It’s 2013—a new year and a time for new beginnings. For CCS Pro, Silas Baxter-Neal, it’s also a time to wrap up what he started in 2012—namely, his part in the new TransWorld video, Perpetual Motion. We caught up with Silas this month to get the full story on his upcoming video project as well as his latest magalog cover shot by fellow CCS teamrider gone professional photographer, Arto Saari. Here’s some of what he had to say.

What was it like shooting with Arto for this magalog cover?

It was pretty crazy. I felt a little weird about it because he’s such a ripping skateboarder and a guy that I definitely grew up watching. It’s funny to see him on the other side of things now. He’s a really mellow guy and made me relaxed for the shoot. It was funny though because I felt like he could do the hip ollie I did for the cover shot way better than I could [laughs].

What do you think of his photography overall?

I haven’t seen a whole lot of his skate photos, but I’ve seen his other photo projects in prints and on the Internet. They’re great. He’s a good photographer for sure and definitely has the eye for it.

What’s the status with your part in the new TransWorld video, ‘Perpetual Motion’?

It’s going to be coming out in March so we have about a month left to film for it. I haven’t been on any Transworld trips yet though. I’ve been in Portland all summer so I’ve just been doing my own thing in a way. I’ve mostly just been on my own filming missions. It’s getting there though. I’m going on my first TransWorld trip to Miami next month. We’ll be getting an apartment out there for about ten days.

Who’ve you been filming with thus far?

I’ve been going out with Brennan Conroy who films for Habitat a bunch. He lives here in Portland and so I’m used to filming with him. He lives near me so it’s easy. After Miami, I’m going to Los Angeles to get up with Jon Holland and film some more stuff there or in San Francisco.

Do you still have tricks you want to get?

We’ve only been working on it for a year so I don’t have as much to pick through. Near the end of video projects I’ll usually get to look back on what I have and see all the stuff I’ve gotten. At that point I’ll be able to go back and fill in the holes and see if there’s still stuff I want to get.

How do you feel about the starting line up? Are you excited to be working with the other guys in it?

Yeah, definitely! The line up is Tom Remillard, Jimmy Carlin, Julian Davidson, Josh Mathews, Walker Ryan and myself.  I know or have skated with most of the other guys, although I’ve never met Tom Remillard. I’ve known Josh since we were kids and we’ve been on a bunch of trips together including Japan. It’ll be fun to skate with him again. Julian came up to Portland for a week with John Holland a while back. He was super young then, but he’s fully ripping now. I’ve skated with Jimmy a few times too. I don’t really have any idea what their parts are going to look like, but it’s exciting to see what these dudes are going to come up with.

It’s 2013. Do you have any new year’s resolutions?

Never trust a Mayan [laughs]. I try not to do the resolution thing because I feel bad if I fall short. I’m just trying to skate as much as possible and work on this video. I’ll probably finish this project up and then maybe take a little break to catch my breath and move on to the next thing.