Skatevideos saves good time

I was a skateboarder for some times at that point of my life, livin’ in a small village in the middle of the mountains, where I was the only skateboarder, and there wasn’t spots

I’ve lived the end of the Powell Days, the born of modern street skateboarding, the world industries Rubbish Heap period, and, obviously I was total Girl Skateboards fan.

I’ve survived the bullies in my village that make fun of my clothes, my hair, my passion. I’ve survived the small wheels big pants era, where I’ve tried not so fun tricks for hours without landing them obviously, I’ve survived the Everything sucks era, the change of the decks, from Rob Roskopps 10.5, to 7.3 inch wide boards.

So, I’ve survived some pretty strange era in skateboarding, nothin’ can be as bad as a pressure late flip down a sidewalk .

I was in Stockolm, summer 1994, fresh out of high school diploma, in search of a place to skate, grow, and change prospectives of a small town boy. An avid street skater in Stockolm in the 90’s… great city, but not exactly the street mecca of the time. 

Everyday I was skating the Fryshuset skatepark, it was basically one of the few place where you can skate during that time, skateboarding was kinda dead, I know nobody up there, there where skaters, but I have no friends to call and skate. Well, actually I befriended with a couple of vert guys, easy ones: Matthias Ringstrom, Adil Djani and Ingmar Backman (that later on, became one of my favourite snowboarders ever), but basically they skate the vert ramp… and at the time I barely drop in a vert ramp. 

I was a street skater with few skills, in a skatepark in Stockolm, me and a young 14 years old Ali Boulala with green converse that was jumpin from the side of the vert ramp, to a quarter in the middle of the street course, you cannot even imagine what it meant to see him skating at that time.

The adventure wasn’t workin for me. No friends, strange place that at the time I wasn’t understanding, I was missing home and friends, no money, maybe I was a little depressed, and it was cool to act depressed in the 90’s !!!! 

Anyway, I was in the full mid life crisis, at 20 years old, thinkin about it was time to grow up and find a work, and something to do in my life.

Dumb uh?

Here and there, i went to G Spot, a famous skateshop in Stockolm,just to talk to someone, maybe find some skate friends, tryin to integrate myself in the scene, but it wasn’t working. 

They have a basement with products and a TV with skate videos in heavy rotation, classics of that time: 411’s, Plan b, World industries, some New deal video, but I wasn’t enjoyn it, I wasn’t feelin it, and I was considering give up skateboarding and move forward in my life.

At the time, skateboarding was costantly changin, tricks, style, clothes, every 6 months there was a “revolution”, expecially for Europeans who didn’t have access directly to California. And the shop employ press play to an old H Street video, from 1990, basically a geological era in the skateboarding little world.

I don’t know why, they put “This is not the new H Street video” in the VCR Player.

H Street was HUGE in the late 80’s, I was a fan of their raw videos, This is not the new H Street Video is a “minor” production of the infamous H Street, that was HUGE in the 80’s, not so loved in the Good Ol’ USA, but we’ve tons of fans in Europe.

So, the video start, it was seriously a minor production from H Street, it was, again, AN OLD VIDEO, maybe I haven’t seen it at the time, or I didn’t take notice, but somehow I got intrigued: the tricks were kinda old, 80’s vert skaters, mixed with late 80’s , really early 90’s street skaters that were tryin “new” tricks. The music was “kinda”, tricks weren’t perfect, clothes and shoes were all messed up (from Hi tops airwalks, to vans Chukka boots), but I was intrigued.

And there was Matt Hensley

I forgot about Matt Hensley

I forgot how fuckin’ cool was Matt Hensley.

I don’t know what happened that day, it wasn’t the best Hensley part, but maybe it’s the song, the way he skates, or I don’t know, but I fell in love again with skateboarding in a moment where I was doubting skateboarding, so I walked out the shop and start pushing around the streets, tryin again ollie north, some fs ollies here and there, totally alone in a city that I wasn’t feelin it, and started feeling home again, ‘cause I was skateboarding and I was havin fun with it.

I personally hate the nostalgia effect, I don’t like to get stucked in an era of skateboarding, something you’ll think is the “golden era” (maybe ‘cause you were young and carefree at that time).

I’m obsessed of skateboarding culture, but Skateboarding to me is all about the next session.

After that moment, I’ve had a few videoparts that make me feel fine, kinda like some confort food. When you’re skate depressed, but that one stuck in my mind, and that song is still in heavy rotation in my playlist to get pumped in life.

Find you “confort food” skate video part, and remember that a skateboard is still the best toy ever.

– S