Editorial: 4 years of Flatmatters!

Editorial: Effraim.

“It’s a full time job that you don’t get paid for basically” Anthony Buglio at FlatWeb TV said recently during a recent Skype conversation with me for an up and coming Interview. It summed up my commitment very simply. Flatmatters started 4 years as a blogspot site to gain a creative outlet that I felt I lost even before the FM page in UK Ride was dropped.

Today, Wednesday November 28th. 4 years on, the sport/artform has changed a lot. Edits were not as commonplace as they are now. By and large “content” it is a lot easier to come by now daily, riders know they have a place to showcase their work, not just FM but many other sites. This week as we hit the 4 year mark, I am consumed with a mixture of emotion. last year was a great year for me riding wise, producing around 30 progressive videos. This year due to injury after injury, currently nursing a back injury, I am bummed I haven’t been able to create what I wanted to. So my apologises to all those that have “Hey Effraim, wheres the 4 year edit?”, my answer in the positive form is good things come to those that wait, for now how about a repost of my 3 year edit?….

2012 has been I think the best year for flatland since I started Flatmatters in 2008, I am in the process of reviewing the year and believe me the selection process is tougher than ever before. Every week it seemed an amazing edit dropped, that made me think wow this is a must watch edit for people!

So whats in store for the 4 year anniversary, well…

As well you will already know, Fat Tony kindly contributed the Behind the Scenes scoop on the 2013 flatland calendar. The Shuichi Osada interview dropped yesterday. Today I am publishing Part 1 of the “The riders perspective on 2012”, Part 1 of the Viki Gomez interview drops Friday, theres also a big John Yull Interview dropping, so plenty to look forward, not to mention, maybe a surprise edit here and there….
So it’s somewhat forced, rather than this being about me, although one of more ideas all along was to have a whole bunch of varied exclusive content drop over the next fortnight or so, as a celebration of 4 years. Rather than just one day.
Last but not least, thank you to all the riders that have supported flatmatters over the last 4 years. The original intention was for FM to be a source of motivation for riders worldwide. And I am proud to say I feel like it has more than done that.
The question really is, whats next?

Leave us a comment and let me know what you think.

Flatmatters

Effraim Catlow

24 thoughts on “Editorial: 4 years of Flatmatters!

  1. Congratulations Effraim. I really appreciate everything you do for flatland…check here almost daily, all really good content. Hope you start feeling better this coming year, and get past those nagging injuries. Ride on!

  2. Congrats on 4 years! I still remember reading the scuffing vs pumping article, and taking away a lot from that series of articles.

    Looking forward to all the celebratory and exclusive 4 year content, and excited to see what the next year has in store.

    Also, excited for you to get better so you can show what I know you’ve been up to on your bike!

  3. Many congrats on the 4 year mark! I check the site everyday, same way lots of people read a newspaper everyday. If there’s a sponsor out there that wants to have their brand seen daily, hook up Effraim and Flatmatters!

  4. Thanks Effraim! –For providing a space for the community of flatland riders to virtually gather in a positive way and to be inspired and connected to one another. More than any other sort of media out there, flatmatters makes me feel like I am part of something bigger than myself–the world needs more of this.

    p.s. Glad you posted the 3rd year edit (lots of great stuff in there), looking forward to the 4th year edit!

    • Thank you everyone! Really appreciate all the kind words, @Brandon – glad you enjoyed the video.
      @Anthony – advertising would be nice for sure, and is perhaps next step to help me afford to get some events, buy a video camera, t-shirts, stickers, etc etc..

  5. Congrats dude! … it’s great to see how T.I zine evolved over the years and adapted so well to the internet. ..( i will personally always see “flatmatters as the evolution of T..I ) ..No one would have predicted 25 years ago how advanced things would get !…..Maybe in the future we’ll have 3d holograms edits projected straight in our living room of double tail whip bunny hops…Or tricks and edits directly “uploaded” in our brains….Who knows? The next 4 years have plenty more surprises in stock ….One thing for sure, Flatland’s only started! .

    • Thanks Trev, Tomas, Lee, Jorge, Lisias…

      @Tomas – can totally relate to why you see flatmatters like an extension of T.i. In some ways the internet cant compare to the personal touch of cut and pasting, and xerox art, so many nights with bedroom full of layouts and typewriting the night away. As you said, who knows what the future brings, most days I don’t know what I will post and thats also one of the things on the flip side that I like about the internet era.

  6. Being way out in Australia a long way from the scene and such, Flatmatters really is the way I stay connected to the flatland world and to keep an eye on what my bros are doing.

    Big ups to E for keeping the daily progression going and making this huge contribution to the scene!

    Flatmatters!

  7. Effraim, thank you for all the work you put into FM. This site is what got me all psyched about flatland again after 20 years away. You’ve provided a portal into flatland that brings me back to the excitement and energy that was alive in the New England scene back in the 1980s. Though I’m in no position to submit a progression edit, I’m riding again with a new bike and enthusiasm.
    Thank you.
    Scott

Leave a Reply to bmxism Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*