Austyn Gillette: 20 Year Issue
Photos by Andrew Peters.
This interview appears in the 20th-anniversary Issue (buy a copy here) and is apart of the Analog To Digital: 20 Years of Culture and Change Podcast Series (listen to it here).
Austyn Gillette. A singer, a skater, a designer, a multiinstrumentalist.
On paper, I should harbor a blind envious hate for Austyn Gillette as I do for anyone who is better at everything than me, but he’s a hard guy to hate. He’s a charmer - a charmer with an enormously successful, multi-pronged career and what I would argue is the most attractive fakie flip in the game, right up there with Arto’s. What a bastard.
In the last twenty years - but mostly in the last ten because we didn’t know Austyn when he was in middle school because that would have been a weird and creepy thing for a bunch of Australian semi-adults to do - Austyn Gillette has been an influence and a friend, and guest edited one of our favorite issues. Despite my fuming jealousy and unforgiving nature, I’m glad to have AG as a friend and a feature in this, our most holy twenty year anniversary.
What’s that saying? When you can’t beat em, join em? Well, fuck it, I guess. I’m team AG. Turns out, joining this team has benefits. One benefit is an increased success with potential hookups because of the sudden ability to name drop. Another benefit is getting invited to music video release events with an open bar at Silver Lining piano bar off Bowery in New York City, which is precisely where we did our interview, right between soundcheck and show time. Austyn asked me to delete this interview. I didn’t. Here it is.
Where are you right now?
We are in New York at a venue called Silver Lining. We are going to play a show, and premier a music video, and we are probably going to drink a lot.
I have a question. Where were you in 2003?
I would have been in elementary school. No, I was in middle school.
What has changed in skateboarding since you were in middle school? What has been the biggest cultural change?
I think that what happened- it feels like a broken Britta filter.
What the fuck does that mean?
I think that a lot of people slip through the cracks now because of the internet, and what I’m asking for is a filter. I guess what changed is that there is no filter in the industry, and I don’t know how I made it through, but I think that that’s necessary for things to evolve and not get lost in the soup, and now we are in the soup. That’s going to sound so stupid, I’m really excited for people to rinse me on that one.
Well you’re not the only one to say that.
What do you mean, of course, that’s the only significant thing to happen: the internet, cellphones. I didn’t even have a fuckin cellphone in 2003.
But the other side of that coin is that the internet has made everything way more inclusive and accessible, which is a good thing.
Sure… for some things. I don’t think it’s necessary in our industry.
Would you like to go back to the time of full length parts?
I think it’s nice to wait for things, to savor them. That’s really nice. I don’t need everything all the fucking time. But that’s just me. I’m not old but I experienced life before using the internet for everything and I do miss it.
The practicality of a cell phone and the internet?
Yeah, but for skateboarding, I don’t think it’s necessary… can we just cut? And restart this whole fucking thing? I’m having a good time but I don’t know what I’m saying.
I mean, we can cut, but I’m not going to restart, this is all going in.
We’ll do it live.
We’ll fix it in post. Where were you in 2003?
I was in La Habra, California, in middle school.
Were you cool?
I was riding for Nike.
So yes.
I was flow and getting all of the colorful things. Colorful Dunks and all those things and that was just as Nike SB was popping off. I was probably popular because of the shoes but nothing else. It was just through Liberty Board Shop.
Are they still around?
No, they shut down a couple of years ago.
Rest in peace, man.
All good things must pass.
What has been the biggest industry change in music since you began?
I…
I think you’re going to say the internet.
Hmm…
And Spotify.
In the music industry? Well I’m not really in it.
We are at your show right now.
We are, yeah, but I’m not really in the industry. It’s weird to be on the other side of it because in skateboarding I want people to wait for stuff and I don’t think it should be that accessible, but at the same time, the people only know that I play music because of the internet, so I almost need this thing; it’s necessary for me to extend my reach and tell people that I do stuff, but I also want to pull back from a lot of it.
Why do you think there’s a separation?
I just try to keep the two separate. I think it’s cheesy doing the whole thing, but I’m getting used to it.
What do you mean cheesy?
I don’t know. There are people who’ve done it really well like Ray Barbee, Tommy Guerrero, Jason Lee turned into an actor and didn’t make anything cheesy.
Do you think that skateboarding is punishing people who try to do things that aren’t skateboarding or certain kinds of art?
I’m sure it’s punishing but once you turn thirty that stuff should turn off. You should do whatever the fuck you want, you’re an adult person. You shouldn’t feel that ridiculed, the thing that the guy sitting on his ass at the skateshop shouldn’t affect you the same way as it used to.
Do you read your comments?
No, no I don’t. It’s funny- I will openly talk about this. Alright. When I was eighteen or something and the first Habitat videos came out with me in it, someone was like, ‘what the fucks this kid doing with this line up of Fred Gall and all these classics,’ I made a fake account on Slap and said, ‘nah, he’s cool,’ or something I forget what-
‘I think he might be kind of sick I dunno guys…’
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then the TM from Habitat was like, ‘that’s fuckin’ you, I can tell’ and I had to admit to him that I made a fake account. After that, I just didn’t want to be revealed doing that stuff and it didn’t make me feel good. When Instagram came out I would read the comments when it was exciting and new, but no, not now, no. That’s super toxic. That’s terrible.
When some kid is like, ‘that was a halfcab flip, not a fakie flip.’
That stuff is fun. I wouldn’t reply to that comment, but if someone came up to me I would talk to someone about it in person.
I feel like I have a conversation about that once a week.
That one?
Yeah, about the fakie flip.
I’m fucking sorry, that sucks.
What has been your biggest mistake in life?
Um…
In skateboarding. And what’s your peak?
Peak…
He has a pensive look.
Yes he does. Peak was probably when I was around twenty three or twenty four, I was on Huf, and then after 3D, I don’t remember who I was on, but I was doing very well with everything. It was a really good feeling to be supported by these brands, I could skate really well, and life was simpler. I’m grateful to have experienced that. I’m aware now that that was a very short period of time, but I thought, like, ‘if this goes on for ten years, I’m done after that, I’ve lived a full life, I’m good.’ That was a good period of time.
Alright, now what was the pit?
And then yeah probably right after that when Huf - not Huf personally, but the company - decided to can us, I lost the bulk of my income, I didn’t have a board sponsor, I’d lost my mom, I lost Dylan, I was super fucking depressed it was terrible.
What brought you out of that?
Definitely the internet, just Instagram, it made me feel really good. No, uh, therapy. What do you mean? Of course it was therapy, being distracted, working for Former, having a purpose.
Have you seen 500 Days of Summer? This is a humiliating reference.
This is really bad, yeah. Were you just on an airplane?
Yeah…
It’s on every airplane.
I just watched it on the plane. There’s a part where he’s depressed and then-
He jacks off.
Right, and then he’s like, ‘oh, I’m fine.’
And then he’s all good, yes.
Did you have a moment where you were like, ‘I’m better, now.’
What? No. I think that as you get older you get more comfortable in the decisions that you make and the experiences you’ve had, so you don’t regret as much, so you- does it- the question, I was on track there for a second-
You got it, you’re still on track.
Right, repeat the question.
Did you have a moment where you felt better or there was a revelation or something?
No, it was constant work.
What has kept you in skateboarding?
What do you mean?
What about it do you like? Why don’t you just fucking quit, Austyn?
I almost did.
Did you?
I did, I didn’t have the means to pay rent at a certain point.
That’ll do it.
Yeah. It’s been like twenty three years, and I’m not a one trick pony but physically, that’s what my body is used to and what I can actually show something that was given to me. Obviously I worked hard to be good at this thing, but it gets to a point where you should be really fucking good at your craft after doing it for so long. I don’t know. I keep forgetting the question.
Do you want to pick a question off this sheet?
I was fucking on to something there.
You were really close.
Shit.
If you could give your 2003 self some advice…
Stay on Nike. Don’t be fucking stupid. Stay on Nike.
Or at least, save the Dunks.
Sell the Dunks.
Sell them now.
Sell them now!
Imagine if you had one hundred pairs of 2003 Dunks to slang.
Yeah. I don’t know what that market’s like but it’s probably booming. I’m sure it’s recession proof.
You could buy land, or one hundred pairs of Dunks.
Oh, and people choose the Dunks, huh.
Yeah, it’s like Bitcoin.
Yeah. That’s cool.
Where would you like to see the culture of skateboarding-
[Austyn gives a displeased look]
What is this look?
Finish the question, where do I want to see it go?
Where do you want to see skateboarding go? VR?
Yeah, probably VR. Where would I personally like to see it go? Backwards, but that’s never going to happen, it’s gotta move forward. Things got to evolve…
You wanna do a side question and come back to it?
Maybe, yeah.
What’s your perfect Sunday?
Alright, so I stopped drinking coffee, but usually I’d wake up, go get a coffee, come back-
Go get?
Go get a coffee, yeah. Take my dog to the park.
What do you get?
I get a flat white. To go. I don’t know. Sex would be cool.
Midday?
Yep, midday. Take a nap. Read. Play some music. This is a Sunday, right?
It is, yeah. A lot of places are closed.
I’d probably go to one of my favorite restaurants.
This is a pretty vague Sunday.
It’s pretty loose, I don’t like plans. Everything around me is planned. Where I go, who I talk to, it’s all planned out.
This interview was planned as well.
I know, I really don’t like it.
So hey Austyn, where would you like to see the culture of skateboarding go in the future?
I don’t care. I hope it gets better. You know what I really hope for? That people can make more than minimum wage in skateboarding. There are so many people who are so fucking talented, and because of the internet, it’s diluted, and I feel bad for people because a lot of people got to experience getting paid enough to survive to do this thing that can inspire kids to not turn into the worst version of themselves or whatever- it would be useful if there was some way of supporting but from what I hear, people don’t make shit. I don’t know how you fix that, but I really just want people to be supported.
Well if you get ten thousand followers on TikTok, they’ll start to pay you.
Do they? Thats why they do it.
What do you think is the value of tangible media like your albums, or say, Monster Children?
Are you guys still doing it?
This interview is in print.
Oh, hey. It’s like these little reminders, that just by looking at this thing, it anchors a point in time, like, ‘oh, I remember that issue.’ Certain people collect Monster Children and take a lot of pride in it. I don’t like reading on a Kindle, I don’t like reading on a phone, I like books. Maybe it’s just easier on my eyes. It just hurts to look at a phone, I feel like my eyes are bleeding. Maybe it’s that? It has a nice smell.
People underestimate the smell factor.
We went into Strand Books today. It has a nice smell to it.