FFI Rail Jam Preview

(The fight for the top prize will be intense.)

With the FFI Rail Jam well underway, I have decided to write some of my thoughts on some of the competitors I expect to place well.

Eric Smith - (1st) As defending champion of the last Rail Jam, Eric has a target on his back for this years rail jam. Eric performs super creative tricks which he executes flawlessly, and it will be tough for the other competitors to dethrone him. Eric hasn't released any footage in the past three months, but hopefully he is saving up for the Rail Jam.

Taylor Lucas - (2nd) Last year, Taylor proved he is one of the elite fingerboarders in the world by taking 2nd place. If it wasn't for Eric's fingerboard perfection, Taylor would have had the target placed on his back. Taylor performs super difficult tricks with a very clean style.

Nic Herzog - (3rd) Nic's video was the most visually stunning of the lot last year. I was actually surprised when Nic placed third, as I had thought he was going to win it all. The tricks he did film were really smooth, but I don't think he filmed as wide of a variety as Taylor or Eric. Anyways, expect Nic to show up for this contest.

Boris Dietschi - Boris displayed his mastery of Nollie popshovit variations. Even with perfectly performed Nollie 360 Shovit Nosegrinds to Nollie 360 Shovit F/S Blunts, Boris did not make it to the top 3. The judges felt that he did not perform a good variety of tricks.  This year I expect him to put together a video with greater variety of tricks. If Boris has more variety in his entry, it would be no surprise if he got in the Top 3.

Elias Assmuth - (Did Not Enter) Elias Assmuth is one of the most skilled fingerboarders in the world. A butter smooth style coupled with robot-like consistency, Elias has proven himself by winning contests in Germany. Who knows if Elias will enter this year, I personally doubt it with Fast-Fingers 11 just around the corner. If he does decide to enter, he could easily win it all.

Alex McMillan - (Did Not Enter) Alex didn't enter last year. Alex doesn't know if he will enter this year. Alex is super good. Alex better enter because Alex performs the most technical tricks possible.

Other people I expect to place high would be Mike Schneider, Taylor Rosenbauer, Tim Hurley

My Predictions:

3rd - Boris Dietsche, Taylor Lucas, Alex McMillan, Nic Herzog (Any of these dudes lol)

2nd - Elias Assmuth

1st - Eric Smith

I have around 25 seconds worth of stuff I am going to use for the rail jam. All my tricks are going down within the first ten or so tries. It's almost ridiculous. I was disappointed with my submission last year. I rushed it out and filled it with only a couple tricks I thought were good. I was lucky to get 9th place with the crap I submitted. So far my submission is much better. Every trick I have done for it is as difficult as any trick I've done in my life. I don't know if it will be Eric Smith-quality but I'll let the judges determine that ;-)

Interview: Eric Smith!

Eric Smith interview by Chris Daniels

 

Q: When did you start fingerboarding?

A: I guess my first interest in it, was around 1996.  I started with forming credit cards, cardboard, and stuff like that to mess around with.  At first, I just imagined there being trucks and wheels and stuff, so it wasn't exactly fingerboarding yet... But soon after, I started to use paperclips for trucks, or anything I could find.  That was, until I found some cool keychain decks at my local skate shop.  A few years after that, Tech Deck came out, which was a HUGE upgrade to what I was using, and it got me into it even more.  

Q: When did you first get into the online scene?

A: It was only about 3 years ago.  I don't know why, but I never thought to look it up online, or search for videos or anything like that.  I just did it with friends after a day of skating, or in class when all my work was done or when there was nothing else to do.

Q: Yeah true that. So do your friends still fingerboard? I have like a group of 5 or 6 close friends that shred still haha

A: Pretty much only one of my friends still does it.  His name is Zack Parham, and he shreds it up! Actually, two of my friends Zack Parham, and Casey Burnett heheh

Q: Can you list your sponsors off? DONT FORGET ANY~!!! Or else...

Yeah, didn’t you film a mini with Zach?

A: Yep, I did.  With my still picture cam, and he's got a mini online too.  As for my sponsors, a few are inactive, and are probably dead.  But I'll mention them anyway.

Primo obstacles, Eurollt wheels (probably dead, in all honesty, i'm addicted to wheels with bearings and that's all i use now so i'd have to leave anyway), Public Trucks (most likely dead, and moses ran off with a lot of peoples money... so that's not something i'd like to support... it's a shame though, had potential), Priest Oldschools (never officially dead, but never officially open hahah)

I have a few offers that I'm thinking of accepting, but I only like to take an offer if I absolutely love the product, and want to support them.

Oh yeah, I forgot BRR.

hardy har har.

Q:shit you are sponsored by BRR?

A:Yeah, but then I woke up.

Q: poo..haha..

So is there anything that inspires you to fingerboard?

In otherwords, makes you pick one up and sesh

A: Skateboarding mostly.  I love realism.

Also, seeing people have fun with fingerboarding, that gets me hyped.

I love clean styles too.

Q: Yeah I love the way you fingerboard, quick and clean

fast paced and creative stuff haha

A: Thanks, man.  I love the way you fingerboard too, and I'm not just saying that because you said that to me hahah.

Q: Haha thanks, besides fingerboarding, what are some of your other interests?

A: Art.  I have a strong passion for many types of art.  Music also falls in that category for me.  I love to listen, and create music. I'm also into design.  Visual communication.

Q: So are you interested in drawing or anything like that? or just looking at art?

A: When I was younger, that was the main thing I did in art.  But later on, I began to do a lot more, and sort of stopped drawing as much as I used to.  I do all sorts of things now such as digital work, collage, drawing, mixed media, etc.  I love to create, look at art, and interact with artists of all types.

Q: Yeah definitely

Do you have any advice for those who have just entered the scene?

A: Yeah.  Just be respectful to others, and be humble about things.  Even to the people that have been a part of the scene for a long time should do that, but a lot of people have this elitist vibe that really gets on my nerves.  Most of all, have fun with what you're doing, because after all that's the only thing that matters.

Q: All right well I  got one more question before I go to the movies

How did you get to be so god damn good?

a thread

A: I don't know heheh.  I'm a pretty fast learner, and a slight perfectionist.  I guess both of those combined is a good solution heheh.

Q: For sure, so on the video where you were shredding the bowl. Did you practice that over and over til you perfected it? Cause the tricks were flawless haha

A: I do come up with lines that are patterns, and I'll sometimes change them up a little bit or whatever, but I remember a bunch of different lines so things will keep a nice flow.  There's no points where I'll be going slower trying to think of what trick to do next and stuff like that.

Sometimes I just do whatever though. But I do like to come up with patterns as well.

Yeah, another reason I do that sometimes, is because I find myself repeating tricks a lot otherwise.

Q: Any last things to say or shout outs?

A: Fingerboard because you love it, don't fingerboard to impress anybody.  Don't be ashamed either.  There's a lot of people who have this strange view about fingerboarding, and it's quite odd.  Never quit because somebody is not educated in realizing what it truly is, and thinks it's "childish", or anything like that.

Interview: Gary Chin!

Here is an old interview of Gary Chin from about 6 or 7 months ago.

Gary Chin interview by Chris Daniels

Q: When did Mr. Gary start fingerboarding?

A: Mister Gary has been fingerboarding for three years now, I started December of... 2004? Yeah, 2004.

Q: Can you plz list your sponsors? If you forget one SHAME on you!

A:lol Addict Grip (seriously I am addicted, so good, grip lasts so long too), New York Marble (soon to get a bench, they look so good though), Flatface Decks (OMG)

Q: So outside of fingerboarding, what are some of your other interests? (GUITAR HEROZ)

A: Whoa, a lot man

Filming skateboarding, making films, photography, guitar, GUITAR HEROZ, Dance Dance Revolution, guitar, guitar, I said guitar already didn't I, cycling (love it, favorite sport of all), a bit of handboarding

Q: What is your underlying drive to keep fingerboarding? In otherwords, is there something about fingerboarding that you enjoy that makes you keep doing it?

A: Well, I keep fingerboarding mostly because of the friends I've made doing it, if it wasn't for my friends, I probably wouldn't even be doing it now. I have always been inspired by people like Chris Daniels (you) and have a reason to keep going. Also, there's nothing like getting an awesome trick on film. (good answer <3>

Q: Any advice for those who are new to the scene?

A: Keep working at it. Make some friends while fingerboarding, it makes the experience so much more fun. Also, visit http://www.youtube.com/weakfingers for inspiration (haha) and trick tips that I frequently post. Also, fingerboarding can be frustrating, so make sure you film your tricks, when you land it it'll be all worth it 

Q: How different is the current fingerboard scene from the scene when you first started fingerboarding?

A: The scene back in 2004-2005 was actually pretty good. Techdeck.com actually had decent people going to the forums. I could post videos and then eventually I expanded into FFI. I feel sorry for the guys who go to techdeck.com nowadays, because that place has gone to hell. Sometimes you can find new talent there though. Also, the friends I made at techdeck.com are now guys who go to FFI, so it really was an awesome experience when I started fingerboarding. Sorry for going so far off topic.

 

I got an idea!

Flatface released the G6-I and G6-B Bearing Wheels. They look absolutely perfect. Check them out here!

One of the prettiest looking decks I have laid my eyes upon...

Yellowood Fingerboards 

In other news, I am trying to create a database where people can view all the major teams and who rides for them. My goal is to create a place where teams owners/riders can have an easier time finding people to sponsor/get sponsored. Also, I would like to make individual rider profiles where you can see how long they've been fingerboarding, where they are from and who they are sponsored by.

I got quite a list made out so far, but I've definitely missed some teams and some are probably out of date, so forgive me.

Team Rider List

Decks

Primo Fingerboards

Justin Rogers

Larry Osburne

Richard Hackler

Taylor Lucas

Prete Fingerboards

Davo Francis

Dimitar Kanev

Taylor Rosenbauer

Lucas Kirkdorffer

Felipe Vincensi

Peter Ringel

Homewood Fingerboards

Matt Francis

Kevin King

Estevan Rivera

Matt Lieber

Dominik Jedruszewski

Phil Zalusky

Nick Allen

Evolve Fingerboard Decks

Jader Muller

Ju

Phils Savage

Rodrigo Rossi

David Auster

Martin Illsley

MKS

Close Up

Mike Schneider

Euan Lynn

Alexis Milant

Enzo Fruytier

Damien Bernadet

Joe Chaboud

Mannu Lavaux

Wheels

Flatface Team:

Mike Schneider

Doug Bodkin

Gary Chin

Pat McGinn

Alex McMillan

Jay Linehan

Taylor Rosenbauer

Tim Hurley

Nate Thompson

Danny Rodriguez

Adrian Geronimo

Taylor Lucas

Gullaume Ouellette

Conor Davidson

Flow:

Brandon Sentnor

Chris Deso

Matt Lieber

Ethan Ebeling

Nollie Wheels:

Vincent Heppner
Harald Schön
Max Zulauf
Michel Hohnekamp
Lukas Galos
Lukas Junk
Martin Beckmann
Michael Köck
Manuel Becker
Philipp Reinhard
Thomas Giesswein 

Flow Team:

Tobias Engelhardt
Kai Dörfler
Lukas Philippi
Ethan Ebeling 

Hardware

Arctic Hardware:

Martin Illsley

Brandon Jones

Alex McMillan

Jay Linehan

Vinny Germade 

Manu Oberle

Eric Smith

David Auster

Chris Daniels

Tim Hurley

Arctic UK

Mcinally

Ben Winship

Murray

Crompton

Summit Hardware:

Conor Davidson 

Pat McGinn 

Taylor Lucas

Tim Zagrebelny 

Guillaume Ouellet

Taylor Rosenbauer 

Mike Schneider

Tim Alexiel 

Fabian Schreiter 

Martin Beckmann 

Philipp Reinhard 

Griptape

none atm >.<

Ramps

Blackriver Team:

Boris Dietschi

Choi Yau

Elias Assmuth

Fabian Schreiter

Manu Oberle

Martin Winkler

Michael Zimmer

Nic Herzog

Sebastian Kiefer

Timo Kranz

Timo Lieben

Tobias Phieler

Flow:

Al-J

Brandon Jones

Felix Hess

Julien Klein

Mike Schneider

Stefan Klauser

Taylor Rosenbauer

Tim Hurley

Tim Teichert

Ramon Angelow

Primo Obstacles

Martin Illsley

Brandon Jones

Eric Smith

Estevan Rivera

Make Believe Marble

Shane Young

Ben Mullen

Eddy Z

Chris Petranek

Alex Mcmillan

Gary Chin

Tim Alexiel

John Kontra

P.S.

6/29

New Footage

I have had a few requests to upload some of my old fingerboard footage. Well I compiled a short video of clips between 1999-2000, back when a Techdeck was the only readily-available quality fingerboard, and there were no wooden fingerboards. That's right kiddos, "sponsors" back then made their decks out of a cd-case or cardboard.

Welcome!

My goal in creating this blog is to create a place where people can get a quick and detailed picture of the latest news in the fingerboard scene. Also, I hope to have multiple people provide articles, interviews and trick tips to share with the rest of the community.

Featured video: David Auster tears it up with a new Berlinwood.

Some News:

FFI Rail Jam #2 starts in 1 day!!! Last year's Rail Jam turned out to be a great success, and from the looks of things this year will be even better. FFI Rail Jam #1 had contestants participate from a wide-range of locations including Germany, US, UK, Ireland, Luxembourg, Italy, Brazil, Poland, and that's just the contestants I could remember off the top of my head! With enough prizes for the top 15 finishers, this years Rail Jam will not only be larger, but also more widespread! I am sure there will be some amazing entries. Start filming!

The prize for 1st is incredible.. 

Mike Schneider announced the official date for Rendezvous 4. Head on over to Andover, Massachusetts July 12th if you want to attend the biggest gathering of fingerboarders in the United States!

More information at here!

Fast Fingers 11 is coming up fast! Be prepared to experience the best finger-boarders from around the world duke it out on May 24th! This year it is located in Schwarzenbach/Saale, Germany!

Team News/Changes:

FlatFace is coming out with their team video shortly. From the looks of the team, the video should be absolutely insane.

Tim Hurley has joined Arctic Hardware. Tim rips, so be on the look out for him!

Nollie Wheels has announced they have new opaque bearing wheels AND new 1.6 mm diameter bearings (they fit normal screws)! Buy them here!

Substance Wheels announced they will be closed for a short time.

Flatface is selling BlackRiver Ramps again!

Homewood announced their 2nd video titled Happy Hour 2!

Contact me through email  or AIM: cdplaya0 if you have anything to contribute =)