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Rollin Up /Applenuts

by The Skate Nazi/photos Mako Ozaki/Zak Noyle

 

I would hope that by now the majority of skateboarders in Hawaii realize that your given name in life is not actually Applenuts, but I get the feeling that there are still some out there who are in the dark about your real name. Please, if you would, kindly tell the masses what exactly it says on your birth certificate and driver's licence.

It says Christopher Naukana Awong.

 

Please tell me you don't introduce yourself to people as Applenuts.

Nooooo, well sometimes I dig the whole "Hey Apples" thing that girls do, but most of the time I'll say like "What erpps, I'm Chris AKA Applenuts...a small giggle or laugh after I say that.

I understand that there's a Check Out happening for you in a recent issue of Transworld. How did that come about, and please tell me that they mention your real name in there somewhere.

Hahahaha actually yes I got a Transworld checkout in the September issue, it came about when the North Shore bowl contest was held and I went shooting with the Hurley team and Chris Ortiz. Ortiz said if I could get some bangers he'd throw me a checkout, and my name says Chris "Applenuts" Awong....had to throw out the infamous name...

 

Crooked is as Crooked does. One of Apples faves.

 

Where the hell did you come from originally anyway? You don't really seem like the typical Salt Lake type.

Yeah, I've been getting that a lot lately people say I talk with an accent and it seems like I'm from Cali, but I was born and raised here. I grew up in Salt Lake sort of by the old Costco for I think 20 years, then I moved to Nuuanu right up the street from the training facility Aala Park, and life's been getting better and better.

You seemed to have totally disappeared from the scene for a while a few years back. How did you go from full-on skate rat to speed racer boy goof, and then back into total skate mode again? Did you have some kind of revelation or what?

Hrmmm, skate rat? That’s what I was? Hahaha I guess I got real into it when I first started, then girls corrupted my brain, hahaha! Then I settled down with one and she made me quit, so I quit a few times then got into the whole rice rocket thing and disappeared again but I skated a little, then after my car got stolen I slowly started making a comeback then full blown just skated. Revelation? Sort of. I saw Dyson Ramones getting up in the skating world and he started getting paid, so I made it my goal to skate as hard as I could and get paid for it, and im almost there.

 

Up in the Crub with a frontside nose.

 

 

Personally, I happen to like your modern day self a lot more than the younger whipping boy we used to torment so hard. Everybody it seems is totally down with the new and improved Nuts, what would you say is the biggest difference between you now and say five years ago?

Now I'm more laid back, have a couple of beers, a game of flat ground SKATE, learn a trick here and there and chill, not worrying about a damn thing and some parties after. The old me would be a prissy momma's boy that yelled a lot, slammed boards around and focused them, just a spoiled little bitch, and I'm glad I grew up from that.

Seems like everybody in the industry loves themselves some Nutbag when they come to town, what do you think it is about you and what do you have that makes people like Chris Ortiz and all the Hurley dudes want to call you up and kick it with you when they're in Hawaii?

I really don’t know what it is about me that they like. I guess since I have most of the time free and not many people can take them to spots because of jobs and stuff, even though I get lost sometimes and gotta call Chad, but I don’t know why people love the Nuts, they just do, hahaha, and since I ride for Hurley, they like to keep the team tight so they holla at me.

Apples has been taking lessons from the Nazi. Wallride.

 

Your bag of tricks. Try to imagine it without kickflip backside five-o's and backside 180 nosegrinds. Would you slit your wrists? Hang yourself? Just kidding. What are your absolute favorite tricks to do on your skateboard and what types of terrain do you enjoy doing them on?

Noooooooooooooooo! Life without kickflip 5-0s and 180 nosegrinds? Saddddd! I'm kidding, I wouldn’t slice my wrists or hang myself, there's a lot more tricks I can play out. Top 5 tricks I love doing these days: crooked grinds anywhere I can, bullay! Back tails mostly on rails and ledges, 360 flips on flatground but I gotta do them a certain way, ask Silent John to explain. Back Smiths on anything with transition like quarterpipes, mini ramps, and bowls, and the number one trick for me is Suski grinds down rails and on ledges.

When you find yourself on the road, behind the wheel of the Nutmobile, what kind of music do you roll to generally?

If nobody already knew, it's Lil' Wayne, 2Pac, Wu-Tang Clan, Mac Dre and any gangster ass shit you can find, nigga! Hahahaha, but I gotta throw in some 60’s and 70’s golden years type of songs, so I guess you can say I like to roll deep, mean muggin' face and all.

I understand you are a bit of a party guy and that you tend to be out on the town often, what kind of spots do you gravitate towards and what kind of crowd do you normally surround yourself with when you're out making the nightlife rounds?

I usually call up Tim Jackson and Chris Kays and we’ll hit up the O Lounge on Wednesday, and then Brew Moon on Friday, and then chill the rest of the week since we party so hard. The crowd is super chill, not many fights and drunk bitches everywhere, what else do you need?

You kind of remind me of Glen Quagmire in the Family Guy cartoon. Giggity giggity. Anybody ever mention that to you?

Nope, never got that one but I could see how I remind you of him…wink wink!

What sort of ladies is the Nut interested in? Describe your ideal female.

I got this shit on lock. Japanese, Korean, or hapa with a hint of Asian, about 5’2 - 5’4, 100-110 pounds, not really materialistic but on the high class side, and she's got to be the model type, no ugly girls please.

Where has skateboarding taken you outside of the Hawaiian islands? Where else have you been in the world and laid down some four wheel shred?

It’s taken me all over Cali, Tijuana, also to Minnesota, Colorado, Las Vegas, Texas, Maui, the Big Island, and I'm planning on a lot more traveling soon.

 

 

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