My friend Steven was driving the car, my brother Fayssal was riding shotgun. My friend Blok (Kristof) was in the back on the right, I was in the middle and Koenraad was on the left. We were driving at around 90 km per hour when somebody overtook us quickly. And just when he gets back in front of us his car breaks down and we drive straight into the back of it. Fayssal, Steve and me were unharmed but Blok and Koenraad got a broken nose and broken eye socket between them. Blok’s scalp had opened from his eyebrow all the way to the back of his head. I thought I was going to see him die in front of my eyes – really fucked up. We had had a really good evening skating at Area 51 and then just five minutes from home that happened.  Everything’ s alright with both the guys now, so we can’t really complain, I could’ve just as easily gone through the windshield. A blessing in disguise…

I’m fine. Skating a lot, hope you’re good as well, aside from the shitty weather.

I’ve been staying over at James Craigs’ in Fullerton for about two weeks now. That’s the first part of Orange County, about 40 minutes from downtown L.A.

I’ve thought about that already, but for the time being I’m just going to keep going back and forth. I can only stay three months at a time anyway.

Of course, from the moment I knew it was possible to live from skating that was all I ever wanted to reach in life!

Nollie to fakie.

Of course, everyone imagines it a bit differently than it really is. I thought that everyone here went skating everyday, from the morning until the evening because the weather is so good, but there’s quite a bit more to it than just skating. There are always some things that aren’t so nice, but that goes for every job or anything else in life.

I guess that’s what every skater would want eventually. So, yeah, it’s definitely one of my goals. I can’t say anything about it really. It could happen next week, or next year… you never know. The board company you skate for decides when you go pro and then you’re pro for all the other companies you ride for as well.

The pressure that is put on you. There are always high expectations to live up to but things usually seem to work out for the best if you just skate and have fun with it. Also, the more you travel to the States the more trouble they give you at customs, so that’s always quite a process to go through. Then you still have to figure out where you’re going to sleep, and find people that are motivated and skate a lot. Then again, during the week there’s not a lot of stuff to skate anyway, weekends are the best.

Most of it is probably just me. I do it without realising. Everybody can do almost every single thing right now, so it’s hard to come out with something new, which is what I want to do. I don’t think it’s bad to put yourself under a little bit of pressure to become better, or do something you wouldn’t normally dare to do.

Frontside half cab flip manual.

The battle is always going to be there, but that actually motivates me to try new stuff. It actually gets a bit easier with time because you can estimate everything better.

When I go out and try to film every day for a week and I don’t like any of the spots or it’s just not working out, sometimes I get sick of it, but a day later I’m already skating again.

He’s a roofer. He works five, sometimes six days out of seven, from 6 in the morning until 5 or 6 at night and he still plays football and skates after work or on his days off. I could never do that.

He used to always win but now it’s usually me!

Frontside flips, nollie double flips…

There’s a couple of tricks but it’s always hard finding the right spot to do them.

Back smith.

Yeah, I’ve noticed that too. The thing is I’ve always skated a lot of transition, people just never saw me do it. Of course, skating with other people makes you skate different spots and learn different tricks as well.

There were a couple of other options but I had met Lewis (Marnell) six months before and he said I should come and skate for Almost. We spent another month and a half in the States together afterwards, he’d arranged everything for us that time, thanks again, Lewis. I didn’t know who to skate for because everyone was saying something else and then I thought, “Who do I want to skate for?” Almost!

I haven’t had the chance to skate with Rodney yet and when I’m out with Daewon we usually go to a skatepark or a mini ramp. The spots he skates aren’t easy to get tricks on.

Yes, lots of suggestions, I can’t really think of many things to do in a mini ramp.

My bag of tricks is pretty limited in a mini ramp, though, so don’t expect too much.

Front Blunt revert.

Obama won last night, I haven’t left the house yet.

Yeah, I always used to play that whenever it rained. I have no idea what my longest combo was, though. Maybe around ten minutes with the perfect cheat.

No idea. I’ve done a lot of dumb combos but I can’t really think of one.

Switch 180 5-o.

Yeah, I’ve always been a P-Rod fan and I guess I always will be. One of the best skaters in my eyes, not just his skating but everything surrounding it as well. I’ve got a lot of respect for the fact that he’s still as down to earth as he is. Impressive.

Not because of who he is anymore, but I’m definitely still impressed by his skating every time. I skate with him like I skate with anybody else, though.

Skating changes and styles change too. I don’t think it’s a conscious thing, though. If there’s anyone that doesn’t need to think about that it’s Paul. I wouldn’t say he has lost in style, he just changed.

The good food in Belgium. Year-round good weather in L.A. .

I miss everything my mom makes. When I’m in the States I eat pizza, hamburgers, French toast, Mexican food and a lot more unhealthy stuff.

Switch frontside salad grind.

No, I don’t, but it was cheap!

In Belgium we skate the skatepark every day and go out filming maybe two or three times a month. Out here in L.A. I’m going from spot to spot, day in day out. I can’t really say one works better than the other. Skating always comes and goes anyway. In Belgium it usually works out pretty well because I’m in my personal environment. Eating and sleeping at home does a lot already. There’s more to skating spots than just feeling good, though. Everything has to be arranged, the spot has to be somewhat decent, and in the end you need a little bit of luck to not get kicked out and land your trick.

The spots in Belgium are about as good as they are over here, but in the States a hundred tricks have been done everywhere, so It’s actually easier to come up with something in Belgium.

Doesn’t really matter to me, both are good.

I’ve never gotten to film or shoot a lot of photos in Belgium and I think that’s important.

To show that it’s possible too, I guess. That’s about it.

Half cab nose grind to switch 5-o

It was, actually, but it could’ve just as well all been shots from the States, too.

I liked it better before, waiting for a video to come out and watching it every day for six months straight. They still meant something to everyone, now there are five minute parts coming out that get watched for a week and then just get forgotten, because there’s already fifty new parts that came out.

Magazines and photographers have a harder time as well, because everybody just throws all the footage on the internet.  We can’t really change anything about it, we can just keep having fun and doing our own thing.

Hardflip (click on the photo to see the sequence). 

Portrait by Gaston Francisco and words by Alex

Hello, yeah, luckily I got the chance to go on a DC Oz and New Zealand tour. I’ve never been south of the equator and basically used my first chance to go out there. I would have loved to attend the Awards, but these kind of travel opportunities don’t come too often, you know? Besides the rad crew, it’s got best hillbombs, nice beaches and pie.

Hmmm, yes it was. I am very thankful to my sponsors for giving me this chance. Red Bull even went over budget to do our DIY skatepark – something for the local community. Besides the two video parts, which I actually did over about two years it was a cool year travelling, living in London, going to the US, China, Morocco. Every day has been a blessing, learning new things and carrying on.

Basically, I was studying business for 4 years, and in the end chose to go for a Business Management with Marketing degree. The main reason of this choice was that the name of the degree has two parts to it; it’s like a two in one you know? I am very happy I don’t need to go sit in the library no more, it’s quite some stress thinking about upcoming exams and deadlines.

I did 3 years in Barcelona and one in London, thus living in Skateboarding capitals, [I figured] going out on missions wouldn’t be hard, and travelling either, as I had good relationships with the tutors and the school in BCN was private. Actually studying Business is as easy as eating pie if you didn’t know. I looked at it as a battle with time, where I must get the most out of it, because time goes on and you can’t stop it. So in order to pass the exams I would study as much as I could during those days.

Frontside wallride. Ph: Chami

Herculean? Ha! The real problem came when I had to pay my tuition the second year, getting a degree is expensive mate! I wrote a fairly big letter to the director of my school to get a discount in exchange for promotion. I filmed videos for my University, they printed me stickers and I got a decent size discount and could continue my student life in Barcelona. I want to thank ESEI International School, the times were rad as the school was on the top of a hill in BCN and every night would be a 15-minute hillbomb back from school. I think going to University and getting knowledge is okay, it’s just a pity it costs so much and that it sucks you into the system that sometimes forgets sharing and empathy for the other. Treat your neighbor as you’d like to be treated, I say.

Yes, my family was doing really hard financially and we were seriously considering me not finishing my studies in Barcelona. But the director of the University was a very nice fellow and I had a feeling they would accept this kind of a bartered deal. I had to do some promotional talking for the University and a little bit of downhill bombing at the very end of the video. The video is a bit embarrassing, trust me! The bottom line though is that I got 30% off the school fee and that let me continue the gorgeous Barcelona life!

I was going to finish what I started. My sponsors understood my priorities very well, they are good folks I must say. It was just tough for me to go on tours for four days where the whole thing would be 10 days or two weeks. There was not much pressure, I’d like to think, although some people would always ask for few more final bangers, you know?  I think I started filming for projects fairly early to make it on time, especially with the Element Am video.

I got an e-mail from a friend saying that I got a few nominations, I thought it was awesome that people recognised my skateboarding. You know, it just hypes me up for more knowing that people like what I do, it is good encouragement!

Regarding my victory, as I said it is an amazing encouragement for future progress and creation. I guess I can say it fuels me for more; it raises my thirst for better videoparts. Besides that it means a lot to my family and friends who have supported me along the way. I used to go on very long drives with my parents across Europe to participate in contests and events, they would come skate the spot with me kind of. It’s funny to look back at it, all the arguments I had with my stepdad… I’m certainly happy I didn’t have to win any contests to get this award.

I hope and promise that this will not make a big-headed fool out of me, we all skate for fun, remember?

Backside powerslide front shov. Ph: Chami

I think Jesus is one of Europe’s best OG skaters and as a true G he stays cool, [he’s] always got a smile on his face and lives true like a child. I’m happy he got the videopart of the year!

The idea for my awards speech was to use some of the comments from the Readers’ Choice voting page. One thing and another it never happened but we had some interesting opinions voiced online. I’m going to give you some of the excerpt from one of them and I’m asking you to answer them:

There are different people in this world, there are different interpretations of skateboarding in this world. For some it’s a contest, for some it’s a form of rebellion. For me it is creating and inspiring the youths. Does Edgar remember how it was to be young and remember first contests, battles with his mates? I see this list as a celebration of good, as something that keeps the industry on their toes. It’s a good promotion of Skateboarding I reckon, appropriate for the digital era.

I voted for Jesus Fernandez as he is an OG and after all those videoparts he’s done and we have loved to watch, he filmed another full part. There are various things that matter, people vote for the European Skater of the Year and they vote for whom they wish, whether they prefer pure shredding or long term involvement, style and motivation. It is a personal choice I guess.

Pole Jam 50-50. Ph: Chami.

The people is not stupid. This vote has been totally manipulated.

Ha ha, John is absolutely right. Latvian people have been awarded as having the loudest and most supporting fans in hockey several times. This can be applied to any other sport or voting competition. We support our people, and the web’s tendrils were vibrating high during the Readers Choice votes. Besides that I also have a few friends that are good hackers and can manipulate the system, thanks for the support!

I want to say One Love to people, remember about the other skaters next to you and support your local skatescene. Thanks for this interview!

When I first heard about Julien Benoliel’s invitational best trick contest at the DIY bowl he built I was a little sceptical. I knew he would invite the right people but at the same time that thing is so ridiculously tight that I just couldn’t see how anyone could do proper tricks in it, even dropping in feels gnarly. I can’t believe some of the shit that Karsten, Fernando and Jarne managed to do…

Juju obviously smashed it.

The Volcom europe team ( Eniz, Axel…) also came down for a little demo…

Karsten was doing some nice frontside crooked grinds…

Jelle Keppens hung up a few photos.

Tommy Guerrero played some music.

Bud, Marseille’s first real skateshop in almost 10 years finally opened it’s doors.

For more information about the events to come (Cliché and Lakai demos, the Wu-Tang concert, etc.) visit This Is Not Music‘s official website.

Out of all the people in Copenhagen, Hjalte is probably the one who spends most time on his skateboard. If you’re going skating, you can always throw a text in Hjalte’s direction and be pretty certain he’ll pedal up to the spot in his Carhartt camo-pants. But Hjalte is much more than just one of Denmark’s best skaters. To tell you the truth, the man is so bursting with energy some might say he verges on ADHD. Aside from skateboarding, he plays football for “Motor 08” and wrestles the Atlantic waters on the schooner Opal. On board this fair ship, he has crossed the Atlantic, sailed the Caribbean Straits and swum naked with dolphins. If one day you find yourself in Copenhagen beholding a broad Viking with a red face and high-pitched laughter, hacking it full-speed, you can be sure it’s The Beast getting about. Yeppah!

- Nis Andersen

“If you’re pro and don’t have any goals, chances are you will get nothing done. With Hjalte, if you tell him you need things, like ‘We need photos, we have a deadline for an ad, we need an interview’ and so on, he focuses and thrives on it.”

– Pontus Alv

Walking into Bryggeriet Skatepark on a November Tuesday, I find the park in full swing. Leaving what appears to be a session at its peak are Hjalte Halberg and Pontus Alv. 

Front Board. Ph: Emil Hvilsom.

Done skating?

Yep. We’re done.

We take a seat outside the teacher’s lounge of Bryggeriets Gymnasium.

I’ve been told you don’t mix skating and chilling.

That’s true. I don’t mind chilling with skaters, but I sometimes prefer chilling with other people. If I’m in a skatepark, it’s mainly to skate. If my board is there and there is stuff to skate, I can’t help but want to skate it. I skate until I’m worn out and then it’s time to go home. That’s the best, actually; when you kind of get into a trance and you just skate, skate, skate and you sweat more and more and you get more and more warm until you’re completely fucked and then… straight home. I love that. You switch off completely. It’s almost like meditation; you’re mind is a blank. That’s rad.

How old are you and how old were you when you realised you look older than your age?

I’m twenty-five now. It’s funny, because all the way up to tenth grade I was the smallest guy in my class, then, in tenth grade, I just exploded and became massive.

Did you have any scores to settle?

Ha ha. Revenge-time.

Want to talk about graffiti?

Not really. I guess when you start skating or when you start painting, you never think you’re going to support yourself by doing it. You do it because you like doing it. I never thought I would make money from skateboarding. Ever. I got sponsored really late as well. All my friends got hooked up, but I never did. I was the kid who was just going fast back and forth all day long. I never thought this would happen. I’m completely surprised.

Back three. Ph: Nils.

Well then: welcome to life as a professional skateboarder. How is it?

It’s good. In the winter, I’m not so hyped on pro life, but overall it’s good. I just had the best summer of my life, travelling and skating. We had the Polar v. Palace tour in Malmö/Copenhagen. I’ve been to Costa Rica and New York as well. We rented an apartment there for two weeks. Amazing.

We have been on a lot of Polar camping tours too. We bought some pop-up tents; the ones you just throw in the air and boom: Polar Camp.  We travelled around Sweden filming for the Polar video. There should be a promo out by now actually. I went to London to film with one of my old Danish friends Emil Hvilsom for this really sick Danish project too. It’s called ‘Vores KBH´ which translates as ‘Our Copenhagen’. It’s out December 1^st.  Pontus and me will have a shared part.

How are you dealing with the winter?

This is my fist ‘pro skater winter’ and I’m not used to it. I usually work hard all winter, go on trips in spring and autumn and then stay in Denmark in the summer. This is the first time I need to figure out what the fuck I’m supposed to do with myself.

The truth is I’m really bad at doing nothing. I hate it. If two days pass where I don’t know what I’m doing, I get really foul-tempered. I really can’t do that whole thing where you sleep until two in the afternoon and think that’s cool. I need to have something that fills my day or else I go mental. So, lately I’ve been getting up on weekdays, thinking: “What are you doing? Get a job, earn some money. It’s raining every day. You can’t skate in the winter in this country.” You wake up on Monday, it hits ten and you’ve got no one to call.

Pontus: Welcome to pro life.

Frontside 180. Ph: Nils.

So you’re getting paid from Polar now?

Yep. Together with money from Nike, Carhartt and so on I can pay my rent, but I’m not rich or nothing. I’ve been working for about two days a week as a substitute teacher, but committing to more regular hours is hard when you travel all the time. I’m interested in pedagogics, but I dropped out of high school, so I need to catch up on that.  I’ve always wanted to work with kids, though. I worked almost three years in a kindergarten and have done skate-courses and so on.  I never, ever wanted to work in a skate store. Never.

I guess I need to develop another interest. I’ve started playing guitar a bit. [ironically] Maybe that’s what I’ll do after pro life, be a singer/songwriter, ‘Oooooh Yeeeah!’ I’m getting my driver’s license too.

I kind of think this is a problem, actually. I need another life than skating, so I don’t drain the fun out of it. Pontus found his filmmaking; I’ll find something too.

In between trips when the weather is shit I’m just trying to stay in shape. I’ve been swimming a lot. Went to the sauna today, actually. Early in the morning. There is a really good sauna in Christiania. Unisex.

Spa-lifestyle?

Actually, the first time I stayed over in Malmö after Polar was started, Pontus woke me up and said, ‘”Get up, you’re going to the masseuse.” I thought he was joking, but nope, he was serious, so there was nothing for it but going down there. Before breakfast: Thai massage.

Tell me about your sailing trip. 

My best friend Magnus’ parents spent their whole lives building a boat; a schooner. After sailing around the world seven times, they finally grew too old to sail it.  Then their sons took over the boat and Magnus became captain.  Two years ago he arranged a one-year round the world trip. It went along one of the classic trade routes: down to France, Portugal, then to Africa, Cape Verde, Brazil, the Caribbean, New York and then home. I was on the leg from Spain as far as New York and then flew home from there. Four months on board, working on the boat.

Front crook. Ph: Nils.

Fishing?

We did a lot of fishing there. Lots of fish. The biggest one was probably a 35 kg golden mackerel. We harpooned fish from the boat too, the water was clear enough to see the fish. And there was a pig called ‘Uffe’. When we crossed the Atlantic to Brazil, we bought a little pig that sailed with us from then on. Uffe got to eat the fish we caught every morning.

Did you eat Uffe?

We had planned to, but coming into Brazil, they are very particular about importing animals.  Unless you’ve got papers on your pig, you could go to jail or end up in a hairy situation. As soon as we got in, we gave the pig to a poor family. They were so stoked to get a fish-fed-fat pig they could eat. Either that or it has fucked up Brazil’s pig community forever.

Pontus: Was it strange being away from land for so long?

It was a little sketchy sometimes. When you are in the middle, it’s at least eight days each way. You can’t escape. We were seventeen people sailing, though, and there is always something to do. You work a shift and then chill, then work another shift. I read a lot of good books, cooked food and enjoyed the weather; there was always something to do.

Did you bring your board?

The captain is actually a really good skater. He used to ride for City Fellas: Magnus Maarbjerg. Every time we went ashore, it was session-time.

So you like travelling?

I’ve become addicted actually. If I stay at home too long I get restless and start thinking, “I can’t just be in Denmark all the time, there’s all these places I need to go to.” I’m going to Portugal on Tuesday.

Back tail heelflip out. Ph: Veldman.

What is it you like about travelling?

That it’s new. It’s a challenge. You don’t know what’s going to happen.  At home you are so comfortable and in your usual habits, but when you travel, you constantly have to adapt and take in new impressions.

What’s going on in Copenhagen? There are so many new spots cropping up all over, it’s insane. What’s going on with that?

They’ve ben developing the new harbour inlet and the town-planning department is currently set on building trendy, multifunctional spaces where they try to combine everything. ‘Modern playgrounds’ around basketball-courts and so on. Around Nørrebro, which used to be a bit ghetto, they’ve been building all these squares and public spaces designed for children and young people. There is one square surrounded by all these white banks and another one with a massive quarterpipe. Just now, they built this massive hip, which is sick. There’s new stuff all the time.

Is Copenhagen in danger of becoming a new Barcelona?

Nah. The weather isn’t good enough. But after CPH Pro, a lot of people have started doing tours here. Because Malmö is right next-door, a lot of companies do combined tours. It’s funny, because they tend to stay in Malmö and then do Copenhagen as a one-day trip, rather than the other way around. I think Malmö has had more of its spots seen in videos so people go there. You know; from Pontus and all his D.I.Y. shit [laughs].

Frontside ollie. Ph:Irvine.

Tell me about Jarmers Plads. 

Well, first there was always Faelledparken, but then, if you wanted to be ‘dope’ in Copenhagen, you had to skate Jarmers [Laughs]. At first I hated it; the ledges were so high and the ground so shit, but with time it got better and better and now I think it’s the best spot in the world. I skate there all the time.

People that come there react like I first did, but the ledges grind and slide better than anything. You just have to give it some time. It’s still the meet-up-spot. It’s all good vibes too. You can just come there and skate.

Since the bridge between Copenhagen and Malmö was built, the two scenes seem more intertwined. What do you think?

I think it’s because of the Bryggeriet skate-gymnasium. A lot of Danes come here all the time now because they go to the school. But there are still not that many Swedes in Denmark.

I was thinking about this yesterday and I think Copenhagen’s scene right now is really, very good. In Copenhagen, all the concrete-heads also skate with the ‘pretty boys’ and the nice kids. It’s mixed. There used to be a bit of beef between the rock kids and the hip-hop kids, but now it’s really good. There is no beef and a really good feeling of community.

Tre flip. Ph: Nils

How come everyone knows who you are? Are you ‘the face of Danish street-skating?’

Nah. That’s just in Sweden. Maybe in London too, from the connection between Polar and Palace, Jerome and so on, but not really. It’s true, though, I am one of the few who get any money from this. It’s me and Jonas Skrøder, apart from Rune, as far as I know. In Copenhagen I never get that “Ooooh, I’m famous” feeling.

Pontus: We’re working on it…

Well, Pontus has been pushing me a lot. Right when I got on Polar, he placed ads in all the magazines all over Europe, so of course you become a bit known, but I don’t think I’m very known, to tell the truth. It may also be that I was born and raised Copenhagen and have hung out with everyone who comes to visit, so that’s probably why people outside Denmark would know me.

How did you and Pontus meet up? How did you and Polar come about?

I’ve always known who he is. The first time I came to Malmö, I was crazy scared of Pontus. He was skating mad fast and doing nosebluntslides into people and screaming. He seemed crazy and I thought, ‘What a jerk,” right? But then I got on Carhartt and we started running into each other and ended up on one of their events at Sibbarp where he asked me for some footage for In Search of the Miraculous.  I ended up getting him some tricks that made it in, but it wasn’t until we went to New York on the Carhartt trip that we really hung out. That’s where he told me about the board brand and asked me if I wanted to be part of it.

Pontus: Hjalte was one of the first riders and it’s been good to get you out there and see you grow into it.

Yep, you’ve pushed me in a good way. When I got on, I was lacking a mission. I had Enjoi flow and it wasn’t clear where that was going. Carhartt is good, but that’s one tour a year, you know. But then Polar came and you were like, “We’re going to do this,” which whetted my appetite and we just started filming like crazy.

Kickflip from the “bump” to the curb cut. Ph: Nils 

Pontus: When you run a company, it’s your job to give the skaters you support, goals and direction. A professional skater without goals is lost.

[Hjalte] So they don’t turn into depressed alcoholics [laughs].

What does Polar add to skating. 

Hmm. We just follow our own heart, really. We make it less complicated, less polished. It’s not just that we don’t do HD and all that, but it’s the approach to tricks and skating overall. I don’t think Pontus would put a mad-tech skater on or a ‘strictly hammers’ skater on. It’s about basic skating, good speed and stuff that you get stoked from watching. It’s hard to really put a word on what it is that is special about what we do. But I do think it is unique. I think we’re doing something genuine: The graphics, the riders; everything. I really do think the company stands out. It’s simple. That’s one of the things I like about it: It’s accessible.

The whole team are homies too. We’re not all like that guy [points to Pontus, laughs]. Nah. He’s cool. Everyone on the team are nice guys.

What’s Pontus like as a ‘boss?’

He is really dope. He is clear on the need to produce things. He is tight.  And he is right to be too. He is a boss in a good way while he is also a homie.

What’s Next?

Polar: The Movie. It’ll be my first real videopart, so it’ll be blood, sweat and tears. The Kingpin interview, of course. It’s been quite hard, actually. Photos are hard for me to pull together. It’s easier with video. I can get footage fast, but photos are always a battle for me. I skate more lines and skate fast. A lot of what I do is skating fast and doing manuals, ledge-tricks and so on. That’s fine for video, but not so great for images. I can get sequences, but I don’t want too many sequences. You can put that in: This is why it’s taking so long, Alex!
No worries, I’m sure. Cheers, Hjalte. 

His section in VoresKBH:

A Japanse version of the interview can be found here.

Daniel Espinoza and Rick Howard.

Daewon, Daniel Castillo and James Craig lurking in the background.

The Nuge, Al and Dustin Dollin.

Nassim!

Ellington and Al.

J.B

The “Nuge”, Kenny Anderson, Brophy, Sammy Winter, Mike Carroll, Braydon, Herman and Shane Heyl

Sammy Winter and the man behind Bon Voyage: Boris Proust!

As you can see the flyer is in French but you should be able to just about make out what’s going on.

Marseille hasn’t had a proper skateshop in almost 10 years so to celebrate Bud skateshop’s grand opening the locals have organised a massive event that includes  Cliché (24/05) , Volcom (28/05) and Lakai (04/05) demos, Tommy Guerrero (26/04) and Wu-Tang (24/05)  concerts and an invitational contest on the ridiculously tight DIY bowl Julien Bénoliel is currently building…

Here are some photos of what the bowl looks like so far.

Marseille is also European capital for culture this year which means that tons of money has been invested into the development of new museum, theatres and art galleries as well as in the redevelopment of  run-down areas. This mean stuff to do when you aren’t skating and millions of  new spots to hit when you are skating. If  you were looking for a place to go on holiday during that period then believe me Marseille is your ideal destination. And I didn’t even mention the weather or the legendary bowl by the beach…

Check out this website for more info.

Photos by Jean Feil, words by Arthur Derrien.

One of the best things about skateboarding is its diversity. I can’t imagine there being another niche culture out there that offers such a wide spectrum of personalities. Do Sammy Baca, Wade Desarmo and Leo Valls really have anything in common other than the actual object they choose to have fun with? Well, not really. Their approach to skateboarding is so fundamentally different that it’s almost not the same activity. Yet they are all part of this same world, and I’m sure a lot of people would be able to admire all three of them on their individual merit.  Skateboarding wouldn’t be the same without the people who whole-heartedly dedicate themselves to a certain approach, and that’s exactly why interviews such as this one are so valuable. If someone has spent years unconditionally devoting themself to a vision, then they are bound to have a lot of interesting arguments to justify it. Leo Valls is a perfect example of this. His skating is the result of a thorough thought process and we are lucky enough to have him break it down for us.

Yeah I’ve been away quite a lot, I spent half of last year in SF, and then I went on that Magenta trip to Japan (featured in issue 109). After that I came back to Bordeaux for a bit and left again to go to New York… Now I’m back at home, in France, and it’s just rainy and cold. I can wait to get out of here…

Well my wife is American and she has to finish university in San Francisco, so we live there for half the year.

After we got married in 2011, I went to the American embassy to apply for a one-year tourist visa. The interview went really well and the immigration officer granted me a visa that allows me to go back and forth (between France and the States) as much as I want. The only condition is that I’m not allowed to stay in United States for more than six months at a time. For the moment I’m satisfied with the arrangement because I like coming back to France after having spent quite a long time out there. On the other hand, I’m not saying I won’t apply for a green card once we’ve decided where we want to live. Finding a new apartment every six months can sometimes be a bit complicated…

San Francisco I is a very pleasant city. Its hills, its architecture and its colours make it seem unique, especially from a foreign perspective. It’s a city where skating revolves around speed, control and simplicity. You learn to powerslide rather than push and to let yourself go. It teaches you to really enjoy how everything feels. Hill skating was quite common in the nineties, yet it seems to have gone out of fashion around the year 2000. I feel like it’s an aspect of skateboarding that should be developed. Even if the scene is quite divided, like in any other major city, it always felt welcoming. I feel well integrated and I’ve met some great people such a Ben Gore, Evan Kinori or Carlos Young…

Bordeaux, on the other hand, is a much smaller city; it’s quite dense. Its renovation, that started just over ten years ago, created a lot of new spots and with them came whole new generation of skaters. Its marble streets, its old buildings and its lights are part of its unique charm. These things are what I like about Bordeaux. They make it standout from any other city and they are the reason why it attracts so many out-of-towners. In a medium sized city with so many little spots, it’s easy to cruise around and let your creativity express itself freely.

I grew up in Bordeaux. My whole family lives there, along with my childhood friends and I know the city inside out. Everything is easy here, whether it’s skating or just going for a drink with friends. Vivien Feil even recently moved out here and has set up an office for Magenta. That doesn’t mean that I don’t feel like I need to be out of the city as often as possible, but Bordeaux remains my home no matter what.

I try to go to Japan every year. Throughout my trips, I got the chance to visit most of Japan’s major cities as well as exploring the countryside.

I also quickly became friends with some Japanese skaters; some of them even came to visit us in France. The bond we have is built from our common vision of skateboarding, a vision in which the aesthetic side prevails. Currently, in a time when the skateboarding isn’t going anywhere – in terms of technical progression, the Japanese are showing us that there is a lot still left to explore, from an artistic point of view.

Japanese culture is extremely complex and very difficult to grasp. Going back there is always an interesting experience. You learn a lot from these trips, and your return home is always quite thought provoking. Japan was deeply scarred by the Second World War and, as a result, after became very Americanised. Certain aspects of traditional culture remained, particularly those linked to art and craftsmanship – in Japan, everything has to do with mastery. Whether it’s martial arts, design, food, tea or skateboarding. The Japanese have tried to recreate American skateboarding, except it has been filtered by their culture. They produce their own interpretation of it.

I’ve been to Japan with Soy several times, he’s the one who opened me up to this side of skateboarding in the first place; he helped me understand the phenomenon. Not only have these trips inspired us, but they also gave us bearings, enabling us to compare the experience with what we were used to seeing. I strongly recommend whoever reads this to go over there and form your own opinion about the place.

I think that it’s important for each of us to try to understand why we spend so much time wandering the streets on our skateboards and how we can gain something positive from it. Turning pro really made me think about this, and I feel like it’s helped my vision of skating has mature over the last 3 years. For instance, I asked myself a few basic yet fundamental questions: how do people perceive what I put out? What is going to satisfy me and make me evolve? How can I offer something original, something that will help me standout?

I realised that if you take a step back and think about what you are doing, you can really give your skateboarding the direction you want. This reflection can help you get rid of certain rules you impose upon yourself, in turn allowing you to progress.

Being pro means skateboarding for a living. To be able to do that, your skating needs to interest enough people for companies to decide to support you financially. Right now, lots of pros and ams that are technically good athletes receive this support from major companies and it allows them live comfortably. I think this is a good thing.

Now, if we consider skateboarding as an artistic activity, then the clumsy concept of someone’s ‘level’ loses all of its relevance. I, for instance, find it appealing when someone’s skating has a unique aesthetic, something that really transports you into his world. This can be done through spot selection, by moving in a certain way, by speed, by rhythm or by trying to express a message. For example Bobby Puelo’s skating is the result of a thought process, just like Takahiro Morita’s or Gou Miyagi’s.

Now, let’s compare skateboarding to other artistic activities such as painting or music. Unless an artist’s technical abilities are ground-breaking, for his art to be of any interest/relevance to the art world, he has to make it stand out by offering a new artistic vision, by inviting people into the unique world he has created, by exploring new areas of his discipline. Where would painting be today if people had only explored figurative painting and its technical aspects? That’s why I think skateboarding becomes particularly interesting when it’s conceptual and abstract.

But sadly, it’s not an easy task as skateboarding is surrounded by this ‘extreme sports’ culture that makes people want to see skaters go higher and further etc. But I’m happy to see that, today, more and more people understand what we are doing, particularly with Magenta, so I thank them for their support.

These days everything goes live on the internet faster than you know it, the sheer amount of skate videos that come out every single day make it necessary for us to put out clips regularly. The aim of these short edits is to get people to pick up their boards and hit the streets as quickly as possible.

We pour a lot of energy and devotion into each of our videos, so it made sense for us to keep putting them out on DVD. We feel that it’s important to give some of our projects a material form, so that some of the people that are really passionate about what we do can possess the videos as objects.

By the way, our next DVD is going to be called ‘Soleil Levant’ (Sunrise); it will be longer than the previous ones and will feature the whole team.

Yes, it’s out of choice, it’s because the VX creates an atmosphere that suits our company, it allows us to give the skating and the editing a certain dynamic. That doesn’t mean I’m not open to any type of camera, it’s just that its easy too get caught up in trying to do something really tech, and forgetting that what your are doing actually has to have a direction, has to reflect a certain vision.

To me, the most important thing is to establish a real connection with the filmer or the photographer, making sure that you share the same vision; it’s the best way to have a coherent result. I need to have my say and even help with the editing, no matter how complex a task it can be.

I’ve always watched a lot of skate videos; I like to know what’s going on. That includes all of the videos that came out in the nineties; they influenced me enormously, as well as the recent super-productions that have come out since. However I believe that if you are really passionate about something, it is your duty to dig up stuff that’s less accessible, to search for that special something that was so hard to get a hold of, rather than simply enjoy what you can find anywhere, as it is inevitably destined for a more general public. If music is your passion, it’s unlikely that you’ll be into mainstream music.  It’s the exact same thing with skateboarding. A lot of underground projects are released every year, and they are exactly what I enjoy.

For instance, in 2012 Josh Roberts from Perth, Australia released ‘Domingo’ and Ryuichi Tanaka from Kobe, Japan released ‘Strush’. These are just two of the many creative gems that comfort me in thinking that underground skateboarding is still alive and well.

Skateistan are hosting a “Skate with Skateistan” session at the Southbank on the 21st of this month and the team, plus Skateistan founder Ollie, will be there.

Later on in the day there will be screenings of the Skateistan short films and a chance to chat with the team. The sessions are free and open to all. Further information is available on their blog. Check the flyer for all the info.