Tag: Kevin Rodrigues

We think we can say for certain that a Hockey Skateboards video never disappoints. This time we get a gnarly John Fitzgerald part first which left us wondering how this beast can take all those crazy slams. Nothing for the tenderhearted. As usual, we get highly entertaining parts by AA, Donovon Piscopo, Nik Stain, and more but the new kid on the team Joseph Campos really stood out. Some of those tricks were insane. Mr. Diego Todd closes the curtain with moves you never knew were possible. See for yourself!

Directed by George Pukas.

We lost count of how often we saw Aidan take a bad slam or hit his head on something, but that doesn´t make it less nerve-racking to watch him skate. Hopefully, FA pays this young man enough for good health insurance. In ” Randy Farkus” he continues doing his own thing with going down more steep (dirt) hills, maneuvering tricky manuals, and adding some sketchy pole jams to the mix. It´s always a treat to see some Aidan footage.

We are not going to lie. Standing in line at the yesterday’s opening event for the new Berlin Supreme store was an absolute nightmare and it felt uncomfortable, but we don’t want to complain all too much. The good thing about it was that we have watched William Strobeck’s “MIND GOBLIN” video 11 and 1/2 times before we could enter the location, just to get sent out again by security 15 minutes later.

All jokes aside, the team went in and it is always good to see new people skating the more known spots in Berlin. Also we would like to say that we are proud of our good friends Augustin Giovannoni & Steffen Grap who showed them around town and made them look extra good. Tyshawn Jones tricks up the stairs at Frankfurter Tor are not human.

Much success to the Berlin staff member Johannes Schirrmeister, Jun Kummer, Yannick Zhou and Anton Jäger, who will be taking care of you in the store on Torstraße 74.

“Lil Wayne, a.k.a Weezy F. Baby please say the baby” has made a triumphant return into the skate world with this part by Thames’s own Sam Sitayeb. We don’t know if Sam or the filmer/editor Austin Bristow came up with the song choice but we thank you for it.

A new video by Ben Chadourne feat.: Kevin Rodrigues, Paul Grund, Roman Gonzalez and many more. Those ones are never disappointing.

The FA squad have been touring through Europe.

Featuring Anthony Van Engelen, Jason Dill, Kevin Bradley, Diego Todd, Ben Kadow, Sean Pablo, Andrew Allen, Sage Elsesser, Kevin Rodrigues, Louie Lopez & Aidan Mackey.

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.

 

dill
Jason Dill – Photosynthesis, Alien Workshop (2000).

 

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.

 

mike-v
Mike Vallely – Label Kills, Black Label (2001).

 

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.

josh kalis
Josh Kalis – Photosynthesis, Alien Workshop (2000).

A must watch even if you are not into the style of editing or music, simply because Vincent Touzery is one of the more interesting skaters to watch. Don’t hesitate to enter the Colin Read’s jungle, open your mind and come out with some new perspectives on the documentation and representation of skateboarding.

Our Friend Augustin Giovannoni released a new edit called “Европа”, which is Russian and means “Europe”, and thus, suitably features a bunch of well-known skateboarders from France, England, Spain, Finland and, of course, Russia.

Featuring Franz Grimm, Tolia Titaev, Kevin Rodrigues, Kyron Davis, Marca Barbier, Vincent Touzery and more.

A lot of Parisien action on the web lately, the Instagram videos have slightly slowed down but the Bloby video output has gone up. To bo honest, we like it better this way and this clip leaves way more room for us to actually check their style of skating.

Featuring the likes of Kevin Rodrigues, Roman Gonzales, Vincent Touzery, Karl Salah, Valentin Jutant, Bloby Greg and many more.

The Blobys are taking matters into their own hands once again with this insta mix. Instead of the fan mixes this one has the OG footage set to some tunes of their liking. Enjoy Repúblique and many other Parisian spots in this 10 minute video and click here to check out the first remix.

Featuring the likes of Kevin Rodrigues, Roman Gonzales, Vincent Touzery, Karl Salah, Valentin Jutant, Bloby Greg and many more.

Photo by Manuel Schenck.

While making this issue, we made a list of possible articles. Each one of these articles needed to be a portrait of some sort. So when Manuel Schenck asked us if we wanted to interview Kevin, we wanted it to be a portrait of a special bond, a portrait of a friendship, and that is where Jon’s story comes in. Most of you have probably heard the name Kevin Rodrigues before, but some of you may have yet to come across the name Jon Monie, unless you are french, of course.

Before we traveled to Paris to work on the Parisian issue, we did not know that much about Jon. We started to hear his name mentioned here and there, but not much more. Eventually, while in Paris, we ended up meeting him one night at Chéz Justine, where he works. We started talking and he ended up telling us a couple of stories about young Kevin. Jon basically saw Kevin grow up (on a skateboard.) They both skated for the same skate shop (Nozbone) and they became friends, a friendship that lasts to this day. The original idea was to show the history behind their friendship, but instead, Jon, Kevin and Manuel Schenck (the interviewer) sat down and created something totally different and unexpected. We don’t really know what to say about it, so we will just let one of our favorite artists speak for us:

“Let us consider two important factors, the two poles of the creation of art: the artist on one hand, and on the other the spectator who later becomes the posterity” – Marcel Duchamp

To summarize: we feel strongly about this portrait but in the end it is you, the spectator and reader, who ultimately completes the portrait.

Intro: Roland Hoogwater
Interview & Photos by Manuel Schenck

kev et jon ambiance 1

How did you guys meet each other?

Love begins with the glare of a soul who expected nothing and ends with the disappointment of an ego that demands everything.

Jon, what did you teach Kev?

Where there is a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence.

So you gave him some advice?

Expect much from yourself and little from others and you will avoid incurring resentments.

You both differ in age right?

There are days, months, endless years when it happens nothing. There are minutes and seconds that contain a whole world.

What are you doing right now, Jon?

In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.

jon_wallie
Jon Monie – Wallie (April 8th 2010) Photo: Jean Feil

Do you see each other a lot?

In nature, everything always has a reason. If you understand why, you do not need experience.

You work in a bar, Jon. Is it not difficult to not drink too much?

Any obstacle strengthens the determination. He who has set a goal does not change.

You see Jon quite often at the bar, right Kev?

You have to become the man you are. Do what only you can do. Become who you are, be the master and sculptor of yourself.

Kev, you skated for 5boro before you started skating for Polar. How was that change?

Our youth love luxury, have bad manners, mock authority and have no respect for age. In this age, children are tyrants.

Do you still see the guys from 5Boro?

Experience shows that those who have never trusted anyone will ever be disappointed.

How is the Polar family doing?

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but whether we rise every time we fall.

kev wallie grab diptik der 1
Kevin Rodrigues – Wallie FS Grab (December 27th 2015)

Are you working on some new projects?

Diseases that come from the wickedness of a woman’s heart are: disobedience without modesty, anger, backbiting, jealousy and a low intelligence.

You skate for Supreme now. Did that change anything for you concretely?

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

Back in the day you visited New York together, how was that experience?

We can beat his opponent through love and not hate. Hatred is the most subtle form of violence. Hate injures the hater, not the hated.

What happened with your Instagram account Kev? Are you or are you not in the game?

Others say the secret is treachery, others say it is her foolishness.

What are you doing when you’re not skating, Kev?

I object to violence because when it appears to produce the good, the good that results is only temporary, while the wrong product is permanent.

What do you want to do in the future?

The madman who is chasing the pleasures of life and is disappointed; the wise man avoids evil.

kev et jon ambiance 2

Kev, what would you like to say to Jon?

We do not yet understand life, how could we understand death?

And you Jon, what would you like to say to Kev?

May everyone have a chance to find precisely the way of life that enables him to realize his maximum happiness.

Give me your last words.

Jon – A man should never be ashamed to admit that he is wrong; for in making this confession, he proves that he is wiser today than yesterday. What do you think?

Kev – It is no coincidence; everything is a trial, a punishment, a reward, or a foresight.

Thanks you two. If I may I would like to conclude this interview with a phrase that sums up the whole.

“Stupidity has only two ways of being: It is silent or it speaks. Silent stupidity is bearable. ”

kev rodrigues earlygrab beenplant wallride