10 - BREAKS Magazine

G UY O KAZ AK I
S UR FBO ARD S
TEAM RIDER : JOHN MCCLURE
PHOTO: MIKE RIGGINS
CITY MEETS SEA
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40
44
14
50
//Cover photographer//
Block
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//Back photographer//
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Herman Jimenez
//Guest Photographers//
Block, Shelby Woods,
Michael Kew,Herman Jimenez,
Mike Riggins, Sean Sulivan,
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Santo Rimicci
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//Guest Interviewers//
Aki X, Elsv, Guy Okazaki, Block
//Thank You//
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ROGUE STATUS,
MATUSE WETSUITS,
GUY OKAZAKI SURFBOARDS,
VENICE ORIGINALS SK8 SHOP
King Fantastic, Daniel Jones,
Amanda Groth, Danny Trejo,
Jack Bailey, Dylan Thompson,
Serani, Delly Ranx, G. Malone,
BigHassle, Angel Woods,
Shelby Woods, John McClure
//editor//
C Monk
[email protected]
//Publisher//
BREAKS MAGAZINE LLC
VOL.3 ISSUE 1
book #13
VENICE
ORIGINALS
1525 Pacific Ave. Venice, CA 90291
photo: BLOCK
THE GUITARIST!
Peter Destefano
Pornos for Pyro
Mike Clark
Suicidal Tendencies
10 //photo// Elsv
//interview// Aki X
KING
FANTASTIC
//Aki// What up party people?
//Troublemaker// Party people is the place to be.
//Reese// I am Mauricio Novera, the Black half of King Fantastic.
//Troublemaker// I am Troublemaker, the White half of King Fantastic.
//Aki// So, we’re downtown L.A. right now. What you into?
//Reese// We are shooting a music video for, “on cue,” a song on our album. It’s
my favorite song on the album.
//Troublemaker// It’s on “Finger snaps and Gun claps” on www.kingfantastic.
com. Free download, get it while you can. Free music man. Free, for now.
//Reese// For now, shit.
//Troublemaker// ‘Til we pull the card.
//Aki// Talk about the different types of videos you have made. You got the
porn star trashing a mansion. You got the funny toys and what not.
//Troublemaker// Cannabalism.
//Aki// There you go. So, what’s the deal with this one? What’s the concept
of this video?
//Reese// It’s about Jesus and his savior and resurrection, you know what I’m
saying? People like you and your souls, and Josh.
//Aki// Not you?
//Reese// I’m going to Hell. I’ve been repurbated. That’s what this video is
about.
//Troublemaker// God and drugs.
//Reese// I don’t do drugs Josh.
//Troublemaker// Yeah that’s right.
//Reese// I don’t do drugs Josh, because that’s the White man’s poison.
//Aki// What’s the Black man’s poison?
//Reese// This dick! (Laughter erupts)
//Troublemaker// Since last we talked, we have been working on an ep that we
will be putting out at the end of the summer. Probably like the end of August.
It’s called “The Death of Summer.” Some new tracks and some remixes. We’re
doing a video for one of those songs, and that will all come out end of August.
Shot a video a couple weeks ago for another song on our album called, “D boy
stance.” We are shooting this video for, “on cue.” We’ll be shooting one more
video or maybe two for a song called, “bonfire sessions”, which is our marijuana
friendly song.
12
//Aki// Marijuana friendly?
//Troublemaker// Marijuana friendly.
//Reese// For people who are dumb enough to smoke weed.
//Troublemaker// Yeah, we don’t do drugs.
//Reese// Me personally, I don’t drink or smoke.
//Troublemaker// Water, strictly water, coffee.
//Reese// This is cranberry juice.
//Troublemaker// It’s very very delicious.
//Aki// You go for this clean image?
//Reese// You can tell by my gut my health. I don’t drink or do drugs. That’s
where we basically are at with ours. (Slapping his stomach). This is all.
//Troublemaker// This is legit right here. (Pointing at Killa Reese’s stomach)
//Reese// (Slapping his stomach) This is that I don’t eat, and I don’t drink.
That’s how you get this fuckin’ healthy.
//Troublemaker// There’s no babes in there
//Reese// This is not fuckin’ drinking or smoking. This is being healthy.
//Aki// No guns, no drugs. Nothing bad West Coast image.
//Troublemaker// Nothing bad, only good. Like Teletubbies, Sponge Bob.
//Reese// That’s worse than what we doing!
//Troublemaker// That’s like acid.
//Reese// We’re doing clean shit here dude. We’re doing all good American Hip
Hop.
//Troublemaker// Apple pies and American Flags.
//Reese// Basically, you could put this on Kids bot.
//Troublemaker// USA!
//Aki// Let’s talk about “Finger snaps and Gun claps”.
//Troublemaker// “Finger snaps and Gun claps” is our first album that we did
together. It’s ten songs. Some electronic minded more Dub influenced stuff,
and there’s more straight up Hip hop type stuff. It’s kind of all over the place,
but it’s a cohesive piece of work at the same time.
//Reese// Absolutely. “Finger snaps and Gun claps” is crispy. The album goes
hard. It’s hard to put into words and shit. I’m not crying, I got something stuck
in my throat. The juxtaposition of his beats and what I’m doing, gives you like
an original sound. We got love for that fuckin’ album dude. We wiped the floor
with it.
//Troublemaker// It’s not a mix tape.
daniel
JONES
14 //photo// Michael Kew
//interview// Elsv
16 //photo// Michael Kew
Daniel where were born and where did you learn to surf?
I was born in Kailua on the east side of Oahu, and learned to surf at Kailua
shorebreak. It only breaks on windswell and hurricanes. Who or what inspires you to do what you do?
The last surf movie I watched was “Searching for Tom Curren”, I watched it 3
times, that was inspiring. Surfing with my friends and brothers. I like to feel how
different each board rides and just getting that feeling you only get from a riding
a wave. Seeing the ocean makes me want to get in it, it just sucks you in. When did you realize professional surfing was going to be a career move? In 1988 when I was 5 and looking through my dad’s surf mags, and could
recognize the surfers because they had the same airbrush on everyboard.
Sometimes they were different colors, but same layout. That’s when I knew, I
wanted to do that. I needed to come up with a good airbrush. Having surf as a culture running deep in the family must have really helped
push you to surf? How competitive are you with your brothers and sister?
The whole family surfs, my Mom, Dad, step Dad, siblings, and my uncles all
surf. My Mom surfed with me when she was pregnant. We lived by the beach.
My Dad made me my first board. I covered the bottom of it with stickers for
speed. Surfing is what my family was already doing, then I showed up. Are you currently competing or traveling doing the free surf life?
I enjoy surfing in the Hawaii events and I also travel to do the free surf thing as
well. Do you train or just don’t care about that stuff?
I stretch everyday. I have to train when there are no waves, or else I’m too tired
from surfing all day. What are some current or future projects on deck?
Hangs Upon Nothing a 16mm film by Jermey Rumas. I’ve done a few trips with
Jeremy after I met him on Christmas Island two years ago. He’s from Indiana
and has not been around surfing his whole life. It will be good to see surfing
through a fresh pair of eyes. What kind of advise would you give to the next generation of pro surfer?
Respect your elders, use your rail and have fun. Do you like the way surfing has progressed as an industry and sport or
would you have it another way?
Yes and no, but it is what it is. I wish the surfboard industry was better. Too
many cheap imports. What’s Daniel Jones next big move in relation to your career?
I’m very thankful for the opportunity to go surfing everyday. I’m going to take
full advantage of it. Current sponsors?
Ruca, Matuse, Ocean Minded, Smith, Nixon, Vertra, Tropical Blends, Future
AMANDA
GROTH
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//photo// Herman Jimenez
20 //photo// Herman Jimenez
//photo// Herman Jimenez
DANNY
TREJO
22 //photo// Block
//interview// Block
//Block// Hey Danny how’s it going?
//Danny// Cesario!
//Block// You been busy a lot?
//Danny// I’ve been real blessed!
//Block// What’s been going on for you? What have you been working on?
I know you have had a big a year! “Machete” the movie and all.
//Danny// I did a film called “Bad Ass”. It’s about a Vietnam vet, and that should
be coming out sometime this year. I did another one called “Recoil” with Stone
Cold Steve Austin, and that should be coming out this year. And the “Muppets”
should be coming out.
//Block// You were just in Canada filming that?
//Danny// “Recoil” with Stone Cold Steve Austin. That was filmed outside of
Vancouver, a little town called Mission and Linles.
//Block// How was it working with Steve Austin?
//Danny// He’s awesome. Nice guy. Big old teddy bear. Nice guy.
//Block// First time working with him?
//Danny// I met him before with Diamond Dallas Page at a wrap party for
“Devils Rejects”.
//Block// What was the first movie that you worked on?
//Danny// “Runaway Train” with Jon Voight and Eric Roberts.
//Block// How did you get hooked up with Jon Voight and Eric Roberts?
//Danny// That was actually a fluke. I was a drug councelor, and one of the kids
I was working with, I was asked to just hang out with him, for support, and I
happen to run into Eddie Bunker, O.G. old gangster. I met Eddie in ‘62, My
uncle bought a robbery from him.
//Block// Eddie Bunker is a writer?
//Danny// He was a real famous writer in the joint. He was real good for writing
writs. And writs have to be written exactly as the court wants them. Anything
spelled wrong, anything out of place, they kick it out. He was real good writing
writs. That’s what he became famous for in the criminal world.
//Block// What exactly is a writ? Explain writs to me?
//Danny// A writ is like a writ of habaeus corpus. I can get you back into court
if I write a correct writ. That says these are the reasons I should come back to
court. And if they are written completely correctly with no misspellings, no
anything, boom! You can actually get a reversal on changes and stuff. A lot of
people don’t know that now.
//Block// Is it kind of like an appeal?
//Danny// It goes after an appeal. It’s a writ of habaeus corpus. I have to be
produced in court.
24
//Block// So, “Runaway Train” was your first project?
//Danny// I walked onto that movie set to just hang out with this kid who was
having a problem with cocaine. I ran into Eddie Bunker. We started talking. I
use to hold the lightweight and welter weight titles in every penitentiary I was
in and remember that. So, I was hanging out with this kid. And Eddie Bunker
who actually did the scene play, the original screen play was written by Aikawa,
a famous Japanese writer. It wasn’t for an American audience. They had the
Jon Voight character as a wife killer and a legendary in the penitentiary. Well,
you can’t be a legend in the penitentiary, you’re kind of a punk!
//Block// That’s unacceptable.
//Danny// Yeah, and so Eddie kind of changed that for the American audience.
Adapt it.
//Block// Make it more believable.
//Danny// Yeah, so when I ran into him, he was like, “you still boxing?” I said,
“just training.” He said, “we need someone to train one of the actors how to
box. You want a job?” I got a job training Eric Roberts how to box for that
movie, “Runaway Train.” Then the director saw me, and he saw that I could
handle Eric cause Eric was nuts at that time. He was a loose canon in ‘85. The
director, Andre Kagalowski saw it. He just came over and hired me.
//Block// It’s a boxing scene you have in the beginning of the film.
//Danny// Eric’s character beats the shit out of me.
//Block// You ever end up councelling him?
//Danny// No, he’s a movie star. The hardest thing in the world. The hardest
people in the world to work with in a rehabilitation setting are doctors, lawyers,
and movie stars, because they think they know everything. The doctor deal with
death, the lawyer deals with saving people from prison, and the movie star deals
with fantasy world. (laughter erupts)
//Block// Not our reality. I understand. So, that was your first encounter
with Jon Voight. So later on, you did a film together with Michael Mann,
“Heat”.
//Danny// “Heat” and “Anaconda”. I did “Anaconda” with him before “Heat”.
Jon and I stayed friends...but like actors. Actors are your best friends for six
weeks. So, it’s very rare that you keep in touch with people after those six
weeks are over. I have a few people that I have, you know, otherwise, I just see
them when I’m doing a film.
//Block// Ok, it’s work basically?
//Danny// Yeah.
//Block// Up until now, in your career, what are some of the elements you
have learned?
//Danny// People who grow up in this business have a completely different
attitude than people who got into this business. I got into this business when
I was thirty-eight years old. I already had a life. I understood respect. I
26 //photo// Block
understood politeness. I understood disrespect. I understood that everybody in
the world isn’t suppose to go get me a cappuccino.
//Block// There’s a level of discipline there, kind of consideration.
//Danny// I think people who grow up in this business. They absolutely believe
that people are suppose to go get them cappuccinos. This business is made to
seduce you. It’s made for you to think that everybody is there to serve you.
You’re sitting on the set and you ask for an orange. Someone is gonna run and
get you an orange. But, that is not the real world. So, I thank God that I had a
little real world, you know. I would love to tell some of my people to go get me
an orange!
//Block// You’ve experienced real life work.
//Danny// yeah.
//Block// Would you say respect is earned and never demanded?
//Danny// Absolutely, you can’t demand it, ‘cause it’s never coming to you. And
I honestly believe that. You respect, “respect”. If you respect people, they will
respect you. The only problem with a lot of actors is I find that they don’t get
it. It’s because they have been here since they were five or six years old. You
know, it’s like why are the young actors having problems. They are making
more money than their parents. So, the parenting is gone.
//Block// They’ve put themselves on a higher pedestal. I know you are a
person of great respect. When people come up to you, they respect you.
They don’t demand stuff from you.
//Danny// I think you know that, I’ll give anyone my time. I won’t let anyone
take it, but I’ll give it to anyone. I’d rather have a mangy dog for a friend than
an enemy. You know, that comes from the respect. Every hand that you refuse to
shake on the way up is connected to the ass you have to kiss on the way down.
I’ve seen that, especially in the movie biz. People who got big and big and big
all of a sudden, they are begging you for a job.
//Block// Coming from a background of drug councelling, is that part of the
structure, how to approach people?
//Danny// I won’t allow people to use heavy drugs around me. I’ll say, “hey
don’t do that,” and they respect that. Simply because I do a lot of public
speaking at high schools and juvenile halls and stuff, so my jacket is pretty
clean. When I got into this business, it was 1985. Cocaine was insane in this
business. It was insane, and I realized probably one of the hardest places to stay
clean would be in the film industry, and it downed a lot of people.
//Block// Are you from Los Angeles?
//Danny// Yeah, I was born and raised. Born in Los Angeles and moved out
to the Valley when I was thirteen or fourteen years old. Grew up in Pacoima.
Lived in Venice for almost twenty years. I lived in Venice from 1979-1996.
//Block// So do you have any other interests besides acting? Are you trying
28
to produce?
//Danny// My son is producing a western right now, directing it and staring in it.
//Block// How old is your son?
//Danny// That son is twenty three. I’m really proud that, since I’ve been clean,
you know, has rubbed off on my children. My daughter wants to be an actress.
She’s doing good. My older son, he’s like, “hey Dad just get me a job”. So,
they all are doing pretty good. A lot of the times, people want me to talk about
what was it like in prison, but this is the stuff I’ve done since I’ve been clean.
I’ve raised three kids, and they’re doing great!
//Block// Do you think your kids view their father as a happier man
doing the stuff he’s doing and maybe that’s why they want to follow your
footsteps?
//Danny// They have never seen me loaded. They have never seen me drunk, so
they don’t know that part. They’ve all experimented, but no more than any other
kid. I think because of the people I associate myself with, they tell them, “hey,
that’s not the way to go!” Even you have told my kids, “hey, get the fuck out of
here!”
//Block// I think you play a father’s role to a lot of peoples children around
here, to the younger generation, and that’s very well known. How many
kids do you have, and what are their names?
//Danny// I have my daughter Danielle, she’s twenty. My son Gilbert, he’s
twenty three. My son Danny Boy, he’s twenty nine. He’ll be thirty in
November.
//Block// Danielle and Gilbert, they’re both in “Machete?”
//Danny// Yeah, both of them are in “Machete.”
//Block// You hooked that up with Robert Rodriguez? You guys close?
//Danny// Robert and I are real close. In fact, my son Gilbert shadowed Robert
Rodriguez through the whole making of the “Machete” movie. He learned a
lot. Probably as much as going to college for film. Hands on, in the editing
room, everything. Gilbert, my son, he’s a student of film. I’m not a student of
anything. I just show up. It’s funny, I was going to dinner with Robert De Niro.
I had my kids with me, so I told them, “now look, I’m going to dinner with De
Niro, so you kids, don’t be kids, be still and don’t be interrupting and shit. They
were real excited to go. So, the first thing Robert De Niro asks me is, “Danny,
what do you think of that French Director, said some name, blah, blah, blah,
from the sixties, blah, blah, blah?” I just looked at him, shit I didn’t know what
he was talking about. Gilbert says, “I think that director had more to do with
American gangsters blah, blah, blah.” The rest of the night, my son and Robert
De Niro discussed American cinema. I played with shiny stuff on the table
(laughter erupts). It just really made me proud that my son is a student of film.
He just studies stuff. Shit, I never was even a student in school.
//Block// You maybe consider having him go to a film school? He’s the right
age.
//Danny// I asked him. He said, “I will Dad let me just finish producing this
movie.”
//Block// That’s funny. There’s a scene in the Godfather where Sonny,
James Caan’s character speaks out of turn, before he gets scolded, the
Godfather apologizes for his son’s speaking out of turn, reminded me of
that when you were telling your kids not to speak to De Niro at dinner.
(Laughter)
//Danny// My kids talk to everybody De Niro, Rodriguez. They are good kids.
They are not spoiled. I’m real proud of them.
//Block// Do you have any other business ventures that you’re going to get
into?
//Danny// I’m starting a restaurant out in Huntington Beach. Trejo’s Place.
//Block// What kind of food?
//Danny// Mexican food. That’s gonna be fun.
//Block// I’m not going sounds scary to me. (Laughter)
//Danny// it’s gonna be fun!
//Block// How long do you see yourself doing this?
//Danny// You know what Block, I don’t see myself not doing this. I don’t see
myself doing anything else. I could probably play an old grandfather. You
know, it’s funny because we were all sitting around and trying to decide what
would we do if we weren’t playing movies. Well, I got two alternatives. Give
me your fucking money bitch or (laughter erupts) you want fries with that
shake? My skills are limited. I’m 67 years old right now. I’m damn sure I can’t
do labor any more. I can work on cars and stuff a little bit but..
//Block// You invited me to your “Machete” premiere. One thing that I was
really impressed with was what Robert Rodriguez said about you when he
brought up everyone, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Don Johnson. And
Robert Rodriguez said “Danny Trejo has gone from ex-con to icon.” And
that to me is a great slogan for you. That could work for a clothing line.
You’re probably the most popular ex-con. You’re very light hearted, like
your humor is to me. You could be very intimidating, but then you know
how to make light hearted things right away.
//Danny// Eddie Bunker said something to me, he said, “the thing you have to
do is you have to disarm people immediately because people see you and they
are automatically intimidated because of the way you look. So you have to be
the first one to say hello,” and I practiced it. I literally went up to people, “hey
“ and I watched their whole expression change. Guys when they see me, for
whatever, I look intimidating, they’ll like immediately post up and that will stay
like that until I say hello. So I say, “hey what’s up, how you doing homez.” I’m
the first one always. And then I see their armor drop. I remember when I was
first getting some recognition from the movies. I was driving down La Cienega
with Eddie Bunker over by the Beverly Center. And there were three low riders,
chicanos. You know what I mean. First of all, it was like what are they doing
here, it’s the Beverly Center. We were pinning each other. Sometimes I think
I’m a bad mutha fucker, so I gave them the finger, fuck you! And this one kid
holds up a pen and paper.
30
Eddie looks at me and says, “don’t you feel like a fucking idiot. You have to
say hello. And I was like, “I thought he was pinning me.” And Eddie was like,
“everyone’s gonna pin you first.” Anyway, We pull over. I sign stuff, and I told
them I was getting ready for this part. They bought it. (Laughter)
//Block// You respect Eddie Bunker a lot?
//Danny// A lot. I’ve known him for a long time. He really was kind of like a
mentor. You have to understand, when I walked into that movie set I was like,
wow, this is so cool! I’d never been on a movie set in my life.
//Block// From what I know, Eddie Bunker pasted away?
//Danny// Yeah, he pasted away five years ago. I still keep in touch with his wife
and kid. Brandon Bunker. Real cool. I owe Eddie a lot. He said to me once,
“I could have put 50 people in this spot, and they wouldn’t have done it. You
had the personality for it.” He said, “Everybody that has worked with you wants
to work with you again.” And that’s one of the secrets to this business, making
everybody that’s worked with you want to work with you again.
When I did that death scene in “Heat” with Robert De Niro. He came up and
asked me, “What do you think Danny?” This is fuckin’ Robert De Niro asking
me this. I don’t know Bob, what do you think? He said, “I think you are
already dead. I don’t think you have enough breath in you to let me know what
happened. And you only have enough breath to beg me to kill you. And then he
looked at me and said, “what do you think?” I must say no? Fuckin’ right!
//Block// I rememeber that scene. You’re all beat up, and you are on the
ground, and he’s over you trying to talk to you in your ear.
//Danny// Yeah, yeah.
//Block// He was there to kill you, but then he finds out...
//Danny// ...and calls the paramedics.
//Block// You like action more than drama?
//Danny// For me, action is entertaining. It’s more fun to go watch even for
myself.
//Block// So is it true you are the first Latino action super hero?
//Danny// Hahahahaha
32 //photo// Sean Sullivan
//interview// Elsv
DYLAN
THOMPSON
//Elsv// Tell us a little bit about yourself? Where did you grow up and when
did you realize pro snowboarding was for you?
//Dylan// What’s up, my name is Dylan Thompson. I grew up in Hood River,
Oregon, right near Mt. Hood. I grew up riding Mt. Hood Meadows Resort, and
all around the Northwest. Rad place to grow up snowboarding, skateboarding
and doing all that fun stuff. Pretty much for me, um I realized I wanted to be
a pro snowboarder towards the end of my high school years. And so after I
graduated high school, I moved out to Salt Lake City, Utah, and I started going
to the community college down there. And pretty much was snowboarding
everyday. So ended up skipping school a lot. My grades weren’t the best. But
it worked out real good, cause I met a lot of people down there that I ended up
filming with getting sponsored by and so pretty much me moving down there
is what led me to getting hooked up and turning snowboarding into an actual
career.
//Elsv// Was snowboarding your only extracurricular activity you did
growing up?
//Dylan// Actually, as a kid, I played ice hockey for a long time. That was
my first passion for a long time, probably ‘til I was 7th or 8th grade. And then
some of my team mates got me into skateboarding, and we would be always
skateboarding to games or whatever. Skateboarding around the parking lot.
And that led me pretty much into skateboarding. And around that same time I
got into snowboarding. Actually, snowboarded before that, but never took it to
seriously. I would go up and cruise, but once I got into skateboarding, I started
trying tricks and watch videos, know who the pros were, stuff like that, got
more involved with it.
//Elsv// Do you think it’s important for snowboarders to be good skaters, to
progress?
//Dylan// I think it’s possible to be just a snowboarder, but I think it helps
to skateboard because it’s like really similar tricks. I think practicing
skateboarding helps your snowboarding because it gives you a creative mind
set as far as looking at hitting things. I think that’s why people who skate
have a more open mind to how they ride their snowboard in the city and in the
mountain.
//Elsv// How does music culture inspire your progression?
//Dylan// I listen to all types of music, but Hip hop is more influential in my style
of riding, the clothes, and the way I do tricks. I get inspiration from the music,
stuff like that, just try like to put that into my riding as much as I can.
//Elsv// Do you have a different deal with your sponsors when it comes down
to responsibilities?
//Dylan// My sponsors are all on the same page with me in terms of what I do
for them. I don’t do a lot of contests. I do a couple of rail contests per year, but
my #1 focus during the winter is to travel and shoot videos and photos, and stuff
like that. Which is where my passion is at. Since I was a kid, I loved watching
snowboarding and skateboarding videos. I always looked up to that and wanted
to be part of that. I never really cared who won the contest. So pretty much
travelling and stuff like that. My sponsors look for me to get a good video part,
coverage in a magazine, or on the web, cause I don’t do too many contests or
have the greatest contest results.
34
//photo// Sean Sullivan
//Elsv// What new videos are coming up?
//Dylan// I spent the whole winter filming “Finger on the Trigger” Familia
2 video. It should be coming out any day now. We just started a couple
premieres, and we are about to go show it down the road right now.
//Elsv// Where did you guys go for the filming?
//Dylan// This year, we went to Japan, East Stonia, which is bewtween Finland
and Russia. Went to Montreal, Canada and Chicago, and all around the West
Coast. Some stuff up in Oregon and a lot in Utah. That’s where I’m based out
of in the winter time.
36 //photo// Sean Sullivan
//Elsv// Back country and park?
//Dylan// Mostly urban this year. I got kinda hurt towards the end of the season,
so I didn’t end up getting out into the back country as I would have liked.
Which is one of my main goals this coming season. Do more of that. This year
was mostly urban stuff.
//Elsv// Who are your current sponsors?
//Dylan// I ride for Technine Snowboards, Neff, ThirtyTwo, Etnies, Electric,
Monster, Da Kine, and Mt Hood 26 Boardshop.
//Elsv// Last shouts?
//Dylan// Thanks to all my sponsors and all who have helped me get to this point
in snowboarding.
//photo// Sean Sullivan
38 //photo// Sean Sullivan
SERANI
40 //photo// Courtesy of Serani
//interview// Aki X
Anyone who follows Dancehall Reggae music knows the Jamaican production
trio Daseca, named after the initials of the three Kingston producers who make
up the group. And anyone who knows Daseca will know Dancehall recording
artist Serani, especially the ladies. Serani’s hit single “No Games” on the self
produced “Unfinished Business” riddim was a billboard top 40 hit on Hot 97
paving the way for his new album, dropping sometime in 2011. In the meantime
Serani’s big new riddim “Dancehall Again” is blowing up the dancehalls and
radio stations of Jamaica, creating a much needed Dancehall buzz and hype
around Dancehall music again. One that has been lost over the last couple of
years as so many Jamaican dancehall producers have moved to a more American
Hip hop / pop swag dancehall sound. We caught up with Serani in the Daseca
studio in Kingston, Jamaica. New York represented by Jay Z and Diddy, but
them nah represent Kingston City. Dancehall Again. Trasha.
//Aki// Blessings, Serani in the building?
//Serani// It’s, It’s, It’s Serani just in case you never know.
//Aki// This, what’s cracking?
//Serani// Well, currently I am promoting my hot new single “Skip to the Lu”
which is blowing up on the major radio stations. Ya know. I got a new riddim
out, juggling in Jamaica called “Dancehall Again”. The singles from that riddim
are called “My Star’ and “Day MI Born”. I got another tune out also, called
“Sweet Love”, so I am keeping the music flowing.
//Aki//You produce and perform all these songs with Daseca?
//Serani// Yes, actually all the songs I mention I produce them. Yeah, yeah, yeah
alongside my partners David and Craig from Daseca.
//Aki// Are you working on your new album?
//Serani// Yeah, we doing production on it and releasing some singles. Creating
the vibe and getting the energy going and then eventually we drop the album.
//Aki// You got a big new riddim out now called “Dancehall Again”?
//Serani// Yes, we just released the “Dancehall Again” riddim. A lot of artists
up on there: Assassin, Beenie Man, Elephant Man, Mr. Vegas and so on. It’s
blowing up big in the Dancehall right now. And we just released another riddim
called “Exodus”, so we pushing both of these riddims.
//Aki// You are producing an original Dancehall sound, where
as a lot of the new Dancehall producers coming out of Jamaica
are producing a sound almost the same as US. Top 40 Hip hop?
//Serani// I am not a big fan of the Hip hop Dancehall sound. My main style is
definitely old skool. I can’t speak for my partners, they are a bit more that style
than me. But me Serani from Daseca, prefer the old skool style.
//Aki// Like the “Unfinished Business” riddim you produced for your
single “No Games”?
42
//Serani// Yes, that’s the vibe I like. I feel there is a danger now that new
Dancehall sound is becoming too much like Hip hop? People want the old skool
sound, they want Dancehall to sound like Dancehall, not Hip hop? That’s exactly
the reason I make my riddims sound like Dancehall. Pretty much the reason
why I create that name Dancehall Again is, I want to highlight Dancehall, it’s
Dancehall you know.
//Aki// Why do so many artists in Jamaica now trying to be Hip hop?
Is it a swag thing?
//Serani// You know what I think it all stems from is a lot of kids that go uptown
and listen to Hip hop there and, I think that they make beats that sound like that.
Hip hop is easier to make than a Dancehall beat. A Dancehall beat is not easy
to make. I could make Hip hop beats all day but a Dancehall beat is not easy
to make by any means. If you listen to a Hip hop produced Dancehall beat you
laugh. Understand? It’s not something you could capture easily.
//Aki// How did you first get into producing choonz?
//Serani// Well, I have been a musician from a young, young age. Since 2 years
old I have been playing an instrument. Basically the piano. I somehow got the
love for songs and always wanted to make beats and riddims. Basically, I just
put myself in any situation with people who got the know how. Eventually, I just
started to write and produce.
//Aki// You have produced some big big choonz for the dancehall?
//Serani// Yeah, well Ok I produced Sean Paul “We Be Burning”, Tony
Matterhorn “ Dutty Wine”. I produced “Willie Bounce” and “Chaka Chaka”. We
got a good amount of hits there.
//Aki// What was your first big choon
that put you on the map as a producer?
//Serani// The first big one was “Anger Management” which Mavado voice the
anthem “Real McKoy”.
//Aki// When did you link up with Bounty Killer and the Alliance?
//Serani// The link to Bounty Killer came through my manager Julian and
Footahype.
//Aki// You have been to Cali before, what do you think of the Dancehall
scene out here?
//Serani// Well, it’s growing. It needs a lot of work. But I am starting to push
my music over that side definitely. Dancehall music is still a growing genre.
//Aki// Big Ups?
//Serani// Breaks magazine, My manager Julian, Daseca, Bounty Killer,
Mavado, me artist Bugle, my moms, my pops, my brother, all my fans,
everyone in Cali, we’ll be back soon. Check me out daily on www.twitter.com/
seranimusic. Alliance!!
“Skaties” was a raging weekly Friday night party in Hollywood at Bar Dlux. Back when
Bar Dlux was an uber hip, late night, A-list dive bar, right before it became Tommy Lee’s
“Rock Bar”. Back when all eyes were on Hollywood night life and the celebutantes who
partied there. What happened at “Skaties” was unique , it never happened before and
has not happened since. “Skaties “ was a weekly club for Skateboarders, sponsored by
Skateboard companies, for their culture, for their art, for their way of life and primarily
for their friends. And most importantly, where as most Hollywood party goers gave such
high groveling regard to which famous A-list celebs were in the house, the “Skaties” crew
weren’t motivated by anything as fickle and superficial as that. “Skaties” was about a
D.I.Y. attitude, representing what you are about and mixing that with the seamy glamour
of Hollywood to create something truly original. In true Punk Rock style, there never was
a guest list as such, you either got in or you didn’t. One thing “Skaties” was not about
was waiting for hours on end outside A list Hollywood night clubs to maybe get in for the
last hour, just to rub shoulders with crap celebs , and live night life as a paying voyeur.
“Skaties” was about kicking out the jams, wilding out of control with your friends, art
shows, video premieres, mad DJ’s, making something from nothing and having the most
fun. I caught up with Angel Biotek half of the duo (Shelby Woods) behind “Skaties” in
Venice Beach, to talk about how it all came about, what happened there, and what’s next.
Just don’t call her a promoter. -Aki X.
Hello Angel, welcome and wuddup
What up Aki
SKATIES
Chilling over here in Venice, so let’s talk about “Skaties”, what is “Skaties”? Skaties was a club in Hollywood that ran for a year. It was attended by
primarily artists and skateboarders. The people who DJ’d there were also skateboarders or artists, although we did have a few guest DJ’s like Green Lantern
and DJ Premier , Diplo, but it was mainly about the people who were doing shit
in the skateboard scene at that time. So all the artists and skaters in the skateboard industry,their friends, this huge vortex of energy and talent wasn’t being
focused anywhere weekly, there wasn’t really anywhere for them to go and hang
together.
Why was that?
Hollywood was all about famous stars, celebrities, and big money, and skateboarders were not valued in that way at that time , they didn’t have TV shows
yet (sarcastic) . It was just prior to that whole thing blowing up, so Skaties happened before that. It was about 2004/5 when Hollywood was really happening,
all eyes on Hollywood. When Hugh Hefner was always at Las Palmas next door
at Jen’s parties,and Skaties was raging at Bar Dlux.
44
So how did Skaties come about?
We came to Hollywood via SF (San Franscisco), still with that London attitude
of fuck, are they making cool people stand outside a club all nite? just because
there’s celebrity bitches inside ? And we were like ” I don’t think so”. So that’s
//photo// Shelby Woods
//interview// Aki X
what got it started. So we said, “lets just do our own damn club”. Why should
people who we think are important , who we think are the celebrities , you
know all the artists, and the skaters , DJ’s, be it the Mike Carroll’s or Lee Smith,
the Stevie Williams, Shepard,etc., all our friends , all the crazy people, artists we
loved, go to Hollywood clubs and be made to stand outside like assholes?(this
has since changed). We all liked going out to party in Hollywood, but wanted
a place of our own to show skate video’s, have art shows, kick back, have live
music, DJ’s etc. You know? Let’s at least have one spot we can hang out in Hollywood that’s ours.
You talked about London attitude, why don’t you talk about your history as
you are from London and how you became a promoter in Hollywood?
First of all, I wouldn’t EVER say I was a promoter. I really dislike that word intensely. My history is: I was born in London, I am a fashion designer. I designed
a lot of designer Pete a porter clothes that were in really expensive stores, boutiques, like Browns, Harvey Nichols, Liberty’s, Duffer, Jones, World ,Slam City,
Bond, whatever were the really happening shops,so they were always used by
stylists. It was a good scene. A lot of famous people wore my clothes, whoever
was big at the time like Seal, U2, Kate Moss, Howie B, Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Soul 2 Soul, Neneh Cherry, Jean Baptiste Mondino, Judy Blame, Hiroshi,
Nobu, Nigel Coates, Bjork, Goldie, and George Michael, to name but a few, the
people who were happening in ID mag , Face, and Vogue. London had a great
vibe for parties, legendary. There was always amazing parties and designers
always have parties in fashion week, so we did our own.We had artists, models,
designers, stylists, photographers, all kinds of crazy people there, and the press.
And the London parties were amazing because everyone hung out together,
you could find David Bowie, Kate Moss, Grace Jones, Naomi Campbell, Bryan
Ferry, David Sims, John Galliano, Goldie, Bjork, Seal, Mick Jones, Boy George,
Jade Jagger, and so many models,etc. It was an eclectic mix of people. London
just has that concentrated puree of really interesting people.
So how did you come to the good old US of A?
I was going between, London, NY, LA, and I knew some big DJ’s, Tonka Sound
from London who were doing stuff out in CA. I got invited for a holiday to an
amazing SF penthouse ,stayed a couple months. One thing lead to another. I was
designing, still selling stuff to Japan. So I kept bumping into in SF skaters who
were from the EMB Crew, and skateboard artists. They loved my stuff. I made
things that were new to them for that time, like Calvin Krack and the “ I love
Crack shirts” ; My first impression of America... I saw people running up the hill
actually screaming ”I Love Crack” and I thought it was insane. Meanwhile there
was uber glamorous pictures of supermodels, Kate Moss wearing Calvin Klein
on the side of every bus! And I was also the first designer to be into the low tek
games thing, like Pacman , Qbert, Space Invaders ( knit sweaters) influence,
old school. Things that nobody else was doing back then so it stuck out. If you
were from London you would be into that old school thing but people from here
weren’t doing that thing back then. I sold to skate shops in London like Slam
City Skates, In America, I sold to Supreme, Brooklyn Projects, and stores like
that. I worked with DJ Trasha , so we ended up doing this club called The Mist
at Cats . It was actually us and art by Devious Doze, from the Rocksteady Crew.
And we starting working with the Invisbl Scratch Piklz like Qbert, D Styles and
Shortkut, who came out of their hiatus, we started doing shows in SF. Also we
ended up staging A Traks (now Kanye’s DJ) first ever West Coast performance,
I think he was 14 at the time. The label flew him out to promote him, and we
all snuck him in the club. It was a pretty happening party. We had Play Station
games premiered live the club courtesy of PSM magazine and DJ’s scratching
up the games in the video games lounge. Like DJ Quest cutting up Tekken 2 on
three turntables. The walls were covered with original art from Doze and Angel
Biotek. Doze was doing his Illuminatti paintings, we premiered his new work
at the Mist. I created a low tek gallery of my work, painted on black velvet canvases, like Pacman, Qbert, Space Invaders (sweaters) etc, who was also DJ’ing
and hung them in the club. We had Peanut Butter Wolf their, Blackalicious too,
the Beat Junkies, Bored Stiff, and more, J Boogie played there. It was a really
happening vibe. I like to create a fecund environment , for a scene to thrive,
vibe, it’s the London influence. Skateboarding, art ,fashion,and, music, be it
Hip hop, rock,or live music, etc. So by the time we got to Hollywood, we were
like “We are not waiting in line all nite and kissing someone’s ass because Paris
Hilton is in the house”. It just wasn’t anything to do with our vibe.
So how did it all come together in Hollywood?
Shelby was shooting pictures for Thrasher magazine and DJ Trasha was writing for Thrasher too. “Let’s do something interesting together”,so what can
we make happen here? We just got to LA, let’s have some fun, throw a party. It
was Mike Carrol’s birthday, so we decided to throw him a party. And we did it
at the Conga Room. Tha Stoppa, a lot of skateboard industry were there, Mike
and Greg Carroll, Sam Smyth, Lee Smith, Stevie Williams, Sal Barbier, Kareem
Campbell,Karl Watson, LRG, etc and that lead into Skaties. It was a huge success, everyone loved it, there was a lot of pretty girls, an art and video installation, lot of Hollywood glamour but it also had a lot of attitude, good energy. It
was such a huge success that we ended up doing another party with Raekwon,
(Wutang) and with Frank 151. That was at 1650 Shrader Hollywood, we put up
an art show of Mike Leon Commonwealth Stacks Girl Skateboards , another big
success, people really liked the vibe. We showed the Premiere of Project Street,
a documentary about Hip hop and Skateboarding by Cesario “Block” Montano
on a big screen. Next we did a huge party with Biz Markie and Frank 151 at Las
Palmas. Also crazy amazing , and from there we did a huge party for DC Shoes.
They had their video premiere at Graumanns Chinese Theatre and we did the
After Party around the corner at Las Palmas, Adam 12 was DJing, the DC Team
were there ,Rob Dyrdek, Stevie Williams, Josh Kalis, Colin McKay,Danny Way,
etc along with some celebs. So you could see how Skaties came about organically.
So back to Skaties, what artists showed work there?
Shephard Fairey came to DJ, it was his first real DJ gig. He was a SKATIES
resident. He used to play Punk and 80’s Hip hop. We had art shows, all the
people who worked at Girl, like Mike Leon, Commonwealth Stacks, Ben Colen,
Bob, also Chris Casey(Fuel TV), Bigfoot, Pnut, Jason Searcy also showed work
there. Later Dave White . Paul Chan, Meshaq from Kronick magazine showed
there, Shelby Woods, Theo Hand, Angel Biotek,David Broach, Muska and more.
46
A great customized boom box show with Chad Muska, who also DJ’d. The
point of our art shows was to give a forum to artists that were involved in the
skateboard business. It seemed so overly complicated to get a show together. We
made it DIY. Modern.We had all these amazing artists,photographers around, if
someone had a video they wanted to premiere they could show it at Skaties, like
the trailer for Blocks documentary, Project Street, or Felix Arguelles video,etc.
We had interesting stuff every week. One week a Female Skater of Year award
won by Ellissa Steamer presented by Eric Ellingtons Missus At CIO mag.
Skaterade sponsored the night, it was a skateboard energy drink,by Salman
Agah,Scott Weber. Even the packaging was designed by Shepard Fairey. It was
all about Skateboarding and the artists and skaters in the business. It made for a
very fun happening vibe.
What DJ’s did you have there? Shephard Fairey was a resident, we had Sal
Barbier, he was playing old Hot Boys and dirty south, that New Orleans sound.
Chad Muska played there. DJ Squeeky Clean and DJ Zegon were residents.
DJ Trasha was there (Thrasher Magazine) playing new Dancehall Reggae. Dj
Pubes.Shelby Woods (ThrasherMagazine) was the host of the night. Shelby
DJ’d in a wrestlers mask as alias El Dunnie Darko, playing old school Hip hop
and Punk Rock. It was the anti bougie Hollywood. It didn’t have to be ONLY
about big name DJ’s, that was the point. As I said earlier, we had a few of guest
DJ’s like Green Lantern and Premier,Diplo ,but primarily it was about skaters
DJing. We didn’t have to wait five years for skaters to be on TV to know they
were cool(sarcastic),when things go mainstream they’re done. So think of pretty
much any skater and you would bump into them there. Mike Carroll was at Skaties, Eric Koston was at Skaties,Eric Ellington, Rob Dyrdek was at Skaties, Rick
Howard, Terry Kennedy was at Skaties, Stevie Williams, Nuge, Chris Pastris,
Lee Smith, Sam Smyth ,Lizard, Clyde Singleton, Danny Supa, Mike York, Marc
Gonzales, Spanky, Hellrose,you see what I am saying.? We had all the Jackass
possee there, it was really a lot of fun. People always had really good times, it
was raging . It was great for a year and that was that. After Bar Dlux was shut,
we did a huge after party for the X Games which was insane. Then we did a
big party in New York, it was a Skaties , New York City. Stash and Futura were
there. We got Harold Hunter R.I.P. to DJ. He brought his records and handed
them to his friend to DJ so that’s how Harold DJ’d. He got paid to DJ but never
put any records on the deck so that was amazing. Diplo( from Hollertronix) also
DJ’d at that Skaties , he is now super huge seen on the blackberry tv ad, and DJ
Premier came and did a set too. And not forgetting Leo Fitzpatrick, he DJ’d, he
played the Streets.
Although Skaties was the anti cliche Hollywood, you did have a few A list
celebs in the house? I heard there was a Hilton in the house. Three Six
Mafia, Brandy, Andy Weatherhall, Spike Jonz, Jason Lee , etc Of course
there was always going to be “ A list celebs” (sarcastic) there every week,it is in
Hollywood! BUT that wasn’t the point. They had a good time, but they weren’t
the stars of our club. The skaters were!
After Skaties you curated the Sneaker Pimps shows? Yes, I curated the early
Sneaker Pimps shows in NYC, LA and SF with Biz Markie, MixMaster Mike,
Premier, DJ AM R.I.P. , Stevie Williams came and did a DGK team expo. I had
a lot of fun, lot of good memories. We have had everyone playing there like
Redman, Too short, Mixmaster Mike, Qbert, Lupe Fiasco, Swizz Beatz, Travis
Barker, Paul Wall, Mr Cartoon. A lot happened with that, there’s a lot you can
do when there is money from a sponsor. People always think like wow why were
those parties so awesome, well first of all no one had to pay to get in because
they were sponsored. There’s pretty much no way you could put on shows like
that without sponsorship. So that was a luxury, and that’s what I enjoyed about
them.
So now it’s 2011, you living out here in Venice Beach, so what’s next? Well I
am looking for a central home in LA (not to live) for an HQ for global events . I
am looking for good compatible sponsors/partners to do really exciting radical
things, events. The world wants change, its people that don’t! I am more apt to
be ahead of what’s going on, I have a vision of what should/could be going on
now, things can’t be as they were in the past. I want something solid in LA but
also a migratory happening, it has to be about more than one city, country to be
relevant. What is happening now in middle east shows how we are all affected
by people miles away. So definitely a realm of events, art and parties rooted in
LA but communicating linking globally. And of course, I am working on my
designer line, Angel Biotek 2011.
You curated a few shows in Venice last year? Yes, We did a few exclusive
shows on Abbot Kinney in the ABK gallery. All were a big hit. We did a Cesario
Block Montano photo show of his work from the early 80’s to now. We did a
Shelby Woods show of his skate, music and girls photography spanning the last
ten years, and a show of AngelBiotek vintage rare collectible toys/objects called
WTF, featuring the toys in display cases , and Shelby Woods photos of the toys.
I have been a rare toy collector, since I lived in London. All were very successful, and we literally shut down the street as so many people turned up. Yet again,
there was loads of skaters and a great mix of headz in the building.
So do you like living in Venice? Well after living in London, SF ,NYC I like
the whole bohemian thing. Venice feels just like home, it is beautiful. There’s a
nice eclectic social mix. Being half Indian half Swiss, born in London married to
an American, I feel at home here. That’s also how I felt when I first came to SF
and bumped into a bunch of skateboarders . The whole thing was that they were
a diverse mix, eclectic culturally, open minded, young but well traveled. They
didn’t have their attitude beaten out of them by having to do a 9 to 5 job. That’s
why there is a bond, because in London people are rife with attitude and banter.
London people have to be, coz things can suck, be really depressing, the weather
alone gets you down, then the class structure. If you don’t have attitude, you will
just get stomped. So there was, is a compatibility. In London there is more of a
class divide than a race divide. Where as HERE there is still a quiet racial segregation ( America). Even in the big cities, although it’s very sophisticated, LA,
NY, SF are cultured but still people notice “Oh your husband is black”.And? So
back to skateboarders, I see a group of people who are primarily male, but there
is every race among that group of people, and they are all hanging out. They
don’t make THAT distinction, they are all into the same things/world. It is 2011
people. That’s one big reason I felt at home with the whole skateboarding/art
vibe,(married Shelby Woods) there is a lot of freedom, room to grow, openness,
and you don’t have to do any ass kissing like in other industries.
46
Shout outs?
Not shoutouts as such, but it took a lot, a lot of people to make SKATIES really
happen. Thats what was so good about it. So thanks to all really! Thanks to so
many......
Shelby Woods, Mike Carroll, Sam Smyth,Lee Smith, and everyone at Girl
Skateboards, EMB Crew, SF crew Greg Carroll, Kelly Bird, Lakai, Mike York,
Danny Supa, Rob Welsh, FTC, Jason Wussler, Skaterade, Thrasher Magazine,
DJ Trasha, Dimitri, The Ellingtons( Check It Out Magazine), Hellrose, Stevie
Williams, Nick Diamond, Brooklyn Projects, Chad Muska, Curtis from Supreme, V Dubs, Shephard and Amanda Fairey, LRG, DC Shoes, Circa, Frank
151, Squeeky Clean, Zegon, Felix Arguelles, DJ Green Lantern, Kush Jay and
the Fridge crew, Sal Barbier, Eric Stricker R.I.P. , Harold Hunter R.I.P., Diplo ,
Leo Fitzpatrick, Clyde Singleton, Jason Searcy, Chris Casey, Chris Pastris, Paul
Chan, Meshaq, Kronick Magazine, Block, DJ Pubes, DJ Mishapz, DJ Warrior,
Amoeba Records, Fatbeats, Jupiter, Undftd, Tim Gavin, all the hotties, all the
homies and, everyone who came and contributed to Skaties.
Your Twitter, Facebook, website info so people can find you?
On Facebook at Angelbiotek
//photo// Shelby Woods
SHELBY
WOODS
50 //photo// Shelby Woods
//interview// Elsv
52 //photo// Shelby Woods
//Elsv// What led you to becoming a photographer?
//Shelby// What got me into photography was skating at the Embarcadero,
“EMB” the once skate mecca of the universe, right in San Francisco where I
grew up. I guess I’ve always been connected to photography, back when I was
eight I grabbed a Polaroid camera from a table and shot photos at my aunts
wedding. They were actually pretty good. I started really shooting in 1996. The
skate photographers back then,Tobin Yelland, Bryce Kanights, Luke Ogden,
Gabe Morford, Theo Hand, and Sean Dalinski would be down at EMB , and
we’d all go on photo missions throughout the city. That kind of got my mind
stimulated. I’d peruse the skate magazines and see if I could recognize the
photographers individual style before checking the photo credit. One of the
homies, Brett Reed was taking photography classes at SF City College and he
would shoot all of us and make us up prints, and that really got me more into
it, curious. Then one day, I got a random call from a telemarketer saying I just
won a camera in some contest and all I had to do was pay the $40 shipping cost.
I didn’t know if it was a scam, but I was hyped that somehow, by fate a camera
was put my way, delivered into my hands. The camera came a few weeks later,
it was a plastic piece of junk. But by then, I had already made my mind up to get
serious and was ready to jump into photography head first.
//Elsv// There were a lot of pros coming out of Embarcadero in the 90’s.Who
were you kicking it with and skating with?
//Shelby// This was before sponsors before Embarcadero was even on the map.
James Kelch, Mike Carroll, Greg Carroll, Jake Vogel, Chris Deleong, Ben
Medina, Mike Cao, Chico, G-Man, Mumbles, Sutton, Skid, Chris Dunn, JD,
Fat Jon, Fat Matt, Jer, Thorin and the THK crew, Chief Perrier, Henry Sanchez,
Karl Watson, Lee Smith, Sam Smyth, Ben Sanchez too many, too many heads to
name go to emb4life.com
//Elsv// Skateboarding and photography.
//Shelby// Yeah, I remember showing my landlord a portrait I had just shot of
a bum, right outside of my building . The bum was passed out on a couch, but
the couch was standing on its side. I lived in the Tenderloin at the time. The
landlord was like, “Oh wow, this picture reminds me of a Gordon Parks photo”.
It’s crazy coz back then I was ignorant of who Gordon Parks even was. I was
not interested in other photographers outside of skateboarding. It wasn’t until
I started taking classes at SF City College that I started to look into and really
study photography and photographers.
//Elsv// Can we talk about one of your pieces?The Nyjah Houston photo.
//Shelby// The Nyjah Houston photo. That photo is from the time when I first
met Nyjah, he was 9yrs old. Karl Watson introduced me to him. Karl told me
that Nyjah was in town with his family and I should meet them. They rolled up
deep, he was with his Dad, Mom, little sister, and 3 brothers. They all came to
my crib. I was like great, a 9 year old kid. What’s he going to do? You know. I
was not expecting much. We went to this 9 stair rail. I didn’t know that this was
a warm up to the Hollywood 16. Not expecting anything, he destroyed it. So I
was like, “what do you want to do now?” He was like “I want to feeble grind
the 16 in Hollywood”. I was like, “Get the fuck outta here.” So we go there,
and I set my stuff up. He went up to the rail, board slides it first time! It blew
me away. I snapped a shot of him standing next to the rail at the top of the stairs.
It’s like David vs. Goliath. Fearless.
54 //photo// Shelby Woods
//Elsv// What year was this?
//Shelby// That was back in 2005.
//Elsv// Celebrity photography? How did that come about?
//Shelby// That’s something I just fell into with Aki. I was already working for
Thrasher, and he was like ”Hey, how about we shoot Hip-hop for the mag.”
//Elsv// Skateboarding and Hip-hop .
//Shelby// It’s a big market. Skaters buy a lot of music. The first person we shot
and interviewed for Thrasher was Quasimodo aka Mad Lib. He had his blue
furry dragon suit on and everything. After that, we got really busy, we shot
Guru, Dead Prez, Slick Rick, KRS and it kind of just spiraled from there. I was
amazed how even the big Hip-hop artists were so down to get into Thrasher.
//Elsv// One of your pieces has Kool Keith?
//Shelby// Kool Keith, ultra-magnetic, one of my favorite MC’s. It’s a shot of
Kool Keith on some rock’n’roll shit. Hollywood hotel room, porn stars, Kool
Keith end of story.
//Elsv//Where did that scarf come from?
//Shelby// Kool Keith brought that with him. He was actually five hours late to
the shoot. We were tired of waiting, I called his manager Kut Master Kurt, and
he said he was on Hollywood Blvd still shopping for something. Kool Keith
shows up with the scarf, sees the girls and gets all excited. It was crazy coz the
girls never heard of him! Kut Master Kurt had a ZZ Top style beard and dark
shades on. The girls were like “who are these two, Who is this guy? what’s up
with that scarf ? “ I thought “ You gotta be kidding me, you don’t know who
Kool Keith is? I said “He’s Dr. Octagon! Poppa Large”. We started playing his
music during the shoot and the girls recognized the songs. That was a really fun
shoot.
//Elsv// What was your first camera?
//Shelby// Tobin Yeland sold me a Nikon FM2 camera. I shot photos, portraits of
my friends whenever they came over and hang out at my crib. I would also shoot
the crew hanging out, skating at Union Square and pier 7. This was way after
EMB, which was torn down by that time. So everyone hung out and skated at
the Pier and Union, then later hung out and partied at my spot in the TL.
//Elsv// How did the girl photos come about?
//Shelby// In 2001, Thrasher needed an LA correspondent so they asked
if I would move to Los Angeles from SF. I moved to LA, and worked for
Thrasher for about 5 more years. I was really getting into shooting the music
photography, celebs portraits, and other forms of photography, art stuff , other
subject matter, and I was like “ I need glamour girl photos for my portfolio”.
My portfolio was all rappers and skaters, all dudes. I didn’t really know how
to photograph girls back then. I really was interested in breaking into fashion
photography as well. We (Angel Biotek) did art shows and so I was looking to
experiment and take it to a whole other level. A neighbor recommended me to a
glamour magazine, and I did my first bikini shoot and sexy glamour girl photos.
It went surprisingly well, and I found it easy to get into. I have literally shot
hundrends of girls over the past few years. So it is a great platform for me to
break into fashion photography now.
DELLY
ranx
56 //photo// Courtesy of Delly Ranx
//interview// Aki X
Jamaican born DJ / Producer Delly Ranx has the D ancehall on smash right
now. His new self produced “Saudi Arabia Riddim” is doing more than just
rocking the dance floors and radio airwaves of the Reggae world, it’s bringing
people back into Dancehall music. Over the last few years the new Jamaican
Dancehall sound has become so US. Top 40 Hip hop / R and B influenced
that it is hardly recognizable to most dancehall fans. Therefore alienating a
large part of the real dancehall audience who crave the real dancehall vybz. So
now Dancehall Reggae producers like Serani of Daseca who just released his
“Dancehall Again” riddim and Delly Ranks with his new, madd, heavy rotation
“Saudia Arabia” riddim are setting the trends, bringing the real Dancehall sound
back to the people. Breaks Magazine caught up with the Toppa, Toppa Delly
Ranx in his new recording studio in Florida to talk about his big new riddim,
new album’s and DJ’s and free download music killing the Reggae industry.
Focus mi focus. Trasha.
//Aki// Delly Ranx, what’s popping with you right now?
//Delly// Delly Rankin, pon di bankin agwaaan, give Jah thanks and praise ya
know’.
//Aki// What are you working on in the studio?
//Delly// I am working on my third collaboration album with Sadiki and I am
also working on some new beats to touch the street. And I am working on my
solo album, so a lot of projects right now. Keeping busy.
//Aki// You killing the Dancehall right now with
your big new riddim, The Saudia Arabia riddim?
/
/Delly// The Dancehall massive, the real DJ’s, the people who love the real
authentic, original Dancehall music are going crazy over that beat.
//Aki// That’s a wicked beat, bringing it back. We talked
about this before, Dancehall got away from Dancehall over
the last few years and people want to hear Dancehall again?
//Delly// So I just get in the studio vibe and create a beat for the real people
who love Dancehall, to move the original people dem and for the new yute them
to see the real Dancehall.
//Aki// That’s what people want to hear from Jamaicans?
//Delly// Yes I.
//Aki// Are you touring right now?
//Delly// No I am in the studio, I have a lot of work in the studio right now.
//Aki// Is your new album coming out on your label?
//Delly// It’s a joint effort coming out on my production company Di Ranx
Production and Sadiki’s production company. We have to show the youth and
the world that artist can collaborate and artists can produce good music you
know.
//Aki// You have a couple of tunes out on the Saudia Arabia riddim?
//Delly// Yes, I have two songs on the Saudia Arabia riddim. The one called
“Season with Froggy Maddsquad and one solo by myself called “Toppa, Toppa”.
//Aki// I like “Toppa, Toppa” and I really like that Buju
cut on the Saudia Arabia riddim, that is ridiculous?
//Delly// It is called “Tings Come Up”. I also have a new single out with Gappy
Ranks called “Could a Runaway” on a riddim that was produced by myself
called Runaway riddim. It is going to be on Gappy Ranks new album.
//Aki// Gappy Ranks is out of my home, England?
//Delly// Yes he is out of U.K.
//Aki// Just on some feedback, people loving the
Saudia Arabia riddim. It has mad radio rotation?
//Delly// Well I told you before, my energy in this beat I was trying to bring
back Dancehall to where it’s supposed to be. It seems like it is going in the right
direction right now so that is good. I want to be able to make more beats like
that for the real original Dancehall people. I want to get the artists on my beat so
people can get the energy of where I am coming from.
//Aki// Dancehall needs that again I think, people are ready?
//Delly// Yeah man, Dancehall need it because some time the beat play too fast
and the youth them not really concentrate because the yute them are dealing with
hype. When you make real Reggae music or real Dancehall music it’s not all
about hype it’s about the music.
//Aki// You just moved to Florida?
//Delly// Yeah man, I am a family man now so I wanted to be close to my kids
and be there for them. I had to take time off from my job to bring my family
together. Now my family is together I am going to take the scene by storm right
now.
//Aki// You still working at Gargamel with Buju?
//Delly// Buju is my brother for life. I would never stop working with him.
//Aki// What artists are you producing right now?
//Delly// I am always looking to help new artists. I am working with Taranchyla,
Froggy Maddsquad and Sadiki. My main focus is with Froggy Maddsquad. We
work on some mad, mad tunes for the last 8 or 9 months and I am trying to break
Froggy Maddsquad across to the Dancehall massive.
//Aki// Do you think finally download music is finally starting to sell?
//Delly// Well first, let’s talk about the people them stop the bootleg. The
download yes start to sell but not the like the vinyl. The DJ’s are one who steal
the music from studio, from the artist and post on the internet. The DJ always
want tune for free, dubplates for free? If people buy the music, it would be better
for the music. We want to stop the bootleg or free download. We want them
to say Dancehall and Reggae music is selling. Why is Hip hop music always
out selling our music. We need to outsell Hip hop so we who love and support
Reggae music need to love and support that music.
58
//Aki// Isn”t that also because Hip hop has a big
marketing machine behind it? Where as Reggae doesn’t?
//Delly// Reggae music is a big market too. But as I say most DJ’s don’t like to
buy records. Most DJ’s like to get promotion and all that stuff but if you really
love the music as you say you do then you will support the music. First time
vinyl cost a $1.99 or $2 or $3 but a download only cost 99 cents? Donate a
dollar for the music, support the music. Each person who love Reggae music or
Dancehall music donate one dollar to the music and it will be better.
//Aki// When I was DJing out a lot I would buy a lot of
vinyl. I got mad free vinyl to, but I liked to go and dig
and find vinyl. That was what being a DJ was about?
//Delly// Well that’s because you wouldn’t get all songs promotion.
//Aki// No man not at all. I used to love finding
and buying vinyl. Digging through crates.
//Delly// Well now, all a guy has to do is dig around on his hard drive and go on
the internet and download everything free. Them don’t even know who produce
a track now.
//Aki// It’s not the same, when you buy vinyl you get to feel it, check
the cover art, see who produced it etc. It’s better, it’s exciting. I
don’t go for the MP3 thing much, to easy, something is missing?
//Delly// Well the MP3 thing is good but the guys who are playing the music
should do the groundwork, find out the history behind the music, because most
of the guys now are just playing the music for a hype. They are not playing the
music for the love. I do music for the love. I love music, I live for music.
//Aki// Have you set the trend for the return to real Dancehall
riddims in the scene? Are all the other producers in the
scene, Serani excluded, going to start following your lead
and be busting out real authentic Dancehall riddims now?
//Delly// I can’t tell, you know. I always lead and dem follow, you know?
Dem compete, but I don’t mind because great minds are great minds. So if I do
something great and someone copy then they copy. My main focus is to make
people happy about Dancehall music.
//Aki// Shout outs?
//Delly// Big up the almighty, first and foremost who create this earth, who
create mankind and everything, Big up my wife who stick by me through
everything, Big up all of the fans who keep Delly Ranx alive. Big up DJ Trasha
who keep in touch with me and check me from time to time, Big Up Breaks
Magazine for running this article and remember praise the almighty for without
him we are nothing.
60 //photo// Elsv
//interview// Aki X
GLASSES
MALOne
//Aki// BREAKS MAGAZINE here with Glasses Malone. On his party bus
for the release of “Beach Cruiser 2011!”
//G.Malone// August 30th. Right on the West, right here in Santa Monica.
//Aki// Just having a good time!
//G.Malone// We having a good time, we having a great time!
//Aki// Last time we talked, you were thinking about getting “Beach
Cruiser” out. It’s 2011 now, and it’s about to pop off. One, congratulations,
I like success stories! How you feeling right now?
//G.Malone// I feel good. I’m starting over again, but I feel I’m in a much better
position. Thanks to my management Suburban Noize, my management, Thank
WhoBangin, MAC10, my label, Bird Man, Lil Wayne, Slim, my label, Mac
Man, the Whole Boss, the Whole Table. Let me do my thang. Let me do what I
needed to do. So I’m in a blessed position.
//Aki// You been out for awhile, on the West Coast underground.
//G.Malone// Under ground for five years now.
//Aki// Why is it called “Beach Cruiser” for curiosity?
//G.Malone// I love what the beach cruiser represents. I love the fact that we on
the West Coast have the Beach. It’s right here! Feel me. That represents what
we represent. The Coast. I love the fact that when I was younger, it was ma
G Homies favorite bike. They use to ride me on the handle bars to the candy
shop, to the ice cream truck, put in work, fight, whatever. On the handle bars
of the bike. It was the gangster bike. I love the fact the beach cruiser is slow
and steady, like my flow, just smooth. It represents that. It’s just smooth and
everybody likes that. I want the beach cruiser to represent me. You know how
long beach cruisers have been around for. Ages. I want my music to be just like
that, classic.
//Aki// Watts up!
//G.Malone// Watts up exactly! That’s Watts up.
//Aki//” Beach Cruiser” release!
//G.Malone// This is world wide. I shot a video when I was in Brooklyn, Flat
Bush. They showed me love like I was born there. So real niggaz world wide
is showing me love. And that’s all I really care about. It’s bigger than the West
Coast now, it’s world wide. It’s in Australia, real goons. Germany, real goons.
In Japan, real people world wide respecting what I do. That’s what it means to
me, real people world wide. “Beach Cruiser” is the start. Let’s go.
//Aki// Last time we talked, you were Black Wall Street Blue Division.
//G.Malone// Talked to Game yesterday. He put me on. I’m forever in that
dudes debt. I owe him the world. He got me started. Him and Big Faced
Hunned, G. Ride, shout out to G. Ride, Black Tone RIP, 4 Cent RIP. They gave
me the platform to speak on where everybody was listening. People was lovin’
what I’m sayin’. Shout out to the Game. Big things in the work.
62
//Aki// How did you get involved with Cash Money?
//G.Malone// Mac 10 straight up and down. We was going to do a deal with
Universal, when I started with Mac 10. Cash Money heard what I was doin’.
They wanted to sign. We hooked it up. I’ve been a YMCMB member ever
since.
//Aki// You think the album would have been better then or now?
//G.Malone// It’s better now because it helped me develop lyrically. I think I had
substance back then but this whole experience has helped me mature as a man.
It has helped me grow patience and understanding that the world doesn’t revolve
around what I think or what I’m doing. So, I love the fact that I was able to get
through all ot it. To get the album out. Cause a lot of people quit. I’m blessed
to get even to this point. So it has helped me develop lyrically and gain pose in
life.
//Aki// How do you feel about West Coast Hip hop?
//G.Malone// It’s in a great position. Every body’s got to do their thang.
//Aki// I’m from London, and when I listened to Hip hop in London...
//G.Malone// There’s niggaz thuggin’ in London. London is crazy. You feel me.
/Aki// That’s some real shit man.
//G.Malone// It’s nothing to do with colors like people think. Long story short,
I go to Brooklyn ‘cause they’re gang bangin’. And because I did it in Brooklyn,
every rapper has called me man. It’s crazy. It’s like a single shout out to all my
partnerz on radio, but you don’t need to push towards radio. You just be creative.
You gonna have people who like it, you gonna have people who dislike it. Just
be innovative. If I would have shot a video with Cripps in ma hood, nobody
would have cared. I shot a video. But I shot that video with Cripps in Brooklyn.
It means something. Niggaz will either be like, “ah, he’s hangin’ with NYC
gang bangers or” ah, that’s crazy, this nigga went to NY?” So either way you
got everybody talkin’. That’s all Hip hop is about. A great single makes people
talk. A great video makes people talk.
//Aki// I grew up when Hip hop was like punk rock. It was dangerous.
//G.Malone// Gnagster rappers now, who’s scared of these dudes? They’re all
fashionable models. The gangster rappers now look like models. Their videos
is nice. When I was younger and saw an N.W.A. concert, I thought them niggaz
was comin’ to kill everybody.
//photo// Elsv
JOHN
MCCLURE
64 //photo// Mike Riggins
//interview// Guy Okazaki
//Guy// My first memories meeting you was when I was shaping for Pac
West over on Main St. You were the #1 shop grom over there. Where did
you grow up and where did you start surfing?
//John// Grew up in Santa Monica, I think we met before the Pac West shop. I
went to a couple of your parties. That was you who lived across the street from
Dave Isaacson?
//Guy// Yep.
//John// That was the first team I actually surfed for. But I grew up surfing Santa
Monica with my sisters and brothers, surfing basically as a family. My mom
would drop us down at the beach at 8 in the morning and come back at 6pm to
pick us up. So we were down there all damn day long.
//Guy// Bay street.
//John// Bay street, Ocean Park, wherever the peaks were. Basically, beach
breaks, so wherever the sand bars were, if there was any at all.
//Guy// Was P.O.P still there?
//John// Yeah, P.O.P was still up. But, it was kinda owned by Venice basically.
We couldn’t surf there.
//Guy// The South side, but the North side would get good.
//John// The North side Jacks and stuff and the Jetty there, but if it was on, it was
there’s to! Even the other side was there’s. We would go over and watch, but
never get to surf. I wasn’t good enough then. I was just learning, so I couldn’t
even handle that shit.
//Guy// That place use to eat a lot of boards. That was like pre-leash days
and those pilings were brutal. I remember those T’s on the North side.
//John// Oh, they had those bungee cord ones. They were so thin they would rip
right through the fuckin’ board. Remember those ones dude? They were like
elastic ( he makes this noise) go 20ft long!
//Guy// Some guys were tying there leashes to their wrist, it wasn’t a given
back then that you tied it to your ankle back then. People were trying all
kinds of stuff.
//John// Yeah, equipment sucked back then.
//Guy// I remember some boards were putting their leashes up in the nose.
//John// Just to save it from going into the pier. That’s fucking funny! Yeah, so
Bay street, Ocean Park, started surfing there. Keith Wilburn, Mike Clark, Bay
street kids!
//Guy// When I was a kid, there were trams up and down the boardwalk.
For a quarter, you could go from Washington to State.
//John// Yeah, you guys could go anywhere you wanted to go, but we were kids,
so we couldn’t just go where ever we wanted to go.
//Guy// Hehehehehe.
//John// We surfed the left overs. I was telling Eugene, before how different it
was when we were kids. You couldn’t just go and surf the main peak when the
guys all sat. Back then when I was a kid, if you paddled up to the main peak,
they would tell you to fuck off and get out of here. And if you didn’t, basically
a slap came behind it, you know, until you got out. It sucked, we couldn’t surf
were we wanted to surf. Basically, we surfed where we had to surf. You guys
kinda kept it locked down!
//Guy// I think it was because it started to get crowded. We use to love that!
//John// It was regulations going on. These days, it’s just out of control. It’s
totally out of control. People go out where ever they want. Take off on what
ever wave they want. There’s no priority anymore. We got a couple guys out
there still yelling, but it’s pretty much a free open beach, anywhere, everywhere.
I don’t know what it was, but back then waves were always good. I don’t know
if it was because I was a hungry kid, wanted to surf, but the waves seemed to be
always good back in the days.
//Guy// The waves were always good because you had Pico Creek which is
now a storm drain, but it use to be a creek. It use to blow out during the
rains and there would be lefts and rights. It was like a river mouth. It was
big as spots in Ventura.
//John// And P.O.P being up, it bent the beach into more bays.
//Guy// Absolutely.
//John// Sand collectors. Venice would be a bay and Santa Monica would be a
bay.
//Guy// Santa Monica Breakwater use to be substantial. It was a wall.. It
was a solid wall.
//John// I remember they use to park boats on that side. Sailboats were anchored
on the North side. That was some of the first days of surfing mellow. It was
softer and gentler. It was for kids. That’s were we had to surf when we were
kids.
//Guy// They had big contests at Bay street. Literally everyone on the
westside would show up.
//John// Dewey Weber.
//Guy// Dewey Weber started out right here off of Pacific.
//John// Wow. He had a shop on Lincoln. I don’t know where I got my boards,
but they were the left overs. I must have been 11 years old when I started
surfing for Dave. Me and Solo were his first little team members. Then he
picked up Randy Wright, John Pestana, Harry Friedman. My first board was a
single fin. Solo and I had matching boards, stinger swallow. Like a Bertleman
thing, with wider nose. The wide part of the board was actually up by the nose.
So, the cutback on those things to bring back that big chunky nose around was
gnarly. And then the thrusters came. I remember that. Wow, that was gnarly. It
was the whole change right there. And then the four fins! It was with the four
fins that I started really progressing. My airs. The twin fins with the tiny trailers
off the end.
//Guy// I don’t know if you know this, but if you Google your name, up
comes a whole page. You are considered the first guy to be an aerialist on a
surfboard. Early 1980’s.
//John// Yeah, when I first started airs, they were kick outs and just holding the
rail. But since I was a skater, I always wanted to land shit. I started practising
those. Landing them in 1980, 1981.
66
//photo// Santo Rimicci