Austyn Gillette, Daryl Angel, loads of fun-looking skate parks. All you need to know.

Photo: Stephen Butkus/Natt og Dag

Aron aka Mad Mat just dropped this video (!) from our 1 year anniversary party last Saturday.

A packed location, endless line to get in (bellie da hype), gangsta vibes, all the homies, beautiful girls and the best DJ alive: Karima, all made it the best night out ever. We´re processing our disposable cameras films right now, but Natt og Dag released a few photos already.

Thanks to Leiligheten, Rockefeller, and to everyone who showed up and made this our best party yet!

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I honestly did not see this coming, but the combination of Palace and Umbro is weirdly fitting. Football, publife, London, Palace. Why not?

We just oversaw the beginning of the printing-process for our third issue. At 128 pages, this edition is by far the best and most extensive issue we have made so far. Dank no.3 features interviews with Magnus Bordewick, Stian Bakke, Jake Johnson, Norwegian movie director Joachim Trier, skateboard videographer Jørgen Johannessen, photographer Sergej Vutuc, and Pontus Alv of Polar Skateboards. The third issue also features pictures from Greg Hunt’s “Selective Memory” retrospective, plus an exclusive series of Deerman of Dark Woods shot by Alana Paterson. On the cover – Tarjei Solberg, photographed by Lars Gartå.

Copies are now available for pre-order through the Dank Store.

Opening spread for the 8 page feature on Brian Delatorre in 43 magazine issue 001. Photo: www.43magazine.com

New York photographer Allen Ying is almost done with the second issue of 43magazine.

Pre order here.

Our post on the the first issue of 43 magazine here.

Henry Edwards-Wood (Portrait by Percy Dean)

Henry Edwards-Wood just premiered «City of Rats» in London. With excellent parts from local rippers like Lucien Clarke, Nick Jensen, and Casper Booker, it is one of the best skatevids we’ve seen in a long time. Dank caught up with Henry for a short interview to coincide with tonight’s premiere at Dattera til Hagen.

When I met you at the premiere it seemed like you found the whole thing a bit anticlimactic. Was it weird being done with the video? How long had you been working on it?
It was pretty weird, I’ve only been working on the video properly for the last year and a half, but it’s been pretty full on. It was kinda weird ‘cos I was just working with the premiere date in my head like it was all over after that, but it wasn’t really, as there’s only been a few premieres since and it won’t hit the shops until the end of march, so it’s not really out in the public domain yet. But I’m stoked, I guess it took over my life so much it’s weird to not be working on it!

98% of the video appears to be shot in/around London. How difficult is it to film street in London these days? Was it ever tempting to just go somewhere warm and stockpile footage?
Sure, the prospect of warmer climes is always appealing, but nowhere looks as good on camera as London, and that’s kind of part of what the film’s about. We could have flown all over Europe chasing the sun and all the crazy plaza type spots, but 1) Slam is an independent skate shop, so there was no budget, and 2) the video would have looked just like all the rest, with generic bland spots and deep blue skies. «City of Rats» is about London just as much as it is about the riders.

Karim Bakhtaoui has a pretty unusual intro to his part, could you explain who the guy introducing him is and how the whole thing came about?
I realize people outside of the English scene, and maybe even the younger kids here, may find Karim’s intro a bit odd. Basically, Femi Bukonola is the guys name, he’s on OG Southbank Legend status, there are photos of him in RAD magazine and he’s pretty well known with the older guys in SF. There’s a lot of stories and mixed opinions about him floating around that I won’t go into, but he basically oversees Soutbank on a daily basis and has seen a lot of people come up there, Karim in particular. So I thought it was only fitting that he introduce his first proper part.

CITY OF RATS – Karim Bakhtaoui Teaser from Slam City Skates on Vimeo.

How would you describe your style as a filmer? When did you start using HD? How much time do you usually spend doing post-prod?
Ha, my style as a filmer would be I’m a filmer! I just go out, same as everyone else, and document my mates conquering some shit on the streets. I just film how I think it looks best, really. I like to try and frame everything nice but then surely who doesn’t? I got an HD set up pretty much just before I started the Slam video, I’ve basically just carried on filming the same way I was before I with a VX. But yeah, I spend more time doing stuff in post now, as HD gives you a lot more control over how you want the image to look. I’ve probably spent an equal amount of time in post as I did filming, I’d say.

Are you working exclusively in skating these days or do you film for other projects as well?
At the moment it’s pretty much been just skating, the odd little viral job here and there, but somehow I’ve been paying rent through just skating lately, which I guess is good, but now that I’m done with the video I think I need to branch out to where the hours are less and the money is better.

What will you be doing during the Olympics when 3 mill tourists shut the city down? Are you fleeing town? Have the games lead to an increase in spots so far?
Erm, I’d love to leave town, but realistically I won’t afford to. I imagine there will be some skate trips around that time anyways, so hopefully I won’t be in the madness for the full 6 weeks. I’ll probably just be filming as usual. There have been a lot of spots popping up near the Olympic site, but security is pretty tight, plus its all kind of tacky looking, like Barca or something, so I personally haven’t really been filming on much new stuff because of the Olympics. But I think skating in London will change quite drastically after it’s all done and back to normal, they have been re-tarmacing the streets, so cruising around town is gonna be so much easier.

CITY OF RATS (Trailer 2) from Slam City Skates on Vimeo.

We´re celebrating one year of publishing Dank, two issues last year, and at the same time releasing our spring 2012 issue. All this on Saturday, March 31st in Oslo.

The venue is Leiligheten at Rockefeller Music Hall, downtown Oslo. Leiligheten has a capacity of ca. 150 people, and a rooftop terrace. It´s gonna be crowded, so you don´t wanna be too late.

When: Saturday, March 31st
Where: Leiligheten at Rockefeller. Torggata 16, Oslo, Norway.
Doors opens: 22:00
Doors closes: 03:00
Age: 20
CC: Free
Dank issue 3: 50 kroner
Beer/Cava: Nice price @ the bar

DJ Karima plays rap and other favorable music all night long.

Facebook event here.

Party and Bullshit, join us!

Also, watch above embedded video. It features Nick Jensen, Olly Todd, Rob Mathieson and Paddy Jones, shot and edited by Mark Jackson. Makes us want to watch Slam City´s new video “City of Rats” again and again. We have been lucky enough to catch some of the premiere screenings, and the video is one of the most significant pieces of documented skateboarding in Europe, ever.

As always regarding new videos, you can probably download it soon, but City of Rats you want to keep hard copy. Pre order here.

Teaser here.

All you need to know regarding City of Rats here.

Octavio Barrera keeps pumping out footage. Watch out for megaramp-style ender.