How did you guys meet?
AVA– We were neighbors technically, but we met on Tinder and we started hanging out every day. How long was it until we were a couple?
ANTON– I didn't know. It happened pretty fast.
AVA– We tell people we were neighbors but we actually met on Tinder, but I think we met before that too because I knew his roommate and we had definitely seen each other. I used to work at clubs and stuff.
ANTON– She used to work at 444.
AVA– Yeah, I worked at 444 Club and his friends used to throw parties there a lot. So our paths have definitely crossed before then.
And what year was this?
ANTON– Oh my god. It's been three and a half years.
AVA– Yeah, 2021.
Oh, nice.
ANTON– Yeah, we were both unemployed, which was…
AVA– No we weren't.
ANTON– Well, you quit your job.
AVA– I quit my job a few weeks into meeting you.
ANTON– And I was just milking that covid money.
That Bitcoin money. I remember you told me.
ANTON– And the Bitcoin money.
Did you reinvest?
ANTON– No, I got out. I cannot, I don't think I can do it. It brings out the worst emotions in you ever. It's kind of like a casino, but then every day it gets old.
So what got you guys into making grillz?
ANTON– At some point Ava got a set for me for Valentine's Day. And I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. For a year and a half, I was talking about how I should start making them, and then at some point I just locked myself in this room and started making them. Ava was tattooing at that time I think too.
AVA– We had a studio.
ANTON– We had the studio before we knew what we were going to do with it.
So it was meant to be.
AVA– It was meant to be, yeah. I also didn't like tattooing, so I was like, "I'll do grillz instead." Way more fun.
ANTON– So within four months of me doing it and struggling with it, Ava joined the party.
How did you learn how to make them?
ANTON– Honestly, there used to be a community on Facebook answering grill makers' questions. Well, back in the day, I think the problem was a lot about fitting. I think that was the hardest part and I think everybody does it very differently. So it's a very personal thing figuring it out. I remember when I first started, half of my shit didn't fit and I would get pissed off.
So, it was trial and error in learning how to make them.
ANTON– It's a lot of trial and error and I dunno how I survived. I think I was committed enough to survive it, but it was a lot of trial and error and figuring it out because there is no system for it. Everybody does it very differently and those are kind of the secrets that people keep.
AVA– Well there are so many little tiny things that go into making grillz and everybody does it differently. Even Anton and I do things really differently. I mean part of that is because we have different styles or different things that we specialize in. I do more of the hand-carved pieces and he does things with stones or bigger pieces. So our techniques have developed separately. It's weird, but it's also nice because we can learn from each other a lot too because we do things differently. Or if for some reason something that I do isn't working or isn't fitting, then he can see it from a different perspective and help me with it. That happens a lot. We have to help each other a lot.
ANTON– At some point we were polishing each other's pieces. I remember I hated it because my pieces are waxed differently than Ava's.
AVA– He makes it a lot thicker than I do. And so he polished the shit out of them and he would polish through my pieces. It would drive me crazy because when I would polish them it would be fine because I have a much lighter touch. So we stopped doing that. [Laughs]