Photo: T Baxter
It's been just over 2 years since Ian's first skatenewspot interview was posted. Well, he's been up to a lot since then. Lucky for us he took the time out of his busy schedule while in San Diego to sit down and answer some questions about what he's been up to lately. -Ben

So we did your first skatenewspot interview in January 2008. You were living in Vancouver at the Fuckshop and were about to go to Barcelona for a few months. Where do you live now and what's your living situation like?
Well, for the past week I've been living on the road in hotels or people’s couches. But for the last year I've been living in a loft in Gastown with my girl. It’s super tight, we got a nice place, my cat can go outside in this big gated off courtyard. There is a lot of junkies around, but our apartment is safe. Gastown is two blocks from the Plaza and this restaurant I work at, so it's no coincidence I moved there. I spend a lot of days a week there and if I have to work at 5 or 6 at night I don't wanna waste time getting to and from the park. Right now I can have work at 6 but can still go skate the park all day, go home shower and be at work on time, come home chill with the homies or my lady.

Over the past two years, you have traveled a bunch. What cities did you visit and what did you think of them? How were the trips?
So good man. Traveling on skate trips is the shit. You get some homies together, buy some plane tickets or fill up a van and get er done. You’re away from your comfort zone and skating is the first thing on your mind when you wake up. In the last few years I’ve been back to Barcelona only once which sucks because Barcy is so sick. Last year I spent a couple months down in SF skating the Bay Area. SF is so sick. I got some homies for life in that city, Frasier and Geordie Gillies. And they let me come down and crash. They’re ill dudes and they don’t want me sitting around the house all day, so it keeps me motivated to get out and get some shit done. I also made a trip to NYC and all I can really say is two weeks in New York is no where near enough.


Front 5-0 Photo: Tadashi
After your trip to SF, you got a check out in Transworld. How did that come about?
Like I mentioned before, I got some real good friends that have been holding down the spot in The Sunset San Francisco for a couple years. It's called the Ice Box because the house is super old and there isn't a real heating system, so at night it can get a little chilly. I ended up meeting Justin Williams who does Force Trucks. Him and Greg at Empire (RIP) helped me a lot. They would roll me out to Sacramento and just introduce me to people and take me on sessions. I hooked up with this photographer, Dave Chami and he was super down to go shoot some photos. I rolled with him and my friend Geordie and we went out to get some shit without a filmer. I ended up going out with Dave quit a bit in the next couple weeks, he was always down to let me get in his whip and jump in on a session. That's who shot the photo and that's who got it run, thanks again Dave it was greatly appreciated.

Last year you started to ride for Affiliate Skateboards. Tell us a bit about Affiliate and how you got on?
Affiliate has been around for a long time. It’s a board company that's based out of Chicago. One of the owners is a sales rep for Diamond. Again, thank you Greg and Justin who definitely are responsible for introducing me to Reggie. Reg and I talked on the phone a bunch sending emails. I sent him a bunch of footy and photo's I was getting at the time. He showed it to the fam and then he started sending me boards. I hooked up with Reg in person before I bounced SF and just last month the whole crew hooked up in LA. Affiliate's fam is Neen Williams, Derrick Wilson, Dax Miller, Andre Colbert and myself.


Switch Nosegrind Photo: Tadashi
What does 2010 hold for Ian Twa? Any trips planned. Any plans in general?
Well, right now I am on a road trip to San Diego. It’s been pretty tight so far. After that, I’m gonna go back to Van to work for the Olympics. There is a pretty good two week window to make some good money. Hopefully I get out to NYC to visit your gigantic self. And this summer I’m gonna travel, skate my ass off and live it up.

Raw Twa 2010 from Deer Head on Vimeo.