F is for France: Corey, Gareth & Friends

An alphabet-themed article from the September 2004 issue of Skateboarder featuring a trip to France with Corey Duffel and Gareth Stehr & a few other skaters. This was a pretty cool concept, put together by Gareth, and Brian Gaberman's photos look great.

The first Fallen ads

Below are the first two Fallen Footwear ads, which I scanned from the December 2003 & January 2004 issue of Skateboarder. Photo credit is given to Daniel Harold Sturt. Jamie never cleanly rode away from this trick, despite multiple trips back to get the make. During one of the trips, he landed on one with "pretty controlled layback slide out", which he ended up using for his Ride The Sky part. You can read more about the backstory behind the trick in his November 2008 Skateboarder interview.

The Midwest: Wish You Were Here?

A cool photo feature of Midwest skateboarders skating their local spots, photographed and put together by Iowan Sam McGuire. Included in this is a sequence of Davis Torgerson's nollie frontside hurricane on a handrail in St. Paul, MN.

Product of the Environment: Adrian Williams

In this feature, Adrian talks about growing up in Anchorage, Alaska and being a part of the local skate scene before moving to San Francisco. Words by Mike Munzenrider and photos by Sam McGuire.

Raymond Molinar: May 2007 interview

In this interview, Raymond talks about going pro for Popwar and quitting two weeks later to be am for Habitat, and then going pro for Habitat. Alex Chalmers is the only other skater I can think of who has had that happen to them. Words by Paul Zitzer and photos by Anthony Acosta and Jeff Landi.

James Hardy: December 2010 interview

In this interview, James talks becoming the "fakie guy" after the Fallen video, his love of riding his motorcycle, and how he was shaving his head and eyebrows for a while in support of his friend who was going through chemotherapy. Hardy is an awesome guy! Words by Christian Senrud and photos by John Bradford.

Walker Ryan: December 2010 interview

Below is Walker's brief interview from the December 2010 issue of Skateboarder. What's memorable about this one is his story at the end of unknowingly buying O'Doul's for a get-together, thinking it was regular beer. Words by Chris Nieratko and photos by Matt Daughters.

Also, this is the first time that Walker is appearing on the blog, which is surprising to me because he's been one of my favorite skaters for a long time.

The Making of The Search For Animal Chin

The story of The Bones Brigade, Powell Peralta and The Search For Animal Chin has been told many times in articles, books, interviews and documentaries, so chances are, the information below won't be anything you haven't already heard or read. Or, maybe not. As stories are told and retold over time, small details get excluded, either intentionally or unintentionally, and become lost. Hopefully, there's something in this October 2001 article that you didn't know yet about one of the most culturally significant moments in skateboarding's history.

This article was compiled by Mackenzie Eisenhour and Aaron Meza, and all of the photos were provided by Powell.

The Unveiling of Bob Burnquist's Ramp

This article "unveils" the first of Bob Burnquist's many backyard ramps at his Southern California compound. Included are photos and statements of Bob and some fellow vert skaters of the time getting the first tricks on the vert ramp. Words by Bob Burnquist and photos by Mike O'Meally.

Chet versus the Federales

This article was published in the January 2008 issue of Skateboarder, which was the third magazine I ever got in the mail. All of these years later, it is still one of my favorite magazine features ever written. The story of Chet's capture and rescue in Mexico City during a Nike trip is absolutely wild, and as far as I know, is completely true. Words and photos by Jonathan Mehring.

The Trisect Tour - November 2002

This short article in the November 2002 issue of Skateboarder documents a trip that the Alien Workshop, Habitat & Seek Skateboards teams (get it, "Tri"-[Sovereign] Sect" took from California to the home base of Dayton, Ohio. Two photos that stand out to me in this are Alex Carolino's backside nosegrind revert on the famous Fort Street rail in Detroit that Justin Bohl recently saved, and Stefan Janoski's backside tailslide on a rail a couple of miles away from the house I grew up in. Words and photos by Mike O'Meally.

Karl Watson - May 2002 Organika ad

I believe this is one of the first Organika Skateboards ads, if not the first. It looks really damn cool, so I wanted to post it on its own. I was rereading Karl's 48 Blocks interview recently and learned that he initially wanted to name the company Altered, but was talked out of it by Troy Morgan.

Organika was such a cool board company, and I wish it would have lasted longer. On the bright side, it wasn't around long enough to succumb to the inevitable fate of becoming a parody of itself, like nearly all other longtime skateboarding companies do.

Cinematographer: Fred Mortagne & Menikmati

Below is "French" Fred's short interview with Adam Salo about the making of Menikmati, appearing within the January 2008 issue of Skateboarder. A lot of this information has already come out in other interviews during the 16 years between now and when it was published, but it is still a nice read.

Fred Gall - January 2008 interview

This interview was the main feature of the January 2008 issue of Skateboarder. Fred talks about destroying hotel rooms on tour, owing the IRS over 20 grand in unpaid taxes, and much more. He's one of the most interesting and entertaining people to have picked up a skateboard, and this interview gives a small window into what his life was like at this time. Words by Chris Nieratko and photos by Jonathan Mehring.

I remember reading this interview over and over when I first got the issue in the mail, fascinated with how casually he talked about owing the IRS so much money. It's amazing to see how much Fred has pulled his life together recently, and he's still ripping to this day!

One last thing: if I recall correctly, there isn't much of a backstory to the photo with Fred & the butcher outside of a slaughterhouse. I believe what Mehring told me was that they were drive around one day and saw the guy standing there, and thought it would be a cool picture to get.

Fred also had the cover of this issue (photo by Mehring)...

...and here's an ad for his Ipath shoe that he talked about in the interview.