New Jersey Classics: Andy Bautista & German Nieves in ‘New Thirsty’ (2008)

german sw crook hoboken

This photo is technically from a different era, but is sick regardless. By Jonathan Mehring. Shout out to anyone who ever skated Lackawanna Ledges (R.I.P.)

One of the somewhat obscurer inclusions on Ross One’s Hopps mix was “Come Back To Me” by Cheyenne’s Comin’, which, personally speaking, is one of my favorite songs that I’ve ever discovered from a skate video. It was used for Andy Bautista and German Nieves’ ender part in Justin White’s New Thirsty video from 2008.

Andy and German’s shared part is a semi-sequel to Andy’s section in Logic #6, a part that has been discussed on this website before. Logic #6 was an unofficial City Stars Street Cinema prequel, as it had breakout parts from P-Rod, Mike Taylor and Justin Case, with a 50-percent New York/Jersey, 50-percent L.A. Andy Bautista part oddly nudged between. In 2001, it was pretty great to see Lodi, Newport and Hoboken footage sit alongside mythical L.A. schoolyards; it made those places feel as significant in the bigger, video magazine-ized portrait of skateboarding, at least for three minutes. The part also started a ten-year obsession with wanting to skate that yellow tile bank in downtown L.A. (We made it there last summer, and predictably got kicked out in one minute. The cracks are a lot bigger than they look in footage, too.)

Justin did the original great justice, right down to music supervision that captures the vibe of the Logic part, despite not being as “mad hip hop, yo.” Andy even revisited Lodi for it, though he didn’t make it back out L.A.

If you need skate “culture” stuff to do this weekend: Our homie B.K. is having a release party (#freebuzz) for a zine he made with several friends that showcases bodega-centric photography and art, Hopps, etc. is doing another “Bum Rush the Spot” event at an “undisclosed” location that shouldn’t be too hard to figure out based on the flyer image, and there’s skate art stuff at da Fish on Sunday. We’ll be watching basketball during the aforementioned events. Hopefully not a Knicks Game 7, but probably. Have a good one.