Monster Children

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Watch: Cole Walton And Jesse Guglielmana In Chamber

Cole Walton and Jesse Guglielmana are very, very nice guys.

You might think we say this about a lot of people but we really don’t. They’re good guys, stupidly talented and they’re grabbing at the lemon we call life and squeezing as much as they can out of it. Jesse who you might know from our video with him a few years ago is one of those bastards that surfs as good as he skates, but he also screenprints, paints and probably stretches before bed. Cole featured in our lineup of Bright Young Things last year because we just knew he would have a big, bright future ahead of him based off the couple clips that we’d watched. He hasn’t stepped a foot wrong yet, so when he hit me up to say Chambers is ready for the world we knew we were in for something special. Here’s our chat with the boys.

Hey guys, sick edit by the way. Loved it. Super colourful, fun and cool.

Jesse: Thanks.

Cole: Thanks, thanks.

Just checking you are both in LA right?

J: I’m in Long Beach.

I went to LA for the first time last year in November.

C: Yeah, it’s pretty crazy to spend all your time in the car.

Yeah legit, that’s it. It’s kind of similar to Australia in that sense though, we’re always in cars. So, Cole you were a part of our Bright Young Things of 2023, and Jesse we did a video with you back in 2021.

J: Like a RAEN thing, yeah.

What is the biggest thing that has changed for you both since we last spoke?

J: I did that video with you guys when I took over my grandma’s screen-printing shop so that has been more of a focus now.

So good.

J: That would be it.

C: I can’t remember. Not much has changed, still doing the same thing. Keep making videos. I did move out so that’s cool.

Yeah, so sweet. And now you’ve got this clip out?

C: Yeah, I guess this clip has been something that has changed. This has been over a year process. I think we were starting to film it when the Bright Young Things happened.

Well, there you go.  And it’s called Chamber?

C: Chamber, yeah.

Any meaning behind that?

C: It’s Jesse’s little brand.

J: I wouldn’t call it a brand. I don’t know what it is. It’s an open-ended project. I have a gallery space in my studio at the front, so we’ve been trying to do little art shows there and having Chamber as the space in the front.

Where are you sitting now in your studio because I can see all the art behind you?

J: Yeah, this is the painting zone.

So, Jesse you did all the art in the clip then I take it?

C: Yeah, Jesse did all the art. I grabbed two or three folders that probably had multiple notebooks in them and had hundreds of papers drawn on them. I scanned them all individually. There are two photos in there but everything else is just all Jesse’s stuff.

Yeah, I loved that stuff in there – I feel like it made it a little more unique.

J: Thank you.

Would you both say your arty kind of people?

C: Arty? (laughs)

Yeah.

J: What would be your definition of arty?

I don’t know. I like asking people if they’re arty I feel like you either embrace it or are thrown off by it.

C: I wouldn’t describe myself as arty because I kind of see through it. All the art stuff. I enjoy art. I enjoy my friends art. Like I’m in a support group of my friend’s art but it’s not a thing that I am seeking out. I don’t know much about it even when it comes to video stuff.

For sure. I feel like I’m on the same page with that. Jesse also I have to check is that you with the shaved head or it is a cameo from someone I don’t know?

J: Yeah, that’s me (laughs). I guess that proves the process of how long this took to shoot.

Just had to check. Looks good (laughs). What excites you about the current state of skateboarding?

J: I really couldn’t elaborate because I am not a part of that world at all so I couldn’t really tell you.

C: Same here. That’s why I like this video so much because it’s just a strictly skate part, no surfing or anything involved with the water. I would like to get into the skate world more. It seems like fun getting to hang out with a person instead of them just being in the water. The scenery is always changing, you’re not looking at the same stuff. Actually, Rowan excites me. What he is doing. Yeah that’s one.

He's a sweetheart Rowan. Okay so this is hard because you are both across so many fields but is there anything that is pissing you off in skating? Especially because you’re both saying you’re not really in that world. Is there a reason for that?

J: I feel like I used to be, but I just got to a point where it’s whatever. Nothing to cry over. It’s just a fun thing to do. You can’t take it too seriously, or at least I’ve never been able to in that sense. Even though I freak out all the time, that’s more just in the moment.

What was the vision with this, did it come from an idea over beers, or did you always want to put a part out?

C: The first clip in the video, the first trick, we just went ‘we should make a video,’ right after that.

J: And that was when I met you right, with Nick?

C: My friend Nick, who I live with now and who was living with Jesse linked us up. Then we got one clip and just wanted to do it.

J: I would see stuff I wanted to go skate and it just snowballed into a project. It happened very organically.

You can see that. Sometimes you kind of know when someone has rushed to put it all together but this one doesn’t feel like that at all.

J: I feel like that’s just the standard now, just rush, rush, rush everything. It’s refreshing when people put the work in and take the time.

Did you have any premieres or are having any?

J: Nah I don’t want it to be dramatic. It’s more of a passion project. This clip, and projects like this are how I build friendships and relate to people with. I’m not about to try and go pro at 30 you know. It’s just fun thing to do. Skateboarding is the first thing that I was actually obsessed with since I was a kid. I feel like I’ve always been working on something, but it doesn’t always have its place yet. Like I film a trick and then all of a sudden it turns into something to work on for a year. Which is the cool thing about skating.

For sure. And Cole for you, what is the biggest difference or thing that you love about filming skating as opposed to surf apart from the obvious standing in the same spot for eight hours?

C: That I can talk to the person. That’s the most amazing difference. With surfing you’re just standing there but not really there. I feel like every time I film someone in skating they are way more thankful and nice after.

J: It’s much more of a community. There’s a bond. Everything in surfing I feel like is a…

Competition?

J: Yeah, so competitive, even in the free surfing sense.

C: In skating you see the pros bring their filmer friend from the middle of Florida out to LA. Bringing each other up. In surfing, they just care that someone filmed it they don’t care who. There’s no connection between the two so often.

I see that. I’ve noticed over the years how much skaters get around each other. We put some surf film up on our Instagram and maybe a couple of people comment or whatever, but we put something up on skate and everyone’s sharing it, comments are going berzerk even if they don’t know the skater or filmer. It’s honestly so obvious how much of a community it is even just on social media.

J: They’re happy for each other. There’s a lot more love.

Well, I feel like this is a good note to end on, unless you’ve got any other shout outs?

C: Oh yeah one thing. The clips of the sink. It’s just paint not blood.