Yard’ stars (l-r) Ian Twa, Dane Collison, Cameo Wilson, Matt Berger, Derek Swaim, Spencer Hamilton, Chad Dickson accept their award for First Place at Olio Festival’s 12HR FILM COMPETITION

Jamie Maley

Desmond Hoostie & Paul Trep

Nickey Rue, Will Blakely & Taylor Senft

Bryan Wherry

Ace Sugimoto

Adam Hopkins

Dustin Locke & Jeff Kent

Rose Archie & Cory Wilson

Hashbrown

Micky Papa

LEDGE-N-DAIRY inaugural contest winner Jorden Murray

colORMAGAZINE.CA

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no. 4

[ o ] PATTERSON

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