You may have noticed that extra footage of various riders that starred in the Stay Gold video have been posted online over the last 6 weeks so you will be stoked to know that Andrew Reynolds’ bonus, behind the scenes footage has arrived today and of course, it’s pretty amazing. Get in there.
Zero’s Jamie Tancowny i welcomed to the Insight clothing team this week with a new edit. Enjoy one minute of Canadian goodness here.
Spring 2011 has arrived and there are many new products out there for you to check out this month. Here’s a selection of our recommended purchases if the recession is allowing you to wallow in some luxuries right now from Superdead, Flip, Palace, Baker, Independent, Kill City, Death, Etnies, Emerica, Altamont, Spitfire, Lovenskate, Dephect, Supreme, Supra, Kr3w, Quiksilver, Element, Alien Workshop, Brixton Addict and DVS.
The extra secret BaKu Barrier Kult edit inside the Stay Gold DVD is now online so if you didn’t manage to unlock it then here it is.
Fans of Heath Kirchart may want to fan out over this YouTube compilation put together by an internet stalker who loves Pink Floyd.
Read the Brandon Westgate interview yet? If not then start reading to help you find the answer to this month’s competition to win his Zoo York deck, Swiss Bones Bearings, Hubba Wheels and a pair of his new Emerica signature shoes.
To enter, like our Facebook page and answer the question here.
[competition_17]
Portrait/sequence courtesy of Emerica and Atiba Jefferson
2010 was a cracking year for Brandon Westgate. Not only did his official pro status on Zoo York come to fruition, his part in Emerica’s most anticipated DVD Stay Gold kicked off smiles for miles as his technically gifted style stomped through the streets of SF and beyond.
His pro shoe on Emerica released last month brought another edit that swept the web and kept his skating do the talking so we decided to share a few of our own words with the Massachusetts kid that keeps himself one step ahead of the game by wielding some seriously devestating pop.
Easy Brandon, what’s going on?
Nothing much just got back from my shoe party in LA.
New Year’s Eve wasn’t too long ago, do you remember it?
It wasn’t messy, my girlfriend and I went to her sister’s and she had this karaoke machine set up and everyone got drunk and sung songs all night, it was fun.
Turns out you’re a month younger than me. That’s bonkers. I haven’t even bombed a hill in SF yet? How did that feel the first time you did it?
It was the best feeling and every time it gets better, you really have to get out there one time.
Compared with many other skaters in recent years, very little is known about your personality and life off the board. Was it a conscious decision to not let the world’s collide and let your skating do any necessary talking or are you just being you?
I guess I’m just being me. I like being out here and Massachusetts, away from everything.
Even a recent interview with Chris Nieratko didn’t disclose too much about you. So let’s just talk straight skateboarding for the rest of the interview: last time we interviewed you was in 2006, has skating changed for you at all during those four years or is it still the raddest thing ever?
It’s for sure still the raddest thing ever, I’ve learned how to skate different and learned new tricks I never would have thought about then. Thats the best thing about skateboarding you can learn whatever you want.
Over the last few years who has helped you out or inspired you to get you where you are right now?
There’s a lot of people who inspired me and helped me out: Jeff, Timothy, Miner, Seamus, Suski, Leo, Shetler, Herman, Reynolds, Figgy…
Your shoe has just arrived and everyone is mad stoked on it. Looks a little similar to the Hsu model (very good thing). Was the design inspired by that model at all?
I always really liked the Jerry’s so I started off that, but I just tried to make a really comfortable skate shoe that skated good and held up.
Think back to when you first got a pro deck, what were you more hyped on: a graphic with your name on or a shoe?
I was so stoked on both but if I had to say probably the shoe. it’s really hard to get your name on a shoe and you get full advantage to make the best shoe you always want to skate.
How about the part itself… was it made up from leftovers from Stay Gold? You can’t have had much time to gather new footage so soon after Stay Gold come out…
There’s some left overs, but there’s a lot of new footage. Miner and I worked really hard together on this one. It was mainly just us and not the whole team so I think it easier to focus. To begin with they just wanted to use leftovers to make a little clip online then we ended up coming up with a lot of new stuff given the time.
As a pro skater this side of the decade, do you feel under any pressure at all to produce more content as the online edit takes over the skate DVD?
I feel the same amount of pressure either way people see it and online more people see it sooner than a DVD.
What surprised many is how both parts could essentially be interchangeable, they’re both so good. What approach to filming did you prefer, the long-term project approach of the short but exciting turnaround of footage?
I liked them both. The short-term project was a lot more stressful because I didn’t have much time and it was a clip of only me, not the whole team. I prefer the long term just because it’s easier to get the tricks you want for your part.
Are you stoked with how both parts come out?
Yeah I’m stoked on them, there’s always more tricks I wish I could have got for them but time just runs out. I think Miner killed it putting it together. I think that makes it more enjoyable to watch when they’re edited really good.
You have a good mix of East and West coast skating in your parts… what elements of each do you enjoy skating the most and why?
I really like skating the West because SF is so fun. There’s nothing like bombing those hills and skating all the natural bumps- it’s truly like nowhere else. I like skating the East because the spots are a little bit more beat up so you usually have to do some fixing up and the spots turn into a challenge to skate.
Who had your favorite part in Stay Gold?
My favorite part was Leo’s, just seeing him skate is so gnarly and he just loves to skate. Herman also had one of my favorites; all those picnic table lines are amazing. I love everyone’s part though for their own way of skating.
Leo obviously was a deserved winner of SOTY but was there anyone you skate with often that kills it that you think was overlooked a little?
There’s definitely a lot of skaters who kill it but Leo I think deserved it by far.
Ph: Brandon shows Atiba one of his favourite FS 180 5050’s in China.
What trip in 2010 did you enjoy being a part of the most?
My favorite trip in 2010 was to China with Emerica filming for Stay Gold. It was a fun crew and awesome skate spots.
You just got a house right? What’s it like? Got any plans for it?
Yeah it’s cool, big back yard, farmer’s porch, fire place, garage, it’s just really comfortable. I’ve been doing work here and there a lot the whole time I’ve had it, mainly tile, painting and yard work. I’m planning on making a sick ramp in the back yard this summer.
What about when you hang up your trucks?
I would like to own some cranberry bogs I think they would be fun to try and run. Plus, I just like all the land that comes with it.
What would you be doing right now if skateboards were never invented?
I was going to a tech school which is a school where you do regular class work like your math and science, and the next is your shop class, I was in marine machines where I worked on boats. I would probably have tried to get a job in that field.
Finally, any words of wisdom?
Just keep skating and have fun.
Win a package of Brandon Westgate ‘s sponsors that includes a Zoo York board, Bones Swiss Bearings, Hubba Wheels and a pair of his Emerica signature shoes here this weekend.
Coast to coast, Brandon Westgate has been killing it for Emerica and generally making skaters across the world more hyped on raw, fast street skateboarding than they have in some time and as a result has earned his first pro shoe ‘The Westgate‘.
The shoe itself (pictured right) looks set to be an instant classic, a solid and durable looking mid-top similar to the brilliant Hsu pro model. The shoe is available in four different colourways in finer skate shops now.
To celebrate the release of the shoe, Emerica have released a part filled with previously unseen footage that somehow manages to rival his stonking part in Stay Gold. Have a look below, shit your bed a little bit and feel the need for an instant shred. Who else pushes downhill? Answers on a postcard addressed to NO ONE, THAT’S WHO.
The Holiday Season is always packed full of great products to chose from so here’s our second round up of what we’re stoked on arriving in skater-owned-shops right now, including a few last minute gift ideas at the bottom (because we can’t be the only ones shopping for them on Christmas Eve). Click here to see part one of the Holiday 2010 Line Check.
Vincent Alvarez name came up quite frequently when asking others who their favourite skater of 2010 was. His pro model for Chocolate was approved by the masses, and the watercolour line is classic Chocolate aesthetics.
Unbelievable right? It’s true, Alien Workshop turned twenty years old this year and to celebrate, all their riders got some classic AWS iconography attached to their name on these rad decks.
It was a good year for rippers getting the deserved bump to pro status as Boots’ first pro model for Death came out this month. Cliché close up for the holidays leaving us with this little team model to get bamboozled over.
Theeve have reportedly the lightest, strongest, straight up best truck on the market. If you have a little extra Christmas pocket money this year maybe you should try a pair out. Thunder continue to bring the goods with Marc Johnson’s ‘special blend’.
Momentum keep rolling out amazing looking wheels for the stocking filler hill bomber market this Holiday season, this time employing the capable hands of Andrew Pommier to decorate their urethane.
OJ Wheels made a welcome return to the urethane spotlight this year. Click here for a review of the the Street Razors.
It’s definitely the time of year to stock up on these badboys. So be sure to keep your head warm this winter, but also rep skateboarding while you do it, and who better to rep than the good folk at Girl, Chocolate and Fourstar?
Lots of good stuff from the Soletech camps are entering UK skateshops right now. éS may be renowned for keeping your feet secure above the good wood you ride but they’re pretty rad at keeping you warm and not a flu-stricken wreck too while you’re off it.
Etnies take the tried, tested and massively approved classic approach with these awesomely plain and simple hoods.
Emerica unsurprisingly go a little leftfield with their winter warmers, fully repping the kind of grandpa festive sweater steeze that some of us here at Crossfire love a little more than the others. Make your own mind up on that one but we’re all down for Heath Kirchart being rad.
More goodies from éS who have already won us over with their amazing Bobby Worrest collection earlier this year.
Only one pair of trousers are on our Christmas wish list: these perfectly crafted cords from Altamont.
Nick Dompierre’s pro model for DC is hitting UK stores this month, alongside more boot throwback goodness from Supra’s Tom Penny.
Simple, effective and guaranteed to have perfect board feel; standard practice for Emerica.
Hsu’s are such a great shoe to skate and this camel colourway is an excellent move. It would be rude not to give the pro shoe to come from this year’s SOTY a mention too, Leo Romero’s purple model is dope.
Perhaps it was the little interview éS ran this week with team rider Kellen James, but we’re definitely super stoked on this SK8MAFIA collab on the Square Two.
John Rattray is simply the best around. Rep Scotland with these in 2011. It doesn’t matter if you’re not Scottish, John Rattray is and therefore you should start wishing you were.
Need some last minute gift ideas? You can trust the Crailtap camp to deliver the raddest stocking fillers this year.
And there’s no way we couldn’t include these… amazing holiday merch from the ever rad DEVO. Watch our interview with frontman Mark Mothersbaugh here…
Earlier in the year, Emerica’s UK/Europe team hooked up with Dom Marley and Dan Magee for a hit and run skate mission in the London Underground.
‘Oh great, a couple of wallrides then…’, I’m sure a few of you have already spoken those words subconsciously at the thought of an underground edit. Well, you’re all in for a surprise with this one. Consider how everything done has gotta be first try too, this is stealth skateboarding at its best.
Watch below to see what a skate video directed by Hideo Kojima would look like as Tom Knox, Chris Ault, Rory Milanes, Rob Maatman and Eniz Fasilov mind the gap and shred the forbidden surfaces of the Big Smoke’s commuter inferno…