About

Here is a little history/insight on the magazine and the people behind it (in case anyone out there is cyberspace cares). Who knows, maybe you learn something that you think is cool, get motivated to make something happen for yourself, or feel like you know us a little better after taking a gander. Here we go.

Both Mazur and myself (Justin) used to work for another skate rag 2003. We met when I moved up to New Jersey to work with him for this other magazine (Resolve). A year later we both left that company (first Mazur, then a week later myself) when it started taking a direction we didn’t like. Shortly after we left Resolve, it folded.

As roommates we moved together to Philly, where Mazur previous lived. We lucked out and got a spot for a couple months where we didn’t have to pay rent. Don’t get the wrong idea, it wasn’t a cushy set up. Neither of us had jobs, it was the dead of winter, our apartment didn’t have 4 of its 5 front windows, and we didn’t have gas… so that meant no heat and no hot water.

It was at this time, while freezing cold and searching for jobs for weeks on end, that we started to both feel defeated. We began to reminisce about how much fun our job at Resolve was and how we truly loved what we were doing. We were working with skateboarding! It doesn’t get much better than that. At that moment we realized what we had to do… we had to do what we love, and create our own magazine. As an unemployed photographer/editor and an unemployed graphic designer, we couldn’t think of a better scenario to utilize our skills (and abundant amount of time).

However, things had to change. Changes that couldn’t be made at our last job because we weren’t the publishers, we were only doing what we were told. Now that we’d be the ones calling the shots, the first thing we wanted to do was make something that represented who we were, and what we cared about – that meant making Focus an all East Coast content-based mag. Since the beginning of skateboarding-time all the media was based out of, and heavily covered, the West Coast Scene. That’s all gravy, but we wanted something that would showcase what’s going on in the streets of the east, our home! We wanted to showcase all the unseen and unheard of names that are out there killing it 24/7, whether it’s hot and humid or frigid and windy. This is the concept and foundation that Focus was built upon: Give the East Coast what it needs and rightfully deserves; a high-quality, freely distributed skateboarding magazine devoted to the East Coast.
Armed with a single camera, some flashes and one desktop computer between the both of us, we diligently began putting our plan to action.
Fast-forward about 5 months, and 1,000 headaches, and it’s now May (2005). We’re now driving to our printer, located in New Jersey, to pick up the very first issue of Focus! We anxiously hauled ass to the shipping/receiving dock to pick up our office copies. We grabbed them, and as quickly as we ran inside, we ran out, right back to the car to crack open a copy. We’re now holding in our hands, despite all the set backs, the fruits of our labor – typos and all! It was one of the greatest feelings in the world, and the best part is, it was only the beginning of this journey.

We will be adding bios of some key players behind the scenes here at Focus as well as an illustrated time-line of some of our milestones and personal achievements