Welcome to 2015 everyone. As the first article of the year I’m taking a moment to talk about how we get our information, and the future of the culture that is BMX. Not too long ago there were video magazines that documented everything from flatland, to street, to contest riding, to obscure-ass one-of-a-kind crazy travel spots. These video magazines provided a platform for us all to see BMX as a culture instead of the sub-niche snippet we get provided for us regularly online. One thing that has been popping up lately to help restore the order of BMX as a culture, is the raising interest in podcasts. Join me as I explain what could or couldn’t be the future of BMX.
theyea | podcasts | RoadFools bmx | props |
Before the internet prevailed as our go-to source for content, there was Props. Props was a video magazine that documented practically anything that was happening in BMX at the time. With their Road Fools series as well as the Megatours, Props became a medium in which a lot of bike riders expressed themselves. From Tom Dugan saying “fuck water” to Van Homan rapping Afroman. The cool thing about Props was.. you got to hear riders talk about other riders, themselves, life, and other shit. You got to see BMX collectively.
theyea | wiz Props issue 58 |
With the disappearance of Props and other video magazines, BMX was left with a weak voice. Left to the internets, soon blogs took hold as a common way for people to express their BMX interests. From snarky tweets, to fake instagram followers, BMX became segregated. The internet started to isolate us. You could tune in (or out) of any BMX sub-niche you wanted to.
Recently, we’ve seen a surge in content. With so many retweets linking to so and so’s newest edit – to instagrams with unclickable URLs. We are being flooded with content with no way to process it other than blog posts, insta-teasers, and twitter starter-packs. Every company wants to hype their riders as hard as possible to get that brand recognition. Bike companies are turning into their own media outlets. They are looking at stats, hits, visits, sales and any other measurable metric to prove they are doing a good job and that their slice of BMX is okay. The truth of the matter is BMX is catching on to this so-to-speak “Hype Beast” and is hungry for something more.
The one thing that will insure that BMX is okay is if the kids can understand and relate to their riders and create those strong ties. How many random facts about riders can you repeat from Props issues / RoadFoods / Megatours that you wouldn’t of found out any other way? This is where I see Podcasts coming in and helping BMX push itself further into the world.
If you haven’t seen any of The Come Up’s “TCU TV” episodes you’re missing out. Love him or hate him, Adam 22 is going in the right direction by inviting bike riders in to talk and ask questions. He’s creating a discussion. With Begin popping in random tidbits of old / mid-school random knowledge, you kinda learn that Begin isn’t some brainless kid. He’s been watching BMX grow like the rest of us. But that won’t be the case forever. As more kids start riding in the “Post-Props” era they won’t even know why people bring up those random facts. Listening to Rich Hirsch talk about what he’s done in the industry you learn something you might not know from following all of his companies on instagram. How would you of known Seth Kimbrough or Brandon Horres stayed up till all night filming clips on that roadtrip unless it was talked about?
As a fellow BMXer I’m excited about podcasts. Could more pop up to help document what’s going on? I’d like to hope so. All it takes is a few headphones, a few mics and a computer right? Could podcasts be another form of exposure for riders? With the looming cleared music ban bearing down on our video making capabilities, I see podcasts as a possible way for media companies to keep exposing riders without having to clear a song every month. I see podcasts as a way to strengthen our culture. I’d love to hear some of the wild stories that I’m sure are out there.
-Matt