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Jordan Sanchez – Interview

 

In a world where taking the 'abnormal' approach has become the norm, and 'cutty spots' are no longer cutting edge, it takes a lot to stand out for your personal quirks, particularly without straying into the territory of questionable taste. Jordan Sanchez is a skateboarder that regularly sets forums alight with the rare combination of quirky-ness and genuine technical prowess seen throughout his career. Each new part gets stranger and stranger, but remains strong, and there’s no sacrifice of skill for the sake of spot selection. Though sometimes his chosen spots are literally rubbish, Jordan always manages to blow minds. He often leaves his audience pondering their own blinkered view on the potential hiding in their local backstreets and gritty retail parks.

In the not-too-distant past Jordan made the switch from BLVD to Welcome, who almost instantly slapped his name on a board. He responded with a classically cloudy new part for their first full-length video, Fetish, that was released in January this year. Jordan speaks to us about the video, Vic's Market and what's in store for both Welcome and the Snohomishian himself.

 

You lot certainly came through for Fetish! I’ve already rinsed it. Was that your first part as a professional skateboarder?

Yes, technically this was my first part since turning pro. I didn't really realize that.


You were granted professional status a little later than your average ‘career-driven’ skateboarder, which seems unusual considering your fairly regular output of overcast footage.. Was it something you were gunning for, or were you simply happy to be offered? 

I wouldn't say I was gunning for it, but I definitely have been trying to keep the momentum going for years and years. Jason and I had been talking about the pro possibility when I first got on, and everything kinda came together a year later. It was natural. I am very grateful to have a board with my name on it that can hopefully inspire my kids to follow their dreams.

Picking a favourite part in Fetish must be tough? Instead, I’d like to know which are your favourite three tricks of the whole video?

Dang, three tricks? Well, Ryan Lay’s Switch Backside flip the hard way over that rail, Townley’s Five-O backside 180 then Fake flip line, & Aaron’s whole part.

Did you spend any time in front of Matt Blevins' lens filming for Fetish, or was all of your footage locally sourced?

No, unfortunately I wasn’t able to film with Matt, but he’s a great filmer and did an excellent job with FETISH. My footage was all filmed up in my area by my friends Jake Menne, Josh Jones, Shane Auckland & Carl Depaolo.

What are the chances of them visiting you up in Washington? Apart from the Europeans, you must be the most distant…

Richie Valdez, the new TM, has talked about doing a North West trip of some sorts. Seattle is a great place to visit in the summer so we’ll see. It would be rad.

Speaking of Washington, who exactly is Vic, and what is he selling?

[Laughs].. I don’t know Vic personally, but Vic’s Market is a little market in my hometown Snohomish. We would go there a lot as kids out skating and it was just the spot, you know? Flash forward to 2009, when YouTube was just starting to pop off, I was trying to think of a user name and just put ‘VicsMarket’, to pay a little homage or something, I don’t know. Anyway, the name stuck and as we put more and more little vids on there, got a little following, people were stoked and we just kinda became the Vic’s Market crew. The name kinda makes sense ‘cuz were just a bunch of small town underground guys skating outside of a corporate skateboard industry, similar to the little mom and pop stores like Vic’s, in comparison to say WalMart or something.

 

 

Is there a VM 3 on the horizon?

Not likely, but we plan on making little shorts here and there. We all haven’t skated together in quite some time, but we will reunite eventually and pick up where we left off.

You’re not too far from Seattle right? What drives you to skate the unusual ‘non-spots’ local to you, rather than driving 30 miles or so to film on the chunks of marble dotted around the city?

I just skate what’s around me. I skate what I see driving around to and from places, as I take back alleys most of the time. Also, I don’t have much time to skate nowadays. When I can skate, I wanna skate for as long as I can, so I never end up driving far. I don’t set out to skate weird non-spots necessarily, it’s just kind of turned into that, and it’s kept me entertained! I do believe anything can be a skate spot, with the right mind set and skill set, you know? I just like Everett, its always mellow and you never have to deal with traffic or parking or any bullshit really.

You recently became one of the representatives of the new Skater-owned shoe venture, The Free and Liberated State? How’d that come about?

Kevin Furtado, who started State, hit up Ryan Lay to be a part of it, but Ryan was already working out something with Etnies so he gave him my info and he got in touch with me. Flew down to SF to hang out with the rest of the guys and I was down. It’s been fun being a part of something new and seeing it get better and better.

Can we look forward to any new projects from you and the State crew in the near future?

Yeah State's "Free" video came out a few months ago now, but we're working on new stuff. I think Kevin's plan is to put out another short film in the Fall/Winter, with the bulk of the footage coming from a Europe trip at the end of summer.

 

 

On top of all that are you still working a full time job? I’m not too sure where I heard that you were, might just be a rumour?

I do work full time. I work for the government. The pay and benefits are solid, and I have a family to support, you know?

I imagine Welcome will continue to strangely shape the future of skateboarding, both physically and in the media. Are you already working towards Fetish 2?

Yes, the saga continues. I know Richie has mentioned that Welcome will be doing some shorter bi-annual releases in the near future. I like the shorter, sweeter stuff, so it should be fun.

Reckon the brand will get the Europeans like Karl Fredrik Forli and Josie Millard more involved in future projects?

I hope so, those dudes rip!

It’d be interesting to see how you, and your fellow Welcome-ers would take to the gritty streets of the UK, reckon that might be a possibility in the future?

I’ve always loved the skateboarding that has come from the UK, it’s very relatable and inspiring. I never get tired of seeing it and I have been watching skate videos for 20+ years, as opposed to say, Southern California footage. I’ve seen enough of that.

 

 

Interview: Conor Charleson

Photos courtesy of Garric Ray and Andy Froberg

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Welcome Skateboards x adidas Skateboarding

 

adidas Skateboarding continue to tap some of the best names in skateboarding for their collaborative ventures. Having linked up with Alltimers for a special release last season, they follow up with a second capsule collection with Cali's Welcome Skateboards. 

 The latest release sticks to similar themes from last years collection, again featuring a custom 'soccer' jersey, which this time around arrives in a simplistic white and black colour option, donning Welcome's signature graphics on the badge, sponsorship and back print. The Matchcourt Mid becomes the latest adi silhouette to get the Welcome treatment, arriving in a 'Seafoam Blue' colour way, the shoe features a durable premium suede on the upper which has been reinforced with a tonal rubber toe cap. The Mid shape offers slightly more protection around the ankle and the molded sock-liner locks the foot in place to avoid slippage. The design is rounded off with black accents on the three stripe's, lacing and branding on the tongue and heel, all of which sits on top of a crisp white sole unit and semi-translucent gum outsole.

Welcome founder Jason Celaya had this to say on the partnership; 

"I am a proponent of the evolution of both my personal life and my company, however, there are a few things in my life that are constants. Along with skateboarding and art, one of those constants has been adidas. Probably ever since the mid ’80s I have worn Adidas as my skate shoes and my date shoes."

 

The Welcome Skateboards x adidas Skateboarding capsule collection is set to drop online and select retailers from the beginning of May. Be sure to keep your eyes on social pages for updates on the drop!

 

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Welcome Skateboards x Adidas Skateboarding “A-League” Capsule

 

The adidas Skateboarding department have announced their latest collaborative venture as they add Cali’s Welcome Skateboards to the ‘A-League’ with a concise capsule collection.

Having previously worked with the likes of Magenta, Helas and Streetmachine on collaborative releases, adidas now look to Welcome to put their unique stamp on some of the brands staple silhouettes in a football inspired release. Welcome Skateboards are renowned for doing things slightly different to the rest of the pack, with their unorthodox designs and non-conformist approach, they have gained a huge cult following which has seen their boards become some of the most popular on the market.

For the “A-League” capsule, the limited edition CLIMALITE® jersey has been reworked to feature both brands logo designs embroidered on the front and Welcome’s type logo on the back. The classic Adi-Ease silhouette receives an ADV upgrade, arriving in a premium stone coloured full suede on the upper, black leather 3 stripe branding and aqua blue colouring on the stitching and tongue label. Sitting on top of a clean white midsole, the shoe is completed with contrasting black lacing, leather heel panelling, custom insole featuring one of Welcome’s signature graphics and a coffin shaped tongue that is a nod to Welcome’s oddly shaped boards.

To commemorate the release, Welcome have also put together a short edit featuring riders Daniel Vargas, Brandon Perelson and Mark McCoy skating through Tijuana and San Diego. Check it out below…

The Welcome Skateboards x adidas Skateboarding “A-League” capsule will be available online at all good skate stores from the 1st of September.

 

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Welcome Skateboards Spring 2015

 

 Welcome Skateboards is a brand dedicated to doing things differently. The Californian based brand was founded by Jason Celaya back in 2009 and was born out of a frustration with the current market and brands available, whether it was the product or the team, Celaya couldn’t relate. Starting out with a few sharpie drawings and some hand shaped decks which they would occasionally sell on their blog, the brand seemed to resonate with others who were looking for something unique. From that Welcome began to gain some serious traction with their ‘odd’ designs and anti-mainstream approach.

Drawing inspiration from musical influences including punk and 80’s goth, as well as elements of the supernatural, their abstract illustrative designs are applied to casual, skate ready pieces. Independent, skater owned and passionate about keeping things that way, Welcome really stand out with their unorthodox approach to shaping their boards which have been meticulously crafted to ensure that they can be skated and flipped as well as any other board.

For Spring 2015 the brands supernatural and occult inspired designs continue to feature across a range of tees, long sleeves and hoodies, as well as a small headwear selection donning the brands hand drawn type logo. The ‘oddly’ shaped boards arrive in force with several creative graphics and colours in numerous skate-able shapes.

Welcome Skateboards Spring 2015 is available now at  Slam City and Native Skate Store.