Where are you guys based out of? Has the location changed at all over the years?
We’re currently based out of Seventies Distribution in St Leonards, both Seventies and Federal used to be based in the centre of Hastings but when a bigger premises was required they moved up the hill to St Leonards and have been there ever since.

Who are the people who keep running Federal from the owners to the other people nobody really knows about? From designers to guys getting the coffee.
Everyone at Seventies has an input with regards to Federal and we’re lucky to have such a great team behind it. The team is as follows:

Stu Dawkins: Owner

Stu and Chris

Myself [Chris Harrison]: Product Design and Manufacturing, general overseer and other random day to day things.

Bas: Team Manager and also general overseer.

Edd: Epic Film creator

Elwood: Graphic and web design

Everyone else who works at Seventies helps out as well with regards to sales, accounts and warranty etc. We’re one big happy family……..except for Roger who was born salty haha!

Sadly we haven’t got as far as hiring a designated tea boy but everyone has to take their turn as the tea bitch!

What is a typical day like for you? Is there such thing as a typical day even?
My day isn’t really that typical, I currently work from home as I’m studying for my Masters degree at uni. So basically I wake up, answer emails and talk to our agent in Taiwan on Skype, then I’ll head into Uni for the day, taking the chance to answer emails as I go on my phone. Then in the evenings I’ll sit down to do some designing etc and answer any other emails I have left. It’s pretty intensive trying to balance it all but I love it!

It seems like Federal has made some huge changes in the last few years with the direction of the company. So what are the goals of the company as a whole, and where do you see it going as time goes on?
I guess our goals are to make products that we’re happy with and that people are into. We’re re-growing the brand again and as it hopefully gets stronger and stronger we’ll be able to diversify a bit more and we’ll have the funds to put more into product research and development. I’m conscious of the market already being saturated product wise and we try not to add to that where possible as I feel it’s not only detrimental to ourselves but also the industry. We’ve been really lucky with the team that has come together, from everyone at Federal to the pro and flow team riders. I hope we offer something that people want to buy into and be a part of, I mean obviously sales are important but I personally get more pride and enjoyment from doing something that people are in to.

I noticed there have been quite a few new products coming out for 2009. One of those things was two different versions of the frames, one being heat treated and one not. What can you tell us about that? Also, if you could go over some of the other new products you have coming out?
First up I just want to specify that the heat treating referred to here is post weld, our regular frames come with heat treated headtube, dropouts and BB as standard. Just to clear up any confusion.

Our heat treating options were actually introduced as a 3 tier option, with regular, front triangle and 100% heat treated. This was mainly done as I got annoyed that some companies were marketing front triangle only heat treated frames as 100% heat treated, this I personally don’t agree with as i feel it misleads the consumer. So we introduced the 3 tier system to show the differences and to see where the market would eventually lie as we enter this new territory. It’s become apparent that the middle tier is not viable so in future it will be either non heat treated or 100%. There’s still a long way to go with what the market will actually settle on, given the economy etc, but for now that’s where we stand.

Does Federal have any plans to branch out into other markets like a lot of the other companies? Any beach cruisers, fixed gears, or anything like that in the works?
No, none whatsoever. Imagine if IRO tried to enter BMX? It just wouldn’t work and would piss people off. It would also detract from what we are as a company. I know a lot of people involved in the London Fixie scene but I think it’s ultimately their industry to grow and not ours to rape and cash in on. I’ll add that there’s definitely room for a Taiwan fixie specific company though but we want to focus on BMX.

What is the soft goods, stickers, and small things you guys also make looking like? Is there any new designs or anything coming out you can tell us about?
Our first range of clothing dropped a few months ago and has gone done pretty well I think, we’re working on the new range now, which Elwood is in charge of. One of the t shirts features an angry letter that Hamilton’s Mom sent him one day when he’d just upped and fucked off to San Francisco, it’s pretty epic!

It seems like lately everyone has been making a team video. Do you guys have any new web videos or DVD’s in the works you can tell us about?
After a quiet year last year, with Brighton Ain’t Ready and Ride to Glory we’ve got some big things planned for this year that I sadly can’t go into too much detail about right now as they’re still being planned. We’ll most likely do a few trips and do some high quality edits along the lines of the Paris and Cologne video and then release them on a DVD later in the year with a bunch of other footage collected.

How about road trips with the team? Any big trips or a get together in the works?
Yes, America baby!

Speaking of the team who are you guys hooking up these days from pros to just people you hook up?
Jesus that’s a long list, here we go in no particular order:
Bruce Crisman
Jared Washington
Davey Watson
Dan Lacey
Mark Love
Derek­ Strickland
Steven Hamilton
Max Vincent
Dan Cox
Shayn Steel­
Mike Mills
Scott Taylor
Loz Taylor
Marty Meenaghan
Chaz Mailey
Duncan Lloyd
Josh Eilken
Eric “Barney” Cuiper
Chris Gille
Greg Flag
Corey Dewey
Troy Jackson
Tyson Jones Perri
Jesse Bull

How do you guys go about picking new people to sponsor? What kind of advice do you have for kids out there looking to get on the team?
Umm Bas handles all the pro team stuff and we just discuss who we think fits with the brand and what we’re about, as they’re going to be paid its quite a big decision to make so it’s not taken lightly. With flow guys I usually just pay attention to the ComeUp etc and like to look for kids who are doing their own thing and making stuff happen for themselves. Everyone we sponsor are individually nice people in their own right too and that helps. I know it’s a cliché but if you’re looking to get sponsored just do your own thing and put yourself about, eventually someone will notice.

So somebody has an issue with one of your products. Who should they contact to work out a warranty issue? What kind of turn around time can people expect if they send in something?
Any warranty issues should be dealt with through the respective distributor of the country the product was purchased in, if you don’t know it then the shop you bought it from should be able to help you. If you have a particular gripe feel free to email info@federalbikes.com or chris@federalbikes.com and I’ll try my best to sort it out. As far as turnaround goes its obviously dependant on the issue but we’ll try and get it sorted as quickly as possible.

If somebody has a general question about Federal who should they contact? How about if a shop or distributor would like to pick up Federal products who should they contact?
info@federalbikes.com or chris@federalbikes.com

Is there anything I might have missed that you would like to say?
Thanks Kurt for the opportunity do this, apologies its 5 months late haha. Thanks to everyone at Seventies/Federal and all the team riders involved, you’re the best, especially Stu who doesn’t get nearly half the credit he deserves for what he’s done for BMX as a whole. Thanks as well to anyone who’s ever helped me out with anything, you know who you are.

Where are you guys located and has that changed at all over the years? Who are the other people who keep things running smooth from product design to the guys packing shipments?
(Leigh) Our sales office is in Raleigh, NC and the warehouse is outside of Charlotte, NC. We had them both together for a few years but it was keeping Mike away from his family so we split them back up but things are smooth as butter still. So Mike runs the Warehouse and Jon is in the sales office. We have guys like Seamus McKeon that helps in the Warehouse and does warranties. And here at the office we have guys that all ride (Bryan Byrd, Joe Haley and Andrew York) that do sales and I handle team, media and being an idiot duties.

Jon Byers – Table

What is a typical day like for you?
(Leigh) I don’t think there is any typical day in the bike industry. I start the day off answering email and checking out my to-do list and hitting that. It can be anything from making an ad, talking to riders, helping design a shirt, talking to the guys here, taking a poop, shooting product photos, to you-name-it. I guess that’s what’s great about it and frustrating at the same time…you just never know what you’re going to be doing when you walk in the door that day.
(Byrd) Wake up about 6:30, curse at my alarm clock. Then depending on whether or not my foot’s been hurt in a living room wrestling match I like to ride my road bike on the trainer. Eat some Kashi Go Lean and check my email on the Crackberry®. Shake a tower and hop on my steed to pedal to work (weather dependent). Get in, check all the news sites, talk some shit to Leigh, then wait for our sales assitant to come in late. I stay in pretty close contact with our top dealers throughout the day and spend a lot of time with sales numbers and product stuff. Our phones ring pretty steadily throughout the day and we have a ton of outgoing calls to make as there’s always more business out there somewhere. Once I’ve had my fill of all this(somewhere around 7pm), I usually head home or out to eat a decent meal. Then I talk to the lady and crash out, unless Count Treycula comes knockin’ w/ a wrasslin’ challenge…then it’s on bitch!

Jon Byers – Cherokee Air

Obviously people are always looking for a sweet job, are you guys hiring for any positions right now? How does somebody go about getting a job with Eastern?
(Byrd) Not at the moment, but you never know what’s around the corner. Opportunities are everywhere and we’re never shy about jumping on top of them and wrasslin’ them to the ground. Then we like to have our way with them…

Eastern has been pushing a lot of buttons with a lot of the new products coming out. Either the kids like it or they talk bad about it. What is the 09′ product line looking like? Any new additions you can tell us about?
(Byrd) 2009 stuff looks great, we have plenty of new products coming out and actually have been in development mode for the last little bit. As for the whole love/hate thing, it is what it is. We had one very public warranty issue that we more than completely resolved, and in many cases gave riders 2 frames for one broken one. It’s over and done with. Many companies have problems, just not on such a revolutionary product; that’s what made the Grim Reaper V1 issues so huge, the fact that they were on a frame like no one had ever seen. If the first flying car comes out and catches fire, it’s gonna leave a bad taste in a lot of mouths. Some will overcome this stigma, yet some will let it keep them from getting the fastest, most efficient mode of transportation available…marinate on that for a minute.

Mike Corley – One Hander One Footer

How about soft goods and small products you guys make? Anything-new there?
(Leigh) The guys on the team do most of our designs. They are called the “Rider Concept Series”. The guys on the team come up with a design and we put it out and they money from each sale. It’s a good way for Eastern to get great shirts and to also help the riders out more.

Eastern has built up a really good team these last few years, who all is on the team from pro and flow, to other guys you hook up? Will there be any additions or changes to the team you can tell us about anytime soon?
(Leigh) Yeah the team is pretty great right now. I love how diverse the team is. One the pro team we have Mike Andrews, Adam Banton, Kelly Bolton, Daniel Donges, Eric Holley, Zach Rogers Craig Mast, and Brian Wizmerski.
The Flow team consists of Nick Anderson, Darren Bouldin, Cody Jennings, Seamus McKeon and Josh Perry. We also have a small group of local rippers, Trey Doig and Zack Roberts who are on the Test team. They test the new stuff along with the rest of the team and give us feedback. We are going to pick up a real big name guy in 2015 be on the look out.

Leigh Ramsdell – Toboggan

How do you go about picking new people for the team anyways? Do you ever consider sponsor videos or is that a thing of the past?
(Leigh) It seems like picking people for the team just happens. I have no real formula getting guys. It’s real important to hang out with the guys before we put them on the team just to make sure they are cool. Sponsor videos rarely work just because of what I just mentioned but it can’t hurt to start getting your name out there in case you run into the person.

Is there any big team trips, DVDs, contests, or other projects like that going on other than the “Inside Out” videos you got going on?
(Leigh) We are actually working on our first Team Video that will be released around Interbike. Mike McQueen is editing the whole thing in Manglevision™ so you know it’s going to kick ass.

Speaking of “Inside Out”, when will the next one be out? Who will be in it and where will it be filmed?
(Leigh) We just filmed the final one for the year in Philly back in November. We are going to put them on hold right now to focus on the Team Video.

Jon Byers – Candybar Lookback

Where does Eastern as a company see itself in the next few years?
(Leigh) We see ourselves in the future with flying cars and talking avocados,
(Byrd) perhaps making love to mannequins.

What about just other questions people might have for Eastern, whom should they contact?
(Leigh) Just hit up info@easternbikes.com if it’s a general question and I will answer you. But if it’s a warranty question then email warranty@easternbikes.com and Seamus will handle those.

What do you feel separates Eastern from all the other companies out there?
(Byrd) A heightened drive for innovation and success; we want to make the best products and develop the most efficient ways of delivering them to our dealers and consumers. Customer service is paramount here at Eastern Bikes and that is something that we’re really proud of. Another great separation piece is that we don’t take ourselves too seriously; I just peed myself to be funny.

Where can people pick up Eastern products?
(Leigh) Once they buy an Eastern Bikes product they are free to pick it up anywhere they bring it. Our stuff is pretty light so it shouldn’t be that bad lifting it. What was the question again? Oh just check out www.easternbikes.com/dealers/.

Bryan Byrd – Shocka Brah Tree Ride

Who should shops or distributors contact to get Eastern in their shops and warehouses?
(Leigh) Just email our handsome sales manager Bryan Byrd, at bryan@easternbikes.com

Anything else you can tell us about Eastern that I might not know about?
(Leigh) I think the biggest misconception about Eastern is that we are just some company from Taiwan. Eastern is owned by riders and other than our accountant and two guys in the warehouse, most everyone here rides and is very passionate about BMX.
(Byrd) Also, given the right circumstances; me love you long time.

Check out the rest of the Eastern video on their Vimeo page.