FREE 11
MAR APR  2017
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GILBERT CROCKETT
FRIES TAILLIEU | THE EAGLE SG
Introducing Fries’ new guest colorway of David Gonzalez’s Eagle SG. Globe’s Shogun cupsole adds greater support and flexibility with an added deep footbed for impact control.
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INTRODUCING THE WINO G6 • G6 POLYURETHANE HIGH PERFORMANCE INSOLE • DOUBLE WRAPPED VULCANIZED CONSTRUCTION • NEWLY DEVELOPED “HEEL ANCHOR” SYSTEM
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14 ‘Is nobody else coming then?’ 30 Tuk-tuk tour guide 40 Counter Terrorism, Connect Four, no Pasta 54 The Gifted One 64 TMs on Tour 76 Val Bauer 86 96 Pol Catena 110 Drink and Drive Tour
Cover: Jarne Verbruggen switch wallie Marseille Ph. DVL Contents: Michel Mahringer frontside ollie Mallorca Ph. Fabien Ponsero
Editor in Chief: Will Harmon Photo Editor: Sam Ashley Associate Editor: Arthur Derrien Banishers of chaos: Ben Weaver & Seb Howell Circles: James Jarvis Printed in the UK Free is published six times a year by FSM Publishing Ltd. freeskatemag.com @freeskatemag freeskatemag@gmail.com
Ph. DVL
Skateboarding is an activity that brings people together. If I go down to my local skatepark (Mile End) I’m lucky enough to roll with skaters from Brazil, Poland, Australia, Nigeria, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and so on. Now a lot of people might not live in a multicultural melting pot such as London, but skateboarding also lures you into wanting to travel in an effort to seek out unfamiliar terrain. I’ve met so many fascinating people skateboarding throughout the years and I wouldn’t trade that for anything - a dentist/skateboarder in Spain, a fine artist/skateboarder from France, a musician/skateboarder from Israel, a hotel manager/skateboarder from Japan and the list goes on... The point is skateboarding attracts all different characters and if you’re involved with it, you’ll probably meet people from all walks of life.
People are often scared of what they don’t know and most people that have an anti-immigrant stance don’t interact with immigrants on a daily basis. Studies have shown that people who go to university or are employed in a multicultural work place are less likely to be ‘antiimmigrant’. Skateboarding is very multicultural and people are now skateboarding all over the world - I believe that the more different types of people you meet, the less prejudicial views you’ll hold of others. I’m not going to say racism does not exist in skateboarding, but that stuff takes a back seat to the feeling of ollieing up a curb your first time or the feeling of landing a prefect tre flip. Hanging with your friends, learning tricks, goofing off, finding spots, meeting new people - that’s the best thing about skateboarding. The common admiration for this useless wooden toy we love unites us throughout the world and many may not even know it. So turn off the news, block out that anti-immigrant rhetoric, forget about Trump, stop thinking about Brexit and grab your board and go for a roll... It’ll make you feel better I promise. - Will Harmon
‘Is nobody else coming then?’ Photography DVL Words Arthur Derrien
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It wasn’t the easiest news to break first thing off the plane but in retrospect I wouldn’t have had it any other way... First things first though: the idea behind this trip to Marseille was to get some of the winners (and nominees) of this year’s European Skateboard Awards together to shoot an article with Davy Van Laere (DVL) and film a clip with Yoan Taillandier (of Minuit fame). This means that Jarne Verbruggen, Kai Hillebrand and Jacopo Carozzi had all agreed to join this mission on the premise that they’d be shredding with other nominees (in this case Daan Van Der Linden, Hjalte Halberg and Kyron Davis). It’s not surprising that they looked a little alarmed when three days into the trip they found out that the only person joining them was a small, very tired Frenchman who’d improvised himself a role as their TM in order to sneak a few skates in. Oh yeah and it had been raining for two days straight when I showed up and broke the news to them, so although it was never actually vocalised I could tell there was a bit of a ‘how the hell are we going to fill the pages of this magazine?’ vibe floating around... Little did the guys know that as well as being highly underestimated for its skate-friendly architecture (as you can tell from the photos), exploring Marseille is perfect if you’re with a smaller crew. All the big main spots are linked to each other by incredibly smooth pavement (we barely used public transport the whole time we were out there) and there’s a ton of smaller, slightly hidden gems that you can hit along the way. These are the ones we would have had a much harder time checking out if we were rolling 10 deep with the classic three dudes hanging behind trying to buy snacks and one guy skating off on his own to buy hash. This being said, regardless of the size of your group I can’t quite wrap my head around why this city hasn’t become a prime skate trip destination. The place seems to have it all! It’s cheap, has countless hills you can bomb, beautiful creeks and beaches, a legendary skatepark, banging places to eat/drink and its combination of older, cool looking crusty spots and insane new Barcelona style plazas is unlike any other city in France.
Maybe it’s because people are still stuck with the image that it’s sketchy (which it no longer is), or maybe it’s because it never had a brand or filmer dedicated to putting it on the map (in the same way French Fred or Cliché did for Lyon); either way skateboarders (for the most part) seem completely unaware of the treasures it holds. At the same time to be fair it probably only really started becoming the skate heaven it is today relatively recently. In 2013 the EU elected it European Capital For Culture and began giving it a major facelift: in theory that’s when it all kicked off. 600 million Euros were allocated for the creation of ‘new cultural infrastructure’, which in turn came with tons of new public squares, better public transport links and all sorts of renovations in the centre. It almost reminds me of what happened to the Catalan capital (though on a smaller scale), when it got chosen for the 1992 Olympics... Another good thing about having a smaller crew is that it reduced the temptation of engaging in Marseille’s notoriously addictive nightlife. The place is like London or Barcelona where anything can happen on any night, only it’s ten times smaller, so once you start you’re always close to something else that’s popping off. You’re probably thinking this shouldn’t even be an issue, ‘it’s a skate trip’, but convincing the ‘athletes’ to go home after dinner ahead of the next day’s session isn’t always an easy task. Especially when you yourself have the drinking temperament of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Plus given the level of debauchery we got ourselves into on a Sunday evening (the only night we allowed ourselves to go out as we were leaving the next day), if a few more loose cannons had been thrown into the mix this article probably would have ended up a good few pages shorter... Sure we were all a little sad that some of ‘Europe’s finest’ couldn’t join us, but with these last minute cancellations came a nice chunk of leftover budget. A budget that in no time made its way into our bellies and replaced the concerned looks I was originally greeted with by high spirits and loud rounds of glass clinking ‘to Hjalte!’
‘I’m afraid not...’ Jacopo Wallie one foot
This spot is one of the many that came with the city’s 2013 facelift. It’s essentially the top MACBA ledge but with loads of grates you can prop up and a view of Marseille’s beautiful cathedral (La Major) to one side and the Mediterranean Sea (where the sun sets) on the other. As I’m sure you can imagine, summer evenings down there are pretty hard to beat... The other obvious thing to mention here is the little guy boosting a one footed wallie out of this fragile sign. I’m probably going to sound pretty corny here (as it’s too often the case...) but Jacopo has to be one of the best people I’ve ever been on a skate trip with. He’s got the energy and the motivation of a fourteen-year-old on an after-school sesh but the maturity (on and off the board) of someone that’s been hitting the road for years. There’s rarely a spot he won’t skate, if he gets a clip or a photo he’ll make sure the person who filmed or shot it knows he’s genuinely grateful, and the shit he’ll come out with will keep the troops entertained no matter what. ‘I always thought that Outkast song went: “I’m Samuel L Jackson... ooooo!”’
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Jarne Ollie to frontside wallride
There’s not much to say about this one other than you rarely see proper frontside wallrides down stairs where the hands go nowhere near the board or the wall. ‘I just pretended I was doing it into a bank and it worked!’
9 1 own set of perfect granite ledges, you can go from level to level by jumping down relatively small five sets and there’s a massive bank at the You can sort of already tell from this sequence top (that you can slide/do tricks into) that’ll give you enough speed to take your lines all the way but if you Google image ‘Place De La Mairie to the bottom of the plaza. It’s even got a Marseille’ or watch the lines our crew filmed massive block four if you’re trying to go H.A.M. with Yoan for the edit (that should be on our The closest thing I’ve seen to it is Fondo only the site when you read this) you’ll realise that this plaza is probably one of the best skate spots on ground here is way smoother, has a nice light bronze colour (as opposed to the Barca spot’s the planet. I know the other ‘MACBA’ one I described sounded like it was as well but this one dull grey) and you’ve got the city’s legendary ‘Old Port’ (Vieux Port) in the background. is in a whole other league. Every level has its
Jarne Kickflip firecracker
Kai Ollie
Being the cigarette smoking mega-babe that he is, Kai was straight away nicknamed ‘princess’ by one of the cheekier (more envious?) members of the group. It stuck until the end of the trip but I don’t think the originator got the desired reaction out of him. At the same time if you could ollie like Reese Forbes and shared your time between modelling, acting and being a sponsored skateboarder it would probably take a little more than a silly nickname to get to you...
1 2 and that pole meant that if you didn’t slide the whole thing you were very likely to end up impaled. On top of that there was the story of the local hero (as there always is) who snapped This was a classic case of everyone saying ‘yes mate go for it, you’ve got this!’ but looking away his arm like a twig on a gap nose manual to hang up. Basically the second Jarne landed the every time he’d pop his tail to try. The gap is actually way bigger than it looks from this angle, trick I was ordering us an Uber to a spot on the other side of the city in fear that someone else the midday Marseille sun you can see shining through the fence was completely blinding him might have something for it...
Jarne Gap to lipslide
3 2 Jarne 180 nosegrind 180 out
Jacopo Tree ride nosegrab
I wasn’t there that day so I sent the photo to our Easy to see how wrong this one could go... Just Marseille WhatsApp group asking if they had watching him take his run up on that thin ledge anything that could help me with the caption with the massive drop to his left was terrifying. and Jarne instantly replied: ‘Jacopo is a true Then you’ve got the whole sticking from the top Element rider, that’s why here you can see him being at one with nature. Oh yeah and I bought business that comes with aiming for the hubba from above rather than coming from the side... him a six-pack at that spot’. I love you Jarne.
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Jacopo Frontside noseslide Jarne Ollie
In France, Marseille is sometimes seen as being a bit of a materialistic place. Looking like you’ve got money is a real priority for a lot of people. Everyone’s rocking Polo Ralph Lauren or Lacoste, driving fancy cars etc. whether they can actually afford it or not. It’s all about looking like you’re ‘killing it’. It’s probably why the city’s so good for buying second hand clothes... Anyway as we were watching these two skate the back of this run down hotel, someone living in one of the rather modest (to say the least) little houses opposite the spot asked us to scoot out of the way so he could get to his front door. We’d just finished eating so pizza boxes, cans and all sorts of garbage was lying on the floor right outside his house. He didn’t mention a thing, as if the trash and the six dudes (one of them topless flexing his muscles) lurking there was completely normal. Two seconds later a garage door slides open (I hadn’t really noticed it was there) and our man swoops out in a brand new shiny Porsche and gives us a cheeky little wave as he drives past. All the boys were like, ‘What?! This guy drives that car but lives here?!’ To which one of the locals replied: ‘That’s Marseille for ya...’
Kai Wallride
Again I wasn’t here for this one but I asked the boys if anything weird went down at that session and apparently, yeah, it got weird. Davy shot a photo of some crazy really over-dressed woman at this spot, who instantly snapped at them and lost her shit. Not because of the skating or because of someone taking a photo without asking her permission, she was pissed off about the fact that she wasn’t looking as good as she wanted for it. She kept banging on about how she was going grey and didn’t want to be seen before she had her hair colour done. Jarne: ‘Her insanity made her kinda hot though.’ DVL: ‘A couple of beers and everyone looks hot to you Jarne; matches your insanity.’ Jarne: ‘That’s why I drink. Ugly girls need love too no?’
www.birdhouseskateboards.com
Ben Raybourn
NEW DECKS COMING SOON!
TUK-TUK
Unfortunately for a lot of skateboarders in Europe being sponsored doesn’t mean you’re living the high life and getting paid out the frame. Obviously it helps not having to pay for product, but to pay the rent most sponsored skaters have to get a J-O-B. Such is the case for Lisbon’s João Allen. Last year João got a job as a tuk-tuk driver wheeling around tourists in the Portuguese capital. Tourists paid João to drive them around and see the sights and on the way he realised that this was an incredible way to find new skate spots. Getting paid to find spots... Amazing! Thankfully João, the ultimate Lisbon tour guide, kindly shared with us a few of his newly found gems along with some local knowledge. – Will Harmon
TOUR GUIDE
JOÃ0 ALLEN Photography Pedro Raimundo Words João Allen
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[previous spread] Drop-in Champalimaud foundation This is a portrait of the new Lisbon. This riverside biomedical research foundation is considered one of the best cancer research and treatment facilities in the world; it was created according to the will of the late entrepreneur Antonio de Sommer Champalimaud. Every year a special one million Euros is awarded for research into blindness and vision problems due to the fact that Antonio suffered from several eyesight problems himself. There are several skate spots in the surroundings.
Drop-in 50–50 Cristo Rei, Christ the King Inspired by Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer, Christ the King gazes over Lisbon from the other side of the river. It was made to honour a promise made by the dictator Antonio Salazar to build a monument to Jesus if Portugal managed to remain neutral in World War II.
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Backside tailslide Tower of Belem The Tower of Belem is a fortified tower at the mouth of the Tagus River and also a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon. It also played the role of Lisbon’s dungeon after the first Spanish invasion, which for sure transformed it into one of the most beautiful and scenic prisons in the world.
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Kinked 50–50 Viewpoint of Our Lady of the Hill Not only is this one of the best views of Lisbon, but it also served as the camping site for the Portuguese troops who were trying to conquer Saint Jorge’s castle. Bonus point: if you take a girl there to watch the sunset with a bottle of wine you’re bound to have a good time.
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Feeble Forte de São Bruno de Caxias One of the forts protecting Lisbon from sea attacks didn’t do much in protecting the city from the worst invasion it ever endured, which came by land and from the north. Napoleon’s French Army looted Lisbon for weeks forcing the king and all the royal family to flee to Brazil and which later lead the South American colony gaining its independence from Portugal. Nowadays it is a really good place to sunbathe.
No Pasta
Counter Terrorism 40
Witchcraft 41
Connect Four
Jake Collins frontside air Creedence DIY Brescia
Adam Paris frontside blunt CantĂš
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Words and Photography by Alex Irvine In the midst of a world turning to shit - a global increase in isolationism, self-serving sentiments and fear-mongering - we decided to make a break for Italy to stuff our faces with Pizza and Morettis and pretend like it wasn’t all about to fall apart. Being greeted by an apocalyptic view of grey skies, pouring rain, a complete lack of open shops and groups of drugged-up young men pinballing about outside the Milano Centrale we could have imagined Halloween had come a week early and Italy had gone full Walking Dead. On closer inspection it was just Sunday in a Catholic country. Night one was spent drinking bottles at the awesome (in the most real sense of the word) Bastard Bowl, cleverly located in the Bastard Store. As you enter the would-be front rows through their stylish shop you’re confronted with an up skirt of the
ribs of a rad looking bowl; three floors up and caged like a UFC ring, built into what was the balcony of a cinema from the forties. It was a pretty soothing sight, what with the rain pissing down. Alas we all know beauty soon fades and before long the session is winding down and Rikk soils the vista by backside nose grinding the extension with his ass out (not pictured). Lights fade to black. The digs for our days in Milan were pretty luxurious, where we slept on sheeted beds and ate pre-packaged croissants with Nutella for breakfast at Chez Dani. He’s got a hectic ramp downstairs that got less of a seeing to than it should have, thanks to the Bastard Bowl. Despite the luxury of the setup we didn’t hang about, we were in Italy for a good time, not a long time. We set controls for the
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heart of the sun (shine) and roughly speaking went west. Bologna was our aim and by golly we made it there, arriving under a grey but dry sky. It was here that we met up with our guest Martino; we offered him the spare seat and he jumped on the train to Bologna the very next morning - probably the keenest stowaway I’ve ever encountered on any trip ever. Half the crew were waiting for the park to be opened up, playing Connect 4 and drinking the emergency red wine - not exactly the warm up I’d want for a lonely session in this behemoth but it
didn’t seem to bother anyone else. We split once the rough bowls got a covering of condensation from the close weather and decided we should continue our journey west in search of the Adriatic bowl. We had a number for Ale Vitali and the advice that his English was better than my Italian so your Swiss boy, Martino steps up to the plate. Not for the last time either... Nothing humbles you as lightning quick as hanging out in Europe with someone who can seamlessly switch between four different languages with ease, whilst the British lot are in the
Rikk Fields ollie Milan
van still struggling to remember the word for pussy, dick or asshole - sometimes even in The Queen’s. Anyway, back to the skating: holy fuck, this backyard pool is mental - so perfectly made with a mix of local and imported trowlers from the awesome Dreamland Skateparks. Basically it’s a fucking skatepark. Ale Vitali, in whose garden it resides, offered up a patch of grass for us to camp on and thankfully we awoke to find the sun on our side. A quick trip into town in the morning meant he
got to introduce us to a fisherman’s coffee, the Moretta, basically about two thirds booze with a shot of coffee. I always pity the cafe owners in this scenario as a train of hung-over guys loosened up by a shot of caffeine, and in this case the hair of the dog, destroy their toilet one after another. True pity for the last camper to decide they need to go and have to endure the mist of a hundred poos. Suitably lightened and loosened up we returned to the bowl for a session, which
Martino Cattaneo wallride nollie Verona
consisted of Martino doing about ten things to everyone else’s one. It was at this point I wondered if asking him to ride for us might help in the production of a sicker video. I restrained myself as we’re tight with Warriors Skateboards and I don’t want to go around causing a ruckus. Apres session we made our way to a new snake-run that Ale had helped build recently and upon unsuccessfully driving around in the rain and dark for a half hour, decided we’d set up camp and try and find it the next morning. The town was pretty small and it seemed like camping was going to be tough but we had no option to try so we found a car park to pitch up in. This is when things got weird. Basically we had pulled up next to what was unbeknownst to us a pair of doggers. Doggers, incase you are unfamiliar with this term, is how we Brits refer to people who prefer to engage in sexual intercourse in the discomfort of a motorcar. Anyway, about a half hour into us exiting the car and getting stuck into beer and rum, and for some, Tramadol, we realised the situation as the cars silently left the carpark. Spirits raised by the absurdity of the situation, the merriment continued until we noticed the silhouette of a police car rolling up on us. As the illicits were rapidly stashed they
Martino Cattaneo invert Elbo skatepark Bologna
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got out and asked for our ID and told us to turn the music down. Martino took over once again and we all stood around like idiots wondering what was going on. As the police returned to the car to radio in our info I steeled myself for the very real possibility I might have to drive. When I was snapped from my reverie by the entire team breaking into a topof-the-lungs verse of Rocketman by Elton John. That’s it I thought, we’re done for. Not sure what happened in the universe at that moment but they simply got out of their car returned our ID and warned us to keep the music down and that this is where people come to have sex in cars. Weird. After a little roll in the park the next day we decided we should break out of town and made the long journey north to the home of Alberto, better known as Sket, and his operation Bash Distribution. We made it just in
time for pizza but instead had Bruschetta. This was to be the only meal that deviated from pizza the entire week, and even then it was only ‘not’ pizza by a small margin. We took over his flat for a couple of days, broke his shower curtain and drank all his tea and generally were thankful for the warmth and hospitality he and his girlfriend showed us. There was a brief street interlude at this juncture, some police, some enraged catholic grannies and some successes in there too. We continued this operational direction with a bustfree session on the church in Verona, so good that it ate up an entire day so we headed back to Dani’s place near Milan, knowing we had a Halloween session we were billed to attend. Dani was talking of a full pipe in a graveyard when we were last staying so we were keen to go check it. Upon further
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Jake Collins hurricane Citadella
communication turns out he meant a full pipe graveyard - like a place ‘dead’ full of pipes. Despite being a little less awesome in its description the place looked amazing and somehow no one even came and kicked us out. The roads surrounding the yard where the pipes were stored were swarming with prostitutes and as we pulled onto the verge we had to be careful not to give the impression we were just eight unwashed guys looking for a good time. As we left I took a wrong turn and had to perform a U-turn, which I did a little more aggressively than I needed to, hauling ass into the gated entrance of the fabrication yard hoping to get right back on the road going the other direction. As I came off the road onto the potholed dirt drive I hit a puddle with the front tire sending a few litres of dirty water over three prostitutes who were enjoying a lunch break of sandwiches. An honest mistake that I immediately felt really guilty about, doing my best ‘I’m
Julien Benoliel fakie invert Adriatic Bowl Fano
sorry’ face, but I wasn’t stopping, they looked like they wanted to kill me so we sped off. Bad I know, but fucking hilarious about two seconds later. Sadly for them, it was probably not the worst thing likely to happen to them that day either. After a breakfast of full pipe we headed north to Bohe ´me DIY Park in Cantu ´, our Halloween session. We’d heard of a transition spot on a roof that was a bust but might be worth checking out so we made a quick stop there before we were due to attend. The spot was so rad and the police so lazy that we sessioned there for a good few hours before we got kicked out. Somehow the police didn’t care too much, and even more amazing is that no one was killed by a falling board, which happened about a hundred times. Well, thanks to the roof session we were late to the party and had some catching up to do and a few of the boys fought through the exhaustion to session the sick park and all in truly awful hastily painted faces. The bar
after the session capped the whole thing off nicely and over a couple of beers, Martino decided he’d like to come join us (Witchcraft) for good, securing us all that sick footy.
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Jake Collins 50-50 Milan
WWW.CARHARTT-WIP.COM FELIPE BARTOLOMÉ – BACKSIDE WALLRIDE MELON • PHOTO: ESTEBAN VELARDE
Switch ollie, San Francisco. Ph. Gabe Morford
54 Words Arthur Derrien
The Gifted One
Bowl to quarter pipe transfer ollie, Bermeo, Spain. Ph. Jelle Keppens
Frontside 180 fakie 5-0, San Francisco. Ph. Gabe Morford
Daan 56
The interview we got with Daan Van Der Linden when he won European Skater Of The Year last year felt like nothing short of a miracle. He’s not an easy boy to get a hold of these days and we really got him at the right place, right time and with just the right level of booze. It all came together perfectly. Realistically that wasn’t going to happen again. Problem is that our man (not that he really seems that bothered about it) just won ESOTY for the second year in a row. So we’re now in a position where we ‘need’ him back in the mag, and for that to work we have to cough up some kind of text to accompany the photographic evidence of his extra-terrestrial skateboarding abilities. Initially our (very inspired) master plan was to hit up his mates and get them to chat about him. Pretty obvious but given some of the rascals he
hangs out with we thought it could be quite funny. Plus if last time we interviewed him he was able to openly laugh about getting pulled out of a toilet on a train with his pants around his ankles and getting punched in the face by a ticket inspector on the dock (willy still dangling freely), we thought he wouldn’t mind his boys sharing some of the mischief he gets himself into. Unfortunately the first person we asked Jeroen Sars, from 100% Skateboardshop in Eindhoven, was quick to underline how flawed our plan was: ‘The photos with this piece will say more than a thousand words about him. How many skaters can 360
flip 50-50 a fairly large sized handrail and also do a legit eggplant on vert, and make both look good?’ I guess you can’t really argue with that. And it’s true, he’s a one of a kind and the most important thing about him right now is his skating, the rest is background noise. Again in the words of Jeroen: ‘Daan is a simple guy (in a good way); he just likes to skate, have a smoke, have a drink, play some David Allan Coe and get a little rowdy from time to time...’ Sounds not that different from you, me or almost anyone we run photos of in this magazine... Only he has the ‘gift’. And what truly sets himself apart from a lot of the other
Handplant, Atlanta, Georgia. Ph. Bart Jones
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van
Frontside 180 kickflip, Athens. Ph. DVL
skateboarders that have ‘the gift’ is what he’s always chosen to do with it. We asked Christian, his Volcom TM about the first time he met him and I think it’ll give you an idea of what we mean... ‘It was at Amsterdamn Am six years ago, he was already killing it and I found out he was getting support from our local distributor. He was wearing these beautiful checked shorts and an AntiHero shirt. I asked him (because he was going into the finals I think) to change his shirt to a Volcom one, when he expressed to me (probably wondering who I was) that he didn’t
give a damn. At that moment my first reaction was: this kid will never, ever, get a spot in the van with us.’ Look who’s laughing now! That AntiHero shirt was sitting right where it belonged. The point is that I’ve never heard of anyone that’s had it all figured out like that from so early on. I can think of a bunch of today’s big names that, if asked at fourteen (in that context) to wear a certain kind of t-shirt would have accepted and even strapped on a Red Bull logo or a green claw to their head for good measure. You have to be pretty together at that age to be strong enough to decline stuff you feel (whether it’s justified or
‘My precious...’ Ph. DVL
Frontside crooked grind, Plentzia, Spain. Ph. Jelle Keppens
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not) might compromise your integrity. I guess starting skating at the age of five maybe gave him a head start when it comes to learning about all that stuff... Actually ignore that, look at Sheckler or Nyjah: starting young has nothing to do with having your head screwed on straight. What it seems to come down to in his case is Daan knowing exactly what he wants and sticking to it no matter what. No compromises. We asked Sami El Hassani (the Bombaklats filmer) if he had any good stories about him and what he came through with was another perfect illustration of this: ‘I remember Sebastiaan, Davy, Nick Bax, Daan, and myself skating in Antwerp for a Vans Benelux thing or something. We were at a rail and Sebastiaan, who is the Dutch TM of Vans, suddenly got a phone call. It was his boss telling him he had to convince Daan to go to the Damn Am comp that was in two weeks or so. Daan had told him that he didn’t want to go to the comp because he had planned a vacation to the Basque country with old friends who had a hippie bus that they travelled with. We were all like, “Daan come on just go there it is only two days and then you can go on
just chasing coverage. Which leads us holiday.” But he was so hard-headed; he really didn’t want to go. He was to our final point: his passion for like: “Naaah man fuck that shit I just skateboarding. Sure he’s happy to want to go on holiday; it’s my first ‘play the game’, he’s a professional time without parents and I’m gonna skateboarder, but there’s still drink, surf and fux girls blah blah something relatively pure about his blah... I don’t want to go to a stupid approach to skating. Like he’s refusing contest.” I remember thinking “what to let it be tainted by all the bullshit the fuck, this kid is crazy! He can get that hovers around the skateboarding some good coverage at the contest industry. A few people we spoke to, and then go on holiday after.” I tried including Chris Pfanner, said to convince him to do that, but he something about the energy that really didn’t want to hear it. If think comes from sharing a session with him, of that now and I have a lot of respect the playfulness there still is to it even for such a young kid that already though he’ll be trying gnarly shit. ‘Since I got to meet Daan four knew that he didn’t like that contest years ago on a trip to Greece, I and just wanted to have a good time always ask if he is on any trip I get with his homies.’ It is refreshing when kids that invited to. Luckily we both skate for talented have more to their lives than the same companies (Vans, AntiHero
Grind up to frontside air out, Lisbon. Ph. DVL
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and Volcom), so I regularly get to witness the love he has skateboarding and watch him share it with everyone else skating around him. He will skate a spot with a friend, just to keep him stoked and hyped to get his trick. In the meantime, he’ll reel in five more tricks, because he is that talented and it all comes naturally to him. That positive attitude, both on and off his board, that rubs off onto everyone around him, is what makes him such a sympathetic and awesome young fella.’ Not sure how to end this but that’s more than enough ass-kissing for one article. You get the point: this kid is the truth.
TMs on Tour
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Words Muki Ru ¨stig Translation Lukas Schepers Photography Davy Van Laere
Josh Young, backside bluntslide
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Vans Europe in Alicante
Oh, how joyful we all were... All of us came from somewhere freezing cold, or at least from a murky-moist climate, to nice and sunny Alicante. Our place was right by the sea, including an ocean view of course. The terrace wasn’t heavily populated every morning and you got to spoil yourself sometimes. It was a wild bunch jam-packed with TMs (Team Managers): Chris Pfanner,
Chris Pfanner, nosegrind
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new Vans Europe TM, Christian Vankelst, Volcom TM, then our muchloved Frenchie Paul Labadie, Ashes TM, Alain Goikoetxea, La Cantera TM, Josh Young, Vans UK TM, and I, Muki Ru ¨stig, Yama Skateboards TM. We were lucky to have Chris Pfanner on board since he got a hold of the rippers Nassim ‘Nas’ Guammaz and the French cowboy on his dead horse: Victor ‘Doobie’ Pellegrin. Chris is
just one hell of a TM. Davy Van Laere captured the whole story on megapixels. Alicante local Roberto Aleman was there to prevent us from getting lost and ending up at the second best bar. He was kind enough to show us all his hometown spots for that week. Each TM has his or her best qualities and when a task got too overwhelming for one, the next just jumped in. After things got going, we quickly turned into a winning team. We stumbled from one win-win situation to the next. Pfannman for example took responsibility for the finger sandwiches in the morning and had his hands full. The other TMs filled up the cooler so we could wash down the dusty baguettes later that day. The first day started with perfect sun, beach and espresso. When Roberto picked us up, we followed his little pollito (baby chicken) to a comfy warm-up at a fine skatepark. After hours of ripping we ended up at a double, or rather triple-set. Oh man, fuckin’ Pfannman and Nas, they’re nuts. After everyone was able to lift up their jaws again and went for the obligatory high five, the infamous ‘kkrrssrscht’ rung out. When we cooled our coppers and were back in the car, Roberto chased his tiny pollito to the next spot and we started to huck it again as if we just returned from a wellness vacation. The stairs from right before were long forgotten. Heavy first day of skating! All those proceedings had to be recollected, talked over again and analysed at night. One thing was clear: We were not drunk; we were just drinking! Whoever claims the contrary: FAKE NEWS, FAKE NEWS! The following days of skating were how you’d imagine with this bunch of rippers: amazing. Roberto, also called Fernando because of his artistic driving skills, presented his spots under best weather conditions while we hucked it ‘til it cracked and crunched. You were also able to hear ‘kkrrssrscht’ some more. From time to time our hands started hurting from permanent high-fiving. Christian, Chris and I were busy keeping the cooler filled, we did a pretty good job; at least we didn’t hear any complaints. We made sure we
Chris Pfanner, frontside 180 ollie
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Alain Goikoetxea, nosegrind tailgrab
didn’t have to mess around with dehydrated athletes or skateboardpensioners. The machine ran like a charm because it was all greased up. A once in a lifetime experience for all of us was meeting Charly Tekilla. Roberto led us to an old skatepark close to Murcia. According to Alain this was supposed to be the favourite skatepark of Cardiel and Phil Shao (RIP). So we even got to know a little bit of skateboard history. Of course it’s a concrete skatepark with a bunch of tight waves. The surface was pretty rough and fucked up after twenty years, but it didn’t stop the boys from gunning it of course. After some time we saw this big dude with long hair. The ramp was covered
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with tags everywhere saying ‘Charly Tekilla’. Roberto and Alain got into a conversation with him and found out that he was the infamous ‘Charly’ and pretty much the boss of the park. So when you’re around that area, show some respect! He takes care of the park so that every skater has a good time there. Charly told us that there’s a full pipe, ‘El tubo’, around there and a ditch right next to it. We were a little bit sceptical and talked back and forth. But in the end we decided we were are all down to meet Charly again two days later. After the
Chris Pfanner, kickflip melon
Roberto Aleman, Nassim & Victor doing triples
legendary exchange of voice-messages we couldn’t wait to go skating with Charly. Discussions only revolved around how it will be and blah blah blah. When the day came, we all went to the park in excitement, got out of the car and the ripping started again. Alain couldn’t help himself and had to shred the high tranny. All of a sudden a car appeared and Charly got out. We were hyped as fuck! Of course we wanted to see Charly do some tricks and asked him if he
wanted to film something. And out of nowhere he busted out a sick line on the gnarliest ramp as we watched in disbelief. He blasted the most perfect miller flip on vert and we went crazy. After a loud ‘kkrrssrscht’ we were able to lift our jaws once more. Charly’s session made us suffer from drythroat-syndrome, which we cured with a couple of cans. After ‘El tubo’, which wasn’t the biggest but a very fun full pipe, we went on to the ditch. We were all very nervous so we missed out on stopping at the last petrol station before disappearing into nothingness.
Victor Pellegrin, kickflip frontside 5-0 grind 72
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Nassim Guammaz, caballerial
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‘Whatever, just go to the ditch’, everyone thought. After walking along a finished but never opened airport we got to the ditch. And it was a beautiful one. We all were super motivated and started ripping right away. And when it got dark, we packed up our stuff and headed back towards Charly’s skatepark. After the goodbye beers with Charly we talked about nothing else but how sick it is to have locals that show you their spots. It was so much fun to shred with Charly, sessions that no one would forget anytime soon. He sent us another video, telling us how much joy he had skating with us - another win-win story on this tour. Thank you Charly! Eating Paella at Roberto’s parents’ place with his nephew Francisco was another sensation. Hola chico, que pasa? Just looking at how his dad cooked the Paella on open fire made our mouths water. After kicking it with Francisco we all gorged on the Paella. And how it tasted: dreamlike... At this point another muchas gracias from all of us. The last day almost put a spoke in our wheel. It was storming and raining like hell. And we thought: ‘That’s it.’ But as this happens so often we’ve mastered this problem. Jump in the next bar you see and sit out the bad weather. After some time we were back on the streets. With that many TMs on board, not even the weather can stop us... They even hucked it on the last day?! Like hell! Again! Thanks to Roberto Aleman, the TM of the TMs, for everything. Thanks Pfannman for organising. Thanks to everyone for being that much fun. Thanks to Paul, who talked me into joining. These were the words of wisdom: Kkrrssscht Gu ¨ssermuschkl Vamos Alain I’m not drinkin’; I’m just drunk Huck it Pollo Pollito
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Noseslide pop-over, Lyon Ph. Loic Benoit
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77 Ph: Jin Yob Kim Interview Joseph Biais
VAL BAUER I interviewed Val for a French magazine two or three years ago and I have to admit that I didn’t really fancy just redoing the exact same thing. But I’m a nice guy, so what I will do is fill you in on the main things you could learn about him from that interview so that you aren’t completely lost. Val is from the north of France, Lille to be precise. When he was younger he’d drive all the Parisians mad by begging them for a place to stay in order to get into the wonderful world of French sponsored skating. There was also something in there about how he was supposedly gifted and skipped a class at school;
a rumour that he decided to deny in the interview although he’d been keeping it going for a little while... Val also chatted about Zeropolis skate shop, which he was involved with for quite some time as well as the early days of Octagon... Anyway if this stuff is actually of any interest to you feel free to DM him, he’ll be available to answer any questions about his career, projects, fears and fantasies... I will now proceed to give you a little update on Val’s current life in a way that although not particularly informative, should at least be a little different and possibly even funny if I’m lucky.
78 On the phone you dislike: a) Conversations that drag on b) Days when you don’t get any calls c) Going straight to answerphone Your mother-in-law invites you over for a Sunday lunch and you bail: a) Because she shouldn’t start making this a tradition b) Because you’d already made plans c) Promising you’ll come next weekend
You hate: a) Walking around naked at home b) When a friend shares one of your secrets c) Being alone in the dark
When you spend a day without seeing anyone: a) You use that time to catch up on work b) You get some rest c) You feel a little lost
You wish that at your work: a) You’d be paid better b) You’d be offered tasks you were more motivated by c) You’d get more compliments
If your son was hesitating between these three sports, you’d encourage him to: a) Ride a bike b) Play tennis c) Play football
A policeman accuses you of driving through a red light: a) ‘Not at all it wasn’t even orange!’ b) ‘Sorry it was an accident...’ c) ‘I’m in a hurry I need to go and pick up my daughter from school’
Your hoover is making worrying growling noises: a) You give it a kick b) You call your husband and his toolbox c) ‘It’s an old one, it’s fine...’
For you the most beautiful love letter is: a) The one you never sent b) The first one you ever received c) The one you’d love to receive today
When your friends chat about their work you sometimes envy them because: a) They have nothing to worry about b) They get time to spend with their families c) They must meet fascinating people
Ollie, Paris Ph. Guillaume Perimony
Now, given that I’ve known Val for a long time I’m going to start off by painting an objective portrait of the man and for that I won’t be the one asking the questions: a personality test coming to you straight from ‘the internet’ will. Here are the multiple-choice questions with his answers underlined.
79 Hurricane, Bordeaux Ph. Clement Le Gall
Here’s what ‘the internet’ has concluded about Valentin’s personality. Apparently he’s ‘sociable and wilful’ which they then followed up with: ‘He’s extremely stable both in feelings and in reason. Autonomous, sociable, Valentine
can easily put himself in other people’s shoes to take into account their sensitivities and interests. Sadly his kindness is also his weakness; he believes in others so much that he thinks he can move mountains for them, but sometimes good will just isn’t enough.’
Backside smith grind, Paris Ph. Alex Pires
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OK I’m not particularly satisfied with this review. ‘Sociable and wilful’, I’m just about okay with that, but the whole believing in others so much ‘he thinks he can move mountains for them’ business... Come on now, he’s hardly a saint. So I decided to give him a second test, one where he has to finish sentences and this time I’m the one that will be doing the analysis of his answers. 1) When the enemy captured Pierre... War was declared. 2) I’m always afraid of... Losing control. 3) I’ve admired... And I still admire a lot of people. 4) The fact that he failed made him... Vulnerable in the eyes of his critics.
50-50 grind, Lille Ph. Maxime Verret
5) Every time he wasn’t invited... He organised something else instead.
6) I’m making an effort to... Not let people down. 7) Unable to find anyone to help him Jean... Started some online crowd funding bullshit.
15) Georges was a bit bothered because... He’d cheated on his wife with an air-hostess? 16) What they liked the most was... Accumulating conquests.
8) What really drives me in my life is... 17) He thinks that I... Making each one of my dreams Sometimes over-think stuff, come true so I can replace them he’s often right. with new ones. 18) He always introduces him9) When he’s free he likes to... self as if... Use that opportunity to seduce. He didn’t know we’ve already met a bunch of times. 10) What I want out of life is... To be healthy, attainable, moti- 19)When we told him it was vating and simple. dangerous... He tried to think of another 11) Nothing more tiring than... solution. Trying to beat anxiety. 20) His past experiences taught 12) My destiny is to... him... Meet my expectations (for now). To listen to his instincts and to not go against his impulses. 13) Robert would do anything to... Sentences 7, 13, 14 and 15 show us I’ve never met Robert. that Valentin is creative and rather funny, which is sort of true. But 14) Max feels that he’s suffering the main thing that comes out of from... this text is that he’s clearly a I haven’t chatted to him in a narcissistic pervert with psychowhile. pathic tendencies (see answers 2, 11, 16 and 17).
82 for Val though... Scared that he’s not actually ready to face the ruthlessness of the fashion industry, scared that he’d not be strong enough to face the judging eyes of these hordes of Eastern European supermodels, scared that he might slip into anorexia... So I decided to give him a test from Grazia, just to make sure that he’s got what it takes to make it in the merciless world of fashion.
Bluntslide in, Rome Ph. Guillaume Perimony
Because of these conclusions I decided to go straight into another test that would confirm my theory: ‘Are You A Psychopath?’ Sadly he only got 30% so I decided not to share it with you. On the other hand what came out of the two previous tests, and that is a real update about Valentine’s life, is that he’s now more or less a model. Indeed he now pops up in Paris during every fashion week in hope of getting some sort of validation from a casting director in order to wander around on a catwalk for thirty seconds. I’m a little scared
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3. Where does the word ‘denim’ come from? a) John Denim who invented the Jean fabric b) From the word ‘mined’ written backwards, the jean being originally part of miners’ uniform. c) From the city of Nîmes where twill cotton is born. 4. Who said: ‘If I could be reincarnated as a fashion accessory, it would be a shopping bag.’ a) Karl Lagerfeld b) Christian Lacroix c) Jean-Charles de Castelbajac 5. Amongst these three pieces, which one isn’t a ‘basic’? a) The trench coat b) The little black dress c) The denim shirt 6. What do French people call Kate Moss? a) The twig b) The weed c) The field flower 7. What does the expression ‘see now, buy now’ relate to? a) A service that will deliver your order in the hour. b) That a brand has an e-shop c) That you can buy clothes from the collections right after the fashion show 8. Who founded the modelling agency ‘Elite’ in 1971? a) Helmut Newton b) Peter Abdul c) John Casablancas GRAZIA TEST 1. Who’s the new artistic director at Yves Saint Laurent? a) Anthony Vaccarello b) Raf Simmons c) Maria Grazia Chiuri 2. Spot the mistake amongst these summer 2016 trends: a) The hamper basket b) The lace dress c) The one-piece swimsuit
9. Which of these three photographers shot the famous January 1990 Vogue cover with Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Tatjana Patitz, Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington? a) Mario Testino b) Peter Lindbergh c) Terry Richardson
10. What is Wax? a) Clothing created by surfers b) A product used to give jeans a ‘worn’ look c) An African fabric 11. Who said ‘At 30 a woman needs to choose between her face and her bottom’? a) Coco Chanel b) Christian Dior c) Naomi Campbell 12. In what decade was the mini-skirt invented? a) The 50s b) The 60s c) The 70s 13. What is Jean Paul Gauthier’s favourite piece? a) The little black dress b) The tuxedo c) The striped jersey 14. Before she become the US Vogue’s artistic director Grace Coddington was _______? a) A model b) A painter c) A florist 15. What brands are owned by two sisters? a) Maje and Sandro b) Zara and Desigual c) Mango and Morgan Here’s what Grazia made of his answers: ‘You’ve passed with a distinction! Val knows the fashion industry well and is aware of the latest trends. Something tells us Val is an avid reader of our magazine!’ I guess if even Grazia says Val has his place amongst the Gosha Rubshinskiys and the Karl Lagerfelds then all I can do is wish him the best in this world of Botox and luxury leather goods. Also here are the right answers to the GRAZIA TEST for those who tried giving it a go themselves: 1a 2b 3c 4a 5c 6b 7c 8c 9b 10c 11a 12b 13c 14a 15a
84 Now to wrap this up I’ve put together some questions from a game Val particularly enjoys and that I’m sure you’ll have played before (during long journeys especially): ‘Would you rather...’ (Allow me to add that this one is just a bonus test, that unlike the others, will provide very little information about our man) Would you rather eat one of those tree shaped car deodorisers or have to change your grip every hour when you’re out skating? New grip is always a treat!
Would you rather be forced to say ‘bro’ at the end of each sentence or have to wear 3D glasses your whole life? 3D glasses for sure, bro! Would you rather have 80cm dreadlocks or have your mum with you 24/7? I guess I don’t have a choice! ZIM ZIMMA! I’d even send the Canadian Blueprint a sponsor me! Would you rather have a tribal face tat or have to smoke five packets a day? The tattoo! Mike Tyson! It would probably go well with my new board sponsor too.
Would you rather have gnarly herpes on your lip that you couldn’t get rid of or have to only wear clothing made out of that synthetic vinyl latex material? The full vinyl outfit! I’ll just claim I’m a massive George Michael fan. Would you rather have an eyebrow piercing like Drazic from Heartbreak High or have to skate with two left shoes your whole life? Well I’ve already got the dreads and the face tat so at this point it’s not like a little piercing will make things much worse. Plus with my vinyl outfit it kind of makes sense...
Would you rather never have access to Instagram ever again or have to include one of Booba (French rapper)’s punch lines in every single one of your sentences? Farewell Instagram! I hope you’ve made it to here and that you now really like Valentin and more importantly that you’ll go on follow him on Instagram! (@val_bauer)
Losi grind, Lille Ph. Guillaume Perimony
Would you rather have to skate in UK 13s (Euro 49s) your whole life or have to skate in pink 59mm wheels? I’d go with the 59s... I’d have to only put out black and white footage for the rest of my life though!
PHOTO: FERRERO
UK - steven.crawford@dwindle.com – www.dwindle.com
Spain - Luigi.S@dwindle.com – www.dwindle.com
Germany – info@urbansupplies.com – www.urbansupplies.com
Timo Mieselbach Backside smith grind
Tobi Fleischer 50–50 grind
Cologne Ph. Hendrik Herzmann
Munich Ph. Phil Pham
Charles Collet Backside air
Potenza, Italy Ph. Rich West
Adrian del Campo Nollie heelflip
Conor Charleson Frontside wallride
Barcelona Ph. Roger Ferrero
London Ph. Joe Buddle
Paul Grund 50–50 grind
Malmö Ph. Nils Svensson
Karsten Kleppan Heelflip
Danny Brady Kickflip nosepick
El Maresme, Spain Ph. Roger Ferrero
London Ph. Sam Ashley
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Pol Interview Miguel Cidraque & Marcos Gomez Photography Gerard Riera
Catena
Kickflip behind the sign and over the bench Matarรณ
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Gap to backside tailslide St. Celoni
Dude, this crazy digital era we are living in… Getting to see so much skateboarding amongst millions of other weird and nonsensical things – everyone connected, twenty-four seven, three hundred and sixty five days a year… Seems like only yesterday that YouTube came in and everyone could suddenly upload their videos... Videos that at least were filmed over an extended period of time... Crazy how now Instagram is so well... Instant! Anyway when YouTube began I started following a small local crew from around our newly born DIY spot called the STFS BOYZ. They were all about making short videos of their weekend trips to crazy or weird spots or just showing their weekend hype skating parks around or whatever they found on the way. I remember seeing this one kid I’d heard of in those ill vids. He was killing it and having fun, well, all of them killed it in their own way and had crazy fun, but this one kid had a different style and skills, so I started following him for a bit to see what he was up to. Thank god I don’t spend all my time glued to my screen and I prefer watching people skating live as it allowed me to witness Pol’s talent in person. The push says so much about the skater and the person. There’s nothing better than seeing someone pushing hard, with power, speed and commitment, not only when trying a trick but when flowing along the street with a smile on their face and the hype and joy in their eyes… This is what I saw in Pol Catena. See for yourself and I hope you feel the same hype and joy every time you ride your four-wheeled-toy. – Marcos Gomez
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Miguel: How old are you again!?
Pol Catena: I just turned 19 the other day. Miguel: I always thought you were a little older. Introduce yourself for the people who don’t know you yet. Where are you originally from?
I’m from Mataró, a little town outside of Barcelona. A 45-minute drive kind of thing and a little less from Badalona and other good skate cities you might have heard of.
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Miguel: How is it with the scene there compared to the MECCA?
Well, with my childhood friends it’s always been good times but as time goes by they’re changing their ‘goals’ and nowadays they’re sure more into partying, going out, girls/ relationships, working a nine to five, paying a car loan, blah
Kickflip to fakie Malgrat
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blah blah... You know in small towns people tend to grow up earlier because there’s really not much else to do. In a way, I think that’s a general thing for most small town people I’ve known so far. Miguel: What, so you’re not into girls, partying and all that?
Lipslide Llinars del Valles
Don’t get me wrong! I sure do try my best with girls but it’s just that I’ve never stopped skating and well, I’ve always done it out of passion/obsession and to the point where I got a little known in my area. And the next thing you know it just so happens to be this close to Barcelona and everything/everyone
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seems to go there to skate. So I just skated a lot, started going to the city at some point and so on and so forth… Marcos: So do you still live in Matar´ o or have you moved to the city?
Yeah, still living in Mataró at the moment, but thinking about moving to the Badalona area to be closer to my homies and Barcelona. Marcos: Do you ever feel overwhelmed by how much skateboarding there is in that city?
Not overwhelmed, but for sure impressed by the amount of people that Barcelona attracts for skateboarding. I think it’s good though; there are always people willing to get out there to rip the streets. Marcos: I noticed that you don’t really
Don’t really know… I used to go there two or three times a week when I was younger; it was a fun spot where you could meet new people and learn a lot about life. Nowadays MACBA is kind of blown out and does not make me feel like other spots. Now I usually start my day around Badalona like the DIY spot or Skate Agora park. MACBA is still a good place to hang out, have a cold one and chill though. Marcos: How did you discover skateboarding?
It was totally casual. I used to play random games as any kid would at the plaza in front of my house after school. There
Fakie kickflip St. Celoni
skate MACBA that much, any specific reasons? What’s your go to spot?
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were people there playing games of S.K.A.T.E. everyday so it just got me interested and I started from there. Miguel: Who are you skating for these days?
My friends basically! But Enrique Lorenzo helps me out with boards through Louw and Marcos just got me on adidas here in Spain. Thanks a lot to both! They’ve done so much for skateboarding not only in Barcelona but also putting Spain on the map. When I think about all they’ve done in their ‘careers’ shits too legit. Enrique was in the Trilogy video, come on! And Gomez more or less the same… Since his Diagonal part (which was supposed to be his ‘retirement part’) he’s been putting out a full part almost every year / year and half... With two kids I can’t really understand how he does it. Miguel: What about your friends? Any of them remarkable at skating that we don’t know about yet?
Well this guy sitting in front of you, Adri with the pretty face, skates like heaven but his pretty face pays his rent thanks to modelling. Boom, how about that? I sure think he’s the cleverest out of all of us. Free travelling, women, five star hotels... He just went away for a couple of months to Asia and he basically doesn’t have to work again for the rest of the year if he doesn’t feel like it. He already achieved free clothes, free wifi, free food, free parties… Free life! He’s my current hero to be honest. Miguel: Damn, quit skating already! Is that all for real Adri? Here is my business card boy.
Adrian Birta: Better call my agent (laughs)… Just joking. I don’t want to brag about it but that’s how I pay my rent now. I’m originally from Romania and that’s why I look like a total foreigner. I was raised not so far from here (Lloret de Mar), and yes I’ve been modelling for a few years now. Never thought about it as a serious career but it turns out people are actually interested in these things. Thank you fashion readers! Marcos: So Pol, besides Adri, who do you usually skate with now?
I usually skate with a crew from Badalona, the Alway Skateshop crew (the local skate shop I skate for)… Frankie (the owner), Nico, Butcher, Wigga, sometimes Ibu too and a lot other homies from Mataró I’ve skated with since the very start. Marcos: I think a lot of people would associate Spanish skateboarding with serious tech ledge tricks with smooth style, keeping it low-impact. But you aren’t afraid to huck yourself down some big gaps and rails. Who do you skate this stuff with and who inspires you?
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I’m hyped to have been able to share sessions with other guys who inspired me when I was younger; guys like Alex Amor and Diego Cano. Other than that I can go for broke with whoever joins the mission or on my own if I feel like. I’ve always picked up inspiration from locals to pros… I could say guys like Andrew Verde and Andrew Reynolds you know? Also people like José Manuel Roura (Barcy Legend) are a true inspiration and motivation for me to get into beast mode. Marcos: Any views on the skateboarding scene here in Spain? Who’s doing cool stuff?
The scene is growing and there are new guys coming up all the
Miguel: What about your family, have they always been supportive of this skateboard thing? I heard your brother is a pretty heavy political counsellor of some sort.
Sure. It was a little harder for me as my older brother has two degrees in Political Science and Law and I guess somehow they wanted me to follow that path. My brother is a working beast. He’s pretty much working 24/7 on this and I sometimes can feel how stressed he actually is and to be honest, I didn’t want that for myself so I kept doing my thing. And here we are right now drinking a pint of Murphy’s, which I had never tried before. How was your day? Miguel: Definitely had better ones. Had to wear a tie in the morning to sign some shitty contract but here I am talking to you with a pint of Murphy’s that I must say tastes pretty good!
Ha-ha.
Backside 180 kickflip Calella
time. Personally I really like the way crews like the Suichi 4 Fun guys do. That feeling of friendship and getting together to shred and film and have fun working on independent projects is the best. Also I really look up to the Madrid scene; it’s the best right now. Just go to Spain’s capital and join the session at Congresos or Príncipe Pío plazas and you will know what I mean… Check Mario Fortea’s SUCUBO video and you’ll see what I mean.
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Nosebluntslide Badalona 1 0 5
Marcos: So Pol at the Nike SB Barcelona Am contest last year you skated really well and qualified to go to the finals. But then the finals came and you were a no show. What gives?
Mmm… I think that scenario kind of overwhelmed me. Too many people ripping – I could not even think about the tricks to do; I tried to flow but it did not work, I got too nervous. It was the kind of park I could rip and enjoy if I were just sessioning with friends, but I could not understand what happened and I just got mad… Just until Herminio’s run though… He killed it! Marcos: What do you think of contests in general?
I like them, but I enjoy them if I just try to skate as much as possible without thinking about the real competition. That feeling when you get back home and your body is totally
destroyed from so much skating is the best thing you can take away from a contest. Miguel: Let’s get serious now. A few days ago this video of you kicking a fence in order to skate a gap went viral. I heard some random cop who used to skate sued you because of the video your friends uploaded and now you’re going to court in a few days? Surreal...
Well, this is nothing I’m really proud of now but here’s a brief summary of the ordeal: I wanted to skate this gap so bad; I had been seeing it for a while and thought it would make a great beginning for the video to actually kick off the fence and do my thing. So that’s what I did and put the whole thing on Instagram. (Editor’s note: Pol had to take the video down due to legal reasons.) So a few days later a ticket arrived at my parents place with this crazy fine because of kicking down this fence, which is part of someone’s private property. We skated the gap and some other spots in that town. Later I found out that the cop who sued me is a former skater (which makes everything extra whack) but yeah, I am waiting for the ‘trial’ to see how much I have to pay in the end or if can trade it for some social services. Marcos: Good luck with that. Besides kicking down a fence, have you ever tried to fix a spot to skate, like DIY style?
Ha-ha! For sure! I tried to build a ledge with a friend at a DIY spot we have but it turned out a bit weird. I still have so much to learn about it. Marcos: How was it in London when you came with Louw? Did you like the London spots?
It was dope. We were so lucky with the weather; it was really hot, not much rain. There were really rough but good spots everywhere that got me hyped to skate like that typical metal kicker we set up to hit a high box. It was a great experience being abroad. Marcos: What were the main differences you felt in Britain from your life in Spain?
I noticed it was quite different than Spain. It was my first time there and I kind of freaked out with all the surveillance cameras everywhere and the rivers crossing the city. London felt like a huge city full of crazy spots and really well connected by public transportation. I’m looking forward to coming back really soon. Marcos: What do you have planned for the near future?
Miguel: Anything else you’d like to add Pol? We’ve already drunk two of these and to be honest I can barely pronounce my last name anymore. Last words? …
I just want to say thank you to my family, Enrique, Gerard for the photos (he knows how to focus), the mag for this opportunity, and you (Miguel) of course for paying the first round and the cigarette we’re about to smoke. Miguel: Fair enough. What smoke? OK, I got you.
360 flip Badalona
I’ve got a couple trips in mind. I’d like to go to the US and see what it is like there. Also visit China, but the closest thing to now is going to Madrid for a while and also finish a couple projects we’ve got around here. I’ll leave most of the travelling for the summer and onwards.
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A N T I Z
GREECE RĂŠmy Taveira Frontside air transfer Pili
Words & Photography Fabien Ponsero
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DRINK AND
DRIVE TOUR
‘Antiz in Greece? Again? Really?’ I’d be surprised if that isn’t what goes through most people’s heads as they flick through this article. Indeed it’s now the fourth year in a row that the brand pays a visit to Athens and its unofficial mayor: Thanos Panou. Beyond the weather, the food and the relatively low prices it’s the sheer size of the place and its abundance of spots that keeps us coming back every time. The only difference this time is that we decided to see what else the country had to offer, spending just one week in the capital and the other on the road. The plan was to load up a couple of vans with tents, beer and make our way towards the heart of this beautiful land: Thessaloniki.
Gabriel Engelke Bluntslide Larissa
Mickael Germond Crooked grind pull out transfer Athens
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This year was a little different from the previous ones as we brought out almost every single person on the team. After hearing so much about Greece, I guess everyone decided that they wanted to come. So on top of the OG team (Rémy, Samu, Hirschy, Gabeeb, Juju and Thanos) and our trusty filmer Ludo, we were graced with the presence of our two new riders Robin ‘Fuck yeah Rob’ Bolian and Victor ‘Vivi’/’Doobie Master’ Pellegrin as well as our three flowbos: Quentin, Mika and Uryann. Which you’ll have to admit, is a massive crew. Now the problem with a squad this big is that it’s not always easy to handle, especially when it ranges from ages 17 to 38. Although saying this I didn’t feel the age difference quite as much as I’d expected. The young’uns were adapting incredibly fast to their new hobo lifestyle and our veteran, Gabeeb who
Victor Pellegrin Ollie up axle stall pull in Volos
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Samu Karvonen Switch wallie Thessaloniki
was the only ‘old guy’ to share the weed smoking/trap music van experience, seemed to be fitting in just fine. After three days he even almost tricked us into thinking he was one of them when he asked us ‘am I going to need an air mattress and a duvet?’ ‘You’ve been coming on Antiz trips for over ten years, what do you expect!?’ But he did manage to find an air mattress and show off how it was bigger than all the others put together... Only when it came to
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setting it up at two in the morning the smugness was washed from his face as he realised the air he was blowing into it wasn’t inflating shit. Luckily for him (and for us) his anger and confusion was quickly replaced by embarrassment when he realised that he was simply blowing air into the wrong valve... ‘This guy’s supposed to be experienced?’ So you can see what I mean when I say the age difference wasn’t really felt. What we did feel on the other hand was the injuries. I’m not going to bore you with the details but the team showed up with all sorts of broken bones and sprains. And for the second year running skateboarding was out of the question for our main man Thanos. Luckily the van had everything we needed to drink away the pain...
Quentin Boillon Hippie jump Thessaloniki We were super excited to check out a few cities on the way to Thessaloniki, but the first few days on the road were a lot more laborious than expected. There’s nothing worse than realising, after a day of slamming and countless hours piled up in the back of a car, that the place where you are supposed to camp is guarded by security and that your search for the promised land is far from over. Luckily our misfortune turned out to be a blessing in disguise: after denying us our second sleeping option of the evening, the security guard of the sports university we were going to attempt to skate the next day told us to try our luck with the Dean who still happened to be in the building. After the longest fifteen minutes of the trip our two negotiators came back with a smile on their
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faces... Not only were we allowed to spend the night there but we’d also been granted authorisation to skate their velodrome in which we decided to swiftly set up camp. The next day when a scorching sun woke us from our freezing cold ‘rest’, before us lay one of the most incredible spots we’d ever seen. The beautiful old velodrome had clearly been abandoned for quite some time and where the popped out slabs of wood made it unfit for cycling it had created ‘natural’ bank to ledges; ideal for what we had in mind. Our next destination sounded just as heavenly: in the middle of the mountains awaited a gigantic full pipe. To keep things interesting: to get to it you had to cross the sketchiest tiny bridge. The sort of bridge everyone steps out of the car to cross by foot one by one as it could give in at any moment... Anyway it led us to a giant rainwater evacuation pipe of at least five or six metres high, all completely hidden from the road. We couldn’t have dreamt of a better shelter to set up camp. After a short session as the sun was sinking behind the
Ph. Samu Karvonen
Victor Pellegrin Gap past the fence to nosebluntslide Athens
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mountains we set up camp. The temperatures dropped to 3° that night. If it weren’t for the fire and the booze we would have had a real hard time beating the shivers and the cold wind that evening. Getting a good sleep is one of the hardest things on these trips, if you’re facing 3/4° temperatures and 70% humidity a few nights in a row getting any skateboarding done the next day becomes difficult. Luckily in this case we were blessed with the proximity of a charming river that ran alongside the mountain. It was of course icy cold and not everyone was brave enough to chuck themselves in, but you could tell that it definitely gave a second burst of energy to those who did. It was much needed as we left the stunning Greek countryside to
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make our way towards Thessaloniki then back to Athens. I think I speak for everyone when I say we weren’t too enthusiastic about leaving the mountains to head back towards the cities but I’m pretty sure the prospect of two nights in a warm AirBnB eased the pain. The trip ended on a rather strange note as during the last three days we were confronted with a rebellion we later coined: ‘the uprising of the aged’. This was a series of altercations with elderly people that varied in seriousness. One such event was our adorable 16-year-old guide Alex being violently grabbed as he was trying to make sure boards didn’t shoot out into traffic or being ganged up on, insulted (Malaka!) and kicked out of a spot by a large mob of them.
Uryann Raudet Kickflip Thessaloniki
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Rémy Taveira 360 ollie Athens
A personal favourite was the lovely lady that shouted ‘you are a stupid; go back to your country. You are a stupid; go vote for Trump!!!’ along with countless other insults at Samu from her window. She was really on fire... When it came to parting ways, she even added: ‘Greece has turned into a shit country, into a whorehouse... I bet that’s why you’ve come to destroy it! In fact where are you all from?’ ‘Uh... France...’ After which it took her a quick second to think before blurting out: ‘Allez bien vous faire foutre!’ (Go fuck yourselves, truly!)
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