Tom had a Hectic and productive 2011, and as some of the fruits from his work and times from last year are surfacing in 2012, we thought it was a good time to catch up with him and get the low down...
FBM trips, Albion Interview, your TYS part and the release of your new frame The Bell Witch, its was a busy last year for you wasn‘t it?
Yeah last year was busy in every respect but it was one of the best of my life! Of course I didn‘t completely realise that at the time, made some bad decisions, prioritised badly and ultimately it cost me. I‘ve learned a few things about myself that have surprised me from it though, so hopefully I won‘t make the same mistakes again.
Your TYS part was pretty mind blowing, were you happy with the result?
Thanks! That‘s a difficult question... I feel like I produced the best section I could under the circumstances, the video was filmed on a shoe string budget so filming trips were limited, access to a NTSC camera was very limited until right at the end of filming and I was struggling with some long term injuries so it‘s frustrating to know that I could have done better. At the same time I still did a lot of stuff that I was really happy with and I thought the part came out solid and people seemed to like it so I was happy about that.
Does it feel good to have a solid actual video/DVD part out in a world full off disposable web edits?
It does yeah, I think web edits are great for promo stuff but in my opinion the experience of watching them falls a long way short of watching a well put together video. Maybe that‘s just a generational thing and kids now feel differently but I‘d like to think that along with recent videos like Anthem II and bonedeth, Thousand Yard Stare might have got a few people stoked on DVDs again.
So, The Bell Witch, your one of the few UK riders with a signature frame, and definitely the only one named after a Mercyful Fate song, you must be pretty happy about that?
Yeah it‘s really cool to have a signature frame but it‘s even better for me that it‘s an FBM. My formative years were spent watching and admiring those guys shape and define what in my opinion is the true spirit of BMX and I‘m proud to be able to stand firm with them and play a small part in keeping that spirit alive as the fly in the homogenous ointment that is the BMX industry haha.
I know you‘ve had some problems with injuries, hows the ankle holding up now?
Yeah I‘ve had problems with my ankles for years (pre voices even) but no one seemed to know why until at the end of last year a friend suggested I might have an impingement. Sure enough as soon as I suggested that to my doctor I was referred to a specialist who confirmed it and I‘ve just recently had surgery on each ankle to remove some excess bone growth and repair some of the damage. It‘s frustrating to know that I could have had it done a long time ago and been able to ride harder for the last 8 years or whatever it‘s been but they‘re healing up well and I‘m excited to be able to hopefully ride without pain for the first time in years!
How things with Parasitized?
Pretty good, it‘s tough to be in a Death Metal band these days but our debut EP is out now on Blast Head records and we‘re playing reasonably regularly with amazing bands like Ulcerate and Aborted. Hopefully we can get a break at some point and get some help to release a full length, play some more high profile shows and tour. We‘ll see what happens...
Do you have any plans for the not to distant future?
Get back to riding and travelling a little bit, get out of Hull again and try to get a job I can see a future in, it would be nice if bikes could be involved in that somehow but I guess we‘ll see what presents itself...
