Slam Skateboarding 228 Summer 2020

As we approach a new year, it’s easy to reflect on the derailed trainwreck that was 2020 and wonder how we were led into this whole ugly mess. And with our world leaders throwing around the same rhetorical phrase, “new normal” – which irks the shit out of me – it’s impossible to shake that feeling that life ain’t ever going to be what it used to be. But if dealing with a pandemic has taught skateboarders anything, it’s that there’s plenty more to appreciate close to home. In this edition, you’ll notice that the array of groundbreaking photos featured are far more localised than usual. We may not be able to travel, but Australian skaters are still getting out there and being productive. Jackson Pilz is irrefutably one of the…

Christmas can’t come soon enough this year. Between the bushfires, COVID, the Trump debacle, and the thousand other little clusterfucks 2020 has given us, this year has felt like a decade. As a skateboarder, Christmas can be a double-edged sword. Sure, there are the gifts, gluttony, and good times, but there are also the hangovers, awkward conversations with extended family, and well-intentioned presents that completely miss the mark. So, with Chrissy just around the corner, here are a few things we can expect to deal with this festive season. Santa’s Supply Chain Issues One of the side-effects of COVID-19 is that supply chains have been hammered. This means there have been global lags with the supply of goods across international borders. In Australia, being girt by sea means there has been a…

Joel Rea is a 37-year-old skateboarder from the Gold Coast, but he’s better known for his highly technical surrealist paintings. A world-renowned fine artist, Joel takes influences from all over the place, painting the tigers from Dreamworld; the violent waves that he grew up surfing; New York streetscapes; and celebrities like Chris Hemsworth, The Veronicas, and Mick Fanning. One of his most famous works is called ‘Crossroads’, and it features a city street littered with tourists, a tiger, a naked toddler and a mural where Jesus is being crucified on an iPhone. Deep in the back corner, Dylan Rieder is boning a backside flip. It’s a sunny arvo in late November when I drop into Joel’s place in Tallebudgera Valley on the Gold Coast to ask him about his successes as…

It’s a Friday arvo when I catch Stevie Stipanovic on the phone and he’s in a pretty good mood. This morning, while he was driving to work at a building site in Western Sydney, his car overheated on the highway, which sounds like a total stitch-up. But Stevie doesn’t seem too worried about it. In fact, I think he was lowkey stoked. He took the day off and went skating with his mates instead. Tonight, he’s planning on a few beers at a friend’s photo exhibition at the Pass ~ Port Store and Gallery, but he insists that he won’t be going too hard because he’ll be skating this weekend. Between shooting photos for this interview and working on a new part, Stevie is staying productive. After almost an hour on…

Dave Chami explains the process for this trippy, black and white photo series, and how he took the studio to the streets. I recently came across an old skate photo from the 1990s where the skater was silhouetted against a white wall. I loved how you could really see their form without necessarily knowing who it was at first. I wanted to try to recreate something similar with some of the people I skate with, so I looked into renting a studio to try to shoot some myself. I then made a list of obstacles that I could beg, borrow or steal to take to the studio. It only took one visit to Taylor Square to attempt to move one of the bollards there, before I realised I had bitten off…

STARTING OUT The last video I made for Nike was Disc, which was out in the middle of 2019. Disc came out and right away I filmed a couple of new tricks with Rowan [Davis] and Ben [River Lawrie]. After Disc, Rowan came down to Melbourne and we filmed a bunch and then I realised that we were getting a fair bit of Melbourne footage, especially with Rowan and Ben, so I thought maybe that was the idea: keep logging as much as possible in Melbourne and mould it into a Melbourne-themed video. I was enjoying keeping it local and exploring new areas, as well as trying to get tricks on classic spots. I was excited to make another Melbourne video. THE CONCEPT The idea was similar to the Cumberland County video we…