Evan Smith #2.

  Starheadbody.

Evan is originally from Orlando, Florida and later moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to live with his aunt and uncle. He turned pro for Element in 2013 and was on the team up until last year when he decided to be a free agent. His other sponsors are DC Shoes, Gnarhunters, Spitfire, and Indy. After a couple guest boards and video parts for Anti-Hero spinoff Grimple Stix, the word is that Evan is starting a new company with Cody Chapman as a rider. Starheadbody is the name of his band. He also plays in UV Waves.

Transworld - May 2013 Volume 31 Number 5

Ryan Townley.

Mazzy Star.

Ryan is from Anaheim, California. He turned pro for Welcome in 2018. Indy, Converse, OJ, and Bronson also give him free stuff. He closed out Fetish with a part full of big ollies, wallrides, kickflips, late shove-its, and fastplants. Ryan does a really nice backside kickflip over a wall and a fakie bigspin over a bump to bar, if I caught that one correctly. His specialty is boardslides, sometimes with an early grab out. His last trick is a sizable kickflip to wallride. The man rips.

This wraps up my look at Welcome. Fetish is one of my favorite videos of the last few years. It also features skating from Rick Fabro, Roman Pabich, and Aaron Goure. I'll do posts on them sooner or later, even though Roman isn't on the team any longer. Opener Ryan Lay is a freaking national treasure and it's cool that skateboarding has people such as him involved with it. I'm not big on riding shaped boards, but I dig the whole vibe of Welcome. I think the art is great and the music supervision for their videos is perfect. I like the t-shirts, too.

Alex Papke was the photographer.

Thrasher - July 2017 Volume 38 Number 7

Nora Vasconcellos #5.

  Dance recital.

Nora hails from Pembroke, Massachusetts. She turned pro for Welcome in the summer of 2017. Her other sponsors include Adidas, Krux, Bronson, OJ Wheels, and Swatch. Nora's part in Fetish is a blend of park, street, and ditch skating. There are some airs, Smith grinds, and inverts done on transitions. She hits up a few ditches with some kickflips and a frontside feeble at a DIY spot. I think this backside Smith grind is in there, but it was filmed from a different angle than the photo. Nora is one of the best out there in skateboarding today.

The photo is by Shane Cox.

Thrasher - July 2016 Volume 37 Number 7

Jason Salillas.

  Ghosts of a different dream.

Jason is from Birmingham, Alabama. His other sponsors are Altamont and Nike. His part in Fetish consisted of a lot of rails, gaps, and hubbas. There were assorted wallrides and wallies thrown in for good measure. This switch 50-50 was the second to last trick in his part. His ender was a lipslide down a handrail to rock bash. I liked that he skated to vintage Guided By Voices.

The photograph is by Kyle Siedler.

Thrasher - January 2017 Volume 38 Number 1

Will Blaty.

 

Hardflip into the pond scum.

Will is from Gilbert, Arizona. His other sponsors include Freedom Board Shop, Indy, Lakai, and Bronson Bearings. For his section in Fetish, Will did a lot of early grab variations down stairs and off of tall things. The Swedish pop of Secret Service's "Ten O’Clock Postman" gives the part a casual feel good vibe. He also mixed in a healthy number of kickflips and hardflips. There were some unique tricks, such as a one footed nollie backside 180 down a big set of stairs and a caveman to fakie 5-0 to finger flip out on a handrail. Will skates a variety of terrain, including ditches, street, and parks. My favorite trick is a backside 180 melon over a bump to bar where he has to duck to roll under a semi truck's trailer after landing.

Alex Papke took the photo.

Transworld - August 2016 Volume 34 Number 8

Jordan Sanchez.

 

Welcome back.

Jordan is from Snohomish, Washington. He turned pro in 2016 with a part of him skating dumpsters. I think he is little bit older and has a family. I don't know much else about Jordan. I thought this photo was cool.

The photo is by Andy Froberg.

Thrasher - February 2016 Volume 37 Number 2

Dakota Servold #2.

 

Gone skateboarding.

Dakota is originally from Paradise Valley, Arizona and moved out to California with his parents. He grew up skating with Aaron "Jaws" Homoki, but gravitated towards handrails instead of jumping off the roofs of buildings. Dakota has ridden for Foundation since 2011 and turned pro for them in 2013. Ed Templeton drew his first graphic. His other sponsors are Emerica, Indy, Bones Wheels, and Bronson Bearings. He's always on the road with Leo Romero. I'm a fan. He makes rail skating look eye pleasing.

Thrasher - December 2015 Volume 36 Number 12

Corey Glick #3.

 

Oddity.

Transworld - October 2015 Volume 33 Number 10

Nick Merlino.

 

Nick is from Atlantic City, New Jersey. He's been riding for Foundation since 2009 and turned pro in 2011. His other sponsors are Pig Wheels and Krux. He took a switch ollie down the stairs at El Toro for a Krux ad. Nick has taken up painting for a hobby.

Transworld - September 2015 Volume 33 Number 9

Cole Wilson.

 

Cole is from Louisville, Kentucky. He scored a Transworld cover grinding a 50-50 up a double kink rail. He's one of those guys who skates a lot of dangerous handrails. His other sponsors include Pig Wheels, Bronson, and Independent Trucks. Some of Cole's favorite skaters include Kevin Long, Ishod Wair, Grant Taylor, and Mike Frazier.

Transworld - April 2016 Volume 34 Number 4

Corey Duffel #3.

 

Homeboy.

I got on a Foundation kick a few weeks ago and watched a bunch of their videos. I rediscovered Corey's solo part that was tacked onto the end of 2018's Souvenir video. It was called Homeboy after the song and debuted as a stand alone segment on Thrasher. Corey looks like he is having so much fun skating in it, even with a few bone jarring slams and all. The title is from a song by Adorable, a British shoegaze type of band who had a couple of albums on Creation Records in the early 1990s.

Note: The man on the skateboard is Rowland S. Howard, former guitarist for the Birthday Party and a number of other projects. He passed away in 2009.

Thrasher - April 2015 Volume 36 Number 4

Dane Brady #3.

 

Trailblazer.

This is the most Transworld ad ever. It harkens back to their article layouts of the 1980s. Dane helps the cause out by doing a one footer on a shaped deck, too.

The photo is by Matt Price.

Transworld - January/February 2019 Issue 396

Nick Boserio #2.

 

Brass.

Nick grew up in Perth, Australia. He was born in England and moved around some before winding up down under. His current home is Portland, Oregon. He has ridden for the Alien Workshop and Zero. His other sponsors are Indy, Nike, and OJ Wheels.

The photo is by Brent O'Donnell and the art is by Tynan Kerr.

Transworld - July/August 2017 Number 387

David Stenstrom & Oskar Rozenberg.

 

Wild skateboarding. That Oskie kid is something amazing.

The photo is by Nils Svensson.

Transworld - September/October 2017 Number 388

David Stenstrom & Andrew Wilson.

 

Here's a couple of guys who were ams for Polar to fill out your Tuesday internet browsing. I really don't know much of anything about David or Andrew and I'm not even sure if they are still on Polar.

David's photo is by Nils Svensson. Andrew's photo is by Marimo Ohyama.

Stenstrom: Transworld - September/October 2017 Number 388

Wilson: Transworld - January/February 2018 Number 390

Shin Sanbongi.

 
Surf's up.

Shin is from Japan. He was born in Tokyo and grew up in Chigasaki. His dad got him into both skateboarding and surfing. He is a fan of Anti-Hero videos and Mind Field era Jake Johnson. Pontus Alv turned him pro earlier this year. His other sponsors include Adidas, OJ Wheels, and Ace Trucks.

Marimo Ohyama was the photographer.

Transworld - September/October 2018 Number 394

Ben Gore #4.

 

"They would send me those black boards with the white letters saying “World” on the bottom. I remember I would always spray paint the “L” black so it just said “Word” (laughs). I got a little older and ended up just quitting, even though they were paying me at the time which seemed pretty crazy. But I quit and just went sponsor-less for a little while."

Ben recalls being an amateur on World Industries before becoming the face of the franchise at Magenta. I'm a big fan of his approach to skateboarding. I dig the "hillbully" name tag, too.

Is everything looking OK with the layout? Blogspot changed their user interface and I think I'm setting posts up the way I want them to look. Knowing HTML is a big help.

The photographs are by Jean Feil and Richard Hart

For the quote: Transworld - February 2017 Volume 35 Number 2

Trashy hippie: Transworld - June 2015 Volume 33 Number 6

Hillbully: Transworld - July/August 2018 Issue 393

Soy Panday #2.

"My physical home is in Paris. My spiritual home is not quite in this world, it’s in the magic world of visions and imagination, which I place in a fourth dimension. I live in both simultaneously, but rent is definitely in Paris."

The art department at Magenta gets out on the streets for some skateboarding.

The quote is from an interview at The New Order.

The photo is by Florian Debray.

Transworld - January/February 2018 Issue 390

Jimmy Lannon #2.

Spirit Quest.

Jimmy is an under the radar pro who always pops up in indie videos with some snappy ollies and nimble lines for a quality part or guest appearance. His board with the fire hydrant on it was the first Magenta deck I ever had. I imagine it was his debut pro model since that was a long time ago now.

The photo is by Richard Hart.

Transworld - October 2016 Volume 34 Number 10

Leo Valls.

The power slide guy embarks on a risky nollie. This was in his part in Riddles In Mathematics, the Transworld video from 2017. Riddles is one of my favorite videos of the last few years.

The photo is by Dave Chami.

Transworld - February 2017 Volume 35 Number 2

Vivien Feil.

Happy 10th anniversary, Magenta.

The company boss gets up on one of those ledges. Vivien started Magenta with Soy Panday in France a decade ago. I've been a fan for a long time. They have some great art on their boards.

I think the photo credit is to a Tristan Vegnault, but the type was too small and light to read. Let me know if that is right or not.

Transworld - September 2016 Volume 34 Number 9