The new Blind Skateboards video ‘DAMN’ is about to drop into your local skater owned shop on the 27th May. With full parts planned from their new look team alongside seasoned pro’s such as the legendary Ronnie Creager, this is looking likely to be a video needing some attention on release day. Following a great reaction from the US premiere, Bill Weiss, who has worked on this movie alongside UK film maker Mike Manzoori, has answered 10 questions on ‘DAMN’ alongside a brand new trailer. Get to know:
1. How long did you spend filming this video (not long since the last one)
It was 2 years and 2 and a half months total filming time for this one. But that was pretty much every day-non stop
2. Was filming it mostly SD / Vx1000 camera a conscious decision or just a practical one
I had both a VX1000 and an HD Canon rig so I would let the guys make the call. Almost all of them wanted VX1000 so whatever they wanted. But as long as a trick is good were putting it in if it¹s VX, HD whatever.
3. Where was it all filmed?
The video was filmed all over different places LA, Barcelona, Toronto, France, Texas, North Carolina, Amsterdam, Brazil, Sacramento.
4. Best and worst things that happened during filming?
The best thing that happened was being there when the guys roll away from the tricks that they worked so hard to get. Nothing is better than that.
The worst things was having to take the guys to the ER for injuries that happened during the shooting of the video.TJ had to get head staples, Filipe Ortiz broke his foot twice.
5. How would you describe the vibe of the video?
The vibe of the video is about pushing skating forward, fun and hustling in the street to make that happen. Shout out to everyone else out there pushing it and making videos happen. A lot of blood sweat and tears go into making these.
6. Is there gonna be something like a B sides / out takes series for web?
We have all sorts of stuff planned for the web as well as remix’s down the line.
7. Biggest challenge in making the video?
Biggest challenge in making this video is the standard of skating these wanted for their parts. It’s absolutely fucked when you first discuss some of the stuff they want to go out and try to get and then through all the craziness seeing it happen blows me away.
8. Why are full length DVDs still so important to skateboarding?
Full length videos are important to skateboarding because they are timeless testament to a team’s hard work all brought together for the world to enjoy. You get to go inside their world and see all the different perspectives and takes on skateboarding. They are a true bonding experience as the team go through so much shit together to make the parts happen. Everyone’s pushing each other and feeding off that energy. You cannot get the same feeling from a single web part that you get from seeing a full length team video.
9. Who’s in the video and is there any surprises to look forward to?
The video is Kevin Romar, Ronnie Creager, new Blind AM Yuri, New Blind Pro Cody McEntire, Morgan Smith, Tj Rogers, SEWA and Blind’s new Rookie Pro Filipe Ortiz. As far as surprises the video is packed full of them. I think people are gonna be really surprised on all crazy tricks in the video.
10. What¹s in the future for Blind?
The future for Blind is very much like the name of the video. I hope people watch it and say Damn… that was fucking rad or Damn those dudes are having a good time out there. We are also putting so much into the new graphics and the team is loving the new stuff. Nothing is cooler than seeing the guys check out the new decks and saying Damn that looks sick!
This is a short story about a local skate scene that got off their backsides to create somewhere dry to skate. As you know us Brits have it bad weather-wise. We endure endless winters, one month summers, and damp sessions across the cold months, as a result, the pleasure can sometimes get sucked out of you, but only if you are not living the dream.
The local skate scene in Essex had a dream. It didn’t include fat slags, orange sunbed jobs and pissed up geezers mooning out of jazzed-up Ford Escorts, theirs was extremely simple. All they had to do was to find an unused space to takeover and the vision and positive energy combined would take them to the place they always wanted; a playing field where anything goes, where everyone is on par, where all who are on board chip in. That place, that dream became a reality and is known locally as URBSIDE.
There’s no doubt that the current DIY movement has been inspired by the likes of Pontus Alv in Sweden, who, after pushing the boundaries, and the knock-backs that come with watching his handy-work smashed to pieces by bulldozers, never gave up. If there’s a will, there’s a way, and fortunately that mentality has been distilled in all skateboarders from day one, across every generation.
Back in the 80s we would make jump ramps, nail British Gas pipes to scaffold poles, build mini ramps under disused railways lines, bridge the gaps to banks with filler; whatever it takes, we all have to have fun and there’s no better way of doing that than building your own. The sense of achievement that comes with it makes it that much sweeter.
At the beginning of April, a call to arms for an overhaul was raised by Mark Radman and others. Urbside needed fresh blood, new terrain and most importantly, it needed everyone local to chip in to make it work. This small feature (with words from Radman) is designed to ignite your hunger and appreciate what it means to all stick together in order to have fun. Do it.
How long did it take to find the location you wanted for this DIY project?
We knew about the location of the spot for years but we never built anything there. We used to go and skate it sometimes when it rained because it was always dry under the bridge. I first saw the spot on a skate video when I was a bit younger, Nicolson’s Part on Death Skateboards’ ‘Better Than Life‘. I always wanted to go there, and after skating it for a while and raining loads, just put two and two together and started building some stuff.
Had you tried to erect a spot somewhere else first which was busted, or did you get lucky first time?
I checked out a lot of places to build local to me, I kind of wanted to have something to skate tucked out the way and undercover. I nearly started on this underpass in some woods near my house but it was just too far to carry materials in there. James and Forrest built a wall ride up a pillar a few miles down the road from the spot we are at now, but it was always a bust because you had to cross this moody farmers land to get to it, and sometimes the police used to come and kick you off. So I gave it a go at the spot we are at now and we’ve never been told to leave so we just cracked on. The council have been sound about it, so yeah, we got lucky!
Who is involved hands-on with this?
Myself, James Glen, Sam Naunton, Forrest King, Alex Diss, Mark Nicolson and all the homies too.
Photo: You’re not DIY unless you can crack a bs disaster sugarcane like this. Radman takes a sweet one shot by Rob Galpin.
How long did it take to build?
I think we’ve been building roughly for two years in August this year. It was always skateable but it just gets more skateable and fun every time we build something new.
We see that you had a refit last month, how do you all call the shots on what’s being built down there?
Yeah, I was really hyped everyone came down to help us with a big build, shout outs to everyone and all the crews that came down and got stuck in and made shit happen, stoked! It gets skated a lot and whenever you run out of speed or there’s a bit of a gap we just try to fill it with something that would be interesting to skate. We all have a bit of a discussion on what it will be sometimes too, it’s rad.
Is there a tendency to look at other spots to see what’s possible with new obstacles?
I dunno, I think we just like to be inspired as it comes and see what we want to skate come and then up with an idea that would fit and then try to build it. I’ve looked into a lot of other spots to see how other people build and the way they do things too.
I guess building something amazing from the smallest amount of effort is the key right?
Yeah, and something that can be built with the least cash as possible too!
What’s the perfect concrete mix for surface perfection and coping? Got it down yet?
I don’t think we have stumbled across the perfect mix yet, were getting to it though. You can’t really go wrong with coping as long as you set it in right, but curbs, concrete edge, metal or anything is good for it. We use whatever your feeling at the time and whatever is laying about.
How ‘locals only’ have you made it down there?
It’s not locals only, we all built it and we all skate it. If anyone else likes the look of it and fancies a session they are well welcome to come down and have a skate fo sho!
Give us an Urbside story…
The banks had tiles stolen from them before we started building under the bridge. Some were missing, we built a few things, then the road people paid to resurface the banks from top to bottom, so it was fixed and safe. Eventually we could skate the whole thing again and the people that got paid to do it had some spare concrete and finished off one of our ramps for us and built another new crazy little ramp too!
Who is by far the laziest fucker down there when it comes to chipping in?
Haha! No naming names Zac, I think we all get a bit lazy sometimes.
Finally, can we host a Crossfire jam there this summer?
That’s a nice possibility!
To be continued….
There’s a severe lack of bangers on this last photo, get down there to add your own.
This weekend’s Pool Party at the Vans combi pool was another classic weekend of gnarly skateboarding. The event had everything, from the upcoming padless crew who have tech skills for miles, to the legendary skaters that bring classic airs and lip tricks who have paved the way for the current scene throughout the years. The question is though, should the ‘ams’ who are running riot at comps like these come away with ca$h money after a weekend of putting the work in?
Despite ams being able to out-do some pro’s on the circuit with their new found skills, legendary pro Steve Caballero doesn’t think so today. In an open letter to his Facebook friends just now, Cab reached out to his followers to deliver this message below, calling for ‘ams’ to be ams and Pro’s to get paid to do a job. So who is right and who is wrong here?
I respect Cab’s opinion as he is one of skateboarding’s most giving people and as a result his opinions are not be disrespected on here whatsoever, but what are your views on this ongoing debate?
Should ams get paid or not? Should they compete to raise their status and leave the dough to be collected by the pro riders, or should their skills be rewarded too?
Read Cab’s letter and please let us know what you think in the comments ↓ below.
“Good morning everyone,
I try and keep a positive attitude as much as I can with whatever that’s put in front of me and that’s how I’ve been able to cope with life from years on end, I don’t sweat the small stuff… Because It’s only small stuff:) but there’s one issue in our skate industry that still bugs me to no end and that’s…Amateur skateboarders who get paid for skateboarding or who have entered pro events (accepted the money prize) to later claim.. An amateur status in our industry :(
PRO is short for “professional or profession” which means anyone who makes a living or gets paid $ for what they do!
AM is short for Amateur which is supposed to mean, not getting paid or a person who hasn’t received any $ amount, it has nothing to do with how much talent you have.
So if your “claiming” an amateur status, yet still continue to receive prize money or a monthly income from your sponsors, guess what… your Pro!
I’ve been wanting to say this ever since I heard that Amateurs had started getting paid years ago and someone created a contest that’s called… “Ams getting paid”. This is the one thing that our skateboard industry may lack and that’s integrity.
I may be wrong, but the last time I checked this is how it all started in my career back in the early 70’s. Thanks for listening and have an amazing day.”
The bank holiday weekend of May 2013 will always be remembered as Save Southbank’s due to the phenomenal effort involved to keep the flame alive. This came from locals who worked tirelessly to organise the event, the many skaters that have spent hours sessioning the banks there over the last 40 years and passers-by showing their support for our scene at the Undercroft throughout this three day session.
If for some unique reason you have missed what is going on, catch up with the relocation plans that skateboarders have been proposedhere and then catch up on a Q&A session with the answers here. In a nut shell, skateboarders feel short changed by the the fact that the skatepark will be knocked down to make way for more retail units due to a huge investment into rebuilding the area in 2014. It is clear that the Southbank Centre look to cash in on what is definitely a prime location which means relocating skateboarders to a new spot under the Hungerford Bridge.
This event to highlight this news was graced by the sun’s rays beaming across the Thames whilst the stereo pumped out tunes to a game of S.K.A.T.E. All heads were held high and most importantly, everyone was there for each other from all sides of the scene. Chewy Cannon was one of many who dedicated a lot of time into the organisation of the weekend. His arms are probably no longer functioning after 72 hours of holding that huge megaphone, but he also found time to douse the new blocks that Chris Oliver and friends had spent time building with his switch skills whilst hitting every wall in sight. These blocks were sessioned hard all weekend by many as you will see in the gallery shots below, and are now added to the many other creatively built objects that have changed the landscape down there allowing new tricks to enter the history books.
This feature is short and for those who live too far away to be present in such an important movement for British skateboarding. If you managed to make time in your busy schedule to put a face in the door this weekend, then our hats are off to you. If you didn’t, take in what you missed and thank the people involved for getting to the heart of the matter and doing something positive, rather than watching it all from Facebook or writing negative blog posts on why people should give up the fight and just take it on the chin.
This is phase one. Do your bit and let everyone know that skateboarders would like their home to stay exactly where it is. We do not need another burger or coffee joint at the Southbank, we don’t need another concrete skatepark built in a new location either, we would just like to take SB back to its roots, clean it up and protect its incredible history. Hopefully, someone, somewhere will one day realise that this shared space means so much to so many people and that the magic created here will never be replicated anywhere else.
Have your say by completing this short survey that conveniently doesn’t mention skateboarders. Over 27,000 signatures had been logged by Saturday afternoon, share/like this feature and ask friends to get involved.
Big thanks to all involved in running this event all weekend, Dan Joyce who filmed these clips below, Session Noisses on the beats, and Gorm (B&W) and Maksim Kalanep for the use of their photos here alongside some of our own.
Manchester’s skate scene are looking forward to a new indoor skatepark opening this Sunday 5th May. The layout of the new 27,500 sq ft indoor Beast Rampz Skatepark has been designed by the good folk at Four One Four Skateparks and is located inside a warehouse just outside of town in the Eastern quarter, two minutes from Ashbury train station.
The project has been built by a team headed up by long time skater Dave Arnold, whose ongoing commitment to building pools, bowls and parks in the North should be commended. We spoke to him this week to get the lowdown on the new build:
“The guys behind this project have a background in building rollercoasters and worked on the infamous ‘Son of Beast‘ in the USA, that’s where the name comes from. The project has been simmering for the last two years but it all came together this January. The preliminary design was drawn up by Sean Scarfe (Four One Four) and then myself and Tim Stamp from Uniform Skatepark Construction were drafted in to carry out the ramp construction and tweak the design alongside ‘The Beasters’ themselves.”
The Manchester scene seems to be spoiled with options right now. The completion of the new Projekts Plaza from Freestyle has handed locals another fantastic dry spot to skate in the winter months in addition to Black Sheep’s indoor Central Skatepark. Drive out of town though and you are surrounded by other options too. This area of the country is awash with fantastic parks right now including Liverpool’s Rampworx down the M62 who are also looking to develop further to push their park to a whopping 70,000 sq ft.
“Beast skatepark is certainly living up to its name!” says Arnold. “Although there are bigger parks (sq footage) in the UK this place looks huge! the actual structures look like they are on steroids, the sort of place The Thing and The Incredible Hulk would skate.”
Beast Rampz has been designed to cater for everyone. The impressive 60ft wide hipped Midi-Ramp stands at 6.5ft high and rises to 10 ft at one end. There’s also a 24ft wide Mini Ramp and a 20ft wide Micro Mini Ramp alonside a beginners area for the nippers. Add a 16ft high x 24ft wide Vert Wall into the equation, a Taco Wall-Ride plus a huge BMX Rhythm Section (also very skateable) and a lavish split-level street course with bowled corners, hubbas, driveways, steps, gaps, pyramid, ledges, rails and more, you start to get the picture that this place will bring something special on the opening day.
The Beast would not be as beastly without the addition of a vert ramp though. The North have always enjoyed being part of a very strong vert scene so its inclusion in the design seemed like a no-brainer. Heathen Skateboards rider Riess Johnson made a plea for local vert skaters to help in funding this and with great support it became a reality. Nobody is more stoked on this than Arnold himself though due to the legendary history that is involved in the erection of this ramp:
“It’s 36ft in length and 12ft high, made possible via online donations. This ramp has been built by the skaters for the skaters, the way it should be. The funny thing is, that this ramp is a stones throw from the site of the original Ardwick Vert Ramp also built by myself and Tim Stamp back in 1985. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy that we have built yet another skate structure for a ‘minority’ group 28 years later.”
Ph: Tony Alva skates Ardwick back in 1985. Dave’s sister and Mike Pardon in the background.
You can find Beast Rampz at www.beastrampz.com and on Facebook. Address is Montague House, Matthews Street, Ardwick, Manchester, M12 5BB.
In typically British fashion the weekend weather forecast predicts showers. If you are home bound and fancy catching up with various long playing skateboard videos that are out there, sit back with our selection from across the globe. There’s something for everyone in here, so get the teas on and get stuck in.
THE NATIONAL SKATEBOARD PROMO
The National Skateboard Company‘s 10 minute promo features team riders Vaughan Jones and Neil Smith alongside Danijel Stankovic, David Mackey, Joshua Young and Thomas Harrison. Click play for great UK skateboarding.
SKATE WORLD: ENGLAND
Skateboarder and film maker Winstan Whitter discusses the skate scene in the UK with Vice Magazine. This was filmed two years back. More on Southbank’s relocation plans here.
FANCY LAD SKATEBOARDS – “NEW HELL”
Put together by Nick Murray and Colin Fiske (of PJ Ladd’s Wonderful Horrible Life fame in Boston) this film is cut with all sorts of montaged classic film clips, skaters ollieing pigeons and far too much more to mention. It’s a rollercoaster ride of mash-up madness and even has footage of clown shoe wearing wizard Jesse James from ‘A Golden Egg’ fame. If you missed this gem then get on it.
SWITCH MONGO
This Lowcard production has footage of various heads from Portland, Oregon with additional beers, and plenty of other antics.
LO-FI – FULL VIDEO
Brad Cromer and Pang bring you a VX and iPhone long player with Brendan Carroll, Joey Ragali, both Pang and Cromer sections plus Jonathan Ettman in this independent skate video.
SORE – REPROBATES FULL VIDEO
The raw streets of Yorkshire and beyond are shredded by the Reprobates of the British company Sore Skateboards with footage of James Foster, Brendan Harrap, Rory Mckenzie, Ben Lister, Mike Arnold, Guy Jones and many more.
THE CSA VIDEO
Cambridge scene video featuring Joe Barrett, Jacob Attenborrow, Jacob Christie, Charlie Munro, James Bush and friends.
SKATE HARROWGATE – KEEP SMILIN’
Josh Hallett’s Harrogate/Leeds scene video ‘Keep Smilin’ featuring Liam Hobson, Dale Starkie, Chris Parsons, Ryan Lonsdale, Tim Humberstone, Will Sheerin, Tom Zealand and more.
MEANWHILE
Meanwhile is an independent skate film out of Atlanta Georgia. Filmed Jan-Nov 2008 in Atlanta, NYC, Chicago and LA. Filmed and edited by Chris Thiessen.
DIME TURD
This 22 minute Canadian production is packed with goodness from the likes of Kevin Lowry, Lee Yankou and Hugo Balek and has a lot going on. Enjoy.
If you want more, go feast on last month’s Couch Potato here.
The mainstream media proved once again this weekend that it only takes one article headline to push skateboarding into having the bad rep that it has always been tarnished with over the years. This particular piece in the Guardian/Observer refers to the Boston bombers who wreaked havok across the pond last week with their horrific plans to blow up as many people as they could at the Boston Marathon.
This newspaper ran with the headline that depicted terrorist Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as a “skateboarding weed smoker, who flirted with jihad”, even though in the same article Tsarnaev was said to have been interested in various other normal pastimes and sports. Boxing and football were mentioned but the newspaper chose to categorise the Islamist and box it up as youth gone wild. There’s no doubt that this guy’s outlook had long gone walkies due to his participation in this dreadful atrocity, but tarring skateboarders with the same old brush that has been dipped in the sticky pot of media bullshit once again rang loud bells this morning. Why should skateboarders be brought into this tragedy? Why do journalists always feel a need to stereotype us?
This monolithic entity has demonized our scene as much as they have glamourised it over the years and with skateboarding being so popular right now across mainstream media and brand campaigns take this as a reminder that there are still people out there who believe that what we do is the work of the devil himself. Most skateboarders are, and always will be creative, like-minded individuals who will always bring fun to this planet whatever age they may be. It’s about time that those media whores who categorise us wake up and live in the year 2013 rather than being stuck in the 1980s when skateboarders listened to their records backwards, wore leather gloves and spoke of ‘rat bones’ and ‘dudes’.
Speculation is the initial basis of journalism; the raw speculation is sifted and examined to find potential truths. Like it or not, 24-hour rolling news means that much of that speculation is aired in public, and sometimes we as skateboarders lose.
Bomb hills not people.
(For the record, I am aware of exactly what the article itself states about the character of the offenders. This rant came from the headline as stated in the opening sentence as it will allow readers to stereotype and could also lead to skate spots being tightened further by security guards.)
History tells us that you will find only a handful of unique individuals within every culture worldwide. Look across the pond to France and the big book of skateboard history there will reveal that the creative mind found within Fred Mortagne is one of their country’s finest.
His sterling work within film making launched back in 2000 from delivering the wonderful éS ‘Menikmati’ video. The cast featured the likes of Ronnie Creager, Rick McCrank and Eric Koston to name a few but his relationships with the likes of Arto Saari and Tom Penny led him to make one of skateboarding’s most legendary videos ever: Flip Skateboards’ ‘Sorry’. Fred’s work here is unique. Call it the right time, the right team, whatever you want, this film launched an assault on skateboarding in 2002 and left a crater for every other team on the scene to crawl out of. Fred’s film direction continued from there with stunning work alongside Cliché Skateboards. Their relationship blossomed and led to full length productions that have seen the brand become a world-wide force.
The other side of Fred’s talent is documented successfully in photography. Six year’s ago, before the trend of Facebook ‘likes’ and The Berrics, we welcomed his unique photographic skills to our Triple Shot features in 2006, so here’s an overdue sequel to what was one of our most read features back then.
Fred is now a staunch WeActivist and is about to participate in Red Bull’s Illume photo competition.
Easy Fred, great to see that you have unleashed your ‘Hand in Hand’ book online this month. Looking back, what would you change if you were to travel back to Israel tomorrow?
I would go during summertime, as the days would be longer than when we went in November. I didn’t want to shoot at night or use flashes but it was getting dark at 4:30pm! I had to change my plans a little bit as a result and didn’t come up with as many skate pics than I personally wanted, and in the way I normally shoot them. It was frustrating for sure but going in the summertime would probably be too hot! I’d rather go somewhere new!
Taking us to the present day we have seen that you have passed over duties of film making to Boris Proust for the new Cliché video ‘Bon Voyage’, do you have footage in this forthcoming production?
So so so. the thing is, as crazy as it might sound, considering the history we have together, we completely parted ways with Cliché. I am not doing any work for them anymore, nor will I be involved in anyway with their new video. There may be a few old clips in there that I filmed but that’s all. A chapter has turned. Although, this doesn’t mean I’m not working on other projects with some of Cliché’s riders. I’m of course very close with the riders. I like working with Flo Mirtain who’s has good ideas and motivation. We made a short movie in French making fun of skateboarding, so I’m working on making the English version of it.
What other projects are coming soon?
The biggest project I’ve been working on directly involves Javier Mendizabal and is directed by Thomas Campbell for whom I have the biggest respect. This has been filmed entirely on 16mm film and should drop around summer time and has been a super exciting project to work on. I’m very close with Javier and truly respect his skateboarding. In addition I’m working on couple ‘making of’s’ about that project.
There’s much exciting stuff to come, and you will find out sooner or later but expect some very diverse things. The outcomes will be very different from each other. No routine, no repetition, and of course, no following of formats either, I’m trying to bring new stuff.
Take us through how your ‘burnt’ photo series were put together? Which shot has been most popular?
One day I came across some shitty slides. Nothing interesting on them. Instead of throwing them to the thrash, I figured out I could do some wild experiments. Being a pyromaniac, it didn’t take long for me to realize how good burnt stuff could be. The Mark Appleyard kickflip at the top of this page seems to be a popular one.
What are you shooting on mostly these days?
Still on my good old Nikon FM2, my first reflex camera from 2001. Well, I had to get a new one after accidentally destroying the shutter of the original one. It was a sad moment. So I still shoot mostly with film, but it’s very tough because no one supports this format anymore and magazines pay ridiculous fees these days. This alone has pushed people to use digital only. Economics suck.
We asked Fred to ‘Expose’ some of his most cherished photos over the years. Enjoy the tales behind the shoots.
This photo above of Alex Gavin was shot in Montreal in 2008. Some force attracted me to the Olympic Stadium. I knew I had to go there. In one day, I shot more epic stuff than in months. There are tons of hyper photogenic spots so I was in heaven and I also had the chance to hook up with great and super motivated skateboarders. All the ingredients were gathered for pure epicness.
Ali Boulala was living in Lyon for few years. Of course being around Ali, it’s pure comedy almost all the time. Just going out walking the dog might turn into something special. It was the first time in my life, and very probably the last, that I saw a dog doing some wallrides!
I like shooting with Javier Mendizabal, he always super down for missions. His skating is very photogenic and different. I like the fact he’s into photography too. He shoots really good photos, so he perfectly understands some situations I put him in; very specific and precise ones to create strong images. Sometimes it requires patience and involvement from the “models”, and with Javier, for this fact, it’s always easy to shoot with him.
If I’d have requested to make this photo happen, it probably would never have come to fruition. Sometimes photography is just magic, without you doing anything. We didn’t even try to attract the flying rats, they would come back on their own and they all flew off at the right time in the right spots. I must say though that those little bastards were annoying Mr Salazar so much that the madness was setting in! Omar Salazar, Fs bluntslide, Lyon, 2006.
The tricks need to be crazy and amazing in order to make great skateboard pictures from a false idea. Sylvain Tognelli, bs 180 flip, Lyon.
This is in my neighbourhood. I passed this place for about 20 years until I realised it could be turned into a skate spot with the right people involved such as Steve Forstner (pictured) and Ali Boulala. It’s a very strange and limited spot and the only time it was skated, but I’m stoked we did it.
The confrontation between different worlds. Some people focus on playing, while some others are into fighting. Not much else to say. This is from my book called “Hand in Hand” that you can watch online down ↓ there. Charles Collet Fs lipslide, Jerusalem 2010.
I obviously love the work of Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer who passed away in 2012 at the age of 105! He never knew but he had a great sense of building such great spots for skateboarders. Ricardo Fonseca in Le Havre, France. 2005.
Without knowing I started filming for ‘Sorry’ while making éS ‘Menikmati’. This was on the very first Flip trip I had been on back in 1999 in France. The whole team went to visit Tom Penny in the french countryside where he lived with his mum. This picture sums up the general vibe and atmosphere of the trip pretty well; a batch of wild teenagers going crazy all the time. Funny memories!
Flick through Fred’s ‘Hand in Hand’ online book and if you feel like treating yourself to one of his ‘burnt’ series photos or even a pack of 4 postcards featured in this article, they are available now from his Big Cartel site.
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.
Those not familiar with the magical mystery tour that Jesse James and Chris ‘Avi’ Atherton have been on since they both met are in for a serious treat. Their personal tales of the unexpected captured on tape have brought smiles to many over the years, but their latest inspirational video project pushes their thirst for fun to another dream-like level.
This quintisentially British duo have certainly returned with something really special; whether they wore clown shoes, loaves of tiger bread or horse legs to push them, the skateboards made for this new production have been beautifully hand crafted and skated to breaking point across sand, snow and rain, on street in parks and playgrounds. The majestic part of this surreal production is that it’s all skateboarding, and we are priveleged, yet again, to see another side of how these wonderful four-wheeled planks are pushed to the limit. Welcome to ‘A Golden Egg‘:
When and how did this madness start?
Chris: A few years ago now, after flitting about with a few ideas initially with Jesse and Will Sayer, it was a natural step to tackle a project of sorts.
Jesse: I think we just decided to do a project together after the Magpie DVD. That was the initial fart, the very first big bang. A long time before anything started though! That’s how I remember it. Then it just evolved from fun and time travelling up to the cobbles and chimneys to skate.
You are both skating for Wight Trash Skateboards, how much of an influence does owner John Cattle have in your joint video ventures?
Jesse: He is a big influence, YOU BET he is, John has just been good about letting me do my own thing and pushing me in my own erection.
Chris: John Cattle is a big influence behind my skating in general for sure, but as we live so far apart my film projects are usually surprises to him. I don’t know how this one went down yet? I could well be dropped, hahahaha!
There’s no doubt that some skaters watching your videos would think you were a bit weird. How does that side of things sit with you both?
Jesse: I just enjoy what is fun and that is normal here. As in, this type of skating is what we enjoy doing. It’s all I know and it just ends up as you see it. If it’s seen as ‘weird’ or art, that is subjective. I hate both terms! To me it’s just having fun with dreams, films, and childhood. Too many people are all too often fooled into taking life (as well as skateboarding) far too seriously. I don’t understand their strategies whatsoever. It’s hard to explain things that just naturally evolve. Like I said before it’s just normal, it all stems from things that make me laugh. Just like pressure flips.
Chris: I don’t think it’s ‘weird’ myself as I can see its structure and reasoning. I appreciate other people will see it that way due to the avenues explored here, but being mentally blinded by repeat viewing it’s difficult to see it as ‘weird’ myself.
How long did ‘A Golden Egg’ take to put together considering you live in different areas of the UK?
Chris: 2-3 years on and off tinkering really. Having a full time job and living so far apart has been a blessing and a curse. It has given us a lot of space for mental development which in turn has crafted what it has become.
Jesse: I live in Lichfield, just outside Birmingham, and Avi is in Manchester, so we only see each other about once a month at the most. In between we just send each other disks, flying saucers and various loveable junk in the post. It certainly took longer than it should have, but not long enough. For me, it’s a never-ending story.
There are so many different decks featured, which ones took the longest to make and who makes what?
Jesse: All of ‘em took a while! From the spark to making etc. Probably one of the one’s that didn’t work took the longest to make! I will leave that to the imagination.
Chris: I made my decks, Jesse made his. The front-end-only-flip and telescopic board were both proper clever feats of ingenuity I must say. Those took actual thought! I could have splashed out on working components to make them from, but I’m big on recycling and I felt the hillbilly approach would lend itself better to film, so they took about two weeks to perfect.
Where did you find the various wheels that were used?
Chris: Most of the wheels (or casters as they are called) were taken from grotty old cabinets that I’ve restored. They are taken from anything I can find and they fell off constantly. A lot of stuff broke which is most challenging, I must say when you’ve just got set up in a blizzard, and deep down you know you shouldn’t be there anyway.
You filmed your own sections then?
Chris: Jesse filmed about 3 or 4 of my tricks for this, the rest were all solo endeavours.
What about yours Jesse?
Jesse: Will ‘Slayer’ Sayer the ‘ZipZing King of the Gingers’ and Darryn Williams (of One direction fame) help film my stuff and assisted with laughs; both have a similar passion, which is infectious…in numerous ways. Phil Hanks of East 17 fame also filmed bits. Pretty much anyone who was playing. Failing that, set the camera up on a stone and your good to go. Thanks to Sayer and his hemorrhoids, he is a big part on my outlook, just laughing and skating together most days. We tend to just laugh and it evolves. Will is rad…and does it all on a ZipZinger, no real board lurking, just his zinger. Stunt double trouble! A defo third party in the affair! But it’s not an affair, if it was Facebook. I would call it an open relationship or maybe it’s just complicated. It all stems from the Titanic really, and has got worse ever since.
The workhorse looked like the hardest to actually pull a trick on…
Chris: Yeah, that workhorse was a rubbish idea. I think it needed feeding. Failure is vital part of experimenting. I reckon she’s got something lurking though, a front board or something!
I particularly liked the space hopper tricks…
Jesse: It is an idea that I still haven’t played with as much as I have wanted. I enjoy footplants, toys and bums, from there it’s like baking a cake. I work with kids so I steal a lot of their creativity.
What trick took the longest to get down and which one are you most proud of from this?
Chris: The animated body and background took longest, the frontside willy grind over the dry stone wall across the road gap in the rain took the longest by far. I’m embarrassed more than proud of it, I’ll be honest!
Did you make the blue suit Jesse?
Jesse: Hah, no, I bought that one! Is that cheating? My sewing is too bad, just look at the ‘horse’! This blue suit started as a Chroma key idea to put spinning penis’s in the place of my body. But it just looked funnier natural, and became another synchronicity to the wonka theme.
Could you imagine the local Police turning up at the car park to find a skateboarding clown wearing 3ft shoes flashing his bell end in public?! Do you ever wonder what kind of shit you would be in if that was seen?
Jesse: Just last week I was nearly evicted after a flat inspection for having too many penis’s on my walls. I have never had major risky moments though except just for skating town etc. I’m actually quite careful, I have to lead a double life from work. For someone that enjoys nudity, face paint, and clown shoes, I hate being watched or being the center of attention. I’m a walking contradiction! That’s partly why I hate skateparks – eyes watching, judging, and not smiling. I’m a bit too self-conscious to skate a magic carpet while people are trying to nollie flip in my peripheries. Some days I can deal with it though. I guess it’s from skating a lot on my own ‘growing up’.
Sorry mate, rewind, too many dicks on your walls?!
Haha! I don’t know why. I just have loads of photos developed of my mates in the bathroom. Figured if I’m going to spend my time there naked, I may as well have my friends with me! Ask Freud. Legal Contributions welcome. Sexual organs will always be funny.
Lastly, will you both be contributing any new footage to the upcoming Palace video?
Jesse: I got a load of VHS videos they can borrow, not Braindead though, the one with Bill Pullman in. That stays close to me. The last time I was in London I felt out of place. I don’t think Southbank was ready for clown shoes. Far too many eyes watching. I did see Chewy Cannon at some bowl though. He smiled a lot. Fun. I like that. I have nothing against Palace, or any other skateboarder who is doing what they are genuinely passionate about. It is all about Fun.
Visit www.slugworth.co.uk for exclusive tees and more from the magical Slugworth Pirate Productions. Thank you to Gemma McMullan for the photos.
This weekend’s 
The mainstream media proved once again this weekend that it only takes one article headline to push skateboarding into having the bad rep that it has always been tarnished with over the years. This particular piece in the 
