An August To Remember — How August 2023 Became A Landmark Month In Skate Video History

📝 Words by Ian Browning
📷 Headline Photo by Morgan Rindengan Courtesy of HUF

If you count everything in the Thrasher Junk Drawer, ten full-length videos, plus another handful of solo parts and edits came out in August 2023. We’ve come to expect that sort of programming when marketing teams try to get a thumb on the scale during the S.O.T.Y. race, but the end of summer has traditionally been a much less productive time of year for skateboarding.

At least until this year.

Lakai’s Bubble, Pass~Port’s “Trinket,” and Johnny’s Vid all came out in the same week. Palace’s Beta Blockers and WKND’s Rumble Pack came out on the same day, creating a nineties skater version of the meme about how eating a bag of Takis would overwhelm and kill a child from the 19th century.

What are the chances? How did it happen? And did anybody realize what was coming down the pipeline? I called a handful of skaters and filmers who worked on the projects that were released that month to find out why it was so stacked, and how it felt to navigate the spotlight.

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A Watershed Moment For Fare Evasion

Thanks to everyone who grabbed something from the webstore this weekend ❤️ ICYMI: we’re reloaded with fall / holiday QS goods on there. Available at U.S. + Canada + Australia + Japan shops now. Europe + U.K. + Korea this week. 📷 via Prov Tokyo.

Zach Sayles’ incredible Veil video is now online in full.

Carlisle Aikens is the latest subject of Hypebeast’s “Diaries” video series, which is a half-interview / half-day-in-the-life type of thing.

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Fulfill the Dream

The Muska Epicly Later’d, in summary. After years spent pining for a Muska Epicly Later’d, and it finally existing, there’s now a vast emptiness. Who do we lobby for now? …wait, what if the answer is already in front of us? Standing in the right of the frame?

Although it’ll mainly resonate with audiophiles, Muska told the stories behind his ten favorite boom boxes as a supplement to the episode.

Genesis made a feel-good iPhone edit to wrap the summer up.

Bobshirt’s latest is with a [presumably buzzed?] Richard Angelides. Always enjoyed his non-rave music entry in Ty Evan’s 1997 rave film, and 11-out-of-10 trick selection.

Can’t tell what happened with this and why it is only going online now — as it was supposed to come out, like, literally four or five years ago (maybe they just waited for angst to start trending again) — but Death Video is now online in full. Features much, much younger versions of Tyshawn, Kempsey, Troy, etc.

With the potential end of Muni looming in the future, this was fun to watch (although admittedly, it is nowhere near as good the Big Three of Philadelphia skate spots) — The guys from Municipal Skateboards filmed a montage exclusively at the Philadelphia Museum of Art a.k.a. the Rocky steps.

The B.Q.E. Lot is set to be renovated by the D.O.T. at the start of next year, and it’s going to look exactly like that shitty space around the Flatiron Building with sandpaper ground and random rocks everywhere. Can’t we just get a ledge?

Online for the first time? The subway skating section from Colin Read’s Tengu.

A couple quick ones from Palace in the Puig era: Brady by Lucas, Lucas by Lucien.

Lacey Baker, Sarah Meurle and Josie Millard skate around Manhattan for a women’s shoe that Nike released. Max isn’t the only one who likes skating broken lampposts ;)

North Skate Mag has a chill interview with Mike Blabac.

“Does all this mean that New York is vanishing? Sure. But the deli wasn’t there forever, either. Vanishing is what New York does.” Roctakon’s brother wrote a rad thing about revisiting the Brooklyn delis that he had photographed back in 2008.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: This is the most Melo has passed in his career.

Quote of the Week
Torey Goodall: “What do you got there?”
Hydrated Gentleman: “A water.”
Torey Goodall: “An N.A? Nice.”