Lower Echelon premieres at Villian’s Beastro

By Liam Higgins

He started at 13 years old and doesn’t plan on stopping any time soon.

For half his life, Andrew Frickey has produced a new skateboarding video every two years. Countless hours of hard work, dedication to his art, camera difficulties and strongly bonded friendships were just the tip of the iceberg for Frickey’s videos. Friends and family of the Belle River Skate Crew came to support the premiere of Frickey’s seventh video Lower Echelon on Jan. 24.

Villain’s Beastro, located at 255 Pelissier St., was home to the premiere of the 26-year-old filmmaker’s video, drawing about 100 people. The video Frickey began shooting in March 2012 includes members of Belle River Skate Crew Jamie Jeffrey, Bruce Lemire, Chris Roy, Ryan Dixon, Frickey himself and friends of BRC. To Frickey, Villain’s was the place he had in mind for the premier since the start. The setting and good vibe given off by the bar made Frickey believe it was perfect.

Aside from Lower Echelon, Frickey has produced six other skateboard films every two year since he began filming 13 years ago. A Time To Skate was the first video Frickey produced with the full cast of Lower Echelon. Since then, the close friendships held by each member with fair contributions from everyone have helped to create those. BRC volumes one through four and Slawburgknawker have displayed many examples of progression, hijinks and artistically-pleasing visuals.

“Each video we’ve gotten a little better with technology and have had better equipment,” said Frickey. “So, gradually our skating has progressed and I guess the quality of the videos have progressed at the same time.”

Frickey additionally said travelling was a huge component in making Lower Echelon a successful video. He believed having footage from multiple cities has helped to broaden the type of footage that was featured in the film. BRC and friends travelled to Montreal, Detroit, New York, Hamilton, Toronto and Windsor to capture footage of each other skateboarding to contribute to the video.

Skateboarder featured in the video Bruce Lemire, 27, has been in every single one of Frickey’s films. Lemire thought he said being part of the growing process was the most rewarding part of the videos. What began as a bunch of friends skateboarding together, turned into a series of videos and memories they have of over the years.

“We’re a pretty tight knit crew that hangs out together all the time,” said Lemire. “You get that vibe from the video.”

If Frickey’s regular schedule goes as planned, Windsorites should expect a new video in the next two years.