$kapegoat @skapegoat256 - Tumblr Blog

So Bob Scerbo’s been posting uncut footage mixed with actual footage plus commentary on his Instagram (@skapegoat256). I wanna say most of it is during the “All Day” era and we’re given a glimpse into the life and processes of the people involved in that project. It’s more or less a Director’s Commentary on the All Day-era, which is pretty sweet.

With that being said I wanna revisit “All Day” cause it really proving to be a cult classic. I use that term cause I remember it was met with lukewarm reaction initially. It wasn’t anything overtly stated with BMX being what it is and Animal/Bob combo being who they are for that era but I can’t help but shake that a lot of people were kind of disappointed. Myself being one of them. I think a lot of stems from the hype that “Can I Eat?”, the Animal video prior, generated. It was a video of bangers and transformative new forms of riding. It really cemented the Animal crew into a position of universal clout, that East Coast riding is technically and creatively just as proficient as anything on the West Coast. I think people wanted more of that and when “All Day” dropped it wasn’t that at all.

All Day was relaxed. I think a lot of people would say it was too relaxed. It was a glimpse into a form of riding that I don’t think the media fully embraced yet. It would later become a lot of what constitutes as “East Coast” riding which a lot of elements mentioned would be adopted into mainstream riding in general. The line heaviness of it all. The idea of spot usage which was exponentially upped but I don’t think the climate in BMX was ripe for it all just yet. This is when web videos were in it’s earliest forms and not a medium that was taken serious at all. The full length was the primary means. The thing with full lengths was that there was a sentiment that videos were going to be a very condensed epic form. Only the best tricks and maneuvers allowed into a 20-30 minute slot. The wait time between “Can I Eat” and “All Day” made the hype into this is gonna be another Animal epic. With “Can I Eat” it was very much just that. Lino and Vinnie laid down grinds that weren’t readily around. Hamilton and Scerbo brought forth a a different style and Edwin’s section was nothing but bangers that people are doing today but over a decade ago. “All Day” was epic but drastically in a different way. It was clocking in close to an hour long which was unheard of and the departure from the epic format that was accustomed to videos as a whole.

Lines and spot usage was pushed in the forefront. Bangers were wins in a different sense. Scerbo does a bump jump rail hop and Hamilton a wallride to 180 on the OSU wall on some 26 inch or something. George Dossantos’s banger was a smith hard 180 done clean on foot tall ledge, even when Jared Washington does one mid section all sloppy. The riding was progressive but not quite in the same scale that most watchers I think predicted it would be. It was a lot of lines and spot usage. Which isn’t that strange to think about today cause that’s what the East Coast really devolved into but at the time I don’t think East Coast riding cemented that type of identity fully, it was really “All Day” that gave credos to that type of riding, being able to make most of a spot and do the right tricks, the right way, efficiently. But like I said I don’t think the climate was right for it just then. People was expecting Hamilton to go balls out bigger and Edwin to do a feeble hard 180 double bar and when it wasn’t just that it felt like expectations were shattered a bit. People didn’t really crap on it openly but I wanna say it wasn’t half as well received as “Can I Eat?”.

Bob really subverted expectations in this one. I say it’s a cult classic because time has a way of giving merit to what is quality and “All Day” in my opinion is probably the best Animal video. There wasn’t ground breaking riding as expected but it gave rise to a style that was around but never really tapped into. It was almost a cultural experience filled with bird calls, graffiti titles, NYC happenings and it truly immersed you into the scene with the best riders, the unknowns and the guys who did good that one day. All this felt much more relatable in a way that I don’t think any other video really has come close into the scope of realizing. Somehow the standout trick for Edwin is him manueling a whole bridge. A lot of videos have a way of feeling like an advert, it’s polished and curated in a way where the riders and company are the source of focus but “All Day” was a documentary that truly documented the thriving but still very much underground NYC scene at it’s finest.

I think a lot of it’s honest comes from the way Bob processed the project. He was one of the riders and showcased well what was happening. You see it in the Instagram post how he worked with other riders and made most of everything without ever forcing something to happen. It was naturalistic cause most of the video was NYC and the home of more or less everyone. This isn’t a riding video that was conducted in 10 road trips where the idea of having to produce was in the back of everyone head. In that sense some of the riding is casual cause probably every session of filming was just that. To be in the heart of a scene and capture everything is what “All Day” was. Bob worked with the riders to create an environment they thrived in instead of forcing some type of project on everyone to produce.

I think thats why Animal has a cult level of popularity with riders all around the world. It has this background ideology that what and who is around is enough. That riding doesn’t have to be epic or extra, that the unique happenings of the scene is credible enough. The riders that Animal have chosen is all a reflection of that. At the time there weren’t any super pros. Edwin was the closest but then you have Tom White who can’t do anything but go big and people like Wormz who are as elusive as ever. It stripped notions of professionality and created a culture instead of a brand. Which has a lot of value if utilized correctly. Today’s market culture is equated with some fancy hashtag or phrase but no one did the bird call sound cause that was what Animal told the watchers to go out and do, people did it cause it was a way for them to feel apart of the ideal. That’s something that Animal did a great job with in this video. Plus as a filmer, that slow shutter is iconic with Animal videos to me.

I think in hindsight people realize how great “All Day” truly was. Today’s casual instagram riding and the approach a lot of people take in the mainstream was really given grounds in this video. I think spot usage became a real thing with this video, like Vinnie’s first clip where he squeezes in between the rails. “All Day” is a film that is meant to be watched from beginning to end and you know thats Bob’s intention with how he cuts sounds from one section to another. How the session in NYC ends with that bench ledge but then the same spot is used to introduce George D. absolutely murdering it. I told myself I was going to watch a few sections to prep myself cause honestly an hour to me seems a lot these days but I ended up watching the whole thing anyway. It’s a video about the scene and not a intro rider whose good and the banger rider at the end, with the rest of the team as filler in between. Everyone offers something different and new and people find themselves divided which one appeals to them the most. “All Day” is probably my favorite video in it’s entirety. Go watch the whole video then read Bob’s background info on his Instagram, best thing on the internet right now.

imeugene

I don’t like tag lines. I especially don’t like “less is more”. Not that I disagree with it but I think it’s become a silly tagline to justify a lot of cliche and uninspired East Coast riding. To me it’s something along the lines of “Make America Great Again”. It’s just some phrase that sounds good and feels like it should mean something but in reality it’s often used to justify a lack of real substance, closer to an excuse if anything.

But like I said I don’t disagree with it. I do like the concept behind “less is more” and I think this Mark Gralla’s section is what best describes it. Outside of his riding not being on the technical side and also being the epitome of what a lot of people’s idea of East Coast riding should be. “Less is more” is defined in different ways with his riding.

The easy way that whole “less is more” mentality manifests in his riding is his choice in spots and tricks or lack of tricks he does on them. Which is something anyone will notice about his riding immediately. It’s heavily unique spot based and he overcomes hurdles to make hard to ride spots interesting. It’s not about airing your standard 45 degree cellar door, at this point that’s just as uninteresting as a smith nose bar in some school in California.

To me, it’s stuff like this that makes his riding really interesting. It’s not a unique spot at all. In all honesty it’s probably the least interesting of what constitutes as a spot but he makes it work regardless. It’s a simple curb kicker setup. Everyones hopped one but no one would really try to make a clip out of it. Sure if it was just a boost out of it it’d be whatever but the fact that he included it with this hop up gap to cellar makes it work. There’s no barspin or anything but for some reason it’s better without it. That’s less is more.

It’s this too. It’s not hard or it’s not unusual but once again but in the context rest of the line it just works. It’s a great finishing touch to an otherwise pretty interesting line. It’s very minute but regardless it’s a detail that I think really matters. It’s not that he is finessing some extra trick in a line which I think a lot of line based riding that is popular today does, but more a continuation of a natural flow, like a final jump at some trails where it’s almost a wind down but still regardless an important aspect of riding the trails. He could’ve easily just rode off but he didn’t. It’s not impressive in any physical or even unique spot way but for some reason it’s almost the highlight of the whole line or at least equally viable.

I remember when I first saw this power manuel? down the curb. It was the coolest thing. Once again to reiterate the whole point of this, it’s really nothing but at the same time everything. It’s little pieces of style aesthetics on the bike that makes it cool. It’s not some goofy tennis ball in the wheel for street points or frivalous skid that serves no real function or anything completely frivolous and forced like that. It’s still on the bike maneuvers aesthetics which is ultimately everything in BMX. It truly is “less is more” in the sense that a better rider could’ve easily trucked off it but a power manuel just works so much better. Trucks are cool, don’t get me wrong but it’s working with what you have, little or not and making most of it that I think less is more should be. Like Tom White doesn’t have tricks and he doesn’t ride anything like Mark Gralla but he still has that strong “less is more” philosophy where the limited palette of tricks he has is expanded to it’s full capabilities. “Less is more” is not an excuse for East Coast riding to be never progress beyond what the forefathers of East Coast riding created cause less being less is completely a real thing.

And one a sort of related note. Sometimes more is better. Personally for me I’m a simple person and that expands to all areas of my life including bike riding but Butcher’s riding is “more is more” and it’s a thousands times better than most people could ever dream of. Same with Ryan Niranonta where he adds a bunch of strange nuances like switch footed and oppo, left in right to the point you’re all discombobulated, another case where more is more.

Mark Gralla

Orris Root Powder by Metal Fingers

Skavenger (2012)

Edited by Bob Scerbo

The new Skapegoat Projects DVD "Paracosm" is available now at Empire and other fine bike shops.

The new Skapegoat Projects video "Paracosm" is available now on DVD at Empire and other fine Bike Shops.

imeugene

SNIPPETS: Skapegoat ‘Paracosm’

Sometimes I read an interesting word and I wanna know what it means like id or control theory. Just a catchy simplified title to draw you into a complex world. Which is strangely similar to what a paracosm is. This is how Wikipedia definies paracosm.

“A paracosm is a detailed imaginary world. Paracosms are thought generally to originate in childhood and to have one or numerous creators. The creator of a paracosm has a complex and deeply felt relationship with this subjective universe, which may incorporate real-world or imaginary characters and conventions. Commonly having its own geography, history, and language, it is an experience that is often developed during childhood and continues over a long period of time, months or even years, as a sophisticated reality that can last into adulthood.[1]”

You read and you get it. It’s what BMX is. This imaginary world shared by people who see a handrail as something other than a railing to help move up and down stairs. BMX has it’s own history, geography, and language. Like what is Mt.Baldy to most the world but in BMX, the history and geography of it is so strong that it’s known to people all over the world. Instantly recognizable. And language well BMX has that too. Stoke, ratty, deah, a lot of which is unshared with the outside world. Paracosm is the perfect definition for what BMX is and in Skapegoat’s ‘Paracosm’, you enter Bob’s own form of it.

The thing about Bob’s paracosm is that the ideals that constitute this imaginary world of BMX is at odds with what is popular or mainstream a lot of times. Paracosm is uniquely Bob’s own personal vision of what BMX is and that’s evident throughout the video. Like there are no real cut and dry sections in a traditional sense, this isn’t some team video. Like Ratkid may have the last section but he certainly has his fair share of clips through out the video. A better indication of a section is where Bob maybe at the time. The places he frequents and the figures in the moment which is quite a lot of places actually. There is greater emphasis on the setting than any one individual rider. Whether the setting is a unknown small town spots in the Midwest, DIY park, or some skatepark rarely ever seen. It’s all exploratory. This is a trademark in what I constitute Bob’s style. With the Animal videos he explored the cities of the Northeast with the b-roll which constituted of the craziness of it all like some guy in lime green suit in Vinnie Sammon’s section in Cuts. With Paracosm it’s largely a Midwestern atmosphere that seems like at a stand still in time. It’s all a roadside attraction to Bob, something he explored in earlier Skapegoat videos.

To sum it up, the whole concept of letting the spot do most of talking is still very evident as with any Bob video. The riding is diverse and different from Chase Hawk to Garrett Hoogerhyde. The music just as diverse as the riding but like the rest of the video flows effortlessly cause of how all of it is put together in it’s seemless fashion. Paracosm is a trip video without actually being a trip video, which is what I think Skapegoat is all about. It’s definitely a classic for any older heads who enjoy that aspect of BMX, for the younger generation an 8 minute Ratkid section will have to do.

Skapegoat - Paracosm (2017)

Edited by Bob Scerbo

skapegoat256

Thanks for the review.