Gunner Frazier : Hometown Kingpins

We are here with Gunner Frazier, the hometown hero out of Grand Junction. Gunner is one of the top Street Kingpins representing Colorado. He has really inspired the Street Kingpins brand from the start and we were excited to get a little bit of time with Gunner to see what he has been up to.  

What’s up Gunner, How are you doing man?

I’m doing good man. Just chillin after a good skate sesh.

Tell us about growing up skateboarding.

I grew up in Grand Junction, Colorado. I started skating when I was probably 5 or 6, but I never really kept skating that whole time because I was playing a lot of sports and doing other stuff. Then in 6th and 7th grade I quit doing everything except skateboarding. From there on out I just kept skating almost every day until now.

What other sports did you use to play?

I played basketball, football, baseball, and I wrestled a little bit.

Have you had competitive nature growing up?

Yeah, kind of. I always played sports, and my mom was really into sports at the time. So it made sense until I rediscovered skating. I met my buddy Marshal and he opened the door to me that skateboarding is cool. Because back when I started skating, I was kind of a last generation of that time. You know, wearing skate clothes and being a skater was not really that cool to most middle schoolers where I grew up. I guess you could say that it was embarrassing to be a skater outcast in middle school.

Then my buddy Marshal faded all that out. He had long hair and snowboarded all the time too. He was all about skateboarding and just made it fun. I started skateboarding with Marshal and that is where it all started. I stopped wearing basketball shoes and started wearing skateboarding shoes.

You have a good hometown crew. You still skate with those guys all the time right?

Yeah that’s still one of my good friends and we still skate together. I have a good crew that skates in Junction. I grew up skating at West when I was a little kid and there is a pretty cool scene there. There were a lot of older kids that were really good always skating. Austin, Mitch, Andrew and a lot of other dudes. They all helped me progress my skating seeing them. Going there and playing games of skate with them. They are all really good and every time skating with them helped me get better.  

What was your favorite park or skate spot you would hang out at?

There wasn’t a favorite. There was 2 skateparks at the time. It was just Orchard Mesa or West. I skated West a lot because there was a pretty big crew that skated there.

Street Kingpins joined Gunner and the gang in Grand Junction at the Skate and Mural jam this summer. That was a great time!

Yeah I had a lot of fun. I stuck around and skated a bit to keep the kids hyped. I also got to be a judge so that was really cool.

We saw Gunner after the contest putting on a show. He came around the crowd and kickflipped into the deep end of the bowl. I think you caught that like 2 feet above the coping before stomping it out. How do you just do that on command? Do you just see it in your head and know you got it? That was incredible man!  

Yeah I mean skating for everyone has certain things that come a little easier to you. I would say that skating drops was something that came a little easier for me, so I grew up skating bigger stuff. It is really just all about being confident in yourself and going for it. That is the key to landing tricks on big features. Be confident in yourself and know you can do it.

Filming can bring another element to skateboarding. It can be difficult and it can be inspiring. What is your favorite part about filming a video part?

Definitely finishing the project and getting it out so that people can see it. When you are working on a project, you might be out skating every day but no one really knows until you actually put a project out. Once a project is out people can see what you have been doing. So, that is the most satisfying feeling about finishing a video part. Then also, doing tricks that you’ve never done before.

It pushes you to keep going harder.

Yeah, if I didn’t film videos I don’t think I would have progressed as much as I have. Filming has been my outlet in skating. You really only have contests and video parts to get recognition. Video parts are one of my favorite things to do. I like contests as well, but it doesn’t last as long. In the sense that if you film a video you have it forever on YouTube or Street Kingpins to look back on.

Videos are definitely rewarding.

Speaking of rewarding, tell us about your ender shot at the Hollywood 16. You did a trick that had never been done on that set, nollie backside bigspin. That was INSANE bud!

It was just something I always wanted to do. I actually wanted to do it a long time ago but I got 2 injuries and that set me back. Once I was healed up and good to go I just kept on conditioning my body. I was constantly going to the gym and preparing myself for that trick. Then it ended up taking 3 days to get the trick.

I actually was living in Colorado and traveling back to California. It took 2 trips. The first trip I was down here to skated it, I had never even seen it before in person. The first time I skated it was really nerve racking. It is really long and I didn’t know if I was going to make it. Then obviously going back it was a little easier. I was more comfortable with the stairs after skating it once before.

I basically was falling onto my hip, and that was the main problem. My hip got all cut up and bruised. I ended up putting some padding on my hip to protect it. I came back the next day and was able to get it. That padding saved me because I was able to take a couple hard falls and it didn’t make me want to quit. I ended up riding away. I was actually surprised at how good I landed it after how many tries it took. I was so stoked!

Man Gunner you put in work. That’s so rewarding to have this idea in your mind for so long and then finally go and conquer it.

Yeah, and that kind of was built up and put more pressure on me. I had been saying that I was going to do it for so long but had never done it yet. So it was built up in my head and that made it nerve racking. Once I got through and started trying it, I felt better and was able to get through it. That was something I wanted to do for myself. It was just one of those things I had to do. I feel even more accomplished because of going through those injuries and then being able to land it.

You put out a full length part that we saw on The Berrics, called Shotgun.

It was a longer project. Like I was saying, I was living in Colorado. I was going back to California a bunch and filmed most of everything out here. So it took a little longer, however, most the footage was filmed in a short number of trips I took.

It ended up turning out better than I thought. It was a little shorter than I expected, because we filmed so much and those were the shots that we were most stoked on. I really liked the way Tyler edited it and put it all together. It just turned out really well.

This part is called Shotgun because my grandpa actually had passed away and Shotgun was his nickname for me. So I dedicated the video to him, and it just seemed right.

That’s cool you keep the family close. I also noticed your dog comes everywhere with you, what is his name?

His name is Kush.

You are out in California right now. Just finished a crazy video part. What is in the works for you?

I’m going to be down here for a while. I am working on another video now. We actually have a ton of footage already stacked up for it. I am just out here skateboarding and trying to make connections.

Would you like to give a shout out to your sponsors?

Yeah, I would like to give a shout out obviously to Street Kingpins for doing this interview and representing me on the app. Rocky Mountain Taco for making the best tacos in the Rockies. The biggest shout out to all my buddies that I have skated with, JunkTown, my family, especially my mom for always being there for me. Also, anyone that helped me out with my skating along the way. Thank you for reading this, thanks to my subscribers and fans for motivating me.

Keep to your board and keep rolling my man. You are doing amazing things and you are inspiring everybody around you. I am stoked that you are following your passion and you are out there pushing it. Keep going, you are doing everything right so just keep crushing it.

Thank you Gunner!

Thank you!

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