Inspired by a cult Youtube video of a gang of girls and their pet rats, the Skate Witches are keeping it real for women in the sport all round. We spoke to Kristin about their zines, scrunchies and first full length video – SRSLY.
So, who are The Skate Witches?
The Skate Witches is an international gang of girl skaters founded by two Northwest skaters – me, Kristin Ebeling, and my best bud, Shari White. We were originally inspired by a cult YouTube video, and since have started our own zine and put out multiple video edits. We also create merch like scrunchies, longsleeves, socks, etc. and are currently working on a full length video, SRSLY.
The description for that cult YouTube video reads: “A gang of female skateboarders and their pet rats terrorize all the boy skate boarders in town”. That how you roll?
Yes we definitely scare boys regularly. We make fun of their bullshit. We don’t have rats, but that would be a good investment. Shout out to sk8rats.
So when you say international, how international are we talking? And how do you approach these people to join you?
I’m from Seattle, Shari is from Australia but living in Vancouver. There isn’t an official initiation. If you’re a skate witch, you’re a skate witch.
Give us a run down of the projects that the Skate Witches are involved with?
We are a skate zine, so that’s our primary focus. We also make clothing, stickers, and random other accessories. We also have collabed with other folks for events, such as hosting the scavenger hunt (similar concept to King of the Road) during Wheels of Fortune. Right now we’re filming for SRSLY.
We definitely scare boys regularly. We make fun of their bullshit
You’ve just released your sixth zine, with Helena Long on the cover. Have you noticed significant changes in how you produce the mag in those six issues?
Yes, definitely. At first we just had a goal to make a girls-centric skateboarding zine. Other than that, we had no clue what we were doing. We didn’t even know if it would become a regular thing, what types of features there would be, who’d be part of it aside from us two, etc. The first issue had a bunch of photos of us, lol. Over time we’ve developed some best practices that help make the zine better overall, and the production a lot smoother. These days, we set a general timeline, create an outline, reach out to folks for submissions, and have regular features in the zine, like Horrorscopes and Boys on Board. The last zine was cool because I typically don’t do the layout, but I did a few pages, and Shari usually doesn’t do the captions but she did a few. They were super good!
Why is a girls-centric skateboarding zine important?
Growing up I barely saw women skateboarding. For the most part, I didn’t see people that looked like me in magazines, videos, or at the skate park. Because of this, it was easy to feel isolated, that I didn’t fit in, etc. Now as an adult, over 10 years later, I still barely see non-bros in the mags, videos, etc. and if I do, it’s usually some type of special feature or awkwardly tokenizing piece. Essentially, it’s not normal to see girls in the mainstream, and seems like it will be that way for a long time.
It’s important to have our zine, as well as other publications featuring non traditional skaters (example: Not Shit, Xem Skaters) because it’s what we can relate to and it represents us. It’s what gets me hyped to skate. My hope is that our zine makes people feel included and a part of something. I hope it empowers people to take up space in and strive for equity in skateboarding.
What meant you kept at skating despite such a lack of women in skateboarding?
I just love skating so much. I love how hard it is and the rewarding feeling of learning something new.
I kept skating because I was able to find ways to escape the BS I typically encountered as “the girl skater”. A lot of the time I skated by myself in my garage with a box and rail due to my anxiety of going down to the local park (where I usually got bullied). I found the Villa Villa Cola website and The Side Project (which became Girls Skate Network). I checked these sites every single day for updates, photos, videos, etc. I saw AKA girl skater (the Gallaz video) and memorized and repeated the lines of Amy and Vanessa. I watched Elissa’s parts in the Toy Machine/Bootleg videos over and over. I fucked with the butterfly clip hair for a minute. I put up ads of Jessie Van on my wall. Basically I just clung to any little pieces of a skate culture I could relate to. It made me feel like I was a part of something, even though I wasn’t in reality.
When I was 17, I linked up with Skate Like a Girl, a Seattle based non profit and started getting involved in creating a scene for gals. This was a huge turning point for me. I went from skating alone in my garage dreaming of skating with other girls from around the world, to actually making it happen. Today I’m the director of Skate Like a Girl and work with Skate Witches and other projects to make sure non traditional skaters can find community. It’s pretty cool that the dreams I had as a teenager have come true. Also as someone pushing 30, I don’t ever think about quitting skateboarding anymore.
What’s the future look like for you, The Skate Witches and women in skateboarding as you see it?
For me, my goal is to continue to find ways I can impact skateboarding and the greater community in a positive way, with my main outlets being Skate Like a Girl and The Skate Witches. For The Skate Witches specifically, we are working on a video called SRSLY, as well as continuing to do merch and put out zines regularly. For our scene in general, it looks like we are all going to continue to strive for justice within our community through our various projects, whether it be crews, videos, zines, companies, etc. I don’t speak for everyone, but to me, its an exciting time – things are moving in the right direction.
What’s your vision for SRSLY?
Very srs Vx1000 footy of non traditional rippers. Good tunes, good filmin’, and pretty good sk8n too. Voted most likely to be delayed. #girlswhofilmvx #srslythemovie
Any upcoming skate witches who need to be checked out? Any artists in the skate community we could really be checking out?
Up’n’coming boss Witches include Lexi Briggs, Una Ferrar, Sage Williams and Breana Gerring. Artist wise we 100% back Jenny Vu, Jess Wu-O, and Ali T. Bruce.
What advice would you give to any young women starting skating today?
Never mind the h8rz.
