David Loy.

First family of skateboarding.

David is from Santa Ana, California. His dad used to skateboard and his brother Ethan is pro for Element. He's been on Birdhouse a long time and is still pro for them. Bryce Loy forever.

I did the double shot for the boards. I've been keeping an eye Tony Hawk's graphics because sometimes they don't always come in so hot. His board in this ad sails out into Habitat waters, but is completely fine and not cringeworthy. Birdhouse has used variations on the monsters in the dark graphic before, right? I'm drawing a blank on who else had it. Heath? Ocean? Willy?

The photographs are by Bart Jones.

Kickflip 50-50: The Skateboard Mag - January 2014 Issue 118

Big air: The Skateboard Mag - July 2014 Issue 124

Clive Dixon.

Creep.

Clive is from Cocoa Beach, Florida. He's pro for Birdhouse and Vans. He digs 1990s alt rock classics like Nirvana, Hole, and Local H. Some of his favorite skaters include Heath Kirchart, Andrew Reynolds, Elissa Steamer, Marisa Dal Santo, Jake Johnson, and Aaron Suski. Clive is putting in the effort to be a novelist and enjoys literature. He has also dabbled in the realm of acting in commercials.

The picture is by Eric "Rodent" Cheslak.

The Skateboard Mag - November 2014 Issue 128

Mike Davis.

Mike was from Portland, Oregon. Birdhouse and Nike were his sponsors. He had a mean switch 360 flip. Sadly, Mike passed away in 2018.

Bart Jones was the photographer.

The Skateboard Mag - October 2014 Issue 127

Shawn Hale.

Shawn is from Joplin, Missouri. He's pro for Birdhouse and also rides for Indy, Orbs Wheels, and New Balance. Shawn had a sick ad where he's doing a backside noseblunt in a bowl Jeff Phillips style, balanced on top of the coping instead of being locked in.

I always liked going to Bemo's/BTB skatepark in Joplin. That was a fun little indoor park and the locals were friendly.

Trevor Vaughan took the photo.

The Skateboard Mag - September 2014 Issue 126

Aaron "Jaws" Homoki #2.

Halcyon + On + On.

In addition to being a fan of jumping off tall buildings, Jaws is a fan of British techno band Orbital.

The photo is by Matt Price.

The Skateboard Mag - May 2014 Issue 122

Jon Sciano #3.

Stallone Grind.

I like how they gave Jon's 50-50 a clever name based upon Sylvester Stallone's 1987 arm wrestling movie Over The Top. This was the last trick in his Coast To Coast video from 2013. Jon shredded around for Anti-Hero and Lakai before pulling a Sean Young and vanishing.

I hope nobody has triskaidekaphobia because this is the 13th anniversary of Vert Is Dead. Thanks for all the support over the years.

I finally got the hang of my jump ramp.

Jon's photo is by Atiba Jefferson.

The Skateboard Mag - August 2013 Issue 113

Collin Provost #7.

"Yeah, I don't skate switch and I don't go switch. I suck at it. It's awkward. I don't go backward too much. Something about a switch ollie for me is rough. I can't do it. I was always a tranny skater when I was younger so I never got into switch. I'm just trying to mash around the park with speed lines."

Collin always keeps it going forward. It seems to have worked out all right for him.

For the quote: The Skateboard Mag - October 2013 Issue 115

The Skateboard Mag - June 2014 Issue 123

Mike Watt.

Mr. Machinery Operator.

Altamont has dabbled outside of skateboarding by teaming up for projects with assorted artists and musicians. It only makes sense that they made some flannel shirts for a guy in band with an album called Flyin' the Flannel. Of course Mike's music is synonymous with skateboarding thanks to the inclusion of numerous Minutemen and fIREHOSE tunes in videos over the decades.

Here's a flyer from a gig I saw back in 1998. The coolest part about the night was Watt hanging around after the show by his van and talking to the 15 to 20 folks who were interested in what he was saying.

The Skateboard Mag - February 2013 Issue 107

Jon Dickson #2.

Some Misunderstanding.

Jon is wearing some Fallens in this photo. In the time since it was taken, he has switched to Emerica and scored a pro model. He closed out their Green video at the start of 2020. Jon's got a great switch kickflip down giant gaps or stairs.

Supposedly Emerica did make a DVD of Green, but it is long since sold out. I know I floated this out there before, but if anybody has a copy they'd be willing to part with, get in touch with me.

The Skateboard Mag - November 2013 Issue 116

Jeremy Leabres #3.

Explosions in the sky.

Jeremy had the opening part in Emerica's Made video in 2013. It was his introduction to the skateboard world at large. He's still on Emerica and has turned pro for Toy Machine in the years since. I'm a fan and it's not just because he skated to Polvo in Programming Injection.

Vert Is Dead is creeping up to its 13th anniversary on Friday so I put together an odd mix of Emerica and Altamont with a plot twist at the end for the week.

The Skateboard Mag - November 2013 Issue 116

Todd Bratrud #2.

Todd Congelliere tattoo.

Todd is from Crookston, Minnesota. He moved to Minneapolis in the early 1990s for art school. He became friends with Steve Nesser, Seth McCallum, and Clint Peterson. Todd also started doing graphics for Fobia, the local shop. This led to a job doing graphics for Consolidated. He did some classics at the Cube, such as the "Congratulations, it's a man!" deck. These days Todd does freelance work for a variety of companies including Creature, Nike, Heroin, and more. The Skateboard Mag employed him as an illustrator, too. He used to work as a package designer at a design firm that had Nabisco and Coca-Cola for clients.

Todd's photo is by Sam McGuire.

For the info: The Skateboard Mag - August 2013 Issue 113

The Skateboard Mag - January 2014 Issue 118

Preston Harper & Scott "Horsey" Walker.

Talk to the giant foam hand.

Preston Harper is from Arizona and lives out in Portland, Oregon. He turned pro for Send Help in 2016. He also does video and photographic production work for a few different companies.

Scott "Horsey" Walker is from Essex, England. He rode for Death Skateboards before Send Help and is now back on their team. He's a dad and living in England.

I should brush up on my knowledge of Midwestern skateboarding. Outpost and Grains Preservation Society are a couple of my favorite videos ever. I feel like I know of the guys on Send Help, but not much more beyond that.

Bonafide Supply Store from the middle of Great Britain has some neat interviews up on their website. I added them to the link list.

Preston's photo is by Sam McGuire and Horsey's photo is by Rob Shaw.

Preston: The Skateboard Mag - December 2013 Issue 117

Horsey: The Skateboard Mag - February 2014 Issue 119

Justin Modica & Marty Murawski.

Gnarly drops & tight manuals.

Justin is from Phoenix, Arizona. He did turn pro for Send Help a couple years ago and is a pool shredder.

Marty is from Mesa, Arizona. He had previously ridden for Blueprint and was on DVS.

Justin's photo is by Sam McGuire and Marty's photo is by Matt Price.

Justin: The Skateboard Mag - October 2013 Issue 115

Marty: The Skateboard Mag - November 2013 Issue 116

Randy Ploesser & Brian Heck.

Burp.

Randy is from St. Louis, Missouri. He was sponsored by Birdhouse before switching to Send Help.

Brian is from Bellfield, North Dakota. He has also ridden for Iota and Consolidated.

Rather than leave anybody out of Send Help week, I think I scanned everybody on the team. For simplicity's sake I paired up riders into shared posts.

Randy's photo is by Andy Wissman and Brian's photo is by Tom Kemmer.

Randy: The Skateboard Mag - August 2013 Issue 113

Brian: The Skateboard Mag - September 2013 Issue 114

Steve Nesser #5.

Windmilling in the Midwest.

This week is a look at Send Help. The company came about in the early 2010s after The High Five came to an end. The High Five was started by artist Todd Bratrud, Brian Heck, Preston Harper, and Steve Fauser in 2010. They lasted a couple years before changing over to Send Help. I think there might have been a distribution deal with NHS at one point, but I'm not positive. Anyway, Send Help carried on with the Todd's creative artwork and a crew of rippers from the middle of the country. I am not sure if they are still around, but I always liked their graphics.

The photo is by Jon Coulthard.

The Skateboard Mag - July 2013 Issue 112

Slam Dunk.

This is the best ad Baker has ever done. Bryan Herman, Terry Kennedy, and Andrew Reynolds hit the hardwood for what looks like a rough game of hoops. Is it a tip of the hat to the classic Sal Barbier ollie Japan off a launch ramp on a basketball court for 23?

The Favorite Spot video with Anthony Van Engelen about the curved green bench was great.

Never forget Tim Brauch.

The Skateboard Mag - March 2013 Issue 108.

Don "Nuge" Nguyen #5.

The Nuge does a frontside shove-it to backside 50-50 at that one famous odd ledge spot. You can see Beagle's green and gold camera creeping into the shot.

The TMZ header refers to a clip of Nuge and Justin Figueroa involved in a minor dustup at a skatepark in the Midwest.

The Skateboard Mag - August 2013 Issue 113

Dee Ostrander.

Commotion.

Dee is from Nashville, Tennessee. He was riding for Hard Times before getting a call from Andrew Reynolds about riding for Baker. He was also sponsored by Emerica, but switched over to Supra. His real first name is Dathan. I'm not sure where he disappeared to. Dee did the mandatory stair jumping and big gap hunting that one would expect of a rider on Baker.

Happy 10th anniversary to Polar.

The Skateboard Mag - December 2014 Issue 129

Dustin Dollin #3.

The Demon Spawn takes a kickflip to boardslide into the deep end of a pool. I think this might be the Nude Bowl.

Shout outs to Mostly Skateboarding and Lance Dalgart. Congrats to John Gardner on turning pro for Creature.

The Skateboard Mag - October 2013 Issue 115

Riley Hawk #4.

Warish.

Riley had a big year in 2013. He turned pro for Baker right after winning the Skateboard Mag's Year's Best Am award. Warish is the band he currently plays guitar in. They just released an album of skuzzy stoner punk tunes, too.

I put together a random week of Baker from 2013-14. I think I've mined as much content as possible out of issues 107-123 of The Skateboard Mag for the month.

The Skateboard Mag - May 2013 Issue 113