Guy Jones Heywood Ward Chris Jones Josh Hallett Justin Albert
Reece Leung Rafal Wojnowski Leo Sharp Rich West Justin Sydenham Mike Pearson Mike Ridout Jerome Loughran Ed Hubert Jack Belgrove Stephen King Joe Buddle Maxime Verret
Hannah Martin Katie Trick Billy Trick David Tyson Stuart Robinson Mike O’ Shea Philip Morgan Will Creswick Ian Justice Casey Foley Clark Keatley
Cover Photo: Tristan Rudman - Backside 50-50 Grind - Rafal Wojnowski Cover Artwork: Katie Trick Back Cover Artwork: Billy Trick www.vaguemag.com vagueskatemag@gmail.com Instagram @vagueskatemag
PREACHING TO THE
CONVERTED Photo: Stuart Robinson
How mad is it that in the 21st century with the abundance of information at our finger tips, that the parameters of accuracy are becoming less and less concise. Understandably you can’t trust everything you read (yeah that’s a fuck you to you Murdoch) but at the same time the way information flows like wildfire and a lot of the time isn’t true is pretty fear inducing. On one side it can be funny and a harmless rumour that is just plain silly (Newbird skatepark being built on an ancient burial petrol station so succumbs to random acts of exploding every now and then is a firm favourite). However when it comes to potential character assassination or certain sentences being repeated with more weight and emphasis on certain words to add a whole different meaning, that’s when it’s kind of not on. Especially as doing nothing can still leave you at risk to a misinformed twat going full throttle at you with a chamber full of wrong data. Most people are fine but if you repeat something you’ve heard without knowing the facts that could destroy someone as well as yourself. This can leave the results pretty detrimental to human kind. Regardless we should still check the facts be it someone’s entire life down to whether Flyn Trottman had an interview in Sidewalk or Document magazine back in the day. It’s just nice to know really. Anyway fuck this ramble, how sick are kickflps?
KATIE & BILLY TRICK
FRANKIE SPEARS
SPIT & SAWDUST
Stevie Thompson - Oververt Wallride Photo: Leo Sharp
3 PEAKS CHALLENGE
HUF UK: LESION IT’S NOT WHERE YOU’RE FROM: SALFORD BLOKES
C O N T E N T S
KATIE
T R I C K
&
BILLY
The Tricksters! Katie and Billy Trick are no doubt one of the more envied siblings I’m aware of. Not only do they get on incredibly well, but their talents are something we can’t get enough of. Their artwork is on another level and each aspect can provoke being immersed to the point of time losing it’s own concept. Combine this with them both being lovable weirdos means the metaphorical platter of their personalities is a banquet you’ll never tire of. Thanks again for doing this and so stoked on both of y’all. Interview by Guy Jones Artwork by Katie & Billy Trick Photography by Rich West
‘Looking through, Odes to nowhere’ - Katie Trick
‘Swings and flowers for Katie Trick’ - Billy Trick
Could you please tell us how you both became paint brush wielding maniacs (in the best possible way) and what your preferred mediums are? BT I just didn’t know what the fuck I was doing in primary school. I drew so much growing up and if you’re one of the little art kids you try everything the teachers suggest, so painting came like that. Just being asked to make posters for the class and there being paint around. There wasn’t a definitive eureka moment though. KT LIKE A BAT OUTTAAA HELL... yeah I guess it’s the same for me - I just naturally went that way. There’s something about painting that has always turned my brain on. I remember the first paintings I ever made in school. 5 grim black and white, thick dreary paintings of Florence, and a really shit white horse. I remember how hard I found it to make them, but there was something about the process, not knowing where it’s going to go. It’s exciting. And still is. Also, a big nod to having good teachers, Mr Rowlands! Bill, do you remember the first ever painting you made? BT I don’t remember the first painting but the earliest attempt of painting for me that actually sticks out is trying to paint two like Greek gods or something for a poster in year 4. It was a girl and a guy and they were massive and blue. They had loads of gold bangles and necklaces and shit on it was so funny. I’d love to see that now. Euros Rowlands! KT “Oh isn’t it a loooooveeely day, my patios on fiiiiiireeeeee.” Growing up with 2 siblings who seem to fear boredom, were your parents always knackered or did they encourage you both to paint and draw to give themselves some breathing space? Also do they ‘create’? KT There’s another two of us, we have an older brother and sisters, so we’re like the Neath Port Talbot version of family Von Trap... without the singing on the stairs and whistles. I don’t think our parents found us hard work, they’re both as strange as we are. I guess when it was just me, Billy and mother dearest living together we probably cooked her head. Sitting upstairs in our rooms with the doors open
screaming, singing. How many different ways can you say the word ‘sausage’ BUT we are super lucky in that they have always, always encouraged us to do whatever we want. BT Yeah, there were pretty much no restrictions whatsoever. My dad was always so open and was just like “go for it, just be safe” with everything. I feel like even when we were super young. I was never told “no” about doing certain things really so there was none of that rebel punk kid thing where the kids like “fuck you, I’ll do what I want”. We could already do what we wanted! But I think that just makes you respectful because you understand what’s right and wrong, what’s safe and dangerous. It definitely fried our mother’s head living with her. Me and Katie will be like super calm doing something in our rooms and then one like sound or word will spark it then we’ll both unite in each other’s room and go off. Dancing, singing, doing mental impressions. Like how we act together can’t really be translated through words. As far as being creative they just let it roll and we’re supportive. Dad always says he used to draw loads when he was a kid. “Any bit of paper laying about, I’d draw all over it.” He used to tell me he loved drawing ships. Fucking pirate.
‘Copper’ - Katie Trick
We all know Port Talbot has generated celebrities such as yourselves and Anthony Hopkins, do you have any more localised heroes of this area that probably won’t have been heard of in the next village? BT So, there’s Captain Beany.... he’s this weird, bald, little man who you’d see painted like this weird peachy orange colour and in a muscle suit like a super hero and he was always doing things to raise money for charity. He lives in like a proper little council flat it looks like and it’s a bean museum. Google him you’ll find it. His last big thing for charity was getting the whole top and back of his head tattooed with beans and there’s initials in every bean that people have sponsored essentially. So yeah he’s a fucking legend. Then there’s Terry Alan. He’s this homeless guy who wanders around with a massive beard and always wearing this rad like proper old looking Stetson cowboy hat. Always got a can of cider and would always wave when you said hello. KT Port Talbot’s horse whisperer, Terry Allan. What a lovely man. I think you’ve nailed it there Bill, I can’t really think of anyone else. There was this one lady who worked in Tesco’s years ago, that looked like she’d curled her hair with like tins of soup.... I guess that doesn’t give her ‘localised hero’ status though. But she did look fucking mental. Like, an actual sculpture on her head. Could you give us a bit of background into where you both grew up, I hear there’s a fuck off Amazon office? KT We’re kind of like Neath Port Talbot gussies, moving around quite a lot growing
‘Now and then’ - Katie Trick
Billy Trick - Wallie Photot: Rich West
up. I feel like we’ve lived in about 10,000 different houses, which is a good thing. It does creep me out when people have lived in the same house all their lives, and the furniture’s never moved... Anyway, I guess home, home is Pontrhydyfen, and it’s beautiful there. If you squint your eyes it looks like Switzerland. Beautiful landscape, there’s an aqueduct and viaduct cutting through, super green, Sian the shop. There is a giant Amazon (booo) but that’s towards Swansea. And Obviously there’s Port Talbot steel works, billowing chimneys of Port Talbot. Filling everyone’s lungs and the sky with the good stuff. BT Yeah Pontrhydyfen and Cwmavon are definitely just where I feel like I grew up. Tree swings, camping, setting fire to things, swimming in rivers. Proper valley boy shit. KT Is there a specific place you would take someone to be like LOOOOOK AT THIS when you’re back home, if you were the Neath Port Talbot tour guide of the year? BT That swimming spot. The Gorad! Just a little bridge over a really deep part of the river. Every day after school when the weather was right, we would just meet there like half an hour after getting off the school bus. There’s a big tree to jump out of too. KT I remember when you were little you came home from the Gorad, and said you’d brought back some slags. And I was like, what the fuck... and then realised you meant slag stones. Katie has Billy always been a show off (again in the best possible way) and any stories? Same question to Billy. KT I’m not a show off but I guess I do show off. I just love making people laugh or getting people going. Like with skating, if there’s loads of people skating a mini ramp or something and then people just start killing it and it’s going off. I just can’t hold it in! It’s the full on Cardiel effect. Loads of screaming and just holding on for dear life. BT Other than skating I guess I do love doing stuff that I find funny to try and make everyone laugh or just entertain myself. Whether it be grossing people out or getting naked or all the other little silly things. I just enjoy it when other people are laughing or freaked out! I guess Katie doesn’t show off but she definitely is excitable! I’ve never properly experienced Katie around her friends but when I’m with people and Katie is around or Katie is with us, we definitely feed off each other. Like there’s no filter and she can definitely be worse than me sometimes! It’s so good. KT I can definitely be a shy child at first, as can you Billy Trick, but I hit a point where if someone finds me the slightest bit funny, I think heeeeeere we fucking goooo and I go into full clown mode. So, Bill I get ya, it’s like I can’t stop it, something
triggers in my head and I get too over excited. Billy has been like that since he was a baby, my school bus would pull up outside the house when we were super little and he’d be in the window flapping his winky around. In school he was nuts, I remember everyone saying “Billy, Billy, Billy, spin on your ‘ed” and he’d be flying around on concrete floor, spinning like a maniac. It’s hard trying to pick out of stories of Billy acting like a plonker because the list is endless. I think it definitely comes from the Trick’s though, our father and grampa Trick are exactly the same, bell in every tooth (as few as they are) and fucking mental. You both pursued the education route, Katie through Wimbledon respectively and Billy is mid-education currently. Would you both recommend the formal education side of art? KT I mean, you don’t have to, have to, but I would definitely recommend it. I think the best part of studying art is the conversation and the time. You’re so immersed in it, and you’re forced to think waaaaaaaay outside of your heads fence. Unless you’re big money balls then you’ll never have that sort of time to just focus on your work. BUT, it’s not for everyone, I guess. If you’re focused, self-disciplined and have a good circle of people around you making, then you’re good to go. I may just dip my toe back in one day. BT Yeah it’s definitely not for everyone but I definitely feel like people should be more open about it because it’s not really such a heavy thing. Like you can choose to go to university to try and advance on your practice and it still doesn’t have to be this serious career choice. That seems like a pipe dream anyway. I do take my work seriously but I really want to knuckle down and pull my finger out of my arse now and really go in with these next two years. Utilise every opportunity uni gives me and make the most.
‘Bedroom view’ - Katie Trick
Have you any desire to extend into different mediums? KT Yes definitely, I think I need to. I really want to start playing around with oil paint, as I’ve used golden acrylics for years now, I think sometimes my work gets too tight so I want to stop working as if it’s some sort of construction, curious in what way my work will go by pushing the paint around a bit - if that makes any sense . Also, I’ve been playing around with this idea of pushing the image outside of the frame, where the lines, shapes, colours are almost melting or expanding. I don’t know, I have an idea of how it could look in my head but no idea how to see it through yet. BT I feel like it’s healthy to alternate between different mediums and I have full intention of doing so. I keep having these ideas of building little sections of walls. Like an unfinished garden wall where it’s falling apart and bricks are missing but finding it hard to figure out how it can be done or what’s
‘New statue’ - Billy Trick
the right way. I want it to look playful and not hard edged and stressful. I feel like the resources I will have when I go back to uni will help with that though. As far as painting, I’m trying to be less blocky and I want to discipline myself to not be so vibrant with every colour. It’s coming along. I find it so refreshing that your work is done off your own back and brimming with feeling as opposed to a piece of branded content (nothing wrong with that but ya know). Would you delve into the corporate side of creating and how do you feel it would affect your work? KT I would love to try actually; would be interesting to see how I’d approach it. The only things I’d never be interested in doing is painting your nans dead dog or a portrait of ya misses. Those aside, I’m super keen to try something new. BT I’d be open to go into the corporate side of work because I feel like you can definitely keep the two separate. But to be honest I don’t know how to use any digital programmes so that would narrow it down a bit. and yeah, like Katie said,
‘Georgina’s painting’ - Billy Trick
I couldn’t imagine doing something that’s just super different to how I work anyway because I don’t actually think I’m skilled enough to be confident in just taking any sort of request or job. I’ll definitely paint on your nans dead dog. What do you admire about your sibling’s work? BT: I think the friendliness and playfulness of them really sits with me. The locations seem very vast and everything comes across as quite large to me. As if, if I were in the painting the objects and structures around me would be fit for a giant rather than myself. So, you’d be roaming around in this really bright, big fuck-off, green world. But the surroundings feel safe. KT There’s so much in Billy’s work that I admire, it’s quite funny sometimes because we’ll make work that’s quite similar. Sometimes one of us will talk about an idea we’ve had brewing and it seems to be there in the others brain too. But there’s something about the way Billy paints and puts images together. The simpler pieces, just two or three colours – there’s always a sexy detail and I’m like phwooooooor g’won Bill. Like a really thin line slicing down the side or through the middle, I love the simplicity. Then there’s the spaces, places – if you go through his sketchbooks you can see where they start, I just love them. His drawings are so good. I’m just always excited to see what work he does next. I can really see him stepping into sculpture, there’s always something really physical about the forms you find in his work. And Bill, that’s quite weird but I’ve never thought about physically being inside of the work, so thinking about it – if I were to walk around yours, I think I’d need a torch and a ladder. Did the surroundings of the valleys inspire your minimalist output. BT I definitely feel like the kind of vast open spaces that surrounds the towns and stuff in Wales, do yeah. Like there are fields and mountains everywhere and when I was younger and I’d go camping or just go and wander around, it always seemed like I’d come across some old abandoned structure. Like an old foundation of a super old house or like some weird electric generator building that’s just like a little box in the middle of nowhere. I love seeing those things. It’s the isolated structure or object in a kind of open plain, is what I’ve been doing with my work as of recently. I really enjoy making structures look as decimate as possible but still holding this hint of life or a presence of some sort. KT Yah Bill I know exactly what you mean. Weird emptiness. I think it’s inevitable to be inspired by the surroundings you grow up in – you’re drinking it in every day. I definitely like to swing back and forth from landscape of home; mountains, trees, nature – and empty, big sky sort of places, mainly from films and photographs. It’s
a strange kind of balance. Seeing something that has a slight nod to another place excites me, even though it’s an idea of somewhere that’s built up in my own head. Up to the right along Cwmafan road there’s a house that screams 1960’s America, just a sexy slice in the trees. Along the path just before you get to the river there’s a space which I think used to be a park, metal fencing around it and now it’s just sitting there empty, nothing but shit loads of cement colour blocks on the ground. Those kind of parts of Wales I think probably inspire both our works the most. What do you feel is the Welsh aspect of your work? BT I feel like I kind of gave that away in the answer above really. Obviously, these places aren’t exclusive to Wales and when I paint these ideas it doesn’t necessarily look like it would be in Wales. But just from memory, that’s where these ideas originate from so you could say the root of the work is semi started in Wales. KT Waaaales. Yeah snap, same. Could be works from a any old fool, Welsh or not. Maybe we should both try and make the Welshiest painting possible…..
‘Nothing sends a greater message’ - Billy Trick
Have you both always gotten on so well? KT I think we have yeah. I think our brains are too similar to not get on. The only time he does my tits in is when he shouts really, really loud. BT Aye, we’ve always been close. We’ve definitely pissed each other off in the past but it would be such minor things. I feel like we’ve both been a kind of support for each other in terms of when somethings going wrong or we’re not feeling right about something, the other will always just be like “nah don’t worry it’ll actually be fine.” Then when parents are pissing one of us off or something stressful is happening it’s good to just talk about it. We’re definitely both wired the same and the humour and everything is the same too. But yeah Katie doesn’t like loud shouting and screaming. But I do. Katie you’ve had exhibitions ranging from South Wales, to London then up to Lancashire. Are there any particularly memorable ones and any lined up for the future? KT To be honest, I’m not a big lover of shows… well, I guess it depends what kind of one it is, and who it’s with. Always makes me feel like a bit of a nob. A group of us had a show in Dalston, years ago. It was in this dance studio basement kind of space, fucking
‘You could see the existence of man for miles, even though the road was empty’ - Billy Trick
freezing, super dark and the woman who we’d rented the space off was wearing the smallest hat I’ve ever seen. About 4 people turned up, absolute shit show. And then there’s the shiny ones, where people have glasses on the tips of their nose and fingers in full chin rub mode. I guess they are the ones that make me feel uncomfortable. The only show lined up at the moment is an exhibition Zach Riley has kindly asked me to be a part of. Billy Trick’s got his beak in that one too. Apart from that I’m free as a bird with nowhere to go. Book me en. I went to your (BIlly) joint exhibition in Peckham in that house which seemed like it would go through at any moment. Did you pick this space to make the viewer consider that your artwork would be the last thing they’d see before falling to their doom? BT Yeah that show was pretty nice. Everyone’s work was separated around but I managed to wangle to have all mine in one room. Thankfully it was the best lit room too. We had to rent all the lights from uni and we didn’t plan any of it so we got there in the day and then started setting up and it started getting dark and it looked mental because we didn’t have enough lights! (Laughs) As far as the space, we just got it because it was close to uni/all of us and it was kinda cheap. It does seem like a hell hole though. It would be funny if those pieces of work were the last thing they saw before the ceilings collapsed and the walls started falling down and crushing people. Considering they were paintings of big kinda empty walls too. The inanimate surroundings just getting revenge on these shitbags invading the space. Any other notable exhibitions that you’ve had or have in pipeline young sir? BT Other than the one dear old Zachariah Riley is putting on, no. But I’m really excited about it. Seems like a good and interesting group of people are in it and a bunch of skateboarders work who I’ve never really seen, in the flesh or in general. Tell us 5 things about your sibling if you’d be so kind... KT 1. Billy still has his childhood Pingu teddy that he goes to bed with. When he was little we used to poke his nose in his head and it would make him cry. 2. Billy Trick has the vocal range of Shakira. 3. Billy never ever hoovers his floor. It fucking pissed me off because it’s always really bitty – full of crumbs, shards of paper and if you’re lucky a rogue razorblade. I hate it. 4. Billy still makes me look at his turds in the toilet if they’re impressive. 5. Billy likes big girls, big bw’s.
‘Portrait on a wall’ - Katie Trick
BT 1. Katie broke her ankle standing on a skateboard when she was younger and my dad had to go grab her and carry her home. 2. Katie thinks every band I listen to is Dragonforce, then proceeds to sing ‘Run to the Hills’ by Iron Maiden. 3. Katie thinks she does a really good Nico impression. 4. Katie’s favourite film is Dumb and Dumber. 5. Katie’s not actually my sister. TRICK OR TREAT KATIE : Treat BILLY : Trick
MYTHS
&
LEGENDS:
P E A K S
3
CHALLENGE
Photo: Leo Sharp
It’s amazing how often things get spoken about without any materialisation, especially in the skateboarding world where you can get carried away planning something in the heat of the moment to then exhaust the idea and almost convince yourself that it had been done just due to the sheer amount of exposure it’s had in your brain. The 3 peaks challenge is the opposite of this and the squad achieved their challenge to climb 3 iconic peaks with the extra addition of Chris Jones skating back down them quicker than this intro took. Not only was this incredible expedition’s prime reason being to raise money for various charities but the boys also discovered what we thought was just Welsh folklore. Read on to find out more. Words by Chris Jones Artwork by Mike O’Shea Photography by Leo Sharp, Tidy Mike Pearson & Justin Syndenham
In 2012 my Dad had an accident which left him with permanent brain damage. Since the accident, he has needed 24/7 care. Although he has remained eligible for NHS continuous healthcare, it has become increasingly difficult for many other people to claim for state-funded social support. With fewer people getting the support they deserve when loved ones need continuous care but fail to meet the criteria, charities such as ‘Carer’s Trust’ are crucial in offering a lifeline to those that are struggling. In an effort to show my support for the unpaid carers who are unable to afford care for their friends and families and do not meet the government’s requirements for financial support, I aimed to raise £1000. To make things a bit more interesting I took my friend Rob Mathieson mountain skateboard to each summit and rode down sections of each mountain. £1896 was raised by the time we completed our challenge. Tidy walked the Welsh 3 Peaks in 24 hours for Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity who were a big help for him and his family during a period of family tragedy. Tidy aimed to raise £1000 to be shared between Sands and Tommys charities in honour of his daughter Millie, who sadly died 16 years ago. The mountains, for Tidy, had already been a great place for him to think and escape during this dark period. Last year he managed to do a number of walks up various mountains, but this year, prior to our challenge he had only managed a couple of walks so was motivated to get back on the mountains. Tidy raised £1330 in total: £616 for Tommys and £713 for Sands. Syd aimed to raise £500 for The Lowe Syndrome Trust in memory of his younger brother Ian Sydenham who was born with Lowes Syndrome and who sadly passed away In 2010 at the age of 34. Lowe syndrome is a condition that primarily affects the eyes, brain, and kidneys, almost exclusively to males. Infants with Lowe syndrome are born with thick clouding of the lenses in both eyes (congenital cataracts) and are often with other eye abnormalities that can impair vision. The Lowe Syndrome Trust is the
Photo: Justin Sydenham
At 7am on Saturday 3rd August Welsh Skate Film Legend Matthew Ryan (Dykie), Photographer Leo Sharp, Jus Foolin’ Mastermind Tidy Mike, Syd from Fifty Fifty, Ric from Exist and his dog Gus and I set off on our Welsh Three Peaks Challenge. The Welsh Three Peaks Challenge, not as well known as the National or Yorkshire Challenges, takes in three famous peaks of Wales which are Snowdon in the North, Cader Idris in midWales, and Pen Y Fan in the South. The Welsh Three Peaks includes a total walking distance of 17 miles and an ascent of 2334 metres in less than 24-hours. Dykie and Leo had taken part in various challenges in the past, most famous perhaps being their John O Groats to Lands End Challenge where they ran 900 miles in 30 days to raise money for their friends baby daughter Elodie who has cerebral palsy and needed an operation to help her to walk again. For the rest of us however, our experiences of taking part in such challenges was mostly nonexistent. The uniqueness of the situation prompted Syd, Tidy and I to fundraise for charities that resonated with our own life experiences. Before going on to describe our journey, I will provide a brief summary of our individual fundraising goals.
only charity for the disease in the UK and is extremely small and voluntary. Syd raised £651. The culture and identity of the Snowdonia region has been significantly influenced by the kind of myths, legends, folklore, giants, monsters and magic that are associated with areas of lakes, hills, mountains and lonely villages. The Welsh tradition of storytelling has ensured that these rich and varied tales are still as vibrant today as they were centuries ago. Wherever you visit in Snowdonia Mountains, the past, it’s magic, mythology and legends are around every corner. With this in our minds we were mindful of new challenges, other than the mountain itself, presenting themselves as we began our ascent up Snowdon, our first mountain that mild Summer morning. Tales of King Arthur are associated with Mount Snowdon, where he supposedly killed the mountain’s most famous resident, Rhitta, a fearsome giant who created a cape for himself out of the beards of his enemies. We had hoped to discover some clue that would lead us to Rhitta’s grave which is apparently covered by huge stones at the summit of the mountain, placed there by King Arthurs men. While we were stood discussing this legend we heard a huge roar ring out, with a loud rumbling followed by a a steadily increasing chugging sound. Then suddenly a high pitched whistle sound like a forlorn call in the night, with the beast hissing and screeching. As much as we wished that Rhitta had come back from the dead, the beast eventually emerged around the misty corner of the mountain. A steam train packed with about 100 tourists with go pro’s and SLR’s around their necks, a new kind of beast now roams the mountain of Snowdon. Following this excitement we continued our ascent following the path to the summit that most other hikers were using. That day on Snowdon was an especially busy one, it being one of the more popular hiking trails in Wales. About half way up the mountain Rhitta became the last of Tidy’s worries, as he was stuck with some severe cramp in his leg. This challenge of dehydration was soon resolved and we continued. As we approached the 1000 meters mark up the mountain, nearing the summit, we found a spot. A rock that was almost perfect to wallie out of. I put down my bag and out of pure excitement quickly threw down my dirt board and started riding towards the rock. I hadn’t had a lot of experience of using the mountain board in the past - a one day trip with Rob to some woods outside of Hampton Court about a year prior provided me
with all the experience I had. This lack of experience and skill soon became apparent as I slipped out just before I made it to the rock, shooting me over the rock on to my back and the board started to roll down the mountain. Just as it was looking like the board was going to roll all the way down to the bottom of the mountain, it was fortunately stopped by a bush. Thus I learned that the mountains are not the most skate friendly of places. Nonetheless, we pushed forward to the summit where we could see a rock pile at the peak that shared similarities to the descriptions of Rhitta’s grave. The only thing I didn’t read about this landmark was that it would be surrounded by large groups of people all trying to touch the plaque of the peak at the same time. Unable to get a proper hand on it we instead made our descent. As we arrived back in the car park, around 4 hours and 30 mins later, and began getting ready to leave for Cader Idris, the clutch on Tidy’s van went. Luckily, we could all squash in to my van, which we did, and made our way to our second peak, Cader Idris.
Photo: Tidy Mike Pearson
Cader Idris is one of Wales’ most iconic mountains. It is about 893m in height, standing at the southern gate of Snowdonia, overlooking Dolgellau. The three peaks of this mountain are Pen y Gadair (Head of the Chair), Cyfrwy (the Saddle) and Mynydd Moel (the Bare Mountain). There are numerous stories and legends associated with this mountain and Idris, the giant who’s seat it supposedly is. A few of the nearby lakes, such as Llyn Mwyngul (commonly known as Tal-y-llyn lake) are reputed to be bottomless, and those who venture up the mountain at night should take heed before sleeping on its slopes. It is said that those who sleep on the mountain will awaken either as a madman, a poet or indeed never wake again. This tradition (of sleeping on the summit of the mountain) apparently stems from bardic traditions, where bards would sleep on the mountain in hope of inspiration. In Welsh mythology, Cader Idris is also said to be one of the hunting grounds of Gwyn ap Nudd and his Cŵn Annwn. The howling of these huge dogs foretold death to anyone who heard them, the pack sweeping up that person’s soul and herding it into the underworld. There are various paths on Cader Idris that lead to Penygadair (The name of the actual summit of Cader Idris). We took the Minfford path up (Llwybr Minffordd) which starts on the southern side of the mountain near the glacial Tal-yllyn Lake. Hikers using this ascent climb past Llyn Cau and along the rim of Craig Cau (Rockwall) to Penygadair. Its length is 2.7 miles and involves two climbs of over 300 metres) and The Fox’s path down (Llwybr Madyn). This is the most direct way to the summit as the trail leads straight up the northern face. The 2.4 mile ascent involves a climb up a 310-metre cliff-scree face. However, this part of the Fox’s Path has been heavily eroded in recent years making the descent dangerous. Although the geology of Cader Idris is the same as Snowdon, the path we took up was a lot more rocky and wild making it more of a challenge for us than Snowdon. Nevertheless, we made it to the summit without being hunted and eaten by Gwyn ap Nudd’s Cŵn Annwn. At the summit we found a bothy where we met some hikers that we going to spend that night on the mountain. We had to continue on to Pen Y Fan so couldn’t join them so their fate after a night on the mountain is unknown. Our descent down the Fox’s path was a fast one, with time on our side we decided to have a dip in the lake centred (known as a ‘corrie’) in the mountain. The tales of the lakes being bottomless put the fear in me not to swim too far out. Afterwards, we continued in to the night and towards Pen Y Fan
where we would get a quick nap in before completing our last challenge within the 24 hour time frame. At the foot of Pen y Fan, the principal peak of the Beacons of Brecon, is a lake called Llyn Cwm Llwch. This lake is overhung by frowning precipices and is the home of croaking ravens, the only birds which will apparently venture near the dark waters of this mere. In very ancient times there was supposedly a door in a rock close by, which opened once in each year, on May Day, and disclosed a passage leading to a small island in the centre of the lake. This island was, however, invisible to those who stood upon the shore. Those who ventured down the secret passage on May Day were most graciously received by the fairies inhabiting the island, whose beauty was only equaled by their courtesy to their guests. They entertained them with delicious fruits and exquisite music and disclosed to them many events of the future. They laid down one condition only, and that was that none of the produce of the island was to be carried away, because the island was sacred. Unfortunately for us, that early morning was very foggy so we did not even attempt to look for the door. Instead we wasted no time as we only had 3 hours left of our time limit to reach the peak and get back down the mountain. We hurried to the top, which fortunately for us was the smallest peak and distance as we were all very tired by that point. Although we didn’t get much of a view because of the fog, we did find some good spots to skate. We eventually made our way down and succeeded in our 3 peaks challenge by completing it in 23 hours and 20 minutes. With 40 minutes to spare we decided to celebrate with an egg roll from one of the burger stands at the bottom of Pen Y Fan. The owner of this one, coming from Merthyr Tydfil, told us about how someone from one of the other stands had slashed her tyre in rage stemming from jealously of her lucrative location at the entrance of Pen Y Fan. Who knew there could be so much beef between burger vans.
H U F Words by Josh Hallett Photography by Reece Leung
UK:
L E S I O N
Tom Delion - Boardslide
Originally the idea behind this video was to film Mike Clarkson and Tom Zealand up in Leeds and put out a shared part between the two. Things didn’t really work out that way for a few different reasons. Zealand went through multiple injuries including ankle, foot, knee, head etc. and Mikey very selfishly decided to start saving peoples lives by studying to become a doctor.
Joel Banner - Frontside Tailslide
Luckily Big Jim (Silver) gathered more of the HUF troops and brought them up north on a cold and very wet November weekend. I’m not exactly sure whose idea it was to come to Leeds at the beginning of Winter but I should probably take some of the blame. It was tough going but we managed to get a few things and then spent the rest of the time in Spoons waiting for it to dry.
Will Creswick - Ride On Backside Smith Grind
Mike Clarkson - Frontside Crooked Grind To Fakie
Mike Clarkson - Ollie Up, Frontside Grab
After that wet weekend this video was then basically filmed over a glorious few days in Manchester, a quick visit up to Newcastle, the odd few days here and there in London and then in Yorkshire whenever I could tear Mikey away from uni life in Hull. Injuries have been quite a big part of this video project. Zealand hasn’t really skated in about a year and then Joel... well, he was on a tear for a while and then, as you’ll have read in Vague issue 9, he had that horrendous accident.
Tristan Rudman - Crook Jam
Will Creswick - Ollie
Tom Zealand - Hippy Jump
Tom Delion - Frontside 180 Pole Jam
Thankfully they’re both on the mend and we’ll all be seeing more from them in the future. For the most though, we’ve been making do with Neil (Will) Creswick, Tom Delion, Tristan Rudman and Mike ‘Ripple’ Clarkson. They’re a good bunch and it’s always a fun time on the session. Thanks for making my job easier boys and much love to Jim for TM’ing hard and keeping everyone refreshed, fed and stoked!
Spit & Sawdust is one of those establishments where words fall short of doing what justice this institution does for not only it’s own scene, but neighbouring skate and creative collectives. The skatepark is ideal, spacious with the right obstacles. The hospitality incomparable and the food is worth travelling for alone. Combine this with skate lessons, creative focus groups and workshops and you’ll find yourself visiting this indoor location on the sunniest of days. To Christian, Nia and the gang, utmost respect and thanks for keeping the stoke burning beyond bright.
SPIT Interview by Guy Jones Artwork by Philip Morgan Photography by Mike Ridout (unless stated)
&
Christian Hart - Pole Jam Fakie Photo: Jerome Loughran
S A W D U S T
Yes Christian, could you give us a bit of background on the origins of the fine establishment that is Spit & Sawdust please? Weren’t you a support worker before hand? I guess running a skatepark isn’t that far off. Hello Vague mag! It all started stirring around 6 ½ years back, strangely enough by the bloke with the twirly ‘tache off the GO Compare adverts, he phoned City Surf asking if there were skateboard lessons available in Cardiff, which there wasn’t at the time, and it made my partner Nia and myself start thinking of a space that could not only cater for this, but be of multi use. There can definitely be similarities drawn between support work and dealing with the general public, but tis the nature of the beast. Our customers are the best though! Who’s currently involved with the park and was it always your intention to have such a strong food aspect? There’s 4 of us as directors that run the space on a day to day basis, Nia, Becca, Thom and myself with Jim (CSC fame) and Sam on our board too. We’ve got Stu Miller as staff, and he also joins Guto on for coaching our ‘Shreducation’ sessions...as well as young Tom who aides our ‘tips & tricks’ session every Saturday. Staffing goes up too when we do events etc. so we’ve got a pool of folk we pester. The cafe was always planned to be at the heart of Spit & Sawdust, over 20 years of eating poor grub within indoor facilities, it inspired us to provide as best we could in terms of quality, variety and price. There’s a banging variety on the menu and with the bridge from Bristol toll now a thing of the past many people travel down just for a scran. Where do you source the ingredients? We’ve built up a strong relationship with suppliers over the years which has allowed us to source as much as we can, as local as possible. Our beef / bacon / eggs are organic and from nearby Caerphilly, brioche / buns / bread from a local bakery in Cardiff, coffee’s roasted just outside the ‘diff, other ingredients for our pizzas and veggie / vegan dishes are picked up from suppliers in / around Cardiff with all our food prepped by us at S&S… and fizzy pop and spuds from cash and carry. We’ve catered weddings, arts festivals, food festivals, biker festivals etc. which allow us to tweak our menu and try out different dishes accordingly. Could you give us a run down of the team and who is part of the crew? Definitely the soundest and most happy employees I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. When Nia and I set up Spit, we always wanted it to be run as a sort of collective, rather than us run it from the top down. We have had different staff over the years, but about 2 years ago we realised that we needed some help, so we asked two friends, Becca and Thom on board as co-directors, and since then they’ve run the park along with us. We asked them as they’re artists who were always around the place anyway, in their studios or hanging about by the counter, so they really got what Spit was about - plus they’re not scared of a bit of hard graft! Since then Spit has gone from strength to strength. Spit & Sawdust actually got a really good review in The Guardian didn’t it? Has this provoked a surge in middle class theatre critics making the travel
Matt Davies - Blindside Kickflip Photo: Leo Sharp
from London to Cardiff? (Laughs), to be honest I don’t recall the review, we just keep our heads down and focus on what we do... there hasn’t been an increase of top hats and monocles either so not sure we’ve cracked the London aristocracy yet.
Why are Hi-Tec the best shoes to skate in and what’s the wildest pair of footwear you’ve exposed to the useless wooden toy? 4 main reasons really. Suede upper, gum rubber sole, overall fashionable aesthetic, Hi-Tec are well in to saving the rhino! Simple. I had a pair of Lonsdales once with a fat velcro wrap around strap that made my feet look size 4 hoofs... from the future, they were particularly stinking. Wallie-ing a barrier in the rain resulted in some broken ribs in Leeds scene video ‘Yorkshire Puddings’ but are the rumours true you landed it after this horrendous slam? (Laughs) Yeah that ruined me! It had rained so Rory Mckenzie, Dave Walker, Will Collins and I sheltered in the nearest pub, few pints later with a gap in the weather, the time seemed right. Didn’t lean back at all, hit it and pretty much teddy bear rolled the thing without touching it, to the flat... into a puddle (laughs), the noise I make is hilarious, Rory has the raw footage somewhere. I got it the next try before I seized up for the next 3 weeks. In regard to in house, the team are obviously all incredible, but in terms of getting food out there don’t you Deliveroo it as well (the Deliverad sketch was so good!). Have you witnessed the food go full cycle to the recipient? I’m a ‘cuisine courier’ for Deliveroo during those lesser fruitful indoor skatepark Summer months, which conjured the idea for the Deliverad edit. We don’t actually use Deliveroo to ship out our food, we feel it’s all about getting people to Spit & Sawdust instead of receiving a sweaty mashed up mess in a greasy bag (depending on riding style) also after they take their 30% we’d make next to nothing as we keep our prices as affordable as possible. You host brilliant skate lessons and enthusiastic mums have told me how instead of charging some of the youngsters to skate, they can exchange work for a sesh, such as sweep up for a skate. Yeah some of the regular younger, keener skateboarding generation
do litter picking and sweeping for time in the skatepark, there’s a great crew of shredders coming up through the ranks too, 1 solid hour with no chatting, checking Instagram likes or taking selfies is a tough one for most but it does get ‘em 2 hours for free. Even the non-skating mountain bike wheelie crew will often do a round for a Monster sticker or 3 in between scratching their nuts and spitting. What’s great about the Welsh capital and the land of the dragons in general? The skate scene in Cardiff has been very street based for decades thanks to older generation of legends, but aside the wheelie boarding the city is nice and small for a capital, plenty of parks, rivers, the beauty of the valleys and coast only a short journey away and the local ales are good. Spit & Sawdust do the splendid ‘you’re cordially invited’ where you invite a skater owned store to a lock in down the park. Absolutely amazing and the hospitality is next level (40 pizzas was it you made us?). What’s the purpose of this and is it going to be a regular do? We’ve done 3 ‘you’re cordially invited’ in total now, 1st was Blade clothing which is a rollerblading clothing company in Cardiff, 2nd was the mighty Fifty Fifty in Bristol and most recent is Lost Art / Useless Wooden Toys Society in Liverpool. The whole idea in a nutshell was to give recognition to independents out there supporting a scene, being at the core and doing what they do for the love of it. We twang out an invite on a scroll, inviting an organisation, shop, group, whoever for use of the skatepark, food for all, and drink, entirely on us. Keep an eye on the postbox... next one’s going out soon... Being so charismatic obviously wins you popularity points but how does it work with mates rates? We often swap skills for entry, as with any indoor space there’s often a wide range of handy people coming through which helps us out a lot. Apart from that everyone pays, people understand like anywhere we too have to pay our big overheads, as Dave Mackey - Frontside Ollie Photo: Leo Sharp
well as pay ourselves! How are the cowboy boots doing? I saw them live at the Blips premiere. Are they resigned to special occasions now? My dog chewed the toe off one of ‘em, which enabled Kevin Barry to swig a can through it like a leather funnel. Mainly for best wear, the Cover Version premiere definitely warranted ‘em. When was the last time you got naked in a club? (Laughs) Erm... Nicky Howells’ birthday about 6 years back. T’was a freezing cold night in July if i recall the photo (laughs). I heard through a grapevine that you are going to get involved in the brewing game, which would make the building near impossible to leave, are these rumours true and if so where did this urge come from? Taste match to the meals etc. Also will you still have a crate of Carlsbergs for the boyos? We’re going be opening a cafe / bar in Cardiff city centre as part of CSC’s new premises which we’re super stoked on! More plans and details will be sorted soon, but it has a nod towards Useless Wooden Toys / The Merchant setup in Liverpool, as far as Spit & Sawdust grog... there has been some chat also, so we’ll see where that takes us. What’s one of the gnarliest things to go down in the park? Dylan Hughes’ signature ‘Huge’ burger was pretty intense! 2 organic beef patties, homemade slaw, bacon, cheddar and 4 beer battered onion rings... alongside a portion of handcut double fried chips. One’s impossible, so here’s 9. A blader tried the handrail going up to the office once, slammed and took out the bench. Billy Trick’s front nosegring on the mid block to front 5-0 down the wooden bank going up to it! Lloyd Houston everything. Habgood’s nosepick. Jess Young’s taildrop, Dylan’s switch Pupecki pop on the back wall curbs, Nick Remon 360 flip into the steep bank, Sam Pulley double manny pad flatbank configuration (see WASH£R). Caradog’s switch back lip on the inside. Too much to list! The space goes above and beyond one of the finest skateparks I’ve had the pleasure of visiting, not only do you have an excellent cafe, but the chilling area makes it ideal for parents and lurkers to spend their free time. Couches, magazines and VHS combi all present. As if this isn’t enough does it not also have areas for creatives to use? Could you please tell us a bit about that? We do! Spit has always been a multi aspect space, and with 3 out of 4 of us who run Spit being artists, the art element of what we do is as important to us as the skate park and cafe. We have studios upstairs, which are for experimental artists, and we have a programme of exhibitions and events throughout the year, including a huge billboard we had built especially in our car park. There’s a commission on there at the moment by artist from Glasgow called Jasleen Kaur. You’ll have seen the tree sculpture that hangs from the ceiling in the park - by a Cardiff artist Alan Goulbourne - we like to think that art fits in throughout the whole of Spit & Sawdust and helps make it the unique place it is. Any other words of wisdom for the general public? “If you want the rainbow, you’ve got to put up with the rain” - Dolly Parton
G A L L E R Y Will Creswick
Stuart Robinson
ART
Ian Justice
Reece Leung
Casey Foley
Ian Justice
Clark Keatley
Photo: Jack Belgrove
B L O K E S
‘Blokes’, the film of a generation. Saying Animal Chin meets Football Factory would be a diluted description of this life affirming cinematic experience. We caught up with Ed Hubert, Craig ‘Questions’ Scott and Jake Snelling to find out a bit more info on arguably the greatest feature length to have graced a cinema. Major shout outs to Jack Lammas, Dan Singer, Dean Greensmith, BMT and everyone else featured, it truly does induce every emotion to the highest degree and we’re beyond stoked to have it grace these pages. Interview by Guy Jones Imagery by Ed Hubert, Rich West, Jack Belgrove & Dan Joyce
Photo: Rich West
The execution of Blokes has a community feel, from the rival gang storyline, the actual skating to the making of the film with everybody getting involved and co-directing. There are main characters of course but was it often a case of whoever wanted to get involved could just turn up? Ed Everyone mucked in, when you’re doing zero budget projects like this you take all the help you can get. In the pub scene we had people turning up to set that had been awake all night, that was proper method acting to get themselves into the geezer mind set. People were kipping on the pub floor in-between takes whilst others poured themselves pints. The pub regulars were also there for their morning drink which helped bulk out cast numbers and fill the background. Craig No community, just strict fundamental belief of the ideologies and philosophy of what skateboarding is… just kidding, skateboarding is all about the boiiiisss and booze, if you’re a skateboarder and you’re down, you’re in. Blokes was an evolution of the yeti videos, just fucking around and going skateboarding with your mates, so that’s all Blokes is. Photo: Rich West
The initial inclination of Blokes was meant to be a parody of Kids when you all went to New York, but how did it actually get started? Wasn’t Jack (Lammas) on a bus near the iconic Millwall alleyway (which is not only in Football Factory but also the opening scene to the film) when he pitched the idea to you? How quickly did the wheels take to get in motion from there. Ed The origins of Blokes goes back to 3 years ago, we were on a trip to New York and wanted to re-film Larry Clark’s Kids, shot for shot, but call it Blokes. Strangely we never got round to doing that but it did kick off some ideas, most of them shit. But as we discovered with Blokes, shit = funny. I didn’t think we’d bother making anything proper until a year later when Jack Lammas rang me with this idea to film a Football Factory/ horror b-movie parody. I randomly had some pretty decent camera gear temporarily sitting in my house at the time so we went out and shot it. Snelling convinced 20 Stockwell heads to come down as the rest of the cast. Snelling Jack thought of the opening idea, 2 weeks later we were filming it, rough idea of what we were going to do, 2 buckets of homemade fake blood, a fuck off saveloy sausage, a dead octopus, a lambs head and some keeper rings, sorted. Craig Yeah we were like, “New York will be just like Kids”… “how will it be like Kids? We’re a load of blokes.” The Millwall Football Factory gag is a tongue in cheek celebration of British culture, a quasi type nod at the semi cringe. Jack Lammas is the funniest man in the world. It all started as a sick joke but now look: a Netflix series, 2 autobiographies and a
fast food chain. Blokes has become something more then a joke.
Photo: Rich West
The quality of the gear in all aspects of this feature is insane. It’s not everyday you see a squid get pulled out of someone’s stomach, what was used for so much of the gore and how did you get your hands on the cinematography equipment? Isn’t there some trivia behind the cameras that were used? Ed The squid was £3 from Morrison’s in Camberwell. It’s actually going to be a recurring character in Blokes 2 and there’s talk of it having its own spin off series. The rest of the gore was chucked together the night before the shoots in various buckets and tupperware , it was mostly real guts, mince and other shit from the butchers mixed together. A lot of porridge oats went in as well to create a lovely texture.
“Well fit blokes” - Katie Price
Going back to the gore aspect, the opening scene is in a renowned rough part of South London as it borders the Den, Millwall’s ground. The alleyway borders the overground train tracks as well as being a one option through way for the public. How did civilians react to this carnage and what state was it it when you left? Ed Pedestrians were turning around and going back the other way, although I reckon we looked slightly legit because of the expensive looking camera and steadicam so maybe that’s why the old bill never turned up. My mate rode past it a week later and the pavement was still stained in blood and guts. Craig A bunch of people turned up then backed off thinking is was for real. The best thing about the day was it was super hot and everyone chipped in to by animal entrails, fish and meat. By the time we got around
Photo: Rich West
The ‘acting’ scenes are shot on Arri Alexa Mini cameras. They’re pretty much industry standard for the majority of feature films and commercials at the moment. I called in a few favours to get the kit and crew onboard. The lenses for the pub scene are Arri Signature Prime lenses, they’re about £25k a lens and we had 5 of them. They are new lenses on the market and had only just been made, at the time of filming I don’t think anyone had shot with them before. The next job that they went out on after Blokes was Sam Mendes’ (Spectre, Skyfall,) new feature ‘1917’ which is out next year.
to using and shooting with it all, it stank. The guts were covered in flies. It’s funny we had to smear them over everyone and everybody was gagging . Jake you had a private premiere for your family. What did your nan think to the gift from the cinematic Gods that is ‘Blokes’? Was it also your idea to skate to the omen and what was the reaction to that like? Snelling Me mum, dad and nan pissed themselves when they saw it, I was watching their faces when my bit come on, my mum kept saying for God’s sake Jake! Why do you cut yourself like that (laughs). It must be funny to watch your son finger his arsehole and then stick his finger in his mouth at a mini ramp comp in Switzerland! They did raise me well I gotta say... It was Jack Lammas’s idea to use the omen theme, Jack and Ed called it the ‘evil section’ My family are looking forward to me being a millionaire after SOMEONE GIVES US FUNDING to make Blokes 2! Craig One could not possibly comment on this question as I am Lord Craig Anthony Stewart Scott the 2nd Earl of Kent. I am not that worthless pauper Jake Snelling, therefore I did not attend a private family function.
Regarding the dialogue, was there an actual script or did you just go off a concept and how smoothly did this go? Ed Nah no script and very minimal planning. The concept was two rival gangs of men having it out, the rest evolved naturally. Turns out this is a pretty terrible approach to film making, as we discovered in the editing stages. Luckily we got round this problem with the help of some jaw dropping CGI. Some of my favourite moments were thrown together on the spot. Like when Dan pulls the revolver out of the fruit machine and says ‘jackpot’.
Photo: Dan Joyce
Could you talk to us about the bomb drop and the trials and tribulations associated with it? Car park nause ups and snapped boards don’t make it the easiest of tricks let alone dropping off something so massive. Snelling That spot at the end is just round the corner from me new gaff, I saw it when I was walking up the road. I got Ed there one day to try it but there was cars parked there so I couldn’t do it, Ed was going away to work for a week just before the premier so I called Austin Bristow and he was down to film it. I had to go there in the morning to put a traffic cone in a free spot but it was hard because where I wanted to land there was a car there, I could of done with 2 cars not being there hence why I ride into the car after I landed but oh well fuck it, snapped my board but my rail held it together so got it the next go, beggars can’t be fucking choosers know whatta mean brother Jones?
Photo: Dan Joyce
Craig Blokes will be blokes. There’s running references throughout, the Eastenders theme tune is just one of many which seems to be popular with everyone involved outside of the film. How did the soundtrack become what it was? The balance between 90’s TV shows contrasting to Hollywood blockbuster scores is amazing. Also aren’t you releasing the soundtrack on cd? Ed The 90s TV themes make you feel well good when you listen to them, probably because they trigger nostalgia to when you were a kid. They all have a similar sound, quite energetic and catchy, which make it really easy to edit skating/violence to. The TV themes were genius because they were only about 60 seconds long, so each section of the video was really short and snappy. Just when you think the video is starting to get into a rhythm, it switches up again, the idea was to make people go - what the fuck is going on? Whilst editing we tried not to put too much back to back skating together, whenever we did that it started to slip into normal skate video territory. If that started to happen we’d chuck in the funky pigeon to shake things up (Craig’s idea).
“Fucking incredible” - Vinnie Jones On the subject of audio, the fart noises help bring humour amidst the terror, do you feel this is mandatory to break up the gnar and also reduce someone getting too proud on a trick? Craig The reason for it is that skateboarding is a piss take. It’s a laugh, when did skateboarding get so serious? The first time I saw they had put a fart noise over my trick I was bummed (no pun intended), then I thought yeah that’s sick have it, yes-i to the bless-i. Snelling Everyone loves a fart, the reason they’re so rad is for how fucking shit they smell sometimes... people will always laugh when you let off a big ole Jack the Ripper. Putting a guff noise on a skateboard trick just shows the comedy geniuses we are, it brings the skateboarding down to the fun level, which is why we self funded and made this video, just for fun! And the love of British geezer culture which we all grew up around, and now we’ve morphed into real life Blokes. What a lot of people might miss is that Blokes is actually a Christmas film with the final scene being filmed 2 days before Christmas (then continued 4 months later to get the last shots) at staple drinking spot in Brixton The Marquis of Lorne. Didn’t you have to get permission to fire guns there and
how down was the landlady for this bonkers situation to take place in her pub? Could you tell us about the shoot? Ed Yeah we did the gun stuff by the book! We hired a professional armourer who turned up with 2x revolvers, an Uzi, double barrel shotgun and a pistol that all fired blanks. I had to notify the Police station that we would be running round with these weapons in Brixton and they gave me a special code to quote incase we got in trouble with the feds. I secretly quite wanted a SWAT team to raid the shoot as we didn’t have an ending worked out and that would have been good footage.
“I’m never making another skate video again” - Jacob Harris Are there any other bits of trivia the public can be treated to? Craig Jim MacDonald is in there. The 3 murders that went unnoticed, and the orgy footage with all the sexy 21 year old Brazilian strippers. People always ask about Dan Singer not having much skate footage, we wanted to keep it quiet out of respect, but Dan’s on a 4 stretch for doing a post office with a sawn off in Westgate on Sea . Ed Look closely and you might be able to spot a Ross Kemp cameo in the pub scene. What were your personal favourite aspects of the film be it a scene, skate trick or obscure reference. Craig Funky pigeon, blame the 2 comedy masters for that me and Jack Lammas! What’s amazing is anyone out of England will not know what the fuck is going on (laughs). Is there any more merch available and is there going to be a Blokes 2? Craig Yeah loads of t-shirts, go buy some so we can all make some phat bunce.
Photo: Rich West
Can you sum up Blokes in one sentence? Ed It’s like if Tarantino directed an episode of Eastenders but didn’t get enough footage and had to fill in the gaps with a bunch of wankers smashing toilets.
Craig BBLLOOOOOKKESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
G A L L E R Y
Andy Scott - Frontside Stand Up Grind Photo: Stephen ‘Kingy’ King
PHOTO
Dean Greensmith - Wallride Photo: Reece Leung
Seb Batty - Frontside Nosegrind Photo: Leo Sharp
Harry Lintell - Nollie Kickflip Photo: Joe Buddle
Tom Day - Tailbone Photo: Reece Leung
Ryan Thompson - Ollie Photo: Reece Leung
Aaron Wilmot - Melon To Fakie Photo: Rich West Adam Moss - Ride On 50-50 Grind Photo: Reece Leung
Mickaël Germond - Ride On Nosegrind Photo: Maxime Verret
Remy Taveira - Ollie Photo: Maxime Verrett
Jed Coldwell - Blindside Kickflip Photo: Reece Leung
S P E A R S Backside 50-50 Grind
FRANKIE Words by Justin Albert Photography by Reece Leung
I’ve been a fan of Frankie Spears since meeting him as a baby-faced ripper in New York City several years ago. At the time he was a kid on flow getting his first opportunities to cruise around with some of the more established names on the adidas Skateboarding team. Despite the presence of heavy hitters, Frankie proved himself to be a laid back and matured individual with a penchant for destroying spots with style and ease.
Frontside 5-0 Grind
Fast forward several years and he’s now officially joined the ranks of adidas Skateboarding and is pro for Alien Workshop. Stoked to see Frankie come correct. Last summer Frankie and I spent a week in London together to film alongside Mark Suciu for an upcoming video part. Mark ended up having to leave early so like a natural born killer Frankie took the reigns of the trip and came away with some nice footage and photos for the lads. The ease at which Frankie stacked clips reminded me of the first time I’d been to London with a young Mark Suciu in 2013 to film for Habitat’s Search The Horizon. It’s a level of productivity that can only be brought forth by the right circumstances of place and individual, and I’m glad things are coming full circle for Frankie. The Big Smoke will always have a special place in my heart-- thank you to Ben Raemers for always enthusiastically sharing his slice of life in the city and skate scene he called home. We love and miss you brother, the world is not the same without you.
Heelflip
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S A L F O R D
FROM:
‘DEEP’ Explanation: For when something is really crazy or hard.
Example: “Man see that bump to bar Sam did, so deep!”
‘SNIDE’ Explanation: A term used for not being generous..
‘TENCH’
Example: “As if!? Thats snide! You won’t even let em’ him have one more go?”
Explanation: Refers to a particularly awkward scenario.
Example: “I’m no stranger to crackheads but that dude was tench.” ‘SATIS’
‘BUZZIN’ Explanation: A term for being happy or even ecstatic.
Example: “Buzzin!’ There’s usually a car parked on the landin’ here.”
Explanation: Abreviated term for satisfying.
Example: “The floor at Spinningfields is so satis.” ‘POTENCH’ Explanation: Abreviated term for potential.
Example: “The floor might be rough but it’s got potench.”
‘APETH’ Explanation: A word is for somebody who has done some thing stupid or is generally stupid. According to my mam, it comes from a term used for a half penny. I.E. He’s not a full penny, he’s an apeth.
Example: “Yah damagin’ that wall you daft apeth.”
‘OUR KID’ Explanation: A classic but nonetheless, still valid for a friend or mate. .
‘KEKS’
Example: “Is our kid at Urbis?”
Example: “You seen Grove’s line in those baggy Keks in Pusherman? They look like Wennin’s man!”
Explanation: Locally used for trousers or pants.
‘PEA WET’ Explanation: The green water from mushy peas.
Example: “Can I get chips, sausage and pea wet please love.”
‘SEEIN’ YER ARSE’ Explanation: When somebody is annoyed or upset.
Example: “Stop seein’ ya arse! I ain’t goin’ the cage again, I’m skint.” Our kid Matthew Nevitt getting his pea wet on. Photography: Reece Leung