Kien Lieu
From the early H-Street video days when he was a
flattopped bank burler to the pony-tailed pop master
of today, Kien Lieu has always been known for his
ability to launch over anything in his path. Read up
on what it takes to blast like there is no tomorrow.
What was your first.
It was probably wortance with skateboarding?
g some older kids across the street
riding big boards, because I used to go down hills sitting on
the skateboard, and they had bigger boards to sit on, so
that's when I started. I was probably ten or eleven.
How'd it go from there?
Well, that just introduced me to skateboarding. I
just played with it like any other kid playing with a toy.
And then I started doing sports in school.
How did your first sponsorship come about?
I was skating at an amateur contest at this school
right next to the contest and just started skating with
all the other sponsored ams, and Mike Ternasky picked
me up. We were all sessioning this little bump, and
he came up and asked if I wanted to get spon-
sored. We talked a lot about the sport of skating,
and he had a really good perspective on it. He
helped me out big-time. He's the one that
turned me pro, so I'm real appreciative of him.
So after H-Street fell apart, you went to Life?
fe Skateboards with Sean Sheffey,
Ron Allen, Noah Salasnek, Aaron Vincent and
Kit Erickson.
Was your family supportive of your skating
at this point?
Not really. They looked at it as playing.
just messing around, doing nothing.
Even though you were making money
d travelling?
Yeah. They don't look at that as any
thing solid to go by.
Now you're with Maple. What are
your responsibilities there?
Just trying to keep things organized
and give a little direction on where it's
headed, help give up a good vibe so a
lot more people can start skating.
What's your current set-up?
I ride 50mm wheels by Formula
One, Independent 146s, I sometimes
ride the wide ones too, and then a
Maple Deck, and Vans Shoes.
INTERVIEW
& PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRYCE KANIGHTS