City and Sticks: Issue 2

city and sticks issue 2

INSIDE 02 04 08 12 14

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faster than robots barcelona 2009 joel benjamin woodbridge skatepark latitude 2009

FASTER THAN

ROBOTS

Lowestoft trio Faster Than Robots ventured over to the big city to play the Edward VII in Norwich a little whild ago, having managed to miss several of their previous gigs I was glad they were playing just down the road from where I live, gave me no excuses not to go.

Boy was I glad I went, they played a brilliantly energetic set, with the closest band I can compare them to being Dinosaur Jr.

More gigs coming up 28th May - Waterfront 2nd August - King Edward VII myspace.com/stillfasterthanrobots

BARCELONA 2009 - THE MONTH LONG GETAWAY It seems the perfect plan to getaway from the credit crunch and economic downturn. Disappear to sunny Barcelona, rent an apartment for a month and go skating nearly everyday.

After popping over to visit them, I have to admit it’s a good idea for anyone lucky enough to get a decent redundancy payout!

(here) Mike Mann Back Tail at the re-vamped Sants (right) Tommy May Ollie into British style crusty bank

More Photos Head online for another sequence and some non skate photos www.cityandsticks.co.uk

Tommy May Fakie 5-0 180 Out on the lovely ledge at Espanya

INTERVIEW

WITH ILLUSTRATOR JOEL BENJAMIN

How/when did you first take an interest in drawing?

I’ve drawn for as long as I can remember. Looking back, my earliest memories of drawing involve me sitting at the coffee table for hours on end drawing Transformers or superhoeroes fighting, and doing all the sound effects as I drew them. There is a primary school teacher who still knows me from when I was in her class, she asks if im still drawing whenever we bump into each other. So to me its something I’ve always done. I was really into comics when I was little, so I think those where what fuelled my interest.

What made you choose the line of illustration over the other disciplines?

Through process of elimination really, it wasn’t my original intention. During my Foundation course in Norwich I came to a point of major indecision when we were asked to choose a subject to specialise in. The main choice was between Fine Art or Graphic Design, and since both involved drawing pictures of some description, which was all I wanted to do, I couldnt choose which to go for. I opted for Graphic Design but soon decided it looked too neat, tidy and calculated for me so I ended up doing Fine Art. I stuck with it but wasn’t accepted by the university for a degree course because at the time I was really bad at talking about my work and the ideas behind it. From those experiences I decided that I needed to find a middle way between the two, Illustration was just that.

Who/what are some of your general influences?

At the moment my favourite Illustrators are those whose work lends itself to Graphic Novels and editorial Illustration pieces. For example; Matthew Woodson, Jillian Tamaki and Craig Thompson. I check their blogs all the time and they make some beautiful work, you can tell that they are keen observers of people too.

In recent years Ive been led to research Art history more and very much like the classical paintings of Durer, Raphael, Titian and Vermeer. It feels important to me to have a knowledge of those artists who set the foundations for painting all those years ago. I get inspired a lot by Fashion photography and just seeing people out and about, whatever I come across that makes me think “Crikey, thats beautiful!”.

As you’re a fellow skater, do you take much influence from the skateboarding world/media?

Yes, a lot I would say. Skateboarding seems to me to have an aesthetic outlook all of its own, and if you spend a lot of time pouring over skate mags and watching videos you start to see things that way too.

Board companies seem to all have their own look and attitude that is expressed through their graphics.

Back when I was a bit more impressionable I used to think that to buy (for example) an Alien Workshop deck was to take on their whole ethos, which would in turn affect how I’d choose to draw things. Different brands in skateboarding promote a slightly different aesthetic to suit different peoples tastes. All of these things have had big influence on my outlook and visual understanding of things, as they are what I have fed myself on for quite some time.

Skateboarding photography has had a large influence on me too. Back when I was younger I would read a lot of comics. The imagery in comics is full of glamorous figures posturing and extravagant ways making purposeful gestures which help to tell the story. The same is true in classical Art where every aspect of the figures depicted and the things around them have a meaning of some sort. Everything is usually arranged very carefully. Skateboarding photography however, portrays things and people very differently. Skaters are often captured in very unconventional positions while executing tricks, and there is a lot of extreme foreshortening. Skaters arms point off in seemingly random directions as they try to maintain balance and form shapes that arent really seen anywhere else.

Also the landscapes can often be abandoned urban environments and other usually mundane places that would otherwise have little visual interest. As an art form skate photography shows the world in a totally different way to the norm and this I think affects the artwork inspired by it.

My favourite thing about skateboard culture is that it often means you spend a lot of time outdoors away from crowds of people, so you develop a nice connection with nature. I think that has influenced my work a bit too.

Are you working on any projects at the moment?

I have some ongoing work with Smash Skates in Beccles currently. Ash, the shop owner, asked me if I’d like to paint some designs on blank decks to then be made into wall clocks. We’ve made two so far and they have both sold successfully, so we’re going to continue making those. Other than that I have a small list of portrait commissions to work through and Im currently building a website to sell art materials through with The Upstairs Gallery in Beccles. With any luck 2009 will be a productive year.

Finally any parting messages, thank yous etc?

I’d just like to wholeheartedly thank all my family and friends, and anyone who has given me sound advice.

For the full interview and to see more of Joel’s work go online to www.cityandsticks.co.uk Also don’t forget to check out Joel’s website too:www.joelbenjamin.co.uk

WOODBRIDGE NICE NEW SKATEPARK On a day that started at Woodbridge skatepark as a warm-up session before some real street, this park ended up being the best part of the day.

With super smooth floor, nice transitions and cool little manual/grind block, it beats a windy wasteland spot or a wet ditch any day (I’m sure if the weather had been better I might not being saying that).

However this park is a fine example of how councils finally understand they can’t get away with building shoddy tin can parks anymore.

The skatepark is tucked behind the Deben Swimming Pool within a stone’s throw from the train station for easy access. Find it on Google Maps if your unsure, or coming via car. It’s definitely worth a visit if your on your way to Ipswich as a warm up, although you might find you get stuck as it’s pretty fun.

Ash Lever - Tailslide into Bank Checkout the website for more photos from Woodbridge skatepark

LATITUDE 2009 GET IN THE MOOD FOR SUMMER The award winning Latitude returns to Henham Park in Suffolk over the weekend of 16th-19th July 2009, organisers Festival Republic are touting Latitude as the perfect British summer destination. Having been to two out of the three festivals so far, I can pretty much agree with this suggestion due to it’s beautiful setting being a stone’s throw away from the wonderful seaside town of Southwold.

So far this year’s line-up includes:Obelisk Arena Petshop Boys, Grace Jones and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Doves, Editors, Patrick Wolf, White Lies, Pretenders, Regina Spektor, Uncut Arena Squeeze, Mew, Ladyhawke, Magazine, Newton Faulkner, Bat for Lashes, Spiritualized, Gossip Comedy Arena Jo Brand, Dave Gorman, Tim Vine, Janeane Garofalo, Stephen K Amos, Phil Nicol, Charlie Baker, Miles Jupp, Matt Kirshen, Seann Walsh, Ed Byrne, Mark Thomas, Adam Hills, Sean Lock Check out our Latitude 2009 on the website, which we will keep up to date with all the latest confirmations.

Get tickets at www.latitudefestival.co.uk

Franz Ferdinand Seeing last year’s headlining act on the massive Obelisk stage was a long way from the waterfront where I last saw them supporting Hot Hot Heat

thanks for reading

all photos, writing and design copyright Š stephen keable 2009 skeable@cityandsticks.co.uk if you want to advertise, write or supply photos e-mail: help@cityandsticks.co.uk