10 years of Raccoon Skateboarding

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10 years of Raccoon Skateboarding.

a short movie by Rafael Matos
title and color grading by Nico Janssen
sound by Nikolas Heis

Wow, time went by very quickly hey. 10 years of Raccoon Skateboarding. I think it’s crazy that it somehow lasted for so long, Raccoon. Liquor became serious. We’re not a crazy skate team like Girl, Element, Real, I don’t know what, but we’re just that. We’re up for it and that’s our thing. The point was actually never there that I somehow said, I’m going to start something. I hadn’t skated for half a year, I was really hyped for skating, and I thought about it. Okay, what’s next after the season? I’m off after the season. I’ve got some money in my pocket and yeah let’s get going. I thought so. And then a team was immediately found with seven people. Then the question was okay, where are we going? And I think the Eastern Bloc is cool. People give a shit about everything. You can just skate without the cops coming. That was the very first hoodie. So, really low budget. Went into the copy shop. He plotted it out and ironed it on. Well, I think anyone can actually do this from home. And then we set off for Prague. It was a great time, it was a great group. We had very, very much fun. Then we met Jonne. It was a Finn who was in the hostel with us. Slowly start talking, get in touch, we had a great time and a quarter of a year later Jonne basically called me Hey Raffi, I live in Prague now, come over if you’re up for it, I’ve got a place for you. You are always welcome. We’re like: Yes, okay. and back up to Prague. And then they said “Hey, can you maybe bring a few stickers and a sweater and a T-shirt”. And we’re like, “Yeah, okay,” went back into the copy shop and say, “Hey,I want another shabby T-shirt, another shabby sweater. Finally, we were suddenly completely involved in the community. Met a lot of skaters and we were suddenly at house parties. We were invited to underground skate spots, to private mini ramps, to private indoor skate parks and that’s just how skating works. That’s skating. So just no matter where you are, whether they speak the language or not. But you’re definitely within 24 hours. You’ve never seen the person before and suddenly the person says: “Hey, where are you sleeping? I still have a bed available”. You don’t even know the name, you hang out with people for six hours, drink four pints, have the best time and at some point Hey, what’s your name? Oh yes, that’s right, I completely forgot. And that’s what skating is all about. And that’s just how Raccoon came into being. I don’t even have to think about it. That was within a second. I thought, okay, what kind of thing am I going to do now? And then it was like, “Oh raccoons.” I love raccoons. Because raccoons are nocturnal like me. But funny animals can also be really powerful. When they’re hungry and they’re just really cool trash kids, they’re trash animals who are just cool. I love raccoons and this was no joke. I had to think about it for ten seconds, it was clearly a raccoon. I don’t know why, but raccoon. For me it wasn’t about the brand. For me it was just about the community. For me it was about the gang. For me it was just about identification, like okay, we’re a team, we’re the Raccoons and I really didn’t give a shit whether people celebrated us or not celebrated us. We just went out and looked, okay, next vacation, bridge day. What’s next? Who’s free? And boom, off we go again. So it wasn’t about money or clothes at all, zero. You just skate all the time. You start at eleven in the morning and the session isn’t over until four in the morning. You’re on the street all the time. Well then, at some point it starts. The first one opens a beer, then everyone drinks beer and then it continues. And if someone is too tired because they’ve drunk too much beer, then they just sleep at the spot. But that’s just simple. Well, it’s not because he’s too drunk, but because he’s been skating for too long. I met my current girlfriend in 2016. And she lived with Jasmin Roggenkamp, ​​who was a graphic designer. Or is a graphic designer and then she really stepped up her game. She then basically developed and painted new motifs. We then met someone who does screen printing. And then it started. Tie-dyed T-shirts in my garden. We bleached, went to a friend’s house on Friday evening, opened a few beers, then at twelve o’clock opened a bottle of gin and just printed it out. Yes, well, the thing with Fossy was crazy, so when he came to me in October and said “Raffi come with me for a moment, I have to talk to you”. It was like brfffft. When the news came, I swallowed and thought, okay, what happens next. Haven’t even realized it yet. I only realized where the sign was hanging outside. Sale – We close and then the flutter man went off for me, then okay. And then Ravensburg was dead. Fossy closed. Then the jay came into play. And Jay is also a long friend of mine. Great dude who also works at Reischmann. And he said “Hey Raffi, come to Reischmann, we have to, we want to get something going in here. And because Jay works there and he’s a skater, he’s authentic. You have authentic sellers and now also Reischmann is hiring Johannes from Fossy Skateshop they want to make a real thing out of it. For me it’s definitely more of a skate shop than the other chain that still exists here in Ravensburg. I would never have thought ten years ago if someone had told me hey Raffi, you sell your stuff at Reischmann, I would have said. Dude, what do you want from me? I’m making stickers in the copy shop right now and trying to get the €50 for the three T-shirts. I think Raccoon wouldn’t be where we are now without all the people, without the first trip. I have to be honest. If I hadn’t gone to the season I would never have thought of the idea. Oh, I’m really excited to skate. I called the people, without them we wouldn’t be Raccoon because we went on tour. If I were to stand alone at the top of Stalin Plaza and drink three beers, people wouldn’t come over and say, “Hey cool, you’re a really cool dude.” It’s about the crew, they see us as a crew, if you wouldn’t put this stuff out there, if you weren’t such badass skaters, if Raffi wouldn’t produce such badass videos, if. If Fossy and Fieby hadn’t supported me so much. Then I wouldn’t be there. Or we wouldn’t be where we are now. I just say thank you to everyone who supports Raccoon and made Raccoon what Raccoon is. nuff said.