Ashbury Eyewear

I first saw Ben Bilocq in Sugarshack’s Bandwagon, he had some gnarly heavy metal song and had the look to go with it. His part was a standout that year, even if the video didn’t have the distribution it deserved. Before I met him I had this perception that Ben was some dark heavy metal kid, like the metal heads from movies. But when I met him I was surprised to met a well spoken thinking individual who is proving to be one of the best snowboarders I’ve ever met.

Yo Ben, where are you at?

Ben: Whistler, BC. Where are you at?

Nima’s Los Feliz pimp pad. How is Whistler? I hear you guys got a bunch of snow recently.

Ben: Hum, probably like 6 inches, but it was a bit more because of the wind and stuff.

Who are you shooting with?

Ben: Rider wise?

Yeah and filmer and cheerleading girls!

Ben: Mainly with Alex Carten. Darell comes and goes. And some friends; Andrew Burns and Matt Belzile. Filmer and clown Jan Snarski.

Jan, oh yeah, he’s super foreign right?

Ben: Well, it’s not like any of us is from here anyways. Australia is just a bit further than Quebec.

Aussies… how has it been though? Having a good time?

Ben: Good times for sure. That is what I am stoked on this season, lots of good times on and of snow with the boys.

Louie Paradise’s portrait of Ben (the drawing on the right).

Yeah you’ve balanced your city and backcountry shredding pretty well this year. How did the rail stuff go for you this year?

Ben: Hum, lots of nosepresses. Ended that stuff mid February and didn’t really feel like jumping on rails after that. I was just over it after that one trip. Couple frustration due to non landed tricks.

Which trip was that? Utah? Quebec?

Ben: Minnesota.

So it looks like Videograss might have some jumps after all?

Ben: Some. Hahha! Enough I hope. Should be GOOD, Mc Carter is on it.

Mc Carter? Who is that?

Ben: Alex. Never heard the song: “Oh my god its Mc Carter!”?

Nah, I’ve never heard it? Nima thinks it might be R&B?

Ben: It’s party anthem, or a cheering thing. But yeah, Alex is killing it these days.

Yeah, I may (or may not) have seen some footy.

Ben: I heard that from randoms too…

How much longer do you guys think you can be jumping?

Ben: I believe that it could be possible for almost a month, but I would be pretty much by myself for the last 2 weeks.

Everyone is getting over it?

Ben: I think so, plus I am gonna get my spring pass for Blackomb, so hopefully I will get a good dose of park riding. Which I should have tried to get before backcountry.

You didn’t jump much before you went out on your snowmobile?

Ben: I rode park 3 times before.  20ft. jumps. Not even. With a jib board.

Haha, well at least 20 footers are where it’s at! I’ve seen you shred pipe too, can we expect some of that in your VG part?

Ben: That would be pretty sick. I’ll try, dont expect a 10 though.

I’d like that, could you do that as a personal favor? Definitely no 1080s, those were cool in the nineties.

Ben: Right, if Jan put the fish eye on, it might look big.

Okay, let’s talk about your past. What’s up with the cult classic Bandwagon?

Ben: I noticed this season that it has been seen more than I thought.

Yeah, that movie was nuts. How did so many unknown dudes get together and make that caliber of movie?

Ben: Some people said we were crazy to be that hard on ourselves, to be super picky on was was in and what was cut.

Are you hyped that so many of your friends are finally starting to have some success in snowboarding?

Ben: Super stoked. To be honest, most of them started getting succes before I kinda did. So yeah, I was stoked for them and realized that things could work for me too.

Do you think kids might start moving to Quebec to try to become pro snowboarders?

Ben: Hum, I suggest them to not. Hahah!

Yeah, that would be super funny. Where should they move?

Ben: But yeah some people are I guess. Dont know. Whistler is cool, but expensive and hard to make it. Anywhere in the US. Hahah!

Alright Benoit, I’m about to school Nima in NBA2K9. Have fun out there.