Skateboarding media is certainly in a time of transition. The announced closure of Skateboarder magazine is symptomatic of this. The embracing of internet content is obviously central to these changes. Do you feel any sort of partial responsibility for forcing these changes in skateboarding print media?
I don’t think so, my show isn’t really doing what magazines do, we aren’t really a competitor to the mags. At least I don’t think so. All print media is hurting. And lots of skate brands are hurting as well. It sucks, I don’t want to see any more skate brands drop out. Every time it happens, I’m bummed. I hope people support the brands they like, and the companies that are making rad videos and ads etc. You will miss them when they’re gone.
People seem to have rose-tinted recollections of skateboarding culture pre-internet, regularly appealing to the notion that we learn more than we really need or want to know about skaters through overexposure to them on social media. Do you think there is any truth to this? Especially considering your show is often so heavily concerned with skateboarder’s personal lives?
Maybe, people probably said that after the invention of books, “I wish I didn’t know that unicorns weren’t real.” I still wish that.
Do you think Epicly Later’d has in some way changed the skate history canon? Personally, I’ve noticed Cardiel for example being named as one of the all time greats more regularly since his episode first aired. Do you at all intend to change people’s perceptions of skaters with Epicly Later’d or you think may have been unfairly overlooked by younger generations?
I hope so, I felt that way when I put out Elissa’s episode as well. I think of some of them as public service announcements. I want people to know about these national treasures, these amazing skaters and people, that sometimes get over looked. It depends though, not every person I feature is some kind of skate saint, it’s up to the viewer to decide. But when we finished Cardiel’s I wanted not only regular skaters to see it, but also pro skaters…. He is the perfect pro skater, and I feel that a lot of pros had lost the plot a little bit. It happens.
What skater do people most regularly ask you to do an episode on? Why do you think that is?
Almost every pro skater has been requested at some point. In my inbox this week I got requests for PJ Ladd, Ronnie Creager and Kenny Reed. I’m down for them, I someday hope to get to everyone. Maybe not a full episode, but at least a side tangent on everyone, which we try to throw in as much as possible.
As somebody with a background in art, skateboarding and now filmmaking, do you think that people’s willingness to embrace smaller independent skate videos as well as stuff from companies like Palace or Polar with a more defined, individual aesthetic is a reaction to the fact so many unsponsored skaters are so much better than they ever were before? Are people looking for something more from a skate video than high quality skating simply because there are so many great skaters everywhere?
I like that about skateboarding today, that there is something for everyone. I was disheartened to see some skate bloggers complaining about Pretty Sweet (I’m looking at youwillsoon.com) ‘cause I feel that there is room for everyone, and I don’t see every video having to be the exactly the same thing. I want to watch the Ty Evans/Spike videos just as much as Krooked, Alien Workshop or Anti-Hero. There is room for so much. I hated that when I was young, skating was so limited and small-minded. There was almost a uniform.
With the apparent changes in how we consume skate media (solo web parts, independent artsy videos getting a lot more attention) how do you think most people will consume skate media on 5 years times? Are we on the verge of the death of the brand-sponsored full-length video?
No, cause there will always be people that want watch long-form team videos. Everyone is excited about The Deathwish video or the next Emerica video, not so and so’s web drop. Those are cool too, but nothing beats a full length skate video. I also am thankful that company’s like Girl will spend probably millions making a video, years of work, never to make that back, just to give back to skateboarding. A full length video is forever. When I do my show, I don’t ask a skater about his web clips, people want the stories about their team video parts. If the part gets watched on the web, that’s fine, but it’s the team videos that get remembered. I rarely ask anyone about their 411 parts either, which was sort of the 90’s version of a webclip, that stuff eventually becomes background noise to the real shit.
Finally, considering we are an Irish publication: who are your favourite ginger skaters?
