Mediterranean spots galore! Here’s a full length from Cyprus, featuring Tasos Panayi, Tony Tzo Josephides, George Christofi, Danae Polykarpou, and Timmy Michaelides. Filmed and edited by Christos Yiannaki, who we’ve had an extensive chat with regarding the island’s skate scene, Stay_K Skateshop, and of course their latest video. You’ll find the full interview down below.

Could you tell us a bit about the Cyprus scene in general? I mean, you’ve been part of it for the last 20 years…

Skateboarding comes in waves, you know?! So, I started right before there was this boom and that plaza I told you about became the epicentre of skateboarding in Nicosia. It was packed on the weekends. We were like 50 people skating there on a regular. Crews from all neighbourhoods would come out to Platia. A couple of years went by like this, and then the first events started happening – mainly at Platia, but at other places too. There were locals from other cities and even pros from Greece coming out to these events. Then, around 2012 there was a serious downtime. It felt like there were only a handful of skaters left in Cyprus, and I had just gotten out of my two year military service. That’s mandatory in Cyprus, you know? It was one of the worst times of my life, and I barely got to skate during my time at the army. But as soon as I got out, my friends were there and hyped me up to skate and film again. All in all, the scene has gone through its ups and downs, but it has always remained active. And how couldn’t it in a place like Cyprus? We’ve got 300 days of sunshine per year. There’s so many spots and possibilities. As of now, I’d say we’ve got like 150 active skaters. Not too bad, if you consider that Cyprus only has a little over a million inhabitants. It’s a small place, it’s a small scene. But it’s a good scene. Everybody knows each other. At events you feel like you’re part of one big crew, one family. On the other hand, the industry’s nowhere to be found. So, no real opportunities for skateboarders here. But also, no copycats. Everybody has their own style, their own bag of tricks, everybody’s got character here. We kind of live in our own bubble over here – which is good for the above-reasons, but can also be a bit of a trap if you‘re ambitious to make it out there, with the big guys.

The industry may not be in Cyprus, but it’ll get people out to Cyprus quite a bit, right?

Yeah. Especially in the late 2000s, Cyprus was a mad hotspot. Brazilians like Felipe Gustavo, Rodrigo TX or Carlos Ribeiro would come; Americans like Tyler Surrey, Andrew Allen or AVE, just to mention a few. It felt like everybody was coming to Cyprus, and everybody would come by Platia, especially between 2007 and 2011. And no matter at what time of the day someone would come by, someone of us was bound to be there, too. 

Any good stories from visiting teams that you could share? Or maybe a surprising encounter at Platia?

I’ve got one for sure (laughs). So, we were sitting at Platia this one night, and we see this long haired, long bearded guy. He was checking out the coast to coast ledge… I’m thinking, this guy looks like Chris Haslam. Then we saw someone who looked like Louie Barletta, too. We were so stoked, and soon enough, most of our friends knew who was in town. As I said, the scene here is small, you know (laughs). So the next day, 30 people were waiting at Platia for them to show up again. They did, but seemed a bit weirded out by all of us obviously waiting for them (laughs). So, they were like: “We’re out”. Some of my friends were pretty bummed to not see them skate, so they actually followed their car, even stopping behind them at a mini market and then to another spot. But, It was kind of a rainy day, and eventually, Chris and Louie came back to Platia… and skated, despite the crowd there, and their stalkers right behind them (laughs). They were probably just over it, and were like fuck it. I mean we were all just kids. I’d still be so curious to know if Cyprus got a bad reputation from that incident, like fucking stalkers everywhere or something along those lines (laughs).

Well, I mean, people kept coming to Cyprus even after this incident, right?

Of course (laughs). Especially in recent years, I feel like Cyprus has become a bit of a hotspot again. Loads of teams and crews come around. But it’s mostly Europeans these days, whereas back in the day, people from all over the world would come by. 

Back to the Cyprus scene now. Could you tell us a little bit about Stay K?

Of course, but first of all, I gotta shout out the other main crews here. Ugly Sides from Larnaca and Ambers Limassol. These guys do a lot of DIY stuff, fixing and building spots. Ambers even made their own full length and premiere couple of years ago, and Ugly Sides are behind this swampfest-style event that happens every year. Also, Tasos‘ @cysk8clips account, again, created to push the scene a lil‘ bit, from some kid’s first kickflip to what the OGs are up to. I just love to see people from within our scene get together and make things happen, cause at the end of the day, at least to me, skateboarding’s about more than just the physical act itself. It’s also about exploration and creativity. As for Stay_K, it started out as a platform to show videos I was filming of everyone in the Cyprus scene, and of my skate trips to Athens. Then, slowly turned into a shop with a team. I mean, it’s been nine years now, that I am running Stay_K as a shop, but it remains a really small operation. Technically, it’s an online shop, but it feels more like a physical or mobile one. I keep a little stock in a small warehouse at home, so people can pass by and try things on. Occasionally, I will hand deliver orders or even show up and help kids set up their completes. At the same time, we also customise our own clothes, we host events, we go on trips, and of course, we make videos and shoot photos. To me, Stay_K is not just a shop or a brand. It’s one big project that entails all facets of skateboarding. Can we compete with big online stores? Of course not. The shipping costs alone make it hard for me to get product to the island. The choice of product we can offer is obviously not as vast as the ones you’ll find on the websites of them big online stores. But if you like to have an active scene, if you like to have local events and videos, if you like to have things happening around you, then it’s worth to support your local shop. That goes for Cyprus as much as for anywhere else in the world. I mean, there are passionate skaters, crews, shops behind each thing that happens within the scene, at the expense of time, money and energy. So, let’s push each other forward. 

Thanks for sharing those thoughts. Could you tell us where the name “Stay_K” comes from?

At one point, with my friends at Platia, we used to call each other “kkelejees”, which means hardheaded in heavy Cypriot dialect. Or, in our case stubborn, in a good way, I would say (laughs). Then kkelejees, in short, became just K. We’d be shouting at each other, “you’re a K”. It was around the time “Stay Gold” had come out, so a friend of mine threw out “Stay K” – and it just stuck with us. 

Let’s jump into “Stay_K to the Bone” now. Could you take us behind the scenes of making this video? 

For sure. We did it the old school way. It’s a full length video, with parts from pretty much the full team. It’s been in the making for four years, and ever since you told me that you guys would be interested in hosting it, everybody went even harder. If you’ve got the flame burning within already, and you get yet another little extra spark, it’ll turn into a big fire. That’s what happened, and as a filmmaker — I mean, as I’ve said earlier, I’ve been making crew videos for 20 years now — with each video, I try to be even better. “Yeah Right” was my first video after all, with its great skits and fun stuff other than the tricks alone, you know what I mean? Plus, I wanna make my videos interesting also for friends and other people who don’t necessarily skate. There’s animations, a mini skit, a small slam section, a little flashback sequence to celebrate my 20 years on the board. Overall, it was inspired by many different videos and eras… There were just so many puzzles to solve. An example is, I followed – more than ever before – something that Pontus Alv said in an interview: that if in one clip you have the skater leaving at one direction, then in the next clip the skater has to start from that same direction. So, the viewer doesn’t have to be searching the screen for the skater in every other clip. Another example, If you look at the transitions from one clip to another, you’ll notice that I tried to use the shape of spots or the architecture in the background as anchor points for smoother transitions from one clip to the next – at least, whenever possible. I would look at the last frame of a clip, and try to find a following clip that would have similar shapes in the first frame. That’s a puzzle that got the best of me (laughs). Another thing, I wanted the video to feature as many lesser known or never seen before spots of Cyprus as somehow possible. 

Any anecdotes from specific clips that stick out to you?

I mean, maybe all filmers can relate, every single clip brings back memories… For example, clips from trips feel special to me, cause you experience things differently spending all that time together with the crew, living together like a family. More specifically, there’s three clips from Tasos at that channel-gap-ditch-spot. He was sessioning it as if it was a skatepark. Tasos also did this frontside 180 over a bump to bar – the first clip in the video – that he was dreaming about since he was a kid and the bar was the same height as him (laughs). Full circle moment! Same for Tony’s kickflip over that block – one of the last tricks in his part. Tony actually called a childhood friend right after to tell him what he had just done at the spot they used to skate in their early days. Then, there’s the NBDs at the coast to coast ledge in the video. Every NBD there is worth mentioning, especially if it’s done by a local. 

How did the premieres go?

Very well, man! The one we’ve held here in Nicosia just felt overwhelming. 150 people or so came out. It was nice to see, and I feel like, at least over here in Cyprus, skateboarding seems to be coming up again. We also got to do a premiere in Athens. That one felt very special too, cause personally, I‘ve been going over there to skate regularly since 2012. Shout out to Thanos Panou for making it happen. It was a double premiere where their Cyprus tour video was shown, too. 

Stoked to hear that. Before we wrap things up, what’s next? Straight into another full length or maybe some off-time after a four year project?

“Stay_K to the Bone” is definitely the biggest project that I’ve worked on so far. So, I guess I’ll take some time off to reflect on what’s next. Time off is important. It keeps you healthy and fresh and capable of producing. But one thing that’s for sure already is that I’ll keep going with my photography. I’ve been shooting quite a bit in the last five or six years, and I would like to do it even more. I mean, for the premieres of “Stay_K to the Bone” we’ve done little exhibitions, and I’ve even got a few photos of mine printed, thanks to Free, Grey (R.I.P.) and you guys, which really got me even more stoked. I love print and I love seeing photos on paper instead of on a screen. So, I don’t know, maybe I will start working on a little ‘zine, now that the full length’s out. And yet, photography might be a new found love of mine, but I certainly won’t forget my first love – which is skating and making videos with my friends.

Sounds great. Thanks for the interview and big up on the video, once again! Any shoutouts?

Thank you! Other than the ones I’ve already mentioned, massive shoutouts to the Stay_K crew for their trust and patience, saving clips for so long: Tony Tzo Josephides, George Christofi, Danae Polykarpou, Timmy Michaelides and Tasos Panayi, cheers! Also, shout out to our graphic designer and animator, Christos Mandilas. I’d like to close it out by saying, watch video projects like this, where much work is put in, the right way. And watch them on a bigger screen than your phone’s. Blast those speakers or headphones and enjoy!