| Hey man, how is everything going? |
| Good, been busy hustlin with Fit... |
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| Lets start this off... Your originally from the East Coast. Long Island to be exact. Tell us what it was like growing up there and how it compares to living in L.A. |
| Growing up in Long Island was good for the trails and tight knit scene we had goin. It was pretty competitive but really fun ,everything was real new. We were making it up as we went. Having NYC so close helped us with culture and be more open to the streets. Living in LA or even worse Orange County is prety crazy. Everything is within a 1/2 hour, beaches, mountains, city its all here... |
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| I know you probably spent a lot of time out in Cali before you made the move, but what was the deciding factor to set up shop in L.A.? |
| Just pretty much exhausting myself in NY, the trails were gone, and keeping the scene together was really hard.I had always hit Cali for the winters so it wa natural to make the move. I packed up my 89 Acura, Ane and myself and we hit the road... |
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| What's some stuff you do in L.A. on a regular basis that you couldn't do out East? |
| Im able to do different things for work because there is so many opportunities out here. For fun also, I doubt I would surf on Long Island, although you can. |
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| Now flip that question. |
| Trails ,NYC, good food, family and friends thats all east baby... |
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| You were the first rider to be part of the Zoo York squad. I remember the first ad of you sitting on that subway... That ad was so dope... It influenced me so much. How did that all come about? |
| Thanks,My expierence with Zoo was very natural. It was like I was down before I even met them.We were at a B3 comp at Chelsea Piers and B-dave from Zoo was riding street with us. He took us to Zoo and I met everyone,they all knew about BMX and what we were about... Rodney Smith basically took me under his wing
and showed us love.It was so crucial at the time because skaters hated on BMX so much. I credit Zoo for braking down some of those barriers... Having footage in Mixtape and ads in Big Brother was different for a BMXer... |
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| How was it working with Zoo York? |
| The most inspiring thing I have been involved with and also learned so much... RIP HH... |
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| Are you still down with these guys since the Ecko switch? |
| Not really, basically Ecko pushed Rodney, Eli, and Adam out. They were the OG founders of Zoo. When that happened it was curtains for me. Big business can get ugly. Corporate bullshit... F-it... |
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| Did you start racing from the beginning... did you have a little mini? Or did you get into racing when you were a bit older? |
| I started when I was 13 so I had a regular set up. Diamond Back silver streak, chrome with blue anodized parts, it was trick. |
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| How old were you when you turned pro? |
| I think like 20,its been awhile... |
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| What was the racing scene like back then? |
| Straight up crazy ass parents who were more concerned with winning than me, I just wanted to ride.... |
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| Were you always riding trails? |
| Most definitely, I was trail rider who raced. My folks wanted the structure of racing, like it was little league, I just wanted to jump shit... |
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| You grew up within a healthy and progressive trail scene on long island, what memories come to mind when you think back? |
| Man just being able to ride all day with no cares and having a awesome place to do it. Watching younger guys come up and progress. Living it, being dedicated to it, caring about it. |
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| Can you give us a breakdown of the people/crews within that scene? |
| There is some great history here-first trails were called Clinton, O.G. riders like Brooks, Hollywood,
Enos, Rob Mick, etc Then new Clinton with Keith Mulligan, Ronnie Gaska, Timmy Strelecki... Then the birth of Sevs with younger guys like Keith Terra, Brian Iarochi, Tom Bivona, Darryl Nau, Superfly, Nuno, WildMatt, Carl, DB, Snips, Jon Lee, Reid etc... |
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| 7-11 trails had the famous "20 pack", which was 10 doubles in a row, all pretty much the same length and spacing, and wide enough at times to ride side by side with someone, which made it a pretty crazy line for the time. Did you realize you were being spoiled at the time, with such good stuff to ride? |
| Not really.we were pioneering it and we felt kind of invincable. We just about shit ourselves when they got plowed. The pain was crazy, it really changed all our lives... |
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| What were some of the other spots that people bounced around too? |
| You had Jon Lees down the way called Oak Park,also Hewlet. The Hooligan crew always had their trailsrunning, still goin strong. Superfly always had jumps goin. We would also venture up to Conneticut and Boston, Pennsylvania for Posh, and Drexlebrook. New Jersey always had good spots. There were so many good spots it was crazy. |
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| "Sevs" was sort of the glue that kept everyone together, how did you feel when you learned they had been plowed for good? |
| Like I was saying it was devastating, I mean it was everything for us. We tried to rebuild but it never really had the same spark. |
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| Do you feel the energy in BMX is the same now as it was back in the Road Fools 1 era? |
| Unfortunately during RF 1 things were so new, it was really inspiring... Today kids already know what to do to be good, so some of the magic is gone... I do think we need to get this thing on the right track and promote the lifestyle of BMX and not the latest trick all the time... |
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| For a while you were just doing the pro bike rider thing, but it always seemed like you had something going on other than just riding. Can you compare life as a pro bike rider with minimal responsibilities, to your life now as a company owner? Give me some positives and negatives of both. |
| Wow, just being able to ride is a blessing and a curse... If it comes to quick a rider can get used to it and take it for granted... When ya have some work goin on keeping you off the bike you really appreciate when you finally get back on it... |
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| Was the first project you worked on T-1? |
| Well looking back I always had to do more to make up for what I lacked in natural talent. So working with Standard and releasing the Trailboss and just really being involved with that brand. That was where I learned my chops... |
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| What was your involvement with T-1? |
| Right out of the gate I could talk, so I basically was a motivator to get things goin. Taj had the art side,Joe had design and I was sourcing manufacturers and being real vocal. |
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| You didn't do the T-1 thing for that long. What made you break out and do your own thing? |
| It was hard, getting frames made was a clusterfuck... The Progression frame which was my bike was in demand we could never keep up... Things were fine with Taj and Joe,they were more relaxed than me. I was anxiuos to get the frames out to meet the demand. Basically Chris Moeller approached me with a opportunity. I asked Taj and Joe, they gave me their blessing and FIT Bike Co. was started in 2000... |
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| Now you life is Fit Bikes. You want to briefly describe what Fit is for anyone who doesn't know. |
| Fit Bike Co. is how I always wanted to have things done. The way the team has come together and been there for the brand is amazing.Its always progressing... |
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| What were some of the major steps that it took for Fit to be born? |
| Overall being really dedicated to the brand. On every level from product design, team, graphics... Learning from mistakes and fixing em quickly... |
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| Do you feel like you were filling a hole in BMX when you started Fit? |
| Absolutely, we backed riders who rode for the love of the sport and not x-games gold... The riders sacrificed for us and now they have a home. Its funny, 6 years later and the exact people who dissed us are trying to get what we have... |
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| Why do you think Fit has worked so well as a brand? |
| We had a common goal and a vision of how we wanted things. I really try and listen to the team and fight for them. Having S and M be there for the business side has been instrumental also. |
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| Do you want to take Fit to new ground, or are you happy with the way things are going? |
| We have to continue to grow to be able to do more... Then we will be able to help new riders come up, come out with innovative products and have a full line for every riders needs... |
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| You are definitely up on your web updates. How important do you fell keeping up on that stuff is? |
| I get a lot of emails from kids so I try and keep them in the loop of whats up with Fit...Also you can wind up on the site so it gives riders a chance to show out a bit.... |
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| At the same time, your real good with giving the kids that support Fit a voice. Has this given you some diehard supporters? |
| Definitely you are getting more than a bike when you ride a Fit... You become part of lifestyle we all can relate to, and vibe off each other... |
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| How do you deal with kids on the internet who talk shit on you and question your riding ability? |
| Its a bummer but what can ya do...I mean I have always rode for fun,I dont think I ever really tried to sit down and learn anything specifically.I just have been doing the things I like for a long time. I always wanted to do a couple of things good and thats it... |
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| You recently took your self off the Fit team list. Was this a hard thing to do, or had you been planning it for a while? |
| It's more time for me to move over and make room for the new guys like Chase Dehart and Tom White... Im
still a part of the team, basically running things... |
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| Outside of Fit tell us what your life consists of? |
| Plenty of time with Ane and our dog Fatty... Fatty runs the show... |
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| Do you have any new projects cooking up? |
| I just took a part time gig at Fox Racing and am working on the team for them. It has already been a great learning expierence... |
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| What's up? I just saw you on the cover of Vice? How did that all come about? |
| Sandy Carson and Brian Tunney know Patrick Odell the editor, they wanted a shot of a BMXer jumping something big, the rest is history |
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| Do you keep up with the streetwear industry? What are some of your favorite brands? |
| Right now LRG is the hottest, we are working on a co-op bike with them and I could not be more psyched... Their passion and love for what they do is really amazing... My good freind Albert is responsible for making this happen, much love to him... |
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| What are your thoughts on BMX? What direction would you like the industry to go in? |
| More accessable for kids...Its more than front flips and gold medals...Just getting on the bike and having fun, less clicks more fun...As for the industry maybe companies being less cut throat and trying to squeze a dime out of everything...It is a business though so I may be naive here... |
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Lets end this with some top 3’s...
Top 3 cars |
Toyota Prius
Ford Focus
Chrysler 300 |
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| Top 3 websites |
Fat BMX
Defgrip
Conform.tv |
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| Top 3 people |
Ane Morales
Rodney Smith
Mike Aitken |
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| Top 3 ways to spend your money |
Fatty
Fine dining
Gadgets |
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| Top 3 things about Chris Moller |
Hard working
Dedicated
Crazy |
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| Top 3 things about your dog |
Hes fat
funny
lazy
(Fatty passed a few days after this interview went down. R.I.P) |
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| Top 3 new trends |
Female faux hawks
tight jeans/big shoes
my space |
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