a brief glance issue_30 by a brief glance skateboardmag

issue _30

a brief glance

DCSHOES.COM CHRIS COLE INITIALS COLLECTION: TEAM COLE RAGLAN \ PATCHY \ PIONEER \ CULT JEAN \ STEAMTOWN LS \ TOMAHAWKS SS \ COLE BRACELET \ COLE LITE 2 \ FANATIC

BLABAC PHOTO

photo // Davide Biondani_

a brief glance

ÂŠ2015 Vans, Inc.

#VANSPROPELLER VANSPROPELLER.COM

EDITORIAL_30

TRAVEL, FRIENDS, PLACES, PUSHING...

...5 years is A LOT of time. happy birthday abg_

a brief glance

SAMU KARVONEN - PIVOT TO FAKIE • PHOTO: ALEX PIRES

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABG

ISSUE _30

CONTENTS // 30

a brief glance

Fragments_ The Untouched Island_Elba_ 5 years of a brief glance_

Places_Iceland_ A taste of San Francisco_Harrison Hafner_ Confidences of an Englishman in exile in Tokyo_

a brief glance

EDITOR and CONCEPT_ Davide Biondani.

(davide@abriefglance.com) ASSOCIATE EDITOR_ Guido Bendotti.

ASSISTANT EDITOR_ Andrew Zolin. TRANSLATIONS_ Jonathan Levin. PHOTOGRAPHERS_

Leo Sharp, Kévin Mètallier, DVL, Friedjof Fèye,

Fred Mortagne, Fabio Montagner, Andrey Fin, Craig

Dodds, Brian Gaberman, Marcello Guardigli, Davide

Biondani, Bertrand Trichet, Jacob Messex, Sam Ashley. CONTRIBUTORS_

Oli Buergin, Mario Torre, Francesco Paolo Chielli,

Jerome Campbell, Mark Baines, Willow, Barney Page, Ale Martoriati, Niall Neeson, Fred Mortagne. DESIGN_

Fake Donkey Lab.

GET ALL THE INFOS at: info@abriefglance.com

a brief glance

WILD IN THE STREETS COMING SOON

www.bluedistribution.com contact@bluedistribution.com

COVER // Pietro BontĂ Powerslide fs crail. Photo_Davide Biondani a brief glance

a brief glance

FRAGMENTS Valentin Bauer, 50-50. Photo_DVL.

a brief glance

Jacopo Carozzi, Bs tail. Photo_ Marcello Guardigli. Melbourne, Australia.

a brief glance

FRAGMENTS a brief glance

Vadik Romanstov, Fs ollie over. Photo_Andrey Fin. Minsk, Belarus.

FRAGMENTS a brief glance

a brief glance

FRAGMENTS Lucas Puig, Bs tailslide. Photo_Leo Sharp. UK.

a brief glance

elba

Photography // Davide Biondani.

the untouched island a brief glance

a brief glance

Exploring, searching, finding new and unusual places to skate is without a doubt one of the most beautiful and fascinating things about skateboarding. In an era where everything in skateboarding has already been done nearly anywhere you can imagine, finding new and interesting destinations is something difficult and captivating at the same time. Elba is a fantastic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, across from Tuscany. It is a paradise where you can enjoy your vacations immersed in nature and benefit from a marvelous sea. Not exactly the first place that comes to mind when you want to organize a skateboard tour. The idea behind this trip was to explore the island in search of something to skate. Being a wild place, we didn’t exactly know what to expect, apart from a couple spots I had seen on vacation a few years ago. But for the most part, our trip was a complete unknown. Armed with lots of imagination and curiosity, we embarked at Piombino together with Jacopo Picozza, Pietro Bontà, Alvin Francescato and the filmer Andrew Zolin. Considering the very few certainties and many doubts we had about the mission’s probability of success, and since it was winter season, I rented a large villa on the most beautiful deserted beach on the island for a good price. At least the boys wouldn’t totally hate on me in case the mission failed... hahaha. In reality and as usual, if you have the right attitude wherever you go you’ll always manage to find something to skate, and the feeling of traveling down the island’s curvy roads to explore tiny towns on the seaside or hidden in the backcountry excited everybody and made for 5 fantastic days. One minute after having gotten out of the car on the first day, Alvin lost his board in the deep waters of the port, and was forced to set up a new board using my trucks. Jacopo, apart from taking more selfies than a horny thirteen-year old, skated the most dangerous spots, while Pietro fought every day to land a wallie on a rough rocky wall, managing to land it the evening before our departure. We discovered that on the Elba island there is a small and active skate scene in Portoferraio, the main city, where the locals showed us some of their spots. Many thanks to Jacopo, Alvin, Pietro, and Andrew for having believed in this mission and for the hard work they put in. Welcome to Elba, the Untouched Island. db_

a brief glance

Jacopo Picozza // Half cab kickflip_

a brief glance

Pietro BontĂ // Bs kickflip_

a brief glance

JACOPO_ Skating at Elba literally opened my eyes on the many aspects of skateboarding that I previously overlooked or to which I gave little importance. To imagine, fantasize, and not take oneself too seriously in one of the most beautiful and fascinating Italian landscapes is not a daily experience. The underlining idea was to skate all that surrounded us, without any limits to imagination... the true spirit of skateboarding. Skateboarding in places apparently lacking in spots tests you as a skater, it makes you grow, and under many aspects may be more stimulating than any large city full of perfect spots. For me it was like mentally detoxing from the canonical schemes in skateboarding today, and looking beyond, I started appreciating the qualities and characteristics of the urban and maritime landscapes in a deeper manner. Nothing was given to us for free, if not from our imaginations. The spots were inexistent but nonetheless we skated all day every day, everywhere, and the tour was awesome. An experience and a journey that gives you goose bumps, and during which you mature as a skater, is something I wish to all you readers out there. Thanks from my heart abg. Priceless. JP_

a brief glance

â&#x20AC;&#x153;For me it was like mentally detoxing from the canonical schemes in skateboarding today.â&#x20AC;?

a brief glance

Jacopo Picozza // Danger smith grind_

a brief glance

Jacopo Picozza // Backward nose grind_

a brief glance

PIETRO_ When considering taking a trip to Elba, a beautiful image comes to mind of sunny beaches, the sea, breathtaking views, women in bikinis, and spaghetti with mussels... Dave had the great idea of uniting this beautiful vacation-life with some healthy, destructive skateboarding! When I first found myself packing my bags I admit I was a little skeptical; looking for images of the island on the web all you find are postcards with wild, charming landscapes. Therefore, I didn’t have great expectations of finding crazy spots, but the desire to skate was strong, at least enough to stimulate our imagination! We left the coast of the peninsula to its threatening, cold, and rainy greyness, to land on the island that was close by but very different... Against all odds, what we found was a warm summer climate that together with the whole situation, transported us much farther away than we actually were! It definitely wasn’t one of the easiest missions to accomplish, but surely one of the most unusual. Amongst those seaside towns and beautiful landscapes we didn’t find such a diverse choice of spots, and there were a few unfortunate episodes, such as Alvin’s board falling into the sea during the first session, and the flu symptoms that persecuted us during our entire stay. All in all, it went well. We skated everything we were able to find, struggling against the most hostile grounds and strong maritime winds, managing to bring home some nice shots. As our first tour together with a brief glance I must admit it was really cool and stimulating! I can’t wait to go on another adventure to discover new destinations to skate that are even more beautiful and interesting! PB_

a brief glance

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We skated everything we were able to find, struggling against the most hostile grounds and strong maritime winds, managing to bring home some nice shots.â&#x20AC;?

a brief glance

Pietro BontĂ // Rough sunset wallie_

a brief glance

ALVIN_ Honestly, when I was asked to go on this tour to the island of Elba I was a bit perplexed, let’s say that it is not exactly a place associated with skateboarding. I’ve always associated it with appealing landscapes and dream seaside localities. For the first time I had to deal with a tour during which we had no idea what spots we would find to skate. It was a search, a discovery. I was surprised in finding other skaters on the island: many of the spots are practically unskateable because of super rough grounds, and there are no skateshops to buy equipment. Despite the Mediterranean climate on the island, a very strong wind continued to rage on, day after day. It was also a nice chance to be together: I had the possibility to get to know Pietro, also known as the “pacifist, chef, philosopher, warmonger...” for his numerous qualities; and Jacopo who as usual didn’t miss any opportunity to take a selfie at every damn location on the island. Despite the wind, the rough spots, boards in the water, and me throwing up nearly every day because of the flu, the tour went well under many aspects. I thank abg for this opportunity. AF_

a brief glance

â&#x20AC;&#x153;For the first time I had to deal with a tour during which we had no idea what spots we would find to skate. It was a search, a discovery.â&#x20AC;?

a brief glance

Alvin Francescato // Fs kickflip_

a brief glance

Jacopo Picozza // Bs kickflip_

a brief glance

Jacopo Picozza // Fs kickflip off the kicker_

a brief glance

the untouched island a brief glance

a brief glance

Pietro BontĂ // Fs kickflip_

a brief glance

Alvin Francescato // Fs bluntslide_

a brief glance

the untouched island

a brief glance

5years of a brief glance

skateboardmag

a brief glance

During the days before the deadline of the present issue of a brief glance we thought, “Hey, but this issue also marks the mag’s fifth year!!!” So once we were over our hangover from champagne, caviar and kalashnikov shots, and after sending home the extremely expensive high-class escorts, we thought that maybe it would be better to celebrate in a more serious manner. So we started leafing through all the issues of the mag to select the most significant images of the past 5 years. It’s always hard to pick out the best photos because the ones you like are just too many, and also because not always do the opinions of the members of staff match. But anyways, once we stopped arguing, the selection was successfully completed (I swear we were always in agreement about the champagne). Five years is a long time and looking over all the pages of the many issues was like re-living them and re-experiencing all the emotions. So here are the 30 or so photographs to retell some of the most significant moments of a brief glance. A well-deserved thank you to all the people who have supported us over all this time, and to all the photographers that have contributed to the mag. For the ten-year anniversary I promise we’ll throw a mega party on our private yacht!

a brief glance

We have been skating together with Ricky for many many years, he has always ripped and still does. We absolutely wanted a photo of him in the very first issue. Damn, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been 5 years already!

a brief glance

Ricky Comini // Bs noseblunt slide_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #1

a brief glance

This rail is on the beach and it took us one hour of hard work to create the landing using some panels of wood. Raffa did a good job both off and on board and this shot was used in his interview.

Raffaele Schirinzi // Bs lipslide_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #3 Jerome Campbell // Bs smith grind_ Raffaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interview Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #6

a brief glance

We shot this bs kickflip during a RVCA tour in the spring of 2010 with Leo Romero, Spanky, Cairo Foster, Nestor Judkins, and Cory Kennedy. It’s always fascinating to skate and shoot with amazing skateboarders like them… it never stops amazing me. Cory Kennedy is definitely “next level.”

Cory Kennedy // Bs kickflip_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #3 Rvca European Tour.

a brief glance

The Banda della Magliana was a criminal gang that literally ruled criminality in Rome in the 70’s and 80’s. They were famous for taking care of all the illegal business, to the connections with the Mafia and the secret service. Despite their involvement in numerous hi-profile criminal events of extreme political importance, they had no political interests. Their goal was to “conquer” Rome and acquire money, power and fame. We followed in the footsteps of the Banda Della Magliana by looking for spots to skate in locations where the gang was born and operated.

Ale Martoriati // Ollie_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #5 In search of La Banda della Magliana

a brief glance

Jerome Campbell // Bs smith grind_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #6 Jeromeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interview.

Jerome joined the Nike Italy team as special guest for this trip to Sicily. A week of laughs and great skateboarding. This shot was in his interview.

a brief glance

Marco Lambertucci // Fs kickflip_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #7 Nike Texture Tour.

The Texture Tour was a project we did in collaboration with Nike. In order to introduce the new Italian riders we skated in each one the guysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; cities, bringing an international rider with us for every mission. When we got to Lambertucciâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hometown he brought us to this sick spot where he showed us his trademark trick.

a brief glance

Giorgio Zattoni // Fs nosegrind tail grab_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #9 Madness and Determination

Madness and Determination is the title of Giorgio Zattoniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interview. The two words sum up rather faithfully two very strong aspects of his personality. Zatt was created to skate.

a brief glance

The Border Tours are a series of trips Blast! Distribution organizes every year with its team. The last of these missions was in the area across the ItalianFrench border where we found an empty pool that was never skated before. Crest did some tricks, one of which was this sick kickflip wallride. Crest knows whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s up.

Luca Crestani //Kickflip wallride_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #10 Blast! The Border Tour 2011_Sailing West

a brief glance

Simone has always been one of our favorite skateboarders and since he is lazy we forced him to shoot a full interview for A Brief Glance that actually turned into a tour of typical restaurants and top quality wine tasting. Always wearing a shirt of course. Ha ha ha.

Simone Bertozzi // Bs ollie_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #10 The Order Of Things_Simoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interview

a brief glance

Carhartt riders Hjalte Halberg, Phil Zwijsen, Rob Smith, Pontus Alv, and Bram De Cleen joined the 5Boro guys for a two-week trip from NYC to Detroit. This wallride by Rob Smith is only one of the great photos shot by Bertrand Trichet for the

Rob Smith // Wallride_ Photo_Bertrand Trichet. ISSUE #11 NYC to Detroit

a brief glance

Turn Your Brain Off In Barcelona was a trip organized by A Brief Glance with Phil Zwijsen, Kris Vile, Mauro Caruso, Jonathan Thijs, Luca Crestani, and other friends. Barcelona has always been over-exposed but thanks to Kris and Phil we skated some less seen and at the time new spots. This wallie to lipslide makes no sense.

Phil Zwijsen // Wallie to lipslide_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #12 Turn Your Brain Off In Barcelona

a brief glance

The triangle symbolizes the spirit, mind, and body. Three random points forming a unique triangle. The skater, the photographer and the spot form an understanding and unique composition. Triangles is an article shot by the one and only Leo Sharp. In every image there is a triangle. No doubt one of the fav articles we published.

Chris Jones // Ollie_ Photo_Leo Sharp. ISSUE #13 Triangles

a brief glance

Brian Lotti has always been one of our favorite skateboarders ever since the late 80’s, and we had the honor to interview him and enjoy his skateboarding and art. For his interview he sent over some sick photos from the mid 80’s, and also went out with photographer Jacob Messex to shoot some new photos on the day before the deadline. One of these shots is this no comply wallride. He also had the cover of the issue with an unpublished photo of a fs ollie shot in 1988 by Spike Jonze.

Brian Lotti // No comply wallride_ Photo_Jacob Messex. ISSUE #14 Brian’s interview

a brief glance

Andrew Zolin // Bs kickflip_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #17 Fragments Andrew is on the a brief glance staff. He is the official filmer and assistant editor. One day we were out shooting for The Bridge article under a huge overpass not far from Venice. While the skater we were supposed to be there to shoot was warming up, Andrew started skating the spot and landed a perfectly executed bs kickflip on the steep bank in just a few tries. Good one buddy.

a brief glance

Venezia is a magical city. While shooting for the Like a Charming Woman/Winter in Venice article we really felt all the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fascination even though we had been there hundreds of times and knew the city well. Venice is a city where opposites meet each other, a space between truths and untruths, between beauty and ugliness, between water and land, and between love and hate. Venice bewilders you, stuns you, and creates an illusionâ&#x20AC;Ś just like a charming woman.

Fabio Colombo // Drop in_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #17 Like a Charming Woman_Winter In Venice

a brief glance

Four weeks of continuous rain can lower your spirits, if you’re a skateboarder it can really drive you crazy, and if you have to fill 150 pages of a magazine with new contents it can definitely give you some worries. But skateboarding has taught us to never give up 3 days before a deadline, especially that of issue #18, so we said, “It’s raining? Fuck it, let’s go skate under the rain!” Everyone was smiling and happy to skate in the rain and no one was worrying about getting their boards and socks wet, or falling into a puddle. One of the funniest and most memorable skate missions I have ever experienced.

Nicolò Novali // Ollie up to kickflip fakie_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #18 In The Rain

a brief glance

Fabio Montagner // Bs smith grind_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #18 Three Years Later_Montyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interview

Fabio Montagner had the cover and the interview in the first issue of A Brief Glance, and three years later we had the pleasure and the honor of publishing an article dedicated to him. During this time Monty started shooting photos, skating bowls, supporting and pushing the skateboarders of the new generation. We could shoot an interview with him every year! Ha ha. Monty still, and always will, rule.

a brief glance

In the very first issue of the mag we ran an article about an Antiz tour. I do remember it was the first time Samu Karvonen went on tour with the team. Julien Bachelier was leading the crew and skating hard. Four years later we had the chance of following another Antiz tour in southern Italy. Samu was still on the team, and was constantly making everyone laugh, while Juju was still taking care of the whole crew and skating hard as well. The flat in this ditch was rough, very rough.

Julien Bachelier // Fs noseblunt slide_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #19 Antiz Tour

a brief glance

Dami Simionato // Drop in_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #19 Dusted Off_A Crash For A Day Only once we were inside the ditch did we realize how deep it was. It was frightening to imagine how much water this channel could carry, and we imagined the arrival of a giant wave that would wipe us all away in a second. Dami dropped in quickly reaching hyper-speed, through the first kink and across the flat, then went up the bank for like a meter and a half and hit his face against the wall. He made it, but the speed was excessive and the bank was too steep. Dami broke his nose, but otherwise he was fine. This is definitely one of the gnarliest things Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve witnessed in 27 years of skateboarding.

a brief glance

Sam Ashleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s photography always stands out, and this shot is a confirmation.

Kevn Lowry // Ollie up, ollie over_ Photo_Sam Ashley ISSUE #19 Fragments

a brief glance

Ale Bonacci // Switch crooks_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #21 Kidnapped By Aliens_Aleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interview

a brief glance

Nicky Howells // Bs nosegrind_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #21 DC IT/UK Pushing Together Tour

The DC Pushing Together tour was a joint collaboration between DC Italy and DC UK that brought together the two teams to skate for one week in Italy and one week in the UK. The second part of the trip took place in the UK, where we skated in Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, and Cardiff. We visited Scotland, England, and Wales all in one week. Fantastic! This shot was taken in Manchester on a Sunday afternoon. What a great trip.

a brief glance

Josh Young // Fakie Ollie_ Photo_Leo Sharp. ISSUE #22 Fragments

a brief glance

A week spent in Sicily with the Lakai European team could only have been a good week! The excuse for this mission was the introduction of Mauro Caruso to the Lakai International team. The crew was composed of Nick Jensen, Gauthier Roger, Karsten Kleppan, and Sylvain, who was always trying to find strange stuff to skate, and then skate it in the most original way he could.

Sylvain Tognelli // Ollie up to fs wallride_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #22 Not Just A Skateboard Trip_Lakai in Sicily

a brief glance

Alex Olson // Kickflip_ Photo_Brian Gaberman. ISSUE #24 Photographer_Gabermanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interview

a brief glance

Running an interview in the mag with photographer Brian Gaberman was like a dream. We have always been big, big fans of Brianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s photography since the mid 90â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, and working on an article and the layout with his photos was exciting. He was really kind and sent over some of our favorite shots from back in the days, and I must admit I was nearly shaking while opening the hi-res files. Best ever.

a brief glance

Mauro Caruso // Bs smith grind_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #24 MuĂ˛rica

The most exciting thing about this project was the absurd context we were skating in and photographing. It felt like being suspended in time in a world light-years away from the total chaos weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re used to experiencing daily in the cities we live in. It was like being catapulted into another age and dimension. It was like skating on a film set in rural Sicily at the beginning of the 1900â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, with that magical light you can only find on this island, amidst the silence of the alleys down which countless generations of people have lived and walked. Places to visit that deserve respect, and in which the sound of our ollies now echoed.

a brief glance

Ale Morandi // Bluntslide_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #27 DC in Portugal

a brief glance

Every year we spend a full week with the DC italian team skating some spots around Europe, last summer we went to Portugal and skated in Lisbon and Porto. Another great adventure with some good friends and amazing skateboarders. Where do we go this year?

a brief glance

Ross mcGouran // Lien_ Photo_DVL. ISSUE #26 Photographer_DVLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interview

We have much respect for people who are very passionate about their jobs, and that take great care of the things they do in an almost obsessive manner because they love what they do. We met Davy first through his photographs and then in person at various events around Europe. He is an excellent photographer and an authentic person, passionate and absolutely humble. This shot of Ross is just one of the sick photos published in his interview.

a brief glance

Bram De Cleen // Bs nose pick_ Photo_Davide Biondani ISSUE #28 Carhartt at Museo Maxxi

Last October Carhartt supported french skater and artist Raphael Zarka’s project “Exercises in Revolutions” at Museo Maxxi in Rome. The project mixed modern art and skateboarding and Carhartt invited Sylvain Tognelli and Bram De Clleem to take part to the event. On the last day of our stay, thanks to Raphael we had the chance to visit Villa Medici to have a coffee together and admire its magnificence. The view from its terrace leaves you breathless, no doubt the best view you can experience in Rome. Our secret mission was, however, to try and skate an empty fountain Raphael told us about that was located in the garden of the villa. We were lucky we had the time for this mission! Skating an empty fountain in one of the most luxurious and historical buildings in the world, and in the city with the world’s most important historical heritage, has no price!

a brief glance

Matteo Franceschin // Half cab crooks_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #28 White Marble The idea behind this article was to only skate spots made of white marble, and Rome was the perfect scenario to do that.

a brief glance

Eniz Fazliov // Fs bluntslide_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #28 Shredding With The Boys_Emerica tour

During the autumn of last year, Emerica Europe team riders Eniz Fazliov, Nisse Ingemarsson, and Rob Maatman spent a week in northern Italy and we drove around to skate some spots and get some footage. On one of the last days we stopped in Venezia to skate this hubba. A heavy session went down and we got at least 6 sick tricks. The top trick was this bluntslide Eniz landed in just a few tries, as he always does. Senseless.

a brief glance

Albert is a brilliant and friendly person and an extraordinary skateboarder. Shooting a full interview with him was a great and fun experience. We’re still wondering how it’s possible to do some of the tricks he does, ha ha.

Albert Nyberg // Fs 5-0 grind_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #29 Life Is Good_Albert’s interview

a brief glance

Perfect timing in life is everything, and this shot is an example. Dallas knows whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s up and finds his own way to skate this sick spot at these abandoned sheds just outside Naples during a Frank tour. He was actually racing the airplane and since he had a lead he afforded himself the luxury of a perfectly executed pole jam into the green bank. Needless to say, Dallas won.

Dallas Rockwam // Wallie_ Photo_Davide Biondani. ISSUE #29 Why Not? Frank You tour

a brief glance

PLACES_

Photography // Kévin Mètallier.

a brief glance

ICELAND

a brief glance

ICELAND

a brief glance

A taste of

SAN FRANCISCO // Harrison Hafner

Photos and text // Friedjof Feye_

a brief glance

â&#x20AC;&#x153;His name is Harrison, but all his friends call him Harry. When he was a kid he wanted to become a fireman. Now he has the most boring job ever, but he is trying to reduce his working hours by refilling his cup with water several times a day. After work you will probably see him doing slappies at DMV or bombing hills around his neighborhood. When he gets tired of it, he visits his friends in Europe. Sanfran will be his home forever though.â&#x20AC;?

a brief glance

50-50 grind_

a brief glance

Harry! First of all, are there any good spots on Harrison street, SF? Ha, I’m sure of it. I’ve skated a handful, but you can find something to skate everywhere. We could also say that Harrison st. is the only street for skateboarding in SF. Nowhere else has spots. California is the most original place for skateboarding. You grew up in SF and started skating there. What did it feel like? Did you get to see your skatevideoidols at the spots? I moved from SF to the East Bay when I was younger, and began skating there. When I would come to SF I would definitely see people from the videos, like Henry Sanchez and Rob Welsh. That would always trip me out. As we can tell by the photos, you like to pop up manholes/grates to use them as a kicker. Is it because most of the spots are either skate-stopped or ruined in SF? Or just to keep skating diverse and exciting?

Most things in SF are built with skateboarding in mind these days, and as a result a lot of things are skate-stopped in someway. But sometimes that also helps to make a spot. As for using the grates, I just thought that would be an interesting thing to explore while you were here. There are a lot of them around the city and I think it makes you look at spots in a new way and search for spots differently. For instance a really tall ledge is now accessible with a kicker, or if you see a grate in the ground you will look around your environment to find something it works with. It’s just another way to use your imagination, one of the gifts of skateboarding. You’ve been to Europe several times. It seems like you feel comfortable there. Why? Are you tired of the sun every day? I guess I just like exploring new places and meeting new people, and skateboarding is good for that. I’m most comfortable visiting Germany since most of the friends I’ve made outside of the States are there. It’s another place for me to go outside of SF where I feel like I know people and my way around. But I definitely want to check out more places. Is there anything you can’t stand about being American? Be honest. Nobody will read this ha ha ha. I guess I don’t really like how the American lifestyle revolves around money and working. Other cultures seem to have a good understanding of relaxation. So Americans just work too much and get stressed for nothing, eat cheeseburgers all day and are assholes. We suck.

a brief glance

5-0 grind_

a brief glance

Confidences of an Englishman in exile in Tokyo… Photography // Kévin Mètallier_ Words // Laurence Keefe_

Japan and Tokyo fascinate the entire planet and a first trip there is always a unique and unexpected experience… Laurence Keefe made the choice almost 4 years ago to dive into the Japanese metropolis, the biggest and probably the strangest in the world… Now he speaks Japanese pretty well and can be of really precious help for a stranger lost in translation… He gave us some keys to understand what lies behind this special “Made In Japan” a bit more…

a brief glance

n â&#x20AC;Ś

a brief glance

March 7th, 2011 : Laurence Keefe lands in Tokyo for the second time in his life, but this time he’s going there to settle down… 4 days later, the big earthquake made Fukushima tremble and the rest of the world afraid… Welcome to your new homeland English man…

Hiroki Muraoka // Ollie up to ollie_Tokyo

I was living in Barcelona for like 5 years, I was getting a bit sick of it. I was already teaching English in Spain so I knew I could also do it pretty much anywhere. A friend of mine who lived in Japan for a while told me that he had really good fun there and that I should maybe go check it out… It’s exactly what I did…

a brief glance

There are already a lot of cultural differences between Asian countries and European ones, but Japan is definitely the most far away you can get, in terms of distance and culture... Here everything is pretty much the opposite of what we are used to in Europe. Even if on the face of things it looks similar (you have all the big shops, brands, restaurants, and products from the west), people’s minds work completely in the opposite way. It’s like the way you make a sentence here, the words work backwards… and there is reason for that as well. In Japanese for example, when you’re speaking to someone, the verb will come at the end of the sentence. So, if you are expressing your opinion about someone, you might notice that the person you’re talking with doesn’t like what you’re saying and you can change the last words and change the sense of what you were about to say as the verb is at the end. It’s very easy to make the verb negative instead of positive… just by seeing people’s reactions, and there are many things like that actually… It’s funny cause when you ask them why they do things differently than anywhere else they often give you this answer, “Because we live on an island.” Well, my country is an island too you know… Culturally it was a bit like North Korea, completely closed off for a long time. An island isolated for so long that you can actually still notice this in many things. They rarely speak English.

Also, I learned that here lots of things are contradictions. Like when one thing is true, the opposite is always true at the same time as well. I would say that they have quite complicated minds for us people from western countries.

a brief glance

Laurence Keefe // Fs crooks pop in the bank_Tokyo

a brief glance

It’s the same with skateboarding and it actually says a lot about the way they think and they act in general. Skateboarding comes from the American culture, they imported it but they do their own thing with it. Taking the best of both worlds, that’s what the Japanese are best at. They take it from somewhere else and they mix it with something they already have. I think that sometimes they don’t really realize that the way they do think is so unique… It’s the same for the way some of them skate, I’m sure they don’t really do it on purpose at first. There is something really important to understand about the skate culture in Japan.

a brief glance

Most of what we can see today from Japan, comes from one man, Takahiro Morita. Even if there were a few skaters in Japan before him, he is the guy that really started pushing the scene and making it bigger. He is probably the first person who started understanding that the way they were skating and doing things had a very special taste and could be really innovative and interesting for the rest of the world. The way he films with the VX, the way he edits, and all those crazy parts and videos. He is the guy who created all this and influenced so many skaters all over Japan. Honestly, I don’t think he’s really got the respect he deserves. He is actually really fuckin’ productive, he has made so many videos that I haven’t even seen them all…

a brief glance

Here in Tokyo, skateboarding started becoming popular a few years ago, but it’s definitely not like in the U.S. or in Barça where almost everyone has a skateboard. Big brands here have started using skaters in ad campaigns. So it’s growing, but the skate scene is still quite small compared to the huge size of the city. I must say though, that the skate culture is really strong, very core here. Lots of videos, magazines, fanzines, very creative. It’s fresh here and I would say that all of Asia looks to what Japan is doing. They’re influencing a lot, whatever is popular here is going to be popular abroad, in other Asian countries where skateboarding is kind of new. The skate scene in Tokyo also evolved a lot over the past 15 years. I heard from old skaters here that in the 90’s the skate scene was very divided. Everyone was skating in their own crew, in their neighborhood, no one really spoke to each other, it was really different at that time. Now, everyone skates together, no one gives a fuck, it doesn’t matter what your style or your level is. When you turn up at a spot, everyone says hello, everybody is super friendly, and the atmosphere is really cool. Honestly, compared to London or anywhere else, there is a big difference. It’s really the feeling I’ve had since I live here, and it’s been almost 4 years.

a brief glance

About the spots here in Tokyo and in Japan in general, there are amazing ones everywhere but you can get kicked out from almost all of them within 10 seconds. It’s all about luck. You can never know, but in a way, even if I have to admit that I do sometimes miss MACBA, where you can skate all day and practice your own tricks for hours, I kind of like this. You always have to keep moving, going from one spot to another… never stop, next next next... and if you wanna do a trick, you really have to go for it and land it as quickly as you can, because you might not have another try after that. Street skating in Tokyo is not an easy deal but it is also why it is so special, why people here go skating really late at night as well…

Michi Mackrodt // Gap to 5-0_Tokyo

In the future, I really hope skateboarding will blow up, because here the Japanese when they do something, anything, they do it 1000%, they are so focused on what they do, they put all their life into it so the result might be even crazier than what we have already seen… And if I have to give one piece of advice to anyone from Europe who would like to come here to Japan for a bit, it would have to be: learn the Japanese language, because here the language is a massive problem for foreigners. You’ll have a totally different experience if you can start to communicate well with people here.

a brief glance

Eric Balo // Bs smith_Tokyo

a brief glance

we still love good news

Alvin // Ollie // photo_Davide Biondani.

a brief glance

issue _30