“I went to a trade school in the 8th grade to try out a few potential careers that might be interesting. I was in a HVAC course and we all had to use the older guys’ work clothes, which was like a lab coat that doctors would wear. Well, when I put mine on, it was super big on me, so everyone started calling me ‘Dr. Z.’ It just kinda stuck. I wish it was a better story but there you go.” Zered Bassett sits down with The Chromeball Incident for a #longform, career-spanning interview.
Josh Stewart is a lunatic and put his body through another Static video. The trailer is live. (He promised it’s the last one.) Excited for that Jordan Trahan part.
Figured it was due time, and that the city’s three dozen skateparks have evolved past a point of us needing to point some eager tourists towards the direction of the B.Q.E. lot. Updated the QS spot book for the first time in ~two years, mainly to acknowledge the fact that, yes, curbs are formal *spots* now. Removed a handful of outdated ones (yes, the B.Q.E. lot #lol), too. If you live here or visit often, nothing to see here.
Love how an array of bonafide American Skate Video Classics™ can be presented in an entirely new light with some biographical seasoning from the U.K. And were your mentors really your mentors if they didn’t drag out a keg for you to learn tricks over? ;)
Just make the next one Tyshawn Jones Pro Skater. Photo via Atiba.
“I just saw myself as a homie who was helping another homie. That was not something that ever crossed my mind like, ‘Am I good at this?’ Both of us are happy in that moment.” Jenkem has an amazing interview with Briana King about her meet-ups for girls and LGBTQ youth learning to skateboard.
“I think you really got to listen to your feeling. Don’t go for the show. Go for your heart.” Lucas Puig on relationships, wood, plants, oceans and not having his johnson fall out when he’s skating in shorts — also for Jenkem, also inspiring. Maybe it’s time we start working on a sequel to the “Poolside” remix…
Jk, it’s gonna be 85 degrees on Tuesday, put your Northface away you lunatic.
Rest in Peace, House of Vans, which will begin demolition today. You were good to us for many miserable winters. You were a safe haven on cold nights that otherwise would have been squandered at bars, and an unofficial place to hold listening parties for new Future albums. You will be missed ♥
If you grew up watching old Zoo videos, Jamie Reyes was no doubt the first girl you saw getting footage all over the city. (Jamie is also one of three women to have a Thrasher cover.) Our good friend Jilleen interviewed her about coming up as a female pro in 90s New York, and just how much the industry has changed since.
Not sure on which planet this constitutes as throwaway footage, but here are some “extras” from Nick Michel’s (the dude who boardslide the double rails at Battery Park) World Peath part, including some New York footage at the end. (The Front Street Ledge ollie is cool.)
That bad manual pad at the UPS building on the westside is no longer skateable. Honestly have no clue how long this has been the case, as we rarely go down this street after the Parks Department 86ed Gay Ledges. Shout out to Zered Bassett and Eli Reed.
Every pull-quote you have ever read about the differences between California: The Home of the Skate Industry and New York: The Summer Home of the Skate Industry, has pontificated about how easy it is to get “caught up” in the, um, “party scene” here. It will be interesting to see how much of California’s competitive advantage will be shaved off after the state legislature voted to extend last call until 4 A.M. last week.
Quote of the Week: “It looks like something a coke dealer in Montauk would wear.” — Sweet Waste
This has always felt like one of those parts that everyone forgets to mention as a favorite (well, everyone besides Aaron Herrington), but the second someone brings it up, people begin fanning out on it. Also don’t know a single person who doesn’t love that song — though maybe not as much as Big Boi hehe.
