Nothing is Original

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It’s not where you take things from, It’s where you take things to

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Vernon Courtlandt Johnson 's Interview - Art of Skateboarding

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May 19, 2011 by Matt DeAngelis
VC Johnson is the genius behind the graphics that propelled Powell·Peralta into the stratosphere. His iconic images have inspired countless others to not only draw, but in some cases, to begin skating in the first place. An enigmatic figure, he disappeared off of the radar for almost 20 years until starting to work with Pocket Pistols a few years ago, and now back in his rightful place, Powell·Peralta. 
MD: So how did skateboard graphics fit into a journey of self exploration? VCJ: They answered to the needs of the soul that chose the body. The soul that inherited, that grabbed the baton in my early 30s had a very different mandate and how it affected the life is fascinating. I can see this in other souls who’ve come to profound turning points in their lives and I’ve shared notes with those souls who have experienced a transformation at the core of being.   I come back to the company interested in a different order and what I see going on now is literally…
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The Hacks are Back

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The History of BMX Side Hacks is Founded on Rick's Bike Shop Riders, John Palfreyman and Doug Takahashi.
In the early 1970\'s when organized BMX competition was still new and evolving, Motorcycle Motocross was a powerful influence in shaping how this new bicycle focused sport would develop.  A great many of BMX\'s earliest riders were already racing motorcycles or in the case of the youngest pedal crossers, they came from families where parents or older siblings were racing motorcycles.  It is no surprise then that in this earliest period of BMX, Sidehack racing was a natural progression for those kids that were already racing the modified Stingrays in ways that emulated their heroes from Motocross racing.
Sometime around 1972, two young men that were already racing bicycles in the first wave of BMX in Southern California took the initiative and developed a BMX bicycle with a sidehack car with the intention to race it.  This was John Palfreyman and Doug Takahashi, and the…
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J Dilla - How humanized a machine

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Back in October I went to see a Q&A with Amp Fiddler at Amsterdam Dance Event. He talked about introducing J Dilla to the MPC, and played some OG files he received from Dilla decades ago: deconstructing Dilla beats for the—shamelessly small—crowd of 30-ish people. And by way of the iconic Slum Village tracks “Players”, “The Look Of Love” & “Fall In Love”, Amp gave a Dilla for dummies crash course on why his beats sound so musical, warm and full of soul. This new video by Vox made me think of that lecture: J Dilla Beats 101. The video is a 10-minute introduction on how J Dilla humanized the MPC3000. It’s a basic yet good watch on how he didn’t quantize his beats, insights on sampling Gap Mangione, Giorgio Moroder & The Escorts, and extending samples, using track examples such as “E=MC2”, “Fall In Love”, “Lazer Gunne Funke” & The Pharcyde’s “Runnin'”. As drum machine pioneer Roger Linn puts it in the original MPC3000 manual: “(…) In this light, I like to think of th…
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