Robert Brink - Writer

DC Shoes Pro Bios 2004: A.V.E., Williams, Smith, Wenning

November 21, 2005 | Skip To The Comments (0)

Brian Wenning: Photo By Ryan Gee

DC Pro Team Bios 1
By Rob Brink
dcshoes.com June 2004

Here's the first batch of some dcshoes.com pro team bios I wrote. Danny, Colin and Dyrdek to follow...

Brian Wenning

In the mid ‘90s, there was an explosion of skateboarders from the East Coast coming onto the skate scene from Philly, New Jersey, Boston DC, and New York. A gander at Dan Wolfe's Sub Zero's Real Life video or Eastern Exposure 3 will attest to that. As time passed, so did the craze of hunting out East Coast riders to add to West Coast teams. New Jersey's own Brian Wenning (and friend Anthony Pappalardo) was at the forefront of the next batch of East Coasters to start taking skateboarding by storm. A pro for Habitat since its inception, Brian has also been on DC since 2001. Somewhat elusive and avoiding the spotlight, Wenning possesses board control that is nearly unmatched, innovation and trick variations that most people envy—and then copy, manual, ledge and flip trick precision and consistency that'll make you laugh because it's so insane. And don't forget he switch backside 180 ollied and nearly switch heelflipped it (everyone knows his bent axle-induced slam landing is near as good as making it) the LOVE fountain. Perhaps skating would like to see more of Brian Wenning, but quality, not quantity is what makes him shine.

Ryan Smith

British Columbia fires off round after round of talented skateboarders. Ryan Smith is one of the city's newest professional exports. If you hadn't seen him skate before, or don't trust that the RDS crew wouldn't support someone who isn't worthy, then you knew he was no joke when Jamie Thomas put him on Zero. Smith's part in Dying to Live makes you wish you had the balls to even roll up and pop to the rails and hubbas he frontside 5-0s and noseblunts with ease. His part in The DC Video and bonus footage in the Deluxe Edition, should have you convinced he's not just another rail skater filming hammers all day. The amount of skate media coverage Ryan got as an am in the months leading up to, and shortly following the release of The DC Video was most likely unmatched by even any pro that year. Ryan is now pro for Mystery skateboards and you can bet it'll take a freight train to stop his momentum.

Josh Kalis

In addition to being notorious for racing cars, relocating from metropolis to metropolis quite frequently, being one of Love Park's ambassadors and a representative of the skate scene in Philadelphia, starring in his own DC TV commercial, being partially responsible for the rebirth of fellow DC pro and friend Stevie Williams' career, and being a father, Josh Kalis is one of the top professional skateboarders in the world. He's made it impossible for anyone to even challenge his ability at launching tricks off of the marble tiles and over garbage cans at Love. He brought the switch backside tailslide to Hubba Hideout, and he lands on the bolts and rides away clean every time. Kalis was part of the legendary Toy Machine lineup of the mid ‘90s that also included Jamie Thomas before he moved onto Alien Workshop and then founded Seek Skateboards with fellow DC/Alien pro Rob Dyrdek. He's had too many amazing video parts to name. But the bottom line is—Kalis never disappoints. No matter where he's living, Josh is properly representing skateboarding and DC is proud to have him.

Anthony Van Engelen

In 1993, Mark Gonzales was the first person to ever offer A.V. E. a sponsorship. Hardly anything else needs to be said after that fact. Despite that he nervously gave Gonz the wrong phone number (wouldn't you freak out too?) and never got a call, and that he was soon after shipped off to Russia by his mother for a bit because he didn't want to go to school, things have turned out just fine for A.V. E. Riding for DC and Alien Workshop gains the utmost respect from the skateboarding community, but A.V.E.'s style and skill are what's most notable. If there's a street skater who attacks tricks—it's A.V.E. He skates like he's pissed off—ledges beware, all the while maintaining elegance and control. He skates switch faster and higher and better than most of us could ever dream of skating regular stance. He will grind the chunkiest ledge with ease. He's taken switch to a new level and skateboarding knows it. This summer, all of his efforts paid off when his opening part in The DC Video was nominated by TransWorld Skateboarding Magazine as one of the best video parts of 2003 (next to Danny Way and Marc Johnson). Surely an honor that would be the pinnacle of many skaters' careers, but this isn't likely to be the last of A.V.E.'s great accomplishments.
Stevie Williams

Not that he ever lost it, but Stevie Williams is probably the greatest, “comeback” in skateboarding. In the early-to-mid ‘90s, especially on the East Coast, “Lil' Stevie” was a common name. He had the most sideways hat, the biggest tongues flapping out of his shoes, he was known for jacking your board if you came to Philly, and he could do nearly every flip trick—switch and regular. Stevie was a natural, but this self-proclaimed “ghetto kid” (and skateboarding) went through some rough times in the mid ‘90s. Skateboarding waned and Stevie vanished.

Fast forward a bit to the story where close friend and DC teammate Josh Kalis lit a fire under Stevie's ass to get on a skateboard again. Soon enough Stevie blows the roof off of The Chocolate Tour with a ridiculous “last-minute” closing part. Soon after, Stevie is on DC with one of the top selling pro shoes of all time. Fast forward some more, and today Stevie runs a few skateboard companies—DGK and Gold wheels. He continues to be known for doing every flip trick in the book popped and clean (ever see how big those Love Park garbage cans are, even laid on their side?), the hardest manual tricks and combos on the highest obstacles, and bringing originality and a new twist to old tricks—all with his own unique style. Yeah, Stevie never lost it, skateboarding just misplaced him, and thank God we found him again.