randy laybourne / tucker gerrick

georgie james / turf skateboards / mannequin men

Editors
Adam Sever
Chris Pernula

Contributing Photographers
Nick Wosika / letter3photography.com
Tucker Gerrick / typoscura.com
Randy Laybourne / lookforwardtothepast.com
Laura Austin / laustindesign.com

Contents photo:
Randy Laybourne
www.lookforwardtothepast.com
Cover photo:
Nick*L3P
Rider: Paul Hartman
www.letter3photography.com
Contact Swimmer’s Ear
P.O. Box 1616
Monticello, MN 55362
swimmersearmag@yahoo.com
myspace.com/swimmersear
 Contents:
Memo…4
Variance…5
Change in Sound…8
Industry Insider - Turf…12
Gerogie James…13
Randy Laybourne…15
6° of Tucker Gerrick…21
Mannequin Men…25
Photos…27
MEMO:
WINTER SKATING
It’s that time of year when most skateboarders do one
of three things. The first group hangs up their skate-
board and heads to the snow covered hills with the
skateboard’s binded brother, the snowboard. The sec-
ond group head indoors with wads of cash in hand, to
the heated plywood of indoor parks. The third group,
a rare bunch, head outdoors in the single digit
weather and thumb their noses at Jack Frost’s bitter
cold. These are the people that shovel their drive-
ways as soon as the fluffy white stuff stops falling so
the weak winter sun can dry the cold asphalt quicker.
They skate around patches of hardened snow and ice
and throw kickflips over mounds of sand left by the
snowplow. As it turns out I fall into the latter.
Even though I have been inside for the last 15 min-
utes, my cheeks and legs are still burning from the
10.8° air temperature and frigid breeze. Since the
snow started falling, I’ve been skating in my 2-car
garage and my proverbial dorsal fin has started to
curl over from skating in such small confines. I ached
4
“my proverbial
dorsal fin has
started to curl
over from
skating in
such small
confines”
to skate in an area that would allow me more than
one small push before attempting a trick and I can’t
seem to justify paying someone 11+ dollars to skate
for 3 hours when I can skate at home for free all day
long. So I took it outside. Wearing only a hat, gloves,
a hoodie, a light topcoat and my Nikes (you can’t fool
me Consolidated!), I had the time of my life. Sure it
took a few minutes for my frozen trucks to loosen up,
a few more minutes for my knees to figure out what
was going on, and I’m sure the neighbors and
passers-by thought that I had lost it, but it was a
great experience. Something that I’ll continue to do
when I’m feeling the urge to stretch my legs and
skate. While I was out there, I was surprised no one
had come up with a winter version of the Backyard
Ramp Jam, where a bunch of people find a snow cov-
ered park, shovel it off, and skate until the sun sets
at it’s earliest peak. Someone should get on that.
Whatever you do this winter, have fun doing it. It will
be over soon and we will all be back to complaining
about how hot it is.
-Adam

Etnies Sheckler 2
Ryan Sheckler may come
off as a douche bag with
his MTV show, back tat-
too, and never-ending Dew
Tour wins, but you have to
admit that he has some
talent. In this day in age,
with a little talent and
being somewhat mar-
ketable, someone will give
you a shoe with your
name on it. This colorway
of the Etnies Sheckler 2 is
nice looking. The brown full grain cracked leather works well
against the tan and red suede. This is a vulcanized shoe,
which is good for a better feel of the board, but I have yet to
find a vulcanized shoe that lasts as long as a stitched sole
shoe. It features all the standard features you’ve come to
know from Etnies; Elastic tongue-centering straps, Padded
tongue and collar, System G2™, STI Foam™ level 2 cushion-
ing footbed, and 400 NBS rubber outsole.
www.etnies.com
VARIANCE
BUY • SPEND • CONSUME
Heroin Skateboard/Tee-Shirt
Heroin skateboards was started by Mark Foster, who has
done design for Altamont, Toy Machine and Emerica, and
has been a growing brand in the UK for the past ten years.
After checking out the Heroin website, it’s easy to tell that
Heroin has a look all its own. The Heroin team consists of
Chris Pullman, Chopper, Colin Fiske, Howard Cooke,
Hamaji and Chris Ault among others. They’ve got a bunch
of short video clips from their past team videos on their
website also.
Besides having a cool mix tape graphic, the Heroin skate-
board has a nice size and shape and a nice concave, very
similar to the Crimson boards.
A good way to freak out your mom, teach-
ers, boss, etc..., is to wear this shnazzzy “I
love Heroin” tee shirt. People will think
you are serious and probably try to get
some help for you. Jokes on them though,
you actually love skateboarding.
www.heroinskateboarding.com

Teenage Runaway Urethane

Teenage Runaway was started by all around art guy Todd
Bratrud. The ads they have been running for these have been
mostly hilarious, if not somewhat disturbing. Teenage Runaway
started up a little while back, then went away, but is back again
now being distributed by Arthouse Distribution (Crimson,
Heroin, Destructo), which is good, because skateboarding
needs more companies like Teenage Runaway and Enjoi that
combine humor with good art.

These wheels are pretty standard. The only thing that stands
out is the color of the wheels and the graphics on them. The
Decanter Society wheels are a lavender color and with splashes of wine flying
around. The other wheels are the basic company logo on the side wheels. It’s
almost a shame to ride such beautiful things, I’d almost rather hang them on
my wall.
www.teenagerunawayurethane.com

5
VARIANCE
BUY • SPEND • CONSUME
Dekline Prescott - Matt Ball
Riders Choice Collection
This is Matt Ball’s first Rider’s Choice
shoe from Dekline and it is influenced
by Ball’s love for Harleys. It has a com-
bination of black suede and 2-tone
motorcycle leather with some Vegas
gold logo lettering and stitching. The
shoe is quite comfy and has a lot of
features that would make it a shoe that
will last a while.
Dekline Paxton - Pat Melcher
Riders Choice Collection
The Patrick Melcher Rider’s Choice
Paxton comes in a variety of colorways,
but the one we got is suede with cus-
tom woven houndstooth textile making
for one wild looking shoe. These were
incredibly comfortable, but it took some
time to get used to the insole. It had a
really high arch support that made my
feet want to cramp a bit, but after wear-
ing it for a while, it seemed to flatten
down. Note to Dekline, make the insole
removable, so wearers can decide if
they want the arch support of not.
Dekline Derby - Jason Adams
Riders Choice Collection
The first thing you’ll notice when you
take these out of the box is the all-over
gold skull print designed by Jason
Adams. Although this shoe looks nice,
skating in it may not last long. There is
only one layer (about 1/16 inch thick) of
action leather protection in the ollie
areas of the shoe, the vulcanized sole,
plus the shoe is a bit stiff. The rubber
toecap might help though.
www.Dekline.com

Crimson Skateboards - Patrick Jilbert Series

These Crimson skateboards were designed by Patrick Jilbert. You may have seen his graphics on Consolidated skateboards in
the past. This series comes in a wide range of sizes from 7.625 (Markovich) to 8.125 (Belton). Crimson recently added Ragdoll
to its pro team, so you should be seeing more of him in the future. www.crimsonskateboards.com

Crimson Skateboards - Tee Shirts

I wish I had these tee shirts when I was in high school. My
school’s team was called the Crimson, so I would have looked
so cool rocking all this Crimson gear while everyone else had to
wear the school bought tees. I’d be all like, “This shit’s custom,
bitches!” and they’d be all “Oh snap!”

6
 VARIANCE
BUY • SPEND • CONSUME
Satori Movement Tee Shirts DVS Footwear - Daewon Song 10
You can’t beat 100% cotton when it comes down to tee shirts, It’s hard to believe that
and these are the standard fitting tees, unlike those vintage/ anyone could come up
athletic ones that all the hipsters wear. Satori also makes with 10 different shoe
shirts that contain a hemp and cotton blend. designs and still keep
them fresh. But most
people aren’t Daewon
Song. This is his 10th
shoe from DVS and
probably his best yet.
The suede eyestay and
ollie panel on this shoe are all one piece, giving unsurpassed
durability. The interlocking construction on the toe panel and
the signature DVS bruise control will make your feet happy
and safe when you’re trying to be the next Daewon. The
Daewon 10 is scheduled for a Spring 08 release and will be
retailed for around $60 dollars.
Satori Movement Lunar Cycle Series 55mm www.dvsshoes.com
Thanks to these wheels, the next time
you’re out skating at night you can Lakai Footwear - Coda Recycled
look up to see the moon and These are the first shoes from Lakai to be released under their
double check your wheels to see eco-friendly “Recycled
where the moon is on its lunar Program”. What is
cycle. These wheels are pretty cool about this shoe is
standard when it comes down that no two are the
to wheels. They have a nice same. Lakai designers
width and they are about as hard spec materials on cer-
as you can get with wheels. tain panels of the
shoe, then leave it up
to the factory to use
Satori Movement Cruiser Series 62mm whatever leftovers
These are some bouncy blue
from other shoes they have to complete the shoe. The bottoms
bastards. I was unaware that
of this shoe have 50% regrind and 50% new gum rubber out-
Satori made wheels wheels
sole with a flex vulcanized construction. This was the first thing
for cruising, so it made
I noticed about this shoe. The sole looked it had chunks of rub-
me doubly surprised
ber in it, it is pretty cool. Take the recycled aspect of this shoe
when I saw them. I set
and combine it with the quality and comfort that Lakai has and
up a cruiser board this
you’ve got one hell of a shoe. These will be released in the
past summer, so I can
Spring 08 and will retail for around $45 bucks.
appreciate these wheels.
www.lakai.com
They are big and soft, so
you won’t get a lot of vibra-
tion from the road, plus they Bowling Stars of 1989 Zine
have a cool clear blue swirl look to 1989 was a magical year for bowling.
them. Stars like Dale Eagle and Guppy Troup
ruled the lanes. In 1989, 50 of such
stars were immortalized on trading
High Grade Blend DVD cards for up and coming bowlers to
This video features team riders from Creation skateboards,
collect. In 2007, they were immortal-
Satori Wheels, Yellow Brand Skateboards and Upful Hardware.
ized even more when Chris Pernula
There is quite a bit of talent in this video with guys like Kenny
found these cards and made a zine out
Reed, Tosh Townend, Matt Pailes, Adam Crew, Jake Rupp and
of them. Bowling Stars of 1989 fea-
Fabrizio Santos to name a few. It’s a montage style video so
tures all hand drawn replicas of those
each skater has one or two tricks here and there. It’s a no frills
trading cards painstakingly drawn by
video containing just quality skating.
Chris and includes a touching intro, to as Chris puts it, “these
www.satoriwheels.org
Lords of the Lane”. chrispernula@yahoo.com
7
 CHANGE IN SOUND
The 1900s
Cold & Kind
If you heard this band playing in the background some-
where, you’d swear it was Fleetwood Mac. In reality
though, it’s Chicago’s 1900s. They have been compared
to bands like Fleetwood Mac and Donovan, two bands
that I have no interest for, so if they can make me like
them, I’m sure you will like them too. (Parasol Records)
The A-Sides
Silver Storms
I was a little thrown by the stringed instruments at the
beginning of the A-Sides latest release, Silver Storms.
Thankfully the album is not 50 minutes of orchestra
music and instead 50 minutes of great pop music in the
vain of Portastatic, with tons of lush arrangements and
beautiful layers. (Vagrant Records)
Abel Baker Fox
Voices
Able Baker Fox is the new long-distance project from
members of Small Brown Bike, Lasalle, Casket Lottery,
and The Great Sea Serpents. After my first listen of this
album, I thought it was terrible. Absolutely terrible. But
I listened to it again and again, and it got better and
better. Now after close to 10 spins, I think it’s great.
(Second Nature)
All Smiles
Ten Readings of a Warning
All Smiles is the latest project from ex-Granddaddy gui-
tarist Jim Fairchild and it is a departure from
Granddaddy’s sound. Ten Readings of Warning was a
no budget recording but still feels warm and comfort-
ing. Every time I listen to it, it sounds like it was influ-
enced by British bands similar to The Beatles.
(Dangerbird Records)
Coconut Coolouts
8
Alexis Gideon
Flight of the Liophant
I often wonder where record labels find these kinds of
artists. Flight of the Liophant is an eclectic blend of
abstract hip-hop beats and twangy indie. A strange
combination indeed. (Sickroom Records)
Casy and Brian
Catbees
This duo from San Francisco has more energy than a
case of Red Bull. Ex-Dalmatians members Casy and
Brian only play a Casio keyboard and a stripped down
drum set, so their vocals play a large part in how the
songs sound. Call-and-response vocals are instructive
for the audience to join them. Catbees is a quick listen,
just under 20 minutes, but you’ll be exhausted by the
infectious dance beats and distorted bass heavy synth.
(Pish Posh)
Coconut Coolouts
Party Time Machine
Coconut Coolouts is a 6-piece dual drum/guitar garage
punk party band with one member that is half-man/half-
banana, or a man in a banana costume. Nevertheless,
Party Time Machine is a 30-minute joyride that will
have you singing, clapping, and dancing along the
whole time, and when it’s over you’ll be begging for
more. (Haunted Horse)
The Cops
Free Electricity
The Cops play a garage punk similar to the Nein, but
without the circuit bending. They also have a stripped
down sound, kind of like the Mannequin Men and the
Strokes, which is hook laden and infectious.
(The Control Group)
CHANGE IN SOUND
Georgie James
Places
Former Q and Not U drummer, John Davis and ex-solo
artist Laura Burhenn got together and formed this duo
that make precious ditties influenced by 50s/60s pop
music, and it’s damn good too. (Saddle Creek)
Glorytellers
S/T
Glorytellers is the musical outlet for ex-Karate front-
man Geoff Farina. The sound is familiar to what Mike
Kinsella does with Owen; stripped down acoustic gui-
tar, personal lyrics and intimate songwriting.
(Southern Records)
The Good Life
Help Wanted Nights
I’m glad Tim Kashner is a musician. With every release,
he brings you something different, but not too different
that you won’t like it. Help Wanted Nights is a good
example. It sounds like the Good Life’s previous, Album
of the Year, but has a completely different feeling. Some
parts are more upbeat and less personal while others
are slow and more personal. A welcome addition to any-
one's collection. (Saddle Creek)
Haram
Drescher
I’ve been waiting for their follow-up to their stunning
self-titled full length for what seems like forever and I’m
happy to say they are even better this time around.
They’ve added some members and Drescher shows the
softer, mellower side of Haram while still being heavy in
all the right places. (Lovitt Records)
His Name is Alive
Xmmer
This band’s name screams Christian rock, but their
music is no indication what religious background the
members have. You may have heard this band in the
movie Jerry Maguire, back when Cuba Gooding Jr. still
made good movies, and that exposure really helped the
band. Their previous album Detrola was a critical suc-
cess, but a lot of people have been saying that Xmmer
isn’t up to par with it. I’ve never heard Detrola, so I
can’t comment on which is better. All I know is, there
are some good songs on this album and some boring
ones. (Silver Mountain Media Group)
House & Parish
One, One Thousand
I bet some indie hipsters spilled their $9 foreign beers
when they heard about this indie super group consist-
ing of ex-members of The Promise Ring, Texas is the
Reason, and the Gloria Record. The music is a bit differ-
ent than any of the members’ previous bands. I would
consider this adult contemporary for the indie crowd.
It’s easy on the ears. It feels like they are trying to find
their groove with this release and hopefully they realize
their sound for their full length. (Arena Rock)
The Jaguar Club
Ceci N'est Pas Le Club De Jaguar
The first time I listened to this, I turned it off before the
six tracks were through. The music is good, but the
singer is trying way too hard to be Morrissey. It’s like a
dancey version of the Smiths without the talent that the
Smiths had. If you can get past the vocals, then you
might be on to something. (Self-Released)
L’ocelle Mare
S/T
L’ocelle Mars is the project of Thomas Bonvalet, the gui-
tarist for the French band, Cheval de Frise. Each of the
16 songs are very minimal, are short with very little to
no song structure, and no cohesion at all. Each song
sounds as if Bonvalet walked into a room, picked up a
guitar, hit record on the boombox, then strums and fon-
dles the instrument for a few moments and is done.
(Sickroom Records)
Ladyslipper
The Time, Not the Weather
Ladyslipper is a 3-piece from Minneapolis, MN and they
have an energizing sound that has been compared to
Fugazi and Mission of Burma. There isn’t one track on
this album that disappoints. Standouts on the album
are “Tinnitus” and “Chicago” and “Ladycop”.
(Say Rah Records)
9
 CHANGE IN SOUND
Look Mexico
This is Animal Music
A lot of people say that Look Mexico sounds like
American Football, and it’s true. But Look Mexico
blends a few different styles together and they do it
effortlessly, as too not copy any one else's sound.
(Lujo Records)
Mouse Fire
Wooden Teeth
Mouse Fire combine elements of Ugly Organ era
Cursive, the soothing vocals and sound of Minus the
Bear, the guitar jangly of Bloc Party, plus a danceable
beat to create something wholly original. It took me a
couple of listens to grasp Mouse Fire’s sound, and when
I listen to it now, I can really appreciate all the sounds
on the album. (Lujo Records)
The Mumlers
Thickets and Stitches
The Mumlers are a group of multi-instrumentalists
from the Bay Area. This album is full of sleepy indie folk
rock with a slight jazz influence that has slide guitars,
pianos, brass instruments and the occasional accor-
dion. An all around good album. (Galaxia)
New Idea Society
The World is Bright and Lonely
New Idea Society features Mike Law from Euclid and
Cave In’s Stephen Brodsky on guitar. The album is a
mixture of Bright Eyes, Street to Nowhere and The
Comas. It’s an ok album, but nothing really stands out
about it. (Exotic Fever)
One Small Step for Landmines
S/T
Now that Chicago’s Spitalfield has broken up, Florida’s
One Small Step for Landmines can take their space for
the heavy indie rock genre. One Small Step... isn’t a
complete rip off of Spitalfield, but both bands have a
sound that was/is influenced by bands like The Get Up
Kids and Jimmy Eat World. One Small Step’s debut self-
titled album is quite good and show’s some promise for
the future of this band. (Civil Defense League)
The Photographic
Pictures of a Changing World
When listening to Pictures of a Changing World, it’s
hard to believe that this instrumental band only con-
sists of 2 members. There is so much going on at the
same time. Take for instance, the track “We Were Fed
Poisoned Bread”. It starts out like an Explosions in the
Sky song with just a simple guitar part, then the drums
and cymbals come in, and those two intertwine for a few
minutes. Then, at the 2:30 mark, everything stops for a
second and the guitar bursts in with some noodling.
The part that follows sounds like there is 3 guitarists
and a bass player, plus drums going on all at the same
time. It’s insane and the best part of the whole record.
The Photographic’s sound has an instant visual sound,
like it could be a soundtrack to a movie. Their live
shows include projected visuals and the CD includes the
video for the track “Directions”. (Galaxia)
The Playing Favorites
I Remember When I Was Pretty
The Playing Favorites is a punk rock supergroup of
sorts. Joey Cape (Me First & the Gimme Gimmes, Bad
Astronaut), Luke Tierney (The Penfifteen Club), Tim
Cullen (solo artist, ex-Summercamp), Marko DeSantis
(Sugarcult, Bad Astronaut) and Mick Flowers
(Popsicko, The Rentals,The Lapdancers), make up The
Playing Favorites. I Remember When I Was Pretty was
recorded over a course of 5 days at 3 songs per day,
where songs were written, learned, recorded and then
the mic was passed to the next guy who had a song. You
can definitely tell when you listen to this album. Each
song has that spur of the moment feel and all of them
are diverse in style, but all together good.
(Suburban Home)
Polar Bear Club
Sometimes Things Just Disappear
The much-anticipated follow-up to 2006’s The Redder,
the Better, Sometimes Things Just Disappear almost
stands up to its predecessor. I think what made The
Redder, the Better so good was it’s length. It was awe-
some because it was quick and there was no room for
filler. I’m not saying there is a lot of filler on
Sometimes..., but it doesn’t have the same urgency all
the way through that their EP did. Still a good release
nonetheless. (Red Leader Records)
Ryan Ferguson
Only Trying to Help
Ex-No Knife frontman Ryan Ferguson’s debut album
starts out solid with the slow rocker “Remission”. A few
of the songs feel like they have a slight Shins influence.
The song “In the Sea” has a Beach Boys tinge to it and
the melody fits perfect with the song, swaying back and
forth like your on the sea. Only Trying to Help is a fair-
ly strong debut solo release, but future releases would
benefit if they were more focused.
(Better Looking Records)
Saves the Day
Under the Boards
I would have figured that Saves the Day would have
broken up by now. With label changes and a few
mediocre albums, it seemed likely. Instead they stick to
their guns and release a catchy hook filled album wor-
thy of a few listens. (Vagrant Records)
Say Hi
The Wishes and the Glitch
With a shorter name and a new geographic location,
Eric Elbogen is back with another pop gem. What
makes this album stand out from his previous albums is
the female vocals provided by Nouela Johnston on a
couple of the songs that add a much needed ingredient
CHANGE IN SOUND
to a formula that was get-
ting a little stale. Say Hi’s
first two releases were
quite good and original
and peaked at Ferocious
Mopes. While Impeccable
Blahs was ok, it felt a lit-
tle impersonal. Luckily a
move to Seattle got
Elbogen’s creative juices
flowing and a great
album was the result.
(Euphobia)
Streetlight Manifesto
Somewhere in the Between
This album has been a long time coming. Streetlight
Manifesto practically turned the ska genre on its side
with their debut release Everything Goes Numb.
Instead of taking that momentum and writing a follow
up right away, they re-recorded Catch 22’s Keasbey
Nights, which sounds exactly like the awesome original
but more polished. Well they finally got their shit
together and recorded a follow-up. Somewhere in the
Between is not as jaw-dropping as Everything Goes
Numb, but it’s close. I somewhat blame all the hype that
was built up for this album as the main reason why.
(Victory Records)

Say Hi
Signal to Trust
Golden Armour
I was a year late in buying this album and now I’m kick-
ing myself for not buying it sooner. It’s great. I can’t
explain what they sound like, but they have been
lumped into the indie/prog rock category. This full
length was a long time coming from their previous
album Folklore in 2002. I wish they would write a
whole album of songs just like “Silver Coast”. It’s the
best jam on the album. (Modern-Radio)
Soft
Faded
I pretty much wrote this band off as shit as soon as the
first song started, just because the vocals sounded fuzzy
and distorted and the instruments sounded like a mess.
But once you get past that first track, things start pick-
ing up. There are a lot of interesting guitar parts and
melodies and it’s those little things that make this
album worth coming back to. (Academy Fight Song)
Take No Damage
Mushroom Clouds and Silver Linings
Take No Damage mix indie rock, synth pop and elec-
tronica with a few samples and yet don’t sound com-
pletely horrible doing it. Mushroom Clouds and Silver
Linings is an excellent eclectic/eccentric debut. Listen
to the song “God and Country” and you’ll understand
the brilliance of this album. (All Hail Records)
Tera Melos
Complex Full of Phantoms Split
Drugs To The Dear Youth CD re-issue
Tera Melos blends the arithmetic of Hella and Don Cab’s
riff looping with a bit of jazz ambiance. In a genre which
is becoming increasingly crowded, Tera Melos keeps
things original on these two releases with jagged riffs,
constant time changes, programming and samples from
movies like Requiem For A Dream and pieces from
Fugazi’s Instrument.
(Temporary Residence / Sargent House)
These Are Powers
Terrific Seasons
These Are Powers features ex-members of Liars and
Knife Skills, and their current project is self-described
as “ghost punk”. The songs encapsulate primitive and
industrial rhythms with haunting male and female
vocals. Seven of the eight songs range from two to four
minutes in length, while the song “Pizza Master Ice
Cream Palace” clocks in at over twenty minutes.
(Hoss Records)

The Valley Arena

Sesso.Vita
Often compared to bands like Fugazi and other
Dischord bands, The Valley Arena are natives of Long
Beach, California. The title of this album translates into
Sex Life and the themes of sex (not just the act of) and
sexiness is constant throughout the album.
(Anodyne Records)

Soft 11
 INDUSTRY
INSIDER
Turf Skateboards is a new skateboard company that was started by Chocolate OG, Mike York, and
world-renowned designer Bob Kronbauer. They’ve already enlisted Sammy Baptista, James Kelch and
Some Dude, along with Mike York, as pros, and Jason Wussler, Jason Wakuzawa, Jabari Pendleton,
Larry Redmon, and Vince Salvi as ams. The Turf team has been filming for it’s debut video “Turf’s Up”
and it should be out soon. We chatted with Co-Owner
and designer, Bob Kronbauer about creating a new
identity for a skateboard brand and what it’s like working
with Mike York. Attempts were made to get some
questions answered from Mike, but he was probably too
busy laying tricks down for the video.

Bob Kronbauer - Co-Owner and designer of Turf

Skateboards

How do you go about creating an identity for a new

company? Does Mike bring you ideas to design or
do you come up with a lot of the designs?
Well, first we held a series focus groups where we
brought in a bunch of... naw, I’m just fucking with
you. Mike and I work together on some stuff and
some is based off of totally random concepts that I
come up with.

A lot of skateboard brands have a certain style or

look. What kind of style do you think Turf has and
how does it fit in the skateboard industry?
We’ve only released one catalog so I don’t think
we’ve had enough time to be pigeonholed yet. I’m
just designing things that I think look good on the
bottom of a skateboard.

How is designing for Turf different from designing

for other brands you’ve done?
I had to have somebody explain to me the other day
what a “lockup” graphic was. I’d like to do as few of
those as possible and it’s nice to have the freedom to
be able to make that decision.

A lot of people like to separate work and pleasure,

being co-owner of Turf and doing artwork for it, do
you feel like the time spent designing is work?
I really enjoy what I do in my professional life but I
definitely feel like I’m working for my money.

Is Turf your main project right now? I’d imagine

you’re pretty busy with Mumble, Little Giants, and
Crownfarmer, among others?
It’s one of a few projects I’m involved with right now.
I post about most of the stuff I’ve been working on
at BobKronbauer.com.
12
How did you two come together to form Georgie James?
Laura: John and I met around the time QANU was thinking of
taking a permanent break. He’d heard my solo CD (my
boyfriend at the time had sent it to him) and I was a big fan of
QANU. I was kind of surprised when John wanted to try and
play music — and totally flattered. I think I was even more sur-
prised by the music we started writing together, as it was pret-
ty different than what he was doing with QANU. But given his
record collection, it totally made sense.
John, when Q and Not U broke up, where you looking to start
something that was completely different than Q and Not U?
John: No, not really. It just kind of turned out the way it did. I
guess I just gravitated towards what came naturally when writ-
ing new songs. Throughout Q and Not U, I had always written
some stuff on the side, but never really did anything with it.
Some of that wound up being used eventually when we start-
ed writing the Georgie James songs. But, as far as having an
agenda to do something completely different, no that wasn’t
the case. I just wanted to write whatever came naturally, which
was the same approach we had in Q and Not U.
What’s it like playing in Georgie James as opposed to play-
ing in Q and Not U or playing solo?
Laura: I had to learn how to compromise and take criticism,
but I also got the benefit of having someone else to lean on. It
was a great trade. Knowing that the music we make is even
greater than the sum of the parts is a very good thing.
John: It’s a different kind of thing when you’re collaborating
with only one other person, as opposed to two or three others.
It’s easier in some ways. There are less opinions to work with
and sort out and it seems easier, for me at least, to really focus
on getting a song done this way.
John, do you think fans of Q and Not U will be drawn to
Georgie James?
John: I’m sure some would and some wouldn’t. I guess it just
depends on where they’re at musically. Even within the discog-
raphy of Q and Not U, there are people who just like one album
and not the others. So, the whole thing varies depending on
the people, I suppose.
How did the signing with Saddle Creek come about? Did you
approach any other labels to put out your album?
John: I had loosely known the people who run Saddle Creek
for over a decade, just from doing a fanzine, working at a pub-
licity company, working at a distributor, etc. When Q And Not
U would tour and go through Omaha, the Saddle Creek people
usually set up the show and we would often stay with them or
with bands on the label. They have a really good thing going
there, so it was always a place I liked to play and check out.
Anyway, once we finished the GJ record, they were one of a
few labels we talked to but, ultimately, they were really the best
choice for us. We’re really happy to get to work with them.
What kind of bands help influence your sound?
John: There are many, many bands and musicians that play a
part in shaping our musical minds. The stuff that gets cited
most tends to be from the 60s and 70s (Beatles, Bread,
Badfinger, Beach Boys, Big Star and many other bands that
start with B or some other letters) but, really, I think we’re
inspired from all kinds of music. It’s not as easy for someone
outside of the band to hear, I’m sure, but speaking for myself,
I know that all aspects of the music I listen to play into the
music we make. That includes jazz, punk, Afro-beat, folk,
French pop, disco and whatnot.
How does the song writing in Georgie James work? Does
John a write the songs he mostly sings on and Laura writes
the ones she mostly sings on, or is it more of a collaborative
effort?
Laura: For this first record, the vocals pretty much tell you
who wrote what. There was one song (“Simplify”) that John
wrote and I sang on, but it got kicked off the record. There are
definitely exceptions to this rule. In a song like “Henry and
Hanzy,” we wrote both the music and the lyrics together. Well,
then we sing in straight harmony the whole way through — so
maybe the voice *does* give everything away!
Do you think you achieved everything you wanted to with
Places?
Laura: As far as the recording goes, absolutely. We put so
much time into the recording process, making sure we had
every instrument and vocal just exactly so, so we would end
up with something we love. I put the record on every now and
again and am so happy with it. As far as the total Places expe-
rience, I guess that remains to be seen.
John: Yeah, I feel like we accomplished what we wanted to do
with the record. It’s certainly the record I like most out of all of
the ones I’ve ever been involved with.
14
Did John and Laura play all the instruments on Places? You
can’t obviously play guitar and drums at the same time, did
you use Protools or a multi-track recorder?
Laura: Andrew Black played drums on a few of the songs, and
TJ Lipple played vibraphone for another. Other than that, we
played everything ourselves. Silver Sonya is against the
Protools monopoly, so they use Digital Performer. It’s a multi-
track digital recording program, but without the strings
attached. We started with a base of drums and wurlitzer for
every song and then added and subtracted as necessary. Even
a lot of the vocals are us singing over earlier tracks. There is
definitely something to love about a fully live recording — I
actually just mentioned the possibility of recording that way
after a recent visit to the Stax museum. We’ll see what hap-
pens in the future...
Will it be only you two playing live shows or do you have oth-
ers playing with you?
Laura: We’re currently a five-piece live. We’ve got Andrew
Black on drums, Michael Cotterman on bass, and Paul Michel
playing second guitar, percussion, and singing back-up vocals.
John sings and plays guitar. I sing and play wurlitzer.
You pretty much have tours planned for the last quarter of
2007, do you plan to tour as much in 2008? What do you
think the importance of touring so much is?
Laura: We’re going to take a little break in January and for at
least part of February. Then we’ll do another US tour, probably
stopping in at SXSW, heading over to Japan for a little while,
who knows. I’m guessing that 2008 will be even busier than
2007. These days it seems like touring is the only way to make
money as a working musician. With so much readily available
at peoples’ fingertips (via the internet), the live show that hap-
pens in person, in the flesh for that short period of time that
cannot be captured or recreated (not even on YouTube), the
live show is the next great frontier.
You are originally from Canada, what lured you to working in the
skateboarding industry?
I had noticed that Skateboarder magazine started up again around 1997 or so. Just that
oversized one issue a year. And it was great content and looked good. I had an intern-
ship semester for my final year at college so I called the art director, Jaimie
Muehlhausen, and he said it only was done once a year but I might be able to help out
with Snowboarder. I came down to California for the fall of 1998 and interned as a
graphic designer for Snowboarder magazine. That was my first experience with the
skate/snow/surf industry and it all started rolling from there.

Did drawing come easy to you as a kid? What got you into art?
I guess I can’t remember not drawing. In grade six I remember doing a thanksgiving
poster with part of it having a turkey with its neck about to be cut off. That was the
same year of my Mr. T comic. Drawing is just something that is done everyday and
whenever there is a spare moment.

Do you have formal training in art and design? Do you think

people who have no talent in drawing or design can learn to be
good at it?
I actually have almost too much training. First it was two years of community college
on Vancouver Island, Canada, then a year backpacking in Europe with my skateboard. I
got to almost all the major art centers, museums and galleries. After a year of working
I went back to college. This time on the other side of Canada in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I
was planning to do a year of general art and design then do the design degree. It did-
n’t work out so I did a fine art degree first then I got into the Visual Communications
degree program. I had a couple printmaking instructors that taught me more about
design and communication than any of the design instructors. So I still owe a little bit
of money for a fine art degree and a design degree.

As for people with no talent, I’m not one to judge what is good work or not good work,
especially when it comes to art. Sometimes someone might be not a great drawer but
is super funny and that makes up for any lack of technical skill. As for design, there are
many roles for those who prefer just to do work that is “good enough”. One has to be
careful though, that is the kind of job that can be outsourced to India in a second.

Do you do all your drawings on the computer first, or pencil and

paper then to computer? What programs do you use?
I tend to do all my drawings by hand then scan them and sometimes clean them up but
for the past while I like seeing that they were done by a human being, not a machine.
As I work on more and more board graphics my ability to draw with just the computer
is getting better. I use all the regular Creative Suite stuff (Illustrator, Indesign,
Photoshop, Bridge and for web, Dreamweaver).

15
You recently left your post at TWS and took a job with Element;
was it a position that you set out to get or did they come call-
ing? What are your duties at Element?
I was hanging out one weekend with a friend, Jeff Dickson, who I worked with at Giant,
and he has been with Element for a few years now. He was talking about how they
needed someone as in-house Art Director / Designer. I told him it sounded like a great
thing and if I had another life to live, I’d be interested. Funny how things happen. It
turns out life had a curveball sent at me and I called Jeff to talk. Then I went in to meet
with Johnny Schillereff, Craig Metzger and Jeff, and a couple days later I was working
at Element. I’m the Hard goods Art Director. So Jeff establishes the line of boards and
wheels to be done. I create a few of the boards and wheels, clean up and revise some
of the art from in-house artists and help out with the submissions from Todd Francis, Don
Pendleton and other freelancers.

You designed some cool layouts at Transworld, what was it like

working there? Was there any restrictions put upon you by cor-
porate heads?
Transworld was a great experience. Of course along with the free product been thrown
our way there was a chance to shoot some photos, illustrate a couple things and write
a tiny bit. I liked the pace of the production. It usually gave me and the Associate Art
Director, Jason Lee, about a week and a bit to do research, take time off or just skate
in the parking lot a bit more. At the time Transworld was owned by Time Inc. and the
covers had to be sent to a dude in New York. Once we had a formula of sorts settled
there wasn’t much messing around from Time.

Is Element giving you free reign on designs, or is it more of “we

have an idea that we’d like you to design” type of situation?
With any design job there is a visual language that is specific to the “brand” and as an
artist and designer you work with the vocabulary of that language. That doesn’t mean
you don’t create things that push the limits, that is what you hope to do. For instance
somethings don’t work for Element. If an artist did an asian girl being roasted on a fire
as a graphic, that wouldn’t work, for Hookups or Blind more than likely. There are some-
times concepts thrown my way that I just execute, mainly from guys like Muska.

Is it intimidating at all to work at Element knowing that some

of skateboarding’s most recognized designers (Don Pendleton,
Matt Irving, Todd Francis) have designed for Element?
All those guys are so amazingly good at their thing. It is scary to see their stuff. And
sometimes having to mess around with it. But they all understand the process of devel-
opment. At times things are worked on for a couple days and some sweat put into the
design, only to have it be dropped. Maybe a kernel of an idea might work into some-
thing else down the road.

What people, places, or things influence your drawings and

designs?
The area I live in is pretty suburban at times but with the desert, Los Angeles, San Diego
and Mexico being so close, I try to go do photo missions whenever possible. Of course
books and magazines are a constant source of inspiration. I have a room that is an office
and the whole closet is filled with shelves full of books and magazines. A buddy and I
have talked about doing a Salton Sea trip soon. There are so many abandoned build-
ings there.

What do you want people to take away from your art and
designs?
I guess I kind of separate the art and design. For design I want people to be communi-
cated to in a way that is clear and interesting. For the art side of things I guess I want
to just entertain a bit with some funny characters in everyday situations.

18
LOOKFORWARDTOTHEPAST
 You’ve done designs for a lot of different brands like Emerica,
Giant Dist, and Spy Optic, what were some of the most fun or
most rewarding projects that you’ve worked on? Are there any
projects that you dread doing?
I guess nothing phases me too much anymore. Catalogs used to scare me, but after a
few years you get to enjoy that metallic taste of stress in your mouth as you send it to
the printer, usually just barely on time. I don’t consider anything too small of a project,
even it might be something I could do in a couple minutes. I hopefully have learned that
sometimes everyone has to get in the trenches and do the things that might not be as
glamourous, but it helps others get what they might need.

You work full time, make zines and update your website with
new artwork or photos almost daily, where do you find time for
all your projects?
I try to update lookforwardtothepast.com every week. It has been a labour of love for
sure. At times it seems no one is noticing. But people mention to me once in a while
they keep coming back. I guess I’m just good at time management and haven’t had
cable TV for a few years. Even if I’m watching a movie I tend to do a few drawings,
unless it is a particularly good movie.

Is there a certain time of the day that you feel most creative?
I’m a bit of a slave to routine. I can do my morning with my eyes closed. Of course now
I have a bit of a commute and my eyes are usually open. I think I’m best in the morn-
ing and most productive before lunch. And then at night for my personal work, after a
skate, surf or nap I can get in a couple good productive hours of art.

How’d you get your drawings into Tony Hawk’s Project 8 Video
Game?
A Canadian friend, John Dobbie, works for Neversoft and at his bachelor party up in Big
Bear he mentioned he could put my sketches in it. I didn’t think it would happen, and
when he asked for some I gladly gave him some. And then wham! There they were,
bigger than some of the skate company logos. Pretty cool. Would be fun to have some-
thing in the next one. Or even better weird characters hanging out.

In your Zine “A Bit of Good” it mentions a 20 x 20 drawing proj-

ect, can you elaborate on this?
Um, it is a secret. Actually it is a series of 20 drawings that are 20x20 inches. It took
2 years to get them all done. They are done and there is a chance Element is going to
help me with the show and promotion of them. Still in the works though.

Do you have any current projects or shows coming up?

Mainly the 20x20 project. It now seems like a movie that is done, but now needs to
Randy updates his site quite regularly with photos, desktops and other art. be promoted and marketed. I’m working on a series of 4 boards that tie in with the proj-
You can check it out here: ect. Also need to get another zine done soon. Maybe a photo issue?
www.lookforwardtothepast.com

He also has quite a bit of art from his previous work experiences here:
www.randylaybourne.com
When I started working on this issue I had a list of people who I hoped
could contribute to this issue. Tucker’s name was on the top of that list,
and when it came time, I emailed him. Tucker is probably the busiest guy
in town; running a skateshop, doing art shows, designing shoes, plus
more, so I half expected a email to come a week later with a response like
“Nah man, too busy right now, maybe next issue.” But instead, when I
checked my email the next day a positive response from Tucker waited for
me. He told me he would gladly contribute and to send him some ideas.

This was the hard part. If you don’t know Tucker, then you don’t realize
he’s talented in many aspects of art; drawing, photography, writing, etc...
And trying to figure out something for him to do that would challenge him
would be a task. So after a couple of weeks of racking my brain, I came
up with this idea that was inspired by the Six Degrees of Separation. The
Six Degrees of Separation refers to the idea that, if a person is one step
away from each person he or she knows and two steps
away from each person who is known by one of the peo-
ple he or she knows, then everyone is no more than six
"steps" away from each person on Earth. So I had Tucker
choose six people that he
knows and write a little para-
graph about them and include a
photo. Tucker replied back ask-
ing when the deadline was, and
said he’d have it to us then. In
future issues, we will choose
one person from Tucker’s list
and have them choose six peo-
ple and on and on.

-Adam

21
Dawn Candace Ice
We became friends because of a mutual friend
introducing us, thinking she could hook us up or
something. Needless to say, that never happened,
but we did become pretty good friends. Dawn and
I (and others) had an art studio/ gallery together
for a while even. Those were the good ole days.
Now we float in and out of each others lives but
I never second guess our friendship. Did I say she
makes amazing art yet? I just did.
22
Eric William Carroll
I’ve known this goof since Mr. Setterholm’s 8th
grade geography class. Back then, I was getting
awkwardly hazed into the Tito Fan Club™. These
days I’m living with him. I’ve been skating,
shooting photos, running galleries, climbing
roofs, breaking stuff, making stuff, and getting
into trouble with this dude for a lifetime already.
Nowadays he’s a big shot artist on the come up.
He is currently ripping the art world, but still
ripping on a board. (We’ve got a miniramp in our
home). As good of a friend as one could ask for.
George Thompson
George was just a mysterious figure to me before
I moved to the downtown Fobia years ago. Back
then he was the artist for both Fobia and Iota,
on top of all his own work. For years, when I
could sneak away from the sales floor I’d go in
back, and up to his art loft to see what he was
up to. Even when he wasn’t there, I’d still want
to check out his desk, and work. This guy is so
ridiculously talented I can’t even describe it in
words. On top of all this talent, he’s an out-
standing human who has always been one of the
most encouraging people to me and my art.
Samuel McGuire
Covers baby. This guy, this fucking guy. All come-
dy, all the time. Totally knows the ins and outs of
getting shit done, and taking skate photos that I
only wish I had the patience to take. I was
always kind of jealous of Sam and his ambition
to be “the” skate photographer in the cities. His
shit is that good. He deserves all the attention
and recognition that he’s been getting. Bonus:
If you are in Mazatlan with this dude, make sure
to have him show you how regal he keeps it.
It’ll blow your mind. Serious.
23
Steve Nesser
Besides having to cope with his “I just got off a
24-hour flight from the other side of the planet,
check out this crazy idea I got while standing on
Machu Pichu” affect, Steve is the raddest human
ever. I literally have half a moleskin filled with
THE most amazing quotes that have ever been
recorded, all from this one man. Everyone knows
how hard he tries on his skateboard, and this
past year’s Birdhouse movie part, and the 2
covers he got should shut anyone up who thinks
otherwise. But what people might not know is
how considerate and generous he is. One of the
friendships that I have, that is like no other.
Steve is my homeboy.
24
Tyler John Gerrick
Hermano, brother, evil Tucker, tg(squared). Tyler
was my very first friend, and is my only brother.
We’ve been tight since he came into this world. I
base part of who I am off knowing that he is alive,
and who he is, and what he and I share. When I
was but a wee lad myself, and looking up to the
older skate dudes in my neighborhood, I would
often get blown off. I always wanted to skate with
the big kids, and seldomly had the chance. But I
always had Tyler, and he was always down to
skate, play ping pong, build stuff. I always had a
friend, maybe the best one I would ever have. He
doesn’t really skate that much anymore, but he’s
still my original skate buddy. Thanks brodie.

Your debut album Showbiz Witch was recorded
in one day, how long did it take to record Fresh
Rot? How do the two albums compare to each
other?
Fresh Rot came together, all told, in about four
days (two weekends) and it would've taken close
to hundred years longer if our engineer (Robert
Daniels) hadn't been such a virtuoso with his
equipment and so sympathetic to our sound. The
records are really similar on a base level, we
haven't changed our minds about much, but I
think that Fresh Rot is our attempt at playing the
other side of the court. We wanted to make a
more polished focused record and I feel we did..
Showbiz Witch was recorded in your loft/apart-
ment and Fresh Rot was recorded in a studio.
Did you get the sound you wanted to by record-
ing it in studio?
We were nervous to let go of that control but the
studio we worked in was so unique as far as set
up, the live room has two-foot thick concrete
walls, that we kinda thought it would be worth
giving it a shot. Robert was the perfect person for
the moment we were at and understood we didn't
want to go crazy with studio shit, he let us be a
band and captured it.
Does Fresh Rot convey the same kind of feeling
as your live show?
No, but I don't think that it should. We worked
hard at putting something down that was a little
more focused and moody. It can't be a 24-hour
rager. But we still have some cuts that are pretty
chaotic on the record. Live, we kinda let it fly off
the handle which would be an interesting record
for about five minutes and then it would just get
tedious.
What bands help influence Mannequin Men?
Whoa. This is rough. Originally we were all about
Tubeway Army, The Wipers, Wire, and that lot.
Now I think we're so all over the place. We're all
geeked by The Clean, and they inspire us a great
deal. They were really clever in a way that didn't
overshadow the music, which is really really real-
ly hard to do. Also, I think we all just really real-
ly love early rock and roll like, Bobby Say, Eddie
Cochran, Bo Diddley, and that kinda stuff. And I
would be a complete liar if I said that we weren't
influenced by our friends and bands out here like
The Ponys, Shopping, Vee Dee, Narrator, Office,
all those dudes.
The artwork for Fresh Rot was done by Gary
Panter; how did he get involved with it?
Well, we were talking about what the cover
should be and the question came up, "If we could
have anyone in the world do it, who would it be?"
After about ten seconds we thought of Gary. His
work for Pee Wee's Playhouse was the first art
that I encountered that encouraged me to be
weird and fostered the idea that things don't have
to make sense. So, we wrote him a letter and he
responded saying he liked the stuff and would do
the cover. He's a fantastic man and the genuine
article.
How'd the deal with Flameshovel come about?
Well, we really needed some representation and
we had just recorded Fresh Rot, which we knew
would do at least o.k. in the right hands, so we
started talking to people and seeing what was out
there. Our buddy Miles talked to James about us
I guess a few days before I emailed him asking if
they were adding to their roster. We started talk-
ing and trying to sort something out. There were
a couple of other labels with some open interest,
but we had this meeting with James and Jesse
and they just were such genuine, wonderful,
hard-working dudes that we canceled the shows
we were going to play for these other labels and
said 'fuck it'. I don't think I've ever been happier
with a decision I've made. They are great friends
on top of it all and it's been a real blessing.
Ethan also plays in The Watchers and Kevin
also plays in Perfect Panther, how do you spilt
up time between each band? Is Mannequin Men
just a side project for those other bands, or the
opposite?
Well we've all always had multiple projects going
on which I think is great. You need to do different
shit and I think in Chicago, it's real easy to join a
hundred bands because there's a bunch of great
stuff going on. But I don't think of it as side proj-
ects or anything like that, it's just a good time.
I've read that Kevin works at a PR Firm and
Ethan is an artist, what other occupations to
the Mannequin Men hold? Would your rather
work a 40 hr week or play in Mannequin Men
full time?
Rick works delivering magazines and doing odd
moving jobs, recently just started working at an
organic food grocery store down here, Sethie is
taking some time off the grind and just DJing
and playing shows.... I think the answer to the
last part of that question is obvious...Mannequin
Men.
26
Ethan played in ska bands the Skalars and
Skavoovie and the Epitones in the past, how
was playing in those bands compared to play-
ing in Mannequin Men? How come your press
sheets don't mention you as an ex-member of
those bands, those could be great selling
points?
Eth looks back on that stuff with the fondest of
glances, but I think it's just a different aesthetic
now. Ska was HUGE then and I don't think
Mannequin Men are at that stage yet, hopefully
soon, but not yet. The craziest thing is that Kevin
actually got Ethan's autograph after a Skavoovie
show before they had ever met each other, and
here they are nine years later playing in the same
band.
You once played a Halloween show dressed up
as Velvet Underground, playing only covers,
any plans to do this again?
Well we did CCR last year and that was a riot too,
but I think that maybe we need to just let that live
on in memory and not beat it into the ground.
But who knows, we had talked about having our
friend Beth Swierczewski be Blondie and backing
her up since she was such a believable Nico for
the VU.
 Rider: Sam
Photo: Laura Austin
Echo Mountain Park
Photo: Laura Austin
29
Rider: Spencer Pratti - Switch Heelflip
Photo: Sam Mcguire

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