Archives for November 20, 2013

That’s kind of what Paul Escolar said about old concepts when I interviewed him, and it’s true. I’ve been throwing for about 2 1/2 years now but I’ve never competed (except in a trick ladder when I first started). Competitive yoyoing is still cool and I give so much credit to those that do put out fresh material and win contests, but yoyoing for a long time just for the fun of it makes for one good stress reliever.

Back around 06/07, you released a yoyo with the now-defunct B.I.O. Industries called the Ego. I actually got one off of YoYoExpert’s BST a few months ago, but it needs K-Pads. How did that release end up happening? I really liked the way it played before the response wore out.

You’re really pulling skeletons out of the closet! I don’t know how it started actually. But it was an insanely quick process. Basically, I wanted to make an aluminum X-Con, with a D bearing. within a week of describing what I wanted to Alex, it was done and for sale at Nationals. It was a good learning experience, for all the wrong reasons.

I know B.I.O. Industries was notoriously a really, really sketchy company, but that’s another story for another day. Save Deth came along not long after, right? I’m a huge fan of both streetwear and yoyo videos so Save Deth couldn’t really be more of a perfect company. With the yoyo community being a kind of fashionable one, Save Deth is a pretty welcome fit. How did you and Dave get the idea to start the company? Did you wonder whether or not it would not it would catch on at first?

When the Ego happened Alex had just started BIO, it wasn’t till after it happened that I started hearing about all the yo-yos and money he owes people and stuff like that. It’s a bummer.

But, as far as Save Deth goes, it all started with making yoyo videos. The first video of Volume 1, “Downtown” started it all. Dave and I were really inspired by Miguel Correa’s “Manifest Destiny”. It was the first video I’d seen that told a story, and there was as much energy put into the production as the tricks. SO, we set out to try to make a visually interesting video. That was the spring of 2005. Once Dave was done editing that video, we realized we had something that might work as a DVD. So, we spent the next 2 years filming people who would come into town, and eventually we had Volume 1, which was released at Worlds 07. The catalyst for the clothing side of it was sparked in 2006 when I went to BAC and saw Kiya’s store, Turf. Seeing all these cool t shirts and shoes, it made me want to make cool stuff too. Our first shirts were just spray painted stencils. Later, as a “thank you” for making an Anti-Yo Eetsit video, Kiya and Sonny gave us a screen printing kit and a Polaroid camera. I don’t think they could have realized what they were about to start!

After that, it just started to grow. Volume 1 was really well received, and people were really into the stuff we were making.

Did you wonder whether or not it would not it would catch on at first?

It was never a question of if it was going to be successful, we just wanted to make rad stuff with our friends.

That’s awesome. Manifest Destiny is a good video, another one I like from that era that is kind of along those lines is Fidget by Spencer Berry and Jason Lee. I actually saw Save Deth Volume 2 first and it’s a great video. Not only did it introduce me to a few new players but some great music as well (the song “The Creeps” by Boy Noises from Vol. 2 is really good). What’s the process like in dealing with players, musicians, and all to put together a DVD? It makes for a really unique and enjoyable watch.