DOGPISS MAGAZINE ISSUE 9 THIS MAGAZINE IS EDITED & ASSEMBLED BY BEN HAIZELDEN EMAIL DOGPISSMAG@GMAIL.COM
COVER PHOTOGRAPH:
GIL AMOS
BRISTOL BY BEN HAIZELDEN
SINCEREST THANKS TO ALL CONTRIBUTORS & SUPPORTERS OF THE MAGAZINE. YOU'RE THE BEST!
SKATEBOARDER INTERVIEW FEATURES JESS RUSSELL WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROB WHISTON BACON WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS BY CRAIG DODDS SIMRAN SOND WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS BY BEN HAIZELDEN & TOM LEIGH
ARTIST FEATURE
RAFX INTERVIEW BY
instagram@da.fesu
NEIL MACDONALD
instagram@scienceversuelife
PLYMOUTH SKATE SCENE FEATURE LUCIEN HARRIS & ADAM AHMED
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY
WORK IN PROGRESS FEATURES PHOTOGRAPHS BY MULTIMEDIA PROJECT BY
TIM SMITH
BEN HAIZELDEN & MARK VASEY
instagram@jeffruffell
instagram@whistonphoto
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS BY
JESS RUSSELL
SKATEBOARDER FEATURE
ROB WHISTON
RW: Jess or Jeff? JR: Ha ha ha, either! As long as it’s not Jessica, so I don’t feel like I’m in trouble. Was that one for the questions? I hate this Rob! RW: How many doobies do you smoke a day? JR: Not enough. RW: You recently started riding for Karma Skateboards. How did that come about? JR: Yaaaasss!! Literally owe it all the James ‘OG’ Hewett! We’ve followed each other online for years, but never linked up to skate, then we randomly bumped into each other at The Deaner back in August. A couple of days later he messaged me about riding for Karma. Honestly, I thought he was joking, up until the Scotland trip. Super grateful, big up OG!
RW: You was on the team less than a week and they had already set you up with a trip to Scotland. How was it meeting the whole team in such a shotgun way? What was the trip like and was there any standout moments? JR: I’m a bit socially awkward and hadn’t met anyone properly before, so the first day was pretty intense for me. I ended up getting hammered the whole journey there to calm my nerves, but everyone on the trip was ridiculously sound so I comfortable with everyone really quickly. Ahhh maaaate, Scotland was the best! Standard of skating from the Karma boys and the locals was next level. I’d never been on a proper skate trip like that before, so I’m proper thankful! RW: You’re from Bedford, however have recently moved to Bristol for Uni. How do the two skate scenes differ?
ROCK N ROLL BOURNEBROOK DIY BIRMINGHAM
NOSE STALL FAKIE GLASGOW
JR: The scene is definitely a lot bigger down Bristol, there’s way more crust and street which has been new to me, but I’m loving it! All the locals I’ve met so far have been sound as fuck and there’s an amazing girls community here too. I do miss al my skate pals back home though, like without them I wouldn’t of kept at skating for as long as I have, so big up! RW: Other than the skate scene you moved to Bristol for Uni. Are you getting the traditional University experience or has COVID changed all that? JR: Ahhhh COVIDs completely ruined the experience to be honest. I’m still glad I moved though. RW: The Deaner will teach you some real life lessons! JR: Ha ha! Yeah, cheaper than a degree!
RW:Are you going to stick around after you graduate? JR: I’m not really sure! Kinda enjoying the opportunity to explore a new place, so maybe I’ll just keep bopping about for a bit. RW: You have a bong and a Snoop Dogg amount of weed, which 5 people from history do you hit it with? dead or alive. JR: Can I hit it with myself and my cat? Ha ha ha! RW: You're an idiot.
RW: Whats the plan for
FRONTSIDE ROCK M32 BRISTOL
2021? JR: I’m not sure! Trying not to put too much pressure on it, as this year has been so hectic. Hopefully more skating and dooooobies with my cat.
ARTIST FEATURE
WORK IN PROGRESS WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY
TIM SMITH These images are shot along the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, which has the highest stretch of canal in Britain. I wanted to explore some of the disused buildings and villages which span the stretch from central Huddersfield to Marseden; where the canal runs through the Standedge Tunnel, the longest, deepest and highest canal tunnel in the country. The area would have once been the main trade routes into Huddersfield, allowing the town to build a booming textiles industry. The canal is now littered with disused industrial buildings (new and old), some have been refurbished and others left to ruin.
One of the areas I explored was an area of ground commonly frequented by recently convicted two teenage murders, who stabbed to death (and almost beheaded) a factory worker at Thornton & Ross Ltd. Bizarrely when I was out taking photos I came across two people who told me about their connections to the youths (one overlooked the factory car park and had witnessed the attack, while the other had been threatened by the pair shortly before the murder).
I was hoping to make a larger series of images which explores each of the villages in more detail, shooting skate, finding out about the history and taking more landscape photos. These images seem like the beginning of something more substantial. I just need a little longer, better weather (it's rained for pretty much the last 6 weeks straight) and lockdown to fuck off.
MORE OF TIM'S WORK CAN BE SEEN AT INSTAGRAM@TIMO_SMITHO
instagram@duddle_it
instagram@bakedbacon
WILLIAM 'BACON' AITKEN
SKATEBOARDER FEATURE
CRAIG DODDS
WALLIE BOARDSLIDE
INTERVIEW AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY
So before we kick this into full swing let’s clear up what people reading are probably already thinking, how did you land yourself the nickname ‘Bacon’ ? To be honest it doesn’t really have a fantastic story. Just ever so slightly happens to rhyme with my second name and stuck with me since I was a youngster.
And for any curious hairy folk, what shampoo do you use to keep those gorgeous ginger locks in check? Tresemme, fo sho.
Okay, let’s get stuck in, so you’re from Scotland, how was life growing up in a small town there? Growing up in Lanark was good. There wasn’t a lot to skate and what we did skate was always very haggard, but we did have some decent enough spots. We didn’t have a skatepark but the local towns surrounding us had a lot of good transition parks.
How did skateboarding come into your life? There was an old abandoned warehouse at the top of my street with perfect flat ground. As a kid we had built dens there but one day I went up and these
skaters had taken all the wood apart we had used and
So you quit skating after that?
made all these ramps out of it. I was like ‘No fucking
It was that small town thing where it just ended up
way!’. So I ran to my house trying to find anything
being me and one other skater. Then eddy stopped
with wheels I could use on them. But the only thing
skating and that was it, I was just on my own. I skated
we had at this time in my house was rollerblades, so I
like that for two sessions and was like ‘fuck this’,
grabbed them and got used to jumping off stuff and
haha. Then I just bought a tracksuit and started
then by the time I’d popped all the bearings in my
hanging around with everyone that I used to hang
rollerblades I’d convinced my parents to get me a
about with drinking, smoking weed, getting up to no
board and that was that.
good. It was a lot more fun as well at that point in my life.
My own experience growing up in a small town it can be a pretty tough place for skateboarding
When and how did you find it again?
sometimes, did the local head cases give you much
So I probably got back into it again when I was
hassle?
around 20. I was getting into a lot of trouble. There
Yes and no. At school you would get a little bit of
used to be this hash dealer at the bottom of this big
hassle but in the actual town itself it was pretty chill.
hill, so I got hold of an old skateboard to bomb down
When I started skateboarding at 12 years old there
to go see him and low and behold, the skateboard
was a huge following of skaters, moshers, goths,
just started coming with me more often. It took up all
because of this one big shop in the town. But the
the time from me getting into trouble. I never really
shop didn’t last too long and then the skate scene
got charged with another crime after I got into it
just dwindled away to the point were there was five of
again.
us, then there was only me and one more guy in the town.
BACKSIDE FLIP
OLLIE IN I remember you telling me you used to hide razor blades in your mouth like some mad Scotts version of Edward scissor hands!
Yes that is correct, haha.
What was probably the craziest thing you seen growing up in Lanark?
This one guy Hammer… it was kind of like a gang chase, four or five of them and the same with us. This was during the period when I wasn’t skating. This dude fell over a wall and Hammer used this small wall to slam-dunk this brick into the side of his head, was fucking hesh.
Scotland, more than many is a pretty miserable place in the winter for skating, you almost had a pretty close call before camping in the woods one time didn’t you?
Aye. Two friends and me figured it would be a good idea to go camping in January. Beautiful weather though, not a cloud in the sky. We just dropped a pinpoint on google maps and decided to go to
this loch in the middle of nowhere. All the taxis in the local town told us they wouldn’t take us over the hill so we finally got one that would take us up as far as it could. We walked for miles until we found this lough, had no phone reception, camped for one night, drank all the booze, woke up the next morning, the water was frozen, everything was solid as a rock. So we walked to the local bar that was like five miles away. Spent the whole Saturday in there getting wasted in the warmth. The barman then decides he’ll give us a lift back if we give him some weed. So halfway through the journey he starts asking for it. I give him some, my friend refused, insisting that he had enough already. He slams on the brakes and tells us to get out. So now its pitch black, its -9 and were walking in the middle of nowhere between two big fucking mountains, oh and we’re wasted cause he sold us a litre and a half bottle of vodka. So I decided I knew a short cut, so we end up running down this short hill. My homie kept running past us and fell into this icy river right at the bottom. The rest of the night was spent trying to keep him warm but I kept on
WALLRIDE TO FAKIE
FEEBLE POP OVER
getting mirages of the tent running through the forest and getting scratched in the face and poked in the eye by all these branches, freezing my nut off and hallucinating like crazy.
In the end it took about six hours to find the tent, haha.
You’ve collected a far amount of miles under your belt, is Barcelona the place you’ve lived the longest overall now?
Yep, definitely. It’s been the longest and my favourite place I’ve lived. Coming on 4 years now.
What other places have you lived? You stayed in a
Was so massive as well, this huge mansion in the
squat for a while in Holland, how was that
middle of nowhere. I had the whole attic to live in to
experience?
myself.
Fantastic, that’s what really propelled me back into the skateboarding lifestyle. I just wanted to go away
How did the guy find out about the place?
and smoke loads of weed and take loads of shrooms
Jap-Jaan, was the guy who discovered it. He was
with my skateboard along the sidelines, but my
watching a TV show about ghost hunting. Said to
skateboard ended up being the soul reason that I
himself ‘man, I want to go live there!’. So he rocked
stayed there for as long as I did. I could have easily
up, pulled the boards of the windows and started
fucked off and went else where but everyone I met in
squatting it. The actual owner ended up taking him to
Holland was so sound and so supportive.
court. Jap-Jaan won the case because the owner was doing land banking, wanting it to fall into a derelict
Was that your first squat experience?
state because it was costing him money, but Jap-
Yep, it was incredible man. I learnt so much from the
Jaan was actually preserving the building so the
guy who ran it. He was an absolute genius. He would
court ordered that the owner to pay Jap-Jaan 300
get water from the ground, electricity from the sky,
euros a month. But now he’s squatting an old rehab
also was mad tripper. It was a speed based squat as
building because now he can say he’s finally in
well. The town it was in was called Nunspeet, but we
rehab, still off his head of course, haha.
renamed it Nunspeed, haha. The squat was so amazing, tons of graffiti, grew so much weed as well.
Scotland’s has a variety of transition parks, as
We’d go to different squat parties then host our own,
does Barcelona. Getting you to leave them and come
doing the spot up as psychedelic as we could.
street skating was a right pain in the arse. Would you say
that’s what you enjoyed skating most when you first started? You are an orange blur most of the time
Glass… I really like to collect functional glass. I got a
from the second you drop in.
bong from this internet forum one time and as soon
I would like to say I was way more street oriented, but I done my ankle in on a couple of handrails and it just put me off a bit. Now I’m just finding the tricks I like to do in the parks and hitting them as fast as I can. Still of course I’ll go skate street just not the way I’d like to.
as I opened the box when it arrived it was like getting an action man when you were a little kid, haha. From then onwards it just opened up a new world of things I can buy to get high with and I’ve just progressed with it over the years. It is a little bit more than getting high though, I just love everything that ends up involved with the end
What’s your favourite Scottish skatepark for going
piece from the colours, the way the glass is blown
ballistic at?
and the people who create them.
The place that I regular would be Blantyre, that’s where I learnt to skate transition. I suppose all the parks in Scotland are transition based, they all have quirky as fuck tranny and weird bits.
Does anyone hook you up with stuff being for being a skate demon?
I’ve got a mate, Zac, that’s very forward thinking with his company, Filthy Few. He’s kind enough to give me
I can honestly say you’ve the highest (no pun
clothes and boards. He’s from Scotland too but I’d
intended) tolerance for getting stoned to the
only ever met him a couple times there and a couple
gills. You’ve a big appreciation for not just
times here. We kind of just knew each other through
smoking weed but for the science behind getting
that. But now we both live in Barca so we’re doing
baked. What made you get more involved than your
loads of stuff together and its sick. Plus he’s got a
average stoner?
video coming out soon. Also, there used to be a strong Cornish connection out these ends, lots of Newquay heads where here in their masses but now Danny Parker who owns, Slippin Wizard, is back in Cornwall. I’m stoked to be getting product from him too.
So what’s next for our Bacon in these turbulent times were experiencing?
To become self-employed, start my trade in Barca and not have to work in a call centre.
Any shout outs before we put a neat little bow on this
OLLIE OVER
interview.
All the barrio boys and shout out Div Adam.
Post Card Devon Plymouth Civic Centre and Royal Parade The Photographic Greeting Card Co. Ltd
THE PLYMOUTH SKATE SCENE
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS BY LUCIEN HARRIS instagram@deja_lu
Additional photography by Ryan Pegg
Plymouth a.k.a ‘Britain’s Ocean city’ is a city situated on the south coast border of Devon and Cornwall. A historic town with connection to the sea that go back to 1620 when the mayflower ship sailed off to discover new lands, Plymouth is a melting pot of Naval servicemen , marines , dockyard workers ,fisherman, students and other local types. Even though it is Surrounded by Sea on one side and the rolling hills of Dartmoor on the other, Plymouth often gets bypassed by people looking to vacate in the South West. Amongst this mix however is a small but vibrant skate scene. Being a University town Student skaters often come and go, ( with some choosing to stay) but the core locals have remained steadily skating throughout the years.
Like most major cities Plymouth has its main meet-up spot. In this case the civic Centre. The civic as we call it is a plaza located under an iconic looking grade 2 building built in 1962. The plaza has a few spots, White wall for launching long flip tricks off , can also be slid and ground, but the main attraction is the large area of flat ground where you can skate uninterrupted. The civic centre has a long history of street skateboarding dating back to the 80s/early 90s with people like Mike Nyland , Rob Bannister and
LUCAS BRAMMALL
Nick Adams skating exactly what we still skate today, white wall . Some of those skaters have gone on to shape the scene today. Nick Marker has built all the Plymouth skateparks which is an insane feat and currently runs the local shop and skatepark
BONELESS
called Prime, while Andy Morall also runs a online shop called Flatspot and helps flow local skaters products and puts on events which is really helping our community to grow. The generation after that was probably Derek Beer, Toby Hopper to name a couple and they were regularly in mags and videos pushing Plymouth street skating. Derek has got to be one of the most influential Plymouth street skaters and if you’re lucky you can still see him kick flipping mach 10 off whitewall. I once saw him boardslide a ridiculously high nine stair handrail mach 10 at three in the morning casually on the way to a bar!
DOM FRENCH NOLLIE 5.0
In the late 90s early 2000s Flatspot skatepark used to host major demos and comps with a lot of pros visiting . These days there isn’t as many visits but a lot of people come to skate the plethora of street obstacles that Plymouth has to offer.
I’m seeing spots crop up a lot more in videos these days. Based on a lot of hills there is plenty of hillbombs, but it doesn’t take very long journeys away from civic to find hand rails ledge spots steep banks and even a transitioned roundabout, all in your classic British crust style of course. Lately a lot more of the local crew are skating street in town. I think it’s to do with the trouble that happens at the local outdoor skate park in central park as well as being overrun with the classic micro scooter hordes of kids. The majority of the Plymouth skaters I think are on one or 2 group chats and it’s a really tight friendly scene. There are skaters from the surrounding villages like Tavistock and Totnes who travel into skate all the time as well as people who live right in the heart of the city.
STEVE ATFIELD
OLLIE
KINGY
There is some shredders around at the
360 FLIP
moment and the new generation of skaters are really coming through . Steve, Jordan and Harry are always seen ripping flip tricks over gaps and bins. Harrys done a lot for the scene bringing different crews together. People like Glen (who's been ripping for years! Check his video parts) wont shy away from steep drop ins and rails. Jono is on a tear too with no regard for his own personal safety and Joe is on the come-up to with tech ledge tricks. Basically theres too many too mention but hopefully someone may make a full scene video again . I don’t think theres been one since Civicdaze which was made by Olly Howe around 6 years ago with people like Callum Lane and Ash Dixon killing it.
JORDAN EVERETT
HARDFLIP
e Eddystone Lighthouse is a lighthouse that is located on the dangerous Eddystone Rocks, 9 statute miles south of Rame Head in England. While Rame Head is in Cornwall, the rocks are submerged below the surface of the sea and composed of Precambrian gneiss. e current structure is the fourth to be built on the site. e first and second were destroyed by storm and fire respectively. e third, also known as Smeaton's Tower, is the best known because of its influence on lighthouse design and its importance in the development of concrete for building. Its upper portions have been re-erected in Plymouth as a monument. e first lighthouse, completed in 1699, was the world's first open ocean lighthouse although the Cordouan lighthouse preceded it as the first offshore lighthouse.
HARRY & ELSA
LUCIEN HARRIS NOSEGRIND POP OUT PHOTOGRAPH BY RYAN PEGG
HARRY TOMPKINSON NOSESTALL POP OUT
PLYMOUTH HALLOWEEN HAMMERS Plymouth has had a long history of fancy dress skate jams, from the hick jams at domain skatepark to the Get Some jams ran by local legends Rob Bannister and Mike Nyland at the old central park skatepark. Halloween however has remained everyone’s firm favourite local skate shindig. In 2007 there were no indoor skate parks around Plymouth with the demise of Domain, but we had always had Halloween Jams. Lucas and I came up with a plan to have an impromptu jam. We wanted it to be pure street skating with one trophy. I think Lucas’ Dad had an old darts trophy from the pub in his house with loads of local peoples names on and we thought how cool would it be to have a trophy passed down through the Plymouth skate generations in the same way. I bought items from the pound store and created a trophy and Lucas put the word out . It was raining but that didn’t stop us! The idea was simple whoever put down the best hammers wins. Thus halloween hammers was born. We met at Central Park skatepark but only something like 12 people turned up. The rained stopped for a while allowing us to skate the park and then on to a pretty gnarly 10 set in Bretonside Bus Station. Derek beer won the first ever one and the rules and trophy, though he smashed it up in the pub that night! Since then things have evolved a bit with the jam being held in Prime skatepark and dirty subways, but 14 years later Halloween hammers is still going strong and is predominately a pure street jam now!
JONO OWEN FAKIE FLIP Even Covid-19 cant stop Jono blazing his way to Hammer glory with a fakie flip down Theatre Royal.
OLLIE HOWE OLLIE OUT OF DRAIN COVER
GLEN BROOKS POLE JAM
DEREK BEER CROOK
JOSH SNOW HEELFLIP
If you want to check out the spots and skaters look out for the video "Civicdaze" and theres a few P-Town youth videos which rule too! Also check out Ryan Peggs zine; File Not Found. It does an excellent job of documenting the skate scene.
Anyway come skate Plymouth. Friendly locals .Good spots and happy vibes!
Lucien.
A LETTER TO PLYMOUTH FROM ADAM AHMED I moved to Plymouth 3 years ago, coming from Manchester and having not skated in around 8 years, with no real intention to start again. I didn’t know anyone and decided to pull a set-up out of retirement and head to this square I had seen skaters on (Civic). It was here I met most of the Plymouth skaters that pretty much kept me living in this new city. Meeting the real regulars of Civic and watching the Uni student skaters come and go means you always have an evolving skate scene. I remember my first visit to Prime skatepark and skating it so differently to all the locals, I also could not get a line there to save my life. Sometimes the best thing about smaller cities is the community feel and the skateboard community here is one of the best, any event that’s put on, we all attend, any competitions and everyone will get involved regardless of level…it’s just easier when you have less skate spots to split the skaters between. It’s pretty much a given that Civic is the standard meeting spot, warm up spot, all dayskate spot and warm down spot…if you go Civic too early it is pretty much a given that you will not leave and skate elsewhere. I live with Kingy (Harry King) now who works with Flatspot and helps organize so many of the skate events we have here during the spring and summer, I never imagined from the first day in Plymouth that 3 years down the line I would be living with one of the main influencers and supporters of skateboarding here, he’s also kept me from giving up on my board many times. Plymouth just won’t let me stay retired and even has an Old man Monday at Prime where I can kick off the cobwebs in the newly designed park. I love the Plymouth skate scene, may it long continue. Thank you Lucien for encouraging me and believing in my old legs even when I didn’t and thank you Plymouth for the new lease on life! Kind regards, Adam Ahmed
SKATEBOARDER FEATURE
instagram@simradical
WALLIE HOTWELLS BRISTOL PHOTOGRAPH BY TOM LEIGH
SIMRAN SOND
INTERVIEW
After that I started looking a bit more into BY BEN
HAIZELDEN skateboarding spending hours on YouTube
PHOTOGRAPHS
watching classic skate vids and days out on my
BY BEN
road trying to learn the basics. I have quite an
& TOM
HAIZELDEN
LEIGH instagram@tomdleigh
addictive personality so once I started skating I became quite obsessed with it. I didnt really have many other mates who skated until I got
So Sim, care to tell us a little about into secondary school so it was nice to finally yourself? find people who had the same interests as me Where are you from and how old are and I still skate with them to this day. you? I was born and raised in a small town called Thornbury just outside Bristol and I'm 19 years old
.
Throughout school I would try get other mates into skating and soon we had a nice group which made me love the social aspect of skating as well as skating itself.
What do you think it is that drew you to skating? Did you have mates that started before you? When I was much younger i used to watch the X Games and other extreme sports related shows on tv but was particularly drawn to skateboarding so my dad got me my first skateboard for christmas when I was about 8 or 9.
Favourite trick? And what is it about it that makes it feel so good? Favourite trick is probably a backside flip, they look so good and rolling away fakie after sending it down a set or over a gap feels so sick.
360 FLIP TEMPLE MEADS BRISTOL SEQUENCE BY BEN HAIZELDEN
And plans for skating? Film a video part? Yeah I'm currently making a video with filmer and friend Tom Leigh, loads of good skaters in the video and its not too far from being finished so I'm pretty gassed for that. And after thats done I might film a part for anyone of my mates who
I'm always up for filming.
BACKSIDE FLIP PHOTOGRAPH BY BEN HAIZELDEN
wants to make a video,
OLLIE TRANSFER M32 BRISTOL PHOTOGRAPH BY TOM LEIGH
So who/what gets you hyped to skate? Seeing all my mates skate is what gets me hyped. Like if theres a big session going down at any spot I just wanna join in and skate with everyone, especially when people are throwing down big tricks it just gets me gassed to do the same. Thanks for taking the time mate. Any parting words/thanks/shout-outs? Thanks for having me and shout out to all the Bristol skaters!
ARTIST FEATURE
NEIL MACDONALD
instagram@scienceversuslife
INTERVIEWS
RAFX
@DA.FESU
RAFX (Katya, to her friends) grew up in a little Russian town on the edge of Siberia and has probably absorbed more music and art in her 23 years than plenty of people twice her age living in the cities where it was created. Refining the tattoos, graffiti and urban decay that's fascinated her for more than half her life into her own art has led to some interesting commissions, none of which she particularly cares about. Katya didn't start drawing to make money, and intends to keep it that way. From her own legs to Spain police vehicles, her interpretations of a culture thousands of miles (and several decades) outside of her own upbringing brings hip-hop aesthetics to tattoos, and tattoo styles to graffiti brilliantly. Her genuine knowledge and appreciation of 1980s hardcore and 1990s hip-hop is on a level rarely seen these days, when it's easy enough to download a beginers' guide to just about anything. You can dress the part and drop all the right names but you're not gonna get far when your heart isn't in it. Katya discovering all this music and art for herself in remote pre-internet Russia speaks volumes about her enthusiasm for these cultures already, but I called her up to fill in the gaps.
How old were you when you started noticing music?
I think, about ten years old. When I was watching MTV they would always play pop-punk, like The Offspring and Green Day. All that shitty pop-punk that I hate now, but I started listening to that. Then they played some stuff like Cypress Hill, OutKast as well, and I started to listen to more hip-hop. I went to Moscow when I was eleven, with my dad, and I bought my first cassette tape there. That was Lords of the Underground. I still have it; I like that first Lords of the Underground album a lot.
Were you able to find any hip-hop in the town where you're from? Or was it just what was on TV?
At first it was just what was on TV, until I got my first computer with the internet, when I was eleven. Then I heard Gang Starr, NWA, all that classic shit.
Was it hip-hop that got you into painting graffiti?
Yeah. I started watching a lot of movies about New York, documentaries about graffiti in NYC, and the hip-hop videos on TV. Mobb Deep and shit.
Was there much of a graffiti scene where you're from?
I'm from a small town so it's hard because everybody knows each other. It was difficult and I had to hide it from everybody so that nobody knew that I painted. I started when I was fourteen so I didn't know a lot about the culture, it was just shitty throw ups then. When I was eighteen I went to university and I moved to a bigger city so I could paint more, then I went to Moscow. I painted some trains in Moscow, then I travelled around Europe. I went to the Netherlands, to England... I painted there as well. But painting in a small town, it's really boring.
Where in Europe was good?
The one I loved the most was London, and then Amsterdam. I went to Edinburgh as well, but for me to paint there, it was weird. I was staying in the city centre, and most of the buildings there are not for painting. Haha! I had to go to the suburbs. I painted a couple of bridges there. In London it was quite boring to paint the Metro trains. Amsterdam is a cool city to paint, but it was impossible to paint the Metro trains because I knew nobody over there so I was mostly painting in the street. I'm not a big fan of trains so it was good to paint in the street.
What are your influences, for graffiti and for tattoos?
Well I listen to a lot of hip-hop and I've seen thousands of hip-hop videos. Das EFX, Hoodratz, Mic Geronimo, Group Home... All the videos when they're in abandoned buildings with all the graffiti everywhere. That time and style in New York is everything to me. It's my dream to go and paint in New York. My life goal.
What else?
I used to listen to a lot of punk/metal, like Cro-Mags, Negative Approach, Killing Time, Crumbsuckers, stuff like that. This music definitely inspired me in skateboarding! And I don't know if they inspired me in graffiti but that was a big part of my life from the age of about fourteen to eighteen. I can't say it's inspired me but I love that music. Especially when I skate. Not so much when I draw something. It's mostly based on hip-hop and hip-hop culture, like the video for Straight From the Sewer by Das EFX where they're coming out of the sewer into the streets. It's amazing. That's the best video ever.
When did you first notice skateboarding?
I asked my mother to buy me my first skateboard when I was about eight, because I'd seen some punk video with skateboarding in it. This Agent Orange video where they're skating a pool. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw that video but I was living in a small town where obviously there was nothing for skateboarding. My mum had to go a big city, 400 kilometres away, to buy me my first board.
It was a shitty board for kids with all the plastic bits on it so the tail could not pop. I wasn't doing any tricks for years, I was just cruising and watching videos but there were no places in my town. When I was fourteen I went to that big city and bought my first real skateboard. After that I found some places to skate in another town next to mine. There was a small skatepark, maybe twenty metres by twenty metres, and I started to skate there a lot. I remember the feeling of my first ollie, and how strange it was because nobody else skated in my town, nobody else cared about skateboarding. When I was eighteen and went to university I could skate a lot more. In Russia we don't have a big culture of skateboarding so I was skating an underground parking garage for cars. And then I went to Barcelona.
Why Barcelona?
I never wanted to go to Spain, I never planned, I just woke up one day and bought tickets to Barcelona. I'd see a lot of videos of MACBA and all the cool spots over there, and I just wanted to go. It was easy for me to move because I know English, so I found work straight away.
What was the first skate video you saw?
One of my favourites was Stevie Williams in the Chocolate Tour video. I love that part. And definitely the Zoo York Mixtape!
How did you get into tattooing?
I started after seeing some works from FUZI UVTPK and the first one I did was on myself when I was fourteen, but then I started to sketch more. I bought a machine but I didn't really use it because I'm not that into tattooing, it's not how I want to make money or anything. It's just a way to have fun. Tattooing friends, tattooing myself. I don't want to do that as a business or anything.
Where has your art been used?
I made some designs for a Japanese record label. I don't know how they
What are your plans for 2021?
found me but I made some designs for their videos. I've done a few tattoos and I did a design for a small magazine in Russia, for the cover. The Madonna with the rat.
I want to go back to Russia to save some money, and then go to New York City. I don't really want to live in Russia, but the situation now with Covid means I have to come
Oh yeah, I love that one.
back. Also I have some problems with the law that I’m too lazy to solve. Haha! I can't say I'm really excited but it's
It's not like I'm trying to make money from it or anything. It just depends who asks.
the way to save money to be able to go somewhere else. New York or London.
INSTAGRAM@DA.FESU
HAMISH 'BAZ' ANDERSON KICKFLIP PHOTOGRAPH BY BEN HAIZELDEN
DEAN LANE BRISTOL
GALLERY
'BAMBI' PRICE 180 FAKIE NOSEGRIND PHOTOGRAPH BY SIMON BERNACKI CHRISTOPHER
STOCKPORT
THEO FEARON OLLIE NOTTINGHAM PHOTOGRAPH BY TOM QUIGLEY
JOE HINSON FEEBLE NOTTINGHAM PHOTOGRAPH BY TOM QUIGLEY
ALEX HALLFORD BACKTAIL SPRINGFIELD PHOTOGRAPH BY NEIL TURNER
SERIN COLES HIPPY JUMP BRISTOL BEN HAIZELDEN PHOTOGRAPH BY
STEWART PATON WALLRIDE OUT OF 1/4 GAVIN SWAFFIELD PHOTOGRAPH BY
M32 BRISTOL
The Severed Heads
Did you see that?
BRUCE MC CLURE
BY
Illustrated by Henry 'Swampy' Moore
THE STRANGEST PET ON EARTHS POEM
What? That, Her face inflated pumpkin, Turned towards her man, Sure and steady he helms the car.
The dogs playing in the garden, Tails a prize and rolling over, The lady hanging out her washing, Motorcycle at the bend.
No, none of that, The boy on the lawn, Sitting under the sprinkler in only his shorts, Bib rich robin red, Two severed heads by his side.
Well, I never, Next you’ll be telling me how long, Cattle can survive in captivity.
RIANNE EVANS
STAND UP BOURNBROOK DIY BIRMINGHAM
PHOTOGRAPHER GALLERY
ROB WHISTON INSTAGRAM@WHISTONPHOTO
ALEX RAMSELL
SLAPPY CROOK BIRMINGHAM
TOM GILLESPIE
ROLL ON BACKLIP BIRMINGHAM
ROSS ZAJAC
KROOK GLASGOW
BEN BROYD BACKSIDE AIR COVENTRY
MARK STERN HIPPIE JUMP MILTON KEYNES
NICK BILLINGTON HURRICANE STAFFORD
DUCAT
SWEEPER GLASGOW
instagram@markvanvasey / @november_bees
instagram@ben_haizelden
BEN HAIZELDEN & MARK VASEY
WORDS BY BEN HAIZELDEN
WORK IN PROGRESS
ARTIST FEATURE
Photography (and life) is about discoveries, big and little. The work presented here is about that search.
It is a collaboration in discovery between myself and Mark Vasey. He has been making audio field recordings at the sites photographed and I have been photographing locations he sees interesting to record. Our intention to explore the relationship that develops between the photograph and the audio; whether one enriches the other? The work is to be presented both in the form of an Instagram account and will be presented in an installation form in the not too distant future at the Dogpiss Magazine Art show that is in the works. If you go to instagram@haizelden_vasey_field_studies you can view / listen (preferably with headphones) to the featured photographs with the field recording that accompanies it. We hope you take time to follow and see and hear our work as it develops.
the jagged edge
ride the wind or the rails or the plank or whatever
there’s some strange sort of balance /tension from sailing close to the jagged edge,
and reminds you of your own crashing mortality.
and if you survive well enough to lick your wounds; to taste the burn and the dirt of the jagged edge
A POEM & PHOTOGRAPHS BY
looms out from the murk of fiction
INSTAGRAM@IRONHORSEISLIFE
and the jagged edge
DAVE BEVAN
especially when you sail too close
you’ll smile a strange sideways smile knowing you can never quite go back.
and if you don’t then you’re already there,
the jagged edge don’t care and with any luck will get you in the end.
better than a care home and spiraling debt and someone else who doesn’t want to be there wiping your arse and stealing your watch.
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS BY
ALISTAIR KERR
LLANDUDNO 1980
The skateboarding craze is dead, Skateboard magazine had a coffin carried by a group of the best skaters of the day across the cover of its last ever issue, kids across the world are tossing their boards into soon to be forgotten corners of their garage, or straight in the bin.
But in a seaside town in North Wales wheels still spin, tricks are still being pulled, and the sweat stink of Rector pads waft in the air. Mostyn Broadway Skatepark, Llandudno, a walled encampment keeping the dream alive. Tarmac, concrete, fibreglass, rubbish, and the torn up remains of the old promenade. A flat freestyle area, a mellow concrete bowl, a frankenstien creation concrete and fibreglass halfpipe ensemble, a fibreglass bowl, full of badly patched holes, but where most of the action happens. Oh and the BMX track, the broken up old promenade, where there be lots glass and quite possibly dragons.
On a good day you'd see half a dozen skaters, on a bad day you'd be alone, and it'd start raining.