Mr Claudio Kirac…

I take in the world around me, I find myself locked in stare with many strange things in this world… traffic lights, Hobos, the ocean, bus stops, phone booths, kickers… I find inspiration from the world passing by… But if you were to spend a week in Claudio’s world you could walk away inspired, educated and strangely amused… To me Claudio is an ‘Artist’ in every sense of the word… He can sit down and draw a cartoon of you, paint you, sketch you, digitize you, write a song about you, snap you, film you… You get the picture. On top of his list of talents he is the sort of bloke who is just good to be around… Runamuk Visuals got inside the CK shadow for the best C.Y.O.S yet. This is Claudio Kirac.

RV: How are ya Claudio?

CK: I’m doing well… Finished a little holiday break and now back in to the full swing of things… Work, projects and proposals popping up everywhere, so it never really stops.

RV: At this very moment whats floatin’ your boat? Anyhting you’ve been impresesed or inspired by lately?

CK: I’m always inspired, down days sometimes but mostly up… You gotta keep fresh and making new things happen, never run out of ideas... Just make sure you make at least some of them happen. This summer though I’ve been really inspired by the ocean again… love it… and J… and music… cra z ee…

RV: Through our eyes you are an artist in all forms of the word, hand drawn, digi, music, photography, acting, film then you mix ‘em altogether… How did it all come about? when, where, when etc?

CK: I’ve been drawing from a very early age… Since I can remember… Then I just refined those things growing up and going through school and meeting new people who create, picking up other skills and never being too afraid to try my hand at something.

It usually comes out how I envisioned it…

Junior CK

RV: ‘Art’ is a pretty loose term… Some of the things ive seen labelled ‘art’ have really made me wonder? whats your take on it?

CK: It’s one persons perception versus another really… You either dig it or you don’t… If someone is willing to pay for a piece then so be it.

RV: Ive had a heap of mates go through art schools, very few have ever stuck to it… A lot told me that having talent wont get you a diploma , but if you can describe why and what your piece means you will pass with flying colours… Did you do art school? whats your thoughts on it all?

CK: People will always look for a method to the madness… personally I think If it looks aesthetically pleasing then I don’t really think it needs a meaning… For my art school I learnt alot from High School, Pop Culture, Life, Love and a little Diploma in computer graphics, throw it all together and you got yourself an education in the arts… Although a Bachelor of Arts would be good though, never too late I suppose…

RV: The current state and direction of the surf industry is?

CK: Wet

RV: Do you think the surf world poaches ideas from the skate world? or do you think it goes hand in hand?

CK: A little bit of both I suppose… a good design is a good design in the end.

RV: Before you set out and made ‘yo days’ what was going through your head to come up with this piece of entertainment?

CK: Just a little respect for the old school, my birthday day and just being able to do whatever the F*ck you want…

RV: how did ‘the real world’ come to life?

CK: A friend of mine Nicholas Platzer was finishing a degree in film and asked me If I would play a role(s) in his assesment piece… I was like yeah cool let’s do it… Hungover, no script, characters on the spot, a few costume changes, a few camera angles a little bit of schizophrenia and voila… Nicholas left my place with all the footage, went and locked himself away in the edit suite and came out with that piece… I was stoked, he did a really good job!

RV: You are the principle photog & art director for a few major labels…. What sort of ‘tact’ is needed when working with high profile athletes/ models/ musicians etc. How do you get ‘the’ shot so to speak.

CK: Just build respect and rapport, make them comfortable in any kind of situation, whether it be straight up kinda shots or if your painting them head to toe in house paint… You just gotta be patient and respectful and you will always get the shot your looking for.

RV: Do you ever have a hard time shutting off your brain at night?

CK: I used to bring my work home with me a lot both physically and mentally… These days I’ve learnt to juggle the struggle a bit better and not stress so much… Don’t do too much computer just before bed… Chill out for a bit and try and get some exercise when you can…

RV: Have you ever had your idea/ concept knocked back… Then seen a similar concept go massive sometime later by someone else?

CK: No not really, the timing just has to be right… I can’t help If I’m living in another solar system at a certain time… The light years catch up in the end anyways. I get a lot of rip offs though, some you can brush off but some are just too close to home… Oh well, flattery… (?)

RV: If you were to make a mix tape for your girl what would it consist of?

CK:

Dissolved Girl – Massive Attack

Walk with Me – Terranova

Fuckin’ Em All – Mickey Avalon

The Chain – Fleetwood Mac

One Fine Day – Jakatta

All I Need – Air

Headphones – Bjork

Sunday Morning – No Doubt

Needy Girl – Chromeo

Black History Month (RMX) – DFA 1979

Road To Somewhere – Goldfrapp

Pink Cigarette – Mr Bungle

Thirty-Three – Smashing Pumpkins

Suffocated Love – Tricky

Barbados – The Models

RV: That is a better compilation than the Winners ‘88

Any TV shows you cant go without?

CK: Not much TV… I do enjoy audio visual media though, just not much Tele…

RV: Who are your favourite artists?

CK: Too many to name, but definite inspirations over my 33 years:

H.R. Giger, Salvador Dali, Warhol, Mike Patton, Trent Reznor, Australian Photographers and Designers, the RV boys … too many like I said…

RV: If you had to lose one limb which would it be?

CK: My left toe.

RV: If you were to be thrown into witness protection, where would you live and what would be your new name?

CK: Julio Manjana and I would live in Barbados with my beautiful wife…

RV: craziest dream you have ever had?

CK: Cannot recall… Probably a dream I shared with Jaimee at the same time and we both had the same sort of dream in the same place… Woke up and was like woah…! The dreams just on the edge of sleep, when you are going to sleep, those are the craziest ones…

RV: A few words to describe Runamuk Visuals?

CK: Pushing the boundaries of Free Expression… Kickin new levels and movin on up…!

Cheers CK… We Dig!

A shadow like no other… If you’re not scribblin’ pictures or shooting a film clip for the band you dont have, turn off the idiot box and create something… If not now, if not never…

Everything about the Billabong World Championships is rad… The worlds best juniors fight it out for the title… The beach is rife with rigs… blah, blah, its simple…

The youth set the standards in everything… So this event is about as good as competition surfing gets… Whatever it is thats deemed to be cool is because some kid stepped aside from the pack and made it that way… Eventually a pile of old plebs poach their set ups, it dies and something new comes along… How many old dicks have you seen with their Frogskins lately? you’re too old mate, go home to your wife she worries… Its a vicious circle... Anyhow, junior surfing is runnin’ way like a wild dog… Every kid can do an air reverse but the ones who can do ‘em amongst a link of power and style should find themselves at Narrabeen in January…

I dont know whats goin on down there… In my mind Aussies make up a good part of the worlds best juniors. Julian, Owen, Sharpey, Wilko, Heathy, Kennedy… Its been this way for the past 5 or so years but we still cant take it out… Parko was the last Aussie to raise the cup… Cans just missed it and from then on its been Brazillians, Hawaiians and South Africans wavin’ their flag on the beach at Narra… Kekoa owned it a few years back and he earnt it well… Jordy stomped it… This year it was Kai Barger and the same applies… He owned it in every sense of the word… If they had of judged the event on style they would of given it to the kid before he flicked off his first wave.

I got my grubby mits on a heap of footage from the quarter finals onwards. Apart from the odd news story and some clips around the web I never got too see how good the kid who took the trophy was… So here’s RV’s take on it… A big thanks to Billabong Entertainment especially Kendall, Nimai, Dwayno, Jack and Richie for thier time and skills behind the lens…  a creepy spot on!

Music is courtesy of ERASE.RELEASE one fine Australian band who you should checkout.

www.myspace.com/eraserelease

Everything about the Billabong World Championships is rad… The worlds best juniors fight it out for the title… The beach is rife with rigs… blah, blah, its simple…

The youth set the standards in everything… So this event is about as good as competition surfing gets… Whatever it is thats deemed to be cool is because some kid stepped aside from the pack and made it that way… Eventually a pile of old plebs poach their set ups, it dies and something new comes along… How many old dicks have you seen with their Frogskins lately? you’re too old mate, go home to your wife she worries… Its a vicious circle... Anyhow, junior surfing is runnin’ way like a wild dog… Every kid can do an air reverse but the ones who can do ‘em amongst a link of power and style should find themselves at Narrabeen in January…

I dont know whats goin on down there… In my mind Aussies make up a good part of the worlds best juniors. Julian, Owen, Sharpey, Wilko, Heathy, Kennedy… Its been this way for the past 5 or so years but we still cant take it out… Parko was the last Aussie to raise the cup… Cans just missed it and from then on its been Brazillians, Hawaiians and South Africans wavin’ their flag on the beach at Narra… Kekoa owned it a few years back and he earnt it well… Jordy stomped it… This year it was Kai Barger and the same applies… He owned it in every sense of the word… If they had of judged the event on style they would of given it to the kid before he flicked off his first wave.

I got my grubby mits on a heap of footage from the quarter finals onwards. Apart from the odd news story and some clips around the web I never got too see how good the kid who took the trophy was… So here’s RV’s take on it… A big thanks to Billabong Entertainment especially Kendall, Nimai, Dwayno, Jack and Richie for thier time and skills behind the lens…  a creepy spot on!

Music is courtesy of ERASE.RELEASE one fine Australian band who you should checkout.

www.myspace.com/eraserelease

New years for most is the biggest let down of the year… Everyone gets so pumped for it by the time it arrives the expectations have hit fever pitch and then by dark everyone’s lookin ’bout thinking what next… ‘this eats balls’.

Its not the case for all…

Taj opened the doors of the T Lounge for a heap of the Yallingup boys and girls for a new years eve from hell… I could carry on with who, what, where and when but fuck it the video tells the story better than Edith Blyton… So press play and dread the next 330 days til you get the chance to throw a party like the T/Lounge… If your gonna do it, do it right…

Cheers to the CHEATS for the tunes… they worked a treat

www.myspace.com/thecheatsrock

1.15pm today. text

” Don os man os. Just emailed you some stuff ”

I havent been to South Oz in years. Its not the first place you would generally think of when organizing a surf trip, but thats the beauty of it. Its still untouched, uncrowded and bloody cruisy. We got some fun beachies that weren’t far away from resembling Peurto Escondido and we surfed a few setups that were super rippable too. It was probably the most ive surfed in 3 days ever. A lot of the waves are a fair effort to get too, lots of stairs, cliffs and soft sand trekking but its worth it if you get some waves and shit… with all that leg work after a few days I will probably come home with a set of calf muscles even Johnny Drama would be proud of. So if your into core surf trips give South Oz a go but take a small crew and be prepared to rough it a bit. if your not into 45 degree heat waves, millions of flys and putting some work into getting to the spots go to the fucking Goldie. WSG

Craig Anderson

Sure we are still pretty scattered but we will have this place flowing soon enough… theres nothing RV about packed lunches, diaries, deadlines and shit… Spur of the moment is when you get the goods…

’til next time, cheese ya grater

Sammy Winter…

Fucks me how long it had been since I’d seen Sammy… Yonks… Not much had changed, he was still a shitbag, I was still a shitbag… He still said it how it was… ‘ya plankton’… still rolled out the jokes… ‘you smell like crackenomie’… still loved a lunch time counterie and was still thick as thieves with Karlos…

What had changed?… he’s grown a couple of feet, doesnt mind a durrie and while he is still scrapin by like most Aussie skaters he is in the process of cementing a spot in the world of skateboarding… More importantly he is makin a life out of what he loves… Something many of us should do.

What I have to say about skateboarding aint worth shit… fuck!… I push mong foot and if i was to string a run together it would be… fs ses, fs ses, ollie, fs ses… and so on.  Regardless of my lack of Skate smarts, style is style and when its put in front of you its plain to see… My point is Sammy’s got style, throw it in amongst a deep bag of tricks and he is a skateboarder worth watching…

Sammy rocked up at my joint a few weeks ago out of the blue… a bit of reminiscing later we were rollin at all the old spots trying to piece together ‘a day in the life’ kinda thing… It rained cats and dogs, my battery was cactus and all in all we just couldnt get our shit together… So our day got flagged and the call was made for a few beers back at my joint… few beers down Sammy mentioned his digicam was full up from his year of travels with DC and Cliche’… So insted of  ‘a day in the life ‘  We decided to throw down all best shots Sammy took of last year in what we affectionately named ‘A YEAR OF WINTER’…

So that was the year through the eyes of Sammy Winter… Pretty sure he has a ‘proper’ article in the latest Skaters Journal… But then again I could be way off… Anyhow it was good to catch up Winter… til next time ya bottom feeder.

With the world of Billabong in town for Summer ‘09 range release the powers that be put it on the bar to congratulate Joel for taking out the Hawaiian Triple Crown… Things got pretty messy.

The sharks were out over the weekend… 3 attacks in a couple of days… When they say bad things come in 3’s They’re not kidding. Below is a photo of what was left of Jono Beard’s leg after he was bitten at Fingal… Nasty shit…

Life Without Andy…

Strange name… But normal sucks balls… So strange is cool with us…

But we aren’t the only ones who think LWA is cool… There is kids talkin’ about ‘Life without Andy’ everywhere ya go… In the water… On the bus… At the bakery… Their mums are talkin about it… So are their dads…

But what is it? who is Andy? where did he go? what’s life like without him?… We got in contact with the masked masterminds to find out they’re just a couple of kids havin’ a good time…

RV: You have been without andy for sometime now… Is life getting any easier?

LWA: Hmmm, it’s getting more fun but I dunno about easier, we seem to be shooting at a whole lot more events… Like every festival, every band we like, plenty of parties… And we just started shooting girls too. Fun times.

RV: Who’s behind lifewithoutandy.com?

LWA: It’s 2 good buddy’s fighting for fun, woo!

RV: ‘lifewithoutandy.com’ is the first place many go when they turn on their computer… How is the site dealing with its new found status?

LWA: I don’t know about ‘new found status’ but it is cool to see people enjoying what we do, we enjoy creating the site and love that it’s just two best mates moulding it the way we want. There are no parents at home telling us what to do, ha.

They dont miss a beat or a moment. Groove at the STAB/ VZ Pool party late last year.

RV: Who’s half naked body graced your cover a few weeks back?

LWA: That would have been one of our girlfriends, there have been a few revealing girls on the cover of our website and a couple of times it has been our ladies. They are both cute and its cool that they are happy to help.

RV: We’ve heard that industry folk are now contacting you to cover their shows?

LWA: Yeah we have a few companies that want us at their do’s which is rad… Then there are parties and gigs that we still have to jump fences… we’re not always wanted

RV:Does andy have a last name?

LWA: It’s a secret.

RV: We had our money on ‘Bueller’

Will life without andy evolve from the web?

LWA: Possibly. We are always thinking of new things that we could develop from the site, our main obsession is music so we are always thinking of things that involve beats… Maybe we could get some of our favorite bands to headline a LWA festival? Rolling Stones, Iron Maiden, Lil Weezy, Jay Z, Late of the Pier and also bring some back from the grave like The Velvet Underground?

RV: Andy’s fav…

Artist- Andy Warhol / Musician- Lou Reed or David Bowie / Lyric- ‘Yesterday, Daisy Mae and Biff were grooving on the street’ / Skater- Steven Black/ Politician- Peter Garret / Basketballer- Andrew Gaze / Surfer- buttons / Model- kate moss/ Party- Studio 54/ Food- fruit/ Beverage- water/ Country- oz/ Toothpaste- teeth whitening/ Comedian- Steady Eddie.

RV: Andy wakes up in a Sri Lankan bathtub full of bloody ice with stitches across his guts, beside the tub is a mobile phone and a note that reads ‘call this number’… would he ring the number or you or….?

LWA: Andy is Dead

RV: Bad question, good answer…

What’s Andy think of the tourlife boys?

LWA: Loves em, loves Cheades and the Spen doctor, lovely young men who seem to be enjoying themselves, Go Tourlife!

RV: Why should we all believe that Andy ever existed?

LWA: You shouldn’t, he’s dead, he died in 87’

RV: If andy was still here what do you think he would say about Runamuk Visuals?

LWA: He’s looking down loving what RV is creating, life’s about fun and RV brings fun to your computer screen with no troubles. Always go to runamukvisuals.com not lifewithoutandy.com !!!

RV: Thought he may of been looking up… Whats next for LWA?

LWA: Were going to every festival, every good party in Oz, then off to Coachella in a few months time for more fun!

Some mothers do have ‘em… Good luck… We doubt you need it.

The photos above are just a handful of what sits on the pages of LWA… I had to get out of there… Its all too much for the mild life of RV…

Find the fun and LWA will see you there…

www.lifewithoutandy.com or check the link in the ‘like minded fools’ sector

Skillz has got to be one of the finest lyricists of all time… Here is his 2008 wrap up…

2008… What a year it was.

For me it was the best and worst year of my life… I lost my dad to cancer early in the year which was the hardest thing I have ever dealt with… 6 months later I married my girl of 8 years…

2008 was strange to say the least.

This is a collection of photos from throughout the year that was… The shots were taken all over the world from a few of the RV family… I was gonna put each shot in calendar order but I decided to leave them scattered…  Just like 2008 was.

Laurie got a full sleeve in 2008.

Lee had dreads?

Kendall and his girl got blind then rode a Zebra across a zebra crossing.

Chopes was still Chopes.

Wade took many amusing photos.

Reynolds continued to blow up.

Laurie continued to prank.

Em said ‘fork the world’

mother nature was in form…

L.J caught her in the act.

So she sent down the water… picnic table on the left.

No one BBQ’d for awhile.

The North Shore was still pretty straight forward… 

Brady fell in love,

Went to Mexico,

met a Mexican,

Had a few beers.

Took photos of things through gaps in cliffs… Arty

Flew to Hawaii…

Took off on the wave of his life.

but fell just short.

I drew weird pictures while sitting next to my dad in his last few days…

We moved back home into the house I grew up in… It looked like a brothel.

So we painted it.

Wade discovered islands… Then buried treasure on them.

Kendall and I cut and shot a few Billabong Brand Clips. Johnny and Robbie, Bali.

Joycey & Kenny got photos taken… Joycey had more taken than Kendall.

Kalen entertained the troops.

Wade wore sunnies at night.

Laurie got stranger.

Mad Willy got madder.

Mopeds were hired… Then crashed.

People went to market.

We felt the cold.

Claudio, Kenny & Johnny got excited… More than once.

Planes didnt fall from the sky… Qantas made an effort though.

I lie… Some did.

We got Hitched… My girl looked amazing.

As did the Bridesmaids. Shelly

We were still deadbones.

Conno, Kalen, Wade & Sterns enjoyed themselves.

As did Jamesy & Tony…

I forgot to take the rubbish out for a few months.

Translations were still lost.

Sterny got an ipod for his bday.

Sedz fell just short of qualifying… Its only a matter of time.

Havin’ fun was still a priority.

Hooper built a shed… Then had ’shed parties’ whenever he had beer.

Silky got shitfaced.

the snow never fell.

Jared & Swann were still Jared & Swann

Aussies still played Touch on the North Shore.

Wade, Kalen & Eli did what they do…

Runamuk Visuals still made dodgy shit… Then took photos of it.

Wade bought a skateboard.

and posed with fans.

Funny things were said… Then laughed about.

The self portrait was more popular than ever.

My Dad Rest in Peace…

2008 was a year like no other and was the reason why I posted these photos, it’s probably not of any importance to most, but for myself and all the boys im sure they got a laugh or some emotion from the photos above. There is a lot of photos from last year throughout previous posts, some were much better than the ones above, but we try not to post the same shit twice…

Thanks to all the crew whose shots were used: Ben Challenor, Kendall, Wade, Luke Jeffries, Brades & Elle and my lovely wife Ana…

Anyhow that was 2008 through the eyes of RV… We hope you enjoy 2009.

Come inside the house and mind of James Wood… Weird is just a word but Wood is just as weird…

CRIBS with WOODSTOCK from RUNAMUK VISUALS on Vimeo.