Thrasher Magazine

“When evil strives to overcome good, when firepower is greater than the spoken word, then death rides a black horse.”
Ryan Maddox has returned with BAD STAR, the sixth installment to his Southwest series CHAPPED. Death returns, this time on horseback and with the first-ever horse tow. Filmed mostly in Albuquerque over the last three years, this volume features wizards from Texas, Colorado, Arizona and California, including Jake The Jeweler, who took some time to give a few words about his full part and his time creating spots and helping the scene thrive in Albuquerque.

Grab your popcorn, and saddle up… Death comes for us all!


The wait is over. Indulge in the full production before you proceed 

It takes a village to pillage

Behind the scenes of a fever dream


By Clive Dixon

For those who don't know Jake The Jeweler, tell us where did the name The Jeweler come from?
My boy JT just rolled it off the tongue one day. He called me Jake The Jeweler. It didn't really go anywhere but then I think it was a combination of the other Jake Johnson in skateboarding and Instagram, you know. I put that as my handle and nowadays people know people by their handles rather than their actual name.

Yeah. But now the name The Jeweler represents the jewels of Albuquerque and how you disperse them within the skate scene. Tell us about showing people around, being the tour guide and what teams you've helped out.
You come out here and I've got all the goods for you, whether it be skate spots or any other extracurricular activities. Whatever you need while you're in Albuquerque, I got you. We're right on I-40. Pretty much everybody who drives cross-country stops through.


Frontside flight  /  Photo: Arias


You always come in clutch when people are in a bind. Tell us about the Creature video you helped out on.
I think that was called The Creature Video. Hammeke brought the boys out to Albuquerque. They were supposed to be here for a week. I just kept them here clipping up for two weeks straight and word got back at the mag that I had all these spots and whatnot. Joe introduced me to tons of people. Creature hit me up and they were like, We're gonna do the El Paso part of the trip. Do you know your way around down there? I'm not a local and I didn't know my way around down there, but I knew enough locals that I could fake it to make it. I ended up on the two-week trip in El Paso with those dudes and I got to jump in the van and finish out filming the video. Gravette got the ender for the video and the cover and it was a mission complete. I put my name out there as the dude to hit up when you're in the Southwest.

You've also done a ton of skating yourself. How many video parts do you think you've filmed in your life?
I've been at it since about 1999. My older brother was the filmer here in town, so I cranked out a part when I was like 12 years old. This new CHAPPED video Bad Star is gonna be my 17th part. If I can hit 20 by the time I'm 40 in three years, I think that would be a pretty good batting average for video parts.


Roof crooks  /  Photo: Cook


You also had a gnarly knee injury. I know you transitioned from skating full-time into filming.
I blew out my knee and my brother gave me a camera. I started filming all the bros, working on the local video here, Red Chili. My brother had started it and I helped finish it. After that, I ended up moving into the Fully Torqued RV. You, Clint, Mills and T Vaughan—we're doing that trip through the States. I'd just got evicted from my apartment so I moved into the RV and started chasing the dream. Next thing you know, I was on King of the Road with the Birdhouse team and was getting on other trips with some companies. I just kind of became the filmer for a few years while my knee recovered. That took almost two years to recover from, so in that time I learned how to film and took over that role. It kept me in the van, which was awesome.

I know you went on some trips with Ty Evans.
I was drinking one night with the homies. Ty called me saying he was going to be in town a week later and the liquid courage in me asked if I could just jump in and follow in my 4Runner wherever they were going and help out filming. He said if I was serious about it, he had a seat in the van and a camera to use. I woke up the next morning, didn't really remember anything and Raver was like, Do you remember talking to Ty last night? And I was like, No, not exactly. Raver told me I was going on a trip next week, and that's how that all came about. The next thing you know I was filming the Flat Earthers.


Pipe damage  /  Photo: Cook


When you were with Ty, I imagine you had some pretty serious equipment.
Yeah, I was filming with my HPX before. And on that trip, I showed up with my camera bag and he's like, You're not gonna need that and gave me a RED. He said, “Take care of this. It's your camera for the next month.” So, I learned how to do that. I fumbled a few clips right off the bat but cleaned up my filming by the end of it. Still, after the US trip I thought I kind of blew it and a week or two later Ty called me and invited me on the Barcelona mission. So, I guess I didn't blow it as hard as I thought I did.

Let's talk about your most recent part in the CHAPPED video. What is CHAPPED and who is Ryan Maddox?
He was another connection that I met through Joe Hammeke. Joe brought him through town. Maddox was helping film the trip and mentioned that he lived two hours south of here in Las Cruces. He came up a few times on filming missions and fell in love with the city and decided to move here. I was healthy and skating again and he was more than willing to film and put videos together and really do all the legwork to actually film a video.


Fence jumper  /  Photo: Cook


One thing that I enjoy about the CHAPPED series and also the skate scene in Albuquerque is it seems like everyone will come out to get their clip. It doesn't matter what caliber of trick—everyone in the scene is down to get out and get in the streets to get something in the video.
Yeah, one of the best things about Albuquerque is our skate scene. It's all for one and one for all. We all work towards the same goal. Albuquerque is really tight and really small but we just all work towards the same goal and we're all friends which is the best part of it.

It seems like if anyone has a mission there's a number of hands that are willing to show up and help make that mission possible. Fixing or cleaning a spot, everyone's down to help to make something happen for someone else.
We're constantly putting in work whether it be with Bondo or concrete or lacquer ledges—someone's always doing something around here. Albuquerque has endless spots.


Gap to crooks  /  Photo: Maddox


Marathon noseslide  /  Photo: Cook


And as far as Maddox's projects, he puts a lot into them outside of the skating. He puts a lot into the B-roll and kind of creating a theme for the videos.
Yeah, that's right. It's always good knowing that the dude who's putting the video together has a vision, and Ryan definitely has a vision. He's invested not only financially, but this man puts in hours on end—skating and on the whole B-roll side, making sure everything's all laid out.

Let's close it up with something about Los Altos and how skating in ABQ kinda culminates at that spot.
That's Ground Zero right there. In Albuquerque, that's where everything ends. Right there at the park, it's everybody's home away from home. Literally, some of these dudes call it home, because they live there. If you go to Altos and you start kicking up dirt, trouble comes knocking on your doorstep real fast. So, if you're ever there, just treat the places as if you're a guest, because you are.

Yeah, Albuquerque is its own thing, and you're the fucking mayor, Jake. Anything else you wanna end with?
Just stay tuned for this video. We got a premiere here in Albuquerque. There's some other premieres the following dates then it'll probably be on the Thrasher website shortly after. If you're ever in Albuquerque, I'm not hard to find, track me down. And I'll see you out in the ditches.


Check this behind the scenes edit of the Bad Star horse tow-in:




More photos of the Bad Star crew...

Diego Alvarado, deep end delight  /  Photo: Maddox


Half Cab fence hop, Derek Hoholik  /  Photo: Maddox


George Owen avoids the Pisshole vortex  /  Photo: Maddox


Jake Reuter lays back and enjoys the grind  /  Photo: Maddox


Jon Rogers floats coast to coast on a ditch kickflip  /  Photo: Maddox


It took the mind of Kenny Reese to spot this boardslide hippy jump opportunity  /  Photo: Maddox