Robert Brink - Writer

The Weenabago Projekt 2: Tosh Crosses America

July 19, 2008 | Skip To The Comments (1)

The Weenabago Projekt 2: Tosh Crosses America
Words: Rob Brink
The Skateboard Mag, April 2008

Back in 2005, Tosh Townend and a friend from high school had the grand idea to bring a low budget skate tour up the West Coast, from Huntington Beach to Vancouver, and do it wild style. Instead of waiting ‘til Tosh’s sponsors initiated and funded a trip, they took it into their own hands, pooled their money together, bought an RV, called a few friends (Wes Lott, Jake Rupp, Brent Achtley), hit the road, had a great skate and a great time and called it the Weenabago Projekt. Shortly after, they released a video of the trip. Somewhere during that time, they knew they’d do it again one day. Then, “again” happened in August 2007…

I saw the trailer for your new video… the Girls Gone Wild vibe…
Yeah, it’s gonna be pretty good. Comedy for sure. We got a lot of good footage. I think it’ll be out in April.

What was the route this time?
From Cali to Vegas to SLC, Denver, Kansas City and Chicago. We went up to Milwaukee. Then went from there straight to Philly and then to NY.

Damn. How long did that take?
35 days. All of August. We had five or six days in each city. Some were shitty, so we’d just go to the next. The whole time, we were selling the Sin Habits video. It’s our little crew’s video. We bought 2,500 copies and sold over 1500 on tour. Every shop in every city, I just full on sales pitched it and every shop pretty much bought ten.

Straight hustlin’!
Pretty much.

You got the nice hot, humid months for Philly and NY…
Yeah, but it was still fun. The two ams, Pat Pasquale and Neen Williams… it was so hard to get ‘em to skate, ‘cause they’d be like, “Dude, it’s too hot outside! Why don’t we wait ‘til nighttime and light shit up?”

I was like, “Whatever, that’s cool.” Chris Senn was there, so we’d just be out skating during the day. We had the Hyphy Twins too. I think they made it to Denver before I was like, “You guys gotta fucking leave.” I kicked ‘em off the tour because they weren’t pulling their weight [laughs].

You gotta boot people if they’re slackin’…
Well, it was a friendship thing. I told ‘em they could come to Vegas. And them being so fuckin’ hyphy, they ended up struggling along. Like, “C’mon, dude! Just let us just go to the next city. We’re trying to get to mom’s house in Iowa.” And I was like, “Alright, you can come to Salt Lake.” But I wasn’t going through fucking Iowa for the fucking Hyphy Twins.

How do you choose people? Homies? Like, “Hey do you wanna go do this thing?”
Yeah. People I either grew up skating with, or friends of friends. Our friend Rehab who does a lot of the artwork for the Sin Habits videos is friends with Pat and Neen. They are all from Chi-Town. We were always skating together so I was like, “You guys should come on my tour. It’ll push your career.” I pitched it to ‘em like that and it worked out. Then Senn flew from Hawaii into Denver, skated, and left from Kansas City.

When did you decide you were gonna tour a second time?
During the first tour. And there are definitely plans for a third one. I’ve been talking to Boost Mobile and we’re gonna end up getting their bus.

So it’s a stepping stone thing… like do a ghetto tour first and then see where you go from there?
Yeah, I’m psyched, dude. I got a lot of backing from the second one. Element, CCS, Map Cargo and Boost gave me money.

Did you guys do demos or was it strictly for fun?
Just strictly for fun. Street skating the whole time. We would show up to parks and it would end up being like a little demo, but more just for whoever was there. We’d go to a skatepark and kids were like, “What the hell are you guys doing here?” We’re just like, “Dude, we’re just on our fuckin’ own tour. Wanna check out our video?” I’d do street sales too. [Laughs].

Worst part of the tour?
Just clashing heads with everyone. After a while, everyone just breaks down like, “Fuck dude, this is strenuous!”

Shit’s just not going right. Fucking arguing with those fools all the time. Trying to get ‘em motivated to skate because sometimes they just wouldn’t be. I’d be like, “I’m paying you fools! You gotta get out there and fucking skate!” It ended up working out. Pat fucking killed it and Neen got some fucking really good shit. People were hyped on Neen.

I remember like 10 years ago, seeing your Element sponsor-me tape at Tim O’Connor’s place. You were a little kid and now you’re organizing tours and handling business at 22.
I’m taking it to the next level. I’m trying not to just be a skater. I don’t see my career going that much longer with all these kids coming up killing it. So I’m like, “Dude I might as well get in the game like Jamie Thomas or something,” you know?

So what was the highlight?
My homie got suplexed by a security guard. We had his little mini camera rollin’ the whole time. The guard’s hat fell off and I just grabbed it, put it on backwards and kept filming while I was running away with the other guards chasing me.

You gotta see the video, man. There’s tons of chicks shaking their titties. Just good comedy tour shit. I went to jail twice [laughs].

For what?
The first night in Denver I got arrested for wylin’ out in the street, trying to hail a cab. Out of nowhere this undercover broad just goes like, “Sit on the curb right now, you’re drunk in public!”

They got all my information and put me in an insane asylum. It was a white room with white walls. They’re like, “Handcuff your hands to this bench and wait here!”

Then, the last night we were there we did a Sin Habits premiere at a bar and this fucking bouncer was talking shit to me while I was playing pool. I was like, “Fuck off, man, I ain’t doin’ nothin’ wrong.”

He just came up and tackled me and head-butted me on the ground. Then he picked me up by my hair and threw me outta the fuckin’ bar. Right before he threw me out he fucking head-butted me again, right in the nose. I’m just like, “Fuck you, you faggot! This is bullshit, man! I put on this fucking party and brought you all this fuckin’ business!”

Then, outta nowhere, this stupid little spiky-haired, fuckin’ dyke bitch comes out, like, “Fuck you! Who do you think you are?” She’s got a skateboard and she’s swinging it at me. I just fucking apprehended her. I grabbed the truck and pulled the board from her and threw it in a tree. Like, “Go get that now, bitch!”

I didn’t touch her or nothin’. Then all those bouncers just came running after me. I fuckin’ peaced out and the cops caught up with me. The girl pressed charges. I spent the night in jail.

What was your favorite city of the tour?
Probably New York. We all just balled out. One of the homies got laid. I got a number from this little cutie. It was just a good time.

Why is traveling so important to you?
It just gets me motivated. When I’m at home I’m kinda laid back, not really trying to go out and skate that much. I skate but I ain’t trying to film and shoot photos as much as if I’m on a tour.

Who was tour MVP?
I’d have to go with Pat because he’s gonna have the last trick of the video. Everything we went to, he would kill. Definitely Tour MVP.

What’s one thing you learned on this tour?
Just keep the positive vibes up. No matter what brings you down, you can always turn it around with positive action.