We can’t lie, we have a slight bias towards Dutch skaters, companies & videos from The Netherlands, it is a part of growing up in a country. You want to see the scene do well, grow and develop in the right way. Videos are a big part of establishing the vibe of a certain place. Marc’s work builds upon the vibe that the port city of Rotterdam has had for decades now. Born in Rotterdam but raised a little bit outside the 010 in Oud Beijerland where many Dutch skaters of significance hail from, he understands the city, and how it could be shown authentically, quite well. He first started to enter our radar field with BOOMBAP and afterward continued with a series of videos called Killahtapes of which the second video just dropped a week ago. Through our connect Jaasir Linger we managed to get a hold of the man behind the lens (most of the time) Marc Bolhuis to ask him some questions. Enjoy!
Interview by Roland Hoogwater.
Pictures by Jaasir Linger.
Hey Marc, How are you?
I am good, just finished dinner.
So, your new video Killahtapes volume II just dropped, in of the reasons we are having this chat, what have the responses been like?
In general, people really responded positively, Tim (Zom) was hyped on his song, and Dirk (Middelkoop) said it was better than volume I. Which I obviously was aiming for.
Do you agree with that?
I don’t know actually, Killahtapes was such an easy one to make, it came about organically in about a year’s time. I had all these short edits, and in the end, I just added some stuff in between and packaged it as one video. I wanted to do the same for this one but it turned out to be something bigger. Truth be told, I really wanted this one to be better than the last, and that was a big challenge for me.
Did that goal make you more critical of the process for this one?
It did, I was comparing it to BOOMBAP a lot, or checking Killahtapes I, I don’t want to make a video that isn’t better than the last video, that wouldn’t motivate me to keep going at 30 years of age. At the same time, Wouter de Jong is one of the people that gave me a lot of feedback during the editing. He had seen the video about 50 times before the premiere (laughs).
That being said, do you have a favorite section in this newest video.
Probably, the thing I liked editing the most was the montage just before the vert section. That little piece was put together the way I would like the whole video to be like. It is the tune and the tricks that really do it for me. Short but sweet.
The skaters in your videos are quite diverse, is that an important element for you?
Yes it is, we are a very diverse crew of people but we are very close, maybe Wouter (de Jong) will push us to go to a handrail spot and put his all into it. Woetoe for instance just needs like two days to film his sections, he just ticks differently, is very creative, and knows what he wants to do. He does his thing and he doesn’t need me to put pressure on him. Making a skate video without a good crew is impossible, you need people that will dedicate time to your project.
Talking about pressure, will you be doing another full-length or are you going back to doing shorter videos?
We are doing Volume III for sure, we already started filming. I don’t know, I won’t stop filming after that one but if I will have the energy to do another full length that is unknown at the moment.
I Rotterdam as a city important to your projects as well?
It is but we didn’t exclusively film there for this video. The city just has a good scene with good skaters, weirdly enough though, the best Dutch skaters are from Eindhoven.
True, Wieger van Wageningen & Daan van der Linden just to name two.
Deventer also has a couple of good ones with Rob Maatman, Niels van der Zeeuw, Rachid Addou, Douwe Macare & Jelle Maatman. But it is more of a single generation (looking in from the outside). There is Lars de Weerd, that guy is sick.
True, on the topics of videos though, 010 has always had a lot of good videos come out, are there younger people filming in Rotterdam now that deserve a shoutout?
Yeah, there is this one guy, who just put out a video called Fantasia Obscura he is an artist as well and you can tell he puts the work in. So yeah there is a new talent in the city.
I saw that one, the editing and concept were sick. It gives you the feeling that full-length video filming is alive and kicking.
It does, but I do wonder about that, many young kids are more into Instagram edits. I still think making a full part stands for something but maybe it won’t mean as much in the future.
A depressing thought. By the way, for those that don’t know, why is the series called Killatapes?
It is because of the Wu-Tang Clan. They had a skit on one of their records. Music is such an important source of inspiration for my videos. I dig and dig, this video has one of my favorite soundtracks. The last one was sick too and the challenge was to find new things that were just as good or better.
One final question, how long did it take Jair Gravenberch to do that line?
We were hanging in the skate store, there was this Game of Skate thing and I had been drinking quite a few beers. All of a sudden Jair came up to me and asked “Yo Marc, are you down to film a line?” I was a bit drunk and worried about filming it shaky but it turned out fine. It took him about 30-minutes to put it down and the Flip Backside Smith was first try.
“Yo Meth, hold up, hold up
Reakwon the chef.
Yo Meth, where my Killa tape at, God?
First of all, where my… where the fuck is my tape at?”
Impressive, Jair might be one of the most low-key talented skaters in the Netherlands. Still, maybe I am old but I would love to see a solo full part.
I feel you, I would love to see it too but I don’t know if people really need to do it. At the end of the day, making videos or parts is a cultural thing not a necessity for brands or skaters.
Sad but true, Marc thank you for talking to us!
Thank you, looking forward to seeing this drop.
