Epicly Later'd (2011–…): Season 1, Episode 5 - Chad Muska - full transcript

OnStar Center, this is
**** speaking.

How may I help you,
Mr. Muska?

How you doing today, sir?

Terrific, how are you?
Man, I'm pretty good, pretty good.

Just cruising A-Z, you know.

Yep.
Little vacation out here.

Okay.
Uh, what's going on?

You know any
good handrails there?

I have no idea.

You haven't been there yet?
No.

No?
Never been there.



All right, man.

You ever skateboard?
Nope.

You never?
Never.

Oh, man.
Guess what.

What?

Whoa!

Muska came on, and it was like,

"Who is that guy,
like, with the boom box?"

But his skill set backed it up.

He had his own style,
and it resonated.

From the age of, like,
seven or eight,

just skateboarding was my life.

And as a white dude who
only listened to hip hop music

and wanted to be cool,
he seemed to have it down



the best of anybody.

He said whatever he
wanted, he did whatever he wanted.

And he didn't give a shit.

Like, what's there not to love?

People just loved his energy,
the way he dressed.

He as like the modern day
Krishna Soy, basically.

Muska was just bigger
than skating.

When you do something
in skateboarding

and you see all these other kids
copy it,

that says something about you
and your skating.

Yeah!

Muska was literally the one dude

who went totally Hollywood.

When you don't have
a lot of responsibility

and making a good amount
of money, it's easy to think

like, "Oh, this isn't
gonna catch up to me."

Then it does.

The Muska documentary.
Yeah.

Hey, welcome back
to "Epicly Later'd."

We're here in
Hollywood, California,

and we're about to meet up
with Chad Muska.

Oh!

I would say Chad is probably

the most requested episode

that I get, that I see on
my Instagram or whatever.

People are always like, "Where's
the Chad Muska episode?"

He had such a wild career from
Toy Machine to Shorty's, Supra.

All kinds of stuff.

Crazy fashion, boom box.

Chadillac Muskalade.

And now he's doing art work.

He's a pretty sick guy.
I've always been a big fan.

And so anyway, I'm excited
to interview him,

learn about him,

ask him about Paris Hilton
and shit, I don't know.

But, um, so anyway,
I hope you enjoy it --

Chad Muska episode.

Who's hungry?

Who's the hungriest?

Max don't even know
he's about to eat.

This is their lunchtime snack.

They get eggs for lunch.

But they get...

organic chicken, rice,
sweet potatoes, green beans,

peas, spinach,
and carrots and salmon...

for breakfast and lunc--
and dinner,

but they get eggs for lunch --
not for breakfast.

Scrambled.

Can you start
from the beginning and tell me

how you got into skating?

So, my first introduction
to skateboarding was

in Phoenix, Arizona.

My dad was into Harleys,
he was a biker, you know,

and had all his biker friends.

And they got together
and caused ruckus around town.

And I always, like, felt like
skateboarding was like that.

Like, I was like, "That's just
like my dad and his homies,"

like, you know, but instead
of riding down the street

on the Harleys,
revving your engines,

we were skating down the street
and scratching out tails

and, you know, making noise.

Both my parents had gone
through addiction.

And, you know, we didn't have
a lot of money.

I was kind of like
a confused kid.

From what I gathered, he grew up
with not-much type of situation.

Like, I don't even know, just
like had nothing.

And just was, like, trying to
come up, you know what I mean?

I ended up back in
a trailer park with my mom.

I had got busted for graffiti
for, like, my third time,

and they were
really gonna, like,

lay it down on me, basically.

And so I had, like, possible
juvie time and all this stuff.

I was like, "This isn't it."

Like, "This isn't where I'm
supposed to be," and I knew it.

I knew these two girls
that were going to San Diego,

and I basically caught
a ride with them.

I left without dealing
with my charges

and got dropped off
in Mission Beach.

I guess they dropped charges.
I hope they do.

Right now, we're in -
we're in Mission Beach, man.

This is where I came,
this is my first place

that I got dropped off
in California.

This is where it began.

When I first got into town,

San Diego definitely was
the Mecca.

Like, you'd show up,
and there'd be, like,

Jamie Thomas and Donger.

And if you wanted to make it as
a pro skater at that time,

that's where you --
you had to go.

**

Wow.

Memories, man.
A lot of memories.

We used to party on this beach.

That was about a year
of never knowing

where I was gonna sleep and,
you know, sleeping on the beach

when I had to or
with random tourists

that came through or --
whatever it was, it was

a different scenario kind of
every night at that time.

My homie, George, is coming.

It was like all the skaters
that were here,

and then there was,
like, the beach, like,

locals that would, like,
kind of run the scene over here.

Hope they're not
too crazy nowadays.

Yeah!
The Muska landed!

What it do?!
We all!

Yeah, O.J.,
what up, what up?!

The Muskrat!

How you doing, bitch?!

Dude, where's the fire hydrant?
Where's the book!

You want to 180
a fire hydrant again?

Choose which one,
choose which one!

- Dude, be --
- Hey, Muska!

What's up, what's up, what's up?
Straight up!

The way -- the way that
it happened and him being here

and people were like,
"Where did this kid come from?"

He was dirty white trash, like,
fucking looked like he listened

to Slipknot tagger kid with
a fucked up muskrat tail,

half premise cut.

And, like, I hung out with him
for, like, a good eight months

and just liked him 'cause
he fucking just talked

nonstop shit!

And I just, I'm like, "Dude,
if he can fucking skate half

as good as he can talk shit,

he's gonna be
the best skateboarder ever."

Sure enough, ended up being
even better than that.

**

San Diego has a smell,
man, a specific smell.

I remember this.

And then there was, like,
one little bump right here,

and we used to, like,
do tricks into the street.

This was the zone
back in the day.

We would just skate all day

and sit on this beach wall
right here, pretty much.

We lived right here.
This was my home.

Take a shower at the stalls
right over there.

That's where -- that's where
I took showers was right there.

This is what we'd do,
we just kind of sit here

and just watch people go by.

My priorities were to wake up,
find enough money

to get some food,
get a little money

for some weed,
a little money for a 40,

and, hopefully, run into a girl.

Simple times, man.

Did you sleep out here?

If I ever slept here,
I'd go to the bay over here.

I could show you where
it's at across the street.

Yeah, let's go over there.

**

Definitely this was our, like,
right here was a total chill.

Pass out here on the grass.

But then there's, like,
the bay over there

where the sand is, too.

And that was a --
That was a little spot

where nobody ever used
to mess with us.

When you were sleeping
out here, were you, like,

"Shit, this sucks.
My life sucks"?

Or were you like,
"This is awesome"?

Like, now I feel like--
I thought it sucked.

Yeah, I didn't want
to be sleeping outside.

I remember.

Sleeping bag or just out?

We would have --
Sometimes I would have, like --

I had a backpack and I had,
like -- I had a blanket,

I'm pretty sure, in the ba--
in the backpack or like a --

a big beach towel I think I had.

I spent a lot
of time just thinking.

Laying here and just thinking.

Thinking about what?

I don't know what.
I wasn't really thinking,

like...

that I wanted to try
to pursue, like,

anything major at that time.

I just wanted to, like...

have a house, I guess.

Have somewhere to sleep.

Yeah. This must be
a trip coming back here.

But, yeah.

Whatever else
I've done in my life,

it wouldn't be special
without these times.

I got a little emotional, dude.

Oh, man.

It's been a lot.

Oh.

Long ride.

Oh, man.

These -- These feelings
and emotions I'm having

right this second are just...

like, great.

You know what I mean?
Like, it's like --

My eyes are watering,
but, like, it's because of

so much, like, so much, like --
So much bad happened here,

so much great happened here.

So much, like --
so many stories.

But, phew, yeah.

What up, tree.
I want to touch this tree.

Yeah.

It's still going.

My buddy.

Oh, there it is.

How are you doing?
These are my beer girlfriends. Hi, there!

We drink lots of beer.
Where are you from?

I'm here, no, I live here.
Oh, okay.

All right.
Where are you girls from?

So, I met Chad in '95.

I started seeing him around PB
and Mission Beach and stuff.

I was really into filming,
and I kind of grew up being into filming.

So I would film
whoever was ripping.

It didn't matter who
they rode for or whatever.

I just wanted to be a part of it
and be around rad skating.

Chad was ripping,
like, all the time, like,

always focused, always had
a trick idea he wanted to do.

He was always super motivated.

So I started just filming him
here and there.

We started skating together
and he had the connection

to all the photographers

and video cameras
and stuff like that.

I was still building
the Toy Machine team,

and we were starting to film
for "Welcome to Hell."

And I was like, "Man, if you
want to be a part of this thing,

I could talk to Ed."
And he was like, "For real?

Yeah, like, let's do it."

You know, when Jamie got on
Toy Machine with --

He's the one who shaped up
the team a little bit.

And I just saw that he was,
like, fully into doing a video

and said, "Go for it."

Ed Templeton started
Toy Machine.

It was completely his company,

and I love Ed
and I look up to him.

And he's, like, such
a mentor of mine and Jamie.

Just the idea of being on a team
with those guys, I was like,

"Yeah, of course,
100%, let's do this."

Everything went from there.

In the '90s, Chad Muska,
Toy Machine, Jamie Thomas,

big rails -- all that
was coming together as, like,

this new type of
skateboarding, man.

And seeing the stuff Chad
was doing in the magazines,

I was like, "Dude, I can't wait
for this Toy Machine video

to come out to see
the footage of this stuff."

**

So we start filming
"Welcome to Hell,"

and things started
to get tense at that time.

Things were like,
"Okay, like, we gotta make

a bad-ass video right here."

We wanted to shock
the skateboard industry.

**

I don't think either one
of us intended for it

to get competitive, it just
kind of naturally did because

we were both so hungry.

I was like,
"I'm gonna take Jamie out.

I know I can do it."

'Cause I felt like he already
kind of was having his shine,

and I was like,
"It's my time," you know?

And it wasn't nothing
personal against him,

because I was 100% grateful
for everything he did for me

and was doing.

But I wanted what he had, too.

We all knew how hard everyone
was working.

Like, Jamie was getting gnarly.

Chad was getting gnarly.

It was the gnarliest video
of all time.

**

We were both stacking footage,
and it was happening,

and it was all coming together.

But Chad had a few injuries
during that filming period.

- Ahh!
- They were filming

the video for a year.

They put their heart and soul

and blood, sweat, and tears
into it.

And then, like,
you can't film anymore

and somebody else
on the team is out

absolutely killing it nonstop.

You know, that must, like,
weigh pretty heavy on you.

Well, usually in skateboarding,

if you have the last video part,

that means you got
the best part.

And I wanted
to have the best part.

And I knew I could do it.

And so the fact that I was
injured and that was the reason

why I couldn't do it really
didn't sit well with me.

You know, I was like,
"Jamie, you got the part."

The fact that I was
potentially stealing, you know,

some of the limelight,
it seemed like our friction

kind of grew
as we got closer and closer

to the release of the video.

I'd already kind of come
to an acceptance that, you know,

I -- I had been hurt and
I wasn't getting the last part.

But I was still happy
with the video and proud

to be a part of that team.

And going into the premiere,

it was like a big time for me

because I felt like a lot of
the hard work I had been putting

into skateboarding, everything
was gonna start to come back

through this video.

And it was sort of a -- a --
a milestone or something to,

like, showcase what
all that hard work was.

The situation with the premiere was we
were putting the last title in the video,

and then we were gonna
output it to tape.

You know, we had hours
until the premiere.

I remember being out front,
and somebody got me a bottle

of Goldschlager,
and I was, like, pounding it.

All of a sudden, everybody's
like, "What the heck?!

Like, what's going on? Like,
where's the video, where's the video?!"

We're all standing around
worried, like,

"Where's the tape,
where's the tape?"

When we put Elissa's title in,
it crashed the computer,

and then the program
wouldn't open back up.

I show up to the front
of the theater,

and it's just a madhouse.

There's dudes hammered,
there's, like, people fighting.

It's just, like, mayhem.

They called it.

The video's not done,
it's not coming.

I remember thinking
they were joking.

Chad was really drunk
by that time.

Chad comes walking up to me,
like, "You motherfucker!

You fucking suck
at running a company!

Fucking asshole,
you ruined my night!

This is my night, you fucker!"

I couldn't comprehend in
that drunken state of mind

that the video was not
gonna show up that night

and we weren't gonna have
this premiere because

that was impossible.
That couldn't be what

was gonna happen
that night, you know?

He's raging right in my face,
you know, like, yelling,

screaming at me, spitting on me,
basically, like -- agh!

You know, and I'm like,
my pride kicks in, too.

I'm just like all, "You can't do
this to me in front of --

in public like this,
like, it's not cool."

Chad was young.
He was probably --

He was probably only 17.

And to be 17 and have that much,
like, hype around you is gnarly.

Like, I don't know that there's been
that many people in that position.

And then you throw, you know,
like, an abundance of alcohol

in the situation,
and you got a 17-year-old,

like, all sorts
of shit can happen.

We're lucky all it was was an
argument in front of a premiere.

I remember I woke up the next
day, and I was really hung over,

and I was like,
"What happened last night?"

And then I think Ed called me,
and he was like, "You're --

You're kicked off the team."

And I was like...

"Whoa. Like, what?

Like, I'm kicked off
Toy Machine?"

I was so bummed.

I was just like,
I couldn't believe it.

I talked a lot of shit,
and I paid the price.

Oh, my God, man.

**

Toy Machine was a major
step in my life, but, you know,

just one little thing could be
set off wrong in our industry,

and you're done,
your career is over.

A lot of kids don't understand
that and think about it.

After I got kicked off
Toy Machine,

that reality kind of
kicked me in the ass.

I had this empty feeling, like,
"Well, I did it -- became pro,

I skated for a rad company,
but now it's over."

I knew there was tension
between Chad and I.

We were, like, not even really
talking that much at this time.

And "Welcome to Hell" was just
like, overnight,

it was just exploding.

So there's all this hype

for this "Welcome to Hell"
video,

and then Chad ends up going
different ways.

That footage never comes out.

I felt real sad
that, like, I wasn't

in "Welcome to Hell"

because it's, like,

such a major impact
in skateboarding and --

and a representation of an era.

That's when I was like...

"Well, I'm just gonna have
to do it on my own then."

You know, there was this company
in Santa Barbara

called Shorty's.
Tony Buyalos started it.

I think there was only, like,
a couple bolt companies

at the time, and it was huge.

And Tony wanted
to start a board company.

Chad had just had a falling out

with Toy Machine,
was a free agent.

And I think Tony saw an
opportunity to, like,

"Let's grab Muska,
make this his thing."

Chad, Tony, Eric.

Hello.

I just believed in him.
Like, when he spoke to me

and we had these talks,
I was like, "We can do this,

like, for sure." And he offered
me a lot of money.

**

I think a lot of these dudes
are struggling, man, you know.

That's the life of a
skateboarder in your twenties.

Once Shorty's started,
Chad had some cash.

I remember he bought,
like, a nice Honda Accord,

went and got some tats,
bought some new clothes.

But beyond just the money,
he also told me that

you can build a whole team
and do whatever you want to do.

And I was just like,
"Okay, I saw a vision."

Steve Olson, Brandon Turner,
Peter Smolik.

These guys were
virtually unknown,

and they were better
than everybody.

He hit me up, and he was like,
"You down?"

And I was like, "Fuck, yeah!"

It was like a dream come true
to me, you know what I mean?

I always looked up to him, and
I couldn't believe it, you know.

Brandon actually got on fuckin'
Shorty's.

I was like, "Oh, sick!"

At that point, I was like,

"Fuck it, whatever I'm about
to fucking either skate for Zero

or Shorty's, and then fuck it,

I'll just fit in better
with Shorty's and shit."

- Whoa!
- I mean, it was definitely

a lot more heavily hip-hop
influenced brand.

You know, so it was really,
like, I think based around

a culture that, like,
I identified with.

Represent, represent!

Chad was unstoppable.

**

- Oh, my God, man.

He just produced footage.

Skateboarding for life.

Whoo!

**

Whoa!

So, a normal skate day,
you're lucky if you get

one decent trick on film.

Ah!

Oh!

This day in Arizona
with Chad, he got, like,

15 insane tricks,
which is unheard of.

There was definitely,
like, this one day we had went

to Arizona, skated from the
start of the day into, like,

3:00 in the morning
or something.

We had just nonstop hit spots.

And I guess it became kind of
an epic day that people

would talk about.

The day in Arizona was crazy.

I mean, he was just getting
trick after trick after trick.

And it kept going.

At the end of the day,
we'd go have dinner.

He's drinking margaritas, and
then on the way out of there,

he's like, "Oh, I know
this crazy rail,"

after he's done all
this crazy shit.

Like, "Let's go look at it."
And it's like 11:00 at night,

and we light up this rail
that's, like, down, flat, down.

The thing is what people don't
know from the video parts

is all of that, like,
hundred times at the top,

like, seeing if
everybody's ready.

Right here!

And I would yell random things.

I don't even know what I would
yell, like, "This is for

the homies right here!"
Or, like, you know,

I don't even know what homies
I was talking about,

but it was for all the homies.

Like, "Wait, all right, hold up!

Yeah, let's get it."

Like, hundreds, you know.

And then he'll just --
He'll just do the first one.

It's like some weird, like,
I don't know,

he has to hype himself up.

Sometimes with
video parts, you're on it,

and you just get that day
and you're just getting all

your tricks and feeling
and it's working out.

And -- and that was one
of those days for me.

Whoa, first try!
Yeah!

Yeah, wow!
It seemed like things

really started to, like,
take off and kind of snowball

from there, and it was really,

like, the peak
of my career time.

There are very few
skaters that influenced skateboarding

culturally from the sense of
the way people dress

to the way people act,
and Chad did that.

He'd see kids completely
influenced by him.

They were dressing exactly
the same.

You know, with all
the accessories,

the boom box,
and all that stuff.

But he was also nose-blunting
14-stair rails.

It was that
iconic Shorty's board.

Yeah, and he -- I'm sure he sold
a shit ton of those.

I still have the
rising sun Muska board, like,

in my room at home right now.

You know, O.G.

Not on eBay, dawg. O.G.

He was the biggest ever.

I remember doing to school
and seeing a girl bawling

like Beatlemania.

Like, "Oh, my God, Chad Muska!"
Like, bawling.

And I was just like,
"Holy shit!"

Like, this is insane.

Those guys came up with
the idea of doing a big tour

through Europe.
Kids were just going crazy.

And I just remember thinking,
like, "Oh, my God!

This is crazy!"

When Muska came up,
the cool thing in skateboarding

was to be low-key and subtle

and let your actions do
the talking.

You know, and anyone that was
putting on a show was shunned.

Muska had that, but he had
the skill to back it up.

And so people loved it.

**

Chad had basically risen
to the top of skateboarding,

but in a very, like,
solid sense.

It wasn't like
just overnight hype.

He worked so hard at making
a name for himself,

I think that he was looking
for what was next.

The Tony Hawk Pro Skater thing
came up.

You know, they were like,
"We're gonna make a video game,

we want you to be in it."

He was one of the first
picks of "THPS," 'cause he was

-- He was unique.

**

I was, like, super hyped on it,

but I never even
in a million years

would imagine the impact
that it had.

That just took our names
and opened it up to households

beyond any way skateboarding
could have ever carried us on.

That's when you started walking
around,

random little kids were like,
"That's Chad Muska!"

Chad Muska's my --
my favorite skateboarder!

After the success from that,
I was approached by

some other friends
to start up Circa.

And similar to Shorty's,
they offered me sort of

free reign to start
this company,

have ownership in it,
and pick a team.

I feel that until he got into
my situation and started

having to run the team,
you know, kind of like play

the role I was playing
at Toy Machine,

we didn't reconnect
until after that.

I think that that
just created more common ground

for Chad and I.

Initially, I actually
talked to Jamie Thomas.

He was my first pick because
I also thought that there was

something really interesting
about bringing us back together,

because everybody was still kind
of looked at us as, like,

enemies, I guess.

And I thought, like,
what better way then to --

to start a company than
to bring both together.

I was in a similar position of,
you know, being in the Tony Hawk

"Pro Skater" video game.

And Chad and I came back
together to work together again,

and we'd both grown up a bit.

And we got along way better
than we ever did before.

I mean, basically, Circa was
huge -- blowing up like crazy.

Chad and I were still blowing
up, and those guys came up

with the idea of doing
a documentary on

a big tour through Europe.

But that trip was crazy.

**

It seemed really surreal.

Everywhere we went,
kids were just going crazy.

Dude, you gotta be filming this.

I didn't know that
we had become that popular.

Like, we would sign autographs
for hours and hours.

Like, sometimes it was endless.

And I just remember thinking,
like, "Oh, my God, like,

this is crazy," you know.

**

Chad carried himself in such a
way, and he was so charismatic

that the hype was just so big.

We went to Germany.
It was hectic.

These kids, like, bum-rushed me.

It was insane!

And I literally had to, like,
run full-speed down this block.

And, like, I look back,
and there was, like, 300 kids,

like, running after me.
And I, like,

jumped onto this car.

And Muska just starts running
up this way.

I'm like, "Oh. Muska, where
you running to?"

And I look behind.

There's at least probably
200 kids

running after him,
screaming his name.

It's madness here.

I mean, I feel bad because
I can't sign everybody's stuff,

but at the same time, I got --
I got a -- I'm a human, man.

I don't -- you know, and
that's -- That's inhuman, dude.

That was like...

Yeah, I never felt
something like a --

I guess a rock-star moment.

That was the ultimate time
for me where I was like,

"Wow, this is the height
of anything," I think.

It was some crazy shit.

You know how we do this.

Cross country steez.

I've had so many
interests in my life.

In order to stay interested
in skateboarding,

I have to go off
and do other things at times.

If I only did skateboarding
the whole time,

I think at some point, I would
have just become bored of it.

All aspects of hip hop culture
have been a major influence

in my life, and so, like,
within my crew,

we were always making --
making beats or DJing

or something to that level.

But that was when
I first was able to, like,

from skateboarding, get some
of my own equipment

and start to produce
and make things,

which eventually led to things
like a -- a strong obsession

of making music.

Oh, really?
Hmm.

I'm feeling
this beat pretty hard.

Nice.

* Waiting for Biz Mark

* To come through
to the studio *

* Yo, what we gonna do
We gonna lay the dope track *

* Motherfucker That's not wack *

* It's Muska beats, keep
you best step the fuck back *

* I kick it freestyle
over this fresh beat *

* Motherfucker, what's up
Yo, I'm on the streets, man *

* Rolling on a skateboard
Doing my thing *

* Motherfuckers stepped up and
get punched with a gold ring *

* That's...

Nice.
Yeah.

I'd make my own music
so much that, you know,

I really don't...
I really don't listen

to too many people's new music
that much.

I'm just, like, rocking
my own beats, man,

just listen to the beats.

So, I recorded the -- a
majority of the "Muska Beats" album

at the SoHo Grand
in New York City,

and brought together
some insanely influential

hip hop artists that, like,
made me who I was

at that time, and I couldn't
even believe I was working

with them and that it actually
was happening, you know?

Yeah!
Are we recording?

We are recording
this motherfucker.

Oh, class is in session.

Yeah.
Believe that!

Yeah.

What's the deal,
what's the deal?

For me personally,
this album will be more --

more about -- about where you're
at lyrically to where, uh...

I got it right here.
Let's do that.

You gonna do more
than break even.

You -- You gonna have respect.

The world will be like,
"Oh, you're a famous skateboarder,

so that's all
you're capable of doing."

And I would look at it,
like, the opposite way.

If somebody could work hard
enough to become one thing

and was successful at it,
then they should be able

to apply that energy
and work ethic to anything

in their life
and become whatever it is

they want to become.
For me, it's always been

true expression.
It's always been, like,

"Oh, I got this idea,
I'm just gonna do it.

Who cares what anybody thinks?
Like, I'm gonna make music

because I want to make music."

If the world chooses to accept
it or not, that's up to them,

but nobody can tell me what
to or what not do create or do.

I'll never limit
myself with anything.

I thought the "Muska Beats"
thing was a little crazy,

but the fact that he got
legendary rappers

from the '90s and
all kinds of people

to come down music him,

I was like, impressed that
he did that, you know?

It's him, though, you know, so,
like, of course he can do that.

Beat is -- The beat is a'ight,
though.

Yeah, sick.

"Muska Beats" gone wild.

We can pull it out,
just get us down, man.

Well, I thought --

Yeah, we got--

That's right, "Muska Beats,"
baby.

Flavor Flav and the
"Muska Beats," kid!

A lot of you saw a video of me
the other day on "TMZ," um...

where I came across as
a complete drunk idiot,

and I can agree, I was one.

They're, like,
prized possessions that I keep right here.

Had that one for 17 years.

That one for 15.

You're kind of the new one.

You guys are new.

So you don't mess up.

If I didn't become
a skateboarder,

I would have tried
to do something

within fashion or design.

But I feel like if I didn't do
it through skateboarding,

the world would have never given
me that opportunity.

This is my closet.
They're kind of a mess.

There are certain ones I've kind
of saved that, like,

that were special
to me that I liked.

Um, the first time I had
the ability to have anything,

like, associated with my name,
I wanted it to represent me

in a true way
that I felt was me.

He had a weed stash pocket
in the tongue.

No one had done that.

And that was Muska.

Kids come up to me over
the years and they're like,

"Your stash pocket saved
my ass."

I knew kids, they said
they got arrested with weed

in their shoe, taken into jail,

and let back out
with the weed still in.

And got away with it.

I've had a, like,
pretty good run with --

Most most of the shoes
that I've designed

have done fairly well
over the years.

Oh, yeah.

What are they?

When you look at what Muska
does, he's very successful

at everything he touches.

He got on Supra,
and then he made the Skytop.

The first impression of
the Skytop was like,

"What the fuck?"

I didn't think he would have
the success it did.

It just went crazy.

Jay Z wore, and Kanye.

It was amazing,
'cause it was Muska again.

Oh.
We made these ones for Slash.

Those were for Slash?
Yeah.

Anaconda.

So at one point,
he was making a lot.

He lived in the Chateau Marmont

for, like, months at a time.

It's like $500 a night.

No, I still don't know --
don't understand how.

They said in an interview, like,
like, "You put on some weight.:

And was like,
"Yeah, money makes you fat."

And I was like, "Wow!
This guy is the best."

Like, that type of shit,
like, that is the best.

From being a kid that
never had any money, like nothing,

just having that money was,
like, so insane to me.

In the real world's terms,
I wasn't --

I've never been really rich.

Like, there's rich, and then
there's, like, hood rich.

I made it hood rich,
maybe a little bit.

But people in skateboarding

don't educate you
on money and how it works.

I was making a lot of money, but
I was spending it just as fast.

You know, yeah, I wanted
to go get a nice car, I want --

I wanted to flaunt
these things at that time.

And it was kind of part of
a bit public persona

and a bit of my own fulfillment.

I guess I was chasing
that materialism fulfillment

at that time.
And that was just a start of it.

So, no -- no Muskalade?

The Prius -- budget cuts.

Where's the Muskalade?

Prius life, baby.

It's a smart choice, man.
Let me tell you, kids.

Young skaters, don't spend
your money on Escalades.

Get a Prius.
You'll thank me in the long run.

Priuses are nice.

This is where celebrities live?

I don't know, I'm sure
there's some around here.

Like, Moby used to live right
there, but he sold the house.

I -- I don't really
pay attention too much

to that kind of stuff nowadays.

I came to L.A.
not knowing anybody,

not having anything
really, you know,

and just started building
from the ground up.

It was like a whole new world
that, like, I'd never imagined

would accept me
as a skateboarder.

Muska was literally the one dude

who went totally Hollywood
when he got here.

Chad was with the celebrities.

Chad was with Paris Hilton
and stuff like that.

That was his scene.

I would go
to night clubs where, like,

all these famous people were at,

and they were like,
"Come on in, Chad."

You know, I'm like, "Whoa!"

Like, you know,
I was living the dream.

I don't think he had an agenda.

I think he was just doing
exactly what the fuck

he wanted to do, which was
the Muska.

**

Everyone's like, "Yeah, Muska's,
like, with Paris Hilton

and Nicole Richie, and, like,
you know, girls like that."

And we were like, "What?"!

Being a skater
from living in a trailer park

to, like, next thing you know,
you're in L.A.,

and all of a sudden,
you're up in a club with, like,

Puff Daddy and the Olsen Twins
and, like, Mick Jagger and --

I mean, got to party with
all these, like, crazy people.

I couldn't even believe
it was happening.

**

But I was partying a little
too hard at that time period.

I'm either a party animal
or I'm completely sober.

I'm either, like,
the gnarliest skate rat

or I don't touch
my board at all.

Like, I just, like, I'm so
extreme with my actions.

That Hollywood sort of
superstar Muska era,

it was funny.
But it worried me, for sure.

You don't want to see somebody
get just chewed up and spit out,

which can easily happen.

Everything is kind of like
a drug in life.

You know, fame, girls,
alcohol, experience.

I'm very aware of when
I'm being self-destructive,

and there was a lot
of financial things

happening in my life.

My father passed away right that
same time.

And to some extent, I was, like,

"I'm gonna do myself in,"
I guess.

Maybe not, like, take a gun
and shoot myself in the head

or slit my wrists,
but I was gonna ride it

till the wheels feel off,
and the wheels almost fell off.

Help!

Stop fucking pushing me!

No, help, help!

Hey! Hey!

If you've ever partied hard
and, like, woke up the next day

with your group of friends
and been, like, "Oh, man,

like, you really messed up
last night.

That was pretty embarrassing."

So imagine doing that
in front of the whole world.

You know, like, I've done that,

and I've embarrassed myself
completely in the public eye.

These haters.

These haters, haters, haters.

Haters!

These motherfuckers right here

got a little white uniform,
gold badge.

Black uniform, gold badge,
all that bullshit.

Take me to jail right now.

See what it does to me.

Nothing -- ever!

Something really clicked
in my head

that God forbid I died

or something happened, would
the world remember me as that?

A lot of you saw a video of me
the other day on "TMZ," um...

where I came across as
a complete drunk idiot,

and I can agree, I was one.

I am not making
any excuses for it.

Um, and I am completely sorry.

And I hope that society
understands me and forgives me,

'cause I got nothing
but love for you.

Oh, oh!

Aah! Oh!

Aah!

Aah!

There you go.
Green juice.

We're talking about trying
to get my --

my healthier lifestyle.

Healthy, unhealthy.
Healthy, unhealthy.

That's not as bad as a 40 of...

Yeah, coffee.

Coffee's a little bit better
than a 40 of Old English

or St. Ides, I guess,
actually was the --

was the drink at one time.

Coffee.

Who'd have thought?

At the end of my
sort of club craze, you know,

like, I was partying a lot,
and I decided I want to go back

and skate more, and get more
into skateboarding.

During that time period,
I started to film

and put some stuff out there.

[ Skegss' "Fun" plays ]

**

Yeah, Chad!

Yeah!

* Cut my hair
'cause it's too long *

* Dye it black
'cause it's too blonde *

* I just wanna have fun time

* Burning out doing way
too much *

* I can't sleep thinking
about this stuff *

* I just wanna have a fun time

* I just wanna have a fun time

* With you

Ow!

You can skateboard
for as long as

your body can allow you
to skateboard.

I've always found ways to heal
my body through all these years.

Oh, my God!

What the fuck?!

I'm so, like, convinced
I do everything myself.

But sometimes I have
to realize I can't.

What the fu--

As we get older,
our bodies take its toll, man.

And I think that's the one thing
that's been hard for me

is just to see my friends get
older and not be able

to skate like they used
to be able to skate.

Oh, oh!

Aah! Aah!

Ahh!

Ahh!

Oh!

It may be not
as bad as I thought.

That was kind of
the beginning of, like,

"Wow, I had to get surgery
on my knee."

And then I kept skating on it
and still went on tours

and filmed and everything.

And then I had a
really bad back injury

about three
or four years ago now.

I try to fix my back.

This is my inversion table.

I was skating in Mexico City,
and I did this frontside flip

and right when I landed,
it was like, "Pop."

Ow!

They found that a herniated disc
had slipped out,

and it's, like, my lower back.

Like, I've had so many
gnarly injuries,

but this has been the one
that, like,

really stopped me
from skateboarding.

I don't know if
it's over forever.

I'm just -- I'm just really
scared to get this surgery.

It's crushing when grow up
as a skater

and that is
your creative outlet,

that is, you know,
your salvation,

and suddenly, it's taken away
from you

just 'cause of an injury.

You gotta find ways to --
to fill that void.

This is where I...
This is where I work,

my garage, my studio --

temporary when I don't have
another studio.

Skateboarding was always
the backbone of everything.

Having that taken from me makes
you question everything.

Like, what's next, what do I do?

Like, can I still design these
shoes if I'm not skateboarding?

Art has really become
that outlet for me

that skateboarding was
for all my energy

that I have ideas
and energy within me.

The charismatic person that
created a whole style

of skating and sty--

and look is definitely the kind
of person

that would be an artist,
you know.

So it kind of like follows suit
he would have that charisma

that kind of spills
into everything he does.

To me, these take
on landscapes and --

and this becoming the horizon
and the sun, the moon, and --

and then the square is more
of a representation of --

of man or of --
or another dimension.

This aesthetic really stuck
with me,

and I keep doing it
in repetition.

And, eventually,
I'll probably get sick of this

and then move on to something
else, too, like I normally do.

Or this will then --
the repetition of this will lead

to something -- something new.

Whatever he wants to do,
he sets out the goal to achieve it.

He's left a legacy, definitely,
in skateboarding.

He's definitely one of the few
that put his stamp of, like,

"Yeah, Chad Muska."

You know, that name's
gonna live forever.

Initially, I tried to escape
skateboarding from my artwork.

I was really trying
to tap into fine art

and find my space in there.

And in the process
of doing that,

I didn't realize that everything
I did in skateboarding

was still there and was still
applying to the artwork.

So, quickly, I realized that
skateboarding is a part of me

no matter what I do,
and will have an influence

on everything I do in life.

[ Supakaine's "Light It Up"
plays ]

I -- I just know that, like,
mentally and physically, be --

beyond this one thing,
I still could go break it off.

I know I can.
Like...

* I swear it ain't the front
but baby, we gone *

He still is really motivated.

And he knows that people want
to see it again.

So he knows that
he could have fun

and just enjoy skating around
or cruising or, you know,

doing whatever it is
that he wants to do.

We're all just trying Muskas off
of the old-school keggers.

Where's Muska?
Hype it up!

* I get love, give love

I mean, I've thought about
this kind of idea of a process.

Can I do this?
You know, like, here we go.

Like, here's the ride.

The end is either gonna be a
banging-ass video part or the --

or the end is gonna be me
depressed with the --

with the -- with
a fucked-up back surgery.

* We run deep

* We gonna lock it up

Thank you.

Ain't done one of those
in a hot minute, son!

* It ain't no thing, it ain't
no thing, ain't no thing *

I don't know how I did it.

I'm gonna be hanging tomorrow.

* We lookin' clean * Light up

* I want the chain * Light up

* We on the ceiling

Okay, let's go on
some handrails, son!

Handrails!