When I first got an email from Rich I had only heard of Nelson in passing and had no clue who they were. I was stoked on another East Coast company making some good decks though and when I finally got to meet Rich and see his boards in action at the Jersey Slide Jam it was sick. Glad to have another good guy on our side of things! Check out their site at www.nelsonlongboards.com

So tell me about yourself and Nelson? How’d you get started skating, what made you decide to build your own boards? What are you all about?

I got started the same way that many others have, I needed a way to get to class from my off campus house and I used to skateboard back in the day so getting a longboard was a no brainier. I was looking for a cheap setup for some commuting, seeing mainstream entry level boards like Sector 9s and Krowns I figured I could easily make a board that was just as good if not better.

After getting tons of experience making custom decks in all shapes and sizes for customers around the county and the world, I recently nailed down the first two production decks, which were released this past November. They’re designed for downhill and sliding with features not seen anywhere else in the market.

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There are some legendary spots in here that are still skated today up in Montreal. The old Kebbek graphics used to pay homage to them. This is some serious history and you should check this out if you have 15 minutes.

I’ve found that after years of downhilling I got entirely too used to bailing onto my hands and shoes and when skating street or transition I kept destroying my wrists when I’d fall. This happens to every skater who rides street and parks but I wasn’t used to getting hurt so often so I did a lot of thinking about how to bail and have been watching a ton of videos. Bails and slams come with the territory of skating no matter what you ride. They aren’t the same thing either: a slam is you eat shit, a bail is you understanding things aren’t working out so you get out of the way. Slams end with you in pain while bailing can save you from serious injury keeping you skating for the rest of the session or forever. Bailing out is a crucial part of skating and knowing how to bail properly can save you from serious injury.

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Photos: Blair Caldwell

The fourth New Jersey Slide Jam went off without a hitch this past weekend, which I was amazed about. I got up at 6am and was on the road by 6:30 somehow getting to the park where we met up on time. I haven’t done that in so long, it’s so much easier when you’re not in a group of skaters but just a single person. It was windy and a bit cold when I got out of my car and saw Andriy with a big smile come running up. There weren’t a lot of people there yet but by 11 we had a big crowd of at least 30 people.

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ONO BUONO here with a little recap of the most stoke filled longboard show on the east coast and the first of its kind in Baltimore! AVE. Skate shop! It’s been open for a few months, but Billy just put a team together, and this is what we did within a week of meeting up for our first riders meeting!  There’s no hesitation in the shop. IT’S RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, and IT’S ONLY GETTING BIGGER FROM HERE! February 4, they threw their first, “First Friday” party and it was ROCKIN!!!

First Friday night at 8! Be there!  Alley and I showed up an hour before the band got started.  In a matter of minutes the shop went from Billy, some of the team members and the band to a packed house. There was free beer and wine for the 21 and up, stoked skaters and some locals from off the street wanting to check out some new fun.

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Before you read any of this just know that Ray is way cooler than you. When I first met the Harrisburg guys at Sultans of Speed 2 I was just thinking “who are these fucking sketchy, crazy old guys.” Over the past two years I’ve seen and skated with them a ton more, they’ve thrown down hard for the events they’ve put on themselves and at other peoples events. I’ve always been able to talk shit with Ray and hearing him and Rob Mckendry trading stories before one of Dean’s races is one of the more memorable nights from any skate trip. The guy has so much of my respect, you should just stop looking at this shit in italics and read what he has to say. Don’t forget to check out www.blisslongboards.com to support the man too.

Ray you’ve been skating a long ass time, longer than I’ve been alive. I was just checking out some of your old vert pictures from like 85 of you ripping. Tell me a little about those days and how it compares to now and with downhilling.

ok…Let me start by saying that all my answers are gonna be long winded. It’s hard to put 33yrs of skate experience into words. Skating back then was a brotherhood (kinda like dh today). We would pack in the car, and go. Meeting lifetime friends along the way, total sense of adventure. We were really competitive and (generally) had a lot of fun. It helped shape me into who I am today. The east coast scene was completely diy, so we built our own ramps, and had contests….one of the reasons that I love the outlaw races so much….DIY

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Date: February 12th
Where: Basking Ridge, NJ
Time: 11am

For more info check the thread in the forum: http://www.beastcoastlongboarding.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=554

It’s Stefan from Nashawtuck Longboards. We have a new website right now that will have all of the companies updates and orders going through it. Our boards are getting doper by the day. Check out the 2011 line up as we get pictures up.

I think I met Chris for the first time at Ascutney in 2007, got his number but didn’t see him again until Munnsville that summer. I’m not sure we even really hung out that much then either but in 2008 Justin found Mt. Lake and Chris started coming out with us. That run and those trips to Roanoke and Mt. Lake are where we all learned to downhill and since then Chris is one of my best friends and probably the most stoked person on the East Coast. If you’ve ever met Rick Kludy or heard about Kludyville, Chris is probably a close second on the stoke meter so I thought he deserved a shout on here. He rides for Tutone and is a member of KOTF.

photo: Beth Feret

First, where the hell did your nickname come from? So many people know that if they are trying to skate in the DC/MD area to call Ono, but what is that?

“ONO” Buono started as some dumb joke I said. It went something like this; If a girl came to me at this point in my life and said I am pregnant with your baby, I would answer her with OH NO!!!!!!! Assuming she would be offended, I would explain to her that that’s what the kids name is going to be, ONO Buono. This came out during a skate trip and during late night party hours. The next morning the name stuck with the Kids of the Future crew. Then eventually other skaters at events or sessions would get super stoked when I showed up, and started yelling, “Oh-NO! Buono’s in the house!”  Then I turned the spelling from Oh-NO to ONO using the last 3 letters of my last name for the image. It’s so simple and easy to remember and you’ll always remember a name or image that reads ONO. Come on how many Chris’s do you know and remember?  More recently I met up with Calvin Staub to skate and when I was leaving this super awesome quiet kid just yelled out ONO BUONO!!!!!!  I actually got a little excited because everyone knows Calvin, and he’s such a ripper that I look up to his skill level of riding. I’m stoked about the name and hope it’s here to stay, and that it’s not something like Rabble Wiener!

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