HUCK Magazine The Nico Muller Issue (Digital Edition)

Ready to explode!

Che Guevara Shaun White Adam Yauch 56 www.HUCKmagazine.com

vol. 03 issue #013 made in the uk £3.75 NICOLAS MÜLLER by LOZZA

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We’re spinning into meltdown, we get it already.

Markets are collapsing, belts are tightening and the global economy is in shambles.

But if it’s money that makes the world go round, why the hell does it continue to turn? Day still fades into night, before dutifully melting back into day. The sun and the stars keep trading places in the sky. And that simple thing called pleasure remains totally within our reach.

The snow is falling. The moon is pulling in the tide. So why not find joy in the things we were given on day one?

Seize the day, enjoy the mag.

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HUCK 13 THE front.

22 Snow Rocks 24 Frends 26 Mike Vallely 28 Mountain Stories 30 Sam Lamiroy 32 Dead Kids 34 Benicio del Toro 36 Bees

sam christmas

38 Shaun White 42 JustSeeds 44 FlOgging Molly

HUCK 13 THE BACK. 120 Boogie 122 Albums 124 Films

BOOGIE

126 Games

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128 Books 130 Sharks

debbie bragg

HUCK 13 THE BIG STORIES.

48 Nicolas Müller

back to basics.

56 Southbank

saving london’s premier skate spot.

60 Donna Burton

yes, m’am.

62 Snowboard Helsinki

jibbing finland style.

68 Cold Water Lane

santa cruz springs to life with the o’neill cold water classic.

72 Greg Long

fearless and ready to charge.

76 Adam Yauch

b-ball beastie.

80 Primary Colours

snow, indoors.

86 Cypress Hill

still smokin’.

88 HALLOWEEN IN WHITBY

goth weekender: special report.

96 Sick Boys

old school skate returns.

102 Industry Girls

alpha females taking over.

108 Goggle It

protect your face.

110 artists

creative types in profile.

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Publisher & Editor

Vince Medeiros Associate Editor

Andrea Kurland Global Editor

Jamie Brisick Skate Editor

Jay Riggio Snow Editor

Zoe Oksanen Music Editor

Phil Hebblethwaite Editorial Director

Matt Bochenski

Translations Editor

Markus Grahlmann Website Editor

Alex Capes

Creative Directors

Rob Longworth & Paul Willoughby www.thechurchoflondon.com Junior Designer

Victoria Talbot Editorial Interns

Kezia Clark Jamie Isbell Words

Sarah Bentley, Mike Brett, Marlon Dolcy, Hugh Foster, Gemma Freeman, Matt George, Miles Masterson, Chloe McCloskey, Melanie Schönthier, Cyrus Shahrad, Alex Wade, Olly Zanetti Images

Boogie, Debbie Bragg, Amy Brown, Brusti, Paul Calver, Celebrate People’s History Poster Series, Sam Christmas, Jeff Curtes, Stevie Gee, Matt Georges, Philip Grisewood, Max Hamilton, Nick Hamilton, Lindsay Hutchens, Bryce Kanights, Lozza, Al Mackinnon, Dan Medhurst, Pasi, Peter Taras, Kevin Zacher, Mattia Zoppellaro Advertising Director

Steph Pomphrey

Advertising Manager

Dean Faulkner

Projects Manager

Lalita Powell

Marketing & Distribution

Ed Andrews

Managing Director

Danny Miller

Published by Story Publishing Studio 209, Curtain House 134-146 Curtain Road London EC2A 3AR www.storypublishing.co.uk Editorial Enquiries +44 (0) 207-729-3675 editorial@huckmagazine.com Advertising and Marketing Enquiries +44 (0) 207-729-3675 ads@huckmagazine.com Distributed worldwide by COMAG UK distribution enquiries: andy.hounslow@comag.co.uk Worldwide distribution enquiries: graeme.king@comag.co.uk Importato da Johnsons International News Italia S.p.A. Distribuito da A&G MARCO Via Fortezza 27, Milano, Italia Printed by Buxton Press

Made with paper from sustainable sources.

Huck is published six times a year. © Story 2009 ON THE COVER NICOLAS MÜLLER BY LOZZA

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PAUL CALVER

The articles appearing within this publication reflect the opinions of their respective authors and not necessarily those of the publishers or editorial team.

Another World. text CYRUS SHAHRAD.

Mathieu Justafre, frontside 5, La Clusaz, France.

photography MATT GEORGES.

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You may have heard of Donald Crowhurst, the British sailor who in 1969 was made famous by his failure in the first ever round-the-world solo yachting race. When it became obvious Crossing over the snow- that he hadn’t a hope of winning, Crowhurst spent the better part of a laden brink. year hovering aimlessly in the south Atlantic and faking his log books while awaiting the return of his competitors, at which point he intended to rejoin the race at the front. The isolation drove Crowhurst mad: he threw himself into the sea on the 243rd day of his voyage, and when the authorities finally recovered his boat they found log books filled with religious and philosophical ramblings about how he had become a ‘second generation cosmic being’.

Viewing our world from a great distance does funny things to the human

mind, and that’s as true with snowboarding as it is anywhere else. It doesn’t matter whether we’re soaking up sublime sunsets from chairlifts, tearing down isolated powder faces with only the sound of our breathing for company, or suspended mid-frontside five like Mathieu Justafre here: in each case the pull of a world behind this one is powerful, the voices of those that inhabit it coming in whispers on the mountain wind.

Cases of insanity are thankfully rare: lifts come rattling into lift stations; powder faces lead eventually to bustling resorts; and even the sickest of tricks ends with a soft thud and the sound of cheering uphill. But in those brief moments we’re given a sense of enormous meaning behind something that many view as merely a ‘sport’, and once we’re too old to care about competition circuits or clothing labels, it’s the pursuit of those moments that keeps us returning to the mountains – one foot in the world of men, the other in the realm of cosmic beings, both strapped firmly to our boards.

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Just Good Frends. text ZOE OKSANEN. photography KEVIN ZACHER.

Snowboarding is a funny game. For such a free-spirited sport, so little is left to freedom when it comes to playing on a professional level. After all, sponsors often dictate and control Bringing pro a lot of the when, why, where and snowboarding back to earth. who of a rider’s season.

Intent on shattering the contractual shackles that run their pro lives, riders Keir Dillon, Danny Davis, Scotty Lago, Kevin Pearce, Mason Aguirre and brothers Jack and Luke Mitrani created Frends, a collective whose goal is to ensure they ride together as much as they can.

“We felt confined to riding with riders on our team only,” says Danny Davis. “So we just started out as a crew. Filming for Frends meant I had a real excuse to ride with the guys I wanted to.”

Fellow Frends player Keir Dillon had this to add about the inspiration behind it: “Our aim was to live out our creative goals and dreams through the brand. Whether it’s clothes, movies, TV shows, contests, camp sessions or web presence, I think it’s more about how we want to achieve it than what we

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want to achieve.”

Although most of the Frends crew are amongst the best and most successful young riders in the sport (check out Danny Davis and Kevin Pearce’s contest results if you don’t believe me), that wasn’t a factor in who became involved. “We just chose the people we had most fun riding with,” says Danny. From there, Jack Mitrani started filming, editing and uploading footage to the website, letting people see what they were all up to.

How far can they take things? For Keir, it’s pretty key that Frends develops into an actual brand. “In order to keep doing what we want there needs to be a source of income,” he explains. “The reason for Frends is to show kids what life, and snowboarding, is all about – and how much fun you can have doing it. Providing a product will allow them to grab onto the idea physically.”

My prediction? It won’t be long before this bunch gets it together to create something pretty interesting. And if they don’t, friends riding, filming and having fun together, how bad can that be? www.thisisfrends.com

Power Play. text JAY RIGGIO.

illustration PHILIP GRISEWOOD.

Through the years, skateboarding has become intertwined with most creative facets of life – but rarely has it been connected to the gung-ho world of Legendary team sport. Legendary pro skater and long-time hockey fanatic Mike skate pro Vallely understands his two passions Mike Vallely may be unlikely bedmates, but that scores with hasn’t stopped him from trying to The Ducks. unite them like milk and a fresh batch of Oreos. Recently Mike V teamed up with his board sponsor, Element, and NHL team The Anaheim Ducks to produce a three-way branded apparel line.

Mike grew up in a New Jersey house where hockey was watched regularly, but it wasn’t until 1980 when the USA Olympic Team won gold that he became hooked. “That’s when I started to play street hockey,” says Vallely. “I pretty much became a diehard Rangers fan around that time, and I’ve been a hockey buff ever since.”

When Mike discovered skateboarding, hockey naturally took a backseat to his new all-consuming obsession. It wasn’t until years later when he moved to California that he became struck again with the hockey bug.

“Wayne Gretzky had just come to town to play for the LA Kings, which was a big deal. So I started going to Kings games. It really renewed my interest in hockey and I wanted to play ice hockey,” explains Mike.

“I was twenty-one, or something like that, and I couldn’t convince anyone else to learn to play with me. I was hanging out with Ed Templeton a lot and was like, ‘Dude you got to play hockey.’ He was like, ‘What are

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you talking about?’ So I got some hockey sticks and was like, ‘We can play on skateboards!’ It was the only way for him to get involved. And by the time that we did TV Skateboards [Mike and Ed’s short-lived skate company] we had our whole team playing skateboard hockey.”

Originally an LA Kings fan, Mike continually brushed off invites from a friend to watch The Ducks play. But after Mike broke his leg, he gave in.

“People find it hard that you can change allegiances with teams,” says Vallely.

“For me it wasn’t that hard because The Ducks were so good and they were the kind of team that I would want to build, if I could.” Thoroughly converted, Mike became further involved with the organisation when he began blogging on The Ducks’ website, hoping to attract attention from unlikely fans.

In time, Mike’s relationship with the team would blossom. Soon he was holding skateboard hockey exhibitions at the Honda Center parking lot where The Ducks play, sharing his two passions with kids and fans alike.

One thing led to another and, before long, Mike scored his apparel deal with The Ducks. “Most of the apparel you see in the team store that is leaguegenerated is pretty much generic sport stuff,” Mike says. “I’ve always felt it could be a little bit edgier with different influences in it, making apparel that the fans would actually want to buy and wear, especially fans that already participate in the skate/surf lifestyle.”

Mike’s exclusive Ducks merchandise, which will include a branded skate deck, is still in development. But with all parties pushing to get things rolling, the union of skateboarding and hockey is just around the bend.

Mike V’s hockey apparel will be available exclusively at The Ducks Team Store. http://ducks.nhl.com

Photo : Elina Sirparanta

D AV I D L I V E T OXBOW TEAM RIDER

H O K K A I D O I S L A N D , J A PA N W W W. O X B O W O R L D . C O M

Telling Stories. text ed andrews.

photography paul willoughby.

Anyone can make a snowboard film, right? How hard can it be? Get a camera, shoot some sick shredding, cut it all together, mix in some music and you’re laughing! Well, as it happens, Would-be it’s not always that simple... filmmakers Well aware that so many take to the snowboarders are itching to make mountain. their own film, Urb-orbis Productions decided to launch Mountain Stories, a year-long snowboard short film contest open to both wannabe filmmakers and experienced producers alike. The end result? An eclectic showcase DVD of film shorts, all offering unique takes on sliding sideways.

One of the most notable filmmakers involved was Adam Gendle, pro snowboarder and one half of Lockdown Projects, who won Best Director (and 500 quid) for his horror film starring Norwegian pro Kjersti Buaas being pursued by a psychotic clown. “Kjersti kept going on about the movie Killer Clowns From Outer Space,” says Gendle. “We went to Wal-Mart and bought all the bits to make a really rubbish clown outfit.”

Shot at Mammoth, California, during the Roxy Chicken Jam, the initial cut only had three minutes of footage and lacked the all-important snowboarding. Having gone their separate ways, Gendle got creative and recruited a friend’s niece to play a young Kjersti in flashbacks of childhood traumas involving a toy clown. “I’d love to say it was the plan all along,” laughs Gendle. ”Sometimes the challenge is making something out of what you’ve got.”

Another pro filmmaker setting a high standard was Jon Drever from Grain Media whose fast-paced film chronicles a hectic winter travelling

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across Europe. “Our initial idea was a travel piece because it’s an integral part of snowboarding if you are British,” says Drever. “We were pretty lucky kit-wise, no mishaps there but then there was me nearly dying in Tignes.

I was walking to this vantage point, I slipped on some ice and slid down the hill towards the cliff. I managed to grab my bag which had £30,000 worth of kit in it and dig my board in at the very last minute. A skier came along and rescued me while my legs were hanging off the cliff. Filming freeriding can be really dangerous, it’s not like setting up next to a kicker in the park.”

And it seems that mishaps happen in post-production as well. Pro snowboarder and first-time filmmaker Mike Austin can lay testament to that: “My laptop blew up and burnt out the graphics card. After that, I had to re-link clips from my external hard drive. That was a nightmare. My girlfriend had to put up with me being on the computer for hours on end.”

Video artist Wat Kirby’s entry, Sounds of the Shred, took a fully left field approach with a split-screen visual soundscape. Says Kirby: “There is such a standard format to compiling snowboard films – essentially it’s just riding to punk or hip hop. But when you are on the mountain, all you can really hear is the wind howling. I wanted to do something completely different so I built up a rhythm with the raw sounds that came with snowboarding.”

Prize money aside, how do you keep the motivation up when you’re lugging heavy equipment around bitterly cold mountains and staring through bloodshot eyes at a computer screen for hours on end, only for some critic to rip the whole thing to shreds after just five minute’s viewing? Jon Drever sums it up well: “It’s quite self-indulgent, but it’s always nice to have a record of what you’ve done.” www.mountain-stories.com

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Filmmaker Adam Gendle.

Diplomat of surf. text alex wade. photography AL MACKINNON.

Could Sam Lamiroy be British surfing’s official ambassador? That might be going a little too far – not least because such a role is yet to exist Meet Sam – but if ever one was created, the thirty-two-year-old Geordie would be Lamiroy, in pole position for the job. the voice Born in Belgium, Lamiroy of British started surfing aged ten, when his surfing. family settled in North East England.

He never looked back, logging water time on the frigid reefs around Tynemouth and, over fifteen seasons, acquiring an intimate knowledge of iconic breaks such as Thurso East and Brims Ness on Scotland’s North Shore. A big, muscular man, Lamiroy’s prowess in the water has seen him bag two British titles, undertake a stint on the World Qualifying Series (WQS) and live to tell the tale of surfing Ireland’s monster wave, Aileen’s, at serious size. He’s a regular on the UK Pro Surf Tour and his amiable smile pops up in just about every domestic surf magazine, every month.

But Lamiroy is more than simply a very good surfer. Now based in Perranporth, North Cornwall, he’s also an intelligent, reflective man.

This quality, allied with a deep love of surfing, is what makes him one of the UK’s best spokesmen on the subject.

“Surfing is the overriding thing in my life. It permeates everything I do – where I live, how I interact with people, how I see the world,” he says. “It’s the moment that brings together many of the things that make us human – nature,

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subtle changes in your environment, your interaction with those things, your sense of balance and control of tiny fractions of movement.”

If that sounds a little Zen, it’s meant to. Lamiroy is as much a philosopher as he is a powerful and stylish surfer. As he says: “Surfing is about an immersion in the moment. To be in the sea, seeing dolphins and beautiful sunsets, catching waves, is the most perfect way of achieving peace and contentment imaginable. Despite the explosive bursts of energy involved, surfing is a meditative act, something analogous to what Eastern philosophies say about achieving happiness through simply being.”

Since coming fifth in the World Pro Juniors when he was eighteen, Lamiroy has gone on to carve out an enviable lifestyle. “I had a decision to make,” he recalls, “university or pro surfing. I chose the former. It’s not a decision I’ve ever regretted.” Lamiroy, fluent in several languages, obtained a degree in oceanography from Plymouth University, and thereafter harnessed both his intelligence and natural ability as a surfer to impressive effect.

“I competed on the WQS for several years, placing well but never quite making the higher rankings, and then sat down with my sponsors to discuss a different way of representing them. With their encouragement, I’m retained as a free surfer. My aim is to show surfing in a positive light, often in unusual locations. I want people to see me riding a wave and decide to get into surfing themselves.”

If there was an official British surfing ambassador, that’s exactly what he’d say. www.oneill.com

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IN YOUR FACE. text Phil Hebblethwaite.

photography Mattia Zoppellaro.

Mike Title threw two goats’ heads into the crowd, one of which inadvertently took out Bob Geldof’s daughter, Peaches. The act, which caused outrage in the tabloids, is but one Limp rockers of the many fierce, confrontational beware: the shows typically put on by the band.

Dead Kids “I don’t know where any of this have arrived. is leading,” says Title, “but from the very moment I put Dead Kids together, it was as a reaction. And I wasn’t sure what I was reacting against, other than bland, identikit bands that get signed and hang out at foam parties and drink for free.”

Their latest single, ‘Into The Fire’, is a love song in its rawest sense (“I’m laying it down!”). It follows a track that’s perhaps the best example so far of the ferocity, wit and brilliance in Dead Kids’ music – ‘Fear and Fluoride’, a song concerning the government supposedly adding fluoride to drinking water, but it may as well be about paranoia, conspiracy and dread.

An album is due later this year, but for now you absolutely have to see them play. “When we turn up at gigs, the other bands have got all the right tattoos and they look like they’ve been to the Fame Academy together,” says Mike. “We just turn up and do it. All of a sudden, there’s a rammed room, and we’re transformed from your average band in the street to something... titan. Demi-gods. Not full gods, yet. But that’s how we roll on a good night.

And we’ve many a good night.”

‘Into the Fire’ is out now on Sparrow’s Tear.

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Photos: Roger Baumer

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Hans Åhlund Cooke City, USA rd 2008 February 9th to 23 Check the story: m/hans www.zimtstern.co

Zimtstern Snowboard Pro Team: Hans Åhlund, Colin Frei, Björn Hartweger, Reto Kestenholz, Simon Abt, Lukas Blaser Zimtstern Snowboard Rookie Team: Carmen Beccaro, Chrigel Bertschi, Melanie Camastral, Julian Fürsinger, Anja Imboden, Nico Kurz, Helene Nadig

BEING CHE. text mike brett. photography sam christmas.

“I think he’s just like Jesus, except one thing: ‘I don’t turn the other cheek, Jack.

You kill me, I kill you.’” After speaking to Benicio Del Toro, one thing is clear: Actor Benicio his portrayal of Che Guevara in Steven Del Toro cuts Soderbergh’s revolutionary two-part film doesn’t pussyfoot around. through the While many herald Che as a political champion of the Latin American baggage to people, others – the right, the CIA, show us his etc. – vilify him as a war criminal Che Guevara. responsible for the death of countless Cubans in Castro’s post-revolutionary purge of undesirables. For Del Toro, things are a little more straightforward.

“Well, y’know, Che is pretty easy to understand,” he argues. “Che is a guy who fought for justice. Anyone who’s ever been a kid, anyone who’s ever had a superhero – Batman, Superman, Spiderman – would understand that.”

There is no room in Del Toro’s interpretation for any conclusion other than that the righteousness of Guevara’s cause justifies his actions. “That thing about love [Che’s claim that ‘Revolution is love’], I believe that it was about love – about love towards humanity. I’ll say this to anyone – because I really read his Bolivian diaries – Che never terrorised anybody.”

So candid is Del Toro’s take on Che, that even violence is justified as a means of revolution: “His aggression – let’s call it his ‘evilness’ – was directed towards evil. He had a gun that fought the gun. He didn’t fight

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the flower. That last song in the first movie, it’s a Silvio Rodríguez song.

Silvio Rodríguez is like the Bob Dylan of Cuba, and that song is called ‘Fusil Contra Fusil’, ‘Weapon Versus Weapon’. That, in a way, is Che. He fought the rifle that kept people down.”

Wary of getting bogged down in the political quicksand that surrounds Guevara’s legacy, Del Toro turns to the emotional side of the project: “You can talk about politics and Cuba all day – and maybe I’m not the most qualified person to be talking about this stuff – but I’ll tell you one thing: from doing this movie, I did learn more about the history of Latin America – and I am Latin American. When we went to Cuba… the feeling you got from the people towards Che was of such deep love. There is a whole country down there in which Che is revered, and it expands into Latin America, and into Europe, and it trickles into the States.”

Such widespread reverence goes some way in explaining the sheer power of Del Toro’s lead performance. But the strength of Che’s conviction, and the tenacity with which he defends it to the death, makes him a compelling human being. As Del Toro suggests: “Let’s be sincere here. You can do ten movies about Che; the guy lived ten lives. Very few people have the impression on life that he did, that stamp.”

Better belt up and get the popcorn in; Che parts three to ten may well be on their way.

Che: Part Two hits UK cinemas this February.

To read the full interview go to www.huckmagazine.com.

Save the honeybee. text OLLY ZANETTI.

What is it about bees that we humans find so elusive? It took scientists until 2003 to debunk the popular schoolyard myth that bee flight is aerodynamically impossible. Today, Or the bees are back on the agenda, and economy the outlook isn’t good. could In Britain, loss of habitat due suffer. to intensive agriculture has all but wiped out the wild honeybee and, last winter, domesticated populations dropped sharply. While it’s natural for numbers to shrink over winter, losses are normally around five to ten percent. Last winter it was one in three, and there’s no reason to suppose that this year will be any different. Because of this, stocks of British honey are running dry.

But that’s the least of our worries, explains Chris Deaves of the British Bee Keeping Association: “Bees are important for pollination, and honeybees are particularly good at it. About one third of the food we eat, particularly fruit, is pollinated by bees, so if they aren’t there, we don’t get as much.”

The cause? A tiny crab-shaped parasite called the verroa mite, which is infecting bee populations the world over. The mites live in hives, sucking the blood from fully grown bees and their larva. These bites leave the bees susceptible to infection, and the mites themselves may be responsible for transmitting viruses from one bee to another. The problem is, we’re not

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really sure what’s going on.

In the US, they have the same problem. Stateside, however, keeping honeybees is a massive industry. Hives are loaded onto lorries and the bees go from the Midwest to the Californian coast on a grand pollinating tour.

Recognising the necessity of bees, farmers pay for beekeepers to stop off at their farms, where the hives are opened and bees released to do their work. When bee numbers started to decline, the federal government threw millions at the problem to try and sort it out. UK politicians have been less keen. The work of bees contributes about £165 million to our economy, but the government seems loath to invest in research to keep the bees alive.

If this wasn’t bad enough, recent reports have shown that neonicotinoids, a group of pesticides regularly sprayed on crops, may be killing the bees too. Other European countries quickly banned the chemical, but once again the British government lags behind. “Last year, there simply weren’t enough hives to go around,” Chris says. “Beekeepers didn’t have enough bees to meet the demand for pollination. That’s a worrying thing. It’s never happened before. If wild flowers don’t get pollinated, there won’t be food for animals or birds. We’re now in a position where we can seriously upset this balance between bees and plants, and we really don’t know what the consequences will be.”

But there’s still time. By encouraging plants like brambles which bees like, buying organic, or putting pressure on the government to fund research, we can all help to keep the honey – and the food – flowing.

red mop update. interview ZOE OKSANEN.

photography LOZZA.

Shaun White graced the cover of the very first edition of HUCK way back in 2006. He was fresh out of the Olympics and basking in the glory of his gold medal. His name was Shaun White: heard everywhere, and he reached Exclusive a level of fame he hadn’t yet Interview. known, appearing on prime time chat shows and making the cover of mainstream magazines such as Rolling Stone.

But really, it was all just the beginning. Two years on and Shaun has now reached a status even he didn’t expect. Besides dominating the core market, he has now transcended the sports arena to become the face of brands such as American Express and HP. He has his own video game and, incredibly, even his own clothing line at Target.

I have known Shaun for several years. I have seen him grow from a young kid who had a curfew while touring, to an adult who is one of the most recognisable faces in sport. With this interview, I wanted to scratch beneath the surface a little and see what is really going on with him these days. Because let’s face it, even with fame, money and hot chicks chasing you around, they can’t all be good days.

Or can they?

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HUCK: Since the Olympics things have really gained momentum in your career. Did you ever expect to reach this level of fame?

SHAUN WHITE: It was never the plan to become famous with snowboarding. It was something that I really liked and happened to be good at. As things progressed, it’s been really interesting to see what opportunities have come from this. Right now I trip out on how people react to me, it’s totally weird sometimes. It has been at a certain level for some time, but now with my video game it’s been gaining more and more steam. Crazy days, for sure.

Do you ever wake up in the morning and just think: “I’m too tired to deal with my commitments today?”

There are times that can be annoying, for sure. When you travel all the time, it’s tough to keep up on time zones and commitments. But I always try to remember that it’s for the fans, and the fans are really the reason that I am able to do anything with this sport.

Speaking of fame, I know from riders who have travelled with you that you are as recognised in public as most actors and rock stars.

Do you ever find this level of invasion into your life hard to handle or is it something you enjoy? ▼

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“in the end, all i have to do is plan things to account for running into fans. like if i go to a basketball game, i just know that if i want to get away quickly, i probably have to use a side entrance.”

There is no way that I can be bummed on people because they are the ones that let me live this lifestyle. In the end, all I have to do is plan things to account for running into fans. Like if I go to a basketball game, I just know that if I want to get away quickly, I probably have to use a side entrance. Not a big deal, really.

You kind of grew up in the public eye. Do you feel like you had a lost childhood in any way?

No way, I mean, really, am I bummed I missed my eighth grade graduation party? I feel totally blessed that I was able to have a childhood like I did. You learn a lot of stuff on the road, stuff they can’t teach you in a classroom.

Other than Tony Hawk, there are no other snowboarders or skateboarders who have your level of commercial success. Can it be lonely to be standing at the top all alone?

I think I deal with pressure very well, so I don’t get too lonely, but I think it’s hard for people to understand how busy I can get. I don’t have summers off, and I’m not complaining, but when other people want me to come for a surf trip, it sucks to turn people down.

Have there been any low points amid all the stardom?

Not really. I think the worst part is when I’m at home with nothing to do.

You have won gold so many times that the thrill must lose its edge a little bit. How do you motivate yourself to keep winning?

You know what’s funny, it still feels great to win a contest. Whether it’s small or big, I am just a competitive person, so I get psyched every time. I think what motivates me the most is to suffer a good ass kicking. Whenever I try my hardest and lose, it’s the best motivation to make me get back out there and give 110 per cent.

Out of everything you have achieved, what are you most proud of?

I think there are a couple: my first X Games win, winning the US Open, and the Olympics are the big three. Out of everything, the Olympics takes the cake.

It’s not just the fact that the whole world was watching, or that it’s for my country, it’s because my parents were there in the crowd. They have given up a lot, gone through a lot, and through everything they supported me the

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most. To see how stoked they were, it was huge for me.

Snowboarding and skateboarding are sports that put a lot of emphasis on remaining ‘core’. You have embraced some very mainstream, commercial sponsors, and yet that doesn’t seem to affect your image.

Why do you think that is?

Whenever I do anything mainstream, I really try to make sure our sport is represented in the best way possible. If you go through the ads, commercials, whatever, there are things that I made sure were changed in order to make sure the sports don’t look stupid. In the end, I just try to make sure that when my friends see the stuff I’m in, they aren’t going to make fun of me later. I think that’s the best way to approach things when it comes to your image.

Do you ever question any of the choices you have made? Are there brands out there you wouldn’t endorse?

Totally, out of all the sponsors that everyone sees me with, there are four times as many that I have turned down. As crazy as it sounds, I have turned down more money than I make. I try to partner myself with companies that are willing to work with my sports and me. I like to build relationships with sponsors because those seem to have the most opportunity for giving back to our sport.

Shaun White: snowboarder, skateboarder, business mogul. How would you define yourself?

I guess in the end I’m just a dude in a cave looking for the dragon that is going to alleviate the overwhelming burden of life in the USA with the Bruce on the radio and a six pack in the back.

If you could take a year out from all your commitments right now, what would you do with that time?

Party naked with Bon Jovi.

What would you like your legacy to be?

Man alive, I don’t really know. I guess we will have to wait and see, right?

.

Do you have any closing words for HUCK’s readers?

Don’t listen to a word I say. It’s all lies!

Just Art. text ANDREA KURLAND.

It’s scary, the things that could one day count as history: Britney’s breakdown; Paris’ panties; the emetic ‘Brangelina’ and their ever-growing tribe. What politiCally about real names like Dolores Huerta or Emma Goldman? Ever heard engaged of them? artist Josh Fed up that people as pointless MaCphee is as Paris could garner more attention Celebrating than unsung activists of the past, history. artist Josh MacPhee decided something had to be done. That something was the Celebrate People’s History poster campaign – a series of affordable artwork commemorating the radical moments that have changed society for the better.

“I had just moved to Chicago,” says Josh, of the project’s 1997 roots.

“It was a hyper-saturated advertising environment, both from above in terms of billboards, and also from the street – posters and flyers promoting people’s small parties or bands. It dawned on me that there was this massive amount of messaging, but almost all of it was telling people to do something. The directive: go here, buy this, do that. And I just wanted to try and put something into that space that was a little more generous: posters that were little bits of history from which you could take what you liked – almost like a public service announcement as opposed to an advertising initiative.”

With the message in hand, but no means of disseminating it, Josh set up Justseeds in 1998 to get his work out to the masses, and found the website attracting some like-minded folk. “Because there wasn’t an accessible distribution system for inexpensive art, people gravitated towards me for help,” explains Josh. “I don’t think it was because I necessarily knew more than

42 www.HUCKmagazine.com

anyone else – it was because I was stupid enough to stick my neck out.”

A collectivist at heart, Josh began to sell other artists’ work through Justseeds, including covetable prints from the likes of Swoon. Soon enough, the network took on a life of its own, and like all civil groupings, some form of social organisation had to come into play. True to form, the egalitarian bunch opted for a system that leaned distinctly left. “We share any profit,” says Josh, explaining how, by 2007, his bedroom project had morphed into a decentralised cooperative. “With twenty-two members, we have quite a jumble of individual and collective ambitions.”

One ambition, it seems, is to not simply celebrate the radical battles of yesteryear, but also highlight pertinent struggles that still need to be fought.

Take a recent series of original prints critiquing the prison-industrial complex (the idea that privatisation of the prison system means that profit is prioritised over the rehabilitation of criminals) and Justseeds is clearly all about engaging in the debate. “We see ourselves as part of a larger social fabric,” says Josh, “one that desperately needs to change for the better. We want to be part of that change.”

Speaking of change, what did Josh make of the street art that cropped up in support of Obama? “The idea that street art is rebellious gets a little sticky when people are using it to add ‘street authenticity’ to a US presidential candidate, and functionally generating portraits of the most powerful man in the world,” he says. “There’s nothing counter to this culture – no margins, only centre.”

The man’s got a point. But, if it knocks Britney off the front page, we’re not gonna complain. artwork courtesy of the Celebrate People’s History poster series. www.justseeds.org

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givin’ a jig. text ED ANDREWS.

photography LINDSAY HUTCHENS.

“I’ve gone through many metamorphoses in my life; from rock bands, to punk bands, to metal bands – but I was never really comfortable,” says Irish-American Dave King, lead singer-songwriter of Flogging Molly. The band originally rockers formed in Los Angeles in 1997 but Flogging grew organically to mix boisterous Molly shake punk rock with traditional Irish folk up the music. But for Irish-born King, the charity box.

Celtic element to the music came purely by chance. “When I first heard Bridget [his wife and fellow band member] playing the fiddle, it just opened up something inside of me. At the time, I couldn’t physically return to Ireland so the music helped me go there spiritually. It just came so effortlessly.”

Eleven years and four critically acclaimed studio albums later, Flogging Molly, named after the LA bar they once held residency at, are joining the Eastpak-sponsored Antidote Tour, taking their energetic live shows all across Europe. With so many bands facing dwindling record sales thanks to online file-sharing, are sponsored tours the way for musicians to get by nowadays?

“We have seven people in the band and five crew; it takes a lot of money

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to keep that number of people on tour,” says a pragmatic King. “It’s the only way we can make a living so any help we can get to pay some of the bills is all right by me. But there’s no way that we would be sponsored by some brand we don’t agree with. Anyway, sponsorship doesn’t take away anything from the energy or atmosphere of the show.”

While the United States was in the grip of Bush’s neo-conservative reign, King “voted with his feet” and returned to Ireland. But now, with a smile of relief, he reflects on Obama’s victory as “a truly great day for the world”.

He also seems to be following what is almost becoming a cliché – an Irish musician campaigning for charity. King, along with the rest of Flogging Molly, is a keen patron of GOAL – a Dublin-based charity focused on humanitarian aid and poverty relief around the world. On their last tour, the band helped raise over $15,000 for the charity.

But how does he feel about people’s cynicism of musicians preaching to the masses from the pulpit of the stage? For King, such criticism is irrelevant: “It’s very important when you are in a position to promote awareness that you do so. You can’t just be blinkered to everything. Whatever you can do to help is a great thing. And I know Bono, he genuinely means it too!” www.antidotetour.com

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Back t o Basic s The Nic ola s M端ller Int e r v i e w

LEGENDARY Swiss SNOWBOARDER NICOLAS MULLER unveils his solution for a cleaner planet whilst sharing his deep frustrations about consumerism, industry politics and the annoying futility of small talk.

Interview Gemma Freeman Photography Lozza

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49

White gold smothers Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Snow-pregnant skies are sliced open by the jagged peaks of the Grand Teton National Park, coating the slopes of Rendezvous Mountain in the highestever recorded snowfall.

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It’s mid-season and conditions are perfect for local pro Travis Rice’s Quiksilver Natural Selection: a new surfinspired comp where the world’s finest snowboarders display their freestyle skills on natural terrain. The concept is genius and the line up immense. But I’m not here to record another set of results. Instead, I’m here to focus on one contestant: Nicolas Müller.

The personification of snowboard style and creativity, the Swiss German is a legend at the age of twenty-six. Born in the Alpine town of Aarau, just outside Zurich, he learnt to ski as a toddler, but, as a talented skater, turned to snowboarding in 1992.

After honing his talent on the immaculate halfpipes of his home resort of Laax, he began to notch up podium places and was snapped up by Burton. Soon after, he started winning medals at prestigious events like the Air and Style, Burton European Open and Arctic Challenge, garnering much attention for his uniquely explosive style.

But, an artist at heart, it wasn’t long before Nicolas rejected the park for the backcountry. His first film part for Absinthe’s Tribal (2000) saw him take the skills he’d perfected on man-made features and apply them to the whole mountain, joining the ‘backcountry freestyle’ movement and redefining what is possible on a shred stick. Whether he’s boosting out of the pipe with a beautifully exaggerated Japan or buttering deep Alpine powder, Nicolas’ lines are liquid, unique and spontaneous.

These days, Nicolas’ inimitable approach inspires far beyond snowboarding. Following in the footsteps of rider-campaigners such as David Rastovich and Elise Garrigue, the Swiss rider has created his own agenda, and uses his position to educate others on environmental issues. Working closely with Burton, he even helped develop the Green Mountain Project, a collection of environmentally friendlier snowboard products.

I meet Nicolas for dinner early one evening. We’re dining alone in an upmarket Teton Village restaurant – Nicolas’ choice as it has the best vegetarian cuisine in this steak-loving, cowboy town. It’s strangely silent for peak season, but that’s because the Super Bowl is on, resulting in loud cheers from the neighbouring hotel bar.

There’s also an over-zealous waiter to contend with, who seems intent on hovering around. But distractions aside, soon enough drink and food arrive – and conversation starts to flow.

HUCK: Most people would kill to snowboard for a living. But I’ve got to ask: does anything about pro snowboarding ever piss you off?

Nicolas Müller: Actual snowboarding, on a great

day, will never get old or boring. But the daily routine is always the same. I don’t know, I’ve been doing this for a long time – a long, long time. I started snowboarding in 1992, I stopped school at sixteen and since then I have snowboarded for a living. I’ve been to all the contests, been motivated, a couple of them I won, and then you come back the next year and you’re like, ‘I could win again or...?’ After a while it gets kind of boring. So now, it’s powder trips that I enjoy the most.

This contest is really cool though – you get to ride for a week with your friends.

So are you going to concentrate more on filming and forget the comps next season?

But then I’m bored of filming too [laughs]. Right now that’s how I feel, you know...

Are you bummed out on it all?

I’m not bummed out, but what really gave me joy before, it changes you know; you grow up, times change...

I snowboard all year, then snowboard all summer in New Zealand and then I go to all the premieres. I do so many premieres and promotions in the fall that when it gets to November, when the winter should start, I can’t even go snowboarding. I’m usually so over it. But then I have the Air and Style, where I’m expected to do good, show a new trick, spin… I just need a break from it. Just clear my head in general, you know?

Do you think you’re a bit battered and tired?

Yes, but then no. I used to live in Zurich, where I was born. I’m a city person. I love and am in the nature a lot, I travel with my job, but when I come home I love the city. But I’m not there much, maybe three or four months out of the year. I don’t know about England, but in Switzerland, every town has a different tax rate.

So right now, I work hard, and am always gone – last year I filmed a video part for the Burton movie, I worked on Terje’s Season Pass TV show, I did Fuel TV’s Firsthand, I worked with Absinthe Films, I did five contests, I did the Burton World Tour... And I don’t even live in Zurich... Then I get my tax bill which is like half of my salary and I’m just like, ‘What?’ [he pulls a really shocked expression] My dream has always been to buy a house in Zurich, so last spring I almost bought one – my dream home, not far from the lake, it was old, with trees all around it, perfect. So I pretty much signed the contract, which is only valid if you pay a certain amount of money, but then the bank called me and were like, ‘Maybe you should speak to the tax expert first?’

So after three hours I came out, and I was like, ‘Fuck, ▼

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52 www.HUCKmagazine.com

my life’s changed’. I woke up and asked myself, ‘Is this really my dream come true?’ I never buy shit, I saved everything to buy a house in Switzerland, which is expensive. And I had to negotiate with my sponsors, like with Burton... I make good money and I’d be rich in the US – I probably wouldn’t have to work ever again – but in Switzerland I’m not.

So anyways, that night I had to cancel my apartment and realised I had to get out of the city.

Right now, if I stay in the city, I can make all this money but I have to give away half of it. Or I can move to the countryside, to a low tax town, and when I decide to take it easy, still have a bunch of money. This all happened last summer. So now I’m pretty much homeless. At first I thought it would be pretty okay, because I travel so much, but still, even if you come home for just a couple of days, it’s worth so much just to have your own four walls.

This is me right now. It’s like psychiatrist talk, but I don’t know... Sometimes I just have those moments, you know? I love snowboarding, and if it’s a great powder day I forget about everything. Even here, the day before the contest, I had one of the best days ever. But on the day of the contest I was like, [shrugs shoulders] ‘Whatever...’

You weren’t feeling it?

Yeah, I was just really not feeling it. I don’t know why.

Here in the US, people are so friendly, everyone’s like, ‘Hey, how’s it going?’ but I’m like, ‘Dude, I don’t want to talk to you, I don’t want to go places, I just want to be alone’. Sometimes I take it, but sometimes I just don’t have the energy to make small talk. But maybe that’s because I don’t have a home? I look at it like everything happens for a reason, so it’s just something I have to learn to deal with.

As you snowboard for a living, do you miss that pure fun of having a good day? Do people have high expectations even when you’re just riding for yourself?

No, up until now I was always really hungry and enjoyed everything... This season I had fun, I didn’t win any contests for the first time and I normally always do well.

But it’s interesting... I can’t always win.

Are people quite close in the scene or not so much?

Like, when you come here: is everyone friendly or are you not actually that close?

We definitely all know each other from our snowboarding life from way back. I know Gigi [Rüf] really well from Absinthe and Burton, Romain [de Marchi] the same. Travis,

Austin [Smith] – some more, some less, but still, it’s always about snowboarding for all the guys. Like yesterday, I was hanging out at the bar and wanted to talk about something other than snowboarding, but I didn’t know what...

I know what you mean, like a conversation like this...

Yeah. I read this interview with Terje [Haakonsen] and he said that when he was twenty-five, he took it slower, he wasn’t riding that much – maybe only fifteen days a year for a couple of years – because he wasn’t really enjoying it. It was only recently that I read that and I was like, ‘Fuck, this makes sense’. He’s a huge influence on me, and I’m his age so it’s kind of a coincidence.

A quarter life crisis?

[Laughs] Thanks! No, no… I really understood him. Terje was always the biggest influence on me and I read all his interviews. I don’t want to say I’m like Terje, but it was crazy when I read that – I really knew what he meant.

I hear Terje surfs a lot nowadays. Do you surf at all?

I love skateboarding, but I’m starting to surf too, especially in the last year or two... it’s normal to me; there is so much more in life.

Have you ever thought about going back to school or university?

I definitely want to learn but I don’t want to go to school, to learn crap based on somebody’s opinion. Okay, not everything is crap but – this could be a really long story – humans, right now, we’re in a time of change. A lot of people feel it. We’re coming into a new age, the golden age, starting 2012. It’s just a number which is calculated from the Maya culture of time, but I do believe that there is a new age coming up. People are going to be more conscious. What life is about right now in the world is having a good life. Everything is easy: you have a car, you have an elevator, you have TV, you can order things online. Where’s the meaning? It’s like nobody knows. We’re totally in the dark; tripping in the dark, if you know what I mean. That is definitely some people, but not me; that is not my life. House, wife, kids, car, everything; that is not what life is about. There is so much more, you know. A secret... I don’t know.

Do you find it hard doing what you do as you’re promoting consumption – through sponsorship, you’re effectively marketing a brand and product.

Is there a crisis of conscience there at all?

Yeah, but only in the last year. I’ve always been an ‘organic guy’, and growing up my mum was always preaching, cooking healthy, organic food and telling me ▼

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not to eat badly. And I’d be like, ‘Come on, I want to eat this, all the kids do and it’s cool’. But she told me, ‘If you want to be a snowboarder, you need to take care of your body. You’re young now, and can eat crap and not look after yourself, but you won’t be a snowboarder for a long time’. It made sense. Then I did it for my body, but as I got older I realised you have to live like this for yourself – and for everybody. We’re all connected, we’re all one energy. I realised that I live an organic lifestyle not just for me, but for the world. It’s just, you can’t change people overnight. You can’t tell somebody what consciousness means; it’s hard work and it takes time to understand.

Have you ever been into Buddhism or Indian philosophy at all? I know there is the idea of world consciousness and us all being connected by energy there... Is that something you’ve looked into?

Yeah, not too much yet, but I definitely want to look into it. Maybe it’s because of where I am right now; today I waited all day for two runs and am like, ‘What am I doing?’ This contest is sick, the snow is amazing, and Travis is doing an awesome job but… [pauses]. I sent Jake [Burton] a book called Cradle to Cradle, which is about a total solution to how we make products – anything. Like this chair, the paint on the walls, our carpet, our clothes, it’s always made the same way, resulting in a dead end where they end up burnt or in landfill. Burton was a huge part of that; all those bindings, boots, boards, clothes, everything – there was nothing recyclable… That’s why we started the Green Mountain Project.

What are you doing for the rest of the winter?

I don’t know, take it day by day. I’m going to film with Absinthe again. Enjoy, ride powder and not think too much. But for next season, I can’t do this the same anymore.

There is no… what’s the word… not respect, but no relationship to the world... Like it’s all about enjoyment and making life fun, easy. People don’t see that food, it grows for you, and for free – and that is pure love.

Nothing else. You know, everyone’s like, ‘I need to eat,’ so they’ll go to a bar, order stuff and talk about TV. I’m like, ‘Dude – this is so shallow’ – and it’s driving me crazy...

in a factory about to be made into burgers. Screaming, I woke up. My mother was like, ‘What happened?’ and I told her that I didn’t want to eat meat, and she was like, ‘Okay’. My parents are actually both vegetarians.

Have you encouraged any other riders to become vegetarian? Are people cool about it?

Yeah, everyone is – some can’t see how I do it, but it depends on cultures, where they come from. I know Freddie [Kalbermatten, Nicolas’ best friend] turned vegetarian as well, shortly after me when we were kids. I met him when I started snowboarding. He didn’t really like meat so stopped eating it. Then we had another friend, Greg, who rode with us, and he’s a vegetarian too.

Are you and Freddie still quite close?

Yeah, totally. We run Arcus [streetwear] together, but we don’t ride too much together anymore due to different schedules, politics, whatever, but we’re still pretty tight.

I saw him in Haines, actually, with Burton, and we’re going to start riding again on our own project.

What do you think about global warming? How should the snowboard industry change in order to save itself?

I don’t like ‘global warming’ as a term: we’re facing a climate change, but that’s because we have so many monocultures that exploit the earth’s natural resources... So many products that work one way – dead-end products that will never fit into the ecosystem again. Snowboarding is a big part of this. Snowboard companies make a lot of stuff, and every year they recreate the same – snowboards, bindings, jackets...

What do you love about snowboarding?

The great thing is that when you snowboard you’re just yourself – your life, your soul, your character, whatever, is out there. Snowboarding doesn’t tell you what to do.

Surfing and skating are the same. Other sports always tell you what to do. I think that is what is so attractive to a lot of people, everywhere in the world – no matter which nationality you are or language you speak. It’s like yoga. Universal

.

Ride as Nicolas Müller in Stoked, the new all-mountain snowboarding video game for Xbox 360 from Destineer

Why are you vegetarian?

My grandmother was a vegetarian for as long as I remember, because she loved animals. I was raised by my mother and she would cook meat for me, but when I was nine I had a nightmare, and dreamt I was a cow

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Studios, out now. www.arcus.com www.burton.com www.gettingstoked.com

Political Push

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Skaters have long been silenced by the iron fist of urban planning, but London’s skateboarding community has found its collective voice.

Text Olly Zanetti Photography Paul Calver

ilmmaker and skateboarder

he walls of Professor Iain

Winstan Whitter is passionate

Borden’s office are lined

about concrete. As the man

with books. As director of

behind the campaign to save

University College London’s

the UK’s most prominent skate

School of Architecture, Iain

spot, he’d have to be.

has been skateboarding’s

The spot at London’s

voice from the establishment

Southbank Centre, known locally as the

throughout the Save the Southbank campaign.

undercroft, might not look like much, but its

As a teenager growing up in Oxford in the

place in UK skateboarding history is unrivalled.

late 1970s, he used to travel to London at

While the Dogtown boys cruised LA for

weekends to skate at Southbank. “It has this

empty swimming pools in the 1970s, UK

real aura around it,” he says. “I suppose London

skaters were discovering a goldmine alongside

was considered to be the home of British

the River Thames. Pre-skateboarding, the

skateboarding, and the Southbank was the

undercroft was dead space, a remnant of

home of that. It was the place to go and see

post-war architecture’s futuristic visions

really good skaters. And it definitely had this

gone awry. But as a skate spot, it had it all:

feeling of being at the centre of it all.”

a smooth concrete surface littered with steps,

Skating first combined with academia

banks, ledges and loads of space. Even though

when Iain was a grad student at the University

skateboarding was fresh off the boat from the

of California, in Los Angeles. “I had to write a

USA, ‘No Skateboarding’ signs were already

term paper on something about LA. I thought,

popping up everywhere. But with authorities at

‘What do I know about LA that no one else

the undercroft choosing to turn a blind eye, UK

knows about? I’m a Brit.’ But what I did know

skateboarding, it seemed, had found a home.

about was skating. So I wrote about that.”

So what happened? “Basically,” says

The real epiphany came when studying the

Winstan, “there was a plan which I got a copy

work of French urban theorist, Henri Lefebvre.

of in about 2001. I saw these drawings. You could

While most theorists saw cities in the abstract,

see the riverfront, you could see the Southbank

obsessed by plans and models, Lefebvre

area and the skate spot, and it was all glassed

thought of cities as dynamic, exciting places,

off – with loads of shops. So it made me think,

experienced through the energy and activity

you know, it’s possible that they’re going to go

of the body. “I was interested in skateboarding,

ahead with that plan and get rid of the skate spot.

but I was also interested in thinking about these

“I grew up there,” adds Winstan, explaining

philosophical ideas of space. Skateboarding

why he jumped into action. Having made Rollin’

became for me the vehicle through which to

Through the Decades, a documentary which

do that.” In 2001, Iain published Skateboarding,

charts the history of UK skateboarding, a film

Space and the City, in which urban theory and

seemed the obvious way to raise awareness.

skateboarding stand side-by-side.

So, collaborating with clothing designer and

For Iain, the idea that skaters would

friend Toby Shuall, Winstan set to work on

be kicked out of the Southbank was nothing

a new project: Save the Southbank. Research

extraordinary. “Urban space has become

started in 2001 and, attracting 4,296 signatories,

more controlled, policed and regulated,”

a petition to Downing Street was launched in

he says. “There’s a public fear of someone

2008 in conjunction with the film. “We really

on a skateboard. I’ve been reading about

needed to do this,” says Winstan, “put the

skateboarding for twenty years and I’ve lost

film out, put the petitions up, and scare the

count of the times I’ve read about people being

Southbank. So that’s what we did.”

afraid of being hit by a skateboard. But I’ve ▼

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never heard or read of an actual example of

right to use the Southbank as anyone else, and in

that happening. What urban managers really

fact he was a skater himself as a kid in Sydney.”

don’t like about skateboarding is that it’s

That’s all well and good, but what about

disorderly, it’s not planned, you can’t control

today? Do skaters still have rights? “I haven’t

it, and it doesn’t bring any money.”

got a blueprint at the bottom of my drawer that

And money, as we know, tends to rule

I’ve got locked up or anything,” jokes McCart,

supreme. “It doesn’t take a genius,” says Derek,

despite having let slip that “any plans for that site

who’s been skating the Southbank for years

wouldn’t be implemented until well after 2012.”

and, in his early thirties, is a comparative old

With a redesign on the horizon, the

timer, “if you stuck a front on the undercroft

undercroft as we know it could still be under

you could have, like, six units that you could

threat. “If they do decide to get rid of the skate

probably rent for about a million pounds a year.

spot, or move it, they’ve killed it. That’s it,”

If this place goes, there’s going to be nowhere

says Winstan.

else. Skating’s getting banned everywhere. You

Iain Borden has a more philosophical take:

used to be able to skate around central London,

“The thing about cities is that they do always

in the City, wherever, and it was all good. But

change. In a way that’s what gives them their

now you just get kicked out or ticketed by the

vitality.” Fair enough, but given all that the

police. So the fact you can just come here and

undercroft stands for in the skating world,

skate is brilliant.”

is it not worthy of preservation? “I don’t know

And so, for academics like Iain, skating

that the site has quite that level of historical

becomes a political issue: “Once you accept that

importance,” replies Iain, “and besides, I don’t

skateboarding isn’t dangerous, and I don’t think

think it’s in the nature of skateboarding to try

it is inherently, skaters have the same right to

and protect it.”

use public space as anyone else, and do what

Rich Holland, of creative collective The Side Effects of Urethane, agrees that the beauty

they like in it.”

of skateboarding lies in its transient nature, ight months after the campaign

co-opting unused areas and reinterpreting

started, satisfaction hangs in

abandoned spaces. Back in 2004, he and several

the undercroft’s air. “Number

others installed five skateable structures in the

Ten decided to take action,”

undercroft area as a means of exploring the

says Winstan, “and the

symbiotic relationship between skateboarding

Southbank said they’re keeping

and architecture. Though he loves the

the area for skating.” After

undercroft and all it stands for, having grown

an official response from Downing Street to

up outside London, Rich’s take on its future

the online petition, things were looking good:

is more detached. “It’s a world famous spot,”

“The Southbank Centre has said that it has

he acknowledges, “but there’s a lot of world

no plans to redevelop the undercroft used by

famous spots in England. Southbank’s probably

skateboarders,” stated an email to signatories.

the most famous, but it’s not the be all and end

But the story’s not that simple. According to Mike McCart, the Southbank Centre’s

all of skating in the UK. It never has been.”

Rich sees change as positively as Iain

Commercial Director, that statement was

does and, with his connections, he’s in a position

“deeply unfortunate” and, while there are no

to make things happen. With redevelopment

“immediate” plans to make alterations to the

apparently a few years off, he’s in talks with

undercroft, changes are likely in the future.

McCart about improving the current space, by

Changes, it seems, that may not include skaters.

building a glass-roofed skate plaza with a skate

McCart has become the Centre’s key

shop and gallery to boot. “The money’s not a

spokesman on matters to do with skating

problem,” says Rich, “because I’ve got backers

and, although not always the bearer of good

who really want to fund core activities. It’s about

news, he’s generally well respected. This

the Southbank’s political will.”

respect is born of the huge change in attitude

As for the future, Rich is excited. He,

from the Southbank over the time he’s been

like Iain, is confident the Southbank Centre

working there. Arriving in the early eighties,

will live up to their word and that skating will

he remembers clearly the organisation’s

stay. Whatever the future holds for London’s

confrontational stance towards skaters, which

beloved undercroft, with someone like Rich

shifted in 2002 when Australian Michael Lynch,

in on the planning, and people like us keeping

previously the director of the Sydney Opera

up pressure, it may well be the start of a new

House, was appointed chief executive of the

era, in which urban planning and skateboarding

Southbank Centre. “He had a very different view

can truly stand side-by-side

.

about cultural centres, and believed they should be very much a part of the community,” McCart

Watch Save the Southbank

tells me. “Lynch thought the skaters had as much

at www.dobedo.co.uk/savesb.

59

60 www.HUCKmagazine.com

THE OTHER BURTON You ride his snowboards, you wear his clothes, you know Jake Burton – now meet his wife.

Text Melanie Schönthier Illustration amy brown

Being married to the most influential man in

she took a step back from the company to

the snowboard industry isn’t always domestic

open a speciality food store, Harvest Market,

house isn’t all work and no play. Recently, Donna

bliss. “On powder days, Jake has no friends,”

in her hometown of Stowe. “I love European

and Jake packed up their three sons and went

says Donna Carpenter, who has stood by the side

food – Italian wine, French cheese, German

on a year-long world trip that took them to six

of Jake Burton, founder of Burton Snowboards,

bread,” she says. “I sell all this in my little shop

different continents. They visited the Taj Mahal

for the past twenty-six years. “In the morning

and I’m probably my own best customer.”

in India, went surfing in Hawaii, popped into

Business acumen aside, life in the Burton

he just wants to leave the house really quickly,

After a few years behind the grocer’s

Mao Tse-Tung’s mausoleum in China and, of

and if the kids and I hang behind, he gets kind

counter, Donna swapped her savoir vivre

course, went snowboarding – a lot. Only a trip

of impatient. I’m like, ‘Okay, just leave already!’”

lifestyle for a desk back at Burton’s Burlington

to the Komodo Island, home of the last Komodo

Having built up a multi-million dollar

headquarters. “About five years ago, Jake

dragons, turned out to be more adventurous

company – which today not only includes Burton

came to me and said that the company had

than everybody had imagined. “My son Timmy

Snowboards but also Channel Islands Surfboards,

a problem,” she says openly. “There weren’t

was chasing a butterfly and ran into the forest.

DNA Distribution, ANON Optics, R.E.D., The

many women in leadership positions at the

After a minute, I thought, ‘Okay, something’s

Program, Analog Clothing and Gravis Footwear

company at that time and he asked me to

not right,’” recounts Donna. “I ran after Timmy

– Jake is considered something of a business

find out why.” Over the next couple of months

and saw a huge Komodo dragon coming straight

tycoon. But big as his empire may be, one thing

Donna interviewed Burton employees and team

towards him. He was about an arm-length away

is clear: Donna’s hand has been there every

riders and tried to find out what the company

when I literally grabbed my son’s neck and threw

step of the way.

had to change in order to get more women into

him away. Timmy landed on his back and was so

leading positions. Those foundations eventually

shocked that he started crying. Luckily our guide

led to Burton’s Women’s Leadership Initiative.

came immediately and got the Komodo away by

“In the middle of the eighties we moved to Austria to build up our headquarters,” she says.

“Back then, Jake was mainly involved in product

“I thought this would be a three-month

poking him in the eyes. That was really close.”

development and the team, and I took care of

project,” she smiles. “But it has already been

Dragons aside, Donna still loves to travel.

all the financial stuff. A couple of times I had to

five years.” Today, Donna is director of the

Last spring, she went on a snowboard trip to

tell him that we can’t do this trip or that photo

programme, overseeing all efforts to ensure

Canada with team riders Hannah Teter and Anne-

shoot because there was no money. At one point

that Burton is an employer and brand of choice

Flore Marxer, only to jet off to a women’s surf

I just had to remove myself from the money side

for women: “What has changed in the last few

camp in Hawaii one week later. “When I left, Jake

of things as it was better for our relationship.”

years is the structure of the company. In the

asked if I would come home in between the two

After running at a loss for a few seasons,

past, a product manager was responsible for

trips,” she says, “and I was like, ‘Maybe!’”

Burton finally chalked up profits and the family

both genders. Today product development

moved back to the States. By 1995, Donna’s

is split by gender and there are women within

own entrepreneurial urge had taken hold and

the company driving the women’s business.”

.

How’s that for domestic bliss? www.burton.com

61

When it comes to urban snowboarding, Helsinki’s got game.

Text ZOE OKSANEN Photography PASI It’s cold, damn cold. The architecture is an incongruous mix of contemporary northern European and Russian communist era, and the people will politely pass you by to scurry into the underground network of tunnels connecting one part of the city to another.

It’s winter in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, that long skinny country way too far north for visitors not used to the long dark days of the season.

Yet it just happens to be one of the hottest places on earth for sick rails and urban snowboarding.

From friendly cops who are more likely to ask for your autograph than your ID, to frozen seas and a plethora of wall rides, rails and buildings just crying out to be ridden, it’s no wonder each year sees a mix of top pros and local kids alike dominating this first-class urban snow getaway.

62 www.HUCKmagazine.com

63

H EI SK “I AN w as EN rai Pr l, sea So b r o ut c sn hin Id o pl e I w ay c di g bo i d f so gr de n or a o d ’t rder ni u to w so be c nd an m d lie e. e an o t ne w ve I g asn t o d w it to w an hi ha t s e ’t t an re ot t tu ff so I co id su he it eas u ea pp r be wi ld t ose da ca th y ha y use P bu do t d . When asi t I to the l I it b w j as o g o ut u ust w re t l t e seas it he d t han d w ro asn ev w ry o en as 5 g o ve ’t n tu rea 0-5 ut ba a . We 0 al d t t c v ly y o he k t ide fo an to ro re o o un d take ck bec He fil d o Pasi o a lsinkime ne a n use r kink to ph tha t w w o ot t he e ith k sa o s w w a ea w us . ni if I in ce w g. the this sh an Pasi r w o ted d as t.

G to idn o o tr ’t d y ti . It m es .”

JA N N E

Janne Heiskanen, skipping school to jib the playground.

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K RE M ER

M to D P I Fi m t d hink lmer in ef d ini . sh t I o t re el f d y ma ur d d b in ef y g ine n an . o It d t sn ’s ha ow d it ar o ve bo k, ve s a it r t ta rd ’s he rt in e g co pas d , H ld t the elsinki an f d ive re it o vo is ’s r l t fu so uti he o ll yea n fir o s f r like t p su s. rp It’ SLC lac risess e the d t id ha t ro A , un laskabu co t m d ev o it es er f has y ur co b an rne r. ”

“When

BR A D

65

Seth Huot, stylish board slide.

PAS IP H O TO “S G h RA o las o PH tin ER t g I’m c o u u r ev tal pl ban er kin e so yt g of sn o m hin a eo g bo yea w ne is ut rs bo ar . o per the It’ din s n f g ce e ct la no in c sa . Y k t yin ou o like He f l g can sn t sinki o he tha w r t sel . Thae’s has the ec t t co been f sai ps H ro el m d, st ha sinki t w oppin r d ens hen e g r ar o w u than f ea e sp d s o is ot o r ev s g an er a to et y rea hi sn thin the l t. ow g rai I r he – l em r pa em e, ra be d r ise !”

Heikki Sorsa, frontside 3 over a Helsinki gap.

66 www.HUCKmagazine.com

Eero Ettala, backside lipslide.

ET TALA

Pr ha rai o sn rd l s o ci s cene w ties o m bo the t et in a o im Fin rder y g ac le o es lan , hi t tu u ‘c d t al s s r au is ly ta ail se the fu y ‘ s! it n ca Al ha bes To use rea r t e be w d dly ve y w e w tw sn r. T o rkin er ic ow oo e e t s ba g nic his these d the at e y h gu ea y c o r y m s. se ea on e r fo This cu s. dit r B io r o wo ity ut ns n ce ul gu the in . Fin d ne ar re He d lsinki lan ve s c are r am a happen a d e is to to re p n a ki tr o re ue in ck f o tty t u rai he s the o l US u r w t o . Pl bu n u t d s, er it lan ’s d .”

“The

EE RO

67

The frozen Baltic doesn’t stop Eero Ettala pulling off this hot nosepress.

“This

H EI SK AN w ph EN it o h Pr is the to o lan is sn Whend, Sto fro o Ij r m w b us is a bo a li a pe we t ha [Finnish tt rder rf g l d e ec ot a is t the visi f lan be o i g re n lm d, innin a t c Su ft ha re o t w m g er the ] g en to a sh r u linna y the o e m s l rt u as , d fe st t rig ay r be yea h t . Thisry s tr om r. I ne d x ph ip, I ethin id t t n o o sa to w g ’t kn He lsinki w this to d o as rai o w an . taken t l he y We im r t w m e w hin en at ed i g t the iat th a the e a bo en ly. sn ut re d So ow the o it bo f the was ar d. seassuc h o n .”

E

JANN

68 www.HUCKmagazine.com

Nat Young, O’Neill Cold Water Classic winner. Photo courtesy of O’Neill.

Santa Cruz comes alive as the O’Neill Cold Water Classic presides over Steamer Lane.

Text ALEX WADE

“You gotta surf The Lane, you just gotta.”

many groms, he has what can only be described

explosive fins-out slashes to whoops from the

So said a long-time local in a bar in downtown

as a flexible attitude to line-up etiquette. I wasn’t

partisan crowd atop the cliff overlooking The

Santa Cruz, and he was right. How could any surfer

convinced that paddling out to one of the most

Lane. This is not a spot where you can hide, or

be in Santa Cruz and not surf Steamer Lane, one

intense, potentially aggressive line-ups on the

slope off onto the shoulder – there’s always an

of the world’s iconic surf spots? Not least, when it

planet with a fearless thirteen-year-old was a

array of old-timers, groms and super-hot rippers

was serving up its trademark long, walling, perfect

good idea. It’d be a week of checking out the

watching – but Freitas seized the opportunity

rights day after sunny Northern California day. It

action for us, with a few waves – if we were lucky.

to shine in front of his home crowd.

was, quite simply, irresistible.

There was just one problem. There was

But we couldn’t complain. The Cold

All the shredding was making Harry and

Water Classic may be hosted in the frigid, kelp-

I itchy. With the Oakley Pro Junior also running

a contest in town, and, like The Lane, it had some

strewn waters of Northern California but this

alongside the O’Neill Cold Water Classic, it

serious pedigree. Step forward the O’Neill Cold

time round it was blessed each day with warm

looked nigh on impossible that we’d squeeze

Water Classic, a four-star World Qualifying Series

sunshine. Perhaps the weather helped inspire

in a surf at Steamer Lane, but would we be able

event which has been held at Steamer Lane since

the locals, who made it clear from the off that

to get in the water at one of Santa Cruz’s other

1987. As the Cold Water Classic was the reason

they were in no mood to take prisoners. On

famed breaks? The answer, thanks to our body

for my visit, even if, by some miracle, I managed

day one, two ancient (in contest terms, that

clocks, was a resounding yes. We were awake

to find The Lane deserted before or after a day’s

is) surfers took the plaudits, as Josh Loya and

each morning before sunrise, and better yet,

competition, the chances were that at that very

Randy Bonds, both thirty-nine, posted standout

we were staying just a few blocks from The

same time I’d be interviewing one of the entrants

performances in clean 3-4ft surf.

Hook, a fast right-hander which draws a mixture

or writing up copy.

On top of that, I had Harry, my young teenage son, with me. He’s a good surfer but, like

The pattern continued the following day

of longboarders and shortboarders. With Harry

with Bud Freitas, another Santa Cruz surfer,

opting to ride a 6”1’ while I went for a 9”1’,

earning the highest heat total of 16.90 with

we soon discovered how The Hook gets its ▼

69

Steamer Lane, doing its thing. Photo courtesy of O’Neill.

name – it’s so full of kelp that it snags your fins.

“It’s just killer to be home and to do this in

Martinez and, in 2007, Jordy Smith have all

The kelp has a pretty profound upside, though,

front of my friends and family,” he said, after

won the event. But this time around the smart

being a deterrent to the sharks that lurk in this

blitzing his way to the quarter-finals. Indeed,

money was putting seventeen-year-old Santa

part of the Pacific.

he went further, saying that winning the Cold

Cruz local Nat Young and Hawaii’s Granger

The days fell into a rhythm. We would

Water Classic was “the only victory I’d ever

Larson as the big favourites, alongside Chris

surf early in the mornings before heading to

care to have. Compared to a world title, I’d

Waring from Seal Beach, and Hawaii’s Sean

Steamer Lane to watch the contest. If there

rather have this than anything, because it’s

Moody, all of whom made it to the final.

was time at the end of the day, we would

where I’m from.”

bag another surf, or head into downtown

But more than local pride animates the

Cometh the hour, cometh the 4-6ft perfection – and cometh the local. Young

Santa Cruz for coffee, snacks and the daily

Cold Water Classic. It’s an event with real

provided a textbook display of backside surfing

sideshow. Around here, there are deadheads

resonance in surfing not just because of The

to take the 2008 Cold Water Classic. He was

who still talk about Vietnam; Hell’s Angels

Lane and other nearby waves – The Hook,

lost for words, managing little more than a

who ride their bikes in cut-off denim shorts

Pleasure Point and Sewers, to name but a few –

“I’m super excited – just making the final was

which might as well be thongs (the women,

but because Santa Cruz is also the home of the

good, and to win it…”

anyway); performance poets, stoners, jazz

man who revolutionised surfing. Jack O’Neill,

Young’s relative lack of articulacy may

dancers and winos. At any moment on the

who invented the wetsuit in 1952, today lives

have been a product of his age, but it may just

town’s main drag they’ll be there, co-existing

in a house overlooking Pleasure Point and,

as easily have been a consequence of having

harmoniously, doing their thing as if it’s the

beneath his balcony, there is a longboard break

just won one of professional surfing’s most

only thing in the world. Then there’s the skaters.

known as 38s. No doubt someone, somewhere,

historic and prestigious events. As for Harry

As the setting for Natas Kaupas’ legendary

would have invented the wetsuit if O’Neill

and I, we’d had an eye on jumping off the cliff

Wheels on Fire (filmed in the same year that

hadn’t done so, but his contribution to surfing

for a post-contest surf at The Lane, but just as

O’Neill first hosted the Cold Water Classic),

can never be underestimated. Thanks to Jack

the event wound down a thick Pacific fog rolled

Santa Cruz still oozes skateboarding class at

O’Neill, cold water surfing became a reality,

in. By then, we already knew that someday we

just about every street corner.

rather than an exercise in masochism.

would be back, because as the Santa Cruz local

Local class continued to dominate

The Cold Water Classic doesn’t lack for

proceedings at The Lane. Santa Cruz’s surfers

illustrious past winners. Tom Curren, Martin

all seemed to have adopted Freitas’ mantra:

Potter, Maverick’s charger Peter Mel, Bobby

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.

said: “You gotta surf The Lane.” www.coldwaterclassic.net

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I n c r e m e n t s

o f

f e a r

Big-wave surfer Greg Long isn’t fearless.

He’s just very well prepared.

Text Miles Masterson Illustration Paul Willoughby

73

Big-wave surfing is a game of numbers – the kind you play with your life on the line.

So it makes sense not to wing it. Think Laird Hamilton, Mike Parsons or Shane Dorian, all notorious for their calculated attention to the minutiae of their big-wave art.

With an XXL award and recent Maverick’s and Big Wave Africa trophies bearing his name, San Clemente’s Greg Long, twenty-six, is respected by his peers as the pre-eminent big-wave rider in the world today. So it’s hardly surprising to find that Greg has a reputation for checking his equipment to the point of compulsion, and is a self-confessed control freak.

“Some people call me anal,” he grins, “and I guess they are right. But at the same time that’s what works for me.”

Greg is relaxing on a couch in his room at a B&B in Hout Bay, South Africa, not far from notorious big-wave break Dungeons, where, in July 2008, he placed third at Red Bull Big Wave Africa behind Carlos Burle and South African winner Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker. Greg scored a perfect ten in the semis with the baddest spitting tube ever ridden in the tenyear history of the event, and a few weeks later towed Baker into a 70-foot wave, the biggest surfed in Africa to date, at a deep reef outside Dungeons called Tafelberg. Despite not riding the wave himself, it was a bull run that was a long time coming for a surfer whose destiny has always been to ride monster waves.

As sons of head lifeguard and surfer Steve Long, Greg and older brother Rusty learned earlier than most how to read the ocean. “My dad was a serious waterman – diving, fishing, surfing,” says Greg proudly.

“We had the best education about how the ocean works and how to conduct yourself when you are in heavy situations.”

Despite an aptitude for field sports, Greg decided early that he wanted to be a pro surfer and, at the age of twelve, began to surf in local amateur contests with the support of his dad and mom, Jan. With their backing, but without any significant sponsorship, Greg gave contests a good crack throughout his teens and, at

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all he has to focus on is making sure he’s prepared for whatever comes next, be it some thick backdoor barrel, or the fabled 100-foot wave. the age of nineteen, took the NSSA (National

“I could see the potential of the waves around

including Greg and Rusty, were dismissed.

Scholastic Surfing Association) Open Men’s title

the Cape Peninsula and was completely drawn

“Unfortunately it came at a really poor time,”

in 2001. The win – an accolade long considered

to it,” smiles Greg. “I’d never heard of Dungeons

sighs Greg. “I had done all right the years before

a precursor to pro surfing greatness – was

but when I saw the footage I was just, ‘I want to

and was able to save up and carry on surfing,

significant. “It’s a pretty interesting event,”

go there’. There was one spot left to be filled, and

thinking, ‘Okay, we’re going to find someone

explains Greg. “If you win this you’re marked

as he was the older of the two of us, I said Rusty

to pick us up and get us back on the road’. But

as the next great thing... if you look at past

could have it and I’d take the alternate spot.”

then one month turned into three, three months

champs, Kelly Slater, the Hobgoods, Fred Patacchia, Andy Irons...”

Lead to great things the win did – but

Although the event didn’t run, Greg surfed Dungeons and secured his place on the invite

turned into six, six turned into a year, and it ended up being a year and a half.”

list proper, going on to win the title in 2003. “It

During this trying time, Greg stuck to his

not as one might expect. Despite the NSSA

wasn’t as if I was charging harder than anybody

goals and, overcoming a few niggling injuries,

title, Greg confesses to being something of

else... I was still pretty green in figuring things

not only won a Billabong XXL award in 2006,

an outsider in the San Clemente contest scene,

out,” he says, humbly. “Talk to anybody who

but also finally won Maverick’s in 2007. He then

choosing to skip events in search of bigger

wins at Dungeons and they will say that luck

surfed humungous Cortes Bank with Baker (who

things. “My brother and I would always be

plays a huge part. Some days you just seem

he says pushes him more than anyone), Parsons

looking for the biggest waves we could find

to fall right into the rhythm and have the waves

in town,” adds Greg, “and when I was about

come straight to you and that was it for me.”

and Brad Gerlach, in January 2008.

But with his financial situation as bad as ever,

fifteen years old I really got into it.”

Greg’s luck held. Thanks to his Dungeons

Greg opted for Plan B and decided to study via

win, he was invited to his first event at

correspondence. “I guarantee I would have found

taking off at the now-famous break Killers, on the

Maverick’s and, as industry sponsors began

some way to balance the whole education, work

Mexican island of Todos Santos. Greg and Rusty

to recognise big-wave riding as an alternative

and travel thing,” he says. “I would still be out

would see photos of Mike Parsons, brothers

to the contest circuit, his path toward earning

there surfing as much as I could, obviously not

Terrence and Joe McNulty, as well as Ventura’s

a living seemed secure. Unfortunately Greg, by

to the same extent that I am now. So I just put

Evan Slater, and hear stories of sessions in 25-30

his own admission, kind of kooked it. “I was just

my head down and said, ‘You can pull this off.’”

foot waves from San Clemente charger, Jon

so nervous,” he reveals. “I hadn’t put in my time

Finally, in June 2008, Greg got picked up

Walla. “The first time he took me out there it was

up there – hadn’t figured things out, you know,

by Billabong, leaving him free to whittle away

probably 15-20 foot faces, the biggest waves I’d

to where I needed to sit, and ended up getting

at those increments of fear and travel far and

surfed in my life,” recalls Greg. “It was the most

fourth in my first heat. It wasn’t an epic day by

wide. All he has to focus on is making sure he’s

exhilarating feeling in the world, and that session

any means, but after that contest I was like,

prepared – through a regime of yoga, training

stuck with me. I can still remember vividly how

‘Did you blow your opportunity? They’re not

and healthy eating – for whatever comes next,

I got caught inside by the biggest wave of my

going to invite you back next year’. I made a

be it some thick backdoor barrel, or the fabled

life and got cleaned up and washed through the

conscious decision that next winter I’m coming

100-foot wave (which Greg reckons could well

whole line up, with my dad right by my side...

back up here and will be on every single swell.”

be ridden at Tafelberg).

I just remember being so pumped at being able

Greg’s work ethic bore fruit in 2005, when

During the 1990s, big-wave surfing was

to handle it and saying, ‘I want to do this again.’”

“What we do, with the preparation and

he was invited back to the event, this time

training, we are minimising the risks,” he says.

snagging second place behind Anthony Tashnick.

“People say to me, ’You’re absolutely crazy’,

a big-wave pro, thanks to his win at Trestles,

“From that point the whole big-wave thing went

but we don’t go out there and just do this –

Greg secured sponsorship from Ocean Pacific

from a passion to a borderline obsession,” he

we spend a lot of time researching and looking

(OP) and pioneered what he terms “this surf

admits, “to where you’re looking at the charts

at things. We have the whole chart of the

travel adventure thing”. Over the following

five times a day everywhere in the world, trying

[Tafelberg] reef in the room... I need to know

years, the Longs took in Ireland, Madeira, Easter

to figure out, ‘Okay, this wave in Chile, what kind

everything is in order and as I like it. It gives me

Island and Cape Town, South Africa – home to

of conditions does it work on?’ I was fortunate

confidence that every variable x-factor is going

many of Greg’s most seminal surfing moments.

enough to have the sponsorship from OP, with

to be working in my favour... because when

the flexibility to travel and pursue that lifestyle.”

you’re out there, you have to be prepared for

Although there was still no such thing as

Encouraged to come to Cape Town by legend Gary Linden, contest director at Red

Sadly for Greg, this ideal scenario didn’t

Bull Big Wave Africa, the brothers visited South

last. When US retail giant Wal-Mart gained

Africa for the event in 2002 and were smitten.

sole distribution rights to OP, the entire team,

.

any life-threatening consequence.” www.billabong.com

75

76 www.HUCKmagazine.com

B BALL BEASTIE Beastie Boy Adam Yauch drops the alter ego to give high school basketball its moment on film.

Text Chloe McCloskey Photography Sam Christmas

If you know Adam Yauch, aka MCA, aka

trash-talk would deliver so well? “I had a feeling,

that I worked on scoring for the film. ‘Beasley is

Nathaniel Hornblower, aka one third of the

yeah. Bobbito has been a figure in New York

a Beast’ [Beasley being a testy character in the

Beastie Boys, you’ll also know that his interest

forever – I’ve known him for years and years.

film] was an existing song that had a working title

in film goes way back to his Super 8 days as

He used to have a radio show with Lord Sear

called ‘Bassline is Nice’ and so that needed to

a teenager growing up in Brooklyn. Incidentally,

where they used to talk a lot of trash. It was

change. I liked that people kept saying, ‘Beasley

you’ll also know that his latest endeavour,

a hip hop show, but it was based on them

is a beast’, and we used it during his scene.”

Oscilloscope Laboratories, goes way beyond

snapping on each other. So I made sure we

music, venturing deep into the cultural universe

were recording Bobbito during the game.”

of both video and film.

The company’s first in-house production,

Gunnin’s young players have to deal with

As for the Beastie Boys, Yauch promises a new album is in the works: “We’re recording.

It’s actually mostly hip hop. It’s been a lot of fun –

unprecedented media attention – something

we just get together every day and make music

the Yauch-directed Gunnin’ For that #1 Spot,

MCA must have been able to relate to, being

at the studio in Oscilloscope’s headquarters.”

a skate-vid-stylised documentary on elite

just seventeen when Beastie Boys started out.

American high school basketball, is why we

“A little bit,” he admits. “I started Beastie Boys

does someone like Yauch, who has had a major

meet today. Sauntering into London’s plush

as a punk band when I was still in high school.

influence on this genre, think of the changes it

Haymarket Hotel, Yauch jokes, “I look like an ad

But as a punk band it’s just a bunch of friends

has undergone over the past decade or so?

for Gravis,” referring to his brand of footwear

playing music. Maybe there’s like twenty people

“A lot of it I like a lot,” he says. “The stuff I’ve

and hoodie. The grey-haired forty-four-year-old

in the audience and the journalists are a couple

used in the film is from the past ten years.

looks nothing of the sort and, to be honest,

of kids writing fanzines who you know – so it was

But I think the trajectory [of hip hop] is

only vaguely of the legend from my youth.

a much smaller circle. It wasn’t until I was about

interesting. It’s gone from being completely

Calm and thoughtful, he seems accustomed

twenty-one or twenty-two that Licensed to Ill

underground to being one of the largest forms

to being photographed, but also like he’d

became a huge record, so I think these guys are

of music in the world. I don’t think it’s necessarily

rather be on the other side of the lens.

getting more of it at a younger age.”

bad. Things evolve and change and certainly hip

Gunnin’ follows eight of the country’s top

Throughout the film, music, as anyone

And what about hip hop, I wonder – what

hop is always changing; it evolves faster than

teenage players as they gear up to play the first

would guess, plays an important role. I wonder

most forms of music. I’m not one of those people

ever Elite 24 Hoops Classic game in Harlem’s

about the tune selection. Hip hop and basketball

who sits around wishing that it was still like the

mythical Rucker Park. How did they select

have always gone hand in hand, but some of

way it used to be. When you’re of a certain age

which of the ‘Elite 24’ to focus on? “The players

the tracks seem obvious – what’s that about?

– between thirteen and twenty – you are wide

were recommended to me. I went to the guys

“I think of them as like, New York hip hop

open to new music, and people form bonds and

organising the game and told them I wanted to

anthems, like when you drop Jay-Z or Biggie or

connect with music from that period of time in

interview eight guys from diverse backgrounds

Nas or Fat Joe or even that Joe Budden track –

their lives. That manifestation will feel like the

– interesting personalities that would pan out

they feel like New York and that New York was a

right form of the music. I think that’s common

professionally and were likely to succeed. My

big character in the film. They made those scenes

and so I don’t think there’s anything wrong with

actual plan was to select five out of the eight,

feel big to take that route, rather than go more

where hip hop is going.”

but I liked these guys so much I used them all.”

underground. I was really just going for what felt

With big tunes, lots of humour, fast action and clever edits, the film looks like it

right and what made sense in those scenes.”

Five Beastie Boys instrumentals also feature

Aside from music and film, Yauch has been known to do his thing on both snow and skateboards, so it kind of had to be asked: does

was fun to make. New York hip hop marvel

on the soundtrack – how did they go about

this married, father-of-one still skate? “I skate

Bobbito Garcia gets heavy play in the film as a

making these songs? “Well, actually the Beastie

once in a while, but mostly for transportation –

talking head and comical announcer throughout

Boys songs were all pre-existing things that I

I don’t skate ramps, I’m not out there tryin’ to

the game, which makes up a third of the ninety-

thought worked and so I kinda grabbed them

ollie over shit. Mostly just on a longboard to

minute doc. Did Yauch know that Bobbito’s

to put in the film. Then there’s a bunch of music

get around town.”

.

77

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78 www.HUCKmagazine.com

Subvert Hamburg, Germany www.subvert.de Surf4Snow Wangen, Germany www.surf4snow.de Terra X Nuremberg, Germany www.tx-sports.de WeSC Munich, Germany www.myspace.com/wescmunich Westside Surfing Muenster, Germany +49 251 46200 Alfieri Sport Rende, Italy +39 098 446 5945 Athena Sport Milano, Italy www.athenasport.com Board Corner Genova, Italy +39 01 057 04305 Bomboclat Monza, Italy www.bomboclat.it Carhartt Modena, Italy +33 20.59.23.66.63 Contest Boardshop Milano, Italy www.myspace.com/contestshop Deka Upper Bologna, Italy www.dekaonline.it Detour Verona, Italy www.detour.it Effe Sport Milano, Italy +39 02 662 03353 Fible Milano, Italy +39 02 487 13629 Grillo Sport Genova, Italy +39 010 247 7594 Impact Bari, Italy www.impactsurf.com Jolly Sport Torino, Italy +39 01 165 07553 Juice Surf Shop Torino, Italy www.juicesurf.it La Glisse Torino, Italy www.laglisse.it Lo Sportello Milano, Italy +39 02 745 238 Minoia Breca, Italy +39 03.03.38.52.15 Mission Milano, Italy www.sportmission.com New School Bergamo, Italy www.newschollshop.com Noi Per Lo Sport Milano, Italy +39 02 869 2803 Original Premium Firenze, Italy www.myspace.com/ogpfam Pleasure Milano, Italy www.urbanwarrior.it Radikal Streetshop Castano Primo, Italy +39 03 318 77063 The Skate Shop Milano, Italy www.myspace.com/myskateshop S.R.D Milano, Italy www.tressesport.it Style Bologna, Italy www.style.bologna.it Sub Bolzano, Italy www.subskateshop.com Surfing Shop Milano, Italy www.surfingshop.net Tresse Milano, Italy www.tressesport.it Tutto Milano, Italy www.tuttoperlosport.it World Sport Milano, Italy +39 02 869 2803

Whitewater Oslo, Norway www.whitewater.no Concrete Göteborg, Sweden www.concretestore.se Tranzsport Geneva, Switzerland www.tranzport.ch 50:50 Skateboards Bristol, UK www.5050store.com Alliance Board Store Harrogate, UK www.allianceltd.co.uk Airjam Newquay, UK www.airjam.co.uk Arnolfini Bookshop Bristol, UK www.arnolfini.org.uk Artwords London, UK www.artwords.co.uk Attla Snowboards Truro, UK www.attlasnowboards.com Big Wednesday Falmouth, UK www.bigwednesdaysurf.com Boarderline Aberdeen, UK www.boarderline.co.uk Boardwise Edinburgh, UK www.boardwise.com Boardwise Glasgow, UK www.boardwise.com Boardwise London, UK www.boardwise.com Bored on Board London, UK www.boredonboard.com Brighton Watersports Brighton, UK www.thebrightonwatersports.co.uk The Consortium Bournemouth, UK www.consortium.co.uk Dot Dot Dot Brighton, UK www.oddballs.co.uk East Coast Surf Norwich, UK www.eastcoastsurf.co.uk Edge 2 Edge Crawley, UK www.edge2edge.co.uk Edge Riders Ipswich, UK www.edgeriders.com Elementz Aberdeen, UK www.myspace.com/elementz_uk Emoceanl Newquay, UK www.livetosurf.co.uk Entity Board Sports Bidford-on-Avon, UK www.entityboardsports.co.uk Extreme Pie UK www.extremepie.com Filf Surf Co Brighton, UK www.filf.co.uk Flavour Skateboard Shop Newquay, UK www.flavouronline.co.uk Fluid Concept Scarborough, UK www.fluidconcept.co.uk Focus Edinburgh, UK www.focuspocus.co.uk Freeriders Falmouth, UK www.freeridersonline.co.uk Half Pipe London, UK www.half-pipe.co.uk Granite Reef Aberdeen, UK www.granitereef.com LCB Surf London, UK www.lcbsurf.com Loose Fit Brauton, UK www.loose-fit.co.uk Loose Fit Bristol, UK www.loose-fit.co.uk Microzine Liverpool, UK www.microzine.co.uk

Microzine London, UK www.microzine.co.uk Natterjacks Kingston-upon-Thames, UK www.natterjacks.com Non-Stop Nottingham, UK www.nonstopsportuk.com Note Skateshop Manchester, UK www.noteshop.co.uk Nucleus Swansea, UK www.nucleus-online.com Porthcawl Marine Surf Shop Porthcawl, UK www.porthcawlmarine.co.uk Revolutionz Norwich, UK www.revolutionz.co.uk Ride Snowboard Shop Poole, UK www.ridesnow.co.uk Skate Warehouse Okehampton, UK www.thewarehousegroup.co.uk Ski Surf Colchester, UK www.skisurf.co.uk Soul Fibre Surf Shop Elgin, UK +44 (0) 1343 569103 Soul Life Plymouth, UK www.soullife.co.uk Southside Boards Glasgow, UK www.southsideboards.co.uk SS20 Oxford, UK www.ss20.co.uk Supertubes Cornwall, UK www.supertubes.co.uk Two Seasons Cambridge, UK www.twoseasons.co.uk Two Seasons Coventry, UK www.twoseasons.co.uk Two Seasons Derby, UK www.twoseasons.co.uk Two Seasons Leamington, UK www.twoseasons.co.uk Two Seasons Leicester, UK www.twoseasons.co.uk Two Seasons Lichfield, UK www.twoseasons.co.uk Two Seasons Northampton, UK www.twoseasons.co.uk Two Seasons Nottingham, UK www.twoseasons.co.uk Two Seasons Peterborough, UK www.twoseasons.co.uk Two Seasons Solihull, UK www.twoseasons.co.uk Two Seasons Worcester, UK www.twoseasons.co.uk Troggs Surf Shop Antrim, UK www.troggs.com Urb Brighton, UK +44 (0) 1273 -325336 The Wavehouse Bude, UK www.thewavehouse.co.uk Wonderful Workshop Bristol, UK www.wonderfulworkshop.com YDNA Bournemouth, UK www.ydnacentral.com

HUCK is also available at Borders, Waterstone’s, Somerfield*, Presse Tabac, Relais H, Barnes & Noble, Selfridges, Harrods and select newsagents across Europe and North America. (*select stores) Want to stock HUCK? HUCK Please contact ed@huckmagazine.com

MOBILE FREERIDE EVENT PLAYTIME FEBRUARY 3 -10 2009 RD

TH

PLAYGROUND THE ALPS TAKE OFF ARLBERG AWARD PARTY SAALBACH HINTERGLEMM

WWW.BIGMOUNTAINPRO.COM

80 www.HUCKmagazine.com

MAX HAMILTON

Big-haired Milton Keynes local Billie Neilson had an injured knee so didn’t compete, but supported his Nike 6.0 teammates with wisecracks and infectious energy.

Faced with an endless horizon of pancake flat and snowless land, British snowboarders have had to get creative in order to ride. HUCK JOINS NIKE 6.0 to EXPLORE THE refrigerated world of indoor snowboarding.

Text Gemma Freeman  Photography Max Hamilton AND Dan Medhurst 81

82 www.HUCKmagazine.com

MAX HAMILTON

Burton and Nike 6.0 rider Chris Kightley was killing it on the C-box till 6am.

DAN MEDHURST

Castleford regular Jonny Russel won the best shot of the night, taken mid a frontside blunt danish out on the red down rail.

Inside a suburban shopping mall, beneath

“I saw an ad in an early issue of Big Brother

may well be the most dedicated in the world,

the glare of fluorescent lights, the last thing

magazine where the skater was painted yellow

judging by the energy invested in creative

you’d expect to hear is the crunch of fresh

and he was riding on something that was pink.

indoor events like the Burton Scrap Metal,

snow under foot. But in the postmodern

That image stuck in my memory, and I wanted

Best of British Invitational and jams organised

reality of the UK’s indoor slopes, this sound

to create something like that – a picture that

by FBBB (For Boarders By Boarders). And

is what thousands of committed snowboarders

stays in the mind and dares people to say that

if no one accuses the jib kids of Salt Lake

look forward to each week.

indoor snowboarding isn’t legit.”

City, Denver and Helsinki of not being ‘real

It’s 3am on a Thursday morning, and inside

Under the eye of Special Events Co-

snowboarders’ for preferring street rail sessions

the Sno!Zone at Xscape Castleford – England’s

Ordinator Damian Doyle, the Castleford park

to pricey lift tickets, then what’s wrong with

shining example of an indoor slope, near

crew created three large obstacles that would

UK riders making the most of what mother

the northern city of Leeds – a celebration of

help bring Phil’s vision to life. A large green

nature has – or hasn’t – given them?

indoor snowboarding is well under way. While

c-box, a red twelve-stair down-rail and a blue

their classmates are tucked up in bed, Jamie

hollow wall ride are kept immaculate as riders

Nike 6.0 and Burton rider Chris Kightley,

Nicholls, fifteen, and Sparrow Knox, fourteen,

dressed from head to toe in one primary colour

nineteen. “Indoor is where I learnt to

are wide awake and taking part in the Nike

session them from 11pm to 6am. With the usual

snowboard. I didn’t know anything else, so

6.0 sponsored Primary Colours invitational.

uninspiring background of your average indoor

for me it felt real. I started when I was thirteen

event hidden under a subtle smoke screen,

and then rode almost every day. I got a real

athleticism together, this all-night event aims

riders were given the rare opportunity to

buzz out of it and then I’d start going to

to rubbish critics who argue that indoor riding

be captured in some of the most impressive

freestyle nights, getting better. The first time

‘isn’t real’. With a hand-picked pack of fifteen

indoor snowboarding photography ever.

may feel really weird, but it’s amazingly cool,

Focused on bringing style, art and

UK snowboarders, all spawn from such slopes,

But what’s so special about this most

“It doesn’t feel surreal to me,” argues

so much fun and you get to really practise,

the idea is to produce stunning shots in this

‘unnatural’ of snowboard scenes? Regulars at

most artificial of environments – proving that,

indoor slopes in the UK – or the larger indoor

okay, the snow may be man-made, but the

parks of Belgium, Holland and now even Dubai –

seems to agree: “Once you start you become

talent in these giant, four-walled fridges, is

refuse to limit themselves to rare trips to the

hooked. You find your own tricks and do your

organic and pure.

mountains in order to prove their skills. Even

own lines. The indoor slopes help you have a

if the setting for their snowboarding is more

laugh with friends and practise tricks. You can

peculiar than picturesque, these flat-landers

just pop by as they’re not more than three ▼

“I come from a skateboard background,” explains organiser Phil Young of Urb-orbis.

which makes all the difference.”

Fellow Nike 6.0 team rider Sparrow

83

MAX HAMILTON

Used to the super-sized indoor slopes of Germany, Ethan and Dani came across the Channel to sample snowboarding UK style.

hours away. Hop on a train or a bus and you’re

those in Holland and Belgium, present

can now afford to come, and kids have more

there and get to ride.”

countless challenges when building courses

opportunities to learn. Before it was only those

for competitions or open sessions. But site

who could afford the £600 annual school ski

the style of regular indoor shredders has more

managers are now realising the potential of

trip. Simon Foster lives in Selby and is a fine

in common with that of skateboarders than

indoor freestyle, promoting special nights,

example. His first lessons were at Castleford

with the style of European snowboarders

sponsoring talent and focusing on park riders –

when it opened and I taught him how to do

who grew up near big mountains. “The kids

rather than punters. “We’re limited for space,”

his first boardslide. Now he’s better than all

that ride indoors kill it on rails, because that’s

admits Damian, “and you can’t build anything

of us! His style is amazing – so talented, and

all they can ride consistently,” explains Chris.

massive as you need to work around all aspects

he’s sponsored by Salomon and Bonfire. It’s

“Mountain riders get to ride everything –

of the business – lessons, recreational,

all just from riding at Castleford.”

jumps, halfpipe – while dome riders are all

tobogganing, slides. But Castleford has a

focused on rails. But the main difference is

great park crew, plus a freestyle academy. The

think snowboarding belongs in the mountain?

the snow; it’s real in the mountain, but made

atmosphere when you get a session going is so

“Screw them. We’re all still shredding, having

from cannons indoors. And on a real mountain

worth it. You know everyone, you’re all riding hard

fun and getting better. You ride what you

it’s a lot faster. It’s not easy going from a snow

and pushing each other. They’re the best times.”

got, and it’s a really good scene – so tight,

In keeping with these frozen skate parks,

So what does Damian say to snobs who

dome to a mountain, as you have to adjust.”

From their roots in Japan, to the

For Sparrow, it took a trip to a real

shopping malls of the UK, these steel-clad

ride all year round. The UK has one of the

mountain to understand the difference:

spaces have made a huge impact on the

strongest scenes in the world, I reckon.”

“When I first rode real snow it was crazy, it

entire winter sports industry. Built in less

was this whole new experience. It was amazing.

affluent, suburban areas they shatter an old-

in a fridge is totally where it’s at: “I don’t

It opened up so many new doors.” Does that

school taboo: class. Money and social status

know what I’d be if I wasn’t a snowboarder.

mean he’s envious of his Alpine counterparts?

are no longer a requirement to ride, as now,

I’d probably work in a chicken factory or

“If they’ve lived in the mountain their whole

for the price of a few rounds in the pub,

something like that. Indoor riding has been

lives they obviously progress quicker than us,

thousands of people are making their first

the rock of my snowboard career. It’s where

but we try to get as much practise as we can

turns just a few hours from home. Or practising

I started snowboarding, and will be where

to match them though. You just have to be

enough to turn pro.

I finish.”

creative and have fun.”

UK indoor slopes, much smaller than

84 www.HUCKmagazine.com

“Snowboarding is so much more accessible,” states Damian. “School groups

everyone’s pushing each other and you can

For Chris, there is no doubt that riding

.

www.nike.com/nke6/v5/

86 www.HUCKmagazine.com

Still Smokin’ HUCK blazes a trail through the past with hip hop veterans Cypress Hill.

Text Ed Andrews Illustration STEVIE GEE

I was fifteen when I first heard Cypress Hill.

pretty much everywhere and even appeared on

the weed leaf on our logos and talking about

Someone stuck Black Sunday in the CD player as

The Simpsons. In October 2008, the LA-based

getting high the way we did, that was a pretty

we gathered in a friend’s bedroom to hit ‘buckets’

collective were finally recognised by VH1 in their

new thing.”

filled with coarse hash smoke. After the initial

annual Hip Hop Honors awards.

burn in my throat, the mellow beats and almost

“It was awesome,” a visibly humbled Sen

“There were hindrances because of it though,” adds Sen Dog. “We didn’t get a lot

eerie rapping struck a chord, and single-handedly

Dog tells me, leaning forward earnestly as he

of radio or MTV play, and we didn’t get the

converted me from angry punk-rock shitbag to

speaks. “All the hard work and stress after all

endorsements other groups get. But it is what

head-nodding stoner for the next six or seven

these years working our asses off as a unit has

it is, and people are going to have their own

years. Fast-forward eleven years, and here

been worth it. To be around acts like Slick Rick,

opinions. So we just have to keep to what we

I am, backstage at the London Freeze festival,

Naughty by Nature, De La Soul – it was like being

want to do and fuck everything else.”

surrounded in a tight semi-circle by the architects

at an all-star sports game! That was A-game,

of my transformation: B Real, Sen Dog, Eric

right there. I would never have seen that coming

for me if I ran for President, and I can’t see

Bobo and DJ Muggs. I’m suddenly fifteen again

in my wildest of dreams.”

that happening!” smirks B Real, leaving the

– awkward, clumsy and intimidated as fuck. I’ve been given fifteen minutes, just fifteen minutes...

While some may see a retrospective industry

“It would only be a major hindrance

rest of them chuckling. “The pot leaf is a draw

acknowledgment as the kiss of death for veteran

though, because people are intrigued by

performers, Cypress Hill haven’t hung up the

what we’ve got to say in regards to the whole

on, so when we all gather back together as

mics, decks and percussion yet. In between

marijuana subculture. It helped us, though,

Cypress Hill we come back with a whole new

throwing a few celebratory shows across the

as a lot of stoners and hippies who wouldn’t

perspective,” says a festively plump B Real,

globe, they are working on their ninth album, set

necessarily listen to hip hop were drawn to us

laying back in his chair with arms crossed,

to be released this summer. “We’ve done thirty

because of that.”

coolly. “Our heads are fresh with creativity

songs already, when we get to about thirty-five

’cause we’ve already gotten our own personal

then we’ll start working out which ones we’ll use.

Sunday and the hash buckets. They nod,

stuff out of our system.”

It’s better to have too many than too few,” B Real

knowingly, as if they’ve heard it a million times

says, seeming rather pleased with their effort.

before. At which point, their manager appears,

“We all got solo projects that we work

‘Shit, this guy has piled on some pounds over the years,’ is all I can think. Check out the

I can’t resist, and tell them about Black

But with the blessed leaf adorning their

looking impatiently at his watch. It seems my

video for 1991’s ‘How Could I Just Kill A Man’

album covers and their fervent rapping about

fifteen minutes are up. They all politely shake

if you don’t believe me. But it’s probably to be

bongs, cones and blunts, Cypress Hill will always

my hand and I exit the port-a-cabin, and instantly

expected, seeing as Cypress Hill have been going

be remembered first and foremost for the green.

age eleven years.

for twenty-one years now. They’ve released eight

Take this away, what would be left? I put it to

studio albums and a greatest hits re-recorded

them, cautiously.

purely in Spanish, flirted with heavy, crunching

“We’d still be a good hip hop group. But

guitars at times, been banned from Saturday

would we be as controversial? Probably not,” B

Night Live for smoking weed on stage, toured

Real says, openly. “When we first started putting

.

Eric Bobo hadn’t said a word, happy to sit back looking far too content to speak. My fifteenyear-old self would have killed to see that www.cypresshill.com

87

Against the backdrop of a hate attack that left a young woman dead, Britain’s Gothic community gathers in celebration of that which binds them. Sarah Bentley journeys to Whitby, the home of British Paganism, to brush aside prejudice and find what lies beneath.

Text Sarah Bentley  Photography Debbie Bragg

88 www.HUCKmagazine.com

89

A stunning girl auburn hair cascading from the hood of a black velvet

other about being the same and fitting in.”

out to sea. It joins dozens of other floral tributes,

There’s one major difference though. “Unlike

so many you can only just make out a plaque

with Mods and Rockers there’s never been an

that reads, ‘An Angel Too Soon’. A couple in

organised clash. Goths don’t want trouble. It’s

Victorian frock coats approach with a bouquet.

always one or two Goths being set upon by

The trio stand in solemn contemplation seemingly

a gang. There’s something about what we

oblivious to the biting North Sea wind. They

are and represent that enrages a lunatic few.”

are paying their respects to Sophie Lancaster,

The Goths in Whitby think fear, lack of

a twenty-year-old killed in August 2007 simply

tolerance and widespread misconceptions about

for being a Goth.

the culture are the main culprits behind their

It is the Whitby Halloween Goth Weekender

persecution. Laments about being perceived

and, over the course of an otherwise jubilant

as ‘depressed blood-drinking Satanists’ are

event, this scene in front of the memorial bench

ubiquitous as are accounts of abuse from

plays out scores of times. Most who come didn’t

surprising quarters such as groups of skaters,

know Sophie, but recognise her as their kinsman

old ladies and gaggles of girls. Daniel’s girlfriend,

and relate to the circumstances that led to her

sixteen-year-old Becki Butterworth, says, “I’m

death. While walking through Stubbylee Park in

not depressed. I don’t cut myself. I love life.

Bacup, Lancashire, northern England, Sophie’s

I just choose to express myself this way. I tried

boyfriend Robert Maltby was set upon by a group

being a Chav, listening to R’n’B, wearing velour

of teenage boys. When Sophie tried to protect

tracksuits and that, but it wasn’t me. Goth

him the group turned on her. The savage attack

feels right. The insults are stupid. I’m not a dirty

left them both unconscious. Robert survived but

mosher, I have a bath every day.”

Sophie died in hospital thirteen days later.

The incident rocked the Goth subculture.

The roots of Goth are

For the vast majority of Goths, especially those

commonly traced back to The Batcave, a club

living in small rural towns unaccustomed to

in Soho, London, that opened in 1982 and

anything ‘alternative’, abuse such as being

catered to a clientele of post-punk misfits.

called ‘dirty moshers’ or ‘devil worshippers’

It was here that the Goth ideology, style and

and even physical assaults are commonplace.

mindset were honed and forged into an identity

Sophie and Robert could so easily have been

that borrowed from new wave, dark romantic

them. A pressure group and forum, Alternatives

and punk. The movement diversified and spread,

Have Rights Too, was launched with the aim

with scenes developing in Italy, Poland, America

of getting similarly motivated attacks legally

and Germany, home to one of the largest Goth

recognised as hate crimes, a mission they’re

movements (known locally as Grufties, meaning

having mixed success with.

tomb or vault creatures) and epic annual festivals

Daniel Gibbons, a nineteen-year-old Goth from Barnsley, compares the situation to the

90 www.HUCKmagazine.com

acceptance, tolerance and individuality, the

cape, places a single red rose on a bench looking

such as Wave-Gotik-Treffen and M’era Luna.

Back in Whitby, the sun has deigned to

clash between Mods and Rockers in the 1960s.

make an appearance turning The Shambles,

“We’re total opposite subcultures – one is about

a picturesque cluster of cobbled streets in the

heart of town, into a catwalk. Everyone involved

confidence. Even though there’s no other

musical library. The various sub-divisions of Goth

– locals, tourists, Goths – is having a blast. Most

people our age in Barnsley that dress as

make it neigh impossible to draw up a definitive

are engaged in a frenzy of photography, happy

extremely as me and Daniel, we know there’s

list of today’s key groups although Cradle Of

to stop and pose against the backdrop of quaint

thousands of us out there ‘cos you can meet

Filth, and US bands Crud and Type O Negative

tearooms and fudge shops. As the flashes go

them on Vampire Freaks. And ‘cos it’s global

are recurring favourites.

into overdrive, props such as skulls, staffs and

it’s good for outfit ideas.”

scythes are brandished with glee. For the more

The importance of ‘the look’ cannot be

Contrary to popular belief, many Goths would sooner curl up with a tome by a classic

elaborately attired, things turn into a bit of a

overstated when it comes to Goth culture.

Gothic or dark romantic author than bite the

rugby scrum with photographers, amateur and

Corsets, Victoriana bustle dresses, rubber wear

heads off bats. Literary heroes include JRR

professional alike, jockeying for pole position as

and leather suits are expensive pieces costing

Tolkien, Charles Baudelaire, Edgar Allan Poe

their subjects crack jokes, strike poses and battle

between £60-£600, which young dedicates have

and HP Lovecroft, a writer Stephanie Bowry

against the wind to keep their headwear – wigs,

to save up for, sometimes for years. Outfits

admires for being “genuinely disturbing. He has

pirate’s hats, veils, hoods – in place.

for Whitby are considered months in advance,

a dark take on the world with a scientific edge

especially if they have to be specially made.

that makes it seem highly believable.” A more

Leicester describes it as a brilliant opportunity

The clothes have an empowering effect.

contemporary great is Neil Gaiman, author of

to “ponce about having your picture taken and

Stephanie Bowry says as a teenager she got

The Sandman comic books. “What all these

feel like a celebrity,” but she recognises why

picked on for being shy and bookish but when

writers have in common and why they appeal

everyone’s spirits, including her own, are so

she started dressing in a Gothic style the bullies

to Goths,” explains Stephanie, “is that they have

high: “Most people here are used to being

backed off. “I think I freaked them out,” she says.

a different, more imaginative and often darker

Twenty-six-year-old Stephanie Bowry from

stared at, ridiculed and berated about their

Likewise Daniel Gibbons, now a confident,

take on the world than is the norm.”

appearance. At Whitby weekenders we’re

assured young man, says as a teenager he

celebrated. When I first came a few years ago

was withdrawn and quiet but when he started

The Goth Weekender

I was quite overwhelmed. It was such a different

experimenting with Gothic fashions, he

started ten years ago thanks to a now

reception to what I was used to.”

blossomed: “The clothes were like a personal

legendary lady known as ‘Whitby Jo’. The

To the uninitiated, the range of

shield of confidence. When I plucked up the

only Goth in a small northern mining town, she

interpretations of Goth looks is startling.

courage to wear eyeliner out in public for

placed an advert in the NME asking for pen

There’s cyber, industrious, Victoriana, traditional,

the first time people noticed me and I liked

friends and got over 150 replies. She wanted to

retro-burlesque, fetish, punk, military, mobster

it. Eventually I actually became that person.

gather everyone together and chose Whitby

and hybrid styles created in Japan known as

It was no longer a shield but me.”

due to its connection with Dracula who, in Bram Stoker’s novel, lands at Whitby Bay, an

Visual Kai, Gothic Lolita or Wa-Loli – a look that

In addition to the threads there’s an entire

combines traditional Japanese dress with Lolita

world of Gothic music, arts, literature, film,

atmospheric locale framed by dramatic cliffs

and Goth. Then there’s the families – mum,

sculpture, architecture, clubs and philosophy.

with a church and graveyard perched on its edge

dad, granny, offspring and, in some cases, dog,

The music, both old and new, associated with

and the epic ruins of Whitby Abbey looming

tripping about eating cones of chips and fudge

Goth tends to be heavy, industrious, epic strands

overhead. She hoped the fact that The Dracula

all in their Gothic finery. It’s some spectacle.

of rock, punk and metal. Groups such as Siouxsie

Society had hosted events there would mean

and the Banshees, The Damned, 45 Grave, Sex

the locals wouldn’t be freaked out by droves of

energy down to an explosion of social

Gang Children, Sisters of Mercy (although lead

Goths. They weren’t, and soon the Weekender

networking websites such as Vampire Freaks.

singer Andrew Eldritch walks out of interviews

grew to what it is today, a bi-annual festival of

Becki Butterworth says, “Being able to talk to

if journalists refer to him as a Goth) and The

events, club nights, markets, plays, cabaret and

other people with similar outlooks gives you

Mission make the foundation of the Gothic

gothic stand-up comedy that attracts up ▼

Many put the Goth movement’s newfound

91

Smells like teen spirit. During the evening Whitby shakes with a slew of parties and gigs with fetishists, traditional Goths, rockers, metallers and cyber Goths who all hang and head bang together.

Smashing stereotypes about Goths being blood-drinking Satanists. At the Whitby Weekender most can be found enjoying cream teas and portions of fish and chips.

92 www.HUCKmagazine.com

Sixteen-year-old Becki Butterworth loves the Whitby Goth Weekender. Here, instead of being persecuted for how she dresses, she and her friends are celebrated and made to feel like celebrities.

Steve Robson (right) owns spirituality store Free Spirit. Although there’s no official link between Goths and Pagans, Steve says many who come to the Goth Weekender buy Pagan ritual products and books.

93

to five thousand attendees. Goth or not, anyone

and an older mentor, the owner of a New Age

are accepting of his beliefs, but his Christian

with the slightest sensitivity to energy will be

and Wiccan shop in his hometown. Young

grandmother is fiercely against it. “Once she

affected by Whitby’s atmosphere. Long before

Pagans are not something you come across

saw mi Book Of Shadows, that’s like a notebook

the Weekender, the remotely located town –

much in urban areas, and Luke believes this

where you store all knowledge of yuh craft, an’

bordered by the North Sea on one side, the

is because “in cities young people don’t know

she flipped out.” So what’s the link between Goth

Yorkshire Moors on the other – was a magnet

about their area’s ancient history and don’t

and Paganism? “There in’t one really, not like an

to alternatives, artists and occultists. It is said

feel any connection to nature. So why would

official one. For me, an’ quite a lot o‘ other Goths,

to be a point where ample ley lines (hypothetical

they want to worship it? Plus a lot aren’t British,

the two connect but one’s more a social scene

alignments of places of ancient or holy interest)

or their parents aren’t, so all the folklore and

and culture but the other is my actual beliefs.”

intersect. With the Abbey thought to be built

that – it’s not their culture.”

on a spaghetti junction of ley lines, the site

How someone chooses to practise

Goth metal band Screams

would have been important to Pagans way

Paganism – meaning country dweller or rustic

Of Cold Winter are storming through an epic set.

before Christians claimed it. Today the town

in Latin – is fluid, the faith open to different

Their female drummer is going at it hell for leather

houses a sizeable community of practising

paths and interpretations. It could simply be

as are both the guitarists and keyboardist. The

Pagans, a faith many Goths often choose to

by having an appreciation of nature. Or, like

performance of lead singer Trish Lee, a bubbly

practise, but should not be confused with the

Luke, you can perform ceremonies and rituals

blonde with va-va-voom curves decorated with

polar opposite faith of Satanism.

to celebrate Sabbaths (there are eight a year)

fantasy tattoos of fairies poured into a corset,

and practise the art of spell casting. Spells are

personifies the contradictions of Goth: poignant

of Goths is tricky. Basic tenets such as being

a Wiccan trait, although, says Luke in a thick

yet hardcore, powerful though vulnerable, dark

open-minded, non-judgemental and tolerant

Barnsley accent, “There’s fine line between’

but sexual, initially intimidating but actually, on

of self-expression crop up most frequently when

two. I wouldn’t class myself as Wicca as I don’t

introduction – “Hiya everyone, we’re so happy to

Goths attempt to define the culture. In terms of

follow it all. But ‘cos I do spells, others would.”

be here” – extremely warm and personable. She

Attempting to unify the spiritual beliefs

religion, I met a mixed bag of Atheists, Agnostics,

For his age Luke is impressively

has incredible presence and the audience, a motley

Christians, Pagans – but not one Satanist, the

dedicated to his craft. Last year he started

crew of moshers, fetishists, retro-burlesques,

likes of whom, in the words of Stephanie Bowry,

growing herbs in his parent’s garden to use in

Gothic Lolita’s and gimps, stand hypnotised.

are often thought of as “show-off extremists

spells and rituals. He refers to the Soraya Book

who want to attract attention to themselves.”

Of Spells but often adapts them and creates

eye. For two years she worked as a Social Lifestyle

There’s also more to Trish than meets the

his own according to the outcome he wants.

teacher in Lancaster Farm, a juvenile and young

in Gothic imagery are a mix of Pagan and Satanic

“It’s not rigid,” he explains. “As long as yuh

offenders prison. Through her classes she tackled

iconography. The upside-down cross and five-

know what ya tryin to say an’t do, that’s what

issues that stem from prejudice. Her students were

pointed pentagram star with a point facing down

counts.” He defines spells as, “A manipulation

initially aghast at having “a Goth” for a teacher and

are associated with Satanism, although a similar

of energy. Somethin’ you wish to happen an’

it took a long time for them to stop pointing at her

star with a point going upwards is regarded

form your life. Anyone can do one.”

piercings and bombarding her with, “Miss, why you

And yet, the symbols most readily found

got that shit in your face?” and, “Miss, do you drink

as a positive symbol of protection. Spike, lead

Luke prefers to practise alone, although

singer of Gothic metal band Screams Of Cold

occasionally he works with a sixteen-year-old

blood?” Sometimes it got darker: “I’m in here for

Winter, from Preston, owns numerous items

girl called Kirsty, his only Pagan friend of a

attacking people like you, Miss,” one student said.

of clothing featuring Satanic symbols. “It’s just

similar age. He takes me through the spell-

something different,” he explains. “It’s a dark

casting process: “I get mi cauldron [nervous

job, Trish achieved many small victories, with

form of expression and it looks good but it

laugh] – then light charcoal an’ put ‘int centre.

inmates on their way out of prison offering veiled

definitely doesn’t mean I worship the devil.”

Then depending on’t spell, I sprinkle different

assurances such as, “Actually, Miss, you’re alright.

dried herbs on’t charcoal. While they burn

I won’t beat up weirdos like you anymore.”

ethos, Paganism is a better fit with the Goth

I chant or do incantations.” His most common

Based on her experiences she wrote ‘Finding

ideology. Steve Robson, proprietor of Free

spells are ones for luck, protection and guidance.

Her Wings’, a song dedicated to Sophie Lancaster

Spirit, one of Whitby’s oldest shops specialising

He’s never cast a love spell – “Yuh got tuh

that asks questions of her killers: “I ask them if

in spiritual products (crystals, angel statues,

be able to do tha spell correctly, ‘cos there’s

they understand they’ve stolen a young woman’s

wands, ritual herbs, witchcraft books) is a

chance yuh cud end up with something bad” –

life simply because she was different to them.

long-term Pagan (not a Goth) and defines the

but feels he’s had success with the protection

I ask them if they understand the enormity of

ancient faith as being about “respecting nature,

spells: “I don’t fall down or hurt myself. Last

what they’ve done.”

living within nature, preserving nature and

time I did a protection spell two days later a

worshipping nature.”

load of lads were chucking apples at mi. Big

Weekender, Sophie’s bench is laden with

handfuls of apples it were, loads of ’em, and

bouquets. Goths on their way out of Whitby

not one of ‘em hit mi.”

stop by to pay their respects one last time

In terms of affinity with its beliefs and

Since the age of eleven, Luke Baker, a fifteen-year-old from Barnsley and friend of Becki and Daniel’s, has been a Goth and

Unsurprisingly, Luke only shares his

Despite the obvious challenges of the

By Sunday night, the end of the Goth

.

before the flowers and the humbling roar of the

practising Pagan. Growing up he was interested

beliefs with people he knows are open to

winter North Sea. The enormity of what happened

in nature, folklore, witchcraft and from an early

such ‘alternative’ ways. Like his friends Becki

hangs heavily in the air

age Christianity never “made sense” to him.

and Daniel, he has a profile on Vampire Freaks

Like many rural youths he discovered Paganism

but also Wiccan Together, a social networking

www.alternativeshaverightstoo.co.uk

through a mixture of local history, the Internet

site for Pagans and Wiccans. His parents

www.sophielancasterfoundation.com

94 www.HUCKmagazine.com

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Nostalgic Sickness Old school skate video Sick Boys makes a return.

Text Jay Riggio Photography Bryce Kanights

96 www.HUCKmagazine.com

Anyone who’s ever ridden a skateboard can recall a time when skateboarding felt absolutely pure. A time when expectations were completely absent and all that existed was you, a skateboard and the righteous, untainted discovery of each new trick. When I start to get nostalgic – disillusioned by a skateboarding era

that’s

oversaturated,

overhyped

and

monopolised by anyone trying to make a buck – only one skate video captures the kind of carefree camaraderie that defined these salad days. That classic slice of film is Sick Boys.

By the time the mid eighties hit, major skate companies like Powell Peralta, Santa Cruz and Vision had all released videos which possessed large budgets, visual effects and well thoughtout shooting scripts. Then, in 1988, Sick Boys was released. It had no budget or sponsors to speak of. In fact, the footage featured in the video wasn’t shot for any particular purpose at all. The end result was the first independent skate video ever, one which possessed the kind of beautiful carelessness that would go on to define the foundations of street skating.

“Nothing

was

really

planned,”

says

featured pro skater Bryce Kanights. “We had no predetermined expectations of what was to become of the footage, how it was to be edited,

produced,

distributed.

The

entire

process of filming was wholeheartedly an organic endeavour.”

Mike McEntire, dubbed Mack Dawg by his surfing buddies, first met San Francisco skaters Tommy Guerrero, Bryce Kanights and Mike Archimedes while helping out a friend making a 16mm skate film. Though the film was never completed, McEntire stayed in touch with the crew and set out to collect his own footage of them skating. As McEntire tagged along with Kanights, who was shooting photos for Thrasher at the time, the clips quickly began to add up.

“I

piggybacked

on

a

lot

of

BK’s

shoots,” says McEntire. “Sick Boys was just a

raw

documentation

of

these

sessions.

No one was trying to get specific tricks.

The guys were just doing their thing and I was in the mix from time to time capturing the moment.”

Mack Dawg’s shooting was often sporadic, dependant upon whether he could afford to buy rolls of Super 8mm film and have them developed at a local pharmacy. “It was Mike’s film and budget, so he incurred all of the cost,” says Kanights. “The ‘bail-to-make ratio’ was pretty low so he didn’t get into huge debt over the project.

It wasn’t like we would shoot repeated attempts of kickflip back tails to bigspin out on ledges back then either. Luckily for him, we were still in the foundational stages of street skating.” ▼

97

What Mike was catching on his Super 8 camera were legendary sessions by the godfathers of street skating. As well as Archimedes, Guerrero and Kanights, guys like Natas Kaupas, Julien Stranger, Jim Thiebaud, Ron Allen and Mickey Reyes were all shot for roughly eight or nine months over the course of 1987, with absolutely no deadline in place. “[I remember] the days of waking up late and meeting up with the crew at the breakfast spot, getting wired on coffee and pushing downtown… hitting up spots en route to nowhere specific, not even having a reason… just doing it for the sake of living,” remembers featured pro Tommy Guerrero.

The truth is, Sick Boys would have never seen the light of day had Cyr Miller of Smoothill Skate Distribution not promised to order 500 copies if McEntire actually went ahead and made the thing.

With an extended kick in the ass, Mike transferred the film to 3/4 inch tape and scheduled a single editing session that would last for one night, from midnight to six in the morning.

“We dropped in all the graphics and laid down the music and looked at the clock. It was around 4.30am and we still had to do the voice-over. The whole narration was one pass of stoney babbling,” laughs McEntire. “I was so embarrassed that I had BK come in for a late voice-over session where we both babbled over the footage. So there were two versions of the film with different voice-overs. The first 500 had my solo deal and the second 500 had BK and me embarrassing ourselves.”

While only 1,000 original VHS copies were made, only 700 actually sold. But that didn’t stop the word from spreading. The video became almost folklore amongst skaters, and something of an underground classic around the US. Some managed to get their hands on an original, many while others not at all. Luckily for us, Mack Dawg Productions has just re-released this gem on DVD, featuring bonus interviews with its stars and a booklet of classic photos from the era.

As skateboarding continues to grow to monumental proportions, distancing itself from the history that took place during its dawning years, any documentation of these raw and sacred days is a powerful thing. “Those days felt like the beginnings of a revolution out on the streets without much in our minds more than having fun,” describes Kanights about his Sick Boys days. If

.

Bryce’s words could be applied to skateboarding’s present and expanding future, then we’d all have a shot at revisiting, and maybe even maintaining, those days of never-ending bliss

www.sickboysfilm.com

98 www.HUCKmagazine.com

Mickey Reyes blasts an airwalk over the Benicia hip in May 1987.

only bagged a third or fourth generation copy,

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100 www.HUCKmagazine.com

Max Hamilton

102 www.HUCKmagazine.com

Burn the old boys club! HUCK meets the women injecting a little oestrogen into the action sports biz.

Interviews Gemma Freeman

“When skating started, women and men were

It was this hostile attitude that inspired

doing it together and no one batted an eyelid,”

Jenna to organise her first Jam in 2002 at London’s

explains British skater Jenna Selby. “Now when

PlayStation skate park (now Bay Sixty6) after seeing

you see a girl on a skateboard there’s a fuss.

the success of the US original. The Jam became

Skating dipped in popularity, but came back as

an annual focal point for emerging talent which,

an aggressive sport – and women just weren’t

combined with her photographs documenting

interested.”

women skaters, inspired Jenna to create an all-

Jenna’s been changing apathy for the last

female team. Rogue skateboards was born, giving

Jenna Selby

decade. The brains behind the UK’s annual All

female skaters a platform for media exposure and

Girl Skate Jam and Rogue Skateboards, she fell

the opportunity to tour the UK as a team.

Photographer, Events Producer and Owner of Rogue S kat e b o a r d s

friend lent her a board. Intimidated as the only

encouraging girls to skate with us,” explains

girl skater in her hometown, she commuted to

the thirty-year-old. “I don’t want to segregate

the capital at weekends to session Southbank

us, but this is the only way to get noticed.

(“It was brilliant – a really nice scene”).

There’s not enough representation of women

in love with skating at seventeen after a female

Jenna got her first hook ups – from Gallaz

“It wasn’t about selling boards, but

in skateboarding, but I’m not going to militantly

and Carhartt – while at university in Newport,

start shouting at every bloke who runs a magazine.

Wales, and joined the competition circuit. But

It’s about working hard to change people’s

she quickly saw the sour side: “At one of my first

attitudes. I’ve been skating for eleven years and

comps, the King Of Street, they put on a girl’s

they still can’t accept me. But then why should I

section called Queen Of Street. I accidentally

have to be accepted?” ▼

crashed into a big name male pro, who turned around and said, ‘You shouldn’t be here’. That

www.jennaselby.com

put me off competitions – it made me paranoid.”

www.rogueskateboards.co.uk

103

Peter Taras

“I’m the living American dream,” says Circe

was eleven), Circe is also credited as executive

Wallace, agent for snowboarders Travis Rice,

producer on Travis Rice’s Natural Selection event,

Scotty Lago and Nicolas Müller, skaters Paul

his film That’s It, That’s All and will release her

Rodriguez and Lyn-z Adams Hawkins, BMX legend

sophisticated clothing brand, Circe Snow, in

Jamie Bestwick and many more. “I haven’t had

January 2010. Who said this was a man’s game?

a day of college but I’ve got a great job and love

Circe Wa l l a c e Senior Vice President Wa s s e r m a n M e d i a G r o u p, L L C

generations that came before us achieved,”

you can do anything, or be anyone.”

points out Circe. “Only in our lifetime have we

In designer threads, the thirty-seven-year-

started to get a real awareness of what equal

old is the epitome of polished Californian

rights mean. I’m a feminist as a mother – I

confidence. One of the first female pro riders,

demand the same opportunities for my daughter

she shredded Tahoe with the likes of Jamie

as any other person in the human race. I’ve had

Lynn, but after ripping her ACL for a third time,

challenges in the work place, but I’ve been lucky

recreated herself as one of the first agents for

enough to work in a culture that allows me the

action sports athletes. A pioneer then, Circe is

freedom to succeed.

one of few females in the job today.

“Ten years ago I wasn’t cognitive of any

“People don’t like agents regardless of your sex,” adds Circe. “If I was a guy, they’d

sexism in action sports, but now I am,” Circe

think I was an asshole – but that’s the interesting

admits. “It’s an arrested development: there’s

dynamic. Men are more comfortable doing

not many high-level women executives. Every

business with male agents because they can be

CEO is male. But I don’t waste time thinking

assholes to each other, whereas with me, because

about it. It doesn’t prohibit me.”

I’m a woman and an agent, it makes them uneasy.

As well as managing a roster of all-star athletes (she spotted Ryan Sheckler when he

104 www.HUCKmagazine.com

“It’s important to recognise what the

what I do. If you want something bad enough

Some people respond to me being female, some don’t – the talent like it, the business doesn’t.”

JEFF CURTES

“I’ve always prided myself on keeping my gender

Curtes, Jess is now moving in a more

transparent and having my work speak for itself,”

commercial direction. But the new mum

says Jess Mooney from her Sydney, Australia,

made her name shooting comps and film

home. “However, being female has its good and

crews – often as the solo lady.

bad sides. Being a woman has opened doors, but

“Gender has been most of an issue

it has been more difficult to be taken seriously

on trips,” explains Jess. “‘Can you bro down

in this male-dominated arena.”

with the best of them?’ team managers ask.

From her early days shooting Australian

If it involves a lot of snowmobiling, which is

snowboarders in Whistler during her uni holidays,

physically demanding, you’re given an extra

JESS M O O NEY

through to nabbing the cover of Transworld’s

pat on the back if you can hold your own, but

2008 photo annual, Jess has been synonymous

you’re judged quickly for being the expected

with striking action shots and insightful portraits

‘weakest link’ – so you better not be!”

Snowboard P HOTOGR a P HER

of snowboarding’s biggest names. In addition

With more women involved in

to a talented tag line published worldwide, her

snowboarding – as consumers, athletes and

gender-neutral name means that being a woman

behind the scenes – Jess believes that gender

has not been an issue – most of the time.

is no longer an issue. “Snowboarding has

“A few years back while heli-skiing in Alaska,

a mainstream popularity, which compromises

one of the bigger named riders, who I hadn’t

the ‘core’ and dispels the boys club mentality,”

worked with before, thought he was on the

she explains. “Most important, is being good

‘dud’ crew because he had the girl photographer

at all aspects of what you do, and being a

assigned to him,” cites Jess. “He apologised

decent person to spend time with – that’s

afterwards.”

the issue now.” ▼

Influenced by Annie Leibovitz (“she takes the cake!”) and her photographer husband Jeff

www.jessmooney.com

105

BRUSTI

“Being a woman in the snowboard industry

Tasked with the responsibility of keeping the

is like being a woman in every other business,”

company running smoothly while the crew is in

says Kathrin ‘Kelli’ Kellenberger, associate

the mountains, she believes being a woman has

producer at snowboarding’s most influential

benefited her career: “In my job with Absinthe,

production company, Absinthe Films. “If you’re

I’m a still water between the guys.”

good at what you do, gender doesn’t matter

So, if being a woman has worked for Kelli,

and you’re accepted whether you’re a man

why aren’t more ladies making snowboard

or a woman.”

movies? “Guys go snowboarding together in

Kelli’s wise words are born from experience.

groups, build a crew – which not a lot of girls

K at h r i n Kellenberger

As well as being one of few women working

do – and then have the idea to do a film project,”

in film, she’s also been European team manager

she explains. “Fabia Grüebler showed that girls

for Smith Optics and Palmer Snowboards, and

could do this in the same way. She built Misschief

A s s o c i at e P r o d u c e r at Absinthe Films

is a seasoned boardercross competitor with

Films up out of nothing and produced two

the Swiss National Team. The thirty-year-old

successful movies [As If and Ro Sham Bo].”

personifies a new generation for whom gender need not define one’s career.

“This industry isn’t as male dominated

Does this mean feminism is dead? Not quite, believes Kelli: “Gender will be an eternal issue. We should all be aware of what has

as it seems,” says the Zurich-based multi-tasker.

been achieved by feminist activists in the last

“We shouldn’t forget about all the girls designing

150 years. Because, without them, our lives as

gear. But more guys than girls snowboard

women in the Western world would be very

professionally at a high level, therefore more

different. We’re born a particular sex, but we’re

end up in the industry.”

defined by our culture, so repression still exists.”

Kelli was invited to join the team by Absinthe’s Patrick ‘Brusti’ Ambruster himself.

106 www.HUCKmagazine.com

www.absinthe-films.com

NICK Hamilton

“For sure sexism exists in snowboarding – you hear it all the time, from the filmers who don’t

snowboarders in the past. That’s crucial.”

As accomplished in the backcountry as

want to shoot girls and from the shit that comes

she is with words, Annie bridges both sides

out of some snowboarders’ mouths,” says

of the shred media. With experience as both

Annie Fast, editor of TWS. “But women are

subject and voyeur, she’s well aware of gender

way better off than in surfing or skateboarding.

discrepancies. “I’ve been criticised for my

We started on an equal footing – there’s always

approach in covering women,” she says. “I

been female pros, there’s always been women

integrate them, because that’s how it’s been for

on magazine covers. We’ve always been a part

me as a snowboarder. It means more to include

Annie Fa s t

of snowboarding.”

women as equals – it’s artificial to bring women

Editor of Transworld Snowboarding

thirty-three-year-old Annie is schralping’s biggest

writers, Transworld avoids the objectifying tone

cultural intermediary. From college kid turned pro

still favoured by some action sports media. But

to High Cascade camp counsellor and coach at

unfortunately the habit of talking down to women

Mount Hood; writer turned associate editor at

remains rampant in general snowboarding syntax.

Transworld; and now, after her promotion in June

“You see the guys nurture their own and pull them

2008, she’s editor – the first female to fill such

up – like a ‘bro circle’. I don’t have that,” notices

a high-profile role in action sports publishing.

Annie. “I’ve been at trade shows and people

She may be petite, but at the helm of one of the largest titles in snowboarding media,

out and put them in their own magazine.”

With a healthy proportion of female staff

.

“I’m a snowboarder first, that’s how people

assume I’m someone’s girlfriend... which is an

know me,” she says, “from working at summer

honest mistake, I then introduce myself and say,

camp, just snowboarding in Montana or crashing

‘Yeah, I’m the editor.’”

on couches in Utah – that’s where it comes from.

It all goes back to how we had relationships as

http://snowboarding.transworld.net

107

Clockwise from top left

Electric | EG.1-S Electric | EG.2 Oakley | Stockholm Anon | Majestic Adidas | ID2 Rip Curl | Toro Electric | EG.5

108 www.HUCKmagazine.com

109

Photography Paul Willoughby

THE ART HAPPENS

When good art happens, everyone wants a piece of the pie. But away from the ravenous clutches of eBay hawkers, commission-hungry galleries, bandwagoning ad men, critics, collectors and plagiarising copycats, there is one space that can never be colonised. Inside the artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s studio, something pure and honest will always linger on.

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NICK WALKER

Street Artist | Bristol, England | Nick wears: Hoody Stussy | web.mac.com/nickwalkerz

111

KATE GIBB

SCREEN PRINTER | Westbourne Park, London | Kate wears: Dress Quiksilver | www.kategibb.blogspot.com

112 www.HUCKmagazine.com

AMY BROWN

ILLUSTRATOR | Peckham, London | Amy wears: Cardigan Carhartt, dress Quiksilver | www.amyillustration.com

113

EMILY ALSTON

Illustrator | Shoreditch, London | Emily wears: Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shirt Elwood | www.emilyforgot.co.uk

114 www.HUCKmagazine.com

IAN FRANCIS

FINE Artist | Bristol, England | Ian wears: Top Carhartt | www.ifrancis.co.uk

115

HARLEY WEIR

Photographer | Twickenham, London | Harley wears: Top WORN BACKWARDS Quiksilver | www.harleyweir.com

116 www.HUCKmagazine.com

Sculptor | Hackney, London | Wilfrid wears: Top Carhartt | www.wilfridwood.com

Check out each artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gallery space at www.huckmagazine.com.

WILFRID WOOD

117

THE BACK PAGES BOOGIE

BELGRADE BELONGS TO HIM.

CHE

GOOD ON A T-SHIRT, BETTER ON FILM.

TYSON

BOOGIE

THE MAN, THE MONSTER, THE MOVIE.

REQUIEM

A SHARK STORY. 119

THIS IS BELGRADE SERBIAN PHOTOGRAPHER BOOGIE RETURNS TO HIS HOMELAND TO RECLAIM THE TRUTH.

Say you go for a walk and find yourself on The Wrong Side Of Town. You know it’s The Wrong Side Of Town because, well, the news says so, and like everybody knows the news is always right. So anyway – what do you do?

Adopt a nonchalant swagger to disguise the fact that you may well shit yourself, before hotfooting it back to The Right Side Of Town?

If your name’s Boogie, you prefer to face life head on. Born and bred on the broken streets of Belgrade, the Serbian photographer spent the nineties capturing a portrait of his city that held nothing but the truth. While Milosevic made enemies of neighbours, and the global news machine painted his countrymen a dirty shade of monster, the Serbian lensman sought out the Swastika-laden skinheads, stoical elders and penniless elite to tell the real story of Belgrade – blood, guts, misplaced pride and all.

“I started taking pictures in 1993,” says the thirty-

120 www.HUCKmagazine.com

nine-year-old, “we had economic sanctions, people were committing suicide in order not to starve to death, it was pretty surreal and terrible. But when you shoot, you detach yourself from reality and are not a participant anymore. So I started taking pictures to preserve my sanity.”

By 1998, Boogie’s prying eye had turned on another city geared up to impoverish and exclude: New York. “I was just walking around,” says Boogie, who left his home and family after winning a US green card lottery, “I met some homeless people, and one of them invited me to take photos of her and her friends smoking crack and shooting up. I never really asked people to take photos of them doing drugs or holding guns, they always asked me. But it wasn’t just about shooting – it was about hanging out and experiencing whatever was going on. One thing led to another and after a

while I was in the middle of madness.”

Through his hardhitting photos of the urban underbelly (“I got addicted to gangsters and addicts”), Boogie cemented his name as the godfather of grit.

Having cut through the sheen of Western street life with a string of books, Boogie turned his attention back to his homeland for Belgrade Belongs To Me, his most personal photobook yet.

But the path from Serbia to the States and back again wasn’t easy: “Coming to the US was a huge culture shock.

I really knew nothing – apart from what I’d seen in movies, and that had nothing to do with reality.” After a stint as a repairman in a hospital, Boogie reached a low point (“I wanted to shoot myself”), sold his equipment on eBay and didn’t photograph anything for three years. Then in 2002, he put some images online and was shocked to discover “a kind of communism on the web” when they attracted

20,000 visitors in one week.

“I was like, ‘Maybe I should think about this a little more,’” says Boogie. “So I started shooting again and I never stopped and never will.”

Today, the happily married father-of-one has mellowed. “Before I was always after extremes,” he says. “I wanted to shoot Nazi skinheads, gangsters… Then it came to me that good photos are everywhere, like here in my backyard. I started seeing beauty in other things not just in guns and needles.”

So how does a guy who sees beauty in The Wrong Side Of Town end up with a name like Boogie? “Kids started calling me Boogie more than twenty years ago after a film about the boogie man. I don’t know why, I am the nicest guy ever.” Andrea Kurland Belgrade Belongs To Me,

Photographs by Boogie, is published by Miss Rosen

Editions, powerHouse Books. www.powerhousebooks.com www.artcoup.com

121

ALBUMS EMMY THE GREAT

First Love Close Harbour

Labels tried to sign her, managers tried to re-design her, but you realise when you listen to First Love that any delay in getting an album out by this now stalwart of the UK indie folk scene has little to do with bizness and much more to do with Emmy, still only twenty-five, finding her voice.

Early recordings were cute but naive. Here she emerges with a self-produced and self-released album of staggeringly confident songs. They’re gentle and sweet, but really they’re ruled by wit and fire. It’s ostensibly a break-up record but you guess there’s a cast of characters here and not a direct subject. Deep, old-fashioned Englishness is combined with often hilariously modern references on a great debut that ought to result in Emmy The Great becoming recognised as a real artist at last. Phil Hebblethwaite

BEIRUT

March Of The Zapotec Pompei

Cultural burglar Beirut has popped down to Mexico for the first part of this double EP, then returned home to noodle around in his bedroom doing songs called ‘My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille’, which sounds more exciting than it is. The two records are markedly different, don’t sit well together, but are solid, if you’re the kind of listener capable of letting Beirut become something more than mildly exotic background music.PH

EMPIRE OF THE SUN Walking On A Dream Virgin

Quite the most brilliant album cover and music to match. Empire Of The Sun is Luke Steele from The Sleepy Jackson, who’s as mad as a bag of badgers, and Nick Littlemore, from Aussie dance duo Pnau.

Together they’ve made a bizarre but superb album of soft rock and pop – cheesy as fuck, but deathly serious at the same time. PH

FRANZ FERDINAND Tonight Domino

There was word of troubles during the recording and it’s taken a while to come out, but this isn’t the disaster everyone expected it to be. In fact, it shits on their last record. They’ve gone super pop and disco here, replacing the arch post-punkness with straight-ahead dancefloor bangers. Excellent songwriting, but you do wonder whether they’ve left it too late to keep people interested. PH

GRANDMASTER FLASH The Bridge Strut

This is the man who near-as-damn-it invented hip hop and, judging by his new album, thirty-odd years later he’s still got something to offer. It’s hardly surprising that he’s managed to pull in such notable collaborators – Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes, Snoop – and they seem to be having more fun that just popping round to Uncle Flash’s because they feel they ought to. Not a bridge too far. PH

122 www.HUCKmagazine.com

MOVIES THE WRESTLER

Director Darren Aronofsky

After The Fountain – either a folie de grandeur or metaphysical masterpiece depending on your point of view – Darren Aronofsky returns to the gritty aesthetic that made him. The Wrestler is the story of Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson, a faded superstar clinging grimly to his glory days, while his life swirls slowly round the toilet bowl. Mickey Rourke kills it in a lead role tailor-made for that punch-drunk face. Matt Bochenski

CHE: PART TWO

Director Steven Soderbergh

Assuming you saw part one of Steven Soderbergh’s revolutionary diptych, you’re either psyched for this concluding film, or you’re going to avoid it like the plague. In truth, it’s the weaker of the two – Che’s character development is less an arc than a downward spiral, as the Bolivian campaign goes to shit and the net of history closes in around him. It’s kind of like watching the last ten minutes of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid spun out to two hours, but with all of the humour surgically removed. MB

WATCHMEN

Director Zack Snyder

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons re-invented the superhero in the 1980s with Watchmen – not so much a groundbreaking comic book as a behemoth of literary creativity. Has Snyder’s adaptation done the same? Not quite. While faithfully re-creating the comic’s noir tone, Snyder can’t quite rid himself of the genre film’s bag of tricks: flashy editing, concussive sound effects and a tinge of camp. But what he does get right is the intro scene, a near-perfect piece of visual storytelling scored to ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’. MB

TYSON

Director James Toback

From The Host to Cloverfield, monster movies have had something of a modern makeover. But how about this: no fire breathing or underground lair – just a man, a myth and the media. Because that’s what Mike Tyson has become – a monster of the media age, both Dr Frankenstein and the abomination he created. James Toback’s documentary gets inside the mind of this man-child, delving deep into Tyson’s demons to paint a picture of a confused, abused and troubled soul. MB

OUTLANDER

Director Howard McCain

Wannabe B movie ‘classic’ Outlander sees spaceman Jim Caviezel crash land in Norway in 709AD, and accidentally bring with him a nasty glowing monster that rips people apart. Said spaceman must therefore kill this beast with the help of the understandably hostile Vikings but without his atomic-projectile-rifle-phazer-gun, which he dropped in the river. No, seriously! If you must watch it, heavily sedate yourself first. Ed Andrews

124 www.HUCKmagazine.com

www.ispo.com

“ Your one stop shop

ideas, next season’s trends and inspiration.” for new

pascher-heinz.com pic: xandi kreuzeder athlete: stefan fallkeis / amplid

— lauren, 35, shop owner

1-4 feb 09 Messe München GmbH, Messegelände, 81823 München, Germany, phone (+49 89) 949-11 3 88, fax (+49 89) 949-11 3 89, info@ispo.com, www.ispo.com for trade visitors only

GAMES STREETFIGHTER IV Xbox 360, PS3

Capcom have finally brought the legendary fighting series to the next gen. Streetfighter IV may play more like an updated version of the early 1990s classic beat ’em up, but that’s not a bad thing. There’s still more Hadoukens, spinning-bird-kicks and hundred-hand-slaps than you could shake a joystick at.

The graphical overhaul makes the game feel like some crazy manga cartoon, with a huge array of flashing visuals, bleepy music and absurd finishing move animations. Simply put, it’s awesome! Ed Andrews

STOKED Xbox 360

Taking the less is more approach to gaming, Stoked strips away the insane combo tricks from snowboarding games of yesteryear.

Instead, it focuses on doing simple tricks all super-stylish. As you use the analogue sticks to ollie, spin and grab, there’s no more mindless button-bashing. Also, take into account five massive mountains to explore, a dynamic weather system which affects how you ride and a whole list of pro riders including Mr Nicolas Müller to shred with, and you’ve got yourself the perfect excuse to bunk off work for a long time. Ed A

LORD OF THE RINGS: CONQUEST Xbox 360, PS3, PC

We know the films were good, right? But talk about flogging a dead hobbit – this is getting ridiculous. A third person melee combat action lets you join in massive fights around Middle Earth from both sides of the good and evil divide. With a story campaign and various multiplayer, death match battles to choose from, fans of Tolkien will love it – but then they’re probably into all sorts of weird shit. Ed A

SOCK AND AWE

www.sockandawe.com

He may have left office but who could resist the urge to follow in the (bare) footsteps of an Iraqi journalist and lob shoes at shaved-chimp-in-a-suit George W Bush. The sequel, which hopefully swaps shoes for cold sick and hammers, is hotly anticipated. Ed A

BIONIC COMMANDO Xbox 360, PS3, PC

This cheesy titled platform/shoot ’em up hybrid turns out to be a 3D recreation of a 1980s arcade game that was so hard, it attracted some sick, masochistic gaming cult following. Luckily for your sanity, this version is slightly easier but it still takes a while to get used to swinging around on your extendable bionic arm, Spiderman-style. At least leaping about in such a lavishly detailed cyber-world provides a cathartic escape from all the credit crunch doom and gloom. Ed A

126 www.HUCKmagazine.com

Nicolas Thomas

Supported by

Sjk Bayonne Nov. 20 – Jan. 10 Sjk Grenoble Jan. 15 – Feb. 28

ispo Munich Germany Feb. 1 – 4 Sjk Bourg-Saint-Maurice March 5 – April 18

Nicolas Thomas 216 pages book - realased in November 08 Bomb Blooming – 189 x 202 cm

Spacejunk

Board Culture Art Centers +33 (0) 619 210 184 www.spacejunk.tv

BOOKS E PLURIBUS VENOM Obey/Gingko Press

Renowned US artist Shepard Fairey has been inundating the urban landscape with distinctive and often politically charged posters for many years now. E Pluribus Venom, literal translation ‘In many, poison’, is a collection of his work subverting icons and symbols of the American dream and serves as a record of his recent exhibition of the same name. Alongside photos of his work in situ on the streets of New York, there’s enough editorial input from the likes of Jonathan LeVine, Sarah Jaye Williams and Fairey himself, to show that the man doesn’t just make pretty pictures. Ed Andrews

URBAN IRAN

Mark Batty Publisher

Urban Iran explores the work of various artists emerging from the streets of Iran. It exhibits everything from hurried graffiti scrawled on walls to watercolour paintings. But this is just a backdrop for essays on everyday life from those who have lived it. Though some may question the quality of the artwork, any sign that vibrant underground culture can survive systemic attempts to stifle it is always fascinating. In a society that is painted by war-hungry western media as solely occupied by aggressive, fundamentalist zealots, such creative dissent is lifeaffirming. Ed A

FOR THE LOVE

Kelly Slater with Phil Jarratt/Chronicle Books

In celebration of pretty much the best surfer on the planet, For The Love offers a biographical and visual portrait of Kelly Slater’s remarkable career with key commentary from the man himself and the people who have been with him along the way. Surf writer Phil Jarratt lets his interviews probe a little deeper, touching on politics, 9/11, Chomsky, environmentalism and the ups and downs of winning world title after title. And with input from the likes of everyone from lifelong friend Jack Johnson to Pamela Anderson, the book promises to offer a holistic insight into a man so often crowned king. Marlon Dolcy

FOUND

Davy Rothbart/Octopus Books

Indulging the secret voyeuristic desires that we all harbour, Found is a compendium of discarded notes, signs and posters gathered from around the world.

And there’s not much more to say than that. Some are hilarious, some tragic and others just plain weird.

Essentially, the fundamental concept of Found is peering into the frustration of the scorned, the wronged and the disenchanted. There’s nothing like laughing at other people’s quirks or misfortunes, and that, unfortunately, is simply a fact. Hugh Foster

128 www.HUCKmagazine.com

REQUIEM: A SHARK STORY BY MATT GEORGE Asilomar, California, yesterday, 1643hrs.

It looked a lonely place to die. A lonely way to die.

The coldest, cruelest, most horrifying way any surfer has to die.

I gazed out over the kelp beds, oily and wet under a grey sky. Great brown rafts of it undulated silently, as if serpents were roiling beneath them. The swell was blown out, chunky, about six foot out on the reef. No one was out. It would be a long, spooky paddle out to the break.

For Lou Boren, it was his last.

You remember Lou. If you don’t, you should. Lou Boren was the surfer who paddled out by himself on December 19, 1981, at this very spot. He never made it back in. Later, when his kneeboard washed up, it was confirmed that he had been attacked by a Great White shark. A mammoth shark. Judging by the bite radius found taken out of his board, it may have been the largest white shark ever to attack any man in recorded history. Twenty feet, maybe more. A veritable submarine

130 www.HUCKmagazine.com

with teeth. Close your eyes and think about that for a minute.

I did. As I stood there looking out over where a giant dinosaur attempted to eat Lou Boren.

It would be five days before they found Lou’s remains. The bite radius stretched in a great crescent from his shoulders to his hips.

And Lou was a big fella.

I could remember the national uproar it caused, the sensational press. Every major paper and TV station in the country covered the story.

I’d always remembered the feature story in Rolling Stone.

I could even remember the artwork that they ran with the article. It was, more than any photograph, more than any movie I’d ever seen, the most chilling depiction of a shark attack I had ever seen. I had ripped it out of the magazine and pinned it up on my wall.

It was an artist’s underwater head-on view of a monster shark cruising slowly, perfectly, through kelpy shallows at night.

It was a sinister, silent-looking image, you could make out the shark’s shadow on the sand just inches below its white belly.

Moonlit shafts shot down palely from the surface and dappled its great broad back. And it might have been strangely beautiful... if not for the gore and blood, diluted pinkish by the nighttime sea, streaming from the monster’s gills and running down the mightiness of its body. So disturbing was the image that my girlfriend, upon seeing it, ripped it down and burned it over the stove.

“Don’t call these things to you!” she hissed at me.

I have often thought of that image since then. Standing at the spot looking out over the very sea brought it back. Along with the thought that the magnificent, deadly creature that attacked Lou Boren was probably still out there. That there was a pretty good chance that tonight, it would be cruising silently through the shallows, perfect and unknowing of its own horror, those shafts of moonlight dancing on its back.

It is believed that White Sharks can live for hundreds of years.

I remembered reading somewhere that boxing was considered the last mighty sport on earth, the last great primal sport because it is the

last arena where murder is legal, where one man may beat another to death for all to see.

And that boxers who have died in the ring should be exalted for belonging to such an exclusive breed, such a rare breed of man.

Blessed with the power of the ultimate sacrifice and violence in his hands, peered only with the honoured dead.

Well… then what is to be said of surfing? The last sport on earth where it is possible to be eaten alive by a sea monster?

By a great, powerful, stealthy fish, out for blood and meat?

How mighty does that make a surfer? How primal our sport?

How should we exalt those who have died in our arena by our ultimate sacrifice? What about our honored dead?

Surfers like Lou Boren?

I found myself staring glassyeyed out over the tide-pools.

I had to shake my head to clear it. The fog was rolling in now, clinging wet, lonely wet.

A chill was setting in. Out there somewhere, the first foghorn sounded.

I turned and walked back to my car.

I felt as if I’d just visited a graveyard. Matt George

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