What first sparked the idea to collaborate with Subrosa and create the Stormwitch bike?
My friendship with Sparky's and the Subrosa family actually goes way back, close to 15 years ago... While I was apart of my past band, Recover, we were on one of our first tours and through a strike of coincidence, Underground Products was a co-sponsor on a tour through Florida. Through that, I met Ronnie Bonner, who at the time was running UGP. Ron and I clicked over the subject of BMX, he offered constant support to us as a band. He'd give us free shirts, backpacks and even socks to get us by while on tour, anything he could do to help out a struggling band on the road. We kept in touch over the years, both of us moving onto new projects. In 2012, we reconnected when The Sword was asked by Mark Mulville to officially license the song, "Apocryphon" for Subrosa's "Get Used To It" DVD. After Subrosa licensed "Apocryphon" for "G.U.T.I", it spawned a larger discussion between Ron and I, we toy'd around with an idea about doing a collaboration. I wanted to do something that would represent my love for BMX, honor the love and support the BMX community has shown The Sword, and be remembered as one-of-a-kind. The idea of a complete bike came into fruition at Texas Toast 2013 and debuted to the public one year later at Toast 2014.
When was the band originally put together, were you on since the very beginning?
The Sword was originally established in 2004, in Austin Texas. I took over as drummer in 2011...
Since you were raised in Austin, BMX has had an impact on you whether you agree with it or not. Do you find a correlation between your love for music found later in life and BMX which you've known your whole life?
I grew up in Austin Texas, so obviously BMX and freestyle make up a big part of my upbringing, it was quite a treat getting to grow up in Austin! The riding scene is massive and the music scene is world renowned, my teenage years were spent going to shows, hanging out at the 9th St. trails and at Trend Bike Source (now Empire). Riding along side guys who are now some of the world's top pros, freestyle obviously has influenced my creativity. All riders can agree that we just look at our world a little differently than most. BMX freestyle forces you to seek new creative ways, to constantly search for something new, unique and innovative, to bond with fellow like minded individuals, and most importantly gives you a tool to form and craft a style all your own. Free to create your own style. These are some of the most important values I've carried over into drumming and creating music. As a drummer, I've always sought out other things, outside of music, that can be used to inspire and influence my way of playing. I found that unity with bike riding.