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Josh Kalis

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Josh Kalis
Born (1976-04-27) April 27, 1976 (age 48)
Grand Rapids, Michigan
NationalityAmerican
OccupationProfessional skateboarder
Children2[1]

Josh Kalis (born April 27, 1976[2]) is a professional skateboarder who specializes in "street skateboarding".[3] Kalis was sponsored by Alien Workshop for a significant period of time before switching to board sponsor, DGK, in 2009.[4]

Biography

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Kalis was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, US, and split his childhood between Philadelphia with his mother and Dallas with his father.[citation needed]

Professional skateboarding

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Alongside Stevie Williams (founder of DGK[5]), 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.[6][7][8]

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).[3]

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".[9]

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,[10] and other team riders include Brandon Biebel, Chaz Ortiz, and Nyjah Huston.[11]

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?[4]

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.[12]

Sponsors

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As of July 2012, Kalis is sponsored by DGK, DC Shoe Co., DC Apparel, 9five Eyewear, Reflex, MOB, and Silver.[13]

Video games

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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!"[14]

Hella Clips

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Kalis launched the skateboard video upload portal "Hellaclips" in partnership with fellow professional skateboarder Colin McKay in late-2011.[15]

Influence

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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.[16]

Personal life

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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.[3] 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.[3]

Josh Kalis has lived in many places throughout his career. His name is synonymous with skateboarding in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Chicago. In 2012, Kalis resided in Carlsbad, California, US, with his wife and two daughters[17] but as of 2018 he left southern California to return to Grand Rapids and has been currently residing in Michigan.[18]

Videography

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  • 411VM: Issue 9 (1994)[19]
  • Etnies: High 5 (1995)[20]
  • Toy Machine: Heavy Metal (1995)[21]
  • FTC: Video III (1997)
  • Alien Workshop: Timecode (1997)[22]
  • Transworld: The Sixth Sense (1998)[23]
  • Transworld: The Reason – incorporated into Williams' full video part (1999)[24]
  • Zoo York: Peep This (1999)[25]
  • Alien Workshop: Photosynthesis (2000)[26]
  • Transworld: Anthology – shared part with Williams (2000)[27]
  • DC Shoes: The DC Video (2003)[28]
  • Alien Workshop: Kalis in Mono (2006)[29]
  • Streets: NYC (2006)
  • Alien Workshop: Mind Field (2009)[30][31]
  • DGK: Parental Advisory (2012)
  • DGK: Blood Money (2014)[32]
  • DC: No Love Lost (2021)[33]

References

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  1. ^ a b Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: vice (November 28, 2011). "Skateboarder Josh Kalis 6 of 7 - Epicly Later'd - VICE" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  2. ^ "Josh Kalis Biography, Videos & Photos | DC Shoes". dcshoes.de. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d "Skateboarder Josh Kalis 7 of 7 - Epicly Later'd - VICE". Transcript Vids. November 28, 2011. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  4. ^ a b Josh Brooks (September 21, 2009). "INTERVIEW: KALIS SWITCHES FROM ALIEN TO DGK". ESPN Action Sports. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  5. ^ "G-Shock Athletes – Stevie Williams". G-Shock. CASIO AMERICA, INC. 2006–2013. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  6. ^ skaidernation (October 22, 2009). "Josh Kalis - Alien Workshop Photosynthesis". YouTube. Google, Inc. Archived from the original on March 29, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  7. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: lbcdude56two (August 29, 2010). "The DC Video - Josh Kalis - HD". YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved August 24, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ SLAPskateboardmag (August 19, 2010). "Josh Kalis Commentary To His Part In Time Code". YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved August 24, 2012.[dead YouTube link]
  9. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: DCshoesFILM (June 8, 2012). "DC SHOES: REDISCOVER HERITAGE -- CENTRIC S KALIS" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  10. ^ "Silver Kalis Blackout Skate Tool". SkateNutter. SkateNutter.com. 2011–2013. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  11. ^ "Silver Trucks". Skately. Skately, LLC. 2013. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  12. ^ truckerdeluxe.com (August 2012). "9Five Sunglasses x Josh Kalis KLS Signature Collection Video". manmade mag. ManmadeMag. Archived from the original on April 11, 2013. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  13. ^ SPoT Skate Shop (July 11, 2012). "JOSH KALIS SKATER PROFILE". SPoT Skate Shop. Skatepark of Tampa. Retrieved August 18, 2012.
  14. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: skate (March 1, 2010). "Skate 3 - Josh Kalis Intro Video" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  15. ^ Colin McKay; Josh Kalis (December 24, 2011). "Hellaclips Helliez Intro". Hella Clips. Archived from the original (Video upload) on April 18, 2013. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  16. ^ Paul Rodriguez (July 21, 2013). "PROD'S TOP TEN: FAVORITE PRO'S". The Official Paul Rodriguez Website. Rodskate, Inc. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
  17. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Ride Channel (August 1, 2012). "Josh Kalis Gets Caught Up, Grounded, and Packs Heat on Free Lunch" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  18. ^ Bonin, joe (August 15, 2018). "Josh Kalis Interview". Skate Jawn. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  19. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: ilurvemymoosey (June 2, 2012). "Josh Kalis - Wheels of Fortune, 411 #9" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  20. ^ skaidernation (November 2, 2009). "Chad Fernandez & Josh Kalis - Etnies High 5" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved March 13, 2013.[dead YouTube link]
  21. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: ilurvemymoosey (June 2, 2012). "Josh Kalis - Heavy Metal" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  22. ^ skateboardingis; Alien Workshop (March 2007). "Josh Kalis, 'Timecode', AWS, 1997" (Video upload). skateboardingis on Vimeo. Vimeo LLC. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  23. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: SkateNC1001 (January 21, 2009). "Josh Kalis - Sixth Sense" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved March 13, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ skaidernation (November 2, 2009). "Stevie Williams - Transworld Skateboarding The Reason '99". YouTube. Google, Inc. Archived from the original (Video upload) on May 31, 2012. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  25. ^ ilurvemymoosey (June 2, 2012). "Josh Kalis - Peep This" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  26. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: ilurvemymoosey (June 2, 2012). "Josh Kalis - Photosynthesis" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  27. ^ canalcaveira (October 14, 2008). "Transworld - Anthology Part 01". YouTube. Google, Inc. Archived from the original (Video upload) on August 11, 2011. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  28. ^ Hunt, Greg (June 19, 2003), The DC Video (Sport), Chris Boykin, Rob Dyrdek, Ryan Gallant, DC Films, retrieved August 27, 2024
  29. ^ Workshop, Alien (March 2, 2023). "Kalis In Mono By Alien Workshop | Skate Sonr". skatesonr.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  30. ^ "Josh Kalis Skateboarder: Video Parts by Josh DGK: Parental advisory (2012) Kalis". skately. Skately, LLC. 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  31. ^ "Josh Kalis skate videos". SkatevideoSite.com. 2005–2012. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  32. ^ DGK's "Blood Money" Video. Retrieved September 10, 2024 – via www.thrashermagazine.com.
  33. ^ "DC Shoes : Sabotage "No Love Lost"". www.thrashermagazine.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
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