Deathbox Deathbox Skateboards was started in 1987 in the UK by Graham McEachran, Jeremy Fox and Duncan Houlton. Tom Penny, Rune Glifberg, Andy Scott and Geoff Rowley joined the company while this name still existed.
Relocation to the US Flip moved from the United Kingdom (UK) to
California, US in July 1994. Jeremy Fox, Ian Deacon and Geoff Rowley arrived in the US first, followed by team riders
Tom Penny and
Rune Glifberg in the following year. At the time of the relocation, the team consisted of four professional riders: Penny, Rowley, Glifberg and
Andy Scott. The company and its riders received significant support from professional skateboarder
Ed Templeton, who owned his own company,
Toy Machine. Rowley stated that Templeton and his company "opened their arms to us, gave us local support, and had our back. Any ignorance was small and only served to make us stronger…..and faster!!!" Despite the brand's foundation in the US, in 2006 Rowley stated: All the company owners are still British citizens, one runs a large percentage of our workday directly from England for the last five years, I would say that makes us British until death. People can consider us whatever they want but saying untrue negative things regarding these matters is just downright childish. The things Flip/Deathbox did for England and the English skate scene should not be sneered at ... there is no other way to get to the level we are at, without first accepting where skateboarding was born from, and respecting that all the mags are driven from here also, it is hard to gain friends if you aren't visible. A European based company cannot and will not be accepted across the whole of the USA unless they embrace those areas and live them, Flip is strong worldwide for this reason, plus running a business of this nature isn't viable based in England, too costly. In the Nieratko interview, Saari also discussed Rowley's response to his decision: "Don't do it." He knew it had to happen. We're still cool. He understands. He's like, "Go do your thing. Go skate around." It was a very, very emotional, gnarly thing. It's been so many years in the same boat you have to start going in different ways. Sometimes the ship gets too small, too many egos, you got to jump overboard and catch the next one and see where that takes you. Professional skateboarder Ed Templeton stated in a 2012 interview: "I mean I was completely shocked when he left Flip ... it didn't make sense." A video segment was also published on the website of
Thrasher magazine and featured Rowley, Saari and
Thrasher editor-in-chief,
Jake Phelps, discussing the decision in Phelps' office in
San Francisco, US. Saari explained to Phelps that Flip is like "family" and stated "You can take a man out of Flip, but you can't take the Flip out the man". In 2012, Fox disclosed the process of re-recruiting Saari: I went up and saw him with Geoff, one day, because it seemed like he really ... well, I could tell; we could all tell that he wanted to be back on the team. Arto's not a very pushy person, at all. Never the guy who will ask for anything, and I just said to Geoff one day, "Let's just, we need to drive up there and then, and just put him back on the team. Make him put himself back on; because, otherwise, this is never going to happen." Maybe he'd grown up and realized that it might be a little dysfunctional family, but it is my family. In an October 2010 interview, Appleyard explained his decision: I was over it [laughs]. I feel like I grew out of it and the team changed so much over the years that I was just like, "this shit ain't for me anymore," and I just needed to feel more stoked on the company I ride for, so I had to change it up ... Yeah it was hard to leave, but it's a business move. Ya know? If someone's gonna be your friend, it shouldn't depend on what company you ride for. I just had to make a power move to benefit myself. I'm really stoked on the choice I made. It was difficult but it had to be done ... I mean, I had a lot of options and I just figured that Element best suits my vibe. It's just a nice company and kinda earthy and nature-y and stuff. I just felt like, "Damn that's where I wana be." And then I met up with the guys and they were really cool and we just clicked. I'm down–it's sick. In December 2010, another established team member, Rodrigo Teixeira, also announced his departure from Flip and the official statement from the company read: "Everyone at Flip would like to thank Rodrigo for all the good times and wish him all the best for the future." Teixeira subsequently joined the roster of skateboard deck company Dirty Ghetto Kids (DGK) and explained his decision in a January 2011 interview: "I feel like it was time for me to make a move and do what I wanted to do. With DGK we are into the same things. We can all kick it and skate at the same spot. It's just more who I am." In October 2015
Geoff Rowley left flip.
2010 onward Following his appearance in the
Extremely Sorry video, English skateboarder Ben Nordberg—originally from
Bath, Somerset—released his first ever full-length video part for the company in May 2012. Team riders
Louie Lopez and Curren Caples were assigned professional status in late September 2013—professional surfer
Kelly Slater presented Caples with his first professional skateboard deck model, while Lopez received his first model at a
piñata party. Alex Majerus was assigned professional status in early July 2014 and a surprise party was held; Although Rowley could not be present, he spoke with Majerus by telephone during the event. The
3 Flip video project was published on the
TransWorld SKATEboarding website on July 21, 2014. Directed and filmed by Saar1, with the assistance of Josh Zucker, the video features Caples, Lopez and Majerus, and was filmed over a period of three months. ==Cheech and Chong graphic==