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CHRISTIAN HOSOI

CHRISTIAN HOSOI

JUICE MAGAZINE 13 YEAR ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL:
CHRISTIAN HOSOI
INTERVIEW BY DAVE DUNCAN
INTRODUCTION BY DAVE DUNCAN
PHOTOS BY TED TERREBONNE

Christian Hosoi is skateboarding. Through him, you can see the history of skateboarding. He was around with guys like Jay Adams and Shogo Kubo when they were skating Marina Skatepark back in the day and they were the kings of skateboarding. Those were the influences Christian had when he was 10 years old. They set the dream in his eye of what the good life was about, surfing, skating and hanging with your friends. He was concrete surfing at Marina early on. He got sponsored by Dogtown and then moved on to Powell trying to find his way. Hosoi lived in the heyday of the ’70s and into the ’80s and he carried the ’70s torch through to the next generation. He got to travel the world, and every weekend he was in a new town skating. At the time I met Christian, there were only 17 pros in the world of skateboarding. As skateboarding grew in popularity, Christian became one of the kings. What was cool about Christian was that he’d skate and have fun. He has that magnetic personality, which I think came from growing up around skateboarding and being able to be yourself. Every time someone gave him new clothes, he’d tear off the sleeves or the bottom of his t-shirts and make his own fashion statement. When we’d go to contests, no matter what place he got, he’d hang out and sign autographs after all the other pros had left. He might be late, but he’s worth the wait. Once he shows up, he’s going to put on a show for you. He’s gone through a lot in his life. When the ’90s came in, vert was dying and street was taking over and Christian was right on top of it, getting his street groove on. As skateboarding blew up again in the mid ’90s, Christian missed the connection with the X Games and all the big vert contests because by that time he was already in trouble and having minor problems with the law. He started hanging out with sketchier people and that led him to jail. Beginning in 2000, Christian was in jail for 4 1/2 years, and now he’s out and back on track. He had a spiritual awakening in jail, and now he’s one of the saviors of skateboarding. He’s talking about his life and hoping to let kids know about the right path. Christian rips every kind of terrain: backyard pools, street, vert and mini ramps. He does it all with style, personality, flair and fun. He’s so blessed with talent and looking natural on a board. People talk about style in skateboarding and Christian has all the style that skateboarders dream about. When you see him ride, no matter what it is, Christian has the fastest lines, the smoothest style and the highest airs. It’s just great to have him back. Christian has influenced a lot of people in how fun skateboarding can be and how the friendships you make through skateboarding can last a lifetime. Hosoi is one of the best skateboarders ever and he’s also a true friend. – DAVE DUNCAN

“Kids are going skating, and staying off the streets. Now they can have a career in skateboarding. Fathers, mothers and grandparents are taking the kids to the skateparks, because there’s a lifestyle there. It’s not like it was when we started, all rebels without a cause. We were terrorizing the streets and pools. Skateboarding was against the law. We had to build our own backyard ramps and find pools to skate. All of these obstacles have been hurdled and now we’re moving into a place of acceptance. The mainstream is falling in love with skateboarding like we did. Now skateboarding is one of the things that people do to express themselves. I think that’s why there’s camaraderie.”

How’s it going, Christian? What’s going on? How was your year this year?
This year has been insane. So much has happened. My son Classic was born on Oct 10th. My probation officer has been really cool, so I got to travel a lot this year. I went to Europe a couple of times. I’ve been able to go to skateboard contests, judge events, and even go to a family reunion.

This is one of your best years yet?
Each year gets better. It’s not about the big event that happens every year now. It’s about time spent with my family and friends. I’m watching my children grow up. My son Rhythm is nine years old. My son Classic is four months.

I know you and Rhythm skate together. What’s it like having a kid that age?
It’s awesome. He loves to go skate. He’s pushing me to go skate all the time. He’s got a little motorcycle that he loves to ride. His favorite thing is snowboarding. His mom’s got a cabin up at Big Bear so he goes snowboarding all the time. If you ask what he wants to be when he gets older, he’ll tell you a pro snowboarder or a freestyle motocross guy, but he loves to go skateboarding. He’s not trying to learn tricks and be the best. He just loves to go skateboarding and hang out with all the kids.

Speaking of tricks, I know you got in the new Tony Hawk game. How is it to have your kid playing a video game with you in it?
That’s pretty sick. The game first came out in ’99 right before I went to prison, and I thought it would be sick to have a character and be able to play myself, but now that I actually have a character, it’s even sicker because I have a son who loves to play the game. He just sits there and plays me on the game. It’s cool to see yourself illustrated like that. I never thought I’d see myself in one of those games, but thanks to Tony Hawk and Activision, they hooked it up. It’s a real blessing.

Your kid’s on there doing Christ airs?
[Laughs.] Yeah, he’ll go, “Watch this dad. Watch this.” He’ll do a Christ air and a rocket air in one maneuver. It’s funny.

How did you invent the rocket air?
We were in Texas at the Kahuna Ramp for one of those crazy Shut Up and Skate contests. I remember Lance and Cab were in the hotel room. There were a bunch of us. We were lying on the beds on our backs and trying to figure out what kind of airs we could do. I said, “Two feet on the tail, two feet grabbing the front and straight leg it.” Lance was like, “Yeah, a rocket air.” We were like, “Let’s try all these tricks tomorrow.” We tried it the next day and it was really easy to do. I did it on the third try. It just flowed naturally.

Well, maybe it was easy for you, but I don’t see a lot of other people doing rocket airs.
Well, airs were hip. Some people were doing finger flips. It was cool to do something original. That’s the best thing about inventing tricks. You’re doing something first.

What about the Christ air?
I was seeing guys doing crazy no-footed airs. Magnusson was doing them and his legs were all spread apart. I was like, “Wait a minute.” My nickname was Christ, so I was thinking if I went up and put my arms and legs out straight, it would be a Christ air. It was another thing that just flowed.

How was your trip to Hawaii?
It was amazing. There’s nothing like Hawaii. The food and the people are great, and so is being on the North Shore right down the street from Pipeline and Cholo’s bowl. It doesn’t get better than that. It was great to see our friends on the island. There’s nothing like the aloha in Hawaii. Block came and hung out with us. It was just a special time.

I recall the first time I went to Hawaii with you in ’86. That was the best trip until the contest at Cholo’s.
Oh, yeah. When you’ve got the competition that Quiksilver put on with all the mixture of riders, it was a great time. Lance, Cab and I got to spend some time together with Grosso. We went out to dinner and talked story. Danny Way and Bob Burnquist were killing it, and Rune won the event. Guys like Omar and Chris Miller were getting hurt and putting their necks on the line. It was insane. The riders got to judge the event, so it was a great atmosphere for a contest. The skaters got to choose the winners. We weren’t at the mercy of a panel of judges.

What do you think of the level of pool skating now?
At every event, the level gets higher, and there’s nothing like seeing it live. When you see it in person you can feel the energy and excitement. Watching the skaters before they even drop in and the way they interact with the other skaters, adds so much more to it. Seeing it live is awesome.

It was a classic, backyard BBQ type event. You don’t see that camaraderie in other sports.
You’ve got Steve Van Doren flipping burgers and bringing that element of family and deep roots of skateboarding. You’ve got Steve Ellis building the bowl because he loves skateboarding. He didn’t build it in order to have the biggest contest on the North Shore. He did it because he loves skateboarding. Red Scott came in for the contest, too. He built the bowl and dedicated his time out of his love for skateboarding. Everyone’s giving back. That’s what skateboarding is about. It’s about people wanting to build stuff and give back and donate their time.

When people give back, skateboarding just gets bigger and bigger.
The companies are starting to realize that skateboarding is here to stay. Now it’s time to see who’s in it for the long haul and who’s in it just to get something out of it. Skateparks are opening up everywhere and it’s all because of places like Burnside and Washington Street.

There are skateparks all over the world now, too.
Kids are going skating, and staying off the streets. Now they can have a career in skateboarding. Fathers, mothers and grandparents are taking the kids to the skateparks, because there’s a lifestyle there. It’s not like it was when we started, all rebels without a cause. We were terrorizing the streets and pools. Skateboarding was against the law. We had to build our own backyard ramps and find pools to skate. All of these obstacles have been hurdled and now we’re moving into a place of acceptance. The mainstream is falling in love with skateboarding like we did. Now skateboarding is one of the things that people do to express themselves. I think that’s why there’s camaraderie.

There’s a brotherhood.
We get together and hang out and cherish what we do. It goes deeper than a hobby. It goes deeper than our jobs or doing what we have to do to make money. If we were to not make money, we’d still be skateboarding. That’s what makes it different from any other sport. There’s something to it that’s exciting and aggressive. It’s radical.

In the ’80s, there wasn’t a lot of money in it, but we all found a way to give back. You gave so much to skateboarding. We loved something when it was special and the world looked down on it, and now skateboarding is accepted worldwide.
How does anyone not think that skateboarding is the coolest thing in the world? I remember when I was 14, I turned pro and told my dad, “This is going to be the coolest thing ever.” He was like, “We could start a school for skateboarding.” Skateboarding was so small then, but we had these big dreams and goals. It took a while, but when the X Games came in, skateboarding shot through the roof and now there are huge corporations involved. It’s because of the people that do it for fun. People skate to the beach and skate in the parks with their kids. The underground scene is gnarly, too. You have backyard pools, bowls and ramps everywhere. It’s come a long way. Back in the day, if you did anything commercial, you were a sell out. Now it’s about how you respect what you do and how you do it genuinely. Whether you make money or not, people can read right through the lines and see where you’re heart is. People can identify with your intentions to help the sport. We’re really starting to see who’s real and who isn’t. I’ve only been out of prison for two and a half years, and although I’ve been injured since I got out, I enjoy being a part of skateboarding whether I’m skating or not. It’s awesome.

You were killing it in Hawaii with those rock n’ roll slides. You got second in the longest slide behind Grosso.
That was super fun. Being able to give Grosso a run for his money was great. I had 20 1/2 blocks and he got 22. Grosso is the man. He deserved it. All I did was sit around, judge, yell, scream and cheer. He was skating all day, going from the semi-finals to the finals and then entering the rock n’ roll slide contest. He definitely deserved it.

I never thought guys like Grosso and Duane would still be skating as hard as they are.
It has to do with how much heart you’ve got. It’s your determination and how you’re going to skate if you’ve got heart. You may be a little older or injured, but you’ll ride right through that if you have heart. You’ll make it happen. Adrenalin just takes over and you don’t know how you did it. You’re on fire. You’re not thinking. You’re just doing it.

You went to Europe this summer. How was it?
That was amazing. We did a tour with my movie “Rising Son”. Quiksilver set it up and we went to France, Spain, and Sweden. We went to Copenhagen. Then I went to Cannes Film Festival and met up with my dad. He was traveling with his girlfriend Lilo. That’s when he saw the movie for the first time. It was a really special time for me with my dad. He got to see the movie for the first time in a theater at the Cannes Film Festival. That trip was incredible.

You’ve really had a great year.
Here I am, just getting out of prison and being able to just go places like that is unbelievable. Having a company like Quiksilver behind me is amazing. To be part of that makes me feel good. I always wonder why all this is happening to me. They say, “Christian, you’ve done a lot for this sport. You’ve inspired so many people.” I had a big time-out in prison to really think about my past and what it all meant. I was like, “Wow. Maybe skateboarding was really influential and inspiring for a lot of people that went off and did their own thing. Now skateboarding is huge. People are coming out of the woodwork.” I’m seeing a revival of the love and joy of skateboarding. It’s a humbling experience to hear someone to say to me, “You inspired me to skate.” To be an influence on the history of skateboarding is great. Hopefully, my accomplishments will inspire people as well as overcoming my trials and tribulations. I want to inspire people and tell them that it’s not too late to turn your life around.

Those of you that haven’t seen the movie, make sure you go check out “Rising Son” Christian’s new movie. It gives a whole run down of your life.
No plugs, Duncan. No plugs.

[Laughs.] What was it like for you growing up skating in the ’70s? Tell us about the early days.
Being able to grow up at the Marina Skatepark was the best. The skatepark days were the glory days. I was a ten–year-old kid looking through the fence and watching Tony Alva, Jay Adams, Shogo Kubo, the whole Z-Flex team, George Wilson and Marty Grimes. It was crazy. They were all in the magazines and I was seeing them live when I was nine years old. I was like, “Whoa. Look at this.”

Your dad was the manager of the park, right?
Yeah, they were opening up the Marina Skatepark, and I told my dad. He was a surfer in the ’50s and ’60s, and he was an artist going to school here in LA. He was getting his Masters at Berkeley. He was part of the hippie movement. He was working on his art for mansions and galleries. He was very cool with everything that had to do with expression of self, and skateboarding was right there. In 1978, I was looking at the magazines and parks, and all I wanted to do was go skateboarding. Aaron Murray and I grew up together and our dads would take us to the skatepark every weekend. I was like, “I want to go during the week.” My dad said, “Okay.” I was at a private school that was pretty easy going, so I could actually go skateboarding after school.

Where were you and Murray skating then?
Murray lived in Venice Beach, so we’d skate on the boardwalk all the time. We were just eight years old. Then we’d go to the skatepark all the time. My dad was like, “This is getting expensive.”

Is that when he got the job at the park?
Yeah, he ended up being the manager of Marina Skatepark. That was pretty much the turning point for me. I went from looking at the guys from behind the fence to being inside the fence and hanging out with them. I was ten years old and I was riding the little bowls. They would ride the little bowls first and then ride the big bowls. They were like, “Come on. Let’s go ride the big bowls.” I was like, “No. I’ll stay here.” They ended up becoming my big brothers. All of a sudden, I was like their sidekick protege. I was just hanging out with guys that were my idols then they were like my bros. I was just in the mix. Everything worked out for me. I was an only child and I didn’t have any other friends that were young except for Aaron Murray. Murray stopped skating for a little while, so then it was just me. I was hanging out with those guys and being trained in how to have an attitude and how to not be a kook and they also taught me how to skate. When you think about that, I was skating private sessions all the time. It was just pure fun. That’s how it was for me at Marina Skatepark. Nothing stopped me from skateboarding.

That was also the beginning of a new generation of skating after the Dogtown era. You and Tony Hawk were coming up. You were carrying the torch from the ’70s generation into the ’80s generation. You had soul. People could see that by the way you rode. You made it look good. You made it look fun.
I think about that era and how it went from there. It was the Dogtown boys and the Z-Boys and then Eddie Elguera, Duane Peters, Caballero and those guys. In the ’80s, it was Blender, Lance Mountain and McGill. The progression of skating went through the roof. There were so many new tricks.

All the ramps we rode back then were different. Then you had the pool skating. Every pool was different and that’s what made pool skating rad.
It was spontaneous how you worked the pool and rode the pool. It was about how you rode the corners and how you did your tricks and how fast you went. Then it all became about tricks. It went from spontaneous skating and using the terrain you were skating to all tricks. We were having a great time during that era. Every contest there was a new trick. The 540 came in and everyone had to do a 540 to win the event. Once the kickflip came in, all of sudden, you had every variation of kickflip. Now it’s switch and every variation of switch. That’s just the progression of skating.

Tell us what’s cool about pool skating.
There’s the element of real coping and cement. There’s something to it that’s really raw. There’s nothing like skating a pool and watching how one person skates a pool and then watching how another person skates it. It’s like when you see Miller ride the combi pool. You can see how he grew up in that pool and he’s the best in that pool. He knows every spot in the pool. Then when you watch someone else ride it, they apply their style and speed and you can see how they put together their runs. There’s just nothing like that.

Vert skating is making a comeback, too.
Watching these guys on the vert ramp do choreographed tricks and keep their speed, it’s insane. You’ve got Bob with his crazy switch stuff, and you have Sandro with his gnarly high speed 540s to tail. Then you’ve got Bucky Lasek who is super tech. He’s doing nollie heelflip tailslides. How do you even imagine that stuff? But that’s where it goes, when you’re pushing the bar. When you go from where we started in a pool to the big mega ramp, that’s progression. My favorite skating is pool skating because you can carve and hear your trucks grinding. I like the way my wheels sound when I do rock walks, slides and reverts. There’s so much to pool skating. Then you’ve got the rock n’ roll slides with rails on your board. The sound of that is insane. When you watch Grosso do a rock n’ roll slide around any pool with coping, there’s nothing like it.

I know the vert guys used to battle it out for a few hundred bucks. Now it’s big money. With other pro sports, before they were on TV, they didn’t make much money. Once it got on TV, it exploded. Look at the NBA contracts now. We’re starting to see that in skateboarding. Did you ever think you’d see that in your lifetime?
I thought it should have been that way when we were skating in the ’80s. When I was looking at the money involved, I thought, “Why shouldn’t the sponsors be supporting the riders more?” That’s when everyone was trying to work together to get the skaters paid. Now we have managers making the skaters money. When I thought about it, I was like, “I can do this.” That’s why I started my own company when I was 16 years old.

You just did it yourself.
We started it up. We did it in the garage. We made the boards, bought the t-shirts, got the stickers and bought the ads. We just did it. It worked for a while, but my lifestyle was outrageous at the time. I was thinking, “I want to go spend money. I want to buy another car. I want to build a ramp. I want to take all my friends out to dinner. I want to go to Hawaii and take all of my friends with me.” I just blew it all. I was having a great time and I thought, “Well, I’ll just make some more money.” When skateboarding went to street and it was tough for the vert guys, I turned it around. I started sponsoring street riders. I did Milk Skateboard Goods, and Focus. Then it came to the point where all I wanted to do was party. I just wanted to go to the clubs and be high as a kite. That was my downfall. I didn’t focus on my company. I didn’t think about building a team and helping the company grow. I was just out raging. You were there. We were having such a good time. It’s not like we were criminals. We just weren’t focusing on what we were trying to do. We had good intentions. Then you had Rocco and World Industries coming up and taking over. A lot of people were having a difficult time. I was like, “Forget skateboarding for awhile. I’m just going to party.”

At that time there was no place for vert in skateboarding. No one saw the change to street skating coming. In the early ’90s, it was small wheels and baggie pants. It wasn’t until the X Games in ’95, that vert came back and you could have a career as a vert skater. That was around the time when you were getting frustrated with things. You missed that late ’90s surge.
I saw it coming, but I was just so into partying. To me, the TV networks were just trying to cash in on skateboarding. I heard all these skaters complaining about it. I was like, “I don’t want to be a part of that. I’m going to blackball that.” So that’s what I did. I was blackballing myself from being a part of the growth of skateboarding. Other skaters had the perseverance to see it through and ended up on TV. I was having too good of a time messing my life up to participate. That was the whirlwind of deception that I was under because of drugs. I was caught up in drugs and I didn’t think clearly. I didn’t even call my mom. I wasn’t hanging out with old friends. I didn’t care about going to Venice or LA to see friends. To think about that, and know that’s how I was is insane. Now all I think about is spending time with my friends and family.

I think it’s interesting that you skated through the ’80s and you didn’t get much from it, but you loved it. Now you’ve got money, fame, world travels and everyone is calling you the rock star of skateboarding. It’s easy to get clouded up in that. It’s part of that adrenalin rush you’re searching for that skateboarding once gave you, and then you were getting that rush from drugs.
Because of who I was in skateboarding, I was getting drugs for free. They were like, “Christian Hosoi is on drugs? Bring him over to my house. We’ll party with him for free.” That allowed me to get more mixed up in it. I thought I was more special because I didn’t have to buy drugs. That was another deception that got me stuck in a rut. I couldn’t get out. It was continuous.

You had a tough reputation to live up to. You were the world traveling, rock star party guy.
Yeah, I don’t think we change our personalities and characters. We can change our choices though. When we grow up, we start appreciating things. Then you look for the foundation of who you are and your morals and values. Those are the things that paint the picture of that person. As those things change, we change. Next thing you know, we’re able to become the person that we should have been our whole lives. That rock star status can take you down the road of doing drugs and being with a ton of girls. Then there’s greed. I had to win first place. I had to get my photos in the magazines. All those things became more important than the reason I did it in the first place. That’s why with all the money involved in skateboarding today, skaters come in and get drowned out by money, fame and reputation. It makes it a drag. All of sudden, they quit and all that talent goes down the drain. That’s because it’s such a hassle to be a part of this. I always try to keep grounded with why I skate. I just wanted to skate. That’s what kept me going, and kept my fire burning. It’s a blessing to be alive and to make it through all the dark days. I’m so glad to be here with you today and I hope to set a good example. You and Reategui were like my best friends. It was always me, you and Eddie. And there was Gator. He made some bad choices. When I think about life today, we’ve grown up. We’ve had more experiences and now you have a daughter and Eddie is on his second kid with his new daughter. I’m going to be 40 this year.

I don’t think any of us thought we’d still be here pushing as hard as we are.
In the height of my competition days and traveling the world, I didn’t think there was anyone that could love skateboarding more than I did. Today, I love skateboarding so much more. I really do appreciate it and respect it and I respect everyone that does it.

Tell me about your current sponsors.
Vans, Quiksilver, Independent, Pro-Tec, Ninja, Sambazon, Khiro, Nixon, Ogio and Spitfire. We’re about to do the Rocket line of wheels coming out. I just started Hosoi Skates, and we’re just doing it grassroots style. We do not want to get carried away or out of control. We’re going to keep it real. It’s all guerrilla style right now. It’s fun. It’s such a blessing today to be a skateboarder. Nowadays there are so many pools. We used to have to hunt for pools. When the parks closed it went to vert ramps. We had a lot of fun on vert ramps, but there’s nothing like skating a pool.

Who’s on the Hosoi Skates team?
The pros are Richard Mulder, Andre Genovesi, Daniel Cardone and Sergie Ventura. Other riders are Aaron Astorga, Alabama Jay, and Devin Lamb. We’re building our team slowly but surely.

Who do you want to thank?
I want to thank all my sponsors through out the years. Thanks to Fausto Vitello. He respected skateboarding and understood what it meant. I’m so blessed to have known him. He made a huge impact on my life and thousands of other skateboarders. Thanks to the magazines for running my photos and interviews. I’m super thankful. Thanks for every letter that was written to me in prison. That kept me going. Thanks to everyone that helped raised money for my legal fees. My family and I are so thankful for that. Thanks to my idols Jay Adams, Shogo Kubo, Tony Alva, George Wilson, Dennis “Polar Bear” Agnew (R.I.P.), Pat Ngoho and those guys that were there for me and taught me stuff. They were my mentors and role models. My mother and father raised me with so much love and respect and good morals. I’m blessed to have them both in my life. I’m thankful for Juice. I’m thankful to you and Eddie. I feel like a kid again. I’m on this new road of so much happiness. I’m thankful to my wife. I’m so grateful to have her in my life. Our relationship is awesome and the foundation is built on spirituality. That’s kept us focused and we know we’re going to spend our lives together. Here we are with a four-month-old boy. I owe my wife everything. I’m so thankful to her. I’m thankful to Pastor Jay and my church family. I’m grateful for Rhythm and Classic. God is trusting me to raise them to be role models. I was on the road straight to hell even though I was a good person. Now I have my family, and my children are going to know the truth. I’m not ashamed to be a Christian and tell people about my life. If you would have told me this eight years ago, I would be doing this I would have told you that you were crazy, but the truth set me free. It’s a shame I went to prison, but I got set free. Today I have a purpose. I’m excited about my life. I really appreciate how skateboarding has received me back.

This is the 13th anniversary of Juice and we’re doing interviews with the crew. I know you’ve been interviewed a lot. What’s it like to be on the other side?
It’s super cool. I never thought I’d be an interviewer, because I was always the one being interviewed, but when I was asked to do interviews for Juice, it was something more personal. It’s about having a conversation with a friend that everyone can listen in on.

Who was the first person you interviewed for Juice?
Tony Hawk. It’s amazing because it was so natural. We hadn’t seen each other in over ten years. We got to sit down and talk over breakfast. We were just hanging out. That’s what I like about Juice interviews and what makes them so special. It’s something I would want to read. There’s no format to it. You don’t know what you’re going to find out when you read it. These are personal conversations and when I read articles like that, I get a lot more out of it, because I can really find out who the person is, and you even have a better perspective of the interviewer. You want to see who the interviewer is going to interview next. I know these guys, so you get to see the personal relationships we have. I interviewed Cab because we’re so blessed to have a great friendship. He’s on fire. It’s awesome to see someone completely anti-God find God. To interview him as one of the best skateboarders ever was great. He’s so talented on his board it looks like he’s not even trying. I love that. It’s so pleasant to watch.

In the 80s, you and Tony Hawk dominated for so long. You were gods in the way that you were untouchable. You guys were so talented.
I think it had a lot to do with how much support we got from our fathers. Our dads really were so encouraging and so behind us that it drove us to want to do it all the time. They loved skateboarding just as much as we did. They weren’t just our dads; they were dads to a lot of other skaters. They were there to help the skateboard community. My dad was working at Marina and he threw punk gigs at the skatepark. Frank Hawk was the NSA. I look back and think, “What other fathers were that much behind their kids and their careers at that time?” I think that’s one of the biggest reasons Hawk and I did as well as we did. That’s what pushed us and drove us. Then there was our competitiveness and our desire to be the best. The camaraderie between all the skaters was awesome, too. It was rad to be a part of that. I always say that skateboarding is a lifestyle. We don’t take it off like a suit. It’s an expression of ourselves. We do everything else around skateboarding. The way we dress is because of skateboarding. Where we work and where we live is going to revolve around skateboarding. How we’re going to travel revolves around skateboarding. That’s what I love about skateboarding. It’s so passionate.

What are your other favorite interviews for Juice?
The other interviews I did like Eddie Reategui were so fun. Besides Aaron Murray, Eddie is one of the closest friends I have. To be able to interview him for Juice is so special. It’s not about him or me. It’s about skateboarding. It’s about Juice making it happen. Juice has editors like me, you, Olson and Murf digging out old memories. When I interviewed Gonz, that was a special thing. To be the guy that could interview Gonz for Juice magazine and be a part of history like that is amazing. Normally, we’re so casual in our relationships with other skateboarders, but when we do these interviews we can go deeper and get the details of their stories and their lives. It’s really something special to be able to have these conversations.

FOR THE REST OF THE STORY, ORDER ISSUE #62 BY CLICKING HERE…

CHRISTIAN HOSOI INTERVIEWS
Christian Hosoi interview by Keith Hamm
Christian Hosoi interview by Dave Duncan

INTERVIEWS BY CHRISTIAN HOSOI
Tony Hawk interview by Christian Hosoi – Juice Magazine 58
Sergie Ventura interview by Christian Hosoi – Juice Magazine 59
Steve Caballero interview by Christian Hosoi – Juice Magazine 60
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