CREW SPOTLIGHT #2
June 2nd, 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?
Us
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1. The crew is loosely based in the Columbus/Dayton area of Ohio. People have kinda come and gone but past and present the main people in the crew are myself (Ryan Howard), Zack Gerber, Devon Denham, Greg Goldberg Jake Coulson, Matt Skaggs, Jason Govan, Bo Bowen, Jeff Milby, Greg Moliterno, and Travis Collins.
2. Us/Them started because I wanted to make another video. For as long as I’ve had a camera I’ve been making videos with my friends. I really enjoy being creative and working on a serious project and once I got sober I became really motivated and it kinda organically happened. It’s evolved into a more serious thing but at its core it’s the group of dudes that would be all riding together and hanging out even if there wasn’t a project tying us all together.
3. As a crew, we put out a DVD and a zine full of photos last year. A few of the dudes are pretty accomplished photographers who will occasionally make prints. Devon works as a screen printer sometimes so we’ve made merch: hats, stickers, and a long sleeve t-shirt. A photo t-shirt is being worked on right now. We all travel quite a bit. The best part of riding is getting in the car with your friends and going somewhere new.
4. Other people should for sure start crews. Riding is sick but riding with your friends is sicker. Having a crew gives a purpose to get out and explore or make something. I think crews help represent scenes that might otherwise go unnoticed. Having a crew can make riders feel like they belong and are a part of something cool.
5. I think crews are becoming increasingly important. Now that magazines have died and social media is the way that it is, companies are no longer controlling what they want you to think is cool. Ads and feature articles aren’t pushing what’s supposed to be cool to the culture anymore, I think crews are. Every crew has their own flavor and are able to expose it to all of BMX now through their phones. It’s just as easy now to get a cool t-shirt from a crew on Instagram as it is to be a billboard for soulless brand. Last year was an amazing year for independent full length videos made by crews. Everyone is good at riding now, but seeing a video full of dudes who are all best friends and actually ride together has a vibe or a feeling that a company video can’t reproduce. I would like to think it’s inspiring kids to pick up a camera and go film with their friends too.
Latest work HERE
2. Us/Them started because I wanted to make another video. For as long as I’ve had a camera I’ve been making videos with my friends. I really enjoy being creative and working on a serious project and once I got sober I became really motivated and it kinda organically happened. It’s evolved into a more serious thing but at its core it’s the group of dudes that would be all riding together and hanging out even if there wasn’t a project tying us all together.
3. As a crew, we put out a DVD and a zine full of photos last year. A few of the dudes are pretty accomplished photographers who will occasionally make prints. Devon works as a screen printer sometimes so we’ve made merch: hats, stickers, and a long sleeve t-shirt. A photo t-shirt is being worked on right now. We all travel quite a bit. The best part of riding is getting in the car with your friends and going somewhere new.
4. Other people should for sure start crews. Riding is sick but riding with your friends is sicker. Having a crew gives a purpose to get out and explore or make something. I think crews help represent scenes that might otherwise go unnoticed. Having a crew can make riders feel like they belong and are a part of something cool.
5. I think crews are becoming increasingly important. Now that magazines have died and social media is the way that it is, companies are no longer controlling what they want you to think is cool. Ads and feature articles aren’t pushing what’s supposed to be cool to the culture anymore, I think crews are. Every crew has their own flavor and are able to expose it to all of BMX now through their phones. It’s just as easy now to get a cool t-shirt from a crew on Instagram as it is to be a billboard for soulless brand. Last year was an amazing year for independent full length videos made by crews. Everyone is good at riding now, but seeing a video full of dudes who are all best friends and actually ride together has a vibe or a feeling that a company video can’t reproduce. I would like to think it’s inspiring kids to pick up a camera and go film with their friends too.
Latest work HERE
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Cancelled Crew |
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1. Our Crew is from Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany. It consists of 12 people: Dennis Krause, André Ehard, Tim Ehard, Artur Meister, David Schaller, Valentin Seuss, Johannes Winkelmann, Felix Stoll, Luca Sellerer, Tim Schoberth, Frederik Gast, and Thomas Kess.
2. We were always the same people out filming on street and hanging at the skatepark, so we thought: why not start a crew? Member-wise it came together pretty naturally; whenever someone started to hang out with us a lot and seemed like a good fit to us, we’d add him to the crew. We were always struggling to find a suitable name though and we would change it all the time until one of us said: let’s just call it cancelled! We thought that was pretty funny and just ran with it.
3. As a crew, we mainly film videos. Our biggest project so far was “Komplett Cancelled,” a 40-minute long full length video. We did a premiere for that in February 2018 with a complementary zine. Other than that we do smaller videos here and there for our YouTube and our IG-account. We occasionally do stickers and shirts too and there is something in the works right now! In the future we want to do more street jams and pop-up shop style events with new clothes, videos etc. and expand from just a BMX crew to a “creative collective“ if you will.
4. Hell yeah, other people should start crews! It brings you and your friends together even more. It really motivates you to go out and find new spots, film videos, and get creative! Everything is cooler in a group!
5. Keep videos alive! Instagram is cool and all, but at the end of the day, that won’t last forever. Create something you can look back on in 20 years and still be stoked on. Get a camera and shred the streets! There is really no better feeling than releasing a big video you all worked on together for multiple years. Our crew members will each have a single full-length video this year, so be on the lookout for that.
Recent Video HERE.
2. We were always the same people out filming on street and hanging at the skatepark, so we thought: why not start a crew? Member-wise it came together pretty naturally; whenever someone started to hang out with us a lot and seemed like a good fit to us, we’d add him to the crew. We were always struggling to find a suitable name though and we would change it all the time until one of us said: let’s just call it cancelled! We thought that was pretty funny and just ran with it.
3. As a crew, we mainly film videos. Our biggest project so far was “Komplett Cancelled,” a 40-minute long full length video. We did a premiere for that in February 2018 with a complementary zine. Other than that we do smaller videos here and there for our YouTube and our IG-account. We occasionally do stickers and shirts too and there is something in the works right now! In the future we want to do more street jams and pop-up shop style events with new clothes, videos etc. and expand from just a BMX crew to a “creative collective“ if you will.
4. Hell yeah, other people should start crews! It brings you and your friends together even more. It really motivates you to go out and find new spots, film videos, and get creative! Everything is cooler in a group!
5. Keep videos alive! Instagram is cool and all, but at the end of the day, that won’t last forever. Create something you can look back on in 20 years and still be stoked on. Get a camera and shred the streets! There is really no better feeling than releasing a big video you all worked on together for multiple years. Our crew members will each have a single full-length video this year, so be on the lookout for that.
Recent Video HERE.
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RHK
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1. We are based in Grantham town, Lincolnshire, England and afar. The people involved are Sam, Pat, Jordan, Andre, Martin, Ciaran, Charlie and me, Isaac…and a host of friends. Also it's not official, but Steven Hamilton reps. Links to everyone are in the Instagram bio.
2. Finding myself in a creative cul-de-sac after losing interest in making music, I started to focus on BMX. I'd been meaning to get into screen-printing for some time and I saw the '90 East' lads doing it themselves so I got my shit together. Being involved with a couple of crews already - Black BMX and Shweng - I asked a few of the lads to rep and they were down. Things have changed a bunch. Selling shirts is rad, but what's better is everything else we get up to. Whether it's in the name of RHK, BLK or Shweng.
3. At the beginning, we were printing shirts, hoods, stickers and filming little edits. Then we got some grind wax going and began to make longer edits in differing locations. We are currently working on a photo zine that will hopefully be released this summer and a DVD that will be released at the end of the year. We have a regular Tuesday night town ride, Sunday jibs, Wednesday trips to Notts, day trips around England, and the annual Metal Pegs Jam weekend in London.
4. I think forming a crew is a natural human instinct. People from all walks of life come together with like-minded people and create a crew, gang, club, group, or clan and give it a name and do the thing they do, together. People should form crews and will continue to. Why? What else is there to do?
5. "Hit the Bodega for a forty Oz son, Garcia Vega, two packs of chips, and one pack of Now & Laters"
Check out some more on IG: @rhkbpz_cashe @tuesday_bmx @shweng
2. Finding myself in a creative cul-de-sac after losing interest in making music, I started to focus on BMX. I'd been meaning to get into screen-printing for some time and I saw the '90 East' lads doing it themselves so I got my shit together. Being involved with a couple of crews already - Black BMX and Shweng - I asked a few of the lads to rep and they were down. Things have changed a bunch. Selling shirts is rad, but what's better is everything else we get up to. Whether it's in the name of RHK, BLK or Shweng.
3. At the beginning, we were printing shirts, hoods, stickers and filming little edits. Then we got some grind wax going and began to make longer edits in differing locations. We are currently working on a photo zine that will hopefully be released this summer and a DVD that will be released at the end of the year. We have a regular Tuesday night town ride, Sunday jibs, Wednesday trips to Notts, day trips around England, and the annual Metal Pegs Jam weekend in London.
4. I think forming a crew is a natural human instinct. People from all walks of life come together with like-minded people and create a crew, gang, club, group, or clan and give it a name and do the thing they do, together. People should form crews and will continue to. Why? What else is there to do?
5. "Hit the Bodega for a forty Oz son, Garcia Vega, two packs of chips, and one pack of Now & Laters"
Check out some more on IG: @rhkbpz_cashe @tuesday_bmx @shweng
Myself Sam and Pat went to some university that felt bigger than our town to ride this spot. Sam had seen it in an older edit and wanted to tick it off the list. After covering most of the campus to no avail we hit up KFC. We watched the edit again for clues, cross referenced with google maps, and found a potential target in an enclosed courtyard. Turns out the science block required ID cards, but hopping the 12 foot back gate didn't. It seemed we had limited time as cameras immediately trained on us but after 20 mins passed and we had all hit it. We got out our cameras and then security turned up. Relieved we weren't vandals or terrorists, they granted the additional five minutes we asked to get the clip. Leaving, it felt like we had conquered some legendary hidden spot, but it turns out it was just us hyping ourselves up. Even so, it was still a rad feeling.
The
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1. We’re not exactly a crew; we're a page that is trying to cover the scene going on in Mexico right now, but it all actually started as a crew. We were called Moderate Brown and did a few stickers once, but must of us are into photography and graphic design so we basically started taking pictures of everyone and did a few edits. It all evolved to what it is today (TheBmxFiles) and we cannot say we are exactly a crew, but we hang out with everyone and we try to visually support BMX all around here.
2. We started the crew "Moderate Brown" because we were into filming and actually always had the idea of making a full length called "The Mextape" including a lot of underground and underrated riders from Mexico City and not just us. Unfortunately, we haven't accomplished that goal yet. We have done a few videos for different brands and a few web videos for some of our friends, but nothing including the big scene going on here as we always wanted to.
3. Recently, since AllDayBmxShop had their jam here in the city, a bunch of friends from different states and even from other countries have been visiting or just staying here. Since then, we have taken the opportunity to film a little mixtape that is still in the works but almost done. And usually we simply just take a bunch of pictures of all the scene happening around us and try to cover the events that happen close to us and do highlights videos and photo galleries (Such as: LatinCup, Vans Pro Cup,Shop jams, etc).
4. Yes, other people should start crews! Doing it is a really good way to put your friends or yourself on the map, especially if you are from a small country or town. I just think it helps to keep the scene together and I can say it gets a little aspirational to young riders and starters because they would like to be part of whatever is happening in their town. It's all about doing it for the kids.
5. I just gotta give a shout out to the people that has supported us ever since we started our page, from little kids to AllDayBmxShop, Cultcrew, VgBikes, The Bmx Posser Shop, The Apartment, Ryan Fudger for sending us a bunch of RideBmx Issues, and basically every rider out there that has been using our hashtag recently #thebmxfiles. We used to make a lot of videos but those were published on some brands youtube channels, so if you guys reading this want to see some of the best BMX content happening in Mexico Right now subscribe to our YouTube channel and/or Follow us on Instagram.
YouTube Channel HERE
2. We started the crew "Moderate Brown" because we were into filming and actually always had the idea of making a full length called "The Mextape" including a lot of underground and underrated riders from Mexico City and not just us. Unfortunately, we haven't accomplished that goal yet. We have done a few videos for different brands and a few web videos for some of our friends, but nothing including the big scene going on here as we always wanted to.
3. Recently, since AllDayBmxShop had their jam here in the city, a bunch of friends from different states and even from other countries have been visiting or just staying here. Since then, we have taken the opportunity to film a little mixtape that is still in the works but almost done. And usually we simply just take a bunch of pictures of all the scene happening around us and try to cover the events that happen close to us and do highlights videos and photo galleries (Such as: LatinCup, Vans Pro Cup,Shop jams, etc).
4. Yes, other people should start crews! Doing it is a really good way to put your friends or yourself on the map, especially if you are from a small country or town. I just think it helps to keep the scene together and I can say it gets a little aspirational to young riders and starters because they would like to be part of whatever is happening in their town. It's all about doing it for the kids.
5. I just gotta give a shout out to the people that has supported us ever since we started our page, from little kids to AllDayBmxShop, Cultcrew, VgBikes, The Bmx Posser Shop, The Apartment, Ryan Fudger for sending us a bunch of RideBmx Issues, and basically every rider out there that has been using our hashtag recently #thebmxfiles. We used to make a lot of videos but those were published on some brands youtube channels, so if you guys reading this want to see some of the best BMX content happening in Mexico Right now subscribe to our YouTube channel and/or Follow us on Instagram.
YouTube Channel HERE
3 founding members and a bunch of riders from CDMX, on a trip when we fit 11 of us and 10 bikes on the roof in a mom van.
Never
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1. NLT is from the city of Redlands in the Inland Empire of Southern California, a sprawl of tract homes and industrial yards an hour east of Orange County; we have a dozen parks within an hour’s drive and endless street spots to explore, a paradise for anyone who rides or skates.
2. People come and go as they see fit, but our core group at the moment consists of Trevor Antillon, Cody Nemeth, Hunter Moore, Tyler Herrera, Derek Martinez, Bryce Knowles, James Webby, our skate homies DJ Burr and Brandon Muñoz, and myself Ryan Herrera; shout to Mark Hoffman, Matt Gutierrez, Stephan August, Ryan Pipkin, Jacob Lockman, and Cody Foxe for their contributions in years past. The crew fluctuates, but we have no enemies and we’re down to session with anyone else out to have a good time.
3. I could list a million reasons for starting a crew but what it all boils down to is wanting to be involved with the things we love and doing what we can to give back and keep them alive. We started a crew to have fun with our friends and to meet new ones and to do what we can to keep this whole thing going. Those reasons haven’t changed at all and if anything the longer we do this the better we feel about starting it and that list of reasons grows.
4. We’ve filmed some short edits in the past and we’ve been fortunate enough to have collaborated with Cult on wax and parts. Most of what we do is try to help our local scene by making our own grind wax and hosting/co-hosting events like jams, shop stops, video premieres, etc. I also screen print, so occasionally we make clothes; but I’m not trying to turn this into a “brand” in the traditional sense. NLT is about just getting out and doing it, actively participating in BMX or skateboarding, or filming/editing or any other creative process.
5. I absolutely think anyone who has ever thought about starting a crew should do it; it can be a great creative outlet, it builds communities and helps these things we love grow and thrive. And you’re never going to regret having fun with your friends.
Thanks to Larry Alvarado at Stacked BMX and Derek at Don’s Bikes for all of their help. Thanks to BMX and skateboarding for all they’ve given us. Thanks to you Mike for the opportunity and asking us what we’re all about.
2. People come and go as they see fit, but our core group at the moment consists of Trevor Antillon, Cody Nemeth, Hunter Moore, Tyler Herrera, Derek Martinez, Bryce Knowles, James Webby, our skate homies DJ Burr and Brandon Muñoz, and myself Ryan Herrera; shout to Mark Hoffman, Matt Gutierrez, Stephan August, Ryan Pipkin, Jacob Lockman, and Cody Foxe for their contributions in years past. The crew fluctuates, but we have no enemies and we’re down to session with anyone else out to have a good time.
3. I could list a million reasons for starting a crew but what it all boils down to is wanting to be involved with the things we love and doing what we can to give back and keep them alive. We started a crew to have fun with our friends and to meet new ones and to do what we can to keep this whole thing going. Those reasons haven’t changed at all and if anything the longer we do this the better we feel about starting it and that list of reasons grows.
4. We’ve filmed some short edits in the past and we’ve been fortunate enough to have collaborated with Cult on wax and parts. Most of what we do is try to help our local scene by making our own grind wax and hosting/co-hosting events like jams, shop stops, video premieres, etc. I also screen print, so occasionally we make clothes; but I’m not trying to turn this into a “brand” in the traditional sense. NLT is about just getting out and doing it, actively participating in BMX or skateboarding, or filming/editing or any other creative process.
5. I absolutely think anyone who has ever thought about starting a crew should do it; it can be a great creative outlet, it builds communities and helps these things we love grow and thrive. And you’re never going to regret having fun with your friends.
Thanks to Larry Alvarado at Stacked BMX and Derek at Don’s Bikes for all of their help. Thanks to BMX and skateboarding for all they’ve given us. Thanks to you Mike for the opportunity and asking us what we’re all about.
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Responses
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