Crew Spotlight #1
May 5th, 2019
NOTE: All crews have been asked the same set of questions:
- Where is your crew based out of and can you name the people involved?
- What are the reasons you started a crew? Have they changed?
- What do you do as a crew? (make stuff, travel, film, have events, etc.)
- Should other people start crews? Why?
- Anything to add?
CHICKEN AND
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1. Our crew consists of 6 members. Alex Duleba, Alex Emig, Ethan Grothe, Dustin Steir, Timmy Theus, and myself (John G). We’re based out of the Chicagoland area. We hold it down for Chicago.
2. We were all already riding together and hanging out. So we decided to start filming our riding. (I myself wanted to personally document the progression of the crew especially Alex Duleba and Alex Emigs riding styles.). The name kinda just happened after constantly eating chicken and waffles for a week or two straight. So jokingly we dubbed ourselves the Chicken and Waffles Squad. Kinda just stuck after that.
3. As a crew, we try and ride and search all neighboring cities to find new setups or unique spots. We also try having a couple jams and riding events throughout the riding season as well. Occasionally, we make shirts and stickers when the plug isn’t slackin! Presently trying to work on a waffles zine that’s been in the works forever.
4. Hell yes, get out there with your homies. Search the streets, go on weekend trips, visit random cities. Ride all day, sleep on benches while homies stack clips, do it all. Do it all with your best buds, shoot photos and make a DVD or host a jam. Make moves for your scene.
5. Film with a VX, even if it’s outdated. HD is gross. Just have fun doing what you’re doing. A crew should be a group of your day ones. Homies you can tolerate through the ups and downs. And are always stoked to see them moving forward and progressing. BMX is, and always will be about having fun with your buds on kids bikes. Also, say no to vlogs. Presently, we are stoked on:working on Waffles3. Alex Duleba’s Street Vacation DVD. Scott Marceau AAngles project. Anything filmed VX. And crews making things happen for their scene.
2. We were all already riding together and hanging out. So we decided to start filming our riding. (I myself wanted to personally document the progression of the crew especially Alex Duleba and Alex Emigs riding styles.). The name kinda just happened after constantly eating chicken and waffles for a week or two straight. So jokingly we dubbed ourselves the Chicken and Waffles Squad. Kinda just stuck after that.
3. As a crew, we try and ride and search all neighboring cities to find new setups or unique spots. We also try having a couple jams and riding events throughout the riding season as well. Occasionally, we make shirts and stickers when the plug isn’t slackin! Presently trying to work on a waffles zine that’s been in the works forever.
4. Hell yes, get out there with your homies. Search the streets, go on weekend trips, visit random cities. Ride all day, sleep on benches while homies stack clips, do it all. Do it all with your best buds, shoot photos and make a DVD or host a jam. Make moves for your scene.
5. Film with a VX, even if it’s outdated. HD is gross. Just have fun doing what you’re doing. A crew should be a group of your day ones. Homies you can tolerate through the ups and downs. And are always stoked to see them moving forward and progressing. BMX is, and always will be about having fun with your buds on kids bikes. Also, say no to vlogs. Presently, we are stoked on:working on Waffles3. Alex Duleba’s Street Vacation DVD. Scott Marceau AAngles project. Anything filmed VX. And crews making things happen for their scene.
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Links to the crew:
@chickenandwafflessquad @alex_duleba @alexemig @ethanzgrothe @tzus_theus #DustinSteir @johng420 |
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Capital Crew |
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1. Capital Crew is based in St. Louis, though we have made some incredible friends upon our travels in the Midwest that we consider family. The "OG Crew" is Dominic "Kayak" Mikel, Ray Miller, Nathan Wallace, Kyle Cavin, and myself. There has also been a handful of cats along the way that stopped riding for various reasons, but no need to get into that! We are now also filming with a local up and coming shredder, Gage Sinclair, as well as our favorite Iowan friend, Johnny Sells.
2. & 3. Oddly enough, I've been really interested in team management and filming for as long as I've been into BMX. When I was a kid I would start up "teams" amongst my friends and film them with my 8-megapixel camera phone with the hopes of making sick YouTube edits. Eventually one thing led to another, I bought a VX2100 & Deathlens, we got a bunch of really rad dudes together, and would film the hell out of each other almost every day with it. So, we didn't necessarily start the crew, the crew just kinda happened & we had no choice but to come up with a name for the YouTube channel & social media accounts. I'm pretty sure we had around 15 people in a Facebook messenger group chat sending hundreds of name ideas back and forth for at least a week. I can't recall who sent the message, but "Capital Crew BMX" ended up being the name that everybody loved. I immediately made the Instagram and YouTube accounts & then got to work "designing" some really sketchy logos to put on stickers and shirts.
4. You should absolutely step up and start a crew with your friends! It's absolutely insane to me the amount of good we've been able to do for our scene just by essentially adding a freakin name to what we already do for fun. And if you have a local crew, get in contact with them and support what they're doing! Whether it be by buying a t-shirt or just simply riding with them, helping film, or even getting clips in their videos. Us small crews need as much love as we can get!
5. Pertaining to why Crews have become so popular in BMX: I personally believe it is just one big case of "monkey see, monkey do."
It's no coincidence that most of the riders forming crews nowadays are from a generation that grew up watching Props and BMX videos on YouTube as kids and young adults. I would say that a lot of us have been unconsciously studying the BMX lifestyle through videos of professional riders and brands "living the life" for more than half of our lives. For those of us that choose to pursue BMX as adults, it is almost natural for us to come together and do the things that we have been watching our idols do for decades.
This is surely a big reason why so many crews of up and coming riders are starting brands, filming videos, hosting jams, traveling all over, etc. It's really just a matter of following our peers' footsteps (sometimes I think to myself, "What would Steve Crandall do? Haha.) And, from experience, doing such things has inspired a new generation of riders in our area to follow in our footsteps as well.
Truthfully, crews are the backbone of BMX. When every professional rider retires, every filmer moves on to bigger gigs, and every company sells out, there will always be an entire generation of riders, filmers, and brands ready to put their talents to the test to keep BMX alive and well. And I sleep pretty darn well at night knowing that.
2. & 3. Oddly enough, I've been really interested in team management and filming for as long as I've been into BMX. When I was a kid I would start up "teams" amongst my friends and film them with my 8-megapixel camera phone with the hopes of making sick YouTube edits. Eventually one thing led to another, I bought a VX2100 & Deathlens, we got a bunch of really rad dudes together, and would film the hell out of each other almost every day with it. So, we didn't necessarily start the crew, the crew just kinda happened & we had no choice but to come up with a name for the YouTube channel & social media accounts. I'm pretty sure we had around 15 people in a Facebook messenger group chat sending hundreds of name ideas back and forth for at least a week. I can't recall who sent the message, but "Capital Crew BMX" ended up being the name that everybody loved. I immediately made the Instagram and YouTube accounts & then got to work "designing" some really sketchy logos to put on stickers and shirts.
4. You should absolutely step up and start a crew with your friends! It's absolutely insane to me the amount of good we've been able to do for our scene just by essentially adding a freakin name to what we already do for fun. And if you have a local crew, get in contact with them and support what they're doing! Whether it be by buying a t-shirt or just simply riding with them, helping film, or even getting clips in their videos. Us small crews need as much love as we can get!
5. Pertaining to why Crews have become so popular in BMX: I personally believe it is just one big case of "monkey see, monkey do."
It's no coincidence that most of the riders forming crews nowadays are from a generation that grew up watching Props and BMX videos on YouTube as kids and young adults. I would say that a lot of us have been unconsciously studying the BMX lifestyle through videos of professional riders and brands "living the life" for more than half of our lives. For those of us that choose to pursue BMX as adults, it is almost natural for us to come together and do the things that we have been watching our idols do for decades.
This is surely a big reason why so many crews of up and coming riders are starting brands, filming videos, hosting jams, traveling all over, etc. It's really just a matter of following our peers' footsteps (sometimes I think to myself, "What would Steve Crandall do? Haha.) And, from experience, doing such things has inspired a new generation of riders in our area to follow in our footsteps as well.
Truthfully, crews are the backbone of BMX. When every professional rider retires, every filmer moves on to bigger gigs, and every company sells out, there will always be an entire generation of riders, filmers, and brands ready to put their talents to the test to keep BMX alive and well. And I sleep pretty darn well at night knowing that.
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Once upon a time, I jammed some stuffed chickens in Kayak's spokes. It ended up catching on really well, to the point that many riders across the Midwest knew him as the guy with chickens in his wheels. Well, right before the last ever Dan's Comp jam, we brewed up a genius idea to get noticed. So, we DIY'd a chicken costume for Kayak and borrowed a chicken (R.I.P. Nemo the chicken) from somebody's yard and road tripped to the sticks of Indiana with it, where it (yes, the chicken) got shouted out on Instagram by a handful of professional riders.
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Mush Crew |
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1. Mush Crew started in Fort Myers, FL. In the beginning it was Kyran Montes, Dustin O'Donnell, Vinny Navy and a few others, but these days the three of us are the only ones who still ride.
2. We started Mush Crew to help get our name out into the BMX world. Kind of like a little, "Hey, we exist and want to shred and make biker friends." sort of thing. I think the only thing that has changed is that we don't all live in Florida anymore so the Mush Crew has spread around even more.
3. Clothing has kind of become another thing we do to help get our name out there. We also make a bunch of stickers that we give out to anyone who will take them. Mush Crew has thrown a few jams over the years. Hopefully we can get another one going soon. Over time, travelling became a more frequent thing for us. We've been on a handful of out of state trips and just about everywhere in Florida. Anytime we travel the goal is to stack clips. Nothing better than the feeling of having the whole squad supporting you while out filming.
4. Of course other people should start crews! Being a part of a crew gives you a sense of belonging. It bonds you and your friends into a family that grows and becomes stronger off of each other's positivity. Riding with your friends will always end in a better session than riding alone. So yes, I think forming a crew is the way to go.
5. Of course other people should start crews! Being a part of a crew gives you a sense of belonging. It bonds you and your friends into a family that grows and becomes stronger off of each other's positivity. Riding with your friends will always end in a better session than riding alone. So yes, I think forming a crew is the way to go.
2. We started Mush Crew to help get our name out into the BMX world. Kind of like a little, "Hey, we exist and want to shred and make biker friends." sort of thing. I think the only thing that has changed is that we don't all live in Florida anymore so the Mush Crew has spread around even more.
3. Clothing has kind of become another thing we do to help get our name out there. We also make a bunch of stickers that we give out to anyone who will take them. Mush Crew has thrown a few jams over the years. Hopefully we can get another one going soon. Over time, travelling became a more frequent thing for us. We've been on a handful of out of state trips and just about everywhere in Florida. Anytime we travel the goal is to stack clips. Nothing better than the feeling of having the whole squad supporting you while out filming.
4. Of course other people should start crews! Being a part of a crew gives you a sense of belonging. It bonds you and your friends into a family that grows and becomes stronger off of each other's positivity. Riding with your friends will always end in a better session than riding alone. So yes, I think forming a crew is the way to go.
5. Of course other people should start crews! Being a part of a crew gives you a sense of belonging. It bonds you and your friends into a family that grows and becomes stronger off of each other's positivity. Riding with your friends will always end in a better session than riding alone. So yes, I think forming a crew is the way to go.
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T$B Crew |
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1. (Brandon Zasada) T$B stands for Tri State BMX aka Talk Shit Boys and is based around Dubuque, Ia and Platteville, WI. But, we have homies all over. The main dudes are Eric Copeland, Brandon “BZ” Zasada, Jordan “JP” Papenthien, Josh “Duck” Reuter, Jordan Lahr, Matt Stokes, Jason Henkel, David Buseman, Bo Foreman. Then, we have some close homies reppin’ like Jeff Oetzel, Austin Engstrom, Levi Yocom, Brayden Moore, Ditch Matt, and so many more. In the words of Eric: “In my opinion, we welcome all at this point that are down with good times and bikes.”
2. (Eric Copeland) I think Jordan Papenthien thought up the idea of Tri State BMX around 2002. I’m bad with details but I’m sure he knows exactly how it went down. We added the money $ into T$B as a sign of the times and that we are actually gangster bikers gettin’ money, lol.
(Jordan Papenthien) We started it because there are toomany rad people in different locations with the same goal: to have a great time.
(BZ) We all met back in high school. I randomly met some of the dudes out riding street and we have all been close homies since. I couldn’t ask for a better crew of friends to ride with and enjoy life with. It made sense back then to start a crew. We had all sorts of crazy times and when Jp came up with T$B it stuck for life.
3. (BZ) We try to do it all. We have been making videos since like 06-07, and I just bought a new HD camera and plan to hopefully put some work in with a few other homies to make a DVD. We also throw jams at our local spots as much as we can, like at Olliewood Action sports and soon at the new cement park about to open this summer here in Dubuque. We always have stickers on deck if anyone ever wants some and lately been trying to make more tangible things for the crew myself like beanies and such.
4. (EC) No matter what you’re into, others will be into it too. Being together with like-minded people is essential in a happy life.
(JP) Yes, because it brings a lot of people together with the same goal. Everyone thinks different so it helps you go outside the comfort zone when traveling and just in life as well.
5. (EC) Most or even all of my friends have been met through BMX. Although it’s probably because I only put myself I situations where my bike was there since twelve years old (33 now). But there is something to be said about being with your friends, adventuring, challenging each other, failing, achieving, heckling, and having overall fun times. It’s hard to see a life without my crew at this point. T$B 4 Life.
(BZ) I just wanna shout out all the T$B dudes for being more than just people I met through BMX. They are all family that I’d do anything for. Thanks to each and every one of you and most of all, thanks BMX.
Old Vids: https://www.youtube.com/user/fitriderewc/videos
New Vids: https://vimeo.com/fitriderewc
Latest Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT7jLjpSbmM
2. (Eric Copeland) I think Jordan Papenthien thought up the idea of Tri State BMX around 2002. I’m bad with details but I’m sure he knows exactly how it went down. We added the money $ into T$B as a sign of the times and that we are actually gangster bikers gettin’ money, lol.
(Jordan Papenthien) We started it because there are toomany rad people in different locations with the same goal: to have a great time.
(BZ) We all met back in high school. I randomly met some of the dudes out riding street and we have all been close homies since. I couldn’t ask for a better crew of friends to ride with and enjoy life with. It made sense back then to start a crew. We had all sorts of crazy times and when Jp came up with T$B it stuck for life.
3. (BZ) We try to do it all. We have been making videos since like 06-07, and I just bought a new HD camera and plan to hopefully put some work in with a few other homies to make a DVD. We also throw jams at our local spots as much as we can, like at Olliewood Action sports and soon at the new cement park about to open this summer here in Dubuque. We always have stickers on deck if anyone ever wants some and lately been trying to make more tangible things for the crew myself like beanies and such.
4. (EC) No matter what you’re into, others will be into it too. Being together with like-minded people is essential in a happy life.
(JP) Yes, because it brings a lot of people together with the same goal. Everyone thinks different so it helps you go outside the comfort zone when traveling and just in life as well.
5. (EC) Most or even all of my friends have been met through BMX. Although it’s probably because I only put myself I situations where my bike was there since twelve years old (33 now). But there is something to be said about being with your friends, adventuring, challenging each other, failing, achieving, heckling, and having overall fun times. It’s hard to see a life without my crew at this point. T$B 4 Life.
(BZ) I just wanna shout out all the T$B dudes for being more than just people I met through BMX. They are all family that I’d do anything for. Thanks to each and every one of you and most of all, thanks BMX.
Old Vids: https://www.youtube.com/user/fitriderewc/videos
New Vids: https://vimeo.com/fitriderewc
Latest Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT7jLjpSbmM
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So Called |
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1. We are from Baltimore, Maryland and some of the crew is: Ian Burke / Joey Ryan / David Zovko / Dink aka: Jeremy Caviness / Todd Heilmann / Chris Turner / Jordan Schlereth
2. I (Dink) started the crew ( SOCALLED ) so we can explore different parts of the city and film together. We all feed off each other’s’ vibes no matter the skill set and try to build up our BMX community. As a crew we don't have to be the best riders out there, we are a crew. We don't have to worry about being sponsored or the best riders as long as we're having fun. That's what counts. And the reasons for starting the crew haven't changed.
3. As a crew we make t-shirts and stickers, we travel and film together, and we also throw the Baltimore BMX street jam. Plus we have a DIY/Trail spot that we call "The Socalled compound" that we've been working on for 5 years now. We have made a full documentary about building it named, "RIDING WILD" and the compound has taken part in to other documentaries as well.
4. Yes, I think other people should start crews, if they're starting them for the right reasons like building up your BMX community.
5. This should just be in general: if you see any riders, no matter their skill set, out there struggling to fix their bike or learn a trick, sometimes you should stop and help them because in the long run they will probably help someone else which helps build our BMX community as a whole.
2. I (Dink) started the crew ( SOCALLED ) so we can explore different parts of the city and film together. We all feed off each other’s’ vibes no matter the skill set and try to build up our BMX community. As a crew we don't have to be the best riders out there, we are a crew. We don't have to worry about being sponsored or the best riders as long as we're having fun. That's what counts. And the reasons for starting the crew haven't changed.
3. As a crew we make t-shirts and stickers, we travel and film together, and we also throw the Baltimore BMX street jam. Plus we have a DIY/Trail spot that we call "The Socalled compound" that we've been working on for 5 years now. We have made a full documentary about building it named, "RIDING WILD" and the compound has taken part in to other documentaries as well.
4. Yes, I think other people should start crews, if they're starting them for the right reasons like building up your BMX community.
5. This should just be in general: if you see any riders, no matter their skill set, out there struggling to fix their bike or learn a trick, sometimes you should stop and help them because in the long run they will probably help someone else which helps build our BMX community as a whole.
Responses
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