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What’s the idea behind Skateism? When did you start and what motivated you?
hristos Simos, a.k.a. Moch, is the founder and art director of Skateism, ‘a biannual publication for the underground and overlooked in skateboarding’. Skateboarding used to play (and still plays in a way) a big part to the underground hardcore / punk culture in the past, since both scenes were initiated by outcasts and street people. I decided to talk to him and ask some basic stuff about the magazine, which is an oasis amidst the full on masculine and competitive skateboarding scene of today.
The idea behind Skateism was to break conventions in skateboarding, basically we came to the point that we couldn’t find any pleasure in doing the same content as other skate magazines, so it was either we stop doing it or we focus on things we love - things which push the community forward. Skateism is a non-profit international magazine and online website; how many people are involved and from which countries do they come from?
Interview conducted in late April 2020. Pictures & artwork provided by the interviewee.
It’s not a non-profit, we just weren’t able to make profit. In the last year or so we’ve finally been able to build our dream team of writers, producers, etc. Currently the core team is 7 people. Emanuele - online editor and Norma social media manager, they both live in Canada; our photo editor Sam lives in L.A., Osh - editorin-chief, lives in Amsterdam; Maria - online editor, lives in Copenhagen, Imke - community manager, lives in the Netherlands too - but we work with many, many contributors from all over the world.
www.skateism.com www.instagram.com/skateism Hello Moch! Thanks for the interview! How’s life? What’s going on in Skateism’s HQ right now? Hey hun. Life rn? I think life is on pause currently since this pandemic hit our doors. Skateism’s HQ is currently closed, with only me in the office. The rest of the team are working remote or from home. But we’re used to that, that’s how we did things for years...
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