Surf Rat Glass – Banger Mugs & Building a Glass Career From Scratch | Robertson Stash | Season 6, Episode 4

Guests: Surf Rat Glass

Episode Highlights:

1 TikTok comment helped this guy go VIRAL! We talk masks in Bali, getting robbed in Southeast Asia, How one tiktok comment gave Brian inspiration for his VIRAL giant banger mugs.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — Cold open: soft glass sculptures and the start of Brian's story 02:30 — Born and raised in Evergreen, Colorado — growing up in the mountains, nuisance to all 05:00 — Mom was an artist, dad built snow cats and ATVs — how Brian grew up 08:00 — A neighbor got eaten by a mountain lion behind his high school 12:00 — Ceramics before glass: making bongs in school, a pottery wheel in his room, and Adam Sandler's bong on the front page of his website 18:00 — Western State College in Gunnison, learning to blow borosilicate under Brian Cirker (Berserker) 22:00 — Snowboarding trip to Vancouver in '99 — nobody blowing glass there, wheels start turning 26:00 — Moving to Vancouver with everything in his car, setting up shop in North Van 30:00 — Teaming up with Hippo Glass and Marvel Slinger (Aaron Slinger) in the same studio 36:00 — The original Pot Block on Hastings Street: Blunt Brothers, Marc Emery, and the day it burned down 42:00 — Selling first glass to Marc Emery, making hot glass vapes powered by soldering irons 48:00 — Eight years in Canada on "permanent vacation" during the entire Bush administration 54:00 — Getting caught at the border: dropped DUID charge, the Fish show, and getting expedited out of Canada 01:02:00 — Hitchhiking from Blaine to Bellingham, landing on Scott Depp's doorstep at Mothership 01:08:00 — Cold water surfing at Thanksgiving, Seattle, and making it back to Evergreen by Christmas 01:14:00 — Setting up a glass shop above mom's garage during the Obama era, Colorado weed going Wild West 01:20:00 — How the banger mug was born: TikTok comments, a pour-over top, and COVID timing 01:28:00 — Going all in on the lathe: renting time at Big Z's, taking classes with Stephen Pierce and Serdo 01:36:00 — Building surfratglass.com and running his own drops — most sales done direct, no middleman 01:42:00 — The glass scene then vs. now: glass curtain, shared info, and what makes it easier and harder to start 01:50:00 — Living in Bali at 18: mask carving, wild dogs, cockfighting, and getting robbed with a machete 02:00:00 — Argentina, Mendoza, and a wine e-bike tour that ended in a crash 02:08:00 — Making road trip marble patterns, collaborating with Marvel Slinger, and the European flame off in Barcelona 02:16:00 — Developing the DOS Pedal foot control for the Herbert Arnold torch, blowing glass in Germany and Murano 02:22:00 — The branding lesson: jumping around too much, signing everything with an SR stamp bought in Rome 02:30:00 — What's next: bigger functionals, more road trip patterns, food videos, and front-facing content 02:36:00 — AI, robots, the Stash Bot Matt's building, and what happens to handmade things when everything goes automated 02:42:00 — The studio glass movement as the biggest craft boom in American history — and we're living in it