One-Off

Since I moved to Münster in 2009, I tried to motivate Patrick to blade more often and of course also to collect some footage. We started filming for this project around 2010, but after the first year of filming, Patrick became more motivated so he decided to invest more time and make it better. In the end, almost all clips of the first year became leftovers and we ended up with a badass old school section which can easily keep up with his former sections. Patrick Smith is not dead yet!? A main quote over the whole time was "all or nothing" or rather "friss oder stirb" which is the translated quote from Sin City which sounds even more badass. Friss oder stirb; Eat or die.

Dave Paine and Dan Fabiano teamed up earlier this year to bring back the legendary VG Battle My Crew series. The deadline for the project is getting closer so we checked in with Dan to see how things are rolling.

Our Be-mag issue #38 cover boy and Australian powerhouse CJ Wellsmore has been skating hard down in Sydney during the cool winter months. He's put together some hard hitting clips for you to enjoy, and he took a few minutes to speak with Be-mag exclusively about his working life, skating and the possibility of a Vine Street Part 2.

Growing up in the armpit of California can be pretty difficult for a blader, flat land, flat architecture, flat blade spots. Having and thriving on these difficulties has definitely shaped Derek to the blader he is. A hard finesse/precise/inventive/fuck-you style should sum up his blading, I might be missing some other distinct points but it's ok, you can come up with whatever you want, he won't give a shit. In this self conscious, trend following world, I feel that blading needs a kid like Derek. Call it man-blading, call it thrash-blading, call it whatever you want, Derek definitely has what people need. Give this a read and discover another side to a dude I'm honored to be friends with: Derek Henderson.

Joey Chase. An immortal sent to destroy “man’s” concrete jungles with his “Blades” of fury? Or, a mortal without the burden of pain, touched with enough talent and persistence to raise him to the highest level of “Awesomeness”? Or, is this his cocoon phase, as he patiently waits to blossom in to a seven foot tall, four armed bartender, destined to run “Murder Face Chase, The Drinking Place”? Or maybe, just maybe, Joey Chase is as simple as the stick figure man on the door of public men’s restrooms. None of these are known to be the truth and his legends are not for me to say.

Last month, Beau Cottington released his fabled OG Edit. It included contributed footage from 47 skaters around the world. It included legends from blading's infancy – many of whom are major parts of the industry – and those who may not put on their skates as much as they used to, but still enjoy it as much as Day 1.

Be-Mag checked in with Jojo Jacobi and Dirk Oelmann who are bringing back a Realstreet Event to Germany's capital. The timing seems right. Europe's best bladers will make it to Berlin to battle it out for the crown. And as you might expect Jojo brings in a few high-level people from the States!

John Bolino is a nutty fucker. If you’ve seen his sections, you know that by his skating and his b-roll footage. This 21-year-old Atlantic City, N.J. native who came up in Philadelphia makes an impact anywhere he goes. Most of the time he doesn’t even need to put on his skates to do it. John answered some of my bullshit questions earlier this week at the Shredweiser house and he gave his insight on his mixed feelings about living in Oakland, selling weed for a living, and the potential for violence should Shredweiser ever play a show. Oh yeah, and his new pro skate from SSM. To set up the interview, I was at the Shredweiser house on a Monday night. We finished our second 18 pack of Bud, the guys were done playing metal upstairs, and Austin Barrett was tattooing my buddy, Tyler Noland, in Chris Daffick’s bedroom. John finished making scrambled eggs at 10 p.m. He had put in a VHS movie and was talking it up.

If you've never met Ben Harmanus before, from the outset he can seem a little bit scary. A man covered in tattoos who's always dressed in black and constantly throwing himself at rails all over the globe. For those who do know him, they realize this is simply a front for one of the most caring and passionate skaters in our scene. Ben spoke with Be-mag to discuss the current state of Chimera, his collaboration with the dutch boot company Adapt and the future and beyond of skating.

Recently Nick Lomax has been tearing up the contest scene. With multiple wins over the past few months, we decided to get in contact with Nick and find out what makes him so successful, as well as his thoughts on current competitions.

For any new school blader who doesn't know what Videogroove is, prepare to be enlightened. For old school heads who know what's up, you're in for a treat. Be-Mag took some time to connect with one of the founding fathers of aggressive skate videos and talked about a number of things ranging from the current state of blading, VG and the Battle My Crew series. Exclusive to Be-Mag, we're proud to announce that the Battle My Crew format is coming back for 2012. Read on to learn more.

Damien Wilson is a very opinionated man. He drinks, parties and blades like a champion, but what has he been up to? Bruce Bales took some time to sit down and speak with him about his life, blading, work and his latest project, Fester Wheels.

It is known, without question, that New York is one of the most celebrated and active scenes in rollerblading. It has produced a plethora of companies, talented skaters, and competitions that have left a major impact on the rollerblading community. Competitions, in particular, are the one catalyst that I believe really brings people out and draws the blade community closer together people come out to show what they've got and, at times, unconsciously, to support each other, which in turn, unifies the scene as a whole. Young guns and old timers, all age ranges, colors and creeds come out, all for the love of rollerblading. So when I heard that Trevor Johnson was putting together a new street competition in Queens, I was inclined to ask him a few questions and help spread the word. I sat down with Trevor to talk about the need for another street competition, how he got the idea, who he's working with, and more, all resulting in a testament to the fact that New York truly is one of the greatest scenes in the world.

After months of speculation online, the Adapt brand was officially brought to life at this year's Winterclash. Since the contest, things have been a little quiet on their front so we wanted to find out what they've been cooking up. Is our industry ready for high end handmade leather and carbon/kevlar footwear, and has everything worked out according to their plan so far? Or have Adapt closed up shop, sold 500 pairs of skates but never shipped a single pair and vanished into thin air? We were eager to find out more and we're pleased to hear that they're still here, humble and focused as ever...

Jon Julio has been a part of blading since its inception. Besides inventing tricks in the early days, Jon has grown with the sport in both terms of talent and professional accolades.

BCSD 2012 finally going down this weekend. Skaters from all over the US – and even some from the rest of the world – embark upon the trip to Detroit for the event. We took the chance to talk to an almost legendary BCSD competitor, Franco Cammayo. Always top-ranked in the competition and always highly motivated!

With so many rolling edits out there it is becoming increasingly difficult to come up with something unique and exciting. In recent years it seems like the only way to get noticed is to go bigger than anyone has gone before or add in that extra rotation before landing on a rail. Over the past year Sven Boekhorst and his team have been working on a different approach on how they could grab everyone's attention, both inside the skate world as well as outside our cozy realm. What they came up with was a project called 'CityHopper'. In an attempt to take things to a different level the outcome truly shines as unique. Sven was really open to letting us in on this little secret that he had been hiding. Take some time to read up and find out what exactly 'CityHopper' is all about. We think you will be just as pleased as we were. 

Biggest challenge putting the video together? There were a couple big challenges for this project and both very...

After discussing what went into the event, the controversy, and even some personal emotion, in the second half of Taig Khris' interview with Be-Mag, he takes us in a new direction. What support was received, what regrets were had, and in what direction will he go next? If you think this was the last stunt Taig plans on pulling off, then you are severely wrong. What is missing in rolling today? Taig's ready to answer these questions and more. Get your reading glasses ready and take a look at the final pages of the interview that is sure to raise some eyebrows.

Soon after his record setting jump in Paris Taig Khris sat down with a Be-Mag correspondent and discussed the event including all that went into it. This great opportunity presented itself as a way for those not aware of what actually went on behind the scenes to gain a clear insight. During the interview Taig took an opportunity to address the controversy surrounding the jump and challenge made on its success. Whether or not you are a supporter of what he did, this moment in blading caught a lot of attention around the world. Read through Be-Mag's exclusive interview to gain a detailed perspective through Taig as he presents his views and feelings on one of the most epic and debated days in roller history.

We see many video projects coming out these days, rarely do we something solely dedicated to the still frame. Michelle Gerard has been working on a series of photographs, entitled 'The Rollerblading Project' that documents the Detroit rollerblading scene in a rather refreshing perspective. No flash, no wide angles, no "set up" shots; this all can seem limiting but at the same time is a recipe for creating a view point that is new and intriguing. Michelle sat down with us to talk about her current project, her history with photography and, most importantly, her involvement in rollerblading.