Back in the day, Basel was the home of the European Skate Championships, Michael Mackrodt used to be a fixture at those and he told us that people would glide through the city by traveling on the flow of river Rhine in the city. For a few years now, though, it has been somewhat quiet around the city famous for its art exhibitions. Our boy Leon Charo-Tite used to frequent the city all the time and would tell us about his friend Elia Lang. And that is exactly how we partnered up for this project. We asked Elia to tell you about the project so before you press play, scroll down!
Intro by Roland Hoogwater.
Text by Elia Lang.
The “BASYLON” process
After I moved to Basylon, I was getting to know the local skate scene more and more each time I went out. I really liked it, so I decided to make a video showing off Basel’s skate scene. Sadly, soon I realized this was quite an ambitious plan since most of the skaters are indeed not too motivated when it comes down to getting into these streets to film. Though this attitude never stemmed from a lack of skill or talent inside the city. I found most of the locals to be super good at skating and it even got to the point where I was almost angry at them because I saw how much potential they had. But in my opinion, they simply didn’t use it, so to say…
So, during the second lockdown, I somehow managed to find shelter at the local trailer park in Basel (for which I am very thankful!). That meant I was able to get more flexible and spontaneous with the sessions, which wasn’t the case before. I used to live half an hour bike ride away from Basel in Lörrach, Germany. So once I got a place, Chrissy also moved to Basel temporarily and things got even more productive. Nico didn’t even have to motivate the others anymore. I know it can sound quite harsh to basically say: “Basel skaters are a bunch of lazy dudes” when in reality, they did message me to go film trick “y” at spot “x”. Because when we did go there, we would get the clip almost certainly. What I want to point out is, that some of them just needed a little kick in the ass to get over the hump.
Over a year into the process of filming for this video, things changed. You could really feel that everyone was hyped to go film tricks and a healthy dynamic had developed over time. That is when, I was able to realize with whom, when, and where these dudes, (who I am more than grateful to call my friends) wanted to go film. So, over the course of 14 months of filming, things were sometimes more sometimes less intense but I ended up with my very first “serious” video project “BASYLON”.
*I am very well aware of the fact that the project is not entirely polished from start to finish but am moreover happy about having managed to establish a base in a scene on which we can build. Now we can film more projects like this one and see the talent in the city for what it is.