Sal Masekela has come a long way since we first met him in the water at our home break. He was paddling out we were coming at him on a wave. And he started laughing his deep, infectious chuckle, “That’s the slowest I’ve ever seen anyone surf in my life.” We took it as a compliment. Then, he reappeared as receptionist at Transworld Media, then singing karaoke at an industry conference. Next thing we knew he was the voice of action sports. And he was exactly what mainstream action sports coverage needed — a surfer/snowboarder who could think, talk, and hold a mic all at the same time.
Outside Magazine just posted the official Selma story written by David Shultz. It’s titled Unlikely Preacher of Action Sports and it goes a little more like this:
Sal Masekela steps off a helicopter onto the white sands of Tavarua Island Resort, a tiny speck in the Fiji archipelago, and walks into a gorgeous open-air restaurant that overlooks a world-famous reef break appropriately dubbed Restaurants. He greets the Fijian staff by name, hugging them, asking them about their lives since his last visit.
Damn. Still a baller after all these years. For the rest of the celebrity profile/career reset piece please, by all means, click the link.
Following on the heels of House of Vans and Apple’s “Town Squares” concept comes Burton Snowboards hopes to create an entertainment hub in a new space that has become available at its global headquarters in Burtonton, Vermont, according to a story in Seven Days Vermont.
Burton Snowboards wants to repurpose warehouse space at its global headquarters in Burlington for an entertainment hub anchored by an 8,000-square-foot concert venue. . . Justin Worthley, the company’s senior vice president of human resources, envisions food and beer options that would complement the band space and turn the South End campus into a destination for visitors.
Beer is always important. Lots and lots of beer. Because drunk people are the best. Sadly, Burton will first have to get the zoning changed, as music venues are only allowed on Burlington’s Pine Street and must be under 5,000 square feet. Party on, Burlington.
Tony Hawk is reportedly joining a project to turn Nick Hornby’s book Slam into a Broadway musical, according to Broadway News, because now days every artistic, branded entertainment vehicle needs to be set to music — thank you Lin-Manuel. If you haven’t read the book (and you should) here’s the jist:
“Slam” follows Sam, a teenager with a troubled home life, as he finds out that his girlfriend Alicia is unexpectedly pregnant. He imagines having conversations with Hawk as a way of finding his way through the situation. Though the novel is set in London, the musical will be resetting the story in the U.S.
Skateboarding’s favorite musician Mark Motherbaugh is writing the music and Kyle Jarrow (of Spongebob Squarepants musical fame) will write “the book.” Tony will reportedly create some “skate choreography” for the project and we’ll all be humming along when it comes out.
Seriously. This is something we never thought would happen. And it has pretty much nothing to do with snowboarding, surfing, and even skateboarding. But, the dirty, inky, packed punk rawk ‘zine Maximum Rocknroll is shutting down their presses after 42 years (and 400 issues) covering DIY punk and hardcore music. We probably haven’t read it in 20 years, but it’s still kind of of sad (maybe not to Green Day). Here’s MMR’s explanation.
It is with heavy hearts that we are announcing the end of Maximum Rocknroll as a monthly print fanzine. There will be three more issues of the fanzine in its current format; later in 2019 we will begin publishing record reviews online alongside our weekly radio show. Readers can look forward to more online content, updates regarding the archive project initiated in 2016, and other yet-to-be-announced MRR projects, as well as new ways for punks around the world to get involved. We will be having a public meeting at 2:00pm on Sunday, January 20 at the MRR compound to discuss the future — please write mrr@maximumrocknroll.com for details.
Seriously? Who looks forward to online content these days? Anyone? Thought not. Guess it’s almost time to get inky again.
In a farewell letter published on Hypebeast outlining exactly why he is ending the Benny Gold brand and handing his SF retail space back over to HUF, Benny Gold (the person) outlines the situation successful artists often get in when their “brand” becomes bigger than themselves — better in one paragraph than many have been able to do in 30 page Keynote projects. He explains exactly how it feels when the beastly machine begins driving the master and creating its own reality. Here is the paragraph from Hypebeast.
We have a beautiful flagship location in San Francisco and an outstanding staff that has helped me realize my full potential. The brand has become bigger than myself and I am forever grateful for this. . . But with this success comes it’s own set of challenges. I now find myself growing less creatively as my days are spent managing people, budgets, and production issues. I am feeling increasing pressure to follow trends and go more “urban” in the attempt to capture more market share. A brand becomes a living, breathing thing and every brand has a life cycle -— well it’s become increasingly clear to me that the Benny Gold brand is nearing its end. I would rather bring it to a close and celebrate it’s life with integrity rather than push it to become something I no longer believe in.
How’s that? It answers so many questions we’ve had about other emerging clothing brands. How do you keep doing the same thing over and over? Season in, season out? It’s nice to see someone admit it straight up — you can’t. Not unless you change everything that got you there in the first place.
Congrats Benny. Well done. We look forward to seeing what you’re working on in the next phase.
While we’ve all been celebrating the monster snow storms that have finally arrived to kick off the 2018-19 snowboarding season recent snowfall has wreaked havoc across the United States and Europe. Mostly in the form of avalanches that have taken out dozens of people in the past few weeks (including the one shown above that took out Garret Hunting at Powder Mountain, Utah last week). Follow the jump for the entire list of stories.
We’ve always felt a strange disconnect between East Coast “streetwear” and skateboarding in general. Nothing brings our confusion into clearer focus than Supreme. Yes, James Jebbia has done a stellar job of appropriating all the right stuff to create a billion dollar clothing company, starting with artwork from Barbara Kruger and then logoing pretty much everything and marketing it to NYC’s label obsessed kids. But, really? Is a collection of 248 “limited edition” Supreme skate decks really worth $1 million dollars? Guess we’ll find out soon enough, at Sotheby’s, according to a story on The National.
The 248 boards, which will be sold as one lot through Sotheby’s, offer a unique archive of Supreme’s work and present a rare opportunity to see all of the designs together. Not surprisingly, this adds to the value and, with no buyer’s premium, the collection is expected to sell on January 25 for between US$800,000 and $1.2million (up to Dh4.4m).
Go get ’em Ryan Fuller. What are the chances the new owner will be an EDM producer? Pretty high we’d guess.
We’ve always loved the idea of lake surfing, but never have we seen it this big and this cold. Dylan Graves takes Vans Weird Waves on a trip to the heartland with guide Burton Hathaway and some of the most stoked surfers on the planet. Watch and be inspired.
Cal Poly surfer Nick Wapner, 19, was surfing Tuesday morning (January 8, 2019) at Montaña de Oro State Park when a Great White Shark snuck up below him and gave him a chomp across his legs and surfboard, according to a story in the San Luis Obispo Tribune.
He didn’t even see a splash. . . “It all happened quickly, but I turned and saw that it had one of my legs in its mouth,” Wapner said. . . The shark bit down on the lower part of his legs around his ankles, and then up to his thighs. In a skirmish that he estimates lasted a few seconds — though his mind was racing and it’s hard to say exactly — Wapner kicked the shark hard in the head and wrangled himself free. . . The experienced surfer said he didn’t feel any pain initially as adrenaline shot through his body.
Wapner thinks the shark was in the 15 foot range. Luckily, Nick got away with only 50 stitches.
It’s always interesting to see what the brands think the kids want to see. Here is Vans’ latest short form snowboarding promo titled Together Forever.
Coming off the heels of Vans’ first full-length film LANDLINE., film director Tanner Pendleton returns this season with a short-length project featuring Vans snow team riders Jake Kuzyk, Arthur Longo, Sam Taxwood, Danimals, Pat Moore, Cole Navin, Hana Beaman, Darrell Mathes, Dillon Ojo and more. Filmed primarily on Kodak 16mm film on location in Japan, France, Russia and Finland, Together Forever follows a group of individuals-turned-family as they travel the world and do what they love most.
Apparently that’s skateboarding, snowboarding, and a little hugging. Enjoy.
Tony Hawk is reportedly joining a project to turn Nick Hornby’s book 
Seriously. This is something we never thought would happen. And it has pretty much nothing to do with snowboarding, surfing, and even skateboarding. But, the dirty, inky, packed punk rawk ‘zine 
