Best Friend Skateboards: "Stoked" To Be in Osaka

By Sam Zipursky

"Yo yo!" booms the bombastic Mr. Bug Barnes. "I moved out here to speak Japanese, meet girls, skate, and introduce my skateboard company to the Japanese world." Bug - yep, that's apparently his real name - is 27 and jets in from Oceanside, California. He's been living in Japan for the past nine months but has been visiting nippon for the last seven years. I caught up with him to talk decks, dogs and design.

Sam Zipursky: That's dope you have your own skate company. Tell us a bit more about this company and how it all began.

Bug Barnes: Yeah dude, I'm stoked about it. The company is Best Friend Skateboards. I started it about two-and-a-half years ago. I was working for another skateboard company (which will remain nameless because they suck), and I got fired from there. So pretty much after that happened I wanted to start up my own company, but initially I wanted to make only a skate-based apparel company. I wanted skateboarding to infest my life, and after realizing I wasn't turning pro, I figured having my own company was the best thing for me. But after some thought, I decided to go with making decks instead. Can't really say why I chose decks other than that it's really fuckin' rad to skate on my own boards.

SZ: What was the inspiration behind that company name and logo?

BB: Over my years of skating I have met some pretty incredible people, and experienced some of the coolest shit. This helped to inspire me for the name and logo. The logo is a real picture of my dog, his name is Mr. Belvedere. My dog is my best friend, my skateboard is my best friend, and my closest friends I have met through skateboarding. So I thought it was only suitable to name it Best Friend Skateboards.

SZ: So how big is your company, and who does all the skateboard designs?

BB: Well for a while I was a one-man army, but recently two of my boys back home started helping me rep it Stateside, because it's a little hard to do from here. They are actually on the team, too, so I try to keep it all in the family. But I take care of pretty much everything else. I design all the boards, set up accounts, orders, and most importantly try to slang them shits [Translation, please? - Ed]. I also recently just changed manufacturers, so my boards are now getting pressed at Deluxe. The new wood and shape is top-notch and not some Chinese-made crap. They are pressed right in San Diego, so they come from the source with more TLC than grandma's cookies.

SZ: And I hear that you're also starting to promote an underground skateboard/urban clothing line, which is also based out of the San Diego area. Tell us a bit about that company and what you guys are planning on doing with that out here in Osaka and Japan.

BB: Yeah dude, I teamed up with BlackHeart clothing. BlackHeart is a Southern Cali company based heavily on the skate/surf lifestyle. The designs are done by Woody Donahue (the owner), who uses the BlackHeart name as his signature. Basically, we're looking to get some of the people of Japan as stoked as we are on the products and the lifestyle.

SZ: And you're having an event in Osaka in December, right?

BB: Yeah, I'm planning a winter line release party at Café/Bar Elixir, close to Higobashi Station in Edobori. The details are still being worked out, but more info will be on the websites as the date gets closer. Anybody interested can visit www.bestfriendskate.com, www.blkhrt.com, and myspace.com/bestfriendsk8. Also, I can be reached by email for more info. I would like to thank all of my friends who support Best Friend, and are down for the cause. I'm stoked on meeting new people, so if you see me cruising through Osaka, feel free to say what up and I'll give you some stickers or something.

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