24 Jan HEVIL
Rob Parsons
Intro: Aaron Gates, Interview: Mat Ridgeway, Photos: Ken Paul
Hevil has had many associations over the years – Chris Smith’s artwork, wild party stories, “that guy who KO’d Alex Chalmers”. It’s a name that defines a generation of Vancouver badasses, and their video is one of the most anticipated things we thought we’d never see. The Hevil video that will premiere tomorrow night at the Astoria is a collection of footage from 2004-2008. It includes the guys who most would associate with the original crew, along with some of the predominant Canadian riders of that time. If you’re reading this from Vancouver, you’re probably already going.
Chris Smith
When and why did you start hevil.com?
I started hevil 14 years ago with Chris Carr, then I made a website a couple years later.
Who the fuck are all these made up characters, there’s been a bunch, TruckBarns, HobeyGumbler, RobertFrazer?
I’m Truck Barns.
TRUCK BARNS HEVIL BMX from S.S mixtapes on Vimeo.
What happened at Hastings with Chalmers? and was it a left, or a right..?
Hit em with the brick!
You’re a busy guy, homeowner, baby daddy, builder of truck barns, and you run Smith Construction.. yet you still ride fairly often. Who would you wanna see start riding again?
Greg Nicholson needs to come back.
Surrey Steve
On the original HEVIL trailer it says video out 2006.. it’s 2013 now and 7 years late. Did you honestly think this DVD was ever going to get finished?
Yeah I did until smiths imac blew up.
Original Trailer
What happened to all the footage at first, I heard it was all lost at one point?
No it was never lost. Chris got a new computer back in 05 I think, so he wanted to re-capture all the clips and make hevil on the new imac. He had the video pretty much done in 2010, then the imac died. I still had most of the old tapes so I bought a macbook in 2011 and re-captured all of the tapes again for the third time. In these past two years I’ve been learning how to edit by making web edits and slowly making Hevil Parts 1 and 2..
Surrey at Hastings
Roughly how many tapes or hours of footage did you have to sort through for this?
Probably close to a hundred tapes, that’s why I made two parts to Hevil. By the time I started Hevil, I had a few more years of tapes built up so I figured make two videos. How many hours, way too many. I’ve captured the same tapes on to three different computers since 2004.
Andy Roode – 2004
You still film/ride with a lot of the original Vancouver hellions, nearly ten years later. Whats filming with them like now compared to the early days?
It’s good. I’d say we don’t film as much as the old days but we still ride all the time and if someone’s got some shit to film then the cam gets busted out.
Second Trailer
Last summer, Mercer held a screening for the HEVIL video, projected across the back of his vert ramp surrounded by Van legends and locals. Is this the same version of the video that’s premiering Friday night at the Astoria?
Yeah, same one with some added clips in the credits.
Rob Parsons
HEVIL 2013.. What have you got in mind?
Put Hevil part 2 on dvd, then start working on Hevil HD.
Andy McGrath HEVIL Mix Trailer from S.S mixtapes on Vimeo.
This is the shout outs.. who do you wanna thank for helping with this whole thing?
Chris Smith for starting Hevil, Rob Parsons for crazy shit 3, Breaden Barnard for pitching in half the cash to get the dvds made, Andy McGrath for authoring the dvd and case design and every one that helped film and all the riders: Andy Roode, Dave Osato, Sam Lowe, Andrew Riser, Luke Myers, Dustin Guenther, Wade Lajlar, Greg Nicholson, Rob Parsons, Chris Smith, Ben Boyko, Dirty Dave and the rest of the Hevil crew – you know who you are.
Rob Parsons