What you doing nowadays?

Well, my routine is starting to become more making/selling incense, It’s called Dream Lion Incense. I’ve been doing it for the past year, but the past couple weeks/months I’ve been putting more energy into it. Like setting up at farmer’s markets and pop-up shops. Watching people come by, interacting with people, and selling them incense.

Do you still do Dope Soap?

I started Dope Soap. It’s def happening, my friends in Phoenix are putting way more energy into it now at this point. Pretty much running the show. I had a part in starting that, making the recipes back in 2011.

When or why do you use incense?

When I was a kid my parents probably burned incense. It wasn’t unfamiliar. When I lived in India they’re burning the dhoop sticks in all the temples, it’s basically a giant cloud of incense at that point. I never had this big plan, but one day I had this idea that it would be cool to make an incense company. I got on the phone, and was immediately trying to like outsource everything. And then I stopped, like fuck it, I’ll start from scratch. That way I’ll put in the proper energy to care about it, more than I would by just outsourcing everything. So I just started, I didn’t really know what I was doing at first.

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How long did you live in India?

Nine years at a boarding school in North India where I lived in the jungle at the foothills of the Himalayas.

Do you miss anything about living in India?

I don’t know man, I’m just living now one step at a time. Probably not. Maybe the food, some of the street vendors. You can’t get any better food than that.

Who are you skating with these days lately?

Mostly Mark Roberts. Several heads here in Austin. Nick Marty, Calvin Miller, Dharam. Lots of people. Lots of names here.

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How did you leave Habitat? What ended up happening?

It was kind of like they stopped paying me and I stopped paying them, really in no particular order. I got a call like, ‘we’re not gonna pay you anymore,’ and that was pretty much the end. I kind of just removed myself really. I probably could have been more proactive if I really wanted to be a part of everything, but I think I just kind of turned out. I mean I’d go on trips a lot of times, but I really wasn’t that stoked. In hindsight I did have everything fucking perfect. Maybe I wasn’t aware enough to realize what I had, that I could have probably kept it going from there.

What is Wake Robbins? Is that a board company?

No, Wake Robbins is kind of just like this creative platform that I started. I don’t really know man, in a way it’s beyond me, but it’s not a board company. I didn’t wanna make Wake Robbins a board company originally, so that’s where Birch came from. The people that came into that environment just like were the manifestation of whatever Birch is. I started it but to really call it my own…it doesn’t seem like it.

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It’s more of a group?

Yeah, kind of. It’s Mark Roberts, Jordan Mccullogh, and two new people whose names will be revealed in the upcoming video, very exciting.

How much time do you spend playing sitar?

I spend a lot of time, hours. Just depends where I’m at, I could be playing a couple hours a day. If I actually sit down and start playing, I’ll probably be there for like two hours.

Do you know what you’ll be up to for the rest of the summer?

Right now we’re working on a little edit. Just putting it together and finishing it up. Probably just making incense and setting up at the farmer’s market. That’s what I foresee in my future at the moment.

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Are you bummed that you never get to see the ocean living in Texas?

There is a beach in Texas, absolutely. There is a fine coast called the Gulf of Mexico. It has dark brown water, and it’s very murky. But it’s what we got and what we love.

Let’s end with: Any advice for kids out there trying to be sponsored?

You know I’ll say something from what I’m watching and what I’ve seen. This is my truth. Every time that there was a company that I genuinely wanted to get sponsored by, one was iPath, and one was Organika, and I went out of way to get them a tape, and it didn’t work out. It was fine, and then other sponsors actually kinda came to me. First of all I don;t know what the formula is. There’s probably not one, aside from putting your effort and energy into the work that you’re doing, like into the skating itself more than the act of getting a sponsor. And the second that you step outside of that, I feel like it probably degrades the quality of it because you’ve changed from devoting all your energy and efforts into this one thing. So I would just say, fuck shit up 100%. Do not stress out to the best of your ability. Don’t beat yourself up too much. And fuck shit up at the same time.

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