THE NDN

For this week's NDN Insight I got ahold of Jeff (Brent Joey Joseph Chicken-Brent Rubberlegged TTS Jebediah Frodo @tweet) Stanger. He Shane Coburn'd some of these questions with some insightful walls of text but hey, we're all about that shit.

I put together an edit with Jeff's helmet clips to coincide with the release of his NDN Insight. Peep that edit after the interview.




1. You've played a big role in making the SLC blade scene what it is today, are you satisfied with the way things are turning out?

Wow. Thank you for saying so. At the very least all I ever wanted was for people to stop calling it skating. That's why I've pushed.

2. What are some similarities and differences you've noticed between the Boise blade scene and that of SLC?

Boise is one of my favorite scenes and also one of the cities I enjoy being in more than most others, so this shouldn’t be a difficult comparison:

-Snow is a major clip preventer in both cities. The price we pay in the winter for living in such sweet places for the other three glorious seasons. Requires us to get creative. Which rules.

-Both of our towns have a huge contributor that moves and shakes things to keep the scene moving. I consider Billy Anderson (aka Beastmaster) and yourself (aka Brent) to be in the same class of stand-up blade ambassadors. I catch Billy being a missionary for the church of bl8in all the time. Spreading the good word.

-Boise has so much substance for it’s tiny population, just like my town. Not only in spots but also in art/film/music culture.

3. What does The NDN mean to you?

Blading. Quality. Friends.

4. You're pretty well-known for your rubberknee AO Souls and TTS's. Would you consider the condition of your body pretty good? Do you take stretching and healthy eating into consideration?

You are an asshole for asking if healthy eating has anything to do with my daily thought processes. Anyone that has spent any time with me knows that I have the worst diet on earth.

But to answer the prior questions, I would consider my body’s condition to be quite good to well. Not quite at the wellness. I do a few other things when I’m not blading to keep in shape. Love riding my bike as often as I can (best way to discover spots). This winter I’ll be skiing more than I have in previous years. Just got a seasons pass today to a resort just down the road from my work. Really looking forward to that since blading won’t be as feasible once the dreaded snow hits.

5. Who are a few of your favorite bladers to watch lately?

I know that this is cliche to say because there are others that have publicly declared it but it is the goddamned truth: my favorite bladers to watch are the ones that look like they know how to rollerblade. Most people that don’t know have to rollerblade force their style and that’s just a vicious cycle. Those that just know how have their style come naturally and it’s a great thing to see. It is so much more presentable than people who overdo the fuck out of their take-offs and landings.

People that I think best represent modern-day blading are: Jon Bolino, Rob G, TORY TRESEDER, Kevin Yee, Dave Benski, Montre Livingston, Alex Broskow, Brian Aragon, Marcus Benevidas, Chris Haffey, Jeff Stockwell, Brandon Smith, Dustin Latimer, Chris Farmer, Erik Bailey, Erik Stokely, Kevin Carey, Travis Rhodes, and Jeremy Spira. I know that I just named half the superpros and a few ragtags but all of the people listed above are legit in my book. If I could get the whole lot of them together, I would make a video with Brazillionaire that’d be MTV ready and impress the bejesus out of the masses.




6. What's up with RollMart?

A not-so-brief history: Roll Mart was started in Spring 2006 by Cameron Card and myself. After a trip to Arizona we were inspired by Revolution to start a shop in Utah. Shortly after inception, Cameron handed everything over to me and we’ve remained buds ever since. Probably the only partnership to part ways and have no bad blood whatsoever.

The business never grew to be anything more than a shop-in-a-trunk and a few fixtures in my parents basement while I was in college. My old Honda (Thalmus) got us around to a lot of contests and filming weekends. One of the perks of owning a shop was that it took me to so many places and introduced me to so many people that I would not have had the opportunity to otherwise. There is no doubt in my mind about that.

Things were going fine and I was selling enough product to keep buying more. It had a really loyal following. People would constantly ask me if I was going to open a physical location. I never had the heart to tell anyone I didn’t think a physical location would survive in our small scene. At least, not on my sort of financial situation (college student, working another job just to buy goods, etc).

In early 2010 I was just graduated with my bachelors and had my sights set on a masters degree. There is no way I would have been able to give ample attention to both the shop and school. Either the bladers would have been neglected because I’d be so focused on school or my education would suffer because I’d be constantly running product to this town at this time of day or spending hours putting new product on the site. Just didn’t seem fair to me or the scene.

This is where Matt (Farnworth) and Zach (Nelson) came into play. They approached me with an offer to put Roll Mart in their skatepark they were (and are in the process of) building. I told them straight up that I would be happy to sell it to them and offer my assistance as they get their feet off the ground.

I really feel good about this. I did not want to leave the scene with nothing and just stop. It was great to be able to pass the torch to some dudes that are willing and able to pick up where I left off. Owning a shop is definitely not as awesome as people think but I wouldn’t change anything that happened to me because of Roll Mart. It is such a big part of my life that gave me back everything I put into it and then some.

7. You've witnessed a nice chunk of clips go down for DAYSHAPES (you've been lacing shit too, well done), are you excited for any parts in particular?

I do end up getting a lot of opportunities to both session with and witness my friends pulling clips. Especially if I’m not feeling a particular spot, then I get to see their blading as an outsider. With that being said, everyone that is getting sections are my boys. So, I’ll be hooting and hollering at the premiere for all of them!

8. Included with this NDN Insight is your 'Helmet Clips Edit'. What made you try out a helmet and what made you decide it's not for you?

When I lived up North, I would ride my bike and take the train to blade with Nicholas downtown. I didn’t and still don’t ride my bike without my helmet (don’t trust the average drivers ability to pay attention). At the time, I would roll my bike up the spot, put on my blades and take off my helmet. Thought it was silly to wear it during one dangerous activity and not another.

It was a good thing to try out and anyone that has an inkling to be safer while blading should definitely wear one. In the end it felt strange because two of my closest friends also wear helmets and I started to feel as though I were on some sort of bandwagon. They wear them and look boss, I felt it didn’t really fit my blading. I am proud of all of the clips I did get during my helmet-life and wanted to share them with everyone. Hope you enjoy them.

9. Top 5 South Park moments?

5. Coon and Friend obliterate San Francisco, Burning Man, and every Whole Foods on earth
4. The kid with downs-syndrome (Nathan) sells Jimmy steroids
3. The Canadians “I’m not your guy, buddy!” monologue
2. Bluntly confronting how insane many religious organizations are
1. Cartman’s dad is Mr Tenorman

10. Any hopes/plans for 2011?

-Since filming for the shapes will be over on new years, I hope to capture the last of my clips in Boise and celebrate 2011 there

-Nicholas and Courtney giving birth to a healthy baby girl

-Captain Dawn not getting married again

-Die-cut NDN stickers

-Apple releasing an impeccable iPhone 5 in June

-Matt & Zach’s dreams becoming reality

-Another good wave of shows like we had this fall

-Erik installing a @the_ndn tweet widget on the blog

-Getting comfortable enough financially to buy a new Honda

-Slaying mad hoes

-Never stop traveling

-Jazz getting all the glory. This is our year. SLC runnin’ this bitch now!

Jeff Stanger - An NDN Insight from erik bill on Vimeo.