Indholdsfortegnelse for 232 Summer 2021 i Slam Skateboarding

Slam Skateboarding|232 Summer 2021

INTRO

2021 has come to an end, and as we knock another strange year on the head, it’s become more evident how reliant the human race is on digital technology. We freak out if we can’t find our phones; we’re told to scan QR codes and tap EFTPOS terminals everywhere we go; and now the world’s big tech-heads are hoping to step up our digital addictions by merging this reality into a virtual “Metaverse”. That’s Zuckerberg’s grand plan for turning the Internet as we know it into a virtual reality world. It paints a dystopian image: people glued to their couches with headsets on, “Bedding Taylor Swift every night inside the Oculus Rift”, to quote Father John Misty’s pessimistic, yet possibly prophetic lyrics of “Total Entertainment Forever”. It’s a scary thought…

2 min

Slam Skateboarding|232 Summer 2021

ANTHONY CHICCO

Canberra I grew up in Canberra and started skating in 2006. I was 12 when I met Tom O’Reilly at Tuggeranong Skatepark and we’ve been best mates ever since. We both got a job at our local skate shop, Trilogy, around the same time and ended up riding for them shortly after. At this point, Woden and Belco Skateparks had just been upgraded thanks to Luke Brown. That significantly changed the Canberra scene. A couple of our mates were filming VX and we would spend our weekends stacking clips – as most groms do. Dropping Out At 16 I decided to drop out of high school to pursue art and began studying at TAFE. I was working part time at Trilogy and after completing the course I began volunteering at…

8 min

Slam Skateboarding|232 Summer 2021

OWSAM BRIDGE

Many years ago, I worked with a 14-year-old kid who was always asking me about spots, tricks, who did what, when and where. That kid is now a 27-year-old man with the same questions every week. He still eats like a 14-year-old, skates with the passion of a 14-year-old, and has his own trick list at the level of some of today’s pros. Sam will avoid a vegetable at any cost, but he will never avoid a skate session. With a smile bigger than some of the flip outs he’s done on many ledges in many video parts over the years, he’s sure to surprise anyone that stumbles across his mini ramp skills as he drops into some sort of nollie-heelvarial-decker combo to revert as a warm-up. Dangle a fizzer…

21 min

Slam Skateboarding|232 Summer 2021

FAVE SKATERS’ FAVE SKATERS

Asking me who my favourite skateboarder is, is like asking me what my favourite song is. If I want to keep things mellow, I might listen to some Cass McCombs or Bob Dylan, and if I’m bummed out it might be some depressing rainy-day music like Elliott Smith or The Verve. Similarly, my favourite skater at any given time changes regularly, depending on my mood. When I was a young kid, I loved skaters that would hurl themselves off stuff (mostly because I loved jumping off stuff). I’d regularly watch skaters like Ryan Sheckler and Andrew Reynolds, and I thought Ali Boulala was a god for attempting the Lyon 25-stair. Then, as I grew older, my taste in skaters changed. Trick selection, style and fluidity came onto my radar as…

6 min

Slam Skateboarding|232 Summer 2021

TOMMY FYNN

By the middle of his 20s, Tommy had set his sights on Los Angeles, and went on to establish himself as a Street League-worthy contest crusher and an insanely consistent street skater. After five years soaking up all the glitz, glamour and grit that LA had to offer, he decided to return to Brissy and put down roots. Freshly married and feeling healthy, Tommy is now diligently filming for his part in a new full-length Plan B video. It was a hot day in Brissy when I called Tommy for his interview. He was having a rest day, setting up a fresh board and doing some stretches, committing himself to attack the streets like a beast over the weekend. Hey, Tommy. How’s it going? What have you been up to…

20 min

Slam Skateboarding|232 Summer 2021

Dennis Durrant FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT AND SHINNING BRIGHT

Dennis has spent a large chunk of his life in Brisbane, but he had his fair share of adventures across his long career as a street skateboarder. From plane crash premonitions to shotgun-wielding American cops to making claim to being the first bloke to bust out a rub brick in Australia, he’s got some good tales to tell. But before we get into any of that, I ask Dennis about the morning’s fishing trip. He explains modestly how he came back with a couple of snappers – nothing too big, but legal-sized and good eating. “I’ve got my mum in town too,” says Dennis, “So it’s good to be providing for the family.” He may not be particularly interested in spending months on couches in California anymore, but Dennis is…

21 min

Slam Skateboarding|232 Summer 2021

BEN HENNESSY

19 years old. LIVES IN Marrickville, NSW. RIDES FOR: Croons Theatre, Personal, U.P.S. and Vans (flow). Hey, Ben. Have you ever been interviewed before? No, never, this is the first time. What about a job interview? Oh yeah, I’ve done them a couple of times. How did they work out? One went well and I got a job at The Unicorn [Bar] on Oxford Street, but I never showed up for my first shift. I kept running into the guy that interviewed me. I see him around all the time now and he just stares at me. Why didn’t you show up? Well, when I was doing the trial, I knew it wasn’t for me, but the guy was like, “Do you what the job?” I said that I was…

11 min

Slam Skateboarding|232 Summer 2021

MONDO BONDO

Max Couling and Neihana Tonkin have come out with a new product called Polly Repair, which is a gap-filling compound specifically formulated for fixing street spots. You’ll know Max as a Melbourne-dwelling street skater from NZ, who rides for Lovesick, Nike and RVCA, and Neihana as the filmer who made Bread & Butter, along with endless clips in all sorts of international skate videos. The pair came up with the idea of Polly about a year ago, after using Knead It and other generic Bunnings compounds to fix up spots they were trying to skate. Part of the idea behind Polly was to make the product more accessible to skaters and to encourage more people to get out there and take the initiative to patch up their local ledge, backyard…

5 min

Slam Skateboarding|232 Summer 2021

MELBOURNE LOCKED DOWN BUT NOT OUT

Even at the best of times, a lot of what we skateboarders do exists in a legal grey area. This means that street skateboarders are, by necessity, a resourceful breed. But as the beginning of 2020 saw the COVID-19 pandemic sweep across the globe, public health orders aiming to control the spread of the virus suddenly and severely shifted many of the realities about skateboarding that we had always taken for granted. Nowhere was this more apparent than in Melbourne, where harsh restrictions were in place for over 260 days. While skateboarding was never explicitly outlawed, for many of us, it was rendered completely unrecognisable by bans on gatherings and restrictions on travel. Uncertain and isolated, Melbourne’s skateboarders slunk back to the car parks where they’d taken their first push,…

29 min

Slam Skateboarding|232 Summer 2021

PRODUCT

DGK Kevin Bilyeu Major League 8.06” & 8.25” From $139.95 @dgk projectdistribution.com.au ETERNAL TonyMottSeries–KylieMinogue All sizes From $109.99 @eternalskateboards eternalskateboards.com ETERNAL Tony Mott Series – Nick Cave All sizes From $109.99 @eternalskateboards eternalskateboards.com GX1000 Pablo Ramirez Pro 8.375” From $139.95 @gx1000 projectdistribution.com.au KROOKED Sweatpants Blacklight 8.5” & 9.1” From $139.95 @krooked projectdistribution.com.au PRACLIP Perched Laughter 8.5” From $110@praclip.hardware praclip.com ADIDAS Forum 84 Low ADV From $170 @adidasskateboarding adidas.com.au/skateboarding CONVERSE CONS One Star Pro From $130 @converse_anz converse.com.au/men/featured/skate GLOBE Dover – Black Distress / Gillette From $159.99 @globebrand See your local skate shop NB# 306L – Jamie Foy Slip-On NM306LCM From $120 @nbnumeric newbalance.com.au/men/shoes/skate boarding VANS Wayvee – Justin Henry From $179.95 @vansaustralia vans.com.au THUNDER Tyshawn Jones So Good Hollow Light 147, 149 & 151 From $139.95 @thundertrucks projectdistribution.com.au SPITFIRE Louie…

1 min

Slam Skateboarding|232 Summer 2021

TYNAN WILLIAMS

“I’ve known Tynan since he was a little pipsqueak, literally since he was about five years old. He’d be down at the old Alexandra Headland skatepark with his dad, fully padded up and skating the big halfie every single day. Every time I’d see him, he’d be getting better. He has always been a hard worker, and now he’s grown into a good bloke. He’s as Sunny Coast as it gets. What’s that old saying about Queensland skateboarders? They’re born with sand in their bearings. That definitely applies to Tynan. Sunny Coast to the bone.” – Wade McLaughlin “Tynan was the archetypal Alex [Alexandra Headland] grom who made that skatepark intimating for outsiders. He was that kid who was always there with a bag of tricks matched only by his…

1 min

Slam Skateboarding|232 Summer 2021

WADE THOMPSON

Wade was someone who, from the moment I met him, was so special and remained so special for the rest of the time he was with us. In the 15 years that I knew Wade, there was honestly never a dull moment when he was nearby. I will cherish each and every moment I was with him for the rest of my life. From the million beers we drank to the tattoos we gave one another to the endless laughs we had, there are too many great memories to share. For all of us that he touched in his life, we will be left with an undeniable void. He was the embodiment of the Sydney skate scene. He was the true king of Sydney. We love you, Wade. Forever and…

1 min