HackHack – Full Video and Interview

16. June 2017

If you have ever been to Berlin chances are you have heard somebody scream HACK HACK! But what is Hack Hack and what does it mean? What are those videos popping up with Hack in the title, and who is behind them? The answers to those and many other questions were answered when we connected with Farid Ulrich and Vincent Heller.

Interview by Roland Hoogwater.

What is Hack Hack?

Farid
That is hard to define! While we were traveling through South America people often asked us the same question… How did we explain it again?

Vince
It is a vibe Hack Hack is the moment that you get hyped to do something. It originated in Bar 25 it where we were looking for motivation to do something. Along the way, the word trickled out of the bar, onto the streets and into skateboarding. It was a joke and it has turned into somewhat of a saying.

What was the first Hack moment you can remember?

Vince
Bar 25… that must have been 2010, I think… That is when the first Hack happened.

It made me think of Hakken a high energy Dutch dance style from the 90’s.

Farid
Ah… Do you mean those people with track suits and shaved heads?

Yes! (illustrates dance)

Vince
That suits the meaning of Hack too! Those guys were certainly hyped!

Back to Hack Hack, how did you guys get the idea to make videos?

Farid
We sit together to edit, smoke and try and make the best of the footage. Two heads have more ideas than one.

Vince
I film more than I edit because I noticed I don’t have the patience to just sit there. At the same time, Farid has a good feeling for what works.

What was the first Hack video?

Farid
The first Hack video we did was Hackelona, after that, we released CopenHacken and Hack Hack is our third video.

Vince
I started filming during our travels, I always carried a camera and I started playing around with it more and more. So the video happened when we started taking the camera along for our Berlin sessions. So instead of documenting our travels, it became more of a day to day thing.

The funny thing is we did not plan to make a full length, we just started to edit footage, linking certain things together. After a while, we watched the result and thought ” Oh..this works maybe we should create an actual video.”.
So then we made parts, separate from one another and then we tried to fit those parts together. It was kind of like a puzzle.

I got a flashback to Radio Skateboards “Radioactive Kids” when I watched the video. It showed me a kind of Berlin that I did not think existed anymore.

Vince
That is exactly what we wanted, documenting our lives in Berlin and by our I mean all that cross our path.

Farid
When you see the video you have to keep in mind the fact that these people are not all in the same crew. Vince and I just move in between crews and documented what we saw.

Vince
In the end, we turned it into one big Hack family.

Farid
We did not want to compromise, we wanted to show the people we liked and have them skate to the music we liked!
Often I work with people when I make a video part so it was important for our project to reflect us.

So, It is not like watching a homie video, it is a scene being documented.

Farid
Yes, plus the people that visited the City.

Did you show Hack Hack to people in South America?

Farid
We did, we watched it multiple times and it took me back in time, back to these places. It was a real good feeling! Hack Hack!

What about the footage from that trip, Will there be another Hack?

Farid
It took me some time but yesterday I started checking the footage from that tour and there will be something. At the same time Joscha Aicher and Daniel Ledermann are staying with us so maybe one of them will jump down a building or something.

Vince
The next Hack will be a video focused on South and North America, that will take us some time, with editing and all.

Farid
International Hack

Or Hackernational

Vince
It will be called something like that. First I want to focus on editing and summer in Berlin, I will pack my camera in my backpack and we will see what happens. Maybe this winter we will make the final Hack videos but who knows.

Farid
I just want to say we are not interested in being clean or great filming we want to show our lives and if there is a glitch somewhere we will include it, watch it and laugh about it.

Farid
That is exactly how I filmed my last trick. I was playing around and got the idea to manual over the tracks.

Vince
Just a Smoked out idea!

Farid
And an hour later it was done.

Vince
I think for a lot of people the Hack experience feels like a break from sponsored life. No main spots just hanging out and looking for the next spot. With a high chance of drinking a beer at the end of the day.

Thank you guys and HACKHACK!

Sondre Mortensen – sweetheart

22. May 2017

Malmö’s most elusive pair of skaters is back with a new video, it must be nice to have your brother as a filmer and vice versa.

Feature

Step By Step – Getting On And Off The Board

10. April 201710. April 2017

Skateboarding is about many things, mostly it is about the skateboarder and his skateboard interacting together. This interaction begins with you learning to stand on the board, pushing, ollieing, shoving the board, nollie, fakie, switch or normal stance. Some learn faster, some slower, but the objective is the same; “Stay on the board.” This article is not about that, this is about getting off the board (and getting back on afterwards), walking or running with or without, maybe even away from the board.
Today we offer you a step by step analysis (lmao) of some of the most influential skaters who got off the board.

A Different Route.

Right off the bat, we start with two of the most classic walks caught on tape! At the same time, both Jason Dill and Louie Barletta use walking to get somewhere or to walk over something they could not get to by staying on the board. Louie’s might be a little more eccentric because not many people skate terraces like he did, but still, both these guys made a lot of people get off the board.

John Motta uses the same principle but instead of picking his board up and taking it with him, he chooses to leave it and jump on the next one. A technique, mostly used by filmers, while filming long lines, with a lot of ups and downs like stairs. Normally I’d go for the pickup but doing it John’s way creates a little more suspense about what is about to come next.

louiebarletta — Louie Barletta – Bag of Suck, Enjoi (2006).

john motta — John Motta – A Happy Medium (2008).

Cruising To The Spot.

I am not totally sure if Mike V just got back from an injury here or if he just has that much pent up punk rock Aggression, but Mr. Vallely does deserve his props for this ‘powerful cruise through the city’ style line! He manages to push skateboarding by keeping it true to his style of skating, whilst at the same time doing tricks that every skater would like to do, while going from one to another spot.

Vincent, on the other hand, seems like he just came from the corner store where he bought a soda, and on his way back, he noticed he could flip his board in there. Probably the most relaxed walk of the bunch, which contrasts quite nicely with Mr. V’s spurt.

touz — Vincent Touzery – Trunki, Les Blobys (2017).

The Bail To Pick up a.k.a. The Never Give Up.

This is a more recent phenomenon, ever since iPhone filming became an everyday thing, skaters started to worry less about wasting tape and thus happy accidents made it into our collective memory. The reason why we like this style of walking is because it makes everything seem so much more spontaneous, it reminds us of skating around with the homies, instead of the sometimes tedious process of perfecting things in front of the lens.

amandus — Amandus Mortensen – Sondre & Amandus (2015).

mango — Chris “Mango” Milic – Life Is Goodie (2015).

The Hop Off, Hop On.

The Hop off and Hop On is a method perfected by one of today’s most influential skaters: Mr. Kevin Rodrigues. He has a knack for wall riding, no comply flipping or throwing down his board (to hippy jump) and moving into the next trick. The great thing about this combination is that everybody can join in, just remember: the most important thing is the rhythm of your walk! Hesitation can sneak in and ruin an otherwise great line.

k-rod — Kevin Rodrigues – I Like It Here Inside My Mind Don’t Wake Me This Time, Polar Skate Co (2016).

jan — Jan Hoffmann – hellafaded2k15 (2015).

noah — Noah Bunink – Le remix, Pop Trading Company (2017).

ryan thompson — Ryan Thompson – TULIP (2016).

The Mid Trick Walk Along.

To be honest, a lot of these moves seem to come straight from a Louie Barletta, who should be on everybody’s favorite skater list by now. Go watch his parts and you will notice that the only difference is that these tricks are done in a serious manner, instead of with a weird hat and a Rod Stewart track. Anyway, you have to find the right trick and spot (a long slide) to do this but if you do the possibilities are endless.

dustin henry — Dustin Henry – Curb Kruise (2013).

mango 2 — Chris “Mango” Milic – Dr. Scarecrow (2016).

Walk The Line.

This one doesn’t really need any explaining, does it?

john cardiel — John Cardiel – Sight Unseen, Transworld (2001).

Walking as a mode of skating.

A fancy way to say that walking can be the actual main dish instead of a side order that only add’s to the meal. Case and point CK1’s stroll on these metal arm rests, imagine him replacing that walk with a series of hippy jumps, it wouldn’t be the same right?

ck1 — Cory Kennedy – CROCODILE DONE DEAL, Fourstar (2014).

The Stop Walk And Roll.

This is the only section that doesn’t involve the board moving before hand, it is the simple idea of placing your board somewhere (very high in this case) and jumping on it. Most skaters use this to test out spots but very few use it as a means to an end, which it can be in the right hands. In our opinion, this is the little brother of the caveman nosegrind that Andrew Allen popularized a while back. We say little because everybody can try this one at almost every spot.

d-pann — Daniel Pannemann – Rick Moranis (2015).

The Walk Home.

For the older skaters amongst us, this is a pretty common thing. You need to wrap up the session because your significant other wants to home and the baby needs to be fed, time to go, leave the board and take a walk home.