‘Austin didn’t have a good skate shop at the time, so I moved there and we dove into trying to do that.’
NO COMPLY
Texas Skate Shop
May 2025
Which skater does the most perfect no comply?
— Ray Barbee.
What triggered the idea to open up skate shop in 2007?
— My Twin brother Simon telling me he was going to have twin daughters and he was living in Austin. I was living in San Francisco at the time and wanting to figure out my next move. Austin didn’t have a good skate shop at the time, so I moved there and we dove into trying to do that.
What were you up to in SFO?
— Mostly skateboarding. But I also owned a valet parking business; so I was busy with that a lot too.
What’s your secret staying alive for almost two decades?
— Having a great crew/family of employees, creatives and skateboarders that care and contribute. Respecting all and trying to do what’s right for skateboarding and the community that comes with it.
You got on the cover on Thrasher for the May 2001 issue. Has anything changed for you after that?
— I’m not sure directly, but it’s something I feel honored and proud to have.
Phelps philosophy was to have one ollie per year on the cover. You must be pretty stoked that it was yours that made it.
— Yeah, that’s what he told me when he gave me the mag. Definitely made it feel more special. I never expected that I was taking a photo that would be used for anything, I just thought Ogden was trying out a new camera and that’s why he told me to just do ollies.
‘I just thought Ogden was trying out a new camera and that’s why he told me to just do ollies.’
Elias Bingham
With my interview with local skate photographer Dylan, he mentioned your collaboration with pro soccer club FC Houston Dynamo. How did this come about?
— Austin FC is our first pro team in Austin and there is a lot of community involvement and support around them. Also, soccer is the foundation of Adidas, and they tie into street lifestyle through soccer and skateboarding; so it seemed like it would be a cool three way collaboration to represent our broader community. Adidas and Austin FC were excited about the concept, and it worked out (short version). We have a No-Comply soccer team that we have been playing in a league for the last four years too.
You really seem to support the local community beyond providing skate gear. One that sticks out for me personally is a platform providing college scholarships for skateboarders. Can you tell me more about it?
— Yeah, College Skateboarding Educational Foundation (CSEF) is the platform. They provide scholarships to skateboarders. It is great to be able to use what we do to help create opportunities for those in our community. We were able to raise money for CSEF ($55K) through raffles, and use that for scholarships to ACC. We lease our space from Austin Community College (ACC) and part of our lease agreement is a partnership with them—so we are building that up and working towards many possibilities; from full scholarships to skateboarders, and skate clubs that can travel and create content, to working on real life skateboarding related activations for students such as welding skate-able art structures, CAD park design, physical therapy, film, photography, graphic design, urban planning, fashion design…skateboarders are already tapped into a lot more than they might be aware of, so the motivation is that connecting the college applications could lead to complimentary career opportunities.
‘Skateboarders are already tapped into a lot more than they might be aware of.’
I am sure you have bunch of team riders. If you could sign up any skater, who would it be?
— Gonz. Inspiration, creativity and his representation of skateboarding.
Last question. If you could interview any person in the world, who would it be?
— Larry David. Mainly to hang with him and see him call out the absurdities of life.