about this issue

After months of fighting the Global Financial Crisis with bio-chemical warfare and home–made shanks, we dropped Issue #007 to wild applause in the sweltering heat of December. We interviewed Avalon grom Andrew Lindop to find out what it’s like having your leg ripped apart by a Great White and also to see how he’s been dealing with all the consequential media attention. We caught up with Mark Errikson from Pittwater Council to give you up-to-date information regarding the Mona Vale skatepark upgrade and hung out with booger Max Arent-Highfield from his dope pad over-looking Whale Beach. We profiled multi-skilled surfing sweetheart Max Weston and blew semen all through our pants when we first laid eyes on the art spread from Insight’s creative-director, Steve Gorrow. We kicked it with Justin and Jonson Seelenmeyer, the brothers behind locally-based streetwear label Plasidapparel, and got deep with Scott Von Ryper from The Black Ryder about their killer debut album.

the magazine

feature artist – steve gorrow. artist extroadinaire – pg.30

	Can we just say how stoked we are to have steve on board for our seventh issue. Everything the dude does turns to artistic gold… including this month’s cover. To see more of steve’s work, check out the insight website here and look under ‘garage art’.

surf – max weston. surfie dude – pg.20

Prior to doing this here story, I didn’t know Max. I had seen him surf only once: in the under-18’s final of the Ali Classic earlier this year, which he convincingly took out. After a few inquiries I learnt his skills on a shortboard transferred over to a longboard, and that was enough to convince me this kid should be on the pages of Grapevine. But instead of asking him the same old ignorant questions (ie. “Where do you see yourself in 239 years?”), I rounded up some stakeholders in his life, and got them to fire off the Q’s.

bodyboard – max arent-highfield – pg.46

“Just like a lot of industries, it’s not so much what you know, but who you know. Sounds shallow, but it’s true. I was lucky enough to grow up with a lot of positive influences around me like BP (Ben Player), TP (Toby Player) and Chris James. So when I started surfing OK, these people gave me direction, which I am super grateful for. Not to say you can’t do it without it, but having someone notice potential, and laying it down how you should do it, helps like fuck. I’ve actually started running little Friday arvo/ Saturday morning coaching clinics with kids that aspire to develop their riding, and when it comes to it, pick up sponsors…” - Max Aren’t-Highfield

fashion – plasidapparel. sweet threads – pg.52

It’s never easy setting up a business. It takes preparation, time, money and perseverance. You’ll need to register your business name, apply for an ABN, enrol for GST, and then you’ll need to think about your location, hours of operation, rent, intellectual property, marketing, insurance, web hosting contracts, email plans, business cards, taxation. Fuck, I could go on forever. Local men’s and women’s streetwear label, plasidapparel, has established all the prerequisites of any successful business, and are now reaping the rewards for all their hard work and toil. http://plasidapparel.com/

feature/interview – andrew lindop. sharkboy – pg.36

As a mag geared towards the increasingly cynical and hard to impress youth, we here at Grapevine diligently keep our collective fingers on the pulse so that you, our beloved readers, can reap the rewards of our up-to-datedness. For example; the coolest new band we know about has to be King Of Leons with their brilliant new tune, ‘Sex On Fire’. In the fashion department we hold it down clad in black tight jeans and Ramones tees. We also really like the Twilight books and changing words like ‘totally’ into ‘totes’. Our content is no slouch in the cutting-edge department, either. So prepare yourselves for something eye-rubbingly fresh and unheard of: an interview with Avalon teenager Andrew Lindop, the dude who was attacked by a shark just recently.

skate – skate demo. volcom team – pg.40

It was in our second issue that we published a story about a proposed $900 000 skate facility to be built at Mona Vale’s Kitchener Park. That was close to two years ago. Since that time there hasn’t been a hint of new construction, and the existing skatepark has become increasingly dilapidated. But what confuses me is why Avalon skatepark was the recent recipient of a lovely new facelift, befitting of any North Shore housewife, when Mona is in such dire need. The reason I’m confused: Avalon was okay before the remodeling, in comparison to Mona Vale it was like a world class facility. Yet there Mona bowl sits, like the fat kid your parents forced you to invite to your birthday, awaiting some TLC that will ultimately transform it into the most awesome friend imaginable.