Catching up with Alex Brown, Team Rider, Land
Posted Tuesday 15th April 2008

Last Tuesday, we picked up Lil' Alex from the Miami Airport, fresh from the NABX land event with his 10,000 lbs of kiteboarding equipment, and have been holding him hostage in the Delray Office ever since, making him wake up early, come into the office by 9 AM, and do some proper work, like answering customer service lines and being helpful to customers. It's been awesome. On the road almost nonstop for more than a year now, we also made him sit down in a proper chair for a few minutes and answer some of our questions about where he's been and what he's been up to.

So after your time on the RV last year, we kind of lost track of you for a while. Where were you, and what were you doing?
I think I lived on the bus for like 3 months? I was pretty burnt out at the end of the tour and filming Drill 2. After the Velocity Games in May, I went to Oregon with my friends to film some more kiteboarding and kick back for a while.

How did that go, did you accomplish what you set out to do?
Well, I had a video camera and tapes stolen from the house up there when me and Gabe Shortman flew to England to play some video at an event. That set me back BIG TIME.

Brazil was next. How'd you hook that up and what were you doing there?
Ya, I went to Brazil with everyone to work on the 08 kites, which was when I shot the promo movies. I think it was Ian and Simon who asked if I could go make the promo movies, I was stoked and couldn't wait to experience Brazil.

How long were you there ?
Around a month and a half. We had a super cool house down there where the riders hung out.

Any memorable moments? Highlights? Favorite incidents?
Brazil was a trip! I had good fun with Gavin Butler, Dan Urwin and Kate Chandler in Fortaleza. They have some crazy parties in Brazil

Was Brazil what you expected?
I half expected Brazil to be this poor country, where everything was corrupt and I wouldn't be able to relax. But I was totally wrong. That place rocks. The food is awesome, the people are real friendly and the kiting KICKS ASS!

What did you learn?
I learnt a lot about myself in Brazil. I realized I needed to enjoy kiteboarding for pleasure again and when to accept that my ideas on video and its value were best kept to myself. I also learnt that Alvaro is one crazy mo fo. I had a blast hanging out with that dude. Pee on.

Dealer meeting was next. What were you doing at the dealer meeting?
Party ;)

After the dealer meeting, where did you go? Back to England and then off to shoot the Bularoo movie?
Yeah I think I went to England for like a week? Flo, the Austrian rep called me and said, "Bro, let's go snow kite and film movie." I was stoked; I hadn't tried out snow kiting before. Flo is a dude also. I ended up spending the whole winter with him and his friends in Austria.

Flo

I went to Czech Republic for a landboard event somewhere around that time also. My brain is fried right now, I can't remember the exact dates. It was so freaking cold there; I wasn't prepared for the weather at all! We kited on an old airfield, on the side of a hill. They had a ramp set up there also and I jammed with the locals. That was super fun.

Where did you go to shoot the movie? How many different locations?
We travelled all over for the Bularoo movie: Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France.

Then, back to merry old England for Christmas with your family.
I spent a week back in the UK to see my family and pro board homies over Christmas. My little bro got a No-Friendo Wii. They are so much fun! I want to compete in Xbox champs next year now.

Describe a typical Christmas at the Brown Residence.
Lots and lots of food. My Mum cooks a feast. There are a lot of us though, I got 3 brothers and 2 sisters, plus Mum and Dad. I always like going home, my little bro chills out in my room and we play playstation. My sisters just giggle and scream then my other brother gets his ass whopped on the shooting games. I own your ass punk. My older brother has a kid now, but it's good to tell him all the stories from my travels.

Where were you in January and what were you doing?
Dude, I woke up on New Years Eve so sick. I had to get on the plane that morning for Austria, where I was going to meet up with our rep Flo for some snowkiting and filming in Obertauern, which is a good snowboarding/snowkiting spot. But I could barely move. So I get to London, I'm being sick at the airport hoping that I don't get refused onto the plane. Somehow we partied super hard that night; I was pretty high on my drugs I bought, at the airport of course. They party hard! I got really ill in the first week and couldn't snowboard or even move. So bummed out. So the filming didn't really happen ... and there wasn't much wind.

Fireworks in Austria New Years

Sleeping in the back of a van ... (a prelude of things to come)

Flo and I flew to the Canary Islands later that week to film some last parts for Drill 2, my upcoming instructional movie ... check out www.drill2.co.uk . We shot on motocross tracks and on the top of some volcano summits. The pictures are incredible and the video is even better. We got a wrap on Drill 2 - I was SO stoked - and had a big party on the last night in Fuerte. That was a pretty fun trip. I love those islands, so warm and windy.

En route to the motocross tracks in Fuerte

Riding at the tracks

Hazards of the job

Flo and I flew back to Austria to meet up with Sebastian and all of the European reps for Best at Hotel Lietner in Obertauern for their rep meeting. Some of the guys hadn't snow kited before so they were super excited to try it out, plus get extra time in on the slopes. It was good to see them all again, and me and Frazer took some sweet powder runs down the mountain. They took their meetings in the morning, which was great for me, sleep ins and fresh powder, you know how it goes, no friends on powder days. I found some great off piest sections and spent a bunch of time in the park with Paula and Miaya, two badass snowboard chicks from Finland.

Two badass snowboard chicks

Me and Flo

Me, Clay, and Flo

I stayed a little while longer in Austria and took off on the kites in the snow in between capturing tapes. I had a flight to London at the end of the month, where I spent February recording some things in the studio for the movie.

When will Drill2 be out and what can we expect from it?
Do you feel like editing it? I don't.

What else are you working on ... anything with your other sponsors?
Yeah, I went to visit some team managers for a few brands at the Ispo sports convention in Germany. There was some nice product on display, I wanted it all!

Any new sponsors?
ElectricVisual.com ... they make sunglasses.

What are you doing in Hawaii?
I was stunt man for a commercial. Stay tuned to the website for the full story.

How long have you been there?
I been there like 2 months now. It's so rad. Wind and sun everyday. You don't even have to think about checking the weather, you're just wasting energy if you do that! 7/9m everyday, beautiful water, waves, sharks. It's pimp.

What have you been doing since that project finished?
Kicking back. I bought a Ford Van with my friend Gabe. We live in it at Kite Beach! There were alot of homeless people about, so we just joined them. Come see us next to the other homeless kiteboarders if you're about.

Then you drove your home to the airport, and hopped on a plane to Vegas. How was theNABX event?
It was badass as ever. We got into a gnarly prank war with the Flexifoil team. I actually started it in the casino. I completely destroyed 3 guys with tomato ketchup to the face, they had to take their shirts off and wipe their eyes clean hahahahahahahaha. I did get a container of piss dumped on me though, punks. P.S. Hey, Swavek, find any bugs in your food?

How did you do in the event?
Gabe and I were the only landboarders there. Riders judge each other, so we decided we both won ... joint-first.

And now you're gracing us here in Delray with your wonderful presence. What are your plans after this, and for the rest of the year?
No idea. Head back to Maui, hang out in my van some more, and and spread some land kite love.

For more on Alex, visit his team rider page at www.bestkiteboarding.com/Alex-Brown.