Innehållsförteckning för 229 Autumn 2021 från Slam Skateboarding

This edition of Slam is spearheaded by skateboarders with a burning drive to get shit done, no matter what challenges are thrown at them. Rather than sitting dolefully and waiting for the pandemic to pass, Australian skaters are producing video parts, shooting feature interviews and knocking up incredible DIYs. We rinsed every photo our new Skater of the Year had last year in a 16-page interview, but Ben Lawrie knuckled down over a few weeks – straight after he was surprised with his award – and managed to shoot another 10-page spread. Drawn inextricably to Melbourne city, our new SOTY even stepped out of his comfort zone and jumped on a plane to Sydney to snap a few shots. Jake Hayes was crowned Slam SOTY back in 2016 and he…

Karmen Lee is a 38-year-old skateboarder who has been a staple of the Western Australian skate scene since the ’90s. These days, she works with Skateboarding WA, GMTA and has also formed her own skate company, Panda. Karmen has been through all sorts of ups and downs, battling injury and addiction, and helping plenty of other skateboarders along the way. WA in the ’90s When I was a grom skating in the ’90s, there were no other girls around, no mobile phones, no social media, no skate lessons and no skateparks, aside from a couple of indoor ones that weren’t close to public transport. There was a lot of running from security and police – my fake name was Elissa Steamer if we got caught. Weekends consisted of meeting up…

As I lay on my lounge room floor writing this, Melbourne is in a snap five-day lockdown, and I’m waiting and hoping it doesn’t go any longer. The cause of this city-wide shutdown was an outbreak in hotel quarantine, a result of international travellers who came to Melbourne for the Australian Open. If we go back into lockdown because of the fucking tennis, I’ll fly Mashy back down here and pay him to do a nudie run through finals. And nobody wants that. Anyway, by now, we all know the terrible side effects of lockdown. But not all things to come from Melbourne’s harsh restrictions were bad. This spot, affectionately known as Victoria’s Secret, basically happened because of them. Jeremy Corea lives fairly close to the spot, and he was…

Canadian street skater Una Farrar arrived in Australia in December 2020, spent Chrissy in quarantine, and then was finally reunited with her girlfriend Poppy Olsen after 10 and a half long months apart. Now Una has been unleashed on the Sydney streets with her VX, soaking up the Southern Hemisphere sunshine. We caught up for a chat about COVID, gender equity, the Olympics and earning a crust. Vancouver Island I’m from Victoria, on Vancouver Island [in Canada]. It was a really good place to grow up. We have beautiful nature, so I was really fortunate as a kid to do lots of outdoor things. The skate community has always been there, but it’s definitely grown a lot in the past few years. I had my own little grom friend-group and…

By the time you read this, Mitch Robertom and his partner Kathryn will be married. That’s if everything goes to plan and Melbourne hasn’t descended into another snap lockdown. Mitch and Kathryn have had to delay and reschedule their matrimonial plans three separate times now. But when I caught Mitch on the phone for this interview, the wedding was only two weeks away, and he sounded stoked that it was finally going to happen. Aside from coronavirus drama and wedding plans, we also spoke about his long list of previous sponsors, dumb tatts, his pro model surprise, and the inevitable comparisons people make between him and Jon Dickson. Mitch’s last interview in Slam was seven years ago, when he was a 22-year-old party animal with a nose ring who was…

Hey Kieran, can you tell us a bit about where you’re from? I’m from a small town on the south coast of NSW called Minnamurra. We live right near a few sick surf breaks and it’s a cool place to live. On the downside, our local skatepark is a dodgy prefab. I have a lot of love for that place, though. What does a typical day in Minnamurra look like for you? To be honest, my days are never the same, but usually, if I’m at home, I try to do a bit of schoolwork, have a surf and then skate all arvo. At the moment, I’m in Newcastle, so today, I did a bit of schoolwork and then headed out and skated a ledge before having a surf. After…

Some injuries are painful, some are scary, others are just downright annoying. After slipping out on a tailslide recently, I copped one from the latter category: my shin scraped down the edge of the ledge, splitting open like one of those rubber Spitfire coin pouches. A sock full of blood and a handful of stitches later, and I’m now sitting around, waiting for the gash to heal enough so I can skate again. The problem with this kind of injury is that it’s in one of those spots that is likely to be hit again, and again, and again. Any minor shinner now has the potential to rip that sucker open, send me back to the stitcher, and relegate my arse to the couch while I wait for it to…

INTERVIEW BY TRENT FAHEY Jake Hayes grew up in Sydney, cutting his teeth at iconic spots like Martin Place, Chifley Plaza and Cook and Phillip. He’ll always have a soft spot for the gritty Sydney city skate scene, but these days he lives in Koreatown, LA and he seems pretty comfortable in The City of Angels. He’s got an American girlfriend, a dog named Mr. Bigglesworth (who answers to Biggie), a couple of BMWs, and a safe place on the Deathwish team. Standing at six foot two, Jake has monster pop and is actually the joint world record holder for the world’s highest ollie. And as you’ll find out in his interview, he’s got a new shoe colourway, a particularly controversial board graphic, and some good stories up his sleeve.…

“I’ve known Brendon for about eight years – even before he started skating seven years ago. He has been a Fast Times regular since he was allowed to roam the city streets on another wheeled vehicle, which was not a skateboard. His family owns the best Vietnamese bakery in the city, yet I’m still waiting for a free tofu bahn mi. Hopefully, after providing this quote, I’ll get the long-awaited hook up there. But in all seriousness, the kid absolutely rips. And Brendon, just remember, light on the chilli and no coriander.” – Anthony Mapstone “Brendon’s consistency and style make him one of my favourite people to watch skate. I’ve known him since the day he started skating at IMAX, and I’ll always remember his KFC-stained white tee and Hundreds…