News

Eric Dressen Footage Feast

Cover photo: Carve, grind and grab. By Jerome Loughran

Speed, power and punk rock; Eric Dressen may have first appeared on the scene as a pre-teen pool rat in mid 70’s but it was during the second boom of the late 80s and then again in the 90s that he really made his mark. Pioneering the burgeoning field of street skating and still tearing up every transition in sight, he also clocked up a solid body of footage over the years and invented the salad grind along the way.

In 2015 – with a guest board just dropping for Z-Flex, a lengthy Epicly Later’d under his belt and a place on the Santa Cruz Veterans Division – Dressen’s history is intrinsically intertwined with that of skateboarding. Pay homage to one of the masters and enjoy our Eric Dressen Footage Feast.

Frontside wallride at Southbank, taken from RAD Magazine and courtesy of LLSB.

Savannah Slamma (1988)

Any interest in the birth of modern street skatings means that you should probably watch the Savannah Slamma contest in full – The Gonz, Tommy Guerrero, Bill Danforth, Jesse Martinez and more are all in the mix.

Santa Cruz – Speed Freaks (1989)

The first of Dressen’s classic Santa Cruz sections; Speed Freaks kicks off with pure hillbomb stokeage and doesn’t let up from there despite pedestrian irritations. “It’s just another form of…game”.

Santa Cruz – Risk It (1990)

Excel’s heaviness is a solid match for Dressen’s high speed assault. The sound quality is low on this one but in case you were wondering yes, Metallica ripped off ‘Tapping into the Emotional Void’ hard.

Santa Cruz – A Reason for Living (1990)

Eric’s second Santa Cruz section of the year, perfectly capturing the essence of street cruising and still squeezing in a sun drenched miniramp sesh. The first song is by OG skate rock and funk/punk legends the Big Boys, bringing together a whole lot of history in one section.

Santa Cruz – Troops of Tomorrow (1991)

One of the best things about Santa Cruz flooding the market with videos at this time is being able to see just how fast street skating was progressing. Just before the small wheel pressure flip epidemic hit, higher pop and a wider range of tricks and spots are in evidence in Dressen’s section, as well as one of the few sightings of him on a vert ramp and some ridiculous vert wall crailslide action.

Santa Cruz – BPSW (1992)

Even 40mm wheels can’t slow Dressen down too much…

411VM Issue 21 Pro Files (1997)

Night sessions, pole jams and an eye for an unusual spot; Dressen ably captures the 2015 zeitgeist, 18 years ago. Also expect street tranny, luge interludes and bemused canines…

151 Skateboards – Too Loud for the Crowd (1998)

Eric at his ATV peak – double sets, vert walls, pole jams and Burnside all jostle for space amongst the pummelling hardcore of Battalion of Saints’ ‘I Wanna Hear You Scream’.

1984 Clothing – Let It Bleed (2001)

A short shared section with Aaron Harrison sees Eric tearing into a dope looking miniramp set up.

Santa Cruz – Guarte (2005)

Eric Dressen and Tom Knox, two absolute legends sharing a part in Santa Cruz’s 2005 video ‘Guarte’. The action starts at 1:45, pool shredding and Last Caress…

Santa Cruz – V Day (2007)

A compilation of classic footage, some words from Dressen and some more words from others on why they’re stoked on Dressen leads into an Adolescents-scored bout of concrete park destruction.