The Juice Promo Video, 1996
Pretty much following on from the last two posts, let’s get straight into my second video production, The Juice Clothing Promo Video.
Released in 1996, this video was much more widely available than my first video, Skateboard Hit. This was partly due to me having a bit more of a clue about life by this stage, and it probably also helped a lot with it being distributed via the retailers that stocked Juice Clothing, my first sponsor, and a swiftly growing and evolving skate clothing brand that was created a few years earlier by one of my skate mates, Guy Miller, and his friend, Richard “Rat” Ramsay.
Now, with the first two of the Juice video’s, even though they were indeed marketing tools for the brand, they never featured exclusively Juice team riders, but also included mates of the team or anyone else who was at a session and throwing down, as it was essentially simply all about the vibe of having fun with friends. This natural inclusivity, I believe, combined with the lack of Aussie skate videos, was a big part of Juice’s swift rise in popularity among the skate community, and then beyond given skating’s subcultural influences within society. Plus, Guy was also exactly the same way with his prolific photographic documentation of the scene, which was prominently featured in all of the magazines of the era, Slam, Australian Skateboarding Mag, Crank, The Unloved etc. This openness also created pathways for many underground heads outside of the Juice realm.
However, with the third Juice video, Flick Of The Switch, outside of the friends section it was effectively all just team riders - although not for any reason other than close to half of Sydney were riding for either Juice or Illume by that time..! Haha 😅
There was no cover for the Juice Promo Video, released in 1996, but Michael Mulhall made a cool little intro animation for the start of it!
So, with money I had saved over the last while, as I had stopped working for reasons I don’t recall, in lieu of going back to the States or elsewhere, I instead travelled around Sydney & beyond on public transport (and bumming rides) for several months skating & filming wherever, whatever and whomever was in front of me, which consequently lent itself to a near half-hour release. “OMG how could anyone sit through anything that long??” I hear some of you think. Given today’s human attention span of about an ants footstep thanks to the unlimited saturation from the internet (which also has its pluses, I might add), the lack of skate video’s then, particularly Australian ones, left skaters hungry to devour as much as they could feast their eyes on, and other productions routinely went for up to an hour or more.
At this time the actual team was only small, with just three of us on the roster – myself, Jeff “Skunk” Williams, and Mark Collins, whom I don’t recall much about to be honest, as he came and went fairly swiftly from the scene. Hence, there was a bunch of other crew featured that filled it out. We all have individual parts. The standouts outside of the team were probably Nathan Fraser & Chris Holland.
After Michael Mulhall’s at the time innovative skate-animation, and then the obligatory skate intro, Nathan opens the video with his diverse ability and incredible pop, often being compared to US heavyweight Jeremy Wray. He was a really humble human too. FYI he shares the part with his good mate, fellow Sutherland Shire shredder Richie Bernleithner.
Chris closes the video with his all-round brand of talent, that superseded skateboarding and bled into surfing, DJ’ing and breakdancing.
It could be asked why Skunk didn’t have the “ender” part, as he had more technical skating than Chris overall, and the only thing I can put that down to is Guy’s and my awe (as well as Jeff’s) of Chris from the preceding years, and the fact that his whole part, bar a couple of single tricks, was filmed within the space of two or three hours of power. His skating was always amazing to behold when he was on point, and it’s truly a pity that more of it wasn’t documented, as his spontaneity was a gift, as well as a deep reflection of his personality. One time he asked me if I could get a sponsor for him, and because I knew his vibe well, I replied “But, you know, you’ll have to shoot photos and go in comps and do things..”. He looked down for a few seconds in contemplation, and then looked back at me and responded plainly “Nah, don’t worry about it then, I’ll just buy stuff.” Such was his purity of heart towards all things, he did them because he wanted to, and for no other reason. I’ve always admired & respected that attitude towards life.
Chris Holland frontside 5-0 grinds a ledge on a hill that many of you would have driven past.
Other highlights are Dave “Spinout” Bodnar, Bart Carnes, Newcastle legend Ben Cox, and a brief early appearance of a young Dustin Dollin!
Also just the experience of getting out amongst it filming everyone and having the sessions be hyped up a bit with having the camera there was amazing and so fun, plus everyone being down for the cause and pumped to be involved was a definite bonus.
Lowlights are, well, literally that..lack of good lighting, facing the sun, or just not knowing or thinking about the camera settings for several tricks! Oh, and probably starting Nathan Fraser’s section with him at Vert-X indoor park with a helmet on..! Haha
Good times for sure!
Ti Coleing, from the Juice Promo Video, in Double Bay on a long-ago skate-stopped “natural” launch ramp.
Article authored by Ti Coleing, lifelong skateboarder, industry guy, and head coach & fun-provider at Flow:Skate.
We offer coaching for all levels, however our main focus is intermediate to advanced skaters looking to take their skills & mental fortitude to the next level.
