Jared Sherbert On Moves From Skateboarding To The Hard Quartet
the hard quartet photos by malcom donaldson.
There is always a sense of pride that comes from seeing a skateboarder’s name succeeding outside of the skateboarding realm.
Recently, Jared Sherbert was that skateboarder entering a new realm, the photographer and former Stüssy and FA/ Hockey team manager having directed two great music videos for indie rock’s newest supergroup, The Hard Quartet.
I have always been a big fan of Jared’s work from his photos of the FA and Hockey teams to his videos he made for Stüssy with incredible soundtracks that felt like contemporary takes on skate videos of the early nineties. Also, always having been curious about Jared, seeing his name attached both to videos and photos I was unsure if he was a filmer, photographer or both. There isn’t much out there about him and I thought with his new venture into directing music videos it was the perfect time to speak to him about it all. We ended up getting along super well and hardly doing an interview, talking for three hours about music, skateboarding and cameras. Here’s a snippet of that call.
You’re in New York now, are you from the East Coast originally?
That’d be cool but I’m from a desert suburb outside of LA called Santa Clarita. Moved here almost nine years ago. My mom is from Bensonhurst, so growing up I always felt like I had some roots here. We came out on a family trip when I was ten, and from then on, I always said ‘I’m gonna live in New York when I grow up.’ When I was around seventeen or eighteen I came out here to skate with some friends and then I just started coming every summer and staying on my friend Brian’s [Clarke] couch for a month or so at a time. One summer I was just like ‘I think it’s time to move here’ and he said he’d be down to get a place with me. Within maybe three days, I found a place around the corner from him. We signed the lease, I flew back to LA, sold my car and everything I owned. I was back for good.
That’s the best way to do it, not even thinking about it and just making it happen.
Yeah, I’ve always loved it out here and, when I’d leave, I’d always be trying to get back, so it was a pretty easy decision. Before that, I lived in SF for a few years, but when my roommates and I all went our separate ways, I had to go back to LA and wasn’t happy about it.
Was the move around the time you started working for Stüssy?
Yeah, shortly after 2015.
Were you filming or mostly shooting photos at that point?
Only shooting photos really. I’ve never been like a proper skate filmer. I can kind of do it but it’s not my shit, by any means. I’ve just always loved making stuff. Shooting photos, videos, making graphics, designing, playing music, it’s all been my deal since I was a kid. I grew up shooting friend’s bands and skating, but I didn’t really take it seriously until my sister and friends said I should. When I got the job at Stüssy it was like, I like to make videos, so I’ll make some stuff.
How did you get the job at Stüssy?
Terp [Kevin Terpening] rode for them at the time, and he was always down to support my dumb ideas and experiment. I’d filmed some stuff of him on a Hi8 camera I was messing with and Stüssy wanted a little edit of him, so we filmed a few more tricks and cut something together. They liked it, and Richard Mulder called me and asked if I wanted to help put together a skate team for them.
Was that your first job in skateboarding?
First retainer. I’ve always been freelance. I worked for Diamond Supply Co. early on in 2009, shooting photos and working in the store. That was the last job I had.
Woah, I had no idea you worked for Diamond. I really like those Stüssy videos, those videos felt like music videos in the same way that Memory Screen and other early 90s videos did.
Thank you, I mean comparing them to Memory Screen is a long shot, but of course I love Memory Screen and Alien Workshop. The first skate video I had was Transworld Interface and I still go back to it. I grew up on music videos, MTV was on at all times. That’s the inspiration of course. I like experimenting with different cameras and equipment, shooting with the newest gear can be boring so I like to make things really hard [laughs].
How do you feel about shooting digital when you’re shooting skate photos?
I’m cool with it. Everyone loves film, I get to shoot it here and there but I don’t prefer one or the other. I’m always at least ten years behind on cameras. People shot billboards with 8 megapixel cameras – I think you can shoot great photos with whatever you got. Not really a fan of the mirrorless cameras, for skate photos at least, though it seems like they’re getting better. I’m more bummed about the lighting changing. I miss my old strobes. The quality of light was better, but the new stuff is smaller and easier to carry around.
Yeah, skating from spot to spot around New York with a bag that big is not worth it.
I’ve dealt with back problems really bad for a long time, so I can’t do that anymore. I got new lights but I think I’ll stick with a SLR. Maybe I'll get into mirrorless when they're old [laughs].
For sure, I get it. How did you get involved with making The Hard Quartet music videos?
Matt Sweeney. I’ve known him for some years, we met through friends and he’s also my neighbour. Earlier this year he came to me with the idea to do a remake of The Rolling Stones video for “Waiting on a Friend” but with their new track “Rio’s Song”. Being obsessed with music videos and the music the guys have made, of course I was down. I mocked up a version of the original with “Rio’s Song”, playing over it and then started knocking on doors and reconfiguring it to work with the changes in the neighbourhood. Remakes can be hard to do, they usually end up lacking charm. But the neighbourhood and friends really came together to make it something special.
Man, it’s so cool. It’s like you’re filming a trick, obsessing over a spot you’re skating, working out how you’re going to make it all work.
I become obsessed about everything, and the story of my life is trial and error. Always trial and error. Even when I’m not working on something, I’m trial and erroring for a later idea [laughs]. The look of the original video is like an ‘80s sitcom or Sesame Street. It’s one of those looks that’s impossible to recreate. The equipment of that day just isn’t around anymore. I think we got it in the ballpark or at least created a similar feeling.
It came out so well. Was that the first music video you’ve ever made?
Yeah, first scripted one. I’ve done some multi-camera live performance ones in the past.
Damn, that’s cool you were able to do such a big one for your first legit one. Would you like to do more?
Definitely. Like I said before, I love making things, and music videos are where it starts for me.
It seems like a natural progression to end up making music videos, being super into them forever and filming skate videos.
Yeah, it didn’t feel foreign or anything. I produce shoots and it also helped that The Rolling Stones laid down the blueprint for it. I had been wanting to do something that highlights the East Village, and it was really cool to meet people in the neighbourhood. The bar we shot at, International Bar, it’s on my corner and has been a staple for like forty years, maybe even more. Now I’m friendly with the owners and we text all the time. It was cool that we got to bring all Sweeney and the band's friends together to make a neighbourhood production.
That was cool, there were a few skaters in there and then the band’s friends too.
It was really fun and felt organic, which is super important to me. When it’s organic, things fall into place. It feels right and there’s never a feeling of stress. It’s like we’re playing “music video”, you know? That’s what it’s all about. That’s what it’s like for me with anything, it needs to happen organically, we’re playing skateboards. Let’s just have fun doing what we do.
That’s the best way to do it. It seems like whenever someone goes from skateboarding into something else, they always have that mentality and it works well, because whenever we’re doing something skating it is usually organic and fun.
Exactly, we made this up. It’s not a real job, but you made it into one. You’re really strong and adaptable to whatever you want to do.
Seriously. When Sweeney hit you up to do the video, had you guys ever spoken about making one before?
Never, but he wanted to do a guerrilla style video, small crew sort of thing. Coming from skating, he figured I could do it.
With the band it seems like he is the brains behind it all, and he’s just so hyped that you just jump on board. If he thinks it’s a good idea, it’s a good idea.
Honestly, anything he throws at me, I’ll be there. When he has an idea, he’s excited and that’s what I need to be around to do something great. With any project, especially this one, I get pretty depressed once it’s over. I enjoy it a lot.
Yeah, damn. It happens especially when you’ve been so focused on it. Have you been shooting skate photos much recently?
Here and there. I shot last week and I’m about to go on a trip for a few days. I like to shoot when someone has an idea or if I have one. I used to be out skating every day, whether people had ideas or not, but it’s mostly when I’m feeling it these days. I notice that, when I’m shooting a lot, I start shooting everything the same way, so to take little breaks keeps it fresh for me.
Where’s the trip you’re going on tomorrow?
Santa Barbara, California, beach town about an hour and half north of LA. Just doing a quick weekend trip with Fucking Awesome. It’ll be a fun get away with everyone, skating and hanging. Excited to see friends. It’s always a treat when we get to meet and go on a trip. I don’t see many friends unless we’re working on something together, which really just makes it feel like hanging out [laughs].
And it’s cool you get paid to hang out [laughs].
Nothing better than that [laughs].