processbmxmag

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Eric Lichtenberger pocket wall from Stranger’s My Fellow Americans. Photo by Rich Hirsch. 

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Eric Lichtenberger “666″

Pic: Rich Hirsch

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New footage of the Kurtis Elwell makes this essential viewing. 

Via BAYGAME 

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Eric Lichtenberger lookback king of Queens. 

Photo by Philbrahh

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Axel Gonzalez SF nights. 

Photos by Rich Hirsch

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Chase Dehart China Town Banks NYC.

Photo by Philbahh

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Brandon Galosi with the precision smith from issue 2. 

Photo By Torey Kish 

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Greg Ohmer AKA Moon Dood from issue 2. 

Photo by Rich Hirsch

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WHAT’S GOOD?! TROY COOPER

By Rich Hirsch

Troy has been putting his community on the map for a while now and has recently started a new project called YOUREWLCOME so we/I caught up with him briefly to get a little insight on the project. 

Where are you from and what’s your favorite food?

I’m from Murrieta, CA and my favorite food is anything with noodles involved lul

I know Murrieta has always had a pretty thriving BMX scene but hadn’t heard about the noodles? Are the comparable? 

Hahaha it’s def close in comparison 

If you had to pick one noodle dish to eat for the rest of your life and one camera to film with what would your choices be? 

Psh that a tuff question probably pho! This place out here that my lady and I go to has a meeeaan veggie pho. Camera wise I probably would do a hmc150. 

I just have grown to really love this camera and how you can make it look. Shout out Steph for helping me make my shit look good 

Solid choices man... How did you get into filming? 

I got into filming from a young age I guess. I remember being a little kid and playing with my great grandmas old hi8. I always wanted one when I was young. I just wanted to be involved in a different way. 

What made me get one was hobies welcome to animal video. The vx was so good and I loved the raw ness. That’s also when I stetted hanging out with Steph and he talked me into buying one 

Same here... I used geek out over camera gear as a kid for some reason 

Who are the main guys you film with since you started out?

Yeah I can’t explain why I had such a fascination for it really Interesting how it led me to this point in my life lul. 

I film a lot with Steph, Tyler Veatch, JP Ross, HIlario Olivos , Mark Gonzales, bunch of dudes. 

It’s interesting how the local filmer to an extent is like the glue that holds a lot of scenes together.

With everyone having iPhones and video platforms individualism is becoming more and more prevalent. Have you noticed it becoming any more difficult to get people to film for the big camera or  save clips for non social vids?

Ugh not really honestly atleast with the dudes they separate bangers on the cam to bangers on the phone very well. 

These dudes are some what old school when it comes to that I would say. 

That’s cool always nice when the homies just get it. Hopefully we can keep spreading the importance of not needing  “IG” or instant gratification every second of every day to the younger generations haha. 

You’ve recently started a new project called Yourewlcome... Can you share the motivation behind this and a bit about what you’d like it to become? 

Yeah I think it helps you be a better biker but also a better person. It helps you see what’s important and what’s not in a way. Having patients is a good thing to have. 

Yeah so yourewlcome is a media page. It’s purpose it to help support bmx and the kids in bmx. It’s all organic content that comes from my self. It’s another way to show bmx while maybe not being totally focused on reposting and stuff like that. 

I want it to be a hub for bmx also I would say. Just something that really represents bmx and a whole. The rawness I feel that is lacking in bmx right now. 

That’s cool man we’re definitely trying to do the same. Are you working mostly with riders you already know or trying to get people all over involved? 

I am working with dudes I know but right now trying to branch out to others. I want bmx to involved not just the homies. 

Yeah that’s why I think what you do is so cool. It’s just different you know the zines are super cool idea. As many people that have done zines you know I feel like yours is a new age magazine. 

That’s good to hear, more people working together to build up the culture and community can only make it a better experience for everyone involved.

Also, thanks! I’m hoping to go down a similar road and shine a light on what people like yourself and others with new and/or interesting perspectives are doing in BMX, and I enjoy making stuff haha. 

Do you have any near or distant future Yourewlcome project plans you can share? 

Yeah bmx need people that care about the way it looks. For sure thanks for having me do this man I appreciate that a lot. Yeah making stuff is awesome that’s why I do it. Ugh I’m dropping a park video with Tyler, jp, Bryan, and Hilario on the 8th. Other then that I mean I’m gong to work on another mixtape but I’m gunna take more time with this one. Got interviews lined up. Also wanna make that zine from sanctuary that was such a good time dude. 

Cool stoked to see it when it drops and let’s scheme on the zine maybe we can print it for you as a section in the next Process or something. 

Where can riders etc. that want to get involved with Yourwelcome reach out to you? 

DUDE THAT WOULD BE SO COOL! If they wanna get involved in anyway just DM me lol. @yourewlcome that’s probably the easiest. 

Thanks Troy, keep on keeping on! See ya soon!

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Yumi Tsukuda late night wallie while filming for Primo’s Midnight Creatures. 

Photo by Rich Hirsch

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Chase Dehart water fountain Ice/wallie in Queens, NY

Photo by Rich Hirsch

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WHAT’S GOOD?! SEAN MORR

By Rich Hirsch

What’s good Sean? Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions... How have you been holding up through the lockdown?

Hey what’s up Rich. No problem thank you for having me. I have been holding up pretty good during the lockdown. A little stir crazy here and there but it could be worse.

That good to hear, I hit you up today to gain a little insight on your photography as well as your Pro riding career.

What came first for you bikes or cameras?

Bikes came way before, I started out when I was little kid.

I got my first bmx like 10 or so but had a mountain bike before that.

Haha same man I ripped a little 20” mtb and pretended it was a bmx before I could convince my parents to get me one.

Do you remember what your first BMX bike was?

Yea it was a chrome Royce union from toys r us. Soon followed by a haro NyQuist backtrail

Oh those backtrails were pretty sick when they dropped

What about your first camera?

Haha yea that green color way was my shit. NyQuist was also my favorite rider at the time so it was a no brainer for me. My first camera was a little Pentax zx60 film camera.

What were the steps from getting this first camera to deciding to go to school for photography?

It happened around the same time in when I was about 16/17. I was interested in photography from bmx magazines and stuff and my school had a program where you could leave for most of the day and go to training at the local college for whatever career path you were interested in. I signed up for photography and got my first camera for that class.

It’s crazy to think of what an impact magazines made on us all when we were younger, this is how I got interested in a lot of what I still do today as well.

What was your first paid photo gig after you graduated?

Yea it is, and I think about if I would have even got into it without those magazines. After high school I had a summer job at the park district that I had every summer for years with a few of my really good friends so I was just doing that and riding and shooting photos for fun. I was riding a lot of trails at the time so I would always be back in the woods with my camera just shooting whatever. BMX was really in the front of my mind around that time so the idea of getting paid photo jobs wasn’t even a thought. I was starting freshman year of college that fall and all I wanted to do was get that out of the way everyday so I could ride and kick it with friends.

When did your riding take a more serious turn?

Well I started racing when I was about 12 and was on a race team for a few years. They took that shit pretty serious and I wasn’t really feeling it after a while. That whole time I was learning to ride skateparks and stuff and luckily met this dude a few years older than me who rode and took me under his wing. I was def the little annoying kid but learned a lot about bmx so quick and it always felt kinda serious haha. I would ride whatever little contest I could and convince my parents to let me go to Louisville park back when that place was insane. It consumed my entire life and all I really cared about for a long time. It got way more serious when I moved to California my sophomore year of college.

Yeah it’s kinda funny how serious you can take it at first when there’s all that new info to consume and tricks to learn I remember it feeling limitless.

Did you have any sponsors yet when you moved out to California? How did that all come about to the point where you were making a little money off it?

No I didn’t have any sponsors when I moved out here. I was just riding, going to school and whatever. My bike got jacked and my good friend Miles Simone hooked me up with a Federal so that was my first free bike but obviously not a sponsorship. I was riding a ton and filming videos with my friend Shane. STLN BMX got ahold of me through him and then I started getting stuff from them. I was like 20/21 and started getting a little money from them a year of so later.

Nice it’s funny how it works out so differently but so similar for most people. One friend is connected then your around and it just kinda happens.

Were you living off riding at any point or working as well through that?

When I first got hooked up I was living in Santa Barbara and working at a bike shop. That town is expensive as fuck so I always worked when I lived there. After a while I moved to Long Beach and was living off riding for a little bit but it wasn’t much fun scraping by so I would usually do stuff on the side and eventually got back into photography.

That’s dope, that stolen team was a real moment. Did you start getting photo gigs in BMX or outside?

Yea it was fun times for sure during that time with them. I got started in photo gigs outside of bmx. I was still interested in it while living in Santa Barbara but was just focused on riding and that sort of thing. One of my best friends and roommate in SB was a photographer and eventually both ended up in LA area. He started working for this photo company and convinced me to do gigs for them. It was a photo booth style company that evolved into other types of photography, and that really got my mind thinking that way again and made me really take photography seriously again.

At what point did you realize you wanted to make that your “day job”?

Pretty much right away. Although the photography didn’t start out desirable I knew In my head it was a great building block that I could work off for a while. Eventually I worked my way up and good stuff started coming.

I remember seeing you around at this point and you were still riding pretty heavily and even had a few popular signature products out. What caused the move from the Pro rider life?

Yea , I was still fully riding for STLN but I could see the writing on the wall. I see a lot dudes done with riding and confused about their next step. I decided early I’m not gonna let that happened and I slowly started working on the transition out during my last few years with them.

I can respect that for sure man but you don’t seem like you’ve really slowed down riding, I see you out all the time still. Do you look at it different now when you’re riding at all? Like weigh out out if it’s worth it to hit the rail before a shoot?

Thanks man. Yea the point for me was never to slow down riding on a personal level. I still ride all the time and expect myself to keep progressing as long as I’m healthy. I actually fucked up my ankle really bad before a big shoot a couple years ago though and that really bothered me a bit. That shoot was 14hrs and one of the worst days of my life. I won’t do anything crazy bmx wise on the same day of big job anymore. I think about the risk vs reward a bit more these day but for the most part it’s business as usual.

Speaking of risk vs. reward... Haven’t you’ve recently taken the plunge and started your own photo business?

Yea. I just started a wedding photography business this past December. It’s been a wild first year with corona and all but I’m still really siked about everything.

Congratulations on that man always hyped to see the bmx family make moves. Where can people check out your work or book a zoom wedding shoot haha?

Thanks man! It was a long time in the making, hyped to get it off the ground. It’s called The OWL Weddings and you can check it out and book your wedding on the front page of The knot & WeddingWire, www.theowlweddings.com, or insta @theowlweddings

Was there anything you learned through your time focused on BMX that helped your progression in photography?

Yes there are a lot of lessons i learned through bmx that I apply to photography everyday. Mostly centered around self motivation and work ethic. Nothing much easy comes quick and all those years of bmx helped me learn so much about myself and having patience. BMX taught me to not take anything for granted.

With the statements you made recently regarding your experiences as a a black BMX and the obvious lack of black representation in BMX how have you found the photography industry by comparison?

Like many industries in the past month or so people have had to look in the mirror and that’s no different for the photo industry. Huge brands have been called out for their lack of diversity in front of and behind the lens. I’ve showed up to a shoot more than once and someone was surprised I was the lead photographer. I’ve also had black people come up to me at a big shoot to tell me how siked they are to see me shining. Even since all of this stuff has happened a few more doors have opened for me in the wedding industry and just hope it continues on that path.

Cool I thinks that’s a wrap... Thanks again for taking the time out to chat and hopefully inspire others to pursue their passions. See ya at the park in the morning, sorry for taking your whole day with all the back and forth!

Thanks for having me and no problem at all. It was great talking with you!

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Stephan August outtakes from issue 4

Photos by Rich Hirsch

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CHASE DEHART BACKCHECK INTERVIEW

By: Rich Hirsch

Chase released a new video for what appears to be his new clothing oriented project BACKCHECK today. I’ve known Chase for a long time and one thing I can say defines him the best is that he’s very calculated in what he does making sure to thoroughly vet his thoughts before he speaks similar to how he choses to perfect new tricks before ever filming them or even bringing them out in a sesh. With that said I can only imagine that he’s been cooking BACKCHECK up for a while now so I hit him up to get some info. Shirts are available now on his site as well as through Cult. 

What’s new man how you been holding up through the Covid lockdown?

Honestly not much really has changed by me through it all, our county didn’t get hit bad so we were pretty fortunate to not be on a strict lockdown. But we’ve been playing it safe and keeping to ourselves, which also isn’t much of a change haha

That’s good to hear, was that Cult AZ trip your last time away from your area?

Yea I literally came home from that trip, and about 2 to 3 days later is when all the shutting down started, I thought I had the virus no doubt because I was just on a plane haha, I was stressing at first.. Not to joke about it.

Did you end up getting it you think?

Honestly right when I got home, me and the family were real sick for about a week, and we all kind of thought maybe we had it and it passed. The only thing was none of us ever had a fever, we just felt shitty mostly. Like just cold symptoms mostly, and we were having wether change so it was pretty normal to feel that way here.

Same here around that time everyone I know had a bad cold/flu that lingered a little longer than normal but nothing too crazy luckily.

I’ve been seeing the Backcheck stickers and then shirts floating around the area the last few months when did you decide to start this new project and what was the motivation?

I feel like I’ve always wanted to do it in the back of my mind, I tried when I was younger with butter, but I lost interest in it because I was just young and doing so much other stuff, and then about two years ago me and my girlfriend and a couple friends would always talk about doing something on our own for fun, and then I tried filming a video last summer to get things going, but motivation kind of died out and I was really busy anyhow, but this time around it just felt right to get it going and started really coming together, my friend Tom started coming around and filming, so that kind of helped motivate us because we had a good filmer, and then me and my girlfriend have good friends who run a printing business, and they motivated us because they knew we’ve been wanting to make shirts and stuff, so that also helped get things going, like I said things just seemed to start coming together and we are going with it.

But yea, it’s kind of been a long time coming as far as wanting to do it.

That’s awesome man congrats on making it happen.

I think this is an element in BMX that a lot of riders never see. You hear so much about how a check from a single sponsor may not be that much but when you look at the guys who have always flourished they had not only good sponsors but their own projects in many cases myself included.

Yea definitely, If it’s what you do, you’ll always feel the motivation to get a project going one way or another, wether it’s filming or whatever.

What would you like to see happen next now that you’ve released your first video and tee? Anything you can share without ruining the surprise?

From here just gonna do more of the same, continue to film and lurk around, working with some artists on shirt designs. More stuff to come for sure.

Sounds good man good luck with all that, excited to see what’s next. Anything new coming up with Cult we can check for? Hyped to ride your new primo grip when they come in ;)

Yea speaking of sponsors I definitely want to thank cult and primo (you) for supporting me, I’m very lucky to have your guys support. and for cult we are about to do a video for a vans x cult shoe that’s coming out soon, and yea my primo grip is coming out real soon and I’m hyped, I definitely appreciate that.

That’s what’s up man thanks for being down and continuing to inspire. See ya soon hopefully.

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Eric Lichtenberger “pop in”

Pic: Rich Hirsch

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Rich Hirsch with a late night hop in Venice. 

Pic: Philbrahh

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Hobie Doan breaking in a new setup at one of LA’s oldest spots before it was capped. 

Pic: Rich Hirsch