BEHIND THE SCENES OF
GARAGE FOR ALL
with
Alex Midler, TyTy Watts, Aramis Hudson, and Olan Prenatt
Meet Garage For All, our brand new unisex line made with the vision of a more inclusive world. To showcase our first drop, we teamed up with skateboarders Alex,
TyTy, Aramis, and Olan, as well as Mikey Alfred, director of the film “North Hollywood”.
Find out more below.
question As a skater yourself, do you think there's an automatic connection between skaters?
answerOlan: Yeah, definitely. You got something in common — not only something in common, but something in common so crucial to your lives that it's easy to mesh together. The easiest thing is just to meet somebody through skateboarding.
answerTyTy: Automatic? No, not really. ‘Cause there's a lot of skaters that will be like, “Hey, I don't like that guy. I don't like that guy.” But they say that from two different distances, until we skate together. And then it's like one family.
question What first drew you to skating?
answerAramis: My godbrother Stevie Williams. He made this brand called DGK; it's a big skate brand. Once I started, I realized, okay, this is not as easy as I thought. I liked the idea of never being able to master anything, but just trying every day to do it. That's what kept me skating, ‘cause you can never stop. You can always go bigger, faster, slower, techier. Nobody's the best at it.
question When you first started skating, were you ever discouraged?
answerTyTy: At first, it was discouraging only because I saw everyone catching air and flipping their boards while I was just a little kid learning. It was definitely a struggle. Just like any other sport, you’ve got to learn your muscle memory and everything else. I was just like, “Oh, it's taking too long,” but you have to tell yourself, “Stick with it, stick, stick with it.” Now I know the mechanics, how to pop my board, grind a rail, grind a bowl, catch air. I just stuck with it, really.
question What was it like making a movie with your friends?
answerAramis: It was amazing, because I didn't feel as much pressure as I think I would if my friend wasn't the director and the writer, and I wasn't so prepared. It was probably the best experience of my life, as far as acting goes.
question Olan, I read that you designed some clothes for a skateboarding company/movie studio. What do you like about designing?
answerOlan: Mikey [Alfred] pushed me to make something, because he saw that I was into clothes, and he thought I'd love to make a shirt. And then I eventually gave him a design. He was like, “Hell yeah, let's run it.” So then he just got that printed up super quick, and it was amazing to see it, and on top of that, to see Mikey wear it. That was awesome.
question You’re an L.A. native. Do you think it's easier to skate and act when you grow up here?
answerOlan: L.A. — how packed it is, how much stuff is going on — definitely influences your character. You are free to express yourself with anything you're doing, including acting.
question Now, Alex, you’re a big rap fan. Do you think that there's a natural connection between rappers and skaters?
answerAlex: I definitely think there's a connection between making music and skating. Us skaters will try a trick for as long as our body can stand. Especially me. I'll do it until it's right, even after I land it three times. If someone else is there and says, “Oh, that was good,” but I know it wasn't the right one, I'll keep going until I make it. After watching my friends record music — and my dad makes music — they do a take over and over, and try to hit that one note perfectly. A lot of these people are just like skaters when it comes to perfecting your craft.
question Do you bring your own perfectionism to skating?
answerAlex: For sure. It's just how I work. It's not with everything in life; I don't need everything to go my way, but when it comes to my craft, if I know I can do something the way I see it in my head, I'm not going to stop until I do it that way. With skateboarding, you have a lot of freedom to try as many times as you want, especially at a skatepark.
question When you get the perfect shot of your friend doing an impressive trick, how does that feel to you?
answerTyTy: It feels like a kid going to Disneyland.That feeling you have of watching your friend get that clip done, and then you doing it too — it’s so hard to explain it, ‘cause I just want someone to feel that for themselves. It’s better than buying a new car, the biggest house.
question Are you someone who really goes all out with things?
answerAlex: When it comes to skating, for sure. My dad would always tell me, “Leave no doubt.” So if I'm in a competition and I need to get 10 more points to win, I'm going to try the hardest trick I can because I know I can do it, and I'm going to try to leave no doubt. Because if you dumb down your run or your trick, and you know you could have done better, then the judges are probably thinking you could have done better, too. So with everything in life, I try to leave no doubt.
question Are you someone who really goes all out with things?
answerAlex: When it comes to skating, for sure. My dad would always tell me, “Leave no doubt.” So if I'm in a competition and I need to get 10 more points to win, I'm going to try the hardest trick I can because I know I can do it, and I'm going to try to leave no doubt. Because if you dumb down your run or your trick, and you know you could have done better, then the judges are probably thinking you could have done better, too. So with everything in life, I try to leave no doubt.
question If you were able to design the perfect party with an unlimited budget, what would that look like?
answerAlex: I'd probably do it in Dubai in the biggest building in the world. I’d have everyone fly in on a helicopter and skydive in with professional skydivers, so you don't have to know how to skydive. You would land in a pool. I’ll have Garage fit us all up in clothes. Then Drake will perform, and then probably Travis Scott and a few other artists will perform. And then, we'll probably go paint balling or do some cool sh*t like that. If I had an unlimited budget, I would do the most.
question What are you most excited for right now?
answerOlan: I'm excited to drop skateboarding footage. I've been stacking up footy with my friend, Tyler Smolinski. We've been skating for a year and some change. And I haven't dropped skate footage in forever, so I'm really hot to put this out.
