My skateboard takes me places that school never could.

-Swimmer’s Ear Magazine

2 Swimmer’s Ear
Swimmer’s Ear 3
 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

4 Swimmer’s Ear
 Directors
Adam Sever
Chris Pernula

Contributors
Zach Windahl, Carl Wedoff,
Adam Bubolz, Greg Schall,
Ben Gilsrud, Michael Anderson,
Nate Bozquez, Andreas Dunlap,
John Kessel, Alex Cairncross, Chris Strong

Studio
P.O. Box 2076
Maple Grove, MN 55311
www.myspace.com/swimmersear
swimmersearmag@yahoo.com
 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 Flip

on a beautiful MN Summer day. Top Right:
Varial Kickflip in an empty shallow pool on
Chris’s cruising board. Bottom Left: Skating
with my daughter. Bottom Right: Gap ollie
from ramp over fence to parking lot. -A.S.

6 Swimmer’s Ear
 Virginia is for LOVERS Drama I Went on a Job Interview and
The Drama is a contemporary art magazine from All I Got Was This
Richmond, Virginia. It has a cute 9 x 9 page size
and features a wide variety of fields, including Lousy Tony Hawk
illustration, design, comics, photography, and Book!
more. Issue Six features an interview with
designer Brian Roettinger, How to Silkscreen While pursuing a career in the
with Seri Pop, plus an inside look at studios and publishing field, I took an inter-
galleries. One part I found to be quite nice is the view at a children’s and educa-
last section of the zine called “This It”, which fea- tional book publisher. After the
tures 2 color comics on an ivory paper. This is the only time I have seen a Vice-President of the company
magazine use two types of paper in one magazine. Issues #7 and #8 found out that I skateboarded,
should be out by the time you read this. Check out thedrama.org for more he offered me this Tony Hawk
information. book, as a way to show that he
was down. He even told me
that they often had skate-
boarders skating the walkway
Paying In Pain? ramp in front of the office. I
never got the job, but he let me keep the book.
Do You Take Change?
I don’t typically care for the well The book itself is basically about Tony Hawk landing a 900 for the first time
known skate magazines. They’re all in competition during the 2003 XGames. The rest is just a watered down
the same with their high gloss cov- history of the most recognizable
ers and miles of pages of tricks that talent in skateboarding. The author
I saw last month. I mean how many beat the X-Games angle to death,
times can I see a backside tailslide and made one of the biggest mis-
in one month. That’s why I like takes I’ve seen in a book about
Paying in Pain. It’s gritty and honest. skateboarding. I’m sure you’ve
It contains no bullshit skateboarding and it’s always seen the Grant Brittian photo of the
an interesting read. Issue 16 features articles about 4 Bones Brigade members doing
Chicago, the Sacrifice Video, Strawberry Bowl Jam, plus simultaneous inverts. In the caption
more. Issue 17 features an interview with skateboarder Josh Falk and musi- for that picture, the author names
cian Travis Graves, plus a ton of ams. Issue 18 is something special. It looks one of the skaters as Andy MacDonald. Andy MacDonald wasn’t even on
like they have stepped up the paper quality with a gloss cover and a nicer the same side of the country when that photo was taken. If you're going to
newsprint inside. 18 features interviews with Alex Villasenor, Josh Baker, do a book about skateboarding, then do a little research, don’t half ass
and Drew Porter. It also has articles on New Zealand and Australia. Check your way through it.
out payinginpain.com for more information.

Swimmer’s Ear 7
 Known Truths
Randy Laybourne has been doing design
in the skateboarding industry for many
years. He was the man behind some of
Emerica’s most innovative advertising, and
is currently the Art Director at Transworld
Skateboarding. About every six months or
so, Randy releases a zine of drawings and
photos. His most recent zine, “Known
Truths”, is a small 36 page masterpiece of
creative drawings mixed with photographic
backdrops and little quotes. You can check
out lookforwardtothepast.com for updates
on other zines and almost daily drawings.
To view some of Randy’s design work, go
to randylaybourne.com

The Enchanters vs.

Sprawlburg Springs Powell Peralta Re-Issues
I used to have a Powell “Half Cab” board. It had the Skull and
This is Brian Costello’s first novel, and it’s quite
Sword design like the Ray “Bones” Rodriguez model up there on
good. It’s the story of Shaquille Callahan, the
the left. It was as big as a Cadillac and it had clear griptape. I used
new drummer for The Enchanters, a band that
to cruise around on the thing, it was impossible to do tricks on. It
eventually influences the majority of the town’s
was 10 or more inches wide and had 7.75 inch trucks and size 42
punk kid’s future bands, directly or indirectly.
wheels. One day, I left it outside and it was stolen. Most anyone
The way Costello writes it, almost makes it
who skateboarded in the 80’s will remember these shapes. They
seem real, like he’s lived the story in a previous
have a nice feel to them. They feel nice to just stand on. You don’t
life. Definitely worth checking out. Check out
even have to be rolling to appreciate these boards. For more info
www.featherproof.com for information on The
on these boards and other Powell Peralta re-issues, Check out
Enchanters vs. Sprawlburg Springs.
www.skateone.com

8 Swimmer’s Ear
Powell Pro Tough Ply
These three boards from Powell are pretty nice. All of
them have just the right amount of concave. They
range in sizes from 7.625-7.875. Plus the graphics are
pretty cool as well. These boards have a nice bit of
pop. They don’t feel too bendy and they don’t feel too
stiff either. If your looking for a board that is still made
in the USA, then you can look to Powell. They have
been manufacturing their boards in California for
many years.

Accel Wheels
In the past year or so, Accel has moved over to Giant Distribution, distributors
of 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 rolling
down the street with a skateboard attached to them. On the left, we have the
51mm Dual Durometers. They are a nice hard, fast wheel, perfect for street
skating. In the middle, we have the Kristan Svitak 56mm Clean Cuts. These
wheels feel a little softer than the Dual Durometers. There also wider and have
a nice shape to them. On the right we have the 52mm Skatepark wheel. They
feel a little grippier for the wood surfaces a lot of skateparks have.

Swimmer’s Ear 9
 Bones Swiss Labyrinth Bearings
How do you make one of the best bearings better? Add a Labyrinth. No, not that Austin Stephens 52mm
sweet David Bowie movie, but a “U” shaped groove in the
inner race of the bearing. The removable Toy Machine Wheels
shields fit snugly into the groove, thus These wheels have a nice
making it harder for water and dirt to get shape and a simple design.
inside the bearing. Which results into They are your basic standard
longer skating times between cleanings. white wheel. They provide a
These bearings are smooth, quiet and smooth ride.
fast. The only downside to these bear-
ings, is that they cost close to what you
pay for a deck.

Josh Harmony 53mm

Bones Reds Bearings
Bones Reds were developed as a low cost alternative to the Bones Swiss
Bearings. 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 the
price of the Bones Swiss. They feature a
single, removable shield for cleaning
and are pre-lubricated with Speed
Cream racing lubricant. These bearings
are pretty fast and they work well with
street skating or mini ramps.
Toy Machine Wheels
Josh Harmony sprinkled his
head sweat on each set of
these wheels. His magical
head sweat will make you
skate rails like him. No seri-
ously, you’ll be nose grinding
30 stair rails in no time.
Toy Machine Cored
Monster Wheel 53mm
These wheels have a plastic
core with holes that make the
wheels feel 2-3 millimeters
lighter. A good idea, but I’d
like to see how they hold up
during high impact skating.

10 Swimmer’s Ear
A Day in Black and White Askeleton The Blackout Pact
“Notes” “(Happy) Album” “Hello Sailor”
Forget everything you knew about A Day in This is Askeleton’s last album named after feel- The Blackout Pact play a sort of punk mixed
Black and White and their past music. You will ings. It is definitely his best work, but it lacks with math rock and hardcore that you could
need to open those ears and mind to grasp their the dance/clap along tunes such as “Ghosts” easily shake your hips to. The opening track is
newest full length, “Notes”. Where their previ- “Shapes” and “Birdman” that were featured on probably the best on the CD and the rest is just
ous “My Heroes Have Always Killed past Askeleton albums. about as good. (Astromagnetics)
Cowboys” had a lot of slow then fast then slow (Goodnight Records)
The Blackout Pact
elements, “Notes” is a vast post rock landscape,
which doesn’t disappoint. (Level Plane) Baby Teeth
“For the Heathers”
American Analog Set The EP was based on a dare. Each member had
“Set Free” to come up up a song in complete isolation form
“Set Free is similar to their 2 past albums. You the other members of the band and it had to be
could easily spend a day listening to all of titled “Heather” The first “Heather” song
American Analog Set’s material. They have a comes from frontman Pearly Sweets and is
nice relaxing sound and feeling. reminiscent of cheesy 70’s pop music. Next up
(Arts & Crafts) is “Heathers” via Jim Coopper. Jim’s versions
features a heavy synth influence, in a very 80’s
Anti-Flag movie sort of way. It would be perfect for the
“For Blood and “Short Circuit” soundtrack or for a Canadian Bouncing Souls
Empire” teen drama. The final version of “Heather” “Live”
I have not listened comes from Peter Andreadis. Pete’s version is I get a little wary of live discs because the sound
to Anti-Flag since the shortest and sounds like a dub/reggae/ska usually sucks and I can’t find a reason to see
“A New Kind of song. This release is definitely inventive and releasing songs you’ve released before but
Army” came out, should garner some listens. (Lujo) sound worse recorded. But the Bouncing Souls
so this album was are a band to see live, and these 2 discs will suf-
a shock to me. Barr fice if you haven’t made it to one of their shows.
First of all, it is “Reinforced Jewel Case” The sound quality is good. Both discs are filled
Anti-Flag their debut for Barr is Brandon Fowler, an artist, skateboarder, with a wide variety of songs from all their
RCA Records and second of all, their song writ- and musician among other things. “Reinforced albums, but I find myself listening to disc 2
ing has gotten a lot better. “For Blood and Jewel Case” could easily be the most annoying most. (Chunksaah)
Empire” can be described as a wolf in sheep’s album you’ve ever heard, or the most inventive,
clothing. It’s all radio friendly songs with heavy depending on your musical tastes. “Reinforced
political lyrics. (RCA) Jewel Case” is a mix of free jazz percussion and
spoken word like vocals. (5RC)

Swimmer’s Ear 11
 Bound Stems
“The Logic of Building the Body Plan”
I’ve listened to this album a thousand times
since I’ve got it and every time I listen to it I
hear something new. Definitely something
everyone should check out. (Flameshovel)
Crystal Skulls
“Outgoing Behavior”
Crystal Skulls play jangly indie with a touch of
lounge. Easy to listen to, and fun to sing along
with. “Baby Boy” and “Cosmic Door” are tracks
that stand out the most. (Suicide Squeeze)
Crystal Skulls
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 minute
journey. (Jade Tree)
12 Swimmer’s Ear
Ex-boyfriends Haram
“Dear John” “S/T”
The Ex-Boyfriends play catchy pop punk with Consisting of ex-members of Majority Rule, Pg.
topics about breaking up with their girlfriends 99, and the Out Circuit, Haram play an intense
and boyfriends. Something everyone can relate and vibrant mix of hardcore, punk and noise.
with. (Absolutely Kosher) This self-titled release is refreshing compared to
most new releases in the hardcore genre.
Field Music (Lovitt)
“S/T”
These Brits play a Head Like A Kite
lovely bunch of Brit “Random Portrait of the Home Movie”
Pop. Some of it’s kind Head Like a Kite is a new project from
of slow, while some of Sushirobo’s guitarist Dace Einmo and is
its a little faster. You inspired by his parents’ super 8 home movies
could call Field Music from the 1970’s. The sound is of indie rock,
the snooty English beats and samples from those home movies.
twin brothers of the This album features guest vocals from members
Shins. (Memphis of Smoosh, Kinski and Crooked Fingers.
Field Music
Industries) (Pattern 25)
The Grey Jimmy Eat World
“Asleep at the Wheel” “Stay on My Side Tonight”
It’s too bad these Canadian boys were banned This EP features 3 previously unreleased origi-
from the U.S., because I would love to see these nals, a cover of Heatmiser’s song “Half Right”
guys play their fast post rock. (Lovitt) and a remix of “Drugs or Me”. The first track
“Disintegration” is over 12 minutes long and
Hanalei the 2 tracks following are over 6 and 9 minutes
“Parts and Accessories” long. Overall this EP is over 43 minutes long, so
“Parts and Accessories” is former Ghost mem- your getting your money’s worth. The sound is
ber Brian Moss’s second full length under the nothing new, it’s Jimmy Eat World doing what
Hanalei moniker. This time though, he has a full they do best. (Interscope)
band playing with him. The lyrics are incredi-
bly descriptive, almost story telling like. The Jonny Sonic
guitar playing is quite good also. It combines “Coop Resident”
the vocals of Paul Simon with the blue collar Jonny Sonic is actually Rick Kowal, bassist of
feeling of Bruce Springsteen. (Thick) FULL. “Coop Resident” is a mix of funk, beats,
 horns, and a little bit of hip-hop thrown in. It’s Cap’n Jazz or any Joan of Arc project. This is an so you should have no problem getting used to
a sound that can barely be described. impressive debut and I hope they keep this it. (Barsuk)
(Hand-Picked Entertainment) same formula on future releases. (Self Released)
The Mendoza Line
Kiss Kiss Maritime “Full of Light and Full of Fire”
“S/T” “We, The Vehicles” I don't think The Mendoza Line get the recogni-
Kiss Kiss play a fast winding spiral of music I am sure glad that this album is being released tion they deserve. They keep releasing very
much like Cursive’s “Ugly Organ”. The music in the States. It is a bit more darker than their well played music, and songs that are personal
is pretty good, but the singer may need some previous album “Glass Floor” but is better by and politically charged. “Full of Light..” is
lessons in getting his range up, because at some miles. One of the best of the year. (Flameshovel) another example of great music being played by
points in the songs, his singing could induce independent artists. (Misra)
migraines. (Astromagnetics) The Mars Volta
“Scabdates” Mercury Radio Theater
Love of Everything I’ve never been to a Mars Volta show, but I hear “The Blue Eyed Model”
“Superior Mold and Die” they are over 2 hours long and are a sight to see. This album is like old time radio. A story is nar-
Love of Everything is Bobby Burg’s solo project. I do enjoy Mars Volta, but I will probably never rated in between instrumental surf guitar influ-
This album does feature Joan of Arc members, see them play live, so this live release will have enced songs. The story is about a college stu-
Tim and Nate Kinsella and it features some to do. It’s over 74 minutes and it contains every- dent named Gregor who builds a girlfriend
interesting lo fi bedroom pop songs. (Record thing you’d expect from Mars Volta, plus the from others ordered body parts. The booklet
Label) sound is quite good. (GSL/Universal) that comes along with the CD is a great illustrat-
ed visual to the story. I hope they release more
Luke Doucet Mates of State albums with this same kind of narrative/song
“Broken Stories” “Bring it Back” playing. (Lujo)
This is quite an impressive release from Luke This duo of Kori and
Doucet. The song “Brother” is a great opener to Jason is now a trio Metal Hearts
the album and the rest of the album is similar to with their baby “Socialize”
what Crooked Fingers sounds like. (Six daughter getting “Socialize” consists of male/female vocals, fin-
Shooter)
some vocal time on ger picking guitars, drum loops and stringed
one of the songs. She accompaniments. It is very delicate sounding,
Maps and Atlases
doesn’t exactly sing, but interesting. (Suicide Squeeze)
“Trees, Swallows,
it’s more cooing and
Houses”
baby noises. The
This Chicago band’s
sound of “Bring it
debut is the closest I’ve
Back” is similar to
heard to the guitar Mates of State
their previous work,
Maps & Atlases noodling played by

Swimmer’s Ear 13
 Micah P. Hinson Anywhere. “Don’t Believe” is a great melodic The Plastic Constellations
“The Baby and the Satellite” hardcore album. (Jade Tree) “Crusades”
This is a reissue of Micah’s 2001 release by the “Crusades” is TPC’s debut for French Kiss
same name. This time though all the music is Nobody + the Mystic Chords of Memory Records. If you liked their previous CD
polished and sounds tons better. It is a total of 8“Tree Colored See” “Mazatlan” then you’ll
tracks, and a 9th that is the original recorded 29 “Tree Colored See” is love this one. Each song is
minute album. Overall, it’s pretty good. It’s in a collaboration good and this disc never
the same genre as Pedro the Lion. (Jade Tree) between Nobody disappoints.
(Elvin Estella, pro- (Frenchkiss/2024)
Milemarker ducer/mixer of
“Ominosity” Prefuse 73 and The Push to Talk
With a varying sound on every album they Mars Volta) and “S/T”
release, Milemarker’s debut on Eyeball records Mystic Chords of Even though I was stuck
is nothing short of the same. “Ominosity” may Memory (Jen Cohen in traffic for over an hour
turn fans away, because it is much different of Aislers Set and listening to and getting
than their previous albums. Features original Christopher Gunst Nobody & The Mystic Chords of Memory sick of this album, I was
member Ben Davis. (Eyeball) of Beachwood Sparks). The sound of the album able to listen to it again. Push to Talk play indie
starts out somewhat like Ester Drang, but with rock with a new wave influence kind of like
National Eye a greater hip hop influence. The 4th track, Chomsky. (Doghouse)
“Roomful of Lions” “Coyotes’s Song”, is an almost folky country
This Philadelphia band’s second full length, song and it transitions perfectly into the next Rah Bras
shows quite impressive song writing skills. track with harmonicas. Track 9, “Feet Upon the “WHOHM”
Some of the songs are slow and some are a little Sand” perfectly blends the hip hop and folky Rah Bras is one of those bands that you have to
more up tempo. “Roomful of Lions” is 14 tracks influences into one catchy song. (Mush) acquire a taste for. I mean how easy is it to lis-
spanning over 52 minutes, leaving something ten to a mixture of dance, industrial, synth and
for everyone. (Park the Pink Razors opera. But this is tons better than their “EPS”
Van) “Waiting to Wash Up” release. (Lovitt)
Richmond, VA’s Pink Razors
New Mexican play a pop punk similar to early Raising The Fawn
Disaster Squad Blink 182, but you probably “The Maginot Line”
“Don’t Believe” won’t see these guys selling Raising the Fawn is John Crossingham, also of
New Mexican Disaster bazillions of records. Not that this Broken Social Scene. It’s quite good after a cou-
Squad mixes the sound of band is bad, they just seem like ple of listens. It takes a while to set in. Some of
Paint it Black/Kid the type that enjoy playing music the music sounds like Onelinedrawing. Other
Dynamite with the lyrical without all the bullshit corporate parts sound like a slow Nada Surf. (Sonic
styling of Strike New Mexican Disaster Squad dreams. (Robotic Empire) Unyon)

14 Swimmer’s Ear

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 horns
and it sounds like a marching band coming out
of your speakers. “The Weatherman” is an
entertaining album to listen to. (Hypothetical)
Roy
“Killed John Train”
With songs like “Jesus Drives a Trans Am” you
know you got a winner of a CD. Roy is a project
from members of Botch, These Arms Are
Snakes, and Harkonen, but the sound is unlike
those bands and falls into the folk indie genre.
(Lujo)
Russian Circles
“Enter”
Russian Circles consists of ex-members of
Dakota/Dakota and Riddle of Steel. They are
an instrumental band. A lot of people have a
hard time listening to instrumental music, they
say it’s boring. Russian Circles are not boring.
They do a good job of not repeating lines.
“Enter” is more math rock/metal instrumental
like Explosions in the Sky mixed with Don
Caballero 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 track
one, you have a pretty good album. They play
an interesting take on new wave. More dance
influenced. The 3rd track’s chorus sounds like it
was taken from a Mates of State song, like they
spliced it from a MOS disc into their own.
Overall the CD is pretty catchy, yet the band’s
ego is quite annoying. (New Line)
Streetlight Manifesto
“Keasbey Nights”
In the late 90’s Catch 22 released “Keasbey
Nights” and it was well received by ska fans
and press. At the time, Catch 22 featured mem-
bers that would go on to form Streetlight
Manifesto. Fast foward to 2006 and Streetlight
Manifesto releases their latest effort in 3 years, a
remake of “Keasbey Nights”. After listening to
both versions, I’ve come to the conclusion that
they sound exactly the same, except the vocals
are clearer and the production is better. This
raises the question as to why Victory would
release the same album twice. Everyone loved
the Catch 22 version, so why would the buy the
same album again? Streetlight Manifesto
should have released this as a 2 disc set. One
disc of new material and the other disc for the
remake of “Keasbey Nights”. (Victory Records)
The Strokes
“The First Impression
of Earth”
If you go look now at
your TV, I’m sure you’ll
see the Strokes playing.
They’ve been on SNL,
they’ve been on Leno,
they are everywhere. It’s
due to their latest release
“First Impressions of
Earth”, which contains The Strokes
some of their best song writing to date. “First
Impressions” is a good album, but when I listen
to it, I never get past the first 5 tracks. (RCA)
T. Duggins
“Undone”
You may know Tony Duggins as the frontman
of The Tossers. “Undone” is Tony’s solo project
of original and cover songs sung in an Irish folk
way. It almost reminds me of a drunken sailor
on St. Paddy’s Day, singing and dancing a jig.
(Thick)
Whysall Lane
“Whysall Lane”
Whysall Lane features a member from
Jawbreaker, Adam Pfahler, the guy who runs
Blackball Records. It’s a good mix of songs, but
nothing real exiting. (Blackball)

Swimmer’s Ear 15
 Did drawing or painting come
easy to you as a kid? Do you
remember what made you
want to start drawing and
painting?
Did you ever think your paintings would allow you to travel the
world?
No, I've been so lucky between art and skateboarding to have had the
opportunity to see so much of the world.

I think it did.... I think putting How often do you paint? How many paintings do you work on at a
pencil (crayon) to paper and time? How long does it take you to do a painting? Have you ever
making drawings and liking/hav- had difficulty finishing a painting?
ing fun making what I saw on
that paper encouraged me to I go through spurts, I'll draw probably everyday in one of many sketch-
make more and more drawings books. I'll paint for weeks at a time every night. I'll usually go like this;
and then paintings, etc. 3 weeks of painting and then 2 of just drawing and start that cycle
again. A painting sometimes will happen in a night, other times it takes
If someone is terrible at drawing or painting, do you think it is weeks or months, it really depends on the piece. I'll typically work on
possible to teach them to be a better artist or do you think being 2- 4 pieces at a time, sometimes when working on a large scale I'll
an artist is an ability you’re born with? Do your children have an work one piece at a time, but usually I'll have multiple pieces going so
artistic ability like you? while one is drying I can work
on the next. A lot of my
I think that both drawing and painting can be learned. I do believe that paintings have really layered
certain people are more genetically predisposed or encouraged to tune backgrounds so there can be
into the right side of their brain. Most activities we do/perform in life are quite a bit of dry time on one
left brained activities, memorization, mathematics, school, computer- piece, having to let a layer dry
based activities. There isn't a whole lot of right brain nurturing going before I can lay down another.
on. Being technically gifted is such a small part of what makes a piece As for having trouble finishing a
of art cool. Composition, color usage, subject matter etc. all play a big piece...yeah I have had trouble
role in making a piece of great art. with pieces before, some of the
ones that have given me the
I have a Son (Blaize) and a daughter (Lorna) and they are both most grief have wound up being
extremely artistic and have been ever since they've been able to hold ones that I like the most and
a crayon or mold a piece of play-dough. They have a huge art table coincidentally sell the quickest.
that is constantly covered with supplies right in the middle of our family
room though. They are most definitely encouraged to make art, music, When you are working during the day, are you looking forward to
etc. painting that night? Do you make plans to paint at night or is it
more spur of the moment type of thing?
Have you had any formal training in Art?
I usually do look forward to "paint nights" and yes I do plan them. I
Yes, I went to school to earn a degree in Fine Arts. have a family and day job so I need to be diligent about saying "hey
I'm in the studio tonight" otherwise I can find a thousand other tasks
that need my attention.

Swimmer’s Ear 17
What influences your paintings? start to paint but often times what I end up with is quite a bit different
than what I had originally planned on painting. It can be surprising, but
People I see and meet, music, other art that I'm into. it's more typical than surprising.

What painters have influenced you and what about them or their A lot of your inspiration for paintings comes from people you
paintings was it that influenced you? see on the street, or things people say. Has anyone you know
seen one of your paintings and said that the character resembles
I'm into lots of different artist. I really dig Basquiat, Rauschenburg, Niel them or they remember saying the quote on the painting?
Blender, Picasso, Miro, Chris Johansen, Margaret Killgalen. I guess
that is a good short That is funny...yes it has happened. It doesn't usually, but it does every
list. I'm into different so often.
aspects of each of
these guys’ art. I love One thing that I respect about your paintings is the fact that you
Basquiat's colors and are painting for yourself with no care of if people will like it or if it
figures, will sell. Do you think a lot of artists are painting for the wrong
Rauschenburgh's lay- reasons, to be famous or to make money?
ers, Blender's lines,
Johansen's social Thanks. I don't think that I can say people are painting for the wrong
commentary. reasons, I'm really lucky that I don't have to survive on my money that
I make from art. I have the to luxury of being able to have that attitude
In an interview I read that you respect. That said though it must be a bummer to have to
about you, it men- paint thinking of the commerce side of things. It is a whole different
tions that you often experience for instance making a commissioned piece of art in that
listen to music while painting. What bands are you listening to? there is a pre conceived notion held by a buyer of what he or she
Do think listening to different styles of music influences your thinks they will be getting. It takes some of the freedom and spontane-
paintings differently? Is there any band or music that get you ity out of the experience.
working better or more creatively?
How do you feel about having your paintings in a show or in a
Whoa, I really am all over the map with my music. I listen to, lots of old gallery for people to see?
Jazz and Blues, The Clash, Devo, X Ray Specs, The Hunns, The
Specials, the list could go on and on. Different music does change my It is a cool thing, it's good to get art in front of people and hopefully
mood and brush strokes. Sometimes I need a kickstart at 3 in the inspire them to be more creative in their own way.
morning and will switch from Leadbelly to The Dead Kennedy's.

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

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

18 Swimmer’s Ear
One thing that is hard for someone who creates something
whether it be a painting, zine or sculpture is how to put a price on
it. How do you decide which pieces will go into a show and how
to price them? When you are doing a show do you specifically do
paintings that are smaller so a wider range of people have an
opportunity to buy your work?
Depending on where I'm showing the size of a piece will come into
play. For instance when I show in The Pacific North West I usually
make slightly smaller stuff that is more affordable. If I'm showing in Los
Angeles I'll go bigger, there is more money and larger wall spaces
there. I do always try and make my art as affordable as possible
though. Bottom line, I'd like anyone who is into my stuff to be able to
buy something if they are really into digging what they are seeing.
I think the old campaign screamed ad agency and was a bit insulting
to those who really ride skateboards. We're now trying to make ads
that we think skateboarders will appreciate more.
I’ve noticed that Duffs has it’s own Video Podcast available. How
have those been received since releasing them? Do you plan on
doing them weekly or monthly?
People are SO HYPED on them, I can't believe the amount of positive
response. We're shooting for monthly Podcasts and eventually weekly
casts.
What can we see in the future from Duffs? Any possibility of
bringing back the Stromboli?

What do you want people to take away from your art? We have the Stromboli sole back on Jason Adam's shoe "The Seville"
and we have messed with an updated version of the Stromboli upper
I'm not sure. Maybe a little inspiration? which may or may not make it to market. We'll see.

You were involved in the original Creature skateboard brand. Are

you involved with the resurrected Creature brand, and how do
you feel about NHS bringing it back?

Yeah, I started Creature. I've made a limited edition board on a funky

shape with a funky graphic for the re-launch. I'm really not part of it
anymore though. They just asked me if I'd be into making a cool one
off board for the re-launch and I did. I think it's cool that they've
brought it back, the guys involved with it now are all really cool and I'm
glad that the ideas behind it are still valid and allow them to have a
project 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 advertising
before and what how do you want to change it?

Swimmer’s Ear 19
Modern-Radio
www.modern-radio.com P.O. Box 8886 • Minneapolis, MN 55408

Interview with Tom Loftus

Photo by Carl Wedoff

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 seeing
them 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 the
music and the people. I had both and felt it was natural.

20 Swimmer’s Ear
 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 major
lesson 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 be
a huge money pit. Obviously we'd ideally like the project to be something where you can recoup and
use 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 like
the music. I essentially started the label to get music I like in the hands of other people I think might
like the music as well, but its harder to do when you can't cover your own expenses. The part that
has gotten easier is the manufacturing end of things. When I started the label I didn't really have a
Cave Deaths clue about what was involved in pressing vinyl or CDs and the details screwed me up quite a few
Photo by Greg Schall times. 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 the
work involved in distributing and getting information about the records out hasn't gotten that much
easier. 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 last
couple 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 always
financial. It has been a little easier getting paid and having records recoup costs so it allows you to
move 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, I
think there are just so many great bands in the Twin Cities and beyond that excite me more than ever
Cave Deaths that I really want to help out. I have gotten to know more people, which has led to me working with
Photo by Greg Schall more 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 slowed
down because it was too hard to work, go to school and put lots of stuff out on the label. I had to be
realistic. I also spent a lot of time traveling in that period. As far as taking it seriously, I have always
done so, in the sense that I want to help out the bands as much as possible. Things are easier with
Peter's help, but we both have a common approach to the label, that is realistically will not being a
viable provider monetarily.

How do you decide what albums you want to release? What do you think is the most important to
consider 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 by
them. I usually know them ahead of time and trust the artist enough to work with them to help get
their record out. The most important thing is to care about the music as well as the artists. I could-
The Chambermaids n't imagine putting out a record just because it could make a lot of money. I would be more con-
Photo by Greg Schall cerned about putting out something I couldn't stand behind versus putting out something that may
have a hard time breaking even.

Swimmer’s Ear 21
I do take into consideration if it will sell. We try to release records by bands that are going to tour
and 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" by
Tornavalanche and Tight Phantomz. There are plans to release the first full length by Styrofoam
Duck, a limited edition packaged version of The Danforths' new CD, a CD reissue of the Small Sale
7" by Mirah which will include 8-9 tracks that haven't been released, and a full length by Signal To
Trust. There are some other things in the works as well and that is up to the beginning to middle of
the Summer. I expect there will be more things depending on when bands are recording but that is
all we can confirm at this point. Signal to Trust
Photo by Chris Pernula
I also heard that soon Modern Radio releases will be available on Itunes? Is there any hesitancy
or 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 the
music 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 or
two 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 things STNNNG
that are already out. We'll start with the releases that are already available. Photo by Chris Pernula

Cave Deaths-Glacier On Fire-CD-This is the first CD by this Twin Cities band. Andy of the Vets and
Nate of STNNNG play in this band. This band actually started as a project before the STNNNG
began. It was another outlet for Andy and Nate wanted to start a new project since his previous
band, 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 with
them. She ended up playing trumpet and a Rhodes piano. The band is a bit darker and more
restrained than STNNNG or Vets but it still has the same urgency. People have compared them to
Can, Slint and 90 Day Men.

The Chambermaids-s/t-CD-This band was started by siblings Martha and Neil Weir. They started
with a drum machine and later added Colin Johnson who had played in More Material and also
plays 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 The The Plastic Constellations
Wipers, Wire, Husker Du, My Bloody Valentine and Joy Division. They are also from the Twin Cities. Photo by Chris Pernula

22 Swimmer’s Ear

Malachi Constant
Photo by Greg Schall
Mirah
Photo by Danielle St. Laurant
Tornavalanche
Photo by Adam Bubolz
Malachi Constant-Pride-CD. This is the 3rd full length album for this St. Paul band. It is a co-release
with Guilt Ridden Pop who released the 2 previous full lengths by Malachi Constant. Malachi
Constant has been around 8 years and are great. I have known these guys forever and it seemed
inevitable that I would be working with them on a record at some point. After their drummer Alex
moved they were contemplating not even releasing the material, but Peter and I felt the material was
too good to not be released, even if they would break up shortly there after. They added Nick S. from
Superhopper on drums and band moral is very high. The new record is more electronic influenced
and 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 split
by two Chicago bands. Tornavalanche is a band made up of members of Ten Grand and Forstella
Ford. I have know the guys in Ten Grand for years and over that time we have all become close
friends. Not only is Ten Grand one of my favorite bands, but they are some of the best people I have
been 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 of
2005. They were amazing and we talked about doing a record. They brought in the idea of making
it a doubly awesome record by having Tight Phantomz involved. I had seen them several times and
they kick ass live. Mike Lust of Tight Phantomz recorded the STNNNG record and I had gotten to
know 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 had
told Chris Danforth this past summer that I wanted to be involved with his next release. I had set
up shows by Chris and really liked the first record he released on Essay Records. The project
evolved, but eventually it was decided that it make more sense for Modern Radio to support the
record locally and release a special, limited edition, hand screen printed packaging with a comic
book insert.
I am a big fan of releases that have a lot of personal care and attention put forth towards them and
it was nice to do that with this record. This will be available for direct ordering soon and there will
be a release show in April. Jonathan Warnberg (formerly of Signal To Trust and the Misfires) played
on that first record and Adam Burt of the Vets/STNNNG plays on the 2nd record so there is also a
connection to other artists on the label as well.
The Plastic Constellations-”Crusades”-LP-French Kiss did the CD version and we had already
been talking to the band about repressing Lets War again when they suggested that we could be
involved with the new record in the vinyl format. I am a big fan of vinyl and have always stayed
close with those guys since the release of Let’s War. They are four of the best folks in the world so it
is more than a pleasure to be working with them again. They have been seeing a bit more national
attention and they deserve every bit of it. The vinyl should be done by their April 22nd shows at the
Triple Rock with The Hockey Night
Swimmer’s Ear 23
Styrofoam Duck full length-Styrofoam Duck is Ben, Dan and a big Styrofoam Duck. It is a sight to
be seen live. I got to know Ben from setting up shows at his old house that he lived at called the
Haunted House. He gave me a CD of his band and I was amazed that all this time he was setting up
shows that he hadn't actually put his own band on one of the shows because they were great. We
talked about it and he has been working on the record for quite sometime. He is finishing it up and
I 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 a
hard to find cassette only releases from 1999 and a few other songs that have not seen the light of
day. I ended up working with Mirah after writing her a really long email after hearing her first
record on K records. We shared mutual friends and I met her in Olympia when I went out there for
Ladyfest in 2000. She made me a copy of the songs because I was excited to hear other stuff by her
and I told her if she ever wanted to release them that I would be more than interested. We talked STNNNG
about it for awhile and it ended up as a 7" that was some songs that she gave me a few new ones she Photo by Adam Bubolz
had recorded. I set up some shows for her as well and kept in touch over the years and always talked
about 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 excited
I am to not only release this record but to also hear it. They have had so many songs that have been
building up over the years and haven't seen the light of day. They are one of my favorite bands and
all great friends. They have changed a lot musically since their last 7", but every time this band has
evolved 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.

The Danforths

Styrofoam Duck

24 Swimmer’s Ear
Swimmer’s Ear 25
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 a
little upset about the Civil War, because they were mostly pretty rude to us northerners. I’ve heard this from other people
too, people from the south just don’t like you. We had a couple encounters with friendly folks, but that
was it.

One difficulty we found about the people there was their lack of direction giving skills. We asked quite a
few 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 names
to 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 Orlando
Bloom and Kristen Dunst, 3 names I never thought would grace the pages of this magazine. That film is
this city’s claim to fame. Otherwise it’s just the same as any other town with its big box department
stores and miles of stripmalls, but with more pawn shops and adult book stores that claim “Couples are
Welcome”.

The scenery in Kentucky is quite awe inspiring. Many tree covered hills lined the interstate which made
a 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 thing
and drove around taking pictures of buildings, signs and 7 story baseball bats. While we were driving
we noticed that no one was out on the streets, and it was Saturday night, prime time for some rowdiness. We noticed
tons of cool things to skate; ledges, stairs, banks, etc... It was just strange to be pulling the car over on the side of the
road to run around the street and take pictures with no one around.

Helpful Sign
Downtown Louisville Lonely Rails Giant Bat

26 Swimmer’s Ear
The last thing
I 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 on
the 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 there
skating, 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.

Swimmer’s Ear 27
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 so
small but when you actually ride them they’re a lot more intimidating. In my opinion, I think they should build one of
these parks in every major metropolitan area. If you’re ever in the area, I suggest that you check out the Louisville
Extreme Park. You can check out www.louisvilleextremepark.org for more information and directions.

28 Swimmer’s Ear
 In 1986, French company Rautureau Apple, in
collaboration with French skateboarder Alain
“Platoon” Montagnet, launched the shoe brand
Etnics. Their goal was to make original and
durable high tops geared towards European
skateboarders and surfers. The name “Etnics”
is derived from the word “ethnic”, and is named
after the lifestyle of skateboarders who travel in
small groups and create their own subculture.
A year later in 1987, Etnics officially changed
it’s name to Etnies. That year they also signed
the first ever pro skate shoe
contract with Natas
Kaupas, and the Etnies
Natas shoe is the first
ever signature
Etnies Natas
shoe manufac-
tured.
Etnies’ design innovations started to show
when Pierre Andre Senizergues began riding
for Etnies. Pierre designed a shoe, the Senix,
that lasted 4 times longer than other skate
shoes on the market by using Indy 500
Goodyear rubber for the outsole. The Senix
also featured ankle support, eyelets and better
grip. Etnies hired “Platoon” and Gilles De La
Pointe as their first graphic designers and they
immediately began upgrading the Etnies brand
image and logo. 1988 also
saw Etnies sponsoring
Team Pig City from
Brighton, England, and
they sponsored the biggest
skate contest ever held in front of the Eiffel
Tower, The Trophee de Paris contest.
In 1989, Pierre Andre began distributing Etnies
in the United States through a licensing agree-
ment and Etnies U.S.A. became the first skate
shoe company owned and directed by a pro
skateboarder.
Influential skateboarder Sal Barbier joined the
Etnies team in 1990. That same year, Etnies
took their shoe in a new direction with simpler
shoe designs made of all suede. The Senix,
Rap High-top and the Ollie King round out that
year’s shoe collection.
The Etnies skate team grew in 1991 to
include skateboarders Eric Dressen, Rudy
Johnson, Jason Rogers, Eric Conner, Laban
Phedias, Jahmal Williams as well as Natas, Sal
and Pierre. These skateboarders were featured
in the first ads placed in U.S. skate magazines.
In 1992, Pierre Andre took over worldwide dis-
tribution of Etnies and began designing shoes
in the U.S. He was able to do this through a
licensing deal with Rautureau Apple. The
Model E and EZ joined the Rap, Ollie King and
the Senix as part of the collection. The Rap
high-top gained popularity when Sal Barbier
skated in them in Plan B’s Questionable Video.
That same year, Etnies advertised in Steve
Rocco’s revolutionary skateboard magazine,
Big Brother, becoming the first shoe brand to
do so.
In 1993, street skateboarders grew tired of high
top shoes and started
cutting down the high
tops to make lo
tops. Etnies
began
Etnics Ice Man
Swimmer’s Ear 29

ut
Lo-C
ies
Etn
design-
ing shoes how this
new generation of skaters
wanted them. A collaborative shoe between
Pierre Andre and Don Brown, the Lo-Cut, is
designed, starting a whole generation of lo-top
skate shoes. Other shoes in this collection
include the Lo-Down, the Senix lo-top, the
Scam, and two shoes that new brands Duffs
and Globe try to mimic, the Intercity and Screw.
One of the most comfortable and durable
shoes is released in 1994. That shoe, the Sal
23, designed by Sal Barbier became one of the
most popular shoes of its time. That same year,
the U.S. skate shoe boom began and in an
attempt to elevate shoe design, Pierre Andre
helped DC Shoes get started with production
and manufacturing of their first run. Pierre also
designed 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, the
Skol was designed for this very purpose.
Etnies KO Man Logo
became the best selling
logo of the time and Etnies
got into a bit of trouble
when they poked fun at
brands Nike, Fila,
30 Swimmer’s Ear
Converse and Adidas with their new logo
designs. Pierre changed Etnies U.S.A. to
Etnies America and restructured the company
and 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; Jamie
Thomas, Chad Muska, Marc Johnson, Eric
Koston and a spectacular ending featuring
Tom Penny. The popular
shoe, the Rap was released
in an all full grain leather
version and was dubbed the
M.C. Rap and featured an
80’s inspired tri color design.
1996 brought the possibility
of Etnies being sold by the
French company that origi-
nally started Etnies,
Rautureau Apple. Apple decided to sell Etnies
and companies that Etnies once made fun of
like Nike, were now interested in buying the
brand. But in the end, Pierre gained full rights
to Etnies. Around that same time Pierre started
Sole Technology which housed Etnies,
Emerica, eS and Thirty-Two. That same year,
females in skateboarding started getting more
recognition and Elissa Steamer was added to
the Etnies skate team.
By 1997, Etnies had teams for skateboarding,
snowboarding, surfing, Motocross, and BMX
and Etnies started designing shoes that were
cleaner and more stylish, like the Emir and the
water resistant all terrain shoe, the Trek.
Current Popwar designer, Yogi Proctor, joined
Etnies in 1998 and designed the new Etnies
arrow logo. That
Christmas, Etnies donat-
ed 10,000 pairs of shoes
to Los Angeles area
homeless people through
the LA Mission, and Etnies
donated money and volunteers to the
California AIDS Ride bicycle event. The team
included Andrew Reynolds, Mike Vallely, Tim
Brauch, Mike Manzoori, Brian Patch among
many others. Mike Vallely designed his pro
model skate shoe and even though it was
designed for skateboarding, it was
a favorite among BMXers due to
its design and durability. Other
shoes in that years collection
included the Sultan, a favorite
of Tim Brauch, the Yukon,
Kalif and the popular
Czar.
g
Etnies opened Kin
llie
iesO
its new head- E tn
quarters in Lake Forest, California in 1999. The
building includes 116 solar panels on the roof.
It’s one of the biggest solar installations in the
world, and it generates 180 kilowatts of energy,
enough to power 60 houses and saves 42
acres of trees a year. That same year, Etnies
launched its music program and the female
specific Etnies Girl
shoe line debuted.
The turn of the century
marked the year that Etnies launched its Kids
line with models like the Czar, Lo-Cut and Indy
and skaters Ryan Sheckler, Jesse Fritsch,
Carlos De Andrade and Fabrizo Santos joined
the Etnies skate team.
Lake Forest Mayor, Peter Herzog and Pierre
Andre Senizergues broke ground for the first
joint venture of its kind between a shoe brand
(Etnies) and a local government (City of Lake
Forest). That venture, the Etnies Skatepark of
Lake Forest was designed and built to give
something back to skateboarding and the Lake
Forest Community. That November after Sept
11th, 2001, Sole Tech organized a World Trade
Center benefit to bring skateboarders and the
of Lake Forest opened to enthusiastic public
acclaim. 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 Arto
Saari, Bastian Salabanzi and Rune Glifberg
joined the etnies skate team while Lauren
Perkins, Mary Osborne, Jodie Nelson, and
Alexis Waite joined Etnies Girl.
model debuted and Etnies launched the E
Collection, an exclusive line of upscale skate
inspired 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-Captain
of Stereo Skateboards,
Jason Lee and Co-

Jason & Chris

entire industry together. Over $35,000 was Bastian Salabanzi won MVP and helped the Captain Chris Pastras
raised for the WTC relief fund and Pierre donat- Regular team with the collaborated with
ed an additional $15,000 from his own pocket. first ever Etnies Goofy Etnies on two shoe
That same year, the first pro women's skate vs Regular contest held models. The second
shoe, the Elissa Steamer debuted. at the Lake Forest annual Goofy vs

Skatepark in 2004. Arto
The Sole Technology Institute, STI, was born at and Rune’s pro model
the University of Massachusetts in 2002. shoes, the “Arto” and the “Tip” debut and
Etnies hired biomechanics professor Ned Bastian’s pro model shoe was in the works.
Frederic, and sent shoes and pro skaters to Like in the past, Etnies donated 500 paris of
UMass for testing. New styles like the Imperial, new shoes to needy
Tron, Siege, Oracle, and the Elissa Steamer Orange County kids
Pastras Model
Regular contest is held at
the Lake Forest Skatepark,
and new team rider Ronnie
Creager won MVP and
helped the Goofy team with
victory over the Regulars.

model, Tross, are released. Classic skate and worked again with
shoes Scam and Sal 23 are re-released. Also, the L.A. Mission to
Etnies launched its limited edition Plus donate over 2,000
Collection, which feature special fabrics and pairs of shoes to the
colorways. homeless.
In 2003, Etnies moved STI from the University In response to the Hurricane Katrina Disaster
of Massachusetts to Lake Forest and invested in 2005, Etnies donated 5,000 paris of shoes
millions to make significant improvements in and 5,000
the performance and safety of skate shoes. pieces of Etnies
Due to their efforts, STI created it’s first ever Apparel to the
skate specific technology, the System G2™. relief effort as
The Etnies Response was the first model to well as donated
debut with the new technology. The STI was 500 pairs of
formally unveiled at that year’s ASR tradeshow. shoes to needy
kids and 2,000
After 2 years of building, the Etnies Skatepark pairs to the homeless. Bastien Salabanzi’s pro
Lee Model
In 2006, Etnies celebrated
it’s 20th anniversary. Ryan
Sheckler became the
youngest pro to ever
receive a pro model shoe
and Flip pro, Ali Boulala
joined the Etnies skate
team.
Middle Column Top to Bottom:
Pierre giving away shoes, a needy kid
with Arto and Pierre, Hurrican Releif

Swimmer’s Ear 31
 Etnies Logos from 1986 to Present
Etnies High 5
“High 5” was released in 1995, a time when
skate videos weren’t in high demand. The video
is 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 only
gives each skater 5 - 7 tricks. Jamie Thomas
starts out the video with a part that would fit right
in with his “Welcome to Hell” part, it consists of
handrails and gaps. From there on there are short
street skating parts by Satva Lueng, Dan Drehobal,
Phil Shao, Laban Phedias, Chris Senn, Shorty
Gonzalas, Richard Mulder, plus others and vert
skating parts by Darren Navarette, Mathias
Ringstrom and Rune Glifberg. Chad Muska has a nice
part that has him doing tailslides down 10 stair handrails,
which was considered pretty big in 1995. Marc Johnson has a good
part that has him skating handrails too and doing his smooth 360 flips. Eric
Koston has a part that still baffles me. I remember when I first saw this and
saw Eric ollieing over a full size picnic table with ease, not even going that
fast It just blew me away that somebody could ollie one of those. The best
part of the video has to go to Tom Penny. Tom was just about at the height of
his popularity when this video was released. Tom has the most effortless
style when it comes to skateboarding and it shows in his part. His backside
kickflip 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 Etnies
had this same team and released this video in 2006, it would definitely be
longer and it would probably be one of the top videos ever released.

Tom Penny

32 Swimmer’s Ear
Why’d you want to start your own skateshop and why
now? To give what I can to the skateboarders here and and
I think the time is perfect with Summer around the corner.

Do you think Fobia closing left a void in the Twin Cities

skate scene? Definitely. I don't think people realize what
Fobia did for this place. I feel like it was a good unity and it
gave kids something to get behind and a place to go and I
hope Familia can bring that back to our scene.

Why’d did you choose to open the shop in St. Paul and not
Minneapolis? How big is the shop? I didn't really pick
which city. I just found a spot that I liked and it was in St. 6 4 7 S n e l l i n g Av e n u e S o u t h , S t . P a u l , M N 5 5 11 6 • 6 5 1 . 6 9 8 . P U S H
Paul and it worked itself out. I think it will be good to Interview with Steve Nesser www.familiaskateshop.com
spread 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 the
heads that will be The Familia and repping the shop are Seth
McCallum, Clint Peterson, Emeric Pratt, Jamiel Nowparvar,
Chad Benson, Nate Compher, and Mike Guy. We want
everybody to be family and feel like they are a part of it.

What will your role in the shop be? Will you be handling
the day to day operations? I'm gonna try to do as much as I
can 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 the
rest of the skate shops in the area? Create our own path.

Will Familia be selling snowboard products also, or will it

be strictly skateboarding?
Strictly skateboarding.

When is the grand opening and do you have any events

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

Swimmer’s Ear 33
LoveofEverything
Interview with Bobby Burg • Photo by Chris Strong
How does "Superior Mold and Die" compare to previous Love of
Everything albums? Is there anything you did differently on the new
album 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 is
equally as spread out recording/arrangement wise. I have never
played songs 'live' before recording them, this album has about 5
songs that I have played on tour. The weird thing is that I have toured
with 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 different
cities influence your songwriting? I came back to Chicago after 3
months on the road with Joan of Arc, Owen, and Love of Everything.
Sometime in Germany my roommate in Brooklyn told me "By the time
you get home I will already be gone!" So I knew I had to move and I
was surrounded by these guys and they suggested Chicago.
Nate and Tim Kinsella, Sam Zurick, and Cale Parks played instruments
on a few songs, will they be helping out on tour or are you doing the
shows solo? They all have already helped out on past tours, I think
now I'm sort of into performing solo. Examples of what the live solo act
sounds like are the songs driven through rainbows and too much
happy wet hair.
Is it more difficult playing solo shows as Love of Everything opposed
to playing shows with Joan of Arc or Make Believe? It’s scary but it’s
directly gratifying, in turn when it's bad it's really bad. I will never play
in Akron, Ohio solo again.
You've toured many different countries with Love of Everything and
your other bands, what have you learned from traveling to other
countries? In Japan last week, I learned what it’s like to be illiterate,
deaf, and mute.
34 Swimmer’s Ear
You're an artist, musician and I've heard that you also skateboard.
How long have you been skateboarding and what got you interested
in it? My big brother and his friends always skateboarded on a 8 ft half
pipe in my backyard, built when I was 9 in 1986. Our soundtrack was
of course skate-rock and punk and those types of music are what got
me excited about music in the first place.
You've said that the "Bones Brigade Video Show" is one of your
favorite videos. Do you stay up to date on current skateboarding
videos and trends? My old band used to cover that song 'Mystery'
from when Lance Mountain is skating at nighttime. I don't stay that up
to date... I've seen 'Yeah Right' but I think that was a really popular
one because of the effects. I love the 'Sorry' video, and in NYC I used
to go to all of the video premieres. The last one I went to I think was
the DC(I think) video with the Tortoise song at the beginning.
I've noticed that a lot of musicians skateboard, what do you think the
connection is between music and skateboarding? Am I supposed to
say freedom of expression or something? I don't know. They do seem
to 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 of
releasing your own music on your own label? How has the label being
going and what releases do you have planned for 2006? Well you
know what is a disadvantage, is feeling weird calling a record store
asking them to buy your CD. I don't really do that like I would with
another artists release. The advantages are you can make sure it's
done 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 reissue
of Pinebender 'Things Are About to Get Weird'. Also Record Label is
going to start doing cassettes. Like a few for distribution but mostly
for live souvenirs.
Swimmer’s Ear 35
 a year since The Grey was
It has been almost
banned from the U.S. Has the band or Lovitt
Records made any headway in getting the U.S.’s deci-
sion reversed?

Both the band and the label has made conscious efforts to
deal with the ban. On the Canadian side we have contact-
ed members of parliament, talked to lawyers, looked into
filing appeals, we’ve even gone as far as to try contacting
the attorney general of the United States about the deci-
sion. They don’t make it easy to dispute their ruling. We
can’t stress enough how incredible Brian Lowit at Lovitt
Records has been. He has written letters, set up inter-
views, contacted congressmen, and tried to spread the
word about what we both think is a ridiculous and frustrat-
ing situation. Despite all of this, we unfortunately haven’t
made much progress in having the decision reversed. But
we’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 hard
to 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 proper
paperwork. 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 them
for 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 for
over an hour and found our merch. Even though we said it was with us from our past show in
Canada, they became suspicious. At this point it was pretty impossible to dispute the fact that our
band name was “The Grey” with a bunch of cds in their hands with our name on them. They then
checked listings of shows in the local area, our name came up. The shit hit the fan. We were all
separated and not allowed to communicate and were “interviewed” one by one over the next 6
hours. We didn’t try to lie at this point and didn’t think we had anything really serious to hide. We
didn’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. And
yet, we continue to do this for the pure love of traveling and making music with our friends. In no
way 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 of
living for us, we wouldn’t risk that by trying
to sneak past border guards. Anyway, at
the end of it they determined that a 5 year
ban for each of us, individually or as a
group, was a suitable punishment. They
even used the line “I know Canada doesn’t
think so, but we are a country at war, and
we can’t let things like this slide.”
Horseshit. The decision to ban us was at
their discrepancy. They even admitted to
having the authority to give suitable pun-
ishments to certain offenses. After our fin-
gerprints and mug shots were taken, some
of the other guards were even telling us in
confidence that they didn’t agree with this
and said it was a waste of time and paper-
work, and that they knew we weren’t doing
anything that serious.
Photo by Alex Cairncross

Swimmer’s Ear 37
Do you think that the U.S.’s decision was justified or do you think it
was 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 try
and explain where we are coming from to people who don’t really get it. A
bunch of poor artists from Canada being treated like rich businessmen out
to pull the wool over the eyes an entire country, and make a million dollars
from our deceit is not really an accurate portrayal of the situation. Being
banned 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 the
type of crap that immigrants and people of different races and backgrounds
must have to go through. It was also strange to see the signature of the
trainee from that night on all of our “alien removed” paperwork, when he
hardly said a word all night. The supervising officer was the one who was
calling 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 Three
Penny Opera. That band toured with Engine Down and Four Hundred
Years and quickly became friends. Despite the distance, we all kept in con-
38 Swimmer’s Ear
tact over the years. We had very briefly talked to Brian about doing a third
Three Penny Opera record, but the band broke up before we really went into
that much detail. Later on when we started doing the Grey and had been
talking to Engine Down, they put in good word for us with Brian, and things
sort of fell into place after that. We couldn't be happier. The label, and Brian
especially, has been really good to us.
I’ve noticed that on a lot of releases by Canadian Artists, that they
acknowledge The Government of Canada and the Canada Music
Fund. What is the Canada Music Fund and how does the Canadian
Government help out with independent artists?
We have yet to have the support of the Canada Music Fund. The Canada
music fund is a government funded grant for independent musicians to
represent Canada. It can help musicians by helping with grant money,
helping with exposure. We haven’t really been exposed to it yet. I’m not
sure if bands diligently seek out, or if bands are sought after by it. It can
complicate things. I’m sure it can be of great help at the right time, but we
haven’t gone down that road yet.
Do you think that the Canadian independent music scene gets as much recognition as it should? What Canadian
bands 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 that
get 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 of
the 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 El
Torpedo, Ghost Story, The Sadies, the list goes on. The funny thing in that these bands don’t get much
recognition 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 by
a 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 is
enough of an inspiration. Friends and family are huge inspi-
rations on us. Everyday happenings manifest themselves
in ways that affect so many other aspects of our lives that
its hard to name them individually, and are hard to avoid,
but are indisputably influential on how we function as a
group and write songs. At the same time, these everyday
occurrences can easily be related to larger issues that
affect everyone and are addressed through music.

Since you can’t tour the U.S. in support of “Asleep at

the Wheel”, have you made any plans to tour countries
overseas?

We are actually in the process of finalizing a European tour

right now. We are going in the fall with the new record after
we tour Canada from coast to coast. We are pretty excited
to tour abroad, not only for the change of scenery but to
also prove that we can continue to function as a band
despite the U.S. ban. We have also been talking about
touring Japan after Europe and will be organizing that soon.

Swimmer’s Ear 39
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, it
was a huge shoulder-cam beast. I'd just film my lunatic friends. Started
stealing my mom’s Pentax camera shortly after that, then when I rolled
my 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 a
bunch 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 Spike
Jonze multiple exposure photo of Jeremy Klein doing the kickflip melon
was like magic to me. I stared at that thing for hours trying to figure out
how the hell he did it.
40 Swimmer’s Ear
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 liked
shooting rainbow logs and rail photos, but it got boring. Style just shines
so much brighter in skating.
Explain how you came from Colorado to work at Transworld. You’re
not still working at Transworld are you? Do you shoot photos for any
other magazines?
I started a skate zine in Colorado, and Ako and Atiba grew up in the
town next to me, Manitou Springs. Atiba and Ako had just started work-
ing for TransWorld about two years earlier and I'd always send them
copies of the mag. Then transworld needed an editor, so they asked me
to send a resume. It was seriously the worst resume ever, but I guess
they liked my photo copied black and white zines, so a week later they
said I got the job if I wanted it. I immediately put everything in my car
and 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 like
answering letters and transcribing interviews, so I didn't get to shoot
that many photos, plus I didn't know anybody yet. But I slowly got to
sneak out more and actually learn how to take a decent photo, met more
people.
Ethan Fowler - Kickflip
Swimmer’s Ear 41
As time went on TransWorld was bought and sold like three different
times to bigger and bigger corporations, and the ads got worse, adver-
tisers were given more control over the magazine, and the censorship
was just ridiculous. So Atiba, Grant, and Swift left to start their own
mag. 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 and
avoided the office like the plague. Now I'm freelance, and I work for
Kr3w 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 has
always been one of my favorites, so that was cool.
I’ve noticed that most skate photographers have their own little group
of skaters that they shoot photos of. Who’s in your group?
Well it always changes, you got to keep hustling and moving. Someone
recently 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 got
something cool to shoot I'll shoot it. But like the last two weeks I've been
skating with Tom Penny and Chad Muska and it's fucking insane!
Penny and the Muska, putting it down getting shit everyday like it was
1998. Wait till you see Penny's new shit.... aaaaaaaaaamazing. And Jim
Greco 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 various
states and countries. What have been some of the more memorable
places you've traveled and why?
Japan is incredible, amazing architecture, crazy culture, everyone is
scared of you, it rules. Prague is insane, beers for 25 cents at the
skatepark with 13 year olds drinking and skating. Ummm... and Mexico
is just sketchy, but beautiful. You know I haven't travelled as much the
other 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 because
they have to. Enthusiasm is contagious. There's a reason Paul
Rodriguez, Eric Koston, and Mark Applyard are so successful—they
42 Swimmer’s Ear
love skateboarding, and they put it down.
When you’re setting up your gear to shoot a photo, do you have an
idea on how you want the photo to look?
Yeah, gotta analyze the situation. Take the security and thug factors into
consideration, weigh the risks versus rewards and what shot you really
want.
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, but
then you get that one photo and it makes it all worth it.
If there was one thing about being a skate photographer that you
could change what would it be?
Ohhh, I'm starting some new shit. A bunch of girls on Myspace keep
asking to assist me on one of my shoots. So I'm going to have a couple
girls carry my bags, jump school yard fences, and run from the cops. I
want to be the first skate photographer with chicks that set everything
up for me and then I just pull the trigger.
Shad
Lambert
“There's a reason
Paul Rodriguez,
Eric Koston, and
Mark Applyard are
so successful—they
love skateboarding, Abidias Riviera - BS Lipslide
and they put it down.”

Swimmer’s Ear 43
Port of Los Angeles
Photo: Shad Lambert
Rider: Unknown -Switch Heeflip
Photo: Andreas Dunlap
Swimmer’s Ear 45
Michael Anderson
Photo: Nate Bozquez
46 Swimmer’s Ear
Michael Anderson
Photo: Nate Bozquez
Ben Gilsrud
Photo: Michael Anderson
48 Swimmer’s Ear
 Rider Unknown
Photo: Zach Windahl
Swimmer’s Ear 49
50 Swimmer’s Ear
 SHIT! - Turd Tales & Stool Stories
Unbeleivable tales of people shitting on mobile homes, in rivers and on trees.
Incredibly humorous and rousing. A great read for your next shit!

p.o. box 2076 • maple grove, mn 55311 (E) subtitlespub@yahoo.com Manual Dexterity #2
Features interviews with The Nein, Chariots and Say Hi to Your Mom, plus mini
interviews with Del Cielo, These Arms Are Snake, Strike Anywhere, Paint it
Black, Dr. Dog and Des Ark.
Coming Soon...
Super Friends, Yearbook & Personal Ads Manual Dexterity #3
A collection of personal photos found donated at a thrift store made into a Features interviews with Bob Nanna of The City on Film, Chicago’s Bound
humorous and disturbing zine. Think twice before you donate family pictures. Stems, and The American Analog Set. Also includes an article about Lovitt
Records 10 years of business.
Manual Dexterity #4
Another great issue featuring 3 great bands and some interesting articles.
Also Available!!!
Back Issues of Swimmer’s Ear Magazine