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The Gnargore Interview

Interview: James Brewer
Photography: Tim Borrow

Gnargore was started in 2002 by three skaters from the West Midlands. All three were doing as young skaters do and started a local crew. Yet somehow, in its eight years of existence, Gnargore has turned into something much more, and now appear as a representation of the West Midlands scene. Not just a group of skaters that make a video and flog them to ‘Timmy Turnstains’ down the local park, they have become a powerhouse for producing them, with their fifth in the last six years just being released! Not only that but working with local skate shops Ideal and Spine they have come together to organise great events over the years that has really benefited the scene. For all the jip Gnargore get, there’s no denying that there a good thing to have in a scene that finds itself struggling at times. So here’s a little insight to the warped mind of Gnargore ‘founder’ Tom Gillespie and life seen through the eyes of Gnargore.

So first up explain what is Gnargore?

Gnargore is a crew of nobodies that you shouldn’t really of heard of. And if you hadn’t, good. We’re just some mates with with camera, who can’t skateboard very well but don’t give a shit. But we have a lot of fun being shit.

The crews been productive for eight years now, what’s different now to when it first began?

Nothing! Other than producing videos that the shops actually want to stock. Sale or return, you know how we do. Spine actually sold out, so thanks to Chris for that!

In your eight years or skateboard domination, there’s been more internet controversy associated with Gnargore than there was with 2 girls 1 cup. How did that happen and how do you feel about it now?

I think I was a bit keen in trying to promote the first video and got on peoples nerves on the Sidewalk Forum. Now I know they’re all ‘cunts’ so I don’t care. Apart from Steve75. But especially Gawkrodger

Dan Jordan – Treeride

You’re well known for producing mini-edits regularly on the website. How easy is it making these, do feel any pressure from your audience, seeing as this is pretty much the only representation the West Midlands scene seems to get?

The mini-edits are pretty much the stuff that are too shit to be in a Gnargore video. The shittest of the shit. Like drunk dudes and parodies of other internet videos. Epicly Hater’d being a good example of this…

You’ve just released your fifth video in six years, which most will agree is more than impressive. Has this always been the plan, and how has it been filming them?

Five videos is more than enough for anyone. It’s just really a way of documenting a scene with me and my friends. We used to film it on a shit DV camera with a fisheye meant for an SLR camera gaffer taped on. Now I’ve got a proper camera so the production quality has gone up, but the skateboarding hasn’t, hahaha…

You premiered the video at The Mixing Bowl cinema at the Custard Factory in Birmingham. How did that go?

It went really well, better than I expected. The disc worked for a start which was great! I had a lot of trouble burning them all myself and trying to get them to work.. The menu screen kept crashing my computer, so in the end I sacked the lot of it off! I sold all the DVDs I’d made to people and shops and got rid of the twenty-five Wizard Council t-shirt’s too. Wig and I ended up on the radio talking about it!

Joel Taylor – Crook

And how was the response to the video?

Really good. Everyone liked it who saw it on the day! I’ve had people come up to me saying how hyped they were off it too. It was pretty rowdy in the cinema. Everyone had brought beers so there was lots of cheering and shouting!

A Third Foot, Fallen, Witchcraft, Krew and Supra all sponsored the event and we held a raffle to give away the prizes. They were all really generous with the product they sent through, so most people left with something! The ramp jam afterwards kicked off too! Everyone was going all out to win the A Third Foot board. Ryan ended up winning via a vote!

Something that stands out for myself is that the video came across a lot cleaner and with more of a direction than the other video’s you made. Is it true practice makes perfect or was it all an lucky accident?!

Before I edited Wizard Council I looked back on the other Gnargore videos and came to the conclusion there was no particular theme holding them together.

For Wizard Council I wanted to make sure all the parts fitted together coherently. That’s why there’s no titles or names in the video and the gaps between sections are really small. Also, there’s no bullshit in this video. No arty montages or shots. The only non-skate stuff really is some bro shots and some high 5’s as I wanted to keep the feel of how tight the Gnargore crew is.

With this DVD you’ve offered a free zine with artwork from people involved in the project. What pushed you to do this? It’s definately something I have never seen with a scene video before…

It just kind of happened! Me and the other lads have always talked of grand schemes and ideas when we’ve had a beer or two! But this time it really just kind of happened. Wig’s girlfriend Aimee works at the Birmingham University in the Print Department, so she has access to all the screen printing machines. Wig, Dan and some of the other Gnargore boys are talented artists and got together to do some drawings for a zine! It ended up being an 8-page booklet that when unfolded turns into an A3 poster. I was a bit worried the video was shit and wanted to give people value for their money, so the zine was a way of giving that to people! It was also really fun to get stuck in and print. A massive shout out to Aimee for all her help. Without her it wouldn’t have been possible.

Wig Smith – Indy Nosebone

You’ve got rather an eclectic group of skaters in the crew… How does the Gnargore program come to pick up new people? Is it a picky process or can anybody be in?

Nah, you’ve gotta be able to handle Dan Jordan and Tom Hinton torturing you. Hanging out and bro’ing down. It’s not a case of being good at skateboarding. It’s just about being a mate. Powerslides, going fast and a good bbq technique are a must to be on though. Double fisting beers is a requirement at all times as well. Early grabs needed, flips not necessary. Training provided. Apply within.

So who is Dan Jordan and where did the illustrious ‘Porno Denim’ nickname come from?

Dan is a human foghorn, and he is my friend. Porno Denim came from Ben Powell and Nicky Howells when they reviewed the last video for Sidewalk Mag. He’s a girl’s size 0 because he’s a vegan. He is the nicest prick you’d ever wish to meet.

You’re known for skating some rugged spots. Do you look for these on purpose to represent what your into?

There’s pretty much fuck all where we live since all the main meet up spots were shut down. This was right when most of us started skating. So we all pretty much started skating ‘non spots’ resulting in some people calling them ‘Gnargore’ spots. They would usually end up being a wallride or a curb to slappy. The dream being both at the same place. I guess it’s just a case of trying to make the most out of what you’ve got within your range on a Sunday afternoon.

So let’s give some of the Gnargorians their 15 minutes of fame. If I name them I’d like you to give a brief description of them…

Right: James Denning – Backside Flip

Tom Hinton – Tom emigrated to New Zealand with his family, but returned to the UK to go Uni. He’s done with his art degree in Worcester now, so I’m not sure exactly what he’s got planned for the future.. He’s a talented artist and had an exhibition at the Spine Gallery space recently. www.thomashinton.co.uk

Wig Smith – I’ve known Wig for years. He was in an older group of skaters from my hometown that I kind of looked up to when I first started. He’s the last one of that group still rollin’, and we’ve been skating together since back in the day. Wig’s got an enormous book and CD collection thanks to him working at HMV and getting hella discount!

Daniel Jordan – We’ve already touched on the porno denim persona about Dan. He’s also a talented artist, and is working hard on his graphic design work for bands, like logos and thirst and stuff. He won some award for the National Trust at Uni. Kid’s got skills!

Arran Burrows – Arran was the super annoying kid at school in my year, and he happened to be in my form! I’ve been skating with him the longest of everyone. I remember one day when he turned up for school in some Osiris D3s and we all freaked out that he had what we thought were the best skate shoes of all time on… how times change! A couple of years ago he put himself into a coma and nearly died after falling off his board onto his head whilst skitching on a car at the train station. I was really scared for a while that I would lose someone I’d been so close to for so long (no homo). Luckily he pulled through, and can move all his limbs and talk. For a while after he couldn’t! He’s super into his cars at the moment, and has a flash Mazda that he burns out and wheel spins at every opportunity!

James Jones – James is the man of mystery. He is super quiet until you get a few drinks downhim. He’s also got a million nicknames including Nudge, Nudgey, J-Rock, JJ, Jellington etc he used to roll with the Bromsgrove crew, but he moved to Halesowen with his family, and the bus route between the two towns sucks so he hopped crews and chills with us!

Ryan Price – Ryan a.k.a Clever is the raddest kid ever. When I first met him he was about 13 at Perdiswell bowl. he came up to me and was telling me all about his new setup. Most kids at 13 get Grind King trucks or some crap, but he had full-on 149 Indys and an 8.25 Creature pool shape board!

Below: Joel Taylor – Pop Shove

Harrison Thom – Harrison is another artistically talented member of the ‘Gore. He’s off to Uni in September to do Fashion. He’ll whip you up a dress no worries if you want! He’s Scottish so it’s easy to make fun of him. His boot doesn’t work on his car so you have to access the boards in the back via the back seat.

James Denning – AKA Creepy Den because he bought a young girl some crayons in an attempt to flex her! Den has the same camera as me and has been a real help filming double angles or filming stuff when I’m not around. He’s also working on a local scene video called “Shropside”, focusing on the skaters he knows from the Shropshire and Hereford areas.

Joel Taylor – Joel started wearing full on pajama bottoms out skating last year. I’m not really sure why! He want through a bit of a punk phase too. He’s off at University in Aberystwyth, and filmed his entire part about 6 months ago. He really went off on one in the last month before he left. That’s when he did his ender, which is pretty dreamtime.

Tom Carr – Race Carr is from up North and moved down to Worcester. He’s recently moved to Bristol. He’s one of the most stylish people I’ve ever seen on a skateboard. Even in videos!

And of course yourself – I’m Tom. I work at A Third Foot at the moment answering the phones, making the tea and fetching Ken’s lunch. Sometimes we work on some graphics too! It’s a dream come true to work for those guys. I’ve been buying their boards for years before I even knew where the factory was.

With there being a lot of skate companies starting off as ‘crews’ such as yourself do you ever find it tempting to branch this into something more than it is already and start it up as a board company?

I’ve always dreamed of starting a skateboard company and taking over the world, but I feel the market is over saturated at the moment. All these local/small skate companies that open up and do a short run and sell them out their cars at the skatepark are just depriving the more established companies and skate shops who support the scene of valuable board sales. I don’t have anything against people who stump up a grand to get a short run produced and flog ’em, after all everyone has to start somewhere, it’s just not for me.

How would you compare the West Midlands scene to other scene’s in the UK?

It’s hard to say about other scenes, because I don’t really “know” any other scene apart from my own. The West Mids scene is really friendly. I think it helps to not have any skate media industry around here.. There’s not really any sense of competition between different groups, or at least any I’ve experienced. Everyone gets on really well and helps each other at.

Obviously there’s been a lot of scene videos coming out across the UK in the last few years. What would say separates you from them?

I think the Gnargore videos have always been in their nature about raw quirky street skating. It’s pretty no nonsense too. I’m just gonna throw it out there. I can’t stand all this slow-mo, HD camera, dolly rig, city scape time lapse, soft music bullshit. It’s skateboarding, not a car advert! Give me a Thrasher video any day.

A few years back I remember you nearly got hustled by Stevie Williams over some footage you’d filmed of Lenny Rivas, do you care to go into that?

DGK and Reebok did a demo at Creation (Formerly Epic) Skatepark in Birmingham. I was there with my camera and filmed a couple things. When the session was over they wanted to go see some street spots, so we took them up in to town. We ended up at the Smiths rails. I filmed a couple tricks of Lenny on the rail. Stevie came up to me afterwards and offered to buy the footage off me when they got back to the States. I just said he could have the tape out my camera and so he offered to give me some boards in exchange for it. When we got back to their tour vans, the one with the boards and the rest of the team had already left the city. All they had in the van that was there was these massive RBK shoes! I didn’t want to be a dick to him and refuse the shoes so I just took ’em. Suffice to say I didn’t skate in them and just gave them away!

Harrison Thom –  Crailslide

And when is the Gnargore/DGK collabo coming out?

Didn’t you see?! They’ve already “dropped” on Hypebeast last week!

Not only yourself but a couple of the members through the crew have organised events at local parks etc. What motivates you guys to do this?

I guess it’s because there’s no one else out there doing it for us. There aren’t really many tours/events that come through the West Mids for whatever reason, so we just put them on ourselves. I can’t really speak for other people, but I assume they do it for similar reasons. More people should put events on. It’s not hard. A couple of emails to the right people will blag you the prizes. Then you just need a Facebook Group and a thread on the forum and you’re sorted for promotion. D.I.Y!

Is there any inspirations that you think are used when making Gnargore videos?

At first I used to watch videos and study how the tricks were being filmed. Like how many steps down from the top the filmer was on a set of stairs for instance. Sometimes if there was a double angle you could see how the filmer with the fisheye moved to capture the trick. I’m not down for the whole over the top fisheye movement some people are doing! I really liked the way the new Blueprint video was put together. Enough non-skate bits so you got the vibe of the company, but overall it was raw street skating with a great soundtrack. In the past videos, I pretty much let the guys pick their own section music within reason. Arran was trying to convince me to let him have the Hulk Hogan intro music for a while but I couldn’t handle it! For this video I set out with an overall feel I wanted to get across. Grimey, gritty and raw. These values were reflected in the soundtrack too. Dan Jordan helped out a lot with this area.

So what’s in store for Gnargore now ‘Wizard Council’ is done and dusted?

I’m going to take a vacation from filming for a little bit I think and just take it easy. It’s really hard work editing the video and very stressful putting everything together. Maybe around the end of Summer I’ll have a word with the lads and see what they want to do. A few of the guys are off to Uni so it’d be a smaller and/or slightly different crew if there will be another Gnargore production..

And finally is there anybody you’d like to thank?!

Kris, Zippy and Bob at Ideal for giving all an awesome ramp to go to when it rains and for helping us out with the cinema space for the premiere; Fallen, Witchcraft and A Third Foot for sponsoring the premiere; Ken, Joel and Steve at ATF; Ben Powell for being kind enough to review our videos; The Sidewalk Forum geeks, all the locals, anyone who’s taken us to a spot or shown us around their hometown, Wetherspoons, Zac at Crossfire, and to you for reading this crap for so long!

Gnargore’s latest video ‘Wizard Council‘ is out now and available from Ideal Skateshop and from their website. For more inflammation check www.gnargore.co.uk and to have a further glimpse into the Gnargore world check out the video below. Metal.

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Features Home Skateboarding

Kris Vile Interview

Words by James Brewer
Photos shot in New Zealand thanks to David Read from Manual Magazine

I first met Kris 6 years ago at the opening of Stourbridge’s ‘Ramparts’ skate park. Back then he was a kid on the ‘come-up’ being shoved into the limelight thanks to Channel 5’s ‘Rad’. I remember being amazed at how easily he seemed to find skateboarding and 6 years later I still feel the same.

He started to move up in the world of skateboarding by picking up coverage from the many trips he makes across the world. Birmingham may be his home but he’s no stranger to traveling and it’s a rare sight to actually catch him in Brum which has led to him recently becoming more of a ‘myth’ than real person. Whispers of what tricks Kris made at certain spots are rife round here and then usually backed up by footage and photos to tell the tale.

Kris is not only enjoying his life to the full, but he also works it to make it the best. His most recent section featured as the illustrious ‘last part’ in the new Vans Europe video ‘1966’ proved just how hard this guy pushes his skateboarding, but whether he’s filming for local scene videos or going on tour with team mates Mr Vile is always down for a session and is ever the optimist.

A long line of respectable sponsors grace his CV starting with his introduction at A Third Foot, where his skating lead him to Blind Europe before hooking with Santa Cruz (as a direct international am) but these days he currently finds himself on the newly launched ‘CLAN 010‘ team alongside European skaters such as Danny Wainwright, Alain Goikoetxea, Florentin Marfaing, Manuel Palacios, Alex Carolino and Cristian Vannella, certainly a team that should be more than capable to produce a video worth waiting for.

I finally pinned Kris down in Birmingham and got an update with what’s going on in the life of a ‘skateboarding gypsy’.

So how many years have you clocked up now in life?

21 years in now.

Who is hooking you up?

Vans, Volcom, Red Bull, Clan010, Krux and Type-S wheels.

Where did all of this begin?

My brother got a skateboard for his birthday, then about 6 months later I asked for one and finally got it at Christmas. That’s where it all began!

You’ve been sponsored for a long time now, how did that all come together?

I’d been skating for about 18 months and got to know the people at Ideal Skate Shop in town. I was just a little kid, overly excitable and stoked on skating haha! I was progressing pretty quickly though and one day I went into the shop and told Bob (Sanderson) that I had managed to boardslide the WH Smiths rail in the City centre- it was a well known spot at the time. There was a smaller handrail and a big one there and he told me to go and try the big one! I went back that evening and made it! When I went into the shop the next day I told Bob and he gave me an A Third Foot board and said that if I kept on skating he’d give me one of them every so often, 18 months later I was placed on the Vans Junior team- I guess the rest is history.

Would you say that ‘Rad: The Groms Tour’ helped out with your rise in skateboarding?!

I wouldn’t say it helped! But yeah it was cool as a kid to get to travel around with some mates and skate some different stuff, seeing a bit of the world etc.

Since working with Andy Evans on that show you’ve appeared in his videos This ‘n’ That and Heel Toe Magic. How do you go about filming for those when your traveling around the other side of the world

Well Andy is amazing! So even though i’m not around much to film with him, whatever footage I get I always tell Andy he can have it if he’s making another project. He’s always stoked to receive it and I can’t actually wait for the next one!

You dropped out of college to pursue a career in skateboarding, big decision?

I enjoyed my time in education but it came to a point where I wasn’t able to do my best. I always had to be away on trips, tours etc. When someone wants to send you somewhere to help you get by for something you love doing it made me have no need to stay in college. Most people go to college to try and get exactly that so I guess I’ve been pretty lucky.

Vans have sponsored your feet for sometime now, how far back does that go in your life and what has made you stick with them?

I think I got on Vans when I was 13, so it’s been 7 or 8 years now. They have always taken care of me and I really like the shoes! I can’t really imagine skating for anyone else now, and you know, in this business, the more stoked you are to do things with a company, the more stoked they are to hook you up. So if you enjoy going to an event and going on trips then you can get support to do so and I always have.

The ‘Vans Europe: 1966’ video is currently premiering around the world, how was filming for that?

It was cool but it was pretty intense. We didn’t have long to film a part and it was mostly filmed on trips with the rest of the team which was heaps of fun but when you’ve got 5 people that all want to skate one spot but all differently then it can be a challenge. All in all though it was a fun experience and considering other companies can spend up to 4 years to film a video then I think the end product in this one is pretty amazing. So keep your eye’s peeled, it will be in stores near you!

Did you know you were going to have last part when filming for the project?

Not at the start but maybe about mid way through filming I was informed…

You’ve recently found yourself alongside a list of illustrious European skaters on Clan 010 right?

I’m really stoked to be a part of the CLAN project from the beginning. All the riders have been good friends of mine for years. I ride alongside Danny and Flo on the Vans team, Alain with Volcom and so on. That sold the company to me even more plus Manuel Palacios who is running the team is rad so we all are part of something special!

How was the ‘break-up’ with Santa Cruz?

Wasn’t bad at all, we left it on good times. But to ride for a company like Santa Cruz, I suppose you have to spend a little more time in the States! I travel a lot within Europe so it just didn’t work out for us, big thanks to Mouly for all the support though!

With all the traveling and coverage you get surely it’s not long until a Kris Vile pro board or shoe colourway is released, have there been talks of either of these?

Well it’s funny you should say that. Keep your eyes peeled in your local shop!

With the skateboarding industry primarily being based in California do you feel any pressure to go over there and ‘take over’ the States?

Haha! Well I don’t know about a take over and no there’s no pressure, but I would like to go out there a couple of times a year and maybe get a big more coverage in US mags and so on. Plus I have loads of friends out there who I don’t get to see very often so I’m looking forward to going out there in July and working with Vans and Volcom- go on some trips and get some footage!

Let’s head back into Birmingham for a bit. The scene took a bit of a battering over the past 10 years thanks to a lot tighter rules on skateboarding on the City, did that make growing up as a skater hard there and is it any different now to when you were younger?

Yeah, like any City, the scene fluctuates up and down, but the heart has always been there and will always remain! Big ups to Ideal for staying strong, and growing stronger!

Your known to travel up and down to events all round the country as well as representing the Red Bull UK skate program in the Red Bull ‘Manny Mania’ contest. How do you think events like this affect the scene in the country?

I think events like this do great things not just for British skateboarding but skateboarding all around the world. Without companies like Red Bull there would be no events like this. They have the mind and money to come up with the ideas and fun the events too and I hope they can inspire more people and other companies to do this too.

What do you think you would be doing if you were not a sponsored skateboarder?

I have no idea but I would like to think having just as much fun and living life to the full!

Lets get a few Top 3’s.

Top trips you have been on…

1. Australia/NZ skate missions
2. Spain in general
3. Then the rest! haha!

Inspirations…

1 Good skateboarding
2 Good music
3 Good vibes!

People from Birmingham…

That’s way to hard to narrow down to 3 singular people but…

1. Ideal Skateshop
2. Birmingham posse…you know who you are!
3. The fam of course!

Top 3 events…

1. Slam Trick, Italy
2. Bondi Bowlarama, Sydney
3. Damn Am, Amsterdam

What’s coming up for you over the next few months- anything you are working on?

I’ve just been to Portugal, Latvia and Bilboa then off to the States in July and back to the UK for a few events in August…then there’s more ha!

Right lets wrap this up with the obligatory thank you’s…

Cheers to all my Sponsors: Vans, Redbull, Volcom, Clan010, Krux, Type S, Ideal and then to everybody else! All the homies, brother and sisters! You know who you are!!! Peace.

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Features

Steve Gourlay Gallery

Steve Gourlay is a name that never leaves the Crossfire radar. Last year we were overjoyed to have a Triple Shot feature with someone we can only describe as one of the world’ s most naturally able skate photographers, and since then we’ve been getting off to his photos on the regular. His CV is bulging with magazines and brands that have flourished thanks to him hunched on stairs or something equally uncomfortable cradling a Hassleblad. Though based down under, you’ve undoubtedly stumbled across his work in adverts for Element, Baker, Cliché, Almost, Ezekiel, Hurley, Vans or countless other things worldwide. It’s a pleasure to have Steve here cutting the ribbon to the new guest gallery.

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to continue writing an introduction that gives the amazing photos in the gallery below the credit they deserve  without it descending into some seriously unintentional brown-nose territory. As you can see for yourselves, the pictures below are incredible. So, if you’re viewing this on your phone’s browser like a chump, stop now and get to a big screen so you can see these photos in all their hi-resolution goodness.

Welcome to The Gallery, click here if you would like to visit Steve’s blog.

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Features Skateboarding

Girl Skate Jam 2010

Words: Jenna Selby
Photos: Sophie Allen & Jenna Selby

On Saturday 19th June, Pioneer Skate Park hosted it’s 9th annual Girl Skate Jam. This year saw skaters make their way over to St Albans from all corners of the UK, the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland and Belgium, there was also for the first time entrants from further a field – New Zealand and Australia.

The clouds on the day looked somewhat dubious and the BBC Weather Centre had forecasted rain. However, Nikita’s Michelle and hubby Alan Rushbrooke duly set about putting the BBQ together  – which we hoped wouldn’t jinx it, there really is no love lost between the British BBQ’s and the weather! Although advertised as starting at 1pm, cars started arriving from 11am onwards, one family had travelled down from Hartlepool for the day, another Emily Russell and Mum had made the long journey from Glasgow. It was good to see all the old faces returning for the event but also to see a host of new ones, especially in the Under 18’s category.

Between 1-3pm was a free skate for all the girls, the rain until this point had held off even though there were reports coming in from Kent and other home counties of a downpour on its way. The decision was made to put the miniramp comp on first. From the off the standard was evidently high; Melbourne’s Hilary Pearce was awarded first place after two faultless runs, her fast and aggressive style is amazing to watch – frontside Smiths, frontside 5-0’s, frontside tails – the list kept going! Danielle Mellor was on a no holds barred mission to pull off the most technical tricks of the day, placing her second – frontside-half cab-rock and rolls, backside disaster-revert out and switch front rocks. Third went to New Zealand’s Georgina Matthews AKA Hori who was all about the hand plants and Indy Grabs.

Next up was a pretty fierce Under 18’s comp. Placing 1st, Laura Johnson was on flip-tastic form, with a kickflip to fakie and a frontside flip over the driveway, 2nd place Charlotte Brennon pulled out a nice early grab transfer out of the 6ft quatre to flat bank and Pioneer local prodigy 13 year old Caitlyn a good ollie from the driveway to flat to award her third. In the Over 18’s, first went to Georgina Matthews after a solid run including a 5-0 180 out across and down the driveway, a boardslide on the rail and bs and fs 50-50 on the box. It was really good to see Emma the Brum Richardson back on top form – fs 5-0 revert on the quatre and a nollie bigspin on the bank, which gave her 2nd. Resident Skatergirl writer Danielle Gallagher placed third after her run of front rocks and feeble fakies on the big quatres.

The Over 18’s were over by 4.30pm, at which point Evelien Bouilliart rolled in, just off a train from Brussels – much to the delight of the younger girls. She had little time to warm up before the sponsored comp started, although it was apparent that as soon as she set foot in the park everyone upped their game just a little. There were four groups in the Sponsored Section, each had 2 runs of 2 minutes, A – Georgina Winter (UK) and Lottie Borra (Italy), B- Helena Long (UK) and Lois Pendlebury (UK), C – Klara Kasparova (Czech) and Caroline Dynybil (Czech), D – Evelien Bouilliart (Belgium) and Lucy Adams (UK)

Caroline was straight into noseslides on the Koston, Lottie who had looked incredible in the warm up with front boards down the rail and 5-0’s on the block got a small attack of the nerves, Lois had some good lines on the go – flip on the driveway – kickflip to fakie on the quatre. Evelien went into full feeble and lipslide assault on the rail – just after her run ended she also landed a flip front board. Lucy Adams landed a host of tricks – fakie 360 flip, fakie shuv-it flip and a switch heel on the bank. Bs 50-50 on the Koston and a backside tail on the block. The judges admitted it was incredibly tight and difficult to decide a winner. However due to Lucy’s use of the whole park and the consistency of all the tricks she threw in between her main ones, she was awarded first place, with Evelien 2nd and Caroline 3rd.

A big thank you has to go out to all the volunteers –Leigh Burton, Carmela Fleury, Alex Barton, Geoff Rubicon, Ben Cundall, Joff Talbot, Ian Harris, John Glanville, Michael McInally, Mark Sinfield, Leigh Burton, Sophie Allen, Michelle and Alan Rushbrooke, Sarah Glenny, Di Headley, Kat Bedding The Selby Family and to Arron Selby for soldering together new wires for the mics late on the Friday night whilst ever so slightly inebriated!

Thank you to all the sponsors – Rogue, Lovenskate, Death, Rubicon, Les Ettes, Nikita, Misticon, Vans and Cooler Magazine.

From its beginnings at Playstation Skatepark (Bay 66) back in 2002 and Epic (Creation) in 2003, Pioneer has now become the established home to the Girl Skate Jam UK. Plans for a big 10-year party next year at the park are already underway.

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Features Skateboarding

Jess Young Interview

Sure, right now Jess Young is bathing in the rarely seen Welsh summertime with his foot in plaster but you can bet your life that the very moment that foot is released from its crusty white prison, he’ll be out breaking it again. He’s got a slight reputation amongst the local crowd in South Wales. If you were to stumble across a hesh drop with an imaginary ‘suitable for moshers only’ sign across it then Jess would be expecting a phone call. It’s a strange reputation to have, and one that’s not at all friendly on the bones but it’s not like Jess will give two shits. In fact, when asked if he gives two shits he confirmed that he doesn’t even give one. He’ll turn up, grab his deck and do it first try, then head off to a nearby ledge and skate it with the tech-heads like fellow Kill City rider Nicky Howells as if he was a born and bred Buzsy stereotype.

Regardless of any mosher-drop tendencies, it’s impossible to put Jess inside any sort of box and I wouldn’t waste your time trying to either. Jess knows how to ride a fucking skateboard and that’s all that needs to be said. When his skating speaks at volumes beyond 11 you can forgive him for being pretty chilled out off the board.

Stanley caught up with him this week when his foot was in plaster. This worked out for the best because there’s no way he was going to interview him on top of the Newport Road underpass or where ever he’d be rolling off when his foot isn’t in plaster. Fuck that…

Photography : Mike Ridout

Portrait: Chris Gibbons

Easy Jess, what are you up to right now?

Having a wake and bake in the garden, just outside Bridgend on the coast of South Wales.

How’s your foot feeling?

It gets stronger everyday, although it’s hard to tell when you’re in a cast; it’s a slow process for sure.

What happened to it?

I basically snapped the metatarsal bones between the toes and the heel apart from the one that runs from my big toe so there are screws in there now holding them back in place, the joints in my toes cracked as well, which felt amazing.

What’s the weather like in Wales? It’s summer now so it must be raining right?

It’s been pretty awesome lately, I’m out for another month so it can’t come too early for me.

Is the Rec Centre open yet? I can’t understand why an indoor skate park that’s so good only opens its doors during the summer…

Don’t think it’s going to happen again. I was shocked to see it come every year anyway. The sooner they fuck that off the better so something can be done properly.

Are you excited about the new plaza that’s being built in the bay?

It will be much better than any park that’s already in Wales because it’s in the right place. It will hopefully bring a bigger scene together and the design looks sick as well which helps.

In addition to Norwegian Church, Sports Cafe and Oval Basin this pretty much makes Cardiff Bay the best place to skate in the whole of Wales, right?

YES FAM

How different is skating in Cardiff than Bridgend?

It’s a bigger playground, the plaza down the bay will make it better again.

Who gives you more hassle, Bridgend roiders or the notorious late-night crowd in Cardiff?

Bridgend roiders piss me off.

Cardiff is a bit of a gathering ground for weird celebrities; Nicholas Cage came into the coffee shop I used to work shortly after making these adverts and shouted some shit at me about iguanas. What’s the strangest encounter you’ve had while skating?

Tramps chucking each other in the fountains at Castle Gardens in Swansea Centre during the middle of the day was rad. It was like a Swansea love story pantomime or something.

Didn’t you get arrested for sawing the knobs off the handrail in Oval Basin during New Year?

Hahah sure did! Luckily they didn’t press charges and go too crazy about it, so I don’t have a criminal record or anything. I just had to pay an £80 fine and get harassed. I was halfway through the second knob and they came over and treated me like an escaped convict or something. I was just standing there with a junior hacksaw and a stupid look on my face and then they put me in handcuffs and started kicking off. It was like being told off by your mum at the police station after I explained why and what I was doing so they sort of let me off with a warning.

Is that the worst encounter with the law you’ve had for skating?

The worst was a recent Kill City trip to Mallorca in which the Civil Guardia were trying to fine Dainton and the rest of us 3000 euros for chipping a marble block outside a hotel in Magaluf, or else they were claiming to lock us up. This was only day two or three, so after an hour of interrogation and not understanding each other they waved their guns around and followed us to our hotel to get copies of our passports. Obviously this was a scam to try and rob us as we couldn’t understand them so with the help of the hotel manager’s translation we learned that they would be back the next day to pick up the money. This didn’t sit well with us because of all the camera equipment so later that night we did a runner and booked into another hotel. We must have missed them as we were out skating all day and boozing in the night, the ash cloud kept us there for an extra week so we were lucky to get away without seeing them again.

When is the Kill City video going to be finished?

Not sure on a deadline or anything, but we should be wrapping up soon.

Filmed anything you’re particularly stoked with?

I don’t know. I just try and get stuff when I can really, or if I learn a new trick I’ll try find a spot for it. Obviously some stuff is easier to get than other stuff. Daint has got a really good eye for filming/editing and putting stuff together in his own way so I think the videos going to be good to watch.

How did you get involved with Kill City in the first place?

Not sure really I always wanted to be a part of it but it seemed like there wasn’t room. Caradog and Nicky Howells have always been on it so they may have helped it along I don’t know, Daint started flowing me boards ages ago and it started from there.

What’s it like having Dainton as your boss?

He’s a legend.

You had a sick section in the Who? video. It emerged as one of a few scene videos that really pushed the envelope on the levels of skating and the video’s overall production values. Does this put more pressure on you to not only kill it on scene videos but raise the bar even higher when filming for Kill City and other sponsors?

There’s no pressure I just go out with friends and we hit some spots, there are times when I want to skate transition more, likewise with gnarly stuff, it comes in waves. I prefer it when you get a session on with good company and see what happens.

Out of the 9001 filmers in Wales, who’s your favourite to film with?

Filming with Daint is always good, as well as having fun and enjoying skating its easy to go film something. Lately I’ve been filming mostly with Jon Fisher but it usually depends on where I go.

Cardiff is notorious for a great Go Skateboarding Day, what’s the best event that Jim O and CSC have organised for it?

I missed this year’s because of my foot but the powerslide competition opposite the Hilton down into the underpass last year was good.

You seem to be ripping handrails and ledges a lot harder lately. Where and what are you hyped on skating right now?

Yeah big rails and ledges are good to skate I like skating stuff when your either going to make it or eat shit trying. That’s not all I’m hyped on skating I like bars, hills, banks, tranny; its rad when you go to a spot you’ve seshed before but find a new way to hit it up. Rails and hills are the most fun, I’ll be most stoked on transition and bowls when my foots healed.

What music are you chilling/skating to now then? Let’s hear your top three if you’ve got one…

1. Florence And The Machine – Dog Days Are Over
2. Drunk Injuns – Blood Drips Like Passing Thoughts
3. Caribou – Pelican Narrows

I heard you have a heartagram tattoo on your leg, is this true?

Yeah…

Were you a proper bam-fiend when you started skating?

No.

It might have given some explanation to why you’d want to drop in on the top of bridge on Newport Road opposite Sainsbury’s, do you have a personal problem with your own legs or something?

Got caught up in the mosh, Christian Hart tried it first and killed himself, it looked good fun.

Whenever I’m skating with the Who Clothing lot or the Hologram boys and we come across a huge drop someone will always say ‘oh, get Jess on this!’ Are you stoked on that reputation or would you rather change it?

Don’t care.

You’ve always ripped at Crossfire Jams, what one was your favourite?

The Christmas Jams are always good.

Caradog has asked on behalf of skateboarders all across the United Kingdom to share more information about your sexy mother…

Well I can tell you (Nicky Howells and Dylan Hughes will vouch for this) that Caradog once got kegged to an audience at a house party and got nicknamed ‘the party sausage’ after it.

Any words of wisdom you’d like to share with us?

Shred as much as you can while you can.

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Features Skateboarding

Consolidated European Tour

Consolidated aren’t your average skateboard company by any stretch of the imagination. The guys on the team are the kind of guys that wouldn’t hesitate to get the logo tattooed on their face. These are the kind of guys who would step up to body-ink levels of loyalty without needing to be filled with a night’s worth of booze. But then, these are also the kind of guys who are perpetually tanked on years and years worth of the good stuff. It’s clear in the humour that leaks from the incredible artwork on the decks, this is a company that treat their customers like they treat their own team: as skateboarders.

It’s not hard to see why those that are supported by Consolidated regularly compare being on the team to being in a family. They’re given the freedom to do what they want and is this not how incredible things are made? What went down in their tour of Europe in May is just another point in the argument for skateboarders to be free, get pissed and let rip. We caught up with Roberto Aleman, Ryan ‘Danger’ Carruthers and Sean Gutierrez in the kitchen in the hotel in Prague, armed with nothing but some cold ones and a pocket full of good times.

Photography : Tom Halliday

What was your favourite demo on your tour of Europe?

Sean: The best demo is not important to us as it’s for the kids. I had a lot of fun at Saffron Walden even though I was hungover as shit. Beers… Zorlac had the bbq going… good times.

Roberto: I think the best demo was the last one in England, more chilling, best skatepark.

What’s the best and worst country for booze and grub?

Danger: Holland has some weird burgers going on there when we bbq’ed there. Best place for food I would say was Cologne. Some of the best pizza I ever had and bbq with chicks in the park was hesh.

Roberto: England offers the worst food, but the beer is always good!

Most creative way of opening a bottle without a bottle opener…

Roberto: Always with a skateboard.

Sean: Your mums teeth is the best way to open a bottle!

How many broken decks were there throughout the trip?

Roberto: Not even one, I don’t break boards too often.

Sean: No broken decks because we suck, I’m still riding the hesh skateboard that Zorlac gave me, my shoes are fucked. Danger’s board is made for Vikings!

What’s the funniest story from the tour?

Sean: After a whole night of partying, Danger sleepless on a 2 hour or more train ride to Amsterdam, the train is over booked with no seats left in our carriage so we had to stand and Danger, while sleeping standing up, nudged the doorhandle to the shitter and fell into the bathroom and made the gnarliest crash, funny shit there!

Roberto: There were too many! But I remember Sean sleeping in a king size bed which is pretty weird cause he always sleeps on the floor, so here is Sean waking up in this huge bed by himself and warming up chicken nuggets with his lighter to eat them warm!

What was the best skatepark on the tour and what was the best street spot you hit up?

Danger: Saffron was build by Dreamland so I’m gonna have to say that was the best park, but street, I guess Holland. We skated a pretty famous spot- it’s a tunnel with trannies that go from mellow to steeper to over vert tranny for days!

Roberto: Even is it sounds weird, for me, the best skatepark was Brixton cause I’ve never been there, and the best spots we skated were in England- weird isn’t it?!

Besides the train’s toilets, where was the strangest place you slept on the tour?

Sean: I slept standing, in the grass. I woke up on a couch covered in a mountain of jackets sweating like shit with everyone still partying around me!

Roberto: This one was pretty mellow for a Consolidated tour, but we have these really cool distributors that put us in a hotels all the time!

Music you could not leave the house for this trip without: 3 albums, artists or tracks

Sean and Danger: David Allen Coe longhaired redneck/rides again. Mercyful fate Melissa or early demo and Grindline the band if you don’t know it your fucked.

Roberto: Los Chichos

What are your thoughts on the Dreamland park in Saffron Walden?

Danger: We all wished we could have partied with our crazy buddies who build the park we know from back home.

How about Zorlac’s hospitality?

Sean: Totally didn’t have to ask for much because he had taken care of everything. If We needed beer it was in the deathmobile, if we needed a pub, we weren’t let down. We went to Harrow which was rad for us to go to and check out after seeing in videos and shit. He was spent and tired and still partied and showed us some London. The street adventures were great too… Brixton and the streets… thanks London locals!

Roberto: Zorlac is like Consolidated for me: true, roots and love. They are the best!

Describe what Consolidated means to you in one sentence or paragraph…

Roberto: Consolidated is my fucking life!!

Sean: The struggle continues, we wouldn’t want it any other way, Birdo and Leticia can get all the money in the world from this tomorrow and they’ll never be jaded.

On that note enjoy this banging edit from their UK visit thanks to Jake Shunt who traveled the country with the team and has footage of Scotland, Saffron Walden and much more. Also thanks to Luke Petty who covered some footage of the Saffron Walden demo with skating from many other guests from Death and Death Urethane. Thanks to Tom Halliday for the photos.

This UK tour footage filmed and edited by Jake Shunt Martinelli was filmed across the UK:

Luke Petty shot this from their visit to Saffron Walden.

This footage was shot with guests in Brussels, Belgium at the Square Des Ursalines to celebrate 4 years since they built the park there…

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Features Skateboarding

Nike SB’s ‘The Bird Is The Word’ Demo

Bay 66, London
Wednesday 30th June
Photos by Pip and Stan

Arriving in a tour bus so impressively colourful it bordered on the ridiculous, the Nike SB team you’d think the team weren’t simply going to turn up and just skate Bay 66. Except that’s exactly what they did, but then it’s also exactly what they didn’t. You see, when you’re dealing with the likes of Cory Kennedy, P-Rod, Shane O’Neill and the rest of the Nike flock, just watching them skate and have a blast is much more exciting than any pre-meditated things they could have possibly had in mind.

Chilled-out unpredictability was the theme of the night, as the team started out on the funbox and just not stopping from there. Cory had a lot of fun, pulling out the hammers as if they were penny sweets and throwing nollie front foot flips and nollie inward heels as casual as less-reputable dork tricks like an -amazing- benihana, all stomped down smiling. Shane O’ Neill had his back in a similar cap with some ludicrous stuff for someone who supposedly cracked a rib at the CPH. Could have fooled me, Nugget was on some stylish THPS trip, with a 360 flip nosewheelie on the awkward snake-shaped manual pad and a first-try 720 flip on the hip. Sure it took him a little longer to film it, but landing something like that while just cruising around isn’t messing about.

Every time P-Rod dropped in the camera-carrying massive threw themselves in his direction, his absolutely relentless delivery of trick after trick after trick, just got progressively sicker each time. The height over the funbox was pure jokeshop shit, P-Rod has the moon gravity cheat built into his shoes I’m sure. How about a switch front blunt first try? Backtail kickflip out down the hubba? The goods were coming through like no tomorrow. Daryl Angel came through and was the only one to really hit up the – admittedly enormous – drop ledge, mach-ten baby!

The highlights were from Ishod Wair (on a high fresh from delivering the best First Try Friday that’s ever been filmed at The Berrics) and Younes Amrani who both hit everything in sight. Ishod’s catch was felt by every member of the audience who all shared some vicarious radness, and Younes’ manual madness was exactly that, madness. There competition for best trick wasn’t a small one, but I think Younes’ nosegrinds along and down the ledge took the entire biscuit tin.

The UK squad held it down with the best of them too, Korahn Gayle did his thing, Chris Jones killed it with a huge tailslide, Snowy laid some smooth-jams on the funbox and Smithy smashed up both the funbox and the hubba.

Wieger just cruised like he owned the joint and occasionally dropped a few high-speed bombs, Salazar took flight on the ski jump and watching Lance Mountain skate anything is nothing short of magic.

Bay 66 was going off louder than a bomb, but ignoring the hundreds of people and the giant Nike SB tour bus outside it really was just a regular Wednesday session. Cory Kennedy had a game of SKATE with about 40 kids and there wasn’t a frown to be found. Good vibes, amazing skating and a bus covered in birds. Same time next Wednesday yeah?

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Features

Machotaildrop London Premiere

Corey Adams and Alex Craig’s MACHOTAILDROP movie premiered in Leicester Square’s Prince Charles cinema last night to a full house hosted by éS and Slam City Skates.

The movie, based around a sponsorship hungry skater who finds a weird and wonderful world of professional skateboarding is a full length production featuring Rick McCrank, John Rattray, Fred Mortagne, Frank Gerwer, Steve Olson, all of whom play the most random roles in what has to be the only film that takes skateboarding closest to classic titles such as Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Monty Python and James Bond! Laughter is guaranteed throughout this comedy filled fable as Walter Rhum‘s dreams come true catapulting his 17 year old envy into pro skate heaven only to find out that..well, you will just have to watch it, no spoilers here.

One thing well worth mentioning though is that this is not a cheap film by any means- the film boasts epic costumes, Warriors and Daggers references with sublime stupidity within sets featuring stalactites, mines, amusement parks, mansions and a floating half-pipe! MACHOTAILDROP is hands down the most twisted skateboard movie made to date so look out for it.

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Features

Deckades Exhibition – Bristol

Images and words courtesy of Jerome Loughran

The opening of the Deckades art show last weekend in Bristol was a runaway success with many people travelling from far afield to see Shiner Distribution‘s unparalleled board collection as well as the many hand painted boards that were procured from various skate related artists.

The collection itself was accumulated over a 30 year period. Many of the decks that came through the warehouse to hit your local skater owned shop was down to the vision of Shiner’s owner Chris Allen who had the foresight to stash one of each classic over the years. This major chunk of skate history, with some rare and highly sought- after boards has been sitting in storage for a number of years and this is the first time that it has been on show anywhere so with the help of Howies, the entire vault of this legendary collection were shown in its entirety.

Following the opening night of the exhibition, Allen reflected on the emotions that ran high saying: ‘We are stoked to be able to share our skateboard archive that we have been saving in our vaults for the past 30 years. After the launch party on Friday night it gave me such a buzz to see how stoked people were to see the boards they first rode when they started skating.’

But it doesn’t end there. To add a contemporary feel to it 27 artists were invited to paint a one-off board to be on show and later auctioned off for the childrens charity UNICEF. Artists involved in this project include Kev Grey, 45RPM, Mr Bowlegs, Andy J Miller, Gavin Strange, Will Barras, Rich T, Ponk, Mr Bingo, Nigel Peake, Nick Hand, Millie Marotta, James Joyce, Nick Hand, Matt Sewell, China Mike, Phil Harvey, Marcus Oakley, Mr Jago, Jim Phillips, Geoff McFetridge, Pete Fowler, French, Chris Bourke, Danny Wainwright, Jethro Haynes and Pete Fowler.

Watch a video of Gavin Strange’s deck art here:

Deckades – A skateboarding painting for Howies from JamFactory on Vimeo.

We caught up with legendary Skateboard artist Jim Phillips who hand painted one of the decks for charity about his involvement in such a good cause…

Shiner has archived so many classic decks over the years- were you aware of just how many of these classics were stored in the vault for a special occasion like this?

I’ve heard about the Shiner collection! I saw some of them for the first time today in the Deckades show photos, and I assume there’s more. It’s great that they were valued and put aside for posterity.

We heard that various pro skaters and artists were blown away to know that their own pro models that they didn’t even have to hand were stored away in England in pristine condition, are there original decks in the vault that you don’t even have on the wall yourself?

There are so many old decks that I don’t possess since I’ve done well over a hundred. When I was running Phillips Studios, Dave Freil would bring over the deck proofs on the first printing so that I could approve them and he’d leave them with me. So, I had a big pile of them out in studio C. Those were the first printings of the first editions, but they were no real big deal because the deck collectors were under the radar just quietly sticking them away. In the mid ‘90s I made a website, mostly to sell my rock posters, but eventually I began to get inquiries from skateboard deck collectors about what I had and whether I would sell them. I received some offers for $400, and let’s face it, there’s times when you need money. I was selling them off for a while until I started to see them for sale on eBay for more than six times what I was selling them for. At that point I decided not to sell any more, and I managed to hang on to a couple of dozen of the first edition decks.

Explain how your one-off deck design for this exhibition came about and the process of the end result.

Paul Merrell at NHS approached me and asked if I would like to contribute to the Deckades show for Haiti relief. At first I was reluctant because Dolly and I had already made a donation, plus I’ve done several painted decks for charity and it always seemed to be a bad experience. The front end promises often do not match the end results. One guy, a major skateboard brand owner even, just kept my submission, and a few others never even got back to me about whatever happened. So I told Paul ‘No’. As we were discussing other projects, I asked “So what’s the deadline on the painted deck?”

I always put my best foot forward and take the extra pains to use high quality hot rod enamels which makes the work much more effort than just using acrylics which are very weak paint with lumpy textures. As I started painting I made a photo documentation of my techniques along the way, to include a CD of 36 steps with the deck. I used body putty to fill the truck holes and serial number stampings, and sanded everything to a smooth finish as my canvas. I used One Shot brand sign painter paints, which take about 8 hours to dry, greatly extending the process and danger of smears. I used a mahl stick to rest my hand so that I could paint next to wet paint and not smear it. I take a lot of precautions like masking off the rails and underside for handling and avoiding transferring paint from my fingers. The beginning layer was the background airbrush fade with the subject hand image masked. After that, the background needs to be masked at all times because it is near impossible to repair damage to a fade gradation.

After all the base colours are applied, I painted the black key-lines, and again, since it is a one step process that involves the complete area it is very difficult to keep from dragging a hand through wet black somewhere. After the paint was dry for 24 hours, I laid down a clear coat spray. This part is very dangerous also because the clear coat can eat and wrinkle the painted areas, which I solved by building up layers of very fine mist until there was adequate coverage to spray a thick matte coat. In all, the work lasted more than 30 hours. I named it “Screaming Hand Cares”.

How important is it to you that these exhibitions have UNICEF involvement?

You know Zac, after all is said and done, I am very grateful to be considered in any way an important part of this effort from the skateboarding world, and I am humbled to do my very small part out of the comfort of my home studio when so many must deal with the devastation that has occurred to people’s homes in these places like Haiti and Chile. I’m thankful to Paul Merrell at Santa Cruz, Chris Allen, Shiner, Mike at Howies, Jerome Loughran, all at Crossfire, UNICEF and the many others who have included me in this worthy and noble effort.

You can bid on Jim’s art and all of the others involved right now at EBAY. Get down to the Howies Store in Bristol to view the exhibition. It is free to get in and open until May 17th.

Deckades skateboard exhibition trailer from howies on Vimeo.

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Features

Four One Four Skateparks interview

Four One Four Skateparks are based in Corby and connected to Adrenaline Alley, a park we have visited many times over the last few year’s whether it’s been for a general bowl shred with the crew or for various comps including the British Champs that dropped there for the last 2 years. The Alley itself has always been upgraded since it opened courtesy of the designers and builders of Four One Four, a collective of grafters who skate and ride BMX who have one thing on their minds every morning when their eyes open and that is to build stuff for us to skate.

This month, the park unleashed a new ‘Skate Only‘ room to the public that has had some serious care and attention uniquely crafted by Trevor Johnson and Rew Cooke so we decided to get the lowdown from Trevor first hand on how this all came together and also drop the first ever video edit from this spot so you can see how much fun this new room is to shred…

So how long have Four One Four been building and where are you based?

Four One Four has been making ramps from around 2003, organising comps and demos since 2001. We just moved from Norfolk into a new workshop which is in Corby, so we are a bit more central… (Big thanks to Adrenaline Alley for that hook up).

How did it all start?

Well 2003 is the official year but Shaun Scarfe was making stuff way before that, I think he made some wondrous folding ramp trailer that towed behind a car in 1983 and just kept making stuff after that. Shaun and Zach Shaw used those ramps for doing demos and circus, way back in the day and that’s pretty much where Four One Four came from. It’s expanded a bit now with Shaun taking on skaters and riders for more input and a better company feel.

Who is on board building/designing?

There’s Rew Cooke, Shaun and myself right now, then on the bigger stuff or contest builds we always get the ‘A Team’ together to build the best park possible! We try to get good build guys from all over Europe so the input is massive. Shaun does all the drawing work and CAD etc but it’s a real team effort when it comes to designing the ramps and park layouts, It’s nice to get all opinions in so we can make stuff good!

Does everyone skate who is involved or do you have BMXers etc involved too?

Shaun is a BMXican so he knows all about what they need which leaves me and Rew to get all the important bits right!

So, you guys build ramps for parks and events but also hire out ramps too yeah?

Yep, everything is portable. It’s possible to move whole parks around if you do it right. We have a sick new portable mini ramp this year and we do a lot of work alongside King Ramps who have got their Vert and other stuff. It works out really well working with those guys, it means we have most things covered.

With more events coming up annually how do you see the solution to the skate street course vs BMX course debate that always seems to arise in the UK scene, what makes the perfect integration of both at these big events other than large sums of cash and more room for both?

It’s harder than you might think trying to build the best of both worlds, especially when your on a budget and have time and space constraints etc! BMXers want to go big on quarters and jump boxes and skaters want banks and ledges. This year’s NASS course is definitely leaning a bit more toward the tech skate side of things, but we still got have the big stuff for the bikes which on an overview always appears to over shadow the course, So we have a few secret ideas for this year. In an ideal world we would have big budgets, loads of time and just build separate courses, for now you need the skills to skate it all and try mix it up as much as possible!

Corby has emerged as a fantastic indoor park for the country over the years, were you guys behind the build of that monstrous vert ramp?

Yep that’s our handy work!

How long does it take to build such a beast?

That ramp too around 6 weeks from scratch with mostly 3 of us working. The Resi took a portion of that, but generally it’s all in the planning, you can build stuff very fast if you have it planned & prepped to do so. The Mount Hawke vert ramp took just under 3 weeks to build it, and something like NASS course we get just 3 days. So anything is possible.

Is the resin surface for learning tricks on that ramp the only of its kind in the UK?

Definitely it was the first and only one of it’s kind in Europe! It was a pleasure to build the Resi stuff after years of guys asking for it, the standard of vert skating and BMX in the UK is definitely better for it.

What success stories from our UK vert crew have come from learning on that set up?

Yeah, young Beckett plucked the FIRST EVER 720′ performed by an Englishman out of the sky in there last year, that was a treat to witness!!

The brand new, skate only room in Adrenaline Alley looks really fun to skate, did you set out from the start to build each obstacle with a different theme or did the artistic license come naturally after the park was built?

Well, I really wanted to do something different in the new room seeings as Corby has been my local indoor park since the fall of Y2SK8 in Peterborough (R.I.P). I think we all decided we wanted to make a ‘manual magnet’ and paint it up and make a grass gap with some real brick, so after those we started getting a bit arty with all the other bits.

How long has it all taken to complete?

Ahhhh, too long…. we ‘all’ put in some hours for the love in this park. We just wanted to see some good ideas come to life, with a theme.

Not too many indoor parks out there to date with granite ledges and brickwork, let alone pool coping and grass banks to boot, in terms of financing a project like this, are these fun additions much more expensive than your typical wooden skatepark with coping?

Yeah they are more expensive. I mean steel coping and wood is quick, it’s practical and it works, the hours involved with pool coping and tiles, or hand painting some graphic on the ramps is 5 to 10 times that, so that’s why these things need a bit of love.

You even managed to get some bling in there with a gold rail?!

It’s kinda cool, we all got our own little stamp on the obstacles in there. The gold rail was one of Shaun’s additions…

We love the Powell Ripper, was that hand painted?

Yeah Rew went to town on that thing, he’s a tattooist so he’s a pretty good drawer to say the least! I wanted to put some steps to go round there originally then we ended up making it into a ‘Death Hole’. It took him like 3 days to draw up and paint it all. It’s freaky, it watches you when you walk past!

What’s the deal with the temperature for putting in pool coping?

That was the only reason it’s taken a bit longer to get it all finished in there because it’s been so cold these last few of months we had to wait until it was warmer than 5’C to cure. Not an ideal job in the winter

What parks will you guys be building in the future for us to look forward to?

Well there are plenty on the cards, it’s a long process for most parks to come to fruition and some never do. But look out for parks in Wales, Ireland, Southampton, Basingstoke, also some bits in Scotland, then there’s HUB & NASS contests plus more updates on Corby and Skegness.

Crossfire regulars will be able to identify you from your Scooby Doo outfit at the last Halloween Massacre, do you practice your mini ramp skills in full attire before you turn up to those jams?!

Yeah there’s quite a strict training regime involved! Scooby Doo suit, 20 Bonios a day and a few hurdles round the Crufts circuit!

And finally how do explain playing with grown men with big balls in a caravan with the lights out?

Hahaha! What goes on in the caravan stays in the caravan!! What Caravan??

Any shout outs?

Big thanks to Adrenaline Alley, Rew Cooke, Shaun Scarfe, Mandy Young, Eggs, Kieran Tracey and Will Wood at Empire, King Ramps, Matt Clarke, Ant Smith, Ryan Cotton, Zach Shaw and the Portugays!!

Find Four One Four over at their Facebook page for updates. Enjoy this edit thanks to Callun Loomes and Matt Clarke at Get Lesta featuring Joe Marks, Rew Cooke, Mark Simons, Ant Smith and Dan Leech.