
HIGH FLYERS - AN INTERVIEW WITH JACK MILLER
"One time I took the day off school and went to the skatepark and snapped my knee..."
Photos by Will Chappell
From remote beginnings in the highlands of Scotland, to the Vans Europe team! Jack Miller has harnessed his obsession with riding and managed to gain a lot of attention for his wild mix of technical, balance based trick bag and the speed at which he does it. Days flunking school certainly seem to have paid off! To celebrate the release of his Vans Europe 'High Flyers' video, we thought we'd catch up with Jack for some more info on his background and current status...

What was it like growing up in Inverness?
Were there many riders or spots? Growing up in Inverness was super sick. There was a pretty big scene when I was younger with a handful of bmxers and skaters, but it faded over the years. There was hardly any spots unfortunately but it made it better to learn balance stuff. When I turned around 13 Inverness finally got a skatepark as we only had a half pipe and a race track that my dad used to race at back in the day! Now Inverness has three skateparks haha, it’s nice to go back and see it as it’s very pretty there !
Do you think growing up somewhere remote helped or hindered your riding and progression?
I think it definitely made it a lot harder to learn grind tricks as we never really had anything for a good while to grind at all. But there definitely was positives that came with it, you had to be a lot more creative and have a different outlook on things which has helped me now in street riding to this day. It also made it more fun travelling to bigger cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh as they had all the best skateparks, so I made the most of it when visiting.
Did you do any further education after school?
I didn’t actually go uni as I didn't do too well in school. All I wanted to do was ride my bike so I could never focus on doing actual academic things. One time I took the day off school and went to the skatepark and snapped my knee haha, that was a bit of a weird one for my mum to explain to the school. I think she told them that I fell walking out the door haha.


When did you first start travelling to?
First time I travelled with BMX as a trip was to Lyon in France with the Seventies crew for Street Station. That was a super sick trip as it had one of my favourite riders, Alex Kennedy on the trip! Was a super fun time even though the weather was extremely hot - at 40 degrees my Scottish skin was freaking out. I remember having to pun sunscreen on every 30 minutess cause I was burning so bad.
Top 3 riders back in the day?
Back growing up I used to watch loads of DVDs with my dad. I think the most influential back then for me was the likes of Mike Miller, Kriss Kyle and Davey Watson.
Top 3 riders now?
At the moment there are so many riders I love to watch, but I think it’s got to be: Brett Silva, Nathan Williams and Julian Arteaga.

What things outside of BMX influence you?
Most of the stuff that influences me outside of BMX has to be fashion, music and art. Music is a must in my life as everyday I always put in earphones to go ride. With fashion it’s been a big one since very young, as I have a family that are super into clothes. I’ve been influenced from very young to try make a outfit that makes you feel good when you go ride. With art I just love to do some doodles on clothes or on a piece of paper, just gives you that similar feeling to riding BMX. Nothing else feels like it matters, and you’re having fun!
What is your favourite model of Vans to ride and why?
It’s got to be the Vans Half Cab. They just give you the most support and they feel good when you first put them on and when they're worn in. They've always got some cool colourway options as well.
What is it about the Vans family that you enjoy being part of?
Everything - it’s so sick! Having Alex Valentino as my team manager is crazy haha. I grew up watching DVDs with him in it and always loved watching him ride. He is the best!

"Most of the stuff that influences me outside of BMX has to be fashion, music and art."- Jack Miller


Is progression important to you? Do you actively try to progress and learn new stuff, or does it just come naturally?
This is a hard one for me because some days I wanna go out and learn something new but it usually kinda comes naturally if I just go out and have some fun. I prefer to learn stuff without trying to learn it as it feels like less pressure on myself.
What was it like filming for your High Flyers part? Any memorable moments?
It was pretty hard as Charlie the filmer has a full time job, so it was difficult to be able to just go out and film whenever. We also had minimal time everyday as it was coming towards winter with the nights getting darker quicker, then weekends would come and it would rain cause we're in the UK. We got a week in Barcelona in November which really helped put the video together - big up Jay Roe for letting us stay and showing us around! Nothing too crazy happened around filming other than some guy tried to fight me haha. But regardless of all that we were stoked to get it done and have the finished product!
Did you have to deal with any injuries during filming?
Nah, I was super grateful that everything worked out all good, other than the last day in Barca when I hurt both my wrists trying this rail hop drop. It was a bit bigger than I thought and just blew straight off the back. Then I couldn’t grip my bars, but luckily that was the last day so it was chillin'.
Previous
HIGH FLYERS - AN INTERVIEW WITH JANOSCH KLAUS
"My close friends inspired me the most."
Related Content
