Category: Features

‘Talking About Money’ with Greg Conroy

Post author By Zac
Post date April 9, 2015

The first time Greg Conroy‘s humourous illustrations caught my eye, they brought a wry smile. His simple, but effective artform tells a story, poking fun at skateboarders by highlighting the hypochrisies we are sometimes surrounded by. Our cartoon correspondent Jon Horner was sent to delve into the background of Conroy’s mission, paying homage to George Bernard Shaw who once famously said: “No, I am an artist, not a businessman; businessmen always want to talk about art, but artists only talk about money.”

Let’s start with Suburbs (Gregory’s stream of consciousness style comic about London, dog walking and Toby Shuall). How did that one come about?

Well, I’d just broken up with my ex. We lived together in Zone 1, right by Tower Bridge and I’d moved back to my parents’ on the border of Lewisham and Greater London, so I spent the first few weeks trying to find a local alternative to Southbank. Just somewhere to go and have a roll about. I’d just got a dog too, so I spent most of my days walking around the suburbs looking for spots with the dog. I was always stoked on Toby Shuall’s Head Cleaner section but started watching it obsessively when I moved home. it seemed a lot more relatable to me, back home in my late 20s.

The comic was sort of a visual diary I suppose. I had the thought process that’s in the comic going through my head all the time cos I was always out with the dog and always watching the section. With the other half of the book (that Jeremy Jones contributed to) I wanted something a bit funnier, making fun of the ‘deep stuff’ a bit.

So you were a proper Southbank kid then?

Yup, pretty much. Me, Henry Edwards-Wood and Faris Hassan went to the same school in Lewisham and all started skating the local carpark, then after a year we upgraded to Southbank. I’ve always preferred Shell Centre though. In the mid 2000s it would be ‘let’s skate Waterloo’, and I think its a bit sad that the new generation doesn’t have that. Southbank, Shell, lower Shell and, at a push, pigeon shit banks!

Where did drawing come into it? Was it something that came from skating and skate art or something separate that eventually joined up with skating?

My dad’s an artist (a proper one), and we didn’t have much money so, as a kid, we’d spend all day just drawing and making stuff out of cardboard boxes and paper mache. There weren’t many computer games as a kid, actually we had a black and white telly until the mid 90s. I remember going to a mate’s house and watching colour TV and getting proper tripped out, I thought it was only colour in cinemas! Haha!

My dad got me into it though, he lectured at Goldsmiths in the mid 80s but got laid off. He always encouraged us to draw, I was always super keen on cartoons and my older brother got me into comics early on. When skating came along I sort of fell off drawing religiously and skating became number 1, but it was always there in the background. Then I got back into it again heavily in my early 20s but never really wanted to show anyone. I was a bit embarrassed.

What sort of things would you draw? I used to obsessively copy Beano characters.

Early on it was Asterix and Obelix and Tintin. We had loads of those books and I used to think they were amazing. I liked the Beano and Dandy but the drawings in Asterix were so great, really solid cartoons, they still stand up today. Then as I got a little older it was copying comics: Green Lantern, Superboy and Robin. I liked the teenage superheros, they had fit girlfriends and were always a bit jack the laddish, which to an 11 year old nerd is sort of the dream. You can tell I was popular at school! Then as I became a lot older, 20s, I got back into cartoons and sort of started to form a ‘style’.

I love the Asterix books! I used to get them at the library when I was younger and now I still keep an eye out for them in second hand book shops.

Yeah you can get so many good books in charity shops, for like 20 pence, I go for a dig once a month or so on the high street. Loads of great children’s books too. Anthony Browne the children’s book writer/illustrator’s work is what really lit a fire under me to get back into drawing in my early 20s.

Oh interesting, why him in particular?

His books can be read on two levels, he writes for a child to understand but there a visual hints and clues to a deeper story for the parent to see as they read. A lot of his books have quite adult content really, class issues and troubled relationships. I like things that have multiple depths and can be viewed simply or with a more significant undercurrent. I’m not sure if that comes off in my cartoons though, I’m sure most people go ‘haha, yeah man I think weed is cool too!’ and I’m thinking noooo, laugh at the stoner, not with him! Not that there’s anything wrong with it, I don’t want to alienate myself from skateboarding entirely, I’m not that dense! Puff away lads! Laugh with the stoner!

Hahaha! What was the process of finding your style like? Your work is really distinctive, was that a deliberate choice or something that sort of just happened?

There’s a guy called Walt Kelly who worked at Disney, he left and started doing a newspaper strip called Pogo which I personally think is the basis for all good cartoons. He’s the Gonz of cartoons. If you look at Robert Crumb’s early stuff as a teenager, im sure he was looking at him loads. And there’s a guy called Jeff Smith who made a comic called Bone. Jeff Smith says that his Bone character is kind of his take on Walt Kelly’s Pogo, and my characters are pretty much a vague rip off of Bone. It’s all a farce! I’m just nicking from other people. But realistically, I think most western cartoons end up back at Walt Kelly.

I always wanted to put my drawings out into some sort of public forum or do something with them, but for years I had no idea what I wanted to draw. I spent loads of time in Cide skateshop when I was younger and French worked there and I think he’s the best. I spent years trying to draw gory stuff like him, but it just wasn’t for me.

So after drawing French-esque stuff, what was your next move?

The French stuff was always half hearted. I’d start a drawing then give up halfaway through knowing it was just a poor imitation. That was around the time skating took over from drawing and I just doodled cartoons on post-it notes at work. Then I got really heavily into cartoons again, watching loads of them. The Studio Ghibli stuff is great, and Japanese cartoons like Conan Boy of the Future and Mysterious Cities of Gold, Japanese kids’ cartoons, that’s where the cartoon style started to develop. I was reading Bone over and over trying to pick apart how to draw good cartoons at that point too. It was quite methodical really, too bad I fell short of the mark copying them!

After reading Bone loads and tracing it back to Walt Kelly I just wanted to make newspaper strip style stuff. 3 panels or single panels, I got a bit obsessed and started to think that newspaper strip cartoons were the basis for ‘real’ cartoons and that cartoons should stay true to that. I still think that actually. Comics and animated cartoons are just an extension of those newspaper strips I think, a political or social story broken down for the everyman.

What do you think about political or editorial cartoons?

They are the purest form of cartoon. I’m just not smart enough to do them, so I have to break it down to skateboarding, which I think I understand.

I don’t really see a lot of difference between what you do and what guys like Steve Bell and Martin Rowson do, I think you just exist in different contexts. It’s all about ‘speaking truth to power’, right?

Thanks! Yeah totally. I find the world in general, or more specifically humans, pretty hilarious. The way we conduct ourselves and what we think is important is so alien to me. I find most social interactions pretty funny in terms of the ridiculousness of what people think they are supposed to say, and skateboarding is exactly the same. It really is the silliest thing a grown man could do. Super rad but really silly.

I just want to make fun of people that take it seriously, growing up in the London scene is a big part of that. There was and still is a very big focus on ‘being legit’, and when you think you want to impress an older guy on the dole who gets left over trainers from his mate who’s sponsored it’s so daft. It’s all ridiculous.

Hence ‘Serious Adult’?

Yup! Plug time! Serious Adult is pretty early on, but at the moment it’s half a crew/half a clothing company I guess. It’s just an outlet for something creative and fun. We’re putting a video together and doing a few runs of t-shirts to try and fund filming trips and get it out there a bit. Everyone that gets free stuff is into art and looks at skateboarding creatively and are all amazing skaters too. I hope we can make a short edit and get people stoked on having a laugh when skating. Everyone says ‘oh, skating’s just for fun’ but then HAVE to wear the right clothes and do the right tricks. Everyone filming for the video is creative and really has fun skating.

Who’s involved so far?

Jeremy Jones, Jaspar Woolf and Luka Pinto are stacking clips. We’re doing a trip to Sheffield on Saturday and I’ve spoken to Shaun Currie (who I used to know back in London and who might be the funniest skater in England) about it a little, so I’m hoping we can get some footage of him. Both him and Luka have filming commitments at the moment so it might just be a few tricks, I’m not sure, hopefully everyone can get 30 seconds and we can put a 5 minute video out. I’m hoping we can get some Lukas Kacevicius footage too, he rips Southbank and is always happy! Jasper’s been stacking clips, he’s killing it, and shout out George Toland for filming! He’s always keen to go on missions. The crew is coming together well!

So yeah, putting t-shirts out, hopefully more stuff when the money comes in. I just want to make money to take everyone on trips and make rad edits of them. It’s tricky trying to make clothes or a product from cartoons really. I don’t want to just put out a logo t-shirt, because who cares? Buy a Palace or Landscape one if you want to support a skateboard company. I want people to buy it because they think the designs are fun and they like the team.

Have you got many left of the first tee? it looks like most sizes are sold out on your website.

I’ve got about 3 left. I gave a lot out to friends but I just broke even, so the money has funded a smaller run of tees and the filming trip to Sheffield. I’m trying to do it properly, paying for travel, per diems, buying DV tapes. I don’t think people should do something for free, much like illustration.

Have you been approached by any companies to do stuff for them or approached any yourself?

I haven’t approached any myself yet, but I worked a few roughs out for Science, that’s sort of on hold for now I think, we couldn’t quite work out an idea that really grabbed both of us. I’ve been chatting with Matt Bromley from Blast, it looks like something will materialise there which I’m super stoked on, Matt’s a great guy and really thinks deeply about art within skating and Blast is my favourite company, I only ride their boards so I’m super stoked. And Bryce asked me if I wanted to do an exhibition at Parlour. It’s just talks at the moment, but hopefully that will come together soon.

I would like to do boards or graphics in general for companies of course, it’s every skate art nerd’s dream, I just don’t want to jump the gun. If someone’s stoked on my stuff I’d be really chuffed to be approached but it’s still early days for me I guess.

If you could do a board for one pro (doesn’t have to be a current one) who would it be?

Hmm, a tough one… Lavar Mcbride. He’s one of my all time favourite skaters and he was pro during a time when skateboard graphics flourished. You could really do something cheeky with it.

He’s from the right era, he’s the right skater, and you could definitely take the piss in those days. No logo boards then!

What do you think of the state of skateboard graphics at the moment.

There are some amazing people out there, but in general it’s so banal. Just really clean and sanitised and graphic design based. Skateboarding and cartoons really belong together, the 90s proved that. It was the best era for graphics, the most controversial and visually the funniest. I don’t understand how we have gone towards this logo board era. I see kids skating really creatively and having fun all the time, so why are the boards not a reflection of that? Todd Bratrud can put out something well drawn and funny, so what’s everyone else’s excuse? Paul Parker, Matt Bromley, French and other people do hold the candle of course, there are great people out there, but I don’t understand why some graphic designer that doesn’t skate is being hired to make a graphic for a mega-corp company and pass it off as a board. Just put a Monster energy drink logo on it and get the real money if that’s your goal.

James Jarvis’ Blast board is one of my favourites in recent years though, it’s great.

Maybe I should retract that graphic design stuff? Will I get in trouble?

You can if you want but I’m with you 100%!

Yeah fuck it. It’s true.

Also, I doubt Plan B were about to hire you to do a series. Sorry.

Haha! It’s great that you dont have to even say Plan B but we both know that’s what i was talking about in terms of logo boards. I hope Danny Way doesn’t find me and hit me, I’m fragile!

You aren’t gay are you? Then you’d be in real trouble.

That’s a different interview.

Hahaha! Next time.

I totally had sex with a girl this morning! I swear to god. It was great!

Props. I think it’s fair to say that most people who know your work know it from Instagram. When did you start putting things up there?

The longlivesouthbank account put up a rough of a drawing I did for them and i had just got Instagram but didn’t really use it. I saw it had a bunch of likes and being naive didn’t realise anything they put up gets automatic likes so it felt very validating. That’s when I started putting my own stuff out there for the first time really. It felt nice to know people were looking at my stuff and found it funny, which is quite sad for a 28 year old man really. But that’s what Instagram is for.
I find it interesting though, I was chatting to Matt from Blast about it. People think that’s how it works, and I totally fell for it too – if you have likes you have a product, which isn’t true at all. There’s a far shout from 100 or a thousand or whatever people liking your drawing on the internet to handing money over for it on a physical product. It’s the same as skate videos. No one buys them and the market is completely turned on its head. I suppose Sidewalk cutting back from print is the same thing. The internet can be great to put something out there, but it makes us lazier as skaters I think.

Was it Insta love that that prompted you to make Suburbs? Or were you planning that already?

Hmm, I kind of wanted to make it and just put it on my shelf and forget about it but the insta love made me think maybe other people would want to see it too. It’s like when people get addicted to taking selfies. I avoided smart phones for years but now I’m totally sucked in. I’ve become the person I hate. Check me out on Instagram I need validation!

Ha! Well I’m glad you made the jump to putting out a physical comic, and if Instagram helped make that happen then it can’t be all bad. Do you think it’s affected your style or your work in any way?

That’s interesting, because like I said I think single panels or 3 panels are a perfect medium for cartoons and that really lends itself to Instagram, so I would probably do the same thing either way. The next comic is longer and has a mix of single panels, 3 panels and longer comic stories so I don’t think it’s had too much of an effect.

But to a degree, maybe, I’m not sure. I really find it fascinating. It’s really narcissistic and the London scene has a lot of that (clothes, wanting to be seen etc, mainly in the younger generations) so I guess Instagram is a good medium for what I do, or what I’m trying to make fun of.

What’s the plan with the new comic?

It’s just an extension of the Instagram, with some 6 page stories thrown in and interviews with Jeremy Jones and French.

Sounds good! What stage is it at? Will it be out soon?

I just need to wait to see if I can do more than break even on the next run of t-shirts to put it out. For the tees the money model is: break even, keep some money aside for trips and some for the next run. If I dip into it to put the comic out I can’t put out another t-shirt run, because the return money on the comics is so much less than the tees, and if I don’t get a return we cant go on more filming trips.

Hopefully if the Parlour exhibition comes together I’ll sell/give away the comics there.

Good luck with everything! Anything else you want to add?

Shout out Greg Finch. He’s my favourite skater.

Find Greg at seriousadult.com

Tags art, artist, blast skates, cartoon art, cartoons, fanzine, greg conroy, illustration, Jon Horner, magazine, parlour skate shop, sidewalk, skate, skate art, skateboarding

Features

Throwing Rocks at the Villagers Below

Post author By Zac
Post date March 31, 2015

Yesterday it was announced that Sidewalk Magazine will cease as a print entity. In exactly twenty years, several generations of British skaters have contributed to global Blu-tack shortages re-decorating walls with adolescent stoke.

90s hip hop gave way to 2000s gnar, then to 2010s indie brands and mega-corps, whilst Sidewalk remained the go-to title for information, paper cuts and borderline libellous in-jokes hidden in plain sight, outlasting several titles at home and abroad. The market forces at work are so much bigger than skateboarding, with a global shift in the preferences of young people away from print to the instant gratification of social media-linked online platforms – forces that finished titles beloved to our little world, Slap and Sidewalk’s neighbour Document to name a few, as well as enormous titles that mostly deserve our derision, including the almost total death of the 90s crop of ‘lad mags’ Nuts, Zoo, Loaded, Front.

The Sidewalk brand, and the skateboarders behind it, will hopefully live long and well online – as is the strategy (whilst Kingpin, also hosted by the suits at Factory Media, became a free print title over Christmas). But it’s hard not to feel that something has been lost – that skateboarding is at once suddenly less personal and less iconoclastic. Fans of early-to-mid 90s Rocco hijinks, mixed with a particularly British sense of fun and love of shit-talking, Horse and Powell imbued Sidewalk with a unique voice that took the piss out of puff-chested American big names and made the home town heroes feel appreciated. It would be hard to imagine dudes that ‘made it’ whilst staying in the UK most of their careers – Shier, Kennedy, Baines, Vaughn, Chewy to name just a few – getting quite that degree of shine without the reliable patronage of a title with Sidewalk’s level of clout, built up from hard graft and present in every skateshop and on every British skater’s floor (or chronologically ordered on the designated shelf, if you suffer from my obsessive personality traits).

The Berrics obviously believe print still has a role to play, that there is a particular power in a skater having a photo in a physical format, as they only recently chose to buy out and continue the respected-but-struggling Skateboarder magazine.

But predicting the future for print.…especially if you’ve got fidgety shareholders to keep happy….is anyone’s guess. Somehow chasing the same customer base of ‘thinking-man’s skate geek.’ We have the free titles, many of them heavily supported in exchange for advertising by Adidas, Nike and Converse, such as Grey and Fluff. We have the one-man-labour-of-love titles like North, Varial and Florecast, and the more expensive, high-concept or limited run titles like Dank and 43. If you were to claim it’s the cover price alone that puts print in such a tricky place, how do you explain Dank? A quality Scandinavian coffee-table mag, heavily influenced by fashion, art and design magazines, that retails for the equivalent of £10 a pop and is sufficiently successful to make the jump to English-language from its original Norwegian.

As the teen market has jumped to phone-app based media, Sidewalk’s challenge has been to keep hold of enough of the 25+ expendable income market for print, whilst maintaining enough reach across the younger demographic with their online content. As long as the online content plays second fiddle to print deadlines, that’s tough to do. And when you look at the Factory Media website, under ‘who we are’, you see exactly the market Sidewalk’s holding company expects its skate titles to aim for: aged 10 to 28 – the youngest and (one of) the smallest demographic targeted.

Illustration by Jon Horner

So although we’re not now, and hopefully will never be, mourning the loss of Sidewalk as an entity and group of humans, it’s probably much more than generational angst affecting me and many others with a sense of sadness (as older skaters bitterly note the change in cultural weather towards something chillier and less permanent than those comforting spare-room archives of ink and paper). Two things are lost to be precise: skateboarding is inherently tactile – the feel of grip tape, the smooth graphic of a new board, the physical act of turning a page and pouring over a photograph – an experience lessened through a screen; and that iconoclasm again. If your online content needs to hoover up likes, tweets, follows and shares from Factory’s target 10 to 28 age group – what about the swearing and piss taking?

Skateboarding becomes somehow more ‘public’, less of a cluster of secret, sometimes warring societies – if you say something cheeky about a snotty top-tier pro, they can immediately see, share, sue or lobby sponsors to remove those all important ads. Everything gets safer – and only the indie websites, with little to lose by way of advertising (or at least advertisers who know what they’re getting themselves in for – take Quartersnacks: Supreme may be many things, but afraid of a little controversy it ain’t).

So that’s where I’d like to leave – on what Sidewalk in my early days of skating meant. I desperately wanted to feel part of skateboarding – that unknowable, mysterious thing owned by the cooler, older dudes in my hometown, that I could never be part of (at least before moving to somewhere more tolerant of over-earnest, socially awkward groms). Reading Sidewalk – particularly the tour articles penned by Horse or Powell, made me feel part of that secret society. And introduced me to some excellent wonky, booze-fuelled writing. The photographers of Sidewalk have been rightly praised as some of the best in the game: Wig, Bartok, Leo, CJ, Horse himself, etc. – but the writing, especially early on (Uncle Someone’s Wold of Something; Vincent Carducci’s record reviews), was/is fucking excellent – up there with the lauded Big Brother alumni Carnie and Nieratko.

At 17/18, with the exception of stuff, a cool English teacher got us to read (Orwell, Aldous Huxley) the written world was dull – something you had to study, on pain of a Monday morning bollocking, not something that brought on the stoke. Before Kerouac, HST, Burroughs and Bukowski opened my eyes to how weird, wrong and punk the written word could be, I read, and re-read the Sidewalk tour articles. Two clearly remembered anecdotes stick, both from Dope clothing tours: Frank Stephens and Colin Pope standing high on a hill, drunk out of their minds, throwing small stones at a village below – transformed by elevation and perspective to mean-spirited giants throwing boulders at tiny peasants; and the trip to Japan, where jet-lagged travellers were jolted awake by Harry Bastard with his head out of the window, squawking back at the early morning crows – fully inhabiting his title of ‘the Bastard’. It may lose something in the leaden re-telling, but, alone in my room, I laughed my ass off several times over both mental pictures. And that was British skating, underdogs fucking around – not athletes giving lifestyle advice.

Now go find Buck Rogers after, or whilst perusing this site of course…you’re a child of modernity, you can do both.

Words: Chris Lawton

Thanks to all of the skateboarders that have grafted daily for two decades to bring us humour and the best skating out there in print under intense deadlines for Sidewalk Surfer and Sidewalk Mag. There are no words to describe the dedication involved and the joy that your team brought to so many skateboarders over those 20 years, and long may it live online. Sidewalk Mag RIP. – Zac

Reminisce Andrew Horsley and Ben Powell’s finest moments in our 200th Issue feature. Facebook is indeed wank.

Features Home Skateboarding

Zenga Bros – Skate Heads interview

Post author By Zac
Post date March 5, 2015

Skate and Create. It’s the fundamental reason why we all started pushing these damn planks in the first place and once mastered, the idea bank can be an endless pool of fun. This week’s stoke is found in British Columbia, Canada where Benny and brother Christian Zenga, (two of four creative brothers, aka the Zenga Bros), have created an adventure that only the forward thinkers achieve.

This is not the first time the Zenga Bros have excited us from their home country though, back in 2011 an explosive video edit shot in the infamous Leeside Tunnel for Halloween spread through the web. It captured the carnage and annihilation of an electrifying skate sesh that most would want an invite to, even if it meant getting burnt to shreds in the process.

You can see that at the end of this feature but today, our homage to their work relates to their new film project released this week, so before Benny discusses how this awesome project came together, take in Skate Heads.

Easy Benny, congrats on the new edit, how did this concept come to fruition?

So this artist/curator/mastermind Jeff Hamada, who runs a popular art blog called Booooooom, approached us about collaborating on an art project. For this project, Jeff initiated what he calls “an ongoing collaboration between Booooooom and Flexfit, to give emerging creators a chance turn a dream project into reality”. That’s pretty much what it was. We came up with Skate Heads as a way of combining a bunch of things we really like: mobile living spaces, DIY skateboarding and ECCENTRIFING THE WORLD! It’s about bringing something unexpected into the streets and having a rad time.

Ph: When was the last time you rowed to the sesh, in the sesh?

Making skateable objects and getting it right can be difficult, especially when it comes to taking it to railways and water, how did you all decide on what to build for this?

The Genesis of the project was my brother Christian’s sketchbook. Christian has been developing a series of ‘graffiti living’ pieces, which are micro studio spaces, installed in unexpected places around the city. The idea is to become graffiti. We see these installations as urban lighthouses which remind us to do unexpected things, ignite curiosity and bring creativity into our daily lives so the different pieces in Skate Heads evolved naturally.

Since moving to Vancouver a few years ago, I always wanted my own boat. Often when I see boats sitting out of the water and turned upside down, I think that’d make a rad jump ramp or grindable ledge. So I found an old wooden boat and accentuated certain features to make it more skateable. I built a pronounced bow and added a grindable keel. Then we painted it to look like a giant head. We wanted each piece to have distinct characteristics in each stage of its transformation; whether as a boat in the water, or as a giant head when it’s hoisted up, and as a completely a skateable obstacle when it’s turned over.

The rail ramp: well, we love tiny houses. We grew up building mini ramps and we’re always looking to make use of discarded spaces. Combining these things was obvious to us.

Ph: Nate Lacoste sails a fatty over the boat.

It must have been a huge amount of work to put together and with a heavy load, especially with the rail ramp.

It was a lot of work, an exhausting amount of work. It was, at times, totally brutal. We built all the ramps in two weeks and shot the video over two days. The video involved moving a number of these skateable structures around the city, one of them being a halfpipe with cabins built on either end. The rail ramp was very heavy and we moved it all by hand. The night mission to install the rail ramp was ridiculous. We pushed it 500 yards down a derelict train track in the dark. There were fallen hydro poles in the way and vines and wires which we tripped over in the dark. It was so ridiculous and demanding that we couldn’t help but laugh at ourselves. But then at the same time, pushing and dragging that cabin-ramp down the tracks and finally reaching our destination under the bridge, everyone involved shared an immense sense of satisfaction. It was such a rad adventure.

Ph: Adam Hopkins takes a backside boneless on the cabin.

In a nutshell, what is Skate Heads?

Skateboarding is inherently about adapting and repurposing the urban landscape, but somehow even skateboarding can settle into a complacent state, where certain approaches become the norm. When street skating first started it was weird and abrasive, and that’ll always be there with wheels rattling down the sidewalk, but it’s good to remind ourselves to maintain a sense of foolishness, exploration and wonder; that is skateboarding. For us, making a backyard ramp was the ultimate form of creating our own adventure playground. Skate Heads has been a continuation of that.

Photography courtesy of Gordon Nicholas. Find the Zenga Bros (below) on FB and Insta.

That Leeside jam has to be seen again…

Features Home Skateboarding

Exposed: Supertoxic Urethane

Post author By Zac
Post date March 2, 2015

Supertoxic have been carving out their reputation for producing quality urethane since its inception back in July 2011. As a true skater owned company, it’s run from the heart and also very active, as opposed to one of those brands that launches, fades and becomes something that is just seen on the internet. This all takes time and hard graft of course and that’s why ST has grown more than you would imagine, leaving it’s homegrown mark on pavements and parks all over Europe right now.

Their first full length video, We’re Working On It, is pure British beef, made up of a team of reprobates living all over the UK who live for the skull and give owner Mike Crisp everything in return. This Exposed feature is made up of tales from everyone involved in doing what they love the most: skateboarding and enjoying life.

Watch Ross Zajac’s exclusive curtain closer part from the DVD premiering here today:

What influenced you to run a wheel company Mike?

I’ve been skating for years but studying at uni due to a badly broken ankle, beer, work and a girlfriend got in the way, so it took a back seat for longer than I care to think about. When I finished university I was left newly single with plenty of holiday savings in the bank and a good friend of mine, James Headford was running his own little board brand, Deadmen Skateboards. All the local kids in the Accrington/Clitheroe area were really backing it so it was interesting to watch. As a kid I’d always wanted to have a brand, painting my own decks and making stickers, so I thought this was the time to throw myself head-first back into the skate scene. With Headford already doing the local board brand thing I had a think about it and couldn’t really think of any wheel specific brands in the UK. There were plenty of board co’s with wheels but nothing that was all about the urethane only, so I just went for it.

How long does it take for the wheels to be moulded and ready to skate?

The wheels take around 4 weeks from finalising artwork to hitting the streets. The current duro I use is nice and hard to help with the prevention of flatspots but not too hard that they are too slippy, using nothing but great quality urethane. I am currently working on a few new things with different durometers, sizes, riding surfaces etc. They are all the in the early stages but prepare to see more variation throughout 2015.

Tell us how you managed to get this DVD project off the ground?

As an avid skate DVD collector it seemed an obvious step to start working on a video at some point. I guess it’s a good introduction to the brand and who we are, with a full team and a good group of mates with cameras. We were always naturally filming when we went out so one day I just decided “This is day 1, let’s make a video”.

Did Adam Todhunter naturally fit as the main man on filming duties?

Adam is one of team rider Ross Zajac’s best mates, he was always part of the crew on trips with the team and always down to film, and he’d helped me out a lot with photos and footage of Ross before filming for the video, so for me, he was the obvious choice.

Reading the various stories below from the riders, Berlin seemed to be a popular location for everyone.

Yeah, filming properly kicked off with a big team trip to Berlin. Most of us had never visited the city before and as it is well known for amazing spots we all agreed it should be first on the list. After that, most filming missions were dotted all over the UK, mainly to cities where team riders lived or where we had friends so we could pick up decent spot tour guides and have sofas and floors to crash on.

How long did it take until you were certain the DVD was complete?

It took about 2 years. The original plan was one year but as British weather and skateboarding don’t mix too well the project just continued until we were happy with what we had.

The title happened on its own really. We dropped a bunch of teaser trailers saying were working on a video, but at the time we had no idea of a name. Rye at Sidewalk posted them up one day with the title “We’re working on it” and from there it kind of just stuck. I liked it because as a smaller brand, that’s exactly what we were doing. We still have a long way to go and will always be working on new things and ways to push the brand and team.

ADAM TODHUNTER:

Ross Zajac and I grew up skating together in the same small town in Cumbria. The majority of ‘We’re Working On It’ was filmed on weekend trips due to people working on other projects with their local filmers, or not having access to HD. At the time I wasn’t working on any solo projects and neither was Ross, so we were able to fully focus on putting all our effort into filming his part.

Before we even started filming for the video we were on a trip in Milton Keynes to film a weekend edit with Ross and Joey Hurst who rode for Supertoxic at the time. This was when Ross did the wallride that’s at the end of his part. I think it’s so funny and rad that the first trick we filmed ended up being the last trick in the video! So much for last minute hammers.

The Berlin trip we went on in Spring 2013 was the gnarliest! I originally intended just to be tagging along with the crew shooting some photos here and there. But as soon as we landed I found out that the filmer who was meant to be coming on the trip dropped out weeks ago! Luckily I had brought all my gear with me, so it ended up being one of the most intense weeks of my life trying to capture 9 dudes single handedly. Haha! Sometimes I was filming 3 or 4 lines at a time, so just as everyone landed their tricks and I thought I’d be able to sit down for half an hour or half a bit of a skate, someone else would start trying something and I couldn’t resist – followed by trying to get people hyped to do it again for a photo while all anyone wanted to do was leave the spot. I think after only the second day I was struggling to walk in the evenings.

Mostly we tried to film throughout the day and go back out in the evening for round two, just so I had the chance to recharge my batteries. While filming at the famous bench spot I had to run and buy a coffee from a café nearby and sweet talk them into letting me put my batteries on charge while we skated outside!

In just one week we managed to hit so many spots and everyone smashed it to their hardest. A few stand out tricks for me were Charlie’s big spin fs boardslide on an 8 stair rail while everyone else was sat still eating their breakfast! All of the tricks that went down at the fountain dish spot too. That thing is so gnarly! The gap in is big, the landing is rough as hell, there’s a spike in the middle of the dish (which looking back on footage people cover over with hoodys… I guess it never crossed our minds). Some guy even sat down at the roll up to clean his moped with baby wipes at one point! Oh and Radman’s switch pop drop into the huge Alexanderplatz banks mid being kicked out of the spot! Sorry for filming it badly Radderz, that trick deserved some drone action! Anyway, although it was one the most intense weeks of my life I felt privileged to spend it with the Supertoxic guys and be able to capture the whole week.

DANNY ABEL:

I’d never actually met any of these boys before this video. I’d only heard of most of them because of their radness on a skateboard. I was 17 at the time and was super stoked to be asked to come on a trip with these dudes. I boarded a flight from Gatwick to Berlin and was greeted by two northerners, Ross and Adam. They liked taking the piss out of me for being a ‘cockney’, therefore I was called Oliver Twist for the rest of trip! Ha! I still couldn’t believe I was skating with these guys. You can take these dudes to ANY spot and they will walk away with a trick in the bag. For example the drained out fountain that looks like a giant penny, (you know the spot) – you gotta pop in and pop out, like a second later…..that shit’s hard to skate. Yet these boys where chucking tricks out of it just like that – fingerflip, back 180, back foot flip, no complies. Charlie just kickflipping into it every go, then nollie biggies out – it was madness. I just sat down and appreciated the session going off. Not only do these geezers kill it on a skateboard but they know how to have fun. As I said I was 17 at the time so didn’t really have my club/rave virginity taken, so a few of them got some booze in me and took me some gnarly like techno/psychedelic garage rave! Haha! It was the funniest night watching German ravers chew their own faces off on high grade ecstasy and throwing some mad shapes with the crew. The next day felt super toxicated! Haha!

ROSS ZAJAC:

As you guessed, Berlin was our main trip filming for the video. The full team and homies were there and had all flown in from all over the UK so we all met up at the hostel. The main thing I always remember on this trip is on the second or third day in we set off to find a spot and we passed a handrail on the way there. We hadn’t even had breakfast yet but a couple of the lads got rolling up while I ran across to the bakers for some food. I got back and I hadn’t even had chance to finish a croissant before Charlie had thrown down two or three hammers and he didn’t slow down throughout the entire trip.

MARK RADDEN:

I’ve had so many funny and rad times hanging with this crew skating and traveling over the last few years. The spots, sessions and brews have always popped off. Everyone’s been shredding and seeing that myself first hand and the motivation and dedication of the filmers and the riders towards the video project really got me stoked to go skate. I think that is what it’s all about in the end – good times with the homies skateboarding.

This one time the whole gang came down to Harlow and I think I slept 14 people in my one bedroom flat up on the 13th floor! So dope that everyone was down to make the effort and get together to skate and make shit happen. I didn’t even have enough mugs to make all the heads a tea on wake up! Now that’s some next shit. (And 10 outta 10 for commitment for the bae’s who got no tea or coffee that day. Soldiers. much love). I’ve got a few good memories of heading out to Accrington too, the Pearl of the North, stuck in traffic. Six hours later, pints and flaming sambucca’s were out! Doing this before hitting street spots the next day is heavy speciality if you travel all that way there to hit the MEN ten rail, only to find that when you finally get there, the classy lass at maccy D’s has just washed the floor! That 4.5 hour drive home with no attempts is long but you gotta laugh!

LLOYD MCLEGGON:

One of the things that stood out for me was Danish breaking his bloody finger in Berlin, the tool! We were at a spot with a whole bunch of ledges that sloped up at the end (the ones that Charlie did the bs nosegrind along and up in the video). Danish was trying a nose manny along up, and then switch manual back along. However, this wasn’t working out all that well until he decided to take a slam and break his finger. The fool then lands the damn thing literally a couple tries after! So if you’re struggling with something…break a finger, apparently it helps. Haha!

JAMES HEADFORD

As the official ‘Toxic taxi driver’ I have seen this company grow from nothing to what it is today and needless to say it’s been sick to watch it grow. All the lads on the team kill it and I’m glad to call them friends. Big man Ross is my fucking hero, always killing it! I still can’t get over that he went for that rail at the end of the video, just stupid. There have been loads of top times with the Toxic lads traveling all over the UK, Berlin, to Paris and I would love to go on for ages about how sick it all was, but I can’t, because we drank a lot and I can’t remember most of them. I hope Supertoxic and the lads keep killing it for years to come!

LIAM ‘DANISH’ PALMER

The Supertoxic crew has been a really rad buzz since the beginning! Everyone’s excitement to skate, friendly vibe, different backgrounds, positivity, sick designs and the chance to skate with some really rad dudes is what got me hyped in the first place. The lads fucking smash it and we’ve had some really rad times! Whilst filming for the flick we tripped to Berlin, I checked the spots out beforehand and got rare excited to go and do that place over. Haha! We stayed in the grottiest, minging hostel. The room stank of foot cheddar, gwuaarn smoke and mouldy beverages and I swear the water in the shower came out like wallpaper paste, but sod it, who needs a wash anyway!

One of my favourite sessions in Berlin was the spot in the middle of the road and tram tracks where there’s like 10 blocks or some shit – we got bare steamin’ and got money back from the beer bottles to buy more beer! I love that city, though the beer did manage to get the better of me. I threw my board in a paddy and hit the new crew member Danny ‘gammon clan’ Abel smack in the back of his head! Jeez, I felt like a dick, but we drank and smoked and skated ’til our legs were no more! Supertoxic is one of the most positive influences in my life! What a bunch of legends.

Another instance that springs to mind was way back on a trip to Barcelona filming for one of the first tings! We had skated our souls smooth, smoked and drank for a good percentage of the day, smashed a full English at some sound British food joint just round from Macba and then got on the jugs of Sangria! It was like 4 euro or something ridiculous for a baths worth of the stuff, so the bossman Mike Crisp and me took full advantage! We skated Macba for hours that night, I snapped my board and like two or three of the lads were doing nollie biggies off the Macba ledge next to the steps. Fucking amazing times.

ROB SANDERSON

So many different things that stand out whilst filming for the ‘Toxic video, mainly Berlin stuff traveling to spots we had seen in videos and other places that locals told us about. The entire trip was one long laugh, from getting to the airport (where Danish missed his fight) to stories about all night discothèques with Headford’s trench foot stinking out the one room we all shared the following day!

The raddest thing of that whole trip was watching Danny Abel heelflip bodyvarial the double set at the Berlin museum. Seeing that set in person to see actually how long it is gives me so much more respect for anyone who’s done a trick down it.

It’s always a good skate meeting up with the guys every now and then, even though everyone is spread pretty much around the country and rarely see each other, each time we meet up it’s like we only just saw each other yesterday. Big up’s to Adam Todhunter for the majority of the filming & editing the whole thing, because if everyone else is a pain in the arse for filming like me he’s handled it like a trooper!

Shout outs

Firstly, I would like to say the biggest thank you to Adam Todhunter, as without him the video wouldn’t be what it is. I’m stoked he was involved. He filmed and edited it better than I could’ve imagined. Skateboarders are a pain in the ass at the best of times, I include myself as one of the worst, but he was always motivated and got shit done. Also Isaac Wilkinson contributed a good chunk of the filming too, so thanks for being part of it! Then of course the whole team for contributing to some of the funniest times of my life so far as well as shredding on a daily basis. – Mike Crisp

Visit Supertoxicurethane.co.uk for the full monty. Thanks to Adam Todhunter for the footage and photos.

Tags i five distribution, mike crisp, skateboard, skateboard wheel, skateboard wheels, super, supertoxic, team, team interview, toxic, urethane

Features Home Skateboarding

Outlaw Scum Fucks

Post author By Zac
Post date February 10, 2015

9. Carry bolt cutters everywhere.
10. Thwart institutional cowardice.
11. Ask for forgiveness, not permission.
12. Take your fate into your own hands.
13. Learn to read the inner essence of a landscape.
14. Ignite the fire within and explore unknown territory.

Werner Herzog – A Guide for the Perplexed.

Riding a skateboard is hard and dirty, often anti social and habitually painful. It’s noisy and obnoxious and you spend most of your time covered in the shit and detritus the modern urban sprawl leaves in its wake. Up until fairly recently, it was also about the least cool thing you could spend your time doing. (As a kid, I’ve been decked more than a couple of times whilst out on plank, for no other reason than being a kid, out on plank, and was steadfastly called a greb all throughout comprehensive school, which was admittedly a fair few years ago, pre mainstream usurping/commodification of skate culture and fashion.)

If you ride a skateboard, you know this; it’s your day in, day out existence and if you don’t, it really doesn’t matter and you don’t need to know about it. The same can be said about Anti Hero. It’s exclusive in a completely non-wanky or pretentious way. You either know, or you don’t. Get involved and get some, or don’t bother and don’t worry about it.

I recently spent sometime out on the West Coast of the U.S.A., hitching-hiking, skating and drifting about the spiritual home of the useless wooden toy with my plank, my tent and not much else. It was my Al Hajj, and it was pretty much perfect.

Skating down N. Fairfax Avenue in LA beneath huge billboards advertising Diamond and D.G.K. and what have you, surrounded by the celebrity oi polloi of Twatplankville was kind of a trip, but was a million miles from what I know and hold dear as skateboarding. Skidding, falling over and boozing with the SF scumbags down on Potrero Park and Lower Bobs, watching Andy Roy et al. screech about the place made more sense.

There’s an investment in and a thirst for life with those guys; for the kind of life that means getting off ya arse and making the world around you the sort of world you want to live in, which instantly makes posturing or vogueing or whatever fad is in that week null and void, completely redundant.

Lower Bobs, the DIY spot out in West Oakland that the 18/Our Life guys poured on a bit of wasteland squeezed between the highway and Pine St. perfectly encapsulates what I’m trying to get at here, except in blood, sweat, ‘crete and grinds, and is a hundred times more profound than this hokum and jive. Language is pointless stood up next to wailing slash grinds and speed lines at that place.

Skateboarding doesn’t need words or sports companies, or limited edition collabs…it needs action. Go put Fucktards and 2 Songs and Destination Unknown in ya pie-holes, get stoked then go get some.

Words/photo: Dave Bevan

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Features Home Skateboarding

The Natas and Gonz Book – Ed Syder interview

Post author By Zac
Post date February 6, 2015

As tributes go there’s nothing better to keep than an illustrated book, especially when so many dons with pen and ink skills around the world club together to assist in making Ed Syder‘s dream come true. His new 52 page book, that pays homage to legendary skaters Natas Kaupas and Mark Gonzales, came to life after a successful crowdfunding exercise and is currently flying off the shelves this month and admired by many.

Obviously it took a lot of work to piece together so we asked participating illustrator and top dude Jon Horner to delve into how this all came together with Ed himself.

JH – Tell us where this all started. Was it an image or a story? Was the idea for the book fully formed from the start or was it something that you ran with?

ES – I had the idea of doing a ‘Janet & John’ style kids book, but with skaters. That grew out of doing an alphabet of pro skaters just before. Getting others involved meant it all happened quicker than it would if it was just me making a zine.

JH – And why Gonz and Natas in particular?

ES – I’d just seen those videos about them skating together like that ‘On Video’ about Natas. It was gonna either be them or Neil & Lance.

JH – Any plans to do a sequel? A Neil and Lance book would be rad!

ES – Yeah that’d be good. I’d rather someone else did all the crowd funding/posting the books out. My evenings are just filling Jiffy bags at the moment.

JH – Haha! It seems like the Indiegogo campaign was fairly successful then, how did that come together?

ES – I raised a grand which was enough to make 100 books/sticker sheets and 30 t-shirts. I’d hoped to get more printed by raising more but hey, whatever. The books are almost all gone, so maybe I’ll get some more printed up if there’s enough interest.

JH – That’s great news. I saw that the Palomino have been selling copies too, did you approach any other skate shops/distributors or did you want to keep it DIY?

ES – Nick (Sharratt from Palomino) was into stocking it, as was Larry from Pure Fun Skate Zine in the states. Beach gallery in London were in touch this week, so if I get some more made they’ll be stocking it. I’m new to all of this but everyone’s been really cool so far.

JH – So have you heard from Gonz and Natas? Natas seems pretty keen on it on Instagram…

ES – Yeah that’s amazing. Thomas Campbell tagged him in a post a while back, then he sent me his address so the book’s on the way.

JH – That’s so rad!

ES – Your strip in the book was pretty great. How did you find doing that? I’m interviewing you now…

JH – Haha! The old Tennessee switcheroo! I loved doing it. Natas and Gonz have had some of the best graphics ever so it was really fun to try and get them all together somehow.

JH – If you had to pick one of each, which Gonz and Natas boards would you take to a desert island?

ES – I really like that Blind Gonz with the green woman and the guy on a dog leash. I had it on a t-shirt for years, it pretty much crumbled into pieces.

Oh, and an SMA Natas kitten with the ball of wool. My little brother had that deck.

JH – What else are you working on at the moment?

ES – I’ve done a couple of boards for The Friend Ship and I’m doing another tee for Metro Skateboarding and one for Pure Fun zine.

Oh nice! I like how The Friend Ship is becoming a little American haven for UK artists.

ES – Oh yeah, I liked your Blender one.

JH – Cheers!

ES – And Phil Morgan (who’s in the book) did that sweet Louie Barletta deck. Logo boards suck anyway, so this is all good.

JH – Yeah, I think that was meant to be a Jason Park pro board but he jumped ship (pun fully intended). He’s done another for them too that isn’t out yet.

ES – Ha, I did a Jason Park board as well for a company that never happened.

JH – Oh really?

ES – Joel from Metro was trying to set up company that did one off pro models, but I guess there wasn’t the money. It was a Bert and Ernie graphic with Jason Park written like Sesame Street.

JH – How did you get involved with Metro?

ES – Joel was Corey Duffel’s first shop sponsor. So he got in touch off the back of the board I did for Foundation. Well, the contest I won.

This is like six degrees of Kevin Bacon!

JH – Haha!

ES – Who’s the Kevin Bacon of skateboarding?

JH – Someone who’s been on a lot of companies…

ES – They could have it on the Berrics.

JH – Marc Johnson?

ES – Kris Markovich!

JH – Yes! Good call! Plus he had a Wight Trash guest board so you can link him to loads of UK guys too.

ES – There’s your next Sidewalk comic right there.

JH – Alright, trial run. Nyjah to Kris Markovich, go!

ES – Nyjah doesn’t think girls should skate, something something Warpaint video.

JH – Ha! Good work. If you could do a board for anyone in the world who would it be and why?

ES – Lizzie Armanto pro model. Or one of the Bones Brigade.

JH – Nice. Why?

ES – 1. She is stupidly good and 2. I like drawing girls.

I’ve kinda done a Tommy Guerrero tribute for the Friendship boards.

JH – Oh cool, the flaming dagger board?

ES – Of course.

JH – Do you know when it’s coming out?

ES – The next ‘season’ I think (whenever that is).

JH – Final question. Taking everything into account (skating/art/impact on you when you were a grom etc), Natas or Gonz?

ES – Woah….

JH – I realise it’s an extremely unfair question.

ES – I’ll say Gonz. The first picture of skating I ever saw: Mark Gonzales skating a vert ramp in an old RAD mag in about ’87 or ’88.

The Natas & Gonz book is A) rad B) only a tenner and C) available from these fine outlets:

1. edsyder.bigcartel.com
2. thepalomino.com
3. And will soon be available from cavages.com

Be quick…

Features Skateboarding

Scott ‘Horsey’ Walker interview

Post author By Zac
Post date January 15, 2015

Photos: Rob Galpin
Interview: Dan Cates

It’s been a full seven years since we last spoke to Horsey. Since then he uprooted from his beloved Death Skateboards, left the country, signed up for the good times at Self Help and then returned back to blighty with an obsession for big arse motorbikes. With this new Brixton clip in tow, Dan Cates abuses him with words and delves into his new life in Epping.

For the record Horsey was: “willing to give away a used t-shirt for all the female fans. Bieber style.” Watch this space.

What sort of a name is Horsey, and how does a guy go about getting such a strange alias?

The name originally came from a pal in Harlow who looked like Boy George and his only comeback was that I had hair like a horse. Nobody really paid much attention to that, but then somehow you heard it Dan and you wouldn’t let it go. Think, to get a good nickname to stick you need a friend much like yourself to constantly keep saying it over and over at the top of their lungs until everyone around you gets in on it and keeps calling you it too! You should probably get this friend to then introduce you to strangers with the nickname and just insist on calling you this dumb name. Thanks for that.

Is it because you have a weird nick-name that you are so stoked on Peter Faggot Eyes? Explain your obsession with Faggot Eyes?

Peter Faggot Eyes is indeed a hero of mine. For those who don’t know Peter was Jason Jesse’s replacement on the first KOTR as Jason couldn’t be arsed to go, so he sent his buddy. We religiously watched that dvd for weeks and then we tried to track him down in his home town of Santa Cruz but he got away. He’s a true life inspiration to both of us.

Tell us the one about getting arrested as a kid for steeling Cats Eyes off the middle of the road, I love that one?

That was just a classic case of kids being dumb. Some friends and I were skating in Cambridge and we took the train back to the nearest station to Saffron Walden, which was 2 miles from the town. We all cleverly thought it would be a good idea on the skate back to pop the cats eyes out the middle of the road. I can’t remember what plans we had but it seemed like a victimless crime we thought nothing about, until the police pulled up and arrested us all. I didn’t want it coming back to my dad so I made them take me to my mum’s as she was a lot friendlier with these sort of things.

Ph: Cates is not the only wallie on this page.

My other favourite young Horsey story is the one about when you got your ear pierced when you were 3 years old, were you some kind of hooligan as a kid?

I don’t really think I was a hooligan, but my dad was all about West Ham and going to the pub and that kind of stuff. He’s a bit of a skinhead but not into nothing too gnarly. I just remember having a ear-ring when I was really young and my Dad had about 5 and big sovereign rings and bleached Levi’s! When I lived with him for a bit he would always blast the Sex Pistols really early on a Saturday morning! I hated it at first but then I got into it. Same with my Mum. She was the biggest Bowie fan and I used to laugh at her because she went to see him and fainted at the show but eventually I got into it too.

Why does your Dad look so much like Duane Peters, has he ever skated?

I have no clue why he has modeled himself on Duane but no, he has never skated. He was 17 in 1977 so he was all about the Sex Pistols and The Clash and then got into Madness, PIL etc. He’s never really grown up or grown out of his punk days I suppose. Even nowadays still wears his ripped jeans and Doc Martin boots even though he has done a runner and lives in Spain.

Ph: Of course he dropped in from the top of this..tut.

Why were you so quiet when we first met you?

That was back in the day when I had only just started hanging out with the Harlow crowd and I met you on route to Australia on a Bigworms trip. In honesty, I was fanning out a little on you because I had seen you on all the videos and in the mags and you was well cool. Plus, the only guy I really knew on that particular trip was my buddy Crook from Saffron Walden and he had managed to piss everyone off and get hated so I tried to keep my head down and not get any abuse off you or Dibs!

Do you think I’m fit?

Bare fit.

How did you end up living in my garage?

Well after we met in Australia and you fell in love with me we became good friends. 6 months after Australia we went kept the good times going and went to Barcelona and even tho you punched me in the face at that skate bar Manolos, you still liked me enough to invite me to live in your garage in Harrow. I don’t think I even came down to see it as it was a no brainer and I spent 5 years in that dirty, dank, stinking garage. It was the most fun though being in the Death house. We had the ramp in the garden and every weekend there was some crew of degenerates staying over. The living room just constantly stunk of feet and there was shit everywhere. It was great and everything I imagined it would be except there was never any girls about.

Obviously getting sponsored by Death was by far the raddest thing to ever happen to you, but how did it come about?

That all came about by accident really. I had moved in with you guys and obviously in the back of my mind I wanted to get on the team but I didn’t want to be to eager or try hard. I had a bunch of footage that Nicholson had kindly put together and I think he showed it to Zorlac and then it all went from there. Straight away we did the Squadrophenia tour and then it was 5 years of non-stop trips and best times. Basically, deep down I owe everything to you and we both know that but we don’t speak about it.

Admit that quitting Death was a big mistake?

That’s not even a question. I expected a lot more from you as you have done a lot of these interviews over the last 30 years. My time on death was amazing! We did the best trips to the craziest places and we had the most fun. It came to the point where I had ten opportunity to take a risk and try something new and I went for it. I was living in the states and all over most the year, and Todd is my homeboy so I went for it. I could of easily rode for Death forever and been happy, but I wanted to get involved in something new. Death had got pretty huge and I felt like it wasn’t as tight as it was back in the day. I love Nick and everyone to bits and didn’t want to bum anyone out but I had had to go for it.

What is your plan for getting back on Death?

I’m waiting for you to finally retire then I’m down to get back on.

Ph: Rough as horse shit wallie blunt.

I want to know your favourite transition trick, your favourite street trick, and your favourite flat ground trick, and why you like them?

Any kind of air is my favourite transition trick. I have always liked the look of people flying about but I can’t really do any. If I do manage to do something then a little backside air or lien air makes me feel good. As for street all I wanna do is kickflips all day long like Reynolds. Everything else is like a bonus. I haven’t really got it in me to try and flip my board all over the place. I just wanna do kickflips and some pole jams and maybe a wallie or too. If you watch the clip you can see that.

Who do you like filming and shooting photos with the most?

My favourite filmer in the world is Jake Martinelli. He’s the most fun guy to go skate with and down to film anything and make it look good. Also, Jackson Casey is a true gent and a genius to film with when I’m over his way in the states. As for photographers, here Rob G is a rad guy to just go out with and see what happens and get some goods. My other 2 loves are Sam Maguire and Matt Price. It’s always a guaranteed good time when those guys are about.

Ph: Rugged and Raw.

Tell us a little bit about your own photography?

My photography is the ultimate budget set up. I have always had disposables and shitty 35mm things that I’ve taken about everywhere. I don’t really know what I like taking pictures of but I always get random bits and bobs from all over the place. I wish I could be a little more proper, maybe even step up and go digital but then I would feel like I’m cheating on film. Also it’s way to much hassle having proper pricey gear as I’m so forgettful and clumsy. I bought a 35mm camera the other day, took it into London and left it on the train at the first stop I got off at.

When I move to the seaside are you looking forward to coming to visit me?

Oh mate, for sure. I cant wait to come party in your new house. Why else would you bother having a house if it’s not just to have no rules party every weekend! I’ve seen how you have done things at house parties over the years so I wanna just give back some radness to you.

Let’s talk about your current situation and how it came about, because I am still amazed by it. You live in a big house on the edge of Epping Forest with your smoking hot girlfriend and you have a Harley Davidson. Take me through it step by step and tell us how it happened?

Ah man, I have no idea what’s going on. I got the Harley for a very reasonable price in parts and built it with my buddy Barry. As for the girl and house, that’s just me being very lucky/buff. I try not to be a arsehole as much as I can and I guess it’s paying off.

Ph: Pole jammin’ as standard.

Obviously your job at M6 Footwear is a rad situation as well, tell us about that?

Well that’s another case of just being really lucky and everything working out. I managed to do my knee in when I was in Vegas then when I came back a little while later my shoe and clothing sponsor decided to kick me off the team and stop paying me and not tell me. After being broke and fucked I then needed knee surgery to sort it out, so I was in a bit of a state and luckily Steve Hemming who was running Motel 6 skateshop needed a little help moving boxes into a warehouse, so he gave me a some work. I managed to keep pestering him and he let me do other jobs which then slowly developed into me getting proper involved at M6footwear.com. I kinda owe a lot to Hemming, so thanks for that mate! He’s the one of the best people I know and working with him is radical! I managed to get him into building motorbikes too which has made work even better.

Ph: One-footed Horses are usually shot like this.

What about the time you went on tour with Muska and Greco?

That was a pretty surreal week. I somehow winged my way onto a trip to Paris for my old shoe sponsor and it was Muska, Greco, Ellington etc. It was like my 14 year old selfs, ultimate wet skate dream and I was just chucked into the middle of all those radical guys. As you can imagine it was awesome, but Muska managed to blow his knee out and Greco got in a couple fights. One was with a taxi driver as Greco was upset the guy didn’t just know where his hotel was and couldn’t take him there. Ellington is a very sound guy. He handled business when he needed to and then partied every other day. The trip ended a bit sourer when I got a bit too excited and then managed to disclocate my big toe.

I’m guessing that as this interview is accompanying your Brixton clip that we should talk a little bit about that, and also about when you are gonna hook me up with some of your sponsors. I’m still waiting for those Fallen’s you know.

Don’t you worry mate, those Fallen’s are coming your way! The good people at Brixton first started sorting me out bits maybe 7 years ago. It was pretty much just hats back then and I met with the main guys when they were over but it all sort of fizzled out for a bit. Recently, Jerome has started working for them and we were just chit chatting and he kindly sent me some bits as there was this one hat I desperately wanted. I sent him back some photos and footage skating in the stuff and then it just went from there. Once we figure we was going to do a clip, myself and Jake got stuck into it over 3 months and now here it is.

And your message to the world is?

Well, thanks as always to you. If you hadn’t of invited me to live with you this interview may not ever of happened, and I may never of left Saffron Walden. So cheers buddy. Thank you Jerome and everyone at Brixton. Cheers Jake Martinelli for filming and being rad and thanks Rob Galpin for being a true G. Hemming you are the best. Thanks to Todd Bratrud and Nesser at Send Help skateboards and Jamie Thomas and Stu Titmus Fallen footwear. Mark Nicholson shine on my don. Go skate and have fun everyone.

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Features

Chris Pulman: 2014 Reflections

Post author By Zac
Post date January 7, 2015

Ph: Pulman – Cirencester smith shot by Chris Mann

“2014: and what a year that was…. For myself, filled with reflection (I just hit 40 and I spent the whole year warming up to the fact). Reflection is good, as long as you use it to move forward. Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it, that’s the old adage.

The thing about looking back on the past is that you yearn for it in some way, it’s safe: known territory. There are no risks and the scary parts are resolved and far more easily digested than they were at the time.

There were good and bad parts of the year but mainly lots of new stuff in both forms. But that’s what makes skateboarding rad: the progression.

Madars Apse turned pro for Element. Madars skill and thought are a constant inspiration. Palace finally released a full-length video which shows that no matter what your opinion, they’re firmly grounded in the streets. Bert Wooton became a new favourite of mine. Enjoi’s Oververt was graced with the Ben Raemers ender section that he fully deserved. Lucas Puig continued to be one of the best skateboarders of all time…

If you had to sum up the year briefly, it’d be the year of small and independent hardware brands for sure. Whatever the reason, whether through necessity, passion or a desire for change, it’s been interesting to see what this had brought forward.

We saw the further rise of Welcome Skateboards. A company with no apparent rules and sponsor of the mighty Chris ‘Mango’ Milic; A character who has embraced his inner nerd and taken his skill forward in an instantly gratifying and fun way. Watching this guy, I get a real sense of fun in the moment rather than trying to humour the masses of the internet.

Pontus has taken his vision forward with Polar from the honest and personal depths of In Search for the Miraculous into an established and inspiring skateboard company with a strong visual direction and a DIY attitude that shows you can make anything to whatever level you’d like to if you just get up off your arse. Pontus is inspiring in himself. For his drive, his insight in choosing riders and also his determination and focus on refining his own talent as a skateboarder. And dude, he’s got a big bad of no-comply variations: I’m sold… The Polar guys made a trip to the UK and I was lucky enough to catch them at Guildford. If you managed to see them you had a treat for sure.

Alien Workshop temporarily fell apart after years of corporate involvement. Some good dudes have gone on to do other awesome stuff and Habitat survived under the wing of the Foundation that is Tod Swank’s Tum Yeto. In recent days, through their own social media and an appearance at the hell-hole that is the Agenda Tradeshow, we’ve noted that the Workshop is indeed alive and kicking under the same umbrella. Though, how hard the kicking will be is still unconfirmed. With the loss of some major brand directionalists it could be a while until we see it rise to its past glory.

Even now, it seems the greatest fallout from the whole event is the endless supposition of where Jake Johnson will end up.

Dill was Dill and stood alongside a new generation of rippers in Supreme’s long-awaited video, “cherry”. This video made me reflect. I wished I were 16 again to appreciate it fully; the fact that this became a skateboarding bible for another generation the way that Hokus Pokus, Questionable and Eastern Exposure III did for me; I still appreciated it, trust me. It seemed honest. The young guys have seen all the bullshit marketing over and over again. The clever kids can sense when something is genuine. The jaded guys just get pissed at Chucks and pant length: ignore ‘em.

Dylan Rieder got loved and hated on but took his amazing skill and did something unique with it. If everyone likes you, then you’re mainstream. I’m sure Dylan never ever wished to be that.

If you were lucky enough to see some of those HUF fellas at Southbank you’ll appreciate that it was ‘saved’ so that it can remain in its current state for time, unfettered by the toughened glass frontages of corporate and safe coffee and pizza vendors. I wish we could have done more many years ago when I found SB truly enjoyable but we didn’t and its preservation now means as much to its current inhabitants as it would’ve done to me if we still had the small banks the beam and all the extra space to whizz about that these afforded.

I noticed a hell of a lot more girl skaters this year. Maybe that’s just me. I know they’ve been there for a long time. Now that I have a skateboard company of my own, I find myself watching every bit of footage that comes out from everyone. Taking the blinkers off has led me to witness shredding from both sexes. I’m hoping that in the evolution from feminism to post-feminism, we can ignore gender all together and appreciate skill and inventiveness. Now that’s progression.

Lance Mountain turned 50 proving that age can’t stop you for a second. Guy Mariano came out with a true reason to endure. One: for yourself, two: as a responsibility to the rad young guys to prove that they have a future. He came through with a rad in-depth interview and re-defining part that shows you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Now, a ton of other stuff happened last year and I’ve made many omissions, (quite a few, deliberately). One thing is for sure: Skateboarding is healthier than ever and the amount of diversity makes it one of the best things in the world you could throw your passion into. Make a contribution in whatever way you can and keep this thing rad.”

– Christopher James Pulman.

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Features Skateboarding

Up River with Weed Socks. That YouGov?

Post author By Zac
Post date December 15, 2014

Illustration: George Yarnton
Words: Chris Lawton
Why this article exists: Thank YouGuv

It’s a great time to be a skateboarder. Whether you’re a teenager rocking high-waters, retro board shapes and no-complies, or a 30-plus Wu-tang and switch-mongo advocate, the indie brands have something for you. At the exact same time, identikit athletes perform for energy drink sponsors and a global audience. At the grass-roots, these contradictions feed and are fed by an ‘anything goes’ attitude that had been absent since the victory of street skating in the culture wars of the early 90s. Skating has become more at ease with difference, from trick selection to age and gender. Or so it may seem to those of us who immerse ourselves in this stuff out of weird compulsion.

But increased popularity has attracted unwanted attention from the mainstream media. The Guardian recently recommended Supreme 5-panels and Palace t-shirts to metropolitan creatives struggling with what to wear at the weekend. Whilst appropriating our style they sneer at the act of skateboarding: along with the New York Times, the BBC and Marie Claire, they can’t help but flap and point at the ‘new’ phenomena of the over-30 male skateboarder and female skaters of any age whatsoever. Marie Claire got themselves rightfully slapped down for suggesting that girls should only be interested in skating to pick up cute boys, but it’s the Telegraph who have been particularly generous. Not satisfied with paying an ex-FHM writer to tell us to quit in our teens, they tasked Harry Wallop, self-styled consumer expert and grandson of the Earl of Portsmouth, to cry ‘mid-life crisis’ at those who refuse to cease skating after an arbitrary age milestone. Because skateboarding is for teenage boys – and what’s funnier than some 35, 40 or 50 year-old who’s too poor for a sports car?

As aristocratic journos and media arseholes seek to define us as either desperate mid-lifers or ignorant teenagers, respected market researcher YouGov comes to the rescue. They promise to give their clients a “detailed portrait of their customers’ entire lives….allowing brands and their agencies to assess consumer behaviour with greater granularity, accuracy, and immediacy than ever before.” And luckily for us, they have a profile for ‘people who do skateboarding’. YouGov’s skateboarder is male, aged between 18-24, in low-skilled work or unemployed, and has a disposable income of less than £125 a month. Unfortunately, he also says some pretty dumb things. His favourite brands and entertainment include Skittles sweets and Glorious Goodwood Horse racing….Thanks YouGov, you’ve just provided empirical evidence to support Wallop et al.’s view that skateboarding is overwhelmingly for ill-informed nose-pickers who’ll buy anything gaudy or colourful.

Of course, there are big caveats. For every ‘real’ skateboarder who make up their relatively small sample, you’ll undoubtedly have at least three berks who list skating amongst a menu of random ‘extreme dude’ activities. You know the guy: he frequently pops up on TV dating shows (“Hi, my name’s Tristan – I’m into Coldplay, extreme sports – like skateboarding and bungee jumping – I live with my mum and have a pierced buttock”). Secondly, the brand and entertainment choices are likely to be selected from YouGov’s clients. Welcome or Magenta are unlikely to be amongst the options. But with all those caveats said and done, this profile does have elements of truth.

Young males do make up a very large part of skateboarding. Skate industry reps will tell you that ‘kids’ make up their target market. The briefest visit to a skatepark shows this to be true. The bravest, most thought-provoking Jenkem articles are inevitably followed by comments from 15 year old Americans slurring the author’s and each others’ sexual preferences.

Salty older skaters may protest, “no way, brah…. we’re the 21st century’s travelling warrior poets: modern-day beatniks, like Kerouac in vulcanised sneakers.” But there’s a good reason our video and graphic output remains streets ahead of other contemporary sub-cultures (even during the dark years of the mid-2000s when brands churned out nothing but logo boards and every video was edited to cry-baby indie-rock). Energetic, wilful stupidity. However much of a well-travelled, bohemian Zen warrior you may like to think you are, however eclectic your music taste, or how many art galleries you’ve visited, if you skate – you’re 70% idiotic teenager ‘til the day you die. And this is a great thing. Take Jacob Ovgren’s amazing art for Polar, or World Industries in the mid-90s – when our culture is at its best, it’s mainlining pure youthful stupidity alongside the obligatory time lapse photography and Smiths lyrics.

Of course, the average age of skateboarders is getting older. No real skater quits any more, unless they’ve been super unlucky with injury. Our challenge is to move beyond the persistent level of sexism and homophobia – to mature a tiny little bit without losing sight of what it means to be a skate rat.

The other message from YouGov’s profile is the accessibility of skateboarding to lower income groups. You don’t need to afford skiing trips or golf club membership to be a committed skateboarder. The appeal to people from deprived backgrounds as well as more comfortable suburban families drives skateboarding’s sense of creativity and grittiness. Very little good music is created by the posh – there needs to be some struggle, some risk. For less than £200 you can skate exactly the same set-up and sneakers as Eric Koston. However elitist and judgemental skating can sometimes be, it is ultimately democratic.

And this gets us full circle. Why do ‘they’ have such a dim view of the act of skateboarding? Your average middle-class adult can go on a snowboarding holiday, and no one bats an eyelid. Terrible people join golf clubs, and impress other terrible people by doing so. No criticism of these things, but they cost money. You can lose a lot of precious life worrying about why the arseholes judge skateboarding the way they do – but the opinion and lifestyle pages of the Telegraph, Times, Independent, Guardian etc. also tend to say some pretty terrible things about other pastimes with relatively low financial barriers to entry. Cycling? Also full of desperate mid-lifers who can’t afford an affair. Running? Sad try hards who need to get out more. Music fan over 25? You’re a “Dave” who should visit Dignitas.

In short, if you’re an adult, and do any of these things: the UK commentariat hates you. So don’t worry about it: skateboarding’s amazing, and free, and sketchy, and grubby. If you did something else, the arseholes will still call you terrible things. And this is why: from William the Conqueror to David Cameron, the rich have always played – be it fox hunting or croquet. Only in relatively recent years have normal folk been able to devote significant time to leisure activities. Just 40 years’ ago, many in the north and midlands traded their school uniform for a hard hat and a lifetime of back-breaking coal mining. The modern Western world, with all its ills and inequalities, gives most of us the opportunity to play.

In addition to saying bitter things about skateboarding, Harry Wallop wrote ‘Consumed: How Shopping Fed the Class System’, in which he argues that it is spending that gives us our social status. In his world, we are defined by what we consume. If we buy similar products and play at similarly expensive games, we have ascended to their social level. If we spend our money on a skateboard, or a pair of running shoes, or a bike, we’re a scumbag – we’ve brought nothing of value, and thus have no value. And when you realise that an enormous share of newspaper columnists and other ‘opinion formers’ belong to a tiny elite (47% went to Oxford or Cambridge compared to less than 1% of the population, according to the Cabinet Office’s ‘Elitist Britain’ study), its not surprising they can’t see anything positive in skateboarding – it merrily spits in the face of the values of their elite.

So whether you’re 15 or 45, if you skate, you’re a stupid genius, sticking two fingers up at our social ‘betters’. They can keep Harry Wallop and YouGov, we’ve got Kareem Campbell, Chewy Cannon and Dave Mackey.

– Chris Lawton.

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