Today we’d like to introduce you to Frank Gardner.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Texican wasn’t something I decided to do. I had no plans on ever actually launching a company. It was all borne out of no boards being available which met what I wanted. It all originates in the early ’90s.
At that time, boards and wheels shrank in size. Technical street skating was the rage. And many began to quit, which also meant manufacturers ceased making gear for other types of skating. Being larger than the average skater, with size 13 feet I had to make my own boards. This would not cause me to stop riding.
At this time, I began buying uncut board blanks. Reggie Pooley, owner of Shannon’s Surf & Sport, would contact me when he had some in stock. My friend Chris Struve had a stockpile of large wheels from his sponsor, they gave them to him because they weren’t “sellable.”
And after a bit Damien Hebert, who at the time ran Gulf Coast Skateboards distribution(which is now South Shore), began letting me know when they had some uncuts available. This got me through the ’90s. 2000 came and with it came a bunch of old faces finding their ways back to skating. It was during these years I found Skateboard Plus, owned by Paige Hearne in Little Rock Arkansas, and I was able to get my uncut boards direct from the manufacturer.
But I still wasn’t completely satisfied as I still had to ride whatever concave and nose/tail kicks were available. Then one day my friend Carter Dennis came to skate a bunch of flood home pools. He had an unedited VHS (remember those? Lol!) of a video about what was going on in the Pacific Northwest. In it, there is a clip on M&M Skateboards.
And one of the quotes they overdub him going through the board making process is, “if you can’t find it, you just gotta make it happen.” Which is basically what I’d already been doing for years by shaping my own boards. But the lightbulb was lit, and I was inspired to make my own mold, to press my own boards in my own concaves and nose/tail kicks.
Well, life happens, I traveled around the country, lived in California for almost five years, then returned to Houston. It was 2010 when I made my first successful mold. I’d started one year before, but didn’t finish. I tried a second time, but it was junk. But by then I had high-speed internet, and I’d found a website with tons of free information, www.diyskate.com.
From there, it’s been a continuous adventure in modifications, and fun peppered with excitement, frustration when I don’t get something right, jubilation when I do, and honor when people tell me the board I made for them has helped them push themselves and their skating. But it was six years before I decided to actually sell a board to someone. I was extremely reticent of tarnishing something I deeply enjoyed.
The last thing I wanted was for making a skateboard to feel like work. I also wanted to make sure I had my process down pat. Chances are if I make someone aboard, I’ll be skating with them. I owe it to them, and to myself, to give all I have to each board. That’s a huge difference between what I do, and what most companies do.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It’s all been very organic. As I’ve been shaping my own boards for decades, and do carpentry, I really had no large financial hurdles. My issues these days are keeping up with demand. It’s really taken off more than I imagined.
Perhaps it’s because I didn’t set out to achieve anything with this venture. With that lack of pressure, other than to do the best I can with each board I make, or silly graphic I print on a shirt, I have been free just to keep chugging along.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Texican Skateboards story. Tell us more about the business.
My primary focus is making custom skateboard decks. I’ve personally hand-shaped my own molds for pressing the wood veneers into the blanks. I make a very specific concave called a spoon. It’s where the concave of the deck continues up into the kick off the nose.
Practically, every other board on the market has its concave die off right where the nose kick begins. I also do my own artwork for shirts. My only qualifier is it has to make me laugh. Being a huge movie nerd, I mashup movies and skateboarding. But also include food as a topic. I love food lol!
There are many others doing what I do, pressing and shaping, their own boards. But most either buy their molds from a manufacturer or cast a concrete mold using another companies board as the form. I have four spoon concave molds, one single kick mold, and just recently made a standard mold similar to what is traditionally used in most boards.
But I feel it’s important for me to have made my own forms. That way I can truly say it’s 100% Texican. The majority of skateboard companies are made by a small handful of manufacturers. Which makes them basically just brand names, no different than any other industry. And that’s fine. But it’s not what Texican, or myself, is about.
This is all on a very personal level. It’s one aspect of skateboarding that many don’t understand, that DIY is what has kept skateboarding alive, it’s what gave birth to it originally. I’m also known for my paint jobs. I get lots of compliments on that. I owe credit to my friend Reid Moffat, he introduced me to lace patterns in auto paintings. He opened Pandora’s box by doing so bahaha!
There are a couple of things I’m very proud of though. One is each time I’ve made someone aboard, and they come to tell me it’s helped them push their skating. But after typing that, I don’t so much feel that proud is the right choice. I feel more honored by that.
I am proud that it’s reached a point where I can donate product as prizes. I’ve donated a board for the last three annual EZ7 Turkey Jams, a ditch contest we’ve had going since the ’80s, As well as a couple of local events, and shirts for an event at the Kanis skatepark in Little Rock.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I know I am lucky to have been growing up in Houston. It’s amazing when I think of all the tangents which aligned for me to be here, doing this.
I owe Dennis Eppinette for being the man to open the infamous SkatePark Of Houston, SPOH. Thanks to him I got to be part of history. Because of the contents there, I was able to meet people like Reggie, and Damien. I made friends like Reid, and Chris traveled, learned to build things properly.
I’m lucky for so many countless things. But I’m really lucky I found skateboarding when I was a kid. It’s given me everything.
Pricing:
- Boards start at $75.00 plus shipping and include a shirt and stickers
- Shirts range from $18.00 to $35.00 for hoodies
Contact Info:
- Website: TexicanSkateboards.bigcartel.com
- Email: texicanskateboards@gmail.com
- Instagram: @texicanskateboards
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TexicanSkateboards/
Image Credit:
Casey O’Hara
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
