Josh Kalis

Josh Kalis (born April 27, 1976) is a professional skateboarder who specializes in "street skateboarding".[2] Kalis was sponsored by Alien Workshop for a significant period of time before switching to board sponsor, DGK, in 2009.[3]

Josh Kalis
Born (1976-04-27) April 27, 1976
Grand Rapids, Michigan
NationalityAmerican
OccupationProfessional skateboarder
Children2[1]

Biography

Kalis was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, US.

Professional skateboarding

Alongside Stevie Williams (founder of DGK[4]), Kalis is well known for his involvement in the "LOVE Park" scene in Philadelphia, US, during the late 1990s.[1] LOVE Park (its official name is JFK Plaza) is an inner-city public park situated at the intersection of 16th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard in Center City Philadelphia. Kalis can be seen skating the park in the following videos: Photosynthesis, The DC Video, and Time Code.[5][6][7]

Prior to joining the Alien Workshop team, Kalis was planning to collaborate with fellow professional skateboarder Mark Appleyard on their own board company. Following his eventual recruitment to the team, Kalis and Rob Dyrdek then facilitated the recruitment of Anthony Van Engelen (AVE).[2]

Alongside Dyrdek, Kalis has been a longtime rider with the DC Shoes skate shoe company and, as of March 2013, his latest signature shoe, entitled the "Centric S", was released in mid-2012—the Centric S was incorporated into the DC "Rediscover" campaign and Kalis' model received the tagline, "Rediscover Heritage".[8]

Silver Trucks was a brand that was launched in 2003 under the guidance of Dyrdek, an original team rider. Kalis has released signature products with the company, including a skate tool,[9] and other team riders include Brandon Biebel, Chaz Ortiz, and Nyjah Huston.[10]

Kalis left Alien Workshop to join Williams on DGK; Kalis explained the decision-making process in 2009:

Me and Stevie were just talking one day and were saying, "Man, we gotta team back up on somethin'," you know? We were talking about how just stale skateboarding was and how people just don't really hang out with each other anymore. They just kind of skate for companies, whether it be because it's just a cool company or it's a solid paycheck. Whatever, you know? We were just talking about how skateboarding just lost its vibe of friendship and lifestyle, you know?[3]

Kalis has released a signature collection through sunglasses company 9five Eyewear, entitled the "KLS Signature Collection"—an accompanying video was also released to launch the products.[11]

Sponsors

As of July 2012, Kalis is sponsored by DGK, DC Shoe Co., DC Apparel, 9five Eyewear, Reflex, MOB, and Silver.[12]

Video games

In January 2010, Electronic Arts (EA) announced that Kalis would be in the EA video game, "Skate 3". The company then published an introductory video for Kalis with the following blurb: "Kalis is one of the best. Simple as that. With his raw street skating, and one of a kind style, Josh Kalis is always a pleasure to watch. Make sure to take a look around Port Carverton and you might be lucky enough to see him yourself. Welcome to the city Kalis!"[13]

Hella Clips

Kalis launched the skateboard video upload portal "Hellaclips" in partnership with fellow professional skateboarder Colin McKay in late-2011.[14]

Influence

In July 2013, professional skateboarder Paul Rodriguez identified Kalis as one of his "top ten" favorite professional skateboarders and explained the inclusion on his personal website:

The style, the swag, his tre flips. If you ask me he has the best flat ground tre flips. He’s still killing it and ripping as well. He had that East Coast Philly vibe when I first came in the game, I know he spent a lot of time in S.F. as well but that Love Park era, man! He made that place look so fun to me. He introduced the world to Stevie Williams.[15]

Personal life

Unlike most professionals, Kalis has not remained in California for the entire duration of his career and has resided in various cities, both within and outside of the US. Kalis has lived in Grand Rapids in Michigan (where he grew up), Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Diego, Barcelona, and San Francisco.[2] Dyrdek has stated:

He's truly lived in all of like the true skate meccas for pure street skating. You know what I mean? Like no one else has done that. When SF was cracking, he moved to SF. When Philly was resurging, he moved to Philly and blew Philly up. When LOVE Park went down, he made the movement to spending six months a year in Barcelona. And then he desperately tried to turn Chicago into Philly. That didn't work out so hard. And he is pure of, wake up in your house and go skate raw street. And it's one of the purest, pure street skateboarding careers.[2]

As of 2012, Kalis resides in Carlsbad, California, US, with his wife and 2 daughters.[16]

Videography
  • 411VM: Issue 9 (1994)[17]
  • Etnies: High 5 (1995)[18]
  • Toy Machine: Heavy Metal (1995)[19]
  • FTC: Video III (1997)
  • Alien Workshop: Timecode (1997)[20]
  • Transworld: The Sixth Sense (1998)[21]
  • Transworld: The Reason – incorporated into Williams' full video part (1999)[22]
  • Zoo York: Peep This (1999)[23]
  • Alien Workshop: Photosynthesis (2000)[24]
  • Transworld: Anthology – shared part with Williams (2000)[25]
  • DC Shoes: The DC Video (2003)
  • Alien Workshop: Kalis in Mono (2006)
  • Streets: NYC (2006)
  • Alien Workshop: Mind Field (2009)[26][27]
  • DGK: Parental Advisory (2012)

References
  1. vice (28 November 2011). "Skateboarder Josh Kalis 6 of 7 - Epicly Later'd - VICE" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  2. "Skateboarder Josh Kalis 7 of 7 - Epicly Later'd - VICE". Transcript Vids. Transcript Vids. 28 November 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  3. Josh Brooks (21 September 2009). "INTERVIEW: KALIS SWITCHES FROM ALIEN TO DGK". ESPN Action Sports. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  4. "G-Shock Athletes – Stevie Williams". G-Shock. CASIO AMERICA, INC. 2006–2013. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  5. skaidernation (22 October 2009). "Josh Kalis - Alien Workshop Photosynthesis". YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  6. lbcdude56two (29 August 2010). "The DC Video - Josh Kalis - HD". YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  7. SLAPskateboardmag (19 August 2010). "Josh Kalis Commentary To His Part In Time Code". YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  8. DCshoesFILM (8 June 2012). "DC SHOES: REDISCOVER HERITAGE -- CENTRIC S KALIS" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  9. "Silver Kalis Blackout Skate Tool". SkateNutter. SkateNutter.com. 2011–2013. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  10. "Silver Trucks". Skately. Skately, LLC. 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  11. truckerdeluxe.com (August 2012). "9Five Sunglasses x Josh Kalis KLS Signature Collection Video". manmade mag. ManmadeMag. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  12. SPoT Skate Shop (11 July 2012). "JOSH KALIS SKATER PROFILE". SPoT Skate Shop. Skatepark of Tampa. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  13. skate (1 March 2010). "Skate 3 - Josh Kalis Intro Video" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  14. Colin McKay; Josh Kalis (24 December 2011). "Hellaclips Helliez Intro". Hella Clips. Hella Clips. Archived from the original (Video upload) on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  15. Paul Rodriguez (21 July 2013). "PROD'S TOP TEN: FAVORITE PRO'S". The Official Paul Rodriguez Website. Rodskate, Inc. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  16. Ride Channel (1 August 2012). "Josh Kalis Gets Caught Up, Grounded, and Packs Heat on Free Lunch" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  17. ilurvemymoosey (2 June 2012). "Josh Kalis - Wheels of Fortune, 411 #9" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  18. skaidernation (2 November 2009). "Chad Fernandez & Josh Kalis - Etnies High 5" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  19. ilurvemymoosey (2 June 2012). "Josh Kalis - Heavy Metal" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  20. skateboardingis; Alien Workshop (March 2007). "Josh Kalis, 'Timecode', AWS, 1997" (Video upload). skateboardingis on Vimeo. Vimeo LLC. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  21. SkateNC1001 (21 January 2009). "Josh Kalis - Sixth Sense" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  22. skaidernation (2 November 2009). "Stevie Williams - Transworld Skateboarding The Reason '99" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  23. ilurvemymoosey (2 June 2012). "Josh Kalis - Peep This" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  24. ilurvemymoosey (2 June 2012). "Josh Kalis - Photosynthesis" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  25. canalcaveira (14 October 2008). "Transworld - Anthology Part 01" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  26. "Josh Kalis Skateboarder: Video Parts by Josh DGK: Parental advisory (2012) Kalis". skately. Skately, LLC. 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  27. "Josh Kalis skate videos". SkatevideoSite.com. SkatevideoSite.com. 2005–2012. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
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