Beyond Boards

Episode 126 with Zach Condon, skateboarder and musician, leader of the band Beirut.

Together we discussed his life and career, from growing up in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he picked up his first board in the late 90’s; from the ages of 9 til 16 years old skating every day and obsessively watching skate videos; around the same time music becoming another very strong interest, so much so that it eventually became his main focus and skateboarding took a backseat; starting the band “Beirut” in the mid 2000’s as a tribute to the Lebanese capital where the east and west meet and cultures collide, a symbol of his very eclectic music inspirations; putting out numerous amazing albums throughout the last 20 years, gaining international and critical acclaim, some of their songs even appearing in skate videos, most famously in Mark Suciu’s masterpiece part “Verso” in 2019; to keeping an eye on everything skate related despite not really skating anymore since music became his profession.

(00:13) – Intro
(01:25) – Starting skateboarding
(05:44) – Baker 2G/Pixies
(08:00) – Developing an interest for music
(11:51) – Being introduced to new music via skate videos
(13:42) – When did music “surpass” skateboarding in your life?
(26:14) – Why do you think skateboarding “clicked” for you in your teen years?
(28:40) – Creating an album vs. a video part
(31:24) – Working on “A study of losses”
(42:59) – Scoring films
(47:32) – “Crunch time” wrapping up an album
(50:42) – Unusual instruments
(56:28) – The “window”
(01:02:46) – Favorite skater-musicians?
(01:07:04) – Favorite skater-song pairings
(01:12:18) – Getting to know Mark Suciu
(01:15:29) – Other skate videos his music is featured in
(01:17:00) – Skate media consumption these days
(01:21:50) – The “necessity” of having an Instagram account
(01:27:51) – Mental health issues while touring
(01:34:40) – Living between Berlin and Norway
(01:41:32) – Surprise questions from friends
(01:41:38) – Patrik Wallner
(01:53:31) – Casper Clausen from Efterklang
(02:00:50) – Rasmus Stolberg from Efterklang
(02:02:37) – Nicholas Petree
(02:09:10) – Mouse on Mars
(02:11:43) – Chris Stein from Blondie
(02:14:22) – Alma Har'El
(02:17:03) – Jan Pivoňka
(02:24:51) – Viktoria Dalborg
(02:33:19) – Conclusion

For more information and resources: https://linktr.ee/beyondboards

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Episode 125 with Silas Baxter-Neal, professional skateboarder from Eugene, Oregon.

Together we discussed his life and career, from growing up in Eugene where he started skating in the mid-90’s; getting flowed Powell boards through his local skateshop and in the early 2000’s at the age of 18 deciding to move to San Francisco to go all in on skateboarding; eventually getting on Habitat through his friend and long-time Habitat team manager Brennan Conroy; in the next few years moving around quite a bit between Denver, California and Chicago before he and his wife decided to settle down in Portland, Oregon to start a family together; being well known in the industry for his powerful and versatile skating, as well as his productivity, putting out several amazing video parts throughout the last 25 years; to nowadays in his early 40’s living his best life, skating better than ever, raising his kids and enjoying the many outdoor activities Portland has to offer whenever he isn't gone on a trip somewhere through surprise questions from friends of his.

(00:13) – Intro
(01:25) – Tucker Glasow
(03:20) – Caswell Berry
(09:53) – Javier Sarmiento
(15:25) – Adam Crew
(18:16) – Sean Holboke
(20:10) – Tristan Brillanceau-Lewis
(24:30) – Kaspar Van Lierop
(35:23) – Joe Castrucci
(46:12) – Brennan Conroy
(46:59) – Cairo Foster
(52:13) – Jeremy Tuffli
(01:02:49) – Marius Syvanen
(01:07:28) – Torsten Frank
(01:18:33) – Jascha Muller
(01:20:30) – Justin Albert
(01:27:30) – Mike Falco
(01:32:00) – Joe Brook
(01:37:40) – Mike O’Meally
(01:39:23) – Tony Manfre
(01:41:25) – Ken Goto
(01:47:23) – Laurence Keefe
(01:59:29) – Takahiro Morita
(02:05:05) – Joey Pepper
(02:09:47) – Brian Delatorre
(02:17:41) – Conclusion

For more information ans resources: https://linktr.ee/beyondboards

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Episode 124 with Ben Koppl, professional skateboarder from Morro Bay, California.

Together we discussed him growing up in Morro Bay where he started skating in the early 2000’s; at the age of 17 moving up to Seattle, Washington where he studied linguistics, literature and Spanish; in the following years traveling all around Europe and Japan among other exciting places; through these travels developing an amazingly creative and unique way of skating which makes him stand out strongly in an increasingly standardized global skateboarding landscape; after working for Seattle public schools for a few years, moving down to Oakland, California with his wife Zoe in 2024 for him to start grad school at Cal State East Bay for Speech and Language Pathology so he can become a speech therapist and much more through surprise questions from friends of his.

(00:13) – Intro
(01:25) – Starting skateboarding
(08:00) – Chris Koppl
(29:31) – Arno Wagner
(43:06) – Jake Alexander
(48:59) – Alex Cooper
(53:18) – Shinsaku Arakawa
(01:01:49) – Léo Valls
(01:12:56) – Charles Myatt
(01:27:20) – Rémi Luciani
(01:43:53) – Thomas Campbell
(01:49:01) – Bastien Regeste
(02:08:08) – Matthew Bromley
(02:13:01) – Liisa Chisholm
(02:16:38) – Cody Wilber
(02:21:38) – CSEF
(02:24:46) – Dane Ichimura
(02:28:37) – Zoe Kasperzyk
(02:37:49) – Conclusion

For more information and resources: https://linktr.ee/beyondboards

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Episode 123 with Matt Rodriguez, professional skateboarder and artist from Sacramento, California.

Together we discussed his life and career, from growing up in San José, California and moving to Sacramento at the age of 11 right as he was picking up his first skateboard; after getting flowed Chapter 7 boards for a little while, getting on Stereo Skateboards thanks to Tommy Guerrero who recommended him to Chris Pastras and Jason Lee; filming parts for their iconic videos “A visual sound” and “Tincan Folklore” in the mid-90’s in which his unique style and trick selection shined bright; along with Matt Pailes and Matt Field launching the iconic shoe brand IPath in 1999; to playing music for over 2 decades in the bands the Sacramento Storytellers as well as the Blktop project and much more through surprise questions from friends of his.

(00:13) – Intro
(01:25) – Tobin Yelland
(07:00) – Josh Lippi
(11:34) – Chris Pastras
(18:08) – Greg Hunt
(20:27) – Shawn Mandoli
(23:01) – Matt Pailes
(24:14) – Mike Rafter
(28:24) – Nate Jones and Fred Gall
(30:23) – Bigfoot
(31:09) – IPath reboot
(38:11) – Joe Brook
(41:05) – Birth of Blktop project
(42:40) – Chuck Treece
(43:35) – Ray Barbee
(51:19) – Mark Whiteley
(01:04:36) – Jeff Toland
(01:07:12) – John Cardiel
(01:22:17) – Thom Van Der Heijden
(01:26:29) – Casey Lindstrom
(01:27:11) – Tommy Guerrero
(01:30:25) – Mario Realegeno
(01:34:41) – Greg Carroll
(01:40:51) – Brian Delatorre
(01:45:57) – Conclusion

For more information and resources: https://linktr.ee/beyondboards

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Episode 122 with Denia Kopita, skateboarder from Athens, Greece.

Together we discussed her life and career, from growing up in Athens, Greece where she picked up her first board at the age of 18 in the mid-2010’s; since 2020 being involved among other things as a skate instructor and communications manager at Free Movement Skateboarding; working as the online manager for Skateism, a diversity skate magazine between 2020 and 2022; since 2024 working as a community specialist at Skateistan; in between travels to attend a skate conference somewhere, spending her time playing soccer for 2 different teams and organizing the Filika skate meets: a safe space for non-traditional skaters in Athens; and much more through surprise questions from friends of hers.

(00:13) – Intro
(01:13) – Danae Polycarpou
(04:46) – Denia Nicolas
(10:20) – Ruby Mateja
(15:56) – Rémi Luciani
(22:03) – Raisa Abal
(26:34) – Mina Kalogera
(28:56) – Oliver Percovich
(32:18) – Viktor Telegin
(34:11) – Will Ascott
(36:08) – Makke Bengtsson
(43:06) – Dave Morgan
(46:33) – Indigo Willing
(50:02) – Daniel Clarke
(55:14) – Harry Meadley
(59:24) – Oisin Tammas
(01:06:47) – Neftalie Williams
(01:12:02) – Natalie Mavrota
(01:21:29) – John Dahlquist
(01:26:17) – Conclusion

For more information and resources: https://linktr.ee/beyondboards

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.