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18 Tom Knox 26 Sara Cheikh 34 Award Tour 48 Joseph Biais
Cover Sean Pablo, boardslide in Paris Ph. Alex Pires
80 Maxime Géronzi 92 Filip Almqvist 100 Perceptiön 112 Carlos Neira
Contents Alax Hallford, feeble grind in Tinos, Greece Ph. Sam McGuire
Pol Amadó, no-comply in Sant Celoni, Spain. Ph. Gerard Riera
One of the reasons people give when asked what originally attracted them to skateboarding is its lack of rules. There’s no age limit, no gender limitations and there’s certainly no correct or incorrect way to skate. Skateboarding is free (pun intended). So a couple weeks ago I went to meet the Isle guys at a nearby pub after Tom Knox just finished shooting his last photo for his interview (The Cat and Mutton pub and Tom’s 360 flip respectively). We somehow got to talking about the Berrics and the games of S.K.A.T.E. they used to have. These Berrics games of S.K.A.T.E. were quite influential in the skateboarding world, but also they came with a set of rules: no feet on the ground, no no-complies, no bonelesses, no grabs, etc. So we were just sitting in the pub talking about how funny it is that in the past couple years putting your foot on the ground, no-complies and grabs have become so popular. Was it after eight seasons of Battle at the Berrics with “flatground only, but not
everything on flatground counts” the catalyst for skateboarders to embrace a different way of skateboarding? Is this a return to the punk attitude of “you can’t tell me what to do” of seventies and eighties skateboarding? Was it a conscious ‘fuck you’ to mainstream skateboarding and its rules? I don’t really have the answers to these questions but it’s an interesting topic for debate. I guess the point is, whenever you see too much of a certain type of skating on the Internet or wherever, there will always be a set of skaters that stray away from that. There are always a few that take the road less travelled and there will always be those who deviate from the norm. And soon yes, feet on the ground, no-complies and grabs will oversaturate skate media (perhaps it already has). But rest assured, out there, right now, skaters are already embracing the next lesser-seen way of skateboarding. (Will Harmon)
Editor in Chief Will Harmon Photo Editor Sam Ashley Online Editor Arthur Derrien Graphic Design Ben Weaver Seb Howell Visual Intervention James Jarvis Free is published six times a year by FSM Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK freeskatemag.com @freeskatemag freeskatemag@gmail.com
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Introducing David Gonzalez’s new signature shoe the Eagle SG. Globe’s Shogun cupsole adds greater support and flexibility with an added deep footbed for impact control.
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TOM
Backside lipslide in the security-heavy zone behind Liverpool Street Station, London
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Prop it up, flip it, put it down, Oh no… That bump is Poison! 360 flip in Hackney, London
Photography Sam Ashley Interview Will Harmon
Things just keep getting better and better for Tom Knox… In the past six months he’s finished another incredible video part, gotten a pro board from Isle, his Vase part won Video Part of the Year at BESA and he’s recently become a young dad. Now with his name on everyone’s lips, the skateboard world is eagerly awaiting Tom’s next move. To find out I cycled up to Finsbury Park (London neighbourhood where the Knox family lives) one cold February afternoon and met Tom in a cafe to do this interview. Tom was a bit nervous about doing the interview as he said he hadn’t been skating the past few weeks since becoming a dad and feared he was out of the loop. Skateboarding is so ingrained into Tom’s being that not skating for a couple weeks causes him to feel a bit off. I told him not to worry and that ‘I’m sure the interview will be fine,’ and well, I guess you the reader can be the judge of that… So Isle really cleaned up at the Bright awards in Berlin, congratulations! In your opinion, why do you think the brand did so well? Tom It’s hard to say to be honest because I’m in the production of it. I think people really like what Jake (Jacob Harris) does and they really connect with that style of a video (Isle’s Vase). Jake is doing it independently himself, it’s not like he’s got a big budget or anything like that. He just does exactly the kind of video he wants to do. He’s got good taste I think. But it was weird when we were there in Berlin… It’s so funny to win all these awards. I guess for some people they would look at it will
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like ‘these guys, they’re not the best at skating by far, but they are skating these crusty spots.’ I feel like people might see us as a bit smug or something. Does that make sense? will I see what you are saying, but I think if they did think you guys were smug then not everyone would have voted for you. TOM Maybe. I just think it’s funny accepting an award for anything in skateboarding. But I’m happy people responded to the video so well because that’s the aim isn’t it? You want people to like it. And so the awards are some kind of recognition that a certain amount of people liked it. WILL And you won best part of the year! Did you spend as long on your Vase part as you did with Eleventh Hour? TOM Uh it’s hard to tell… With injuries and this project we went through a few cameras and they were long breaks when Jake was working and stuff, but I’d say it’s probably the same amount of time. There were always periods when we’d get out all the time and skate when it’s dry and there was definitely a few months in the beginning where Chris (Jones) and I especially were going out together and skating all the time and that’s where you’d get the bulk of footage in the beginning. Then after that you kind add on to that. I spend about the same amount of time on all my video parts: a bit over a year. WILL And what was the trick in your part you tried the hardest on or you are the happiest with? TOM Ah man I guess it was that Euston trick that I never did (backside smith grind backside 360 out). That haunts me still. A lot of Sundays were taken up trying that trick. I would love to do it, but I didn’t. The switch flip manual by the Arsenal road gaps… That fucking took me forever. But once you’re in it, it’s easy and you get used to it… It’s about getting into that rhythm… Once you’re done with a part you have this moment of ‘fuck, I can’t do that again. I can’t jump down stairs or this or that,’ but once you’re in it, it’s easy. WILL And you couldn’t go on the BESA nominees’ trip to Athens because you just recently became a dad. Can you tell us what that’s been like? TOM It’s been extraordinary! Rosie was born three weeks ago and it’s been amazing. There are a lot of sleepless nights now, because it’s the beginning, but it’s been great. My partner Kelly and I have just been hanging out and enjoying it. I’ve been skating here and there when it’s dry. They are only babies for such a small amount of time so I want to enjoy it. WILL And what do you think about juggling being a dad and a professional skateboarder going down the line?
The thought definitely comes into my head a lot. But that’s what people do: they have families and they have to juggle these things. As I’m based and skate in London I’m hoping it won’t be too bad – especially as you can’t skate half the fucking year here. Out of most professions, this is probably one of the best ones to have a baby. I have Jake if I want to go film and Sam (Ashley) if I need to go shoot a photo so I’m in a good position here. WILL Yeah and I spoke to Seb (Palmer) at New Balance and he said he’s arranged a bunch of trips this year around London to accommodate you. I know it’s because he’s a dad himself so he can empathise with this time in your life. TOM It’s so amazing; Seb has been so supportive from the moment he found out I was going to become a dad. I think it’s cool because very rarely, especially in skateboarding, do people have kids early in their lives because as a lifestyle… WILL How old are you now? TOM I’m 24 and Kelly is 22. So we are young parents, but my parents had me at 21 so you know… My parents have travelled the world, but you just have to do it with children you know. But for Seb to arrange all these London trips, it’s just amazing. And Levi (Brown) has just had a kid a week ago, which is amazing. He’s had a boy named Lenin. So it’s funny he told me he was having a baby, and he had his two weeks after mine. WILL Maybe they could be playmates together on New Balance trips! TOM Yeah I mean they are the same age; they are born two weeks apart. But yeah it’s cool they (New Balance) understand the situation and it’s cool they are going to come on a trip here. WILL So what else do you have planned for 2016? TOM I’m just trying to figure it out really… I’m filming some stuff for Kr3w and I know I have trips with them coming up, also those New Balance trips. I might try and film another part with Jake, but we’ll see. He’s the godfather; he’s in charge. WILL Yeah I was speaking with Jake and yeah, he said the best thing he could give you is to help you film another part. And this one to be the penultimate part… TOM Yeah that’s nice of him because where we are right now, I think we’ve filmed five parts together, or at least four. So I’ve kind been filming with him since I was a kid and because of situations we haven’t had that time to completely put in that full effort… Every time I finish a part I think: ‘ah I didn’t put in that much effort in, and I can. I could put in ten times more and make a better part.’ But when TOM
The smooth run-up was too pristine for Knox’s liking on this Roman spot. Tailslide all the way to ground Tom is more accustomed to. Ph. Davide Biondani it actually comes down to it stuff always gets in the way like rain, jobs, girlfriends, everything gets in the way but that’s life. You can’t just spend all your time filming skateboarding. WILL I remember reading about Marc Johnson pretty much cutting everything out when he was filming for Fully Flared and it kind of almost made him crazy. Focusing that much on filming a video part can’t be healthy. TOM Well for Jake to want to film another part with me again that’s very nice. I’ve kind of made a career in skateboarding right now because of Jake making these videos. His videos are so legitimate. You can film any trick you want to film or do whatever you want to do and then if some guy edits it to shit music and
it’s edited badly then no one gives a shit. So for me I’m very thankful for Jake because he’s helped me out a lot in life in that sense. WILL So what is it like when you film with other people? How do you feel? TOM It takes a little while to get used to it sometimes, but it’s fine. I guess with Jake we film stuff spontaneously day in and day out when we go skating, but we always have those few tricks that are little projects for us – maybe like a long line or a single here and there that we think about or I go try it one day and he’s like: “We gotta do that; we gotta go back.” So sometimes I’ll go practise the trick at the skatepark so I can go back and do this one trick or this one line. We kind of take
Props to those that go against the grain, or the arrows for that matter. Bump to 50-50 in Tottenham Hale, London care of individual tricks sometimes and that’s what makes those parts special whereas when you go on a trip or if you film with someone else they don’t necessarily have that kind of relationship with you where they say: “We are definitely going to come back.” WILL I see. TOM And then because I skate with Jake all the time he knows my abilities and I know how he likes to film so in that sense we know exactly the style and sense of what we want to do, but with other people you film stuff sometimes and you second guess it. You think:
‘Is this actually a good clip?’ Whereas with Jake he’s like: “This is going to be good” And to me that gives me the confidence. Sometimes if you don’t have that person saying ‘this is exactly what you need to do’ it’s harder to feel satisfied with the filming process. But going back to what we were saying before, yes I’d love to film another part with Jake because it would be good to have that one part. I think he’s already filmed two or three 6-minute parts with me already, but I don’t know, we’ll try. WILL Well I’m looking forward to it, as I’m sure everyone else will be too! Cheers Tom.
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Sara
Cheikh Can you start off by telling us where you are from and how you ended up in Barcelona?
The Cheikh sisters
As skateboarding is barely discussed in this interview I should probably give it a bit of context: Sara Cheikh and her twin sister Nayat are integral parts of Barcelona’s skate scene. Everyone knows them and seems to love them as much as they respect their skating. Yet only a few are aware of the fascinating journey they’ve been on to arrive where they are today. “They’re from the desert right?” Sure, but to be born in a refugee camp in the middle of the desert and to end up killing it at MACBA is in itself pretty extraordinary. Sara was kind enough to talk us through the political situation that led to the formation of these camps, how she and her sister made it out of them and what she is doing to better the living conditions of those forced to remain in them – truly inspiring. Interview Arthur Derrien Photography Roger Ferrero
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I’m from Western Sahara but I was born in a refugee camp in Tindouf, Algeria. I moved to Spain when I was six. I grew up in Valencia, then moved to Madrid for university and came here (Barcelona) about a year ago. I was a refugee in a remote part of the desert of Algeria and obviously you don’t have many opportunities as a refugee. My dad was working as a translator for the MINURSO, the United Nations mission for the referendum in Western Sahara, and managed to move to Spain for a year to make some money. After a year he came back to the refugee camps and found a way for us to move with him to Spain. We didn’t have proper passports as we had a refugee status in Algeria. The only papers we had didn’t really give us any rights in Algeria and were virtually impossible to travel with because even if you managed to get into another country, getting them replaced with proper ones is basically impossible. So my dad travelled to Mauritania, bought us fake birth certificates to get Mauritanian passports, then came back to the camps and took us to Spain.
Can you briefly explain why you had the refugee status? What political situation led to you and others having to form refugee camps?
It’s quite a complex conflict that has barely received any media attention so I’ll do my best to keep it simple. So Western Sahara used to be a part of Spain. As in it was a Spanish colony for 100 years but around 1975 the United Nations asked Spain to decolonise it. What it was meant to do was give the area back to the Saharawis but instead it gave it to Morocco. So when Morocco started occupying the country in 1975 half of the Saharawi population, including my parents, fled to Tindouf in southwest Algeria. The only land they were ‘given’ was a part of desert so they just built a refugee camp there.
At that point these countries were at war right? Can you explain that a little bit?
Okay so it ended in 1991 and it was initially between Morocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania.
JA A KKO O JA NEN JA C O PO C A RO Z Z I
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Why Mauritania?
Because like Morocco, they also wanted to take advantage of our natural resources claiming that part of our land had always belonged to them. So we were just caught in the middle of people fighting to take our land.
What was the outcome? What happened when the war ended?
Saharawis were able to recover almost half of their territory, which is literally just sand. Morocco kept the other half that has all the oil, phosphate and other natural resources. For instance most of the fish that Morocco sells to Europe comes from Western Sahara. They are essentially exploiting all of our land’s wealth.
Whilst leaving your people to start a new life in a place with nothing apart from sand...
Even the sand that to most people appears to have no value, Morocco sells it to countries wanting to set up artificial beaches.
And this is what led you to start the Wall Of Sand project, am I correct? Can you tell us a little bit about this charity?
After graduating from university I decided to go back to the camps for two months to see my family and spend some time immersed in my culture. There happened to be an International Art Festival called
ARTifariti taking place at that time. The Festival brought together artists from around the world that defend human rights and the right of Saharawis for self-determination. I met my project partners there in that festival. Dominique, Brahim and I were convinced of the need to diffuse the situation of Saharawi refugees in a creative way. And since the theme of the festival was “to bring down the wall of shame” we decided to take it literally and sell the sand of the wall to bring it down in a symbolic way while using the funds to improve refugee’s life conditions.
Can you explain what the wall of shame actually is?
The Wall Of Shame is the wall that divides Western Sahara. In 1981, Morocco built a huge wall of sand dividing our country into two: one side for us with only sand and one side for them with all of the resources.
It’s crazy how little attention this gets in the media.
Especially considering it’s supposed to be the largest militarily active wall in the world as well as the portion of land that is the most contaminated with landmines. It’s basically impossible to even approach.Anyway the Wall Of Sand project’s idea was to bring down the wall of sand by selling its sand. Obviously it’s symbolic though as the sand comes from the area of the wall (rather than the actual wall) as you can’t actually get close to it because of all the landmines. The aim is to raise awareness and to make some money to better the lives of those staying in the refugee camps. The temperatures are really high during the day but they also drop extremely low, making the living conditions horrible for all of those living in the tents. That’s why the money we raise goes towards building proper shelters for the families most in need.
Are there any indications of hope that the wall might come down in the near future?
Yes there is hope. In 1991 when the war stopped one condition was agreed on by all parties: that the Saharawi people would be allowed a referendum on whether they wanted to be independent (and have their land), or be a part of Morocco. The problem is that Morocco has been blocking that referendum for over 25 years now.
What do you mean by “blocking” it?
Well Morocco has the support of the United States and France so every time the topic is discussed at the United Nations they veto it.
So if the referendum actually took place the wall could potentially be knocked down?
Potentially yes, but it’s not even that simple. Morocco has been putting so many Moroccans in the Western Sahara region during these 40 years that even if the vote took place there would be a slight chance that we wouldn’t even win. If the referendum took place this year we would probably still get through but the longer it takes for it to happen the slimmer our chances get... Sara noseslides a curvy ledge in Barcelona
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What’s the solution then?
The solution is for the international community to openly start supporting Western Sahara and for the UN to agree on the referendum happening this year. There is a reason why you had probably never heard of Western Sahara and our conflict and it’s because we are fundamentally peaceful. You’ll never hear about a Saharawi terrorist attack or anything like that because it’s not in our nature. It’s one of the reasons why we have a huge amount of support from various countries and organisations but also one of the reasons why we are never in the news... People need to know that there are two generations of people stuck in refugee camps, with no hope or opportunities even though they are supposed to have a land that is full of natural resources.
Saharawis, especially on the younger generations that feel trapped in a desert that has nothing to offer, in a land where they do not belong.
What about the Saharawi people that aren’t in the refugee camps? Is it hard for the ones living in the occupied territories?
Definitely, they are the true resisters. Just to give you an idea, Moroccan authorities have been carrying out systematic ethnic cleansing of Saharawis by secret detentions, killings and enforced disappearances since the occupation in 1975. My father himself was jailed for five years when he was only 20 years old for participating in a demonstration against the occupation. Still you’ll never hear a word of hatred towards the Moroccan people from him. Nowadays the Saharawis living under Do the people in the camps still have occupation have to face more subtle forms of hope? human rights abuses, such as the lack of freedom of They’ve always been convinced that this is just expression, association and movement. Numerous temporary, that they’ll go back to their land soon. Saharawis who are considered troublemakers, such as That’s why only one of the five camps has electricity... known human rights activists, are deprived of travel Last time I was there I heard people saying: “If documents. If you, for example, want to interview any electricity finally makes it to our camp, we will stay of those activists you’d probably be deported. I know here forever.” Everything was built as a ‘temporary from first hand a lot of journalists and artists who’ve solution’. Although 40 years is nothing in the eyes of history it is starting to take its toll on the morale of the had that awful experience. What really makes me sad is that Moroccans themselves know absolutely nothing about this. I have met many who don’t even know where the Western Sahara is... But they are not to blame. They live under a total manipulation of education and media. They are not aware that Saharawi kids can’t even speak their mother tongue, Hassaniya, in school and also that showing or carrying our flag is considered a ‘crime against the state’. This is why getting funds to help the people in the camps is only half of the battle...
The other half is raising awareness.
Exactly. It’s sad that with refugees being such a current topic literally nobody is aware of this crisis. It’s only an hour away from the Canary Islands and it belonged to Spain for almost 100 years...
It’s pretty incredible that you find time to do this alongside your full-time job, skating and everything else you’ve got going on.
Sara’s twin sister, Nayat, wallrides in Barcelona
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I kind of feel like it’s my duty. I know how lucky I am to have made it out of the camps myself, to have had an education... So the least I can do for my people is to give them a voice. When you grow out of your roots it is easy to forget why you are where you are; the Wall Of Sand project is a way to remind myself where I come from. It’s been only one year since we started the project and the team has grown to five persons now (millions of thanks to Tim Turiak and Thomas Spallek from the Moxie collective). We just finished our first room for a family and got funds to build two more in March. We’ve given talks in universities and participated in international art festivals and exhibitions, I have been told by unknown people “shit, I thought I was a
Sara frontside rock ’n’ rolls at Barceloneta
well-educated person and I knew nothing about this.” So I feel we are reaching our goal and I am beyond happy about it.
I know you still regularly go back to the camps to spend time with your family. What’s a typical day like when you’re out visiting your grandma?
roots. The bad thing about it is that they get lost very easily and my brother, sister and I have to go look for them by car. My grandma gets so stressed about it, but for us it’s extremely fun to look for a missing goat in the desert! The evenings are quite chill, we usually have tea outside while listening to ‘elhoul’, traditional Saharawi music with poetry as lyrics. Poetry is like a ‘sport’ in our culture. My grandma can’t read or write but she knows tons of poems by heart. Sometimes we have dinner alone and sometimes we have visitors. Our place is on the way to Mauritania so we have a lot of random people passing by, having dinner and staying with us to make a break in their journey. It was quite an adjustment for me moving to a society where you have to call your friend to tell him you are just coming to his place. Seeing my mum always cook extra meals just in case someone pops by was awesome. And of course no one ever asks if they can stay, everyone just takes it for granted. The desert is everyone’s home.
When I go there I split my time between my family in the camps and my grandmother in the free territories. My grandmother lived in the camps for about 25 years but after that time she got tired of living on ‘borrowed land’ and decided to go back to the free territories of Western Sahara, which is pure desert. There is only her in the middle of nothing. It’s pretty impressive arriving there and seeing only her tent and two little rooms. It can seem romantic to live there but the daily life is really exhausting. The sun starts hitting hard around 10am so we wake up at six and prepare the bread and meals for the day so we don`t have to go from the tent to the kitchen in the middle of the heat. I usually go to take a walk with grandma to the ‘river’ around 8 o’clock – it’s actually only sand with a few of plants but when it rains it forms a little river. The hardest thing by far living there is managing to always have water. We have a well and when it’s full all is well but when it starts to empty we have to start making cuts in the frequency with which one takes a shower, until it drops to once a week, haha. Then we need to drive to the closest ‘public well’. The thing I love the most about being there is feeding and having walks with our six goats. I’ve never had a pet in Spain, so when I go there it’s like I have my mini zoo. They’re so much work but taking care of them is so cool, it really makes me feel close to my
My parents initially struggled to accept it. They were afraid that we’d hurt ourselves or that it would distract us from our studies, so our strategy was to study more than ever for them to let us skate. Now it’s gotten to the point where my father proudly shows off videos of his daughters skating! My grandmother has no idea what a skateboard is, I think seeing us skating would blow her mind, haha. But we’ve planned to bring our skateboards on our next trip to the desert so we can introduce her to the piece of wood that we have so much fun with!
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For more info about the Wall Of Sand project head to www.wallofsand.org
What does your family think about skateboarding? Have you ever tried talking about it to anyone back home? Like your grandma for instance?
Photo: Alex Papke
Award Tour Athens The plan was this: take the top five European Skater of the Year nominees and a Rookie of the Year nominee or two and go on a big skate trip somewhere that ‘s warm enough in January. This way we can get photos and film the top guys to make an article in the mag and release an edit as well. Because these are top skaters in Europe, well at least these are the top five most voted by you, the voter. The BESA All Stars skating all together in one place: boom! This was the plan… But sometimes what you wish for is harder to execute than you originally think. Tom Knox, one of the ESOTY nominees became a father two weeks before the end of January trip. We couldn’t really pry him away from his newborn baby girl. Rémy Taveira was already booked months in advance to go on an Öctagon trip to Dubai (no worries though, that Öctagon trip article is in this issue!). So luckily we got Eniz Fazliov, Karsten Kleppan and Daan Van Der Linden, the three remaining ESOTY nominees, to go on the trip. We decided on Athens, Greece. The city is filled with spots, it’s not too much of a bust and also public transport is good there so you don’t need to rent a van. We booked the flights for these guys before the final winning results were in. So Eniz, Karsten and Daan knew they were going to Athens after the Bright European Skate Awards, but when the flights were booked, no one knew who the winning ESOTY
would be. So a few days before everyone embarked on the Athens trip, Daan was crowned European Skater of the Year. Daan will have a full interview in the next issue of Free where we talk to him all about it, so don’t fret. To accompany the ESOTY nominees we wanted to get some of the Rookie of the Year nominees on the trip as well. Kilian Zehnder and Mike Arnold were available so they hopped on board. But unfortunately Kilian (the Rookie of the Year) got injured on the first day in Athens so he had to head back to Zurich. Mike came through for the Rookies though and meshed well with the other big time ESOTY nominees. Our own Sam Ashley was there shooting photos and he’s going to fill you in with a few more tidbits in the captions.
All the guys really smashed it. We are already thinking about doing this again next year. Over the next few pages we hope you enjoy the efforts of a week in Athens with Europe’s best. Will Harmon 35
One of the main reasons we decided to go to Athens on this trip was for the guarantee of good weather. Imagine our surprise when we headed out to skate only to be greeted by freezing temperatures and a relentless snowstorm... Luckily it was a weekend and this university campus in the hills had a door, which had been ‘left open’. It’s a strange feeling skating in somewhere like this, in nearly
every other city I think you’d probably get arrested and put in cells within about ten minutes... The local dudes we were with seemed pretty relaxed about the whole thing though, and on trips like these you tend fall in to a mindset of doing what they do. Having said that, Eniz wasted no time in getting this nollie nosegrind and it wasn’t long before we headed out the way we came in: back into the snowstorm.
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This strange set up is located at one of Athens’ more famous street spots: the white banks and ledges, outside some financial offices. Before ‘the crisis’ this was an instant bust but since then security has been pretty lax. On this particular evening we somehow awoke the security guard into the spirit of 2005 and got kicked out straight away. Mike Arnold decided to make the best of a bad situation by trying his luck at a new line at a previously unskated bit around the back – ollie over to tailslide.
Not many skaters put out a part like Karsten’s in Chronicles 3 without picking up an injury or two along the way, and unfortunately Karsten brought a niggling knee issue with him to Athens. On this day we headed off to the outskirts of Athens and Karsten powered through the problems with this quick-footed ollie up to frontside smith grind down.
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This is a classic Athens skate spot that the building’s owners recently renovated to make it even better to skate: the lip doesn’t stick out as much as it used to anymore. That new sign thing doesn’t really help things though... Eniz is the kind of skater that doesn’t let immovable objects bother him too much – Alley-oop fakie 5-0 revert.
A short run up and having to ollie past the pillar on this one definitely puts it ‘harder than it looks’ category, and that’s before you have to navigate the human shit and condoms strewn about the pit of despair that is the landing. Mike Arnold, backside tailslide.
This spot is located outside a bar called ‘Why Sleep?’ and this had us all questioning whether indeed, we really did need sleep. I mean why would you sleep? Whilst Daan pondered the possible benefits of a life without sleep he was also maintaining some good form on this very long frontside feeble grind.
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(Previous page.) The first time we visited this spot it was probably about -30C and on the cusp of being pitch darkness, so we deemed it best to be saved for ‘another day’. Of course it ended up being the first spot of the final day... It would appear that Eniz is immune to ‘morning legs’, ‘last day legs’ and also ‘stood on the subway for one hour legs’ as this skinny run up double rail into bank deal was conquered with minimal fuss.
Eniz begins his quest for 2017 ESOTY in the very best way possible: 3 × Free Skateboard Magazine stickers strategically placed on his board... Pro skaters of Europe, take note. (Our PayPal account details are available upon request). Switch pop shove-it.
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Greek churches are a notorious bust, but in this instance the only thing that got kicked was Daan’s board before backside smith grinding the rail, showing us all exactly why he’s is carrying that catchy BESA ESOTY title.
Mike nearly killed some stairwalking pedestrians a couple of times whilst bailing attempts for this one... Luckily everyone escaped unscathed in the end. The sun was rapidly dropping and the set up was super tight and awkward, the only way through was just to blast through it all!
Daan and myself were lagging at the back of the crew on the way to some spot, when Daan spotted this crusty rail encased in bush. The rest of the guys didn’t realise we’d stopped and proceeded to skate off in to the distance, our shouting and calling useless in the general bustle of a busy street in Athens. It took about five minutes for the crew to backtrack and find what had happened to us, just in time to witness Daan 50-50 the rail, bush and all.
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Photos & captions: Sam Ashley
Thanks to Billy Gee, Emerica, Converse, Nike, Vans and Volcom for their help and support.
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Joseph Kickflip Paris Ph. Maxime Verret
Biais 49
Ollie over to 50-50 grind Paris Ph. Alex Pires
Interview Arthur Derrien
I’ve known Jibz for years now. At first he was a little harsh to me as I was the standard sponsor-me tape kid, but later he became one of my best friends as I grew up. Even if it sounds cheesy, it’s nothing but the truth saying that he is one of the best dudes I know to live, travel and skate with. After having some top-class breakfasts and taking his fair share of power naps he would always be down to lead the crew and show people new spots, and, obviously adding in some frontside boardslides to his emperor status. Joseph is a grown-ass man now; nevertheless his commitment to skateboarding still remains the same since day one. I can
shamelessly say that I really look up to him especially for this. Wherever we are, once at the spot he behaves like a little skate rat going for it at the skatepark for the first time... During trips for example, it isn’t rare to see him getting a lot of footage and still be texting Parisian photographers Max Verret or Alex Pires to arrange some back-home suburbs shooting missions. Anyway this introduction won’t be too long, but the reasons I’m kissing his ass so much is this: I’m deeply in love with him and he saved my life by getting me water out of nowhere during an industrial park long trick battle I was having four years ago. Keep killing it
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Ph. Maxime Verret
Val Bauer
Boardslide Paris Ph. Maxime Verret
Hey buddy! How’s everything? Are you still in Dubai? joseph biais Yeah I am! I’m out here with the Octagon crew. There’s Rémy Taveira, Edouard Depaz, Loic Benoit, Val Bauer and Clément who does the brand. I wish I could get this camera to work so I could show you where we’re staying, it’s pretty mad. Apparently this Air BNB we’ve got is in one of the sketchiest towers in Dubai. It’s supposed to be where all the hookers stay. So it looks quite fancy from the outside but inside it’s fucked: cables hanging out of every corner, building stuff lying around everywhere. Basically our floor looks like it’s still under construction. ad What about the skating? jb So far it’s okay... To be completely honest I was kind of expecting there to be more spots we could actually skate. We watched We Are Blood and a load of tour edits to make sure there was stuff out here but it turns out you can’t skate a lot of it. You know that neighbourhood in Paris called ‘La Défence’ with all the banks and stuff? Well Dubai is a whole city that feels and looks just like that, only it’s boiling. So security there is crazy... ad Did you bump into any skaters out there? Is there any kind of ‘scene’? jb I mean we bumped into a few young kids, but there definitely isn’t a scene out here. The closest thing they have to a skate shop is one of those crap mall shops... I think they’ve got an insane skatepark though. Only nobody uses it... We might check it out at some point. ad Sounds like such arthur derrien
a bizarre place. jb It really is. Then are so many little things that you wouldn’t expect. Take the metro for instance, I didn’t realise there was going to be a separate female carriage. It’s pretty weird. The other day we jumped on the first carriage we saw as the train was about to leave and this rather angry female officer instantly came to kick us out (it happened to be the ‘girls only’ one). So we made our way to the ‘mixed’ carriage and noticed that where the female carriage ends and the other one starts was rammed with dudes perving on the chicks. It was such a weird scene. ad That sounds horrible. jb When I went to India there was a similar set up, only the perving was even gnarlier. They’d be giving the girls (in the female wagon) the dirtiest looks... Which is kind of ridiculous as they are the exact same girls they’d see walking around outside. ad I guess it’s just that there’s a high concentration of them or something. jb Yeah... Anyway coming back to Dubai, I was also not expecting there to be such a high proportion of Westerners around in comparison to Emiratis. It really seems like the vast majority of people in the city are just white expats... ad What about the city itself? jb Oof. All the buildings are so fucking high... Even our flat that’s on the 32nd floor is nowhere near as high as most of the buildings that we see around when we look outside. Earlier we skated this spot that was at the bottom of that Burj Khalifa tower (the tallest skyscraper in the world) and I couldn’t get over how far the top of the tower was from us. Like even if it were horizontal it would still take ages to get from one end
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at living life Joseph!
Frontside bluntslide Paris Ph. Alex Pires
Ollie over to backside 5-0 grind Zaragoza Ph. Maxime Verret
Ph. Sam Ashley
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to the other. On top of that all the towers are really close to each other so when you are in the centre you can’t see the horizon anywhere. This makes it quite confusing city to navigate your way around, especially since it’s so spread out. Taxis are really cheap though so we’ve just been getting them a lot. ad I bet that kind of architecture is perfect for the whole futuristic vibe you guys go for in the Octagon edits though. jb Yeah it is, but I’m still a little bit worried by the fact that we haven’t actually managed to skate that many spots yet. ad Are you guys trying to make a clip from this trip? jb No we’ve already been working on a new clip for a while now, so we’re just trying to get the last few bits out here. ad What’s the deal with that one?
jb I don’t actually know, haha. We (the skaters) have completely been left in the dark this time. Joaquim (the filmer), Clément (the guy running the brand) and Nicolas (the guy who does the graphics) are the only ones to have seen anything. I think they did some studio shots with some girl so I’m assuming she’ll be involved somehow but that’s literally all I know. ad Do you have someone showing you around out there? jb We’ve got a friend from Canada (MarcAntoine) that has family out here so he came out at the same time as us and showed us around a bit, but when he wasn’t about it was quite difficult. There just aren’t that many spots so you really need to know where they are. It’s not really one of those cities where you can just cruise and easily find stuff.
ad And when you do actually find something I bet you get instantly kicked out... jb Kind of yeah. Plus we keep hearing that the police here are super-gnarly, like if you get caught with weed on you they’ll put you in jail and stuff. Everyone has been telling us that if security calls the cops on us at a spot we should immediately bail. Our Canadian mate that I mentioned earlier said he’d been put in jail a couple of times just for skating... We’ve started to relax a little as nothing bad has happened but at first we were definitely a bit scared. ad Are guys going to be hitting any other cities out there? jb We’re meant to be hitting Abu Dhabi in a few days. Apparently the city is way easier to get around and has way more spots. ad You still work full
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Channel ollie Paris Maxime Verret
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time for Carhartt right? Is it easy for you to take time off for stuff like this? jb Reasonably. I mean I take it as holiday leave, so it’s not like I get special treatment because I skate for the brand or anything. Most of the trips I go on I usually tend to organise with my friends so we work around each other’s schedules. Plus I don’t really get invited on that many trips to be honest. ad And what exactly is your role at Carhartt? jb I think what it says on my contract is ‘Skateboard Marketing Coordinator’ but what it comes down to is being Bertrand Trichet’s right hand man. The two of us basically take care of anything that has to do with skating in the brand. That includes taking care of the team, organising events, working on products and countless other tasks. It’s extremely varied so I’m really learning about loads of stuff. Plus what’s good is that since it’s such a small team all the initiatives really come from Bertrand. There’s nobody above him telling him to push certain products or do things in a certain way. He’s completely free to do what he wants. ad It’s kind of crazy that such a big company only has one person (or two now that you’re there) working on all their skate stuff... In fact I’m always surprised by how much Carhartt invest into skateboarding. Especially now that you’ve explained how small the ‘structure’ is... Bertrand is really killing it. jb That’s because there are two completely separate
Carhartts. The American Carhartt is a proper workwear company that genuinely makes tough clothes (gloves, overalls etc.) for workers - like Caterpillar or something. Its purpose is 100% utilitarian; it’s not trying to be a fashion brand. But that’s a completely separate Carhartt from the one we have here in Europe. Our one is Carhartt WIP (Work in Progress) and it comes from someone that used to import the OG American Carhartt goods to Europe buying a license to make his own Carhartt clothes. I guess he saw the rising popularity of workwear inspired clothes and went for it. Anyway this entity of Carhartt (WIP) is based in Germany and from the very beginning they decided that it wanted to be associated with skateboarding. ad But the guy that started it doesn’t skate or anything? jb No just from very early on he was convinced that it was that would help build his brand’s image and he stuck to it. Although to be perfectly honest I doubt most people that wear Carhartt know about the association with skateboarding... Or have any idea how much they do for it. ad Which makes it even cooler that they keep investing money into developing that side of it. jb Yeah but you can see how it would make sense for them, skateboarders are so influential in fashion and other spheres that there’s definitely something in it for them.
You guys have an office in Paris right? What was it like being in the city during the time of the terror attacks? jb I was actually in Marseille with my girlfriend that weekend but two of the bars that got attacked are 100 metres away from the Carhartt office so it still hit me pretty hard. Getting the taxi home after the trip and driving past the carnage was pretty emotional... It’s definitely the event I’ve felt the most directly affected by. You just can’t ignore this stuff when it has happened so close to you. And even after a few weeks, when I thought I’d start getting over it, I’d walk past those restaurants every day on the way to work and still feel something. ad It really seems like they targeted one of the neighbourhoods with the highest amount of ‘young’ people. It’s crazy how many skaters live around there... Wasn’t Vincent Bressol (legendary French former Cliché pro) in one of the bars that was attacked? jb Yeah. I didn’t hear this directly from him so it might not be 100% accurate but apparently he was in one of those bars and when he heard gunshots he dived over the counter to protect himself. He heard the whole thing go down just a few metres away from him and I think a woman that was standing close to him got shot and pretty much died in his arms. ad That’s so gnarly. jb Yeah... The horrible thing is that when something like this hits the area where you and most of ad
180 to fakie 50-50 grind New York City Ph. Bertrand Trichet
Ph. Sam Ashley
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your friends hang out you’re bound to hear these kinds of stories a lot. In fact the night when I heard it was all kicking off I gave Rémy Taveira a call and when he picked up he was super close to one of the restaurants where a shooting was taking place and about to walk right into the mess. He had no idea... Needless to say that shortly after that he and everyone around him were sprinting in the opposite direction. (…) What adds to it all is that the place where people come to pay their respects to the friends and family members they’ve lost is the statue in the centre of Place de la République. So there’s basically been a constant flow of mourners at our local skate spot since the end of last year... ad And before that there was that guy that climbed up that statue, fell from the top and died during the techno parade... jb Oh man that video was horrible, I really wish I’d never seen it. République
is a stage for all sorts of madness... ad Oh yeah the stuff you guys must witness there on a daily basis... jb I don’t actually skate there that often to be honest so I’m probably not the right person to ask but yeah, I’m sure the diehard locals would have some funny stories to tell. I tend to get a bit bored when I spend the whole day at the same spot... I like discovering new spots. ad I can tell from the photos in your interview! Who do you usually go on missions with? jb Guillaume Périmony, Rémy Taveira when he’s about... ad From the outside it really feels like Paris is getting an insane amount of attention these days, being a local does it feel any different from a few years back? jb Yeah definitely. It’s as if suddenly every skateboarder in the world wanted to film an Instagram clip at République, it’s mad. Not
to mention all the recent Supreme hype... Towards the end of last summer on certain days there’d be like 250 skaters on the spot, 200 of which I’d never seen before and would be wearing Supreme. ad What do you think of it all? jb I think it’s great. The Supreme people didn’t just decide to come to Paris, open a shop and make shitloads of money. The skaters came over, shot some photos with Alex Pires, hung out with the Blobys and really promoted our scene. They did it properly. I feel like Barcelona’s been through something similar, so has Berlin. I’m stoked now it’s Paris’ turn! It gives the Blobys and even loads of other Parisians proper exposure.
TOM DERICHS - BACKSIDE NOSEGRIND • PHOTO: SAM ASHLEY
Boardslide, Gran Canaria. Ph. Nikwen
Maxime
Interview by Arthur Derrien
GĂŠronzi 81
Ph. Marcel Veldman I think one of the things people enjoy the most about Maxime is that he truly doesn’t give a fuck. Ever. I’m sure you can kind of tell through his skating but it’s not until you meet him in person that you can
really gauge the extent of it. It’s like everything you wish you could do or say if there was no such thing as consequences he won’t think about twice. Say someone pushing a wheelchair purposefully knocks you off your skateboard and you slam. What do you do? You might have a go at them as you skate off but usually that’s about it. What does Max do? He finds the nearest bar, gets a glass of ice-cold water and chucks it in that asshole’s face. Oh yeah and films the whole thing slow-mo on his phone for good measure. If you’re going to do it you might as well take the appropriate steps so you can relive it a few times I guess... Anyway, knowing that he applies that mentality to everything, including skateboarding, imagine how entertaining a cruise through Barcelona with him might be? Looking for spots with someone that impulsive is literally hilarious. That being said the best thing about this mind-set is still probably the effect it has on the tricks he’ll decide to try: “What, they’re going to close down Love? Okay get me on the first flight to Philly; I wanna try to switch tre the fountain gap.”
A lot of snow shovelling? Fucking hell... Did you actually manage to get any skating done? It was tough but yeah we did. You can tell everyone out there is used to those winters. They’re motivated no matter what and that really helps you stay hyped.
If we had that weather over here we definitely wouldn’t be skating as much, I can tell you that. At one point we tried going out when it was -9° Celsius...
That’s ridiculous. The best is when it’s just snowed. As soon as they know it won’t snow again for a little while they’re all at Love Park clearing the whole place out, day and night until it’s skate-able again. How long does it take? About two days if they aren’t doing the bottom fountain bit... There’s usually Brian there the whole time keeping
Switch backside nosegrind. Gran Canaria, Ph. Nikwen
Did you have fun in Philly then? Yeah definitely! I was out there with my good mate Bibo who used to live in Philly. He introduced me to everyone there a little while back so it was good to see them all again, especially with him.
50-50, Gran Canaria. Ph. Nikwen an eye on things, haha.
Panebianco? The Sabotage guy? Yeah. He’s always the first one to arrive at the plaza and the last one to leave, skating no matter what. These days often with a soaked board... He’s the boss down there.
But even beyond the fact that they’ll skate no matter how awful the weather is, just the way they go about doing stuff even though they have full time jobs is rad. It’s like they’re never tired. They’ll go to work every day and do long hours but it won’t seem to affect them at all.
A soaked board? Yeah completely soaked and full of salt. They absolutely cover the place in salt so that people don’t slip in the ice / snow and that shit gets all over your board. I’ve seen him come home and put his board in the sink to clean it with tap water, haha.
Did you get a chance to try the switch tre then or was the weather just too shit? Yeah on the second day or something. It was like eight degrees outside so decided to give it a shot. I think I did about ten tries or something but didn’t land it. You can’t really do more because your
Frontside nollie 180 heelflip, Barcelona. Ph. Roger Ferrero
legs start to seize up after that. I was intending to do a few tries as often as possible throughout my stay but the weather conditions rapidly deteriorated and made it impossible for me to do any more.
Switch ollie, Gran Canaria. Ph. Nikwen
Yeah you just can’t try something like that if it’s
minus nine outside... Exactly. Plus there are quite a lot of factors that need to be taken into account when you skate that thing. Getting the right speed for instance is really difficult. I bet you weren’t the only one in town to get the last tricks in before they shut
the place down. Yeah definitely. That Yoshi Tanenbaum guy tried to big flip it... We stuck around and watched; it was crazy.
it. It’s the sort of spot where if you aren’t completely certain you are going to clear it then you just don’t go for it.
Do people always clear it? I can imagine some people destroying themselves on the last step... Nah usually everyone clears
Were you out skating much out there aside from that or was it mainly just trying then resting / waiting until you could try again? No I actually still managed to get a fair bit of other stuff out there. And is it completely done now or can people still skate there for a little longer? Apparently they are supposed to properly close it to the public on the 15th (of February) so I’m thinking of heading back next week in case there’s one last opportunity for me to try it.
Sick. That means that by the time people read this you might have given it another try... Would you ever consider moving out there? Hmm. I love the place, the people, being able to randomly turn on the radio and it’s a song you’d be searching on YouTube for, but I don’t know... I really enjoy going on short trips out there but I think as a place to live it would be a bit much. You really feel like you don’t have as
It’s definitely a very different lifestyle. Had you done much Google Earth spot searching before you went out there? Ha. Everyone knows how much I love that shit now. I didn’t do it so much out there but I do it LOADS here in Barca. Why are you grinning like that? Because it’s too fucking sick, haha. I tend to get super carried away with it as soon as I start. Like when we were in the Canary Islands with Nikwen and Bibo (some of the shots are in this article), I’d spent so much time on my computer searching for spots like a maniac that I ended up showing the locals loads of stuff they’d never skated before. The only thing that sucks is when you drag everyone to a spot and realise that you couldn’t tell from the photo that the ground was actually gravel or something. I mean yeah every now and
Heelflip, Barcelona. Ph. Roger Ferrero
much freedom in the States. Nothing really goes on out in the streets. For instance, if you want to drink a beer it’s either at home or in a bar. Chilling in the streets is not an option, ever.
then something like that happens but generally it works out. Especially in such a vast city like Barca, there’s so much shit to explore.
Especially if you’re as hyped as you are on filming people and making edits for Instagram. It’s sick that every time you go out with the younger guys you push them to film stuff. I love seeing footage of Antoine
(Volle) or Sixsas (check out the @freewifi insta if you’ve never heard of him) on @gronze. Yeah, I mean I’ve always been into that. I’ve always enjoyed filming and making edits and always will. Plus Instagram keeps the sponsors happy, haha.
were completely fine. I’d say I’m at about 50%. I’ve got a sprained ankle. Seems to be where I stand most of the time to be honest... Every time I think I’m going to have time to rest up and really repair my body I get asked to do something else. It’s never ending.
What kind of condition would you say your body is at the moment? I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say you
And I suppose you haven’t done what you were telling me about last time: taking a few days off skating after
each session to let your body repair itself and get your motivation back to the max. No! I keep wanting to but it’s way easier said than done. To be fair I do take reasonably good care of my body compared to some. I’m regularly going to doctors, getting X-rays, etc. Spending time with Americans really reminds you how good we’ve got it with our free healthcare system.
Crook bonk, Macba. Ph. Roger Ferrero
Have you tried those crazy electrodes you splashed out on yet? Yeah I have but I don’t really know if they really worked
to be honest. I think I need to ask a specialist for some advice on how to properly do it before I continue doing it to myself. Although I could try them out on some guinea pigs and learn like that. Luypa (Sin) told me he was down, haha!
Definitely don’t try those on Luypa, haha; what he needs is some proper rest. What have you got going on when you get back from Philly? I’ve been working on a part for Thrasher so I really need to finish that. Sick I can’t wait to see it! Good luck in Philly and I’ll see you when you get back.
Interview and photograhy Alex Pires
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Filip
Almqvist
Frontside wallride to 5-0, Cyprus
Backside tailsilde over both steps in Cyprus
Intro Jean-Marc Soulet
The first time I met Filip was when he went on his first tour with us back in 2006; he was just a tiny little kid. Somehow he ended up spilling Coke all over my griptape so I got mad at him and yelled… That made him really sad and he locked himself in the toilet, haha. But somehow we ended up being homies from that day on and now he´s like my little brother. He´s an insanely good skater, he has good style, lots of pop and he’s got a really fun personality. He´s very hyperactive and he moves very quickly from loving life to just being mad and hating everything. But it only lasts for a few minutes and my best advice to everybody is to just feed him some chips and a Coke, then he´s back in business in no time. Enjoy his interview; it’s well deserved. One love!
Alex Pires: Hey Filip, you good? Yeah I’m all good, just getting back home from my new job. It’s in Rosengaard – you might have heard of it?
Isn’t that where Zlatan (Swedish footballer) is from?
Yep, exactly, there’s this big statue of him with quotes and stuff. People here consider it the hood but it’s quite chill. In Malmö, they would be like: “oh Rosengaard, you’re in for a treat boy!” It’s more of a media thing. Shit happens, but shit happens anywhere. Also I’m working in the kindergarten there, I guess the oldest kid is six; we just play around.
It’s not your first job around children right?
Yeah when I first started working, I had this carpenter job at my aunt’s boyfriend’s business. But I sucked at it so bad; I’m not the DIY type of dude. They were giving me full responsibility and every time I had to redo things over and over again. I worked briefly in a school after that and I really enjoyed it. I’m much more happy with this new job and you get to learn so much from kids too – they’re so honest.
You’re one of the few people I know that decided to quit paying sponsors. How did this happen?
Yeah it was quite a tough decision to take but I’m happy I quit. It’s not about getting paid it’s just that I was not feeling the way things were going. All those guys were and are still my friends; it’s just the direction the company was taking that I was not feeling. Once the vibe is not there anymore, you start losing motivation and it just feels wrong. We were told to focus mainly on social media at all times and I guess some people deal with that really well and some others just don’t.
What’s your take on social media then?
It goes both ways… I really enjoy Instagram clips and doing some as well, but it’s not like you want to put it all away on the Internet right away; it’s always nice to keep some and try to gather footage together. The other thing was this Snapchat thing, kids were allowed to ask questions and we would answer them. But those questions were ranging from what board to buy or what tricks to learn to what’s your mother’s name or even questions about when the first time we had sex. It just goes too far, you become the kids’ toy in a way. In those cases I’d just feel weird and go hide somewhere quiet.
Switch frontside bluntslide back to switch, Barcelona
Switch heelflip to switch backside tailslide, Alicante
Nah, all good! Should have guessed, I forgot about that. You guys even brought a gaming keyboard on a trip! Not the usual artsy “I’m gonna bring my guitar or my cameras” I must say! Ah! That’s another thing with you that I can remember, you get quite your highs and lows right?
(Laughs) Yeah fuck that! I love gaming. I used to be the nerdy guy in school; I even had to hide video games I just purchased from the shop in my pants so I wouldn’t get bullied by the football type of kids. I’m open about that now. It got quite excessive with the whole World of Warcraft thing but I’m chilling now – I don’t play that game anymore. It ends up costing you quite a lot of money too! But I still play a lot of other games; it helps quite well with the whole ADHD… That’s my therapy!
Weather shouldn’t help much either I guess. How bad is it in Malmö now?
Haha, yeah I guess I have quite the big dose of ADHD. I’m still trying to figure out how to deal with the lows but it’s coming! I can be super hyped for a while and then all of a sudden it’s the total opposite, but don’t worry, I just find a quiet corner and stay still for a bit. It Not that bad actually. It’s just not really dry yet, but never lasts too long and five minutes later I’m back up super windy. So quite shitty I guess. But it’s not that and running. bad since we’ve got Bryggeriet here. They open till late and most of the kids go there while they have school so it’s rather chill in the evenings. A month from now Ah man, I’m playing video games at the same time. Do it’s going to be skate-able outside again. I’m really glad I moved to Malmö. you want me to stop?
Safe! What’s this click I keep hearing?
Well I don’t know about that, it’s just a great city to skate. It’s smaller than Stockholm, and there’s so many good people doing the right thing here. There’s also this guy Gustav Eden working for the city, every time they rebuild a square or something, he always tries to pinch in skate ideas in there. And the city is really open about that. If you’re a skater and you want to try something new you should definitely come to Malmö.
There’s still a bunch of Swedish skaters living in Spain. You also tried Barcelona right?
I went there for a bit more than six months and lived with Lomar, Nisse and those guys. They’re my friends and I really like skating and hanging out with them. I mentioned vibes earlier, those guys are doing it right and I was really stoked to be there then. It was nice to try something else other than Sweden for a while too.
Tao (Tor Ström) told me to ask you about the carpe diem mattress?
That’s another thing about that time… We moved in to a flat where the owner left this child mattress and I had those sheets my grandma gave me that had carpe diem written on them. I slept on that thing during my whole stay. Not the best housing situation but I must say we were drunk most of the time so it didn’t really matter in the end.
So what’s up with you and Tao? Ever since I moved here (from Simrishamn, Sweden) we started hanging out more and we’ve been filming quite a bit. We’ll see where it goes. That’s another thing about Malmö, there’s so much more motivation than where I come from. It’s so much better.
What’s your daily routine then?
Because of the job, I have to wake up quite early but I’m done by 5 o’clock and then I go to Bryggeriet. I just can’t wait for the weather to be better so we can go back to Swampen.
Is that the mushroom spot?
Yeah, it’s kind of our Macba or like République for you guys. I’ve got to give a shout-out to the Swampen! Calle, Danny, George, Slomo, Axel, Erik, Tom, Guldpappan, Jerven, Spängan, Koffe, David… Fuck I don’t want to forget anyone! But yeah that’s our crew. There should always be someone grinding the curb!
Any plans ahead?
Well I just got that new job so I guess I’ll be busy with that until the summer, but they have this really good substitute system… So if it’s ever my turn to go touch the curb at Swampen, I can always ask for someone to fill in for me in the hood!
Frontside noseslide popping over the step to fakie, Alicante
Is it like the hot spot in Sweden right now?
Backside 180 nosegrind, Cyprus
Filip would like to thank Gunes (Özdogan), adidas, Streetlab and Bönne for their support
Val Bauer backside nosegrind revert
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Öctagon in Dubai
P
Photography by Loïc Benoit
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r c e
p
t i ö n
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Edouard Depaz, wallie
I don’t really remember many memories about my former Öctagon slave condition. The system didn’t program memory as a capability for its individuals. The only intern capacity they are endowed with is to visualise the task they are executing. The oldest memory I’m able to entwine is my own personal realisation. Personal because I’m sure this is the very first time I’ve been able to experience a feeling crossing my body. Paradoxically, I wasn’t alone, but surrounded by the other cell members. By being allies, we succeeded in surpassing our original status. Deeper than the physical dimension, I really felt that something psychological was happening. The inner self did exist, I could now tell it: I just crossed the frontier between figuration and existence, between mechanic and determination.
The whole situation had been and would always remain binary: them, and us, no half measure.
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Marcus Marcoux, frontside wallride
RĂŠmy Taveira, pole-jam frontside boardslide
Edouard Depaz, fastplant
Everything seemed pretty clear: our strengths and weaknesses. We were thinking we’d start to see our way out of the conflict. At least, we were hoping so and that was leading us forward. Without being totally able to let the smell of freedom invade us we could however levy it. The whole process had already started. We couldn’t go backward anymore, and even if it would be possible, it wasn’t an option to us. No way to surrender. Impossible to run away, the stake was vital. We were more determined and united than ever. Our senses, ideals and feelings, we gave them birth all together and against the system.
1 06
As we found the cell, we became sturdier. We had surpassed our simple individual condition. It wasn’t our first battle. Reunited, we had managed to exploit the only detectable break of the whole system. It couldn’t stop our collective consciousness development because we were broadcasting our own data. The first assault had permitted to gather some fresh individuals around our cause but we knew it wouldn’t only be a numeric matter.
Val Bauer, ollie
Rémy Taveira backside 50-50 grind to clear the gap
Right after our first hit, we multiplied our efforts. The system had to be struck in its core. Then we had used one of its own major strengths to broadcast our own message. By diverting the main transmitter of the Surveyör program, we managed to emit our own propaganda straight into the remaining enslaved individual’s processors. A lot of them were depending of the Vertical horizon program in charge of building and developing the whole universe defined by the Öctagon system. That’s how we managed to gain time, curbing the Öctagon monumental expansion.
Beyond actions, our thinking remained endless. How did we end up there? Who came first? Was it the individual or the system? What if the Man had defined this whole unique reality by his own drifts? Was the system really selfoperating? Were there individuals behind it? It was still blurry but we stood focused on our former plan to disconnect the system main processor for good.
1 08
Joseph Biais, frontside bluntslide
Edouard Depaz frontside nosebluntslide
RĂŠmy Taveira, boardslide pull-out 110
Following those two first assaults, everything went down harsher. The system had detected a threat but couldn’t identify its source. To defend and protect itself, it had developed a new program named PerceptiÜn, which was able to give artificial intelligence to inert entities. Surveillance then became totalitarian; it went further than their former individual processors checking. The first cyborgs were on. Autonomous and programmed to disconnect every opponent to the unique reality diktat, they would be a continuous threat for us. Besides eyes, the system now had tentacles everywhere. The concrete and steel threat would then be omnipresent. Our moves should be more precise than ever. We should remain untraceable. Because of the radicalisation level we had reached, we would become the most wanted individuals of the system.
Frontside grind, frontside grab out
112 Carlos Neira
Gap out to backside lipslide in Barcelona
114
Carlos is a free spirit. A raw, honest, free individual who’s managed his way into some sort of spotlight coming from Dos Hermanas (a very small town nearby Seville). Ok, I know most of us are a little tired of the “small town boy” story by now but Carlos fits this description mixing some of that with a modern street pirate vibe. Moving recently to Barcelona to feed his skateboarding hunger, we managed to have a talk with him while having a couple beers after skating with photo man-boy Gerard Riera and the pirate himself.
Photography Gerard Riera Interview Miguel Cidraque with Gerard Riera
How are you doing Carlos? How was your day? Good man. I went skating a little bit downtown and ended up breaking my pants around the crotch. It’s kind of chilly but refreshing though. mc Have you managed to “refresh” your crotch lately? cn Well kind of. Last weekend I dated this girl after skating all day. I was feeling pretty tired so I told her to come over to my place. The girl arrives, and the next thing you know: she’s allergic to cats. My roommate has had one forever so the house is full of cat hair. I knew that, but still forced the situation and told her that the cat never came into my room, so she agrees to stay. We watched a movie (at least I did, she was busy scratching her neck and rubbing her eyes). We started to make out, and when we were almost there, she realised the itch was stronger than she thought. I told her not to worry and invited to leave the house. mc Didn’t she ask you to come over to her place? cn Yeah sure! But it was 1am and I was feeling super tired so I decided to stay home. mc What!? Gerard Riera Wow, that’s some tough life shit right there! Most guys I know would’ve ran naked to the girl’s house (laughs). He’s such a heartbreaker. I’ve seen girls passing by while shooting a photo with Carlos, and after a few minutes they’ll come by again just to say hi or whatever. Also old ladies feel charmed… CN (Laughs) I guess you’re talking about the “vitamin” incident. We were skating this rail and an old lady comes to me and says: “You’re gonna hurt yourself” blah blah, and I was like: “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing,” so the lady grabs an orange as she was coming from the local market and goes “Here boy, you’ll sure need some vitamin C for that.” Shit was hilarious. mc After coming back and forth for a few years now you seem to have finally settled down here in Barcelona. What finally made you move in the end? cn I’ve always been down for a trip. Where I come from most of my friends would be all the time “yeah, sure! Let’s go on skate holidays” blah, blah. And I always ended up going on my own. At first I used to wait for them to get their tickets and stuff but with time I ended up not waiting for anybody. I love them but I guess I needed to skate more than them. Moving to Barcelona was a natural thing as it’s been one of the main destinations I’ve been coming back to through the years. I know plenty of the locals from the city and it’s surroundings, which is cool. And there’s always someone down for a mission almost every day, which is always a plus. mc Are you focused on skating alone these days? cn I’m twenty-two years old now – of course skating is the main thing at Miguel Cidraque carlos neira
Gap to backside 50-50
116
Spanish grind in Spain by the Spaniard
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the moment, but I’d love to find a job and study something while I’m here in Barcelona so I can make the most out of it. At the moment I can rent a room thanks to skating, but I’m smart enough to know I’ll need something more if I want to make a decent living. When I was a little younger I remembered seeing adults around me being too serious or straight sad about their way of living so in my head I started to think: “Ok, how can I stretch out the feeling of this happy childhood of mine?” I don’t know, I used to be an okay student but suddenly I’d be skipping classes and just going to the skatepark. It got to a point where my mother would come to pick me up after school, but instead go straight to the park. She already knew I wasn’t going to school anymore… It’s cool she’s starting to understand me more. I love her; she’s the best. mc And what are your projects in skating right now? cn I’ve been filming a video part for the “Project” video that Jart’s working on at the moment. I already filmed a part for the The AM Project last year but they got me a spot in this new video so I’m pretty hyped about that as well. I might also go on this trip to Mexico next month and that’s really exciting. I’m not a 100% sure yet. I missed some trips last year because of an injured knee, but it looks like this time I’ll be able to make it with the rest of the Jart team.
Backside wallride pop shuv-it out
Travelling is the best, any other trips on the horizon? cn I’d love to go to London. My sister’s been living there for a while now and I want to visit her so bad. She’s studying and working as an au pair for this family in the Chelsea neighbourhood (which I heard is a really fancy area), but especially I’d love to go and skate the city. Gr The weather can be a bitch, but the city’s is amazing if you’re looking for some crust to skate. It’s a little too big for my liking, but great nonetheless. cn Oh, and I almost forgot! I might be also going to California. I don’t know the name of the town but a good friend of mine from back home has been working there on a weed farm. Dude’s like making €7000 a month working there and he’s all the time trying to fly me over telling me: “Just come here, work with me some time and then fly back to Spain.” So yeah, I might go there as well and make myself weed rich. mc And how legal do you think that is? cn I’m not a hundred per cent sure about that but, as far as I know, marijuana is legal for medical purposes in California so I guess it might be legal. mc True. Call me when you’re back and weed rich. GR Through the past weeks we’ve spent quite some time together and I’m mc
Bluntslide transfer into the hill
120
Frontside wallride
122
always surprised about your take on some stuff like, for example: skate mags. What can you tell us about that? cn Well, to be honest I find them pretty unexciting for the most part. I love to skate, you know? And I hardly ever find the rush of skating out of magazines. Even when someone I know gets featured I find it hard to go through the whole thing. I’m not an expert but I think the actual intensity of skating is missing in most magazines. I’d rather see an article of a tight crew skating together doing their thing, than a standard skateboard interview or whatever. I believe that if magazines focused more on the actual feeling/experience of skating it would speak directly to more skaters. GR We all want to, but I don’t thinks it’s that easy to innovate… cn I believe it is fear for the most part. I guess people get too comfy on what they do at a point and don’t think anymore outside the box trying to please their former followers or the brands behind them. mc The last time we talked I remember you were also really into video editing and photos… cn Yeah! I’ve always been the “filmer” back home because none of my
Bank to bank crooks
friends wanted to film. We all were really busy skating. I always brought the camera with me so I could get some clips of everyone. I even filmed myself at some point! (Laughs) mc Are you claiming you pioneered selfie skating? cn Who knows! (Laughs). GR He’s also really into photography… cn I’ve been shooting photos since I can remember but with skate photos I feel like I’m starting to understand the way you guys approach it. I mean, for sure I’d have to study a little more about lighting and stuff but I’m starting to be conscious about how I would like to frame a skate photo and all that. Like these past weeks with Gerard, I do trust his choices to the fullest but, as we kept shooting for this article, I started to ask him all the time: “Why don’t you try this one from over there?” and all that. Hope he didn’t get annoyed. GR Not at all mate, you know I end up doing what I believe in in the end! mc Ok Carlos, there’s no beer left. Do you have any last words? cn Yeah, I’d like to thank my friends and family, Braza (Jart), Pali (Converse) and Alex (Now Dist) for their support.
Gappy frontside lipslide
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