The Union Tapes

Eddie Roman has, coincidently, made a few appearances online over the last month or so. We started this interview in early December, and had to come back for another sit down in early Jan. I was surprised that no one had asked Eddie to do an interview before, the guy was a major part of the BMX scene and the direction it went in back in the mid 80s to early 90s, and beyond. A major innovator and pioneer, from riding to video making to product development. We go in depth as usual, from the start of Eddie's BMX up to todays activities. From getting on Skyway and UK tours, riding the AFA contests, getting the first wall ride pic in the USA magazines. The following explosion of sponsorship. The decline of BMX in the late 80s, the Enchanted ramp and 2 hip events. The riders that influenced and helped shape what was being created in those recession days. Getting into video making and filming of the most influential videos of that era-Aggro man, Ride like a man, Head first and Ride on (How's that for a video back to back body of work?) This is a good un, lots of stuff that hasn't been spoken about before. Get some!

Back in 95 myself and Fids took a trip to California to experience the American dream, we stayed in HB with Neal Wood, Chris Moeller, Steve Emig and Jason Timmy Ball, who'd moved to California the year before and was working at S&M bikes. Timmy was one of the Sheep hills locals and popped up in many a magazine and video riding the many trail spots of So Cal from those days. 30 years later he is still working at S&M bikes, we get the low down on how he got into riding BMX as a kid in Colarardo, to everything alone the way. The years of working at S&M, the manufacturing process, the machines and tooling, the products, some talk about the iconic S&M vhs BMX inferno, right up to present day and the LAMF frame story.

Riders mentioned: Chris Moeller,Neal Wood,Brian Foster,Fids,Alan Foster,Lawan Cunningham,Jay Bone,Chris Sales,ToddLyons,Grotbags,Chico Hooke,Alex Leech,Keith Treanor,Mike Griffin,Vic Murphy,Bo Usher,Steve Emig,John Povah,Mcgilla,Stew Johnson,Steve Crandall,steve ob ,ray luscombe,john fagerburg,brendan brown ,claybrown ,troy mcmurray,brian taylor,luscombe bros,Robbie Reid,Nick Coombes,Andy Coombes,Stuart Dawkins,Ian Morris,Barspinner Ryan Brennan,Adam Pope,Jason Pope,Josh Stricker,Corey Nastazio,Hucker,Kris Bennett,Shaun Buter,Jimmy Levan,Freddie Chulo,Shad Johnson,Mike Griffin,Dave Parrick,Timmy Strelecki,Chase Hawk,Dakota Roche,Robbie Morales,Mike Tag

Fids was the first episode we did for The Union Tapes, and served as the perfect launch for what we were trying to do.

This is a tribute to Fids, who left us on the 08/12/24 he leaves a legacy and a half.

The stories I tell here are from his early days, when we started hanging out, he started getting back into BMX again and some of the stories that followed.

From the early days Fids lived a life he was pursuing with a passion putting as much into it as he could.

We all learned lessons from this guy.

As some one online put it recently, "the afterlife ain't ready for the Fids"

Some highly progressive riders came through after the early 80's BMX explosion, the kids inspired by the King of the Skateparks and early Freestyle contests at the start of it all. The next wave was snapping at the heels of the big pros of the time. Joe Johnson is one of those guys, making a lot of noise on the east coast, Joe built his own quarter up against his moms house, mastered it then continued on to create many of his own moves. Joe went on to become part of the prestigious Haro team in 86. I remember watching Joe ride at the Manchester worlds and thinking how does he stretch everything so far and land so perfectly at the top of the ramp. There was definitely a new technique being used here. We touch on a lot of Joe contributions and riding ideas as well as all the usual topics of how it started…

Bob Haro, Dennis McCoy, Eddie Fiola, Mike Buff, Craig Campbell, Tony Murray, Ron Wilkerson, John Povah, Mat Hoffman, Mike Dominguez, Carlo Griggs, Chris Potts, Jerry Galley, Kevin Martin, Rick Moliterno, Marc Mcglyn, Rich Sigur, Dave Voelker, Dave Nourie, Dave Mirra, Kevin Robinson, Jason Ellis, Scott Carrol, Jamie Bestwick, Simon Tabron, Spike Jonez, Greg Guilliote, Jason Hassle, Andy Brown, Lee Reynolds, Brian Blyther, Zach Shaw

John has been in BMX since the start, he's been involved in a lot of projects both in front of the camera and behind the scene, we tap into all of that and more. From John's start in BMX in the west London area to present days BMX projects. We get into his first BMX, the early race days, the first quarter pipe ridden. Discovering Harrow skatepark and the early 80s scene. Riding for Raleigh, the team and the BMX programme they tried to create in the mid 80s. Meanwhile quarters and the London scene in the darker days, leaving the UK and moving to California in his late teens. Progressing street riding, filming for the ultimate weekend VHS, ramp building, being in the iconic Dirty deeds video, working at Schwinn. Later being a part of the Etnies BMX programme when they had there most popular push in BMX right up to present day and the Old School BMX Reunion out at Woodward west they he puts on.

Darren Wood, Lee Shuri, Dean Iddiols, Andy Ruffell, Jason Lunn, Paul Zack, Paul Gerlach, Andy Brown, Greg Guiliotte, Lee Reynolds, Joe Johnson, Ron Wilkerson, Todd Anderson, Keith Treanor, Chris Moeller, John Paul Rogers, Dave Clymer, Brian Foster, Steve Mccolud, Dizz Hicks, Craig Campbell, Jess Dyrenforth, Damon Nicholls, Tony Mckenzie, Nathan Lunn, Rich Sigur, Davin Halford, Chris Day, Jay Miron, Ruben Alacantara, Taj Mihelich, Joe Rich, Aaron Ross, Ian Morris, Carlo Griggs, Neil Ruffell, Brian Blyther

Kurt Schmidt is without doubt the fakie pioneer, no one was doing fakie tricks like him in the mid 90s, we delve deep into that topic and as usual go right back to the start. Kurt grew up near Minneapolis in middle America, a long way from the sunshine drenched concrete skateparks of California but the lust for BMX was strong and these guys made their own thriving scene, mostly in Kurt's garden, where they constructed quarter pipes to rip on. I never knew just how deep Kurt's BMX roots were, he started way back in the 80s BMX boom. Progressed up the ranks in the local MFA contest scene, Met a bunch touring BMX teams and through riding with Rick Moliterno and DMC ended up riding for Haro, just as BMX was collapsing….We get into the stories in this episode and uncover a bunch of tricks that that Kurt owns, that most people don't realise. The inception of Standard bike co, how and why it came about, what the idea was, the way they rode, where they took inspiration from and how they picked the team….the BMX beefs back in the 90s and the whole story up until now! Riders mentioned: Rick Moliterno, Bill Nitschke, DMC, Dave Voelker, Eddie Fiola, Rich Sigur, Taj, Joe Rich, Chad Degroot, Dave Freimuth, Eddie Roman, Ron Wilkerson, Mike Dominguez, Todd Anderson, RL Osbourne, Mat Hoffman, Chris Moeller, Bob Haro, Woody Itson, Tim Ruck, Marty Schlezinger, Dale Madson, Andy Jordan, Steve Swoope, Perry Mervar, Mike Kranich, Hugo Gonzales, Scotty Freeman, Krys Dauchi, Dizz Hicks, Martin Aparijo, Randy Tischman, Kevin jones, Darren Pellio, Chase Gouin, Chad Herrington, Chris Potts, Kevin Martin, Sandy Carson

Dan Price made an impact on the UK scene in the mid 90s but his BMX roots true back much further than that. We take a step back into the archives of Dans active mind and uncover a lot of things most of had no idea about. His journey into BMX being quite different to most others who came through the 80s BMX explosion where he went in a few different directions and found himself returning back to a BMX scene that was desolate but he didn't even realise it. Get into this one, we cover 80s BMX boom, discovering Southbank, early influences and being heckled for being too dirt brothers like, early street jams, meeting life long friend James White. contests, moving to Hastings, never being bothered about riding ramps, magazine pics, video parts, the ideals of street riding, the trouble with being sponsored, trips to the USA and his take on modern street riding, the never ending battle of still riding BMX and what it all involves.

Back when I first got into BMX, we used to go Rom on semi regular basis, dreaming of one day being able to air the concrete bowls there like the other kids could. Rom had some amazing locals, low key and top sponsored guys. But what everyone really fawned over was the California skateparks, under the picturesque blue sky, light coloured concrete, motocross googles and colourful race uniforms. There were a few riders that featured regularly in the UK magazines, pics started coming out in UK magazines of riders like Eddie, Brian Blyther, Mike Dominguez and Rich Sigur who specialised in aerial moves at the pipeline skatepark in CA. These pics were the ones all of us aspiring youngsters looked to and dreamed about. One of the riders that I started to see feature in the uk magazines was Eddie Fiola, Whom by this point was aboard the new GT performer fully kitted out in matching race gear. The buzz was well and truly out there and this guy was on everyones radar, more photoshoots and a visit to the UK to compete on the new UK BMX TV show Kellogs track wars was perfect timing. Now almost a house hold name in the UK. That year yellow bike part sales no doubt got as popular as they have ever been. Eddie was all over the magazines and events for the next few years, but then slowly faded out of the spot light, even though he never quit riding BMX. We do the usual here and follow Eddies story from his first bike into BMX, creating skatepark riding with the early pioneers and what evolved from it. First photoshoots, the start of the King of the Skateparks events. Multiple sponsorship stories, visits and tours to the Japan, UK and Europe. Controversy at the Kellogs event. Shows, the changing face of BMX, right up to present day and releasing the EF frame fork and bar kits….An information over load on this one for me. Enjoy.

Bob Morales Bob Osborne Tinker Jurez Fred Bekker Bob Haro Jeff Watson Mike Dominguez Brian Blyther Dave Vanderspek Donovan Ritter Tony Murray Rich Sigur Richard Anderson Josh White Jess Dyrenforth Dave Curry Ron Wilkerson Dave Breed Terry Jenkins Andy Irwin Craig Campbell Neil Ruffell Maurice Meyer Josh White Mat Hoffman Dave Voelker Stu Thompsen Harry Leary Greg Hill Timmy Judge Scot Breithaupt

BMX action bike was the real BMX bible back in the 80s, it set the standard for uk bmx mags in its approach to covering BMX and how the many themes of it grew.I don't know where to start with this intro, this is the first person on the show that has never ridden BMX, but contributed so much to it and many people have requested I get him on the show. If you are into BMX you would have undoubtedly seen TLB real name Tim Leighton Boyce's pics some where, even if you didn't realise they were his. For us kids who came through in the 80s Tim is a name we all know. we get into Tim's start into the skateboard industry working at Alpine sports and the skateboard explosion in the 70s. His start in being a skateboard magazine photographer. The collapse of skateboarding into the BMX boom years and what he did and didn't like about it. His early approach to covering the local kids as well as the pros of the time. The iconic photo shoots with Craig Campbell at Rom and the Eddie Fiola and Mike Dominguez Livingston story. The re emergence of Skateboarding and slowly creeping it into BMX Action bike, the emergence of the newer BMX street style. The infamous Mons jam's and the UKBFA vs BMX action bike conflict. Turning the magazine into Read and Destroy with Nick Philip. The demise of Read and Destroy and what came next, We also talk about the up coming read and Destroy book-which doesn't feature any BMX pics inside, we did talk about his BMX archive but couldn't include that part. Rumour has it there are over 3000 of Tim's BMX pics out there…Let's hope they make it into print sooner than later.

Marv moved to London in 2005 (with Daniel Benson), I remember wondering why they'd moved to London - I thought they were both from Sheffield and that scene was blowing up at the time with the recent release of Joe Cox's Voices DVD. They had a reputation that preceded them, so the buzz was out these guys were in town. We crosed paths at a Rom jam and at the time I was surprised at their amicability. I came to learn both these guys were students of the BMX game through and through. Marv was one of the big break out names in the uk around that time, he scored the last part on the Voices DVD from the then underground Sheffield scene, then ended up on the Fit bikes UK team, with many sponsors to follow. He made multiple magazine features that often provoked other riders, made endless DVD appearances aswell as making his own series of DIY DVD's documenting the London scene he was involved in. This is the tale of kid from Berkshire moving through the BMX ranks right up to having a pro frame with Fit and far beyond…

Riders mentioned Daniel Benson, Grant Stone, Joe Cox, Dan Cox, James Cox, Joe Fox, Liam Eranshaw, Reece Coren, Tim March, Dakota Roache, Cookie, The Count, Kris Bennett, Ben Lewis, Leo Forte, James Smith, Will Jackson, Northern John, Rob Hate, Bowl Head, Jersey Mike Taylor, Butcher , Troy Mcmurray, The Gonz, Joe Riley, Tom Blythe, Rob Bartlett, Ross Payne, Robin Fenlon, Jon Taylor, Ian Morris, Scott Malyon, Dean Hearne