Brian Anderson (born June 12, 1976) is a professional skateboarder based in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, New York City.

Biography

Early life

Anderson is a native of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

Professional skateboarding

Anderson attained professional status in around August 1998 while riding for

Toy Machine Toy Machine is a skateboarding company, housed under the Tum Yeto distribution company, started by Ed Templeton in 1993. History Prior to inception, Templeton was unable to decide on either "Toy Skateboards" or "Machine Skateboards" for a comp ...

and was named ''

Thrasher Thrashers are a New World group of passerine birds related to mockingbirds and New World catbirds. Like these, they are in the family Mimidae. There are 15 species in one large and 4 monotypic genera. These do not form a clade but are a phe ...

'' magazine's "Skater of the Year" the following year after he joined the Girl Skateboards team. The magazine's

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

explained:

When I first saw him, it was a picture of a frontside bluntslide at Hubba Hideout. This barbaric dude that was obviously larger than life. He just walked right into the spotlight from working 70 hours as a line cook, to being the hottest thing in skateboarding.

On August 23, 2013, Anderson's inaugural Nike SB signature model shoe the "Project BA" was launched in New York City. The event was held at the Ludlow Studios Gallery on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

and heavy metal band Unlocking the Truth provided the musical entertainment for the attendees. Nike SB designer Fabricio Costa used sketches that were drawn by Anderson to create a

skate shoe Skate shoes or skateboard shoes are a type of footwear specifically designed and manufactured for use in skateboarding. While numerous non-skaters choose to wear skate shoes as they are popular in fashion, the design of the skate shoe includes ma ...

with a "runner-like upturned toe" that is designed specifically for

flip tricks A flip trick is a type of skateboarding trick in which the skateboard rotates around its vertical axis, or its vertical axis and its horizontal axis simultaneously. The first flip trick, called a kickflip but originally known as a "magic flip", w ...

Personal life

In September 2016, Anderson came out as gay, saying that it was something that he knew from a young age. Anderson revealed that he was "totally scared" as a young adult, and chose to hide because he thought it would have a negative effect on his career and that it would be dangerous to talk about in the macho skateboarding world. He hopes to encourage others to come out with the message "it gets better."

Art

Anderson is an amateur artist and has contributed graphics for Girl's skateboard products. In 2013, Anderson revealed his intention to initiate his own creative skateboard venture as part of his departure from Girl:

Throughout my career I have valued sharing my creative output with the companies that have supported me, and I knew that one day I would want to direct this energy toward a project of my own. That time has arrived. Although it has been a difficult decision, I'm looking forward to this new endeavor.

Company owner

During a period when established riders left board companies that they had been with for lengthy periods of time—for example, Jason Dill's departure from

Alien Workshop Alien Workshop (AWS) is an independent American skateboarding company that was founded in 1990 by Chris Carter, Mike Hill, and Neil Blender in Dayton, Ohio. Following periods under the ownership of the Burton Snowboards, Burton snowboard company a ...

and Jerry Hsu's from

Enjoi Enjoi is a skateboarding company that specializes in manufacturing Skateboard, skateboard decks. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, California and is distributed by Dwindle Distribution. Founded in 2000 by Marc Johnson (skateboarder), M ...

—Anderson amicably resigned from the Girl skateboard company to commence his own skateboard deck brand, entitled "3D Skateboards." In response to a question about the situation at Girl prior to his departure, Anderson explained:

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the way things were going with Girl. That’s why it was hard to go through with everything because we’re all really close friends and I love those guys so much. I just felt like I wanted to do something for myself, instead of in a few years realizing that I can’t jump down stairs when I’m 45 ...

Following his decision to leave Girl, Anderson revealed in a later interview that he "went to LA to talk to Girl about it and told them I’m getting older and I wanted to do my own thing. And it wasn’t fun for any of us ... I just wanna convey how much I love those guys, there was absolutely nothing wrong and I’m glad they are my friends." Anderson left the Girl team on May 16, 2013 after over a decade with the company. As of September 1, 2013, Anderson remains on the Fourstar clothing brand that is distributed by Girl. Initially, Anderson recruited Alex Olson, who left Girl shortly after Anderson, and Austyn Gillette, who left Habitat to join the company of his close friend that "would be fun at this point in life." However, Olson departed shortly afterwards to start his own board company, as 3D "just kinda looked like Girl," and Anderson and Olson "had two different visions." Anderson partnered with fellow former Toy Machine pro and skateboard company owner Brad Staba of the SkateMental brand, with 3D's distribution also administrated by SkateMental's proprietor, Big Time Distribution. A rumor that implicated Nike, Inc. in the development of the company was refuted by Anderson in an August 2013 interview, "Nike doesn’t do hardgoods. It’s a huge corporation, that’s not where they’re at or I’m at, they are just my awesome shoe sponsor. We are doing this on our own, with our own funds and on our own terms ... they ikegot my back." The first catalog for 3D was released in September 2013. 3D ceased operations in 2015 due to difficulties resulting from Anderson's residence in New York City while Big Time Distribution was headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. In October 2016, it was announced that he had joined Anti Hero Skateboards

Contest history

Anderson won the World Cup of Skateboarding title in Dortmund, Germany, in 1999.

Awards

Anderson was Thrasher Magazine's "Skater of the Year" in 1999.

References

External links

"60 seconds with Brian Anderson"
– ''Skateboarder Magazine''
Brian Anderson featureBrian Anderson's Chocolate CollectionBrian Anderson on Being a Gay Professional Skateboarder
– '' Vice Sports'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Brian 1976 births Living people American skateboarders LGBTQ people from Connecticut Sportspeople from Connecticut American gay sportsmen LGBTQ skateboarders 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century American LGBTQ people American gay artists