Marie-France Roy Terje Haakonsen Haiti Needs You! Eastern Bloc Skate Argentine Snow Dave Carnie Headphones
Surfing’s Zen Master Returns
made in the uk £3.75 vol. 04 issue 019 Feb/March 10 ROB MACHADO by Eric Cahan
[ LI FE A F T E R S K ATE]
2010
WeA c t i v i s ts JA S O N L E E & PE T E R S T O R M A R E S HO T B Y C HE RY L D U N N www. we s c. co m
Children of Midnight
38 From soul search to spotlight.
64 The days never end for these Norwegian teens.
Mastering the craft
Argentine Snow
46 Progression is an art form at the O’Neill Evolution.
70 Community is key for the souls of Cerro Catedral.
Brooklyn Banks
Dave Carnie
48 Where New York City skaters are born and raised.
76 Big Brother alumnus joins the world of fine art.
Ari Marcopoulos
Tech N9ne
52 Photographer, astronaut, outsider with a lens.
80 Independent hip hop blows up big.
Celtic Surf
Headphone Hoedown
56 A contemporary Irish surf experience on ancient alaias.
84 For your ears only.
Eastern Bloc Skate
New York Style
58 When communism fell, the youth did rise.
90 In the dead of winter, the city springs to life.
photography: BRYAN DERBALLA.
Rob Machado
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DIFDL!PBLMFZ/DPN0UBD GPS!UIF!MBUFTU!VQEBUF!PO!! UIF!3121!BSDUJD!DIBMMFOHF!BOE!! TFF!UFSKF!IBBLPOTFO!MJWF!BU!UIF!UBD
16/14/!.!18/14/3121
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Terje’s Olympic Flame
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Haiti Marie-France Roy
Eyewriter Luis Tolentino The Helgasons Peetu Piiroinen No Age
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Ryan Miller Idlewood
The Avett Brothers Music Movies Games Groundhog Day
Publisher Vince Medeiros
Creative Directors Rob Longworth & Paul Willoughby
Advertising Director Steph Pomphrey
Published by The Church of London 8-9 Rivington Place London, EC2A 3BA
Editor Andrea Kurland
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Advertising Manager Dean Faulkner
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Distributed worldwide by COMAG
Skate Editor Jay Riggio
Translations Markus Grahlmann
Editorial Director Matt Bochenski
UK distribution enquiries: andy.hounslow@comag.co.uk
Snow Editor Zoe Oksanen
Words Armelle Burke, John Michael Drake, Tetsuhiko Endo, Gemma Freeman, Jason Horton, Niall Neeson, Mark Rosenberg, Cyrus Shahrad, Matt Walker, Steve Yates
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59Fifty - MLB Basic with Outline Apparel - Genesse Zip Through Hood - Core Glaze Tee
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Nature finds the cruellest ways to remind us who’s the boss. On January 12 she reared her head and brought Haiti to the ground, dealing out a catastrophe that left the world in shock. Haiti may be in a state of crisis – compounded by colonial hangovers, imperialist intervention and insurmountable debt – but there is more to Haitian history than just calamity and plight. There are people. And those people share stories. And those stories create communities that are strongest at their roots. Aid is not a remedy, but relief is a right. What follows is a list of foundations and some larger NGOs that have been working to
photography: JAN SOCHER
strengthen Haiti from the grassroots up. They can always do with help.
19
Haiti Action www.haitiaction.net
ADRA www.adra.org
Haiti Charity Hope Foundation www.hchf.org
Beyond Borders www.beyondborders.net
Haitian Health Foundation www.haitianhealthfoundation.org
Bright Hope International www.brighthope.org
Lambi Fund of Haiti www.lambifund.org
CHF International www.chfinternational.org
Pazapa www.siloe.org
Convoy of Hope www.convoyofhope.org
Doctors Without Borders / Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF) www.doctorswithoutborders.org
Grassroots International www.grassrootsonline.org
Partners in Health www.pih.org
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photography: JAN SOCHER
Action Against Hunger www.actionagainsthunger.org
It’s motherfreakin’ MFR Marie-France Roy gets to work on the best female video part ever, all over again. Text Gemma Freeman. Photography Oli Gagnon “I’m scared of heights,” admits Marie-France Roy. The French Canadian
of competing this season, she’s ditched the hazards of the contest circuit
may look fearless stomping 900s in the park, but it was a different story
to focus on filming, kicking off her new year with a week riding powder-
when she found herself hitting the backcountry last winter to shoot for
filled forests in Retallack, BC – a heaven only accessible via cat – with Anne-
Absinthe Film’s Neverland with fellow Whistler local Annie Boulanger. “I’m
Flore Marxer, Jenny Jones and Uniquely filmmaker John Roderick. “It was
used to riding park, and she’s into cliffs. We’d build a jump and Annie would
the best trip of my life – honestly!” she gushes. “The terrain was incredible.”
be scared shitless, then hit it and kill it. Then we’d hit a drop or little cliffs
And with Rome not making a movie this season, she’s hoping to bag her
and I’d be scared but Annie would be like, ‘What do you mean? This is easy!’
own section in Absinthe's 2010 release, starting out by filming with the
We traded our fears to help each other.”
crew locally in BC.
By the time Absinthe called, Marie-France was already lodged in
“It’s an evolution,” she explains. “I have this amazing opportunity to
snowboarding’s collective consciousness as MFR – a serious freestyle
work with Absinthe again, one of the best film crews, on my own part and
talent respected across the gender divide. The Quebec-born twenty-five-
do what I enjoy most. There’s so much to achieve when you’re deep in the
year-old made jaws drop in Rome’s inaugural 2007 film, Any Means, with a
mountains, reading natural terrain and thinking all the time. It’s creative –
burly debut dubbed the ‘best female video part ever’ by her peers.
using your soul to help you judge your line.”
But last season’s headlines were of the ‘near death experience’ kind –
With plans to end her season with a heli-trip in Alaska alongside extreme
thanks to a dodgy nail on a box at the 2009 X Games that sent her flying
skiers and fellow Red Bull team riders Andrea Binning and Kristi Leskinen,
into an unintentional backflip, landing on her head. “I didn’t know what had
MFR’s winter is looking pretty good. But will she miss the contest circus,
happened – I thought I was dead,” she remembers. “But I gradually moved
with its pressures to perform and progress on cue? Nope: “I don’t hate on
my arms and legs and was like, ‘Yes! I’m alive!’”
contests, but for me it’s all about filming. You’re deep in the mountains – it’s
Now, having swapped the park for powder, MFR is hooked. And instead
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peaceful and real. After all, how can you not like powder?”
SURF TILL YOU CAN’T KEEP YOUR E YES OPEN. DREA M OF SURFING. THEN SURF SOME MORE. ISLAND PROTEST MAKES TRIPS TO THE SHORE OBSOLETE. PROTEST TO GET THERE. PROTEST.EU
RIDER: LARS MUSSCHOOT
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Olympic flames Snowboarding’s renegade torchbearer still refuses to carry the light. Interview Ed Andrews. ILLUSTRATIon OWEN DAVEY If you want to watch football in London, you don’t have much of a
Issues have also arisen with riders trying to represent their sponsors, right?
choice in terms of venue. There’s the pub, overflowing with dismal lager
Yeah, the Olympics actually have people at the start of the runs going
and aggression, or nothing. So when I get an email from snowboarding
around with black tape. So if you are in the background wearing logos,
pioneer Terje Haakonsen saying he is keen to get some things off his
and they might get a shot of you on TV, they block them from being seen.
chest but in a venue where he can watch the El Classico derby between
Oakley had to downsize their logos... In Norway this year, I talked to the
Real Madrid and Barcelona, finding a place that could cater for both
Federation, it’s not worth it for them to get a sponsor for the team so the
wasn’t going to be easy. Plus, we need to eat. After trawling the various
riders will wear their own stuff. But to do that, they have to send every
watering holes of affluent Islington, North London, we find a Spanish
piece of the riders’ clothing so they can say, ‘Okay, that logo’s too big’. I
restaurant that can do all three.
think, ‘Who gave you the support? The company did, not the nation.’
Terje has the air of someone who is completely in charge of his own destiny; sedate, assured, never doing anything that isn’t of his
Do the FIS series of events, which riders have to attend in order to qualify for
own choosing. There’s a good reason why he wanted to meet. As the
the Olympics, detract from the TTR tour? It makes it hard for the riders to
Vancouver Olympics approach, he’s still troubled by politics surrounding
choose and difficult for organisers to gather the best riders. The Olympics
snowboarding’s place in this sporting institution. When the International
make a lot of mess, not only in the Olympic season but also in the runner-
Olympic Committee (IOC) appointed the International Ski Federation
up season due to the strict and unnecessary qualification system. And this
(FIS), instead of the more grassroots International Snowboard
makes it hard for the press – who should they follow?… The IOC makes the
Federation (ISF), to represent snowboarding at the 1998 Games, it upset
guys that want to compete [in the Olympics] ride FIS events every other
many in the core community. Pioneers like Terje reared up in protest
year. But TTR is increasing its exposure every year independently of the
and launched the Ticket To Ride (TTR) world snowboard tour a few
Olympics. Most big companies in Europe know that the FIS don’t have the
years later as an alternative platform for riders to compete and, more
top riders except when people have to qualify for the Olympics.
importantly, progress together across national divides. Terje has never been one for flag-waving. He supports Chelsea, he tells me, because
How would you compare these two different approaches to competitive
everyone hates them.
snowboarding? TTR is an independent snowboard world tour for the
Twelve years on from snowboarding’s Olympic debut, a new
good of snowboarding. The Olympics is a media hype made by other
generation of riders has emerged that may be unaware of this troubled
people. The Olympics also focus on national pride and not the individual
past. Terje, however, feels compelled to enlighten them.
athlete. What the older generation like to read in the back of the paper is how many medals their country won. They forget fast who won them,
You didn’t go to the 1998 Olympics because you said you didn’t care
though. I ride on the Burton team with riders from many different nations.
about it. Do you still feel the same way? I think the Olympics are relevant
These are the guys I cheer for. I don’t cheer for a guy I don’t know just
to competition snowboarders, but it’s run by the wrong organisation.
because he is waving my national flag. I love my country but I have always
The FIS should never have gotten the Olympic [contract]… Today,
been supported by companies from outside of my country.
independent snowboarders are organising the best snowboard contests in the world… It is impossible for me, even today, to recognise
Do you think patriotism has a place in snowboarding? Patriotism in sport is
[the Olympics] as the best model for snowboarding. [The FIS] think
mostly nationalism and I don’t think that this is at the core of snowboarding.
more about branding banners than the athletes… The only good thing
We have never booked separate hotels or brought in food from Norway
about the Olympics is that it gets world exposure… But man, it’s a
for Norwegian snowboarders only, like they do in other sports. We hang in
thick rule book the nations have to follow and it’s all for protecting the
the same bar and we appreciate everyone’s performance, no matter what
IOC’s interests.
nation they come from.
25
Straight From The Eye Super specs put paralysed graffiti writers back in the game. Text Jason Horton For many, graffiti remains the ultimate expression of freedom. The freedom to break society’s laws and, paradoxically, risk your liberty doing so.
All very cool – but hardly eligible for a Nobel, right? Enter the Eyewriter. Taking the L.A.S.E.R Tag as a starting point, GRL teamed up with
But there are worse ways to lose one’s liberty than a stretch in prison
computer coding specialists Zachary Lieberman and Theo Watson from
– just ask Tony Quan, currently serving a life sentence inside his own body.
openFrameworks to create software that allows someone (like Quan) with
Quan, aka Tempt1, is a legendary LA graffiti writer who co-founded a style
ALS to use their eye movements to draw. This sophisticated eye-tracking
in the early 1980s still emulated today. He’s used his skills for the greater
system was cobbled together using little more than solder, spectacles and a
good, organising community murals, curating art shows and founding Big
PlayStation Eye webcam – for around fifty dollars. Best of all? It’s free, open
Time, a hardcore graf magazine that was as much about socio-political
source, non-profit technology.
issues affecting inner-city writers as it was about the art itself. This struggle for social liberty became a more personal battle in 2003, when Tony was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) – a progressive, ultimately fatal, neuromuscular disease that slowly renders the patient paralysed. By 2005, Tony was fully bedridden.
Soon enough, Tony had mastered the eye gestures required to control the programme. All that remained was to get him out on location, plug him into the L.A.S.E.R projector and boom! Tempt1 was back bombing the streets. “I can’t begin to describe how good it feels,” says Tony, who donates proceeds from his art shows to a foundation he set up to help people
“Prior to my paralysis, I felt a profound sense of fulfilment being of
suffering from ALS. “The concept of Mitakuye Oyasin – the inter-relatedness
service to the community, and losing that – coupled with the loss of my
of all things – is not an intellectual concept, but a prayer that acknowledges
ability to paint and draw – left me with a sense of emptiness,” he says.
all life in the universe. It is the principle that sustains the whole community,
Then, just last year, a shred of Tony’s former liberty returned, courtesy of
where each individual sacrifices for the greater good of all. I am honoured
the Graffiti Research Lab (GRL) – a non-profit group “dedicated to outfitting
to be a part of the graffiti/hip hop culture that has done so much to
graffiti artists with open source technologies for urban communication”.
promote change for the community. We all come together to help each
GRL have invented a series of techie gizmos, including the L.A.S.E.R Tag
other, and that’s dope.”
which, combining a laser pointer with a powerful projector, allows artists to paint with light onto buildings.
26 HUCK
www.eyewriter.org
ONCE YOU POP
Luis Tolentino ollies higher than you – and he always will. Text Jay Riggio. Photography JOE KROLICK
Ask anyone who’s ever witnessed twenty-three-year-old Luis Tolentino
so mad I got on my board and just went cruising,” he says. “I was pushing so
skate in person, and they’ll tell you the same thing. Nobody, living or
fast and popping my board so hard, it felt like I was flying. I fell in love and
dead, skates the way he does. Thanks to his style, positive energy, unique
got a deeper appreciation for skating. I couldn’t stop ollieing after that.”
trick selection and inhuman pop, Luis is quickly making an irreplaceable imprint for himself in the modern world of skateboarding.
Luis was born in the Dominican Republic but came to the States when he was just a few months old. His family moved around New York City
Luis was recently thrust into the spotlight after tying Danny
before settling in Queens. The insatiable force that is apparent in Luis’
Wainwright’s world record snap during the Tampa Am 2009 high ollie
skating can be traced back to the overabundance of energy he had as
contest. I happened to be there, and took the opportunity to stand next
a kid. “I had so much energy,” says Luis, “I was barely able to contain
to the whopping 44.5-inch bar that Luis hopped over. If I didn’t see it with
it, always exploding and getting into trouble in school. After I found
my own two peepers, I would have claimed that kind of height impossible
skateboarding, I could sleep easier and be calmer.”
to clear. It was that gnarly.
Luis may have recently matched the world record but, truth is, he’s
“I was always able to jump high on my skateboard. I loved the feeling I
ollied higher. During an NYC Rooftop Rampage contest about a year back,
got when I jumped really high and felt like I was in slow motion,” Tolentino
Luis popped over a 45-inch bar – but in the realm of world records, his feat
explains. Luis started skating after he witnessed none other than NYC
was unofficial. “It’s okay,” he says, humbly. “It has to be done officially.”
legend Keith Hufnagel cruising down the street, throwing down ollies
Right now, Luis is stoked. He’s travelling the world, racking up footage
along the rugged East Coast pavement. Luis got hold of a board and soon
for his first full-length part in the upcoming Famous Stars And Straps debut
realised that ollieing was one of the best feelings, ever.
video. And as far as ollieing goes, Luis isn’t afraid to put down one after
“I found out that I had a little pop one day, when my stepfather got me
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another. “I do a lot of ollies, but fuck it,” he laughs. “That’s just what I love.”
Halld贸r Helgason.
Eiki Helgason.
NORDIC BROS Meet the brothers Helgason, Iceland’s claim to snowboarding fame. Text Mark Rosenberg. Photography Johan WennerstrÖm Ice. Vikings. Björk. Bankruptcy. That may be what first springs to mind when
it isn’t deemed ‘trendy’ are issues that most of the international shred
you think of Iceland, a tiny country shrouded in mystique that lies further
community have at some stage encountered. But the main problem facing
north than most people have ever ventured. If you asked anyone about
snowboarders growing up in Iceland is the nation’s lack of parks. Which
Icelandic snowboarding a few years ago, chances are you’d be met with a
begs the question: how have these two humble riders managed to blow
blank stare as tumbleweed blew past. Until now. Thanks to brothers Eiki and
up before so many of their European and US counterparts when they
Halldór Helgason, Iceland has been firmly stamped onto the snowboarding
come from a country that doesn’t cater to freestyle snowboarding?
map. They may come from a country lacking in quality snow parks – but
Well, that’s just it – a lack of pipe cutters or perfect set-ups has, weirdly,
these bros are the real deal. Hell, just this January Halldór stormed the
been something of an advantage. As Halldór explains, “Not having parks
X Games to take gold in the big air.
sucked, but we just hit everything we could.” Essentially, they skipped
The story of twenty-two-year-old eldest brother Eiki’s discovery can
straight to the hard stuff, hitting handrails and creative jibs from day
be best described as every punk snowboard kid’s dream. When the Rome
one. The creativity and fearlessness that characterises their riding is a by-
Snowboard team was dispatched to Iceland to investigate rumours of a
product of years spent having fun in their urban environment. Question is:
frozen rail-rich paradise, they needed a local guide to help show them the
did they realise at the time that, by scoping out new features around town,
way. An aspiring young shredder named Eiki was in the right place at the
they were progressing way faster than many riders blessed with A-grade
right time. “They saw me riding and got super stoked,” he explains. When
parks? “I never really thought about it… We just made the best of what we
the team flew out weeks later, they left Eiki with a sponsor deal. The
had and tried to copy JP Walker in the old Forum videos,” says Halldór.
wheels were set in motion and it was only a matter of time before Halldór,
Although modest when asked, it’s evident that their exploits are
eighteen, followed suit. “I got really inspired by my brother. I wanted to
inspiring the next generation of Icelandic riders. Up until a few years ago,
be on the same level as him. Then he got hooked up with sponsors and I
snowboarding had all but died out in Iceland, but now it’s back stronger
realised it was possible to live on snowboarding,” he says. Both eventually
than ever explains Eiki: “Right now there are tons of young kids who are
shipped out to the States and a slew of prestigious industry awards and
coming up in Iceland. They are all super good on rails. It’s good to see. Last
epic video parts – including Eiki's end part in Rome's No Correct Way in
year we rocked up to film a rail and there was another crew filming there.
2009 – confirmed the arrival of Iceland’s first pro rider brothers.
It had never happened before.” The international community is sitting up
Both Helgasons describe growing up in Iceland as a “super chill mix of skating, snowboarding and friends” but admit that the scene has had its
and taking notice too, with the snowboard media publishing more articles on a country that is emerging as an urban shredder’s wet dream.
ups and downs. “Snowboarding was super popular back in the day, but
When questioned about the future and what motivates them, it’s clear
then it died out. It was like a big trendy thing,” says Eiki. “For a while it
the Helgason bros are in it for all the right reasons. “I’m not that into
was just me, my brother and a few friends riding. People would laugh at
competing and the Olympics doesn’t interest me. I’ll just keep filming and
us and tell us we were out of fashion.”
doing my own thing,” offers Halldór. “I want to keep doing what I’m doing.
The brothers may have been up against it when it came to social norms,
Snowboarding, making video parts and chilling,” adds Eiki. “Even if I lost
but what about the media: did they take note of the brothers’ homegrown
my sponsors I’d still be doing exactly the same thing. I guess I’d just have
skills? “Snowboarding is so small. People don’t really know so much about
to work a real job in-between.” But with skills like theirs, it isn’t likely you’ll
it. The papers and media don’t really care. Even skiers that suck and come
see these brothers stacking shelves or flipping burgers anytime soon.
last get mentioned in the papers,” Halldór explains resentfully. Being ignored in favour of Lycra-clad ski racers and riding even when
www.helgasons.com
31
The quiet storm
World Champion snowboarder Peetu Piiroinen lets his riding do the talking. Text and photography Ed Andrews There’s something enigmatic about Peetu Piiroinen. With elfin features
Coming from the snowy town of Sveitsi, just north of Helsinki, Peetu
and a soft, milky complexion, he wouldn’t seem out of place in Tolkien’s
first picked up a snowboard way back in 1995 and, after a few years riding
Rivendell. He sits in a hotel bar in Laax, Switzerland, near motionless as we
with friends, started entering national competitions “to learn new tricks”.
talk, punctuating delicate words with long pauses and unblinking semi-
But his ambitions soared after watching fellow countryman Heikki Sorsa
expressions. But this unassuming twenty-one-year-old Finn happens to
compete at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics – a dream he too will realise
be one of the best riders in the world.
when he represents Finland in Vancouver this year.
Having been crowned Ticket To Ride (TTR) world champion last
Considering his retiring nature, it’s perhaps unsurprising to find that
season, Peetu is still sat at the top of the leader board when we catch up
Peetu is also a keen golfer, taking time off from snowboarding each
at the 2010 Burton European Open. He's claimed oversized cheques and
summer to sink holes at his local course.
champagne-filled trophies across all disciplines, including top spot on the podium this week for both half pipe and slopestyle.
“When you get a good swing and the ball flies off, it’s a great feeling. It’s so different to snowboarding,” he says with a smile in his eyes. “It
But in-your-face superstar he is not – choosing to let his snowboarding
would be nice to become a golf pro one day; it’s something you can still
say more about him than he has said about himself. In fact, just before we
do when you are old.” A quiet life may lay ahead. But Peetu’s got some
meet, I am warned of Peetu’s shy nature.
noisy riding to take care of first.
“Hmmm,” he says, contemplating his reputation. “I am not the guy who is talking all the time, I’m more the guy who listens. Maybe I should
www.burton.com
be more social but it’s hard to change who you are.”
www.nike6.com
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Š 2010 adidas AG. adidas, the Trefoil, and the 3-Stripes mark are registered trademarks of the adidas Group. Silhouette Int. Schmied AG, adidas Global Licensee.
Dean Spunt.
NO MEANS YES! Two guys and no rules make No Age the punkest act around. Text Shelley Jones. Photography Owen Richards No Age means no age restrictions. It also means no boundaries, no rules
have between progressing and maintaining their DIY ethic. Despite signing
and no looking back. For the LA duo currently storming the underground
to Sub Pop in 2007, and being nominated for a Grammy for debut album
DIY scene with their self-made brand of skate-inspired, reverb-heavy punk,
Nouns, the duo have retained creative control: from choosing what stock
creativity rules supreme.
of paper to print their record sleeves on, to running their own record label
“The idea of the band was to have freedom to collaborate and kind of
PPM; from playing house shows and all-age clubs like The Smell in LA,
make a universe for ourselves,” says drummer and vocalist Dean Spunt.
to designing vegan shoes for Emerica with Ed Templeton and clothing
“We’re just workaholics, really – it’s actually kinda sad.”
for Altamont Apparel. “Part of what makes us grow is that we like to
Dean and guitarist Randy Randall like putting things together that don’t really fit. Before they split from previous incarnation Wives, and decided
collaborate,” affirms Dean. “Some people trip out like, ‘What… you’ve made a shoe?!’ But for us it’s like, we don’t really see boundaries.”
to take on the world as a pair, they thought they had nothing in common.
And the horizon looks just as limitless for the proactive punks, who are
“Randy thought all I liked was Minor Threat and hardcore,” explains Dean. “I
already planning future collaborations with people like Bob Mould of Hüsker
thought all he liked was Bonnie Prince Billy. Then we realised, that’s just the
Dü, and recording a new album in their LA studio due for a summer release.
presentation of the art… What Randy liked about a certain type of music
So are there any consistencies in the ever-increasing No Age universe? “I
was the same thing, when you break it down, that I liked.”
feel like there is a thread, I just don’t really know how to describe it,” says
Today, the self-taught musicians are making a sound that is a sum of
Dean. “When you’re into punk or DIY, you’re sort of like… different. You’re
all their inspirations. “The original idea was to make songs that sound like
more in touch with your feelings. There are people I know that aren’t in
they’re recorded on top of each other – like a Ramones song on top of a
touch with that so much, so they’re okay with working nine to five, and
My Bloody Valentine song, on top of a fuckin’ Irish jig or whatever,” says
that’s cool. But I can’t feel okay about that. I think when you’re into this
Dean. “That’s how we started writing songs, putting parts together that
stuff, you sort of view the world a different way.”
didn’t really go.” Another dichotomy of the No Age aesthetic is the constant battle they
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W W W. M AT I X C L O T H I N G . C O M / H E A D P H O N E S
BY M ATIX
M AT I X I S A R E G I S T E R E D T R A D E M A R K O F M AT I X C L OT H I N G C O M PA N Y.
JERON WILSON : DIAMOND X MATIX DOMEPIECE
Haiti needs you How the surfing diaspora could lend a helping hand. Text David McNamara. Photography Ryan Miller On January 12, 2010, Haiti was brought crumbling to the ground by
past ten years and had an extensive knowledge of the area.
an earthquake that is believed to have killed up to 200,000 people,
Ryan knows the decision to help another country shouldn’t be
made many more homeless and left hospitals unable to cope with the
determined by the quality of its waves. But he also believes we could
overwhelming demand for medical help.
all do with a gentle reminder that responsible surf tourism is about give
Surf photographer Ryan Miller has been visiting the country for
and take. If Haiti’s given surfers so much, isn’t it time we gave something
many years to document its rich culture and expose the hidden surfing
back? “Haiti is a legit surf destination, although it is a bit hard to get to,”
potential. “I started going to Haiti when I was nineteen, shooting
he says. “It is definitely up there as being one of the most remote surf
documentary photos,” says Ryan. “I’ve spent a good amount of time in
spots I have ever been to. As far as I know there is only one surfer in Haiti.
Port-au-Prince and also Jacmel, the two cities most damaged by the
People are just trying to get by down there – they don’t have the time or
earthquake. Honestly I feel like if anyone can deal with this, it is Haiti. The
resources for surfing. The surf industry, by creating a bit more awareness
infrastructure definitely isn’t there for rebuilding at all, but the people are
that giving to Haiti is the right thing to do, would encourage a decent
so fucking resourceful and make do with so little that hopefully they will
amount of surfers to follow suit.”
make it through.”
The photographer is currently working with surf website Spectacular
He firmly believes that the surf industry has the ability to make a
Adventures to encourage people to donate money and help those affected
difference and help a country reeling in the aftermath of a natural disaster.
by the Haiti disaster. “There is one small organisation down there in Jacmel
After all, when an earthquake destroyed Padang on the Indonesian island of
that does a crazy amount of work with a tiny budget,” says Miller. “It is called
Sumatra in September 2009, SurfAid International proved to be one of the
Pazapa. I have done a bit of work with them in the past and seeing now
driving forces behind rescuing those trapped under the rubble and getting
what they are doing down there with such a small budget is inspiring.”
emergency supplies to those in need. The organisation was particularly effective because it had been providing practical aid to the region for the
36 HUCK
www.siloe.org
38 HUCK
39
When Rob Machado stepped down from the podiums, he retained his title as the master of Zen. With a new film, new focus and new place in the spotlight, can the barefoot drifter maintain his soul surfer vibe? Text Matt Walker Photography Eric Cahan
“Rob! Tell us where we are!” “We’re in Virginia Beach!” “What’s going on?!” “A nor’easter! It’s like a hurricane – but gnarlier!” The first half of Rob Machado’s yelling gets drowned in a blast of wind. The second half slammed in a van door. But Taylor Steele, at the ready with camera in hand, catches it all. He jumps in the van and joins Rob in the back, alongside a board bag, guitar and crumpled Clash T-shirt. Up front, two Hurley coordinators hit the gas for a full day of surf shop signings. Outside, driving rain and gale-force winds send trash cans tumbling down the street. Rob, however, simply bends with the flow. Cruising. From place to place. Situation to situation. Much like his latest movie, The
Drifter. Except instead of camping across Sumatra, he’s hitting hotels from Florida to New Jersey. And instead of riding waves alone, he’s packing rooms and signing posters to promote his new film. But he seems to be enjoying it nonetheless. “Part of the movie’s point is to branch out and shake up your surroundings,” he reasons. “Besides, when you’re doing six-hour rides with a guy you grew up with, it’s actually pretty fun.” Part documentary, part instant replay, The Drifter is more than just a chance for Machado to “branch out” – it heralds his return to the surf spotlight after nearly a decade of semi-hibernation. Once ranked second in the world, Rob stopped competing for titles in 2002 to build a comfortable home life with his wife and two daughters, going on random photo trips and maintaining unheard-of popularity in such a fair-weather sport. From 1995 to 2008, fans kept Machado locked in among Surfer Poll’s Top Ten. Meanwhile, close friend Taylor Steele – once just a teenager with handy-cam and access to the planet’s best surfers – built his production house, Poor Specimen, into the biggest name in surf videos, churning out amped-up shred fests and cooler, more artistic displays. It was while filming clips for one of the former – Stranger
Than Fiction – that Taylor and Rob decided they should make one of the latter. “The whole concept originated from watching Rob surf Uluwatu,” says Taylor.
40 HUCK
“It was a nice sunset kind of day and Rob’s surfing had this timeless seventies feel. We said, ‘Let’s put him in some perfect waves and have some magic moments.’ So that was the seed. Then, after four months, Rob showed us his journal and we were like, ‘Whoa, there’s some heavy stuff here!’ So from there we thought, ‘If we’re going to do this, let’s make it a documentary – film him interacting with people as we follow along from place to place.’” Hence The Drifter – a journey where Rob heads off into uncharted Indonesia, intentionally losing himself to find himself, tackling the end of his competitive career and finding solace by surfing when he pleases. The irony? In order to promote this tale of a man rejecting the trappings of surf stardom, Rob must now willingly strap them all back on for a promotional tour through far less sexy locations. Besides a star-studded NYC premiere, where the photo shoot for this cover feature took place, Rob’s traipsed up from Florida to a North Carolina college town. The one thing both missions have in common? Steele’s along for the ride – filming every second of it.
“Here, check it out…” Taylor replays the clip for Rob, who watches and smiles as a pair of errant locks fall across his eyes. No matter how many times his pal hits record, Rob and his trademark curls look totally unfazed. Part of it is the thirty-six-year-old’s comfort with Taylor and his camera (they’ve known each other since Machado was twelve). And part of it is a serene confidence that transcends the lens. In a world where marketing gimmicks and branding actively sell fantasy as reality, Rob’s found himself at the crux of a series of Zen riddles: when a soul surfer sells an image does he also sell his soul? And once for sale, will the public still want to buy it? “This movie will probably make people wonder who Rob is,” says close friend Chris Malloy, another surfer who’s faced the same conundrum. “He’s got this image of a soul daddy, but he’s also got a fierce competitive nature. One thing I’ll say about Rob is he loves surfing.” That love may be the only constant in Rob’s life. The rest is a paradox of personal and professional conflict. An insanely talented surfer with heaps of drive, but the mellow groove of a doped-up house cat, Rob has racked up professional wins and prestige like no Californian since Tom Curren, but doesn’t define himself in terms of trophies. Now add fate, which pitted him against the perfect foil – Kelly Slater, slayer of contests and records and all things competitive. While Kelly would win everything – sometimes twice or more – Rob seemed to claim victory at the most perfect moments, be it at flawless Pipeline, in raw Western Australia or in front of a frenzied Huntington A rare moment of calm on the New York leg of The Drifter promotional tour.
Beach crowd. And while Kelly’s primary claim to fame is an ability to bend every type of surf to his will, Rob’s is simply grace. Style. Often reading the wave and meeting it half-way, a mix of mind-reading and hypnosis that seduces the eye, making him, in the words of The Encyclopedia of Surfing, “the smoothest surfer of his generation”. The duo perfectly depicted surfing’s eternal soul-versus-contest conflict, immortalised in a 1995 Pipeline Masters semi-final that saw the pair slap five in the water on Kelly’s way to his third world title. In fact, some might say that when their hands parted, so too did their professional careers. Kelly would go on to stomp his name into the record books. Rob? He’d finish second and slowly slip down the ratings until 2001 when – months after rebounding to third and winning his Pipeline crown – a broken wrist would snap his competitive future. Except, it wasn’t the injury that ended his run. It was his ASP compadres, who granted the wild card to another surfer when Rob didn’t show up to plead his case. He felt nothing less than betrayed. “I was like, ‘Whoa. Wait a second,’” he says. “I had a very valid reason to get the wild card and I didn’t show up to the meeting because I had a baby the week before. Most guys on tour at that point didn’t have kids, so they didn’t get it. They were like, ‘Why isn’t he here?’ It could’ve been a total disaster. I could’ve fallen off the face of the earth.” He basically did. Besides random cameos at comps and the occasional photo trip. But like Gerry Lopez or the other style-masters of yore, Rob’s surfing made
41
a deeper impression than his resumé – powerful enough to pack East Coast theatres
ago, and the wounds he’s licking are much fresher – and twice as painful. “Rob had a real hard time the past couple of years,” says Chris, the eldest Malloy
today, ten years down the line. One stop on the film tour has seen more than a hundred fans turned away – a remarkable feat for any surf film, anywhere, ever.
brother. “He was living this great life at home in Cardiff – then he and his wife split up and she went half-way across the world with both daughters. That shattered him. Rob was not Rob for a long time.”
“I have a hard time feeling sorry for Rob Machado.”
When not remaking journal entries, Taylor documented raw emotions
That was the first review I heard for The Drifter. It didn’t come from a mag or a
– stockpiling clips of Machado fully breaking down. But Rob wasn’t willing to
website. It came straight from a buddy in between sets. More than a critique of the
exploit that part of his life. Surfing? Sure. His family? Nope. That would be selling
movie, it’s a judgment on celebrity. A growing belief that anyone famous – especially
out. So every tear fell on the cutting-room floor.
anyone whose job description is to surf perfect waves as and when they please – has
“Watching that stuff felt too intense and serious,” Taylor explains. “And too
no right to complain. And that, for critics, is where The Drifter falls down. An ex-
specific. We wanted the film to be about your experience when you watch it so
pro kvetching over a lost career and the invasion of cameras, while attempting to
you’re along for the journey. He was in one place when he came [to Indonesia], and
resurrect said career by inviting a film crew to document his soul search, just doesn’t
he left in a new place – that’s the honest part of it.” Rob’s justification is more direct: “I just felt it was unnecessary to tell that story.”
sit well with some folk. What some people fail to realise is that the journey he goes on is real. So too is the corresponding transformation. It’s the reason behind the soul search that appears to be a lie. It seems Rob came to grips with his competitive upheaval long
As our vehicle pulls into the day’s first surf shop, it appears Rob may well be
“He’s got this image of a soul daddy, but he’s also got a fierce competitive nature.” Chris Malloy 42 HUCK
right. Barely 11am, and already a few dozen fans are lined up by a sign screaming,
Rob ignores the chatter of iPhones and networking to focus on the kids, trying
“Welcome Rob Machado!” Walking in, we meet five lucky competition winners
to eek some conversation out of their dial-tone expressions. One teen’s copied
who’ll get to eat lunch with their hero. They all shake Rob’s hand then creep back
Machado’s whole look – full-grown clown wig with a chin-whisker starter kit – but
into the shadows, watching their feet like fawning peasants.
won’t say a single word. To his credit, Rob steps in to lead the conversation in a
Not one meets his eyes. Piercing. Blue. Framed with angles and facial hair, Rob’s
dance of insightful, philosophical queries followed by long, awkward pauses.
visage gives off a holy man’s mystique. Add the Zen-like attitude, and it’s easy to see
All day long, it’s clear Rob’s mastered feeling comfortable in whatever situation
why fans gravitate. It’s also easy to understand why cynics ridicule (in the wake of
he finds himself. At one shop a cute blonde girl gushes to her colleague, “I’m just
9/11, Rob was a regular butt of Bin Laden jokes because of their alleged likeness).
gonna follow him around.” In Wrightsville, a kid admits he stole Rob’s shirt at a
The owners couldn’t care either way. They’re too busy handing him a brand-new
comp a year earlier. “I took it while you weren’t looking. It’s in my backpack if you
Merrick to sign and add to the semi-circle of blanched-white celebrity boards lined
want it.” Rob simply adapts from scenario to scenario, always obliging, whether
up overhead. Every one donated by a Kelly, Dane or Dorian. All autographed and
it’s by answering a question or facing the camera a certain way. “That’s what it’s all
perfectly stickered, but never ridden. What at first looks like the world’s greatest
about,” he says. “It’s part of the reason I get to do what I do.”
quiver now seems like a total waste of foam.
And he does it like a professional – which makes sense, seeing as he’s done
Heading to the restaurant, I brace myself for another fantasy production.
this as many times as he’s pulled into perfect Pipe. But that’s where Rob gets into
‘Lunch With Rob’ has become ‘Lunch With Rob Plus A Dozen Reps And Industry
trouble: contest dudes can hoist trophies and pose for catalogues all day long
Players’. The store’s staff push the kids next to Rob, then seat themselves as close as
without committing a sin. They’re already sell-outs. Soul dudes are expected to
possible, filling out the table depending on perceived status like some royal court.
convey a holy image without playing the game. And no matter how pure his
43
“There’re haters, no matter what, But that’s part of the deal.”
actions may be – no matter how starved the next generation may be for heroes who
behind Rob’s disappearance – the potential loss of his family, not his pro surfing
just love surfing for surfing’s sake – some purists will always question the motive.
life – would criticism of his actions turn to sympathy for his plight?
As Malloy points out: “You’re not just setting yourself up for a contradiction – you are the contradiction.”
“There’re haters, no matter what,” he says. “But that’s part of the deal. The point is, we’re proud of the movie as it is. We’re stoked on it. We just wanted to inspire people. To go on a journey. To experience different cultures. To go out and do things.” Which is what the movie has done for Rob. If a late-nineties career shake-up
Leaving lunch, our last stop is the most crowded yet. At least sixty fans – aged thirteen
forced Machado to focus on family, his family struggles put him back in career mode
to thirty. One holds a surfboard ready to be signed. All grip tickets for the impending
ten years on. The same guy who was once content to cruise Cardiff, California, is now
premiere. Within seconds, Rob’s found the table, posters and marker pens with a mix
ready to make more films. More projects. He’s even ready to compete again. Not to
of ESP and GPS. Watching from the perimeter, I spot a childhood buddy here with
qualify, but to perform in prime waves against top guys.
his kids. One wants to interview Rob, so dad hands over his digital recorder.
“That’s the part you miss the most about being on [the world] tour,” he says.
“What do I ask?”
“Being around that level of surfing. You don’t get that surfing Seaside every day. But
“Ask him whatever you want,” he replies, pointing the boy towards the growing
when this is over, I think I’ll go and disappear for a while.”
line of fans awaiting their turn.
But first he has a show to do – jamming on stage while the audience take their
Later, back at the hotel, I ask Rob what the kids wanted to know.
seats, with childhood friend Jon Swift who recorded two tracks for The Drifter.
“One wanted to know what religion I believe in,” he says. “I said, ‘All of ’em’. I
Walking on stage for a sound check, Rob picks up a Stratocaster – born 1973, same as
told him when you travel the world, and visit all those different cultures, that’s just
him – and plugs it through a Fender Deluxe Reverb for a few blues sweeps. The warm
part of the deal.”
tones match the hall’s redwood walls. Nothing flashy, just how a guitar should sound.
“What else?” “Another wanted to know what was going through my mind while riding the wave that’s on the poster.”
The movie’s running behind him, but not once does he peer up to see how he looks. Perhaps everything in this industry – in this world – is a production of sorts. If Rob hit record and sold a CD of this spontaneous display, nobody would bat
“And the answer?”
an eyelid. But recording and selling the results of his life is somehow deemed
“Nothing.”
a betrayal. Maybe it’s too much build-up – too much hype. Maybe it’s just fifty
It’s still a couple of hours until the premiere, so Taylor orders room service beers.
years of surf industry angst. But, in this case, at least the image they’re hyping and
Rob puts on a track from the movie, then hops on the phone – the first time I’ve
hocking is genuine.
seen him use it all day. You can’t tell if he’s talking to his wife or his agent. Either way,
At one point, you hear Rob say, “I’d like to think there’s a reason for the people
it sounds bristly. Like the ocean from an airplane, all that’s calm from a distance may
you meet along the road,” except it’s not his voice – it’s the movie. And when Rob
look different up close. Perhaps even lifelong surfers can’t comprehend what it’s
repeats the line into the mic, you can’t tell the echo from the original; the recording
like to be a surfing star. Which makes me wonder: if more people knew the reason
from reality
44 HUCK
HUCK gets to grips with the art of progression at the intergalactic gathering that is the O’Neill Evolution.
Rider: Elias Elhardt.
TEXT Ed Andrews
Out of a compacted mass of snow, a space shuttle is
January, dropping half pipe and slopestyle battles
Much like the snow sculptures, such manoeuvres
emerging. Buckets of dry snowflakes have been hosed
right in front of the Bolgen plaza. It’s a fusion of
are astounding, but also puzzling. It’s one thing
down to form a malleable slush putty to apply to the
Glühwein, beats and acrobatics. This space shuttle
to spin 720 degrees off a kicker, but to do it on a
fuselage of this interstellar transporter. Dull edges
is parked next to a daunting rail that kicks upwards,
horizontal axis out of a half pipe and with a back
are sharpened out with geometric precision using
allowing the likes of Marko Grilc to throw out back
flip too? Just how the hell do you even start to
fine-bladed saws, spirit levels and an eye for detail.
flips and astound the masses.
attempt that?
Even if you know nothing about the art of snow
Events are very much the bread and butter of
“It’s all about different steps,” says half pipe
sculpture, you can admire the craftsmanship and
the snowboarding season: gathering crowds to
finalist Dan Wakeham, who has been charging
obvious skill – developed from both natural flair and
watch top flight pros outdo each other and, by their
his six-foot-plus frame down the rock solid pipe,
years of practice. But understanding the process –
very competitive nature, progress the sport. It’s not
arching smooth crippler flips into his run. “You
how you envision such a creation, how you realise
called Evolution for nothing. It may seem difficult
start off just by doing airs and then all of a sudden
it – well, that’s a bit more tricky.
to fathom at first, but after studying the riders’ runs,
you try a spin, try a flip and then after a while things
These snow sculptures are just part of the wider
you start to tune in – counting the rotations, noting
just kind of work. Occasionally, you try something
spectacle of the =, which has once again returned
the amplitude and checking out just how damn easy
totally different and it will open a new door.”
to Davos in Switzerland for a few sunny days in
some manage to make the whole thing look.
46 HUCK
One rider in particular seems to be getting the
Rider: Fredrik Evensen.
Rider: Ville Uotila.
Marko Grilc and Gian Simmen. Rider: Tore Holvik.
crowd’s undivided attention. A pipe veteran at the
The task of decoding these aerial enigmas is led
backside 7s turn into frontside 9s, inversions are
ripe old age of thirty-two, local boy Gian Simmen
by head judge Dani ‘Kiwi’ Meier, a New Zealander
compulsory and the slightest hand-drag is met with
is still outperforming competitors half his age and
ex-pro whose weathered eyes hint at many
severe penalties. As Russian-born Swiss rider Iouri
seems a master of this physical puzzle. “I think pipe
decades spent in the mountains. “We’re not really
Podladtchikov wins the half pipe and Slovenian
is still one of the hardest things to ride. You have to
mathematicians,” he says in his softened native
ripper Marko Grilc claims the top of the podium
go fast and you have to ride on an edge and there’s,
accent. “People always think there’s a specific
for the slopestyle, it’s clear that style, going super
like, five jumps in thirty seconds,” he says, after
criteria for judging but it’s about understanding
big and the odd double cork are not just desired,
placing a respectable eleventh in the final. “A big
the conditions on the day and what kind of levels
they are essential.
part of it is mental. I put pieces of different tricks
of tricks and combos we can expect to see. We’re
But it’s good to remember that even these riders
together to learn the new trick I want to do. Then,
really looking for height and consistency. We want
were once struggling to link turns, much like the
I really focus and think, ‘I have to go in really fast
to see difficult combos executed really well, and
ice sculptors were once faced with just a mass of
and rotate this many times.’ Your mindset has to be
really cleanly.”
Mother Nature’s snow. When you master the basics,
there to know how much you have to huck it and
And the riders don’t disappoint these high
how much you have to go upside down. You need
expectations. The competition progresses from
to have a vision.”
qualifiers to finals and the intensity steps up:
you can’t help wondering just what is possible www.oneill.com
47
48 HUCK
The Brooklyn Banks have gone down in skate lore, but their future now rests in bureaucratic hands. HUCK pays homage to this iconic spot and asks: how does urban wasteland become hallowed ground? TEXT Tetsuhiko Endo + Photography Brett Beyer
Brooklyn Bridge is one of America’s most iconic
ground? It begins with accessibility. Anyone who has
On most weekday mornings, you can soak up the
structures. Built in 1883, it has come to represent the
ever pushed wood in New York will tell you that the
Banks without a ton of people around. It’s what they
aspirations of generations of Americans. But what
location of the Banks is their greatest asset. Standing
must have been like in 1973, before the homeless and
you can’t see in the legions of pictures, TV shows and
among the titanic steel columns of the off-ramps,
drug addicted came a calling – before the skaters, before
movies in which it appears, is that it is also home to
it’s easy to see why. They’re an anomaly: two blocks
the media, before it was the ‘Brooklyn Banks’. There
one of skateboarding’s most legendary landmarks,
of municipal nothing where the puzzle pieces of
is an intense calm, the kind of stillness in the air that
the Brooklyn Banks. Nestled beside the bridge’s
unrestrained urban development simply don’t fit
echoes around an old cathedral, or a football stadium
giant struts, the Banks have been a Mecca for New
together. When skaters first stumbled upon them,
on an off night. This is skateboarding’s primordial soup,
York City’s skaters for thirty-seven years.
they discovered one of the few public spaces in the
a wonderland of latent kinetic potential, just waiting for
There are two great ironies about the Banks.
history of Manhattan that was always rideable, simply
a spark. “A lot of architecture, like the Brooklyn Banks
For starters, they aren’t in Brooklyn. They are on
because, as Steve Rodriguez, owner of skate company
or the South Bank in London, has no explicit meaning,”
the Manhattan side of the bridge in an area that was
5boronyc, says, “They weren’t friendly for anything.”
says Iain Borden, Professor of Architecture and Urban
residential for most of New York City’s history. In 1969,
“It was dirty – I mean, really dirty,” adds Shut
Culture at the Bartlett School of Architecture in
city engineers, as they tend to do in New York, wiped
Skateboards founder Rodney Smith, recalling his first
London. “But the moment a skateboarder acts upon
half a city block off the map to construct two giant
encounter of the Banks in the eighties. “Crack vials
them, they explode with cultural meaning.”
off-ramps for the bridge. It was in the deep shadows
everywhere, homeless people, homes actually built
Those little explosions can be heard every afternoon
of these ramps that the Banks were built, as part of a
along the side of the bridge… I even remember one guy
when the locals come out to play. The soft thud of
larger development project, in 1973. And therein lies
had a TV rigged to the power source in a light post.”
rubber tyres, the rasp of metal sliding over concrete,
our second irony: the other part of that project was 1
In the ever-changing urban landscape, the Banks
the clatter of a lost board and clang of a ditched bike,
Police Plaza, the newly constructed headquarters for
became a haven for anyone wanting to simply push
and the rhythmic tik tak of urethane rolling over brick.
the New York City Police Department. Despite (or
around: no one was trying to kick them out and the
These are the only sounds you will ever hear in the
perhaps out of spite for) the police presence, New York’s
spot wasn’t likely to change. Even the NYPD were
Banks – the cacophony of people creating culture. “You
skate community found a home at the Banks, claiming
happy with the arrangement – if the kids were in the
could argue that the skateboarders give a place like the
it as their own in the mid-eighties, and nurturing it into
Banks, they weren’t bothering anyone, right?
Banks a certain coherence,” says Borden. “They do so
the stuff of legend throughout the nineties. Although
But location means nothing without inspiration,
through the lines they draw… The great thing about
the Upper Banks were lost to renovation in 2004, local
and that’s where the red bricks come in. The Banks are
skateboarding is that you take something not meant
skaters fought to preserve the Lower Banks, and even
made up of hundreds of thousands of them, precisely
for you and make it your own.”
got the city to add rails and ledges to the spot.
arranged into great ochre waves, smoother and prettier
The Banks didn’t catch on over night. They lay
But in this great, dirty bedlam of a city, where
than any caught on the beaches of Long Island.
dormant for most of the late seventies and early
memories only go back as far as the last pay-cheque
Landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg created them,
eighties, essentially waiting for skateboarding to
(and even then it depends on the size of the cheque), the
but even he couldn’t predict that they would become
progress to a level that allowed locals to exploit their
Banks were never going to be safe forever. In late 2009,
so much more than just a pile of bricks. “So kids like to
full potential. Slowly word got out and, by 1985, they
the New York City Department of Transportation
skateboard there now?” he chuckles. “It certainly wasn’t
were the place to be for every kid who roamed the
decided to close the Banks from early 2010 until 2014 as
designed with skating in mind… I don’t have a rationale
streets on wheels in the Northeastern United States.
part of a project to refurbish Brooklyn Bridge. Although
when I design. So much of it is intuitive, like Stravinsky
“My first trip there was 1985 or 1986 and what I
part of the area is scheduled to re-open this summer,
said, ‘It’s not premeditated, it’s all trial and error.’”
remember most is going under the overpass of the
the use of the space as a storage area will render it all
And that’s a pretty good description of the way his
Brooklyn Bridge,” remembers Rodriguez. “It was
but unrideable until the entire project is completed. As
creations are ridden. “The imperfection of the Banks is
really dark, but all of a sudden, we went around the
this goes to print, the future of the Banks is still being
what makes them perfect for skaters,” says Smith. “By not
corner and there were the Small Banks. I was just
debated between city officials and the skaters who have
being made for skateboarding, the creativity it takes to
blown away – I had never seen so many skateboarders
once again rallied to protect their home turf. One thing
ride them is expanded to the tenth power.” And what was
in one place. It was the same feeling as discovering
is certain: skateable or not, the Banks have earned a
perfect for skating, was also perfect for BMX. “There are
an awesome surf spot right near your house that you
place in the pantheon of locales, like Pipeline for surfers
so many possibilities there,” says Danny Parks, a BMX
never knew existed.”
and Chad’s Gap for snowboarders, that command as
pro from the Bronx who started riding the Banks in the
Pro skater Mike Vallely started frequenting the
much respect as the riders who frequent them.
eighties. “Whether you are a top pro, a local shredder, or
Banks in 1985 and watched as they quickly became
just a kid coming up, you can go and ride there.”
more than a just place to skate. “A lot of us grew up
But how does urban wasteland become hallowed
49
at that spot,” he says. “We went through an initiation into manhood there.” And according to Borden, all skate spots foster the local community in one way or another. “This goes back to what it means to become a man,” he says. “You stop being a passive participant in life and start making your own discoveries, taking your own actions and having your own possessions… the city becomes yours and you become [part of] it.” In the late eighties, riding the Banks was about doing what had never been done. Twenty-odd years later, it’s about being part of a place where it has all been done before. “When you ride the Banks you’re becoming part of history,” says Coan Nichols, codirector of New York City skate biopic Deathbowl To Downtown. “When you go to the Banks, you aren’t just walking onto the empty battlefield at Gettysburg – you are going to the battlefield, fighting the same battle and living to tell the tale.” Everyone has a tale from the Banks, like the time Vallely ollied over the iron fence designed to prevent skaters doing tricks over the Banks’ wall. Or when Ron Wilkerson’s 2Hip BMX competition welcomed over a thousand people, with even the police showing up to watch, despite Wilkerson’s lack of a permit. Through these stories – passed on by word of mouth, magazines, videos and the Internet – the culture develops the spot, and the spot develops the culture, until the lines between the two become as fluid as the ones traced by wheels over asphalt. Every popular skate spot in the world has some combination of attractive terrain, reliable access and a dedicated community who make it their own. But only the best spots combine all of their elements to create myths. Not falsities, or fairy tales, but a way of understanding and sharing in a culture. Like D.H. Lawrence said: “Myth is an attempt to narrate a whole human experience, of which the purpose is too deep, going too deep in the blood and soul, for mental explanation or description.” Looking at it like this, mythology is the reason Tom Carroll is remembered for his under-the-lip snap at the 1991 Pipeline Masters competition. It’s the reason every snowboarder in the world has watched Travis Rice 1080 Chad’s Gap. Myths brought us Jeff Hackman dropping acid at twenty-five-foot Waimea bay, and Terje Haakonsen dropping into the chute at 7,000 feet on Peak 7601. Mythology is also the reason that every skater who visits New York City feels compelled to stop by the Banks and pay homage. They’re the primeval, and the quintessential; and even now, as they face four long years of closure at the hands of oblivious bureaucrats, it beggars belief to imagine skating in New York City without them. Even if we aren’t from the area, even if we’ve never set foot on those bricks, we’ve heard the stories, read the articles, seen the pictures and watched the videos. The Banks are a part of us, and us, a part of them
50 HUCK
www.landrover.com
DEFENDER OFFICIAL FUEL CONSUMPTION FIGURES FOR THE DEFENDER RANGE MPG (L/100KM): URBAN 20.8 (13.6) - 22.6 (12.5), EXTRA URBAN 29.2 (9.7) - 32.9 (8.6), COMBINED 25.5 (11.1) - 28.8 (10.0), CO2 EMISSIONS 266-295G/KM. DRIVE RESPONSIBLY ON AND OFF-ROAD.
52 HUCK
Ari Marcopoulos isn’t a photographer. He’s an astronaut, a transplant, a man on a mission to expose the world. TEXT Shelley Jones Photography Ari Marcopoulos
Most photographers only dream of capturing the kind of intimacy that Dutch lensman Ari Marcopoulos achieves in every, seemingly absent-minded, shot. Whether it’s a portrait of Jean-Michel Basquiat in the bathtub, or a snapshot of his son Ethan – arms spread like wings and ribs puffed out like a robin – Ari’s images are unflinchingly naked. But, he insists, when the film is hung up to dry, no one is left more exposed than the man behind the lens. “It reflects how I look at life more than other people,” admits Ari. “People say, ‘Oh yeah, Ari’s a fly on the wall,’ but I’m a pretty loud fly. I’m animated and I talk. I think a lot of my photos have a natural feeling because people are just doing their own thing and I’m taking pictures. Taking pictures is like texting to me.”
53
he says. “That’s what I liked about snowboarding –
after relocating once again in the noughties, Ari’s
a bunch of kids travelling around the world in their
odyssey of self-expression is nicely tied up. But
own community. They were just living their own
despite some prestigious tributes, including a recent
life without their parents around – a community of
mid-career survey at the Berkeley Art Museum and
people living and working together and seeing each
an upcoming place in the 2010 Whitney Biennial,
other in different places. And then, of course, being
he's not ready to stop creating any time soon. “I’m
in the mountains was beautiful. It gave me a whole
going to keep working, keep progressing, keep
new sense of nature and terrain.”
making ’zines,” says Ari of his future plans. His is
Ari formed lasting friendships with snowboarders
a creative philosophy, summed up best in his advice
like the late Craig Kelly and, through his charming
to other artists: “Just do your own thing. Follow
Ari does not like to overthink things. He didn’t
sense of curiosity, slid seamlessly under the skin of
your heart. It’s not always easy to figure out what
give it a second thought when, as a naive twenty-
his subjects to photograph them from the inside out.
you want, but that’s kind of what you have to do…
two-year-old in 1979, he left his parochial Holland
Such intimacy, naturally, raises the question: does he
Don’t try to emulate what’s around you. Trust your
for the cultural cesspit of downtown New York. Even
ever feel he’s being exploitative? “I don’t know…”
own uniqueness and your own voice because that’s
though, he recalls, it was Holland that first inspired
he says, pausing. “Maybe... I don’t know. It’s a big
what’s most interesting about anybody. If somebody
him. “Every window is kind of like a photograph
question. I think it’s quite uncomfortable taking
is imitating another artist or another photographer
there because people don’t shut their curtains, so you
pictures too, you know. I try to make the photo-
then it’s just going to look like that. Everybody has
can see right inside their houses,” he recalls. “I think
taking part of the conversation. Maybe in the earlier
an individual voice, and it’s worth listening to. If
that’s where my interest came from.”
pictures it was more set up but it’s usually a part
you’re just boring with nothing to say, then I would
If the softly spoken fifty-two-year-old sounds a little
of whatever else is going on. It’s not about making
say get out of art.”
unsure of his career choice, it’s because he still doesn’t
somebody look natural, though – I don’t care about
think of himself as a ‘photographer’ in the traditional
that. I just like taking pictures of what I see.”
sense. “As a child I wanted to be an astronaut or
Now, having turned his lens inwards to
something,” he says, “but then I kind of think of myself
photograph his wife and sons at home in California,
Ari Marcopoulos' It might seem familiar is on at the Foam_ Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam, 26 February to 16 June 2010. www.foam.nl
as an astronaut anyway because I’m always visiting different places and taking a sample from those places.” And it wasn’t other photographers that inspired him either, opting instead for the work of conceptual artists like Bruce Nauman and Michael Asher who were “pushing the envelope” and “trying to do things”. Ari explains: “That spirit sort of influenced me. The idea that you could do your own thing, and do something that required some thought, and still have a sense of humour about yourself. Not to become too serious.” Ari may be best described as a documentarian. His photos of the punk, graffiti and hip hop scenes in New York in the eighties effortlessly capture the spirit of the time from within. A remarkable feat when you consider he was a transatlantic nobody; an outsider, who arrived in the vertiginous city without a single friend. “I was just hanging around downtown, you know – some people became friends and others became acquaintances. It was pretty natural.” Ari fell in with the downtown scene after he lucked out with a job printing Andy Warhol’s black and white photos. He met many of his subjects through these contacts or, in the case of artist Richard Serra, the phonebook, never hesitating to After Burton saw a folio of his photographs in a 1995 issue of Transworld Skateboarding, documenting the Brooklyn Banks’ skateboarders later immortalised in Harmony Korine’s Kids, they contacted him and, thanks to a few white lies on Ari’s part, flew him to the Alps to shoot their new snowboarding catalogue. But Ari did not leave his unique vision behind. “I didn’t
Jean-Michel Basquiat.
throw himself, camera first, into unknown territory.
approach it as a sport, I approached it as a lifestyle,”
55
The Apprentice: Matt Williams revives the hydrodynamic knowledge of ancients.
56 HUCK
The Master: Tom Wegener watches a Tullan wedge on the Tuna.
Two generations of shapers and their motley crew take on the west coast of Ireland with a quiver of finless flotsam and ancient alaias. TEXT John Michael Drake Photography Lionel Dufau
Seamus Heaney speaks. The lilt of Liam O’Flynn’s
Easkey and The Peak. Spanish Point, Pampa and
pipes reels in from the Atlantic via the Saab’s Bose
Crab Island are firmly established nodes on surfing’s
speakers. Outside, Mayo’s every shade of green
mind map. And don’t even mention Aileens. What
foregrounds the distant flash of white water. The boys
was a cult Irish surfing creed exploded in the last
are silent. Taking in the sounds.
ten years, splattering its influence across the surfing
Towhead afro Englander Jimbo Bennett is riding
stratosphere.
shotgun. The notorious Newquay-dwelling grom-
Cut to mediocre Monday. Jimbo drags a finless
gone-wrong and unsponsored but radical stylist is
foamie to the rocks on the headland at Tullan Strand.
inked through the colour palette with mermaids,
It’s an atrocious yellow carbuncle of a vehicle he
anchors and sailing ships. Brad Hoult, meanwhile,
dragged out of a skip at the back of South Fistral last
lounges in the bench seat – chiselled Saffa, genuine
summer. The nose is flapping slightly as he clambers
hell man sponger and acolyte of a thousand deep kegs
down over the kelp and chucks the thing in the swell
that he is. Completing the crew is Matt Williams,
with a whoop. You wouldn’t subject the greenest
apprentice to Tom Wegener’s sculptural sorcery from
newbie to this board. Within minutes though, Jimbo is
the Noosa Shire – dreadlocked and wielding wood
popping and shoving it and sliding in every dimension.
like no one this side of Haleiwa this century has seen.
The gathered locals shake their heads and laugh. And
We are seeking an outpost whilst Tom – pioneer
so do we.
archaeologist of ancient surf designs, Surfer magazine
Cut to titanic Tuesday. Triple overhead sets bowl
shaper of the year and generally one hell of a guy – is
in deep from the north west and jack and feather and
back near home base in Bundoran, introducing his
detonate on the right at Bundoran’s Peak. Brad fades
ancient craft to Ireland for the first time. Into the mix
and pulls into a macker whose shoulder twists and
of surf craft wrought from the noblest of Hawaiian
warps up along to his right until he is a mere speck in
lineages is something he calls the Tuna – a chamber-
a stone-green backdrop – proving that these alaias are
hulled timber board that explores the hydrodynamics
doable in cold juice and the commoner class who rode
of aquatic savant Tom Blake’s ‘cigar-box’ designs from
them back in Polynesia knew a thing or two about
the 1930s and 1940s.
hydrodynamics. Matt meanwhile, with locks flowing
“Fuck this,” says Jimbo, just as the Celtic
in the foam, styles loving lines on the alaia, taking
worthiness of the scene threatens to overwhelm.
every wave that he is heir to. While Wegener, round
“Let’s disco.” With that, he ejects The Poet and the
the headland where Tullan Strand’s banks are throwing
Piper CD I bought on the ferry in the name of cultural exchange, scrolls the click wheel to a heavier bass line – Studio-54 era Chic to be exact – and transports us collectively to the heady days of 1978. This is the Celtic surf experience in the twentyteens. It’s a miasma of influence from every decade of the last hundred years or so. Ireland was outed by the surf world a couple of decades ago in the wake of filmmaker Andrew Kidman’s explorations. Then came the Malloys in search of their roots and dozens of other ‘discoverers’ of Ireland’s submerged geometries. These days of course the world and his grom cousin knows about
up deep-angled wedges, is floating and sliding laterally on the Tuna. Channeling the stoke of post-war design. Each of the above proves something. You don’t need epoxy longboards popped out in Taiwanese sweatshops to catch tons of waves. You don’t need plastics and other pollutants to create an exploratory surf industry. And you don’t need cheap Guinness and Kodak-friendly light to make Ireland the best place in Europe to ride waves HUCK travelled with Irish Ferries, Stenaline and Tourism Ireland. Thanks to Howies, Atlantic Apartotel and John Isaac of Revolver.
57
Clockwise from top left: Martin Chichov picks grapes to make Bulgarian wine at a student working camp, October 1989. Photography: Alexander Subev. Alex Kyourkiev, Mc Divo and Dg Chaves in Bulgarian seaside resort Varna, 1991. Photography: Martin Chichov. Alex Kyourkiev, cultivating culture with a frontside ollie. Photography: Martin Chichov.
58 HUCK
How one man fostered a vibrant youth scene out of the rubble of a fallen state. Text Niall Neeson
Nineteen-eighty-nine was a definitive year in the late
whistleblower and his two bodyguards are shot down
Twentieth Century. A social order inspired by the
in the street outside. This is the upside-down world to
architects of the Bolshevik Revolution ran aground
which Alex Kyourkiev brought “skateboards and good
on rocks of protest, as the people of the communist
things in life” as the tagline of his online skate store,
states of Eastern and Central Europe took a stand
Cleckshop, says. Lord knows, we could all do with
for personal freedom. For a then-eighteen-year-old
some of that.
Bulgarian skateboarder called Alex Kyourkiev, the events that took hold of the streets that year sent his life, and the youth culture of this vital part of
When skateboarding first came to Alex in 1987, it
the Eastern Bloc, in a wholly new and unforeseen
appeared as a rare and coveted portal to a Western way
direction. In the decades that followed he would go
of life. “My dad used to work for the national telephone
from poster-child for the Communist Youth Union to
company so he always had a room reserved in the local
counter-cultural icon. His is a story doubtless repeated
post office accommodation,” says Alex, delving into a
throughout the former Eastern Bloc: by skateboarders
back story for the benefit of Western heads. “It was
Martin Karas in Czechoslovakia and Kuba Prezyna
a tenet of communism that individual tradesmen
in Poland. A story repeated anywhere that time and
holidayed together en masse. A few resorts had foreign
place have synthesised the anger of youth with a
tourists and I remember seeing a skateboard there for
wider feeling on the wind. Where the underground
the first time – it seemed amazing fun. So when I was
cultures attracting all the disparate disaffected – the
working on the Sunday market stall, selling imported
punks, skaters, drop-outs, hippies, student activists,
‘original’ heavy metal badges and patches at the age of
musicians – have shown that by bucking the system
sixteen, I was offered a proper skateboard in exchange
you unveil its vulnerability and somehow, amongst the
for three heavy metal badges. Under the communists it
rubble, bring about change.
was impossible to get hold of a skateboard or anything
But this isn’t a history lesson. Nor is it an attempt to explore the relative failings of the left and right.
that symbolised the Western way of life. I took his arm off for it.”
This is just a story of a man from Bulgaria, who in his
Ironically, the years preceding the 1989 revolutions
own small way blew away a broken social order and
took a weird twist for the skate punks of the Eastern
continues to do so to this day.
Bloc as the communist youth leagues, in their various
Today, as we conclude our interview in his office located in Sofia’s historic immigrant quarter, a Mafia
forms, began to take an interest in sanctioning and federating the movement. “The DKMS [Dimitrov
59
Communist Youth Union] decided to support
slipped away to the island of Malta in 1992, leaving
skateboarding and they started organising events and
behind a broken scene and a bewildered generation.
building ramps,” explains Alex. “I was picked to be a
“So, Malta,” remembers Alex, “the very first day
part of the national sponsored team. We were flown
we were sitting by the sea front, drinking a bottle of
by plane to comps around the country and stayed in
Jack Daniel’s and tasting freedom. We were discussing
hotels. We went to Czechoslovakia, to a communist
how we had to find other skaters when this guy rolled
skate camp – which was amazing, by the way. Even
up on a board. His name would turn out to be Stevie
now this seems like a mirage – we were sponsored by
Thompson, and he later became the first skater I ever
the state! We bored of the slalom and freestyle quickly
put on my company, Virus.”
and got into vert when a ramp appeared in the Black
Any British skateboarder reading this may well
Sea resort of Varna, and later in Sofia too. There were a
have done a double-take of that last sentence, because
maximum of four ramp skaters, and maybe three roller
Stevie Thompson is a well-known face in the British
skaters. Once in winter, at minus-twenty, we paid five
scene – a renegade Brighton shop owner and one of the
Leva [about one pound fifty at the time] for a snow
most creative skaters ever to come out of England.
truck to push the snow off the ramp. We ended up mangling the flat bottom doing that!”
“And so we became part of the Maltese skate scene,” continues Alex. “Some of the best years of
Hardware was almost completely unavailable,
my life, during which I met my future wife. In 1994 I
with an estimated eighty per cent of boards at the time
returned to Bulgaria clandestinely to re-connect with
being home-made. “We needed boards and hardware,”
the scene and to assess if the military were still looking
continues Alex. “One of the oldest guys, Katcho, was
for me. They soon came knocking and in early 1995 I
making us bandanas, T-shirts with cut sleeves and
was spirited away, this time with my new wife to her
kneepads out of washing bowls. Another old skater
home in England.”
had a press and was making us concave, fish-shaped
With a young family to support, Kyourkiev was
boards. They were good for vert but the second you
soon a motorcycle courier, making clandestine runs
tried to skate street they snapped!”
back into Bulgaria with whatever he could source
Clouds were gathering as the eighties drew to a
that people needed: headphones for the DJs, fat caps
close, however, and fidelity to the regime was total.
for the graffiti boys, vinyl for the punks, bearings for
National service was mandatory at the time, and the
the skaters.
worst thing that could happen if you were a male
The irony here of course is that from our Western
turning eighteen. As a country versed in Soviet ways,
perspective, the downfall of communism and the
the Bulgarian army was primarily in the business of
advent of some limited social change is perceived
breaking and indoctrinating wayward youth. Drinking
as a good thing, whereas for the people involved,
dye, breaking limbs, heroin addiction and disappearing
the subsequent madness left them pining for the
were the options for an objector.
relative certainties of the old order. With the benefit
“From age eighteen, dodging the army was all
of hindsight, we now know what happened when
anybody thought about,” explains Alex. “I saw ten
Eastern Europe swapped the failed social model
friends fail to break a mate’s arm in order to get out
of communism for the failed social model of free-
of trouble. I took a gamble. Acceptance to one of
market capitalism: without the attendant structures
Bulgaria’s elite academic institutions could get you a
to manage the transition, organised crime, political
deferment. I’m not an intellectual but I had a skater
corruption, wholesale plundering of state resources
mate who was. I had him sit the exam for me and with
and social anarchy became the norm – a situation
the time that bought me, we fled the country.”
which remains to this day. When the people who make
Because of their pariah status, only one country outside the Bloc could be accessed and, with his board and precious little else, Alex and a childhood friend
60 HUCK
the law break the law, there is no law. As the black market exploded in the late nineties across the former Eastern Bloc, Alex realised that
Clockwise from top left: Gypsy ghetto in Balchik, 1988. Photography: Martin Chichov The first skate shop opens in Varna, 1991, offering the foodstuffs of youth culture. Two friends, Svetla and Elisaveta, at a rock concert in Sofia, 1999. Photography: Martin Chichov
61
“This is all part of a wider progression in the status of youth culture as a legitimate part of the wider culture of this country. Kids have been ignored for too long, man.” the only way to build any kind of stability into the
public, or Go Skateboarding Day events – all these
2009 a European Union funding programme accepted
network was to create a legit operation within
things embarrass them into action.”
the pitch for Switch, a documentary about the story of
Bulgaria today has virtually no entrepreneurial
youth culture during the fall of the Iron Curtain and
class outside of the Mafia, and so dumbstruck
right up to the present day – researched, edited and
“I came across a good deal on a hundred blank
onlookers immediately ask: how did this happen?
produced by the collective which now operate out of
boards,” he says. “I got the boards and wanted to
Who organised to bring all these people here? Why
Alex’s Sofia office space.
take them to Bulgaria and give them to my friends,
don’t we do free stuff for kids all the time like other
when it hit me – why just take blank boards, why not
countries, elsewhere?
Bulgaria to promote and distribute the foodstuffs of youth culture.
Alex Kyourkiev is a busy man today. He has a tranche of paperwork to submit to the EU in order
print those boards and brand them? I never thought
“This is when our phones ring two days later,
to prove their documentary is a legitimate enterprise
of starting a skate company or anything like that. I
and some apparatchik starts making enquiries as
(the EU takes a dim view of Bulgarian transparency, for
contacted British skate legend Don Brider and we
to, ‘What’s going on, exactly?’” explains Alex. “Look
reasons ably demonstrated by the body in the street
did, like, a hundred boards in three graphics. That
at what happened with snowboarding here – as
outside). In this place where we naively think life got
was an amazing feeling. We chose the name ‘Virus’
communism fell, it was cheap entertainment for
universally better and all the social ills of yesterday
and dropped it into the logos of the most popular
country kids wearing a couple of pairs of trousers.
have drained away, a darker truth remains. Some social
beer and cigarette brands in Bulgaria. This was the
The crew built their scenes, opened the shops,
freedoms have indeed flourished, but in concert the
beginning of Virus Skateboards – the first skateboard
the resorts began to develop and now Bulgaria is a
institutionalised corruption and ‘can’t do’ mentality of
company in the Eastern Bloc.”
snowboard destination. For us, this is all part of a
the past continually threaten to rear up and swallow
The enthusiasm with which the project was
wider progression in the status of youth culture as a
the future. It is in this half-light that Alex and a
received in the formerly barren youth landscape only
legitimate part of the wider culture of this country.
handful of like-minded souls are crafting an alternate
served to whet Alex’s appetite. “They sold out in a
Kids here have been ignored too long, man.”
reality for young people to slip into. Their paths are
week, and things began to snowball,” he recalls. “I built
Inevitably, the dons of the various scenes realised
a team, started to travel with it and created videos and
that online portals, while vital for the youth, were
websites. Since the country can’t support print media
an irrelevance to all the people born behind the
independently, we built a community website called
Iron Curtain and in 2006 they began the long, slow,
SkateBG. Today, we think we have almost every single
Soviet-style process of getting youth programming
“Stone walls do not a prison make,
skater in the country using it.”
onto national TV to help tune-in an older generation.
Nor iron bars a cage;
After over a decade avoiding the Bulgarian
Anyone who has had experience of a former Soviet
Minds innocent and quiet take
authorities Alex decided that the time had come
state will know that the apparatus of the system
That for an hermitage;
where he could no longer help contribute to these
lingers a lot longer than the ideology does, so state
If I have freedom in my love,
burgeoning youth cultures from exile. And, utilising
television is still a narrow and backward cartel in
And in my soul am free,
contacts within and without, he slipped back into
the former Eastern Bloc. Satellite TV provided the
Angels alone that soar above,
Bulgaria in 2002, rented a locked attic office beside
commercial bridgehead that would get the jolly band
Enjoy such liberty.”
a brothel in downtown Sofia, and started to build
onto the airwaves, and by late 2007 X-Ray TV was
scenes in earnest. Stevie Thompson would fly over to
launched – a half hour youth culture show, hosted
Freedom is not something that is given, but taken by
skate with the locals on tours, which grew annually to
by one of the faces on the Sofia DJ scene, which
those who have the courage to enjoy it.
become the stuff of legend, and from 2004 onwards,
promoted Bulgaria to the outside world, and the
every major magazine in the skateboarding world
outside world to Bulgaria.
obstructed at every turn by communist hangovers and capitalist Babylon. Richard Lovelace wrote four hundred years ago:
Alex Kyourkiev is one such man, but there have been others. As he leaves our interview, departing
As a consequence of X-Ray, old faces began to
into the bitter snows whipping down off the Vitosha
“The demos, comps and tours have become
emerge from the shadows, some unseen since that
mountains, I am filled with admiration for each of them,
more important as we saw the potential for them to
heady summer of 1989. Old photographs surfaced, as
their collars upturned to deny the winds of reality, their
put pressure on these lazy, venal, corrupt bastards
did video footage shot on black market camcorders
faces turned against the winters of the soul
institutionalised in this government of ours today
most likely sourced by Alex himself back in the day.
where everything has a price,” explains Alex,
Soon enough, filmmakers were pitching the idea of
www.skatebg.com
passionately. “Global graffiti expos in the National
a documentary to Alex and his collective. And, after
www.cleckshop.com
Palace of Science and Culture, or BMX demos for the
much boozy ‘do we really want to start on this?’, in
www.virusskateboards.com
carried a summer story from Bulgaria.
62 HUCK
www.landrover.com
DEFENDER OFFICIAL FUEL CONSUMPTION FIGURES FOR THE DEFENDER RANGE MPG (L/100KM): URBAN 20.8 (13.6) - 22.6 (12.5), EXTRA URBAN 29.2 (9.7) - 32.9 (8.6), COMBINED 25.5 (11.1) - 28.8 (10.0), CO2 EMISSIONS 266-295G/KM. DRIVE RESPONSIBLY ON AND OFF-ROAD.
Coming of age takes a nocturnal twist when you grow up in the shadow of a never-setting sun. Photography Jørn Tomter
The people of Finnmark live at the mercy of Mother Nature. She toys with their senses, teasing them with light. First comes the darkness, two solid months of unrelenting black, when the sun dips below the horizon and refuses to show its face. Then comes summer, when daylight comes but never goes. For as sure as the sun will rise again, it also forgets to fall, punishing the sleepless as it burns in the midnight sky. From May to August, day seems to never end. But come midwinter, it never begins. For the kids of this remote Norwegian county, this is just life. Perched on Europe’s northernmost extremity, they seek out their influences from sources near and far. It could be the culture of the local Sami people, for whom reindeer-herding is still a way of life, or the fashion of the metropolises that lie towards the south. Whichever way they choose to look, they have to look pretty far and wide. But their remoteness, as much as they may feel trapped by it, is what truly sets them apart. These are the children of the midnight sun – captured in perfect aperture by Jørn Tomter’s expert eye.
Midnight, 3°C – standing on top of the world. This windmill park in Havøysund, where Jørgen, Sivert and Viktor ride their bikes, is pretty much as far north as you can drive in Europe. Next stop? The North Pole.
64 HUCK
After playing midnight volleyball, Christian, eighteen, and Jakob, sixteen, cruise around town on Christian’s motorbike. Their summer is an endless one. “Where else can you play volleyball in full sunshine at three in the morning?”
All roads end in Storbukt. Frank, who lives in this house alone, spends hunting season in his caravan looking for grouse.
Eight-year-old Hüvard Hansen waits for customers in his step-mum’s shop, the only one in their village. Time passes and no one arrives.
It’s not fast cars and money that inspire Isak and Jørgen to make beats in their bedroom as part of Sami rap and hip hop group Aivan.
This skate-park-in-the-making in Honningsvåg is the northernmost in europe. Stumble upon it, and this is all you’ll find. Fun waiting to happen.
A view from the stoop. Johan, thirteen, an aspiring hip hop artist, lives with his grandparents in the small village of Sodan, about 6,000 kilometres from the Bronx.
It doesn’t matter round here what board you ride or whether your jacket is, like, so last year. All that matters to the people of San Carlos de Bariloche is that their slice of the Andes turns a decent shade of pale. Bienvenido a Cerro Catedral, argentina’s PREMIER WINTER PLAYGROUND. Photography + Interviews Armelle Burke
Federico ‘Fede’ Ch iaradio de la Iglesia The Standout Grom
When Fede’s family moved to Bariloche from Buenos Aires four years ago, he swapped skiing for snowboarding to “ride just like dad”. Today, aged twelve, Fede is Cerro Catedral’s youngest sponsored rider, a coveted position for any local kid. – “I want to be a pro snowboarder when I grow up and ride all the time. I want to be original in my snowboarding style and I want to travel the world on my snowboard. But Cerro Catedral will always be my favourite mountain. I love the views from the mountain and the trees on the hill. I ride through them every day. I have to go to school in the mornings and then in the afternoon they let me have half the day off to go riding. I don’t know why they do that, it’s just like that, I guess.”
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Gabriel ‘Chimango’ Martinez The Freeskiing Pioneer
Chimango grew up building jumps and learning tricks on the streets of Bariloche. He’s devoted his life to pushing freeskiing in Argentina and, in the process, gained international recognition for his talent, appearing in videos alongside world class pros like Candide Thovex. The Chimango Caracara, his namesake, is a local bird of prey. – “The Argentine skiing community is small and traditional. They told me there was no future in freeskiing – but I persisted because I loved it, not because I was looking for money. The most important thing for me was to be part of something I felt was avant-garde and special. I got support from the press and brands who saw it as something apart from the norm, something new and ostentatious. The publicity I gained has meant that today freeskiing is recognised in South America and that Argentines are recognised by the world as good freestylers across all levels.”
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Orlando ‘Nano’ Jara The Mountain Man
Nano has been a snowcat driver at Cerro Catedral for over thirty years, a decade of which he spent living in a house on the slopes so that he could work through the night. It’s where his wife gave birth to their son, and where that son learnt to ski at the age of three. Skiing by moonlight and exploring the mountain with Jimmy, his dog, are perks of the job. – “I have seen incredible things driving my machine. Condors flying right next to me, endless sunrises. The power of nature is violent. It can be an unbelievable experience. After huge snowfalls I would take people to the summit of the mountain in my snowcat so they could enjoy fresh powder runs. These people were teenagers then, but they’re grownups now - directors of the mountain, local businessmen and people of importance. They still remember the days of skiing in powder up to their waists on untracked slopes with me. They remember that, and still thank me for it today.”
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Jen n y Somweber The Snowboarding Entrepreneur
Twenty-four-year-old Jenny has lived in Bariloche all her life, and snowboarded for exactly half of it. She started her own outerwear line to offer her community “jackets at reasonable prices”, sourcing the material from Chile and making everything by hand. Of the ten items she once took to sell in Europe, she came home with none. – “What I see abroad is a consumer society – if you’re wearing last season’s jacket, you are out. In Argentina it just doesn’t matter. Everything is imported and our exchange rate is so bad that a ski jacket and snowboard cost the same as a decent month’s salary. People ride in anything – riding is everything. We’re living in a developing country where there is little sponsorship from brands or the government to help riders progress and travel abroad. We need to do things ourselves to generate work within our community. This keeps us moving forward. And that’s why I make clothes.” For more from the Cerro Catedral locals, check out www.huckmagazine.com.
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Professional upsetter Dave Carnie is creating carnage in the world of fine art. Interview Niall Neeson Artwork Dave Carnie
Dave Carnie is a familiar face around Los Angeles. As we
somebody has to feel embarrassed for her. I think it’s
more or less told me to fuck off. Which I admired… But
sit down at an Argentine place on Fairfax, the table across
also because in order for me to talk about my work, or
we still have to make some sort of an adjustment to that
from us do that indiscrete ‘there’s that guy’ thing people
even art in general, I have to open a part of myself that I
name if we expect to sell the fucking thing anywhere. I
do when their brains slow down. Public perception
don’t particularly like people to see. My inner Gwyneth.
don’t work for ’zines or for free anymore.
of Carnie is that of court jester – the cockeyed spirit
You could almost say that I spend most of my time and
behind the decade-defining Jackass MTV series who,
effort trying to distract people from seeing that side of
Can the upsetter spirit that Big Brother ignited
alongside his cohorts, was momentarily skyrocketed
me. I lead the life of a rodeo clown.
survive skateboarding’s present arc in the cultural cycle? Yeah [pauses]… Because that spirit has existed
to stratospheric celebrity. He’s also the guy who, at the helm of controversial skateboarding magazine Big
During Big Brother’s heyday, some people got
since the dawn of time. Kids are always up to no good
Brother, created upset upon middle-America-baiting upset under the reign of Hustler publisher Larry Flynt. What is less well known about Carnie is that he is a Joycean scholar and an accomplished fine art photographer. Like the best conversationalists, he is all these people at once – now the clown, now the cerebral cultural analyst – skipping from skate punk to gourmand to agony uncle over Argentine steak and Californian wine. With a new magazine and prestigious exhibition under his belt, Carnie is fast cementing his place in the world of fine art. Question is: when did ‘artist’ become a dirty word?
really insulted – who were the worst crybabies?
and looking for shits and giggles. And skateboarders
Ronnie Creager was the first one I remember. We
are a particularly mischievous little bunch of
ran a full-page sequence of him and someone said, ‘I
scallywags, aren’t we? We’re kind of like the bad fairies of
wonder what it would look like if one frame were just
the urban landscape. Big Brother doesn’t exist anymore,
a big pair of tits?’ I think they might have been the
but that ‘upsetter spirit’ as you call it will always live on.
first tits in the magazine, too? Anyway, when the issue came out, Ronnie was very upset – apparently because
You had a show last year, Minutwar, at Cal’s
he was unable to show his mother the sequence. He
Pharmacy in Portland, Oregon. Is that city becoming
had a tantrum, stormed out of World Industries and
a new cultural hub in the States? What are you talking
destroyed a tree on the front lawn.
about? That place is a shithole. A miserable, dark, cold and wet shithole. But I love Portland. And I have a lot of
Given how commodified skateboarding has become
friends up there. I don’t know if it’s becoming anything
since the demise of Big Brother, have people
– it’s always been a city with a strong art and music scene.
expected your new magazine, King Shit, to revive
Oregonians, in general, have always done things a little
You once told us that you don’t enjoy talking
those countercultural days? I don’t think commodified
differently. It’s a little bohemian corner of America. It’s
about art. Is that because it’s so subjective people
is a word? Anyway, I have no idea what people expect.
a nice place to visit. But I don’t like wearing scarves and
inevitably end up talking about themselves? Well, it
There’s certainly an element of the Big Brother spirit,
I’m too old to have one of those funny emo haircuts that
is a bit masturbatory, isn’t it? It’s not exactly something
whatever that is, in King Shit. And it was there before
everyone up there has.
you brag about. I suppose that’s part of the reason I
Ryan [Stutt] approached me about contributing to it. I
feel a little embarrassed talking about it. It also puts me
mean, of course with me and [Chris] Nieratko involved,
How did that exhibition come about? My old friend
on the same level as all these other buffoons out there
there’s going to be more than a hint of Big Brother flavour
Arthur Lindsey has been curating shows in the gallery
bragging about their craft and their art. I think I heard
in there. But I think Ryan has always kind of had that
space above the Pharmacy skate shop. He’s been trying
Gwyneth Paltrow on the radio one day waxing nostalgic
attitude on his own. I remember telling him early on that
to make the space available to skaters and friends who
about her ‘craft’. She’s an artist, apparently? I mean, if
we have to change the name. A magazine with ‘shit’ in
wouldn’t otherwise have access to galleries to show
she’s not going to feel stupid saying that kind of shit,
the title isn’t going to make it onto US newsstands. Ryan
their work. Chris Johanson is also up there and he
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The Trash Can Child Army (Surveys the Battlefield).
helps Art with the shows. Bryce Kanights has shown, as well as Chris Pastras, Jason Lee, Chet Childress, Jason Adams, Tobin Yelland. There’s been a lot of good stuff in there. There’s talk of moving to another, bigger space and expanding the vision. For someone who’s never seen your work, can you summarise your process and any recurring themes? Ugh, you want me to elaborate on ‘my craft’? Gross. I make pictures. The picture starts as a photo. I have a degree in photography and I love it, but at the same time I don’t particularly care about it the way your typical anal-retentive photographer does. The photo, however, is the base of the image. I shoot film. I develop the film myself. And I print the images in a darkroom. Sort of a Luddite. It’s not really a statement about digital photography, that’s just how I’ve done things since the late eighties and I enjoy the craft… There’s that word! The prints are toned at various stages during the process, sometimes even before they go under the enlarger, and then they’re abused by a variety of other mediums, like oil pastel, before they’re completed. Joel-Peter Witkin and Starn Twins shit, really. I just watched a documentary called It Might Get Loud and Jack White likens playing guitar to a fistfight. That’s kind of how I print. I don’t always win, but I try my best to beat the shit out of every piece of paper. Themes? I’m kind of like a cover band, I suppose. I borrow heavily from literature, for instance –
Andy Roy.
Joyce, Faulkner, Beckett, Shakespeare. I don’t know… I just try to create this dark little world. I like forests for
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some reason. I tend to stage most of my scenes in dark wooded areas where little sunlight reaches. For one thing the flat, even lighting works great for black and white. But most of the images relate in some way to a struggle of some sort. That’s what the whole ‘Minutwar’ thing is about. Minute wars. The little wars you have with yourself and your world every day. I suppose it’s a lot like how Joyce imposed the heroic journey of Ulysses on little ol’ Leopold Bloom. And beyond the underlying meaning or literary references – sometimes there aren’t any – it’s just a lot of fun to get together with friends and shoot these stupid photos. Everyone gets to play dress up – tits come out, alcohol is consumed – and I take a couple pictures. It’s a good time. Other than the activity itself, what is it about skateboarding that is such a creative wellspring? Well, like art, it really doesn’t mean anything, does it? There’s no goal to either – in the sense that there’s no finish line. There’s no end of the game. Nobody wins. There’s no results. The only result is the satisfaction of completing a meaningless task or goal you created for
You also do a lot of food writing these days. Isn’t that talking about art, albeit in a different form? Well, I write as much about food as I do about skateboarding. Like skateboarding in Big Brother, it was just sort of a backdrop for all kinds of other
Simone of Arc.
yourself. Both activities attract like minds, I suppose.
more interesting nonsense. And that’s kind of how I approach food writing. And unlike skateboarding, food is everywhere – everyone has to eat, and thus everyone can relate to it. To me it’s more of a vehicle for delivering stories than anything else. Did you see the Jackass juggernaut coming? Are we still talking about Jackass? No, I thought it was funny, but I didn’t think it would do as well as it has done. Those fellas have done quite well for themselves and I’m proud of them. Given the many episodes in your life and aspects to your personality, which Morrisey lyric would the most revealing response of all... There are so many. ‘Bigmouth’, with ‘Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking when I said I’d like to smash every tooth in your head.’ ‘Half A Person’ has always been a favourite song: ‘Sixteen, clumsy and shy, that’s the story of my life.’ ‘Hand In Glove’ is also up there: ‘And if the people stare, then the people stare, oh, I really don’t know and I really don’t care.’ But I just realised that the first lyric that came to mind before all those is actually post-Smiths, from ‘Such A Little Thing’: ‘I will not change and I will not be nice.’ Which is very fitting itself. All the lyrics are very nice in that song, but it’s the ending that popped into my head before anything: ‘Leave me alone, I was only singing.’
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Let's Hear It For The Chickens (Easter).
you choose as an epitaph? Oh man, this is probably
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Forget Jay-Z. Tech N9ne’s independent empire is about to go boom. TEXT Steve Yates Photography Julie Denesha
There’s no hero like a local hero. To drive around Kansas City in one of Strange Music’s custom-made SUVs, the distinctive snake-and-bat-wings logo emblazoned down the side, is to be hooted, flashed and waved at every few minutes. Walking with the label’s co-owner and figurehead artist Tech N9ne through the city centre, you see the love up close and personal. Heads turn, kids holler, sharp-suited white guys declare their fandom. An ageing black woman gets her husband to pull over to the curb for an autograph and photo op. All this for a guy without a hit single to his name. Our driver, Arron, explains KC has seen nothing like it since post-grungers Puddle Of Mudd. “But the singer sacked his band and left for LA, so fuck him,” he adds. Kansas City loves Tech N9ne, but slowly, surely, both he and his label are growing from a Mid-West phenomenon into a national one. Tech’s constant touring (two hundred-plus gigs in a typical year) made his concerts the third highest-grossing among rap artists in 2008 (top two: Jay-Z and Kanye); his latest album, K.O.D., debuted at number one on the independent charts and career sales have topped a million, making him the most successful independent rap artist in history. While every other label in the country wonders who and how to downsize, Strange is about to double in size, having just bought land for another 18,000-square-foot building to augment their current headquarters, which they only moved into in January 2009. The organisational mind behind the success is Travis O’Guin, a garrulous thirty-eight-year-old who made his first million in furniture restoration. Like Tech, he’s a native of Kansas City, a half-million-person sprawl of big roads, big diners and big people (unlike Tech, Travis has the girth to go with), who conducts the guided tour of the offices with the same undisguisable pride and joy as a parent showing off newborn baby snaps. Travis and Tech formed Strange in 2000, after he extricated the rapper from a Gordian knot of business and recording contracts. Following an unhappy crash course in the music industry, Travis reverted to ‘Business 101’, deploying basic methods instead of showbiz’s customary ‘chuck shit, see what sticks’ model. Radio and video promotion were scaled down or scrapped and street promotion beefed up. Costly beat-buying was out, merchandising and touring was in. Fortunately, in Tech N9ne they have the kind of rapper for whom this all makes sense. A self-styled “weird rock alternative warlock with crazy hair, a painted face and [known for] rapping backwards”, Tech N9ne (born Aaron Yates, thirty-eight years ago) raps about his personal demons in a way that’s a little too literal for some. “Most black people would be like, ‘Hell no, that motherfucker’s a devil worshipper,’” he says. Although he insists “my people are slowly coming back”, Tech polls strongest among fans of Mid-West rock-rap crossover act Insane Clown Posse and their tribe of ‘Juggalos’. When Tech tours, they go there, do that and buy the T-shirt. “They buy the shit out of everything,” smiles Travis. “I’m not a huge fan of [ICP’s] music but I respect the hell out of what they’ve created.”
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Tech traces his own dalliance with the dark side to the confusion born of his stepfather’s attempt to convert him from a devout Christian, as he was brought up, into a mature Muslim. “He wanted to change my name to Kalifa, pray to Mecca. I studied Islam but I was raised a Christian – it twisted me, so I ran away.” He was a fixture on the Kansas City hip hop scene for years, but it wasn’t until the formation of Strange and the release of Anghellic in 2001 that he saw significant sales. But Strange’s early success came at a price. Joint venture deals went sour. It wasn’t until inking their own distribution deal with Universal – an event Travis describes as the happiest to date in the Strange story – that they secured the control they craved. Strange now run everything in-house. The label complex includes a warehouse to store the merchandise, a fleet of vinyl-wrapped tour trucks, a web manager, mail order. In another corner, the props for tonight’s gig are being repainted. “Major labels insist on a 360 [deal],” Travis says, “but they have no idea how to do merchandising or tours, they just want a piece of it. It’s a privilege to get a 360 with us.” Indeed, touring comes with a tightly enforced list of dos and don’ts (rule one: no smoking weed on the bus) and runs to a strict schedule. “Our way of doing things isn’t for everyone,” admits Tech. His own drug days – “ecstasy, ’shrooms and acid” – are more than three years behind him, though he doesn’t regret any of it, and even credits it for his Anghellic-era dyed hair. “The red hair had to be drugs. I wouldn’t take it back for the world though, you know what I’m shizzling. I became the killer clown, coloured my hair red, spiked it and my fans loved it.” The clown is a recurring motif for Tech, both an alter ego for his hedonistic side and a source of fear, something he puts down to childhood stories and too many horror movies. And the painted face works just fine for him. “When my stepfather found out I was sneaking around rapping he told me, ‘Stop doing it, there’s too many people doing it, you don’t have anything different that stands out’. So I thank him for making me go in the other direction, the clown who roamed our city streets, the killer clown who was a local myth.” And this clown takes bookings for weddings and parties too. Tech has been known to play for audiences of seven, returning to the same spots until he’s selling out thousand-plus venues. That’s been the Strange Music strategy, hammering the out-of-the-way places ignored by the mega-tours. It’s a ground-up reinvention of the music business wheel, like the last few decades of pampered stardom never happened. Or as Tech N9ne puts it, “I’ll go wherever they say the party is not and make one myself.” www.strangemusicinc.net
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Photography OWEN RICHARDS Retreat into the space inside your head with these snappy-looking conduits of personal sound.
Steve wears Plattan by Urbanears. He hears Johnny Cash.
Lily wears Reference 430 by Roxy. She hears Washed Out.
Hank wears Alp Horn by WeSC. He hears Owen.
Luke wears Surge Pro by H20 Audio. He hears The Velvet Underground.
Eleanor wears Monitor by Panasonic. She hears Karen O and the Kids.
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Jacob wears Sport II (PMX 80) by Sennheiser. He hears Wibutee.
Ida wears Domepiece by Matix. She hears We Walk On Ice.
Sean wears by Chopper II (Hype) by Aerial7. He hears Fat Freddy’s Drop.
Nuha wears The Trooper by Nixon. She hears Crystal Stilts.
Lotty wears NBA Player Series (AL 9) by Skullcandy. She hears Beat Happening. 87
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Photography Bryan Derballa
Wind whips across the Hudson. Fingers sting red beneath two pairs of gloves. Feet so numb they feel like hooves. But we trudge on. We bundle up. We push down avenues and make them our own. New York City has never been for the meek. If the city doesn’t hibernate, why should we?
The Chu Brothers foot race into oblivion. Left to right. Chris wears: Jacket Burton. Jon wears: Jacket Patagonia, beanie Burton.
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Julian and Danilo cruise through Brooklyn looking for a hot cup of coffee. Left to right. Julian wears: Shirt Mishka, jacket DC, beanie Penfield. Danilo wears: Shirt Patagonia, jacket WeSC, beanie Patagonia. Mae, waiting out the blue hour. Jacket WeSC.
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Alex, scaling his rooftop to take in the rare winter sunshine. Shirt Vans, vest Mishka. Jon, exhaling the fire from within. Jacket Patagonia, beanie Burton.
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Brett and his pet rat Lucy get warm during a barrel burn. Sweater DC, jacket Patagonia, gloves Penfield. Jess, getting psyched up for the polar plunge at Coney Island on a -2Ëšc day. Jacket Penfield.
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Bryan rides out the chill. Jacket Carhartt.
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Back Pages The
All-Ages Movement Project
There's no such thing as underage in music and art.
The Avett Brothers Bluegrass brethren head out on tour.
Kick-Ass
Comic book chaos springs to life on screen.
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If you dig
Idlewood check out…
Brighton Zinefest
zel e P e l l Michegiving is o her t k c ba ity n u commgh the throu er of pow zine. the ’
Where better to host the biggest ’zine gathering in the UK than the twee streets of Brighton where antiques, music and youth mingle and meet. The first day of this three-day event, starting February 18 and featuring 'zine and craft stalls, is cashfree and trade-only. Expect workshops, live art and punk rock from DIY acolytes The Arteries alongside a hefty helping of vegan cupcakes.
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her of self-proclaimed suchteam as Cell Division and PTB,”
a spot fought for ingone memory of moment. I’ve never to ISPO
shows and made crummy ’zines
attendees include Café
‘shred-hers’ – Erica,designed Rhiannon, he says. “I recently
skateboarder Matasi. and right now Lee I’m only thinking
and took photos. So much more
Royal, Chinese Wax Job
Natalie and Kassy – came some trophies for the EuroSima
“Lee an old about my found one-man show.”
came out of skateboarding than
and Sumi Ink Club.
together to make Idlewood, Waterman’s Ball and the cover
engineering by his house Though tunnel Le Borgne has not
our regular, six days a week,
www.nieves.ch
a dedicated to for’zine the Hawaii Surf catalogue.”
and he started getting people yet completed his first exhibition,
ballet classes.” Shelley Jones
102 HUCK
www.brightonzinefest.co.uk
103
104 HUCK
Talbot Tagora at The Vera Project, Seattle.
NEED AN ALL-AGES VENUE?
Thanks the All- to Ag Moveme es n Project t , fake IDs become could at of the pahing st.
THEN CHECK OUT...
The Smell, Los Angeles This art and music space in downtown LA is the pillar of the local DIY scene, and it resonates loudly along the
Contrary "We like totothink popular of it belief as a shift it gets
reaching exclusivelyout in the to other townships collectives
he still but everyone carries from a couple TV onofthe faded
wider West Coast too. Bands
cold ‘do from in South it yourself’ Africa,toreally ‘do itcold.
and with little finding or no theknowledge same problem, of
self-styled Radio to Bonnie tattoos. Prince He stole Billy to
like No Age, Mika Miko and
together’," As the says sun slips Kevin behind Erickson the
the theirdecision ancestry.toAlllaunch they know AMPare
and, in House Beach his ownperformed words, brought there
Abe Vigoda are proud to call
All-AgesMuizenberg Movement mountain about the casting
was the wire-fenced formed. “Weconfines found that of the
shame and it left onahis mark family; on an Kevin’s all too
The Smell home and help
(AMP), a network he runs Project into deep shadow, the
venues sprawling were urban often townships getting shut that
common“It ideology. story occurred of wasted to me youth that
book bands, run gigs and
to unite hundreds youthtemperature dropsof dramatically
down keep them. for the The same rolling reasons, green like hills
ifinwe thewere modern abletownships to make itof work
support an environment that
driven music and art collectives and the kids, shivering in their
trouble of their homelands with the civic seem authorities, as far
South itAfrica. there, was something Then Thomas thatfound
welcomes kids of all ages.
across the US. Kevin hopes threadbare wetsuits, decidethat
lack removed of money to them and asleadership the blinding
football. could beHe possible beganin toany coach kind
www.thesmell.org
by time pooling their aresources and it’s to draw close to our
burnout,” city lights says do toKevin. their elders. “By sharing But
local of community… children and, I want in sotodoing, help
knowledge, theyThanks can overcome first-ever session. to the
our while successes their grandparents and failures stilland hold
became young people a roleunderstand model – thethat
strict city regulations that generosity of Tich Paul, owner of
figuring memories out ofwhat's their rural worked roots,in
perfect they don’t reason havetotonot hate gotheir back
Vera, Groningen
prevent kids of all ages Cape Town’s Lifestyle surffrom shop,
different these kids kinds haveofno communities, sense of
to his old ways. hometown - that they aren’t
Not only a “club for
gathering oneshower venue to make we grab a in warm and
we cultural can identity, make it no easier.” feeling that
These Thomas missing outdays, by not being is in a big
the international pop
music or art. a hot chocolate before piling
they Kevin belong, knows and exactly with little in the
known as ‘Coach’, and together metropolis, because they could
underground” but a screen-
But bakkie the idea that into the and heading
how way of difficult opportunity it can be. crime While often
we run Ticket tocreative Ride have anthe authentic
printing studio, hostel, café
independent naturally home over theprojects, mountains
attending creeps in as college an easy in Walla path to a
Foundation, a small community community right where they are.”
and makeshift cinema
organic and decentralised, to Masiphumalele, the small
Walla, better life. a tiny town in Washington
sports crèche aimed of at their keeping With the launch
too. This venue in the
can benefit from an to organised township that clings the
surrounded So it wasbyforwheat Thomas. fields,
the children of Thomas’ newyoung book In Every Town: An All-
Netherlands, which inspired
network is one he’ll have weather-beaten fringes ofto the
he met I met Calvin Thomas Johnson, through lead my
street away from the temptations Ages Manualfesto planned for
Seattle’s own Vera Project
defend again coast. and again. Kevin Cape Atlantic Pulling in
and singer work asofaBeat tour Happening guide with UK
that lead him astray. Ourofaim spring, and the support artists
in name and principle, has
asserts: “It’s to be with through the possible main entrance,
founder ofTicket underground record company, to Ride. Born in
is toNo provide a little Dawson variety toand a like Age, Kimya
lured bands like Nirvana,
independent but still connected Cape Town silhouetted across a
K Records,of who label the homelands theinspired Transkei,
life thatAMP seldom beyond YACHT, hasextends every intention
Sonic Youth and Joy Division
and mutually supportive.” And cloudless horizon, the streets are
himcame to build his own creative he to Cape Town when
the weathered surrounds of nurturing those dreamsofto
to play their relatively small
the twenty-eight-year-old is a hive of activity as the working
community. “I immersed myself he was still very young, making
the local fruition. “Inneighbourhood, the early days, DIY
500-capacity hall.
determined to prove it. day finishes and the township
in the Northwest indie-punk the long move west with his
through and wasn't a football, choice, surfing it was the only
www.vera-groningen.nl
for a start,the thatsoft gearsConsider, up for dark. Under
scene, booking shows anywhere brother, nieces and nephews
soon swimming and arts says and way to make it happen,”
the idea for AMP came directly luminescence of flickering street
I could like basements, as his mother looked forliving work
crafts projects. Our is weren't Kevin. “Punk and hipaim hop
from the of disconnected lights, kidsemails play football, women
rooms andher dormitory lounges,” to support young family.
simple: to of provide just styles music,the butchildren complex
Hidmo, Seattle
young people trundle by with around baskets the on their
says Kevin. Thomas’ father had long since
with a sense of belonging and systems of ethics and aesthetics
This community centre, in
country.men Founding heads, huddledirector round fires
Soon he had relocated disappeared by the time he to
somewhere they know they can which, at their best, were
the guise of an Eritrean
Shannon Stewart, who and smoke wafts in thelaunched still
the sleepy town of Anacortes came to Masiphumalele where
come to enjoy themselves. A yet intuitively anti-establishment
restaurant, is the epicentre
all-ages air music andtraffic arts does venue evening as the
andfamily formed the Department of his built the small wooden
place to kick a ball or pro-community… Soaround, I wouldn’t
of hip hop for all ages in
Thebest Vera downtown its toProject weave in through the
Safety they collective and all-ages shack still inhabit today.
surf a about little, every now shows. and then. worry all-ages
Seattle right now. As well
Seattle, unmolested. was “constantly getting crowds For the kids,
venue.brought “[The space] in Being up by was his mother
Tim much Conibear I’m more worried about
as providing a platform for
emailsmarks from kids to today theirwanting first experience
thea town's decommissioned in tight-nit Xhosa community,
the kids who are denied these
local artists like Laura ‘Piece’
dothe something in by their of surf and,similar judging the
firehouse and police station. We and with no father figure,
www.ttride.co.uk/foundation kinds of positive outlets and
Kelley and J. Pinder, Hidmo
own cities and towns,” songs emanating from explains the cab
all lived upstairs in the firemen's Thomas was raised in dishonour
left with few social options that
hosts workshops for the Hip
Kevin. weretofacing of the “People pick-up, who it seems have
old dormitories and on gigs and was cast out. Heput attended
don’t involve consumerism.
Hop Congress National
discriminatory laws like the Teen gone down well.
and exhibitions and started opened school but left early,
Music [and art] are a universal
Convention. It also serves up
Dance Ordinance, which made There’s a new generation
a ’zine library, recording studio smoking dagga, frequenting
language.” Shelley Jones
some damn good food.
all-ages music essentially illegal emerging in South Africa today.
andshabines art studio.” It may the and soonhave fell in
in generation Seattle for fifteen years.” After A of children raised
beenain the middle of nowhere with local gang from which
www.hidmo.org
www.allagesmovmentproject.org
105
If you dig
The Avet t Brother sp their ol ick up tools a d-time nd out on head tour.
The Avett BrotherS
check out…
Langhorne Slim Sean Scolnick is close friends with The Avett Brothers and has toured
Ten years ago, they were two kids
it and so does Scott. He has this
do country guys like us? Or
alongside the band on
who killed their rock band Nemo
magnetic energy. Both of ’em will
bluegrass guys? Or punk
many a brodown. The folk
to play folk on street corners in
get your attention – no offense.
rock guys? Some of our most
singer is just as capable of
sleepy Concord, North Carolina.
Scott: We’re both loud when you
hardcore, straight-edge punk
manipulating the bluegrass
Today, The Avett Brothers headline
get us on the street. [Laughs] I
buddies love Otis Redding… If it’s
rulebook to create uplifting
clubs across America, open for
actually think there’s really high
good, it’s good.
rock anthems.
legendary performers like Dave
potency in the instruments that
Scott: It’s a young person’s mistake
www.langhorneslim.com
Matthews and Widespread
come from the country. Acoustic
to champion only one type of
Panic – even cut albums with
guitar, in a lot of ways, starts to
music. Because it’s clear you
mega-producer Rick Rubin. Next
become more powerful than
haven’t opened yourself up to the
The Everybodyfields
up: tours in Europe and Australia.
electric – it becomes harder to
quality of all these other genres.
Tennessee-based duo Sam
Throughout, they’ve stuck to the
hide behind that distortion. We
same organic mix of banjo (Scott
had to stop whispering when we
Last year, Rick Rubin produced
mould country and folk
Avett), acoustic guitar (Seth Avett),
were singing, it was like,‘Oh shit, we
your album, I and Love and
sensibilities into finely-tuned,
stand-up bass (Bob Crawford) and
gotta project!’ And all of a sudden
You, and Dave Matthews asked
elegiac love songs. Watching
cello (Joe Kwon), converting a
when a guy’s not hiding behind it,
you to open a series of shows.
them live is like quantum
country-wide fan base – including
he’s just cutting through it.
Is that sense of arrival scary
leaping back to the onstage
at all?
chemistry of Johnny Cash
the likes of Dan Malloy and The
Quinn and Jill Andrews
Drifter soundtrack collaborator,
That also explains your raucous
Bob: There’s nervous excitement.
and June Carter.
Jon Swift – as diverse as their
live shows and songs that stick
But I think we’ve always been
www.theeverybodyfields.com
blend of old-timey bluegrass,
to a punk rock structure of
moving towards something,
indie-pop punk and southern
compact arrangements and
and we just keep moving… No
grace. They’ve crafted albums filled
a clear message.
matter what people perceive as
Old Crow Medicine Show
with painstaking arrangements,
Seth: I wouldn’t call it a
worthwhile, or who may like us or
The six strong old-time string
inspired lyrics that speak to the
conscious reaction. We just tend
follow us, we’re always gonna do
band from Nashville may
most timeless emotions, and
to be drawn to music that has a
what we do. Because it’s what
be more traditional than
created a tireless live show that
little more punch, is a little more
we’ve always done.
the Avetts but they possess
leaves crowds breathless.
concise and understandable.
Scott: I believe most artists live
the same ability to ignite a
Scott: The other thing is that
in this pretend world from the
sense of Americana in the
So, what’s with the banjo?
words are priority. Every song
moment they get focused. They
hearts of people who have
Scott: Well, when we started
starts as a poem. And if we like it,
think, ‘I should be doing this in
never stepped foot on the
playing with old-timey and
then the song’s a done deal.
front of millions of people.’ I hear
continent.
bands all the time that nobody
www.crowmedicine.com
bluegrass, I wanted to pick an instrument that was farthest from
At the same time, you
knows and think, ‘The whole world
the melodic hard rock that we
appeal to a bluegrass and
should hear them!’ I don’t feel
were doing before. Plus the banjo
jam band crowd – fans who
any different about what we’ve
The Felice Brothers
is something I had a tie with from
traditionally like more complex
been doing. But I think a lot of
This family effort is a folk
watching Kermit the Frog play
instrumentation. How do you
people are capable of that but
rock three-piece hailing
when I was a kid – you know, in
explain the connection?
don’t even know it. I will say we’ve
from upstate New York and
the canoe? Those melodies and
Bob: I think they see the
busted our ass, man. But I just
featuring siblings James
that romantic vibe. There’s such a
genuineness of our music.You can’t
love playing for people. If it helps
and Ian Felice. Their moody
dark side to it that I was liking.
say that music is only good when
people on top of that, in any way,
creations bare a strong
Seth: It makes sense he’d be
it’s jammed out for a long time…
we’re all for it. We’re absolutely
resemblance to Neil Young
drawn to this instrument that
You can appreciate them all.
honoured. Matt Walker
for all the right reasons.
gets your attention, because the
Seth: It’s not just why do jam
banjo has an explosiveness to
band fans like us? It’s why
106 HUCK
www.thefelicebrothers.com
www.theavettbrothers.com
107
Scott Avett. Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. Photo: Lindsey Best.
lilKurt wayne vile Childish Prodigy Rebirth Matador Island As Soathe solo massively artist, Kurtdelayed, Vile, who day-jobs sort-of-follow-up-but-also-a-rap-rockas the guitarist in indie rockers digression The War On to Lil Drugs, Wayne’s is a singer-songwriter chart-obliterating whoTha sounds Carter as ifIIIhe finally was breast-fed gets a release, The Velvet justUnderground as Weezy himself and Richard is about Hell. toHe’s be sent rough, down electric, for what fervent, might frombe Philly asbut long drawls as alike year a New in chokey. Yorker, and Firstly, only it’sifnot yousuch ripped a weird off allthing the gorgeous for him to sonic do a slop rock that record he muddies – New his Orleans songs musicians with would you hear never something think in boxes approaching and hisBon label, Iver.Cash It’s a deserved Money, isn’t signing just to a the rap excellent label. Wayne’s Matadoralso Records the after kind aoflower-key dude todebut completely in 2008ignore – least all notreasonable because you’ll advice hear him andsay do“sheeeeeeit” exactly what likehe he’s shouldn’t Clay Davis (like in The stashing Wire. Great guns record, and and weed Kurt inVile his is tour actually bus).his Hence real name. we begin Nice.with Phil guitar shredding, stadium drums and… autotuned Hebblethwaite vocals. It gets worse: R&B gets awkwardly thrown into the mix; now we’ve gone all eighties super-pop; now more finger-tapping axe-work and horrible vocal styling. It all adds up to some kind of eccentric mash-up from deepest outer space – funny, genius and heinous at the same time. The “fuck her anyway!” refrain that ends the album is a theme. The price is wrong! And this cough-syrupslurping nutjob is the biggest recording artist in the universe. Brilliant. Phil Hebblethwaite
listen
the Melvins gonjasufi
listen
A Sufi And Chicken Switch A Killer Ipecac Warp On paper, Best album a Melvins of the year remix soalbum far, and is aitreally seems annoying to haveand come unnecessary out of idea, but these nowhere. Gonjasufi sludge , arockers reformed inspire junky and, who mlace, livesin inathe good Mojave way, and often most Desert, wasmental picked and upfoul. by LA-based PH producers Flying Lotus and Gaslamp Killer and the three have pieced together a samplebased but analogue-sounding masterwork that’s a bit of everything, including being glitchy, angry, deeply spiritual and rocking. The guy’s got rare depth and the clue to the contrasting nature of his personality is in the title. Highly righteous. PH
gil scott heron Pens
Hey Friend What You De Stijl I’mDoing? New Here XL Some dude man from Vice says Gil on the bumph comes Soul/jazz from magazine the seventies Scott Heronthat could die with Pens’ debut that the best new BritishWill band Take a happy knowing thatthey’re he cut ‘The Revolution Notaround. Be Televised’ bow, buddy, youth counts for something, never and, because holy shit,although he’s almost killed himself numerousit times, excuses making Hoxton bunkum an order as later high as this. adopting a gigantic coke habit music in the of eighties and doing For thirty seconds, are okay live, but record is so intensely prison time asPens a consequence. Thistheir comeback record is a the halfre-imagining. hour of your life you lost listening to honcho it. Avoid, like dog shit. PH total Produced by head of London’s XL Recordings Richard Russell, it has a completely unexpected, almost trip-hop sound and is nicely twisted and dark. PH
listen
rough the raveonettes trade shops Counter In And Out Culture Of Control 09 Co-op Fierce Panda This Weirdis record. the album Of course that does everyall Raveonettes the work for album you; sounds a double theCD compilation same, despitereleased what they atsay, thebut beginning that’s notofthe each problem year (they of tracks selected always sound by the great). über-boffi What’s nsbizarre that work is that atmany London’s songs premier on this independent fourth LP wrap record seriouslyshop. dark More themes than in pure just a sugar collection pop, just of like ‘He excellent Hit Me (It Felt tracks Like (Pissed A Kiss)’ by Jeans, The Crystals The xx, Kid did.Congo, But where Thethat Very 1962 Best, Fists, hit is unsettling etc. all feature), and clever, it works a track outlike as ‘Boys a barometer Who Rape of (Should the twelve Be months Destroyed)’ juston gone hereinis music. totally misguided So, 2009: not and too completely shabby at stupid. all. PH PH
108 HUCK
Kick-Ass Director: Matthew Vaughn Layer Cake director Matthew Vaughn unleashes a bubble gum blitzkrieg of pure pop cinema in this riotously funny and bonesnappingly violent comic-book adaptation. Aaron Johnson is pitch perfect as Dave Lizewski, an everyday loser-turned-‘wetsuit crusader’ called Kick-Ass. Teaming up with homicidal heroes Big Daddy (Nic Cage) and Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz), alongside fellow DIY loser Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), Kick-Ass finds himself embroiled in a plan to take down local mob boss Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong), with spectacularly bloody results. Co-written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman from Mark Millar's creator-owned comic, Kick-Ass is a breath of fresh air in the superhero genre. Made for 'just' $30 million, it's a fizzing carnival of decapitations, gun smoke and head shots, peppered with the righteous foul mouth of the truly deranged. Matt Bochenski
traile
r
capitalism: A love story
traile
r
Director: Michael Moore A lecture from millionaire Michael Moore on the evils of capitalism? Sounds about as edifying as a lesson in food hygiene from Hannibal Lector. Still, this engaging if scattershot documentary may not tell you anything you don’t already know, but as a heartfelt call to arms it has its moments. MB
Micmacs
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet Anybody who still hasn’t recovered from the saccharine overdose of Amélie may want to steer clear of Micmacs, the latest from the inimitable Jean-Pierre Jeunet. But they’ll be missing out on a wildly imaginative extravaganza as Dany Boon takes aim at the arms companies who’ve left him with a bullet lodged precariously in his skull. Dwarfs, contortionists and retro-punk production design round off the usual quirks. MB
traile
r
the girl with the dragon tattoo
traile
r
Director: Niels Arden Oplev Stieg Larsson’s Swedish smash hit gets a big screen makeover. Only it doesn’t, really. This first part, in which journalist Mikael Blomkvist and fucked-up hacker Lisbeth Salander join forces to solve the mysterious disappearance of a young girl, was actually produced for Swedish TV. And how it shows. Still, the novel’s tawdry bits have made the transition intact if graphic rape and violence float your boat. MB
samson and delilah Director: Warwick Thornton This dust-choked anti-ode to the Aboriginal experience is a meditative and quietly tragic tale of two loners in an isolated community whose existential yearning translates into a life scattered on the rocks of drug abuse and abandonment. Full of hope, anguish, sorrow and redemption, this is a powerful and unique work from an exciting new filmmaker. MB
110 HUCK
traile
r
NORTHWEST TASMANIA 40 DEGREES SOUTH 6-STAR WORLD QUALIFYING SERIES MOBILE SURF CONTEST
NORTHWEST TASMANIA 40 DEGREES SOUTH 6-STAR WORLD QUALIFYING SERIES MOBILE SURF CONTEST
Aliens vs. Predator Xbox 360, PS3, PC Let’s face it, the cut-and-shut franchise of Aliens vs. Predator is pretty appalling. But after two dismal films that shat on fans’ beloved memories, the video game incarnation actually fairs a lot better. Set on a Weyland-Yutani space colony gone wrong, the three different campaign modes in this first-person shooter allow you to play as either the Marines, the Predator or the Xenomorph (for all the Alien geeks out there) to unpick the whole ultra-violent story. And gore is very much in the game’s raison d’être with all corpses left torn, severed or just down right skewered. But it’s the game’s Survivor mode that will keep you hooked with its arcade, high-score-chasing gameplay, which sees you battle with infinite waves of aliens – okay, Xenomorphs – until you get overwhelmed and killed. In a nod to the original film series, actor Lance Henriksen has also been drafted in to lend his gravelly voice to the deceptively benevolent Bishop, but where the hell is Ellen Ripley when you need her?! Ed Andrews
Endless Ocean 2: Adventures of the Deep Wii Games don’t always have to be about killing people, and Endless Ocean 2 is just the sort of game to prove this. Squeeze yourself into a frogman suit and dive into the big blue, hunting down forgotten treasures, taking photos and generally just soaking up the marine life. With its snail-like pace, it’s very much a laidback, soothing affair but after a few hours, your harpoon trigger finger may get a little itchy. Ed A
Dante’s Inferno Xbox 360, PS3 Based on the Fourteenth Century poems documenting the sins of humanity, Dante’s Inferno is not your average happy-go-lucky game. This moralistic action platformer has you battling mankind’s carnal shortcomings – such as greed, lust and gluttony – in seven different worlds. You have the chance to either punish or absolve your enemies of their sins, rewarding their saintliness with various bonuses and power-ups, allowing you to chose your own sanctimonious path through the game. One for the fire and brimstone crowd. Ed A
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars iPhone/iPod Touch Squeezing last year’s DS GTA game onto the iPhone is no mean feat, but they’ve done it. You play as Huang Lee, the son of a murdered triad set on a path to avenge the death of his father. In typical GTA style, you have to make your grubby way through the underworld, undertaking various missions such as robberies, drive-by shootings and the odd spot of drug dealing. But it’s the small side puzzles that add variety to the gameplay. Although the ‘virtual’ touch controls can get a little fiddly, it’s still utterly absorbing. All fitting nicely in your sweaty palms. Amazing. Ed A
112 HUCK
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Photography: Jussi Oksanen.
ncer Murphy. Les Arcs, France. Photo: Spe
Silas woke on the last morning of the holiday to the sound of avalanches being detonated in the mountains, and peered out the window at a blur of whirling flakes. He shook his brother awake, but Bijan rolled over and murmured something about the bus meeting them at noon. Silas momentarily considered the unmade heap of clothes covering the floor of his bedroom before slipping into his jacket and pants and creeping out the door. By 10.30am he had nailed some of the best runs of his life – powder faces untouched, forest floors lost beneath a blanket of fresh snow. He had begun thinking he could stay out another hour and still have time to pack when he found himself sharing a lift with a snowboarder who looked startlingly like Bill Murray. The man caught him looking as the chair hoisted them over the snow-crowned treetops. “I know,” said the man. “Bill Murray.” “You must hear it a lot.” “You could say that.” The man lit a cigarette and peered at his watch. “Enter Angela,” he said, pointing to an opening in the forest where there suddenly emerged a tumbling bundle of bright clothing and overlapping skis. The woman rolled a few metres downhill before coming to rest in a tangle of limbs. “Morning Ange!” shouted the man, and she looked up with puzzlement as they passed. “I keep telling her she needs to tighten her turns before attempting tree runs.” Cold fingers were travelling down Silas’ spine. “How did you know that was going to happen?” “Your name is Silas. Your favourite film is Dead Man. You keep a fan on even in winter because you can’t sleep without white noise and you wear your dad’s old prayer beads around your neck for luck.” “How are you doing this?”
A poss fictionibly al short s t by Cyr ory, Shahr us ad.
The man flicked his cigarette off the edge of the lift. “I wake up every day, right here in this resort, and it’s always February 2nd. And there’s nothing I can do about it.” “Like in the movie?” “Yeah.” The man sighed. “Like in the movie.” They rode a while in a silence broken only by the whirr of cables overhead. “Wasn’t there a reason he was reliving the same day in that film? Something to do with that redneck chick off the L’Oreal ads?” “Something like that.” “So what’s your mission? What are you supposed to make happen before you’re allowed to get on with your life?” “I’ve been wondering that for more than thirty years.” They were approaching the lift station. “Problem is, I don’t really want to know. Every morning I swear I’ll start looking into it, and every morning I decide to have just one more powder day.” They shunted off the lift and paused at the top of the mountain to buckle their bindings. The blizzard had softened, and the first rays of sunlight were breaking up the wash of grey cloud. “The only thing I can think of,” said the man, “is the avalanche.” “What avalanche?” “The one that gets triggered about ten minutes from now. Three deaths, a couple of broken limbs. One person dug out after being trapped for fifteen minutes. I figure maybe I’m supposed to stop it happening, but I’m too scared to find out in case I bring this day to an end.” The man had already begun sliding down the hill as Silas called after him. “Do I get caught in it?” “You always ask that,” the man shouted back, disappearing a moment later beyond the curtain of falling snow.