lot of luck in there, but I think trying to
harness social media and getting a bit
of a following helps. Exposure through
social media can be done around the
clock, whereas contests only happen
every so often.
You’re also pretty proactive with
creating video edits and digital
content. Where do you come up
with ideas for them, such as your
new T-Rex video?
That was my girlfriend’s idea! I was
starting a YouTube channel and asked
her if she had any funny ideas to help
grow it, and that was her first one. I
laughed it off to start with, but then
thought it’d be a sick idea. I bought a
costume for 100 quid on the internet,
but it turned out to be a lot of hard
work. It took three shoots to get all
the footage, you’re blinded by the
condensation inside the suit, the arse
constantly gets caught in the rear tyre,
it’s just hard work. There’s a reason
no-one’s done it before and that’s
because it’s pretty much impossible.
Sounds like the perfect recipe for
a sequel.
[laughs] Yeah we’ll do another one for
sure. Everyone thought it was funny
and it does look pretty hilarious seeing
a T-Rex riding a mountain bike.
Do you have any other projects in
the pipeline?
Until I broke my arm I’d intended to
start a big project with Red Bull as
soon as I got home from Rotorua.
Those plans will be pushed back a
bit now, but that will involve building
a course, practising, and filming it for
release later this year.
new tricks. It’s going to take a lot of
time and energy, but it’ll be rewarding
and I’m stoked to do my first project
with Red Bull.
Looking forward to seeing it! What
about longer term? Were do you see
yourself in, say, five years’ time?
Aaah, I’ll be 27, so I’d still like to be
doing contests, but I want to be way
more involved with the direction of
the sport. I’d love to organise my
own contests and engineer it to the
needs of the riders; I know first-hand
what they want, and the difficulties
and opinions of all the riders. I’d love
to formulate a contest or series they
actually love and are stoked to attend.
It mightn’t be as good a show or as
good for the corporate sponsors, but
it’ll be something that the riders are
excited about and want to be a part
of.
In five years I think we’ll also see a
big shift where producing content
and video projects will become as
important, or more important, than
competition results as they have a
longer lasting impact. It’s going to
be an interesting time, but I’ll try and
weave with it and bring my own input
to the table.
Awesome. Thanks for the chat,
man, and all the best for your
recovery.
Thanks dude! t
/MattJonesMTB
@MattJonesMTB
@MattJonesMTB
Basically, the project will have
three facets to it – a unique filming
technique, a cool course with features
that haven’t been used before, and