Back in november 2020, Jan Welch launched a fundraiser called “The Tapes Project”. Quoting Jan Welch:

I’ve spent 20-years shooting video and documenting some of the top professional and amateur inline skaters from around the world I now have hundreds of tapes of footage that I am going to digitize and archive online. I plan on posting each tape onto a new YouTube channel for people to watch, along with commentary from myself and from people featured on each tape. These are the original tapes for many classic skate videos and edits I’ve made including Last Call, Urban Decay, Steal This Video, Quatro, No One’s Children, Trash, Sleaze, Drip Drop, and Leading the Blind.

So far I’ve logged about a dozen tapes. I’ve acquired several consumer miniDV cameras so far to try and capture this footage and they have either been dead on arrival, have issues capturing audio, or eat and destroy the tapes. Consumer decks are notorious for dirty heads and have further potential for damaging these tapes. To archive this many tapes of historical skating footage for all to see, I need to purchase a professional MiniDV deck that will safely capture these tapes at the highest quality and a 4 or 5TB USB-C hard drive to store them on. This project is going to take a long time but it is important to preserve this footage. I’m asking for those of you who are interested in seeing all these tapes get captured and posted to help contribute to a GoFundMe to purchase a new MiniDV deck.

What I Need: MiniDV Deck (approx $750.00), 4/5 TB Harddrive ($169), Life Flix Software ($100), Topaz Video Enhance AI ($299.99), Total - $1,300.

September 2021: The project is now starting: Jan Welch opened a new Youtube Channel, called “Then and now, an inline skating channel”.

The first video for my new inline skating YouTube channel, Then&Now, is now live. This is a short introduction to what the channel will be about. The first episode of the Then+Now Podcast will be released tomorrow. My first guest is Chris Peel, who designed Daily Bread Magazine and did all the original branding for Rat Tail, Ground Control, Vicious, 4x4, Nimh, and Big Wheels Blading. The first episode of the Vault, which my tape archives from the past 25 years of rollerblading, will release a couple of days later. - Jan Welch.

Visit Then & Now Youtube Channel.

The 2002 Razors Blitz Tour was one of the craziest tours I’ve ever been on. It was a 32 day tour, where we visited 23 skateparks in 16 states and went to the Airborne contest in Detroit, a Woodward East Competition and IMYTA in Atlanta.

We rotated in new skaters every 7-10 days. I was the only person who was on the entire tour to document it. We had a 30 foot RV that was completely destroyed by the end of the tour. Conditions were cramped and miserable inside and the heat was on another level.

We had some amazing times and some low moments. But it was a great bonding experience with many people I’m still friends with 16 years later.

The tour was: Iain Mcleod, Jeff Stockwell, Mac McMeans,Tory Treseder, Jason Howard, Mike Johnson, Dustin Jones, Dustin Halleran, Brian Shima, Micah Yeager, Omar Wysong, Robert Lievanos, Charles Dunkle, Jon Elliott, Wes Driver and Cory Casey. This edit originally appeared as a bonus section on the United Front 2: Trash DVD I made back in 2003. - Jan Welch.

*Music: “No Such Thing” by Agent Orange.

This features skating of Carlos Pianowski from his early days back in his hometown plus a not so pleasant experience his friend had with the Brazilian healthcare. This edit originally appeared as a bonus section on the United Front 2: Trash Dvd. - Jan Welch.

Previously: Carlos Pianowski - First Session on His New USD Aeon (2017) with Kalléo Hipolito, Ricardo Lino & Friends.

These are clips of my dear friend Edwin Wieringh that I filmed with him back in 2002/ 2003 for my video United Front 2. He was staying at my house for extend periods during these first years that I met him. I am going to miss this dude. R.I.P. Edwin Wieringh (1983-2015). - Jan Welch.

Sleaze features a huge roster of talent from around the world and has full profiles with Jon Jon Bolino, Joey Chase, Jeff Stockwell, Keith Brierley, Adam Brierley. With mini views with Marcus Benavides, Ben Schwab, Michael Collins, Montre Livingston and Joey Graziano.

Full Video - PLAY: Part 1 | Part 2 (Joey Chase) | Trailer.

Sleaze, the Vicious Team Video by Jan Welch, features a huge roster of talent from around the world and has full profiles with Jon Jon Bolino, Joey Chase, Jeff Stockwell, Keith Brierley, Adam Brierley. With mini views with Marcus Benavides, Ben Schwab, Michael Collins, Montre Livingston and Joey Graziano.