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The Crossfire Xmas Jam 2010

The official Crossfire Xmas Jam 2010 edit by Alan Christensen. Filmed by Alan Christensen, Nick Richards and Joe Moynihan.

Words: Stanley
Photography: Tom Halliday and Dom Marley

Over the past eight years a lot has happened within the cozy sphere of living we call skateboarding. Shiny discs with easter eggs came in and locked VHS up in the junk room only to be touched by the boney skeletal finger of the digital grim reaper a couple years later, we lost a couple magazines, we gained a few new ones, scooters are selling more than skateboards for the first time ever and yet skate companies are being born as if an entire generation of UK skateboarders missed out on the business studies lesson where they covered contraception. It’s all a little confusing and unsettling to be honest. So, at the end of another confusing year we decided that there was only one thing we could possibly do. Invite you all to Bay 66 and go skateboarding. What else?

There really wasn’t any alternative; for a start we do it every year, and every year we love it more than ever. But more importantly, a jam is still one of the most positive things one can involve themselves in for skateboarding regardless of whatever the economical climate currently looks like. A jam provides UK skateboarders of all ages with a place to meet like-minded creatives and explore the myriad of ways in which one can get rad on their wheely-board, which sounds awesome enough, but on top of that you will always meet new friends, witness amazing talent and be reminded just how rewarding skateboarding is. We’re sure most of you know this already, but given the sad circumstances that surrounded the park in which we always – with great pleasure – hold all of our annual festive jams, it feels appropriate to point out just how effective these events are at giving the young people of the UK something postive to focus their attention on. So, in another attempt to remind the youth that there’s a lot more to life than drugs, disrespecting women and riding shitty little scooters we invited you all to London’s beloved sheltered park (hopefully not for the last time) and you all came and smashed it. As in, totally, totally smashed it. Good work.

After some trouble with the sound system which led to myself, Zac and Brewster twiddling knobs like Dickfingers does whenever he has nothing better to do, we finally had Brewster’s charming vocal stylings flooding into the ears of the London yoof. Good thing too, as it was high time for them to start throwing themselves over the little driveway for the chance of a fresh Blueprint deck and fifty quids worth of Slam City Skates vouchers. And throw themselves they did, in a kind of bizarre mature manner. Sure there was havoc, but maybe the 100 little Alfies that normally walk in the way and cock things up spent this winter with the snaking scooter crews in concrete parks throughout the country, meaning that the havoc was kind of controlled. Orderly queues were formed and boards were flying everywhere and we more stoked and impressed with the standards of the unsponsored jam than ever before.

We weren’t too stoked on the theft of Alex Diss’ tapes from the unsponsored jam though. Zorlac compensates his loss by being rad. (Photo: Tom Halliday)

Below: Darius Trabalza is sick. Watch out for him. (Photo: Tom Halliday)

We genuinely had to ask most of the winners if they were sponsored or not, especially considering how many pros and ams were sneaking in runs before their time. Daryl Dominguez got up early as if he intended to eat the driveway for breakfast, but it was the young and very smiley Darius Trabalsza who got the worm with a positively monstrous hardflip over the box to flat in a way that would impress Daryl himself. Huge catch and caught proper bolts. Brewster and I had little trouble awarding Darius with the prize, he really got the idea of a competition going and he fully earned his deck and should also earn your attention in the future. Look out for that smiley dude.

Before we followed the schedule to the next spot, a couple of unashamed moshers were trying their hand at the ski jump to such ridiculous results that we almost contemplated throwing the entire schedule out the window and have a gnarliest backflip competition on the launch ramp. One backflip later though and our mosher tendencies were more than satisfied, permitting us to stop kidding ourselves and return to where all the good stuff was happening: BaySixty6’s new hip with the long jersey quarter on top of it. A perfect setting for some Busenitz grind action and maybe even some Cory Kennedy hip flip trick ridiculousness. Things were kicking off straight away as the obstacle was given its first Xmas Jam treatment, with Felipe Dalcin going in hard for a mighty kickflip noseslide sadly nailing it just after the whistle. With Brewster in charge Crossfire minutes are just 60 seconds long I’m afraid; Spanky runs a tight ship that’s for sure. A shame for Felipe as it was an early contender for trick of the day, but Jason Cloete’s stream of smooth technical wizardry (landing bigger flips cleaner than Marc Johnson) set the consistency level for the rest of the unsponsored comp, if you’re gonna win you’re going to have be better than this kid. It’s remarkable that he hasn’t landed a proper sponsor yet, though that fact might have something to do with how much of a sleazy bastard he was at the after party (props though, standard). Whatever you’ve heard about Jason Cloete, what you need to know is the little shitbag kills it.

Below: Jason Cloete prior to all the sleaze (Photo: Tom Halliday)

Indeed, the Cloete show continued as the jam took it to BaySixty6’s newer, gnarlier, Amazonian waterfall of a Wembley/Euro/Step Up gap. Backside 360 kickflips, triple kickflips and more first try bedwetters, probably before people learnt to get out the way of the landing area too. When it did though, Baystation 666 was subjected to technical madness at its very raddest. Drawing Boards’ Isaac Miller took his opportunity to front 360 and backside heel as fluidly and nonchalantly as one would nollie over a crack in the pavement. We originally had some doubts at how many unsponsored kids could tackle the new Euro beast but in just 20 minutes we had our uncertainties handed to us on a plate as Jamal Breniss tore the gap a new backside (this kid can also stick a mean sticker around; the decorations you see in these pictures before you are courtesy of myself, Jerome, Jamal and a couple of other helpful gents… next time you see them around, high five them for braving the cold. Except for me, I’m a scumbag and probably deserved it.). It was Harry King who took the biscuit though who with his solo late-flip fueled demonstration that left even Cloete’s head spinning.

In a year where ADHD ran riot over the Firefox generation we felt it right to conclude the unsponsored jam on whatever obstacle they wanted to skate, providing it was on the big driveway and me and Brewster could see it. So as we strained our eyes over the fog of fried chicken in the spectators stand many of you took it to the rail, manual pad and hubba ledge and we realised that judging this one could be a little difficult. Luckily Jamie ‘Arghhh’ Morley was saving his game changers for the pro comp and the unsponsored crowd stuck mostly to the rail like slippery glue. Though a few sneaky sponsored sorts tried to blag themselves a Blueprint deck it was John Howlett who impressed us with his consistency and extensive bag of tricks; no matter how many great feeble grinds were on display, no one trick wonder was walking away with this particularly awesome Nick Jensen deck. Look out for Howlett leaping out of a taco in a Mile End near you.

Below: New moves, same ol’ Smithy. (Seq: Dom Marley)

After a short breather (Brewster went out for some fresh tobacco scented air while I stayed in getting high off the fumes from the fried chicken boxes) it was time for the sponsored jam. First up, back to the mini-driveway and as the guestlist continued getting checked off it was those that got in early that were obviously warmed up enough to smash it. Daryl Dominguez went straight in and hammering down all the tricks he has on lock – 360 flip, lateflips, hardflip, all perfect. Isaac Miller was busy snaking all the unsponsored kids on the Wembley gap but his lofty heelflip to flat literally came out of no where, then dusted off like it was nothing. 2011 will be his year for sure. Now, this paragraph cannot be complete without mentioning Gav Coughlan, who sped through the park and landed on a monster frontside flip too many times without rolling away. When he finally conquered the beast we had already moved onto the next obstacle after drill sergeant Brewster announced time was up, but big up Gav for sticking to it. We were stoked on what the Irish powerhouse brought to the event. This obstacle was Daryl’s from the beginning however, he sleepwalked his way to the first batch of Crossfire pounds dished out.

By the time we hit up the hip again our massive guestlist was more or less fully checked off apart from a few notable names (Korahn Gayle probably thought he was supposed to get on a plane or something and missed it) so things were about to take a turn for the awesome. The entire spot got attacked from all angles; Crayon’s Paul ‘Barber’ Cooper got things going on top with that frontsmith of his that’s one of the finest in this country, Witchcraft’s Jamie ‘Arghhh’ Morley took a different route and boardslid his way into the jersey quarter the hard way (the only way the pirate knows) and Smithy shutdown the actual hip with that nollie bigger spin heelflip he was stoked on in his Reflections. The hip got a thorough seeing to but a face-off emerged between Kill City’s Jake Collins and Blind’s Chris Oliver. Chroliver could have shut the day down with his balls-out backtail and mach-ten kickflip 5-0 across the entire ledge (and if you haven’t got off your arse and seen Chris skate in person yet then sort it out, it’ll change your life) but Jake just kept pulling out bangers that we had no choice but to give him the Crossfire pounds. Crooks to regular, ninja finger backsmith, backtail, backlip and a ‘proper’ mayday in under twenty minutes? This guy is amazing.

Below: Dan ‘270’ Wileman getting paper. (Photo: Tom Halliday)

Now, originally our schedule was intent on taking a Delorean back to the 90s with a recession-friendly best trick over the smashed up bin but given how many gnar-hunters were on the scene we had a little re-arranging session and decided to conclude the sponsored jam on the behemoth that is Bay 66’s famous vert wall. Firstly though, we took it back to the ADHD-encouraging driveway and let the sponsored heads run riot. The rail was tackled by the Blueprint crew with ease as Nick Jensen cruised around, Tom Knox summoned up a hurricane and Smithy boardslide-shoved his way into a few high fives. Daryl got tech on the rail with a ninja-catch flip frontboard but took one for the team while trying a trick front shove boardslide. I couldn’t sleep for days after watching that unfortunate credit card disaster. Yowzers. Good thing Jamie Morley and Dan Wileman were on the scene to remedy pain with gnar. Jamie took a break from photographing the dead animals near Portobello Road to catch a ridiculous kickflip out of a perfect 50-50 down the hubba ledge. They don’t call him ‘Kickflip’ for nothing kids. Dan Wileman doesn’t have a nickname yet but considering how many times I’ve seen him earn money from these variations I’m gonna start calling him ‘270’. No one does it better. £50 each, now on to the vert wall.

As we hoped, shit got REAL on the vert wall. Luke Jarvis was obviously waiting for this moment to arrive and we’re already taking bets on whether he has some sort of telekinetic speed device in that green hat of his… no one can move that fast naturally. Before we could even set up flashes he was there killing it and setting the bar high. As high as the Westway would allow anyway. Amidst dogpissers aplenty, Alex Lally got some training in for the following mini ramp jam, Ewan Bower got amongst it and Daryl fucking Dominguez confirmed his position as the undisputable ruler of BaySixty6. After playing around with what looked like a potentially groundbreaking hardflip he stomped down a kickflip fakie from the quarter (serving under the bloody reign of a severed pig’s head courtesy of Lee Dainton) and grafted away towards and elusive but eventually rewarding alley-oopbackside flip straight into the gullet of the beast. To quote the editor of the official Crossfire Xmas Jam edit Alan Christensen “best trick of the day hands down”. Like all the hammers, it was just outside of time, plus who else could have taken the vert wall monies but the young Sam Beckett. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, Sam is one of the best skaters in the UK right now and you should all recognise this. Floating a backside flip across the entire wall and not missing a single air in twenty minutes? Deny it if you can.

Daryl Dominguez shutting down BaySixty6’s vert wall. Utter madness. (Seq: Dom Marley)

Below: Nowick breaking the necks of observers. (Photo: Tom Halliday)

By this point and despite the cold we were all starting to get a little sweaty, so it could only mean one thing: time for one full hour of Slayer and bodies flying around in Baystation’s famous miniramp lovingly sponsored by Flip, Ricta and Mob Grip. And fly they did; an increasingly smashed Brewster called for high flyers and blunt 360 flips in, which combined resulted in a lot of smashed shins and tooth chippers. Or was that the product toss? Either way, shit was going down and the riffs were kicking off so there I was, standing on the corner with a notebook trying to make sense of what was going on while occasionally getting out the way of Jed Cullen’s nose-scratching airs. Judging by how illegible my notes are, it’s safe to say that everyone killed it.

Alex Lally got his post-Ben Nordberg miniramp moves on (bigspin back disasters, pop into sugarcane) and generally just ruled the liptricks, Sam Beckett continued his reign over all things transition, Barber got involved with some smooth operator lines and Kill City’s miniramp shredders Sam Pulley and Jake Collins more or less ran the ship for the first half hour with Jake getting the first ‘proper’ trick on the awkward extension (frontside disaster… mad!).

But once again, the miniramp jamp nearly turned into the Greg Nowick show, not that we’re complaining… that miniramp is absolutely his, but Jed Cullen avoided the snakes and and pulled some bonkers stuff out of his deep trick bag, all miles above the coping and so the MVP prize purse was split between the two. Best trick could only have gone to whoever first landed the elusive blunt 360 flip and since Daewon wasn’t around this took a little longer. Eventually Chris Coombs snuck a perfect one in between runs and walked away with £50. This year’s jam was the business!

Zac, Brewster and the miniramp rulers. (Photo: Tom Halliday)

Just gathering what I can recall from the day is getting the blood flowing again, what an absolutely terrific day for skateboarding in London. No matter how many kids were stuck inside playing Call of Duty or clogging up skatepark traffic on scooters the turnout for this year was nothing but skateboarders down for skateboarding and the atmosphere proved it. The good vibes flowed throughout the day and out of glasses at the unplanned and very messy afterparty. It was a great thing to be a part of. Big thanks to all of you that came down and had a good time with us, thanks to all the sponsors and support from the great companies that make this country so rad, all the riders they brought with them, Brewster for strong MCing, all the good folk at Bay 66, the friendly staff at Mau Mau’s, Tom Halliday and Dom Marley for capturing souls and Alan Christensen and Nick Richards for watching the entire event through a viewfinder. And of course, big thanks to Zac for not letting a gnarly spinal injury stop him throwing one of my favourite skate events of the year.

Try and spot the product they’re fighting over. (Photo: Tom Halliday)

Enjoy the rest of the photos not included above in the gallery below and stay tuned for the official edit coming VERY soon (little bit of technical trouble and logistical nightmares delviering it all thanks to that bitch Mother Nature). Oh, and if you thought you were safe after the night raids feature dropped last week, sorry, but Tom Halliday took a whole bunch more. Scroll further down for messiness and bring on Xmas 2011, but remember, if we don’t act now it might not be at Bay 66. Sign the petition here if you haven’t already and let’s keep our favourite park in London.

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Photos by Tom Halliday and Dom Marley. Double click to full-screen.

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Features Skateboarding

Reflections 2010: Boots

Portrait by Rob Shaw.

What a year for Mr. Boots Hopkins! Not many people can say that they’ve been married, had the cover of Sidewalk and had a pro board out for one of the UK’s best companies in their entire lifetime, let alone in just one year. Yet all this was achieved this year by a man who chooses to go by the name of a high street pharmacy chain (or the footwear choice of a certain Puss) while frequently destroying street spots across the UK on the regs.

We found Boots to be a perfect candidate for another set of Reflections, so enjoy his favourite moments and video edits from 2010 right here.

Best personal moment of 2010?

My wedding day, getting the cover of Sidewalk and getting a pro board were the best moments of the year for me, stoked on them all.

Favourite skate trip?

The Summer Death Skateboards tour was really fun, good times with the fuck ups camping and filming at some sick spots, same time next year!

Song/album?

Metallica’s Ride The Lightening

Most satisfying trick filmed?

In the middle of filming for the next Death video ‘Ordinary Madness‘, so I have been filming as much as I can. I dunno if satisfying is the right word, maybe relieved is; whenever I make the trick, I’m so glad its over, especially if it’s taken a couple of hours. I’ll be satisfied when the deadline comes hopefully.

Newest trick learnt?

No comply

Best trick or line you witnessed?

Anything Josh Cox ever does is my favourite. The guy knows his way around a skateboard, just watch his warm up line at Mile End. Piss take.

Skate DVD you watched the most?

Stay Gold and Origin, but Heath Kirchart’s part in Stay Gold is the best.

Fresh Blood tip for 2011?

Josh Cox. Rory Milanes. Karim Bakthoui, just wait for the Slam video!

What are you looking forward to most in 2011?

Same again… travelling, skating new places, moving to cardiff, spending time with the wife, not working too much. Keeping it real.

John Demar – Be Here Now

Stumbled across this the other day, good style, lipslides through water, good tune. This part is sick and I look forward to seeing more from this guy.

Nick Jensen X Hold Tight Henry – Lakai Ad

Nick Jensen’s Lakai commercial. I don’t need to say why this is amazing, watch it and you’ll know.

Randy Ploesser – High 5

Randy Ploesser High 5. The dude kickflips onto a polejam and other interesting and sick stuff in this clip.

Dylan Reider – Gravis Part

Dylan Rieder’s Gravis part. Definitely the best thing I have seen in 2010, 5 minutes of straight bangers and does the best front tail flip out you will probably ever see.
Portrait by Rob Shaw

T-Mo and Friends

T-Mo and his buddies. I love this clip, especially the coffin grind over the rainbow rail, unbelievable. I’m just jealous I can’t skate there…

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Features Skateboarding

Reflections 2010: Jak Pietryga

Coming straight outta Walthamstow, Jak Pietryga is best known for lurking around the big smoke and killing it for The Harmony on a daily basis. This year however, he got the closer in Morph’s southern fried and zooted flick, ‘Yam Dat‘ and more or less confirmed on several trips around the continent that he has one of the raddest switch f/s bigspins you’ve ever seen this side of Mike Carroll.

He shared his thoughts and favourite moments of the year with us in this installment of Reflections.

Best personal moment of 2010?

Surviving last years new years party.

Fave skate trip?

It’s gotta be The Harmony trip to Berlin. Had a sick crew come out there with us, Buddle got involved, it was all round good times. Had the usual Harmony luck with the weather as it was pissing it down most days but we carried on regardless, basically just skated the skatehalle demo park. The days the sun decided to make an appearance were really productive though so hold tight for the edit dropping soon!

Best song/ Best album?

I’m not really one for going out and buying albums really but Morph lent me the new Giggs album ‘Let Em Av It’ and it’s a banger.

Most satisfying trick filmed/made and at what spot?

That would have to be my ender from ‘Yam Dat‘. The switch biggy down Aviva 9. Kinda went there with the trick in mind thinking it’s in the bag, because I always do that trick and it wouldn’t give me much grief, then I started grieving! You know… start getting close then lose it etc. So when it eventually went down, it went from being a trick I didn’t really rate myself, to something I was proper stoked on.

Newest trick learnt?

900 to manny.

Fave trick/line you witnessed?

I would have said Smithy’s switch noseblunt to bk lip but he already mentioned that trick in his Reflections. Errrrr, I reckon watching Barney Page and Joe Gavin skating the cheddar block at Southbank is up there. Doing new tricks on a block I thought had been absolutely rinsed off already. Yeah it was pretty impressive, think that edit should be dropping soon also.

Skate DVD you watched the most?

Blueprint – ‘Make Friends With The Colour Blue’

Your MVP of the Year?

Joe Gavin. He smashes it on a daily basis!

Fresh Blood tip for 2011?

Joe Buddle man! Guys been killing it on road!

What are you looking forward to most about 2011?

The Harmony changing to Rock Solid Distribution, I’m pretty keen on that. Going away on more trips and getting a part together for an upcoming video.

The Harmony x Etnies – Joe Gavin’s Shoe Launch

Always enjoy going up to Manchester. There was a party gong on for the shoe launch as well so it was a good weekend, went to a graffiti comp an all. It was proper!

Dylan Rieder Gravis Promo

No sound on the Youtube version of this edit but you get the idea. (Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper – Ed.)

Two days in Antwerp

This trip was real good, proper nice weather, there was a sick comp and met some good people out there. The street spots out there are ridiculous an’ all.

Nike SB Big Push 2010

If you didn’t vote for this to win the Big Push you are a mong!

Willow welcomes Joe Gavin and Barney Page to the European Etnies team.

Some serious skating in this edit and I can’t help but crack up every time I hear Willow speak.

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Features Home Night Raids Skateboarding

Xmas Jam After Party Gallery

The combination of crippling recession, crippling spinal damage and the crippling flow of time that had Crossfire HQ in its malevolent clutches meant that there was no official after party for this year’s Xmas Jam. After countless emails and messages demanding one however, we asked Mau Mau’s if they wouldn’t mind us bringing a bunch of boozed up skateboarders to their bar and let them run riot after a full day of carnage. Thankfully – and somewhat stupidly – they accepted our request and by midnight the locals had already seen Jason Cloete’s nipples, a tramp armed with a bag full of tins getting more action than anyone else, Daryl Dominguez funking out, the Gnargore crew becoming progressively less coherant and Zac dropping more cheese than anyone could have possibly expected.

Inspired by Jerry Hsu’s messy photoblog, Stanley took a disposable camera and stumbled around like a twat lighting up areas where the sun should never shine. Here’s a brief insight as to what might have happened on that cold December night.

Zac packing the DJ bag with standard Crossfire punk and hip-hop fodder innocently unaware that he will be forced to play nothing but cheese at Mau Mau’s come midnight.

When Death head honcho Zorlac isn’t dishing out friendly advice to skaters outside he’s getting hassled by these two punks.

Special uninvited guest, came in through the back door.

Lady and the tramp.

Tom ‘Street Queers’ Halliday gets his soul captured for once.

Nick and Danny are pretty close. You should have seen the spooning action on Stanley’s sofa.

Jason Cloete gets a good vantage point to scout out anyone who might put him up for the night.

Brewer getting all euphoric and shit.

Getting passionate!

Arran Burrows proved popular in some DIY Crossfire shirt we knocked up in about two seconds.

Not too sure who started this shirts off business, but it caught on fast.

Real fast.

Though sadly it was mostly just Arran and Jason.

Tom Gillespie bringing the Wizard’s Council to Mau Mau’s.

Alan Christensen living the dream.

“The Crossfire Xmas Jam ruined my life” – Brewer.

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Features Skateboarding

Reflections 2010: Gav Coughlan

Photo: Michael Feehan
Homepage image: NOB

The Irish skate scene has been stronger than ever in 2010. Not only that, but the impact that Irish skaters have had on the UK scene as a whole cannot be overlooked as more or less everyone with a good taste for rad tuned their radars to those emerging from the Emerald Isle. Amongst them, Gav Coughlan killed it as hard as any potential UK skater of the year candidate, appearing in countless web edits, merking it at NASS and landing himself a spot on IPath and racking up a wealth of good footage for the shoe company’s Big Push edit.

We catch up with Zero’s Irish connection as he sheds a little light on his personal highlights from an impressive year by anyone’s standards. ‘ave it Gav.

Best personal moment of 2010?

Coming 8th at NASS, was so stoked to win some money and get to skate that amazing street course, was also a sick afterparty in the Relentless tent on the Saturday with free beers!

Favourite skate trip?

Volcom UK trip was so sick. Getting to chill and skate with some of the US team was insane.

Favourite song or album?

Marlon Asher – Ganja Farmer

Most satisfying trick filmed and at what spot?

Laser Flip down Grattan 9 in that welcome to IPath clip, was so stoked to go there and do it quick without hurting myself at all and leave!

Newest trick learnt?

Nollie flip crooks.

Best trick you witnessed firsthand?

Harry Lintell’s 5050 in Leeds on the Big Push, never thought I’d see something that insane and done so easily!

Skate DVD you watched the most?

Stay Gold. Brandon Westgate’s section is so good, he skates so fast and he’s got so much pop.

MVP of the year?

Harry Lintell, smashed it in all the footage I’ve seen, and absolutely killed it on the Big Push, and makes it all look easy.

Fresh Blood tip for 2011?

Peter Buckley, from Dublin and lives in London, absolutely killing it lately so watch out. And Cian Eades, expect to see more of him in the year and hopefully some of him in England.

What are you looking forward to most in 2011?

Hopefully getting to somewhere sunny and away from all this snow and ice, I’m over it already.

One of the many edits from the Limerick loacals including Cian Eades, all the Limerick lads kill it and this edit shows it, some really tech stuff.

Floody is so sick, these 10 tricks are amazing, he’s also one to watch out for in 2011. He’s been killing it for the past year in Ireland.

LiveRockSkate is a crew from Dublin with a few of the younger skaters in it. Watch out for Michael Fitzpatrick, he’s a ripper. Check out more of their videos, they gots lots!

I feel a bit weird posting this one cause there’s a lot of myself in it, but this edit has probably the highest standard of skating a comp in Ireland has ever seen, Anto Thornberry’s heelflip noseslide on the handrail is unbelievable! Keith Walsh killed it as well and came in 1st place in the comp.

Have to put in that Paul Rodriguez online section, everything he does in it is taking skating to a whole new level of techness and ridiculousness. Song is a bit head wrecking in it but the skating makes up for it.

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Features Home Skateboarding

Reflections 2010: Daryl Dominguez

Daryl Dominguez PortraitPortrait: Dan Lonngren
Homepage Image: Pas

After laying down the goods at more or less every Crossfire event we’ve thrown in recent years, Daryl Dominguez has really made a name for himself this year. Many Londoners would have normally found him throwing down the best varial heels and 360 flips you’ve ever seen in Meanwhile 2 or Bay 66, but alongside an expanding trick selection Daryl has frequently escaped the big smoke while still maintaining that friendly local vibe and has proven to be one of the UK’s most capable at making a session awesome and fun. He also does backfoot flips every now and then and that shit should just be encouraged each and every.

After a busy year he joins us for another series of Reflections from 2010.

What did you learn most from 2010?

‘The only moment that ever exists is right now’ – Eckhart Tolle

Best personal moment of 2010?

Funkadelic at Glastonbury, tripped out.

Favourite skate trip?

I was in Holland for about a month in the summer, just skating and partying every night with good friends. Hit up the Dam AM then went to Basel for the ESC. Filmed a lot of stuff in between too.

Favourite song of 2010?

I listen to a lot of music man, it’s murder asking me that!

Most satisfying trick filmed/landed and at what spot?

I really shouldn’t say… It’ll be in my Haunts in Sidewalk though.

Newest trick learnt?

Nollie inward heels.

Skate DVD you watched the most?

Stay Gold

MVP of the year?

Nick Remon, he seemingly came out of nowhere and killed it!

Fresh blood tip for 2011?

Kyron Davis if he ever stops linking chicks.

What are you looking forward to most in 2011?

Finally getting this Haunts done, the Almost video and Euro trip.

Tom Asta on Spitfire Wheels

This is just a pisstake. Switch front heel kills it.

Same Shit, Different Daewon (HD)

Favourite skater… just goes to show he’s been killing it since day one!

Family Guy – Publishing Penquin

Not a web edit in any sense but amazing. Tea, biscuits, Family Guy. Penquins are dope too.

Robbin Oost – F/S Feebs

My good friend Robbin Oost. He comes from Holland, smokes trees all day and does shit like this. Look at that shit! He’s fucking surfing!

Lucien Clarke – Mag Minute

Lucien Clarke’s Mag Minute. What a badman. RELAXED, stylish and as sound as they come too. The edit itself is dope, music fits like a charm.

Bless, Daryl

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Features Skateboarding

Phil Harvey ‘Keep Keen’ Interview

Below: Lewis Threadgold – Fakie Flip (Photo: Danny McCourt)

Manchester based filmer Phil Harvey has had a hell of a year. His eyes have probably spent more time looking through viewfinders and gawping at editing software screens than they have seen the back of his own eyelids. The amount of times we would turn on our internet exploring devices and find another offcut edit or teaser for the forthcoming Keep Keen, we were starting to worry if Phil slept at all during the last 12 months. Turns out he has, but not a minute is wasted in those conscious daylight hours; we have been tuned in all year to Phil’s hard work and we cannot wait to see what the finished product looks like.

The official premiere takes place on December 16th in Manchester so to whet your appetite we managed to tear Phil away from editing, rendering and exporting to tell us a little about the clips he’s been playing with for months. Read on to learn more about Keep Keen, how a person from Oz got a full section in a Manchester scene video, who feebled the 21 stair rail in Castlefield and how the general public can sometimes mistake filming skateboarding for suicide. We’re keen, are you?

Photography: Danny McCourt and Vic Macmahon

When did you start filming properly and how did you get into it?

I probably started filming when I was 15, but I didn’t really get into it properly till I was about 17. I just used to like filming my mates where I grew up, and I knew that I wasn’t that great at skating so thought I would get into the filming side instead.

Where was the first line you ever filmed?

It was quite a while ago when I filmed my first proper line with a fisheye, probably when John Bell and I used to skate our local high school and film as much as possible in a day.

From the local high school to ledge hopping and globe trotting. Phil filming John Bell (Photo: Vic Macmahon)

What skate videos have made the most impact on you over the years to inspire you to start filming yourself?

Loads of videos made an impact on my filming, but the one that stands out the most is éS ‘Menikmati’, as that was when I first got hooked on skating and it was the big video at the time. The éS team did a demo in Bolton which was the first time I saw skating at such a high level!

I really like Sidewalk’s video ‘In Motion’ also, and any of the Transworld videos, they are always amazing.

Did French Fred’s filming style in Menikmati and later in Sorry and the Cliché videos inspire you in any way when getting creative with angles?

Yeah I really like what he does. All his stuff is really well filmed and the music he uses works well. It definitely helped me. I just try and watch as many skate videos as possible and see how they film and apply it to my own filming. Then it’s just trial and error.

Below: Ben Rowles – 360 Flip (Photo: Vic Macmahon)

The UK have been producing some brilliant independent filmers as of late, who amongst your peers are you most impressed with or inspired by right now?

There’s been some really amazing UK vids, too many to mention them all. I really liked ‘Square One’ and ‘Who?’ the Welsh scene video. The standards in both of them are ridiculous.

I know I’ve had to balance on some walls a little higher than I found comfortable when trying to find the perfect angle. What’s the most awkward angle you’ve had to film?

There’s been too many. Getting bad back pain sucks from crouching for a long time, but I just dealt with it knowing it would be worth it in the end to get the trick!

Did ‘Keep Keen’ come to you as a project idea or did the amount of footage you were getting steer you in the direction of making a full video?

I made a little with my old friends who skated back in the day and we just carried on filming after that. None of them skate now apart from John Bell and Chris Barrett… so at first it was just filming my mates and what they did, but after a while I decided to make a full length video.

When did you start filming it, and who with?

It properly started about three years ago I think. It was just John, Chris and Lewis (Threadgold) who were gonna have sections at first, but after a while I started skating and filming with a few others and they were down to have a section.

Lewis and John used to film with Pas and the now defunct Casual Skateboarding crew a lot, did you ever film with those guys?

I never did actually film with the Casual lot, apart from Lewis and John. Pas did send me a few tricks for the video though, thanks a lot Pas!

Was the title there to inspire you to keep going until it was finished? Who came up with the name and how did it become the title of the project?

‘Keen’ is just a saying in Manchester that people say when they’re up for trying a trick or whatever, so that’s how it came about. I’m pretty certain it was John Bell, Will Golding and Jim Knight who came up with the idea while on a Unabomber filming trip. We were just trying to think up names for the video and Will and Jim realised that me and John say keen loads, so it just came from there.

Chris Barrett gets the bow and arrow arm steeze nailed with this fully locked backsmith. (Photo: Danny McCourt)

This production will probably go down as having the most amount of ‘throwaway’ footage ever. Is this due to you being a perfectionist for people’s sections or just a matter of too much filming taking place and better tricks going down from one session to the next?

A bit of both really. I wanted everyone to have really good sections, and if people are learning new tricks then I wanted to try and put them in as well.

Also, I didn’t want the footage I wasn’t going to use to just sit on my hard drive. So I thought I would do a few web edits to let people know that I’m making a vid. All of the footage on my Vimeo won’t be in the final video.

Who has got full sections in the video?

John Bell, Chris Barrett, Ben Rowles, Lewis Threadgold, Ben Grove and Mitch Faber.

Which section was hardest to put together and for what reasons?

Probably Mitch’s. With him living in Oz, it was hard to get enough good footy together. I went over twice but luckily he was really down to film all the time. I’m happy how it turned out; he got so much footy considering how long I was over there for. He also just moved to Amsterdam with his girlfriend so I was able to see him for a few days this summer and get a few last minute tricks for his part.

Below: Chris Barrett – Wallie Tucknee (Photo: Vic Macmahon)

The relationship between filmer and skater has always been a weird one… was there anyone involved in Keep Keen that frequently got your goat or disagreed with spots etc?

You can never please everyone with spots I think. So I would try if possible just to go film in small crews as you don’t get as much done with big crews as no one ever knows where to go.

What was the worst day of filming and why?

I wouldn’t say there’s ever been a bad day of filming. It’s always good to be out skating rather than sitting inside all day. Although getting my camera hit by a board isn’t too great and that’s happened a few times!

Which trick took the longest to film?

Chris’s second to last trick took a while. It was freezing, I was pretty ill and standing there for two hours waiting for him to do a trick didn’t help, but it was worth it in the end.

If the trick wasn’t as gnarly/good would you have still stayed in the cold for two hours filming?

Yeah of course I would! I love filming and wanted Chris to do the trick, so I was happy to stand there even though it was freezing!

Who has your favourite trick in the entire video and what’s the story behind it?

One trick that does stand out is Blake Harris’ feeble down the Castlefield rail (which was in sidewalk recently). My friend Luke from Oz came up to stay at mine with two of his friends, Blake and Vaughan, as they were travelling around the world and filming for their own video. I knew Blake was good so I decided to show him this rail that Woody was the only one to try, but never landed. He did it second go.

It was insane to see someone feeble a 21 stair rail, and probably one of the first times I’ve ever felt scared for someone trying a trick.

Who do you think will blow up in the UK after this? A lot of skaters in Manchester are still being slept on even though they kill it on the regular…

I think Chris and Ben will hopefully get a bit more deserved coverage. They’ve been killing it! With Pusherman coming out soon there will be another Manchester video coming out. I can’t wait to see that!

What’s the strangest incident that happened while filming Keep Keen?

The strangest thing I can remember is when I got taken away in a police car. I was filming in Manchester and I wanted to get an above shot of a gap, so I climbed on the side of a main road. A police car pulled over and one of them said “do you know how stupid you are?”  Apparently about three people had rang up the police thinking I was a bridge jumper and was gonna commit suicide!

They took me away and had word with me before letting me go. It was really strange!

There’s footage that was recorded in other countries, explain the hook ups behind traveling to make the film broader in terms of spots…

It all started working at Camp Woodward for two summers in a row. I just applied for a job on the internet and got it. I met a few good people there who were up for meeting the next year to skate; I just kept in contact with them and went over the next year to skate. That’s how I met Mitch. We just planned to meet up when we could in summer to skate and film.

It’s amazing how skating can get you in contact with so many people from around the world!

What is your fondest memory from the states?

I went to the states about three times to skate, but only once to film properly. I went to Boise, Idaho to meet another filmer called Colin Clark and he showed me loads of spots that we skated all the time. The whole trip was amazing. I don’t think his friends have met anyone from England so they were stoked.

Also, going to a frat house was pretty random; that stuff was kinda weird!

Below: Lewis Threadgold – Polejam (Photo: Vic Macmahon)

Do you think that as equipment becomes cheaper and more accessible that travelling will be more common in scene videos?

I hope so, but it all depends on the person. I really like travelling, so even if I’m not filming I’ll go and travel somewhere to skate or just to see the place.

What advice would you give to a budding skate filmer who is looking to make a scene video or has hopes of filming skaters like Ben Grove…

Just be down to film as much as possible, get to know the people in your local area and be friendly.

Are you filming anything other than skateboarding? Would you consider making a career out of filming/editing?

Just skateboarding. I wouldn’t mind a career out of it if it was to just film skating but I know how difficult it is to do that in the UK. So I’m happy just doing it for fun!

Will you be making another film when this is done?

I doubt I’m gonna be able to make another video. It’s a lot of hard work and I’m finishing university soon and will have to get a proper job. I’m going to try and do little web edits though and maybe work on other videos.

2010 for you must have been mostly centered around Keep Keen. As we’re about to finish up the year, what are your three favourite memories from the year, your three favourite skaters and the most important thing you’ve learnt that you’ll take on board for 2011?

My favourite memories of the year are definitely finishing this video, travelling through europe this summer and now being able to skate myself!

Too many skaters to mention but ones that have stood out this year for me are Torey Pudwill, Shane O’Neill and Manolo Robles.

As for the most important thing I’ve learnt: just to enjoy skating, don’t stress and have fun!

Keep Keen premieres at the Bay Horse Pub in Manchester on December 16th.

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Reflections 2010: Neil Smith

Portrait: Sam Ashley

As we’re reaching the end of the year it makes sense for everyone to take some time out to reflect on what’s gone down in the last 12 months. So as 2011 draws ever closer we decided to get in touch with those who’ve had a great year on the board and get them to reminisce with us. Essex ripper Neil Smith has had yet another year of shutting down spots across the UK and is the first to kick off our end of year list feature, Reflections.

Read below for Smiffy’s favourite personal moments from 2010, including his five favourite video edits embedded further down for your viewing pleasure. ‘ave it.

What did you learn most from 2010?

Not very much really, I think you just learn to get on with life.

Best personal moment of 2010?

Make Friends With The Colour Blue premiere was amazing. The tour after was sick too.

Favourite skate trip?

The Big Push this year was a real good one for me: good crew, good spots and some great skating went down. Also the trip to Poland Skate Camp. It was sick but more of a holiday for me, far too hot to skate, and there was a massive lake. Straight up chilling.

Favourite song of 2010?

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home

Most satisfying trick filmed/made and at what spot?

The switch noseblunt to bs lip the gap to ledge in Hammersmith. The deadline for MFWTCB was just around the corner and it was in the middle of winter. It felt good rolling away.

Newest trick learnt?

Nollie bigger spin heelflips.

Skate DVD you watched the most?

At the moment it’s the new Habitat video but I still rinse Mind Field.

MVP of the year?

I could say Harry Lintell or Barney Page as they have both smashed it all year, but I’m gonna go for Nick Jensen. He had a great section in MFWTCB and a banging Lakai advert.

Fresh Blood tip for 2011?

I think this kid is from Chelmsford and he kills it – Nick Remon.

What are you looking forward to most in 2011?

The summer!

Nick Jensen and Hold Tight Henry – Lakai Ad

This section is so good, even though it’s an advert. Nick kills it and this shows it. He filmed a full-on section for MFWTCB and then a few months later comes out with this. Hold Tight Henry did an amazing job on this, both of them did a smashing job and this makes London look great.

Kevin Coakley – MFWTCB

That guy! Kevin Coakley’s come a long way from his Slap ‘One In A Million‘ edit, and I’m glad he’s a part of the Blueprint family, he fits right in. This is an epic section considering its his first ever big section. It’s good because its filmed mostly on the east coast of America and is very different to the rest of MFWTCB but still fits in perfectly…

Nike SB – Big Push 2010

I think this Nike SB edit would have worked a lot better if it was not a Big Push edit because then you wouldn’t have to compare it to all the other shit. I like how Jacob Harris has done this edit, it’s chilling, nice and mellow and not in your face. The trip was a good one, fun was had by all and there was no stress.  It might not win the Big Push but it’s worth a watch…

Morph’s 360 flip at Mile End

This one’s not much of edit but it’s a sick clip! Check out how steep the tranny is… Morph is a straight up bad man. He would try to 360 flip anything in front of him. I like how he rolls away all unimpressed but you can kind of tell how stoked he really is underneath… now let’s go eat some chicken skin.

Man in wheelchair invades football pitch

For my last clip I’ve decided not to go with a skate clip but a funny one.  I just like the effort the kid in the wheelchair is putting into being a part of the pitch invasion, and the reaction of his dad once he noticed his kid was on the pitch. To finish it of with a clout round the head… amazing.

Cheers, Smiffy.

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Fresh Blood: Dan Beall

Throughout the last decade, Worksop-native Dan Beall has emerged as one of the most bigged up skaters to come out of the infamously tight Sheffield scene. In between posting e-musings with James Cruickshank on the Pigeon Shit blog and controversially supporting Leeds Utd he has landed a spot on Nise Skateboards, shot a megaton of photos with the prolific Burrell and racked up loads of proper British footage; glass-encrusted terrain, industrial estate backdrops and grinds on grit bins. The scene video hotspot has produced some of the UK’s raddest skaters without a doubt, and amongst them, Dan Beall is definitely one to keep your eye on in the new decade.

We asked fellow Worksop head and Blueprint pro Mark Baines to do the honours. Read the interview below to learn more about someone you will be seeing a lot more from in the next few years. Nice one, Baines.

Interview: Mark Baines
Photography: Alex Burrell

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Gateford, Worksop, in between Sheffield and Nottingham.

How was it for skating there, was there much to skate?

Skating in Worksop was amazing. For the first 2 or 3 years there wasn’t a park or anything so it was strictly street skating. The spots that we skated aren’t really about anymore. Like my school, Valley, that was pretty much where we skated every day after school and it wasn’t too far from my house so I pretty much lived there. Also the legendary B&Q which I’m sure you’ll have skated many a time?

Yeah we all grew skating there too, not bad for a car park. Who did you grow up skating with?

I started skating with a few boys I went to school with but they stopped a few years after to get involved in other stuff. Then I got to meet Greg Somerset and Dave Dave who are a bit older than me. They had been skating loads longer than me and had travelled about places so I just used to tag along with them.

Fakie 360 Flip

You don’t live in Worksop anymore, where do you live now?

I live in Sheffield now been here for about 5 years or so.

How is that compared to Worksop?

It’s a lot different mainly because Sheffield’s a big city and Worksop is a well small town. There’s always something happening in Sheff and there’s loads more people about that are into the same sort of stuff as me. It’s also a big advantage having the House down the road so if it’s wet there’s always somewhere to skate, whereas in Worksop if it was raining we would have to break into old factory’s and usually get fucked for trying to have a skate.

Do you work? Or are you just skating at the moment?

Not at the moment but over the summer I was working in Nottingham teaching kids to skate. That was good just watching kids that have never skated before and by the end of the week they were dropping in and stuff and you could tell they were fully hyped on it. It’s really sick to give kids an opportunity that I didn’t have when I was growing up.

Yeah that’s cool, kids are the future of skating so it is good to give them a decent start. Onto some football related business, you’re a Leeds United fan, you know we all hate Leeds United right?

Yeah mate everyone seems to hate us but I’ll let it pass at the min while you’re stuck in league 1 and aren’t going anywhere anytime soon hahaha. I like the fact everyone hates Leeds because it brings more of an atmosphere to the games and I can have a good dig at my mates when we beat them.

Ollie up, wallie off.

Why not Notts Forest or Sheffield Wednesday?

Well it’s all down to my dad taking me to watch Leeds back in the day. If my dad didn’t have a big influence on who I supported I would probably support Forest or Sheff United, never been into the Wednesday Scum haha!

Watch your mouth…Who are you riding for now?

I’m riding For Nise Skateboards and Slugger Skate Shop in Chesterfield.

Below: Backside Tailslide

Tell us about Nise as it’s a new UK company right?

Nise is a Nottinghamshire based company that is co-owned by Benjamin Durnan-Fletcher and Tom Siveyer, two top blokes. It started as a skateboarding school about 3-4 years ago and have been making boards etc since then.

How is it pronounced?

I believe it is pronounced NICE. It stands for Nottingham Indoor Skateboarding Environment.

Who else is riding for the company?

At the minute it’s mostly Nottingham based with Joshua Checkley, Chris Mann, Tom Cumming and Luke Coates, also riding for them is Richie Mann reppin the north. Craig Smedley and Will Golding ride for the urethane team as well.

What plans do Nise have for 2011?

The plans for 2011 include a trip in April to Poland on a filming tip, the skate school is expanding rapidly so that’s going to be a big part of next year also there is quite a few artists involved on doing the next range of boards that are looking pretty damn good.

Who’s your crew you skate with in Sheffield now?

There’s a big cru in Sheff but I mostly skate with Ash Hall, Shaun Currie, Cruickshank, DEAD Dave, Chadman, Burrell, Matt Grant and loads of other heads. There’s always someone about skating so it’s hard to say.

A good scene in Sheffield right now then?

Yeah it’s going off in Sheff at the min everyone’s killing it and seems to of escaped the Dev green vortex. There are loads of new spots poppin up as well which is always good. There’s also a few scene vids that are close to ready.

Would you consider living anywhere else?

Yeah course. If I was to move out of Sheff it would probably be abroad somewhere, no idea where though. Somewhere hot maybe? It’s easy enough to get about in the UK so if I was to move it would be somewhere far far away.

You went to the UKSA comp recently, what’s your verdict on contests after that one?

I thought I’d go down to see if I could get into skating comps again, I had a bit of a bad one and am probably going to avoid comps from now on. I can see why these sorts of things are good for skateboarding but it’s well not my vibe.

Nosebonk

What are your plans for 2011?

Not really got any plans for next year as of yet, the only thing I’ve got planned is finishing my part for Cruikshank’s video which should be ready for January-ish. Other than that I just want to travel more and go places I haven’t been yet.

Any people you want to give and thank you or shout too?

I want to thank all my boys, Poh, Oli, Ash, Shaun, Baines, Dave Adlington, Cruickshank, Jerome, Chadman, Burrell, Chung, Dave Dave, Greg, Matt Grant, Neddy, Hirst, Rye Gray, Henry, Gordo, Ben and the NISE cru, Nathan Morris, Kennelle at Slugger, Lucciano Becchio, my bird Lyd and anyone else I’ve missed. SAFE.

Neddy spent the day with Dan earlier this year and came back with this edit filled with typically fluid bangers. Watch it below…

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Antiz Eastpak Hobo Tour: The Final Chapter Interview

For the third and final year, the Antiz and Eastpak teams took their buddies on the road for an even tighter shoestring-belt budget than the last two. Taking over Brussels for several days of skating in between rain showers and having a great time it can only mean one thing – the hobos were at it again.

At the end of last month it was announced that Dallas Rockvam is officially on the consistently rad crew known to the world as Antiz. Considering he only met the team for the first time on this tour he obviously proved himself worthy of hanging with the fun-loving hobos full-time. We caught up with Brussels own Julian Dykmans for the skinny on the trip, meeting Dallas and a shady encounter with two russians.

Interview: Stanley
Photography: Loic Benoit

To start off with, let’s have the roll call… who was brave enough to hobo it up in Belgium for ten days?

Pretty much the whole Antiz and Eastpak team except for Aaron Sweeney and Gabriel Engelke. Oh, you want names…

Steve Forstner and Michel Mahringer from Austria, Julian Furones from Spain, Hugo Liard, Julien Bachelier, Sam Partaix and Remy Taveira from France, Samu Karvonen from Finland, myself from Belgium and Dallas Rockvam from the USA who we met for the first time to see if he had the hobo spirit. Indeed he did.

Was Loic Benoit stoked on being on every single tour? Or is he just on a perpetual hobo tour in his own life?!

Loic is one of the original Antiz guys so it’s natural he comes to our tours. But it would be best to ask him this question. Here he is…

Loic: Antiz is my family so that’s why. Even if I’m the main photographer for every Hobo Tour, I like to come and chill with my homies!

After 10 years being on tour, most of them get a little bit hobo style! Skateboarding don’t need that much money…Mostly I’d like to be with my friends and as Steve says “stay pure, stay poor…that’s the life!”

What made you guys decide that this was going to be the final chapter for the tour?

All good things have an end. I guess we will always stay hobos, just don’t want to juice it too much.

So what are we to look forward to in the book that will be telling the story of the three Hobo Tours?

The book will be a good example of a crew of guys traveling a lot with little money. Just traveling and experiencing new things hobo style with pretty photos by Loic Benoit, Sem Rubio and Joe Hammeke.

You had bikes in the first two tours, how did you get around this time?

First tour was in Andalucia with scooters. Then recession hit, so we got shitty bikes for Berlin. This time it was back to basics: camping in a friend’s garden and moving about with the good old camper van. It rained everyday of the tour and tents did get flooded… bummer.

Did you have any back-up plans for when it rained?

We didn’t expect it to rain every single day! Our back-up plan was 4 cases of Cara Pils, the cheap can in Belgium that costs like 0.30 euros.
We skated everyday anyway. Thanks to our friend Phil Zwijsen we skated covered spots, we switched towns and hustled the way through!

Remy Taveira slipping in a backtail during a rare dry spell.

What on earth happened to Alex’s foot?! Did he stick it out for the rest of the tour doing coffin rolls? Could he drive afterwards?

Alex is our friend from Austria. He came with his camper van but on the first day in the tight Brussels bowl he twisted his foot pretty bad. No driving but lots of Belgium beers were tasted. Alex is a rock. We owe him a skate trip.

How many 360 flips on banks did you do on the entire trip?

Well to be honest I am not sure. As I grow older I start to remember less about skating. Used to know every little single detail about what I did or tried. Let me scan my brain… Obviously the one in Oostende on our blog. Hmmm then, oh yeah, one on the tiny bank in Antwerp… That’s it though. I just do them upon Steve’s requests… You should watch my part in Antiz Antizipated if you are into 360 flips to fakie on banks… Wow that’s a corny plug…

When he’s not 360 flipping Julian is a fan of sugarcanes. Chomp on that.

Haha. Moving away from skating, scan your brain again and let’s hear all about the fight with the two Russians and Remy’s tiny sandwich knife!

So we had a good sunny day and the crew started doing lots of gnarly stuff so at sunset I decided to take the guys to the Belgium pub. We started with a Triple Westmalle which is a triple fermented beer at 9%. It’s real good and from there we just went pub crawl style. We ended up at a sick bar/disco place with rock music. Steve and Samu stole the soda thing that sprays soda pretty strongly and started a wet teeshirt contest between them to motivate girls to get into it as well. Then Dallas puked everywhere, so Samu, shirtless, went to the back of the bar to get the proper equipment to clean up. Yep, Antiz dudes clean their own puke. You should invite us to your place, never to worry about anything.

At the end of the night, guys were waiting for the bus and Paul, our filmer, was on the phone with his lady. All of a sudden he got attacked by two Russians who hit him in the face. It kind of stopped straight away but later on Paul went back to them and socked the smaller guy (not the huge one who actually hit him) real hard and pretty much destroyed his face. Paul said ” you see how if feels to get hit randomly!”.

Police were there and the Russians claimed to them we attacked them but they did not care at all. They were about to leave when Remy pulled out his little knife saying “So, you guys don’t care huh? I am just gonna and stab them guys then, and you don’t care…” They just said ” No, we don’t …” Ahhahahhaha! Oh and when we got in the van, a girl gave us a bag with 10 beer can’s that she just bought for us. “La vie de rêve…”

Wow. Were there any other sketchy encounters that happened on the tour?

That was the best one and the only time we partied. Thing is our crew has high hopes of skating, so since it was raining everyday, we would hope it would finally be good the next day… but no…

That’s a shame. But at least those chip baguettes smothered in burger sauce looked like they were gnarly enough to while away the rainy times. What was the most hobo meal you ate on the tour?

Those ones are the best. It’s called ‘Mitraillette’ which means ‘machine gun’. It’s a french baguette (not a small bit) with your meat of choice, a bit of salad, ton’s of fries and sauce all over the place. 3 euros and you are set!

Amped on Mitraillette nutrition Sam knocks out a crailblock in an empty kidney.

What advice would you give to skaters hoping to travel on a hobo budget?

Best advice ever is to just go. Travel. By any means. Road is right there in front of you, no excuse. Then once you are on the road don’t complain and wash the dishes of whoever is hosting and you should be good. Oh yeah also, skate your ass off. Get up and shred. To keep up physically you just need beers and a skateboard.

If you had to open your Eastpak bag on any given day during the trip what would you find inside? What are the hobo essentials?

It all depends. Steve comes with 3 tees, socks and what he’s got on. Probably a spare board. Then you have the opposite with me. I had a backpack and huge bag with pretty much everything you can imagine. Yep, even deodorant… not very hobo, I know…

So did Steve smell the worst?

Steve always smells the worst. You know when he is behind you on a ramp platform or the big handrail. He is packing his Eastpak backpack light for sure! Three tees for ten days… He showered the last day to meet up with his lady though!

Out of the three tours, what one was the best and why?

Personally all of them were great for me, all different adventures for sure.

Would you be up for doing the complete opposite next year? Something like the Antiz Princess Tour… living the dream in swanky hotels and only skating spots especially made for you or would you rather keep it real fo’ life?

Antiz princess tour sounds great to me. Where do we sign? Anybody interested contact me!

Sam Partaix conjures all of the bad weather into Hurricane Partaix.

Who on the tour deserves a medal for the following:

Gnarliest trick award: Furones almost did a suicidal kickflip drop in underneath the bridge in Antwerp.

Worst slam award: Alex and his foot get first prize.

Most creative piece of DIY award: Belgium concrete skateparks are pretty much all DIY build by skaters! It’s really the Oregon of Europe.

Casanova award: It’s funny because every single guy on Antiz on this tour has a girlfriend, so sorry ladies…

Most boozed up award: Steve could not skate so he wins. Hmm, Alex neither so they tie. They are both Austrians so it’s easy for them.

Most consistent award: On a skateboard? Remy impressed us quite a bit. Every spot got torn.

Cleanest hobo: Unfortunately it’s me…

Dirtiest hobo: When Steve slept with sugar all over himself (Sam threw it over him) not bothering to clean himself up and waking up with glued eyes.

Ultimate hobo: Dallas is quite good at hoboing… A natural I would say.

Dallas: Natural Born Hobo

Any last words on the past three years?

Yep. Thanks to Eastpak, Antiz and all the hobos around the world.

Go check the blog. The three years are blogged there. Not very hobo to be blogging you say? Well I am the worst hobo there is….