Ashley Trujillo grew up in Tallahassee Florida, and when big storms blew through & shut off the electricity, her dad would have her practice classic songs by artists like Tom Petty and Bob Dylan on the drums in the windy, wet darkness. The family tradition was effective in turning into an amazing drummer, but not without irony. Storm or no storm, the spotlight was eventually going to find her. Ripping skateboarder, insane drummer, loving parent, loyal friend and comedic genius are qualities she keeps in her back pocket. As “Trixie Con Leche,” the drummer in the trio Bad Shit, she spent a handful of years psyching up mosh pits around the world with her husband, pro skater Tony Trujillo and late, great Thrasher editor, Jake Phelps. Seeing her perform is amazing; she’s a legit fucking rocker.
We ran into Ashley last summer at the Rip Ride Rally in Lincoln City. She showed up with her family to pay tribute to Jake, Monk and P-Stone, and perform with Bad Shit with older son Waylon stepping in on bass. The Trujillos now make up skateboardings first official family band. Within 5 minutes of seeing her for the first time in years, Ashley was literally on her knees in the parking lot acting out a hilarious story about skateboarding while pregnant. Never a dull moment; around her, anything is possible & world is your’s. Ashley ain’t aiming for some bullshit version of prepackaged perfection- she’s too damn busy enjoying the show. For instance, when I had to grapple with some suck-ass app to get it work so Amy and I could three-way this interview, it was NBD. Cause we’re taking her lead low key rolling with this tornado. She’s a real Trooper in the Skate Army. -Migz
Migz- Ok we conquered our first official technology snafu.
I cannot do shit, I still have to mail letters, I can’t scan… I’m the worst.
Amy- When iPhones came out, I had to get that iPhone for dummies manual.
I was one of the last people to get a fucking iPhone! I was so against it. I used to have this slidey phone- not a razor, but it slides up…A sidekick! I loved that phone. Then I got in a bicycle accident and lost it.
Amy- The ways we lose our favorite phones, man…
Yeah, especially when they have a bunch of pictures on it. I’ve lost some pretty important shit, I’m like ‘Gotta erase. If THIS gets in the wrong hands…’ The worst was, I lost a Canon camera that had video on it that was just bad…Dude, it was fucking gnarly, I was like noooo! It was like one sexy night we had, real graphic. And then the next pictures on the camera were like the kids opening Christmas presents. So bizarre. And to lose it at the Burbank Airport of all places! Can’t wait for that to resurface somewhere one day. Hopefully some responsible Christian found it and is like, beating off to it.
Migz- Someones definitely beating off to it.
Haha, I just wish I had shaved.
Migz- So where are you, what are you doing?
I’m actually trying to open my back sliding glass door at this moment, it’s like broken. Somethings up with it. We can’t ever have nice things, even before having kids. And there’s Bronco. He just fucking tears around, he made his own doggie door through the screen. I’m just letting it roll.
Migz- Are your kids in school?
Yes, they’re both in the same school for the first time ever, Kindergarten and 5th Grade, I’ve been waiting for this.
Migz- This is like your Rumspringa!
It’s crazy! And I live in like suburbia now, I walk through a golf course and they’re at school in like 8 minutes. Before this we were living in Bernal Heights/Mission. I still have that place but now I just rent to to a bunch of 20 year old Amazon techies. I was just sick of the city. We had been there like 15 years and it was just getting gross, on both sides. Reno picking up shit off the ground, literally. And all the new people who were moving in on my block were just stuck up fuckin’ yuppies. Is “yuppies” even a thing anymore?
Hopefully some responsible Christian found it and is like, beating off to it.
Migz- I think they’re called “Norms.”
In AA, we call “Normies” the people who can drink a little bit and be ok, I’m striving for that.
Amy- So you quit drinking?
No I didn’t quit, fuck no.
Amy- You gotta keep it current.
I’m never going to “quit” drinking, cause it’s just something in my life I like to do. It’s just when I go overboard drinking, my stomach just hurts now. I’m just getting old, I don’t know. I passed a fucking gall stone, okay? And I got all freaked out. It was like labor pain.
Migz- Your third little baby?
Yeah, it was. I thought it was vodka. I had this bottle and I was like ‘Tony did you drink any of that?’ And he was like ‘No.’ I had accidentally drank the whole thing. I woke up the next morning and I was like oh my god. I don’t ever throw up and I was puuuuking. And I felt like labor but it was up by my heart. I’m like what. is. this. Tony said I should go to the ER, but I wouldn’t let him move me. It lasted 24 hours. I thought, cool, I finally fucked my liver up. But it wasn’t. It didn’t even have anything to do with the alcohol, it was just something that was going on. I have a family history of this shit I guess.
Migz- Let’s just call that a cruel coincidence.
It was! I like that! Yes it made say ok, let’s maybe take it down a notch. But I’m doing good now.
Amy- When did that happen?
A couple months ago.
Migz- After we saw you at Rip Ride Rally?
Yeah, Rip Ride was the end of May, I remember cause we took Waylon out of school and drove like 13 straight hours. Rip Ride was awesome. I almost bailed on it too, cause we were going to Copenhagen right after. It just seemed too hard, unmanageable. But it was seriously the best time ever, even for a for a couple days. I wish we could have stayed longer, for the dirt board thing. Because that shit looked fun. I’ve done it once at Zarosh’s house a couple years ago. Oh my god, it was fucking scary. And fun. That shit was gnar.
Amy- I’ve gone to Zarosh’s house, he loves the dirtboarding shit, it’s like his favorite thing in the world. And then to get other people to do it? He’s even more excited.
He’s got the tractors and all this shit, and just makes it happen. He’s awesome.
Amy- Yeah he’s fucking cool. And his brother’s rad. His brother played the cello for like 14 hours straight.
He’s on acid or some shit right? Cause micro dosing is a thing now. I met this band down in Mexico, they’re a wife and a husband and they play together, they’re called “Cardiel.” They take a little bit of acid before every show. I’m like damn, maybe it would be better if I did that instead of Adderall, and speed up too fast. I had to quit doing that. Before, I was like, this is great, I can not be tired and play, but then it made my heart feel like it was going to explode. Also, I’d always be playing way too fast for everybody to keep up. I’m like ok, that’s enough of that.
Amy- Adderall made you out of sync with the band?
I can’t drink before I play. I’d try to do it in the past, cause everyone was getting a little buzz on. I’ve been playing since I was 7 years old. And when I get buzzed I don’t know what happens, I lose everything. I drop sticks, it just sucks. I can’t find a good medium except to not do anything, then party afterward.
Migz- You should do what we do, just drink Coors Light from like 9am to midnight.
That’s perfect! I found out a couple years ago I can drink Coors Light all day, it’s great! I love that beer.
Migz- It’s a daily driver.
Oh yeah it is.
Migz- So, we want to know how you came out to the west coast and how you started playing drums. Didn’t your dad teach you how to play?
I got sent back to Florida with a black eye and a really bad attitude, I was pissed.
Yeah, he taught me when I was 7. I’m from Florida, there’s a lot of storms out there. And so we’d always play when the lights go out. We always had the drum set and the candles lit. My mom is from Los Angeles and she moved back to LA when I was 14 or 15, so I was just with my dad. Then when I was 17 I moved to LA and went to high school for a little bit. I met all these girls and I thought they were my friends, and then they jumped the shit out of me one night. They all looked like Britney Spears and shit. I don’t know what happened, everyone was on meth then.
Migz- They turned on you.
Yeah! And then they just beat the shit out of me one night, out of nowhere. I was like, what the fuck, these girls hang out at my house every day. So, I only made it 7 months out there. I got sent back with a black eye and a really bad attitude, I was pissed. Then I finished my senior year in Tallahassee Florida, and then came back out to go to Santa Monica College.
Migz- Around when I met you, you were studying to be a paramedic in Brookings. I have always wondered what that was all about, because it’s such a crazy random small town on the Oregon Coast.
Yeah I know! So I was in LA, then I moved to San Diego for a while, and that’s when I met Jessica Starkweather, Jen, Dawn and all those girls. They took me up to Oregon and the first stop was Brookings. I was like this is so cool, all these girls skate… I just sorta followed them around. And then, I went to paramedic school in Redwood City. When I had to do my internship they said you have two places you can go- Fresno or Brookings, Oregon. And I’m like ok, probably more action in Fresno but I’m going to Brookings. It was so amazing. Every day I’d get off work and go down to the skatepark and drink some beers by myself.
Migz- I skated there. I don’t know if I was on that trip with Jessica but I have memories of you skating that tight little bowl in the middle with the jump over it.
I love that thing! Super fun park. I’d get drunk enough to think I could do that jump over that bowl. I would go up to it, and then be like, this could possibly be the stupidest shit.
Migz- Good thing you were in paramedic school!
Amy- How did you get the name Trixie?
Jake Phelps gave me that name and didn’t give me a chance to change it. We started the band on my birthday; they came down to see my play one of my last shows in LA with this other band I was playing with called “The Deadutantes.” It was psychobilly weirdness. The show was at the Knitting Factory. Jake and Tony were down there so we went out afterwards. We went to some hotel and thrashed this room and started talking about starting a band. We ended up calling it “Bad Shit.”
I didn’t even know what Jake sounded like, I mean it wasn’t the best guitar. And then I went up to San Francisco a couple weeks after that and we were at Double Rock. He had all these ideas for the band, and he pointed to me and said ‘your name is Trixie’ and I was like no, that’s a slut name. So he’s like ‘come up with one right now.” And I couldn’t. He was like, “Trixie, it’s done.” And that was it.
Migz- He liked to get people think up things on the spot.
I know, it’s very hard at first. I mean, I have to think quickly, fuck!
Migz- Not my specialty either.
I’m very slow. You should have seen me yesterday at the dentist with the kids. I took some THC drops and didn’t realize I had already taken some. I could not understand a word the receptionist was saying. I’m like, am I really this stoned right now?
Migz- Like Charlie Brown’s mom “brrrp brrrp brp.”
I said I couldn’t hear well, “I did something to my ears.” I had to make up some weird lie but I’m just an idiot.
I was in tenth grade and I had skipped school to hang out with some dude on a jet ski.
Amy- What are some highlights and lowlights of motherhood?
Hmm…They make me laugh. My kids say the funniest shit, I always mean to write it down. And then lowlights… It’s his second week of school and Waylon’s already been to the principals office twice. This is the first weekend I’ve ever had to ground him. I hate it. He got invited to his first slumber party here ever. And I’m like, can we just give this a go, since he is the new kid? And Tony was like no, we’ve got to stick to it. I’m like, this sucks. It feels like I’m the kid again. I get bummed. I feel like I’m the most laissez-faire parent sometimes. I feel like, ah, let’s let this slide. But he’s been the principal’s office twice. I have to. It’s been two weeks.
Amy- What did he do?
Nothing bad! Well, one of the things was bad, the one he’s grounded for. But the other, he was throwing a ball on the playground, like no big deal. He didn’t hear the women say stop. I know that because he’s like, my child and he doesn’t hear things. The second one was bad. He spread a rumor- joking around- that some homeless man was in the bathroom with a bomb. So yeah.
Amy – All you have to do is watch the news to see that stuff though.
That’s the worst part. He sees this stuff and thinks it’s some joking matter. I’m like no! This is BAD! Don’t ever joke about this! They have to take it so serious, you know.
Amy – School is insane now. I’m surprised my parents let me go.
Well it wasn’t that bad back then! I remember where I was when Columbine got shot up. I was in tenth grade and I had skipped school to hang out with some dude on a jet ski.
Migz- haha, Florida life!
It’s Florida shit! And my dad found out I had skipped school and was so pissed. He showed me the news, he was like, ‘look at this, there are kids being shot up!’ I’ll never forget that. That was the first big school shooting, right? And now it happens all the time.
Migz- So you could say disappointing them is a “low.”
Yeah disappointing them sucks, I hate it. They’re pretty good kids, I mean, Reno’s always been a cave-baby weirdo, haha.
I'll never forget when Waylon did it, it was Cinco de Mayo and he dropped in, loved it.
Migz- How did he get his curly hair?
I don’t know. I really try to figure that out. I still look at pictures of when he was born and look at him now. Sometimes I think he got switched out.
Migz- Amy, have you seen his handstand crib transfer? I think about it all the time! It’s like the craziest shit you’ve ever seen a baby do, just by himself in his crib!
Amy- I haven’t seen it, what is a crib transfer?
We had a baby monitor and I was watching him try to go to sleep, he was in a pack n’ play. He would always get up like a bat, upside-down, doing a handstand with his feet on the side. He was in this weird sleep sack too. So finally he transfers it, in perfect form like a gymnast.
Migz- From one side to another, it’s insane! Simone Biles shit.
His form is pretty good, I have to say!
Migz- That’s a perfect segue for our last question, for the other skate moms. What’s the perfect age to let your kid drop in on a vert ramp?
A vert ramp? Or just drop in?
Migz- Let’s say… two feet of vert.
Well Waylon dropped in our backyard ramp that’s not vert. It’s like 4 or 5 feet high. He did it at 5 years old. You know how kids play on skateboards like in a driveway? They pop it up and then “drop in” on flat ground? They can do that at like 18 months old. So whenever you think they’re ready, just hold their hand! I don’t know, apparently I’m the parent that lets their kid do whatever. I’ll never forget when Waylon did it, it was Cinco de Mayo and he dropped in & loved it. But Reno is 5 now and I don’t think he’s ready. He’s more timid, even though he doesn’t seem that way. He’s one of those babies that tests the waters. Literally puts his hand in the water before jumping in. So weird.
Migz- Your kids are clearly gifted.
Thank you! No, it’s just when they’re ready. Cause if they’re scared up there, they’re going to lean back and fuck up. I’ve seen parents that are so freaked out to just like, let their kids ride a scooter around. They have to be fully padded, and they’re like running around their kid. I hate that, let them go! Let them get hurt. They’re going to have to learn, and they can’t have fun with their parents running around like that
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Photos courtesy of Ashley Trujillo
