ANDY JENKINS - the BMX Society Interview

[S.Brothers]

For our first interview since evolving into the BMX Society, it is my distinct pleasure to present the profile of a very important BMX personage and an all around good guy. A man who should require no introduction, but since as kids we often just tore into new issues of our favorite BMX magazines, focusing only on the content and sometimes not even noticing the creators of what we were taking in - still deserves that introduction. Despite his marquee position, Andy somehow always seemed to remain unassuming and down to earth. None the less, we must acknowledge that this is a person whose contributions to the sport and indeed in a very real sense - to the way we perceived and experienced BMX during the peak years of 80's Freestyle cannot be underestimated. So let's be clear... this cat is one of THE most important names in BMX journalism - and that too from the pre-internet era when the magazines were ALL. The age when it can truly be said that the glossy pages not only presented, but definitely also shaped BMX culture. I am of course talking about one third of the legendary Wizard publishing trifecta of: Jenks, Lew & Spike, the ABA's 1980 Wyoming District No.2, Freestylin' Magazine's Editor, MX'er, Skater, zine publishing maven, influential artist, thoughtful husband and rad dad - Mr. Andy Jenkins.

 

Download the entire interview here:

 

The BMX Society's ANDY JENKINS INTERVIEW

 

I usually put up separate pages in jpg format when we release interviews because I know some people are too lazy to download a pdf... but the layout of this interview is itself a tribute to Freestylin', Club Homeboy and similar Andy Jenkins projects, so I'm gonna make it available in spread layout PDF only for the time being.

 

My sincere gratitude to BMX Society art director Matt Hanemann (chromey) and of course to Andy himself for his time and patience with the interview process. Your contributions are what has made this good and worthwhile.

[Capt. Nemo]

GREAT READING!

 

These types of interviews is what makes this site stand apart from the others.

 

Thanks for all the hard work bringing these to us.

[TrulyOdd]

cool interview...interesting stuff andy.

 

great job on the layout too, it looks cool.

 

andy, i'd love to see some more of your artwork. did you save any of the old sketch books?

 

 

[Jarvi]

Great work and thanks to all involved.

 

Bend Press has some good links through to more artwork for those interested.

 

 

Andy - loved the guest edited issue you did with Monster Children and also the regular spots. Haven't been able to grab an issue for a while so I have a bit of catching up to do.

[Kerry]

lovely....great read

[Spur]

EPIC! Karl said it best, this is what sets us apart from the rest. Great interview Steve!

 

 

[wrenchpilot]

dope.

[quinonesm]

Very Cool read and great job Steve! A fine job with the layout as well; a nice tribute to Andy.

[S.Brothers]

We had some format compression issues with the first version. Re-download it if you want a cleaner version. Not to mention my best proof reading always occurs after a piece is live.

 

 

Thanks again to Matt for helping make it all look pro.

[RipVanWinkle]

Wow! What a range of talent, some cats get all the natural skills while the rest of us struggle with just one or two things we can do well. Thanks for the interview, I've seen Andy's work through the years but never connected all the dots. Keep these coming, way cool.

[S.Brothers]

more random Andy:

[STR-1]

Boy that car ramp jump picture sure shows some series slack in that cain. That old school five speed doesn't seem to want to hang. Ha ha. Nice work on the article.

[Freestyle Promotions]

Geeeez! Seems like yesterday. Those BMX days had to be some of the best times of my life. Now that time has passed, I can step back and see how many of the pieces fit together to make an awesome puzzle. Andy was indeed one of those important pieces. I am very thankful to those like Andy that made it all happen and grateful to sites like this that keep the spirit alive.

 

Peace,

 

Ron Stebenne

Freestyle Promotions

[chromey]

I really enjoyed putting this article together and adding some "visual" life to an interview with someone I always really respected. Because of the nature of Freestylin' being a Magazine we decided to lay it out Editorial style - in magazine spreads, even. I'd love if Steve kept this series going. It really adds value to the site. Thanks for the opportunity to contribute to this Steve. Great stuff Andy!

 

[lboorse2]

Great read. Good stuff Steve and Andy. And look at Matty.... A man with a title.

 

My sincere gratitude to BMX Society art director Matt Hanemann (chromey)

Nice work to everyone involved. This is one of the many reasons I like this place so much.

[Daniel W]

Thanks for an interesting interview! Andy J is very inspirational and I check Bendpress (as well as Crailtap)pretty much daily.

 

One thing I find interesting is how it seems so much of his professional career can be traced back to Oz and Wizard. From what I understand, the reason he works at Girl (or at least started there) was because of Spike. Also one of the other owners of Girl besides Spike, Megan, used to work at Wizard.

[shinglehead]

Nice idea Steve. I guess I didn't realize what a hotshoe racer Andy actually was.

Andy, do you have any comments about any of this stuff?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jenks]

Shing! Wow, that's a nice collection. The smear sticker (is it a sticker?) is one of a kind! But what the hell is that Freddy Kruger thing with my name on it? Do I want to know?

 

I'm honored to have been picked by Steve for an interview on the site... I'm in good company! Grubbs was my favorite BMX racer back then. I want to thank Steve for the great questions and the chance to answer them — and Chromey for the cool layout. Thanks guys. Again, I'm honored.

 

And thanks for all the kind words fellas — it means a lot, especially coming from guys that grew up just like I did. In the dirt.

 

—Andy

 

Nice idea Steve. I guess I didn't realize what a hotshoe racer Andy actually was.

Andy, do you have any comments about any of this stuff?

 

PS Steve, it's not Utah, it's Wyoming... the big square state.

[jenks]

One thing I find interesting is how it seems so much of his professional career can be traced back to Oz and Wizard. From what I understand, the reason he works at Girl (or at least started there) was because of Spike. Also one of the other owners of Girl besides Spike, Megan, used to work at Wizard.

 

Hey Daniel, that's pretty much true. Spike and Megan were (are) old friends, so when they started Girl, it just made perfect sense for me to move in with them. — Andy

[shinglehead]

Ha, I knew that one would catch your eye. Dunno, it was in with some other stuff Lew sent years ago. I never asked him about it. That smear sticker is big...to bad those transfer's welded themselves to it. Either way, it's still cool. Remember that black Robinson? I bought it from you.....still have it.

[S.Brothers]

I'd be interested to see more detail on that black Robinson. Acquired complete? Looks like a classic 87 or 88 build?

 

sorry about the Utah thing, Andy. Total Neural malfunction.

[lboorse2]

I was just thinkin' the same thing about that black Robby. I want to see more.

[boxline69]

Great job !!

 

Cool read.

[jenks]

Remember that black Robinson? I bought it from you.....still have it.

 

Holy crap, I remember that bike now. I loved the Robinsons. Had a couple of them. That bike has some classic zine stickers on it — 10 Foot Boneless, Damage (anyone remember David Slade?), Swank... Anarchic Adjustment (another Brit, Nick Philip) and CHB too. Funny how a couple little things can snap your memory back into place.

[S.Brothers]

click the pic for full size view.

 

November 1983 BMX Action

 

Andy Jenkins wins the magazine's annual art contest.

 

That drawing you see there set in motion a long chain of events that we could say culminated in this conversation we are now having here almost 27 years later.

 

It triggered some other notable happenings in the interim too.

 

For instance, as mentioned in the interview, this is the winning drawing that got Andy's foot in the door at Wizard. He wrote a letter to Oz after he received the 24" Race Inc. cruiser that was the first place prize and charmed Mr. Osborn's socks off. They offered him the Editor position at Freestylin'. Not bad.

 

 

This was all in the interview, but I figured people might like to see the drawing larger. It's awesome.