Last night (25th May), a select few skaters were invited to skate The Pool, Nike’s latest impressive press stunt that took over a swimming pool in Dagenham and turned it into a fun palace. Brendan Ryall and the boys went down there to enjoy a secret session and came back with some footage and a few photos.
Let’s start this short insight into The Pool by saying that this place is GIGANTIC. The transitions are all monsters. Look at the size of the extension compared to the guys on the platform to work out that we are talking up to 13ft or more from the bottom! This particular part of the park was sessioned a lot. Knowing everyone had only 3 hours to skate this place meant that figuring out the transitions and lines was hard. The session was a tad frustrating for some as a lot of individual tricks were being performed on individual areas rather than free-flowing sessions. When those runs were go they were amazing but not all who dared had it in them to get round the park, mainly because of others dropping in to take tricks home. It was carnage.
Joe Habgood spent the whole night trying to ollie up the roll in slide thing which is massive, and he made it at the end. Ben Nordberg was on fire as you would expect. Andy Scott was making it look like a mini ramp and all the vert/transition guys were grinning all night. We also saw some gnarly slams due to how slippy it was in there. The surface of the wood seemed to be fine for wheels but as soon as you ran out of tricks it was an ice rink which made skating this even more fun.
Special guest Lance Mountain hurt himself at the protec pool party this weekend, so he was a no show unfortunately. But Chet Childress made the flight and was there charging through the Pool like a caveman pulling the fastest blunt back disasters on the extension amongst much more. In my opinion, the transitions are a bit too long for skateboards. Everything was oversized due to the swimming pool mainly being custom built for BMX’s but there was a fun mini ramp built in there so the tech ninjas were loving those long tranny’s and some good shit went down.
Overall Nike put on a good night out with plenty pizza and drinks to keep everyone fueled and charged so thanks for the hospitality. Have a peep at some phone footage of Habgood’s make here from Paul Carroll.
We have some really exciting news and information for you to take in today which may change the way indoor skateparks will be built in the future here in the UK. As you read this, the brand new Extreme Connexions Skatepark is under construction by the good guys at Freestyle Skateparks and looking at the new designed layout, it’s clear that they are working on a unique project so we decided to get an inside view on how this all came about.
The XC Skatepark is part of a development that has been backed by £5m of government money to build a safe environment for youth culture where kids will have access to: a teen health clinic, a recording studio for budding young musicians, an internet café, ‘chill out zone’ and counselling rooms under the same roof of the skatepark. Having access to a building that hosts all of these amazing opportunities under one roof is a dream for kids wanting to be part of their favourite cultures. However, for skateboarders in particular, the emergence of an indoor concrete park could set a precedent for more builds like this around the country and replicate the influx of activity that has been welcomed from the construction of many outdoor concrete plaza’s and bowls that have popped up throughout the UK over the last 8 years.
The funding for the project has come from the government’s ‘Myplace’ programme which creates safe places for young people to go and administered by the Big Lottery fund. The Dacorum Sports Trust (DST) beat hundreds of other applicants from across the country to win the funding, and hopes that the facility will be a social centre for 11 to 19 year olds. Just one look at the plan suggests they will be correct in their assumptions that people should come far and wide to visit. The skatepark will be the only UK skate park to have a concrete bowl and pool inside so it will definitely attract the more mature skater keen to slash some pool coping too.
We spoke to Steve Crawford from Freestyle this week to get the lowdown on how this came to light who explained that the initial contact from the DST came as far back as June 2009 to tender for the construction of the project. The final design was signed off after 6 sessions discussing the plans with user groups over late night pizza sessions. These brainstorms were followed by further feedback meetings with DST and interested stakeholders. From talking about the set up with Steve, the the actual design process, although long, was relatively straight forward.
So, did the user group meetings throw up any difficult decisions from the BMX and skate community in terms of what was to be built?
“The skatepark is designed for BMX, Blading and Skateboarding. Inevitably there were some interesting discussions because what is important to one discipline might not sit high on the agenda for another! Freestyle always start with a concept design and it’s developed from there. At the beginning we had two design meetings with Youth Connexions which included the Young Persons steering group, a group of young people formed specifically for this project as part of the Myplace funding conditions. This enabled a wide scope of young people’s views to be considered and encompassed before we discussed things further with the professional riders and associations. For this project, there was a wealth of experience involved; the initial user group team included James Hitchcox (Zeal BMX Distribution), Nick Zorlac (Death Skateboards), Dan Cates (Death Skateboards) and Nick Powley (UKSA) which made the process of prioritising forms / obstacles a little easier. Combined with John Flood’s knowledge and skills, it actually ran pretty smoothly.”
What about the pool and bowl sizes though, we heard that these were being discussed quite heavily?
“Deciding on the depth of the pool was a challenge. Nick Fitt, a dedicated Middle Age Shredder, brought to the table the idea of creating a flowing, deep pool which differed from its original intent which was shallow, fun and whippy. It gave everyone something to think about and after much discussion, the final design was agreed. Skatepark design is often about compromise – creating something that appeals to the majority, but it’s a fine balancing act to ensure that compromise doesn’t affect the individuality of a park. It’s part of our job to make sure it all works.”
It must be refreshing to be building a concrete park indoors rather than having to fight the elements of the great British weather. How different is the process of the build to an outdoor park?
“The big plus is that you don’t have to worry about the great British weather although with the current heatwave, the irony of building indoors is not lost on us! There’s more going on than usual with other contractors putting up lights, roofing, electricians, timber ramps etc. It’s a bit of a tight squeeze! Engineering has also been a challenge. The interface between the building and skatepark is complex that wouldn’t be present in an outdoor facility. However, it’s not just us who are building this, another perspective can be provided by our engineer Walter Smyth of JMP consulting:”
“The main challenge that Hemel offered from a typical external skatepark was the interface with the surrounding building envelope construction, both below and above ground. Ground conditions under the skatepark were poor and required improvement techniques to provide a suitable formation for the skatepark construction.
The building envelope was supported on piled foundations whereas the skatepark was ground bearing and this meant that careful detailing of the interface between the skatepark and the building foundations was required to avoid differential settlement taking place between the building and the skatepark. As the building was to be constructed in advance of the skatepark, careful liaison was required between the main contractor and the skatepark contractor to ensure that adequate construction access was maintained.”
Knowledge of just how much work goes into this process for a build of this stature is key, as most skaters are used to seeing designed plans on the web and steaming through the fence to skate what’s been built without even thinking how it became a reality. On this occasion, the doors will be shut tight until the opening session, so far we have been told that the park opening is scheduled for “sometime this summer” meaning we will have to wait and see if the user group’s design process actually works out on the build once it’s complete. Knowing that the concrete skate park construction companies who build parks do not have much history of building pools in the UK, our fingers are crossed that experts have been brought in to make this particular part of the project work to perfection. If it comes good then there will no doubt be daily queues from launch day.
Nick Zorlac can’t wait to get the park open. He lives 30 minutes from the site and knows how much this means to the local area. Talking to him this week about his take on this project from being involved with the initial planning stages he told us, “it was a long and thorough design process and if all goes to plan it’s gonna be pretty amazing. The street course looks killer, and it will be wood so can be changed whenever needed. The concrete vert bowl and pool should be insane and there’s lots of good stuff to skate in there, so it should be one of the best parks in the UK. To be able to skate an indoor pool in Hemel is a dream, I can’t wait to skate it!” We will bring you the news of that opening day once it is announced so keep an eye on our skate news section for daily updates.
Extreme Connexions is located 24 miles outside of London will boast an 8ft pool with pool coping and a bowl that at its deepest is 9ft with steel coping. It will also have a creative street section and a decent sized mini ramp that you can now see from the new, tweaked designs. Word has it that user group members have asked for a replica of the old, but never forgotten Uxbridge mini. As someone who skated there a lot I can safely say that having that back in my life would be very welcome. Pool coping is also said to be arriving soon, shipped in from the US so start getting hyped on what looks likely to be a fantastic new park for the UK scene.
Well done to all involved in this mammoth operation. Spread the word on this news via your facebook page today and take in the photos and short video clip here that have been kindly sent down by Steve and John from this weekend’s visit.
Freestyle are very grateful for everybody’s input and interest in this project and would like to thank GB Building Solutions, the user group and Dacorum Sports Trust for awarding them the contract to build such a prestigious facility.
Back in 2009, a group of Englishmen armed with skateboards and video cameras decided that Burma would be a great spot to visit. Why? You will have to read on to find out, but this urge to travel to a country that is more famous for political stances and Theravada Buddhism than our beloved four wheeled culture is commendable to say the least. We hooked up with Hotknees filmer James Holman, Alex ‘Pas’ Pasquini and Etnies rider Ali Drummond to discuss why Burma was the country of choice to visit on skateboards in this month’s travel feature.
WATCH THE VIDEO DOCUMENTARY OF THEIR TRIP HERE:
What made you all decide to go to Burma?
James – We had just finished up getting Storyboards a deal, which took almost a whole year get broadcast after shooting it in 2008 and we were looking for our next project. I wanted to move away from core action sports and do something different. Ali’s a real good friend and we were catching up one day and he mentioned this Burma trip which sounded awesome, so let’s go along for the ride and see what happens. It’s the least planned trip / production we’ve ever done!
Ali – I have always had an interest in Myanmar after watching a documentary about the place when I was younger. Deciding to study Burmese Language at University with the possibility of a year in the country meant that I was eager to check it out before I committed to going there for a whole year. I decided not to go previously when I was on my gap year as I didn’t believe tourists should be funding the government in anyway what so ever. I have since changed my opinion on tourism and believe that tourists should go, but invest in local people and business when they do.
Pas – When James first approached me with this idea I was more than a little bit hesitant and knowing relatively little about the country I naturally assumed the worst. For a start, hearing that journalists were banned from the country didn’t exactly put me at ease! I guess you could say there was an inherent risk right from the start that made us all a little uneasy. But after talking with Ali who shed light on the practicality of life out there and straightened out a few myths I soon came around. It just seemed like such a ridiculous idea it had to work and an amazing chance to do and make something utterly different from what we’re used to making.
There’s obviously a lot of negative press and for good reason, it ranks up there with North Korea in terms of gnarly places to go, what was it actually like?
James – Well yeah. Ali can throw all the statistics at you about how gnarly it can be there, child soldiers, human rights abuses etc. I think day to day life in the cities of places like Yangon and Mandalay is vastly different from life in the more remote ethnic communities. I think that’s one of the great things about the film and it’s something that organisations such as the US Campaign for Burma have commented on, that this is a more positive take and look at life there.
Ali – Maybe it does rank up there with North Korea as places to go. Personally I don’t think so and I don’t like those comparisons because it allows for attitudes which make people respond to your statement that your going to Myanmar, with ‘Ha ha you’ll get shot!’ and ‘Can you even go there?’. It immediately makes people write of Myanmar as a place to avoid. When actually we need to be educating people on what Myanmar is really like so that progress and change for the better can take place, however small. You can’t act on something if you don’t already know about it. To put Myanmar in context one has to remember that it could be one of the most prosperous countries in South-East Asia. It has an absolute abundance of natural resources such as oil, gas, teak and jade. The desperate poverty that you see when you go there doesn’t have to be. People don’t need to be dying from easily curable diseases. Go there as a tourist, stick to the same trail and you won’t see much in terms of negativity except for a desperately poor country that doesn’t need to be. What you will see is a load of beautiful scenery and lots of encounters with extremely friendly people. It’s not uncommon for people to come away from a trip to Myanmar thinking, ‘Yeah that place wasn’t so bad, people were smiling all the time, everyone seemed happy, I don’t know what all the fuss is about’. Well there rightly is a lot fuss and you won’t find the reason behind all of it from a trip to Bagan or Inle Lake. All one needs to do is take a short mo-ped ride out of one of the small towns around Mandalay and you might well come across people in chains digging up the road and officials with whips. Forced labor happens in Myanmar everyday but generally not in the places the government will let you access easily, if at all. You can still find it though if you stray only a little off the path. However incomplete this film may be, I hope we will at least be able to show people a side of Myanmar they didn’t already know about.
Pas – As far as our own experience goes, we learned whilst out there that tourists have it easy. So long as you don’t do something idiotic like publically protesting against the government, you’re going to be safe, very safe in fact since crimes against foreigners are super rare. As Ali mentioned this can give you a somewhat skewed perspective on what life is really like for the Burmese people, something that we hoped we’d at least touch on in the documentary.
You refer to the film as ‘cross-genre’, how did you achieve a balance between the skateboarding and political aspects?
James – I think that, in my opinion anyway, it moves quite seamlessly between the two. I think the key to that is the set-up right at the beginning with the archive footage from some of the protests and events that have happened and then introducing us as three skateboarders. Right from the go, you’ve got this juxtaposition of the two that makes you, as viewer, aware that you’re going to be moving between the two.
Ali – The original edit was way more political. One of the reasons we cut most of that out is because it makes for a more interesting piece to be focused on something not already touched upon by outside media.
Pas – For the skate side we decided we’d approached the filming in the fashion that is typical of any skate trip. We’d search high and low for spots in the most ridiculous places and get as much footage in the bag as possible. But you can’t visit a country like Burma and not touch on the politics of the country, it’s impossible since it dramatically effects everything you do. So we made sure we documented everything about our daily experiences and kept personal journals about our time there to inform our decision making when scripting the narration and editing the film in to a watchable piece.
This was filmed back in the summer of 2009, why has it taken so long to release and what have you been up to since?
James – Yeah, we got back into the UK in late July ’09 and had this other project to do, Bangkok Bangers, and then I went to Australia for 6 months! Apart from that Ali was still in Burma and we didn’t want to release this and jeopardise his position in the country so we had to wait until he was done there.
Ali – I have just finished a year of study in Myanmar and releasing the film previously could of been detrimental to my time there. Of course, it would probably have been fine but you never know.
Pas – I think it’s fair to say myself and James have been itching to release this for a good year or so but due to quite real concerns with Ali still being in the country we had to hold it back. This was both frustrating and beneficial in equal measure. The most beneficial aspect being time to reflect on our experience which led to many redrafts, something we couldn’t have done had we released it as early as we had planned.
What’s your favourite memory from the trip?
James – Man, there are so many, from adopting a street kid called ‘Crazy Joe’ during our time in Yangon and taking him to see Terminator 4 to teaching English in the school. That is probably mine actually. I really enjoyed that, it’s something I never thought I’d have the chance to do and playing football with the kids everyday on the roof of the school was awesome. I’m really proud to have gone to Burma and have done what we’ve done. Without sounding super pretentious, it’s not something many people get to do or would want to do!
Ali – Skateboarding with all the locals in Yangon. I have since got to hang out with those guys for the best part of 7 months and they have become close friends. I have so much respect for them. They can’t buy quality skateboards in their country and the only place they do have to skate will eat your board like its a bacon sandwich. Yet despite all this they have the same passion and admiration for skateboarding as anyone else I’ve met and they do it all with a smile on their face. True overcomer’s of adversity.
Pas – Very hard to pinpoint. Skating with the locals and skating anywhere in public and having huge crowds of people just stop what they were doing and watch us was a surreal experience. Riding bikes through Mandalay each day on the way to the school to teach. All the friendly people we met and just the whole act of going out there and filming everyday trying to blag a documentary of our experience was amazing!
So, what do you guys have planned next?
James – Well, I’ve since moved to New Zealand! I’ve been on the filming scene over there but I think I’d like to be back here before the end of the year working on something else. Ali, Pas and me, as a result of his contacts and talking to organisations such as the Campaign for Burma have been thinking about another Burma based project, which I’d love to do.
Ali – The skate park in Yangon is about to be turned in to a car park would you believe! There will literally be no where for everyone to go. I’d be keen to contact some NGO’s to try and get some funding to buy a small piece of land and build a half decent skate park. There are real possibilities for making things happen in Myanmar and this is something I’d be keen to get involved with. If anyone can help out, please hit me up!
Pas – In the short term, should be off to Copenhagen again for the CPH Pro in June to film for Monster Energy which is going to be sick. Longer term, I’m working full time at a media company in Surrey specialising mainly in corporate videos which is a big step away from what I’m used to but an incredible learning experience!
Any shout outs or final comments?
Ali – Thanks to all the skateboards of Myanmar for keeping skateboarding what it is truly about. Having fun with your friends!
Pas – Just a massive thanks to anyone that watches this doc and the people of Burma that made this possible.
James – I’d like to thank everyone that supported this, from the Democratic Voice of Burma and people like John Sanlin to you guys at Crossfire that will help spread the word about the film! Hope you guys are into it! Also one more thing that needs to be noted, massive shout out to Steven Perks, this is certainly an ABD. He must be the first Astro-physicist from Chatham that did a K-Grind tail grab in Burma… someone contact Guinness World Records!
Last weekend was by far the busiest so far this year for skateboard events in the UK. The Manny Mania final was held at Bay 66 with Manchester’s UK Lloyd McLeggon taking the wedge, War of the Thistles attracted the bowl riders in Scotland, “The Heart Of Skateboarding” memorial jam for Bingo saw locals session hard at R-Kade Skatepark in Redcar and The Obstacle comp from Adidas was a highlight for many down South at the Central Foundation Boys School over in East London. Unfortunately it was also the same day as Crossfire’s Barfly curation at the Camden Crawl so David Woolley headed East to report on what went down in that schoolyard.
TradeMark Gonzales
This get together was kept pretty much on the quiet with the location announced only a week before kick off but as word spread through the web, select shop teams were planning their journeys for a memorable jam session whilst the Obstacles that were designed by Mark Gonzales, were being primed by Rodney Clarke, Dave Chesson and friends at the Pioneer park in St Albans.
Boots nails a blunt
After a warm up sesh a pro demo kicked off proceedings featuring Adidas team riders and of course, the one and only Mark Gonzales who has been spotted more times than Animal Chin skating London’s parks and street spots over the last 3 weeks. Not only will the Gonz be 43 years young exactly a month after this very event, but he’s still got the steez that he is famous for as he hucked out super smooth 5.0’s, trademark fs board slides, bonelesses and classic knee boarding tomfoolery! To have such a legendary skateboarder turn up to our country weeks before a comp to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy British culture is nothing but an honour and as usual he was the gentleman everyone has admired for so many years.
Lucas Puig tames the schoolyard
Nestor Judkins had front tail’s on lock, Pete Eldridge took a box of tricks home from the session alongside the impressive Lucas Puig whose tech skills just have to be seen live. The UK contingent was led by the gifted Chewy Cannon and Stereo’s smooth operator Benny Fairfax whose huge backside flip over the barrel backed up the hype on why he’s one of the most talked about UK skaters in the US right now. It’s funny to think that he walked away a winner at one of Crossfire’s very first skate events 8 years ago but no surprise that he’s up there with the best of them thesedays.
Death Skateboards pro Boots was also on form and on third try took a sick backside noseblunt whilst Karim Bakhtaoui‘s massive shuv’s over a thigh high barrier made palms come together from around the school yard. It was an impressive session with fun in mind and that’s exactly what came from it, thankfully there was more to come.
Benny Fairfax takes Three Stripes over the bin
After the pro demo a shop team competition kicked off featuring many team riders from independent skate shops from around the UK. 10 minute jam sessions were organised for 3 shop teams to skate together with 2 riders representing each shop. Skaters from Note, Exist, 50:50, Natterjacks, Detour and Slide impressed amongst many others before a best trick jam ended the day on a high with the soon-to-be Fresh Blood ripper Manuel Lopez taking the free trip to Barcelona as the main prize with a 5-0 Varial Flip out. Watch that in Harry Garcia’s edit and more from the day in Tidy Mike’s clip on this page. It was a great day out and unique to the London event calendar so well done to everyone involved.
If music is the food of love, then what would be the food of Death? We decided to pry into the personal ears of ten Death Skateboards team riders this week to find out what their 10 favourite tracks of all time could be. Enjoy their selection as you just know that there’s going to be some top choices in here from this lot!
MARK NICOLSON: THE BEATLES – ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE
Photo: Rob Galpin
This song always helps put things in perspective for me. With everyone rushing around amongst the stresses and strains of modern life, people forget to love. Not physical love, but the love you have for your friends, family, pets, nature, even a sunny day maybe.
Being skateboarders, we have learned to appreciate moments, friends, fun skate sessions etc, these are the things that money can’t buy!
“….there’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where your meant to be, it’s easy”
Love from Mark.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
BOOTS: ERIC PRYDZ – CALL ON ME
Do I really need to explain why I like this! The only thing that ruins it is the one dude.
If you depart on a journey into the mind of Crispin Glover, you might never come back…
DAVE ALLEN: OPERATION IVY – UNITY
My song is Unity by Operation Ivy. I always liked this song and when I’m going skating I stick on really loud when I’m driving on my own. It gets me pumped up and ready to roll. It also makes me think of Buster Halterman’s section from the 1991 Planet Earth video Now ‘n’ Later, he killed it (and still does).
If I could skate half as good as him I’d be stoked!
ROB SMITH: BROKE ‘N’ £NGLISH – 15 STRATEGY
Sick freestyle by my mate Johnny, one of Manchester’s best MC’s with production by Chimpo- Manchester’s finest. It’s just a shame it’s filmed at Manchester United’s ground and not Manchester City’s. Haha!
ADAM MOSS: SNOOP DOGG – AIN’T NO FUN (IF THE HOMIES CAN’T GET NONE)
The track I chose is ‘aint no fun if the homies can’t have none’. It’s a classic track that’s good anytime of day and always brings the hype! It’s hard to find a better rap trio than Snoop, Kurupt and of course paying respect to the late, great Nate Dogg. R.I.P!
DAN CATES: JOURNEY – DON’T STOP BELIEVING (LIVE IN HOUSTON) Photo: CJ
I chose this video as my selection because:
1. It is quite clearly the greatest song ever written.
2. It’s the most downloaded song in the world.
3. The gear that they are wearing is clearly illegal.
4. When i was in a band I always wanted to play this song.
5. I am going to see them play at Wembley arena in June.
6. The lead singer Steve Perry is the absolute spitting image of Nick who runs the Skegness skate park.
7. You would have to go a long way to find a bunch of guys with their trousers hiked up higher than that.
8. You have to respect a guy that wears a yellow leopard print shirt to every gig, especially one that doesn’t fit properly.
9. The guitarist has a blue vest that is cut off above his naval.
10. This video reminds me that I still need to visit Texas.
11. The guy in the cut off red shirt looks totally ridiculous.
12. Journey is the raddest group.
13. You should watch the ‘Steve Perry and Journey’ documentary.
14. I could quite easily listen to this song on repeat all day long and actually have done before.
15. This song always makes me feel good.
16. I think it is safe to say that these guys screwed a lot of women.
17. I couldn’t think of any better music videos.
RONNY CALOW: KID ACNE – EDDY FRESH
Now then, here is my video selection. It’s Kid Acne a fellow Sheffield resident. I love the video on this as it was all shot round these parts, most of the people in it are friends so it’s really funny seeing them on it too. If you look carefully (I’m so stoked) at 0:13 to 0:18 on this video you’ll notice a certain Ben Grove getting his groove on. (He’s the one in the blue), I still think it’s one of the funniest things ever. That boy’s got the moves right? Haha! Don’t give up the day job mate!
MOGGINS: ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA – MR BLUE SKY Photo: Timmy Garbett
I could easily have picked any song by Sabbath, Hendrix or Pentagram but Mr Blue Sky is hands down my favourite song ever. It’s been my favourite song ever since I used to go and watch Birmingham City play as a kid with my old man and I still listen to it every single day.
Wherever I am in the world it never fails to remind me of home and gets me stoked out beyond belief!!
TIMMY GARBETT: N.W.A. – STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON
Photo: Ash Redman
If somethin’ happens in Chezzy, nothin happens…
It’s just another nigga DEAD, dead, dead, dead! Straight outta Chezzy crazy mutha frigga named Timmy Cube, from a gang called Slugga with attitude.
When I’m called off, I got a sawed off, squeeze the trigga and bodies are hauled off.
You too boi if you wanna frigg with me, Moggins is gonna have to come and get me off yo ass, that’s how I’m goin’ out, for the punk mutha fucka’s that’s showin’ out!
Nigga’s start to mumble, they wanna rumble, mix em up and cook em in a pot like gumbo.
Goin’ off on a mutha frigga like that, with a Death size 8.25 pointed at yo ass.
So give it up smooth, ain’t no tellin’ when Kennelly’s down for the jack move.
Here’s a murder rap to keep yo dancin’, with a crime record like Meadies dancin’.
T-tool is the tool, don’t make me act a mutha friggin’ fool.
Me you can go toe to toe, no maybe, I’m knockin’ nigga’s out tha’ box daily.
Yo weakly, monthly and yearly. Until the dumb mutha frigga’s see clearly.
That I’m down with the capita c-town G.
Boi you can’t frigg with me!
So when I’m in your neighbourhood, you betta duck, cus Louis Slater is crazy as frigg.
As I leave, believe I’m stompin’. But when I come back boi, I’m comin’ straight outta CHEZZY!
Coming from Ohio where the winters are cold and wet, Kevin Terpening has traded his sheepskin and rabbit fur ear warmers for a tee shirt and shorts and moved to LA to get what he wanted in life, sponsorship and freedom to continue his motivation to skate all day and do nothing else.
Hooked up on Alien Workshop and éS this year, it’s all looking rosy for the dude that could well be the most siked bloke to ever grace this zine. Read on to find out why.
Easy Kevin, what’s going on?
Not much. Hanging out in the nice Californian weather.
How did you enter 2011?
Kept it pretty mellow. Just had some friends over and drank some beers.
You had a pretty good year on the board last year as the companies flowing you stuff recognised and made it all official… and now you’re on Alien Workshop proper. That’s gotta be a good start to a year right? Tell us how that all came together…
Alien has hooked me up for a long time and its always been my favorite company so I’m definitely siked. I think they seen some of the stuff we’ve done with éS and some videos and coverage and they were siked. It all came together at once. I’m siked to just keep it going this year and do more.
The Ohio collection must be sick, getting repped by a globally recognised company based in your hometown. Take us on a verbal journey back in time if you will… what was it like growing up skating there? Who got you into skating and what spots would you hit up?
I’m from a pretty small town that doesn’t have much to skate and has no skate scene whatsoever. My brother had been a skater growing up in the 80s and when I was around 10 he started skating again. I got siked on it and started rolling around with him and finally got my own board. He built a mini-ramp in our backyard and that’s what I learned to skate on. After that I built boxes and flatbars with my friends and we’d pretty much just skate in the driveway all day.
Do you miss it now that you live in California?
Yes. I think about it almost everyday. I can’t wait to go back in the spring.
Who set you up for that move and who were you living with to start off?
I graduated high school and went and visited my friend, Scott, in LA. He asked me if I wanted to get a job at val surf where he worked. I filled out an application and went home to Ohio. He called me and said they wanted to hire me so I moved in with him a few weeks later.
The idea is a little alien to us in the UK as our concentration of skating from the US is pretty evenly spread from coast to coast…but, like Kalis said on Quartersnacks, there seems to be this unwritten demand that skaters do their thing in Southern Cali. How much truth is there to this? Did you feel any pressure to move or was it strictly personal business?
I think it just makes it a little easier. The weather is amazing and there are tons of filmers/photographers. All the companies are here for the most part as well. People live in the middle of nowhere and still can skate and get coverage though. It’s not mandatory to live in California, I personally never moved to LA to just try to make it in skating. I wanted to move out of my situation in Ohio and do something new. I knew that it would be a little easier to make it in LA though. It’s funny, when I moved to LA and seen how things were, I didn’t really want to be a sponsored skater anymore.
BS 50-50 Photo: Anthony Acosta
Tell us your best story involving Cody Green…
NO more Cody stories. I love him.
I find it hard to imagine why you were kept flow for so long, especially after making the move and getting amongst it Cali. What were you doing other than skating to keep your head up?
Try to stay busy and work to pay bills and rent. I was lucky I had a lot of my friends from Ohio around to keep me happy. I was always just siked to be in LA and skating all around the city and taking buses. It was all so new to me.
I read a great little story in Skateboarder Mag about how you used to use the paper inside éS Shoes for toilet tissue… when they put you on fully did they give you some nicer paper or had you already grown accustomed to that crinkly stuff?
Haha! No but when I went to Sole Tech once, Rob Brink stole some toilet paper from the bathroom for my house!
Have you reached the point where you can wipe with your paycheck yet or is that a pleasure reserved only for those with a pro shoe?
Fuck no. I’m doing pretty good so I’m siked. I’m not rich though.
Nosebonk. Photo: Sam McGuire.
You’ve been in discussions with the designers at éS to make sure everything you rock is perfect right? Ever considered getting on a proper design tip and earning some dough? That’s like one step in the direction of completing skateboarding…
Things don’t have to be perfect. I just want things to fit right because it can be hard to find the right stuff sometimes. I’ll let the designers do the work though. I probably would fuck everything up!
So what have you got planned for this year? Any upcoming trips or edits to film for?
Just starting to film for an Alien Workshop project. Its early in the making but its gonna be rad. My friend Benny is filming for them now and he kills it so I’m siked.
That may be one of the first few times I’ve ever asked someone if they were filming for an ‘edit’ instead of a part in a video. What’s your view on the direction skate media is heading in?
I don’t know man. It is what it is. I don’t want to get to into it. I just want to film and skate with my friends and have a good time. People just want too much, too fast and that makes everything less quality. There’s also an overload of certain skaters.
Most, if not all the footage I’ve seen of you has been featured in online edits, with so many of them around it kind of leaves us lurkers in search of some radness a little over-satisfied, jaded and forgetful. Your éS Welcome Part was a total banger though… do you go out of your way to make your skating interesting or do you just skate how you want to skate and hope for the best?
I just try to skate what I’m siked on at the time. Some stuff you really think about and some stuff just happens. Sometimes you get burnt and just want to do fun shit. That’s where bean plants and shit come in handy!
Who out there in the US should we in the UK be paying attention to right now or expect to see great things from in 2011?
I’m not too sure haha! Stevie Perez is sick. He’s an éS flow rider. I’d like to see him come up.
What’s currently rocking your playlist the most?
I’ve been listening to the Minutemen a LOT.
Can you tell us of one specific moment in time, where everything is clicking and there is that moment of unparalleled clarity where you think ‘man, skateboarding is fucking rad’?
Me and Bobby (Worrest) skated the quarter pipe in my backyard for like two hours learning tricks the other night. It felt like were little kids again just siked to skate and learn shit. We got sparked. I guess just those days where you just get siked like you did when you were younger is what keeps me going.
Etnies footwear have started 2011 with a decent eco pledge, their mission is to plant a tree for every pair of Jameson 2 shoes that are purchased and create the etnies rainforest in an area that has seen much deforestation over the last 80 years. The latest ecological promise from Soletech founder Pierre-André Senizergues derived from a trip to Costa Rica in 2007 where he met with government leaders and learned about their commitment to making the country carbon neutral by 2021- one of the first developing countries to make this pledge. The result of that visit was a catalyst for his current mission that starts this month working alongside native tribes in Costa Rica called the Maleku and a reforestation organization, La Reserva Forest Foundation, to make it happen.
If you have ever visited this beautiful country found between Nicaragua and Panama in Central America you will know just how special this place is. I have personally had the pleasure of flying in to this wonderful land three times now and have seen it develop hugely since 1996. Hotels have sprung up all over the place with trees chopped down to accommodate the demand for tourism and tarmac roads connecting towns that used to be pot holed pathways are now common place. The country is dedicated to its fauna. Trees grow out of trees, flowers and shrubs grow everywhere and different rainforests harbor thousands of known life forms across across all of the various regions; all contributing something different that is vital to their environment so it’s great to see a skateboard company getting involved to help the cause.
Skateboarding has become popular in Costa Rica over the last 10 years. The Tony Hawk video game era of the early 2000’s helped to push skateboarding to many countries opening more avenues for skate teams to hit the road and add more countries to their touring schedules. Arenas indoor skatepark in San Jose is the capital’s biggest park to host demos. Last month four Volcom riders arrived in the capital and were mobbed by the locals eager to see a pro team skate their park. Arenas is an air conditioned indoor wood park and has a street course and a mini ramp but worth noting that you will need a helmet to skate it.
Costa Rica’s most famous concrete skate park at Hotel Tilawa in Tileran is situated on the edge of a picturesque lake nearby the Arenal Volcano which is still fully active. You can drive around the lake during the day and see Coati’s (raccoons with razor sharp claws) and Armadillos crossing the roads, in the evening on a clear night, you can also witness molten red hot Lava spitting from Arenal if you are sat below drinking cocktails in its natural hot springs. The mix of relaxing mud baths, mineral pools, and thermal hot springs after skating the Tileran park (below) is highly recommended. Take that in for a few seconds and try to resist the urge to book a flight.
Death Skateboards‘ most traveled pro Dan Cates phoned me back in 2009 for info on the country and came back with nothing but praise for Central American culture so I’m going to hand over the reigns to Dan from his own experience of visiting these shores.
“Costa Rica has year round sunshine, good surfing, natural volcanic hot springs and some strange one-off skate spots dotted around the country if you know where to look. It is a kind of paradise for many and indeed is the only country in the world to not have an army. One thing I would say however, if you are thinking of visiting this weird and wonderful place be sure to rent a 4×4! It has the worst roads and its tropical climate means lots of rain storms and lots of mud for you to get stuck in. Take heed.
Most of your street skating needs will be taken care of in San Jose, which also has an indoor skatepark and a skate shop. Find a local to show you the spots, because San Jose is notoriously bad for traffic, lawless driving and gangs.
Next stop is the surf town of Tamarindo, that has a fun concrete snake run (above) leading into a 7 foot deep vert bowl. This thing is a lot of fun. If you are in the know there is a guy who has a clover leaf bowl in his back yard nearby, but like I said you definitely need to know someone if you wanna see this spot, it is strictly private.
As mentioned above Hotel Tilawa on the shore of lake Arenal is a must see for any visiting skaters, a quaint old hotel on the edge of the jungle with a large concrete park in the grounds! I stayed here off season and was the only person in the hotel. It was kind of like visiting Dracula’s castle, but with a skatepark in the garden. If you are feeling brave and fancy a trek through a howler monkey infested jungle there is also a rather perfect concrete spillway pipe that Salba once skated, it’s Costa Rica’s answer to Mount Baldy. Search and you shall find.”
Truer words were never spoken. Costa Rica’s magical landscape hosts many hidden gems. The country is composed of seven provinces, all with variable climate’s. Within 45 minutes from the airport in Alajuela (San Jose) you can be overlooking the turquoise blue sulphur lakes of the Poas Volcano. 3 hours drive from there you can be surfing on the party beaches of Jaco Beach and driving the hillsides of the beautiful town of Manuel Antonio. The latter has one of the best National Parks you will ever see where cappuccino monkeys bounce off every branch, sloths frequent the trees and the beaches are on par with the luxurious settings of any of the James Bond movies. An hour spent on the ferry with the jeep from Punteranas to Paquera is necessary for you to find the ultimate paradise also known as Montezuma and 10 minutes from here you will find the tiny village of Mal Pias which is simply heaven. Zorlac caught his first ever wave on a surfboard here with myself alongside for the ride as the sun set. I personally didn’t want to leave here and many don’t.
If you visit the North East on the Caribbean side you can travel by boat or plane to the swampy land strips of Tortugeuro and see Caiman and Crocodiles ruling the inland waters. In the North West, the Rincon de la Vieja National Park is home to the most active geysers in Costa Rica and amazing waterfalls, sights that are so beautiful that you can never revisit it in photos. The national parks are generally mind blowing. It’s best to take a guide on these missions with you as you will be surprised just how many living creatures are watching you walk through the rainforests without you even noticing they are there.
So with all this in mind, get yourself a ticket to Costa Rica this year and experience this stunning country first hand and if you want to help the cause get yourself some new kicks and Soletech will plant a tree in exchange. Click here to find out more about them.
Portrait/sequence courtesy of Emerica and Atiba Jefferson
2010 was a cracking year for Brandon Westgate. Not only did his official pro status on Zoo York come to fruition, his part in Emerica’s most anticipated DVD Stay Gold kicked off smiles for miles as his technically gifted style stomped through the streets of SF and beyond.
His pro shoe on Emerica released last month brought another edit that swept the web and kept his skating do the talking so we decided to share a few of our own words with the Massachusetts kid that keeps himself one step ahead of the game by wielding some seriously devestating pop.
Easy Brandon, what’s going on?
Nothing much just got back from my shoe party in LA.
New Year’s Eve wasn’t too long ago, do you remember it?
It wasn’t messy, my girlfriend and I went to her sister’s and she had this karaoke machine set up and everyone got drunk and sung songs all night, it was fun.
Turns out you’re a month younger than me. That’s bonkers. I haven’t even bombed a hill in SF yet? How did that feel the first time you did it?
It was the best feeling and every time it gets better, you really have to get out there one time.
Compared with many other skaters in recent years, very little is known about your personality and life off the board. Was it a conscious decision to not let the world’s collide and let your skating do any necessary talking or are you just being you?
I guess I’m just being me. I like being out here and Massachusetts, away from everything.
Even a recent interview with Chris Nieratko didn’t disclose too much about you. So let’s just talk straight skateboarding for the rest of the interview: last time we interviewed you was in 2006, has skating changed for you at all during those four years or is it still the raddest thing ever?
It’s for sure still the raddest thing ever, I’ve learned how to skate different and learned new tricks I never would have thought about then. Thats the best thing about skateboarding you can learn whatever you want.
Over the last few years who has helped you out or inspired you to get you where you are right now?
There’s a lot of people who inspired me and helped me out: Jeff, Timothy, Miner, Seamus, Suski, Leo, Shetler, Herman, Reynolds, Figgy…
Your shoe has just arrived and everyone is mad stoked on it. Looks a little similar to the Hsu model (very good thing). Was the design inspired by that model at all?
I always really liked the Jerry’s so I started off that, but I just tried to make a really comfortable skate shoe that skated good and held up.
Think back to when you first got a pro deck, what were you more hyped on: a graphic with your name on or a shoe?
I was so stoked on both but if I had to say probably the shoe. it’s really hard to get your name on a shoe and you get full advantage to make the best shoe you always want to skate.
How about the part itself… was it made up from leftovers from Stay Gold? You can’t have had much time to gather new footage so soon after Stay Gold come out…
There’s some left overs, but there’s a lot of new footage. Miner and I worked really hard together on this one. It was mainly just us and not the whole team so I think it easier to focus. To begin with they just wanted to use leftovers to make a little clip online then we ended up coming up with a lot of new stuff given the time.
As a pro skater this side of the decade, do you feel under any pressure at all to produce more content as the online edit takes over the skate DVD?
I feel the same amount of pressure either way people see it and online more people see it sooner than a DVD.
What surprised many is how both parts could essentially be interchangeable, they’re both so good. What approach to filming did you prefer, the long-term project approach of the short but exciting turnaround of footage?
I liked them both. The short-term project was a lot more stressful because I didn’t have much time and it was a clip of only me, not the whole team. I prefer the long term just because it’s easier to get the tricks you want for your part.
Are you stoked with how both parts come out?
Yeah I’m stoked on them, there’s always more tricks I wish I could have got for them but time just runs out. I think Miner killed it putting it together. I think that makes it more enjoyable to watch when they’re edited really good.
You have a good mix of East and West coast skating in your parts… what elements of each do you enjoy skating the most and why?
I really like skating the West because SF is so fun. There’s nothing like bombing those hills and skating all the natural bumps- it’s truly like nowhere else. I like skating the East because the spots are a little bit more beat up so you usually have to do some fixing up and the spots turn into a challenge to skate.
Who had your favorite part in Stay Gold?
My favorite part was Leo’s, just seeing him skate is so gnarly and he just loves to skate. Herman also had one of my favorites; all those picnic table lines are amazing. I love everyone’s part though for their own way of skating.
Leo obviously was a deserved winner of SOTY but was there anyone you skate with often that kills it that you think was overlooked a little?
There’s definitely a lot of skaters who kill it but Leo I think deserved it by far.
Ph: Brandon shows Atiba one of his favourite FS 180 5050’s in China.
What trip in 2010 did you enjoy being a part of the most?
My favorite trip in 2010 was to China with Emerica filming for Stay Gold. It was a fun crew and awesome skate spots.
You just got a house right? What’s it like? Got any plans for it?
Yeah it’s cool, big back yard, farmer’s porch, fire place, garage, it’s just really comfortable. I’ve been doing work here and there a lot the whole time I’ve had it, mainly tile, painting and yard work. I’m planning on making a sick ramp in the back yard this summer.
What about when you hang up your trucks?
I would like to own some cranberry bogs I think they would be fun to try and run. Plus, I just like all the land that comes with it.
What would you be doing right now if skateboards were never invented?
I was going to a tech school which is a school where you do regular class work like your math and science, and the next is your shop class, I was in marine machines where I worked on boats. I would probably have tried to get a job in that field.
Finally, any words of wisdom?
Just keep skating and have fun.
Win a package of Brandon Westgate ‘s sponsors that includes a Zoo York board, Bones Swiss Bearings, Hubba Wheels and a pair of his Emerica signature shoes here this weekend.
Mark ‘Fos’ Foster one foots London’s most prestigious spot.
This Wednesday (23rd February 2011) saw what will hopefully be the first of many Southbank user meetings at the Royal Festival Hall. The meeting was organised by the Southbank Centre and its aim was to open communications between themselves and the skateboarding community who use the Undercroft area.
Before the meeting I was fearful that we would be told that Southbank was going to be shut down or we were to be relocated to some crappy skate park somewhere else, a fear shared by my fellow SB locals and London skateboarders alike. However the other meeting attendees and I were pleasantly surprised. It seems as though Southbank is here to stay for the foreseeable future, and what’s more the SB authorities have said they will work closely with the skaters to improve the space.
It was established that BMX riders did not care about SB as there was not one present at the meeting. We spoke about the serious injury a BMXer caused a pedestrian last year and voiced how BMXers are dangerous and ignorant and should have no place in the Undercroft (as it used to be). The skateboarders were also quick to ask why graffiti had been allowed to take place in Southbank for the past four years. The organisers had no idea that we objected to the graffiti, in fact they thought we loved it as it was part of the “urban culture” that everyone so easily pigeon holes us into. The meeting organisers, Julia Sawyer and John Gray were very receptive to these revelations and have vowed to address the graffiti situation as well as to look at banning BMXers from riding at Southbank.
Other topics that were discussed were better lighting, replacing the original railings and adding barriers to separate the public, more bins, the temporary beach that will be opposite the Undercroft in the summer and CCTV that will be installed. They also said that they would provide us with squeegees and other equipment for us to dry the floor when it is wet down there, which is a result.
Andrew Brophyfloats one of his legendary ollies high above the rubble.
These meetings will now be held quarterly and there is talk of setting up a page on the Southbank Center website to allow for the skateboarding public to be kept up to date with the goings on in the Undercroft. Some changes will be almost instant, some will be more long term, but the bottom line is that Southbank isn’t going anywhere!
Overall this is a massive result and a good start to what will hopefully become a strong alliance with the Southbank Centre authorities. The notes from the meeting will be written up and emailed to the attendees so keep your ears peeled for more info on the changes to our beloved Undercroft.
Scroll down to comment on this first session or discuss it on our facebook page.
Yves Marchon is one of Europe’s hardest working skateboarders. Last year he managed to finish and release the Element Europe video after months of filming and editing which showed the World that European teams can produce the goods when it matters.
Stanley asks the questions in this interview with Yves covering filming techniques, the Element team and much more.
Good to have you here Yves, how are you and what have you been up to since you completed your work on Element’s Get Busy Living?
Hi! First off I wanna apologies for my poor English skills, I hope it will not sound too simplistic. I am doing very well, thank you. After finishing Get Busy Living I moved back from Barcelona to Switzerland. I lived there for a year, it was a great experience. For now I live in my good old hometown in Fribourg. It is very small and boring comparing to a big city like Barcelona but I enjoy doing stuff here with my buddies; it is mellow. I am renting this studio to work and I opened up a little skateshop there. I am trying to help the scene as much as I can, as it is very much needed over here.
Let’s talk about the film. Now, what immediately struck me as unique in Get Busy Living was that not only was the entire film shot in HD, but it was the first not to be filled with slow motion clips and over-the-top music. For something so rich, it maintained that raw vibe that skate videos thrive on. As a skateboarding filmmaker in an increasingly strange climate, what decisions did you find most challenging when deciding how you were going to present the film to people?
Well thank you. So I thought about this quite a lot and I came up to conclusion that what I wanna do as far as making skateboarding videos is that I wanna make skateboarding videos with skateboarding in there. That might sounds a bit silly but my idea of a good skateboard film is a film featuring good skateboarding that is well documented. Actually, I have been trying for a while to make a video using strictly action footage, no intro’s, no portraits, no lifestyle shots. This being said, I am really happy with the Intro of Get Busy Living- it is straight into action. It is funny how the riders were asking me about how the intro of the video was going to be and would was telling them there was not any intro, there were looking at me all weird thinking I was shitting them or just plain stupid. “What do you mean no intro?!” It is my job to keep the video balanced to make the best effect possible at the end, trying to make it feel natural.
Nassim Guammaz hucks a perfect bs tail. Photo: Marcel Veldman
Was it an intentional director’s decision not to fill the film with slo-mo?
Absolutely. I wanted to get away from the cliché of high definition video productions filled with run-up shots, birds flying by in slow motion, time lapses and stuff like that. Slow motion is great when it is used at the right moment, when it is over-used it gets really boring and cheesy. It’s the same with time lapses.
The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, were you personally pleased with the final result?
I am not fully satisfied with it; I wanted some parts to look different. The first edits I did, I made longer parts. Element was very specific with what they wanted and made me cut a whole bunch of stuff, which is fine; I had to stick with their directions, it is my job. So I am not totally satisfied with the video, but I am very proud that I achieved it; it was hard to film it all on HD. I had a lot of doubt throughout the project. I shot it all with the HVX200 which is a hard camera to operate for skateboarding I think: it is bulky and heavy and not well balanced with the fisheye.
It was a real challenge to make the footage look dynamic, especially when filming lines… I am proud I achieved to make a full length skate video on HD by that time and that it does not look so bad. Anybody who once filmed a line with an HVX200 and the Schneider Extreme fisheye knows what I am talking about…By now HDSLRs are here and you can get ridiculous high quality picture out of these small cameras.
Madars Apse cranks out a huge ollie. Photo: Marcel Veldman
Notable was the good feedback from those on message boards who normally aren’t so keen on Element as a brand. Were you aware of some of the opinions and did this influence your direction in any way?
I don’t care much about what people are writing on message boards; it is full of crap. I don’t bother too much what people think about Element. They got really big and of course skateboarders are hating because of that but they are great people. As far as making videos for them, I always saw it as a great opportunity to document some of the best European skateboarders and show it to a wider audience. Element has been taking good care of their riders and the people around them. They are supporting me as a skater and a filmer and have done so for a long time now and I am really grateful for that. Element does indeed probably have the most recognised (and well looked after) European team.
Do you think that maybe after the success of GBL that other US brands will do better to represent their European comrades rather than just stick their footage on as a DVD bonus feature?
I was very please to see an international section in the Habitat video. Then again, we can not blame them to run their companies the way they want. There is no convention stating that every American skate company needs to support European riders and make European segments in all their videos. If I would make my own company I would probably not care too much about them either.
Element Europe has proven to be a strong part of maintaining Element’s image and reputation with the ‘purer’ skaters – why do you think this is?
I honestly think because they (Element Europe) have been focusing on the right thing: get some good skaters together with a filmer and a photographer, send them on the road. By doing this you get some “real” stuff. Does that make sense? Now they have been doing more contests, demos and stuff like that but they are putting all the effort on that.
A lot of skaters featured in GBL that were previously under the radar (internationally at least) have become huge names…. how many skaters involved in the project were you filming for the first time and did anyone take you by surprise at all?
Altogether, I was probably filming with 10 riders or something. Some people had to go and new guys came in so it was more work for me for sure. Maybe Guillaume surprised me the most. He is so gnarly and pulled it off at the very last minute. Madars’ part came together last minute too, couple funky solo missions around Barcelona with him. Ross had a short section but it was super sick and he’s winning comps left right and centre.
Ross McGouran leads the way. Ollie in to bank. Photo: Marcel Veldman.
Great bloke too, did you enjoy your time with him? Does he land stuff as quickly as he does during comps?
Ross is tight. He landed his stuff pretty quickly yes. I wish we had more time to film together. He was pretty much on point every time, knowing quite exactly what he wanted to do.
Was that powerslide he does on the way to boardslide up bigspin out planned or did it just happen on the land? The amount of control he has is incredible… it’s stunning how underrated he is over here.
The spot is a bit downhill and he had to speed check bit to get to the ledge right. I let the skaters do what they feel right. I am no dictator filmer. It is actually one of my favourite clips.
What other UK skateboarders impress you right now, anyone you would like to get involved with filming?
Well the only UK skater I know is Lucien Clarke really. I am happy to see him where he is at now with Palace and stuff. Other that him, I have always liked Jensen, Danny Brady, Mark Baines, all the Blueprint heads really but that’s really all I know about the British skate scene… shame on me. I love the country though. There is something fascinating about the UK.
Michael Mackrodt frontside rock’s the hardest line. Photo: Marcel Veldman
Where else did filming for Get Busy Living take you? Any particular filming trip highlight?
Maybe that one trip with Michael Mackrodt in Southern China, that was memorable. We flew to Hong Kong skated around there and Macao, then took the train to the western cities looking for virgin spots, it was just great time, exploring new land and experiencing a totally different culture.
What trick took the longest to film?
Easy one. The manual combo Janne Saario does in the beginning of his section: frontside noseslide 270 to manual to frontside noseslide 270 to manual frontside noseslide 270… It took two afternoons, something like 300 to 400 tries if I remember right.
Increasingly heavy filming equipment and creative direction from filmmakers seems necessary to create something unique enough compete in a world where many videos end up online for free. But then some could argue that the spontaneity that made videos like Video Days so special is lost. Get Busy Living does not at all seem like every trick was planned. How do you find a balance?
This is very interesting. I have been skateboarding almost every day for more than 20 years, and filming and trying to put videos together for a good 15 years. I always wanted to follow the skaters and document it the best I can rather than direct them. I wanna be spontaneous, this is what I wanna do. I wish I could be invisible sometimes.
Now that both filmers and photographers are carrying more and more equipment with them on trips does this affect the notoriously edgy relationship between filmers and photographers during a shoot?
Depending on the person really. You can be cool with having to deal with a filmer next to you or not. I don’t care about it at all, I always let the photographed deals with his flashes and I get out of the way, maybe times it is a good opportunity to take an interesting angle.
You used to work with Eric Antoine who’s told us that you got on great together but the expected question still was brought up, who has priority for first choice angle dibbs, the filmer or the photographer?
Eric of course! At the time I was working with him (for Sole Tech EU), I was beginning, I had never filmed on the road with professionals in other terms. Eric was well experienced already and taught me a lot. He was rude at times but it is just how you would be to a buddy really. He was telling me how bad my angles were, telling to get off the way when I was too close (still quite far…) and stuff like that. There was no compromising possible with him. We were arguing at times but I must say he was right most the time. Personally, to me, I think the person (the skater) is more important, not for him, he thinks the picture is more important than anything. He is a perfectionist and I respect that. He is the hands down one of the best European photographer. I learned a lot travelling with him and Oli Buergin. I owe them a lot.
How much van room do you collectively take up?
Not much really. I don’t know about him these days but for only a camera bag, my board and my fat butt. Definitely take less room in the van that Michi Mackrodt does, he has stuff all over the place, it’s insane! He is German.
Phil Zwijsen slides a fs noseblunt in Torremolinos. Photo: Marcel Veldman
Now that cameras are becoming easier to get hold of and in some ways make it easier for amateurs to produce work of an almost ‘professional’ standard and are able to host their work online for free what do you think this will mean to the already complicated skate video industry?
More video content to produce I guess. The demand is huge. Since everybody can put a video online, companies need to do more than that and are now producing shows, webclips, documentaries, video parts, etc. It is never ending these days, there is definitely space for that. Then again I think skate videos as we know them are getting more rare just because the world is moving to fast for them, Nobody wants to film for a video for 5 years anymore, things have to come out fast. I try to keep up but it eats me as well: the more I film, the more I put out, it is a vicious circle. Would be cool to put out a video every year, that is kind of what I have been trying to do for the last few years.
Will there be a wake-up call to some professionals? In some ways the online distribution method means that only the truly original, creative and talented filmmakers will earn a living from it. There are certainly pros and cons about it… have you given it much thought? Are you adapting your approach to work as a result?
In the industry, I think the ones that can film skateboarding well are still the ones getting the job. Maybe I am wrong. They are loads of people who can film well but very few good editors in the industry.
What do you make of the reverse effect; now that audiences are becoming accustomed to crappy i-phone footage and half-arsed edits (though that is not to suggest that they don’t have their own charm) will the quality and amount of effort put into skate videos decrease? GBL was an example of an accomplished piece of hard work… how can we make these things last?
Good question. Skateboard videos were never really made to last. Almost 100% of them are made to advertise brands. Then of course there are the gems, the statics, the eastern exposure, the independent videos. Then, sometimes, a video gets better with the years, like wine and get classic, but mostly not.
Actually I think the younger audience is more critic than most of us, older dude, we are still trying to figure it out. I think the younger digested it already and they don’t need us to educate them. They can still dig a good skate video, there are fed up with webclips and crap on the internet.
Yves takes 5 mins out for a quick smithgrind. Photo: Marcel Veldman.
I’ve read in an interview online that you’ve developed a little interest in the videos that are coming out of the Japanese skate scene. Would you fancy making a film inspired by the editing/filming style of the Far East Skate Network?
I don’t necessarily like the editing of these videos but I like how they approach street skating. They have developed their own type of skateboarding sort of. They are not trying to emulate what American’s do I think unless like us who are constantly trying to get up with them; most of us. These Japanese videos just makes me wanna go out and skate more than any others. I recommend you to watch “Night Prowler” and of course “Overground Broadcasting” if you have seen it yet, it’s amazing.
You’ve established a relationship with many of the skaters on Element Europe since filming Rise Up – who are your favourite people to film with and what is the best filming story from the making of Get Busy Living?
I always liked to go out skate and film with Phil Zwijsen. He has a real team spirit and is really generous person, more than anyone I got to film with.
What projects are you working on now and what can we expect to see from you in 2011?
I am working on a documentary film about Janne Saario for Element. The art of storytelling is a new challenge for me and I am really exited to work on this. It should be done by the end of 2011. Other than that there is always lot of work for Element: trips, edits, etc. On the side I am trying to figure out an independent video project, based on travels with friends and interesting skateboarders. Hopefully it will become a reality soon.
What are your three fondest memories from 2010, who were your three favourite skaters, three filmers that influenced you the most and the most important lesson you learnt that you will take on board for 2011?
Three fondest memories:
1) Living in Barcelona
2) Great trips with the Element Europe family
3) Moving back to homebase/ opening up a skateshop in Switerland called Chez Chonmar.
Three skaters (of 2010):
1) Madars Apse
2) Phil Zwijsen
3) Nassim Guammaz
Three filmers (of 2010):
Greg Hunt’s work is my favorite, not the best filming and editing but the final pieces are always amazing. Just good overall feeling about his videos. Jason Hernandez is obviously a good filmer/editor and is really progessive and I have to mention French Fred of course. Not that I am a huge fan of his work but he is one of the very few that has his own style and you can’t copy it, he is the only one who can master it… genius stuff. Mad respect to them…
Enjoy some local off cut footage released this week from the locals of Chez Chonmar skate shop.
Yves Marchon is one of Europe’s hardest working skateboarders. Last year he managed to finish and release the Element Europe video after months of filming and editing which showed the World that European teams can produce the goods when it matters. 
Notable was the good feedback from those on message boards who normally aren’t so keen on Element as a brand. Were you aware of some of the opinions and did this influence your direction in any way?
Where else did filming for Get Busy Living take you? Any particular filming trip highlight?
