Reece Leung Joel Peck Leo Sharp Robbie Chilton Casey Foley James Griffiths Sam Hutchinson Rafal Wojnowski Guy Jones Korahn Gayle
Hannah Martin Daniel Clarke Mike O’Shea Lisa O’Hara Thom Mountford Sami Graystone
Front Cover Rikk Fields - Backside Noseblunt Slide - Photo: Leung Cover Illustrations Daniel Clarke www.vaguemag.com vagueskatemag@gmail.com Instagram @vagueskatemag
Photo: Tim Smith
PREACHING TO THE
CONVERTED Boom! Banter, laughs and giggles are all top banana, but it’s still piss easy to misjudge somebody and build up a faux judgement of them. I think most people have had the experience of immediately judging someone negatively; Maybe you see a new person and they have a face so similar to somebody you already despise. The first wall of defense erected, waiting for them to say something that can be interpreted as a direct attack against your beliefs, when in actual fact it’s just mild pleasantries. After a day you’ve told 3 mates that they’re a prick, they recognise the person you supposedly dislike and interpret the fact they didn’t acknowledge them as ignoring them. They proceed to tell 3 more mates that this unprovoked victim is arrogant and a double knobhead. You continue to convince yourself this person is as bad as you say until you meet them properly and they’re sound as fuck, forcing you to paint the defense wall with remorse. Maybe not everyone’s that much of a twat and this is all quite self immersed but tell someone who’s arsed kid. Round about obvious point in conclusion: The time you put in to enjoying yourself with the people you like is far superior than fictional hate. All prior obvious points said aside: Fuck you May, Murdoch and all other icons of malice, fuck you to the ends of the earth!
Charlie Munro - Switch Olliie Photo: Leung Photo: Wojnowski
CONTENTS Blinky Etnies UK Casey Foley Photo Gallery
Sam Hutchinson Sami Graystone Mike O’Shea Art Gallery
Sievehead Alphabet & Rocket Hop Hideout
How Not To Be Darwin It’s Not Where You’re From
SAM HUTCHINSON ‘BLINKY’
“Blinky? He’s the best!” It can be easy to be biased when dealing with someone you have nothing but love for, but this is what echoes throughout the masses whenever that two syllable stoke inducer gets mentioned. The man is universally adored and it only takes a few moments of meeting him in person for this to be solidified and concluded. You’ll walk down the street with him and he’ll do 5 tricks, take two photographs, tell a good story sprinkled with hilarious anecdotes and make you realise that he’s accomplished what you would love to do in a month in 50 yards. A true purveyor of life and pandemic smile provoker. Sam please keep doing what you’re doing and keep the path that you’re on continuously flourishing.
Interview by Guy Jones Photos by Sam Hutchinson & Reece Leung Your appearance has changed slightly as of late, is this because of your fame being an extra in a new skinhead media offering? Care to discuss this? The baseball bat move is amazing! Damn yeah, pretty funny really. I’ve just grown my hair out for the first time in 6/7 years or something? It feels great to have hair. I’m trying to blag a mullet at the moment, it feels great, maybe I was worried that if I go bald I would regret shaving my head through my 20’s, you know? So anyway last year whilst I was on the dole, I was with Harley one night, and he mentioned to me that in the morning he was off to Manchester to sign up to a casting agency for extra work. It sounded great and decently payed, free meals etc, so I signed up and kept getting emails for stuff, but it was pretty intimidating to do it on my own, and get up super early to do work I was unfamiliar with. I got lots of funny requests based on my image, loads of ‘thug’ shit, hooligan, gay scenes, and even a chemotherapy patient. Another funny thing to mention is that they ask you about special skills and certain roles which some people may or may not do, like go nude on camera or fake drug use. I had a couple on mine which
was like, ‘Skateboarding - Intermediate level’, and I also put down that I was ‘Advanced level at rollerblading’, because how funny would that be to get paid work to do? I can’t rollerblade at all but would have been good crack eh. I get a phone call one day, and it’s the casting agency asking why I hadn’t really responded to the emails, as the crew had saw my head shot and were really keen for me to be cast as a skinhead ‘bovver boy’, they reassured me it was all cool so I thought I would go for it. I did maybe 3 or 4 days work, which included a massive fight scene, sitting in a car with Marc Warren pretending to eat sausage rolls, and hanging about on set with Rupert Grint. The best scene we filmed was about 5 of us getting to smash up a flower shop with baseball bats, going absolutely mental with it too. We were shouting at each other getting psyched up before the take because if we fucked it up they would have to restore this pane of glass which was shattered at the start and it would take a while to set it up again. In the scene you can see me pretty clearly, and I’m the only one thats jittering I was that hyped up to smash shit up, it was super fun, I throw a plant off the wall too. It came out in about May this year, its the TV remake of the film ‘Snatch’.
I literally cried (Overheard by artist, about other artist’s work) - Basketball chain, 1l hand sanitiser, acrylic box - Collaboration with Michaela Cullen, 2017
Wallie Frontisde Rock Photo: Leung
Post-functional structure, 2015
When not steezing out our screens you’ve been quite the legend in earning money recently being a care worker. How has this experience been for you? A true test of character and I’m sure it highlights the importance of these public sectors. Yeah this year has been cool, and I really enjoyed being a support worker for adults with learning difficulties and disabilities. It made me think a lot about being an adult and also a human, and I absolutely loved working with the people I supported, they’re so real, there’s no pretence. It was hard work but I feel like it’s helped me mature, and working with a very diverse group of people has taught me a lot about life. I got to take one of the lads on his yearly holiday to Skegness too which was amazing, they’re all beautiful characters and never failed to make me smile. I would thoroughly recommend people to get into social care, you will meet some of the coolest and honest people, and make friends for life. That industry really needs as much support as possible too, especially in the current political climate. The company I worked for was a private company howeverbut there are lots of people with disabilities and learning difficulties/conditions who have had their lives made especially harder by the Conservative government’s brutal cuts to the welfare system. I’m simplified black and white (as there are obviously more issues to throw back and forth), I can’t see any argument for a government that cuts taxes for billionaire businesses, gives MP’s pay rises, but takes away essential money for people that can’t work jobs and are forced to rely on the state. Marginalised groups in the UK get a hard enough time anyway without the Tories making life even harder for them, we do not live in a country that supports equality for all. This government supports the privileged few, not those that work hard, and makes life tremendously difficult for those less fortunate.
You hail from Sunderland, often mistaken for a Geordie but have resided in Leeds for the past 6 years? Leeds obviously has so many benefits, art, skateboarding, hills. What was it that drew you here, then kept you as well? The RWTB and whole Welcome crew never fails to get me hyped, and I’m always amazed at the incredible artwork and projects the artists and designers of Leeds have to offer. The hardcore/punk scene here is also super strong, and over the years I’ve got to see some really sick musicians doing their own shit, from both international and local bands. The combination of these three scenes gets me hyped every day. In the same arcade as Welcome you’ve got Tall Boys Beer Market, and Village Bookstore, its a perfect mix of good skateboarding, coffee, beer and the best books, zines and evening events you could ask for. I feel very lucky to be involved in these communities, all three which are very supportive of creativity, freedom, and pushing good messages. I hate the term DIY because personally I feel its being used as an excuse to fit a certain aesthetic or to alienate those who choose to present themselves in a different way, but there really is a strong scene of people in all these communities ‘doing it themselves’, for non profit, for the love of creativity, and to support others in really forward-thinking ways. You’ve had a fair share of collective exhibitions, this must be ideal for a charismatic, conversational man like yourself. Is it similar to skating in the respect of knowing more people in more areas? When I was studying, I hated hearing the term ‘networking’ as it always connoted a dishonest approach, I came to realise that it can mean something very different to what I had originally envisioned. The worlds of skateboarding and art both benefit from people sticking together, working
Raillie Photo: Leung
180 Nosegrind
Backside Tailslide
Now in the future - Collaboration with Michaela Cullen, 2017
together, and the sharing of knowledge and information. True socialism. I feel that the more educated and informed we can all be about peoples different approaches to life, skateboarding, art, employment, traveling, relationships, acceptance, politics, etc. The more we can do, the more life can have some purpose and/or meaning. Meeting new people is very important to me, as it helps with the anxiety of existentialism, seeing how we can all live together and generate new ideas and theories. It helps me to make sense of why making art helps us live, in the same way in which skateboarding needs no justification, sometimes we all need that subtle reminder of the fact that life is exactly how you shape it yourself. Some of the images from this article are from the last exhibition I was a part of, at a studio and gallery called Serf. It was the first time I’ve collaborated with anyone making work, and Michaela Cullen was the best person I could have possibly worked with. It gave me a new insight and approach in making work collaboratively, and the discussion and process of trying new ways of practice was super interesting, fun, and informative. I definitely am someone who needs change in my life as to not get bored easily, and to prevent recycling the same thoughts and fears in my head. I function better with other humans. Diversity is the best. Speaking of collectives, you’ve just finished your school of the damned course which sounds like such a banging educational alternative to university. Care to discuss this a bit and your final graduate piece? School of the Damned, or at least, the class of 2017 in which I was involved with, stands as a protest to fees in higher education. It acts as a free, unaccredited masters degree. Over the course of a year I met with a group of artists, all of which I’m honoured to consider friends, and we followed an educational
discourse. They helped us to progress with our practices, using both theory and our physical work, to progress as artists and to act as both student and teacher, and promote alternative education in a non-exclusive way (as much as we possibly could). Under our current government higher education is becoming more and more exclusive to the upper-classes, and opportunity and freedom is being greatly limited as a result. Alternative education groups seek to break this pattern and promote the idea that education can come from own-sourced materials, and as a group, sharing knowledge and information to one another to learn and progress in a nonelitist way. We acted on a labour exchange, inviting guests from any background or profession to add something new each session, rather than using money, exchanging labour and time with one another. The school works autonomously and passes down its name to the next year, which then takes full control over how it operates. It is currently in its 5th year. My work in our final show referenced the fact that when I graduated from my BA even the ceremony cost money, for robes, and an image, on top of the already ridiculous course fees (of which tutors and lecturers are payed shockingly low on average compared to those at the top of the universities who give little to no actual teaching experience, the shit that really matters), so I boycotted my own graduation. I thought it was interesting that graduating from a photography course we learn about how the image is mostly fiction, and here we were asked, to stand with a fake plastic scroll to get an image taken of a ceremony which doesn’t even officially mean you have graduated, I didn’t go and I still officially graduated, its all for show, a performance. I started to ask myself why I should have gone, and realised that I felt I should have gone for my family, to be able to give my parents that photograph that acts as
Nosepick Rag In Photo: Leung
Permanent/temporary functional structure
(latter), 2016
Impossible Photo: Leung
(Rosie) Smashing capitalism within white walls, 2017
a form of trophy of congratulations. My final work was a Blackpool style wooden board with the head cut out, in which anyone who went to the show could pose and get that sacred image for their loved ones, and for myself, to create an image of myself that took my graduation photo and ceremony playing by my rules, not the institutions. Tell us the story of that dog doing the spine in Newcastle. I had actually forgotten about that, I’m glad you brought it up. It was at Silky skate park
in Sunderland (not Newcastle) at the skate park that was my local for years growing up. There was a period of time that someone used to bring their dog to the park and the dog loved running about the ramps, it used to bolt over the spines and do some well legit airs. One day we were up the park and the dog rolled in with its back legs broken and in a miniature dog wheelchair, bless it, so sad but you gotta fall down to get back up I guess. That dog should go down as a hero. He obviously knew what was up, kept it real.
Jumping to the subject of social media, you’ve got an excellent ration of real life to the demon, and actually post worthwhile stuff which highlights the real life. What’s the secret? I’m not sure I would agree completely, but lets go! I guess I feel photography is always some form of fictional representation of reality, the fact an image has been composed to include certain elements means that no matter how real we think it is, it is always a construct of the individuals personal manifestation. I hate and love social media. It shares so much positivity, but I wish sometimes it was possible to be ultimately faceless. I hate how individuals are judged by what is essentially a curated selection of highlights, and I hate that even though we may not care, there is always an representation built by what we see, and what is chosen for us to see. My social media gives so little information about my life or interests, but more a sort of response to social media in a way, specifically
Frontside Air Photo: Leung
from my artist standpoint, I can share small insights into my work or share things I feel are relevant. I like the fact that images are circulated and forgotten about so quickly as it reflects real life, or juxtaposes itself with memory and real life experience. I tell people I hate technology, but I constantly use it to help me source the things I love. Its a fine line. If you binge too hard on it do you have to counteract it by binging on real life. For sure. I think its also a bad thing that we can be so freely contacted through several platforms in day to day life. I think the constant attachment to social accessibility can be a big source of anxiety. Kinda like how I love living in the city because it can be so fucking hectic, but every so often its good to be in the middle of nowhere, with no signal, no communication, totally free. You can feel free in a crowd and by yourself. I like face to face contact. I hear a lot of people who talk
Rock Transfer Photo: Leung Nobody likes a sell out - Magazine stack, vinyl, collaboration with Michaela Cullen, 2017
about social media as if it has some form of direct response for people but I feel it is a tool in which has its benefits and downfalls, its not black or white. All people are different, and I don’t think human experience can be shared or compared to other human experience without subjectivity and context. A lot of your other work is really satirical, do you feel the need to balance in your work, some taking the piss out of a pop culture and some just based on the pleasurable aesthetics of shapes? Yeah I think that art is something to be manipulated and used as a way to explore different aspects of life and our surroundings, especially including that which effects us subconsciously, like advertising, politics or media and TV. I think it’s important to use it to make your own comments against the bullshit we feel effects us subconsciously or on a more direct level, and I think humour is a good form of positive protest, and can communicate opinion or create debate in a way in which doesn’t threaten other peoples ways of thinking. Using art as a form of communication also means that it can support our well-being in a way in which it can help us make important comments or be used in a cathartic way, but it can also be used as a form of pleasure, in a way in which it can be totally abstract and free from concept or thought. I think a good balance of both thinking too much and thinking not at all is something that I personally feel helps me feel content. The time of this interview you’re out in Palestine with the right honourable legend Josh Rose. Power combo if I do say so myself! How is it out there? Its amazing out here. I’m super thankful to have the opportunity to volunteer with SkatePal, and big props to Charlie and Theo for the work they do with the charity, its amazing. I’ve met some of the
most welcoming and stoked people ever out here, and the culture is beautiful. For skateboarding to exist here, especially in such a gender-balanced way, gets me so hyped. Hopefully it can reflect positively on, especially, the younger generation, to give more option to social and personal activity. With the occupation, life for the average Palestinian isn’t what I would call ‘free’, in a way in which most would define freedom. Everyday life can be a constant battle, and intimidation in many ways from the IDF even towards innocents and children can seem shocking, a constant disturbance and challenge. I love this country and try to think optimistically about the future. I love skateboarding here as the landscape and terrain is unlike anything I’ve ever skated, and the people are so happy to let you skate their land or houses, they actively seem to encourage it (most of the time), and are very supportive of us being here, which is refreshing for someone who gets hassle off jobsworth, rude blame-culture security at nearly every street spot in Leeds. A couple of days ago we were skating a rail into a big main road hill bomb, and apart from having a big shabab of about 10 kids going mental, I had a crowd of drivers and taxi drivers helping me stop traffic and giving us opportunities to skate, bringing us coffee and water, wanting to invite us in to meet their families and children and give us tea. Its a very trusting and welcoming place. I feel very at home here. You’re only returning for a brief stint to the UK then aren’t you off again? Yeah I’m super hyped, I’m meeting my girlfriend in Thailand for a couple weeks then off to Australia over December to February, then to New Zealand. I’m excited as I’ve only really been to Europe, so Palestine and the aforementioned countries are all areas of the world that I’ve never experienced firsthand. I also have tried my best to have little to no
Frontside Ollie Photo: Leung
L - R: Why look at a computer when you could look at the real thing? -Shattered car glass, liquid latex, petroleum jelly, PVA, wax, spray paint, ash, grit, lacquer / New, Cheaper Laser Eye Surgery Causing Sensation In UK - Digital print, appropriated click bait image / i “How long’s this light been blinking?” ii “I dunno, a couple of days?” Materials as stated for ‘Why look at a computer…’ - Collaboration with Michaela Cullen, 2017
pre-conceptions about these places, and it’ll be great to broaden my cultural spectrum. I’ve never really traveled too much, especially for longer periods of time than a week or so, so I’m hoping these trips will give me some confidence to get out more and work harder to be able to travel more and skate new places and meet people doing their own thing, I don’t like having too many plans or money either, its way more fun this way and I’ve found you meet more like-minded people anyway. If you’re reading this and you
wanna do a cheap trip in 2018 hit me up. Also anyone that can give me a place to sleep in Melbourne or Sydney and wants to hang over New Year and Christmas give me a shout! I can make you some good food in exchange for a space to sleep on your floor. It’s funny how you don’t seem arsed about material possessions but on the contrary have so many cherished items. Man this is such a great thing to bring up. I’ve never thought about this topic so
directly in terms of how we value objects and possessions. Especially as I see myself as someone who hates the materialistic world, or at least, I feel there is a lot of contradiction between certain aspects of culture and class and the way in which objects can be used for personal benefit, compared to personal benefit gained from the appreciation of others. I think there is definitely a distinction to be made between the way in which we interact with objects that we can form certain bonds with. On one hand you could say people collect material possessions that give them an ego boost, using objects as signifiers of wealth or status. On the other hand you have objects as collecting- small signifiers which hold personal memory, nostalgia or subjective validity. I recently had to clear out my studio space and i realised how much of a hoarder I am. I think many skateboarders are similar though, which is why I find skate-houses so interesting. We tend to be obsessives I think? Or at least, I know a lot of skateboarders and artists
Ollie Photo: Leung
who are obsessives. With skate houses, they usually tend to be collections of the most amazing individual one-offs and charity shop finds, strange outsider-style art, and things that you don’t see in everyday life, or at least, everyday objects that have in some way been manipulated. Maybe thats it, collecting objects is kinda like collecting sculptures, they tend to come out of a certain context that only has one original source, things that can be lost in the world and we’ve found them, finding the shiny sticker out of a pack of dull ones. Stickers that you wish you hadn’t stuck. Like skateboards that you used to have that you know will never be made again. Hopefully somewhere down the line these objects we collect will be rediscovered, and whether they give ourselves a personal kick of nostalgia or remind us of certain time periods, events, friends or thoughts, they can have the same effect on other people, especially if somewhere the intention can be lost. Then the mystery of the banal is even better than the act of knowing.
SIEVEHEAD Raw, organic and fucking enjoyable to witness, listen to or even hear about. Sievehead are one of those bands that not only make rad music for the right reasons but also give far more back to the community they’re immersed in than you think you do when you’re asking for discount at your local skater owned shop! Buy their albums, see them live and for God’s sake get them a beer and let their charisma wash over you. Raw and polished, are they the musical interpretation of an Indy 149 truck? Interview by Guy Jones Illustrations by Lisa O’Hara Photos by Baron Milek & Angela Owens Did you all initially meet through shredboarding, music or other in Scunthorpe/Grimsby? Bry: Yeh through both. Me and Joe met while we were still at school. I was from a smaller town outside Scunny. Our crew used to go skate there at weekends, and that’s how we met. We all started going to see skate punk and ska bands around that time. We met Dave a bit further down the line in Sheffield. I was living there and his band Fastpoint would come and play with my band at the time, Cop Out. And cos we all skated as well we hit it off and were real good mates from then on. There were a lot of local bands that heavily inspired you, who were they and what made it so significant to yourselves? Bry: We’re inspired by a wide range of bands from a lot of different places but the biggest inspiration for us about Sheffield is the strong DIY ethic, the punk scene has always had here. Being a part of it plays a massive role in our lives and shapes how we make decisions as a band. Joe: There’s tons of firm favourites from local scenes but I wouldn’t necessarily say we were inspired musically by any of them in particular. Most of the bands that I feel inspired by who happen to be local died out
30 years ago like Artery and I’m So Hollow who’re both from Sheffield. And who coined the name? Bry: Its a term in Sheffield for being forgetful. I used to get called it on site when I was working in construction. Do you boys combine a skate with a praccy, or take your boards on trips? Bry: Definitely. How much we skate though depends on how early we start drinking haha. We’ve played some great places around Europe that have ramps/spots at the venue or close by. Cherry Bowl in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland is a firm favourite. Check it out! Joe: When we’re on tour I’m usually too dying to skate so just hang about and take a few pictures in between making a token attempt at dropping in/doing a kickflip. Dave: There’s no denying the greatest days include three key ingredients in no particular order, skateboarding, beer and a gig. We’re all pretty keen on this recipe. The music scene in Sheffield is banging, is that what drew you all here? Bry: It had a big part in it. We all knew the punk scene here was great and gigs were regular. The last three year however have been another level. Joe: Music is definitely one of the principal things that drew me to Sheffield. There was a lull in between times when we struggled for venues but at the moment it’s amazing.
I moved to Leeds for a year or so before Sievehead started and never got on with it the same way I do Sheffield. The community is really tight knit and everyone chips in to get shit done and it’s paying off now with what is happening here. Dave: Most definitely, Sheffield is a magical place, hard not to romanticise it but it’s down to the graft of certain people that make it so vibrant and something you want to be a part of and contribute towards. It’s fully self sufficient within it’s community. What’s the deal with The Lughole and The Audacious Art Experiment? Bry: Both The Lughole and Audacious are collective run DIY spaces. The Lughole is around 4 years old now and Audacious a bit older. Both provide practice space and gig space for punk and underground bands in Sheffield. As Lughole is a bit bigger we also facilitate self defence classes, swap meets and the odd exhibition. The bottom line is we’re not for profit, there’s no managers and we do it for the DIY community in Sheffield
and UK. Now we have a reputation, most touring bands want to play here which is amazing and helps us grow and grow. Joe: Yeah what Bry said, and also there’s a new space cropped up recently in the ashes of Tie Dye Tapes called Delicious Clam which has just opened up so we have 3 DIY spaces now – spoiled for choice. Do you think this DIY culture is down to lack of exposure compared to a bigger city and frustration of being say more neglected than somewhere like London or just because this is where the energy is? Bry: I think the strong DIY culture here is mainly down to the commitment and beliefs of people that ended up living here or are from here. When I moved here 11/12 years ago I met people that thought fuck everyone else, let’s do this ourselves and do it good. And now with the internet as a tool, gigs in Sheffield probably get as much exposure as ones in London. It’s just that there’s more people in London to attend and get involved. Here we’ve got quality not quantity haha.
Even city to city the community you immerse yourself in is essentially the same, where are some of the best places you’ve gigged? Bry: We’ve played a lot of ace cities and venues it’s hard to pick certain ones out. Our gig in Milan was pretty mental. We played in a basement the size of a fridge. Everyone was cranked up on speed and booze and went mad. Joe: There’s so many good places I can’t even list them all, it’s amazing when you just rock up somewhere with absolutely no preconception of a place and no idea and the gig turns out to be amazing and there’s a great group of people behind the venue. I think highlights for me are Milan as Bry said and also Oslo – shout out to Skunko/Erling for being the best host/driver in Europe. And some of the worst... Bry: Worse place we ever played? Gotta be London. Joe: Worst venue was probably Stoke when the venue looked like it’d been abandoned for 10 years and then reopened the day of the gig. They had run out of booze before the gig even started. Worse, I was dying to go to the bog, walked into the only cubicle which had no light, used the light on my phone and was confronted with the most appalling sight - like trainspotting x100. I considered it for about 5 seconds before heading to a pub round the corner instead. The gig itself was decent though to be fair. Dave: The worst gigs are when Joe plays everything right.
How long were you boys squatting and are there any stories from then? Could you give a rundown of some of the places/how you did it? Bry: Me and my old mate John cracked a huge 4 bedroom house in one of the most wealthy areas in Sheffield. We scoped it out and it was clear it had been empty for years, forgotten about and left to rot. After a couple months past we got comfortable and a load of mates moved in including Joe. We converted the basement into bedrooms as well, fixed stuff up and built a mini ramp in the dining room (as you do). The house lasted a few years and was pretty plain sailing as squats go! We had a gig in the living room when we moved out which was chaos. Skiplickers, Dry Heaves and Doyle Jam opened up (Joe and Daves short lived project). Are you celebrities back in Lincolnshire? Bry: Dunno about Lincolnshire but we’re a big hit with the mums country wide! Dave: Joe can’t handle going back to Scunny because of all the attention, can’t eat his kebab in peace.
Do you do the artwork on the albums yourselves? Joe: Yeah I’ve done all the artwork on the records we’ve put out, I stepped forward to do the artwork for the demo tape and because I’d done that it just seemed natural to try and keep some consistency in the artwork for the rest of our releases. Is this important to you? Joe: I see it as an outlet for myself and also it’s something that’s an extension of our sound. Ideally I can make something that sets you up a bit mentally for the sound of the band. That way the artwork and the music are one thing and not just something disparate. Bry: I personally think it means more as a band to have one of us do the art rather than get whoever is cool right now to do something and have it look really similar to other bands.
What is the main motive behind your music? Into the blue is so powerful! Your latest work is fucking rad and feels slightly more atmospheric. How do you feel your output has evolved? Is it similar motives behind the song? Bry: I think the motive for lyrics is personal politics and frustration with surroundings. Musically we always just wanted to play honest, raw music and not stick to a mould. And I think you can hear that in the progression through our records. Dave: Same reasons why you go skating, fuck everything off, forget it all and play. It’s just the more work and focus you put in, the more you get from it, key ingredient though is fun. Unlike kickflips - the more I try the worse they get. What inspirational exert are you going to leave us with? Bry: It is what it is, it’s like owt.
Joe: Don’t fucking start a band for fashion.
ALPHABET + ROCKET COLLAB One of the key things about brewing that I love (aside from the product, and getting pissed, wahay the lads!) is the community and how rad the collabs are. The one that has graced our pages here is between Manchester’s Alphabet Brewery and Copenhagen’s Rocket Brewery. Powerful liquid movements non? Kim from Rocket and Joe from Alphabet take the mic.
Interview by Guy Jones Photos by Reece Leung What’s the beer and how did this collaboration come about? Kim: Joe and I met in Paris at Paris Beer Week and Joe invited us over to do a collab and a tasting of our sour beers at Manchester Beer Week. The beer ended up being an imperial red brett IPA. We use brett in all of our beers and Alphabet do a lot of hoppy beers, so it was a natural way to go. What’s the idea behind your wild / sour beer? Kim: I am a chef, and working as a chef I have always been inspired by whats in season, working with local farmers and using the natural soundings as a source of ingredients and inspiration. I wanted to bring the chefs way of thinking into the brewery and to me there is no better way of combining the two worlds than sour beers. Using spontaneous fermentation with brett and souring bacteria and adding everything from raspberries to lilac we pick ourselves. When in season it gives us a unique line of sour beers that we are very proud of. Joe: I’m a huge sour beer fan and take regular trips over to Belgium to visit the Lambic breweries, but we hadn’t actually brewed a beer with Brett ourselves - most of our beers are pales/ipa’s - so we thought we’d combine both our house styles.
What led you to start a brewery and how long you’ve been active, are you part of a
community in your area? Kim: Working in a high end restaurant and being into craft beer, there isn’t a long way from drinking to start home brewing. And thats how I started. Brewing every Sunday when the restaurant was closed. My chef was kind enough to let me borrow the kitchen and after a few years I felt confident enough to start Rocket Brewing Company about 3 years ago. The craft beer community in Copenhagen is big and well organised. I feel like most brewers see other brewers as colleagues and not competition, as it should be. Collabs, festivals and working together is a big deal here. Joe: We launched right at the end of 2014, pretty much the same time as a lot of the Manchester craft breweries - Takk, Cloudwater, Chorlton etc. When we were looking to open there were about 4 breweries in and around the city centre, but now there’s something like 12! Everyone is super helpful, we’re all a similar size, a similar age, and have the same issues and growth problems. We all share ideas, ingredients, equipment and look to help each other where we can. What are the customer favourites of your own tipples? Kim: We are all about sour and funky beer, but we also do “normal” beers but ferment them with brett. Our two most popular beers I think are “Club Tropicana” a tropical pale ale with citra, sorachi ace and “ Zero Gravity” an IPA with simcoe and amarillo. Both are fermented with brett. Joe: I think Flat White, which is a 7.4% White
Breakfast Stout, is probably the beer that we get the most compliments on. It looks like a pale ale, but tastes like a mixture of stout and a milky coffee. People are always like “how have you done that?!”. What are some of your favourite UK breweries? Kim: Naming names is always hard, but some of my favourites are The Kernel, Cloudwater and Beavertown. Joe: I think Deya a small brewery down in Cheltenham are probably doing some of the best ipa’s and dipa’s available at the moment. They’re very much in the New England style school, hazy, massively hoppy and delicious. Magic Rock and Northern Monk are 2 other breweries I’m a big fan of - never do a bad beer. And some of your favourite Danish Breweries? Kim: Amager bryghus, Alefarm and To Øl. Joe: Err has to be Carlsberg doesn’t it... Do you both usually stick to one artist for your
labels outside of collaborations? Kim: We have a graphic designer who is in charge of the overall Rocket design, but we also work with different artists on different projects. Joe: Yeah we’ve always used an illustrator called Hammo and will continue to as our beer cans and badges are kind of associated with Hammo’s style now, though that’s not to say we won’t do a few specials and one-offs with other artists in the future. Have you both visited each others brewery/ neutral territory? Any good stories from these meet ups? Kim: I have been to Alphabet once and was very well taken care of! I am just waiting for Joe and the team to come visit us so we can return the favour with a good night out in Copenhagen! Joe: Kim flew over the night before the collab so I took him out for a “couple” of drinks, unfortunately we didn’t make it home until 4am the next morning. Needless to say neither of us was feeling great the next day.
MIKE O’SHEA
ETNIES UK TURKEY
Etnies has been so pertinent to not only the act of skateboarding over the last 30 years but also so much of the dopeness! Iconic shoes with an equally iconic list of riders to boot. Soletech have supported the UK scene so heavily, making sure their fresh webs (see issue one for slang ref.) were documented through all the desired media outlets. Document, Sidewalk, the big pushes, A4 Hating life for Christs sake! The current patrons of Etnies isn’t so much as a contracted team, more the people who they support and in turn the people who want to support them and acknowledge their constant input to skateboarding. This provoked the following pages documenting this eclectic crew of rippers and a full promo crafted my master lens wielder Josh Hallett. Captions by the box of toys themselves. Intro by Guy Jones Photos by Reece Leung
Ben Rowles - Kickflip One cloudy day in Nottingham, Ben wanted to try a GX1000 style line on a crusty side street, but the English weather had different plans, nevertheless he still continued to skate as the floor became an ice rink. After hitting the first gap then drifting to the other side of the road, Ben stomps a perfect kickflip before taking the rest of the soggy hill, Josh hot on his heels to document. Eventually the speed gets too much for Josh, slamming him into the curb while keeping the VX above his head. Legend. - Dale Starkie
Dale Starkie - Frontside Bluntslide Dale was itching to visit this revived Wandsworth hot spot. The ever familiar greeting of being ‘way gnarlier than it looks on footage’ and an electrician working on the bank with his van parked on the run out made things a little more tricky. After eventually persuading the bemused sparky to move his van and verbally doubting his self efficacy for the best part of 2 hours, Dale was rolling away from this front blunt as easy as you like. ‘Av it Sparkie’! - Chris Mann
Jiri Bulin - Heelflip This spot is rougher than a bear’s arse, anybody who has been knows. Situated in the bowels of Manchester Jiri heelflips it with karate kick your head off steeze. Absolute cannon! - Rikk Fields
Myles Rushforth - Ollie Over Lipslide This rail is one of those spots that’s in a sketchy area where seven year olds wander round instilling fear with ease, making it not the nicest place to be never mind skate! I could tell that Myles was sketched out about the area and the crusty rail itself. Twenty minutes passed by of Myles rolling up to the rail trying to get the hype to pop the first one, then out of nowhere he popped the first one and almost does it first try! Two more tries later he was rolling away like it was a skate park rail just before it started to piss it down ending the session on a massive high. - Dale Starkie
Chris Mann - Rock Grab Fakie Chris takes us back to 2005 with this ‘Live From Antarctica’ inspired board stall pull in London at a spot which you get no longer than a matter of minutes at! - Myles Rushforth
Dale Starkie - Gap, Gap, Backside Lipslide What can I say about Dale? He’s that guy who laughs at people hooking down the biggest shit, but then you’ll catch him mid-comp run trying to kickflip a massive driveway to flat. He is always keen to skate, always keen to jump, but sometimes his hype gets the better of him, to the point where he is punching himself in the face for not landing a trick (wasn’t letting you get away with that one Dale haha). Yet here is the lesser seen Dale, the quick footed, low impact side. He made this trick look easy, but there is so much room for error. - Ben Rowles
Myles Rushforth - Ollie Over 5-0 Grind Midweek at London’s tourist mecca, a brand new spot & security guards lurking. Myles avoided being obvious and found a window between the waves of camera wielders to place this proper 5-0 into a skinny roll out situation. Bags on in no time! - Chris Mann
Chris Mann - Polejam Chris had a slight disadvantage with this edit, as he is the only rider living down south. At first I thought it would be good, because he would be the only person with London footage, in comparison to the rest of the edit which was predominantly northern based. It turned out hard to find an available filmer who uses the same camera format as Josh, and was available. That in mind, Chris missioned up North, found his dream pole jam, and rode straight over it with a classic Chris Mann after bang! - Ben Rowles
Ben Rowles - 5050 Grind Ben threw caution out the window when skating this one as anybody who has been to this spot knows how gnarly it is. This thing is super hard because of the height and length of the rail. To top this off it has the worst run up and landing too. - Rikk Fields
SAMI GRAYSTONE Sami Graystone; a nucleus of stoke where all that emanates is faultless! True to herself and that organic radness prevails to the highest degree. It’s her artwork that we’ve highlighted visually but all that is attached to it add to the full picture of her, the passion for what she wants to be associated with and physically creating and printing herself to ensure that. You won’t catch her doing a job for some scumbag company for some quick dollar but instead supporting the subcultures she admires and is very much a part of. Sami’s not just a powerful illustrator but a person so immersed in stoke and optimism it’ll eradicate your own feeble whines and induce a lust for life! Interview by Guy Jones Illustrations by Sami Graystone Yes Sami, how’s it going? Good man! You distribute work through the meathook where you design and print the goods? What are some of the more satisfying things to print on and how important is this start to finish hands on experience to you? When all goes smooth anything can be a pleasure to print on, but theres so many things to go wrong, it can get mega stressful, like, you’re wasting an entire garment if you make a mistake, I hate that! Being involved in the whole process is super important to me, I like to know how everything is made and to have full creative control, it gives me confidence in the product I’m putting out there. You can get a T-shirt, an art print, a fancy looking helmet or even a denim jacket with a back print from the high street for a couple of quid, I’m not doing anything new here. I want to provide something different, quality and a human touch, personalisation that you cant get from the high street/online giants. A lot of the work seems inspired by motorbikes and tattoo culture, obviously with
a decent amount of Yorkshire to boot! What first led you to these cultures and how did your passion grow? For me, These cultures all boil down to similar things, freedom, expression and a kind of screw the system type vibe, all values that were installed in me from a very young age. I never felt like I belonged in normal society, especially when I started to adventure away from home as a teen, people looked like sheep to me, all dressed the same, in the same routine, wanting the same things, buying the same things, believing the Daily mail, haha! It blew my mind! I guess I found a sense of belonging in what some might call ‘alternative’ cultures. It seems that the motor has been ingrained into you from an early age, did the illustration and music come at a similar time? Yeah, we grew up track side watching the Graystone boys race scrap cars. Glam, rock and roll, Country and Blues would be on full blast as mum and dad would drive our super cool black Capri, at what felt like light speed, me and my bro’s taking it in turns to stick our head out of the sun roof to feel the wind in our hair, we had trikes and old dirt bikes to mess around on too. Those early years definitely started my love of music, engines and speed. The illustration side of
it however I’m not sure, both me and my eldest bro, the Neon Mystic, are illustrators, maybe it came from us being encouraged to be creative, I couldn’t specifically say, but it was definitely there from a young age, when I was 6, I moved to a new school and no one believed that I had just drawn this picture, so in front of the whole class I had to draw it again to prove I wasn’t tracing, haha. I’d draw caricatures and cool shit to get me out of trouble or to make people laugh through high school too, it was a very handy skill. You were involved in one hell of a traffic incident not so long ago and your positivity has stoked out anyone and everyone who is aware of it (thank fuck it didn’t happen to vegan Leo). If you don’t mind talking about it could you discuss the incident, your road to recovery, where you’re at now and how you’ve managed to have so much PMA that we can’t help but get stoked out? I was riding to town on my Kawasaki Z750 chop, a car pulled out on me (standard) but that
day, unlike the others, I had no time to react, no time to turn, or power out, I just remember seeing the side of the vehicle and my hands pulling the break, as I thought, ‘fuck, OK, this is happening’ it felt like a bomb going off in my stomach. I landed wrapped up in my bike at the other side, we’d flipped over their roof. There was an eerie moment of silence, I could hear the petrol dripping out of my tank, then, suddenly it was mayhem, cars screeching to a stop, people screaming and crying, two dudes held my head and legs still, any slight movement was excruciating, they rang the ambulance and tried to keep me calm. I couldn’t stop screaming really bad swear words with every exhalation and then saying ‘sorry, sorry about that’ haha, they just laughed and told me to let it out. I knew it was bad, being no stranger to hurting myself, growing up skating and dicking around, I thought I was paralysed at first, because from the waist down everything felt like jelly, but then I realised I could wiggle my toes. I lifted my hand to my face and blood poured down my glove. I
was just laid there thinking thank fuck for the NHS. The ambulance crew, the A&E staff and the Trauma ward staff saved my life as if it was the most casual thing on earth, they are heroes in my eyes, we are lucky in the UK. I’d sustained a fractured skull, deep lacerations down my left side, and my pelvis was shattered and had also separated from my spine. I had 2 major surgeries to stitch up my lacerations and piece my pelvis back together using lots of screws and plates, after rocking a huge exo-frame for a few days. After 2 weeks in hospital, some horrific experiences that I’ll never forget, but some amazing ones too, once I could sit up and transfer from my bed, I could go home. I had 3 months in a wheelchair, unable to leave my flat without someone to lift me down the stairs, after those 3 months it was a case of using my legs again, I’ve only recently come off crutches, still using a walking stick on bad days. The accident was a year and 2 months ago, the last couple of months have felt like I’m finally getting there, I weaned myself off the drugs, I’m still in a lot of pain from the screw holding my pelvis to my spine, but its better than being completely zombified. I struggle to walk some days but I’m getting my life back slowly, back on 2 wheels and feeling creative again! As far as the positivity goes, I mean I’m glad I’ve projected that and thanks for saying it stoked everyone out. There’s obviously been some extremely difficult times over the last year, but I have generally had the mentality that I’m fortunate, fortunate it wasn’t worse, I mean I can walk, I’m here, I’m alive and life will get better for me, there are plenty of people in shit situations that just get on with life. I’ve always believed in being positive, if you can heal your mind your body will follow. The support I received after my accident was unreal, from people from all aspects of my life, music, skating, motorbikes even to people who only knew me from my internet presence, if I was a dick, I hardly doubt I would have received as much support as I did, the love I was shown helped me so much through some very, very difficult times. So yeah, don’t be a dick! Plus if
you buzz off the extreme highs of something like riding motorbikes, skating or anything else gnarly, then you’ve gotta also take the lows and blows that activity may bring. Tell us a bit about Zealous Doxy. Zealous Doxy is the name of a band that Rose and I started a few years back, she plays the banjo and we both sing. We initially started jamming as just as a bit of fun, with no intention of performing, but we started to write more and more songs that we was really happy with, so we started gigging and recorded a few tracks. We deal with some pretty dark issues, suicide, prostitution, etc, and we have a kind of spooky sound, but petty ballsy too, I swear my voice has like an built in megaphone or something so it can get pretty ruckus considering its just the 2 of us. It’s so much fun to gig with my best friend, we toured America with the Pine Hill Haints and Europe with X Ray Cat Trio, we have so many memories and have met some amazing people. Everything has been on hold since my accident but we have done a couple of gigs lately and are hoping to record next year. What are some of your favourite venues to play and people to play with? We played a box cart on the railway lines in a place called Black Butte in Mount Shasta, Northern California, people lived there, including Bruce who lived in a Kaboos, named ‘Bruce’s Kaboos’ much to our amusement. It was like a little community, away from mainstream society. The box cart didn’t have sides, so when we performed we could look out over the mountains with the stars twinkling away in a crystal clear sky, it was so dreamy, I also reckon the home made scrumpy and Californian bud had a little something to do with how fondly I remember that evening. Playing with the Haints taught us a lot, like how to just chill out and go with it when you make a mistake, they’re seasoned and natural born musicians, so they’re super chilled and used to improv. Playing with our Serious Sam Barrett at The Brudenell Social club
a couple of months back was something both Rose and I had wanted to do since we started, he’s been a friend and inspiration to us both for many years and we’ve both been going to gigs at the Brude for years, so it was an all round treat for us. Your range of mediums is vast (pencil pen, spray, vinyl prints,but what do you prefer working with the most and what are some of your favourite materials as the base for your work? EG Vinyl covers, skateboards, helmets. I really enjoy painting on ‘difficult’ surfaces, letting the paint and the brush make their own marks, but then I also love the precision of a fine liner. I get to use both those styles working on tanks and helmets, I can start by mark making using spray paint and then get to go in with a fine brush to work on the details. What’s in the pipeline for you Sami and give us 3 good reasons to recommend Yorkshire to
someone who’s never been? I’ve been given a second chance at life and I’m gonna grab it by the goolies! I’m coming back bigger and better than before and even more positive, probably so positive people are gonna get pissed off with it, but I don’t give a shit I’m alive and more stoked then ever! I have loads of ideas and plans for my art work as well as joint creative endeavours with Chris and his company FTH, its all mega exciting. I’m at a place in my recovery where I can finally start rebuilding my strength and work with pain management to be able to deal with the constant pains and the set backs, so yeah life is good and heading in the right direction. There’s too much to squeeze my love of Yorkshire into 3 things, so based on todays feelings, 3 things I’d recommend is the peak district and whilst your there get a Bakewell tart and a good brew.
PHOTO GALLERY
Joe O’Donnell - Roll In Photo: Leung
Ollie Lock - Crooked Grind Photo: Grifftihs
Tom Zealand - Ride On 5050 Photo: Leung
Caspar Barnett - Polejam Photo: Leung Justin Biddle - Kickflip Photo: Peck
Joe Howard - Frontside 5050 Grind Photo: Leung Harry Ogilvie - Crooked Grind Photo: Sharp
Lukas Garbaciauskas - Hippy Jump Photos: Peck
Tom Knox - Frontside 5-0 Grind Photo: Leung
Tristan Rudman - Backside 5050 Grind Photo: Wojnowski
HOP
HIDEOUT Prevalent in print magazines, and work cutout and pasted to walls nationwide, (Silent) Will Linford has banged out more quality photos than your local dealers done burnouts in Morrison’s car park! Now residing in Sheffield and proprietor of Hop Hideout with his wife Julia they boast a vast selection of craft bevvies all with a tasting room to boot. Get to the city of steel and pay these two legends a visit, you won’t regret it.
Interview by Guy Jones Photos by Robbie Chilton (unless stated) What provoked the birth of Hop Hideout and how long has it been active? Who’s behind it? Just me and Julia (Gray), we started in 2013, we both moved back from Birmingham to Sheffield but still commuted to Manchester and Burton daily which wasn’t ideal. There wasn’t really a specialist beer shop here that sold the sort of beer we wanted with a focus on the event side too. We loved Beermoth in Manchester and the Belgian beer scene plus the birth of the ‘new’ micro-pub movement and thought why not do our own little thing. Here we are four years later.... Did you home brew prior to this or just appreciate? If not, are you tempted and If so how did it go? Yeah we’ve done quite a bit of home brewing, with varying results. I remember re-decorating the flat we rented in Digbeth, Birmingham after showering the ceiling with imperial stout. It’s relatively easy to make beer, it’s kind of just like cooking. It’s very hard to make good beer though and even harder to do it consistently. What’s the idea behind Hop Hideout, it’s a craft beer shop with it’s own pumps in Sheffield right? The idea was a beer shop and tasting room, taking inspiration from the classic brown bars of
Amsterdam, Belgian beer cafes, mixed with US style bottle shops that do draught take-out kinda things. So we have 5-7 beers on tap, 300+ bottle beers all to take out or drink in. We only hold 15-20 people so it’s all quite chill. We usually close at 8pm but sometimes stay open if there’s a good vibe going on; we have later licensing. We also sell online and ship throughout the UK. Was craft beer something that interested you when you were sinking cans of piss taking photos for UK publications and if so did anyone take the piss? The term craft beer didn’t even exist in the UK at that point, it was even a relatively new thing in the US, its kinda just replaced micro-brewed. I do remember that the cans of imported Belgian brewed Stella didn’t taste quite as shite as the UK version and Belgian beers in general were quite cheap and stronger than the cheap lager deals. North Bar was good for a few Duvels when I lived in Leeds, but as a scumbag on a budget, eight cans of Oranjeboom for a fiver was hard to beat. Do you get to skate much these days? Now and again, there’s a curb spot just along from the shop so I go and have a Sunday roll occasionally before opening up. I had knee surgery a few years ago and have a pretty fragile lower back from carrying camera bags all day, so I don’t like to push my luck. I got more into cycling a while back and tend to spend most of my free
time sweating out the drink round the Peak District.
small photographic studio around on my back all day, I’ll leave that to the youth.
Do you still take photos, skateboarding or otherwise and what led you to stop doing it professionally? Nah, not really, I still do stuff for the shop but that’s about it. I think it was the digital thing that took the enjoyment out of it, I always liked the wait to get your rolls back from the lab, seeing them laid out on a lightbox and having something physical in your hand. Digital kind of makes it too easy to put less thought into what your doing. You can fix it later in Photoshop right. Also the shift in the skate media landscape, when one investment company buys all the magazines, it’s only a matter of time before costs get cut, rates go down, print runs stop, etc. But then it’s good to see new print mags spring up to fill the gap. I guess that’s just progress really. Just like when Sidewalk started, RAD and Skateboard went, then PHAT magazine came and went. I’m just glad I don’t have to carry a
Who were some of your favourite skateboarders to shoot back in the day and why? You can’t have favorites but Grove was always good for putting in 110%, Dougie purely for some of the stuff he used to come out with, and the outfits. Chris Oliver would do everything in two tries pretty much. Just people who were fun to hang out with really. Have you tried every beverage in stock and what are some of your preferred tipples? You try to try everything but when you get weekly deliveries of 20 new beers it becomes a bit, you know, too much of a good thing. Beer festivals are always good to try more of the good stuff – like Indy Man Beer Con or Mikkeller Beer Celebration. I like a big stout, something by Evil Twin or Buxton if it’s your round!
Chris ‘Avi’ Atherton - Frontside Kickflip Photo: Will Linford
Howard Cooke - Frontside Nosepick Photo: Will Linford
Paul Silvester- Switch Crooked Grind Photo: Will Linford
What are some of your preferred artworks in the craft beer world? Obvious ones like Karl Grandin (Omnipollo), Keith Shore (Mikkeller) Rich Norgate (Magic Rock). We were stoked to see Kev Grey, that did our logo, doing the new designs for Black Iris. The art work is a big part of it these days, it definitely helps to get noticed and sell it; but word gets round quickly if the beer is not up to the hype.
through each year that we like - we just hosted a Deya meet the brewer at Hop Hideout and reckon they’re brewing some tasty as beers currently. Back in January 2014 we hosted NMBCo first(ish) meet the brewer, when Brian had just joined the brewing team, they’ve gone on to grow at a phenomenal rate and brew some belting beers. It was fun to do our ‘Watermelon Crush’ collab with them and Tom J Newell last year.
Who do you feel are some of the most underrated UK breweries? Our good friend Andy from Elusive is the hardest working nice guy in the beer business. With interesting beer flavour ideas and combinations – we did a Thai infused wheat beer collab together back in 2016 – Thai Yum Wit. As a beer ‘Good King Henry’ (and its special reserve version) by Old Chimneys Brewery is a cult beer but not really widely known in the UK scene. Its a traditional brewery with a master brewer at its helm and GKH is an absolutely bangin’ imperial stout. We always try to promote a host of new breweries coming
Could there be a skateboarding advert to promote a beer anytime soon? I’ve never liked it when things that aren’t skateboarding try to appropriate it to just sell stuff to people who don’t even care about it. I see they’re flogging Gator t-shirts in Topman, he’s up for parole next year, in-shop signing maybe, yeah!?! It’s all good if it comes from the skateboarding community and it’s done right. We might be working on something collab wise; that’s just about celebrating two things we love, nuff said.
Lee Rozee- Frontside Air Photo: Will Linford
HOW NOT... TO BE DARWIN PTII Waddup Ya’ll! Hope you enjoyed the first issue of Vague. I think it’s fair to say that they smashed it! Good job to all involved! (I was involved, yey!) Last time we looked at how having tight calfs (and lack of dorsi flexion) can cause pain in the knee and ankle due to compensation patterns as well as give you mob kickflips. Yucky! I hope you found some of the stretches that I use to be beneficial for your yung self. Now we will look at another area that can cause pain and injury for shredders across the globe... OVERACTIVE QUADS AND HIP FLEXORS! EEEK! Quadriceps - a group of muscles that straighten or extend the knee (take-off of an ollie or jump) Hip Flexors - not to be mistaken with hipsters on steroids...The muscles that flex the hip surprisingly enough (lifting your knees towards your face to get over a traffic cone).
A Poem about adaptively shortened hip flexors due to sitting down all the time: Wake up late, sit down for breakfast, Hop in da whip “better get to work fast”, Sit at a desk, waiting for the time to pass, All the while thinking “Man, I got a numb arse” Work Done, Hop back in the Benz, Finally home to play FIFA with ya friends, Way past bed-time, the battle finally ends, Sleeping all curled up, dreaming “how he beat me on pens!?” Wake up late, sit down for breakfast...“My back hurts”. Notice that in this poem (that I am very proud of) our character spends most of their day everyday - in hip flexion (sitting down) causing shortening of the hip flexor muscles. Having adaptively shortened (“tight”) hip flexors means that when they try to stand up, their hips can’t reach full extension so they have to compensate
by arching their lower back and “standing up straight”. (See picture). This causes the lower back muscles to work much harder than they are supposed to and puts the spine in a compromised position, inevitably causing pain. It also causes the glutes to become underactive through ‘reciprocal inhibition’ (Google it!) this in turn means that the quads will become the dominant force in jumping and landing instead of the all mighty GLUTEUS MAXIMUS! Thus, setting up over-activity of the quads and overload on the patellar tendon. How does this affect a skater? Well, take Darwin as an example: Ol Dirty Darwin, self proclaimed media whore, is filming 2 video parts at the same time. He’s out skating every day JUMPING and LANDING over and over again. His overactive quads are taking a beating and it’s putting a lot of stress on his patellar tendon. After skating late into the night, Darwin has a couple of Cherry B’s on the sofa with his boy, Nylon and goes to bed. The next morning Yung D wakes up to a Whatsapp from Don Magoo, “Oi I saw you on Instagram stories skating last night, I thought we were gonna get it today, you mugging me off?!!”. Magoo’s been filming for years and knows exactly how to make Darwin feel bad for skating with another filmer the night before. Taking the bait, Darwin - still in bed -
quickly replies “Safe mon nah I’m gud to shred, lets get it Skrrrt X”. When he gets up he realises his legs are super achy from the night before but it’s too late to turn back now! A few coffees and kickflips later, Magoo and Darwin are trying to get a trick but every time DarDar goes to pop he feels pain in the tendon on his knee which is getting more and more achey until he just loses it and focuses his board! (probably so he could stop trying... Yeah, that guy!). As you can imagine, Magoo is fuming! He packs up his camera and storms off “£12 travel card and a pret, Cheers!”. Dar-lose (not win) sits on the curb, sobbing, snapped board in one hand, sore knee in the other. What a mess. Along with stretching these muscles, my recovery time is faster and my tendons feel less strain.
How not to be Darwin. Well, I could say something like “to avoid patellar tendinopathy you should probably skate less and let your tendon recover because tendons heal much slower than muscles” but you’d just tell me to “jog on”, skate off, do a tre flip and flip me the bird! I’d probably do the same coz we’re skaterz innit!!! (Sometimes we do just need to rest though). So since we’re gonna carry on shredding, let’s try to relieve some of the stress placed on our Patellar tendon and quads/hip flexors. Personally, I find that using a foam roller or a tennis ball on my quads, finding any ‘trigger points’ (Google it!) or dense areas and releasing them followed by doing some stretches, really helps to relieve the tension on my tendon and reduce pain.
Couch Stretch Hold the stretch for 1-2 minutes or until you feel a release. Try to contract your glutes to help release the quads/ hip flexors (reciprocal inhibition)
Foam Roll / Tennis Ball I like to slowly roll over the FR/TB, starting at the knee and working all the way up to the hip, until I find any spots that feel sensitive or more dense, then I will stay on that spot (between 6-8 pain threshold) until the pain has subsided (down to a 3 or below). It will usually take between 15 seconds and 2 minutes for me to feel a release in the muscle but sometimes it can take quite a bit longer. Just be patient and make sure you are relaxed. If you find you are tensing up to avoid the pain then ease off on the pain scale so that you can relax the muscle and get the release that you are after.
Rannys Final Thought We live in a world where sitting down for prolonged periods of time is the norm but it’s not good for our bodies to be sitting down all of the time. Luckily skaters aren’t normal, so let’s stand up on the tube, let’s stand at the bar, let’s engage those glutes and stand at a high desk! let’s stand up for good posture! They can skate stop our spots but THEY CANT TAKE OUR FREEDOM!!!... Sorry got a bit carried away there. WORD! Illustrations by Mike O’Shea
ART
GALLERY
Dwayne Coleman
Melissa Jarram
Corey Bartle-Sanderson
Ian Justice Clark Keatley (& previous pages)
Alexis Jamet
Keanu Robson
CASEY
FOLEY
We had the pleasure of meeting Casey whilst he was on his Euro (and British if Brexit has been fully activated by the time of this print) jaunt. He wasn’t on a stack footage mission, although he did lay down some steeze offerings as a polite gesture, but more absorbing and getting to know a different place, which is always banging. Ducky’s photography and self published zines ‘Ducktales’ are most definitely worthy of note and the printed product is a must have. Enjoy some ramblings about the fella in question. A top geezah and undoubtedly another one of those legitimacy hogs we love here at Vague. Interview by Guy Jones Photos by Casey Foley (unless stated)
Photo: Leung
Yes Casey! You’re jumping the pond to Britain and Europe for a stint this summer. Have you been before and what brings you this time? Hey Guy! Yeah I am out here for a month in total. 1 week in London, 1 week in Paris and the rest of the time in Barcelona. There is a Buttergoods trip in Barcelona, so that’s what brings me all the way out here, but I figured while I’m out on this side of the world, why not visit a few more cities. It’s been amazing so far! Nick at The Palomino let me crash on his couch in London, so that was dope. I had a fuckin rad time out there. My good friend Quentin Guthrie from Perth is living in London, so we went out together and filmed a bit of shit. I’m sure you are aware of his gully edits. The whole crew in London is dope! Where did the name ‘Ducktales’ originate from? Well, my nickname is Ducky.. This really dope skater from New Zealand started calling me Ducktales for some odd reason. It was the first thing that came to my head when I started making the zine.. I actually hate the name, but it’s got a little following now so I don’t want to change it up haha. I guess it stuck because it’s a photographic representation of my stories (tales)..I dunno, I’m actually over the name.. Maybe I’ll start something else soon haha. Had you made zines prior to Ducktales and how important is this DIY approach to the culture of skateboarding in general? No not at all. I’d barely shot any photos before.. I just liked the idea of being able to display my adventures on paper. Issue 1 was a poorly shot 6 week trip to the east coast of America. Pretty much just crappy point and shoot photos.. However, I got a good reaction from my friends about it, so I kept it going.. I’m now on issue 7 and it has turned more into a magazine.. Interviews, sponsors etc etc.. I think the DIY approach to the culture of skateboarding is extremely important.. There are soo many
amazing skaters out there, and I feel they should always have a place to display their hard work. That is now the aim of the zine. To display those who may not get much exposure in the major magazines. We in Australia are so far from the industry, therefore I feel by making these zines and displaying these skaters to an international audience, it will eventually pay off for them. Also to be honest, being able to have total creative control over the design and which photos are being used is amazing. I really don’t give a fuck if it’s a gnarly trick not. I could print a double page of a flat ground kickflip if I want. As long as I’m hyped on the style of the skater and the photo is OK, it’s alright with me. Making the zines and shooting your friends, has it had an impact on how you like to be photographed? Kind of.. I mean, every photographer has their own style. There are certain styles I like more than others. I’m hard to get photos of though man.. Haha, I just like doing lines and cruising.. My favourite photographers are those who see beyond the trick.. Those that see can make a simple trick look beautiful.. Dudes like Mike O Meally and Alex Pires.. Also, Richard Hart is one of my new favourites.. He can see beyond the actual trick and focus on the style of the skater.. He also breaks the rules of classic “skate photography”. His images are grainy as fuck, he crops hands and arms out of a few of his fisheye photos and he doesn’t shoot big crazy stunts, unlike most other classic skate photographers. He has made his own rules, which I think is really important.. Who are some of your favourite people to shoot/see photographed? These days, I like seeing dudes like Sean Pablo and Sage. They got ill style and always have dope photos. Also, all the Polar ads are incredible. That Nick Boserio shot where he’s got the Jordan’s on.. Oofft. Callum Paul always looks great in photos. Geoff Campbell always
Mark Rowe - Backside Nosegrind Photo: Casey Foley
has the dopest switch steeze when he gets shot. Karim that rides for Palace always looks dope in photos.. Just some fucking ridiculous pop. Philly Santosousso always has the dope kits.. Is it easier to diffuse security/street hassle as a visitor in another place? I didn’t really deal with any security in London or Europe. Security in Melbourne are gnarly, but they can’t really do anything. So you just try skate all these spots, no matter how long you get. Back in the “Secky Presh” days, we would all meet up after work on a Thursday, find out if/where the nearest art show is that we can gate crash and get as many drinks as we can, then go skating in heavily secured spots. Watching Callum Paul and Jack Kirk running through malls drunk to get a trick on the hand rail was the funniest shit I’ve ever seen. We used to always go to this one 9 stair with a banging rail down it. You would have to wait until a member of their staff would
enter the business and sneakily follow them in. The security guards were soo gnarly. Like going waaaay beyond their job descriptions and would use physical force to get us out.. You can see in the intro to “Secky Presh”, Geoff Campbell gets thrown down the stairs and almost eats soo much shit. I was skating a spot once that was on the same premises, but you don’t have to break in or follow someone in. It’s just a little staircase out the front. The security came out swinging these huge torches at us.. They were some fucking giant metal baton looking ones. They chased us down the road, swinging them at our heads. It was actually insane. A lot of security here really get upset and can’t help but get physical, but they should just call the cops and fuck off..Thats what they are there for.. Seccy Presh is so good and the fact that there’s probably a football team amount of people with you takes away a lot of the discretion. It seems that Geoff Campbell is
all for this though! Is he the main person you film with in Melbourne and are there any good stories about the legend? I’ve worked with Geoff on a few projects. Cunnies Box, Nike x 4 “344”, his very rare $21.50 amongst other stuff. His video productions are always incredible but due to work priorities, life admin etc, he can’t get out and skate as much as he used to unfortunately. He has a full length VX1000 video coming out sometime very soon. It’s going to be fucking incredible. Everyone always gets hyped when he’s out filming because his videos are always soo good. Everyone wants to do their best for his productions. Dudes like Tully West and Dylan Bruns are the new guys filming heaps. They are both such skate rats and just love exploring the city and surrounding suburbs for new shit
Casey Foley - Crooked Grind Photo: Tomoki Peters
to skate. As for Geoff stories.. Well, I have a fact rather than a story...80-90% of Secky Presh was filmed with a catheter attached to his leg! He got racked on a rail and really fucked his shit up...He took it like an absolute champ. I remember he would be out filming fast lines, then have to walk off into the ally ways to empty his catheter...Poor dude. Fucking broke his arm first, got caught amongst the Earthquakes in Christchurch NZ, broke his dick then made a full length video...Soo sick. The Melbourne scene is incredible from an outsiders perspective. Would I be right in saying it’s a very sharing community? Beers for all the boys etc.? Yeah its amazing. Well, 80% of us are either from New Zealand, Perth or Tasmania and we
Casey Foley - Kickflip Fakie & Tar Mess Photo: Leung
all moved here for the same reason. To skate... All of a sudden the crew is 30 deep and we are all close friends. However, since the demise of Lincoln Square it has changed a little. That would be the meeting point for all of us. Warm up in the morning and skate the city in the afternoon. If someone had an idea of a trick, the whole plaza would come.. It was dope. These days I don’t get to see a lot of my close friends because all they wanted to do was skate Lincoln...It has been a harsh transition but IMAX (Melbourne Museum) is starting to become the new hub, but nothing will compare to Lincoln.. The rate of media offerings from Melbourne is vast to say the least! Are there any projects you cherish memory wise more than others and what’s in the pipeline as we speak?
Oh its great huh. Everyone is always really productive and as a said, more and more incredible skaters from New Zealand and Perth are popping up on the regular so the streets are getting a solid workout. Filming for Cunnies Box was a lot of fun. We would go on road trips to Adelaide and Canberra, skate through the city 20 deep every weekend, hang out at Lincoln Square every day... I got to witness some seriously amazing skateboarding.. Everyone was absolutely. Callum Paul, Jack Kirk, Tim Williams, Bryce Golder, Mat Kinsman, Tom Snape.. It was soo sick to watch...As we speak Geoff is working on his new video and this new kid Leo Carroll. Capp has got a video coming out real soon... That should be sick. It’ll be a bunch of up and coming dudes...I’m hyped to see it...
Casey Foley - Nollie Pop Shuv Photo: Leung
ITS NOT WHERE YOU’RE FROM EAST LONDON
‘MARLONS’ Pronunciation: Marlons Explanation: Derived from Marlon Brando’s which rhymes with Nando’s.
Example: “I’m starving, let’s hit the Marlon’s before going back East.” ‘DERBY’ Pronunciation: Dar-bee Explanation: Derived from Derby Kelly which is rhymes with belly.
Example: “You’ve got a right derby on ya since you came back from Copenhagen.” ‘NANG’
‘TWO’N’’ Pronunciation: Two-un Explanation: Derived from two and eight which rhymes with state.
Example: “We played buckaroo with boards on Setroy after he got too drunk last night, a right two’n’!” ‘HAMPTON Pronunciation: Hamp-tun Explanation: Derived from Hampton Wick which rhymes with dick.
Example: “Fuck those students, bunch of fucking hamptons!”
Pronunciation: Nang Explanation: Something that is particularly good.
Example: “I just did a nang fart after you filmed that nang line!”
‘GODFA’
‘ROOF’
Example: “He’s not out tonight, he’s on godfa duties.”
Pronunciation: Roof Explanation: Derived from Roof Rack which rhymes with crack.
Pronunciation: God-fah Explanation: Derived from God forbid which rhymes with kid.
Example: “You need to lay off that roof mate you’re off your tits.”
‘JIMMY
‘BOBBY KICKFLIP’
Example: “It’s chilling, Bell, Dave and me all went for a Jimmy behind that bush.”
Pronunciation: Bobby Kickflip Explanation: Your mate who used to sort of skate who thinks a heelflip is a kickflip.
Example: “He wouldn’t stop talking about his old tensor trucks with the plastic, a proper Bobby Kickflip.”
Pronunciation: Jimmy Explanation: Derived from Jimmy Riddle which rhymes with piddle, meaning to urinate.
‘SAFE/BLESS’ Pronunciation: Safe/Bless Explanation: : Hello, bye or thanks (If you think it means okay or yes then you are a bumpkin).
Example: “Right I’m out, safe, safe, safe, safe etc..” Josh Cox My Godfa Photo - Leung