To see more and more Skatevideos out of the region where I grep up fills my heart with lots of love and even when I accept Berlin as my new home completely, a sense of nostalgia now and then comes through. Last weekend I met Patrick Paulenz a.k.a. Patty Paulenz and Max Hilsmann, who triggered the touch of nostalgia in me with their new Video Dirrtyd_, in Cologne. In the following interview, we want to introduce you to their newest video project which is full of unknown spots, ruff skating, and the smell of fresh downhills.
Intro, Interview & Photo by Lea Isabell.
Film & Edit by Patrick Paulenz and Max Hilsmann.
Hey Patty, Hey Max! Nice to see you again! How was your journey to Cologne?
P: Hey Lea, good to see you too!
M: Yeah, good to see you too Lea! It was good, it took us a bit because the train was quite slow but at least we brought the sun from the other side of the Rhein (laughs).
What? That never happens! (laughs). So you both made your way from Dortmund, right? How are things there right now?
P: We both came from Dortmund this morning. Yeah, good question, what is it like now? Since Utopia does not exist anymore, we do not have a local skatepark. I guess that’s also the reason why we found ourselves in the streets more often. Still, it didn’t take long before we started building up our new DIY: Slappy-Wonderland.
That’s so sick! I love the DIY culture in and around Dortmund. But as interesting as the topic of DIY Culture in Dortmund is, today we have met up to talk about something else. Your new video called,, Dirrtyd_’’. Can you tell me something about the name?
P: Yes, I could say something about it!
M: Go for it!
P: (laughs) Yeah, I mean in the beginning we didn’t really have a name. We were just playing around with some ideas until I found an old animation of a friend, Daniel Brancereau, that I had saved on my laptop. Before he deleted his Instagram account his name was Dirrty_D. We decided to use the animation in the intro and took his name to revive our friendship. Because we hadn’t seen each other for a long time (laughs).
I saw the animation and liked it a lot. Would you say it’s kind of a Homage to Daniel?
P: Yes definitely, but we thought the name was also fitting to the dirty side of Dortmund, the dust, and the ruff streets we’ve skated during the making of this project.
M: And after we realized the name fits twice, both to Daniel and to Dortmund, the name of the video was not debatable anymore after that (laughs).
But the footy is not only from Dortmund, right?
P: No, actually we filmed in Dortmund, Wuppertal and Remscheid.
(laughs) I have to admit, after watching the video I thought I recognized a few streets from Remscheid. I spent quite a lot of time there in the last couple of months. What I also like about Dirrty-D Is that you don’t see the typical NRW-Street-Spots in the video either. Do you think there is a connection between the spot selection and the lockdown?
M: Yes definitely. I mean, we could only meet up with a few of our friends.
P: Yeah, the big sessions couldn’t take place and it definitely was a reason why we were more focused on Dortmund, Wuppertal, and Remscheid. Most of the time I would meet up with Pasquale Grispo, Ruben Lücke, and Tim Grünewald. It was either the city they live in or the one that was the easiest to reach for every one of us.
M: That’s true. And I think in general it helped us to stay more focused. It’s really cool to meet up with ten people and slowly move from spot to spot: But with a smaller group of people, you’re more productive and you get a chance to see spots you wouldn’t have seen with a bigger crew. Remscheid for example is Patty’s old hometown and that helped us a lot to take a deeper look into a city and be more creative with the selection of spots.
P: Yeah, we really used all the Downhills in Remscheid and it was a pleasure to go back to my hometown and be able to combine those with the spots of my new home in Dortmund.
Do you think the selection of the Spots also influenced your skating?
P: Yeah, for sure! More spots, more downhills, rough streets and ruff skating!
M: and in general things were dirtier (laughs)!
When I hear you guys talking like that there is one big thing that springs to my mind. You’re filming with a VX1000, right?
P: Yes we do!
I mean, the look of the VX1000 suits your videos perfectly and I am a huge fan of the look in general! Even back in the days of your older Skatevideos like Hyper Hyper Vol.1 and Vol.2 that both have kind of a Piss-Drunx vibe! Still, a lot of people describe the VX look as blurry, too ,dirty’ or low quality for the standards of today. I also noticed a lot of filmers changing to HD. What’s your opinion about that?
P: Yeah, especially in this video we realized how hard it can be (laughs). We worked on the video for around one year and my regular VX has been broken for around one-year now (laughs). But besides that, there is no reason for me to change to HD. The only thing that worries me sometimes is the tapes which have become more and more expensive because they are no longer being produced.
M: Same goes for me. I think it also more fun to film with a VX. It’s not always easy to handle the camera, but it’s also a reason why you’re even more proud of your own process of filming. It gives you a good feeling to see how every video you do you become better and better and in my opinion the process shouldn’t be too easy!
I totally understand! This is not the first project you worked on together right?
M: In fact, it is the third video we have worked on together.
P: I think it is actually the second right? (laughs)
M: When we include the Utopia DIY Video, it is our third. First the Sidemission#1 for Obtain, then the VX-Topia, and now Dirrtyd_.
And do you plan to do more in the future?
M: Yes definitely! The possibility to do this interview with you motivates us unbelievably to do more and we are looking forward to 2021!
P: Yes more ruff spots, steeper and longer downhills and faster skating!
M: And hopefully a bit less of Covid 19.
Yeah, 100%! Thanks for your time guys! I am looking forward to see more projects by you two!
M: Yes, lots of thanks to you, Lea! Hopefully we will have a nice session together now!
P: Yeah, thank you Lea! Let’s shred!
Let’s goo!
