Derek Adams

Orchid Footwear head hancho. Lover of beer, iphones and backflips.

Posts from Derek:

The Waste

This seems like a no-brainer to throw in here because the lead singer of Municipal Waste, Tony Foresta, has a blog on this website called Sounds Good. He’s probably not going to do it himself, so I thought I’d throw a video in here from “the waste”. This one had over 400,000 views, not too shabby. They’re currently touring Europe right now, then off to South America and Japan. Follow Tony’s adventures on Twitter @Tbuzz666.

From Hessians To Hippys

Some more stuff to listen to that you’ve probably already heard, but still awesome. If anyone has any music they want to see listed here hit me up (derek@leastmost.com). We’re trying to keep this blog updated with new tunes, even if they’re old tunes. Music is good.

This old Sleep song is the textbook definition of stoner rock. Everybody I know loves this song, especially Matt Beringer.

High On Fire, one of the bands that formed after Sleep broke up. These guys went the heavy route. They remind me of a modern day Motorhead.

While the other band that emerged from Sleep’s ashes, Om, went straight to outer space. This is from their newest album “God Is Good” that came out a couple of months ago. Weird but awesome. I saw these guys play and their new drummer is one bad mofo.

Rappers Worthy of Action Figures: Part 1

My friend Bob owns this Madvillain action figure. Not because he’s into collecting toys or anything, more because he knows that Madvillain (aka MF Doom aka Danger Doom aka Viktor Vaughn) is one of the illest MC’s ever to strap on a metal mask. He’s almost in his own league if you ask me, I can’t even compare him to anyone else. His flow is crazy, at first it sounds like words jumbled together just because they rhyme, but the more you listen they’ll start to make more sense than you thought. This is not new news, but maybe somebody out there is hearing about this for the first time. Who knows. Music, just like bmx, is best with a good variety. Part 2 coming soon.

I swear to god this is the best Youtube video I’ve ever seen.

For more just search Youtube, almost everything is up there. And yep that makes 2 rap post in a row for me.

30 Years of Van Homan: Part 3

Welcome to Part 3 of the Van Homan trilogy, the Photo Extravaganza.

50+ random photos old and new, including some never seen before images. Enjoy.

Continued from Part 1 and Part 2.

Thanks to all the photographers who helped create these images. Here’s a couple more classic Van videos.

30 Years of Van Homan: Interview Part 1 and Part 2.

Music To Paint Your Basement To

I’m a huge fan of all kinds of music and I’ve been wanting to pop the hip hop cherry on this blog since it’s gone up. I couldn’t think of a better way to ease you honkeys into it than with the Blakroc project. If you haven’t heard Blakroc is a collaborative effort between critically acclaimed blues duo The Black Keys and various rap artists including Mos Def, Rza, Raekwon, and Q-tip, even a track featuring ODB (rip). The album dropped a month or so ago and it’s phenomenal. I must have listened to it a 100 times while painting my basement and it kept me more motivated than Kesuke Miyagi.

THE BLAKROC DOCUMENTARY
If you’re a fan of recorded music or the creative process in general, the documentary on the Blakroc site is a must-see. Every part in the series is good. My personal favorites are 4, 6, 8, and 9, where you can see things like Rza jamming out on the guitar. In part 11 you even see Raekwon’s brother wearing an Animal shirt. There’s also some great photos and bonus features like a Blakroc radio station. Check out the site here.

“Probably the most fun I ever had making music was doing this record.”

-Dan Auerbach, The Black Keys

30 Years of Van Homan: Part 2

Continued from 30 Years of Van Homan: Part 1.

Here’s a question from Leigh Ramsdell, “Exactly how good are you at camping?”

Haha, that’s like an inside joke but I’m pretty much amazing at camping. We went camping on this island in N.C. and I just dragged my roller bag and beer cooler right across the beach. Everyone else had these dialed hiking bags and mini stoves. I knew what to ask for come Christmas time.

Since part 1 was mostly old photos, I thought I’d start out part 2 with the most recent riding shot I have of Van. FDR morning chill session, October 2009.

Here’s another inside joke, Randy wanted to know why Darryl Tocco insists on wearing a chastity belt when he goes on road trips with you now.

I definitely have a bit of a sleep disorder. I definitely just get crazy in my sleep and sleepwalk and it’s an issue, a situation. Not “The Situation” but a situation. (laughs)

That’s awesome. So you’ve been known to cuddle on some random dudes in your sleep or anything?

Haha yeah it’s happened. One night Wiz and I were at a contest, we were sleeping in the same bed and I just started scratching his back in my sleep and he was just like ‘Homan what are you doing?’ He woke me up and I obviously stopped. I do crazy stuff in my sleep. Not just like Hotel groping as John Paul calls it. I walk around, I talk, I have problems. My wife has tons of stories. I’ve heard John Paul give safety tips in case you’re on a road trip with me, “Wrap yourself up really tight in your sleeping bag like a burrito and you should be safe.” (laughs)

Good to know. Speaking of Wiz here’s a question that he sent over, kind of another joke, but he wanted to know why you changed your name to V Ho.

(laughs) V Ho is actually a nick name that Wiz gave me. We were riding for Airwalk at the time and we did some demo/autograph signing. There were just a lot of kids so my name just kind of went from Van Homan to V– Ho— pretty quick and Brian Wizmerski went to Wiz.

This sprocket grind in Paris is obviously insane, but my favorite part about this photo is that it just stopped raining and everything is soaking wet. If you look close at the bottom steps you can tell. Photo by Garrett Byrnes.

I don’t know if you covered this in another interview or anything but did you ever mention the time where you got chased out of that pool and ditched the bike and ran?

I don’t think I’ve ever talked about that. Not that I can remember.

Okay well let me pose that question to you then. Have you ever been chased out of a pool?

Well I’ve been chased out of a lot of pools but this particular story that you’re referring to… We were riding a pool and the cops rolled up, or actually this guy rolled up and he started chasing us. Rob Dolecki was with me and we leaped over the barb wire fence really quick. Once we got over we took off in different directions. I don’t even know what direction I ran I just took off. I didn’t really know where I was. Dolecki ran back up to the car, threw his bike in the back and put a blanket over it. He started doing stretches and pretending he was a jogger. The guy was like, ‘Did you see a guy on a bike?’ He just said no and totally got away with it. I wasn’t as smooth haha. I got totally lost. I couldn’t find my way back to the car. I got super paranoid and kept thinking the cops were looking for a kid on a bike so I ditched my bike in the woods and just started walking on foot. Hours later I ended up like thirty miles away [Note: it was actually around 6 miles haha]. I finally found a phone and called you guys to come get me. This is when only really cool people had cell phones. I was in like Conshohocken, way far away from the pool or our house. I was just lost for the whole day. I hid my bike in some random cross section I had to go back and find it, I think it took us like an hour to find my bike again.

Not to mention my video camera, stashed in the woods.

(laughs) Everything panned out.

Another old photo, practicing for a show at Vet Stadium (rip) in Philadelphia. This may be the first appearance of Van’s famous red helmet that made the cover of Dig.

Speaking of losing video cameras, did you ever tell the story about the time you got robbed at gunpoint for the camera?

I’ve probably talked about it years ago.

Yeah you did probably mention that, it doesn’t even seem that exciting anymore.

Yeah it kind of is what it is, guy took out a gun said give me your camera and I did.

No wait, there’s a good story to that actually…

Is it Navaz’s fault? Haha he gets really pissed when I blame him. It might not have been him actually but I can’t remember. Somebody got a flat so his bike was being carried on someone’s bars. I just remember that they were being a baby about it. I ended up carrying the bike. I had to stop to adjust the bike and that’s when the guy rolled up on me. If I wouldn’t have had the bike in my hands he never would have been able to stop me to get the camera. We were like flying down a hill so it kind of sucked the way it happened. Man that was a long time ago haha. My story is a little foggy.

Tailwhip in Salt Lake City. Photo by Vincent Guedes.

My favorite part is that you asked him for the tape.

Yeah I tried to because there was good footage on that tape. I said “let me just get that tape” and the guy was just bugging out. He probably thought I was up to something but I really just wanted the tape because it had good footage on it. (laughs) I had to go and redo some stuff because of that which was kind of a bummer. There were some really good Pat Juliff and Wiz clips on that tape I think too.

You had to go do the rail to rail again because of that.

Yeah the rail to rail that’s in Criminal Mischief. I’d already done once and it worked first try. I remember going back and like the first two or three times I slammed super hard. I was just laying at the bottom of the rail like, “Man I shouldn’t even have to be doing this again!” I was being a baby about it, like so mad that I was getting wrecked after I already did it.

Here’s the only photographic evidence left from Van’s first rail to rail, pulled clean first try.

Here’s a Steve Crandall question, “What’s your favorite part of having a good time?”

(laughs) I guess the best part of having a good time is like… (pauses) I don’t want to say anything dumb.

You can think about that for a second. I’ll give you some time.

Everything I wanted to say wasn’t really appropriate. (laughs)

Well I guess that’s your answer right there.

I guess that is a pretty good answer right there.

Van won some MTV “Rider of the Year” award a few years ago. The trophy was a guitar and it was presented to him by Lil Kim.

How psyched are you that the Little Devil bowl is coming back?

Definitely really excited that the Little Devil bowl is coming back. It’s actually funny because I’ve been really spoiled for the past however many years that Little Devil and Orchid have had a private warehouse. I’ve had private keys to session a private amazing setup for years.This Saturday I was at the skatepark and it was just mayhem, kids everywhere, I’m like battling, bumping kids out of the way to get to the box jump. I was like back in the trenches, back to the roots, you know? So I’m definitely excited that bowl’s coming back. I’m a little nervous about those beams, I don’t know, might hold me back a little bit. The bowl coming back makes me feel like I have a time machine haha.

I think you’ll be okay.

We’ll see.

Tell everyone about the time you got us kicked out of Woodward, banned for life.

Derek Adams definitely got me banned for life from Woodward when I was 17 years old. Basically I went as a camper that same year. Derek was going up to Woodward for the night and I was like “aw man I want to go”. We were supposed to talk to Wessel or something about going up but he was away and it got really shady how we were supposed to get in. We just kind of went up anyway. So we were riding the dirt jumps and this guy just came up to me and he was like, ‘Weren’t you a camper here this year?’ I just got tongue tied and started telling him weird lies like “No I wasn’t a camper” but he knew I was and it just got really awkward. Then he took us to the office. He was actually really cool to us and he said, “You guys really aren’t supposed to be here, but I’m going to let you guys ride til the end of the day but you can’t stay the night. You have got to go home tonight after it gets dark.” So we were kind of bumming but at least he was kind of cool about it. Then after that Derek decided to go into the cabins and start selling t-shirts. I guess that’s a big no no and since we were already on thin ice the guy freaked out. We got escorted off the grounds and we got banned for life. About two or three years after that I got a letter inviting me to come ride Woodward whenever I want as a visiting pro. I was actually pretty excited. I wasn’t banned all that long, and luckily the ban didn’t stick.

Some old dirt photos from the days of baggy shorts and chain wallets.

Mine stuck for a while haha. I guess this interview is getting pretty long. Do you want to wrap this thing up, or thank anyone?

Okay, I’d like to thank my amazing wife Samantha for always being there for me, my parents, Chris Moeller and everyone over at Fit, Derek and Mike at Orchid, Steve and Corey at Duo. Big thanks to the Two by Four team and all the employees. Thanks to all the Two by Four customers for their loyal support. Thanks to the hundreds of people who have been willing to work with me and involve me in different projects over the years. I’m lucky to have meet so many great friends through BMX. Thanks!

Coming soon, 30 Years of Van Homan: Part 3 – The Photo Extravaganza. Until then enjoy Van’s classic video parts from Criminal Mischief (2001) and the 2×4 video (2007).

Continue to Part 3

30 Years of Van Homan: Part 1

My friend Van turned 30 last month and I started thinking it would be a good time to do an interview with him. I had a bunch of photos saved from over the years and it seemed like it would be a good chance to sit down with him and talk about random stuff, so that’s exactly what we did. The “30 years of Van Homan” title might suggest something bigger, but how can we really sum up the legacy of Van Homan in one interview? Plus, this is in no way the end of the road for Van. Anyone who’s seen his recent “Stay Fit” part can attest to that. This is simply a chance to plant a mile marker and thank Van for being such a gnarly dude. BMX is so much radder because of you. Now let’s do this.
-Derek Adams

You’re thirty years old. How does it feel?

Actually it feels pretty good. I think a lot of people turn thirty and they start freaking out, maybe have a midlife crisis or whatever. I think if you’re happy with what you’ve done and what you’ve accomplished then turning thirty is kind of a positive thing, a mile marker like “Wow I’ve made it, I’m thirty.” I’m still riding professionally and I’ve accomplished a lot of the things I wanted to accomplish in my life so it doesn’t feel like a death sentence. It feels like I did it, now what’s next?

When I was young there were no role models in bmx who had turned thirty ever, you know, twenty five seemed like the tip of the iceberg. It just seems like now you see Ron Wilkerson hitting 43 and airing ten feet out still and it’s kind of crazy. You think you see yourself going for a while?

I’m just going to keep riding. I don’t really feel much different. No plans to start slacking or whatever. I just feel more relaxed. I don’t really feel like I’m out to prove anything. I’m still motivated to ride hard and progress my riding, but I’m less worried about what other people are doing. I’m content just doing my thing.

Van in his backyard when he first started riding.

So what’s your thing these days, pretty much total street? Because it seems like you did make the transition from racer to dirt jumper to street rider, just like a progression.

Yeah I mean I’ve always kind of rode everything. When I was growing up all we had was dirt and street. We had shovels and woods so we would dig and we would ride whatever street we had available to us. Street’s kind of where I get inspired to progress and do new things. I love riding dirt, I love riding park but I don’t feel like I have as much to offer as far as something that I’m going to want to film and that people are going to want to watch. I feel like street is where I get excited like “Oh wow look at that setup” or “I wanna learn this trick”. Park and dirt I just wanna flow and go fast and air stuff.

You think video is what’s driving bmx into the future? Filming has become such of a big part of bmx now that it seems like what people want to see and what you might want to do for fun can end up being two different things. But that’s probably what separates being a professional and not being a professional?

Yeah, but I don’t look at it as what I do for fun and what I do to film. I have fun doing it all, it’s just a different type of motivation and a different type of excitement. Just flowing the trails and being smooth is a good feeling and its relaxing but then there’s a whole different kind of high and excitement from sweatin something and overcoming it and accomplishing it. There’s a lot of different types of thrills and motivations. I think different people ride different things well. So it’s like me, I’m probably not going to film that many clips on a dirt jump but Mike Aitken, you could watch 10 minutes of that guy riding dirt and its going to be entertaining, so it just depends on the rider.

I think speed in general is coming back…bikes have chains for a reason

Van winning a race dressed in civilian clothing just like Cru Jones.

So you’re a pro rider and now you have two shops it seems like you’re just expanding your involvement in bmx. Is there anything else you see yourself doing in the future besides that?

It’s hard to tell. To be honest, right now sometimes I feel like I’m spread a little thin. I don’t think I foresee any other big ventures as of now. I really just want to work hard on the projects I already have going so that they can meet full potential.

So it’s a lot of work?

Yeah, it is, a lot of work. It’s a lot of stress. I think it’s a balance, you have to work hard in anything that’s worth doing or worth having. It’s going to take some work and stress. You don’t become a good rider without stressing out or beating yourself up a little bit and the same with business. You’re not going to be successful at business if you don’t take some chances, work hard and get a couple grey hairs.

No hair club for men just yet?

No not yet. Hopefully that’s a ways off.

Rail manual pioneering in Philadelphia. Adam Wallacavage photo.

Okay, one of my other questions is about something you mentioned before, about how it seems like riding parks and trails doesn’t even seem like “the cool thing” to do anymore. Is that a lot to do with the video stuff? Because street’s more fun to watch?

I think that for a while you’re right, but I think that it’s changing. I definitely think it’s changing. I think that a lot of kids ride street because it’s accessible and it’s not as scary, at least not at the level that every kid can ride street. Every kid can just mess around on a curb or learn to 360 off a curb but learning a 360 over a set of double is like a whole other risk factor. Not to say one is better then the other. I think street’s just more accessible for everyone. I think all the other stuff is just getting more popular again, it all goes full circle.

So you think dirt’s coming back?

I just think speed in general is coming back, speed and airing. I think people are just sick of creeping around. I think people are just into seeing someone crank full speed. Bikes have chains for a reason.

This is the exact moment Van took jersey barrier airs to a new level. Vinnie Guedes photo.

Let me ask about the acoustic guitar, you just got an acoustic guitar. You used to be pretty heavy into rocking out to punk rock jams but you’ve been off it for a while. Are you thinking about getting back into it?

I was pretty psyched I got an acoustic guitar for Christmas. I definitely want to start playing it more. You know maybe figure out some stuff. Basically all I know is a few chords and I just make up stupid punk rock songs. I’ve always have fun with it but I’d maybe like to try to progress a little bit and be able to play a little bit more of a variety. You can kind of get away with just the power chords on the electric guitar but it gets boring on the acoustic. So i’ll try to broaden my horizons a little bit and hopefully learn a few things on that.

Think we’ll ever get to record “Chester House”? [one of Van’s original songs]

We should. We’ve got a few tunes we could record. I have a few that I’ve forgotten and I need to dig up a tape or something so I can recall them. I can’t remember a couple of the classic songs.

Should we get George D to play bass?

We might have to have a reunion and play your 40th birthday haha. The one and only show we played was your 30th birthday.

Van rocking with George D. and Derek, many moons ago.

Van’s 21st birthday in Australia.

So here’s another little known skill that I always tell people you have, that I think you’re really good at, is freestyle rapping. You think anyone will ever get to witness that talent?

(Laughs) I don’t know, I might have retired that one. I don’t know, I’ve had my moments but I’m not going to claim any great feats on that but I’ve definitely had my moments.

So you’re the unsung hero of freestyle rap?

I don’t know…I don’t want to talk about freestyle rap. [Editors note: I think Van got served by Catfish a couple of times, he may be traumatized.]

This is around the time we all realized that Van was on a whole other level. 1999, rail hop to icepick. Pics by Adam Wallacavage.

So what do you think of the “Van Homan Will Save Us” catch phrase? Do you think it’s funny?

I guess it’s funny, definitely, that video that it came from was hilarious. I thought it was funny that “Van Homan will save us” was just one line in the whole thing and for some reason it’s titled that. It was kind of funny how it caught on and that Fit printed up those cups at Interbike. Then after the big breakup the phrase seemed to have even more meaning and seemed that much more fitting, so it was kind of funny.

Do you want to talk about that at all? Do you want to talk about staying with Fit or anything like that?

Basically, I wish Robbie and those guys the best but I’m way happy staying with Fit. I believe in Chris Moeller, the first guy to ever do a bar spin on a dirt jump. He started S&M Bikes from nothing. He’s built an insane machine shop and I just feel like he’s done wonders for BMX as a whole. I think a lot of younger kids don’t really realize who he is and what he’s done. I couldn’t be more proud to be part of Fit and part of S&M and that building. I just couldn’t be happier where I am. Fit’s going to keep kicking ass. We are going to keep doing our thing and keep putting out good products and putting out good riding. We lost a couple good guys on the team which was a bummer but things change. Its just leaves room for some Am guys and some new blood to have new opportunities. If anyone’s thinking that Fit’s going away or that Chris Moeller’s whack or whatever, fuck off. (laughs)

Okay, cool. That pretty much sums that up.

Stayed tuned for Part 2 of this interview coming later this week to The Least Most. Until then you can watch Van’s old Props bio uploaded courtesy of propsvisual.com.

Van Homan Props Interview from Least Most on Vimeo.

Continue to Part 2

The Most Brutal Woman Alive

If there was an election for “Most Brutal Woman Alive” I would give my vote to Amber Valentine from the black metal band Jucifer. I got to see them this weekend in Philadelphia. At first I was in the back of the venue just listening to the evil sounds coming from the stage when my friend was like, “Hey is that a girl?” We got closer to watch the show and discovered it wasn’t a full band making this huge sound, just a drummer and one girl armed with a wall of amplifiers. Her guitar shook the floor and her vocals growled like that chick in the Exorcist movie. I almost expected her head to start spinning around or chunky green vomit to shoot out of her mouth. It was that intense. Check out Jucifer’s myspace to hear for yourself (make sure your speakers have bass). If you’re a metal fan just start out with the first track “Hiroshima”. If you’re a light weight you may want to skip to something more palatable like “She Tides The Deep”. Jucifer is touring the East Coast right now, check them out if you can.