Shazam Back to Magazine

Torey Goodall introduces Luc Baslanti, an Am who skates like The Beast he’s known to be.

[ o ] SYDLOWSKI

TERENCE GODDARD

wordsby simon bruyn

Next to pure talent and balls, personality goes a long way for a skateboarder. As much as everyone loves someone who’ll do something they’ve never seen before, they also appreciate someone who has something to say. This isn’t just isolated to skateboarding either. Sure Lebron is the star, but everyone roots for Dwight Howard ‘cause he’s the guy you’d want to hang out with.

Maybe Jamie Tancowny should have studied a bit more, but we’ll let you decide…

Click here to gather wisdom from Tim Gavin and Vincent Alvarez, eavesdrop on Chany Jeanguenin and Spencer Hamilton here, and here for Erik Ellington and Sammy Baca.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT

Five Legends Test Five Icons of Tomorrow

wordsby dylan doubt

Five grizzled veterans assault rising-stars with head-scratching skateboard trivia. Erik Ellington tests Sammy Baca, Chany Jeanguenin learns Spencer Hamilton, Eric Mercier confuses Antoine Asselin, Tim Gavin educates Vincent Alvarez, and Jamie Thomas smartens up Jamie Tancowny.

Erik “The Mule” Ellington:

“All right, this is a weird one. If you did three consecutive units on a ramp, what direction would you be facing?”

Sammy Baca:

“A unit… fucking going straight? I dunno. That’s like a math question. I dunno, what the fuck? Straight?”

[ o ] COMBER

wordsby jay revelle

Who cares about Frank Sinatra these days? Few of us do; however, more of us should, and this man, Charles Rivard, is leading the revolution.

Ever since his father left a Sinatra CD in the family home computer, the charming vocals of Ol’ Blue Eyes began to reverberate throughout Rivard’s daily soundtrack. Whether it’s “Strangers in the Night” for a nighttime photo session or the Godfather theme song for when it’s time to kick some ass, Rivard is indeed in charge and he’s still charging. Unknown by few, loved by lots, and probably envied by many, introducing Mr. Charles Rivard.

[ o ] COMBER

BRANDON DEL BIANCO

wordsby jay revelle

We all love controversy, but despite my attempts to find it in young Brandon Del Bianco, there isn’t much dirt swirling around. As one of the skaters on the Toronto Shoot to Thrill team, he gave a stellar performance in a film that not only portrays great skateboarding, but also aims to enlighten us all on the virtues of proper skate etiquette. “Beaming”, “spot blocking”, and the “mall grab” are all covered. I always admire great manners, but it completely disarms my attempts to illicit any controversy. Del Bianco threw down this interview during the Shoot To Thrill weekend – a weekend that wasn’t much different than any other weekend for him.

[ o ] NORTON

PAUL LILIANI

wordsby mike mcdermott interviewby pat o’rourke

I’d hoped for this to sound different than any other intro but I’m not counting on it. I saw Paul’s footage a few months ago and immediatly got on the horn with him. He didn’t say much more than what I needed to hear and I was fine with that. I met him in Toronto recently. He removed his front tooth for a second and I told him to lose it for good because it looked raw. That comment went right over his head. I was fine with that as well. Paul rips… I don’t know what else to say.

THE SUBTLE DICHOTOMY OF MORGAN SMITH

wordsby matthew meadows photosby andrew norton

There’s nothing subtle about having the title for “longest backside tailslide”, or riding for a company as famed as Blind Skateboards. This amateur Ontario native isn’t one to waste time, and isn’t in a hurry to jump ship either. He’s skateboarding now, and he’s doing it well. Here you witness the fittness of another understated expert in the field of nothing and everything all at once…

BIG BABY JAMES’ FIRST STEPS

wordsby dylan doubt photoby ryan lusteg

Tracking down Jamie Tancowny has proven to be no small task. The photos were no problem, it seems that he has been on a bit of a tear as of late getting ads with Zero, Emerica, and Independent. Having him sit still and answer some questions, on the other hand, has been another story. You see, ‘Baby Jamie’ has been absorbed in the hectic schedule of a young upwardly-mobile skate commodity, on the move and not the easiest kid to pin down. Faced with such a challenge, I decided to search elsewhere, asking others how they felt about our little buddy. I think that Ryan Smith said it best, and this will serve as an appropriate intro…

SHAZAM: KYLE DESAULNIERS

words and photosby alex connor

As today’s up and coming skateboarders are finding it harder and harder to keep up with the latest trends and standards, constantly rising with each and every 20 stair handrail or flip-in flip-out trick, a sole individual by the name of Kyle Desaulniers is finding his own path toward something new. Maybe not to be the next Jamie Thomas or Danny Way, but someone completely different with incomparable characteristics…

RIGHT OF PASSAGE: SPENCER HAMILTON

wordsby matthew meadows

Spencer Hamilton realized early in life that it was time to move on. Sacrificing it all (family, school, and a home) at 16 years old, Spencer is making his own way through life the best way he knows how. Hearing things such as “How do you do that?” is commonplace for Spencer. He’s one of those rare individuals who appears to have skateboarding in his veins. He is sure of himself, his place in the world and is more than comfortable on a skateboard. Sleeping in closets and gaining knowledge from the older skaters around him is proving to shape quite a distinct individual…

DANIEL ANTHONY NELSON ...that spells DAN

wordsby matthew meadows photosby alana paterson

In a world that is ever growing and expanding with multi-national corporations and crooked governments, many of us have thought of the unknown or otherwise, known as conspiracies. Is big brother really watching us? Was JFK really shot from the grassy knoll? Although these thoughts may be fleeting for most of us, they are ever present for one person. A conspiracy and an enigma himself, Alien has been trying to make sense of life and the world around him by way of skateboarding. With a utility van jammed packed with de-skate proofing tools and a generator, the once young boy with the abnormaly large head has grown into himself both physically and mentally…

SEAN MACALISTER

wordsby dustin koop

Trying to contact Sean for this interview proved tough. He cut contact off with the world by deleting his Myspace and email accounts, as well as phone and internet services. The only way to get in touch was by either writing a letter, or meeting him by chance. We met by chance, writing letters is for the birds. This interview was the strangest I had ever conducted…

AN INTERVENTION WITH JOEY WILLIAMS

wordsby ryan mcguigan photosby david christian

We had a long overdue intervention with Whistler’s Joey Williams who was sat down by his closest friends and confronted about his problem of thinking that he’s not good enough to be sponsored. He actually refused to be interviewed and was against the idea of even having photos published! Luckily for us Ryan McGuigan was generous enough to share a true story that begins with a mistake: Cheakmus canyon. Joey had been talking about it for some time. A year ago on this day, a train derailed, emptying nine empty lumber flat cars and one tank car of sodium hydroxide into the river, resulting in the murder of five hundred thousand little fishies. Big ones too..

IAN TWA

From: “Sandro Grison”
To: ryanmcguigan@hotmail.com
CC: iantwa@hotmail.com
Subject: TWA shazam. Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 17:50:55 -0700

Hey Ryan,
I need an intro paragraph in like… the next DAY! the interview’s pretty gangster, see if you can bring it back to earth
a bit with the intro. Maybe some explanation to why Ian is Ian.. kinda stuff. I took out the little facts that he’s from
Calgary and he’s 19, so you can put that in there too somewhere.
Sandro

>>>>>On 7/27/05 9:19 PM, “ryan mcguigan” wrote:

>>I can’t do this. There’s no point for an intro here. Everything i know about Twa is talked about in the interview.
>>To quote Mcd… “Less is More” i say fuck the intro… but Twa can maybe find someone who is down to write one.
>>sorry dude… i’m feeling very unmotivated to write… good luck
>> Ry

TOREY GOODALL

Torey Goodall has been dedicated to skateboarding for a good while now and it shows. Flip the pages and you’ll see for yourself. Buy the new BabySteps video and you’ll witness even more fitness a la Torey Goodall. Torey is immersed in skateboarding. From his burgundy van full of new, used and greatly used skateboard paraphernalia, to the shoes on his feet, Torey is a skateboarder through and through. He has been working at a shop forever, and has recently joined the Board Kennel crew as a part owner/operator. He has uprooted himself from the sleepy confines of Maple Ridge B.C., to the sleepy confines of White Rock, B.C., all in the name of skateboarding. If that’s not dedication to your craft, I don’t know what is.

TOM ROWE

interviewby ky tait

I don’t know, filming, landing tricks.

What’s the first thing you worry about?

How good my griptape job is, top sheet colour, shoes, pretty much just my kit in general.

Do people take skating too serious?

Yeah, way too seriously. It seem like a lot of people don’t even have fun- though I don’t skate with those people.

BRAD SHEPPARD

wordsby antonio bloom photosby david christian and brendan sohar artby sandro grison

Brad Sheppard is truly an amazing individual: despite his being amazingly gifted when it comes to riding his skateboard, he is completely and totally humble about it. There was even a question in the interview that he nixed that was to the effect of: when did you realize you were gifted when it comes to riding a skateboard. He refused to answer ‘cause he said he would feel stupid, had the interview been done in person, I’m sure he would have been blushing.

DARRELL SMITH

interviewby kevin wong photosby dez price

Dah-rail smith a prime example of what skateboarding should be. Darrell has worked for every single moment he’s ever achieved. Like a work of art, his moments are complete with just rough enough of an edge that they can be defined as a style. His style also visibly exemplifies where he’s from and what it took to get him where he is today. He’s intelligent, yet lacks complete attention span. He’s a bag of bones wrapped in skin, but somehow has the squirrelly hyperactive energy of a ferret. As Eric Forman’s (that seventies show) doppelganger, Darrell is a 70’s pimp in disguise. from being my hand-me-down buddy, Darrell is now returning me the favour. He doesn’t forget where he’s from and i hope you won’t either. Darrell is the future of what skateboarding will be.

– chris dakonning

SWELL

interview and introby mike mckinlay

“My hip was fucked after falling on this rail .. It feels a hell of a lot better now and I can’t wait to get shit done when I’m 100% again.. I only took a big chip out so it’s all good (thought it was broken) , my other hip is fucked too, I had to get bone grafted to my wrist .. I am just waiting for the stitches to come out and any day now I’m getting the pins out of my wrist and a hard cast on.. Then I’ll be skating again.. I’m going nuts not skating…