To welcome Baltimore's Carpet Company to Supply, our friend Franz of local Baltimore band Turnstile asked the brothers behind the brand, Ayman and Osama, some questions about themselves and the company.
Franz: There never seems to be enough time in the day, but over the years I've been lucky enough to grow close with the habibis known as Carpet Company. They seem to manufacture time with mile long “to do” lists (that seem to never end) and still have time to skateboard plenty and proficiently at that!
Without further adue I give you two smooth arabs... The Carpet Company
Franz: Salaam ya habibi's, for records sake can you give me your names and current location?
My name is Ayman, and I’m currently chilling at my parents house in PG COUNTY. But usually in Baltimore working up a sweat at the building!
I’m Osama, living in Baltimore city with the roaches and rats.
Franz: Lets get a handle on the Carpet Company from the beginning. Since we know where you're at now, Tell us where you guys are from?
Ayman: Born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama. ROLL TIDE
Franz: Can you touch on what that was like to grow up in Alabama then move to PG county Maryland?
Ayman: Culture shock for sure. I remember always wanting to move back to Alabama, for years. But after I got into skating a few years in I wanted to stay in PG, couldn’t have paid me to move back!
Osama: sheesh what a stark difference. You’ve ever heard of the term apples and oranges? Well this was it. Things were nowhere near the same. Different planets indeed.
Franz: Give us a few stark differences between there and your new atmosphere.
Ayman: All I’m gonna say is, as a child growing up in Alabama, I used to think the confederate flag was the Alabama state flag because it was everywhere. I think that pretty much sums it up haha
Osama: Everyone in Alabama was nice. I was the only non white person in my school and still didn’t get bullied. In Maryland you would not live a day without getting bullied. It became part of the lifestyle, gave us tough skin.
Franz: Were you already skateboarding before you left Huntsville? If so, what got you into it?
Ayman: A few weeks before moving to maryland, I was with my friend from third grade and his mom took us to the skatepark. I was using his looney tunes board, I couldn’t ride or anything. But that’s stuck with me after moving to maryland.
Osama: I remember watching ayman and my older brother trying to ride down our driveway in Alabama shortly before we moved. Thought they were wasting their time. I tried it once and got thrown off immediately. I hated it aha
Franz: Would you say your personal style came into its own more once you got here?
Ayman: Definitely! I’m pretty sure if we stayed in Alabama we would be wearing Birkenstock’s, cargo khaki shorts and a hat with a super folded bill.
Osama: Yea at the time, Alabama didn’t have as much diversity as Maryland did. I always appreciate places with so much variety in culture. It allows you to look outside of a bubble and be comfortable with so many other ways of doing things.
Franz: Sneak question, who’s owned the most bape?
Ayman: Osama
Osama: aha. Yea I started getting really into fashion and higher end brands at 14. It started with me buying my first pair of Jordan 20s. They were fake and I got made fun of for months after that. Never again would I get into that predicament
Franz: What are some of your favorite brands THEN that really inspired you or was a spark for you to start doing your own thing?
Ayman: We were kids getting into all this but def Bape and BBC back then. The bags they came in were just so sick. We used to always buy evisu jeans, they always came with the evisu rule book, so ahead of their time with that. I think Osama may have even Owned a pair of red monkeys when he was 14 lol
Osama: def a lot of street brands that didn’t really age well like 10 deep, the hundreds, Mishka as well as others that did. Like ayman said bape bbc and evisu def were a big part of our growth in fashion. Getting to see such quality early on really inspired us. BBC really had a big impact ever since it became a fabric of skateboarding. Seeing some of those shoes get skated really stung but was so cool to see it happen.
Franz: I know its hard to pick but what past season is your favorite and for what reason?
Ayman: Hmmmm. Season 9 was pretty sick in my opinion. Had 5 graphics all of which were Atleast 5-6 colors except one. Willy Santos being a legend that he is blessed us to have him as a guest. It was a good season, a lot of work but it was cool once it was all done.
Osama: season 9 for sure. Everything about the graphics made me feel good. But I will say, hopefully unbiased, season 12 is my new favorite.
Franz: Is there a specific graphic in the past that you thought was going to be a walk on the ave but turned into a slight headache?
Ayman: Yes, I remember specifically. Season 3, it was a 2 color board (we still barely knew how to screen print) it was a background color with black halftones of like two girls legs on it. We only made about 20 of them but everytime we tried to print it would smear completely everywhere. We literally had to clean each board, and spray painted layers of paint on it like 25 times each until we got it right. We almost quit screen printing boards after that one.
Osama: The house of praise deck from season 8 was a headache! For reasons I won’t dive into, we had to cover an old graphic that we couldn’t sell anymore. So we printed the house of praise guy on it. But we didn’t have the right white ink and tried another water base ink. The graphic wouldn’t stick on the board and could get rubbed right off. So sad to see it happen. We had to rub all the ink off and start all over. Huge pain!
Franz: Carpet shines it’s baltimore city light far and wide, what are the things about the scene here that makes you feel like you guys are in the right spot?
Ayman: There’s not many real brands that have come out of Baltimore, none the less maryland as a whole. So it’s cool to have something that’s international from Baltimore. The fact that it’s affordable out here helps us out a ton as well haha
Osama: Baltimore gives so much freedom. There’s no limitations and you can let your brain run free. People are very open and getting judged for trying doesn’t seem to exist. I think that’s why we can feel comfortable doing what we do.
Franz: Since I’m gonna talk about nike, will you guys give me top 5 nike/jumpman sneakers you own?
Ayman: Ah man…hmmm hard question.
‘85 bred Jordan 1’s
Dunkles
Flash dunks
‘94 Jordan 10 with the toe cap :)
And I’m actually a fan of finding peoples old dunk ID’s, those are my favorite haha
Osama: sheeeshhhh I’m gonna have to agree with ayman on the dunkles. Then gonna go with the red supreme highs, canvas Melvins, Heinekens and any Jordan’s that gotta good toe to skate in
Franz: Season swoosh was INSANE you guys went IN! Every detail, thread decision and never before seen tear away screen mesh that covers the shoe WITH old screen graphics in tow. You guys riff off of each other very well, what was it like to collaborate with a whole team of different people to create that magic?
Ayman: It was cool, and very different for us. We’ve only really ever worked just us, bouncing ideas off each other. But then trying to bounce ideas off of each other with a group of professionals listening was a little intimidating at first. After getting to know all of the guys it was fine, but at first, you wanted to wow them so every decision Osama and I talked about a lot before throwing it at them.
Osama: It was actually nerve racking. You’re talking to a group that’s worked with so many creative minds and have seen the most historical dunks get made. It really forced us to focus and get as many ideas going. But it also showed us that it’s easy to lose track of your vision when you’re trying to impress others. Once we got comfortable and got back to doing what made us happy everything was easy sailing and everyone was fully hyped on the outcome.
Franz: The twelfth season is here. Everyone screams “DIY” till doing it yourself fights back. It’s so sick you guys spend the time to screen print 4, 5, and 6 color graphics. If you had to skate one board from this season, which would it be?
Ayman: Voodoo deck, I grabbed one the day we finished printing the bottom, didn’t even give it a chance to print a top graphic on it I loved it so much. So that’s what I’m skating right now.
Osama: Fatsmack for sure. When I look into his eyes I just know we’re about to be a good team. I still won’t because too much pain and suffering goes in, so misprint decks all day everyday.
Franz: What sort of advice or wise words would you tell your 16yr old self?
Ayman: To stop skating big stairs, my knees are paying for it now haha
Osama: To not change a beat. Keep working with your mistakes and make it into a beautiful thing
Franz: As I wrap my time up with you guys, I have to confess.. it’s been a pleasure. Thank you Shawn and supply, on top of it all thank you habibi bros for sharing your stories with me. SEASON 12 FAT SMACKIN YOU BACK TO 25TH STREET!
Interview & Photo's by Franz Lyons of Turnstile (@freakyfranz) / https://www.turnstilehardcore.com
Carpet Company Season 12 is now available at Supply