Bryn Faulkner-Walford introduces ‘Bake and Destroy’, the blisteringly cool skateboading video
Baker Skateboards notched up a milestone by giving away their new video, ‘Bake and Destroy’, with the November issue of Thrasher magazine. The new release, issued in conjunction with the Independent Truck Company, comes four years after their previous film, ‘Baker Has A Deathwish’ (co-produced with Deathwish Skateboards). It’s well worth a look. Even if you’re not already interested in skateboarding, this could be the shot that snaps you into it.
Nine months’ worth of footage has gone into the film. The relatively relaxed shooting schedule seems to have made for a more natural, less contrived style of skating. The film opens in classic Baker style with a montage of skating and comedy. One of the first sequences features a group of workmen putting Skate Stoppers on a handrail attached to a staircase. Then Bryan Herman sets the skating standard with a huge 50-50 grind on his first try, beautifully captured by cameraman Beagle (another Baker stalwart). The soundtrack to this opening montage? Terry Kennedy’s rap group Fly Society performing ‘Superstars’, with lyrics clearly echoing the whole team’s take on what they’re in it for: ‘Big money, big cars, who the fuck you think we are? We looking like superstars, stunting on all of y’all’.
It has been such a long time since the last Baker video, I’d like to talk about how the team members’ skating has changed or improved. I’d also like to talk about the new, amateur members of the team, including Tony Hawks’ son, Riley Hawk, who recently left his father’s company, Birdhouse.
Riley’s moment comes straight after the opening montage. For the most part, he’s skating empty water ditches, i.e. banks with a ledge on top. In an interview with Ride Channel on YouTube, Beagle says this is the only section in the whole video which he did not shoot; the camera was in the hands of Riley’s friend, Jacob. Riley really excels, especially since he is still only an amateur. This is one kid who was clearly raised the right way!
Bryan Herman is once again a star attraction, as he was in ‘Baker Has A Deathwish’. But this time he’s sharing the limelight with another new amateur, Mike White. These two appear to be able to skate any staircase or gap. Herman also performs tricks in switch (opposite feet stance). Underlining his professional status, his performance ends with a signature hardflip, gapped over a stair set to flat.
Next in line is the much anticipated performance by Andrew ‘The Boss’ Reynolds (Baker Skateboards’ founder-member). Renowned for his big, clean style, he stomps his way through every trick in the book. His short section has no soundtrack: Reynolds’ grace and finesse require no further adornment.
Then comes a sequence shared by Terry Kennedy, Jeff Lenoce, Theotis Beasley and the crew’s own cameraman, Beagle. TK comes back from ‘Baker Has A Deathwish’ with the same style of skating – mostly nosegrinds, tailslides and bluntslides. But how he’s skating down longer flights of stairs; his tailslides are more technical; and his stance is much firmer. From one film to the next, his improvement is amazing. Jeff Lenoce has moved much the same way, coming back with the same sort of tricks as before but now in bigger, better versions – notably his huge nollie hardflip over a white wall. Beagle returns with his unique style of skating, focused on firecrackers, technical manuals and tailslides. Theotis Beasley proves that he can 180-flip pretty much anything! He also does one of the longest manuals I’ve ever seen captured on film, and still manages to flip out of it at the end! At the close of this sequence, there’s a clip of Theotis and Shane Heyl freestyle rapping together in the back of the van, which leads us nicely on to Shane’s part.
Having such a hilariously memorable role in ‘Baker Has A Deathwish’, must have been a big responsibility for Shane. But he’s come back and done it again – if not better. True to form, he opens with a comic turn: he gets a run up to a chain fence as if he’s going to do a trick over it, and instead just ducks straight under it. Joking aside, however, he comes through with some insane footage, including the most technical tricks seen in the whole video. Also notable was how much cleaner his style has become, with everything about his tricks looking more firm and stable and much less sloppy than before.
As well as Riley Hawk, there is another new amateur addition to the team, Dee Ostrander. His short section really does demonstrate the level of skating that you need to be at even to reach amateur level, let alone professional! Dee shows off his ability with a nice variation of flips and shove-its down huge stairs, rails and gaps, ending his sequence with an absolutely massive ollie over a fence and into a huge old bank covered in broken glass and jagged little rocks. He really cuts it.
One of my favourite sections features Kevin ‘Spanky’ Longs’ alongside NeckFace, Dustin Dollin and Braydon Szafranski. Spanky’s best trick is a boneless to nose manual with a 180 out, all done atop a school picnic bench. Having been dropped by his shoe sponsor Emerica, Braydon seems to have really gone out to prove himself. His tricks include a line made up of a firecracker to manual with a flip out and a huge shifty flip (a shifty flip is a kickflip that starts to turn as if you were spinning 180 degrees, except you get half-way and turn back to going straight ahead). He flaunts his ability to do late flips (an extra flip performed after a main trick; very hard to do). Prompted by this performance, new sponsors will surely be lining up to sign him.
The final section is a close-up on the attitude which informs the whole production. Justin ‘Figgy’ Figueroa begins his part with his head in his arms, leading onto a gnarly selection of bails and bloodied injuries. The tricks come as fast and furious as the editing. ‘Figgy’ backs up his Thrasher magazine skater-of-the-year nomination by skating down and over some of the most rugged and elongated staircases I have ever seen. The holes in the back of his t-shirts prove how gnarly he was willing to get in order to gain get good footage: bleeding cuts = pure passion. He ends with the triple-kinked, handrail nosecrux that earned him a Thrasher cover photo.
If you feel the need to know what it’s all about, this is the film you should see. If you already know why skateboarding but you need more of the how (don’t we all?), look no further.