Date: 08-14-2007
Author: Wakeskating.com Staff
Photos By: Jordan Jocius

Some time back, Brandon Livermore announced that he would be holding his own wakeskating event on his home turf of Lake Havasu, Arizona. Appropriately labeled “Brandon’s Backyard Boogie”, the idea was to allow the riders to have a decent amount of riding time behind the boat, as well as utilizing a winch and a unique pool design (Jeff Engen’s infamous port-a-pool) to hit a few ledges to round it out. With a more relaxed and riding-oriented format comes the hope that those involved will have a chance to push themselves a little bit more than they normally would. Instead of re-hashing all of the information, I’ll now direct you to the informative, yet lighthearted interview below.

Whose idea was it to put on this event? And who all is involved with making this event a reality?

Pretty much just me. I asked some of my friends if they'd be down with riding in it if I did it, and they all said yeah. Then I asked [Jeff] Engen if I could use his pools and he was down, so I just thought to myself, "Why not do it?" At worst, only my friends show up and we still have a great time.

Is this event something that you'd like to turn into an annual event, or is it something that you're just trying for the time being?

No, I want to do it like an annual thing, as long as it's always fun. Who knows, maybe after this year people will be like, “Hey man, I had a lot of fun just riding.” Then I'll cut out the contest and next year have everyone up, and we'll just go out and film and BBQ, maybe go to Bed Bath and Beyond. I don’t know?

When is "Brandon's Backyard Boogie" set to take place? And where is Brandon's backyard anyway?

It's going to take place September 29th and 30th, in Lake Havasu City, AZ. It's going to be a very "freeride" comp, being that I work two jobs and can't afford to rent out a beach or anything like that. We're not telling anyone where it's going to be. When you get here we'll let all the riders know where to be. Then they'll load up in the boats and we'll head out to the "secret" spot. The pass is pretty long also, so I think that should really make it fun. I'd say that it's easily double what a normal pass is.

Why all the secrets, Brandon? Why won't you just let us in? (Read that with a light heart, people.)

Have you ever seen Pirates of the Caribbean? I have one of those crazy compasses, so unless you have one of those you wouldn't find it anyway,

Why did you want to put on your own event? Is there any specific reasoning or inspiration, outside of "just wanting to do a comp"?

Last year, I went to the Hippodrome and had a ton of fun. I've ridden the pro tour events before in the past and thought they were cool, but once I rode Hippodrome I was just like, "I'm only doing this contest from now on." Little did I know that Hippo would turn into Toe Jam. Not that there's anything wrong with Toe Jam, I actually think that Toe Jam is the bees knees. I just want something a little different. I really wanted Toe Jam to be in Southern California this year, and when I found out that it wasn't I was kinda bummed cause traveling gets really expensive. So I thought, hey I could throw down some bucks and go ride with all those dudes, OR I could hang out at home, invite all my friends and anyone else that wants to skate and just chill at home and DO IT MY WAY.

What kind of format will the comp be using and why?

We'll be running heats of riders, and then once we get to semis we'll go head-to-head format. It's going to be set up with the three fall situation cause I really think that consistency is key when trying to see who's "on" that day. One of the things we're doing that I think is cool is that if you don't qualify in your heats, all the remainders go to a heat of their own where they all ride again. And then we take the top two out of that heat, kind of like a "last chance qualifier." That way if you mess up or brain fart you don't have to go home. And everyone gets at least two runs in.

For the pool-winch set up, we're going to do a six-hour jam session. You get five pulls in a row and then switch off to the next dude. Best trick for the day with a little board to remind you who's in first.

With it being a two-day event, what will the situation be when it comes to lodging?

Where we are launching the boats is a campground/state park so there’s camping there for like $10 a night. There's also a ton of hotels everywhere in town. Havasu is a resort town so getting around is pretty easy. I also know that Engen will be letting a ton of people stay at his house ( mini ramp in the back yard and a full bar). And I'm sure some people will crash with me at my house. But I'm actually thinking about camping down there and just hanging out all night, even though I only live like two miles from there.

Do you have any event sponsors yet? And do you have any goals when it comes to prize money?

There are definitely some sponsors. I don’t want to say just who yet cause we're still ironing out the details but there's definitely some love from some "real" wakeskate companies. As for prize money, we're getting some money from sponsors (knock on wood) and then 100% of all the entrance money will go towards the final purse. Also, what we're doing is working with some board companies and we're getting a wakeskate to give away to the top finisher who isn't sponsored. So in theory you could finish in 13th place and still win a free wakeskate. We really want everyone to come out and ride for the weekend. It's going to be killer.

When the day is done what, in your eyes, will allow you to take a step back and say that your event was a success?

So many different things. If at the end of Sunday I'm standing there on the beach, everyone around me is smiling, someone is hitting the pool and no one got hurt all weekend...I'll look out over the water and smile with the Arizona sun setting in the background and I'll know in my heart that it was a success. As long as someone is smiling and I’m smiling, I've succeeded.

Where can people find more information on this event? And do you have any expectations or goals you hope will come from this event?

You can go to our Myspace page at www.myspace.com/brandonsbackyardboogie or you can e-mail us at brandonsbackyardboogie@hotmail.com. We will be posting updates and running a list of who's currently signed up. That way people can see if their friends are going to be there.

As for goals, I just want to have a killer weekend with some friends, make some new friends and see some real, original, stylish wakeskating. We've got a lot of real cool people that have offered their time and services to help me out, and I really don’t see any reason why it shouldn't be one of the funnest weekends ever.

We’re still looking for sponsors so if you’re interested please contact us at Brandonsbackyardboogie@hotmail.com

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