You‘ve probably seen some bits of this video spread over the internet but Magenta Skateboards now uploaded the whole thing. It’s nicer to watch it in full right? Dive in and enjoy!
If you missed our interviews with Vivien Feil and Gunes Ozdogan you can find them by following those two links: Vivien / Gunes.
It’s been a very productive year for Magenta Skateboards.
“Deep in Melbourne, Australia lockdowns, Casey Foley & Morgan Campbell planting seeds with VX Grand Master Josh Roberts & friends.”
“Celebrating Magenta Fantasista Ruben Spelta’s elevation to the pro ranks with a family visit to Milan.”
Sounds very reasonable to us. Congratulations, Ruben! Very high concentration of Milan footage over the last few weeks and we are not complaining about that.
Our favorite human being Hugo Maillard dropped a new part and an album on vinyl on the very same day. What a great day for a Hugo fan!
Watch the part above and order the album HERE.
A film by Louis Deschamps.
Leo Valls has influenced many skaters on this planet Tom Botwid being one of them. So, one can only imagine how much of a joyous experience it was to create this video feature together.
Finally, some of the new guys grab the spotlight we hope to see more and more Joffrey Morel, Gunes Ozdogan, Glen Fox and Thomas Vigne in the next couple of edits. A fresh new Magenta could be on the rise.
Glen Fox gets typecasted a lot, people say his footage is sped up, he only has fast feet, or he has no “real” tricks.
Well, you are going to have to take those words back because Glen is all of the above and more and this remix is a just little “ting” to keep us over until the real stuff is dropping!
We are proud to present you our first section of the ‘Funbox‘ video we filmed over the past few weeks. Hugo Maillard came to visit us in Berlin and in only a handful of days, he easily managed to understand how the city works. The result is this video part, where he not only skates in front of the lense but also composed the song that is playing in the background. Here’s Hugo, tomorrow we will put out the whole thing. Filmed and edited by Peter Buikema.
With the friendly support of adidas Skateboarding. Big S/O to Daan Dam & Henrik Biemer.
We haven’t done this feature in a while, and we did not ever do it before last time but this is not a feature that we can do with everybody. Why? because Quartersnacks already has a really good Five Favorite Parts feature and we don’t feel like we need to do the same. But every now and then the right person will pop up and start showing us some skateboarding that drops our jaw (for whatever reason). Hugo Maillard did just that and that is why we present to you our second installment of Hot Picks With… (formerly known as Pop Picks With…). Enjoy!
One of the first things Hugo told me when I met him was about the Fancy Lad crew so it is only logical to start it off with Mr. Fiske himself.
Another orange themed Fancy Lad and as for this pick, the cherry on top is at the very end.
Not skateboarding but still skating.
To use a Ride Channel style tagline “Did he move it to the right after the video?”
Joe Moore is a favorite of this series and a true inspiration to us all.
Oh, yes! Magenta Skateboard‘s exceptional lightfooted crew flows over beautiful Parisian pavements again!
Featuring Jimmy Lannon, Vivien Feil, Leo Valls, Santiago Sasson, Glen Fox, Willem Van Dijk, Victor Demonte, Say Panday, Paul Langsley and more.
For this video Magenta’s Soy Panday and UNI teamed up and created something nice! If you ever put up a tag, went to art school or another creative industry chances are that you had a Posca in your hand, we often use them to customize our shoes. As for Soy Panday he makes us feel Bob Ross chill, so maybe he should consider doing more of these videos.
Happy Birthday to Dennis Laass from Hanover. Turning 40 and releasing a new video part is a very rare thing and so is his last trick! Can’t stop, won’t stop!
A little while ago we saw the release of “Lost in the Dam” a collaborative effort between Pop and Magenta. Today we begin to see things even clearer because pop released their footage from their time with the Magenta guys. Now we can focus on friendship and the importance of working together but instead, we are just going to make a point and say that Noah Bunink did the best line we have seen all year! Ollie up, crooks bonk down, drop the board, pick it up and fs flip the stairs, great! Now it is not only Noah who should get his props, it is also the work of the filmer. Most people would have stopped recording but this guy kept it going and helped create something really nice!
Let us start out by complimenting Josh Roberts on making Amsterdam look like it isn’t a strong part of Babylon #babylonwillfall. Secondly, it is nice to see some of the homies use those famous 15 minutes to shine as hard as they should! Enjoy this little gem.
Photo by Hugo Snelooper
Magenta has upped its output lately and that means some good Glen Fox footy. Some of you might be under assumption that Glen only has fast feet but the man is definitely capable of more and his tricks in this edit show that.
Featuring Glen Fox, Leo Valls, Morgan Campbell, Masaki Ui, Vivien Feil, Yoan Taillandier, Gaetan Salvignol, Charles Badi, Seb Daurel & more
Santiago Sasson is all about three things: ambience, communication and community. He skates for companies that represent those values like Magenta and Futur – both “smaller” companies with a strong identity. After some failed attempts at meeting in a bar, we ventured out to his office, where Santiago and his mother – who is also his boss – work on different types of architectural projects, from creating new office spaces and shops to remodeling homes and storefronts. I wonder if he ever had the balls to skate on something he created for a client. Funny enough I never got to ask that because our discussion seemed to never end. One train of thought followed the next and all of them were worth exploring. We have been waiting for someone like Santiago to elaborate and explain some of the thoughts and questions we as skateboarders have always had.
By Roland Hoogwater
Photos: Danny Sommerfeld
As skateboarders we move through urban environments that were designed by an architect. You chose to become an architect just like your mother, the difference being that you are also a skater. What happened to you when those two worlds collided?
In my seven years of studying architecture, my vision of skateboarding totally changed. It took me seven years of studying to finish my degree and it was an interesting process for me being both a skater and an architect. A lot of time’s though, I feel like people don’t understand my position. As an architect, I am supposed to build, but at the same time, most people feel like skateboarders are destroying architecture (urban things). In reality, we are not destroying anything we are reacting with our mind and our bodies to the environment that we are in. That is why I feel that skateboarding is an art! In art, everybody can formulate their own answer, translate that into skating and you can see that every skateboarder has their own vision and response (tricks) to those surroundings. Architecture is similar. One architect might feel like using wood, metal or brick. Another architect might feel the best thing to do is to go with more modern styles and materials. When you finish your studies, you are not really an architect yet. You were taught some skills but it’s even more important to learn how to re-learn things. In a sense, you are always researching who you are, what you want to achieve and how you want the end result to look and feel.
Sounds similar to what people learn in art schools. What do you feel are the core values of architecture?
Historically, architecture fills one of the most basic needs of the human species. Cavemen used the basic ideas of architecture to make their cave into a livable space. Skateboarding and architecture are two microcosms, and as a person that does both, I find myself using (appropriating) existing space as a skateboarder. All of those spaces, most of them public, were thought up by an architect. The definition of public space is that the space is available for use by everyone! In that space, we all can do whatever we want. Still, we as skateboarders get kicked out and that is because we are not using that space in a way that fits with the codes and ideas that people have about public spaces. But if we look at the law itself, we have the right to be there and use it in our own way. In the end, it is not about the law, it is about the way that people view what we do. They see us as people who damage things that were built with tax money. What they seem to forget is that we pay taxes and our money also goes towards cleaning and fixing all sorts of things–things like dog piss or broken bus stops. The question that we need to think about is: how do we live in and with the city together? Of course, we can do whatever we want, but we do need to respect the others around us. Place de la République is a good example: it is a new space that people want to use and that is where the problems start. When they sit on a bench they feel like it is theirs, or they walk across the square in a specific line because it is “their” line. When you are skating, it is hard to deal with those things. Skaters discovered the plaza quite early on and they also feel like they have a claim to certain places at République. We all know it can be frustrating if you have been skating a ledge for three hours and some dude suddenly sits down and takes that space from you. The important part is not to confront the person in a stressful way but rather to communicate and explain what you are trying to do. The goal is to create a valuable exchange with that person, a compromise that respects both your rights to be there and to use that space in your own way.
Is that exchange already happening at Rèpublique?
In a way it is. The new generation that is growing up now is more familiar with skateboarding. They see it on the television on a daily basis. In turn, they have a better understanding. Previous generations might not have had access to a television, let alone the Internet. Your own grandmother might look at a skateboarder and have no clue what she is even seeing, so they only see the result: people falling down, marks on a ledge, loud noise, and scared dogs. I think it is our job to open peoples minds and make them understand not only what we are doing but also why it makes us happy. For a lot of people, the plaza has a symbolic value. That value may vary from functioning as a monument to the revolution or the terrorist attacks, but even though it is a very mixed and busy place in Paris, everyone is in his or her own world! That is the root of the problem. Unfortunately, changing that is a long process and we have not succeeded in finding a good way to communicate that allows us to share public spaces without conflicts. We need to look beyond our differences and find the thing which connects us to one another. An example of finding that thing which connects us is you guys being here. We all have different parents, from different cultures, speaking different languages but because of skateboarding we are now talking to each other. For me, a skateboard is like a passport. You can go everywhere and meet other people. They will show you around their city and you get to see different places, spaces, and the ambiences.
FS Flip – Photo: Benjamin Deberdt
You were born and are still living in a city that is famous for its ambience. Do you feel like something has changed?
Paris has been changing a lot, thanks to places like République and the new crews full of young people. Formerly, the city was divided into different crews like the Bastille crew, the Bercy crew or the Le Dome crew. Those groups of people would not skate together but thanks to projects like Parisii and a platform like Live Skateboard Media, cruising the city together has become part of the way skaters in Paris skate. The great thing about the Parisii project is that it showed the different vibes that each part of the city has through showing skaters using the city’s architecture. The crew mentality is still there but now there is a greater sense of community. At the same time, the speed of social media channels allows us to see where your friends are skating while you are out skating and at the same time the whole world can watch. A lot of brands from overseas started to notice our city and the ambience it has. Basically, skateboarding in Paris is like skateboarding in a museum.
The space around us has a big influence on the way we feel. Living in a house that is dark is different from a house that lets in a lot of light. How do you see the effects of your surroundings and how do you take them into account?
What you are saying is true. Some people need the sun to be happy! If that person moves from Hawaii to London, that will actually change that person’s mood. We as architects enter into the life of a person or a group. It is our job to translate what the client is telling us and incorporate that into our plans. The problem is that not everybody is able to put words to their feelings. A lot of times they do not want us to enter their “Jardin Prive”. They freak out if they feel like one can look inside and see what they really want, discovering their secrets. The client wants to remain in control: “You are working for me.“ But as an architect, I need to look into a person’s mind to do just that. If I cannot see what you really want, how can I draw up a plan that suits your needs and wishes? People often forget living is about the details, for example: the bedroom door, if somebody is used to opening their door a certain way and I change that without understanding the client’s needs, they open that door and start the day doing something they do not like. This “reading” of the client is subjective and that is why it is important for people to find an architect that suits them. I spend a lot of time thinking: is this what I want to do or is this what the client wants? The answers is both–it is what I want based on what they need. In the end, I am not working for myself. I am working for the client who needs to be satisfied and happy with my work from the beginning to the end of a project, which can last from six months to three years or more. It is important to have a good relationship with your employer. If I have a day off and show the wrong emotions, that could influence the whole process. I have to leave my ego at home so I can do the work I need to do. Sometimes this includes lying to the client so that they feel like it was their idea instead of mine because if the client feels like it is his own idea he is more confident in the decisions that lay ahead. It is like a long tightrope walk to get to the end of a project. You have to document everything and if you do not do this accurately there can be some serious consequences! Architects have landed in jail because of issues that arise after a construction process. The people you are working for can turn into your worst enemies if they are not happy or if they find a flaw. That is why I keep a file with all the emails, bills, notes and more. When it comes down to it and things have to be fought out through lawyers, it is not my word against the clients. After I finished school, I finally saw the reality of what architecture really is and that it takes a lot of time, a lot of time! And that is why I need skateboarding. Skateboarding is the activity into which I put all my energy, whether it be through a trick or the social aspect, it is what I need to level out and relax. When I skate I feel like I have no problems at all.
Japan’s Futoshi Tokuyama comes through with the online release of his full part from the Raw-Fi video. As it is typical for skateboarders riding for Magenta, Futoshi has a very unique and great style.
Photo by Shinsaku Arakawa
Leo Valls’ life is pretty much a textbook example of everything that’s great about pro skateboarding: To him, it’s all about being an individual, traveling and exploring the world, seeing things through different sets of eyes. Now 28 years old, the Bordeaux-born Frenchman has been skating for 15 years, and he hasn’t been home much: Valls used to spend six months of the year in San Francisco for a while and has been visiting Japan every year since 2006. Accordingly, he knows a thing or two about the different cultural perspectives of Europeans, Americans and Asians. He has a creative mind and is one of the original members of Magenta Skateboards. He loves 90s skateboarding and exploring new cities with his effortless skating. And yet, speed, movement and personal expression are only as important to him as connecting with the locals. Since he’s never been featured in PLACE before, it’s a pleasure to have him in the mag, both online and offline…
Part I – offline: Face-to-face conversation in a Japanese bar in Nakano…
Let’s first talk about your Japanese friend, the one and only Takahiro Morita…
Well, there is a lot to say about him! He is a legend for any Japanese skateboarder. He is the guy who first understood that the Japanese approach to skateboarding was so specific and that it was really important for the Japanese scene to keep its own identity and not copy the rest of the world. In fact, the story begins in 1995, when Morita broke his leg while skating. He couldn’t skate for a few months and from there he started filming every session with his friends.
A few months later, he produced his first video “43/26”, the title referring to the latitude and longitude of Japan, and focusing only on the Tokyo skate scene. At that time, in his first opus, there was nothing really crazy or wildly different from what we could see in any other video from around the world. It was also in ’95 that he created his own company FESN (Far East Network) and two years later, in 1997, his brand Libe. His first big video project was to unify all Japanese skateboarders by filming them in their own cities around Japan. He filmed for more than five years for this project.
The final result came out in 2004: “Underground Broadcasting”, a video that for the first time showed what’s so special about the Japanese style of skating. The next step of his artistic video project was going to be “Overground Broadcasting” a few years later. He traveled the entire world for seven years to film this new opus, which became an international success when it finally came out with the famous Gou Miyagi part at the end…
The message of this second chapter was to show that skateboarding was a way to travel, to discover many different ways of thinking, of skating, and that it’s a very good way to open your mind and get more creative. In 2008, when the video came out, it was really like an earthquake on the skateboard world, and many skaters all over the world started to discover the Japanese way of skateboarding. So, in short, all this comes from inside the brain of Morita and the Fat Bros crew from Nakano.
When did you come here, to Japan, for the first time?
In 2006 it was my first time here. I immediately decided to come back every year.
There are some similarities between your approach to skateboarding and the way some people skate here in Japan. How would you define your take on skateboarding?
Well, first I respect all the different visions, styles and faces that make skateboarding what it really is. Second, I would say that I definitely don’t focus on the technical performance side. I’m more looking for an aesthetic part, trying to experience something personal. I guess that comes from all the influences I was exposed to when younger, when I started traveling, meeting people who were skating in different ways, plus I’m also influenced by my studies in Art History.
I’m more interested in the creativity, the character, the universe of each and every skater, more than his ability to reproduce a technical trick he might have learned over many days in a skatepark. I just want to say that there is not just one way to skate, and that’s what makes skateboarding so magic and attractive.
I’m more looking for an aesthetic part, trying to experience something personal.
Can you tell us a bit about your last experience during your trip to Perth in Australia?
It was also a really good one! We went there last year with the Magenta crew. It was my first time in Australia and, well, I have to say that the skate scene in Perth got its own personality, they do their own stuff with their own style, so it was really cool to spend time and skate with them.
Actually, we filmed them a lot while we were there and we gave them the first part of our Magenta video “Crossing The Perth Dimension”. They were really happy with that and they told me that a lot of teams had visited Perth already but we were the first ones that really made connections and filmed with them and gave them the opportunity to get some media exposure. I was really happy about it.
Part II – online: Conversation about the internet & digital life – done digitally, via email
What are your memories of the world and life without the internet?
Access to information and communication seemed more limited but I remember spending a lot of time dreaming, imagining stories, reading books and drawing. It was not so bad in the end, when I think about it now. I discovered the internet quite late, around the age of 13, if I remember it correctly.
What is your first memory of the web?
I think it’s when I realized that we can communicate with people anywhere in the world, without any limits of time and without burning units on my mobile phone, so that was really good! I especially remember doing my skate history lessons through the internet. I am part of that generation who had access to all the videos at once thanks to downloads.
I was able, in the space of a few months, to download a true collection of skate videos, which was all of 411, also the “Eastern Exposure” and the Zero videos. Attracted by all kinds of styles, I could get them all quickly thanks to the internet. So I spent a winter downloading, viewing and analyzing videos of all types, and exchanging them on CDs with friends. I quickly became fascinated by movies like the FTC “Penal Code 100A” or the Zoo York “Mixtape” which really had a great urban atmosphere and a special aesthetic.
What are the major changes that the web has generated in our society?
The ease and speed of search, communication, and exchange.
Do you believe that it was better before or after the advent of the internet?
I’m not sure about this formula “it was better before”. There are always ways to see things more positively. I think the internet is a good instrument as long as we know how to use it correctly and keep in mind where the limits are that we shouldn’t overstep. In my own experience, it really helped me to connect with the majority of the friends I met while traveling. My wife is American and the beginning of our long-distance relationship would have probably been way more complicated without this tool.
Do you use the internet to inform and educate yourself?
There are a lot of parallel channels of information on the internet. There is much to learn and discover, socially, artistically, historically. And yet, we must pay attention to the sources of information, and not become sheep. One has to find a balance between the mass media and “bad theories”. On the other hand, the internet is an excellent tool for so many things. You can, for example, learn all the skills to edit videos or how to use specific software, just by watching tutorials. But if you are really interested in something, my opinion is that nothing beats a good book on a focused topic.
How do you personally use the different social networks?
I naturally started to use Facebook mainly to stay in touch with people I met while traveling. Recently I also started to use Instagram, timidly, but most of the time it’s just to post stuff related to what we do in skateboarding. I am quite passive on social networks, I don’t think it’s a very natural way to communicate about personal feelings, but actually this year I’m trying to get more into them and to spread more stuff via those networks.
However, I find it very important to be careful not to share too private or personal information through these channels, especially about love and family life. I think it’s important to keep some personal stuff private by avoiding too much exposure on the social networks. When it’s about skating or passions to share, it allows others to discover things, and I think that’s great, but when it’s about personal life, I think it’s embarrassing!
What are the main advantages and disadvantages of these platforms to you?
It’s great to get close to people who are passionate about the same subjects. The skate community has broken so many boundaries since the advent of the internet, and everyone can express themselves. If we dig a little we can discover and track a lot of “underground” crews from all over the world that do great things in their corner without necessarily being represented by the mass media.
There are lots of very interesting guys that motivate and inspire us and come from everywhere, whether from Croatia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, the States, Korea or anywhere else. There is a lot of great stuff that remains unknown, but the internet is a really good way to discover and eventually get access to that. Also, I would say that the major problem with social networks is that many people, especially young kids, start losing social skills by spending too much time in this parallel and artificial world where, whenever you publish something on your profile, it’s all about the amount of likes you get. The real life with real people in front of you is definitely way more exciting!
If the internet was to suddenly disappear, which aspect of it you would miss the most?
Probably emails and Skype, which is so far probably the best way to chat with friends on the other side of the world. And probably also YouTube to listen to almost any music album that I love.
What is your outlook on print magazines, especially the ones from the skateboarding universe?
To be honest, I think that the printed press still seems a little too conventional at times. I would like to see more magazines take some risks, they should try more original things and find a different approach. Of course there are differences between all the countries and there are many excellent skate magazines today, but what I mean is that we could try to offer the young readers something less standardized, going deeper but also returning to the basics and the roots of why skateboarding is so unique and exciting.
Today, it is true that with the advent of the internet and all the new independent productions, we are beginning to see more talented rookie skateboarders in the press, people that are less known and less connected to the industry, which is obviously a really good thing! I hope it’s going to evolve in this way in the future.
Which do you prefer: buying a magazine or visiting its website?
The print magazine and website are now, in my eyes, complementary. However, I like to hold an object in my hands. A paper magazine or a DVD has the advantage of marking and crossing time without finishing in internet limbo.
More and more video parts are dropping every day on the web, what do you think of this?
It does not bother me because I still watch the exact same video parts that have influenced me for years. Look, even yesterday before going to skate, I was still watching the New York part in “Eastern Exposure”! We watched it with a small crew of friends, like we usually did when we were kids. The part in black-and-white set to Miles Davis, dude, these things will never get old!
Today, it’s great that everyone has a common place of expression. Next, it is also clear that there are too many images of skateboarding online and I guess we lost something there in terms of creativity and quality. It seems impossible for me to look at everything. You must have a minimum of critical thinking and know how to select the things you’re going to watch online, otherwise you’re going to lose your life getting lost on the internet.
What is your opinion about the fact that “too much information kills the information”?
Hmm, well, the avalanche of information is often used to produce content to sell advertising and create traffic and buzz on some websites. Media outlets generally share the same info and bludgeon the same images, obscuring the other content. I don’t want to dwell on the subject, but we recently saw an example of this in France with the attacks on Charlie Hebdo. There were loops of the same terror images on all the main media channels and newspapers for a week, thus completely ignoring and overshadowing the rest of the international news, which were equally dramatic.
Do you still buy CDs, DVDs and books in stores, or do you prefer to order them on platforms such as iTunes?
Except plane or train tickets, I rarely buy things online. The abundance of images on the internet makes it clear that owning a DVD, a magazine, or a book is much more interesting and enjoyable. I will take the example of our friend Josh Roberts from Perth, who sent us a DVD copy of his great local video “Domingo” by mail, which was actually a great surprise for us. It had a totally different effect on us compared to discovering it on YouTube in the middle of so many other new clips. We eventually went to visit him with the Magenta team to work on our project “Crossing the Perth Dimension”.
A part of this interview was done face-to-face and the other part by mail. What suits you better?
It is true that the questions about Japan in a Japanese bar with a Japanese beer in my hand were more inspiring than answering email questions about the web. I would say that it’s still more natural for me to have a real discussion in a face-to-face interview!
If you could change one thing related to internet matters, what would it be?
The option “mandatory week without internet”, which should be applied by all! My friends Vivien and Jean Feil are both aware, they gather every year for a week in a house in the middle of the forest without access to the web. Instead it’s all about various activities, like fishing and skating mini ramp.
Top 5 websites that you visit the most?
youtube.com
magentaskateboards.com/blog
theoriesofatlantis.com
chromeballincident.blogspot.com
easternfronts.tumblr.com
Top 5 websites that you hate?
Well, I do not really waste my time on websites that I hate.
Top 5 public figures that you found on the internet?
– Badbadnotgood
– Erik Truffaz
– Taro Okamoto
– François Damien (Belgian comedian)
– Kim Jong-Il
Top 5 video parts you’ve discovered on the internet?
– “Eastern Exposure 3”: NYC section
– “Parisien”: Soy Panday
– Zoo York “Mixtape”: Peter Bici
– Real “Non-fiction”: Mark Gonzales
– Heroin: Gou Miyagi
What is the future going to look like?
Skate sessions with Google glasses! No, I’m kidding, I just hope skaters everywhere will continue to connect with each other, to come together and inspire each other to push skateboarding in a direction that’s more and more creative.
Interview and Photos: Kévin Métallier
