Innehållsförteckning för 240 Summer 2023/2024 från Slam Skateboarding

Issue 55 from February/March 2000 is the first edition of the new millennium, and Adair's photo of freestyle veteran Shaun Gladwell, features on the contents page performing a 50-50. In freestyle, a 50-50 is a kind of truck stand, not a grind. Running a freestyle photo during this period might seem like a throwback, but Gladwell was on the verge of becoming one of the country's most controversial artists. Storm Sequence, Gladwell's first major work, thrust the artist into the Australian eye on a broader scale than a skateboarding magazine could provide. The 11-minute video featured Gladwell freestyle skateboarding by the seashore as a storm builds in intensity. The video elevated the moving image as an art form in the Australian commercial art world, but it copped a bit of…

It's the eve of Slam's 35th birthday and I'm trying to write something that hasn't been discussed in earlier anniversary issues. The likes of Olijnyk, Adair, Currie and Kassel have dropped pretty heavy history lessons on long-time readers over the years. In front of me are four archival boxes that contain 35 years of Slam, from Issue 1 in 1988 until the most recent, Issue 239. I'm going to start at box one, grabbing random issues from each decade to find out why Slam survived three and a half decades to exist in your hands right now, when other magazines only live on in the archives of nerds like me. At the end of 1988, when the first issue of Slam: The Skateboarder's Magazine [a strapline that was only used…

Thirty-five years; that's older than the majority of you holding this right now. It's more than double the time that any other Australian skateboarding publication has ever existed. It's longer than. The Simpsons has been on TV. Think about that for a second. We're not quite there yet, but we will be by the end of the page. Dane Burman graces the cover of the magazine yet again with a backside flip off a four block and over a rail for Issue 163, January 2010. Burman is interviewed about living in America and filming for Zero's Strange World video, and both The Chief and Cobra Cole have guest appearances. While reading the article, I'm reminded what a huge deal full-length Zero videos used to be. It wasn't unusual to see…

AGE: 16 LIVES: Central Coast, NSW SPONSORS: DC Shoes [flow], Boardworld “Cam is the definition of turbo, but in the best way possible. He'll skate any spot put in front of him, no questions asked, with a big smile on his face – even if said “spot” has a landing which is fully submerged in water. He's the Central Coast's most valuable asset.” – Sam Fairweather “Hot off the Central Coast production line, Cam Beckton was instantly my new favourite skater when he showed up on the scene in oversized jeans, chunky DCs and a visor beanie, claiming he was ready to “jump off some buildings” before I'd even had a chance to ask his name. Cam's an authentic kid with a genuinely contagious energy about him. When he channels…

As day dawns on the new era, Slam is Australia's handbook for progress. At least in the skate world anyway. Issue 8 arrives in January 1990 with Jason Lee and Mark Gonzales showcasing style and finesse to the Australian public on their trip down under. Blind becomes the freshest brand available and every street skater in the country wants to be Mark or Jason. Paula Ferrao returns to pen “Girlskate – The Problems Defined” with Prue Torres. The article includes a table for dealing with tricky situations that girls might find themselves in while navigating a male-dominated skate world. Our own Gonz, Dominic Gonzales, takes street skating to the next level, wallriding higher than most, skating bigger rails and blasting over cars in his Issue 9, 1990, interview. Slam's most…

What a monumental issue this is, celebrating the 35th anniversary of Slam Skateboarding Magazine. It's incredible to consider the years that have gone by, the eras that Australian skateboarding has gone through and better yet, the traces of documented history that have paved the way and inspired skaters Australia-wide. For every issue and year that goes by, skaters from around the country have eagerly flicked through from cover to cover, and their senses become alive as they soak in the showcase of impressive talent that Australian skateboarding has to offer. Whether this is your first issue of Slam, or you've been reading for decades, each issue is a peek into a representation of contemporary skateboarding of the times. Viewing each magazine's stories, we also get to notice particular styles in fashion,…

HODDLA JACK O'GRADY JACK O'GRADY SIMON ZUZIC SIMON ZUZIC SIMON ZUZIC We talked about taking the Hoddle crew to LA for so long, and at some point, we just had to do it. But organising this trip was no easy task. Half the team was on the move over in Europe, and the other half was eager to book and get out of the Australian winter while waiting for the boys in Europe to finally say we were on. Caeylen Norris was on a mission. Everyone flew different airlines from opposite corners of the globe, but somehow, we all showed up at the Airbnb in the safe old suburb of Glendale. With beers in hand, the Hoddle crew caught up like old friends sitting in the back of Jack O'Grady's…

Jay Runciman first heard about the West End Brewery being demolished from a mate who sent a few photos of these five-to six-metre-high barrels on their sides. He got told to get in quick because they'd be gone within the week. Jay and I rocked up to the brewery around 11 a.m. the next day and the place was surrounded by threemetrehigh security fences with razor wire. I stood on a power box and tried to get a peek at the spot over the fence, but cops drove by in about 20 seconds flat, so we knew it was hot. We circled the perimeter multiple times to suss the best point of entry to get in undetected, eventually finding a spot on the fence line near a tree that didn't…