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MASONapril/may 2012
a l w a y s t h e f r e s h e s t
THE STORYOF THEHALF CABsteve caballero tells all
the first betty
an old school icon
A MOMENTWITH THE
KILLS
ANATOMY OF A LONGBOARD . CHAD MUSKA . SURF & SEA . LITTLE HURRICANE . HAROSHI
alison mosshart and jamie hince
pattimcgee
APRIL / MAY 2012
Living in a Modern Way | 24
ARTHaroshi Deck Sculptures | 16
Chad Muska: One Year in NYC | 20
Surf Lifestyle Artist: Drew Brophy | 22
FEATURESThe Times They Are A Changin | 54
Surf & Sea | 64
Who Run The world: Girls | 72
Little Hurricanes | 76
THREADS+GOODS42 | Threads+Goods of the Season
44 | Anatomy of a Longboard
46 | Steve Caballero: The Story of the Half Cab
50 | Seeing Red
TUNEAGE28 | A Moment with The Kills
32 | What’s Your Favorite Tunes to Shred to?
36 | A Tribe Called Quest
Cover: Trails to the Point Photo: Ryan Tatar
38 | Playlist Spotlight
MASONa l w a y s t h e f r e s h e s t
TABLE OF CONTENTS
a l w a y s t h e f r e s h e s t
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Deborah Gruber
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jo Wagner
MANAGING EDITOR Sofie Cole
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Toni Snowden
DESIGN DIRECTOR Geoff Milner
SENIOR EDITORS
Lizzi Clifton ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Dave Everard EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Chris Davis CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Lisa Norendal CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Kevin Lewis
SENIOR DESIGNERS Joan Falbo
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Cecilia Cho
SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR Clark Dunn
CONTRIBUTING PHOTO EDITOR
Maggie Tomaszewski CONTRIBUTING
PHOTOGRAPHERS Iwan Baan
Andreas Laszlo Konrath
APRIL / MAY 2012 @deborah_gruber
@cofiesole
@snowedin
@ceciliacho
@klewis10
@geoffmilner
@the_iwanbaan
Find our staff on twitter!
MASON
SENIOR EDITORS
Lizzi Clifton ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Dave Everard EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Chris Davis CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Lisa Norendal CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Kevin Lewis
APRIL / MAY 2012
EDITORS NOTE I would like to present Mason Mag! Our mission is to bring you the latest in the action sports industry, awe-some music, and introduce artists & designers. Maybe it’s due to working in a deadline-oriented en-vironment, or being a mall indie mag, but here at MASON, we like to think we’re pretty scrappy and always prepared: rain on the day of a beach shoot, slacking contributors, crashing hard drives. You name it, we’ve problem solved it. We sent our editors and photographers on some exciting adventures for this issue. From France to check out the Museum of Surf and Sea to the craziness of SXSW to follow Little Hurricane on their concert journey and the amazing California design exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. We love asking our readers to give us there opinion for the next issue for every month. It gives us a nice idea of what you guys are into and gives us a chance to feature some awesome people! OK, now talk to us! Whatever concerns you, inter-ests you, or ticks you off about MASON, we’d love to know. Don’t be bummed if you don’t hear back immediately! Our readers mean the world and we appreciate everyones opinion and suggestions!
MASONa l w a y s t h e f r e s h e s t
Deborah Gruber EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
EDITORS NOTE
a l w a y s t h e f r e s h e s t
APRIL / MAY 2012
ANDREAS LASZLO KONRATH A Moment with The Kills pg. 27-28
DREW BROPHY Surf Lifestyle Artist pg. 21
IWAN BAAN Surf & Sea pg. 65-72
The native of Chorleywood, who now lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, picked up his first cam-era after being given a Larry Clark book for his 18th birthday but in the subsequent decade he seem-ingly hasn’t stopped snapping. One of New York’s foremost pho-tographers on youth culture and identity, his work has appeared in publications ranging from W to Wired and he was the youngest photographer New York Magazine ever sent to Fashion Week.
Drew Brophy is best known for his surreal surfboard paintings and bright, colorful designs. His art is easily recognized by a distinct style of energetic, lively characters, sun & waves. Drew has created thousands of paint-ings while traveling and surfing around the world. He draws his inspiration from the waves and the beautiful places he visits.
Dutch photographer Iwan Baan is known primarily for images that narrate the life and interactions that occur within architecture. Born in 1975, Iwan grew up outside Amsterdam, studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and worked in publishing and documentary photography in New York and Europe.
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CONTRIBUTORS
“ “
APRIL / MAY 2012
CRISTINA CIANCI holmdel, nj
Loved the March issue’s New Artists page! The “bands to listen to” article was such an eye opener to great new music. Can’t wait to go to Coachella!
THE WEDGE. NEWPORT BEACH,CA
BRITTANY NEFF ocean, nj
Awesome issue last month! The article about the group of east coast surf-ers that traveled the wedge surf spot has made me want to go on a trip out there. The waves looked sick....You guys should try to host a contest to get people out there!
KRISTI BERRY new brunswick, nj
My favorite thing about Mason is that you aren’t afraid to let everyone know girls are into this stuff, too. Last months feature about amazing women in action sports inspired me to take some new risks and lay it all on the line. Thanks Mason for showing off such an empowering lifestyle!
MARY BERNADETTE tempe, az
I would be interested in reading an article about Bethany Hamilton and learn about the background of the soul surfer movie and her opinions. Or see whatsup with Rob and Big! What projects are they working on?
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IT WAS SUCH AN EYE OPENER
TO GREAT NEW MUSIC!
MAILBOX
ART
haroshi shreds in style
california designin the 1930s-1960s
chad muska has an art show!
amazing surfboardart by drew brophy
APRIL / MAY 2012
APRIL / MAY 2012
HAROSHIDECKCARVINGSHaroshi has been a skateboarder since his early teens, but nowadays he also does a different kind of shredding.
DUNK
BIG APPLE
H aroshi makes his art pieces recy-cling old used skateboards. His creations are born through styles such as wooden mosaic, dots, and
pixels; where each element, either cut out in dif-ferent shapes or kept in their original form, are connected in different styles, and shaven into the form of the final art piece. Haroshi became in-
fatuated with skateboarding in his early teens, and is still a passionate skater at present. He knows thoroughly all the parts of the skate-board deck, such as the shape, concave, truck,
and wheels. He often feels attached to trucks with the shaft visible, goes around pick-
ing up and collecting broken skate-board parts, and feels reluctant to throw away crashed skateboards. It’s only natural that he began to
make art pieces (i.e. recycling) by using skateboards. To Haroshi, his art pieces are equal to his skateboards,
and that means they are his life itself. They’re his communica-tion tool with both himself, and the outside world.
The most important style of Haroshi’s three-dimensional art
piece is the wooden mosaic. In order to make a sculpture out of a thin
skateboard deck, one must stack many layers. But skate decks are already processed
products, and not flat like a piece of wood freshly cut out from a tree. Moreover, skateboards may seem like they’re all in the same shape, but
actually, their structure varies according to the factory, brand, and popular skaters’ signature models. With his experience and almost crazy knowledge of skateboards, Haroshi is able to differentiate from thousands of used deck stocks, which deck fits with which when stacked. After the decks are chosen and stacked, they are cut, shaven, and polished with his favorite tools. By coincidence, this creative style of his is similar to the way traditional wooden Japanese Great Bud-dhas are built. 90% of Buddha statues in Japan are carved from wood, and built using the meth-od of wooden mosaic; in order to save expense of materials, and also to minimize the weight of the statue. So this also goes hand in hand with Haroshi’s style of using skateboards as a means of recycling. Also, although one is not able to see from outside, there is a certain metal object that is buried inside his three-dimensional statue. The object is a broken skateboard part that was chosen from his collection of parts that became deteriorated and broke off from skateboards, or got damaged from a failed Big Make attempt. To Haroshi, to set this kind of metal part inside his art piece means to “give soul” to the statue. “Unkei,” a Japanese sculptor of Buddhas who was active in the 12th Century, whose works are most popular even today among the Japanese people; used to set a crystal ball called “Shin-Gachi-Rin (Heart Moon Circle)” in the position of the Bud-dha’s heart. This would become the soul of the statue. So the fact that Haroshi takes the same steps in his creation may be a natural reflection of his spirit and aesthetic as a Japanese.
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ART
APRIL / MAY 2012
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THAT’S HAROSHI !
HAROSHI’S PROCESS IS ACTUALLY
IN KEEPING WITH THE PROCESS
USED TO MAKE TRADITIONAL
JAPANESE WOODEN BUDDHAS.
FIRE HYDRANT SCULPTURE PAYING TRIB-UTE TO REAL SKATEBOARDS’ CLASSIC KEITH HUFNAGEL HYDRANT OLLIE LOGO. MOOSE, 2010 SHY PEACO, 2008
Skateboards may seem like they’re all in the same shape, but actually, their structure varies according to the factory, brand, and popular skaters’ signature models. With his experience and almost crazy knowl-edge of skateboards, Haroshi is able to differentiate from thousands of used deck stocks, which deck fits with which when stacked.
HAROSHI DECK CARVINGS
ART
ONE YEAR IN NYCCHAD MUSKA:
Chad Muska unveiled his artwork collection at his privatestudio in New York City. The exhibit featured an array of
mixed media pieces all created over the past year
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A n American professional skateboarder, musi-cian, DJ, and artist, Muska opened a private studio in NYC to display his mixed media artwork that included prints, paintings,
spray art, epoxy, ink on paper, photographs, video and jewelry. Also including a piece dedicated to professional
skateboarder and long time friend Harold Hunter.
APRIL / MAY 2012
ART
ONE YEAR IN NYCCHAD MUSKA:
SURF LIFESTYLE ARTIST:
DREW BROPHY Drew Brophy has been a professional surf lifestyle artist for over 20 years.
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ART
As a young surfer, Drew’s career took off when he started painting his edgy artwork onto surfboards. He became known worldwide for painting surfboards using techniques that he developed using water-based paint pens. He traveled the globe painting for some of the best surfboard shapers in the world. In the late 1990s, Drew expanded his original artwork for use on many different things, like skateboards, t-shirts, wakeboards and other useful items. Having the opportunity to experiment with many dif-ferent surfaces and products allowed Drew to grow tremen-dously as an artist.
Drew has created thousands of paintings over the years, which has led him to develop a distinct style of bright colors and energy that has become well recognized. Drew’s inspira-tion comes from the adven-tures of traveling and surfing the globe with his wife and son. He paints the lifestyle they live, one filled with peel-ing waves, sun-swept beaches and the simple joys that life has to offer. Drew’s mission is “to inspire generations of people to live the life of their dreams.” He strives to be an example and show the world the good life through his artwork. His mantra is “Life is Good,” and it is.
INSPIRE GENERATIONS TOLIVE THE LIFE OF THEIR
DREAMS
THE STONES. Painted on 9’6” Ron House Surf-board, pur-chased & displayed by Hard Rock Casino Las Vegas
APRIL / MAY 2012
LIVING IN A MODERN WAYCALIFORNIA DESIGN
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art presents California Design, 1930-1965: “Living in a Modern Way.” The exhibition—the first major study of modern California design—exam-
ines the state’s key role in shaping the material culture of the country at mid-century.
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ART
Dan Johnson’s 1947 desk is a perfect example of how
American modern-ism often split the difference between clean forms and the speedy streamlining
of the era
Studebaker’s 1962 sports car
A classic of colorful Californian design, this storage unit by Charles and Ray Eames for Her-man Miller dates from
the late 40s
This iron and alumi-num lamp by Greta
Magnusson Grossman was manufactured in Burbank in the early 1950s by the Ralph O. Smith Manufacturing
Company.
Margaret De Patta’s highly abstract brooch
in silver and quartz hails from the late 40s
or 50s.
APRIL / MAY 2012
APRIL / MAY 2012
learn about howthe kills came about
a documentary bya tribe called quest
playlist spotlight!xgames
what do people listen to when they shred?
TUNEAGE
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APRIL / MAY 2012
An interview with Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince of The Kills
A MOMENT WITH THE KILLS
Jérôme Sans: HOW DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR NAME THE KILLS?Alison Mosshart: We sat on the floor, each with a typewriter, and typed out lists of names. We wanted something that sounded timeless. The Kills was on Jamie’s list. When we finished re-cording our first roll of tape—at Toe Rag, for our Black Rooster EP—we needed a name to write on the box. So we wrote The Kills.Jamie Hince: It was the last name, typed after hundreds of names on dozens of sheets of paper, and we just stopped after I read it out aloud. It was a day of dueling typewriters and The Kills was the last one standing. That was it.J.S.: HOW DID THE BAND START? WHAT WERE YOUR BACKGROUNDS?A.M.: We had both been playing music for years, in other bands. I had grown up in Vero Beach, Florida. There wasn’t much going on there. A small retirement community—a lot of Cadillacs, white hair, bingo… Zero youth culture. My moth-er was an art teacher, my dad a used-car dealer. I grew up around cars and paintings. We decided to start a band with some guys I was skateboarding with. I was about 14. When I was 18 or 19 I met Jamie in England when I was on tour. We became a little sort of social club, the two of us. We talked about books; he played me records I had never heard—Captain Beefheart, PJ Harvey, old blues, Television. We talked about Edie Sedgwick, The Chelsea Hotel, New York… that scene—the late ’60s, early ’70s—like it was our heritage, and that’s what we wanted to see again, be part of. We were both looking to start over, whether at the time we were conscious of it or not. I don’t think either of us were very happy people when we first met, part of scenes we weren’t really connecting to anymore. Jamie ALISON MOSSHAR AND JAMIE HINCE OF “THE KILLS”
TUNEAGE
APRIL / MAY 2012
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lent me a four-track cassette recorder to take on the road. I took it away and brought it back to him with tapes full of noise, talking, German radio, and some songs. That’s when he started adding stuff to what I had done. I went back to Florida and we sent music to each other by mail—four-track tapes, art, long letters, drawings, photographs. I had found someone to share my secrets with. I was in art school at the time, and suddenly everything I did had a purpose. I had someone that mattered to me, to show things to. I dropped out of school, quit my band, and moved to England to hang out with Jamie. We played our first show together on Valentine ’s Day, 2002. J.S.: HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR MU-SIC?A.M.: I guess it is the combined energies of the two of us. I think that more than guitars and drums and vocals, what you hear is what’s happening between us, what’s happening in that space. We’re not trying to be accomplished songwriters or even learn our instruments that well; that’s not important to us at all. Great songwriting has never been our intention. It has always been about a triumph of ideas over ability, and embracing an attitude and an energy instead of a genre or a type of sound.J.H.: In old blues circles they used to talk about music and voodoo in the same breath. Like, they ac-knowledged that it wasn’t the notes or the rhythms or even the words that made a song electrifying, but something else, like a raw power and a primitive sexual thing that was in the attitude of the people playing it. I think that’s what we always recognized as the most precious thing in music, and I suppose that’s what we’re chasing.J.S.: SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE BAND, YOU HAVE PRODUCED MOST OF THE IMAGERY AND MUSIC VIDEOS FOR THE KILLS. IS THIS A WAY TO CREATE A GLOB-AL ARTWORK?A.M: Perhaps… Or maybe we just need to control everything, by our nature. I don’t think anyone can represent us better than we can. We love every aspect of what we do. It feels like cheating ourselves by relinquishing control of any aesthetics, visually or audibly. The few times we have, in my opinion, have been a disaster.J.H: For me it’s not intended as a “global artwork.” In fact I’m put off by those two words combined; they don’t appeal to me at all. It sounds like the equivalent of “world music” or something the Na-tional Lottery would fund. We’ve been documenting
The Kills in this haphazard, hurricane kind of a way since the very beginning, and I don’t think the sum of its parts should need to be coherent for anybody. One thing’s for certain: It’s our thing and we would be doing it regardless of whether anyone got to see it or not.J.S.: YOU HAVE ON YOUR WEBSITE AN ART SECTION, WITH YOUR OWN DRAWINGS, COLLAGES, AND POLAROIDS. WHAT IS
YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH ART?A.M.: At the moment, our relationship with art is quite documentary. Because we travel so much, so extensively, our artwork in the past few years has become small and fast—Polaroid photographs, sketches, collage in notebooks, and writing. It’s our way of remembering what we’ve done and where we’ve been.J.S.: HOW DO YOU SEE THE FUTURE OF THE KILLS?A.M.: We don’t think much about the future. But I imagine we’ll do a lot more music, a lot more art, and we’d like to do books at some point. Art books, books of writing, etc. I’d like to do something with film, either make one or act in one. I’d like to think the future of The Kills will consist of plenty of “first times”…
A MOMENT WITH THE KILLS
TUNEAGE
APRIL / MAY 2012
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TUNEAGE
Readers tell us what music they like to listen to when they shred.
WHAT DO YOULISTEN TO WHEN
YOU SHRED?
CONNOR HUGHESatlanic highlands, nj“Hip Hop, strong beats and instrumental music. It gets
me pumped.”
BRITTANY NEFFocean, nj
“Any music that will get me pumped to move and get me go-ing. If im surfing I will listen to
music that is kind of southern folk because it is laid back but still has
excitement in it.”
“Depends on where I am and what I’m doing. Skating to central park, I don’t have to pay attention so I listen to flowy and instrumental
music. It is a relaxing thing for me. It’s more about the journey and flow than the destination. When
i’m cruising I put on pandora. It’s nice to listen to heavy hitting ran-
dom rap songs when skating.”
COREY THOMASflemington, nj
“When I’m cruising I like mellow stuff. It is relaxing and more fun. Skating I like a mix of rock & hip
hop – It gets me hyped up!”
ROY MORGANcedar grove, nj
“Cage the Elephant! They’ve got a quirky sound - not quite hip hop,
not quite rock, but they’re fun and they usually have a good beat to
keep my mind free and my motion at pace.”
ERICA BIERwayne, nj
APRIL / MAY 2012
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THE MUSICIANSTHEY CHOSE
M83ilovem83.com
@m83news
LIL WAYNElilwayne-online.com
@liltunechi
KID CUDIkidcudi.com@wizardcud
311311.com
@311
SUBLIMEsublimelbc.com@SublimeFans
AESOP ROCKaesoprock.com
@ AesopRockWins
WIZ KHALIFAwizkhalifa.com
@RealWizKhalifa
CAGE THE ELEPHANTcagetheelephant.com@CageTheElephant
EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKYexplosionsinthesky.com
@EITS
65daysofstatic.com@65dos
65DAYSOFSTATIC
theappleseedcast.com@appleseed_cast
APPLESEED CAST
WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO
WHEN YOU SHRED
TUNEAGE
APRIL / MAY 2012
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TUNEAGE
We look at the home release of the documentary, Beats, Rhymes And Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest.
BEATS, RHYMES, AND LIFE:THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
Although as the group
might say, it prob-ably works best for the
seasoned traveler, Beats, Rhymes And Life: The
Travels of A Tribe Called Quest is nevertheless a welcome addition to the growing number of documenta-
ries made in the past few years about classic bands, especially since it’s one of the few about hip-hop acts
that’s worthy of its theatrical release. Director Michael Rapaport, granted
considerable access to the daily lives of Tribe’s four members, creates a
fascinating, detailed portrait of their collective and individual history, but
for anyone vaguely familiar with their accomplished discography, it mostly
plays better as a loving tribute than an incisive examination of the group.
While the contributions of Tribe to hip-hop history can’t be overes-timated, to revisit the group in the way Rapaport does both augments
and undermines the sort of artistic or social analysis the film could offer to
someone unfamiliar with their music. It augments his portrait of Phife Dawg,
Q-Tip, and Ali Shaheed Muhammed by offering unprecedented, deeply
intimate access to the trio’s lives. And at the same time, even with a lengthy history lesson about their origins and career, the film is too reliant on exist-ing familiarity to truly allow newcom-
ers to experience the substance of their work. Consequently, when Q-Tip runs
through the samples he used for “Can I Kick It,” for example, there’s a fascinat-
ing, revelatory feeling that audiences get from watching the alchemy of the
group’s creativity, and at the same time, a slight feeling of redundancy for anyone who’s spent even five minutes
reading the liner notes to their albums.The deleted scenes offer a few additional insights, including Quest-love’s assessment of these long-term
relationships between musicians, and lengthy interview footage featuring
Ludacris and the Beastie Boys among others. But if the question wasn’t
answered enough for you of whether or not the band will ever make music
together again, one of the deleted scenes compiles all of the ambiguous,
noncommittal answers the groupmates provided into one handy, unspecific
response.
a still fromthe documentary
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PLAYLIST SPOTLIGHT
APRIL / MAY 2012
- “Walk Over me”- “Kids in the Street”- “Gonzo”
- “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2”- “Run Like Hell”- “Young Lust”- “The Happiest Days of Our Lives”
- “Mind Your Manners”- “The 4th Quarter”- “Happening”- “We Are The Young” (feat Patrick Stump) recorded exclusively for Winter X
- “Focused”- “Slight Work”
- “Rebel Love Song” - “Fallen Angels”
- “This City”- “Spotlight”
- “Stay Gold” - “Jump Music”
- “Ooh” - “The Kids Have Their Say”
CHIDDY BANG
Like what you heard on the 2012 Winter X Games? We’ve got you covered!
PINK FLOYD WALEALL-AMERICAN
REJECTS
BLACK VEILBRIDES PATRICK STUMP
MORE ARTISTS FEATURED INCLUDED: Don Tetto, Jiggy Drama, Urvah Khan, Nas, Crosses, Outasight, Tonite Only, Skrillex, DJ Premier, The Crystal Method
BIG PINK STEVE AOKI
TUNEAGE
Like what you heard on the 2012 Winter X Games? We’ve got you covered!
APRIL / MAY 2012
some of the bestthreads of the season!
the story of the half cab
see some of the coolestshades of the season
the anatomyof a longboard
THREADS + GOODS
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APRIL / MAY 2012
VANScanvas authentics
$45.00
STUSSYbugged out tee
$24.99
FORUMPicket and Stick It
$299.95
NIXON51-30 all gold
$449.95
QUIKSILVERthird bay
$59.50
THREADS + GOODS
THREADS + GOODS
OF THESEASON
We check out some goods of this season
BILLABONGmarcoola bag
$59.50
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APRIL / MAY 2012
ANATOMYLONGBOARD
of a
TRUCKSSector 9 Gullwing
BEARINGSGirl
WHEELSSector 9 Race
Formula
HARDWAREElement Irie
DECKHoney Pintail
RISERSDestructo Riser Pad
GRIPTAPEMob Grip
THREADS + GOODS
STEVE CABALLEROTHE STORY OF THE HALF CAB
2012 marks the 20th Anniversary of the Vans Half Cab, one of the company’s most iconic pairs of skate shoes.
THREADS + GOODS
APRIL / MAY 2012
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Steve Caballero’s pro shoe was released in 1989, but it wasn’t until 1991 that the Half Cab was released. After noticing that street skaters were cutting down the original Caballero model to a
mid-top, Steve and Vans decided put the shoe into production and the rest is history. Today, the Half Cab remains one of the most popular and reliable shoes on the market.
STEVE CABALLERO HOLDING THE WORLDS
LARGEST AND SMALLEST HALF CAB EVER MADE
Yeah, it’s really cool actually when they thought of the idea. I didn’t realize it was going to be that limited, though — that’s really, really limited. I thought I was gonna be — they said
you’re gonna cut all these shoes, and I was thinking they were gonna do 100 to 500 of them, I was like, “I could do
that many shoes.” Then I heard they’re only doing 20, I’m like, OK, that’s easy
enough. Even if they came out with 500, I would cut 500 of them.
TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE SUPREME LIM-ITED VERSION
OF THE OG, DIY CUT-DOWN “HALF CAB.”
Yah, you know when Vans went to a cupsole I actually stopped wearing the Half Cab because the cupsole was so much more comfortable. So all this time the Half Cab when it first came out was just a vulcanized shoe with no remov-able insole. So when I went back to start wearing it, it hurt my feet! I was just like, man — I’m a lot older now, my arches are not as strong, I can’t wear these vulcanized shoes, there’s not enough padding there for what I’m doing. So when they revamped the Half Cab again, called the Half Cab Pro, and put an insole in there, I tried it out [and] I was like, oh, this is comfy. Now I can wear these again. And I’ve been rockin’ ‘em since. So I’m actually stoked that they redesigned it and redesigned the last and put a removable insole in it and it’s just rad how they kept doing the collabora-tions and they’ve done limited editions – that’s what kind of built the hype of it. I would see people who rode for other companies, and I would see pic-tures of them wearing my shoe. “They’re gonna get in trouble,” you know? And it’s rad. Even skaters on Vans that have their own shoe, I’ve seen photos of them wearing Half Cabs, too.
DID YOU HAVE TO REDIS-COVER IT YOURSELF?
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It just blows my mind — we never even expected that the shoe would get
popular again. Because it’s always been in the line, but kind of underground
and always in the catalogs as a classic. And I’ve had tons of other different
designs and shoes promoted after the Half Cab — I probably had six or seven shoes after the Half Cab. So when that
kind of ran it’s course, they started pumping the Half Cab again: limited
editions, collaborations. They made this line called the Vault line that went in
high-end stores, and the Half Cab was in
there. And when they did that they started doing collaborations
with respected art-ists. And once that
happened and kind of gave a little buzz to it
again and they started releasing the shoe
on the broader skate
market as well with different colorways, and it kind of took off. And then all of a
sudden you see all these shoe compa-nies start copying it. And it just blew me
away even more when eventually DC copied it. And like, they copied it to the T. I have a lot of respect for DC because
of their image and the skaters they’ve had and just their whole program — it’s
a cool program. For them to copy the Half Cab, that was the most flattering
thing that could ever happen to the shoe. When I saw that, I was like, that’s
pretty cool. They’re paying homage. People would always ask me, ‘are you
bummed that all these shoe companies are copying your shoe?” I’m like, “no,
not at all! I’m stoked. To me, that’s flat-tering.”
Even Vans has copied it in its own line. I’m like, wait a minute here, all
right guys. It’s cool when other compa-nies copy it, but come on, you guys can think up another design, right? Let me
have this one.
DID YOU EVER THINK BACK THEN THAT THE SHOE WOULD HAVE THIS KIND OF LONGEVITY?
THE STORY OF THE HALF CAB
THREADS+GOODS
APRIL / MAY 2012
SEEINGRED
We rounded up some of thecoolest red shades in stores
THREADS + GOODS
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APRIL / MAY 2012
1. VANS Spicoli 4 $12 2. OAKLEY Holbrook $130 3. RAY-BAN Rounded Wayfarer $135 4. VANS Damone Shades $12 5. NEFF Spectra $24.99 6. VON ZIPPER Frenzy $70
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FEATURES APRIL / MAY 2012
see some awesome iconic photos from the 60s
behind the sceneswith the band little hurricane
Architecture at the
Museum of Surf & Sea
the first womens professional skateboarder!
P h o t o g r a p h s b y LEROY GRANNIS a n d BILL EPPRIDGE
I n t h e 1 9 6 0 s , s u r f i n g h a d g a i n e d p o p u l a r i t y w i t h t e e n a g e r s . S u r f e r s d e v e l o p e d s k a t e b o a r d s t o b e a b l e t o “ s u r f ” o n l a n d . T h e s e i c o n i c
i m a g e s f r o m t h e b e s t p h o t o g r a p h e r s i n t h e b u s i n e s s s h o w t h et h r i v i n g c u l t u r e o f s k a t e b o a r d i n g a n d s u r f i n g f r o m
C a l i f o r n i a t o N e w Yo r k .
thetimes they
are achangin
teenagers ride skateboards in new york city in 1965.
A skateboarder navigates a beer-can slalom at
the f irst intercol legiate skateboarding champi-
onship, held at Wesleyan University in Middletown,
Connecticut in 1965.
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1965, Greg Noll Factory, Hermosa Beach. A pair of Austral ian surfers drove
this c lassic Westfal ia Kombi throughout Europe before
shipping i t over to pay hom-age to the surf mecca.
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1967, Malibu. When Gran-nis returned with a fr iend
to Malibu short ly after World War II , they found a crowd of twelve people
surf ing. “That’s i t ,” he said. “This place is ruined.”
“THAT’S IT, THIS PLACE IS RUINED.”
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A few groms watch the 1964 U.S. Championships from the roof of their 1933
Ford Deluxe
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“THE CRAZE AND MENACE OF
SKATEBOARDS”
A competitor at the f irst intercol legiate skate-
boarding championships at Wesleyan sits down on his board while he r ides past spectators in 1965.
The Museum of Ocean and Surf (Cité de l’Océan et du Surf) in Biarritz, France explores both surf and sea and their role upon our leisure, science and ecology.
Designs by Steven Holl Architects in collaboration with Solange Fabiao
By: Kelly Minner
Photographs by: Iwan Baan
SurfSea&
The plaza
THE BUILDING FORM DERIVES FROM THE spatial concept “under the sky”/“under the sea”. A concave “under the sky” shape forms the character of the main exterior space, the “Place de l’Océan.” The convex structural ceiling forms the “under the sea” exhibition spaces. The building’s spatial qualities are experienced already at the entrance where the lobby and
ramps give a broad aerial view of the exhibition areas, as they pass along the dynamic curved surface that is animated by moving image and light. The precise integration of concept and topography gives the building a unique profile. Towards the ocean, the concave form of the building plaza is extended through the landscape. With slightly cupped edges, the landscape, a mix of field and local vegetation, is a continuation of the building and will host festivals and daily events that are integrated with the museum facilities. Two “glass boulders”, which contain the restaurant and the surfer’s kiosk, activate the central outdoor plaza and connect analogi-cally to the two great boulders on the beach in the distance. The glass boulders can be reached through the main entry lobby, which connects the street level to the cafeteria and surfer’s kiosk, and but are also accessible independently through the plaza, which serves as a main gathering space open to the public. The museum store is located at the intermediate level of the ex-hibition spaces, with direct access to the entry lobby and the audito-rium. The more intimate restaurant and the elevated outdoor terrace are at the top level of the museum, providing open ocean views. At the building’s southwest corner, there is a skate pool dedi-cated to the surfers’ hangout on the plaza level and an open porch underneath, which connects to the auditorium and exhibition spaces inside the museum. This covered area provides a sheltered space for outdoor interaction, meetings and events.
Archite
cts: S
teven Holl
Architec
ts in co
llaboration
with Sola
nge Fabiao L
ocation: B
iarritz, F
rance Projec
t Area
: 50,859 sqf
Handrail detail
THE THING THAT IS BEAUTIFUL ABOUT THIS IS THE IDEA THAT
IT’S ABOUT THE SURF. ““
The gallery
The exterior of the building is a textured white concrete made of aggregates from the south of France. Materials of the plaza are a progressive variation of Portuguese cobblestones paving with grass and natural vegetation. A combination of insulated glass units with clear and acid-etched layers animates the visual dynamics enhancing interior comfort. The interior of the main space is white plaster and a wooden floor provides under-floor wiring flexibilities. The museum building frames two program spaces: its convex interior space features “under the sea” exhibition areas, whereas its concave exterior shape serves as an “under the sky” plaza. The mu-seum’s sloping concrete roof serves as an outdoor plaza, and, lined in Portuguese cobblestones and natural vegetation, allows for rainwater to seep into the ground. The plaza also features two “glass boulders”: distinguished by their high-performance glass façades, these forms hold a surfing kiosk and a restaurant. Just across the plaza is a shal-low concrete pool that serves as a skatepark for those who prefer to
surf on dry land. The museum, which can be accessed via a street-level lobby, features an auditorium, restaurant, cafeteria, and offices as well as ex-hibition spaces and even a surfer’s kiosk. The interiors of the museum offer dynamic curved surfaces that reference the waves of the nearby Bay of Biscay.
The jurors appreciated the fact that the light at the roughly 50,859-square-foot museum appears to change over the course of the day, and that the differentiated spaces reflect the notion of a wave as water suspended in air. “The thing that is beautiful about this is the idea that it’s about the surf. You take an architectonic form and you make it roll like the ocean, and then the function slips underneath,” juror Joe Valerio said. “To connect the surf with the function underneath, you have this lantern, this white, glass lantern that runs through it.”
TO CONNECT THE SURF WITH THE FUNCTION UNDERNEATH,
YOU HAVE THIS LANTERN, THIS WHITE, GLASS LANTERN THAT
RUNS THROUGH IT. ““
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The gallery
Winner of: BUILDING OF THE YEAR 2011
Sections
View of glass volumes on the plaza at night
ThePlans
Sections
“Under heaven, Under the ocean”
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Site plan
Floorplan
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“THE ORIGINAL PIC-TURE FROM PATTIS’SKATEBOARDER MAGAZINE COVER
Mcgee was the women’s first national skateboard champion, the first female pro skater, and thefirst female to ever be inducted into the skateboarding hall of fame. to this day she is
still seen as “the first betty” and an old -school icon.
“BY XAVIER LANNES
(GIRLS)WHO RUN
THE WORLD
PATTI MCGEE SPOTLIGHT
Mcgee was the women’s first national skateboard champion, the first female pro skater, and thefirst female to ever be inducted into the skateboarding hall of fame. to this day she is
still seen as “the first betty” and an old -school icon.
““
PATTI MCGEE WAS BORN ON AUGUST 23, 1945 at Santa Monica and like most skateboarders at the time, she says that she “started out as a surfer, so when there was no surf my friends and I would find a hill to ride. That’s how I started skating”. McGee, who grew up in Southern California, was an avid surfer and begged her mom to take her
to the beach to catch the waves. When skateboarding entered the scene, McGee found a new freedom and, in 1962, she started skateboarding with a “Bunbuster” by Cooley, during the Easter vacations when she was at the Hollywood Teen Fair. In an inter-view for Skateboarder Magazine in 1965, she recalls that: ”I had been asked by a sporting goods store to give away a skateboard at a drawing every evening. One evening, the kid that was supposed to do the skateboard demonstration did not show up and they asked me to take his place. So, in front of 1500 kids, I did my first skateboard demonstration.” Already a skateboard warrior at the time, she set the trend for many decades to come. She recalls that “no hill was too steep, no parking lot too tall, no pavement safe; we couldn’t get enough.” Something that could definitively be the title of the next YouTube craze. The year was 1965 when Patti McGee, only 19 at the time, became the first women skateboard champion at the “Women’s National Skateboard Championship”(Danny Bearer won the men’s division). Following that achievement, she became the first professional female skateboarder in history and the demo girl for HOBIE Skateboards (and Vita-Pak) and traveled for about one year demonstrating the boards at a national level. The craze for skateboarding was high and everybody wanted to be with Patti. So, she did several commercials for national brands, then she ap-peared on national television program like “What’s My Line” and “The Johnny Carson Show”. On National television, she demonstrated to the whole world what could be done with a skateboard: a kick-turn (also know as a tic-tac), a 360, several walking the board maneuvers and a handstand. Those flat tricks were considered radical at the time, especially if you remember that the wheels were made of metal, that they had no grip, that they were doing an awful noise; and that the boards were made of skinny solid wood that was not wide enough to place both feet. But what she considers as the highlight of her carrier is not the national tour with Hobie or the TV shows but the cover of Life Magazine. She recalls that “I appeared upside down on my board doing a hand stand on the cover of LIFE magazine on May 14th, 1965,” she said. “I also got the cover of Skateboarder Magazine. That will always be my pride and joy. It’s also another first for girl skaters.” Yes, on the cover of the fourth issue of Skateboarder Magazine! And that was back in 1965.
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““ON NATIONAL TELEVISION, SHE DEMONSTRATED TO
THE WHOLE WORLD WHAT COULD BE DONE WITH A
SKATEBOARD: A KICK-TURN, A 360, SEVERAL WALKING THE BOARD MANEUVERS AND A
HANDSTAND.
““
LITTLE HURRICANEbehind the scenes with:
THE SAN DIEGO BLUES DUO SET TO BREAK OUTBY: CHARLEY ROGULEWSKI PHOTOGRAPHS: FAITH-ANN YOUNG
Little Hurricane, the San Diego blues duo made up of drummer Celeste “CC” Spina and guitarist Anthony “Tone” Catalano, met through a Craigslist ad only two and a half years ago. Shortly afterwards the duo were voted San Diego’s Best New Artist. Since then they’ve sold their belongings, toured the country, had some luck and hit stages at Lollapalooza and ACL. “Really awesome,” they say, “considering no one has heard of us.” “I played drums as a kid and wanted to find some-one to be in a duo with,” says Spina, a former culinary student, of posting the ad that attracted her music partner. The bewitching beauty, who describes herself as “very aware and very paranoid in general,” says she got a lot of “creepy responses” and didn’t respond to most.
Their luck didn’t stop there. “We get really good park-ing spots, too,” says Catalano. “We call it Little Hur-ricane luck,” adds Spina. The band make their way to their mode of transportation, a.k.a. their “Land Yacht.”
“Her Craigslist ad was pretty ridiculous,” admits the soft-spoken and handsome Catalano. “You can tell she had training. She didn’t write me back at first, so I wrote her again with more info. I included that I was in jazz band in high school.” Catalano got Spina’s attention with the words “jazz band.” “I knew that to be in jazz band you had to have talent,” Spina says. “You have to be able to read music and play with a group of people.” After a screening at the bar Spina worked at, the two got to work practicing. “I actually felt a really good vibe right away, just with the music we were discussing that we both liked,” she says.
“I love all vintage stuff and that grimy feel,” says Spina. The band’s good luck charm? The white homemade speaker cabinet they bring to every show. “It’s built into a little nightstand, and that’s our light rig on it,” jokes Catalano. Adds Spina: “The lamp is falling apart, but it’s just character and I think our sound tries to mimic that.” The antique setup also made its way onto their debut cover art.
“I used to play in a rock band and we’d jam on the blues in between rock songs,” says Catalano. “That was the most fun. So with this band, I decided it is just gonna be fun. Let’s start it off with the blues, but dirty blues. It’s got to be dark and grimy, and that’s kind of how our sound came about.”
FINDING YOUR OUTFIT
LAND YACHT
CHECKMATE TO AMUSIC MATE
LITTLE HURRICANELANTERN
UP THE BLUES
3/1411 am
3/1412 pm
3/141 pm
3/141:30 pm
3/143 pm
Having survived the Craigslist tale, the group took to self-promotion. “At our first show we had over 100 people, but it helped that I had switched from cook-ing to bartending,” says Spina. “I would just hand out flyers. That was my job when I was at the bar. If they sat down to get a drink, you were hearing about Little Hurricane and getting directed to our music.”
“The mandolin was another thing I threw at her,” Cata-lano tells us. The old-timey string instrument makes an appearance on the track “Give ‘Em Hell.” “He had this really old mandolin and taught me the part for that,” says Spina.
“I take off my cowboy boots and socks before each show,” Spina says. Sometimes she’ll wipe her bleeding makeup away with her socks.
References to other girl/boy duos are expected. “I was definitely listening to a lot of the Kills before this,” admits Spina. “I like the White Stripes, but as far as us, we don’t wear red on stage. We love the bands, but we certainly don’t try to be like them or copy their sound.”
SERVING UP FLYERS
MANDOLIN BLUES
THESE BOOTS WEREN’TMADE FOR ROCKIN
THOSE “OTHER” DUOS
3/155:27 pm
3/156 pm
3/153:45 pm
3/154 pm
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COLLAB OF THE MONTH
APRIL / MAY 2012
Jay’s work is unmistakable and we’ve been seeing it pop up everywhere; from music videos to television
shows, skate decks, and even on the torn out pages of romance novels. Check out what he created for The Hundreds – a bunch of hilarious punk dudes skate-
boarding, drinking and fighting.
Los Angeles-based artist and illustrator Jay Howell and The Hundreds have decided
to bring you an exclusive tee!
These will only be available at The Hundreds Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Santa
Monica flagship locations
LAST CALL
