If you haven’t been to one of those you really missed out. Maybe there will be another chance in 2021? Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
Featuring: Alex & Steve Olson, Matlock Bennett-Jones, Santiago Sasson, Ville Wester, Karsten Kleppan & many more.
If you haven’t been to one of those you really missed out. Maybe there will be another chance in 2021? Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
Featuring: Alex & Steve Olson, Matlock Bennett-Jones, Santiago Sasson, Ville Wester, Karsten Kleppan & many more.
Nike SB put our friend and really good skater Didrik Galasso on a plane and shipped him over to New York City.
The big apple seemed to surely stoke out an already very hyped Deedz. We guess surfing with Alex Olson will do that to you.
Johnny’s first skate clip in a while and it is a good one!
After the success of the first movie and the leftover montage we now get “Boys Of Summer 2”. The film has the same humor, the same behind the scenes type of feel and big-name skating that the first one had.
Still, part 2 seems more serious, less of the cuff and more focussed, you win some you lose some, see for yourself.
The best thing about the internet skate video revolution is that it brings us, skaters, that might not be “pro-level” but that do make you want to go out and skate.
Genesis Evans is one of those skaters, a little Alex Olson cameo doesn’t hurt either.
Some nice 917 extras filmed by Cyrus Bennett featuring all your swoosh riding favorites.
Most of you saw the 917 video and as with almost any “big” video nowadays multiple filmers where involved in making that project become a reality. 2two2 provides us with the perspective of Sean Dahlberg the person who actually filmed those tricks. Enjoy!
Ishod Wair, Alex Olson, Donovon Piscopo, Antonio Durao and Zion Wright all can pretty much skate everything. Watch them skate the Bay area in this new Nike clip.
The Nike SB team had one hell of a year. Rewatch all the highlights featuring all your favorite skaters.
If you have been following our Instagram you know that are working on something with Lacey. If you were ever doubtful of her watch this video and see why she is not only a great person but also an amazing skater.
Finally, something we have been waiting on for a long time: the first full-length video presentation from Alex Olson’s Call Me 917. Now we are not going to give you a full video description but we will give you at least a few of our highlights.
First off, Alex Olson skates to a Rap Song by Nakel Smith, Secondly, the video consists of the team and their friends and last but not least, the soundtrack feels like a cross between an Anti-Hero video and Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2’s score.
Honestly, go watch the video. It is not what we expected, it is better:
Remember last years CPH Open? Bobby Worrest got some stuff done… The Nike guys certainly enjoyed their time in Copenhagen.
Featuring: Bobby Worrest, Hjalte Halberg, Andrew Wilson, Hugo Boserup, Max Palmer, Cyrus Bennett, Alex Olson, Oskar Rosenburg-Hallberg, Ishod Wair, Ryan Bobier and Ville Wester.
Our friends and neighbors from Modest Department just released a film about the French photographer Viktor Vauthier. From finding his dad’s old photos to becoming the house photographer of Alex Olson’s “Bianca Chandon“, this 16-minute movie is telling the story of becoming an artist.
Let’s start at the beginning Oski is one of the most exciting skaters of our time, in fact, he is so nice to watch that the Cardiel reference, in the beginning, might even be justified.
Another thing that we really liked is that it is not just Oski you get his friends people like Hjalte Halberg, Alex Olson, Cyrus Bennett, Roman Gonzalez and more. Another good thing is that Nike gave a colorway to a skater that actually likes to skate the shoe (they have been kind of good at that.) which doesn’t seem to always be the case. Now go sit down and watch this part because it is good!
Alex Olson is known for his quite unique personality. Constantly changing and reinventing himself, he seems to be always in search for new experiences and the best way to live. In the lasting struggle between false modesty and the urge, as a person of public attention, to keep people aware of certain things in life that he regards to be important, now and then he forces himself to break out of his restraint. So recently, Alex shared a vegan curry recipe on a cooking show, which most of the people seem to find quite amusing and entertaining, but also brought along some good fodder for a number of hate comments, which we sometimes find as unnecessary as funny. Here are our top ten comments:
“He loves being in front of the camera. How many videos on the web are there where he talks about himself? He’s one of those “I hate doing interviews/being photographed” dudes yet there is more content of him not on a skateboard.”
“Even he seems like he hates vegan food.”
“Well he’s a pro skater so I’m sure he’s hit his head more than enough times.”
“Looks tired as fuck. Eat some meat, you would feel better.”
“This guy is pretty cool… weird but cool. Haha!”
“Fucking shit cunt, get a haircut you hippie.”
“I didn’t notice the awkwardness, which made me feel awkward reading the comments. Does not noticing awkwardness mean I’m awkward?”
“This guy is so boring and such a sad sounding fella.”
“Alex Olson seems like a really nice guy, and he’s a badass skater, but man he seems dumb as sack of rocks.”
“Definitely stoned.”
After Donald Trump’s election, last year Alex Olson told me.
“People think Punk music is coming back.”
I had to stop and think about it, the general attitude has become more punk in recent times. But I didn’t really see an increase in the Punk music I did, however, start to notice another musical current rising up (pun intended). Caribbean music, especially Reggae has made its way into the video side of contemporary skateboard culture.
Punk, Reggae and skateboarding the links between these forms of expression are not that outlandish, despite a strong difference in style they are closer than you might think.
Let’s start with connecting Punk and Reggae, this snippet supplies a short explanation into their worlds.
Now that we established that there is some common ground between the two scenes. The next step is to find a connection to our own sub-culture.
For those of you that are aware of skateboarding’s history, you know that skateboarding started as a DYI (Do It Yourself) culture. The DIY attitude was firmly embedded into us from the moment a pair of roller skate axles were screwed onto some wood and it continues to live on in every one of us who chooses to customize his or her board or fix a spot.
Even though we did a lot of research it is hard to pinpoint the moment when Reggae entered skateboarding. We did, however, find an early example of a part set to skateboarding.
Jef Hartsel one off the first part set to Reggae music (World Industries, Rubbish Heap, 1989).
Since it is hard to pinpoint the exact moment, we can only guess. We do know that places like New York, have had a strong Caribbean community since the early 1900’s so it could be that it happened when skateboarding got known in these communities cultures collided and merged. Black skateboarders historically talked about a backlash withing their own community who considered skateboarding a white activity. But as skateboarding started to become popularized and it had its first peak the diversification process had already started and parts like the one bellow where the result.
Keith “Huf” Hufnagel’s part in Penal Code is an early example of how to combine skateboarding and reggae music (1996).
Then things seemed to take a backburner for a while and truth be told, my generation did not grow up watching these parts. To us, Reggae was this cliché thing about weed and dreadlocks. It felt like a very small thing in our skateboard world, There were some moments I.E: when Tosh Townend skated to Lee Scratch Perry or John Cardiel who skated to Sizzla but to be honest it felt more like a one-off thing to us.
An entire brand dedicated to the genre (Satori, Roots and Culture, 2004).
The now legendary I-Path promo (2005).
In the mid-2000’s things seemed to be more divided, not only the image of the brand but the image of the skater became increasingly important. It was the start of what we see today, you can be a super good skater, but are you relatable, inspiring and do kids want to skate, dress and be like you?
Some brands were basing or at the very least connecting their image to Caribbean culture. In doing that they spoke to a new audience and created a platform for Reggae style skaters I.E. Matt Rodriguez.
Niell Brown in “The 103 Video.” (2010)
At the end of the 2000’s things started to change back to Penal Code times, there were multiple videos that for lack of a better term casually used Reggae music in people’s parts.
One of the videos that had a big influence on me was “The 103 Video” A video with fluent editing and an even better song selection, it changed my opinion on Reggae/Dub/Dancehall. It wasn’t that I couldn’t hear the quality or that I was incapable of liking the music but the video combined the music in such a way that I started to see the diversity instead of the genre’s clichés.
https://vimeo.com/113099306
A recent resurgence of Caribbean flows (Johnny Wilson, Paych, 2014).
Today use of Caribbean music has become commonplace in both skateboarding and pop culture as a whole, Supreme used it in their videos and collections and pop star Drake works with Caribbean artists, talks about Caribbean “Tings” on tracks with a Caribbean style rhythm.
2017 will show if this will continue as a mainstream movement or if it will return to the fringes, either way, we suggest you spend some time doing your googles, reading up and engulfing yourself in the world of Caribbean culture.
Leave it up to Bill Strobeck to further influence the youth (Supreme, Pussy Gangster, 2016).
Text by Roland Hoogwater
Images by Supreme
Genesis Evans just put out this video of some of his well-known Supreme friends skating and Dorking around the city of Angels in short L.A.
Featuring: Alex Olson, Aidan Mackey, Chris Milic, Rowan Zorrila, Nik Stain, Logan Lara, Hugo Boserup, Cyrus Bennet and much more.
We had an Interview about Call me 917 from our Issue 58 “The Handshake”, where Alex Olson talks about not skating because he’s been kept busy with the business side of running two companies, while the rest of the team is just out there. Don’t worry Alex, those guys are getting it.
Why would a website about skateboarding go deep on politics and, on top of that, write about a situation in a country that is so far away from their office? The news about Donald Trump becoming the 45th president of the United States got to me on the morning of the 8th of November. Actually, the first thing I did that morning was pick up my phone, surf to a news website all while walking to the bathroom. My legs immediately started to shiver when I was reading who won the election. I do not know why exactly I reacted like that but it is probably because I was scared that a person like Donald Trump will be in a position that holds that much power and control.
A few hours went by and after I went through all the websites reading the news of the day I actually had to go to Wikipedia, just to see how it felt, reading that “He” really made it. And there it was, in writing, just underneath Donald Duck it said Donald Trump president of the United States.
But, why is this touching us so badly and what are the consequences going to look like for the people in Europe? It is not like it would have been paradise again if Hillary Clinton would have won the election. The newspapers and political magazines where throwing more and more wood into the fire with cover stories like “The End of the World” or “World War 3” and I was wondering what kind off thoughts a ten-year-old girl would have about those headlines.
Cover of Spiegel magazine Germany. (“The End Of The World”)
We thought it would be time to ask some people’s opinions, people that are actually affected first-hand by the election and well known in our skateboard world and to say the least, there is definitely a tendency in our community because we actually could not find a single Trump supporter amidst our ranks.
Nestor Judkins, dual citizenship Spain and U.S. Living in New York City:
“HOPELESSNESS. Today I returned to the USA after one week of feeling stunned and horrified. Beyond the racist and sexist rhetoric, the social and economic inequality he represents, I fear for the future of our environment at this most crucial point in human and environmental history. The denial of climate change and the promise of reversing all initiatives to slow down global warming and return full force to the methods that led us here will have an irreversibly disastrous effect on all of the humanity. I weep for this beautiful and fragile world where we have been able to enjoy our brief time in the sun. We’ve evolved into impossibly intelligent beings only to be trumped by the ignorance of many and the hubris and greed of the few.”
Esquire Magazine; August 2004.
Mark Nickels, U.S. citizen living in Berlin/Germany:
“With the election, there are times you hope to wake up and find out it is a bad dream. Unfortunately, I found out while on a flight to Frankfurt that this is quite real and f*ckin’ mental. I thought things got bad with the Brexit vote, but people are even more bat sh*t crazy in the US than in the UK. America has to be #1 in everything, always I guess… And because I have a dual national, this is another thing to apologize for. I see myself buying a lot of ‘I’m Sorry’ beers in the near future.
I am in LA right now on a trip and it really feels like someone just died here. No one can make sense of what just happened, nor can I. One thing we all need to remember is, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. In a sane world, she would be President. That is how it is supposed to work, right? Trump said he would fight if this happened to him and not concede. He also said the people’s voice should be respected, but his tone has changed quickly since the roles are reversed… how presidential of him. As for Obama’s work over the last 8 years, he spent a lot of time rebuilding the tarnished image of this country, all that just flew out the window in one evening.
Living outside the US, I am much more political because I see first hand how the rest of the world views us. To be honest, I am scared for Trump to be the leader of the free world, which is justified because of the way he spoke on the campaign trail. Real things happen when you have a leader that makes outrageous claims like he has and it can be dangerous on so many levels. You are now seeing a ‘Carte Blanche’ situation, certain people feel it is okay to be openly racist after the votes have been counted because they won in the polls. Racism is never ever ever ever okay unless you are just a f*cking sh*tty human being who sucks at life. I still can’t believe that is a lesson that has to be taught in 2016.
I am extremely fearful of what my country can become if people like myself become complacent and sit still doing nothing after these election results. In order to fight back, I plan to donate money regularly to organizations like the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) and other causes I believe in, in order to help and protect the social progress made under President Obama. I also will support media outlets like ‘The Guardian’ who actually do the type of investigative journalism needed during these times. Outlets like these help expose the abuse of power/ privilege we all know will happen. I will also talk to friends to make sure they are not part of the 50% of the population who didn’t vote & help them register to be a part of the next election in 2018. The best thing I can really do is, to push forward and live my life to the fullest. I will not be paralyzed by their fear mongering/ hate and will stand up for myself; not only as an American or a Brit but as a citizen of the world.
At least there is a silver lining for me in this, I am lucky to be an immigrant in such an amazing country as Germany. Who would ever think you would hear an American say that?!?! Now let’s make sure this doesn’t happen in Germany next year with the AFD. We can’t let hate and fear rule over us, anywhere.”
Dennis Busenitz, dual Citizenship Germany and U.S. Living in San Francisco:
“First off, I would like to apologize to the world because America couldn’t come through and NOT have Trump as our president! It is embarrassing for me to have to travel internationally right after that. I think it is just a big shit sandwich! I don’t know that much about politics but I have a lot of respect for Obama, Obama was not in favor of Trump and so were a lot of other people who know a lot of things, to me it seemed like anybody who had any political experience said he was unfit to be president but the American people decided to give them the finger and voted him in there anyway. So I guess…. Hopefully, they get what they deserve without blowing up the whole world in the process or getting global warming to a point where it is beyond repair. Global warming to me is a real threat and both Trump and America do not seem to think it is a problem that needs to be addressed, which is insane!”
Photo by Danny Sommerfeld, Munich Nov.’16.
Patrick O’Dell, Living in Los Angeles:
“In the last week, I have heard every take on the presidential election that can be had. Its hard to add anything other than I am filled with dread about what Donald Trump will do to our country and our freedom. Usually the ‘Right’ act as if they have a monopoly on freedom (it is been 8 years and Obama still hasn’t taken your guns away by the way). I am worried about the freedoms of women, gays, faiths including Judaism, Islam and also the right to Atheism. I happen to be a Catholic and am filled with pride that even our Pope has denounced Trump. What Christian mocks women for their looks, calls them pigs, brags about ‘grabbing pussies,’ mocks the handicapped, says Prisoners of War are not hero’s, claims a Mexican-American judge can’t do his job because of his ethnicity? What Christian is against helping people in need and showing sympathy for those less fortunate?
And the people Trump have tapped for his administration only make me more worried. Giuliani was the architect of the unconstitutional ‘Stop and frisk,’ obviously an abridgment of the 4th Amendment which should protect us from unlawful search and seizure. Trump’s running mate Mike Pence wants to limit women’s rights, gay marriage and once supported torturing homosexuals with conversion therapy. Steve Bannon is a known anti-Semite… Trump got elected on a campaign of fear. The only thing that gives me hope is that Trump’s message is so awful and has hurt so many people, that hopefully, a strong resistance will emerge. Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street, immigrants, women, non-Christians, LGBT, can all unite as a unified force. I fall into none of these categories as white straight Christian male but I will be traveling to Washington for the inauguration, not to protest the results of the election (I accept them) but to peacefully show that I do not support Donald Trump.”
Vice Magazine; Photo by Patrick O’Dell.
Alex Olson, Living in New York City:
“I think Trump is a good thing… but not for what or who he is, his election has brought a whole new motivation to this country… new ideas are being brought to the table. If Hilary would have won nothing big would have changed. Trump brings change but in an indirect way for both good and bad, creative ideas will emerge from this situation, and the coming four years will be an interesting time. People in California are even thinking of becoming independent! Which I think could be very interesting… but who knows, what kind of good things could come from people’s passion and rage.”
Photo by Conny Mirbach; Manhattan Aug.’16
Words by Daniel Pannemann.
Photo on top by Jonathan Mehring, NYC Nov.’16