User talk:Martimorris

'''Mad Mikes ''' Mad Mikes was a creation by Marti Morris and Simon Sampson that evolved to become a brotherhood, joined together by a mutual love of skateboarding from the Isle of Wight

Founding

Simon and Marti started the venture back in 2003 with the original purpose of introducing skimboarding to the new local scene, offering low price boards locally to people seeking to take up the sport The two friends, and former founding member, James O'kell produced a short run of boards limited to 20 that sold out in a matter of weeks. As the summer rolled past, demand appeared for Mad Mikes apparel, so a small run of DIY t-shirts were produced for family and friends, with Marti and Simon experimenting with iron-on transfers and spray paint graphics, whilst the brand evolved into what it was to become. In late '03 with the skimboarding season ending, James decided to depart from the company and peruse other interests. During the fall of '03, interest for T-shirts had spread to the local skate scene that both Marti and Simon were also a part of. After contacting a local skateboard sticker supplier, Don Brider of Blackmarket fame, the boys were fully stocked with the first range of Mad Mikes T-shirts and stickers. Autumn '03 saw the first members of the skateboard division added and filming commenced for the first instalment of the Mad Mikes trilogy. Newport locals, Steve Buckley, Ash Gulliver and long standing friend Loz were flowed merchandise and welcomed to the family.

Dirty Skateboarding

After a winter of filming between 2003 and '04, Dirty Skateboarding premiered at a sold out Royal Squadron, Ryde, Isle of Wight on the 8th April, 2004. The night was a joint venture with another Isle of Wight based production called Puzzled that showcased their third cinematic instalment. Dirty skateboarding featured Full-length sections from Steve Buckley, Loz, Ash Gulliver and two friends sections, sampling the best of local talent and appearances from producers Marti and Simon. The video triggered a second full range of Mad Mikes clothing that included a wider range of colour-ways of T-shirts, Hoodies, beanies and Caps, and was sported by Brand friends, local DJ's Dave Bishop and Mike Dovey as well as Local Rollerbladers, Walter Willis and Sam Franklin.

Admitted to Rehab

To celebrate the success of Dirty Skateboarding, Mad Mikes looked to extend it's team, and welcomed along Ian Bradbury to join Steve, Marti, Simon, Loz and Ash, and work commenced immediately towards the second short-length feature, Admitted to Rehab that premiered again at the Royal Squadron on the 18th August.

2005 - Present

Summer 2005 saw the filming of the third and final video. Simon moved down to Australia to per sue a new life with his family, but handed the reigns to Marti to complete the video. In the fall of 2005, local graf artist and skateboarder, Aaron Ulchelvich was the final member to be added to the fold. Work continued on the yet to be named third video. May 2006 saw the completion of the last video, titled Join the Revolution that was premiered in front of close friends and family, at the Quay Arts Centre, Newport, Isle of Wight. It was the longest of the three videos, featuring full sections from Steve Buckley, Ian Bradbury, Marti Morris, Loz, Ash Gulliver and a full friends section from the Isle of Wight, and mianland UK. After the success of the third video, the brand went on an unplanned hiatus. Aaron decided to return to his home town, Pittsburgh in 2008, and 2010 saw the original members scattered across the globe furthermore, with Ash Gulliver currently recovering from a broken back after a snowboarding injury sustained in New Zealand. Simon Sampson returned to the UK for a reunion, before returning home to Australia, and Marti Morris went off to pursue a career in yachting in the Mediterranean sea.

Future

Plans are afoot to resurrect the brand in small, limited edition runs to commemorate the strong friendship of the brand and a new video is thought to appear in a year featuring previously unreleased footage.