MANU INTERVIEW

AY YAI YAI!!! An interview with Manu! He is one of my favorite fingerboarders to watch and is also really kind as well. If you want some updates about the European scene, and the recent Fast Fingers 11 contest, read on. Here we go!
Can you introduce yourself?
Hi, my name is Emanuel "Manu" Oberle. I'm 19 years old; I live in Switzerland, Europe. Fingerboarding is an important part in my life and I love it.
Can you list your sponsors? ^_^
Blackriver-ramps, Gripskin ( soul sponsor), Arctic, WW'z
How long have you been fingerboarding, and what got you into it?
I bought my first TechDeck back in '99. But I wouldn't say this is when I started fingerboarding. It was just a big hype in our school and I learned an ollie (with sticker instead of griptape). But then I forget about it and time passed. I got back into it 5years ago, 2003, when I was in school with a friend of Boris Dietschi. He brought his Berlin Wood in the school and landed a kickflip. I was so stocked and couldn't stop fingerboard myself
So Fast Fingers 11 was this past week, how did the contest go?
What can I say.... no words can ever describe the feeling you get at such a great-organized fingerboard event. The contest itself was pretty sick. The first round was very long and a little bit boring with the time. But then again it's cool to have so many starters. The skill level was very high this time, but also the creativity of the riders is awesome.
Yeah, it's amazing what the scene over there has accomplished haha
It shows the rest of the community what can be accomplished and sets an example for others to follow.
Thx, god... uhm..
Yes it's cool to see what you can make out of fingerboarding. But therefore you need someone who lives for fingerboarding. It's hard work to get the respect from shop owners and skateboarders it deserves.
The thing is: Skateboarders always wanted the respect of all the people, and now they got something like that... But now they are also ignorant.
Yeah I just wanted to tell the people out there a little bit about what's really going on at such an event. 99% of the people are there to have fun, meeting people and fingerboard together. The whole contest thing is cool, but it's not like a football game where people forget the fun.
I had some really great experiences this year. I met a lot of funny people and we laugh and drink a lot together... We also had a nice after contest party and skate sessions. :)
That's great! I have a feeling a lot of people would really be focused on the contest itself rather than the social event.
But I can understand when people from the US that come to Europe for fingerboarding try to be good. Like Mike Schneider ;) he was very good. But you know, it costs money for the flight and some time to travel. So I think I also would try to be good ^^ This year there were no prices anyways. Everybody went outside the building after the final to smoke and chill. So they just threw the stuff out of the window.. It was very funny. But some thought it was unfair...
So are there any more events coming up?
Uhm there are quiet some I think. There is at least one skateboard exhibition where brr has his stand. Then there is WeissWurstiss-Jam in Munich. Everybody goes there and Winkler leads through the city to some outdoor spots ;) There will be a European championship at the 22nd of November in Austria, organized by Fingaspeak. And I hope to have some great sessions this summer with a lot of guys
Shoutouts?
First of all, thank you for interview ;) keep it up with this blog. I know it's a hard work, but it's worth it! There should be more fingerboarder like you. There are too many haters out there. Support fingerboarding and stay positive. I want to thank every fingerboarder out there! Have fun and stay real. Fingerboarding never dies!
Thanks to Gripskin-/, NWDC-/, BRR-/, WW'z-teammembers. Thanks to all the ones I forget and I want to meet again this year.
Thanks a bunch Manu for the interview! You are a great fingerboarder!

Some team changes as of late. Tim Alexiel has jumped from Summit Hardware to Arctic, Shane Young has been added to the roster over at Anchor Grip, as well as Ben Mullen.
In other news, Portuguese deck company Yellowood is officially open for business, you can buy products at www.yellowoodstore.com
although they are currently sold out at the moment, expect a restock sometime in the near future.
Entries have officially been closed for the second annual Finger Flip Inc. Rail Jam, expect to see the winners posted June 1st.
All of the entries were sick, good luck to all competitors.
Be on the lookout for the new Make Believe Marble ledge, it looks sick.

congrats to all who had gotten sponsored!

ERIC SMITH INTERVEIW

Q: When did you start fingerboarding?

A: I guess my first interest in it, was around 1996. I started with forming credit cards, cardboard, and stuff like that to mess around with. At first, I just imagined there being trucks and wheels and stuff, so it wasn't exactly fingerboarding yet... But soon after, I started to use paperclips for trucks, or anything I could find. That was, until I found some cool keychain decks at my local skate shop. A few years after that, Tech Deck came out, which was a HUGE upgrade to what I was using, and it got me into it even more.

Q: When did you first get into the online scene?

A: It was only about 3 years ago. I don't know why, but I never thought to look it up online, or search for videos or anything like that. I just did it with friends after a day of skating, or in class when all my work was done or when there was nothing else to do.

Q: Yeah true that. So do your friends still fingerboard? I have like a group of 5 or 6 close friends that shred still haha

A: Pretty much only one of my friends still does it. His name is Zack Parham, and he shreds it up! Actually, two of my friends Zack Parham, and Casey Burnett heheh

Q: Can you list your sponsors off? DONT FORGET ANY~!!! Or else...

Yeah, didn’t you film a mini with Zach?

A: Yep, I did. With my still picture cam, and he's got a mini online too. As for my sponsors, a few are inactive, and are probably dead. But I'll mention them anyway.

Primo obstacles, Eurollt wheels (probably dead, in all honesty, i'm addicted to wheels with bearings and that's all i use now so i'd have to leave anyway), Public Trucks (most likely dead, and moses ran off with a lot of peoples money... so that's not something i'd like to support... it's a shame though, had potential), Priest Oldschools (never officially dead, but never officially open hahah)

I have a few offers that I'm thinking of accepting, but I only like to take an offer if I absolutely love the product, and want to support them.

Oh yeah, I forgot BRR.

hardy har har.

Q:shit you are sponsored by BRR?

A:Yeah, but then I woke up.

Q: poo..haha..

So is there anything that inspires you to fingerboard?

In otherwords, makes you pick one up and sesh

A: Skateboarding mostly. I love realism.

Also, seeing people have fun with fingerboarding, that gets me hyped.

I love clean styles too.

Q: Yeah I love the way you fingerboard, quick and clean

fast paced and creative stuff haha

A: Thanks, man. I love the way you fingerboard too, and I'm not just saying that because you said that to me hahah.

Q: Haha thanks, besides fingerboarding, what are some of your other interests?

A: Art. I have a strong passion for many types of art. Music also falls in that category for me. I love to listen, and create music. I'm also into design. Visual communication.

Q: So are you interested in drawing or anything like that? or just looking at art?

A: When I was younger, that was the main thing I did in art. But later on, I began to do a lot more, and sort of stopped drawing as much as I used to. I do all sorts of things now such as digital work, collage, drawing, mixed media, etc. I love to create, look at art, and interact with artists of all types.

Q: Yeah definitely

Do you have any advice for those who have just entered the scene?

A: Yeah. Just be respectful to others, and be humble about things. Even to the people that have been a part of the scene for a long time should do that, but a lot of people have this elitist vibe that really gets on my nerves. Most of all, have fun with what you're doing, because after all that's the only thing that matters.

Q: All right well I got one more question before I go to the movies

How did you get to be so god damn good?

a thread

A: I don't know heheh. I'm a pretty fast learner, and a slight perfectionist. I guess both of those combined is a good solution heheh.

Q: For sure, so on the video where you were shredding the bowl. Did you practice that over and over til you perfected it? Cause the tricks were flawless haha

A: I do come up with lines that are patterns, and I'll sometimes change them up a little bit or whatever, but I remember a bunch of different lines so things will keep a nice flow. There's no points where I'll be going slower trying to think of what trick to do next and stuff like that.

Sometimes I just do whatever though. But I do like to come up with patterns as well.

Yeah, another reason I do that sometimes, is because I find myself repeating tricks a lot otherwise.

Q: Any last things to say or shout outs?

A: Fingerboard because you love it, don't fingerboard to impress anybody. Don't be ashamed either. There's a lot of people who have this strange view about fingerboarding, and it's quite odd. Never quit because somebody is not educated in realizing what it truly is, and thinks it's "childish", or anything like that.

FFI RAIL JAM PREVIEWS

Eric Smith - (1st) As defending champion of the last Rail Jam, Eric has a target on his back for this years rail jam. Eric performs super creative tricks which he executes flawlessly, and it will be tough for the other competitors to dethrone him. Eric hasn't released any footage in the past three months, but hopefully he is saving up for the Rail Jam.

Taylor Lucas - (2nd) Last year, Taylor proved he is one of the elite fingerboarders in the world by taking 2nd place. If it wasn't for Eric's fingerboard perfection, Taylor would have had the target placed on his back. Taylor performs super difficult tricks with a very clean style.

Nic Herzog - (3rd) Nic's video was the most visually stunning of the lot last year. I was actually surprised when Nic placed third, as I had thought he was going to win it all. The tricks he did film were really smooth, but I don't think he filmed as wide of a variety as Taylor or Eric. Anyways, expect Nic to show up for this contest.

Boris Dietschi - Boris displayed his mastery of Nollie popshovit variations. Even with perfectly performed Nollie 360 Shovit Nosegrinds to Nollie 360 Shovit F/S Blunts, Boris did not make it to the top 3. The judges felt that he did not perform a good variety of tricks. This year I expect him to put together a video with greater variety of tricks. If Boris has more variety in his entry, it would be no surprise if he got in the Top 3.

Elias Assmuth - (Did Not Enter) Elias Assmuth is one of the most skilled fingerboarders in the world. A butter smooth style coupled with robot-like consistency, Elias has proven himself by winning contests in Germany. Who knows if Elias will enter this year, I personally doubt it with Fast-Fingers 11 just around the corner. If he does decide to enter, he could easily win it all.

Alex McMillan - (Did Not Enter) Alex didn't enter last year. Alex doesn't know if he will enter this year. Alex is super good. Alex better enter because Alex performs the most technical tricks possible.

Other people I expect to place high would be Mike Schneider, Taylor Rosenbauer, Tim Hurley

FFI RAIL JAM 08

FFI RAIL JAM NEWS

The Rail Jam deadline is within sight! At the moment, 17 people have submitted their entries, and over 60 people have registered. So far, the submissions have set the bar very high. Tim Hurley's Nollie 360flip B/S Nosegrind Nollie Kickflip out was smooooooth and his Nollie F/S Tailslide Hardflip Late Revert out was ridiculous! The Nollie F/S Tailslide 360flip by Andrew Bowman, 360flip B/S 5050 kickflip roll thingey 5050 180 by Mike Schneider and Jay Linehan's Polejam tricks all stood out to me.

With more entries sure to pour in at the last moment, it certainly will be a fight to the end.


GOOD LUCK TO ALL WHO ENTERED!!!

mike schneider at fast fingers 11!!!

ohh yeah hope every one knew that mike was shredding down at the fast fingers 11 this year IN GERMANY!!!

American Mike Schneider placed 8th in this years contest which is really impressive. Great job Mike!

FAST FINGERS 11 RESULTS

Here are the results from Fast Fingers 11!

1 elias assmuth
2 dimitrj schlotthauer
3 boris dietschi
4 jeldo ulpts
5 sheryl ann hartmann
6 timo kranz
7 marc gork
8 mike schneider
9 markus schmidinger
10 lennart behnke
11 manu oberle
12 max von nolting
13 harald schön
14 philipp ziegler
15 tobias phieler
16 valerij müller
17 daniel durku
18 lucas lipowec
19 bene müller
20 david wagner
21 marcel zickler
22 göran wiesniewski
23 emil ebner
24 stefan klauser
25 atila lakatos
26 tim freudensprung
27 ramon angelow
28 philipp reinhard
29 julien klein
30 nic herzog

CONGRATS TO ALL WHO ENTERED