Volume 7, Number 3 by Color Magazine

a skateboard culture special edition.

a skateboard kulture quarterly.

— Vincent Alvarez Jamie Tancowny Antoine Asselin Spencer Hamilton Sammy Bacca Robbie Russo Hugo Balek Bradley Sheppard Alex Olson Andrew McGraw Porous Walker Juliana Neufeld Hilary Pecis

— Tim Gavin Jamie Thomas Eric Mercier Chany Jeanguenin Erik Ellington Mark Gonzales Brian Lotti Elissa Steamer Heath Kirchart Barry Walsh Matt Irving Andrew Pommier Mike Blabac

$7.99 CND/USD

— Assume Vivid Astro Focus — Tiltmode Army

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BLABAC PHOTO.

WELCOME RACE FANS

SEE NICKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FOOTAGE AT DCSKATEBOARDING.TV

[ o ] GABERMAN

SANDRO GRISON

co-founder / creative director

DYLAN DOUBT

photo / guest editor

JENNIFER MACLEOD

circulation / editorial manager

DAVID KO

graphic design

PHIL YAMADA

guest typographer

NICHOLAS BROWN arts editor

SAELAN TWERDY music editor

MILA FRANOVIC fashion editor

RHIANON BADER copy editing

GORDON NICHOLAS senior photographer

SENIOR WRITERS mike christie jay revelle

PRE PRESS

joel dufresne

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

aaron joseph, atiba jefferson, ben colen, ben hlavacek, brennan conroy, brian caissie, brian gaberman, bryce kanights, corey arnold, david broach, gabe morford, geoff clifford, graham x peat, jai tanju, jeff landi, jessica bard, jody morris, jon coulthard, jordan mayfield, kasey andrews, keith henry, kyle camarillo, kynan tait, matt daughters, mike blabac, mikendo stanfield, pepe torres, rhino, rick tetz, rob nurmi, robert pilichowski, scott serfas, t.j. watt, tobin yelland, wes tonesia,

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

caleb beyers, chany jeanguenin, eric mercier, erik ellington, expendable youth, jamie thomas, jason grimmer, jeff thorburn, jenny charlesworth, katina danabassis, leah turner, mark e. rich, quinn omori, rick howard, rj basinillo, sam mckinlay, scott lyon, tim gavin

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

BEN TOUR illustration

aye jay, caleb beyers, ed spence, hilary pecis, niall mcclelland, phil yamada, rodger bridges, scott malin

INTERNS

ADVERTISING

jonah trople toban ralston

CHRIS BARIL

web www.colormagazine.ca

craig rosvold crosvold@colormagazine.ca hilary kaye hkaye@colormagazine.ca 604 873 6699

newstands: disticor.com | magamall.com

ISSN 1920-0412 Publications mail agreement No. 40843627 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: fourcornerpublishinginc. 321 RAILWAY STREET, #105 VANCOUVER, BC V6A 1A4 CANADA

Few have done as much for the art of skateboarding as Mr. Mark Gonzales. The crown prince, we thank you.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed here are not neccessarily shared by fourcorner publishing inc. or Color Magazine, but by the author credited. Color Magazine reserves the right to make mistakes and will do so on a bi-monthly cycle without liability. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form [print or electronic] without permission from the publisher. The publisher of Color Magazine is not responsible for errors or omissions printed and retains the right to edit all copy. The opinions expressed in the content of this magazine do not necessarily reflect the views of Color Magazine. Color Magazine reserves the right to accept or reject any advertising matter which may reflect negatively on the integrity of the magazine. Color welcomes submissions for photo and editorial content, but is not responsible for unsolicited material or liable for any lost and/or damaged material. Please provide a return envelope with postage with your submissions or email submissions@colormagazine.ca for more information. Color Magazine is published by fourcorner publishing inc., printed six times yearly and distributed direct to retailers throughout Canada and to newstands by Disticor Distribution. Subscriptions can may be ordered individually or in bulk by retailers for resale. Subscribe: 6 issues for $39.99 in Canada, $59.99 CND in the United States, $89.99 CND for all other countries. Contact us at 604 873 6699, subscribe@colormagazine.ca with any subscription inquiries or visit us online. Printed in Canada

hen you have spent as much time as we have with something that you care so much about it’s hard to not reminisce about the “good old days,” and harder still to keep that sentimentality out of the magazine. So, we have decided to get it all out in one go. A special future/past, “next/best” issue that commemorates some of our favourite aspects of skateboarding’s past paired with what we believe is good about skating today, and where we see it (or hope to see it) going in the future. A perfect juxtaposition of what we liked, like, and where we would like to see it heading.

along with the best images currently being captured. The future is a tough one. All we can do is close our eyes and cross our fingers. Being optimists, we chose to focus on five skateboarders who we hope will keep skateboarding going in a direction that we will be proud of, and who better to interview them than the iconic figures who have helped to make skateboarding today what it is?

Covering the past is easy. We featured Mississippi records, who are doing a hell of a job releasing obscure and out of print jams. We also visit an interesting time in skateboarding as documented by the defunct magazine Poweredge, and catch up with the Tiltmode Army to reminisce on times past and their present video, Bonus Round. In the pages of our Fotofeature, you will find a nice mix of photos from the vaults

Someone recently pointed out to me that, like fine wine, nostalgia only gets better with age. Come to think of it, one can make some pretty elaborate plans when a few glasses deep. Pour yourself a tall one, maybe even keep the bottle handy (pot if you’re a coffee drinker). Reminisce and dream with us, ‘cause baby, this is one day that we will never have back.

Peppered throughout the issue you will find a series of “next/ bests”, this year’s new regular column that inspired the theme of this issue. For this we turned to some of our favourite skateboarders, artists and industry visionaries.

— It Ain’t What It Used To Be

dylan doubt, photo/guest editor

COLORMAGAZINE.CA

Danny Garcia. Backside tailslide kickflip out. Photo: Atiba. See Dannyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new shoe, the Edward, at esfootwear.com timebombtrading.com stickers@timebomb.bc.ca

SEE THE ENTIRE SCOTT DECENZO INTERVIEW AT C1RCA.COM/DIALOG

NOLLIE FRONTSIDE CROOKED GRIND. DENVER, CO - circa 2009. PHOTO: BROACH

volume 7

[ o ] BARD

issue 3

TRIVIAL PURSUIT

Five Legends Test the Five Icons of Tomorrow Erik Ellington phoned Sammy Baca, Chany Jeanguenin grilled Spencer Hamilton, Eric Mercier connected with Antoine Asseline, Tim Gavin schooled Vincent Alvarez, and Jamie Thomas played interpreter for Jamie Tancowny as these skate legends acted as quiz masters to the younger generation.

Notables weigh in on the best of the past and predict what the future holds. intros by Jay Revelle

32 45

Brad Sheppard / Elissa steamer 100% Skateboarding, consistancey and the premptive abilities to keep skateboarding pure.

alex olson, ryan smith / heath kirchart All legends in their own right, somehow these three guys belong together.

[ o ] MORFORD

A perfect picture of the future: Robbie Russo breaks through the crowd of legends such as Julian Stranger, Mike Carroll and even Sean Malto. Forging forward, stoking us on what is yet to come.

JULIANA NEUFELD

74 Fotofeature

114 THE Tiltmode Army

Element advocate and Toronto based illustrator.

This crew is not that different from your own. They rage, they skate, and they fight like brothers. Color’s Jeff Thorburn caught up with them on the last legs of filming for their new release “Bonus Round”.

[ o ] CAMARILLO

110 porous walker / matt irving / mic-e reyes Three SF locs who know what’s up when it comes to skating, art, and just having a great outlook on life in general.

112 mike blabac Dating back to the Mad Circle days, the So-Cal based, DC Shoes staff photographer has witnessed and documented history. His new book “Blabac Photo” is a testament to this with photos from the past 20 years.

126 Montreal hugo balek/ barry walsh staples give it to you straight.

106

skate AND Deploy

127 Cut andrew pommier / andrew w.k. from a similar cloth, these artists/

42 Gallery

COVER 7.3 by Rob Nurmi Al “Big Bird” Harrison gets inverted at Kevin Harris’ backyard ramp c.1979. Photographer Rob Nurmi recalls, “We built this huge half pipe out of ‘acquired’ lumber and such, from the new homes being built across the street. I can’t remember where the coping came from, but we had lights, and sound built in, it was a ton o’ fun. Al was one of the older skaters back in the day, and had a very, very cool style. I would have liked him more if he had not stolen my frickin’ sun glasses...[laughs].” This is one of several gems we found digging through his archives. Incidently, Al can also be found eating a fudgcicle on page 88.

[ o ] DOUBT

Andrews always have a fresh perspective.

It was a rough and raw contest in the Whistler underground parking lot that saw an 80s Volvo station wagon getting shredded to the point of demolition. by Caleb Beyers

122 Xerox to The Edge: How the Arts Permeated Mainstream Skateboarding From the time his parents brought home his first copy of Poweredge, writer Sam McKinlay became hooked on what would become one of the biggest influences on skateboarding culture and the world beyond.

colORMAGAZINE.CA

volume 7

issue 3

Columns: 08 30 34 38 50

fashion

Reinvented brights from the past and slick, clean goods for the future.

76 142 147 150 152 160

FOTOFEATURE SOUND CHEQUE TRAILER LAST NITE CONTRIBUTORS over ‘N out

130 Quantum Tapestry A time traveler is transported

[ o ] NICHOLAS / ART BY HILARY PECIS

53 Product Toss Then, Now, and Always...

INTRO/credits INSPIRATION BOUND ANTHRAX RGB contest

through a portal and into another body-duplicating dimension. by Gordon Nicholas with art by Hilary Pecis

arts

96 The Art of… Nate Larson

Ever wonder what kind of aura a twinkie might possess? Nate Larson captures objects’ electrical fields using the Kirlian technique and illuminates what is invisible. by Nicholas Brown

97 Show Nomads

The National Gallery of Canada presents a group exhibit of five Vancouver artists whose work brings West Coast transience to the rest of the country. by Nicholas Brown

99 avaf Assume Vivid Astro Focus

This anonymous art collective creates installations that are a multi-sensory experience incorporating music, performance, sculpture, prints, photos and more into their crowd-embracing shows. by Leah Turner

image courtesy Eric Isaacson.

149 Artisan Ben Hlavacek

Ben Hlavacek is a photographer who heavily manipulates his shots to add an additional aesthetic to his work. This time it’s Sean Malto that gets the treatment.

lifestyle

Vancouver

[ o ] MORFORD

90 City Rick Howard’s Vancouver

90 Rick Howard’s

138 Mississippi Records

Photos by Gordon Nicholas.

136 Faces ‘n Spaces with the OGs of Facebook.com

The war going on behind the scenes of social networking giant Facebook is anything but friendly. by Caleb Beyers

music

48 Through Darkness at Half Tempo 145 BRINGING THE WORLD TO THE WORLD Hyperdub Leads the Way Forward Buraka Som Sistema’s Global Dancefloor Dialogue Kode9’s label has brought dubstep to the forefront of the UK dance scene, but now as the music outgrows its previous definition the DJ and producer is bringing the genre into the future. by RJ Basanio illustration by Aye Jay

128 The New Supply and Demand Sacred Bones is Selling Out (of Records)

The vinyl renaissance has brought about a new appreciation for the limited edition, hand pressed records this label lovingly produces. words by Jason Grimmer illustration by Niall Mcclelland

Presenting floor-shaking, crowd-hyping live shows, this group is the perfect ambassador to bring their interpretation of kuduro to the world. by Michael Barrow

158 Thee Peanut Butter Lovin’ Oh Sees Bring the Heat

Demented psychedelic rock and grilled sandwiches seem to go hand-in-hand for this band. by Jenny Charlesworth

Please recycle this magazine.

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SSS ?DK?KH=PAOG=PA>K=N@O ?KI SSS OQLN=@EOPNE>QPEKJ ?KI

volume 7 issue 3 [ o ] DOUBT

esCape

— Some kind of adventure / Surfing

fad

— Facemask headbanging symbols / Ugg boots

TRICK

— Benihana noseblunt slide / Powerslides

— Who cares / Tancowny

pro

— Keegan / Brian Anderson, Frank Gerwer

purchase

— Wetsuit / Tempurpedic bed

band

— Me, Rob Welsh, and Duffy / Slayer

GET AWAY

elissa steamer

[ o ] NICHOLAS

— Steamer paved the way for a whole industry of female-oriented skateboarding; being the first to bring it to the streets rollin’ with the embryos of Baker Skateboards: the Huntington Beach Warner mob. One can also play her character in the first five versions of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater—she was the first female skater to be included in the series. A Next/Best wouldn’t be complete without her refreshing perspective.

meal

— Del Taco / Pizza

album

— Power ballads / Pink Floyd - The Wall

city

— Ventura / San Francisco

cuisine

— Fast food Mexican / Most things edible

GADGET

— Step up my phone game / Skateboard

HABIT

VIDEO PART

USEFUL ACCESSORY

GREEN INITIATIVE

URL

— Some radness / Nicotine patch

— Heavy metal powered canoes / Solar electricity

— surfline.com / surfline.com

TRIP

PURCHASE

— Still Trippin’ / Straight Trippin’

— Toyota van with an ice box / Board Kennel Skateshop

FAD

BAND

— Smoking / Egos

— Garageband / Led Zepplin

BOOK

PARK

— Facebook / The Alchemist

— Old Langley park / White Rock Bowl

TRICK

FILMER/DIRECTOR

HOBBY

PHOTOGRAPHER

DRINK

CITY

— Skateboarding / Building car models

— Having been described as a guy who “lives skateboarding 24/7”, Mr. Sheppard is no stranger to the pages of Color. Aside from being our good friend, one first look at Brad’s skating will tell you: he’s a “skater’s” skater—no bones about it. It’s all skateboarding, just the way it should be.

director

— Sully / The Chief

— Motorcycle / Alcoholic torture

— Ollie north / 360 ollie north

BRAD SHEPPARD

MOVIE

— Don’t know yet / Fletch

— I’m away now, Encinitas / Encinitas works

— Strangeworld / Ray Barbee - Public Domain

lifestyle

— Me / Jon West

— Me / Dylan Doubt

— Coffee / Beer

— Montreal / Tokyo

PIZZA

GET-AWAY

— Taco / Perogie

— A nest in trees (alone) / Anywhere but here (alone)

VIDEO PART

— Alien / Alien

— Torey Goodall - Babysteps / Anti-Hero in B&B Tour video

PRO

GRAPHIC

— Jake Johnson / Jon Rattray

— Enjoi deck - Red Festiva / I’m Soo Gay - Consolidated

MEAL

ALBUM

— Big breakfast / Mom’s meals

— Highway 61 / Lennon - acoustic

colORMAGAZINE.CA

M A T T

C O S T A

-53)#)!. s 3/.'72)4%2 s #/-0/3%2 UNFAMILIAR FACES !6!),!",% ./7

T H E

B A L A N C E

O F

O P P O S I T E S

2 6 # ! # / - s 4 ) - % " / - " 4 2 ! $ ) . ' # / 34)#+%23

4)-%"/-" "# #!

timebombtrading.com stickers@timebomb.bc.ca

Introducing the new Reynolds Cruisers

Designed by Andrew for total shred �ing or just cruising, the new Reynolds Cruisers not only lo�k ste�zy, they feature a full length System ™ G2 foot-bed for unparal�eled protection and comf ort!

Emericaskate.com/cruisers

Fakie heel

bound

reviews

The Summer Book

BLACKBIRDS!

tove jansson (schocken books)

kidge wurdak and kurt müller (tallis press ltd)

Tove Jansson, who was born in 1914 and died in 2001, is well-known for the series of Moomin books that she wrote for children, in which a family of genial Finnish “moomintrolls” go on adventures and survive numerous catastrophes by virtue of their relaxed and philosophical nature. They’re remarkably unsentimental books that express, at bottom, a very Scandinavian existentialism that is at home with things like death and the unfathomability of the universe, despite a general tone of carefree whimsy. Jansson also wrote ten novels for adults, which are unfortunately less known and more difficult to find, despite being every bit as good. The Summer Book, written in 1972, tells the story of a six-year-old named Sophia and her aging grandmother as they spend a series of summers (as Jansson did herself) on a remote Finnish island that only takes four minutes to walk around. Despite the jacket praise that suggests it’s a light and easy beach read, it’s extremely bittersweet and, though not heavy, it’s certainly very deep, full of simple, loaded sentences that seem to know a great deal without giving too much away. It’s out of print in most of its English pressings, but if you look hard, you can find it. —saelan twerdy

Cuba 2009: the marlene marino purple book

THE SKATEBOARDER’S BIBLE

Marlene Marino has mixed her mother’s old photos and her own new photos of Cuba for this special mini-publication. It’s hard to discern which of the black and white images were taken in the 50s and which were taken within the last two years and that is the magic of Cuba. Because of the American trade embargo the people, architecture, and culture have changed very little, but a time of change is most definitely upon them now. If you want to experience the Cuba portrayed in these pages then pack your bag, get on a plane and head to this tropical island right now.

There is so much good content in this sucker that I don’t know where to start. There is a brief history of skateboarding, mentioning “The Great Skateboarding Depression” of the late 1960s and early 70s, trick tips for hot moves like “space walking,” “hawaiing dancing” and the “foot stomp dismount,” and a form with how to score a contest. For me the ultimate highlight is the glossary. I’ll share some standouts...

—jennifer macleod

Body Cranking: Twisting one’s arms and torso back and forth and up and down while in motion to increase speed.

(purple fashion magazine & studio zero)

Blackbirds! is a collection of black and white photographs of black women in the 1960s. Falling under the genre of erotica, Blackbirds! celebrates the black female form as an exotic, rare species. Telling captions permeate the pages as a narrative that explains the energy of each woman. With undertones of the malevoyeuristic-gaze, this book may not be for second-wave feminists but has a place within more modern ideals, such as: “black is beautiful.” The introduction by Dr. Berthe Slozek is engaging. Blackbirds! is an odd book that will go along well with some other rare birds. —katina danabassis

marlenemarino.com

Chew It: To fall badly while skateboarding. Go for it: To try very hard to perform a trick well or to go very fast, possibly taking risks. Kick Ramp: A short steep ramp used to give slalom and freestyle contestants a quick start onto a flat surface or to provide a banked surface for sharp turns. Hot Dogging: Having fun on a skateboard, usually doing tricks. Radical: Terrain or skateboarding action that is difficult or fast, often necessitating extreme riding postures.

THIS IS NOT TO BE LOOKED AT (self published)

I met Kink Magazine in the photo pit of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs show at Coachella. As I placed my 7.1 Color issue down so I could pull out my disposable camera a very kind Costa Rican man eagerly proceeded to tell me how he loves Color and that he himself has a skateboard, art, lifestyle, fashion magazine called Kink. At their 11th issue, Kink is stacked front-to-back with good content, fashion stories, artist features, skate photos, and fashion/music coverage. Not to mention how obviously fun working on a magazine in Costa Rica would be. Oh and it’s in Spanish, muy bien! —mila franovic revistakink.com

Wobblies: An intense vibration of the skateboard usually occurring while going fast; “the wobs.”

ann goldstein, paul schimmel, rebecca morse (distributed art publishers)

Aldous Huxley

This Is Not To Be Looked At seems an odd name for a book of art. Highlighting some of the permanent works at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, artists like Diane Arbus and Andy Warhol (plus everyone else in between) grace the pages of this plush-grey hardcover coffee table book. Great as a gift or even just a dummy’s guide to contemporary art, each page contains a blurb about the artist and photos of the selected works, not to mention the first 40 pages of writing on the history of the MOCA’s acquisitions. This Is Not To Be Looked At is so ironically titled it simply must be looked at, and if that isn’t good enough, just go visit one of the three MOCA locations in L.A. —gordon nicholas

I found Aldous Huxley’s, The Doors of Perception, on one of the stacks of books that surround my tiny low-rent room that also serves as a chin-whiskered, witch-like woman’s book closet. The book collection that I live with is as curious and fantastic as Huxley’s 1954 essay on his self-experiment with mescaline. Huxley describes the experience with the hallucinogenic and his subsequent heightened visual awareness allowing him a newfound perception of the world we live in. In his essay, Huxley discusses the moral, social, and spiritual implications of mescaline use, and in doing so, illuminates the nature of humanity and our understanding of this universe. I thoroughly enjoyed Huxley’s essay, as did the generation of drug-users he inspired. Turn on, tune in, and drop out, man.

the doors of perception (chatto & windus)

MOCA.ORG

—jonah trople randomhouse.co.uk

colORMAGAZINE.CA

Arabesque: A trick involving standing on one foot, bending at the waist, and extending arms and leg diagonally forward.

Bunny Hop: See “frog jump.”

schocken.knopfdoubleday.com

KINK MAGAZINE

albert cassorla (running press)

Imagine, if you will, a world before any flips, the ollie or even a grind, a simpler world where the number of tricks could easily fit on a sheet of paper, yet still somehow be quite awesome.—dylan doubt

lifestyle

volume 7 issue 3

— Heath Kirchart destroys handrails the world over and continuously helps skateboarding evolve to higher plateaus. If you were a handrail, would you be afraid to see Kirchart approach, or would you become enraptured to know that he might be on his way to BS noseblunting you? While handrails don’t speak, we were lucky to get a few words out of Kirchart.

— Canada’s hell child, Ryan Smith, made the country take notice ever since he destroyed manual pads and picnic tables in Skate Canada #4. Since then, Smith has left blood at probably every spot he’s skated, and once, when asked what skateboarding means to him, the answer was: “Hookers, drugs, and an early grave.” Yep, that’s Ryan Smith

alex olson

— Raised on four-wheels by 70s skateboarding legend Steve Olson, Olson Jr. was once described as “a young skater with an old soul,” and someone once described him as, “someone that was meant to skate”. However, despite such strong skate DNA, this L.A. native jokingly describes his ethnicity as: “The same people that make IKEA”.

TRIP

PARK

ESCAPE

City

get-away

Band

Next Wild Ride / 1st Wild Ride

Yellowstone / Yosemite

Skateboarding / Skateboarding

Raleigh / Vista holmes

NYC / Portland

hypem.com / Kind Diamond

FAD

PIZZA

URL

Movie

park

trick

Flannels / Flannels

Artichoke / Procuitto

tube8.com / tube8.com

G.I. Joe / Virtual Reality

Girl park / Old Girl park

Power slide / Ollie

TRICK

DUDE

TRICK

Gadget

video part

Front-foot flips / Back-foot flips

Brian Young / Lebowski

Anything / 3 flip

Metal lathe / Computer

7:00 / 10:00

Mouse / Skypager

HOBBY

GET-AWAY

Video Part

pro

MOVIE

Fucking / Bowling

Fiji / Tijuana

Wes Kremer / Wes Kremer

Mystery / Mike Carroll (any)

Ave / Sean Sheffy

American Psycho / Purple Rain

DRINK

VIDEO PART

Pro

Habit

dude

purchase

Jack and Coke / Coke

Leo’s - Stay Gold / Guy’s - Mouse

Gilbert / Mike Carroll

Healthy I hope / Positive shit

Ave / Carroll

New camera / Car

PHOTOGRAPHER

FILMER/DIRECTOR

Photographer

Band

photographer

filmer / director

Atiba / Swift

Miner / Hunt

? / Blabac or Pommier

Nihilist / Sabbath

Wee Gee / Tobin

Spike / Michel Gondry

VIDEO

Purchase

Cuisine

graphic

trip

Tancowny / Westgate

Stay Gold / Ban This

Hopefully nothing / House

Too many to choose / Anything with 1lb of hot sauce

None that I like / Old Gonz Blind boards

Some Vans mission / Anti Hero and Girl trip

PRO

URL

Book

FAD

HOBBY

drink

Romero / Mariano

Google / Yahoo

JP Cycles catalogue / Ya got me - the dirt maybe

Eccentric hermit lifestyles / Big pants, small wheels

Camera's / X-Men trading cards 93

Some type of veggie drink / Soda water

PURCHASE

BAND

Graphic

Get-away

fad

pizza

Stocks / Houses

Nick Cave / Pink Floyd

Black and white / Mike Carroll - Star Wars Plan B

North Carolina / Riding a shitty motorcycle

People dressing Dapper / Piss Drunk ha that was bad

NYC pizza / Domino thin crust pizza

—

RYAN SMITH

[ o ] COLEN

[ o ] SANDRO

[ o ] TAIT

HEATH KIRCHART

colORMAGAZINE.CA

—

WWW.SUPRADISTRIBUTION.COM

volume 7

issue 3

SF ZINE SCENE On August 22nd and 23rd the SF County Fair Building is going to be playing host to the annual SF Zine Fest. This free event is a place for independent and underground publishers to share their work and experiences. Zines, comics, arts and crafts, literary presses and more are all involved and exhibited. If you’re in the area stop by to get some inspiration for your own printed projects. SFZINEFEST.COM

LIMERICKED We asked for limericks mentioning Dylan Reider’s new shoe and out of the many we received this one takes the cake and the prize pack too. Way to go Tim.

JUST LIKE THE BOSS

OH FATHER This board comes from the Quebec company Father Skateboards. They’ve called this Yanick Nolet model Dimanche au Pipe, which you’ll have to get someone from la belle provence to translate for you.

Once in a while there’s a shoe That starts a bit of a brou - Haha – yeah, I split it New limerick style get wit’it Reider’s shoe is long overdue

Colin Lafontaine uploaded the winning 180 fs kickflip to our Andrew Reynolds Youtube contest group. As soon as we saw there was a barrel involved we were hooked. Colin will be rocking an entire Reynolds getup from Baker Skateboards, Indy Trucks, SKF Bearings, Altamont Clothing and Emerica Shoes. We’ll be posting some of the entries on our site so keep an eye out. YOUTUBE.COM/COLORMAGAZINE

PUMP IT Back in the days before $150 fill-ups, electric cars and eco-friendly teeny, tiny cars there was a person called a gas-jockey. You’d roll up to the pump and he’d do all the work for you. Fill your tank, wash your windows, check the oil and tire pressure, all while you sat back, relaxed and dug for the 50 cent tip. Live in those care-free times again with this Spitfire jacket. DLXSF.COM

HAPPY CAMPERS The Levi Brown collection from Element is out now and features bear artwork by a close friend of Levi’s that was also a past counselor at the Element YMCA skate camp. ELEMENTSKATEBOARDS.COM

FULL MOON Riser lights from Solitary Arts. Yup, you no longer have to rely on the spotty light from a cloud-covered moon to light your way because these “Moonlights” are made to shine. Inside the clever, hand-screened packaging you get one riser with white lights and one with red. Now they’ll see you coming and going. SOLITARYARTS.COM

colORMAGAZINE.CA

DARK KNIGHT

FIRST BLOOD

These Darkstar Hybrid wheels are their smoothest and lightest wheels yet and come with a no-flatspot guarantee.

Here’s a little known fact about the Rambo movie that is the namesake for Bobby Worrest’s new pro-model. It was all filmed in little towns around Vancouver. Rambo could have used this shiny silver weapon of a shoe to fight off those evil deputies trying to bring him in. You’ll understand when you buy the shoe and watch the movie.

DARKSTARWOOD.COM

ESFOOTWEAR.COM

FEATURING: J USTIN BROCK // DARYL ANGEL DAVID CLARK // GRANT TAYLOR // SHANE Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;NEILL

DVD AVAILABLE

volume 7

issue 3

SACRE vert! Etnies’ new carbon neutral shoes modeled after Pierre Andre’s pro model the Senix are being released in extremely limited quantities. Of the five green-themed models, only 12 pairs of each are going to be available exclusively at Colette. The shoes are made of recyclable materials including organic hemp, bamboo and textiles with the use of soybased inks, water-based glue, PET recycled laces and recycled rubber. All of the leather in the shoes is vegetable tanned, VOC free and constructed with organic cotton stitching. To even out their carbon emissions, Etnies will be planting trees in Costa Rica, moving the company towards their goal of becoming completely carbon neutral by 2020. ETNIES.COM

READER RECIPIE FOR DISASTER

SOY GOOD

There’s something really nice about getting surprise gifts and letters via the old-fashioned postal service. This letter came to us from Robbie in Winnipeg, complete with a summer grown-up shit mix crazy enough to share with you all. [as of press time the staff at Color had not yet tried this]

Thinking about ways to lessen their impact on the environment, Momentum has come up with the Eco Series. The wheels are made of a 25% soy-based compound, which relies less on non-renewable fossil fuels than traditional wheels.

Send us stuff. 105-321 Railway St, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6A 1A4 or CONTEST@COLORMAGAZINE.CA

140 CHARACTERS OR LESS Yup, we’ve gone and joined Twitter. If you want to follow along you’ll see photos and read thoughts from the inner workings of the magical world of Color, as well as get a chance to win some pretty nice prizes exclusive to our tweeting buds.

[ o ] HOPKINS

MOMENTUMSKATE.COM

They WENT SKATEBOADING GSD turned into Go Skateboarding weekend in Vancouver. Saturday saw a session at LeeSide then Reynold’s band The GOAT played at Glory Days and on Sunday the entire Emerica team joined 3000 skaters as they took over the city’s streets.

TWITTER.COM/COLORMAG

GOSKATEBOARDINGDAY.ORG

HOT SHOE If this were a traditional relationship, to celebrate his ten-year-anniversary as the brand’s exclusive skate photographer DC would be giving Mike Blabac a gift made of tin or aluminum. But this ain’t no traditional industry, so instead DC is releasing the Blabac Azure Mid, the company’s first signature shoe made for a non-professional team member. From packaging to insoles it’s obvious that these are a tribute to a photographer. They have photo printed insoles, a custom Blabac logo, and a collage of photos on the inside of the shoebox. Choose your pair carefully because a limited number of boxes will come with a signed quality print of Blabac skateboarding photography.

HUMPHRIES GETS MANIK In celebration of their six-year-anniversary Manik Skateboards, in collaboration with Jon Humphries, is releasing a line of boards and tees featuring photos of Tim Brauch. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the line will go to the Tim Brauch Memorial Foundation. MANIKSKATEBOARDS.COM

colORMAGAZINE.CA

If you don’t luck out and get a pair of shoes with a signed photo you can still pick up a copy of his first book, Blabac Photo: The Art of Skateboarding Photography. This clothbound, hardcover book documents 20 years of the photographer’s work from Madcircle to Girl to his years at DC. DCSHOES.COM/BLABAC10

[ o ] NICHOLAS

colormagazine.ca colORMAGAZINE.CA

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KYLE DESAULNIERS frontside bluntslide bigspin [ ]< mayfield.

PAUL LILIANI tailslide kickflip [ ]< conroy.

JORDAN HOFFART frontside varial heelflip boardslide to fakie [ ]< mayfield.

art

volume 7 issue 3

n most big cities in the mid 80s street skateboarding, and skate culture in general, was exploding at an exponential rate, and New York City was no exception. It was an exciting time for skateboarding. It broke out of the confines of the local skate parks, took itself a little less seriously and became as accessible as the local curb. New York’s chaotic atmosphere lent itself well to this new take on skateboarding and the east coast street scene was born. It is no accident that Powell Peralta chose Manhattan as a location to present the world with their take on “street” skating as a green-haired Hosoi joined the Bones Brigade as they cruised around with Steve Olson and Dave Hackett in 1984’s “future primitive”. This was a much more accepting crowd than what was found on the supposedly ‘hip’ West Coast. From this point New York became an obvious epicenter, bringing skaters from all over the East Coast. We are lucky to have stumbled across Jessica Bard and Pepe Torres’ documentation of what we can only assume to be but one small part of this era. Their photographs have an innocence and sincerity about them that would make anyone regret not doing the same, and appreciate whatever bits and pieces you do have from your own experiences during this time, be it a bunch of dudes in cut-up Dead Kennedy’s t-shirts doing lip tricks on a curb, kids in massive jeans trying to pressure flip into grinds, or some dirtbag longhair trying to lipslide the biggest rail in town.

(above) Jessica Bard wintery kickturn. torresphoto.

Pepe Torres and Bruno Musso double street plants in Washington square park. bardphoto. Dave Hackett and Steve Olson, Brooklyn Banks, 1985. torresphoto.

(right) Unknown grind Washington Square Park. bardphoto.

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.extra/random

AUGUST 22 & 23 DCSHOES.COM/KING

$10K CASH PURSE

DUBLIN

VANCOUVER

ROME

CHICAGO

SYDNEY

lifestyle

[ o ] PILICHOWSKI

volume 7 issue 3

juliana neufeld

— This Toronto-based artist honed her skills in photography, graduating from Ryerson University before hitting the world of design and illustration. She now dabbles in many different mediums; from CD art to children’s book illustration to editorial artwork, has been published by a variety of magazines, and is the first Canadian advocate for Element Eden.

esCape

— Internet / A Calvin & Hobbes book + hammock + Steam Whistle beer

Movie

GRAPHIC

— Element Skateboard’s “The Mechanimals” and “Still Life” board series / Alien Workshop’s “Cubism” series

band

— Where the Wild Things Are / War dance

— Patrick Watson / The Roots

FAD

Album

— Twitter / Nostalgia from my past

meal

— Grapes, cheese and baguette / Salad King, sandwich box and Clafouti croissants

City

— Wooden Hands - Patrick Watson / Common - Like Water for Chocolate

Get AWAY

— Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania, East Africa / My grandfather’s cabin on lake Tahoe

Cuisine

— Berlin / Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco

— Vietnamese / Thai

gadget

habit

— iPhone / My WACOM drawing tablet

— Painting / Drawing

dude

Book

— Rob Dyer of Skate4cancer.com / My two older brothers are the most stand-up dudes I’ve ever met.

green trend / initiative

— Converting gas tanks to run on vegetable oil / Reusing old stuff for a new purpose

Photographer

— Sammy Rawal / Dan Eldon

— Any new Dave Eggers novel or short story / Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Purchase

— A trip to the coast of Tanzania on the Island of Zanzibar / WACOM drawing tablet and scanner.

url

— juliananeufeld.com / the Savage Love podcast (podcasts.thestranger.com/savagelove/)

colORMAGAZINE.CA

music

volume 7 issue 3

wordsby rj basinillo

I I

illustration byaye jay

illustrationby aye jay

t’s a freak magnet. That’s how we like to describe it,” Kode9 says of his now “ t’s a freak magnet. That’s how we like has legendary label Hyperdub, which to describe Kode9 says of his now acted as theit,” foremost boundary pusher which has oflegendary dubsteplabel overHyperdub, the last five years, acted as the foremost boundary pusher trailblazing the most forward-thinking of dubstep overmoment. the last five years, born in sound of the Kode9, trailblazingas theSteve most forward-thinking Glasgow Goodman, began sound of the moment. Kode9, born in his sonic journey much like many Glasgow as Steve Goodman, other first-wave dubstep began producers: his sonic journey much likejungle many and drum dabbling in old-school other first-wave dubstep producers: n’ bass. After moving to London in the dabbling old-school jungle andhimself drum late 90s,inKode9 established as n’ notable bass. After to London in the a DJmoving and producer. Amongst late 90s, established himselfhe assoon the sea Kode9 of London nightclubs a notable DJ andplaying producer. Amongst found himself shows with an the sea of London nightclubs increasingly familiar set: he thesoon DMZ found himself playing shows with an Pinch crew, DJ’s Youngsta & Hatcha, increasingly set: the DMZ and others.familiar This collective began crew, DJs Youngsta & Hatcha, Pinch, garnering buzz and massive crowds andevents others.across This collective began at London before garnering up buzz and massive blowing globally over crowds pirate radio, at events London before himself as late 90s,across Kode9 established blowing up globally pirate radio, a notable DJ and over producer. Amongst all the while pioneering a syncopated, the sea of London nightclubs he soon haunting bass-heavy sound knownwith an found himself playing shows today as dubstep. increasingly familiar set: the DMZ crew, DJ’s Youngsta & Hatcha, Pinch and others. This collective began garnering buzz and massive crowds at events across London before blowing up globally over pirate radio, crew, DJ’s Youngsta & Hatcha, Pinch and others. This collective began 48 garnering kode9. buzz and massive crowds at events across London before

“As some see the genre as stumbling, many look towards Hyperdub for balance.”

Debating the evolution of the myriad subgenres of contemporary UK dance music is a lively (and never-ending) discussion, but Kode9 insists on working without regard to any specific taxonomies. As dubstep has grown and the sound has become more rigidly defined, Kode9 has grown indifferent to the scene’s solidification. Recently he’s begun to ignore the word entirely in interviews: “I didn’t always avoid using the word dubstep, it’s just now, after quite a long time, it’s kind of a bit frustrating to use the word dubstep, because the music has grown a lot and there’s a lot of it I don’t really associate with one way or another.” What Kode9 is referring to is a set of trends that Pitchfork columnist and noted producer Martin Clark (aka Blackdown) also recognizes as troublesome—although the two are not the first to express concern for the scene. Criticism has floated amongst blog circles since late 2007, many insisting that sections of dubstep were succumbing to an unhealthy obsession with anthemic, fist-pumping, aggressive productions, typified by ‘wobble bass’: the cutting mid-range basslines more closely associated with dubstep’s mainstream. Clark refers to the problem as “anthem-bashing,” reduced experimentation and emotionality for functional, formulaic dance music guided by a dangerous “smash-it mentality.” While Clark seems to be more interested in upholding the values that made dubstep such an inspiring scene, Kode9 seems more willing to ascribe the scene friction to growing pains, saying: “I think what causes the watering down

of any genre is just growing; it’s just a natural process. Growing and spreading these concentrated elements quite thinner ‘cause people take it in different directions... again, it’s just natural when electronic music scenes grow.” Not to be taken lightly, however, he makes sure that his distaste for these trends is apparent, in previous interviews equating the mainstream to an “abortion” and here describing the process as a desperate cannibalism: “It starts to feed on itself, it starts to eat its own limbs... it starts to implode in a way. “As some see the genre as stumbling, many look towards Hyperdub for balance. Most famously regarded as the home to Burial’s almost-Mercury-winning 2-step rhythms, the label has since expanded and now features a stable of open-minded leftfield producers: Ikonika, King Midas Sound, and Zomby owned critic’s year end lists and top dancefloors while still maintaining a unique and original sound, each artist working from a palette including, but certainly not limited to, trip-hop, hardcore rave, IDM and 8-bit. The stylistic shift is also apparent in Kode9’s newest sets. In the past, he would play faithful to dubstep’s holy 140bpm standard, but now finds himself more erratic, admitting to “being frustrated playing 140 all the way through the set...wanting to play other moods, other speeds of music.” Listening to his latest 12-inch “Black Sun/2 Far Gone”, one is immediately taken aback by the central force of his newer direction: a driving, maddening synthline that threatens

to leap brilliantly right off the vinyl. It’s this renewed focus on the mid-range register that seems to hold the key to dubstep’s future. Of course, this newer movement of mid-range-crammed dubstep has earned a tag of its own: “wonky,” although artists have soundly rejected the label. The Hyperdub Myspace goes as far to state “Say NO to w***y”, and while some read the message as a response to unfounded rumors tying the sound to Ketamine usage, the message is more a rejection of classification altogether. Kode9 explains: “I’m not against using words to describe music, it’s just that words need to work to congeal with the music in a productive way that the musicians find useful.” Regardless, this new direction has reinvigorated UK bass music, and brought back a forgotten quality of dubstep’s initial leanings: to strive for experimentation and journey into the unknown. Hyperdub shows no signs of stopping with five-artist LPs in the works and a five-year anniversary 2-disc compilation set that has the makings of a major statement. As the central figure of a label consistently challenging definition, Kode9 is often looked at as the leader of a new and promising movement, a position that he’s reluctant to take up, saying: “I’m not sure what that would be, to be honest.” Indeed, a movement keyed on the inertia of experimentation would have to lack a center at all, but that doesn’t stop the kudos from raining in. As Blackdown recently called out on Rinse.FM: “Shoutout to all the Hyperdub artists, leading our way out through the darkness. You know who you are.”

FELLOW TRAVELERS

JOKER

ZOMBY

MARTYN

FLYING LOTUS

Leading the charge of the latest wave of Bristolian beat technicians is Joker, whose gin-n-juice sound owes far more to Compton than Croydon. An immense talent, he burst on the scene in 2007 with his readily acclaimed Kapsize EP, released on Earwax. His earliest tunes struck up comparisons to Dipset and The Neptunes, but his more recent work has been more cohesive to his “Purple Wow” aesthetic: squealing G-funky synths coupled with square-wave bassweight and the oft-autotuned vocal that would put T-Pain to shame. Touted as the UK’s postmodern answer to Dr. Dre, Joker is already at the top of the game and at 20 years-old shows no sign of giving up the crown. Purple reign.

Maddening, evocative tuneage from an anonymous London producer isn’t anything new to the scene— remember Burial? Self-confessed skunk head and number one Burial fan, Zomby is also contorting dancefloors from a faceless distance and, much like his hero, drawing from the open-field insanity of hardcore rave’s heyday. His debut Where Were U in ‘92 is a “love-letter to hardcore” and was championed by everyone from Simon Reynolds to Animal Collective. However, his sound isn’t strictly breakbeat; more dub-inflected releases on Ramp Recordings and Hyperdub sound like “Liquid Dancehall”, aquatic, 8-bit beats filtered through future-ragga soundsystems.

Martyn dominated 2008 with a string of essential 12-inches released on a number of labels, until finally starting up his own 3024 label (after an area code in his Dutch homeland) where he recently released his debut, Great Lengths. Undoubtedly the biggest name associated to the more techno-oriented branch of the sound, Martyn fans include Flying Lotus and Kode9, who readily admits: “I struggle to find all the good things to say.” As if that weren’t a good enough sell, one of Martyn’s biggest tunes to date has been “Vancouver”, a gorgeous track that burns like slow house while bouncing like dubstep with Blue Note overtones— worldly rhythms that could call home in Berlin, Los Angeles, London, and yes, the West Coast.

With Coltrane lineage literally running through his veins (Alice is his great-aunt), Flying Lotus has blurred the divide between leftfield hip-hop and Warp electronics to a dusty haze paralleled only by his beats. The merging of forward-thinking dubstep and abstract astral-hop can be directly traced back to a legendary Rinse.FM set that had Kode9 and Flying Lotus playing side-by-side. Now heading the Brainfeeder label, FlyLo’s accomplices include The Gaslamp Killer, Nosaj Thing, Ras G & Samiyam. The momentum behind this sound is incredible right now, with the psychedelic treatment of the midrange being the driving force. Kode9 has fully aligned to the sound, adopting “breathing, pitchbent, crazy synths.” The new L.A. funk is here.

colORMAGAZINE.CA

Enter to become the newest addition to Insight’s ‘Garage Artists’ group. Not only can you become one of the brand’s artists and work on special projects and collections, you’ll also win a $500 Insight prize pack. Send your entries to 105-321 Railway St, Vancouver, BC V6A 1A4 Contest closes September 1, 2009

contest@colormagazine.ca

All entries become the property of Color Magazine and may be used in future online and print materials.

OttawA

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volume 7 issue 3

fashion

They say creativity is dead, that it’s all about putting a new spin on an old idea. So when the old ideas were this good to start with, the new spins have to be bloody unbelievable. And from the looks of things, they definitely are.

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POWELL thin rib rails SHORTY’S dooks risers INDEPENDENT 215 standard silver trucks ZORLAC john gibson retro deck GIRL planks mike mo deck ELEMENT muska illumination deck KRUX downlow lazer trucks STEREO 64mm cruiser wheels FOUNDATION venom deck colORMAGAZINE.CA

fashion

product toss

Considering half of you don’t actually remember the first time some of these products came out, you can thank your lucky stars, rabbit’s feet, whatever, that they’re so good that they’ve lasted longer than you have. (Well, so far, at least.)

(top l-r)

INSIGHT new age swim shorts NIKE SB the bruin shoes COLOR skate or d.i.y. logo t-shirt FOURSTAR quintin pop over COMUNE tasty waves tank POWELL peralta vallely elephant t-shirt

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QUIKSILVER zephyr shorts OJ wheels og oj t-shirt SANTA CRUZ logo sweatpants EMERICA og mj shoe ETNIES pipeline memory t-shirt LAKAI koston hi shoes VANS women’s triangle logo t-shirt

fashion

product toss

We’re always excited about what lies ahead, but why wait for events to unfold? The key to these pieces is taking visions and revelations of the future and making the most of them right now.

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VOLCOM women’s cheryl mass hudson t-shirt DVS brotherhood t-shirt DC pj ladd signature model shoes INSIGHT neo style windbreaker

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EMERICA braydon lo shoes VESTAL surveyor watch ELEMENT women’s cosmic triblend v-neck ALTAMONT switcharoo t-shirt

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skate

volume 7 issue 3

Kids, take note. There ainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t much as sweet as the perfect frontside ollie. Vincent Alvarez does his best to bring the generations together, as the crowd roars with glee. coulthardphoto.

wordsby dylan doubt

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Five Legends Test Five Icons of Tomorrow .

colORMAGAZINE.CA

wordsby dylan doubt

’ve always appreciated Sammy’s very lax attitude. The first stories I heard about him were from a frustrated photographer who was well over a Pig Wood tour, full of “little kids partying way too hard.” He talked about one of them in particular, a 14-year-old, with “Dirty Business” tattooed across his belly. Sammy has since gotten the entire back of a favourite AC/DC t-shirt tattooed on himself and is well on his way to becoming an iconic figure, finding an interesting path, and notoriously leaving his own sponsor’s tour to join another simply because it was what he wanted to do. And who else would we get to conduct this skate trivia quiz than the ‘mule’ Mr. Erik Ellington…

Erik Ellington: Name three skateboarders who have done time. Sammy Baca: Neil Heddings, my homie Sane(?) Jones, and my other homie Black Daniel. Alright, fair enough. What is the world record for consecutive frontside ollies on a half pipe? Fuuuck… dude, I suck at this kind of shit. I dunno, like fuckin’, fuuuckin [talking to someone else: hey, what’s the record for the most frontside ollies on a half pipe?] 200?

All right, you win on that one. Actually, Chad’s from Vegas... Is he? I thought he said he’s from Arizona. Well, yeah, he lived in Arizona, but… I’m from Alaska, too, but I guess they both count. Yeah, yeah, they count in my book. I don’t give a fuck.

Close. What was it?

Where did the name Baker come from? Uhhh, did it come from Ali Boulala ‘cause he was baked all the time?

348 Awww damn! What the fuck was that dude on?!

Yup, you win. Yeeaaaaah, I felt confident on that one too!

Go see if you can beat it right now. Huhuhuh.

I think you’re on a roll… Name someone on Alva, when Alva was a board company, that had short hair. Yeah. Fuckin’ uh... what’s his name? Oh my god. Dude. Ooooaoaaaahhhhh! Gimme a hint!

Name the first three AC/DC albums. Highway to Hell, High Voltage… [talking to someone else: “Hold up. Fuck! Hey, did you find five bucks? Fuck. I lost five bucks right now.”] Alright, Highway to Hell, High Voltage, and Dirty Deeds. Alright, good. Hey fuck! I was about to buy a pack of smokes. Who had a cover doing a drop in? Who had a cover doing a drop in? Fuuuckin’… oh my god, dude. Uhhh, he rides for Nike. Rides for Nike… Chet Childress? Naw, close. Who is it, Shimizu? Grant Peterson? I think Omar Salazar is the only one I can remember… Omar Salazar! Omar Salazar is on Nike! See I suck at this skate shit, dude. Yeah, me too. You know that one in Encinitas [that Hairball ollied] into? Oh, yeah, yeah. Daaamn.

You have to hand it to Indy for having about as diverse a team as it gets. It’s always nice to see aging Christians humbled (and totally fucking stoked out) by raw little dirtbags. Frontside rock among good friends. rhinophoto.

You’re smoking Basics? Yup.

Let me see what the next one is, hold on. Name two pros from Arizona. Erik Ellington, and uhhh, Muska’s from Arizona right? Yup. [Baca talking to store lady: You want to go blast one for me real quick? Basics? Naw, just regular.]

The hints aren’t on here, that’s pulling one from the vault. Hold on. [They both ask their dudes for help] Oh fuck dude, I can’t even believe I spaced on his name. Bill Danforth. Yeah, Bill Danforth. Name two Christian skateboarders. Christian Hosoi and uh, Steve Caballero. All right… Oh, and Jamie Thomas, but he’s... no wait, fuck that. Fuckin’ Caballero and Christian Hosoi. All right, this is a weird one. If you did three consecutive units on a ramp, what direction would you be facing? A unit… fucking going straight? I dunno. That’s like a math question. I dunno, what the fuck? Straight? All right: straight. I dunno if you won or lost that one. I probably lost it. Who invented the McTwist? Uhhh hold on [asks someone else], oh yeah, McGill, dude. Yup, you’re right. McGill’s got a pro shoe for Walmart right now, did you know that? I just saw an ad in a magazine. Name someone

(continued on p.144)

.erik/sammy

hen I think of a skateboarder that is exciting to watch, that gives me hope about the future, I can’t think of a finer example than Vincent Alvarez. He has a looseness and sketchiness about him that you can’t help but love. Take a good look at any photos that you’ve seen of him and you will quickly notice how filthy he usually is. That and an enormous smile. Here we have a man who isn’t afraid to fucking work for it, and meanwhile enjoy the process. Who better to give him this quiz than the ultra clean Tim Gavin who tore an asshole into that little round ledge back in 1993’s incredible Blind teaser, Tim and Henry’s Pack of Lies?

Tim Gavin: Alright, question number one, Vincent Alvares, who had tricks in Tim and Henry’s Pack of Lies? Vincent Alvarez: What?! [Laughs] Hold on, here’s the first question, have you ever heard of Tim and Henry’s Pack of Lies? Yeah, I have, of course. Okay, that’s good news. Who else (besides Tim and Henry) had tricks in Tim and Henry’s Pack of Lies? Uh, I know Brian Lotti, I don’t know if he’s part of it, then I think it goes to Guy, and then it goes to Rudy, then it goes to, uh, fuck… who else does it go to? I don’t know. Who else? That’s impressive. You answered it in order. Then it goes on to Tim and Henry. Well, Alright! I haven’t seen the video in like a week so I don’t know… What three members of the Girl family shared a part in a Powell video? Would you like me to repeat the question? Guy, Paulo, and Rudy? Ding ding ding ding— Ding ding ding ding!

colORMAGAZINE.CA

Alright, in Chocolate’s 1995 Western Epic, Las Nueve Vidas de Paco, how many notes did Gabriel Rodriguez’s instrument play? How many notes? What was the original Chocolate lineup, and were there any white guys on the team? [Laughs] Any white guys on the team? I don’t think there were any white guys on the team. Well this isn’t a trivia question, just personal question of mine, who is your favourite Latin skateboarder? My favourite Latin skateboarder? Fuck, uh, let me see, probably, damn, I don’t even know, dude, is Matt Rodriguez Latin? With a last name Rodriguez, I’m assuming he’s Latin… What was your interviewer’s first board sponsor? And who is your interviewer? Tim Gavin is my interviewer. First board sponsor? Oh shit.

That was it, Oh Shit Skateboards. I’m going to help you out on this because this is a tough question. I don’t even think the crew at Color knows this: Airborne. Airborne?! Airborne. Jimmy Scott, the rollerskater. [Laughs] Who was the first one to do a documented caveman slide? Do you know what a caveman slide is? Yeah. [hanging up sound] Did we lose Vincent? He might have hit the high road, the cave man slide might have scared him. He probably doesn’t even know that we’re not on the line with him. Sorry, man, my phone died, what was it again, the first caveman, right? Fuck, I don’t know, the only thing I can think of right

now is, damn, I don’t know. Mark Gonzales caveman darkslide? I don’t know. Name three people who have had a trick named after them. Such as the Mike Smith grind—that’s the only one I’ll give you. Uh, the McTwist? McTwist named after who? Mcgill, is that him? Yup, that’s the guy. Uh, the Willy grind, is that right? The Willy grind? Dylan Doubt: By who? Is that true? Are you saying that Willy Santos invented that? I think so, I don’t know, I just… hold up, hold up. Willy Marks did it. That’s who it’s named after. It’s the Willy grind named after

Willy Marks. Let me see, the big spin, does that count?

I don’t know, but we’re going to take it. D: That’s wrong.

Uh, is the guy named Brad Bigspin? I heard something about the bigspin from Brian Lotti or something like that, and fuckin, bigspins, and his name is the bigspin.

Name three Canadian pros. Oh man, three Canadian pros, Moses Itkonen, Paul Machnau, and, shit, Rick Howard.

If you did 13 lotti spins, what direction would you be facing, holy shit. 13 lotti spins? Shit. Uh-huh, think back to one of your answers a couple of moments ago. Allright, um, let’s see, [Color office phone rings] If that’s Bones wanting to advertise in the magazine, tell them you’ll call them back. I think you’ll be landing switch, right?

Gotta throw Rick Howard in there. Who is the highest paid skateboarder in skateboarding today? Shiiiit, Tony Hawk? How much does he make a year you think? Fuck, probably like 5 million. If you could have a skateboard contest of your own, what would you title it? The Vincent Alvarez what? You know they have the Maloof Money Cup? What would you call your contest if you were to have one?

Oh, uh… The Vincent Alvarez skate-a-thon. What is your favorite Canadian skateboard magazine? Shit, Color!... but that’s the only one I’ve heard of, to tell you the truth though. Alright Vincent, that’s it. Thanks buddy. No worries, hopefully I got some of them right.

(opposite) What we have here is a looseness that can’t be leaned from any skatepark obstacle. Switch frontside crooked grind. coulthardphoto. Frontside half cab kickflip for the kids. coulthardphoto.

No, you were good, a lot of these were tough, man I don’t even know the answers to some of them, so I’m curious to see. What the hell?!

Visit us online and listen to audio clips of Vincent Alvarez being quizzed by Tim Gavin.

.tim/vincent

Big Jamie: Do you know what my first board sponsor was? Little Jamie: I have no idea He says he has no idea. What about flow? Like, I’ve had an interview… have you ever read any of my interviews? [Laughs] I can’t remember. Have you ever read one? Yeah, for sure I have.

e managed to find both Jamies at Black Box headquarters, in a crowded room: the big Jamie, hyper and hot off a good session in the park, the baby Jamie, overly mellow, fresh off some special, quiet, non-skatetime with his friends. “Sandstorm” was blasting in the background and skaters were roaming in and out of the room, making their skate plans known. Chaotic, maybe, but getting these two together in a room was no small task.

When did you read one? Like, a few years ago. C’mon, take a guess. Was it a Deluxe company? Was it Deluxe? That’s a good guess, I was on flow for Real. First sponsor was Thunder, Spitfire, and Real flow. Experience was the company that I actually rode for and turned pro for. Do you know who did the first feeble grind on a handrail? Was it, uh, Templeton? No, that’s a good guess though, he had the first 50-50 photo. It was Josh Swindle… What about the first frontside bluntslide on a handrail? Kirchart? Nope, I beat him to it. That’s my only first right there. It was a three stair I think. Can you name someone who’s had a helmet ad? Sheckler? Alright, name three useless skate accessories, whaddaya got? Um... [Laughs] Dude, this kid is fried… He’s hella high right now. The spark things, Tail Devils. Tail Devils, bam, that’s probably the best one. Two more. Plastic tail things. [Laughs]

It’s got to be tough to make a name for yourself when you share your initials with the Chief and you get stuck with a nickname like, “Baby Jamie”. It’s a good thing that our Jamie is a fucking monster, and has in the bag a video part that won’t soon be forgotten. Backside overcrooks, on Chinese soil. broachphoto.

Dude. You’re failing. You’re officially dumb. Come on, you know more useless skate accessories. You’ve only got two. They made a whole bunch of them: backpack carriers, nose guards, lappers, copers, rails, alright—moving on. Name three skaters who have been am for over a decade, this is a harsh one. Keegan [Sauder] for over a decade. [Ryan] Bobier?

Bobier’s not right, but should we move on. What year did Zero start? Uh, ’95. You’re killing me over here, ’96. Who was the first rider on Zero? [Matt] Mumford. No, [Adrian] Lopez… Who were the only people ever to be kicked off Zero? Trainwreck. Nope. So far, he hasn’t gotten any right. One person on the team got kicked off, and then one dude on flow. Scotty Copleman and Ragdoll… Name three people who’ve had a trick named after them. [Aaron] Suski, [Donny] Barley, and [Matt] Bennett. He’s stuck strictly in the 2000s. Name three more, we need three more people who named a trick earlier than 2000. Uh, I can’t answer it. What’s the trick when you ride up frontside and do a trick on a rail and it looks like a feeble grind. [Laughs] Smith grind. Who made that up? Jim Greco. [Laughs] You know who that guy is? [Laughs] You know what he did? Smith grind Alright uh, what else you got, there’s gotta be some more tricks you know of. What about the trick where you put your feet on the tail, you know who made that up, where you fly up in the air and put your feet on the tail. Christ air? No, Christ air is where you have your arms like Jesus. Yeah. No, feet on the tail, holding the nose like this. Rocket air? Yeah, who made that up? The Rocket air, uh… the Rocket? Name three dudes who had benihanas in their video parts. You. [long pause… mumbles and giggles] (continued on p.144) colORMAGAZINE.CA

Eric Mercier: How long do you think it will take Montreal to pay back the ‘76 Olympic Stadium? Antoine Asselin: Je comprend rien! Ca prende combien de temps pour payer la Stadium Olympique pour eux? I don’t know, man. Ten years? Five years? Uhh yeah, 10 years! They finished paying in 2006. It cost them 1.47 billion dollars. So go skate those ledges, they are yours! [Laughs]. Name three Canadian pros who had models on US companies. Canadian? Appleyard… And? Come on… Come on! Attends! US companies? Machnau uhhh… Come on we have one that grew up in our backyard! Stop smoking weed. Ohh PLG!! That’s right. Who is the first Quebecer to have a pro model? I don’t know, maybe. Was it the Merce? No, it was not the Merce [laughs]. First Quebecer to have a pro model? Max Dufour? I think so. I might want to say Barry Walsh on Cherry Bombs but I don’t know. Who was my first board sponsor? You’ll never get this one. Was it Premium? Nope. It was Orgy skateboards. Oh man! O.G. skateboards? No, Orgy skateboards. Orgy. Oh. [Laughs] With Dan Opec, Syd Clark and Judah Oakes. This is way way back. Name three useless skateboard accessories… I got one! Your tight ass skinny jeans! What?! [laughs] Fuck it! I don’t wear that shit anymore. Uhh... I don’t know, man. Okay, name three pro skateboarders that have been pro for over a decade. Jamie Thomas, Tony Hawk...

[Laughs] I really don’t remember that. Don’t you remember the guy running through the graveyard? You weren’t even born yet. Mike Vallely I think. Who did the longest fifty fifty? Was it Cardiel? I would say Alex Gavin. [Laughs] Alright, Alex Gavin. What husband and wife team built a skate car? Rob Dyrdek has a skate car. He has the biggest skateboard. Do you know Chris and Ricca Gentry? Naw. That is why you did not know about that. Who invented the nollie backside heelflip 540? PLG? Right! Is that right? Yeah, you’re right. Name three people who have had a trick named after them. Bennett grind. Matt Bennett backside 180 switch back smith. Isn’t that a Barley grind? Yeah, but the opposite way. Attends, j’ai une call sur l’autre ligne. Antoine! He went on the other line, the little bastard. Allo? If you were to do five bigger flips, what is the total degrees your board would have flipped. Oh my god this is too much [laughs]. There is a 540 flip or a 360 big flip, la? Je comprends pas, la. So what is the total degrees your board would have flipped then [laughs]? Tabernac! Quoi, comme cinq? Grab a calculator. I don’t have a calculator. Uhhh… [mumbles under his breath while counting “trois, quatre...”]

Geez, really? Et Steve Caballero. (continued on p.144)

Who did the first caveman slide on a handrail? 68

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ew Quebecois escape the comfortable French speaking regions that they call home, but Antoine Asselin has embraced the struggle and spent much time traveling all over the globe finding comfortable ledges and skateable ephemera. I once saw him focus his board and hand it to the group of police that had been called in to kick him out of a spot because they wouldn’t let him have one more try. This is a fire that is admirable, and who better to interview him than another fiery French-Canadian, Eric Mercier…

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always nice to see Canadians getting respect south of the border. Backside tailslide in Californiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capital city. landiphoto.

.eric/antoine

Chany Jeanguenin: Spenny Monsanto… wassup? Spencer Hamilton: [Laughs] I’m gonna get ‘em all wrong, dude. I’ll fuckin… aw god. Here comes the failure. Alright, number one: What is the difference between an Andrecht and an eggplant. What?! An eggplant? [Laughs] An eggplant, yeah. And I’m not talking about the vegetable either. No, I know. What the fuck was the first one… a handplant? An Andrecht. I don’t know about either of those things. I can’t even… You knucklehead. An eggplant. I dunno, I’ve never heard of that shit. Well, Dave Andrecht is the creator of the Andrecht invert. Andrecht? Yeah. Fuck. [laughs] That’s a definite failure right there [sighs]. Alright, next fucking question. What’s a sugarcane? Huh? A sugarcane. Sugarcane...? That’s like a fuckin’, I dunno, inverted fuckin’ hurricane? Or like a ginobli grind… or like a backside 180 Willy grind… switch. Naw, it’s an overturned back disaster… [Getting heated] I know what it is dude, it’s a fucking inverted fucking Willy grind. It’s a fucking switch Willy grind. What’s a gaytwist? What? No homo. That’s what it is. I think these questions are too hard for him. Dude, I don’t know... what the fuck’s a gaytwist? Is it like inverted? Like going the wrong way or something? I dunno. No. It’s a Caballero basically, but you grab indy. Dude, are you just making up these names from, like, are they 10 years old or something? Love it. [laughs] What the fuck.

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Name three black vert skaters. Holy fuck, dude! [laughs] He can’t even think of one. Fuck, dude, I don’t know even one. That’s a fuckin’ good question right there, dude. Ahhhh. Alphonso Rawls. Cookiehead Jenkins. What the fuck… Cookiehead? You gotta know this one: Who invented the Mctwist? Fuck dude, I don’t even… well I dunno, maybe, is it Tony Hawk? Legend says so, there’s a debate on that, but… the credit for it is the guy Mike McGill. That’s why it’s called a Mctwist… DGK just released a graphics series that need to be sold [coverd with] paper. What board released in the 90s needed to be sold this way? Blind. ... In a paper bag. Blind. ‘Cause it had X-rated graphics. What did you say? Blind? Isn’t it? It was World [Industries]. Randy Colvin, masturbating neon lady. World? So, fuck, you’re not doing very good. Whatever, dude, I don’t give a shit. Keep going. I’ll start quizzing you in a minute too, see how much you know. At this point unfortunately our recording failed us. This is a shame, because we got on topics as diverse as aliens, lizards, Swatch watches, cheese, North Korea, diet, the correct pronunciation of Chany’s last name, Jean Chretien, John Rattray’s padless McTwist, the magic bullet, Avril Lavigne and snowboarding.

Visit us online and listen to audio clips of Spencer Hamilton being quizzed by Chany Jeanguenin.

e found Spencer conveniently located next to a phone down at the Krew headquarters in sunny southern California. When I first met him he was a hard-assed kid swimming in massive gear, sidekick to Wade Desarmo and he didn’t say a word. Now, years later, Spencer is one of the cleanest dudes I’ve seen rolling around, his style maturing and the moustache growing in. We tracked down Swiss vert/street master, Chany Jeanguenin after a nice lunch and had him test Spence’s vert knowledge…

He may not know a damn thing about vertical vernacular, but Goddamn, if the man donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t rewrite the books on what makes for a proper frontside kickflip. daughersphoto.

大阪 Benny Fairfax / Kickflip / Osaka

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volume 7 issue 3

skate

GLENCO HOGLE crooked grind [ o ] watt.

NILE OSBORN 50-50 [ o ] henry.

ROBBIE RUSSO lien to tail up the extention [ o ] morford.

ANDREW MCGRAW kickflip [ o ] clifford.

MARK GONZALES [ o ] gaberman.

ANTWUAN DIXON nollie heelflip c.2004 [ o ] morris.

BRANDON BIEBEL 50-50 c.1998 [ o ] landi.

CHRIS HASLAM c.2000 [ o ] caissie.

SAM DEVLIN backside 180 nosegrind c.1992 [ o ] serfas.

STEVE CABALLERO & CHRISTIAN HOSOI judo airs c.1986 [ o ] kanights.

SEYLYNN SESSIONS c.1984 [ o ] tetz/Xpeat.

RICHARD STOREY freestylinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; c.1985 [ o ] tetz.

lifestyle

volume 7 issue 3

[ o ] DOUBT

photosby gordon nicholas

— “Stanley park had a good small rail for a while.”

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ack in it’s heyday, downtown Vancouver was a skate mecca, drawing skaters and media like MACBA. Pro sightings both at skate and night spots were commonplace. Justin Lukyn, Colin McKay, Moses Itkonen, Tony Ferguson, Ben Chibber, Sam Devlin, were but a few that helped put the city on the skate map. Rick Howard has always been one of our favourite exports. We asked about his classic spots, and revisited them with some of the city’s current interesting folk. SHRALPS Plaza Quebec and Union, under the viaduct Good meet-up spot with ledges, stairs, banks and plenty of local flavour. Hotspot The park at Expo Blvd and Carrol St Stairset, curved ledge and ledges at different spots around the park. China Creek Broadway and Clark One of Vancouver’s oldest skateparks. Georgia Banks 1500 W Georgia St Cruise by, make sure the waters shut off then hit it quick because you’re gonna get busted, but its worth the effort.

The Clubhouse.

city.

Van Hubba Hastings St between Thurlow and Burrard. Look for the overpass. The little hubba is on the south side of the street. Cross the overpass for its bigger, rougher brother. LeeSide A tunnel under Hastings and Cassiar St Dirty and in a constant state of development its well lit all night and is always a good time. UBC Head as far west as you can on 12th or 16th Ave. Cruise around to find tons of skatable spots like the white flat bar Koston skated in Mouse. Black Double (Black Ice) On the corner of Waterfront and Seymour St. Is this even a spot? You just have to see it.

SHOPS Antisocial 2337 Main Street Rick McCrank and Michelle Pezel’s shop. Stop by, shoot the shit and meet the locals.

Flea Market 703 Terminal Avenue Open Saturdays and Sundays. Good junk from row upon row of vendors

Budgies Burritos 44 Kingsway Massive vegetarian burritos. Try the Harvey Spannos, named after the Corey Adam’s film starring Rick McCrank.

EATS SLEEPING

Livestock 239 Abbott Street A hotspot for sneakers and ephemera. PD’s Hot Shop 2868 W 4th Ave Canada’s oldest skateshop and the home of Skull Skates. Zulu Records 1972 W 4th Ave Dig through the racks for collectors LPs as well as newly released vinyl and cds too. Glance over their concert listings and pick up tickets to a show recommended by the helpful gang behind the counter. Super Champion 245 Main Street Super friendly staff who know their shit. The only track bike shop in Vancouver, maybe Canada. Regional Assembly of Text 3934 Main Street Dedicated to everything to do with text. They have a reading room jammed full of zines and books. Feel free to drop off your own creations.

Japadog 899 Burard Street Best street-meat in town. Bon’s 2451 Nanaimo Street Super cheap (2.95 breakfast all day), good and greasy fare.

Pender Beach (skate house) They once had a mini-ramp in the backyard that has since been replaced by a sailboat. A case of Extra Old Stock should buy you a spot on the floor.

BINGE DRINKING MON: The Cambie 300 Cambie St. Burger/beer for $5. TUES: Cobalt 917 Main Street. Boosh Tuesdays. Good times and live music. WED: Re-Up at Pop-Opera 686 W Hastings St. back-alley entrance. Club/coke rap/dancehall rule here.

NATURE/ PUBLIC DRINKING The Naam 2724 4th Avenue West The place to get vegetarian at all hours of the day or night. Open 24hrs and serves the best miso gravy and fries. All India Sweets 6507 Main Street Hit the buffet or order off the menue. Tempt the devil by passing on the ‘mild’ spice level and jumping straight to ‘hot’. Hiroshi’s 3720 Oak Street You can’t visit this city without going for some tasty sushi. Pinky’s 1873 W 4th Ave A haven for carnivors. How do you like your steaks?

Crab Park 101 E Waterfront Rd Build a fire on the beach with a unique view of the city and mountains for the price of a slap on the wrist. Third Beach Along the Seawall in Stanley Park Stow some bottles in your bag and take a ride around the seawall to this sandy beach. You can sometimes get away with a nighttime fire. Wreck Beach At the westernmost point of UBC. Hike down some stairs to this clothing optional wonderland where naked vendors clothed in a fanny pack hawk mushrooms, weed, beer and pizza. Always look people in the eye to avoid awkward situations.

THURS: Blastramp at The Bourbon 50 W Cordova St. Bros, babes, booze and some of the cheapest swill in town. FRI: Astoria 769 E Hastings St. Dance, play pool or just watch the madness in Vancouver’s most infamous ‘hood. SAT: Glory Days at the Biltmore 395 Kingsway. Live bands early, djs late. SUN: The Legion 4210 Main St. End/start the week with trivia and beer. Visit us online to view the complete ‘Color Vancouver City Guide.’

The Ivanhoe.

Bentalls.

— “Art Gallery was definately our meet up spot. We would start the day off there.” 94

city.

Pots.

China Creek. colORMAGAZINE.CA

art

check out

Kirlian Photograph: for JR, 2006 digital c-print, 20" x 24" Kirlian Photograph: for Emilie, 2006 digital c-print, 20" x 24"

Kirlian Photograph: for Joseph, 2006 digital c-print, 20" x 24" Kirlian Photograph: for Joni, 2006 digital c-print, 20" x 24"

wordsby nicholas brown

hotography has long been understood as a method of indexing that which exists in the world—recording as opposed to creating an image, the way a painter might. Of course, since the days of Muybridge and his horses we’ve seen endless forms of manipulation through digital and otherwise artificial means. But Chicago (soon to be Baltimore)-based photographer Nate Larson is less interested in manipulating that which is visible, but rather illuminating what is invisible. Through the Kirlian technique, a process developed by the Russian-born inventor Semyon Kirlia in the 1930s, Larson harnesses an object’s electrical field rather than capturing light. The result is a literal rendering of the (rather loaded) notion of the ‘aura’, which the artist uses to imaginative ends. Soliciting colleagues to donate so-called Objects of Significance, he depicts these objects in the Kirlian technique, allowing the viewer to project their notion of the object’s aura onto the visual impression made by its electromagnetic field.

Key to this project is the device itself: a beautiful, self-consciously rarefied object the artist built using electrician’s instructions from the Internet. The photographs are collected into books housed inside the camera, which plays double duty as a sculpture. Most recently, Larson has shifted from objects with significance to individuals, and to objects with wider cultural significance and loaded meaning: food. He presents these items—a range of healthy and not-so-healthy emblems of the American diet such as Twinkies, Wonder Bread, Spam, bananas and collared greens—in full scale so that their ‘aura’ is equal to that of the real object. Larson’s interest in capturing the so-called ‘life force’ of an object takes on added resonance with materials we put in our bodies.

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show

images courtesy National Gallery of Canada.

Puppet Figure from The Surgeon and the Photographer (Geoffrey Farmer) fabric, found images, wood, metal stand, dimensions variable

art

Glasses for Going West (Gareth Moore) roe deer horn, artist's hair, scrap wood, pencil, plastic pen, painted wooden shelf, 12” x 34”

wordsby nicholas brown

he National Gallery of Canada’s recent group exhibition features some of Canada’s best-known emerging to mid-career artists whose practices are international in both recognition and trajectory. That all five artists originate from Vancouver is neither a surprise nor an easy pill to swallow for many Canadians on the other side of the country. The Lower Mainland is renowned for producing artists who shuttle back and forth between Europe and other international locations, bringing prestige and attention back to their home town.

Apropos of this West Coast transience, Nomads is an exhibition about traveling: roving artists, traveling projects, and fluid, shifting exhibition contexts. The most self-evident examples include Althea Thauberger, whose directive collaborative works are frequently produced on-site in communities around the world; and Gareth Moore, whose Uncertain Pilgrimage (2006-9)—recently acquired by the National—comprises an unfolding series of spontaneous gestures in locations around the world, whose idiosyncratic object-results (what Moore calls a “sculptural story”) are then repositioned and manipulated in gallery installations. Moore’s installation reveals a canny awareness of the project’s institutional siting. The assortment of eccentric objects is given a self-consciously museological aura through the use of historical display conventions filtered through Moore’s aesthetic: salvaged wood forms baseboards along the walls, echoing the historical European and Canadian galleries a floor below; a Persian rug taken from the historical wing sits in the center of the room, with burlap, cardboard and carpet swatches attached at every

side; sticks and rods connect disparate pieces of string and rope to form makeshift stantions to protect the work; and artifacts from his travels are given ethnographic treatment in vitrines. These artifacts include elements relating to costume and disguise (a single arm from the suit jacket Moore constructed and wore throughout his travels; a beard made of moss; and Moore’s trademark “smuggler’s shoes”, whose soles face backwards to point would-be detectives away from the artist’s destination), and to lifestyle implements required by the artist pilgrim (a razor made from a pencil, a coat hanger made from sticks, wire and more pencils, and a book with pages cut out to house money). Throughout the display, the artist’s knack for designing quaint, but effective solutions is made evident. And these arcane and delightful objects suggest the possibility that they may just be what spurs the artist’s travel in the first place: travel as a solution to the problem of just what to make today. If the show seems aptly suited to Moore’s practice, it does so to a fault. Throughout the exhibition, it feels as though Moore’s scavenged, provisional aesthetic has left

residue in the show’s organization and publicity. The catalogue takes the form of a traveler’s notebook, replete with sketches and documentation, which certainly alludes to Moore’s formal and material interests (pencils, anybody?). This becomes difficult to reconcile with other contributions to the show, such as Hadley + Maxwell’s incredible 1+1-1 (2006-9). Like Pilgrimage, this work has undergone numerous permutations through the artists’ various international exhibitions and residencies. In fact, a different version of the sprawling work was presented simultaneously at the Vancouver Art Gallery’s How Soon is Now. But contrasting with Moore’s project, and the prevailing aesthetic favoured by the curator and exhibition designer, this work has little to do with nomadism in the conventional sense. The work is a restaging of French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard’s Sympathy for the Devil (1968), a muchcontested film that fused documentary footage of the Rolling Stones’ recording sessions with disparate staged scenes reflective of the politics of the time. The strength of Hadley + Maxwell’s presentation of this complex, at times oblique work is in their formal devices, which present politics as inextricably bound to aesthetics. Flanking two large screens are a series of props: monochromatic clothing draped over prop sound screens evokes colour field painting (contemporaneous with Godard), and echoes elements of the film that the artists selectively present by rerecording the film from a television screen and zooming in on specific elements. These elements are

presented as props in an expanded film, which constantly changes in each exhibition deployment. As such, the film is constantly remade and repositioned. From here, the exhibition begins to feel less tethered to its thematic, which may actually be a good thing. Geoffrey Farmer’s contribution is a delicate and disturbing series of collaged puppets flanked by looming black figures reminiscent of the artist’s trademark doppelganger sculptures. Drawing on his Puppet Kit Personality Workshop (2001) and his recent collage installation The Last Two Million Years (2007), the work consists of 366 hand puppets adorned with collage elements culled from countless historical reference books. The work is sweeping, compelling the viewer to make endless associations from the charged imagery that includes religious iconography, protest signage, weapons and palimpsests of detached body parts (a direct nod to surrealism). Elsewhere, Myfanwy MacLeod similarly mines history through collage, to markedly different results. Whereas Farmer opts to explode history into endless strings of open-ended associations, MacLeod hones in on the familiar image of the town drunk in popular postcards of the 1950s and 60s. In contrast to the sited explorations of Moore and Thauberger, we see these artists wayfare through history, using popular and material culture as a road on which to travel.

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art

volume 7 issue 3

Installation view of Absolutely Venomous Accurately Fallacious (Naturally Delicious), Deitch Projects, New York, 2008

wordsby leah turner

imagescourtesy avaf

reated in 2002 as a project for collaborative artistic practice, assume vivid astro focus is the title given to the wide range of artistic projects undertaken by its two core members (hailing originally from Brazil, now based in New York), alongside an ever-evolving, often recurrent cast of artists, friends and collaborators that varies according to the size and scope of the project at hand. Or, as the artists write in their own biographical statement, “assume vivid astro focus was born anytime between the 20th and 21st centuries in various parts of the world, nomads.” In a conscious rejection of the art world’s glorification of the celebrity artist, avaf attempts to remain anonymous (a task made easier by their penchant for masquerade). With a dynamic, unmonumental body of work that includes a synthesis of found, salvaged and re-mixed sculpture, wallpaper, decals, altered photographs, prints, collage, video, drawing, performance and music, avaf’s installations are mainly site-specific and curatorial by nature. They are explosive installations perhaps more accurately described by the art historical term gesamtkunstwerk; avaf creates immersive, extravagant and participatory total art environments. Described in the past as “the baroque meets the bootleg”, avaf is an artistic force with an expansive aesthetic and political frame of reference that defies easy description.

“Our minds and dreams are ahead of laws, politics, social codes, ethics and even technology. We live in a world of unaccomplished dreams… Freedom to share/spread/absorb/assume/ contaminate/inseminate/devour” (assume vivid astro focus, artist statement)

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(below) Installation view of Homo Crap from Ecstacy: In and About Altered States, MOCA, Los Angeles, 2005, dimensions variable

Through dazzling visuality and celebratory ritual that invokes psychedelia, queer club culture, soft-core porn, Brazilian Carnival and Tropicalia, avaf’s exuberantly ornamented environments are a multimedia sensory and sensual overload. Opening nights might include live performances, all-night DJ sets, pulsing neon lights and projections, tattoo booths and most importantly a plethora of flamboyantly costumed art-world and club kid revelers. As critic Gean Moreno puts it, “avaf is a project and a product, a platform and a party.” Audience activation has held an equally lauded and contested position within contemporary art and theory in recent years. Termed ‘relational aesthetics’ by French curator Nicholas Bourriard in reference to an open-ended, collaborative, and utopian artistic practice that is concerned with human interaction and social exchange rather than passive contemplation or consumption. The participatory impulse of much recent art is one that seeks to create active subjects, which artist Rirkrit Tiravanija famously exemplified in 1992 when he cooked and served a Thai curry buffet in an emptied Soho gallery office, positioning the artist as facilitator of social exchange rather than an autonomous maker of meaning. Ideally, the newly activated subject, empowered by the experience of relational art, is then capable of determining their particular social or political reality. In participatory art, authorial control is ceded in favour of the perceived democracy of collaboration, and a firm, if not idealistic, belief in its ability to, as critic and curator Claire Bishop describes, “restore the social bond through a collective elaboration of meaning.” Now a well-established name on the international biennial circuit and with exhibitions at several major institutions in North America, Europe and abroad under their collective belt, avaf’s particular brand of social activation is well underway. Indeed, the existence of participatory art is necessitated by a perceived crisis in community and social interaction, and avaf explain that “through collaboration we want our identity and the viewer’s to be forgotten. We entice performance and people’s participation so the viewer becomes one with the space surrounding him/her. We believe in the active participation of the audience and not only in the contemplative way of interacting with the work. We think that it is a much [more] powerful way to leave an imprint on people’s mind. Especially in this world we live in, where everything is so much about consumption.” Here, meaning is rendered through total surrender to their multi-sensory, communal and experiential environments. For avaf, having fun is not, as many would believe, an apolitical act. With lines thinly drawn

“We believe in the active participation of the audience and not only in the contemplative way of interacting with the work.”

100 avaf.

(left)

Installation view of Absolutely Venomous Accurately Fallacious (Naturally Delicious), Deitch Projects, New York, 2008 (above)

Opening night of Absolutely Venomous Accurately Fallacious (Naturally Delicious), Deitch Projects, New York, 2008

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101

(far left)

Nothing Novel Nothing Strange Part 2, Peres Projects, Berlin, 2008, neon, one way mirror plexi glass, controller, motor, aluminum, approx. 1.8 x 1.8 x 1.8m (left)

Installation view of Homo Crap from Ecstacy: In and About Altered States, MOCA, Los Angeles, 2005, dimensions variable

“Bring people deep inside their souls, entice alertness and conscience, rituals of consciousness, and engage people to connect with others in order to fully connect with yourself.”

(below)

Absolutely Venomous Accurately Fallacious (Naturally Selicious), Deitch Projects, New York, 2008

(or perhaps utterly blurred) between art, entertainment and hedonism, avaf’s works firmly reject contemporary art’s general pretension to seriousness. As we have all experienced in our own lives, moments of pure pleasure often come from truly lowering one’s boundaries and feeling connected to others, as one frequently is encouraged to do within avaf’s environments. Donning a mask or a costume provides a degree of anonymity, and thus, a more appealing opportunity to transgress social and behavioural convention. Here, sexuality, and in particular, queer sensibility and subculture is an integral part of avaf’s aesthetic and political pleasure project. Transsexualism is upheld as an iconic state of being, a literal embodiment of transgression, and a locus of sexual and physical freedom. Avaf’s environments are celebratory events of ritualistic force, where the artists seek to “bring people deep inside their souls, entice alertness and conscience, rituals of consciousness, and engage people to connect with others in order to fully connect with yourself.” Here a distinction can be drawn between psychedelic drug culture and avaf’s mandate. Going beyond the escapism of the psychedelic trip-out, avaf believes in the importance of guiding others toward the discovery of consciousness and the perpetuation of pleasure. This new type of engagement is a political gesture, where the re-activation of the subject takes on transformative possibility. Much of relational and participatory art is marked by the firm belief that art’s fundamental purpose is to affect political change. That this should be achieved through social exchange and spectator activation may well turn out to be a utopian sentiment, but in the meantime, the pleasure principle, afforded by assume vivid astro focus’ kaleidoscopic displays, is an attractive pursuit. gallery.me.com/astrofocus colORMAGAZINE.CA

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A-Ron, October 11, 2008 - Lower East Side, Manhattan

timebombtrading.com stickers@timebomb.bc.ca

Alien took it upon himself to test the strength of the Volvo’s windshield with a high-speed dive/body-check over the hood and into the glass, leaving it caved-in and sagging but still intact – a perfect barrier against the flying boards that would have inevitably smashed in Sandro Grison’s face as he sat in the besttrick judge’s booth (a.k.a. the driver’s seat of the increasingly battered station wagon). caissiephoto.

wordsby caleb beyers

n what was basically the only patch of dry concrete at the East Van Skate Plaza, on a typically drizzly May morning, two dozen of Vancouver’s most elite and gentlemanly skaters loosened up with a friendly game of S.K.A.T.E. In spite of the consistent one-upmanship, the exercise wasn’t about blood or bragging rights, it was simply a way to stay warm while waiting for a ride to Whistler, B.C., for the first installment of Color’s Skate and Deploy—the classiest and most refined skate contest Western Canada has ever seen. At around 9:30 a.m., with the sophistication and elegance of European diplomats at a world summit, the gentlemen pulled out of downtown Vancouver in what would turn out to be the most appropriate chariot—a Coors Light Coach Bus. Whether it was the close-quarters, the lack of adequate seating, the horrible canned party-music, or the endless supply of mid-morning silver bullets (served by a chesty, blonde on-board hostess), something within the league of gentlemen came undone. It was as if the collective Mr. Hyde within the group’s earlier Dr. Jekyll persona emerged. Idle banter turned into busted seats, shotgunning contests, grip-tape face masks, no-holds-barred wrestling, and a smoking incident that enraged the bus driver so much that he pulled over and threatened to empty the whole bus just north of Squamish. Thankfully their descent into sheer unruliness wasn’t so complete that they couldn’t muster a formal apology, and before long they were headed north again.

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Early morning risers: (l-r) Cory Wilson, Bradley Sheppard, Trevn Sharp, Zach Barton, Gordon Nicholas, Sheldon Meleshinski, Alien and Joe Buffalo. josephphoto.

As the crew descended upon the contest course (housed in an underground parking lot at the centre of Whistler Village), it turned out to be a good thing that dinner-jackets and cocktail party jokes had been replaced by midday beer buzzes and a disregard for social niceties. The course was cut from an old-school cloth, and featured a haphazard (not to mention ‘customizable’) arrangement of rickety grindboxes, blast ramps, wedges, wallride ramps, an oil-barrel, and an 80s Volvo station wagon topped with a manual pad, all sandwiched between 6-foot quarter pipes and a 6-foot flat-bank/roll-in. It was mayhem from the get-go, as the course clearly wasn’t designed for 'flow' and would have appalled even the most 'indie' of TV contest judges. It was within this mayhem that the contest developed its character and its D.I.Y. charm. Obstacles were shuffled around and

their placement was fine-tuned, traffic patterns emerged, and in spite of fairly regular collisions, the street-style throwing down began. The prelims and semis went off in jam-format with groups of five skaters getting five minutes each to destroy the course. The Volvo was sessioned hard with almost everything you could imagine—a squeaky clean front blunt on the hood by Bryan Wherry, and plenty of variety on the rooftop manual pad, and after attempts by many, an ollie-up the back (off a substantial kicker) to a styled out kickflip over the hood by Cory Wilson. The blast-ramp over the oil barrel saw a lot of action too—Jorden Murray clicked a switch-heel, Dustin Montie’s frontside flip gained some crowd excitement, John Hanlon’s hardflip was a

Brett Stobbart was one of many skaters to fill his pockets with some cash for tricks throughout the say. Here with an ollie-up to monstrous frontside flip over the hood. doubtphoto.

[ o ]CASSIE

The scene at the back of the Coors Bus: (l-r) Zach, Sheldon, Trevn, Chris Connolly, Nate Lacoste, Dustin Montie, Kane Hopkins, Alien. dufresnephoto.

judges favourite, and Paul Machnau owned it with a buttery smooth switch pop-shove-it. The quarter pipe saw a little bit of action, but none as dramatic as show-stopper Chris Connoly’s attempts at a melon-grab ape-hanger from a ventilation duct about seven feet above the lip. It was during the best-trick contest that the whole group somehow morphed from an already bulging Mr. Hyde into a full-on collective Incredible Hulk. In front of an ever-more-amped crowd, Chris Connolly blasted monster airs over the length of the roof (and almost the whole length of the wagon), but couldn’t quite stick the hoodsuspension landing—at least he didn’t take his dome off on the precariously close-hanging concrete ceiling beams and ventilation ducts. The raw energy of the competitors somehow spread to the locals and the course-side spectators who took it upon themselves to join the skaters in dumping the station wagon onto its side and have at it with anything they could get their hands on. With the wallride contest and the finals still to go, the centerpiece of the course had been destroyed, and the course had been littered with bits of glass,

John Hanlon could basically be considered the winner here. Standing up to Machnau is a winner in our books anyway. Here with a pristine backside tailslide on a notso-perfect edge. 2nd Place - $500 doubtphoto.

(above) Bus casualties. Why the name shifted from ‘destroy’ to ‘deploy’. nicholasphoto. / dufresnephoto.

.skate&deploy 107

[ o ] DUFRESNE

(left) 1st Place - $1000 As if he were an old man twirling a familiar cane, Paul Machnau flew through a list of tricks on this bad boy: frontside nosegrind 180, a frontside 5-0, and came awfully close to a pop-shovit nosegrind, all with impeccable style. Here he shows what it means to skate a car with a noseblunt. nicholasphoto. Gailea Momolu, 360 flip. dufresnephoto.

Nate Lacoste, tuck knee. caissiephoto.

The seven finalists got seven minutes to rip, and as the car had been flipped back over and had its roofline prepared for grinding, a lot of the finalists’ attention was focused there. The finalists destroyed almost every obstacle, but in the end, it was the bangers that brought home the goods: Bradley Sheppard (3rd place, $300), John Hanlon (2nd place, $500), and Paul Machnau (1st place, $1000).

As if to perfectly illustrate the difference between a real contest like this one, and the bullshit that passes for a skate-contest on TV, in the midst of the carnage, I saw more than a few young skaters wreaking havoc alongside their professional idols, smiling some of the biggest smiles imaginable. doubtphoto. / josephphoto. (far right) Almost immediately after simultaneously diving into the big pool and attempting to shotgun a beer, Alien tried to set a lighter to the beer-box he was wearing as a hat – apparently the all-day silver bullets had dulled Alien’s ability to make sense of the fact that soggy paper doesn’t take so well to flame. doubtphoto. Chris Connolly, frontside wallride. doubtphoto.

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The crowd had barely begun to disperse when most of the competitors headed for the nearest hot-tub to rest their bones—putting on a show for a group of unfortunate patrons of a nearby restaurant whose tables happened to have a perfect view of the post-contest antics, a.k.a. way too many swore skaters in a single tub. nicholasphoto.

broken lights, and the splintered pieces of the manual pad. Eventually, announcer Cyrus Thiedeke was able to regain control of the unruly masses, and shame them enough to gain order on the course again. It was a scene to warm the heart of any crusty die-hard who thinks that skateboarding is being taken over by corporate interests, and losing its from-the-streets soul. After a spontaneous quarterpipe jam, the push.ca wallride contest got underway in a corner of the parking lot where there was a nice “downhill” roll-in. Before the ramps had been properly placed, Joe Buffalo was already charging, and had wired down a couple of alley-oop to fakie wallrides, but only after a few solid slams. Wallride heights quickly got out of hand, as a local shredder almost made it to the top of the wall with a smooth wallride to fakie, and Jorden Murray managed some lofty backsiders as the distance between ramps continued to increase. Following some variations, including a terrifying one-footer, the crowd dissolved and the finals got underway.

As the sun went down, Vancouver’s finest regained the composure of their earlier selves and made their way over to a most refined event: Color’s “A Rolling Perspective” gallery show—at the Telus Whistler Ski and Snowboard Festival art exhibition. Surprisingly, the crew had mellowed out enough to sip their beverages now and were making jokes about “art”, “ladies”, and “the economy.” Perhaps the gnarly skater personas were just a sidebar to their usually polished selves, or perhaps it was the unconsumed alcohol that was a result of the nine open-container tickets, and the combined 90-plus beers that the Whistler police had forced them to empty between leaving the contest and arriving at the show. Either way, the competitors at Skate and Deploy’s first installment proved themselves to have the best of both Jekyll and Hyde, and helped make the contest a great start to what is sure to become a noble tradition.

Only years of touring and frequenting Motel 6’s would adhere to such resourcefulness displayed by Sheldon when he needed to dry off his swimwear for eveningwear. nicholasphoto.

Whistler police received an onslaught of different stories and excuses as to why they shouldn’t get a ticket for having open alcohol in public. Zach’s excuse may have been that he’s not old enough to. nicholasphoto.

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lifestyle

volume 7 issue 3

[ o ] YELLAND

[ o ] ARNOLD

matt irving

— You may not know him, but you definitely know him. As LSD-laden as that statement might seem, Irving started out doing board graphic designs for Element then began the Delphi Collective. More recently, he oversees all the creative ventures happening at Adidas Skateboarding with Juice Design, and directed a music video for Tortoise. Whether you know him or not, Irving is one who helps create what is “next” and “best”, and here they are...

POROUS WALKER

— Porous Walker is Infamously known for his intricate drawings of penises and boobies as well his humorous wit. He has been a contributor to Color for some time now and we thought we’d put even more on his plate by collecting his thoughts on what’s Next/Best.

MIC-E REYES

— Reyes is a man steeped in skateboarding tradition and has been helping to pull the strings behind the Deluxe empire ever since his street skating debut in the mid-80s. With such longevity in the business, we thought catching up with him on his Next/Bests would be an easy treat. We were right.

CITY

esCape

band

film/director

Berlin / San Francisco

Lem Villemin / Al Davis

Backyard / Mind

Yong-Ki Chang / Rick Howard Jr.

MP3 under your skin / Vinyl

Spike / Hitchcock

URL

pro

HABIT

PRO

GRAPHIC

Photographer

wikipedia.org / imdb.com

Dennis Busenitz / Eric Koston

Sleeping / Working

Rick McCrank / Mark Gonzales

Peel and eat / Slicks

Gabe Morford / Tobin

Cuisine

Get-away

USEFUL ACCESSORY

DUDE

Fall

Drink

Fusion / Japanese or Italian

Island with no power / Mountains

Brain / Butthole and peehole (tie)

Jeremy Fish / Jeffrey Lebowski

It will hurt no more / It still hurts

Make your own / Not enough

VIDEO

FILMER/DIRECTOR

USELESS ACCESSORY

MEAL

VIDEO

pizza

Fourstar - if they made full video / FTC’s Penal Code 100A

Michel Gondry / Jean-Luc Godard

Small talk / Clothes

Pears / Pastas

Girl, Anti Hero, Krooked Trip / Cadillac Tour

Octagon / Round

Graphic

DUDE

BAND

MOVIE

Trick

url

Evan Hecox - Chocolate / Blueprint or Cliché

Can’t wait to meet him! / Keegan Sauder

Wilco / The Mumps & The Measles

"Oh God" / Royal Tenenbaums, Time Bandits, 8 ½ (tie)

Go watch Sick Boys - I said in the vid / Having fun

Dlxsf.com / What’s a URL

Purchase

MEAL

city

GROUP OF FRIENDS

Pro

Coffee from Four Barrel / My dog named Captain

Learning to make spaetzle / Making pizza for 4 years now

San Franciso, CA / Tikal, Guatemala

Crop Circle Producers / Australians

Am is the new pro / Was your best friend

2,000 more / The big 10

Band

Video Part

PURCHASE

GRAPHIC

Purchase

Park

Haven’t heard them yet / That’s impossible to answer

Busenitz - upcoming Real video / Jason Lee - A Visual Sound

No need for cash, scan your eye / Walkman

Too many to skate in your life / SF streets

BOOK

Photographer

Hobby

Video part

Outliers by M. Gladwell / Reservation Blues by S. Alexie

Some young photographer / Gaberman or Morford

Make some time / Always had time

Download it to your brain / No video camera, just skating!

Trick

Fad

—

FS 180 over a rail to switch back Revival of tech skate shoes / smith on the other side / Companies caring about how they BS tailslide make their products

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—

Spot illustration jobs with Color / Anything from Skate Mental / My 'Big Red' from Solitary Arts Anything from Michael Leon

GET-AWAY —

VIDEO PART —

Outer Space after 9pm / Anything with Michael Sieben / Australia (I think, I haven't been Anything with Mark Gonzales there yet)

—

PHOTOGRAPHER

FILMER/DIRECTOR

FAD

TRIP

Corey Arnold, Isaac Randozzi, Bob Kronbauer (tie) / Carina Simon

Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Mihai Malamaire Jr. (tie) / Spike Jonze

Graphics on grip tape / Bullet 66 to 38mm wheels go figure

No one will talk to each other, they will just Twitter / Boom box’s at the spot!

—

artwork: Esao photo: Doubt

Momentumʼs ﬁrst-ever environmentally charged wheel. Made with a 25% soy based compound, our new high performance skateboard wheels rely less on non-renewable fossil fuels, taking the ﬁrst step towards a more ecologically aware ride. www.momentumskate.com

[ o ] BLABAC

mike blabac

— Mike Blabac is one of skateboarding’s most eminent photographers and holds a long and credit-filled history under his belt. His first camera, a Nikon F3, gave him a window into the world of photography, and from there he envisioned a future behind the lens with skateboarding squarely in focus. A move to San Francisco early on gave him the opportunity to work at Mad Circle, and it was during this time that his first big break arrived in the form of finally being published in Transworld. Later, a move to southern California led him to work with Girl and Chocolate skateboards. In 1999, the future began to shine even brighter when he joined DC Shoes, where he is still their exclusive skate photographer. There, he has had the chance to shoot many of skateboarding’s greats and see every corner of the globe. This year brings the release of his first book, BLABAC PHOTO – The Art of Skateboarding Photography, which documents 20 years of skateboarding history pulled from Blabac’s extensive collection of work.

esCape

— Hawaii / Backseat

TRICK

— Wes / Danny Way

MOVIE

— Something old for sure / Slappies

— Anything my son Noah takes me to / Dumb and Dumber

FILMER/DIRECTOR

PRO

BOOK

— Matt and Quise / Wes

— Mike Poore / Greg Hunt

— One of the above / Danny Way

— Blabac Photo / Any Avedon Book

Graphic

MEAL

— One of the above / Anything funny

— Wing Night / Sushi Deli

Fad

CITY

— Even tighter pants / Comfortable pants

— Los Angeles / San Francisco

PURCHASE

CUISINE

— Another Point and Shoot Camera / Hasselblad H3D

Band

— Nihilist / Slayer 112 colORMAGAZINE.CA

VIDEO PART

— Chicken / Sushi

PHOTOGRAPHER

— Dennis McGrath / Oliver Barton

volume 7 issue 3

lifestyle

Photo Lesson

Lance Mountain was my favorite skater when I was a kid. Aside from ripping, he made skateboarding look like so much fun in the old Powell Peralta videos. I knew Lance was interested in photography because of his photos published in magazines. So for a writing assignment in 8th grade in 1988, I wrote him a letter asking him about how to become a photographer. I never expected to hear back, but sure enough I received a postcard from Lance a few weeks later. His advice was so simple and I still follow it to this day.

Introduction

DC Shoes

105

DC Shoes

147

“When I think of Danny Way, I can’t help but see one of the sick images Blabac has shot of him over the years.” Danny Way

I had just finished shooting a street contest in Sacramento in 1995 and was meeting up with Eric Koston and Steve Berra in SF to shoot some stuff for Eric’s interview. While in the Mission District, we ran into a group of skaters, and Mike happened to be one of them. Later that day I got two amazing tricks of Eric on Hubba Hideout, a switch tailslide and a nollie noseslide—keep in mind this was 1995. Over the years Mike and I have shared some serious lens time together, especially during the filming of The DC Video, because Danny Way’s stuff needed more than one photographer. How I got picked for the crew I’ll never know. It was an honor being on the Danny Way handpicked photo team with Mike and Grant Brittain because, damn, that was such a great part of skateboarding history. We’d all show up at Point X in different cars and wander around the site looking for the best angle. That is, the best angle that Mr. Blabac didn’t have. Ha. He was the first there and the last to leave, so working around him was just part of the deal. We didn’t mind, and Mike’s so humble that he probably thought he was getting in our way. No dice—things couldn’t have worked out better. When it came time to do our first issue of The Skateboard Mag, we met with Ken Block of DC to look at the latest Danny Way Mega Ramp stuff for the DC bonus edition. And we were straight up blown away. I mean, jaws fell to the ground, and not just because of the ridiculous skating—the photography was just as mindblowing. Putting that silhouette shot of Danny on our first cover was a no-brainer. My only regret is I wish I could have been there shooting as well. But the timing couldn’t have been better, and having that stuff for our first issue really made people take us seriously. When I think of Danny Way, I can’t help but see one of the sick images Blabac has shot of him over the years.

Dave Swift

Editorial Director, The Skateboard Mag San Francisco

Los Angeles

images from ‘Blabac Photo’ book courtesy DC Shoes

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skate

volume 7 issue 3

wordsby jeff thorburn

captionsby matt eversole

hat is it exactly that makes the Tiltmode Army just so awesome? A few things come to mind immediately: a giant prop VX1000, five cent mustache rides, grown men in costumes, and tech deck ollies. But how did these San Jose skateboarders go from skating junk in parking lots and having dress-up parties to being an internationally recognizable skateboard crew? “The crew came together as natural as a granola bar,” says Matt Eversole, Enjoi Skateboarding Brand Manager. “We all skated together. A lot. We partied together. A lot.”

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for whatever reason, we us drank a bunch at the time and of st Mo . fun s wa it e aus bec eversole tied “We par ges back ‘tilting them back’.” —matt era bev lt adu e som g win thro led cal

Tantau s moved into a house called the At some point, a flock of Tiltmoder rent projects, but mainly just for diffe for d filme and d skate Empire. They easy (1999 ) and Man Down (2001), it’s the fun of it. Watching Tiltmode these guys. Both to are s time good and dship to see how important frien over skating and partying together all videos are filled with clips of them s than smile more have s video ode Tiltm San Jose. I’d even wager that the there. any other skateboard video out time and Most of us drank a bunch at the “We partied because it was fun. rages back ‘tilting beve adult e som ing throw d for whatever reason, we calle became day of skating, the act of drinking them back’,” says Matt. “After a night the of rest the for ing drink e g som known as ‘Tiltmode’, meaning doin on Tiltmode! ’ was used meaning, one this set s ‘Let’ ds. frien of as a crew e fun.’” ‘let’s get fucked up and have som come part. But where does the “Army” So, that explains the “Tiltmode” here near anyw used rally gene ’t aren from? The words “army” and “fun” Tiltmode recruitment pamphlets). “In the each other (except maybe in Army of one of the crew marching clip end an was e “ther , Matt video,” says ”, it was deemed “The Tiltmode Army in a set of mirrors. Here is where 116 tiltmodearmy.

(above) s Think of this photo like Jose Rojo' career. Up a long easy ride, chills all on a front blunt for a bit, then it's downhill from there.

(clockwise top left) Zack Wallin could probably go up this double set, but he opts for the easy way with a hard flip down it. This is Jerry Hsu switch frontside heelinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; a trouble set before he had hair on his sctotz. The hardest working tar mopper in the game. Screaming Lord Halba feebles during his post 30 killing spree. Holy nosegrind, Cabman.

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“You don’t enlist, you get drafted.” —louie

(top) Nestor Judkins back 180 fakie 5.0's his way into the hearts of 15 year old boys world wide.

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(right) Chauncey Peppertooth nosegrinds from yesteryear.

barletta

(above) Daryl Angel chews on a 50-50 with his hidiously fucked teeth.

as it appeared to be a militant marc h. And so, we became known as the Tiltmode Army. It was all a joke. It was never planned out, but som ehow it stuck. It’s a silly name, but in the end it brings us all together.” “You don’t enlist, you get drafted,” adds Louie Barletta. Didn’t we all have a group of frien ds like that when we were growing up skating? As it goes, most of our original crews probably stopped skating and moved on to more ‘normal’ pursuits and hobbies. If we are lucky, one day we are able to fall into that new group of friends that makes us feel like kids again when we go skateboarding. Because no matt er what anyone says, skateboarding is far more fun when you are amo ngst friends. Just ask Paul Sharpe, Team and Marketing Manager at Enjo i: “No matter how infrequent my visits back to San Jose or wherever it is we find to congregate the shred, it always feels like home. That’s what makes it beautiful. There’s neve r a dull moment. Be prepared to rock the dunce cap.” Maybe what makes Tiltmode so special in a lot of our eyes is how the group never seemed to have disba nded. These are the lucky guys that never had to find that new crew ; they all just stuck together and kept skating. “All we need is some tasty concrete and sweet babes,” says Jose Rojo. “We only live to get radic al.” “It’s craz y to think how long I’ve actually been skating with the same group of dudes,” says Matthew “Halba” Hathaway. “I can look back , and all of my fondest memories have something to do with the Army , even if it was before I knew what a Tiltmode Army was.”

.tiltmodearmy 119

for being on their turf and “Skate crews are trying to fight me hsu It really has no advantages.” —jerry girls think I’m some closeted gay.

(above) Jason “The Kid” Adams tailblocks his way to a bounced photo incentive check.

dships so many years together, these frien Inevitably though, after spending each on ing ragg y tantl cons of erly stage have moved into that weird broth ode. They “I was never asked to be in Tiltm other, even if it’s just out of love. in the videos. Now I ads gayw and ks drun e thos all just lumped me in with Skate ciation I don’t even care about! have to live with this awkward asso I’m some think girls and tuft their on crews are trying to fight me for being ntages,” says Jerry Hsu. closeted gay. It really has no adva unt other places jaws drop at the amo “I’ve seen skaters or crews from Halba, the selfsays us,” of all een betw pires of shit talking that trans if I ys tried to adhere to the policy that proclaimed village idiot. “I’ve alwa are the ies hom the of rest the think I shouldn’t say something, I just will. behind e sort of sick motivation, because same way. It translates into som iration. The homies helping you adm and love of s year are the shit there anigans ys hooking you up. Calling shen get through a rough one, or alwa when you’re being s rock kick go to you g tellin or when you’re blowing it, and any ode Army is all about. Well, that a douche. That’s what the Tiltm excuse to rage.”

(left) Big Jesse Erickson gets pulled for this ollie a few minutes after he built a house.

(below) Everyone Loves Jerry Hsu, so it doesn't matter what he does. front blunt

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wordsby sam mckinlay

122 colORMAGAZINE.CA

ack in the late 80s I asked my parents to grab me a skateboard magazine from the newsstand as they went out shopping. Eagerly awaiting the new issue of Thrasher or Transworld Skateboarding, I stayed home and skated the backyard bowl. When they came through the door they pulled out the prominently yellow cover of a magazine called Poweredge, saying it was the only skateboard magazine on the stand. Perusing this new magazine was different to say the least. I had this young attitude that possibly the magazine wasn’t up to par, was missing something that I found in Thrasher and Transworld. Dog-eared beyond recognition, back then, we read magazines to death—analyzing them to an extreme. It didn’t take long to realize that Poweredge had something that the other magazines comparatively did not. Within the predominately black and white pages was a keen sense of an aesthetic that the others had been continuously moving toward. With writers such as Neil Blender and GSD at the helm of incredibly introspective style and obsession-based columns like Aggro Zone and Street Sheet respectively, Poweredge seemed to be aligning the code of such articles with the massive cultural ‘zine movement of the time, and appeared to be taking the dive into promoting a published magazine, all while under the guise of a more minimal, artistic, and high-contrast totemic ‘skateboard move’ / trick ideology. Poweredge was promoting the act of skateboarding, driving forth with a clearer vision of what makes up the skateboard ‘move’ and tapping into the power that drives the grinds, boneless ones, and railslides straight into our young psyches. Poweredge took cues from various major skateboard publications’ occasional artsy and creatively edgy columns and developed a magazine that felt completely generated from an artistically-focused editorial base. It may seem like a major step to have taken in the skateboard publication business at the time, but the atmosphere of the skateboard world in the mid-to-late 80s was a little more creatively driven than today.

volume 7 issue 3

skate

(left) Detail of “Rob Dyerdeck,” Poweredge, December 1991, Number 29 (p. 36) (below) Detail of text, Poweredge, February 1991, Number 31 (p. 37)

[ o ] DOUBT

Poweredge, January 1991 Number 30

Transworld Skateboarding, February 1986

Articles in Transworld like Garry Scott Davis’ [GSD] Street Sheet and Blender’s Aggro Zone weren’t doing something completely out of the ordinary compared to the likes of certain stylized and classy 70s Craig Stecyk pieces in Skateboarder Magazine, but for the time they were doing something very powerful for the skateboard community and its keen aesthetic eye with the microscopic view of skateboarding itself. GSD’s Street Sheet column looked at somewhat personal and favourite street skating spots that gave a stern sense of the obsessive and unglorified; the random semi-popular curb, or the rough and just barely skateable ditch or bank. GSD states, “Back then, any and all terrain was game to every skater, and was featured prominently in magazines and videos. Most kids skated for fun rather than sponsorship.” Neil Blender’s column, Aggro Zone, looked at the fetishized nature of the 80s vert ramp and it’s tendencies for obsession; tackling themes from grinding plastic coping photographic analysis to dirty flannel shirt plywood halfpipe smith grinds. Suddenly, Lester Kasai and Christian Hosoi’s huge airs along with Tony Hawk and Steve Caballero’s technicality were taking a backseat to the random local and his grind in a ditch, the parking lot slappy from the guy in a sports coat and tight jeans, the frontside boneless at the Gemco bank, all the way to the stylish smith or even a lapover grind on PVC coping. All of these subtle maneuvers that made up the “normal” act of skateboarding at the time were suddenly a type of fetish—a virtual totem for young skateboarders everywhere. Even the media styles were eventually copied and verified for themselves personally. The doit-yourself ‘zine culture took the style and aesthetic to new levels.

[ o ] DOUBT

To truly describe what was happening at that time in the skateboard world you need to remember that the punk rock gnarlers of skateboarding’s early 80s were slowly taking a backseat to the more art-driven subculture of the skateboard world. Prominent creative figures such as Neil Blender and Todd Swank were really beginning to influence the masses of the skateboard crowd. One of the prime figures behind Poweredge magazine and its creative direction was Thomas Campbell, who remembers, “To me, Neil [Blender] and Todd [Swank] were the big creative figures, and I don’t see it articulated that way very often, as far as ‘zine culture was going at that time.” Skaters began to see the stylized Picasso-esque drawing style of Blender and Swank everywhere— not just stemming from their successful deck graphics, but also from Blender’s Aggro Zone column, his interviews and occasional pages featuring his drawings, and Swank’s major publication photography and own amazing, high contrast Xerox ‘zine, Swank Zine. The works of these skaters and others like Phread Conrad featured elongated and stretched faces, bodies, nature, and artifacts not unlike the deconstruction and revaluation of the form from cubists like painter Georges Braque, but with a style that directly mimicked the attention to detail in the skateboarders’ writings, photography, and even skateboard styles. The reflection of the skateboarder and his world through the mindset of an early 20th century cubist or expressionist painter was coming into fruition via the ‘zines and eventually the major publications like Transworld Skateboarding.

Thrasher, July 1986 Volume 6 Number 7

Swank Zine, December 1987 Number 20

(right) Detail of Mario Rubalcaba, Poweredge, December 1991, Number 29 (p.42)

.xeroxtotheedge 123

[ o ] DOUBT

(above) Detail of Jason Rogers, Poweredge, January 1991, Number 30 (p. 16) (left) Detail of text, Poweredge, February 1991, Number 31 (p. 33)

It’s easy to find a ‘zine from the 80s that reflects upon the simple act of skateboarding as its prominent feature. Not the hardflip down 10 stairs, but the truck stuck to the top of the curb or lip— the skateboarder analyzing the dirt and core of the skateboard and what it means to the environment around it. The skateboard and skateboarders are suddenly aesthetically and creatively deconstructed in all their possible subtleties—really getting into what the skateboard can represent as a whole based on, for example, the act of lapping over and stalling a grind. This experience even translated into the mentality and editorial aspects of the BMX magazine, as Spike Jonze and Andy Jenkins began Homeboy magazine almost as a virtual response to the styles culminating in skateboarding at the time. The BMX rims, the grips, the tires, and the frames were examined with the camera as they jutted against a wall, jumped from a curb cut, or were ran against the edge of a curb. This style was never more prevalent and all encompassing, though, until Poweredge came along, by systematically making a whole publication out of the ‘act of skateboarding’. With the creative and introspective elements, Poweredge was around during, an interesting period in skateboarding and skateboard culture as a whole. One thing that separated it from the rest though was that they dealt headlong with the new movements in skateboarding that were developing—that being more technical street skateboarding and its style and ideologies, presenting new themes that didn’t just mimic the Del Mar trickery of the vert guys in the mid-80s. When Poweredge started in the late 80s, skateboarders were beginning to look a little more inward than outward, hence the new generations of zine makers and painters, but this was to also eventually reflect upon the tricks and industry regard124 xeroxtotheedge.

less of the personal totems described above that the publications were establishing. Christian Kline was another of the primary creative forces behind Poweredge magazine and I also got to hear from him on his experience with the magazine: “I thought to be punk I had to give up everything that wasn’t punk. Thank god I eventually threw off that yoke. But the D.I.Y. ethic was an amazing thing to see. Pros felt disenfranchised, working for the bigger more established companies, where decisions were made without them. So they started their own companies, where they were allowed to do their own graphics, create their own image. At that point in time it seemed like every skateboarder was working on some artistic endeavor, Chris Miller was always drawing, Blender was drawing and playing music, Swank was taking photos. There were writers, musicians, artists of every flavour at every turn. It was as if it was part of the outfit. What would you say in your interview if you weren’t working on a project of some type?” ‘Tricks’ were becoming ‘important’ again as the street skaters, in response to the glorified vert and skateboard industry that was slowly dying, were examining the dirt and concrete of the street world and what would be possible without a halfpipe or skatepark. Poweredge was successful in accessing the street skateboarder and seemingly end-of-vert-days skateboarder with the same artistic integrity, with works from writers such as Blender and GSD. Christian Kline further describes the state of things at the time: “Poweredge was gritty completely by the limited resources as much anything. We had a tiny budget. We couldn’t pay freelancers much, and the big people, the famous contributors were taken by TWS and Thrasher. We got lucky by working with Thomas Campbell. Otherwise the art and fiction we used was random stuff people sent in.” Not to say that Poweredge didn’t have its multitudes of vert, pool, and bowl action since the beginning in 1987,

Poweredge, February 1991 Number 31

Poweredge, December 1991 Number 29 (pp. 24-25)

Poweredge, January 1991 Number 30 (pp. 36-37)

Poweredge, December 1991 Number 29 (pp. 50-51)

(below) Detail of Joe Johnson, Poweredge, January 1991, Number 30 (p.35)

far from it. But as the 90s neared, you could sense between the lines and photos of articulated smith grinds, lapovers, and boneless ones that something was seething with the growing amount of coverage of guys like Ed Templeton, Jason Lee, Andy Howell, and Mark Gonzales. They, as we all know, re-assessed the environment around them with a grounded grassroots mentality that brought vert technicality to the streets long before Colin McKay could give some back and introduce street maneuvers to vert. But most importantly, with their satire-like artistic presence and somewhat of a political agenda as skateboarding became re-motivated within their new street class structures. Kline fondly remembers some of the personalities behind the almost ‘Art Brut’ creative tendencies toward ‘street’ skateboard culture: “Ed Templeton is my same age, and we grew up watching this stuff happen. He wanted to be an artist badly enough that he worked his way into being one. He drew, he studied, he worked. It was amazing to watch, and still is. Ever heard of that Jason Lee kid? He didn’t draw very well, but he wrote funny stories; ask anyone who had an office with a computer in it, Jason would be there, typing away, usually with three people standing over him, typing some story about something, usually featuring ridiculous names. Mark Gonzales would always be drawing somewhere, or making something.” This was still the heavily art-laden days of late 80s vert and mini ramp pros as their personalities reflected their skating—which was the defining factor of this early street movement before the baggy pants evolved to the eventual jock, hammer mentality, and ultra photo and video part incentive became the norm. Poweredge magazine pioneered the ‘artistic’ and conceptual, deconstructed style within the skateboard world at the time of the late 80s and early 90s with its editing and content. It was not unusual to be perusing the photo sections entitled The Edge and see a boneless in a ditch on one page opposite a very early handrail charge, somehow seamlessly joined to each other with the ideology of subtle power via concise skateboarding-as-fetish (the trucks, the wrecked boards, the coping dust, etc.) imagery. All of this culminated into the most unique reading and visual experience of the time that enabled skateboarders to feel that their creative energies could be expended on such things they felt strongly about: the bank down the street, the parking block in the old parking lot, etc., all giving the reader a sense of creative importance, this taking place within even the ‘published’ world of skateboarding. The great legacy of the ideologies and techniques used in Poweredge can be found in the fact that skateboarding in the 2000s seems to be more open ended than ever even amongst the powerful cash flow it promotes. Articles that portray skateboarding actions-and-elements-as-fetish, with creative interpretations of varied spots, all with a visual style are slowly beginning to seep into our consciousness again as pros and ams seek out spots and concepts beyond the ledge or handrail. That ideology meshed with the fact that skateboarders have a somewhat heavy presence in the contemporary world of drawing, illustration, and painting, shows us that the concept-driven skateboarder as artist can still be found in the crags and crevices of the unique and worshipped skate spots everywhere.

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lifestyle

volume 7 issue 3

[ o ] DOUBT

[ o ] CLIFFORD

HUGO BALEK

Barry walsh

Montreal’s Hugo Balek made his mark on Canada a few years ago, as one of Montreal’s fastest rising stars amongst the area’s deep pool of skateboarding talent. With style and trick selection to keep us watching, this member of the Dime Store Crew continues to call the streets of Montreal—and the local dépanneur—home. Next/Bests anyone?

While not the biggest household name, it sure as hell should be and we’d like to think we can help with that. Whether you know it or not, Walsh has been paving the way a million times over, right from the 80s down to the present day. In recent years, he’s focused his lenses on destroying the tight transitions of Montreal’s Big O, alongside fellow friend, Marc Tison. Mr. Walsh is not to be mistaken; his trademark eyeglasses are the window into a great Canadian mind.

—

ESCAPE

Video/MOVIE

Fad

Book

Somewhere exotic hopefully / Prague

Flip video / Fargo - anything with the Coen brothers

Fix-gear bikes with bmx handlebars / Roller derby

No clue / Subway Art by Henry Chalfant

Filmer/Director

Trick

CREW

Phillipe Lavoie / Phillipe Lavoie

Kickflip tail block / style & flow

Ally Cat Bicycle Club / Embassy MTL Sk8 Crew

MEAL

Meal

Spencer Hamilton / Mike Anderson

Beige food - fast food (it’s all biege) / Poutine

Mikey Plantus / Keegan Sauder

Indian Thali / Sheppards pie

Pro

Habit

Pro

City

Jake Jonhson / Dennis Bussenitz

Make some time / Always had time

Justin Gastelum / Peter Hewitt

Kingston, Jamaica / Montreal

Purchase

Get-away

Graphic

Cuisine

Xbox 360 / Halo and Xbox live

Toronto / San Francisco

Something with meaning / Gator

Carribean / Anything organic

URL

City

Band

Dead Person

thedimestorecrew.com / rad-dudes.com

Toronto / Montreal

Resurrected GG Allin with Necro / The Wailers

Any politician / Peter Tosh

Video Part

Useless accessory

Photographer

Habit

Antoine Asselin in Sus-Monts / Jake jonhson

Money / Wallets are too overrated

Anyone who still shoots with film / Boogie

Following your heart / Living in the now

Band

USEFUL ACCESSORY

GREEN TREND/INITIATIVE

VIDEO

MC Guy & MC Shit (A. Asselin and P. Lavoie) / RBL Posse

Lighter / Computers

Vegetable fueled cars / Bicycles

Tunnel Vision / Evel Knievel - Last of the Gladiators

CREW

Photographer

Purchase

Video Part

Dime Store Crew / Skaters representing the montreal island

Kasey Andrew, Geoff Clifford / Too many, everyone I shoot with are the best

Food, beer, records, toys, ghetto blasters / SE 24 inch cruiser (flat black)

Tunnel Vision (Big-O Mixtape) / Pat Duffy in the rain (Plan B)

—

TRICK —

Front heelflips / Sweet tre flips

—

126 colORMAGAZINE.CA

—

[ o ] ATIBA

ANDREW POMMIER

ANDREW WK

Almost a household name when it comes to art and skateboarding, Andrew Pommier’s list of credits roll like the end of a movie. From meager beginnings in Sudbury, Ontario and the “big smoke” of Toronto, Pommier worked hard and studied hard, and even spent a year in Florence, Italy as part of his schooling. A later move to Vancouver brought his work further into focus, and after a multitude of collaborations, credits, and exhibitions stretching across the globe; from Europe to North America to Australia, we arrive here: in the mind of Mr. Andrew Pommier.

Andrew’s will is “to create feelings of pure joy, true fun, total love, endless freedom, and infinite possibility.” What else does anyone need? A man with close ties to skateboarding, this unique entertainer and self-help wizard took some time out from spreading love to give us his Next/Best. Oh, and Andrew told me to tell you this: after reading this, you are legally bound to party hard

—

TRIP

Purchase

TRIP

GRAPHIC

Toronto / Shanghai

Paint / MacBook

Salvia / The Grand Canyon

Graffix / Violence

FAD

band

Purchase

Doing / Thinking

Tapes ‘n Tapes / Fugazi

Green / Rainbow

Dreams / Candy

Trick

Park

Fall

band

Rolling to the store / Ollie

The Plaza / Burnside 1992

Autumn / The House of Usher

Funkadelic / Parliament

HOBBY

film/director

Trick

Park

Reading / Drawing

Adam and Dave / Cohen Brothers

Making the world appear / 53 card pickup

Your domain / Your car

Drink

GET-AWAY

HOBBY

film/director

Water / Coffee

San Antonio, Texas / Jersey Shore

Living / Stamp Collecting

Marty / Martin Scorcese

HABIT

Drink

PHOTOGRAPHER

That kid at the park that is rad / Scott Pommier

Yoga / Cooking

Liquid Wood / Milk

Andrew Strasser / Ansel Adams

Pro

MEAL

get-away

Keegan Sauder / Geoff Rowley

Homemade curry / Eating with my girlfriend Brie

DJ / Cock-a-doodle-do

From everything / From the city

pizza

url

Pro

BOOK

Vegan with lots of olives / All dressed from Pizza Joint in Sudbury

weloveyouso.com / wikipedia.org

Lapse / Gram

The Bible / The Yellow Pages

ALBUM

GRAPHIC

pizza

MAGAZINE

Japandroids-Post-Nothing / Dead Kennedys - Bedtime for Democracy

Heroin Skateboards / Mario Rubalacaba - New School Board 1992

Thanksgiving Day feast with mashed potato stuffed crust / Cheese

Color! / Life

—

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127

music

volume 7 issue 3

wordsby jason grimmer

illustrationby niall mcclelland

he music-industry is suffering through its much-publicized death throes, yet the time has never been better for the discerning music lover. Vinyl and cassettes have made unforeseen comebacks and for those of us in the trenches, knee deep in the thick black wax – either as long-time purchasers of music or sellers of such arcane stuff – the most noticeable change is the increasing availability of amazing new and previously unavailable music out there waiting for a warm turntable to call home.

Eschewing compact disks for the most part, revitalized labels like Siltbreeze and Slumberland are enjoying a renaissance of sorts, pressing vinyl and selling out of their limited supplies. New, small labels like S-S, Captured Tracks, Woodsist (who perhaps first saw a future in this ‘dead medium’ business with their Fuck It Tapes division) and a growing number of like-minded others are releasing albums that are flying off forward-thinking record stores’ shelves. They’re also keeping the post office busy with 12x12 packages of new releases by artists like Kurt Vile, Dum Dum Girls, Wavves, Los Llamarada and Nothing People being shipped to anxious music fanatics all over Europe and North America. The near-mainstream (I’m being generous here) success of Times New Viking, Vivian Girls, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and the rest of their messy-pop brethren has brought attention to the new noise and, though there are yet no Nirvanas in the bunch, its modest success is a coup of sorts and serves as a welcome surprise.

Caleb Braaten’s Sacred Bones label, based in Brooklyn, was launched in 2007 and to date has offered eighteen different releases. The most notable include the second album by the mysterious Factums, the CD version of cold-wavers Blank Dogs On Two Sides (vinyl version on Troubleman), the new record by ex-Country Teasers main man Ben Wallers (under his new nom-de-plume The Rebel) and 7-inch singles by new weirdos Gary War, Naked On The Vague, Pink Noise and Spirit Photography.

Color: What motivated you to start up Sacred Bones [SB]? CB: [I had] no real intention other than to put out a few of my friends’ records. My original goal was for it to be a reissue label. But then I discovered that there was this really amazing music being made and I dove in headfirst. I never really wanted the label to have one particular sound, just music that I thought was great. Like my own giant mixtape.

People can download pretty much anything now, yet your label focuses on limited-edition pressings and handmade packaging. Do you find the work rewarding? I love doing the limited-editions of my records. It’s probably my favourite part, that’s when I get to do more of the handmade stuff. So I hope the interest will continue. I believe the most influential labels were the ones that had a cohesive design. I was inspired by labels like Factory, 4AD, Crass, Young Gods, etc. When you get all those records there is some sort of feeling of accomplishment. How nice is it to look at a pile of Crass Records 7-inches? I find a lot of ideas in classical and old-timey records, as well as 78 labels. I love the old-time aesthetic. What’s coming up for SB? I’m extremely excited about our showcase at SXSW [South by Southwest] this March. I’m really looking forward to the release of the 13th Chime and Cultural Decay re-issues and hope to do more re-issues this year. I’m looking forward to working with some of the same artists that I have in the past. I have full-lengths coming out for Zola Jesus and Gary War in the near future, as well as Nice Face, Dead Luke, Blank Dogs, The Pink Noise and Factums. I also look forward to working with new people. There are so many incredibly talented people out there it blows my mind. This should be a very fruitful year. SACREDBONESRECORDS.COM

128 colORMAGAZINE.CA

fashion

volume 7 issue 3

As she steps into another dimension Hannah wears an ELEMENT jacket, EMERICA crew neck sweater, VOLCOM pants, and C1RCA shoes. COLORMAGAZINE.CA

131

Treading new intergalactic steps she wears a VOLCOM jacket, ETNIES shirt, DC pants and C1RCA shoes.

132 quantumtapestry.

In the front Hanna is wearing a BILLABONG one piece suit with DC shoes on her “feet”, and in the back she is wearing an INSIGHT bikini with DVS x HUF shoes on her hands.

133

In this top portrait Hanna is wearing a hooded WESC top with RVCA trousers, and on the bottom half a VOLCOM jacket, RVCA knit, MATIX cigarette pants , bright digital VESTAL watches, and NIKE SB shoes.

Taking a nap, Hanna is wearing POINTER shoes, WESC pants, and a ROXY top. colORMAGAZINE.CA

135

lifestyle

volume 7 issue 3

words and illustration by caleb beyers

efore the idea of online social networking had entered the popular consciousness, certainly before it had supplanted the tried and true face-to-face variety, twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss had started a little website called Connect U. Their concept—“a way to share information about your life with your friends online”—had picked up considerable momentum when their then-chief programmer Mark Zuckerberg quit and started his own site: The Facebook. Three days after The Facebook’s launch, the brothers Winklevoss sent Zuckerberg an official cease-and-desist letter—after all, it seemed that Zuckerberg had simply taken their idea and run with it on his own. The letter launched a legal battle that the brothers have fought since The Facebook became Facebook and rocketed from being a college experiment into a multi-billion dollar company and one of the most-trafficked websites in history.

figures attached to our case that the media started to care. It was like ‘oooh, this involves a lawsuit over a billion dollar company run by a 25-year-old, my readers are going to love this…’ No one cared when we were just college kids doing our thing,” says Tyler. The Harvard administration (where Zuckerberg and the brothers were going to school), wouldn’t touch the case, saying that it wasn’t something they could address.

Only after a couple of years of litigation did the media pick up on the Winklevoss’ still-active lawsuit. In typical media mudslinging fashion, the brothers were accused of trying to steal some of the success of a “pioneering” college kid—or at least cash in on it. But in fact, it was the brothers that had believed in the idea of publishing actual, honest personal information online, and had introduced the idea to Zuckerberg, long before anyone knew about “status updates,” “super walls,” or “friend wheels.”

The brothers knew their idea had the potential to get huge and had approached Zuckerberg to finish off their already partially developed website and code base. Zuckerberg agreed to become a member of the team, but unfortunately for them, he had no intention of actually honoring this partnership. Three months after their first meeting, Zuckerberg launched Facebook without even letting his teammates know he had left the project. Zuckerberg had picked a name that resonated with the college students and formed the site’s original critical mass. In US colleges and universi-

“It was only once there were big dollar 136 colORMAGAZINE.CA

“You’d think the guys would be bitter about having a nation’s fortune snatched away from them.” ties The Facebook is an actual printed book, with pictures of everyone in each graduating class, similar to a yearbook, only it’s released at the beginning of the year instead of the end. Like the online version, the physical facebook was as popular with regular students who just wanted to remember the names of people they’d met, as it was with creepy stalkers. You’d think the guys would be bitter about having a nation’s fortune snatched away from them, not to mention then being accused of trying to scoop Zuckerberg’s cash. But the Winklevoss brothers are optimistic, and are focusing on what lies ahead. They’ve been working on a hush-hush new project that “uses the web in a more specific niche-concept kind of way—it may or may not involve a web corner-store, 3D holographic technology, GIF animations, IMAX for your cellphone, social networking goggles, and athletics. With a work ethic that, even in their “other” project: rowing, earned them a spot on the US Olympic team for Beijing, chances are

good that whatever the brothers do next is going to get huge. “A lot of it is having a good idea or having talent, but a lot of it is also putting the work in, not only from a productivity standpoint but also from an opportunity standpoint. It’s not always just find an opportunity and then work hard, often times it’s the hard work that allows you to find the opportunity or take advantage of the opportunity when it comes your way. Social networking online is still quite young, barely existing in the mainstream before 2004. There is definitely progress to be made and we’ve learned a lot from these past few years.” Now that they know what’s out there, and how it works, the brothers are looking to make things better, and are hoping to redefine the way we create virtual identities, and the way we interact with each other online. They had their first crack at it a few years ago, but they’ve continued to show up and get to work. And who knows what’ll happen when the past trades places with the future, and ideas come back around.

NEW QUIET LIFE DESIGNS OUT NOW! The Quiet Life is exclusively distributed in Canada by Supra Distribution. www.thequietlife.com www.supradistribution.com

music

volume 7 issue 3

wordsby jason grimmer

138 mississippirecords.

illustrationby scott malin

ne of the very first things I did upon moving to Montreal in 2006 was visit fellow ex-Vancouverite Warren Hill’s Backroom Records (so-named as it operates out of a tiny shed in the back of Hill’s Mile-End apartment). My main reason for visiting was to purchase a copy of the, at the time, recently released compendium of Washington Phillips’ ghostly gospel work titled What Are They Doing In Heaven Today? on the label Mississippi records that Warren co-runs (with Eric Isaacson and Alex Yusimov). While there, another record caught my eye on the same label, Last Kind Words, and I bought it sight unheard. Since then, the label has released somewhere in the environs of twenty seven other vinyl-only gems (though they also offer a series of cassette-only releases available solely at the Portland, OR, Mississippi Records store where Warren spends half his year avoiding the bitter Quebec winters), all limited to small runs, all affordable, all featuring music that is both out of time and almost forgotten, and all absolutely amazing. African highlife, psychedelic Thai music, spectral folk blues and gospel, UK post punk, Greek rebetica, and soul jazz all find space in the grooves of Mississippi releases. I’m grateful that the notoriously tight-lipped Mr. Hill was able to find time out from cooking up new ideas for future Mississippi output, putting together a new issue of his zine $2 Comes With A Mix Tape and captaining the Montreal chapter of the Irma Thomas fan club to answer my questions. Color: What record labels served as specific inspiration for Mississippi? WH: The Origin Jazz Library was a major influence. Their compilations were of a rare breed in which not a single piece of filler was used on a record—only the best songs in the genre of country blues. They blew our minds when we were young and we could only hope to do a fraction of as good a job as they did presenting that type of music. Folkways is a big influence too. Their idea of what folk music constituted makes a lot of sense to us—it’s not just anything with an acoustic guitar... it could be soul music or punk or gamelan or a bunch of inner city kids beating on trash cans… anything that is made for and by the people and not for commercial reasons. Any music that is just an attempt to communicate with other humans and help make us all feel less alone. It is their version of what folk music is that we are interested in disseminating. Other labels that have informed our aesthetics quite a bit include Arhoolie, Herwin, Sublime Frequencies, and the Yazoo label. How did Last Kind Words, Mississippi’s first compilation, come about? In the spring of 1997 Eric and I went on a cross country record-buying trip where we would shop for records by day and play backgammon by night. Eric would sleep in the van and I would sleep on the roof. We got jobs building a mini golf course in St. Charles from some people we met in a restaurant in Houston. Eric and I put this together by talking about our favourite 78s from that time. Most of the discussions regarding this comp took place between us under the hot Louisiana sun while building a giant Abraham Lincoln shaped miniature golf obstacle back in 1997. We didn’t get around to actually putting the comp out until 2006. What can you tell me about the Thai Orchestra LP without spoiling the party? There has been a lot of conjecture about where this record comes from—is it a bunch of current musicians aping Thai

“Sometimes we won’t even know about a record we are distributing until the day 500 copies arrive at our door. It’s all part of the general chaos of our operation.”

Moolang country music or is it a genuine Thai Orchestra with a really unique sound? It’s interesting that some people are reluctant to enjoy it too much for fear that it is just a bunch of Sun City Girls/Thinking Fellers dudes taking a piss. Getting to reissue The Rats LPs is quite a coup. How did that happen? Well, he lives in Portland and Eric’s been obsessed with reissuing The Rats records for awhile. I think part of it comes from a frustration with wanting to share some of your favourite music on record with your friends but originals costing hundreds of dollars. Eric believes that the Fred & Toody Cole musical legacy will be viewed as one of the most important in the world one day. Whose idea was it to release the Animals & Men compilation? There is another person, Alex Yusimov, who releases things on the Mississippi label. He put out his own band Duck Duck Grey Duck as the first release on the label. But how it actually came about, I couldn’t tell you exactly. Alex is very guarded about his end of the operation and rarely lets us know about anything he is doing. Sometimes we won’t even know about a record we are distributing until the day 500 copies arrive at our door. It’s all part of the general chaos of our operation. He likes to fuck with us. What can you tell me about your Spiritual Singers release? I moved to Taipei to look for Chinese pop records since I was really into the music of Yao Su-Rong, Yi Ru and You Ya. There was a shop in an electronics flea market that specialized in jazz and classical music, I spent an afternoon going through every record in the place, this is what I bought. Who curated the Oh, Graveyard You Can’t Hold Me Always compilation? Well, you might notice that it’s a split release on Social Music which is Mike McGonical (Yeti Magazine)’s label. Basically, Mike shoveled an insane amount of material our way, of which we chose our five favourites... then Kevin Nutt allowed us to pick a few songs from an excellent CD comp he had made, and then we filled in the rest. Did you notice any spike in interest after the J. Spaceman (Spacemen 3/Spiritualized) article—where he laid out his love for Mississippi—appeared in Vice Magazine? I don’t think either of us even knew about the Spaceman article until well after it happened. There has definitely been an increase in interest in the label over the last couple years, but I would hope it’s more due to the strength of releases than celebrity endorsement. On a side note, we actually have nothing but contempt for Vice Magazine (although we do have much respect for J. Spaceman, so I guess it evens out) and refused to cooperate with them for it. We usually refuse to do press at all unless it is in a language other than English or for a magazine that endorses skateboarding culture.

Who does the album artwork for the compilations ? It’s always different. Most of the time Eric, sometimes me, and occasionally it’s a collaboration… or we get artist friends to make paintings for the front or back cover. Which of your releases is a personal favourite, if any? I always like the ones that were the most collaborative between Eric and myself and others. The first two remain favourites because we kind of put them out there without having any idea or clue about how to distribute them or if there would even be any demand for these kinds of records. It seems like Eric is most excited about whichever one is currently in the works. He’ll rant and rave about how this is the best thing we ever did and everything else is just crap... until the next project comes around. He’s one of those guys who touches every doorknob three times before twisting, who will tell you Kinks’ Village Green Preservation Society was his favourite album as a fouryear old and that his Mom used to date the lead singer of Journey. I just hope we can finish the next 66 records before he completely breaks down. Any plans to reissue the incredible, and now out-ofprint, Lipa Kodi Ya City Council African collection? No plans. A lot of what we do is tedium and that’s why we rarely give interviews. It’s embarrassing how dull the life of a record label can be. On the plus side sometimes we get good mail like a Swiss Cajun band who wrote us the other day and we also recently got a demo from a lady in Greenland. What are the future plans for the label? Upcoming releases? We just started doing individual mail order that hopefully will allow people to buy our records who can’t find them in their local shops. We’re working on manufacturing our ideal covers, basically it’s a two way race between the most rundown box factory called Grigbsy Bros and some guy named Lord Vandercook who just moved here from Detroit. We have an insane list of projects in the works, many of which may not ever see the light of day. In the end we want to do 100 records we can be proud of. I think we are at around 34 after only three years. Hopefully we’ll get the remaining 66 done sooner than later so we can move on with our lives and do something else. Eric wants to be a sushi chef and I want to work with elephants and/or condors. Mississippi Records’ latest release is The True Story of Abner Jay, by Abner Jay. They have no website and should not be confused with the London-based Mississippi Records label, but you can find their records at your local quality indie record store, from Forced Exposure distribution, or from their shop on 4007 N. Mississippi Ave. in Portland, OR.

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139

Isis

Beck

wavering radiant (ipecac)

Okay folks, get ready to jump down my throat, because I don’t really care for Isis’ latest offering, Wavering Radiant. Yeah, fine, sit there and say that perhaps I just don’t appreciate the hypnotic beauty of it all. Maybe it’s the lack of a decent stereo system and the absence of a bag of mushrooms. Or, sorry, maybe it’s the fact that this bastard child of Opeth, Cynic and Sigur Ros, to name a few of the bands I’m hearing here, seems a lot less focused in their attack/approach than those bands. Isis’ post-metal drone approach seems good on paper, but in reality it leaves me wanting more. Wavering Radiant consistently straddles a line between brutality and beauty but never seems to capture the essence of either. For those interested, though, note that Tool’s Adam Jones plays on a couple tracks here. —scott lyon

one foot in the grave (reissue) (k/iliad)

The perennial connoisseur’s favourite in Beck’s catalog, One Foot in the Grave is the semi-lost gem that he recorded for K Records in Olympia, WA, with Calvin Johnson—a cohort of Northwest indie stalwarts in ‘93/’94—just before “Loser” blew up and he found himself all over MTV. So it’s a mix of slacker blues and acoustic grunge filtered through a bit of old, weird America borrowed from Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music. You can see the genesis of Beck’s trademark pop-cuisinart lyrics, but before he was an actual pop star, making this an even more earnest and personal album than his later efforts (Mutations, Sea Change) that are billed as such. As an extra bonus, which would justify a re-buy even if you’ve already got the ‘94 version, this reissue comes with a whole extra album’s worth of unreleased material, much of it nearly as good as the original tracks. —saelan twerdy

The Vaselines

The Field

enter the vaselines (sub pop)

There’s really not much that one can add to the growing legacy that the Vaselines have built up since their debut release in 1987. The group have been admired by everyone from Nirvana to Belle and Sebastian, and, with this re-issue of pretty much everything the band ever recorded, the legacy is only going to grow stronger. Part of the lasting appeal of the group is their keen ability to combine cute, jangly twee-pop with lyrics filled with sexual double entendres, but perhaps it’s their songs of deep sincerity like “Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam” and “Son Of A Gun” (both famously covered by Nirvana) that will keep the group’s name etched within the pop hall of fame. For the fans that have already bought the Complete Vaselines re-issue from 1992, the incentive here is definitely the demos and live tracks that date back to the early days of the band. It’s a rare glimpse into the inner workings of one of the best pop groups of the last thirty years. —mark e. rich

yesterday & today (anti)

Following up 2007’s critically acclaimed debut (according to review-aggregator website Metacritic, the album was the highest rated that year) would seem a daunting task. The Field (a.k.a. Axel Willner), while not exactly re-inventing his own sound here, has risen to the challenge and dropped another stunning advancement for electronic music. While his sound is still resolutely jammed in the ecstasy-drenched early 90s rave scene, he’s updated it for the 21st century. Willner still employs the use of repetitive micro samples and combines them with a head nodding, rhythmic intensity that works just as easily on the dance floor as in your living room. This duality is perhaps what’s most appealing about The Field: you take this out jogging but you can just as easily let its trance-inducing nature put you to sleep. This is the reason that The Field, like he did with his last album, will have another crossover hit with Yesterday & Today. —mark e. rich

Nosaj Thing

Mika Miko

drift (alpha pup)

If The Smell is the rock n’ roll hub of L.A.’s thriving music scene, the Low End Theory night club is the home of its beat scene. Twenty-four-year-old Jason Chung a.k.a. Nosaj Thing is ready to follow in the footsteps of Flying Lotus as one of Los Angeles’ premier producers, and unlike Lotus and other Low End Theory standouts like the Gaslamp Killer, Daddy Kev or Samiyam, Chung’s tunes deal in an orderliness and smooth professionalism that stand out from the crackling off-kilter beats that the former producers have been churning out. While the pristine finish of the album is definitely part of the appeal, the cleanliness of some of the production draws closer to more traditional instrumental hip-hop mixed with shades of µ-ziq-style IDM. However, Nosaj offsets the gray tonals with some lean and rattling basslines and crunchy percussion, ambient tones floating on top-down hydraulic thump, making Drift a promising debut. —rj basinillo

we be xuxa (post present medium)

Let’s be clear: this formerly all-girl (they recently added a dude on drums) L.A. punk band isn’t out to reinvent any wheels, they just want to cruise, preferably at highspeed, until they smash into something. Their herky-jerky, X-meets-X-Ray-Spex scuzz-punk is relentlessly fast, simple and fun, and this short, sharp 23-minute album covers all the bases of back-to-basics punk (i.e. food, sex, boredom, and drugs) with songs like “Turkey Sandwich”, “Sex Jazz”, “Wild Bore”, and “Blues Not Speed”. Being long-time participators in L.A.’s community-oriented all-ages scene along with the likes of No Age and HEALTH, Mika Miko’s attitude is less cynical or violent than most of the groups that have peddled this sort of punk in the past. The energy here is inclusive even when it’s aggressive. While best appreciated live, their contagious stage presence is well-represented on this album, which should tide you over until the band blasts their way through your local basement mosh area. —saelan twerdy

Gallows

Here We Go Magic

grey britain (warner)

When Gallows released their debut, Orchestra of Wolves, it ignited hopes (for me, at least) that they might resurrect post-hardcore in the style of Refused: a true fusion of savage hooks and fresh ideas that would bring some innovation and some new audiences back to the sorry, ghettoized, post-post-emo modern punk scene. Since then, Gallows have in fact attracted a lot of attention, especially in their native Britain—though mostly for the violence that’s gone down at their live shows. But even as rare as it is for a really aggressive hardcore band to attract some of the hype that the British press manufactures wholesale, Gallows caught the national ear and landed a million-quid deal. So, Grey Britain arrives with a bit of pressure, and maybe a bit more ambition than strictly necessary. Covering all their bases, the band adds speed-metal riffs, boogie-rock hooks, double-kick drums, a string section, and even an acoustic ballad. A slog in parts and a blast in others, it may not be the shape of punk to come, but it’s not likely to be ignored. —saelan twerdy

s/t (western vinyl)

I initially avoided listening to this one-man band on account of the terrible name, and then because of the promo blurb sticker with endorsements from Sufjan Stevens and Rolling Stone, citing Conor Oberst— I don’t trust Rolling Stone any further than I can throw an issue after crumpling it into a ball, and I’m not exactly a fan of Sufjan or Bright Eyes, either. A reliable reference from a friend persuaded me to give it a spin, though, and it turns out to be both totally different and way better than I expected. What we have here is first-class producer’s pop from a dude’s bedroom, full of handclaps, warm, muffled drum machines, space-faring synths, and catchy harmonies, destined to appeal to fans of such diverse acts as Panda Bear, Caribou, Ariel Pink, Kurt Vile, Women, Studio, Arthur Russell, and Peter Bjorn & John. The official press kit would also like you to think of Paul Simon and the Talking Heads, which isn’t off-base, either. This is a short album, and it’s padded out with droney instrumental tracks that are pure filler, but if Luke Temple (that’s the dude’s name) sticks to what he’s good at, this band is going places. —saelan twerdy

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volume 7 issue 3

Cam’ron

Martyn

crime pays (asylum)

Super cute or super rude, Cam’ron’s Crime Pays reintroduces the age-old dilemma of good looks or good in books. In “Spend the Night” he invites a babe to “spend the night with me we’ll talk and watch tv,” and she’s like, “Ugh yeah, sure you’re right.” Just as you think he’s gone all good books on us, you flip to a song called “Bottom of the Pussy” which is a fine, relaxing melody that expands on the subject of a non-synching d&v, length and depth ratio. It’s a perfect record to listen to in the club, on a hot summers eve, on your headphones solo when you’re trying to avoid yet another Kid Cudi/Crookers re-re-re-remix. —mila franovic

black crusade (southern lord)

Great Lengths serves as the cherry-on-top for dubstep man of the moment Martyn’s incredible run of singles and remixes. Most discussion involving Martyn will reference the difficulty of categorizing his unique brand of tech-inflected dubstep, and that task is impossible as ever on Great Lengths. However, as with all auteurs, certain flavours come to be expected—with Martyn it’s the combination of floating Detroit pads, dubby bassweight, and minimal tech percussion. The record exudes the colourful sonic spectrum reflected in the cover art. While many dubstep LPs before it have operated on exploring space and minimalism, Martyn packs rhythms into every layer of his sound. Great Lengths is perhaps the first real LP of the genre to reach for more fun than pretense—Martyn’s groove, as always, can do no wrong.

Call me old-fashioned, but I never quite feel right listening to black metal when the sun is shining—Xasthur doesn’t exactly make for good poolside listening, you know? Well, with Black Crusade, Olympia, WA’s Wolves in the Throne Room have created an unusually inspiring and energizing brand of black metal. Mournful without being depressing, Black Crusade hearkens back to the progressive black metal of Immortal’s At the Heart of Winter while espousing a more modern black metal philosophy of triumphant existentialism (think Gorgoroth minus all the Satan business). Instead of locking myself in a dark room for 48 hours with no human contact, this music makes me want to go for an epic hike—albeit for 48 hours in the deep woods with no human contact. If this is where black metal is headed, I say that’s a good trade.

—rj basinillo

—scott lyon

Blank Dogs

Japandroids

under and under (in the red)

Blank Dogs was one of the first bedroom recording artists to carve out a space for himself in the wave currently sweeping through the underground. Well before Dum Dum Girls, Kurt Vile, Gary War, and Wavves were clogging up blogs, Mike Sniper, the lone figure behind Blank Dogs, has been relentlessly releasing limited and now very collectible 7-inches and cassettes to a steadily growing audience. In those two years since his first release, Sniper has been perfecting a distinct blend of early80s post-punk, goth, surf, and blown-out garage pop. The results sound as if Sniper had grown up listening to warped copies of Cure LPs and is now attempting to do surf renditions of them. If you’re just now catching up with Blank Dogs, Under and Under is a great starter, and, once this whets your appetite, you won’t have to wait long until his next release either under his own moniker or one of his many forthcoming side projects. —mark e. rich

Wolves in the Throne Room

great lengths (3024)

post-nothing (unfamiliar)

On their first two EPs, Japandroids were making the kind of music that draws me in now. On Post-Nothing, they’ve made the kind of record that would’ve have drawn me in at 16. That might sound a bit snide, but it’s the furthest thing from an insult that I could ever think of. Nowadays, I still find new bands to like, even love, but nothing will ever incite the same sort of excitement that I felt when I heard the guitars scream to life on a Jesus & Mary Chain record for the first time. Their songs were loud and noisy, but beneath all that fuzz there were melodies you could sing along to. And they were singing about things that even I could relate to during those formative years. While Japandroids don’t bear much of stylistic resemblance to the JAMC, save for a love of fuzz pedals, they do share those elements. Post-Nothing is full of songs that are equal parts melody and cacophony. Brian King and David Prowse sing/shout about topics like girls, their hometown, and rock n’ roll. And somewhere, some kid is cranking up “Young Hearts Spark Fire” for the first time and it’s going to stick with him forever. —quinn omori

Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas ii (eskimo)

Hans-Peter Lindstrøm kick-started the cosmic/beardo disco revival back in 2005 with his monster single “I Feel Space”, and then dropped the genre’s defining touchstone with his self-titled collaboration with Prins Thomas almost immediately after. Four years later, after the wave of funky, spaced-out 70s vibes has passed through a massive cross-section of the dance music community, rumour had it that this follow-up collab was going to put the nail in the coffin. It ain’t exactly so, however, and that’s probably good news for everybody. Even more organic and live-sounding than the first time around (Lindstrøm himself apparently played most of the instrument here), II is enormous, encompassing both the best (incredibly funky prog jams and ultra-silky deep-space synth excursions) and the worst (soft, jazzy, weather-channel piano muzak) that this subgenre has to offer. Like a moebius strip, though, the two halves (chill-out cheese and esoteric genius) intertwine inseparably, making for an album that’s always intriguing and repays repeat listens. Quite probably, this is 2009’s most rewarding electronic release. —saelan twerdy

review

Ducktails

s/t (not not fun)

This album arrives freighted with expectations, but Matt Mondanile doesn’t fail to deliver. The tape-trading sub-underground is overstuffed with aimless psychedelic drone music right now, but Ducktails is the real deal: bouncy, burbling, hazed-up instrumental jams that make a guitar and a lot of effects go a long way. A lot of his contemporaries get lost somewhere between noise and drone, but without using any particular gimmicks, Mondanile’s dubby songscapes drip melodies like a glass of lemonade sweating water droplets in the sun. His Midas touch turns everything into beaches and bongs, and on the axe, he’s no slouch: his fried, fuzzed-out (yet subtle) fretwork is every bit the equal of the reigning king and queen of drone-psych guitar, Russ Waterhouse (of Blues Control) and Honey Owens (of Valet). Judicious hand drums sweeten the deal without conjuring any hacky-sack hippie connotations. Pull up a palm tree, folks: your summer soundtrack is here. —saelan twerdy

Dirty Projectors bitte orca (domino)

It’s hard to overestimate the magnitude of this release. Over many years and several releases, Dave Longstreth has proven his restless, quixotic genius with cross-pollinated genre experiments, unconventional song structures, and an ambitious, high-concept approach to indie rock. While often difficult, his songs have always had a core of raw emotion and overreaching passion, hinting at the potential for a major breakthrough. Last year’s Rise Above was a landmark release for the Projectors: still fuelled by a strange concept (Black Flag songs reconstructed from memory), it introduced a new, Africanflavoured guitar style and a higher level of collaboration with Longstreth’s bandmates (especially vocalist/guitarist Amber Coffman) that made for their most powerful and accessible record. Bitte Orca sees them taking it to the next level: everything they’ve ever done, done better, just songs, a pure album, radiant, beautiful, sublime, spiralling, snaking, and thrashing. This is artful, abstract soul in the tradition of Prince and the Talking Heads. I could talk about it all day, which means that Bitte Orca is probably most likely to grab you if you’re the type that likes to talk about music, but even if you’re not, give it a try. There’s nothing quite like it. —saelan twerdy colORMAGAZINE.CA

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skate

trivial pursuit

Erik ellington & SAMMY BACA

JAMIE THOMAS & JAMIE TANCOWNY ERIC MERCIER & ANTOINE ASSELIN

(continued from page 63)

(continued from page 67)

(continued from page 68)

He’s high as hell, look at him man, can’t even keep his eyes open. Shouldn’t have smoked, that’s the answer to that one. He got one, he got me… Who did the benihana over the Gonz gap? I don’t know this one. I’d say it was me, but I don’t think I did it. Am I the dude that was supposed to have done this? Doubt: Nope

A bigger flip is 540 times five. Ah oui! C’est ca!

I don’t think anybody did it then. I wanted to do it but Morford wouldn’t shoot it. Yeah. I wanted to do it shirtless too. Doubt: Well obviously.

What came first the kickflip or the heelflip? Uh? I think the kickflip.

that’s done a padless Mctwist. A padless Mctwist? Fuckin, my homie Jimmy. Alright Woah, look at that bike. What, there’s a fight right now? Naw, there’s no fight, a bike. Who was the first person to do a back flip? To do a back flip? [asks his homies] Sluggo. Name, uh, [massive burp] name two skaters that are rappers Two skaters that are rappers? Fuckin, Chris Gentry… and Jereme Rogers. Dylan Doubt: Who are you consulting with over there? What? No one. This lady’s been trying to buy me cigarettes for 30 minutes. Name the street skater who has had a helmet ad. Street skater who has had a helmet ad? Yeah. Oh, my homie Richie Belton had a helmet ad. He had a Woodward ad in a helmet! Oh shit. Yeah, Belton. Name three signature backpacks. Backtucks? Backpacks, like you wear to school. Oh. Jansport… fuckin’, Jansport. I dunno, dude, that’s the only one I have. No, no, no, dudes that have signature backpacks. Oh, like skateboarding stuff? [talking to the lady with the cigarettes] What was the question? Name three skateboarders who have had signature backpacks. Oh, uh I dunno. [Laughing] Name three skateboarders that have been pro for over a decade. For over a decade? Dan Drehobl, Darren Navarette, and [Peter] Hewitt. What year did the smallest wheel come out, and what size was it? Oh man. Fuck, I dunno. It was probably like a 40 in like, I dunno, I think… I dunno if I’m right, but I think it was A-1 Meats and they were like 39 calibers or something like that.

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Thirty nine? Almost 40s, but I don’t know what year. It might have been ’91 or something like that. That sounds alright. Okay. Name three useless skate accessories. Sunglasses, a watch, and uhhhhh, a hat? I dunno. What is a D3? What is a D3? Oh, I had me a pair of those. They’re D3s, dude, fuckin’ Osiris kicks. Correct. What World Industries skater hated reggae? Hated what? Hated reggae. He said, “I hate reggae music.” He said he hates reggae? On World? I dunno, dude. I don’t pay attention to that kind of stuff. It was from back in the day, it was like 1990s. Billy Waldman. Billy Waldner? What an asshole… I’m just kidding! Name three Canadian pros. Three Canadian pros? Fuckin’… who’s Canadian. I don’t even know who’s Canadian. You already named one of them earlier. Did I? Son of a bitch. Fuck, Canadian. What’s his name… fuckin’ Moses. That’s one. PLG. That’s two. Aaaand Appleyard. Alright. Name three black vert skaters. Three black pro skaters? No, vert skaters. Oh, black vert skaters? Peanut Brown, and Alfonso Raw… Ro... What’s his name? Steve Steadham. What’s a grapefruit grind? What? What’s a grapefruit grind and this is the last question. Oh, a grapefruit grind. Gonz? I can’t explain it… 180 to switch… 180 to 50, but it’s the Gonz you know? Yeah, switch 50. Is that it? Hell, yeah!

Over the gap. Obviously… you ride for Spitfire. Who was in the Spitfire video in 1994? Spitfire?

I guess that is five forty. Now multiply it by five. Five times five hundred is twenty five hundred. Okay, five times 40 is two hundred, now add them, so 5700? [Antoine still mumbling under his breath trying to do the math].

I think so too. Oh my god, here is another one that will take you awhile. If you did thirteen Lotti spins which way would you be facing? Thirteen Lotti… Lotti what?

Dude, you guys are retarded, what you got? Come on… Who was in the Spitfire video? Guy mariano.

Lotti spin. Lotti as in Brian Lotti. I guess he has a spin?! Man we could waste some time on that one. What is a grapefruit grind? I don’t know, what is it?

Okay, wrong. I have no idea.

A feeble! What? A feeble? [laughs]

Well, I told you the first video part I ever had, so there’s one right? Yeah. [laughs]

What is a Yo Yo Plant? I don’t know, what is it?

Who rides for Spitfire right now that you think would have rode for them maybe 15 years ago? Koston? Who are OG Spitfire guys? C’mon dude he just got on like a month ago. Really? Remember the introducing ad? It was like a big deal?… Don’t say Cole, he just got on like last week. C’mon… 15 years ago, who would have ridden for Spitfire? Koston and Mariano?

It’s a Ho Ho plant without putting your feet on the ground. What’s a Ho Ho plant? It’s walking on your hands with your board on your feet. Ah, Okay. That wraps it up, Antoine. You got some skills. Was I that bad? No, you were good. Ah, thanks man.

You are way off track… Yeah, he’s just looking up into space right now. If you could give yourself a rating on your skate trivia knowledge, what would it be? 1 to 10, 10 being rad, 1 being absolute suck. Baked. He gave himself a baked. [laughs]… This is what you get.

Visit us online and listen to full audio clips + more from the Trivial Pursuit interviews.

volume 7 issue 3

music

[ o ] NICHOLAS

BrINGING THE

TO THE

wordsby michael barrow

e are now in the last months of the first decade of the 21st century and I can’t help but wonder which musical trend the 00s will be remembered for. Among other things, the 80s had punk rock, metal and great synth-pop, and we could easily associate 90s with grunge, college rock and the rise of rap. What of the 00s? I’d like to think that in the future when we think of this past decade, at least in terms of music, we think of it as the decade that brought the world to the world. With more than a little help from Diplo (and, of course, MIA) the 00s have seen North American music enter into a tangible and meaningful dialogue with music from Latin America, the Caribbean, South Asia and Africa.

To me, Buraka Som Sistema [BSS] is the perfect embodiment of this trend. Operating out of Portugal, they are probably the world’s best known purveyors of kuduro – a genre which was itself exported to Portugal from Angola in the mid-1990s. Buraka’s interpretation of kuduro is utterly unforgiving. It bangs, skips and crunches at a quick clip – at 140 beats per minute, it is significantly faster than much of the club music you might compare it to. With this in mind, we had a chance to catch Kalaf of Buraka Som Sistema and ask some questions about the group, kuduro and their new album Black Diamond, the follow up to their aptly-titled debut, From Buraka to the World. Color: Does language present any significant barrier for BSS in terms of being able to cross into North American or even other European markets? Does language matter in electronic/dance music anymore? K: The beat is a universal language, as announced from the masters that came before us. With that in mind, we try to take our music beyond the verb and the paradigm of language. We don’t think language represents a barrier. It’s definitely something that is present and will remain an issue that we have to deal with. Even if we try to make a bigger effort to make our words more accessible we cannot avoid the fact that the subtle aspects of language always get lost in translation. What has been your favourite gig outside of Portugal? Where do people best respond to BSS and the kuduro sound?

“We try to take our music beyond the verb and the paradigm of language.” Usually the last gig is our favourite one. That’s why the last one in Montreal at Zoobizarre was amazing. The place was really tiny and packed. We had a great time there. The place where our music gets the biggest reaction is Portugal for all the obvious reasons. The same applies to kuduro. Your performance at Coachella this year has been much talked about, and the videos online are evidence of just how wild it was. Were you surprised at how responsive people were to your performance there? And, in general, do you enjoy playing festival shows more than regular tour-stops and club shows? It was a wonderful experience. Probably, we cannot say that it was a surprise but it definitely felt good. We have been working on the album and the live show for awhile, so now we feel pretty much confident in what we have to offer the people. We had room for surprises but we also had the certainty that we brought the right elements to connect to the audience and to set the tent on fire. People understood that we were there to have fun and we believe that energy is contagious. We love all scenarios otherwise it would be really boring. How has kuduro music developed since you formed BSS and what direction do you see it taking right now? Kuduro is still evolving. They are still trying to do the craziest and dopest beat ever made. Now there’s this sub-genre called ku-house where they produce tracks around 125 bpm with lots of soul vocals. It seems that the clubs are more open to this than to kuduro. If you could have any three artists, past or present, remix a song of yours, which song would you pick, and which artists would you pick and why? The song would be “Kalemba (Wegue Wegue)” and we would love to have a remix from Masters at Works – their sound is on the genesis of what kuduro is. Bangladesh : besides being a brilliant producer, what he did with Ludacris, Beyoncé and Lil’ Wayne gave oxygen to hip hop. He doesn’t do remixes but we are sure that he could do some wonderful work on this field. Flying Lotus : his sound is very American but at the same time it has that European flavour that takes us back to the era when Bristol was bringing the freshest musical ideas. And we don’ t mean it to be nostalgic.

Who are your favourite three bands right now? Major Lazer, Clipse and Ebony Bones. Is it difficult to balance between a musical format that emphasizes dancing, partying and performance with a theme as serious and controversial as diamond mining in Africa? We don’t think that way. Our desire of making this relation is based on the idea of telling stories and coming up with concepts that that can still be relevant in twenty years and beyond and still be able to raise discussions. And, with that in mind, is Black Diamond an angry album? When we finished the album we had the feeling that the group of songs that we had put together was quite dark, but now we think it reflects the world today. You traveled to Angola to film the video for “Sound of Kuduro” along with MIA. Although you have connections to Angola already, did the trip help broaden your perspectives in terms of production ideas, songwriting, etc? Not that much. We come from a city that has so many Angolans that we could even call Lisbon another Angolan city. The idea of going to Angola made sense because two members had never been there and it was important for them to have a clear idea of the place. We also needed to shoot the video and record tunes with local kuduro artists. People there have a hard time traveling to Europe so it’s easier for us to just get on a plane and go there. Buraka Som Sistema are currently on tour in North America. Their album Black Diamond is out now on Enchufada Records. Michael Barrow is one half of Vancouver DJ/production team Expendable Youth and a regular contributor to chalkedup.com.

MYSPACE.COM/BURAKASOMSISTEMA

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Black Urethane

www.hubbawheels.com

volume 7 issue 3

Future Primitive

bones brigade video II (powell peralta) The title of this one has me thinking. What does the future hold for skateboarding? I don’t mean TV contracts, shaving cream sponsors, and the Olympics. I mean tricks. Have you watched this video lately? Carves, powerslides, and ollies off curbs seem to be the tricks of the day. I don’t think there is one flip trick (except the freestyle section that doesn’t count). Look where we are now! Flying down 16-stair sets, whether it is flipping the board down it or an out of this world slide/grind down the handrail. My, how times have changed. Take a look back at 1985 and see how far we have come. Much like the newest Powell release, this video is all about fun! Where the hell do we go from here, what does the future hold? The electric car? —craig rosvold

Baker has a Deathwish

Fun!

Baker/Deathwish is one of the only posses able to produce an acceptable tour video. Never mind the skating, the hijinx footage showing off the raging antics of the team is where the entertainment lies. Dropping acid at demos, beefing fools on airplanes, fighting tattoo artists and hosting blunt rolling contests are only a few of the ridiculous acts performed by the crew. Regardless of the amount of hijinx footage, the Baker/Deathwish battalion reminds everyone once again who the best team in skateboarding is with some outstanding street performances. Two blunts up!

I watched another video today that was anything but! It seems with a lot of videos these days the most important factor in skateboarding is missing. What is that factor? FUN, of course. Why did you start skateboarding? To get your photo in the local paper as the athlete of the week? To get high school accolades for athletic excellence? No, because it’s fun. Great times can be had just hanging with friends and skating at your local curb. Quick story, I was driving to the office after lunch. I happened to be passing the Black Ice double set. Couldn’t see who it was but saw someone filming and trying to tailslide the double set at the end. I saw one try and the guy coming off in the middle. I said “good luck with that one, buddy”. Well, guess I’m an idiot because little did I know it was Jordan Hoffart so of course he does it. It is worth buying (not downloading for free) the video for this footage alone. Insane.

summer tour video 2009 (baker boys)

—zach barton bakerboysdist.com

De Ville Nunes (powell)

—craig rosvold

review

THE BLIND VIDEO bill weiss (dwindle)

Video Days reminds me of some of the classic hip-hop albums that came out in the early 90s - shit may be way more technically superior now, but who really cares? The early 90s was a totally rad time for skating and Video Days is the single best testament to all the creative ferment of the period. I’ll save you all the clichés, because I am sure that you’ve heard them before… the birth of modern street skateboarding; the young Guy Mariano killing it on a board bigger than himself; Gonz skating to Coletrain and doing stuff that people are just beginning to comprehend now; Jason Lee, smooth as ever; Spike Jonze’s beautifully spontaneous approach to filmmaking ; blah blah blah. Yep, we get it. Talking about Video Days just invites nostalgia. If the number of Youtube hits is any indication, however, it’s not just the old heads who still know what’s up with this video. Given all this nostalgia and sentiment, how could a company follow up on such a seminal classic? 1992 saw the release of the promo video Tim and Henry’s Pack of Lies (also on Youtube and totally worth watching), which was followed up more than ten years later by What If (2005). Blind’s newest installment The Blind Video is full of talent and every skater in this video puts in solid parts. Each skater offers something different to the mix, ranging from Morgan Smith’s technical ledge destruction to Jake Duncombe’s fur coated speed lines. Filming for his debut part, Morgan Smith collected so much good footage that the good people at Blind even gave him a second bonus part included on the DVD. Other highlights include Grant Patterson’s switch varial heal down the MACBA 4, Creager’s classic effortless style, Felipe Ortiz’s three-flip nosegrind down a big nine-set rail; and the hilarious intro for Jani Laitala’s part. Overall, The Blind Video is a good straightforward effort. No flashy edits, contrived story lines, complicated cover art, or distracting titles get in the way of all its amazing skating. Is it a classic like Video Days? Not really. But to be fair, it’s pretty hard to top Video Days and its overall place in skateboarding history. Maybe we should just stop comparing. Video Days was at the vanguard of what skateboarding was becoming; The Blind Video is firmly rooted in what skateboarding is now. —tim sedo

SK8MAFIA - AM VIDEO

josh priebe, dan connelly, tommy cantrell, nick lam The new online only SK8MAFIA AM Video features typical rough skate video edits that showcase equally raw skateboarding. Jamie Palmore kicks it off showing us what he’s capable of in his standard skateboard attire (khakis and a knit beanie). Up next, Tyler Surrey comes through with some stylish manny/ledge tech. Nick Tucker is the new Lenny Rivas upgrade, Larelle Gray reminds us what is G-code with a bumpin’ track from Ice-T. Heads and homies mash brains in the friends section, which includes a finger flip down the San Diego triple set. Smolik and Brandon Turner let us know who the real OG’s are by showing who is still in charge of the switch hardflip. Kellen James was too baked to film two full parts, so you will have to hold tight for Transworld’s Right Foot Forward. And finally, Wes Kremer leaves us feeling refreshed with his obvious skill on the sled. —zach barton Sk8mafia4life.com

children of clay jon bocksel

It’s summer and once again many shredders alike are plotting their escape from their dreary little day jobs. Jon Bocksel’s new super 8 video Children of Clay confirms those very notions. When watching the super 8 short you feel anxious and a flash flood of summer vacations, traveling, and skating with your friends races through your head. It’s a unfiltered reminder of what life is really about. So call work, tell em’ you quit and spend the last of your money on a plane ticket and a copy of Children Of Clay. —brayden olson

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As a small time ‘zine maker, Hlavacek grew up in Wichita, Kansas, moving to Kansas City in 2007 to attend Kansas City Art Institute. He started skateboarding in ‘99 and says it “has all but consumed my life ever since.” He’s been shooting skating for about four years and he says it’s still his favourite thing to shoot. “I love taking my skateboard to Ropo, PV, or Church to hang out with friends,” he says of his pastime. He started this emulsion lift project with the goal of adding a level of tangibility as well as an additional aesthetic to his photography. Working heavily on a computer and with digital files he feels that “finalizing the prints as objects helps to bring my hand back in the work and I’m really enjoying that”. This shot was taken during one of Sean Malto’s visits back home to Kansas. “We went to check out a new spot, and we had to move that dumpster into position to skate it.” Sean Malto, nosegrind, Kansas City 2009 $50.00 edition /25 STORE.COLORMAGAZINE.CA/PRODUCT/MALTO

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From Whistler to NYC, Los Angeles and San Jose, with some of the biggest premieres to date! Well, since last issue anyway. Here’s just a taste of some of the beautiful and rugged roaming your streets at night.

Chris Haslam Tiltmode “Bonus Round” premiere, San Jose, CA

LRG crew, Bobby Worrest eS shoe release, NY

Moto & Mark Nardelli, 5boro 13th Year Anniversary, NY

Antwuan Dixon Nike Debacle Premiere, LA

Joe Tookmanian & friend 5boro 13th anniversary, NY

photosby mikendo

Pete Jasinski & friend

Mike Vince & Dylan Doubt Zoo York “State of Mind” Premiere, Van

Danny Falla & girlfriend

Karl Watson & Eli Reed Zoo York “State of Mind” Premiere, NY

Justin Strubing & caveman

Curtis Rapp & Kevin Coakly Bobby Worrest shoe release, NY

Crazy Kimmy, Alan Ying & Amanda Cooper

Justin Brock Nike “Debacle” premiere

Jason Hernandez

Wades “State of Mind” Premiere, Van

Filippone bros

Moser & Miles

Adrian Mendoza

Scott Decenzo Tiltmode premiere

Hunter & friend

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Louie Barletta & Nestor Judkins

Luis Tolentino & friend 5boro anniversary

Zach Lyons, Jimmy McDonald, & Frenchie Ben

Joey Brezinski & wife

Keegan Sauder & Alex Craig Glory Days, Van

Kevin Taylor, German Neives, & Jimmy Gorecki, Zoo York “State of Mind” premiere, NY

a Rolling Perspective TWSSF, Whistler

Whitely does Gesmer

Ryan Decenzo & Cairo Foster

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RICK TETZ

PHIL YAMADA

BRYCE KANIGHTS

KYLE CAMARILLO

contributing photographer

guest typographer

contributing photographer

Rick Tetz has been in the skateboard industry for over 30 years, first opening North Van’s SkateCentral in early 1978 and later Cal Streets. In 1980 Tetz won first place in Freestyle at the Canadian Nationals, defeating Powell freestyler Kevin Harris, a goal Tetz had been trying to reach for years. He is currently keeping Cal Streets alive via an online Vintage Skate Archive of old school adverts and original Canadian skate talent from the 70s and 80s. He works with WebLAB and Concrete Wave magazine promoting and sponsoring skate events and longboarding to the masses.

Most of Phil’s time is spent cooped up in his North Vancouver residence, sitting in front of his computer, sucking back menthol 100s. He finds graphic design (with a focus on typography) to be a lot of fun so that’s what he does.

BK is a first generation street skater that has been immersed in skateboarding and photography for close to thirty years. His photographic images and contributions as both a professional skateboarder and a photojournalist have had a profound affect upon generations of skateboarders and its subculture worldwide. In his free time BK continues to skate empty backyard pools and evade the long arm of the law as a goofy footer. He shot Cab and Hosoi’s duelling judos on page 86.

Some people live a pretty charmed existence. Creepy Kyle Camarillo started skating when he was twelve and two years later he was the only kid who’s dad let him use the HI8 to film. He met new friends Joe Brook, Anthony Claravall, and Dave Metty at skate camp and became the video intern. Eventually he made his way over to Enjoi where Matt Eversole asked him to wrap up a video that they never knew they were making in the first place - Bag of Suck. No longer filming for Enjoi he’s rekindled his interest in photography. See his Tiltmode photos on page 114.

You will be able to see some of his proects in Regular: Graphic Design Today (publisher, Gestalten Verlag), an in-depth survey on progressive contemporary graphic design. philyamada.com

brycekanights.com

calstreets.com

GETCREEPY.COM

ROB NURMI

CALEB BEYERS

HILARY PECIS

MICHAEL BARROW

contributing photographer

contributing writer/illustrator

contributing artist

contributing writer

Nurmi is a 47-year-old married man, with three grown children, a cat, and no hair. He works at a building supply store, selling toilets, and sinks, and helping little old ladies find the right lightbulbs. He skateboards and plays with his camera a couple times each week, as he has done for the last thirty plus years. He was the founding editor for Concrete Powder Magazine, and before that, pretended to be a contributing photographer for Skateboarder magazine... This issue we were happy to have him shoot our cover.

When people ask Caleb what he’s into, he’ll usually say something like “modern dance” or “I forget.” The truth is that he alternates between severe ADD and extreme focus and finds himself wrapped up in everything from writing essays on critical theory to directing web-o-mercials for beer companies. He’s recently written a feature screenplay which he’ll turn into a movie sometime soon. He collaborates with his wife-to-be, Hanahlie Beise under the name “CASTE”. His work appears on pages 106 and 136.

Collage artist Hilary Pecis lives in San Francisco and received her MFA from California College of the Arts. She was the recipeint of the Murphy Cadogen Fellowship and has exgibited her work at Triple Base Gallery in SF and Morgan Lehman in New York. She created an alternate fashion universe on page 130.

Michael Barrow is 1/2 of Vancouver DJ duo Expendable Youth. He also contributes to chalkedup.com and makes mixtapes for radiozero.ca. He generally enjoys having a good time, although he also likes to take it easy. There was no taking it easy for his interview with Buraka Som Sistema on page 145.

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HILARYPECIS.com

MYSPACE.COM/EXPENDABLEYOUTHDJS

JESSICA BARD

JON COULTHARD

ED SPENCE

BRENNAN CONROY

contributing photographer

contributing artist

videography

Jessica Bard is currently a cooking teacher, food writer and professional recipe tester and developer. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s published many articles on her favourite topics: food, hunting, and beer. She lives in Rhinebeck, NY, with her husband, drummer for the ska-swing band, TriStateConspiracy. Her photos appear in our gallery on page 42

Jon Coulthard is completely infatuated with shooting photos of grids. We had him shoot Kenny Anderson back in Issue 6.6. He lives and works in L.A. and is fortunate enough to shoot with one of our favourite new skateboarders, Vincent Alvarez. You will find the both of them in our trivial pursuit article on page 64. He is currently in the process of working on a book about unsustainable systems and facades in our society.

Ed Spence grew up in Salmon Arm, BC. He studied Fine Arts, recieving a BFA at Okanagan University College in Kelowna, where he focussed on sculpture and video installation. As an appreciator of all artistic forms, he paints, skates, designs, illustrates, sculpts, breaks, shoots, writes, shits and loves. This process will stop only when his heart does. He currently works and plays in Vancouver. He would love to make you a beautiful piece of art one day, Until then though, The Tiltmode Army collages on page 114 will have to do.

Born and raised in Boise, Idaho, Brennan Conroy worked on a potato farm until he graduated from high school. Heavily influenced by FTCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Penal Code he set off for the big city of San Francisco. Spending the majority of the next few years at Pier 7, Brennan was a staff filmer for the now defunct Logic Video Magazine. These days he finds himself in random Starbucks locations answering e-mails and making sure professional and amateur flow riders for Habitat Skateboards receive their board boxes in a timely manner, still occasionally picking up the ancient artifact known as the VX1000 to document a stunt here and again.

jessicabard.COM

joncoulthard.com

SPEDWARD@HOTMAIL.COM

rainydaybear.blogspot.com

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[ o ] MIKENDO

BRIAN LOTTI

— Well-known as a pioneer of modern street skating, Brian Lotti’s advanced tech skating during the early 90s quickly earned himself a spot on skateboarding’s proverbial walk of fame. However, soon after he left the limelight to attend school and expand his horizons, eventually graduating from the University of California with an art degree. It was against this backdrop that Lotti began to delve into film and other creative pursuits, such as directing films and creating board graphics for a multitude of skateboard manufacturers. His most recent film, Free Pegasus, details the experience of skating the streets of Barcelona.

ESCAPE

— Coffee shop in the grove / A fair lady and a grey day

Pro

Meal

— Turkey sandwich / Roast chicken

purchase

Electronic

— Bag of tofu for Kevin / Wine for friends

— Hand-held digital audio recorder / Electronic Scanner

Music

Sin

— Yelling for no real reason / Yelling for no real reason

Waste of time

— At Pan Pacific Park / Bigspin out of a BS 180 fakie nosegrind

— Cutting up xeroxed letters / Working with friends

Photographer

URL

— Some young girl, somewhere / Soens, Trinh, Gomez

[ o ] ORTIZ

— Los Angeles / Miracle Mile

Bigspin

BEST book brave new world

City

— Clint Peterson / Colin Burns

— Mountains and Sea / Russell, Brendan, & Rick Lee

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Skate Company

— Ship Shape / None at present

Artist

NEXT electronic hand-held digital audio recorder

— Tales from the Skate Crypt / Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

— Luis de la Reyes / Grant Taylor

— Alex Olson / Ben Schroeder

NEXT meal turkey sandwich

BOOK

— Mountains and Sea / Adio visual blog

BEST pro ben schroeder

INSIGHT / DOPAMINE II

Jordan Hoffart

Distributed by Ultimate

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music

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—

image courtesy the band.

“…By the time the band is done with it it will sound nothing like the original.” wordsby jenny charlesworth

t’s a sunny afternoon in San Francisco and according to John Dwyer, the offbeat and wildly charismatic frontman for Thee Oh Sees, there’s no better time to enjoy a grilled cheese sandwich. Utterly impressed with his newly acquired George Foreman Grill, Dwyer admires the black lines seared across his toasted bread before savoring the first gooey bite. Apparently the singer/guitarist is cooking everything on the Teflon-coated plates these days, or so he brags between mouthfuls: “Peanut butter and jelly, cat food, I don’t give a fuck now as long as everything is squished and hot,” he laughs. If you’re not familiar with the infamous Dwyer—a mainstay in the Bay Area underground music scene due to an illustrious past playing in groups like Pink and Brown, Coachwhips and the Hospitals—the fact that the accomplished musician is completely enamored with the powers of a celebrity-endorsed relic from the early 90s might not be all that amusing. But if you’ve ever witnessed the maniacal garage-rock renaissance man in action, swinging his guitar around on stage, curling his lip like Elvis on crank while yelping over top of noisy, effect-laden rock, then Dwyer’s current kooky infatuation seems right on the money—as is Thee Oh Sees’ latest album. Released on In The Red Records earlier this year, Help offers listeners another serving of demented psychedelic folk from the unruly quintet, which also features vocalist Brigid Dawson, second guitarist Petey Dammit and drummer Mike Shoun. Color managed to convince Dwyer to talk about the band’s eighth studio effort in between his praise for melted mozzarella and retro-grilling technology.

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Color: What can listeners expect from your latest album, Help? JD: The recording sort of maintains a similar vibe to the last album, a bit more lush perhaps. We didn’t make any super leaps forward so I’d say it’s a pretty good companion record to The Master’s Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In [2008]. We actually recorded [both albums] at the same place. It’s in Sacramento and is a giant hangar where they make Tape Op magazine. We did it with Chris Woodhouse, who is just a pleasure to work with and it’s a fun environment. They have a skate ramp and kitchen there… it’s not just a room, it’s a full-on joint.

covered one of their songs with The Coachwhips so it’s cool to become friends with the guy now.

How did the band arrive at its reverb-soaked garagepsych sound? Garage rock is what comes naturally for me. I’ve always been into Nuggets and there were so many bands in the 90s when I was first starting to get into guitar that I really dug, all the guys from Goner [Records] and Billy Childish and all that shit. Now it’s like I’m getting old or something because I have a formulaic way I write music, I try to change it around as best as I can, but now a lot of it comes from the band from writing their own parts. I’ll demo something and by the time the band is done with it, it will sound nothing like the original—a lot of it is just the coming together of four people.

What is it like playing in an outfit with a guy who has a piece of cake tattooed on his neck, how did you two get involved? Man, Petey and me met years ago through music. He’s always done great stuff, every band he’s been in. He was in a band called Big Techno Werewolves that I loved a lot, it had one of the dudes from Sic Alps and this guy Eric Bauer, who’s been a behind the scenes guy for years making real weird underground stuff. Petey is just a great fingerpicker. I don’t even notice the cake anymore honestly, usually it seems like ladies tend to notice it.

Do Thee Oh Sees have any other output tabled for release at the moment? We’re doing a split seven-inch with Paul Cary from Chicago for Recorded Records. Paul’s fucking great. I loved The Horrors back in the day so much. When he was a teenager I’d end up playing shows with those kids and I’d just be like, ‘Ah, these guys are so awesome!’. That first In The Red record they put out was definitely an inspiration. I actually

A lot of people don’t know that you’re a pretty accomplished artist, is there any correlation between the way you approach making visual art and music? Yeah, I think it’s pretty much exactly the same. Occasionally I’ll have an idea in my head before I put something on tape or paper, but a lot of time it’s me just fucking around until something starts to become interesting and then I try to build on that and hopefully not go too far or ruin it. It’s really a lot of off-the-cuff stuff.

You guys clock a lot of miles in the ol’ tour van, any advice for other acts while out on the road? I’m all about: before you get wasted you have to make sure your gear is all rounded up because I don’t like going back to get things—unless I forgot it, in which case, it was just a mistake, not a fuck up… Help is out now on In the Red records. For tour dates and other info, check out myspace.com/ohsees.

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Keith Hufnagel, Kickflip to fakie gotophoto. Publications mail agreement No. 40843627 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: fourcornerpublishinginc. 321 RAILWAY STREET, #105 VANCOUVER, BC V6A 1A4 CANADA

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ERIC IS FEATURED IN THE BAR LOGO NEW ERA AND THE KOSTON SIGNATURE CORDS. ANDERSON BROPHY BLEDSOE CARROLL GONZALES HOWARD MALTO MARIANO PUIG SCHAAF / AVAILABLE THROUGH SUPRA DISTRIBUTION - WWW.SUPRADISTRIBUTION.COM