Brian Konoske evolved from young rollerblader, to co-owner of Senate, and eventually found his stride as a ground-breaking photographer for the automotive industry. His influence on skating is vast, but often unknown, so we set our friend Arlo Eisenberg out to let us all know a little more about the legend of BK…

The first time I met Brian Konoske was at the old Inline Rollerworks skate park in Costa Mesa, Calif. This place was like the epicenter of the skating world back in the early days of aggressive inline. I’m not talking old, like back when they changed the name from “aggressive” to “rollerblading.” I’m talking old like before they changed the name from “rollerblading” to “aggressive.” Inline Rollerworks, which would later become RSA, was the local hangout/training grounds for Team Rollerblade back then.

This was the early 1990s, like around 1992-’93 and Team Rollerblade was it! They were the be-all and end-all of professional skating. In those days Rollerblade had no competition; USD was still just a school in San Diego and Razors were still just the things that teenage gothic girls were using to slit their wrists (allegedly!).

My good buddy Brooke Howard-Smith, who was already friendly with Team Rollerblade back then and who was getting some work doing demos and shows himself, would take me to Inline Rollerworks sometimes so that I could flaunt my bubble-butt and muttonchops all over the (seven-foot-tall!) “vert” ramp and hobnob with rollerblading’s elite.

I’ll never forget the excitement of seeing real-live pros, guys like Pat Parnell, Morgan Stone and Chris Garrett, all rollerblading, no I mean aggressive skating, or no, yeah, yeah, rollerblading, up close and personal. One day as I was taking my skates off by the side of the “vert” ramp (the designer of this ramp, by the way, would go on to make the giant ramp monstrosities that have made it possible for Danny Way to fly his magic skateboard over the Wonders of the World) I noticed a kid I’d never seen before, putting his gear on up on top of the deck. The whole skate park was abuzz. “He’s with Team Rollerblade,” people were saying… ─ Arlo Eisenberg

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