This has been a while coming, we haven’t had much Jesse P on flatmatters, so it’s about that time! One of the architects of progressive modern day flatland, today Reality Tv Part 2 dropped online, go check out Jesse in that, and know this guy has been ripping and will continue ripping in Venice Beach whilst you probably have quit, this guy don’t stop!
Last time you did a plasticman:
Well a few days I broke my back wheel and forks and now Im waiting for bike parts from KHE, so its been a few days, but I was doing a new trick out of plastic man and I will show at the next contest fo sho. Last time you rode at Venice Beach: Few days ago, but last time I was on fire, I filmed with some dude at the beach all some new tricks, but i’m still waiting for him to put it up on youtube, that day I broke many spokes, but now I just built a wheel and plan on going soon.
Last time you rode with Pete B: I was riding hard with that Beast at the Hollywood jam then continued in San Francisco, it was off the chain!!! I got a new trick too… you’ll see it at a contest!!! Last time you were at KHE Hq: Maybe 2005 cant remember. >Last time you rode in a rap video: 4 days ago I was on the new LA Khule AKA rifle man video supper cool! Last time you competed:
I was at that BMX Masters in Germany I really brought some Heat, but I think they wanted something else…but that heat inspires me so will keep doing different styles J.
Last time you went to a rap show:
Last month was the 16th anniversary of the Project Blowed…best show ever LA underground hiphop inspires me in many ways, its originality is a must.
Last time you got drunk:
Everyday since my bike has not been fixed! I like to Ride more then anything now so its been crazy without my fix of riding hardcore……
Last time you got a puncture:
4 days ago on the Video I was working on.
Last time you screamed outloud after a combo:
4 days ago….on fire that day!!! but it was new balance points and new combos all day!
Last time you checked flatmatters:
Everyday since my bike is not working!
Last time you rode out of state:
Man this flatland is crazy the last time was on a 6 month tour of many countries, Germany, South France, the UK and many other places.
Last time you rode Cal State:
It’s been a long time, But it used to be the Spot many OG originators came up and Taught at Cal State University.
Last time you created a trick:
4 days ago, and know im sad I cant ride until KHE sends my parts ASAP!!!
Last tune you listened to:
4 days ago at La Khules Video Set …Homie is a very Sick MC!
Last phonecall you made:
I don’t know my phone has been Fucked! Since I’ve been without a bike haha to many parties…I NEED MY BIKE FIXED BAD!!!!
Last time a sponsor hooked you up:
All the time right now we working on many things too, KHE, Innertwine clothing.com, Conart, and Quamen.
Last time you kissed a girl:
I would be on my bike busting now but 5 min agos J.
Last time you rode in the rain:
When it rains in Cali I don’t ride, because I’m spoiled and I will take a rare break from riding so the last time was with Viki Gomez in Costa Rica, or Trevlon Hall in Trinidad good times J and sik riders in both places!
Last time you threw your bike:
All the time, but I didn’t mean too.
Last time flatland pissed you off:
FLATLAND??? I love this shit……….
Last time flatland amazed you:
Everyday there are sick riders everywhere, and it always inspires me, But the computer doesn’t really show hope dope riders are so i’m always trying to ride with them riders that are always smiling J.
I used to be able to get Bmx Plus from my local newsagents and the flatland content was always really good, especially back in the AFA days, Scott Powell hit me up yesterday with news of his 8 page interview!In related news, Scott just signed a new deal with Odi grips.Click this link to read the interview:
To conclude this internet revolution article, I asked York Uno for his perspective on the following question:
“As the proliferation of “video classics” floods the internet, I ask the question, what are the positives and negatives of this situation?”
York Uno:
It used to be expensive and take long time to produce a film. You had to buy a camera and editing software, took care of rights for music and burn them on DVD or VHS at the end. So only a few riders produced footages back then. This was not only a case for BMX, but also skateboarding and hip hop, such as other street cultures. Everything improves and gets easer day by day to release footages these days.
The improvement of technologies open up opportunities equally for us to get exposed wherever you are. You can film your riding and deliver your new tricks through internet right away. That convenience has influenced our recognitions against tricks.
You can check footages of riders all over the world at home. Your footage is watched on an equal footing with old footage and that breaks the boundary of perspective between “old” and “new” including editing skills.
Firstly I’m looking for a sample of sound when I work on composing music. As well as composing music, riders are looking for a trick for sampling.
A good part of old footages are available online, is that you can easily check “roots” of tricks which you are working on. You know what’s original. A bad part would be that you couldn’t produce a bare footage, without music and editing back then. (High standard was required for all footage at the time as it takes time and costs.) So rarity value of a footage may becomes pretty low now a days.
As to aspects of tricks, scuffing, switching,whiping, rolling and spinning are found in old footages. Turbine is only a few as Turbine is the latest techniques for Flatland.
Latest footages include valuable information about techniques and equipments. But they are found among bunch of “average” footages in fact. So you have to “judge” the value by yourself. There’s no creation acceptable for everyone, it means there’s no absolute definition of what’s “good” or “bad”. So you have to be a creator on your own to be able to judge the quality.
Editors note:
To conclude, everyone basically seems to be on the same path. Everyone is stoked that the old classics have been published online and continue to do so, yesterday Kala published the 2004 Intrikat Flatsphere dvd online, and this will continue.
I found that all these videos were being published right at the end of the decade, as if to archive a chapter in the history of flatland, December 2010 was a busy month in terms of the old “classics” being published online, I was blown away at one point, and starting to question whether I should be publishing these videos on the blog, hence this article was born.
Respect for the artists work has been mentioned a few times, i.e, if you are going to broadcast someones video online, take some pride in it, publish in good quality, and don’t change the music.
As Bobby Carter said the internet revolution is here, ride that wave, we are nowadays spoilt for choice and it’s all for free, apart from the cost of your internet connection of course, when I grew up riding, there were no videos in the beginning, just a monthly magazine, so a flatlanders inspiration now is far greater than 27 years ago, this can only be a great thing for future generations. I don’t see any negative to that.
Because the internet is so vast, a lot of videos can be “slept” on, whereas videos back in the day were so few and far between, these videos would be studied, now a video edit is forgotten about a few days after it is published, not even that in some cases. Riders are already looking for the next fix. We are spoilt.
Distribution of information is the biggest bonus for me, whilst I don’t think you will ever beat the feel of a printed page, and having that dvd in your hand, the fact riders “worldwide” can access new and old videos right away providing they have a good internet connection, is a really great thing.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to get back to me on this debate, some healthy conclusions have been drawn from this.
You will have seen Matti’s riding in round one of groundtactics, looking forward to seeing what Matti’s got for Round 2, for now heres what Matti is listening to right now on his playlist…
1)King Bee – Back By Dope Demand.
2)Blaktrix & Junior Disprol – Night & Day (mate of mine).not.
3)DJ Zinc – Creeper.
4)Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth – The Creator (Remix Instrumental).
5)Twisted- Fight Club – Dutty Dubz.
Here we are back with part 2 of the internet revolution debate, and who better to interview than two of the guys partly responsible for this article and for sure for posting some of flatland classics on the internet recently, and also Viki Gomez, who inspired many with his intrikat parts back in the day…
“As the proliferation of “video classics” floods the internet, I ask the question, what are the positives and negatives of this situation?”
Kala Yasuda:
I think videos regarded as “classics” available online for all to see positively affect three groups of people: the younger riders who have never seen them before, the older ones who’ve previously seen them either a few times or religiously on a VHS tape through a CRT television and the riders/producers of these videos.
It’s mostly about good education for the younger folks who may be either not yet aware of what’s possible, caught up in the latest riding trends or wondering why so many old farts are posting comments hailing guys like Edgar Plascencia, Ross Smith and Steve Mulder, among others. It could also promote progress, as through viewing some old video, a kid may see and learn a 15 year-old trick/combo from today’s perspective, add a modern twist to it and bust it out at some comp, blowing minds in the process.
VCR’s are a thing of the past and there are a lot of older riders who are unable to convert their old video collections or can no longer view them because they either have no player or have worn their tapes out from continuous viewing. Inspiration is the positive effect here, as older folks who haven’t been riding much or just stopped because of work or family obligations could see their old heroes again online and be motivated to get back on their bikes after replacing the grips and tires or, even better, get out and buy a whole new setup with all the money/credit they’ve earned (in part because they no longer have the strength to throw around the tanks that were commonly ridden “back in the day”). Either way, it would help to fuel the industry and get more people riding.
The third area where I see positive effects of classic videos available online for free viewing lie with the producers of these videos and the riders depicted in them along the lines of marketing and social networking. Such folks may not feel inclined on their current websites or FB pages, which would tend to be aimed at a wider range of visitors, to offer info or footage of some shabby BMX video they either made or rode in back in 1994, but someone viewing that video could be steered toward their latest works, which would bring them more attention and perhaps even business. Once posted online with info about the producers and riders, descriptions of the videos could also include additional where-are-they-now information, their current sponsors, or links to related websites and facebook pages — all at their discretion, of course. And this would all be info displayed by the choice of the interested and dedicated viewer, not as some crummy pop-up ad. It would help to promote the collective consciousness of and respect for these guys.
As for the negative effects of classic BMX videos online, I see only two, and they’re quite minimal. One involves the limitations of the internet and the tight squeeze that it has on copyrights. For example, YouTube now limits the length of uploaded videos to 15 minutes and can detect any copyrighted background music down to its bass line or sax solo (a bit exaggerated). This results in videos having to be cut up into little sections, maybe even having their music replaced, and losing their nostalgic feel for the hardcore old-schooler imagining himself back on his parents’ living room sofa watching a bulbous flickering television screen. Varied access speeds can cause choppy viewing, but if you’ve got the patience you could try the file2hd.com site where someone was able to download the entire Graveyard STATIC video in four parts and convert it to DVD. The other negative effect I see could be on the producer/rider who may not want their work/riding available for viewing, a rare problem easily solved by simply requesting that the posted video be removed.
As for proper respects to the riders, I’m not too keen on who’s who other than the big names, unless it’s specified on the screen or in the credits, so if there’s anyone you see in a video who’s not but you think should be credited, just post a comment with their name and the time (00:00) they appear in it and I’ll try to add that info into the description.
And with regards to picture quality, the files I’ve been posting were created four years ago with standard hardware for viewing on my iPod, so nothing close to HD. My tapes are still in fine shape but I don’t want to re-convert them with a better quality because I think it would be great if Chad released a DVD set of all his hard work. And if he does, at his request, I’d remove the inTRIKat stuff from my channel. The ELLS BELLS stuff is staying though, as I’ve heard he’s busy with other things.
Claybom24:
Well, a bit of history. Back in the day, the first BMX video I remember watching was 101 Tricks part 1 (released 1987), that was back in 1990. The second one was Dorkin’ 3 (released in 1989), I’ve watched just in 1991. So, you see, the physical media took two years to get here.
Those were hard times.
Generally speaking, when the internet and youtube come to play, everything started to change.
Nowadays, I see little kids sitting in front of their computers and downloading in minutes everything they need to know in BMX, in order to stay up to date about the whole scene (like riders, tricks, champs, trends, parts,etc).
So, the upside of having the classics available online right now is, of course new-schoolers have a chance to see the huge great job that has been done by the legend riders in the good old times.
They have a chance to see their roots. Also they have a chance to know who has invented what. And last,they have a chance to see awesome combos/tricks/links that has been done just once, and never again.
Having the classics available online is also a good deal for the old-schoolers, whom have already got them on VHS, but unfortunately they have lost. Now, they can bring back good memories.
Now of course, the downsides:
So far I haven’t received any negative feedback. But I know there are the copyright issues of the legal usage and exposure of this stuff. So, what I’m trying to do is just put online the very old stuff. I’m only publishing videos that are at least ten years old. These videos are no longer available anywhere on the marketplace.
So, doing this way, I think I’m not hurting anybody. Of course, I’m not making money as well.
The only purpose of sharing this stuff is to allow people all over the world to see the amazing great job before by the legend riders. I know their names, some have quit riding, some are still riding.
I’m thankful to all of them to teach me and show me along the timeline how-to “flatland”. I admire and respect all those riders shown in the “video classics”, and its depends on me, their names will never be forgotten!!
I started sharing my own stuff too, like “The flatland’s Prisoner” (2007), and “ThunderFlats n’FlatRangers” (2010). All for free. I thought the future has come and it’s about time to change the old-school trading style.
I haven’t got the answers, and I’m supposed to do that. But some things are for sure, New era kids wont wait to much to get stuff in their hands, like before, a week is an eternity for them, and most importantly, physical media’s consume our limited resources.
There’s much to say, but, those above were just my thoughts, and I don’t mean to be the truth of anything.
Positives:For me it s so positive! I grow up with many flatlanders but no videos to watch. I guess that is the reason that pushed me to think by my own and make my own tricks. On top, those riders like Chase, Chad Degroot, Phil Dolan, Trevor Meyer, Jesse Puente, Martti Kuoppa, Kevin Jones, Edgar Plascencia and many more, are the riders I always looked up to! The creators, the masters, the freestyers…and having the chance to watch those videos that show the best times of flatland is so good for me! I get more motivation watching the classic videos than any others.
No negatives points. All is good!
Music is a big inspiration for all of us, so I wanted to bring a lil music flava to flatmatters, to kick off this new section to the blog, who better than the current World No 1, Viki Gomez, always interesting to see what riders worldwide are listening to, welcome to the first of many.
List below begins with Track then Artist.<
1)Japan Group : Simplician.
2)Fish & chips : Group : CVE.
3)Simple man Group : Lynird Skynyrd.
4)Serenade : Group : Steve Miller band.<
5)The bushman : Group : Cell.
As 2010 drew to a close, there was almost a flood of old videos that many of us regard as classics like e-clips,intrikat “Blend/Connect/Landescape A/B”, Allied Loiter,Focus, Ring the Gack and many more that began being released on you tube,this is amazing for all those who would never get to see these videos or like most of us, we watched these on VHS and had no way to watch them again, I was however beginning to feel guilty posting them all up on flatmatters, so I thought this would make an interesting article. I asked the following question to a whole bunch of different people involved in someway within this debate.More to follow next week.
“As the proliferation of “video classics” floods the internet, I ask the question, what are the positives and negatives of this situation?”
Brian Tunney: (Rider, filmed parts for same thing daily, props groundwork, journalist for ESPN)
I think classic is a relative word, especially on the Internet. For me, a classic might be the Dorkin’ Series or any Baco video, but on the Internet, I feel that the word “classic” could mean anything that’s just a few years old. That’s not necessarily going to the solve the problem, but it is something I’ve noticed over the past 2-3 years. But for the older, more established “classics,” I think getting from VHS or DVD and onto the Web is an important means of actually preserving the form of media in a digital form, for safe keeping, for posterity’s sake, and for future generations to view. I’ll use Chad’s section in “Ring The Gack” as an example. Those Ells videos are never going to be available again on DVD, and VHS tapes don’t last forever. If a younger audience is given the chance to watch Chad Degroot when he was at or near the top of flatland riding, then by all means, we should want that to happen. Chad is a street riding father of two in his mid 30s that lives in Florida and runs a bike shop. Younger generations of flat riders might see him in the occasional Profile ad, but that’s about the only current exposure Chad gets (unless he makes his own Web videos). If more people know that Chad was and still is a flatland legend, that’s a good thing for all of us. Besides, the tricks he does in that section are just as good today as they were in 1994.
I guess the other side of this would be if a “classic” video producer was planning on releasing a box sets of former releases. Then I might say, let’s respect the media, keep it off the Web for the time being and buy the DVDs, but I don’t know of anyone doing that right now. In general though, I would think that everyone who is a die hard flatland enthusiast would want to know the history, and if we can make that available on the Web (which we can), then we should.
Martti Kuoppa: (rider/artist: famous for his intrikat parts, contest achievements, groundtactics, solo dvds, where do you stop…)
Most of the videos that are shown on internet at the moment are not available on DVD format and they are impossible to get as VHS copies even if you wanted. So, that leads to a situation that the younger riders would not have a change to watch some of the riding that is actually the roots of their current riding.
When I saw Chases & Brandons e-clips I was blown away again, because it was years since I saw it last time and I completely forgot everything in it. And that video is old, and the level of Chases riding in it is untouchable even today.So that was a really positive moment for me because it brought me inspiration and motivation and it was a good day because of that.
Negatives:
I guess it would be that these “pearls” are so easy to access now that it looses some of the glamour they have earned along the way. There is lot of soul and blood donated in there… Maybe you´ll understand it maybe not, afterall I am just glad to be part of the VHS generation.
Bobby Carter: (Rider, owner/editor of Diversion Tv).
Well, first of all, welcome to the information age. We are in the middle of a digital revolution. An era where information flows around the planet more swiftly than the air around us. The positive side of all these videos going online is that people around the world can witness tricks and techniques of years past. Flatland has been around long enough to have a history that can be lost due to lack of access to videos. If you’ve only been riding about 6 years, there’s only a slim chance you’ve seen videos from the 90’s. There’s a whole lot of flatland techniques out there that you can dip into and bring into your own style. You can “dig into the crates” for those rare clips and tricks to sample and develop.
The negative is that some of the videos are professionally made and the producers may not know that their work is being distributed around the net. They may or may not want their videos on the net. For dudes making web edits and filming some local stuff it’s not much of a problem. The real issue is when a filmmaker needs to spend money on plane tickets, etc. to get a video made. You spend a few thousand dollars and the video is available for free. Sponsorship may be one answer to this issue. Get a sponsor to foot the bills, make the video, and put it out there for all to share. We shall see where things go and what new technologies come out to help flatland get the exposure it deserves!
Chad Johnston: Rider, owner/editor of Intrikat.
The first positive aspect thats comes to mind is the fact that the information is out there, available to nearly everyone. More people that see it equal more possibilities to motivate. It dates and archives progression as well. I don’t see a negative, unless the person that was uploading the video did a poor job, like if the quality interrupted the content. So far the Intrikat videos that have been put online have been done well. I like how Kala Yasuda did LandEscape and Connect with the proper chapters and credits. I also like how fatboy972 did Blend, two sections. I had thought about how I would do it and would soon forget about it,because it’s not edited in rider sections, it’s all blended together.Uploading it in two sections works great and the intermission is placed well. I trust the other titles that are uploaded to Youtube are done with respect also. Thanks to the people who have put the time in to doing a good job.
Chad Degroot: Rider/artist hugely influential in the baco days, runs Deco Bike co.
It can go both ways. I believe videos are made to stand the test of time and also to be watched. Right? So you can hate on people posting old videos and reliving their glory days, is that really a problem? Maybe a bit if they are charging for them or getting big headed like they were the shit. But truthfully a lot of riders nowadays don’t know or care how or why tricks came about and who did them. Videos back in the day used to be on top of that. We couldn’t wait till a video came out to see all the new tricks and what can be done. Posting vids is just a part of technology and moving forward to archive it. If you don’t want to watch, don’t. Some I do watch, but most I don’t. So if your an online junkie that has to watch all videos, good. Get some knowledge while your doing it. Yes the tricks now are insane, and seem like video game tricks, but that is what it’s getting to. They started somewhere then built to what you see today. I guarantee some shit Osato, Freimuth or The Beast did people still won’t be able to do. Try it. Lastly, you can’t flood the internet. It’s a day to day thing. People want the news or edits now….the internet gives you them now. So that is a positive thing. The only negative thing is the shit talking, but truthfully if you don’t talk shit then you are not human. It’s way easier to type shit than talk shit.
What do you think? Have your say below in the comments..
Following up Chad Degroot’s “Last times”, Chad’s riding has had a massive influence on Japanese flatland, so why not have the 2nd Last times with my good friend from Chiba, Japan, Takuji Kasahara.
Last time you competed?
One Jam in Japan, November 2010.
Last jam you organized:
Never… or…When Cory Fester and Gregory Leschner came to Japan for KOG last October, we had a little jam in the midnight. If this counts.
Last time you rode with Moto Sasaki?
Yesterday.
Last time you rode MM21 in Yokohama?
2 or 3 months ago, I went there with Naoki Watanabe. There were cops everywhere so we were mostly sitting and talking with locals and rode a bit surreptitiously.
Last time you were overseas?
Last summer I was in Vietnam and Thailand for a week without my bike . With my bike, March 2010 Toronto, Canada for Flatland Unlimited contest.
Last time you got a puncture?
2 days ago. I hate it!
Last time you threw your bike?
That was a night before I left for Toronto contest in 2010. I took too serious about the contest then. haha..
Last time you checked flatmatters?
A few mins ago.
Last movie you watched?
Inception.
Last online edit you downloaded?
Akihiko Takahasi ground tactics edit.
Last time you filmed a combo?
A few days ago with Naoki Watanabe. He is filming me everytime at the end of the session.
Last bikepart you broke:
I smashed my back wheel axel a couple of weeks ago.
Last trick you got consistent:
Hang-ten to crack-packer.
Last time someone said “aren’t you too old to ride that bike”:
haha, people may say this in near future. I just turned 30 years old so.
Last time you worked out?
It’s been years. I used to work out and yoga every morning, and before I sleep when I was living in Canada,so probably 5 or 6 years ago.
Last time you partied:
New year day with my family and relatives.
Last person you rode with:
Yasunari Ishijima and Hisashi Omoto, and Naoki Watanabe.
Last time you kissed your wife: (or girl);
I’m single right now so no comment on this one.
Last edit you produced:
Xmas day, I made a little edit for my friends as a season greeting.
Last time flatland made you smile:
This morning, on my way to work I came up with a new combo’s idea. I was on a packed train and smiling I must have been creepy.
Last time you got mad:
When Moto Sasaki puked in my car.<
Last time you filmed a videopart:
December 2010 for the new DVD "Mostly True".
Last time you were amazed at flatland:
At the last Flatland unlimited contest, Percy Marshall's run. 3mins no touch! That was one of the best contest runs I've ever witnessed!
