WEBVTT - Vol. 16: Christian Hosoi 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:04.080 Charges. That's created by Portalais and Control Media. It's produced 0:00:04.080 --> 0:00:10.760 by dB Podcasts in association with I Heart Radio. This 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:13.960 time a former Son's player who you might remember as 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:16.320 t Rex. More video in just a moment, but this 0:00:16.480 --> 0:00:18.840 is Rex Chapman's mug Shaun, and we are learning a 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:22.680 lot more about the charge up Charging. You're arrested a 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:25.200 pound and a half of crystal meth on you. When 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:28.200 did it set in, like I'm probably going to jail. 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:32.440 I did acid at twelve, I did mushrooms at thirteen. 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:36.040 I was addicted to cocaine at fifteen, and I had money, 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:38.720 and I was famous. I had pictures in the magazines. 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:41.920 It's a lot of pressure for a young kid. I'm 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:44.680 a good person. I'm not like my friends that kill 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:51.720 people for fun. Welcome to Charges. I'm your host, Rex Chapman. 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:55.400 Today on the show, we're joined by a legend, a 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:59.160 name in person so synonymous with skateboarding and it's rise 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:01.840 to prominence that it might shock you if you don't 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:05.280 know it. Christian Hossi was at the front of a 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:09.240 revolution that took place on the black tops across America 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:12.440 and in the world in the late seventies and early eighties. 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:15.200 Oh and he was a pro before he was even 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:18.480 able to get his learners permit. But like so many 0:01:18.640 --> 0:01:21.200 other young stars in the City of Angels, the demons 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:23.760 would come for Christian and his fall from grace and 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:36.880 ultimate redemption are why we're here talking today. This his charges. Christian, 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:39.759 welcome to the show, and thank you for being here, 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:42.800 my friend. Thank you very much. Rex, and uh, I 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:46.679 do appreciate the intro. And um, you know, these badges 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:50.400 of honor that we have of success stories is you know, 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:54.920 it's not always the case, and so being that we're alive, 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:58.520 being that we have this second chance, it truly is 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:00.840 something that I'm grateful for or and I don't want 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:04.120 to take life for granted ever. Again, I'm with you, 0:02:04.160 --> 0:02:06.320 all right. Well, Christian, look, I'm not gonna lie to you. 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:09.120 A lot of my audience probably isn't. It's familiar with 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:13.079 the newly minted Olympic sport of skateboarding, which we'll talk 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:16.799 about later on. So for someone who doesn't know, explain 0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:19.840 the world of skateboarding. When you were starting out, how 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:22.400 did you fall in love with it? Well, my father 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.800 was a surfer in the fifties and sixties, Hawaii, and 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:31.320 so he met my mother in college and they moved. 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:34.080 They got married in Vegas, moved to l A. He 0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:36.400 went to art school, she went to work in Beverly 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:41.160 Hills as a secretary in business, and so I grew up. 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:44.560 I was born and raised in l A, Hollywood, and 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:52.120 skateboarding in the late sixties and early seventies was hot. 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:55.120 It was the sidewalks surfing, you know. It went from 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:58.480 kind of like surfers on the beach cruising around no 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:02.160 waves to the earth thing Wheel came out in seventy 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:06.919 three and that revolutionized skateboarding, and that's when skateboarding took off. 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.640 And guys like Tony Alva, j Adams, Show Go Cuba, 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:14.640 all the z Boys, the Dogtown guys were from Venice, 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:18.440 Santa Monica area, Malibu. And I was part of that 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:21.120 whole scene because my dad was part of the art scene. 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:25.200 And so as a young boy at five years old, 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:28.919 even when I was born, his friend Jim Ganzer gave 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:32.119 him a Macaha board because he was, you know, distributing 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:34.200 and he was a rep for them. So at six 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:37.840 months old, I was being pushed across the kitchen floor 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:41.280 on a Macaha board before I could even walk. And 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:45.520 when the youth thing Wheel came out was when things changed, 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:48.960 and when the surfers and skaters of the day like 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:52.640 Tony Alva went to backyard swimming pools. You went from 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:55.720 carving the bottom the scum line. We call it scum 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:58.400 line because that's when there's water, there's water in a 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:01.880 pool and it creates it's a dark line, and that's 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:04.880 the scum line. Well, you could only go to scum 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:08.360 line with like clay wheels. You could barely go over 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:11.760 the light right, and so now all of a sudden 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:14.080 they're getting to the tile, they're getting to the coping 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:19.360 and then they're in the air. And so that's when 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:22.280 I came in. I came in at six seven years 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:24.320 old and the year Thinge wheel came out and we 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:28.400 were like, this is incredible, smooth Cadillacs. They were even 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:32.640 called Cadillac wheels, and so we were just ecstatic about 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:35.840 how it felt at the school yards, down at the beach, 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:39.680 Venice Beach, cruising down the boardwalk. And then the you know, 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:44.719 skate park started opening up during that time, and there 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:47.159 was a skate park called Marina del Rey Skatepark that 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:50.040 my dad ended up managing right after you know, we 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:53.000 went there, you know when it opened. It only lasted 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:58.320 probably three years the park's existence. But during that time 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:02.880 was when I sharpened my teeth, got involved in skating, 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:06.560 and went from just a little grammat two and a 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:09.200 gramat is a little peep squeak, a little you know, 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:14.800 beginner to that year got a full page in Skateboarder magazine. 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:19.240 How old were you? I was eleven, so nine. I 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:22.960 went to the skate park ten Marina opened eleven, I 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:26.280 got my picture in Skateboarder magazine. Twelve, I won the 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:29.799 biggest amateur contest and then I turned pro at fourteen 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:33.400 years old, and so that's kind of like my career. 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:39.120 But skateboarding was like surfing on land, and for me, 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:42.479 that's what I wanted to be. I wanted to be 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:44.599 a surfer, wanted to be Jerry Lopez, wanted to be 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:48.880 Larry Berteleman, wanted to be those guys and buttons and 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:54.400 dank kaloha and so surfing, you gotta get up early. 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:58.720 It's freezing cold, like the waves sucked. There's a million 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:03.000 people out. I was like this, there's no reward in this, 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:06.680 like you know, but I knew that my friends at ripped. 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:09.599 There was this passion that they had that I knew. 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:13.120 But when I got on my skateboard, I just emulated surfing, 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:16.919 and so I got my surfing fixed on land and 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:20.520 that's what drove me to skate every day to become 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:24.359 who I obviously became in the skateboard world of the day. 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:28.120 But even today, you know, skateboarding is still like in 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:31.560 my blood. I gotta go, like yesterday I went. Today, 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:35.240 I gotta go. I gotta practice for another event this weekend. 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:38.599 And so I'm fifty three years old and still got 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:41.480 to go out and perform in front of five thousand people. 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:44.560 And I tell you, when you're rusty, you're like, I 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:49.840 need to like practice, man, that's amazing and fifty three 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:52.080 and I know that. And you're about to be fifty 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:58.440 four next week because I'm fifty four on October five 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:05.360 as well. My friend, are you serio? What birthday? Buddies? 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:08.799 That's right, let's go, let's go. That was a great 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:12.520 day in sixty seven. There we go, there we go. 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:16.600 Uh yeah, but I was I was brushing up on 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:19.000 you and noticed that what what what a cool thing. 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:23.920 But anyway, so I'm fascinated. Obviously, we we all are 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:27.480 with sort of people that do things at a young age, 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:31.280 and you were you're essentially a prodigy at least considering 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:34.800 to how skateboarding was at the time. Did you know 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:38.440 you were that good or was it just second nature? 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:43.920 I assume you had and have perfect balance and you're 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:48.240 compact and that has to help. But what made you 0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:50.040 so good and did you know you were that good? 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:52.600 I think there's a lot of circumstances and a lot 0:07:52.640 --> 0:07:55.520 of things that attribute to being at the right place 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:58.280 at the right time, you know, having a father and 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:00.360 a mother that was supportive, you know what I mean, 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:02.320 and my dad going, you want to go skateboard? I 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:04.960 want to go every day and he's like every day. 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:10.679 He's like, dang, ten bucks every two hours every day. Oh, 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:13.640 I need a second job. And then he was like 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:15.840 he's like, you know what, I'm gonna work here and 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:19.440 then you'll skate for free. And so he became the 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:21.720 manager of the Marina del Rey skate Park and it 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:26.080 was my backyard, and so that was a sacrifice that 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:28.760 that I take into consideration when I look at all 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:31.880 my kids. I have four boys, and just to you know, 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:36.280 see the sacrifice that he made for them, you know, 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:39.280 and for me, you know, is what I want to 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:44.920 do for them. And that's something that really is uh important. 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:48.320 You know. I believe that, uh we as fathers have 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:52.960 to you know, kind of like um, figure out what 0:08:53.000 --> 0:08:55.520 those ingredients are per each kid. You know, I have 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:59.079 multiple kids, and so each kid is differently and so 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:01.920 when I'm thinking thinking about how my father kind of 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:07.400 like guided me, told me, hey, you have what it takes. 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:11.000 And then my peers or my my mentors like Jay 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:12.880 Adams and show Go and those guys that were at 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:15.719 the skate park, they were like Christian, you got, you 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:21.120 got what it takes. And those words, those words light 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:25.199 of fire underneath your bottom that no one can put 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:28.679 out but yourself. It's only you who could lose confidence. 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:32.239 Only you can lose the ability to believe in yourself. 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:35.920 And and there is an element of talent, there is 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:38.880 an element of balance, there is an element of my size. 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:42.520 But really those are just obstacles and you have to 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:45.720 learn how to go over those and you can. But 0:09:45.800 --> 0:09:49.800 it just takes passion. It takes to dedication, it takes discipline, 0:09:49.840 --> 0:09:54.520 it takes um dreaming, it takes having goals, and so 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:56.959 when I was a young boy, I had big goals. 0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:01.160 So my father was always shoot for the moon, you 0:10:01.200 --> 0:10:03.720 know what I mean, And and uh, the only thing 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:06.040 that's gonna happen is you're gonna hit a star, you 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:07.680 know what I mean, Because if you missed the moon, 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:10.040 you'll nail a star because there's a million of them 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:13.160 out there. But I aimed for the moon. I didn't 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:16.040 settle for a star, and I was gonna go for it. 0:10:16.240 --> 0:10:19.240 And Bruce Lee was my idol when I was young, 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:23.120 and all I thought about was either being Bruce Lee 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:26.360 or Elvis Pressley. I was gonna be a movie star 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:30.480 singing to girls, you know, playing my guitar on stage, 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:32.800 or I was gonna be beating everyone up with no 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:36.880 shirt on, like clowning them, rubbing my nose, going come on, 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:39.600 what you know what I mean? You ain't got nothing, 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:41.840 you know what I mean, on the big screen. And 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:46.000 so for me, those were my like, you know, that's 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:49.760 what I was aiming at. And with my father and 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:52.480 all those people around me saying, man, you got this, 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.640 you got what it takes. I think that's the uh 0:10:56.080 --> 0:11:00.480 ingredients every kid needs, every you know, child needs to 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:04.000 be able to become a champion. What do you remember 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:08.120 your fourteen and making a decision to turn pro and 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:11.559 what does turning pro in the world of skateboarding mean? 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:16.120 At that point, you know, turning pro is everything in 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:20.520 a skateboarder's career because it's the moment that you're validated, 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:24.760 you're confirmed, you're basically awarded that. It's like a degree 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:29.000 right in school, you get a degree and there's an 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:32.600 accomplishment there that has taken place. And for us back 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:36.960 in the eighties, a signature model was the pinnacle of 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:40.719 turning pro. You had your own skateboard, You designed your 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:43.520 own shape, you had your own graphic, and it had 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:45.800 your name on it and it represented who you are. 0:11:45.880 --> 0:11:49.000 When you showed up to an event, you had your 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:51.400 flag and it was your board. It's like, you know, 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:55.480 Ford in his car, Ferrari in his car. It was legit. 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:58.360 But could you imagine if the driver could design their 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:00.880 own car and have their name on it. That's what 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:03.880 it would be like. And today it's when you got 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:06.080 that first board. What did you feel like when you 0:12:06.120 --> 0:12:08.760 saw it? Oh, it was a dream come true because 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:11.679 you know you you dream about it since you first 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:15.600 picked up a magazine, and now it's happening, and you 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:19.600 just can't believe it because it's it's it's almost like 0:12:19.679 --> 0:12:22.320 winning the Hall of Fame. It's like almost winning that 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:25.559 one thing that you can only win once in a lifetime. 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:31.359 It's a lifetime achievement. And then you know, today skateboards 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:34.280 with your graphics or your name on it aren't as 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:37.800 sought after as they were back in the day because 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:42.160 the career of an amateur is way longer now. So 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:46.600 you could win professional contest as an amateur and stay amateur. 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:49.640 We're back in our day you could not receive any 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:53.480 money if you received if you received a dollar, you 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:57.680 were now professional. So so we would not receive money 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:00.560 until we finally decided to term. That's why it was 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:02.840 such a big deal. All of a sudden, you couldn't 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:04.880 turn it down. It would get you know, at some 0:13:04.920 --> 0:13:08.080 point you couldn't just couldn't afford to turn it down, right, Well, no, 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:13.240 you could because you're I was fourteen years old, ye, 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:16.640 but but at some point for you you were gonna 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:20.280 be too good, you know. But but that's what's happening today. 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:23.679 Kids are skating amateur and getting paid so wide term 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:25.640 pro you know, all of a sudden you turn pro 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:28.960 and it's almost like your exit out. It's like, now 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:32.200 you're pro, and you got to compete against real the 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:36.000 pro pros, right or no, yes, yes, there there's an 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:38.400 element of now you've got to really step it up 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:43.320 and fit in and become a a legacy. Now it's 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:46.319 not just your getting your wings. It's not just you're 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:48.760 you're the rookie of the year. Now it's like you 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:51.680 need to make your stamp. You need to really come 0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:56.320 and let your presence be known in the skateboard world. 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:58.680 And it's always with your peers. Like for me, it 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:01.440 was never with the crowd out. It wasn't with I 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:05.320 always wanted to impress my peers. I wanted to skate 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:07.880 with better people than I was. You know, me and 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:11.319 Tony Hawk would compete and it was great competition because 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:14.000 we were so different in our styles of skateboarding, whether 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:18.360 it was technical ability to power and height and you 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:21.080 know what I did, and you know I came from 0:14:21.080 --> 0:14:23.320 that school, he came from the other school. And we 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:27.160 battled and that pushed us to be better at both 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:30.760 our crafts in the style of you know, how we 0:14:30.840 --> 0:14:34.480 approach skateboarding, and that's what will push you. You will 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:36.360 never be pushed if you're the best, you know what 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:39.120 I mean. You could end up becoming a teacher, you 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:42.440 become a mentor. But will you grow? Will you will 0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:45.920 you have something a higher bar to aim at? Most 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:49.760 likely you'll relax, you'll step down and next thing you know, 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:53.040 the rest comes up and passes you by. And that's 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:54.920 not what we wanted to be. We wanted to be 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:58.080 on the cutting edge and that was proven through you know, 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:01.160 almost a decade and a half half of skateboarding. We 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:05.320 weren't stopping, we were competing. And then the street revolution 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:09.240 came in and changed the face of like popularity of skateboarders, 0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:11.640 and then we had to fight for our own again. 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:17.480 You know that vert is the elite skateboard discipline over 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:21.200 street or street is oververt, and we're like, no, skateboarding 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:23.320 is skateboarding. We do it all. And that's why I 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:29.600 street skated and vert skated, backyard, pool, ditches, flat ground. 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:33.040 We did it all just because it wasn't about one 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:35.480 or the other. We wanted to be the best at everything, 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:40.000 and that's what created our culture and why skateboarding is 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:44.160 so unique because it's not just a sport, it's a lifestyle. 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:48.800 It's something you do on and off the board, you know, 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:55.000 And that's the special factor about skateboarding. How many people 0:15:55.200 --> 0:16:02.120 there Tony hot Well let it all any day, Chrissie, 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:06.880 I saw Chris, Sorry right now, I siding himself up 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:10.720 for all the run to the day. This is it 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:14.119 do a guy for both scares, for all the marvels 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:26.440 for for fifties six for us on everything you know 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:28.800 I read about you or seemed to come across about 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:31.840 you as you linked with Tony Tony Hall, just as 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:35.600 as far as the timing and the ability and all 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:38.760 of that. What was your relationship like back in the day. 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:40.680 What was it like when you guys were young with 0:16:40.760 --> 0:16:44.760 one another. Well, it's funny that me and Tony is 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:50.400 the only skaters that had their fathers fully involved in 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:54.680 their careers. So Tony Hawk's dad was running the ns 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:58.680 A contest and organizing that. My dad was running my 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:02.480 business and helping do all the graphics, the designs. We 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:06.400 would hand screen the boards in a garage, two thousand 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:09.960 boards ourselves, and we would do all the ads ourselves, 0:17:10.080 --> 0:17:14.400 and just that whole process. But to think that our 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:17.200 fathers were the really the only ones that I can 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:21.399 remember being there showing up to support their children, and 0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:24.640 then we became who we became is not a coincidence. 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:30.480 I really believe there's an element of encouragement and support 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:35.040 that you know, our fathers brought to us that no 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:38.959 one else did, you know what I mean. And that's 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:43.399 something that I cherish. That's something that I'm always you know, 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:47.320 thinking about when it comes to like mine and his career. 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:50.880 Because of course we had to show up. Of course 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:52.920 we had to practice. Of course we had to put 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:55.480 in the work, we had to compete, we had to 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:58.120 put on the paths, we had to you know, get hurt, 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:02.040 we had to do all those things. But we needed 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:06.800 that confidence and our fathers really gave us confidence in 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:11.919 that support. That is something worth more than any you know, 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:16.199 um degrees, any type of money. There's some things you 0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:19.800 can't buy in a career, and I think that that 0:18:19.920 --> 0:18:23.040 was one of them. And of course he was born 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:25.040 and raised at del mar Skate Park. I was born 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:27.120 and raised at Marina del Ray skate Park. He had 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:30.280 his mentors, I had mine. It was just the right 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:33.840 place at the right time. And then when we competed, 0:18:35.280 --> 0:18:39.560 We were friends, we had no issues, but the fans 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:46.320 were just so aggressively rivaling against each other that it 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:50.840 was just intense at contest and we we ate it 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:54.160 up because it pushed us to fight for something. It's 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:57.119 like when your fans in football are out there and 0:18:57.160 --> 0:18:59.560 you're like, we're losing in Our fans are here, they're 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:02.760 all pay it. They're freezing with no shirts on and 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:05.480 it's snowing. I need to win for them to you 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:07.520 know what I mean, There's this element of you got 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:10.479 something else to fight for other than yourself. And I 0:19:10.480 --> 0:19:13.480 believe that me and Tony had that you know in 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:18.600 our fans rivalry that you know is something that you know, 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:21.119 I'm really starting to put together in my head to 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:26.320 put a documentary of that together, to create it sounds fantastic, 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:29.639 and I'm putting that kind of like a script together. 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:31.920 That's exactly what I was just thinking of in my 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:34.520 mind because I'm thinking about, you know, you've got your 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:37.000 home skate park, did you skate better on the road, 0:19:37.040 --> 0:19:39.439 did you skate better at home? All of that stuff 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:42.119 and your fans, Man, that would be golden sign me 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:45.040 up already. Yeah, I think people would want to know 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:48.040 the nuts and bolts of the backdrop, you know what 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:55.560 I mean. Kristen Hosi is a pioneer of bringing skateboarding 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:58.679 into the public eye, being sponsored by his idols at 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:01.199 age eleven in a foreign on set to most. But 0:20:01.280 --> 0:20:04.320 it's the only life you had to lead. Tony Hawk 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:07.320 helped bring skateboarding to the mainstream. They were friends and 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:10.879 competitors coming up together. It should have been Christian Hosi's 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:15.080 name hoisted right next to Hawks. Unfortunately, a pattern of 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:18.639 drug use emerged and led Christian down a dark road ahead. 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:21.960 We'll be right back after a word from our sponsors. 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:32.399 So here on charges. Of course, we talked about the 0:20:32.440 --> 0:20:35.160 good times, also focus on the dark times as well. 0:20:35.320 --> 0:20:38.400 Can you tell me about the first time you did drugs? Yeah, 0:20:38.600 --> 0:20:44.200 a matter of fact, I was probably say seven eight 0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:49.199 years old, asking me and my friend Aaron Murray, pro 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:51.680 skater friend of mine. We grew up since we're babies. 0:20:52.320 --> 0:20:55.080 You know, our fathers are they're playing blues guitar in 0:20:55.119 --> 0:20:58.080 their living room, their artists, they go to art school, 0:20:58.800 --> 0:21:00.440 you know what I mean. We grew up in that 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:03.720 generation to where it was sex, drugs, rock and roll, 0:21:04.280 --> 0:21:06.800 and so for us, you know, as kids were like, hey, 0:21:06.840 --> 0:21:08.639 we want to smoke some weed. They're like, here you go, 0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:11.880 here's some weed. Here, here's how you don't You don't 0:21:11.960 --> 0:21:14.440 roll a pregnant joint, you roll it. You know. They 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:17.000 taught us how to roll a good joint at eight 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:20.040 years old, you know what I mean. And so that's 0:21:20.119 --> 0:21:24.760 my first you know time. And then like you know, weed, 0:21:24.800 --> 0:21:29.359 smoked weed probably if we could every day every day. 0:21:29.400 --> 0:21:33.240 So by ten and eleven, I was smoking weed every day. 0:21:33.240 --> 0:21:36.760 By twelve, I'm dealing you know, dime bags at the 0:21:36.800 --> 0:21:40.320 skate park and you're in school, and you're in school, right, Yeah. 0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:43.320 I was in school, you know, going to junior high, 0:21:43.440 --> 0:21:46.720 you know, seventh grade, and my dad ran the Marina 0:21:46.760 --> 0:21:48.840 del Rey skate park. I mean, I'm smoking weed with 0:21:48.880 --> 0:21:52.960 all my mentors. You know, Ja does your dad know? 0:21:53.160 --> 0:21:56.440 I was smoking weed with my dad? Okay, Okay, So 0:21:56.840 --> 0:21:59.399 that's why he gave us the weed. And he's like, 0:21:59.440 --> 0:22:02.240 if you're gonna do it, do it right. Well, no, 0:22:02.440 --> 0:22:05.520 He's like, do the good stuff, you know, don't go 0:22:05.600 --> 0:22:08.600 out and do some bunk and get yourself in trouble. 0:22:09.119 --> 0:22:11.920 And you know, I see a lot of parents doing that. Today, 0:22:11.960 --> 0:22:13.760 they're like, you know what, if you're gonna do drugs, 0:22:13.760 --> 0:22:16.159 do it at home. And I'm like, that's not the 0:22:16.200 --> 0:22:18.920 best way to do it. You know, that's the kind 0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:22.200 of like, you know what, I'm gonna kind of condone 0:22:22.320 --> 0:22:24.919 you doing this. So for me, it's you know, I 0:22:24.960 --> 0:22:27.160 don't condone it. I'm not gonna let you do it. 0:22:27.240 --> 0:22:29.840 You're gonna not do it at my house. And if 0:22:29.880 --> 0:22:31.600 you do it, that's on your time, and I'm just 0:22:31.640 --> 0:22:33.680 gonna encourage you not to do it. What you do 0:22:33.800 --> 0:22:36.639 at your friend's house when you're not at home. I 0:22:36.720 --> 0:22:39.639 cannot control My parents could not control me, and I 0:22:39.720 --> 0:22:42.040 knew that, and I had to take the chance, you 0:22:42.080 --> 0:22:43.919 know what I mean, of doing whatever. But I just 0:22:43.960 --> 0:22:46.720 try to educate my kids on drugs, what they are, 0:22:47.160 --> 0:22:49.840 what they look like, what they do to you, how 0:22:49.840 --> 0:22:52.320 they affect you, and the dangers of it. And then 0:22:53.280 --> 0:22:57.040 all right, have a good day, son, be good, be good, 0:22:57.160 --> 0:22:59.520 be good. And I think that that's how our father's 0:22:59.760 --> 0:23:02.919 back and that day kind of did it. So they 0:23:03.000 --> 0:23:05.560 kept us close, taught us how so they don't have 0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:08.560 to worry that we're gonna do something, you know, stupid. 0:23:08.640 --> 0:23:12.040 Smoked some angel dust and not know we're smoking angel dust, 0:23:12.160 --> 0:23:14.520 you know what I mean? What was the culture around 0:23:14.840 --> 0:23:18.680 drugs and skating Because I'm I'm not saying it's right, 0:23:18.720 --> 0:23:21.520 but certainly I think there was a perception about the 0:23:21.520 --> 0:23:25.040 culture of skating, uh and what came along with it. Well, 0:23:25.080 --> 0:23:28.480 there was definitely no perception. It was reality, right, it 0:23:28.600 --> 0:23:33.199 was you know, from my crew, the surfer skaters and 0:23:33.240 --> 0:23:36.560 the punk rockers really quickly became the ones that were 0:23:36.600 --> 0:23:39.840 the risk takers, the ones that were getting crazy. Because 0:23:39.880 --> 0:23:42.600