STAY CRUNCHY zine Issue#1 / January 2019

Hours are spent filming “that trick/line”, waiting for the make.

During which time the rider will receive various props and a possible break down of the self-doubt they’ve faced during the last hour and a half.

3 hours in… everyone involved is physically exhausted.......and we begin to feel a creeping suspicion that the rider might not get the trick that they’ve been killing themselves for… this is commonly met by a second round of props for the rider.

Somewhere in the midst of all this, a group (sometimes even random passersby) will gather round a camera, watch the footage, and erupt in cheers. The filmer will then receive knucks from the half dead, disheveled rider, and a muttered “Cheers man, sorry I took so long”… a joint thank you and apology. Generally, that’s about it.

Hours spent at the spot trying to find the best angle to give proper justice to the trick being done (sometimes sitting on hot asphalt in a sketchy neighborhood/area, other times standing on a wall, tree or fence or rolling alongside the rider on the skateboard), the looming mix of fear and guilt when the batteries starts running low, and the dread that overcomes them when they miss an attempt that was so almost a make… all the filmer has to show for this is a bump on the knuckles and a half hearted thanks. Then everyone’s off to congratulate “the man of the moment”.

Don’t forget that when everyone else goes home, cracks a beer, has a bath and daydreams about the make, wondering if it will be “the ender of enders”, our filming friend is seated in front of his computer trawling through the footage to transfer it, or lying in bed trying to work out how he can explain politely that the song you want to use for your section doesn’t fit with your riding.

Let’s not take your lens-man for granted. Or one day, they’ll all be gone!.

SUPPORT YOUR FILMER AND STAY CRUNCHY (*Text adapted from Greg Conroy “Who films the filmer?”)

I’ve always been a big fan of LA / Westcoast street riding (especially before the massive BMX migration to LA and surrounding areas), and the name Daniel Martínez (aka “Lil-D”) along with a few others like “Eman”,“Boy” and Raul Ruiz have been well known to me for a long time.

Daniel’s effortless, steezy style riding and good use of random local spots (many of them not the most scenic/iconic/dream spots to try a trick), are part of his unique personal trademark.

I couldn’t have been more stoked than I was in February 2018 when Brian Castillo hit me up to work on a video with Daniel, with the goal to complete filming and put together a full edit (along with some other clips filmed by Mike Mastroni for what was originally going to be Daniel’s section in “VOLUME 3” edit, a project than unfortunately never happened).

Spending the last 9 months of 2018 filming with Daniel for his VOLUME edit, I had the chance to get to know him better and I thought it would be interesting to give him some coverage in the first issue of this zine.

Have a read and learn a little bit more about Daniel “D” Martínez, one of the most legendary street riders of the city of Los Angeles!...

FIRST, HOW LONG HAVE YOU LIVED IN LOS ANGELES? CAN YOU IMAGINE YOURSELF LIVING ANYWHERE ELSE? Been in Los Angeles since I was 5. So that makes 24 years now. I lived in Mexico and San Diego for the first 5 years of my life. My dad was originally from East LA. He brought me to LA. I can see myself living in San Diego. I got a lot of family down there and it’s a little calmer than LA. But it’d be hard cause I love it here.

WHAT IN YOUR OPINION ARE THE BEST AND WORST THINGS ABOUT L.A.?

Worst thing probably has to be the traffic. The best thing is the endless spots, places to eat, the culture . I would say my top 3 best reasons.

HAVING A FULL-TIME JOB AND A KID SOUNDS LIKE A LOT OF DAILY RESPONSIBILITY. HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO KEEP RIDING BMX? It’s very hard to juggle my job and my family time and my riding time. My girl works at night so it’s me and my son most nights.

During the day I work so there’s very little windows for me to ride my bike. But I try to take advantage of any opportunity even it means riding at like 6 in the morning. I just love bmx so much so I have to try to make time.

2018 MARKS 10 YEARS OF YOU RIDING FOR VOLUME BIKES … HOW´S IT BEEN SO FAR? Yeah!!! I got nothing but love for everyone at VOLUME BIKES. They made one of my biggest dreams come true and continued to support my riding all these years.

YOU’VE BEEN WORKING ON YOUR NEW VLM EDIT FOR A WHILE. ARE YOU STOKED ON IT? TELL US MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE FILMING PROCESS. I’ve been working on this volume video for the past 2 years. I started filming with Mike Mastroni any chance I would see him. But because of my schedule, it limited my filming days. When Mike quit he gave my footage to Brian and Brian gave me the opportunity to finish it with a filmer of my choice. He brought up Fernando’s name and I instantly said yes. I’ve always been a fan of Fernando’s work, so I was excited to start filming. But because I don’t ride everyday and sometimes only once a week I felt rusty and not as confident as I once was. This slowed down the filming process. I also got injured and sprained my wrist so that slowed it down even more. Luckily we were able to do some early missions throughout the months and finished this video off.

SOME OF YOUR CLIPS - LIKE THE RAIL SMITH - WERE FILMED UNDER PRESSURE SECONDS BEFORE GETTING THE BOOT BY SECURITY GUARD/COPS. HOW DO YOU HANDLE THIS KIND OF SITUATION WHEN YOU’RE OUT TRYING TO GET SOME CLIPS? I do best when I’m under pressure to be honest. It’s like I feel it’s my last chance ever to get this clip and it gives me the rush I need to send it. I tend to have these huge mental battles when I’m doing something that scares me. And no one can convince me beside myself to send something. So it can be a little stressful but definitely the cops showing

WHAT TIME WOULD YOU CONSIDER TO BE THE GOLDEN ERA OF BMX IN L.A.? DO YOU MISS THE OLD GOOD DAYS? I miss the good old days soo much! 2009 and 2010 were probably some of the best times everyone was coming up and everyone was progressing so much! This was also the time that magazines were still being printed and the biggest honor you can get is to be featured.

L.A. HAS MANY GOOD STREET SPOTS - NOT JUST FOR RIDING BMX BUT ALSO FOR EATING… WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE SPOTS ( FOR RIDE & FOR EAT)?

My favorite place to ride is this one long street close to my house that has spots on both sides of the street. I’ve shown a lot of people this street and a lot of dudes have filmed lots of clips there. Favorite spots to eat has to be some of my taco vendors in east Los! I can’t get enough of it!!

AFTER YOUR VOLUME EDIT AND YOUR CLIPS IN THE FRIENDS SECTION OF THE NEW RIDEBMX “HEADLIGHTS” FULL LENGTH VIDEO, WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR 2019?

2019 I plan on chillin more. Probably just film jibs and chiller lines.

I probably won’t be sending it anymore just for anything. I can’t be getting injured when I got a job to do and a son to raise. But don’t count me out yet ! I might surprise you!

ANY LAST WORDS TO END THIS INTERVIEW? I want to say thank you to all the people who have showed me love throughout the years! I got nothing but love and respect to give back! Thank you to everyone at VOLUME BIKES for the opportunity of a lifetime! Thanks Fernando for helping me finish this video and for this interview. And thanks to all my friends who love bmx just as much as I do!