Back to Via Marina

Who remembers it?

The video Via Marina.

For many, this title won’t ring a bell—except maybe for the name of the well-known street in LA. Still, it really stuck with me. Maybe because it was a time of change. It was 2007, and I can assure you that just four years earlier, skate videos looked quite different.

Filmed by Eric Longden, Mike Marasco and Cricket, it introduced new approaches to filming, a lot of indie music, and that unmistakable clothing style of the era—you’d recognize it anywhere.

Pure LA street skating vibes.

What stands out is the raw aesthetic, but never random. VX1000 and DVX100 cameras, lots of lifestyle footage, and above all…THE COLORS. Even though there’s clear intention behind it, it still feels incredibly real.

The approach leans much more toward a crew video than a branded production (obviously), and it features some interesting names.

I don’t know how the Hollywood premiere went back then, but I imagine people were pretty hyped.

Back to some highlights of the video:

The opening Sierra Feller’s manual still makes me smile.. and what kind of style does Nick McLouth have? Maybe knew from many kids just for the first edition of BATB at the time…a great ‘friends’ section full of homies and one with famous names,

Joey Brezinski and Chris Roberts look like they didn’t even try on “Holiday” (with that late-summer feel), with appearances of Daniel Castillo and Kenny Anderson… and then everything shifts with Richie Jackson—love him or not, he makes the whole thing even more diverse.

And the soundtrack is varied and well-balanced, perfectly in line with the video’s aesthetic… Furby opening his part with “I Am a Junkie” really builds the hype before throwing himself into heavy gaps. Nollie bs heel at Carlsbad, still burning.

Every track makes you want to go back and listen again—yes, here we are back to the music discussion… go read the article again (!).

Very often, we’re attached to a video because it matches a specific moment in our lives—or those early years of obsession. Other times, certain tricks stay stuck in your head for 20 years (which is pretty rare nowadays). Sometimes it’s just the perfect song/skater combination.

So yeah, taste in skate videos can be very subjective. But if you still think a video is great 20 years later, maybe it really is.

And it still hits me.

Now enjoy the video

– S