Weave Together

Once you found skating and you knew you wanted to do it forever, what were some of the steps you took to make that happen? Was going pro always a goal?

Well first I had to get good, so practice. Then I had to find my inspirations and see what type of skaters do what. Take mental notes on people’s careers, the moves they make, and the tricks they do. Coming from where I come from, you gotta find a way out and when I saw pro skaters with things like houses, cars, and jewelry. I was like oh, I can do something with this, and just used it to take me out of the environment I was in.

Becoming great at anything takes hard work and patience, how have you been able to deal with the hurdles?

Every time bad or good things happen, the balance of life immediately kicks in. There’s always a balance.

Can you tell us about your debut collection for adidas Skateboarding?

We’ve been working on the collection for about a year and a half. I always have random ideas popping up in my head but these ideas kind of came to me separately. But I had to make it all make sense so I pitched my ideas to adidas in Portland and over time it grew and grew, we made revisions, until we eventually ended on what it is now.

Do you have any funny superstitions?

I don’t like crossing poles, if a broom sweeps my feet, I spit on it. I don’t like black cats, if I see one I’ll turn around and pretend like I wasn’t going in that direction. Tyler gave me a superstition of walking under things, that are kind of like boxed off, like a doorway, he said what if we just walk into another universe and we don’t even know it and you end up changing everything.

So, I hear you have a pretty good Nollie Hardflip. But is it as good as Kareem Campbells? You know the one in Trilogy, It’s a flatground one in a line at the USC ledges

Haha probably not, his is high, it’s legendary. He’s the reason I do it but I’m trying to get a new trick. 

How was Frank Ocean's Birthday party?

It was tight! I actually bought my first suit for that, a Brooks Brothers black Milano; I wore some adidas with it, no red bottoms. 

How was it acting in Jonah Hill's directorial debut "Mid 90s”?

It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life really. The way everything came together was so organic. My friend Mikey Alfred who does Civilization, co-produced it, which is huge for him so I was gunna rock with the movie 1000% based off that and this was before I was cast in it. I just love to see all my friends doing great. Co-producer of not just any movie but Jonah Hill’s, who already has such an amazing catalogue of movies he’s in, this is going to be all eyes on him too because this is the first movie he’s directed AND its about skateboarding. So, I read the script and worked on it with Mikey and auditioned.

I ended up getting it and I was like ‘holy fuck!’ and then my other friends got in it like Oland, Ryder and Sunny, Geo. I’ve known Oland since we were skating in LA as pre-teens so it was crazy to share this experience with him. I built a good relationship with Jonah, not only as someone I respect, he like helped me understand, the level of business I’m in now is uncharted territory for my family so I cant really go to them for help, having someone that’s in your corner that you can be like ‘hey, this is what’s going down…’ and they can give you an honest opinion cause they know from experience and can give you real insight on how to work things. Eli Bush, the other producer, we just clicked and became really good friends all on set. I haven’t had to be on a schedule like that since middle school, since I didn’t really go to high school.

Other dreams/goals for the future?

Working on a supreme video and just focusing on skating. I also really enjoy making music, so those are the two things I’m really focused on now.

Favorite piece from the collection?

It changes between the suit and the Fucking Awesome shoe. Also really like the t-shirt with the red collar, the fit and materials are really nice. I think that shirt will last and when it gets that old skate wear on it and it will be even better.  I really can’t choose, these are all my children!