Con.Artist Brand // Brett.Dasovic Blog

“Too Much Love” post release PROMO edit

conartistbrand — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:12:42 +0000

So the recent slide in sales of videos is something that is both heartbreaking and frustrating for someone such as myself. I obviously chose the wrong time to get into the market of editing skate videos. I have heard from numorous sources that sales on blading videos are very low across the board and if you expect to make atleast decent money you have to have a serious reputation (i.e. something legendary like a 4×4 video or be adam johnson or lonnie gallegos)but if you are a new age editor who is trying to make a name for himself you are in for a long haul. The money is not there to be made and you have to endure the lack of sales and skepticism on the part of your fellow bladers/editors until you are able to establish yourself as a prominant producer of rolling videos. It is not only what you know but who you know. No longer can you just have sick editing or a sick line up. You need to be able to put them both together and make the package perfect…if your not haffey, broskow or farmer kids just are not interested these days and that makes things difficult. I am quite aware that the road I am traveling in the skating world isnt the smoothest one but either way I am going to travel it because it is what I really love to do. So here is a promotional edit from my recent release “TOO MUCH LOVE” which feautures Michael Garlinghouse, myself, Josh Ulrichsen, Jeff Dalnas and Jeff Howard. Take a look and have a good evening.

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http://vimeo.com/3935223
http://vimeo.com/3935223
http://vimeo.com/3935223

My Eulogy park edit.

conartistbrand — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 03:03:02 +0000

So this edit comes with an additional blog due to the fact that I have already posted the blog on the eulogy blog site. Basically it is just a thought about the benefits of park skating for me. Now I am by no means a great park skater. I would say a mediocre or comprable park skater would be a better way of describing my park skills. Now this is certainly not a bad thing due to the fact that the advantages or skatepark are tremendous to all of us rollerbladers ESPECIALLY those who live in the midwest and get 6 months of unbearable cold. I have in the past not kept up with my park skating in the winter due to either lack of money or lack of motivation to skate something I was not particularly good at. However I have really grown a fondness for it this year. It has so many benefits, it is much better on your body if your learning to flow transition, it teaches you how to be fluid and link things together as well as increase your consistancy and mainly it keeps your skating legs on while you deal with the cold weather and lack of street blading. Over the years I have found that I come back to skating in the spring much rustier than I was the previous summer, I would always skate in the winter but only do basic tricks and basically skate for fun because the cold weathe zapped the motivation out of me. Now however I was able to skate very intensly at the skatepark and in turn when I returned to regular street skating this spring my street skating did not really miss a beat I have been on point with my tricks and filming and I am very grateful of the park this winter and give it all the credit for helping me not lose my familiarity with my serious blading side! so that is my 2 cents on my recent attraction to park skating!

edit!!

The power of the positive mindset!

conartistbrand — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 06:56:29 +0000

So This blog comes with a sense of trepidation. I find that typing out my words in the midst of a very positive situation tends to produce a negative effect on what is currently going right..however that is the gamble a true blogger must take so this will continue without any further hesitation!

So Basically life has had a severe upswing lately and I think I have finally learned how to be the master of that particular destiny which is a question and burdon that has always plagued me. Only surfacing during long hours on this dasterdely computer or the hours i spent attempting to sleep only to fail with the consequence of hours of time to myself with nothing but “not so awesome” thoughts. My most important lesson in life is that busy is the cure to stagnant negative behavior. The more i find myself doing the more productive I find myself in all aspects of life. I find myself simply doing the everyday things that used to just irke me. Instead of dreading doing things…i am doing them and in turn, gaining a more positive self conception at the thought of accomplishing these things that used to at one point be so problematic…the funny thing is, they are the everyday things most tend to just do. I have never been good at getting things done on time…i am still learning but i am defintely doing good lately. I am also going out to see my friends more during the times when I would normally consider inconvenient and not worth it. This has also had an extremely positive effect. I have strengthened my friendships with my semi close friends which makes it easier to make a boring evening something to talk about or a small session a day to really remember. again, these are thigns most just do and take for granted but to me are new learning experiences! The most positive kickback i have seen lately is a real increase in the quality of my blading. For those who do not know or were wondering. Blake Cohen and Myself are indeed going to be making a sequel to our video TOO MUCH LOVE and filming has already begun. I have been twice as productive as I was last video and I think my more active and positive mindset is directly responsible! Other things have benefited, such as work, family life and self perception but since this is a predominantly skating blog for the company I will keep those to a minimum at the moment because you are bladers and you can relate most to what I do in terms of blading! So for anyone who is struggling with either skating or life, just try to take a step back and see if maybe the main change you need to make is in your mind because your attitude is much of what dictates the outcome of your lifes endeavors and the beauty of that fact is that even though it can be difficult and sometimes seem impossible. It is something you do indeed have in your ability to control and that is one of the most empowering feelings a person can have.

2008 Online Compilation edit!

conartistbrand — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:17:53 +0000

SO the Minnesota winter turned snowy once more! We have been getting a good amount of sun and very little snow these last few weeks. However, as anyone who is native to this area knows “NEVER EVER COUNT OUT MOTHER NATURE” because she is likely to make you her bitch the moment you let your guard down. As it happens we got a decent amount of snow tonight. AlsoI am trying to the max to be able to afford bittercold showdown this year. In an effort to save money and keep myself from having to put up with the misery of freshly iced minnesota roads I stayed home this friday evening and made a new edit!
A look back at some of my online footage all pieced together rather than in different edits all over the place. A few unused clips are peppered throughout so peep game!

A higher quality version can be viewed on vimeo
http://vimeo.com/3306376

Last night was truly amazing for me.

conartistbrand — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:11:48 +0000

Okay so last night was the premiere for TOO MUCH LOVE. I must say that I was overwhelmed by the support we got from our local scene and for me on a personal note all my non skating friends that came out to support my work. I have heard from everyone involved in the editing business that the premiere is what makes it all worth it and I can’t agree more. Seeing all the familiar faces really moved me and hearing the amount of craziness going on THROUGHOUT the whole video really made all the hours and sleepless nights worth it. TML2 is already in the works and another night like last night would make it worth every hour spent skating, driving, uploading, and editing. There will definitely be pictures posted from the premiere in the next few days but I just wanted to give thanks to each and every person who came and supported what blake and myself have worked so hard on the last year. A special thanks goes to jeph, Josh, jeff and michael for skating so hard and making the video top notch talent wise.

A look at my past skating from the lense of John Haynes.

conartistbrand — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 05:44:02 +0000

So basically in the hectic life of your average 22 year old with work, a homelife (of sorts), friends, skating and aspirations to be fulfilled, you need to have a bit of regularity in your life to keep you sane. For me, tuesdays are that day of the week that keep me sane throughout the evil monotony of doing somewhat of the same thing day in and day out (god help me when im 40 right?) BUT, Basically every tuesday Jeph and I chill the whole day and then go to the skatepark for our local 9-midnight park session at ollie and co. We usually do random stuff like go to the mall, run errands, or whatever else happens to be of importance on that particular day and time. A few weeks back Jeph called me around noon and said he was hanging out with john (john haynes of be-mag and especially ONE magazine fame) and said come over, we are hanging out. So we watched arrested development and I showed john the new 4×4 video because he had not seen it yet. We eventually got john to burn us each a CD of all the photos he has ever shot of us over the last years of skating. For me this spans a good 4 or 5 years and includes about 92 solid photos that were worth saving…when i got to thinking that was about 85 or so that were blading and not scenery or headshots and I thought how crazy it was…85 tricks, 85 lighting setupss, hundreds of miles of driving, dozens of kickouts and run ins with cops, security and who knows what else, more bumps, scrapes and bruises than I will ever be able to keep an accurate record of and hundreds of attempts at tricks in every possible weather condition and situation possible just so we could get them captured on camera because it was simply what we loved to do. I was devoted beyond words to rollerblading and was addicted to not only the sport but the feeling of landing tricks I never knew I could do and john was devoted to both skating and portraying skating through the lense of his camera in a way that was both articulate, creative and pushing the envelope in the world of skate photography. Dating all the way back before we shot every trick on a digital camera that gave you an instant look of what was done, when film took a week or so to get back (assuming of course you finished the role that night…in which you just waited til it was shot then bugged john online with requests of whether or not he had scanned those pictures yet…thank you for all the patience john)So after dozens of tricks, injuries, tantrums and frustration and many high fives from a job well done I was able to pick a select few that really are amazing memories for me and something i will defintely be able to look on in years ahead and think of just how amazing it felt and how dedicated both me and those I call my friends were to what we truley love to do!

This is John and I!

This is the very first photo john ever shot of me…i remember how excited I was to have someone want to shoot a photo of my blading. shot on film

One of my first photos with john a 180 over a mini double set.
I actually hit my head on the very first jump and then got back up and did it…again, shot on film!

A few years later, when I was filming for a video with my friend brandon tormanen called “holdin’ it down” The video never came to fruition but the photo of the ao makio to drop came out quite nicely! if you would like to see the section this is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEpxHJpTu1Y&feature=channel_page

soul grind hop up to topsoul to fakie at the metrodome…this was on a photoblog john did for be-mag several years ago…i remember my friend erok was trying porn to porn that night..crazy!

John and I were trying to shoot a snow skating article for ONE magazine, again..the article did not publish but this photo is quite good and I have several others to post from the same day, it was evening and quite cold none the less…ao porn

Here is an ao topacid rewind…It is extremely odd to see something like this because ao topacids are not really my trick but it was still a cool one, jim lamarche broke the rail that day!

these three are on a random rail in the robert st. area of st paul. shot on the same day as the ao porn on the steep rail john was knee deep in snow to shoot these photos and I think they came out cool!

here are two photos of one rail from completely different perspectives, They are both night shots on a random outrail about 10 minutes from my house in roseville…right by my second favorite mall incidentally. The topporn is defintely my favorite but john said he is partial to the fishy…i take his word for it!

This was when I was in my full on savannah phase! The chicago kids, including steve lerner, brian bruno and others were in town this weekend and I skated with them the whole weekend and we had alot of fun…why we were skating central drops of all places I could not tell you but none the less this is a savannah to fakie with chicago and company!

THIS is easily one of the most scary things I have shot with john, I didnt really comprehend how big of a drop it was til afterwards (later a local named phil gilen actually handplant 180 over the rail) It was colder than hell when I was doing this and It took me a LONG TIME to commit to the actual royale and get over the side to take the drop. Royale to drop!

this was my first day back from a crazy ankle injury that had me laid up for several months and also my first day skating the new model razors. it was defintely odd skating a new model skate after 4 years on the same style boot but I was also happy with how light they were. This is a 180 bank to bank…my friend michael garlinghouse did an extremely mean flying squirrel that day as well!

this royale to drop in was in st. cloud minnesota on campus at st cloud st. John and I set up and shot this in about 10 minutes because gnarls had a trick he wanted to do (a wallride that was later printed in ONE magazine) he put up his lights and I jumped up royale…it was about nipples or shoulder high but I managed to not make it look too lame. The clip was featured in the con.artist team video this year.

this is from the same st. cloud trip as the photo before. I originally intended to do something on the out rail below it but I found a board next to the out rail above it and thought it would be more badass to grind something above it..i was actually freaked out by the fact that the rail was bending a bit when i was on it and took a scary drop that could have ended up alot worse if I had not caught the rail under it. John shot this photo from a roof next to the rail!

YES YES I KNOW chris haffey one uped the shit out of me…that made me sad at first when I heard he 3′d out but I later reasoned that atleast for once I did a trick first and even though it was later outdone…who better to outdo you than chris haffey!? This was my second photo published in ONE magazine..I was more excited about this than anything else!

this trick was my way out of a trick rut I had been in for quite sometime…I was working more than usual and had not gotten a quality photo or blading manuever in a few weeks and this defintely helped me! The trick itself is not that difficult except for the fact that the flat rail I transfered from was quite high on me. I am about 5’5” so that isnt exactly hard to do, this is another photo john shot from higher ground..a building behind the rail worked quite well! I was pumped to do something! royale the flat to fishy down!

THIS is my favorite photo john has ever shot of me and most likely ever will shoot. Shot on a 4×5 camera john and I did this a few times to get the right one as well as several other tricks that he shot digital. Shooting 4×5 is a bit different when you are used to shooting digi but the end result is obviously rewarding because In my opinion john did an amazing job! If I remember correctly he was shooting on 4×5 for a project for his last semester in college!

this is our other 4×5 endeavor, shot over a year or two after the previous photo, this is an ao topsoul on a kink rail in minneapolis. I actually do not remember much about this photo except for I had just got my hair chopped and sort of looked like a tool in the clip..oh well, we all have our off days right?

This crossgrab backslide was shot at a local competition we have every year in a town about 2 hours away called “RTP” I placed 3rd at this comp and still love to see the sweet prawpz in the clips that john gives me after I landed the manuever…good ol’ adrenaline!

This was also shot for the snowskating article that did not come out! it was extremely cold, Dan Knapmiller filmed this but from the car because it was freeezzzing. Notice the awesome fiziks frames! John Had a specific vision behind this photo but I think the temperature prevented it from coming out how he wanted. none the less this is a fishbrain up the ledge at sibley high school!

This was a photojournal that was used on the one website. I had just got off work at target and I had always wanted to get a cool photo on this rail since it was a block from my store. John called me as I was leaving asking if I was down to shoot something and we went out and did this..the night before his brother had lost his car at a concert and he was in the area because he was helping him find the missing automobile!

This was while we were filming for the birdz and the beez. knappy, hammond, gunnar, john and myself brought salt to this famous spot and bladed in the snow and alot of the footage actually ended up in the video. This was the first switch 360 topsoul I ever did on a handrail!

this was a trip to duluth with knappy, john, peterson, larsen and others that was rather random. I wanted to get a photo to remember the trip by and ended up getting 2 more extras on a curvy rail but pete was the star of this spot with a solid tru zoo 3 out…i settled for a fun little soul grind in a target polo shirt haha!

Front torque to fakie on the best spot ever maaade! This trip was easily the biggest RUT I had been in in recent memory but I was able to break out of it at this spot and got my first torque photo ever, I had just learned to do them well and really liked how this picture came out even though it isnt the type of spot I would usually want to get a photo on.

this is another photo coming back from injury! John wanted to shoot and I was desperate to blade since I had been out for several months. we set up as it was getting dark and the backlight he got to pop off the railing at the top looks really awesome…it certainly makes up for the green polo I had on! ps. John Loved my shorts in this photo and wanted to get some!

Okay so If the ao fish is my favorite skating pic this photo is a VERY VERY close second. The coldest day ever. I had a hoody and jacket on…however I am impaired in the ways of skating with longsleeves so I tend to do everything skating related with a t shirt on…when I say cold I do not say it lightly, I am extremely warm blooded and it takes alot to get me cold but this day was freezing. I vaguely remember knappy telling me he didnt want to film it because it was “some forever now shit” due to the fact that it was a 2 flat 2 but John said it would turn out really awesome and I agree! Hitting both downs and the kink was difficult because i had to skate fast and jump early to the rail which caused my shins some damage on the lock on’s that I did not hit but I ended up getting it and immedietely putting my coat back on…I apologize again to john for any frostbite I may have caused by not landing immedietely! AO topsoul stay fakie!

So there you have it that was a hell of alot of writing but I have a cold and am not going anywhere tonight so why not entertain you with a few stories? Everyone can look at the tricks and think its either cool or not cool but its always more fun when you have a fun fact or some insight to the picture at hand. These photos are more than tricks to me, they are the experiences and memories that have shaped some of the most important years of my life and I think it is pretty safe to say that if these images had not been captured and these things never experienced I would be a much different person than the one that is typing these words to you. Skating has been such an intricate part of who I am that I can’t imagine any other way than amazing photography by an amazing photographer to have it commemorated. They say the picture is worth a thousand words but according to the word count feature on this blog they are actually worth. 2404..and counting

oh and THATS ALL FOLKS!

Why 2008 was full of win.

conartistbrand — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:25:53 +0000

So basically it has escaped me in recent weeks that the year is 2009 now. 2008 was certainly something crazy for me. Alot of things came and certainly just as many went. I learned alot and experienced even more. I travelled more than I have in recent years and Made alot of new friends and acquaintences. Philadelphia became somewhat of a second home for me and kids like drew, alf, jon jon, and killgore became like a second family. I Moved on from Havok so I could be with a company closer to home and play a greater part in the image of the company (hence the reason you are reading this blog in the first place) I took a major crash course in skate video production. I edited 2 full length videos and was co-editor on a third. These are huge accompishments for me not to mention skating hard for parts in all three as well. I defintely have learned more about responsability this year. I suppose its just a taste of things to come but that doesnt stop me from looking at everything with the attitude of someone younger than my years. Hopefully that will hold true for as long as I live! I learned ALOT about patience this year and taking things as they come. Alot of that is thanks to my mom and being able to help her has helped me grow in a way that I don’t believe would be possible if I wasnt put into the situation in the first place. Pardon the lack of details on this particular subject but I’d say that the most imporant is all that needs to be written and that important detail is simply that I am a better person today because of what has happened the day before. Many more things could be said but those are the main things that stuck out to me, I managed to turn my life of skating into something I could visually show people the world over in a way that I want it portrayed. I made new friends and visted many new places that I cannot wait to return to and see the people that made those places so amazing and I grew as a person on many levels. Certain people deserve to know that they impacted my life and since I have yet to be in a video that had a thank you list I want to mention a few of them here because even if they dont read it atleast someone will know that these people are doing positive things for others, so thank you to jeph, blake, michael, jeff dalnas, adam killgore, drew amato, Alf, john haynes, dereck, isaac, geoff, & of course Dan Fabiano. There are many more important people but why waste so many names on one blog when there can be so many more interesting entries at their expense? With that being said.. I suppose I could’nt ask for much more out of a mere 365 days but since I am a naturally ambitious person I will do just that of myself in 2009!

Brett Dasovic
www.conartistbrand.com
www.razorskate.com
www.eulogywheels.com

So My first Blog…like first blog EVER!

conartistbrand — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:54:34 +0000

So This is what it feels like to blog? Well dang. It’s sorta like when you hear all through your childhood what its like to have sex. You work your entire life up to that one moment and then it happens and you realize…FUCK YES, THIS IS SO EVERYTHING IT’S CRACKED UP TO BE!!!
haha. In all seriousness I have a strong feeling that this is going to get updated a good amount. A. I use the computer ALOT B. I vent about life ALOT and C. I like to describe whats going on in my life with intricate detail…ALOT so Without further hesitation I present MY FIRST BLOG ENTRY.

BRETT DASOVIC CON.ARTIST UPDATES

conartistbrand — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 06:06:04 +0000

Hey everyone. Keep checking back to see all my rad tricks and all my sweet allyoop topsouls. I also am really hyper and will someday rule the world. Peace Brett.