Finnish powerhouse Arto Saari took some time away from photographing the CPH Open and put down his Leica to chat to us about his experiences of Copenhagen.
Photography: Reece Leung
Interview: Heywood Ward
Heywood: Hey Arto, so we were wondering what would you consider to be the best drink to have when you’re out here in Copenhagen?
Arto: The best, the best drink? Best beer? Ah pfft, I dunno it’s been so long since I’ve had one, no probably, there is a place where you can get a dirty beer, I guess that would be the best beer you can get!
Heywood: A dirty beer eh? Nice, what’s in it?
Arto: Ah you gotta ask P-Stone. He’ll give you the details!
Heywood: Ya boy P-Stone!?
Group: (Chuckles)
Arto: I’ve just heard a rumour that it’s good!
Heywood: So if we track him down?
Arto: Yeah! You should ask P-Stone about the dirty beer here.
Heywood: Great! (P-Stone was not found while in CPH)
Heywood: What’s been some your best experiences of Copenhagen so far?
Arto: Well every year seems to get better. Uhm, the best experience, well I mean it’s a week long festival basically and it’s rad to see a high level of skateboarding in a very relaxed setting, you know?
Heywood: Yeah, for sure.
Arto: So it’s err, you know, it’s a contest but it’s not really. It’s more of a festival than anything.
Heywood: Theres definitely a much more of a relaxed atmosphere out here.
Arto: Yeah and it’s nice to have a summer week in Europe and see an insane level of skateboarding, you know? Rather than sitting in an air conditioned arena – it’s not skateboarding. You guys were just at the street festival right there? Like stuff like that, that’s fucking rad!
Heywood: Yeah there was just no pressure, such a great atmosphere and everyone was just going off and killing it.
Arto: Yeah, yeah!
Heywood: What’s been the craziest thing you’ve seen in Copenhagen?
Arto: Oh! Probably one of the craziest things (Chuckles), I forget who it was, this was years ago! There’s a vert ramp and there’s a couple of those barriers to keep people fenced off or whatever and this dude was trying to ollie it and he ended up sacking it from the top of the very ramp. That’s probably one of the craziest things that’s happened in Copenhagen.
Heywood: What about worst experiences in Copenhagen, have there ever been any bad ones? And anything you can recommend out here?
Arto: No, no, yeah Copenhagen is always a good time. It’s always been really good to me. I got nothing bad to say about it – it’s always been a great time! Just enjoy it!
