This issue is nearly two weeks late. It’s not our fault it is spring’s fault. Spring’s sultry voice lured all of us out to play with her. We did everything but work in the weeks leading up to this issue’s deadline. Instead of working I spent a whole afternoon drinking beer and watching the family of blue jays that have made their home in the tree next to the office. Ah spring! One-day spring turned into summer and we still had not gotten the magazine off to the printer. Our final deadline that had been pushed back and back just happened to fall on GO SKATEBOARDING DAY. It is a miracle that this issue is in your hands. Luckily for all of us I rolled my ankle first thing in the morning while trying to skate the ledge I inherited from this year’s Battle Of The Shops (check out the coverage here). In the past all of our lagging wouldn’t have really mattered too much but now we have newsstand distributors to appease. I have made every effort possible to stop this magazine from progressing all attempts have failed. We are blowing up! Enjoy this one.
Untitled Document
At the end of this interview Chad asked me if I was going to write an introduction to his feature. I always write an introduction to everyone’s interview. “Why was Chad so concerned about his intro?” I wondered. Perhaps he was worried that I would take the low road and only call attention to the seedier parts of the interview. Like, the fact, a gay porn star shares his name or that he acquired the dubious nickname “Baby Arm” regarding a certain part of his anatomy. I’ll tell you right now, that was not the plan. The plan is to write about the new smarter, stronger, sober Chad Knight. And the fact that CHAD KNIGHT IS BACK BITCHES! Read More
All in all, I’m a pretty restless person. I’m not sure whether it’s a virtue or one more of the many personality quirks that work to my detriment, but I just can’t seem to sit still, to find any sort of satisfaction within the mundane qualities of everyday life. Read More
AUTOMATIC MAGAZINE'S 2nd ANNUAL
BATTLE OF THE SHOPS
"Isn’t skateboarding the fucking greatest thing ever!” Brian Schaefer yelled from the deck of our handrail obstacle through the PA system. Moments later Marquise Preston charged past him and threw a kickflip crooks down the rail. Yes, Brian. Skateboarding is the greatest fucking thing ever! Read More
Normal people don’t go to Syria and skate. But then again, normal people aren’t tracking down fat-assed Druze businessmen who have stolen money from Somali warlords. This all started about three years ago. I had met Jay early in college and we had crafted a sweet plan that included, among other things, doing contract work for the government. Our skills honed (me: linguistics, Jay: Islam, history ballistics), we were ready to rule the intelligence world, especially after 9/11 when Mohammaden know-how was getting eaten up with a spoon. Read More
‘Round About 1842 the rock for this bench that Jackson Curtin is skating was mined from a quarry in Joliet Indiana. Read More
Right now skateboarders are living through the second skate park boom. The thing is, most of the parks going up around the country are built by contactors that are clueless. Usually it’s the result of a group of city parks department fucks slapping together some piece of shit design that they see as a way to get skaters off their backs and off the streets without seeming like pricks, but in the worst cases it’s a result of a great plan being blown by a contractor knows nothing about skateboarding. These images were sent to us by a reader in New England. The company that built the parks is called Scituate Concrete Pipe. Read More
18 year-old Jake Smith is originally from Salt Lake City, Utah. Now he lives in San Diego California and works at Utility Boardshop in Del Mar. I've seen Jake skate in person a lot over the last year and half, but I had never talked to him. I didn't even realize it was him while I was doing this interview. But now that I know who he is and started to get to know him better, I realized he is down to earth and easy to talk to. If he happens to be grip taping the board you just bought at Utility don't be afraid to say, “what's up” and bullshit with the dude, 'cause he's a good human-being from Utah. Read More
I was listening to your first album, If Looks Could Kill I’d Watch You Die, and then listened to the new one, Death For Life, back-to-back. It seems that you guys have grown from your roots in punk and hardcore and became the metal band that you always kinda flirted with being. Read More
