"It's like breakdancing on a bike," is a sentence that pretty much sums up Flatland BMX in a way that even the old folks can understand.
Matti Hemmings is one of the UK's leading BMX Flatlanders. And the young welsh man's skills have attracted the attention of a number of sponsors.
The daddy of extreme sports clothing in the UK, Animal; urban streetwear dons, dephect; and action sports camera company, Drift, are just some of the firms that have recognised his talent and have lent their assistance to him.
In the two years that he has turned professional he has tirelessly promoted Flatland BMX via workshops and UK wide tours. In fact, he single-handedly set up the UK Flatland BMX Championships in 2011, and earlier this year performed in the historic 70 day, 8000 mile London Olympic Torch Relay.
We had the pleasure of interviewing Matti during his recent whistle stop tour of London.
It may have been very cold, stupidly early in the morning and our choice of venue may not have had the hard surface that flatland is usually performed on, but being the passionate advocate for flatland he is, Matti pulled out all the stops.
To keep up to date with all things Matti and for more info on Flatland BMX visit his website.
Special thanks to Deborah Shear and crew and Eugene Minogue for their assistance; and also 'the one to watch', rapper and producer Micall Parknsun for the soundtrack 'Dirtz' which is available from his site.
