Sometimes there’s no worse sight that to see a classic spot being removed – unless it’s by skaters, as opposed to the man. When the Spitfire crew heard that the classic Cardiel Rail in Union Square, San Francisco was going to be cut down, they decided to do it themselves making sure that rail, 5050’ed in TWS’ Sight Unseen video was given back to the man that owns it.
Brilliant.
Here’s the full flick:
The good folk at SoleTechnology, the company behind the Etnies brand, have spent the last 29 years researching and developing skateboard shoes. This maybe longer than your entire existence, but they have never seemed to tire in their quest to lead the way in skate shoe technology. If you look back to the beginning of this impressive reign it’s easy to remember that they pretty much invented the traditional skate shoe look, that has evolved over the years.
Now in 2015, the scene has changed tenfold, with the intrusion of transnational sports brands dominating technological developments in skateboarding. Independent skate shoe companies have had to dig even deeper to provide not only ground breaking, unique designs, but to also produce high quality products on a par with these sports giants who have pioneered the lightest and toughest materials for those who want to break records.
Knowing that SoleTech have spent more hours since 1986 prepping these materials than you’ve probably spent skating streets, the flame could not have been passed to a better team to give the ‘athletes’ a run for their money In the Jameson SC, that flame should hopefully torch some sense into those who think that funding sports brands and allowing money to leave the skate scene is acceptable.
I must be honest here and admit that when Etnies started bringing out The Scout and similar sports-looking skate shoes, my heart sank somewhat. They looked from here like they were designed for non-skaters. I personally chose skateboarding to avoid mainstream sports and the tracksuit-clad knobheads who liked beating up skaters for fun in my local area. I certainly had no desire to dress like them. Skateboarding was, and still is unique; or is it anymore? Sports brand culture has infected the scene so badly that even skate shoe companies have had to re-address the balance of their designs to compete with the onslaught, but Etnies have brought their usual class to the table, spun my head with their use of man made materials and delivered Supreme Comfort to my feet like I’ve never felt before. Yeah, it sounds crazy but these shoes are like walking in space.
So the question is, can you skate in them? These arrived in the post for review the day before a weekend camping and skating trip. I took one look at the sole and immediately packed a pair of vulcs to skate in, as the foam-like undercarriage didn’t look they would cope with griptape whatsoever, but I was so wrong. They stuck perfectly allowing me to move freely on a cruise and suddenly skateboarding felt totally different for the first time ever. Another first was feeling a breeze in 28′ heat through the breathable mesh. These were the happiest feet I’ve had skating in years. I’m not sure if they would last forever if you skate daily and love your flip variations, but to cruise around in, they were perfect. Like any other skate shoe, the mesh is durable, but no shoe lasts forever if you are out there pounding it. Saying that, your heels feel well protected in the Jameson SC as there’s an inch of STI foam built in to assist the impact; technology that SoleTech are very well known for.
The Jameson has always been my favourite Etnies shoe as it’s a proper chiller, being simple in its design and one of their best sellers. It was never a ‘sports shoe’, but this version that mixes parts of The Scout, feels like what I’d imagine a sports shoe to feel like. That’s if you can remember they are actually on your feet, as they are seriously lightweight. Perfect to chuck in your bag for a trip and ideal for wearing after a session to give your feet some much needed loving. There are no rules to say you even need laces in them thanks to lycra spandex tongue straps inside the shoe. It holds together well and allows great movement too.
The greatest part of skateboarding is that us skateboarders don’t have or need rules as such, we all set foot on a deck for the first time with only one simple code of honour: that we support skater owned. One day, when skateboarders wake up and remember that worldwide, they will hopefully thank Etnies for being there; for caring about skateboarding and spending every minute of their day thinking about your feet.
Zac
Raw footage filmed for the Static III video in London has been released by Theories Josh Stewart overnight and is an 8 minute gem:
“After staring at a towering inferno of literally 21 external hard drives lining my desk in the TOA office and 15 drawers full of DV and hi-8 tapes, it hit me that there’s roughly 25 years of footage just growing stale in this office. A lot of it having never been seen or countless other angles and second, third and fourth makes that never saw the light of day. So, I opened up the filing cabinets last week and started logging footage. The first tape I pulled out was from the summer of 2006 when we spent 3 months in London to film for the Static III video. One of the most amazingly productive summers I’ve ever had filming. As I started to build out a timeline from just a few tapes I realized it wouldn’t be right unless I captured everything from the entire trip. So a 5 minute timeline quickly turned into a 25 minute feature length mess. So I figured instead of edit it all down it would be better to split it up into a 3 part series.”
Hit that play button for unseen footage of Charlie Young, Seth Curtis, Joey Pressey, Rob Mathiesson, Alex Klein, Nick Jensen, Nate Broussard, Olly Todd, Pat Stiener, Daniel Kinloch and James Edson. Archived gold.
Ph: Aaron Herrington by Dan Mathieu
Dime and Vans’ shoe collab called for a shindig with fun and games. Press play for what went down in Canada. Smokin’ sausage party.
If you enjoyed Ed Syder’s last rad book project, The Natas and Gonz Book, you will be stoked to know a new one is in the works featuring skate legend duo, Neil Blender and Lance Mountain.
Speaking to Ed today he mentioned: “I’ve rounded up some more heavy hitters in the super lucrative world of skate art to bring you another book. Stoked to have Russ Pope and Jay Croft on board this time around as well as most of the guys from The Natas/Gonz book.”
This new illustrated tribute will be bigger than the first featuring contributions from Russ Pope, Jay Croft, Phil Morgan, Kev Grey, Ed Syder, Cosme, Keith Watts, Tom Wareing and a host of others.
Get involved in their Kickstarter campaign this week and receive the book and an exclusive tee in exchange. There will be an exhibition of the final art at Beach London in October too.
Kit out your gaff with the latest Skate Home furniture designs, hand crafted and all made from skateboard parts. Smart shelving ideas, chairs, book ends, stools, wall racks and other great ideas can be shipped worldwide from skate-home.com.
sml. Wheels celebrate Morgan Smith‘s new pro wheels with a minute of footage. These new designs are tasty, have a butchers at Tom Knox’s.
Olan Prenatt, Jordan Norwood, and Nico Hiraga hit up a flight to London and got some footage at the Bay, Undercroft and other spots in the capital. Kyle Walker, Blake Johnson, Kevin Bradley, and Chris Coulbourn spent time in NYC and Hawaii too.
Mikey Alfred’s lens captured both trips for his Illegal Civilisation crew.
Bl’ast
‘For Those Who Graced The Fire’ EP
Rise Records
In the mid-eighties, iconic Californian hardcore demons Bl’ast took Black Flag’s menacing heavy-fusion template created on their ‘My War’ album and ran with it, unleashing three albums from 85-89 on SST Records that blew minds, and the genre, apart. In 2013, with Southern Lord having just reissued the bands back-catalogue, Bl’ast took to the road again with original vocalist Clifford Dinsmore and guitarist Mike Neider playing alongside Nick Oliveri and Joey Castillo from Queens Of The Stoneage and the results, unsurprisingly, were devastating.
Re-inspired by the power of the music, the band hit the studio and have now recruited Dave Grohl and ex-Black Flag bassist Chuck Dukowski to fill in for Nick and Joey who had touring commitments, to record two new tracks for a new 7” EP. Now, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out that that little combination can only be one thing, utterly explosive!
Sure enough, when first track ‘For Those Who Graced The Fire’ kicks in, Grohl’s unmistakable pounding drums detonate into life and the band lurch through a weird, contorted time signature that jars and splutters, uncomfortable and unsettling but powerful and addictive. ‘The Pulse’ is next, igniting with a churning signature Dukowski bass run before kicking into 60 seconds of prime nasty hardcore. Perfect.
It’s so good to hear Grohl back behind the drum kit and in good company, rather than the mainstream pap he churns out in his day job. His involvement will shine a lot of light upon this release. It’s deserved. The world needs to hear Bl’ast.
James Sherry
Let’s kick this off by stating that the future pretty much delivered jack shit. If you were a kid growing up in the 70s and 80s where space colonisation, extra-terrestrials, UFO sightings and Metal Mickey were predicted to become part of family life, then you will know how much we were ripped off. The most exciting recent discovery that comes close to all of those technological promises is an image that looked like a lunar three-spurt dick etched into the dusty floor of Pluto. Twas one way of getting a few more ‘likes’ on your Facebook page last month for those who count the digits.
There wasn’t a need for this self aggrandising malarkey that social networking brings back in 1985. Nobody really gave a toss about getting themselves 15 minutes of fame, we were too busy sniffing glue, break dancing and prizing Mercedes badges off the front of cars with screwdrivers – until the Back To The Future film was released. That summer spawned thousands of skateboarders worldwide, mimicking Michael J. Fox’s balancing skills as he held his own on a hoverboard to impress girls and avoid a beating. Once that was aired, every kid in our area wanted one.
Nobody imagined that we would have to wait 30 years to even get a sniff of the liquid nitrogen smoke that pumps out of the Lexus Hoverboard though. Nobody would also have guessed it would be our mate Ross McGouran who would be the chosen one to take it for its first cruise either. Thankfully Ross was skating past our office the day after that hoverboard edit hit the interweb so we asked him to spill some beans on how it all came together.
This was filmed off the cuff in 10 minutes with just an iPhone with a broken screen to hand but should give you a bit of inside info on the shoot that took place. Thanks to Dan Joyce who kindly edited my awful filming.