Remember this amazing photo shoot of Geoff Rowley in that shipping yard for Vans? Get the full story and more from Ryan Allan who was shooting the advert n the day. Incredible to this very day.
Author: Zac
Barney Page takes his Exeter skills over to Barcelona and shuts down the DC Embassy this week. Amazing footage from the UK’s finest.
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Lance Mountain’s Pool Service
Lance Mountain, Grant Taylor, Peter Hewitt, Al Partanen, and Alex Olson construct a pool from scratch and then session it before the owners come back from holiday in this latest clip from Nike SB. The music comes from Indian Wig which a band made up of Lance, Neil Blender, Hogo Nagarian, and Eddie Glass.
Denis Lynn skates Freestyle’s Bridges skatepark in Belfast in the latest edit from Superdead Skateboards. In related Superdead news, Awadh Mohammed is now rolling on Autobahn Wheels.
Learning how to take skate photos? Skate photographer Sam McGuire explains how to deal with motion blur with flash duration.
Thw Wayward Gallery in london has an exhibition featuring the graphic work of Hannah Horn who contributed her works of art towards the last Death Skateboards deck series. The exhibition runs until March 10th, check info and address details from www.thewaywardgallery.com
Chris Mulhern has released a new project this morning that documents a 5Boro and Carhartt riders on their journey from New York City to Detroit.
The trip was shot over a 2 week period with Pontus Alv, Jimmy McDonald, Dan Pensyl, Willy Akers, Phil Zwijsen, Rob Smith, Hjalte Halberg and Bram De Cleen all on board for the ride.
Australian Death rider Troy West has video blogged a collection of memories from his recent trip to the UK back in October 2011 this morning which is an eight minute montage of madness that surrounds the Death Skateboards crew based in Harrow and surrounding areas.
As you may already know, you are never far from fun hanging out with the Death lot and various, strange things tend to always happen when in their company, so enjoy this mash up from Troy today and take in what he saw on his travels over a week long period with Steak, Dan Cates, Adam Moss, Calow and more.
Pontus Alv is officially welcomed to the Converse team today and has been interviewed in his press release that just reached our mailbox:
So, why Converse?
Converse is a classic brand with a rich history and background. I have always been a fan of classic, timeless stuff that never grows old or out of fashion. I recently ended my relationship with my former shoe sponsor and I started to look around.
I only ride and represent companies that I personally like and believe in, so the list was really short. I chose Converse because they share a lot of the same ideas and visions that I have. A sponsorship is about building a good relationship and platform together where ideas and creativity can become a reality.
Over the last ten years I have been on a personal mission to give back to skateboarding, inspire others and show different angles on what skateboarding can be about. I am still going full-speed in this direction and I can’t see myself stopping anytime soon. Together with Converse and their support I am sure that we can create some radical and inspirational things together for our culture. Giving back to skateboarders will always be at the top of the list and my main drive.
What is your first memory of the brand?
I remember when I first saw Converse, the opening trick of Mariano’s part in ‘Mouse’. He was wearing a pair of navy One Stars doing the switch bigspin flip and the first line at the Venice benches…instant stoke! He was also rocking the navy Dr. J’s (Pro Leather Mid) in that part. These images have been stuck in my head ever since. That classic 90s vibe and look is just too dope to deny. Shortly after that my old shop sponsor hooked me up with some One Stars of my own but I got thesestrange green ones! Ever since then I’ve always wanted the navy ones Mariano rocked.
Polar is all set to be an amazing company with the recent promo going down a storm. Do you see Polar or its visual offerings as an extension to your older films like ‘The Strongest of the Strange’ and ‘In Search of the Miraculous’? Or is it a whole new departure?
Polar Skate Co. is a platform where we can express our ideas and visions on all levels. My two films set the base for this to happen and Polar is simply where the story continues. Everything is still the same but now we also produce products and express our ideas in graphics, adverts, a skate team and so on. The main idea behind it is to inspire others to inspire themselves. I want Polar to set an example on what a skateboard company can be about. We express ourselves on many different levels, artwork, photography and film pieces and much more. It is a wonderful thing to have a place and an output for all of your dreams. I am in charge and we do whatever we believe in. Hopefully we can have an input on the culture and direction of skateboarding and try to invest in cool projects that benefit people in exciting ways.
What drives your inspiration? From concrete to art, to filming, to running a company…why do you do it all?
It started with being frustrated about the skateboard industry and its general direction. That frustration became ‘The Strongest of the Strange’, which then lead into ‘In Search of the Miraculous’. The dark side and the bright side ultimately, but the bottom line is that I don’t always agree with all of the things that go on in skate culture and within the industry. I don’t like what certain people do and how they showcase skateboarding. I just can’t sit and watch our culture turn into rubbish! Although, there is some genuinely cool stuff out there…so I guess my main motivation is to show an alternative vision of what skateboarding can be about, or at the very least what it means for me. This rule kind of goes with all the things in my life – if you lovesomething, believe in it. You also have to be ready to stand up for it when you see things you dislike. So bottom line is that I want to contribute to skateboarding, engaging with the new generations and showing them my vision of skateboard culture.
What can we expect to see in the future from you, Polar and Converse?
We have a lot of plans for Polar and Converse. At the moment we are still waiting for spring to kick in and once it is here, life starts again. We will continue doing what we always do, hit the streets with our boards, capture it on film, travel around, hook up and skate with the locals in spots all around the world. I’d like to build more around Malmö and together with Converse it will be possible to try amazing things all over Europe too. We’ll keep doing rad stuff together and try to keep this skateboard culture as alive, raw and radical as possible.
Work more; sleep less!
Stay inspired,
Pontus Alv
Last night, the Prince Charles Cinema played host to Slam City Skates’ first ever skate video, City Of Rats, celebrating 25 years of service in London’s skate scene. The grins of the 6.30pm sitting were ever present as they left the screening making way for the final showing for Slam staff, various pro’s from all over the country and London skaters keen to see what has been in the making now for a few years.
The 56 minute video put together from the hard work of Henry Edwards-Wood was kicked off by Nick Jensen following a well received dedication to Bingo (RIP), whose huge pop reached many London window sills, ledges and benches to a mellow, 60s tune. Joey Pressey’s part and a cameo by Benny Fairfax dropped before Snowy and Joe Gavin (who has big news coming soon) got into the mix and raised spirits in advance of a mates section, where Jason Caines‘ massive road gap ollie received a huge applause, and tricks from Ben Jobe, The Gonz and many more skaters, old and new, provided the entertainment.
Southbank legend Femi Bukumola raised the roof with some vocal skills introducing Palace Am, Karim Bakhtaoui, whose 5 stair magic ender once again brought more howls before Jin Shimizu rolled the City streets. Robbleyard, Tanner, Howes, Todd and Danny Brady shared footage to Radiohead’s Black Swan tune followed by the Vagrants section that has some great skating from Madars Apse and the euro contingent before two of Blueprint’s finest, Neil Smith and Jerome Campbell both stepped up with a fantastic joint part that brought cheers from a stoked crowd.
The Slam shop crew have a section in this alongside a huge pick of friends and family who all have tricks filmed in various spots around London, Bromley and beyond. This makes the shop video feel as real as it can get as it includes extended family which rightly part of the successful blueprint of 25 years of Slam being in business who rightly boast at the intro of this film are the oldest skateshop in Europe. So, it’s not just a collection of bangers from the likes of Chewy Cannon, Lucien Clarke and Steph Morgan who have a section dedicated to them towards the end, the film has tricks from everyone which again, proves popular tonight from the full house that are witnessing Henry’s hard graft.
Casper Brooker‘s section is packed with goodness. Really impressive stuff. Rory Milanes then closes the show with a fantastic section that deserved its placing within this huge montage of (mostly) UK skateboarders and gives you an insight into what’s to come from Palace in the future and where Hold Tight Henry leaves us hanging before his next chapter wherever that will be. He was nothing but relieved on the night after a gruelling fight to get this one finished and hats off to him for the dedication.
As far as shop videos go, City of Rats will take some beating, but as we all know, your local skater owned shops are the ones who supply the goodness for everyone and they will have their turn to try and match this once the dedication is recorded onto a hard drive. This week though, the honours have gone to Slam and now it’s up to the rest of the UK’s independent scene to step up to this mark. Roll on Great Britain.
Here’s a few shots from the night (thanks to Mark Brewster), pre order your copy of the DVD here.
