Swimmer's Ear Magazine #11

Issue 11

FREE

Cave IN

Cursive

Roll one

STATISTICS

ryan leege

rObot food

Jeff MeyEr

Dennis Swearingen

THE BOOK OF THURMANFREE

Issue 11

Cave IN

Cursive

Roll one

STATISTICS

ryan leege

rObot food

Jeff MeyEr

Dennis Swearingen

THE BOOK OF THURMAN

Editors

Chris Pernula

Adam Sever

Contributing Writers

Jack Boyd

Ashley Brookins

Jimi Nguyen

Matt Roesch

Contributing Photographers

Joe Blum

Ashley Brookins

Michael Stenerson

Pete Wurster

Cover: Elijah Collard, Noseslide

Here: Art in Motion

Photos: Joe Blum

magazine

issuesummer 2003

memo:The biggest disadvantage to skating in Minnesota would have to be winters. It’s hard to go to your favoritespots with sixteen inches of snow on the ground and a windchill of twenty below. That’s why it’s importantto take advantage of summer for the short time that it is here. Go out and skate as much as possible andmake the most of what you have. It won’t be long before dew turns to frost and the leaves begin to fall.

Thanks to everyone who helped out with this issue...Contributing writers and photographers, interviewers and interviewees, all of our advertisers, and you, the reader.

Seth McCallum, Noseslide Photo: Michael Stenerson

summertime

First>>Whats the first thing that comes to mind

when you think of skateboarding?

“I think about the sun reflecting off thepavement. The bright green grass

against the bluuuue sky.”

-Paul Pernula

“Chillin’ with my homies, filming, and having a good time.”

-Brian Nagan

“BIG STAIRS.”

-Phil Wright

heelflip

Summer Hymns “Clemency” Misra Records

This CD is one of those alterna/country folkindie records. If you are into indie rock andyou want to give country a try, go get the newSongs: Ohia record or a Cub Country record.At least your friends won’t kick your ass for

listening to those records. Usually when I listen to music that’s goingto be reviewed, I listen to each part of the band from the vocals to thedrumming. The vocals are near crap and the guitar and drums are stan-dard. If you like country or folk, you’ll probably like this album. Ifyou’re not into country or folk, then why did you read this review?

Royal City “Alone at the Microphone” Rough Trade

Like the Summer Hymns album I already men-tioned, Royal City does the Alterna/folk indiegenre too. But the difference between the two,Royal City actually pulls it off. The vocals areeasy to listen to and the guitar plays a big partof the songs; intricate banjo strumming. “Aloneat the Microphone” is a great record that a lot of people could enjoy.

Statistics “Statistics” Jade Tree

Statistics is Desaparecidos guitarist DenverDalley’s new project. This ep features 5 songs.The ep sort of tells a story but Dalley leaves itup to the listener to interpret the lyrics.Musically Statistics is computer driven sam-ples, much like Minneapolis’s Askeleton, with afew guitars and bass thrown in. A Statistics full

length should be out by January 2004, and if it’s anything like the ep,Statistics will be very popular.

The American Analog Set “Promise of Love”Tiger Style

The new Am An Set album is ok. There are 8songs on this cd. The first half are kinda slowand the second half are more upbeat. Fromwhat I’ve heard of their previous recordings,this cd is kind of a let down. There are a fewgood songs but I wasn’t very impressed with

this album.

Align “Blue Book Value” Blue Worm Records

“Blue Book Value” is a great rockalbum. These songs make me want todrive like I’m in a car chase with 30cops and sheriffs behind me and asniper in the helicopter above me. Thisis a very solid record with meaningful

vocals, great guitar and bass work, and loud pounding drums. Ifyou’re tired of listening to the same songs on the radio and yurnfor a solid rock recording then this is the album for you.

Nada Surf “Let Go” Barsuk

You may remember this band as havingthe uber popular song “Popular” in themid 1990’s. On “Let Go”, Nada Surfhas honed their musical skills and theresult is a well recorded record. Thesongs on “Let Go” vary from slow toupbeat. This album has lots of great

song writing and should be well liked by all.

The Deathray Davies “Midnight at theBlack Nail Polish Factory” Glurp

The Deathray Davies are a 60’s sound-ing indie rock band. I haven’t had theopportunity to hear any previousDavies’ releases, but “Midnight...” is aneasily enjoyable album. The songs arekind of dark, but upbeat. The title sug-

gests making fun of all those emo kids who wear the black nailpolish and are sad.

The Postal Service “Give Up” Sub Pop

Everything about this band is cool. Themusic is cool. The vocals are cool. Eventhe way the band wrote and recordedthis album was cool. The Postal Serviceis Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutieand Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel. “GiveUp” is computer programmed beats that

Tamborello made then mailed via the postal service to Gibbard,so he could arrange the music and add vocals. “Give Up” soundskinda futuristic. If Judy Jetson wasn’t so into Jet Screamer, she’d

be rocking The Postal Service.

A Summary Execution “The Kings ofRock Cliche”

When it’s dark outside and you can see yourreflection in your bedroom window, you liketo practice moshing. But you can’t shut yourcurtains, or you won’t see your reflection andhow well you’re dancing. Arms and legsflailing about, beating the shit out of the staleair around you. You must get angry a lot,

because you’re in there almost every night. I know, because I’mbehind that big tree in the corner of your yard. Watching. I don’tknow what you listen to because your bedroom window is alwaysclosed. And locked. But while I watch you I listen to A SummaryExecution. And it is good. See ya tomorrow night.

Nehemiah “ The Asphyxiation Process”UprisingIf you don’t already know about this album, Ireally don’t feel like explaining it to you. Ifyou’re a fan of metal this album should havebeen added to your collection the second itwas released. If it wasn’t, I’m sorry. Pureevil local metal. Give in to the taste.

Radiohead “Hail to the Thief” Capital Records

Radiohead is just like Pearl Jam. Bothbands have been playing so long and havebuilt up a fan base that, no matter whattheir new album sounds like, 90% of thosefans will buy it, just to complete their col-lection. Hail to the Thief is a good album.

It sounds like Radiohead. When compared to previous albums like“Ok Computer”, “Hail...” falls short. On “Ok Computer” the songsare easily recognizable. Whereas on “Hail...” it feels like there arefewer songs and more tracks. The difference being, songs, you actu-ally know the name of the song, and tracks, you call the song by the

track number.

Paint it Black “CVA” Jade Tree

Loud, fast, aggressive punk. Paint itBlack features former Kid Dynamite rock-ers Dr. Dan Yemin and Dave Wagenschutz(also of Good Riddance). Yemin alsomakes his debut as a vocalist. “CVA” is areally good album, but the only downfallof it is, there are 17 songs and the cd is

only 18 and a half minutes long. They should’ve put more songs on

the album, but that’s what punk is all about.

bsolete

Coming soon toMaple Grove...

s k a t e s h o p

O

Recently I have wondered what makes something cool oruncool. I was reading a recent issue of Rolling Stone and in thatissue it was going to tell me what is cool. Hell, it was even labeled“The Cool Issue 2003.” So, what makes something cool? Well, inmy opinion, it is not anything that some mainstream magazine willtell you. What I can tell you is whatever is cool is just fad and isnot actually cool. It is actually a tool used by advertising mega-con-glomerate Satan worshipping corporate elites.

“Why are you so angry?” you might ask. Well, it is sim-ply exploitation. Whenever something is drawing a crowd, is talkedabout, or has a small fan base, it will get exploited. Example: themusic industry is at it’s worst right now. Mega-record companiescomplain how they are losing money. Is it because of Napster andother music-sharing programs, the high prices, or the CD burner?Here’s a thought, put out some good music. Who’s gonna want topay twenty bucks for a one hit wonder, cookie cutter pop music,wannabe gangster rap rock, or pop punk sound alikes? What hap-pened was music has been exploited. When something is new andfresh, record executives flood the market with billions of look alikesand sound alikes. Now, no one even cares, the music is horrible,and it doesn’t even take raw talent anymore. (Watch AmericanIdol... or American a-hole for a talentless teen wannabe) I hateMTV, it might as well be called Empty V. Empty V doesn’t do it forthe music anymore, it is just a channel in which commercials areplayed 24/7 for those advertising mega-conglomerate Satan worship-ping corporate elites.

“What does this have to do with anything?” you mightask. Well, in recent years, skateboarding has been exploited. Withall the media attention Tony Hawk got at the X-Games, everyonefrom toy companies to Mountain Dew wanted a ticket on the skate-boarding express. The other day I saw Tony Hawk wearing a BagelPizza Bites sticker on his helmet. Though Bagel Pizza Bites are thelesser of the two evils, it has nothing to do with skateboarding. So,is Tony Hawk cool because he sold out? I don’t care, he has a fami-ly to support and money is money. Skateboarding has been in adecline lately. Being that it has been exploited so much, it seemslike everyone is losing interest. Is skateboarding cool anymore?Who cares, it is your opinion. Don’t let advertising mega-conglom-erate Satan worshipping corporate elites influence you for their gain.

Exploitation

And

yJu

ng

A commentary by Jimi Nguyen

How important is music in a snowboard video?Music is SOOOO important. You could have the

best riding in a part but if the music sucks.... yourpart is going to suck.-Bobby Meeks

How does RobotFood compare to otherproduction companies?I have only worked with a couple so I can'tcomment how they all operate. I would saythat we probably have more input from theriders than most companies. That's the reasonRobot Food was started.-Jess Gibson

What are some past snowboard films

that have inspired the RobotFood crew?

Well, I can certainly only speak for myself on this matter. One

(that isn’t a snowboard video, but) that inspired most of us a

lot was Tiltmode Army´s "MAN DOWN". Other than that I

think it´s been a mixture of all kinds of videos or sometimes

just single parts. I personally love MDP´s "Simple Pleasures".

-David Benedek

How will the ‘03 video compare to Afterbang?

The new video won't be drastically different. We are refining

our style- I can't say we have a specific formula- good music,

good riding. We put a lot of ourselves into this project and I

think it shows. The response to Afterbang was great and it's

encouraging to have so many people like our work; we had a

direction with the last movie and it's cool to see that people

connected with it. If you liked Afterbang, you'll probably like

our new movie.

-Jess Gibson

How did Afterbang's brown cardboard video box come aboutrather than the traditional boring box design?We wanted to make a film that was different than the regulargnar-gnar snowboard movie people were used to. I think weended up with the ambition to also create a packaging that would

be just as different from the rest.-David Benedek

Since robots don't require sleep, you guys

have about eight extra hours in the day

compared to the rest of us. What do you

do with that time?

Tend to the babies.

- Louie Fountain

Robot Food

My favorite robot food is fruit roll-ups. That or

human eye balls.

What’s the video called?The vid is called Roll One.Who’s in it?Elijah, Jeremy, Seth, Tony, Simon, Andy, Dane,etc.How long have you been working on it?Some of the footage is within the last year, butmost is very recent.Did you do all the filming?I got the camera like three months ago, I filmed alot of the long lens. Contributors are Joe Blum,Andy Irlbeck, and Benji Meyer.What made you get behind the lens and makethis video?I haven't really liked the way skate videos havebecome like Michael Jordan highlight tapes, Iwanted to slow it down, chill it out.What kind of equipment did you use to edit it?I used Adobe for the editing.Did you use digital to film it, or is there anysuper 8 mm or 16 mm film?All digital pretty much.After making this, do you have a better under-standing of what goes into making a video?I already knew pretty much how hard it is tomake a vid, I've already made some when I wasyounger.What music are you using?Me and my homey Steez made about half of thebeats, my other homey Ike came through with twosongs, and I used a couple reggae tracks.What has been the most difficult part of thewhole filmmaking process?The hardest part is when it rains.Are you nervous at all about what people willthink of it?I don't expect everyone to relate to this vid, Icome from a distinct period of skating and havemy own opinions about what I like to see. I real-ly could care less if someone doesn't like it forsome reason.Is there any thing else you want to add?Take things into your own hands and make yourdreams a reality.

Elijah, Nollie Photo: Joe Blum

Elijah, Ollie Photo: Joe Blum

How Old Are you?I am 19 years and 5 months old!

Where are you from?White Bear Lake, MN

What do you want to accomplish with skateboarding?Well I used to wanna start my own board company, but that’s too much money that I don’t have and may never have. I guess I would just liketo continue to have fun and make new friends. I'm also a filmer and own a vx1000 and would like to make a video someday.

What do you enjoy about skateboarding best/ least?I guess I just enjoy being with my friends and having a good time. And I love landing a difficult trick without stressing. I don’t enjoy skatingwhen I’m filming something and it’s taking forever and I'm just stressing out. That’s no fun. Plus cops and security.

Who are some of your influences?As far as skating goes I would have to say Ed Templeton and Heath Kirchart. They are my favorite as well as Jon West, and my friends and fam-ily. The music that influences me are bands like Marilyn Manson, Slayer, Slipknot, and Stone Temple Pilots.

Dennis Swearingenf/s Boardslide Photo: Jason Hutchison

What do you do outside of skateboarding?Watch T.V., eat, and sleep.

Who are you sponsored by?I currently have no sponsors.

Do you want to be sponsored?I would definitely like to be sponsored.

What kind of skateboarder are you?I'm totally a street skater, mainly rails. I have no skill on quarter pipes or mini ramps whatsoever. Plus my flatground abilities have suf-fered over the years; it’s horrible. I have a park in my city so maybe I could learn some things on those kind of ramps someday.

What do you like to skate?Mostly small rails, benches and bank ramps. Once in a while I'll step to a big rail.

What is your favorite skate video?Of all the videos I've seen it would have to be a tie between Open Iris (Anthony Boone's latest video) and Foundation's Art Bars. There area lot of videos I haven’t seen that I’m sure I would like. Oh yeah, I also like that Emerica vid.

What is the hardest thing about skateboarding?Hardflips, haha. No, actually I would just say keeping up with all the sponsored heads, and I never do because it just seems so difficultthese days.

Frontside Smith Photo: Trent Hafdahl

How did you get into skateboarding?I always admired skateboarding ever since I was about 11 or 12. Ithought it was cool but never thought of actually doing it until my friendstole a Powell complete from Champs Sports. He didn’t skate so he gaveit to me. That was when I was just about to turn 14 in 8th grade. I start-ed skating it in my basement once in a while and when all the snow wentaway I took it outside and started ollieing up curbs and all that.

What do you think was the hardest trick to learn?The kickflip. It took me like four or five months to learn it. After a whileI got them down real good and could do gaps and stairs with them butthese days I just can’t do them the way I used to. The crooked grind wasalso a tough one.

Do you think skateboarding should be about fun or should it

be about becoming a professional?Fun, because I think you have to be truly gifted to go pro these days, andthat is just not for everyone. It should just be about having fun and skat-ing with friends but also progressing enough at the same time. It's use-less if you never learn anything.

Who are some of your favorite local skaters?Of course Clint, Steve, Emeric, and Benson. But I’m also hyped on JeremyReeves, Brian Heck, and this kid named Josh Heim from White Bear. AndSeth McCallum. All the Fobia riders pretty much. Ben Ragsdale too.

What do you think of the local scene?I think it’s awesome. Especially being able to know people like Clint, Steve, and Seth. The videos are great too. If you haven’t seen Open Irisby Anthony Boone you should really check it out. They have it at the Fobia shops.

If you weren’t into skateboarding, what would you be doing?Probably doing drugs. I don’t work right now but I will be getting a job soon and next year I will be attending college but I will still skate.

How do you feel about skateboarding being so mainstream?I don’t really care all that much about skateboarding politics. If it’s helping the industry grow and find new talent then I'm all for it.

Do you film others a lot? Not much right now because my camera is getting fixed and I don’t have a death lens. When it’s done getting fixed and I have the money forthe lens I hope to film a lot more.

Who are your favorite people to film?Right now it would just be my friends but when I get more involved in it I hope to meet a lot of local skaters that I can film and make a videowith.

What does skateboarding mean to you?It’s totally a way to express creativity, whether it’s skating, filming, making a video, or even creating a magazine.

How would you explain skateboarding to someone who has never heard of it?I wouldn’t. I would just show them a skateboard and give them a skate video to watch.

Nosegrind Photo: Alex Parentau

Frontside Lipslide Photo: Trent Hafdahl

Tailslide Photo: Jason Hutchison

(the beginning)Did you know there were Chinese people in 500 B.C.?! Yeah, there were! Andthey even had a philosophy about life. They believed that the way to live and the way toknow the meaning of life was to do nothing. Nothing. Sit around and eat and talk aboutthe nothingness that occupied their brains. This is what Confucius taught, and even whathis predecessors taught. And even though in doing nothing they failed to invent thecamera and therefore didn’t leave us any photographic evidence, we’ll assume they werefat, very fat, (at least those who were “enlightened”). But then lets say that a littleChinese boy named Chuang woke up one day and decided to skip his lessons on the Tao‘cuz he just wanted to play around with some wood and crap. And lets say that whileskipping school, dinking around with some wood and crap, little Chuang invented theskateboard. But for fear of being killed, Chuang kept his invention a secret. At night hewould run off to the hills to invent skateboarding – the ollie, the kick-flip, the no-comply,etc. As time went by, Chuang grew and grew and grew. And then one day in themarketplace where all the Religious leaders–the Taoist sages—were hanging out anddoing nothing, Chuang came flying in on his skateboard doing a kick-flip to 5-0 on thestone wall of the well. The “enlightened” leaders were outraged and spoke amongstthemselves as all the kids ran to watch Chuang tail-drop off a little hut. Then the arguingceased as the Elder of the elders stood up to address the village. In a quiet voice he said:“He who rules men lives in confusion;He who is ruled by men lives in sorrow.Chuang therefore desiredNeither to influence othersNor to be influenced by them.The way to get clear of confusionAnd free of sorrowIs to live with TaoIn the land of the great Void;To live as Thurman Lewis.”

Just before thisfrontside noseslide at

Louisville's huge con-crete park, A+ was

spinningfull loops in the full-

pipe, but photographerJoe Blum was too busy

checking out a cuterollerblader chick to

get the photo.

Go skateboard alone.Just push.Listen to the concrete greet your wheels.Ollie.“Click.”Feel that?What is that?Do you see that?Do you feel that?What is it?•Is it your mind?Your body?Your spirit?I don't know.It's Thurman Lewis.

Can you ghost-ride your soul and land back on your board?If we let gravity slip away, would you?Would you spray paint Russian monkey’s playing tennisIf skateboarding was Communism?Give skateboarding a government and a language and youTake away the skateboarding.That’s why we draw lines,not to keep ourselves in,but to keep you out.Yet you’re invited to let skateboarding take you;But you can’t take skateboarding.You can’t know what it is you need until you’re getting it;So stop painting yourself in the likeness of them, they’re notlooking.And to all that other stuff, whatever. Right?

Hey Jesse, go jump off I-35W into an overpass bank. (photo State Trooper #52)

The average U of M student is about 21 years old. The Boardslide issomething like 25 years old. 15 year old Sean Hanley front boardslidesU of M 10 stair.(photo Mini Van Halen)

Thurman Lewis is skating with someoneevery day. Some kid, in some little town,with some group of local skate rats, skat-ing some messed-up, half-broken, duct-taped piece of something. Do youremember that session you had withThurman? That day with all your friends,when the sun was warm and the air wasfree, and everyone was getting dirty andtorn up skating something that wouldnever get you sponsored, but made youfeel like you just won the lottery. Or thatday when you didn’t want to see or talkto anyone, and all you wanted to seewere the sidewalk cracks racing towardsyour board as the hum of your wheelsanswered that one question the pavementkept asking – who are you? What areyou? That is Thurman Lewis. ThurmanLewis is the inaudible soundtrack toskateboarding. Thurman Lewis the invis-ible crew of every skater to ever loveskateboarding, skating with you.

A+ backside flips a Louisville, KY hip moments before the INS arrested him and tookhim back to Mexico!? (photo Joe Blum)

Varial Heelflip! Sidewalk gap! HCMC, MPLS! Dan Jackson! (photo Joe Blum)

Somehow I had made my way to the fourthfloor of a library. It was dark and seeminglyforgotten. All of the books were old andworn out and everything was dusty. Igrabbed a book that simply said “Thurman”on it. It was a book about skateboarding,about a culture of people that lived by mere-ly having fun on a skateboard. I had heardthings about them but didn’t know if theyreally existed. I then heard gunshots andyelling outside on the street, and looked outof the foggy window to see armed militaryguys running down the sidewalk, questioningeveryone, obviously looking for someone.Suddenly a young girl came around the cor-ner of a bookshelf, stopped, and whilepointing at me said, “Hey, you’re one ofthem.” I said, “Who?” She said, “AThurman, you’re a Thurman!” and ran awayyelling that she had “found one.” I didn’tknow what to make of it, of what was goingon, until the young girls voice came backsaying, “He’s over here, I’m sure he’s aThurman.” I made a run for the door on theopposite side of the room. There were fivemilitary men chasing after me on the lead ofthe little girl, all were in black and had M-16’s. Lunging for the door, I tripped and fell.Gunshots shouted obscenities as their bulletssprayed the wall and floor around me. Ithought about surrendering when a voicecame from the vent on the floor behind abookshelf - “Mr. Lewis, down here”. I quick-ly slid into the vent and followed the voicethrough the tunnel down and around whatseemed like 6 flights of stairs. I came out ofthe vents into a warehouse. It was an under-ground skatepark. I turned from looking atthe ramps and rails and ledges and noticed Iwas at the front of a meeting with hundredsof skaters. “What’s the news, Mr. Lewis?”someone asked. I didn’t know what he meantuntil I said, “They’ve caught up to us,they’re after our souls. But we won’t give in.We’ll fight. With guns and fists and skate-boards. We are Thurman Lewis.”

I stood on the shore of a great sea named Death. Crouching to touch the water, arevelation flashed before my eyes. I saw thousands of people engaged in nothing. Theysat in front of televisions and computers and magazines like zombies, encouragingnothing and saying nothing. Their world was whatever someone handed them. I pulledmy arm back as it was quickly becoming limp. Their army, lead by the Almighty Dollar,was growing like the plague. They were waging war on my friends and my culture. So Igrabbed my weapon –my skateboard—turned my back on the pond and headed off to findothers like me, to find more called Thurman Lewis.

Sean skated to Minneapolis allthe way from Appleton, WI. Ittook him a month. On theway he learned lipslides anddecided to test out his new skillat the U of M. Before wecould turn the cameras on hewas already hittin' it - all boltsmy man.(photo Jennifer Lo Pez-Dispenser)

And their new album “The Ugly Organ”Are you guys excited to be touring for your new album?Yeah, it’s fairly exciting. You know, these are bigger rooms than we’ve playedbefore, and clubs that we’ve always kinda wanted to play at. And we’re kinda excit-ed to see them I think.

How did the writing process differ on this album than previous ones, and howlong did it take you to write and record this album?I’d say it was a longer process. We recorded the whole thing, we ended up doing Ithink 13 or 14 tracks and then dropped one, one went to the comp. I think we hadthem all recorded in the rough version without lyrics. The songs were written a long,long time ago. And all that time in the meantime I guess Tim’s been working on thelyrics, and Mike on production, and everyone kinda doing their part, so it was alonger process.

Well you can tell ‘cause it’s amazing.Oh thanks.

Are the songs about personal experiences?I would say, I mean I don’t write a lot of the meat of the lyrics but I’d say some ofthem might be based on personal experiences but there’s definitely an element of fic-tion there. Just you know, writing, there’s characters.

What has been the response to The Ugly Organ so far?Just like you said, everyone’s praising it, they’re giving us a lot of props. So that’skind of exciting too.

What can be expected from Cursive in the future?Hopefully better songs you know, hopefully more music. I don’t know what toexpect. We’ll probably keep it a secret.

Cursive

Interview & Photo: Ashley Brookins

How did Statistics come about?I had been thinking about doing this for a whilenow- I had songs that I wanted to record for areally long time. When I found out how muchdown time I had from Desaparecidos, I finallybooked some studio time and wrote some moresongs.

How is it different writing music for Statisticsthan it is writing music for Desaparecidos?When I write for Desaparecidos, I come up withdifferent parts and play them for the guys and wedecide what goes and what stays. Then each guywrites their own part. Now I’m the only guy.

How did you get onto Jade Tree records?I wrote them an email asking if they had time orwould even be interested in hearing my ep that Ihad just recorded. (I said I understood thatlabels get a lot of demos and aren’t always look-ing for new artists- basically expecting to getshot down). But then Tim Owen (one of the co-owners) wrote me back and said that they listento everything and would love to hear what I haddone. So I sent it up and then I got a phone calla week later.

Why did you decide to release Statistics onJade Tree and not Saddle Creek?When I started Statistics, I wanted to separate itfrom Desaparecidos in a number of ways. I alsoliterally grew up wanting to be on Saddle Creekor Jade Tree- they are my all time favorite labels.So I tried to get the best of both worlds andlucked out. I’m unbelievably fortunate to have aproject with both- I couldn’t be prouder of all ofthe labelmates and I couldn’t be happier to workwith each person at both labels.

What are the lyrics on the ep about?The first song is about the boredom of a routinelife, then in the transition before the second

track something happens that changes every-thing. The second, third and fourth songs areabout reminiscing about things before thatchange. And the final song is kind of realizingwhere you are at now. I tried to leave the lyricsopen to every sort of interpretation, so I apolo-gize if I’m sounding too vague.

How long did it take you to write and recordthe ep?I had two of the songs written for a while but Iwrote the others in the two months before I wentinto the studio. I spent about 5 days recording it.I went in to record 10 songs, but the time gotshortened and I didn’t have time to finish the others.

Are you going to have a full band for theStatistics full length?I think I’m going to record the full-length bymyself again. I am in the midst of assembling alive band for some upcoming tours- if every-thing works out I will definitely start recordingwith them as well. I have been really cautiousabout that because the idea behind Statistics wasthat if I was the only member, there would be noway that I would have to wait on others to touror record or write.

Have you set a release date for the full length?No date is set yet, but I’m planning on recordingit in August and releasing it in January.

Are any of the songs on the ep going to be onthe full length, or are you writing new mate-rial?I’m going to write new material. I’m not evengoing to use any of the unfinished tracks fromwhen I recorded the ep.

How long have you been playing music?Since middle school, so somewhere around 8years now?

What has kept you playing music for so long?Hoping to be good at it someday. And listeningto what others are doing with it.

Is Statistics a side project whileDesaparecidos is on hold, or are you going topursue Statistics full time?I’m mainly going to pursue Statistics, but bothare a priority to me. Desaparecidos is very mucha side project- although we are all looking for-ward to it, it’s hard to know when we will all beavailable to work on it again. So I’m going tofocus on Statistics, but continue withDesaparecidos whenever we can.

StatisticsDenver Dalley StepsOut of Desaparecidoswith new solo project, Statistics

BY ADAM SEVER

Pho

to:

Joh

n

unless noted otherwise

How long have you been snowboarding?Since 5th Grade, so that makes it around 14 years.

How did you get into it?On vacation in Colorado, I rented a shred stick from A-Basin. I was hooked.

How would you describe the Minnesota scene when you were starting out?Imagine “Mondays Only” shredding at Hyland Hills. Every Monday was epic. It’s hard to describe, but I remember

seeing 360’s being grabbed by “Skippy” at Hyland and being so impressed. I had 3 strap bindings on my BurtonCruise, so I could never grab the front of my snowboard. Tweeking wasn’t even a possibility. Jumps weren’tallowed, so we would have to make renegade kickers and session them before the ski patrollers tore them down. Atthat time, nobody followed magazines or videos.

Who did you look up to back then?Jon Cao was the man. I used to get nervous when I would ride up the lift with him. Craig Stabenaw was super dope.The kids from St. Cloud were really good, like Mike Wong and Tommy Kronquist. Steve Fischer and Nik Batkowere little punks. Where was your favorite place to snowboard when you were younger?I rode Hyland Hills every season for 8 seasons straight. I love that place. I think I have over 300 days just at Hyland.

Pho

to:

Aki

m

When did you move to Colorado andwhat prompted that move?I moved 3 months after graduating highschool. That was the fall of ’97. I wantedto ride pipe and do pipe contests.

Other than size, how does Colorado com-pare to Minnesota?It is very dry. Water is big issue here. TheDenver metropolitan area is growing rapidlyand there isn’t enough water for the people’sneeds. Traffic on the highways and inter-states is also not as smooth as Minnesota.

Do you think you'll stay there for a whileor do you have plans to live elsewhere?At this point, I will stay in Colorado for awhile. I have a solid group of riders,filmers, and photographers that I work with,and I wouldn’t want to give that up.

Have you traveled out of the country tosnowboard?In high school, I went to Finland for theJunior World Championships. It was proba-bly the most exciting time of my life. Thecontest was fun, and at night we wouldbooze it up with rippers from all around theworld. I’ve also been to B.C. Canada.

How did you become a part of MediumControl?Tommy Kronquist (the owner) was a biginfluence in my riding back when I wasyounger. We’ve been snowboard comradesfor over 10 years. As time went on, I wouldrun into him in the airport, or chat with himon the net. When I saw that he was startinga clothing company, I bought some gearfrom him because the shit was dope. Afterthat, he wanted to see if I wanted to ride forhim, and I was stoked.

What was your worst injury?About 3 months after moving to Colorado, I tore the ACL and meniscus in my left knee. I didn’t get proper treatment forit, and as a result, I experienced knee related problems for the next 3 years. This included 2 surgeries on my left knee, oneon my right, six months of couch time, and countless hours training in the gym. Saying it fucking sucked is an understate-ment. My snowboarding completely eroded away. I think 99% of people would have quit snowboarding at that point. I had3 shitty winters in a row, where I couldn’t push my riding because of knee pain. I would get really depressed. I can’t evenexplain the frustration. I am so happy to be healthy now.

Do you have a favorite trick?Rail sliding is my favorite. I love driving to Denver after a snowstorm with a crew. We’ll shred as late as 4 in the morn-

ing, and if I get just one shot, it’s so rewarding.

If you could travel anywhere inthe world to snowboard, wherewould you go and who wouldyou bring with?I’d go to New Zealand with my

girlfriend, Kristina. We wouldride pow on our snowmobiles,build a kicker, and throw backies.

How would you describe snow-boarding to someone who'snever done it?It’s like surfing on snow.

What do you do when you'renot snowboarding?I spend a lot of time doing snow-board related stuff. Things likeediting my own videos, findingsponsors, making contacts, andarranging snowboard shoots. Ispend a lot of time on my com-puter. When that’s all done, Ilike to hang with my girlfriendand ride my bike.

Do you have any goals for the2003/2004 season?Yep. I want to get 2 minutes ofgood shredding footage, 20 greatphotos, enough contest winningsto pay my rent, and no majorinjuries.

What changes do you see insnowboarding's future? (styles,popularity, etc.)80’s snowboarding is coming

back. Safety leashes, lein airs,and good old fun will be back instyle.

Ryan

Leege

sually the opening questions to interviews are boring oneword responses. Here’s what you need to know up front.This is Ryan Leege (leggy rhymes with peggy). He is 26years old and rides for Stacked Uncorporated and recent-ly started getting shoes from Emerica. He is also partowner of one of the Midwest’s largest skateshops, F-O-D.If you ever see him skate, his fast solid style will makeyou want to punch a ledge jock in the head and throwaway your chill shoes.

U

Interview by Jack Boyd Photography by Michael Stenerson

You look mean. Do you feel mean?I don’t feel mean. I would like to think I’m actuallynice.

What are some of the ups and downs of running askateshop?Running a skateshop is really quite fun most of the time.I do most of the skateboard and shoe ordering. I likeseeing all the new stuff. Some people think all I do is sitaround and watch videos and read magazines all day. Iactually do work, but that doesn’t mean that I don’twatch videos or read magazines while I’m there.

Do you ever feel pressured into bringing non-corebrands such as Nike into your shop?I feel no need to have those brands in the shop. Thereare so many other good companies it doesn’t make senseto me to have those other ones in a skateshop.

Do you ever feel like kicking a customer’s ass?No, but some can be pretty annoying. It’s like that in anystore. I actually get along with mostly everyone; peopleare interesting.

Over the past year you’ve gone through somechanges. You went from a hardcore vegan, anti-estab-lishment school hating skate rat. Now you’re a mar-ried meat eating college socialite who wears a peacoat. Why the change?I started thinking about the future. That’s why I startedgoing to school. If my wife and I move, which is a pos-sibility, I want to have options as far as a job goes.There is so much to learn in school, it’s amazing. As faras the vegan thing is concerned, I felt it was hurting (me)more than it was helping. I still eat vegetables. I thinkyou should eat a variety of food.

LeegeRyan

Concerning the pea coat...Have you ever been outside in the winter? Get yourself a warm coat.

Were you afraid when you got married you would lose some tricks?I have never thought about it. No.

Would you file for divorce if you did?No.

Who’s skating are you respecting these days?Jason Adams, Kristian Svitak, Seth McCullum, John Rattray... the people that go skate by themselves ifthey have to for the pure enjoyment of just skating.

How have you been handling filming for the (Stacked) video?Filming for the video can be really fun. I would rather just skate and not have to film, but it has to getdone. I am excited for this video and happy to be a part of it. Everybody has really good footage.

Do you flip out very often?No. What’s the point?

What is your favorite skate video?Label Kills is my favorite video. It has avariety of skating. It’s refreshing to seethat.

What do you think about Minnesota’sskate scene?I like it for the most part. There’s no needto be haughty.

What does haughty mean?Arrogant.

Demos or contests?I’ve only done a few demos. I usually feellike I’m not good enough to be in a demo.I was in one contest and it was Hayward,WI. I got third place.

What has been your favorite trick you’veseen in skateboarding?There’s not just one that would be myfavorite. Rowley’s 50-50 on that hugeledge, Jamie Thomas, Tony Trujillo, JasonAdams, John Cardiel... all those guys havedone some amazing things.

Why did you start skating?I started skating because it was really fun.My friend Dan had a skateboard at hishouse and I rode across his kitchen on it.That was about sixteen years ago.

Ryan would like to thank:Mike and Brooke at Emerica, Jack Boyd,Anya, Mike Stenerson, my cats and myfriends.

Leege

Ryan

How’d you guys get on RCA?About two years ago when we started doing the Jupiter tour we noticed more and moredifferent types of like independent, along with different majors started coming to ourshows and taking us out to dinner trying to pitch us you know, basically what they cando for our band. And when you have a lot of labels looking at you, you get a signifi-cant amount of bargain power anyway just because once one label starts paying atten-tion to you, all of a sudden a bunch do. So it enables you to get more of what you wantin a contract like saying, “Well they’re saying they’ll give me this. What will you giveme?” You know, and the best thing about RCA was that we had met with several differ-ent types of A&R guys. And all of them could promise us the world, you know, butnone of them had ever even done anything. It’s like “Well, what other bands have yousigned?” And you know, “Well I’ve signed this. You’ve never heard of them?” But theguy who signed us, he had signed Dave Mathews Band, I’m sure you’re not a fan of.He signed the Foo Fighters, he signed a band called Hum. He had a really unique trackrecord, and he said, you know, “I’m not going to rush this.” And he’d already provenhimself at his label, he wasn’t trying to say “I’m gonna make you guys huge.” Henever said that to us. You know. Let’s take our time, and let’s figure out how to put,you know, what the best way to put our Cave In record out on a major label would be.He definitely made a genuine effort to show that he understood where we came fromand what we were about and what we kinda want to do in our career. So, I don’t regretthe decision at all, he’s a great A&R guy and I definitely think he played us right inevery move he made on that label. So far anyway.

Was there any pressure from RCA to pro-duce a really good single?Not so much pressure, but I mean when amajor label invests thousands of dollars intoyou they assume that you’re going to givethem something that they can work yourrecord with to help sell it ‘cause that’s whatthey do. We never had any pressure like,“You gotta write that hit.” It was the mosthands up experience that I’ve ever heard ofas far as a band being on a major label. LikeBruce definitely gave us our space, and if wegave him the songs he’d be like, “Listen, I’mfeeling this, and I’m not feeling this, go fur-ther with this.” But he never said youshould do this, you should try this. He kindalet us find our own niche, but never like anypressure like, “You guys need to write a pophit.” Because I think we’re a different bandthan that, I don’t think we’re the type ofband to write one song just to explode. Ithink we’re more of an album band anyway,so, no there’s no pressure like that.

Was there any reluctance to join a major label?Of course. You come from an independent, and major labels are supposed to be the devil, you know.Um, yeah definitely reluctant. You feel like, are you gonna get backlash from the fans, are you gonna getbacklash from this, you know. Once I sign, it will be signed for a very long time, you know. But I want-ed to be able to play music all the time along with everyone else in Cave In. And that’s what I’m doingnow. I don’t have to work a day job, I can be in Cave In every day. The thing about it that’s overwhelm-ing is that Cave In is all-consuming. Basically, I eat, sleep, and shit Cave In now, you know. I don’teven know the next time I’ll be home.

What’s it like being on the same label as Christina Agulera, Dave Mathews Band, and Foo Fighters?I’ve met the Foos but I’ve never met any of those other people, and I mean, we never cross paths oranything, it’s just different worlds. I can get free records if I want to, that’s about it.

How many songs were written for Antenna?I think about thirteen. And I think twelve made it on the record.

How was recording Antenna different from recording Jupiter?Well, Jupiter we recorded the basics in four days and Antenna we recorded in three months.It’s a bigger budget, different studio, uh, more gear to play with, more time for experimentation,but also more downtime to get bored and more downtime to pay like, pay too much attention tothings that don’t really matter. Like kinda labor over things that don’t need to be labored over.But it was a learning experience you know, a recording session is a learning experience. Um,you know there’s pros and cons to both, you know both procedures to recording a record.There’s good things to recording on as shoestring budget, and there’s bad things. There’s goodthings and bad things to recording on a big budget, you know. So, you know, it’s differentexperiences but I think with every time we record we learn what not to do for next time. ButI’m proud of the record.

How often when you’re not on tour are you playing music?I play the guitar more at home than when I’m on the road. As far as like not countingshows, you know. I mean, when I’m home it’s pretty boring so I just play guitar ‘cause Idon’t have anything else to do. So, I would say at least like two hours a day I’m playingguitar.

What is it about music that draws you to it?Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always been obsessed with music. I don’t know why, it’s

just the way it makes you feel, the energy of it all, but I’ve always just been attracted to, you know, rock n’ roll music or aggressive music. As

long as I remember I wanted to be a part of it in some way or another. I started out trying to play drums but I wasn’t good

enough and I started trying to play guitar, and I’m still tryingto play guitar. But I’ve just always been obsessed with it,

I’m an avid record buyer, I buy tons of records by tons of different bands. I’m just obsessed with the whole process of it. I’m obsessed with how people write songs, about how they record their songs. I’m obsessed with the way people make records, the way records look. I don’t know, I think it’s just the energy of it all.

What’s next for Cave In?We’re gonna be on tour for a long, long, long time. That’s about it. (laughs)

Why did you choose Anchor for the first sin-gle of the release?It’s not really so much us that chose that. LikeI said, major labels, their job is to sell therecord in any way they can without sacrificingthe integrity of the artist and there’s a numberof singles that they think they could use to sellthe record but they said Anchor is a good firstintroduction into the record. I don’t think it’s agood representation of the record, as the waythe rest of the record sounds, but as far as likeintroducing Cave In to another audience, theythought this was their first. ‘Cause if younotice it’s not everywhere, Anchor’s not every-where right now. They said they just kindawant to do it gradual. Put Anchor out first, andmake our way up to ones that we’ll try to puteverywhere.

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Neil Erickson, Switch f/s NoseslidePhoto: Joe Blum

Chad Benson, b/s NoseBluntPhoto: Joe Blum

Jack Boyd, Frontside FlipPhoto: Michael Stenerson

Chad Benson, NoseslidePhoto: Michael Stenerson

Den Davey, Backside TailslidePhoto: Michael Stenerson

R.I.P.Josh Updike

August 13th, 1977 - April 25th 2003

9487 Polaris Lane NorthMaple Grove, MN [email protected]

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A frontside nosegrind down a rowdy rail, with style, shows Jesse Reed's a veteran of the skateboarding war. Photo: Joe Blum