While we were all busy tucking in to our turkey’s, Skateboard Cafe were busy blessing us with a christmas gift of their own, making ‘Alfresco’ available to watch in full online. It’s an instant classic from the independent UK brand who continue to show us why they are considered one of the most exciting skate companies to come out of the country. Filmed and edited by Rich Smith, the video features riders Shaun Currie, Mike Arnold, Josh Arnott, Korahn Gayle, Harry Ogilvie and Danny Wainwright.
Enjoy the full clip below and be sure to support Skateboard Cafe by buying the physical copy from Note, Native and Bored of Southsea.
We are stoked to share with you the latest work from Sirus, a full length video dubbed “Death Aesthetic”, celebrating the people and the places that make up Brighton skateboarding…
“To me the video is based around London Road in Brighton. It is the dysfunctional hub of Brighton, an amalgamation of the dissatisfied elderly, Frosty Jacks, and the clinically insane. It’s the area that myself and a lot of the skaters that feature lived in during the majority of filming, and of course where The Level skatepark is located. Walking up and down London Road multiple times a day, you begin to observe the wanderers, the shoppers, the shouters, the drivers, the sleepers, the weepers etc and you start to harbour a curiosity for what it is that they’re all doing. I mean what are any of them actually doing? We’re not doing all that much; throwing our human chassis around at the mercy of gravity and friction, but what is it they’re doing? This wonderment extended to me following people around on the street, capturing brief moments of their daily lives on celluloid, so as to some extent understand, or at least examine them. Seeing the barren faces trapped in the silver particles conjures thoughts on mortality, for me at least. The clip is a juxtaposition of the occurrence of the marginal order and form of skateboarding, with the mundane entropy of the path of the passer by, concerted in the same space” – Sirus
Following the release of Death Aesthetic, we caught up with our guy Dexter, who appears in the video, to talk about growing up skateboarding in Brighton and also on his experiences when filming.
How were you first introduced to skateboarding?
My good friend Alex was already skating and I thought it was sick.. He got a board together out of all of his spare stuff and hooked me up!!! I pretty much stopped everything else I was doing..
Having been around the Brighton scene most of your life you must have seen a lot of change in the area, how has the new Level skate park impacted Brighton skateboarding?
The new park has changed the game! We’ve never had anything like it before, the level of skating is high and everyone seems to be progressing.. It’s also made it harder to get people out skating street and exploring. The spots are tough and the park is right in the middle of town; like a convenient vortex.
What skaters around Brighton do you rate highly?
I rate all my loafs representing the bread cult! Phil Russell is incredible and Sam Ibekwe is a wizard! (Also all the kids at the park are amazing now haha)
What it’s like to skate/film in Brighton?
I personally love skating street in Brighton. There really isn’t a lot of obvious spots here and there’s a lot of rough ground, so it’s a challenge. It challenges you to think creatively and encourages you to skate whatever you can find.
Do you feel an added pressure when filming with VX1000 over a HD Camera? Do you prefer using regressive technology when filming?
VX forever man, it’s the one! I think it’s a shame that so many videos are HD now. To me VX footage looks how skating feels.
What’s your best memory from filming Death Aesthetic?
Spending time with the master! Sirus f Gahan. And rolling with the crew 🙂
Enjoy the video in full above. To see more from the making of Death Aesthetic, be sure to check Sirus’ ‘Fakie Backflip’ zine HERE
The video features riders Al Hodgson, Dan Emmerson, Harry Coward, Joe Coward, Lue Gof, Reuben Toal-Gangar, (yung swiss) Phil Cron, Mitch Wheeler, Adrien Ahnnart, Sam (thunda) Ibekwe, Louis Antoine, Edi Pooley, Dexter Daniels, Chris Williams, Alfie Williams, Adam Martin, Tom (shakes) Delion, Alex Barron, Harrison Woolgar, Ben Woodhouse, Phil Russell, Rupert Antoine, Marc (sa) Carter, Richard West, Jesse James, Max Weeks and Wes Knowler.
As we continue to document the Brighton skate scene and celebrate the characters around it, our Neighbourhood series returns with a brand new clip featuring Mitch, a recent departure from the streets of Brighton who now resides in Norway. We were lucky enough to film the clip at the newly built Gamlebyen skatepark in East Oslo…
“I hit up Mitch to film this clip, because he’s a Brighton transplant in Oslo. Gamlebyen where he lives, has just had the first section of it’s skatepark completed, so ideas were fresh on the new concrete, but we grossly underestimated the struggles of filming any kind of skateboarding in winter in Norway. The park was always wet, even when it hadn’t rained for a week, then the frost and snow came and it seemed like we were never going to be able to finish filming. Luckily after a few evenings praying to Thor & Odin last week, there was somehow one mostly dry day and we got to get one last session in. Mitch is honestly one of the most fun people to skate with that I’ve ever met, so getting to film this was a total pleasure in spite of the Nordic weather. Love you Mitch !!” – Sirus
One of this years most exciting independent videos – John Valenti’s ‘Local Express’ – is now available to watch in full online. Filming almost every part himself and funding pretty much the whole project on his own, Valenti travelled across the USA to capture the likes of Ben Gore, Dave Caddo, Jonathan Ettman,Trevor Thompson, Brendan Carroll, Brian Downey, Tyler Rennard, Yonnie Cruz, Charlie Cassidy, Justin Fyle, Fred Gall, Al Davis and more for this rad clip.
Enjoy the full video below and be sure to support John Valenti in producing more great work like this by buying the hard copy HERE
Canada’s Alltimers have blessed us with a brand new video dubbed ‘It’s Pickle Time’. Filmed by Rob Harris, Johnny Wilson and Max Hull, the comical clip features riders Charles Rivard, Ben Blundell, Dustin Henry and Andrew Wilson tearing up the streets and having fun with it.
UK filmmaker Winstan Whitter has teamed up with LLSB and AHRC-funded project ‘You Can’t Move History, You Can Secure The Future’ to present a new film dubbed ‘You Can’t Move History’ – a story on the campaign to save the Southbank Undercroft.
Speaking to some of the locals skaters including filmmaker Henry Edwards-Wood, as well as the lawyers and activists who contributed to the cause, Whitter builds the story of London’s most notorious skate spot, it’s resonance with generations of skateboarders and the struggle that everyone went through to preserve the space for its community.
Enjoy the full video below and hit up www.llsb.com for more.
Following on from his ‘Rack’ clip which dropped a couple months back, Johnny Wilson and the Most Productive Crew™ return with another visual treat dubbed HD15 – a new HD-Clip made up of some left over footage from the crew skating in New York. Enjoy the full video below…
