Elvis Costello likes vanilla ice cream bars dipped in dark chocolate with almonds. Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie has a taste for Bomb Pops. Kanye West, Sufjan Stevens, the Arcade Fire, and the Dears all favor Julie’s Organic ice cream. And Matt Allen has served them all.
Allen, who won’t reveal his age, grew up in Long Beach, California, and attended Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, where he studied accounting and finance. It was there, during his last summer break, that he launched his first ice cream operation: a three-wheel bike, a cooler, and a boom box. An avid adventurer who’d once spent a month traveling cross-country to ride roller coasters–100 in all–Allen graduated in 1998 and spent the next several years on the road. He hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine and the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. In 2001 he biked to Maine from his home in Long Beach to raise money for cancer research. On every trip he hit every chocolate and candy factory he could find.
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Allen started seeking sponsorships on a project-by-project basis to cover his costs at regional events like Coachella and ArthurFest, offering Bessie as a mobile billboard. He launched a Web site, icecreamman.com, where he and a crew of volunteers would post reviews and photos of shows Allen had worked. Sponsors started signing on. Today Ice Cream Man has steady relationships with Levi’s and Guitar Center, online services like GameFly and Rhapsody, and ice cream brands like Julie’s Organic and Mochi. Toyota gave him a Yaris hatchback tricked out as a “Bessita” and Warner Brothers recently used him to promote the new White Stripes album, Icky Thump. The record blared from Bessie’s speakers while Allen handed out desserts in boxes custom designed by Rob Jones, a graphic artist who’s worked with the White Stripes for years.
