Remembering Brazil

Last week I attended Zoo York's latest flick premiere at the new Underworld music/events venue in downtown Montreal. The film is entitled "State of Mind". One particularity about this video is that two of the riders (Donny Barley and Aaron Suski) have namesake grinds. This tells something about the East-Coast skating style that has evolved in cities such as Philadelphia, Boston and New-York City. My favorite parts are Eli Reed, Matt Miller, Ron Deily, Forrest Kirby and Brandon Westgate's explosive intro.

I remember the first time I saw Westgate in a magazine. He had the back cover Emerica ad of a late 2005 SBC Skateboard with a crazy kickflip frontside wallride in a ditch. A few months later, I was invited by Red Bull to fly down to Brazil with my good friend Carl Labelle so that we could attend a huge skate contest the drink company had organized in Salvador (Bahia), the country's former capital.  Once in Brazil, we met up with Brandon Westgate and former Birdhouse team manager (now Zoo York's) Seamus Deegan. Both guys were in Montreal last week for the premiere and it was good to recall the Brazilian memories. Brandon just turned pro for Zoo York skateboards, and his part in "State of Mind" is simply insane. He starts off by skating most of New-York City's famous spots the opposite way. So if a hubba, straight ledge off stairs, rail or gap was usually skated from top to bottom, Brandon simply uses the terrain going up, meaning he needs trice as much speed and pop in order to make it. If you have ever tried to skate a ledge that goes upward you know how much pressure you face and how fast you need to go. My own experience is skating Montreal's Champ de Mars triangle ledges. Brandon is a short guy and it looks as if he can ollie up to his neck.

Here are two unreleased photos from Brazil that I found in my archives. Seamus told me that Brandon celebrated his 15th birthday on that trip. Carl and I did not stay to chill in Salvador thought, we flew to Sao Paolo for a week of intense street skating.