Interview by Farran Golding
Collage by Requiem For A Screen
Photos by Thomas Robinson via Jack’s Thrasher Interview
Missed the chance to run a “Five Faves” in September, but 8-for-10 so far on the promise of doing one a month in 2021 isn’t so bad ;) The latest comes from a young man bound to be in consistent S.O.T.Y. contention for the foreseeable future. We are also now two-in-a-row on people born after the release of Video Days citing Guy’s part as a major influence.
Guy Mariano – Blind: Video Days (1991)
Ever since I watched this, I wanted one of those Spitfire tees.
This part is insane for his age at the time. The constant lines, casually piecing it all together. I’ve still never seen anyone skate J-Kwon like that to this day: hitting the transition on the wall then skating the rail. The tune goes well with this, he’s popping on every beat, pretty much. It made me really want to noseblunt a curb.
Brian Anderson – Toy Machine: Welcome To Hell (1996)
B.A. looks so staunch and scary with the shaved head; he shrinks spots with his stare and length. I love the song [“Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2” by Pink Floyd], I reckon it sounds eerie and just suits the skating here so well. Can’t beat the button-up flannel kits — some classic shit just speaks for itself.
The landing on the kinked rail boardslide in S.F. is so good, just grabbing that pole to a stop. I’m glad that’s in there.
Jerry Hsu – enjoi: Bag Of Suck (2006)
That 540 kickturn on the bank is so dope.
I didn’t watch Bag Of Suck until I got a little older. Jerry’s part amazed me, and it opened my eyes to how many tricks one person can do.
It also opened my eyes to how you can continually skate a spot: Jerry switch flipping over the rail and into bank, then backside ollieing the same spot after they stuck a fat pole put in it blew me away. Adapting to the spot as it changed was cool.
It gets real dramatic when that second song comes in [“Superstar” by Sonic Youth]. You can really feel it, watching it. Man, imagine actually going for that switch crook pop on the bump-to-rail. Fuck that. Nollie backside heel? Timeless.
Shane Cross – Volcom: Let’s Live (2007)
Let’s Live was the first ever video I watched. Shane Cross had already passed away before I had any knowledge about him or had watched any of his footage. Rest in peace to a legend.
You can see he’s getting older [throughout the part], flaring out his ‘fits. “Friday On My Mind” is a classic tune; when I was eight or nine, in the car with mom, it would play on this radio station she’d listen to. When I was that young, it tripped me out the same song my mom listened to was in a skate video.
Pat Burke – $lave: Radio Television (2009)
If you’re gonna skate to Brotha Lynch, you’ve gotta deliver the goods.
That first kicky when the old boy takes a slam on the bike — you’re so confused about the situation and immediately want to know more. I love how it’s all over the place, especially the pushes during the line where he ollies the small footpath across those stones then kickflips into a bank. These days, I feel like people forget to put funny hijinx in their videos, but it shows the skater’s personality, which is a must.
I love that weird thing he does with his hands while rolling away from the crook around the curve rail. Good curtains. And that fat switch tre.
Previously: Josh Wilson, Maité Steenhoudt, Jahmir Brown, Una Farrar, Chris Jones, Mason Silva, Beatrice Domond, Mark Suciu, Justin Henry, Breana Geering, Sage Elsesser, Bobby Worrest, Nik Stain, Anthony Van Engelen, Dom Henry, Bing Liu, Andrew Reynolds, Cyrus Bennett, Jacob Harris, Jamal Smith, Paul Rodriguez, Gilbert Crockett, Ben Chadourne, Tom Knox, Louie Lopez, The Chrome Ball Incident, The Bunt, Lacey Baker, Andrew Allen, GX1000, Brian Anderson, Gino Iannucci, Josh Kalis, Sean Pablo, Wade Desarmo, Chris Milic, Chad Muska, Hjalte Halberg, Danny Brady, Bill Strobeck, Aaron Herrington, Jerry Hsu, Brad Cromer, Brandon Westgate, Jim Greco, Jake Johnson, Scott Johnston, Josh Stewart, Eric Koston, Karl Watson, Josh Friedberg, John Cardiel, Pontus Alv, Alex Olson, Jahmal Williams
Glad he included that Shane Cross part. Feel like he/that part were influential to a lot of young Australian skaters
R.I.P. Shane