The Albion Issue 6

videos were rough, but they perfectly epitomised mid 90s East Coast BMX. “Me and Mike Tag made 1201 in 95’, then I made my own video the next year called Lights Out. I also did a small T-shirt company called Scum clothing. Later I moved to Austin and lived with Joe and Taj in a room the size of a bed. I didn’t have an income, other than selling plasma [blood donating], and shifting a few videos and shirts at BMX races. I didn’t even think about filming BMX as a career plan. I just scraped by and rode a lot. The Props opportunity was a chance for me to pay my bills.”

PROPS In the age of the VHS cassette, Props Video Magazine provided the BMX community with a rare source of up-to-date information. Each episode featured contests, races, scene reports, interviews, not to mention the legendary Road Fools and Mega Tour videos, helping the BMX industry to get on its feet. “Back then if you wanted to see progression the only place to see it was in a Props video. Props videos were turned around quicker than bike company videos which would take a year or more to make.” He tells me from the deck of his ramp. “I wasn’t on Road Fools 1, but I was around for a couple of days and got some short riding clips. I met Props owners Chris [Rye] and Marco [Massei] again while they were doing Road Fools 5. They said there was a DK Dirt Circuit contest that next week and they couldn’t cover it. I offered to help them out and instantly they bought me a bus ticket. It was 1999, I was 25… I think, – I’m terrible with maths. The next Props issue I shot three things. Before then, they’d had a hard time finding someone dependable that they could rely on. At the time there weren’t many reliable video guys, a lot of them were flakes. I think that’s why I’ve made a living doing it, because I bust my ass to meet deadlines and get the shit done.”

Times change and the days of VHS cassettes and DVDs being the only regular source of progressive riding are now long gone. I ask Stew about the situation with Props and what the future holds.

“Nowadays Props is in a weird transition phase. People don’t really buy videos anymore, that makes it tricky when the video is your product. Props isn’t like a bike company where a video promotes your product. As far as Props goes now, I don’t think Marco and Chris are making a penny. There aren’t any issues any more, they’re kind of on hold. We just did a Mega Tour and the Owned DVD, we’ll see how they do with those. For a while they were able to sell stuff to Fuel (extreme sports TV channel) to cover the loss of video sales, but now Fuel have changed their programming and want Ultimate Fighting or whatever garbage, Fuel doesn’t care about BMX.” DRAWING THE LINE While working for Props and making his own videos, Stew has lived a life on the road fully immersed in BMX. At the age of 38, he has spent his adult life sleeping on floors, driving rowdy vans in foreign countries, charging batteries in diners, stashing DV tapes, and editing in cheap motels. Despite BMX’s carefree good time origins, life as a professional filmer is not a permanent holiday of high fives and California smiles. It is a life that demands the ability to interact socially with a broad range of personalities, have an abundance of patience with the weather and security guards. It’s a job that requires Stew to take total responsibility in meeting deadlines and also with the even more serious matter of dealing with potential life threatening accidents that can occur when riders are out there putting life and limb on the line.

“It’s hard to draw the line between work and fun. I get to travel a lot and work with people I look up to. I don’t stress about money. I’m not a business guy, if I was I wouldn’t be making BMX videos for a living. There is a fine line where it becomes your job, which I think everyone who does something they’re passionate about finds. You don’t want to admit it to yourself or maybe don’t even realise it, but what you did before as fun has become work, and it can consume your life. I rarely take time off because I get offered to do a cool trip 138