Running from police, scaling 10ft walls, breaking bones and scraping flesh, this is BMX at its most raw and real. We caught up with some of the film’s brightest young stars to talk about travelling the world, breaking the law, and what it’s like to live life on the edge.
How did you first get into riding?
Ben Lewis: I’ve been riding a bike since I was 12. I never planned to become a professional BMX rider; I went to university and worked jobs until I was 25. I just rode for fun, but then one day my friend filmed me and put it online and that was it.
Nathan Williams: I grew up riding in my parent’s back yard; I’d dig holes to build jumps. I think I was 14 when I went to my first skate park, and starting riding street. I didn’t know a whole lot about BMX; I just knew that I liked it.
Dan Lacey: I think I was about ten or something. My mum got me this really weird little green bike, which I rode around everywhere. You always remember the first shitty bike you get your hands on. I didn’t know what BMX was; I would just ride around in my little dream world. It wasn’t until I was about 12, when a bunch of local older kids, who were over BMX and wanted to get out of it, asked me if I wanted their bikes and old VHS tapes from the 90s.
What do you love about it?
Dan: It’s the feeling for massive self-accomplishment. You’ve had to go through all these trial and errors, you’ve had crashes, you end up in hospital, and you have to deal with all the stress. It’s that bit at the end that makes it worth it; everything culminates to that one clip. When you watch the clip back it’s two seconds, but that clip could have taken you weeks on end to build up to it and hours to actually pull the trick how you want. That feeling is almost euphoric.
Nathan: It’s kind of like an escape. It’s all about hanging out with your friends and being free; you’re not confined to one space. You can do whatever.
What about fashion, are you into that whole side of things?
Dan: Yeah, I am. My friend runs an independent clothing brand that’s BMX based, but it’s also branching away from that and I’m keen to help out with it. It’s good to blend it into normal society like it has with skateboarding. People don’t’ see things like Supra and Palace as skateboarding brands anymore. It’s just a normal thing. They are street wear brands now, because everyone’s wearing them. I feel like in the next ten years, I’d like to see BMX clothing doing the same.
Nathan: It sounds stupid but you want to look somewhat fashionable, I guess. For me I follow skating a bit, they have a big lifestyle industry aside from the live action sports part. That’s what influences me.
Do you think the fact that BMX and the whole riding culture looks cool was part of your initial attraction it?
Dan: Yeah, I mean to a certain extent. It’s the same as skaters, they look cool. But if you ride decathlon, you look a bit mad walking around on the street in your Lycra. BMX and skating are lifestyles, it’s not something you go and get kitted out for. You wear the same clothes that you wear to do everyday stuff. It’s something that’s a part of your life.
What about all the BMX videos, are you into that whole side of things?
Nathan: Definitely. For me growing up there wasn’t the Internet, so DVDs were a huge thing for me. It ties in to the whole lifestyle. I have a couple of cameras back at home. It’s fun. There’s the filming and then there’s the video editing which is kind of an art in itself.
Why was it so important to make this film in particular?
Dan: I feel like with the video it makes it easier to explain to people what it is that I do. Explaining it to a million people, a million times, is the hardest thing in the world. But when you’ve got a film that’s able to do the talking for you…
With things like sponsorship deals and doing your own signature lines, do you ever worry about being seen as selling out?
Ben: Putting your name on a product is one of the biggest honours you can get in BMX. Selling out is more along the lines of riding for Slim Jims.
Dan: It’s weird the endorsement thing. It’s something you never comprehend as a kid. If someone were to tell me that one-day people were going to give me free stuff for riding my bike, I’d tell them it was the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. But I feel blessed for everything that I have.
Is the danger side of riding what attracts you to it?
Nathan: Yeah, scaring myself is definitely part of it. I enjoy it.
Dan: It’s such a big part of it.
Ben: Sometimes the pressure really helps. You’ll be sitting there for hours and then you see the police coming and you only have one chance to do it so you put 250% into it. You give it everything and you’re not scared. That’s really fun.
Have you ever walked away from a trick because it’s too dangerous?
Ben: Yes. But you’ll just catalogue it in your mind for when you’re feeling good. Sometimes you’ll need those ones when you’re feeling fucking hyped.
What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?
Nathan: I knocked my teeth out, and I fractured my jaw. That was the worst one for me as I go knocked out. It was really scary.
What are run-ins with the police like?
Nathan: You’ll get some assholes but then you can go back to the same spot and get someone different, and they’ll be super cool and talk to you like you’re a person.
Ben: Security can be a bit of a nightmare. It’s a $2000 fine if you’ve got no brakes on your bike, so you can imagine what it would be like for what we do on our bikes. In Tokyo you can ride away from the police easily because they’re quite timid, but I got caught in California doing it and got a year’s probation and a suspended sentence.
Do you plan what trick you’re going to pull before you do it?
Nathan: Sometimes. If you really want to do something specific on a certain jump you go there and do it, but other times you’ll be riding around the city and stumble across things that look cool and you’ll do it on a whim.
Do you have any little ticks or good luck charms that you do before you do a jump?
Dan: I go off for five minutes and I sit down and have a coffee and a cigarette. I listen to some music and try and get back in the game. Ben can just sit down and not talk to anyone and he’s fine with it. I’ve seen other people that will just ride off and we won’t see them for the rest of the day.
Ben: Everyone has their own ritual, whether it’s saying a prayer or touching a bit of wood with your bike. I kiss the rail to show it some love and ask it to be kind to me.
What does it feel like when you fuck up a jump?
Dan: I guess my frustration gets the better of me a lot of the time. It gets to a stage when it’s been hours doing the same thing and you just start freaking out. Sometimes I can’t hold it in. You just think, ”what the fuck am I doing? This is ridiculous, this isn’t working.” But then a part of you thinks, ”no it is I got so close minute ago,” and then you spend the next two hours falling off and being shit. You just have to take everything as it comes, I guess.
Above/Below will be release on 14th December on iTunes:https://itunes.apple.com/gb/movie/id940045744
abovebelow
Credits
Text Tish Weinstock
Photography Amber Grace Dixon