[ JAPANESE / ENGLISH ]

Special thanks_Harvest Dist.

VHSMAG (VM)：　Congratulations on the new video! You’ve had a non-stop weekend in Sydney, how are you feeling coming out of the premiere?

Trent Evans (TE)：　It’s been a big few days. We had our Sydney video premiere on Friday. Then helped host WKND's screening on Saturday, where they surprised Riley Pavey with a pro board. Then finally Nike event and premiere on Sunday, with another Hoddle surprise board for Ben Lawrie. To wind things down on Monday, I took Yuma (Takei), Ken Ken (Kento Namekawa), and some of the team down to Bondi Beach with surfboards to catch a few waves. My voice is only just coming back now, but it was an awesome few days.

VM：　What was the initial concept for this video, and where did the title come from?

TE：　The video came together as a bit of a "happy accident" between team injuries, guys working on individual parts, and separate projects. Also when our distributor in Japan, Kashi, kept sending footage of Ken Ken, we realized this kid could have his own section. The title comes from an old saying I've seen around Australian pubs and bars: "Once I meet you, once we have a drink, once we hang out, you'll never be a stranger, we'll be friends forever." It really stuck with me, so we even made welcome doormats with that phrase for our Sydney store. It fits perfectly with bringing someone like Ken Ken into the family. Once you meet him, he'll never be a stranger again.

VM：　You spent nearly two years filming across the globe.

TE：　Filming took close to two years. Early this year, we decided to do an East Coast road trip from Melbourne up through Sydney and Canberra. We hopped in a van and went camping, skating, swimming, and fishing together just like when the brand was smaller. It brought team riders from all over the world together into one cohesive journey.

VM：　Pass~Port videos always have such a unique identity. How did you approach the creative direction, editing, and music curation for this project?

TE：　I edited the majority of this video, while Geoff (Campbell) edited the tour section since he was the main filmer on that trip. Geoff and I have handled most projects for over a decade, so we can be brutally honest with each other and give constructive feedback. When it comes to music, that side of it is nearest and dearest to me personally. I used to run an online radio show, and I still DJ around Sydney. I am obsessed with digging deep into music, building out playlists and taking on the challenge of finding a song that no one has ever seen or heard in a skate video before. That process is super rewarding for me. Visually, 99% of the animations were created in-house by our studio. Sammy, one of our main designers, went into his bunker for weeks frame-by-frame animating graphics using stop-motion and raw moving textures.

VM：　Ken Ken’s part features music by Inu, one of the classic Japanese OG punk bands. How did that track get chosen?

TE：　It was a collaboration between Ken Ken and his filmer. I actually had a pretty big playlist ready for Ken Ken, but I felt strongly that the music needed to speak directly to them since they put in the work out in Japan. When they recommended a few tracks from Inu, I listened to it and went, like, "Yes!" I hadn't heard them before, so it was another beautiful moment for me. I was like, "Oh man, this album is so sick!" I was so stoked to piece his part together with that track.

VM：　What was the most challenging part of bringing so many skaters, filmers, and locations into one continuous video?

TE：　Maintaining continuity and direction. We tried to group footage regionally. For example, Sam Sutton’s section is focused on LA, a little on East Coast of USA and Sydney, while Ken Ken’s part is kept strictly in Japan. Having Ken Ken's section remain purely in Japan sits really nicely with me too.

VM：　Were there any clips or spots that really surprised you when putting together the edit?

TE：　Seeing footage come across my desk in Sydney is always exciting. Like Eetu’s backsmith pop-out or Tenny’s long frontside boardslide pop-out in LA. We also loved showcasing spots that people hadn't seen before. On the Australian tour, Geoff and the crew even went into the bush to make a few spots from next to nothing. It’s about that spirit of exploration.

VM：　What about that insane airplane spot with Callum? How did that happen?

TE：　I actually had ACL knee surgery around that time, so I couldn't be there that day. Our filmer Geoff was tipped off about an airplane field by a skater who travels up and down the East Coast for work. Geoff got there and said, "Somebody has to skate this, this is honestly too cool not to skate." After a bit of persuading, Callum ollied up and noseslid the wing. Thrasher ran that photo to open our tour feature.

VM：　How did Ken Ken officially join the team?

TE：　Our Japanese distributor Kashi kept feeding me clip updates of him for six months. Eventually, I was like, "Let's give this young, really hungry kid a section." Then I realized something crazy. Ken Ken was born in the exact same month and year that I started Pass~Port 17 years ago when I was working up in my studio in Queensland. It was total serendipity. And when I heard that Pass~Port was his dream sponsor, I was like, "What!? That really stokes me out!" When he came to Sydney, we brought him into our store and told him to take whatever he wanted, kid in a candy store moment for all.

VM：　That's sick. In an era of quick Instagram clips, why is a full-length skate video still so essential to you?

TE：　To me, the unwritten rule of running a skateboard company is that you work on a fucking full-length video. It takes immense time, effort, and frustration, but it is the only way to legitimize a brand. It’s the total representation of the brand, the team, and the creativity.

VM：　Now that the video is finished, what are you most proud of?

TE：　Having borne the brunt of editing this one, I’m just proud that our videos stay true to our identity. I just want our videos to ooze soul, ooze jazz, and ooze an expression of creativity. Whether through the skateboarding, the music, the spots, or the animations. It’s another piece of our brand's puzzle completed that can live on forever.

VM：　Looking back over 17 years of Pass~Port, how has your vision evolved?

TE：　It started with just me in Queensland, and now there are 10 of us behind the brand across the studio, store, sales, and team management. Plus our big and beautiful skateboard team of 15 riders too. I’m 41 now and not getting any younger, but it gets me out of bed every day. Our core ethos hasn't changed: sticking to our own direction, exploring the world through skateboarding, being inspired by everything around us, heading down the pub for deeper conversations, digging around for music and hey maybe heading down to the beach at the end of the day. Doing this interview was actually a really nice, calming process to purge out the words of what was happening in my brain after being so stuck in my head with the edit (laughs), so thank~you for that.

Trent Evans
@pass_port

Founder and brand director of Pass~Port. Based in Sydney, he oversees the brand's creative direction, from board graphics and video editing to music selection. His distinctive approach, rooted in Australian culture, humor, and community, has helped establish Pass~Port as one of skateboarding's most respected independent brands.