Kyle Berard

2 days into Marseille Bowlriders this year, Kyle Berard sat on the hill with a full can of beer and mentioned that he felt lucky to be there. 2 days and many beers later Zac ran his life through a washing machine for a 20 minute session under a melting umbrella whilst Kyle spilled the beans. This is what went down….

OK, full name sir!

Kyle Edward Berard!

And where are you from?

I grew up skating with my friends in Virginia Beach.


So what age are you now?

I’m 20 years old at the moment

Only 20!

Yeah only 20

Fuck it (laughs)
Yeah fuck it!

How long have you been skating?

Err…. 10 years

First board?

First Board! I had a Bart Simpson but that was before I really skated!

We have not had a Bart Simpson board before!

Yeah I got a real board and I think that it was a Powell like Dragon logo.

So you were growing up obviously around the early 90’s skateboarding?

95 was the year!

95 so what was going on around at the time that inspired you to become a professional skateboarder?

Well originally like just skateboarding with my friends was what I wanted to do like we saw loads of other kids doing it when we went to middle school. So I got into it around 5th or 6th grade but I don’t know man it’s just rad. I grew up next to Mount Trashmore and I heard like loads of gnarly stories about all the big pros going there. But by the time that ‘95 rolled around the ramps was a piece of shit and it didn’t keep up with the times.

Which pro riders came out of your hometown like the ones you’ve seen skate or skated with?

Well I grew up watching Sergio Ventura skate Khan Roy, Mike Hanroy, Peanut Brown all the Gutierrez brothers and Henry Gutierrez. There were a lot of good guys coming from that area, definitely transition riders.

So you are riding for World Industries right now?

Yep it’s been a year; I’ve been on for just over a year now.

And you have just got back into normal skating again after your huge accident?

Yep I got in a car accident in 2001 like a week after September 11th happened it was pretty gnarly.

What happened.

I just ate shit man, I was driving around the corner way too fast. 16 years old like dumb kid just driving way too fast, but woke up in the engine! My leg was in the engine and I was stuck in the car with all of my friends for like 45 minutes. My buddy got airlifted to a different hospital it was gnarly man. It was the worst thing that ever happened to me.

That’s unbelievable so did you crash into a wall or something?

I crashed into a truck with a horse trailer on the back of it and it was head on! I was going about 55 and they were doing 50mph! Yeah it was gnarly we should have died man it was crazy it’s nuts looking back on it because I have photos from it of course like my dad shot photos of the car when it was in the junkyard.

Is it a good reminder of how you should take care of yourself more when you are young?

Yeah well I’m trying to man it woke me up to how precious these things can be! I mean my friends and everything and how quick you can run into a truck.

You broke your Femur?

Yeah. I broke my Femur, that is what kinda put me out. I hurt my arms, broke my hand, I think I got stitches but the Femur was the thing that really messed me up. I couldn’t skate for 6 months and then I tried to but I had 2 screws in my knees that kinda pinched a nerve so the whole year was terrible. I got the screws and everything out that was almost 2 years ago it still feels a little funny but it was kinda tough getting back into everything, all the travelling and with all the stuff going on back home with my friendly herd and everything it’s been a gnarly couple of years.

At the time were you a sponsored skateboarder?

Yep.

Did all of your sponsors stick with you?

No not all of them I thought that I was gonna be out for good for the first couple of weeks. It was my senior year of high school a lot of things were going on. My buddy was in hospital for a couple of months so I really didn’t think to care about it too much to think about it I wanted to skate but I didn’t care about the travelling or anything. I was just like I man I gotta stay here I’m with my family and it was a pretty gnarly situation, really heavy.

Wow sounds pretty cool that World has picked you up though?

Yeah I met the World team manager Tom Curren at one of the contests I was just doing the contest. I was making a living just going to these contests some of my sponsors dropped me so and I still wanted to skate I got back into it. So I made a living doing that went to college for a few years and met him at a contest in the summer and he was like “hey man you’re good wanna ride for World” and I was like “yeah sure whatever you want!” I was like I will go anywhere.

So who else are you riding for at the moment?

I ride now Excel Wheels, Independent Trucks, Von Zipper, Lost Clothing. I get shoes from DVS. Ninja bearings and Dakine backpacks and that’s it. It’s cool this time round like these last couple of years travelling again. I’ve been meeting a lot more people this time round because I’m a little older and I understand travelling these days. You meet a lot of great people on the road, lots of cool stories you know that’s what it is all about after all of this like you still go home and skate and when you are out with your friends you got stories to tell.

So you like coming to Europe?

Yeah I like it some days

You couldn’t live here though?

No man 3 weeks that’s enough! I’m just not used to it like everyone where the fuck is the ice! Give me a fucking AC unit like let’s do this! I dunno I would have to learn the language maybe it could work.

So have you been to London?

No but I have been to Heathrow and Gatwick

Oh yeah (laughs)

But that was it I transferred got a bus ride there!

What’s your favourite type of skating?

Man, I grew up watching all the transition guys and everyone skate bowls and things like that and that’s where I’m at man I like skating street as well!

So you prefer transition skating to street?

Yeah it’s easier on me and I dunno I’m just better at it.

What’s your favourite trick?

Favourite trick ever: Backside tailslide on any kind of ramp and backside disaster is cool too. Yeah if you get a good back D you’ve got it going on….

What about music?

I like all kinds of stuff man. I like Modest Mouse I like The Dude’s Riff. The Black Keys…er Neil Young, we have been doing that on the i-POD lately and The Rolling Stones, you know, all kind of stuff, that’s cool.

Do you get out to many live shows?

I saw Modest Mouse play in front of 200 people once. They are now packing out big shows but my friend owns a restaurant called Café 11 down in Florida, he got them for 2 nights in a row, it was amazing!

Top 5 Skaters?

When I first started getting into skateboarding it was all the guys from the North East like Donny Barley, people like Kerry Getz, Dennis Busenitz, vert guys like Brian Howard.

Fave Skate Video?

I like anything that Dan Wolfe does. I just saw Closure and that was great. All those skaters up there are ripping.

If you could go to any spot with 3 skaters, where would you go and why?

Mike Peterson is coming with me, we lived together for a while, he is a great guy to have at any session anywhere…Rhino and my buddy Paul from back home, we skate mini ramp a lot. We would go back to Virginia to my parent’s back yard! Yeah!

The future?

I actually think about it all the time. The accident was a big mental scar but I over analyse so much and I need to put some work in to hang out more!

Fave tipple?

I used to do the Red Bull Vodka thing for a while but I like to kick back with a Bud or something!

If you had to fight Mike V, Rollins or Schwarzenegger who would you pick?

I’m claiming that Schwarzenegger is a pussy!

OK, times up!

Damn we fit as much in as possible! Thanks Crossfire.