Static II

Posted on Sunday, February 15, 2004 by J. Stewart

Story and Photos By Josh Stewart

Pick up the original Static
video from the Shop

Skate videos...who needs 'em? Am I right? I mean, have you SEEN how many of these things come out every year? It's a downright travesty if you ask me. I've been filming and making skate videos for over 10 years now. So I'm not exactly void of blame in the matter. But there's a slight difference, I like to think, in making videos just to make them and doing a video out of the necessity of showing the world, the skaters, and skating what you feel needs to be seen. I just catch myself being disappointed with most videos crowding the shelves these days. They never feature the skaters or types of skating I want to see. I think we all get it by now that every kid can rip a handrail, right? Maybe it's time we started seeking out some new and more creative obstacles for ourselves before "death by handrail" obituaries start hitting the papers of every US city.

Well, this is what has had me disenchanted with the skate industry and videos all together lately. A disconnection with what mags and videos tend to focus on. I mean, I don't know about you, but when I go out skating I don't exactly consider 20 stair rails as a fun day's skate. Skateboarding, especially on the east coast, has more meaning than raising your handrail standard by an extra stair a month. Finding unique, unskated spots, skating through the streets, and actually being creative is what skateboarding was always about to me and to most other skaters I met. Only a few videos of recent memory have gone out of their way to present this type of skating, including the most recent Girl and Habitat videos.

But it IS out there. There's a movement that I've witnessed growing all over the planet. I've seen it in skaters in DC, London, and Philly, crews in Miami, Phoenix, Dublin, and San Francisco, and in small posses in Baton Rouge, Houston, Brooklyn, and Tampa. Skaters going out on their own, actually going beyond their local hot-spots to find new spots, skate in original ways and actually have fun. This is exactly what we wanted to capture in the new video coming out in early '04, STATIC II. We've followed this movement around the globe, skating and meeting crews from every city imaginable and finding supporters and friends we never even knew we had. It's happening all over. STATIC II attempts to capture this spirit in a lineup of six skaters and one city that all embody the movement in different ways and unique styles.

We wanted every skater watching to feel some sort of connection to somebody in the video. Trying to represent all parts of the country, we ended up with skaters from Philly, San Francisco, New York, Houston, DC, London, Atlanta, Long Beach, Scotland, South Carolina, and even Spain. With that accomplished, the main objective was now at hand, finding skaters that represented the ideals that are seriously lacking in skateboarding today. This meant actually calling up guys I had never met before, but had always admired. Fearful of the response I might get, I proceeded to talk these different skaters from around the country and found they all agreed that a video like this has needed to come out for some time now and that, amazingly, they were happy to get involved. But with such a video-based industry, all of the guys we picked for the video were busy filming for their own company's videos. Fortunately for us, they were all willing to work double time to film with us and their company at the same time. So, thanks to the extraordinary efforts of these skaters, STATIC II will feature Paul Shier from London, Bobby Puleo from New York, Houston's Wayne Patrick, DC + SF resident John Igei, Ricky Oyola & the Philadelphia Survivors, and Kenny Reed from...everywhere, I guess. Each skater's part will include footage of friends they picked to feature in their part alongside them...these skaters are Jon Newport, Andy Honen, Ray Molinar, Colin Kennedy, Jack Sabback, Rich Adler, Damian Smith, Nick Jensen, Brad Hiser, and Nate Broussard. The video also features a London segment with some of the most unique and talented skaters shaping the British skate scene.

So if you feel like there's something missing in the magazines and videos nowadays. If you appreciate real street skating, original never-before seen spots, and amazing styles that rarely grace the skate screen, STATIC II is the video you've been waiting for. We're not claiming to be starting anything that isn't already in motion, we're just going to be the first video to bring it to you, the skating public, in living color, and into your living room. We'll add some music in there for you, too...and maybe a few edits and graphics. STATIC II is coming early 2004!

www.static2video.com