ISSUE #1 SPRING ‘13 FREE!
Caleb Sieverson reflects on this gap 5-0 FS 180 out
CONTENTS
JOEL WILKINS ... PAGE 6
SEATTLE VERT RAMP ... PAGE 12
JASON SINGLER ... PAGE 16
GNARDO ... PAGE 28
BRIAN SANCHEZ ... PAGE 36
ALL CITY SHOWDOWN ... PAGE 42
Hello and welcome to the first issue of Wicked World!
Check out the website to view the zine in fullcolor and to find out how you can contribute to future issues! I never intended on this zine being all my photos and I believe it could be so much more with YOUR help!
Enjoy and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up on all things Wicked!
wckdwrld.com
Cover: Gnardo clears a crusty wallride gap Photos and layout by Jedd Rockwell © 2013
Dylan Rogers rocks a big ass noseslide
1st try switch front board
Age: 25
Hometown: Reno
Sponsors: Movement Skateboards, DC Shoes, Alive & Well, Innovative Enthusiasts
Favorite Skaters: Marc Johnson and Daewon Song
Favorite Videos: Rodney Mullen VS Daewon Song, All the 411's and Transworld videos, Photosynthesis, e City Stars video, e DC video and believe me the list goes on those are just o the top of my head.
Favorite Website: skateboarding.com, poachthis.com, aliveandwellsea.com, dcshoes.com, skatenv.com and thrashermagazine.com
Favorite Obstacle: Manual Pad
Favorite Trick: Nollie
Last Trick Learned: Inward heel ip nose manual
Dream Trick: Nollie ip backside noseblunt
Best ing About Sea le: Fresh air, great people, street spots and there is way more chicks than dudes haha!
ings you miss about Reno: Just my family and friends.
anks: Again, I have to say my family rst and also my best friends for always being there and believing in me no ma er what. God, life, skateboarding, Sea le, Movement, Alive & Well Skate Shop and DC Shoes.
Back nosegrind in the burbs
Clockwise from right: Roy Starin with a proper smith grind
Eugene Lardizabal gets inverted
Max Hohlbein blasts a stylish tuck knee air
When SkateBarn in Renton closed last year, a void was le in the local vert community. at is, until William Stein, a math professor at UW, and Eugene Lardizabal, a ight test engineer at Boeing stepped up to create Private Skate Facility, LLC. ey began planning, raising funds and promoting their dream; a privately owned, contest-spec vert ramp. 13.5' tall, 56' wide and covered!
Due to the amount of rain we receive, a custom irrigation system is being built to handle the runo . Other distinctive features include a birch surface (the perfect middle ground between the slickness of SkateLite and the smooth traction of concrete) and a roof that isn't a separate building but is actually part of the ramp. Something that, as far as anyone can tell, has never been done.
With the help of Ryan Spence (architectural designer), Mark "Monk" Hubbard (Grindline skatepark builder), ad Grossi (metalsmith) and dozens of volunteers and contributors, the project is now underway and should be nished around the New Year.
*At the time of publishing, the ramp is now nished! ere are still bills to be paid, tho. If you are interested in donating or just want to follow their progress, check out sea le.vertramp.org
Aron Gurunlian
kickflips a long set
Alright, why don’t you tell us where you’re om and how you got into skating. I’m from the west side of Sea le and grew up near High Point. I started skating around the 5th or 6th grade or so with my buddy Kevin and my brother Jonas. Kev had a board he let me borrow for a while and I was instantly hooked. I really dug the in nite amount of possibilities that came with skateboarding, especially a er seeing people skate that were much be er than I was. I loved how there were no rules or coaches or out of bounds or anything like that and how it seemed much more of an art form than just a sport or hobby. e world was my canvas. I still feel the same way now! How do you stay so positive!?
Haha! Because there’s a lot more things in this world to be happy about than to be bummed about. Plus skateboarding is suuuuper fun and I get to do that a lot
Yeah, tell us about your awesome day job. e Muk? Aw hell yeah. It doesn't even feel like I can call it a job. I work at the Mukilteo YMCA skatepark. Its 20,000 square feet of pure awesomeness made by Grindline full of everything you could ask for at a skatepark, including a 13
deep bowl with pool coping the whole way round. My job title is “Skatepark Monitor” and basically what I do is tell kiddos to put there pads on and to watch their language. It's pre y lthy when it's dry, but when it rains my shi gets canceled and I cant work at all.
Haha, that was going to be my next question. I'm also telepathic. Haha, JK.
So, back to the positivity. What DOES upset you?
Whiny scooter kids haha! Hmmm that's a tough one let's seeee... When I put a lot of work into something that doesn't work out like I thought it would. at's kinda frustrating when I see that I could of done things di erently for a be er outcome, or when I count on people that I really shouldn't of counted on. It's all a learning experience though.
Who or what gets you hyped the most?
Skate trips, jam sessions, co ee, learning a new trick, completing a project, lucky pool shots, and witnessing creativity to name a few. Seein folks like Chris Haslam and Mullen and Barle a and Daewon get down. OOO! Hearing good music! at gets me way hyped.
A scenic and stylish frontside air over the door at South Park
High-speed crooks
Yeah so, on that note; I know sometimes you’ll skate all day at work, then go skate all night, then you’ll go home and make some music and/or art... Where do you get the energy?
From the joy of doing all of those things! It’s not like a chore or anything. It’s what I love to do. When skateboarding breaks me o and makes my body hurt, I can recover while producing music and/or creating art Fair enough. Does one thing in uence the other?
ey all in uence each other. I feel like skateboarding, art and music are all outlets for creative expression, and in
turn work hand in hand in my life. I dot boards that I skate while listening to music that I make. Haha! Really though quite o en I’ll have a song that I just made, or a song that I'm about to make, playin in my head ge in me hyped while rollin around on a work in progress. You skate both street and tranny really well, do you have a favorite thing to skate? anks, man. I really love skating every thing that I possibly can, but I think if I had to choose a favorite thing I’d say transition. Quarterpipes and hips and thangs. I made a shi y miniramp when I was a lot younger in my folk’s back yard and planted that seed early on.
Jason murdered this thing like a minirampFrontside slide and roll
What was the last trick you learned? Do you have a “dream” trick? Last trick? Switch backside 180 mutes on hips. Well, on the hip at the Muk this last weekend. ey’re just like front 360 indys, except cut in half. Still super scary and took me forever though. Dream trick? Ahhhhhh sooooo many. My bucket list could unravel to Florida. I've always wanted to 3 ip El Toro. I don't know if I'll ever do it, but I got that shit rst try in my dreams.
Haha! Finally, where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10?
Doing what I love, exploring the planet, and having a lot of fun. Last words, thanks or shout outs? Yea man. anks to Kristin for ge in me the job at the Muk, my homies James and Tyler for always bein there for me, Forrest at SnoCon for all the free shoes, Nomadic for the decks, my sibs Jonas, Tim, Abi, and Heather and her husband Brian. eir kids Duncan and Ella. My Mom and my Dad for being rad. anks to all the rest of my family and friends for their support and love and shout out to my sisters new baby Cici just born in NYC! Welcome to this world C.
Switch. Crail. Revert.
Kickflip wallride while security stands by.
Brice Niebuhr with his patentend bridge bash
Vance Valenti with a huge boneless on the big bank
Vance again with a big shifty into unfinished territory
Leo Romero came to town and showed the kids how it's done - Front feeble out of the park
Where are you om and how did you get into skating?
I grew up in Evere skating with a buddy of mine down the street named Daniel, who’s dad built a mini-ramp for him that was really fucked up. And we skated it, kind of. I’ve had a skateboard ever since I was a kid, man. Ever since I was like, I don’t know, probably like 6 or something. Maybe a li le before that. Always been skating, you know but, never really took it serious until I was like in middle school and had someone to skate with.
You still live in Evere even tho you work in Sea le. Why?
Cuz I love Evere . I don’t know man, I just love being in Evere . e surroundings and there’s like, the beach is right there. It’s fucking not as cool and hip as Sea le so I get to fucking you know, chill around not so many people, which I like. Sea le is a li le too crazy for me.
What a racts you to skating weird and janky stu ?
Probably the fact that it’s di erent than most shit that you see. Like, I don’t know, ledges don’t… they’re fun but, they don’t really get me the way other li le crusty shit does you know? I don’t really know. at’s about it. Curbs are cool.
Favorite thing to skate?
Curbs. (long silence-laughter)
What else gets you hyped?
Watching people skate, reading interviews, watching skate videos. My friends, de nitely.
Do you have any favorite skaters?
Gonz, Richie Jackson, Gou Miyagi... but other than that Brian Kargopoltsev, Jordan Jones and Eddie Longoria.
Do you have any other in uences?
No. (laughter)
Nothing?
Not really. I mean, all I do is skate and work and, live.
How do you feel about the current state of skate boarding, local or otherwise?
I don’t know man, I think people take it a li le too seriously sometimes.
De nitely. See a lot of hate out there. I nd myself hating but, I try not to
hate. But, you know, hate’s out there. Hate makes the world go round.
Favorite place to skate?
Evere park. For sure.
You’ve been skating there for a few years now, huh?
Yep, since the 7th grade. It’s where I pre y much evolved,basically.
How old are you now? 24.
One-foot pivotSo, if you could skate with any 3 people, dead or alive, who would it be? Gonz. Uhhh… fuck. at’s a hard one. Gonz is up there. Uh… fuck ey don’t have to be skaters… Oh, anyone?
Dead or alive.
Lil’ Wayne (laughs). Fuck. I don’t know, Mike Martinez. What was the last trick you learned? Fuck. Um… I have no idea. (laughs) 360 ip, probably.
Nah, think about it for a minute. You did that 540 ip? Oh yeah, 540 ip. (laughter) I did a 540 ip. (more laughter)
Do you have a dream trick?
I really want to back tail something really bad. But, it’s… It’s in progress. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Um, in 5 years… I hope to see myself in a house, making a li le more money with a mini-ramp in my backyard or garage or something.
Ollie up, over & around the holeMakeshift pole jam hippie jump
In Evere ?
In Evere still. Yeah, maybe uh, I don’t know, maybe skating a li le more. at’d be be er.
10 years?
10 years? Psh, fuck.
I just hope I don’t have kids in 10 years. (laughter)
Anyone you’d like to thank?
Friends and family. Basically, that’s about it. I mean, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them.
Any sponsors or anything..?
Fuck. anks, I mean, sponsors man, those are all my friends.
Yuk Mob, North End... You know.
Russian George Kargopoltsev backside 50-50's thru a tight spot
Tell us about where you’re om and how you got into skating.
I grew up in Snohomish, WA. My uncle gave my brother and I a Steve Caballero board in 1992 that we had around the house and we’d skate from time to time. A year later I got my own “ rst “ board. It was a Kris Markovich Color board with Venture lows and Union wheels. ere were a few older guys in my neighborhood who skated and wrote at the time, so I pre y much followed those dudes around in the beginning. I remember being exposed to good music, skate videos, gra ti and everything else that goes along with being young and reckless. I’d say 1993 and 1994 were the most important years of my life. Although I was only 10, I discovered the things that would keep my interest until today. As the years went on I gathered more friends who skated and around 96 or 97 my brother started skating, so I always had people to skate with . Back then skateboarding was very uncommon
in my town and the people I knew were constantly in and out of skating so to have my brother skate was pre y cool. Also, Phil Kammer lived down the street from us and he was always down to skate.
Since you mentioned it, how much younger is your brother and were you real close growing up? Did you push each other?
Jordan is 19 months younger then myself. As children we didn’t get along the best, but that’s a given. I’d say we pushed each other a bit. I know I was pre y hard on him in the beginning but as time went by we gradually started to become closer. Jordan seems to nd motivation from a variety of things, old and new, so I think he had his own in uences at the time that I was oblivious too. Today, I’d say the same thing we both have di erent paths but the same common ground, and that’s a love for skateboarding and independent creative endeavors. We are much nicer too each other now then we were in our adolescence, which is cool .
Haha, that is good. Back to you, what are your earliest memories of art? And, when did you know it was something you wanted to do more seriously?
As a child I drew constantly, but it wasn’t until around 5th grade that I remember really lling up books of drawings, faces and bubble le ers. I continued doing this throughout my teens and in school but when school was over I didn’t draw o en. While in the Navy and underway I started messing around in sketchbooks again. I was 24. e thing is I’ve never really been that good at drawing, even today. I just like si ing down and coming up with ideas. So the majority of my drawings are still the same, I am just learning how to use new tools to do them. I painted houses with my father during Summer a few years when I was younger and really enjoyed the motions and gaining control of a brush. When I started painting I remembered how nice it was and have been really into it ever since. It’s the only time I give myself to sit still and relax.
How do you think being in the military a ected you?
Haha, um... good and bad. I was young and pre y stupid at the time. I was counting down ge ing out the day I got there. Not because it was too hard but too political and the majority of the people were hero’s. I don’t like the military or anything that has to do with the military, but I de nitely developed a strong work ethic. I worked on the ight deck of the USS George Washington for 4 years, saw some crazy shit and got out in 2008.
Do you think skating has a direct in uence on your art or vice/versa?
I would say skateboarding in uences my work in the way of trial and error. It takes a while to learn how to do tricks just like it takes a while to really gure out how to paint the way you want to paint. I believe I have the same motivation to paint that I have when I skateboard. You work hard, you learn more. I will always skateboard and I will always paint because I like those things.
Speaking of learning, I know you have been ge ing more into sign-painting, typography and graphic design but you still seem to enjoy painting funny faces and then sometimes you do the more abstract/geometric stu ... What is your motivation to try all these di erent things and do you have a personal favorite or does it just depend on your mood? Again, it goes back to the brush thing. I really like exploring the possibilities of what a brush can do. ese are all things
I have been interested in for some time. I jump around from one to another to keep myself from ge ing burned out. Like with sign-painting, it’s always been very a ractive to me but I‘d never done it. Over time you learn how to use the materials and eventually you’ll get be er. Most of the graphic design stu I do is by request or for Vic’s Market oriented things. I would rather just paint all day and all night. Computers give me a headache but the results are sometimes cool.
For the unfamiliar, tell us more about Vic’s Market. Vic’s Market is a dysfunctional group of skateboarders that live in Evere , WA. I’m not sure exactly how it happened. My brother and I were living together when I moved back to Washington and we got a camera. at was in 2008, from there on can be explained youtube.com/vicsmarket.
You and Vic’s are key people behind a DIY spot in Evere known as e Secret Spot. Can you talk about that? We’ve all been skating the secret spot since late 99 early 00. I remember sweeping it out with friends for the rst time. As of late, yes, we have been building quite a bit more. Pre y much a practice ground for our amateur concrete/cement skills and a place for my son to learn how to skate and not get crushed by a BMXer or Scooturd. It’s nice to have a place where there are no rules and cops aren’t around really. Also, trying to teach ones self to use the materials is really fun and no ma er what the result is going to be fun to skate. Also, the local neighborhood kids are really cool.
How old is your son now? You seem to really enjoy fatherhood and, not always in a typical way, which is good. How has he in uenced your life? I do really enjoy being a father. My son is 4 now and with me pre y much from the time he wakes up until he goes to bed. I have chosen to stay at home with him since he was born, which has been a really challenging yet bene cial situation. We both enjoy each others company and as he grows I am able to introduce him to more and more. He has created his own unforced passion for drawing and seems to be enjoying skateboarding a lot more these days. He’s also been into sea life, trains and anything that has to do with the beach for a few years now. Being with him so o en has really in uenced the way I work. When he sleeps I paint or work on whatever I need to, unless I’m real busy then he enjoys hanging out and doing his own thing in my work space. He is hungry all the time which can get a bit frustrating, but otherwise I can’t complain.
Any other last words, thanks or shout outs?
Oh man. First, thank you for asking me to be a part of your zine! anks to any of my friends and acquaintances that I’ve met through skateboarding or painting. You know who you are!
Every few years, it seems, someone tries to put together a new variation of a "real street" contest. Although, in my eyes, only one has go en it right. is year marked the 7th annual All City Showdown and I had the pleasure of being invited along to take some icks.
e rules are simple: 3 skaters and 1 lmer to a team. 8 hours to collect footage. No skateparks. Well, except for the DIY Marginal Way, but there are some loose rules about how many tricks you can get there. A erall, it isn't much of a street skating contest if your entire part is lmed skating tranny.
And that is what this contest is all about. Security, cops, tra c, imperfect spots... But, the real magic lies in the event itself. Nearly 100 skaters from up and down the West Coast entered this year and that means 100 skaters (plus some friends) all throwing down in the same city at the same time. Some dudes had a list of tricks and spots and others just rolled around like they would any other day. Show up to any well-known
Opposite - Tony Manfre takes the high road on this 5-0
Below - Scotty Ohm catches lens flares and varial flips with ease
spot though and chances are you'd see a group of dudes (and girls) ge ing buck. I saw several of the gnarliest things I've ever seen go down in this city all within 8 hours. At the end of the day, many of the teams end up at spots near the shop, mustering up what energy they have le to get some nal hammers in. Most at the famed brick doubleset at the nearby community college. Needless to say, the scene is heavy.
Of course, some of the teams aren't focused on hammers as much as just being a part of it and having something to show that people will enjoy when the video premieres. ere are smaller cash prizes for gnarliest trick, best line, editor's choice, MVP and so on. Sometimes though, the best clips aren't tricks at all, garnering Spit re's"Breaking the Law" award or, Dirty Bearings' "Dirtiest Dudes"
At 7, the tapes are turned in and sent o to be judged by some of the best pro's, lmers and team managers out there. is year, Slap is going to be covering the contest, following the premiere, and it's expaned to another city, Chicago, for the very rst time.
e contest is held in the Summer, giving plenty of time to edit, promote and for word to spread and hype to build up to the premiere in December. By the time you read this, the event will be behind us for another year but, you can always watch the old videos on the site and, start working on that bucket list for next year.
