2024 was an exceptional year for inline skating. With the community slowly adjusting to some level of normalcy in a post-Covid world, skaters from all over are making the most of their time and enjoying life and all that comes with it. That often means spending time with friends and loved ones, traveling to new locations, and of course, strapping on the skates for a fun session. We decided to speak with some of Blading’s best and brightest stars to see what 2024 brought them.
JO ZENK
Where did you start 2024?
I moved to Cologne in April of 2023 after living in Münster for 12 years. So beginning of ’24 I just started to feel settled in. Over the summer of ’23 I had experienced a warm welcome from the scene and I‘ve known a lot of people for a long time already so it was an easy fresh start.
Usually I like to take things into my own hands especially coming from a place with just a handful of skaters. Now I was coming to a big city with a huge and thriving skate scene and existing crews with possibly their own ways of doing things. So I set my goal to keep myself behind the curtain as a guest for the season not initializing or taking control of anything.
Felt easy as the scene is healthy with plenty of sessions every other day to join which I enjoyed a lot after almost two years of barely skating once every week. I knew right away that I could bring something to the table but I wanted to observe at first how the people are connected and so on. Who is skating street? What’s the hotspots for park skating? Just taking things slow while joining as many sessions as I could and observing where and how I could fit in and help facilitate things around me.
I found a healthy crew of street skaters as well as a big park community skating several locations around the city. Monday evening skate sessions are happening in the official indoor skatepark and there is two private wooden parks as well. One a bit further away (@plachetaland) but the other (@bladerfarm) is very easy to reach – they also hosted an event mainly for the kids in January which was a great success.
So with the beginning of 2024 I planned to bring myself in more actively. Initializing session and possibly start video projects. I wanted to put Cologne on the map again. Being one of the biggest cities in Germany it has a long history of street skating and spots yet through the last decade, not much was visible. Community was active but mainly unorganized. People were actively skating but not actually editing any of the footage they collected or only skating park. I felt there was an opportunity to give some spotlight and put it on the map of modern rollerblading so to speak.
I thought best to begin with a video project. I didn’t really feel like shooting a full year and collecting footage as long of a period. I’m more enjoying to edit shorter projects with fixed start and finish like a tour or similar small timeframe. So when Deniz (BTK who did HABIBI$, FOMO & more) offered to join in and take over filming and editing on weekends I was happy to hand over the project and just taking care of skating and managing as well as help directing and producing where it was needed. The boys we saw fit were down as well so we set that as a goal for summer plus getting as much clips from the locals as possible whoever would join the process on the go.
Beginning of 2024 I was also playing with the idea of an event. I still am. But it didn’t really come together yet so give me time to figure if I can make it happen at some later point in time.
Where did you end in 2024?
Ending 2024 I feel accomplished but also happy about this time of the year allowing some rest. Just feeling fine to stay home on the couch with my girlfriend and cat no fear of missing out and weather not pushing me outside.
The one thing we didn’t get in time is our summer project. Deniz was already 99% done with editing but we went out another few days to round it up. Now we slept on it a few weeks and missed the sweet spot of releasing so I assume we take our time and release it early 2025. I actually need to hear Deniz perspective on things but I guess there is no reason to hurry now. My personal goal would be to release it around Winterclash. I am super excited to show everybody. Possibly our best project to date. Everybody did a great job even though I wish we did get a couple more clips from some people.
Last but not least I finally started a vlog series on YouTube which I wanted to do for a long time but pushed it back for always another reason. A lot more already pre-produced and planned for next season.
What are some of your favorite memories from this year?
* Releasing BRUTUS shortly before Winterclash. Got so much positive feedback in person over there which made me realize how many people actually watch our projects.
* Seeing a lot of kids at @bladerfarmjam skating and enjoying.
* One specific day of shooting in cologne with Deniz, Gag & Justin. Two big clips and one accidental jump into burning nettle. It was an awesome day.
* All the days we went with skates on bikes though the city.
* Skating in shorts all summer.
* Greece Bladehouse experience tour/contest and premiere of Inferno’s CONNECT.
* Landing a trick I had in mind for 10 years but never actually went back to the spot. Slammed hard at first but got the clip afterwards. Big story wait for the video and accompanying vlog.
* Munich: For PAY ME IN JUICE we went out at night and passed this big infamous kink rail. I knew it from videos for a decade and always wanted to see it in person. Very f‘ed up spot even in daylight. Did it at night after a 10 hour day of shooting with multiple big clips already in the bag. Awesome day in Munich with Harry and Michi. That whole project was great times actually.
* X-Mas Jam Blademania (also with the BZ homies joined as surprise guests – vlog incoming)
* Me and my girl adopted a cat which brought us many joyful moments.
*Going to my favorite ramen place with my girl. Any day. Love
* Borklyn Zoo Schabernack Kölsch was a great day full of session. Any Schabernack episode or just meeting up with the BZ homies generally was awesome.
What were some spots you traveled to this year?
I set my focus on Cologne, so less traveling, tours and comps in favor of exploring and skating the new city. I still went on a few trips. Two times to Athens Greece. Once for Inferno & Syeah video projects and once for Bladehouse Experience tour. Eindhoven, Winterclash obviously.
Various places in Germany for events. Maintal for FTS Fuck Winter session, Berlin for Abriss, Ulm City Blade Jam, Hamburg X-Mas Jam Blademania German Championships.
What were some of your favorite musical artists or songs that you enjoyed this year?
Now reflecting on it I did change my behavior towards music a lot. While in previous years I’d always have music in the background I now rarely do that and instead plug into podcasts and YouTube channels. Usually even max speed so truly not for listening pleasure.
My girlfriend is really into music tho so she’s always playing some nice stuff.
Only times this year I extensively went into music myself is when I was researching for project soundtracks. It would happen a few times that I’d find myself listening all night searching new vibes and artists sometimes useful for projects sometimes not but pulled in nonetheless. I have a big variety of music I enjoy and I come back to my favorites frequently depending on mood and phases. Vibe is everything.
While going through my playlist I did find a bunch of new tracks this year or rediscovered some. Here is a random short list of things I added to playlist in 2024. Apparently mostly electronic vibes currently.
Lumï – Chamber of Reflections Cover (ODNP Remix)
Sidestep – “Showstopper #3”
Knxwledge. – “grlsneedlove”
Flat Earth Mafia – “CeCe Grooves”
RECKLESS EYES – “DIGWAH 06”
T-Shirts & Sweats – “Enter the Chasm”
RADW – Haftbefehl (wenn es 1950 erschienen wäre)
Billie Eilish – Bossa Nova (Lewii Edit)
31- “Kcik”
Jungle – “Volcano” album
Bocosaurus “Arc De Soleil”
What were some goals that you accomplished this year?
- Early year BRUTUS release.
- Understanding taxes and sorting my investments.
- Cologne video (not out yet but it’s basically done and I’m excited about it)
- Video release of PAY ME IN JUICE
- Fully arriving in Cologne
What are some photos or videos that sum up your experiences in 2024?
What did you wish you had done in the year but missed the opportunity?
I’m not someone that regrets things usually. I instead would worry too much before a decision but, what’s done is done. There is peace in that.
But thinking about it now, I really wanted to go to Bordeaux to join the homies in the final Shred Da Ground street event. 10years strong. Congrats Lucas. Well done.
I couldn’t go as I was still injured from Greece just actually being back on skates the very same day of the event but too late to have been able to plan it out. Hurt for a moment to miss it but its done and I had an awesome day skating street at home actually.
Also I set a goal in the beginning of 2024 to do another project with Harry and Michi which didn’t happen. But I’m grateful for the year. I think we did alright.
What is something that made you grow as a person this year?
Always reflecting and growing. No major one this year though. I think the most I’ve grown was from crisis. When things turn really bad. Always managed to make the good out of it.
This year fortunately, there was no big crisis or injury. The one injury I had was small. It prevented me from skating for a few weeks, which sucked, but I’ve had my fair share of these experiences to know how to deal with it.
One reminder I got this year though is from the Greece filming trip. I experienced some hard times during the early days of the trip trying to get clips with Nick for an upcoming syeahskate project. I arrived with expectations about sessions with multiple people because it was to become a crew project for Syeah. Most of the guys were busy working and no one could join the session so I ended up skating alone for a few days just going out with Nick. While this can be fun as well we only would go out for a few hours per day and then some days were cut short for rain. No one joining the session meant spots weren’t planned either so we ended up searching for spots within the few hours we got. Ended with really low amount of clips. Least productive trip ever which was hard on my expectations.
Even though there were some good times as well I obviously didn’t enjoy the process as much as on previous projects. It got to me and altered my mood getting tense. Ending in small injuries that possibly facilitated the knee twist a few days after when I joined the Inferno project. It was a reminder to watch my own expectations and only go for something if it feels right.
Pressure usually comes from oneself so awareness is important. The most crucial thing is not the circumstances but how you respond to them. I know how to react if I get into a similar situation again. 🙂
What is something that kept you going or motivated you this year?
The Cologne project really got me excited. The video itself but mostly the community, crew, friendships, connection to the city as a base for future experiences. New city brings a vibe of opportunity with it. Easy drive.
From hunting street spots to regular sessions to shooting clips to just enjoying the opportunity of the city like awesome places to eat with my girlfriend. She is the best and always has my back so that is a big drive as well.
With all this it was easy to stay motivated but I also got this general drive from being constantly hungry for more. I don’t know where it originates from but if I don’t skate for a while or even when I don’t produce anything for a bit, I get itchy. I never feel as free as after a productive day in the streets with friends I trust pushing each other to accomplish personal goals. On one side, the activity and movement but on the other hand, constantly creating. Both very important to me.
What are you looking forward to in 2025?
More projects. More vlogs. Few things in mind for a while let’s see what 2025 is up to. Not wanna speak too much about things not yet manifested to keep the energy alive but I’m excited for 2025 and upcoming years. Big things ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. Have a great 2025! All the best to anyone reading this. I’m very grateful for anyone watching our videos, liking, commenting, sharing. It means so much to read all the responses. An anonymous view count only does so much while a response in comments or even in person is doing a lot to push us do more. Bless you.
If you like to support further: Jo has a Patreon which gives early access to VLOGs and if you use the code “ZENK10” at GRINDHOUSE.eu you will support Jo with 10% of your purchase.
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