This article originally appeared in issue 16 of Pop Magazine.

Few skateboarders have had the cultural impact on the sport like Chad Muska. And few skateboarders have not been caught up in at least one Muska-ism. Try these ‘tags’ in the blog of The Muska’s career; huge handrail 50-50s, peaked beanies, cargo pants, T.S.A., frontside flips, Shortys, stash pockets, Fulfill The Dream, Muskabeats, nylon track-pants, Circa CM901’s, ghetto blasters, ‘laptizzle’, Skytops. Chad remains a true original who’s lifestyle has been photocopied the world over regardless of the era. After finally locking Chad down on the phone for a trip down memory lane I’d have to add ‘enthusiasm’ to the above list. Enjoy the chat – we definitely did.

What have you been up to lately?
I’m living New York now working on a lot of art, photography and design. Bringing those worlds together as one and kind of using it as a creative outlet for the companies that I’m involved with too through like tee shirt designs and board designs and ideas for shoe materials. So just being very creative. Very creative in New York City.
You’re synonymous with Californian skating, how has being in New York changed that?
I guess I was just ready for a change in my life and I’ve been between New York and L.A. ever since I came up skateboarding. I lived here off an on for a few years a long time ago. I didn’t think I’d ever really want to live here again and then I took a trip out here and just didn’t go back.
I just watched Street League and the level of skateboarding and just the consistency is mind blowing.
It’s insane, you see the level that skateboarding has reached. When I’ve been at some of the recent competitions, tricks that would take weeks to film and practice and learn… People are just programmed to do it every try. It’s amazing and insane. The younger generation of kids just keep taking it to the next level. It’s definitely inspirational. At the same time, for myself, I just continue to do what I do and skate and contribute but not necessarily keep up at that level of competition and where it’s all at now.
I think skateboarding has evolved into a place where there’s guys there just to inspire skateboarding rather than jump down the biggest stairs or hit the gnarliest rail sort of thing. Is that what you mean?
Yeah, kind of. I have got a knee injury that I’m just coming back from now – when I moved out from L.A. I hurt my knee pretty bad, tore my ACL and lateral and medial meniscus. That took me out for a while. But as my knee is starting to heal now I’m really starting to skate and I’m going to still try to contribute where I can contribute to skateboarding and still push my boundaries. But like I said, I’m not trying to compete with anyone else out there – I’m just going to do what I want to do and hopefully the industry is still down with it.
You originally came from Arizona or Vegas or somewhere like that?
That’s a long story. [Laughs] I was born in Ohio, grew up in Jersey and Philadelphia and all around the east coast and then moved to Arizona and then to Las Vegas and back and forth between the two and then came to Mission Beach San Diego around 15 or 16 to make it in skateboarding. And I’ve been cruising around ever since.
I read an interview with Jamie Thomas the other day and he told a story about the first time you were ‘The Muska’. Do you know what that event was?
I kinda’ remember. I think I was like in a van or something and I can’t remember if I pissed him off or he pissed me off or something and I can’t really remember… What did he say?
He said you asked the photographer, (Mike) Ballard, to slap you and when he did, he hit you super hard and you were really pissed off with him and you were like ‘nobody can fade The Muska.’ And that was the start of it.[Laughs] Yeah, that’s how it began. I think I know what he was talking about, I think we were in New York City in the outskirts of the city and it was one of the first times I had ever come to New York and they were like ‘we can’t get any skating done in the city’ there’s too much shit going on. I was like ‘are you fucking crazy, we’re 10 mins from New York city and you’re not taking me?’ I got super pissed and that somehow ended up in an argument between me and Ballard.You’re obviously well known for having a personality and bit of a vibe, do you think your skills on the skateboard sometimes get a bit overlooked because of everything else that you do?
I don’t know, to be honest, I really don’t think about things like that anymore but I think with skateboarding it’s so cool when people have personality and some sort of style about them. That was my favourite part of the industry when I was coming up, and even before my time, professional skateboarders always had something about them that you could identify with, you know? Maybe you didn’t like Tony Alva but maybe you liked Mark Gonzales, or whatever it was. There was always groups of individuals that had ‘their trick’ and ‘their look’ and I like that idea of skateboarding. It’s still there but we’re starting to lose it a little bit with the Maloof Cup and X Games and all these competitions. It kind of becomes stagnant a little bit. Maybe it’s just cause I’ve been in it so long and look at it a little differently but to me in the time period when I was coming up, cool things like that made skateboarders – whether you had your own style or whatever. I like it when skateboarders do things to stand out and have that form of self expression just as much as what their tricks on the skateboard are. When you think about it, the three big booms of skateboarding – the Stacy Peralta, Tony Alva then the bones brigade, then around 2000 with you guys – that was when people had the most personality and in between that, things got a little bit homogenized. When you look at the Feedback video and Transworld did that compilation and it summed up that one day you had just killing it – it was a bit of a reality check of like, ‘Oh my god, this guy did so much stuff in one fucking day.’

It sometimes seems that, with everything else that you do, that might get overlooked…
Like I said, I try not to focus on that negative stuff. I don’t care about what anyone says about me or my skateboarding, to me it’s always been about having fun – it’s been the thing that I’ve loved most in the world. It’s part of me and skateboarding makes me. I couldn’t give a shit what anyone has to say about my career cause I’ve had fun and enjoyed riding my skateboard. Nobody can change that ever.
So going back, with Shorty’s you had one of the best selling skateboard graphics of all time, that silhouette board, I remember working in the shop and we just couldn’t get enough of them. What ended up happening with Shorty’s?
It was a classic case of a tight group, we were all young when we all came together and we were all super tight and we were travelling with each other and working closely with the owner and slowly everyone went their own way. Everyone got older and the owner, Tony, I love him to death he’s created so many amazing things and we had such a good time but then it just sort of got to the point where the connection with me and him and the rest of the riders just wasn’t like it was in the beginning. It seems as companies get bigger and grow and they start to look at just the numbers and they’re trying to figure out production and distribution and like, ‘last month we did 10 million and this month we got to do 12 otherwise we’re failing’. It seems like you start to lose what makes the company the company. For me, companies like Shorty’s, when you can see how it was back then, there was real energy going into every project that we did, we were having fun doing it and it came across in all the stuff. As you become more corporate and become more of a business you start to lose that focus on the fun.
Not only did they lose the focus on fun, they lost the focus on Rosa, Chad.
Yeah, we lost Rosa. [Laughs] I think she became a school teacher.
So after Shorty’s you were out of the skateboard eye for a little bit, what were you up to during that time?
Every once in a while I like to duck out from the industry for a little bit. I’m very interested in all kinds of things in life, I produce music, I’ve done photography, videos and editing and art. I like to just do so many different things and skateboarding is connected to all of them. It’s a major part of me and a major part of my life but it’s still just one part of who I am. Right now I’ve been focussing on photography and art, in the past music has taken me away from skateboarding… Living life, partying.
I saw you’ve shot a few skate photos. Is that something you want to get into more?
I’ve been shooting a lot of skate photos lately and I’m trying to master it slowly but surely. It’s hard. Skateboarding is a hard thing to shoot. At least it seems that way for me. Just when I think I know something I find myself in a situation when I’m trying to figure it out. I have a lot of good homies that are ex skate photographers so they pass on good advice. I’d never say I’m going to become just a skateboard photographer but its something that I really enjoy doing – hopefully I’ll have some more photos coming out in magazine soon.
One of my favourite Muska moments was when Johnny Drama fucked up your car. Were you pissed off about that?
[Laughs] I don’t know if I have a comment about that one. [Laughs] That was my one and only big acting debut – I had a couple of little ones here and there…
That was a pretty sick little cameo…
Another reason why I moved to New York City…
[Laughs] A couple of years ago you made a comeback into the skateboarding spotlight, was that getting back into skating or had you been skating the whole time just like, let’s get back in the mags a little bit?
I’d been skating the whole time but that was definitely a time period when I kinda’ got caught up in the whole Hollywood scene or whatever you want to call it. I feel like I was slipping, I should have been on my board more than I was. I wasn’t really at one with it at that time but I felt that I had to get back on it, show people that I still love this, I’m still doing it, you know what I mean? The knee injury has slowed the momentum down a little. Right now I’m just trying to get the momentum back up again and I’ve been skating around the city a lot and I’m just hoping to get another surge out there. Some new images and video and stuff. When you take little breaks now and then and get back hyped on skateboarding then shoot pictures and you get video footage and you play with the computer and start adding to your part… It’s the rush and the satisfaction of working hard at something and seeing cool results from that at the end is always just fun and it’s a good thing all around.
Yeah, I think everyone really enjoys seeing photos of you and the fact that you’re not flooded with images and stuff. It always leaves you wanting more. When you came back, you got hooked up with Supra and Kr3w, which at the time seemed really jarring, it wasn’t like a Chad Muska company but now you’re synonymous with them – how did that all come about?
I’ve known Angel at Kr3w and Supra for a long, long time; we have worked together over the years and we’ve been friends for a long time. After I parted ways with Circa and I was just floating around the Hollywood scene a bit, I really started skating hard. Angel had seen that I was on my board a lot and they had been talking about doing this shoe company and they had just got it started with Greco and Elkington. They wanted me to  get down. At that time, in the industry, there was a lot of rumours like ‘I don’t know if he’s skating any more.’ He (Angel) kind of knew earlier and we teamed up, I had some ideas and visions for a shoe that wasn’t in the market and conceptualized the Skytop. I don’t think they were really feeling the idea of that style but then it’s been very successful and a good conceptual turnaround for everyone.
I think you’re being a bit modest with how well that shoes went… [Laughs]
[Laughs] That’s cool. It’s amazing to see something that had a lot of doubt do so well. It definitely wasn’t received well at first. It was a hard time to even get the shoe made almost. It’s great to see it be that successful…. The three is coming.
I have to admit, the first time I saw it, I was just like ‘what the fuck is this?’ and it’s sort of become a worldwide shoe phenomenon with everyone trying to chase it. Does it trip you out that you had this idea that blew up so huge?
It’s pretty crazy man, yeah. It’s amazing, it’s insane. It makes you feel good to be able to come up with ideas and creations and see that people will accept it and be stoked on it, you know?
With every different incarnation of yourself, from the peaked beanie and cargo pants, and then the tracksuit and then the Skytop, you’ve set worldwide trends there. Is it weird going to somewhere like Germany and seeing someone in basically your outfit? Is that a strange thing to see?
[Laughs] Scary moments looking back on those. Yeah, it’s pretty crazy. It was crazier back then when I was 17 years old and seeing some kid dressed exactly like me, like the same exact outfit. I remember tripping out, it’s especially crazy coming where I come from. It’s amazing. It’s still amazing to be able to make things that people are down for and stoked on.
In the late 90s I think every skatepark had their Chad Muska and Tom Penny couple. On Tom Penny, what was the gnarliest thing you’ve seen him do that wasn’t filmed?
Oh my god. There’s too many to think of. One of the craziest things that just came to my mind was one time when we were at a tradeshow in Long Beach California and it was like four in the morning and I’m like out of my mind wasted and we were probably like 30 stories up in this hotel with little metal balconies and he’s jumping from balcony to balcony across them just like Spiderman or something. 30 stories in the air. That wasn’t skating but that’s one of the things that came into my mind.

Probably a good thing that wasn’t filmed cause that could have started some really bad worldwide trends.
Yeah. I remember in the heyday when Tom first came into skate, seeing some of the most insane shit. He would show up at a spot having never been there and push full speed to a set of stairs and not even know how many stairs were there and he’d just kickflip it and land it and he’d keep pushing across the whole spot doing tricks. Nobody will ever know how skilled that guy was unless you were there in that time period. You had to witness that to really know it.
Word was that some pros in California weren’t down for him cause he was so good.
Oh hell yeah. When Tom first came people were looking for anything they could possibly say about him to discredit his skateboarding cause he was so good. Everybody was like ‘that guys weird’ … Classic case is like Paul Machnau. You know, like he nose bluntslides a 30 stair handrail and people are like ‘his styles a little weird’ you know? [Laughs] It’s like, who gives a shit. The motherfucker is nose bluntsliding a 30 stair handrail! When people see stuff that’s so insane they look for anything to discredit it you know? And Tom was one of those people who was such an amazing person that once everybody got to know and see people would realize that this was the real deal – he wasn’t acting weird, this is Tom. I could go on and on about this. I had some of the best times of my life skating with Tom.
When you look back on those times in Huntington or Mission Beach, is it nostalgic or are  you just like ‘that was ghetto, we were sleeping wherever we could’…
I’ve been through so much since that time, it seems like a distant dream that I had. It’s so crazy. I really can’t explain it, that time period was so crazy. Looking back on it I’m just like ‘what the hell was I doing?’ How did I do this? I don’t even know how I did it. Like, getting drunk on Mission Beach when I knew one guy that worked at a skateshop, who went to highschool and still lived with his parents. I had these two chicks drop me off at the beach with like $30 and just from there it was on. It’s a blur, it was all just one big blur from there and everything came together. I’m getting butterflies even just thinking about it now.
You’re a modern day Corey Webster (the guy in Thrashing that gets dropped off at the start of the movie).
[Laughs] Yeah… That’s insane. I’ve got to watch that one again.
Pop Magazine is based in Melbourne and Melbourne would not forgive me if I did not ask for a Troy O’Mahoney story.
Yeah! Old dirty Aussie! [Laughs] I love that, man. Troy… So many stories. I don’t know if he’s a professional working man now, I got to be careful what I say. I heard he’s a DC sales rep now so I don’t want to ruin his reputation… Anymore than it’s already been ruined.
I think he’s done enough damage to it already. It’ll be okay.
Oh man, the first time I met him was in Mission Beach. He fucking showed up like ‘this American beer is for pussies’ and he drinks two St. Ives, or two Old English, two 40oz of malt liquor and he loses his mind, he snaps. He climbs to the top of the roller coaster, falls off, and lands halfway down with his armpits on two bars, just hanging from his two arm pits. Climbs half way back down and goes to jump over the fence off the rollercoaster part, slips in the grease, bounces off the spiked gate, lands on his back and then takes off running down the alleyway. And that was the first time I ever saw him. [Laughs] And then we didn’t see him for like two weeks and then he just showed up again and we’re like, there’s that guy that climbed up the roller coaster. And he’s just been around ever since that.
[Laughs] Excellent. Last time I saw you in Melbourne, you were DJing in a bathrobe, when…
Oh my god, that was a bad day. [Laughs] You know what was so funny. I got completely   smashed and found out I was DJing on one of those CD turntables and right before I went to DJ I burnt this mix, I did all these songs in a row and edited them, I was exporting them, I already knew what I was doing. I was editing on the move and for some reason each one of the songs had too much time at the beginning so I’m trying to DJ in the club thinking that the system isn’t working but I was so smashed I didn’t realize I had to play it for a while first before the song started. So I only had three CDs I had to spin that night and only the first song on each was working so I only had like three Jay Z songs I could play that night. [Laughs] I got super frustrated and I don’t even remember what happened for the rest of that night.
[Laughs] I think all most people remember was the DJ in the bathrobe. That’s become a bit of a legend in Melbourne.
[Laughs] That was a big trip to Australia that time. I tend to go big in life, not that I’d recommend it to you. [Laughs]
[Laughs] Thanks heaps for your time, man.
Good memories.