Shredded Beats was created back in 2006 by So-Gnar. The concept was developed by Pat Milbery as a means to link the art of snowboarding with the art of music, through a unique branded event. The goal for Shredded Beats is to bring together rofessional snowboarder’s, musician’s and artists, to share in each other’s art forms. In essence, it’s a unique opportunity for artists in different industry’s to swap art forms through an event setting. Past artist’s involved have included Pigeon John, Swollen Members, and Opio from Soul’s Of Mischief/Hieroglyphics.
In February of 2012, So-Gnar’s Pat Milbery and Captain Safety spearheaded and arranged for a unique trip to Japan, called Shredded Beats: Japan. Shredded Beats Japan was an ART/MUSIC/SNOWBOARDING excursion to one of their favorite places on the planet. They brought fellow Colorado music producer Michal Menert of Pretty Lights Music and Adam Harris, Coalatree’s staff filmer, to film and document their travels.
So-Gnar touched down in Tokyo, and were off! They stayed with several of So-Gnar’s closest friend’s in various areas of Japan. The crew sampled the local cuisine, taught a two day snowboard camp (with over 30 little Japanese rippers!), Michal tore it up at Club New Lex in Roppongi, they hit the world’s largest fish market, spent numerous days in the Mountains getting fresh powder and even had some time for some street art.
This trip was primarily based around the Japan stop for the Mighty Midwest Snowboard Camp Tour, So-Gnar’s annual 12 stop event. This was the second year they conducted snowboard camps for kids in the Yuzawa community of Japan. Through So-Gnar's relationship with Allian Snowboards, they have been able to help progress snowboarding in Japan through this annual 2-day camp.
During the trip, the very talented Michal Menert created a soundtrack based on the various inspirations of surroundings & landmarks found in Japan, including the local culture influencing his music development. So-Gnar and Menert toured a wide variety of unique areas including neighborhoods like Harajuku and Shibuya, to famous landmarks like Asakusa Temple, the Tokyo Tower, to chaotic environments such as Tsukiji, where you find the World’s largest fish market.
To document their travels and experiences, Coalatree Organics linked the footage up with Vital Films out of Aspen, Colorado, to handle the post-production and to add their Midas touch. The recap will consist of 3 installments. This is the first installment, 2 and 3 will be up next in the coming weeks. Stay tunned….