Taking “Skits” to another level. WKND Skateboards definitely know how to be entertaining.
Tag: Jan Henrik Kongstein
“Norgesferie” by Pekka
“Norgesferie” is the name of Norways big summer vacation and the title for Pekka Lovas new video featuring Karsten Kleppan, Didrik Galasso & Jan Henrik Kongstein.
Us & Them – IF YOU DON’T SKATE, DON’T START
This part of IF YOU DON’T SKATE, DON’T START really took us back a bit… It somehow gave off a really strong “They Don’t Give A Fuck About Us” vibe.
A strong reason to press play and enjoy this one right?
Grey Area – An uncomfortable talk with Michal Juras
During a little Nike SB event, we met Kuba Kaczmarczyk a.k.a. Grey Area Kuba. We got along well, the beer was flowing and at some point, we landed on the topic of Michal Juras.
Michal is a mutual friend and a well-loved skater but he is also an unlucky bastard, “Michal has been injured at most premieres!” Kuba told us. So with the release of the latest episode in the Grey Area series, it was only natural that Juras would injure himself once again.
Being the good friends that we are we contacted Michal and asked him to explain why his only type of luck seems to be bad luck.
Intro & Interview by Roland Hoogwater.
How are you feeling right now Michal?
I feel good. I pretty much live the life of a normal guy, not like a skater. I can go to a bar, drink a little bit but I can’t skate, run, jump or do any sporting activities. So, I am doing some basic things like cleaning my room, helping my mother, stuff like that. Kind of boring but it is better than walking on crutches.
This injury is weird because normally you have a cast or something and afterward they take that off and you have to do rehabilitation or something like that. This time I feel really normal, without any injuries but I can’t do anything I have to live like a grandma.
(Laughs)Very positive, so how did this happen?
Well, during the filming of my last trick, the kink rail was the last thing on my list. I went there three times and the last times the weather was grey, London vibes you know. I had four cups of coffee and it was time to do it and after a couple of tries, I sacked it.
Did it hurt directly?
No, I got up from the slam felt totally fine, Kuba (Grey Area) showed me the footage and after he said: “Maybe check inside your pants real quick and see if it’s okay”. So I went behind a tree and I saw some bruising on my leg but nothing crazy.
So, I drove back home with Kuba Bączkowski (Barrier), two hours in traffic, finally got home, took a bath and that is when a little blood came out of my dick. So I thought, let’s check what it looks like after I take a piss.
That is when it all went wrong, I started peeing blood, a lot. I freaked out, quickly called Kuba (Barrier) and told him I was passing out and that he should call an ambulance. He ran back to my house and the ambulance came to bring me to the hospital.
How was your time at the hospital
I hope that after this little surgery all my bodily functions will be working. They should, it is just a little piece of skin. But I am worried because of the hospital, they were weird. Every day, in the beginning, there was something new. I went there after my drama in the toilet and after three days, they said everything was fine and I tried to pee normally again but there was still blood in my pee. So, after a few days, I went back and after that, they found the real problem. So, that scared me.
I understand that it feels a bit sketchy.
During my second stay, I was supposed to only stay one night but I ended up staying six days and on the fourth night, I woke up and saw blood seeping towards my back. So in the end, I got a stoma and had to hold this thing, my bag with pee.
So how did you feel when you got home?
I was shook. I was waking up every night to check and see if my stoma bag did not have blood in it. I was pretty stressed, I kept doing that for the first week. After that, I managed to relax a bit. I mean, I was dragging that full with my piss around for one month.
So what happened after that month?
I went in for a check-up, I was supposed to be good, I thought they would take everything out but my urethra ended up closing so instead, I needed to have surgery.
So, back to the situation at the hospital. Every time they said it was supposed to be good, but something new always ended up happening.
Thats is why you are taking it step by step this time?
Yes, I am worried because I don’t know how this time is going to be. Maybe all of a sudden I have to stay for longer again.
Do you think you need to do any training?
No. After it is healed there is no “step by step” I can just go skate again. A little bit weird because I am used to taking it slow, some skating, a little flatground, but this time it will be different.
You could, straight away, go back to that rail and try it again?
It is kind of like your parents grounded you and you can’t skate for a while.
Do you think you will be scared to skate?
It is hard to say. But right now, I don’t think so. If I am walking down the street, looking at spots, I feel ready to skate. But maybe it will be different once I get on the board. I think I will be fine, maybe I will just be scared of Boardslides (laughs).
More 50-50’s, less Boardslides?
I think I prefer my rails short and high (laughs). Where you don’t land on the rail if you bail.
No more kinks?
Do you know what is amazing? At almost all of the video premieres where I have a part, I was injured in some sort of way.
Grey Area: I came on crutches. The first Polar video: I walked but had ankle surgery straight after and now for this one I had the bag. Neverwhere was good though, I was fit (laughs).
So with 2019 behind us what does 2020 hold?
Well, to be honest, the past year, 2019 has been a really good year for me. We went to Portugal, Lisbon and did a lot of other trips and I was productive. 2020 is a year of big change! I friend of mine told me that, in 2020 we are all going to go through changes and I told him “yeah I am starting with a bag attached to me.” (laughs).
SOULLAND X Nike SB – FRI.day 003
The third and final installment of a series of collaborative moves that can only be described as bringing the best of both worlds.
Fashion and product design from a company that brings together runway and youth culture combined with the swagger of Portland’s finest, combined with a legend like Eric Koston and you get FRI.day.
Before you press play take a trip down memory lane and check out the first FRI.day 001 video:
Shot in Soulland’s home town of Copenhagen, Denmark. Featuring a strong crew consisting of Eric Koston, Hjalte, Karsten, Hugo, Ville, Jugga & Oski.
Then after we got the sequel with the 002 episode traveling all the way to Eric’s hometown of Los Angeles to show and prove that the first one was not a fluke. Check out our little talk with one of PLACE’s favorites Ville Wester here.
And now we are at the third and final stop, a stop that unlike the first two doesn’t visit a person but visits Soulland’s own Silas Adler’s home of inspiration, Tokyo. We like you are excited so press play and let the FRI.day venom spike into your veins 🐍
enjoi – “Deedz Nutz” Part
We met Deedz in Portugal this last February, Cais do Sodré to be exact. He was staying with his friend and teammate Thaynan Costa, his dad and a couple of other Brazilians.
When we got there we had just missed Pekka and Jan Henrik Kongstein who left the day before. Now, to be honest, we had heard of Didrik but we had not met him but it turned out that it would not take long to do so.
The next day he stole Thaynan’s car (Thaynan has a car but he doesn’t have a license) and took us out skating. He might get a bit angry by me saying this but don’t get in a car with Didrik if you have a weak heart or stomach! He drives like he skates, controlled, fast but reckless at times. We could hear Michal Juras call out “KURWA!” from the back seat at least multiple times. But from the moment we got in the car, Deedz took great care of us, showing us around the city, the spots and the restaurant (good ones at that) in fact it was him not Thaynan (still love you) that made us feel at home in Portugal.
You might think at this point, isn’t this supposed to be about Mr. Galasso going pro? Well yes, but his skating does the convincing and all we can add to that is telling you that he is a great guy with a heart of gold and an attitude (come on dude!) but that is what we need in skating today.
Congratz DEEDZ!
Photo by Lars Gartå
Place Presents – Harlekin Berlin
Design is often based on other design, how many Ferrari shaped bedsheets or My Little Pony shaped birthday cakes have we not seen in our life?
So when Nike remastered the Janoski for its 10-year anniversary they also looked outside, they probably looked at animals, the sky, cement patterns, but in the end, I believe they simply looked out of their Beaverton office window onto the parking lot and there they found the answer sitting in the swooshes own parking lot.
(disclaimer: this might not be factual, they might have just found pictures of the car on the internet)
Photos by Danny Sommerfeld.
Text by Roland Hoogwater.
The story continues below…
The Volkswagen Polo “Harlekin’s” story connects to the Janoski in multiple ways. It was in 1994 that the German company wanted to draw attention to their newly-updated Polo model but the problem they had to solve was:
“How do we get people to look at the newness?”.
The answer came in all colors! They devised a special showroom model of the new 6N, this model would breathe NEW! But this model was only meant to show off in the showroom it wasn’t available to the public… Well a couple of the showroom models actually did get sold afterwards and those cars began to create “word of mouth” on the streets and when the streets are talking the people at VW were listening.
1995 swings around and featured in the catalog is the now legendary VW 6N Harlekin as demanded by the public and in 2019 a similar story can be told about Nike SB’s Janoski shoe. Like the Polo, it looks similar but it is not quite the same, from little leather linings to the tape on the sole, everything has been tweaked for ’19 and that is where the two stories meet.
The story concludes below…
Fast forward to the 10th of May, Denny Pham, Jan Henrik Kongstein, Peter Buikema, Leo Preisinger and myself find ourselves driving around Berlin in a VW Harlekin wearing the Janoski Harlekin, we are putting both through the wringer for the next 2,5 days.
We didn’t do that alone, of course, we invited some Nike riders and Berlin locals to test it with us along the way.
To be honest the car has had a bit more mileage than the shoe but both held up quite well during our time even though Leo had his doubts about the car.
After the 2.5 days we concluded a couple of things:
- Denny Pham skates like he is playing THPS.
- The “new” Janoski looks better than the “old” Janoski (look closely).
- Jan Kliewer can shove his board like it is 1991.
- Jan Henrik like all people in Norway is hella tech.
- Michael Mackrodt drives a car the same way he skates.
Thank you for the support Skatedeluxe and Nike SB <3
Karsten Kleppan – “Just Karsten’s” Part.
Just a part… is what this title says to the viewer, marginalizing the effort Karsten put in but when you watch the whole thing you start to think how good is this motherfucker? And is it not slightly arrogant to be saying that this is “just another part”?
Anyway, we don’t believe Karsten, we think he worked hard to make this part good and we appreciate the work he put in! From the boardslide that goes up and over to the casual flip backside smith grind 180 this part is a labour of love.
TIGERSTADEN – Full Video
Our friend Pekka just released his 2016 full length Tigerstaden, not only is the filming and editing on point but this video features some truly amazing young talent that is the future of European skateboarding and trust us when we say the future is now.