SHANE NELSON: “Punk was not cool.”

Interviews are underway for NEW DAY RISING! We made a stop in the suburbs outside of Minneapolis to chat with Shane Nelson, a director and editor who’s been making music videos, skate films and more since the mid-90s.

Shane’s history in the scene is interesting. He started out in the skate scene, specifically the inline skate scene, and started out making videos with his friends. It was through those films, particularly the 1995 tape HARVESTING THE CRUST, that he first got acclimated to punk rock — bands from Epitaph, Fat Wreck Chords, and more.

“Me and a skater friend  secretly  went to a show.. maybe citzen fish -- in some random house basement. The opening band was NOT ska punk but super crazy. I saw a crust punk dude puke and everyone was in a circle pit and some girl came out and her mouth was bleeding. But she was all amped up and didn’t seem to care - after that I was like, “damn, this is nuts.” So much energy and wild personalities.”

As a skater, Shane eventually went pro before his career was cut short due to a series of televised seizures during competitions. In fact, people thought he was dead for years.

After he left that part behind, he found himself making music videos and other film works, eventually working with bands like NOFX, Against Me!, Motion City Soundtrack, Farewell Continental, Foo Fighters, and the Bouncing Souls.

”It was great to be making cool stuff in an industry I love … working for awesome people who gave you lots of creative freedom.”

We chatted about those early skate years, the intersection of skate culture and punk in the 90s, the sudden popularization of punk in the late 90s and early 00s, plus some killer stories from on the road.