It's been in the works for a while, but it's finally here!
All of us in the band respect and appreciate the awesome sport of skateboarding (after all, we grew up playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and watching the X Games!) With “5-Hour Anergy” hot off the press, we wanted to find a way to show support for the incredible local talent in Charleston's skating scene and beyond. This video is a tribute to our region's local talent and the DIY spirit that knows no borders!
When we first started playing “Slow Burn” live, it didn't even have any lyrics! Oddly enough, a lot of people actually enjoyed the instrumental version --after our shows, we'd have a roughly equal number of people asking us to “finish the song” as well as telling us they liked it just as well without any words. So we got to thinking, why not do both? So we released both.
An instrumental version offers an opportunity for less of the visual focus to be on us, and more to be placed on a different subject: the skaters! When the legendary hardcore punk band McRad showed up to do an instrumental performance at a skating competition held at Sk8 Charleston, our major local skate park, we felt inspired to do a skating tribute of our own. And as we thought about Slow Burn's possibilities, the cruising feel of the instrumental track seemed like it would go really well with some cool trick shots. So Chops and Michelle grabbed their cameras and set off to capture the best tricks they could, shooting multiple sessions at both Sk8 Charleston and the well-known DIY Bridge Spot in downtown Charleston.
As we worked on the footage, we also encouraged local and regional diy skaters to send us their best clips to be featured, with several reaching out to us and making the cut. We received submissions from Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia, as well as a few from overseas. We even found local roller derby members who contributed to the collection! When we realized we'd still need more clips, Chops spent a whole day filming at the 2022 Luau Bowl Jam, and a lot of that footage ended up in the final cut. Naturally, we always did our best to be respectful and ensure that any featured skaters consented fully to being in the video.
For a long time it's been our dream to show our support for the local Charleston skating scene, and though we aren't skaters ourselves, we get hyped every time we see a killer trick! We're stoked to finally make our own contribution to a noteworthy scene that continues to thrive, and we hope our new video represents Charleston well and inspires others to keep skating. Shred on!
We're proud to feature the following DIY skaters:
- Landon Zanfardino (Charleston, SC)
- Austin Gilmore (Lynchburg, VA)
- Leslie Brewer (Charleston, SC)
- Harlow Johnsey (Charleston, SC)
- Nodis Kijula (Columbia, SC)
- Katherine Briody (Charleston, SC)
- Kainalu "Kai Kai" Canubida (West Palm Beach, FL)
- Tyler Dick (Wilmington, NC)
Special thanks to Sk8 Charleston and the DIY Bridge Spot!
Dedicated to Omar Higgins, RIP
A special message from Sloth:
"We personally dedicated this video to the late Omar Higgins, my punk idol, hero, influence and inspiration. I will help keep making it known of his existence and life to other Black Punk rockers until I die.
Rest in power Omar Higgins
Long Live
Negro Terror
Forever
Fun fact: The Bass guitar I used in the video is the right handed version of Omar's signature Dean bass. I'll treasure it always. Shout out to Joseph Higgins for giving us the blessing to honor Omar's memory in this video."