If you've had a chance to go skating in any given Vancouver Island township, however big or small, chances are you've seen an Instrumental skateboard in the retail environment, at the skatepark or in the streets. Whether it's Victoria, Port Alberni, Nanaimo, Tofino or elsewhere on the island, in all likelihood you'll witness one of their ten talented teamsters fully representing as well.

30 year-old Brandon Wells has been skating for nearly 20 years and started Instrumental in 2007 with well-known island skate veteran Jamie Collins, who also holds it down on the team. And ever since the brand's DIY beginnings, it's experienced nothing but loyal support and steady growth in the region.

"Anyone who knows us knows Instrumental is a love letter to skateboarding," Brandon says over the phone from Victoria. "We're just trying to give back even though you can never fully give back all that skating has given you. Anyone who's been in it for the long haul knows that."

For this Open House, Brandon lets us in on what Instrumental is all about and where it's headed.

How did the brand start out?
The company originated in Port Alberni but now it's based in Victoria. At the very beginning we used to just spray-paint blank skateboards and hook up little kids [laughs]. I did skate camps for five years with Jamie Collins, and we decided to start our own board brand; it's something we've always talked about growing up. So we pooled our money together then hit the ground running, making sure our boards were manufactured in Canada.

Making ends meet by owning and operating a small Canadian board brand can be challenging and often requires an outside revenue stream. Do you have a side-gig?
Along with my business partners, Colby Spence and Aden Ellis, I own a lifestyle shop called Higher Ground in Victoria. Instrumental is the love, Higher Ground is the hustle.

Matt Gravel, switch backside lipslide. Rich Odam sequence.

Were you inspired by the board brands coming out of Vancouver?
Geoff Dermer started Kitsch in 2006 and he was probably one of the biggest inspirations. I got to know him over the years and I was really hyped on what he's all about. Seeing what he did definitely helped spark the idea to throw our hat in the ring and help support the island and Canadian skateboarding our way.

You guys obviously have a big presence on Vancouver Island. How do you get the word out during skate season?
We've always held it down on the island with skate events - mostly having fun barbeque jams at the parks and giving product to kids. We have tons of support in Victoria, Nanaimo, Port Alberni and Tofino, where we team up with Storm surf shop and do a contest every Canada Day. All of our accounts on the island have been with us from the very beginning and watched us grow. It's pretty cool. We're building the foundation so we can build the house eventually. It's been slow and steady.

What about art direction for the company, who handles it?
We have the classic company name graphics that are mostly handled by me. Russ Morland, who guest art directed the March 2011 issue of King Shit, is from Nanaimo and did a 3-board series for us, which we're really stoked on. He's also our art director now.

(Hit the next page to check out some Instrumental decks, skate photos, videos and the rest of the interview...)