Quicky: Adam Banton

Photo: Arvada

If you follow Adam Banton on any of the social networks, there’s a good chance that you have noticed he has been a very productive guy, as always, over the course of the past year. Between riding BMX, completing his 4th album, snowboarding and more, there’s always something that he’s getting into. With his latest album just being released and him picking up a new sponsor, we figured there would be no better time than now to catch up and talk about what he has been up to lately. So, let’s get into it! There’s a lot of ground to cover…

Name: Adam Banton

Location: Scottsdale, AZ.

Sponsors: Eastern Bikes, Coda Coffee, Garden of Life, Never Summer Industries, S-One Helmets, C.T.i Kneebraces

Years riding: A lot.

Adam! How’s it going? It’s been a while since we’ve caught up.
Its going…um hectic! All fairly good things though. Just getting settled back in Arizona from living in Denver for a year, trying to heal my cellulitis elbow so I can ride 100%

Photo: Anthony Favennec

We caught wind that you just released a new record. Can you tell us about the new album? Who was all involved with this one, this time around?
“INDIVISIBLE” was recorded in July of 2015 in Rennes, France at Next Home Production Studios. This is my first studio album. It has a different direction and feel, first time recording with amps, electric guitar etc. Less acoustic and much more dream scape. I hired my friend Jeff Livingston as producer again (from Escapism) He lives in Rennes and wanted me to come over and do another record. He is such a big part of this. He helped co-write songs and plays multiple instruments on almost every track, this is just as much as his record as it is mine really. They are all my concepts and songs I brought to France and when I left Jeff had helped complete the songs as full structured thoughts. Along with us is Val Beru, he played keys, helped program drums, sound engineered and played drums on a track as well. To have these guys on this record brought it to the next level, we had a lot of fun over the 3 week course, and I was overwhelmed with the entire process. I can’t thank them enough and am always humbled by being around such amazing musicians.

How many albums have you recorded now over the years?
4 so far.

So you mentioned that you spent some time in France working on the project. What lead you to France to work on this project versus doing it here in the U.S? I flew Jeff to the States for Escapism, for Indivisible he wanted me in Rennes to get in the studio.

Did you get the chance to ride much while you were over there or was it pretty much non-stop recording to get the project done?
HA! No, 2 weeks of almost full days in the studio and my patience, brain and concentration were toast. It would have been cool to have my bike to let stress out, but couldn’t justify paying for it on the trip. This was the first international trip I have ever done with out my bike, it was strange.

Where can people pick up the album? What’s the price?
All the main web stores. $9.90 on iTunes. Indivisible is a MP3 only release. It’s on iTunes, Amazon music, Cdbaby.com, Google Play and spotify If you like it, please rate it and leave a review.

Are you going to be doing any live shows any time soon at all?
I’ll be getting back to an open mic night here in Tempe that I liked before I moved, but nothing beyond that as of now.

So, when you’re not working on music, it looks like you have been plenty busy riding. How are things going with Eastern Bikes? Do you have any cool projects in the works with them?
I have my days filled thats for sure. Eastern is amazing. Yep, amazing. I mean that. They want to grow BMX, promote it so it will flourish, give options to kids to get on a BMX, and continue to innovate parts and frames like they are known for. I’m proud to ride for Eastern and all Jon and Mike put into it. This summer we released some simple How To vids, Josh Perry and I filmed a split front brake edit that is about wrapped up. Keep up with them: @easternbikes

How about S1 Helmets, C.T.i Knee Braces, Garden of Life and Never Summer Industries? Anything going on there?
Garden of Life will be working on a way to show their Athletes on their web site soon, S-One will keep making great simple helmets with a stacked team, and C.T.i is just killing it in all Action Sports giving us multiple choices for the best braces. Never Summer is my newest sponsor I join Jake Kinney, Mike Murfitt, and Jason Lorenz on what I’ve been calling the “wheels” division, haha, they rule. My deal is just as much apparel as anything else. There could be something happening this summer…

You recently picked up an interesting new sponsor, Coda Coffee. How did that opportunity all come about? Can you tell us a little bit about what Coda is all about and how they’re different than some of the other companies out there?
Coffee is the #2 commodity in the world. Oil is #1. Think about that. When I learned that I thought why wouldn’t a beverage so popular in the world trickle down into BMX? Enter Coda Coffee. I met the Denver based company while in Colorado. The owners son rides, he is 5 and seriously SHREDS. After seeing them at the skatepark a lot and the owner getting a bike starting to ride himself we got to talking and one thing lead to the other. I don’t drink energy drinks, but love my morning coffee. So I’m proud to be repping them in all that I do in BMX and Music. I don’t want to become a barista, but I do know in the coffee world Coda’s goal is to set the standard for coffee excellence through education, advocacy, and partnerships. Which I can directly relate to of how I feel about BMX. Support, embrace and care about your world. It matters. Coda is simply different right now that there isn’t another coffee company that is showing this kind of interest in BMX. Of course, we have some things up our sleeves for 2016, follow them at @codacoffee to be in the know, it could be worth your time…in the mean time learn about there ethics and order some coffee: www.codacoffee.com

I know myself, along with a lot of readers are big coffee fans… Any chance there will be an Adam Banton Blend coming? Maybe a coffee / CD combo.. That would be rad.
Ah, wow, I dint even think about a CD combo, I’m keeping that idea!

It seems like you’re always on the move. Where all have you been as of late?
Yeah, times get hectic during the year for sure. Just moving from CO to AZ has been enough lately, but I’m really looking forward to exploring more parts of AZ this winter, then be gone during the hottest parts of summer.

Where have you been getting most of your sessions in lately?
In Denver it was Arvada often, in PHX it will no doubt be pool missions, Chandler park, and ditches. I miss riding pools.

Are you working on any new tricks or have you been really into a certain trick as of late?
The list I have (yes, a list) keeps growing, I need to start over or get them done, I have a few dream tech grinds, that I really need to put full concentration into this winter.

We noticed you have been doing a bit of snowboarding lately. How long have you been snowboarding for? Are you pretty good or do you take it a little easy?
Yes, Snowboarding is amazing. Ive been a snowboarder for a almost as long as I’ve been riding (20+ yrs) I just put bindings on a Never Summer Snow Trooper 159mm, man does it feel good. I decided about 5 years ago getting hurt snowboarding and not riding BMX sucks, when I broke a rib in Utah. I keep it simple. Soul surfing and longing for powder days!

Your brother recently took a pretty nasty crash that landed him in the hospital. How’s he holding up?
It was a tail whip tail tap, I don’t know details beyond that, he broke his tib and fib, one of them into 15 pieces, things got complicated when he started to have “Compartment syndrome” concentrated swelling in his leg, which crushes nerves, when that happens, they amputate your leg. He had emergency surgery to relieve the pressure and drain his leg. He’s been in the hospital for over about 2 weeks, 7 surgeries, 2 different skin graphs and an open wound draining his leg. He was released then remitted with an infection and failed skin graph. He had another 2 surgeries to clean out his leg, and had to have a blood transfusion, he is currently still in the hospital. Like many BMX’ers he does not have health insurance and my family and I have started a Go Fund me. He faces a long road to recover and we are hopping for a full recovery. Please share the link and donate if you can , thank you in advance from myself, Andy and my family: https://www.gofundme.com/Andy-Banton Thank you to all who have shared this and donated.

Photo: Paul Luna

So, when you aren’t recording music or riding, what else have you been getting into? Any new hobbies or anything taking up some time?
No, just constantly trying got get batter at managing my time, I go to the gym, I don’t like it, but it helps staying healthy and feeling good on my bike. Music is a lifetime passion and something you can do your entire life, so I work at that at least every other day. My fiancé Jennifer and I like to make meals at home, its affordable and you eat much cleaner.

With 2016 right around the corner, do you have any New Years Resolutions you might take a stab at?
I usually don’t do those, but I do look at it as a time to reflect. I guess I set goals with out really thinking too much about them.

How can people keep up with you these days?
@adambanton on Instagram.
@adambanton on Twitter.

Do you have any shout outs or thanks?
Jerry at Vans for the support, Play Again Now, they make Hyaluronic Acid for healthy joints, it works., Alex Jumelin at Freegun, Garden of Life Health Supplements for the continued generous support of health and happiness, my fiancé Jennifer for living the gypsy BMX lifestyle with me. All my friends everywhere. People are what make things count and the world go round, so thank you friends.

Anything else you want to say?
Huge thank you to the BMX Union for this chance to talk, all of the above companies for supporting my riding and my music. ALL of you who have supported my music through the years thank you. The older we get, the smaller our circles become.

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