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IAN DEACON
Brighton skater Ian teamed up with Jeremy Fox to produce these boards and Ian's surprise surprise had a pig graphic the mini had a piglet just read the interview below to find out more
born: 1/16/64
hails from: Brighton, UK
resides: Westminster, CA
I started skateboarding in 1980, which was a strange time to start, as
skateboarding had basically died in England. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I am
from England and, have lived in the USA since 1994, co-owning Flip Skateboards.
Anyway back to the story, I lived in a town called Brighton, which is on the
south coast of England,50 miles south of London. It is also known as Pig City.
Notable skateboarders to have come from here are: Mark Baker, Simon Levene,
Steve Kellner, Don Brown and, last but certainly not least, Justin Ashby. It was
Justin who first got me involved. We used to be in a swimming club and, he
skateboarded as well. It was huge from 1976 to 1979, but had died off. During
that time I didn’t really know anybody that rode a skateboard. From 1980
onwards, there was about 20 or so "hardcore" skateboarders in
Brighton. We mainly used to skate in a shopping area called Churchill Square
and, we used to travel to English Skateboard Association contests where we met
such people as Steve Douglas, Bod Boyle, Danny Webster and, all of the infamous
South Bank crew from London. Things used to get somewhat out of control at these
contests. By 1984, the Pig City and South Bank crews were not particularly
welcome at the ESA contests. At this time I was making good money working for
the phone company.
Myself, Don Brown and, Mark Gregory decided to go to the USA. We arrived in
September 1984, and took up residence at Del Mar. We were fortunate to meet Dave
Swift, Tod Swank and, Owen Neider who made our stay in the USA much more
enjoyable than it probably would have been. Mark and I went back to England in
June 1985, via the first Virginia Beach pro contest at Mt. Trashmore. Don Brown
stayed in the USA to become one of the best freestyle skateboarders in the
world.
Once back in England, I just wanted to skateboard and do nothing else. Luckily
the welfare system at the time could support me doing this. I returned to the
USA in 1987, with Mark Gregory and stayed for another six months, which
coincided with Del Mar closing down while we were in San Francisco, where we got
to skate the EMB. November 1988, I returned to the USA on my own and lived in HB
for six months. During this time Tod hooked me up with Gullwing, via Randy
Jansson and, Skull Skate, via P.D. Thank You. John Dettman gave Richard Metiver
my address and he started to send me Speed Wheels every month. I left the US in
May 1989, and went on a tour of the UK with Sin from Airwalk a couple of weeks
later. I then went to Munster with Sin, but I got really ill with a duodenal
ulcer and was given emergency treatment just in time, thanks to Per Holknett. I
returned from Germany and couldn’t skate for two months.
Later on in the year I spoke to Jeremy Fox, together we started BASH. Which was
a division of Death Box (Jeremy’s company) and, the number one european
company during it’s existence, a forefather to all the European companies
there are today (Basically what SHUT did for the East Coast of the USA’s
skaters.) BASH turned into Flip a couple of years later. Then in 1993, Death Box
and Flip merged. The Flip Pro team at this time was Tom Penny, Geoff Rowley,
Rune Glifberg, Carl Shipman and, Andy Scott. The plan was to move the company to
the USA. Unfortunately, Carl couldn’t wait. He quit to ride for Stereo at
Munster, 1993. The following year myself, Jeremy, Tom, Geoff, Rune and, Andy
moved to the USA, where Flip has emerged as one of the leading skateboard
brands.
Throughout these years, I have judged at various contests in England (mainly
Radlands). Living in the USA since 1994, I have judged at various Hard
Rock/Triple Crown Contests for the past three years.
It has been a wonderful twenty years living this "skateboard" life
and, I feel very fortunate to be involved in something that I feel passionately
about. I hope to be skateboarding and involved in skateboarding for the rest of
my life. Cheers to Bill Dorr.
for
more tales from pig city click here
photos and more info needed.