introduction

There’s a bit of an unintentional travel theme throughout this issue. It started with Jake Darwen and Alex Lawton’s idea for a photo feature detailing their spate of travelling over the past year. Then articles set in New Zealand, USA, Indonesia and Spain came along. One of these stories came from one of the world’s most frequented and ultimate skateboarding destinations – the glorious gothic city that is Barcelona. If you’ve ever travelled to the heart of Catalonia, you’ll know that Las Ramblas is the centre point of the capital. All roads, trains and tourists lead to this famous stretch that’s lined with street performers by day and working girls by night. I’m sure you’re well aware of the tragedy that struck the Las Ramblas strip on August 17, 2017. Sixteen people…

right place wrong time

Beachside Barcelona is a very lively place. Aside from all the legitimate businesses, there are also a bunch of unauthorised sales people. They sell everything from beer to kids toys to sunnies. On this particular day there are a serious amount of sunnies sellers. One minute, sunglasses spruikers are chilling. Tourists everywhere. Thousands of sunnies all intricately connected to mats laid out for all to see. Tourists browse the sunglasses. All of a sudden, cops come from multiple directions. Sunglasses sellers instantaneously fold up their rugs and flee every which way across this complex set of intersections. They run in every direction imaginable. They all get away. Cops eventually bail. Things die down. Then the sunglasses come back out. The game is back on. On August 17, 2017, I was down…

the story of portside

On Sydney’s Northern Beaches, nestled in a small quarry behind some sporting fields, is an old, burnt-out telecommunications building. It’s a quiet little slice of Crown land that’s usually either ignored or used as a dumping ground for green waste. But this sketchy-looking, derelict building is also home to Portside, which is arguably Australia’s gnarliest, and certainly its most photogenic, DIY. The spot is a tranny-lord’s dream, housing a tight concrete bowl that’s about three-feet high in most sections and a ramped wall that goes up to the ceiling. The windowsills are skateable features and the coping was salvaged from an old trampoline. Outside, the local crew have planted a nice garden with a few trees and a passionfruit vine. People have been skating inside this building for the past 20…

the reopening of the brooklyn banks

If skateboarding had its own Seven Wonders of the World, the Brooklyn Banks would feature prominently at the top of the list. Steeped in history and laden with legendary tales of street skateboarding’s rugged beginnings, this dark and damp corner of Manhattan’s Lower East Side is more iconic to most skateboarders than the world-famous bridge it resides beneath. The Banks became a bubbling hotspot for skaters in the mid-’80s, advertised prominently by the Bones Brigade in Future Primitive and subsequently becoming a home for constant progression in the fledgling world of street skateboarding. The ramp-like nature of the Banks attracted skaters who might otherwise be reluctant to migrate into the streets, bridging the gap between vert and street skaters to create a melting pot of creativity and technical advancement. The likes of…

that night in bali

In 2002, my old man and I went on a surf trip to Bali. After a couple of weeks on Nusa Lembongan, we got a hotel in Kuta, about 30 metres from the Sari Club. I was only 15, but that night I was hassling my old man super hard to go out and have beers. He wasn’t about it so we went back to our hotel room. Then we heard this loud, crazy explosion. At the time, I thought it might be some fireworks or something, so I went out onto the deck to see what was going on. I remember seeing the wind drop and everything went still for a split second, and then I was picked up off my feet and slammed into a wall by the bomb.…

specifics

GOOCH DAWGS VOLUME 4 It’s inspiring to see the dirty dawgs from Gooch Street come through with an hour-long compilation of mind-blowing raw street footage in this day and age. Not to mention the fact that they managed to get over to China, Europe and NZ and they shot it all on a VX. This video does a great job of showcasing raw Melbourne street skating, with some tight lines and ledge-techery at the city’s most revered spots. Look out for some of the last unseen footy from Lincoln (RIP), hammers at the Melton Drains and tidy lines at various DIYs. The highlights include Tony Woodward’s ability to flip out of almost every trick, Ben Currie’s kinker attempt (ouch!) and James Moore holding onto his ender. It’s no wonder the Gooch…