4) Skating since: Remember when Ja Rule & Ashanti put that single out together?
5) Favorite Skate spot(s): Nothing beats a good rink session with the boys.
6) Favorite crew to skate with: I’m down to skate with anyone who is having a good time. Y’all know who you are <3
7) Last trick learned: I stopped keeping track awhile ago.
8) Favorite Trick: Bits, Whips, Chips, & Doo Dads
9) Besides skating, I like to: Skateboarding
is one of the most valuable things in my life, But only in combination
with all the other wonderful things out there.
10) Inspirations: …and the list goes on…
11) How
would you describe Damage, or Duluth in general: Crusty spots hold more
weight in my eye. Sunny California footage just can’t compare. As far as
Damage is concerned, It’s been the go-to spot for years. Having a local
shop is a crucial aspect to help bolster our skateboard community. 12) Goals for the summer: I’m just going to keep it loose & see what happens. 13)
Shout-outs, thank-yous, all that crap: My Family, My wife Robin, Taylor
Kline, Paul Hartman, Mike Rapaich, Jake Durham, Cody Paulson, Branovan,
Damage Crew, Cam & Pete, All the good Homies, & All the Duluth
skateboarders pushing our culture in a positive direction. Love Y’all.
-Sketchiest situation skateboarding or life in general:
Getting hit
by a van while bombing Lake St. was very sketchy. 25 stitches in the
forehead and a couple months of recovery, mentally and physically.
Thanks to all that helped me out that night.
- dome or handies?
I’m not picky.
- tell me about graffiti and how it plays a role in your life/skateboarding.
No thanks.
- spliff or true?
I like it straight up, But Petey is always passing the spliff’s around. See Pistol in:
Skate team rider Stephen Pestalozzi threw together this re-edit of Kevin Coakley's footage from Traffic's "Look Left" video and he did a fine job. Give it a watch for yourself!
Shop rider and employee Dan Spooner cruised through Duluth this winter with Stephen Pestalozzi behind the lens.
Dan's unique spot choices paired with his fun, laid back trick selection complement Stephen's approach to film making like milk complements chocolate chip cookies.
Make some time this Friday night to check out Plys with Purpose!
“ism”
A Duluth skateboarding film by Mike Rapaich & Stephen
Pestalozzi
featuring: Cameron Birkhofer, Surfer John, Josh Kuno, John Feick, Eric Covington, Stephen Pestalozzi, Andy Pearson, Justice Simmons, Colton Maddy, Steve Seitz, Bryan Slash Hansen, Matt Majerle, Nate Hynum
Video Premiere during “Plys with Purpose” alongside RiftCo’s
“We Watch”
Kiddo is a highly anticipated local skate video by Stephen Pestalozzi, Mike Rapaich and Steve Seitz in cahoots with Damage Boardshop. Kiddo will premiere in May of 2019. Stephen, Mike, and Steve have been behind the lenses of Sony VX cameras gathering footage of the diverse, raw and creative skateboarding that is unique to the cobblestone streets and steep hills of Duluth. In celebration of this special video Must Be Minnesota teamed up with Kiddo to create this very limited run of garments based on the aesthetic of the video. This capsule is only available here at Damage and through Must Be Minnesota. Good Luck.
The Pocket Park Challenge went off yesterday as skaters young and old tore apart the oldest park in Duluth. It was a cloudy day in the 60's, a perfect recipe for everyone involved. A new 40+ "Fedora" division was added this year to join the "Jacket" and "Tie" age groups. Big ups to Girl, Chocolate, Royal, Lakai and Happy Hour for sponsoring the event. Check out the Photos and results below!
Photos: Lloyd Fisher
Winners from left to right: Carter put together some impressive runs to take home his 4th "Jacket" title, Ollie cruised to his first "Tie" victory and his dad Eric skated solid all day and claimed the "Fedora" division. Josh Kuno took home best trick on the new DIY rail. Nice work dudes!
Jacket Division
1st - Carter Nguyen
2nd - Caleb Gibson
3rd - Stephen Pestalozzi
Tie Division
1st - Ollie Christopherson
2nd - Ian Gunnelson
3rd - Otto Winnings
Fedora Division
1st - Eric Christopherson
2nd - Bill Howes
3rd - Mark Villasenor
Eric greases a mean front board on the new DIY rail over the grass.
Josh Kuno stomped a front board pretzel out on the grass gap rail to take home best trick. Whether it's snow or concrete, Kuno riiiiips.
The trophies: jacket, tie and fedora.
Boss man Ben hyping up the judges and crowd.
Smooth operator Stephen Pestalozzi with a nosegrind on the bench.
It might be a contest but everyone is friends here.
Damage legend Kyle Walczak with that POP over the bank.
We are proud to announce the "HAVE YOU SAW MY HANDS?" collection. A collaborative effort between Stephen Pestalozzi and Wyatt Lindberg. Together they designed a deck, two sheets of grip, and four stickers.
The "chainsaw" graphic was inspired by our first shop deck from 2005.
The "woodsman" grip was inspired by Wyatt's dad, and younger brother Walker. They both enjoy hunting, fishing and being outdoors.
For a limited time get a FREE sticker pack with the purchase of a "chainsaw" shop deck and a sheet of shop grip!
I was always aware of and interested in the cinematography of skateboarding videos whenever I would watch them. After trying filming a few times with some friends using my family camera, I knew this was something I wanted to keep doing and progress at. It was so much fun! I wasn't really progressing with my skating as quickly as my friends were and being a filmer sounded more appealing to me. So in 2008, I bought a cheap Sony Handycam and a crappy fisheye off Ebay to get myself started. Filming has stuck with me ever since and it brings me more and more joy every time I do it. There's nothing like bringing home a batch of footage that you've filmed that you can put music to and experiment with. Filming can be more fun for me than skating itself sometimes.
What's your thought process when thinking about how to film a shot?
When filming a shot I always try to film each one different than the last. Looking at the environment is the most important part when figuring out a shot, in my opinion. After that, you can consider applying zoom, framing, panning, and movement to the environment.
I've had too many to have a favorite, but the St. Luke's lady was a pretty good one. Stephen got his trick right as she was screaming at the top of her lungs for us to get out ha ha. I've been ID'ed by officers downtown for skating countless times. They've all been pretty cool about it. Parking enforcers and Clean and Safe people have freaked out on us a few times. I've also had a few times where the person kicking us out is stoked on skating. That's always nice to encounter!
Have you ever taken a trip to film skateboarding outside of MN?
I've flown to Los Angeles twice to film and both times were amazing. Filming at Venice beach on my first trip in 2013 was one of the most memorable moments I've ever had. I can't even describe the feeling of going to all of the famous skate spots I saw in videos growing up and getting to skate/film at them. It was a dream come true. Oh yeah, and the burritos in LA are phenomenal. When it's summer in Minnesota, I'll take an occasional trip down to Minneapolis to film. There's nothing like watching a Minneapolis video by Chris Burt or Pete Spooner to get ya psyched on the Twin Cities spots!
Video you'd watch again and again?
Globe Opinion
What's your favorite edit you've made?
Probably the Spring Sprung edit from 2014
Who has the most on camera freak-outs?
Kyle Walczak
What else besides skateboarding and filming?
running, fishing, food, work, house
Some advice to the younger generation or any aspiring filmer..
Have fun and make friends! Come up with your own ideas and stick to em'.
Any projects you're working on or future planned projects??
:)
Shout-outs??
Everyone at and associated with Damage Boardshop and The Encounter. Taylor Kline at Prove Gallery and anyone that I've ever filmed/skated with. I cherish every relationship and there's just too many people to mention. You guys know who you are!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Give Mike a follow via Instagram @mikerapaich and also be sure to subscribe to his YouTube channel where you can dig back in the archives to watch some of his first edits as well as keep up on the latest.
Here's the latest edit from Mike featuring The Carter Building,
The Encounter, and a whole lot your favorite Duluth rippers.
The world premiere of shop team rider Josh Kuno’s highly anticipated ‘Dog Shit’ video is just under a week away. Filmed over the course of a global pandemic up until the first week of September 2023, this Duluth based full-length skate video was filmed exclusively on handycams and features footage from Twan Brown, Greg Brown, Jack Klander, Jackson Anderson, Stephen Simon, Bryan Malek, Josh Kuno and more! The video premieres at The Back Alley on Saturday, September 16th. Doors at 7. Video at 8. Tell your friends & remember to dress warm! This is an outdoor premiere.
Bring some cash! The Lamedogs will be releasing some merch as well as an expansive 70+ page full color zine by Taylor Kuno documenting the crew’s trials and tribulations during the filming process.
Drop all your plans for this evening and make sure you're at the worldwide premiere of "Kiddo", a skateboard video by Stephen Pestalozzi, Mike Rapaich and Steve Seitz in cahoots with the shop. See the poster and our facebook event page for more details...
As if the video premiere isn't enough, the official afterparty will be held at The Caddy Shack where you can expect drink specials and good times all night long. Don't miss out on this bangin' night!
Another Freestyle Fridays is in the books for 2012! A huge thanks goes out to all the fools who came out to get wild on some fun little setups. Whenever Airblaster is involved, you know it's going to be a night of good vibes and heavy shredding so give those guys your support! Airblaster, you guys kick ass!
Damage x Airblaster.
Crew of dirtbags getting ready to drop in...
Sam Luoma set up a devilish little elbow rail to get down on...
Matt Boody paying his dues...
Stephen Paulson trying to impress the ladies...
Airblaster held it down while Alex Long held it up.
Congrats to SAM for getting buckwild on the elbow rail!
Enjoy that fresh ninja suit Sam! We'll see you all next time!
We recently teamed up with our friends at MOB Grip to create this limited Damage x MOB griptape. Next time you need a new deck make sure it's gripped with a sheet of this!
On Saturday we held a kickflip challenge with our friends from ELEMENT. Ten skaters raced against the clock to see how many kickflips they could land in 60 seconds. Carter Nguyen came out on top landing an impressive 29 kickflips! That's almost one kickflip every two seconds!
The guys at ELEMENT got everyone pizza and hooked us up with some awesome prizes for our raffle which included the grand prize of an Element flatbar. Stephen Pestalozzi ended up being the lucky winner. Can we borrow that thing sometime Pistol?
Thanks to everyone who came out and made our kickflip challenge a success and a huge thanks to ELEMENT for making this happen AND making us the limited DAMAGE X ELEMENT 25th anniversary decks.
Jambox just dropped their summer video. Filmed entirely in Duluth with a gang of local rippers including Damage Dirtbags, Stephen Pestalozzi and Carter Nguyen!
Glue Skateboards is a brand new skate collective to the shop and also the world! Owned and operated by Leo Baker, Cher Stauberry and artist Stephen Ostrowski.
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