Interview and photos by Chris Gurinsky.
fs pivot
So here we are at Hemway House. What is this place?
The Hemway House has been a skate house in SF for over 10 years.
Why did you choose to come to San Francisco? You’re an East Coast kind of skater, at least seemingly. How did you get out there?
I think it was just the classic, visiting the first time and staying for a week and then extending my ticket for another week. I had already lived in and around Baltimore City for however long and I just needed some change. I came out here to try, and a closet opened up in the Hemway for super cheap. So I got a job, and just ended up staying. Within the last few months I’ve gotten a bedroom, now it feels like I live here that much more. I don’t know if it’s permanent.
It’s working for you?
Just loving it.
fs 50-50
Hell yeah. So you’re not from Baltimore?
Born on Long Island. Mom’s from Queens. Dad’s from Long Island. Grew up on Long Island. Lived there for eight years or so. I started skating in New York for sure. Those are the earliest memories in the backyard.
Did you ever skate New York City at that point?
It was kind of more local backyard type shit. We moved to Maryland when I was 8 years old and I kept skating. And we’d go back to New York to visit our families and my mom would drop us at the Brooklyn Banks.
Who’s Sean Powderly?
Sean is my older brother. He’s about seven or eight years older than me. He’s fully the reason why I got into skating. I remember looking out the back door, watching him and my cousin skate the backyard and just thinking, “Damn, I want to do that.”
Did somebody get him into skating or did he just find it on his own?
I think our cousin was the first one to get a skateboard. A couple of our cousins skated a little bit before he picked it up. Eventually my mom bought me a WWF skateboard from the grocery store. But that was pretty much how it started. He still skates, he fucking rips so hard.
bs 50-50 wallie
How did you get involved with Theories? Did somebody specifically reach out to you?
Dude, it was super random. I think it was Taylor Nawrocki who had shown some of my footage to Josh, like my part in the Threads video. He was involved with them around that time and I don’t think we’d ever met or anything, but Josh hit me up and was like “Hey man, I’ve been seeing your skating or whatever. You should come skate with us. We’re going to do a pop up Theories shop in Philly this upcoming weekend.” I was maybe 19 or so, I drove my truck up to Philly, parked it by Jake Todd’s house for the weekend, skated with them, and the ball has been rolling ever since. That shit always meant a lot to me. It’s an honor.
Do you have a job here in the City? Also I hear you’re making bagels now?
I’ve had a couple of different jobs when I first got out here pre-pandemic. I was bar backing in the Mission District at this cocktail bar, and then Dustin Eggeling was getting a bunch of skaters PA work, and that was really cool. The pandemic hits and yeah, I’ve been rocking unemployment for a minute now. But on the side hustle tip, me and Logan started making our own bagels from scratch because it really feels like there is nowhere to get a good bagel around here, none that were comparable to back home. I haven’t tried selling them yet, but it’s definitely something that we’ve been scheming on once we can get the formulas more dialed in. Right now, I’m just so tunnel vision, maintaining, paying rent, and skating the city.
Sum up the last year or so of your life in a sentence.
Try to appreciate every day and tell your friends you love them.
layback 5-0
