Steez Magazine Issue 24

Page 1


Danny Davis. Photo by Jason Nocito.


IT ’S EASY LIVIN.





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i n s i d e s 24 18 Checking Australia Vagabond

24 Creative Quest w/

26 Bckgrnd Michael Kahan

34 24/Seven Kyle Knoblauch Chris Kirk

36 Dropping

44 Don Bostick interview

54 4 Languages in 23 Days Bachinsky Dave Bachinsky

60 Photo Erik Hoffman

8

78 Stupid ?’s Lago, Santiago & Getz Hanafi

Ryan Gee


84 Road Trip New Haven / Bridgeport Buddy Bleckley

94 Aaron Astorga interview Ocean Current

106 J. Grant Brittain interview J. Grant Brittain

118 Brian Young 30 is when you should start having girlfriends BH

128 The Gallery TALLBOY

136 Now Playing Rack ‘Em Let’s Go Alex Induni

140 Now Playing Grynch Alex Clark

144 Now Playing Peter VanBeever

152

9

Shop Spotting Massachusetts Dajiel White


power-c you’re up ©2012 glacéau, glacéau®, vitaminwater®, bottle design and label are registered trademarks of glacéau.



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LIFESTYLE PHOTO JEFF NASS

ACTION PHOTO KARL STONE


the DL Summertime

magazine® LLC

SUMMER IS HERE AND THAT MEANS THAT THE contests are heating up with the summer sun. Brandon Westgate wins the fan favorite for the Real Street competition with Billy Marks coming in second place. Nyjah Huston skated away with his second Street League win of the year in Ontario.

SNOW SKATE CULTURE 24

CHIEF

Andrew Bablo andy@steezminimag.com ART DIRECTOR

Joe LoVasco joe@steezminimag.com HEAD REP

Neen Williams is now on Thunder Trucks and an up and coming shredder Zach Gillespy is now AM for Landshark Wheels. Nick Trapasso dropped his second pro shoe on Cons and Josh Kalis also released a new shoe for DC. Chet Childress is back from his sponsorship hiatus and riding on Heroine Skateboards. Slam City has released their first video, City of Rats, which has some of London’s gnarliest shredders with parts that will get you stoked to skate your local spot. The Vans Half-Cab is celebrating it’s 20th year as one of the greatest shoes in skateboarding history.

Peter Prudhomme pete@steezminimag.com EDITOR

Taylor Kendall taylor@steezminimag.com BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Greg Manning gman@steezminimag.com CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Karim Ghonem, Buddy Bleckley, Daniel Muchnik, Ryan Bregante, Chris Kirk, Rami Hanafi, Ryan Gee, J. Grant Brittain, Dan Z., Brian Hanson, Jon Brown, Alex Induni, Alex Clark, Peter VanBeever, Noah Gabriel, Senior Mutty, Dajiel White, Rob Collins, Karim Ghonem, Erik Hoffman, Ryan Scott CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Pat Milbery, Andrew Fersch, Frankie Lopes, Doug Brassill, Chris Gadomski, Bryan “Butch” Wright, Taylor Kendall, Sydney Lindberg REPS

Jaya Bonderov, pro skater and skate photographer passed away on June 26th and will be greatly missed. Etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest set the world record for the largest skateboarding lesson in history this past Go Skateboarding Day while Dylan Rieder was opening up a shop called The Hunt in New York City’s Lower East Side that features an eclectic collection of odd furniture. Christian Hosoi released his book Hosoi: My Life as a Skateboarder Junkie Inmate Pastor, which should be the only book on your summer reading list this year.

In events, Agenda Show is returning to Long Beach on August 1st and 2nd. Dew Tour comes back to Ocean City, MD August 16th - 19th. Street League makes it’s only East Coast stop in Newark, NJ (bring a baseball bat) on August 26th.

One last thing. In case you didn’t notice, we’re now 156 pages thick and on newsstands across the country. For those who made it out to the RELEASE on July 28th at the 301 Gallery in Beverly, MA, we thank you!

-Frankie Lopes

Doug Brassill, Chris Gadomski, Stefan Kunze, Doug Setzler, Nick Legere, Dustin Amato INTERNS

Michael Connolly, Lauren Georgiades CONTRIBUTORS

Jon Tweet, Vagabond, Michael Kahan, Dave Bachinsky, Ocean Current THANKS

Tee Smith, Jake Sproul, Ben Werth, Alex DeGrechie, Enclave, Kelly Thomson, Craig Abbott, Katie Davis, Ian Post, Ryan Brouder, Jame Ward, Justin Melanson, Tom Ryan, Ben Meadows, Ben Knight, Georges Dionne, Jerry Bellmore, Mike Bloch, Snowdogg Carter

CONTACT US:

Steez Magazine® LLC 17 Knowlton St. #3 Beverly, MA 01915 607.329.5767

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No reproduction of any content in whole or in part is allowed without the expressed written consent of the publisher and artists. Steez is also not responsible for any injuries occurring from stunts performed in past, present or future issues. Always be safe.

© Steez Magazine® LLC 2012

COVER: Jordan Hoffart (Zarautz, Spain) P: Dave Bachinsky


Rider: Adam Hohmeyer Rider: Adam Hohmeyer Photo: Shimpeno Photo: Shimpeno

goCVA.com A Better Way To Do School




checking Australia

WORDS & PHOTO

18

Vagabond


I moved to Canberra in 2003 after the cold room of photographic items I was looking after for the National Archives in Brisbane was knocked down, and all the photos shipped to the national office in the Australian Capital Territory. I chose a job here because I knew there were lots of good parks, some old classics and heaps of skate spots. And the few heads I knew of were pretty cool. Funny enough I’m still here, and there’s plenty of reasons for that. Lots of overseas peeps I meet don’t always know that the “ACT,” or “Canberra” as it’s more widely known, is the capital of Australia. Many of them think it’s Sydney, or Melbourne, and if you blink driving through, you’ll miss the few blocks that are the “city.” Canberra is known for having a more relaxed approach to a lot of things. Until recently, fireworks were easy to get, except they’ve tightened that up a bit now... and um, porno mags for example, not that I’m condoning any of that. Pot seems to be more legal than in lots of other jurisdictions. Maybe

19 ABOVE

Schooner Civic, crook


checking Australia

ABOVE

Belco BOTTOM

Gravette, bs 360 indy RIGHT

Gravette, nosegrind 20

that’s because there’s plenty of politicians and government agencies here, so they’ve worked it that way. Maybe because it’s a “Territory” as opposed to a “State.” I sometimes forget this when I go interstate, and have several times been in trouble for having an open beer container in public. Not saying that it’s OK to drink in public everywhere in Canberra, but you don’t really get hassled unless you’re smashing bottles against the wall. Cops don’t care about you skateboarding very much either, and we have lots of street spots that are skateable during the week. That’s definitely part of the reason why so many touring teams choose to spend more than just a day here when passing through. frequently keep my eye out for barriers to ‘crete up, but they don’t seem to pop up. We don’t have any pools either really, although I have skated a couple here in my time. But


21


checking Australia

22

we have plenty of drains, or “ditches” to you seppos. My friends and I have built several janky creations that are still standing, many several years old. At one such DIY session, the cops rocked up and caught us in the act of putting some trannies up over a pipe. They radioed in and when confident it wasn’t obstructing the water flow and was of sound construction, they happily told us to continue on. Maybe we need to just ask permission next time? There’s plenty of rails, hubbas and ledges if you want to get your hammers or your tech dogg on too. Skaters in Canberra are pretty chilled. My personal view is that because we don’t have a lot of industry here, kids seem to stay true to the fun of skateboarding for much longer. They’re not being contaminated by the pitfalls of sponsorship too early. Plus we have an abundance of skateparks for the geographic

ABOVE

Dean Brookes, wallride

area. Lots of them under lights, so for those of us who are working class rats, night skating away from the pestering scooters is extremely accessible. Two pretty recent parks have been constructed, and the most recent is the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere. My local, the suburb of Belconnen, or “Belco” as she’s known by skaters. The recent Creature and Supra demos gave us great feedback on it with a spectacle of skateboarding to behold. So apart from getting a little cold over the winter, Canberra’s a pretty rad spot to live. If you’re in town, drop me a line.



creative quest w/

Wheatpasting 101 The technique of wheatpasting has been around for a very long time. Before vinyl graphics became the standard used on billboards, many advertisers applied wheatpasted graphics as a cheaper, inexpensive way to spread their messaging. Wheatpaste is liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water. It serves in a variety of purposes including school projects, street art, book binding, collage art, and guerrilla marketing. My favorite use of wheatpaste is for adhering new art to walls. Read up on the fun you can have trying out this new medium of art and expanding your artistic adventures.

Step 1 – Find yourself the following items; a 5 gallon bucket with a lid, a wallpaper brush from the hardware store, some tap water, and some graphics which you can create on your computer and then get printed out on a thin butcher paper stock.

Step 2 - Next, find yourself a wall to create on, typically a pourous surface that looks real nice that lots of people are able to view. Or maybe select a spot somewhere that you would like people to react to your message.

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Step 3 - Go onto the internet and type in “wheatpaste recipes” on google. There are a lot of different mixtures out there, so I would suggest you try out a few and see what works best for your adventures.


Step 4 – Grab that bucket, with your paste mixed up, your brush, your printed art and some crappy clothes you don’t care about getting spattered with glue during the process of the paste up. The residue can definitely be difficult to get out of your clothing, shoes and hair. Head over to your spot with a friend, so they can help you get your art up.

Step 5 - Stir the glue, make sure it’s nice and consistent throughout the bucket. Dip your brush into the bucket to get it nice and wet. Apply an outlined layer of glue slightly larger than the size of the printed graphic you are about to apply to the wall. The glue will be dripping and it will seem like you’re making a major mess, but really you are not because if your paste consistency is correct, the glue dries with very little residue, pretty much clear.

Step 6 – Follow that by sticking the top two corners of the graphic to the wall to tack it and step back a few feet to take a look at the graphic to make sure it’s properly placed. When it’s where you want it, apply a layer of glue over the top of the graphic. Make sure to apply the glue like you are painting a wall, smooth strokes from the top to the bottom.

Step 7 – Clean up after yourself, please don’t litter and congratulate yourself on attempting a new form of art. If you did it right, it should look just like the example to the right. Go, create some more and continue to apply the wheatpaste technique into other mediums of art you enjoy! 25

**Disclaimer: Wheatpasting in most towns or cities is considered to be graffiti, and the law enforcement may categorize it into the legal penalties graffiti is prosecuted under. Although it’s just paper and glue, authorities tend to take a fun art project way too seriously. Just a heads up, so be a ninja and make your moves quick!


bckgrnd


Good times and getting out to skate I give you Tony Potenti; here seen hardflipping the Melrose High 9, fittingly on a Jason Ross Bamboozle graphic. For the past four months, I have lived in a tent in Tony's backyard. Please insert “screeching tape deck” sound effect here; perhaps followed by the sound of a super-8 projector turning on. Yes, these are different media, but hey, take a look at your favorite corny flashback scenes. I met Tony about a year ago in Massachusetts when he and Moses Salazar (recently featured in this very section) came to the East Coast on a skate mission. They stayed with my good friend Jason Ross who had been going out to the West Coast regularly, and had stayed with Tony in the East Bay once or twice before. Jason told tall tales of the Potenti hospitality. In the two weeks that Tony and Moses were around, we skated nearly every single day, took trips to Providence and NYC, went swimming in the rain... nothing mattered except good times and getting out to skate. Later that summer, Jason took another one of his famed voyages to the West, and on little more than a hunch and welcoming words, I decided to head that way as well. I have now been on the West Coast for almost a year, shooting and skating every single day, and I couldn't be happier. I guess I'm “Livin' the Dream,” if you will, and it's mostly thanks to this man pictured here. -Daniel Muchnik

photographer

equipment

location

Daniel Muchnik

Nikon D300 w/ 10.5mm

Melrose, MA

pictured

Lumedune #065 pack

Tony Potenti 2x Nikon sb 28s Sekonic l558r meter

27


bckgrnd

"Lost the gun, found the deer." A phone call woke me up in the morning about a missing gun, a big gun, a .44 magnum. I had no idea why anyone would call to ask about a missing gun that I was supposedly trying to “find”. I had no gun, but the call made me feel like I did. I mentioned they had the wrong number and hung up.

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I ended up at the supermarket after leaving my house and found this bold, simplistic poster with my number sprawled on it. I couldn’t bear the brunt of a mistake some fool made while making the poster for their lost revolver; even

though I now appreciate the journey it sent me on. I ripped the page off the wall and knew I had to hunt down every damn poster I could find. In a confused rant to myself, all I could think was, “I need to surround my house with bear traps.” Having a missing gun attached to my phone number felt totally, epically awesome. I just couldn’t decide what to do next. I called all of the number variations of my own phone number after finding ten more posters. I finally got the guy who made the poster and he said, “…come over and I’ll apologize.” He


seemed chill enough, so I took the risk to see what this was all about. I showed up, nothing special about the house, or the man, but when I walked in there was nothing on the walls except for this deer bust up by the ceiling. “Killin is for critters only,� he said. He mentioned that the buck was killed with the magnum when he was on a hike in the country looking for arrowheads. I had to leave. I took a few pictures, gave my regards and bailed.

photographer Michael Kahan pictured Deer Triangle Lost & Confused equipment Phone

-Michael Kahan

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bckgrnd

30

photographer

equipment

location

Buddy Bleckley

Nikon D700 35-70 Einstein Strobes x 2 PocketWizards

Worcester, MA

pictured Mike Fork


All around bad dude numero uno If you don’t know Mike Fork, you should. He’s a bad dude; beer drinker, cigarette smoker, sexhaver, all around bad dude numero uno. His last name really isn’t even Fork, you’ll have to guess how he got the name. He’s bad. Now I’m not going to lie, I really had no idea how good Fork was till I went skating with him. I always see him at parties and the bar just being bad, but when Fork sobers up, he kills it. He’s never had a video part, never had any photos, and this was the first photo I’ve ever shot of him. I am really hyped on how it came out, and I hope everyone else is too. This spot is in Worcester, which is a run down former industrial city, which are common throughout Massachusetts; all the baddest dudes hang out there. The skate rats built this under the bridge DIY park, and we wanted to check it out. There were junkie punks under the bridge trying to sell us a bag full of random pills as well as needles scattered on the ground where I was standing. The locals call the spot Warside. Maybe this is where the war on drugs is lost or something? We stuck around for a little bit but once the locals started getting too comfortable with us; asking for cigarettes and cell phones to borrow, about how much my camera gear was worth, and rides 30 miles back to Boston, we peaced out. I have no idea if the Worcester kids have done any more work to the park, or if it has been torn out by the town. I hope not, it seemed like a really sick place with a bunch of potential. I hope it continues to grow and become something more than a place for junkies to hang out. -Buddy Bleckley 31


bckgrnd

Best season yet The best season in Vail's history allowed us to shred all summer long. With great help from David Pleshaw and Ben Hilley, my idea of creating a log line on the pipe wall came to reality on July 14th. Vail locals are all about the natural elements the mountain has to offer. Logging is a part of who we are. Here's Shawn Cypher with a huge back 180. -Ryan Bregante

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photographer

equipment

location

Ryan Bregante

Canon 40D

Vail, CO

pictured

Tokina fisheye 10-17mm

Shawn Cypher 2 Vivitar 285hv Cybersync triggers

33


24/Seven Kyle Knoblauch

Words Jon Tweet Photo Chris Kirk

k

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o

y

b

l

l

I had met Kyle a few times before we started skating together, but all that I really knew about him was from seeing his part in The Watched. On film, he projects a raw quality of skating that you don’t see with everyone, his skill on a skateboard is undeniable. From big gaps and rails, to ledges or a manual block, he is definitely one of the Philadelphia area’s most talented skaters. But what people might not see about Kyle from his footage, is that he has a sort of fascination with things that other people leave unnoticed. When everyone else just turns into a spectator if they don’t have a trick for the spot, Kyle is always doing something. You would most likely find him behind a camera,

e

a

u

maybe pointing it at skateboarding, but maybe not; taking macro shots of a broken window or a used up piece of wax. Or he might be shooting a gnarly skate photo and getting it published. His contribution to our local skate scene is more than just his skating, he runs Rep215.com. By taking photos, shooting videos and doing interviews with other local skaters for the site, he is making our skate community a more interesting place. He has a genuine enthusiasm for everything that he does, and that is evident in the way he skates. As someone that has seen some of the things that Kyle has been doing recently, take my word when I say that you can expect whatever he puts out next to be amazing!

c


h


dropping

The Hundreds Troop Snapback $28 Ain’t your cubscout hat.

Vans Half Cab 20th Anniv Shoe $85 Dirty Donny drew these bad boys up.

Percent Apparel Tee $20 Wear it or die.


Kicker Cush Headphones $80 Knock your ears off.

Marley Organic Coffee $10 This stuff is strong! You’ll be bouncin’ around the office till 4:20. Wouldn’t expect any less from Marley.

myCharge Power Bank 3000 $80 No excuse for not callin’ the GF. 37


dropping

Arnette Fire Drill $70 Put these on and you’ll get all the ladies. Don’t hold us to that but it’s worth a shot anyways.

Steez Get Buck Koozie $2 This is the best koozie you’ll ever own! It keeps your drink cold and looks expensive because of the metallic silver print.

Arnette Hazard $80 Fine, don’t wear sunglasses and burn your eyeballs out at the beach!


HOM Bag of Rhythm $350 Jammin’ at da beach mon.

Supra Vaider Lite $110 Dope kicks for the park and the bar.

Burton Lil’ Buddy $100 A cooler with a built-in stereo means automatic life of the party.

39


dropping

Burton Bruce Pack $95 It’s got more pockets and compartments than you’ll know what to do with.

Ful Powerbag $140 Whatever you own with a battery, this little bag has a plug and a charger for it. Get your juice on the go.

Vans Joe Tudor Duffle 2 $90 Is it a duffle bag or a backpack or both? Wear it however you want and couch surf all summer long.


Smith I/O Vaporator Goggles $175-235 Goggle tans in the summer make all your friends jealous.

HOM Bag of Rhythm $350 Jammin at da beach mon.

Supra Skytop $95 Leopard print will never go out of style!

Aerial7 Tank Eclipse $100 Bump beats like a DJ. 41




Don

Bostick


D o n B o s t i c k I n t e r v i e w INTERVIEWED BY Gman


Don Bostick is one of the originals, simply put. He was at the forefront of skateboarding from the very early days and it’s evident how vast his knowledge of the history of the sport is. Just ask him if you don’t believe us. He could go on forever. He’d tell you about the days of steel wheels, the ups and downs, the culture, trends, goods and bads of the skate scene from the past several decades. You could almost call him a skate historian, except for the fact that he didn’t just study it, he lived it. We were fortunate enough to catch up with Don and tap into his boundless database of all things skate.

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How did you first get involved in skating? As a kid I lived on the San Francisco Naval Shipyard at Hunters Point, which ironically much later became the home of Thrasher and Indy Trucks. In 1962, when I was 12 years old, we had a crew that rode home-made skateboards, made out of 2 X 4’s and steel wheels, straight down a few choice hills on the Shipyard. To this day, I have a chipped front tooth as a result of getting the speed wobs, flying through the air and landing on my face. Once clay wheels came out a couple years later, we upgraded to Makaha and Hobie Super Surfer skateboards and we would terrorize the area. Skateboarder Quarterly Magazine came out and it was our inspiration. At first, we were all doing handstands, endovers and 360’s. After seeing the Hobie team doing a demo at the SF Boat Show at the Cow Palace in 1965, I learned how to do kick turns and space walk. I was so stoked. I skated all the time wearing out my clay wheels in a matter of weeks. My dad retired from the Navy and we moved off the Shipyard to Daily City. I went to school at Balboa High and met a new crew of skater/surfers. We called ourselves The Wipeouts and we used to take the bus down to Playland by the Sea, which became the spot to skate. Tourists would always gather and check us out. Since all of us also started surfing at the same time, we would do all the classic surf

moves on our skateboards, mainly walking the board, hanging 5, spinners and just trying to skate with surf style! We used to skate the banks at the SF City College parking lot as well. In 1965 the first skateboarding National Championships took place in Anaheim, CA. I was so bummed with my parents because they wouldn’t take me. It was a long way from San Francisco and to them, skateboarding was considered a fad. Skating got a lot of press and some magazine coverage, but it wasn’t long before it all just faded away. I can remember not being able to buy any equipment any longer. Stores just stopped selling them. We just kept surfing. Years later in the 70’s when the Urethane wheel came out, I was immediately interested and I remember going to some toy store to check out the new wheels. They were such an improvement! Skaters now just don’t know how good they have it. I was in my 20’s and I played music for a living. I used to take my skateboard on the road with me. My band was playing in Colorado Springs and I remember there was a Ski Show going on in some mall parking lot and there were a few skateboarders putting on a demo. I ended up in the demo as I was good at spinning 360’s and doing what I call old school tricks. Suddenly, I was the guy from California that could


Action Now Magazine – Capitola Classic, CA 1980 skate. During my travels with my band I skated a lot of crazy ditches in Colorado and especially Arizona. I was in San Diego playing music and just missed the historical Del Mar Contest. I was married, and traveling around the country was becoming very tough on my marriage. In an attempt to get some roots I quit playing on the road and made plans to open up a skateboard shop in Sacramento, CA. In Old Sac, there was a long asphalt bank next to the walkway under the freeway; we called it “Stoker Hill”. You could just fly down the hill, hit the bank and

surf this wave for about 100 feet, in 1976, it was the skate spot. Everyone would show up on weekends to skate. This was where I met so many skaters of the area. Doug Jones, the founding father of the N Men, was the first guy that I met, we called him Black Dog; Gary Cross, Felix Hernandez, Mike Waggoner, Tom Bixby, Dave and Donald Moorhouse and more. Most of them ended up skating for my skate shop. At that time there was one shop in town called Skateboard City. Someone actually opened a chain of stores up and down the coast from San Diego up to Portland. I loved the concept and

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PARKS

“ Then one day, as suddenly as all the skateparks appeared, they all went away. ” thought it would be a lot of fun. Then a new place opened up in Citrus Heights called California Pro, this was 1976 and even though they were a new shop they sponsored an amazing team of skaters that included all the best skaters from the California State Championships that just took place in Ventura, CA - Ed Natalin, Steve Ship, Roy Jamison and Ellen O’Neil. At first I was going to open another shop for them and run it, but I really wanted to be my own boss. I ended up working there for a short while, learning all I needed to and then opened up Skateboards Etc on El Camino and Howe Ave. I had 600 sq. feet of retail space on the corner of a grocery store, but the cool thing is that I had a whole parking lot next to me where we would set up banked ramps and a slalom course. I use to do 360’s out in front of the shop to attract business.

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It wasn’t long after that the Skateboard Palace, the first skateboard park in Northern California opened up. That’s where I first met Kevin Thatcher, who later became the long time editor of Thrasher Magazine and Rick Blackhart, who won the very first pro contest at Skateboard Palace. Rick was completely amazing! The crazy thing about the park is that it was indoors in an old roller skating rink. They built the bowls and snake run out of gunite and painted it with lead paint. The very first day, a cloud of red dust circled above the park, it was completely nuts. They ended up having to repaint with an epoxy-based paint. We used to skate there all the time, but mainly at night. It was the place to hang out until the Sierra Wave opened up in Rancho Cordova just off Highway 50. It was a huge outdoor concrete park and the new spot to hang out. Skaters came from all over the place to skate there. I broke my wrist opening day. Soon

parks were opening all over Northern California and we skated them all. Soon we had a skate park contest series. There was a ton of talented kids in Nor Cal. One kid that stood out was little Steve Caballero. Then one day, as suddenly as all the skateparks appeared, they all went away. The insurance companies did a study on skate parks for 2 years and decided they were too much of a risk and liability insurance suddenly wasn’t available. As the parks closed, the skate shops also closed as people just stopped skating. I ended up closing my shop and went back on the road playing music. I never stopped skating though. There was a small crew of die hards in Northern California that didn’t care if the parks were gone. This is when KT and Mofo started up Thrasher Magazine. How did music shape your lifestyle? I grew up with music in my home. My mother is Hawaiian and ever since I was a little kid, she taught the hula to modern jazz dancing. She also had a beautiful voice and was an amazing entertainer. To this day, she can still captivate an audience. I played the drums and took lessons when I was in grade school. At 10 years old, I was one of the youngest members of Ozzies Charger Marching Band in San Diego. We did half-time shows and marched in parades all over Southern California. I went through all of junior high and my first year of high school in San Francisco. I started out in the typical garage band and ended up playing bars all through high school. I used to play a topless bar in Oakland and then go to school the next day. I learned earlier on that my passion was music and sports. I loved my lifestyle of traveling


and playing music around the country. I played music at night, while spending my days skating, surfing, skiing and snowboarding. I played music for a living for over 20 years. I played in a lot of good bands, but we just never really made it. Once I quit playing on the road, I opened a skate shop in the 70’s. After skating went under, I went back on the road. Once again, in an attempt to stop traveling and keep a family, I managed a skateboard shop and started to get more into promoting and running skate contests. I still have my Gretch drums that I’ve had for over 30 years. I have a great sound proof music room in my backyard. I taught myself to play guitar and now I play acoustic guitar and sing at a Local Coffee Shop in Santa Cruz called Fins and I also play every other month at the Seascape Sports Club at what’s called First Fridays. I jam with a few of my surfing buddies from time to time, but mostly I’ve been playing a solo act. In the future when I do end up cutting back on the events, I plan to just play music, skate, surf and snowboard my days away. Producing professional events around the world… How many countries have you showcased skateboarding & snowboarding? Over the years we’ve been involved with events in Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain,

Photo from Thrasher Magazine in the 80's. This was from a Bank Slalom Contest at Upland, CA. I was super stoked because I beat Steve Olson that day. I'm skating a 12" wide board with Indys 215's. Fausto and Mofo were there that day!

England, Finland, Denmark, France, Brazil, China, Australia, Korea, Dubai, Austria, Canada, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore. I’m actually in Shanghai, China at this moment finishing up the interview. Tell us about World Cup Skateboarding? After working for the National Skateboard Association I learned so much about the skateboarding industry. I went into the position as a skater and shop owner with an open mind and big wide eyes! I was stoked to be involved with professional skateboarding at the top level and running competitions that I had always watched on videos back in the shop. I was living a dream and still am. At the same time, I learned that the concept of a skateboard association doesn’t work for skateboarding! I spent half my time with the NSA promoting and selling memberships and trying to collect the different levels of memberships fees from individuals to shops to skate companies. I also spent a ton of time promoting and talking people across the country into starting up regional skateboard leagues, (which ran local events under the NSA guidance and insurance). The NSA got into big trouble trying to operate as a non-profit corporation, while also running a professional series of events. The IRS didn’t buy it. When things got bad in the 90’s, the industry was out to save themselves and everyone went into to survival mode! They didn’t have time or money to spend on an association. To this day, there isn’t a public membership driven association for skateboarding. Even the United States Skateboarding Association and the International Skateboard Federation has yet to offer membership! The NSA went under and Danielle and I started up World Cup Skateboarding. After having traveled to Europe for a couple years, I saw a much bigger picture for skateboarding. We saw a need to link top level pro skateboarding events together with a point system, which gave value to the events and something that the skaters could show results for to sponsors. The first thing we did was start a for profit business, with no memberships. Danielle and I actually spent a week on an island outside of Vancouver, Canada, she took a computer scoring class from the guy that ran all the ISF Snowboarding rankings worldwide, while I spent the time writing the WCS Competition Guide and

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Germany, C R e pu b l I ta ly, S E n g l a F i n l a D e n m a “ Over the past 20 years, we have been involved

with well over 1,500 events. �

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Don Bostick INTERVIEW Rule Book, using the old NSA Rule Book, the International Snowboarding Federation and the National Off Road Bicycle Association Rule book as guides. The book continues to be updated each year. 2013 will be our 20 th year in business. When we started WCS, I named it World Cup Skateboarding because in every country outside of America, World Cup means something. It’s a larger than life term, because of Soccer and Skiing! I knew that the name would be received worldwide and I have to say it has worked. We have a very unique situation that doesn’t exist in any other sport! We have been thought of as a Federation, a Governing Body, an Association, yet we really are a group of skateboarders that organize and run skateboarding competitions. Over the years, we have networked with so many people worldwide that when the ISF (International Skateboard Federation) was formed, our database was used to contact industry leaders globally. As so many events over the years have come and gone, we take great pride in maintaining a point series of events for street, vert and concrete bowl skating that includes pros, masters, girls and amateurs (concrete bowl skating).

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How many professional skate/snowboard events have you produced? Over the past 20 years, we have been involved with well over 1,500 events. I’ve produced events from the ground up, to only bringing in the judges. Each event is a little different. We’ve really learned to cater to the promoters and skaters! We learned how to mix things up to keep the events interesting and progressive! I have to say we’ve tried almost every format known to man over the years and to this day, there isn’t any one best format. That’s the beauty of skateboarding. The flavor of today, might not be the flavor of the day, tomorrow. The biggest change over the years has been with the events that feature live television. It always seems to be a bit of a compromise, but TV has also learned a lot in showing skateboarding and snowboarding over the years. I could tell you some really crazy stories about

the early days of X Games in having to deal with people that didn’t have a clue about what skateboarding or snowboarding was about. I will say, in looking back, the greatest skateboarding contest ever was the World Championships in Münster, Germany. The energy there each year was incredible! It was so much like a huge rock festival and the skaters were all f*cking rock stars. The crowd was an educated skateboarder crowd who would go completely insane at the announcement of a skater’s name. Any skater that ever went to Münster will tell you! Many, many props out to Titus Dittman and what he did for skateboarding in Europe! Mystic Cup in Prague is another event that just has to be experienced to believe! It’s more like a skateboarding rave that doesn’t stop. But suddenly the next day begins and you do it all over again, plus the women of Prague are truly amazing! 50 years of skating under your belt, any regrets? I don’t have any regrets, but I do have great memories, experiences and great friendships! I feel truly blessed to look back at all I have done and experienced! One of the greatest joys of my life is having been able to travel the world and see skateboarding around the globe. Skating is just a universal form of expression and art form. I truly appreciate its beauty and interpretations. One day, we will write a book about these experiences, it will be called “Behind the Ramp”. There’s so much more to tell. What’s the future of Action Sports? Skateboarding, BMX and Freestyle Moto will become Olympic sports! Crossover competitions are the future. More than just being an Ultimate Boarder, competing in skateboarding, surfing, and snowboarding, there will be Ultimate Athlete, competitions that combine the board sports as well as motor sports. It won’t be about being the best at any one sport but being the best at multiple sports! Camps will be created that feature every sport known to man and kids will leave their families at a young age to become the ultimate athlete or go work in a factory.


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Dave Bachinsky

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4 languages in 23 days Have you ever experienced four countries languages in 23 days? Well Bonjour, Hallo, Hola, Olå and Hello! We just got done with an adventure through Europe: 6 dudes, 4 Countries, 11 cities and 15-hour days. After a 14-hour flight, the first words out of Jordan Hoffart’s mouth are “Who’s picking us up?” The crew was: Shawn Hale, Josh Hawkins, Jordan Hoffart, Cody McEntire, Darren Miller (filmer & skater) and myself (Dave Bachinsky). We didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. The tour kicked off with us flying into Bordeaux, France. We had about 14 demos lined up for the next 23 days, so we basically got to see all the angles of Europe.

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very time we flew into a main city, we would always work the outskirts and skate demos, then skate some of the most epic DIY projects I’ve ever seen. It’s an amazing thing to see people building up their hidden projects over the years. In the US, we build spots at abandoned factories. They have paradise, living with bowls being built in the middle of endless vineyards. This trip has been an epic run-around European adventure.

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* 2 steak sandwiches a day for


BORDEAUX, France At the Modern Contemporary Art Museum, they made the world’s longest mini ramp, 160ft. I've never experienced a demo with such an enormous crowd being so into what was going on. There were 2-level floors of people surrounding every side of the ramp. Every time I looked, someone was landing a trick and the place was erupting with applause. It was one of the most out of this world mini ramps to skate. Thanks again for having us!

MADRID, Spain From France we traveled to Spain and were welcomed by more bread, Spanish omelets, and amazing locals ripping the parks. Usually parks are half decent, but this park was utterly amazing, the people were stoked. We only had 24 hours in Madrid which was a total bummer. It’s definitely a place to visit again. We had a great time in Madrid.

LISBON, Portugal It’s the birthplace of cobblestone, so we all wondered what we were doing here. It was a San Francisco look-alike city. Carlos, our tour guide, took us downtown to cruise around and see that this place was filled with local hidden gems. After a day of enjoying the main city, we adventured five hours up north to Viana do Castelo. This is when we met a local friend, Ciso, that had a backyard paradise. He had been working on a bowl for the last year in the middle of his family’s vineyard. We enjoyed an awesome session and even got a homemade bottle of wine. Portugal was much like Lowell, Massachusetts, in dealing with the rugged stone grounds. It made you push harder to get your trick and eating two steak sandwiches a day kept us going. OPENING Jordan Hoffart, bs overcrook LEFT Cody McEntire, kickflip fakie RIGHT Jordan Hoffart, 5-0

4 days straight

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COLOGNE, Germany We had two days in Cologne, one of the two days downtown it rained, so we had a chill day which was amazing with our constant busy schedule. This city was packed with bikers charging up and down the streets. There’s actually more bikes than cars on the road. After having a solid day of sleep, we all got energized and were stoked to skate. They opened up a new skatepark under the bridge right across from the downtown area. It was a mellow park with tons of shade. It’s definitely gonna be the new morning spot for them. It’s basically a reborn city from 1960, so there’s a ton of new things to be shredded.

ROTTERDAM, Holland

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So it’s our last day in Germany, we’re all sitting around eating and talking about our plans for the next destination, Amsterdam. Apparently no one knows who’s picking us up. We end up getting in touch with the team manager from the States, and he explains that the distributor that was supposed to carry on the tour canceled out and he would keep us posted. Two hours later we

get a call saying to take a train up to Rotterdam, a distributor is going to take care of us. So the next morning we hit the train and get greeted by the raddest dudes! Mike, our new tour guide is the man. He hooks us up with a warehouse to stay at and was down to skate everyday. Five days to enjoy no demos and pure street skating. The warehouse we stayed in was filled with endless flat ground, loading dock flat gaps, and boxes everywhere. It was a winter sheltered dream, to be cruising around on a rainy day. After visiting a couple of spots throughout the town, I started to realize how many famous spots this city had. It was covered with new modernage buildings, since everything got destroyed from the war. It’s the raddest college/old fisherman town to visit if you’re in Holland. After five days of seeing all the awesome locals ripping it up, and our bodies becoming exhausted from endless days, our trip had come to an end and it was time to run back to home. Thanks for everyone supporting us and the awesome times! Cheers Vox Crew/Europe! "Where The Vox Are We" Europe


* partying on a boat and watching endless people fall down the spiral staircase

LEFT French Crew RIGHT-TOP Cody McEntire, cruising

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p h oto

P Rob Collins R Sean Brooks, bs flip L Boston, MA


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p h oto

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P Erik Hoffman R Billy Gallo, 50-50 L Middletown, CT


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p h oto

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65 P Michael Kahan T Beach Baking, Serigraph with graphite


p h oto

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P Karim Ghonem R Rebello, front board L Providence, RI

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p h oto

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P Buddy Bleckley / T broken board


p h oto

70 P Michael Kahan T Intro/Extro, Serigraph with graphite


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p h oto

72 P Buddy Bleckely R Matt Tomasello, car ride L Somerville, MA


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p h oto

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P Rob Collins R Nate Greenwood, nosegrind L Hartford, CT


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p h oto

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77 P Buddy Bleckley R Nick Murray, skate or die!


stupid ?’s

SCOTTY LAGO INTERVIEWED BY AB PHOTO Rami Hanafi

What’s the street value of that bronze medal if you were to melt it down? $200,000... with the bite mark, extra $15,000.

Were you ever a Lego man for Halloween? No, but good idea! How many times did kids say “Leggo my Eggo” to you growing up? You’re the first one to mention it. Are you sick of ice cream yet? I’ll never be sick of ice cream. What’s the last animal you shot? I didn’t shoot it, but I did fight a Japanese mountain goat with my bare hands a few days ago. I think they call it a Kamoshika. “Animal House”, “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”, or “Old School”? Old School. What’s your escape plan if the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant has a meltdown? Check the wind and move up.

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With the Winter Olympics coming back around soon, have you thought about a new way to get sent home early? I’m gonna try to stick to the plan this time around.

How come there hasn’t been a Tanya Harding of snowboarding in the winter Olympics yet? Because we’re all FRENDS and snowboard hippies. When does your Real Tree camouflage pro model board come out? Great idea, I’ll bring it to the Flow guys. Have you thought about building a private training halfpipe somewhere in the Seacoast New Hampshire backcountry? Tuckermans? Are you at all concerned that kids are forgetting how to correctly spell the word “friends”? Yes, it’s a growing epidemic. We have to take control. Have you made up your mind on the facial hair yet? No, I’m always experimenting. Ideas? Give us some things you hate, besides this interview? 9-hour train rides and middle row flight seats.



stupid ?’s

Manny Santiago

INTERVIEWED BY AB

Do you have a sister named Womanny? Nah that would be weird, her name is Darlene. You must be awesome skating manny pads? I wish, I actually have been trying to get better at them since my name is Manny. The old man from “Old Man and the Sea” was named Santiago. Did you know about this? Nope, only Santiago I know is in Chile, and my last name. Are you waiting for a dental sponsor to get your front tooth replaced? Haha. Nah but that would be tight, actually waiting on a blinged out tooth from Paul Wall.

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You spend a lot of time on your personal website. If skating doesn’t work out, are you planning on becoming a webmaster? No, just skating or be in skating. I do the site for the kids and people who want behind the scene stuff. I wish I grew up on that.

What was the last crime you witnessed in Lowell before you moved? My house getting robbed twice in 1 week. How much time do you spend color coordinating your outfits? My whole life... Kidding, haha. Nah it’s just the way it is, I don’t feel comfortable in my clothes if they don’t match. When does the AMMO pro-model gun belt drop? When are you guys gonna do an all skate issue? You did a commercial for AT&T, did they pay you in minutes? No, but that would be tight. Wouldn’t benefit me though ‘cause I don’t talk on the phone, I’m a texter! The world ends in December, any big plans? Having a baby named “Ocean” and starting fatherhood. Oh yeah and MSA is taking over the world. Muahahaha (Best Brain Impersonation)



stupid ?’s

KERRY GETZ

INTERVIEWED BY Bryan “Butch” Wright / PHOTO Ryan Gee

What trick do you recall giving you the worst hockey temper? 360 flips. I hated learning that trick over pyramids.

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What do you think sheep count if they can’t go to sleep? Piles of sheep sh*t.

What trick are you most ashamed that you’ve done? None! I don’t do lame tricks.

Don’t you think its time skateboarders take up scootering? This question is the worst question in this interview, so I won’t answer it.

What skateboard video do you think is the worst? I can’t answer that ‘cause I don’t like drama.

What was the most embarrassing moment in your career? Never had one. I rule!

Is Gina Lynn your favorite porn star? No, my wife is!

Did you ever get tired of skating Love Park? I never skate it anymore. I’m 37 now and over running from the cops.

Have you ever felt your life was threatened on any tour? No, ‘cause I have a temper and I would lose it on anyone who tries to touch me.

In the East Coast winters have you ever just snow skated? NEVER.

Don’t you think the heartagram is the best tattoo? Definitely NOT!

What’s the difference between a cheese steak and a steak and cheese? Philly and Florida.

Can you explain Fred Gall in one sentence? Yeah, the best dude and the craziest dude alive!


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New H av en C

o

n

n

The last time we took a trip to Connecticut, it went pretty smooth. No busts, no hassling by residents, no police encounters at all. We got our shots and went on to the next spot. Not this time‌

e


Br i dgeport c

t

i

c

u

W O R D S : A B Ph oto s: A B, Buddy Bl eck l e y R I D E R S : Jaso n R o ss, K e v in M a nnin g , Bre t t P o g o da K e v in Phel ps & cre w

t


w

e rolled into New Haven with high hopes and no clue what we were in for. I’d heard that Yale (yeah, that Yale) security was pretty tough, so I figured we’d just stay clear of the campus. What I didn’t know is that most of the city is Yale,

whether it looks like it or not.

PHOTOS Buddy Bleckley RIGHT

Kevin Phelps, bs feeble BOTTOM ( left --> right )

Jason Ross Brett Pogoda Kevin Manning OPENING SPREAD PHOTOS

AB

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“ If you’r e lo oking for troub l e at nigh t, you’l l f ind i t around here” (Sh op GUYS adv ice )

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“ This is a l l Ya l e around he r e . PHOTO Buddy Jason Ross, bs crook

Your b es t b e t is to jus t g o

88 RIGHT - TOP AB

to the ne x t tow n ov e r .”

RIGHT - BOTTOM Buddy

(C o p S A DVI C E )


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eedless to say, we quickly got booted by the cops from our first Yale spot. She was cool enough to let us go and even pose for a photo and give some advice, basically leave the city. Turns out, a passerby had felt the need to call us in as there was no one in the building we were at, and that’s just what people do in this area. It was a bad start and almost the entire rest of the day, we got kicked out of every spot, sometimes before we even got set up. Yale seemed to have all of the best spots, but they were virtually untouchable during the day. Saturday was just one big bust of a day.

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PHOTOS Buddy Bleckley SEQUENCE

Brett Pogoda, bs board 270 shove-it

W

e retreated to a 1-star stay at the Mayflower Motel/Truck Stop, which

gave us time to rethink our plan of attack for Sunday. We woke kind of

early with good intentions and no bed bugs, ready for what was ahead. I

should note that this place was pretty sketchy, one of our crew even opted

to spend the night in the car. Either way, it was a new day!

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New H av en

A

fter leaving New Haven, we hit one spot after another in the Milford area with little to no problems, even had some spectators. By lunch we were feeling pretty good and invited a crew down from Hartford to come shred with us. Not wanting to deal with New Haven cops and locals, we rolled the dice and went further down the highway to Bridgeport. It paid off big! Almost instantly we found some ledges and a 13-stair handrail just off the highway. The city was a lot rougher than New Haven and far more promising,

Br i dgeport

as no one seemed to care we were there. Cops drove right by and we hit spot after spot until sunset finally crept in. The car was on the fritz and it didn’t look like the best place to be at night. We packed our stuff and said goodbye. It didn’t look like Southern Connecticut was gonna be too good to us at first, but damn, what a difference a day makes! Another trip in the books.

PHOTOS Buddy Bleckley

Jason Ross, nosepick

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i n t e r v i e w

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In t e r v i e w e d b y A B P h ot o s C o ur t e s y of O c e a n C u r r e n t C l o t h i n g


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UB

Champion

2008 Who gave you the nickname “Double A”? That’s a good question. I can’t even really remember where it came from. I don’t know. Its origins are unknown. (laughs)

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No worries. What’s new, tell us about Ocean Current? I just recently came on board with Ocean Current as their marketing manager. I’m pretty excited. We have a blank canvas to work with and create something new and fresh. It’s exciting! We’ve already started to bring some unique players on board onto our team. We just signed Ola Eleogram, who’s a World Tour surfer, onto our team. So we have a guy on tour. Super stoked to have a guy on tour, a young gun. We have Derek Ho, that we signed onto our legends program. We have a good spectrum of athlete’s covering all the bases. We also have some younger guys, up and coming aspiring pros, a couple Hawaiian’s. Kauai boy, Kaikea Elias, then we have a young ripper from the west side of Oahu, his name is Chris Bluthardt. He’s surfing really well these days. We definitely have a strong cast of respected surfers, mainly

Hawaiian, but we’re looking at adding some more players to the program as we grow and progress. You’ve been both a pro rider and a team manager. Maybe this is an easy question, but which would you rather do? Well, these days I definitely like the business aspect. The level of surfing and skateboarding is incredibly high. It’s a feat in itself to stay up and progress these days, whether it be skating or surfing or snowboarding. The level of athletes now is absolutely incredible. These days I’m pretty comfortable being behind the desk but I really enjoy getting out too and interacting with the riders, and being able to go out and skate and surf with the team riders. I’m pretty happy with where I’m at right now as far as the business aspect goes. It still allows me to get out of the office and surf and skate as well.



A ARON

aka

ASTORG A

(AA)

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“...skate and have fun.” 99


Years r i p p S I You’ve been a TM for a long time. Did you ever feel unappreciated as Team Manager, or ever get sick of pampering a bunch of riders? It definitely has its pros and cons. I generally enjoy hanging out and skating and working with the riders. There comes times when you get late night phone calls and problems come up and guys need to get bailed out (laughs). But I definitely think that the pros outweigh the cons. But there’s definitely times when being a team manager isn’t the most fun job out there. There’s been a few but not many guys who were snowboard and skateboard team managers throughout their career. Was one easier than the other? Yeah definitely. Skating for me has always been number one. So that’s always been easy, it’s what I’ve lived and breathed for twenty or thirty years now. So it’s easy for me to relate with the riders and be out there on the streets, whether we’re out there skating, shooting photos or filming. So definitely skateboarding is easier for me versus taking care of snow athletes. It’s such a different animal with snow team riders.

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going from the World Cup in Münster, Germany to the Mystic Cup in Prague, and they didn’t have their paperwork. They didn’t have visas to cross the border into Prague. We were on an overnight train, and they got pulled off the train in the middle of the night by Customs. So when we got to Prague in the morning, we woke up and Diego and Luciano were gone. I was kind of panicked like ‘wow, what happened, where’d they go?’ It was a little scary but everything ended up working out. On our way back from Prague, from the Mystic Cup contest, they popped up at the train station when we were changing trains. So everything worked out but it was a little crazy not knowing what happened to those

WA LK

What’s one of the worst things that’s happened on the road? I remember, it’s not really that bad, but it was kind of crazy at the time. We were on a train on a European tour and we were goin’ to Prague. We had some team riders from Argentina. Diego “The Butcher” Bucchieri, and his best friend Luciano were from Argentina and they were on the trip with us. We were


i n g N C E guys, where they were and what they were doing. They could have been in jail for all I knew. That was kind of a scary moment that I remember.

States; it was exciting. There was a great group of riders, pro skaters, surfers and snowboarders that came out to participate. It was a great event, everybody had a great time. The level of competition was really high. There was some great surfing, snowboarding and skating going on. I think everybody involved had a really great time, and they were looking forward to seeing the event grow and stick around for a while.

K I N G You won the first Ultimate Boarder competition in 2008, which consists of surfing, skating and snowboarding. What was that experience like? The first year of Ultimate Boarder was rad! It was a fresh, new event here in California. The H2O Classic was a surf and snowboarding event which was here in California. Quiksilver did the Quik Cup over in Europe, but there was never a surf skate snow event here in the U.S. It was pretty much the first time anything like that was held here in the United

How did you get into the three so heavily? Just kind of growing up here in Southern California, you know. I was born and raised down here in North County San Diego. Living close to the beach, naturally you’re gravitated towards the

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ocean, at least I did as a youngster. Skateboarding was something I picked up from my brother, and my sisters had skateboards. It was just something that we always did. We always skated down to the beach or skated around town or whatever. Then the Del Mar Skate Ranch opened up, which was one of the best skateparks in the nation. It was right there in my backyard. My brother was really into skateboarding, he ripped at skating. He got me addicted to skateboarding basically. I was addicted to skating at a young age. I was going to the skate park everyday when I was 8 or 9 years old. Then I discovered surfing sometime after that. That was basically all I wanted to do, skate or surf. Surf when the waves were good and skateboarding is always there. If I wasn’t skating I was out surfing somewhere. That’s just a product of your environment. I had some friends that moved up to the Tahoe area, Mike and Dave Hatchett, founders of Standard Films. They got super into snowboarding and super stoked on it. They were like ‘hey you should come up to Tahoe and check out snowboarding, live up here for a season, it’s awesome.’ That was the winter of ‘89 and it was the first year that they let snowboarders on the mountain at Squaw Valley. I got a season pass at Squaw Valley and it was incredible, it was unreal. That was when snowboarding was just blowing up at the time. There were a lot of good people living up there in Tahoe who were some of the pioneers of the snowboarding scene back then. Guys like Terry Kidwell and Damian Sanders, and all kinds of crazy Tahoe locals that pretty much put snowboarding on the map. It was rad to be involved with snowboarding at that time. It was really kind of the early stages of the whole snowboard scene exploding.

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Do you think more kids are participating in crossover sports these days, or less, and do you think it’s important that kids are getting into crossover action sports? I think definitely action sports is dominant these days

with kids. Traditional sports are definitely falling to the wayside with kids and it’s more accessible too. With skateboarding they don’t need a team, they don’t need a bunch of equipment, all they need is their skateboard and they can go outside in their front driveway, skate and have fun. It’s a lot more accessible. Surfing is different because you need coastline and snowboarding is the same way, it’s a little bit more of a higher end activity. This is something that a lot of kids are gravitating towards these days because they see you don’t have to have a team and all this equipment and stuff like that. You can just cruise outside your house with your skateboard and just push down the street and have a great time skating. You don’t have to play into this whole team aspect just to have fun. What’d you do with the $30K from UB anyway? I ended up putting it in the bank and just caught up on some finances and stuff. Just tried to be smart with it and tuck it away and put it in a savings account. (Laughs) In your opinion is there anything we need to change about the industry as we know it? Yeah, I think going back to the whole team sports thing. Where action sports is headed right now is the whole soccer mom mentality where parents see young up and coming riders having a future and making money. It’s crazy, they become really over-involved with their kid’s sport, whether it be skating or surfing or snowboarding or whatever. It’s great to a certain point. It’s great they can support their kids, back them up and get them to a contest and help them out. They gotta draw the line somewhere. A lot of these folks just get way too involved with their kids on the competition level. They’re almost doing their kids a disservice just by getting too involved and getting into their business. Things could be better if they just let things happen naturally, organically, because not every one of those kids is gonna grow up to be a professional rider. There’s only a handful of kids out there that have exactly the whole deal, what it takes to become a successful professional, whether it be skateboarding, snowboarding or surfing. That’s a wrap, any advice to the kids comin’ up? The main thing is to just have fun and enjoy the ride!



Rally Time PMR Motorsports

R

Photo Ryan Scott

Ye p p, this is our Steez sponsored rally car. We don’t own it. We just sponsor it ‘cause it’s awesome. That, and we can’t afford to own one ourselves.

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Where’s our logo you ask? It’s on there, don’t you worry. You just can’t see it right now, maybe it got covered up, but it’s on there. Why do we sponsor a rally car? Because it’s awesome! I think you’re just jealous now ‘cause you don’t sponsor a rally car… This has nothing to do with NASCAR either, so don’t think you’ll be seeing one of those from us anytime soon. Who gets to drive it? Not us, we’re not rally car drivers either, just

sponsors. My driving record might convince you otherwise... Keep looking for our logo, you’ll find it. Or come to one of the upcoming races and maybe you’ll see it in person. But don’t come running to us when our rally car wins all sorts of money. We know you didn’t believe us in the first place. UPCOMING RACESJuly 14th - NH Motor Speedway Sept 1st - TBA Sept 29th - Las Vegas Motor Speedway


PROUD SPONSOR OF PMR MOTORSPORTS

o racing Watch Pat Mor r, in the the S4 - PMR ca ip. ss Championsh ro C ly al R l ba lo G live Catch the races on ESPN3.com

Pat Moro wears the

AXTION S4OPTICS.COM


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J. Grant Bri t tai n interview Interviewed By Sydney Lindberg Photos You’ll figure it out.

You probably have seen one of J. Grant Brittain’s photos before, especially if you’ve ever picked up a copy of Transworld Skateboarding back in the 90’s. He first picked up a camera when he was 25, while working at the Del Mar Skate Ranch, and he’s been taking pictures of skaters ever since. He’s been published in Thrasher, was the photo editor of Transworld Skateboarding for over twenty years, and is now working on his own project, The Skateboard Mag, which he started along with Dave Swift, Atiba Jefferson, Kevin Wilkins and a few others in 2003.

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Santa Monica ‘86


eedless to say, he’s a legend. I was lucky enough to catch up with Brittain to talk about his captivating photos, sleeping in cars, and the skate scene before it got huge.

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You’re a busy man. Besides working on The Skateboard Mag, what are you into these days? I’ve been doing some iPhone photography. I did a show two years ago with my friend Josh Higgins called Phonography. It was all iPhone photos by 40 different artists, skaters, and surfers. We’d blow the photos up to 8x10 and 6x6 images. If you don’t tell people it was taken with an iPhone, they don’t even know. They think it’s just a regular camera.

How did you get into skating and photography? I skated when I was a kid, then I started surfing about 1970. It’s the old story… when you’re not surfing you’re skating, so it’s kind of like that. We pretended like we were surfing [laughs]. I lived next door to Tom Inouye, who was a pro skater, and the day that The Del Mar Skate Ranch opened in 1978, I got a job there. I was an art major going to college at the time.


About a year into working at the park, I shot some local skating. It was just a hobby at the time. I shot my friends, and the pros would come in, and I just kind of practiced on them. I was burning through film, well back then it was film, and I’d learn from my mistakes. It was expensive, but we were told we could hit it. My first trip, I went on for Transworld, I think I had 7 or 8 rolls of film, and I had to make those rolls last for probably three days. It’s not like now where you just shoot all willy-nilly, whatever pops up you shoot it, and then edit it later in Photoshop. When did you decide to take your photo hobby to the next level, and become a professional? One day, I went into the dark room at school, and a friend of mine showed me how to print the negatives I’d been shooting for a year. I just got hooked. As soon as I got in the dark room, I knew what I wanted to do. I changed my art major to photography, and took every photography class I could take. Plus, I was at the park everyday, so I just shot every person that came through the park. I had a couple things printed in Thrasher, but never made any money or anything. Then in 1983, Larry Balma, the owner of Tracker Trucks, asked me to donate some photos for his newsletter. I drove up to the office in Oceanside, and they had a 40-something page magazine on the wall that they were putting together. That was Transworld. Newsletter was code for magazine I guess. How did you learn about skate photography, Did you have any mentors? Not really. All the skate photographers at the time– Jim Goodrich, Warren Bolster and Craig Stecyk, Glen E. Friedman, Ted Terrebonne -- those were the guys I kind of looked up to

GONZ

Boneless Early Years

when I was just starting. Then they all left skateboarding and went to BMX, motocross, surfing and stuff like that, and skating died. I did have a couple of teachers though, an art teacher and a photography teacher in college that were kind of my mentors, and really steered me towards the arts. Even after I started working for the magazine in ‘83, that wasn’t what I thought I was going to be doing two years from then. We didn’t look at skating being big twenty years from then. We just did it because it was fun and all of our friends did it, and we just shot photos of all our friends, you know. I kind of learned just by looking at pictures and figuring it all out like where the lighting was, what the proper angles were. It was very crude back then compared to now. If you tried to shoot flash during the day you’d get total blur shots, so you had to wait until the evening, and you had one flash on your camera. I think it’s a lot easier to learn the actual shooting part now because you don’t have to worry about costs. Once you have the basic equipment, that’s going to be your big initial costs. As long as you have a 32 Gig memory card in your camera you’re pretty much set. Who was your favorite athlete growing up? When I was a kid I was into baseball stars and football stars, but then I got into surfing, and I got away from all of that competitive stuff. In high school I looked up to surfers Gerry Lopez and Larry Birdman. For skating, when the Dogtown Era came around we were into all of those dudes. Did you have to make any sacrifices to learn the ins and outs of great skate photos? I slept on the pool table for eight months when I did night security at Del Mar. We’d park our car in front of the door so people would know someone was there, and sometimes we had to chase people away in the middle of the night. So, I was going to school, taking photo classes during the day, shooting during the day, working at the skatepark at night, and sleeping there. That was my whole life. Every day, it all revolved around the skatepark.

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My first trip, I went on for Transworld, I think I had 7 or 8 rolls of film, and I had to make those rolls last for probably three days.”

I love some of your photos that are just a guy pushing a skateboard. What do you think makes a great skateboard photo? To me it’s all about the shadows. In the Tod Swank picture from 1987, the shadows are as important as the action, that big bisecting angle through the wall and the shadow of him skating. Back when we were shooting film, I’d tell the guys ‘okay gray day, shoot in black and white.’ And on bright sunny days, you’d shoot color. You really had to rely on nature and watch the shadows. A lot of people that are starting to shoot don’t notice all that background stuff, that ambiance, because everyone’s always looking at the action. But, you can have a great action shot and a bad skate photo. Do you have any tips for capturing an amazing moment? When you go to a shoot you have to look at everything and assess a scene, and think about what it’s going to look like in the end. That’s what I do. Right when I get to a spot I go ‘where’s the sun, what’s the best lens to use, where should I be?’ It also depends on the skater’s trick, whether he’s going frontside or backside, because there’s wrong angles and there’s right angles. Of course you can break the rules, but I think you need to know the rules before you can break them. The camera’s just a machine and you have to know how to use it to make it work. 110

Which would you rather shoot: rails, stairs and ledges, OR pools, parks and ramps? I like them both, well, if I’m not getting kicked out by the cops, I like them both. I grew up shooting

vert, ramps, pools and I loved it. Those are just fun for me. I also shot some big hairy stuff over the years like The Leap of Faith. I like where I can set up flashes and be creative, when I’m not constantly looking over my shoulder. I want to lie down on the ground and get really low. I want to feel someone whizzing by me on a skateboard. I like those moments, it’s fun. In the 90’s and early 2000’s, I loved shooting street stuff, if we were actually getting stuff. We were usually getting kicked out by the cops or well-meaning citizens. You know, we’d drive two hours and ten minutes from


San Diego to L.A., and ten minutes later we’d be getting the boot. I did it for a long time but when I hit 50, it just got old. So, I don’t really shoot street skating anymore. I mostly shoot vert, ramps and pools, and things like that, as well as portraits and products now. Have you ever been arrested? Nope, never been arrested. I’ve been detained. [laughs]. I’ve been stuck in the back of a car and stuff like that. Nothing really bad, just usually cussed out and they take your names. I’ve never gotten a ticket actually.

M ark

" G at or " Rogowski

Badlands Mount Baldy, CA ‘86 111


J. Grant Brittain interview

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113 LEFT

TOMMY GUERRERO

Early Years

TOP

TOD SWANK

Push - ‘87


...skaters were kind of out of the ordinary. We’d go places and pile out of the car into a 7-Eleven or something in Alabama or Tennessee, and immediately people would be like, you’re not from around here.” What was it like to be part of the skateboard scene twenty years ago? It was totally different, and there was no money to be made back then. You never saw it on TV and there was no internet. Back then there were only magazines. There was that whole period when skaters were getting royalty checks for only a dollar. I think Tony Hawk said he got a royalty check for 89 cents or something once. We’d go to the contests and we’d rent a $10 a day rental car, some beater. Ugly Duckling was the name of the car company. We’d be sleeping at people’s houses. I slept in the front seat of cars before on trips. Or, we’d rent one room and have ten people in a

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NATAS Kaupas, Mike valleLy, GONZ

room. We’d take the beds apart so somebody would be sleeping on the box springs, and somebody would be sleeping in the bathtub. Now, people are staying in really nice hotels and they got a van, and they’re kind of living the life. Sounds pretty rad, even before you were making bank. The first trip I went on, I told you I had 7 or 8 rolls of film and I think I had ten bucks for three days. I just mooched off of people. The first night we drove up to Santa Cruz for a downhill contest. We didn’t have any place to stay so I think it was six of us that slept sitting up in a station wagon. We just parked near the beach and slept there.


115 JAMIE THOMAS

Leap of Faith


J. Grant Brittain interview TOMMY GUERRERO 2012

Another thing is skaters were kind of out of the ordinary. We’d go places and pile out of the car into a 7-Eleven or something in Alabama or Tennessee, and immediately people would be like, ‘you’re not from around here.’ Or, people would go, ‘are you guys in a rock band?’ This was in the 80’s too, so we all had 80’s haircuts and hot pink clothes. I was traveling with people like Kevin Staab, Lester Kasai and Tony, and people like that. Right away we were different. Wherever you go away from California, back then especially, it was like going back in time ten years. They hadn’t caught up yet.

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Do you still skate? No. I still surf but I just don’t want to get hurt anymore. Once in a while I cruise down the street just to see if I can still do it. But, my son’s a 17 yearold street skater, and a videographer, and that’s what he wants to get into is video.

Are you a bigger fan of film or digital? I like the whole digital thing. I like being able to see what a photo looks like when you take it, and being able to do Photoshop work on it. Back in the day, you’d shoot the roll of film and bring it to the lab. If you wanted to wait around, you could get your slides back in a couple hours, or you could get them the next day. You never know what you actually got; it was always a surprise. I was probably the second or third skate photographer to get into digital. I did it to save money on sequences for the magazine. You’d shoot twenty rolls of film on one trip and the guy still might not make it. I don’t really like to shoot sequences because it becomes like a machine, you might as well be shooting video. Plus, it’s not that creative, it’s just documentation, you know? Thanks for your time.



Brian Young Intervie w

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INTERVIEWED BY BRYAN “BUTCH” WRIGH T PHOTOS BY BRIAN HANSON & DAN Z


Brian Young has been around the block for a while now. He came up in the heyday of skateboarding, started riding am and then turned pro during the 90’s. He later went into sales, team manager and marketing positions for a handful of different brands. Now he kicks it in SoCal, where he’s the Marketing Director for Ambig clothing, and has plenty of interesting sh*t to talk about.

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hanging

ou t

What’s your role at Ambig Clothing? I’m the marketing director for Ambig Clothing in the lovely city of Santa Ana, California. You’re Team Manager as well? I mean, me and my co-workers, Brian Hanson and Sunny, we pretty much do all the different roles at a company you can imagine; team managing, POP, Brian does catalogs, it’s a pretty small little family over here. Just a bunch of skateboarders trying to do their thing. What big plans do you guys have for Ambig coming up? We’ve got some new riders coming up, just check our website and you’ll see our flow kids that are hopefully about to get on the team. Pretty excited about a little kid Franky, that’s in Santa Ana, he’s basically just starting to grow up and getting really good, so we’re excited about him. Clive Dixon of course, the Birdhouse am that’s been on flow for a little bit, pretty excited about him. Our big big company thing that we’re doing is a video of course. We’re working on putting out a nice quality video hopefully in early 2013. Have you been filming for it? Oh yeah, we’ve been filming and going on trips all year for that. We hired this dude, Adam Mills, whose gonna be doing most of the filming as well as Brian Hanson. So we’ll basically have two filmers on it and we’ll see what we can get. We’re probably gonna have pretty good parts from Clint Walker, Matt Bennett and Gonzo if he can pull it together… What’s up with Gonzo, I heard he’s in trouble or something? Yeah, he’s supposed to get out of jail Tuesday, hopefully. 120

What happened? Well, everything was going great and then he kind of started hanging out with the wrong crowd in Santa Ana. He started doing some things he probably shouldn’t be

wit h

t he

ingesting and next thing you know he wound up in jail. He’s been there for, well I guess it’s probably been two months now. He’s been sittin’ in prison not skating, thinking about skating for a while now. We went and visited him, he’s supposed to get out but he’s not having fun. That is the worst thing I’ve heard. Yeah I know it’s crazy too, ‘cause he missed the last tour, obviously he’s missing Go Skateboard Day today. We were just over at the skatepark in Santa Ana, and all the kids were screamin’ his name trying to get our attention because we make free Gonzo stickers. We were giving those away like crack over there. So the kids are all stoked on him? (Laughs) Oh dude, he’s got the biggest local following here. It’s ridiculous. Him and that other kid Franky I was telling you about. People love Gonzo, they’re Gonzo crazy here. I heard you have to skate coach him and tell him to do certain tricks sometimes? Well, it’s not really that you have to tell him what tricks to do. The hardest thing is just getting him to show up at the spot to skate. He’s kind of a – well, we’ll see when he gets out of jail. He’s just kind of a dumbass. He just doesn’t show up. I’m like ‘Hey, we gonna go skate this weekend?’ ‘Yeah, sure.’ ‘Ok, Saturday I’ll pick you up.’ I call him he doesn’t answer. Call him, doesn’t answer. Doesn’t show up. When he does show up he rips! If he’s there at the spot he rips, if he’s not then obviously he’s not ripping anything. You’ve seen his footage dude, it’s ridiculous, he’s got some good stuff. Hell yeah. So what happened to Duffel? So, Duffel… Duffel kind of messed up. Duffel kept wearing other companies’ gear in a magazine. Can you say who? Death Squad.


wrong

crowd

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30

is

when

star t HAVING Death Squad? Who’s company is that? Sh*t, it’s a motorcycle company actually. He thought it was cool because it wasn’t skateboard related really. But when you start showing up in Thrasher with someone else’s clothing on. We basically had to set an example man. We can’t be paying him big bucks to wear other people’s clothing you know? So did you guys give him the boot or did he just quit? Yeah, we talked about it or whatever, it was kind of mutual. He’d had his run. He was like ‘yeah I’ll leave.’ I don’t know if he was really fired or quit, but he’s out. Basically, we just put on Matt Bennett not too long ago, that was a shift in focus. We’re concentrating on JP and Matt, those guys are hitting the peak of their career right now so we’ve been focusing on those guys a lot.

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Yeah, Bennett’s killing it right now, he’s in the Real Street. To tell you the truth, we’re kind of bummed about the Real Street thing man. We wanted a lot of that footage for our video. That was some of the best stuff I’ve seen from him but he went and used it for Real Street. Now he’s

gotta go and film all new stuff. So he’s got a long, quick six months ahead of him. Was any of it BH’s footage? No, I don’t think – ‘Was any of that your footage on there?’ (asks BH) No, none of that was BH’s footage. He wouldn’t have given it to him straight up. He would have been like ‘no’. It was pretty much standard desktop cause we’re filming all our stuff in HD. I’m hopin’ that if everything works out right we’ll do a release in Thrasher, a free DVD. That’d be sick, so it’ll be free to the public when it comes out in 2013, right? Yeah 2013 is what we’re shooting for but you know how videos go? We’re trying our ass off. Hopefully, you know. Before we get too far in, I wanted to ask how you got involved working in the industry? Well, shoot. I guess the first thing I ever did in skateboarding was I got hired to film a Spitfire video, back in ‘93. I kind of have James Kelch and Jim Thiebaud to thank for that one obviously. Jim Thiebaud because he hired me and James Kelch because he ended up giving Jim a tape


you shoulD g i r l f r i e nds of locals that I had filmed every now and then. We were just filming and had footage of Lavar McBride, Mike York and Karl Watson, the Russian twins. Locals down at the EMB at the time. They saw the footage and hired me to film a video, so that was my first job. That was awesome back then. Shoot, I was stoked. So how’d you end up at Ambig? From there, I did that video, I gained a sponsor and ended up getting a part in the video. Rode for Real for a little bit on flow. Then ended up riding for Residual Skateboards for some years, and turned pro for them for awhile. Then rode for War Effort, as I was topping out of my pro career ‘cause I sucked at that point. Then I got a job doing sales at Maple Skateboards and that was courtesy of Mike Sinclair. He was working over there in sales and he just got me the job. From there I went to Syndrome. We did a bunch of different brands over there. FKD, Silver Trucks, INC Skateboards for a minute, and of course Hell Rose was a good solid year of fun, and I was running that team. Then I went over to Split Clothing for about three years. That got shut down and I went over to Ambig Clothing. That’s the story in a nutshell

pretty much. So who does the sponsorship tapes? I get every single one of them. Me and BH watch all of them. How many would you say you get in a month? Well, you know we get probably one a day. Probably at least one a day. Every couple days we won’t get any then we’ll get like four. So I’d probably say at average 30. It’s super easy now for kids cause they just have to send us a link. Here’s the YouTube link you know? It’s too easy nowadays for kids. Unfortunately, they’re still the same as they were 20 years ago man. 90 percent of them aren’t very good. (Laughs) But who knows, some times you click on em and you’re like “Damn!’ What do you think kids should do to get sponsored? Is there a certain way to go about getting sponsored? Yeah, here’s where I think kids fall short because they just don’t know and they’re just too amped on getting free clothing or free boards from anybody or anyone

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Y e ah, y e ah I would say a benihana is one of t he most hat ed t ricks

among 124

prof essionals.


who’s willing to give ‘em free stuff. That kind of turns into a problem. Companies especially like ours or whatever, you want a kid that’s into your brand to ride for you. Take for example, if I see a kid wearing Shake Junt head to toe all day long or whatever, then he sends us a sponsor-me video. I’m like ‘what are we doing with it? Why don’t you send it to Shake Junt? You’re into their stuff, send the video to them.’ It’s obvious. Sometimes we get videos of kids wearing our stuff and we’re like ‘ok, this kid is definitely interested in our stuff, even if he’s not good, we’ll send him stuff.’ Just because obviously we’re an indoor brand that needs support. If a kid wants to ride for Real Skateboards, he should probably be riding a Real Skateboard in a sponsor-me video. I think it’s common sense, but kids just don’t get it. You see a kid that’s all DGK’d out send in a video to Zero. It’s like ‘what? This ain’t gonna fit dude.’ You know? That’s my biggest advice besides look at what you’re doing. If you’re not that good you should be able to tell you’re not that good. Don’t have sloppy landings, don’t have skatepark footage, don’t skate in your driveway, don’t push mongo footed, don’t wear goofy boy pants, basic rules. Land your trick clean, don’t do this weird triple underflip body varial thing down a two-stair. That stuff looks ridiculous. What trick do you think is the worst trick in skateboarding? I would say that if you ask the majority of pro’s, a benihana would probably be at the top of the list. No! Yeah, yeah I would say a benihana is one of the most hated tricks in skateboarding among professionals. Who’s one of your favorite people to go on tour with? I don’t know, shoot. Right now I’d probably have to say Clive. Clive came on the last two tours, that dude is awesome. He’s fun to hang out with. Did he get on because of Clint? Yeah he’s on flow because of Clint of course. They live together and they’re friends and whatever. We’ll see, hopefully he can get on the team soon. We’re expecting great things. He’s definitely proven himself the last couple of tours, so we’re super hyped.

What tours are coming up? I think the next one we might be going to is Portland. Going to San Francisco then Portland. Right now we’re not really doing a lot of demo’s. We’re just going to cities and filming for the video. Once the video is done we’ll probably do a bunch of shop tours, where we go around and do demos and stuff to promote the video afterwards. Do you guys prefer doing West Coast or East Coast trips? You know, I don’t really have a preference. To tell you the truth, when I’m traveling, as long as I’m outside of here, I’m pretty happy. (Laughs) I have a couple of my favorite spots. Arizona, is always kind of one of my favorites just because I know the city really well and there’s tons of skateparks or whatever. But when I do the Boston to New York trip, that’s super fun ‘cause I don’t get over there very often. I guess it’s a little bit more fun because it’s a bit more unique. Obviously the East Coast has such a different vibe so it’s kind of fun to deal with that a little bit. We don’t see it every day obviously so it’s real fun. So here’s a totally random question that a lot of skateboarders talk about, they hear it all the time but they don’t know for a fact. You might be one that knows. Do you think there are any professional gay skateboarders? I personally have heard of two that are gay. Yes, definitely. You’re not gonna make me name those names? I don’t know if I should be naming the dudes. (Laughter) I thought that was common knowledge, maybe not. (Laughs) How old do you think people should be when they get married? 40! (Laughter) Don’t have any girlfriends till you’re 30. 30 is when you should start having girlfriends. I guess I’m blowing it then? Yeah! Of course you are. You knew that way before you called me. Nah dude, when you went on tour with me it was the best time of your life! That was fun! (Laughs) 125 Just getting wild the whole time. I loved stealing the cooking sherr y from your parents house.


Brian Young in t ervie w We didn’ t wanna off end your mom That wasn’t cooking sherry! That was a three buck chuck from Whole Foods! Oh, also so my mother can see this printed. You guys said that it was my mother’s trailer... It wasn’t? It was not my mother’s trailer, my mother has a house. She was so bummed when you mentioned that. That was kind of harsh. We didn’t wanna offend your mom.

Well, now she’ll see that you proved it. What’s one of the worst experiences you’ve had on tour? Worst experience I’ve had on tour was one of my first Invisible tours back in the day. Jamie Thomas and J.T.M.R. had gotten into a fight. That’s when Jamie ended up leaving Invisible Skateboards. That was a pretty shitty tour, that little incident.

What about the best experience you’ve had? Let me tell you someone else’s best experience. On one of our Invisible trips back in the day, a young amateur had met a girl at the demo and he was hooking up with her. I remember we were going to another town right after the demo. We were all in the RV, at the time we had this cool RV. We drove across town, literally probably twenty minutes across town, and stopped at a Taco Bell. We all get out to eat Taco Bell. He stays in there with her. We eat, come back, he’s gotten busy with her. We’re about to jump on the Freeway to go to the next town, so he gives her 50 cents for a phone call and dropped her off. It was pretty ruthless, but pretty funny! (Laughter)

Where were you guys when that happened? Oh god, we were halfway to Michigan or somewhere. I don’t know if it was Wisconsin or where. I remember it being weird ‘cause he ended up leaving and I remember it being a big deal or

All right it’s been a long interview, do you wanna say thank you to anyone special? Just you man! (Laughter) No, Mike Sinclair actually. I always have to thank Mike Sinclair. He’s helped me out a lot through the years.

(Laughter) It was my trailer! It was your trailer? Oh man.

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whatever. After that we went to Michigan and we picked up Josh Kalis. He came onto the rest of the tour with us. It was pretty cool ‘cause he was pretty amazing back then, not that he isn’t now. I remember watching him in the first couple of demos, thinking this kids got something man.


Art By Southie

Art By Southie

Steve Mull

P: Mark Spooner

pro model out summer 2012!

www.VTskateboards.com


the gallery TALLBOY

INTERVIEWED BY AB

/ PHOTO Jon Brown

I'd heard about Tallboy and seen his work around the area for years. People were pretty stoked on it and after going to one of his show's I saw why. His illustrations can be playful, satirical, dark and humorous with a heavy emphasis on color and contrast. You could say he's Ed Roth's reincarnation into the skate world. Recently he's made a lifestyle change that included the 3,000 mile journey from the East to the West Coast. We figured what better time for an interview, so we caught up with Tallboy halfway across the country.

Where did you get the nickname TALLBOY? What’s your real name? My name is Chris Coulon and I just started signing TALLBOY at the bottom of my drawings if I drew something kind of weird. It kinda started when I drew a picture of John McCain screwing Obama in college. So I just wrote TALLBOY on the bottom of it because I didn’t feel like writing my name on there and then dealing with all the questions and stuff. It was in a class and I drew something really fun and awesome but I really didn’t feel like putting my name at the bottom of it. It was just kind of a fun nickname to put at the bottom of my drawings that were on the more gnarly side.

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You’re on the road right now, how’s it goin’ so far, where you at? We are in Texas. It’s me and the girlfriend. Today we woke up in Memphis and we’re driving to Texas. Her Dad works in Texas at a Red Lobster so we’re gonna go hopefully eat

some free food from him. My brother and his wife live in Austin, so we’re gonna end up there tonight. We’re gonna stay with them for a few days, drink a lot of beer and have fun. You’re moving to San Francisco, can you tell me a little bit about that? It’s always been a place I’ve wanted to move just because of the skate scene and the art scene too. It kind of just makes sense. As much as I love New England and everything, I think it’s good to get out of the place that you’re from, at least for a little while. San Francisco just has all those companies like Deluxe, Thrasher and all that stuff. There’s a lot of stuff going on in the art scene too. I figured I’d move out there, try to do some freelance illustration for a while and get to know better some people who I’ve only known through e-mailing. I just wanna meet some people, try to draw more and do that full-time.


129 Beer Drinkers/Hell Raisers Screen printed patch 15” x 15”


the gallery TALLBOY

How did you get started with skating and art and were the two always melded together? Oh Yeah! Well it’s kind of like how a lot of people get into skating from their older brother. It was definitely something my brother did. He was into punk and stuff like that, and skating. Naturally, I wanted to do the same thing as him. We started skating together. He kind of stopped skating and got more into the music stuff and he still plays guitar and does two different projects. I stuck with skating and met some friends who skated in Lynn and just kept on doin’ it with them. So I went down the skating route. I’ve always drawn. As long as I can remember I’ve been drawing monsters and stuff like that. Once skating came into it and music and all that, you start seeing awesome album art and skateboard

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graphics; it’s just totally the best art there is. It’s funny and it’s not taking itself too seriously, and it’s kind of cartoony. At the same time it’s not even limited to that. All kinds of art can be put onto a skateboard. Skateboard art is always gonna be around ‘cause skateboards are always gonna need cool graphics. Also, people like Ed Templeton who’s an artist and skateboarder, and seein’ Toy Machine with all his drawings. Mark Gonzales, people like that were awesome to see all that sh*t goin’ on. People that are pro skaters who are also throwin’ their own graphics on their boards and sh*t like that, I’ve always been into. Your work reminds me a lot of Ed Roth’s Rat Fink. Have you ever heard of him or do you take any inspiration from him? Oh definitely.


That’s probably one of my biggest influences right there, Ed Roth. All the monsters, the Hot Rods and of course Rat Fink kind of stuff, has always interested me. I think the first time I saw something like that was in my grandmother’s house. She lives in the same house that my dad and all his brothers and sisters were raised in. We would go upstairs into my dad and my uncle’s old rooms. In one of my uncle’s old rooms, he had all the Weirdo models, the Ed Roth model kits where you build your own monster and put ‘em in hot rods and stuff. He had five of them all assembled on top of one of his old dressers up there. Me and my brother went up there and were into ‘em. We ended up taking them and playing with them like toys and smashing the sh*t out of them. (Laughs) Not realizing till a

LEFT Eagle w/ Six Pack Screen print on wood, American Flag 3.5’ x 2’ BELOW TALLBOY, no-comply

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the gallery TALLBOY lot later that those things were probably worth a lot of money and totally awesome. Also, I think, I didn’t know what it was at the time but one of my cousins had some White Zombie posters or maybe Metallica posters that were definitely drawn in the same style as Ed Roth. I don’t think Ed Roth did them, it might have even been Rob Zombie who drew them. But I was always into the big eyeballed green monster dudes. You’ve done skate and apparel graphics for several big brands including Creature, Spitfire and Thunder to name a few. What was your favorite project? The favorite… Those three that you just mentioned are total highlights and the biggest things I’ve done so far. It’s part of the reason I wanna move out closer to those companies, so I can put more pressure on them to hire me to do more stuff like that. I have to say the most fun one was the Creature project because it’s the only major skateboard graphic I’ve done. The other companies were T-shirt graphics. It was awesome to do a skateboard graphic, and they sent me a bunch of boards so I could skate my own graphic for awhile. That was awesome. I’ve done boards for Coliseum, and Bamboozle I did one, but it was cool to skate a major brand board that I did. The idea was

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something I wanted to do. It was a gore kabob, which was a shish kabob on top of a grill with all kinds of entrails and body parts on it. I just proposed that to the art director and he was psyched on it, he was down and pretty much just let me go with whatever I wanted to do. Then we came up with the idea to do the oven mitt that said “Kill the cook” on it. Not only was I psyched on getting to do a graphic for Creature, which I think is one of the companies with the best graphics out, it also came with an oven mitt. It was just like a really cool project, I probably would have thought that even if I didn’t do it. It felt awesome. That was actually one of my next questions, how you got the idea for the oven mitt, because I can’t say I’ve ever seen one with a board before? Yeah, I’ve noticed that Creature has really been stepping up their game with throwing crazy packages together and putting cool sh*t in the shrink wraps to come with the boards. I’m into that stuff as long as it’s not too gimmicky. It’s like ‘oh the board comes with a koozie or hat or something like that, I’m gonna buy that one over something else’. I had the shish kabob idea for a while just because it would work well with the shape of the skateboard so I


proposed that and the art director, Lee, was like throwing some ideas out there. It could come with a BBQ apron or a spatula or something and we settled on an oven mitt and they took care of that. They told me to make the graphic for it and they got ‘em screen-printed and it came out awesome. Those oven mitts are kind of sketchy though, they don’t really work that well, my mom told me she burnt her hand using it. (Laughter) She was probably the only one that actually used it though! Yeah, I mean I’ve used it to pull nachos out of the oven but I think she was doing some hardcore cooking with it. F*cked her hand up! (Laughter) You do a lot of your own private work as well, but it looks like you silkscreen it all yourself too? Yeah, until very recently. Before I moved I worked at a screen print shop called Liberated and they were awesome. I started interning there when I was in school, then I got a job there. One of the guys who used to be a co-owner of it, launched a website called Shirts and Destroy, and he basically contacted a bunch of artists, bands and tattooists, and people that he knew to make this online store of a bunch of different artists selling t-shirts. That’s kind of

where I got started. Working at the print shop was totally awesome. I could do the illustration, design it and then actually print it. I learned a lot about screen-printing at Liberated. I hope that someday I can work out a situation where I can buy some more of my own screen-printing equipment and keep printing my own shirts, because it’s fun as hell. Beer seems to play a role in a bunch of your illustrations. Is it motivation, inspiration? Yeah, beer is awesome in a lot of different ways. (Laughs) Classic beer can graphics like Budweiser, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Coors, all the logos are awesome. Those are really old-timey and those are the types of graphics I like to see. Old fashioned sign graphics and stuff like that. The graphics that go with beer are f*cking awesome and drinking beer is awesome too! Yeah, it’s totally inspirational. (Laughs) I forget who it was but I think Dustin Dollin was talking

BELOW Gore Kabob Graphic for Creature Skateboards

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the gallery TALLBOY

about skating and said that sometimes some of his best ideas for new tricks and stuff like that come when he’s hungover. It’s because you’re in that weird state of mind where you’re kind of drunk but feel like sh*t and you’re brain is just a little weird. You just kind of think weird. I definitely agree with that. You get some weird ideas when you’re hungover, not always good but definitely some of the weirdest.

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What’s the ultimate goal of living on the West Coast? It’s a little bit unwritten right now. I’m gonna try to do freelance illustration because I’ve never actually worked doing just illustration. I’ve always had a full-time job and just done the art stuff on the side. I’m just gonna try to get more clients and keep doing illustrations and try to pay the rent that way. The ultimate dream would be to do skateboard graphics full-time and screenprinting in my own private space. Still selling my own t-shirts through Tall Mart, just keeping busy and doin’ that stuff.

Thunder Zombie Graphic for Thunder Trucks

Best of luck with all that! Do you have any last words for aspiring illustrators or artists? If you really wanna do it and you really like it, you’re just gonna keep doing it. There’s no sense in saying “don’t give up,” ‘cause I don’t think if you’re really into it, you ever would give up. Just keep doin’ what you’re doin’ and sh*t will start coming together. Me saying this, I’m not even where I’d ideally like to be yet. It takes a long time, but just be patient and keep doin’ it. It’s an uphill battle. Remember to have fun while you’re doing it and don’t take yourself too seriously. Once you start taking yourself too seriously you start acting like a dickhead! (Laughter) tallboyart.com



now playing Rack ‘Em Lets Go

Rack ‘Em Lets Go INTERVIEWED BY Doug Brassill PHOTO Alex Induni

Recently I got to meet up with Jonny Vinal and Vincent Mott of Rack ‘Em Lets Go at their Allston, MA pad, and ask them a few questions about their new album, recent tour, and upcoming festival season.

Well, first of all who are the members of the band? And what instruments do you guys play? JV: Vin, I’ll take this one, well, there’s me, Jonny Vinal, without the “h” please, sometimes I call myself Jonny “f*ck the h” Vinal, I play guitar and sing. To my right is Vincent “HOTT” Mott our drummer, and then there’s two other fools I don’t know. (laughs) No, we got the man with two first names Josh James who plays bass. You only trust people with two first names who are bass players, like Jack Bruce (laughs). Then finally there’s Alex Tierney, who also plays guitar. Also, we just added the fifth element, a keys slash organ player named Jon Coffee. 136

So, you guys all met in Allston correct? VM: Yeah. Allston

Will you elaborate on that? JV: Well to elaborate, no, we all actually met in a dorm at Berklee School of Music, on Comm Ave., except Josh, Josh didn’t live with us but he hung around our dorm. Then we all moved out to Allston the next year together. What genre would you classify your music? JV: You know, we play rock and roll, blues, party reggae, soul. We play for the people, we’re a family band. VM: Party music basically. So you guys just put out a new album, tell me about it? JV: Well, we just put out our first album, its called Rack ‘Em Lets Go, self titled first album. We recorded it in just two days. Well, we recorded


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now playing Rack ‘Em Lets Go

“ We pl ay for the

peopl e, we’re a

family band.”

138


like the whole thing in just one day then the next day we went in and did over dubs for the vocals and Vin put a little harmonica flavor in. It was just a balls to the wall two-day session. Our buddy recorded it in his basement, you know so it got kind of a cool sound. We didn’t want it mad over-produced and digi, so we just recorded it basically raw and, yeah, just raw dogged it. (laughs) VM: We were goin’ for the feel as if a funk band recorded an album like the Ramones did, you know. We didn’t want to do something overly produced because we all had that shoved down our throats at Berklee. No eq, no auto tune. Like an old rock and roll sound with our new style on it. You guys just got back from a tri state tour, how did that go? VM: Well, we played Mexicali Live in Teaneck, NJ. That place was fantastic, went great, there were a ton of people there for a Wednesday night in Jersey. JV: That place gets some big acts so they have a killer sound system. The guy didn’t really like us after, I guess during our set we rocked so hard that something fell from the ceiling and smashed. We didn’t do anything but this monitor just fell. It was during a solo part where we were really getting to jamming, whatever we broke the guy said “they don’t make those anymore”, oh well. Then we went down to our boys house in southern New Jersey, I didn’t know that Jersey had a farm land, we were on like a horse farm. VM: It’s North Delaware pretty much, trust me, the one from Jersey.

it. I don’t really remember the name of the place though, I think it was like the Dirty Penny. VM: Then Friday night we played in Manhattan at Tammany Hall on Orchard Street, the Lower East Side, that place was great. JV: Yeah, my grandparents came, my grandpa got to take out his hearing aid (laughs). I liked it. I would hang out there all the time, the bartender was sexy. (laughs) So you guys are going on tour this summer? Jonny mentioned that he was gonna quit everything and live in a van. JV: Well, essentially Doug, precisely. It’s pretty complicated but you just kinda nailed the nail on the head right there. Alright, well tell me a little about it. JV: Well its not all set in stone but it will be a sweet run down the North East Coast. It’s gonna start in NY, then go to PA, Baltimore, Richmond, Asheville, Charleston to Atlanta, then eventually to New Orleans, stopping there at the Maple Leaf and then its time to just chill. If we make it there, everything went well. (laughs) Then we go back up. We’re playing my cousins wedding in my back yard. Wedding tour closer. (laughs) The whole tour goes from July 26th to August 18th. Anything to add or shout outs?

JV: It was cool because we got to see our old homie who played drums in the band when we first started, he used to live over on Pratt Street. He has a residency on Thursday nights at this bar two miles down the street from his house so we just drank whiskey all day on his horse farm, then went down the street and had like a little session with him. He did his set first and he let us sit in and out, we did a bunch of different stuff like Vin did “Louie, Louie” and then to end of it he just let us rock out. The locals were really into

VM: Yeah, if anyone wants to have sex with the drummer, hit me up (laughs). JV: Same thing goes for Jonny Vinal, but just women. (laughs) Also keep an eye out for the Little Camp, we are also playing at that this summer, a great festival put on by local Evan Antal and friends. (rackemletsgo.com)

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now playing Grynch

G

GRYNCH INTERVIEWED BY Pat Milbery PHOTO Alex Clark, Pat Milbery

How long have you been writing raps? I started writing raps when I was about 10 or so, but it wasn’t until high school that I really started writing songs. Haha, songs that I felt were actually good anyway.

ever had, and I still drive it to this day. Actually, I also drove a 1982 Mazda 626 for part of a summer a few years ago, but I was still driving the Volvo at the same time. It was cool to drive a stick for a while, though. My Volvo inspired what was, and still is, my most popular song. Off top, I can’t think of the most random place I’ve driven it.

So please elaborate on your Volvo, what’s the most random place you have driven your Volvo? My 1986 Volvo 240 DL is the only car I’ve

Please share your story from your first tour to Europe! I was over there with Brother Ali, Grieves, Budo, Plain Ole Bill, and SIMS as well

Who are you, where are you from? I’m Grynch and I’m an MC from Seattle, Washington.

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as Daniel the photographer, and Mattias the tour manager. It was just a great group of guys. I got a call from Budo back in April. He felt kind of awkward asking me to do it, but they needed a merch guy for the tour. I had never been to Europe before and had always wanted to go so I was down. That’s what I was doing out there, but Grieves got really sick about halfway through the tour and had to fly back to the states. As a result, I wound up filling in for him on the remaining dates. It was an amazing experience and it tripped me out that there were even some people

over there who were familiar with my music. Definitely not only a career highlight, but a life highlight of mine as well. How was it playing at the Soundset Festival and rapping in 95 degree humid air? The heat was ridiculous but it was an awesome experience regardless. 141 Who was your favorite act at Soundset that you were able to catch performing? I was running all over the place that day and didn’t get


now playing Grynch

“ we send each other pict ures whenever we come across hel l a ol d, creepy pict ures of l adies on wal l s in stores, restaurants, etc.” to see as many acts as I would have liked. Of the ones I saw though, Evidence was the sh*t. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis absolutely murdered it. The crowd was losing their minds! Bambu killed it too. Bam is just so seasoned on stage. I’ve seen him live at least 25 times now and every time it’s been on point.

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Did you think you would have a chance to play and be involved at a festival on that kind of level and how does that feel? I mean, you always hope to but it’s a trip when you actually do. It was a huge honor to play it especially when you look at who else was on the lineup. Did you eat any cheese curds? I didn’t out there but cheese curds are great. There’s this

spot in Ballard (the neighborhood in Seattle where I live) called Zayda Buddy’s that has some really good ones. It’s actually a Minnesota-style pizzeria so I guess it’s only right. What is the weirdest photo Macklemore has sent you over a text message? He’s sent me a lot of weird photos. The reason is because he and I have this ongoing thing where we send each other pictures whenever we come across hella old, creepy pictures of ladies on walls in stores, restaurants, etc. They’ve been dubbed “ghost b*tches.” Sounds weird, right? Well it is. I don’t even remember how it all got started. It was and still is super random. Do you have any plans to tour this fall or


release a new album? I’d like to get back out on the road later this year. We’ll see what happens. I just released my new album, Perspective, back in March but I definitely plan on releasing some more new material this year as well. Maybe not another new album but something for sure. What’s your favorite Seattle hometown beer of choice? Probably Rainier. Do you think you and J-Bird, (your pops right? haa) will ever crew up and create a track together? Oh wow. That would be comedy! If it ever happened, Jake One would have to do the beat.

Any thank you’s or props to the people who have helped you on the come up! There have been plenty and they know who they are, haha. I just feel like if I listed some folks I’d end up forgetting at least someone and in turn that someone would read this and send me a nastygram!

Does your head get sunburnt easily? Absolutely! Especially when it’s freshly cut real short. It got burnt at Soundset but not too bad. If Brother Ali hadn’t told me where to get some sunscreen it would have gotten burnt way worse than it did.

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now playing New Sweden

WORDS Andrew Fersch PHOTO Peter VanBeever, Noah Gabriel

Wayne and Garth may have not had much love for Delaware, but these days it’s moving in the right direction, at least musically, thanks to New Sweden. Hailing from Wilmington, the group has a style similar in many ways to Mumford and Sons or earlier (and rowdier) Avett Brothers. Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery aside, New Sweden is not just re-hashing what has already been done, and they’re doing everything they do with heart.

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Lead singer Billy Dobies, when asked about what makes a singer valuable to a band, and meaningful to an audince, says they have to, “Believe in themselves, as well as the band they are with. If you mean what you are saying, everything comes across as the emotion that is intended.” This emotion shows through in every song on their first full studio album, The Mountain.


“ You have to pay

your dues and

that includes

practicing,

promoting

and l ive 145

performances.�


now playing New Sweden

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The songs fit the standard range of topics, but it’s not only Dobies who is responsible for the songwriting. He says, “My songwriting process is all over the place. I’m never sure where an entire song comes from. Ideas seem to float in my head and continuously rotate depending on my mood or location. Often enough, I am probably over-thinking a tune and trying to finish an idea before I take it to the band. After the band hears the idea and the emotion, everyone adds their personal touches. Then, it becomes a New Sweden song.”

Dobies, who spent his teen years skateboarding and was even sponsored by some local shops says he loved every second of it. His stance on music seems to be similar to someone trying to make it in the world of skateboarding, saying “You have to pay your dues and that includes practicing, promoting, and live performances. It is difficult to have a steady means of income from playing alone.” And while New Sweden isn’t Dobies full time job, it’s clearly where his full time passion lies. (www.newswedenmusic.com)



junk food Doomsday

o o m s d

Words Chris Gadomski Photo Senior Mutty

Nearing the end of the Mayan calendar, (so obviously the world ends) it’s more imperative to seek out fulfillment than ever before. Though NASA has assured us that the world will not end in 2012; dubbing such scenario “an internet hoax,” and comparing the current phenomenon to the Y2K scare of 2000. But who trusts the government? Doomsday is upon us, and the end is near. Get some livin’ in while you can, Nibiru gets here December 21st. Delete your Facebook - That sh*t doesn’t matter. Spend your time on real life since there isn’t much of it left. Besides, you don’t even really know half the people you’re “friends” with. 148

Forget your college loans - Money makes the world go ‘round; until a massive meteor smashes it to dust. Take that trip you always wanted to, or buy that jet ski. Your debt and political sci-

ence degree don’t mean sh*t when we’re space particulate. Get a badass motorcycle - Speed, freedom, and gas is five dollars a gallon. Maybe the world’s already ended and we don’t even know it...? Who cares if a custom bike costs more than a new car, it’s way cooler. Get where you wanna go and have fun doing it. Grow it out - Long hair don’t care. Hippies don’t so why should you? Little things like haircuts may start to go by the wayside with eminent doom lingering on the horizon. Party - Celebrate, love your family and friends, and if nothing else; get twisted. Just because the world’s ending doesn’t mean we should mope about it. A little jungle juice and some veggies might just dampen the impact of Planet X knocking us out of orbit.



8 1

The Statue of Liberty’s index finger is more than eight feet long. One type of hummingbird weighs less than a penny. Sharks can live up to 100 years. Mosquitoes are more attracted to the color blue than any other color in the spectrum.

it to begin with.

than the celery had in

It takes more calories

to eat a piece of celery

nut & bolt

15

The largest recorded snowflake was 15 inches by 8 inches thick. It fell in Montana in 1887. The tip of a bullwhip moves so fast that the sound it makes is actually a tiny sonic boom. A Blue whale’s tongue weighs more than an entire elephant.

3

L

An octopus has three hearts.

Most cats are left pawed.

About 75 acres of pizza are eaten in in the U.S. every single day.

The body has 2-3 million sweat glands.

3

Bamboo can grow up to 3 ft in 24 hours. If you ate too many carrots all at once, you would turn orange.

The average person spends two weeks waiting for a traffic light to change.

K

Koalas and humans are the only animals that have finger prints.

eyeball =

THERE ARE

200,000,000

INSECTS FOR

EVERY HUMAN.

150

1oz.



shop spotting Massachusetts

Bamboozle Skateshop Bamboozle skate shop opened about two years ago in Salem, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. Billy Needham, owner of the shop and an OG in the Massachusetts skateboard scene, had the idea of keeping skateboarding alive in a town where there wasn’t too many skateboarders. By opening the doors he created a whole new scene for the kids of Salem and the surrounding towns. The skate scene is on the uprise now and growing. With that being said, Billy decided he needed more space to carry more product for the customers. Just a few weeks ago, the shop moved next door to a space more than twice as big as the old space. Now there’s plenty more space for all your favorite brands!

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FAVORITE shred SPOTS 1. Breed Benches, Lynn Ma. 2. Beverly Skatepark, Beverly Ma. 3. City Skating, Boston Ma. 4. Melrose High, Melrose Ma. 5. Shore Country Day, Beverly Ma.

Bamboozle is like a home to its customers. You never feel pressured to buy anything or feel uncomfortable there. If you’re ever in the area, be sure to go visit Bamboozle Skateshop. Photos

All Shop Pics- Dajiel White Top Right- JRo Switch BS Heelflip Dan Muchnik Bottom Right- Paul Vieira BS Tail Buddy Bleckley

location

Salem, MASSACHUSETTS years in business

Spots to Eat 1. Engine House, Salem Ma. 2. Border Cafe, Saugus Ma. 3. Stacias Place, Salem Ma. 4. Bianchi’s Pizza, Revere Ma. 5. Dunkin Dounuts, all over Ma.

2

BrandS Emerica, DC, DGK, Toy Machine, Deathwish, Baker, Expedition One.


Skateboard team Jason Ross Southie Geoff Laskey Lance Butler Paul Vieira

Jon Putur Will Watson DownHill team Ernie BJ

Hours M-S 12pm-7pm Sun 12am-5pm

Address Bamboozle Skateshop 107 1/2 Bridge St. Salem, MA 01970 978-744-7481 bamboozleskate.com

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