HUCK magazine - The Ben Harper & Relentless7 issue (Digital Edition)

made in the uk | £3.75 vol. 03 issue #014 APRIL/MAY 2009 BEN HARPER by DANNY CLINCH

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SEAN MALTO. SWITCH FLIP. KANSAS CITY.

PHOTO: SMITH

12 www.HUCKmagazine.com

That’s exactly what Ben Harper’s done with his new band, Relentless7: a horizontal, egoless ensemble of four hugely talented musicians where Ben is no longer the star of the show. Instead, he’s reinvented himself as part of a collective, as just a man in a band. The result?

A loud, visceral and hugely adventurous new sound.

Don’t wanna put any ideas into your head, but might be a good reference as we figure out what to do with the new world order to come. Ben’s interview, beautiful and insightful, is on page 44. Check it out.

13

PIERRE PROSPERO

HUCK 14 THE BIG STORIES.

44 Ben Harper

and his bad-ass new band, relentless7.

50 Alastair McIntosh

we’re all stardust.

52 Anne-Flore Marxer

snowboarder. militant.

56 Pixo

tagging in brazil.

58 O’Neill Evolution

genetic drift in the alps.

62 Jerome Catz

it’s all about the art.

64 Copy Cats and Diamond Skulls

the end of copyright.

68 Pierre Prospero

cartier-bresson, on skate.

74 Nova Scotia

slush, ice and surf.

82 Watches

fancy a watch, geez?

84 Pharrell Williams

multi man megastar.

88 Moab

into the wilds of utah.

92 Messengers

ride the bike, love the concrete.

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ALSO STARRING

TERJE HAAKONSEN MAT REBEAUD BOBBY MARTINEZ KAJ ZACKRISSON DAVID BENEDEK NICOLAS MÜLLER JEREMY JONES RICHARD PERMIN FREDERIK KALBERMATTEN SEB MICHAUD MIRJAM JÄGER BUSTY WOLTER JOONAS KARHUMAA XAVIER DE LE RUE GERALDINE FASNACHT CHRISTIAN „HITSCH“ HALLER SAM LAMIROY CODY TOWNSEND SVERRE LILIEQUIST LANCE COURY JAN SCHERRER LAURA BOHLEBER NADJA PURTSCHERT ROB DE WILDE THOMAS DIET PHIL MEIER A SWATCH OUTLAWS PRODUCTION 2009 · DISTRIBUTED BY SWATCH & SWATCH PRO TEAM · CMYK-COLOR

HUCK 14 THE front.

20 Jordan Hoffart 22 Koa Smith 24 Hush 26 Mikkel Bang 28 Cape Town Skate 32 Dick Schulze 34 Jim Phillips

hush

36 Waveriders

HUCK 14 THE BACK. 102 MurmurART 104 School Of Seven Bells 106 Whitewash 108 Albums 110 Films 112 Games 114 Jamie Brisick

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40 Fever Ray 42 CHARLIE KAUFMAN

Publisher & Editor

Vince Medeiros Associate Editor

Andrea Kurland Global Editor

Jamie Brisick Skate Editor

Jay Riggio Snow Editor

Zoe Oksanen Music Editor

Phil Hebblethwaite Latin American Editor

Giuliano Cedroni Website Editor

Alex Capes

Translations Editor

Markus Grahlmann Editorial Director

Matt Bochenski Creative Directors

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

Victoria Talbot Editorial Intern

Tors Arnold Words

King Adz, Kezia Clark, Tom Cornishe, Richard Cunynghame, Colin Delaney, Tim Donnelly, Michael Fordham, Gemma Freeman, Miles Masterson, Chris Nelson, Olly Zanetti Images

Vanessa Andrieux, Blotto, Yves Borgwardt, Paul Calver, Danny Clinch, Dom Daher, Richie Hopson, Hush, Richard Johnson, Jason Kenworthy, Tim Lloyd, Andy Miller, Al Murphy, Deville Nunes, Jim Phillips, Pierre Prospero, Grant Robinson, Bernard Testimale, Toby Triumph, JoĂŁo Wainer Advertising Director

Steph Pomphrey

Advertising Manager

Dean Faulkner

Online Advertising

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

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

Huck is published six times a year Š Story 2009 ON THE COVER BEN HARPER BY DANNY CLINCH

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richie hopson

Made with paper from sustainable sources

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Jordan noseblunt slides through the driver’s seat.

Hollywood DropOut. text Jay Riggio. photography Deville Nunes.

Humility is a virtue, no matter how you dice it. It just seems to make sense when paired up with any inflated sense of self.

Jordan Jordan Hoffart has just that Hoffart kind of quality. At twenty-three, ditches the he’s on the verge of turning pro for cheques and Powell Skateboards, but even as his cashes in dream scenario happens, his meek the fun. sensibility prevails: “I’ve learned over the years not to get my hopes up until it’s actually gone through. I’m still trying not to believe it right now.

But I’ll take it.”

As a young’un coming up in the spotlighted Vancouver skate scene, Jordan enjoyed the joys of sponsorship from early on. “I was like fourteen when I got hooked up with Bones Wheels and then with Sixteen Skateboards, which is no longer around,” remembers Hoffart.

Shortly after, Sixteen paid for his plane ticket to Southern California, where he got his first taste of industry exposure, filming a full part for Progression Video Magazine during his stay. But unlike many other amateurs at the time who were surviving off sold boards and wheels, teenage Jordan was bringing in a gripload of cash.

Legendary pros Sluggo and Alex Chalmers were doing a bunch of side work in the Hollywood stunt industry at the time. As the little kid in the group, Jordan was quickly brought along to auditions when a child stunt person was needed. Jordan’s first job was skating in a Pop Tarts commercial. “They painted a mini ramp to look like a giant Pop Tart. And I was actually doubling for this light-skinned black guy, so they painted me light black,” laughs Jordan at the absurdity of it all. “It was crazy because I couldn’t sweat or else the paint would run. So they had a giant fan on me, and were like, ‘Don’t sweat, don’t sweat! Stop skating!’”

After getting insanely big residual cheques for minimal ‘work’, Jordan decided to continue in front of the camera. He nabbed an agent and was cast in some more stuff, including Blade Trinity, alongside Wesley Snipes. But as more work flooded in, he found himself skating less.

“At the end of the day this stuff was cool, but my heart wasn’t really in it,” he explains. “Skating gives you that undeniable feeling where you’re at peace and it feels like what you should be doing. So I kind of dipped out of the acting and just stuck with the skating.”

Since his unofficial retirement from acting at eighteen, Jordan has remained focused purely on skating. With his pro board dropping in early 2009, alongside his pro debut part in Powell’s first video offering in over ten years, Jordan has got big things in the works. But if you ask him about it all, odds are he’ll probably be real modest about it.

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style kid. text zoe oksanen. photography Jason Kenworthy.

Koa Smith has big visions for a little guy. First came the talent he’s best known for: surfing. And then came a skill way beyond his years: Meet Koa fashion design.

Smith, the Thirteen-year-old Koa is one surf grom of the brat pack of today’s young with a taste surfers. Granted, being born and for haute bred in Kauai might give a young man couture. a touch of an advantage, but Koa took that to the extreme – surfing by the time he was four and qualifying for a spot in the NSSA (National Scholastic Surfing Association) Championships by the sweet age of six.

Since then he has won the NSSA Nationals three times, the Rip Curl Grom Search Nationals three times and the Haleiwa Menehune five.

But Koa is more than just a surfer. He is a surfer with an intense passion for style, who has taken his love for creating his own clothes – suit jackets in particular – to the market place by setting up his own design label, Little Fella Designs.

Conservative is probably not a word you would use to describe

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his flamboyant designs. As Koa says himself, the jackets are “on the wild side”.

So how does such a young guy get into establishing his own business in the first place, especially in fashion? “Each year at the end of the surf season there is an awards banquet,” Koa explains. “No one ever dressed up for it, but I wanted to. So when I was seven, I picked out fabric and my mom made a suit. The first one was a kind of cow, Dalmatian print. I just designed one for every function after that.”

Koa’s success is probably attributed to both talent and self-confidence.

When I ask the young Hawaiian whether he sees himself becoming a businessman, his reply is matter of fact: “I already consider myself a businessman.” Ask him what he sees his future as holding, and you get this: “I would like to be on the world tour and be a world champion.”

So I guess that leaves just one big question for the mini style-mogulcum-surf-champ. Who is your style hero, Koa Smith? “Style...” he pauses for a second. And then, it hits him: “Ron Burgundy, from Anchorman!”

Koa, it seems, has taste in movies too. www.littlefelladesigns.com

S ABOUT WHO CARE E DAY? SOUP OF TH K TO BE QUIC IC, YOU HAVE SSIONS AVES ARE EP SE W LL E -A TH -IT N OP HE W S ENTS: THE DR ST SURF SPOT PROTEST PRES EUROPE始S BE U S EVENTS AT AT PROTEST.E SPONTANEOU XT AND EMAIL ALERTS R TE T THERE! SIGN UP FO SEE YOU OU

-ALL THE DROP-IT Y SESSIONS B

Riders: Anne Paar and Lars Musschoot www.protest.eu

Brick Lane to Beverly Hills. text KING ADZ. artwork HUSH.

Street art has entered a whole new realm – and it’s of the super-crazy celebrity kind. I say this having just spent a week in LA with Hush, the English street artist being hailed as Hush proves the next Banksy (the street art world that street groans). Kate Moss and Jude Law art is the new are already in the stack to buy his rock ‘n’ roll. manga-influenced graffiti pop art.

Everyone loves a bit of Hush.

Born in Newcastle, and cultivated in the city’s School of Art, Hush spent his better years wading through the clubbing scene, producing flyers and street posters for illegal raves. “It was great work as it was very experimental,” he says. “I brought a lot of my street influence into the work as I’d been into graff since I was a kid.”

When the haze cleared and it was time to find a ‘proper job’, Hush found himself flitting between Hong Kong, London and Edinburgh working as an illustrator for toy companies and design agencies. “In Hong Kong I started making art again and drew a lot of influences from my surroundings,” he says.

“Manga is huge over there and a part of everyday culture. I got involved with underground pop-up shows and would share and post art to artists all over the world – it was a great scene.”

Fast-forward through the hype and Hush finds himself in LA, prepping for his first solo show Stateside. We spend a day hanging at Venice Beach,

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where Hush is creating a street piece with Retna from the notorious 7th Letter crew. Venice, as everyone knows, is full of crazy fuckers and tourists looking at the crazy fuckers – the perfect place for Hush to get his first taste of fame.

A Hush collector strolls by – a divorcee from Beverly Hills – and after a bit of chit-chat, she writes her address down on the back of a chewing gum packet and hands it to us with a wink. What the…? There is no way in hell this lady would have looked at us twice fifteen years ago.

“I think it’s a media trend but it’s also very exciting,” says Hush, lapping it up. “It’s encouraging that artists are managing to have successful careers without having to study at prestigious art schools or mix with the right social bracket to be accepted. I think the last two years have cemented the scene into becoming an art movement, and as the interest in the work evolves, artists will become more accepted.”

It takes a while to find the house, deep, deep in Beverly Hills. When ‘the help’ shows us in, the divorcee goes wild, having just upped the street cred of her little soiree. The other guests are nice and rich (an understatement), including a camp guy who’s been hired to serve drinks and attend to our every need (the mind boggles). The guys get drunk and try to be ‘down’, pulling up their boxers in an effort to look ‘street’. Hush and I sit under the patio heaters listening to the banter and taking it all in. Tonight – the people, the money, the La La Land schmooze – sums up just how far street art has come.

After showing our hostess where to hang her latest Hush piece, she turns to us and asks, “Do I need to get a Banksy?”

OW B LC E SN TCH I T KA ORD TOCK S S RF /SH SU DEN SURF N M m O CA GEST OND re.co R IN L rfsto 9 LA bsu 39383 c l . w 7 ww 0207

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Mikkel Bang, handplant, High Cascade, Oregon.

the big bang. text ED ANDREWS. photography BLOTTO.

The sun has come out over Laax for the 2009 Burton European Open and it’s warm, way too warm for early January in fact. In the riders’ start gate, a Norway’s whole host of world famous pros Mikkel Bang are preparing for their run – some will not be sharing a joke, others deathly silent censored. in concentration. But there’s one rider sticking out from the crowd: the lofty Norwegian Mikkel Bang stands, literally, head and shoulders above the rest.

“Don’t you think I get picked on for being the tallest snowboarder?” he tells me later, laughing in his loud proto-American accent. “Everyone is picking on me because of it but in the end I’m just standing there like, ‘Well, fuck you guys, I don’t care if I’m the tallest!’”

Making his first video part at the age of thirteen, the nineteen-year-old has been on the scene for a while. Yet it’s not his super stylish riding that has been getting the most attention recently, but his signature Burton board, Love, made with teammate Keegan Valaika. Featuring a fair bit of female flesh, the board has been pissing off moral crusaders around the world with protests being held outside Burton headquarters in Burlington, Vermont.

“It was kind of a little over the top when it got on to CNN,” says Bang dismissively. “It’s not even a naked woman. All you see is a little ass! They show more tits on TV. You’ve got to be eighteen to buy it, and when you buy it, there’s a black bag around it so you can’t see it. Isn’t that fucked up?”

Fucked up, perhaps. But how does Bang respond to those who find the design sexist? “I’m sorry,” he says, “but we wanted people to hate it and we wanted people to love it, and that’s exactly what happened.”

In an age of perfect snowboarding poster children, Bang seems to be a throwback to when snowboarding was synonymous with fighting the power, revolutionising the slopes, stuff like that. With treble clefs tattooed on each index finger and ‘Bang’ permanently scrawled across his wrist, he talks of his plans for “super big ink” tattoos with the same enthusiasm as snowboarding.

He’s also spaced out and forgetful, something he puts down to partying for the last twenty-four hours.

At Laax, despite finishing in seventeenth place, it doesn’t seem that his world has been torn apart. “It’s important to lose, you can’t win all the time ’cos then it gets boring, y’know? But comps are fun. There’s chicks, there’s parties, we get the best jumps and you can win money. So it’s like, ‘Fuck yeah, dude, why not?’”

Bang, it seems, was born to stand out. www.burton.com

27

Park of Dreams. text Miles Masterson. photography Richard Johnson.

“If you build it, they will come.” It sounded cheesy whispered from the grave in Field of Dreams, but every skateboarder knows this saying is true.

Dale Bird can hold testament to South African that. The South African skater has skaters BEAT been trying for over a decade to the odds and build something build a non-profit skate park for his out of nothing. community in Hout Bay, Cape Town, and just last year his hard work paid off.

Situated in a postcard-perfect bay on the Atlantic seaboard, the fishing town of Hout Bay is a microcosm of South Africa today. A place where mansions and bucolic gated communities overlook a sprawling shanty township, a stone’s throw from infamous big-wave spot Dungeons.

Dale’s vision began in 1999. Fresh out of high school, and with nothing but skateboarding on their mind, Dale and his mates decided that an unused lot near a local mall would be a good place to build a small park. “I thought it would be just a matter of a phone call and it would be fine,” he grins, “and it turned into eight years later and a couple of million calls.”

After battling to find land for several years, Dale tenaciously kept at it and, along with the help of skate entrepreneur Clive Crofton, he founded Sentinel Boardriders – a non-profit that uses boardsports to positively engage local kids, especially those from the poorer side of town.

Though the local council pledged Sentinel Boardriders ever-increasing amounts of “ward allocation” money, the funds never materialised. Dale recalls

28 www.HUCKmagazine.com

one particular meeting last year when the obstacles seemed insurmountable after the most recent council allocation of R250k (£17,000) had yet again fallen. Now twenty-five, he’d unwaveringly devoted seven years of his life to this cause and was broke. “Even my parents said, ‘We can see why you are doing it but maybe it’s time you tried something else,’” Dale laughs.

Enter twenty-six-year-old German skateboarder Torben Oberhellman, who came to Sentinel Boardriders on a social development internship for his degree. “I expected a skate park ready to skate where I could organise skate projects with kids from the township,” says Torben. “But I found a sandy place with an old police cell on it? What the fuck…?”

“The timing was perfect,” adds Dale. “I didn’t know if I wanted to do this anymore and then Torben came. We got quite a lot done and we pulled it out of the bag.” With zero money from the council, Sentinel had to focus on constructing something from the little funds they had. Clive provided wood for the ramps from an old park he used to run, local skaters helped prepare the land, community members and businesses sponsored the concrete and fencing, and together they made it happen on their own. Now Hout Bay has this sick little skate park, the only one of its kind in the country, which has been ticking over nicely for a couple of months.

The financial challenges facing Dale and his team are still very real and there is a long way to go before their plans for youth leadership camps and a youth centre are realised. But at least the hardest part is over. “The skate park being built is a great thing,” smiles Dale, “because it’s like a magnet for things.

The more people that come, the more we can do and the more resources we can build.”

PHOTO: DAMEA DORSEY

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Old Man Shredder. text Ed Andrews. photography Tim Lloyd.

“So, I hear you want to know about Dick Schulze?” asks a clandestine figure who has just crept beside me at the bar.

“Yeah,” I reply, “I’ve heard the guy is, like, sixty-three or something?”

He may be “That he is,” the stranger tells a granddad, me. “He wears full body armour but but he’ll kick he can still put down a sweet 360 your butt alley-oop in the pipe!” in the pipe.

As the oldest person to compete in the Burton Global Open Series, Dick Schulze has become something of a legend on the competition circuit. After learning to snowboard with his son just over ten years ago, the former solicitor based out of Truckee, California, has competed in pipe, big air and boardercross at both pro and amateur contests around the world. Yet he remains amused by his almost mythical status.

“It’s really kind of amazing,” he chuckles. “I haven’t got the snowboarding skills of some of my younger competitors, but I do seem to inspire people of all ages to attempt that which they didn’t think they could do.”

The issue of ageism in snowboarding has been hotly debated recently with many accusing the snowboard industry of ditching more seasoned pros in favour of teenage talent. But Dick’s very presence seems to cast such accusations in doubt.

“My age has never really been an issue at competitions, on the contrary I’m welcomed,” he says. “Some of the world’s best pros have told me they

32 www.HUCKmagazine.com

hope when they reach my age they will be able to ride half as well as I do now.

Of course, many competitors just pay me no mind, but I have yet to encounter a negative attitude from a younger competitor.”

Now working as a part-time snowboard instructor at the Burton Snowboard Academy at Northstar-at-Tahoe ski resort and living part of the year in Wanaka, New Zealand, Schulze seems to be living that elusive snowchasing dream. This does, however, beg the question: why would he choose to spend his time waiting around for hours in the cold for one run in the pipe when he could just ride the mountain all day?

“I often ask myself that, because I’m not competing for the money and usually I get my butt kicked,” he concedes. “But every once in a while I win.

And oh… the taste of victory is sweet. It’s the nectar of the gods. Once you taste it, you know you’ll willingly die for it. It makes all the pain, frustration and heartache just fade away.”

But riding at such a ripe old age does bring its fair amount of injuries, and Dick is no exception. After crashing out of a boardercross race a few years ago, he tore his ACL, and was taken to see a surgeon.

“At the time, the surgeon said to me, ‘You don’t need this surgery if you are willing to live a sedentary lifestyle’. I said, ‘Me? Just get on with it!’” he laughs.

With an attitude like that, you can count on people talking about Dick for some time to come. www.basenz.com

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The Monk, 1989.

The Trigger Effect. text Andrea Kurland. artwork Jim Phillips.

Every good story needs a turning point. You know, that defining moment when the world as we know it just suddenly stops… pauses… and then spins on its heels down a whole new path.

Jim Phillips started an art The thing about turning points is that, whether you feel them or not, there’s revolution no turning back. that would go When young Jim Phillips faced his on to shape moment, it came in the form of a 2x4 the world. plank. A small piece of wood strapped to his sister’s old roller skates (circa 1958) changed the course of little Jimmy’s life. From that day on, Jim wasn’t just a surfer – he was a sidewalk surfer from Santa Cruz who would ride the pavements barefoot whenever his homebreak was flat. The sixties became the seventies, sidewalk surfing became skateboarding, and little Jimmy became Jim Phillips Senior – a pioneer of skateboard art.

That alone would have been a good story. It became a great story, however, in 1970 (1973, depending on who you ask), when an engineering student called Frank Nasworthy invented the urethane wheel. That turning point joined forces with Jim’s turning point, and together they helped pull skateboarding back from the grave. Before Jim knew it, it was 1990 and he’d clocked up fifteen years designing the graphics of skateboarding’s most iconic brands, including Road Rider, Indie Trucks and Santa Cruz.

Great, right? Only Jim, you see, is one of those people who doesn’t feel the turning point until it’s already turned. “In the early days, I was doing rock posters and I thought that was a big deal,” says Jim, “but this skateboarding thing?

Well… I thought there wasn’t much to it. There was no industry, no nothing…”

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Jim spent the seventies angling to get artwork onto Santa Cruz decks, which up until then were workaday objects – a logo here, odd stripe there.

Soon enough, a Rob Roskopp or Jason Jesse pro model skateboard was a Jim Phillips masterpiece in its own right. “Skateboards provide a vehicle for the art to go out into the world,” says Jim. “It’s amazing the credibility skateboard art has today. I didn’t think skateboards were collectable – kids would drag them up and there’d be nothing left at the end. It’s amazing the collectors market today. They’re street art and they’re Americana… I would never have thought that could happen.”

You can’t talk to Jim Phillips without bringing up the Speeding Wheels Screaming Hand. So, Jim, what’s it all about? “Artists over the years have used the hand to convey emotion and when I’m sitting at my drawing table, that’s what I see – these two hands. I took the feeling of frustration that a clenched hand shows, like a drowning man with his hands clenched against the water, and added a mouth to show the frustration… to me, it represented the angst of today’s world: for skateboarders where skateboarding is illegal, the difficulty of hating and the hard lessons of injury. There’s not many ways to show angst – it expresses the un-expressable.”

Today, Jim Senior has passed the gauntlet onto his son, Jimbo Junior, who produces graphics for Santa Cruz out of Phillips Studio – the same garage workshop his dad set up all those years back. And Jimbo Junior will probably do the same with his son, seven-year-old Colby, who “really wants to be a skateboard artist just like his dad”.

You see, that’s the thing with turning points – they usually trigger a whole load more. www.santacruzskateboards.com

Rider: Lars Musschoot www.protest.eu

-ALL THE DROP-IT Y SESSIONS B

son of ulster. interview KEZIA CLARK. photography Bernard Testimale.

The story of surfing has been told a thousand times, starting with Polynesian Kings and ending in a Californian boom. Well, here’s a slightly different take: George Freeth, aka ‘The Father Was surfing of Modern Surfing’, may have been invented by born in Waikiki, but his bloodline an Irishman? traces back to more temperate shores. Born to an Irish father in 1883, Freeth was as much a son of Ulster as he was a citizen of the fiftieth state. Now a new documentary is redressing the balance. HUCK caught up with filmmaker Joel Conroy to find out more about Waveriders, the untold story of surfing’s unlikely Irish roots.

HUCK: How and when did you become interested in surfing?

Joel Conroy: After finishing film school in Ireland, I got a job with MTV

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in Australia and I learnt how to surf out there. I came back to Ireland, started working in the film industry and spent every moment of free time I had going to the West Coast of Ireland to surf. This was in the early nineties, so surfing wasn’t such a big thing over here then. Surfers started coming over to Ireland from Teahupoo, Pipeline and G-Land and were saying that the Irish just didn’t know what they had.

What inspired you to base a film around the story of George Freeth?

A while back I was at the airport in London reading the newspaper and in the letters to the editor on the sports page somebody had written the question, ‘Is it true that it was an Irishman that invented surfing?’ The editor replied, ‘Halfright, it was a Hawaiian/Irishman who re-invented the sport of surfing’. Nothing much was known about George Freeth so I did a journey of discovery for about a year trying to find out more about this character. As I found out more about him I became fascinated and thought it would make a really interesting film. ▼

37

Gabe Davies, the Cliffs of Moher, Co. Clare, Ireland.

From left to right: Gabe Davies, Richard Fitzgerald, Chris Malloy and Keith Malloy. Doolin Harbour, Co. Clare, Ireland.

Was your aim to promote Irish surfing through the film?

I made it to tell the story of the surfers who pioneered wave riding, both globally and in Ireland. The main thing was to show people how beautiful the ocean is. I wanted to use a camera to take the viewer inside the waves and inside the world of a surfer so they could get an insight into a culture of people. It wasn’t just about the exposure of Irish surfing.

Do you think your film will help put Irish surf spots such as Bundoran on the map, and encourage people to try surfing in Ireland?

I think it will have that effect. The film hasn’t been released yet – but when the stills were sent out around the world it sent shockwaves, especially in America. People were freaking out – they couldn’t believe we had waves like that in Ireland. you worked with surfers Gabe Davies and richard Fitzgerald for your 2002 film eye of the storm. Was it good to be reunited?

It’s always nice to work with Gabe and Richard; it’s just a total pleasure. I get to spend time with them surfing, but not enough as I would have liked in the last couple of years.

How did the crew stay warm during the filming in Ireland?

With great difficulty [laughs]. We had a lot of damp, cold, miserable days but everyone’s fit, all the surfers and camera crew, they’re all water people and always enthusiastic about it so it doesn’t take much to motivate people, no matter what the conditions are.

The surfers in the film talk about the lifestyle differences between soul surfers, competitive pros and guys addicted to big-wave tow-in surfing. Did you plan to raise these issues?

We only touched on it in the film, but yes, we wanted to show the different lifestyles of surfers. It all stemmed from the development of surfing right from the guys that started surfing around the same time as Freeth. Like with any sport, surfing has a commercial aspect. I’m always curious about how professional athletes generate their money through sponsorship, so I thought it would be nice to show the different ways that surfers make their livelihoods.

What surf films do you enjoy watching?

I love all of the Malloys’ films, one of my favourites is The September Sessions, and Riding Giants is just incredible.

What was your favourite part of making the film?

The absolute adrenalin rush of filming the final sequence. It sees the surf get meatier than you could ever imagine possible in Ireland, and reaches a spectacular climax when the surfers conquer the biggest swell ever to have been ridden in Ireland, catching monster waves of over fifty feet

.

waveriders is out now. www.waveridersthefilm.com traile

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fever ray. text coliN DelaNey.

photography yves BoRgwaRDt.

“We were very definite about us having a break,” says Karin Dreijer Andersson, one half of Swedish brother-sister electro outfit, The Knife. “We had been sitting in each other’s laps swedisH for seven years so we both needed pop Just the time off.” got darK. When The Knife’s breakout song, ‘Heartbeats’, was covered by José González and featured on a Sony ad in 2005, the siblings saw their cult following morph into something more en masse. Soon enough, it was time for a break. Brother Olof headed out into the Amazon to record jungle sounds for an opera about Charles Darwin, and Karin found herself back in the studio.

“I didn’t know it was going to be an album,” she says of solo project, Fever Ray. “I just wanted to work with some ideas I had been collecting. I did not have an overall sound in mind but I did have an overall idea of the tempo – slower, thicker.”

Where The Knife bubbles with popping techno, Fever Ray stews like a primordial ooze, brooding through thick, droning, almost trip-hop tempos. It’s a dark departure, born of a good old-fashioned case of sleep deprivation.

Recorded soon after Karin gave birth to her second child, the album owes something to the sleepless hours where the conscious and subconscious all dance. “I think it’s interesting to capture the moment while in that state of mind,” she says. “It’s not like you have an alternative – it’s what’s there. I don’t sit and wait for inspiration. I definitely think you can write out of that perspective or state.”

Helping to bring a surreal, cinematic feel to the Fever Ray project is Andreas Nilsson, who has collaborated with The Knife on videos and live performances over the years. Thanks to Nilsson’s influence, and Karin’s love for the dream-like films of David Lynch, the video to first single ‘If I Had a Heart’ is a voodoo trip down a bayou, spot lit with horror creeping in from the darkness. “I’ve known Andreas for a very long time, even before The Knife,” says Karin. “We have quite similar musical references but he also has his own interpretations of what we are doing which I think is great.”

The two have also collaborated on the visuals for Fever Ray’s live shows, which will consist of five people, including Karin, playing different instruments on stage. “I think what makes sense to do live is percussion and some more noise elements,” she says. “At first I was thinking about playing to a standing audience but now I’m thinking it would be good to sit down and listen to it.”

Whether live or recorded, Fever Ray echoes of a place darker than the Swedish plains. Where, exactly, does this primeval vibe stem from?

“I have been listening to a lot of Tomahawk and their Anonymous album inspired by Native Americans,” she explains. “It’s very primal, making beats out of vocals.”

A bit of a break, it seems, can lead to something great.

Fever ray’s self-titled debut album is out now on rabid records/ Co-operative Music. www.feverray.com

listen 40 www.HUCKmagazine.com

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ecoprene

call me cHarlie. text Matt BocheNski. illustration toBy tRiuMPh.

The man is fifty-one years old. He writes about love and grief and frustration.

People think he’s nervous. They think he sweats and stammers. He probably is, and he probably does. spiKe JonZe He isn’t a celebrity. He doesn’t MigHt get all dress well or hang out in the right tHe love, But He’d Be notHing places. You can’t imagine him on a surfboard. You can’t imagine him at witHout tHe the beach. genius Juice His name is Charles Stewart of cHarlie KaufMan. Kaufman, but everybody calls him Charlie. And without him – without the clack-clack-clack of his typewriter, the mystical channels of his mind, the words like smoke – well, cinema would just be shit, wouldn’t it?

Charlie Kaufman is the greatest screenwriter of his generation. Maybe the greatest screenwriter of any generation. He’s Lewis Carroll and Søren Kierkegaard; Bertolt Brecht and Busby Berkeley. He’s the ringmaster, the string puller whose work takes us through rabbit holes and down mirrors, back and there again before we knew we’d left.

The pied piper of post-pop modernism, without Charlie Kaufman there would be no Spike Jonze and no Michel Gondry. His meta-textual and mindbending creations include a puppeteer who finds a portal into the brain of a famous actor (Being John Malkovich); a young man raised as an ape (Human Nature); twin incarnations of himself struggling with art and commerce (Adaptation.); two lovers losing their memories (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind); and now, in Synecdoche, New York, a theatre director who

spends a lifetime proving Shakespeare’s maxim that the world is a stage.

“I don’t consider myself a writer,” says Charlie Kaufman, the writer, perplexingly, bringing everything to a stop. Maybe he’s not a writer. Writers put words on paper, Kaufman seems somehow to invest them with life, like a secular incantation.

Kaufman is an explorer – a seeker of truth. “I feel this responsibility when I put something in the world that it should be honest,” he says. “And that makes me open to being wounded, but I feel like it’s my job and I feel that if I’m not doing that then I’m cheating people and I’m putting garbage into the world. I don’t feel ethical.”

Kaufman’s truth is elusive, though. Where Synecdoche’s Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) talks of art “that stares truth in the face”, Kaufman’s art looks slyly askance. He won’t discuss the ‘meaning’ of his work. “If I could tell you what something means then there’s no point in making it,” he says.

People have got used to the idea that film shouldn’t ask anything of them. It’s the dichotomy of art and entertainment, high and low culture.

But Kaufman’s films (and they are his films, every bit as much as Spike’s or Michel’s) have moved beyond those old distinctions, heading over the horizon to some sunlit land. “It’s like reading a book,” he says. “You read a book and if it’s a good book you bring your life and your history and your memory and your prejudices and your hopes and your thoughts. If you read a book now and you read it next week, or you read it ten years from now, it’s a different book because you’re different. And I’m trying for that as my goal.

“I’m really honestly trying to explore stuff that concerns me – in the world and my life and my history – and being a human being.” synecdoche, new york is out in May. traile

42 www.HUCKmagazine.com

r

HE may have rocked festivals and sell-out shows the world over as a solo act with a guitar in tow. But times have changed.

Tim Donnelly travels to New York to meet the Relentless7, Ben HARPER’s VISCERAL new band.

Text Tim Donnelly Photography Danny Clinch

44 www.HUCKmagazine.com

45

I did not care that I was soaked to the bone or that my favourite leather jacket now smelled like stale ale.

Hollering through the cold downpour and dancing in ankle-

recipe for success. Will it work? A look in my stinky, sticky jacket

deep puddles on the corner of East Houston and Clinton Street,

pocket a couple of days later reveals a cocktail napkin suggesting

on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, at two-thirty in the morning,

there’s every chance it will: “As heavy as anything from Seattle,

I wanted the world to know what I had just seen and heard at

as roadhouse as anything from West Texas, as soulful as anything

the Mercury Lounge that night. They were loud, they were raw

form Memphis and as righteous as anything from New Orleans.”

and they’d thrown down an absolutely massive set. The band in question, the Relentless7, were not unfamiliar to me.

They feature a ringer in their singer/slide guitar slinger Ben

A month and a couple of days later,

Harper. No longer the trailblazing leader of the Innocent Criminals,

I find myself face to face and elbow to elbow with the R7 on a

Harper is now the recognisable face of the Relentless7, who are,

cramped couch in the artist green room at Sirius satellite radio.

in no particular order, Ben plus guitarist Jason Mozersky, bassist

It’s 11am, early by rock star standards, and their glazed attention

Jesse Ignalls and drummer Jordan Richardson.

comes into focus when a properly caffeinated Harper looks at me

To many music fans, Harper is a musician who has flown

with cob web-clearing intent.

under and around the modern rock radar, touching down at

“It is a new day and it’s important to say this: this is a band.

massive festivals from Bonnaroo to Byron Bay, leaving huge clouds

This is a band that could not exist without the other three guys,”

of positive energy in his wake.

he declares. “It’s really the first time I have not been the centre of

Though he is married to Hollywood royalty with wife Laura

the circle, a corner of the square.”

Dern, and is partner in a clothing company named ‘Propr’ with

The night prior, Harper had backed his declaration full

actor David Arquette, he has finally embraced being a star by

heartedly by bringing his brand-new bag to a NYC radio audience,

doing the opposite of what musicians do: he’s starting over mid-

industry insiders and contest winners, opening with a song only

career. The difference between Ben and the others is that it is all

the band had heard before, the sweeping blues epic ‘Karma to

being done under his own volition.

Burn’, which clocked in at ten minutes.

The ‘forming a new band thing’ isn’t a re-invention ploy

The running time of the song shocked Harper. “Was it ten?

by Harper. For him, Relentless7 could be perceived as a huge

We clocked that at ten? Wow. I think we may have stretched it out,

gamble: to form a group with unknown musicians and not rely

so it was new, new. Whatever that is,” he laughs.

on or barely play his successful back catalogue is not exactly a

46 www.HUCKmagazine.com

The music they are making together is so adventurous and

tight that they decided to write new material rather than play

session with Richardson and Ingalls in tow. Their session together

Harper’s songs, a huge affirmation of faith in their ability. Word

yielded, not just the song, ‘Save Your Soul’, but the genesis of

of caution to the hardcore fan: do not expect to hear ‘Steal Your

the Relentless7.

Kisses’ from this band. Expect to be rocked.

“No, they are not going to hear that song. They need to

“People ask me if I am excited to be here,” says Mozersky.

“The three of us are here because of what we do naturally – we

know that goin’ in,” Harper says, speaking to his fans. “We finally

aren’t here to be handed charts. The way I play meshes with

had the definite meeting about rehearsing old material of mine.

Ben’s style and it was immediate and will get better. We do

We got into a room and I made up a list of eight to ten songs that

things differently every night, because there’s trust there.”

would work well. I said to the guys, ‘We can work these songs into

Mozerksy’s dead on with his assessment: there is

a new sound – our own sound – or we can write new songs?’ There

intuitiveness between them that can’t be taught. It just is. On

was no question: Write new songs.”

that wet night at the Mercury Lounge, during the blistering

Harper is intense about his craft and has been used to

rocker of a song, ‘Keep It Together’, the give and take between

carrying that heavy load around with him. But no longer. He can

Mozersky and Harper was akin to watching men who had been

now be the ‘influencee’ not the influencer – and he’s way cool

playing together almost forty years, not men who are not forty

with that. “It feels like I have a weight off, it feels like there is an

yet. They wove in between the notes, pushing each other into

inexhaustible amount of creativity firing around in this band. The

a sonic battle with guitars and then pulling themselves out of it,

things that these guys play when they are just warming up, it’s

somehow without missing or losing their other band mates.

fucking constantly coming out of these guys. They bring to life

“I’m not missing a note of his,” Harper says of Mozersky.

where I’ve been musically all the time, coming up with new stuff

“If he’s throwing the gauntlet down like that and raising the bar

and generating new ideas – it’s altogether different,” he stresses.

that high, then I’m gonna play stuff no one else will play too.

“There is no going back. I know the risks involved. It would have

It’s one thing to say it and another to be up there on that stage

been real easy for me to comfortably coast in and around a certain

every night with that machine, it’s something that I have stepped

level of accomplishment, but it was staring me dead in the face

into knowing that I have to step up.”

and it made me nervous.

“But it is exactly what I needed musically,” he continues,

Harper threw them into the deep end of the performing pool early. On their first gig, they had to share the stage with

“with these three guys to come and grab me by the throat, shake

the Beastie Boys, Tenacious D and Crosby, Stills and Nash. The

me around and bring this to life. I needed it, man. Desperately.”

crowd: 10,000 strong. “I said, ‘You know what guys, I‘m doing

At thirty-nine, Ben has dropped into the biggest wave of his creative life, looking to share the juice rather than use it all

this show for Obama. Come on out, let’s hit this, let’s charge this as a band, this is the right opportunity, the right moment.’

to himself. “They command their own and it just works its way

“This was a statement and for me a brave choice to just

into this collective of four guys. They are musically uninhibited and

put them out there to show them what it looks like and to see

it’s reckless abandon, man. It’s fucking reckless abandon,” Harper

for myself what it would look like. The boys stepped up like they

insists, his hands thumping his chest.

were playing these venues their whole lives,“ recalls Harper. “I

And with that, he stands up and leaves the green room.

was like, these motherfuckers are bad as shit. They stepped

They’ll be on air in a few minutes, it’s not even midday yet, and

right up and crushed it, and you know Beastie Boys fans don’t

Harper, it seems, can’t wait to play some new tunes.

play around. They do not play, man.”

The election of an American president who looks the way

The story behind how the Relentless7

Harper does was a matter of time, according to Ben. “Being from my cultural ethnicity, I’ve always felt like it was

formed is stuff normally saved for show biz fables, not rock

only a matter of time, but then again I’m an optimist to a fault,

‘n’ roll reality. In the late nineties, Austin-based guitarist Jason

so of course I thought it would happen. It’s incredible and I think

Mozersky was in the right place at the right time, thanks to his

it will be an international symbol of a political shift and change

job working as a driver for a local music promoter. One day he

for the world to follow.”

had Ben Harper in his van. He did what ballsy, naïve, confident,

Harper had seen the collapse of Senator John Kerry’s

or yes, even desperate musicians do in that situation: he asked

campaign in 2004 personally, when he was storming the country

Ben to listen to his demo.

with the Vote for Change Tour along with artists like Pearl Jam,

Harper agreed to listen and was, in his own words, “blown

Bruce Springsteen and R.E.M. “It sprung a leak. That’s how

away” – and helped Mozersky and his then band, Wan Santo

tactile a role politics can play in our lives, you kinda know when

Condo, get a record deal. Mozersky’s band may have fallen apart,

the ship is sinking or when it’s pushing forward full steam,” he

but his relationship with Harper continued to grow.

says. “After the 2004 election it knocked us hard up against the

In 2005, Harper asked Mozersky to lay down a track for his Both Sides of the Gun record. Mozersky showed up to the

wall. Right now represents a recovery from that.”

But today is today and the misdoings that happened ▼

47

From left to right: Jesse Ignalls, Ben Harper, Jason Mozersky and Jordan Richardson.

over the past eight years are now home to roost. Like Obama,

and personal stripes – and that has Harper absolutely ecstatic:

Harper believes the cure starts at home: “There is a heightened

“It’s a great moment musically for me and I can’t say it enough.

need for community, a responsibility for one’s own culture

I don’t remember fans responding to my old material this well.

and social circumstance. At the end of the day, we are still

It’s something else. So no matter what happens from here,

dealing with people, and the people are the only animal on the

we’ve done that, we’ve earned that. We did it. We went out

planet that are in denial that they are an animal. Nonetheless,

and took it.”

responsibility is the key for this new political era.”

Approaching forty years of age, Harper is not afraid of

From the outside, it may look like he’s a complicated rock

getting older. Instead, age has instilled hope and an off chance

star but he’s not, he’s actually a family man striving for a simple

to reflect on the bountiful pay-off of his perceived career gamble.

life in unfettering times. He heeds advice from his mentors and

“This time will never come again. I’ve been in it long enough to

takes it straight to heart. “Ry Cooder [slide guitar legend] once

recognise how urgent and special a moment this is. I savour this

told me, ‘Ben, you gotta cut out your little piece in this world

moment and this opportunity to have a second first record and

and defend it with your life.’ At some point in your life you do

a new band at this age,” he says with wonder.

defend all things that you hold sacred.”

But it’s simpler than that. Harper was in tune enough to get

He backs that statement up personally and professionally,

a read on Mozersky and accept his demo, which in turn opened

from performing benefits for sick children and the ocean

a door for fate. “There is not a day that goes by when I don’t

environment to defending the vanishing culture of New Orleans.

replay that day in the van with Ben in my head,” says Mozersky.

What is sacred to Harper is worth the cost of ammunition.

“This band has the potential to go beyond anywhere I have ever

.

been in music or the number of people it reaches,” says Harper.

Politics may have played a role in the

“Oddly enough, this band is not related to anything I have ever done. It is only connected to where I am going.”

new Relentless7 record, White Lies for Dark Times, and a small club tour that was done in a van has earned them their critical

WHITE LIES FOR DARK TIMES IS OUT IN MAY.

listen

48 www.HUCKmagazine.com

It came from the land. One day it will return to the land. howies.co.uk

Natural merino baselayers for riding, boarding and living.

We Are Sta rdust Can mankind and nature ever live in peace? an interview with alastair mcintosh.

Interview Michael Fordham Illustration AL MURPHY

It’s a painful reality, but our love for nature

for a dignified life. But blatant consumerism

it is urban people who decide what nature will

could be hastening its demise. We ride

encourages people to gear up for the latest

be, and that any experience with nature is just

mountains and catch waves, dominating and

bit of kit and creates the desire for the latest

like that with any other commodity, something

possessing what we should respect. But there

fashion, the newest thing. When this happens

to be bought or sold. People who love nature

is a better way, says Scottish academic, Alastair

it becomes deeply problematic and it’s difficult

do often experience a kind of transcendence,

McIntosh. Writing, lecturing and campaigning

to know what to do about it. As someone

in other words an experience that takes them

about the interconnection between human

who works on magazines you will be deeply

out of ‘normal’ modes of consciousness. By

societies and the environments they inhabit,

aware of the contradictions, because it is

interrelating with nature and experiencing

he is at the forefront of an increasingly important

advertising that pays for the magazines that

fire, air, earth and water in a very elemental

exploration of hope in an apparently hopeless

inspire people to discover the beauty of nature

and visceral way, the crust of our hardened,

ecological situation. HUCK caught up with the

in the first place. As a bottom line, however,

civilised veneer gets blasted off. You realise

professor and asked him to confirm or deny our

I think we need to slow down the pace at

that you’ve not ‘gone outside’ into nature.

instinctive assertion that surfers just might be

which we churn out and consume these

Rather, you’ve ‘gone inside’ into nature and

able to save the world.

products in order to try and live efficiently

yourself. And when you’ve been up against

with what we’ve already got.

it out in the wilds, you realise that there is

HUCK: The way outdoor pursuits like surfing and

absolutely no question that you are part of a

snowboarding are packaged encourages the sort

Can our encounters with nature lead to genuinely

wild nature, and if you get things wrong, there

of consumption that is ultimately detrimental to

transcendent experiences – or are the mountains

is a potential for really coming unstuck that’s

the very environment those sports depend upon.

and the ocean just one more thing for us to

more than any social construction. To me,

How can we live with this?

consume until the point of depletion?

there’s something mind-blowing about that.

ALASTAIR MCINTOSH: It’s fine when you have,

I’m reminded of a quote I heard recently that

It’s the utter antidote to virtual reality and all

for example, one surfboard, but it becomes

said, “You won’t find many postmodernists

forms of pretentiousness.

problematic when the equipment we use, the

on a mountain.” You know, there’s a very

clothes we wear for the enjoyment of nature,

strange breed of academic in postmodern

Do you believe that experiencing that sort of

become bound up in consumerism. I have no

circles that has this crazy idea that nature is

transcendence could ever prompt mankind to sit

problem with a certain amount of consumption

a social construction. They have this idea that

up and take responsibility for the natural world?

50 www.HUCKmagazine.com

Well, like I say, a lot of people are living in a world

abstract – it’s an experienced metaphysical

reality that’s driven, dare one say it, ultimately

that’s become a kind of virtual reality. Food turns

reality. Such states are often deeply blissful,

by the power of love. And you see it shining

up and we don’t have much of an idea where

meaningful and rich with love. In my opinion

through in the sparkle of dew on the grass,

it comes from or whether it’s been produced in

these things are hugely important, because

in the wild geese reaching to heaven, and the

ways consistent with social justice and ecological

they give us empirical evidence that there

never-ending ebb and flow of the tides. I think

sustainability. ‘Nature raw in tooth and claw’ is

may be a spiritual underpinning to reality, a

that’s what it really means to surf. The bit you

very far removed from our day-to-day lives and

profound interconnection with all that there

need a board for is only the start. The wave is

so we’ve even lost connection with death, and

is. And you know, if one person experiences

only the kindergarten that provides your first

the wisdom it can point towards. But when we

interconnection between nature and reality it

thrill. The surfing I’m talking about doesn’t need

go into nature that virtual world is stripped away.

can be treated as an aberration. But when these

all the trappings of consumerism, because you

We experience the wild, and, if you’re properly

sorts of transcendent, or ‘peak experiences’

learn to leave the board behind. You know, the

equipped and respectful, it’s not scary. And that’s

as they are sometimes known, can be shown

whole of nature just becomes more and more of

really important because nature teaches us what

to be fairly common, as is the case, then it really

a trip. And I’ll tell you something, I’ve only ever

human nature is all about.

pushes our intellects to face the question: Might

paddled with a board and body surfed, but I’ve

Dr Robert Greenway of the Olympic

there be layers within our consciousness that

got friends who are great surfers. And in the wee

Ecopsychology Institute in the States has written

could take us to depths of interconnection that

hours of the night, with a good dram in hand,

of his experience of taking students out into

we’d never imagined?

there’s not one of them who wouldn’t vibe with

nature with as little contact with the outside

what I’m saying here. The real surf bums know

.

world as possible for as long as practically

Do you empathise with the notion that surfing can

possible. What he finds is that the students

allow us to encounter nature on a spiritual level?

often experience transcendence. They feel,

Strip away the city, and you get down to the

stardust, we are golden, and we’ve got to make

when out there together in the wilderness, that

level of elemental, raw nature. And that’s a

it back to the garden.”

the boundaries of their egos dissolve. With that

powerful process. It’s what drives the waves and

comes experiences of interconnection between

winds and planets and stars. But what’s really

Alastair McIntosh’s latest book, Hell or High

the environment and one another. To think

interesting is that people often experience it not

Water: Climate Change, Hope and the Human

of oneself as part of nature is then no longer

as an inanimate physical force, but as a physical

Condition, published by Birlinn, is available now.

that it’s all a spiritual experience.

As they put it at Woodstock, “We are

51

Road gaps or gender gaps, Anne Flore stomps on both.

52 www.HUCKmagazine.com

just a girl?

Female snowboarding may still be ghettoized, but Switzerland’s Anne-Flore Marxer is out on the frontline fighting for change.

Text Gemma Freeman Photography Vanessa Andrieux

“I’ve better things to do in life than shave my

It’s been a manic day, with lack of sleep

legs!” states Anne-Flore Marxer. “I don’t give a

and artificial air. But, while I’m ready to crash,

shit what I look like in everyday life – I’m a sports

tall and athletic Marxer glows with an innate

girl with scars and bruises. Are you giving me an

confidence, fizzing with Euro fire and infectious

interview because I’m a good snowboarder or

energy. The new Hossegor local may still be

because you liked my white teeth?”

looking for board, boot and binding sponsors,

The trade show is draining. There may

but has found in the Basque Country both

be snow outside, but the atmosphere inside

balance and a new love in her life: surfing.

this artificially lit aircraft hanger is a world

“Snowboarding was my hobby, which became

away from the purity of the mountains.

my job,” she explains. “It’s still my passion but

An assault on the senses, this cavernous

now, between trips, I can go surfing – learning,

construction is claustrophobic, crammed with

progressing slowly, and eating shit for sure. It’s

a headache-inducing barrage of branding

good to enjoy something new, you know?”

images – each company imposing their own

She’s stunning, and slightly cocky, but

carefully constructed vision of what it is to be

this comes from somewhere deeper: a fierce

a ‘snowboarder’. With a traditionally wealthier

independence, strength and refusal to forge

demographic than surfing or skating, snow

anything but her own path. In a scene that’s

sliding offers a rich selection of identities

becoming saturated with the super skilled

to choose from, from the ghetto-gypsy, to

but bland, she’s respected for her riding and

the blinged-up and baggy, via the tight ‘n’

passionate personality, injecting some spunk

tattooed hipster set. Question is: where are

back into snowboarding.

all the women?

Thankfully, Anne-Flore Marxer lets her

Born on January 24, 1984, Marxer skied before she could walk. Her father, Herbert

talent talk, rather than her wardrobe. After a

Marxer, was an Olympic downhill and slalom

few false starts I finally meet the Swiss French

skier for Liechtenstein in the seventies, while her

snowboarder at Europe’s winter sports bro-

French mother, Catherine, was also obsessed

down Babylon. A vague email asks me to call,

with snow. She grew up in the small town of

but her dead phone leaves me looking among

Préverenges, near Lausanne, Switzerland, with

the stands for the blonde face which has fronted

the Portes du Soleil, Samoens Avoriaz and Les 7

so many ad campaigns and seems so familiar –

Laux on her doorstep. She started snowboarding

yet is not at all. Finally, I spot her socialising

at twelve, then continued skiing with the family

with new sponsors Billabong, and sit down

and riding with friends. “My dad was the

on the Les Ettes sofa, post the launch of her

champion of the family – no one expected me

signature scent Flore Ette (the first of its kind).

to become a pro snowboarder,” she explains. ▼

53

“My parents let me do my own thing. I was

Crowned Rookie of the Year 2006 by

So does Marxer expect to see a wave of

rebellious, still am, and liked travelling. I refused

Transworld Snowboarding, she’s had countless

snowboarding super groms soon, à la surfers

to compete and would just ride as much as

magazine features across the world and has

Carissa Moore, Sally Fitzgibbons and Coco

I could for fun, finding good powder lines.”

appeared on the front of the entire female

Ho? “Yes, for sure. There was hardly anyone

snowboard press. But therein lies the problem:

for us to look up to. In freestyle, there used

ballsy style on the backcountry booters of

while the rise of gender-specific media has

to be one woman: Tara Dakides. But now

the French Swiss Alps and only entered her

created spaces for women to represent

there are all-female films with so many

first contest after friends roped her in. As she

themselves without being objectified, it’s also

women killing it. Younger riders will see what’s

was dialling her tricks with guy friends during

exaggerated the differences. Great for inspiring

possible but without the barriers that we had

practise, she saw the other girls doing straight

intimidated beginners, perhaps, but those at

and they’ll be kicking our asses! It’s hard, but

airs with a double grab. At first, she opted to

the top are being ghettoized by their gender.

I’m so glad to be a part of this movement.

play it safe but didn’t make the finals. Pissed,

Marxer’s reached a glass ceiling – for being born

There’s not one girl ripping now, there’s many,

she sneaked back up during the guys final to

a girl. “Most magazines have girls’ publications

in all different styles – it’s inspiring.”

stomp a backside rodeo 720, throw the finger

and it seems like they automatically pass the

at the judges and storm off. When the next

shots onto the women’s titles,” she says. “These

French Big Air rolled into town she entered,

girls’ mags are mostly looking for more feminine

won and stepped away from competitions to

photos that female readers can identify with.

focus on films.

These are shots which often don’t fit my kind

A true tomboy, Marxer honed her big,

of snowboarding, backcountry shots.”

She’s not alone. While its rise in postfeminist times means snowboarding has always been open to women, their representation in

“I am happy to be a woman and I want to prove what I’m capable of without gender being an issue.”

the industry is still subject to archaic gender stereotypes. You’re a ‘girl’, whether fourteen or forty. “Being a pro snowboarder is tough enough already and adding the girl issue on top of it can become hard to handle,” explains Marxer. “Sometimes it feels like I’m banging my head against a brick wall.

“I am happy to be a woman and I want to prove what I’m capable of without gender being an issue. Most brands in snowboarding

“We should not need to make the cut for a catalogue shoot before finding sponsors.”

are directed by men and while the brands are making more money from female sales, profits are pumped back into the guys’ marketing.

I’d like to see them develop our side of the sport. I mean, how come some brands still

The horizon is clearer for sure. Runway

use models rather then female athletes for

Films may be RIP, but Producer Leanne

their promotion?”

Pelosi is now on the Standard Films roster

Thanks to the huge progression in female

alongside Priscilla Levac. And Marie France

snowboarding during the last five years, more

Roy is confirmed alongside Annie Boulanger

female sponsorship contracts and an increasingly

for the new Absinthe movie. Women are also

louder voice within the industry, equality is close.

working from inside to kill the cliché of female

In 2008 The Burton Open series was the first to

snowboarder as sex object and replace it with

offer equal prize money to men and women,

accomplished athlete. (Remember FHM’s

while the Winter and Summer X Games followed

notorious naked Tara Dakides and Gretchen

So far she’s notched up parts in French

suit this year. “Five years ago I turned up at

Bleiler cover in 2004?)

crew The Psykopit’s Almost Friends and Fiasco,

the Burton European Open but they wouldn’t

MissChief’s As If and Ro Sham Bo, the Pirates’

let me ride the slopestyle course,” remembers

tools, their identities – male or female – will

Walk the Plank, Runway’s La La Land and See

Marxer. “Cheryl Maas and I get there, and

be manipulated to sell product. Says Marxer:

What I See, Oakley’s Uniquely, Travis Rice and

we’re told, ‘It’s too dangerous because you’re

“We should not need to make the cut for

Curt Morgan’s debut The Community Project

a girl.’ Whatever – now it’s possible and girls

a catalogue shoot before finding sponsors.

and now, possibly, a flick with Absinthe Films.

can now win the same as guys, so change is

You get put in this ‘girl’ box where you need

“I don’t have a solid film crew this year with all

happening. It’s frustrating to be on the frontline,

to be pretty. But all people remember is a

my recent sponsor changes,” says Anne-Flore,

but the next generation of women coming into

photo-shopped portrait – and then doubt your

“but I’m really hoping for a spot on the Absinthe

snowboarding will benefit. I can’t wait to see all

athletic skills. We should be judged on our

production for next year.”

those girls ripping.”

snowboarding – not on our looks.”

54 www.HUCKmagazine.com

But while pro athletes remain marketing

.

56 www.HUCKmagazine.com

g n i s l i w l a o r p c o S etr M

lis nda a v ic: idem p e oni ing edrainer g C g iano o W ’s ta ulo GiuPlHY Joã a t P x Te GRA São TO PHO

ra mo

rt?

“Computers make art / artists make money”.

Paulo Bienal, the city’s largest art show. They

response to what they see on TV, the corruption

The line comes from prophetic dead singer Chico

entered the building disguised as art boffins and

of politics, the reality shows that promote

Science, who reinvented Brazilian pop music in

sprayed all over the floor. To make matters worse,

stupidity, the violence, the fashion models,

the nineties. Science hit the cool intelligentsia

the building was designed by the great Oscar

the publicity that just doesn’t care, the bad,

with such raw power that his music gave birth

Niemeyer, a living legend at 101 years of age.

the ugly. Pixo is their desperate Van Gogh

to a whole art movement called mangue. Today

Unsurprisingly, few people defended the taggers

scream printed on every rooftop shouting to

there’s mangue music, mangue literature, mangue

when the police arrived.

us: “Yes, I do exist, my name is CRIPTA!”

cinema… His sentence is sad, true and strong –

That said, some people do stand up for

Even so, tagging is having a hard time

much like another Brazilian art form that’s going

them. Last year brothers Roberto de Oliveira and

being accepted as art. After all, it affects one of

on right now. It’s called pixo – and around here,

João Wainer decided to make a documentary

the sacred pillars of capitalism: private property.

pixo, or tagging, is everywhere.

about São Paulo’s tagging epidemic. PIXO

The kids climb on private buildings to print their

Ricardo is a poor kid from the outskirts

follows a group of kids as they scrawl their gothic

signatures and that is a felony. Banksy has been

of São Paulo. He never finished high school, he

signatures all over town – and the images are just

doing it for a long time, but no one dares to

has a day job in a car wash and, to be honest,

unbelievable. One shows a pixador, wearing a

question if his work is art or not, especially after

odds are he’ll be working dead-end jobs for the

lapel microphone, climbing twenty-two floors of

he sold some of his wares to the likes of Brangelina

rest of his life. But at night, Ricardo the car wash

a downtown building, hanging from balcony to

and co. Some say it’s not art because of the way it

guy becomes CRIPTA, and CRIPTA is the man

balcony, struggling not to fall to a certain death

looks… too rude, colourless, unreadable. But who

of the hour in the local tagging scene.

just to leave his sig up on the wall. The Spiderman

says art needs to be beautiful?

For the past four years Ricardo and his buddies have been getting together every Thursday night to practice the art of pixo,

image makes you sick. And sadly, some of the kids do fall – and die.

Other amazing action sequences include

The mayor of São Paulo recently invited graffiti and pixo artists to paint some predetermined walls around the city. The graffiti

pronounced pea-shoo. The casual observer might

the tagging of a local school of fine arts and of

guys showed up first, and long after all colour

think that pixo is a form of graffiti… big mistake.

a trendy art gallery. The scenes are courtesy of the

paintings were done and dry, the pixo kids rocked

São Paulo is home to some of the best graffiti

directors’ wise decision to give the kids the camera

up, in the dead of night of course, and signed

artists in the world, such as OsGemeos, the twins

and let them do their thing. So they invade,

on top of everything. What the authorities are

who painted London’s Tate Modern building in

they spray, they shoot, and they run. On both

missing here, not only the state but also the art

2007. But unlike graffiti, a pixo artist, or a pixador,

occasions, press and opinion-makers condemned

elite, is that tagging doesn’t need permission to

doesn’t paint colour figures on the walls. Instead,

the act arguing that this is no art, just vandalism.

exist. Nobody here went to art school, no one is

all a pixador paints is words, hard-to-read words

OsGemeos, however, declared that to them pixo is

trying to be the next art gallery hit. If that was the

in fact, often outside tall buildings which he climbs

art, only it’s an uncontrollable form of it. After the

case, they would become graffiti artists instead.

with bare hands to write his message. A true

statement, some kids sprayed over OsGemeos’

But no. This article, for example, has no relevance

pixador mixes fonts and techniques, like an early

own street graffiti commissioned by City Hall. The

whatsoever to them, simply because they don’t

Basquiat that writes on concrete instead of canvas.

twins never talked about tagging in public again.

need us, they just… spray. And the day Ricardo

But if you ask about Basquiat or any other

A key difference between pixo kids and

modern artist, most pixo kids will throw you a

all other street artists is that they never get any

befuddled look. Their only art reference comes

money from it. And probably never will. So why

from heavy metal album covers from the eighties,

do it at all?

and since the record label designers drank from

Modern anthropology refers to poor kids

the gothic alphabet, São Paulo has become this

in poor countries as the ‘invisible ones’. The state

strange tropical city whose buildings are covered

doesn’t give a shit, bourgeois society doesn’t

in a medieval typeface.

even see them, and all the mass media do is use

Tagging is a felony in Brazil, carrying a

asks for our permission to spray his CRIPTA, his pixo will then cease to exist.

But again, if Chico Science was right when

.

he said that computers make art and artists make money, then the kids from São Paulo’s pixo scene will never be artists.

And thank god for that

them. The result: you have millions growing

Giuliano Cedroni is a Brazilian journalist and

sentence of up to six months, and arrests are

up with no proper education nor health care, no

screenwriter. He’s a surfer but loves the city

common. Last year a group of forty pixadores

real jobs, no perspective, no nothing. Perhaps

as much as the sea.

left their mark during the opening of the São

pixo is their way of becoming visible – a raw

For the PIXO doc, contact Www.prodigo.com.br.

57

58 www.HUCKmagazine.com

The O’Neill Evolution and the theory of snow-formed adaptations.

Text Michael Fordham Illustrations PAUL WILLOUGHBY

It’s the miasmic primordial cultural soup of the

controlled environment. Matt (a goatee-rocking

1970s. Whilst we in England were scabbing

ski bum and nocturnal barhop) tells me stories of

around in the grime of the Winter of Discontent,

snipers on surrounding rooftops drawing a bead

easy-living hedonists on the continent of North

on suspicious types smoking a cigarette outside,

America had broken new ground. It was ground

and earpiece-laden secret servicemen stopping

tainted with crystalline traces of cocaine and

and searching folks because of their facial hair

Crème de Menthe from disco binges in mountain

and blond dreads. It’s not the sort of place you

resorts from Colorado to Vermont. Their creed

want to be crusty.

could be identified by the fluoro one-piece, the Vuarnet Cateyes and the fluffy earmuffs.

Rumours were circulating that the buzz

Up on the Jacobshorn side of the Valley, O’Neill, currently dominating the snowboard industry’s brutal regime of natural selection, has

around Sherman Poppen’s ‘Snurfer’, a kooky

chosen to host the opener of the Swatch TTR

tool and a toy for kids patented back in ’66,

World Snowboard Tour here. With a cutting-

was getting serious. A kid called Jake Burton

edge lighting system calibrated to turn night

wanted to up the ante, and soon swallow-

into day, ice sculptures making an icon out of

tailed Wintersticks and skatey Sims sliders were

old one-eyed Jack O’Neill himself, and perfect

exploiting the possibilities of the sideways

bluebird skies doing their best work with the

stance. Soon came P-Tex bases and refined

massive early season base, it is obvious what

plane shapes and edges. The elite were drawing

constitutes survival of the fittest. The kids most

new lines in the mountains, traces borrowed

likely to disseminate their genes in this verse of

from the surf and skate aesthetic. At the same

the human story are fourteen-year-olds in op-art

time in the Tyrol, a bunch of bearded, stoic

prints and oversize Day-Glo from the lowlands.

Austrians were tinkering in their cosy Alpine

Guttural Finns with skin the texture of honey and

workshops applying theory of edge and plane to

single-figure BMIs hog the smart money. Boned-

surfboard-like skis in between gluggs of Glüwein

out Norwegians with squeaky little voices and

and slaps of their lederhosen. The two species

unfeasibly perfect incisors approach the quarter

met some time in the mid-eighties and engaged

pipe at 120Km/h and hold on: who’s that floating

in some boogie-down gene flow. Pretty soon the

a drifty, graceful method over the caveman gap?

evolutionary path was set and snowboards, as

Yes: It’s Gian Simmen – stylish throwback at

we know them, crystallised. The flouro is back –

thirty-something-years-old.

perhaps no bad thing after a decade or two of

Theorists of human evolution generally fall

anachronistic bugged-out badness – but beware

into two camps. The dominant is populated by

those damnable earmuffs.

those who hypothesise that humans evolved

No surprise that the Masters of the Universe

from a migration of inhabitants that left Africa

meet each year at Davos for the World Economic

approximately 50,000 years ago, and grew

Forum. Secreted away up its own valley, with one

to dominate all parts of the earth, replacing

road and one rail track accessible, it’s an easily

existing populations of Homo Neanderthalis ▼

59

and Homo Erectus, groups which had migrated

Look closely. All things are composed of

out of Africa much earlier. The other camp,

waves of energy. At the most profane level

small in number and now marginalised by

every park-and-pipe session is composed of

the scientific community, assert that there are

a series of waves, each one a completed cycle.

significant genetic differences amongst modern

There’s the drop-in, the ride, and an ending.

and archaic human populations. For these

Pull back the lens and you’ll see that the season

scientists, this points to a series of parallel and

snowfalls, thaws and dumps. The rider on the

coterminous evolutions among humankind. The

mountain is in the process dealing with the

political implications of this latter viewpoint are

most basic elements of all. The laws of physics

obvious. If early humans found in, say, the far

of course underpin everything. In this case,

east, are from a different evolutionary root to

arcane equations could be mapped which bind

those found, in, for example, Africa, does it not

rider to mountain through the technology of

follow that we are in fact not one humankind,

edge, binding, boot and body. To tap into the

but the ancestors of multiple evolutions of

power of the gravity one must be focussed on

subtly different species?

the energy of lunar pulls, and of tide-like ebbs

Whether or not we’re all one Son of Man, something in the DNA of the Finns

and flows.

There’s a great sense of timing encoded

has predisposed them to a couple of easily

in the lives of professional snowboarders. Of

identifiable human attributes: a) ridiculous

course, if you study how evolution works and

amounts of skill and bravery behind the wheel

how the DNA code builds bodies and builds

of an automobile b) ridiculous amounts of skill

the differentiation of species, timing is of

and bravery whilst strapped into a snowboard.

absolute importance. Being in the right place

And so it came to pass that Risto Mattila and

at the right time determined your course. As a

his fellow countryman Peetu Piiroinen (perhaps

rider you have simply to react to the mountain’s

there’s something in the way that all Finnish

presence. One of the great lessons that you

names scan so perfectly and rhythmically) would

learn from the mountain is that while you are

fight it out for dominance in a field of excessive

totally insignificant in relation to its almost

amplitude under the lights of Jacobshorn.

fathomless force and the forces that create it,

It was Risto who nailed the highest air and

that you can survive in it by becoming part of

nine thousand strong Yanqui Dollars with a

it. Riding gives you very elemental illustrations

seven-metre Backside 540, whilst Peetu held

of broader truths by serving as a microcosm

the grab for longer and boned and tweaked

that we as humans can grasp.

the spin, thereby walking away with a winning

.

But I will never wear fluffy earmuffs

combination of runs and the main title. For our hosts and genius organisers O’Neill: 100,000

www.oneill.com

bucks well spent. Global survival asserted in

For more on the Swatch TTR World Tour go to

this age of fear and uncertainty.

www.ttrworldtour.com.

60 www.HUCKmagazine.com

61

62 www.HUCKmagazine.com

A im High, Think Big ISPO SpeciaL: A lesson in positive thinking with veteran shredder turned art man, Jerome Catz.

Text Andrea Kurland Photography Dom Daher

Some people are endlessly positive. You know the

like Jerome, who look totally unfazed.

new spaces and provide the public with more

kind: first in line to hit that sketchy cliff drop, last

“I love coming here,” says Jerome, standing

education,” says Jerome, who shrewdly invested

down the hill in the thickest white-out. There’s a

inside the gallery space curated by Spacejunk.

in property while he was a pro, and can put a

reason they’re charging while you’re still fiddling

“I like the idea of taking art to where people

roof over his family thanks to the rent they bring

with your thumbs, and it’s a little something called

aren’t expecting it, and not waiting for the public

in. “I want people to discover themselves as

Positive Mental Attitude. It’s simple really: if you

to come and find you. If that changes just one

collectors, which will help the artists live from

know what you want, go out and get it. And,

person’s opinion on art, it’ll make my day.”

selling their work. In elite galleries the prices are

psycho babble or not, it’s the difference between stomping a 7 and falling flat on your face.

Jerome Catz is a perfect case in point.

Using his skateboard to weave in between

reserved for a certain category of people. We

downtrodden faces and spread that Pollyanna

want Spacejunk to grow to the level of a proper

vibe, Jerome could be mistaken for a man

art centre, one that’s open to everyone.”

When a ten-year stint as a professional

without a care in the world. But it wasn’t always

snowboarder came to its natural end, the forty-

easy. “I knew that I had to start out totally on

waved a wad of cash in his face, would Jerome

year-old Frenchman refused to roll over and

my own,” says Jerome. “In the sports milieu

ever sell up? “What? And have to leave?” he

accept a run-of-the-mill fate. Instead, he reignited

you can’t ask for sponsorship with nothing in

says, wide-eyed. “No no no… it’s a non-profit

that PMA and set about making another dream

hand saying, ‘In two years’ time I will be able

thing. We present some unknown artists to the

come true. Ten-thousand euros slapped-on-

to represent you super strong.’ You need to

public that would never otherwise be introduced

a-table later, and Jerome was the proprietor

arrive showing what you can do.”

to them – we make some people happy, and

of his own art gallery, Spacejunk. “I wanted to

So that’s exactly what he did. After

That’s all well and good. But if someone

that’s priceless. When I hit eighty I may have to

give something back to the community that had

working his butt off for six months, sourcing

pass the mic to someone else, but I really feel

provided me with such a great life,” says Jerome,

artists and building the first gallery in Grenoble

like this is my life for the next forty years.”

who created Spacejunk to showcase the personal

from scratch, Jerome took his ambitious plans

So when it comes time to pass on the

work of artists working in the board sports

to Rossignol – who jumped straight onboard,

gauntlet, what kind of a life lesson would a

industry. “I said, ‘Okay, if it doesn’t work I may

followed by the likes of Billabong and Quik.

positive guy like Jerome have for his kids? “Do

have to stop but at least I will have no regrets.’”

Now, with the galleries’ expenses taken care

what you like professionally – and let the other

That was back in 2003. Six years on and

of, Jerome is free to… well, continue working

things in your life define who and what you are,”

his butt off for absolutely free.

he says. “And as long as you’re a passionate

with three galleries under his belt, the wild-haired Frenchman is as positive as ever. Here we are at

That’s right. While the bankers of this world

ISPO Winter, the biggest tradeshow on the board

may head for the nearest rooftop soon as their

sports calendar. The recession is in full swing,

six-figure salaries are slashed to a five, people

and the stand-hopping masses have fallen into

like Jerome are walking into work with a smile

two camps: doomsayers, who traipse around

on their face and without a paycheque in sight.

predicting things can only get worse; and people

“My only goal is to keep growing, open

.

person, when you do something, you’ll do it one hundred per cent.”

So there you have it. Positive thinking 101 www.spacejunk.tv www.ispo.com

63

64 www.HUCKmagazine.com

Copy Cats and Diamond Skulls In February 2008, Barack Obama wrote a personal letter of thanks to street artist Shepard Fairey, whose iconic ‘Hope’ poster had inadvertently become the face of his presidential campaign. Twelve months later, that same poster would see Fairey slapped with a lawsuit for copyright infringement. SO WHAT’S THE FUSS ALL ABOUT? HUCK gets into the legal nitty-gritty to find out.

Text Olly Zanetti ILLUSTRATION ANDY MILLER

When British artist Damien

designer leapt into the limelight, thanks in no

inauguration, Gralish returned home and, high

Hirst decided to make art with diamonds, his

small part to his now iconic poster of Barack

on adrenaline, was unable to sleep. Armed

work caused quite a stir. “For the love of God!

Obama. Entitled ‘Hope’, the poster displayed

with clues from fellow photojournalists, he

What are you going to do next?” That, reportedly,

a poise and intellect Obama’s predecessor (and

headed back to Google determined to solve

was how Hirst’s mum reacted to her son’s most

competition) could only dream of. According to

the mystery. And he did. On the ninth page of

extravagant piece of work – the skull of an

the New Yorker, Fairey’s poster was “the most

images he struck gold, finding a headshot taken

eighteenth century European male inset with

efficacious American political illustration since

by freelancer Mannie Garcia. Satisfied, Gralish

8,601 diamonds, weighing 1,106 carats and worth

‘Uncle Sam Wants You.’” It became one of the

fired off an email to Garcia, and went to bed.

£14 million. The phrase stuck, and the skull was

defining images of the election and, fly-posted

named ‘For the Love of God’. Hirst’s mum was

in areas where politics had yet to become cool,

mind when he heard the news. “I know artists

obviously feeling prophetic that day, because

it helped democratise the electoral process.

like to look at things; they see things and they

what he did do next was equally contentious.

“I am privileged to be a part of your artwork,”

make stuff. It’s a really cool piece of work,” he

In December 2008, eighteen months after

stated Obama in a letter to Fairey in February

told Gralish. However, the Associated Press,

the skull first went on public view, Hirst got

2008, “and proud to have your support.” A

who Garcia was working for when he took the

in touch with a sixteen-year-old stencil artist

copy of the image now hangs in the National

photograph, didn’t see it that way. In an ironic

going by the moniker Cartrain. It was no friendly

Portrait Gallery of Washington, DC.

statement, Paul Colford of AP’s Media Relations

exchange. Through a representative of the

But while the poster was Fairey’s work,

A lawsuit was the last thing on Garcia’s

team said, “AP believes it is crucial to protect

Design and Artists Copyright Society, Cartrain

its source certainly wasn’t. Fairey’s portrait

photographers, who are creators and artists.

was instructed to remove a piece he was selling

was in fact a stencil impression of a photo he’d

Their work should not be misappropriated by

through the online gallery 100artists.com, and

found through Google. For a while, the original

others.” In spite of Garcia’s approval for the

to relinquish all unsold originals. If he refused to

photo went unaccounted for until, in January

image’s use, they pursued Fairey’s attorney,

do so, he would face prosecution for copyright

2009, a computer programmer from Philadelphia

seeking compensation for his exploitation of

infringement. His so-called crime? Incorporating

did a bit more Googling and came across what

a copyrighted work, in what Fairey termed “a

an image of Hirst’s skull into his work. Hirst

he thought to be the source: a photo taken by

suppression of an artist’s freedom of expression.”

refused to comment on the matter.

the relatively unknown Reuters photographer

Stateside, there’s a similar story. Shepard

Jim Young. Freelance photographer and blogger

Fairey – the street artist behind the now

Tom Gralish, however, was not convinced.

In 1709, the world’s first

ubiquitous ‘Obey Giant’ sticker campaign –

Comparing the two images, it seemed the

copyright law was introduced in the UK. The

has been respected in urban art circles for

direction of Obama’s gaze was not quite

Statute of Anne prevented the verbatim copying

years, but just recently the LA-based graphic

identical. Having just covered the presidential

of books and other writings for a period of ▼

65

fourteen years to protect the income of authors

“I wanted the image to breed like rabbits. I never

determined not to follow Korda’s approach,

whose work was regularly being ripped off

took money for it and I wanted to disseminate it.”

Shepard Fairey responded to their demands by

and sold on by their own publishers. It was

In bold primary colours, the poster was designed

countersuing, claiming his poster was ‘fair use’.

not until 1734 that artistic works received

to be easily recognised, and easily copied. “I

The rules of fair use allow the work of others to

similar treatment. At first, this extended only

had to make numerous copies, and a lot of them

be incorporated into new works, provided that

to engravings designed and made by the same

had to be rushed out fairly quickly,” says Jim.

new work doesn’t supersede the original. It’s a

person, though similar laws were drafted to

“People would arrive at my door and say, ‘I want

rule whose parameters are notoriously difficult

cover fabric designs in 1787, and sculpture in

to spread this around.’ So I’d say, ‘Wait there…’

to pin down. Take the novel, The Wind Done

1798. Oddly, it was only in 1862 that images,

I had to trace off my original, in marker usually,

Gone by Alice Randall. Narrated from the point

like paintings, drawings or photographs, were

on the window, and then show them where the

of view of a slave in the American South during

included. Current global copyright law is based

red went. Nowadays, I’d just email a copy.” But

the Civil War, the book was a parody of the

on the only marginally less archaic agreements

why such dedication? “I was absolutely blown

classic novel Gone With The Wind. It was written

of an 1886 convention in Berne, Switzerland,

away by the fact that a man of his stature could

in part to counter the racist stereotypes featured

which UK law was brought in line with in 1988.

give up everything to help the poor.” Only once

in the original. Though Randall claimed the

The act of making and recording a work –

has Fitzpatrick exerted his right to control the

work was fair use, the Mitchell family, who own

putting pen to paper or clicking a shutter –

image, when a far right group in Germany were

the rights to Gone With The Wind, disagreed,

is all it takes for that work to be copyrighted.

using it as an anti-immigration poster. Today

noting that Randall’s work included many of the

Registration, or even inclusion of the © symbol,

the image remains in the public domain, the

same characters and plotlines. Given the new

is not actually necessary. What you then do with

only caveat being that when it’s used by big

novel’s context, the courts did eventually lift the

that copyright is your own business. In 1960,

companies, royalties must be sent to a Children’s

injunction preventing publication.

fashion photographer Alberto Korda was in

Hospital in Havana.

Unless Fairey and the AP are able to come to

the crowd at a memorial for those killed in a

The idea of copyright is based on two

munitions ship explosion in Havana, Cuba. On

principles: economic rights (i.e. the ability to

was a fair use of Garcia’s image will be decided

a roll of forty, the last frame he shot was of Che

exploit a work for profit); and moral rights (i.e.

by the courts. But has copyright law – originally

Guevara. The resulting portrait, ‘Guerrillero

being recognised as the person who created that

introduced to encourage creativity – become

Heroico’ as it was named, is now the most

work). As solicitor Simon Stokes notes in his book

nothing more than a way for the greedy to stifle

recognised image of Guevara and, according

Art and Copyright, “Copyright does not protect

new thought? Randall’s parody of Gone With

to the Victoria and Albert Museum, the most

ideas, only the form in which they are expressed.”

The Wind was published sixty-five years after the

reproduced image in the history of photography.

So, to make what is considered an original work,

original. When copyright was first introduced,

Allied to the cause of the revolution, Korda

some degree of “skill and labour” must be

its reach was limited to fourteen years. By the

surrendered all rights to the portrait, allowing its

evident. Blatant copying of ideas in, say, a written

time Gone With The Wind was written, this had

free distribution and never asking for a penny.

work, could lead you to be accused of plagiarism,

been extended to fifty-six years. Today in the UK,

but this in itself is not a copyright infringement.

intellectual ownership tends to last up to fifty

Neither did Irish graphic designer Jim Fitzpatrick. Getting hold of a battered copy of Korda’s photo, he reproduced it as a screen-print:

66 www.HUCKmagazine.com

Even with copyrighted works, there’s still scope to reuse and reinterpret. With AP’s lawyers

an agreement, the decision as to whether ‘Hope’

years; in the USA, that ownership now lasts for the lifetime of the author – with seventy years thrown

on top, just for good measure. As Lawrence

off as Hirst; he appropriated a major cultural

about Creative Commons as a copyrighting tool

Lessig, professor of law at Stanford University

reference point as part of a new work.” And

is that we were able to license all of the work in

suggests in The Future of Ideas, the repeated

this is an important point. Like The Wind Done

the book so that it’s free to be used for non-profit

extensions of copyright terms have been pushed

Gone, Cartrain’s work was not meant to take

purposes, but it can’t be used for profit,” explains

by big businesses, not little-guy artists.

the place of the original, but to comment on it.

Josh, “and whenever it’s used, it maintains that

“All art is subverted from other art,” adds Jimmy.

same license. So if someone takes that graphic

may be a proponent of copyright, but even

“You can follow the trail of ideas right back to

and puts it on something else, it’s still in the

she isn’t convinced it always works in the right

the stone age. If an artist tries to halt the forward

public domain. Basically, it is forever imbedded

way. “I have a theory about how copyright

flow of ideas and claim ownership of an idea the

within the public domain and forever protected

got a bad name for itself,” she writes, “and

whole system grinds to a halt. Besides, the Hirst

from being used for profit.”

I can summarise it in one word: greed.” But,

image of the diamond skull has been reproduced

she notes, copyright is not inherently bad as

thousands of times in the last year, so it’s virtually

prestigious American universities, the Creative

it was designed originally to protect individuals,

in the public domain.”

Commons organisation provides licences to

Jane Ginsberg, of Columbia Law School,

not revenue streams. “If copyright laws do

But is “virtually in the public domain”

Founded in 2001 by academics from several

publishers of any material, political or otherwise,

not derive their authority from human creativity,

enough? Just the threat of litigation is usually

who recognise the rights of others to use their

but seek instead to merely compensate

enough to make an artist pull a piece of work,

work, provided they cite its source. Though

investment, then the scope of protection

even if that litigation has little chance of success.

the flaws inherent in copyright had long been

should be rethought and perhaps reduced.”

Street artist Josh MacPhee has taken things a

recognised, it was the explosion of the Internet

step further. In his book Reproduce and Revolt,

that prompted the organisation’s founding. “The

the New York local has assembled hundreds of

aim,” a spokesperson explained at its launch,

political graphics that can be used for free by

“is not only to increase the sum of raw source

heard of Damien Hirst’s threats against Cartrain,

activists. The reason for this is simple: screen and

material online, but also to make access to that

they responded in the only way they knew

block printing were, he argues, important steps in

material cheaper and easier.” Seven years on,

how: “We indulged ourselves in the sport of

the timeline of political graphics, but the real shift

and everyone from huckmagazine.com to Al

major copyright infringement.” Creating a

came with the photocopier. Suddenly, images

Jazeera are offering material accessible through

website called ‘Red Rag to a Bull’, the group

could be reproduced in massive quantities almost

the Creative Commons.

sold limited-edition reproductions of Cartrain’s

perfectly. But, faced with the threat of litigious

piece, and, to provoke further controversy, a

corporate dollars, or even simply a lack of artistic

guess. What is clear, is that through an unlikely

picture of Hirst’s ‘For the Love of God’. But, as

talent, powerful imagery has slipped out of the

coupling, a British teenager and an American

someone who once received royalties as part of

left’s repertoire. Hence the book.

graphic designer have drawn attention to an

When the art collective L13

Where this goes in the future is anyone’s

a band, surely Red Rag’s Jimmy Cauty Bull can

Though it is protected by copyright,

appreciate the positive side of copyright? “We

Reproduce and Revolt is also subject to a

needs protecting, but so too does the right of

artists do sometimes benefit from protecting our

Creative Commons agreement. This agreement

others to create new works which draw upon

copyright but only up to a point. Hirst went past

allows limited copying of the work by non-profit

what’s already out there. And besides, imitation

the point. Cartrain was not trying to pass himself

making groups. “The thing that’s interesting

is the greatest form of flattery, right?

issue that won’t go away. Sure, creative work

.

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Wieger Van Wageningen, fakie crooked grind, San Francisco.

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T H e s e M a g i c M o m e n t s

French photographer Pierre Prospero is capturing time.

Text Jay Riggio Photography Pierre Prospero

Pierre Prospero is an amazing French

While filming, Pierre would shoot still

photographer. At thirty-one and with a style

pictures of his travels sparingly, and over

that’s vaguely reminiscent of Cartier-Bresson,

time he took a keen interest in learning more

his ability to capture ‘the moment’ is up there

about the craft. Surrounded by photographers

with the best.

shooting the same scenes that he was filming,

But first, there was skateboarding.

it was easy for him to inquire about film stocks,

Pierre began skating in 1992. Fixated by

lenses, cameras and developing processes.

some skaters who showed up to school with

Soon the endless possibilities that photography

boards in hand, Pierre’s inquisitive mind was

held drove him to pursue what was once only

quick to seek out the unknown. A friend sold

a vague interest.

him a board on a Friday and by Saturday he was

“The interesting rule in photography is, we

a skateboarder. “That little piece of wood gave

can be ten people at the same place, shooting

me so much adventure and happiness, day after

the same scene, but the result will always be

day, session after session,” recalls Prospero.

ten different pictures,” says Prospero.

Like anyone who’s ever experienced that

Before long, Pierre was snapping photos

same instant addiction, Pierre became a lifer –

regularly, printing his own shots and quickly

a skateboarder who ate, slept, drank and dreamt

developing a style all his own. What separates

the culture. But in 2000, a severe ankle injury

him from the hordes of skate photographers

left Pierre sidelined, distanced from the very

out there is his ability to seek out the subtler

thing he loved. Wanting desperately to remain

moments in life – the beauty that may

close to skateboarding during his recovery, he

otherwise have been overlooked.

began filming his friends, collecting endless amounts of footage along the way.

“I wanted to show what skateboarding

“These moments, these magic times, are on the subway, on the streets, in the restaurants, at the library, when your phone is ringing and

was to me,” says Prospero. “It wasn’t only doing

you see the name come up and you start to

tricks, but moving from spot to spot, meeting

smile just thinking of him or her,” says Prospero.

people, learning to make the city a fantastic

“I dream of one day posting myself up high

playground and now and then we’d all discover

above a train station with a long lens, shooting

ourselves.” Shooting mostly Super 8 black and

the faces of people as they meet each other,”

white film, Pierre captured the charm and poetry

he elaborates. “I’ve seen this scene before all

of an everyday Paris skate session. Over the years,

over the world and the expression on each face –

he went on to shoot two skate videos, Parasite

that moment is so honest, friendly and deep.”

and Jolie Routine, before moving on to film for

While we await his next project, here is

companies like Adidas and DC Shoes, travelling

a sample of some of the most compelling life

the globe alongside their skate and surf teams.

moments Pierre has captured thus far. ▼

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Julien, six years old, Belleville, Paris. “I was shooting pictures for a swimwear company. This boy was looking from behind a door at the practically naked girls.�

During the coldest winter ever in Paris, a local rider on his Solex. “The Solex is probably the best invention ever! So French!�

Stephane Zanette, backside five 0, Zagreb.

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Sylvain Traverso, nollie nose grind, La DĂŠfense, Paris.

Marion Hotel, Cairo.

“This was the most interesting session last year. Alex Klein, backside wallride on the glass of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. After that, we had dinner with this girl.”

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FRIGID BREAKS The frozen shoreS of Nova Scotia are an inhospitable mix of Slush and ice, where only the hardiest surfers take root and stay. HUCK goes in search of surfing’s toughest tribe.

Text Chris Nelson Photography Richie Hopson

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A fisherman from West LaHave, a tiny and picturesque village by the LaHave River.

76 www.HUCKmagazine.com

Surf shop owner Walter Flowers, proudly standing in front of the old-school Jeep that he and friend Dorian Steele use to chase waves across Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotia is a hard place

rooms loosely scattered with assorted bags, boxes

Jim. “There’s times when you’re out in the middle

with soft edges – if you count the texture of

and accumulated ‘stuff’. Jim swings open a giant

of February and it’s minus-thirty-two windchill.

drifting fog or tumbling snowflakes as soft. The

hinged window in the roof apex and there, before

Sometimes we get full-on ice flows. Not icebergs

winter temperature here on the eastern seaboard

us, the mist-fringed Atlantic is revealed, greying

as such, but chunks of ice as big as this room.

of Canada can drop so low that the sea steams

in the retreating afternoon light. The air outside is

Then we get the slush ice, a whole field of slush –

like a hot spring. Those are the days when the

laden with moisture, and as it drifts into the room,

to watch a wave move through that is incredible.

rounded boulders are glazed with a vicious

fine droplets condense on my face. “There’s The

We used to get up on the ice pans and when a

frosting of frozen seawater, making the shoreline

Right over there,” says Jim, sweeping his arm

wave came you could run and dive in and catch

a treacherous place to tread. The region’s low

towards the tree-covered headland to our south.

the wave off it. Kind of like a little island out in the

profile is swathed in forest, and during the harsh

“Probably one of the best waves around here,” he

middle of the surf break. Back then a lot of us had

winters the jagged coastline is refrigerated by the

says lowering his voice in an almost conspiratorial

long hair, and often we went in without hoods –

Labrador Current, which originates high in the

way – even though there’s no one else to hear.

you’d have chunks of ice frozen to your hair, like

Arctic Circle. It is a place where Scots and Vikings

“And that point to the north we called The Left,

dreadlocks.” In the days before the Psycho2 or

and Bretons washed ashore and in this Celtic

and in the middle of the bay sits The Cove. We

the H-Bomb, a second-hand, beavertail dive suit

landscape they felt at home. The many points and

weren’t very original when we named these spots,”

was the best a surfer could hope for. “I used to

reefs that litter this coastline are indiscriminate in

he smiles, admiring the view.

have to sit in the tub for an hour to warm up

the ships they claim, sending cartwheel-like waves

Jim Leadbetter’s house sits back from the

afterwards – I was borderline hypothermic. I wasn’t

spinning into the bays. It is here that one of the

road, tucked in behind a screen of wind-weathered

alone – everyone would. You’d get the woodstove

planet’s hardiest surf tribes watches and waits.

pine. Jim wasn’t the first surfer in Nova Scotia,

cranked up so you knew you’d be nice and warm

but he’s certainly first-generation. He caught the

when you got out.”

We climb the ladder into a large fourth-storey attic space. It’s one of those

bug in the mid-sixties, when surfing here was just

Fifteen minutes south of Jim’s place lies the

two years old. “We never thought we were doing

sandy arc of Lawrencetown Beach, hemmed in by

anything that ‘out there’. It was just fun,” explains

two boulder-fringed points. The northern side ▼

77

Nico Manos, Nova Scotia’s top young professional surfer.

is dense with pine and home to sheltered lefts,

quite a long while. I loved it. We were into the

while on the southern edge a grass-carpeted

eighties and nineties and it was still like the fifties

bluff reveals winding right-hand walls. During the

and sixties of surfing. People who travelled here,

summer the shore front lake draws in the ‘June

especially from California and other places, would

Gloom’. It can be thirty-five degrees in Halifax,

fall in love with the fact that it felt like surfing

while Lawrencetown is bathed in the miasma of

before surfing became commercialised.”

a clawing fogbank. This is the heartland of Nova

The sea here was the domain of the local

Scotia surfing. They are a relatively small crew

fishermen, tough men who made a living in tough

who migrated out to the communities away from

conditions. They didn’t take kindly to the ‘hippies’

the crowds and the bustle, close to the beaches

who were suddenly in their midst, parking in

and the points. Guys like John Brennan, Paul

their spaces, weaving along the glassy breakers

Camillari, Jim Leadbetter and Surfer Joe. “Most

near their lobster pots. “Their job was cold and

of the surfers at that time had moved here to

rough and dangerous and the sea was not a place

Lawrencetown or Seaforth or Chezzetcook,”

where you played – the sea was a place where

says Lesley Choyce, a New Jersey-born surfer

you earned your living at a great cost,” explains

who transplanted into the embryonic community

Lesley. “I think they were wondering, ‘What the

over thirty years ago. “The priority was, ‘Let’s

hell?’ They had a hard time figuring out what

get situated by the waves first and we’ll figure

the hell we were doing.” These weren’t the kind

out the rest later.’”

of guys you’d want to get on the wrong side

Faded photos tell stories of wood-clad

of. Long-haired youths suddenly arriving by the

houses, flared trousers and BBQ’s on lawns strewn

Kombi load seemed like an intrusion to these

with candy-coloured single-fins – scenes that could

quiet communities, and the fishermen responded

have easily been played out on a lazy afternoon

with their own brand of localism. There were

on the Gold Coast or any NorCal autumn Sunday.

disagreements, fights. A temperamental van

“People would come here and they would say it

left at the beach overnight was found filled with

was like California in the 1950s,” says Lesley. “It

boulders. “We were from the outside and I can’t

had that feel to it, which it really held onto for

say that we were immediately accepted,” says Jim.

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Mick Lowe, a non-surfer from Dartmouth, one of the many local faces found up and down the coast.

“There was a view from a lot of the local people that maybe most of the guys were into drugs and that sort of stuff.” Luckily, once the surfers had moved into the coastal communities, it didn’t take long for them to integrate. “The reality now is that a very large percentage of the population here are surfers,” says Jim. “We used to be a few, now we’re probably the biggest group of folks here.”

Nico Monos stands dwarfed by the huge wooden skeleton of a house, its frame shrouded in a clear polythene coat. The harsh bass of hammers and rasping staccato of saws reverberate around the structure. “Built with surfer labour,” he says proudly. “There’s no way I could afford to build here if it weren’t for my friends all pitching in. Carpenters, plumbers, electricians – it’s a real community.” Nico is the modern face of Nova Scotian surfing: Quiksilversponsored, making pages in the surf magazines, building his own house overlooking the beach.

He has the squat solid build of a pro surfer and an easy, confident smile. Like most locals here, he wasn’t introduced to waveriding at a young age.

“Fifteen. Pretty late. Even right now there are only a handful, literally five surfers, under the age of twenty. It’s cold and it’s miserable, and you have to be that much more driven to want to surf.”

Nico is well-travelled, but come autumn, there’s nowhere else he’d rather be than the points at Lawrencetown. Having seen the crowds of Southern California, he knows just how good they have it here, but also how a boom in popularity can impact on local breaks. “There was a lot of discussion about that. For instance, I show up in magazines here and there and is that leading to our line-ups getting more crowded?

And I bet you some people would say definitely yes, it’s because more pictures are getting published of the place. But then you look at how many visiting surfers came here this year. Not many. I think it’s probably the influx of people from the city discovering surfing. The surf world’s getting exposure as a whole and putting surfing in people’s minds, that’s driving the Halifax area’s population of 350,000 out to the beach.”

Just as this region managed to hang onto that quiet, laid-back feel longer than most, so the growing pains are coming later too. “It’s a really friendly place here, and Canadian people are really friendly in general,” says Nico, “but there has been some stuff that has gone on with people going to spots where some people think they shouldn’t go.” For most, modern-day localism probably means getting vibed, dropped in on or taking some verbal. In Nova Scotia, at the ▼

79

Pumpkin people, Seaforth.

breaks where localism exists, it’s old-school. Like

where huge wooden poles hang suspended from

warmth, then maybe go back in if it’s good. When

the weather, it can be frigid. “Tyres get slashed,

the ceiling. They levitate four feet off the ground,

it’s thick with snow we can plough our way in…

windows smashed, vehicles getting torched, and

illuminated by a ring of arc lights aimed into the

literally, with a snowplough on the 4x4, towing

violence and fights and things like that.” I point

central space. A matt black, 1948 Jeep lurks in the

the trailer.” I ask if they’ve experienced a growth

out that it’s a bit ironic that the first surfers who

shadows away from this cocoon of light. Centre

in surfing recently. “Not really,” he shakes his

came out here suffered similar intimidation. Nico

stage, Dorian Steele shouts a hello, continuing the

head, as if the possibility of crowds seems just too

just nods. “I guess so, yeah. It has kind of faded

long sweeping brush strokes as he lays the final

remote to contemplate. “But then there are other

off in some spots, but there are some that are

coat of varnish on the masts of his Essex Fishing

breaks. Breaks we’ve been using a boat to get to.

still really protected. The utmost is done to make

Smack, a 29-footer that used to ply its trade on

But that’s another story.”

them remain that way. In the same way respect

the Thames estuary – another Anglo-Canadian

hasn’t been passed down or etiquette hasn’t been

transplant. “Sorry, can’t stop once I’ve started,”

emerge onto a narrow track. It’s barely a track,

passed down, sometimes the spots you shouldn’t

he explains.

more like a centre parting in the foliage. I can see

go to hasn’t been passed down.”

I sit in the line-up and take a moment

We’ve moved south from Halifax, out into

Fighting through the damp grass, I finally

a clearing ahead, beyond it the sea and beyond

the green, along the jagged coastline and away

that the horizon. I tramp out onto the top of a red

to reflect, snug in a head-to-toe skin of 6mil

from the numbers. Here, the line-up is whoever

cliff at the very end of the point and peel back my

neoprene. Lesley Choyce paddles past me in a

comes with you in the pick-up. Dorian has an

hood. The coastline is a layered zig-zag of colours

drysuit. “I always felt that there was something

uncanny look of Keanu Reeves, and the lighting

that stretches to the far north and south, each

different about waves when you’re surfing in

gives this scene a distinctly filmic quality, but the

headland lighter and less defined in the drizzle, as

the middle of the winter,” says Lesley. “When

unscripted conversation is all about the hidden

they fade away into the distance. There are peeling

the water’s that cold it’s more dense, so there’s

points and reefs of this skeleton coast. “There are

points, swell lines are rising and pitching. A reef

something different about the waves you ride.

some excellent points around here, yet there’s

leaves a telltale triangular fingerprint of white-

When you get these ice crystals in the wave,

only a small crew. Sometimes Nico and the boys

water. Below a wave is rolling through, and I notice

and it’s a sunny day and you’re looking through

will come down, but mostly there’s just a handful

a scramble path down the cliff to the small pebble

a wave, you’re seeing all this crystal and ice

of us.” I ask him about accessing the breaks,

beach. I reach into my pocket for my camera

actually in the wave – it’s spectacular.”

especially in the winter. “Did you see the U-Haul

and find only the residual warmth left behind by

trailer outside? That’s The Shack. Inside it’s got

my hand. I smile. Sometimes it’s best to let such

seats and a heater. We can tow it with us down to

panoramas go unrecorded. I turn to make the trek

whichever spot we’re surfing. When it’s minus-

back to the hire car. It’s a big, ugly Chevy with out-

twenty you can come out and get changed in the

of-state plates. I hope it’s still in one piece

Walking through a dark workshop area we emerge into a warehouse

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multi

man The Pharrell Williams Interview.

INTERVIEW Richard Cunynghame Photography Grant Robinson

Pharrell Williams is a man of many faces. There’s

adoration, has snuck backstage to throw a phone

I think it’s a beautiful thing because it allows

Pharrell the producer, who as one half of The

into her hero’s face and squeal, “Say hi to my

for more people to get into it and for it to gain

Neptunes has churned out hits for everyone from

sister!” A patient Pharrell questions his admirer’s

the respect it deserves. You know, if skating

Britney to The Hives. There’s Pharrell the frontman

age before responding with a responsible, “This

hadn’t gained its popularity there would be no

and drummer behind hip-hop-rock hybrid band

is Pharrell you’re talking to – not Gary Glitter.”

X Games – there wouldn’t be the Shecklers of

N.E.R.D. There’s also Pharrell the fashion mogul,

Excitable underage distractions sidelined,

this world or the P-Rods. Those guys make

co-founder of clothing label Billionaire Boys

gold-plated blackberry switched off, Pharrell

the money that they do because these huge

Club and Ice Cream footwear, who has everyone

Williams – a man with fingers in all pies – is finally

corporations realise that kids watch those guys,

from Louis Vuitton to designer furniture makers

ready to talk.

and they’re very talented so it makes sense. It’s

Domeau & Pérès knocking down his door to

cool when it’s underground but it has to grow

collaborate. And then there’s Pharrell the business

HUCK: Okay, let’s start at the beginning.

in order to mature and gain the respect of the

tycoon, creaming off a nice earner from his record

Skateboarding, bikes and music are clearly all

world that will support it and endorse it.

label, Star Trak. But, somewhere in between all

a big part of your life – but how about when

this, there’s still ‘Skateboard P’ – the kid who grew

you were growing up?

Some people may credit you with helping to

up, made a buck or two and fulfilled a childhood

PHARRELL: Well, yeah, that’s all we did as kids –

bring hip hop to a wider audience. Was that a

dream by building a half pipe in his house.

skate or ride our bikes. I mean, I wasn’t really good

big motivation when it came to producing – were

on a bike, we used to go on dirt trails and just do

you always looking to open your sound up to

topless, post-gig kind. And, before music or

crazy jumps and shit. It was like a group of ten of

as many people as possible?

skateboarding, we’re here to talk bikes. Well,

us, back when it was all about Diamond Backs

For me, everything just sort of happened like

one bike in particular – a 26” Dirt Jumper from

and Haros and Hutches. You know, when you’re

that by accident. I wasn’t looking for anything

Brooklyn Machine Works that takes its name from

a kid, it’s just kinda like… it’s very broad – you’re

to grow or be much bigger. I was just happy

Pharrell’s bodyguard, Big Ben. So is there any link

not all about skating, or all about being on a bike.

to be a part of it.

between the giant towering over Pharrell and

I dunno, we were just well-rounded kids.

The Pharrell here today is of the sweaty,

So it wasn’t an intentional thing, to bring that

London’s famous clock? “No, it’s because I’m You’ve watched hip hop and skateboarding

sound to a broader market?

move away from their underground roots and

Who am I to say, ‘Oh yeah, I’m gonna bring it?’

all that stands between us and Pharrell is the

into mainstream culture. Do you see this as a

Who the fuck am I? Even if I wanted to show it to

star-struck teen who, in between excited yelps of

good or bad thing?

people, who knew that I had the power to do ▼

fucking big and called Ben.” One beefy bodyguard suitably pissed off,

85

Pharrell and his bodyguard, Big Ben.

listen

it, is what I’m saying. Like, who am I to assume

When it comes to producing music as The Neptunes,

Bringing your love for skate and music back

that I’m gonna be able to bring it to the forefront?

how do you and Chad [Hugo] work together?

together, do you think you can compare the

I don’t have that power, you know. So, like I said,

We just sort of bounce ideas off each other. It’s

feeling you get from pulling a really good trick

if I had anything to say, it’s that I’m very happy

like a melting pot, you know, where you just

to producing a really good track? Do they both

to be a part of it and to be instrumental in it, but

keep pouring things in and then when it sounds

give you the same sort of buzz?

not necessarily the key catalyst. If anything I’m

right, it sounds right. And when it doesn’t you

I’ve never looked at it like that, but I guess it’s

just riding on the coattails of people who really

just grab it or maybe pull it out later and just sort

true. The funny thing is that you picked two

do it and are really great. Call it my adoration

of chop away until it just gets right – chisel at it

hobbies that are user oriented. I can’t tell you what

and appreciation for people who are ill and are

till it’s good.

the high is that somebody gets when they catch some serious air or what some other musician feels

sick with it.

Changing the subject slightly, I hear you have a

when he plays something great. I love music, but

You do seem to put out a lot of stuff that’s part

half pipe in your house…?

it’s not about me – it’s about the audience and

of collaborations. Is that important to you – to

Yes sir…

how they feel. That’s what I get a high from. I get

be part of a team?

high off of seeing them like something.

It’s not a necessity – it’s a pleasure and a privilege

Do you skate it much?

to be able to collaborate with different talented

Whenever I get a chance. But I haven’t skated

Is that part of the reason why you started N.E.R.D.,

people, you know. Like I just did a song [for shoe

properly in two years. I fucked myself up about

to move away from producing behind the scenes

company Converse] with Santogold and Julian

two and a half years ago and I just haven’t been

and get out there in front of your fans?

Casablancas from The Strokes. How can you do

near a board since.

I dunno, I guess N.E.R.D. is more like an ID for us.

that? Those are two super talented individuals.

N.E.R.D. is who we are and The Neptunes is what What about your brother [Cato]? Isn’t he on your

we do as producers. N.E.R.D. is our explanation

You’ve collaborated with everyone from Madonna

Ice Cream skate team?

for why we think the way we think and the way

to Daft Punk. Is there anyone out there that you’d

Yeah, my younger brother. But we just sort of

we see things.

still love to work with?

had to put Ice on hold for a second because

At this point, probably someone like Prince.

we switched manufacturers. So the team are

Finally, I gotta ask – who was your favourite skater

But it would be nice to do some records on The

all skating for different people right now – they

as you were growing up?

Strokes’ new album.

all skate for their other sponsors.

When I was a kid? [Christian] Hosoi. All the way

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.

Into the Wild

HUCK joins Nike ACG to explore the eerie beauty of Utahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Moab region and discover another side to America.

Text and photography Ed Andrews

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La Sal Mountain range in the background.

As I board the connecting flight in Cincinnati,

is overcome by something much more powerful.

and bacon, we embark on a hike, fully kitted up

I am greeted by the thick, pungent smell of grease

The desert sunset casts a rich glow across Utah’s

to endure the rocky desert landscape, roasting

seeping out of McDonald’s bags. The stench clogs

Wasatch Mountains, illuminating the scorched

sunshine and bitter chill of the night.

my pores and clings in my throat. I sit next to

mountain landscape in fiery reds and oranges

The town’s scenery has been used by many

a morbidly obese man wearing a billowing check

and stirring up a rare ethereal pang in this cynical

a Hollywood blockbuster as a backdrop for the

shirt, jeans and braces. The intercom crunches

atheist. I can only imagine what the more spiritually

‘true’ Wild West. Everyone from John Wayne to

into life and the air hostess, obligatory fifty-mile

susceptible Mormon founders would have felt at

Thelma and Louise have traipsed the magnificent

smile surgically fixed across her perma-tanned

this sight. It’s truly beautiful – and it’s just the start.

landscape. The 1950s saw Moab boom from

face, appears on the screens overhead. After many

Over the following days, we head deep into the

uranium mining, which proved very lucrative at the

a ‘It’s a federal offence’ this and ‘By the order of

eastern Utah desert to the spiritual home of the

height of the Cold War. Here and there, the scars of

the Department of Homeland Security’ that, we are

great outdoors, Moab. Perhaps there is more to

hardrock digging are still visible, with abandoned

flying. It’s four hours to Salt Lake City. This is going

America than stereotypes dictate – for out in the

quarries sadly cut out of the hills.

to be hell.

wild, there exists another place.

But three and a half hours later, as the plane

Nowadays the town is a hub for outdoor sports, and Nike ACG has brought us here to share

descends into the Mormon capital of the world,

Day one.

in its inspiration. Our hike starts just outside of

something amazing happens. My own prejudice

After a pre-dawn breakfast of pancakes, eggs

Moab at Negro Bill Canyon – a place, according ▼

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Negro Bill Canyon.

to our guide Erik, that is ‘yet to be reached by

as ‘Mormon Tea’ when early teetotal settlers boiled

sit in the east, sparkling from a light dusting of snow

political correctness’. Beginning by the banks of

up bundles to get that forbidden buzz. Faced with

and overlooking the desert that continues past the

the Colorado River, the canyon was formed by a

such a harsh environment, and the temperance

western horizon.

natural spring creek that cut down through the soft

demanded by their religion, even early pioneers, it

rock. Cacti, bushes, trees and grass sprout out of

seems, needed the odd stimulant.

Later on, we gather around the camp fire as the temperature plummets with sundown, the dry

the dusty ground by the creek. The autumnal leaves

The path we take along the creek is well

air unable to hold in any heat. Sitting at over 1,000m

of the trees drop bright yellows and greens against

trodden, but we are strongly encouraged not to

above sea level, the cold certainly bites hard. I climb

the golden sandstone, producing a spectrum of

stray from it. While the ground may only appear

into my tent, fully-clothed inside a thermal sleeping

colour unlike anything I’ve seen. Juniper bushes

to be scrub and dirt, it is in fact a rare type of

bag yet still shivering in the dark.

waft the scent of gin into the dry air as the sun gets

cryptobiotic soil, and the very thing that sustains

higher in the sky, sending the temperature soaring

life on this inhospitable land. To step on it would

Day TWO.

– but fall into the shadows and you are met with

destroy a delicate structure of nutrients and render

I wake up before dawn. My mouth is bone dry and

a chill.

it useless for decades to come. After several hours

it takes nearly a whole flask of water to saturate its

Erik stops by a twiggy bush and snaps off a

hiking, we make a steady climb out of the canyon

cracked sides – another reminder of the harsh nature

small stem to chew on. The plant, Ephedra funerea,

and continue across an expansive plateau. Once

of this environment. I climb up a rocky outcrop and

is a natural source of ephedrine. It became known

again, the view is awesome. The La Sal Mountains

take a seat, quietly enjoying the transformation from

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Fiery Furnace.

starlight to sunrise. I snap away with my camera but

to fathom why. Just being here is invigorating,

dichotomy of this intriguing country – a place so

nothing seems to do this sight justice.

a life-affirming experience that puts the everyday

afflicted by corporate marketing and commercial

world into perspective.

fakery and yet host to some of the most spectacular

The rest of the morning is spent rolling petrified over steep sand dunes of the Slickrock

Away from civilisation, the twenty-dollar bill

mountain bike trail – something that turns out to

that sits in my pocket is completely redundant.

Before this, I myself was unable to look

be a combination of exhilarating charges down and

There is not a fast food wrapper, television set

beyond the SUVs and super-size fries – too busy

gruelling, near-vertical climbs up. After lunch by the

or drooling, consumer zombie in sight. There is,

scorning the city to notice the mountains that lay

Colorado River, we head for The Fiery Furnace – a

however, stunning vistas, epic horizons and the

behind. As I prepare to shut down my laptop, some

cluster of sandstone stacks that form a tight maze

most amazing wilderness I have ever seen.

of my misconceptions are packed away with it.

Day three.

wrong

dotted with pools of hardy flora.

Leaping from rock to rock, scrambling up

natural settings in the world.

.

It feels good to realise I may have been

inclines and crawling through narrow tunnels, we

I am back at Salt Lake City airport, writing this as

reach a vantage point that reveals the expansive

I wash down greasy pizza with a bland, watery

Special thanks to Nike ACG, who celebrated their

Arches National Park, a collection of over 2,000

lager – a consumer once again. Out of the window,

20th Anniversary with a trip to Moab, one of the

natural sandstone arches that has been protected

the Wasatch Mountains tower on the horizon, the

key inspirations for Nike’s iconic Air Mowabb.

as a National Monument since 1929. It’s not difficult

Utah capital sprawling at their base. It sums up the

www.nikeacg.com

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Photography PAUL CALVER

Central London, 5pm. Commuter hell is in full swing and the chaos of gridlock rules supreme.

Cars hate buses, buses hate cars, and everyone hates that angry man in his shitty white van.

But in amongst the spite and rage, the hush of pedal power is battling through. London’s bicycle messengers – addicted to speed and the scent of the road – risk life and limb to deliver on time.

But this isn’t their day job. This is their life.

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From left to right: David Jacket Element. Chandra Trousers Matix. Sarah T-shirt Ambiguous. Shoes DVS.

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Ryan Hoodie Chico. Sweater Quiksilver. Shorts Element.

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Chandra Shirt Carhartt.

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Nhatt Shirt Carhartt. Hoodie Etnies.

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Mary Stripe vest Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neill.

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Sarah T-shirt Ambiguous.

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From left to right: Ryan Sweater Quiksilver. Shorts Element. Nicky Hoodie Carhartt.

Sarah T-shirt Ambiguous. Chandra Trousers Matix. David Jacket Element.

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FREE SUNNIES ANYONE? SUBSCRIBE TO HUCK AND WIN A PAIR OF SABRE MADNESS INTERCHANGEABLES. NOT ONLY WILL YOU BE ROCKING FASHIONABLE SUNGLASSES, BUT YOU’LL ALSO HAVE AN EXTRA PAIR OF ARMS TO GO WITH THEM, SEE BELOW. IT’S LIKE, ALMOST TWO SUNNIES FOR THE PRICE OF ONE. THE FIRST 40 SUBSCRIBERS WIN, SO GET ON IT! WWW.SABRE.FM/EUROPE NAME ADDRESS

POSTCODE E-MAIL Type of subscription UK £15 (5 issues) Europe (air mail) £25 (5 issues) Rest of the world (air mail) £40 (5 issues) Please enclose a cheque for £15 (UK residents only) made payable to Story Publishing to: HUCK Magazine Subs Department Studio 209 134-146 Curtain Road London, EC2A 3AR You can also subscribe by Paypal from anywhere in the world by visiting www.huckmagazine.com.

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T A R ES M GAusic m lm

Fi

MurmurART

INTRODUCING BRITAIN’S BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS.

School Of Seven Bells

HARMONISING LIKE ONLY TWINS CAN.

Whitewash

TACKLING SURFING’S ISSUES WITH RACE.

Plus…

NIcola Williams, Jokela High.

VIVID MEMORIES FROM 1979 BY JAMIE BRISICK.

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Hell No, We Won't Schmooze!

Young British artists are cutting out the middlemen and going it alone.

IF YOU DIG MURMURART CHECK OUT...

RYAN MCGINNESS WORKS Deitch Projects, New York March 7 – April 18 A psychedelic pop overload from Manhattan’s Jack-of-all-trades. Expect paintings, sculptures and an ‘experiential installation’.

If you know your Pollock from your Warhol, you need to know McGinness to understand who came next. www.deitch.com

A FORÇA DA RUA theprintspace, London April 24 – May 12 Twelve Gibson guitars, customised by twelve

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Starting out as a young artist is intimidating. The industry offers precious few avenues into a scene where the judgements of an established elite are key to gaining recognition and, more importantly, gravitas.

Every year over 1,000 students graduate from the UK’s top art colleges. A select few are lucky and find galleries and agents willing to take them on whilst the majority are forced to look for alternative methods of fitting their art into a professional life, often at uncomfortable artistic or personal compromise.

“I got a job in an industry I disliked because the hours meant I would still have a few days a week to work on my paintings,” says Amy Moffat, finalist in The Saatchi Gallery’s 4 New Sensations and one of many bright young prospects currently working with murmurART. The brainchild of William Conibear and Donald Eastwood, MurmurART offers

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an open forum and web community for upcoming artists to present their works directly to the art world on their own terms and without compromise.

“We truly believe in a need for such a platform... even the most talented young artists really struggle to survive before the holy grail of gallery representation,” says William, whose marketing background with the M&C Saatchi group complements Donald’s experience as a journalist.

Seeking to bridge the gap between education and gallery space, murmurART is a grassroots movement in a community brimming with talent.“Artists like myself and others on murmurART.com want to make work we believe in and not compromise our work in order to sell it,” says Laurence Owen, who since graduating in 2005 has exhibited in the Boundary and COSA galleries in London, as well as in the Serpentine Gallery as part of Damien Hirst’s permanent collection.

With support from experienced industry insiders such as Flora Fairbairn (famous for curating projects in non-gallery spaces) and Catriona Warren (former editor of ArtReview and respected philanthropist for emerging art), murmurART offers their artists several media channels to build a profile in an already hyper-competitive industry.

Outlets include an interactive online gallery, online magazine and murmurART-curated exhibitions, the first of which will take place at Selfriges in London through the month of June.

Boasting an open-minded approach that gives the artist full creative control, murmurART is a forward-thinking new venture that deserves attention.

Elitist gallery types: consider yourself warned. Tom Cornishe

celebrated street artists, equals a musical masterpiece. Guitars reworked by the likes of D*Face and Brazilian pioneer Tinho will be auctioned off on April 29, at The Cuckoo Club, to raise funds for the ABC Trust (Action for Brazil’s Children). So get bidding and do some good. www.forceofthestreet.com

SHEPARD FAIREY: SUPPLY & DEMAND ICA, Boston February 6 – August 16 The man himself may be deep underground, but a retrospective of his work has been lifted from the street and slapped on gallery walls. If you haven’t seen the Obama poster, get out from under your rock and do yourself a favour – familiarise yourself with one of today’s biggest

For details on the murmurART-

artists and form your own

curated exhibition at Selfridges this

opinion on all the copyright

June, see www.huckmagazine.com.

violation fuss. www.icaboston.org

www.murmurart.com

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NIcola Williams, Talk About Left and Right.

Cristina Cojanu, Divan and Ottoman.

Amy Moffat, Tango II.

Laurence Owen, Medicine Man.

Blood B Harmony Harmony armon School Of Seven Bells keep the melody in the family.

A pair of stunning girls – twins at that – and a man in the middle. You don’t get many second chances in pop, but with looks like theirs and divine, wraithlike, electronically tinged songs to boot, everyone here has already heard that Benjamin Curtis left space rockers Secret Machines to pursue School Of Seven Bells, and that sisters, Claudia and Alejandra Deheza, are formerly of On! Air! Library!

We’re at Cargo, in East London, and the show is sold out. It takes the Brooklyn-based trio plenty of time, but they eventually soar. Now it’s the next day and – cough! – it’s Benjamin who picks up the phone as they bomb across the UK on what seems like a never-ending tour. Damn.

But at least he turns out to be a lovely chap.

It’s nice to see you winning such a devoted audience here in Britain, Ben. “It’s weird, because you just never know.

You drive, you turn up in a

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city and you don’t have any idea of how it’s going to go.

If the room’s full, of course it’s fucking amazing, but it’s always a surprise.”

And the second chance: are you surprised you’ve been given one? “At first it was all about the past, and that made it easier and more difficult. It’s hard to get people to really listen, because they think they already know what you do, or they write off your new band as a side project. On the other hand, it’s easier to get a little more attention, because you’ve already made a musical relationship with an audience.”

School Of Seven Bells’ debut album, Alpinisms, came out last year and it’s still enjoying word-of-mouth success. To some it’s Enya done by hipsters; to many others it’s a soft dream of a record, sweetly completed by the mythical holy grail in pop singing: the blood harmony.

Benjamin, you will know this: does the blood harmony

exist, and is it really a seamless and unfathomable joy?

“Absolutely, but both the voices have to be quality to sit together perfectly. It’s really rare and special, and we’re lucky to have it in our band.

Sometimes sound guys can’t believe it because the same voice seems to be coming out of both mics. We talk about it sometimes and it’s like they know they have to do it – they have to sing together and work at it the whole time. It’d be crazy for them not to.”

He’s a lucky man, Benjamin Curtis, and a busy one at that. Detail your future plans, please. “Well, about a week ago, I was in a meeting with someone and we were actually talking about 2010.

It’s fucking crazy. But I like knowing what I have to do, because I’ve been in a place where the opposite was the case, and that’s far harder.”

Phil Hebblethwaite

IF YOU DIG SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS CHECK OUT...

CATHEDRAL CLASSICS, VOLUME 1 (out April 30) A compilation from the label that released the School’s debut single, Sonic Cathedral.

HERE’S HUCK’S FAVOURITE SEVEN BELLS FROM THE ALBUM: 1. The Tamborines, ‘Sally O’Gannon’ 2. Sarabeth Tucek, ‘Something For You (Contino Mix)’ 3. Kyte, ‘Planet’ 4. Dean & Britta, ‘White Horses (Sonic Boom Mix)’ 5. M83, ‘We Own The Sky (Maps Mix)’ 6. Japancakes, ‘Soon (James Rutledge Mix)’ 7. The Early Years,‘Like A Suicide’

Alpinisms is out now, on Full Time Hobby.

From left to right: Benjamin Curtis, Alejandra Deheza and Claudia Deheza.

listen

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David Landsdown, circa 1970.

Silence The Hunter Brave new documentary Whitewash gives black surfers a voice.

IF YOU DIG WHITEWASH CHECK OUT...

TROUBLE THE WATER (2008) Directors: Carl Deal and Tia Lessin Filmed by two New Orleans residents who found themselves caught up in Hurricane Katrina, the film documents both the impact the storm had on the local community and how the mostly low-income African-American population was grossly let down by the government.

It’s not just about the hurricane, it’s about America.

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www.troublethewater.com

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‘Until the lion learns to write, the story of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.’ It’s an African proverb, favoured by thinkers like Chinua Achebe, and a telling one at that. History, as we know it, has been written by those who dominate. They’re the ‘good guys’ and everyone else can just conform to whatever old box they get.

But times they are a changin’, right? I mean, we’re in the age of Obama – a chapter in history that has taken racial stereotype and pummelled it spectacularly into the ground. Black, white or green – tomorrow’s kids are no longer shackled by the self-image society imposes on them and, unlike their folks, are free to dream of being anyone they please: brain surgeon, rocket scientist or eradefining president.

But what about ‘surfer’? Will black kids grow up believing they can be the next Slater?

Or will they themselves find the whole concept weird. I mean, black kids don’t surf surf, right?

Wrong. The fact that most line-ups are dominated by white flesh says more about

history than anything else – and new documentary Whitewash is tackling the issue head on. “My mom always said the Civil War wasn’t over,” says Ted Woods, the filmmaker outing surfing’s biggest taboo.

“As I got older I understood what she meant… race is a complex limitation, and the history of black surfers reveals just how pervasive race is in America.”

Handing the mic to academics and black surfers, and with voiceover courtesy of Ben Harper, Whitewash cuts through surfing’s selective history. When Jack London wrote of the ‘sport of kings’, he painted the colonisation of Hawaiian culture as a beautiful thing. The romance of elitism was a marketer’s dream, and over time this ‘royal sport’ became distinctly white. “I came to understand the notion of white supremacy and what that means in terms of production and control,” explains Ted. “Something as cultural as surfing is reserved as a white sport – the blonde hair, blue eye, beach boys mentality – when in reality it

was a culturally significant Hawaiian activity prior to any contact with the Western world.”

This history – written by the hunter – became the bedrock of racial identities: how dominant culture (i.e. white people) saw minority cultures (i.e. black people), and in turn how minority cultures saw themselves, was not only limiting but based on an untruth: “The complexity of race is simplified in that people think there are these categories we are supposed to fit into. When white people are surprised by black surfers, it says a lot about physiological myths – like, ‘black people can’t swim’, which of course is untrue. And then in the black community it’s also seen as something that’s ‘just not done.’”

Now, just like the big O, Whitewash is redressing history, by showing racial stereotypes for the ludicrous inventions they are. As Ted says: “People will do what they do in spite of these social constructions and these categories that we try to slap on ourselves.” Andrea Kurland

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GOD WENT SURFING WITH THE DEVIL (2009) Director: Alexander Klein A movie about surfing and life in Israel and Gaza, this forthcoming release can’t come a moment too soon. Following a group of Americans and Israelis as they try to deliver surfboards to the people of Gaza, it speaks to the groups affected by the violence as they struggle daily to achieve the sweet escape of surfing. www.godwentsurfing.com

RIO BREAKS (2009) Director: Justin Mitchell Mixing the thematic of City of God with the aesthetic of Endless Summer Summer, Rio Breaks has everything to become one of the best docs of the year. It tells the story of Fabio and Naamã, two young teens who navigate their way between the pitfalls of life in a Rio de Janeiro slum and the joys of surfing on their favourite beach. Shot on HD, this is verite made awesome.

Subtle. Beautiful. Inspired. www.riobreaks.com

www.trespassproductions.com

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It’s Blitz Polydor It leaked and even if you didn’t snag an early copy you might have heard that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs had gone... disco. Not true. Nick Zinner’s jerky guitar lines have been scaled back, there’s a vintage synth involved across a lot of the album and some electronic drums, but Karen O certainly hasn’t turned into Gloria Gaynor. In fact, we know from the latent success of ‘Maps’, the third single from their debut album, that they can nail a soaring, meditative song and many tracks on here have a similar touch. “We’ve got a death grip on the adolescent way of feeling things,” Karen has said about the record and that remains about right. The main difference to before is space – there’s far more of it on It’s Blitz and it suits them as they grow as a band. It’s still raw, though, and they still hit you right where it matters – in the gut, head, feet and, if you’re a fella, scrotal sack.

Phil Hebblethwaite

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Please And Thank You Cooking These clever chaps from Cambridge have been gradually moving away from the indie country of their early records and turning into... Pavement. The transformation is complete on album number seven but only a fool won’t recognise what always made them great: sardonic and witty songs delivered with real bite. PH

Fabriclive 45 Fabric A scratch champ and Kayne West’s touring DJ, but this mix for the London superclub is a blatant attempt to prove that it’s not all hip hop and f-f-f-f-fresh cuts with A-Trak. Throbbing house, electro and disco all get a look in and, as you’d expect from a master, he’s knitted his sweater together with proppa skill. PH

listen

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Stripped Sony This brilliant LP sees the country legend return to seventeen songs he cut forty-odd years ago – all of which were flipped into pop sugar by the Nashville producers of the day – and re-master sans saccharine strings and gloopy backing vocals. To prove a point, he’s photographed starkers in the bath on the inlay card. But you can’t see his cock. PH

The Bury All Sweatbox Sounds UK producer Mr Loop brings an assortment of choice hip hop sounds with this tight debut, sampling everything from medieval lutes to late-night jazz, and holding it together with big beats and catchy hooks. Regular appearances by emcees Zoo Mark, Slippa and Yosh bring a slice of suburban charm to the mix, giving a fresh sound to a genre so often riddled with clichés. Ed Andrews

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listen

listen

Presented by Surfersvillage

Whatever, Wherever, Whenever…….

If it happened in the world of surfing, we’ve got it covered.

Release date: March 2009 / Distribution: Worldwide Chief editor: Phil Jarratt (For the Love, Mountain & the Wave, etc) Price: $65.00 usd The online Surfersvillage experience is now presented in this classic handsomely bound Yearbook enabling surfing aficionados to keep & treasure the full year in surfing.This 240-page illustrated reference work documents everything that happened in the world of surfing in 2008, and previews 2009 and beyond.

The Surfing Yearbook incorporates the complete package of news, features, results, opinions and photography, providing an insider’s view of everything that matters in each of the world’s surfing regions - Africa, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, Japan, South and Central America, and USA.

www.SurfingYearbook.com

Contents include: • Everything that happened in the world of surfing in 2008 • The SV Almanac: week by week, all the surfing news • Analysis and opinion by surfing’s leading opinion makers • Contest results, region by region, from smallest to biggest • Photo essays from the best surf photographers around the world • Profiles of all the leading surfers of 2008 • 2008 ASP year review - 2008 ISA year review • Preview of important events & players of 2009 and beyond • Inside the industry: who’s movin’, who’s shakin’ & trends • Ocean environmental issues, weather and swell reports • The only global directory of surfing products and services • World, regional, national and local champions profiles

MOVIES Let The T Right ight One In

Director: Tomas Alfredson Out go the counts, coffins and Gothic castles, in are the cold concrete streets of a Swedish suburb – an unlikely world of ice-bound innocence where monsters roam.

Alfredson’s bleak, bold and beautiful horror film re-imagines the vampire as something tender and troubled, eviscerating the old clichés and building towards a climax of dark loveliness. Matt Bochenski

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Encounters A Att The T End Of The T World

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Director: Werner Herzog Who else but Herzog could talk himself onto a plane to the Antarctic by telling the scientists in charge that he wants to find out why monkeys don’t saddle up gazelles and ride off into the sunset? That sets the tone for a documentary that drifts between black comedy and poignant enquiry as Herzog encounters the existential refugees who’ve fallen to the end of the world. MB

Sounds S ounds Like Teen T S Spirit pirit

Director: Jamie Jay Johnson A documentary about Eurovision for kids? Oh dear. Set the irony alert to DEFCON 5. But no, Jamie Jay Johnson’s film is a wonderful story of childhood, national pride and, yes, the power of music that pulsates to the rhythm of a beating heart. We witness the competition through the eyes of kids from around Europe, whose individual tales range from the awe-inspiring to the heart-breaking.

Do not miss it. Seriously. MB

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Synecdoche, S ynecdoche, New New York Y

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Director: Charlie Kaufman Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze may be the coolest kids in Hollywood, but they wouldn’t be where they are today without Charlie Kaufman. Kaufman is the scripting genius behind Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Mind, and now he’s made his own filmmaking debut. The result is a mind-bending storywithin-a-story-within-a-story structure that defies rational explanation but simmers somewhere in the subconscious. It’s about life, death, art, truth, love, grief and everything in between. It’s an experience that might not be for everybody, but go with the ride and you’ll corkscrew through Kaufman’s magical mind. MB

Religulous eligulous

Director: Bill Maher Shooting fish in a barrel is one thing, but Bill Maher’s Religulous is more like strapping the barrel to a nuclear missile and detonating it in space. The controversial American talk show host takes on organised religion – travelling around the US and Europe offering idiots sufficient rope with which to hang themselves. It may be superficial, but it's also entertaining and, at times, you'll find yourself laughing. Out loud. MB

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Games Resident Evil 5 Xbox 360, PS3 The prolific survival horror series takes its puzzle-solving, zombiekilling action to Africa, where S.T.A.R.S. agent Chris Redfield investigates another psychotic zombie outbreak. Thanks to a set up that’s reminiscent of the West’s genocidal imperial history – white colonial American male blasting the heads off evil voodoo natives, anyone? – the game has been stirring up controversy.

However, Capcom have produced a get-out-of-jail-free-card for any political incorrectness by giving Chris a black female sidekick! Not only does this suddenly make all the neo-colonial subtext perfectly acceptable, it also adds a new cooperative dimension to the highly familiar game play. Having said that, the ‘get key, decapitate zombie, get green herb, solve puzzle, open door, kill boss’ formula remains a winning one. And with some nice next-gen touches – such as Chris developing sunstroke if he stays out in the open for too long, online co-op modes and plenty of ammo – it’s still super blood-splattering fun! Ed Andrews

Don King presents: prizefighter Wii Although Wii Sports half-heartedly dabbled in the sweet science a while back, crazy-haired promoter King has proudly put his name to this more realistic boxing sim. Well, only if waving around plastic controllers in your living room can be considered a realistic replica of the life-affirming experience of pugilistic combat, that is. Having said that, the game also works using the Wii balance board and so adds ducking and weaving into the mix.

Graphically it’s far from pretty but should happily entertain your average Rocky Balboa wannabe. Ed A

Wheelman Xbox 360, PS3 Jointly developed as both a film and video game, Wheelman further blurs the line between cinema and gaming with this driving-shoot-them-up hybrid.

Its only flaw? Vin Diesel, whose acting is just as questionable in videogame format. That said, if it’s Matrix-style slo-mo gunfights and high-octane car chases you’re after, you could do a lot worse. Ed A

BubbleWrap iPhone Mobile phone games have been around for years but thanks to Apple cleverly marketing them as ‘Apps’, suddenly they’re cool! Amongst the new wave of touch-screen gems is BubbleWrap, a game that revolves around the simple joy of popping, you guessed it, bubble wrap. But unlike real life, these blighters re-inflate, leaving you frantically popping them against the clock chasing that elusive high score. It’s sickeningly addictive and offers an adrenaline rush on a par with tow-in surfing. Get it now! Ed A

112 www.HUCKmagazine.com

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THE STUFF THAT STAYS WITH US The year: 1979. The preferred boards and wetsuits: single fins and beaver tails. The smells wafting in the air: Thai stick, Coppertone and banana Wax Research. The song that got max airplay in the back of mom’s Vista Cruiser: ‘Stranglehold’ by Ted Nugent.

I’m thirteen and wide-eyed and still

Between surfs we peel our

emergency room experience of

worst of all, I see this traumatising

which I’ve yet to fully recover.)

snapshot from a low angle, looking

slightly intimidated by the wild animal

wetsuits down to our waists and

park that is Malibu. Though I’ve been

take our P.B.J.S, Chocodiles, and Dr.

surfing there nearly every weekend

Peppers up the beach and watch

when suddenly there he is, the goofy-

for the past year, I’ve yet to get a

in awe, knowing that before long

foot on the shoulder-high wave, only

handle on the dog-eat-dog tempo

we’ll have to throw ourselves into this

at this point the wave is only waist-

was Mickey Rat, that he lived in

of the line-up. Not only is it the most

gladiator pit of barking regular-foots

high and the goofy-foot, I discover, is

Tarzana and worked construction,

famously crowded surf spot on earth,

and screaming goofies.

naked from the neck down, which is

and that he was part of a long line

such a stunning sight that I freeze up,

of Malibu eccentrics who would

it’s also one of the most aggressive.

And so that day comes, for no

In any case, I continue stroking

up at it like some crude shot in a bad porn film.

Later I’d discover that his name

A typical set wave will be cluttered

other reason than the fact that Cousin

forget to get out of his way. There’s a

colour my years. But not only was

with four or five riders, and when one

Pete or Brett Ross or someone in our

flicker of eye contact, and then in that

Mickey’s act the most outlandish, it

turns territorial, it can go bad real

little crew breaks the ice, which means

crucial moment where he can either

was also the most apropos. He’d walk

quick. We’ve seen the surfer in the rear

the rest of us must either follow suit or

take the safe approach and forfeit

down the beach like all the other

shoot his ten-foot longboard at the

suffer ridicule, which of course leaves

the wave or take the high line and

surfers – board under arm, eyes fixed

knees of the four surfers in the front

us no choice in the matter.

risk beheading me, he chooses the

on the waves. It wasn’t until he hit

latter, which means that as he streaks

the water that he’d take off his shorts

and take them down in a shattering

It’s a pea soup July morning

domino effect. We steer clear of the

in which the surfers in the line-up

across the lip, I’m duckdiving virtually

and fasten them capelike around

hulkish and short-tempered Rebel

appear more as muted ghosts than

under his board.

his neck. He’d surf his entire session

Roy, who once bit a chunk out of an

the vivid, Herculean characters we

offending surfer’s twin fin. We hang

know from sunny days. I’m about half

circumstances this is a spectacular

of his fellow waveriders. When he

sheepishly on the inside, picking off

way out, stroking along tranquilly, hair

view, something surf photographers

was finished, in the shorebreak, he’d

scraps, hoping to pass unnoticed.

still dry, when I see what appears to

strive for, but because I’m fragile to

politely put his shorts back on then

be a goofy-foot on a shoulder-high

begin with and because this guy’s

reenter the civilised world as if the

the bunny slope. The further up

wave headed in my general direction,

nude, it’s more the kind of impression

whole thing never happened.

you go, the more intense things get.

though it’s hard to tell in the fog. I’m

that inspires Oprah confessions twenty

A hundred yards up the beach at

not worried about it. I’ve yet to learn

years after the fact.

Third Point, the Black Diamond Run

about the surfer’s law of attraction

so to speak, the surfers are younger,

which not only draws us together in

streaky blonde hair and blood-red

to the ocean’s amniotic, primordial

quicker, and more hotheaded, and

such unlikely places as the Louvre

boardshorts draped around his neck.

lure. And then of course there was the

the waves are bigger, steeper, and

or Grand Canyon, but while we’re in

I see his outstretched arms and Gerry

instant crowd control: In the ten years

more challenging. When a set comes,

the ocean as well. (I found this out

Lopez-like body language. I see his

I’d see Mickey almost daily at the

all turns frenetic: multiple riders

the hard way in 1994 when my good

acid-splashed lime-green board

‘Bu, not once can I recall him getting

zapping up and down, paddlers

pal Donnie ran me over at ten-foot

kicking up a plume of silvery spray,

dropped in on. Riddle shared waves,

scrambling to get out of their way,

Sunset about an hour after I’d eaten

and then I see his dick and balls

Willy shared waves, Dora famously

boards flying over the backs of

a handful of magic mushrooms which

flopping against his pubic hair, his lily

shoved surfers off waves – but Mickey

waves like corkscrew missiles.

ended in a traumatic, buzz-killing

white ass and pumped thighs, and

Rat always rode alone. Jamie Brisick

And this is only First Point,

114 www.HUCKmagazine.com

Now under normal

I see his cocked head and

naked, much to the befuddlement

There was something very Clark Kent/Superman about it, as if he were somehow paying homage

Photo : Ted Grambeau

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