BLADE LIFE: It’s Always Sunny in AZ

With a skate scene like the one we have in Phoenix, AZ, and the incomparable climate, it’s no surprise that week after week we are constantly playing host to a varied assortment of visitors. This past week the honored guests were The Kelso Brothers, Steve “Alf” Iacono, ONE Cover Boy: Billy O’Neill, and the rollerblader you would most love to bring home to your mother, Sean Cullen. Since 90% of the time when someone is visiting Phoenix they’re sleeping on Jon Jenkin’s floor space, I figured I would sit down with Baby Jenkins (X Rated) and find out what he and the East Coast visitors were up to all those late night nights during their stay…

Jon, every time I walk through your door I have to make sure I’m not stepping on some scumbag sleeping on the floor! I think the only way we can start this is with you telling us who have been the latest guests visiting Arizona?

The latest guests to visit AZ were the Kelsos, Alf, Fish, Sean Cullen, and Firby. Sean (Kelso) had originally wanted to come out here right after BCSD to make an online edit and to see John Bolino. The past 10 days we have been working together on the edit, and I think it’s going to come out pretty sick. It’s fun to collaborate sometimes, and I think the Kelsos are the best people to work with.

I remember in December when Bolino said he was only staying for the weekend; it’s March 16 and he’s in the other room as we do this interview. This time it was the Kelsos, Swag-Daddy and Fish. What were they doing here in Phoenix?

They were out here to enjoy the weather and skate the spots they had seen in edits and were dying to skate. Originally it was just going to be SK coming on the trip alone, but a couple of hours later I got a call saying that Colin and Alf would come along, too. Billy O’Neill also decided to come on the trip last minute, after that, Sean Cullen decided he wanted to join as well in order to see Billy, so he drove in from Cali in his van with his dog Firby.

Mono roll down the support beam.

I think it’s something about AZ, once anyone gets here, they don’t seem to want to leave. Anyway X, “The Truth 2” and “Wake-Up” were arguably some of the best quality videos of the year, what kind of cameras did you guys film all this footage on?

I shot with a Panasonic HVX along with a little bit of black and white Super 8. I also met up with Ivan Narez in LA so that he could help me shoot with Matthias (Ogger). At the time, Ivan was one of the few people with the Letus pro package and extreme fisheye for the HVX, so it was fun working with him. Right now I’m really digging this new collabo edit, which consists of HVX and SLR footage.

HD as hell… Why don’t you tell me about all of the late-night skating that went down filming for this edit, and when can the message board goons anticipate to start hating?

We tried to go to as many new spots as possible for the edit. We did a lot of night skating with lights, and filmed a couple clips of the Revolution TNS Third Year Anniversary session. Billy got down on the trip, and Sean Cullen did some stylish tricks on some cool obstacles as well. Colin killed it, and Sean healed up his ankle enough to bust out some cool clips, too. It seemed 4 am at night was the best time to skate all of the usual “Bust spots” with our new lights.

Fish recreates some old school Frontside action.

Definitely excited to see what will come of this collaboration, what else is in the future for you, Jon?

I’ve got another semester or two of school left and I’m trying to get more involved with the stuff people are doing at school. I’ve made some good friends there, and I’m starting to work on some music video stuff with some big bands from Arizona. Also together with James Johnson from Revolution, we are going to be taking the 90 Seconds edits to another level. But you will have to wait to hear more about that. Thank you guys for the interview.

John just kickin’ it.

— Ben Karris

Photos © 2010 Kris Troyer