Photos by Ben Larson
Owner of Print Boys Screen Printing and dedicated filmer, and organizer of King of Rockford, Bryan Nambo has a lot of badges for serving the skateboarding community, and a lot to share.
Bryan and I have been homies for a long time at this point, and have even shared a Barcelona trip with the legendary Max Barker. Bryan is constantly filming and putting out clips of skaters of all different levels and styles, and I think that is what people should pay attention to.
We are coming from a time were level in skating used to determine so many things including who gets filmed and who doesn't. However when you've seen skateshop after skateshop close, skaters move or quit for life reasons and scenes basically die, there is something deeper than just "good skating" that you grow to appreciate at an entirely new level. Add 6 months of winter into that equation. To overcome the bummer that midwest skateboarding sometimes presents us with, Bryan films videos that are more representative of the Rockford scene as it is.
Fun projects like the can simply make a ton of people stoked to skate and potentially start filming themselves. This evolution of perception is what I believe we are seeing when when it comes how Bryan puts together his videos. By filming people who don't always skate together and making a video with them, you are bringing different edges of the community slightly closer together
Another reason I think people should pay a little closer attention to this scene is because of what other smalls scene can learn from it. Making videos that keep people hyped and give them something to look forward to can lead to incredible things.
Spots get more and more skated, people build and unlock more spots, and suddenly things are feeling kinda nice for skateboarding in the area. This is a literal warm feeling that we all know about. While not everyone has the epic spot ingredients of Rockford, there is something in your area or the next town over that you can make happen.
Go to an area where karens won't yell at you, and don't forget to bring all the tools and supplies you need.
