In 1998, Justin Girardi and Mad Circle released 5ive Flavors featuring Bobby Puleo, Karl Watson, Pontus Alv, Rob Welsh, and Scott Johnston.
The video is a beautiful time capsule of classy 90’s street skating that showcased a meticulously stylish and selective team of pioneers. Its accessibility stood out in stark contrast to the “hammers” ethos that shortly followed.
All of these skaters have continued to be involved in skateboarding in the 23 years since 5ive Flavors joined the canon of classic ’90s skate videos, working with or owning various companies including Supreme, Adidas, Polar, Maxallure and more.
We were able to get the whole team back together along with photographer Mike Blabac for a good old-fashioned meeting in which the guys reconnect, reminisce, and rewatch the parts through the long lens of over two decades past. There’s a palpable joy the guys experience being back together, along with a sense that Mad Circle hasn’t been given its rightful place in the history books.
This condensed edit of their conversation captures a bit of what it was like for them to grow up together skating in a golden era, and how sometimes doing something with integrity means having to let it go…
PS. If you never saw the video – peep it here.
Related Posts
-
PREMIERE: RAVE SKATEBOARDS’ “153 RUE DU PALAIS GALLIEN”
Watch if you like weird ledge combos, super skinny spots, and finding innovative ways to skate dildos.
-
WATCH BAO NGUYEN AND TROY GIPSON IN “GENESIS 2
Watch the parts and peep the mini Q+A with the mind behind Genesis 2, Ian Ostrowski.
-
OUR GUY LARRY LANZA FILMED A COUPLE OF TRICKS FOR A NEW INDIE VID
Larry was able to escape from behind his desk to squeeze out almost a minute of footage in this Long Island homie video.
-
CELEBRATING THE PIONEERS OF WOMEN’S SKATING
You might have seen this somewhere else, but we had to share this vid from Memory Screen anyway because it's that good
-
ORCHARD SKATESHOP IS FINALLY REOPENING THEIR DOORS IN BOSTON
The pandemic took Orchard to online-only operations, but they are back with a fresh new shop in Boston's North End!
-
THE EVOLUTION OF… NYC’S BLACK HUBBA
We examine one of NYC's most famous slabs of marble.
-
A QUICK COFFEE RUN IN SHEFFIELD WITH SHAUN CURRIE
A bite-sized video to get you familiar with this jolly bastard.
-
GOOFING AROUND LA WITH LAKAI’S NEW PRODIGY, KYONOSUKE YAMASHITA
If you’ve been bragging about your flatground game to your friends be prepared to be humbled...
Comments
Popular
-
A CHAT WITH LUDVIG HAKANSSON, THE OLDEST SOUL IN SKATEBOARDING
The man loves to read Nietzche, skates in some expensive vintage gear, and paints in his own neoclassical-meets-abstract-expressionist style.
-
HANGING OUT WITH ANDREW HUBERMAN, SKATEBOARDER TURNED NEUROSCIENTIST
Curious what it would be like to hang with this guy outside of a stuffy podcast studio? Us too.
-
GROWING UP, MOVING OUT, AND BREAKING BOARDS
A personal essay recounting a love affair with something we're all too familiar with.
-
INTRODUCING THE NEW JENKEM COLLECTION, JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Air fresheners, bumper stickers, a shirt with a gun on it and a bunch of other stuff.
-
HOW CHAD CARUSO SKATED ACROSS AMERICA
Chad did it the way most skateboarders would: independently and without much of a plan.
November 8, 2021 3:00 pm
This is amazing. Thank you!!
November 8, 2021 4:35 pm
Excellent piece. I had a friend who lived really far from me and big spot in my area, but drove there every weekend. He was with me when I went to the shop to buy FF and he insisted we go to my house to watch it, even though it meant an even longer (1.5 hour) drive home. Anyway he was so hyped to see SJ’s part and was so bummed when it turned out to be only 60 seconds. Somewhere there’s an alternate universe where Element died and Mad Circle lived on.
November 8, 2021 8:29 pm
Love this! Please make more of these!
November 9, 2021 8:13 am
Awesome! “Zoo York – Mixtape” crew next please!!!