Death Skateboards has survived it all. Inspiring clannish loyalty from its ratty following, Death has come to characterise British skateboarding at its most resilient and boisterous.

The chap behind this whole circus is Nick ‘Zorlac’ Orecchio – a resolutely unfashionable Italian rascal who created Power Distribution in 1996, a precursor to Death Skateboards. Their suburban Harrow headquarters – the House of Doom – is part distribution centre, part playground and part sanctuary for strays.

Welcome to the first in our This Is DIY series – tales of independence in an interconnected world. In an age of top-down hierarchies and follow-my-lead regimes, more and more people are striking out on their own and igniting projects with the spark of hard graft instead of waiting for corporate say-sos. There are stories of independence in every corner of the globe – people who keep things small and DIY.

Watch out for the print feature in Huck 43.