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My skateboard takes me places that school never could.-Swimmer’s Ear Magazine

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Regulars Variance Change in Sound Unfortunate Cookies

Special Guests Russ Pope Shad Lambert

On Location Kentucky

Score The Grey Love of Everything

Feature Presentation 20 Years of Etnies

Cover photo: Corey Duffel - Shad Lambert

DirectorsAdam Sever

Chris Pernula

ContributorsZach Windahl, Carl Wedoff,Adam Bubolz, Greg Schall,

Ben Gilsrud, Michael Anderson,Nate Bozquez, Andreas Dunlap,

John Kessel, Alex Cairncross, Chris Strong

StudioP.O. Box 2076

Maple Grove, MN 55311www.myspace.com/swimmersear

swimmersearmag@yahoo.com

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Memo:

1 sign that skateboarding will always be in my blood:

At the grocery store yesterday, I stopped to tighten my loose shoes. As I pulled the laces up one by one, I got the same familiar feel-ing in my feet as when I tighten my shoes before skateboarding. -A.S.

Memo:

My favorite memories are not always on film:

Top Left/Middle: Fakie 360 Flip/Fakie FS Flipon a beautiful MN Summer day. Top Right:Varial Kickflip in an empty shallow pool onChris’s cruising board. Bottom Left: Skatingwith my daughter. Bottom Right: Gap olliefrom ramp over fence to parking lot. -A.S.

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Virginia is for LOVERS DramaThe Drama is a contemporary art magazine fromRichmond, Virginia. It has a cute 9 x 9 page sizeand features a wide variety of fields, includingillustration, design, comics, photography, andmore. Issue Six features an interview withdesigner Brian Roettinger, How to Silkscreenwith Seri Pop, plus an inside look at studios andgalleries. One part I found to be quite nice is thelast section of the zine called “This It”, which fea-tures 2 color comics on an ivory paper. This is the only time I have seen amagazine use two types of paper in one magazine. Issues #7 and #8should be out by the time you read this. Check out thedrama.org for moreinformation.

I Went on a Job Interview and All I Got Was ThisLousy Tony HawkBook!

While pursuing a career in thepublishing field, I took an inter-view at a children’s and educa-tional book publisher. After theVice-President of the companyfound out that I skateboarded,he offered me this Tony Hawkbook, as a way to show that hewas down. He even told methat they often had skate-boarders skating the walkwayramp in front of the office. Inever got the job, but he let me keep the book.

The book itself is basically about Tony Hawk landing a 900 for the first timein competition during the 2003 XGames. The rest is just a watered down

history of the most recognizabletalent in skateboarding. The authorbeat the X-Games angle to death,and made one of the biggest mis-takes I’ve seen in a book aboutskateboarding. I’m sure you’veseen the Grant Brittian photo of the4 Bones Brigade members doingsimultaneous inverts. In the captionfor that picture, the author names

one of the skaters as Andy MacDonald. Andy MacDonald wasn’t even onthe same side of the country when that photo was taken. If you're going todo a book about skateboarding, then do a little research, don’t half assyour way through it.

Paying In Pain? Do You Take Change?I don’t typically care for the wellknown skate magazines. They’re allthe same with their high gloss cov-ers and miles of pages of tricks thatI saw last month. I mean how manytimes can I see a backside tailslidein one month. That’s why I likePaying in Pain. It’s gritty and honest.

It contains no bullshit skateboarding and it’s alwaysan interesting read. Issue 16 features articles about

Chicago, the Sacrifice Video, Strawberry Bowl Jam, plusmore. Issue 17 features an interview with skateboarder Josh Falk and musi-cian Travis Graves, plus a ton of ams. Issue 18 is something special. It lookslike they have stepped up the paper quality with a gloss cover and a nicernewsprint inside. 18 features interviews with Alex Villasenor, Josh Baker,and Drew Porter. It also has articles on New Zealand and Australia. Checkout payinginpain.com for more information.

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Known TruthsRandy Laybourne has been doing designin the skateboarding industry for manyyears. He was the man behind some ofEmerica’s most innovative advertising, andis currently the Art Director at TransworldSkateboarding. About every six months orso, Randy releases a zine of drawings andphotos. His most recent zine, “KnownTruths”, is a small 36 page masterpiece ofcreative drawings mixed with photographicbackdrops and little quotes. You can checkout lookforwardtothepast.com for updateson other zines and almost daily drawings.To view some of Randy’s design work, goto randylaybourne.com

Powell Peralta Re-IssuesI used to have a Powell “Half Cab” board. It had the Skull andSword design like the Ray “Bones” Rodriguez model up there onthe left. It was as big as a Cadillac and it had clear griptape. I usedto cruise around on the thing, it was impossible to do tricks on. Itwas 10 or more inches wide and had 7.75 inch trucks and size 42wheels. One day, I left it outside and it was stolen. Most anyonewho skateboarded in the 80’s will remember these shapes. Theyhave a nice feel to them. They feel nice to just stand on. You don’teven have to be rolling to appreciate these boards. For more infoon these boards and other Powell Peralta re-issues, Check outwww.skateone.com

The Enchanters vs.Sprawlburg SpringsThis is Brian Costello’s first novel, and it’s quitegood. It’s the story of Shaquille Callahan, thenew drummer for The Enchanters, a band thateventually influences the majority of the town’spunk kid’s future bands, directly or indirectly.The way Costello writes it, almost makes itseem real, like he’s lived the story in a previouslife. Definitely worth checking out. Check outwww.featherproof.com for information on TheEnchanters vs. Sprawlburg Springs.

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Accel WheelsIn the past year or so, Accel has moved over to Giant Distribution, distributorsof Stereo and Popwar, which will help them get their wheels into more shops.With help from Giant’s sales force, more of these wheels will surely be rollingdown the street with a skateboard attached to them. On the left, we have the51mm Dual Durometers. They are a nice hard, fast wheel, perfect for streetskating. In the middle, we have the Kristan Svitak 56mm Clean Cuts. Thesewheels feel a little softer than the Dual Durometers. There also wider and havea nice shape to them. On the right we have the 52mm Skatepark wheel. Theyfeel a little grippier for the wood surfaces a lot of skateparks have.

Powell Pro Tough PlyThese three boards from Powell are pretty nice. All ofthem have just the right amount of concave. Theyrange in sizes from 7.625-7.875. Plus the graphics arepretty cool as well. These boards have a nice bit ofpop. They don’t feel too bendy and they don’t feel toostiff either. If your looking for a board that is still madein the USA, then you can look to Powell. They havebeen manufacturing their boards in California formany years.

Bones Swiss Labyrinth BearingsHow do you make one of the best bearings better? Add a Labyrinth. No, not thatsweet David Bowie movie, but a “U” shaped groove in theinner race of the bearing. The removableshields fit snugly into the groove, thusmaking it harder for water and dirt to getinside the bearing. Which results intolonger skating times between cleanings.These bearings are smooth, quiet andfast. The only downside to these bear-ings, is that they cost close to what youpay for a deck.

Bones Reds BearingsBones Reds were developed as a low cost alternative to the Bones SwissBearings. The Bones Reds are made with the same materials and specifica-tions as the Bones Swiss, but are manufactured in China instead of

Switzerland. They are roughly half theprice of the Bones Swiss. They feature asingle, removable shield for cleaningand are pre-lubricated with SpeedCream racing lubricant. These bearingsare pretty fast and they work well withstreet skating or mini ramps.

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Austin Stephens 52mmToy Machine Wheels

Josh Harmony 53mmToy Machine Wheels

Toy Machine CoredMonster Wheel 53mm

These wheels have a niceshape and a simple design.They are your basic standardwhite wheel. They provide asmooth ride.

Josh Harmony sprinkled hishead sweat on each set ofthese wheels. His magicalhead sweat will make youskate rails like him. No seri-ously, you’ll be nose grinding30 stair rails in no time.

These wheels have a plasticcore with holes that make thewheels feel 2-3 millimeterslighter. A good idea, but I’dlike to see how they hold upduring high impact skating.

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A Day in Black and White“Notes”Forget everything you knew about A Day inBlack and White and their past music. You willneed to open those ears and mind to grasp theirnewest full length, “Notes”. Where their previ-ous “My Heroes Have Always KilledCowboys” had a lot of slow then fast then slowelements, “Notes” is a vast post rock landscape,which doesn’t disappoint. (Level Plane)

American Analog Set“Set Free”“Set Free is similar to their 2 past albums. Youcould easily spend a day listening to all ofAmerican Analog Set’s material. They have anice relaxing sound and feeling. (Arts & Crafts)

Anti-Flag“For Blood andEmpire”I have not listenedto Anti-Flag since“A New Kind ofArmy” came out,so this album wasa shock to me.First of all, it istheir debut for

RCA Records and second of all, their song writ-ing has gotten a lot better. “For Blood andEmpire” can be described as a wolf in sheep’sclothing. It’s all radio friendly songs with heavypolitical lyrics. (RCA)

Askeleton“(Happy) Album”This is Askeleton’s last album named after feel-ings. It is definitely his best work, but it lacksthe dance/clap along tunes such as “Ghosts”“Shapes” and “Birdman” that were featured onpast Askeleton albums. (Goodnight Records)

Baby Teeth“For the Heathers”The EP was based on a dare. Each member hadto come up up a song in complete isolation formthe other members of the band and it had to betitled “Heather” The first “Heather” songcomes from frontman Pearly Sweets and isreminiscent of cheesy 70’s pop music. Next upis “Heathers” via Jim Coopper. Jim’s versionsfeatures a heavy synth influence, in a very 80’smovie sort of way. It would be perfect for the“Short Circuit” soundtrack or for a Canadianteen drama. The final version of “Heather”comes from Peter Andreadis. Pete’s version isthe shortest and sounds like a dub/reggae/skasong. This release is definitely inventive andshould garner some listens. (Lujo)

Barr“Reinforced Jewel Case”Barr is Brandon Fowler, an artist, skateboarder,and musician among other things. “ReinforcedJewel Case” could easily be the most annoyingalbum you’ve ever heard, or the most inventive,depending on your musical tastes. “ReinforcedJewel Case” is a mix of free jazz percussion andspoken word like vocals. (5RC)

The Blackout Pact“Hello Sailor”The Blackout Pact play a sort of punk mixedwith math rock and hardcore that you couldeasily shake your hips to. The opening track isprobably the best on the CD and the rest is justabout as good. (Astromagnetics)

Bouncing Souls“Live”I get a little wary of live discs because the soundusually sucks and I can’t find a reason to seereleasing songs you’ve released before butsound worse recorded. But the Bouncing Soulsare a band to see live, and these 2 discs will suf-fice if you haven’t made it to one of their shows.The sound quality is good. Both discs are filledwith a wide variety of songs from all theiralbums, but I find myself listening to disc 2most. (Chunksaah)

Anti-Flag

The Blackout Pact

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Bound Stems“The Logic of Building the Body Plan”I’ve listened to this album a thousand timessince I’ve got it and every time I listen to it Ihear something new. Definitely somethingeveryone should check out. (Flameshovel)

Crystal Skulls“Outgoing Behavior”Crystal Skulls play jangly indie with a touch oflounge. Easy to listen to, and fun to sing alongwith. “Baby Boy” and “Cosmic Door” are tracksthat stand out the most. (Suicide Squeeze)

Ester Drang“Rocinate”This CD is a great companion for long drives.Just pop it in and listen to the multi-instrumen-tal tracks as they weave you along a 46 minutejourney. (Jade Tree)

Ex-boyfriends“Dear John”The Ex-Boyfriends play catchy pop punk withtopics about breaking up with their girlfriendsand boyfriends. Something everyone can relatewith. (Absolutely Kosher)

Field Music“S/T”These Brits play alovely bunch of BritPop. Some of it’s kindof slow, while some ofits a little faster. Youcould call Field Musicthe snooty Englishtwin brothers of theShins. (MemphisIndustries)

The Grey“Asleep at the Wheel”It’s too bad these Canadian boys were bannedfrom the U.S., because I would love to see theseguys play their fast post rock. (Lovitt)

Hanalei“Parts and Accessories”“Parts and Accessories” is former Ghost mem-ber Brian Moss’s second full length under theHanalei moniker. This time though, he has a fullband playing with him. The lyrics are incredi-bly descriptive, almost story telling like. Theguitar playing is quite good also. It combinesthe vocals of Paul Simon with the blue collarfeeling of Bruce Springsteen. (Thick)

Haram “S/T”Consisting of ex-members of Majority Rule, Pg.99, and the Out Circuit, Haram play an intenseand vibrant mix of hardcore, punk and noise.This self-titled release is refreshing compared tomost new releases in the hardcore genre.(Lovitt)

Head Like A Kite“Random Portrait of the Home Movie”Head Like a Kite is a new project fromSushirobo’s guitarist Dace Einmo and isinspired by his parents’ super 8 home moviesfrom the 1970’s. The sound is of indie rock,beats and samples from those home movies.This album features guest vocals from membersof Smoosh, Kinski and Crooked Fingers.(Pattern 25)

Jimmy Eat World“Stay on My Side Tonight”This EP features 3 previously unreleased origi-nals, a cover of Heatmiser’s song “Half Right”and a remix of “Drugs or Me”. The first track“Disintegration” is over 12 minutes long andthe 2 tracks following are over 6 and 9 minuteslong. Overall this EP is over 43 minutes long, soyour getting your money’s worth. The sound isnothing new, it’s Jimmy Eat World doing whatthey do best. (Interscope)

Jonny Sonic“Coop Resident”Jonny Sonic is actually Rick Kowal, bassist ofFULL. “Coop Resident” is a mix of funk, beats,

Crystal Skulls

Field Music

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horns, and a little bit of hip-hop thrown in. It’sa sound that can barely be described. (Hand-Picked Entertainment)

Kiss Kiss“S/T”Kiss Kiss play a fast winding spiral of musicmuch like Cursive’s “Ugly Organ”. The musicis pretty good, but the singer may need somelessons in getting his range up, because at somepoints in the songs, his singing could inducemigraines. (Astromagnetics)

Love of Everything“Superior Mold and Die”Love of Everything is Bobby Burg’s solo project.This album does feature Joan of Arc members,Tim and Nate Kinsella and it features someinteresting lo fi bedroom pop songs. (RecordLabel)

Luke Doucet“Broken Stories”This is quite an impressive release from LukeDoucet. The song “Brother” is a great opener tothe album and the rest of the album is similar towhat Crooked Fingers sounds like. (SixShooter)

Maps and Atlases“Trees, Swallows,Houses”This Chicago band’sdebut is the closest I’veheard to the guitarnoodling played by

Cap’n Jazz or any Joan of Arc project. This is animpressive debut and I hope they keep thissame formula on future releases. (Self Released)

Maritime“We, The Vehicles”I am sure glad that this album is being releasedin the States. It is a bit more darker than theirprevious album “Glass Floor” but is better bymiles. One of the best of the year. (Flameshovel)

The Mars Volta “Scabdates”I’ve never been to a Mars Volta show, but I hearthey are over 2 hours long and are a sight to see.I do enjoy Mars Volta, but I will probably neversee them play live, so this live release will haveto do. It’s over 74 minutes and it contains every-thing you’d expect from Mars Volta, plus thesound is quite good. (GSL/Universal)

Mates of State“Bring it Back”This duo of Kori andJason is now a triowith their babydaughter gettingsome vocal time onone of the songs. Shedoesn’t exactly sing,it’s more cooing andbaby noises. Thesound of “Bring itBack” is similar totheir previous work,

so you should have no problem getting used toit. (Barsuk)

The Mendoza Line“Full of Light and Full of Fire”I don't think The Mendoza Line get the recogni-tion they deserve. They keep releasing verywell played music, and songs that are personaland politically charged. “Full of Light..” isanother example of great music being played byindependent artists. (Misra)

Mercury Radio Theater“The Blue Eyed Model”This album is like old time radio. A story is nar-rated in between instrumental surf guitar influ-enced songs. The story is about a college stu-dent named Gregor who builds a girlfriendfrom others ordered body parts. The bookletthat comes along with the CD is a great illustrat-ed visual to the story. I hope they release morealbums with this same kind of narrative/songplaying. (Lujo)

Metal Hearts“Socialize”“Socialize” consists of male/female vocals, fin-ger picking guitars, drum loops and stringedaccompaniments. It is very delicate sounding,but interesting. (Suicide Squeeze)

Maps & Atlases

Mates of State

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Micah P. Hinson“The Baby and the Satellite”This is a reissue of Micah’s 2001 release by thesame name. This time though all the music ispolished and sounds tons better. It is a total of 8tracks, and a 9th that is the original recorded 29minute album. Overall, it’s pretty good. It’s inthe same genre as Pedro the Lion. (Jade Tree)

Milemarker“Ominosity”With a varying sound on every album theyrelease, Milemarker’s debut on Eyeball recordsis nothing short of the same. “Ominosity” mayturn fans away, because it is much differentthan their previous albums. Features originalmember Ben Davis. (Eyeball)

National Eye“Roomful of Lions”This Philadelphia band’s second full length,shows quite impressive song writing skills.Some of the songs are slow and some are a littlemore up tempo. “Roomful of Lions” is 14 tracksspanning over 52 minutes, leaving somethingfor everyone. (Park theVan)

New Mexican Disaster Squad“Don’t Believe”New Mexican DisasterSquad mixes the sound ofPaint it Black/KidDynamite with the lyricalstyling of Strike

Anywhere. “Don’t Believe” is a great melodichardcore album. (Jade Tree)

Nobody + the Mystic Chords of Memory “Tree Colored See”“Tree Colored See” isa collaborationbetween Nobody(Elvin Estella, pro-ducer/mixer ofPrefuse 73 and TheMars Volta) andMystic Chords ofMemory (Jen Cohenof Aislers Set andChristopher Gunstof Beachwood Sparks). The sound of the albumstarts out somewhat like Ester Drang, but witha greater hip hop influence. The 4th track,“Coyotes’s Song”, is an almost folky countrysong and it transitions perfectly into the nexttrack with harmonicas. Track 9, “Feet Upon theSand” perfectly blends the hip hop and folkyinfluences into one catchy song. (Mush)

Pink Razors“Waiting to Wash Up”Richmond, VA’s Pink Razorsplay a pop punk similar to earlyBlink 182, but you probablywon’t see these guys sellingbazillions of records. Not that thisband is bad, they just seem likethe type that enjoy playing musicwithout all the bullshit corporatedreams. (Robotic Empire)

The Plastic Constellations“Crusades”“Crusades” is TPC’s debut for French KissRecords. If you liked their previous CD

“Mazatlan” then you’lllove this one. Each song isgood and this disc neverdisappoints. (Frenchkiss/2024)

Push to Talk“S/T”Even though I was stuckin traffic for over an hourlistening to and gettingsick of this album, I was

able to listen to it again. Push to Talk play indierock with a new wave influence kind of likeChomsky. (Doghouse)

Rah Bras“WHOHM”Rah Bras is one of those bands that you have toacquire a taste for. I mean how easy is it to lis-ten to a mixture of dance, industrial, synth andopera. But this is tons better than their “EPS”release. (Lovitt)

Raising The Fawn“The Maginot Line”Raising the Fawn is John Crossingham, also ofBroken Social Scene. It’s quite good after a cou-ple of listens. It takes a while to set in. Some ofthe music sounds like Onelinedrawing. Otherparts sound like a slow Nada Surf. (SonicUnyon)New Mexican Disaster Squad

Nobody & The Mystic Chords of Memory

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The Red Note“The Weatherman”The first song will make you think you’ve stum-bled south of the border into a Mexican disco.But this band is from Seattle. They play hornsand it sounds like a marching band coming outof your speakers. “The Weatherman” is anentertaining album to listen to. (Hypothetical)

Roy“Killed John Train”With songs like “Jesus Drives a Trans Am” youknow you got a winner of a CD. Roy is a projectfrom members of Botch, These Arms AreSnakes, and Harkonen, but the sound is unlikethose bands and falls into the folk indie genre.(Lujo)

Russian Circles“Enter”Russian Circles consists of ex-members ofDakota/Dakota and Riddle of Steel. They arean instrumental band. A lot of people have a

hard time listening to instrumental music, theysay it’s boring. Russian Circles are not boring.They do a good job of not repeating lines.“Enter” is more math rock/metal instrumentallike Explosions in the Sky mixed with DonCaballero or Pelican. (Flameshovel)

The Sounds“Dying to Say This to You”The Sounds are a Swedish new wave band.Once you get past the shitty chorus on trackone, you have a pretty good album. They playan interesting take on new wave. More danceinfluenced. The 3rd track’s chorus sounds like itwas taken from a Mates of State song, like theyspliced it from a MOS disc into their own.Overall the CD is pretty catchy, yet the band’sego is quite annoying. (New Line)

Streetlight Manifesto“Keasbey Nights”In the late 90’s Catch 22 released “KeasbeyNights” and it was well received by ska fansand press. At the time, Catch 22 featured mem-bers that would go on to form StreetlightManifesto. Fast foward to 2006 and StreetlightManifesto releases their latest effort in 3 years, aremake of “Keasbey Nights”. After listening toboth versions, I’ve come to the conclusion thatthey sound exactly the same, except the vocalsare clearer and the production is better. Thisraises the question as to why Victory wouldrelease the same album twice. Everyone lovedthe Catch 22 version, so why would the buy thesame album again? Streetlight Manifesto

should have released this as a 2 disc set. Onedisc of new material and the other disc for theremake of “Keasbey Nights”. (Victory Records)

The Strokes“The First Impressionof Earth”If you go look now atyour TV, I’m sure you’llsee the Strokes playing.They’ve been on SNL,they’ve been on Leno,they are everywhere. It’sdue to their latest release“First Impressions ofEarth”, which containssome of their best song writing to date. “FirstImpressions” is a good album, but when I listento it, I never get past the first 5 tracks. (RCA)

T. Duggins“Undone”You may know Tony Duggins as the frontmanof The Tossers. “Undone” is Tony’s solo projectof original and cover songs sung in an Irish folkway. It almost reminds me of a drunken sailoron St. Paddy’s Day, singing and dancing a jig. (Thick)

Whysall Lane“Whysall Lane”Whysall Lane features a member fromJawbreaker, Adam Pfahler, the guy who runsBlackball Records. It’s a good mix of songs, butnothing real exiting. (Blackball)

The Strokes

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Did drawing or painting comeeasy to you as a kid? Do youremember what made youwant to start drawing andpainting?

I think it did.... I think puttingpencil (crayon) to paper andmaking drawings and liking/hav-ing fun making what I saw onthat paper encouraged me tomake more and more drawingsand then paintings, etc.

If someone is terrible at drawing or painting, do you think it ispossible to teach them to be a better artist or do you think beingan artist is an ability you’re born with? Do your children have anartistic ability like you?

I think that both drawing and painting can be learned. I do believe thatcertain people are more genetically predisposed or encouraged to tuneinto the right side of their brain. Most activities we do/perform in life areleft brained activities, memorization, mathematics, school, computer-based activities. There isn't a whole lot of right brain nurturing goingon. Being technically gifted is such a small part of what makes a pieceof art cool. Composition, color usage, subject matter etc. all play a bigrole in making a piece of great art.

I have a Son (Blaize) and a daughter (Lorna) and they are bothextremely artistic and have been ever since they've been able to holda crayon or mold a piece of play-dough. They have a huge art tablethat is constantly covered with supplies right in the middle of our familyroom though. They are most definitely encouraged to make art, music,etc.

Have you had any formal training in Art?

Yes, I went to school to earn a degree in Fine Arts.

Did you ever think your paintings would allow you to travel theworld?

No, I've been so lucky between art and skateboarding to have had theopportunity to see so much of the world.

How often do you paint? How many paintings do you work on at atime? How long does it take you to do a painting? Have you everhad difficulty finishing a painting?

I go through spurts, I'll draw probably everyday in one of many sketch-books. I'll paint for weeks at a time every night. I'll usually go like this;3 weeks of painting and then 2 of just drawing and start that cycleagain. A painting sometimes will happen in a night, other times it takesweeks or months, it really depends on the piece. I'll typically work on2- 4 pieces at a time, sometimes when working on a large scale I'llwork one piece at a time, but usually I'll have multiple pieces going sowhile one is drying I can workon the next. A lot of mypaintings have really layeredbackgrounds so there can bequite a bit of dry time on onepiece, having to let a layer drybefore I can lay down another.As for having trouble finishing apiece...yeah I have had troublewith pieces before, some of theones that have given me themost grief have wound up beingones that I like the most andcoincidentally sell the quickest.

When you are working during the day, are you looking forward topainting that night? Do you make plans to paint at night or is itmore spur of the moment type of thing?

I usually do look forward to "paint nights" and yes I do plan them. Ihave a family and day job so I need to be diligent about saying "heyI'm in the studio tonight" otherwise I can find a thousand other tasksthat need my attention.

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What influences your paintings?

People I see and meet, music, other art that I'm into.

What painters have influenced you and what about them or theirpaintings was it that influenced you?

I'm into lots of different artist. I really dig Basquiat, Rauschenburg, NielBlender, Picasso, Miro, Chris Johansen, Margaret Killgalen. I guess

that is a good shortlist. I'm into differentaspects of each ofthese guys’ art. I loveBasquiat's colors andfigures,Rauschenburgh's lay-ers, Blender's lines,Johansen's socialcommentary.

In an interview I readabout you, it men-tions that you often

listen to music while painting. What bands are you listening to?Do think listening to different styles of music influences yourpaintings differently? Is there any band or music that get youworking better or more creatively?

Whoa, I really am all over the map with my music. I listen to, lots of oldJazz and Blues, The Clash, Devo, X Ray Specs, The Hunns, TheSpecials, the list could go on and on. Different music does change mymood and brush strokes. Sometimes I need a kickstart at 3 in themorning and will switch from Leadbelly to The Dead Kennedy's.

What do you find your self painting most? Do you have an idea inyour head of what the painting is going to be before you start? Atthe end of a painting are you ever surprised at what you justpainted?

People are what I paint most for sure. I do usually have a plan before I

start to paint but often times what I end up with is quite a bit differentthan what I had originally planned on painting. It can be surprising, butit's more typical than surprising.

A lot of your inspiration for paintings comes from people yousee on the street, or things people say. Has anyone you knowseen one of your paintings and said that the character resemblesthem or they remember saying the quote on the painting?

That is funny...yes it has happened. It doesn't usually, but it does everyso often.

One thing that I respect about your paintings is the fact that youare painting for yourself with no care of if people will like it or if itwill sell. Do you think a lot of artists are painting for the wrongreasons, to be famous or to make money?

Thanks. I don't think that I can say people are painting for the wrongreasons, I'm really lucky that I don't have to survive on my money thatI make from art. I have the to luxury of being able to have that attitudethat you respect. That said though it must be a bummer to have topaint thinking of the commerce side of things. It is a whole differentexperience for instance making a commissioned piece of art in thatthere is a pre conceived notion held by a buyer of what he or shethinks they will be getting. It takes some of the freedom and spontane-ity out of the experience.

How do you feel about having your paintings in a show or in agallery for people to see?

It is a cool thing, it's good to get art in front of people and hopefullyinspire them to be more creative in their own way.

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One thing that is hard for someone who creates somethingwhether it be a painting, zine or sculpture is how to put a price onit. How do you decide which pieces will go into a show and howto price them? When you are doing a show do you specifically dopaintings that are smaller so a wider range of people have anopportunity to buy your work?

Depending on where I'm showing the size of a piece will come intoplay. For instance when I show in The Pacific North West I usuallymake slightly smaller stuff that is more affordable. If I'm showing in LosAngeles I'll go bigger, there is more money and larger wall spacesthere. I do always try and make my art as affordable as possiblethough. Bottom line, I'd like anyone who is into my stuff to be able tobuy something if they are really into digging what they are seeing.

What do you want people to take away from your art?

I'm not sure. Maybe a little inspiration?

You were involved in the original Creature skateboard brand. Areyou involved with the resurrected Creature brand, and how doyou feel about NHS bringing it back?

Yeah, I started Creature. I've made a limited edition board on a funkyshape with a funky graphic for the re-launch. I'm really not part of itanymore though. They just asked me if I'd be into making a cool oneoff board for the re-launch and I did. I think it's cool that they'vebrought it back, the guys involved with it now are all really cool and I'mglad that the ideas behind it are still valid and allow them to have aproject to work on.

It’s been about a year since you became VP of Marketing at Duffs.Have you accomplished what you wanted to in that first year?

I've accomplished some of what I wanted to.

In some press, it says that you wanted to rework Duffs advertis-ing campaign. What was the problem with Duffs advertisingbefore and what how do you want to change it?

I think the old campaign screamed ad agency and was a bit insultingto those who really ride skateboards. We're now trying to make adsthat we think skateboarders will appreciate more.

I’ve noticed that Duffs has it’s own Video Podcast available. Howhave those been received since releasing them? Do you plan ondoing them weekly or monthly?

People are SO HYPED on them, I can't believe the amount of positiveresponse. We're shooting for monthly Podcasts and eventually weeklycasts.

What can we see in the future from Duffs? Any possibility ofbringing back the Stromboli?

We have the Stromboli sole back on Jason Adam's shoe "The Seville"and we have messed with an updated version of the Stromboli upperwhich may or may not make it to market. We'll see.

20 Swimmer’s Ear

www.modern-radio.com P.O. Box 8886 • Minneapolis, MN 55408

Interview with Tom Loftus Photo by Carl Wedoff

Modern-Radio

You started Modern-Radio to release the Misfires album. What was it about their music that made you want to release it? Do you think you would have start-ed the label if you hadn’t wanted to release the Misfires CD?

I actually committed to doing the Killsadie split before the Misfires LP. The case is the same for both bands though. I knew the people in the bands from seeingthem play live and getting to know them over the years. I liked the music a lot and I think the biggest part of putting out records is having a strong belief in themusic and the people. I had both and felt it was natural.

Swimmer’s Ear 21

What have you learned about releasing albums since the Misfires CD? Has running the label got-ten easier since you started?

I feel like I am always learning, always making mistakes and improving how I run the label. A majorlesson I learned was that you have to be realistic no matter how excited you are about something.You can't spend more money than you can realistically ever see coming back in,otherwise it will bea huge money pit. Obviously we'd ideally like the project to be something where you can recoup anduse the money over again for another project. I have pressed unnessessary quantities of some releas-es, which allows me to give away records with mailorder purchases or to people I think might likethe music. I essentially started the label to get music I like in the hands of other people I think mightlike the music as well, but its harder to do when you can't cover your own expenses. The part thathas gotten easier is the manufacturing end of things. When I started the label I didn't really have aclue about what was involved in pressing vinyl or CDs and the details screwed me up quite a fewtimes. It seemed really difficult at the time, but I asked a lot of questions and really began to under-stand how things work. Its always easy in the sense that it is great putting out great records, but thework involved in distributing and getting information about the records out hasn't gotten that mucheasier. Its hard no matter what and you just have to take what you can get sometimes.

Throughout the label’s history you’ve only released a couple albums a year, but within the lastcouple of years you’ve upped the output of albums. What brought on this change? Are you tak-ing the label more seriously now?

There are a several reasons why the label has had an ebb and flow. One consideration is alwaysfinancial. It has been a little easier getting paid and having records recoup costs so it allows you tomove forward to new releases faster. My friend Peter has also joined up with the label so he has con-tributed financially, but being able to split up the leg work has also been a huge significance. Also, Ithink there are just so many great bands in the Twin Cities and beyond that excite me more than everthat I really want to help out. I have gotten to know more people, which has led to me working withmore bands. Another huge factor in the activity of the label in recent years is my post graduate edu-cation. I was in graduate school from Fall 2002 to Spring 2005 so during that period things sloweddown because it was too hard to work, go to school and put lots of stuff out on the label. I had to berealistic. I also spent a lot of time traveling in that period. As far as taking it seriously, I have alwaysdone so, in the sense that I want to help out the bands as much as possible. Things are easier withPeter's help, but we both have a common approach to the label, that is realistically will not being aviable provider monetarily.

How do you decide what albums you want to release? What do you think is the most important toconsider when releasing an album? Do you worry about how well it will sell or if people will like it?

The decision to release a record usually involves talking to a band about releasing something bythem. I usually know them ahead of time and trust the artist enough to work with them to help gettheir record out. The most important thing is to care about the music as well as the artists. I could-n't imagine putting out a record just because it could make a lot of money. I would be more con-cerned about putting out something I couldn't stand behind versus putting out something that mayhave a hard time breaking even.

Cave DeathsPhoto by Greg Schall

Cave DeathsPhoto by Greg Schall

The ChambermaidsPhoto by Greg Schall

22 Swimmer’s Ear

I do take into consideration if it will sell. We try to release records by bands that are going to tourand aren't going to break up tomorrow, but even then the music trumps everything else.

What are your plans for 2006? Do you plan on growing the label more?

2006 will be the most active year of the label to date. We have released 4 records this year already.They are new CDs by Malachi Constant, The Chambermaids and Cave Deaths, and a split 7" byTornavalanche and Tight Phantomz. There are plans to release the first full length by StyrofoamDuck, a limited edition packaged version of The Danforths' new CD, a CD reissue of the Small Sale7" by Mirah which will include 8-9 tracks that haven't been released, and a full length by Signal ToTrust. There are some other things in the works as well and that is up to the beginning to middle ofthe Summer. I expect there will be more things depending on when bands are recording but that isall we can confirm at this point.

I also heard that soon Modern Radio releases will be available on Itunes? Is there any hesitancyor concerns you have with releasing music on Itunes?

Several Modern Radio releases are already available on Itunes. I don't think there was any hesitan-cy to put the songs on Itunes or to have them available digitally. I started the label to help share themusic of the people I was releasing records by, and if this gets the music to people, then that is great.Music has a transcendent quality that is great to share. I would rather have people sample a song ortwo online and decide they want to buy the record, or not, rather than having never heard the mate-rial at all. We have also had MP3s of almost every release available on the website since the begin-ning of the label so I've always tried to embrace the digital age and immerging technologies.

Can you run down the list of recent and upcoming releases and talk a little about them?

Ok, I will talk about the 7 things that are definitely coming out this year that includes four thingsthat are already out. We'll start with the releases that are already available.

Cave Deaths-Glacier On Fire-CD-This is the first CD by this Twin Cities band. Andy of the Vets andNate of STNNNG play in this band. This band actually started as a project before the STNNNGbegan. It was another outlet for Andy and Nate wanted to start a new project since his previousband, The United Snakes, was finishing up. Nate brought along the drummer from United Snakes,Danny, to play in this band as well and they recruited a mutual friend of theirs, Holly, to play withthem. She ended up playing trumpet and a Rhodes piano. The band is a bit darker and morerestrained than STNNNG or Vets but it still has the same urgency. People have compared them toCan, Slint and 90 Day Men.

The Chambermaids-s/t-CD-This band was started by siblings Martha and Neil Weir. They startedwith a drum machine and later added Colin Johnson who had played in More Material and alsoplays in a new band that is really great called Vampire Hands. This is their first full length record.They previously released a demo under the name the Shut-Ins. People have compared them to TheWipers, Wire, Husker Du, My Bloody Valentine and Joy Division. They are also from the Twin Cities.

Signal to Trust Photo by Chris Pernula

STNNNGPhoto by Chris Pernula

The Plastic Constellations Photo by Chris Pernula

Swimmer’s Ear 23

Malachi Constant-Pride-CD. This is the 3rd full length album for this St. Paul band. It is a co-releasewith Guilt Ridden Pop who released the 2 previous full lengths by Malachi Constant. MalachiConstant has been around 8 years and are great. I have known these guys forever and it seemedinevitable that I would be working with them on a record at some point. After their drummer Alexmoved they were contemplating not even releasing the material, but Peter and I felt the material wastoo good to not be released, even if they would break up shortly there after. They added Nick S. fromSuperhopper on drums and band moral is very high. The new record is more electronic influencedand vocally ambitious. They still have a good range of influences like Poster Children, Trans Am,and Sonic Youth.

Tornavalanche/Tight Phantomz split 7"-This is a split release with DC label Exotic Fever and a splitby two Chicago bands. Tornavalanche is a band made up of members of Ten Grand and ForstellaFord. I have know the guys in Ten Grand for years and over that time we have all become closefriends. Not only is Ten Grand one of my favorite bands, but they are some of the best people I havebeen fortunate enough to know. I had also known Whitney and Dan from Forstella Ford to be awe-some people. Tornavalanche started playing out in Spring 2005 and I saw them in the Summer of2005. They were amazing and we talked about doing a record. They brought in the idea of makingit a doubly awesome record by having Tight Phantomz involved. I had seen them several times andthey kick ass live. Mike Lust of Tight Phantomz recorded the STNNNG record and I had gotten toknow those guys from their trips in town. It seemed like a natural fit for two awesome bands.

Now on to the upcoming stuff:

The Danforths CD, “Look Out for the Wolves” is being released on Essay records. However, I hadtold Chris Danforth this past summer that I wanted to be involved with his next release. I had setup shows by Chris and really liked the first record he released on Essay Records. The projectevolved, but eventually it was decided that it make more sense for Modern Radio to support therecord locally and release a special, limited edition, hand screen printed packaging with a comicbook insert.

I am a big fan of releases that have a lot of personal care and attention put forth towards them andit was nice to do that with this record. This will be available for direct ordering soon and there willbe a release show in April. Jonathan Warnberg (formerly of Signal To Trust and the Misfires) playedon that first record and Adam Burt of the Vets/STNNNG plays on the 2nd record so there is also aconnection to other artists on the label as well.

The Plastic Constellations-”Crusades”-LP-French Kiss did the CD version and we had alreadybeen talking to the band about repressing Lets War again when they suggested that we could beinvolved with the new record in the vinyl format. I am a big fan of vinyl and have always stayedclose with those guys since the release of Let’s War. They are four of the best folks in the world so itis more than a pleasure to be working with them again. They have been seeing a bit more nationalattention and they deserve every bit of it. The vinyl should be done by their April 22nd shows at theTriple Rock with The Hockey Night

Malachi Constant Photo by Greg Schall

MirahPhoto by Danielle St. Laurant

TornavalanchePhoto by Adam Bubolz

24 Swimmer’s Ear

Styrofoam Duck full length-Styrofoam Duck is Ben, Dan and a big Styrofoam Duck. It is a sight tobe seen live. I got to know Ben from setting up shows at his old house that he lived at called theHaunted House. He gave me a CD of his band and I was amazed that all this time he was setting upshows that he hadn't actually put his own band on one of the shows because they were great. Wetalked about it and he has been working on the record for quite sometime. He is finishing it up andI am excited to hear it. They are a fun band. The release show for this album is set for mid-May

Mirah-This is the CD version of the 7" I released by her in 2001. It also includes some songs from ahard to find cassette only releases from 1999 and a few other songs that have not seen the light ofday. I ended up working with Mirah after writing her a really long email after hearing her firstrecord on K records. We shared mutual friends and I met her in Olympia when I went out there forLadyfest in 2000. She made me a copy of the songs because I was excited to hear other stuff by herand I told her if she ever wanted to release them that I would be more than interested. We talked about it for awhile and it ended up as a 7" that was some songs that she gave me a few new ones shehad recorded. I set up some shows for her as well and kept in touch over the years and always talkedabout doing a CD version. After all this time, the CD version is finally happening.

Signal To Trust-full length-This is being finished right now and I can't put in to words how excitedI am to not only release this record but to also hear it. They have had so many songs that have beenbuilding up over the years and haven't seen the light of day. They are one of my favorite bands andall great friends. They have changed a lot musically since their last 7", but every time this band hasevolved it has been nothing short of the big bang itself. I have probably seen them about 100 times(no joke) over the last 6 years and I look forward to seeing them play every time they play.

STNNNG Photo by Adam Bubolz

The Danforths

Styrofoam Duck

Swimmer’s Ear 25

26 Swimmer’s Ear

On a recent trip to Kentucky, a few things were learned about the state that shares initials with a sexual lubricant.

The first thing is, once the locals realize you’re from the north, they pretty much want nothing to do with you. I think the southern states are still alittle upset about the Civil War, because they were mostly pretty rude to us northerners. I’ve heard this from other peopletoo, people from the south just don’t like you. We had a couple encounters with friendly folks, but thatwas it.

One difficulty we found about the people there was their lack of direction giving skills. We asked quite afew people how to get to different locales and we were usually treated with these types of statements:“go down the road and take a left where there’s a bank on one corner and a drug store on the other” or“you go down this road about 3 miles and turn at the McDonald's”. Many couldn’t give us street namesto their own city.

We stayed in a small town (pop 22,000 or so) called Elizabethtown. Now, if that sounds familiar to you,it is the same town that they filmed the Cameron Crowe film by the same name that stars OrlandoBloom and Kristen Dunst, 3 names I never thought would grace the pages of this magazine. That film isthis city’s claim to fame. Otherwise it’s just the same as any other town with its big box departmentstores and miles of stripmalls, but with more pawn shops and adult book stores that claim “Couples areWelcome”.

The scenery in Kentucky is quite awe inspiring. Many tree covered hills lined the interstate which madea nice change compared to the flatness of Indiana.

Second thing I learned was that Downtown Louisville is a pretty lonely place. We did the touristy thingand drove around taking pictures of buildings, signs and 7 story baseball bats. While we were drivingwe noticed that no one was out on the streets, and it was Saturday night, prime time for some rowdiness. We noticedtons of cool things to skate; ledges, stairs, banks, etc... It was just strange to be pulling the car over on the side of theroad to run around the street and take pictures with no one around.

Hel

pfu

l S

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Downtown Louisville Lonely Rails Giant Bat

Swimmer’s Ear 27

The last thingI learned about KY, is that it

has one great skatepark located in a perfect spot. Just a few blocks away from the tall buildings of downtown Louisville, snuggled almost right onthe Ohio River sits the Louisville Extreme Park. The Louisville Extreme Park is all concrete, except for the vert ramp, and open 24 hours a day, 7

days a week, weather permitting of course. Did I mention that it is unsupervised and pads are not required?

On the day that I was there, the weather was hovering around 30-35 degrees with a slight breeze and there were still 40 or more people thereskating, bmxing or inlining. Though, if I had a skatepark like this in my city, I would be there almost everyday, no matter what the weather was.

28 Swimmer’s Ear

The concrete was smooth and the transitions were perfect. The only problem with the surface I found was in the bot-tom of the full pipe. It seemed a little uneven. It’s always weird seeing these parks on video. The transitions look sosmall but when you actually ride them they’re a lot more intimidating. In my opinion, I think they should build one ofthese parks in every major metropolitan area. If you’re ever in the area, I suggest that you check out the LouisvilleExtreme Park. You can check out www.louisvilleextremepark.org for more information and directions.

In 1986, French company Rautureau Apple, incollaboration with French skateboarder Alain“Platoon” Montagnet, launched the shoe brandEtnics. Their goal was to make original anddurable high tops geared towards Europeanskateboarders and surfers. The name “Etnics”is derived from the word “ethnic”, and is namedafter the lifestyle of skateboarders who travel insmall groups and create their own subculture.

A year later in 1987, Etnics officially changedit’s name to Etnies. That year they also signed

the first ever pro skate shoecontract with Natas

Kaupas, and the EtniesNatas shoe is the first

ever signatureshoe manufac-

tured.

Etnies’ design innovations started to showwhen Pierre Andre Senizergues began ridingfor Etnies. Pierre designed a shoe, the Senix,that lasted 4 times longer than other skateshoes on the market by using Indy 500Goodyear rubber for the outsole. The Senix

also featured ankle support, eyelets and bettergrip. Etnies hired “Platoon” and Gilles De LaPointe as their first graphic designers and theyimmediately began upgrading the Etnies brandimage and logo. 1988 alsosaw Etnies sponsoringTeam Pig City fromBrighton, England, andthey sponsored the biggestskate contest ever held in front of the EiffelTower, The Trophee de Paris contest.

In 1989, Pierre Andre began distributing Etniesin the United States through a licensing agree-ment and Etnies U.S.A. became the first skateshoe company owned and directed by a proskateboarder.

Influential skateboarder Sal Barbier joined theEtnies team in 1990. That same year, Etniestook their shoe in a new direction with simplershoe designs made of all suede. The Senix,Rap High-top and the Ollie King round out thatyear’s shoe collection.

The Etnies skate team grew in 1991 toinclude skateboarders Eric Dressen, RudyJohnson, Jason Rogers, Eric Conner, LabanPhedias, Jahmal Williams as well as Natas, Sal

and Pierre. These skateboarders were featuredin the first ads placed in U.S. skate magazines.

In 1992, Pierre Andre took over worldwide dis-tribution of Etnies and began designing shoesin the U.S. He was able to do this through alicensing deal with Rautureau Apple. TheModel E and EZ joined the Rap, Ollie King andthe Senix as part of the collection. The Raphigh-top gained popularity when Sal Barbierskated in them in Plan B’s Questionable Video.That same year, Etnies advertised in SteveRocco’s revolutionary skateboard magazine,Big Brother, becoming the first shoe brand todo so.

In 1993, street skateboarders grew tired of hightop shoes and startedcutting down the hightops to make lotops. Etniesbegan

Swimmer’s Ear 29

Etnics Ice Man

Etn

ies

Nat

as

30 Swimmer’s Ear

des ign -ing shoes how thisnew generation of skaterswanted them. A collaborative shoe betweenPierre Andre and Don Brown, the Lo-Cut, isdesigned, starting a whole generation of lo-topskate shoes. Other shoes in this collectioninclude the Lo-Down, the Senix lo-top, theScam, and two shoes that new brands Duffsand Globe try to mimic, the Intercity and Screw.

One of the most comfortable and durableshoes is released in 1994. That shoe, the Sal23, designed by Sal Barbier became one of themost popular shoes of its time. That same year,the U.S. skate shoe boom began and in anattempt to elevate shoe design, Pierre Andrehelped DC Shoes get started with productionand manufacturing of their first run. Pierre alsodesigned the Skol, which translates into“cheers” in Swedish. The Swedish skateboard-ers who ran the warehouse joked about drink-ing out of an actual shoe, when in reality, theSkol was designed for this very purpose.

Etnies KO Man Logobecame the best sellinglogo of the time and Etniesgot into a bit of troublewhen they poked fun atbrands Nike, Fila,

Converse and Adidas with their new logodesigns. Pierre changed Etnies U.S.A. toEtnies America and restructured the companyand readied it for expansion.

In 1995, Etnies released the first footwear com-pany team video. High 5 is just barely 15 min-utes long, but features more than 20 skate-

boarders. Skaters in High 5 include; JamieThomas, Chad Muska, Marc Johnson, EricKoston and a spectacular ending featuring

Tom Penny. The popularshoe, the Rap was releasedin an all full grain leatherversion and was dubbed theM.C. Rap and featured an80’s inspired tri color design.

1996 brought the possibilityof Etnies being sold by theFrench company that origi-nally started Etnies,

Rautureau Apple. Apple decided to sell Etniesand companies that Etnies once made fun oflike Nike, were now interested in buying thebrand. But in the end, Pierre gained full rightsto Etnies. Around that same time Pierre startedSole Technology which housed Etnies,Emerica, eS and Thirty-Two. That same year,females in skateboarding started getting morerecognition and Elissa Steamer was added tothe Etnies skate team.

By 1997, Etnies had teams for skateboarding,snowboarding, surfing, Motocross, and BMXand Etnies started designing shoes that werecleaner and more stylish, like the Emir and thewater resistant all terrain shoe, the Trek.

Current Popwar designer, Yogi Proctor, joined

Etnies in 1998 and designed the new Etniesarrow logo. ThatChristmas, Etnies donat-ed 10,000 pairs of shoesto Los Angeles areahomeless people throughthe LA Mission, and Etniesdonated money and volunteers to theCalifornia AIDS Ride bicycle event. The teamincluded Andrew Reynolds, Mike Vallely, TimBrauch, Mike Manzoori, Brian Patch amongmany others. Mike Vallely designed his promodel skate shoe and even though it wasdesigned for skateboarding, it wasa favorite among BMXers due toits design and durability. Othershoes in that years collectionincluded the Sultan, a favoriteof Tim Brauch, the Yukon,Kalif and the popularCzar.

Etnies openedits new head-quarters in Lake Forest, California in 1999. Thebuilding includes 116 solar panels on the roof.It’s one of the biggest solar installations in theworld, and it generates 180 kilowatts of energy,enough to power 60 houses and saves 42acres of trees a year. That same year, Etnieslaunched its music program and the female

specific Etnies Girlshoe line debuted.

The turn of the centurymarked the year that Etnies launched its Kidsline with models like the Czar, Lo-Cut and Indyand skaters Ryan Sheckler, Jesse Fritsch,Carlos De Andrade and Fabrizo Santos joinedthe Etnies skate team.

Etn

ies

Lo-C

ut

Etnies Ollie King

Swimmer’s Ear 31

Lake Forest Mayor, Peter Herzog and PierreAndre Senizergues broke ground for the firstjoint venture of its kind between a shoe brand(Etnies) and a local government (City of LakeForest). That venture, the Etnies Skatepark ofLake Forest was designed and built to givesomething back to skateboarding and the LakeForest Community. That November after Sept11th, 2001, Sole Tech organized a World TradeCenter benefit to bring skateboarders and theentire industry together. Over $35,000 wasraised for the WTC relief fund and Pierre donat-ed an additional $15,000 from his own pocket.That same year, the first pro women's skateshoe, the Elissa Steamer debuted.

The Sole Technology Institute, STI, was born atthe University of Massachusetts in 2002.Etnies hired biomechanics professor NedFrederic, and sent shoes and pro skaters toUMass for testing. New styles like the Imperial,Tron, Siege, Oracle, and the Elissa Steamermodel, Tross, are released. Classic skateshoes Scam and Sal 23 are re-released. Also,Etnies launched its limited edition PlusCollection, which feature special fabrics andcolorways.

In 2003, Etnies moved STI from the Universityof Massachusetts to Lake Forest and investedmillions to make significant improvements inthe performance and safety of skate shoes.Due to their efforts, STI created it’s first everskate specific technology, the System G2™.The Etnies Response was the first model todebut with the new technology. The STI wasformally unveiled at that year’s ASR tradeshow.

After 2 years of building, the Etnies Skatepark

of Lake Forest opened to enthusiastic publicacclaim. Pierre Andre personally contributed$125,000 to keep the park free for everyone.The first pro model shoe, Natas, was re-released. Stefan Janoski, and Flip riders ArtoSaari, Bastian Salabanzi and Rune Glifbergjoined the etnies skate team while LaurenPerkins, Mary Osborne, Jodie Nelson, andAlexis Waite joined Etnies Girl.

Bastian Salabanzi won MVP and helped theRegular team with thefirst ever Etnies Goofyvs Regular contest heldat the Lake ForestSkatepark in 2004. Artoand Rune’s pro modelshoes, the “Arto” and the “Tip” debut andBastian’s pro model shoe was in the works.Like in the past, Etnies donated 500 paris of

new shoes to needyOrange County kidsand worked again withthe L.A. Mission todonate over 2,000pairs of shoes to thehomeless.

In response to the Hurricane Katrina Disasterin 2005, Etnies donated 5,000 paris of shoesand 5,000pieces of EtniesApparel to therelief effort aswell as donated500 pairs ofshoes to needykids and 2,000pairs to the homeless. Bastien Salabanzi’s pro

model debuted and Etnies launched the ECollection, an exclusive line of upscale skateinspired shoes for the fashionable consumer.The Sole Technology Institute continued mak-ing skate shoes safer with 4 new technologies:the System G202™, System G2™ Full Impact,System Flo2™ Tongues, and STI Foam™Insoles. “My Name is Earl” star and Co-Captainof Stereo Skateboards,Jason Lee and Co-Captain Chris Pastrascollaborated withEtnies on two shoemodels. The secondannual Goofy vsRegular contest is held atthe Lake Forest Skatepark,and new team rider RonnieCreager won MVP andhelped the Goofy team withvictory over the Regulars.

In 2006, Etnies celebratedit’s 20th anniversary. RyanSheckler became theyoungest pro to everreceive a pro model shoeand Flip pro, Ali Boulalajoined the Etnies skateteam.

Middle Column Top to Bottom:Pierre giving away shoes, a needy kidwith Arto and Pierre, Hurrican Releif

Jaso

n &

Chr

isP

astr

as M

odel

Lee

Mod

el

32 Swimmer’s Ear

Etnies High 5

“High 5” was released in 1995, a time whenskate videos weren’t in high demand. The videois 14 minutes long and features over 20 skate-boarders. If you’ve done your math correctly,that’s less than 1 minute per part, which onlygives each skater 5 - 7 tricks. Jamie Thomasstarts out the video with a part that would fit rightin with his “Welcome to Hell” part, it consists ofhandrails and gaps. From there on there are shortstreet skating parts by Satva Lueng, Dan Drehobal,Phil Shao, Laban Phedias, Chris Senn, ShortyGonzalas, Richard Mulder, plus others and vertskating parts by Darren Navarette, Mathias

Ringstrom and Rune Glifberg. Chad Muska has a nicepart that has him doing tailslides down 10 stair handrails,

which was considered pretty big in 1995. Marc Johnson has a goodpart that has him skating handrails too and doing his smooth 360 flips. EricKoston has a part that still baffles me. I remember when I first saw this andsaw Eric ollieing over a full size picnic table with ease, not even going thatfast It just blew me away that somebody could ollie one of those. The bestpart of the video has to go to Tom Penny. Tom was just about at the height ofhis popularity when this video was released. Tom has the most effortlessstyle when it comes to skateboarding and it shows in his part. His backsidekickflip to tail in the pool are just amazing, it’s like 2 puzzle pieces fitting per-fectly together. “High 5” is a video that should be seen. It’s not the best video,but it does have some classic skating by pros early in their careers. If Etnieshad this same team and released this video in 2006, it would definitely belonger and it would probably be one of the top videos ever released.

Etnies Logos from 1986 to Present

Tom Penny

Swimmer’s Ear 33

647 Snel l ing Avenue South, St . Paul , MN 55116 • 651.698.PUSH

Interview with Steve Nesser www.fami l iaskateshop.com

Why’d you want to start your own skateshop and whynow? To give what I can to the skateboarders here and andI think the time is perfect with Summer around the corner.

Do you think Fobia closing left a void in the Twin Citiesskate scene? Definitely. I don't think people realize whatFobia did for this place. I feel like it was a good unity and itgave kids something to get behind and a place to go and Ihope Familia can bring that back to our scene.

Why’d did you choose to open the shop in St. Paul and notMinneapolis? How big is the shop? I didn't really pickwhich city. I just found a spot that I liked and it was in St.Paul and it worked itself out. I think it will be good tospread it out. The shop is 1100 Sq Ft.

Have you got a team put together, who’s on it? Well, we’re not really gonna have a team but some of theheads that will be The Familia and repping the shop are SethMcCallum, Clint Peterson, Emeric Pratt, Jamiel Nowparvar,Chad Benson, Nate Compher, and Mike Guy. We wanteverybody to be family and feel like they are a part of it.

What will your role in the shop be? Will you be handlingthe day to day operations? I'm gonna try to do as much as Ican when I can, but day to day probably won’t happen.That’s where Tuck 187 comes in.

How do you plan on making your shop stand out from therest of the skate shops in the area? Create our own path.

Will Familia be selling snowboard products also, or will itbe strictly skateboarding? Strictly skateboarding.

When is the grand opening and do you have any eventsplanned for it? Our goal is to open April 1st and we willhave a grand opening event sometime after. Check the web-site when you can for info after we open!

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LoveofEverythingLoveofEverythingInterview with Bobby Burg • Photo by Chris Strong

How does "Superior Mold and Die" compare to previous Love ofEverything albums? Is there anything you did differently on the newalbum that you hadn't done in the past? I think it's a little more delib-erate in subject matter compared to past releases however, it isequally as spread out recording/arrangement wise. I have neverplayed songs 'live' before recording them, this album has about 5songs that I have played on tour. The weird thing is that I have touredwith so many line up variations(from a 5 piece band to totally solo)that I was forced to pick the best version of each song to record.

You moved from Chicago to Brooklyn and back to Chicago again?What made you come back to Chicago and did living in the differentcities influence your songwriting? I came back to Chicago after 3months on the road with Joan of Arc, Owen, and Love of Everything.Sometime in Germany my roommate in Brooklyn told me "By the timeyou get home I will already be gone!" So I knew I had to move and Iwas surrounded by these guys and they suggested Chicago.

Nate and Tim Kinsella, Sam Zurick, and Cale Parks played instrumentson a few songs, will they be helping out on tour or are you doing theshows solo? They all have already helped out on past tours, I thinknow I'm sort of into performing solo. Examples of what the live solo actsounds like are the songs driven through rainbows and too muchhappy wet hair.

Is it more difficult playing solo shows as Love of Everything opposedto playing shows with Joan of Arc or Make Believe? It’s scary but it’sdirectly gratifying, in turn when it's bad it's really bad. I will never playin Akron, Ohio solo again.

You've toured many different countries with Love of Everything andyour other bands, what have you learned from traveling to othercountries? In Japan last week, I learned what it’s like to be illiterate,deaf, and mute.

You're an artist, musician and I've heard that you also skateboard.How long have you been skateboarding and what got you interestedin it? My big brother and his friends always skateboarded on a 8 ft halfpipe in my backyard, built when I was 9 in 1986. Our soundtrack wasof course skate-rock and punk and those types of music are what gotme excited about music in the first place.

You've said that the "Bones Brigade Video Show" is one of yourfavorite videos. Do you stay up to date on current skateboardingvideos and trends? My old band used to cover that song 'Mystery'from when Lance Mountain is skating at nighttime. I don't stay that upto date... I've seen 'Yeah Right' but I think that was a really popularone because of the effects. I love the 'Sorry' video, and in NYC I usedto go to all of the video premieres. The last one I went to I think wasthe DC(I think) video with the Tortoise song at the beginning.

I've noticed that a lot of musicians skateboard, what do you think theconnection is between music and skateboarding? Am I supposed tosay freedom of expression or something? I don't know. They do seemto go hand in hand, like rebellion and intense highs and lows...

Aside from being a musician, you also run your own record label,Record Label. What are some advantages and disadvantages ofreleasing your own music on your own label? How has the label beinggoing and what releases do you have planned for 2006? Well youknow what is a disadvantage, is feeling weird calling a record storeasking them to buy your CD. I don't really do that like I would withanother artists release. The advantages are you can make sure it'sdone the way you want it to be done. New on Record Label for 2006;a new Joan of Arc 'Eventually, All at Once' and a double vinyl reissueof Pinebender 'Things Are About to Get Weird'. Also Record Label isgoing to start doing cassettes. Like a few for distribution but mostlyfor live souvenirs.

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It has been almost a year since The Grey wasbanned from the U.S. Has the band or LovittRecords made any headway in getting the U.S.’s deci-sion reversed?

Both the band and the label has made conscious efforts todeal with the ban. On the Canadian side we have contact-ed members of parliament, talked to lawyers, looked intofiling appeals, we’ve even gone as far as to try contactingthe attorney general of the United States about the deci-sion. They don’t make it easy to dispute their ruling. Wecan’t stress enough how incredible Brian Lowit at LovittRecords has been. He has written letters, set up inter-views, contacted congressmen, and tried to spread theword about what we both think is a ridiculous and frustrat-ing situation. Despite all of this, we unfortunately haven’tmade much progress in having the decision reversed. Butwe’re not giving up yet.

Photo by Alex Cairncross

Can you explain the events the caused the U.S. to ban The Grey for 5 years?

Oh boy, explaining this every time we tell it is weird. It’s not that we don’t want to talk about it, or that it’s hardto explain, its just difficult to relive the scenario over and over. We have all been playing bands for quite a

while, and have always known the risks of trying to cross the border in the Unites States without properpaperwork. However, over the last 10 years or more, we have never had any problems. The worst we

have experienced before this is a queezy stomach as we approached the crossing.

We were going with the story that we had friends in the U.S. and had just played a show in Canada,hence the van full of gear, and that we didn’t have time to unload the van and might jam with themfor fun since we had it with us. Sounds dumb in retrospect, but has worked every other time.Surprisingly, this wasn’t really the problem. The problem came when they searched our van forover an hour and found our merch. Even though we said it was with us from our past show inCanada, they became suspicious. At this point it was pretty impossible to dispute the fact that ourband name was “The Grey” with a bunch of cds in their hands with our name on them. They thenchecked listings of shows in the local area, our name came up. The shit hit the fan. We were allseparated and not allowed to communicate and were “interviewed” one by one over the next 6hours. We didn’t try to lie at this point and didn’t think we had anything really serious to hide. Wedidn’t need to invent an elaborate scheme about not making any money on tour in the U.S.because the reality was that we don’t! We are lucky if we make gas money at most shows. Andyet, we continue to do this for the pure love of traveling and making music with our friends. In noway is our band an employment venture or any source of income for any of us, we all work jobs.It is also safe to say that if it were a way ofliving for us, we wouldn’t risk that by tryingto sneak past border guards. Anyway, atthe end of it they determined that a 5 yearban for each of us, individually or as agroup, was a suitable punishment. Theyeven used the line “I know Canada doesn’tthink so, but we are a country at war, andwe can’t let things like this slide.”Horseshit. The decision to ban us was attheir discrepancy. They even admitted tohaving the authority to give suitable pun-ishments to certain offenses. After our fin-gerprints and mug shots were taken, someof the other guards were even telling us inconfidence that they didn’t agree with thisand said it was a waste of time and paper-work, and that they knew we weren’t doinganything that serious.

Photo by Alex Cairncross

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Do you think that the U.S.’s decision was justified or do you think itwas too harsh for what seems like a minor offense?

We want to make it clear though, that we know we were breaking the law,and didn’t expect to be punished at all if we were caught, but it’s hard to tryand explain where we are coming from to people who don’t really get it. Abunch of poor artists from Canada being treated like rich businessmen outto pull the wool over the eyes an entire country, and make a million dollarsfrom our deceit is not really an accurate portrayal of the situation. Beingbanned for 5 years form the country is a bit harsh given the circumstances.And we are all privileged white people form Canada, I can only imagine thetype of crap that immigrants and people of different races and backgroundsmust have to go through. It was also strange to see the signature of thetrainee from that night on all of our “alien removed” paperwork, when hehardly said a word all night. The supervising officer was the one who wascalling the shots.

How did you guys get signed up with Lovitt Records?

A few of us in this band used to play together before this one called ThreePenny Opera. That band toured with Engine Down and Four HundredYears and quickly became friends. Despite the distance, we all kept in con-

tact over the years. We had very briefly talked to Brian about doing a thirdThree Penny Opera record, but the band broke up before we really went intothat much detail. Later on when we started doing the Grey and had beentalking to Engine Down, they put in good word for us with Brian, and thingssort of fell into place after that. We couldn't be happier. The label, and Brianespecially, has been really good to us.

I’ve noticed that on a lot of releases by Canadian Artists, that theyacknowledge The Government of Canada and the Canada MusicFund. What is the Canada Music Fund and how does the CanadianGovernment help out with independent artists?

We have yet to have the support of the Canada Music Fund. The Canadamusic fund is a government funded grant for independent musicians torepresent Canada. It can help musicians by helping with grant money,helping with exposure. We haven’t really been exposed to it yet. I’m notsure if bands diligently seek out, or if bands are sought after by it. It cancomplicate things. I’m sure it can be of great help at the right time, but wehaven’t gone down that road yet.

Do you think that the Canadian independent music scene gets as much recognition as it should? What Canadianbands do you think are under appreciated or think everyone should hear?

The term independent has become kind of hard to define lately. There are a lot of independent Canadian bands thatget lots of exposure. Some deserve it and some don’t. Like any music scene, there are areas and styles that get

hyped up and over exposed, but that’s not really a surprise. It would be nice to see some attention on some ofthe lesser known, awesome music coming out of Canada, but you can’t expect all of it to be heard, unfortu-

nately. Oh man, under appreciated bands in Canada without enough recognition? There are many.Probably too many to mention, but here goes. Crimson Mire, Deadsure, Buried Inside, Sleeping pilot, North

of America, The Jesus Mullet, Ghosts of Modern Man, Swords, Preistess, Feist, Matt Mayes and ElTorpedo, Ghost Story, The Sadies, the list goes on. The funny thing in that these bands don’t get muchrecognition for what they do, meanwhile there are goofs singing about nonsense that get a lot of atten-tion singing about being in grade 9 and the stupid shit they would do if they had a million dollars.

From listening to “Asleep at the Wheel”, you can tell that the band and music is influenced bya lot of different things. What bands or other things helped influence this album?

The band has definitely been influenced by other bands both past and present. Through meeting peo-ple, playing with different bands and being through a lot together, this record was heavily influenced

by a lot of things. Without sounding too vague, life itself isenough of an inspiration. Friends and family are huge inspi-rations on us. Everyday happenings manifest themselvesin ways that affect so many other aspects of our lives thatits hard to name them individually, and are hard to avoid,but are indisputably influential on how we function as agroup and write songs. At the same time, these everydayoccurrences can easily be related to larger issues thataffect everyone and are addressed through music.

Since you can’t tour the U.S. in support of “Asleep atthe Wheel”, have you made any plans to tour countriesoverseas?

We are actually in the process of finalizing a European tourright now. We are going in the fall with the new record afterwe tour Canada from coast to coast. We are pretty excitedto tour abroad, not only for the change of scenery but toalso prove that we can continue to function as a banddespite the U.S. ban. We have also been talking abouttouring Japan after Europe and will be organizing that soon.

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Shad Lambert“I want to be the first skate photographer with chicks that set everything up for me and then I just pull the trigger.”

What came first, skateboarding or photography? What got you inter-ested in skateboarding and what got you interested in taking photos?

Definitely skateboarding first. When I saw my first skate video,Propaganda, a Powell video, I was immediately obsessed with the cine-matography. So I started by always jacking my dad's video camera, itwas a huge shoulder-cam beast. I'd just film my lunatic friends. Startedstealing my mom’s Pentax camera shortly after that, then when I rolledmy ankle and couldn't skate I actually learned about a thing called a"light meter".

Are you a self taught photographer or do you have formal training?

I took a black and white class in school which was cool, but it was abunch of Colorado Hippies doing really bad landscape and nature pho-tos, and I was the jerk who just wanted to shoot skating and people.Photography is something you really just have to gangster yourself.Steal techniques, then experiment and make your own shit.

What photographers had an influence on you?

Grant Brittain, Dave Swift, Spike Jonze, Atiba Jefferson, Sturt. The SpikeJonze multiple exposure photo of Jeremy Klein doing the kickflip melonwas like magic to me. I stared at that thing for hours trying to figure outhow the hell he did it.

You’re originally from Colorado? Did you do any snowboard photog-raphy while living there?

Yeah, tried shooting for a little bit, but snowboarding is a clinic, I likedshooting rainbow logs and rail photos, but it got boring. Style just shinesso much brighter in skating.

Explain how you came from Colorado to work at Transworld. You’renot still working at Transworld are you? Do you shoot photos for anyother magazines?

I started a skate zine in Colorado, and Ako and Atiba grew up in thetown next to me, Manitou Springs. Atiba and Ako had just started work-ing for TransWorld about two years earlier and I'd always send themcopies of the mag. Then transworld needed an editor, so they asked meto send a resume. It was seriously the worst resume ever, but I guessthey liked my photo copied black and white zines, so a week later theysaid I got the job if I wanted it. I immediately put everything in my carand drove to Cali. That's when I learned about California cost of living,my whole paycheck would be going to rent once I found a place to live.So I Crashed on Atiba's floor, slept in my car, it was awesome.I even had to sell some camera gear to get an apartment, that sucked.

But I had to be in the office paying dues, doing all the busy work likeanswering letters and transcribing interviews, so I didn't get to shootthat many photos, plus I didn't know anybody yet. But I slowly got tosneak out more and actually learn how to take a decent photo, met morepeople.

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Ethan Fowler - Kickflip

As time went on TransWorld was bought and sold like three differenttimes to bigger and bigger corporations, and the ads got worse, adver-tisers were given more control over the magazine, and the censorshipwas just ridiculous. So Atiba, Grant, and Swift left to start their ownmag. When they left, the place immediately turned into the worst cor-porate hell hole you've ever seen. So I just went on photo rampages andavoided the office like the plague. Now I'm freelance, and I work forKr3w and Supra, so I feel like I'm really really lucky to be able to con-tribute photos to all the mags. Just had my first Slap photo, which hasalways been one of my favorites, so that was cool.

I’ve noticed that most skate photographers have their own little groupof skaters that they shoot photos of. Who’s in your group?

Well it always changes, you got to keep hustling and moving. Someonerecently told me that all dirtballs and crazy fucks like to shoot with me.I don't really worry about the "cool guy" or "who's hot" thing. You gotsomething cool to shoot I'll shoot it. But like the last two weeks I've beenskating with Tom Penny and Chad Muska and it's fucking insane!Penny and the Muska, putting it down getting shit everyday like it was1998. Wait till you see Penny's new shit.... aaaaaaaaaamazing. And JimGreco has been on a killing spree, finished Baker 3 and just kept murder-ing, he's skating better than ever right now.

Being a photographer, I'm sure you had the chance to travel to variousstates and countries. What have been some of the more memorableplaces you've traveled and why?

Japan is incredible, amazing architecture, crazy culture, everyone isscared of you, it rules. Prague is insane, beers for 25 cents at theskatepark with 13 year olds drinking and skating. Ummm... and Mexicois just sketchy, but beautiful. You know I haven't travelled as much theother gangsters, still trying to get a free ticket to New Zealand...

Who have been the easiest skateboarders to work with?

It's the people that skate all the time because they want to, not becausethey have to. Enthusiasm is contagious. There's a reason PaulRodriguez, Eric Koston, and Mark Applyard are so successful—they

love skateboarding, and they put it down.

When you’re setting up your gear to shoot a photo, do you have anidea on how you want the photo to look?

Yeah, gotta analyze the situation. Take the security and thug factors intoconsideration, weigh the risks versus rewards and what shot you reallywant.

Are you shooting film, or are you shooting only digital?

Both, film ain't dead bitches!

How many cameras do you own, what one is your favorite and why?

I actually had to just get another camera bag for all my extra cameras.Holgas' half-frames, panoramics, Hasselblands, Canons, Nikons, insanity.

Do you think skate photographers get paid enough for the work they do?

No, and it's our fault. But traditional distribution channels are eroding,and vertical integration is coming.

What is the hardest or most stressful thing about being a photographer?

Everything... security, faulty camera gear, injuries, tickets, thieves, butthen you get that one photo and it makes it all worth it.

If there was one thing about being a skate photographer that youcould change what would it be?

Ohhh, I'm starting some new shit. A bunch of girls on Myspace keepasking to assist me on one of my shoots. So I'm going to have a couplegirls carry my bags, jump school yard fences, and run from the cops. Iwant to be the first skate photographer with chicks that set everythingup for me and then I just pull the trigger.

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ShadLambert

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“There's a reason Paul Rodriguez, Eric Koston, and Mark Applyard are so successful—theylove skateboarding,and they put it down.”

Abidias Riviera - BS Lipslide

Port of Los AngelesPhoto: Shad Lambert

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Rider: Unknown -Switch HeeflipPhoto: Andreas Dunlap

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Michael Anderson Photo: Nate Bozquez

Michael Anderson Photo: Nate Bozquez

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Ben Gilsrud Photo: Michael Anderson

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Rider UnknownPhoto: Zach Windahl

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MMaannuuaall DDeexxtteerriittyy ##22Features interviews with The Nein, Chariots and Say Hi to Your Mom, plus miniinterviews with Del Cielo, These Arms Are Snake, Strike Anywhere, Paint itBlack, Dr. Dog and Des Ark.

MMaannuuaall DDeexxtteerriittyy ##33Features interviews with Bob Nanna of The City on Film, Chicago’s BoundStems, and The American Analog Set. Also includes an article about LovittRecords 10 years of business.

SSHHIITT!! -- TTuurrdd TTaalleess && SSttooooll SSttoorriieessUnbeleivable tales of people shitting on mobile homes, in rivers and on trees.Incredibly humorous and rousing. A great read for your next shit!

Coming Soon...Super Friends, Yearbook & Personal Ads

A collection of personal photos found donated at a thrift store made into ahumorous and disturbing zine. Think twice before you donate family pictures.

Manual Dexterity #4Another great issue featuring 3 great bands and some interesting articles.

p.o. box 2076 • maple grove, mn 5531 1 (E) subtitlespub@yahoo.com

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