"SHORT CIRCUIT" A COLLABORATION WITH EVAN SEDOTI OF GANG TAPES

Our HOMEBREW series sheds light on artists & creatives, the unsung heroes and the teams that make up a well-oiled machine. In this next article we have a conversation with Evan as he takes us through the past, present and future of Gang Tapes coming off 10 years strong.

"Short Circuit" celebrates Evan's life not only when he has a cam in hand. For Gang Tapes, his time is spent skating/filming/editing – however, as Evan Sedoti he spends his time working as an electro-mechanical assembly supervisor. The following interview dives into what it’s like when professional and creative paths overlap and teases the latest video to release as well as the collaborative merch. (This interview was conducted over zoom).

WHEN DID YOU START SKATING AND HOW DID THAT LEAD TO FILMING/EDITING?

I started skating in 4th grade so whatever age that is...9, 10 probably. Around freshman year is when we were getting to that point to want to start making our own skate videos. But before that – throughout middle school, we would film jackass style stuff like jumping off roofs and jumping bikes, stuff like that. So I would borrow my sister’s video camera to film that stuff and as time went on those videos morphed into skating only.

By high school everything besides skating started to dwindle away and that’s when we started editing, we would edit VCR to VCR. That was really fun – like with a stereo aux in one side and camcorder in the other and just… * play *pause *pause the music at the exact same time *fast-forward to a different clip and it would be choppy but we were pretty hyped on the end product. I think it was in 8th grade my friend gave me the "Elementality" skate video and that was the first full length video I’d watched.

That was when it was game over from there. So going into high school I was more aware of other videos out there and then me and my friends were just like “oh we're just gonna make skate videos now”.

HOW DID YOU LEARN TO EDIT YOUR VIDEOS?

Editing the footage was what I was always drawn to and the first time I edited a timeline video would’ve been on Windows Movie Maker. But at the time my older sister was in film school and she let me use what would’ve been Premiere Pro 2.0 because it was just on our computer. So she just showed me how to open it and she’s like “you can use it just don’t mess up any of my projects but if you want to use this that’s fine”.

I remember it was probably over a six-month period being like completely self-taught. There was no YouTube videos on how to do things or anything. I was uploading videos to YouTube on Windows from Windows Movie Maker while I was teaching myself how to edit on this other program. And that first edit, all I did was like a 30 or 45 second commercial for our little crew at the time – but I was so hyped on that! Even figuring out exporting it – that looked like shit because I didn't even know what I was doing, exporting it from the program but I was still so hyped on what I could figure out with that first one. We were hitting different spots and I just couldn’t do anything like that in Movie Maker, I still remember that first edit and I probably stole the song from a different skate video haha.

WHAT CAMERA DID/DO YOU SHOOT WITH?

HOW DID THE MONIKER "GANG TAPES" COME ABOUT?

This was back when Let It Roll was around and this B or C level mockumentary style movie had just come out called “Gang Tapes”. I know I've watched clips of it and stuff online and someone came in to Let It Roll and was like “Yo, I just watched this movie ‘Gang Tapes’, it was ridiculous but isn't that the sickest name for a skate video??” The plan was actually just to make one full-length film called “Gang Tapes”, originally.

DOES YOUR SOLDERING WORK INSPIRE YOUR EDITING AND VICE VERSA?

I wouldn't say it influenced my editing at first but then it did in a way. We're allowed to listen to stuff at our desks, like I would just be listening to music that I might want to edit to, thinking all day at work, making editing notes. But the first thing I think it really helped is giving me the confidence for when ribbon cables or something simple broke in the VX to just open it up real quick and switch them out and like have the knowledge to do that not fuck up the whole camera and break it. As soon as I started the job I loved it and took it and ran with it. Soldering is a lot of technique, they trained the shit out of me.

ARE THERE ANY FUTURE PROJECTS WHERE YOU WANT TO INCORPORATE YOUR SOLDERING MORE?

Oh yeah, I started circuit bending and I've always been really into hip hop DJs, my favorite DJ is Qbert. When they're hitting a switch real quick or like even speeding up or slowing something down, that's literally just using a potentiometer and is essentially circuit bending. I watched this documentary about the evolution of the turntables and the switches and knobs and what they're doing. And like, it was all stuff that I was working with at work. Almost to the point where I was like, I've used that fucking exact switch before, you know what I mean? I've mainly been doing it with toys and stuff and essentially, you rewire them or put like a potentiometer on it…or a resistor. It can completely change how it sounds depending on what resistors or stuff that you're messing with – and so you can really warp it. Once I learned about circuit bending I fully want to use this kind of stuff in our videos somehow. Whether it's some preloaded song in a toy or distorted keyboards. I’m on a fucking quest to make the perfect thing to use for a video.

DO YOU HAVE EDITORS AND/OR FILMERS THAT YOU EMULATE OR LOOK UP TO?

Ryan Higgins and Brian Panebianco, they make the Sabotage videos. They are by far my favorite and I don't want to say I'm a cheap rip off but they are a huge inspiration. I kinda got into more after a few had come out – I think it was Sabotage 5 on Thrasher...

Also, this guy Jeremy Elkin is another – I think he works for Vogue now or something – all of his skate videos were so good and I still love them. That’s when I got the inspiration when Gang Tapes first started to make shorter videos.

Poisonous Products, that video was all rap music and all fish eye with lines, I believe too but just spoke to me.

HOW MANY VIDEOS HAVE YOU RELEASED TO THIS DATE?

I say really three but that is three full lengths under the GANG TAPES name: Monocles of Doom, Street Cooler & Run The Tapes and then three volumes. We did have some ones before that but I don’t really include those. They’re not bad and I love the people in them but those just weren’t really Gang Tapes. Like the Sabotage guys say "it starts at 2" you'll never get your hands on 1. They've said they would never put it out. There may be some people who think that I'm over producing now or prefer how it was but I don't think I am. From Vol. 1 to the way that I'm editing now you can definitely tell that I've progressed.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR GANG TAPES?

Honestly, when you guys approached me with this it was so perfect because moving forward I want to just do smaller projects, but then also do more collaborative things. I will say confidently I doubt I'm gonna put out another skate video longer than 30 minutes now and there was actually a point before Run The Tapes came out where I thought I might not keep doing Gang Tapes which could’ve been a really good ending – I know that sounds kind of crazy. But I do not want to stop skating and filming and editing, that's literally my favorite things to do and I realized I don't have to make another hour long video, I can keep it to like 10 to 15 minute projects, just for my own sanity.

ANY ADVICE FOR YOUNGER OR NEWER FILMERS & EDITORS?

Don't worry about all the equipment and don't think you need a certain camera. Start practicing and start producing something with whatever you can to make it. When I was younger I would start editing to a song that maybe I wasn't even going to use but I just wanted to practice editing.

I know it's cheesy but you don't have to worry about what everyone else is doing. I always try to make videos that my close friends and myself are going to like. Also, this might sound weird but try to embrace the city that you're in. – you're not going to produce something better than the city you're in everyday. I know skating the strip and the casino spots can be hard but it's fun to skate around all that whole atmosphere because you get to observe and embrace it.

Lastly, it's probably best to try to get everybody in your community hyped first and like, start with a premiere. It gets the community hyped!

Come by the shop to see the "Short Circuit" premiere and grab a tee!

1118 S. Main St.

Las Vegas, NV 89104

DTTM & GANG TAPES "S/C" TEE

Available in-store ONLY