Though Tom used to be flow or something for Antihero back in the day, I really had not heard anything about him until the Shuffl Video (Tom's part above) via Walker Ryan and the crew. That was back in 2010 and since that one part, the only part I'd seen of Tom at that time, I don't think I've seen more than a few small features through Converse maybe up until his latest part this summer in Perpetual Motion. Now he definitely rips very hard in the TWS video - defying all sense of logic and physics by literally ollieing on a vertical wall at one point. It's certain that Tom's last video part has some incredible clips and really awesome tranny lines, even some street tricks in there too. Great part without a doubt. But the fact that he had just been welcomed to Expedition two months before the video after basically being in sponsorship limbo for a good few years really stands out with the news of Tom going pro this past week.
This piece of news was the kickstarter for the theme of the posts this week, so I found it fitting to save Tom for the final day. Again, much like the other guys mentioned this past week, the time spent actually on Expedition is way too small to warrant a pro model. In terms of coverage and being recognized in the skate world, I doubt that many people actually know much about Tom other than from his PM part. There needs to be way more coverage of Tom killing it for Expedition, and even Converse for that matter, as well as more time spent with the crew to cement that loyalty a professional needs to have.
On top of that...Kelly Hart is still am for Expedition! Almost 8 years ago is when Kelly's It's Official part was released, and Tom has been on the team for maybe 10 months. A very good video part cannot outweigh sponsor loyalty and experience by that much to justify this situation. Nothing against Tom, but I definitely feel like Expedition turned him pro too soon not only because of his coverage and experience, but particularly because of Mr. Hart's.
It would be modest to say that it's surprising to see Nick Tucker not even be am for a board company after all these years. He was basically part of, if not at the forefront of, the same crew in Sk8mafia that went pro a couple years ago, and that announcement itself was long overdue for those dudes. Whatever happened between Sk8mafia and Nick is still not clear to me, but apparently it was enough to thoroughly cut out Nick from the crew and set him back a few years. It's cool to see that it seems to be water under the bridge though as Kellen and Nick can still chill. What's even weirder is that he seems like a totally rad person too, so I can't imagine what had transpired. Regardless, after already being on a solid track to professionalism, Nick's status in the industry took a wild turn and he's had to put in work ever since.
I first found out about Nick through his FKD Park Project feature, which was instantly my favorite of the series. Even about a half decade ago he had the illest style (look at that boosted nollie heel over the hip!) and some craziest tricks like his now signature naturally boned nollie inward heel. After seeing this I looked more into Nick's footage and came across his Sk8mafia Am Video part, which continued that steezy style with a sweet display of his tech manual and ledge combos along with a nice mix of fliptricks down some large stair sets.
After those first two glimpses into Nick's skating, I knew enough to be psyched when he got Recruited at the Berrics. Expanding his bag of tricks, he comes through with some nice surprises like a nollie front foot late flip (when it was still a video-game-hard kind of trick and not something every kid can do at the skatepark like now), an inward heel manual impossible out (which will be eternally crazy), and one of the first nollie big spin inward heelflips I think I ever saw. These last three videos from Nick were all released some time around 2009 and already stirred up quite the conversation about him going pro.
At some point on the timeline there was the divergence with Sk8mafia, but Nick stayed relevant in the industry by being welcomed to Grizzly and coming out with this Diamond commercial. Now basically fully grown, every single clip in these two commercials without exaggeration has something remarkable about it. From super stylish fliptricks to really tech ledge combos made to look simple, from bigger flips and boned inward heels to a couple full 360 ollie flips, and then to the first late front foot flip out of a crooked grind that I think I ever saw. Nick was progressing skateboarding on his own at this point through "secondary" sponsor commercials. Not something your standard am can do too easily.
Then just this past year, Primitive Apparel dropped their full video, Pain is Beauty, with Nick getting the curtains (above). When I watch skate videos, I will definitely remember the tricks that jump out of the norm to warrant multiple viewings. Late flips, double flips, etc. all do that job, and Nick includes plenty of those in this part to keep you on the edge of your seat. But it's more than that. He comes through with new tricks for his bag (gap to switch 5-0 and switch backside flip over the bump to bar were cool to see from Nick) to show personal progress, a quality everyone wants to see out of their favorite skaters. And then throw in a one-of-a-kind style, arguably one of the best in skateboarding, and you have yourself a super enjoyable and memorable part.
And then there's the fact that he still isn't officially am for any team yet that is a shocking jump back to reality. He's had plenty of sessions with the Expedition team to at least be considered "flow" for them, and this has been going on for a considerable time by now so that's grounded pretty well. But I've never seen an official welcome for Nick to Expedition and he isn't even listed on their roster on Facebook. (Wow, roster sounds way too much like a sport now...ugh.) It's a really weird situation.
Nick already skates with a sense of professionalism already, a mastery of his fliptricks and board control that truly represent his good number of years skateboarding and coming up. Plus, being able to switch inward heel jaw-droppingly beautifully second try down a pretty large set is way too worthy to be flow for much longer. From his Full-Clip Friday, we know he's been skating this year and even improving: better consistency, more pop, flawless trick execution, and still somehow coming up with new tricks. With that as just park footage, and coming off of a good 9 months or so since Pain is Beauty, Nick's bound to have some footage in store for 2014. And since he's been consistently skating with Expedition in 2013, it only makes sense that he will finally get his official blow up in 2014.
Yoshi Tanenbaum's skill is surreal. The fact that the flick on his laser was perfect nearly every single try and he stuck all but maybe two attempts is incomprehensible. Making something so gnarly look easy enough to just run up and go for it like Yoshi did is beyond impressive, and then landing it twice in a row (what was wrong with the first one?) takes the cake for me.
For time constraints I will just list some other sweet videos from this past week:
Chaz Ortiz and his insanely consistent and buttery backside flips at the Berrics
The Expedition flow bros are extremely skilled
Always enjoy some new Josh Anderson footage, in this case via his Mag Minute
The ever-beautiful varial heelflips and variations from Willow in this Etnies feature
Moose's first pro truck via Thunder Trucks
Sweet new part from Aussie Jack Fardell
Always love some raw VX footage from one of my favorites, Walker Ryan
Connor Champion skating very poppy with this Quartersnacks remixed part
Loving the New Balance team lately, especially with edits like The Second Narrows
Waters and Army welcomes Marek Zaprazny with this awesome video part (fakie nosegrind switch tre!) Introduction to Zero's Cold War video (so pumped to see it this week!!)
When you look at the number of skate videos that have used songs by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (who I will call ESTMZ for short here) on Skatevideosite.com, the long list is quite stunning. But there's a reason for the madness (pun intended as Kenny Hoyle will explain) because ESTMZ simply produces great music for skate videos. Mixing qualities that make videos memorable and epic at the same time, the music makes you feel happy while watching the skating but excited too for the trick progression throughout the part.
If I remember correctly, the first time I heard ESTMZ was the heavily-used-in-skate-video song "40 Day Dream" through Addie Fridy's Mag Minute. The part came out a good 3/4 years ago I think but The Skateboard Mag re-released it this year. What caught me off guard was just how many bangers Addie kept coming out with, even in the quieter verse of the song. The slo-mo's near the end of his Mag Minute matched the hype from the good-feeling refrain and the double-take on his nutty ender goes hand-in-hand with the double-take on the final words: "Ohhh oh, I could die". (What's crazy to me is that while this part is pretty old by now, for these day's terms, it's still super gnarly. I'm surprised Addie is just now coming up on flow with Expedition.)
My second experience with "40 Day Dream" was through RVK's Younited Nations entry to the Berrics a few years back. But the defining video part for this song would be Kenny Hoyle's turning pro part in Expedition's Madness. The introduction as Rob Welsh leaves Kenny in the dirt to shovel out his first pro model is ideal: short enough that you don't start begging for the skating to be back, funny with the solid acting from the Expedition crew, and meaningful enough to the unleashing of the new pro. Kenny's few stomps on the dirt patch covering his board cue the fade in of the music, which slowly amplifies to Kenny's opening line of buttery ledge tricks. The first "Ahhh-ah!" at about 1:38 is timed out perfectly with Kenny's line in that clip: a sick flick on a nollie tre and a cruising no comply together build up with the music and then unleash with a huge frontside half cab flip at full energy. The held out "yeahh" at 3:55 on the varial heel across the long Chinese street gap works really well. But probably my favorite clip is right after when Kenny switch heelflips into a manual and the music momentarily is silent, suspending the suspense perfectly only to have Kenny switch 360 flip out! That culmination of excitement was too awesome so that every one of Kenny's following bangers is just made that much better. The quick cut to black after his ender and the short cut off on the music also leave that stunned feel as to what just went down.
ESTMZ's radio-popular song "Home" was featured in Lakai's Am I Am feature, with Vincent Alvarez, Riley Hawk, Raven Tershy, and Daniel Espinoza. The song was the last song used and goodness did it do a great job of closing out the video. The skating by these four dudes was heavy (enough to have 3 of them be pro by now, and arguably Riley should be as well) and "Home" created that really epic feeling with every trick going down.
Walker Ryan skated to ESTMZ's "I Don't Wanna Pray" in Organika's Grow With Us. The very beginning seemed rather quiet, but as soon as the upbeat tempo starts, you just want to start snapping your fingers along with it. It helps that Walker keeps it playful with his first few clips: 180ing into a bus after landing his grind and cruising along a sick DIY bank spot and even skating some tree branches. Walker's positive attitude shows through his skating and this song could not fit better to bring that out. The whole part takes his great skating and leaves you feeling impressed and happy at the same time. When the song quiets down again at about 2:58, it highlights all of his pretty crazy manny tricks. It brings in feelings of amazement that all work up to Walker's insane switch backside flip over the bump to bar ender. Satisfaction completely guaranteed by the experience.
Lastly, with one of the most epic video parts in recent memory, Andrew Reynolds skating to ESTMZ's "Om Nashi Me" in Stay Gold (see above). The introduction fills you with pure joy: visually Reynolds skating around his backyard and playing with his daughter is complemented by the song's cheerful introductory chords. So as soon as the music builds up from the intro and Reynolds frontside half cab flips Carlsbad, you know the part's going to be magical. The song provides that really epic video feel as all the tricks are going down. After he nollie noseslides a gnarly rail at about 3:08 and gets the elated high five from Herman, the music calms down a tad. At this point, while watching Stay Gold with my friend for the first time, we literally remained speechless with our eyes glued to the screen watching legendary spot after legendary spot be crushed. The music matched the compilation of tricks in a way that left me with feelings of pure awe. And when Reynolds kickflips the UC Davis gap at the end, the final melodies from "Om Nashi Me" make the kickflip feel like the battle has been won and celebration is in order. Exactly how an epic video part should conclude.
There's something about the music that I've heard from Fitz and the Tantrums that simply stays in my memory. The skate videos utilizing their music were all filled with great skating, but nothing in particular that would keep me daydreaming about those parts (such as Westgate's street annihilation in Made or Guy Mariano's technical NBDs in Pretty Sweet). Yet the upbeat songs and good selection of mood changes, for lack of a better description, allow for full-on enjoyment of the video parts.
The first time I remember getting hooked to a video was with Fitz and the Tantrums' "Moneygrabber" in Kenny Hoyle's Madness Bonus Part (above). Kenny's style and trick selection is easily one of my favorites but despite getting used to watching his tricks again and again, I just had to keep rewatching this video so I could repeatedly experience the huge bump to bar heelflip as the percussion dropped. And right as the first verse starts Kenny comes out with a sweet line that keeps the excitement going while maintaining the soothing vibes from the quieter music. Then the switch back heel at 0:50 perfectly times the slow motion with a new underlining sound for the music as it builds back up. Another reason why I was so intrigued by this bonus part and the song was the strange skip at 1:32 that I knew felt out of place at first. Regardless, after wanting to hear the song in full, I would always picture Kenny's great skating when I thought of this melody.
Now most people probably know "Moneygrabber" from Mike Mo's part in Pretty Sweet, which I must say was an instant favorite of mine in great part because of this song. The clever ground-stomping intro as the song fades in depicts Mike Mo's effortless skill all too well. It's cool to see when that first verse comes in (which apparently is the beckoning for the first line in the video part), Mike Mo takes it back to the ledges we know him for. And then at the first major swell for the chorus, he comes out with a pretty surprising switch nosegrind fakie front 360 shove out at a green schoolyard ledge, which sticks out clearly in my mind. Same thing happens when the next chorus comes around: Mike Mo starts off a 3-trick downhill line at a school that he also skated in Fully Flared with a fakie big heel, flawlessly following that up with his impossible late flip, and finishing the line down a nice set of stairs with a gorgeous frontside flip. And at the part in the song with the 1,2,3 count-ups, Mo's trick selection gets rather crazy but is amplified by its pairing with the song for what is my favorite segment of his part.
More recently, Fitz and the Tantrums had their song "L.O.V." featured in Bones New Ground for Trent and Trevor McClung's shared part. Throughout it all, the song is very upbeat and brings out the positive mental attitudes that the brothers have. While showing off their impressive abilities they appear like they're having fun in the process, which is helped by the song. I like Trevor's 5-0 into the long, steep bank at 15:00 because his rolling away speed wobbles match the singing of "tryy-yy". Just a little gimmick that helped me enjoy the part even more. And directly after, the timing of the drums (leaving and then entering) for Trevor's switch big flip down Carlsbad couldn't have been better, as the epicness of the trick is made to stand out. Then at the end as the music slowly fades out, the saxophone solo cordially invites the two bros to a free-for-all of heavy tricks...and they accepted.
Just like in the other parts, Josh Anderson's part in Organika's latest offering of Grow With Us is really made memorable because of the Fitz and the Tantrums' "Hey Mr. President". The first few piano chords as Josh ollies over the manhole cover and powerslides down the street are extremely inviting for the viewer. The split second of silence when Josh locks into his 360 flip nose stall at a popular ditch around the 4:00 mark acts as a moment for the viewer to catch their breath out of surprise at a pretty rad trick on a rough bank. On top of that, the chanting of "Hey!" and "Ooh!" work well as solid moments for Josh to comfortably stomp his tricks down throughout the part; they also happen to emphasize his slam around 4:42, but it all adds to the likeability of the part.
You can never get too much Kenny Hoyle. As much as I've probably praised styles beforehand, Kenny's style is undeniably fun to watch and really never gets old. I could watch him switch heel or kickflip all day, but what's great is that he has such a large bag of tricks that there is no chance of getting bored of his skating. Kenny's put out some great video parts the past 5 years or so, all starting back to his standout part in It's Official. The Jesus Walks instrumental in the background works perfectly with every trick he stomps. The switch backside flip along the sidewalk grass gap early in the part at 0:34 is just so buttery, and the tini dirt-hop rollaway and strobe effects really get me psyched up every time I watch the part. From the varial heel at 0:57 to the nollie inward heel at 1:06, and then 7 back to back flip tricks down some gaps starting at 1:16, his gap-tricks are utter perfection. To top it off, he's got great pop, a tight ledge game, and even hits some handrails too. Also, from 2:00 to the end of the part, Kenny goes back to an all-out stairset and gap flip trick frenzy with tricks popped and caught like they were done on flat.
Definitely one of my favorite all around full length videos, And Now couples great music selection to great skating and Kenny's part (above) is an instant standout. Just like the strobe effect at the start of his It's Official part, the little nollie taps at 0:09 after the nollie crook and tre flip add to the anticipation and excitement for the skating to come. I always remember the varial heelflip at 1:37 from an Expedition ad and because it once again cannot look any better like most of Kenny's stair tricks. The nollie big flip to finish the downhill line at 2:01 seems like the trickiest (for lack of a better word) idea to try there but he pulls it off with impressive ease. And again, he ends the part with a beauty of a hardflip at 3:40.
While I could pick apart more and more of Kenny's part and his skating, I will leave it to these two parts because they are what made me an everlasting fan and what still stick out in my head today. But I do have to mention a seriously ripping series of clips from DVS's Dudes Dudes Dudes, once again another terrific part for turning pro in Madness by Expedition, followed up by more superior quality Bonus Madness (Mike Mo's Pretty Sweet song!), and most recently his Detention at Da Playground (end trick is pure awesomeness!).
Now Kenny's been pro for a good 2/3 years and has had a few small clips here and there, such as the Detention clip. But with a natural talent like that and the ability to make all of his tricks look easy and appealing, I would really like to see some new footage from Kenny. Like I said before, you can never get too much Kenny Hoyle.
The first time I saw Richard Angelides was in the Transworld video First Love (above). I didn't quite know who he was at the time, but I was definitely enjoyed watching him skate. His ability to skate switch caught me off guard with this part. Since I was not fully developed in my skate video watching capabilities yet, I legitimately couldn't tell which stance he was at the time. A switch backside 360 did not make any sense to me when I saw this so I was convinced that his trick at 2:13 forced him to be regular. But then I felt more contradictions with his next trick, the cab flip switch manny 180 down the bank he actually has a bunch of tricks on too. Later looking back on his older parts (as I learned how to tell a guy's stance), I finally grasped that Richard was just a king at skating switch. His part in Hiatus contains a nice mix of switch and regular skating and that OG mongo push the worked so well with that era of skateboarding as everyone was just having fun with their newfound variety of fliptricks. His part in Expedition One - Alone continued Richard's switch mastery and big bag of tricks. Without a doubt, Richard Angelides has one of the best switch varial heels in the game; see 0:37 for proof. I thought that this part was a well thought-out improvement with new clever lines and a mixture of fliptricks and grinds off of his last part. Upgrading from a switch heel at the schoolyard block set to a nollie back heel between the two parts for his respective enders was a nice touch. Not to mention a switch backside flip in First Love that is quite beautiful. But what officially sold me on this guy was his short but effective few clips in Expedition's Madness. The first trick alone, nollie front heel fakie manny fakie FS 360 shove out, got me incredibly stoked because I somehow learned fakie frontside 360 shove its and had never seen one (or at least noticed one) in a video before this. I was sold from this already, especially considering that that is a really sweet manny trick when you think about it, but then he continues with his appealing lanky style. The nollie bigger flip switch manny at the brick manny pad (that he could probably claim his own by now) was great because that trick is still nuts and I don't think I've seen it outside a game of skate other than here. And his last trick, the nollie fs big spin 360 over the hip, will always stick out for me because shove-itting and spinning in that direction with a trick like that just seems so awkward. Definitely one of my top under 30 second parts out there.
Even though Richard Angelides skates switch quite a lot, I don't seem to get tired of it. There's something about his style and trick selection that keeps me wanting more. So for not coming out with anything since that mini Madness part, I would really like to see another solid collection of clips (if not a full part) from this guy.
It feels like Kelly Hart has been around for quite a while. And all through that time I always felt that he had a very grown up, professional steeze that would grant him his own deck at some point. Kelly is easily one of the butteriest skaters out there with his easy-looking but dominantly high pop, flicking and catching tricks, and bending his knees for one of the best landings styles I could imagine. Kelly can manual like he's in a video game with cheat codes, holding a single pose throughout entire long manuals like nothing. He's got a mastery of nollie and fakie pop shove its and varial flips (and when I say POP shove it, I mean it), which no one else has as smooth as him. Another thing I doubt many people give him credit for is that with his skills to skate switch as smoothly as he does regular, he is able to film tricks that are mirror images of each other, which is a clever way of making his parts more interesting to watch (nollie pop shove nose manny followed by fakie pop shove fakie manny for example). One of his first major parts was in It's Official, where I'd say all the tricks from 0:50 - 1:11 perfectly demonstrate his pop shove it abilities, his pop, his manual abilities, and his gorgeous tre flips. His part in Give Me My Money Chico (above) is also really pleasing to watch, just to see exactly how tricks should be executed. I love his varial heelflip at 2:18, he has a perfect switch heel over a bump to bar at 2:50, and he displays his craftiness with his last two tricks by mirroring a fs 5-0 kickflip out with a switch one afterwards that looks just as buttery as the first. His Berrics Recruit part once again comes through and shows Kelly's mastery of good-looking flip tricks and perfectly balanced manuals. He comes again with two nice mirrored lines starting at 1:02: a front tail then a beautiful fakie tre over a bench and a switch front tail and nollie tre. His nollie inward heel over the fire hydrant at 1:57 is just another piece of eye candy. Kelly also has some great clips in the latest Expedition offering Madness with some very speedy and smooth cruising lines, in one of which he approaches a handrail and decides that with a tre flip as good-looking as his, he might as well just tre flip over it instead of worrying about any grind tricks, which I fully back. Throwing a switch flip in the middle of a switch manny at 2:23 is not even fair because he almost doesn't flinch or waver at all! And the fakie POP shove it at 2:35 may possibly be the best one ever done.
So with a really solid collection of video parts, a proper style that is the perfect amount of butteriness without going overboard, and some of the most correct flip tricks in skateboarding (he has the most Berrics' Trickipedia entries for a reason), it's really a shock that he hasn't gone pro yet. Even just some talk of turning him pro would be nice, but all I can hope for is that he's working on another attractive video part for his first pro board.
