Austyn Gillette

A singer, a skater, a designer, a multi-instrumentalist. 

On paper, I should harbour a blind envious hate for Austyn Gillette as I do for anyone who is better at everything than me, but he’s a hard guy to hate. He’s a charmer - a charmer with an enormously successful, multi-pronged career and what I would argue is the most attractive fakie flip in the game, right up there with Arto’s. What a bastard. 

In the last twenty years - but mostly in the last ten because we didn’t know Austyn when he was in middle school because that would have been a weird and creepy thing for a bunch of Australian semi-adults to do - Austyn Gillette has been an influence and a friend, and guest edited one of our favorite issues. Despite my fuming jealousy and unforgiving nature, I’m glad to have AG as a friend and a feature in this, our most holy twenty year anniversary.

What’s that saying? When you can’t beat em, join em? Well, fuck it, I guess. I’m team AG. Turns out, joining this team has benefits. One benefit is an increased success with potential hookups because of the sudden ability to name drop. Another benefit is getting invited to music video release events with an open bar at Silver Lining piano bar off Bowery in New York City, which is precisely where we did our interview, right between soundcheck and show time. Austyn asked me to delete this interview. I didn’t. Here it is.