Session Magazine - Issue 64

WEST COAST ISSUE 64 | FEB/MAR 2015 | RSA R35.00 / OTHER R30.00

e d i t i o n

DC Skate collection available exclusively at core skate stores nationwide - dealer enquiries : info@dcshoes.co.za

#64

the contents page

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Allan Adams has been the talk of the skate town over the last year or so.

This welcome to the adidas team tour justifies every syllable. FS Feeble.

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the COVER the cape crusade

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Where the hell is that ramp!?

That’s what we said too.

This Frontside Ollie looks like it’s on Mars. Or the Moon. We wouldn’t be surprised to receive a photo of Yann Horowitz skating in outer space... Not even slightly. Yann can’t help but charge, and we can’t help but run the photos.

Namibia has some gold...

Ph: Sam Clark

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REDIAL

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Do you even Indy bro?

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Dog & Bone

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Doesn’t get much more West Coast than this...

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Remy Taveira and David Stenstrom return to SA for a Converse Cape Town trip along with Jerome Campbell and photographer Nils Svensson.

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On the road & on the team ___

adidas welcome Allan Adams to the team with a trip to Namibia featuring Dlamini and Khulu Dlamini, Yann Horowitz and Pieter Retief.

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west coast murder

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Sam Clark undertakes the challenge of a 48 Hour article on a brand new ‘loaned’ camera with Josh Chisholm, Dennis Collins, Anton Roux, Yann Horowitz and Joubert van Staden.

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CLOSET ENVY

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What’s on the shelves.

62 I AM

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Kids doing rails.

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Wonderland

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No news is bad news.

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blackboard

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Turds and chickens.

CLARK

NICK GARCIA @NICK_GARCIA @ELEMENTSA @ELEMENTAFRICA ELEMENT SOUTH AFRICA

GARCIA

GARCIA

BIG BUSINESS 8.3 BLACK LIGHT 7.8

#ADIEASEPRO

MILES SILVAS BACKSIDE TAILSLIDE

adidas.com/skateboarding

Š 2015 adidas AG. adidas, the trefoil logo and the 3-Stripes mark are registered trademarks of the adidas Group.

REDIAL

moolman

Brendan Body

Mazwi Msomi with a proper Frontside Air at Germiston Bowl.

killing the name Frontside airs are a classic and probably one of the easiest grabs to learn, back in the late 80s and 90s international pros like Jason Jessee, Chris Miller and Lee Ralph had some of the best ones in the business. Jason Jessee would blast huge straight-legged ones and Chris Miller had the best style, he boned his out and grabbed it behind his knee - my personal favourite. Lee ralph would shake a vert ramp from 9ft up - these dudes killed them!

Indy Airs are also rad, Duane Peters made them famous in the 80s and his name has stuck to them, but Chris Miller in my opinion still had the best ones. So when I see comments on Facebook like, “rad frontside indy at Key West” or frontside indy down 5, that’s even more mind blowing - I get irritated. Why? Because you don’t get a frontside fu#%&n indy air!

Editor in Chief / advertising

Photographers:

Brendan Body

Sam Clark, Nils Svensson, Neil Chester, Justin Poulter, Andre Visser, Tim Moolman.

brendan@sessionmag.co.za Sub Editor / design

Adrian Henderson

ad@sessionmag.co.za

CONTRIBUTORS:

Web Editor / Finance

Brett Shaw, Pieter Retief, Kerra Walker, Sam Clark.

Luke Jackson

info@sessionmag.co.za photo Editor

Clint van der Schyf

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A frontside air is pretty self-explanatory and although grabbed with the same hand as an indy air, you turn

“...next time you want to do a “frontside indy air”, stop and think about what you are doing and saying.”

FRONTSIDE ONLY. With an indy air you turn BACKSIDE ONLY, so there is no such thing as a frontside indy air!

Also, you don’t need to say, “rad backside indy at Key

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West”, rather just say, “rad indy air at Key West.” An indy air is backside only, so there is no need to add the “backside” to it - get it!

If you are new to skateboarding and want to take it somewhat seriously then learn the names of the tricks you are doing, unless you are inventing your own. There is a very long heritage that skateboarders have built up over decades and it should be respected. So, the next time you get tempted to push mongo because that’s how you learnt it in your driveway or next time you want to do a “frontside indy air”, stop and think about what you are doing and saying. Try and act the fu#%&n part!

S

Physical Address: Session Magazine, 2nd Floor, Earlgo Building, cnr. Kloof & Park Rd, Gardens, Cape Town, 8000.

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Session Skateboarding Magazine is published independently 6 times a year. 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, its owners or its 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 craig LEAK FEEDING YOU NITROGLYCERIN-laced nik-naks while yann destroys all your spots.

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T H E

B A L A N C E

YA NN HORO W I T Z INDUSTRY

O F

O P P O S I T E S

KHULU DLAMINI NAT URE

EVEN

ODD

DUSK

DAWN

RVCA.COM

DOG & BONE

What does your photo feed reveal?

way out west

David Shiffman finished matric and headed over to the states to celebrate. He brought back a couple 40’s, some Bronze and Fucking Awesome merchandise and a bunch of snaps from his travels from the East to West Coast.

The Phelper himself, SF.

Labor Skateshop, NYC.

Pop ya Cherry, NYC.

JKwon Centre, LA.

Courthouse, NYC (Watch the Quartersnacks edit).

Hollywood High, LA.

3rd and Army, SF.

40 Ounces of beer on the wall...

China Banks, SF.

Straight out of Compton, LA.

Pier 7, SF.

Stripper in Vegas.

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The Cape Crusade c o n v e r s e

t o u r s

C A P E

TO W N

PHOTOS Nils Svensson (Unless stated) WORDS Luke Jackson

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The second international Converse CONS tour to South Africa of 2014 took place during December, in Cape Town. David Stenstrom from Sweden and Remy Taveira from France returned to the country along with Jerome Campbell from England.

Also in attendance was European photographer Nils Svensson who came to document a week in the city.

The tour aligned with CONS Project Cape Town and several activities took place throughout the week. A skate jam at the Mill Street skate park in Gardens, a meet and greet at Baseline skate shop and a special obstacle at Salesians in Greenpoint. The idea was to come and engage with locals, to skate together, instead of your standard demo tour. In addition, the crew spent a few days exploring and skating different parts of the city and surrounding areas on the cape peninsula.

LEFT: Remy takes a new approach to an old trick. Noseblunt Stalefish in Milnerton.

chester

ABOVE: Frontside Ollie at The Pit. Stenstrom has that tranny magic.

Cape Town can be quite tricky for skateboarding in December with regard to the wind blowing like crazy. We got really lucky and the whole week was very hot and sunny with little to no wind every single day. The guys from Europe are not really used to dealing with such severe heat so it certainly took its toll but there was always a beach nearby to cool off after a session.

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chester

The whole thing was enormous, a mountain in itself.

Woodies ramps built the obstacle at Salesians. The design was based on the shape of Table Mountain, which was the backdrop to the obstacle. Transition at the front, a wide and flat top surface with banks up each side to create a manny pad across the top and a bank to ledge at the back to represent the mountain’s sloping back. There were large pump humps on each side to represent Lion’s Head and Devil’s Peak in the formation. Finally, there was a gnarly pole jam up the front corner to represent the cableway.

The whole thing was enormous, a mountain in itself. The obstacle was free and open to all for the summer holidays, thanks to Sean and Toby from Skate-Aid who currently manage the space.

ABOVE: Tweaked Stalefish over the Devil’s Peak hip

by David and his Dope Camo hat.

RIGHT: Jamie O’Brien demonstrates how filmers get in the way at the photography workshop. Backsmith

by Jerome.

Free workshops were held at the obstacle. AV Skateboarding hosted a video workshop where participants could learn about filming skateboarding, what equipment to use and so on. Nebula hosted a Best Trick jam for some of the younger guys. Finally, Nils hosted the photography workshop and gave advice and insight into being a professional skate photographer.

poulter

FAR RIGHT: So smooth, so charge, so Polar. David with a Backside Boneless.

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FAR LEFT: Backside Nosepick pop in, at Maiden’s Cove. Jerome got that style.

LEFT: The dudes were a bit taken aback by the wind at Edgemead. And it was a ‘good’ day there...

Hurricane Remy.

BELOW: Too good not to throw in.

David floats Frontside at the Mill Street Park.

David was the MVP of the trip…again.

Charging everything in his path, doing massive airs and making it all look really simple. Stockholm is a lot colder than Cape Town so he had to pace himself a little more carefully but he gets what he’s trying ridiculously quickly. Remy’s life seems like one big tour. If you follow him on instagram you’ll

battles here and there, like hurting his back at the Edgemead DIY spot but he soldiered on at the next spot. Jerome had just recovered from a bad ankle injury that he picked up on a trip to Mongolia and was stoked to be in Cape Town and back on a board. He has an eye for more unique spots and similarly a good eye on the photography front. You have to deal

sometimes it can be chaos and sometimes everyone is on the mission. see that he never stops travelling. He arrived in Cape Town straight from a CONS event in Paris. From the first spot on day one he skated everything he could. No matter where you take him, he’ll try and skate every spot.

He’s certainly not one of those individuals who can be easily put into one box. He had his

with all sorts of characters and personalities on skate trips, sometimes it can be chaos and sometimes everyone is on the mission.

Jerome is a genuine person that understands what is required and gets the job done, no stress and no fuss. He’s also a bit of a joker, just incase it gets too serious.

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HERE: This is how you Rock ‘n Roll. Flat board, tweaked feet, shoulders ready for the roll back in a classic.

Who knows what the dudes would have got on this DIYed number in Vredehoek, had armed response not arrived.

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BELOW: Remy takes a wallride at Muizenberg as far as it will go. He also nailed a Frontside 270 wallride out of nowhere.

Just cruise-aiding!

I was stoked to have Nils in the crew. He’s an amazing photographer from Malmo. He also does work for Bryggeriet, an organisation that works very closely with the local city council in Malmo to develop parks, they also run events and they even have a school with an indoor park. He had lots of interesting stories and perspectives to share. Nils is also part of the Polar Skate Co family and you can see his recent work in coverage of ‘Manhattan Days’ the CONS x Polar collaboration. He also shot photos for ‘Stoker’ a special zine collab between Carhartt and Polar.

The best part about working in skateboarding is getting to travel, meet new people and skate new spots. I ‘m always hyped on having the privilege to be able to connect with

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people on this level, particularly people that are doing inspiring things in skateboarding. Thanks to Converse CONS and to Neil Chester for making it possible.

Look out for a special Converse CONS Cape Town tour zine that will be available for free at select CONS retailers soon. Also, keep an eye out for the tour video.

chester

RIGHT PAGE: David was blasting massive Method airs at the not-so-secret Noordhoek snakerun like there was no need for a flight home.

chester

RIGHT HERE: Nils Svensson sounding the alarm.

The best part about working in skateboarding is getting to travel, meet new people and skate new spots.

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On the road and on the team . adidas welcomes ALLAN ADAMS The adidas skate team is at it again. Exploring unknown territories and embracing the one thing skaters cannot live without - SKATE TRIPS. This time around they headed up the west coast of SA. To get the go ahead for a Namibia skate itinerary is not necessarily the easiest thing to do. An internet image search on the country will reveal a mix between the Namib Desert, Khoisan tribes and wild animals. Urban architecture will not be seen and Google street view won’t be displaying a perfect set of stairs or a rail to get hyped on. But, that's the thing about exploring with a bit of research.

The gems are out there. You must simply look further than what “The Eye” can see.

PHOTOS: Sam Clark WORDS: Pieter Retief, Kerra Walker

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N

ot only did the Namibia trip promise amazing sights and spots, the trip set the perfect platform to introduce Allan Adams as the new team rider. A well-known name in the South African skate community and in the near future he could spread his wings internationally. It’s such a pleasure having him in the van and witnessing the consistency of his skating. It’s not easy raising your opinion and getting heard in a van filled with the Dlamini brothers and the Blitz. Allan simply lets his skating do the talking and you’ll quickly see how he shuts a spot down. He takes one of two approaches when he skates. One is to arrive, roll up, do a trick and roll away only to catch the videographers still setting up.

The other is to wait around while the others swear, throw their boards and eventually land their tricks, but then only does he roll up, do pretty much any trick and roll away.

Then the videographers have more than one angle to show for it.

ollie into the second astroturf bank and ride out of the rollercoaster. yann finds the unnatural and makes it natural.

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It’s not easy raising your opinion and getting heard in a van filled with the Dlamini brothers and the Blitz.

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allan sneaks in the last trick at the memorial before paying their way out of a bust. frontside crook.

A

llan is the newest and youngest addition to the adidas family. He brings a calm and relaxed feel to the team through his controlled and cautious approach. I’m not saying that he doesn’t have the balls and guts to try big tricks, it’s just hard to find chaos and inconsistency when you see him roll away from a 15 stair 50-50, second try! The entire team brings something unique to the table. I personally think Yann is one of the most talented skaters in the country. I envy his chaotic and loose approach to skating. He makes it look so easy. Dlamini brings the speed and power and the ‘Big House’ brings the pop and those long street lines.

off when you pop. Luckily for us the university had some construction going on just around the corner, so we helped ourselves to some crack filler, mixed it in a coke bottle and fixed the spot. Now that the spot was 100% the next problem arrived in the form of 2 very angry and stubborn security guards. We could not leave this spot without any footage so we made the mission to get permission. We got sent in all directions to the admin office, then directed to the CEO of the director’s board and eventually to the Communication and Marketing office where we were granted with a weekend pass to skate.

It read as follows: The University of Namibia grants permission for 8 skateboarders from Cape Town and Namibia to make use of the facility to skateboard. They will make use of the university buildings as a background to shoot skateboarding photos for adidas and Session Magazine. The university will not be liable for any injuries occurring on the premises.

the options to park varied between the Mayor or the CEO’s parking bay.

The trip kicked off in Windhoek, the capital, where we spent 5 days rolling around the city. We stopped off at the local skatepark where we met some of the locals who then showed us some spots. The spots that delivered the most footage and photos were the University of Namibia, the War Heroes memorial and the Municipality building where the options to park varied between the Mayor or the CEO’s parking bay.

There’s no such thing as the perfect set of stairs, we came close to finding it at the university though. Even though the run up and landing was fine we were faced with the problem of a small groove just wide enough to put you

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An hour or two of admin was well worth it as Allan started stacking the clips straight away. The security guards did come back, but we had no worries and were actually hyped to see them return. First we argued for a bit, just for fun, and then slapped the permit in their face. It was our time now!

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W

e were done with Windhoek and it was time to head west. We heard about a guy (Eike) who built a mini ramp and bowl on his small holding in Swakopmund, so that’s where we headed. We made an arrangement to meet in town and then drive with him to his spot which is about 15km outside of town. The house was built by his dad and the farm workers, using all sorts of materials. Not one section of the house is the same. The kitchen is built with big smooth stones and other areas of the house are a mix between wooden panels and concrete. They have no electricity out there, so every night we sat around the fire and embraced the quietness. For those who wanted to shower they had to boil water on the gas stove, fill a tin bucket and then hoist it up by rope so that it dangles above your head. This was definitely the highlight spot of the trip and the hospitality from Eike and his dad was generously received. I’ve heard some of the guys say they want to go back to help Eike build more ramps and just live out there. I’m pretty sure if anyone, Yann would be the instigator.

“if you land bolts on the bricks and drop down to the plywood, then it’s a make.”

We kept heading south to Cape Town via Sossusvlei, Luderitz and Springbok. In Luderitz we found a big hubba that Dlamini and Allan wanted to skate. The wind was not favourable so after a couple of tries we called it. Not letting it go, Dlamini wanted to go back the next morning before leaving for our next destination. He took one of the hardest slams I have ever seen, Sam packed up his flashes and the thought of hospital came to mind. He slowly got up, looked at us and said, “ok, let’s get it.” The next go, he put it down. I still don’t know how he got up from that slam. It was a bit of a weird setup, because the landing was really short before you drop down to gravel. The only wood we had was some masonite ply we wanted to use for dune sliding. It was way too soft to withstand the impact. So this is what we told Dlamini, “if you land bolts on the bricks and drop down to the plywood, then it’s a make.” You can’t expect a guy to almost die and then tell him it’s not a make. If it was a perfect landing we would have been out of there in 5 tries.

bump to front feeble before the security robbed Dlamini of a front blunt.

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Dlamini Dlamini. backside 5-0. Ph. Sam clark

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A Little Allan Adams Interview How did you become part of the adidas skate team?

I just kind of kept skating with my homies and Moses. Pieter at adidas approached me and started flowing me some product for a year or so. This year I made it on the team and got to go on the ‘Welcome to the team trip’.

Have you done some traveling in the past or was this the first time you left South Africa?

No, not much. This was my first time leaving the country.

What were your expectations of Namibia and the skate spots before you got there?

Pretty much nothing. I just got in the van. It was mind blowing. I did not expect to skate spots like this.

Were you hyped on the spots, what were some of your favourites?

Yeah it was rad because everything was new for me, definitely the 15 stair handrail!

Tell us what it’s like being in the van, what does everyone get up to?

It was so much fun, Khulu has a really loud mouth and always has something to say. We played a bit of dice at night, I kind of liked the idea of gambling amongst friends. We did a lot of driving between towns on gravel roads that felt never ending. There was always some sort of entertainment in the van, watching skate videos on Khulu’s laptop or blasting Dlamini’s hip hop.

There were definitely some questionable music selections.

Who on the team motivates you the most to push yourself or get a photo or clip?

Sam Clark, just the way he hypes you up to get tricks done.

Did you see any skaters in Namibia, is there a skate scene there?

Yeah there is. We stopped off at a small park, the ramps were messed up but the guys were still hyped to skate there.

Was it a bit intimidating going on a tour with the team for the first time, and who was your MVP (Most valued Person) on the trip?

Not really. It was mostly chilled. There’s a lot of loud mouths in the van so I just chilled. Dlams and Yann were pushing me a lot.

Tell us 3 things you learnt about Namibia that you didn’t know before you went?

1. I saw Springboks for the first time.

2. It’s way more dry than Cape Town.

3. SAND! Got any other trips planned, where are you off to next?

I’m off to Muscat in Oman, touring there with my brother. There is Midway Mayhem in March and then KDC. I’m sure there will be more adidas trips coming up too. Hyped on that.

LEFT: kickflip from a roughass road into a bank that yann only ollied into.

BELOW: The perfect university stair set gets a solid adams lecture. Nollie bigspin heel.

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T

he next destination was Sossusvlei. On route we stopped off in Solitare, where we met an Australian girl who was hitchhiking through Namibia. She was pretty much following the exact same route and timeline as us, so we squeezed her in the van and she became the 9th member of the trip. One of things about traveling is meeting new people and sometimes you’ll stay in touch.

Kerra was just one of those easy going travellers. She bought biltong and beers for the boys and even navigated traffic at skate spots. We kept in touch after the trip and we asked Kerra to write something about her experience on the road and in the van.

Ah, my mother would have been so proud of my personal safety choices as I drove off into the desert with 8 strange men.

Here’s what she wrote:

First let’s get one thing straight. Hitchhiking is not my regular mode of transport. Or at least it wasn’t. I am seriously rethinking that position after my awesome experience with this brilliant bunch of nutjobs.

I’d been traveling down through Africa for about 6 months.

On arriving at the Botswana/Namibia border and enquiring about busses, the friendly customs officials chuckled before informing me that there is really no public transport in Namibia.

None? “So, what do people do?”, I asked. Hitchhike! Obviously.

The first few days were efficient and I met some friendly and accommodating people, I made small talk with families while sitting between hyperactive children in the backseat, spent 6 hours traveling through the desert in a roofless, dashboardless, windowless and everythingless old Jeep, eating biltong with an elderly Namibian local and bridging the language barrier by singing Whitney Houston songs.

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This is a total retief spot. lengthy grind with a challenge at the end.

Pieter pops out early.

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Then, on day 3, in a town called Solitaire (population 72, about equal to its number of rusted out old car skeletons) I stumbled across a dusty group of guys who had stopped for a drink and a petrol refill. 8 guys to be precise, wedged into an 8 seater van with about 15 bags, ice boxes, a tent, cameras, film equipment and about 300 skateboards. There was very clearly no extra room.

But it was only an hour to their next destination and my next destination too, so they very, very kindly agreed to wedge me and my backpack in amongst them. Ah, my mother would have been so proud of my personal safety choices as I drove off into the desert with 8 strange men.

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I helpfully explained... they were a new boy band from Cape Town shooting a music video and I was their choreographer.

On arrival at our destination it became apparent that this part of the country was not exactly backpacker friendly. Having researched it thoroughly beforehand and being completely prepared, I obviously had all the required camping equipment (hahaha). So with no other options available it looked like I was camping with the guys. They set up their one tent and offered me the van to sleep in. Pieter, Yann, Leon and Adriaan went off on timber collection duty for the braai. Dlamini helped too until a wild animal’s eyes peered out at him in the dark and he came belting back to the camp fire where he remained for the rest of the night. Khulu and Allan started playing SKATE on the gravel next to the camp fire.

khulu backside flips a gap to the exaltation of the great kudu.

With the frontside feeble in the bag, allan persisted with a flip frontboard. He took a few proper slams before putting this one down.

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pieter impresses the bystanders with a noseblunt.

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According to my knowledge, they were skating the filmer board. Apparently, Pieter told the guys if they can beat Allan in a game of SKATE he’ll pay them R1000. There are no rules on when and where to play. I’ve heard from the guys that Khulu and Dlamini teamed up and still lost. I organised a playlist, quickly learning that pretty much every song on it had been in a skate video. Meant to be?

We all crashed out, scattered throughout the van and tent.

The next morning started at 4am to climb a giant sand dune to watch the sun come up. Spectacular!

I think it took Allan a few hours to get his pants out of his ass after that one.

The guys shot video footage and took photos while I helpfully explained to anyone enquiring that they were a new boy band from Cape Town shooting a music video and I was their choreographer.

Single out soon.

Needless to say, despite how hard they tried to ditch me (they didn’t) I was now the adidas skate team’s token hitchhiker. We drove through spectacular scenery, stopping to shoot incredible skate footage in various locations.

We saw a sand filled ghost town, 600 year old fossilized trees in a salt pan, desert sunsets and scenery that felt like the moon’s surface and even shot a scene from The Lion King with Khulu presenting the team’s newest member to the world from the top of a large rock. I think it took Allan a few hours to get his pants out of his ass after that one.

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Driving into each new town I was learning that the amazing buildings and landscape was not what inspired awe in this lot and whenever they exclaimed excitedly about anything it was a handrail or a series of steps and ledges. I was slowly catching on.

We eventually arrived back in Cape Town. What an adventure. This converted skater girl/ hitchhiker had the time of her life.

- Kerra Walker This was one of the most memorable trips we’ve embarked on. The adidas family is proud to welcome Allan to the team. What’s next…?

E N D

Crailblock in a bowl, inside a barn, in the middle of the desert. Yann in his element.

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PHOTOS Sam Clark WORDS AD Henderson

A long ‘short’ story of a weekend with Sam Clark

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hen I try replay this past weekend in my head I hit a blank.Well not a blank, more like a catapult. I start thinking of getting on the road Friday night and get launched through a myriad of images of driving, spot-checks, gas stations, confused looks, beers and high 5s. My mind arrives back at

Sunday night before I’ve even grasped anything to write down. This memory freefall plays past to a backtrack of Yann and Dennis’ remix / chant, ‘Murder-ah ba-bah ba-bah-ba, Murder-ah ba-bah ba-baaah!’ repeated over and over with various additional vocal noises. I think it began on Saturday at some point and maybe it was a bit premature but the chant served as a reminder that we were out to go big or go home empty-handed.

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I

need to slow this memory ball down so I’ll start with some of the strands that led to it.

The idea was to shoot a 48hrs with Sam Clark.

Not him skating - God forbid - but rather how

many photos he could capture in 48hrs. It was a new spin to an old favourite article and Sam was down to have at it. This was Monday last week. Along with Joubert van Staden, we organised the whole thing in the 2 days before we left. Josh Chisholm, Yann Horowitz and Dennis Collins all had to work shifts over the weekend but pulled any string they could to get out and join (Thanks Dewald!). Anton Roux and I picked up Craig Leak and headed through on Friday evening.

maze in the dark. I almost maimed myself the night before, taking a wrong turn and drunken double-stepping through some hippy fire pit. It apparently sounded as clumsy and comical as it felt according to Sam, who heard it from the other side of one of many seemingly pointless wooden fences. By daylight however, the site had an oasis’ serenity to it with its interconnected wooden huts, hammocks, greenhouses and figurine infested desert garden. We totalled the free coffee (which I don’t think was free) and headed out just after 8 in search of the best spot to slide some food into our faces.

to go skate and see, is better than to attempt to predict or control the outcome.

Before my car had even left to link up, Yann had put the first Boardslide down on a long ledge with some strange-looking security chap in Atlantis. Joubert and Yann had each bought a pair of Pig rails for their boards and they made good use of them at every opportunity, resulting in a very Boardslide-heavy trip. It was around 10pm on Friday when we found our way from the car to where the sound of Josh’s voice was coming from and where the others were braaiing. There are at least 4 occasions I’ve pulled from that memory ball in which I identified where the crew was, simply by the sound from Spice’s vocal chords. HE BRINGS THE NOISE HARD MY DAAAWG.

Saturday morning 7am. Spice is awake and drinking some ginger honey tea with bits of some plant floating in it.

A sickness had caught him and he was very subdued.

A sure sign something was amiss. Joubert made some timelapses of setting down the tents while we explored the backpackers with some light. That place was a complete

Sam had to hit a camera shop first thing in the morning to try sort out some charger issues with one of the Fuji’s, so our first stop was the only mall in the area. With a few cars arriving and retail employees lurking around, a full warm up session got underway in the parking lot. Dennis and Yann were trying synchronized double nocomply lines, Leak and Josh played some SKATE, Sam got a wallie trick for the weekend (the first clip he’s got in 2 years) and Anton filmed a retarded hippy jump and another long-ass nose manual line. The bike security came up to us saying, “Uh, I know you’re uh.... A skating team but uhm... You are not really allowed to do this here... I’m sorry, I don’t know why, but please...”, Leak and I laughed. You could see there was absolutely no conviction. His colleagues watched from a distance but made no effort to support him. It was like they couldn’t decide why it was bad, but they knew it was too loud to be good. We said we’d be leaving soon anyway and still went checking a few spots around the entrance before giving up on the mall altogether, as well as the charger issue leaving Sam with just one camera and one lens to use the whole weekend.

Anton - Nosebonk

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behind the lens On Monday the 12th of January 2015 I was handed a Fuji XT1 by Hein Hough at Fuji South Africa to try out for the week... On Tuesday the 13th I was given the task by Bod and Session to try and shoot a 48 hours with it.

I’m sure most photographers would not like to face a challenge like that with a new camera but I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to really test this compact and slick looking machine. I realized at a first glance that it would not be too difficult. The camera is set up remarkably well with all necessary dials and buttons situated on the

body of the camera, giving it a very simple and mechanical feel rather than having to go through extensive menus to get to some simple setting.

I also only had the option of a 56mm Fuji lens which added a little stress but I soon realized this would be another exciting test for myself, having to break away from the usual wide angle or even fisheye lens to make the spots look bigger.

fast and I was given a memory card error which I suspect was due to the card I was using and not the camera itself..

That aside I was able to return back home with some pretty good results.

- Sam Clark

Both camera and lens were a pleasant surprise for me, the simplicity of the camera and quality of the lens were remarkable! However, the batteries I felt drained a little sessionmag.co.za | 49

d-nice - 5-0 fakie

W

e headed for the industrial area after a brief tour through the ghetto. The wall into bank that Sam found next seemed like a

pretty dumb idea at first. The two repair garages in front of the landing were open and working, the run-up was shite and the little brick Sam was suggesting a bonk off of was exactly that, a little brick sticking out of a wall. We all tried a few things over it but Anton was giving the Nosebonk a bash. He didn’t really get close, maybe he got one to bonk that almost went with his feet, but I didn’t think it was going happen. His foot was still playing up from an injury a while ago. Dennis and Yann were keeping the hype going with double Wallies.

Dennis slipped out on an attempt and pinned his board into the hubcap of an Opel while the owner stood watching from across the road. By some magical luck of timing, the owner didn’t notice. The hubcap was broken, accident or not, and we continued with Josh now guarding the car. I was holding my breath as the owner returned to his car to leave. Dennis and Josh were too, kind of snatching glances up at him while trying not to look in his direction.

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pushing an entire community of people forward through a single act of determination to roll away from something that has Never Been Done.

Thankfully, he kept his eyes on Anton’s flying carcass and didn’t see, driving off without incident. Shit happens man.

By that time Anton didn’t look up for jumping over the wall anymore. Limping back he said he’d give it one more try.

I thought that was that, and started back up to the car but that’s the thing about this kid right… sometimes it’s not.

It’s not just me freaking out about him, it’s due to shit like

this that he’s getting a lot of coverage right now. Antontjie rolled up, popped straight, clipped a perfect little bonk off the tiny brick and disappeared into the bank - all four wheels down and rolling away over that shitty paving like he was out on a cruise around the neighbourhood. It was 10am and we had 3 photos in the bag. Sam was pleased.

We spent a lot of time looking around the towns we went to. It’s so easy to forget that skateboarding is not based on spots that exist, but rather those that have not been discovered, or those that have never been hit.

That’s what makes skateboarding special, pushing an entire community of people forward through a single act of determination to roll away from something that has Never Been Done. You think NBD is just a slang term from SkateLine or a Richie Jackson colloquialism? Hell no, NBD’s are to skateboarding what THC is to Marijuana.

Without it you’ve just got another plant, or in our case, just another sport. We were on the hunt for the good shit this weekend, looking for that tasty NBD, those good vibrations and that strange ‘fuzzy’ feeling. We’d started with some strong shit and we needed to keep the standard up.

antontjie - boardslide It was still Saturday morning, people were everywhere and we pull up to these 2 super good looking rails in the next town. Between the bar upstairs, the hair dresser below and drivers not understanding that we wanted to use the parking space, we had to leave the rails merely spotchecked. We tried a couple of hubbas next to a very friendly fruit-stall lady who had no problems with us basically skating into her fence for 2 hours as Anton attempted to defy logic again. Firstly, doing a frontboard on the one ledge to super quick-foot drop out off the pavement, and then trying you guessed it… a Boardslide down the right ledge. But this was carving around a corner, sliding through a bush, under a roof, off the curb that ended immediately where he landed and then still rolling away past the gate… Getting robbed like 10 times and cutting his body up completely, he finally got the combination of foot and hand movements right to allow him to roll away.

The uncles and aunties hanging around went nuts with us at the success of the battle. They had kept us entertained most of the time during the session. Then Craig fed one of them. He gave the dude some chips, and then kind of poked a chip at his face. Our very intoxicated new friend

immediately just grabbed it with his mouth. It was a riot and made for some great photos, which was probably our comrade’s intention in the first place.

...but holy-crapshit Yann just tweaked the dial all the way up.

That damn boat-mould was a story and a half to find.

After we managed to split up for no apparent reason, Craig got hold of Juan Smit who was meeting us there.

He gave us the directions and we assembled, expecting to get marching orders shortly. That didn’t happen at all, despite various security cars and personnel around.

Juan even made friends with the local ADT officer who parked off to watch us for a bit. The midday session was heated to begin with but holy-crap-shit Yann just tweaked

the dial all the way up. That mould is HARD to skate. You drop in and fly down there. Dennis managed to claim a 5-0 fakie, sliding into the wall to stop and Juan upped himself by taking a Noseblunt all the way home. However, the HoroBLITZ dug in. He worked a tailslide on the edge to regulate his speed and set him up for the 3 feet of vibracrete wall. Far as I know, no one has made it off that wall. The mould wobbles as soon as you hit it, making the whole thing super unpredictable, not to mention the 6ft drop on the other side. I think Sam is bummed at how the photos came out. Win some and lose some I guess.

Sam uhm’ed about the first shot and Yann just jumped at the opportunity to do it again. He ran back up and did it again immediately, landing the Axlestall even better. Sam’s cursing indicated something hadn’t worked out. Yann, still smiling and laughing ran back up once again. 3rd time is the charm and this one he Tailslid perfectly, STOMPED the Wallride Axlestall and still popped off the last edge and onto the gravel. A completely completed line on an obscure structure – we can all be jealous of that feeling.

It’s ok. That might have been where the ‘Murder-ah’ thing started because that was straight up serial killer shit.

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yannathan - that front board

“I popped and I was standing up and I couldn’t do anything about it. Like, I just stayed where I was and turned off at the end because I was too scared to do anything else. ”

G

etting an NBD on a spot made famous by a fallen homie haa a magical quality to it. If you remember the Langebaan Weekend article in AV then you’ll remember a certain granny losing her shit with pepper spray while

I ducked and dived to avoid her geriatric aim. You’ll also remember JP Du Preez’s Boardslide down a large-ass hubba with alarms going, cops arriving and all sorts of chaos. Well this time, that same spot was a lot quieter. Yann stood up on the ledge about a third of the way up and pushed himself down in a Boardslide. He repeated it twice, a little higher each time, rolling off solidly each time. Watching from the car, Spice and I saw him start rolling up to it a couple times and then suddenly he popped for one. He bailed onto the stairs just as he got on. The death drop on the other side of the hubba is a hard thing to ignore. He got onto a couple further slides on the ledge with those rails under his board, dragging his hands to keep himself going but slipping out each time. Then an old man appeared from below the ledge. Ah here we go, I thought, but the old Dutch geyser was quite happy to let us skate another 10 minutes thanks to Yann’s polite English and Dennis’ genuinely attempted Afrikaans. Well he didn’t need more time because he popped to that Frontside Boardslide without any doubts. We all expected him to put his hands down, but he didn’t. We all expected him to slip out, but he didn’t. We all expected him to fall off on the land, but he didn’t do that either. No, Yannathan stood tall, held that slide proper and pounded it into the pavement and into the road. I can’t begin to explain how batshit we went. So much for any question about whether there would be some memorable shit this weekend. I should also mention that this was at 16:20pm that Saturday afternoon and that we had blessed the spot when we arrived by pouring out a beer for JP on the stairs in memory. I’d like to think he gave his old mate Yann a little helping hand on the style and steadiness of that slide. That makes it supernatural and easier to comprehend because it really was too damn good for words. He laughingly recalled the following day, “I popped and I was standing up and I couldn’t do anything about it. Like, I just stayed where I was and turned off at the end because I was too scared to do anything else…

You just have to really commit, that’s what Simon (Stipcich) taught me. Just commit, no matter where your feet are or what your board does, just commit and you’ll probably land it.” There you go. That’s the secret kids. See how it works for you.

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sessionmag.co.za | 53

spice - frontside float

joobert3000 - ollie

A

“I figure if I do stuff like clean this spot, or fix this up so we can all skate there, then there’s more chance I’ll get asked on other trips.”

nton didn’t feel like it was enough that he skates harder than everyone. He

figures things in a very logical way. We parked to stock up on supplies and look at a Wallride and Anton immediately set off to start cleaning the natural half-pipe in a field across the way. He told me later that day, ”I figure if I do stuff like clean this spot, or fix this up so we can all skate there, then there’s more chance I’ll get asked on other trips.” We all pitched-in under Oom Juan and Sambo’s supervision to dam the water flow and sweep it clean as far as possible, so we could skate. The transition is super good but super quick. No sooner have you dropped in than you’re on the other side. Everyone gave it a shot and had some dirty fun.

Skating something so perfect and so unknowingly built makes every turn feel rad. Anton got his Blunt Fingerflip and Josh did a couple Frontside Ollies for Sam before the ramp leaked itself wet again and we were forced onward.

Sunday got going a lot slower than Saturday. The looming 15 stair rail we’d be getting to that day definitely cast a shadow. We

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swam and packed up our spot at VlakVarkGat (the name of which I only remember due to the bumper sticker on my windshield) and set out for the northern most towns of the trip. First stop we had was the Spar and some brunch consisting of pasta, yoghurt, pie and salad was had. Nothing appealed to us around the town, save a few beautifully clean and chunky ledges. Boardslide time bitches. We sessioned until the owners of the shop opened up and then continued when they were amped, even letting Sam charge his batteries. Leak went frontside while Joubert and I hit the curve at the same time. Best way to get a session going is to skate doubles. After exhausting ourselves and the ledge, we struck off for Piketberg, exploring a few side roads on the way. I won’t even get started on the spots we saw throughout that town. We stopped at the 15 stair first. Just to see. That’s when the mind-fucking began.

We made the mistake of looking at it, then going to explore and skate a few things before ending up back there. It became like a big thing instead of just the good spot it is. It also meant that Anton tried a retarded rail that ended in a pillar, blood and pain… Murderah bah-ba-bah-ba was getting remixed with a whole new energy.

sessionmag.co.za | 55

joobert15000 - bs 180 56 | sessionmag.co.za

W

e get back to the illusive 15 and Anton’s not walking, Dennis has a strapped ankle, Josh has a mindfuck, Joubert kry oud and Yann…

well Yann is Yann so you never know, but just as we got there he ate shit on flat so hard that he sat down for the rest of the session. Sam wanted a pic here. Josh wanted a pic here. It was Dennis who hit the ground first. Narrowly avoiding the rail as his carcass followed gravity’s pull. This was after maybe a half hour of psyching himself up. Dennis locked in 2nd try and almost made it, grinding the whole thing, but took a couple of slams after that, the ankle wasn’t having it. We hung out there for a while with no one really skating much then Joubert decided that he was getting some if no one else was. He began running around, getting his inner soles, taking a piss, drinking some water and making sure Dennis filmed. He jumped over the rail, feeling the drop out and then started doing BS 180s off the 2 stair below the rail. Faster and faster, higher and higher, getting his energy going and getting comfortable. The first one he went for over the rail, he kicked out. The second one he kicked out a bit later, but when he popped the third one…

(exude low whistle in astonishment). He FLOATED over the rail and past the last stair like there wasn’t anything to it. MURDERAAAAAAAAAH! Hours of pent-up anticipation were broken. Spice had given up on skating this rail LONG

“I gotta change the song.” He calls out, “I’m putting on Figgy, shakejunt, boy!” ago, but that land got him jumping and running for his board. Not even a minute after Joubert rolled away, Spice popped a Lipslide on that rail that was straight out of an old Zero video. With that out the way he was all fire. At one point he smashed his knee into his chin, seemingly more irritated by the awkwardness than in pain, and his strapped up ankle took a knock at least twice, but his longest pause was to adjust the song playing through his

headphones, “I gotta change the song.” He calls out, “I’m putting on Figgy, ShakeJunt, boy!” and I’m pretty sure before that song had ended Spice had put it down and pulled through with a hefty notch to his stair count. It’s great to talk shit but there’s no better feeling than making good on a trick you’ve called.

That was the final session we thought, that’s the ender we needed as far as the photos, “It’s beer o’clock!” A local Spur housed us for a round of ales and light food before we headed back south. We squeezed in a stop at a town on the way back to be met by a ton of spots we could have shot at. The church we found was worth the entire weekend’s mission. In terms of rails and possibilities, it was ridiculous. We met a local kid there, Tristan, who told us the caretaker is an asshole, “so if he comes here… just be cool, I guess…” Basically saying good luck if he finds you here. With a haggard crew by that stage we couldn’t fully take advantage of the find but Yann came through with a final Boardslide to seal up the skating for the trip.

The find on that occasion was far more rewarding than the skate but nonetheless we were in good spirits to take the long road back to the flat mountain.

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58 | sessionmag.co.za

spice - 15 stair lipslide. For figgy.

“Dude, i looove figgy. me anD figgy, we’d be best friends dAWg!”

O

ur final stop was Malmesbury, but all that went down there was some terribly posed group photos and a few clean rum shots to ‘cheers’ the mission. And everyone had a pain here or a limp there. Except for Sam whose mind I think

There wasn’t any energy left to be exerted had taken the biggest beating, co-ordinating and capturing everything. There wasn’t any energy left to be exerted by this dishevelled crew of wanderers and it felt good to end off like that… and with the Rum shots. Nevermind your contests, seeing dudes push their own boundaries on rough West Coast spots is the height of skate hype. We haven’t fully decided on where the footage will show up but rest assured that if this mission is anything to go by, Session Mag is setting a good precedent for the rest of the year ahead. Here’s to being on the road and all the murder-ahs who keep pushing themselves for us to stay motivated.

END

sessionmag.co.za | 59

CLOSET ENVY

session suggests you enter the dc giveaway on the website in March. one of each of these are up for grabs!

Threads for shred

CONVERSE CTAS Pro

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DC NYjah vulc

DC lynx

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nike SB Janoski

adidas seeley adv

adidas busenitz vulc

adidas ADV boost skate

HUF x thrasher classic hi

NEBULA INSPIRING skate NEBULA for the love (girls)

thrasher scarf

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VANS Palm leaf raglan VANS recreation therapist 60 | sessionmag.co.za

VANS midway skate duffel 2

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adidas ADV SLR WIND Jacket RVCA anp coaches jacket

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stance cyclops socks von zipper BLOTTO

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dope shirt dope boxer shorts

sessionmag.co.za | 61

I AM

Young buccaneers

KYLE TRUSKY

visser

When we arrived at this spot, i had my doubts. the spot was not easy. over the wall to short feeble, past the bushes, off the curb...?

Kyle handled it with style and power.

Rails scare the crap out of me.

Really. I have the most respect for dudes who love that balancing act.

It’s almost become commonplace to see a huge 50-50 nowadays and harder tricks are being taken to stupid places, but it’s easy to spot real rail control on simple flat rail tricks.

Kyle has that rail control. The few Facebook clips he’s put out from random park sessions has given his style enough attention to warrant an introduction to your skate radar.

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Name & Age? Kyle Trusky. 20 years old.

Hometown and Local Spots?

My hometown is Eersteriver, I’ve been living here for my whole life now, and I’m happy I’m from this beautiful place.

My local skate spots are in Eersteriver - a set of stairs at the Shoprite, Palm Park Primary School and Kleinvlei skate park.

When did you start skating?

2006, when I was 12 years old, I’ve been skating for about 8 to 9 years now.

First board?

My first board was a small Pick ‘n Pay skateboard with plastic trucks and wheels that my grandpa bought in Worcester. I can’t remember it by detail, but what I do remember is that it brought happiness into my life from the first time I stepped onto it.

Any sponsors?

Indigo Youth Movement has helped me out a lot. I have to thank Charl and Dallas for helping me to get where

I am today. I also recently started getting helped out by Donovan and Lari from The Legion as well.

Favourite video?

Emerica - Stay Gold, Flip - Extremely Sorry, Bake and Destroy, and of course all the AV Skateboarding videos.

Favourite Local skaters?

Gavin Moses Adams, Allan Adams, Alan Marola, Shuaib Philander, Charl Jensel & Enwin Galant.

Best International Pros?

I got a lot, but Andrew Reynolds, Leo Romero (best when it comes to rails), Ryan Decenzo, Chris Cole, David Gonzalez and Figgy to name a few.

Places you want to skate?

I would love to travel the world to meet different skaters and people I look up to. I’d like to skate every country if it was possible.

Favourite local brand?

Firstly, Legion skateboards. They are an awesome skate brand with their own unique style. Otherwise Damd, Indigo and 20sk8 are my favourites locally.

Facebook.com/TheLegionSkateboardCompany 082-622-5014 / 083-789-4800

LG_Sess_081214.indd 4

2014/12/08 10:46 AM

the start of the team:

anton roux watch his debut in av25.

it’s only the beginning...

PH.visser

50-50 pop out.

www.damd.co.za

57

caledon

street,

somerset

west.

021

852

5166.

derive@damd.co.za

bizniz

A few facts, some speculations and a lot of hearsay.

Seeing as you have news and updates flying at you on a daily basis, we have decided to combine Wonderland and the Bizness every issue. The WonderBiz if you’d like. And no, it’s not that serious.

I think the New Year’s acid has still got hold of the shoe companies. There’s a bunch of people talking about team changes and shake ups. Kids are going to be swimming in options if they’re all looking for young faces…

Vans got some new parents recently as well as one of the older brothers of the skate shoe industry in SA, Patrick Duff. Apparently the new mom is a MILF so we’re already stoked to see what they do with the house. The prodigal son Brett Shaw has relocated to windy-ass Cape Town so the family is almost all together out there, making trips that much easier to organise. Between Joubert, Wong and Brett you know they have already got the plans going.

The new Cons riders are feeling some love. They better be. Their feet are more comfortable than yours right now.

That Lunarlon shit… Those insoles have got some White Witch goodness curse on them. A good crop of young guns are shredding around so maybe we’ll see some of what Cons SA dudes have got to offer soon and not just the Euro team.

Similarly, the Etnies boys are rumored to be jumping in a van soon with possibly some foreign nationals and more than one magazine article. Sam Clark and Jamie O’Brien are apparently on the media side of this. Given both their backgrounds and a young Brandon Valjalo on the trip, we do have some concerns... Dylan Vaughan is on the trip too so we’ll definitely NOT be asking too many tour stories...

Are RVCA actually taking their riders on a tour? Is the long hiatus of team trips from any other big brand other than Adidas finally at an end? When are Nike going to be on the road again? Maybe it’ll get Loucas out of his cat’s flat.

Is Loucas even still on Nike? Braxton is. And he’s back in Cape Town finishing up an interview and video part. That’s probably the greatest thing in this news/bullshit column.

Insert hype here.

What the hell is going on with Revolution Cresta closing shop? What’s all this Australian association? Is Globe replacing Fallen? BRod and even Justus Kotze on Globe? Personally that’s great because Fallen… Let’s just say you don’t need griptape to ride the sky.

Subsequently that gorilla has been employed. That is actually a fact so you really can’t trust what you’re reading here.

Jamie’s trying to take over the world with a new venture that could possibly bang your mom. It’s really that good of an idea. The Shred, as it’s been called, is a new indoor skate park due to open in April. Woodies Ramps and someone called Metritech are the masterminds and the skatepark will have office units available to skate related brands. If you’re in Cape Town – specifically around Paarden Eiland - The Shred is going to be your new second home. I hope I haven’t jinxed it… Probably not. Jamie has weird luck and weirder ideas for adverts. The gorilla advert video is going to be worth the wait. Subsequently that gorilla has been employed. That is actually a fact so you really can’t trust what you’re reading here.

I wrote down ‘Baseline boutique’ in a funny-cuz-it’strue moment. The rumours of a possible new distribution however, are not funny at all. They are glorious. Glassy Shades, Skate Mental, Anti-Hero, Thrasher, Krooked and much more in stores nationwide? Yes please.

Plankie have made a catalogue. It’s not news but it’s so cool… It’s got all their new boards and some photos.

Maybe they’re getting a little more serious? Probably not considering their next video is called ‘Spoeg Buite’ and Joubert is accepting first time lands, ass-shots and grab tricks.

Speaking of terrible skateboarding and self-promotion, the Damd Crew now have a skate shop and tattoo studio

in Somerset West. Between that and SkateCart.co.za there’s little expectation that the long awaited Damd video will ever come out. With so many names and hashtags, but so little footage of actual skating.

What is going on with Funisu? We’d love to know too.

EQL launched last year at KDC and so that’s been that. No word really on either. In the meantime, we’ve been seeing SSS gear online and become available in JHB. Hopefully we’ll see some destruction and beat-downs from the Soweto crew this year, instead of just on TV. This issue’s I Am Kyle Trusky has joined the Legion ranks recently. Could this be a prequel to an attack? It seems the underground nature of the company warrants a dawn surprise with snipers and drones and all things silent but violent. Word has it their weapons are strong and durable so there shouldn’t be any doubt that when they attack it’s going to be more vicious than the Pirates or the Vikings.

Stock Skate Co is already on the offensive with a premiere of their second video going down in February.

It’s sure to be a high socks and spin-offs affair. The video is rumored to be a knock off of a knock off of a knock off.

Despite the shorts and horribly skinny legs, we’re excited.

Lastly, SLAPPY SKATE Co is a new name we like very much. Their boards have landed and their curbs have been built at the Menlyn skate park. We’re expecting a very defensive assault from this crew of Ooms and Skirminkels. Could Pretoria be resuscitating itself after their recent article?

New boards land country-wide from a lot of the local guys.

Plankie, Funisu, Technique and more will be on offer so go out of your way to get your hands on some. They are what you want to be when you get older so support them in any way you can. Stop bullshitting your friends on facebook about how you’re going to be sponsored and make sure there are still companies able to sponsor when you get to that level. It is pretty logical.

PS. Please tell Skate Critic I hope he’ll come back soon.

We all really miss him. Well, not all of us. Just the kids. The rats. The dudes that keep the older skaters in business.

S

Technique Photo winner: Oli Levkov We see all those decks you have and we love it man. Thanks for the support!

The Technique team salutes you Oli.

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Pieter retief bank to fakie 50-50.

WWW.baselineskateshoP.com or call 021 442 0465 - Delivery anywhere in south africa within 48hrs.

BLACKBOARD

visser

A little sumin-sumin from Brett Shaw

Spice recently relocated to the West and just moved in with Joubert and Jansen. Good luck Kickflip.

the best coast turd Everyone is heading out west these days. It’s like an old school gold rush.

That’s why for most skateboarders, California is a must hit destination, kind of like Cape Town is right now. I came from the North but I mostly skated the South and now I live in the East so hell even I’m dragging my sorry ass out west. If you want to progress you need to be near the main vein, not the bum hole or the armpit.

Every crew, clan, posse, gang or whatever you want to call it has an art dude. Someone who can actually draw cool stuff, our guy was Kevin, these days he goes by Kev Love but back then he was just Kevin. We had this one buddy who had a chicken killing machine, no lie. From what I understand you put all the chickens inside the machine and it killed, plucked and prepped them. I think it was his Dad’s and they killed chickens for all the big chicken companies. Half our clan is Vegan now so it’s a good thing Mark drifted away otherwise somebody would have him in a half nelson headlock right now. Anyway, Mark was desperate for a tattoo so Kevin drew up this nautical 66 | sessionmag.co.za

compass type thing for him and Mark was pumped. He showed it to us at the sidewalk ramp one night and we thought nothing of it. Needless to say we were all gob smacked the next week when he actually got the tattoo because this was way back in the day when nobody had

“...every time I think of... North, East, South, West... I think of Mark’s nautical compass tattoo and all the poor helpless dieing chickens inside a metal machine...” tattoos and everyone thought that Travis’ Green Day tattoo was cool (don’t worry he’s covered it up now). Anyway, the tattoo was badly done by some dude in a gazebo

by Bruma Lake, I think. The worst part was that it was a

tramp stamp just above the g-string line. Now that image has been burnt on my brain since that day. So now every time I think of “Never Eat Silk Worms” (North, East, South, West) I think of Mark’s nautical compass tattoo and all the poor helpless dieing chickens inside a metal machine, gruesome. Now this is a very appropriate story for the west coast SESSION article because Mark came from the West Rand so maybe the west is not always the best.

When you think of the west coast the whole ‘East Coast - West Coast’ hip-hop rivalry between 2Pac and the Notorious B.I.G comes to mind. I am a metal man so I look at it like this - Slayer came from the west coast, Obituary comes from Tampa in the South, Shellac is from the North and Helmet is from NY in the East. So basically there is no best place. Just make sure that your scene is ‘on point’ because some dude’s ice cream is another dude’s turd.

So to sum this all up, Mark aka skidMark ‘the chicken slayer’ had a nautical compass tramp stamp that Kevin drew. Thank God Kev Love spray-paints dead rats these days. I’m not sure where dead rats sit in the Vegan code of conduct book so therefore we can not assign a World Wrestling Federation move to rat killers. You know what, Kev also comes from the West Rand which makes me wonder if Mark’s chicken killing machine kills rats now?

S

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