Don’t mess with Texas unless you mess with it in a positive way. Truth be told, we have been watching skating from the lone-star state for a minute now. Especially the stuff Nicolas Marti, Alan Bell & Keegan McCutchen to name a few, have been putting out. But today with our newest “Place Presents: Low Budget Vol.1” we enter a new space when it comes to featuring the scene in Austin and the surrounding areas. This means you will see a few Cowboy hats fly by during this video’s runtime. We enjoy the diversity “Low Budget Vol.1” brings and wanted to share it with you through the video and an interview with lensman Henry Giddens. Fun Fact, his Texan accent shines through, even when you read it in writing. Enjoy.
Intro & Interview Roland Hoogwater.
Film & Edit Henry Giddens
Hey Henry, how have you been and what have you been up to?
Been good! Just working and skating. Pretty much just on some weekend-warrior-type shit. Low Budget Episode 2 most definitely is in the works
For the people that don’t know you, tell us a bit about who you are and what Low Budget is. How did it start and how many Vol. will there be?
My name is Henry Giddens. I just turned 30 years old and am from Austin, Texas. Low Budget is a video series I am starting now, to showcase what the great state of Texas has to offer. Hopefully, there will be at least 3 episodes.
Who is in this video and what is it like filming with them?
A lot of Texas (Austin and the surrounding areas) locals with some cameos of some more well-known names from out West. Filming with Figgy has been a trip. He’s the best, he’s just like us, a fucking skate rat! He definitely ain’t afraid of no mission! whatever it takes, Figgy’s down!
“Damn! The PLACE homies really fuck with Texas…”
Henry Giddens, Austin, Texas.
What can we expect from you in the future?
MORE EVIDENCE!!!! Trying to keep Texas on the map! Don’t sleep on the third coast!!
How did you stumble upon PLACE all the way in Austin and why did you feel it would be a good fit for you?
I first heard about PLACE when y’all interviewed a friend of mine, Nicolas Marti. I’ve always been a big fan of Nick’s videos and his skating. His video “valor” is one of the best to come out of Texas hands down! Then after that, y’all put another texas video on the site “speedster” which was super rad and I thought “Damn! The PLACE homies really fuck with Texas, imma reach out!”
Who’s work inspires you inside or outside of skateboarding currently and in the past?
I’ve always been a big fan of Jon Miner. But from more of a local standpoint, Calvin Millar is a name worth mentioning. His first video “The Devils Toy” is pretty much what inspired me to pick up a camera.
To close this out, any stories from vol.1 that would be interesting to share?
Hmm…….to keep it short and sweet that last trick took years to land. Sometimes we’d be there for hours. Other times we would be there for just 10-15 minutes and it wouldn’t be working at all, so we would call it and move on to the next spot. The day he (Tanner Quigg) finally landed it, he did a Fakie Tailslide first then like 5 tries later landed the Fakie Crooks. The weird thing was that that day we were maybe there for 20 minutes total 🙂
“That last trick took years to land…”
Henry Giddens, Austin, Texas
Well, Henry thank you for this interview.
Thank you for this opportunity, have a nice day.