When Scottish skater Kerr McLachlan asked us to share his online artwork last week, we gave him a test to Smell The Glove and this sexist offering based on cult heavy metal film Spinal Tap is what came back in return.
You can see the rest of Lois and Kerr’s artwork on their fb page.
This week’s delivery of wood from Amsterdam revealed that bowled corners will play a part in the new design at Bay Sixty 6 Skatepark. Watch video here of the structure and the start of the new build to transform this spot into a brand new skatepark.
For more photos and updates, click here to keep an eye on the ongoing, updated feature.
To share/embed this video on Facebook etc, use this link: http://bcove.me/85qf9rnu
We visited Bay Sixty 6 skatepark yesterday afternoon to bring you fresh pics from the site clearance. Click through to the exisiting feature for new updates.
“This is one of the best things that happens in the Essex skate scene” – yes it is and it’s coming again in August right here at Crossfire. Watch this documentary about Luke Macduke’s work in pulling the Essex scene together for their most prestigious get together.
2011/2012 Lords Of The Swords Doc from Lords Of The Swords on Vimeo.
Evidence will be heading to Europe this summer for shows which also includes a London date at the Jazz Cafe in Camden on July 2nd. The once rapper of Dilated People’s now on Rhymesayers entertainment dropped his album Cats and Dogs last year which had our thumbs up in here.
Read the review, watch the video for the track Liner Notes below featuring Aloe Blacc. Get those tickets quick.
EUROPEAN TOUR DATES
19 June // Mylos // Thessalonki, Greece
20 June // Gargarin // Athens, Greece
21 June // L’Orso Cattivo // Gambieri Settingiano (Cosenza), Italy
22 June // Bosco di Galu // Giugliano in Campania (Naples), Italy
23 June // Touch The Air Festival // Wohlen, Switzerland
25 June // Bizzerzoet // Amsterdam, Netherlands
26 June // La Maroquinerie // Paris, France
27 June // Bazaar // Brussels, Belgium
29 June //High5 Club // Duisburg, Germany
30 June // Peace and Love Festival //Borlange, Sweden
2 July // Jazz Cafe // London, UK
6 July // Roskilde Festival // Roskilde, Denmark
Portrait: Ranny
The South Coast of England is spawning some great skateboarders right now but with its rich skate history etched into the books it’s hardly a surprise. The scene down in Brighton has never been tighter, the urethane is getting worn faster than ever and this vibrant coastal town keeps throwing up more talent than ever before.
One of Brighton’s lurkers who has always graced our Crossfire events is Isaac Miller. He sneaked a perfect switch flip into the unsponsored comp at last year’s Xmas Jam and took the dough until we released he repped for Drawing Boards, one of the UK’s most creative skater owned companies out there. This month we decided to visit Brighton to catch up with him and find out what makes him tick. Isaac Miller is this month’s Fresh Blood.
Thanks to AD, Ranny, Smay, Rich West and Ginge for their help to put this together plus the Level Army crew who are still fighting for as decent skate park down there. We’ve got your backs 100% here.
How is life treating you Isaac?
Life is good, as always! I’m just at college studying carpentry right now. I have been skating loads and filming for the forthcoming Drawing Boards video (Draw the Line) and Ed Hubert’s ‘Like’ video.
Before we get into a few questions, we see you have been at the Velodrome for a few tricks. Want to shine light on this little Olympic edit?
Well, we were on tour around the South Coast and Ed took us to the Velodrome cycle track so we just walked in! 10 tricks went down!
So, with Brighton being your home town, would you say you are you addicted to skating at the Level?
The Level is like a magnet so it’s hard to stay any distance too far from it! I have leaped a few years at the Level. I like skating there because it’s easier to skate without hassle and abuse from the general public. I started skating there when I was 12 and have been there and round a-bouts ever since. On a bad week I get there 5 out of 7 days. Haha!
What are your thoughts on the new plans for the park?
They keep promising a skate park with plans, meetings etc and have been for the past decade or so but nothing has happened as of yet. I’d love to see the new Level finished by the end of the year though like everyone else.
Who’s your favorite Level local of all time?
There are a lot of Levelers! Over the time I’ve spent down there everyone one and everything I have seen has been a real inspiration. So many tricks have been conquered at the Level is hard to underline any skater in particular.
Tell us 3 good things about Brighton.
La Vida (sandwich bar close to the Level), Skateboarding and that there’s loads of stuff to do, day and night.
Tell us 3 bad things about Brighton.
Level, Level and Level. Haha!
You were hooked up pretty young by Pasty and Pig City, is that correct?
Pig City was one of the first Brighton companies set up by Justin Ashby and a dude called Simon. It was really good going places with Pasty and getting to know as well as being inspired by the likes of Andy Scott, Josh Parr and Pete Dossett.
Who are your influences you in skating?
I like to taste the rainbow. Level Army! Sunshine, Transworld, Enjoi and Drawing Boards of course.
Do you watch skate videos?
Yeah, I’m into Transworld videos, Flip ‘Sorry’, Enjoi vids, Tilt Mode Army, 411 and stuff like that.
Switch gap ollie on a beach where Mods and Rockers once clashed. Photo: Rich West
What’s the best trick you’ve seen to date?
I saw Ben Raemers pull a boneless to noseblunt in the massive bowl at Penzance skate park in Cornwall once. That was pretty mental. Liam Teague eating concrete and Matt (Potter) Hill’s stepping up a ten flight first go. Haha! Ummm, Sam Beckett flying high on a vert ramp as well. Oh, and Black Thong (Jak Tonge) skating in odd shoes with a late night muffin!
What are your thoughts on Benihanas?
Don’t like ’em.
Then why do them?!
Cause they feel good at the time!
Aha, I’m sure Potter can relate to that feeling. So, you’ve been on a fair few trips with Drawing Boards including Barca, what was your favourite spot on that trip and spots in general?
The park in Clot, Besos, but no faves, just too many good spots. I like going on missions in Brighton to the schools and local spots on nice sunny days. Also the Beach front (West Pier) kickers and blocks.
A trip to the infamous Bloblands produces a large ollie fakie. Photo by Ranny
How’s your part coming along for the Drawing Boards DVD?
I’ve been filming for way over a year now, so should be about soon. There will be some surprises in there for sure so keep your clogs intact for this one! AD has been a real help. It’s so good not having to worry about the next board.
And the ‘Like’ video part?
The fact that it’s another Ed Hubert production means it will be rad. Ed’s a joker, Bill’s a piper, James is a juggler. It should be sick.
Who do you skate with down there?
Bare brehs, The Level Army, Drawing Boards and Brighton heads.
What do you do outside of skating?
Get paralytic, chill, run, walk, cycle, fish with my dad and go from A to B socialising. Mainly socialism and pushin’ woodism.
What direction do you see skateboarding going in?
Mate I don’t really know – left, right, anywhere and beyond.
Any shouts?
Shouts out to Mum, Dad and bro for all the support and all my mates from the Level. Fin is on (cloudnine), George, Connor, Dyllan, Cob, Amir, Pasty, Stevie, The Level Army. AD and all the Drawing Boards team. Black Thong you know who you are. No equal.
Enjoy this backside flip. Photo: Ranny
AD will leave you with his personal lowdown on Isaac:
“Isaac consumes more cheese and fish than any man I have ever met. Perhaps this is the secret to his boundless energy. Isaac is pretty much on fire right now. Filming 2 video parts as well as steadily destroying parks and street all over the shop. Although he is still young, in the big scheme of things he’s put some serious time into his skating. So when you see him floating round the Level and ask yourself “how the hell did he do that?!” The answer is simple, he put his mind to it. However mad he is off a skateboard, the second he steps on it he becomes fully focused (even at midnight after a trip to the boozer). Stoked to have Isaac repping Drawing Boards. So much more to come…”
Watch Isaac’s Royal Warm Up at Meanwhile 2 filmed by Ginge.
It doesn’t happen often in here but when Unabomber Skateboards asked us if we were interested in a collab, we decided that we should go back to the beginning when Crossfire was represented by the good old Bomber image and within a few emails, the ‘Pilot Tee‘ was born.
So, this collab celebrates 10 Years of us bringing you what we do in here from a brand that we have admired since day one. In fact, the winged handshake Unabomber logo is one of the most iconic British skateboard company logo’s ever made, so we are proud to merge our head and their hands for this one-off, limited edition run of tees.
Grab these whilst they are available from our online store. We will send them to you in the post as soon as you order with a Crossfire circle sticker and Refs Cards. Treat yourself to a comfy, new tee to celebrate with us and take into the summer month’s ahead. Thanks for your support.
The initial line up of curators and opening, guest act have been announced today for this year’s Camden Crawl 2012. The North London festival has invited us back for the 3rd year running to curate one of the venues on the Crawl so we are proud to announce that we will be hosting bands and more at the Electric Ballroom this year all day on Saturday, 5th May.
Enjoy the initial line up from the announcement made this morning with Death In Vegas (Richard Fearless) opening the event. We will give you more information of who will be playing live and other fun stuff we will have planned for the Crawl this year soon as the process of elimination takes place. We will also be aiming to have a party in the evening after the daytime event, so look out for updates as they roll out.
Get your tickets in advance before this prestigious event sells out now from here. You can follow all of the updates through Facebook and Twitter.
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.
Two of skateboarding’s most colourful characters came through our office at the very end of November unannounced, so we took the opportunity to find out exactly what Dirty Sanchez duo Matt Pritchard and Lee Dainton got up to throughout 2011 and the highlights throughout the year.
They have spent time on the road performing their Pritchard vs Dainton stage show where, quite frankly, they get hurt for the pleasure of many onlookers, annihilated themselves for charity and have still made time to love skateboarding. Click play for a Reflections feature and also find out more about the Kill City Skateboards DVD release ‘Rookies’ that will be dropping this December into your local skate shop.