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Post #1069 – new Switch skate shop decks

// November 15th, 2011 // No Comments » // paintings, skateboarding

I was super stoked when the  guys at Switch skate shop contacted me about doing a painting for a shop board graphic.  I go way back with co-owner Joey Simpers  - we grew up skating together in the late 80′s, and continued to stay in touch as our paths crossed over the years in the DE music scene (some may remember Joey as the dreadlocked bass player in Walleye, one of my favorites back in their heyday).  Although I slowed down on skating shortly before they opened, I’ve always dug Switch and what they’ve done for the local skate scene. And my old band, Obese Pharaohs of Funk, which later became Nero, was featured on the Switchstance music compliation that the shop put out back in 1994, so there’s some history there for sure.   Anyway, the decks are available 8″, 8.125″, 8.25″ as well as a really cool old school shape so grab one before the holiday shopping rush hits.  You can pick one up at their new location, 54 East Main Street, Newark Delaware.  And be sure to stop by Rainbow Records around back and grab some new and used vinyl. That’s a win-win set-up right there.

Thanks again to Tyler and Joey for making this happen.

Post #1058 – a Wilmington Skate Project update

// August 19th, 2011 // No Comments » // skateboarding

Delawarefirst.org recently put together a nice little article on the Wilmington Skate Project and skateboarding in Delaware in general – check it out here. Between the creation of the 7th street skate spot this past spring, construction on the Glasgow, DE park moving along (and hopefully opening in Sept.) and the news that the City of WIlmington is finally going to release the long promised  $250,000 for the skate plaza in Wilmington – it’s been an amazing year for skateboarders in the first state.  It’s been a long time coming and much deserved.  Special thanks and much respect to Kinetic, Switch, Mark Calder and the rest of the WSP  for making things happen. Plus there’s also talk about finally getting a skate park in Newark as well, which is also long overdue.

Also worth checking out is this nice little piece on skaters in Lewes, DE who are creating their own scene and making it happen. I mean, this is what it’s about.  So stoked…

And on a side note – don’t sleep on the Deathwish/Baker demo later today at 7th Street - should be insane.

Post #1056 – Live from London, Science Skateboards

// August 10th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // paintings, skateboarding

Super honored and stoked to announce that Science Skateboards in the UK just released my first ever skateboard graphic as part of their latest series. The idea for the deck came together after talking with Chris Morgan about some of his favorite graphics, including this 1992 James Kelch board on Real - he also mentioned that he dug my painting Mt Cook Avenue Reflections, so we decided to try a cross between the two. I think it came out pretty cool.  The original painting, entitled  Mount Cook Avenue Reflection #2, is oil on canvas, 24″ x 48″.

Definitely a dream come true, I’ve wanted to design a board graphic ever since I was a young teen, eagerly flipping through the pages of Thrasher and soaking in artwork from Gonz, Neil Blender, Andy Howell, Ed Templeton and Chris Miller (and years later, guys like Evan Hecox, Don Pendleton and Andy Jenkins, among others). Plus, as a music fan who has a heavy  love and obsession for the Manchester scene and British music in general (The Smiths, Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, The Clash, Stones, Kinks, Sabbath, Suede – the list goes on and on), it just seems fitting that my first board should come out of the UK. Like I said, a dream come true and a real honor. Thanks to Chris at Science for making this happen. Nice one!

Unfortunately for those of us states side, these decks will only be available in shops overseas – but I will have a very limited number for sale on this site – in our brand new webstore – which should be live in the next few weeks.  Stay tuned.

Post #1052 – More stuff I’m digging

// July 8th, 2011 // No Comments » // movies, music, skateboarding

1. Rockabilly : the Twang Heard Around the World – great new coffee table book on the early rock-n-roll sound, covering everything from the first days at Sun Records to later rockabilly revivalists like the Cramps and Reverand Horton Heat. Tons of great photos and lots of artists that you may not have heard of.  A solid primer.

2. Norton Records – these folks release some amazing, rare rockabilly and garage records – so many odd little audio gems in there.  And it’s getting more and more difficult not to just order the entire catalog right from their website – with discs like these, a life of poverty might not be that bad.

3. Super 8 – best “summer” film I’ve seen in a long, long  time. Part E.T., part Close Encounters and part Goonies. If you grew up in the late 70′s/early80′s, you’ll definitely dig the look and vibe.  A solid watch and a lot of fun.  But, damn, I wish it was still that easy to get super 8 film developed.

4. Mike Anderson’s part in Not Another Transworld Video.  Loved his style – lots of weird little wallride tricks (that boneless out of the frontside wall ride was insane!).  Very original and super fun. Nestor’s part was sick too.  The whole video’s pretty insane.

5. Torey Pudwell – this guy’s been on a tear the last two years and his new Thrasher mag part, Big Bang, is no disappointment.  The fact that he filmed the whole thing in 6 months is just mind blowing.

6. Ed Templeton’s Teenage Kissers – got to meet and talk briefly with Ed at the opening of his excellent new photo show at the Half Gallery and he was super cool, a real gentleman.  Lots of heavies lurking about (Glenn E. Freidman, Craig Stecyk, Guy Picciotto). The show’s up until July 25 – check it out if you’re in the big apple this summer and pick up the book from the nice folks at Seems.

Post #1050 – randomness for your enjoyment

// June 16th, 2011 // No Comments » // music, skateboarding

Nothing major to report here – just thought I’d post a few video clips I’ve stumbled across the past few days.  The first is a really cool interview with Gonz, chock full of high speed San Fran hill bombs. The next two are various Jimmy Fallon clips – one of him doing a spot-on Neil Young impersonation, followed by an equally spot on Dylan.  I’ve been sleeping on this show but damn, these clips are so well done I might need to hop on that train.

New podcast coming in hot next week – stay tuned.

Post #1049 – So you guys wanna see a dead body?

// June 13th, 2011 // No Comments » // art, design, skateboarding

I recently designed a t-shirt for Kinetic and Switch skate shops in Delaware, to help raise money for the new 7th Street skate spot in Wilmington.  The tee is loosely based on the film Stand By Me, as an inside-joke to the way-out-of-the-way location of the new park – it’s basically a long walk down a deserted, overgrown road to an abandoned boat dock where the side walk ends.  Regardless though, the spot is heavily sessioned by the local kids 7 days a week and worth checking out – I-Path, Mystery and the Vans teams have all been through lately.

All proceeds from the sale of these shirts will go toward pouring new concrete obstacles for the park.  You can pick one up at either Kinetic or Switch skate shops or, if you’re from out of town, you can now order them online as well. Thanks for the support.

And for all the cinephiles who will undoubtly cry out “…but Castro, it wasn’t Teddy Duchamp who said that line in the movie, it was the fat kid Vern. You’ve got it all wrong!” – well, yeah, I took a little artistic license here because it made a cooler shirt.  Plus you can never go wrong with one of the Cory’s, bro.

Post #1040 – Since Day One in 91

// April 14th, 2011 // No Comments » // skateboarding

Went to Kinetic for the DE premier of Real skateboard’s new vid, Since Day One. Definitely dug it – kind of an old school vibe, not a lot of fancy camera angles or arty fades, just raw street skating. Busenitz killed it as hard as you hoped he would, skating to Roadrunner by the Modern Lovers. The whole soundtrack was solid actually (Public Enemy, Iggy, Fugazi) and if anyone knows the name of the song in Chima’s part, please let me know. Other standout parts (of the top of my head):Justin Brock, Ishod, Alex Perelson, Ramondetta and Chima. The whole thing’s pretty solid though. Pick it up at your local shop or download it via iTunes.

And below is a nice little video recap of A.skate Foundation’s 1 in 91 Art Auction that took place a few weeks ago in Venice, CA. Looks like it was a fun night – really wish I could have made it out to that one. Bonus points it you can locate my collage in the background.

Post 1037 – What I’m Currently Digging On

// March 24th, 2011 // No Comments » // music, skateboarding

Just started watching the first season of VBS’ Thumbs Up – don’t know how I slept on this one but damn, it’s sooo good.  The show follows artist David Choe and his nephew Harry Kim as they hop trains and hitchhike across the US.  Amazing – those two definitely have plenty of guts and a few screws loose. Play catch up if you’ve never seen it (it’s on Netflix instant if you roll like that).  Totally insane.

Also really love this Raiders of the Lost Archives series that Skateboarder’s been doing with Andy Jenkins.  Very cool to see all the original Evan Hecox drawings in there – love that guy’s work. And for you lucky souls over in LaLa Land, Mr Jenkins has a solo show opening April 1st at Hibbleton Gallery in Los Angeles. Worth checking out for sure.

And speaking of skateboarding, peep this clip French Fred put together of Joey Brezinski’s new winery.  Definitely would love to get on the flow team for that one.

Picked up the new Jessica Lea Mayfield record, Tell Me, which I really like a lot.  It’s definitely a grower and took a few listens before I really got hooked but I just love her voice – she has that old school, lonesome country thing going but without sounding completely derivative or like she’s just coping a style. And for someone who sings about lying all the time, lyrically the record seems to be really open and honest (but then how can one ever know? and does it matter?)  Anyway, I dig it so give it a spin.  Dan Auerbauch from the Black Keys produced it – just saying.  Her other record, Blasphamy So Heartfelt is excellent as well. And for everyone in Philly, she’s playing the World Cafe on March 31st. Someone please put me on the list (again, just saying).

Raiders of the Archives: Andy Jenkins Part 1 of 7 from Skateboarder Magazine on Vimeo.

Post #1013 – Let’s catch up a bit

// October 14th, 2010 // No Comments » // movies, skateboarding, Uncategorized

So, following the insane sleepless marathon that is Create-A-Thon, I’ve been keeping it a bit mellow lately and catching up on a little sleep.  I did find time though to update both the paintings and collage pages on this site with images of recent work, so please take a look when you have a moment.

I watched this indie flick called Untitled recently, a nice little send-up of the modern art scene and the gallery world in general.  Pretty on point for the most part and, although not laugh out loud funny, it’s amusing. Not the greatest movie ever made, but decent if you’re into that kind of thing.

The Epicly Later’d series on pro-skater Dylan Rieder was excellent – that show just keeps getting better and better. And Dylan’s recently released Gravis part is easily the best thing he’s put out. Kid rips.

And speaking of pro-skating, the recently retired Heath Kirchart and photographer Jeff Vallee have taken off on an insane cross country bicycle ride – you can follow their exploits at werereallydoingit.com. Much respect to those dudes – that’s something I would love to do but have never gotten the guts, time or funds to make it happen.  Safe travels.

Post #999 – Stay Gold, ponyboy

// August 31st, 2010 // No Comments » // skateboarding

Just got back from the Philly premier of Stay Gold, the new skate flick by Emerica. There’s been a good deal of web hype about this one and, as we all know – nothing really ever lives up to modern expectations – but all I can say is it’s really, really good.  Visually, there’s a lot of mono-toned desaturated color mixed with super 8 grainy-ness. And the soundtrack is cohesive and sets a real team vibe for the whole thing.

So here’s a few random notes, while everything’s still fresh in the old cabeza:

Reynolds comes through hard with the closers and his part is super solid with a lot of variety. (actually, I don’t think he even did one frontside flip).  Good to finally see that Wallenberg footage, even if it is a few years old now.;

Leo Romero just destroys everything at full speed – his part may have been my favorite. Dug the grind up/grind down rail.;

Brandon Westgate’s part was also a fav – great style mixed with really fast lines.  He’s got some sick footage of bombing hills in SF that reminded me of vintage Chris Senn or Buzenitz;

I also dug Aaron Suski’s- great style with a unique approach to spots/tricks.

Herman kicks off his section with an insanely long kickflip to nose manny down the Sunset Strip.

The Jerry Hsu slam section was great and while his part didn’t top Bag of Suck, it’s still super sick and a lot of fun.

I don’t know -everyone’s parts are sick and I’m looking forward to checking it out again.  Braydon’s a standout, Figgy goes big  and Provost has some sick park footage.

The only bummer was Heath’s part, which is kind of a Matt Hensly-esque retirement retrospective (think of the intro to Questionable.) I’ve got mad respect for that dude though.

But whatever, at the end, I had the urge to go skate, which is what it’s all about anyway. But check it out for yourself.  You can pick it up on iTunes for $9.99, which is a bargin for sure.