The project is inspired by Maksim Kalanep’s Salaspils Battle back from 2009 (a must watch for those who doesn’t know) and Clockwise Skateshop’s BALTIC TAPE from 2015. So it is kind of a tradition in Latvian Skateboarding to make such contests.
First Episode of R.USH HOUR with our man Dimon Deda!
R.USH HOUR is a video contest. We invite skaters for a session to G-tiim skatepark, film their tricks, show to you and in the end we will have a vote to find crowd’s favorite! The plan is to have two videos each week.
The project is inspired by Maksim Kalanep’s Salaspils Battle back from 2009 (a must watch for those who doesn’t know) and Clockwise Skateshop’s BALTIC TAPE from 2015. So it is kind of a tradition in Latvian Skateboarding to make such contests.
Next on the list is the man behind G-tiim skatepark and the most technical skater we have got! EPISODE 2 Coming tomorrow
New Monster park has opened its doors, and is fully skatable now. The park is amazing and really fun to skate. We visited the first skateboarding evening and were mind-blown by the quality and design of the park. It is warm, has a lot of flat and isn’t slippery (80% less slams guaranteed). The design is super simple: nice balance of spots where you can get gnarly and learn new tricks. Or just cruise around, for instance: you can hit the ledge, do a flip trick, push around, roll into the miniramp, get in somebody’s way, do a frontside grind and then roll away and repeat the whole process again. Really enjoyable. You are in skating a park, but because of all the pushing you do it doesn’t feel like skating a skatepark, you know? Also everyone can find something to skate there and enjoy a good session. For more info on location and prices visit monsterparks.lv.
Few years ago one Latvian skateboarding website (when we still had those), hosted a video of a London-based Latvian. His name was Klavs, and he was skating some banks, doing wallies, making everyone feel envy, as we didn’t have any cool banks to skate and do wallies around here. This was the first time I heard of Klavs Laivenieks, and somehow I knew he was a filmer as well. Few years later we talked online for the first time, we had a typical filmer conversation on the topic of footy exchange. “Hey, Pavel told me you had some clips of his, can you send them to me please?”. Since then we were exchanging clips (mostly me begging for Klavs’ clips) and giving mutual respect to each other. First time we met in person was in Barcelona of all places. I remember I didn’t recognize Klavs at all. I mean I have only seen his profile picture on Facebook prior to that. Since then, Klavs made tons of videos and recently a video series called Broke Lads, which actually sprung the idea for this interview.
Klavs how is it going? Yo Yo!!! All good, chilling.
You have just returned from Barcelona, how was that?
Yes, I was in Barcelona little while ago in the end of November. Haven’t had time to answer any of your questions all this time. Had to do some work to earn some money! But Barca was great. Apart from getting a ticket for skating. Stayed there for 7 days with a homie who used to live in London and now moved to Barcelona. Plan was just to skate around and film some stuff. And ended up getting quite a lot of footy in 5 days of filming and we put little edit together.
You are originally from Liepaja, right? Did you start skating there? How did it happen?
Yes I’m from Liepaja and that’s where I grew up and started skating. I guess the usual story of THPS2 that was the start of everything.
Who did you grew up skating in Liepaja? Because Liepaja is a small city you skate with everyone there. There wasn’t different scenes and stuff. I think we were only 20 people or so who skated in Liepaja. So everyone skated together. I started skating with my cousin and friends from my area but after the park got built you met everyone there and we skated together.
What about filming? How did you get into that? We just wanted to film how we skate and put some videos out. I had a point and shoot digital camera which could record video, so I wanted to make a skate video from Liepaja. But then all of us would film and edit so there was no actual filmer. But I was trying to learn all the editing softwares and shit so that got me more into filming and editing. Because seeing new videos, I would always wonder how they did that effect or this effect… anything really that looked cool in skate videos. So I focused more on filming when we would go out skate.
Why did you move to UK?
We moved to UK because we didn’t know what to do. I finished school and didn’t want to study anymore so we made a plan… Me and homie Shaulis knew some friends who were already living in London and just decided to try to move there without much of a plan and if anything will work out.
Klavs filming with Fricis Štrauss/ London
What did you do at first? When we first got to London we were living in a shitty hostel for two or three months till we had saved enough money to move somewhere else. We found a job through some agency packing DVD`s over night. It was basically you standing by a desk opening the cover passing it on someone else he then puts the disk inside and then passes it further… pretty shitty job! I worked there for two weeks maybe and then got a job in a “skate shop” which was one of those stores that sell everything extreme. But it was much better than working night shifts packing DVD`s and plus I got boards cheaper. Worked there for couple years and started to freelance.
How did the local scene welcome you when you moved there?
Locals here are friendly and welcoming to new heads who show up to local spots. So maybe first 2 years I wasn’t filming because I just didn’t really know anyone and wasn’t too bothered of filming at all. But then moved to different area where I have local park across the street and became good friends with all the locals and slowly got back in to filming. Plus there wasn’t really anyone who filmed at that time with those guys and also that is a good excuse to leave the park and go skate streets.
What is your current filming crew? Do you film with some Baltic guys? Yeah, I film with all the Latvian homies who live here Pavel, Martins, Mason some Lithuanians as well. But usual crew consists of people from all over the world – Brazil, UK, Spain, South Africa. You get people from everywhere here.
BrokeLads – Pavel Berezjuk and Martins Horns
Tell us about Broke Lads. How did that come to be? Where did the name came from?
The name comes from bookies shop called LadBrokes. Lukas came up with that name by changing some letters around. And BrokeLads just seemed quite fitting name because we all are quite broke.
https://vimeo.com/240921018
Why did you decide to make a series rather than going for a full length video? Well I did edit a full length edit from the footage but it didn’t feel right. It was too long around 25min or so. Not many people would watch video that long so I just decided to make short episodes instead. Plus we could continue filming for the next episodes. I still have a fair amount of clips that I didn’t put in. So maybe will put those clips out soon as well.
What is your take on full length videos? Do you think they are still important these days? Definitely. It just depends who puts it out. For example Static series, they can easily put out full length nowadays because they have established themselves over the years with sick videos and everyone will want to see the next one. Same with Sabotage and Colin Read`s Spirit Quest. But I think It’s harder if you are putting out a full length video for the first time. I think the big company videos are kinda over, because all the marketing goes to short web clips from which they can generate more views and possibly more money. Which has changed how everyone see`s full lenght`s. I would say that full lengths are important for the “underground” scene but they have to be good for people to want to watch them.
Lukas – Ollie/ Photo by – Klavs
Which videos hype you up to film and skate?
Depends on a day and mood haha! Josh Stewart’s edits are sick anything from Theories of Atlantis is good. Mean Streets, GX100 and New Balance edits just because the way they shoot the videos is amazing from filmers point of view, to get some HD inspiration.
Typical filmer question: SD or HD? You used to be into expensive HD cams, weren’t you? I remember Pavel telling me that you had some gnarly filming gear at one point (RED?). What made you want to go to SD (vx)? HD! hahah! Honestly I like both but I fucked my VX Fisheye and now I need to buy a new one for £400. So I guess for now I will stick with HD. Yeah, I still have those mad HD cameras because I also work freelance, I film and edit non skate related stuff like commercials and events. So, I try to keep up to date with what’s going on in the film world. I bought the VX because everyone was just so hyped on it again, and plus I never owned one. And everyone was so hyped to go film all of a sudden.
What is a typical filming session for you? Typical filming session…. everyday is different. Sometimes we meet at skatepark have a little warm up sesh and then head out to the city but it is easy to get stuck there. And trying to get everyone out is the hardest part. Other days we just meet at some spot and then go from there. Really depends on the day who’s out and about skating.
Fs Nose from Koito Komada shot by Klavs
I heard that you were filming a skateboarding show for television? Can you tell us about that? Yes, I was working on a TV show which I believe is coming out in march on Sky TV. It was Skate, Bmx and inline TV show. The concept was kinda lame though. It wasn’t a regular contest but race instead. They built a massive indoor park in air ship hanger in middle of nowhere, and everyone was racing against each other. We were there to shoot GoPro replays with time slice effect. (youtube Matrix Bullet time).
Sounds crazy! Do you have any plans for this year? Any video projects? Are you coming to Latvia any time soon?
Will see what happens this year, will try to film something definitely, but don’t have anything planned. Will try to visit Latvia in summer time so I can chill in Liepaja on the beach. But maybe some more Barcelona visits to film something there with homies. But will put out something fo sure!
Klavs made an edit of all Martins Horns clips from BrokeLads. Watching the series we enjoyed Martins clips a lot, and it is great to see them all in one vid.
We have some links for you to enjoy from the first month of 2018, and not only that we will throw some more stuff in the mix from December as well and February.
Our Game of Skate Champion and Latvian skateboarding’s best son Madars Apse dropped a massive kickflip at Uzvara into the bank. It is approximately a two meter drop into a bank. The photo made it to Thrasher magazine to accompany Madars’ interview, which we are looking forward to read if someone can supply us with a copy. Photo was also mentioned by our new homie Jamie Foy in a first look vid. However, the dopest thing about all of this is that our man Marcis Ruikis shot that photo, so we would like to congratulate Marcis on getting a photo in Thrasher magazine.
Okay, back to reality. January was a pretty cool month for Lithuanians. Now Vilnius has a new place for skaters to spend cold shitty winter days. New spot is called Core Indoor, it has opened its doors on the territory of Commune DIY and as far as we can tell is run by the same people. The park super low impact and looks like fun to skate. It is made exclusively for skateboarders as well so sounds legit.
Kaunas gang Fully Ghetto, which we talked about in one of our previous articles, turned into a board company. We asked Domantas Antanavicius to confirm on that and this is what he replied: Dayum right G! Which means that Fully Ghetto is a skateboard company now! Crew released two board models which you can buy at Clockwise skateshop and . They also released a video to announce the release. We are stoked for Fully Ghetto gang and are looking forward to see what will be next!
Speaking about board companies Latvian Straight Forward skateboards are still alive and kicking, so don’t forget about them! The company plans to return this year with a fresh board stack and a video project. At least they made a claim like that in their recent post. You fuckers better do it right!
Andis Vanadzinš from the legendary Saldus Saldie crew is kicking it in Berlin right now, doing some mega lines in some expensive ass indoor parks. We are happy for you man.
Speaking of expensive ass indoor parks, you probably noticed by now that Monster Park has closed its doors and left the building. They moved to a new location, and as rumor has it: new place is going to be much bigger than the previous one, and it will have some top-notch state of the art equipment to train future athletes. Like this artificial ”kinda” wave thing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Can’t wait!
Our friend Roberts Krums is cooking, or by now has already cooked a video. There is a dope trailer for it and we are looking forward for the full upload!
Raul Urberg Estonian SOTY 2017// Photo by: Antti Sinitsyn
Congrats to Raul for becoming the Estonian SOTY 2017. We asked Kataloog’s head Antti Sinitsyn why he chose Raul this year this is his response:
Well, everybody’s skating was very good, but he was just the guy who took it up a level, you know?
You can be really good at skating, but to be the Estonian Skater of the Year you kind of have to do all of the good skating, but also make it stand out.
After witnessing Raul back lip the LNB rail in the dark we totally agree with this pick! The man deserves this title! It looks like the Estonia SOTY party was a blast as well.
Who would have thought that it would be possible to pull off a skateboarding event outdoors in January? And we are not in Cali, we are here in the north and in the middle of nowhere. So how is it possible? How come we can skate outside in this time of the year? Well it is because of Global warming! Apparently it is real and we are all doomed! But don’t worry, at least no one can blame us for it! We skateboarders have a minimal ecological footprint, right? We skate instead of drive, we hang out outside instead of wasting electricity inside, we utilize public space and take the most of it. Take Prisma parking lot for instance, it is practically abandoned at the moment, but the light is always on there; they just waste electricity there! Good thing we showed up and utilized this space for a good cause. And this is how it went down through the lens of our friend Arturs Bogdanovičs.
Friends showing upMadars warming up! Media crew trying to understand the settings. Still don’t know how to do it. First game startsSo many beers on the lineMr. FlexibleMiks is a legendary game of skate champ in Latvia, so he knows how to judge a game well.A breathtaking game it wasNext game! Let’s get it!Pro bartender vs pro skaterDraugiem.lv profile photo 1Draugiem.lv profile photo 2See you at the bar!Edijs Aizstrauts – Third place! Destiny brought him here and he deserved it!Finals! Super serious shit!Madars lost another ro-sham-boSilence.Seconds before a slamDraugiem.lv profile shot 3. What is it? A mobbed ollie north?Super tension! We had people with little children there.Don’t know what it is, but will he make it?Nah! WhatevesGet drunk, ride a scooter downhill and we guarantee you will slam less than Fricis skating flat What did you think was goona happen?The winner! Latvia’s favorite son! MADARS APSE!
We would like to thank everyone for coming! We had awesome times. Game of Skate championship will be back this year somewhere in September. We plan to give some new guys a chance, so stay tooned and follow rajontv.com for more info!
We had Game of Skate chanmpionship finals last Friday at Prisma. The event turned out way better than we expected. Big up to everyone who showed up, we were stoked to see so many people! Shout out to our friends who supported us with prizes: Clockwise skateshop, G-tiim skatepark, Pussy wax and Straight Forward skateboards, Karlis Bogustovs and Temps Mort – high quality skate bags made by our friend and fellow skateboarder Jurģis Ozols. Temps Mort bags can be found at Tikari Skateshop.
We had Game of Skate chanmpionship finals on Friday at Prisma. The event turned out way better than we expected. Big up to everyone who showed up, we were stoked to see so many people! Shout out to our friends who supported us with prizes: Clockwise skateshop, G-tiim skatepark, Pussy wax and Straight Forward skateboards, Karlis Bogustovs and Temps Mort – high quality skate bags made by our friend and fellow skateboarder Jurģis Ozols. Temps Mort bags can be found at Tikari Skateshop.
We had Game of Skate chanmpionship finals yesterday at Prisma. The event turned out way better than we expected. Big up to everyone who showed up, we were stoked to see so many people! Shout out to our friends who supported us with prizes: Clockwise skateshop, G-tiim skatepark, Pussy wax and Straight Forward skateboards, Karlis Bogustovs and Temps Mort – high quality skate bags made by our friend and fellow skateboarder Jurģis Ozols. Temps Mort bags can be found at Tikari Skateshop.
All in all we had four games and we will post them all till tomorrow, so stay tuned.
