You know we love Ninjasonik. So itʼs only fitting that on the heels of the Darth Baño party and mix, that we handed over the keys to the Brooklyn trio for Keep Watch Volume 11. In fine fair, this mix is straight-up get-drunk-and-high-bathroom-fucking music.
Ninjasonik is a musical collaboration started by New York based artists Reverend McFly (MC and DJ - a.k.a. Jah Jah Brown) and Teenwolf (Producer and DJ - a.k.a. k.ross), later fortified by the addition of Telli "Bathroom Sexxx" Federline on the motormouth. The varied backgrounds combine to coin a totally newfangled club punk rap sound. Regularly covering seminal punk bands like Bad Brains and Minor Threat and remixing some of their favorite bands like The Death Set, Matt & Kim, and Team Robespierre has propelled Ninjasonik into a league of their own. Ninjasonik began to record original songs in 2007, and have played and recorded with a long list of amazing artists, such as Japanther, Spankrock, Dan Deacon, The Cool Kids, Matt & Kim, Ponytail, Fiasco, the Homosexuals, Vivian Girls, Best Fwends, and many more and in summer of 2008 they released their first EP on Chief Records.
A couple of weeks back, on a visit to NYC, Levi Maestro, the mind behind the popular "Maestro Knows" series featured on Hypebeast, stopped by the Street Level offices to talk about his passions and his show. Check out the interview with this dynamic young skater/filmmaker.
We present you the new Supreme Fall/Winter 2009 Collection. The New York brand once again does not disappoint. The collection is very complete and offers a wide range of t-shirts, shirts, outerwear, hoodies, sweaters, 5-panel caps, New Era caps and accessories. It's a real strong season this time round...
The outerwear is looking really good this season, with the Barbour inspired waxed cotton jacket, the peacoat and the technical layer jacket being our favorites. The beanie and New Era cap offering is also very strong, yet the accessories stand out more. They present a knife, playing cards and other interesting items.
Also they offer again their own footwear style this season, this time a mid suede sneaker. Supreme has collaboratied with Disney on a couple of Mickey pieces this season and with Hanes on some basic white t-shirts.
The new Supreme Fall/Winter 2009 Collection will be available in US stores from September 3rd and in Japan from September 5th.
So this month's High Order! interview is with skateboarding & photography legend, Bryce Kanights! We enjoyed watching his recent videos with nemo entertainment so much that we decided to contact the man himself to see if he would answer a few questions that we fired over to him.
We really appreciated the fact that, although he's been an extremely busy guy this summer, he managed to find the time to write up some real in depth answers for us. We've also fed in some of Bryce's photography that he's shot over the years in amongst the interview plus a short trailer video for the re-release of Sick Boys that he talks about later on.
This interview is both for those who are aware of Bryce and his work and for those who aren't. If your the latter of the two then hopefully this interview will serve as a way of getting to know a little more about this living legend! Find out what make Bryce tick and learn what he has done for, and how he's contributed to the growth of skating and photography alike. Enjoy...
HO: Hey Bryce. So first off, At what age did you first get into skating and photography? And which one of the two came first?
BK: I was introduced to skateboarding at the age of 12. From there I began to progress and become totally dedicated to skating and the freedom that it provided me at the time. Skateboarding allowed me to escape the pressures at home (my parents divorce) and get around the city (San Francisco) when I was too young to drive. My skateboard was the magic conduit and vehicle that opened my eyes to the world and fostered so many friendships that still continue to this day.
Photography came a year or so later for me as a hobby at first. As my interest grew with inspiration with the published photos in Skateboarder magazine, my father gave me a used Nikon SLR camera for my sixth grade graduation. From that point onward, wherever me and my friends would skateboard, my camera was usually along with me for the session. My first published photo was a full-page “Something Else” image in Thrasher in February of 1982. I began to shoot professionally around 1984.
HO: Would you say there’s a big skate scene at where you currently live?
BK: Yes, Portland has a very thriving skate scene. The city is very liberal and open minded to skateboarding and it culture overall. The DIY efforts at Burnside skatepark really opened the city officials’ eyes at the time (1990) and as a result many years later, Portland is the first American city to embrace a proposed plan citing 19 individual skateparks throughout the city within the next ten years. I’m very happy with my decision to move here two and a half years ago.
HO: With your time spent at Thrasher and various other skateboard magazines, what was the best part about working for them?
BK: Well, the hours spent putting together a magazine and shooting skate photos are tough and long. You never have weekends off and the process seems to just roll into one constant cycle. By far the best aspect of magazine related work is the travel and the new and exciting spots in which you get to skate and experience.
BK: Those days really provide a profound memory to me of a time when street skating was a new frontier and free for the taking. I mean, we had the entire city and specifically downtown SF to ourselves without security or skatestopper devices whatsoever. We spend days on end skating and discovering new spots. I was a great time to be a skateboarder, despite the lack of sponsorship dollars back then. The progressive freedom was really what motivated us.
HO: If you didn’t take up skating at a young age, do you think you would still be working as a photographer today?
BK: I really don’t know about that. I’ve always be inspired visually with images and art, but my life and involvement as a young skateboarder really provided the spark to emulate the images in the magazine and shoot my own photographs. Who knows? My life could be drastically different without the introduction of that little rolling plank long ago.
HO: Out of all the photo’s you have shot over the years, is there one in particular that sticks out in your mind as being your favorite? Or perhaps a favorite magazine cover shot?
BK: To pinpoint one specific image from my archive that stokes me is a very difficult process. Many of them hold meaning of evolution and progress, or an important place in time or event, or reflect a specific skater’s style, etc. I cannot nail down one image, so have a look at my website and decide for yourself and me both.
HO: In your interview videos that have recently been released, you strongly express you feelings towards skating and describe it as more of a lifestyle or way of life rather that just being a sport. Describe what skateboarding really means to you....
BK: Straight up, skateboarding is freedom. Through my years of skateboarding it opened so many doors in my life and paved a DIY path of opportunity. It is a way of life and as a skater you do it for fun, friendship and creativity; and in the end skateboarding doesn’t owe us anything.
HO: Who are some of your favorite skateboarders out there at the moment? And do you find yourself following much of today’s scene?
BK: I follow today’s skateboarding quite closely and the current and upcoming skaters that I feel are carrying on the torch of progression and style are, but not limited to: Dennis Busenitz, Chris Cole, Justin Brock, Grant Taylor, Silas Baxter-Neal, Rick McCrank, Brian Anderson, Kevin Kowalski, Andrew Langi, Andrew Reynolds, Taylor Bingaman, and Mike Anderson.
HO: So what’s next? Do you have any interesting projects lined up soon that you want to tell us about?
BK: I always seem to have projects on my plate, but none of them that I can disclose right away at the moment though.
HO:Lastly, define what skateboarding means to you in five words....
BK: Skateboarding is life, not sport.
Once again, thanks to Bryce Kanights for answering our question despite his heavy work load this summer! You can find more of his work by clicking through to his site! Keep an eye out for more exclusive High Order! Interviews coming soon...
This has to be one of the strongest shoe collections I have seen all year, the colours alone make me want all of them. I've seen some tasty lookbooks over the seasons, but these shoes look so good that I could east them! The Hundreds have really pulled this one out of the bag!
Personal favourite has to the new colourway of the suede Johnson Lows with the purple upper and purple sole (shown above). I'm gonna have to cop myself a pair of those badboys! Fresh colours of the Johnson Mids, Johnson Lows, and Valenzuelas are all included within the Fall '09 drop and were released today in the states, followed shortly in the UK.
If you still fancy some Spring/Summer '09 colourways of these shoes, I'm pretty sure our good friends over at Urban Industry still have some stock left, take a peek here... plus you can also wait for the new season to drop over there within the next couple of weeks!
Im aware this trailer came out a few months ago, but I think the movie is for release real soon if it hasn't be released already. Real catchy trailer and although I haven't always been that into snowboarding, this looks like the sort of film that could get me started! Peeped this over at the Eleven site..
UK hip-hop fiends Foreign Beggars and the Scratch Perverts have combined under a project entitled ‘Neurosonics Audiomedical’ to create a brilliantly effective new music video. Directed by Chris Cairns using the latest technology and style, this video is as slick as the track itself.
We get sent over mixes to post up all the time, but this one really stood out amongst the others. Mixed by the DJ, known none other than by FISH!!, this download consists of a 30 minute mix crammed with hiphop and funk goodness.
Having played gigs across the country & shared stage space with the likes of Little Barrie, Roots Manuva, The Coral, The Roots, Metric, Working For A Nuclear Free City, Ugly Duckling, El-P, Bone-Box, Doctor Zoots, Halfway House MC's, Jazzy Jeff & Grand Volume, he's certainly had his fair share of quality line ups!
Hit the link or image above to download "March Of The Pescatons", a mix originally put together as a promotional CD for a club night and now brought to you here for download on High Order! Enjoy...
Tracklisting... To the break of dawn - Fish Original love injection - Bodybeard Brothers D90 - Braintax Emcees smoke crack (remix) - Edan Dope on plastic - Uptown Two five - 45 King & Wildchild Don't sweat the technique - Eric B & Rakim Tramp - Lowell Fulson It's my thing - Marva Whitney Cold sweat - James Brown Cramp your style - All The People Humpty dump - Breakestra Funky nassau - Orgone Rock - DJ Spinna The creator - Pete Rock & CL Smooth Calm down - Most Wanted Beyond the 16th parallel - Brother Beyond this world - Jungle Brothers Blackbird's theme - The Blackbyrds
Here's a quick bonus section from Brighton Ain't Ready. Filmed at The Level Skatepark, Brighton. If you haven't yet seen this video, it's really worth seeing. I believe The Source BMX Store has it on offer right now for £9.99. Grab a copy here...
Featuring... Scott Ditchburn, Niki Croft, Matt Roe, Bruce Crisman, Kym Grosser, Sean Sexton, Darryl Tocco, Brad Simms, Sebastian Keep, Dakota Roche, Dan Lacey, Wade Lajar, Waffle, Steve Debusk, Tony Hamlin and Ali Whitton
As Twitter continues its indefatigable march towards digital brevity by limiting us to a scant 140 characters per dispatch, a parody website developer invites us to try something else entirely with their 1,400 character minimum version called Woofer.
Woofer carries no affiliation with Twitter in any way—a fact the site goes out of its way to make clear for a myriad of legal reasons. Yet after you've composed your 1,400-character rant and enter your Twitter user name (no password required), the site "borrows" your Twitter profile pic, allowing users to impersonate other Twitter users. But given it's a parody site to begin with, who wouldn't take its output with anything more than a grain of salt?
So last Saturday I headed over to Hastings Skatepark, UK for the 2009 Annual Boyley Jam. This was my first time at the jam and the level of riding was really high. if I'm to be honest, my range of photo's from the day are slightly weak, probably due to the fact that I spent more time watching then taking snaps but can you blame me? Such a unique event with all proceeds and money going to the Boyley fund. Will definitely head back next year if I'm around, the day had a really good vibe. Here's a video of Boyley Jam 2009 & 2008! Enjoy...
"When we said that this week was going to be huge for 10.Deep, we weren’t kidding around. With the upcoming release of our Fall 09 lookbook, which drops Wednesday August 19th, and our mixtape project with Donnis, we figured it was about time to check our intellects at the door at least for a few hours with a party that will either make the morning papers or the police blotters."
"We are honored to have loaned our influence to the playlists that now populate your radio with mixtape releases from Wale and Kid Cudi, but this week we present to you a new addition to your summer soundtrack. Diary of an Atlanta Brave, the Highly anticipated mixtape from southern spitter Donnis will be hitting the web this Thursday August 20th."
