Mark Appleyard’s definitely still got it…

Cuatro Suenos Pequenos (four small dreams)is a new skate film/audio visual experiment by Thomas Campbell. It’s all filmed on 16mm, done in cooperation with French Fred and will feature skateboarding and acting from Javier Mendizabal and Madars Apse. Sounds sick!

Interview by Bram De Cleen (with help from Ben, Mikkjel and Laurenz). Photos by DVL.

Just got back to the hotel after a day of skating, I’m in Barcelona.

Not really, I hung up on a feeble on a flat bar and smacked my knee on the floor. Didn’t really do anything else after that. I did get some stuff yesterday and the day before. 

No, I’m here to film for Element. But I probably would’ve been here anyway. I can’t handle an entire winter in Belgium.

Pretty good, I’ve been travelling and skating a lot. But I have to go back to another school in May. I didn’t get the diploma last year and I want to get it so I didn’t go through the whole thing for nothing.   

Welding. Just welding.

Crailslide.

I don’t know, auto mechanics would’ve been too much theory.

The first year of secondary school was mixed between welding and auto mechanics, the second year you had to choose between both, and I picked welding because there is less theory to it. Actually I wish I would have chosen auto mechanics.

It would’ve been handy. I would’ve been able to fix someone’s car if there was a problem. Or my own car if I would have one.  Welding is useful too, though.

Not at all, actually. But I can do it, so if ever something needs welding…

It could come in handy at the skatepark, for example.

No, but I’ve used the grinding wheel!

Like I said, I’ve never used it outside of school, but if I ever need to, I got the skills.

No.

Frontside 180 fakie five-o.

If only I knew that… Something that involves skating, maybe. Whatever, as long as it’s not welding.

I did a couple of internships for school last year. All the guys that worked there have about ten diseases each. You’re stuck in a warehouse the whole day, constantly huffing black smoke. At the end of the day I always coughed up black phlegm. I never want to do that again, really. I’m sure that as an intern I got the worst jobs, but still… It was really hard work. At the end of the day I was always really tired.

No, my legs were always super sore. Sometimes, when I got to actually weld, it was better, but most of the time I was exhausted. Standing on your legs the whole day, the smoke…

Yeah, maybe, but I didn’t get the diploma in the end, so I guess not. They really fucked me over. The first trimester of the last year I had been on skate trips the whole time, so around Christmas I asked them if it still made sense to come to school the rest of the year – if I would still be able to get good grades and pass the year. They told me I would, and that my grades depended primarily on how I do at the internships. I did well at all the internships, got good grades and then they didn’t let me pass because I scored badly at maths.

I really can’t get my head around mathematics.

Yes, most of the time I did. I even took these extra lessons. It didn’t work out, though. So no diploma for me.

The thing is that I asked the principal in advance. “Yeah, yeah, you can still get the diploma if you do good at the internships.”  Looking back, they made me do them for nothing. Two full days of shitty work every week, for six months, for free.

No. She was actually the one that said I should maybe just quit, because I hadn’t gone to school the whole first trimester, anyway. Obviously, she would’ve preferred that I got the diploma, but she doesn’t have one either and everything turned out fine for her. I’m sure she was really sick of my constant complaining as well. I had been whining about school for an entire decade.

 
Tail drop.

Uh, welding, and that I never want to be a welder. That’s about it.

Sometimes it was okay, though. I definitely got to know some crazy people.

All the guys that worked there, fuck. They’re part of the reason why I would never want to work in a place like that, though.

There was this one guy that worked full time and did a lot of extra hours, just to pay for whores every other weekend. He spent the weekend with the whore, and then came back in to work, to then do the same thing over again. He was such a nasty guy, smoking cigarettes under his cap while welding, in the middle of all the other black smoke. He was disgusting but very funny. He’d been doing the same thing for ten years at least. And he’s probably going to do it for the rest of his life.

There were some younger guys too, always coked up. Every hour or so they’d have to go to the bathroom again: “I’m not gonna make it to the end of the day if I don’t.”

Haha. It was the same at all the companies I worked for.

I don’t know, because they all went to trade school, and in Belgium trade school is basically a bunch of guys that didn’t make it through the last year of primary school. Usually this means you’re not the most obedient student, to say the least.

Now that I think of it, I didn’t meet a single normal person during that whole time.

I’m not sure. I’m not sure if I would’ve gotten through it. I have a hard time focusing on certain stuff. Actually, until the fourth grade of primary school I was always one of the best of my class. I knew the answers to most of the questions they asked and I was always the first to respond.  Then this one teacher really humiliated me. Maybe that has something to do with it. She told me I was useless and stupid. I started putting in less effort from that day on. Actually, now that I think of it, I never really tried hard anymore after that.

Frontside 360 no-comply.

I had to stay longer in her mathematics class, because I didn’t understand something. I’d always had some troubles with my concentration, and when it was just her and me, after the class, I kind of acted like I was trying to solve her question while I was really just thinking about other stuff, stressing out on her. Of course, after a moment, she asked me for an answer and I had nothing. She went nuts and said, “You must be stupid, then, really retarded.” After that I went for a little weep on the playground.

Even last year, in mathematics, I still had trouble. My end results were usually right, but I didn’t get to them in the right way. I guess numbers work differently in everyone’s head.

Pretty good. I think they all liked having a little brother. They all took care of me really well.

Yeah, maybe. Maybe I know how to talk to girls a bit better because I was always talking to my sisters. Then again, if it had really helped me then I wouldn’t be stuck talking to different girls at the same time.

I guess. So does everyone else, right?

Frontside tailslide.

I just live in Mechelen, where nothing ever happens, but I go to Spain or other places to skate sometimes and I think that makes them think I’m kind of special.

Yeah, maybe, kind of…

Not really. I’m not saying they’re bad girls.

No. Well, maybe it happens sometimes, when I’m drunk.

That depends on who you’re comparing me with. Definitely not more than the guys I went to school with. They really went for it. Maybe a bit more than some other skaters of my age – sometimes they are a bit surprised. I don’t know, maybe I grew up a bit differently than they did, or I just started a bit earlier.

I’m pretty lazy when I’m hungover but then I start feeling guilty so I usually end up looking for something I can do while I’m in that state of mind. Most of the time this means a drop-in or something like that, something that requires mental absence. There are other times when skating works out fine when I drank the night before. The brain somehow works differently than it does on normal days, and all of a sudden I can do things I couldn’t do before.

To jump off of random high stuff? No, not really. Sometimes, when the spot is right, or like I said, a good drop-in when I’m hungover, but definitely not as much as before. Looking back, it was stupid to do that kind of stuff, ruining my body like that.

There was this one piece of bone that seemed to pop out of the joint, sometimes. But  I figured out which movements made it pop out and I just don’t do those anymore. It usually happened when my right leg did too much of a tuck knee kind of move while my foot moved to the right. It hasn’t happened in a long time, so I’m pretty sure it has healed. It had to do with the cartilage. I was eleven when it started happening. It was right after I jumped off of that high block in Hasselt. That probably didn’t help much.

Yeah, not even a gap, ha ha, just a big block. I went about two kilometres per hour and jumped off of it. I had ollied it first, and then when we passed the spot again on the way back I tried to 180 it. It was more than twice my height.

I’m pretty sore most of the time, to be honest – at least when I’m trying to get really good stuff. The tries you end up landing never look painful but that’s because you’re landing the trick. They usually come after two or three hours of trying hard and failing, the stuff that you never see footage of. And then there’s usually a day or two of not being able to skate afterwards.

Frontside 180.

True.

Ross (McGouran) just came back from a three-week trip to New Zealand. He stretched every day, ate fruit the whole time and stopped smoking weed.

He says he feels great.

I don’t think I could stick with it for very long. I could do it for a while but I would probably stop once I felt better.

Exactly.

I’m definitely enjoying my life right now. I want everything to keep going in the same direction. I want to keep skating and travelling, basically. It’s as good as I thought it would be.

I don’t know. I don’t really know everything that has ever happened.

If I have to choose something I would say the invention of the bed. The matress and the covers. A warm nest. That would be it for me.

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!

On the cover of this month’s issue we’ve got Adrien Coillard taking out Geoff Rowley on Lyon’s famous hubba for the second time. Yep, the little guy who casually gap to bluntslid the beast in issue 110 went back for more.

In related “Bon Voyage” news, we covered Brophy, Flo, Joey, Pete Eldridge and Sammy Winter’s trip to China. The article should give you a good idea of the standard of skating we can expect from this new Cliché video. Only 4 days to go!

Since Element Europe are also working on a video (Hold It Down) we decided to send Sam Ashley to Morocco where Karsten, Nassim, Madars and Phil were out on a filming mission. Needless to say they absolutely killed it. With a crew like that what else would you expect?

We even managed to fit in Michi Mackrodt, Kenny Reed and globe trotting photographer Alexey Lapin’s recent  trip to the Balkans.

As you can tell from the titles on the cover we’ve also picked the brains of some pretty funny characters this month. I’m sure a lot of you will find the Pearls Of Wisdom with the one and only “Give your life to Christ”  Christian Hosoi quite interesting.

Samu Karvonen gets the first interview slot and tells us about organising a skate flea market, why he eats food from dumpsters and what he knows of Quicksilver’s plans for the Euro skate team. The second goes to Element Europe’s Jarne Verbruggen who came through with 16 pages of all terrain savagery. Finally we’ve got an Effect with Tom Day. Those of you who (like me) haven’t seen very much of him before this are in for a shock. This guy destroys some seriously unwelcoming terrain. Can’t wait to see the footage of these tricks in Heroin’s “Video Nasty“.

Now that you know what’s in there, go and get yourself a copy!

Element Europe have put together a 2 part retrospective of Michael Mackrodt’ ten years on the team. Keep an eye out for the second instalment, it should be dropping on the 15th of April. The amount of footage this guy has accumulated over the years is pretty insane…

How good was this? I had completely forgotten about it, I guess some of the footage will be in part 2…

Keep an eye out for Evans Smith’s new section, it should be hitting the web on the 21st of March.He must have stacked up an insane amount of footage if he’s using that kickflip for the trailer.

2560 × 1440: Nick Garcia, backside nosegrind, Berlin. Photo: Sem Rubio.

1680 × 1050: Nick Garcia, backside nosegrind, Berlin. Photo: Sem Rubio.