BMX SHOP VIDEO CONTEST”VANS THE CIRCLE”

Interview for Korean BMX Shop crew SHREDD! Voted here for video contest

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What is “Vans The Circle” about?

It’s basically a video comp ran by Vans BMX and Dig where they invite various stores from around the world to make their own 3-minute video. The premise of the videos is to give a glimpse into stores from around the world, their local scenes and riding styles. We participated last year as a global guest and were lucky enough to get an invite again.

Let us know about the riders in the video and whoever helped to make

Lee: Ji Hoon (@transcended_ahjussi), Gyumin Shim (@hot9min), Hanwool Jung (@youfeelthirstee), Sapo (@sextinction_sapo), and Sein Lee (@fw_ollo) and myself were in the video. Sapo is an illustrator and he did all the titles and cool characters for each of the riders.

We also brought Boony (@boony33) in to shoot photos and he absolutely killed it. The video was shot in full and edited by Ji Hoon, and he even made the track as well. That’s some true ‘renaissance-human’ kinda stuff in my opinion.

Ji: This year, I am still recovering from a second ACL tears so I decided to go behind of the camera full time, editing and producing music for the video as well. Hanwool also helped with color grading during the post-production.

What did you wanted to show or represent through this video?

I really wanted to show riding that was relatable and honest to our styles and the spots we ride. The crew did a really good job of doing the riding that comes naturally for them and shows who they are as a person.

Although it’s not as developed as east-coast style or Japanese-street-style, I think that distinct nuances and characteristics are beginning to emerge from Seoul, and I’m glad we got to document it and share it with the wider BMX community.

What was the hard part of while filming this video? How’s the security or policy situation in Korea street?

I’ve been lucky to have worked with Ji on projects before, but for all of the other guys it was actually their first time working on a project.

Knowing that we were going up against crews with experienced pros and ams was a bit of pressure, but it was motivational of course! Lots of lessons were both learnt and taught in a short period of time.

Ofc, butting heads with your best friend over project stuff is never fun, but love is never simple is it? Haha

The usual questions like, “Which spot can we all go to and ride for a long time without getting kicked out?”, “Which spot suits this person’s riding?”, “How many plan B spots are also in that area?”, were definitely prevalent.

It’s really hit and miss with security, but the worst are usually the ‘Karens’ or residents who can be a rider’s worst nightmare haha. Really it depends on the spot, the area, and the time of day- just like everywhere else.

I have been to lots of countries but I think Korea is one of the place that you can call spot heaven. What actually you think about Korean street spots?

Lee: Seoul still amazes me as much today as it did 4 years ago when I first moved here. The density of small things to ride is incredibly high, but it’s really hard to find big setups. The idea of even doing a traditional ‘ender’ style trick in Seoul seems very difficult to me.

Much to Ji’s dismay, the prevailing spot type is certainly the ledge plaza. I’m not gonna lie, up until a few years ago I didn’t like ledges much. To me, I just feel like it’s fun to adapt and let the surroundings shape the riding and style naturally, rather than trying to swim up a river.

Most of the ledge spots tend to have some kind of unique feature like their angle, bend or just in the way they’re laid out. Because of that, I think that it is a really fun place for people who like to ride technical styles, but it could be quite monotonous for others.

Ji: Seoul and other cities of Korea are known for uncapped “ledge spots.” although, Myself have hard time when everyone loves and rides ledges. I am more of the transition and idea/setup based rider which Seoul lacks of. I’ve been finding many spots that I like outside of Seoul lately. 

I might have to move out of Seoul at one point (haha)

What’s your expectations in the future through this “Vans The Circle”?

Lee: It’s been really clear to me how much Taeho at SHREDD has supported the growth of our tiny scene.
I’ve been so happy to see the wider crew become more switched on and motivated to work on future projects and I hope this energy permeates throughout our scene. Ofc, I would love for SHREDD to come back for round three next year!

Ji: My expectations in the future after VTC is to have young korean riders be more active in the community, film, and form their own story. Our scene and city are as beautiful and fun as the other countries.

I feel that the social expectations and the mainstream culture has eaten out the rebellious soul of Korean-ness especially to the younger generations. Riding BMX shouldn’t just be perceived as a sports but it’s the language and culture that can be communicated with everyone all around the world.