There was quite an illuminating news story earlier this week regarding Westlife’s relationship with their musical mentor/boss/advisor Simon Cowell. Mark Feehily revealed that despite the X Factor judge’s best attempts the band had refused to record a cover of Michael Jackson’s ‘You Are Not Alone’. Aside from suggesting that Cowell may have some kind of bizarre fascination with the track – he finally got it released this year courtesy of Joe & co – it also suggested people might have got Westlife wrong. Perhaps behind all those drippy covers and stool/standing key changes there was actually a bit of backbone – and, more importantly, some musical taste.

Where We Are, the Irish crooners’ ninth album, has been billed by the group as their darkest and edgiest to date. With songwriting credits from Ryan ‘Bleeding Love’ Tedder and Wayne ‘Sweet Dreams’ Wilkins, and a cover of Daughtry’s ‘What About Now’, they even seem to be eyeing up the American market. Thankfully, this means no more corny Big Band reworkings – another peculiar passion of Cowell’s! However, the group’s mechanical approach to music-making means that even the moderately impressive, Tedder-penned ‘Shadows’ (initially pencilled in for Leona Lewis’s Echo LP) is rendered near-unlistenable thanks to the lads’ cheesy, yearning vocals and all-too-predictable schmaltzy crescendo.

Reading the sleeve notes of the album, it’s difficult to be too sneering about the four-piece. With Kian and Nicky dedicating the track to their late fathers and Mark and Shane writing passionately about how grateful they are still to be in the music biz after 11 years, they come across as well-meaning and hardworking ordinary blokes. But ordinary blokes, sadly, do not make great popstars. Ultimately, it’s the dedications to their management team of Cowell and Louis Walsh which really hint at what this album is about. Each track features a calculated, almost robotic four-minute build-up to that key-change. On the finale for ‘Leaving’, it’s almost possible to hear the tinny din of cash registers ringing as they switch between soppy emotional vocal solos and the drum-kicks, swathes of strings and choral backing.

There’s no doubting that Westlife’s musical formula works: their run of No.1s and album sales prove that. However, when the formula is so blatantly cynical and executed with such little charm, it makes them very hard to love. On the dreary monotony of ‘Talk Me Down’ or the hollering extravaganza of ‘Another World’, the boys certainly hit all the right notes, but there isn’t a drop of passion, genuine emotion or soul to be found anywhere. By the time you’ve made it to ‘I’ll See You Again’, which again builds from tinkled ivories and strings into a swirling, pompous bluster, you’ll be more likely to reach for the sick bag than the repeat button. Knocking Westlife is often considered pointless and snooty, but while they continue to release dross like this, there isn’t really much choice.

Wait. What? Trent Reznor? As in “Mr. I’ll Give Away My Music,” “Mr. Brutal Honesty,” Mr. NINE INCH NAILS? What’s he doing on Joystiq?

Prior to taking the concert stage this month, The Trent Reznor, along with NIN Creative Director Rob Sheridan, opened up to us about their gaming pasts, the direction they see the industry headed in, and whether or not Trent will have a role in shaping that future.

Continue reading for Joystiq’s first-ever NINterview …
Let’s start off with an easy question: What kind of gamer are you?

Trent: I am old, so I was there from the beginning. You know, from the first Pong machine. Rob and I are both avid gamers and our friendship kind of grew out from it. We worked with each other for years and had a lot of space in our studio, so we collected a lot of arcade games. We tried to get all the classics like Metroid, Space Invaders, Robotron and others from that era. I’ve stayed with gaming throughout the years and have all the current systems and, yes, I still get excited about release day. That said, I’ve become disillusioned in the last few years with the types of games the big studios put out. They’re the same game over and over again just skinned differently. I’m not a believer that everyone wants to necessary play a movie, where game play is overlooked for flashy graphics. That’s a disturbing trend.

So, you’re big into classic arcade gaming?

Trent: Every time we to go to a different country we try to see if there are still arcades left. The modern Japanese arcade is not the same, because they’re all about these weird resource management, horse racing, car games that nobody can figure out what the fuck is happening. Unless you’re Japanese, of course. I had a lot of great times in arcades and I miss that experience. I know things move forward, but there’s something about discovering an arcade, the aesthetics, the cool cabinet that was built specifically for that game. The first time I saw Tempest, for example, I was like, “What the fuck is this?” It looked like some sort of 2001 thing, it had weird, abstract graphics and sounded cool. I realize times have changed, but I miss having those three minutes where it’s you versus that machine, sweating like crazy in this finite countdown to death scenario. A game like Robotron … that separates the men from the boys.

You previously mentioned that you came up with a video game idea and pitched it to big publishers. Tell us about that game.

Trent: Rob and I have some things on the side that we’ve been working on and one of the things we’ve been talking about doing is publishing or developing video games. A few years ago we took that idea to a few of the main publishers, Midway, Activision, etc. And as first time people in a pitch meeting, it was kind of depressing. Depressing to see that the people in control of those studios and publishers are much the same as the people sitting at record companies.

In a record company, they aren’t musicians or people who love music, they’re people who want to sell plastic discs. They think they have a formula where if they can eliminate the artist from that equation, even better. You see that in the case of the Pussycat Dolls and some of the other fabricated crap that’s out there. What we tended to notice in the video game meetings was that it didn’t seem that there were gamers there. It’s business guys who want to turn the company into a profit making machine. They look at it in terms of numbers, like a Hollywood studio. If it costs “X” amount to make a game, to compete, then it has to be a proven franchise or it has to be similar enough to something they know is going to sell. They don’t want to take the risk.

Can you give us specifics about the game you were trying to pitch?

Trent: Yeah … I’ll let Rob talk about that, because it’s primarily his idea.

Rob: No … I don’t think we should reveal our trade secrets just yet.

Trent: Let’s just say this. It’s a simple idea. It’s kind of dumb and obvious, but could be fun. It’d be something I would buy and is an idea that takes a chance and bends a few rules. Some of which have been bent since our initial pitch. The idea has a juvenile, kind of fun smartass-ness to it, but was ultimately just too risky for a big company that’s more interested in “Spider-Man 11″ or “Madden: This Year.”

Would you be interested in completely funding a game for distribution through cheaper channels like Xbox Live Arcade or PlayStation Network?

Trent: We’re working on some things that will start to come into fruition post Nine Inch Nails and post our tour. That’s one of the reasons I’m stopping the tour, because there are all these other things that I’ve been wanting to do that are outside playing shows. While I enjoy doing Nine Inch Nails and touring, I’ve done it enough where there are a lot of other things I’d like to get into. One of those things … well, I’m probably saying too much, because if it doesn’t happen then I’ll have to answer questions about it for the next five years. Let’s just say that one of the things that’s highest priority for me and Rob is the development of some entertainment-based video game–type stuff.

Do you see any similarities between the indie video game and indie music industries? If so, what advice could you give to those who want to get noticed in the market?

Trent: From a business perspective, in looking at the video game world, I haven’t applied myself to learning the obstacles or knowing if it’s a bad deal to sell yourself to companies like Activision or not. I just don’t know the details of that. Video games are a fairly new form of maturing entertainment that really are art forms. The success of the industry as an art form and a form of entertainment will be if it can rediscover itself and to allow for the redefining of what a video game is. Not necessarily targeting it towards just kids or grandparents or whatever. The goal is always to keep a level of entertainment, excitement and innovation.

Again, it seems like games have gone from the golden age — like Robotron, which was only a few kilobytes — to the era of Wolfenstein and Doom, where a boutique shop of just ten guys could create an in-depth, quality game in six months to a year. Now we’re at an era of needing hundreds of guys and millions of dollars and several years to compete with other A-list titles to attract the big publisher that wasn’t as big of a deal years ago.

The publisher equates to the record label and now you have an ecosystem where, if you want to compete with EA or Activision, you have to have a mainstream enough title, which turns into a blockbuster movie scenario.

This, again, is the same thing you see with films where a lot of generic, big films come out of Hollywood. Things like G.I. Joe and Transformers, where you know what you’re getting, they aren’t redefining anything, but they’ll make “X” amount of money, because “X” amount of people — including us — will see it. But every once in a while, something different comes along, like a Quentin Tarantino who’ll blow the doors off things and turns the industry on its head. All because it was exciting, innovative and it came from way over there.

I like what I’m seeing from Xbox where they’re providing a place to get indie games and you don’t have to hack your system or fight updates to get those games on it. Again, the iPhone is another platform that’s inspiring and allows developers to make a game in a reasonable amount of time, with little money and allows for the possibility of something cool. Innovation is the key. I’d like to say, from a music side, that the indie world guarantees more innovation, but that isn’t necessarily true. The indie world is trying to be the major label. The people I know on indie labels are dealing with the same corrupt, broken structures. Indie implies there’s a greater creative atmosphere, but that isn’t necessarily true.

What’s your take on Microsoft and Sony entering the motion-controlled market?

Trent: Me and Rob are both big Nintendo fans for a number of reasons. Nintendo approaches gaming from a prospective where Super Mario Bros. is still a classic and doesn’t look dated. Look at any game on the PlayStation 1 that tries to exceed past the terrible 3D graphics, with their look alike, sound alike franchise attempts.

With Nintendo, there’s this kind of aesthetic that they bring to their in-house games that makes them feel like art. Where they aren’t trying to be something else, where they have their own place and are just what they are. I’ve talked with Rob about this, about why that kind of game is cool, has a timelessness to it and isn’t trying to be more than what it is. If I were going to make a video game today I would not put in rendered, 3D characters that try to look human. You know, where when they talk their lips are out of sync and have this weird aliased thing going on. There’s that Shadow Complex game, which does looks cool. Every cut scene has the eyes rendered pretty well, but there’s that terrible voice acting and the characters look like Fembots.

Rob: The characters usually look better stylized in a way where it lends itself to the media as opposed to trying to look like the latest 3D-animated movie, which can create things super-realistically. When it’s done only half way … well, it’s just kind of weird.

Trent: How that applies to Nintendo, and I’m not saying they haven’t fucked up a few times too, but they have this sense of here’s this game, we’re aware of the limitations, but we’re going to make the game great with taste and integrity. Being honest, I’m not a huge fan of Sony. Their entire strategy behind the PlayStation is to focus on gaming as an experience last and getting a Blu-ray player in your living room comes first. Now, three years later they’re trying to release a motion controller that’s a little bit better than the Wii’s.

You’re aware you’re flamebaiting Sony fanboys right now.

Trent. I don’t care. I’m used to controversy. I make a living off of it. [Laughs.]

The point is, do I think motion controlled gaming is the next big thing? No. It’s an interesting concept, it’s cool to have, but it’s an input thing where I don’t think that’s the future of gaming. The fact that the Wii came out and has been wildly successful is because they picked up on the thing I’ve been saying all along. They made something simple and fun. It’s something that doesn’t compete with “Halo: Whatever-The-Fuck,” but is actually fun and can resonate with a bunch of people in a low brow way where they didn’t focus on how many buttons they could pop into the controller.

Rob: Waving the Wiimote does get boring after a while, and after a bit you say, “Just give me a button!” So, when I see Microsoft’s new motion controlled Natal and I see people play it, I say to myself, “Wow, that technology looks amazing, but how many people really want to stand there and flail about all the time?”

The nice thing about the Wii is that, if you want, you can sit back like a fat-ass and just barely wiggle your wrist to get the same gameplay effect. With all this motion-controlled stuff, there’s nothing tangible anymore, you aren’t touching anything, you aren’t getting force feedback of any kind, and it all just seems like a tech demo. Something where you use it for a while, then go, “Just give me the controller back!”

Trent: The strength of motion controllers will be if there’s a killer app that makes a person go, “Fuck yeah, all right!” That’s always what it comes down to. I’m glad there’s innovation in that field and maybe something great will come of it, but I’m not holding my breath that the technology will redefine gaming.

Rob: There’s a difference between praising the Wii as an important step and saying that motion controls are the greatest thing in the world. What was great about the Wii is that it proved that they could do something that goes back to having just pure fun, that opens up the doors to people like my mom playing. This is something the fanboys cry about, “But who cares?” Those casual gamers aren’t playing Halo, they aren’t bothering you in your deathmatches. The Wii is just opening up the medium to so many more people using simple, pure fun. Something that original arcade games were all about. That doesn’t mean it’s the future necessarily, it just means that Nintendo found a tool to open the door to others and it could go a million different ways from there.

Trent: I remember the first time I played Wii Tennis, my immediate reaction was, “Whoa!” Then there’s the sound coming out of your hand and I’m all, “How the fuck?” When you show it to your mom or to your friends who come over and you see their faces light up — that’s one of those whoa-moments. One of those moments when you hear a great song or watch a great movie and get chills. That can be attained.

Rob: The strength of the Wii isn’t so much the motion controller it’s that, regardless what it is, you can hand it over to your girlfriend. She’ll go, “How do I play this?” You just show her, “Swing it, like this, see?” Two seconds later you’re playing a heated game of tennis.

Are you fans of Rock Band or Guitar Hero?

Rob: I suck at those games. Pure and simple — I just suck.

Trent: I dabble around in them and I actually think those games are fun. As a gamer, it’s interesting, fun and surprisingly rewarding when you get it right. As a musician, who’s watching the record industry look at these games as a type of salvation … it’s laughable. That’s just desperate people in the record business thinking. “Man, we finally have a way to turn people onto music.”

In a good way, a friend of mine who is my age, he has a couple kids under ten years old who now really like AC/DC and other classic music. Music they may not have discovered at their age. It’s kind of fun to walk into Best Buy and hear people get excited about trying to play a Beck song and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I’m kind of excited to see how they did on Beatles: Rock Band. I read about that in Wired, and it sounds like they did an A-list job in creating the depth of the experience.

How are your Rock Band skills?

Trent: I’m not bad, but to be honest with you, I haven’t allowed myself go too deep down the path of perfection.

If I were to set up a rock-off, a game of Rock Band between you and a band like … say, Coldplay. Who would win?

Trent: I don’t know, but if it descended into physical violence, we’d probably win. Those guys strike me as having a lot of time on the bus tweaking or stringing some riffs together. [Laughs.]

I’ll tell you one thing I can’t do that just amazes me is watching the masters of the Dance Dance Revolution game while I was in Japan. I got to see some asian kid, where his feet are moving faster than I can see shit coming down the screen. That’s amazing.

Will we be seeing anymore Nine Inch Nails DLC releases for Rock Band or Guitar Hero by year’s end?

Trent: No.

Is there a reason?

Trent: I just really never thought about it. When Rock Band first came out there were a couple songs involved and they asked for more in a content pack. I just said pick some of the hardest material we have, like “The Perfect Drug,” which has some difficult drums. Then I asked them to make it as hard as they could possibly make it. That led to me seeing a couple YouTube videos of people getting high scores and, well … that’s really it. I feel we did all we needed to do with it.

What do you think of the upcoming Rock Band Network? Will you support the service?

Trent: I think that’s an interesting idea, but I’d have to think about it some more. Would I do it for Nine Inch Nails? No — and I’ll tell you why.

At the end of the day, I don’t mind putting my song in a movie I like. Something like where JJ Abrams calls asking to use a song in “Fringe.” I say, “I like what you do, I know it’ll be used tastefully.”

If someone hears it in that context, well, okay, that’s cool. Again, at the end of the day, my concern is to write music and that’s what it is. Music isn’t a game, it’s supposed to be an emotional kind of experience.

When I heard about Rock Band and was asked to put some music on it, I did that. Then I thought, what if, with our next record, we release it on Rock Band first? The entire album. But then I thought about it some more and decided no, because I don’t want people remembering it that way. I want it to be an album, a piece of music and not a game. There’s a balance there, but music should have its own place, because it is not just about how many people can get it in whatever form.

Activision released special band-specific Guitar Hero games, like Metallica and Aerosmith. Have you ever been approached about a NIN edition?

Trent: Not that I know of. I’m not saying this to be modest, but we aren’t in the same demographic or audience size as those bands. NIN doesn’t really fit that mold, because there is no guitar in a third of our songs and, to be honest with you, I wouldn’t want to do that anyway.

If you had to pick one video game character to identify with, who would it be?

Trent: Umm, that’s a tough one. [Long pause.]

I really can’t think of shit right now. Rob, you got one, I know you do. You’re thinking Samus, but she’s a chick and you don’t want to say that. [Laughs.]

It’s that or Link.

Rob: Yeah, I’d go with Link, actually. That’s a good one, because I was the loner kid who just wanted everyone to leave me alone so I could play Zelda. It’s that lone person experience that kind of defined who I am.

Trent: Yeah and I can’t think of anything.

What about Mario? You said you liked Nintendo.

Trent: No, he’s too common. Too bourgeois.

Well, now that you’re moving on from NIN, do you have any interest in putting your creative energy into video games? Whether it be development or creating a soundtrack for a game?

Trent: Yeah, again, Rob and I are working on a project together that’s moving forward and focuses on the creation of content from a developer’s perspective. Would I do music for an everyday game? Meh. I’m not thrilled about the idea, but if someone cool came to me and had this great game, then I’d consider it. Just like if a great director came to me and said, “I’m doing a film would you want to do the music?” I’d consider it.

That’s not my dream job, to be honest with you. The idea of making a cool game or making a cool software platform, now that’s wildly exciting to me! Content creation is where me and Rob are headed.

That’s sort of a direct result of what we did with Year Zero, in terms of the ARG and presenting it. That was, from my perspective, the most rewarding creative experience, musical or not. Being able to take this world and present it to people in a creative way. It wasn’t a game, it wasn’t a website, it was kind of all those things in one. It was an experience where it was fun to use all the different kinds of mediums that are available now and, in the end, kind of creep into people’s minds.

I like playing shows, and I can play shows. I’ve played big shows and I’ve played shitty shows. I’ve played where people show up and played where people don’t show. But what excites me is working on stuff like the Year Zero project more than my current thing. I could keep doing shows. I’m pretty good at it, but I want to fucking start something that I might suck at and try that. You know, to see what it’s like to suck for once.

HUGH LIPPE (19) was born and raised in Texas. His roots are very recognizable when you look at his raw, cinematic photos which document gonzo road trips, girls gone wild, patriotism and other American stereotypes.
It leaves us with a sense of hunger,where we anxiously want to discover this free caring world of sin.
His work has been exhibited in galleries in New York, and in several fashion magazines.

Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Hugh, an artist, although most work of mine that surfaces are just the photographs taken
How did you start your career?
I began by taking basic photography classes at CCCC (Collin County Community College) to stay sane will doing my undergrad basics.
Painting supplies had become too expensive and the photographic process was exciting.
What were your first projects/ideas?
The first cohesive project came together for my undergrad thesis project at ‘Art School’ titled “Girls on Hoods From Inside Out”; it was my compromise with an extreme liberal arts program.
They didn’t take kindly to objectifying women and glorifying hot rods, so I set up these scenarios where I would photograph the process of making one of these ‘girlie’ calendars, shoot it dark and expose bits of equipment here and there while shooting ‘real women’ sexing it up against automobiles. The outcome was awkward and surreal.
What kind of project are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a project called “East”. Basically I’m shooting a majority in the Northeast US. I’ve always been Bias toward the NE being raised in Texas, but after marrying my Sweetie from Maine, she opened my eyes to the possibilities found through out the North East.
It is still resembles rural America but with an older sophistication,
New England erodes just the same.
I find it more challenging to capture, it’s not as literal as the Horizon line is out West.
Do you see life in greater detail than others?
I don’t know about that…? I know I often at stare at ‘nothing’ and think deep thoughts, maybe it’s just anxiety… : )
Have you worked with other artists or photographers?
For sure, I have worked with many talented and many untalented, enough to learn that talent plays a small part of becoming financially successful
Who or what influenced you?
All the great masters, those who lived on the edge back when Photography was a still considered a medium. Those great people who had the science aspect down but pushed a vision beyond what was conventional amongst their colleagues.
Mostly those folks with multiple books, thick books filled with lots of pictures.
What music do you listen to while working?
It all depends on the mood or what the subject requires.
I do feel Music and photography go hand in hand and have not met anyone who argues otherwise.
Music is a powerful thing and can easily dictate ones emotions and affect the outcome of the photograph.
Name a few people that you would love to work with?

There are so many talented people out there… where to start… I have learned one thing; a strong team (talent, hair, makeup, styling) means everything!
I have been so fortunate to work with some really great people.
I would love to work with Carine Roitfeld, she is ‘Fuck Off’. Consistent, Period.
What projects have you done that you are most proud of?
The portraits I’ve shot of people through out Texas and the Midwest touch me somehow, I truly love them.
Who were your favorite projects or clients?
I recently worked for a high-end denim company by the name of PRPS (Purpose).
They were super cool. I love working with denim companies, I find them to be more open to my ideal scenarios.
Although I have yet to shoot any couture, I love the edge and ambiguity that is projected within the market.
Where did you grow up and what was it like?
I grew up in a small town outside of Dallas. It was confused by the suburban sprawl of Dallas and the influence of the local lake and everything that comes with a manmade body of water that size.
I get anxiety just trying to elaborate on that… very stereotypical.
Any movie , book or music album that we need to check out??
I just read “Bright Shiny Morning” by James Frey; his portrayal of LA is impeccable.
What would be your dream project?

Pirelli Calendar.

Where do you find inspiration?

The bookstore, Amateur Photos of the web and often ideas come to me late at night when I can’t fall asleep
What has been your favorite artwork until now?
Richard Avedon’s ‘American West’, the prints are masterpieces, he was truly one of a kind.

Future goals?
Momentum, upon momentum with out any compromise

Famous last words?

It’s a small world.

more information about Hugh lippe:
www.hughlippe.com

“Photography is my boyfriend and film is my husband which is based on a typical love and hate relationship.”

“Riga is an inspiring place to live in, especially in May and June, when there are white nights.”

written by NIELS ERIK TOREN illustration ELZA JO VAN RENEN

Absurd standing fierce and proud with a wide and vicious grin. Mr. Welthart, profoundly Christian, then moved out of his comfortable wooden shack the following day, and swore never to take anyones picture again, since he believed sacredly that this was the devils work, and Absurd, was his very son.
If we should believe Welthart’s story is very doubtful, indeed. Official records of Welthart, showed that he had
many psychological issues of his own, even before that unfortunate sunny Sunday afternoon occurred.
Word around the campfire is that he was a full time nudist and tales of him fornicating wild beasts circulated around at high-thee brunch parties and in the shadiest of pubs. In light of these findings, he might not be the most reliable source. We need some clear,hard evidence, goddamn it! Not this old drunken maniac gibberish. A commoner of a local and notorious pub, was said to be the best informed citizen around. He was also a professional alcoholic and took his job quite seriously. After many hours of hesitation, and gibberish about “not talkin’ round no ones back” and “hating back stabbin’ old whores getting stoned on cheap grey earl on sundays” (this, by the way, made just as much sense to us, as it does to you). A young and infamous reporter, the late; Maddy Hitt finally, successfully made the old man cave in. It is said Mr. Hitt nailed him when he offered the old drunkard a bottle of the finest Scotch he’d ever heard about. Shortly after that, Hitt published a story about Absurd in a regional newspaper. It caught the eye of many neurotic and blasphemous readers, who attempted, unsuccessfully however; to track Absurd down. They proved to be too late, since Absurd had disappeared years earlier. The commoner’s vocabulary was rather limited, and the hard liquor had inflicted a serious speech impediment on his part. Nevertheless Mr Hitt should be complimented on constructing a fairly readable and seemingly accurate (plausible) account of Absurd’s life. Absurd lived in a small village, where everybody knew each other, and everybody knew Absurd. As he grew up, he stopped going to school and started spending the money he had inherited from his dead family. His father had been a respected businessman, with enough wealth for Absurd to live two lifetimes on, which he intended to take full advantage off… Years passed and the people in the village barely saw any of Absurd. After years of seclusion he decided to grace the poverty stricken public with his presence from time to time. Dressed in ridiculous and eccentric costumes, sneering ridiculous insults to anyone who possessed the right kind of ears capable enough to capture his high pitched voice and make some goddamn sense out of it. He committed rather unsuitable behavior and other such debaucheries in nearly all public areas we could imagine. He got arrested numerous times, but bailed himself out, or rather bribed himself out on each occasion. Officers claimed to feel kind of sad for this rather pathetic lump of flesh they considered far from human. The police report states that he had carved up his own face and blinded himself with a blowtorch experiment involving; a blowtorch, a desert rat and at least three different kinds of high powered hallucinogenics. [We can only stand in horror of other items or animals that might have been included in his experiment, but that might have police officer might consider too unethical to include...] Many Absurd sightings were reported, and the most recent one is said to be in 1959, although that would have almost certainly meant he would have been an old and cripple man. To celebrate his last sighting, legacy and to ensure we remember where we got that beautiful phrase; Absurdism from. We here at ILOVEFAKE, have decided to dedicate a whole issue to the good Doctor, and his nearly forgotten lifestyle. When an unknown reporter asked a barstool attendant, in a shady pub just out of Absurd’s hometown, what he thought off Absurd’s rather impulsive disappearance, he replied: ”Well. You know… That’s just Absurd.”

The heelflip is similar to the kickflip, and is a natural next trick to learn. If you don’t know how to kickflip, you can still learn to heelflip, but I recommend first Learning how to Kickflip. Heelflips are a little harder than kickflips.

What is a Heelflip? A Heelflip is where a skater ollies (or jumps with his or her board) into the air, and flicks the skateboard his his or her heel so that it spins in the air along the nose-tail axis, with the heel-edge coming up first, while staying parallel to the ground. The board spins once, and the skater lands on the skateboard when the wheels are facing the ground again, and rides away. Read more about the definition of Heelflip in the Skateboarding Dictionary.

If you are brand new to skateboarding, you’ll first need to learn to ollie before learning to heelflip (read Learn How to Ollie). Plus, you may want to take some time getting used to riding your skateboard (read Just Starting Out Skateboarding) before learning to ollie, kickflip or heelflip. Of course, it is totally up to you – if you are aggressive and want to learn to heelflip on your skateboard before learning how to ride, that’s up to you!

Make sure you read all of these instructions before you try to heelflip. Once you are familiar with them, go skate!

Position your feet like you would an ollie – with your back foot across the tail for the pop, and your front foot near the center of the board. However, you will want to have your front foot placed more forward on the board, so that your toes hang off a little. This will make the trick much easier.

Position your feet like you would an ollie – with your back foot across the tail for the pop, and your front foot near the center of the board. However, you will want to have your front foot placed more forward on the board, so that your toes hang off a little. This will make the trick much easier.

Just like with a kickflip, you want to get our feet out of the way of the board so that it can spin freely. Take this moment to pull your front foot back up underneath you, and get ready to catch the skateboard. When heelflipping, the skateboard can spin pretty fast. It helps to be looking down and watching the board spin, but try to not lean forward.

Just like with the kickflip, make sure you stay level. If you lean too far forward – as in, toward your toes, you will tend to leave your skateboard behind you. Keep yourself level, and your weight over your skateboard.

Take another look at this photo of P-Rod at the X Games, pulling off a switch varial heelflip. Notice how level his shoulders are with the ground.Once the skateboard has spun around completely one time, put your back foot on it to catch it. This means that you’ll need to be watching your skateboard, to see when it has made one complete flip. This can be tricky – keep practicing. Some day when you are awesome, you’ll have a stronger board sense and be able to kickflip without watching the board, but even pros look down when they do tricks, so keep an eye on that board.

Once you catch the skateboard with your back foot, you’ll want to put your front foot on the skateboard too.

This is done just like with a kickflip. As you fall back toward the ground and land, bend your knees again. This is important! Bending your knees will help absorb the shock of landing on your skateboard, it will keep your knees from getting hurt from the impact, and keep you in control of your skateboard. bend your knees deeply as you land. Finally, just roll away. If this sounds simple, then great – get out there and practice! If this sounds too complicated, don’t worry. Just go slow, and take your time.

This is a lot of technical information to remember while trying to do a trick that takes only a second or two. Just make sure you understand the concept – make sure that you have a good mental picture of what’s happening. Go practice, and if you run into a wall, come back and read some more, and hopefully you’ll get it. Your body is learning how to heelflip more than your mind is, so it may take time. With practice, you’ll eventually get it.

The heelflip can be done other ways as well. A very popular method technically isn’t a heelflip at all, but the skateboard does spin in the same way. This method is called the “Anti-kickflip”, or “Opposite-kickflip”, and most people find it easier than the true kickflip, and it can look a lot cleaner.

In this version of the heelflip, you want to set your feet up the same way you would for a kickflip. When you pop your board into the air, you make the same motion as with a kickflip, but you flick the board on the opposite corner (see photo). This makes the skateboard spin the opposite way from a kickflip. It’s a fairly simple variant of the trick.

However, be careful – the kickflip is a more natural way for your board to want to spin. With this heelflip version, the board has a good chance of flipping up and nailing you in the groin. Sound like fun? Oh, it isn’t.

Common Heelflip Problems

I Can’t Get the Skateboard to Spin Enough
This is the most common problem with heelflips. You have to get a good, strong pop off of your tail, and you need to give the board a good strong flick. If you are using the alternate heelflip method (the “opposite kickflip”), the board does spin more slowly than with the true heelflip method. The only other way to fix this is with practice. A lot.
My Skateboard Goes Behind Me
This is a pretty common heelflip problem that comes from leaning too far forward (as in toe side, not toward the nose). Try focusing on leaning back a little, toward your heel side edge. Keep your weight centered over your skateboard, and this won’t be a problem.
I Can’t Control my Board
Your board pops up, and might nail you in the groin (getting “credit carded). This is probably happening because you are using your toes in the flip – make sure to use just your heel. Also, just practice. That does mean that you might end up rolling on the ground in pain a few times – this is why it takes guts to be a skater!
I Catch the Board Sketchy – or Not At All
Have someone watch you heelflip. If your tail is dragging too close to the ground, then give a stronger pop, and put some pressure on your front foot to even out the skateboard. If your problem is with the actual landing, the make sure you are catching the board with your feet flat and even. Don’t use only your toes. You may need more air in order to have enough time for this. Again, practice more!