Session Magazine - Issue 50

SOUTH AFRICA: R34.95 OTHER COUNTRIES: R 3 0 . 0 4

I SSUE 50 | s p r i n g 2 0 1 2

PLUS: The thumbs up tour; Yann in Durban; Maloof in pictures; christi wiehahn ketchup; the first skate critic interview...

WWW.SE SSI O N M A G .C O. Z A * May contain material offensive to some readers.

dc

KICKFLIP F/S NOSESLIDE 270 SHOVE-IT | BLABAC PHOTO

SEE FELIPE GUSTAVO REDISCOVER HIS HOME IN BRAZIL AT DCSHOES.COM/SKATEBOARDING

ELEMENT

QUIKSILVER

NIKE

THE NEW TEAM EDITION .2 AVAILABLE NOW. NIKESKATEBOARDING.COM

Shortcuts

The shortest way to the best result.

AD Henderson

Mailbag

THE FAMILY

Bizness

Brendan Body (FOUNDER) Clint van der Schyf (boss)

Shindigs

AD Henderson (EDITOR) Adrian Day (consultant)

Local Produce

Darren Jacoby (web guru)

Walking The Cow

Kyle Porter (ADVERTISING) Fleur Roose (blox adverts)

FML.

I hate abbreviations and SMS talk, but it has its uses.

It can convey a message with as little time spent as possible.

Human evolution. I’ve been saying a lot lately. The full phrase anyway. A big issue for us as the skateboarding media is the target market. To appeal to real skateboarders, you need to report from the inside out - which is pretty much offensive to society. To appeal to kids - you have to please their parents.

I’d like to think that skateboarders could all afford to buy enough shit so that we don’t need to sell to people who don’t understand skateboarding culture, let alone support it. But we can’t. Not yet.

In reality, skateboarding exists because the general populous buys into it. Our selling market is the kids under 13. As a business, that is who we should be making a magazine for. We would definitely make more money.

We would also not be skateboarders.

Shocking Reviews Decadence

Rainy Days

Have an Adrian day

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Session Skateboarding Magazine

Published independantly through Schyf Media cc.

info@sessionmag.co.za Mail us news, photos, letters and suggestions.

Postal Address PO Box 2591, Somerset West, 7129.

Session Skateboarding Magazine is published independantly 6 times a year by Schyf Media cc. Session will welcome all letters, e-mails and photos. We will review the contribution and assess whether or not it can be used as print or online content. The opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the magazine, it’s owners or it’s management. Session Skateboarding Magazine is the copyright of Session Magazine cc. Any duplication of this magazine, for any media or sale activity, will result in legal action and a review of your personal life by mark donaldson.

z t i w o r o H Yann

Printers Typo Colour Printing Specialists +27 (0) 11 402 3468/9

COVER After Ten Years of being behind the cover, we pay tribute to the one and only Bod with this frontside 180 no-comply on a legendary Wits Bank in JHB. Obviously shot

by Ben Bergh

Half Cab

for adid

iston as. Germ

B.

Bowl, JH

Scott

Van der schyf

Stick Tips

Why waste time. Subscribe!

Web presence www.sessionmag.co.za facebook.com/SessionMag twitter.com/ SessionSkatemag followgram.me/sessionad

08 | issue 50

Closet Envy

Tattanalogy

sessionssubs@rnad.co.za

RNA Subs Banking Details: First National Bank Acc: RNA Subs Brn: FNB Trade Services 657 Brn Code: 254 655 Acc. No.: 6210 4927 259

We’ve got some big shoes to fill.

Maloof 2012

writers Adrian Day, Luke Jackson, Brett Shaw, AD Henderson, Darren Jacoby, Mark Donaldson, Clint van der Schyf, Pieter Retief, Ruan Scott

So, Fuck My Life because of how broad skateboarding is getting and I’m the one who has to make sure we deal with it properly.

I got asked whether I’m up for the challenge of fulfilling this responsibility, and after the stress this issue has been - not to mention the last year - I MOST definitely am.

So get off your ass.

The Ten Year Session

photographers Andre Visser, Jonathan Pinkhard, Clinton Theron, Alan Marola, JP Du Preez, Jansen van Staden, Leon Bester, Dewald Bruwer, Darren Jacoby, Werner Lamprecht.

R150 for 6 issues and receive a free Session VCD Boxset!!

The First Generation has got us this far. They’ve inspired us to get out and skate for ten years. Our gratitude to them is directly proportionate to how much, and how well, we progress skateboarding from here.

adidas SA welcome Yann Horowitz

team photographers Pablo Ponzone, Gavin Scott, Ben Bergh, Sam Clark, Tim Moolman, Miguel Howell, Wayne Reiche, Tyrone Bradley, Clint van der Schyf.

Drugs exist, sex is great, people die, the world is a very dark place and Session will never be produced to please our parents.

Baie jammer tannie.

But the question is not whether I am up for the challenge... It’s whether YOU are. Because collectively, all of us are responsible for making skateboarding what it is in this country and not just the people you see in the magazine.

Ketchup with Christi Wiehahn Vans SA Thumbs Up Tour

ALL ADVERTISING AmpleSpace info@amplespace.co.za

issue 50 | 09

news, updates and rumours

Generally Speaking Yann Horowitz is the new adidas SA team rider and won the Quiksilver Backyard Burnout, breaking his arm in the final.

Two days into the Thumbs Up tour Joubert van Staden (right: nollie backside flip) was put on the Vans SA team. Joubert is also

we have 2 dakine x thrasher backpacks to giveaway for this issue’s reader’s photos competition. send in your photos and you and your photographer could win one of these awesome board backpacks

van staden

now riding for WeSC along with Loucas Polydorou. Volcom launched their new SA team in AV16 consisting of Alan Marola, Jean-Marc Johannes, Charl ‘Skippy’ Stein and Matthew Henderson. Check out the whole team at the Volcom Wild in the Parks event at Festival Mall skatepark on the 3 November. True Bearings have also launched and signed Khule Ngubane, Marcel van der Walt, Anthony de Mendonca, Dean Marais, Karl and Storm Reyneke. They.ve also helped create a small skate space in Tableview. Moses Adams hit the Red Bull Manny Mania Am contest in NYC and placed 9th overall.

Noon Gun is a new clothing company out of Cape Town and have started their team by adding Cole Halliday. The Quiksilver Boardriders store in Canal Walk has an amazing selection of boards, both local and international and is definitely worth a visit. Girl Skateboards have a SA trip

Reader’s Photos

due to take place later this year. Keep an eye on the Session facebook page for details of exactly when and where they will be. Plankie Skateboards have new ranges available designed by Skippy and Justus Kotze. Justus has also been picked up by Oakley South Africa. Element SA are hosting a Skate Camp at Indigo Skate Camp from the 15 to 20 December 2012. For bookings check out their new website www.indigoskatecamp.co.za.

Dallas Oberholzer and Charl Jensel will be headed to Barcelona for the Laureus conference and Dallas is currently project managing the construction of 2 skate parks in De Aar and Kuruman in the Northern Cape.

noongun are giving away this badass ‘for the win’ tshirt. simply tell us how long the noon gun in cape town has been in operation?

Wonderland Melissa Williams has left Revolution? What shit is she getting up to? Is there a Session event on the way? Are the Murth crew in hibernation? Are Plankie not doing a video next year? Will you get a free copy of The Session video? Also, we found Dlamini; build your own skatepark, website in design and we’re only a week late with this issue.

The correct answer to the question of what nationality is Madars Apse is: Latvian.

Ask and ye shall receive A4_Koston_Ad.pdf

10 | issue 50

1

4/9/12

Congratulations to:

Tlotlo Lesetedi Thabang Leeuw Cole Sinkala Ibraaheem Tagari Damiano Sirchia

6:16 PM

skullcandy subscriber hamper giveaway

Yes you can send us emails, but the winning letter is going to be the best handwritten snail mail we receive. Take some inspiration from this oldie on the left and get creative. The winner will receive 6 free issues of Session Magazine, as well as a Session Surprise Gift.

Post your handmade letters to: The Session Snail, PO Box 2591, Somerset West, 7129

ELEMENT future nature giveaway

email us at with your entries! info@sessionmag.co.za

handwritten letters sent by snailmail

In the interest of the preservation of legible handwriting and practical creativity - we’re bringing back The Mailbag.

Congratulations Azino Kobayashi and Tyrone Ping for this sequence of a Back Tail at the Stadium in Durban.

Your RVCA jackets are on the way!

Congratulations to:

K.Holmes K. Thinane Z. Styles K. Busby WD. Cook C

M

Y

CM

MY

D. Fraser GA. Williams SL. Claassen M. Betting M. Goets

We will be contacting you shortly for details and sending you hampers.

Haters Gonna Hate

Anyone with Batman on rollerblades as a profile picture is obviously taking the piss.

The SC acts anonymously and posts what he sees, or is sent from skateboarders all over the country. Session may not fully support his views but if you read his comments, you’ll see he is blatantly putting skateboarding before business.

We dropped him a few questions to see how much hate mail we can receive...

www.facebook.com/skateboardingcritic

Adrian Day described you as a ‘positive negative’ so far in that you criticise the skateboarding industry in order to better it. Do you think that is an accurate assessment of your existence? Of course.

I wouldn’t exist if I didn’t want to see the local skateboard industry improve. The skate scene is too small to speak the truth without drama and ultimately retribution. Eventually you grow tired of trying to adopt this ‘positive input’ attitude because half the time it feels like you’re banging your head against a brick wall. Sometimes you just want to tell someone that their shit stinks without having to be diplomatic about it.

If you compare South Africa to other countries, skate-wise we are so far behind – it’s not our ability that holds us back, it’s our mentality. South Africa definitely has

“I wanted to correct all the mistakes but it would have taken forever, so instead I corrected a bunch of people’s status updates for a day and upset a lot of kids.”

something unique to offer to skateboarding, yet, we have people rehashing shit from decades ago and people with no idea running skate companies, yet skateboarders still support that shit – why? Because they get thrown a free t-shirt once a month or because they lack proper knowledge of what’s happening internationally? Maybe a bit of both. I call all the bullshit out in hopes that skateboarders will get it.

I think a lot of people who come under fire think it’s just one person being bitter. They could not be further from the truth. The page has become a place for people to contribute, laugh at and discuss the skateboard scene.

Plenty of the posts are sent in from followers, I created the platform and I share these posts.

We know you’ve got a lot of opinions on various brands, however Peg has been

top of your list lately.

Why is this? Because it’s a fucking joke. It’s not even a skate brand, they sell longboards, surfboards, ‘peg up’ girls? Just look at their site, skateboards are labeled as ‘short boards’.

These companies are not beneficial to the growth of the local skate scene. If you support Peg it’s a true reflection of how little integrity you have as a skateboarder. These kinds of companies are a classic example of how ‘positive input’ will not work. It would be better if they ceased to exist - which they will. In the meanwhile, all we can do is laugh at it.

What are your biggest criticisms of Session magazine over the past ten years? There was a time when some contributors weren’t getting paid – that would be my biggest criticism. Aside from that, the spelling and grammar mistakes. At one point I wanted to correct all the mistakes but it would have taken forever so instead I

corrected a bunch of people’s status updates for a day and upset a lot of kids (with their new-age lingo).

What is your opinion of the new owners?

What is your biggest concern regarding the new ownership? It’s good. I hope they will push the magazine in a positive direction. Session Magazine started off strong and then became a little repetitive over the years. I’m expecting that to change.

Who is currently setting the right example in South African skateboarding? SSS! I’m down with any skate gang that you need to be beaten into.

Lastly, which skateboarders and/or brands need to be careful not to land up on the Critic’s Wall? No one is safe, but we’ll always have the usual suspects if they keep on making questionable moves. There’s been a battle between C1RCA and Zoo York for top spots as the worst companies for a while now. Peg just joined that fight and I see there’s a new company from Viking’s Donovan Winterburn with one or two pro models out. History repeating itself.

SS

L O C A T I O N / L O S

T H E

B A L A N C E

R V C A . C O M

A N G E L E S

O F

O P P O S I T E S

events, happenings and showdowns

horoblitz retains burnout title wins 10k and spends the night in hospital 13 October. Garsfontein, Pretoria

“If you can’t Rock n Roll, don’t f%#king come.”

Paul Rodriguez

lamprecht

JP Du Preez, Thalente Biyela, Dallas Oberholzer, Khule Ngubane and Evan Binge were the stand outs throughout the day, but it was obvious that Yann had it from the get-go. “Can someone just give Yann the 10k so we can go drinking?” JJ commented after Horoblitz landed a long, jam-packed line in the warm up session. He hit every part of that ramp with ruthless speed, popping blunt nosegrabs and 5050’s off the wall; backlips and bean plants on the tombstone; loooooong Half Cab 5-0 reverts backside and frontside - he looked unstoppable.

Ten minutes into the 15 minute final he attempted a pop out 5050 on the wall to fakie but slipped out on the land, breaking his forearm in the process. He calmly walked off pointing his arm out to JJ and headed to the medic.

The final finished and the organisers rushed to get the prize giving going. Yann and JJ debated heading to the hospital but decided to wait for the prize giving, even though his arm was swelling rapidly. He couldn’t give a shit about the money at that stage, he couldn’t even get up on the podium due to the pain when he was announced the winner, but he pulled a smile, raised his check, waited for the photographers and gave his final thoughts when asked: “Hospital. Right now.”

lamprecht

moolman

moolman

scott

Quiksilver Rider Puddy Zwennis and his girlfriend were our humble hosts, missioning around making sure things were running smooth, and together with Dane Patterson – Marketing Manager at Quik – they made sure this event went down without a hitch. Except maybe for the limited amount of free beer… but I’m not complaining.

Free beer, is free beer. They had all their bases covered: security, medics, portaloos, scaffolding, tables, branding, big checks and wristbands. Everything was sorted so that the skaters could just skate, and the spectators could just sit back and watch the show.

scott

That’s what it said on The Burnout flyer this year.

Probably because last year MC Pat Duffy was dropping lines like, “If you can’t front smith you can f%&k off!” He kept that line alive this year, albeit somewhat censored.

“Session and AV are here covering the event. If you don’t buy Session, there’s the door.” Duff was on point with all his trick names, crowd observations and quips to various individuals, but no one was as on point as Yann-Xavier Horowitz.

14 | issue 50

Many thanks to Quiksilver SA, Dane Patterson, Puddy Zwennis, Red Bull, Skullcandy and the Pretoria locals for one hell of an event.

THE STYLUS

lamprecht

lamprecht

Yann Horowitz doesn’t need a contest to prove he is a true champion and one of the best skaters this country has ever seen, but this year’s Burnout proved exactly that.

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exploring the work and other passions of SA skateboarders.

Issue 48’s cover star Dave De Witt has been a Durban legend for a number of years, helping to shape the skateboarding of many young whipper snappers. His passion for skateboarding is matched only by his aptitude for getting his hands dirty and creating what other’s marvel at.

If you’ve skated the JBay bowl, you’ll know you owe him a lifetime of props.

Dave, haven’t you got some shades for us? I’ve been hearing that a lot lately.

They’re not cheap hey? I get mixed responses on the price, some people are like “Eish, so much?” others say, “You could get way more for them.” It’s not the easiest thing to do; making shades from solid wood is simpler. Quality is another factor, I use the best lenses I can get my hands on - Polaroid polarized lenses - which pass European Class 1 and Australian sunglass lens standards, plus solid nickel hinges which I import from China. Each pair is hand-made from start to finish, no laser cutting or CNC machines involved. The procedure also takes time, it breaks down like this: old boards have their grip removed, then they are ripped, planed, cross-cut, laminated, cured, cut into veneers, cross-laminated, cured again, rough cut, shaped, sanded, edges rounded, lens groove cut, cut lenses, flush mount hinges, test fit, adjustments, branding, final sanding, clear coat, smooth, polish and final assembly.

skateboard ramps, bowls, form work and a few other things. My favourite is a tie between Jeffrey’s Bay Bowl and Sk8shades What’s your approach to a new project? I try to get as much information from a client as possible, ideas, pictures, measurements, functions, materials, finish, etc - so I can do a quick and accurate quote.

You also build ramps, and we hear you recently

“Seeing all that rad stuff and actually skating it got me amped to build when I got back.”

foods c i n a org ntry, rdinaire e p r a o ,c hades ding extra s e t a sk uil amp b r d n a

Has carpentry been your thing for a while?

Not that long really, about 4 years, but I suppose I’ve been doing some kind of carpentry all my life, along with any other kind of D.I.Y. from drilling holes in walls to mixing ‘crete. My parents have always been D.I.Y.er’s, I think I’ve only seen contractors at their place like 5 times in over 30 years. When something needed sanding or painting, I was put to work. Through the years I restored a few pieces here and there, never really taking it seriously but always wondered: how did they join that? My first job was as a mechanic, stripping machines for annual maintenance, cleaning and replacing worn parts, reassembly, and setting them up for production. Being comfortable around large machines and knowing how to fine tune them is a bonus as a big part of any wood working project is setting up your machinery.

At Wavehouse, I got to repair the park and learned how to build ramps properly. This helped when I got back from overseas and I got the contract to build the Jeffrey’s Bay bowl in 2008. That was my start as a full time Carpenter.

How did you get in to making things from wood?

After I built Jeffrey’s Bay bowl, I came back with a bunch of tools, so I started making things around my parent’s house. Kitchen cabinets, bookshelves, tables, etc. After a while some of my mom’s friends asked me to make them similar items. Brett Shaw’s wife Tracy also got me to make her some stuff then she organized me some extra work. I started reading old school woodworking books and bought some more tools.

What’s the most challenging part of carpentry?

Finding ways to set my work apart from everyone else’s. It’s a tough business to be in. Anybody can grab a skill saw, a drill, a couple dowels and throw together some furniture. There are also the numerous DIY and B-I-C shops around and a thousand more fitters. Standing out from the crowd takes a lot more work.

bradley

What sort of things have you made? What’s been your favourite? Bookshelves, toolboxes, floating wall units, loft beds, double beds, single beds, tables, picture frames, side tables, floating side tables, shelves, floating shelves, stools, radiograms, kitchen cabinets, built in cupboards, rabbits, angels, flamingos, skateboard racks, grow boxes, 16 | issue 50

worked on a concrete park project. What do you prefer - wood or concrete? When I helped with this concrete spot, I did the layout and I helped with the formwork - which is mostly woodwork cutting templates, making curved floats etc. I like the process of building a concrete park, and that it will remain for a long time, but I still prefer working with wood.

Where was the first DIY spot you had to experiment on? The first proper DIY spot was the original Murth ramp. I had stripped Wavehouse and built a park, but it was the first thing we built for ourselves to skate. 3.5ft, 3 sheets wide and a tombstone, we had fun on that ramp.

You spent a couple years on Cruise ships what was it like skateboarding epic spots like the “black pearl skate park” in the Cayman islands and the La Perla bowl in Puerto Rico. Did those spots inspire you to build stuff? Yeah man the Black Pearl is rad! Clean, secure, toilets, bars, transition from 2ft to 15ft, all with perfect radius and coping reveal plus hips, bowls, pools, stairs (in the pool), spines, clam shells, over-vert sections, pool coping, it is a crazy place. La Perla bowl was the complete opposite, dirty, crusty, kinky and in the heart of San Juan’s gnarliest ghetto, but so much fun, the best DIY spot I’ve ever skated, hands down.

Seeing all that rad stuff, and actually skating it, got me amped to build when I got back.

You also really into plants, you grow a lot of organic vegetables, herbs you cultivate worm farms. Why? What’s it about that kind of stuff that makes you stoked? Growing up my mom has always been into gardening, so I guess I got my interest from her. When we got a worm farm I learned about the millions of other life forms living in the bin, doing their thing and I was fascinated. They all play their part in cycling nutrients and organic matter through the soil, which in turn, brings it back to life. The best part is the flavour that comes from an organic garden; it really does taste better and is loaded with way more nutrients. I also dig being able to hook friends up with a bag full of fresh jalapenos, lettuce, coriander and whatever else is in season.

Where do you get your inspiration from, what inspires Triple D? I get most of my inspiration from necessity I suppose. That’s pretty much how I started making sunglasses; my VZ’s broke, I had absolutely no money, but I needed shades. So I researched a bit, and then set about making my own.

SS

advice on life and skateboarding from leading geezah brett shaw

How I f l u k e d two covers Brett Shaw’s ten year session

I skated with everyone for about 6 months then I decided to go on a solo skate mission around the world.

Everyone else I skated with was still in school and too young to travel so I legged it alone, but there is a huge community of skaters out there and they welcome you with open arms all over the place. I spent most of my time in the U.S.A. I hit every single state but I also did Europe, South America, Cuba, Australia and New Zealand. I had no sponsors, worked odd

“For some godforsaken reason they jobs, sleept on the beach, got free meals from the Salvation Army; lived the dream man, skateboarding the world on my own schedule. 8 years later I came back to SA which was 1 year before SESSION started. Besides Adrian (Day), Ockie (Fourie), St(e)ak and a few other honkeys, nobody really remembered who the hell I was.

I ended up moving down to Durban by mistake and I married the most amazing women, and that’s where my whole SESSION journey started. The last 10 years of SESSION have been one wild ride. We’ve lost brothers and gained new ones, kids have become grown-ass 18 | issue 50

men and the fickle have faded away.

Skateboarding is hardcore and only the tough survive.

SESSION Issue 27 in 2007 We were on the Skop, Skiet en Donder tour. I love Ben because he always makes you do your trick a few times, so it forces you to land your stuff legit.

I was driving the van, filming, organising all the accommodation and food - I was basically a slave on that tour. Puddy was waiting for me at the airport so I had to go pick him up, but I wanted to get 1 pic for the tour. For some unknown reason I decided to tempt fate with a crail. Ben was going “1 more, 1 more” while Puddy was SMSing me going “Where the fuck are you?” And that quarter has some tight ass tranny. But I got my trick and I got Puddy from the airport and I got the

JP Redpath and Mark Donaldson were baby human beings living in Pietermaritzburg back then and with Pablo, we did that first 48 Hours for Issue #1 and to this day, that’s a gnar dog 48 Hours. JP is Julian now and he makes killer music, Mark’s sharing his life with Darren in Cape Town, which is keeping us all entertained on Facebook. I’ve been down for SESSION since day 1. I have a copy of every single mag so far which I keep in a shelf and I often go through them. I’ve written tons of articles and columns, I’ve had 2 covers, 2 interviews and I’ve had the time of my life doing it. SESSION is legit it’s the real deal you don’t mind breaking your body to create a split second visual for the mag. Fuck I love skateboarding so much and I love all my close friends that I’ve met through skateboarding all over the world. I’m the last one left from the school of 1986 – Dallas Oberholzer & Randall White are a few years younger. Everyone else my age has quit, or restarted, or just plain turned into some lame, fat, old, beer drinking dude. For some god-forsaken reason they all quit skateboarding to mountain bike?

I’m 39 now and I skate every possible opportunity I get. Pools, ditches, parks, street, vert everything it’s in my blood and long after you quit I’ll still be riding because I cannot function properly as a human being without my board.

cover. Hell yeah, now that’s multi-tasking.

That night Yann, Puddy, Rudi and Kyfie flooded their apartment and they never told me, so when I went to check out the next morning they wanted to charge me for all the water damage. You can’t scam a skater so I put on my 6 inch smile and smooth-talked my way out of it – Good times man.

Here’s to another 10 years of organised Chaos! I may be 49 when issue 100 comes out but I can guarantee you one thing, I will still be riding even if I have to strap a skateboard to my wheel chair, because that’s what I do.

SS

I’d say that one of the coolest things to achieve is a SESSION cover and somehow I’ve fluked 2, so here they are: SESSION Issue 13 in 2004 This was my first cover. I was out skating with Roland Erasmus and Pablo. I was primarily the film bitch, Roland was doing something else. He got his pic and Pablo was, “Hey I got 2 more photo’s do something?” This was back in the day before digital photography and that spot was rougher than a goat’s nipple, so I dug into the archives and did this layback air on my filmer board and thought nothing of it. A few weeks later I got an e-mail from Adrian saying, “Dude you got the cover.” I was so psyched I bought 20 copies of the mag. Sorry Roland, I stole your thunder bro.

WELCOMES ponzone

I went to school with Sven (Martin), Eben (Combrink) and all the late 80’s / early 90’s Vert rippers in JHB. We mostly rode Vert at the Look Ahead ramp, but I always enjoyed street skating to and from the Vert ramp way more than actually riding the ramp. So I was always on a different mission to those guys. Then while I was doing my compulsory military service Vert died which left me in limbo because I could already do all the flip tricks but nobody my age was into that so I started riding with all the younger dudes (I am 5 years older than Adrian, Bod, Finch, Clint, Hennie, Steak and that whole generation).

ANTHONY DE MENDONCA KHULU NGUBANE DEAN MARIAS MARCEL VAN DER WALT

ADIDAS mark

gonzales

boardslide

campus vulc gonz

www.adidas.com/skateboarding

Š 2012 adidas america, inc. adidas, the trefoil logo and the 3-stripes mark are registered trademarks of the adidas group.

introduction & photos miguel howell

FS 180

Christi Wiehahn rocked up at BP in 1992; left alone in town, with his younger brother Inus and their friend Tertius.

Imagine trying to skate a set of stairs and this kid from Bellville could not only flip the stairs, but added salt to the wound by being able to frontside flip them as well and his bag of tricks just grew and grew. He became the poster boy for Cape Town skateboarding.

I know he sits in and amongst the super elite skaters on this planet. A kind of “Zero ++” with this consistency and no real regard for the outcome, as he has the belief that he can make any trick; a rare talent. He’s from a close knit family and is an all-around lovable, fun guy with a heart of gold and a competitive drive like no other. He is living Rock and Roll.

“Show me the way to the next whisky bar” 22 | ketchup christi wiehahn

What’s this we hear about you and Coca-Cola? Yeah, last year I started working at Coca-Cola under contract. For the last three months I have been permanently employed as a market developer in a big sales team.

What jobs have you held in the last couple of years? How’d you get your cash? Repping for Boogalooos. I also did a couple of overseas trips that paid really well, and I was still getting paid for skating by Billabong until December 2011.

Tell us about Mischif - The rise and fall. Or is the story to be continued?

I was 22 or 23. Partying every single night and skating every day; traveling extensively and always getting up to mischief. Bubs & I decided to start a skateboard company that represented this lifestyle, and I came up with the name Mischief for the brand. It was doing really well, but as time went by, the parks in Cape Town closed down one after the other, and the skate scene in Cape Town shrunk immensely. Bubs moved into the printing industry and after Inus passed away I also lost interest. It’s so long ago; I think that’s more or less what happened. I still have the name, so who knows what might happen in the future. ketchup christi wiehahn | 23

You’ve been through some traumatic shit with the loss of your brother, how did you cope and what major things has it impacted since? The last 5 years has been pretty tough man. Six months after Inus passed away, I had a motorbike accident after a high speed wheelie went south. I almost lost my arm, but the doctors managed to save it. My arm is fucked but functional. I’m pretty bummed about it. It’s hard to put the impact of Inus’ passing into words. I guess you just learn to live with it, but it doesn’t get better. It breaks my heart thinking about it. I miss him like you don’t understand and nothing will ever bring him back.... INUS 4 LIFE man!

“I almost lost my arm... it’s fucked but functional.”

You spent time overseas? I spent some time in the United States.

It was amazing, but it would have been much better if I had a fellow skater along on the same mission. I made good friends and memories though. I also toured the European contest series, where, among other things, I took a second place in the best trick against all the big names. Once again I toured alone, so things could have been a lot more fun with a side kick or two. I always had loads of fun in the UK! Portugal was rad, super laid back and there I also befriended some amazing people. Then there was Dubai, where I stayed for a couple of weeks with Alan and Puddy. I will rather not share all the crazy details of that trip. Haha. Egypt was amazing, and there I even went underground into the Pyramids of Giza. Egypt has got sick skate spots!

Which did you prefer more, the States or UAE? I think I will have to go with UAE. When did Forgive come into being? About 3 years ago Lu approached me with the idea, offered me a partnership and that’s how the Portugal trip came about. Alan was supposed to come as well, but everything didn’t happen according to plan. I’m a bit out of the loop as my new job is taking up most of my time now.

Seeing as this is our fiftieth issue, tell us about your coverage and shooting for Session. I have had lots of coverage through Session in the last 10 years. It gave me good exposure, financial benefits and kept my sponsors stoked! I was very fortunate to have had a fair amount of covers as well.

Was there a specific point that Session really impacted your outlook on skateboarding? There was definitely a point where it felt that we had a proper skate scene going with decent sponsors and local brands. Session definitely had a big part to play in this.

How has it been shooting with Miguel again? Every article Miguel & I shot together was a project working towards a deadline. It was awesome! We shot over weekends and had to reschedule a couple of times due to partying a bit too hard the night before, but it’s always rad hanging with Mr. Howell. We are good friends.

Give us a Marola story that no-one’s heard…? Alan once went to Jo-burg so skate a competition with no way of getting back unless he won the contest. He had to win the prize money to be able to buy a bus ticket back home. He won the contest!

What’s the mission from here on out? Life is so short man, just making the most of every moment, skate as much as possible and pursuing a career at Coca-Cola.

Final comments? Happy Birthday Session Magazine! Many thanks for all the interest and support throughout the years! Much love and keep up the good work! I also want to take this opportunity to thank God, family, friends, Von Zipper, Nike SB, Tyler Murphy (Sins of Style Tattoo’s), and everyone else that has supported me.

bs walride 24 | ketchup christi wiehahn

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s d a n a d i ad

What the fuck am I doing skating at 7am?

Yann at Indigo

yANN IN d U R B AN

welcome adidas is exited to welcome Yann Horowitz to the team, he’s that dude that’s always got something up his sleeve, therefore making a trip to his hometown the perfect fit. Umdloti become our home for the next 11 days. Everyone had their own space in the house and no-one could moan about anything. Still, Khulu always had words for Jansen not wanting to shower and sharing a room with him. On day four, we were joined by our good friend Shuaib Philander who moved straight into his own room overlooking the ocean, where he definitely blasted some text messages, BBM’s or What’s App’s to the brothers back home. This guy is constantly on his phone.

The first day he got there he busted out the most solid nollie inward heel f\s noseslide, second try! Leon Bester was behind the lens, along with Adriaan Louw working together to capture the timeless moments. Watch the video here: www.vimeo\adithreeleaf

photos jansen van staden, leon bester & adriaan louw words pieter retief

The truth remains: the bigger the guy, the harder the bail.

Khulu knocked himself out on day four and spent quite some time in Disneyland. His eyes rolled back and during his struggle to get back to reality he even tried punching Yann these are the only two incidents we remember. A high intake of candyfloss and endless rollercoaster rides can make one’s memory very foggy. That’s how we mocked Khulu for the remainder of the trip. It’s not often that this loud cocky mouth of Khulu’s can be silenced. Everyone enjoyed an 11day trip, but Khulu only had 10.

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van staden

khulu in disneyland

yann. front blunt fakie adidas in durban | 27

Tall one, long time no see, where you been?

Jenny the Chinese lady

potato bake & tequila Umdloti felt like a small holiday destination, a surfers town where everyone knows each other.

So when we arrived at Yann’s friend’s dad’s house party, it was nothing weird, except for the older ladies trying to hit on you.

We were standing around the neighbour’s empty pool listing to this one kid going on about how impossible it is to drop in. After long debates, Jansen dropped it like nothing and silenced the kid. When we rejoined the party, we were greeted by Adriaan and Yann at the snacks table digging into the potato bake and any booze lying around. I must say the potato bake was really tasty, which is why we woke up the next morning with one full bowl in Yann’s kitchen and a bottle of tequila in the deep freeze.

the beach the city and the hills

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van staden

Khulu noseblunt

Durban’s got a lot to offer, from beautiful beaches to chaotic city streets and endless hills on the outskirts. The beachfront was ideal to skate first as we could hit all the spots in two days. One thing we did not account for was Khulu and his habit of breaking boards. I’ve watched footage in slow motion to determine how this is possible, I have some theories but it remains a mystery. He snapped three boards trying one line, thus we called it a day. At least he entertained us with his manual skills using only one truck. Cruising around the city was fun, and despite having some tough times with my knee we managed to get around, finding wallrides and wallies everywhere.

The security at the ICC seemed to be real mellow about us being there, although we were asked to leave, we still managed to squeeze in a 30 min session, enough time for Khulu to land his Noseblunt.

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bester

the dreadlocked rasta Everywhere we went people were always hyped to see Jansen skate. I’ve never seen so many wallies and no-complies on one trip. He was just down to skate anything and would find different ways to make spots look good. He does not like wearing underwear and two shirts is more than enough for one trip. He’s got a thing for other people’s beanies. He found one of Yann’s beanies and cut the top open to make space for his hair, it looked like someone opened jack’s box and Jansen popped out. On the other side, Miami’s beach prowler, Khulu Dlamini, spent a month at Yann’s house before the trip, this after his Cape Town missions. According to him they were eating healthy, doing exercise and making spot lists. Everyone caught onto this so-called health meals, eating bananas and oats every day.

jansen. wallie

a boy named Sue

Yann’s got one of the most ridiculous dogs, he can drool litres and shake off enough hair to stuff a pillow. This dog’s got the life, living amongst monkeys that get fed daily by the Horowitz family, there’s nothing he can complain about. He even gets fed homemade meals and has a smaller companion cleaning him on occasions.

The Horowitz family home is always open to travellers, even when Yann is not home.

His parents are always happy to see his friends and always show an interest in his skating. This was however the last stay in their house, as they are now moving to a different one, still in Umdloti. One of the people interested in the house was Mr Jonty Rhodes, who we actually saw on the beach.

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Pieter, ons gan NOU! Check die Potato bake!

Adriaan Louw

jansen. wallride adidas in durban | 31

van staden

siff yann and kief yann One can say there is too much going on in Yann’s mind to really understand what is going on. This dude straight-out kills it on a board and the energy that he brought to the trip was insane. Towards the end of the trip he hurt his foot and decided to keep it chill for a while. That did not last very long. Rolling around the city he just got too excited and wanted to skate. He tried this back tail on this bank and hooked in the gutter before. He flew straight over the bank straight onto his elbow. Honestly we could feel the ground shake. It’s as if he could shift his focus to his elbow which might hurt more, we don’t know, and then

caries on rolling. He can be siff at times with his dirty rap lyrics, ‘bergie’ impersonations, wild animal sounds and tossing his board around, but mostly Yann is a kief dude. He does not stop until he gets that trick and always pushes for more. It took us a few hours to clear out the Snake Run at The Wave House; we tried everything from throwing cardboard boxes to absorb water to filling up plastic body moulds. At the end it was good to go and Yann was going full force. I remember him saying when trying that 50 stall on the cross bar: “I’m being siff bro, but I’m actually kief”

local day time drinkers We skated this down-ledge on a Sunday afternoon, thinking it would be a relaxed afternoon, but every five minutes we were navigating drivers into parking bays to ensure we still had an angle to film from.

We asked this old man to please park around the corner, it must have been 10 meters from his original spot and we were told we were fucking up his whole Sunday because of this. The owner/manager/ local - whoever he was, he knew everyone by name - was standing by watching the skating go off. He helped us with the annoyed drivers. We were told not even to bother with this one lady driver, as she would not even remember she was here.

Three hours later, just as we were about to leave, the security showed up and started going off at us. Just laughing it off we told them, ‘We’re done here. You took way too long.” I guess some prefer to drink in the day and others prefer to sleep. We like frontboards. It must be a Durban thing lazy or late. A crazy fucken dude is Kalvin Davies - always late. Davies agreed to take us around but always seemed to get stuck somewhere before arriving at Yann’s house.

Some days we would only get out the house by 1pm. Another homie Grayson, in his Renault Kango, was a big help as he was always down to drive us. Between the two of them all the missions were successful.

leon. front board

the last supper The Last Supper – Somehow the last meal of the trip ends up being the worst.

In August 2011 we headed to Maputo, Mozambique on the first adidas trip. That last meal consisted of 21 Portuguese rolls and three bottles of brandy. I’m not saying the rolls were bad, but we definitely got the old batch. It was an eventful night and a long walk to the bus stop the next morning.

On this trip, our last supper was some offpink polony, dry bread and some siff vienas.

At least the dogs at Indigo had a feast while Yann was busting back lips on an empty stomach. Watching Yann shred this bowl was amazing, it was not even 7am and he

was carving this thing like nothing. This was the last session of the trip, but Khulu still had one last surprise left in the deep freeze before departing for Cape Town. This was one of the best trips - good homies, new territories and many laughs. THANKS!

Bro Im so full, but I see Bacon and I cant let that slide.

yann. 5050 stall

Khulu 32 | adidas in durban

adidas in durban | 33

Brett Shaw, Dallas Oberholzer, Darren Jacoby, Jimmy Wong, Kalvin McMillan, Wesley ‘Tooth’ Schroeder, Joubert van Staden and Vans Team Manager Warren Talbot took a bus on the long road up to Kimberley this year. We won’t offend you by explaining what finger popping is, but here are the results of The Thumbs Up Tour.

Photos by Darren Jacoby & iPhone.

Words by Brett Shaw

34 | vans thumbs up

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“Tooth backlipped a rail at like 8 in the morning.

It was still too early for me to take a turd.� tooth. backside lipslide 36 | vans thumbs up

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dallas. backside smith

for 26 years we finally got to go on a tour together. We towed in on a scooter at the kings beach park, hit up street spots, set little bowls on fire, picked his stash “Fear is just interpretation; feeds my motivation; our up, went to rad bakery’s, got to hear some inspiring time together is; a bloodbath of serenity”. stories, ate old, stale fish at a fish braai, shared bananas and had one hell of a time doing it. The man Then it ends off with is still putting down some insane stuff. It was gnarly “Catatonic, catatonic; I’m numb in priceless solitude; when he landed that backside crail slide in P.E, I was exterminating all the voiceless multitudes; I can’t stop standing on the roll out deck right by it, and as Wong because it’s so hypnotic; catatonic, catatonic” would say “My willy twitched”.

You cannot start your day off any better than that, Wong’s the newest team rider and he’s got the thrash metal, spare boards, time to burn and a van full biggest shoes to fill because when Yann jumped of people who live to skate and skate to live. ship for Adidas, Wong got the call up. Wong is always I guess trying to explain a skateboard tour to a normal human being is damn hard, but it would go something like this. Basically 8 dudes go to their sponsor’s warehouse - which in this case was VANS - and they get a heap of free product. How do you get sponsored? You destroy your body for a very long time busy and it’s super entertaining to watch how he then eventually someone will notice you and it’s on. approaches life and skateboarding. The man loves to These skateboarders then get in a van for 10 days and ride vertical walls and he doesn’t go 5 meters without drive from Cape Town to George then onto JBay, P.E, a wallie. He summed himself up by saying “I’m a 1 Bloemfontein and finally Kimberley. They continually trick pony, but a stallion.” So it was a treat to watch look for “spots” to perform skateboarding manoeuvres him battle a gap with a flip. He was like a warrior on. For example a pool, ditch, skate park, gap, rail or who got scabs between his knuckles for his effort. His even a curb. You find these spots by word of mouth weakness is the DOPE crew but he only got sucked or previous experience. Everyone piles out the van; into that vortex once. The DOPE guys hooked us up someone or everyone does a trick (some people don’t with the world’s best ditch 8 to 10 foot with tranny. even get out the van), which is then documented It was a rough but perfect ditch. Damn that was fun. in High Definition video (for AV Skateboarding) and We’re definitely going back there. That session was still images (for SESSION). Everyone then piles back special. Joubert even got involved in the ditch, which into the van and the process is repeated. Your only was rad.

These are the song lyrics from the Slayer song we started every day to:

some serious street skills and the way he skates handrails is bad ass. Like a surgeon. 4 or 5 go’s and it’s done. He also rolls with the 20SK8 crew who are insane. Watching Toothless take all his kit off at the caravan park party was damn funny. Tooth may not admit it but he loves Slayer as much as the rest of us now. Tooth and Kalvyn kind of stuck together most of the time, most probably because Joubert kept trying to play his favourite Kobus song. They mostly zoned out and listened to their iPods. Kalvyn was the most inconspicuous dude in the van. He skates everything; rails, big gaps - he even towed in on the big quarter with Dallas and I. He’s a serious ripper. I ride with him all the time so I know how good he is, but I think it’s going to be cool for everyone else to see what he’s got. The AV footage is going to be super fun to watch and it’s a treat to see street Dallas strut his moves.

“I don’t do flip tricks - I’m not 13”

responsibility as a rider is to get lots of clips and a Joubert was mostly there to film for AV but he was bunch of still’s but you’re having so much fun that it’s so gnarly that on Day 2 Warren put him on the team. not even a responsibility.

Holy shit he rips. It was rad to just be around him It’s all the chaos that happens in between the and he’s super motivated. He’d film someone then skateboarding that gives a tour its flavour. All the he’d put his camera in its bag and while he’s trying to slayer albums, nice eyebrow signs, lack of sleep, backside flip the biggest street gap, we’d all be trying laughing until your ribs hurt, sleeping on the floor, to film it on a Gopro camera. 5 goes later he’d land smelling gruesome farts, eating way too much sugar it and say “I hope I didn’t keep you guys waiting.” Its and hooting and whistling when your bro lands funny how the backside kickflip is a Pretoria thing. I a trick is what it’s all about. This tour was about remember Puddy doing those 8 years ago. “I don’t do skateboarding and you’ll see that from the footage. flip tricks - I’m not 13” is the kind of stuff that comes Sure we blazed a trail, but skateboarding always out of Dazza’s mouth and we love it. Dry sarcasm is a beautiful thing and he’s perfected the art of it. It’s came first. also hard being a vegetarian on a meat eater tour. Big Over the last 3 years VANS SA has been putting a team Baby J (JJ Harris) hung out with us later on so he had together that covers 4 decades of skateboarding. some company there but mostly, young Dazza had to Basically every facet of skateboarding is covered deal with our filth and lack of regard for his feelings and not only skateboarding… The teams other alone. When Dazza needs some ‘me time’ he takes it. skills include writing, drawing, hand-poked tattoo’s, His photo of Big Baby J impaling himself on a security photography, filming, DJing, drinking 16 red bulls in fence was gnarly but his knowledge of the human 1 day, building, throwing stones and finger popping. body and what you can do with it, is on another level.

Here’s the line-up. I think I (Bert) got on first, about 2 We never slept past 8am once - everyday up at 6am or and a half years ago. Dallas is an interesting human 7am. Tooth back lipped a rail at like 8 in the morning. being and the second newest on the team. After riding It was still too early for me to take a turd. Tooth has 38 | vans thumbs up

Warren dealt with all the bullshit. His first knock was while he was getting the rental van. Some asshole left his handbrake off and his truck rammed Warren’s personal bakkie half way up a telephone pole which then broke in half - while it was parked outside his house. When we saw it we didn’t know if we should laugh or cry. Being a Team Manager is hardcore. I know. I’ve done it. But he went beyond the call of duty. We had farm braai’s, shot shotguns, jumped into waterfalls, and most importantly, we never went without. And he was game for everything.

If it wasn’t for that ditch that the DOPE dudes hooked us up with in Kimberly, Maloof would have sucked. I never went to Maloof last year so I have nothing to compare it to, but our local skaters got shafted proper.

R8 000 versus R840 000? That’s not cool man.

The cool thing about Maloof was catching up with everyone that you don’t often get to hang out with.

James Harris made me a bottle opener; Tripple D was walking around with a briefcase full of Sk8 Shades; Lingo was there with his kid, and we set up a rad, free party with Clayton from Revolution for the kids in the Caravan Park. Free product and free hot dogs, beer pong, dancing, live bands – boom. It was rad.

And then there was dust. Up your nose, in your ears, on your skin, inside your eyeballs… everywhere man.

We missed the vert finals because we hid from the dust in our pool.

After 10 days on the road you feel abused. Not in-yournaughty-place abused, just lack-of-sleep abused. So there were no tears when we split up, just that feeling of when you have your last piece of liquorice and you know there’s no more. Wong summed the whole Maloof experience up perfectly when he grabbed the microphone and screamed to the crowd “This is not South Africa, this is Kimberly!”

“You’ve got the body of Mr Burns” Warren to Dazza

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“Fear is just interpretation, feeds my motivation, our time together is, a bloodbath of serenity�.

YEARS

thumbs up tour. brett shaw. hurricane

lingo

bod. wallride

one night, repositioned the skateboarding mag within the sub caps, rounded the dot on the “i” to be like a half pipe tranny, put some red and black in there and it worked…

Session Magazine was born! The reason for the name Session is pretty self explanatory especially to a skateboarder, plus it sounds and looks rad. Once I finished that logo I just knew it was going to work.

A decade of Session Magazine has gone by and looking back, it’s been an incredible journey and a story that needs to be told.

From bad to good to; investments to bankruptcy; film to digital and everything in between, the skateboarders involved have shaped what this magazine stands for, and in turn, what South African skateboarding stands for.

Join us for the rollercoaster ride that is The Ten Year Session.

Buckle up bitches.

bergh

What were you doing just before you started Session? I had been working with my dad at his Print and Repro house and in the process getting the skills I needed for Session. Shortly after leaving my dad’s company Clint and I started a small design company which we ended about 2 years in.

Tell us a bit about who you were in He went on to make AV and I decided it was skateboarding before you started time to start Session.

Session Magazine. I guess I was just Brendan Body - a tall lanky ginger dude Why did you start the mag? I started from JHB. I had grown up in JHB and had Session because I’m a skateboarder and I started skating in 85 when my brother guess I always wanted to start a skate mag. bought a little plastic board in Durban. I I came from a print and design background really got into skateboarding quickly, it felt from working with my family, so Session a like a natural connection to me so I would was a way to make what I loved a career. By get my dad to take me to Cresta Bowls, that I mean skateboarding and print media. around 87-89, where I got a chance to see I truly love both and the essence of making proper skateboarding and transition for the something last forever, by putting it down on first time. After that I was totally convinced. paper, has always been important to me. I also could not really connect with the idea of Been skateboarding ever since. doing other peoples work, design and print 42 | ten year session

for them, I wanted to do something original that had a real purpose, and what better reason was there than skateboarding.

Why the name Session? Adrian de Garcias and I were skating and designing stuff together around ’97-’98. He was probably the most talented designer I had ever seen and he taught me a lot about what mac can do. We wanted to make a mag back then called (R)evolution Skateboarding Magazine, but because him and I were both so caught up in our own worlds - mine working for my dad’s print and repro house, and him out designing his class at Vega and perusing a career in film - it just never happened. So things got put on hold for a mag until late 2001 when I decided it was time to get a skate mag back on track, and the name this time was going to be SESSION SKATEBOARDING MAGAZINE. I sat down and designed the logo in Compacta bold italic

How did Steak get involved? What you all need to know is that Session would never be anything without Steff’s initial and constant input over the years. Session is as much a part of Steff as Steff is a part of Session.

His influence in the magazine and my life has been monumental. The times we spent together in the early years working on the mag will forever be stamped into my brain as the most creative and fun time of my life. We have always had a mad connection, even from back in the day when I took the piss out of him at Whitehorse Inn one night - I have always been a dick like that. But in some weird way, later on, the stars aligned and locked us 2 muppets in a whirlwind of chaos, design, The Velvet Underground and skateboarding, which has effected the way we both see things in life and in general.

His birthday is just a few days apart from mine, we like the same things, we agree to disagree on other things, he’s my wing man for life, my brother, friend, foe, mentor. I guess I just fuckin love the guy like another brother. I’m still trying to get to grips with it and the times we spent working together back then.

the titles above said to me that the publisher of those titles had said to them that if they distribute Session too then they would move there distro away from RNA. I was like: “Can you give a guy a chance! I’m not here to upset your little publishing empire, I just want to make a skate mag!” RNA told him to get lost and said all mags have the right to get on shelf. I respected RNA for that and stayed with them for 10 years. There were a few issues regarding content and having enough ad spend to go around but on a whole the industry saw Session for what it was and got behind us. If it’s worth it, there is always extra money to go around, that’s what I have learnt over the years. But on the whole I had a lot of respect for the guys working on Blunt. Miles Masterson was a great editor and did so much for SA skateboarding before Session came along.

I guess my real gripe was with their boss and his ideas about skateboarding. When Blunt closed I was bummed for the dudes working on it, and trust me Blunt closing did not help our then growing scene, however I did feel that being an independent publisher as opposed to corporate magazines was the only way. There were no shareholders making decisions for us at Session, just skateboarders.

When did Adrian and Gavin start working with you guys and how did that happen?

Adrian, as far as I’m concerned, has always worked with Session since we started.

Gav started working with the mag after he finished his design course at Vega. Adrian was overseas and when he came back I What was the reaction when people saw think I said he should maybe write about that first issue? I think most people and the industry really liked it, for sure it wasn’t perfect and you always gonna get haters, but whatever. The mag was what it was, the first legit SA skate mag and it worked, no matter how you spun it.

especially if you don’t skate and are reading Session. I don’t like religion, rules, politics, and especially fanatical fucking idiots… that’s why I love Adrian’s writing, because he always delivers intelligent literature that you can’t mess with. He has actually influenced me a lot - about the real things that count. I remember him saying to me in the very beginning: “Session is not about

“I guess Session is what it is much because of the way we did it.”

Who is Neil Hughes in the story of Session? Neil is another brother, Session lifer, my choina, chullie, shupness, Harry Hoodinie, deepak chopra, leather back larry, angles killer, genius, little Neil, super glue our teeth back in and never look back ‘Hombre’ - that’s who Neil Hughes is to Session and me. He was always a part of Session and always will be a part of my life. He lived on my couch pretty much for 5 years while making the mag, he would sit behind Steff and I in our little cave and smoke all our weed, make coffee, throw in some design ideas, get drunk and pass out.

We love Neil, a true skateboarder, the guy just fuckin rips, and in life too!

skateboarding in Session if he was keen.

The dude’s writing has always inspired me. He’s a fucking genius! Gav Morgan is an amazing person, friend, artist and skateboarder. We would sit and work on concepts and ideas for hours. He really feels skateboarding and art, and that hit home for me always.

You wrote a letter to the publisher of Blunt magazine soon after starting up Session. What was that about, and did you ever feel there was an issue between Blunt and Session or bad vibes between the two? There were a number of reasons I was bummed and had to say something.

First off, when I started the mag, my distributor RNA, who then also distributed

Were you ever worried about what Adrian was writing? Did you ever have to edit what he was doing? No, not really.

I preferred to push things and never really cared about what he said - especially because what Adrian generally says makes total sense. I’m more down for people saying what they want than not. Who is anyone to say what we can and can’t say -

immensely as well as being far cheaper to afford for a mag. When we started Session I had spoken with Ben Bergh, life long friend from JHB, Miguel Howell from Cape Town, who I had also known for years from skating in CT and JHB, and then Pablo Ponzone from Durban, who I knew from his work in Blunt and reckoned the 3 of them had all bases covered being in CT, JHB and DBN. These 3 guys basically shot the whole mag for the first 5 years and in my opinion defined what was really going on through their pictures in Session. You should all tip your hats when you see them next - it was hard work for little pay but I think that is why their photos got better so much quicker, plus all of them skated and that was the most important thing. Don’t shoot skateboarding if you don’t skate! The 3 of them inspired and captured a generation of SA skateboarders and have influenced many younger dudes today to pick up a camera and start shooting skateboarding.

Bod it’s about SA skateboarding”, and that After the first year of doing the mag, stuck true. There was a bigger picture and you must have realised that your life he reminded me of that. was very different to most people’s or Tell us about the early days of skate to the life you would have had if you photography – who was shooting then continued working at your dad’s or at and how different was the process an Ad agency? Those were wild times. compared to now? Shooting on film I guess Do you think that shaped the future for the is the biggest thing that differs from then to mag and your life? Tell us about the good now. If you didn’t shoot on film then you and the bad that came from that kind of missed out on a lot I think. The process was unstructured lifestyle. Well, my dad had long and hard work but very satisfying when asked me to come back from Europe to the scans came back and the pics looked work at the family Business, which was a good. Film just had an awesome quality and pretty decent setup. It was a solid Repro the process was more involved than today’s house in JHB full of rad equipment for digi world. I think the cameras now days making print media, and he had a print are amazing and have sped up the process shop down the road, which would churn out ten year session | 43

Ultimately from there it landed up at Replay ITV Media… how did that come to be? Clint was doing DVD duplication with Replay for AV and said that he had spoken with Chris Mostert [the owner] who wanted to see me about Session when he heard that I needed financing - so we set up a meet and that’s how Session ended up at Replay ITV Media for a while.

the print media. It was great and my dad taught me a lot about things. He can look at a pic and be like: “That needs 5% more cyan”, or “That line spacing needs fixing”, etc. He has a ridiculous eye for detail and there were valuable lessons learnt while I was there, but soon we clashed. I had my ideas of where I wanted the company to go as repro was becoming a dying trade and we needed to look to the future and gear up. He wasn’t having it so I left and eventually started Session. The idea of working for other people in the creative world is numbing to me, churning out ideas to sell some chocolate bar or fancy new car never appealed to me. I needed to create something and looked at Session as an art project rather than a job. Rules went out the window. Big things have small beginnings and advertising seemed like a big thing with a small ending to me.

Tell us about partnering with Clayton Petersen and moving the mag to Revolution. Agh, Clay and I have been friends for years. He helped out in the beginning giving me cash for his ads up front so I could afford the print bill. He really was down for Session and helping out. When I got into trouble for the first time I looked to a skater for help rather than a corporate, and Clay was a hard working skateboarder who I respected and who could get behind the finance side of things as I had always battled with it. There is only so much I could do and the business was suffering because of it, plus Steff and

44 | ten year session

That deal went pear shaped as far as we understand. What happened there and why was there been such bitterness about what happened?

I don’t want to vibe here because it was a long time ago and since then Clay and I have sorted out our differences. Let’s put it down to differences in opinion in where I saw Session going and the financial burden it put on him. We both felt we’d done a lot for one another and there was a difference in what was owed to each other - so things fell apart and were bad for a while. But one night in Durban I had had enough of the bad vibes, and things needed to be said if we were going to work together going forward. The SA skate scene is very small and Session and Revolution, well Clay and I, had a long history, which needed mending. So I took him into the girl’s bathroom at a bar in Durban and had a heart to heart chat about things and we settled all our difference right there. Later on that night we got drunk together and I passed out in his lap on the pavement outside the bar! We are still friends today; he’s a hairy beast!

Why did you guys stop doing the VCD? Basically it came down to money as always. It was hard for me to convince the advertisers to pay for ads in Session and on the VCD as they felt they were already spending enough. Producing a VCD was expensive and a lot of hard work for little pay. Clint and I had tried to keep it going but I guess when Replay buckled and could not pay Clint the money owed him for the VCD he gave up on the whole thing.

That fucking sucked! But I guess that’s why AV is so rad - same people better formula. Clint has built the video side of SA skateboarding, that’s for sure!

To most people, it would seem like at that time the mag was in its prime…

There was a full staff register, office space, VCD’s a ‘solid’ financial backing, the Session van… but that was not in fact all that solid right? What was really going on there? It seemed like a lot of shady things, in and outside of the business, were going down which inevitably lead to the whole thing collapsing. Yeah, things were on the up in some way. We still worked the way we wanted and the office was a disaster but at least we had an organized mess that we called an office. Chris, from what I know, took the company’s capital from all

“I looked at Session as an art project rather than a job.

Rules went out the window.”

From there you moved to Sunninghill and ran the magazine from there. That period truly seemed to be the lowest point for you personally and for the mag, can you tell us what was going on? Yeah I guess this is when a lot caught up with me. I was stressed out with debt, friends were on my case all the time for cash and getting paid, and my girl and I at the time were falling apart, who I must add played a huge roll in Session and stood by my side through all the shit - if there is anyone who saw how it went down it would have to be Candice and many of the skaters knew her like a mother. I had become reckless and was drinking far too much. I had also developed a bit of a drug problem and escapism was becoming all to frequent. At the time is seemed the only sanity. But it’s a slippery slope, and before you know it you are spiralling out of control and the only one that can sort it out is you. So I did. My girl by that time had left me for Barcelona, probably the best thing she ever did, and I decided I was going to clean up and get my shit together, so I packed up left that world behind and started working from a new flat in Parkmore where I am still living today.

Who was working on the mag at that stage? I guess it was the same guys that had always worked on

You’ve mentioned on occasion that you have a ‘darkness’ that seems to intrigue you and you seem curious to explore although when you do, it mostly causes you pain and regret. Would you like to shed some light on this? I would say it comes down to boredom and finding it hard to be satisfied with regular things.

I guess it has led me down roads that I shouldn’t have gone down but it also made me realize who I truly am. I have always pushed myself as far as I can before stepping back and going: “Maybe this wasn’t the best idea”, and then I would never learn anything from it… I guess there are some roads just not meant for traveling, so I threw away that map.

On almost all the mags pre Issue 29 there were subtle / subliminal messages on the spines that made little sense to most people but meant a lot to you and some others. What was this about? Steff and I would finish a mag with the covers, so depending on what bands, lyrics, booze, drugs, movies, art or fancy cracks we liked at the time, we would put it on the spine as kind of our own little laugh. We each added lots of our own little subliminal things in the mag. It was dumb, but it was our own laugh and who cared.

From there you approached Clint for help. How did you find yourself in this position again? Same old thing: financial problems and lack of cash flow.

The income versus expenses was just not adding up again. Ad spend was down and I was in another R250 000 debt with printers and the bank!

You were there for one issue… tell us a bit about working with Clint and why that all came to an end. Clint got involved because he had seen me spiralling out of control slowly over the few years leading up to this. He, at the end of the day, is my oldest and best friend and we have been brothers through everything - so he really cared about me as a person rather than a business partner. His deal was: “Stop using and I will fix it up”. He did. I fucked up again and my best mate had had it - it was the final straw for him and he basically told me to get fucked, in a good way. That was when I honestly made an effort to really clean up my act. When your best friend, who you have known for your whole life gives up on you, you have 2 choices: fix up or fade out.

After all these episodes and knowing full well that every time you had the mag on your own it would run into trouble, why did you continue? You must

have been emotionally and financially exhausted? Because I don’t quit - I had fought so hard to keep Session alive that losing this battle was just not an option for me! Skateboarding and the mag meant so much to me. Session was like my child and I was not going to abandon it no matter what the circumstances. It’s amazing how much abuse you can take emotionally and physically before the wheels truly do roll down the road without you.

You ran the mag pretty much all by yourself for a while after that… how did you manage to do it all alone? By that stage I understood how to make a magazine and I had built up a great network of people to work with, even through all the hard times dudes were still down as always. All you really need is a Mac and a cell phone to make a mag as everyone who contributes can email material and most of them work from home. For a while I really enjoyed working on the mag design again, although it was never like the early days with Steff and myself.

respect him for it, because he was right.

He has only ever had the best intentions for me and to see Session succeed.

Friendships like his and mine are special and that’s how we will always see things, as best friends.

When did you first start noticing the industry shift towards Cape Town?

When did that happen? The industry did not shift to CT - more like 10 skaters relocated to CT. The 2 biggest players, no matter how you swing it, have always been Musgrave in DBN and GSM trading in JBay. Yeah, Clay has moved (R)evolution down there and Vans is in CT, but I think the industry is still spread around much the way it has been for the last 10 years.

Melissa Griesel then joined you – what was her involvement and what were those times like? Mel I met at a skate party. I bought her a drink because I thought she was quite foxy and I wanted to chat. It turned out that we became great friends and I asked her if she would be keen to help me out with the day to day operations of running Session, which on her part would include emailing, social media stuff, collections, deliveries handling events etc. Mel just fit with Session - it came natural to her - plus all the dudes loved her. I regard her as family!

me out sometimes because it felt like I was working so hard for skateboarding but getting in nothing but trouble with the mag - so the association between the 2 started to merge and for a while skateboarding was bumming me out. But then I’d realise that skateboarding hadn’t changed, it was my situation that had, and all I needed to do was actually go skate and things were all

Who were the new contributors that had popped up? Sam Clark, Tim Moolman, AD, Tyrone Bradley, Werner Lamprecht to name a few goodies!

How did you meet AD? AD had mailed me about doing some freelance design work for the mag. He was a skater first off, damn persistent, and I liked his layouts.

We clicked instantly. After hanging out with him and having him stay at my house for a while I realised that he was the guy to be the new editor if ever I stepped down.

How do you see Clint? You guys are super tight, but you seem like complete opposites. As I have said earlier: Clint and I have grown up together - we started a company called 1989 studios because that’s how far we go back together.

There are no words to really describe our friendship other than he is like a brother to me and has helped me out in life much like an older brother would. We may seem very different but I guess that’s why we click so well. And as skateboarder, I don’t think I respect anyone more than Clint locally.

The shit I have seen him do on a board

What brought about the sale of the magazine? I guess it was checkmate either try continue or go insolvent. At the time I was staring at a R300 000 debt - so I had to sell Session. I would never have sold it if I was financially sound. The mag was never about the money, although that’s what seemed to be it’s biggest contradiction. Plus, how was I going to pay back a debt like that with a regular job? It would have been financial suicide. This is where I learnt to let go and realised that Session would be OK without me. I needed to let go in order for it to keep going, and for me to keep going. That was real hard!

Ivan Ballack

Amidst all the good times and chaos, it was almost inevitable that the mag was going to run into financial trouble. At what point did you realise you needed help? What are you talking about? I have always needed help! Something I learnt very quickly with Session is that running a magazine is not cheap and comes with many stresses and unforeseen headaches, especially when it comes to keeping it alive and paying the bill. When Peter Mayor from Colour Magic, my then printer, threatened to crack me with his baseball bat when I said I was going to another printer but still owed him R96,000.00 I realized that Session was going to be a tough fight!

I were a creative mess and some stability was necessary.

By this stage you had been on some crazy road trips and journeys. That’s one thing you’ve always said: that the mag has been almost like a crazy rollercoaster ride. What times stand out as most memorable and did you ever at times feel like you wanted the ride to stop? Session brought with it many wonders and going on Tours with my friends was one of the wonders I most enjoyed. I think I have driven around the country a 100 times. I love the open road and the road less travelled, and sharing it with like minded people makes all the difference. I guess that’s what it really comes down to - the people you meet and the friendships you build over the years. There have been too many Tours to remember, but some standouts were always my trips when Steff was with us.

Also all the Element tours to the Transkei, and to Dallas’s Indigo Camp. The Volcom Tiffendale Tour stands out for sure. The Melktert Tour, with Lingo drinking shots of straw rum for breakfast and crawling through a puff adder infested Knysna Head caves… The Bloem Blowout was pretty special too!

the mag. Adrian, Gav, Lingo, Steff, plus the photographers - although things seemed a lot shakier than ever… the guys seemed to have had enough of my shit, and so right they should have. I had a lot of fixing up to do in my personal life!

Ivan Ballack

That was the time of the VCD – tell us a bit about that. Yeah, those were great times in many ways and the VCD was such a rad thing to have with each mag. No mag out there had a video version on the cover.

It was something Clint [van der Schyf] worked damn hard on producing and they were special times with special people.

Kev, Steak and Neil on those videos were probably the funniest dudes I have seen come out of SA skateboarding. I watch the VCD’s from time to time and still wet myself!

the different mags, including mine, and decided he was going to risk it on some soccer world cup deal were he could make 60 million off it. He didn’t tell the other publishers and lost his bet. I walked out of Replay only with my word that things were fine at Session, but things were not.

I had no capital again and an amount of R180,000.00 was unpaid to me. Basically I had to start all over again solely off the confidence of my advertisers continuing to spend in the mag. Starting again seemed like a constant, but by then I guess I was getting used to it.

“...he basically told me to get fucked, in a good way.”

Did you have any concerns regarding the new members taking over the mag? No, not really as all of you skate and are friends of mine whom I have immense respect for.

Just don’t turn it into a templated mag - we put a lot of tender loving care into it’s look and feel and that, I feel, must be present in the designs somehow. But I realize that things also need to evolve, so I trust what the guys are doing. I guess I will always be very precious when it comes to Session - as long as it stays a 100% skater run magazine.

throughout our lives still freaks me out.

What have you been doing since?

Freelance design work, skating a lot again and painting my art. I really want to work on that and I am putting everything I have and earn into it.

Was there ever any bad blood between you guys? No, not really. Even after Clint told me he had had enough, I had to

How has the Magazine affected your relationship with skateboarding? When things were bad with the mag it would bum

right. I really enjoy skating now because its not centred around a shoot or something for Session - it’s like the old days again and it feels good!

What sticks out as the fun times and the things you’ll remember most? Too many to even mention, but the first 3 or so years working with Steff from 108, the Villa, and all the good times that ensued will always be my fondest.

Any regrets? Never.

What would you have done differently?

Obviously I would do things differently now, but I don’t reckon I would have changed much. I guess Session is what it is much because of the way we did it.

What are your plans going forward from here? Skate, paint and look after myself.

The whole Session Experience must have been a huge learning process, more about your self than anything else. What can you say you have learnt personally? How to play with fire.

Your favorite cover and why? Dals pivot fakie in that pool - I liked it because the PDF looked just like the printed version and that pivot was fuckin gnarly as hell. Steffs art cover with Chippy was also one of my favourites. Issue 1 obviously, the first mag with Clint on it was big memories right there.

Your favorite photo and why? Oh please.

Your favorite article and why? Are you serious?

Thanks and Goodnight!

ten year08 session | issue| 45 50

There have been many times in my life where I have tried to reflect or look back into the past and the course my life has taken over the past 36 years.

I am still not sure how my life would have turned out without Session because up until that point basically 10 years ago I had no ambition whatsoever to be anything or anybody. I know I did not want to be me…

Session gave me some sort of a purpose and sense of belonging.

It also catapulted me face first into a lifestyle of complete anarchy and mayhem.

daniel levi

The following accounts have been answered as truthfully and as accurately as I can remember them.

Tell us the story of how you started working at Session. This part of the story I remember pretty clearly. I had just returned from London in the beginning of August 2002 after living in London for about 5 years on and off since 1996. I hated the fact that I could not stay over there because of my nationality, leaving behind a very crazy but beautiful life filled with every day adventure and beauty. I was free and freedom had been taken away from me because of a little green book that still to this day affects my freedom on this globe of social energy.

I had been back for about a week when I bumped into Brendan at the Jolly Roger.

Bod told me about this skate magazine they had been working on with Clayton and Clint. He said I should pop around his place the next day and come check it out and we had a few pints… It was two days before my 26 Birthday. The next day I rocked up at him and his girlfriend’s, Candice (Bless her soul), flat in Sandton. So he showed me what he was up to and at the time he was busy with a Fuzigish article for the first issue, so we smoked some weed, got high and I said I wanted to mess around with the layout. At that time we were working on Quark Xpress which was basically the industry standard in layout programs to what Indesign is now. At that time I had not touched a computer in about 3 years.

So bod went down stairs fell asleep on the couch watching a movie while I finished the article stoned and slightly drunk. Bod came back upstairs after a while and he was into what I was doing with the layout so I offered to come help him out the next day on a few of the other articles, because he was doing it all alone and I had nothing better to do at that time of my life, still being bummed about being back in SA. The next day was my birthday so after a heavy night on the 46 | ten year session

town, doing God knows what, I pulled into his drive way at about 12 with 6 beers, a sack of ice, a bottle of whiskey and a regina pizza I picked up along the way… I did not leave his house for about 2 years after that day… I was pretty much happy about the fact that I did not have to go look for a real job and that I could get fucked every day while it seemed to my parents that I was doing some sort of a job involving things I was interested in. It was a tiny spare room in his flat with a couch a long table with two chairs and small cocktail fridge (which never stayed full for longer than a day) and a very noisy fan. The first 6 issues were some of the best and most creative times I had spent with another person in my entire life. Session magazine was built on The Velvet Underground, Black Flag, Ramones, The Stone Roses, The Pistols and the band Cake, but mostly we listened to the Underground…”I’m waiting for my man, 36 dollars in my hand…” Our basic diet consisted of chicken pies, 2L coke, whiskey, my occasional shots of warm vodka, Black Label quarts, and more weed than two people were meant to consume within a very short amount of time. Neil Hughes came around almost every day and puffed it up after work, and Gavin Morgan would also pull in from time to time. Then the tiny blue wrapped packets of Peruvian marching powder started evaporating under our noses. Looking back I think I was very responsible for the last bit as my nights and days had started becoming one long fucking amazing torpedo ride of inebriation and self-destruction, which I have not really fully recovered from…

It’s obvious you had a massive influence on the design of the mag – Can you talk about the creative process of the early mags and how you and Bod would

work together? There was no process at all. Bod had a yellow book filled with the best punk LP album covers which we flipped through from time to time, and I had some friends who were very clued up on the design trends of the time. My favourite magazines, besides skate mags, which had a huge influence on me, were THE FACE, ID magazine, Creative Review, and then I religiously followed the work the of DESIGNERS REPUBLIC from Sheffield in England and Peter Saville… Besides that I had a huge understanding of positive and negative space, the perfect balance of chaos and order and a deeply emotional bond with the artists Mark Rothko and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Bod would always do the rough layout of where he wanted the pictures and the general colours, so he would slap them down while I would do the fine tuning and ad the creative elements and intro’s to the articles. Those first six issues were some of my favourite layouts I have ever done… I had no training in design so it was pure gut feeling all the way. Plus I was already collecting records at the time and a lot of them influenced a lot of the layout. Within a few issues we did guest lectures on magazine design and self publishing at Vega and Wits and the magazine was used for reference by a lot of other magazines and design colleges at the time. It all just worked and we were stoked about the recognition and adventures of new articles coming in. We also did most of the KFD stuff back then. Bod did the PIL graphic and I did the Modern Living series of shirts and stickers. I’m still bummed they never did a board series of them… It was all ‘punk’-driven back then, and I think my minimalistic approach was not really what they stood for at the time. We both inspired each other so much and we had lot of fun creating in that smoky room. We also did not give a fuck about spelling and grammar… two stoned dyslexic chums burning the midnight oil constantly blasting the hits from his computer. We were more into text “etiquette” as we called it.

At that time Bod and you were probably not the best influence on each other… you guys were pretty out of control for a long while – what were those days like?

Yes we were completely out of control…

I think that was pretty obvious to any outsider while we were oblivious to our entire life style and mental state of being.

We were nuts, and we had no work ethic at all. No rules or regulations put into place and we both took advantage of each others vices with a very surreal approach to life in general. I met Bod when I was about 16 in a night club which we all hanged out at, called the White Horse Inn, when we were younger and he dissed me so badly the first time he met me, while in fact he was one my skateboarding heroes. Then to get his recognition and him allowing me do whatever the fuck I wanted whenever I wanted was madness. Despite what people think or know about Brendan is that he is a very creative human being, which is finally coming through now in his abstract paintings and drawings. We could not exist without each other for a long time, and we dragged each other into some very dark situations at the time but always managed to re emerge smiling at the other side with some sort of drive that is very rare within a friendship and very mangled partnership. There is no way it could have

worked without the chaos and believe me there were some very “special” situations during those times. A lot of people seem to think that we did not give a fuck. The truth is that we were very aware of what we were doing but just did not seem to oblige to anyone’s opinions or even our own. The out of control situation actually kept everything in place the only way that made sense to us. Plus I had serious hate for BLUNT magazine. I hated it from the day that it came out, even before Session was in the picture. It stood for everything

both frowned upon our certain lifestyles at times. Every time I see Brendan I’m amped. He revives a type of energy within me, which stems from an mutual understanding regarding life, our approach to life and how we have dealt with certain situations that were presented before us. I can honestly say Brendan is, and will be, the only other human on this planet that has completely understood and accepted me and my crooked path to enlightenment.

We are both Leo’s and we are stubborn as fuck, and arguments would roll off our

The out of control situation actually kept everything in place the only way that made sense to us.

I hated, about how the outside world perceived skateboarders to be like, or what I had grown up to believe in. Their idea of skateboarding was completely opposite to what we had. They had an online forum on their web page which I used to visit late at night under the name TRUTH HURTS, and I would lay into them on a daily basis while I was off my tits on some sort of amphetamines… Christ I was out of hand on that thing and probably the reason they had to close the forum down after all the abuse I randomly hurled at them. They took the soul out of skateboarding in this country in my opinion.

backs like water off a ducks back. Telling each other to “fuck off” was in the order of the day but it never went cold. We were too concerned about each other’s well being at the end of the day…

Being that spangled most the time, do you think it enhanced your guys’ creativity, or do you think you could have done better if you were sober?

Obviously we could have done better sober, there is no arguing about that. We were both dealing with a lot of issues in our own personal lives during those times, and Bod was dealing with all the advertising and the debt while I was completely unaware of what he was going through stress wise.

All I cared about was making the mag look good. So in the beginning we were amped and feeding of each other’s energy and proud of our little achievement in the publishing world. There is nothing creative about drugs. I learned that the hard way.

I mean after a while the mag started looking worse and worse with a few faded lights burning in the back ground. Plus we both ignored all the walls and bridges we burned with empty promises and ignorance towards our contributors.

Where were you when the mag went to Revolution? There was a lot of interest in me from other publications at the time and I ended up working for SL magazine and then all of a sudden they made me art director of HYPE hip hop magazine…

Which I ended up doing the fist four issues.

Now try and fathom me at that time in an office environment! I was freelance, so I still pretty much came and went like I wanted to, but the only experience I had ever had was working for Bod… plus I rightfully also had my own ideas about hip hop and its South African connection at that time. I had pretty much printed a name for myself for getting loose every night, had my name at the top of any guest list in town and snorted my way into meetings and conversations at any random point of the day. I got “fired”, or got asked to apologize because I told the Zimbabwean editor to go fuck himself. Which to me at that stage was normal because my only office etiquette at that time was a smoky room filled with beer bottles half full of cigarette butts and nips of weed in the ashtrays… HYPE was cool though and I did some cool shit there because I had some sort of a budget for the first time in my life to do things with regarding photo shoots.

Then I came back and took over STAGE magazine, but we will leave that saga out for another time xxx.

You guys used to argue a lot – was that from spending too much time together? Cabin fever? Or was it the lows? In a way I became more detached from the magazine. I became bored with it and it showed. There were a lot of things I wanted to do more creatively and had to be constantly reminded that “we are skate mag and not an art mag”…I mean we were both alcoholics to start with and all the abuse and parties and bohemian living took a heavy toll on both of us. There were some unsolved issues… stuff that I can’t even remember or choose not to. There has never been a bad vibe between Bod and me, even though I am sure we have

Tell us about your involvement with the VCD. Ok… the VCD days. Clint started doing AV basically as soon as he stepped off the plane from London back then. He came back with a video camera and a very focussed mission of what he wanted to do with his life and his involvement in skateboarding in this country and it still shows to this day and within his family life. It was very far removed from the Clint that I knew from our youth. That Clint that would randomly be escorted out of clubs, bars and house parties by either bouncer or parent, and he started leaving a legacy behind which is still in my mind unmatched by any skater from this country… but

that’s another story for another interview that will hopefully grace the rotten pages of this magazine in the near future. Clint always had some idea of me reading the news for AV like Riaan Cruywagen and that materialized (in some form or another) within the VCD that came out with the magazine at one point when we seemed to be in “control” of things again. I just joined the company again and was working on a sister magazine which we took over called STAGE magazine. So I ended up reading the news ETV style complete with a green screen he had painted in our office, which had moved to a Randburg semi industrial slum. The publisher at the time (and there has been many) drove a black Ferrari, wore cowboy boots and employed random dodgy characters to improve his magazine empire. Still to this day I don’t trust a man who wears cowboy boots.

You and Kevin gained a lot of ‘skate fame’ from featuring regularly in them – at that time it seemed everyone was watching the VCD – did you get any more attention than usual because of it? I think Kevin got a lot more fame for his part in the video than I did. I mean he was out there skating all the time so he got recognized a lot more than me on the streets. His performance levels and impersonations were also way higher than mine. I certainly did not ever get laid for reading the news… but every now and then some random dude would put two and two together… as I said I was not skating at all at that point so there was no reference to me besides being this frustrated skateboarding news reading weirdo that introduced the magazine on die VCD. A lot of the time you hated doing the vcd’s – as can be seen on some of the outtakes – but I remember you really hating that shit. Why? Was it the whole time in your life or that specifically?

I never hated it. I loved it but I was very frustrated at the time and also strung out on a God knows what during that time. As I said I was a complete addict to whatever you put in front of me and I was dealing with the stress of being the editor of a music magazine while my personal life was a complete mess. Unknown to a lot of people I had overdosed and nearly died about 4 times either through natural selection or by my own hand while those 4 VCD’s were printed. I don’t particularly remember much and I cringe whenever I see those clips of me reading the news because for some reason they would remind what I

had gotten up to the night before I had to it was all those cheap boards coming from do them. Some flash backs would come and the Steve Roco umbrella! Fuck I broke my tickle my guilty consciousness. share and I also broke a few other people’s boards including Ockie, NeiI and crazy What was your involvement with Dave. I always replaced them though… (my skateboarding before Session? Talk about afrikaans guilt always replaced them) I had your early days skateboarding and the this lazy back foot, which always landed into artistic influence it had on you… I grew up manual so the bolts would just crack under in Randpark Ridge, just outside Randburg my knees. It was about a six months curse.

(JHB). Adrian (Day) was from the same area.

There were these English guys who lived Did the mag and everything around up the road from me. They all had boards. the mag take a toll on you, mentally, That was about 1987 and I remember them physically and financially? As I said

skating outside their driveway, no one had walls around their properties back then. I used to stand and watch them while I was riding my BMX. They had a video box in their garage and they used to watch Animal Chin all the time. Then when I was about 10 my parents sent me to these math classes called WIZZ LAB. Everyone worked on these huge computers with green screens and all, thinking back those things were just huge calculators. This older guy sat next to me who was punk as fuck… I think he used to skate there because he always had a huge board with him with loads of tip ex slogans all over it like Sex Pistols, Black Flag, Sub Society and Santa Cruz (Maybe that’s why my math is still so bad to this day…), I think it all came from there. Strangely enough my brother nailed some dishwasher wheels to a plank in the garage at that time… I wish I still had that thing – he had no idea what he did. Plus obviously watching Marty Mcfly skate in the opening scene to the first “Back To The Future” movie… I used to rewind that scene all the time. Well since then I wanted to ride those wheels. There were only 4 skaters at my school back then. Ockie Fourie, Hennie Claassen, Sean Dobson and me. We spent a lot of time together and it felt like we were the only skateboarders in the country at one stage. This was circa 91 and 92. Then there were a couple of dudes from the neighbouring high school, two of them being Xander Smith and Johan “Mitch” van Straten. We all skated at Cresta roof top parking religiously when we were about 15, 16 and obviously loads behind the Randridge Mall. As we got older and started moving around more things started changing, and we started meeting guys like ourselves, thinking like us and pretty soon a huge party crew starting thriving through the streets of Randburg and Sandton.

even through all the crazy times I was very aware of the destruction. I loved the destruction more than I loved the creation of all of it. I became completely obsessed with a process, a carefully planned process of making something beautiful whether it was art or magazines, taking it to a level of my choice and then watching it “burn” into nothing. I became addicted to hurt at the end of the day. So much hurt. Hurt is free and you can apply it without any financial burden to yourself at any given moment of time. Of course it took a toll on me… but I can sit back and say this or that but nothing about that period around my life is going to change. I DON’T REGRET ANYTHING. All those events formed the person who I am today, right now is all that counts and is all that will count tomorrow. The magazine and the lifestyle we surrounded ourselves with allowed me to live completely opposite to what was expected, or what I was told to be, or what I was meant to be right now.

The spine of issue … read “Yes / No”. Do you want to talk about that. I used write “YES” on my left wrist and “NO” on my right wrist with a pen or marker at one stage.

The reason being that because I was right handed I would do everything left handed and that meant everything from ordering drinks or buying drugs I would have to think about more than doing it naturally. So I thought about everything my left hand did more before I did it… it was some sort of mechanism I implanted to protect myself in desperation at times. The only thing that I misjudged is that we are very adaptable human apes and my left hand became smarter than the right one and became the idle hand of the “devil” near the end. Don’t ever underestimate your own intelligence or what you think your intelligence might be.

Brendan wrote you a letter after you How many boards have you broken doing tried to commit suicide that you’ve heelflips? It sucks when people remember kept close to heart ever since… what you for snapping boards, and in my defence has his role been in your life on that 48 | ten year session

level? I don’t remember or I think my mind chooses not to remember a few years of my life during the years I became less involved in the magazine. I was a complete junkie and, as I said, loved being in control of my own demise. I felt invincible and completely terrified of my own life at the same time. Plus I never dealt with my depression and bi polar disorder which I completely ignored through drugs and alcohol. Plus at that stage the reality of my heart condition became more of a situation that I just wanted to completely ignore. I was given so many opportunities which I fucked up randomly and at will on several occasions. They were some beautiful fuck ups though…. In all reality I should be dead by now. It was during one of my episodes which I ended up in hospital again. This particular moment was a lot more serious when I woke up with Brendan next to my bed. He was pale and I was a bloodied canvass of red “Jackson Pollock” strokes from head to toe. They had drugged me up into a primal state of emotion and I was in and out of consciousness for a few days but will always remember him standing next

put out. To me it always meant NO BODY and it could mean that in Cockney… but back then nobody really liked it. I think and we had some letters of complaint from readers telling me how crap it was, so we stopped running them. Then Adrian asked me to revive it for a series of graphics for Familia.

It was hard doing it at first, because I was in a very different mindset back then, when I did it a couple of years ago. I have been thinking of reviving it properly again.

Was Session ever a business to you or Bod, or was it more of an art project?

Bod carried all the weight of the magazine.

Mentally it must have been a nightmare and his drinking surely reflected the state of the finances and internal problems of the publication. To Bod it was a business. It was a business of getting the next magazine on the shelf no matter what. Come rain or shine, late or wait Bod made sure the magazine was on shelf. That was what the business was… everything else in his life emotionally, personally and internally was put to the side because of his love and his passion for skateboarding. Not one of you

“...its worth more than every roll of paper that ever printed the SESSION logo on it.” to me with his hand on my shoulder and a nervous grin telling me that I looked “pretty punk” while leaving a letter next to my bed. I don’t think that he has ever written anybody, and I mean ANYBODY, a letter like that. It’s a very simple letter but written from his heart and only the way Bod could… Its always been kept safely with my few belongings I have travelled with since then, and I always read it when life gets to me. That letter is my personal proof that I mean something to other people and how much it hurts them when I hurt myself mentally or physically. It set off a small change within me which has led to the positive mind set I am still growing into to this day. I am more alive because of it and its worth more than every roll of paper that ever printed the SESSION logo on it.

Where did No Dog’s Body come from?

Brendan body is NO DOGS BODY. It’s not completely original. There is this comic called RED MEAT and a lot of it stems from there. Before NO DOGS, I used to do a similar comic called HERO IN, all of which disappeared when Bod decided to delete everything on my hard drive one day (but that’s another story for another day) basically NO DOGS is Brendan B Body and the character was stolen from a FUCKD ad and I just duplicated the eyes and changed the mouth and nose. The term “No Dogs Body” is from “God save the Queen” the song by the Sex Pistols which was one of the tracks me and Bod used to listen to on repeat when the first issues of Session were

fuckers including myself who has ever commented on him, his behaviour, or his way of presenting skateboarding to the South African community, can take that away from him. My part of the whole deal is so small when I compare it to what he went through to keep this magazine on the shelf.

In the beginning you were involved with the mag full time. When did you start taking a step back? Did you ever leave the mag? I still feel like I am part of the mag even though I have not been part of it for a very long time now. I wouldn’t say that I stepped back it, was more like I just faded away… My ghost is still in there somewhere and I would love to do some epic contents pages again like I did back when the magazine was at its most creative. I will always be part of skateboarding or surround myself with skaters. Skateboarding still produces some of the most interesting and forward thinking minds of our generation, no matter how fucked up some of them turn out at the end. We are a definite pulse within society.

You left Session and embarked on a few different things, working on your art, running guesthouses, then a relocation to Durban and now finally back in CT. And you look more stoked and more on top than ever before. After all these years do you think you have found a happier, more fulfilled space, and what do you now know works or doesn’t? I have

found a lot more peace within myself. I also chose to seclude myself from society for a very long time by disappearing into small towns all over South Africa. I needed to find a common ground again with who I am, what I am capable of and how I am going to approach life again. I lost a lot of time indulging into my own thoughts, being completely unaware of the fact that life was racing past me… It’s not easy when you suddenly awake from that “mental coma” and realize that you have to catch up with the rest of society again. Even though I don’t regret anything it does not mean that past does not come and haunt me at 3am in the morning. So I basically deconstructed myself and started rebuilding my frame work again from whatever I felt was

You have always been somewhat part of the furniture at Session and in the earlier days you were pretty much the Session mascot. What has your tie been to the mag and to Bod? I remember the day Bod said ‘’I’m going to start a South African Skateboarding Magazine…’’So I’ve known Bod a long time. When he said that it just made sense. Bod was the only man for the job. I knew his dad was involved with printing and he knew a little about something, me knowing nothing about printing! So at the time, being nothing of the kind in SA, starting a ‘South African Skateboarding Magazine’ was only a good thing. Bod and I have always related in many ways, we just think the same about certain things. The same sense of humour mostly, so we would have a real laugh about what was going in the mag, from issue 1 and many after that.

St[E]aK I had also known just as long, (since Surf Centre days) so we were just good friends putting something together that had never been done before. I was part of the furniture at SESSION HQ indeed. It was me and the green couch behind Bod and St[E] ak and a little Mac Book 13” (it was the first brain behind the whole project!). Even though I had no real say of what would/ wouldn’t be cool or should print….. I DID! Tell us how you felt when you first saw that first issue. ISSUE 1, SESSION SKATEBOARDING MAGAZINE R25.00.

BOOM. It was there! I remember the first proof, it was like A1 size and came in like 50 pieces it was huge and all over the place!

Then seeing the cover with my man Clint smashing it and knowing that it took like 18 months for this to be possible. It was strange that it all came down to this skinny little magazine. I paged through it about 9 times the first time. It was a sure reason for celebration!!

The launch party was pretty insane.

Where was it, and what went down? The

important during my 20’s. I have been living in a much better mind set and have a lot more control over my vices and mental state than I had before. It’s not something that you wake up from and it’s all just fresh and new again. One step at a time is how I approach everything now and with a lot more patience. I know how to destroy myself now but do I know how to live…?

Live without taking anything for granted. I am very lucky to have survived this long and I appreciate every second that I am granted on this planet now much more than I ever have in the past. Life is way too short for all this drama that we choose to wrap ourselves in a lot of the time.

I’m still figuring what works best for me.

have some good times and only a few bad.

They say ‘’You’ll never be Old and Wise if you were never Young and Crazy’’. You could say it was getting a bit much when your best friend is turning around in the passenger seat punching your teeth out! And I don’t know where Harry is these days… Those days were Wild, we were rockstars in our world. We did whatever the fuck we wanted for a while and could get anything we wanted, thanks to the power of SESSION. Who won in the fist fight on the side of the highway? Bod won the first one!

There was a time when your urine used to drip from Bod’s kitchen ceiling… care to elaborate on that? Some people sleepwalk, some sleep-go to the fridge, some sleep Pee on TV’s. Candice says she woke up to dripping sound coming from the loft floor onto the kitchen counter. Pretty funny, what can I say! There’s a couple of other well good ‘Sleep-stories’ from that flat..!

improvise the whole thing and do our Stick Tips around what we had. I remember it was pretty much nonstop laughter from when we met that day. I suppose my favourite would be the Mexican one, thanks to our makeup Do you think having close ties to the mag artist, the one and only Kevin Love. helped you in anyway skateboarding wise? Well Bod got me on ELEMENT, so that You featured a lot in the VCD and Clint changed everything for me, and from there says you have a natural screen presence. Do you ever look back through all the mags and realise just how much of your life has been documented in those pages? It’s pretty crazy to look back at the old issues. They’re like my family photo albums! I only really realized how much I was documented when I got back from overseas. When people still recognized me from SESSION and I felt like they gave me mad props even though I had been gone so long! SAFE! That’s a great feeling, knowing that you’ve influenced others through skating.

Tell us about the times that stood out the you just push harder to get pics etc. There most while filming all that stuff. I just Favorite cover? Favorite cover… I’m was more to skating in SA than now! liked to muck about and Clint had the lens in gonna say ISSUE 1.

You and Brendon Lewis were the original my face, and me not being the shy type… I Favorite article? Best article for me was front men for the Element Stick Tips just rolled with it! It’s fun to film stupid stuff the Durban one. which in the early days always had a cool and put it all together when it was just for Favorite picture? Best Pic in SESSION… theme and you guys would always dress us. Or I’m just a natural Superstar…! up. It looked like a lot of fun to do… tell You’ve also been one of Bod’s many tough one, I’m missing so many issues… us a bit about shooting for those and partners in crime when it came to One that comes to mind is Clint’s onewhich was your favourite one? Me and partying and chaos – You watched Bod foot fakie sequence on the DBN ramp. Or Brendon Lewis grew up skating together, he hit the ups and downs with Session and Donaldson tagged to shit by satin. could have been the best to all that didn’t we’ve all seen a bit of ‘Harry’ from time THANKS FOR EVERYTHING IN THE LAST 10 know! It must have been Clint’s idea to start, to time. You guys spent a lot of time YEARS SESSION MAG, I LOVE YOU! everything was super spontaneous, and together during the Sunninghill days – HUGHES OUT! we’d just scrape something together like Gorilla suits or a braai and wors and just was there ever a time you though it was all just getting too much? Oh yes, did we launch party was too good, everyone was there. We were in Hollywood. Giant bottles of Champagne, Cigars, Chronic, Ramps, Girls… and Bod’s Victory! PRICLESS!

“Some people sleep-walk, some sleep-go-to-the-fridge and some people sleep-Pee-on-TV’s.

ten year session | 49

Bod handled things, workwise and on a personal level. What bothered you and how did it affect your writing? It probably just made my writing a little angrier. I’d also expose people in the mag, like talk about their shortcomings. I definitely dragged Bod through the mud a couple of times.

But yeah, it was super frustrating working for the mag. Just disorganised, and people just weren’t behaving. Weed burning all the time, drinking, and then party nights… everything was a bit too much and it was no wonder shit was always late and a mess.

van der schyf

The Parkmore flat was total chaos most of the time… loads of dudes around all the time, lots of booze and madness – how do you think anything got done in that environment? Pretty early on I decided I couldn’t work around any of that. Besides the obvious chaos, when you’re trying to write you need quiet and no distractions. I would mostly work from home. I would have to spend some time there, especially the last 2 days before print – which was always the worst. It was so hard to get anything done in the midst of that. I used to get so wound up.

When did you first see the mag? I was in the States, at the ASR Trade show. I had been living in London for quite a while and I ran into Dallas in San Diego and he had the first issue with him.

simple as that. Excel at something you love. their hat to Bod and Session and actually Before Session and in fact before Blunt, put into context what it would mean if it there were no real outlets for footage / hadn’t happened. Would Blunt still be the photos. No one was ever really shooting skate outlet? Probably not. Maybe someone back in those days. When dudes would go else would have done it, but this happened Why did you get involved? I was going to skate and try big rails and stuff, all you got when it happened, so I think no matter go back to London, but came back here for a little bit. In a short amount of time one of my sponsors said they’d start paying me if I was going to stay and Bod started sewing the seed in my head that I should write for the mag. At that stage it seemed like there was more going on here so I decided to stay.

What do you think your writing style brought to the mag? Some personality I hope. Some humour, some antagonism. Plus I could spell.

Did any of your work for the mag lead to any other opportunities? Yeah kind of, but whether I seized it or not is different. I was offered a job at an ad agency which I turned down. Other mags asked me to write for them, and I did, but it was always hard to write however I wanted. So many other magazines were run by pussies, shit scared of stirring any controversy, so I’d hate writing in ‘their’ style. It was so boring.

Session I could pretty much do what I liked.

You have always featured heavily in the magazine on a skate level and have always held down consistent coverage.

What has made you work so hard on getting photos and footage over the years? Well, it’s all I had ever wanted: to be a paid skateboarder. And I never felt like naturally gifted, but I found my niche and had a crazy work ethic in terms of getting footage. A large part was also just having something to look back on. I just wanted to do something with my life, it’s kind of as 50 | ten year session

was a cheer from your mates and pat on the back. It was more about just being hyped on skating. These days there is way more incentive for guys to try stuff they probably would not try do just for fun. Media has just changed skateboarding in that regard and aided in its progression so much. What was it like for you dudes skating back then in that regard compared to now? For me, the outlet motivated me. It made me - and still does to a degree - want to get rad shit. It brought the whole aesthetic thing forward.

Without those two mags I wouldn’t be where I am today. It enabled me to live this life, make money skating, travel and all these things led up to where I am now. And before media you were doing it for yourself, high fives and maybe trying to get somewhere in a contest. That was it. The mags, especially this one, pushed the entire game forward hard, and everyone out there should tip

what, without Session, skateboarding would be years behind where it is now in terms of pushing people, the standards and the hunger aspect. If you think this mag has been ‘whatever’ you’re fucking tripping.

There was always a lot of coverage of the Familia tours, and there has always been consistent Familia ads in the magazine.

Do you think Session had an influence on the success of Familia as a brand in South Africa? Well yeah because it was a place for the riders to get good coverage, show our style and push our aesthetic and message. We were enabled to show everyone what we were about, and we could finally showcase ourselves the way every other country does.

there was not much time for review.

Were you ever worried about what was going to print? Yes. I have had sleepless nights about what I may have written and the effect it might have. I have always been that person that pushes something too far, without wanting to, and then stressing about the repercussions. But fuck it. I have zero regrets about any of it. I was more paranoid about what religious, right-wing conservative morons would do or how they would react. There were always a few issues. The most recent one was when I wrote about Zuma – people shat about that.

But it’s retarded, you should be able to write – and you are in fact – whatever you like as long as it doesn’t incite hatred or violence.

Tell us about your run in with the film and publications board and parents complaining about your words. Yeah that was a lot of fun. I had to attend a hearing with the FPB with Bod due to some asshole Christian fundamentalist shitting himself over a load of articles I had written. I was accused of promoting pornography, drug use, alcohol abuse and racism. I was said to be corrupting children etc. I spoke about all those things in a tongue in cheek and kind of depraved way, but I never ever promoted them. They asked me about all the articles and it was just that this fucking moron was clearly not very intelligent and just saw words, like he didn’t read, he just saw bad words. They basically were chilled with me as they could tell this dude was thick.

The last question they asked me was “… but can you understand how a Christian fundamentalist could be offended by your writing?” to which I responded “I am not writing this for a Christian fundamentalist.”

Your writing style is somewhat antagonistic and most of it was always written on insane deadlines where You’d often complain about the way

That said, the mag always came out… not always on time, but it would always come out, and in most cases it was always good. Yep, somehow…I think at one point there was a high standard of shit. Like Steak and Gav designing, Bergh, Miguel and Pablo shooting, and then I was pretty precious about the writing too.

What was your view on Chris Mostert (Replay ITV)? He just seemed shady. I couldn’t relate to him in any way and I didn’t really trust him. Not to say I really knew anything about him, it’s just the vibe I got. He once shat on me for cashing my salary cheque which bounced, and he made it my fault for ruining his relationship with the bank. Huh? Although that whole set up at Replay was not sustainable, it did provide a few dudes with a fairly stable income / job.

What was your take on that whole set up? When I look back it was pretty cool… in some ways. I was making decent money – we all were. But it was always fragile, like no contracts, you always had to ask for your salary. It was basically always about to collapse. And it did.

You did some work with Clint on some of the VCDs. What was that like and what dynamic did it bring to the magazine and

to the dudes working there at the time?

Yeah those were fun. I was only involved in a couple of things and then of course getting bits of footage out. Kids loved those.

My favourite thing ever was the Bloem Blowout – I watched that the other day. It was too funny. And depressing.

After the whole Replay ITV Media rug

“If you think this mag has been ‘whatever’ you’re fucking tripping.” got pulled out from under everyone’s feet, some hard calls had to be made when Bod went to Clint for help which ultimately resulted in you and Gavin leaving Session. What happened there?

The mag had been run into the ground, and me and Gavin were asked to take pay cuts. I was so angry about it because it was a loss of control and mismanagement that made it that way. Everything was out of control and at that point it felt like me and Gav were the guys trying to keep it together. I was pissed off and offended, and it felt like I had wasted 4 years. So I quit then and there at the meeting.

What happened to the mag, in your opinion, after you guys left? There was a decent issue with Clint… then it declined.

What were the good times for you? I was just living a pretty good life for a while there – although it had it’s bad side, and maybe I didn’t appreciate it enough. Those times were just skating, travelling and writing.

Not bad.

You are now one of the owners of Session – how did that come to be and what do you hope to see for the magazines future? Clint asked me if I wanted to invest with him. And since we have Baseline and we work well together I thought I should. I believe in the mag and skateboarding as a whole. SA needs a mag more than anyone realises, more than the industry sometimes realises. I just want it to be of an elevated standard that pushes skateboarding and the industry forward.

Favourite article? Well for obvious reasons ones that I was involved with on a skate level. Like all the Barcelona trips with friends for example. I also loved Familia’s first weekend article in Durban.

Favourite photos you’ve had? Definitely ones shot by Ben Bergh, because we would hang out as good homies and get the shit done. We had a good dynamic. The ones sticking out for me would be that rail ollie at the Star on my 48 hours, and the noseblunt cover at angles. The angles one I love because it was my favourite spot of all time.

family unit, skating and shooting during the day, trying to learn something about Photoshop (which never stuck), did the groceries, cooked and lived together. From time to time a guest would pop by. I think I recorded 19 boarding passes that one year.

It was amazing.

Were you the only guy shooting in Cape Town when the mag first started out?

There were others. Siraj, Ollie and Miles.

Guess I piped up at the right time and was taken on a journey of exploration.

Were you the only dude shooting on medium format at the time? I guess so, still got my baby. Yeah I love that thing. A friend of mine, Leo Sharp, (Sidwalk photographer), introduced me to the brighter side of the 6X6 format and being slightly OCD needed to get me some of that, how else would you be able to take amazing photos? Pure fun working in medium format, it just works.

You use to call Bod and Candice mom and dad. Why was that? Our little family unit. Before Session was born, in around 2001, Bod and I had been in contact, he skated for Vans and I was employed by them to look after the team and the rest. We kept in contact after that ended. In around 2002, I mentioned the interest in starting a magazine called “fork” (quite fitting with my poor level of vocabulary) and in his mind he’d been conceiving “Session”. He told me he needed a photographer in the Cape. I was like, “I’ll do it.” Seemed like an easier way to get the ball rolling, so I quit my job, jumped on a plane and ended up at their local pub with Ben toasting new beginnings.

At the time Candice and Brendan were living in Benmore, in the “inside out igloo”. That winter it was frigging cold and no matter how many layers you added it would make no difference. They took me in and made me a part of the furniture, sleeping on the floor next to an oversized light box and two macs. Bod became my Dad and Candice my Mum away from home. We were a little

What was your first ever pic published in the mag? It was one of Clint doing a massive kickflip at Frontside in Alberton.

And it was used in a Revolution ad without me even knowing of it. At least it got in the mag, I guess.

That was apparently the first picture you ever had published right? I think it was, and it was fucken tiny, like A6. I still remember I was studying at the time and used it for one of my projects. The lecturers 52 | ten year session

Were you paid enough to be able to just shoot skating? That is a very good question. On paper, maybe enough - if the mag was full of your images and some advertising. The reality was NO, there was no budget set to cap the images purchased so it was a rolling mess. From issue to issue it was a struggle to get money and one needed to branch out.

How did you afford equipment? Living and working in the UK at the end of the 90’s/2000, every month I bought another item to add to my kit. Time was what made it possible to fuel this interest. I inherited 1000 pounds (when my Gran Betty passed on), which paid for my BLADD, so her memory lives on and a drug trial helped with the biggest purchase.

What do you think you lost compared to what you made? No accountant would have been able to justify the losses. There was an accumulative invoice floating around in excess of R65 000 (in 2003/2004). That was a quarter of the cost of my Green Point apartment at the time. In the end I was paid out R10 000 in 2005.

Did that kill your passion for the whole thing? Yes and Blunt closing didn’t help.

I needed to get working and focus on something else. Free time became time to enjoy, not get busted and then fight for another invoice. Why??? An old boss of mine a Chef, Simon Tanner, made a remark when someone had not been paid, “That boils my piss”. It stuck.

You met the whole digital revolution with some resistance… When did you finally surrender to it? Still struggling to get the idea that you need to spend hours at home fixing the RAW’s, when you could get done right on the street. Add to that you can shoot all images without flashes.

Seems unnatural - just too easy. Try doing that on 100 VS “slide film”. It’s going to suckkkkkkkkk! Ben made the first move.

He was swaying between medium format and went digi. I bought a D2H in 2005 when I was over in the UK. Wish I still had the F5 - that was a classic… Anyone wanting to part with a FM2?

What was the mission and build up to Christi’s lipslide cover? Ask Jamie, my minds a blank. Think around 50 boards were needed to create the run up on an uphill. Think the landing too was shit. Also needed to find a camera that could sync at 250th of a second, as mine was bust at the time. No permits and a public library/town hall during the week. Good times!

What has been the biggest highlight for you regarding Session over the last ten years? Shooting with pro’s. Maybe, Mark Appleyard’s 2003/4 trip, he stayed on my couch; skating “Potchi’s” Ghetto mini ramp late into the night or maybe hanging with Sven in Cali shooting while he was trying to move house. Interfering while Brendan and Jolanda were trying to plan their wedding… over and above being able to stay friends with some really rad people.

What was the biggest bummer? That night when Clint and Clayton met with Bod I was not privi to the initial capex discussion

marked it so badly, they said it was shit. I pretty good. But I think most of the young still loved it though photographers have missed out on the fundamentals of photography not having You are now one the top commercial shot on film. Shooting on film was way photographers in the country – do you more difficult and so made you work harder. think the work you did with Session It seems like with the help of Instagram helped you get to where you are now in everyone can be a great photographer. any way? I think so, it taught me the ways of the magazine world and how to meet Who would you say has been the most deadlines etc. And it was also rad being influential skate photographer in the able to say I was a published photographer country? Ben Bergh, Pablo Ponzone and when I went to show my book to other Miguel Howell. They were always shooting clients. It also helped getting some rad good stuff. images together for my portfolio What was the most challenging part You and Bod have had your differences of working with everyone at Session? over the years – what would you say Punctuality, sobriety, cash shortages. has been the main problem between Best times you remember? Right in the you two? Which fishing spot to hit next and beginning - when Bod was still working which flies to use. out of his flat in Parkmore with Steak. We There are a lot of new photographers had good times at that flat, drank loads of surfacing lately, mostly because SLR’s quarts, discussed the mag and what I was and digital cameras have become going to shoot next etc. And mine and Stef’s so much more accessible. From a missions going to shoot the band articles, I photographic point of view, where do think most of those were done while under see the level of skate photography? It’s the influence. Good times.

and that gave me an opportunity to get my photos published, then later on I got a call from Bod and Session was started.

into the mag… If only I could have helped. I so desperately wanted to play a bigger role.

I think Dad and I need to have a beer and a chin wag again.

How do you shoot with other skaters after shooting so much with the consistency of Christi, Moses and Alan?

I don’t shoot others. Kidding!!! Dude I shot with everyone who was amped. I really did prefer peeps that had a trick at a spot in mind. Kirk (RIP) killed it. Cover four, I think.

MJ from Hout Bay, Ryan his BFF, kids from all over. It was always good to shoot with my crew. Alan helped me to become a better photographer. He was amped to shoot while I was trying to improve (I still owe him a 50-50 at the pavilion, my bad). Christi was impatient and had no time to fuck around with second goes.

You’ve just shot the Ketchup article with Christi for this issue. How was shooting with Christi for this issue compared to his first interview in issue 3? That tail 270 on the compressor in issue three, you should have heard Christi before we set it up, “Miguel, you have a vivid imagination”... and I still do... I tried to get my full cab to backside lip slide. I got a similar reaction this time round. Back then we hung all the time. Now it was super special to dust ourselves off and get out there to shoot some images with my homie. The guy is still able to make anything he puts his mind to trying. Same shit, just further down the life path.

When did you first meet Bod? I took a trip up to JHB with my friend Alistair McLeish and we stayed at Bod’s apartment in Parkmore a couple of nights. What I liked about him was his passion for the mag and that he had all the right intentions right from the beginning.

What was the first thing you shot for Session? I can’t really remember… It was either Loucas or JP Redpath one of those two.

When Session first started it was pretty much Ben shooting JHB, Mig shooting CT and you shooting DBN. How did you get into shooting skateboarding? I started shooting photos right from the beginning when I started skating myself. In high school I met Shaun Cook, this guy that used to skate back in the day and we would go out skating on the beachfront or downtown and I would take my dad’s camera and shoot photos of him, because he was much better than me. Then, over time, a lot of my other friends in school started to skate as well, so then we would go street skating and just take the camera with and take turns to shoot each other. I stuck to it because I enjoyed it so much. Blunt mag came out

If there is one thing that defined Session for you, what was it? BOD, were you ever in doubt?

What is the best way to get into the mag if you don’t know the people involved?

Start to shoot with your friends and offer your services to anyone willing to throw themselves off a building, set of stairs and down a handrail. Keep going, don’t stop and in the end it will all work out... It did for all of us.

Favorite cover? JP Du Preez doing the crail grab. I grew up skating with JP so it was rad seeing him on the cover Best photo you ever shot for the mag?

Not sure if it was my best but the pics I shot of Deisel Whores for one of the early issues.

I remember we shot at Jaxon’s (the vocalist) house. My favourite from the whole shoot was of the guitarist, he was wearing a suit and we shot him in the kitchen where there was awesome natural light. He looked like a preacher of sorts, I loved it.

Best article? There were loads of good articles, most of my mags are still packed in boxes since I moved so can’t go back and check for a favourite. I do remember the one Liam Lynch shot for a Familia tour… That was pretty sick.

Best photo? The one Bod shot of me doing a nose pick in a tiny bowl, he still used it in his editor’s column.

Since shooting for the magazine from the very beginning, what are the biggest changes you’ve notice over the past 10 years? One of the biggest changes would probably be the progression of skating.

In the beginning I felt the level wasn’t all there, I mean there were a couple of really good guys, but there was still a lot of room for progression. Over time I saw skaters get better and better and it’s cool to see now and be able to shoot some really good skaters like Khule or Dlamini here in Durban and there are plenty more around the country.

Before Session, skateboarding was definitely more divided in South Africa.

Crews from around the country would get together at big annual events, but that would be about it. Session kind of bridged that gap and allowed everyone all over SA to see what their homies Bod’s idea to start Session? Really liked the concept and thought of being involved with shooting for a skate mag. Especially one we all felt we were really part of.

You have been involved with skateboarding for so long. What was your relationship with Brendan before Session began? Bren and I were super good mates for quite a few years before Session started. I remember sipping on rock shandy’s with Bren and Clint at their local in Parkmore, chatting about the concept of starting a mag. The concept was a vivid and an exciting one – almost seemed like a dream that may never have come to fruition if it wasn’t for the perseverance of a handful of people who shared his dream.

Where was your first skate photo published? It was in Blunt magazine - in the days before digital. I stand to be corrected, but I remember it being a shot of Day at Kyalami skatepark doing an ollie or grab over the hip of the funbox. Shot a slow flash sync shot with him that we were both really stoked on.

Of course, being film we had to wait a week to get the shots back from the lab in order to be stoked.

What was your thinking on

You were involved heavily in the first years, why did you take a step back from shooting for the mag? When you put in that much effort for so many years, a pat on the back here and there just isn’t enough anymore. Yes, you have a passion for what you’re doing, but passion alone doesn’t put food on the table. As a photographer one needs to be open-minded and learn other disciplines of photography to better yourself and become more saleable commercially.

I’ll always ride my board, even if it’s just bombing a hill and I’ll always shoot skateboarding. Guess it will just be in my own time and when I’m amped to go out and shoot something cool.

Many people consider you to be the best skate photographer in the county – how do you feel about that and does that not inspire you to want to shoot more skateboarding? Accolades are always flattering, but one has to be a realist and being respected as a good skate photographer unfortunately isn’t enough to survive. A good balance of work would be great - shoots that pays the bills and shoots to fulfil your passion.

The technology has changed so much since the early days… Damn straight.

Bloody kids have it easy these days. Little Bastards. (Ha-ha!). I was super stoked when digital came around. Nothing is simple though. Digital has its own challenges. The fact that digital can be viewed instantly is one of its biggest advantages.

How were photos processed into the mag in the first years? We mostly shot on

across country were up to. How do you think that affected everything? Session has affected everything for the better in my eyes. It made skating bigger and more united in some ways. I mean, I was able to meet a whole lot of different people that I wouldn’t had if it weren’t for Session. So I’m guessing it did the same for skaters. It also made the whole industry bigger, that’s what the media does to sports. I wish advertisers would see that and support Session more and more.

How was it shooting with Loucas for his 48 Hours? Did he have temper tantrums at that age already? Ha ha ha. Loucas he is a very unique individual, I don’t think he was that bad back then. I think he already had some issues with some of the people from Pretoria and I remember some girl chasing after him as well. But he is cool, I like people like him who are true to themselves and are not afraid to speak their mind, whether it’s for good or bad.

You used to shoot a lot of slides. Do you miss that whole manual process? How has digital affected your shooting? Do you still shoot with film cameras? Yeah definitely, if I could go back in time and erase digital from history I would. There was nothing better than going to the lab and getting to see your slides on the light box or going on a two week tour and coming back home and getting the stuff processed hoping everything was ok with your camera, lights and exposure and that you didn’t screw up the whole tour. That slide film which was taken to the lab to be processed, viewed on a light table by Bren and myself who would then choose the shot/s we preferred. These slides would then be taken back to the lab for scanning, which was super expensive in those days often at R300 per high res scan.

What was your favourite shoot of Session history? Shoots that stood out were most of the ones with Day, Clint, Rudi, Yann, JP, Sam and Maanda. And the Quiksilver “Skop, Skiet and Donder” tour with Brett Shaw - who managed a rocking tour. I really enjoyed shooting Day’s rail ollie into Sauer street in JHB (Day is this right?) for his first interview. Gavin Morgan helped save lives by directing traffic and Day was encouraged by some ho’s on a dingy first floor pub across the street. Another great was Clint’s 5050 down the Edenvale garage ledge one night. That was gnarly.

Sam’s shuvit over the gap in the unfinished Sunninghill building was another standout.

How many covers have you shot? A fair amount… You guys may know better if you have the covers on file?

Which was your personal favourite?

Day at Angles and JP over the volcano at Skinner.

What photo remains the default image for Session in your mind? The first cover shot of Clint. But that’s just my reference of it, as I was so close to it.

Did Session open up any doors for you?

All those years spent in the gutters gave me the opportunity to learn and better my photography skills so I could venture into the more commercial photography world.

Even though it is easy to bitch about things, I am very grateful for the opportunity to have been allowed to be part of Session. Nothing

made photography so much more fun and enjoyable. Nowadays it’s super easy with digital and even with skaters, they don’t have to be so consistent, because there is no film so you can shoot a sequence nonstop for as long as your battery will last, so it’s almost like filming.

What is the stand out moment for you in the past 10 years of Session Mag? My stand out moment was going to shoot that Library rail in Westville with JP Redpath. He organized the car, got me to drive because he didn’t have a license, went to the spot by himself and board slide, 50-50’ed and K-grinded that thing. I thought he was going to hang up and die and one point. I haven’t met anyone as determined as he was, or someone that would touch that rail as a matter of fact.

Favorite cover? Hard to say… I loved the first cover of Clint. That kind of set the standard for photography right there; it was shot at night and with really good light, the key ingredients for a good skate shot.

Favorite article? Loucas’ 48 hours. No planning went into that one, he was just skating, having fun. It was just about going to get photos, meeting people and seeing new spots!

Favorite picture? There have been so many good photos taken by Miguel, Ben and myself for Session over the years, I can’t really choose any shot in particular.

can replace those experiences.

You’ve seen the mag go through all its stages… at what stage did you think it was operating the best? Hell knows.

It’s probably still getting there. It’s definitely not an easy task running a skate mag in SA. Financially, it may still get better. Content wise, I think it has done extremely well in the past.

What have you been working on lately?

Shoots for ad agencies and other companies mostly.

Tell us about shooting for the cover of this 50th issue – it must be the first time you’ve shot skating in a long time.

Ya, it was refreshing shooting a skate shot again - especially with Brendan. It was like we had come full circle. So many years later – shooting his first cover for Session (His first was for Blunt mag back in the day – doing a layback at Troyeville bowl). It just flowed and happened the way it did. It was a pleasure working with Bren again and made me want to get out there more again.

What were the worst aspects of shooting skateboarding, and what were the best?

Security guards and people with a lack of respect for what we were doing always sucked. The best would be the honour of being mates with some amazing people, spending time with them at so many different and interesting locations and the photography skills I learnt out there.

Did you have favourite people to shoot with? There were always my “reliable’s” and then also just the ones that were cool to go for a roll with and shoot something, while hanging out in the freedom of the streets.

Thanks to Bren and you guys for giving me the opportunity to be part of SA skate history.

Rock on lads. – Ben. ten year session | 53

Tell us briefly about your relationship with skateboarding. I first got on a skateboard at 11 and it’s been by my side ever since. It has consumed, completed and destroyed me in so many ways. For the last 17 years my entire life has been revolved around doing what I can to grow it; skateboarding and the skate industry, and build a life that could be sustained by it.

What were you doing prior to Session launching? I had just moved back from living in San Diego where I had started Revolution and was getting it going here.

Were you involved in the planning of it at some stage? Yes, there were quite a few people involved at first, everyone contributing ideas, aesthetic, content, direction. It was always Bod’s thing as I recall, he came from a print and design background so he had the expertise to do it. I and a few other people were amped to be a part of it and contribute where we could.

You were one of the original funders of the mag –

how did that come to be? To start the magazine Bod needed to get the money. Getting a mag started is a hard thing and I loaned him some money which was written off against advertising in the mag.

When Session launched as the first and only dedicated skate mag in Africa it was warmly welcomed by the skate community. What effect do you think it had on the industry and the skate scene back then? I think it shocked the industry which was 99% surf back then. I don’t think they believed it would last – skate was just too small. For the skate scene it gave skaters an undiluted voice and connected all the dots and unified the scene.

You got some good skate coverage in the early days of the magazine. What was your favourite photo of yourself?

Probably the one with me and the stolen cannon strapped to my car. Haha.

Are you still skating much these days?

When time and health permits. I have been struggling with a bad back for the last 4 years. At one stage I couldn’t even get out of bed. I do normally push around every week now that I am living in Cape Town. I don’t throw myself down stuff anymore but I do get the itch to.

Brendan approached you for financial assistance after just a couple years of the mag starting up. Why do you think he approached you and what arrangement did you guys come to? I can’t say why.

I can only assume that we both knew the mag was good for the industry and I would have a direct benefit by investing in the mag as I was distributing brands that needed advertising so it made sense. We agreed to be 50/50 partners but I would have to stay behind the scenes in fear of the reaction the industry would have to the mag being 50% owned by their competition, Revolution.

I would bail the mag out of its debt and restructure the mag to make it financially viable and run at a profit.

What was your vision for the mag? Is it true that you wanted it to change into a ‘lifestyle’ magazine? You could put it like that. I felt that the magazine should cover Skate, as well as Music and Art that had a close relationship to skate. I feared that firstly the content would get boring as the

You have been undoubtedly one of South Africa’s favourite skateboarders of all time. What role do you think Session has played in that? It gave me coverage so I was able to brain wash more people.

You’ve always had a very keen eye for aesthetics. When do you think the magazine was at its best, in terms of design? The best is yet to come? luke jackson

What do you think you brought to the mag when you started working there? My intention was to represent the skateboarding as best I could, so I tried to do that.

You had the very first ‘Where is My Mind’ article what was your reaction when you saw that first issue? I was hyped.

54 | ten year session

What was it like working with Bod? Do you think he was a good editor? It had its ups and downs. Bod was a good front man

skate scene was only so big and the same guys were getting covered all the time. By adding peripheral content it would also give the magazine a broader market appeal, attracting better sales and a bigger pool of advertisers to approach - just like SLAP and Thrasher Magazine used to be many years ago.

What was your working relationship like with Bod? Fine from what I recall, aside for differences in content. We had our meetings

dedicated skate mag on the continent, would you say Session has become an essential cornerstone in the local skate scene? It plays a key role to keep all SA skaters informed with what’s going on and who’s going on.

What do you think would happen had it closed down as it almost did so many times? Honestly, I think skating would have found a way – you can’t stop that love for it. If Session closed down when it first went

“It plays a key role to keep all SA skaters informed with what’s going on and who’s going on.” and he was responsible with getting the mag done and I looked after sorting out the financial side of things.

Then what happened? The mag was only with you for a few issues. Was there a specific moment that things fell apart? I guess in the end we didn’t see eye-to-eye.

Bod still wanted to make the same core skate mag he had always made and I didn’t see the sustainability in that. Customers were paying late for ads, or not at all, and the financial drain on REVOLUTION was too much and I had to cut ties before it pulled REVOLUTION down with it.

Did you guys manage to sort out your differences? It was very emotional and did not end well. There were accusations and a lot of shit talking. I had invested a lot of money and blood was bad for a long time. I guess there remain differences but we get a long and drink together when out.

What do you feel has been your biggest contribution to skateboarding and what has driven you to get this far? I feel as if I have an innate passion to contribute and make a difference. Skateboarding was my first love and I have poured most of my existence and energy into building and developing it any way I can – purely because I loved it and it excited me and I felt it needed help and I wanted to share it. I have not had any single objective in skateboarding, just skateboarding itself.

After 10 years of being the only

into trouble in 2003/4 it would have pushed the scene and industry back a few years, but now smart phones, the web, social media – they own it.

From our perspective as the media, there seems to be a lot of room for growth in skateboarding here in South Africa if certain areas of the industry were managed better and by people who understood skateboarding more.

What do you think is holding back the full potential of a vibrant industry and a better skate scene for everyone presently? The first place I would focus energy is government. If they built more parks, there would be more skaters, more skaters means more product being sold, more sales means more marketing money being put into skating, a stronger industry and it just keeps getting better from there.

Trying to redirect money from the brands and re-educate them is only going to get you 5 steps further and then what? We need government to build public parks as they do around the world. Private parks are not sustainable – our skatepark at Festival Mall runs at about R150 000 loss a year, that’s including all profit from the shop. Same with Monte, Unity, Flystation, Pavilion, Sunninghill… All private parks are not sustainable and eventually close.

Skateboarders need to support the parks if they want to have them around. Industry and Public need to unite, to put pressure on local government to cater to the needs of the community.

for the mag but sometimes the partying got in the way.

that Session reflects the SA skate scene comprehensively? Yes.

You’ve also been there through all the chaos, parties, drugs, drinking and debauchery that has been part of this magazines past… yet you always seem to have stayed away from that side of it. How did the good times affect the working environment and did you also feel the frustration of trying to get work done amongst all the madness? It slowed the mag down. I think I was pretty focussed on skateboarding so it kept me out of a lot of it.

Best times for you were…? Too many.

Living in England, you get a good perspective of the magazine from an ‘outsiders’ point of view. Do you think

What would you like to see happen with the mag if you were still involved? A website?

What difference do you see between the Session you knew and now? New faces.

Best cover? Issue 1 You’ve always been critical of SA skating, with good reason a lot of the time. Do you think that when you were there, along with the people you were working with, you were able to steer it in a better direction? That was the intention and I think we did that.

I think Session should do a mini art book once a year. Art needs it!

and almost drowned himself by trying to breathe under water!

sound business but Session will always be the unsinkable ship!

It seems like some of the skate industry has latched onto the whole art scene and tried to use it to push brands etc. Do you think that’s because there has always been a strong relationship between art and skateboarding – or perhaps because it became the ‘cool’ thing to do? Still waiting for it to happen here, haha! When I started skating it was an art form, not a cool sport.

There was a definite time when some of the crew ‘grew up’. Bod and you were the only dudes who seemed unaffected by your age whilst a lot of friends were getting more serious about moving on with life. What did that do to that crew of dudes that you were hanging out with around that time? Damn these questions are deep! Life has to happen but I like to think that one day we will ride again together. I will always be young in my head and will never grow up!

You always saw more potential in the VCD’s and the video stuff – there was talk about a TV show at times… What do you think held the mag back from reaching its full potential? Everybody had their own idea of what skating should be, or maybe it was the sex, drugs and fakie rock and rolls!

The work you guys did on the VCD was epic. What were some of the highlight for you? Each VCD was a highlight. It was fun making vids with your friends. Loads of laughs driving around with Clint Kobain!

You and Clint were tight friends – was that your connection to Session? We were all tight friends but I guess Clint had a lot to do with it!

Your main focus has always been art…

Back in the day there used to be the ‘Latent Potential’ article. Do you think this should make a comeback? Yeah,

How would you explain your relationship with skateboarding being someone who doesn’t skateboard, but has been involved with skateboarding for 23 years? I actually did briefly skateboard as a kid, and bought my first skateboard for R12.50 from the Rand Show back in the day, but nothing serious. I guess when we started the Boogaloos business in 1989, we had a mind-set of being different and unique. Skateboarding presented an opportunity to participate in an industry and sell product that is unique to the individual.

So in essence, skateboarding has been a perfect fit for Boogaloos and very close to my heart in terms of our aspirations to succeed and push the boundaries.

Has it always just been business for you or do you have a love for skateboarding?

Lots of love for sure. The people and relationships that have been developed over the years; the lifestyle… What’s not to like about it? But also, skateboarding has provided a fantastic vehicle to fulfil a greater purpose - giving back and uplifting underprivileged kids.

You have been involved in the skateboarding industry here in SA for over 20 years through Boogaloos.

You guys brought out pro’s, held huge contests and have built some of the country’s most memorable skateparks long before Session was even an idea. When Session hit the shelves, did investing in these things make more sense - having a vehicle to share them with the rest of the skaters all around SA? Definitely, Session gave the

You have always been a bit of a night lurker, however you never were one to drink. What was it like hanging with all those dudes and being the only sober one? There must have been too many crazy times to talk about. Which were the ones you will never forget? They tried to get me drunk all time because they wanted me to get naked. Too many crazy times… The night I had to babysit Clint and Brendon Lewis on their Monty Drinking Comp. Clint broke the bar, and Brendon

skateboarding community a voice and a necessary means to inspire kids and keep everyone informed - Session brought legitimacy to skateboarding in SA. Session exposed skateboarding and connected the industry, and provided a valuable medium that fuelled the industry. Doing Pro Tour’s and Events with Session on board gave authentic and real coverage and longevity to our hard work.

What change did you notice in skateboarding after the release of Session and how important do you think the local media is to the sustainability of skateboarding here in SA? Knowledge and information is everything, local media drives awareness and aspirational brand value for industry and the ability to expose individuality, creativity and personality.

Skateboarding is an art and Session

In many ways Session has always been more of an art project than anything else – which would explain the financial troubles it’s had in the past. As an artist do you think the two can exist in harmony: a strong art and design d r i v e n publication and a sound business?

As an artist I don’t know much about

Element SA has always been a firm supporter of Session since it first began and as marketing manager for Element for many years, you developed a rather unique relationship with Bod. How would you describe Brendan personally and on a business level? Bod is like a brother! He looks similar to my actual brother. Fucking tall and angular… The very first advert for Element SA, issue 2, was hand delivered by me at Sandton City. Never met the guy

“... he can’t spell for shit, but apparently that’s overrated for a magazine…” provides the canvas on which to expose it, therefore providing a critical catalyst to the sustainability of skateboarding in SA. Favorite cover? 1st Issue Favorite article? Puddy Zwennis Favorite picture?

Hemisphere Tour

Osiris

Southern

before, only ever spoken over the phone, and out of the crowd comes this tall Ginger, and I think “That’s got to be Bod.” Since then we have had some epic times. What can you say, the guy is an enigma. On a business level, you can feel the passion he’s always had for Session and skateboarding.

Yes, he can’t spell for shit, but apparently that’s overrated for a magazine…. The magazine always got out in the end, and has always looked on point.

Do you think all the good times killed a bit of that potential? I wouldn’t trade the good times for all the money in the world. We were always more Thrasher than Transworld and we know who won that war!

Talk about the Bloem blowout from your perspective… Crazy shit or should I say crazy BREAKFAST! I had a 13 year old kid tell me he had just smoked buttons. If you’re a freak magnet like me maybe stay away from Bloem!

Favorite cover? Gav Morgan’s cover in the shitty pool!

Favorite article? Anything that Adrian Day wrote (not like I read them) Favorite picture? Too many pics to choose just one!

You also seem to have always understood the importance of the local skate media’s role in the bigger picture.

Explain, from an industry perspective, what role Session has played in the development of Element over the years.

A voice for skateboarding, which Session happens to be, is key for the progress of our lifestyle. Media and Brands go hand in hand. Sometimes we all get caught up with the Chicken & Egg debate, but the reality is we need each other for success. There is real synergy between the two, but one of the most important aspects is the person riding the board. Old, Young, Rad or not.

Favourite cover? Issue 43 stood out for me. Dlamini switch flip if I remember correctly? (Switch Heel - Ed) Favourite article? You guys have articles?

Seriously I ran out of space in my house for skate magazines and donated them to Clinton Theron. About 4 or 5 boxes with Big Brothers included… My favourites have always been the ones with the most spelling and grammar screw ups. I’m OCD like that.

Favourite picture? That’s a super hard one, as each picture is unique and brings its own feeling and stoke. When you guys put together a photo book, I’ll answer that one. ten year session | 55

by what was going on in his personal life.

I think it was a huge internal battle for him. He’d blame the mag for a lot of his problems (financial and others), but at the same time could not escape his situation as he was financially bound to, and by the mag – and more so, was so precious about it. I think that’s what really kept Bod going for so long. He really loves this mag and it was his personal association to Session that made him refuse to give up. In many ways it would have been better for him to run the business more professionally and distance himself personally from the mag, but then I don’t think it would have been what it was. I think all works of genius are inevitably very personal.

- I remember it being just after I had my knee surgery - things started to feel a little too unbalanced with the work load. We had Hennie [Claasen] and Mike [Mcleod] working with us at that stage too, but it seemed like not much was getting done and that most of the responsibility was falling on my shoulders.

Looking back, it was most likely my own control issues that caused me to want to break out of that situation. Anyway, I stuck out another 6 months ‘til the lease was over and then we parted ways. Bod went on to start Session and I carried on with design and went on to start AV Skateboarding.

You and Bod have been tight forever, you’ve been friends since you were about 13, you’ve lived together, he was the best man at your wedding, yet you are so vastly different from one another.

What is it that has made and kept you such close friends? I don’t know. It’s just one of those things – we’ve always just been best friends… brothers in a way and we view the world in a very similar way.

So you guys set up 1989 Studio’s together and were going to start a magazine together, correct? Yea, sort of. I had just got back from living in London for a few years (around 2000). Bod was working at his dad’s Repro house doing design, so we decided to start up a design business together and save up some cash to start a magazine. We bought two old Macs from Bod’s dad and started designing off the end of my bed on a makeshift bricks and plywood table. From there we landed up working from an office in Rivonia and then our Place in Parkmore – picking up more and more corporate work along the way. The ideas for mags and videos were actually put aside while we were working on all the other design stuff.

Then you guys fell out workwise. What happened there and what followed?

Things were actually going well workwise while we were working from our place in Parkmore. About 6 months into the lease

But even after parting ways you helped to finance the mag? Yeah, we were still best mates man. Things didn’t end badly

were even an option. We would just skate to get each other hyped and to try do what we’d see in American mags and videos.

Then there was a stage when a dude in the crew would get his dad’s camera or something and bring it with on a session and snap some pics – no clue how to do it. A week later we’d see the prints and be like: “Yea! Rad!” But that would be about it – nothing would ever be done with them.

I’ve still got a whole shoebox of pics from back then – classic stuff. The first published photo I got was in Blunt and in those days you didn’t even know that you were being shot as it was just some random dude in the crowd at an event with a camera. I’d been skating for over 10 years by that stage already. Blunt kinda got things started and it developed from there. I remember shooting with Ben Bergh a lot – that was fun. It just seemed like more fun back then.

“I remember seeing him out at night sometimes and just being like: “Who is this person?” after I left the business, I just couldn’t work with Bod – that was a lesson that I’d have to learn a few times over, but I totally believed in his vision for the mag and I wanted to help to get it going. We’d obviously talked a lot about it and I knew he was about to create something that would change things in SA skateboarding forever. I also knew that nobody would do a better job. It just took a lot of money to get started, so Clayton and myself helped Brendan put in cash to get the wheels turning.

You’ve also been one of the highest profile skaters ever, with a hell of a lot of coverage in the mag over the years.

Speak a little about that in terms of getting photo’s, travelling and being interviewed. It was different for us guys.

Our generation of skaters came from a time when we’d been skateboarding for years before the idea of photos / mags / videos

We were all learning and experimenting.

The photographers were also figuring shit out – none of us really knew what we were doing. My first proper interview was in Sidewalk when I was living in London.

Living overseas really changed the way I looked at things and I started to see the bigger picture. By the time I got back to SA I started spending more time behind the camera than in front of it. That’s when we started thinking of starting the magazine and AV. Everything since was a mixture of being heavily involved in the production side, all of us guys being close friends and also being some of the best skateboarders at the time – it all kind of went together to create the content that went out in those early issues of Session. All the travelling and tours – some of the best times ever!

Most of them were for Familia and having those times documented was amazing – stuff we’ll definitely cherish.

You were also behind producing the Session VCD’s. How did that come about? AV hit a slump after issue 2 – it was an impossible amount of work and very expensive to produce. Distribution was also a mission, so after a year, once I realised it was pointless putting out another issue of AV, I decided to join forces with Session to get the video out there. So the VCD’s were essentially AV, but rebranded as the Session VCD. It was a mad amount of work, but some of the funnest times ever! Anyone who has seen those will understand why. At that time it really seemed like our work was being seen by everyone – and they were good for the mag too – I think people miss those VCD’S And why did that end? The whole Replay ITV Media house of cards came tumbling down. It went into bankruptcy and I landed up not getting paid for a lot of the work that had been done. It also was a bit confusing for advertisers having to pay for ads in the mag and then also in the VCD – it stopped making sense financially and after losing the infrastructure at Replay – it was not going to be possible to continue.

Bod moved the mag out on its own again and was operating out of Sunninghill, this is where you seem to think things got really bad for Bod and the mag.

Why? I think he found himself in a really bad space. He was living in a complex with a clubhouse full of dudes that were a really bad influence and things got out of control with booze and drugs. I really felt like I was losing my friend – it was heartbreaking man, seeing someone you really care about self-destructing. It affected every part of his life negatively. The mag landed up in financial trouble again and that compounded the spiral of stress and escapism. I remember seeing him out at night sometimes and just being like: “Who is this person?” It really upset me. We spent less and less time together at that stage.

You’ve said in the past that a huge problem was that Bod and the mag were the same entity – what do you mean by that? Well, I think anyone who knows Brendan or Session well, would say the same: Bod was Session and Session was Bod. I could see how the mag was affected

Why, after all these years, have you kept bailing the mag, and moreover Bod out of trouble? Because I’ve always believed in Brendan. He’s always had the right intention, even if he’s never been the best with numbers – and sometimes let his dark side get the better of him. I’ve always loved Bod like a brother and wanted to see him succeed. More than anything, that would be why. I’ve seen him sacrifice so much to keep this mag going – anyone else would have bailed after the first couple issues. I don’t think many people truly understand the impact Brendan has made on our skate scene, and on many peoples lives through creating this magazine, or what he’s gone through to keep it on the shelves. I also know the mag is really important to SA skateboarding and I would do what I could to make sure the scene keeps growing and continues to be directed by people who have the right intention for skateboarding.

Session has always been independent – no hidden agendas – just a 100% skate mag run by the most credible dudes who have dedicated their lives to skateboarding.

It’s critical that there is such a voice for skateboarding in this country; otherwise things could get proper retarded.

How much money do you think you’ve lost with at least 3 financial bailouts?

I don’t think I’ve lost any money bailing Bod out of trouble or helping keeping the mag alive over the years. I was more trying to help my friend than anything else.

Like I said, Bod has always had the right intentions and tried to make things right.

I obviously lost some cash when Replay went under as I did not get paid for the VCD stuff, but that could be expected when a company goes bust - and that was out of all of our control. There have been some times where a lot of us got paid very late for photography and fewer times when we did not get paid at all – but knowing where Bod and the mag lay financially, and how that whole side of things was mismanaged – it’s understandable that that would happen. I guess towards the end, just before the mag was sold there was a lot of money in the mag that I had lent to Bod that could potentially have been lost had I not intervened, which was one of the reasons I got involved with the sale.

So now you are a shareholder in the mag along with 3 other people. You facilitated the sale of Session to its new owners.

How and why did this come about? I guess there were a few reasons. Firstly, I could see that Bod was in serious shit – it was pretty much check mate financially for him and the mag, and I knew that he just didn’t have the energy or resources to get himself out of it again – he really was at breaking point and I was very worried

about him. I had a lot of money tied up in the magazine that I had lent to Bod a couple years before to keep the mag going which I knew would probably be lost had I not stepped in and done something. That was also a big concern as I seriously could not afford another ‘bankrupcy’ loss at this stage. Then there was also the very real threat of the mag closing down all together – that was something that just was not an option. So all of this made me look at the options of what would be best for Bod, the mag and myself and I realised I had to do something. So Session is now owned and run by myself, AD, Adrian and Darren. Bod will forever be the founder and everyone will always know Session to be his mag, but I think he had reached the end of the road and needed a change – otherwise he would have martyred himself mentally, physically and financially for this mag. As my friend, I know he has more to offer himself and the world going forward. He is a brilliant artist and thinker and is going to bring something new into the world that will once again enrich thousands of people’s lives.

What are the plans for Session going forward, and what do you think will ensure its success? To keep building on what has made this mag so rad. Bod and Steak created something unique and that needs to remain – the personality of this magazine, its essence – that is what we will ensure is kept alive and is built on. On a business level, it requires a dedicated team of credible people who have a deep love for skateboarding and have its best interest at heart. That is one thing we most certainly do have… plus a healthy skate scene with truly incredible skateboarders who really are the ones that make this all possible.

That, combined with a solid business and financial system, which is something the magazine never had, will see Session grow and evolve into the best version of the mag that we all love – keeping it real, but being smart to bypass all the pitfalls of its past and to deliver something sustainable that we are all proud of. Something the new generation can take forward, remembering it’s foundations and keeping that flame of inspiration burning bright for everyone who ever enters our world of skateboarding.

Best cover? Chirsti’s lipslide and Adrian’s Noseblunt at Angles. I remember seeing that lipslide cover and at that moment realised that SA skateboarding was getting to an international level. I know the mag and AV were producing international standard production, but never felt like we had the strongest material to work with... that cover meant we were now pushing dudes to do things way bigger or better than before.

Favourite article: Wow... too many, but the ones we worked on during the time of the VCD’s obviouly meant a lot to me and trigger good memories... Sketters, Bloem Blow Out, Indigo, all the Familia tours, PE Mestival... I could go on forever!

Favorite Pic? Bod in his mankini at my bachelors in the Familia ad! That is good on too many levels for me personally!

Skating wise: a lot of Ben’s pics... especially Adrian’s back tail under the bridge on the barrier and Simon’s frontside flip at Skinner - both shot by Ben. There are too many to actually recall, but those stand out for some reason.

You have always been involved in the industry from way back in the Island Style days. Tell us what Session meant from an industry perspective when it first hit shelves and what role it has played in helping to shape the scene. It was kind of a benchmark indicator that the skate scene had grown enough again to have its own magazine – it was a platform to highlight and expose the local skate scene, and from an industry perspective – it enabled a channel for the various brands to advertise to a niche market & show how/ when/where they were involved in the growth.

As a skateboarder, what did it mean to you personally? I thought it was one of the best things for the SA skate scene at the time – to have our own platform rather than having to share magazines with other “Extreme” sports stuff . It’s so good to have something for the local scene to look to instead of only being exposed to the international media. When international media is all you have to look to, then you are only going to aspire to be in that scene – which isn’t good for cultivating our own scene and having pride in it.

a better job? Nah – I miss that geeza already! That’s not saying I don’t dig the new crew – just that Bod and myself are from the same generation, so we have looooong history together.

DC has always been an avid supporter of Session and AV, is this because you guys simply have the budget or is there a bigger picture that some of the industry is missing? It’s always about the bigger picture , and always will be – some cats in the industry just want to reap the profits without sowing the seeds – that’s parasitic, and it shows eventually – as skaters we are very good at smoking those parasites out and exposing them. DC is a skate brand – so SESSION & AV are always on top of the list – without question. When we started with DC in 2007 – there was no budget without generating sales and bringing in the money to create and facilitate the marketing budget – we just set our goals and pushed ahead full steam. We’ve come quite a long way since then – but it was confidence in the brand as well as effective strategy and consistency that has been our growth factors.

The REELedit contest is a prime example of that – who else is throwing R30 000 prize money at a skate event whilst listening to & reacting to what the skaters want at the same time?

“... as skaters we are very good at smoking those parasites out...”

Do you think it’s always reflected the scene un-biasedly? To be completely honest, there’s always going to be a little bias towards those that are tightest to the magazine – that’s just human nature, isn’t it? It’s up to the magazine to remain as unbiased as they can. But on a whole, I’d say SESSION has been pretty fair to those who are putting back into the scene in the right ways.

The early days of skateboarding in SA before Session - always had that vibe of JHB vs DBN vs CT. Do you think Session evened that out a bit? Things aren’t really like that anymore? I think SESSION played a role in that, but was only part of the process. The skate scene was very young back in those days and getting around was a lot harder than it is today – nobody was flying anywhere and road trips needed much planning. Skate scenes in the various cities were a lot smaller and tightly knit – so obviously guys were more patriotic about where they came from. Nowadays events are happening all over the place, and a lot of guys are getting around to all of them.

It’s kind of merged the smaller scenes into one big scene – SOUTH AFRICAN SKATEBOARDING. Bod as an editor. Do you think there was anyone else who could have done

What has been the stand out for you regards Session over the past 10 years.

Damn – a lot has happened in 10 years...

Maybe that Bod lived it for most of those 10 years.

What do you think people in the industry could be doing right now to improve skateboarding in South Africa? Control their greed and understand that principle of ‘farmers still need to invest work into their fields during the winter season in order to make them more fruitful when spring arrives’. Times are tough right now - it’s our ‘winter’ - but some in the industry still want to enjoy the rewards they were getting when it was ‘spring’ – so they sacrifice their marketing budgets in order to show the same growth in profits to shareholders dudes that have probably never stepped on a skateboard in their life, and their attitude is “don’t get emotional - it’s just business”.

Of course it’s emotional for somebody like me who has lived skateboarding for over 20 years – it’s a major part of my life, it’s my passion , and passion is emotion. So, in my opinion, those who use that kind of phrase are the parasites I referred to earlier.

Favorite cover? Mine… Hahahaha! ten year session | 57

together and Bod and I had a particularly bad argument, I stopped working went out got drunk and resigned the next morning.

People who saw me that week said I looked like someone had died, I was that bummed.

So that’s when you stopped working for the mag? Yeah, that was kind of it. Me and Bod had a huge argument, I think he was drunk and stressed and he just let it out on me, I felt I did enough for the mag as it was and I didn’t need to take that shit so I quit.

But we are still great friends and I love the guy like a brother or best friend. I think that is something a lot of people might say.

What’s your tie to skateboarding? I started skating when I was 13. My dad wanted to buy me a bike but I wanted a skateboard. I remember I got a Gino Ianucci deck and Independant trucks, no wheels though - my parents still laugh at me about that. My brother gave me his old ones so he could buy himself a shirt haha. That was my introduction to skating - and the half pipe at Surf Centre in Benoni.

Why did you want to work at Session and what was the biggest challenge in working with Bod? I never imagined I’d work at Session. As a kid I bought the mag, liked the free DVD, all that kinda stuff.

When Bod met me at a party, skating on the tennis court, I had fallen so he bought me a beer and after that we hangout and he got this idea in his head that I would be perfect working for the mag. My job as an intern in advertising, was shit, so I quit and happily moved over. Biggest challenge to working

“If we don’t get this we’re fucked Mel, that’s it!“

Were you a part of the Cape Town migration? I didn’t really migrate to CT, I’d lived there before, but my dad had passed away during this time, so I just needed to get away. I moved back there and worked in photography production and then I fell pregnant so I had to move back JHB to be with family again.

How’s Joburg treating you now? JHB is good, I’ve got my head screwed on better than it’s ever been and even though I really miss CT and my family/friends there, I know I need to be here right now. I’ve started skating the city on Sundays again and that makes everything a whole lot better.

Favorite cover? The cover of issue 26 Gav Morgan, DIY backside pivot. On some steep ass ‘Crete.

Favorite article? Hands down the Via The Backroads story in issue39. Since I met those guys I was amped on their missions and they encompass what skating truly is to me. Getting them in the mag was the best thing ever. Oh and Justus Kotze.

Favorite picture? Picture - too many too chose from but, if I had to choose… Pieter Retief’s Texas flip in issue 39 on page 59, I just love that! And I want to say thanks and thank you to Bod for letting me be a part of one of the best things ever, even though it was hard, we partied harder.

with Bod... Oh my, advertiser headaches, always smoking my weed, playing video games when I’m trying to ask him work related questions, driving him home at the end of a night and getting him out of the car.

Apart from that, he taught me a lot of things about layout and design, the industry and what counts.

Favorite article? Seeing Christi Wiehahn destroying handrails in the USA. Favorite picture? Loucas Polydorou - with a blind side flip to fakie over the hip at Indigo Skate Cam

58 | ten year session

You were heavily involved with the skate scene a few years ago when you were marketing manager for Volcom. Being removed from the scene for some time now, what’s your view on Session? I read every issue and love it. It has evolved and grown but is still true to its roots.

Skateboarding: by skaters for skaters.

You have set up one of the most unique skate facilities in the world with Indigo Skate Camp; helped develop skateboarding in South Africa and brought that consciousness to kids

The lines between business and friendship are very blurred when it comes to skateboarding. It becomes like a family in a way. Do you feel you’ve been away from your friends since you stepped out of the industry? Do you miss it at all? For sure. Managing your friends

You’ve recently been on the Skateboarding for Hope Tour that went all around South Africa as part of the Maloof activations with the main purpose of developing skateboarding around the country. What is the state of skateboarding out there at the moment, and how do you think Session has helped to develop skateboarding over the past 10 years? Well, no matter where you are from - once you have the positive understanding of skateboarding you are hooked. And there are so many kids that I meet who just love riding a skateboard. And so many other people that are mature of age and still keep skateboarding close, it was inspiring. I felt so good walking into stores like Boost and eating at places like Clark’s.

Meeting do or die fans of skateboarding.

Session Magazine has drawn a blueprint to South African skateboarding, a meter that people measure their own abilities against.

Favorite cover? Recent cover of Dlamini Dlamini at the big three spot in Cato Manor.

Love the colouring and layout design. Pretty gnarly trick too, just works so well.

Favorite article? I guess my favourite article is the trip to the states that I did with Alan Marola and Moses. We stayed in the Volcom skate house, a bus and at Appleyard’s place - so many good times

and experiences. It was rad to see them experience everything for the first time, I had the same feelings too. Alan was just fearless man, wouldn’t back down to anything. We went to famous spots with so many pros and other ams and he just stepped up and looked like he belonged.

He also got 7th in the Damn Am contest – machine! Mosey was still young then but I remember Geoff Rowley betting him that he could do 10 tre flips up this step up gap in a row, he did 19 in a row. Fun times.

Favorite picture? There have been so many good pics throughout the years but one that sticks in my mind is Aaron Suski’s stalefish at the Germiston Bowl. Way, way over head-high; padless with so much steez. A good stalefish is always a winner.

What was your impression of the business side of things? Business is business, as long as we had an empty pizza box to write our finances onto we were good. I attempted an Excel, by-the-book approach at a stage. It was a nightmare.

We’d sit with a calculator, a pen and a lot of “If we don’t get this we’re fucked Mel, that’s it!“

And lowlight? When the Maloof job came through and I had 24hrs to put something

Do you feel there is room for development in other African countries? Indigo Youth Movement plans to cross borders soon, where we would employ skaters as instructors and give them the tools to become big brothers to skate scenes that will emerge. The nuts and bolts of its imminent success are how indestructible skateboarders are, and the network of positive encouragement that each of us need to maintain to attract youths to skateboard.

Favorite cover? Simon Stipcich - Tre Flip… or what is a nollie tre flip?? (Nollie Inward Heel – Ed) over the hydrant in Dbn. You never know what’s possible with Si.

It was just you and him working from his flat right? Yes, just the two of us - and the cats of course. And Clint. He came to visit us. And the mail man.

What was your highlight? Definitely going on tours. I think everyone loves tours; it’s the best part of the job. Hanging with rad people, doing what you love and the partying, when you do, rocks! Oh my gosh and this one time I MC’ed a competition at Pav with the Hux and we got so drunk on vodka… It was a nightmare. Just chaos. I sounded like a school teacher telling people what to do, that sucked!

that probably would never have even seen a skateboard otherwise. What role do you think Session has played in the development of skateboarding over the past 10 years and has the existence of the magazine helped you with your mission? The mag is documenting the lives of people who live for skateboarding while it’s pushing sponsors (the suits) to give back to the skaters and creators of the mag. The mag is so necessary to turn the wheels of business, it’s an incentive to create more events and in a way it’s an authoritative voice to say what needs to be said. Respect to Bod for saying what needed to be said! As far as the mag helping with my missions at Indigo, Session always willingly advertised dates and ran more than a few stories. Beyond this, it was the passion and professionalism of friends at the Session HQ around 2003 that reinforced my beliefs at the time that skateboarding was to rightfully be ‘overseen’ and guided by our generation who blindly attempted to make a livelihood from skateboarding.

For whatever reasons, we knew we could nurture it and we were all encouraging one another’s missions working towards growing skateboarding.

can be difficult because you are kind of in the middle trying to make things work and keep everyone happy. The friends you make in skating are lifers, I am definitely removed from the scene but the true friends stay the same and I still see them a lot. I do miss catching up with guys from other cities and towns - miss that for sure, the greater skate family. It is a bit weird checking out the current scene as I don’t know a lot of the people and the ones I do know are no longer little kids anymore. It is different from when we were in the thick of it. Skating has become a bit more accepted and more of a sport to a degree in terms of its public perception, which is fine I think especially if more plazas and spots get built.

There will always be the underground street scene which will never really be tamed or dictated too.

Over the past 10 years we’ve seen lots of styles move through the skate scene – from the big puffer shoes, spray on jeans, hesh, fresh… everything! You seem to have gone through your own search for your identity growing up through the pages of this magazine.

What’s it like looking back through the old mags and seeing yourself literally growing up from a young kid to a young man? It’s really cool. It brings back so many good memories! So awesome how hyped everyone was, and cool to see how hyped everyone still is and how it’s grown. Also, how the styles have changed. I look back at the old mags and it just inspires me to see how far skateboarding has come, and all the same cats from back in the day are still putting it down. It’s crazy seeing pics of myself and my friends - so young - skating contests and loving it; skating spots all around the country, and getting to travel with good homies. So to me, looking back through the pages brings back a lot of good memories and remembering the feeling of getting your pic in the mag was sooo cool. I’m so stoked I’ve had the chance to be a part of the mag, and to be able to get coverage has helped a lot. It is kinda weird too seeing how my style changed through the years. And how I found more of myself and how I am still finding myself. Haha.

Do you look back on some of those times and think: What was I thinking!? I look back at a lot of those times and think what was I thinking, haha. But I truly think I had to go through all those things. I felt like I was a lil rockstar when I was like 13, going to Woodstock, getting mad and outa control.

Spray on jeanz, lumo pink cast around my broken arm. I would say I have calmed down tremendously since then!

Favorite cover? Simon’s Nollie inward heel over the fire hydrant. I think that picture is so steezy! Big up Stipples.

Favorite article? Useless wooden Toys.

With all the Durban homies.

Favorite picture? GVB heelflip back tail sequence. Like a BOSS.

Do most kids out there follow the magazine? Yeah, Session is a big deal, and so is the Internet. Kids see and feel what’s going on through those media sources.

You have constantly worked hard at getting material in both Session and AV. What has been your motivation to push yourself to stay in the spotlight? Well understanding that it’s bigger than me, and that I want to always leave the things I love better than I found them.

If anyone was SA’s ‘pro’ over the past 10 years it would be you. You have absolutely killed spots 10 years ago that dudes wouldn’t even look at today.

At that time you were getting paid by sponsors etc. How do you think your life would have gone without Session as an outlet that in many ways, made getting paid possible? That is really hard to say man, but I guess I would have started looking for a job years ago and I wouldn’t have had some of the cars and bikes I had when I was younger.

Did shooting for the mag and videos make you try things you probably would not have done if there was nowhere to publish those photos? Probably not because there was also Blunt magazine and SPF media. All the shit that I have done was pretty much because I wanted to do it.

You pushed the level of skateboarding so far way back then, what do you think of the current level of skateboarding and are there any real stand outs? I watched the AV video on Saturday and the level is definitely improving every year. There are too many standouts to mention, but Alan & Moses will always be some of my favourites.

What has been the benefit of getting coverage in Session? People know me for riding a skateboard. And it’s also helped me out in business, to be able to stay humble and sell my products to kids who feel what we are doing.

How do you think Session has changed skateboarding for everyone over the past 10 years? I have a new lease on life man. I make money, pay rent, and am able to ride a skateboard because of all the work I have done for the magazine. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m blessed. It’s changed my life towards the positive.

You are well connected to the Soweto and downtown JHB scenes. Has Session been a part of all those kids’ lives? Yeah man. People are hyped on Session, and the way things are going that side, you’ll soon see those kids in the mag - they are hungry for it. You just have a look in their eyes - its love.

Favorite cover? Clint’s Ollie Out Frontboard.

You wouldn’t believe how gnarly that is.

It was so mind blowing. I remember the launch, and how hyped I was that there was a magazine coming out and it was going to be our Transworld, our Slap. Man... It’s been a trip.

Favorite cover? I’m going to have to go with my Front Lip on the cover of issue 2. At the time it was a massive rail and I guess it is still today. That rail didn’t even have a run up; we had to build one.

Favorite article? Gavin Morgan’s interview.

That was rad. So cool, that really made it for me. So much flare. Anything shot by Jonathan Pinkhard, Ben Burg, Sam Clark or Pablo Ponzone.

Favorite article? Mischief article.

Favorite picture? Neil Hughes’ switch varial heel at the WIT stairs. Wow! I had that on my wall for years.

Favorite picture? No idea now, but of me?

B/S Fifty on the double kink in Egypt, as well as the F/S tuck knee in Portugal.

You have been filming skateboarding in South Africa since before Session even started. You are now heading up the production of the Session DVD that will be released next issue. How did you get involved with that and tell us what people can expect. Bod asked me if I wanted to make a DVD in exchange for Dope Industries ads. It’s been hard work making this vid - trying to shoot when I have free time and when the riders are available and with the mag changing hands, visions and input have also changed. All in all it’s been a mission. I’ve got Johan Beukes helping me with the editing - together we also made the TV series Kurb and the KFD video FUCKFD, so I’m really counting on him to put it together in a good way. This vid profiles a bunch of different skaters with different styles and interests in skating.

Which makes it open to all and hopefully everyone will have someone they can relate to.

Favorite cover? Brendan Ryalls cover taken by Miguel Favorite article? I really like the scrap yard article we did in Pretoria. We had arranged that for a video shoot which would be an insert on Kurb. We shot the majority of it on Super8 film - it was a rad day and loads of guys pulled in for that. Another one I liked was written by Johan it was supposed to be about Street Cred but he thought this was obviously his chance to complain about VW and his shitty Jetta he bought.

Favorite picture? There have been loads of sick photos and we have some amazing photographers here in SA. Some of my favourites are: JP’s rock n Roll in the Full Pipe. Simon’s frontside flip at Skinner shot

by Ben. Yann’s ollie through those concrete pillars in Durban shot by Tyrone. Markc Appleyard’s nose pick; Chris Haslam’s blunt on that skinny quarter and Justin Leslie’s backside powerslide, all shot by Sam Clark.

But probably my most favourite pic would have to be Bod trying to get in or out the pool in the Familia ad - Legend!

ten year session | 59

Skateboarding and partying seem to go together hand in hand and it most certainly has played a big role in the history of this mag. Why do you think it that is? Do you think it effects skateboarding positively or negatively?

SIMON: I guess I see it as being something that can be as fun as you want it to be much like skateboarding. I used to be obsessed with making everybody at a party like me, in some form or another, by using my super chameleon skill and exposing a

Apparently you have bought every single issue of Session since the first issue 10 years ago. Is that for real? Yeah I have every single issue and I keep them in a numerically ordered pile haha. For years people have been coming to my house and paging through them but they all know I’m pedantic about making sure they are looked after. The collection is in perfect condition, no writing on them and no cut-outs! It’s a legitimate archive of 10 years of SA skate history.

side of my character that I deemed most appropriate for a particular circle just so that I could have absolute freedom to do what I wanted to do and be accepted in a way.

You can extract whatever experience you want out of space and it is so freakin easy to extract an adventure out of a party space as most people question less what is, and is not possible. This is something myself and the Horrorbot have always had in common, can never sit still, always find an adventure, even now.

Yann: First of all, Baker 3 was a skate video I watched everyday when I first got on my board, so subconsciously the raw, chaotic, drug induced and often frowned upon side of skateboarding was undoubtedly appealing to my young and fragile mind. I think once you get older you realise that the partying is a collective equation of many aspects of skateboarding. Chilling with all your best homies, hyping each other up to land there shit, fighting with security (or running),

You two are undoubtedly two of the best skateboarders to ever come from SA skateboarding. Before getting featured in the mag, did Session ever hype you guys to skate and get as good as you are?

was just a nerdy kid in high school who was a fan. I went to a conservative school, had few friends and pretty much hated life. All I wanted to do was skate, it was an escape.

Then this mag comes out and I was hyped, like suddenly I’m not alone (as lame as that sounds). It’s inspiring to feel like somebody else out there ‘gets it’ and understands what you’re into. I guess I just wanted to show appreciation. For sure they are lame in hindsight but I was just down for it.

to get each issue together and to keep it financially viable. It’s certainly a labour of love rather than a profit driven process. I can string a sentence together, I have ultra-nerd knowledge of skateboarding and I’m keen to be involved, so I contribute where I can by writing articles and reviews. However, it goes deeper than that because when you see a photo in this mag you don’t realise the work that went on behind-the-scenes to make it happen. From searching for places to skate, taking people to spots and What has it been like being a ‘fan’ of arguing with security guards to sweeping the mag, writing letters and being a away rubbish, waxing ledges, watching out dedicated supporter as a kid, to now for cars and holding flashes - there is a lot writing articles for the mag and being on the ‘inside’ – is there a difference to the reality of what the mag is compared to what you imagined it was all about?

I’ve never been the greatest skateboarder but I’ve always been motivated and have always wanted to be a part of it. I realised early on that I’m never going to be able to just skate but I can do things that are connected to skateboarding and the greater culture surrounding it. When I was younger You wrote a few letters into the mag I used to imagine how cool it would be when you were a kid – what did you to make a living by working on a skate write about and why did you write in? I magazine, I quickly learnt that it’s a hustle

You recently bought into Session and are now one of the owners. What’s your take on those kinds of business opportunities being available to skateboarders these days whereas before they never even existed? That’s the way it should be – job and investment opportunities need to be made available to skateboarders. I’ve always said that companies must, at the bare minimum, hire a skateboarder to deal with the marketing side of things – or at least consult a skateboarder. Else we end up with companies marketing skate product with a pool party (with water in the pool), girls in bikinis and body builders throwing out ‘west sides’. Shit’s embarrassing. It’s good to see it’s finally shifting – it feels like we’ve got to the stage now where skateboarders (that excludes those who quit for 10 years and are now are trying to ‘come back’) are owning more and more local companies and understand the importance of creating a credible scene that gives back.

60 | ten year session

eating shit on SA paving, sun, sweat and just the pure adrenaline and happiness that flows through your body while you ride. So at the end of the day there’s nothing better than to go somewhere with your friends and laugh about how fucked up skateboarding really is over “some” drinks. Numb that swell bow that’s poking out your arm or your blue nut sack that got molested by the rail by the mall and get ready to skate the hangover away the next day. Partying in the skate world is neither positive nor negative.

It happens whether you like it or not, and if you don’t then that’s just your opinion.

No one should judge others on how they live their lives because in the end it’s your life you are living so no one else fucking matters.

SIMON: Oh for sure, still get a chill whenever I encounter a Session. It’s such a binding force, lovely to see what our friends are getting up to on a skateboard and otherwise.

YANN: Session did play a big part in my progression on the board. I think everyone feels the need to have at least one cover in their life but somehow mine came at a very early stage of my skating career (hence the questionable gear I was rocking). But to me the most inspiration comes from the people you meet along the way. Murth crew, my homies from Durban and anyone else I have met through skateboarding. Emptying pools with Bret and the Murth dudes at a young age almost matured my understanding of what skateboarding is actually about just good times, which session represents through and through. The South African skate scene is so small that Session is almost my way of catching up with friends from other cities and seeing what they have been up to.

mannequin in the window gives the photo an extra dimension.

Favorite article? That’s a tough one, there are too many. I guess the most influential article for me was Gavin Morgan’s interview in Issue 1, he killed it! I must have spent days looking at it. It had night photos, downtown Johannesburg, a solid trick selection, Gav’s style and even that Polaroid was sick! His nollie back 180 from bump to barrier is still one of the best things I’ve seen. Actually, his short Expose in issue 10 was amazing too, way ahead of his time in this country.

Favourite picture? That’s an impossible

“...suddenly, I’m not alone.”

more to each feature than meets the eye.

Skateboarding is hard work and you’ve got to show initiative to build a scene, nobody else will do it for you. I still get hyped on where people are going and what they are doing. I’ve had some of the best times of my life helping to get content for this mag.

Favorite cover? Issue 1 is certainly the most iconic. The front board is so legit, the colours are striking and the location with the

question. The three individuals whose photos have inspired me the most over the last 10 years with solid trick and spot selection are Gavin Morgan, Wandile Msomi and Adrian Day. Those guys have consistently had my favourite photos and sequences. Loucas Polydorou’s last 3 Familia adverts have been amazing too, international quality!

“I doubt the poor bastard could even go to a skatepark after that.”

standards in terms of content and visuals by taking influences from publications such as Kingpin, 43, Place... I’m sure you will see that already happening in this issue.

Obviously as a web developer I’d like to see the magazine grow online as well to help reach as many skateboarders as possible.

Are you excited to be part of something that can help influence skateboarding positively and keep it on track in a credible and viable way as opposed to some of the garbage that pollutes the local scene? Definitely. I’ve always been fairly outspoken with regards to the garbage so to be a part of something that can focus on and push the positive aspects of the scene is exciting. I’m hyped to be partnering with Clint van der Schyf, Adrian Day and AD Henderson – all skateboarders who have been involved with skateboarding for years. It couldn’t be more legit.

Favorite cover? From a skate perspective probably Dallas’ pivot fakie.

Favorite article? I was always a fan of the more controversial pieces. I remember I used to read Irritating Reviews first because they were always entertaining and well written. They were made even better when kids used to write in and complain that their favourite band had been ripped off. Another stand-out was the Pestroy interview and the drama that came from Adrian Day asking the band why Nu Metal fashion was ten years behind skateboarding – it ended up with the lead singer slating skateboarders What do you hope to bring to the followed up by an apology letter in the magazine and to contribute to SA following issue. I doubt the poor bastard skateboarding via Session? I’d like to could even go to a skatepark after that. see the magazine reach international

at my dad’s print shop after school. I had actually forgotten all about that conscious decision. Like my mind had buried it. Then when Bod started talking about the sale, I remembered having that mental debate with myself. I realised then, that Session was the opportunity my soul had been waiting for. So I quit and threw my focus at Session. And secondly, skateboarding is my freedom. By taking this position on, I’m basically dedicating more time to being behind a computer than enjoying that freedom. Yeah we all have to work, but no one wants to feel like they have to do shit. So I’m giving my time and complete dedication to documenting skateboarding on this whole motherfucking continent in whatever way necessary. And you need to remember that I just said that.

How did you meet Brendan, and how did you start working at Session? I met him at The George Lee, his local watering hole.

I think I’d met Wandile that day too. Sam Clark, Pieter Retief, Leon Bester and I were on a week’s mishun with The Plankie crew in Pretoria. Over a few Amber Sandwiches and a toothpick of course we got talking about working together. I’d mailed him and sort of piggybacked on Sam’s rise to fame in Session to get him thinking of giving me a shot at layout. I was working as a designer at a Software/Web development company at the time, after leaving college and not wanting to do print at all. The fact that I could design a skate article, and that I was being tea-bagged by an opportunity, got me fucking excited. That’s when the light that first hit the seed. I did that article in issue 43; the Globe tour in issue 44 and by issue 45 Bod was amped to let me lay the whole thing out.

Bod said that when he met you he felt that he had met a younger version of himself. Clint has said something similar about Joubert. You guys really are the ones that have been chosen to carry things forward. Do you feel like it’s a big responsibility?

What do you plan to bring to SA skateboarding and the mag? I try not to overthink it. We all have roles to fulfil in life, and if your life is skateboarding, then your role is in skateboarding. That’s what I realised through following Session in the early years. There are the guys that should get paid to skate, and the guys who should get paid to make skateboarding look good. I always knew I fell into the latter category so when I met Bod, and realised that the bond skateboarders share is ageless, it solidified my thinking and made any task that benefitted skateboarding one that I would persue to the end of my existence. As far as what I plan to bring to skateboarding and the mag… What a fucking question? Firstly, I slaved away for as a designer, so I could bring a high quality design background into skateboarding. That was my whole motivation for studying after working

What was it like working with Brendan?

Did you learn a lot from him in the few months you guys worked together? Not nearly enough. I was completely naïve as to what it actually takes to run a skate mag. Despite my intentions, I got caught up in how cool it was to be laying out skate photos and working with skateboarders, and neglected to realise how much the success of the magazine depends on relationship management, quality control and pure hard fucking work. Not to mention that at the end of the day, this thing is business and has to have systems and VAT returns and contracts and financial records and and and… I didn’t see any of that initially. But working with Bod was a blast. I stayed at his house after Maloof last year for a month working on issue 46. We’d get high all day and night, hassle people for ads, photos and money, eat toasted sandwiches, drinking tussies and coke and talk a lot of shit. “AD, if we don’t get this, we’re fucked. That’s it.” I got to observe the bigger picture in that month, but I still didn’t grasp it. I also

or outside entity. He said to me, “I’ve been looking for the next Session editor for years now bro; and you’re it. “ It was the biggest honour and the biggest nightmare at the same time. No one I consulted said this was a good buy from a business perspective. I had quit my job and was relying on Session and intermittent design work to support myself - which wasn’t working. I was going to have to loan money to buy it which I was advised was throwing good money after bad. But I’m a stubborn skateboarder and you couldn’t convince me that this was not a good idea. Owning a skate mag? Are you kidding? Who fucken cared what a bad idea it was, I was doing that. I talked and planned and thought and wrote business plan after business plan with my parents trying to figure out the details. Eventually we got a proposal together and sent it to Bod. Issue 48 was about 3 months overdue and time was not on our side. Bod called me that night and said Clint was going to give me a call. After showing him the proposal Clint had had an idea that was going to be better for everyone. I didn’t even know what he was talking about but there was a tone of relief in Bod’s voice that I hadn’t heard in months.

Are you glad Clint decided to get involved? It’s the difference between being up shit’s creek without a paddle; or being up shit’s creek with McGuyver. Clint is the best thing about SA skateboarding and I don’t give a fuck what you think of that statement. When he stepped in, he got Adrian Day and Jeremy – a silent partner to put up some cash and we all bought the mag from Bod. From there, Day and I were to run the production and Clint would handle the business and financial side. That didn’t work so well but it got my head well-around the actual intricacies that get this magazine onto shelves around the country.

“It’s the difference between being up shit’s creek without a paddle; or being up shit’s creek with McGuyver.” met the real Bod. Brendan is an enigmatic, friendly, approachable, easy-going kinda guy, but Bod…? Bod is actually the drunk version of Brendan and he’s a fucking handful. Just like all true wreckheads. And he has a habit of passing out HARD after a couple of dops. I slept in my bakkie outside his complex one night after following him home from the GL where he’d struck out with this vixen with gigantic fake boobs. He was supposed to open the gate but had just passed out straight. I couldn’t wake him for shit. Nor could I be pissed. I just laughed.

Besides, I got to test the new mattress in the back of the cab.

What is the current set up? You are one of the owners right? And the editor? How does it all work now? Clint, Day, Darren and I are equal shareholders. Day has the lesser role in the mag as he focuses more on Baseline. Clint has put far more profitable ventures on hold to set the financial and business side up with solid systems and processes for us to take forward. We’re publishing through his company and he’s heavily involved in the production at the moment. I’m learning as much as humanly possible from him regarding management, design, finance, photography, life and everything else with the intention of alleviating his involvement in day to day operations. I manage the contributors, content and art direction with his guidance.

Darren will head up the online side and will help with production. My best friend Kyle (Porter); his other half Fleur (Roose) and myself have set up a company to handle the advertising sales and facilitate the brand relationships.

Tell us about buying into the mag? What was the plan before Clint stepped in?

OK, so in my infinite ‘fuck you I can do that’ wisdom, I was convinced I could take over the mag on my own with my parents helping to setup the business side. Session couldn’t print the next issue because we owed the printers cash – as well as a host of contributors - and the only way Bod could see going forward was to sell the mag, get Do you sometimes feel like you’ve a bulk payout and settle his debts. He made been thrown in the deep end? I realised it quite clear that he could NOT after ten I was going to be thrown, so I took a runyears sell to a media house or corporate up and swan-dived into that shit. Sink ten year session | 61

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HAPPY 50TH ISSUE

Bod was running a one man show a lot of the time… what are your thoughts on that? It was how it needed to be. I will go to the grave with more respect for that geezah than any motherfucker on the planet. His drive and love for skateboarding allowed him to go beyond what is humanly possible. He was precious about Session and wouldn’t let anyone in because he had the vision for it – it was, and will always be, his baby. Personally, when I let people into my vision, it goes off course and I have to get away from everything in order to get back to the end result I had in my head to begin with. He avoided that whole scenario by doing things the way he did. Not giving a fuck about business realities and doing whatever he had to, to keep it going. And the drugs probably helped. With drugs you can operate at a level that allows you to detach and go beyond the general public’s perceived reality to bring something truly special back. Drugs are the easiest known vehicle to achieve this. People are so fucking quick to judge but everything you spend your money on is the by-product of a human mind going outside normal reality and offering you an easier, more affordable or smarter product. Through whichever vehicle - drugs, studying, meditation or merely random inspiration - the bottom line is that we expand our minds to progress.

And Session is needing to progress every single fucking second of everyday to keep up with what is actually going on in 62 | ten year session

skateboarding. As a one man show, Bod has basically been full on sprinting for 10 years. He’s crossed the finish line countless times and I’m going to make sure he reaps the fruits of his labour. But not a fuck am I doing it on my own. I kind of feel like I have inherited Bod’s experience without having lived it.

How has your view of Session changed from being a young nipper growing up reading it, to now being the Editor of the mag and getting a real insight into how the mag has been run over the years?

In 2002 my parents moved us 40kms out of Cape Town because of my dad’s new business and because I got arrested twice in 6 months. Thinking about it now, it meant that I always viewed the industry from a distance. We perceived Session as largerthan-life and that, if you got in Session you had to know someone or at least skate with their photographers. I’ve come to realise that it’s never really been like that, it’s just been about content, the quality of it and who had the drive to get shit done. People still tend to think we just put our friends in the mag and AV, when the truth is, we ARE all friends. I’ve realised more so than ever, that by just doing shit, you get to where you want to be, and meet the people you need to meet. That’s what everyone in these pages has done. If you want to be in the mag, go shoot pictures and send them in. If you want to be in a video, shoot the footage and send it. If it’s not used, it’s not good enough.

Tough shit. That doesn’t mean stop! That means you fucking try harder to make it look better. No one sees something amazing and ignores it. That’s what’s changed the most for me. How I thought the mag ran, to how it actually runs. If you book them, they will come.

So Darren just recently bought Jeremy out of the mag? Tell us about how that happened and how do you feel about having him involved now? Clint and Darren were doing some work with Jeremy at the time that Session hit trouble. He had a bit of cash to throw around and we needed a fourth partner, so he got involved as a

into it because this magazine can’t survive in print alone.

Plans going forward? I don’t believe in plans. I have multiple ideas and versions of what I want to achieve and prefer to be able to choose which of those outcomes would be best to follow through with depending on ever-changing circumstances. My parents’ generation cannot understand that, and to an extent, neither can The Geezahs as they’ve all had to accept certain truths about the world. I got into this position – this dream – by not conforming to how I was told to think or act. If I changed the way I thought now, I’d fuck everything up. So I don’t have plans, and I don’t have dreams. I have my life and I intend to live it through this magazine so that the one thing I love most silent investor. When Darren wanted to buy in this world progresses beyond anyone’s in 4 months later, Clint sent Jeremy a mail predictions or hopes. proposing we split ways as the magazine needed partners who could contribute – and You have a pretty heavy responsibility – were actual skateboarders. The settlement are you up to the challenge? I don’t see was generous, but he didn’t think it was a a challenge. And I don’t see myself alone fair return saying he thought the mag was in this. I see a chance for us to change the to be grown into a ‘consumer brand’ to way skateboarders live. I don’t believe I’ve be sold to a buyer - which was never, ever landed in this position to be some sort of the intention. It bummed us out because it skate tycoon or rock star who looms over was all business with no consideration for the industry and decides what’s hot and the benefit of skateboarding. The mag was what’s not and who goes pro or who has – and still is – struggling to get on its feet to go work at the local McD’s – I’m just and he just used the leverage of us wanting fulfilling the role I’ve been tasked with. him out to make more money. Dudes who I’ve arrived at Session at a critical time operate like that piss me off. But fuck it, in our history where we transition from he’s out and the mag is 100% skateboarder a small, struggling, minimal pay industry owned again. That was a huge concern for into a thriving, sustainable, commercially me and I’ve always said Jacoby should be viable career option for all skateboarders. more involved in the content of the mag. The challenges I see are in maintaining Now he has to be. Not to mention the online skateboarding as an art form through all the bullshit; putting it before all business side of things. decisions and not allowing it to become So will Session finally have a website merely another extreme sporting industry now? Yes. I cannot fucking WAIT! I’ve or pointless lifestyle alternative. The current designed that site about 30 times over, but generation of skateboarders in South Africa the real reason I haven’t put anything up is are in the very unique position of being able because I couldn’t manage it. If any site had to shape a completely new industry on a gone up before Jacoby joined us, it would solid foundation - an industry that allows us have been as dead as the previous Session to live as truly free human beings. All we sites. Seriously, having Darren and his web need to do is keep on Sessioning. knowledge behind the site means we can create a webspace that everyone can relate to and feel at home in. I’m dying to get stuck SSS

© VAN SCHOOR

or swim motherfucker. You get a special understanding from being completely immersed in something and then finding a way to breathe. It makes the achievement of succeeding greater and the option of failure null en void. I’ve made some gaps to breathe but I still need a few more. The biggest airway I have is the people I’m working with.

Their combined experience, as well as input and output is utterly fucking priceless. And the fact that we’re been getting consistently less late with each issue, and steadily increasing its sales and revenue since we took over means I’m at least getting enough air – even if I’m not getting enough to pay my bills or eat.

SEE THE ENTIRE RANGE AT WWW.DOPEIND.COM

f o o Mal

2 1 0 2

ur es t c i P In I could bore you recounting the style and mind-blowing skill with which Luan Oliviera and Kanya Spani won their respective divisions, or entertain you with recollections of the beer tent, camp site and Protea Hotel hijinx, but photography is a far more interesting and revealing story teller.

So, the following pages contain The Maloof Money Cup, Kimberley, as told by the photography of Tim Moolman, Andre Visser, Werner Lamprecht and Gavin Scott.

The one thing I did learn this year is that Maloof build plaza’s and leave them there. Street League tear them down. #imjustsaying

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01. Moses Adams.

Nollie Bigspin to flat 02. simon stipcich gap to 5050 03. ADam Woolf nollie bigspin heel backlip fakie 04. felipe gustav switch flip.

05 brian herman hardflip 06. dlamini dlamini switch 180 5-0 07. bob burnquist 720 08. board to tim’s head.

09. tommy fynn kickflip kgrind 10. andrew reynolds fakie flip 11. manny santiago kickflip fs 5050 12. luan oliviera fs flip

lamprecht

lamprecht

09 10 Regardless of whether you were staying in a hotel, in a tent or under a tree, when you leave Maloof for the trip home, you are knackered.

You wake up in your own bed the next day feeling like your body has been through a war. A similar feeling to the one you get on a Monday after a hard weekend’s session.

It’s that feeling that tells you it was worth the mission.

And that’s not to mention that it’s the best skatepark in South Africa.

moolman

11 70 | Maloof Kimberley 2012

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lamprecht

See you next year Kimberley.

12 Maloof Kimberley 2012 | 71

Analysing the body art of skateboarders

want more swag than snoop dogg... sorry, snoop lion? wanna be as fly as a white guy? need to look as cool as justin bieber?

Tjek out our spring fashion bonanza!

potngists. g in p , e t , sekla sh tattoo aras suraf nd w ng h

dc Strapped black dc Mariner black & white

o e hofw hwis canvas. iz l a n a we de use o ma

dc chris coles

volcom - vorta jean

dc Starlate Lcp Adjustable

Diamond I’m probably never going to be able to afford a real one so I got a cheaper version.

Don’t Fear the Reaper I got this to remind me that life is too short to stress the small stuff.

Death can come for you anytime.

dc chris cole pro

Ping Pong Pin Up

volcom - illusion tee plan b P-Rod Stacked

plan b Pudwill stacked

This one I got up in Joburg recently at a convention, from Ross Hallam who has some MAD skills. I always wanted a pin-up girl but never knew which one. I’ve always been a fan of Ping Pong. This one really means a lot to me because of who it represents.

Element thriftwood

element Appleyard science helium

Nike - paul Rodrigues

element Ionic Green Durathane

element Varcity 5.5 Trucks

DDD Skate shades element Ceramic bearings

Hunter S. Thompson

QUIK anxiety black snow

VANS Spicoli Sunglasses - Black

adidas CAMPUS Gonz

adidas adi ease nestor

dope three quarter tee

Thumb Puppy

QUIK eagle blue & green

We just went on this Vans trip to Kimberley and somehow we started finger-popping everything in sight. I’ve got a Thumb Puppy. Joubert has a Thumb Pony and Warren has a Thumb Flash. If anyone is keen, you can only get one from someone who has one.

adidas campus mid

adidas skate

dope paradise shirt

Elysian - Steeple

QUIK chester gun smoke

Team Van Doren - Black

noongun no school no job

adidas busenitz pro

noongun enjoy & destroy

Photos. van staden

dope snap stack

I got this in Wales when I was living there. This girl I worked with’s dad did it at her house.

Yas, this was one gnarly guy. He was fully covered in tattoos, even on his face. I was super nervous because he didn’t use stencils.

Instead he drew the image on with a pen. I was super stoked with the way it came out. I asked him to put a MSFT sticker on the briefcase and he said “What does that stand for?” Must Stop Fucking Tripping! I thought that was the best thing ever and suited the whole Hunter S. vibe.

Surf and Skate everyday

Oppositeway-roundmermaid

That’s my ideal world. Wake up and if the waves are good, surf. If not, go skate. Nothing else really matters. Hopefully one day I will be able to fulfil my dream.

This was a fun tattoo. A friend in Durban got into tattooing and this was his third piece ever. It came out really rad. Definitely want to put some colour in though. I can’t wait to get back to Durban and get my stomach done by him. He also did my Eye tattoo and Skate and Surf Everyday tatt. issue 50 | 73

email sales@sessionmag.co.za to advertise here

sticktips is proudly Presented by

The element south africa spell out some new tricks for you to learn.

Nollie Flip

noseslideS

with Maloof AM winner Kanya Spani S O U T H A F R I CA’ S P R E M I U M S K AT E S T O R E

Muscle memory is a very real thing. Once you’ve worked out a trick, do it as many times as you can and your muscles will do the rest. A lot of the time we overthink tricks, resulting in hours of pain and suffering, when all that’s needed is a deep breath, a clear headspace and commitment.

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Kanya oozed style all over the Maloof Plaza in this year’s contest. He wasn’t stressing or rushing things. He took his time and stuck to what he knew; putting tricks down that he was comfortable with.

And it paid off.

Here’s his advice on getting that Nollieflip Noseslide on lock down. But the style with which you do it, is up to you.

Nollie Noseslides and Nollie Flips are your set up tricks. With that motion solidified in your memory banks, you can start taking the Nollieflip into Noseslide on curbs. Once again, pavements are your best practice friend.

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weekly updates of skate related news,videos, events, comps, giveaways

Approach the ledge parallel with you weight centred over the front truck and your back foot in a flip position just below your back truck bolts. Turn in a bit just before you pop. This will get the board headed into that Noseslide position while carrying your momentum forward.

www.africaskate.com

Give yourself enough room to allow the board to flip. Pop too early and you’ll hit the ledge. Pop too late and you’ll be folding over the ledge sideways. Timing is everything, but will be the most frustrating.

URBAN MACHINE

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2000/01/01 2:47 AM

Once you’ve got the flip into Nose, it’s almost a done deal. If you keep sticking, you’re either turning your flip too much, or you’re not getting your foot centred on the Nose. Bear in mind, getting the flipto-slide is definitely the hardest part, so work at it!

Make sure you’ve waxed the ledge plenty so you don’t stick. With your front foot squarely on the nose and those shoulders straight, you’ll just need to balance you weight and slide it out. thandos

sequence. theron

You’ll be excused for dropping out of the Noseslide the first couple of times, but you want to pop it out and land straight like a Boss.

Who knows, maybe this will be be part of you winning lies in next year’s Maloof contest.

Photo. visser

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congratu-fucking-lations Session on ten Bod-Damd years of SA Skateboarding

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skullcandy south africa sponsors the cd reviews but they do not necessarily support the opinions expressed - hilarious as they might be.

50 issues in retrospect.

These are going to be the worst reviews Session has ever seen.

Truth be told, until I got handed Issue #03 to review for this article, I had actually forgotten all about it and the stoke it brought into my life.

Well we’re reviewing the worst music skateboarding has ever seen, what do they expect?

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CM

MY

Mark Donaldson

Darren Jacoby

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CMY

K

14 Oct 2012 21:31

14 Oct 2012 21:43

Fuck, she’s pregnant isn’t she?

Canadians are becoming notorious for shitting out bad musicians.

14 Oct 2012 21:43

They should send him to Skatetopia for a weekend.

14 Oct 2012 21:32

EricKoston

14 Oct 2012 21:32

To be honest, I thought she was cute when I was younger, but, do you really want to hook up with a bro-ho that’s down with all your skate friends?

I remember that day as if it were yesterday. I was living in Bloemfontein. The skate scene was small. I walked through the local shopping plaza to the CNA to check if the new Session magazine had landed. Staring back up at me from the floorboard where the alternative sports magazines were kept, was an image that shifted my skateboarding career into third gear. Kirk Pioni (RIP mate) was Boardsliding a rail down more stairs than I could even imagine to Ollie. The adrenaline and vision that cover gave me is memorable, almost palpable. I needed to skate harder, faster and bigger.

14 Oct 2012 21:44

------------------------------- Luke Jackson -------------------------------

Avril Lavigne

Skatetopia is not that crazy, it’s not some free for all utopia for skateboarding and partying. You have to work on the land in return for camping and some shred time on the ramps - If you want to boost airs you got to cut the crops.

wearing Skullcandy Aviator 14 Oct 2012 21:44

I wish you didn’t mention Skatetopia, this Jackson history lesson is never going to end now.

14 Oct 2012 21:32

Rubber up.

14 Oct 2012 21:33

Yeah.. I don’t think that was the last time your car is going to be keyed.

14 Oct 2012 21:45

I don’t know what’s more painful, reading Jacksons facts or listening to a Justin Bieber song.

14 Oct 2012 21:33

14 Oct 2012 21:45

Well, it can’t look much worse than it already is, besides, bitches love battle scars.

14 Oct 2012 21:33

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Try doing them at the same time.

14 Oct 2012 21:45

Don’t be fucking crazy.

Then they would love my feet from last new years.

Y

CM

14 Oct 2012 21:55 MY

14 Oct 2012 21:34

You can still depart the hospital the next day with more dignity than you would have listening to this pile of shit.

14 Oct 2012 21:35

It’s a pity she made more money by putting a skateboard in a music video than Cardiel did his entire career.

That must have really busted his back.

Jereme Rogers aka J. Casanova

14 Oct 2012 21:36

14 Oct 2012 21:56

14 Oct 2012 21:56

Gay Faganova.

14 Oct 2012 21:56

Dazza the young republican strikes again.

14 Oct 2012 21:57

Less gun control would solve these types of problems.

14 Oct 2012 21:36

Being engaged to Nickelbacks’ frontman; I’m sure she feels like she’s getting fucked by a trailer every minute of the day.

14 Oct 2012 21:57

So would abortion...

14 Oct 2012 21:57

Well that escalated quickly.

14 Oct 2012 21:37

Can you imagine if they have a kid and it makes music? Christ.

14 Oct 2012 21:58

The only thing that is escalating is my hatred towards this fucker.

14 Oct 2012 21:37

14 Oct 2012 21:58

I’d be envious of Helen Keller.

You have to think of him as more of a comedian than a musician.

14 Oct 2012 21:41

14 Oct 2012 21:59

He is more of a joke than an actual comedian.

14 Oct 2012 21:59

I suppose that’s why he gets along with jesus so well.

14 Oct 2012 21:41

Justin Bieber.

14 Oct 2012 21:41

14 Oct 2012 21:42

Did you hear he threw up on stage the other day? Best thing to come out of his mouth so far.

14 Oct 2012 21:42

Morning after sickness.

K

It’s pretty appropriate that he started selfish skateboards because he’s pretty fucking selfish making us listen to this shit.

All hail Lavigne! I wish she was the one who got run over by a trailer.

Photo. Illana welman

76 | issue 50

14 Oct 2012 21:55

14 Oct 2012 21:36

He looks like a lesbian.

SS

CMY

14 Oct 2012 21:35

As I am writing this piece sitting in my apartment in the Mother City whilst one of the biggest skateboarding events in the world is happening right here on South African soil. I can’t help but kick myself for numerous reasons. The more obvious being that I am not at Maloof and the lesser being that I have somewhat parted ways with the South African skate scene. Mostly, I blame the fact that rent doesn’t pay itself. A man’s’ got to work, but I can actually only blame myself. Why did I drift from something that gave me such a rush, that made me so stoked, something like the cover of issue #03? Work?

Wives? No, many skaters today, paid or unpaid, are doing what they love and for the sheer stoke of it - doing it for the love. I bow my head in shame as I compare the scene in South Africa today with the fledgling scene of the Bizness in issue #03. Back then it was small and tight with a lot of the same guys getting coverage because they were the only ones pushing it. Today, the scene has morphed into local companies sponsoring riders, big tours and massive competitions. I could’ve grown with this every step of the way but instead I failed the scene, I guess helping my own stoke die by not partaking in it actively.

So let this be a lesson to you all – once a skater always a skater, but stick to your scene. You can only help it grow.

CY

If there is one thing women love it’s a dude walking around a party with bloody bare feet.

“I needed to skate harder, faster and bigger.”

SKULLCANDY

14 Oct 2012 22:00

Crucify him.

14 Oct 2012 22:09

R412.95 for a hammer, a 2x4 and three nails from builders warehouse - a small price to pay.

14 Oct 2012 22:10

First and last time we get to do music reviews.

TheotisBeasley wearing Skullcandy Fix

Video Reviews by Luke Jackson

Ten Skate Videos you should have seen this past decade.

adrian day muses on skateboarding and all that it entails.

Has somebody ever asked you who the best skateboarder in the world is?

You can’t truly answer that question, can you? It’s completely subjective. It isn’t a contest and there doesn’t need to be one winner. To me, diversity is one of the most alluring features of skateboarding. There are no world championships that decide who the grand-master of the universe is. Instead, there are a multitude of individuals across the globe who possess their own styles and who have their own perspectives.

10 years or more down the line, nobody cares who won what contest, but they do remember their favourite video parts. What tricks people were doing, what gear they were wearing and what track was playing. Above all, they remember how the video part made them feel and how it inspired them to go out and skate every time they watched it. The skateboard video part is a stand-alone creation that exists suspended in time, and which defines each era in skateboarding. Nobody can be the best at it all, but there are those who manage to have an impact so great that it resonates in skateboarder’s minds years later.

There are so many good videos that come out every year and to try and list them all would be an impossible task.

Some have marketing budgets, international premieres and major hype while others simply get put out on Youtube and hopefully get a few thousand views.

Over the last 10 years numerous videos from across the globe have been featured and reviewed on the pages of Session Magazine. Unless you’re as much a connoisseur of skate videos as I am, I suspect you haven’t seen a great number of the videos I feel you ought to. I’m sure you don’t actually care and I’m probably just a pedantic skatenerd who has an intrinsic appreciation for this stylised audio visual content.

78 | issue 50

Flip Skateboards

2003 Yeah Right Girl Skateboards

There were never a lot of photos of me as a youngster. I hated posing and faking a smile. It felt awkward. I can handle photos of me doing something, but standing there like a statue forcing some kind of emotion has never worked. It wasn’t ‘me’, therefore I couldn’t do it.

2004 Bon Appetit! clich e Skateboards (France)

2005 Lost and Found

But an avenue that started to become documentation of mine and my friend’s lives were in the pages of this here magazine. A part of me felt that I wanted something to look back on, something I could be stoked on and reminisce about decades into the future. More than self-fulfilling glory it became a way to document my life.

On my death bed - hoping I get the privilege of one - I am sure a lot of the memories will be sparked by the images that have been in the mag. I will remember tours, travels, friends, good times, bad times, trying tricks for 5 hours, winning, losing, the beers after and the hangovers before.

I tip my hat to this here magazine, and I encourage all of you to document the most important days of In every photo of mine and my friends, I know the story, the background and how it came to be. These your life. That being today, and tomorrow. are the things I value the most as I sit here and ponder ten years of Session Magazine.

SS

Blueprint Skateboards (England)

2006 Kronichles Krooked Skateboards

2007 Fully Flared Lakai Footwear

2008 Ride the Sky

to subscribe and get the complete session vcd boxset, Send your full name, email, postal address & number to one of the following:

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2009 Mind Field

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Alien Workshop Skateboards

2010 Stay Gold Emerica Footwear

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Real Skateboards

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Photo. van der schyf

Nevertheless, here is a list detailing one of the bigger (dare I say iconic) videos that were released in each year that Session Magazine has been on the shelves. These are certainly not the only great videos that came out in each listed year; neither are they necessarily my favourites from each listed year. However, you should have (at the very least) seen these. If not… you’re blowing it!

I once had my family haul me off for family portraits and it felt like the worst day of my life. I was miserable. I hated every minute to the point that my old man wanted to murder me for ruining this fabricated happy moment that would supposedly last forever.

200 Sorry

Photo. Scott

I’ve never been one for photographs.

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