First things first, “Wolfstadt”? There’s got to be a meaning behind a name like that, care to spill the beans?
Adam: I will leave Dave to explain the meaning behind that. I just like the name anyway, whatever the meaning.
David: Well the name sort of comes from a love of old war movies, a lot of Italian war movies, which basically are all about brothers in arms and loyalty etc, it kind of sounds like an old german castle too, but in truth the name sort of arose from everyone in the team not really being caught up in the hubbab the skateboarding world can be sometimes, and some vague analogy to skateboarding and media being about surviving the wolves sometimes. So it was kind of us saying, well this our own trip into ‘wolf town’, lets see what we come up with? I don’t know its all pretty vague, its just a sick sounding name.
Did you start filming for Wolfstadt straight after you finished Once Upon A Time or was there a period of down time?
A:There was quite a gap in between the two really. Straight after once upon a time was Christmas and the shit weather, then we did the ‘old/new shit’ promo. From then the footage started trickling in from the team until we got Wolfstadt in full flow and were planning it all out and putting together rough edits, trying out various tracks.
Time out in Sardinia. Photo: The Harmony
What were the first and last bits of footage that made the cut?
A: That’s actually quite a difficult one. Well in reverse order it would be, Joe’s switch tre over the Sweden gap to stair spot in Manchester. Joe had sent me a few tricks with that on the end but with the tripod hand down. I rang him and just said it was amazing and to just go back and do it bolts. The very next day it was sent as requested. I was so stoked with that, and just within the footage deadline too. I don’t really remember the first bit of footage that came in but an early piece was Danny’s back tail 360 out on that curvy Milton Keynes ledge. I was blown away by that and knew it was going in as an ender from that point. Danny really came through with his part and I think it will show him in a different light when peeps see it. A plus side with producing wolfstadt now rather than 2 years ago is that technology has come on so quick now it is so much more simple to get footage off the team without DV tapes going missing and glitches in tapes etc. I could get the footage clip the same day it was shot via things like ‘yousendit’ and my idisk ftp. And that also meant I could show each of the team rough edits of their parts, so we could work more closely together.
You gained and lost a few riders during the production of Wolfstadt, how much of an effect did this have on the end product?
A:Well, not too much really. All the team were gathering up footage at a steady rate and very rough edits were going down at an early stage, so we allowed for things like that. It was a shame that Paul and Tom were not so much of a part of the whole production process of Wolfstadt. It shook things up a little as we were such a tight unit with tom and Paul also, and I was thinking of all these ideas and song choices and that got messed around a bit. But it came together in the end, so im chuffed.
D: I was bummed on losing Paul, he’s one of my all time legends really, in fact the most of the original Unabombers were legends, but all I wanted for him, was him to be stoked on skating, and if that’s not with us then that’s just the way it goes.
I know there’s a lot of speculation regarding The Harmony’s split with Tom Harrison, care to clear the air?
A:I can clear the air for sure. At the end of the day we were gutted that Tom didn’t have a full part in Wolfstadt, but it came to a point were we had to let Tom go do his own thing. We gave Tom plenty of options of how to film his part and plenty of time to do so too. Tom just became a bit distant from the rest of the team and laughed off the trips we did with various excuses. He kept promising a full part but it never happened. We got 4 tricks in the end and the rest of the team had full parts. I’m not sure what Toms reasons were for not filming or not being part of the team, but at the end of the day you get sponsored and get free boards for a reason and Tom wasn’t giving anything back to us. So we let him go, as they say…
D: Tom’s a good kid, but its funny you work really hard with nothing to try and help people out, you try and make shit easy for everyone, and you know there’s only so far you can go, before you say, lets try something different.
How did you react to the news that Paul Silvester was leaving to go back to Unabomber? Where abouts in the production process did he make the decision and was it always intended to make a “Paul Silvester and Friends” section?
A: As Dave said when Paul told us that he was intending on going back to Unabomber, it wasn’t that much of a surprise. For a while Paul had not been so happy with his skateboarding, and perhaps the direction we were taking him. He asked us not to run another pro board for him and was having a bit of stress getting his part done, so we said “look, just take it easy up in Glasgow and just see what you get done.” No stress. In the end I think he just needed a bit of a rest and to just go skate for himself for a bit without any filming/photo pressures and he thought that Unabomber provided that for him. We just saw it fitting to keep Paul’s part in and add a few friends here and there to make it a bit fun. Paul was with us for quite a while and was a good member of the team, this is sounding like he’s dead isn’t it? I will stop there…good luck Paul.
Paul Silvester, Ollie, Sardinia. Photo: The Harmony
What’s the best Eddie story you’ve witnessed or heard about from the making of the video?
A: I can’t think of a particular story about Eddie but throughout the filming of Wolfstadt we heard all sorts of goings and antics. For a while we could never get hold of Eddie as he never had a mobile longer than a week and the only contact we had was some vague email here and there and footage updates through Joe. The thing with Eddie is that we found there is no need to stress as to if he is getting stuff done or coming on a trip or if he will get his passport on time etc etc. Now we just let him know whats going on and then Eddie will just turn up wherever he is needed and get stuff done. So I would sum up Eddie as reliable but on another planet at the same time. A good egg.
Has the aquisition of Tony Da Silva been in pipeline for a while or was it quite a sudden decision?
A: It basically came from Joe hassling us for ages saying we should hook Tony up as he was in Sweden, but you know he was with East, and we don’t like to rock the boat for anyone really. Then when Joe told us that Tony was moving back to the UK and sadly East was no longer happening, and that the DVD was about to drop we jumped in and made the move. Tony was so stoked and we were too. He got his introduction part together in about a week. It’s like the three northern musketeers now in Manchester with Eddie and Joe too. Tony is super keen, and hot on the heels of Wolfstadt, he’s filming a full part as we speak.
All of the super8 footage used throughout seems really well shot and inspired. Which member of The Harmonys 3chip wielders is responsible for it and where does the inspiration come from?
A:I’d say that 99% of the super 8 was from myself over the last year of trips and filming missions. I got a new super 8 camera and a bulk lot of blk/wht film and just went at it. The first reel came back looking really sick, so was inspired to shoot the rest of the lot I had. We went on quite a diverse selection of trips for Wolfstadt including Scotland, Sardinia, Sweden, so that made for some interesting shots. Also I’ve got all the equipment in my studio to telecine super 8 to DV, so that makes it a lot easier with quicker results.
What videos inspired you throughout the making of Wolfstadt and why?
A: We didn’t really watch that many skate vids at all really. You could draw many conclusions as to what we were inspired from during Wolfstadt but really it just came together so well. There’s a few nods here and there to videos we love. Both Dave and I are very interested in films and filmmaking as a whole, so we just bounced ideas off each other the whole time. I’m normally a last minute person and just cram all the editing into the space of about a week. I like it that way, stressful but it gets done. This time I got to spend a lot of time in my studio making Wolfstadt, probably a good three or four months of rough edits ongoing to the finished product. I was 100% happy with it and had got to have all the extras sorted out in time as well. I wanted the Wolfstadt DVD to be well worth its coin and for it to be something you would purchase rather than bloody download off youtube.
Did you get together much as a team to go on filming missions or were the riders mainly responsible for gathering their own footage? Which filmers helped you out the most?
A:We did try to go on as many filming trips together as we could. It works so well when you have everyone buzzing off each other for a whole week, especially if its abroad somewhere a bit different.
We were and are so lucky to have each of the riders near to decent filmers.The ones that helped us out the most and that we consider part of the Harmony film crew (haha) are – Russell Cowling, Dane ‘morph’ Crook, Sean Lomax, Alex Irvine and Ciaran O’Connor with Chris Jones and Dykey helping us out too. Of course there was a small bunch of contributing filmers that are listed on the DVD.
Did any of the team riders exceed your expectations of them for this project? If so, who?
A:Well our hats go of to all the team for pulling it out the bag and having full on parts, but it would have to be Mr. Jamie bolland who exceeded our expectations. We started flowing Jamie stuff a while back and just said lets just see how it goes and film bits where you can. Jamie is his own man and just does what he does. Anyway, after a short time we were getting reports of Jamie filming quite a lot of stuff and I was seeing some good footage coming through with it turning into the part he has now. Jamie’s section is a firm favorite among the older generation of skaters, because his part is just raw street skating with an original style. It’s also Danijels favorite too.
I know it’s hard to pick favorites, but what is your own personal favorite line/ piece of footage from Wolfstadt?
A: Jesus, that’s a hard one. I would have to say Jamie’s end line with the road gap then the nose bump straight after. Pure style and originality there. Plus that road gap is fucking massive to do in a line.
My favorite single would be Jak’s back lip to nose manny on the step up blocks. I had never seen that trick done before Jak did it. I was genuinely shocked. My own personal favorite that I filmed would be Danijel’s bs heel over the bench in Sardinia. Never has that trick looked so good and so stylish and mixed with the spot and the colours, it just shines, for me anyway.
D: Jamie’s end line, but Eddie’s line with the Nollie flip at the gas works, makes my guts sink. It’s so epic and the bro down excitement of Grove makes it for me.
Danijel Todorovic. Photo: The Harmony
Now you’ve finally got Wolfstadt projected into the eyes of skaters nationwide, what’s the immediate future hold for The Harmony?
A: After we have finished promoting Wolfstadt and the team is in the position to start filming again, we will see. I don’t want to say too much now.
Other than that, we are spreading our wings into euro territory other than Sweden and getting the name of the good ship harmony out there. Also, there will be all new boards and a clothing range around xmas time. Now we are with ifive distribution, it’s a lot easier and more productive for both Dave and I to get shit done, as they say.
D: I think video wise there is going to be a blow out in the next few months, Nike, Lakai, Habitat…so we’ll just chill back and you never know we might surprise you with a little something?
Anybody you’d like to thank?
A:There are many people that we would like to thank, not just for the help on Wolfstadt
but in general too, so here a few to be getting on with :-
Adam and Jane @ ifive. All the shops that stock our stuff. All the folk that buy our stuff. All the team for putting in 100% nearly all the time. haha. The harmony filmers – morph, Sean Lomax, ciaran O’Connor, Russell cowling and all the filming contributors. Our families and Skateboarding.
Check out The Harmonys old/new shit blog for regular updates, and click the image below to view the trailer for Wolfstadt…
