The future's open wide.

As of a few moments ago, my old and dear friend Steve Berra's website, The Berrics is hosting the world premiere of my band's latest video, "Must Be The One".

It is a video I directed, and since all of the principal "actors" are actual skateboarders, it's fitting that it debut on the largest skateboarding website in the world.

There is a funny back-story to mine and Berra's relationship and how we came to know one another nearly two decades ago, but I'll let him tell that story....

I can't stress enough how pleased I am that this video which I'm so very proud of is premiering on a website I spend so much time looking at and deeply respect. I was actually kind of surprised when Steve agreed to post it, I mean, after all, there isn't much skating in it (Though the extended cut which will be out in a few weeks will have some serious bangers from the leads, Casey, Nakel, Sagan, as well as Cash, Lui, Lucien and some other homies as well as some cameos from some very cool kids and friends of ours who didn't make the tight narrative edit of the video), and though it's shot at the North Hollywood Skate Plaza, all you really see is kids skating, not really doing tricks or anything heavy - but after Berra saw it what was clear was that he connected with the feeling of the piece...he totally understood what it was I was going for and he felt it.

To me what's important about the video is that it's real, at least a type of reality. It features real people. Real skaters, real girls - real kids, not actors or models, in fact, with the exception of two people, all of the stars are people who are either good friends or connected to me in one way or another, some even the children of my friends.

It had to be this way. The video I was trying to make was about kids being real. Not necessarily in the way we're accustomed to seeing kids behave, but in the way kids behave when no one's looking - when we're not worried about how we look, if we're being cool or sticking to the script of what's hip or not. I wanted to show the excitement of a crush, a first kiss, the nervous feeling in your stomach when you get that call or text that he or she is there, and the ensuing anxiety of what to wear.

I envisioned a somewhat idealistic view of the quintessential California experience of youth.

Call it a webisode, a commercial for youth, a postcard of the San Fernando Valley - more than anything there was a tone and feeling I was trying to achieve, and with the help of a great team of people, I feel that we did just that.

It was of course, all anchored by the song that we wrote, cause after all it's a music video, but it had to be more than just that, cause when you first hear the song it feels like it should be playing over the end credits of a film, perhaps a teen love story, perhaps a coming of age movie, maybe both.

So when I was lying in bed in Aspen, Colorado thinking about all of these things in preparation for the video shoot that was less than a week away, it was only natural that it hit me like a bolt of lightning; Deborah Foreman, the Texas born beauty who embodied the San Fernando Valley like no one before or since in her portrayal of Julie Richmond in the motion picture, Valley Girl.

Suddenly I realized that the scene in my video where the girls were getting ready to head to the skatepark and meet up with the boys was missing one vital ingredient - the mom - and what could be cooler than having Deborah Foreman play her? It would be a nod and homage to Colleen Camp playing Deborah's mother in Valley Girl - not only the single most important film of my childhood (whose soundtrack influenced my ideas about music, whose story told me all I needed to know about love at all costs, and whose theme song, "Melt With You" was played at my very own wedding when I stepped on the glass to cheers of Mazel Tov…but I digress.). More to the point, this was a film that undoubtedly echoed throughout the album my bandmate and I had just completed, our love letter to the place we grew up, Valleyheart.

I sat up in bed and thought to myself, "If Julie Richmond was in my video, it would not only be completely full circle with her playing the mom and riffing on the scene where her and Stacey get ready before the big party at the beginning of the film, but it would be the cherry on top of what was already shaping up to be a video that put visuals to the sound and feeling of a full day and night in the San Fernando Valley in the summertime. Meta to say the least.

With my mind going 100 miles an hour I Googled her and found out that not only was she a Pilates instructor living in Los Angeles, but that she was even more stunning than ever.

And the kicker - her email was on her website.

"Dude", I said across the room to Adam who I was bunking with while attending the Winter X-Games, "Deborah Foreman....I'm gonna get Deborah Foreman to be in the video".

I don't remember his exact response, and though he loved the idea, he probably felt as I did, that it was a great idea, but too bad it will never happen.

I returned to LA, got back to my life and pre-production for the video, and though I mentioned the idea to my wife, I didn't dare do anything about it. The idea of cold-calling one of your heroes can be terrifying, and though I honestly knew she simply HAD to be in it, I did nothing - that is until two days before the shoot date.

As I sat down sometime around midnight and went over my shotlist, casting photos and visual references, I said to myself, "Fuck it", and wrote a very long, very honest, letter to Ms. Foreman.

I told her everything.

I told her that Adam and I grew up in the Valley and just how much her film inspired us and helped shape who we were as individuals and as a band, I told her that I knew of every single movie she'd ever done, including The Experts, I told her all about the concept behind Valleyheart, and that the album cover, album title, and the feeling within probably owes a debt to her and her performance in the film that had changed our lives, I told her that I knew every single frame, line, song cue, beat and moment from Valley Girl, and that there was literally no one who knew this film like I did.

And finally, I told her that at the risk of sounding incredibly presumptuous, that I would do for her what Quentin had done for Travolta and what P.T.A. had done for Phillip Baker Hall, that if she wanted to return to acting, that this was the way to do it, and I was going to not only reintroduce her to the world, but that I would do so in a way that was deserving of her legacy, her beauty and her talent.

I can't put into words how it felt when I heard the "ding" of my Mac Mail and saw the message in the inbox from Debby Foreman.

A few emails later and she agreed to do it, saying, "why not, I'm in", and I was the luckiest boy in the world, on the verge of tears as I said over and over to my wife, "can you even believe this?” while we sat in bed tripping the fuck out that this was actually happening.

When I set my mind to something it usually happens, that is if it's meant to be.

It's always been that way.

I immediately got on the phone with Adam and we shared a very meaningful, "wow" moment.

The next day I called Debby (as she prefers to be called), and heard the laugh I'd known since I was 10 years old.

Then it struck me - I was speaking to Julie Richmond, the first girl I ever fell in love with.

Two days later when I answered the knock on my front door, there she was. The same face, the same smile...it was truly dazzling.

Everyone on my team had their own Debby experience, Adam, Stefanie, Brooke, Ari, Matt....I mean, how could you not? The original Valley Girl was in my living room - the same place that houses every lobby card ever produced, the framed movie poster, the framed LP, and the wedding portrait taken moments after Stefanie and I kissed for the first time as man and wife to Randy and Julie's getaway music.

Around 7:30 AM, everyone had their coffee and got into wardrobe, and I spent some time going over what I had planned. I handed Debby and the girls a little 9-page scene I'd written a few hours before in the middle of the night. Debby laughed, asked if she was meant to memorize this in the hour before we began shooting and I told her no, it was merely a reference for the action.

When it came time to shoot her, it was no less than magical. Watching her on the monitor and directing her was a dream come true. She had the same sparkle, charm, sweetness, and sense of humor that made so many of us fall in love with her when we first saw her on the screen.

I simply cannot wait to release the long form extended cut with audio. Don't get me wrong, everything that is so wonderful about her comes through from the moment she enters frame (and what an entrance it is), but when you hear the dialogue between her and the girls, it's amazing - so real, so true, and so, so Debby.

When she left the set we handed her a bouquet of flowers and hugged goodbye, Adam did a little interview, snapped some photos, and off she went, but when she drove off, we knew watching Valley Girl would never be the same again, yes it would still be one of the most important films of our lives, but now it had taken on a different meaning.

Since then Adam and I have become friends with Debby, and we don't take that lightly.

I plan to make good on my promise to make her a star again, and she and I are looking forward to working together on several other projects I have planned. She is my muse, and how fucking lucky am I?

Adam and I have probably mentioned the soundtrack and film Valley Girl over a hundred times in interviews and it's actually something we discussed as a touchstone the first time we ever sat down to make music together, but never in a million years did we think that Deborah Fucking Foreman would be appearing in a music video of ours, let alone someone we talk to daily on Twitter.

Life is funny like that.

In the end, Valleyheart is a record about who we are and where we come from, and this video is a little piece of that.

I hope you enjoy it

Thank you to everyone who made it possible, especially Debby.

http://theberrics.com/

Fuckin' blue lights, read 'em their rights, drama.

Hendrix is one of those treats that you think you're gonna bum out on cause your buddy played the first two albums way too much back in the day and now you think it's all Purple Haze and all of that Axis bullshit, but when it comes down to it, if you were to throw on Electric Ladyland right now it would blow your mind.
This shot is just too good.





Finally found and downloaded the entire 1983 Topper Carew documentary that predated Breakin' AND Beat Street....Breakin' N' Enterin'.
Filmed in Los Angeles and featuring breakers in Venice Beach, at the Radiotron, and out in the streets, it features Chris "The Glove" Taylor, Ice-T, and some incredible breakdancers, among them one of my favorite crews ever, The Dominos, from Los Angeles, CA featuring Kidd Tuff, a dude who was pretty much my idol back then. Tuff was a ridiculous breaker who made the dudes from Breakin' look like Rerun from What's Happenin', and besides being a sick breaker, Tuff was also the first person to ever punch me in the face, which is pretty cool.
The soundtrack is now available on itunes, do yourself a favor and get up on this important piece of B-Boy history.





New Biltwell lid, good color, thinkin' about it.


Or the flat red. Can't decide.



Want.





Need.





Old New York City hookers are awesome, I mean, minus the whole VD, heroin and AIDS thing.





Speaking of VD.





It's official, I'm the laziest blogger ever.
Life has taken over, and child-rearing, recording an album, playing basketball, watching season after season of Friday Night Lights, writing two films and a pilot as well as trying to earn a living as a touring musician has rendered writing about shoes, motorcycles and The Hills obsolete.
I've gotta get my priorities straight.
The grey joints I've been wearing daily this summer are about to have some company.
Only 200 pairs are being sold, one to the kid.
Fingers crossed.





Just saw this old shirt that Piscitelli and Dill did.
I was both totally stoked and totally bummed that they used an image from the poster for my dad's gay biker flick, The Pink Angels, as I've been planning on doing bootleg shirts of the poster forevz. Oh well, I think I'll do it anyway, I kind of have seniority on that one.






And just in case you are wondering what movie I'm referring to...

Get outta my dreams, and into my car.

This is not the first time this man's face has graced this blog, only this time it is with great sadness and fond remembrance of my childhood that I pay my respects.
Addiction is a motherfucker.
Rest in peace, Lucas.

The greatest man alive.

When trying to find a clip of Timmy Cappelo greased up and playing the sax for an audience of hacky sack playing Santa Crusties, a would be vampire and his comic book reading metrosexual younger brother, I came across what is undoubtedly the greatest thing ever produced on the interweb.

Let me clear my thrrrrrroat!

I have set a goal that I will ride my bike to this event.
I wasn't able to go last year, and I heard it was epic.
My buddy Dan Druff won Best Pre-Unit, and everybody from SoCal in the moto world came out. This one promises to be even better. Check it out.
Now I just have to finish this god damn bike.



Babe Ruth.
From Northern England in the early 70's, a ruling rock band who recorded the classic break,
"The Mexican".
Essential.




The album artwork is simply incredible.





While the recorded version is my personal favorite, this is just ridiculous.





Max Cady, a total badass, and my role model tattoo-wise.
I'm not kidding.
Although I'm drawing the line at, "Loretta".





Though drastic and mean,
it really sums up how I feel when people push their vegan politics in my face.
If you don't want to eat or wear animals, fine, that's your choice, fantastic.
But don't feel like you have to tell me about it. Really.
It doesn't make you punk rock, and it doesn't make you Morrissey.
It just makes you vegan.
I don't rant about steak and ribs and how I wear leather,
so why do you have to politicize your seitan?
Cause the more you talk about it, the more it drives me to becoming Ted Nugent.






Still my dream car.
1969 Chrysler 300, though I wouldn't kick a 70' out of bed.





Saw the arabparrot at my boy DJ Adam 12's bday party at his 1985-1995 hip-hop club, Afex.
We may have made the no-fly list.





My boy Aaron Rose is kind of a fucking genius.
These are his new kicks he designed for DC.
Soon those crispy chocolate brown bastards on gonna be on these feet.





The new HD Forty Eight.
I think I'm feelin' this.
Not sure yet.
Wouldn't turn a free one down (Hint x 2),
but I'm looking forward to seeing it in person.
One thing is for sure, if I got this and took it over to Evil Spirit, we could definitely turn it into something special.





The best.





I should have covered this on the day of, but it's not about breaking the story, it's about experiencing life and writing about it, sometimes as it happens, sometimes after. For me, mostly after.
Last month we lost a man who was arguably one of the greatest writers of all time
For me, it was Nine Stories that drew me into the mind and the world of this American treasure, but in the end, Franny And Zooey still holds a special place in my heart.
If you are dating a girl and she doesn't like this book, run.






Terry and Donald.
I dig these guys a lot.
Nice to see them together in a pic.
Besides not being able to see your friends,
the only thing that sucks about living in LA is it's not New York.





Lost is back.

I'm on the one mission, to get a politician to honor or he's a goner, by the time I get to Arizona.

Basic Instinct has been on cable a lot lately.
My favorite part of the flick isn't the crotch shot, it's the locations in SF.
Michael Douglas shoots almost every film there, always has.
Although I dig it, I think I like San Francisco better in the movies than in person.
On another note, I like this picture.



This was a really important album for me as a kid.
Looking back, the movie probably did more harm than good, teaching middle class white kids in middle America what was lurking on the other side of town and providing a manual for how to dress, talk, and behave like a gangster.
I'd say this Dennis Hopper classic was ground zero for the "wankster".
Speaking of Hopper, "Billy" really dissed the ole' lady with the deathbed divorce thing.
Harsh toke to swallow after 13+ years of marriage.



Husbands.
Cassavetes.
Classic.



So nice, I gave it to you twice.



These lovely brass dog bone risers are up for auction on Ebay as we speak.
I happen to be selling them.
You should buy them so I can finish my bike.



Also on ebay right now is one of my favorite bikes on the interweb.
Never seen it in person, and now I doubt I ever will, but some lucky bidder is gonna come up on this beauty.



Happy birthday, brother. Thank you.

Mothership connection, getting girls affection, if your life needs correction, don't follow my direction.

If you Google "Tiny", this picture comes up.
Not what I was looking for to help me shorten a web address.



A friend just scored this guitar.
The Hohner Prinz.
I always thought the little purple guy played an old Fender Esquire like the boss, but it turns out it's actually what used to be a relatively cheap Tele copy until Prince collectors jacked up the price and made them increasingly hard to come by.
The original guitar is called the H.S. Anderson "Mad Cat", but after Prince made it famous circa "Controversy", "1999" and most famously in the film "Purple Rain", Cort released it as "The Prinz", followed by Hohner's version, "TE Prinz", but with a different headstock after Fender threatened a lawsuit.
I'm sure Prince has a grip of these just sitting in some velvet covered room collecting dust, but unless I meet a great 2nd story man I'll have to wait till some geek who doesn't realize what he has decides he wants to clean out his garage on ebay.




Crack kills.



Please?



I've never been a particularly huge Smashing Pumpkins fan.
I liked Gish, and I kind of love Siamese Dream, and if hard pressed, I guess there were some good songs after that, though no whole album moved me after the first two, the thing is my gripe has always been his predilection for the screaming voice and the quiet, screechy, cracking voice that seemed to dominate everything after.
My friend is working with him right now and said he was the sweetest guy you'd ever want to meet. She and a few other girls I know have been hanging with him a lot while he's been recording, they've been taking some pretty great photos and documenting the recording in a way that's pretty interesting and revealing, especially for a guy so secretive.
Billy posted this on Twitter a few weeks ago with a caption that explained how this was THE (emphasis his) amp he had recorded Gish and Siamese Dream with.
Now I'm not fanboy, but I have to say, if there's one thing that was always bullet proof, it was his guitar playing and in particular, his tone.
Sometimes an amp looks so good you know it's gonna sound good, like the Marshall JCM 800 head on cover of Fugazi's Red Medicine. This amp is one of those. It also made me wanna drag mine into the control room and plug it in.





No one ever talked about how weird he held his mouth. If you don't believe me, watch The Lost Boys in the scene where he meets the Frog brothers in the comic shop and says "Lex Luthor hadn't even been intro-DEUCED".





Speaking of deuce - (And I swear I didn't even remember this picture followed, so no pun intended) - I recently found out that my friend and landlord is selling the house we live in, so I have to move. I have begun to look into buying with my wife.
One house that was listed on The MLS actually had this picture posted in it's listing.
Cause nothing says "Buy This House" like a used quarter-roll of toilet paper.

And if you don't know, now you know.

GVSB.
Top 10 bands ever.
I have seen them on many occasions, sometimes in small venues pressed up against the front of the stage staring up from the monitors like a little girl, sometimes in larger venues, and once I even had the pleasure of opening up for them at the Troubador.
Seriously one of the most underrated bands of all time. Alexis is a monster drummer, Johnny Temple lays down the heaviest basslines since the Jesus Lizard, Scott McCloud is like a younger Peter Weller on cool pills, and Eli is the only person I've ever seen "rock out" on the keyboards without looking like a fey Thomas Dolby.
The coolest band ever. Period.



This pictures says a lot.
Growing up in LA, it takes a lot to make me fan out on someone.
Meeting T.A. was one of those times, and what made it even weirder was that he came up to me.
I won't reveal the circumstances, but I will tell you this; sometimes I still trip out that I know this dude. Total legend, total killer, and I want that surfboard bad.



As a black man, as a student of cinema, and as a guy who appreciates style, I am embarrassed to report that after 36 years of living and having had the soundtrack on vinyl for nearly as long, I have finally seen what is truly one of the greatest films of all time - The Mack.
Max Julien is now my hero on every level.
Humbled.






This picture sums up the feeling of a project I'm currently writing.
The "Rio" photo is obviously his most famous, but to me this Nagel has a lot of soul.



Douchebag.



Let's play tummy-sticks.

What planet? What channel? What station? Afrika from the Zulu Nation.

Once again I've let it go too long without posting. But in this instance I have an excuse, I've been touring like a madman behind a new EP my band released.

Since we last spoke I've been to - Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, New Orleans, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Atlanta, Nashville, D.C., NYC, Philly, Clifton Park, and Montreal.

At the moment I am typing this from my hotel room in Toronto, and after tomorrow's show in town we'll be heading to Detroit, Louisville, Chicago, Lawrence, and Denver.

Gnarly.

It's been fun as shit, the kids have been coming and showing the love, and I'm lucky to have such a good job; I can't complain.

I'm tired, but it's the good kind - hard work, sweat, playing rock and roll, and occasionally skateboarding, like here at the 6th St. Skatepark in Nashville.

If you find yourself in there, check it, it's connected to an all-ages venue called Rocket Town, the people who run it are cool, and the locals are friendly.

After our show I wanted to take a run before the bus left, and since they enforced the helmet rule, I had to buy one, but the spitfire gloves I scored in the shop made it worth it.

Adam 12 took some shots of me shredding in show clothes (note the tour laminate giving good air flair)

The gloves that made it worth buying the helmet.

OK.

Since it's been a while since we last spoke, this is not going to have the full impact, as it's going to seem bandwagon-esque, due to it's late arrival.

But I'm gonna go ahead and say it: SOA is the best show on TV. Period.

Well, maybe not BEST, as I recently, (read: TODAY) became ob'd with Mad Men, but SOA is definitely the most exciting show on TV.

I'm not gonna say I watched it from the beginning of the first season, cause that would be a lie.

I thought the posters looked gay, (by the way, I'm taking that word back to it's schoolyard meaning, deal with it).

I mean, NO ONE thought it looked good when the posters first went up. But between seasons I caught an episode and fell in love instantly.

I then bought the season on itunes and sat down for the next 4 days and watched the whole thing with my wife, and we were hooked.

I tried spreading the gospel and getting friends into it, but no one was biting, everyone who was into the MC world thought it was weak, and those who didn't know anything about bikes or the culture thought it would be too inside.

Still, I persisted, and told anyone who would listen about how epic this show was and when I wasn't Tweeting about it or posting something on my Facebook, I was hard-selling it to the unconverted like a snake oil salesman.

Come premiere night of Season Two it seems some people listened, cause now everyone who checked it out was telling me how sick it was. Granted, it was one of the most craze episodes of TV ever, let alone a record breaking season premiere for cable television, but the point is, those who doubted were now converts and suddenly I was the go-to guy to explain what was what and recap season 1 for the newly initiated.

I have done everything but rename my son Jax and write a spec script to submit to Kurt Sutter (debating doing so), but I digress.

While you could definitely nitpick it to death about authenticity, the point remains, it's fucking good television.

It would be lazy to call it The Soprano's set in the MC world, but I have even done so when someone didn't get the, "Hamlet set in the Norcal MC world" reference. Basically, it's a family drama punctuated by extreme violence that has you laughing at the most inappropriate shit, in the end, it's just it's own thing.

If you haven't seen it yet, give in, you'll be hooked, if you're hating on it, it's your loss, and if you are already as addicted as me, I feel sorry for you.

That said, anyone wearing the rockers you can buy on ebay, is just Gary with a silent R.

You watch the show long enough, even a vintage freak like me starts dreaming of an old FXR.

Or even better, a push button, dependable, blacked out Street Bob.

Or the bike Jax Teller himself rides; a nice Super Glide.

(I've already reached out to Harley Davidson to see if they'd like to sponsor me and kick me a bike at a discount, you know, sort of like the Emerica wild ride thing, except instead of being a professional skateboarder, I'm a mediocre skateboarder and a singer in a rock band, kind of a good deal for them if you ask me. Still waiting to hear back.)

My boy Yosi Sergant was just at the center of a huge controversy that wasn't really one until Glen Beck made it so.

Yosi is one of my best friends, a stellar human being, selfless, devoted, kind, good hearted, and just blazing awesome 24/7, so it was a shame that an entertainment personality who has enough vapid followers to matter was able to stir up such a hoopla about so very little.

Yosi was very much responsible for this little poster you may have seen before.

(If you think Obama's a socialist who's taking your guns that's cool, you're entitled to be wrong, I'm just talking about my friend.)

On a lighter note, at a Chik-Fil-A in the great state of Texas, this kid was trying to watch me drop a deuce.

Thankfully Adam 12 caught him in the act.

This kid's future is fucked, and it ain't' the president's fault.

From fucked future to fucked past.

The 70's.

The other day I was at County USC medical center visiting one of my dearest friends who was injured in a motorcycle accident. (Mr. Michael Barragan of Evil Spirit Engineering who you may remember from my earlier posts as the man who's building my bike with me. He's recovering and doing well but your thoughts would still be appreciated, plus I'm sure we'll be having a benefit of some sort, so stay tuned - side note, you want to see why everyone needs health insurance, go to County USC Hospital)...and while waiting for visiting hours outside I was approached by a skinny, frail, aging gang member who was asking to buy a cigarette. I don't smoke, but my boy gave him one, and as he reached out his thin, heavily tattooed arm with an enormous abscess, I noticed a tattoo of a particularly gnarly prison gang on his arm.

Point being, that guy was hardcore.

When I was a kid, this was marketed as hardcore.

This on the other hand, scared the shit out of me.

Even though I knew the Van Patten kid from spending my summers in Malibu, this was frightening.

Gone was the cute, eye batting, ball playing Salami from The White Shadow.

Here was a vision of the not-so-distant future in which a bunch of pretty punkers who would never make it in a Penelope Spheeris movie were unleashed on an unsuspecting school, teacher, and his wife.

I mean, when the punkers are raping the teacher's wife, things have gone too far.

I haven't seen it in ages, but it's been recently re-released on DVD, and I'm gonna be it holds up.

And though I'd love for just one post of mine to NOT contain a memorial to a friend or hero who died, it is with great sadness that I say goodbye to one of the good ones.

JJ Klein.

I was unable to make the memorial service, as I was on the road, but she was a sweetheart, funny as hell, a rockin' drummer, cute as a button, a nice Jewish girl, and taken way too young.

RIP

XO