[ JAPANESE / ENGLISH ]

Photo_Taiyo Tanida
Special thanks_Vans Japan

VHSMAG (V)：　How did Boys of Summer start?

Andrew Allen (A)：　Boys of Summer started about 11 years ago. Myself and Jeff Kutter, we went on a trip to New York City with Tino Razo and our friend Lucas. We were just skating a bunch, and we started filming stuff on our phones. The idea was to make a short edit of the trip that we went on. And as we were skating, we were having so much fun and there were so many other people involved that we thought like, well, we can keep this filming of the skating going. Because it's on the phone, we can get clips of all of our peers and people that we would love to be a part of. The name Boys of Summer, from what I remember, came from Alexis Ross. It's a group of friends making a skate video, but it kind of turned into something bigger than that.

V：　The videos use scenes from the 80s and the 90s. Do you have a favorite movie from those times?

A：　Jeff thought it would be fun to incorporate some of everybody's favorite movies and add those scenes to spice up some of the skating. The first one that came up... I just thought of the movie Road House with Patrick Swayze.

V：　Going to Vans China trip right after you graduated from high school changed your life. What's the most memorable Vans project?

A：　Yeah, I've been on Vans just about 20 years. I've been fortunate enough to be involved with Vans for this long time and there's been obviously so many trips and small projects that I've got to be a part of that are all good. But I guess probably the biggest one would be filming for the Propeller video. And then ultimately that night in Los Angeles, the video premiere was really special. Before they showed the movie, all of the team was behind the stage and... it sounds kind of cheesy, but everybody got together and gave each other a shout out. I guess for me, that was probably the most memorable thing that I've been a part of.

V：　Especially that was the first full-length for Vans. How about the colorways you had in the past?

A：　Yeah, I've had a couple different colorways. I had Chukka Low colorways years ago and a couple Slip-On colorways a few years back. And then most recently I had Authentic Highs. They wanted to do a three-way collab with myself, Vans and Hockey. So I think we've done seven of those. And then next spring I'm gonna have two more Authentic High colorways. Those are just with myself and Vans, and I think they'll have a hat and a shirt that will incorporate and tie it all together.

V：　You stopped partying like ten years ago. How is your life now?

A：　My life's pretty good. I'm very thankful and appreciative, it's nice to wake up with a little bit more of a clear mind. I made some pretty big lifestyle changes, all for the better and I'm in a good place. I wouldn't say I was addicted to alcohol or anything. I just liked having fun and then at some point that funness was getting in the way of me doing the things that I really liked to do, which was skateboarding and other stuff. I just kind of started hanging out with other people who didn't drink, and that made it easier.

V：　It seems like you look for your own spot when it comes to filming. How does the process for filming work for you?

A：　I do like to go and find a new spot or something that somebody either hasn't skated before or maybe something somebody skated a long time ago and people haven't skated it for a while. So I go on the hunt essentially to find the spot and sometimes they require work to make it a little bit more skateable, whether you're fixing a crack or cutting a tree out of the way. And then it turns into thinking of the idea of what I can do and the best looking thing at that spot. Once I have those ideas, then I attempt to successfully land the maneuver, which sometimes can be easy and other times it can turn into a multiple day long battle. The stoke I get from landing the trick and filming that is what gets me inspired and keeps me going to try and get the next thing.

V：　You're currently working on a Hockey video. You mentioned in your past interview that you have a trick you want to do which you've been thinking about for over a decade. Did you find the right spot to do that trick?

A：　Not yet. I'm still looking. I know what you're talking about. There's one particular trick that I've been thinking about trying to do and I think I might have an idea for it. So we'll see. Hopefully this summer I can maybe try to do that because it's gonna require cutting a handrail out of something. It's not on my priority of things to do but I'm hoping maybe I'd find another location to do that trick at. But we'll see. Hopefully I can do it.

V：　So you have your shoe coming up from Vans next spring and you'll be having a part for hockey. Is there anything else coming?

A：　That's kind of it for now. I was excited to come out here to Japan. This is my first time here and I'm pretty stoked on that. I don't really have any other plans for the rest of this year other than to keep trying to skate. That's kind of it.

Andrew Allen
@andrewb.allen

Born in San Juan Capistrano, California in 1986. He's one of the faces at Vans and Hockey and his timeless style is second to none. He's currently working on a Hockey part.