Color Magazine Blogger Profile

The last part of Michael Hsiung's photos from the One Way or Another Tour.

Drawing together

This is what it looks like when artists hang out in a hotel room.  Lots of drawing and then laughing.  One of my favorite moments was being able to hang out with all these guys while they were being creative.  I think I was watching Conan the Barbarian and trying to draw Grace Jones.  That drawing didn't come out too great.

Hospitality

We were driving from our campsite, when Isaac noticed that our bag filled with our sleeping bags had gotten loose and fallen off the van some 500 feet back.  We had to stop and PNUT, Phil and I went to retrieve it.  After we had gotten the bag and started our trek back to the van, a truck pulled over and offered us a ride in the back.  People were really friendly and super cool on our trip, even the cops to an extent.  I have to say that I can't imagine someone offering us a ride that quickly in a certain city I live in. Now I'm going to get hate mail.

ill Phil

I've been skating with Phil my entire skateboarding life.  We were in middle school together, and I remember he was the first kid I knew who did his own laundry and made his own big pants.  I was really glad he decided to come on the trip. One, he is a rad skater and secondly, it was our first time traveling together which rules.

Andy Pommier

Andrew is one of the reasons I went on the trip and really have to say he's an awesome dude.  I had met him a while back in a group show at the Carmichael Gallery in Los Angeles.  He had asked me if he could crash at my pad for a few days and the rest is history.  He's sent me a rad letter with artwork and signed me a copy of his book.  He's like an mentor in a weird way or an older brother too.  I look up to him for sure - he's taller than me.  Anyhow during our trip, we often had to set up and take down shows as quickly as possible. By the time we had reached Escapist in Kansas City, MO, we had it down to a science.

Brett Millard

One Way or Another artist Travis Millard wasn't able to make it on the trip, but we often got some helpful Kansas City, MO tips from him.  The hospitality extended when his brother Brett and his lady came to the show.  He gave me among other un-mentionable items, a switchblade sticker and a zine.  He was a nice dude and we were really happy to meet him.  He told me to get an egg ontop of my Town Topic cheeseburger and boy was he right. That was some good eating.

Escapist

The guys at Escapist, Nick and Dan, were such nice dudes and showed us a great time.  The shop, which used to be a motorcycle garage / repair place, is simply one of the biggest and baddest skate shops I've seen.  They have rows and rows of boards in one room and then an entire empty room with just a pool table and a motorcycle.  In addition, they got some spacious dungeons below the store as well.  We had a really great time at the opening at Escapist, but had to make our way to Austin, TX.

No Comply and Sieben

One of the reasons I have to say that I wanted to go on this trip is because we were going to meet up with Michael Sieben in Kansas City and then in Austin, TX.  Like most people, I've been following his artwork and am a big fan.  When we got the chance to meet Michael, he was probably one of the nicest dudes I've met in a while.  He showed us to great skate spots, eat spots, and even a nice hotel spot.  Along with Michael, we got to meet Elias from No Comply who probably was also one of the nicest dudes I've ever meet too.  The shop was great and really had a nice atmosphere.  I could imagine myself as a kid and hanging out at this spot all the time.  I think we had one of the best shows in this shop as well!

Old Man Ditch

Michael Sieben told us about a really fun spot he skates and brought us there one day in the early evening.  When we got there, a dude named Eric was rippin' it up old school style and doing some rad carves.  They didn't wax the spot and removed all graffiti. Sort of like ditch protectors.  We chatted with him and easily became friends with him.  Later he came by the show!  He also happens to be a rad drummer in a band called Tia Carrere.  I just happened to listen to the CD today, and it's really sick.

What the fuck is an Alien Pond?

Michael and his buddy Jason told us about this spot in Austin, TX called Alien Pod. It was one of those rad spots hidden away where kids could rip this really unique cement landscape.  Locals were just killing it and so was Michael and Jason.  It turned out that the name Alien Pond was incorrectly picked up from some graffiti that actually said, "What the fuck is an Alien Pond?" Haha.  Sadly, they said this spot was going to be demolished soon.

Hotel Zola

This is a photo from the tale end of our trip.  Pommier was staying in Austin for a few extra days, and Phil and PNUT had flown back home.  The long van ride home consisted of Corey Adams, Isaac McKay-Randozzi, and myself.  We had left Austin pretty late the day after the opening and made it to west Texas, finding a motel along the way.  Hotel Zola was $34 a night and pretty interesting.  The motel owner claimed he was "just another piece of furniture" and had a lot of John Wayne art.  The room in the photograph looks pretty amazing . . . but it was pretty weird!  There were cat photos on the walls, John Wayne playing on the tube, and bugs flying around everywhere.  We ended up eating chips and cheese dip for dinner, washing them down with a few beers.  I was beat from the last night in Austin and passed out holding a beer on my stomach.  We left there at 8 am and arrived in Los Angeles, CA 12:30 pm.