Author: Crossfire

07.10.08

Photos and art by Todd
Interview by Kyle Green

OK Todd. It’s two in the afternoon in Los Angeles what exactly are you doing right now?

Good question, I’m drawing some beefy muscle dudes for this band. Spending a lot of time on it, I want the muscles to be JUST right you know?

Yeah of course man, you want it to be true to real life hot man muscles..

Well yeah, I’m a stickler for detail when it comes to men and how their muscles look.

I’ve noticed you don’t usually draw or paint too many men, it’s usually just curvy women right?

This is the new chapter in my life, I’ve spent years drawing girls and I’m moving on.

So no more curvy lizard girls?

Never again…well, never again for today, that’s probably a better way to put it.

I can’t believe how far that whole lizard girl thing went, I mean you managed a World tour out of it. Did you plan on it going that far?

Nope. I didn’t even plan on them making a t-shirt out of it and that’s all i was pushing for.

One shirt graphic turning into an entire line of Volcom clothing ain’t bad is it?

I didn’t think anyone over there would like it at all, so it worked out great, for me anyhow. Who knows if the stuff sold, or if it was worth it to send me around the globe but I’m happy about it.

Who’s idea was it to take it that far? Did you have to really think it over or did you jump at the chance?

I jumped, it was all Volcom. I just wanted one shirt and they decided to turn it into a full line of clothes, then a calendar, then as the theme. They asked me to pick 2 stateside locations and one over sea spot for art shows. I just handed them my dream list and told them to pick from that. They picked all of them and even tacked on a few.

What a result…

Yeah can’t beat that. Got to drag some friends along for the ride, eat some good food, swim in different bodies of water. From all the photos I saw of the tour it looked amazing.

If you had to pick one location and one show which stood out as the best spots?

Oh man tough call. Tokyo was dope. But oz was insane. Each was rad for a different reason really. Toy shopping in Tokyo with my friend Shingo was as good as it gets, and massive amounts of tofu, I cant pick a fave.

That’s OK I understand…

Sorry, I know I just ruined this interview, but that’s how it goes man.

It’s OK Todd, I don’t think I’d be able to pick either. One thing I have noticed over all the years I’ve known you is it seems like your constantly working on way to many different projects almost to the point where I feel sorry for you. What kind of affect does being such a workhorse have on you? Do you ever sleep or eat?

The affects are mostly negative because I usually am doing things for friends as well so I’m not even getting paid, and I never sleep. I’m awake from about 8 or 9 am till about 5 or 6 am. I think I get to eat pretty well because there are so many rad places to nosh in the OC. But really I work 24/7 because I love what I get to do and if I wasn’t doing it for a job I would probably still just be doing it for fun.

Is it still as rewarding as it used to be when you see a skateboard or a t-shirt or whatever it is with something you have drawn on it?

Kinda. Getting the work is rewarding enough. Seeing people skating or wearing my stuff is cool but a little weird, but really I’m just psyched people are giving me a shot. Before I was doing any of this for a job I was doing just as much on my own, it just didn’t have a home or any place to go. But now to have the skaters I looked up to my whole life be the people I’m sitting here working with that are on the same page feels pretty good.

I have seen a few people with tattoos of your work, Mark Appleyard for instance…is that the ultimate weird out or does it get you hyped?

It’s a little crazy, I mean I’m not a huge fan of my art, I do have fun doing it and i hope people dig it, but yeah I go either way on it. I have a pretty big file of photos of tattoos people have got of my stuff. I think I’m about to make Appleyard draw me one in trade for the one he has!

Oh man I bet that will be amazing.

Yeah his art is amazing.

Do you still love the freelance artist life or do you ever wish you just had a normal 9-5 life?

Both, I miss knowing I had a cheque in the mail every 2 weeks that I could count on. The business side of being freelance usually eats up most of my day but it is nice being able to pick what I wanna do and when is nice. I can bolt and go on a skate trip anytime I want. But yeah trying to count on people paying you is next to impossible. Never knowing if you can pay rent or eat isn’t too fun but whatever I guess its all worth it.

Yeah it seems like working entirely freelance would afford you some great freedoms like going skating or riding bikes whenever you want. Does it really work out that way or do you find yourself scrambling just to pay rent?

Nah, I don’t let myself work too hard. I make sure I get on my bike, go skating or swimming at least once a day. If there is a deadline, I meet it, I don’t like to let people down. But I do make sure I don’t go 100% crazy – again I would do this stuff even if it wasn’t my job.

Speaking of bikes you’ve got a pretty sweet collection going now, you recently added my bike to it. How many do you have in the quiver now and how many miles do you usually clock a day?

However far it is to The Wedge and back.

That’s ten miles..

Yeah it’s far, but lately I’ve been going even further, all along the river past Skips Ditch and into Santa Ana.

That’s dope I really miss having my bike out here.

Yeah, well if you come back there are 8 bikes now to answer your question.

8 now!

Yeah, Brian Heck found one a while back and left it here. Its called “The Princess Pearl”.

So, what art made you get into skateboard graphics in the first place?

Pushead, VCJ, and Jim Phillips. Yeah. the Corey O’Brien one that did it for me. The skeleton with the fireball. I just liked the grosser stuff, the raw stuff.

Jim Phillips has an interview on this site very soon, it’s a good one.

I’m looking forward to reading that.

A lot of people don’t know that you started out working at a design firm, designing cracker boxes and things like that, how important was that for you getting here today?

It was huge. At that point I knew I wanted to be doing skateboard related stuff but skateboarding was still kinda small and every company had an art guy. So there was no room, not like today when everybody is looking for something new and different. When I was coming up there was no room at all because a company had there look and they stuck to it forever.
So I got a job at this design place and at that point I just liked to draw, just nothing, just doodle in sketch books and I painted a lot of graffiti then. So I got this interview at this really well respected design firm, but the interview was just to scan stuff and cut foam core, nothing about art at all. But during the interview we got to talking about how I liked to make art and they asked me to come back with a portfolio. But I didn’t have one so I just brought a sketch book full of scribbles and they hired me off that.

Oh man that’s great!

I had no idea what I was doing or what I was there for. It was all 40 years old and up people and I was 21. I had never used a computer before really or ever done art for anyone but myself. But they were so rad. Gave me my own work station and a computer to work with and told me to just play with it for 2 months. So I got paid to play around with photoshop and illustrator for 2 months, ended up doing work for most of what you see these days in the cookie and cracker isle at the food store, Nabisco, Coke, Pillsbury – anything under those names I had my hands on.

Was it a bit nerve racking like you were expected to produce after the 2 months was up?

No it was really mellow. I was actually kinda high stress for me but always a good time, they were cool people. I was just a filthy skate rat working from 6 am till 9 pm, living in a skate house leaving work then going out skating all night. I would show up all gross and dirty but they liked it that way. Everyone there wore suit and tie but they asked me not to dress up, I think they liked having a grubby kid there, its funny because they were a really big firm, probably top of the list.

Do you think they were living vicariously through you just a little bit?

Maybe, because huge clients would show up and I’m covered in dirt and blood smelling like shit, but they were proud of it, gave them this little edge maybe.

How long did you put in there?

2 years.

Was it straight to Consolidated after that?

Well kinda. There was about a year in between. I quit that job and hit the road with my friend Billy Kahn. We lived in my van for a few months and just skated around, then from there the Consolidated stuff kinda fell into place.

Was it hard for you to pick up and leave home or did you jump at the offer to move to Santa Cruz?

I jumped. I didn’t really want to leave Minneapolis. But I knew that I had the chance to do what I wanted to do for years and years and I couldn’t pass it up. I moved in about 2 weeks time…not even that. Thinking back it was cool but kinda sad, just up-rooted and left the place I loved, left everyone I knew and all my friends and family. But it is what I wanted to do, what I had been dreaming of.

What are some of your fondest memories from living in Santa Cruz? what do you miss the most?

All of it kinda, that place is really good. Small town feel but near so much. Some of the best nature ever. I mean the skateboarding was a little bogus but we still had our little spots and did it every day. West cliff was dope, cliff jumping, bike rides for days, the Saturn cafe.

Do you wanna die in Santa Cruz? I’m pretty sure I do.

Yeah I wanna die in Santa Cruz…on Walnut Avenue.

So you were in Santa Cruz doing your thing working for Consolidated. I feel like this is well tread territory but can you basically sum up what happened and why you needed to split?

I did a shoe for Nike that got all blown out of proportion, things got weird and in a weeks time I was packed and heading to Orange County.

Did it feel good to escape from all the drama? I personally cannot believe that people are still moaning about all this anti Nike don’t do it stuff. Shouldn’t people just go out and skate instead of worrying about all the politics?

Yeah it was weird. I’d been there and was so deep in that place that it hurt to see it going a direction that I personally didn’t agree with. So as hard as it was it did feel good to get out of that place and into the real world. It seems like everywhere I have been people don’t care or they do care. But they know it doesn’t matter, we are all just out there skateboarding and nothing will stop any of us from doing that. I will build a ghetto board and skate barefoot if I have to. Also I doubt Nike being in skateboarding is really gonna kill anything. We have all seen skateboarding die a few times, its no biggie, unless you work in the industry you probably don’t care at all.

it just seems like people would rather hold debates and press conferences then actually go out and skateboard. Do you miss the good old days?

Yeah man, but these are the good old days you know? I still get on my skateboard every day and it’s the same as it ever was. When your out doing it, that’s all that matters.

Is having a key to the Volcom skatepark the best thing to ever happen in your life?

One of the best. you can’t beat it. Middle of the night with one or two close friends, Belle & Sebastian cranked to the max, doesn’t get much better.

Yeah man I wouldn’t wanna beat that. So apart from all the art your doing for these companies do you still find time to paint for yourself?

No and yes. Like I said it’s all stuff i would do for fun anyway. I do prefer drawing more than painting. I do sit and water color a lot… to “relax” hahaha!

Who is making art that you like to look at right now?

Your brother Devon Green. Not that I shouldn’t like it but i have some sick attraction to it, I cant get enough. Also Kelly Tunstall, your stuff is pretty on point, Patrick Jilbert. I think I’m just attracted to stuff that is the real deal, where I know who’s doing it and how and why they are doing it.

Apart from all the illustration work your doing, most people don’t know about all the skate photos you shoot. How did you start getting involved in that? do you have a massive kit or a minimal set up?

Well I got a camera as a kid, always thought photos were cool, and I just started shooting my friends skating for fun. I don’t know what I’m doing at all, but sometimes I get lucky and something works out. As for gear I just have a hand full of point and shoot and toy cameras. If I had the time and the reason I’d almost rather be shooting photos than drawing…all though I’m not good at photos and I’d never find work…not to say I’m good at drawing. But people seem to holler at me for work so I’m going with it.

What are some of your favorite photos you have taken over the years?

Not sure about favorites but a few I like is a photo of Brian Heck doing a backside ollie over this bank gap in Portland, Horsey doing a wall-ride over this hole in a ditch in Las Vegas, Olu doing 360 flip from bank to bank in Minneapolis, and Seth McCallum doing a pivot fakie in the weird metal tranny thing we found in Portland.

Who are some of your all time favorite skaters? who lately makes you wanna go out and shred?

Seth Mccallum, Mark Appleyard, David Gravette, people like them. I guess what I’m saying is, the higher the better in my eyes.

Does a skater have to smoke weed for you to like them?

Well, I didn’t think so until I listed them just there, and all of them are as high as a person can get!

What about your wheel company Teenage Runaway, how did you decide to start your own company?

I just had/have more art than I could find a home for. And usually the worst stuff to everyone else is the best stuff to me. So I figured to make a little home for all of my orphan art. I figured I would do a wheel company because if I were to get a team i knew all the people that I wanted all had board sponsors already. It may have been a bad choice after all because as far as getting my art used, wheels are like the worst thing ever. It’s not like a board or shirt where you have all the room in the world, plus sometimes they end up printing like ass.

You have a pretty eclectic team going on, who exactly is on right now and how do you go about picking them? do you just make sure they can smoke mad weed?

(As I formulate this answer i think it’s best for the readers to know that Seth McCallum is behind me doing some sort of Indian dance!) OK the team right now is: Jesse Erickson, Kris Markovich, Devon Green, Clark Hassler, Richard Paez, Todd Congeleire, Steve Fauser, Brian Heck, Nate Compher, Horsey and Fos. I don’t know really how I pick them. I just picked the people that have always been my favorites and it’s largely based on who they are aside from skateboarding. Not to discount their skateboarding but that isn’t all that matters to me.

Are the wheels selling at all? You must be rich now owning your own company and all?

Filthy rich! umm they sell I think, i mean I don’t run ad’s, the website is dead and errrrr…MySpace? People don’t care man – but I have big plans…HUGE plans.

Are they secret plans or can you indulge us?

TOP SECRET…actually I can tell you. The plan is to pretend to care about the company, because I think that if the owner appears to give a shit the rest of the free world will soon follow. And as it stands right now I would rather go to the beach.

I think you should just start putting non skateboarders on the team to generate some sales. If you could add 5 people throughout history who would you put on the team?

Jeff Goldblum, Jerry Blank, Jimmy Tickles, Paddy Costello, and Snickerdoodles McPoppycock… Jimmy Tickles I might switch out for Chris Nieratko but I think Nieratko might be considered a skateboarder.

Yeah I think Chris is too much of a skater for the team. So your going with Jeff Goldblum, two fictional characters, a guy from a band and one of your friends nicknames?

Yeah

Works for me, So apart from all the illustration work, the wheel company skateboarding and riding your bike what else do you have coming up in the future?

Wow nothing…nothing at all that’s my life in a nutshell.

Yes nailed it! What kind of advice would you give to somebody that wanted to start making skateboard graphics?

Just do it. Just go for it. There are a million companies today and everyone wants that new shit. So just do what makes you happy and then sell out by selling those things that make you happy to people for loads of money.

That’s some nice advice Todd.

Yeah it really is. But really that’s the bottom line make what you like and make other people like it somehow then you are set.

What’s making you most happy right now?

Wainy days, ummm I haven’t been happy in a long ass time. It’s the little things though, like when something bumps your leg in the ocean and its just a Maco shark and not a Great White shark. Or when Sam Maguire blows the sand off your feet at the beach (Malto you know what I’m talking about). or like Boba, honeydew Boba drinks.

What’s making you most unhappy right now?

My life as a whole is pretty shit, but I mean not to say I don’t like it. I’m trying to fix my life one Boba drink at a time.

what would you describe as your perfect Sunday?

Hahahahahhaha!

You have to answer this one.

A bottomless cup of Boba, a lightning fast wireless connection and the entire Frogs music collection.

Jesus Christ!

That’s totally a joke…but at the same time mega true. OK perfect Sunday would be in Santa Cruz. A bike ride on West Cliff. Going hiking in big basin to hunt for newts, eat Chinese food at “Golden City”, skate the ledge spot and go for a walk up pacific avenue to Lulu Carpenters to order a “french Kiss”…

If you could leave a message of inspiration and hope to all the children of the UK what would it be?

Whoa! ummmmmmm…

Your searching the internet for inspirational quotes aren’t you?

Haha yeah! I live in the OC man, any advice or inspirational info coming from my mouth is gonna sound like BS.

Ahhh c’mon man!

I don’t know. I guess just look at Fos, he’s got it all figured out! I guess I would say spend as much time as you can doing dumb things. Or wait no… just get a beach cruiser and ride it till life is OK…wait no, a skateboard – get a skateboard.

is there anybody out there you would like to thank or say hi to?

Not that anyone would care but thanks to all the people in skateboarding land for asking me to put my dumb ass shit on your skateboards, it has meant the world to me, it’s the only thing that matters.

God this is depressing I think were done here.

Just tell Enjoi I said “what up”.

OK will do, thanks for doing this interview Todd and thanks for making it as hard as possible on me.

No problem.