Since
I was four years old I have been fascinated by skateboarding
and anything that has to do with it. I learned to skate with my
brothers and continued to until 1985 when I moved to Germany with my parents
and one of my brothers, Chris. That year I went to my first skateboard competition
in Konstanz, Germany and I saw some of the best skateboarders in Europe. I
got to know the locals who introduced me to halfpipes and concrete pools.
Luckily enough, Konstanz had an indoor and outdoor halfpipe so I could practice
a lot. Not only halfpipes, but because of the hilly area we also did downhill
skating, getting speeds up to 40 mph on longboards ( oohhh, a few painful
experiences!!)
Skateboarding
allowed me to travel around Europe and meet many interesting people and basically
have a lot of fun. To this very day I still skate around twice a week in Swanseas
indoor skatepark and use my board as a form of transportation.
Verbal
Razor, that's
the name of the band I played in for six years from 1991 till 1997. We produced
three records and sold around 2000 copies. The band alllowed us to tour through
most of Europe, our longest tour being 3 weeks. Our biggest concert was an aid
concert against racism, playing in front of 1200 punk rock fans. Long live punk!!
Sometimes
I like to just leave everything else behind and jump into a good piece of literature.
I personally like to read fiction, fantasy and up-to-date and informative magazines
dealing with science, culture or technology. My public library has finally acquired
a few graphic novels as well which is fine by me!!
And
last but not least I have to include photography
and video cameras. If I have some spare time and
a few good skateboaders around, I love to capture this art of motion on film.
Since I have been skating myself for a long time, it is quite easy to find the
best angles to film the skater at. I also enjoy macro-photography and taking
pictures of natural events.
above
: Ralf
Vogt crail-sliding in Freiburg, Germany 1998
right
: Andreas Tesch, frontside air, Marseille, France 1997
Pray
for Mercy was our first mini LP with 5 songs, teenage dreams and booze!! We
recorded this one in our own band room with help from another local band, the
Pershing Boys. One year later our first full album with 10 songs came out and
we became the local upcoming band, being able to support punk bands from all
over Europe, even some from the States. Two years later, our second album Falling
came out, a much more solid and mature record in my opinion. We were working
on the third album just before I decided to leave the band and come to Swansea.
Sometimes I wonder what could have happened!!!
