A new edit featuring Blueprint’s Tom Knox, Danny Brady, Dave Mackey, Neil Smith and Jerome Campbell at the new Ramp Rage skatepark down in Colchester is now live for you to watch. Press play for speed trials and more from this late night sesh at the office for Wilson and co.
Find the new park at www.ramprage.co.uk
The Blueprint team have were one of four teams invited to Transworld’s annual Skate & Create video competition to win the cover of the magazine. Watch Nick Jensen’s Sylvain Tognelli, Marty Murawski, Paul Shier, Danny Brady, Jon Nguyen and Kevin Coakley in their new US job roles put together by Oliver Barton.
Danny Brady kicks off the week with a new section for Lakai to celebrate his Belmont XLK signature shoe that just hit your local skate shop. Enjoy this goodness from Blackpool’s finest.
Mark Baines has joined the Etnies UK team today and has filmed a new winter edit that you can watch below.
Speaking on the etnies website this week, Baines discusses the various changes he has gone through in terms of sponsorship:
“Yeah it’s been a pretty crazy few months. It really made me look at my overall situation. I was on the full DVS team, but I felt like I was lost in the mix. Before that it felt like we had relevance even though we were on the Euro thing they had set up, but at least we knew our place kind of thing? Basically with leaving DVS and Blueprint focused and based in America I felt like it wasn’t right for me and where I’m at currently. The decision to leave Blueprint was so tough because these are some of my oldest friends, but I had to do what was right for me. Being part of Fabric Skateboards, which is focused on the UK and Europe made sense. The one thing that always made Blueprint stand out was that it wasn’t just another American company and I guess I still think of it in that way. This year I’m just carrying on skating as I always have, nothing changes. My problem is that I always said you should always aim to put out better parts than your previous one and once you’re way off the mark then its time to have a rethink, I am still trying to put out better parts and I have that same drive so I just want to bring all that to etnies. Give me a project and I’m happy.”
Portrait by Percy Dean
Every year we look back on the video edits that made the cut, the ones that surprised the most, the tricks that made our eyebrows raise and the overall contributions and dedications to skateboarding at ground level.
The UK has produced more skateboarders than ever who have proved they can cut it at the highest levels. We are currently seeing another shift where pro’s are getting a run for their money by the upcoming ams who are hitting the road, getting amongst it and most of all, getting down to business. London based skater Tom Knox has put in the hard work this year. His Blueprint/Emerica section hit our homepage on day of release and rightly spread worldwide to claim the recognition it deserved across the board. Raise a glass to Tom today as he is Crossfire’s Fresh Blood of 2011.
Enjoy his Reflections looking back on an incredible year in skateboarding and expect much more from him in the future.
What did you learn most from 2011?
Not much really, it went by so fast! Just how to be productive with my time, as I’m not in school anymore so I can do whatever I want for the first time in my life. It’s really fun, but can feel strange sometimes.
How are you getting by as an am rider living in London and what other interests outside of skateboarding are filling the hours?
Well, I still live at home so my rent is not as much as living on your own, plus I save money by eating here. I have a big family and we all live at home, so I spend as much time as I can with them because I know one day when I eventually move out I will not be able to. It’s really fun, I am definitely lucky to have the family I have around me. I play a lot of music in my spare time. Guitar and flute. I also swim all the time, play football, tennis, and watch loads of movies.
Best personal moment of 2011?
Probably getting my part finished and released. I worked quite hard on it so was good to see a final product.
How long did it take to put together and what did you feel was your biggest achievement from it?
It took about a year, but it went by quickly as we were filming through the winter, plus we had no camera and injuries to deal with. The biggest achievement is probably the spots that we found. At the time I didn’t really realise the missions we went on because either me, Jake or Smithy would mention a spot we found and we’d just all go skate it. Once it came out, quite a few people mentioned the previously unskated spots that we had we discovered and that felt like quite an achievement as London is quite a hard city to do that in.
What was the most ridiculous thing that happened whilst filming for it?
Probably the time when myself and Jake we’re going to film some stuff with quite a few people, but one by one they bailed out. So we decided to skate this spot near his place in Peckham. I tried a line for a little but wasn’t feeling it, so we decided to go back to his and except the failed mission. Then some dude asked us where a street was that we didn’t know, he hung about for a sec, then grabbed Jake’s camera bag. When Jake tried to pull it back he bottled him round the face and ran off. It was so horrible. He was bleeding everywhere and had the most swollen face. He took it like a man though until he realised it was a WKD bottle!
Watch Tom’s Emerica/Blueprint section filmed by Jake Harris and edited by Dan Magee.
What was your most memorable skate trip of the year?
I have just returned from a trip to Japan with the Blueprint boys and it was one of the best places I’ve ever visited. We had a really good crew, weather and skate spots. I’ve never been to Japan before so it was cool to see what everything is like out there. The locals showed us an amazing time too.
The Japanese skate scene seems quite unique, what’s it like in comparison to here?
It’s really good man. I look at the guys I’ve seen in videos and they have a very unique outlook on skating. But when you go there it’s just like any other scene. Their skating is up there. I saw a girl do a backside flip out of a foot of vert, was insane!
Did you hit up any of those Gou Miyagi rail spots?
Nah, not really. There are tiny rails everywhere though and so many spots. The Japanese respect authority over there, so unlike England, you don’t skate a lot of the spots you pass on the street and go to the ones you know aren’t a bust. I think if you lived there you could find some crazy obstacles for sure.
Who ate the strangest food on the menu from that trip?
Most the stuff you eat is strange. There is some stuff that the locals eat. I didn’t try it but Sylvain (Tognelli) did and said it was the strangest thing he’s ever eaten. It was so alien to his taste buds!
If you had to pick a tune of this year what would it be?
I only started listening to Bob Dylan’s Street Legal album this year, so good.
Most satisfying line made this year
There were a few but probably the line at Liverpool Street where I end with a fakie ollie down the stairs. It was the middle of winter, I hadn’t filmed anything in a while. I was trying it for about an hour and just couldn’t make it. Then my wheel fell off! I got a friend to give me one of his and he said that I would only have one more try and luckily I made it.
What was the newest trick added to the bag this year?
Switch back smiths.
Skate DVD you watched the most?
Dimestore The Duece.
Who would be your MVP of the year?
Neil Smith.
Who are your Fresh Blood tips for 2012?
Casper Brooker, Kyron Davis and Jacob Harris.
What are you looking forward to most in 2012?
Traveling a bit more and hopefully get myself to some places I haven’t been yet.
Backside Smith. Photo by Percy Dean
Let’s end this on some quality viewing. What are your top 5 video edits of the year?
1. This is a web part of Gilbert Crockett. I think the footage was just a compilation of a load of web stuff he’d already had out. I watched this a lot before I went skating this year as really gets me hyped.
2. Neil Smith’s well deserved pro part.
3. I really like watching raw footage, something about it makes me really want to go for a skate. This makes me want to go throw myself down some stairs as he makes it look so easy.
4. Brian Delatore has been around for a while but has blown up in the last year. This welcome to Habitat video shows what his skating is all about. Good spots, fast lines and sick tricks.
5. It was such a pleasure to go on trips with Sylvain this year. He’s always up for an adventure.
‘Wooden Nickels’ episode 8: Sylvain Tognelli from Mark Nickels on Vimeo.
The Blueprint Skateboards team have been skating in Japan this month. Watch Sylvain Tognelli’s video blog from the trip featuring Neil Smith, Danny Brady, Tom Knox, Paul Shier, Sylvain Tognelli, Matt Price and Marty Murawski.
The Blueprint team hit the road to Equador with Skateboarder Magazine and came back with soime amazing footage that Dan Magee has put together.
Watch Blueprint’s Journey To The Center Of The Earth featuring Paul Shier, Marty Murawski, Colin Kennedy, Sylvain Tognelli, Kevin Coakley and Jerome Campbell. Amazing stuff.
London’s Prince Charles cinema was invaded by the creme of the UK’s skateboarders last night as the new Sidewalk video In Progress was premiered.
Popcorn and beers were thrown as standard, before three quarters of an hour of British skateboarding was unleashed with sections from Barney Page, Conhuir Lynn, Ben Raemers, Nicky Howells, Sean Smith, Harry Lintell and Tom Harrison alongside Ben Nordberg, Mark Baines, Nick Remon, Chris Jones, Denis Lynn and footage of many more.
Overall the film got a great reaction, the skating was banging, the music was spot on and the film mainly shot by Ben Powell, Ryan Gray and Kevin Parrott and many other contributors, could have just kept going and going. 45 minutes flew past with raw UK skating served just how we like it with Barney Page and Ben Raemers receiving the decibels they deserved. .
There will be some fantastic hangovers this morning as the free bar set up around the corner and funded by Nike would have sucked everyone in and destroyed most.
Well done to Sidewalk who have rolled out, amongst everything else they do for the scene, a video that captures some of the UK’s finest. The video will not be free on the cover of a magazine but will rightly be on sale in your local skate shop, so you treasure it and watch it with friends at home before you go for a skate. Pick up a copy in October in your local skater owned shop.
More video premiere’s have been announced this week:
Friday 30th September – Hush Bar, Bristol, 8pm.
Contact 5050 for further info.
Saturday 1st October – T13 Skatepark, Belfast, 7pm.
Pre-premiere jam at T13 Skatepark (time TBC), £3 in – keep an eye on the www.bogginzine.com forum for updates.
Saturday 1st October – The Flying Duck, 142 Renfield Street, Glasgow.
6pm sharp. Over 18’s only.
Thursday October 6th – Milton Keynes Buszy.
6pm – under 18s. 7:30pm – over 18’s with afterparty at the Buszy Bar.
Rhymesayers and Carhartt have teamed up to launch a mix competition.
The competition, which coincides with the Rhymesayers European Tour gives fans a chance to create their own 15 minute mix of Rhymesayers material which they then upload here.
The winner will get a flashdrive full of music, albums by all the artists, a limited edition tour t-shirt, a Carhartt x UDG DJ bag, the chance to create an hour long mix for Carhartt’s radio and even personalised drops from the artists. The competition closes on September 27th.
The tour, which has a line-up of Atmosphere, Brother Ali, Evidence, Blueprint and Grieves & Budo hits the Electric Ballroom in London on November 7th.
Whilst you’re getting some inspiration, check out the new Evidence video for the track You, taken from his upcoming album Cats & Dogs.
Remember that Off The Grid video feature with Eric Koston that was online in May?
This latest video feature has Blueprint’s Marty Murawski and Skate Mental’s John Motta on the dartboard. Watch THE best pool skating you have ever witnessed and much more. So much fun.