New Blog: I’m Hyped

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 09:31:42 -0400

Jonney E, co-creater of HeavyHittas and has launched his new, personal blog about everything he is hyped on. Check http://imhyped.com on the daily for some steady entertainment. It also features a Videos, Short Films, Interviews, Trick Tips, and Photography sections, where all Heavy Hittas artwork are featured/linked.

Brian Wenning on Selfish

Fri, 2 Jul 2010 11:53:54 -0400

For over a year now switch ledge magician Brian Wenning has been floating in limbo without a board sponsor after his dismissal from Plan B skateboards. Last we spoke to him he said he had a few offers on the table but no one could have foreseen the unbelievable, king-crab-sized news that was announced today: Brian Wenning has joined skate rapper, JR Blastoff AKA Jereme Rogers, as the second pro on Shellfish, I mean, Selfish Skateboards. I called Brian to ask him, "Why?"
You just signed a contract with Shellfish skateboards, how did that come about? Shellfish, yeah, I read your interview with Jereme on ESPN.
Are you bummed the company is not called Shellfish? No, not after the oil spill in the gulf. But the brand is called Selfish. Jereme picked that name, It's his name. If he's confident in it, I'm confident in it. He's backing me so I'm backing him.
Were you guys tight when you were on Plan B together? I remember I did an interview with you for Skateboarder magazine and you asked me what I thought about his retirement from skateboarding and I was like, "I should have done that myself." I think he always remembered me as person who was always cool to him. I'm a little older than him and I remember him saying he liked me and [Anthony] Pappalardo's skating back in the day. He hit me up. He heard I'd been skating again and asked if I was down to do this. It took a while to think about it. He gave me all the info I needed to know about everything and I said, "Let's do it."
So Jereme just called you out of nowhere? Out of nowhere. I had a few things I'd been working on with other people and we both talked about it, how we'd ridden for the best companies out there right now. Plan B, Habitat, Girl; those are the top three companies out there. We were like, Colin [McKay] and Danny [Way] got Plan B, Stevie [Williams] got DGK, why don't we do our thing instead of listening to other people
So do you put Selfish up there with Plan B and DGK? Every company has to start from the bottom and make its way up. I was on tour with Stevie when he first started DGK. I've seen that come up from just a sticker on the bottom of a blank board to what it is now. It has to start somewhere. Anybody that wants to say anything about the name Selfish ... I'm not going to say any other names in the skateboard industry but there's some real bad ones out there and I'd say this one is a lot better than some of those other names.
Who is more selfish? You or Jereme? I guess now we're both selfish since were both riding for the same company.
Are you getting a salary or board royalties? That's all contract behind the scenes stuff; I can't really talk about it. But Jereme already threw it out there; we're getting $6 a board. I've been through the drain, in and out of the skate industry for 10, 12 years and I've never seen those numbers. These royalties could be very, very good.
When you have team meetings yous guys do not freestyle the topics at hand? I don't think it's going to be like Plan B with everyone sitting down to very serious team meetings even though it is a very serious thing to start a company. But it's just going to be us doing us. We've learned from the best peopl out there.
What is your favorite shellfish? I don't eat that stuff
You don't eat lobster? When those $10,000 checks were coming in from DC I was getting the surf 'n' turf. Then I'd walk out on the bill every time because I didn't even care. The guy would come up to me the next day like, "Hey, you just walked out on a $200 bill with three chicks." But no, dude. It's not Shellfish. I trust Jereme. He's a very upfront human being. When he gets something in his head he believes in what he believes in. He's had a lot of success in skateboarding so if he's going to back me, I'm going to back him 100%.
You have to say that. I don't have to say that. I backed the kid when he did the retirement; that was last year.
I back him because he makes me laugh. I know that. I back him because he doesn't care about all this nonsense that people say about him.
What's the game plan out of the box? Videos, tour, what? You just have to sit back and wait.
Really? That's all you're going to say? We got big plans. I'm going out to Montreal where everything is based and give my input. Finally I can give my input in a brand. You know I love the ski mask and all that. That's my deal. I've been doing that for years and I can't bare to see anybody else wearing the ski mask nowadays. It really hurts me.
Wow! You really are selfish. No, I've been doing it for so many years as a joke and then I see random other dudes in the skate industry doing the ski masks. So we're doing Brian Wenning signature ski masks. I'm not saying I invented the ski mask but damn.
Is there a chance I can get a Shellfish Bro model with me riding a lobster in outer space? Like Jereme told you, that would be a very solid board because lobsters have a tough shell. I heard you been skating a box in your driveway; we'll get a package over to you.
For more info go to the Selfish site.

Maloof Money Cup 2010 Finals Video

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:57:20 -0400

The NYC Maloof Money Cup was held this weekend, June 5-6. Chris Cole battled it out against Paul Rodriguez, Bastien Salabanzi, and Torey Pudwill in the exciting finale that even had the crowd chanting, “Bastien, Bastien!” But in the end Cole won and repeated his Maloof Money Cup title, according to TW SKATE. Torey Pudwill also won the $10,000 Tech Deck Best Trick contest on Saturday. Here is the Best Trick video below:

Maloof Money Cup, NY Prelims

Sun, 6 Jun 2010 12:46:33 -0400

What a difference a day makes. Between practice and prelims, some of the skaters in Flushing really turned it on. It seemed like each new jam session got more and more intense, and that may well have been the case, considering the judges -- Dan Pensyl, Mike Sinclair and Rodney Torres, to name a few -- saved some of the heaviest hitters, including Paul Rodriguez, Chris Cole, Shane O'Neill and Sean Malto, to compete in the final two heats of the day.
Today's events unfolded with a perfect blend of the expected and the unexpected. Vans and Alien Workshop pro Anthony Van Engelen told judges this was the first contest he'd competed in since 1995, but you wouldn't know it watching him compete. Van Engelen didn't make the finals but he ripped all day. Another skater who didn't advance but deserves a mention for his crowd-wowing style is Vans and Anti Hero's own Chris Pfanner. The rookie pro got people up out of their seats when he pulled an after-the-buzzer melon grab ollie off the 9-stair deck over seven feet of flat and a hubba ledge to land in the embankment beyond. It's worth mentioning that Zoo York's Brandon Westgate, a big ollie beast in his own right, pointed to Pfanner's snaps as the best thing he saw all day. "I liked Pfanner's ollie. So sick," Westgate said.

Skate Videos, Short Films, Interviews, Music, Documentaries, Profiles, Photography and more!

New Blog: I’m Hyped

Brian Wenning on Selfish

Maloof Money Cup 2010 Finals Video

Maloof Money Cup, NY Prelims