THE NORTHERN EMBASSY

17 Feb The Dean Hartley Interview

Now this is just a theory that I have, but I believe that BMX is a pretty leveled playing field. I mean, basically anyone who bikes has a chance of going somewhere with it if they want . It’s pretty amazing. The cost is relatively low, you don’t need expensive classes and you don’t need a fancy field or arena to practice. I think that’s one of the things that I love about it the most. Consider all the big names that have come out of small towns that you’ve never heard of. It doesn’t matter if you live in San Diego California, or Woodstock ON, if you work at it enough, you’ll get noticed.

I was super interested in interviewing Dean for a few reasons. First, to me he really epitomizes that idea. He’s a young dude from a random town in southwestern Ontario, but he’s quickly getting on everyone’s radar for doing some of the most futuristic tech tricks on a bike. And second, I realized that regardless of the fact that I’ve known Dean for two years now, I didn’t really know much about him. So read on and learn more about the Silverback Gorilla himself.

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What’s your Name, age and where you from?

Dean– Uh Dean Hartley, 20, Woodstock Ontario Canada

How old were you when you first started riding? And do you remember what got you into it originally?

Dean– Had to be at least 10 when I first started pedaling around but probably 15 when I started stunting, I got a props DVD with a flick trick and picked it up shortly after 

You clearly kill it on street setups, rails etc, but did you always gravitate towards street, or did you have phases of ramp riding or anything else?

Dean– Was always out in the skreets

It seems that ever since I first started seeing your footage you were doing ridiculous tech stuff, but you only just recently started to get some attention. (Radio and OGC at first) how did that come about? 

Dean– I got on OGC and Radio in November of 2015 and when I was told it I had no idea about it and was obviously stoked but apparently it was talked about a while before it was brought up too me about being on the team.

Following that news, you’ve now migrated over to the WeThePeople squad, that must feel pretty crazy. How did that transition happen?

Dean– Well I was at work the one day when Jeremy (Deme) gave me a text saying “we need to have a talk” and I wasn’t sure what it was about so I was literally dying to know, after a couple questions and a little talk I got asked if I want to be on WeThePeople and I was in shock because of that question and could not be more hyped to be on this team #20yearsdeep

We’re now mid February and outside biking is still a little ways away, what have you been doing to cope with the terrible Canadian weather? 

Dean– I’ve been super blessed to have Joyride150 about an hour away from me so I’m always staying in the BMX mode by heading there almost every weekend.

I know you’ve been on a few trips this past year with some of the OGC dudes, what are some spots or places that you’ve been that stand out as your favourite? 

Dean– Uhh Montreal for real, that place is like a skatepark and beer is cheap

What are some dream destinations that you’d like to visit one day?

Dean- Germany, obviously BCN and probably New York or China.

I’ve seen you wearing a helmet quite a few times while in the streets, is that something that you try to stick with?

Dean– It comes off every once and a while but a bad crash made me try to stay on top of wearing it

Cliche interview question- but who are some of your favorite riders right now?

Dean– Demarcus Paul all day, with a little Broc Raiford mixed in there as well. And Alex Donnachie to.  

Dang heavy line up. Ok so I’ve got a submission questions from an anonymous source, we’ll just call him “JD”, hopefully that doesn’t give it away- 

JD- Why are you so into insta?

JD- Do you watch insta vids to get hyped to go ride? And what do you prefer, Plazas vs street?

Dean– Jack daniels? Of course he would ask those questions 

I like Instagram because it’s like a home for clips that you capture that you would never use in an edit or just a place for some cool shit and mostly because an iPhone is like the only camera that I have around when I’m riding

No 

Street, but I’ll always have a soft spot for a killer plaza

Are there any tricks that stick out to you that you’ve struggled with? Also, how do you approach a pegs over hard to backwards crook?? That trick makes no sense. 

Dean– Well I don’t do anything that involves talking my hands off (bars, tucks with the exception of t bogs) uhh switch whips hate me and my crankarm game isn’t the strongest

The pegs hard 1 backwards crook was just a pegs hard 1 over that didn’t go over far enough and then I tried that trick for a minute and pulled it

Hahaha fair enough man. Okay let’s do a quick Top 3’s list

Favorite bands/music- 

Future, Chris travis, migos 

Favourite bmx videos-

Julian Artiega – the common crew video 

Devon smillie – the come up video

Broc raiford – the finer things

Favourite foods-

I can’t really pick out a favourite

*editors note: Probably only eats raw steak

Favourite tricks-

Whips, 540’s and 180 crooks

Things to do besides riding

Work, PlayStation and watch bike vids

Any specific plans for the spring that you can share?

Dean- Eat, Street, Sleep

Well I think that’s it dude I’m out of questions haha, thanks for doing this! Any shout-outs?

Dean- Big shout out to Jeremy Deme for all he does, WeThePeople for holding it down and supporting me, and The Boiler Room for keeping the kit nice and sturdy, and Migos.

Dean’s new Joyride video– You can also follow Dean on instagram @dean_hartley_