At the end of 2014 we released the Full length video for my skateboard shop, Authentic Board Supply, located in Surrey, BC, Canada. We had only been open for a year at this time, so to have a solid team that could put out footage in a short amount of time was awesome and we wanted to share with the world. Starring some true Surrey/Langley locals this video was recognized Canada wide and helped push a few of these guys to the next levels of sponsorships. Andy Anderson, Shawn Beaupre, and Dominic Devries were definitely the 3 top billed skaters that people wanted to see, and all 3 of their parts were mind blowing in their own respect. We gave our hearts and souls to the public while filming for this video, and I’m pretty sure everyone enjoyed it
– For the Love of the Game
Here is the full length video released on YouTube for the first time
Filmed and Edited by: Dallas Lang & Hippie Mike
Starring: Andy Anderson, Shawn Beaupre, Dominic Devries, Hippie Mike, Jay Mykyte, Andreas Tsougrianis, Weston Ganger, Weston Hutchinson, Doogie Lester, Mathew McCauley, Francois LeBlanc, and more…
The world is about to change for 19 year old Andy Anderson, a unique Canadian skateboarder that can literally skate everything. Ranked the #1 Amateur Freestyle Skateboarder in the world at the moment Andy has gotten himself a little bit of attention from some interesting folks, but once they realized that this kid is not a Freestyler by Trade but actually a fearless shredder in Bowls, Pools and any obstacle on the streets, they wanted to see more. So we are putting together a creative video that will showcase his all-around talent on his skateboard. Andy Anderson is definitely a One of a Kind skateboarder, learn his name, and check out this little teaser put together by Hippie Mike to give you a small taste of the type of footage you are going to see in the near future – stay tuned for more coming real soon…
It was a quick decision when Rob from The Boardr sent Andy Anderson an invite to compete in the first ever Boardr Am contest series that qualifies 1 person automatically into an upcoming X-Games Am comp. The question wasn’t whether or not Andy wanted to go and compete but more about which ones of the 6 stops would be best to go to. Well, stop 1 happened to be in LA, in January, that made the decision easy. We flew down on the 21st giving us a couple days to hang out and see the town before the event. Day 1 we hit up Venice Beach, starting off with the Skate Park of course. What a great place, 3 bowls, some fun shaped clam shell quarters and a little bit of street obstacles. Andy and I (Hippie Mike) both shredded the snake bowl mostly, just having fun going fast and catching waves. After filming a couple quick Instagram videos I pulled out the real camera and caught a sick line of Andy in the deep bowl. He was wowing the audience both inside and outside of the park.
After a solid session we strolled down the strip a bit and saw the sights that reminded us of good old Hastings Street in East Van except with actual tourists around. It was a gorgeous day to hang out in Venice and then we headed off to some street spots and finished off the day with an evening LA Clippers game at Staples Centre. Blake Griffin demo!
The next morning we went over to Sheldon Skate Park where we thought the contest was to check in and warm up, but the contest location had been changed to Stoner Plaza because of them not getting the right permits for Sheldon. Oh well, we had to stay and shred this Sheldon Park, it was sick – Triple set, ledges, rails, quarter pipes everywhere, Andy put on a show at this park for sure. After getting heated up and filming a few lines we ventured off to Stoner. Stoner Plaza is a lot more streety and all the kids were bangin’ out the tech tricks. The most popular obstacles were definitely the bank to bank gap, the quarter pipe hip, the hubba and the rail. This location change definitely changed the style of the contest, but that didn’t change our attitudes. We were here to skate, and Andy was there to be seen. He definitely did some tricks that turned heads while we were there. After a solid warm up session and some quick filming we headed down the street to skate the ledges at Santa Monica Courtyard. The sun was going down so we didn’t stay long, but we made sure to get some footage. After that we jumped in the car and blasted off to Anaheim to check out the infamous Wouldshop Skateboards backyard pool and DIY park. Ben Butler was a great host letting us shred away until we felt like it was time to quit. Andy shredded hard in that pool and learned some fresh lines that had some danger factor in there for sure. What a sick time!!
Day 3, contest day, and it was hot. We headed back to Stoner and got right into it. The gate was still locked when we arrived so Andy started warming up in the little picnic area by putting on a Freestyle Demo for the other competitors. Once the gate opened up it was every man for himself and the park was flooded with talent of all ages. There ended up being about 115 competitors altogether that day so warm up time was pretty crazy with people skating fast in every direction. The contest got underway and Andy was in Jam 4 (out of 41 jams), 3 people, 3 minutes. He skated good and did lots of funky tricks that some people couldn’t comprehend and most people would never attempt. It wasn’t one of his best runs ever, but he made a mark with his creativity. Only 18 people were going to advance to the semi-finals so all he could do was hope he made it. The skill level was high at this comp and there were some dominators for sure, Dashawn Jordan, Sebo Walker, Micky Papa, Nate Greenwood, Paul Hart and Jon Cosentino were definitely the guys to watch out for in this one. Jon Cos represented hard all day with consistent style and perfect landings all over the park. He led the entire day, and stepped up his game in the finals to keep his lead and take the first all-expenses paid ticket to X-Games Am!! Way to go Jon, and way to represent Canada. Andy finished in 33rd place which was really good considering the talent he was up against and the fact that Stoner Plaza was not fully his style park. We got some grub and headed back to the hotel to chill for the night. We had all day the next day to go hit the streets before our flight home.
Woke up, got breakfast and started hunting out spots on www.laskatespots.com – first stop was Hollywood High. No warm up and a sneaky move through the gate, Andy started the day with commitment and style dropping 4 solid tricks down the 12 stair rail in about 10 minutes. We headed out from there and found a couple of the popular high schools from all the videos but there wasn’t much luck getting through the gates. We moved over to Santa Monica and ended up back at Stoner Plaza where we got directions to University High School for a little 8 stair action. Andy stuck a couple tricks down the rail and then signed his name with his patented Half Flip (or Anti-Flip) down the set and we called it a day.
It was a great trip and we got to see a lot in 4 days, the contest was sick and it was sweet to see everyone rip it up. It’s too bad the location was changed but it was still a great event. Thanks for travelling with us, now Click the link below for the recap video of Andy Anderson and Hippie Mike in LA
When Protest rider Andy Anderson got the email invite to AM Getting Paid, it was a must for him to go. These guys recognized his performance at Damn AM Costa Mesa and knew that he would come to put on a show for the crowd. When Andy’s parents asked me to go with him and give him some coaching how could I say no, so we headed over to the party town of Canada – Montreal…
It was gonna quick, fly over night on September 10th/11th and come back right after Finals on September 14th, so I made a solid plan of how to fit in a lot of stuff in between the contest runs. I was pretty certain that Andy would make it through to round 2 no matter what so we knew where we would be on the Sunday. We showed up Thursday morning and hopped in a rental car from the airport only to be led around the city in the rainy rush hour traffic by that annoying GPS girl. Arriving at the hotel 5 hours early left us with plenty of time to find some street spots in China Town and we hit them up quick between showers. First we found some awesome breakfast served by a girl with hair almost as long as mine, then after Andy did a few freestyle demos outside the mall we found a sweet kinky flatbar on the corner of some intersection and Andy just rode over and 50-50’d the whole thing. Somehow he got out of there unscaved with a solid smith grind around the kink corner and 180 back out to the sidewalk.
Off we headed to that tall A-Frame ledge and Andy boardslid the whole thing while a Freight Truck almost took out some pedestrians right beside him. The rain came back sudden and fierce and we headed back to the hotel. They let us check in, we threw down our bags and busted out to Le Taz, the place where the event was held – AM Getting Paid.
When we rolled up there was only about 7 people skating inside and the park was brand spankin new, it was sick. Both of us started skating and eyes quickly turned on Andy. I could tell right away that he was going to do well in this comp. The park was awesome filled with ledges, rails, launchers and quarter pipes and everything wanted to grind. We skated there for quite a while before heading back to the hotel where we met up with Benny Stoddard from King Shit Magazine and hung out before dinner. The next day was Qualifiers and this old guy still hadn’t slept so it was early bedtime…
We rolled in early to the Taz for warm ups and Andy was on fire, he had already learned so many tricks and lines from the day before so I just started filming him right away before the crowd showed up.
The music was sweet with Barry Walsh (Spoon Bee) mixing it up with Vinyl Ritchie, it doesn’t get much better than that. When the competition began I had given Andy the best advice, “go out there and skate like yourself, hit all your basic bangers on the rails and ledges and throw in those funky tricks in the middle every chance you get. If you can steal the judges eyes, you win…” And that’s what he did, it was funny because afterwards I honestly had no idea who else was even in his heat, the MC’s were only talking about what Andy did. He stole the show on Day 1 and let everyone know his name finishing in 7th place out of 76 dudes. Check it out
We both left super stoked, and so did everyone else that was from the BC Crew…The day was still light out so we headed out to Montreal’s most famous skate spot The Big-O. Now knowing this pipe is not easy to skate and having a super bummed knee I approached with caution. Andy on the other hand walked right up in front of Marc Tison and his friends to throw down an insane first warm up line. They were stoked on Andy for sure. He was fearlessly hitting up the gap in the wall with pivots, slashers and airs. Big-O crossed off the list of things to do, damn…
The next day was supposed to be Best Trick at P-45, the sick-ass DIY spot in the back yard of Le Taz, so we woke up early, grabbed Benny and headed out to skate this school with the 3 Boobs, this place was sick. Everyone threw down a line or 2 but Andy definitely owned it
It started to rain and we had to leave, unfortunately the Best Trick contest was postponed as well so we headed back to the hotel to figure out what to do. Benny took a nap while we went to get some much needed Poutine and Andy told me that he really wanted to skate something, bad… I texted Raj Mehra from Mehrathon Trading to ask where the magic secret indoor pools were hiding and he replied right away with an address. Off we headed to the Backyard Party Bowl owned by Eric Mercier and we couldn’t have been more stoked. I said to Andy after we left that I think I could skate that place for 2 hours and not even care to touch coping, the speed was insane. Both of us ripped it up with grinds and airs and I somehow convinced Andy to learn these Frontside Bigspin Melons off the extension into the 5foot.
We got some footage for the Authentic video, met some awesome dudes and had as much fun as we would’ve had in my own backyard. Thanks for the tip Raj!
The next day was go time and little man was feeling the pressure. We headed out for a big breakfast with Benny and Dave Birnie, picked up Riley Boland at the hotel and busted back to Le Taz for Semis. Everyone was on their game. I gave Andy the same advice and pointed out what others were doing wrong that would hurt them in their runs. He was on his game for sure but in the heat of the moment forget to throw in all those creative tricks that make him Andy. Still he did awesome putting down a close to flawless run which was more like a full 4 minute line. Andy is so fun to skate with and even better to sit and watch, you never know what he’s gonna try next but you can be certain he will most likely land it first try. Andy finished in 21st place at this event which was sick. We were all super proud of him and almost every person at the event, competitors and spectators, made a point to come over and let him know how much fun he brought to AM Getting Paid. Here’s his Semi Final run
After the Finals, and the winners were announced we headed out back to Project-45 for the Best Trick contest. We literally had to catch our plane in 2 hours so we had to make it quick. In 30 minutes Andy skated away with a fresh $100 in his pocket and we hi-fived our way to the parking lot. The trip was quick, the people were great, the skating was awesome and the memories will last forever.
Another classic Andy Anderson moment – it pays to be an amazing skateboarder. Andy showed up to the filming of the Mad Child Video at Hastings Park about a month ago and Rob “Sluggo” Boyce quickly convinced him to get in the bowl and start skating. Sluggo knows Andy rips it and Frontside Kid James Clarke had just gone down hard and was too shook up to continue. So in dropped Andy and now he is featured in the Mad Child music video – It Gets Better ft. Sophia Danai. Not only did Andy get in the video, but he gets to do a trick right in front of the star who begins his rap as Andy leaves the screen.
Battleaxe Warriors and RDS, with a little taste of Andy Anderson.
Well, we have had such success with Protest Skateboards lately so I figured it was time to grow even more and we are now selling Protest Wheels. They are 99A hardness and come in sizes 50mm, 52mm, 54mm & 56mm. With sales on the rise, and Protest about to go Canada Wide through Unit120 Distribution, it was time to add wheels to the list of merchandise. So far everyone who has tried out a set has loved them.
Of course the biggest thing with skateboard companies is promotion and so I chose a few talented young bucks to represent the Protest Wheels, guys that deserve more recognition then they usually receive.
Check out our newest Wheel Team in action at Bonsor Skate Park last Sunday – Ryan Prasad, Jay Mykyte, Calvin Dignard, Brad “Fighter” Muscat & Andy Anderson.
All 5 of these guys are amazing skaters and all super solid. Calvin & Ryan are masters of ledges, bars and gaps, Fighter & Andy will rip any huge rails and big Tranny, and Jay Mykyte is the King of Style no matter where he goes. Be prepared to see lots of footage from these guys in the months to come.
Once again, Wow! What a weekend of insanity. Being a skateboarder for over a quarter century I have seen a lot of amazing talent and have been to and organized many skateboard events, small and big, but this one was at the top of the list for awesomeness. Not since Slam City Jam have I seen so many unbelievable skaters in one room in the Lower Mainland. These guys know how to put on a show….
Big thanks to Monty Little and Kevin Harris for putting in the hours of labour to set this Freestyle Championship up, and also to house contestants from all over the world. I had the pleasure of being the main Videographer for this event and I will be releasing a short video/interview for each contestant as well as a 15 minute Recap Video of the entire event. I got to meet everyone that was there on a more personal level and really enjoyed my time with each of them. And to top it off I was honoured by Monty and Kevin with a Kevin Harris/Skull Skates Deck signed by everyone and a Bob Marley Freedom Flag – so stoked!! Be ready for all the videos to come out throughout the next week.
As for the results, it was tough in both Categories. The Amateurs had some serious battles going on and people jumped positions between the Semi-Finals and Finals. I am Proud to announce that 2 of our Protest Riders made Top 3 and you know who they are – Andy Anderson took 3rd Place, which is huge considering that he just really got into Freestyle on a serious note one year ago at last year’s World Round Up. Then it came down to Ryan Brynelson and Kaue Arouja for 1st and 2nd. They both had flawless, consistent and insane runs in the Finals and somehow Ryan Brynelson accomplished his goal and is now the #1 Ranked Amateur Freestyle Skateboarder in the World. Give it up for the Protest Kids!!!
In the Pro’s it was tight and I mean tiiiiiiiiight. So tight that the Top 5 were all scored within 1 point of each other. One of the competitors was really pushing for me to hook him up with sponsorship and he is definitely deserving so we have added him onto the Protest Team. Lucio Flavio Simas de Lima from Brazil is now sponsored by Protest Skateboards and finished in 7th Place in the Pro Division. He is stoked!!
I gotta give it up to all the Pros, this was a difficult competition and even though they all love each other like family, everyone was there with the same goal to win. Per Canguru from Brazil went into the Finals in 2nd Place but had some difficulty in his runs and ended up in 5th. Masahiro Fujii from Japan destroyed the place and had the crowd going crazy all day every day and ended up in 4th Place. Mike Osterman from USA is one of the most solid skateboarders I’ve ever seen, he stomps every trick with more power than he uses to pop them and he pulled through for a 3rd Place finish. The biggest surprise of the contest was Seya Nakano from Japan who is not a sponsored Pro but entered into the Pro Category in hopes of success that would help make that sponsorship happen, and I think his chances of it happen are very high now since he put on an amazing Demo of how good he is and ended up in 2nd Place. So good!!
The winner was almost inevitable right from Day 1 – Guenter Mokulys from Berlin, Germany has been skating Freestyle for decades and when he’s on his game, he is almost untouchable. He dominated the entire weekend right from the get-go and proved himself once again to be the champ by winning 1st Place at The World Round Up Freestyle Championship 2013. This was huge piece of history as this was Guenter’s 10th big win and he is now a 10-Time Freestyle World Champion.
Give it up for Guenter Mokulys!!!
This event was soooooo awesome. I asked so many competitors in their interviews the same question “What will be your biggest memory from this event?” and the majority had the same answer – to see all their friends from around the world who they share a special and unique passion with, and the feeling that filled the atmosphere which was so positive. It felt like a huge Family Reunion and I can’t believe how so many people who speak completely different languages can all come together in unity and be as one in this little space. That is the beauty of acceptance.
Cheers to everyone who came out, and understand that the love shared throughout the arena was made possible by riding a piece of wood with some wheels bolted on to it.
This event has been something else, every time your blink your eyes some other mind-blowing tricks gets stomped down. I have never seen so many handstands in my life, and all of these guys can flip out of them and land perfect every time, some can even double flips. The footage I have been capturing will change your outlook on skateboarding completely when you see it – Primos, Truck Stands, 1 foot spins and Cocunut Wheelies, there is no limit. One of the best tricks I filmed so far was a moving handstand with a bunny hop ollie still in handstand and then kickflip out by the Dr. Bert Mathieson, who is in his 50’s.
That was another crazy thing, out of the Pro’s that were in the Finals, 6 out of 10 of them are in there 40’s, that’s why they’re so hard to beat because of how experienced they are.
The Amateur Category was even more crazy than Saturday’s Semi-Finals with Ryan Brynelson, Kaue Arouja, Andy Anderson and Jacob Whitt all throwing down flawless and unreal runs. The technicality and consistency of these 4 made them all look like Pros and I would hate to have to judge between them.
The real Pros were just as tough of course with Guenter Mokulys ruling the floor again, Per Canguru, Rene Shigueto, Seya Nakano, Mike Osterman and others trying there hardest to beat him but it is so, so difficult. We won’t know any of the results until the Awards Ceremony at 3pm to close down the contest.
All I have to say is this entire weekend has been packed full of smiling faces, heart to heart conversations, amazing people and historic memories. Great skating from everyone who showed up and good luck to those trying to win prizes.
It amazes me in so many ways the relationship I have built with this kid over the years, and it baffles me that it has now been almost 10 years that I have known Andy Anderson and he is just turning 17 today. I still remember having his big sister Alex Anderson in one of the first skateboard camps I ever taught for the City of Surrey at the South Surrey/White Rock Skate Park and their Mom coming over and asking if it would be possible to let her younger son into the next camp. She said he was only 7 (the minimum age was 9) but assured me that he was already experienced on a skateboard and wouldn’t slow down the class. I allowed it of course. Every kid deserves a chance to learn.
Little did I expect, this little tiny kid shows up fully padded and just starts riding through the bowl and launching out the end. Not only did 7 year old Andy Anderson not slow down the class, but he was instantly pushing the older kids to step it up. This kid was a natural and I took the opportunity to mold him into an awesome little skater-kid. Andy picked up everything so quick and I would just show him a trick and tell him how to do it and he would stick it no problem. This relationship continued like this for years and Andy started getting really good. He began coming out to my Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey Contests at age 8 and was blowing minds. He started winning in Beginner right away and it sparked an extra stoke in the young skateboard master.
I treated Andy like he was my own kid and every chance we had to skate together I would make the most of it and push him to go bigger and get better. Now at age 17 years old, Andy has made a serious name for himself in the local skateboard world. He’s won more than his fair share of prizes, trophies and cash, and he is just at the beginning still. Having Andy Anderson on the Protest Skateboards Team was like a dream brought to reality for both of us and I am so proud of him every day. He is so good at skateboarding in every aspect and it separates him from every other skater I know – he can destroy transition of any shape or size and always gets a crowd stoked; he has no fear in the streets launching huge gaps, grinding nasty handrails, and utilizing any obstacle he sees skateable; and he even proved himself to be an amazing Freestyle Skater last year and got put on a Demo Team consisting of him, Ryan Brynelson and Kevin Harris – it’s unreal. And what I love about Andy the most is that he is not a follower, and he doesn’t care what the rest of the population is doing, he does what he believes in and lives his life his way, like a real man. Andy skates his old school style decks wherever he skates, and however he skates, and he rocks a helmet whenever riding on his 4 wheels. Most kids would bow down to the peer pressure to take that helmet off by now, especially when out street skating with the big boys, but Andy says Fuck That and does what he believes in, without giving two shits about how he’s judged. Let his skating defend him, and it’s definitely hard to argue that when you sit and watch him.
When I was young I was very much the same in the stubborn way of living life my way and making the world change to accept me, instead of me changing to be accepted by the world. That is the sign of a true man and there aren’t that many of them out there.
10 years later, and many more to come, I believe that Andy Anderson and Hippie Mike will be friends and teammates forever, one way or another. I love this kid like I love my son, and in a way he is my son as a skater. Praise him, respect him, understand him, and believe in him – he will be a legend to many.
Proudly riding for Protest Skateboards, Skull Skates, Monke Hardware, Kilian Clothing & Vans, expect to see a lot more of this kid –
Happy 17th Birthday Andy Anderson!
Check out this flashback from last September as I featured Andy in the 3rd episode of Glory Daze with Hippie Mike
Andy Anderson is our superstar Protest Team Rider at age 16 and is going for attempt #2 this weekend to qualify at Damn Am – this time in Atlanta. Andy hit up the contest last month in California and represented beautifully, laying down flawless and creative runs and making friends with some of the best Am’s out there, like Curren Caples and Louie Lopez who ended up in 1st and 2nd place. He got interviewed by Nigel Alexander and all in all had an amazing experience. Unfortunately Andy didn’t make Finals, but that’s okay. We all know how stiff the competition was in Costa Mesa.
I think this contest might be a little different since half the skateboard population doesn’t flock to Atlanta for the winter so maybe there won’t be such a reign of shredders to try to beat. But in today’s world, no matter where you go you know the skaters are gonna be sick. We wish Andy the best of luck and hope he makes it through, but either way we know he will be the crowd pleaser as he is everywhere he goes. And the best part is, it’s actually Andy Anderson’s 17th birthday on Saturday April 13th, when he will most likely be skating his runs.
So make some noise for the little Local Boy that rips tranny, street and any obstacle you put in front of him – and all on his custom shaped Old School style deck built specially for him by Folk Skateboards.
Protest Represent!!
Every day this week we will be posting up fresh photos of Andy skating lately on the site’s Facebook, so if you haven’t joined the site yet, it’s time to push that LIKE button.
