Chema Skandal. Big Shot magazine.

by Pug-In-Boots

Big Shot is a German skinhead zine that started in 2006 and is now in it's sixth issue. The cover says "50% auf Deutsch 20% in English 30% Fotos" which is about right (it's 66 pages). It focuses entirely on soul, ska, reggae and traditional skinhead culture, there is no oi except where mentioned in interviews or on ads. It costs about 13 bucks to get it in Australia: 2 Euros for the mag and 6.50 for postage. I reckon it's still worth it, for the pics, the few articles that are in English, the bands you'll discover in it, and just cos it's, as far as I know, the only glossy high quality skinhead zine in the world.

Big Shot 6 has an interview with the Mexican skinhead artist Chema Skandal, whose art is fucking sick. I have this flyer printed out and stuck up on the wall:

I've scanned in the whole interview. Click on the pics to see them full size.

The same issue also has an article on Aussie ska, which unfortunately is in German. Still, you can scan it for band names.

.

Skinhead Graffiti Trainspotting

by Pug-In-Boots

World-famous street artist Banksy has been "embroiled in a tit-for-tat row with another street artist after deliberately spraying over a 24-year-old work.

The elusive aerosol painter has caused outrage by covering up a piece of graffiti that had remained untouched since it was painted in 1985." More here.

Here's the original piece.

And here's Banksy's cover up.

But I bet no-one else has brought up about the masterpiece hidden away in the bottom right of the wall!

.

SUBURBAN WARRIORS - by Rebecca McLean 2003

.

Ten minute documentary on sharpies/skinheads in Australia in the seventies.



.

R.I.P Ivan Khutorskoy

by Pug-In-Boots

On November 16th, another Russian antifascist skinhead was murdered by neo-nazis. The scum first tried killing him in 2005 with a sharpened screwdriver, stabbing him six times in the neck. He lived. Earlier this year, he was stabbed in the stomache. They have finally managed to kill him, by shooting him. Ivan was a well known figure and deeply respected by traditional skinheads, R.A.S.H, punks, and left activists. He had completed his diploma in juridicial studies, and had done work as a lawyer for an institution which helps homeless and disadvantaged children. Solidarity, brother. The world is a lesser place without you.

More about Ivan here.



.

10 (Alleged) Reasons Why the Original Skinheads Cropped Their Hair

by Pug-In-Boots

(pic taken from Skinbyrd Mag)

1. 'They wanted to look working-class: some factory workers and dock workers at the time had shaved heads.' Probably – looking working-class was also the motivation for wearing boots and braces.

2. 'As they loved ska and reggae, they were imitating afro-Caribbeans.' Possibly. One thing skinheads definitely copied from Caribbean immigrants was the fake side parting shaved into their hair. Cropping your jeans and sta-prest short was copied from reggae star Desmond Dekker, who wore a suit with the pants cut short when he toured the U.K. His hardcore fans started copying the short-trousers look.

3. 'They were factory workers – long hair got in the way.' No, most of them were school kids.

4. 'They were dockers, Jamaican and white.' Nope, see above.

5. 'They were always getting into fights – long hair got in the way.' Maybe.

6. 'It was a reaction against long hippie hair.' Nope, mod haircuts were getting shorter before hippies even hit the U.K.

7. 'It was a reaction against the latest elaborate, expensive haircuts of the 'peacock mods'.' Maybe.

8. 'It was something mods had started from copying French fashions: it was known at the time as the ‘French crew-cut’.' There is some truth to this – in the mid-sixties some mods used to watch the latest French films and sketch the clothes to try to get imitations tailor-made.

9. 'They wanted to look ‘hard as nails’.' Yep.

10. 'They were copying the look of American 'Ivy League' college students.' That’s not punk rock!

.