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The hype on éS shoes returning started last September when a Japanese trade show suddenly unveiled a booth full of Accel’s. Since then, much talk of the brand returning to the game was rife so it was inevitable that at some point skater-owned company Sole Tech had to spill some beans.

CEO and co-founder Pierre-André Senizergues clearly had a lot to get off his chest and chose this interview as his biggest priority of the entire launch.

Let’s rewind a bit, to before you put éS on ice and stuck her beautiful memory in a deep freeze. How heart-wrenching was it to finally go, “yeah, we got to do it”, what was the main reason behind it, and why resurrect her now?

It was a very difficult decision to make of course as we love éS.

What we decided to do was something that no other brand in skateboarding has ever done and create a new concept of a creative retreat. We may have even been the first brand of our size to ever to say “let’s take a break…take a breath of fresh air, reassess where skateboarding is going, and decide where do we want to go.” It was the toughest decision of my life, as I love éS so much, as do millions of skaters around the world. But, it really was the right thing to do.

With being on a creative retreat for almost 2 years, we have been constantly bombarded with love from éS fans to bring it back. We are still in creative retreat where we have been designing and creating, so we thought, why not show some of what we’ve been up to.

So where is skateboarding going?

That’s the big question for everyone and I don’t think anyone has the one right answer! What we do know is that from the skateboarders’ perspective things are moving faster than ever. And sometimes it seems faster than what the skate industry can keep up with. The market is trying to keep things moving in sameness, but the playing field has changed dramatically. Crucial to all presumptions must be to rethink, embrace and face change head on by doing things differently.

So where do you want to go?

We’re all skateboarders driven at Sole Tech, it’s in our blood to do what’s best for skateboarding. We’re still looking at éS as being in creative retreat mode. We’re curious to see the response from coming out with a few new éS styles. By dropping some amazing new products, we feel that it still allows us to keep things tight and figure out what to do next. No big plans, just wanting to start a conversation with our fellow skateboarders that love skateboarding in our community.

We see there’s no team in place on this re-launch. When will that come?

It’s been interesting to see how many people are asking who is on the team – the team side of things is one of the most exciting areas as there are so many amazing skateboarders around the world today. But, figuring out a team is way ahead of where we are actually at right now. Right now, we’re focusing on designing product, staying low key in our creative retreat and support skateboarders that support skate stores and their communities. We’re already getting hit up by a lot of top riders but we want to take our time and figure out the best decision for skateboarding.

Clearly then there’s no rush to bust down the doors with this launch. Even though people like us are chomping at the bit to bring it back, surely there’s a risk involved in thawing that ice too quickly right? The internet may suggest it wants the brand back but actually crossing the skate shop door and parting with cash is another level.

You’re right. We have listened to what our skateboarders are saying, but we’ll really see how serious the support is when it goes into the skate shop. But, what’s refreshing regardless is that we’re small again and we’re not bound by the creative restrictions you have as a large brand. We deliberately don’t want to grow to fast as we want to do this right. I truly believe that skateboarders want to get back into éS shoes. Some of the comments on social media have been amazing and we’re reading every single one of them. We love seeing how much people love what we love about éS and they are there to cheer us on as we start moving toward them.

Talk us through the technology behind these three new models.

Sole Technology is a specialist in building the best skate shoes and we’ve been doing it for the last 28 years. Our designers all skate and get it. They test the shoes themselves as well as with our biomechanics lab and I’ve tested them myself as I always do. The shoes we’re coming out with are really, really good!

We have special features we developed to have the shoes fit like a glove for better board feel. We also developed a new material that integrates a urethane compound and heat to fuse on material like suede leather – it is extremely durable and grippy. Amazing cushioning system developed, approved and proven by our STI Lab.

They also look great and we have decided that this incredible value must come at a democratic price for skateboarding so our skateboarders can afford it – not like the crazy priced shoes like we’ve see over $100 (US) from sports brands!

Let’s discuss the landscape of the skateboard shoe industry since the last time we both spoke about Sole Tech back in 2006. We discussed Nike’s entry into the market and you said:

“I’m not sure exactly what they do. I understand why some people disagree because they’re coming into the market and trying to steal the scene that has been made by a lot of decent people. But it’s very difficult to do it, I think you really have to be in skateboarding for a long time to be able to do it.”

Things have changed somewhat 7 years later. What is your opinion now?

I believe there are a lot of decent people that love skateboarding and hate that the market has been bought by sports brands not coming from skateboarding!

It’s interesting to go back and read that article, thanks for reminding me of it. You did a great job covering a lot of my history in skateboarding, it was cool to read through it again. Looking specifically at this question, I have to say, the second part of my answer reminds me a lot of what we’ve just been going through the past 5 or so years in skateboarding. I think what I said back then, still rings true today, so I’ll just put it out there again:

“Yeah, we were born in skateboarding, and if there is a danger for us to survive, then we’re going to do whatever it takes to survive. I think it’s a bit like a country trying to conquer a country. But this time it’s not a country and they are trying to conquer something they know nothing about and the country will defend it with their last bit of blood because that’s what they are.“

So, I want to quickly divert from skateboarding and look at what happened in the surf industry, right around the time we did that interview. A large athletic corporation came in to the surf world. They over paid for everything, took over every event, bought all the top riders, bought up the media, bought up all retailers space and then after a few year announces that the “category” is unprofitable and cuts the ENTIRE category.

What they did with this was artificially inflated the price of everything so the new rate for all the endemic brands to compete increased dramatically. So much so that it tipped the whole surf industry upside down to the point of where legit, passionate brands have gone bankrupt or on the brink of being so. There’s now rumours that other categories are going to be cut. So, let’s see when skateboarding is going to be on the list because it’s not what they would consider a “profitable” enough for their large portfolio of business.

When you are driven solely by profit, there’s no soul in what you are producing and that means no regard for the community in which you trying to be a part of. I like to say that substance wins out over time and I think we’re seeing the results of their “substance.”

Interesting point and only time will tell if your prediction comes to fruition. But humans will always take money from anywhere in times of need, whatever industry they work in. In this case we have skateboarders working for sports brands who should really be giving back to the core scene that gave them the opportunity to make a living in the first place, the publishers who are fueling demand and merging globally to advertise to millions of “sports fans”, and of course the sponsored skateboarders themselves on sports contracts at the front end. Money from sports brands has clearly turned some heads from this capitalist generation, so how does éS (and other Sole Tech shoe brands) compete in 2014 whilst this still exists in skateboarding?

It’s funny you say this, as skateboarding seems to be split into different categories and it doesn’t all add up to equal values. There’s the mainstream sports scene that’s all about big time TV and then there is the fuck contests, video hammer skaters, and then there is a happy group of terrain destroyers out there that thrive off of the scene in their communities.

The interesting thing is the guys in the mainstream money-making zone aren’t necessarily the ones that sell product, there’s also a lot of top skaters in the middle tier that don’t even have sponsors, and then there’s skaters in the local regions that are just as good as the some of the top pros and they are still buying shoes from their local store. We believe today what’s most important is what the brand stands for along with having great product and consumer intimacy.

I feel our skateboarding community needs to be recognized much more. There is an injustice in the fact that this over-inflated market because of sports brands that are only giving to those at the top has left the rest of the skate scene unsupported. But the rest of us have been, are and will continue to be a big part of building skateboarding and our culture.

Talking of support, it’s common knowledge that some skate shop owners hate having to deal with mainstream sports brands, the deals they cut and their expectations to get the next batch of shoes in. Especially once they realise that exclusivity is wearing thin and mainstream outlets are suddenly popping up selling those ‘exclusive’ skate shoes now to any bod in the high street….

I’d say majority of retailers hate dealing with the mainstream brands, but know they have to. That’s why most of these retailers are looking at éS as being something positive to give skaters an alternative brand that is a true skater owned brand.

We really have a lot of respect for retailers that have never bought these mainstream brands in, or in many cases today where retailers are giving them the finger and drop them. It’s a tough decision and we don’t fault those who engaged with them either as they all had to find a way to survive these challenging times. But, it’s amazing when you see people who are able to be independent from the mainstream brand hold. For example, we love Active Ride Shop in California for “Just Not Doing It” and replacing the business with authentic skate brands and say to them “enough is enough.”

I just read an article about what two of the biggest sports brands have done with cutting small running retailers. These are some of their most specialized running stores that have been carrying them for over 30 years and have helped build them up. Then the brand decides to cut and puts them out of business for the reason that they are not big enough and then do not need them anymore.

Our skateboard industry is made of many small size stores where our culture is nurtured and developed, where our people working in the shop are doing it by passion and do whatever it takes to represent our culture the best it can be. I would hate to see this same thing happen, be turned down and go out of business just because somebody that does not skate at the top of these huge sports corporations decide this.

A UK skater owned shop owner who stocks sports brands, told me just this week that:

“From the shop point of view, we’ve needed the bigger brands because that’s what skateboarders are choosing to buy at the moment and they bring in other groups of customers. If we could survive selling only the most core skate brands then I would happily do that, but right now they don’t sell enough. There is a paradox there in that success means small brands becoming big brands and eventually corporate brands, DC for instance… so where do you draw the line?”

The overarching conversation about small brands vs big brands must be looked at closer with big size brand from action culture vs. from sports culture.

For us, we are not a sports brand, we are skateboarders. We are not monitored by points like sport competitions and score cards – competition does not define us. It is not by who will win a contest or by winning over somebody else. We are defined by pushing our own limit, sharing a great time skateboarding, having fun with our friends and living it day and night.

For Sole Tech and Sole Tech brands, we have always made the consistent decision to be the right size and to remain true to inspire youth through a passionate commitment to authentic skateboarding.

Since day one, starting with etnies, we work on bringing skateboarding to people. We opened footwear categories in the skate shops to draw in people from outside skateboarding to bring them to skate shops and inspire with our culture.

Along the way, the market became very basic in terms of style and product. Now sports brands are opening the skateboard footwear category everywhere with no balance. How is this is going help our skateboard shops going forward? We believe we need to change and bring to our market desirable and different product that cannot be found everywhere. We love the idea of bringing different styles, with authentic brands that have great stories specifically to skate shops to help drive their demand.

This must be done with our people in the community – skate shops and authentic Sole Tech has always supported this and is accelerating now with innovation to bring the right balance back for our skateboard store.

It is clear we can’t do it alone and we need everybody’s support.

How can éS play a part in driving new skateboarders into skate shops to learn about the importance of keeping the skateboard industry run by skater owned companies?

It would be the most amazing thing to see if éS can reinvigorate the business with skate shops. We’re all one big family and we need to support each other. But, no ones wins if the skate brands create inferior products. That’s why based on the demand for éS we can come back and help gain momentum for skater owned brands. Let’s get skateboarding back in the hands of skateboarders.

We want the community to speak. We are trying to figure how can we keep the true spirit of skateboarding out there, and not have skateboarding in the hands of people that do not skate, but by skaters and have them lead the way to stay authentic. We don’t want it becoming a sport that has nothing to do with skateboarding. Skateboarding is more than just performing a trick – it is how we live and all the experiences we learn along the way in our lives with our fellow skateboarders. It’s not a score card!

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There’s a good chance that you may well have seen Godmachine‘s incredible illustration work before on various skateboard graphics, band t-shirts or record sleeves over the years. His knack of delivering the finest gore and dreamy terror for the best of them out there has been noted from here for a while now, so we decided to approach him for some artwork for this year’s Halloween Massacre and delve into his life of art, illustration, skateboarding, music and more. Dive in, it’s a dark place in here but a happy one.

Where did all of this begin?

I grew up in a small village on the Welsh coast, staring at the stars and listening to Fugazi and The Doors reading 2000AD.

When was the first time in your life you decided illustration was something more than a few doodles?

Not that long ago really. I’ve been doodling forever, then one day my wife bought me some canvas and paint and asked me to try it seriously. People bought them so I did more- I didn’t really know what I was doing – still don’t!

Is there one particular drawing that defines this moment as such looking back? Do you still have it?

No sadly, I sold everything I could. I was just amazed they were selling but as I put more and more work in I started to feel that pang of letting pieces go off in to the world. There arena few pieces throughout my career that I can say changed things, the bright colours , the detail in the illustrations, the adoption of tattoo styles into merch, then the use of grey’s on black’s. Hopefully a lot more to come. It’s not hard to see subtle changes in trends and consider bringing them all together. I see a few people able to do this and a lot more who just follow trends.

Why did you have to sell it?

I was working at the time, part time, but it wasn’t an income thing, it was a “holy shit I’m getting paid to do something I love” thing. I was just blown away that I could do something I love and people actually liked it. Coming from a previous life where I thought I was only going to be labouring for the rest of my life it was quite a shock. I was nervous to let the part time job go and even when I was making a living making from art I still considered getting a part time job again. I guess it’s ingrained in your DNA.

Was art in the family when you grew up? Who inspired you to put pen to paper back then?

I think some people could draw in the family but no one did it as a career or even as a hobby. It was kinda discouraged if anything. Nobody made it as an artist or singer or film maker where I am from, you either learn a trade, or get in that factory line as quick as possible. I was inspired by comics and art books from a small village library that stocked weird art books and comics that were hard to come by and they helped me escape the small village I lived in.

Illustration is not something you really do with friends after school, it’s more of a solo mission, how did your independence growing up as a kid push your time and energy into drawing?

That’s perfectly put; drawing needs you to be a lonely, boring person who spends all their time alone if you want to get anywhere. Kids think it’s super fun and comes with fame etc, but it’s a quiet, lonely slog. Like I say, I didn’t really apply myself until about 5 years ago, I was too busy being around people, parties, drinks, work, music, boxing, work, skating, gigs, work, etc.

Did you skate much in your adolescence?

Yeah I used to love skating. I remember learning to ollie and my folks being terrified as to them, it looked like I was spending hours literally trying to break this really expensive thing they just bought me. I grew up at the beautiful time of when they decided to put a tail in the front not the board. One year when we’re skating Santa Cruz and drooling over these graphics and buying beautiful Airwalk’s, then the next year we were being tested with offensively exciting graphics and taking the nose bones off our decks. In the village there was a spot that was behind the surgery, it was smooth and had a security light for skating at night and a load of new clean curbs. It was always about street skating for us.

How much did skateboard art influence your desire to reach further into your own artistic development?

It was always about weird books like Beardsley from the library, skate decks and 2000ad for me. I used to spend hours in the skate shop in the nearest town drooling over the graphics of boards – all those colours unashamed and in your face. The attitude of skating was hard to avoid too, no one who spends their days heading face first into concrete has a timid disposition after a while. I was skating and boxing, so you kinda get a confidence to do more things. Thinking about it even today, most of the skaters I know have an artistic flair even if it’s just an eye for trends and fashions.

What about the music scene, as back then the two were colliding across culture hand in hand?

Music played a big part in my life. I remember forming a Beastie Boys band with my friends when I was 8 years old, buying a run DMC tape with my 10th birthday money from the garage. (there were no music shops) One day when I was 14, my mate Stewart brought over this Fugazi album on vinyl and I wasn’t into it at first, but it grew on me. Another day I rented Streets on Fire and that was it, that soundtrack changed my life introducing me to Black Flag, Sonic Youth, Descendents, Firehose, Pailhead and so many more. I used to go to school in the next town and at lunch would go into town and rent out that film every weekend, EVERY WEEKEND. We figured out a way of recording the soundtrack onto tape so we could listen to it constantly. The tape included most of the dialogue of the girl and the skating noises- to this day if I hear a song from that video I can say all the dialogue in and around the tune and even make the deck noises over the top in the right places! That video was a game changer. The shop that rented the video stopped renting it and I bought it off them. I still have it on my shelf today.

You mentioned ‘trendsetters’ at the beginning of this interview, briefly, explain how you see the marketplace for the work you do. Do you see a lot of trend hoppers jumping on board the scene? How bitchy does drawing death get?

Haha, I think the scene can get really bitchy, but I now just stay away from a scene. As Mike Patton says “you have to (at some point) find your own corner of hell and just get on with your work’.” I think too many people want to be a part of too many things and it can get quite incestuous, like a stagnant pool that has no fresh input. It’s best to walk your own road when you get a chance and leave these places. I don’t doubt that community is a great thing in the beginning, you learn a lot, but when you can, you should fly the coup.

As for trends its always going to be that way, none of us are free from fashions or trends. You do see a lot of kids or maybe they are grown-ups who knows, but you see a lot of them jumping on the bandwagon. You can’t blame them, it’s nice to be popular I suppose and be part of something, but like I say, it stagnates after a while. You can spend years pulling small bits from other artists all your life and developing something or sensing minute changes in trends and putting all these bits together to makes something special and new…there are a few of these people around and they are special, and then you get the many who just see them do this and follow them with no idea of where it all comes from. Human nature I guess.

Hasn’t there always been a wave of incredible illustrators in gore even before the days of Pushead when we were kids?

I remember Hieronymus Bosch made me wiggly in the trouser department once. I think Pushead and a load of others were the force that made the wave that people are still riding. God bless ‘em and all who sail within her ma’am.

As a skateboarder did Pushead’s art influence you in any way growing up in skating back then?

To be totally honest, no. I remember the Zorlac board which brought it to a lot of people’s attention and I never liked Metallica. I love his stuff now though, but it wasn’t a big part of my art upbringing at all.

How does someone pitch a design to you as a piece of paid work and how do you format a new piece?

Clients send me an idea and if it doesn’t make me excited I ask them how malleable the brief is, we talk a bit if we need to and then I’ll knock out a sketch. If they like it I go from there. I avoid anything that doesn’t excite me anymore, it’s nice to be in that position and it makes me feel better about just making something for money. In my experience, unless I’m excited about it I don’t do my best and I always want to and try to do my best. I’m massively aware that these people could be spending this money on good things like drugs or women, so that they chose to spend it on me makes me want to make sure they get something good. I sketch in Photoshop and then make new layers till it looks smart.

How fast do you have to work to come up with the ideas in others heads to deliver work that they envisaged?

It’s really difficult to get some people to understand that although I can say “a 4 sided triangle” or “a neon earth colour” that the reality won’t work. I don’t mind spending time talking to clients if their ideas are unrealistic or if I am failing to understand them, I want to be sure before we move on we are on the same page. Sometimes if I can’t get it or it doesn’t work for me I suggest some other artists. It’s easier to spend 10 mins on a convincing email than it is to spend 2 days on a piece that doesn’t work. Some people are really thankful for that, some people think you are being obtuse on purpose, but as long as it stops me drawing shit things and them receiving shit drawings I’m happy.

Do many people actually say ‘nah, that’s not really what I want?’

Luckily not that often at all. Sometimes I will have a flash of inspiration and change the whole thing completely and if they don’t like it I am fine to go back and do the original idea. I’m cool with that and they don’t mind me trying. Sometimes in the past I have had a client that I described everything too, he’d seen my previous work and I had done sketches, but when I presented the final piece it wasn’t what he wanted. That’s why you have to make sure you have everything down in writing so you can refer back to it. I hate having to do phone calls about work because you think you said something, they think they definitely said ‘blue and not green’, but as long as you have it in writing you are fine. With this particular piece I made the changes within my time scale and budget and turned it from a piece I was proud of to a piece that I won’t show anyone. That’s how it works.

What has been the most ridiculous request so far for art that you just could not do?

Some band wanted a picture of a man beating up a girl with the words “fuck you bitch” on it. I really can’t stand that weak minded attitude. I luckily don’t get it that often and I really hope that there are not that many people out there that have that kind of thought process. You really get to put into perspective what’s ‘dark’ when you get a brief “a baby getting ripped out of a women’s vagina”. I’m no prude but I tend to stay away from stuff like that unless the message is one to get behind, but it’s like Jimmy Carr’s jokes – they work because you know the context in which he tells them, you can never be sure of the clients. I also had a request which was the most contradiction ever: an alien looking human with neon earth colours and a four sided triangle…..that type of thing. It’s not the worst but it is sometimes confusing.

If you could have one of your art pieces back right now, which one would it be and where did it go?

It would be a drawing of a cat I did recently on tea stained paper. A black cat with a landscape and a moon inside him. If you are reading this and you have it I would love to buy it back. I think someone paid good money for it so I want to believe it went to a good home. One of my fav’ all time pieces because it was honest, probably the most honest piece of art I’ve ever done.

Do you tend to get busier in the build-up to Halloween or is death and destruction something that your clients generally want all year round?

“Every day is Halloween.” – Ministry. Yeah, pretty much, that. I used to get super busy around Halloween when I first started but that seems to have died off…no pun intended.

Have you ever thought about drawing your own death in advance of moving in in this world?

I am not answering this- I know exactly how I will die.

What ideally would you like to leave behind?

Would be good to change something that lasts forever. You can have my ram skulls and first edition Marshal Law comic.

Any thanks, fuck you’s, big ups etc?

Big up to nice people. Shout out’s to good people. Thank you to my people.

I also want to give a big shout out the band Ingested for allowing us to use the artwork for the Crossfire Halloween Massacre flyer. It’s an old piece I did and it seemed like a good idea to use it for a Halloween inspired poster what with all the colours etc. Go check out the boys and buy a tee of it if you want too from facebook.com/ingesteduk

Where can we find your shit?

In the bog? www.godmachine.co.uk

Growing up in the Croydon area of the United Kingdom back in the 80s was a blast. Fairfield Halls and Norwich Union bank sessions on route to M-Zone to stare at the latest American decks and stickers on display was a must. It was tight knit, everyone looked out for each other and the element of DIY when it came to skating was rife. If you didn’t wake up to build something new, nothing new was going to build itself.

Drawing Boards is a DIY skate company born a generation further down the line in Croydon. This is a group of friends hell-bent on hanging out together, spreading their art across the South East and shredding for fun since day one. Their talisman AD was last featured back in 2008 here to raise awareness about Fairfields and to discuss his art that fuels the company. Five years later, and Drawing Boards have released their debut, full length DVD, ‘Draw The Line‘, an impressive debut from an outfit that have worked their socks off to get footage down and show the world how much fun they actually have.

This lot are a small crew with a big heart. Read on to find out how their debut was put together in this month’s Exposed.

So, AD, how long did it take to get all of the footage together for this debut?

Spread between having a baby, moving house, working the day job and trying to stay on top of other bits n’ bobs, it took about 3 years! We covered a lot of ground on filming missions. Plenty of South Coast missions in Brighton, Portsmouth, Southampton and Bournemouth, and a healthy scattering of spots covered in London while staying at Elliot’s hipster pad. We also filmed up North and of course, the Cronx, plus some trips overseas to the Czech Republic, Germany and Barcelona (all have tour edits in the extras of the DVD). Big thanks to Babette and Martin for going out of there way to make us feel so at home.

You used VX instead of HD on the film, what helped you make that decision?

It kind of suits us better as a roots company and to be honest I just feel more at home with it. Although on the production side of things it was definitely important to make sure it wasn’t like anything people had seen before, which is really important to the aesthetics of Drawing Boards in general. Liam (Teague) and I really went balls out to make it the best we could and the “quirky” bits definitely got a good reaction at the premiere. Luckily with such good skaters on the team this made our job a bit easier to bring it all together.

Watch the trailer:

Is most of the footage from the South Coast?

Plenty of it is from Brighton as Isaac, Teague, Dylan and I live in that general area. We spent a fair bit of time in Pompey too as that’s where Jak (Tonge) lives and he’d always be digging out spots. Also having lived in Croydon previously, I knew of plenty of spots in that area, so we made sure they got a good seeing to. The entire video is street based so anyone who has made a street vid knows, you really have to mix it up. So yeah, there are loads of spots in the film, even in Essex, Nottingham, Reading, Crawley, Horsham, Fareham, Oxford, Bristol….the list goes on and on. I managed to actually kill off the AD wagon doing so much driving for this. Haha!

What is the hardest part of running a skateboard company?

Well if you had asked me a year or so ago I would have said organising 6 individuals to be in one place at one time, but these days it’s getting a work/family balance. My daughter is very important to me, and since her arrival I have felt more inspired than ever. So I have to make sure I’m a good Father to her as well as keeping the company ticking over. Time is really tight these days and I feel as though I’m rinsed for every second. So the answer is TIME!

Looking back, what stood out most during the making of Draw The Line?

Things that really stand out in my mind are the hairy moments that really made us club together, and I suppose made us stronger as a unit. Smay (Sam May) totally knocking himself out into a new realm in Czech (I’ll let Elliot tell you about that). I have never seen anybody talk in tongues 5 centimeters away from my face! I’m so glad he came back to this world. Whilst in Berlin, two days from the end of the tour, my camera bag got stolen containing all the footage we had filmed over tour so far. Full freak out mode! There were so many hammers on there. Luckily baby jesus was on our side and the thief threw the tapes and my passport in a bush! We were so lucky! Cheers to Jerry for holding it down with me that day! The whole production was literally to the Line. Potter filmed his intro for the vid and Teag filmed one of his tricks 3 days before the premiere. Not to mention Jak’s ender haha! Basically it was the last time he could go out before the birth of his son – I won’t spoil it for you, it’s on the DVD. Suffice to say he had no other option.

Big shouts to Teague who not only filmed a tight part but also edited the beast. He certainly put his time in at the pixelation station, not to mention having to put up with my at times anal scrutiny. Also my old friend Si, who even though he’s living the more laid back lifestyle these days continues to have input and give me feedback on what’s cracking. We have been through all a lot together and everyone dug deep and pushed their own boundaries as skaters and people for sure. I’m so grateful to loads of people who helped us out along the way. Check the credits on the vid haha! There’s quite a lot of em!

What is coming from Drawing Boards in 2013?

Good question. This year we are all about spreading the word of Drawing Boards. Getting the DVD out there, hosting and sponsoring comps, still filming and meeting new people. The new Level (skatepark) is opening just down the road from my house too, so it would be good to be involved with some events there. I’ve just finished some new graphics that I’m stoked on too and currently planning a mini UK Tour with plenty of surprises, so keep checking in.

We asked the team riders to look back on various memories filming ‘Draw The Line’. Enjoy these stories on the making of this video but before you do, push play on this exclusive ‘Rad Burger‘ clip from the DVD with the team shot in Berlin.

LIAM TEAGUE

“Don’t tell anyone, but I don’t really like this guy Dyllan. He’s the sort of guy that would do go skating with you and casually rip every single spot you think about skating to pieces in about five minutes, leaving you crying about how you can’t land anything. Dyllan’s the fucking best! He’s got the exact approach you want in a sponsored skater. Take him to any spot and he’s got no thoughts other than “I’m a skateboarder, I’ve been taken to a spot, I should skate it” and that’s what he did.

He came to the scene real late, firstly by joining us as a friend of Zak on a filming tour round the country and putting us all to shame by pretty much getting more footage than the rest of us put together. After continuing to do this for a few months every time we went filming, Ads announced he was gonna hook him up. Dyllan really saved the video, his part really added that something it was missing, and seeing him tear through and produce that part in such a short time was an inspiration.

Aesthetics wise, myself and Ads knew that profiling the company’s image in the vid was important, and had a lot of fun experimenting with different ways to do this. Having the support of someone else to be able to make these ideas happen was amazing, and adding these things in put us two in some interesting positions. Standing in front of endless green pieces of paper; making people pretending to point at things hundreds of times over; sneaking in to train stations waiting to jump on and off the trains; trying to explain our ideas by drawing onto car windows while driving down the motorway; painting huge titles for four hours and having to edit in missing pieces of the shot frame by frame; throwing giant boxes of paintbrushes around; and relaying clips over dropbox millions of times over arguing about the thickness of lines… The details we worked at to put in there have been a hilarious roller coaster, I hope it’s paid off for the viewers.

Slammin’ – I have a bit of trouble staying on my feet when skating, and probably experienced more pain while filming for this vid than ever before. The lipslide slam led me to A&E, and back a few weeks later for three giant metal wires stuck into my hand – the picture you’ll see after is of the pliers used to yank them out later on. The full speed run into the fence was definitely the worst shinner of my life. Few ACL problems from that one for sure.

The worst though was easily the sacking in Berlin, hands down the worst pain I’ve ever experienced. We had to cut the sound from the edit as it was just too harrowing. Half a dozen or so people came over as they thought someone was being tortured or something. Somehow it only put me off my board for the next day, but certain movements were rather uncomfortable for a long while after, to say the least. But it was only at the airport waiting to go home that I decided to go have a look down there, only to find two giant purple balls covered in dried blood. Stoked.

Liam takes a switch bonk bigspin for the Line. Photo by Rich West.

Jak’s rail in the rain was gnarly. A four hour drive for a ten minute session, hands down the craziest thing I’ve seen. This was the last weekend of filming before the premiere. Jak needed another hammer for his part and we knew this rail was the place for it. It was only skateable on Sundays so this was the last chance we had. The forecast did not look good but me and Ads set off early anyway on the two hour journey to pick up Jak and head over there, checking the floor, the skies and the Met Office every step of the way. As blacker clouds loomed as we got closer, we really thought we’d struck gold in getting away with it as we pulled in, but as you’d expect, almost the second we turned off the car engine, the skate Gods opened up the heavens and the inevitable finally happened, and with no reserve. With morales low we went and had a look at the spot anyway, but it only took a few minutes for Jak to decide that he was going to give it a go regardless. In the conditions, I wasn’t too sure if I believed him, or whether I thought it was a good idea, but I wasn’t there to play advisor so hastily we tried to set up the cameras without water logging them. A few minutes later, straight out of the car, no warm up, a couple of roll ups to check it out and boom, he went straight for it first go, sticking straight away and flying right to the floor through the rain and mud!

Before me and Ads could pick our jaws off the floor he was back up the top wiping his board down with his hoodie and ready for another. Second go, he grinds right through the thing and casually jumps off. At this point we realised this might actually happen, but before we can even stop giggling in excitement it was over. Third try, soaking wet, board covered in mud, full speed, perfectly locks in and rolls away through the thunderstorm. This one was the definition of dedication to the cause.”

ISAAC MILLER

“I was skating a mini ramp with Jak Tonge watching his effortless bag of tricks unwind and that was my first introduction to Drawing Boards. I never thought I would be on the same team as him and my buddy, ole pal Dyllan Vd Merwe who is the latest member of the team. He managed to film his part for ‘Draw The Line’ in under six months! Not to mention watching his monstrous frontside flip down the double set in Berlin on the last day of the tour after 7 days of binging and skating. I’ve never had such a good experience skating with the DB team and friends in Barcelona and Berlin, skating all day getting smashed all night, living life to the full. Shouts out to Drawing Boards, DC, AD, Jak, Dyl, Leo, Chris, Level Army and all family and friends.

Isaac Miller back smiths for Ranny’s lens.

JERRY WILSON

Being involved in the ‘Draw The Line’ vid has been incredible. I’ve so many fun memories from all the tours, days out filming, the chill out sessions post skate and met so many amazing, inspirational and hilarious people. I’ve seen the company grow from a few hundred t-shirts to what it is now: a movement. It’s about spreading love, positivity, and a passion for skateboarding. By the skaters, for the skaters. Here’s three of my favourite moments, just off the top of my head:

1.) On the ‘Czech My Puss’ tour (probably my favourite of all the tours) we stayed just an hour’s drive from the City of Prague in a wood cabin submerged in the most beautiful countryside. With a huge lake just five minutes walk away and the most stunning views, the location was second to none. Martin hooked us up with a keg of beer, all the weed one could inhale and the raddest spots (real streets spots) that were so rewarding to get a trick on. From start to finish I never stopped laughing. Countless interesting, ridiculous and sometimes just damn-right scary conversations really helped the team to bond during our time in Czech. Then there was Stalin square; after walking up what seem like never-ending travelator stairs of doom, you arrive in a skateboarding metropolis of ledges, hubbas, manny pads and the smoothest granite floor imaginable. I managed to skate the whole tour without an injury, what a rare blessing.

2.) The Hill Bomb in Czech was a hill bomb like no other. It went on for days. Nothing can beat that feeling of cruising without having to push, with all your boys around you, during a picturesque sunset in the beautiful Czech Republic. However, there were points during this trip where I feared for my life, accelerating ever faster down a bottomless road. I remember at one point looking to my right over at Tonge (who had no such worry) popping up curbs, doing manuals and generally kicking back. Look the other way and you were faced with a naked Potter (which is a gnarly sight at the best of times!) but when he’s flying at 30mph stuff gets real misplaced and messy. No duck tape required to hold back this man-gina – the wind did it for him! What a nutter! At this point I decided it was best to keep looking forward and concentrate on getting to the bottom in one piece. We completed the hill bomb and Potter put his pants back on, but we soon realised that Smay (Sam May, photographer) was no longer with us. Elliot will end this story below.

3.) The Premiere of ‘Draw The Line’ was awesome. It was amazing to see the video come together. It was a great turnout of people, good vibes, good beer and a smashing after-party! Ad has put so much into this project, and I could tell he received so much back from it by everyone being there showing their support and enjoying the short film we had made. He is a truly inspirational man who has taught me so much. He is the company. Long live the ol’ dude! It has been a privilege, thank you everyone! Peas and love.”

Jerry nollie flips for Dom Marley’s lens.

POTTER

“Filming for ‘Draw The Line’ has probably been one of the greatest experiences I have had the chance to be involved in. I would like to formally apologise to everyone as the video would have probably dropped 2 years ago if I hadn’t have been so lazy, so big ups to Ad’s for putting up with me, as I know I have been a massive pain. Ha!

From gaffer tape ankle supports to being called ‘mosher’ or anything that could relate to heavy metal or rock ‘n’ roll, I wouldn’t change a single thing about my time in filming this video, well maybe just one, I could have got more footage!

1, One of my fondest memories has to be when we were on tour in Barcelona and after a hard days skate and a lot of bangers later it turned out to be St Patrick’s Day, so off we went to the bars with our boards. A lot of GREEN beer later we were riding through the streets cruising looking for spots as we were all pretty merry. Jak and I found a disco ball the size of 5 basket balls (at this point we where so drunk I have no idea if I was meant to have paid for this). We were skating and kicking this giant disco ball through the street while riding our boards I passed to Jak and with one mega boot Jak kicked the disco ball as hard as he could, bang it hit a taxi (by mistake, nice one). In a panic, Jak tried to hide but behind a box that was maybe 5ft smaller than him making him stand out like a sore thumb!

It was also the first tour we had with Issac who was the star of this tour. His view on life at the time was brilliant. I have never seen any one hold drink down as well as this lil man and still kill it on a skateboard day in day out. One memory I have of Isaac has to be when we were walking to the next spot he saw a huuuuuge bank with a block at the top, without thinking, he just popped his board on the rail and tail kickflipped into the bank first go, with luck he rode it out clean while we all watched in shock. He popped into this bank that had a channel gap in it that would have probably killed the rest of us and headed directly into a main road that he didn’t even bother checking for cars or buses!

2, Has to be Berlin. The night before we left for Berlin I watched the film ‘Cabin in the Woods’ only to board a plan the next day, arrive in Germany and find out we are actually staying in gypsy wagons – in the woods. It was very eerie but at the same time gave me a different outlook on life. Liam (Teague) sacked himself on a kinked hand rail. After getting a bs board slide down it, he contemplated a fs board and like a man of steel, went for it first go, only to hit the kink and catch his ball-sack on the end of the rail! I will never forget the screams he gave out but big ups to him, as I have never seen a man with blue balls like this! I still have the photos. Haha! I will release them someday!

Potter takes a 5050. Photo Joel Lelliot

3. The Prague Tour (Czech my Puss) was brilliant, It was a nice welcome to the team for Jak as well, he fitted in perfectly with the family that we have all become. Apart from the fact that he almost burnt me alive in my sleep while trying to cook himself dinner! He somehow managed to set the curtains on fire in the small cabin we were staying in, and from what I hear everyone got out of the cabin but somehow all of them forgot I was asleep upstairs! Either way, the fire was put out and i’m still here. I didn’t hear about it until the morning when everyone was having a good laugh about how they forgot about me! lol!

4. The ‘Ey Up Me Duck’ tour was one of the first tours we went on way back in 2006. It was a nice chance for all of us to get to know each other, but the team just consisted of myself, Jerry, and John. For the first tour I would say we did pretty well. My main memories are of all the mad places we stayed ranging from sleeping in the woods with tree people to sleeping on a golf course only to be awoken by the grounds keeper saying how he’d never seen this kind of thing before . When Ad explained we where skaters on a tour he proclaimed “I’ve seen it on youtube” and as we left he mentioned another golf course where we may like to stay. Haha!

5. Has to be all the tricks that have been done by the team through out the years, but then the Berlin trip brought us Dyllan who I hadn’t really met until this trip and I have to say the guy reminds me of skating back in the day, keeping it gnarly doing huge kick and frontside flips down double sets into a downhill landing! He eats shit but gets straight back up and lands it!

Big ups to Adam for putting up with us and keeping us alive in skateboarding, the man has a true passion for skating and art and it wasn’t for him I would have never have been or seen half the countries I have been to. Even if I had, there’s no way I would have had as much fun as I did with this family.”

Playback of footage in Berlin.

DYLLAN VD MERWE

“Coming to England, I would have never have thought I would have met such chilled people and a sick crew down in Brighton. It’s a great skate scene and just full of good vibes. Meeting the Drawing Boards crew was cool, going on tour with them in 2011 was mental couldn’t have asked for a better introduction into England’s skate scene.

All the guys pulled it out the bag. Jerry injuring himself all the time and then still having a dope section was inspirational. Isaac smoking fags every two minutes and then ripping it up. Teague eating mega shit! Don’t know how he’s still alive that guy loves to eat shit! Black thong (aka Jak Tonge) with his general good vibes, chillin’ and killin’ the spots. He’s such a creative skater and he’s a big believer in reproduction. Big up to him and Jen on their little one! What to say about Potter? He’s a funny bastard! Meeting him was a good laugh massive pop long legs and black metal! Elliot the white Asian lovely guy, super down to earth. He’s an old man in a young man’s body. It’s amazing how he has such good balance on a skateboard without his walking stick.

Berlin was insane, sleeping in a cabin with wheels with no running water or electricity was an experience. It was fucking rad! Trying to film a part for the ‘Draw the Line’ vid was intense. I had a short time to do it but I’m happy Adam pushed us to get it done. The premiere was so good, all the hype for it was dope to see, I’m happy it got a good response and that people support the independent based companies. Big up to Ads and the Brighton crew, big love and respect to all you dudes!”

Dyllan blasts a fs flip. Photo by Rich West.

JAK TONGE

“Filming for ‘Draw the Line’ was an amazing experience. These boys are my friends so it was never really stressful until certain tricks came into play and the fact that my woman was heavily pregnant during the last few months of filming, but many thanks goes out to her for understanding my responsibilities to this video. Here are five of my fondest memories whilst being a part of this crew.

1. Prague 2008. Not really knowing anyone on the team, minus the boss, and knowing very little about where we were going. We drove an hour from the capital up into the mountains to a little cottage with the best night sky I have seen, There were no lights for miles! Beers, herb and BBQ every night for a week! Seeing Jerry and Smay cutting shapes on the dance floor, a mini ramp in a pub and a three mile perfect hill bomb through the mountains is a glimpse of how good this town was to us.
Many thanks to Martin and his parents for hooking us up!

2. On the same trip, Journey Wilson (Jerry) had three sixty flipped a big gap into a hill bomb the day before and was keen to get a nollie inward heel. He told me he had never had it down anything bigger than a paving slab at the legendary Fairfield’s. The whole team were scattered about, some watching for cars and others on walls filming and taking photos. Every go he almost got his feet on was like an explosion of excitement, especially from Neddy, our cameraman at the time, I can’t understand how he caught this trick on tape as he was going proper mental! When Jerry landed and rolled down the hill into the sunset, all I can say is, shit kicked off!

Jak feeble’s his way out of this rail. Photo by Rich West.

3. My mate Adam has a pretty inspiring outlook on life and has held together his own rad company, but, his driving is something to watch out for. Generally we were fine cruising at anywhere from 20 to 60 mph however as soon as we had to change roads, shit hit the fan and sprayed all over the gear stick! The funniest example would make my Nan’s driving look slick! You would think telling someone to go right at the roundabout meant third exit, but on literally the busiest road in my hometown, I said third exit and ‘me old china’ proceeded to turn right onto a road where cars were about to come screaming toward him! Pricks don’t hold back on that roundabout as there is generally nothing in your way, but not this time.
As soon as he pulled away, I got a bit dramatic to say the least! I’m not sure if it helped as he just looked at me confused for a bit until he saw the front lights of vehicles followed by a few flashes, he then slammed into reverse and turned perfectly into the road he was at previously…we all had a little breather! Oh how I love Adam’s driving.

4. I was working at Preston park, Brighton on a spine/mini when a small local lad with massive hair approached me and asked if it was OK to have a sesh. He was quiet and humble but so fucking loud on his board. I told Adam about him the next day and he’d already heard of the talent. The next week the Drawing Boards introduced Mr. Issac Miller. So stoked to have him on the team. Cheers for the good times and hook ups mate!

5. Berlin 2012. Told we were staying in caravans for the week. I think most of us missed the fact that it was a bohemian park with no heating or hot water. We lived the simple life with grey water systems, veg growing all over the show and even the odd cannabis plant to trim and help grow. Man, by day three I was ready to settle in forever if it wasn’t for my family at home, I probably would have! We skated with some rad people including Denny Pham who looks and rolls just like Malto it is uncanny. Long live Radburger! Thanks to everyone on the team and all the people that helped us along the way.”

ELLIOT ROWE

“Words to sum it up: Sunshine, happiness, youth and freedom. I really enjoyed spending time with everyone. Being surrounded by people so good on a skateboard made me feel so good being on a skateboard! Even though I’m losing my skill as quickly as my hair, the memories won’t be forgotten. Especially that crazy night in Czech!

Here’s my version of the Smay incident. Drunk, stoned, late at night, sounds like the perfect time for hill bombing. Potter of course gets naked, when doesn’t he? I can only describe it as snowboarding on concrete. I’ve never been that fast on a skateboard before. So drunk I can hardly see, which helps when there’s a 6ft man with his dick out, we all wait for everyone get to the bottom including our ski lift / tour van. Hmm…still waiting, no van, no Sam. Oh look there they are, everything’s fine, we can get back in the van and do it again, well everything’s fine apart Sam’s got serious concussion and there’s blood pouring out the back of his head! One last hill bomb before we go to the hospital anyone? No? Fair enough.

Then it all starts getting really really weird, in space of 30 minutes, Sam forgets who he is, who we are, and starts speaking some made up language that only goblins could understand. So we have a group of skaters, all stoned, pretty much useless, about 6 other guys including Ad’s, doctors and policemen holding Sam down on a hospital bed spitting in Ad’s face while they inject him with something to calm him down. Yeah it was intense! Next morning – “So Sam, can you remember much about last night?”- “Nope”.”

Pick up the ‘Draw The Line’ DVD at thedrawingboards.bigcartel.com

Chillin’ in Barca. Ph: Smay

A grab of Allen Ying’s photo shot for his very own 43 Magazine surfaced a few weeks back and had tongues wagging all over the web with this ridiculous subway ollie by Koki Loiaza. This Thursday, Colin Read’s Mandible Claw teaser pushed the gossip even further with the ender footage of Koki Loaiza falling into the tracks from a bail.

Read’s previous edit featuring train related tricks seemed to take a serious leap of faith once Koki turned up. Allen Ying had only met the Floridian for the first time on this very night and speaking to Vice yesterday said: “It was all pretty surreal, but he’s rad. Koki was the only one in our crew who thought he could do it.”

Many have probably stood in a tube station imagining the size of the ollie and the speed needed to clear such a deadly gap but Koki here seems to have been bang up for it when he decided that the 145th Street subway station in Manhattan, New York back in January was his. It’s nothing short of mind blowing and certainly must have been a nervous shoot. Many people die from regular tube disasters in daily life, be it accidents or suicide attempts, but thankfully he lived to tell the tale.

Photographer Allen Ying has also been quoted as saying that: “There were a mix of people who were worried and scared and excited. People who ride the subway that late don’t have much else to excite them.” Just imagine standing there witnessing that?! Watching him pull out at the last minute and possibly falling onto the live rail. “People online have been saying he should’ve come from the other side, so he wasn’t going toward the third rail, but it would have been impossible.” said Ying. “We had scouted the subway pretty well. This spot is probably the only one where that was doable.”

Thankfully by all accounts it didn’t take long until he made a clean ollie to the other side: “We waited till about 5 a.m. to get this trick but it was worth it. I wasn’t sure Koki was going to do it when we went down, but after a few run ups he landed it first try.”

Look out for the footage of this in the forthcoming TENGU: God of Mischief production coming soon from the Mandible Claw. This phenomenal trick aside, there will be much more to look forward to knowing that it was shot in NYC, SF, Tokyo, and Bordeaux. Expect footage of Leo Valls, Connor Kammerer, Alex Davis, Piro Sierra, Carlos Young, Ben Gore, James Coleman, Matt Town, Kennedy Cantrell, Alex Conn, Billy Rohan, TJ Sparks, Alex Fogt, Ryan Barlow, Masaki Ui, Kenji Nakahira, and many more.

Visit www.mandibleclaw.com for updates. The new 43 Magazine is about to drop very soon with much more on how this came together and the actual photograph in all of its original glory (sorry Allen was too good not to share), look out for it.