Girl Skateboards Pro Brandon Biebel is built like a football player and he's not a jock, but ask him about "Pretty Sweet" and you'll find that his excitement for Girl and Chocolate's upcoming video is unabashedly jock-like. Hyped would be an understatement and the funny thing is that Biebel is pumped for this video more than most fans -- and he's not at all ashamed of that. ESPN.com spoke with Biebel about traveling with his Girl and Chocolate teammates, how stoked he is about being a part of "Pretty Sweet" and the fact that he's absolutely in love with China.
ESPN.com: Girl and Chocolate did a lot of traveling for Pretty Sweet. Were you on a lot of the trips?
Biebel: Yes I was. We went on some long US trips and we went to China a few times. Every one of those trips was an amazing experience and just getting to travel with everyone from Girl and Chocolate was just awesome. We went to China three times. I went out there with the Girl and Chocolate guys a couple of times and then I went out there with Justin Eldridge for six weeks. We just chilled out there and skated everyday and it was fun. China is a great place in general and for skating it's even better. We had our homie Anthony Claravall out there with us and we would just link up and go filming all day. It was great. It was one of the most fun trips and some of the most fun times in my life just being out in China with only a couple of people, skating and experiencing that country.
What makes China so awesome in your opinion?
There are just so many people there and they're all over the sidewalks and it's a big population. That in itself is cool but so is the culture. Everyone is so friendly and polite and they mind their business. It's the best vibe. It's just so peaceful and nice, it feels like another world. A lot of the places we went to our money was strong, so we were eating super good food and it was really cheap, and we were buying a bunch of cool toys. There's so much awesome technology that isn't out in the states yet, and if it was it would be so expensive, yet in China it's so cheap.
Talk about the skating in China.
The skating is great, it's almost perfect. They're constantly building new stuff and the plazas are marble and so smooth. It's all stuff I've never seen before. Plus you start skating a spot and it turns into a block party. Every single person stops to see what's going on. And it's just us on a trip, skating and flying down handrails, but everybody loves it. The police come and they tell us not to skate, but we tell them we're going to keep skating and they don't even trip, they just kind of watch. Being out there is awesome I love everything about it. Skateboarding there is becoming more popular too. For a while it seemed like everyone was only going to Barcelona, but now so many skateboard companies are sending their riders to China.
What's the biggest difference between "Pretty Sweet" and "Yeah Right?"
They both have the same feel because it's the same people behind it but it's going to be great. With all the skating and the production and Ty Evans' work, every time Girl and Chocolate put out a video it's just amazing. It's been a while since they put one out and I'm just a huge fan myself, so I can't wait to see it. Everyone has incredible skating. The skits we did and the intro we filmed, when it's all said and done it's going to be really special.
What I remember most is two things: It was always fun skating with and hanging out with these guys but the thing I trip out on the most is the actual skating.
--Brandon Biebel
What was different for you personally about this part and what are you most looking forward to?
With this part I didn't feel like I went as hard as I wanted to go. I got my skatepark so I get caught up skating inside all the time. I went on filming trips and I wish I got more footage, but I'm just stoked to be a part of the video. So many guys are going to have incredible tricks in there and I can't wait to see them. The young guys like Vincent Alvarez, Raven Tershay, Cory Kennedy, Stevie Perez and Elijah Berle -- all of them are just on a whole other level. They haven't put out video parts like the ones you'll see in "Pretty Sweet." They're going to be unreal. The future of the Girl and Chocolate teams is super bright. And I have to say that Guy Mariano is the man. The video part he's going to put out is so crazy I can't wait to see the video. If I had to pick one dude whose part I'm looking forward to the most, Guy would definitely be it, but I could think of 20 more people's parts I can' wait to see, you know? When it's all put together it's going to be great.
Riders aside, talk about the people who make Girl and Chocolate videos what they are.
Those guys are just so great at what they do. People like Aaron Meza, Ty Evans and Spike Jonze and then Rick Howard and Mike Carroll -- when it comes to the videos they have perfect visions. Some of the ideas that we did, I was so glad to be a part of it but the whole time I was thinking how creative it was and what a great idea it was. I respect those guys so much for coming up with ideas and making them happen. It's unbelievable. You'll see in "Pretty Sweet" all the different things they did. It was pretty awesome.
What do you remember most about your time filming for "Pretty Sweet?"
What I remember most is two things: It was always fun skating with and hanging out with these guys but the thing I trip out on the most is the actual skating. Going on those trips I witnessed some of the most insane skateboarding, you can't even imagine it. It was amazing just to be a part of it. I was there for so much amazing stuff it was just mind blowing.
Elaborate on some of the things you witnessed.
I've seen Guy Mariano do things that were unreal. Marc Johnson did too and so did Cory Kennedy. I could honestly keep talking and talking about everybody but I absolutely have to shout out Vincent Alvarez. On every trip we go on, it doesn't matter what spot we're at, he is the MVP of every spot -- hands down, every single time. He's amazing. I can't wait for people to see his part. He just charges and he's got such a sick style. He is just a raw street skater. People are going to trip out hard when they see his part.
