Wha
t a time to be alive! Skateboarding goes Olympia, professional skateboarders score sponsorship deals with candy manufacturers, and high fashion companies release skateboarding accessories for skaters with big wallets. Quo fucking vadis, skateboarding? In its rather short history, our beloved piece of wood has made quite some progress in terms of marketability. From time to time, however, we feel a quick reminder of skateboarding’s originality is due.
This is why we are proud to introduce Klubsoft, skateboarding’s first unprofessional company. Founder Marius (Znüri), a cherished friend of ours, skateboarder by nature and distinguished globetrotter, created Klubsoft in a rush of creativity (also in order to buy a houseboat in Amsterdam some lucky day). Growing up all around the Rhine-Main area of Germany, Marius is a dying breed: his life belongs to skateboarding, his artwork and hanging with his homies. To him, skateboarding is not about cash but about fun. It’s also not exclusively about skateboarding, either. It’s about going out there, skating until the dead of night, hanging around afterwards, sticker-bombing lampposts, smoking weed, drinking beers, talking shit. Having a good fucking time.
To this very day, capitalist exploitation logic has continued to erode skateboarding culture, extinguishing the very meaning of the term by relentless commodification. Klubsoft, however, reminds us that there is still hope: instead of selling the shit out of it, Znüris’ self-proclaimed unprofessional company reflects on skateboarding’s core as a community. Drawn mainly with randomly found fine liner pens, Klubsoft’s artwork is as uneven and spontaneous as skateboarding itself. We highly recommend supporting Klubsoft for it is one of the few honest companies out there. Also, all Znüri wants is a fucking houseboat in Amsterdam. Can’t blame a fella for trying, right?
