What’s up Chris? How are you doing today?
I’m doing really good… Livin the dream
What does an average day consist of for you?
Average day, what’s that? I usually get up, get my kids ready for school (or hopefully sleep in and
their mom does!) If there’s waves ill try and get a surf in! Then I usually go to the shop and make
stuff, drawings, machines, and tats n stuff. Sometimes go skate just depends really every day is
another crazy adventure! I love it.
So are you a professional skater, a professional tattoo artist, or a professional
family man? Which one is it?
I’m a boat capt. Surfer. Dad. Therapist. Tattooer, I like bikes too. Snowboarding is fun. I’m not pro
at anything and never was!
Do you actually have a boat?
My folks have a boat in Kona we do charter sailing trips, dolphin swims, weddings, night dives, I
capt. the boat when I’m there, sailing is another amazing thing to do.
How do you find the balance between them all?
I really don’t find any balance at all in anything, it’s always something new. I just make sure when
I’m doing something, no matter what it is, that I am present and fully focused with the task at
hand”¦ Haha shit I don’t know what the hell I’m doing I guess I just try and always move forward
no matter what.
Your two sons are rippers, how much influence do you have on their skating? Do
you try to keep a hands-off approach or are you trying to get them stoked all the
time?
Skateboarding is just a part of my family my uncle did it when I was a kid so I got it from him, I
just give them a board when there fuckin 1 and just let them fig it out. I go skating and they come
with if they want. I never tried to push them, I believe that would mess them up. They have to
express what they think about it and its really funny to watch it all happen.
Do you guys skate together much?
Well Anakin and I always skated together. He is up in Portland now just being a skate rat and
killin it. I almost don’t like skating with him though he’s fuckin gnar and it scares me to watch what
he is doing now, he is way better then I ever was, it sucks! I skate with Julian a lot now he’s an
insane goofy footer, he freaks me out as well. My 4 year old milo is just starting to skate and my 2
year old Lorenzo seems to have a death wish and I have to hide boards from him or he will kill
himself. He is on 24/7 suicide watch!
So tell us a little about your career. How did you initially get on Powell and where
did it go from there?
I was at an am contest at Powell in 1990 and they asked me ride for them I was stoked.
What was Channel One all about?
Chanel one was really cool Marty is an awsome guy. I hated quitting that company but I had a
deal I couldn’t pass up.
And what was that deal?
Jaya and I got offered to start a skate company… Adrenalin.
How’d Adrenaline all go down?
Well we were first doing it with Think and those guys are all great guys. But as far as what Jaya
and I expected and what they expected? Well basically we just didn’t see eye to eye so we
decided to leave! Jaya spoke with Fausto and he gave us permission to keep the name so Jaya
first started again with the other guys. Later on I came in and took somewhat control of it. It was
just for fun we never really tried to make a big deal out of it, it was a great time for us.
How was skating for Toy Machine? Are there any memories that stick out from
your time there?
Toy machine at the time I got on was unreal we had the best fuckin team ever it was too bad it fell
apart. I have too many good times with those guys.
Any good Templeton stories?
I don’t tell Templeton stories.
So you’re riding for Blood Wizard now, how is that and how long have you been
riding for them?
Blood wizard is the best ever we just skate and make cool shit and we don’t stress. We just do it
for the love of it. I’ve been with the wizard for about 4 years now.
Do you get a lot of artistic freedom with them?
Skinner did most of the graphics but we just came out with some new ones that Krahn and I
colabbed on. Super loose simple graphics they came out great.
So is there anywhere better to skate than SF?
There are so many good places to skate in the world, sf being one of them… The city used to be
way better, all the spots are gone now but there’s still a lot of other stuff. But man, in the 80’s and
90’s it was unreal.
What was your favorite spot from that era? Could you even choose?
Man I couldn’t choose one I was all over the world. I really just loved all the old skate parks in
Europe and Oz, I was skating a lot of the first parks in Oregon and really had some sick backyard
pools going… I guess one of my favorite spots is the glory hole that thing is sick no matter what.
Having snagged so much contest gold yourself, what’s your take on the skate
contests these days? How does street league stack up to the x-games of the 90’s?
First off I never liked the x-games or any of these bullshit corporate people who are involved in
skating! We don’t need them, they need us and I really don’t want to get into it. Skating is cool no
matter where it’s at and it’s that simple. If u can make some cash do it while u can, I’m stoked
these kids are happy and they get to skate and make a living off of it, it makes me happy.
Would you be hyped to see Julian or Anakin get into contest skating?
They both skate contest already. I don’t really think being competitive is a good way to look at
skating and I always tried to at least let them know that contests mean nothing. They’re only a
way to bring us together and have fun. If you do well cool, if you don’t do well, cool. Just have fun,
yell, and scream with you’re friends and push each other. Break yo self boy.
How about the internet? Good or bad for skateboarding?
The Internet is like everything else in life it can be used for good or for bad. You choose!
I’m sure you get this question a lot, but what’s the deal with you not having cover
when you won Skater of the Year in 95?
Honestly I don’t really know but I think it’s fuckin awesome I’m the only one, that shit is cool.
Haha rad. Obviously it was a long time ago, but is there still any animosity from
that?
General consensus is that you were one of the gnarliest recipients who
never got the same love as some of the other winners.
I never was bummed about it I could really care less. Really skater of the year is chosen by
Phelps and not votes, its a bunch of crap really it’s about who you ride for, what you did, or
whatever, whoever took pictures of it or whatever, it’s a great honor and that was enough for me.
I don’t need love from a magazine. I had and still have tons of amazing friends all over the world I
met through skating so that was the reward.
So now you’re doing Tattoos. How’d you get into that? And how long have you
been doing it?
I started tattooing in 1994. I was just interested in it for a long time and just did it more for a way
to make art. Now I’m just doing everyday and its so much fun.
Are there any similarities about tattooing and skating?
Well skating you’re standing on a board with wheels and tattooing you’re inserting into skin . So
other then blood I would say no not really.
What are some of the craziest tat’s you’ve given?
Man I don’t even know where to begin with that. They’re all crazy big or small.
Has anyone ever came in asking for some real stupid shit?
Everyday people ask for stupid shit. Its in fuckin unreal how creative people are.
Did you give it to them?
I will do whatever anyone wants. The worse the better it always makes for a great laugh.
Aright c’mon what was the most recent one?
Most recent? I tattooed the back of some girls ear that was pretty stupid I thought!
Tell us about the shop, where’s it located and how’d it come about?
Quetzalcoatl Tattoo. We are in the mission dist. in San Francisco. It’s just my friend Luis’ shop
and he asked me to work there with him so now I sit in my little corner and just draw on people all
day, unreal people pay me to do this!
Who are the other artists there?
Luis Contrares,Dustin Grea, and myself.
So what’s next for Chris Senn? Will we ever get another video part?
Honestly I don’t know I really hate filming, I always did. I just like to skate for myself with my kids.
Who knows though, maybe, only time will tell.
Shout outs to the hated and the loved?
Nothin but love! To many people to mention but thank you to all my great friends around the
world, my kids, my folks, my girl Jaz, Luis, Dustin, Bloodwizard, All my great clients, fans, past
sponsors, Hawaii, Grass Valley, and list could go on forever.
Aloha.
