News From Osiris

Please state your full name and the current city you reside in.
Paul Leroy Sewell and I live in El Cajon,CA. East County son!

I know that recently you have been working hard filming for the SHUFFL video, tell us a little bit about that.
Yeah man! I’m really excited about this project because it’s a dope crew and a solid line up. There will be full parts from John Lupfer, Ryan Harris, Dave Abair, David Cole, Austin Kanfoush, Walker Ryan and myself with Walker being the mastermind behind it. Walker is the illest and we need more people like him in the industry. The video has the potential to be amazing because everyone has their own flavor to add to it.

Some people might not know this but you are a college educated man, what and where did you study?
I studied finance at SDSU(San Diego State) and it was the hardest thing I ever had to do, mainly because I still wanted to keep skating, it was a tough balance. I did it though and it shows that anything is possible if you are not lazy. I’m backing education 100%.

You ride for what I consider to be the best shop in San Diego, Pacific Drive, wanna give any shout outs to some of the boys over there?
Hell yeah that’s my family! Gotta give love to Jim Ruonala(owner) for having my back all these years. The dude has had to put up with a lot over there, respect. Shouts to Larue, Poo, Jesse, Truck and the dudes who originally hooked me up: Cuong Lieng, Marshall Clark, Bill Thompson, and Pete Jimenez. Love you guys PD for life.

Some people including myself were confused about the term “Thuggy Smurf” can you give us a nice detailed description of what kind of person this is, and where we might find them skating.
Hahahaha, by the way I like to write out hahahaha instead of lol. Those abbreviated terms are ridiculous to me. Anyways, a thuggy smurf is a short skateboarder with big clothes and a thugged out skate style. You know what I mean, like a tough skate swagger. They usually have a gangster lingo as well. Thuggy smurfs are the illest!

Who’s your favorite Seinfeld character?
It would have to be George, but Newman is a close second. Some have come to compare me to Costanza which sucks, but is tight at the same time. Best show ever! “George is getting upset!”

Mine is Crazy Joe Davola, he’s a bit underrated, do you own all the episodes on dvd?
Davola is underrated, but what about Joe Mayo or Bob Sacamano? Yes I do my girl bought them for me for Christmas one year, thanks Lola Smith! I am a proud owner of every Seinfeld episode known to man, Hainault, Fitz, and I nerd out on that stuff all day.

Who are your favorite SD native sons?
Peter Hewitt, Danny Wallace, Shuriken Shannon, John Lupfer, Kellen James, J.T. Aultz, Cuong Lieng, Mike Fitz, Connelly, Zammit, Adrian Lopez, Marcelle Johnson, Jimmy Carlin, Peter Smolik, Surrey, Wes Kremer, Alex Horn, and the Ollie Essay! There are many more….SD baby! Don’t hate on the out of city hats, I just like the color!

Sheckler has a new Milk commercial, what do you think of it?
Hahaha, yeah that’s beyond me, but what are you gonna do? People are just never satisfied and always think they need more money when they have millions! If that’s what makes him happy more power to him, definitely isn’t the route I’d choose.

If there was a freestyle rap battle between Jereme Rogers a.ka. The White Whisper and Jimmy Carlin a.k.a Dj Dunce Cap, who do you think would win?
Carlin or Dj Dunce Cap by a long shot! He doesn’t care and does not take it seriously. So all kinds of lyrics would be flowing out of him naturally. The dude has flows for days, cant wait to hear the l.p. some time in the future. You rule Jimmy.

What can we expect to see from you in the coming year?
Hopefully lots of skating , finishing up this part for SHUFFL and onto bigger and better if companies are willing to give me the opportunity. Traveling a lot and just following my heart. Always do what makes you happy.

Paul is currently filming for a homie video Walker Ryan will be putting out with the help of C1rca and Organika. Check out some clips that didn’t make the cut. Filmed and edited by: RJ Hess

Name:
Eric Viccarone

Age:
19

Where are you from and where do you currently live:
Born in Las Vegas and raised in good ol’ Cleveland, Ohio! Currently living in Oceanside, California.

So how are you adjusting to life in California:
Adjusting… Hard times and lots of anxiety.

How awesome are your new roommates:
Well this guy named Bill likes to hassle me every chance he gets, but his wife is pretty awesome. Ohio Dave, well everyone knows that he is the man.

Who is helping you out these days:
FABLE HOLLA! Osiris, Workshop, Venture, Hubba, Innes, Ohio Losers, and Loopdy Loops. A good friend that goes by JR who is pretty much the reason I am skating today.

How often do you go to a spot and blow it:
Well, just about every time I go anywhere.

When you land a trick, do you ever not tic-tac out of it:
Tic-tacs taste really good, so I thought maybe they would add flavor to my skating.

When are you moving back to Cleveland:
When I decide that I cant skate anymore, but there will be many visits. GO CAVS!

Brad wants to know why you don’t ever where a hat:
There was this one time when I was at my homies house in N. Hollywood (Ohio House) and Kevin Terpening really wanted me to try his hat on to see what I would look like, and I wouldn’t do it and ever since I just hate hats.

What was your favorite scene in Brokeback Mountain:
You would ask that, and I actually have not seen it. Whats yours?

Would you rather ride a skateboard, a paddle boat, or a big wheel:
Well it’s a toss up between the paddle boat and big wheel. I think I’m going to go with the paddle boat.

Closing comments:
Make it happen!

1. So Mr. Lupfer, how’s life treating you right now in San Diego?
No complaints my friend. My days are filled with skating, and my nights are filled with “nunya.”


2. San Diego County is chock-full of amazing talent, who would you say are your top five favorite native sons?
Well as far as natives, you got SK858 holdin it down, J. Cao, and Jamie P. Then you got the transplants like Walker Ryan who’s on a killing spree right now. I don’t know man. Everyone. There really isn’t cliques or vibes in San Diego. Everyone rips. Everyone gets along. It’s mellow.


3. Some people might not know this about you, but your mom is Australian and you traveled there quite a bit when you were younger. Can you ever see yourself cruising over there for a few years?
Oh man, if I won the lottery today I’d retire there tomorrow. I got citizenship. I’m chillin.


4. Now on that same note, who are your top five favorite skaters from OZ?
I’ll just say Duncombe takes the cake. Dude’s the homie, and he’s definitely not afraid to charge some beers and shred.

5. Recently it was announced that we are officially in a recession. Have you seen that affect the skateboarding industry?
Everyone Is losing their jobs and minds. Gotta keep your head up.

6. A lot of people are really optimistic about what President Obama has planned, including trying to remedy our financial issues. How do you feel about the new guy going into action?
I’m just hyped there’s a brotha in the white house. Time for a change for sure. Dudes legit. He’ll handle it the best he can.


7. Lets shift to something not so heavy. What’s in your stereo on the way to the session?
Lil Wayne mixtapes. All day. Every day. If you don’t like it, catch a ride with someone else.


8. Who are you usually skating with on a daily basis?
I usually swoop up Ivery to film in the morning, which means afternoon and pretty much just skate with all my roommates and whoever else wants in.


9. We all know that San Diego has the best Mexican food that you can find. When you have people coming through from out of town, what spot do you take them to?

Super Bronco in Linda Vista. Hands down best place. Right by the house and pretty ladies working there. Alllllllll good.


10. What’s the burrito you get?
Cali.

11. What is in store for you in 2009?
Filmin for the Stereo vid. Shootin some flicks. Havin a good time.

Photos by Jason Hainault

1. Let’s start off with how the nickname “The Butcher” originated?

Back in 1998 I was with Jake Phelps and Phil Shao at Jake´s office, and they asked me if I had a nickname back in Argentina. I told them that some of my friends called me “labucha”, and since it sounded like “Butcher” they said, “That’s perfect, when you skate your hands look like Butcher’s knives and you love meat, you are ‘The Butcher’”

2. I remember when I first started seeing you in the mags, you kickflip back tailed Hubba back in the Think days. How have things changed since those days and how did Toy Machine come about?

Some things are still the same. I can still do kickflip back tails, and I can still skate, but switching to Toy Machine made my skating better. Skating with Ed and the rest of the guys made me push myself even more. Getting on Toy Machine happened after I went on a trip to Argentina with Ed, Austin and Caswell (the whole team back then), and realized that Think wasn’t my place anymore, so I told Ed how I felt and after the trip I left Think and got on Toy.

3. I know that you’re into photography. How long have you been shooting photos for, and do you remember your first published photo you had in a magazine?

I have been shooting photos for about 15 years since I went to the University back in Argentina and studied graphic design. One of the classes was photography, and I learned how to develop and print B&W photos. That was great. After that, I kept shooting on every trip that I have been on. Over the years I bought better cameras and got more serious about it. Now I’ve been shooting skate photos, and it’s really fun. My first photo published was actually in Thrasher back in 2001. Luke Ogden shot the cover of Steve Bailey doing a FS ollie over some latter, and I shot a double angle. It was really small, but after that I got some stuff published in Kingpin and then Thrasher.

4. It seems like for a while Osiris had their OG Storm crew going strong and then you and a couple of others got on. When did you start riding for Osiris, and who was the one that hooked that up?

I got on when Chris Pastras was the team manager. He called me up one day and told me that they wanted to change the team and that they wanted me to be part of that change. That was back in 2003.

5. You’ve been living in Barcelona for a minute now. What would you say are the pros and cons about being a pro for American brands and living in Europe?

The pros are that I can skate everyday without getting in my car, and the cons are that I’m not around for all the shop signings and little US trips.

6. Throughout the years of skating, what are some of the videos that influenced you growing up in the past and present?

Hokus Pokus, Video Days, Questionable and Welcome to Hell. I love all the Cliché videos. Fred is my favorite.

7. A few years back you ended up in the finals for the es’ game of SKATE against Koston and P-Rod. Pretty sick! What’s one of your go to moves when your playing SKATE?

SW BS 180 late front foot flip.

8. What would you say are some of the differences in growing up in Argentina skating compared to growing up in the states skating?

Rough spots and sketchy dudes stealing your board.

9. Hypothetically speaking, If you were riding for Osiris in the Storm days and had to room with one of the riders from back then, which one would it be?

Jerry Hsu or Louie Barletta.

10. Out of all the countries that you’ve been to thus far for skating, which one would you say you enjoyed the most?

ESPAÑA

11. Alright last question. If you had to choose one, would you rather back 180 the Sports Arena triple set that Jeremy Wray ollied or wear a pair of bright red D-3’s for a month straight? Which would it be?

BS 180 the Sports Arena wearing the bright red D3s

The photos below were shot by Diego.

 

Let’s start this thing off by getting your full name, age, and how long you’ve been riding your axe for? My name is Tom Remillard. I’m 17, and I’ve been skating for 9 years.

I remember you as the little booger creeping up into the office and thinking “who the hell is this little gromet chilling?” Tell us how you initially got hooked up with the Osiris. I was waiting for the bus after skating at the bridge and Bryan House was sitting with his chick, who I’m gunna add is hot as fuck, at the trolley stop. He came up to me, gave me his card, and told me to hit him up to go skate. I started skating this little mini ramp every Wednesday with him, Mike, and Coung during their lunch break and somehow I ended up on the flow deal.

It seems like you’ve been lurking around quite a few places since I first met you at the Clairemont park. Where do you spend most of your time shralping in SD, and what’s one of your favorite spots you’ve lurked on outta town? These days Washington St. has been super fun. As far as going out of town, Oregon is the best.

Every time we’re wrapping about skating you always have to drop knowledge on some skater that skated way before you were even born. First off I want to know how you always know these facts and second, which veteran pros influence you these days? I already know Cards is in there. I’m just a skate nerd I guess. The dudes that hype me up the most are Hewitt, Hitz, Heddings, and Cudlip: where you at dog? P-kid is sick to.

What was the newest bit of skate knowledge that you’ve learned? Arto Sari is on Alien Workshop and that bums me out a whole lot. That fool should be on flip for life.

I know your driving now. I hear from a lot of people you drive like a chinky-eyed maniac. How long have you been driving for, and have you gotten into any hyjinx while behind the wheel? I’ve been driving for about 8 months, and I’m still getting pulled over for looking under age. Shit sucks. As far as hyjinx goes, just a lot of fools looking at me because I look like I’m 13 behind the wheel.

So tell everyone what WSVT means and who came up with the term Suffer? WSVT stands for Washington St. Volleyball Team. Hitz is the one who came up with Suffer Camp, which is going to shitty ass spots and going for it knowing your going to slam. It’s just pure suffering.

I see you’ve been to a couple of contests this year little buddy. How do you feel about skating in those things? Is it more about getting out of San Diego or skating some new terrain? Contests are fun because you see people you haven’t seen for a while and you’re in a different place. I’m just trying to do as much as I can. You never know how many opportunities you’re gonna get. To do shit like that you just gotta jump in the van sometimes and see what happens.

If you had a go to trick what would it be? For most kids your age it would probably be a salad grind down a handrail, but I’m guessing yours is the front rock or rainbow slide right? Or am I wrong? Kickflip attempt.

How do you get to skate in these contests anyways? In other words who’s hooking you up these days kid? The dudes at Anti-Hero and Spitfire hook me up pretty good, and of course Osiris, Route 44 Skateshop, Ace Trucks and Alphanumeric shits back son and DAF.

Alright, one last question Hemi. If a meteor was going to hit our planet next week and you could pick any place in the world to skate at with any five people, which place would it be and what five skaters would it be? Sounds wack as fuck, but one last sesh at WSVT with Neil, Raven, Peter, Brandon, and that one Scottish fool with missing teeth.