Brandon Biebel interview
HUCK speaks with Sacramento's fastest-talking pro about getting his own skate park, arm-wrestling and the joys of his home town.
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“If you had 'your name dot com', wouldn’t you want to put all your shit up on there?” asks Biebel, his deep voice at machine gun speed in a tone that’s equal parts smokey gravel and hyperactivity.
Sacramento’s Brandon Biebel is one such skateboarder who has fully embraced our new media age. Having recently created his own skatepark with fellow pros Guy Mariano, Dylan Rieder, Marc Johnson and Anthony Van Engelen, he’s soon to launch his own website called Biebel’s World, putting his life up to scrutiny in a similar vein to Steve Berra and Eric Koston’s hugely successful The Berrics. He's even got his own iPhone app too!
“My skatepark is a sick ass park, man. It’s a dream come true,” he says excitedly. “I’ve got a basketball hoop up in there, lounge room. What better than having a place to skate the best shit and hang out with all of my friends, where no one can fuck with me or kick me out?”
Although this dream park may be in Hollywood, it’s not something that can tear him permanently away from his beloved hometown, a place he has so much affection for he got the name inked into his arm. Not only was the region voted one of America’s Most Livable in 2004, it seems it could be the most skateable one too, and is home to a whole host of pros including Stefan Janoski, Omar Salazar and the legendary John Cardiel. But what is it about this city that makes it the ideal place to skate?
“It has everything,” says Biebel simply yet sincerely. “Old Sacremento is tight. The riverside, Discovery Park, Downtown: it’s poppin’! Go skate some shit and eat at some good restaurants. If you want the best sushi, go to Mikunis. That’s my favourite.”
Everyday is a Saturday and that’s the way it’s been all my life because of skateboarding. I do hella tight shit, bro
Take a look at some of Biebel’s Girl signature decks and you’ll notice a few nods to one of his other fortes: arm-wrestling. "I know that my arm only goes the way it’s supposed to go. It hasn’t gone the other way in like 10 years! If someone does beat me, then that’s cool but I’ll beat the biggest there is: humungous muthafuckas, dawg! Steroid muthafuckas, dawg,” his voice leaping as he brags. “If you beat me, I’ll give you 100 bucks. If I beat you, you give me 20. It’s easy.”
It may be easy to mistake Biebel for someone who isn’t troubled by self-doubt but really, he’s just pretty damn hyped on life. So where does all this light-hearted bravado come from?
Says Biebel: “Everyday is a Saturday and that’s the way it’s been all my life because of skateboarding. I do hella tight shit, bro. I travel all over and hang out with great people.”
And why wouldn’t you want to share that with others?
Check out Biebel's World, launching very soon.
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Brandon Biebel interview (text) by Ed Andrews is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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