BMX Interviews

Photos: Chris Saunders

April 13, 2012

Chris Saunders

Chris Saunders is one of those names that, if you have kept up with the BMX game over the years, you probably have seen pop up a few times from the east coast scene between his riding, photos or videos. Chris is one of those riders turned photographer and film maker with the help of BMX to get things really rolling for himself. I recently came across his portfolio and really liked what I saw. I figured it would be rad to find out a little bit more about how he turned something he liked doing for fun into a profession. So let’s get into this and find out more about the man! After you do that, check out his full PHOTOGALLERY!

Name: Chris Saunders
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Quicky: Adam Wright

April 12, 2012

Adam Wright
Interview and photos by Tom Halliwell

A while back I was talking with Tom Halliwell about getting some more coverage going on in the U.K. It seems like the place is always producing some amazing riders, but the coverage is hit or miss. He recently hit me up about getting a Quicky going with Wethepeople‘s Adam Wright to find out a little more about the dude and see how things have been. So let’s check out what he had to say along with some rad photos!
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Photos: Tristan Afre

April 10, 2012

Tristan Afre

I’ll be honest and say that I don’t exactly recall the first time I saw the name “Tristan Afre” or “Gutstains”. I know it was a few years back and it was either between a photo of his or on The Come Up Board long before I got banned, haha. Then in the last year or two I started seeing his work popping up all over the place, especially from a lot of the Shadow Conspiracy trips. That’s the best part about BMX, when somebody starts firing out good work they are given the opportunities to keep rolling and progressing. That’s been the case for Tristan. The road even recently lead him to his own section on TCU called Gutstains that has been loaded with goodness. I figured I had been silently watching his work long enough and that it was time to get to know him a little better. Let’s dig into this interview and check out some damn good answers to find out who this guy is. After you check out what he had to say, check out this PHOTOGALLERY for even more real good photos!

Name: Tristan Afre
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Tom Dugan Interview

April 8, 2012

Photo: Cody Nutter

If there’s one rider that really can constantly blow my mind these days, it’s Tom Dugan. His riding is about as wild as his personality and I can honestly say I’ve laughed harder watching his edits than most of the specials I’ve seen on Comedy Central. The other week BMX got a pretty good scare when word started popping up on Twitter that Tom went down hard during the Red Bull Metro Pipe contest and was in a coma. It got a little scary there for a bit, but luckily Tom pulled through and is on his way back to blasting. I figured since he had some down time that it would be a good time to finally fire out an interview with him. Tom keeps it pretty simple, but it sounds like he’s definitely got some good things coming that he mentions in this. So let’s do this!

Name: Tom Dugan
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Industry: Adam Spitalny

April 5, 2012

Adam Spitalny

If there’s one thing that really gets me stoked about doing The Union, it’s all the talented people I’m able to come across everyday. Adam Spitalny is one of those people who I came across recently. I was able to have a look at his portfolio and needless to say I was impressed by his work. There’s a lot of people who really don’t even think of the time and thought process going into pretty much everything these days. Visuals have always been a big part of BMX and as time goes on, it just keeps becoming even more refined and in-demand. Adam is a recent college graduate who not only rides, but is giving things a go as a freelance graphic designer. In his year out, he’s already managed to work with a handful of brands and produce some real quality work. I figured it would be a good idea to find out a little more about him and his work, so let’s check it out!

Name: Adam Spitalny  
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Insight: Tree Bicycle Co. Discontinuing Frames

March 30, 2012

Tree Bicycle Co.
Nathan Parker and the Lil’ Buddy

The other day I was talking with Nathan Parker from Tree Bicycle Co. about some of the new projects they have going on. We talked about some of the changes they have been making with the brand like bringing on more employees, adding more products to their line and going over how the decision to move their production to Taiwan has been. During that, he mentioned that Tree would no longer be making the Lil’ Buddy frame. I figured, okay, well what’s next? An all new frame? Well, in short… No.
I was super curious about their decision to discontinue their frame production since the Lil’ Buddy always seemed to be a well liked frame and I never heard anyone say a bad thing about it. We decided it would be a good idea to do a quick Q&A to give you guys the low down on their decision. So let’s see what this is all about…

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Drawing Board: Animal Butcher Peg

March 29, 2012

Unless you have been hiding underneath a rock for the past year or so, you will have noticed the rapidly growing popularity of the Plastic Peg in BMX. Now the choice of Peg for some of the biggest street riders in the business such as Nathan Williams, Corey Martinez, Ben Lewis and Tony Hamlin, the Animal Butcher Peg has caused quite a stir in the Skateparks, Streets and Message Boards around the world. I caught up with Animal Bike’s Product Manager Frank Lam and the Peg’s creator and street legend Joe “Butcher” Kowalski to discuss the history and origins of the marble ledge’s new best friend…

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Photos: Aaron Zwaal

March 15, 2012

Aaron Zwaal
Photo: Tom Lammerse

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been seeing Aaron Zwaal’s name pop up here and there for some videos and other things. One day he shot me an email with a link to one of his videos and I spotted a link to his Flickr page. Needless to say, I was impressed with his work. I shot him back a message to see if he would be down to be the next guy in our Photos: interview series (that has been on the back burner for a little while). Luckily, Aaron was down to answer some questions and he came through with 23 damn good photos that you can check out in the PHOTOGALLERY. But, before you do that, make the jump and check out an interview to find out more about the man behind the lens…

Name: Aaron Zwaal
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