A lot can change in a couple years.

When Nyjah told us he was going to “just do it” this year, we were hyped. Then we realized he wasn’t talking about Fade To Black 2 for an exclusive AYC release. Then we were significantly less hyped. Swooshed again. Damn. Not that we blame him. I mean, shit—who’s turning down LeBron money? If AYC’s about taking it from the streets to the yacht, it’d be a little hypocritical for us to be mad at that. But we weren’t letting him off easy, either, so we made sure to get one more budget-ass tour on the books before his private jet left for Portland, just to give him one last taste of the working class.
Words by Dan Reed
Photos by Cameron Strand

Since AYC’s 2013 West Coast Tour was our first big rollout after launching the brand, it seemed like an appropriate place for a send-off. Plus, we’ve got a lot of new blood on the team and figured it was time to break them in on a trip that wasn’t all mai tais and jet skis. This was a far cry from Stephen Lawyer’s first trip with us to Hawaii, but he’s one of those guys who seems at home in pretty much any setting—and is infuriatingly good at making a skateboard do whatever the hell pops into his psychedelically enhanced brain. He’s also a day-one Shep Dawg, and he and Riley Hawk being homies shows you exactly how great skateboarding is at bringing all types of people together. Dirt rocker and designer boy—it’s kind of like going backstage at Coachella and seeing Jack White kicking it with Drake. And just as entertaining as that sounds.

Riley was laid up with an injury for this trip, but was cool enough to come along anyway to keep up morale and make sure there was enough Sabbath on the playlist. It’s crazy to think that the first time we did this trip, Riley was still an am and Jaws was just along for the ride as a homie.

This was AYC’s first two-Wilson tour: Asphalt OG Derrick Wilson brought his usual, effortless style and held it down for Long Beach in classic fashion. Cole Wilson, AYC’s newest addition, came straight off the Bro Style. This was far from the glamorous AYC trip he expected from the magazines, but he didn’t bat an eye, locking down more tricks than anyone while generating enough empty beer bottles and cigarette cartons to fill a small swimming pool. Epic.

Flow homies Thomas Dritsas and Miles Lawrence came along for the ride as well, putting in work in hopes of making the next tropical session. Somebody (we won’t name names) slept on a golden rule of telling the team manager before the trip if you’re hurt in case your shredding doesn’t go as planned. It’s all good, though— Blake Carpenter didn’t know you couldn’t bring your girlfriend on his first trip, and in the swoosh of an eye, he was making that Serena Williams money.

Left And Leaving was also the first AYC trip for our new team manager, Jerome. We like to have an eclectic mix in our crew, and anyone who can keep a train with this many different personalities on the tracks deserves some serious respect. Plus, he’s a white dude named Jerome. That’s not easy.

Nyjah thwarted all of our plans for making him grind it out one last time by skipping the van and only flying in and out for demos and signings. Sure, we could hate on that, but when oceans of kids roll out every time he shows up and he skates like a goddamn Shaolin master, what can you say? If you can back it up, live the dream. Stevie Williams’ most impressive trick of the trip was managing to somehow miss both of his flights and never make it out to join the tour. Message received: no more desert trips.

A lot can change in a couple years. Teams change and so does the industry that surrounds them. One year you’re a controversial upstart who no one thinks is going to last, the next year you’ve got so much juice that you’re suddenly the farm team for the heavyweight champion of the world. It’s easy to get caught up in the changes, to get too focused on the scenery and forget the road you’re on and why you put your foot on the gas in the first place, and to remember that some of the most crucial things don’t change—like a bunch of guys in a sweaty van, music blaring, talking shit on their way to go do what they love to do more than anything in the world. Huge shout out to all those who came out and shredded with us and all the shops that graciously hosted us. We will see you all soon.

This was to be the sickest griptape team trip ever because it so happened to be the first-ever Bro Style (aka Sickness Brothers) team trip consisting of Leo Romero, Dakota Servold, Mason Silva, Corey Glick, Matt Bennett, our little buddy David Reyes who has since moved on to greener pastures, and cover boy Cole Wilson. And let’s not forget HK. That’s right, Heath Kirchart came along. But would he skate? That was the million-dollar question. With my old ass not going on many trips these days, I have to choose any time on the road wisely because I’m not trying to get stuck in a van full of dipshits who complain constantly or can’t produce, but I knew my Sickness Brothers were the real deal. I had been on an eswic trip the past year with most of this crew and knew they didn’t screw around. They handle business like pros are supposed to. All day, every day was a mission to bust. No bullshit. Our target destination was Arkansas with a little bit of Oklahoma thrown in there. I had no clue that there was such a plethora of rad spots in this tiny pocket of the country known as Gnarkansas. The locals were also incredibly nice and rad to skate with: Jono Sinclair, Nick Gibson, Shawn Rogers, and the Boardertown Skate Shop crew. It turned out to be one hell of a trip and one for the books. Thanks to all the Bro Style crew including Mike Sinclair and TJ Gaskill for having me along to document such amazing shredding from guys I love. Until next time, my brothers of sickness.
Words and Photos by Jaime Owens

Corey Glick, backside tailslide. Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Corey’s got style for miles—especially since he cut his Tiny Tim (from the Howard Stern show) haircut from the previous trip we went on. It was distracting. And I know, I know, this is coming from a guy who’s bald.

Dakota Servold, stalefish. Tulsa, Oklahoma.
This was a cool and different spot for this handrail- heavy trip and was even cooler to find out Dakota has stalefishes on lock. Yeah, Kodi Boi! The rest of the crew watched this session from a local dive-bar window in the parking lot below, and one of the local bar bums tried to catch a ride with us but was denied on fear of the possibility of him becoming a corpse in the very near future.

Cole Wilson, frontside nosegrind grab. Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The first heavy trick to go down on the trip, Cole was just hinting at how he was about to fuck things up over the next week. How about that cover trick? Holy hell.

Matt Bennett, slappy 50-50. Tulsa, Oklahoma.
I’ve always been a fan of Matt, and this was the first photo we ever shot together, so I was hyped. Matt has been getting behind the lens a lot lately too and filming with his VX, so be on the lookout for his Matt B-Sides on twskate.com soon.

Mason Silva, alley-oop frontside 180 into bank. Tulsa, Oklahoma.
One of the newest BroStyle team riders, Mason was fairly quiet in the back of the van during the beginning of the trip, but once he saw this spot and did this fucked up trick, his skating spoke for him with power and control. And he’s also got great taste in music for such a young ripper.

Leo Romero, frontside five-0, Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Leo got fired up to buy some baseball gear early on the trip, so anytime we were near a field we turned into a bunch of jockers and played baseball with only one glove. During one game he was crowding the plate as it’s known, and I popped him in the back with a fastball. He was still able to five-0 the shit out of this two-story handrail with a bruised back.

Mason, backside kick flip, Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Crusty spot with crusty ground, Mason didn’t flinch at stomping a solid backside flip over this rail. That boy good.

Heath, frontside ollie, Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Heath didn’t even touch his board for the majority of the trip because he was too busy gambling with everyone on sports games, the next jukebox song that was going to play, and even who was going to sleep on the floor in his room. I lost that bet one night. But when we got to Boardertown skatepark for a demo, things changed—Heath put down his iPad that I thought was glued to his hand and skated nonstop on this boat-shaped mini-ramp with a big ol’ smile on his face.

Leo, boardslide, Fort Smith, Arkansas.
This was in the back of a hotel, so some of the guys tried to run a distraction at the front desk while we skated. This wasn’t too hard of a task because the guys said the girls working the front were pretty hot. Their game must not have been on point that day though, because the girls quickly saw through their thinly veiled flirts and came to kick us out. Leo only had a few minutes to roll away from this double-kink boardslide.

Corey, heelflip into bank. Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Another one of the few spots we skated that wasn’t a handrail. This one had a spracker overpass dweller hanging out on the session creeping everyone out. He tied his dog to a post at the bottom of the bank and walked away, so the guys had to dodge the puppy while going Mach 10 down the bank. It didn’t hamper Corey’s booster of a heel flip at all. He good like that.

Dakota, boardslide up. Tulsa, Oklahoma.
It’s not too often (or ever) when two monumental tricks go down at the same session. With Dakota and Cole feeding off of each other trying to go upstream, Dakota made this boardslide first and went all the way over the top to make this a triple-kink boardslide up. Wow, epic trip boys. Let’s do it again.

Sickness Brothers Tour Video

Bro Style in the TWS Park

Our bros from Bro Style came down and high fived the #TWSPark. Sickness Brothers video coming Friday!

Video / @sulltrain @noguf
Photo / @jaimeowens

Matt Bennett had his trusty VX on the Bro Style Sickness Brothers trip. Check out the Matt B-Sides! Article in our April issue out now, video coming Friday!

Our April issue is on newsstands and in skateshops now! How’s that Cole Wilson NBD cover?! Click through the gallery above for a sneak peek at the features.

Coming to twskate.com: Video Check Outs from Matt Lane, Ryan Alvero, and Didrik Galasso. Skate Mental and Bro Styel tour videos, and some surprises.
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March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
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