MARK Z. & LLOYD

The Art Trejo Interview

From Paradigm Spring 2021, Issue 6.1

BY MARK Z. & LLOYD

* Interview done at Manzanita Skatepark in Anaheim, February 2021

Mark: What was your first skateboard?

Art: It was a Dark Star. It was one of those ones that they had that fucking classic shit in the middle. I tried to break it and I couldn’t break it for the life of me. So then I started chipping it against the wall and I came to realize in the middle of it, it had the fiberglass-type stuff. It was a trip. 

Mark: What year was that? 

Art: I don’t even remember. I was at least like 10.

Mark: So, like 2020? I don’t even know how old you are, dude.

Art: I’m 23 years old. 

Mark: I told him to meet me at the bar and I’m like, ‘Wait, are you 21?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, dude. I’m 23.’ I don’t know anymore. I’m old as fuck. Well, I know a good question. Who’s uglier? Me or Lloyd? Be honest. Look at that guy. 

Art: You guys are too much. Come on. I feel like there’s something else that had history on that question. 

Mark: We’re both missing the same tooth. I was going to make fun of his teeth.

Lloyd: I’ve lost all kinds of teeth. It’s OK. 

Mark: I was going to ask you who’s fatter, but I think it’s a tie. 

Lloyd: Yeah, I’m pretty fat. 

Mark: But I just went to 42s. His belly looks bigger. That’s what sucks dude. You don’t get fat until you’re 40. Maybe 30. 

Art: I realized in my genes my dad, my grandpa, everybody they have that belly. I’ve always had that dad bod. 

Mark: Well, you can still skate when you’re fat. There’s some fat people. 

Art: Oh, yeah. It never stops me. The only thing that stops me sometimes is my knee. 

Kari: Are you originally from Anaheim or from somewhere in Orange County? 

Art: I was born in Upland right by the full pipe skatepark. I’ve been here and there back and forth because my grandma and my dad live up there and my mom lives up over here in Orange County. So I just became an Orange County kid. I couldn’t help it. I always was over there but then I would always find my way back here. 

Mark: He’s a Fullerton park local but now he’s a Manzanita park local, too. 

Art: I pretty much made any park my local park because we would move around too much. So Brookhurst Skate Park, Peak, any park. Centennial. I just made sure to skate. 

Kari: How do you guys know each other? 

Mark: Through skateboarding. You never ever remember meeting him. One time he was a little fuck running around the park. 

Art: I knew him from Matt Meyer. He was just like, ‘Yeah, that fucker right there he’s going to put you on [Mark’s skateboard company].’ And I’m like, ‘Nah, not like that.’ I just never want to be like that and later he was like ‘Go ask Mark. Go ask Mark.’ I’m like ‘no, no.’ And then finally I just fucking went up to him and asked him. 

Mark: I think I printed a board. Just certain boards are like, ‘Ah, this one’s got to be for that person.’ Someone asked me to buy a board and I’m like, ehhh. I don’t know but if I see someone I’m stoked on, I just want to give it to him. I’m the worst skateboard company in the world. I don’t sell boards. I’m the world’s smallest and worst skateboard company of all time. 

She puts her magazine everywhere so you’ve got to tell us what’s the bombest food around here?

Art: The bombest food? Do you know where we’re at? 

Mark: The Fullerton-Anaheim area. Every time I see you, you’ve got some bomb ass takeout. 

Art: I’ve always been less fortunate. Now that I’m older and providing for myself, I kind of ball out on myself, you know what I mean? But nine times out of 10, it was always just something cheap, 99 cent store. 

Mark: Nah, there’s good – like Tacos De Anda is the bomb spot around here.

Art: I never really went anywhere. 

Mark: Dude, it’s right by the park! [Mark’s son skates by.] Here comes that little asshole. Beat it, Toots. Beat it.

Toots: OK. 

Mark: Hit the bricks. Fucking, he got paid $5 – some dude paid him $5 to go away yesterday. If you skate good you can have money. 

Toots: Pay me $5 to leave. 

Mark: I’m not Layne. Layne paid him $5 to leave…. Let’s see. The classic question I ask everybody, what is skateboarding? 

Toots: Um—

Mark: Not you, asshole. 

Art: Well, I don’t really know.  

Mark: Tell me what it is to you. To me it’s freedom. 

Art: It was just always a spot for me to get away from my own feelings – still be trapped in them but express it on my board. I don’t know. 

I just always got made fun of, teased. So I wanted to be by myself. I’d rather just skate. Once I started skating, that’s when everybody started liking me and that’s when I found out who my real friends were. Now, I’m just that guy who blasts airs. But, honestly, I just feel like, fuck, it’s depressing sometimes. 

Mark: I don’t think anybody likes me because of skateboarding. It’s the opposite. I used to be the guy at the park getting drunk, throwing my shoes around. Lloyd, too. 

Art: Yeah, I’m loud and obnoxious, but I like to be myself when it comes to skateboarding. Skateboarding lets me scream if I need to. Let’s me express feelings. Sometimes they’re happy; sometimes they’re sad. But it’s skateboarding. You’re going to fall to learn. There’s no better way of saying it. 

Mark: Does weed help?

Art: Oh, yeah. I need to medicate 24/7 for my body. It just hurts. I was never a pill taker so when they would try to prescribe me anything for my knee, I just would steer clear from it. Marijuana’s always helped, especially with just being happy. 

Lloyd: Have you tried the CBD oils? 

Art: I’ve dabbled around a couple times with them, but honestly I never really found something that worked. I’m not even an ice person. I don’t even stretch when I come to the skate park.

Mark: You will when you get old. 

Art: I’ve always tried, but I just can’t get in that routine. I realize when I stretch, that’s when I hurt myself more than when I just go up into it. Say you’re doing switch grinds like I just feel good. It’s relaxing because my mind’s just thinking of the opposite. I’m just relearning everything because I’m doing everything switch now so I have more pains. My left hip, it used to be my right but now it’s my left because I’m going the opposite way. It’s just coming to learn with how to deal with pain as you get older. 

Mark: You break any bones yet? 

Art: Yeah, my knee. I have no patella. So it just dislocates and it rubs. 

Mine just popped out. I just popped it back in. That was at Chino Skate Park. That was a long story of going through my knee problem. I just waited until I could do it myself. Turned 18 and they were like, ‘Just wear this knee brace every time you’re active.’ And I did and then I low-key lost it. My grandma threw it away and I just tried every other knee brace and just kept dislocating my knee. 

So, for the past two years I was dislocating my knee three times every other month because I just couldn’t help it. I wanted to keep skating, keep going, and then I finally found this one. It was my old one but it was on Offer Up, and it was only 4 bucks. It was like a sign. 

That’s when I hit up Mark and I was like let me do some sweet grabs with one of your boards. And that motivated me to just start getting back into it because I stopped skating for a long time. I just got fat and lazy, not motivated, because I was seeing all these kids progressing way too fast and way too quick. But then I realized all it is nowadays is style. Style’s everything. If you don’t got style, you don’t have it. 

Lloyd: What about tricks? What’s your favorite trick to do? 

Art: I love blasting airs.

Lloyd: What grab? 

Art: I love tweaking a nose bone. Now, lately, just Madonnas. I’ve been kicking that motherfucker out like no tomorrow. It’s like, whoa. Couldn’t do it at Fullerton for the life of me but I don’t know. Steeper stuff is where it’s at. You have more – you’re just hanging there. I feel like I’m going to die half the time, but I somehow land it and everybody’s like, ‘Yeah!’

Lloyd: I’ve seen some clips. 

Art: I hold on for dear life. I’m what they call one bank. I’ll do a one-hit wonder. Then I’ll be satisfied. 

I’ve just come to be grateful. Every time I was not grateful, I was like, ‘OK I’m going to film this trick.’ I film it and then I’m like, ‘OK, I want more.’ And then that’s when I realized I would break my knee. Every time. 

And so I’ve just come to the conclusion be happy and grateful, even if it’s sketchy or not. I rolled away. Everybody was still hyped up. It put a smile on their face and they came up to me, ‘Hell, yeah.’ I still feel satisfied with myself like ‘All right, I did it. I didn’t die.’ I don’t know. I love skateboarding, but I don’t like the pains. 

Lloyd: Well sometimes you slam and you get up laughing because you didn’t get that hurt. 

Art: Oh, yeah, I’m one of those people I slam and I get back up and do it again because I’m not a bitch you know what I mean? You’ve got to fall to learn. 

Lloyd: You’ve got to pay to play. 

Art: Exactly.

Mark: That’s what I tell Toots. You’ve got to fall hard to skateboard. 

Art: That’s what I tell people. They’re like, ‘How did you get to where you’re at? Oh, it must be nice to be able to do all this stuff.’ And I tell them, ‘Dude I’ve been doing this for years.’ My hip was the size of a brain. I had my knee dislocated. My shoulders dislocated. My elbows chipped up. 

It’s all messed up, but that’s the beauty of skateboarding. I tell little kids everyday, just practice. 

KEEP IN TOUCH:

Art Trejo Instagram @art666trejo

Mark Z. Instagram @anaheimskateboards

Lloyd Instagram @lloyddarwinchase