The Nucleus Blog

Check out this wacky video! I reckon it’s got to be a lot harder than he makes it look…

éS have got an amazing new site online that covers their full history as one of the most innovative companies in skateboarding. Skateboarding starts with éS is presented in a timeline format and is being rolled out over the coming months, to date they have covered 95-98 and every couple of weeks they add information on the next year in the line.

1998 is a particularly interesting year for me cause I left school in ’97 and a year later got a job in The White Room, Swansea’s best skate shop back then. There was no heating, it was dusty, we sometimes didn’t see a customer for days on end but there was a big disgusting sofa, always skate videos on the TV and magazines on the counter, skaters were very loyal to The White Room. Back then there was no internet to speak of, I’d only ever seen it once in school and there was certainly no skate stuff on it, locals picked their shop and they got everything they needed from there regardless of whether it was exactly what they wanted or not.

A fine example of this was the day when I absolutely had to have a new pair of shoes or I couldn’t skate, the only ones we had in my size were the éS Rocket (pictured below), I absolutely hated how they looked but going to a different shop was out of the question so I settled for them. To this day I still tell people about the best skate shoes I ever had, the éS Rocket! No matter what they looked like they were awesome, without a doubt the comfiest shoes I’ve ever worn and they just lasted for ever which was a bonus because I was going through a deck every 2 weeks back then.

I’m not sure where I’m going with this now, it’s too early for blogging. Check out the Skateboarding starts with éS website and every time they update I will post about it here so you don’t miss it…

I found this video today after watching that 2yr old smoking kid that was in the ‘news’. This one is infinitely more entertaining!

Have you had any close calls?

I just found this video welcoming John Tanner to the éS UK team and it’s absolutely killer. It’s just him burning around London back streets popping little ollies and stuff, all skate videos should be like this. I wanna skate so bad now but I’m stuck in the office, noooooooooooo!

The skate video that was always my pre-skate watch years ago was Tincan Folklore by Stereo, I’d fast forward the tape to Carl Shipman, Ethan Fowler and Matt Rodriguez (my fav section), this new video reminds me of those parts :-)

éS proudly welcome John Tanner to the éS UK team from éS Europe on Vimeo.

I missed out on the 80′s skateboarding boom, in fact I started skating when it was at it’s absolute lowest point in the early 90′s, I’m a bit special like that. Skating was so cool in the 80′s, everything about it was sub zero, the clothes, the boards, the attitude; it was the preferred mode of transport for rebellious youth all over the world and I wish I had been there for that.

I feel like a lot of younger skaters aren’t really in touch with the old skool through no fault of their own, all they’ve ever known is skateboarding as a popular sport (even though we are still treated like dirt by most councils and ‘authority figures’). So here I offer up a couple of Hollywood gems from back in the day and a shed load of classic decks…

1) Gleaming the Cube. What a film! This has everything, action, guns, skating, rebellion and Christian Slater back when he was the coolest dude on the planet. If you haven’t seen this film then I suggest you find it on DVD asap (it’s in Swansea library, not sure about others), watch it before you go skating then rip! A few years ago I borrowed the video projector from work and made my girlfriend watch it projected 6 feet wide, she thought it was terrible but it was actually awesome.

2) Thrashin’. Another 80′s skateboard movie but a bit more of a cheese fest, well worth tracking down but I’ll always be a Gleaming the Cube man!

3) 80s Skateboards. Skateboards will NEVER be this good again, yeah we’ve got some cool graphics now and flashy technology and lightweight parts but just look at these things. The shape, the colours, the rails, they are off the chain! I’ve never owned a genuine proper 80′s skateboard, just a Turbo 2 for my 7th birthday in ’88, which was the equivalent of a £20 complete today, it had a Native American with a machine gun on the bottom, it was sweet. ‘Retro’ skateboards are making a big comeback at present with loads of companies putting out their old boards again so now is the time to pick one up and shred the ramp. The image below is from here, there are loooooads more killer boards there so have a look.

…Were you there in the 80′s? Want to share a story? Then comment below…