30.03.07
There’s a variety of skater that just looks like they were born to roll.
This week’s Freshblood has hand-picked three amateurs that look asleep at the wheel when they’re riding around, and it didn’t take long for them to climb the ladder of notoriety.
In true international fashion, we’ve chosen Jak Pietryga from London of Polish descent, Dan Leech from England and Boris Proust from France.
Let their skills blow you away!
Jak Pietryga – The Harmony
Portrait ph. Adam Mondon
There’s a good story behind Jak’s ascent to glory; The City of London is a very competitive place for skateboarders with more than your fair share of wicked mandem rolling on road, but only a select few get the respect they deserve from the locals and the industry heads alike.
There was a rumour going around about a kid who had dropped of a Sponsor-Me tape at Cide skateshop. Nothing new there, except the fact that the video ran about 45 minutes long! No filler all killer! The Harmony were looking for a young face to head their new team, and Jak with his sponsor me tape sealed the deal. Here’s to the baddest traffic warden on road with a mean 360 flip!
Full Name: Jak Pietryga
Age: 19
Sponsors: The Harmony, DVS shoes, Matix
Hometown: Walthamstow, London
How long skating: 5 years or a bit more
Favourite tricks: Big spins , tre’s are ok, fakie 5.0
Favourite kind of spots: All terrain…
“Jak Pietryga (said – pi-tree-gar) hails from Walthamstow and is a quiet, reserved chap. His skateboarding is where he gets noisy and forceful. Jak has an endless bag of tricks and stunts that will last all day, every day.
Always a pleasure going filming with him as Jak always has a new take on things he tries. He is racking up the footage for our Harmony film as we speak and I’m sure you folks will be pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Watch out on the streets of London Town for this bloke and give him a wave or a smile as he goes by” – Adam Mondon
Watch Jak show off his skills by clicking here. Video by Morph.
Full Crossfire interview from 2006 here with footage shot by Russell Cowling, Dane Crook, David Dixon and Paul Silvester.
Ph. by Richard Pit
Dan Leech – Icon
Saint Neots is not too well known for skateboarding unless you are talking about this ginger monster of course! Dan has been on the scene repping his tech skills for a while and some would argue that his blood is hardly fresh. But shit you not, his blood freshens itself annually and you will always see him turning up to events, supporting his local scene and giving his all. There was no way he was not going to be left out of this feature purely because he aint 16 no more so get to know him if he turns up to your town on the rip, you will be stoked.
Full Name: Dan Leech
Age: 27
Sponsors: Icon skateboards, Adio shoes, Silver trucks
Hometown: Saint Neots
How long been skating: 20 plus years
Favourite tricks: All of them
Favourite kind of spots: Mini ramps
“This guy is mad, loves handrails, and skates them for fun…he loves hanging out and taking the piss out of our crew one by one which is a good trait for any skate crew member. Dan is sitting on tons of footage for the upcoming MeatBallz DVD out for Xmas 07-check it out then.” – Toby Batchelor, I-Five Team manager/Filmer
Watch Dan in the Meatballz trailer here.
FS flip Nottingham ph. Mike Wright
Boris Proust – Rare
Boris Proust lets his skating do the talking. You don’t have to see him kill all the best spots day in and day out to realise just how much respect he has achieved from his peers.
You might not see him for a week, a month maybe a few months even, but then Boris will drop a gem combining technical and solid skating that outshines all the competition. This year Boris is working hard on his social skills, but don’t expect to see him hogging the limelight because his skateboarding can do that. Boris has got it like that.
Photos by C.Viollet
Full Name: Boris Proust
Age: 21
Sponsors: DVS, Matix, Rare, Urban, Flare.
Hometown: Lomé, Togo
How long been skating: 7 years
Favourite tricks: Switch tre, Fs pop shuv, Fs nosegrind.
Favourite kind of spots: Low to high
“Hummm… I don’t know what to say really… Our new mofo video is online on www.themofo.fr, one year late but online Ha! Ha! I like filming as skateboarding and I’m actually studyingat a Cinema University where they only teach you theory and cinema’s history, which is interesting but if you really want to learn how to make videos you have to do it by yourself in parallel.” – Boris himself
Click here to see Boris footage and expect a Trick of the Week to come soon.
More Freshblood will drip on these very pages next week…..
If you missed the first 4 parts, then rewind…
Revert Magazine; the online skateboarding publication has now reached its tenth issue.
The fellers at Icon Skateboards will be throwing two jams/demos during this fine month of April.
Freestylers in skateboarding ended up running the industry that you know worldwide today and Steve Rocco definitely made his mark along the way setting up World Industries, Blind and many more companies.
Element have announced the release of their new 2nd Summer program, due to be frontin’ in your local skate stores during late April. Like a double-edged sword, it comes equipped with two sides.
The Harmony are re-releasing the special ‘black’ edition of their DVD “Once Upon A Time” to get you even more hyped on the upcoming project, “Wolfstadt“.
Now I know some of you guys will shun the idea of riding a deck wider than your wang. Myself, I can’t be comfortable skating on a Popsicle stick, so it’s about time a company have produced a deck wide enough to support my Sasquatch feet without sacrificing smooth flippery. Thankfully, the cheeky geeks behind The Harmony’s wood production have made just that. And it handles like a dream.
Just over a month until the