Solo Tango CDMX Video & Interview

Alan Sanchez ollies in Mexico City / photo by Roman Shevchenko

The Solo Tango boys out of Toronto, Canada just released another bangin' video project, this time filmed exclusively in Mexico City. So we wanted to catch up with the man behind the camera and dive a little deeper into the Solo Tango universe. So grab a snack and your beverage of choice and first, enjoy "You Said It Wouldn't Be Like This" and then check out the interview and photos below:

We've been fans of the work that Rob Mentov and the Solo Tango crew has been releasing for a little while now. We were particularly sparked by their "Khinkali Blues" project released on the Place Mag Youtube channel last year and have been paying close attention ever since. A rad mixture of talent coupled with some solid filming and the story-telling talents of Mentov, they tend to produce captivating video shorts that stick out from the avalanche of media we're bombarded with on the daily. But the Solo Tango boys take it further, typically producing several photo booklets, printed zines and sometimes even hardcover books from their adventures out capturing the elusive moments of skating on the road. A crew truly dedicated to the process, the fun and producing tangible proof of the fun they created and experienced in their travels. I was happy to catch Rob Mentov for a short interview after seeing the new CDMX project and the following is what ensued.

Interview by Josh Stewart

All photos by Will Baigent and Roman Shevchenko

Nikolai Kaigorodtcev / photo by Will Baigent

I've personally been a fan of what you guys have been doing for a few years now, but I'm still not 100% sure what it is exactly...haha. Could you explain to the readers what Solo Tango is? And how it came about?

Solo Tango is a Toronto-based collective of skaters, artists, photographers and various other creatives using skateboarding as a source for their works. We use skateboarding as fuel to find unique spots, go on trips, share experiences with locals and transpose those experiences into audio-visual language. Prior to starting Solo Tango, homies within our crew informally did side projects like zines, screen printing and photography, and so we decided to make this an umbrella to push everyone's work further. 

When I first watched Khinkali Blues, your video project filmed in Tibilisi, Georgia in 2024, it was apparent to me that you weren't a novice at filmmaking. Your work has an authenticity and sense of purpose to it that I feel is lacking in the majority of skate video projects these days. What's your history and background with video/film work?

Thanks man, I appreciate you saying that. I picked up my first Vx1k around 17 years ago, mostly out of necessity since we didn’t have a filmer in our crew. After a few years I went off to do more formal video work and ended up taking nearly a 5 year break from filming skateboarding. Don’t get me wrong, we were always skating throughout this period, but we weren’t getting broken off going on full on missions.

During that time, I started getting pretty obsessed with filmmaking and I slowly realized that  a lot of the sensibilities I acquired through filming skateboarding had informed my style on these other films. Anyways, I ended up really missing the purity and spontaneity of filming in the streets and after a while, ended up dusting off the VX1. 

Coming back into it, I’m really focused on translating the experience of pushing down the streets, rather than just placing tricks over music. Skateboarding has advanced so much in the last several years, I want our skateboarding to feel relatable to viewers. Not everyone can relate to a nollie flip crook flip out, but everyone can relate to the pure feeling of pushing down the streets while dodging traffic and pedestrians. This is what always drew me to the old Static videos. You really tapped into this raw emotion. 

Marty Roberts / photo by Will Baigent

Ah, dang....thanks! What was your original goal with the Solo Tango project? And please don't say "I just wanted to do cool stuff with my friends"

The goal is really to keep the special meter going. We’re all getting older and skateboarding is becoming more difficult. Will Baigent (Sextape) and I wanted to do something that kept everyone motivated to both continue skateboarding, and continue to create. I’m realizing how important skateboarding is in keeping our vitality going. 

Most of us are in our 30s now, and skateboarding feels like it’s becoming more and more important to us as we grow older. Both in the sense of community, as well as the youthfulness it brings out of us. Skateboarding just becomes meaningful in different ways as you get older. 

It’s crazy seeing how motivated everyone has become to go on filming missions after putting the kids to bed or finishing their 9-5 jobs. Some dudes are pushing 40, and I’m seeing that they’re not just maintaining, but steadily progressing in tricks, style and form. Everyone is experiencing a second wind and we’re going full steam ahead. 

You guys have made some amazing print media as well as video projects. How did that come about, where are you making it and how does it get distributed and seen outside of your immediate circle?

It’s really a DIY initiative. A bunch of us shoot stills, and draw, film on super8, etc. And so it’s a completely open process to however people want to use their medium. In Mexico, Nikolai was shooting all of the super8, while a couple of us were doing the 35mm stills. In the end, we brainstormed what everyone wanted to do and found the best way to make it happen. Just trying to fuel the creativity as much as possible. It would be rad to grow this thing into having a more formalized print distribution with other artists at some point, but for now, the DIY route works well for us.

Aarrow McDaniels, Rob Mentov, Nikolai Kaigorodtcev, Alan Sanchez / Photo Roman Shevchenko

Yeah, you guys have gifted me some of your previous print projects and books. It's all really cool and impressive that you're making this stuff just for the love of it all. Are you the only one filming/editing or is it a group effort? The guys I film with always offer to film me but, when I actually ask, none of them seem to have the patience to film a 4 hour meltdown.

Yeah I can definitely tap in a few of the homies but I’m usually the main one filming. If there’s something good going down, I’m pretty inclined to stop skating and pick up the camera. But if I’m ever trying to film a trick of my own, the boys are more than happy to step. Such a hard switch for me going between filming and skating on the same sesh and I’m often thinking, what’s more productive: filming my own shit or getting multiple clips of the homies.  

Can you lay out for us what Solo Tango projects you guys have done so far?

For sure. Our first project was “Broke Prayers” (Toronto/Mexico), then “Khinkali Blues” (Tbilisi), followed by “Grease Fire”, in Toronto and our latest is “You said It Wouldn’t Be Like This” fully shot in Mexico.

But yeah, these are all under the Solo Tango umbrella but we’ve been doing video projects since around 2008 under our old name Street Feet. Will jokes that I changed the name as soon as he got Street Feet tattooed on his toes.

Super stoked for what we did under Street Feet, but it was time for something new, Solo Tango just made the most sense. 

Nikolai Kaigorodtcev, Marty Roberts / Photo Roman Shevchenko

So how did this recent project come about and why did you choose Mexico? Was it mostly Mexico City you filmed in?

Mexico City has started to feel like a second home, and we’ve gone a few times now. It feels really good to be able to build with the locals and come back to something. This last project however is was the first full Mexico edit that we made.

Mexico is kind of the perfect place for a bunch of Canadians like us to go during hibernation. The flights are fast and cheap, no jet lag, best street food in the world, and rugged spots. I don’t know, I find the homies out there are just so welcoming and genuine. There’s no ego or politics with regards to crews or styles, or any of that shit a lot of people tend to hold onto. Everyone skates together, everyone does their own side brands, while also participating in each other's projects. It’s a beautiful thing. With Solo Tango, we never want our projects to feel transactional, that is, going to a new land and taking from it. We want to build together with the locals towards a unified vision. 

Our first trip was mostly in Mexico city, which features a lot of perfect ledges and plazas, but this time we were hungry for the hills. We hit up our homies BUGGS and PAAN with a long laundry list of spots, and they were stoked to take us. About a one or two hour drive out of the city, you encounter some insanely gnar spots out in the hoods. Not to mention, you really see a different side to Mexico City, where the majority of people live. A lot of these spots weren’t accessible back in the day due to crime and accessibility. From what I’ve been told, these sketchy areas used to be a lot more sketchy, and more difficult to get to. A couple of years ago, the city put in an extensive cable car system that changed everything.

The spots out that way are hectic because the hillbombs always have some insane grate or massive hole in the ground, sometimes a pitbull chasing you or something like that. All of us Canadians got absolutely destroyed in those hills while the Mexicans just gracefully floated over the debris. It truly felt like they were born in those hills and have a 6th sense to the whole art of the hill bomb. 

The pit bulls would be the deal breaker for me.....How did you meet all the locals originally? Did you just meet them in the street during that initial trip? 

I was down in CDMX solo a few months prior to our first time. I always bring my board when I travel. My homies linked me up with some of the locals, Fito Stone, PAAN, BUGGS (the king of the hills) and we hit it off. I ended up skating with them for a few weeks and it started to make a lot of sense to bring our crew down and combine efforts to create something. From there we built into a larger Mexico connect, Pale, BEFREE and a few other gnarly and incredible homies who we’re continuing to collaborate with. 

Alan Sanchez, Nikolai Kaigorodtcev, Marty Roberts / Photo Roman Shevchenko

I've still never skated in Mexico...it seems a bit sketch but looks incredible. What was the overall experience like and did you have any scary run-ins with the police, gangs, etc? Or am I just brainwashed by American media?

Honestly, in Mexico City, I feel safer walking around than places like Toronto or parts of the US. There’s a few neighborhoods that are better to avoid, but generally speaking it’s fairly mellow in the central part of the country. 

It can get sketchy out in the hills though. There was one late afternoon where we were skating this hectic hill bomb spot. At some point the national guard rolls up with rifles in the back of a pickup, looking for gang activity. Shortly after, the local skaters told us in broken English: “When it’s dark, here is Modern Warfare 3, and it is time for you to leave.” hahaha. 

But generally, we feel pretty safe, especially rolling deep in the hands of the locals. The main danger is the hill bombs themselves. 

Rob Mentov / Photo Will Baigent

I guess if you're in the hands of the locals it's probably just a better experience overall......Well, you mentioned working in film as a career earlier, so what exactly do you do for a living?

I’m a Filmmaker and Cinematographer. Mostly narrative, documentary and Music video work. Been in that hustle for about 10+ years now. It's all because of skateboarding.

Wow, that's amazing! I see you guys just released a new collection of decks to go along with your latest video project....is there a plan for it to turn into a full fledged board brand?

We joke about this all the time, but we really don’t want to become a formal board brand or expand in any of the business side haha. The whole reason behind the boards is so we can both design our own shit, and skate some of the best wood available without paying crazy prices on it. The board thing is mostly an initiative for all the homies to be able to skate boards on the cheap. Everything we do is in support of pushing forward the skating, the videos, photo books, etc. All the product stuff is secondary to us.  

Is there anywhere you guys had planned or hoped to do a filming trip but you ended up backing down due to it being too sketchy, too unskateble etc? 

I usually try not to push the squad towards a place unless I know we can be productive. I’ve skated solo in places like Nepal, Honduras, Kyrgyzstan, Rwanda, but it’s a tough sell for 8 skaters to throw down on an expensive flight to skate a temple or some sketchy flat bar landing into a dirt hill bomb.

Tell Kenny Reed that! 

Eventually, I really want to bring the squad out to Eastern Europe. It’s where my roots are from and the scene there is incredible. So many unique spots and uncharted territory. 

Where do you guys want to go next? And what can we expect to see from Solo Tango next?

Mexico keeps calling us back… But I think the next move might be Sicily. Migs, one of our crew has family out there so we want to link up with the locals and bring along some of the Mexico connection. 

Will Baigent & Marty Roberts / Photo Roman Shevchenko

Awesome....well, I'm sure it'll end up producing yet another awesome project, so please keep us in the loop. We're always hyped to see what you guys are creating next.

Speaking of which, we just received a few copies of the book projects you guys made from this recent adventure. So if anyone is interested, please check out the "Media" section of the TOA web store to pick up a copy of "Uno Mas" by Roman Shevchenko as well as Will Baigent's zine "Street Kisses"

Thanks so much Rob and congrats on another rad creation!