Tag: Sean Pablo

Lucky us, lucky you! Today a load of great skateboard clips got released today. This one is by one of our favorite videographers Ben Chadourne. As in most of his work he once again shares some great footage of Les Bloby’s skating mainly around the French capital. Enjoy!

Featuring Kevin Rodrigues, Paul Grund, Valentin Jutant, Greg Cuadrado, Manuel Schenck, Roman Gonzalez, Luidgi Gaydu, Bobby Worrest, Hjalte Halberg, Antoine Gaston, Sean Pablo, Vincent Touzery and Nasere.

Normally this footage seems to be reserved for Instagram montages but somehow Mr. Strobeck decided to make an entire montage from the Paris leftovers. Seems that Dill had a hand in choosing the song for this one (Mr. Wonder being his favorite artist) and we are happy to see Stevie shine in a montage like this one. Sit down and enjoy all your favorites in this 4-minute throwback to Supreme’s winter months in Paris.

We haven’t seen a Johnny Wilson video in some time and that is slightly unusual for the most productive crew in NY, sure Johnny has been in Paris working on Supreme stuff but in the end that is Bill’s thing. So it is good to see Johnny and company back on our computers screens with the 21st installment of his HD series. Enjoy!

https://vimeo.com/173256374

Once again somebody took the time to create a little Supreme style compilation clips. There is something to it though scrolling through Strobeck’s feed and collection little snippets here and there. You get Fat Bill’s style of filming with the music style of the creator (or not), but in the end something new is created. Remixing or collaging is, was and will remain one of todays most important movements in and out of skateboarding.

Any conversation about Russia and its youth culture these days is bound to include Gosha Rubchinskiy. It’s inevitable. He’s considered one of the most exciting streetwear designers of the day – with collections in haute stores such as Dover Street Market and Tres Bien – as well as an influential photographer. His work is without a doubt a reason why the fashion world is looking East for fresh ideas. His approach consists of an authentic mix of real life situations unfolding around him, captured in a Soviet aesthetic and told in a Russian accent. Skateboarding always plays a major part in Gosha’s imagery and its focus on showing teenagers on the streets in their natural environment. Most of the teenagers don’t even know about their power and their style, which is what inspires Gosha and makes the results appear so real. It’s just normal life, caught with an open mind.

We’ve had the pleasure to meet Gosha in his own Moscow neighborhood, in between bar hopping and walking around from one club to another. To no surprise, he turned out to be a friendly guy who likes to share his story. And it was also impressive to find out that he is taking care of his friends a lot and that he has such a strong belief in a romantic idea of community.


Interview by Benni Markstein

How did you get started with photography? What is your background?

Initially, I started photography in my school years just for fun. I just shot my friends with basic film cameras. It was nothing special. During college, I took some photography lessons and learned how to use mirror film cameras. I studied fashion, styling, hair dressing and some make-up. I always had a need to document my work, so I had to learn more about photography because I had to present it. I learned that it is always better to have a complete project. When I started my fashion project, I started to use my photography for it, since I knew how to develop film. But anyway, I was already taking pictures of my friends my entire life, for example while going out or skating.

Your new book Youth Hotel just launched. Please tell us something about making that book.

There is a hotel in Moscow from the ‘80s that was built for the Olympic Games for the youth and young sportsmen. It’s a strange building with 28 floors in a real Soviet mood and feel. One day a friend of mine, who is a stylist, came to Moscow and she wanted to stay in a strange hotel. So we chose this one as I also wanted to take a look inside and see what’s going on there. It was very interesting, so we rented a room, spent some time there, invited some friends and had some parties there. It’s very empty, so we had the entire floor for us, played some music, danced and also we could smoke. During these parties I shot some pictures there. My friends of IDEA Books, who also made my last book Crimea / Kids, asked me to do something new and asked if I had something for them. I said yes and told them that I have some great outtakes from my Youth Hotel series that we could use. I mixed these pictures with last year’s cool pictures that I never used. I think the name Youth Hotel is very romantic. Youth is such a short period of time in your life that you spend shortly.

You mentioned that you had unused photographs you were able to use. Do you feel that different outlets are also important to realize different ideas in your work?

Photography for me is like a diary. It’s about documenting. I see something and when I think it’s interesting I shoot some faces or some outfits or some boys wearing something in a good way. Afterwards, I can use it for inspiration in my new collections. It’s always interesting to document some energy, or some moods, and to look back for some inspiration.

Please describe the overall image and aesthetic you are aiming to create.

I see something interesting here in Moscow, in Russia. My friends are doing interesting things that I always wanted to show to other Russian people, and also internationally. It doesn’t matter if it’s through photography, or films, or fashion – those are just different ways to show it. For me, it is always about showing things that are happening in Moscow and what is interesting and what is our mood.

The Moscow mood?

Moscow, or Russian, or my Gosha mood – I don’t know! It’s all about the same things told through different outlets. But what is it? I don’t know, it’s my vision; it’s different things that I think are great. If I think this guy is great, or this building, or this landscape is great, I want to show it to people.

And if people don’t like it?

Anyway, I like reactions. It’s a good thing when people react because it’s bad when people don’t care about you. I like bad reactions like: “What the hell is he doing?!” I like that.

What’s your background in skateboarding? Do you still skate?

I’m not, like, a big skater. I started when I was 22 years old. During my school years I never had friends that skated and I was really focused on art, sitting at home and drawing. Later I met some people that skated, not too crazy just in a basic way. Sometimes I go skating but I’m very busy right now and you only have a few months during the year to skate in Moscow. I’m not professional enough to go to indoor skate parks in the wintertime. Also, every year it’s a challenge to kind of start skating again and again. It’s always like stepping on your board for the first time. Anyway, I try to remember how it works.

For me it’s a about the romantic of being a teenager having time to go skate in the streets to escape problems.

Some people still live this life, people who used to do it since they were teenagers. I like to go skate on sunny days in summer and to watch others doing good tricks, to cruise around and take some pictures.

I guess you have many friends that skate, then?

Yeah yeah, it’s a big community with friends, and their friends! When I met these guys for the first time around eight years ago, I thought wow, this is really cool and it is something so true and strong. These guys are really interesting people, the most interesting guys in Russia are from the skate community. Because it mixes guys from different areas: some football fans, some musicians, some Hip Hop dancers, and graffiti guys – they all skate together. Skateboarding is the connection. If you want to meet cool dudes it’s easy to find them in the skate community. For me, it was like fresh air when I met skateboarders for the first time and every year new and cool people become part of the community.

Do you see similarities between skating and fashion? And do you get inspired from skating?

Yes, of course. Normal life always inspires me. I can be inspired by some cool 15 year old guy coming to the spot for the first time because he has some weird style and I will use it for my collection. It works this way for me; one guy can inspire the whole collection. I met Kevin Rodrigues in Paris who has a very cool style – he is really inspiring. Everybody around him is now wearing the same style as him and this is how it works.

How did that connection with Kevin happen and is he your new muse?

First of all, I’m checking what’s going on in the skate world and of course I saw him many times in videos and I liked his style. The first time I met him was in London through a Converse presentation. And when I saw him in real life I thought he was an interesting guy, and that I would like to know him more. Six month later we met again in Paris at Place de la République because we have some friends in common. So we started hanging out, drinking beer, and he was like “Oh, you’re from Russia! That’s cool, we love Russian people.” So we became friends from the first day. It’ the same with Ben Kadow from the US, how they look and how they skate is something I really like.


Crimea / Kids (2014)


What do you think is are the differences between the Moscow scene compared to other cities?

I think the main difference is the places to skate because of the weather and the winter. In Moscow, people have to do all the things they like to do during the summer period because in the wintertime everybody starts to become lazy. I think that’s the main difference between Russia and other countries. But besides that, I think in terms of the community, friendships, and skateboarding – everywhere is the same around the world. That’s because it’s so easy if you go to Paris, or to China, and meet some people at the spot, it’s the same connection.

Many people pay attention to my work and that’s why I need to use it to show the good things about Russia.

At one time you said that you would like to change people’s perception of Russia through your work. Is that true?

Yeah, it’s one of my ideas that I want to show Russia the way I see it. I think I have my own vision and I want to show it because it’s hard to imagine how it is if you don’t live here. I have power and the ways to show it – so that’s why I need to use it. Many people pay attention to my work and that’s why I need to use it to show the good things about Russia. Now we’re living in a time of information war, and especially many bad things about Russia and I would like to say: No, it’s not really like that. I can show you what’s happening. Well, and what I think is the beauty of being a Russian.

Why is there some much attention on Russia at the moment? What is attracting the people?

It was a closed country for many years and no one knew what was secretly happening inside. It was just a big myth surrounding what it is – and it still is. The country is big and of course you can be in Moscow or St. Petersburg, which is easy. But that is not the real Russia. You have to go to other cities to understand the Russian mentality better. Like you told me the story of this security guard Dima in Sochi and what his soul is like. I think you’ll understand more now. These are things I also like to show about Russia, because I think it’s good here. It’s not only clichés.

So what do you have coming up for the future and new projects?

I have an idea for a short movie so I try to find free time for it. First of all, I need to sit down, write the script and then start filming. This will be my next project.

So, will there be skateboarders involved?

Of course, ha-ha!

DSC05820 - копия test

All photos by Gosha Rubchinskiy

When I met Sage, he told me that he often feels like the guy interviewing him becomes his friend, so he’ll talk to them about everything. Sometimes that will get him into trouble, at the same time I feel like a person who is confident enough to be himself at all times is a breath of fresh air. That doesn’t mean that some things can’t be private, but being open might make all the difference when it comes to a person’s longevity in the skateboard business. Because what interviewer likes to hear the same answers over and over again? I certainly don’t. Sage is a natural who isn’t afraid to have his friends’ back and speak up about people or things he doesn’t like. Here’s the 18 year old FA team rider from New York in his own words.

You’re on a European tour with the CONS team right now. Any interesting stories so far?
Nothing much, dudes just ripping. Motherfuckers are all good as fuck, there are not many stories though, we drove around from skatepark to skatepark, from spot to spot. I do feel like on a Europe trip it’s a lot harder to eat, I just forget to eat. In Paris for instance I just ended up eating three baguettes a day at the most, in the US it’s a lot easier because you know where to go to get some food.

Last year the Illegal Civilization crew came out with their second video, a lot of people were shocked by what they saw. Can we expect something new from IC this year?
My friend Mikey Alfred makes all the IC videos and clothes but right now he’s working with Tyler The Creator a lot so I don’t really know what’s going on. But the IC2 video was sick, it was one long big inside joke. The video is just about us hanging out and skating together, we’re a group of friends going out cruising.

A lot of people were hating on the video because they felt the video contained things like animal cruelty but I personally don’t feel like that, the video is sick! I didn’t like my footage, though. Most of my clips where too old and the tricks were weak, but Na-kel, Kevin, and Tyshawn really came through with sick parts.

Sage-Elsesser-Interview
FS Nosegrind

Is there a difference for you between a Converse Project or a Supreme type thing?
With Supreme, making a clip is super natural, we all grew up skating together and we still skate together almost everyday, it’s just the boys: we go skate, some days we might not go skate, some days are terrible and we argue, some days are great, but it’s always a lot of laughter because we are amongst friends. For me Kevin [Bradley] is just an inspirational guy. He’ll smoke ten blunts and all of a sudden he’ll start skating, Bang! He’ll land a sick trick, that makes me want to step it up a notch, too. I think there is a Supreme thing coming soon, though.

Do you feel like you do your best skating when you are amongst friends?
It depends… sometimes when I’m on a tour like this, I want to step it up a notch.

I noticed a couple of people hating on Sean [Pablo] does that happen a lot?
Yeah! I hate when people talk shit on Sean. Somebody started to try and one-up one of his tricks so when Sean landed it first, I went out on the course to show Sean some love. People are just mad because he’s 17 years old getting flown all over the world, he’s got a great style, and he’s pretty. I look at it this way, though – if people are not hating on you, you’re doing something wrong. Dylan [Rieder] is one of the best skateboarders in the world, sometimes I call him super Dylan. Sean gets a lot of the same hate Dylan gets, it’s not their fault that they are fucking gorgeous. They skate like ballerinas, it’s just natural for them, it just looks to good for some people so they start to hate on them. But Sean’s my friend, so I’ll always have his back. That’s why Fucking Awesome is the best. You can just do you, paint your nails, make your own clothes, start a ‘zine, all that stuff.

Do you get to do some of your own FA stuff?
No, Dill does all the graphics himself. Dill is like Cinderella’s step mom. He wants you to be on point, I might meet up with him and he’ll say: “That shirt sucks, take that off.” That’ll leave me feeling embarrassed at times.

I don’t think he would say that about the shirt you’re wearing now (Sage is wearing a Malcolm X T-shirt).
Hell no! This is something everybody can fuck with because it says something important: “I will join anyone, I don’t care what color you are, as long as you want to change the miserable condition that exists on this Earth.” Dill taught us a lot, though. We all came up pretty fast but at the same time it feels really natural. Dill is strict but he isn’t mean for no reason and it’s working. FA is our shit! It’s crazy when I travel to places and I see the influence we have on kids. It’s still kind of weird. Supreme did that poster of Kevin in Thrasher. (BS Tailslide as seen in the Supreme SF clip). Now kids all over the world are hanging that poster on their wall. To me, that’s so sick!

by Roland Hoogwater
Photos: Jon Coulthard

Was motiviert mehr als ein Blockbuster in 4K mit Special Effekten und einem enormen Feuerwerk? Wahrscheinlich das komplette Gegenteil: Handycam, Die Homies und ein Spot der als solcher eigentlich gar nicht bezeichnet werden müsste. Aidan Mackey, Sean Pablo, Sage Elsesser, Jerry Hsu und Logan Lara sind vielleicht auch Gründe wieso man den Clip gesehen haben sollte.

Nachdem in diesem Jahr bereits das Supreme Video “cherry” aus seiner Feder erschien, hat sich Bill Strobeck keineswegs faul auf die Haut gelegt, sondern weiterhin fleissig Zeit auf den Strassen New Yorks verbracht. Herausgekommen ist ein neues Video “Joyride” feat. Sage Elsesser, Sean Pablo, Nakel Smith, Tyshawn Jones, Kevin Bradley, Aiden Mackey und Ben Kadow, wobei besonders letzterer mit einem Gap to Firecracker für Aufsehen sorgt. Besonders gut ist auch zu erkennen, wie die Cherry-Kids gewachsen sind und welche ninjaartigen Fähigkeiten Tyshawn neben seinen Skateskills entwickelt hat. Und: Mark Gonzales ist verrückt.