Andrew Wilson | Quartersnacks

The QS Transition Facilities Tour — Part 1

Features & Interviews November 24th, 2015 · 9:46 am · 5

Photo by Zach Baker

It is no secret that we spend an inordinate amount of time in caged in, flat spaces. And it is no secret — as much as we may try to glamorize it — that it gets old after a while. With open road season in the northeast coming to a close, we hit I-95 one last time this fall. Except rather than going to surefire crutches like Eggs or Pulaski, we aimed for something a little different, and a little less…flat. We loaded up the three or five people in the crew adequately versed in skating transition for an atypical QS journey. We went to concrete skateparks, and ended up leaving something permanent behind us in the end (more on that later.)

The concrete skatepark is a relatively new phenomenon in New York. Sure, Owl’s Head has been there for a decade-and-a-half, but the recent surge in parks popping up everywhere is only ~five years old. It also came after we spent much of the 2000s languishing in pre-fab purgatory. Even then, if you heard some of the stories from people tasked with negotiating the skaters’ side in building a park, you’d want to strangle yourself with the red tape. We have one of the three largest city economies in the world; the level of bureaucracy that comes with each one we’re fortunate enough to have is unparalleled. Hopefully, the stadium-lit volleyball courts out on Tribeca piers have an easier time getting built…

Filmed by Johnny Wilson & Max Palmer. Alternate YouTube link.

New England embraced outdoor and public concrete parks long before we did. That’s mostly due to two people: Sloppy Sam, who founded Breaking Ground Skateparks, and Jeff Paprocki, who now owns Paprocki Concrete & Masonry. Both of them navigated the laws and public works departments that vary between every New England town to create much of the vast network of parks that exists up there today. Once you stop by Frank Pepe’s in New Haven and make it into the eastern half of Connecticut, it’s possible to spend the day hitting three or four unique parks, all thanks to these dudes. They aren’t “D.I.Y.” creations in the grey understanding that we have of that phrase, but it’s obvious they wouldn’t exist without the saintly proactive efforts of a few individuals. “It’s all about knowing the right person to talk to.” And also having the right crew around you.

Better Late Than Never: End of Summer 2015 Montage

Video & Remixes September 30th, 2015 · 4:27 am · 7

We made it! Just one day shy of October — when it becomes truly embarrassing to post an “End of Summer” edit. Not that we haven’t been late on the Labor Day deadline or entirely missed an End of Summer clip before (obviously in 2009, the year multiple viewers of the ten-year clip pointed out as the turning point for when the party became a crucial part of QS office culture), but it’d be too sad to enter autumn without bidding da summa farewell.

In our defense, these past four months had multiple extracurricular video projects: “56 Tricks,” “Core” (some of the better iPhone angles from it made their way into this one), the all-too-important TM101 anniversary clip, and obviously the ten-year edit.

Features Matt Perez [finally] graduating high school, Antonio Durao, Johnny Wilson, Andrew Wilson, Hjalte Halberg, Andre Page, Chandy Khon, Cyrus Bennett, Alexander Mosley, Jesse Alba, Daniel Kim, Will Robson-Scott, Jack Sabback, Brendan Carroll, Mike Gigliotti, C.J, Genesis Evans, Troy Stilwell, Tober, and a mini Connor Champion part. Contributing filmers: Andre Page & John Diaz.

Alternate YouTube Link

Previous Editions: 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, ~~2009~~, 2008, 2007, 2006

‘Rack’ — #AnotherOne From the Still-Reigning Most Productive Crew™ in New York Skateboarding

Daily News September 2nd, 2015 · 10:15 am · 16

kohlton

Just because video blogs slowed up in frequency and their filmer became a downtown #tastemaker, doesn’t mean that the Most Productive Crew™ relinquished the title they’ve held from Space Heater onward. “Rack” features all of Johnny Wilson’s A-roll footage since Sure dropped two months ago.

With New York Fashion Week one week away, “Rack” already goes in the direction of what will dominate skateboard runways for the remainder of 2015 and beyond — boardslide shove-its (both ways), and a more widespread adoption of “skate video house” #musicsupervision (see also), as initially popularized in Palace videos.

Also, someone will probably post a link to their boy’s year-old part half-filmed in Columbus, OH to counter this…BUT 95% sure this is the first video where someone successfully does a line at that bump-to-bar / ollie up / handicap rail in front of the deli on Houston and A. That thing has been the most claimed spot in city limits for the past ~three years; if four dudes are stuck at the light on Houston and A, at least one will claim it. Also be on the lookout for the best #good trick ever done at Three Up Three Down, a spot where #good tricks are otherwise irrelevant.

Features Oak, Drew, Genesis, Kohlton, Chief Keith, John Choi, Hjalte, Nick Boserio, Antonio doing switch tres, others. The Q.S.S.O.T.Y’s appearances are minimal, but that’s probably ok considering Sure got unofficially dubbed Max Palmer: The Video.

‘Core:’ A Nike SB & Quartersnacks Video by Johnny Wilson

Video & Remixes August 22nd, 2015 · 10:56 am · 18

All photography by Zach Malfa-Kowalski

Nike SB and Quartersnacks present “Core,” the new video by Johnny Wilson. The project depicts a week-long journey through Upstate New York, with stops in Albany, Syracuse, Ithaca, Rochester and Buffalo.

This was unequivocally the first skate trip in the history of skateboarding where not a single person complained. No “these spots suck,” no “let’s go somewhere else,” no “pull over to this Taco Bell.” Not even a request to stop at local D.I.Y. spots, as it was deemed that skating D.I.Y. without having contributed their construction is not as #core as a #bond with the #streets. Nobody even knew what a “skatepark” was. #core ;)

Features Bobby Worrest, Hjalte Halberg, Nick Boserio, Antonio Durao, Cyrus Bennett, Q.S.S.O.T.Y. Max Palmer and Andrew Wilson. Filmed and edited by Johnny Wilson. All trip photography by Zach Malfa-Kowalski.

Alternate YouTube Link

Upstate Update: Ithaca, Rochester & Buffalo

Video & Remixes August 14th, 2015 · 10:29 am · 4

Photo by Zach Malfa-Kowalski

The western half of New York state has a handful of cities that are just over an hour drive from one another. This includes Buffalo and Rochester, the second and third largest in the state.

The first stop was Ithaca, home of the westernmost Ivy League school and birthplace of the Tornado Spin — the subject of skateboarding’s first viral video. You really gain an understanding for how seldom-seen these cities are when a three-year-old / minute-and-a-half-long Jake Johnson Brick Harbor part is repeatedly brought up as the only reference point for the locals showing you spots.

After an Orvis catalog shoot and some cliff jumping, the spent the first night at the cement wave with white bulbs that Jake skates in said part. We managed to avoid Cornell cops that night, but didn’t get so lucky the next day, when we went back to skate a building funded by college drop-out, Bill Gates. Happy to say I’m writing this on a Macbook, because our short stint at Bill and Melinda Gates Hall resulted in a one-year ban from Cornell University property.

Photo by Zach Malfa-Kowalski

“You’re going to Rochester? There are flatbars everywhere.”

At least six thousand people told me there are flatbars all over Rochester. They weren’t lying. There are flatbars all over Rochester. Can’t figure out why the city planners have such an affinity for round, one-to-two-foot-high flat rails, but they’re literally everywhere you look in the city. Google tries to get you drunk if you ask about it. No wonder everyone upstate is hammered all the time ;)