{"id":317446,"date":"2021-10-19T14:18:39","date_gmt":"2021-10-19T14:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nocomplynetwork.com\/?page_id=317446"},"modified":"2024-01-29T13:51:59","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T13:51:59","slug":"yves-marchon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nocomplynetwork.com\/yves-marchon\/","title":{"rendered":"Yves Marchon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yves Marchon: Shot by @theotherhat<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yves Marchon is a skater and filmmaker based in Switzerland.<\/b><\/p>\n

He’s worked for a series of top skate brands and was Element Europe’s main filmer and editor for over a decade. He’s captured some of the most banging clips to come out of Europe, produced several full-lengths and short edits, whilst also getting into the mix on sessions with pros when he can and putting down sick tricks himself.<\/b><\/p>\n

So we had to hit him up to join and were stoked Yves was down to become a No Comply Network Member.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read his interview to find out what it was like growing up as a skater in Switzerland, making his first ever skate film, the skate videos that inspired and influenced him, how he got his job with Element Europe, making the Rise Up video, shooting Janne Saario, Michael Mackrodt, Bas Jannsen, Jo Lorenz, his favourite thing about filming with Madars Apse, capturing Lucien Clarke’s Mag Minute, hanging and filming with Bam and Kerry Getz, his production company Beauregard Films, filming Jeremy Wray’s epic Backside 180 in Barcelona, behind the scenes stories of some of his most standout clips – in front of and behind the lens and much more.<\/b><\/p>\n

Read the Yves Marchon interview below to find it all out for yourself.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Yves: Shot by @olaalexandrovaphoto<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What\u2019s your full name?<\/h1>\n

Yves Marchon<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Where did you grow up and where do you live now?<\/h1>\n

I grew up in Fribourg in Switzerland, a city located in-between Geneva and Zurich. I now live in a village few minutes outside of town. It is nearby the lakes, it\u2019s nice.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When did you first see skateboarding and think I want to do that?<\/h1>\n

At first I was interested in BMX and my mom bought me a French magazine called “Bicross & Skate Magazine\u201d – it was the precursor to No Way Magazine.<\/p>\n

Most of the mags had BMX content but there were a few skate pages with the Bones Brigade, Hosoi and French skaters mostly.<\/p>\n

I thought skateboarding was way cooler than BMX and a skateboard was something I could afford. It was in 1988. I was hooked instantly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When did you first get a skateboard and what was it?<\/h1>\n

My first setup was a generic skateboard from the mall with a plastic cap on the nose and tail. I quickly removed them and actually learned to skate with it which was far from ideal. I rode that board to death and ended up breaking it. I didn\u2019t have the money for a new one and I think I had to even stop skating for a little bit.<\/p>\n

Then my first real setup was a 3rd hand Schmitt Stix Andy Howell deck with Gullwing Phoenix fluorescent green trucks and Schmitt Stix black wheels. I bought it for 30 bucks. I was 12 years old.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Where did you learn to skate and who was in your crew?<\/h1>\n

I learned the basics on the curb in front of my house. There was a hill too so I bombed it. I skated on my own for the first couple of months. My dad and I built a jump ramp but we did not knew how to bend it so we made a bank instead and I learnt how to jump off of it and other basic stuff.<\/p>\n

My first crew were the skaters from up the street. They had a proper jump ramp and one day one of them invited me to skate it. I remember I had to show them what I could do on the jump ramp in order to get accepted.\u00a0I was actually not too bad and got in the crew, haha. It was rad, we ended up building some jumps ramps, quarter pipes, rail slide bars and stuff.<\/p>\n

It lasted maybe a year until they all stopped skating. I was on my own again until I started to go skate in the city and formed another crew.<\/p>\n

It was the end of ’91-early ’92. That\u2019s when Video Days came out, well, at least when I got to see it.\u00a0I was pretending I was in LA but in my hometown\u2026<\/p>\n

Then Questionable came out which had a huge impact on me, then Virtual Reality which solidified it.<\/p>\n

At that point I knew skateboarding was going to be my life. Then in 1994 I got sponsored by the local shop and eventually by a Swiss distributor that same year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Yves, Blunt to Fakie: Shot by @thefluff<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What was the name of the first skate video you made?<\/h1>\n

I made my first video in 1994 with my friend\u2019s dad camcorder: a Sony Hi8. I filmed my friends and edited it using two VCRs.<\/p>\n

It was titled \u201cFribourg Family\u201d and I made a bunch of VHS for my friends and the people around.\u00a0I vividly remember feeling such a joy making it. I knew that\u2019s what I wanted to do in the future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You rip on a board, what\u2019s your favourite thing to skate?<\/h1>\n

The urban jungle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Yves: Boardslide: Shot by @shredderic<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What trick have you been the most proud to do in front of lens?<\/h1>\n

Maybe that 15 stair 50-50 I did that\u2019s at the end of Rise Up in the credits?<\/p>\n

So there I was in Moscow with the Element European team filming them for the first time. We went to that spot with two handrails: a 7 stair and a 15 stair.<\/p>\n

Nobody was really into it, it was crusty. We looked at the 15 stair and they were like \u201cwow that\u2019s a sketchy one”.<\/p>\n

So I claimed it and said: \u201cIf all you guys do a trick on the 7 stair rail I will 50-50 the 15.\u201d\u00a0Needless to say they all did their tricks quickly and returned to me like: ok, now your turn, haha!<\/p>\n

First try I frontflipped over the rail, almost died right there, second try grinded it, third try landed it. I might have done it twice.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How did you become the Element Europe filmer?<\/h1>\n

After that Moscow trip in 2003 basically<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What was your favourite thing about filming Janne Saario for Rise Up?<\/h1>\n

The fact that Janne Saario<\/a> had such an original view on spots and tricks at the time made it really memorable.<\/p>\n

At the time, 99% of the skaters were doing the same tricks at the same spots. It was pretty formatted but he was doing stuff nobody was doing at the time and also looked at things differently. He was truly ahead. It is more common now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n