MYSTIC MADNESS — Volcom in PRAGUE  •  Shrimp Cocktail – Joe Lascar  •  Julien Bachelier Interview  •  ROBERT AND THE ANIMALS  •  A BOUQUET OF RADISHES – Leon Charo Tite. •  Gallery  •  We still live here  •  A Journey to Planet Slappy  •  Legal Notice

Mystic Madness – Volcom in Prague 

Photos. Clément Chouleur

Text. Clément Chouleur

Ever since I started shooting skate photos, one of my main goals – besides snapping decent flicks – was to hit the road. I remember thinking: Damn, skateboarding is all about that – making friends, sharing the best times on and off the board, and seeing the world, obviously. That feeling never really left me. So, when I first heard about the Volcom trip to Prague for the Mystic Cup, I knew I had to get on it. I’d been wanting to check out that contest for years, and this trip felt like the perfect excuse to do so. Plus, the lineup was too good not to have a photographer on the trip – Simon, Lucien, Harry, Matisse, Thanos, Madi, Jechu… come on. Thanks for letting me sneak in, Roberto!

Shrimp Cocktail – Joe Lascar 

Photos. Clément Chouleur

Additional photos. Renan Garcia, Râm Legrand, Fabian Reichenbach

“A night out in the rain with nothing but a hammock, followed by a seven hour drive to a different city? No more bed left at the Airbnb after a ten-day camping trip? I don’t care, I just wanna skate – and he will. From deep ends to double banks, from ledge plazas to campfires at the DIY. Showing up on tour with no backpack, just a skateboard and a plastic bag with some clothes and a pair of leopard loafers. Insouciant and intense. Shrimpy’s the real deal, and he’s certainly got a bright future ahead – as long as there’s enough disinfectant and band aid around to protect his delicate flesh. T’es beau, mon Joe!” (Nico Uhler)

A look behind the scenes at Antiz Skateboards / Iron Distribution

Photos. Loïc Benoit, Fede Casella, Clément Chouleur, Hannes Mautner, Fred Mortagne, Sem Rubio, Christos Yiannaki

Interview. Nico Uhler

Salut Juju, what up? Hey, sorry for being late. I went to the office this morning… on my board, just cruising with my dog running next to me. At the bottom of this downhill, right next to the office, I saw a lady and her kid. They had bombed the hill on a bike, and they took a gnarly slam. So, I had to check that they were fine. All good, though. I told the kid that taking a slam from time to time will only make you stronger. ——— Good on you! Guess we’ll talk about one or another slam throughout this interview, too. But, for now, let’s bring it back to the beginning. You grew up in the Parisian suburbs. How did skateboarding come into your life? I was born and raised in Chelles. My dad’s cousin is from Marseille, and he was really into windsurfing. He was a board shaper, actually. He shaped a board for me when I was five years old. It had “Juju” written on it. He taught me how to surf, and I was really into it. But as a Parisian, I was quite far away from the scene. Skateboarding was all around me, though. So, in the beginning, skateboarding became some sort of substitute for surfing… until it wasn’t a substitute anymore, but my all and everything. In 1989, I learned ollies on the grass on a Lee Ralph Vision board without griptape

Robert and the animals

Photos. Robert Christ

Text. Nico Uhler

Agilis venator viarius, commonly known as skateboarders, are complicated creatures, magnificent to some, with a goofy charm much like the long-lost dodo, yet fearsomely inconvenient to others. Skateboarders are very adaptive. They can be found on every continent, and some recent studies even suggest that they have become keystone species in many concrete jungles around the world, meaning that they are of significant importance to the health of the ecosystems they inhabit.

A bouquet of radishes – Leon Charo Tite

Photos. Friedjof Feye

Text. Lea Isabell Uhle

Leon’s the type of person who will offer you some radishes as if they were a bouquet of flowers. Hailing from the countryside and now living in the city of Berlin, he feels at home just as much in nature as he does in urban landscapes. He’ll find spots wherever he goes, even in places where there is no concrete. With ease and curiosity, he will turn every session into an adventure. He will see opportunities in places that others would simply pass by. Wallie backside 180, not on a wall, but on a tree stump. Skating with Leon reminds you to keep your eyes open – not only for potential spots, but also for other important things in life. It will remind you to enjoy life.

Gallery

Photos. Anthony Acosta, Dela Charles, Thomas Gentsch, Patrick Runte, Alan Maag, Kyle Seidler, Fernando Paz Lucas Magnacco, Joel Peck

We still live here

Photos. Hannes Mautner

Additional photos. Ayman Youssef Liidia Maier, Fred Mortagne, Patrick Biland, Fabian Reichenbach, Wouter de Jong

Text. Nico Uhler

67 days on tour, 16.000 kilometres on the road, fired up by some beautiful human beings – tent people, forrest people and fire people alike: Robin Bolian, Jonas “Ginger” Bünger, Wouter de Jong, David Bachl, Jan Hirt, Ramon Notz, Jeroen Bruggeman, Tim Rebensdorf, Jan Hoffmann, Matisse Banc, André Gerlich, Joe Lascar, Matteo Vandeputte, Niels Bennett, Uryann Raudet, Émilie Alexandre, Marco Kada, Thanos Panou, Arthur Bultynck, Jeanne Lagger, Lorenz Schneider, Simon Gärtner, Catherine Marquis, Sergio Reinhardt, Ruben Lücke, Noam Lichtenstein, Mehdi Soltane, Andrei Balaban, Max Schröer, Colin Sean Hollinsworth, Omar Alabbar, Pasquale Grispo, Pieter de Clus, Andrea Dubourgeat, Dallas Rockvam, Yann-Xavier Horowitz and so many more.

A journey to planet slappy

Photos. Fabian Reichenbach

Text. Fabian Reichenbach

“Everything starts with an ollie.“ – Does it really, though? I mean, don’t get me wrong, most things in skateboarding do start with an ollie: shove-its, kickflips, heelflips, … The list goes on and on. But there’s also an alternative route you can take, one where you don’t have to flip your board onto that rail. If you just got into skateboarding and you’re still learning how to pop your board properly, it’s the most normal thing on earth to miss the right moment here and there. But you might still end up riding onto that curb somehow – your first step on this alternative route, that will ultimately lead you to the simplistic essence of what skateboarding is all about.