Turns That Matter with Tyrome Tripoli

[00:00:00] Tyler: Hello and welcome to the Swell Season Surf podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Brewer. In early November, 2002, I and two other friends had been driving along the Bass Coast of Spain when we arrived late at night into the dark and narrow streets of Manka. The name is synonymous with one of the most perfect left-hand river mouths in the world.

[00:00:27] A magnet for goofy foots the world over. We were lost. We were looking for the youth hostel. The streets were empty except for a small group walking along the sidewalk, we pulled over our Perio 2 0 6, roll down the windows, and attempted to ask where the hostel was in our broken Spanish. The group looked confused as if they couldn't understand us.

[00:00:52] One of them asked if we spoke French, and we said no. And then the group started to speak monks themselves in North American [00:01:00] accents, speaking English. It was a hilarious encounter, and we were both foreigners and made assumptions about each other, and that was my first encounter with Tyrone Tripoli.

[00:01:12] Tyrone is an artist, designer, metal worker, glass blower, and a shit hot, goofy foot. Originally from La Tyrone moved to Brooklyn in 2003 and currently resides among the creative community in Bushwick, where he founded Gallery Petite, a contemporary art gallery on Troutman Street. When he is not creating and spending time with his family, you can sometimes catch him streaking across the Surfline cam on 90th Street.

[00:01:41] He is currently featured in the latest Surfers Journal, written by New York Native Michael Matcher, and he is our guest on this episode of the Swell Season Surf podcast. Tyrone, welcome to the show. Thank

[00:01:53] Tyrome: you.

[00:01:54] Tyler: Glad to be here. Super stoke, we are, uh, chilling in the, uh, the surf [00:02:00]studio today in Rockaway, and, uh, we definitely, uh, we were hoping to score some waves, but, um Mm.

[00:02:08] Tyrome: Doesn't look so great out there.

[00:02:09] Tyler: Doesn't look, doesn't look promising, does it? Yeah.

[00:02:12] Tyrome: When it's over 21 knots. You've gotta think, you know, but I, I love, I love your description of how we met, and I'll never forget that, you know, because that's such a common experience here somewhere. You barely speak the language.

[00:02:27] And you're like trying to figure it out. And I remember that moment when we went through like Spanish, French, and then, and then I, we were, and then we, I talking like, I dunno what, that's weird Spanish. I don't know where they're from, or whatever we said, and then we look back at you and your eyes are like bigger now, being like, whoa.

[00:02:45] Like you knew who we were. And then like, we had this like, eye contact was like, what the Hello? Yeah. Hello. You speak English? Oh, where are you from? We're from California. We're from New York. I know. It was so great because like the [00:03:00] bask they're, they're not, they're not. Okay. And they you mean they speak English?

[00:03:04] They're not gonna speak it to you? No. You know, and, and like, and you do that, you do that all over and then when you, like in Indonesia, like deep in Zimbabwe? Yeah. Moles surf camp. And then someone shows up and you just look at each other and you can't tell by looking like what language are they speaking?

[00:03:21] As soon as they open their mouth, you know where, oh my God, I haven't heard an LA accent. And like two years it was, it's like so much fun. Like finally you can relax and just fucking talk.

[00:03:33] Tyler: I know. And not feel like, all right, how do I communicate, how all do I use hand signals? I use it all. It was, it was classic.

[00:03:42] And then like, You know, we spent like a good couple weeks in Manka. I mean, you spent longer, I think months. You spent months there. You guys had like an apartment, you

[00:03:53] Tyrome: know, we did. Oh my God. It was not an apartment. It was a bask beautiful bath villa. Sick. And it was [00:04:00] Fern, it was eight bedrooms I think. Yeah.

[00:04:02] Big old kitchen, three bathrooms. And it was furnished with all this beautiful old like harvested bask furniture. Yeah. It was an amazing place. And we're like $600 a month. Are you serious? We are like, what's the catch? What's the catch? Well, we figured out what the catch was. There's no heat. Yeah. Okay. And they, they only going into winter in the summer cuz it's a summer spot.

[00:04:24] Okay. But yeah, the surfers and moonka for the winter. So we were like, oh my God. It was so freaking cold. We were, we were like filling up hot water bottles and putting it in the bed to heat it up. And we had like 10 wool blankets. But you know, we got through it. We got through it. But uh, the best part was that balcony, you know, the little harbor and moonka and it goes all the way, all the way into a tiny little beach.

[00:04:47] Mm-hmm. Where the old guys hang out with the colorful boats and they heckle each other. One's painting the boaters standing in, they're all heckling each other. And then you have that beautiful bass villa that three levels with a freaking [00:05:00] Rose Bush that is seriously. 40 feet tall. Yeah. It goes up all the way up to the top.

[00:05:05] Well we were the top balcony with the rosebush. We couldn't go out in the balcony. Every time we did there was a tourist or somebody taking a picture. Yeah. And it was just like, it was, it was like seriously beautiful, like so picturesque that little spot, you know? And then, uh, and then we put it out to all, cuz we were there for four months.

[00:05:22] We got it in s. Uh, and we had until like January, February, and then we went to Morocco. Yeah. You know, and had that whole experience. But, but really like being, there was such a cultural experience. Like we, it's seriously another world. It's not Spain, it's the mass country. And they're, they're like a really an ancient people.

[00:05:42] They're really interesting. And, and the whole thing was like, was a beautiful experience. I, I mean, especially with the villa, we invited all our friends from all over the world to come stay with us. Cause we had so many rooms and it was such a fun party. And, and, uh, I remember this about that balcony with a rosebush.

[00:05:59] My [00:06:00] friend did his wash and then he went on the balcony and hung all his clothes. Okay. And I'm like, dude, you're ruining pitch picture off for all these people. He's like, I don't give a shit. I go, well, I do. And he's like, seriously dude? And it turned into this big argument. No, it was actually kind of laughable.

[00:06:16] And I think in the end I fucking pulled his stuff off the balcony and I, and I kept it in the sun in the living room. Like, come on. Like, I don't know, I'm a visual artist. Those things make sense.

[00:06:26] Tyler: Like the aesthetics are

[00:06:27] Tyrome: very important, you know? Yeah, exactly. And we had the best Thanksgiving ever. Cause I had a bunch of friends from America come.

[00:06:34] Yeah. And then of course Moonka is a Fullon International, um, surf spots. So you've got everyone. I mean, we had, we had friends from, we made people from Japan, Brazil. Um, well, you had that host Australian, that

[00:06:49] Tyler: host was like fairly new too.

[00:06:51] Tyrome: Oh, the host is brand new. Yeah. In fact, they just opened that season, I think.

[00:06:55] Yeah. And people didn't really know about it. And you were coming from a different direction. You know, [00:07:00] when you were lost, you were coming from the backside. Yeah, I know. You

[00:07:03] Tyler: know, which is in, is it like way more tricky? Deep? We got so deep in Ocn and those streets are, are spooky at there. So

[00:07:10] Tyrome: narrow and spooky and you can't turn around.

[00:07:12] Yeah. And you're like cornered, you know, by Yeah. That moonka is a wild, it's a, it's a, like it's an ancient city. Yeah. Like, I think it goes to like 1000 easily. Like it's a thousand years old. Like that's really t trippy. It,

[00:07:27] Tyler: it's stunning. And like, and then I remember seeing you surf and like, holy fuck man.

[00:07:34] Like, just seeing you. I have this vision of you on a beautiful left at Manka, just charging through some barrels. Like, I was like, oh, this guy can surf too. Okay.

[00:07:46] Tyrome: Oh man. I, you know, that I, I guess I stand out because I really do press on the accelerator. I like, I wanna fucking go as fast as I can always.

[00:07:55] Yeah. You know what I mean? To me that gliding and flying is just, [00:08:00] The most sensation, like the best ever. Right? Like, you don't even have to do a trick just like racing down the line. And you know what? Moon DACA's a, a fast barrel. In fact, like, I'm not sure I even made it all the way through. Like no matter how fast I went, that third or fourth section, it was still always so cozy.

[00:08:19] It wasn't closing out, it was peeling. But you know what I figured out, the, the problem with that wave is you can't get deep in the barrel. Like it's a, it's like a shallow barrel because I think it's rebounding off the brake wall. Yeah. Okay. And so you've got, as soon as you get in the, in the barrel and you're riding the barrel, the, the trap door almost like sucks you.

[00:08:39] Mm. So you got, you have to stay in front of it, and if you get too deep, you're not coming out of

[00:08:43] Tyler: it. You're, you, you have to get those sections, you know, you get deep barrels by section, not by stalling and like Right. You know, you're driving through sections and you were racing

[00:08:53] Tyrome: through those sections. And so I, I remember this one wave and I kept not making that [00:09:00] last section.

[00:09:01] The, the, the, like there's like a fourth section. You can get like three or four barrels. And I, I never connected it all the way through and I don't think, I never made it past that last section. And there was one wave. It was, it was like a, a big day, right. Yeah. And, and the crowd wasn't much of a problem.

[00:09:17] And I remember just like really having fun, getting waves most of the time, the, the locals and the crowd. And it was just, It was too much. It's hectic. It was too much. Yeah. It's so hectic. And it's a tight takeoff spot, and, but there are, it does like close out, so you get a lot of shoulder hopping too. Yeah.

[00:09:36] And you're like, wait a minute, I made it. You know,

[00:09:38] Tyler: and like, and so couple times coming around the corner and there's someone, you know. Exactly.

[00:09:43] Tyrome: So that corner, that corner at the end where you really high speed and it was always like, am I gonna go for this or not? Like, maybe this is the one I'll make.

[00:09:52] Okay. And then I'm like going, going and I'm like, ah. And I decided not to, and I kicked out over the wave. But of course I kept [00:10:00] watching it go from behind and I'm watching it, watching. I'm like, oh my God, that was makeup ball. I was, oh, I'm like, like, because you don't know. Like I, I've been going for that the whole time and just getting pounded and not making it.

[00:10:12] And then I watched that one from behind. I'm like, oh fuck. I

[00:10:15] Tyler: guess that you'll never know if

[00:10:16] Tyrome: you don't go. You know? And I felt like, I felt like the whole time I was there for four months that I should have been surfing. Not off like the end, you know where the wave starts? Yeah. If you indicate where everyone's trying to paddle and like get the longest wave.

[00:10:31] But really, I met a couple of the locals that were way down the line, like they were hanging out on that four section. And that was the wave there that like they're getting scraps and. And you know what, like, I think that might have been the answer to having a better time in when DACA was to not surfing the crowd, but to like, you know, that last third and fourth section.

[00:10:50] But I don't know, live and learn, like, you know, every wave is different and, and really that that's kind of a, like a difficult wave, you know, to [00:11:00] uh, to like make to read. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like it's, uh, I, I think it's that break wall and you can't, you can't really get that deep without like, getting swallowed by the, by the monster ball in the back.

[00:11:14] But, but like, I, I surfed a spot called Red Bluff in, in Western Oh. Australia. And that's another like, epic left that I had to go and surf. And I actually timed it perfectly with a swell and, and you know, they, these guys like hang out there the entire summer. They can out, they just wait. Yeah. Uh, and it's, it's called a station, you know, it's like a million hectares.

[00:11:36] Yeah. And it's, the guy's not even a surfer, but he knows it's a great wave. And so he, he lets, he lets the people like camp out and they have the most beautiful camps made of driftwood in the side of a cliff. Mm-hmm. And sand caves and. And I'm like, wow, that place is really amazing. And I feel like I really got that wave down.

[00:11:57] Like it, it also has three [00:12:00] sections. It's way cleaner. It's a reef. Yeah, it's a, it's a, a volcanic reef, kind of like shallow and um, but you walk out to the point and you jump off where it's deep and then you paddle out into it and it's. Cleaner and, and like, uh, I don't know, it's more straightforward, but like, you take off, you're in the barrel and you can kind of, it's like a feathering barrel.

[00:12:22] Mm-hmm. It's not like a gurgling Yeah. Square barrel. And it's like a high barrel where you're going. It's like a, you got, you're not doing turns and hitting the lip. It's not rippable, it's more like down the line, which I like. And um, but the cer the first, second and third connection, like when it got big connected all the way through, and now I'm like getting my seven, eight second tube bride that I was fucking stoked on.

[00:12:45] And it wasn't like every single time, I think I made it through like a co like two or three times, you know, but like that third section, it was kind of shut down on you and it was hard to make, but like, that was like way more straightforward and I felt like I got [00:13:00] the wave the best it could, but I felt like surfing Menka, I didn't get the best wave that I could.

[00:13:05] And it was like, and then the locals and, and every time someone's shoulder hopping me that freaking jerk off, that was a sign to me. You know what I mean? And that was an insight joke with all the other foreigners because we all had a different local that was actually seemed like it was assigned to us.

[00:13:20] Like no matter what they would do, they would interrupt what they're doing just to. To jump on your way, you know, to fucking shoulder hop you. They, they actually like, would roll their eyes like, oh, I gotta take off on this guy again. He's not allowed to surf a peak. And I was just like, fuck that guy. And then I found out later he was on the cover of some surf magazine in this gaping like, moon DACA barrel.

[00:13:41] Gosh. Stand up barrel. And I'm like, and the problem is like, I ruined my whole time, four months in Moonka because my very first session in Moonka, it wasn't epic, but it was really low tide, so it was really heaving off the takeoff spot. And this guy kept taking off and [00:14:00] fucking, barely making the takeoff.

[00:14:01] Mm-hmm. And then definitely not making the wave. And so the third time I fucking took off on him, you know, and he didn't make it. Okay. And I freaking raced it, raced it, raced it my fastest, and, and like I made it a little further but didn't make it. So after that he was assigned to me and it wasn't. And he was the only, only heat would take off on me.

[00:14:21] Okay. And he wouldn't take off with the other foreigners. And every foreigner had a different local that would be taking, like going out of their way to shoulder hop you. And like to me, those are just fucking baby games. And I was just, I got so frustrated there. I'm like, oh, like I, I kind of made, I, I this kind of pack with myself that I'm not gonna like, pursue these epic surf spots that are world renowned all over the world.

[00:14:48] Because that's how it happens. Like, it's just,

[00:14:50] Tyler: that's why you move to Rockaway. Yeah. There's, that's why you New York not

[00:14:54] Tyrome: enough. And then you get like, and these guys didn't like grow up with localism. They fucking read [00:15:00] it. And I think, or they, they was brought to them by foreigners because it, it was just like, nah.

[00:15:05] I

[00:15:05] Tyler: mean, to be honest, I do think, uh, the Bask have, have had a, you know, I mean the ata, you know, you had the eta, the organization. They're, uh, and they've always been battling outsiders, so they, they, it's kind of in the culture. Maybe you know's seasoned experts. Yeah. It's in the culture still good. There's like, it's in the culture, man.

[00:15:25] Yeah. It's deep ingrained

[00:15:26] Tyrome: because I've never, usually it's, it's one guy and he's sneaking everybody, but this was more organized. Each one was signed to a different foreigners who we all got terrorized. Like, because it was relentless, even when we weren't surfing, that local would be like glaring at you from across the plaza, eating his fucking popup bra, whatever.

[00:15:45] Like, it was actually like, became laughable. But my partner at the time was just like, oh, there he is. There he is, is he Ken? I mean, he was just a kid. He was a good surfer, but like, kind of ruined it

[00:15:59] Tyler: for me. [00:16:00] Well, one of the things I remember from that time though were these, um, found art pieces you were putting together, you know, and you started like collecting rubbish off the beach and started putting these beautiful little, little figurines almost I would call them together.

[00:16:18] Yeah. And they were stunning. And what's interesting is that has really blossomed into a whole body of work for you. Uh, you know, from that point on. I mean, and I don't know how much longer you were doing it before, but where, where did you start to do that? Where, when did you start to play? With those found objects.

[00:16:39] Cuz I, I really, I found those pieces to be amazing and, and, and beautiful. And it's, it's interesting, like I've seen other people do versions of it, but like yours, like, there's something about 'em that they feel compact and they feel puzzle, like, like a jigsaw. They, they're just, the pieces fit really nicely

[00:16:57] Tyrome: together.

[00:16:58] Y Yeah. You know what, [00:17:00] like, like when did I start collecting objects and making stuff for as long as I can remember. Yeah. You know, but growing up in, uh, in like, uh, I was born in LA and so your Belinda, let's say, yeah. I grew up with like every kind of fruit tree you can imagine. You know, and e even now, like we were, my dad would drive us to, to Newport, CRO del Mar, like in the summer.

[00:17:22] And we would, and we would surf, but like up until seven years old, I, I was like, I had the fruit trees, you know. And so I was kind, I was in nature. I was building forts. Um, and uh, and like, you know, eating fruit off the trees, like racing down hills on the big wheels. Yeah. You know, on dirt roads and stuff.

[00:17:42] And like, and like, I was the one like kind of always, you know, making like a. You know, making stuff. Yeah. Like, whether it's on the beach, like I was, I started collecting like pieces my dad collects driftwood Yeah. And stuff like that. And, and so my, my mom is a painter and so like, working [00:18:00] creatively was really just always a natural thing for me.

[00:18:03] Whether I was collecting objects and putting them together, um, making a, a driftwood shelter to shelter us from the sun in Baja, or even Montauk. You, you walk from ditch an hour, like it's no man's land. It's beautiful. I'm like, like I just, uh, I, it's not nervous energy, but like, I kind of, you know, if I get bored, I, I'm drawing, I'm doodling, I'm making stuff.

[00:18:24] So I've always, um, I've always collected and, and, and kind of growing up and, and cruising around with my mom as like a really little kid. She'd go to antique stores and she was an antique. And then she'd do these faux finishes and like, I'm like, okay mom, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go look. I'm gonna go explore and look for stuff.

[00:18:42] Yeah. And then like whatever it is, whatever it is. And I love looking for st managers and frogs or like a little lily pat or a trippy little pot or a seed or a this or a that, or a snake skin or, you know. Um, and so that was nature in the found object was natural objects. It doesn't matter to me. It's [00:19:00] almost like form and potential that, that inspires me.

[00:19:03] And so when I moved to, um, Moved to the beach. Yeah. Turned into like stingray eggs and, and like going out into the hills in the Irvine property. Now it's all houses and stuff. Yeah. Between Laguna and Corrina. Delmar. And, uh, and so this is the eighties now, and I'm still like Cornell Mar. There's fruit trees, right?

[00:19:24] Yeah. There's sun. Like, and I'm still like going down the alleys and I knew where the plum tree was mm-hmm. And the peach tree that hung over into the alley. So I was like, still kind of living that, you know? Yeah. And, um, and so like, but like as, um, now I'm like maybe 10 years old. Okay. There's little corona.

[00:19:41] Okay. That's, that's the beach I pretty much grew up on. Yeah. That's where I learned to surf. Like in the seventies. My, my first board was a clear spirit, a six oh diamond tail. Um, single fin. Yeah. And there was, that was like, you know, the, the gunny single fins coming out of the longboard, you [00:20:00] know? Mm-hmm.

[00:20:00] And just before like twin fins. Right. And, uh, so Credit Omar little Cro was amazing spot. And, um, and they actually blocked off the, the gully would always replenish the sand for that little beach. Well, they blocked it off for some reason. And, um, so the sand wasn't replenished. And then in the seventies we had these macing like, Hurricane swells.

[00:20:23] I call them New Zealand swells cuz they're coming from Southern Hemi. And it was freaking humongous. Like, like when it got big, little Corona was a little bit outta control. Like you're getting sea urchins in your foot, you know what I mean? But you had a right reef and a left reef. And, um, and so those big old swells like this is, this is like, I'm 10 and 11, so I, I'm, I surf, but not when it's big.

[00:20:46] Yeah. Then I take out the Boogie board and I'm like charging, you know, but like be so when I wasn't, you know, doing that and it was like, uh, I started, anyway, there was, there's a whole local crew in Carni DeMar. Okay. [00:21:00] And the sand started getting eroded away in the beach. Okay. And as it did that, it started, and these waves are huge and they're washing up on the beach and they're pulling the sand back.

[00:21:10] And as it pulled the sand back, I remember this as a little kid, all these coins would show up on, uh, at the shore. Oh. And like a gold ring and all these treasures and people were freaking out. It was like a frenzy because, because the sand all like a couple of these swell. After a while as a kid, it started washing away the beach.

[00:21:31] Okay. And as it did that, this was a beach from the twenties where people would go from LA Yeah. And they would go down to Newport and Cro Delmar before the jetties were made. And that was like a, the summer kind of hangout spot. So people had been losing their coins and they're aviator, uh, wings or gold rings.

[00:21:50] I, dude, I had a huge collection of like, jewelry, like, like 500 Mercury dimes, Benjamin Franklin, half dollars. Like, whoa. I [00:22:00] have cigar boxes full of all these treasures from, and it was only, it was, I was the, I was just a little kid. All the locals were like older guys. Okay. Yeah. And there was, there was like a, there's a, like a, a written law.

[00:22:13] You don't tell anyone what you're doing. Okay. And you would sit there, you're like digging for gold. You would sit there for fucking four hours and you would, you would read the ravines of the stone. Okay. And then this, now the swell, the water's receded. Right. It's low tide. And all this new bedrock is exposed.

[00:22:30] Yeah. Okay. And all the, the, the heavy metal, you know, like gold and silver and all the coins would sink down into the crevices. Okay. And then you would. You would, what we call bonanza. You would, you would start digging just in the raw sand, right. And you don't know. And then you'd start digging and then you would start pulling out like rusty nails, uh, tons of pennies and like, oh my God, holy shit.

[00:22:54] Like, I got it, I got it. And like, and once you hit it big, like none of the other people could [00:23:00] dig in your hole, you know? And you're like, this is my hole and it's gonna go towards there. I'm digging there. You, you defend your hu Yeah. I'm excavating. This is, yeah. I'm excavating and I'm obviously going that way.

[00:23:12] I found it. It's mine. And you stake your claim. And, and like, I got respect, even though I was a little kid, I was really into it. And then when the tur, if there's, you know, if it was stormy and stuff, you didn't have tur. But if it was a nice day and sometimes it would be diggable. Yeah. For a week or so. You know, and then the sand would kind of fill back in a little bit and church would be like, ah, what are you doing?

[00:23:34] You know? And, and we, our answer was, Digg gold. No, no, no, no, no. We say, oh, we're digging for coffee bean shells, coffee bean shells. They're, they're worth money. Right. And they're really hard to find. You. You find them more in Hawaii. And, um, and you would, you would have one just to show, oh, they look like this.

[00:23:54] It was so funny. I've never heard of that. Yeah. Coffee be, it was like, it was this whole culture that I [00:24:00] grew up with. And like, I think that okay, right there, finding those treasures. Like to me, as a kid, that was my fantasy, to be a pirate and find a treasure and like, I live that, you know what I mean? Yeah.

[00:24:12] And I still have that collection, and it's, and it, it, it's an amazing collection, but I feel like, like there's times in my life where like collecting is more than just, you know, getting an object and being material, but it's like, it's kind of this experience, right? Like you're mm-hmm. You're hunting for treasures, you know?

[00:24:30] And, and so that was like, um, then, then, you know, I, I was in Carne del Mar for like another, through high school and stuff, and then you're like, you're doing school. You know, I was always really. Really into art. And I did well with art. It was easy for me. I have an overactive imagination. She And your mom,

[00:24:49] Tyler: and your mom was an artist, you, so Oh yeah.

[00:24:51] She never stopped art. What sort of, uh, what sort of medium was she working with?

[00:24:55] Tyrome: Uh, she's an oil painter. Nice. You know, uh, I mean she's, yeah, both [00:25:00]acrylic and oil, but she's never shown, she doesn't sell her work. It's, it's strictly like paintings she's done for her. Hundreds of 'em, or, oh God, probably, probably a couple of thousand by now.

[00:25:12] And, um, you know, as a kid she always, as long as I can remember, she had a canvas up and she was painting and, um, and, and she's still like that, whether she made her own clothes in high school and they're freaking cool. She still makes her own clothes. She was on cheerleader. She was a cheerleader. My, both my parents grew up in San Francisco.

[00:25:30] Mm-hmm. And, uh, born and raised. And, um, and so my mom was a cheerleader, designed and made the, the cheerleading outfit. So she's always really creative, but as soon as it turned into work and my dad would be like, oh, you should commercialize off that and you could sell that. You could make a living doing that.

[00:25:46] My mom would be like, I'm not interested in it. You know, like, it was like, it was really about respect. Yeah, that's a lot. It's really about flowing creative energy. It was nothing more than that, you know? It was just, she enjoys it [00:26:00] and, and, uh, and it's a part of her life. She cooks the same way, like every time it's different, but always amazing, you know, and, and I, I think, um, yeah, making art is, it's, it's more about a process than the end, the end result.

[00:26:14] And I, I, I, I feel like people, a lot of people don't really realize that it's not about the end product. Mm-hmm. It's not about if, if you like it or you don't like it, it's well received. You have an audience, people pay lots of money. That's all extraneous, you know? Cool. It's, it's for you expressing yourself in the world and sharing it with other people, and then we die.

[00:26:33] Well, that's,

[00:26:34] Tyler: that's like the conversation I had with Emilio, you know, um, we talked a lot about like how he goes into schools and, and, you know, he answers questions from kids and their, their first questions are, how do I get a gallery? You know, and how do I, you know, how do I get, you know, representation and all that sort of stuff?

[00:26:52] And it has, and it's like, he's like, no, it, it should be about the process. It should be about just creating, for creating [00:27:00] sake and all the other stuff that comes with it is, is fine. You know, that's, that's the thing, like being an artist is. You know, your first priority should be to yourself and your cre and your creativity as opposed to, you know, what other people are gonna think or what critics are gonna change.

[00:27:18] Know. Yeah,

[00:27:18] Tyrome: absolutely. If you wanna make real art, that's how it's made. Yeah. It, it comes like deep inside you. And the whole trick is like, like listening to your inner gut and, and going forward with it, you know, it really is a personal thing and I, I think that's important and, and sh you know, during, we live in the a, the information age, right?

[00:27:39] Yeah. And it's like, I think it's harder and harder to to hear your, your heart song. Yeah. You know? And, and it's really important because if you're, if you're. Really, truly express yourself that it has to be that, you know, um, it has to be exactly who you are, but how do you know who you are when you're, there's so much noise in the [00:28:00] world and Oh yeah, sure.

[00:28:01] You, you meditate and you clear your mind. But like, holy shit, my mind's clear when I'm on a wave. You know what I mean? I, I'm not, my mind is not wandering and my, my mouth is not b blabbering. I'm fucking like, I'm like, like, what do my friends say? It looks like you're hunting like you're a predator. I'm like, I guess So that's the kind of focus it takes.

[00:28:22] Like, dude, this, this ball of energy travel thousands of miles. You think it's easy to catch, you know what I mean? And then you gotta drift in the, you know what I mean, like line up on with the house where there's a sandbar, like, like, you know, it takes a lot of focus, you know? It's primal. Yeah. It, it's Right.

[00:28:38] Yeah. And I, it's very, I think it takes you to that primal state of, of like, it's kind of survival. And I say I always, you know, when I, I do metal work, right? And it's very physically taxing as surfing is, but it's on my time, you know, after doing it for 40 years or whatever, like I do it mindfully. Like I, [00:29:00] I'm using my body.

[00:29:01] You have to do it correctly or all since it's your, your time is limited, you know? And, and as you get older, there's more and more maintenance to accomplish that. But I'm cool with that. Nothing stays the same. Like, I wanna do this, you know, And, uh, I think it's, uh, yeah, you're good.

[00:29:18] Tyler: Get, get that mic close to you, man.

[00:29:19] Oh, I'm sorry. Um, let me ask you this, like, what did your dad do then?

[00:29:24] Tyrome: My dad was incredibly creative just as my, as my mom. Yeah. Um, he made great art. The, the thing is he got kind of swept up in, in, uh, making a living really, you know? Yeah. Chasing money in women, you know? Mm-hmm. He, he made art because it felt good.

[00:29:44] Um, and then, and then it, when it came to like the responsibilities of raising the family, but still keeping who he is. Mm-hmm. Something how to give. Right. And, um, and I kind of felt like it was the art making and it was, and really [00:30:00] the problem was he, he put too much pressure on himself that I, he's like most people do, like these artists that you're ta Emilio talks to their kids.

[00:30:08] Yeah. Like, I'm only gonna do art if I can make it in the art world. Yeah. I can sell my work, otherwise I'm not gonna waste my time. And to me that's like so weird. Yeah. It's like, you're like, you're, you're not gonna let this, this person out unless the, the, you know what I mean? Yeah. It, it's kind of like, why are you doing that to yourself?

[00:30:29] And I'm like, you shouldn't be doing this then, but, but really, like, I use art broadly for like, Working creatively, you know, and anything can be art and anything can be personal expression. You could, you can, um, express yourselves through any medium. It could be food, music, paintings, sculpture, like it's up to you, you know?

[00:30:50] Yeah. And I, I, I, I had this, I've had this conversation with my kids growing up, and my son would be like, he goes, well, Daddy could like [00:31:00] seating on a bench be art. Yeah. I'm like, absolutely. And you'll know it when you see it, you know? And so it's like, the problem is Tyler, okay? Mm-hmm. This thing, this thing called an art career.

[00:31:11] Yeah. Okay. The art, art career is like, it's a real thing, you know, because we, we still eat and we gotta pay for our space. Like we need to make a living somehow. And, and of course to do it with something you love is the ultimate, you know? And, um, but I, I. Been noticing that like it's just important to make the art to, to work, to be creative.

[00:31:35] Yeah. And, and it's like, and it's kind of, it's only something you made. Okay. Until you share it. Now it's art because it's, it's now it's not yours. And they can say what they want about it. They can use it how they want, you know that. Yeah. Now it's on, it's put out into the world. Yeah. Yeah. It belongs to the world.

[00:31:51] Yeah. And, and everybody could be wrong. They think you made it for this reason and, and, and they're not. Right. Because it's no longer [00:32:00] yours. So I don't, I never want to read the art statement. You know? I, I don't want my fantasy to be ruined, you know what I mean? I know it's mine. And then people tell me about Mike, don't, you know, and I see that with other people, they don't wanna hear, you know, like the artists can really ruin it for people a lot of time.

[00:32:15] Like, tell 'em how they made it, where they made it. And it's like, oh, I thought it was more special than that. So. Mm-hmm. I think the artists that keep their mouth shut and just let people have the experience with their work is really on the right track. And I also think that artists that, that like get over having to make a living by their art and, and like make their living somehow that doesn't consume them.

[00:32:37] Yeah. And it's enough to make a good living. And you still have enough. Energy and time to do your, your creative process and express yourself that way. Those are the happiest people that I see, you know? Yeah. I have friends. They make a living off their art and they do really well, and they're kind of stressed.

[00:32:53] Right. Torture. They're the artist. Yeah. They're worried. Well, yeah. In either direction, on either pole. I know, right? To be tortured, right? [00:33:00] Yeah. And you're only in harmony for a second in the middle, which is boring.

[00:33:10] Um,

[00:33:10] Tyler: so I wanna get back to the, the found work that you've, you've done though that that, that I was introduced to, um, in, in Mund, daca, you know?

[00:33:20] Tyrome: Yeah. Well, the timing of that Yeah. Was like, was really, was, was critical. Right. Because like, as, as like a creative person and I love exploring and finding really, and then like having that experience at like 10, all the way up through high school of digging in the rocks and finding real, real money treasures, you know?

[00:33:39] But I wasn't making art out of those, outta that collection, you know? No. And, uh, and so like, but that, that's how I grew up. And I always did really well in art and, but I'm like, You know, I'm not going to art school. Like I, I'm always gonna do art. I don't need anybody to tell me anything about it. I just want, you know what I mean?

[00:33:57] It's just like, it's like going to school to, to learn how to [00:34:00] take a shit, you know? I'm pretty sure I do it okay. You know? And then like, and I do it how I do it. Like, like it's something natural. And I, and, and like, and on that note, I, I feel like being creative and expressing yourself creatively and sharing it is as important as sleeping and eating.

[00:34:20] Yeah. Which keeps you alive. I feel like that is, that's peace on earth. That's a happy person. You know, somebody who's well fed, well fucked and making raping creatively, I think, like, you think they're raping in pill Jean? No, they're satiated. And I feel like the, the one that people don't really like the fucking is easily Right.

[00:34:41] And then the, oh, I can't see them. You can say on podcast, I can, yeah.

[00:34:45] Tyler: No. Yo, you can say cock fuck shit balls, whatever you want, you know, there's no problem here.

[00:34:53] Tyrome: Oh, that's awesome. I do, I do. I I think, I think it's that important to, uh, to like go out [00:35:00] Surfing is definitely an art form for me. I, I think it's a discipline, even it's creative. Um, and I, I think I tell this to artists. I tell surfing like, you gotta, you gotta. Make art even when you don't want to. You gotta go surfing even if you want to.

[00:35:16] And like, you know, people are like, oh, I'm gonna go surfing this day. I'm like, I got you. Don't surf when you want to. You surf when the waves are good. Where's there,

[00:35:22] Tyler: you know, when it's there. East coast, especially on the East coast, yeah.

[00:35:26] You've,

[00:35:26] Tyrome: you know, such a small window. Like you really have to be instead of a week to get it.

[00:35:30] Like in California you got like 12 hours for

[00:35:33] Tyler: California, you can plan a little bit of your surf. You know, it's like, I always, I always say this and, and probably listeners have heard me say this, but um, east Coast we're hunters and gatherers. It's feaster famine. West coast is agricultural surfing. Ah. You know, cause they can plan around the surf.

[00:35:51] They know. Oh wow. The surf is coming from a thousand. Love that thousands of miles away. And they are the bread

[00:35:55] Tyrome: basket too. They, I just saw like some totally meme about that. Like, ah, a [00:36:00] hundred percent of this and a hundred percent of that comes outta California.

[00:36:02] Tyler: They, they are. And it's like you can plan your surf a week in advance, cuz you know that swell is definitely coming because it's coming from the southern hemi.

[00:36:11] Yeah. And you can see it tracked through buoys all throughout the Pacific, whereas here it goes off the coast and it's going away from you. So, and you never know what it's gonna do. So you can't plan as, as far in advance, you can make tentative plans. You can kind of read the signs, but you have to read all the signals.

[00:36:31] Right. And you know, you have to read the footprints almost. Yeah. And as in hunter gatherer type of

[00:36:36] Tyrome: terminology, it, it's absolutely true. And I, I learned that here, uh, living in San Francisco if it was sunny. Yeah, okay. That means, and I was, I was on the East Bay. Yeah. You know, er hill, Hillary, if it was sunny, I'm like, huh, that means it's offshore.

[00:36:53] We gotta go sir. And that means it's gonna be good and, and like, I don't even know if there's waves. You know, it's all about the, there's ways of wave. There is no [00:37:00] shortage of wav in the ocean detail. Oh my God. It's actually the only spot I've lived at where I've like. Oh yeah, that's actually perfect. Top to bottom.

[00:37:08] Yeah. 30 foot face spitting tubes left and right. Look, no one out. If you have your sharks nine oh gun, like, like towing with a vest. You know what I mean? Like holy. It's like ocean beach is scary. Yeah. So it's all about the wind, when the wind is right. That it's surfable, it's, it's never, I think I longboarded there once and I broke my longboard and there was no swell.

[00:37:30] They're calling it one to zero to one, and it was still a punchy ass one to three. And then in like, and then top to bottom break my board. I'm like, I'm like, what? And then I moved to here and I'm like, I'm, I'm, I'm long boarding for days. And it was kind of great because I never really long boarded growing up.

[00:37:49] I, I started in, in college, I went to U C S D in, uh, in the eighties, graduated in 90. And um, and I got my first bill Menard longboard in [00:38:00] nine. Oh. Like, and uh, I've been writing his boards ever since. So I, in San Diego it gets small enough La Jolla shores. Yeah. You know, but Mike's favorite spot of course was blacks.

[00:38:10] What a great spot. Mm-hmm. And you got that really good workout to walk down the cliff and almost slide down. Kill yourselves. They're warm up. It's a warm up. Exactly. It real. How about like surfing for four hours and of course you didn't eat or bring food. Oh. And then like, and then now, and now you have your walk up and then it's like, hot.

[00:38:27] I, oh, I thought I was just gonna die. Yeah. And then you, and then you get to the top hill and you get to, I get to my truck and it got broken into again. Ah, damn. My, my Toyota truck got broken into, I swear, 15 times. And then I got a car alarm and it didn't get broken into until I forgot to set the alarm and it got broken into Damn.

[00:38:46] Yeah. And they would even steal my board in wetsuit San Francisco. My car, my truck, this truck got stolen. Okay. It, I recovered it a week later. Okay. This is San Francisco and the mission and the, and they took my shell off. [00:39:00] Okay. My wetsuit and board was still in the back of the truck for five days. No one stole it.

[00:39:06] That's crazy. That's San Francisco. Like, like you hope somebody's out there with you. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's freaking scary. All you think about are great whites and like, am I in the right spot? You know, and it's like suddenly you, you are in the channel kind of creeping into the humongous peak.

[00:39:23] Like, God, it gets good out there. It's amazing wave. And you, you can surf Ocean Beach. Like you can surf anywhere. Like there's three impact zones. Like I know, like I, I would like race across town from my studio, which. This is like, uh, the nineties, right? Yeah. And, uh, and then as far as like my collecting goes, when I moved to, now I moved to San Francisco.

[00:39:49] Just, just to kind of like actually to, to, to resume this relationship that I left after I graduated college. Mm-hmm. I went on a yearlong surf trip in the south of the Civic. We could talk about [00:40:00] that later. But that was, that was a whole year of surfing, like Tahiti, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, west Coast, Australia for six months.

[00:40:08] And I got a job in Hawaii, in the West, west coast. Like, I, it was amazing. But I ended up coming back and, and, uh, I majored in biochemistry. I, I dropped art. It turned into a double major, more of a minor in art. I kind of like, I, I had a, like, I didn't really, what I wasn't, I did really well, but the whole like, uh, art speak and the whole kind of, Academia and art felt like it was, it was the opposite of what I was looking for in art, you know?

[00:40:39] And they had a really liberal art program and like, it

[00:40:43] Tyler: it ruin it for you though, the talking, talking about it

[00:40:46] Tyrome: sometimes sports. Yeah, it, the, the art making classes no matter what. Like, they always loved me cause I always went hard. Yeah. You know, like with surfing, like, like the, the only thing that makes me different is like, I go my hardest.

[00:40:57] Yeah. Like, like it's time to run. I'm not running, [00:41:00] I'm sprinting my hardest. Like, like that's how we surfed in the, in the, you know, growing up. Yeah. Like, like, and, uh, And so, so I do that with art too. And, and growing up in Southern California and then San Diego, you know, it's not super diverse. People are kind of like out of the same mold and Yeah.

[00:41:21] And even though down to earth and really good people, like, it's not, they're not pushing the envelope of creativity if something's they're comfortable. Yeah. And, and if something is, and if something is not like what they know, they're a little bit uncomfortable now. Yeah. And that's the difference, you know, like, and I, you know, I don't know if it's my personality or like, or how I look.

[00:41:43] I felt like I was kind of like, the only time I could really express myself is like, uh, and, and get positive feedback with surfing there. You can hit the fucking live as hard as you want and people go, yeah. You know what I mean? Like, to me, like you can [00:42:00] go fast as you want. Like people are like, go harder.

[00:42:02] You know what I mean? And, and so I felt like, When I, when I got up to San Francisco, I, I was, again, working in a, a molecular biology lab. I, I was pre-med, so I was like in the, uh, VA hospital above dead mans. We, we

[00:42:16] Tyler: gotta, we gotta, we gotta just diverge here for a second. What made you want to go into biochemistry?

[00:42:22] Tyrome: Uh, it's, what was that? Well, you know what I, growing up, math and art was, were my subjects, right? Like, reading and writing, like I, I could really care less, right? Mm-hmm. It was like, I don't like anything where I gotta sit on my ass, you know? And like, you know, like a office job. No way. You can't make me do it.

[00:42:40] That's why I do metal work for a living. Like, you're walking from one machine to the next, you're pulling the metal as hard as you can. Mm-hmm. And like, you're sore, like you lifted weights. Like, like, that's what I need to fall asleep at night,

[00:42:51] Tyler: you know? Well, it makes you physically drained, you know? Yeah.

[00:42:54] It's, it's a, it's a, you know, I gotta burn my energy. Yeah. And particularly if you, if you're [00:43:00] creative and you're using a lot of your brain for being on the computer, doing an office job, like the last thing you wanna do is be creative at the end of the day. Cause you've just burnt your, you know, your brain all day.

[00:43:12] Yeah. You know, with something else. Nothing left. Yeah. And when you're doing something physical, then when you're done, you can devote to the thought. You know, the more thinking, the more you know, ephemeral that way maybe.

[00:43:25] Tyrome: Yeah, absolutely. Like, so I, I, I. It was, um, so find myself in San Francisco. I, I didn't go up there to find myself, you know, to soul search that that year long surf trip in the South Pacific was

[00:43:40] Tyler: to San Francisco.

[00:43:42] Sorry, I just thought it

[00:43:44] Tyrome: was appropriate there. Yeah. That, that trip that met you, that was even after like Yeah, like, like the soul searching was, and like, what am I gonna do with my life? It was like, it was that exact question, Tyler, am I gonna do science or art? And, um, and [00:44:00] because I liked math, like, you know, science and, and, um, and I did really well in science, especially biology and high school.

[00:44:07] And so when I, when I went to college, I kind of, you know, I was, I, I was from the standpoint of like, you're not learning to trade. Whatever you study is gonna be fine. And, and my sister's husband said, Hey, you know what, Ty, take college as an opportunity to study something that you wouldn't do on your own or study something you wouldn't do on your own.

[00:44:31] And. It was biochemistry. I loved chemistry, organic chemistry and, um, genetics. And, um, and then the whole art thing, I'm like, you know what, um, I was, I, I, I only needed a few more classes, but I, it just wasn't important to me, you know? And, uh, and I wanted to finish a degree and I loved, I loved biology and, and chemistry.

[00:44:54] And so, so I'm like, you know what? I'm just going to drop the double major. And, um, cuz [00:45:00] I was like, biology, ecology. Mm-hmm. And art, I was gonna be my, my double major, but for the biology, I, you gotta take physics and chemistry. And I was really digging on those classes and the labs in Orga and Chem, I, I'd get like high score out of 300 kids and they were super nerds.

[00:45:18] Yeah. I went to, like, I went to the, the school where Lewis Andre did the research on the human genome across the street that the Salcon Scripps Institute like, got an excellent education and that's what the school's known for. And I really love the science and I'm definitely not gonna pick up the journal later.

[00:45:34] Yeah. So I'm like, that's why I, I finished like, cuz I, I was good at it. And um, and my parents, even though they're both really creative, they're like, yes. You're really good at art, but it's one in a million to make it as an artist. And like, and you know how your parents say these things Yeah. And they like ruined you for life.

[00:45:52] Yeah. Like, like those kind of things. Renini in your brain forever. Like, okay, I guess, you know, and of course I'm Sicilian [00:46:00] style, like, so one in a million I'll show you. And like, and like I, I did make a living off my art or, or did working creatively, but it's, it's, you know, I made metalwork my, my medium of expression.

[00:46:14] And then, and then I, I do, um, like functional stuff, like a fence or a gate, you know, in San Francisco there were little mosaic tables. And I started doing this is in 92 and, and I actually found myself in San Francisco for relationships. You're self-trained

[00:46:30] Tyler: metalwork too, right? Yeah. Like you, you didn't take a class, you didn't study it.

[00:46:36] You didn't even like work under anyone. You self-taught yourself. You want to hear

[00:46:39] Tyrome: something funny? Listen to this. This is a podcast. Well, I did. I this is because like, it just goes to show, you know, I, I took a metal working. I, I love shop. Okay. Yeah. I, I mostly did wood shop in high school, but we did, uh, plastic shop, um, plastic fabrication, some really good courses like growing up in high school.

[00:46:59] [00:47:00] Like, and they were still complaining about shutting down, shutting down, um, The art courses, like, oh, there, there, there's less money in the budget. So we're getting rid of the silk screening class. Yeah. And we're like, oh man. Oh man. But we still had a lot of great art classes and, um, anyway, so, so one, I don't know what year, maybe junior year I took metal working.

[00:47:21] Okay. And I'm really good with my hands and I'm like, I'm really into it. I listen, I wanna do this, you know, I'm, and so of course I I I, I did really well on all the projects. I got an A on everything. I was like the best welder. Yeah. You know what I mean? And, and, but the, but the, uh, the teacher did not like me.

[00:47:41] I, I guess cuz I would, you know, I don't know, I was kind of a smart ass sometimes or whatever, but really what it was, what it was, we had, we are obligated to make this project, uh, um, it was called a, a slide hammer. Mm-hmm. It's for taking the dents outta your car. Oh yeah. Yeah. And I could care less about my dents in my car, you know, and, [00:48:00] um, it was an old dots and B2 t Yes.

[00:48:03] Yeah. And I could sleep in the, it was a hatch bag sleep in the bag with my board. And, um, anyway, so, so it was a slide hammer. So you're, you're, you're, um, turning like a hunk of steel on the lathe, then you're making it in this and this and that, and I make it. And um, and so we had a shop. I had a shop fee for that, like a material fee.

[00:48:22] It was like 15 bucks or something. And it's just like, I don't have any money. And I'm like, f that. And I asked my mom like, can you, and she's like, no f that. I'm like, so I didn't pay and I didn't pay for my shop bill, I think, and that's not like me. I paid my bills, you know? But like, he was such a jerk all the time.

[00:48:39] And so anyway, I, I did well in school. I studied, I did my homework. Um, all through college. I did really well. I got a good GPA and I've never gotten a D Okay. In my whole life. Nice. Except I can't say I got one D and it was in, can't say that I got, and I got, the worst grade I've ever got in my whole life was in mental shop.

[00:48:59] No. [00:49:00] What? I was so pissed. That's that's because the teacher was a prince. Yeah. And he ruined my gpa. And I just thought it was so, I think it's so funny, like 30 years later it's, here you are. It's been my, like, I love metal. It's just, I can't, it fits my personality how I work, right? Yeah. With the wood or precious metal, like gold, that's like, it, it's stifling for me.

[00:49:21] Like, oh, if I fuck up, oh my God, it's expensive. Or even back in the day when photography had to buy film and get it developed, like I'd be like, oh my God, could I take this picture or not? It's gonna have one last picture on this roll. You know what I mean? And like that to me, I'm not being creative. I'm stifled.

[00:49:37] You know what I mean? I'm not, there's no flow. Yeah. But with metal, You know, 20 foot length of half inch solid round rod back in the nineties was five bucks. Wow. I could make a whole table out of that, and it was just like, it was almost nothing. You know what I mean? Yeah. And to me, uh, that was so liberating.

[00:49:54] You know what I mean? Yeah. And then, and then like, it's not straight up foreign art. I'm making a [00:50:00] little table. See, these people have like, it's functional. Yeah. It's functional. They could justify it more. It's not just a pretty picture. Yeah. Or, or a little thing to go on the shelf. And so, so like, uh, so when I found myself in San Francisco, I end up dropping the whole, uh, biotech thing.

[00:50:18] And I, I tried everything. I did sales in San Diego before San Francisco and I made kickass money. Yeah. And they didn't think I. But like, I actually worked with electro cellular fusion and electroporation like apparatus to like transc like cells with the genes that you're working on. And it's the way of like perforating the cells so that into bacteria, and then it takes on that genome as their own.

[00:50:43] Mm-hmm. And then you feed the bacteria. Yeah. This is just how you amplify jeans. So I, I loved all that work, you know, and, and so I did that in college and then, so when I was applying, like maybe I knew I wasn't gonna like sales, and I'm like, but I knew I'd learn something from it. Yeah. And [00:51:00] I'm like, I'm gonna fucking turn over that stone.

[00:51:01] And plus I'm in my early twenties, I gotta, I gotta try it. I felt like after college in 90 and I took that yearlong surf trip, I came back and I just felt like I was really lost. I'm like, and I, cause I took that surf trip to be like, am I going to stay in, I'm gonna do med school or do the art. Yeah. And then when I came back, my big plan was that I would go to med school, be a general practitioner on a, on a, the fast route.

[00:51:26] Okay. Worked for 10 years, stack up some money, and then do my art. Just skate. So that was my plan. And then I came back, you know, like, and I got a, I got a job at Baxter. Yeah. This is, and then like, I, I had no money left. Right. Like after a year of serving. Yeah. Yeah. And like, and I, and I kind of didn't even, like I had post-graduate blues.

[00:51:48] Yeah. And I didn't even really have a direction. And I'm at mom's house, which is like, I hadn't lived at home since. So Cool. I left in 18. My first year of college was Long Beach, and then I last in the next four years was at U C S D. [00:52:00] And so, so it was kind of like, um, when I came back and I'm like, oh, I wanna do my art.

[00:52:06] Yeah. You know, from that surf trip. And then, and then I, and then I got a bio, uh, uh, no, um, a lab technician job. We're gonna Baxter. And my, my job was to sequence, back in the day was like, it took all day to sequence a gene. Wow. You know what I mean? And, and it, and uh, and so that was my job. And then I would read the, the poly, oh my gosh.

[00:52:28] Gel. And like, you know how you, you read, you've seen that? Yes. It's gotta be tedious or, uh, A C G T. And anyway, so, but it was like 11 bucks an hour. I was getting nowhere. And then, uh, my, my mom and sister were making these mosaic tables cuz they collect pottery and if it was broken and they would find these old, like garden furniture and make these really beautiful tables.

[00:52:50] And I came back, I'm like, oh, I know. To do metalwork learned in high school. Yeah. So I took a, a co, a course at occ, uh, to, and I said, Hey, I know how to [00:53:00] weld. I just kind of want, use your facility. Is that cool? And the instructor's like, yeah, yeah, you can do that. Nice. So I, so I did that and then it was not conducive at all being creative.

[00:53:09] So I'm there to make dainty little cute, you know, mosaic garden tables. But everybody else in the class were interested. Uh, welding their crack axle, you know, they're like fixing like the head gasket. Yeah. Welding the block and shit like that. And they're looking at me like I was a bloody poof up.

[00:53:32] But,

[00:53:33] Tyler: but, so,

[00:53:34] Tyrome: but I, I made a few tables. Yeah. Okay. And then, and then I tried pedalling them in, in, uh, carni Delmar area. Yeah. And, and people are like, oh, those are kind of, they weren't, they weren't what the work that I was doing now, it was like much more simple. Primitive, but they're a little bit different.

[00:53:49] Right. Yeah. And like, not receptive in LA they're like, uh, who sent you? Does anybody famous own your work? Yeah. No. Okay. But like, you got nowhere. And then my hometown,[00:54:00] they're too weird. And then I go to Laguna Beach. Right. I was gonna say

[00:54:02] Tyler: Laguna. They have that, that uh, that uh, big art, uh, yeah. You know, kind people creative there.

[00:54:08] This art galleries outdoor. Yeah. What tho

[00:54:09] Tyrome: isn't there? The LASAs, the museum there. Yeah. Laguna Contemporary. Yeah. The all, all great. I love their shows. And

[00:54:16] Tyler: then the outdoor market

[00:54:17] Tyrome: with the, all the different parts. Yeah. And like little garden shops and stuff. Yeah. So I go to there. And, um, and I started to make a little bit of headway prior.

[00:54:26] This guy's interested this and that. I'm like, okay, cool. And then as I'm going further into it, I'm like, I think he's just interested in boning me. And that was true. I gave him another chance. I'm like, this is obvious now. Like, so I'm like, this is harder than I thought, you know? So I, I bailed on that and I got that Baxter job, and then I'm like, God, this is, I'm barely making any money.

[00:54:47] And then like, although the work was like, um, very like intellectually stimulating. Yeah. Like it was a chimeric antibody that was like selective to breast cancer. Oh my gosh. And my job was to make sure the gene, cuz they were [00:55:00] splicing the mirroring a mouse gene with a human gene. Mm-hmm. The mouse part is a, you know, remember an antibody is like Yeah, yeah.

[00:55:06] It's got the, the dominant region. It's got the variable region, the variable is what attaches to the toxin and stuff. So, so that kind of stuff I love and I still like it, but, but I just, it wasn't like even there, the my professor or the, the doctor, the PhD was like, you're more of an artist than saying like, you're good at this, but you know what I mean?

[00:55:27] And then I go up to San Fran, I did the biotech. Okay. Yeah. The sales and I make kick ass money. Yeah. And then I spent it all applying to med school and taking the MCAT class and all that crap shit. But, you know, I'm in my mid 20, I'm my early twenties trying to figure it out. Like I have a lot of energy and I'm not gonna settle for something that's bullshit.

[00:55:46] Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, like I, I, I'm here for a reason, you know, and if it, if. If I know this isn't the reason, then I, I'm, you know, why would I'm moving on. Yeah. So I was a little bit relentless in that three year period where I went from [00:56:00] one job to the next. I'm like, Nope, this is not, I'm good at this, but it's not fulfilling to me.

[00:56:04] I thought saving lives would be fulfilling. Yeah. And then working in the hospital, they were the same way. You're more of an artist. Like, I don't think you're gonna have the freedom as a doctor that you think like, so people were telling me who I was in San Francisco, they could see it, but, you know. Yeah.

[00:56:19] And I'm just trying to be a responsible guy, you know, go to college. Like I grew up with like water polo players. Yeah. We did our homework, we all did well in school. And you kind of follow suit. Like, you know, you follow what you know, and then when you become, and then you're out on your own after college, like, okay, what do I do now?

[00:56:36] And we have like, all right, we'll figure it out, dude. Well,

[00:56:40] Tyler: the path, you know, like you think there's a path, right? Like you're like, oh, well I need to do this. I have to do the responsible thing. Make money. Yeah. Like a

[00:56:48] Tyrome: thoroughfare and everyone's on this path.

[00:56:50] Tyler: Yeah. Next, you know, and then you realize I don't have to stay on this path.

[00:56:55] So what was that moment? This is not my path. Yeah.

[00:56:58] Tyrome: So for me, [00:57:00] my mom, yeah. Fully when I moved to San Francisco. Yeah. And I had all these revelations like. Like, maybe, yeah, maybe I, I might be good at science and, and I could probably be a good doctor, but you know, maybe this is a sign, you know? Yeah. And the biotech, oh, also like you're, you know, and then, and then being in San Francisco and then suddenly I'm like, I'm thinking, oh, it's foggy.

[00:57:24] It's probably crappy waves. And I'm like, whoa. The surf goes off. Yeah. Up here. And then like, and then I, I had some of those tables that I made at OCC when I came back on that trip, and now it's like two years later. And that same relationship. Yeah. I went up to San Francisco to kind of get away. Yeah, no, to, to, to get her back.

[00:57:44] Oh yeah. That was because she kept kind of like, oh, uh, you know, you left on that trip and now I have another, another, another boyfriend, and this is that. Like, I'm, wow. I felt guilty cuz it was a really good relationship. I, I left to soul search and sew my oats and then [00:58:00] I'm, the whole time I'm missing here like a loser.

[00:58:02] Mm-hmm. Like, I was so embarrassing, you know, that I, it was just kind of like, you know, you start to, you know, as you go into like life and then you put yourself in like struggling situations. You, you learn who you are and if, and if, you know, and, and traveling is so like that. Yeah. And, um, and it's really a, a mirror that you hold up by being so different from, you know, whether it's the language you're speaking and the people you're around a whole different culture.

[00:58:28] Like, you're like, whoa. You know, you, you, you learn a lot. I, I think traveling should be one of those things. Like, like academia, like higher education. Like, like, okay, now let's go time to live abroad. And it's best if you don't know the language. Yeah. Well, so you really

[00:58:43] Tyler: struggle. Well now it's like, it's, it's so different because Yeah.

[00:58:47] Cause you're talking to a thing, you're talking to a phone or whatever, you know, like it's, it's, you're, you know, you're not gonna mistake other people for speaking in another language and, uh, randomly become friends with them, you know, like us. [00:59:00] But, you know, I think travel is, can be a great thing, uh, if you do it a certain way and, and if you're thrown into some more uncomfortable positions, I think is, it's great.

[00:59:13] Uh, I think a lot of people travel and they just stay in a comfort, comfort zones, you know? Yeah. For a lifetime actually. Yeah. Yeah. Now, so, so you go up to San Francisco to pursue this girl?

[00:59:26] Tyrome: Yeah. I mean, that was the, that was the driving force. Okay. Because I had to get closure. Yeah. I was obviously like hanging on for her, you know, because I felt, you know, I felt guilty that I threw away a really good thing.

[00:59:41] Yeah. I'm young too, you know what I mean? When you young, you don't

[00:59:43] Tyler: know. You have no perspective. You feel

[00:59:45] Tyrome: so deeply. Right? Yeah. You, you

[00:59:47] Tyler: feel it because it's the first time maybe, but you don't think. Oh, there's gonna be more like this. You think, how could there be anything more than this? Yeah. You know that you're feeling Yeah.

[00:59:57] God. It's like, I, I can't tell [01:00:00] you how many times I've fallen so hard, and then when it doesn't work out, you're like, I'll never get that feeling again. Wrench, you know? Wrenching. Yeah. Absolutely.

[01:00:10] Tyrome: Yeah. So I kind of like, so I was finding that I was like, really stuck on this, you know, and, and, and lost too.

[01:00:16] Cuz I, I, I knew there was something out there for me, not, not as far as like a, a woman or a relationship. Yeah. But like, and I, I didn't, I didn't realize really that, that until after the fact. Yeah. Okay. And then, but I was just like, you know what, I'm, I'm tired of this job. I'm gonna go up to San Francisco and see what happens.

[01:00:37] My little sister was living there. Yeah. And I could sleep on the couch and then, um, while I wait to hear for secondary applications for Yeah. For medical school. Right. Okay. And then so I go up there and, um, and I have closure because I knew she wasn't gonna break up over there. Yeah. New way and like, and so I needed that.

[01:00:56] Be like, okay, cool. Then, you know. Yeah. And then finally [01:01:00] that. Year that I was gone and the year and a half that I was back, I was kind of like hanging out a little bit. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I learned a lot about myself. Like, Ty, that's just who you are. You know what I mean? Like, and um, and so like, so, so it worked.

[01:01:15] I had closure and now I'm in San Francisco and, and the, the VA hospital is like really gnarly. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. And, and I, I'm doing EKGs on homeless people that haven't bathed in months and, but it was, it was fucking cool helping these people and stuff, but like, it still wasn't full family, but the doctors like, you have more to offer as an artist.

[01:01:36] They're tailoring me that. Right. And then I was working at Genentech at the same time. Yeah. And that was another like lab tech tech job. Yeah. That was like fully remedial. Yeah. So I, I got fired from that. I quit the hospital. I had no money. I'm, I'm driving out down Fulton to go surfing. My sister lived off Fulton and like, and to give, like, I learned there's good waves.

[01:01:59] I just [01:02:00] gotta get a a you gotta wear four, three now have three, two and booty's year round. Yeah. And um, so I'm driving out there, I'm telling you how I gone into like my path as a metal worker and as an artist. I'm driving out to San Francisco, I mean out to Ocean Beach. And I go by a garage sale. And it's not junk antiques, it's like, It's like really weird, whimsical, looks like handmade furniture.

[01:02:24] Wow. And like I've always, always, like when I travel surf spots, I'm finding the art. Yeah. Like in Bali, I'm like, Kuda. Oh my God. They have their beautiful wood carvers, right? Yeah. But they make all the same shit. Like Buddha, this, that, and you're like thirst things and I'm Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then you would stumble upon like this little alley and a, and a trippy little progressive, you know, art gallery and they're using the craft.

[01:02:50] And Morocco had the same experience. Yeah. They're using their craftsmanship and then expressing themselves as an artist, like making really weird different stuff like emaciated, disfigured, [01:03:00] weird figures out of driftwood and leaving it half driftwood. And then enhancing like human elements that are really kind of tweaked and distorted.

[01:03:08] Like, like a, like a huge fallas and like mm-hmm. So gnarly. I'm like, yeah. Like I love that. So, so moving to San Francisco was like, I had no idea that I was moving in such a creative zone. I always went there cause my grandparents lived there and this and that. But like, but like, my parents didn't take us to our galleries.

[01:03:28] They, they just creatively, naturally, yeah. Creative. And, and, and like, we weren't going to museums. They weren't educating us at all. Yeah. You know, so I get to San Francisco and I'm going out to the search, but I see this and I, and I go and I stop and I'm talking to the guy and he says, fucking, he makes all this stuff himself.

[01:03:45] Like, is that legal? Are you allowed to do that? You know what I mean? Like, I'm like, I'm thinking back growing up, like, like I never saw all this weird art. And like, and this is nineties where there's a lot of artists and, and [01:04:00] everyone, it doesn't matter. No. What medium? They're pushing the envelope. Right?

[01:04:04] Like they're going hard in this fucking weird off the wall. Anything goes. And then they have a support group. There's other people like them. They, and even though they're, they're little clicks communities, you know what I mean? They all think they're super cool. They're all going hard, pushing themselves creatively.

[01:04:19] And I'm like, holy shit, I love this place. And then when they, and then I, they're seeing my work and they're like, whoa dude, I love this work. Yeah, you should go even harder. You could go harder. I'm like, really? Okay. I could go harder. Like hit the lip harder, then harder now lose your scags, jump in the air.

[01:04:38] You know what I mean? Like, I needed that encouragement. It wasn't just like, oh, it's accepted here. It's strongly encouraged. Yeah. Like dude and then, and people in higher position. Like how, who owned a store or a garden store or like a, one-of-a-kind furniture store like Lynn Pacific was amazing and it was like, like all one of a kind.

[01:04:59] I like, you [01:05:00] don't see that growing up. It's all product that's bought and sold. Like, even though I, I grew up with the birth of the surf and skate industry, you know what I mean? And Cor del Mar, like Newport in the, the seventies and eighties. Like everybody, all my friends worked for Quicksilver. Mm-hmm.

[01:05:14] Whatever. And you know, and like, and you're just used to that. Everything's manufactured and then you go to San Francisco, it's not only manufactured, but just this one guy is making this stuff. Yeah. And it just blew my mind, dude. And, and it's just like, I immediately started make like, I'm like, they're like, well those are cool table that guy.

[01:05:32] He's like, yeah, yeah, we have, I've got a studio with 10 other artists in the China basement. And I'm like, what do you mean? He's like, yeah, we just rented out of place and it's like a collective. I'm like, whoa, I'm hearing this all for the first time. And I'm like, okay, gimme your number. I'm, I'm going back to SoCal for Christmas and I'm coming back.

[01:05:51] Okay. That was November 92. I'm like, fucking San Francisco's cool. I had no idea. Like great waves. And then people like I could. [01:06:00] You know, and Bushwick, I bet I like, I'm in my work clothes, okay. I can go in brand new clothes by the end of the day. I have burnt halls, this and that. It's just how it goes, you know?

[01:06:08] And I'm not wearing a leather apron or, or fucking jumpsuit and shit, you know? And so like, and, and so in Cornell Mar, like if I don't shave or it's still like this, like, oh, you, you're a little bit radical looking or whatever. You don't look, you're kind of getting this look. Yeah. They're, they're afraid of you for no reason.

[01:06:24] Cause they know who ares who are, you know, and then you go to San Francisco, it's the opposite. Yeah. Like, who is this guy? You fucking artist. Right? What do you make, you know, the support was insane. And um, and I immediately started like dating this woman who was in the apartment below my sister. And that turned really bad, but she's like, whoa, Ty, how about my friend Edward Salon?

[01:06:45] My friend Edward is opening up a hair salon, dude, this is, I just started. Okay. I don't have, I don't even know how to, like, when I, I, um, when I got the space, okay, yeah. Like, I come back and, and I called that guy that I, with a wacky furniture on the way to the [01:07:00] beach. And I'm like, I'm like, Hey, I want to come by your studio, this and that.

[01:07:03] And uh, and I left him a message. He doesn't get back to me. He doesn't get back to me. I'm like, oh fuck. I really wanted to see their, their, their compound and like what they're doing. Tell me more, you know. And then, um, I finally had to like, almost get agro, like, I just wanna check you out. You know what I mean?

[01:07:20] You know what I mean? Because like, he kind of like pe you know how cities are? Yeah. There's so many, like, it's so transient and you talk to everyone and like, I don't remember this guy. You know? And it wasn't back then where you can, Instagram can't, there was no background. It was all like, yeah. And so, so I finally, I, I got, I just wanna check it out.

[01:07:39] You know, I've never seen anything like that. And if it's other artists like you, I, you know. Yeah. And I go, is it China Basin? It was on Illinois. Okay. And, um, big old, it was the old American cam building, which is literally four blocks long, humongous building all art studios. And we had a, like a loading dock, and it was like a real loading dock.[01:08:00]

[01:08:00] And it was like a big space, couple thousand square feet. And, and it was like 10, 10 metalwork artists. Wow. And I was like, everybody was making work that I didn't know was possible. Like one guy was doing figurative, um, and the other person was doing these beautiful little garden tables. And I showed 'em the, the work that I made, you know, I don't know, like, yeah.

[01:08:21] And I, and they're like, yeah, cool. Yeah. Cool. And then, um, and then, and we just really hit it off, like totally on the same plane. Like, they were like, like, I'd known them my whole life or something. Like finally, you know what I mean? I found my people. Yeah. I, I didn't go there to find my people, but once I got there, I'm like, wow, I'm really accepted here.

[01:08:40] People aren't afraid of me. This is like amazing. They're encouraging me to go harder. That's like music to my ears, you know? And the whole studio is like that. Hey, what is it possible for me to get a space here or something? They're like, they're like, well, you know what, Ty, there there is, there's somebody leaving and her name is Ty.

[01:08:58] Oh, perfect. And she's leaving and we [01:09:00] don't have to learn a new name. So you're one of the guys is German from Bavaria famous German sculptor. Yeah. I used to make fun of him. He was so funny. He like tried to do surf talk with a German accent. That's what he, he was, he was happy that he'd have to learn a new name.

[01:09:15] And like, to me, I, that, that was just like symbolic. Like this is the right thing. And that, that was it. That was like, uh, that's when I, I started, uh, they just, they not only turned me on to like, yes, you could do this and make a living. They're like sharing all their contacts. Mm-hmm. They're like, oh, you should go to Hayes Valley.

[01:09:35] They will love your little tables and there's another garden store. You know, it was a network off Pacific and the snack. Yeah. And I would go and of course they're gonna take a cool little table for free mm-hmm. On consignment. And you're happy to put it on consignment. Cuz even if it doesn't sell, people are like, whoa, who, who's making this?

[01:09:51] And then you, you get a curtain rod job or this job, you know? Yeah. And so, so, but, but at the start I just, uh, I rented the space for a week. [01:10:00] Okay. And I, I got a couple commissions and it was, um, yeah. And it was like, it was like, one was from, uh, my ex-girlfriend's friend. Another one was their, And another one was for, you know, and it was kind of like, and so I went in, I had no tools by the way.

[01:10:18] Yeah. And, and, um, so the, the guy that I met, I, Michael Edward is a sign, like he making the wacky furniture out of his garage. Selling out his garage. He goes, so he goes, well you can, you can rent my welder and grinder, you know, to make this work. You know, we'll do it this way, you know, I'm gonna use it. And, and I'm like, and I paid for that and I paid for the space.

[01:10:37] So I, like, I'll never forget that I went there with a mission, you know, I had this studio for a, a week. Yeah. Okay. And, and I, and I didn't, you know, and I could use, and I rented the, you know, and it's just like a midg welder hand grinder to chop saws all you need really. And, um, and I made five tables and.

[01:10:54] And three of 'em, I think, or two of 'em were sold and I made another three extra. And, [01:11:00] and it was just like, it was really awesome. And then I, the one table that I got hung up on, and this was another lesson of like how I just love San Francisco so much and I learned so much and it really opened up my life, you know, he goes, I was struggling with this commission because they gave me a couple hundred bucks.

[01:11:18] Like, yeah. Like, and I, this is, I'm new to this. I'm taking their money. I, I'm so glad they trust me. You know what I mean? And like, this is like early on. And now I'm trying to make their table. I got all the mosaic pieces and really, I was, there were mosaic cast mosaic Yeah. With beautiful pieces. And then I was making the frames, the metalwork was secondary.

[01:11:37] Yeah. Right. And I, I had the mosaic made and I'm making the frame, oh, you could do it this, and you could do whatever you want. Okay. So, so tables are really basic, right? You have your frame that's gonna hold the, the top, and then you have your four legs, and then you need some stability between the legs, some braces.

[01:11:53] So that's where I could get creative. And so now I'm racking my brain and like second [01:12:00] guessing myself. I really, these guys are, are so nice and so cool to trust me to make this table. Yeah. And I'm like, I really want them to love this. I really want them to love this. Like, this is one of my first commissions that's not a friend, you know?

[01:12:12] And I'm like, and so like, I'm so like, hell Ben on making something perfect for them. I'm not making it at all. And I'm like, like really struggling getting in there. And like, I never, you know, and I was never in, like, with, with art school, it's like, yeah, you get critiques, you have, you run things off Fran.

[01:12:27] And, and it's a cool kind of like, communal, you know, effort, right? And so my friend that Michael Edwards, he's like, he's like, okay. So he, he, he, I, I, like, I never forgot this. He goes, he goes, all right, these guys, they, they're hiring you to make what you think is cool. Mm-hmm. And they're trusting you. Okay. So what that means, you make it and you think it's cool.

[01:12:53] They're gonna think it's cool. Yeah. So don't think that you're making something for them. Okay. You're making it for, [01:13:00] they're hiring you to make it. Yeah. For yourself. For them. Mm-hmm. Okay. It's gotta be the right de dimensions and everything. Yeah. But like, I go, and, and so in other words, Ty, you do whatever you want.

[01:13:12] Yeah. Okay. And if you, and you know what I mean? And it wasn't, oh, I'm really into straight lines. I love curves. I don't know. It's growing up as skateboarding and surfing, but there's no square turns really. Right. It's all curves. Right. And so I started like, you know, freeing myself up and, and like, not giving them what Pottery Barn or Pier Points was making, but like, oh, here's some like Tripoli style little lines.

[01:13:35] Yeah. And like, and it was like, it, it seems like a simple thing for someone to be like, no. Fucking go hard and it's up you all. And I like, I realized that from there on out, like, hey, they, they want you to do you, they're hiring you to do you, you know? And, uh, and to me that didn't exist. You're, you, you start a business and you're making it for a market.

[01:13:55] You're

[01:13:55] Tyler: making it for other people. You're trying to sell to other people. You're [01:14:00]trying to please other people. You know, and this is yeah, the opposite. This is making it for yourself and for them. For them. But they want what your vision is. Exactly. Not what, not what their vision is, what your vision is,

[01:14:15] Tyrome: right.

[01:14:15] Well, sometimes it is their vision, you know? Yeah, yeah, of course. But like, but when they're like, I want something, I want something. One of a kind. Yeah. And then in San Francisco, especially in the nineties, I, I don't think it's like that anymore. I mean, you know, it exists like Bay Area, whatever, but, but it was like, um, that, uh, I forgot what I say.

[01:14:36] Tyler: Well, Levit, let me just say, it's like, I feel like, and, and from reading your SJ piece also, you really gravitate towards community and creative community. It's like a really, to me, this is, and from this story that you're telling me, like this was like the way you kind of helped find yourself.

[01:14:59] Tyrome: Yeah, [01:15:00] absolutely.

[01:15:00] Like that, that's what I learned later on the turn chosen family.

[01:15:04] Tyler: Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's really. You know, and that creative community particularly is what can, can be used to inspire you and to drive you and push you. Right. Like you even said, you know, like, these people were pushing each other to go harder,

[01:15:23] Tyrome: you know?

[01:15:23] Yeah. It's like somebody hooting on you on the wave. Yeah. Even though you're gonna get, you're gonna fuck up, you know, like, oh shit, they're watching you. I'm like, dig a rail. But

[01:15:31] Tyler: that's like, but that's a, it's a, it's an interesting thing. You, you, you came from that and then you came to Brooklyn in New York and like, it seems like you've helped to create that yourself too, and

[01:15:44] Tyrome: find that right.

[01:15:45] Well, once I realized that this world existed, yeah. Uh, I'm, I, I, there's no way. I was going back and then, and I, and I said that to my mom like six months into it. I'm like, mom, I found on my path. Yeah. Like, I know this is [01:16:00] this, I, I'm 100% sure this is the route for me. Okay. Yeah. And even my, my, my, that's my mom.

[01:16:08] Yeah. Right. And she's like right on time. That's excellent. She was right there. Totally supportive. Nice. And then my dad, who wasn't supportive of medical school. Yeah. Oh, what you wanna do? Dermatology. Cause I always had skin problems and then, and like pop people's zits for a living. Dr. Papa, like, they, they were always kind of, my mom talked me out of the Boy Scouts, but my friends doing it like, you don't wanna walk old lady across the street.

[01:16:29] My parents are funny now like, You know, so real in a, in a way, but I mean, we all were very independent and they were supportive. And I, and I had that unconditional support from my mom, and she knew this was it for me. You found it. I, I trust you, Ty. I I hear you. And then my dad's all, oh, well, you know, maybe med school wasn't a bad idea.

[01:16:52] If you wanna apply again, you know, and you really gotta apply once, twice. You know, I'll, I'll pay for it this time. Mm. He's [01:17:00] gonna pay for me to take that. I, I, I think he might've been just testing me or kind of testing him himself. I don't know.

[01:17:07] Tyler: Well, I mean, he could've been scared, you know, like, you know, it's all of a sudden like, oh, my, my kid's gonna be an artist and maybe have to You're sure you wanna do that.

[01:17:15] Well, it sounds like he struggled with that, you know? Yeah. And, and, and maybe he was trying to look out for you, uh, in that regard, you know? Yeah. I mean, you are on the couch here. I mean, we could, you know, if you wanna lay down, we could like really go deep into this, but, oh, yeah. We could go deep. We could go deep on,

[01:17:37] Tyrome: but I, yeah.

[01:17:38] So I, of course, I didn't apply to medical school. Yeah. And like, that was enough that he, that was enough for him. That was proving That's pretty, yeah. Like, I'm like, no way. I'm on it. And you know what? And then that's 10 years in San Francisco. Okay. Gosh. And as far as the collecting thing, so now I'm in a city.

[01:17:54] Yeah. So what am I collecting? You know, I'm collecting like, like little like. [01:18:00]Bottle caps. Yeah. You know, like little pieces of things and like a crushed thing that got run over a hundred times in the street. Like peculiar little items and artifacts and parts and pieces of something. And I, I was driving a, remember I just, I said earlier my, my v my, uh, station.

[01:18:16] Yeah, yeah. Your d Yeah, no, no, that my first car was the first car. My Toyota truck. I, I bought a new one. Yeah. In, in college. Cause I was like, that old, the old cars were really getting me down. But it was stripped. It was stripped. Yeah. Like, it had nothing. And I, I loved it all through San Diego and San Francisco until it got stolen.

[01:18:34] And then, and then the shell got stolen and then I got it back. And then I was going snowboarding at five in the morning. I pick up my friend and I see a car coming up behind me in the middle of the morning, like, it's like four in the morning. And I'm like, oh, cars coming behind. Well, I guess they were drunk because they slammed into me.

[01:18:51] No, I was like, slowmo. We popped up into the air, totaled my truck. Okay. We're in the air and we both looking at each other while we were in the air and we were all, bam, bam, bam. We, we [01:19:00] smashed into like four part cars and the guy kept going. He just clipped us. So we, oh man. That was, that was hell. So I lost that truck and we end up going snowboarding.

[01:19:09] It wasn't very fun. It was hard to get over that. But, uh, but I got this little crappy 2000 bmw, 2002, like 1971 total rust bucket didn't work. And my friend's like, Hey, I got this old car and a lot doesn't work. It's got an oil leak. Maybe you could fix it and you could drive it. I'm like, okay. And. So I did, I was able to weld up a little thing and I fixed it.

[01:19:32] And so I got that little, and, and now cuz I had a new truck, he's getting screwed with this and that. Yeah. Now I had the most, the shittiest little fucking night. And you didn't even know it was bmw. Everything was rubbed off and run. Yeah. Loved that car. Yeah. People stayed away from you on the street. They, they assumed you didn't have insurance.

[01:19:48] Okay. I could park anywhere and like no one's, I could take the tiniest little spot. You know, both bumpers were off so it was even shorter, you know. That's awesome. And then I was like collecting all these like, weird [01:20:00] artifacts that I found off the street. And you'd leave them in there? Yeah. And I'd leave them in there in a bunch of other shit.

[01:20:05] So the homeless wouldn't even go in there cause they didn't lock and they wouldn't even go in there and sleep. So I was like, I learned how to survive in the, in the city. For sure. I love that car. It made me realize like how, how kind of like, uh, liberating it is to not have a precious vehicle in a city.

[01:20:23] Yeah. Like you don't even notice. You ever have a dent and everyone stays away from you. It's freaking like, fuck learn lesson.

[01:20:29] Tyler: What's the difference when. When it's not so precious. Yeah. You know, when, when, oh God, like having like an expensive car in the city is like heartbreaking. You know?

[01:20:39] Tyrome: It really ruins you.

[01:20:40] Like you worry about it. Yeah. Yeah. It causes anxiety, you know, so that you're at, you're saying when did I get into like, you know, the, in Morocco or? No, no, in uh, in Moonka we had that beautiful villa and eight bedrooms. So of course one of the bedrooms was my art studio. Which you remember seeing? Yes. And to, to get back to that [01:21:00] moonka.

[01:21:00] Okay. Founded in a thousand years ago. Yeah. Imagine the rusted artifacts on finding a low tide on the inside there, past the wall sand bar too. Even like, oh my God, I found so many great artifacts. And then the, the Europe's very clean, right? Yeah. It's, you're not finding a lot of garbage on the street, but you'd find like little parts of kids' toys out of their candy and this and that.

[01:21:23] And I think you remember seeing a lot of these little colorful, and then I'm combining it with like rusted artifacts that are 500 years

[01:21:29] Tyler: old. And I remember like a sardine tin you had, and you were almost like framed, you know, like the tin. It was a empty sardine, rusted out sardine tin, and you had like bottle cap in there and a couple other items.

[01:21:41] And it, it was almost like a di a mini diorama almost, you know? Yeah,

[01:21:45] Tyrome: yeah. And it's, it's like marked by time. Yeah. Most things are, and that's what I love about found object. It like it's, they're dated, these objects are from a specific moment, and then you utilize them kind of in, in a way where it, you could still relish [01:22:00] its past life.

[01:22:00] I didn't paint over it. Maybe I drilled a tiny little hole in it. Yeah. But I, I want you to see that. I want you to see the, what it was before and, and how it's transformed by combining it with other objects and that little studio and, and the villa was awesome. Like it was so great. And I, and to me that was an extension of, of, um, my experience in San Francisco.

[01:22:23] Like I got that metal studio and I'm doing custom metal work and, and I got like right off six months into it, I'm doing all the furniture for a new hair salon. Wow. Like, it just fell in my lap. Of course. I, I bit it really badly. I barely made any money, but it was a portfolio piece. Yeah. And I got one job and I got another job.

[01:22:44] I got into the store. It's like, like dude, out of nowhere I was making a living doing custom metal work in, in with, with my artistic expression. Amazing. Which I kind of developed in college doing lost wax jewelry, which was an extension course. And, and that's [01:23:00] like all the sculpture and the art that I took at U C S D.

[01:23:03] I didn't find my signature. Yeah. I didn't hear my voice. I was just making good art. Yeah. For the assignment, right? Yeah. And it's like, maybe you could see my style a little bit, but it wasn't the point. Like, you make something outta clay and I made a black, a dead black widow that was like 20 times the size with his legs curled in.

[01:23:20] Like that's, you know what I mean? And so, That was, so San Francisco was really opened me up creatively. Okay. And it was, metalwork was the medium and I was doing functional stuff, like in developing a furniture line. Really? Yeah. I did all, I did probably hundreds of beds and, and um, and uh, coffee tables and stuff like that.

[01:23:43] And I started kind of getting bored with it. Like I was doing high-end fine, fine furniture and, um, and doing trade shows like the I C F F, um, in 95, 96, the Chicago Design Show. San Francisco. Mm-hmm. I was doing the whole circuit press kits, getting press like, [01:24:00] and I, I, I was wholesaling manufacturing Tripoli designs, like Wow.

[01:24:05] Furniture line called the Aloo Line, which I didn't get to Surf Taboo. Oh. I served Niit two and Wils Pass. But you had to stay Attoo at the time it was like $200 a night and I'm like, I could have afford it. I was so bummed. I didn't go. Grudge game was like that too. And indel, I didn't serve grudge games cause I didn't have the money.

[01:24:23] Oh, bummer. I know these Wests, I got gland, I, I know. Collide Cloud

[01:24:27] Tyler: break. Ugh. But you know, I mean, It, it remains that thing that, that inspired you though, and got to inspire your line. Then I still recognize grudge

[01:24:37] Tyrome: again when I see it in videos, I'm like, damn you. That barrel just keeps going and they're all relaxed in the barrel.

[01:24:44] Yeah. It's not like moon daca, you get too far beyond the curtain, it swallows

[01:24:48] Tyler: you. No, no. You can, you can, you can hold, you can write, that one can stall out a little. Yeah, that's what I see. Put your arm in it. Setting up. Yeah. You know, you're, yeah. You know where it's gonna be. That reflex shallow

[01:24:59] Tyrome: I surfed.

[01:24:59] Tyler: [01:25:00] It was not so, yeah, man. I watched a guy, I watched, I met this guy. He, um, shredded whole side of his body I bet. Shredded he ate it on the take off, and, uh, and they had to give him like a shit ton of ketamine to calm him down. It was pretty bad.

[01:25:16] Tyrome: Oh my God. Yeah.

[01:25:17] Tyler: So I, I, I always wore reef booties, so Oh,

[01:25:21] Tyrome: right, right, right.

[01:25:22] But, but Fiji, there's a lot of that too. Oh my

[01:25:24] Tyler: God. Well, Fiji, forget about it. Like, that's a whole nother level. Like my buddy Ashton got raked across restaurants. It's

[01:25:33] Tyrome: brutal. Oh, oh yeah.

[01:25:35] Tyler: So, but I mean, you know, now, you know, now you can use it as inspiration, you know, for your, your lines, you know? Well, you know

[01:25:44] Tyrome: what, like when I was doing the Yeah.

[01:25:45] The furniture, like I named. All, all, all the ones that I was producing, I have in brochures, I named it. Cause you gotta have it in a price list. Yeah. Like they're all like the Piha ottoman. You know, I, I said the Hamilton bed because Ra [01:26:00] because ham sounds great. The Hamilton bed. I wanna call it the Raglin.

[01:26:04] Yeah. Raglin. Because I, I, I got raglin. We're so good. And I'm like, God, that's just not a really pleasant sounding word. And so I, Hamilton is the last city that you hit before you get into Raglin. So I'm like, I I I thought it was

[01:26:17] Tyler: after Laird. I thought you named it after Layer. Oh no, it a bed

[01:26:20] Tyrome: frame big. No, that's, I never thought that.

[01:26:22] Oh, that's so funny. Oh, see, see how I ruined the art? No, no, it's good. It's

[01:26:28] Tyler: totally. Or you could have done Manu Bay, the intersection, the Manu Bay collection, you know, that's inside of Raglin. Um, that's fucking cool though. I mean, it it, it sounds like it really took off for you and then

[01:26:44] Tyrome: it did, it did like the furniture business and stuff, and I was inspired by other people are even more ambitious than me.

[01:26:50] Yeah. Like, you know, oh, whoa. We make press kits. Okay. And I'm, you know what I mean? Like that's how you learn and that's how I learned metal work because I wanted to. Yeah. And when there was something I couldn't [01:27:00] do, okay. I would, there was other metal work, like standard sheet metal. Yeah, I bet they still exist.

[01:27:05] And dude, when I would go there and, and, and order my thing, thing, I was all eyes and ears. Yeah. Like, I would walk by a table and I'd see a guy doing something and I'm like, fuck, that's how you do that? Yeah. Oh my God. How easy You just fucking bend it back, like, oh, I see. Once you, you weld it, you put all this heat, it's gonna distort.

[01:27:27] So you give a couple hits with a hammer. Simple shit. Yeah. You know, and like, yeah. I taught myself metal work and, and I, I, I knew, you know what I mean? And then I, I grew gradually, I. I, uh, I got a couple good commissions. Mm-hmm. So I bought my own grinder. Yeah. You know, and then I got a, a better commission.

[01:27:45] I had a few hundred, I bought my own welder. Yeah. So eventually, like in that, my first studio with like, like, I'm not an inch in their names, Neils Krueger, Tammy Bickle, and Michael Edwards. Like those three, I swear. Open up, shout out. Like I, yeah, [01:28:00] absolutely. I hope you're listening because, because they, in San Francisco a special place in my heart forever.

[01:28:07] Right. Yeah. I feel like if I never made it there, I would've never really realized. Like, you're pretend that I, yeah. Because, you know, I, I'm like pretty stubborn, you know what I mean? And I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do. Like Sicilian style, I was just gonna say. Yeah, yeah. You know, and of course, right? Like, I don't, you know, you just don't give a shit.

[01:28:25] Right. But when you have the support of your community, dude, it's fucking awesome. Right? Like, I, I don't sense, you know what, I, everything in San F New York is a fight, right? It can be, or a struggle, but like, but I feel like in San Francisco, it was my first taste of like a support where I never thought there was support.

[01:28:44] Mm-hmm. And when I moved from, uh, like, uh, from there to, to Bushwick, I, it was. San Francisco in the nineties, it was still like that, that support among ours. Not so much of a, uh, crab call, crawl, you know what I mean? Like so what was that

[01:28:59] Tyler: [01:29:00] motivation coming to New York? Because I remember you were even saying like, when we met him, when Doc in 2002, you're like, wow, we're gonna be moving to New York.

[01:29:07] We're moving there. You know? And and I remember you even said that and I was like, oh, awesome dude. Are you sure you wanna do that? Like Yeah. I was like, the waves are, you know, I mean, it's cool, like,

[01:29:20] Tyrome: you know, but Well, I, I wasn't, I I had surfed a few times. Yeah. It Rockaway. And, and I was like, it gets good.

[01:29:29] Yeah. I mean, and I grew up surfing Newport the same jetty Yeah. Same distance between 'em and the same length. I'm like, I know this spot. And I'm like, whoa. It's actually even better shape than Newport. Newport might be a little bit punchier, but like, shoot right off the jetty at low tide. It's plenty punchy.

[01:29:44] Yeah. You know, and then, uh, and so, so I would not have even agreed for a second to move here if, if I, that it wasn't surfing. Yeah. You know, like, I, like the ocean is really important to me. And, uh, and I, I think what it was like the, [01:30:00] um, my partner at the time, She grew up in San Francisco. Yeah. Bay area. And that's where we met.

[01:30:06] Yeah. And then, and then, uh, and then this was at the end of my San Francisco, like now it's 99. That's when we met. And I started getting bored with kind of the furniture and the furniture business. And I'm like, wholesale, I'm selling, sending my work. Yeah. All over, like, I have four stores in, in the United States.

[01:30:22] And Wow. Dude, it becomes a lot of business shipping this and that. And it was like, and it wasn't as creative. Did it

[01:30:29] Tyler: feel like it almost got built up too much?

[01:30:32] Tyrome: It's no, I it, no, no. I didn't build it up too much, but as I was getting deeper in it, I was realizing where most of your tension needs to go if you want to have a successful business.

[01:30:42] And it's not in design. Yeah. It's, it's kind of more in a business. Yeah. Yeah. In every aspect of it. Yeah. You know, and I, I just found that I, I'm. More on the creative side where like, I'd rather go high end and one of a kind and really push myself creatively Yeah. Than, [01:31:00] than like figure out how to have my line made in Managua.

[01:31:03] Mm-hmm. Nicaragua, which, which is my fantasy. Right. And like, have to go surf Nicaragua to fucking make sure quality control and then fill up a container and ship it back to San Francisco. I was going through all that in my head. I'm like, is that how you wanna spend your time? I, I love the idea of going, but it's not gonna be that now I'm storing tables and, you know what I mean?

[01:31:21] It's like, it's less creative process.

[01:31:23] Tyler: It's Yeah. More business. You're dealing with logistics and

[01:31:26] Tyrome: all these other things. Yeah, exactly. And, and for some people that's where they wanna resonate and they feel good. And that's their creative thing for me. Yeah. It was like, I not, not where I want to spend my time.

[01:31:36] And so I kind of started to pull out of that in 99, 2001. And that's why I applied to the San Francisco Refuse and Recycle. Mm-hmm. Um, for their art residency. A few of my friends did it and they're like, Ty, you should do it. They fucking pay you really well. You have a huge studio. You, you with a, like a full.

[01:31:54] Full scale wood shop. Yeah. Metal shop, glass slumping, everything. And like, and they [01:32:00] pay you? Well, you get a budget for the opening photography promotion, like open account on the hardware store, like get, buy whatever you want. It was fucking your treat. Like a rockstar. Yeah. Okay. And then even the best part, public disposal.

[01:32:15] This is San Francisco dump, which is really, they're, they're number one in recycling. Nice. You know, back in the nineties, like way ahead of anywhere else in America. And, um, and so you have the public disposal where you get the best stuff cuz it hasn't been like, plastered over by the trucks and this and that and, and, and full of like, food, gross garbage and stuff.

[01:32:36] But you have access to the whole facility Wow. Which is like 60,000 tons a day coming through. Oh shit. So it's as a creative person and visually fucking blows your mind, dude. Like I, I still, the energy that you witnessed in Morocco was fresh. Yeah. I was killing out of that residency. Wow. And totally disenchanted with metalwork and custom metalwork and my trip e designs.

[01:32:59] Like [01:33:00] making that like a brand of Yeah. Furniture brand. Like, like Tiffany Company or something like the Spanish that I had. I'm like, and I, I I, I took the I, so I'm in this residency and I'm. And they're like, yeah, you, and it was competitive to get it. There was like a hundred applicants and they picked three people.

[01:33:17] I'm like, whoa, I never win anything. And, and all I had to show was my pre furniture. Yeah. And my blown glass that I started doing in 99, which is very unique, but still it's Murano style. Like, yeah. And, um, and so that's what I submitted to them. And they're, and I go, oh, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. So do you expect me to, um, to like, uh, collect metal and make tables and stuff?

[01:33:42] Or how does this work out? You're like, do whatever you want, right? Yeah, yeah. And whatever you want. The most important thing is that you show up, you're here and, and you're, and you're scavenging. And the most important thing is that you're in the studio when the tour comes by, which happens almost every day.

[01:33:58] And these are [01:34:00] tours of like high school adult tours, private tours. Like every day you have these tours and they tour the facility. Amazing. And it ends with the sculpture garden, which I made a huge, like 10 foot wave out of, out of like out, don't know, a couple hundred tires that I strung together. Whoa.

[01:34:16] Metal rod. Cause I'm a metal worker, right? Yeah. Like, and so, so for me, I, and as working on commissions. It behooves me to make the piece as fast as possible, cuz I'm bidding it. Okay. Yeah. And I'm not, they're not charged. I'm not charging by the hour. Yeah. I'm not charging them by the hour. So the faster I make it, the more I make, you know, so when I went into this residency, you just, I'm not like dilly dolly.

[01:34:38] You just like, you're not fucking them out hard. And then they said you could do whatever you want. And I'm like, really? I can just do straight up fine art. Like weird. Whatever you want, Ty. Seriously. Wow. You know, and like, again, I, I need conditions like that, the fully and then I'll explode, you know? Yeah.

[01:34:55] And like, I think to this day, I made more work than any other artist. Wow. Like in [01:35:00] three months, I, I, I made a hundred pieces fully shit. And like, and, and, and my, the, uh, the woman I'm dating now, yeah. She loves that body work. Ty. I love this work. And I'm like, I go, you know what, that's like going to a, a, a part of the world that's unlike any other part.

[01:35:17] And then you're a plain air painter and you're painting it. Painting. Yeah. You know, like that work was unique to that moment. This is 99, 2001. It was one week after the towers came down. Dude, the world was fucking upside down. Yeah. Like, like first of all, the.com bomb. Yeah. Right. The brown out. Okay. Yeah. I lost, uh, like some of my commissions are like, sorry Ty, I had to pay a hundred thousand dollars on taxes, on money.

[01:35:46] I didn't even make, Ugh, they were charging, they, a government said, you gotta pay the tax before you get the money. And then they never got the money. So everybody, and then like, artists were losing their, their workspaces. Like, like, like to buy a [01:36:00] warehouse in the early nineties, it was probably $200,000.

[01:36:02] When I left in 2002, they, it was 20 million. Wow. Like, it was a huge, huge thing. And like Silicon Valley, all like the cool dot coms Yeah. Came in and like, oh cool. Artists of this cool thing kick us out and take it and put 'em in offices. Yep. And like, it was fucking, it was horrendous. Dude. Everybody, all my friends are going to Portland, Seattle, LA or New York.

[01:36:27] Yeah. You know, and it was just like, that's how it was, you know? And so, so now like that residency at the dump just blew my mind. I was like using like little dolls, pizza, plastic. I'd find a, a spool of rubber. A black airplane. Yeah. I still, that's the one in the Surfers journal. That black rubber. Yeah. Like that is industrial, um, neoprine belt that they use in submarines for the gasket and shit like that.

[01:36:55] Like stuff that you wouldn't even think of buying as an artist cuz you're not in that. [01:37:00] It's in your face, it's there. And it's like, what do you do every fucking day? And the, and and, and I think the thing that was the most well received in, uh, at that residency was like, you have a huge space. Right. And, and I was collecting and I'm collecting, like I grew up antiquing, so anything that looked like that, I was on it, you know?

[01:37:18] Yeah. But I also, I collected everything. I didn't only, and I definitely wasn't only collecting metal, it was kind of anything that caught my eye. And so just in my collection would catch other people's eye like, whoa, this is stuff that was chosen. Yeah. Like that's already the art, just picking it up off the street and making the choice.

[01:37:38] Like this is no longer refuse. Yeah. This is now art materials and like just that, calling it art material or like, D de decontextualizing that object from being on the street lost, useless. A, a burden to society. It needed. Yeah. And now it's like value. It's like a val, valuable [01:38:00] apartment materials that, that have value now.

[01:38:02] And you make it into something. And I think that's what you were seeing and Moonka, like, I was still writing that wave, like, doesn't matter where you fucking put me, I'm gonna find shit and put it together and create samage and combinations and, and just go with it, you know? And, and um, and then in Morocco, the garbage was really great, right?

[01:38:21] Like, like, dude, it was classic is amazing. It was

[01:38:25] Tyler: incredible. It was a gold mine. I mean, nature did it, it it, it really was like, you, you could go like, especially, you know, down to aga there was like couple beaches where hum. I mean, it was, it was, I mean, it was sad and, and kind of tragic, you know, seeing so much plastic waste, uh, washing up on the beaches there, you

[01:38:51] Tyrome: realize that shit travels.

[01:38:53] It's crazy. Right? You know what I mean? Like, it doesn't, it, it's like you, you, I grew up think. You know, trash is where people [01:39:00] dropped it. You know what I mean? Yeah. And like I I, I, I never really thought of it as traveling Okay. Until I went to Costa Rica, and this is in the nineties, you know, before it was too popular and you had to go through streams and off road.

[01:39:12] Mm-hmm. And I finally get to this beach, and the beach is just littered with a million plastic bottles. Right. And I was just like, oh my God, there aren't enough people. I didn't pass enough people the last a hundred miles to make, create this garbage. Yeah. And it's like, oh, well there's a hurricane and so this squashed up and then washed up.

[01:39:30] I'm like, holy shit. Yeah. And, you know, and that's what I wrote about. That's 98. Okay. And that's what I put in my statement when I applied for the San Francisco Art Residency. The dump like that, you know what I mean? And, and I, and I'm like, I think that's what got me the residency and I really didn't, I wasn't trying to find myself again.

[01:39:50] Yeah. I'm just kind of mixing it up, you know what I mean? Yeah. Like, uh, and I think surfing's kind of like that, right? Like, oh, fucking that, that sandbars too crowded. Yeah. [01:40:00]I'm gonna go surf this thing that looks like maybe it's doable. You know what I mean? I, I approach art like that. Let's just do this.

[01:40:05] It's about doing it like, oh, I get a good wave. I didn't get a good wave. You know what I mean? And when you surf competitive spots like in America or Australia and all the good spots are taken and it's so crowded and you don't feel like fucking fighting and for waves, you go to a shitty spot. Yeah. And it just means you gotta be more creative.

[01:40:22] Like, like dude, back in the day, they weren't surfing slabs. Now there's beautiful slabs all over that. How about that one? I think it's in Australia. Is it the box hours where they're dropping down, dropping down, and they have to get ready for the little fucking mini wave over the dry

[01:40:35] Tyler: reefs. It's like Ship Stearns.

[01:40:36] And then there's hours they jump

[01:40:37] Tyrome: over that and land it and jump over that. And luckily they have foot straps and makes it easier. But it's just so funny, like if, if people don't call skateboarding and surfing in art and it's like, you're an idiot. Well, it like, it's like too, there's so much creativity involved and then it's spontaneous and it's like you're writing an avalanche on a snowboard.

[01:40:57] It's like kind of, there's no right answer. [01:41:00] Do you, do you,

[01:41:02] Tyler: do you, uh, one view your work. As environmental, having an environmental message at all when it comes to the, the refuse stuff. Like is that ever in your consciousness when you're doing it, or you're just like, I'm finding this and I'm making this and I'm not really thinking about a

[01:41:19] Tyrome: statement?

[01:41:20] Well, you know what, I call myself an environmentalist now. Yeah. You know, cause I, I'm probably the only metal worker in Bushwick who, who really truly likes welding people's chairs back together. Uh, you know what I mean? Stuff like that. Like I'm all about Yeah. The right, the right to repair. Yeah. Like, I feel like when we like, like, uh, living in, in the economy that we are now, it's all about the new.

[01:41:42] All about the new Yeah. Like to sell parts for this thing. We're not gonna make money. We're gonna make money if that thing breaks and they buy new one. Right. But that fucking mentality really bugs me. Yeah. You know, because that's not how nature works. Mm-hmm. And if we wanna like prevail, like we gotta mimic nature.

[01:41:58] Nature does it perfectly. You have a [01:42:00] tree, it drops its leaf straight down, and there you have all these beautiful microbes, bon bacteria, fungus. Mm-hmm. You know, and small organism eat it up and they shit out beautiful nutrients for your roots mm-hmm. To feed the tree. Like, dude, they're not packaging that shit up in a black bag and taking it to landfill.

[01:42:17] Yeah. And recycling the blah blah. Like, we're so far from, from living sustainably. It's, it's laughable, you know? Oh, it's crazy. So, so me doing my little, my. My part in being cool with fixing people's broken stuff. Like I'm all about that. Like, like I make 20 bucks off the, well dude, it's definitely not worth my time.

[01:42:37] And it's pro, it's probably even distracting me from like heating it big with my art career. Yeah. You know what I mean? Or like getting that job that is lubricant. But for me, like, and I say like, no, don't worry about it cuz they're all apologetic. I know it's a small job, this and that and you're an artist and blah, blah.

[01:42:53] And I'm like, I fucking love that respect. Yeah. But really, I, I like, I'm into it and you know, and I'll be in Bushwick and [01:43:00] someone that I don't rec like come up and be like, you don't know me, but like when I moved here eight years ago, I just wanna tell you like, like you made me feel so welcome. Like, I don't this, I came to your studio and I said, Hey, I, I just moved here and my chair that I've had for 15 years is broken.

[01:43:16] Can you weld it for me? I'm like, yeah, if it's steel and it's thick enough I can weld it for you. And so he does that eight years later he's like, still thanking me for it. Yes. Like, it's so cool cuz like I feel like, you know, my, I'm just inherently like environmentally conscious. Mm-hmm. So when you say, when I'm making my work outta my found plastic and stuff, I'm not thinking of the environment at all.

[01:43:40] Yeah. I'm thinking about like how these shapes go together, fit together. Mm-hmm. And then how the, these, the subject or the past life of these objects fit together. Right. In concept. Like that's what I'm tripping on. And I've actually. Like slapped a little bit because I'm, [01:44:00] so that's my focus. Like I'm not, you know, it's like you surf a wave, there's a million ways to surf it, but there is probably the best wave, the, the best way to surf it.

[01:44:09] Right. And to me it's the longest. Yeah. Or, or, or you, you know, the most maneuvers or whatever it is. We all measure it differently. But, but I, I think, uh, I think it's, um,

[01:44:23] Tyler: yeah, I mean, well I think it, it's an inherent thing for you, you know? Yeah. It's something that you just naturally do without having to, it's not part

[01:44:32] Tyrome: of this conversation.

[01:44:33] Yeah. Yeah. It's like, it's, it's just who I am. Like Yeah.

[01:44:36] Tyler: It's not, it's not like you're, like, some people will do it, do an art piece with the environmental message front

[01:44:44] Tyrome: and center. Yeah. It's didactic in your face and it's actually a little bit dismal cuz those, those, those issues are, are really sad. Well,

[01:44:52] Tyler: do you think they take away from the whimsical then of, of some of the work?

[01:44:55] Like, like your, your work I would describe is whimsical. [01:45:00] Playful, you know? Yeah. There's, there's a, there's a childlike element to it and I would say that it, it, you know, by putting that meaning to it, Uh, takes away from that playfulness maybe.

[01:45:14] Tyrome: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, as far as like having, you know, I, I mean, I'll say like in the materials that it's recycled or whatever.

[01:45:22] Yeah. Um, or it's, or it's found or collected. It's all kind of the same for me. But, but, um, what I meant about like the environmental, like I forget about how environmental this work is. Yeah. This series is, I forget about that. Yeah. Because for me to make my work, I'm not thinking about that. Yeah. Because it is already, you know, we already know that like when I picked it up, it's there.

[01:45:45] So now I'm focused on how they come together. So I'm so focused on that, cuz that to me, that's where I'm, I get to witness this thing that's gonna be made. I get to witness it first. You know what I mean? Like, like, I'm, I'm playing God in a way. I'm making these decisions and [01:46:00]making an organism. And I really wanna like, just surfing a wave.

[01:46:04] If you're not having a conversation over the top of the way while you're riding it, like you ride it or you don't, you know what I mean? Like, and, and so like, So like what I, I'm a part of this group, it's called Project Vortex and, and, um, and Aurora Robson started it probably early 2000. Uh, a Bushwick artist, she's now upstate.

[01:46:23] Great artist uses, um, found plastics. Yeah. You know, either from the beach or plastic bottles, caps, but she's cut cutting them and painting them and they look like these beautiful. Um, sea creatures. Mm. You know, like a lion fish kind of. Yeah. That kind of, and like really beautiful and you know, it's found, uh, it's like recycled material but totally different.

[01:46:45] Me, she's using pigment. Yeah. She's cutting pieces. Like for me, uh, uh, these are puzzle pieces. You don't cut it to fit.

[01:46:52] Tyler: You're letting them, you find the fit, you're letting them exist as they are. Yeah. As

[01:46:55] Tyrome: nature brought 'em to me. Yeah. Yeah. And that's, that's the process in it. Like [01:47:00] I, I'm just doing that because to me that's important as a builder.

[01:47:03] Every time you add a weld or a grind or a cut, it costs more money cuz it costs more time. Yeah. That's how I bid jobs. So the most efficient use of refuse is to not do anything to it. No bag that it goes in no truck that takes it to the, yeah. To the factory that pellets it. And then they take the pellets and those go to a, a heat injection mold factory where then they melt it down and make your product.

[01:47:26] Like that's a lot of steps involved. That's a lot of energy cycle. Right. You know, and, and like, we're not there yet. Right. So, so this project Vortex is really a, a great concept. She, it was based on this vortex is Yeah. A, the huge plastic guyer floating in the Pacific. Yep. Yeah. And that, and that's real, right?

[01:47:46] Yes. And, and so her concept was to form a network of artists all over the world that can access this, like these, this floating art material and um, and [01:48:00] make art from it and do exhibitions and, and to create, uh, a community based on that. Yeah. This is before it became like really mainstream. Yeah. Which is I'm golf for it.

[01:48:08] Right. We can't, yeah. And I love, and people send me all the time, like a big whale made out of plastic materials. Yeah. And, you know, it's representational, which I never do. Yeah. But like, fuck. Yeah. That's awesome. Absolutely. You know what I mean? Like what, however you want to use that shit. Like, to me, like I have a website, waste is resource.

[01:48:25] And I mean it, there's no such thing as waste. We just how smart or creative you are to use it. Exactly. You know? Exactly. And like, and I'm talking like emissions too. Yeah. Coming out of a factory. And I think every aspect of our manufacturing should be fully like,

[01:48:40] Tyler: well, it should be circular. Yeah. It should totally be, you know, like everything should feed back into itself almost, you know, know, right.

[01:48:47] Tyrome: I, I feel like if we're gonna get packaging. From the store. Okay. Then we should have the hole in our wall where the packaging goes in and it fuels our house or insulates

[01:48:57] Tyler: it. Yeah.

[01:48:57] Tyrome: Yeah. Yeah. I think I [01:49:00] have found that they do do that.

[01:49:02] Tyler: Some, some peanuts behind the wall there. You know,

[01:49:05] Tyrome: that's so funny. I, I think some builders do that.

[01:49:08] You know, my fan found a, like a newspaper from the 18 hundreds. Yeah. It's like old wall. So this project Vortex, like she did, we did a bunch of expedition expeditions and shows here and there and, and so one, I think it was the Ice House. Yeah. And it was What's the college? What, what? I don't know. It's a college in New Jersey and, um, Rutgers?

[01:49:32] No, yeah, no, I forget. It's called Tricky Names a private school. Okay. And so anyway, we went there, we did the show, and then we had a symposium. And so each of the artists has work. They go up there and they talk, uh, in the auditorium about their work. Okay. Yeah. So like, so like I'm talking and I'm, and I'm, I'm telling them about my process.

[01:49:54] Right. Yeah. About how like, like all the objects that I find, I use them as is. Mm-hmm. Like [01:50:00] they're puzzle pieces. Right. And the idea is to use like, to not well, adhesive socks. Yeah. It always gets brittle and breaks, you know, so I'm like, Using screws, but I'm buying screws and I'm drilling a hole. You know what I mean?

[01:50:11] Yeah. So I'm like working towards, you know, us utilizing the objects as fullest as possible with the least amount of work, but just the most transformation. So anyway, I'm, I'm going on and on about how, like, what I'm creating, like a two-dimensional samage piece and how I'm approaching it, like a painting, and I'm, I'm finding, and these are shells and they're puzzle pieces, and I'm assembling them together and this and that.

[01:50:37] I'm going on like how my brain process, how I creating these marriages and like Yeah. And how it grows into a big sprawling, you know, three-dimensional piece or a, a, a flat kind of more assemblage painting that's on a up a wood panel and it's a rectangle, like a painting. And so I. I'm making that connection between Twain painting and, and the [01:51:00] objects.

[01:51:00] And then someone from the audience raises their hand and it's like, so where and how do you find your materials? You know, how does it relate to the environment? It was so funny. Like I, I just fully got tangential on the process because that's where my mind is at. Yeah. Like, like how I'm reading a wave and why I decided to race that section.

[01:51:19] And then like, and do a, do a lip, do an off the lip. Under the lip. It's still ke like a speed lip, right? Yeah. You know what I mean? Like all these decisions they. And they're like,

[01:51:28] Tyler: didn't wanna hear that. Where did you surf? And I just had a kid Where, where were you

[01:51:31] Tyrome: surfing instead of Exactly. I just wanna know the spot.

[01:51:34] And I'm like, oh my God, thanks for getting me back on track. Like, so I'm such an environmentalist, I don't even know to talk about it. You know? I'm like, I'm like, of course I'm finding it off the street, my objects and I'm not collecting everything, you know? Yeah. As a, as I, like, I use my post consumer refuse.

[01:51:50] Yeah. Like, I'm not keeping everything, I'm keeping the pretty colors and the nice shapes that I like. Yeah. And so I love circles. So any any colored cap I'm keeping, [01:52:00] you know, um, a shampoo bottle where the label came off. And I like this cream as a cool shape. So I'm kind of like, as a consumer, I always have a little bag, then I'm putting, you know, my recycle here, my garbage here, my compost there, and then my, my recycle my art materials here.

[01:52:18] And then I take that to my studio. Yeah. And then I, I sort it into like, I was gonna ask orange caps, like circular metal hill here, you know, the white here, like, uh, textiles here. And so, and that in San Francisco doing that residency, people were blown away with my library. I call it like a visual library of objects.

[01:52:38] Yeah. And, and that's kind of like the first thing you saw in moon DACA in my studio. You're like, like you didn't see the art pieces. You saw my materials all sorted. Yeah. Could you just like, dude, you're like going to a weird candy store and this. Oh, these are stuff that you find on the street, but it's organized, like it's valuable materials.

[01:52:56] Just that recontextualizing right. Is

[01:52:59] Tyler: [01:53:00] huge. It, it sounds fucking cool actually. Like there was a picture of of it in the Surfers journal too, of your studio and you could see the different bins and I, and I was like kind of curious about that, like what that must inside those bins, what they must look like and finding like what we call trash or whatever refuse mm-hmm.

[01:53:22] You know, that we find. And then seeing it organized in such a nice, clean, neat way, I think has a new, it gives, gives a lot of people a new way of viewing it. Right. And, and like you said, it's your material, it's your creative material instead of something I was discarded.

[01:53:40] Tyrome: Yeah. And, you know, and on Instagram, I love making that con that that comment.

[01:53:45] Yeah. When people like, uh, you know, like I have, uh, her name's Wendy Kip Perimeter, she's a great metal sculptor. Mm-hmm. And, um, representational animals and stuff. Yeah. Like, but rough and crude, but fucking [01:54:00] perfect. And two, yeah. Like a really. R like render. Yeah. Right. Great artist. And, um, and she'll have a, he a truck come with all twisted rebar.

[01:54:09] She doesn't Nice. She, you know, of course she bends her own when she's gotta get outta a certain shape. Yeah. You know what I mean? But I'm just like, I'm like, yeah. Art materials to some people it's a bunch of junk, rusted metal. Yeah. And I'm like, heart materials. I know what you're gonna make out of that.

[01:54:23] And it's just like, just, just recognizing that you get a smile on people's faces because it is that, you know, and, um, I, I, I think I'm intrigued with just the potential o of like, mm, you know, like surfing. I think it's like the ultimate sport dude. Like how can we even do that? How is that possible? You know what I mean?

[01:54:42] It, it is. And it. And it's, and I feel so lucky, you know, but, but really the wave doesn't, like, you know, you don't make an appointment and you go out there like, like you're, you're just playing on that wave, you know? And, and it's, and it's not really letting you Yeah. You're kind of like [01:55:00]sneaking on it, you know what I mean?

[01:55:02] Like, you're getting away with it, you know what I mean? I mean, we go through a lot, like, you could surf three hours and like, yeah, I got one wave and it fucking ate me alive. It sucks. You know what I mean? Like, like, it's like, it's like, it's really fleeting. Like there's barely, there's like a lot of, of struggle and work, and then you get like five seconds of standing on water and feeling, and you're feeling great for a week, week's, so trippy.

[01:55:24] And I kind of have that same sensation with art, and, and it doesn't, not even just me making it, but like, my mom even said that, like, I'll be like, like uptight, anxious, you know, bothered bad mood. And then we, and, and this is in Cro Delmar, right? Yeah. You know, orange County, like keep, are looking at me again.

[01:55:42] What, you know what I mean? And we go to a sculpture garden and like, suddenly, like, everything's like, and my mom's like, God, you're so much more relaxing. This is, my mom knows me. Yeah. Better than anyone. Like my favorite person in the world, right? Mm-hmm. And, and it's just like night and day to her. Like, I, I guess [01:56:00] it's just like, uh, resonating in that potential and then utilizing it.

[01:56:04] It's just like, feels really good. And even just going out and looking. Like yesterday, went to a new zone in, uh, it was like still East Village, but it was more Chinatown. Yeah. Towards, I don't know that area very well. Yeah. But like, I went, we went to seven new galleries and they're all so happy to have a conversation with us, you know what I mean?

[01:56:22] And it's just like, and to like, we are in, and I, I we're, I'm always fighting with my girlfriend, you know, she's strong-willed minded too, and like, you know, like, and it's, it's fine. You know what I mean? We're, we learn a lot from each other. It's fucking awesome. Right? Like, your wave beats the shit outta you.

[01:56:38] Right. Hey, I'm a stronger person. I survive. And so, like, and we had such a good time and it's fucking art dude. People are making art for the love of it. And that vibration goes into it and it's, yeah, there's art careers and a lot of people are making it for a living. And you kind of feel that, and you know it, and that's fine too.

[01:56:56] Yeah. You know what I mean? I don't think money ruins art. It, that's just energy [01:57:00]too, that you can kind of put into something and make it more, you know? But I, I feel like, you know, and it's your comment about like, uh, I'm really into community. Like, I would never, I don't think so, but then when I look at my past, I'm like, fuck yeah, dude.

[01:57:13] Yeah. You did an artist owned gallery in San Francisco too, and all your studio mates are talking you out of it. No, you're making work for us and then we're not gonna sell anything. Now I'm making, but, and I'm like, yeah, why do I wanna do this? Why do I wanna try to sell other people's work? I gotta sell my own.

[01:57:28] And like, I don't know, dude. It is, it is like that. It's community. And it goes deeper than, than the bottom line

[01:57:36] Tyler: now. Let's talk about gallery petite then, you know, because this is something you've, you've helped to, to create a community, you know, and, and, uh, help to foster that. Yeah. And, and to, I imagine part of that motivation is to use it as motivation for yourself.

[01:57:54] No,

[01:57:55] Tyrome: no. I, I, it's, yeah, it's for myself. Just for, [01:58:00] just for my jollies. Yeah. Well,

[01:58:01] Tyler: well, the community. Bring the community. Yeah. The bring, you

[01:58:03] Tyrome: know, inspires. You bring. Yeah. And like, and, and like, and as far as like a conscious motivation, I, I feel like it took me into my mid twenties to like resonate in my community and who I was as a person and my purpose in life.

[01:58:17] I felt like that was a long time. Yeah. And now I realize people go a lifetime, dude. Like, I'm, I'm lucky to find it then, you know? But at the, at that time I was like, this sucks, man. I feel like a loser jumping from one job to the next, but I'm not willing to compromise. Yeah. I wanna be fulfilled. Mm-hmm.

[01:58:33] Like every day, you know what I mean? And I want it in, in my package. Yeah. I wanted on my time, you know what I mean? And it was just like, I couldn't, even growing up where I grew up, I couldn't even, there was no job for me. Yeah. Like, I don't, what am I gonna do? You know what I mean? I, and, and I, I was not.

[01:58:52] The, the obvious was, oh, surf industry. You know what I mean? Like surfer living the snap. I'm like, no, no way. I love it too much. I do [01:59:00] not wanna make the beach my job. And as a water polo player, like they're all lifeguards. Yeah. And you get paid kick ass money. I'm like, And I thought about it for two seconds, wait, pumping hurricane swell and I'm upset.

[01:59:13] Now I gotta sit in a lifeguard, watch the waves and save people instead of like, I'm gonna work in a dinner house. So I never worked during the day and I surf my brains out. And the worst thing that happens is when you lean over to like fill up some of these glass of water, you get post-nasal drip in their plate.

[01:59:33] Tyler: Yes. Guilty. Let charge

[01:59:35] Tyrome: at this. Yeah. But the manager surfs too, so he just laughs like, dude, come on, would you like some salt water with your, uh, with your son? I go, it's not sn it's not, it's not snot, it's salt. It's just saltwater straight from the ocean. It's called postnasal drip. It's okay. It's actually sterile.

[01:59:51] So, but, so, but you,

[01:59:54] Tyler: when did Gallery Petite open

[01:59:55] Tyrome: then Gallery Petite was something that I didn't wanna [02:00:00] do. My friends are like, you should just open a gallery just for a little bit. Yeah. And I knew I was gonna get swept up into it, but, but really when we, when we bought that property in 2006 Yeah. The two car garage was my sculpture studio.

[02:00:13] Yeah. Um, and then we had a rental and we lived up to this upstairs apartment and I'd like really put my heart and soul into that space for 18 years. Wow. You know, 18 years later. And, um, and so, so the, the bat space was first my studio and um, with a lot of my. Plastic, um, real sprawling kind of three-dimensional work that I, right.

[02:00:37] I did a big, I called it a toy sculpture in 2004 for the Brooklyn Waterfront Artist Coalition. Yes. The Dumbo Sculpture Show. Yeah. That was from the eighties. All the way up until 2010 I think I started, I she asked me to cure at it Ursula Clark and Richard Brackman. Yeah. And that was awesome. So I had that big piece that I did in 2004 that, I swear I probably had six studios where I [02:01:00]loved all that.

[02:01:00] On top of my car here and there, up this install it. Oh my God. So, so that was that. So that the space of Gallery Petite was first that spot. All my stuff that I had here and there came to that space and that was my sculpture studio. And then I, I quickly, I started, when I moved to New York, of course I wanted to just do the, the plastic construction and fine art and get a gallery and, and do all that and then, and not do the metal work.

[02:01:28] Cause it's such hard work. It's, and with custom work, it's hard to get ahead. You're always reinventing the wheel, which is intriguing. And I love pushing my imagination and my skills, but it's not so good for the pocketbook. You know, it's easier to make money when you keep doing the same thing. Yeah. You fine tune it.

[02:01:43] But then that's, that's not what I'm into. Yeah. You know what I mean? Now I'm, now I'm bored, you know. So, so that was my studio. And then I started that was still doing the custom work and I started to grow and get bigger commissions. Um, like these tree guards that I'm doing. Yeah. That [02:02:00] was 2007 and I got a commission doing all of Woff and did like 20 of them.

[02:02:06] And, um, and so I needed a bigger studio. And um, and when we were talking earlier about, oh, I'm moving to New York, it wasn't like I was not going for the surf, but I knew there was waves, so I was safe, but I going for the art adventure. Yeah. You know, and it was really that residency at the tail end of my like furniture metalwork thing and doing that residency and then you, that's where we met and moon daca.

[02:02:31] And I'm like riding that wave. I actually keep thinking that wave's gonna end, but it's not. No. Like I still, I'm still intrigued with the, that that series, the, the plastic constructions. Yeah. It's like, it's like I love curvy lines and metal is perfect for holding curves. Mm-hmm. And being structural, like using weird shaped disparate objects and having them flow together like a beautiful flowing wave is almost impossible.

[02:02:57] So it's, it's kept my attention, [02:03:00] you know? Yeah. So I moved into the, I um, got a space acro like almost across the street, like one block over. And um, and I still have my studio there. And, and that's, that's on Troutman? Yeah. That's my workspace and gallery Petit is on Wilson. Okay. Avenue. And so I moved my studio to Troutman and it was much.

[02:03:21] And, um, more, you know, 13 foot ceilings, 800 square feet, and it's also a garage. So I pull my car in 20 foot lengths. It's like ground floor. Perfect. Okay. And, and so then I moved my studio there. So then the, it was storage. Okay. And then my, my partner wanted to start a preschool. Mm-hmm. Like all art, outdoor based and, um, fun play outdoor and Bushwick really needed it.

[02:03:49] And so, and I had all my plastic stuff, which was like a romper room. Yeah. Still in there. I separated it. That was only my plastic in gallery, petite space. And then my studio was the metal [02:04:00] work. And then, um, and then she started school and then quickly grew it into an apartment. Now it's a commercial thing, like she does it really well, like, you know, whatever, 10 years later.

[02:04:10] Um, and so, so then, so after the school, it became storage and then I thought of like, uh, you know, uh, highlighting my metal work and doing these beautiful metal and glass storefronts and, um, and hope, you know, and creating rental income. Yeah. Right. And, um, so then I created those beautiful storefronts, like really as just, just kind of spotlight my metal work and to, um, But, and then when I created it, I go to a gallery and, and, uh, and I, I had one gallery front up and I couldn't afford the glass.

[02:04:48] It was like a thousand bucks worth of glass. And then Bushwick Open Studios was coming. Yeah. And this was, I guess 2016 or 15 or something. And um, and somebody and a curator wanted to do a [02:05:00] show in the gallery, you know, but what about the glass? I'm like, well, if you pay for the glass, you could have it for the weekend.

[02:05:06] Nice, nice. And she did the first show Wow. In Gallery Petite. It was so great. And, um, and she literally bought it was like, took that money and I was able to buy the glass. And, uh, and so then that was the first show. And she even got the Instagram for it gallery. Nice. Instagram and, uh, and, and Facebook too.

[02:05:27] And, but you know, I'm not super big social media guy. I, I'm getting better at it. Anyway, so, so that's how the gallery started. I kind of reluctantly did the gallery because like I know it's hard to sell artwork. Yeah. And then in the end, I'm not, I'm not really commercial. Yeah. You know, I, I can't not show work that is like beautifully unusual and not authentically them.

[02:05:51] Like, to me that's just amazing where it'd be like, wow, I've never seen this. Like, I don't even have to like, it just, it has a lot of energy and [02:06:00] it's, it's definitely they're, they're doing them. I just have respect for that. And it grows on me indefinitely, and it really does. And so, so I. So the Space Gallery, petite really, and I'm, I'm kind of thinking in, in retrospect now, and, and in San Francisco from 92 with those, that group and Yeah.

[02:06:20] And we have a plate, a space. It's with Tammy Dickel. Sh I stayed with her. She's, we, uh, got melting point and it's the old Hams Brewery and we got it in 95, and I was there until 2002 and she's still there. Nice. And I have a bunch of art and in an apartment and I, I built out and like I was a part of it until only 10 years ago or five.

[02:06:43] Wow. You know what I mean? But, but kind of absentee own. Yeah. And she does it all like, and uh, and it's so awesome. But like, like, so we did a, we developed a part of the space that was the base of the silo tower. Yeah. And, um, it's 900 square feet and it's like [02:07:00] got the weirdest like, uh, ceiling where the conal ceiling.

[02:07:04] Mm. And uh, where they would store the hops all the way up. And I knew punk rockers that were there in the eighties squatting the building and they would belay down into the silos above the gals. Like, this building is freaking amazing dude. And when you say, why didn't you move back to San Francisco?

[02:07:20] Which you weren't saying that, but like, I've left the best studio I've ever had in my life. Like that studio. It's still there. Yeah. I'm pretty sure I have a lot of stuff there. And it's, um, it's like 5,000 square feet. It's the machine room. Mm-hmm. Of the old Hams Brewery by the Seal Stadium. It's the only one that's not redone.

[02:07:37] Explosion proof switches, one man elevator with holes in the floor. Super dangerous. But we, we got plate steel and we covered the holes. We fixed hundreds of little factory windows. Yeah, we did it all ourself like, like in the main spot when you walk in it, there's catwalk, there's four 60 foot ceilings. Oh wow.

[02:07:57] And there's painters on the top that look down [02:08:00] and you have conversation three floors up. Nice. Yelling like it's really an awesome space. And it was there that we c. We call it, we, uh, named it Melting Point Art and Design Studios and Melting Point Gallery, and we were curating group shows. And, um, and it was just like, it was such an extension of our family and our community and showing, and, and like having popups really didn't exist then.

[02:08:25] Yeah. And so like, so I, I call it's an artist owned gallery, which means we do what we want. Yeah. Like, like it's not about selling work and paying rent. Yeah. It's about showing work that's we think is amazing and giving, you know, underrepresented artists a voice. Right. Yeah. And, and I think Tyler, in a nutshell, that's what it's about for me.

[02:08:45] Like, I grew up in a place where you didn't have wacky artists displaying their freak flag for everyone to walk by and be like, whoa, you guys are doing weird shit. Because if it did exist, like the, you know, the city cracks now, like it didn't exist, you know? [02:09:00] Yeah. And in San Diego too, what exists is like a, a oh, a fucking whacked out board shaper.

[02:09:06] Yeah. You know what I mean? And they're doing like gra like, you know, an airbrush. Yeah. You know, like, like that's what you saw. We're making our own skateboards. Yeah. You know what I mean? And shit like that. And so, so melting point was like that realization for me that like, this is a voice for, for artists that really don't have, you know, they're not going, yeah.

[02:09:29] They're not in the big gallery. They're not carried by the big galleries. They're not in museums, you know? And, and so when I started Gallery Petite, same exact. You know, and it was just like, um, I it's, it's really about kind of like, or I'll tell you this way. Yeah. Like, we're right next to a middle school.

[02:09:49] Yeah. Okay. And, and we've been there for 18 years. Okay. Like I do snow sculptures in front of the house. Yes. And of course the kids destroy them. Yeah, of course. And like, and I've come and [02:10:00] like, I, I don't even care anymore. It gives me, I get to now make it better and I run down there and make it better. You know what I mean?

[02:10:06] It sucks when the dog pees on it though. Cause you're like, oh, hi pee. You know what I mean? And so like, so anyway, be next to that, that high school. Like I've had, I've, you know, that's 18 years. So you have a 15 year old that would walk by my, my see my, your work, my, yeah. My work in the neighborhood or me skateboarding with my kids or my whacked out little gallery.

[02:10:29] Definitely showing weird work that's not commercial. And they're during fire drills, there's a thousand kids walking by that. Yes. You know what I mean? Yeah. And like, they're going to school and like, I was a little freaked to like, you know, cause there would be fights right there in the corner and, you know, usually, usually it was, it was a cat fight, like super gnarly cops coming and stuff like, I mean, the neighborhood was not cool like 10 years ago, like a shooting gallery across the street, which means it's like a heroin den.

[02:10:56] And they were in the basement and they're like, China, China [02:11:00] yelling China white to come down and sell. I'm like all night like, oh my god. You know? So it's not. You know, it's, it's way different now, but, um, but. It was kind of like, I wish that when I grew up, I walked by some weird little space like that, so I, I knew like there wa that this exists.

[02:11:22] Yeah. You know what I mean? I, I, I, I seriously thought something like that would be illegal. You're not allowed to do that, you know? Yeah. And then I moved to San Francisco and it's like status quo. Yeah. You know? And. You know, moving to Bushwick, it was kind of like the same vibe I, I read, I, I, I rode that same wave and so opening up gallery tea, petite, it's the same thing.

[02:11:43] You know, it's, it's, it's kind of like I did it for the people that are like me that needed to see that there's a world that exists outside of like, this whole kind of like what you see in here and you know, and what the adults want you to do. [02:12:00] You know what I mean? Yeah. It's almost like punk rock in the eighties, you know, going to shows in LA as a water polo player in high school and like that anti-establishment and you know, fuck the man.

[02:12:10] You know what I mean? And it's just like, like to me, I kind of never grew out of that. Like, to me, I really resonate with that. Like, like, not that I'm individualistic, cuz obviously I'm not, I'm like, these galleries cost me money, but I'm, it's like, yeah, at 56 I'm like, why am I doing this? I'm like, because

[02:12:27] Tyler: you're punk.

[02:12:28] Yeah. Because you're punk though. Because that's in your d n

[02:12:31] Tyrome: a. Yeah. I feel like that's it. And you know what? And like, and I, I know, and now I like 15 years later, Like I, I go to this surf bar across the street. Yeah. It's all surf and skate videos. And I'm not a big drinker, but I fucking, you know, I, I'm in by myself.

[02:12:48] I go surf by myself. I make my art by myself. Like Yeah. I mean, I go in and out of having an assistant or a crew or whatever, it's project based, but like, for the most part, I need a social hour. So I'll do like a coffee thing. [02:13:00] Yeah. Like even in San Francisco, I live at my space. I'd go away for coffee, come back, and every day you see the same people.

[02:13:06] Even if they're an introvert and they don't wanna talk to you, you're gonna be, something's gonna come up. Yeah. And then, then after a while you have a friend and like, and it's just kind of, it's cool. It's real. It's like that's how life goes. But if you sit on your ass in your, in the privacy of your space or your car from ear to B.

[02:13:22] Yeah. A to B. Like, I feel like that's the difference between LA and New York. Like, you're, like, even though, you know, you walk around in grew up like, like the mentality wasn't like worldly.

[02:13:34] Tyler: It's isolated and Yeah. And whereas here you're forced to engage. Yeah. You know.

[02:13:39] Tyrome: Exactly. And you're engaging with like toll foreign.

[02:13:43] Yeah. Like, no, you don't relate at all except you're in the same place. Yeah. You know, like language culture, luck or anything. And, and, um, and I, I feel like I, that's why I do these artist owned galleries, is just, just to like, to pick up that pole. Mm-hmm. [02:14:00] On, on the left, I guess, you know, now the left and right is like, so politically based, but I feel like, like, you know, how do you have a gallery and not be commercial?

[02:14:08] How do you pay for it, you know? Mm-hmm. And the way artists do it, I've seen a Bushwick and in San Francisco the same thing. You, you have studios in the back and you have your show space in the front. Exactly. Now you show whatever you want, you gotta subsidize it somehow. So I, you know, and so with Gallery Petit's the same way, you know, I, I'll Airbnb this space and then subsidize the gallery space.

[02:14:29] You know, I don't, not, I'm not against commerce. Not at all. Yeah. I just, you know, I know where I'd like to resonate and feel good, you know what I mean? And, and, um, but selling your friends' work, it feels really good. Yeah. But man, it's, it's a mission. Yeah. It's a mission. You, unless, unless you're kind of. You know, you're rubbing elbows with people with the wherewithal and they're all your buddy and they trust you and they have no art sense and they fully trust you.

[02:14:56] But then, then it's cool. Right? Then you're just naturally an art [02:15:00] dealer and you're, you know, and, and, um, but like I, to me it's really, it's really important to go with that natural flow. Mm-hmm. With a wave. It doesn't do what you say. Yeah. You can't make it do anything. You have to work with it, you know?

[02:15:14] And um, and I kind of like feel that's, uh, like my approach is the same way with the gallery. And, um, and you know, and, and when that ends, which will probably be soon, you know, within the next six months I'm probably gonna do it in my find somewhere else space. Yeah. It's actually a much bigger gallery.

[02:15:35] Yeah. You know, like Gallery Petite is seriously small. It's, it's, it's got that, you know, a 19 foot wall intimate, high intimate. Yeah. It is. It is. And it's intimate, yet highly exposed. It's not a sweet up on the second floor. You're right on the street. In fact, you could be in your car and see the show. Yeah.

[02:15:53] You know, stopped at the light. And I like that. And it's, it's kind of, and it's such a unique, you [02:16:00] know, storefront. It looks like it was imported from mm-hmm. From Paris or something a long time ago. It's cuz it's made the old way, right? Yeah. And, and it's just like, it end up. Being kind of like a, a gateway for like-minded people.

[02:16:14] Like they see it from across the street, they double take mm-hmm. And like, almost hurt their neck, and they cross the street and they're like, what's going on there? And I'm like, oh my God, look what I made. Like, it only, it's like, I don't, I didn't put art, I just made a really thoughtful storefront, you know?

[02:16:30] And then that, and it's bringing the right people. It's just this Bushwick, you know? Yeah. Um, and it's becoming more of a, a destination. I feel like it was more art based 10 years ago with the Bushwick Open Studios. But, you know, there's ebb and flow to it. And, um, yeah, I don't think I'll ever not have like, uh, like an artist owned gallery in that way, you know what I mean?

[02:16:54] And maybe someday I'll be in a position where like I ac actually can place all the work. Yeah. You know, that would be [02:17:00] amazing. But I'm not gonna kill myself over that. You know what I mean? Like, like, it, it's, um, first things first come on, you know what I mean? Like, and, um, but it does feel like you're shooting yourself in the foot or banging your head against the wall because like, you know, you're, everything's going up and costing more, you know, and, and so, uh, you end up getting pushed out in the end,

[02:17:23] Tyler: but like, well then you end up in Rockaway maybe, or somewhere, you

[02:17:27] Tyrome: know, I want to, Tyler and I would already, but then when I run it by my kids, they're like, oh.

[02:17:34] How long is it gonna take me to get to school? And they're seriously adding 45 minutes to their subway ride. Oh gosh. Yeah. And I know, like for me, I'd be like, cool, I got 45 minutes to finish my homework on the way to school. Because you're not driving, you're not riding bike. No. You're on the subway. Yeah.

[02:17:51] You're being chauffeur by the man.

[02:17:54] Tyler: Yeah. Well, Tyrone, I am so stoked you're able to [02:18:00] join me here. You know, we, we've been, I think it's time to go check the surf to be Oh, really? Do. But I, uh, where can our listeners find you? What are the best places to go check out your work and gallery

[02:18:14] Tyrome: Petite? Well, um, here's your chance to plug.

[02:18:17] Yeah. You know, I, I, I love my Trip E Designs website. Mm-hmm. Cause it highlights my, uh, decorative metal work going all the way back to the nineties. The problem with that website is hard to keep it updated, so it's not really super updated for my every day and updated. And I think, I feel like it's a good cross section of my life is my Instagram.

[02:18:37] Mm-hmm. Like my kind of the personal one. And that's Ty Tripoli. Ty Tripoli.

[02:18:42] Tyler: Yeah. Atty Tripoli on Insta. Yeah. And. And I think, uh, it's time for us to go check the surf and cuz I think the waves might be getting absolutely fun. And, uh, listeners, uh, thank you for listening. We really appreciate it. And uh, [02:19:00] definitely don't forget to check out at Swell Season Surf Radio and you can also go to www.seasonsurfradio.com and we have transcripts from the interview up there.

[02:19:10] And I'll have, uh, notes with Ty's work and you can go check that out and, uh, yeah, we will uh, see you all down the line soon. You

[02:19:21] Tyrome: nice.