Max Schaaf is the latest pro skater to get the O’Dell documentary treatment on the VBS site. Peep footage of his obsession with motorbike building and riding here in part 1 of many.
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Category: Skateboarding
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OBEY Amsterdam
When Shepard Fairey visits Amsterdam it’s pretty safe to say that he doesn’t sit in a coffeeshop smoking da herb all day long. Find out more in this clip that just went live obeyclothing.com
Some people like to chill in skate shoes and others like to skate in chill shoes, these kicks are kind of in the middle of both categories. I totally believe equilibrium is the term that suits most.
Style wise, they are rather thin and being a classic old school shape, they certainly have more board feel than the average skate shoe.
On a technical note though, they have Element’s SPM (soft ply midsole) and C3 (cold connect construction) amongst the materials used to put together this shoe, thus meaning, you end up with simple footwear that has a strong sense of durability, support and cushioning without losing the aesthetics of it’s low profile design. If you add other features such as the reinforced layer under the vamp cam, a blind ollie fore panel and Element’s very own Grippy Tree S.A.P. thread pattern, then you might agree with me that this shoe offers a lot more than your average canvas and waffle mix.
I like these a lot, they do the job and I have no fear of heel bruising or toe bleeds, we all know the canvas looks good, but they don’t last long enough – these have both attributes. Go find your own way with them but note that Element’s latest offerings piss on the dire shoes they first came out with which can only be a good thing.
2P
Crawl…Walk…Skate
That’s right. One of London’s smallest humans with one of the best style and trick bag ever to grace the metropolis has been granted a Vans flow position.
After attending pretty much every comp or event over the last year or so and turning countless heads, Powely and the boys over at Vans have promoted him from ‘Flow Bro’ to the ‘Flow Team’.
Congratulations Daz, keep up the good work!!
“I don’t know how many of you wannabe’s out there know of, or have seen the 1986 skate feature called Thrashin, if you haven’t, then technically you’re not really a skateboarder, you are merely the spawn of a trend that flushed over you whilst you had your dick in your hand and felt compelled to be part of something better than the masturbating club you loved so much!
Now, for the fucks out there who does know this masterpiece where Corey Webster leaves his hometown in preparation for the ultimate downhill in Los Angelas, ‘The L.A. Massacre’, you might remember a lot of things like skate jousting, ramp burning, Bozo’s cabriolet, Venice Beach trickery etc, but the one thing I always remember is when the owner of Smash Skates tempts Corey with a sponsorship deal by bouncing a Kryptonite 78A wheel in front of him like a tennis ball and then saying ‘Son, in the event of a nuclear bomb, this will be the only thing that survives!’.
It gets me every time and in many ways, I feel that Spitfire is that wheel, they’ve been around forever and I know they’ll be around for as long as we need wheels to ride skateboards!”
It’s not the first time I’ve rolled up a set of Spitfires and it wont be the last either, I’ve always backed the best in skateboarding for my own reasons, they fucking rule and they are responsible for this industry constantly moving forward.
Like most skate products over the years, every now and then a company send some of their goods to a surgeon of sorts and they come up with new ways to better the current lines, in this case, spitfire separated park wheels from street wheels and the results are phenomenal. Basically, these wheels are 100D and really tough. They slide nicely on any surface but I wouldn’t recommend riding them a too smooth surfaces as they wont grip and you’ll be the one sliding! I thought they would flat spot easily, but to my surprise, they haven’t yet and I’m about a month in already! They are a bit loud, but amongst traffic you’re merely a spec in the noise that pollutes our cities.
If you hit the streets often enough and feel that softer wheels hold you back, I would highly recommend these, they’re sick and you can be too!
2P
Skate…Crawl…Walk
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How good is Philipp Schuster?
From our friends at Melange productions in Vienna, Philipp Schuster, Pretty Wasted:
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Wet Sussex is out now
The south coast skate DVD Wet Sussex is available for £6 in all good skate shops who support their locals scenes. Watch the trailer and pick one up.
We were talking about just how amazing Big Brother Magazine was in the office today and tonight a documentary about the mag’s outrageous nature has dropped onto the web.
Looking back at the good times in this retrospective are Tim Gavin, the Muska, Berra, Steve O, Hawk, Dyrdek, Koston, and a hard up Ed Templeton… Once you have watched this and are in the mood for more BB, click here for an interview we did back in 2006 with Dave Carnie for the best puke story we have ever run!
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Heel Toe Magic
Not only is this the best British skateboarding video since the advent of DVD, its also the funniest thing I have seen in my born days. Andy Evans stands as a bulwark against all the po- faced seriousness and Emperor’s New Clothes ‘core’ skateboarding nonsense that is thankfully receding fast here now.
In essence, this is everything that is great about skateboarding in the UK- eccentricity, hefty skating, bright smiling faces and splendid nonsense. The broad format of the film- couple of scene bits, full sections from the top boys in the British scene, and a proper focus on skateboarding in its broadest sense, from flatland to vert and all aspects in between- remains unchanged from his previous rib tickler This N That, but everything in this one goes all the way up to 11.
This is better on all fronts, with more judicious editing and a higher standard of skating. Also worth noting is that Andy has grasped the reality of skating in Britain today by giving park skating an equal footing to street footage which is- recherché media poses aside- the truth of skating today in the UK. Everybody mixes it up because we are in a second golden era of concrete and winter makes indoor parks more vital than some carpark hubba that a photographer has laid claim to. So this is as good as it gets for British scene videos in terms of the skating- there are full parts from Ben Raemers, Kris Vile and Michael Wright, as well as a definitive Greg Nowik section, for example.
What adds the cream to this afternoon tea, however, is the segueways between parts. If you have seen any of his stuff before you will know that it usually involves people shamelessly making tits out of themselves with some pisspoor props, but this time around it ranges from a very clever satire about skateboarding’s conformist streak (the Switch Heels tyranny), to two guys fucking around in monkey suits on a beach, some talking trousers and a superb, scenery- devouring cameo from Mark Munson which gives overacting a bad name. Genius is a much over-used word but this certainly orbits around it.
Excellent, excellent, excellent- and funny as Jereme Rogers rapping too. If you are a British skateboarder you should tip your hat to Andy Evans, he has done more to preserve and applaud the particular nature of skating here than any snarky magazine or limited edition colourway ever has or will.
This kind of thing makes me proud to call myself a skateboarder, and its not every aspect of our culture today that does. Terrific- buy it if you possibly can.
Check out some photos from the London premiere below.
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Lance Mountain Interview
Questions: Crossfire and Ray Calthorpe
Photos: MRZ and Lance
Portrait: Heel Bruise
Lance Mountain is the best friend skateboarding ever had. From riding for Variflex at the very start of the 1980s, to being one of the Bones Brigade, skateboarding’s original super- team, right through to being on today’s only true super- team in Flip, Lance has never strayed from skateboarding.
Where generations fell away only to come back later and try to rescue us from ourselves, Lance never quit, or specialized or re- invented or pigeon- holed himself. He competed in the era where competitions mattered, demo’ed right around the world when demo roadshows were the only game in town, he’s got street, he’s got vert, pools, the lot. What Lance understands primarily is that skateboarding has no prefixes: street, veteran, legend…you are either in or you are out.
Skateboarding in all its forms, first and last and always. Lance has always had fidelity for the activity itself in his heart first and foremost and it is this truthfulness of spirit which sees him venerated today as he was way back when. The other thing that is refreshing about him is that there is no nostalgia for a bygone era which never existed. Lance understands that the greatest thing is skating, and the greatest time in skating is right now, always.
He has had many parallel roles in his career- actor, 411 presenter, owner of The Firm, designer of some of the greatest graphics of all time, but always he has been a skater first, and always he has been whooping ass- take a look at that new Skateboarder cover and remember that guy has been taking the spills that pay the bills for 28 years straight and counting.
Can’t stop Lance Mountain.
So the Bones Brigade is year’s ago now but do you like the fact that kids still talk about it today because of Youtube?
It is great to be a part of something that has had such an influence on skateboarding. Don’t know if I could be here now if I wasn’t.
What were your fondest memories of that era?
The early years when things were changing skating was trying new stuff. Different guys were popping up with new things, anyone could win a contest, everyone was trying to figure out what this was, going to promote something they loved. It was creative, scary, and unknown, nothing had been proven to work yet, so it wasn’t contrived.
Do you still hang with the rest of that team now and then?
We see each other here and there.
Who is closest?
Steve and I were and still are the closest probably.
We took your autograph in 1988 on the UK Bones Tour as you skated Latimer Rd, what do you remember from that trip looking back? Including the demo at Livingstone as well?
I had been skating for almost 15 year already. We were going through the motions with skating at that time and things were changing. We had been doing the same thing, demos, contests, same ramps, tricks to make a living. New skaters were coming up and skating was getting interesting in a new way, street. I didn’t know where I fit in, wasn’t interested in riding the same thing over and over and knew it would be impossible to keep up with the new style of skating. But I wasn’t going to stop what I loved. Generally, it was a bit of a rough time.
Do you know much about the UK skate scene these days? Web nerd on that shit or not?
No, I used to try and stay informed on everything as much as possible when I owned my company but since then I guess I have dropped off the intelligence map.
What skateboard company around now comes close to that vibe the Bones Brigade had?
It is just a way different time and vibe now, what was done then can’t be now.
Did you ever get sick of the acting?
There were times we wanted to get our skating filmed because we new the acting stuff would take long, but the non skaters could leave and we would have to skate later when we were tired. But that is how skateboarding pro goes, it was worth it now that I get to be in this situation today even talking about it. Most skaters whole deal is acting now, I just don’t care if I admit to it.
Could you ever imagine a session with the entire Brigade for old time’s sake? Has it happened of late?
I think Tony was trying to set something up, it will happen one day with all of us at once.
You ran The Firm, what is your best memory of those years at the helm?
The relationships with the riders, the creative parts, just being able to stay involved.
I guess life is easier now you are not running a skate board company as it must demand so much time, are you generally skating more as a result?
Yes, for sure.
What’s the daily pattern for Lance Mountain?
Last year it was wake up, have tea with my wife, take a bath, read the word, go have lunch, film from 1-4, have dinner, go on a walk, go to bed. Pretty simple.
Upland, Whittier or your current backyard set up?
All different and great at they’re own time, although I could say Upland hurt the most.
Best (skate) thing that ever happened at Mountain manor?
Jeff Phillips ally-oop ollie channel.
Did you shoot your video part in your own backyard for the Extremely Sorry section?
Yes.
You must be stoked on the return of all that hard work surely?
I like hard work as it always opens the doors for more. The response from the kids has been real encouraging and it means a lot.
Are you loving your section?
I think it feels right, more the feeling you have when you start skating and the reasons you do rather than what you get caught up in once you get with the in-crowd.
How long did it take to put together?
I had a year and a half but I broke my arm and it took 9 month before I could skate and a few months of being scared still.
What trick do you wish you had in there but didn’t make the cut?
540, kick flip Indy, frontside invert fakie, I didn’t make them. If I did some of the other tricks that shouldn’t be in would be out with those filling the space.
What is your fave trick from the section personally?
I like the first line because that is the essence of pool riding. I think only the ones who have tried to do carve lines without lifting your front wheels up to do double doubles and figure 8’s can understand, to everyone else it looks boring.
How does it feel to travel the world knowing kids are stoked on it too? It’s been the talk of the town!
Overwhelming really, I’m so grateful to them that I still have the opportunity to have some influence to younger skaters or even do what I love.
What was your fave premiere so far, you did all of them right?
They have all been really different but the response has been the same. In London they were singing along to Geoff’s part! He would have been touched if he were there.
Bob’s Megaramp – ever fancied it?
It was pretty fancy wasn’t it, unbelievable.
How come there’s a shot of a large cat being shot in the Extremely Sorry video?
I don’t believe it is in the video just the premiere? I think it was a sleeping dart.
Were the whole team behind that decision?
No one saw anyone else’s parts until the premiere.
What was the full story behind the infamous yo-yo Schultz/Gonz incident at Munster?
Just Mark being hot and I was being nosey. Mark was way ahead of skaters at that time he could win any contest with his tricks. We were teasing Mark that he wasn’t going to win because he would choke. He did, so he went out and tried to show us that he could make his run but it was during someone else’s run, it was one of the first times USA skaters had come to Germany contest and I got mad at Mark because I thought all the skaters thought we were disrespecting them, that’s all. That night we locked him out on the balcony in the rain, so he asked for his jacket, I soaked it in the bath tube and gave it to him. We are friends even if it sounds like we weren’t.
You’ve done so many graphics, what’s your favourite ever?
I really don’t know, they seem to me like a learning experience for the next one.
Does Cyril still skate?
Yes he rides with his friends.
Is there any chance of the Titus skate band re-forming?
It has a new name, Indian Wig
Do you still take skate photos?
Sometimes. Not as much now that there are so many good photographers and digital cameras.
(The 2 photos on this page featuring Steve Alba and Eric Koston were 2 of Lance’s personal favourites that he shot.)
5 of favourite things to do ever that are not associated with skateboarding?
Spending time with my Wife and Son and his wife.
I enjoy fellowship with my Christian friends Ray Barbee, Richard Mulder, and others, keeps me grounded because it can get crazy out there.
Movies/Snorkeling/Motorcycle.
Top 3 albums of all time
For skating in the USA these albums changed everything:
The Clash – London Calling (although I think Give ‘Em Enough Rope might be better).
Ramones – Ramones.
Devo – Are We Not Men?
Top 3 skate videos of all time
Skater Dater.
Video Days.
Dogtown Z-Boys.
Top 3 Flip tricks of all time
Frontside Flips
360 Flips
Backside Flips
Looking back into your skateboarding life, what would you be most Extremely Sorry for?
It has all been good, not sorry. We only have a short time with people you meet, make it count. When we look back at what we did with the time we had will always be the biggest question.
Checkout Lance in the long awaited and highly anticipated new DVD release Extremely Sorry from Flip Skateboards. Lance features alongside other living legends such as Rowley, Penny and Rune as well as some of the latest teenage talent to break through State Side.
And, if that’s not enough for you, check out the current issue of Skateboarder where he has an epic cover proving once again that age and experience still mean a great deal within the modern Skate world!