Throwback Thursday: Brandon Kilbury BLT2 Section

Brandon has been around for over 10 years in the sport, and has proven himself as one of the most dialed riders time and time again. Brandon grew up in Vermont, and is most likely responsible for a lot of the scene there now. Arguably one of his best sections to date, came from BLT2. The whole thing was just amazing. The tricks he was doing, and as always, he was making them look effortless. This one will go down in history in my book, as always being one of my favorite sections to watch. Check it out below.

Welcome to Shop Mothership | Alex De Stefano

Shop Mothership recently added Canadian Alex De Stefano to the squad.  Alex isn't afraid of taller rails and the last one he hits is insane.  Bummer about that big one he bailed on.  Front board popover whip was so tight, that trick always looks cool.

green gods

Reece Doezema, Kaaden Bewley, and the rest of the TC gang throw down for another tage for you to enjoy.  Nose manny fullwhip by Reece made my day.  It's rad to see the other dudes there throwing down, progressing too.

Lucky Scooters | Jared Jacobs | 2015 Release

Jared has been back at it again, teaming up with Damion Black to produce another bangin edit.  Loving his manual combos, so smooth.  Good variety of spots too, from ledges to flat bars to gap to rails and more.

Jack McCann - The KOVU Experience COMING SOON

This guy is going in.  This is a teaser for Jack's video part which is dropping this week, and I can say I am effectively teased.  Everyone in the Kovu Krew kills it, follow em on insta @kovukrew.

Lumen: Liam Green

Liam Green is an upcoming rider sponsored by Lumen Apparel.  He's not the craziest rider out there yet but his solid use of spots and smooth style made this an enjoyable video.  Pretty well done all-around really.  Lumen's got a new line dropping soon, be on the lookout for that.

Worlds First Triple Backflip! RYAN WILLIAMS!

I am so stoked to see this finally happen! Ryan is a good friend of mine, and I've seen him attempt this a couple times myself in person. Couldn't be happier for him. Everyone check this out, and show your support by sharing it all over the place. Amazing.

Inside the Industry: Tommy Daddono Interview

As the freestyle scooter industry grows, more and more scooter riders are getting the opportunity to be employed by companies.  It's really awesome to see companies giving riders a chance to work for them, because it keeps more money in scootering as well as gives riders a chance to gain experience in a professional career field.  We all dream of being a pro sponsored rider, but not everyone can or will be able to accomplish that.  Getting a job in the industry is the next best thing.  Whether it's running a shop, operating machines, filming and editing, graphic design, and beyond, there is a wealth of positions that scooter riders fill, and with Inside the Industry, I'd like to find out more about them.

This time I hit up my long-time friend, riding buddy, and now business partner (more on that later) Tommy Daddono to discuss his involvement in the industry.  He’s been in it off and on since nearly the beginning of the modern industry, and has been involved in a ton of different projects, so it was a no-brainer to interview him.

Words and photos by Jordan Jasa.


Jordan Jasa:  Let’s start from the beginning.  What was your first position in the scooter industry?

Tommy Daddono:  My first technical position was Sky High back in 2009, which I launched shortly after I started riding scooters.  I quickly became obsessed with riding my scooter and found through Scooter Resource that there wasn’t really a developed industry yet.

How old were you when you started it and why did you start it?

I was 16.  I found I had a business sense early in high school, and after discovering that the scooter industry wasn’t developed yet I thought I’d have a shot sourcing and selling parts on the Scooter Resource forums.  One of my early influences was a user named Ian who was known as the “Blade Brake King.”  When early parts were hitting the market, everyone was pretty much riding a bolted foldy Razor Pro Model and one of the few mods you could do to the scooter was a different brake.  It was an upgraded, thicker, shorter, better looking brake that you could retrofit to a pro model, b model, old a, most everything.  He would receive small amounts of the brakes and sell them through the forums. I decided to contact him to ask if he could source a bulk amount of brakes for me.  Near the same time, the company YAK, which already was proven as a better alternative to the stock razor wheel, had just developed and released a metalcore version called the Yak Skat wheel.  They were an in demand and highly discussed product at the time and I decided to contact Yak directly to see if they offer any wholesale pricing, because it wasn’t really available in North America.  So I started selling on the forums, and shortly realized that the demand for the products I was offering outgrew a thread within a forum.  That’s when I decided to I needed to start an online shop.

You’ve brought Sky High to life from nothing like three times now.  How does one go about building a brand like that despite having to go off basically nothing?

Back in the day I didn't know that much about branding, or building an image.  What I did know was that I needed a logo, consistent colors, and promotional products like stickers and shirts.  The name of the company helped me figure out what the brand developed into, with the blues/greys/whites, and I started to brand on that.  Another one of my ideals was by building trust within my customer base and the rest of the community. On the forums, I always tried to be helpful and contribute as much as I could.  I translated that into my business as well, going above and beyond to help customers, even if it wasn’t the most profitable thing to do. I lucked out with finding a niche in an industry that I was passionate about. Timing was a major part of it.

You’re one of the few riders who has completed school but came back into the industry.  Did you want to pursue a career in that field (filmmaking) or did you know you wanted to be in the scooter world still?  

I was really stressed by running Sky High at the time, and wasn’t enjoying it anymore.  It took away from my riding, it just wasn’t good.  At the same time while that fire was being extinguished, I was very interested in filmmaking, filming videos and editing, that process.  But ultimately decided that I had to either continue to run Sky High for like the rest of my life, or stop it, potentially sell it, and go pursue an education.  I decided that for my future an education would be the best investment as well as a change of pace for my life.  But through school I realized that it was never something that I was as passionate about compared to scooters, and after graduating I realized that the people who were going to be successful in the film industry who were around me in college were the people who were truly passionate about working a camera or editing a movie and I never had that drive to do that as I had with working in the scooter industry.

Another project you undertook was Transit 2.  Where did the idea for that come from?  Did you expect it to turn out how it did?

I watched Transit 1, which at the time was a couple years old.  I started talking to you, and a few other names within the forums and decided that it would be possible to make the 2nd Transit.  We wanted to make it our own thing if we couldn’t get Matt (Andrus)’s approval (we didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes,) But after talking to Matt and getting his blessing, we knew it had to be Transit 2.  So we started planning some of it out, and it seemed really possible that we could do it- we had the cameras, the equipment, the people, figured out the editing, my mom decided it was cool to let 10 random dudes stay at her house for a week, and so we set a date and it worked.  I didn’t think it would be nearly as good as it turned out to be, mainly because of Sam Short (the editor), easily.

You recently came out with a video out of nowhere for Satori.  How did that whole thing happen?

I actually just had a bunch of footage banked from 2014 and I felt the need to put it towards something. In the past, I'd release my footage as a Sky High video, but this video ended up dropping right around the time I left the company. I've always been tight with all of the homies on Satori and I really wanted to be involved to help Kirk develop and progress his vision. Having been a fan of the Satori-style edits, I spent a day trying to mimic that same vibe. It ended up turning out pretty well I guess because I sent it off to Kirk and he dug it and put me on the team.

You, Spencer, and I recently started a company called Forefront Supply. What exactly is this company and what can the scooter world expect from it?

Working at Sky High through all of 2014 gave me a pretty clear vision on how the industry works and who the people involved are. Handling all of the purchasing at Sky High, I noticed a huge disconnect in the distribution of our industry. Some of the distributors put no effort towards promoting the progression of our sport, and simply handle the logistics and sales of scooter components to make money off of our industry. Meanwhile others simply have no idea what they're even selling and don't answer their phones.  In my opinion, our industry will develop in the most pure way if we have actual scooter riders running the businesses that we so heavily support. That's where Forefront Supply was born. It started off as a conversation between you, Spencer and I and quickly turned into the reality in which we're all living now. We all got a house in Northern Chicago and we're two months into the project. It's a little overwhelming sometimes but I have faith that we'll be able to do something great with our similar mindset and combined efforts. We currently have five brands under our belt but the goal is to distribute and support many more as we move forward.

So what is your official job title there, and what are you responsible for?

We don't really have job titles since we all help with whatever needs to be done. I spend most of my time during the day working on marketing though. I handle a heavy portion of the social media content which consists mostly of photography, video editing, and graphic design.

Forefront is a distro, Sky High a retailer…will we see you involved with a manufacturer someday?

Haha that's tough to say. Forefront takes up pretty much all of my time right now and I'm really working hard for it to become a success with the dudes. I've definitely thought about it in the past but I never wanted to bite off more than I could chew. I guess we'll see what the future holds.

Finally, what would you tell someone who wants to make it in the industry?

My best words of advice would be to stay passionate, positive, and most importantly to be doing it for the right reasons. There's plenty of other industries that are way more profitable, way easier to succeed in, but there’s no other industry that I'm as passionate about and that's all that matters in my opinion. When you love what you do, you never actually feel like you're working.

Chema Cardenas: Five Elements

This is how you introduce a product.  Chema's signature full sized "Five Elements" SCS has dropped, featuring a graphic with his own handwritten text.  To go along with it, Proto released this video with a ton of rad footage.  Makes me wonder if he's releasing this footage, what he's gonna have for the next Proto full-length.

Dakota Schuetz- My Story

This whole thing is just so insane and raises so many more questions rather than answers any.  I'm just gonna let you decide what to think about this.  No doubt Kota has been one of the best for such a long time, his dedication to riding and progression is admirable.  I hope we get to see a part two someday.

Throwback Thursday: Matt Ogle Final Sponsor Video

The below video is over 6 years old, and Matt Ogle is a true OG of the sport. He has such a unique take on riding, and to this day, he has stuck to his guns, and still rides with that same distinct style. Matt face some adversity when he first got into the sport, and took that criticism like a champ, and while he has improved on so many things, he still rides exactly the way he always has. This has been one of my favorite edits since it dropped, and if you haven't seen it, check it out now.

Ryan Ruegg Park Part

Ryan Ruegg aka @badgerclit is a low key shredder.  He gets overdoes it a little bit with those indian givers but the kid can float.  Definitely gonna be watching out for him in the future.

Lucky Scooters | Evan Yamada | Minute At Mamz

Here's some classic Evan at Sammamish footage.  There's always something new to do at a park as good as Sammy, and you can always expect solid riding from Evan.  Style boss.

Elliott Arnold "The Hags" Pro Wheel

Elliot's new wheel just dropped, so of course we get to see more footage from him.  High speed, tall rails, you always know what to expect from him and he always delivers.  Last rail made me giggle like a little schoolgirl.

Montreux Scooter Contest 2015

The riding coming out of these Montreux contests each year never ceases to amaze me.  The tech rail and ledge clips, the high speed pyramid tricks, the minipipe riding, it's all mindblowing.  Boris Germain came out with the win this year, congrats to him!

A little update

Steven T here, I know I've been M.I.A. lately on ISB, and I apologize for that. I've had a lot of things going on in my personal life, and it's been taking up a lot of time. Just wanted to say things have cleared up, and I am still 110% dedicated to this sport, and of course to ISB. I will be back with regular posts starting this week with a new Throwback Thursday.

Big thanks to Jordan for holding it down in my absence.

Thanks for understanding guys

Jon deVrind HD DIRTY

Jon is one of the most skilled riders out there today.  His ledge tech combos are untouched by almost anyone who isn't European.  While some might say his combos can be a little overkill, you can't deny that he is doing well for himself.  I do hope we can see an actual street part from him someday.

Scooter Hut Pro Series 2014 | TEASER

Nickeh put this rad video together of last year's Scooter Hut Pro Series.  It's really sick seeing all the pros together with some good vibes (despite some rain).  This is only a teaser for the official tour video, so be on the lookout for that.  Details for this years Pro Series will also be announced soon.

'Cramps' Just The Beginning

Chris "Cramps" Clark hails from the Catalina Foothills of Arizona.  I really have no idea how he came to have the nickname "Cramps," sounds like it could be an interesting story.  Anyways, he rides for Phase 2 and recently came out with this video for the Scooter Zone.  Dug the all the clips on those table setups, his style is so raw.

Jack Dauth x Jack Dye - Seven GoodsCo

So the two Jacks met up in Sydney recently and pooled their clips together to come up with this video for Jack Dauth's apparel company Seven GoodsCo.  These guys are killing it together, Jack's whip bar rail hop was super gnar.