Last time we released “Place Presents: HANDYCAPS 2” and today we continue what we can now call a tradition. Another tradition continued by the people behind HANDYCAPS_3 is their relentless search for new spots. Barcelona has already been through a fine-tooth-comb at least a few times but it seems spots keep slipping through the cracks for this crew to find. Another continuing tradition is our talk with Leandro Chocho, the person behind the videos and the promotor of fine Argentinean skaters like Martin Giménez who closes the show on this video. If you plan to go to Barcelona this year, make sure this one is on your watchlist, even if it is just because of the spots.

Intro and Interview by Roland Hoogwater.

Filmed and edited by: Leandro Chocho.

Photos by Nahuel Martinez.

Animation by Hortencio Herrera.

He Leandro, How are you? Can you tell us a bit about who you are and how Handycaps 3 happened?

We are a group of friends who live in Barcelona, most of us come from Argentina but the group has grown and we are currently from various parts of the world. Everything started when I bought my camera and we started recording. In a short time, we had already accumulated enough material and we liked the idea of making chapters of no more than 15 minutes so that the footage doesn’t get old. The idea is to base each chapter around a montage and a full part. This allows us to continuously release videos while saving material for future ones.

How long have you been filming and what do you enjoy about it?

We have been stacking clips since before the pandemic. This is our third release. Little by little our group grew and grew and the motivation got bigger and bigger. What we enjoy the most and what keeps us active the most is exploring and finding spots in every part of Barcelona and not staying at the typical skate spots.

Who is in this video and what is it like filming with them?

We did a montage starting with various tricks from Ethan Roads from Arizona, my new favorite skater! Then a small part of the Suichi guys in Portugal. That was a beautiful trip to meet old friends and it continues with tricks from the whole gang in Barcelona. The last part is by Martin Giménez from
Argentina, who is a great friend who I have known for many years. We click and we share similar
interests in terms of skateboarding. It was a true pleasure to be able to do something together.

“I would like to use this space to apologize to the people that came to the premiere…”

What can we expect from you in the future?

In order to cover expenses and for this to continue, we have started to produce caps and some t-shirts. It won’t be long until we will probably do boards and maybe a collab. The money we make from that goes into buying cassettes, camera repairs, future trips, etc. To be able to keep doing this for a long time support handycapsvx.com!

How did you stumble upon our site and why did you feel it would be a
good fit for you?

I have been following your website for a long time and I always like your content. You have both, videos by well-known brands, but you also show videos from upcoming brands or just groups of friends doing their thing. I love how you are willing to share skateboarding in general, giving space for people or projects like ours to grow. All for the love of art.

Who’s work inspires you inside or outside of skateboarding?

Lots of old skate videos… Cliché: “Bon Appetit!” by Fred Mortagne! His way of recording tricks, his music taste, and how he combines trips and full parts in a smooth way amazed me. Josh Stewart with his Static saga and lastly, those first VX videos by Ryan Garshell from the GX1000 crew hyped me up the most.

Lastly, what happened at the premiere of HANDYCAPS 3?

I would like to use this space to apologize to the people that came to the premiere, especially because of the sound problems. We all had to watch the video with almost no volume coming from the speakers. It was our first premier…we will learn from our mistakes. The next one will be 100 times better. Hope you can now enjoy the video in its full glory!

That sounds about right, thank you, Leandro!

Thank you too.