Photos: Cody Campbell
One thing about BMX that is awesome is the endless creative outlets you can take it. Eben Fischer is one of those real creative riders who also has some serious talent in the art department. When he isn’t busy riding for Tree or air brushing some work on a hot rod, there’s a good chance he’s working on his newest project, Cement Face. I figured it would be a good time to find out what’s new and learn a little bit more about CEM. Let’s take a look at what Eben has cooking…
Name: Eben Frank Fischer
Location: Long Beach California
Sponsors: Tree Bicycle Co., Cement Face
Years riding: 15
How are things going with Tree these days? Do they have anything in the works with you? It sounds like they have been working on a bunch of things these days.
Sam and Nathan have been on role keeping us all motivated and really making moves. We have a few things in the works, I don’t want to say to much but be on the lookout for some custom painted Little Buddy frames soon.
I know you have been out in California so the weather doesn’t really slow you down too much throughout the year. Where have you been riding these days?
Lately, I have just been pedaling around Long Beach and riding random spots. Long Beach has it all, great spots, skate parks and perfect weather.
I feel like it has been a minute since I’ve seen any footage from you. When can we expect some front brake magic from you?
I just finished up a split part with some Morgan Long pre-injury footage we filmed back in the Midwest at Ramp Riders. It’s all synchronized front wheel tricks and will be posted real soon.
Do you have any trips planned for the year yet? Anywhere you would like to get to?
Tree’s been talking about a possible East Coast trip sometime early summer and the first official CEM road trip is planned for June. It’s going to be from California to St. Louis for Andy Chapmans wedding. I think anyone who’s knows Andy or been around the STL BMX scene can imagine how awesome that’s going to be. My other goal is to spend some time in England over the summer.
I’d imagine you are still doing your airbrush work. How has that been going? Haven’t you been getting some magazine coverage outside of BMX?
I got real involved with the automotive airbrushing about a year after graduating high school. It’s been awesome. I’ve pretty much managed to pay my bills doing something I enjoy while refining my creative skills while constantly learning. I’ve worked for some shops that build custom cars and ended up doing a lot more than just painting. The first Cali shop I worked in had me lifting huge trucks. You have to keep in mind the only thing I previously had worked on was my bicycle. Following the instructions by the pics (didn’t know part names) is something I never saw myself doing. They ended up being pumped and stuck me lifting trucks and tearing apart cars in between paint work. This turned into working really long days and not seeing eye to eye with the owner so I made the switch to freelance work. I’ve had some airbrush work featured in Mini Trucking, Street Trucks, Diesel World and some coverage from car show in some other magazines.
You have also been working on your new project, CEM. What’s that all about?
I have always been fascinated with riding bicycles and producing visual arts. Cement Face (CEM) is a way to focus on my personal art and use this art to create a line of soft goods and offer freelance design services. It’s operated by and in support of bike riders so naturally CEM will be producing a team of riders. CEM is a chance to work on projects with friends and other individuals, as well as companies that share the same interest, and contribute to the culture I’m a part of.
What are your plans with Cement Face? What kinds of things will we be able to expect from the line?
The plan is an art production company that offers it’s personal line of soft goods. The soft good line is starting with a variety of my hand created artwork done in several different types of mediums. This art will be screen printed on T- shirts and various other soft goods. I’ll design the artwork, finish the area that’s intended for the soft good it’s going to be printed on and then complete the artwork on the surrounding canvas. The completed art work will then be offered as a fine print or poster. I have similar ideas for working with other companies where one art project could be scanned at different stages through the process. This is a way to make a less efficient but unique hand created art process that’s affordable by getting several uses from one single art piece. The overall canvas would be a poster while various sections would create stickers, shirt designs, material for adds or packaging etc.
What kind of involvement does Cody and Morgan have with the project?
We’ve all three been friends for years and currently all living together in Cali. Cody’s a photographer, videographer and is building and running the website. Morgan will play a big part in running the social network sites and keeping the team stuff running smooth. I’m the one physically creating the artwork but Morgan, Cody and the teams opinions will play a roll on any soft good or projects outside the freelance artwork.
Have you set up a website or anything like that for people to keep up with the new project? Where and when will things start becoming available?
Yes the website is cemface.com. It’s been a slow start but we do have a few soft goods as well as a variety of my artwork posted on the website. The intent is to offer a variety of artwork and I’m currently working on several designs that will be available soon. If your interested in buying, retailing produce or have an idea for a collaboration project email me at cemface@gmail.com.
Outside of that, what have you been up to?
It’s been a struggle balancing riding, getting CEM started and airbrushing so nothing exciting enough to write about.
Anything else you want to say?
Thanks for the interview, my family, friends, Sam and Nathan at Tree Bicycle Co, and everybody that’s already supporting Cement Face. Artworks a personal preference and I love hearing peoples opinion so leave some comments.
10 Front Brake Tricks with Eben Fischer – More BMX Videos
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