Skateheads and music junkies, get hyped: Intense Energy: The Sound of Skateboarding is a 22-minute doc that dives into the roots of skate-rock, showing how skating and music have always been straight-up connected.
Director Coan Buddy Nicols takes us on a trip through skate generations, chatting with old-school legends and today’s movers and shakers. At the heart of it all is Jeff Ament, Pearl Jam’s bassist and, back in the early ’80s, a member of Montana hardcore band Deanged Diction. Jeff’s story gives a killer perspective on how skateboarding, punk rock, and the early Seattle grunge scene were all intertwined from the jump.
Joining him are icons like Steve Olson, Ian MacKaye, Keith Morris, Beatrice Domond, Zack de la Rocha, and Exene Cervenka. The doc digs into how raw guitars, pulsing bass, and wheels grinding on concrete fueled an independent, rebellious culture that shaped whole generations of skaters and musicians.
Intense Energy ain’t just a doc—it’s a full-on dive into skate-rock and grunge roots, where the sound of Pearl Jam and early American punk blends perfectly with the raw energy of skateboarding.
Stream Intense Energy: The Sound of Skateboarding on YouTube or hit up the free screening on Nov. 21 in Brooklyn, NY, and RSVP HERE.
Born in Reggio Emilia in 1980. He created pearljamonline.it in 2001 and wrote the first edition of “Pearl Jam Evolution” in 2009 along with his wife Daria. Since 2022, he is behind 2 podcasts: “Pearl Jam dalla A alla Z” and “Fuori Orario Not Another Podcast”. He has collaborated with Barracuda Style, HvsR, Rolling Stone, Rockol and Il Fatto Quotidiano. He continues relentlessly to try to find “beautiful melodies that say terrible things”.
Favorite song: Present Tense
Favorite album: No Code
Favorite bands/artists other than PJ: Tom Waits, Soundgarden, Ramones, Bruce Springsteen, IDLES, Fontaines D.C., Mark Lanegan, R.E.M., Radiohead, Cat Power, Dead Kennedys