DOWN SOUTH

I had a blast down south this past June.  I got to meet and ride with so many rad people, it was super awesome.  There is a bunch of park footage and other random stuff in this video, I hope you all enjoy it!  Thanks to everyone who made my travels possible, I had a lot of fun and learned a lot.

The "LUX" Video Review

After 5 years of keeping the whole scene on their toes, Friendly has pulled through and dropped their epic full length video, LUX.  Peasley and I got the honor of peeping the flick before it came out.  Here's our rundown on all the parts..


           It kicks off with a shade of black with those "Friendly" letters fading in to get you stoked and basically saying finally... finally! It dives right into the opening montage which sets the vibe for the video and rolls through the whole line up. Whilst casually melting your mind with the bails and shenanigans about unroll within these dudes parts.

Aaron Bransdon comes through with the first part full speed with shit under control.  We've heard that pretty much all of his footage is from a trip to Cali that he took back in 2012 that's been resting until now.. and it still delivers! Long effortless grinds and like I said speed. Makes you wonder if you get your speed from your grandma.

Mark Abbott kicking the door down to join the party with his one of a kind style & scooter wizardry, putting together tricks like it's a gnarly spell or something funn like that. Mark is from New Zealand so he's got the homie clips from Jasper Russell-Dennis & Lawrence Rubin featured in there.  His last tricks are some of the most serious drop ins we've ever seen. They'll have you slammin your keyboard yer so damn stoked.

Jon Archer cruises in surfing with solid flowy lines and technical maneuvers that will keep ya fancy. His song works so well with his style that you'd of thought Jon wrote this as his theme song. Fucking sick ass part, definitely one of our favorites.

Alex Collins hucks some nifty looking gaps n slides those rails nicely, his style reminds me of a bmx rider but he throws some switch tricks into the mix! Also has a siickk ledge combo second to last trick that looks like he's ready for battle n' will not slow down.

The first Friends section is full of gems for days, shout out to all those shredders! It's sick to see the mix of new age riders with some OG guys like Coedie.  Really stoked to see some footage of Jackson Manzie thrown in as well since he the originator of the whole LUX project.  Moey Ahmad gets an honorable mention with some heavy peg tricks, not too many people have heard of this guy outside of Australia but this dude slays!

Reece Alderton comes in hard with a bail that gets sketchy fast! Then long smooth steeze to match up to with a mellow hiphop track that makes it an easy watch.  However, the track might be a little too mellow because they're some bangers that don't pop off as hard as they could of at the end.  With that being said it was definitely a sick part! Those kinkers are crazy.

Darcy Altavilla rides through some good shit to give ya the gold, gets there n' when he gets there, he gives ya the tricks you want. Some clips in there with the classic short bars and original Proto deck that gets any old dude stoked to see again.

Next up is another friends montage that's two song with almost mini parts of dudes that got some steez to keep ya hooked.  Some really sick clips from the filmer/editor Sean Furze. As well as a guy we've never heard from before, Jami Chan.  James Bull wraps up the section killing it around on rails, ledges, and gaps .  The rail he hits at the end is pretty absurd it seems like he can't even believe he rolled away.

Luke Maffesoni understood the first time someone told him "just go for it" Riding up, down, and off gnarly objects with some heavy stuff.. brings the briflips to the street spots that they should be thrown down at.  If there's one dude who can make briflips look good, it's Maff.  There looks there was something missing on the ender though.  The angle doesn't really do it justice and the clip before it was pretty fucked, we thought that clip would've worked better.

Royce King comes in breaking shit in short shorts or boxers? We dont really know but it's no ones bussiness what he wears riding like that. Puts the pants on to give us a real sick flowy line. The dude can shred n huck himself over any sized gap. There's this one trick over a handrail into a bank.. yeah look out for that one, it's not even last trick.  Don't even get us started on the last trick, you have to see the gap to truly understand how mental Royce really is.  We just had to post this.

And the last part goes to Kevin Austin, Mr. Control, Dr. Smooth.  It's unreal how clean this guy lands every trick. A well deserved last part for sure.  Every rail, doesn't matter what grind it is, he's locked isn't gonna slip out.  We don't want to say a lot cause there's too much to go on about but you guys won't be disappointed at all after watching this. The banger is intense.

Good video all n' all, everyone had their own stuff to bring to the video. We felt that the soundtrack was lacking at times and the editing definitely could have been better for all the time gone by.  However the riding alone speaks for itself. There's so many siick spots on here that dont get shredded twice over. A good 5 years well used dudes!

Be sure to head over to  http://www.friendlybrand.net/ to download the video once it drops! They'll be releasing the hard copies soon so you can add LUX to your DVD collection.

- McKeen & Peasley

VEX in SoCaL | Ditch Paradise | HomieCam

For our latest rendition of the Homie Cam we bring you to the crusty ditches of Southern California.  For a week Issac Miller, Zack Martin & I scoured through neighborhoods and business parks in search of the most perfect accidentally created street tranny spots and by jove there were tons.  These are some lifestyle shots I took from my iphone (sorry i'm lame) 

This ditch was located in a business park.  Apparently some skaters had built a legit roll-up at one point but the Vista FD locc dogs put this one together out of anything they could find.  Made it extra gnarly!

Another business park ditch, this one was pretty unbelievable.  Basically a mega ramp to manny pad.  Issac attempted this 180 but couldn't hold on.  Can't win em all.

Issac was glad to be out of the frigid temps in Denver

Sweet wallie DIY flat bar, this thing was pretty awkward but still sick.

Pala pool with seasoned pala pool vet Alex Steadman & photographer Classic Chris.  It's always an epic sesh everytime this thing gets lit up.  Issac & Zack shut it down.

This ditch was located behind some random neighborhood.  Endless possibilites, it included the wallie flat bar and bank to wall as well!

Not included in the Homie Cam but Andrew puked his guts out before the FD premiere.  After acquiring a free keg from Booze Bros, Andrew downed a "Grandaddy IPA" faster than I think any human should.  As I struggled to finish my beer I was in awe of Andrew.  Until I walked outside and saw that he spewed all over the parking lot.


Big thanks to VEX Brand & TGE Distribution for making this Homie Cam possible.  Cheers to all shops & homies we met along the journey!

- McKeen

Andrew Broussard in Mega Case

We have a gnarly set of slams from Proto owner Andrew Broussard for this latest Trendkill bail video.  Andrew was out at Woodward West a few weeks back and got a chance to session the Mega.  Although many would consider Andrew a seasoned vet when it comes to these ramps, he decided to hit the 70 footer.  A gap that only few have dared to blast over.  Unfortunately he came up short…several times. 

- McKeen

Nate Gendron 2014

Nate has been filming for this video for quite some time, I've been on four or five trips with him over the past couple of months to film clips for it, and we have become super good friends over this past year.  Nate is a super rad dude and he eats a lot of shit pretty much every time he rides.  I hope you guys all enjoy this video as much as I enjoyed hanging out with Nate and doing what we all love doing, exploring and documenting our obscure travels through and interpretation of modern architecture.  

much love,  -Parrish 

Scootering Not Scootering: come along if you'd like,

I don’t intend to prove anything through these writings, or change anyones mind.  I especially do not intend to create any scientific or literal statements about scootering, or about the “scene”, which should be taken as fact.  I am merely proposing some observations and some ideas which have buzzed around my head.  As a writer, and an interested human, I am inclined to explore different aspects of my experiences, and scootering is central to my life.  If you are bothered by proclamations of subjective beauty, if you are displeased by offerings of peace, harmony, gratitude, and acceptance, if you really dislike hippies and poetry and Phish and the Dead, or if you really just don’t give a shit about my philosophies on scootering, you should probably not read the rest of this.  I really just intend to explore my love of scootering and what it makes me think about, as well as possibly make you think about scootering in a different way as well.  I think Wentz describes Loren Eiseley's style very well here, which is one that has been influencing me greatly lately and I think it is a good way to start.

“For Loren Eiseley, writing itself becomes a form of contemplation. Contemplation is a kind of human activity in which the mind, spirit and body are directed in solitude toward some other. Scholars and critics have not yet taken the full measure of contemplation as an art that is related to the purpose of all scholarly activity – to see things as they really are... Using narrative, parable and exposition, Eiseley has the uncanny ability to make us feel that we are accompanying him on a journey into the very heart of the universe. Whether he is explicating history or commenting on the ideas of a philosopher, a scientist or a theologian, he takes us with him on a personal visit."

• Richard E. Wentz (http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1391 )

( If you wish to read any of Eiseley’s writings, this website has a few of his books for free http://www.american-buddha.com/immense.journey.htm )

I think a lot of people don’t like to think about riding scooters in the same way me and some of my friends do.  I think a lot of people think scootering is great because it gets them away from the complications of life, and lets them just live in the moment.  I enjoy that the same as anyone else, but I think everyone has different systematic, subconscious approaches to how they do things, and mine, as well as a lot of other rider’s, thinks about riding outside of riding and let the perceptual changes that occur on our scooter to vibrate through the rest of our life and our impact on the outside world.  I think as that happens you also open a door to allow things outside of scootering to impact your scootering.  Whether it be music, poetry, skateboarding, nature, the city, your carpet, drugs, painting, religion, food, sex, philosophy, whatever, things can influence your scootering outside of scootering and thats when I think people diverge from the general recreational aspect of scootering.  I respect that not everyone wants to talk about scootering as much as I do, and not everyone wants their scootering to be art, but I think everyone is, whether they know it or not, expressing themselves and their life through scootering and making a kind of art.  You are channeling what has happened before in your life through into this moment every time you draw upon a past experience; which is always when you are doing a trick.  You’re constantly building upon old skills and learns, and applying them to your current surroundings and riding environment. What happened the morning you landed that new trick, what song you listened to, what you talked about in english class, that trick didn’t stand alone in that sequence of events, and that is the constant flow of your life. The sequence of events in scootering continues through your life as much as anything else does. If you can apply scootering's rules elsewhere, you may find great growth.

Scootering involves a lot of falling, commitment, and dedication, especially if you’re filming a video part.  All the aspects of scootering are great and fun and enjoyable, but I urge you to do something:  try to scooter without scootering.  Of course you’ll still be scootering, but I think if you apply the same logistics and reason to other aspects of your life as you do to scootering, it can help you in a lot of ways.  The idea of constant failure through falling, or patience through a video part, or maybe the responsibility of representing a company you’ve admired since you were young; these are things that a lot of average aspects of life don’t really teach you, and don’t really demand such commitment.  I don’t think scootering is serious, every day riding and filming is filled with laughs and buffoonery, enjoyment and bliss, but at the same time it takes a lot of hard work to get to a place where you can show up to a gnarly street spot nine times out of ten and get a good clip on it or have fun and shred at the worst or gnarliest skatepark.  Its not easy to get to the point where you can have fun and love your life riding a tiny curb in a shovelled out driveway when its 20 degrees outside.  It isn’t easy to get to the point where you can push down a city street and grind or hop over anything you see.  All of these activities are in practice just having fun, but really take a lot of practice, dedication, and pain that most activities today don’t. Don't just waste this ever so strange and dangerous addiction you have, let it rule you, let it teach you. Let scootering become a catalyst for change inside of yourself.  

  With all this intermingling of life and scootering, we have the opportunity to think about our surroundings very differently, and this is something many people have contemplated over the years. We see all these stairs, rails, transitions, and ledges as pathways for enjoyment. This secondary use of an object is very much transformational of your thinking. Once you see one thing (ie a handrail) in such a different light, maybe you will shift the way you view the rest of the world similarly. Maybe you will be able to make use of the way modern industrial, consumeristic society is set up in the same way you take a rail and push through it the whole of your past and future in different aspects of life. Maybe you can make scootering a way of communicating with yourself and with the world. You can learn so much about yourself. Every time you fall, what makes you get back up? What else can you apply that drive to get back up to? For me, the conversation doesn't stop there. Scootering has been a gateway for me to love all kinds of art. I never enjoyed painting, literature, poetry, sculpture, film, as much as I did after I observed the possibility of a counterculture being expressed through those means. I experienced the idea of that counterculture through skateboarding, scootering, and snowboarding. There is a normal way to do these things, and that is fine, but then there are people who break the rules and create new realms of wonder and joy and expression through scootering.

The power of an artistic culture is strong, and the necessity of art in our society is great. The real reason I wrote this is because I think more people need to understand the true impact scootering has the potential to make on society. We are in a very young state and every rider can make a change to the scene. Scootering is such a powerful art form that most people don't even think of it as art. There is very little outside gratitude from scootering especially, other than the pure personal love. Of course one gets respect from others, but this is short lived and stimulates the ego for a short time. There are few appraisals of riders as being extremely influential and artistic, but just a lot of "rads" and "gnars" getting thrown around. I think the more value and contemplation we apply to scootering, the more we can get from it. The more art grows, the more chance it has of changing the way a person views the world. We need people to change their viewpoints because right now everyone thinks its okay to take all the resources on our planet and use them however we see fit with no foresight on the effects that may have on other life and major ecosystems. And even though we do so much land-raping to sustain a high standard of living, most of our people live in horrid conditions in spite of the few who live in lavish, surreal paradises. We support this with our dollar, you vote in this society by buying because corporations buy out the government. This, like your expressing yourself through riding, is something you can't change whether you like to believe it or not. We need to change a lot of things in this society, and changing the way people view the world is the first step. We CAN do that through scootering and if you don't think so then thats fine with me but you aren't gonna stop anyone. Much love to all who are lost, all who are scared, all who are fighting, and just all in general. Thanks for giving my thoughts your time, the train gets off here so don't forget what you came with.

-Parrish

"Art is a collaboration between the infinite universal power and the artist, and the less the artist does the better"

- Larry Carlson

(You can check out Larry Carlson's work and website, and maybe even support him here)

Reece Jones interview

Last thursday Reece Jones droped a heavy video part, this homeless looking wonder filmed the hole damn thing barefoot so i had to ask him a few questions to see if he was sane.

So i just watched your barefoot video n i have some conserns about some stuff...

Whens the last time u got a tetnus shot?
I have no idea

Have you ever heard of that African dude in Olympics got sponsored by nike n just carried his shoes during the race, Would you just wear them around your neck if u got sponsored?
That is awesome haha I haven't heard of that guy but it sounds like the hella grip dude who rides without grip tape? I'd use the laces as a belt and let the shoes dangle from there

I'm guessing you dont heel drag eh?
This one time there was a wax mark on the bottom of my foot after doing a hurricane so I guess I do

Ever put out tip jar while trying a trick so people think your homeless?
My friends actually joke about me looking homeless I wish I thought of that

What did your parents think about this idea?
They didn't really know much about it until I showed them the video but like most people their first thought was "you're stupid"

There must be a barefoot horror story to be shared?
Nothing too crazy just a few cuts and sore feet when something took a while

Don't wanna be rude if the no shoe thing is serious but if that's what a barefoot video is like what can we expect from your with shoes on?
Well of course there are tricks I wouldn't dare to try barefoot haha. My next part (with shoes) will be in the fam hungry full length so look out for that!


-Peasley