Thursday, January 8, 2009

Homeless Background

This pretty much sums it up. Thanks Brian and Tom


During the dark days of 1991, before the internet, when the only form of media still alive and kicking was BMX Plus, a movement among dedicated BMXers began to arise in the form of rider-owned BMX companies. If you know me, or keep up with at all, you probably know this introduction like the back of your hand, so I wont go into it again. I'll just say that BMX Freestyle came to a point where it almost seemed like it was not going to survive. Thankfully, it did.

Its not that people weren't into riding. They were, and the sport was definitely progressing, but there was no unified scene, no contest to attend, not enough magazines to read, not enough quality bike videos to watch, and not enough quality bike parts available.

That was the impetus behind start-up rider-owned companies such as Hoffman Bikes and Standard Byke Co., which began around the same time (1990-91) and are still around today as respected brands. But therewere additional, now lesser known brands that came onto the scene and made a huge impact, such as in Austin, Texas's own Homeless Bikes.

At the time, a high school student named Dave Parrick had created his own "Club" which was a spoof on Club Homeboy, a club made popular by the editors of Freestylin Magazine. Parrick's club was called "Club Homeless". In the beginning, Club Homeless made videos and T-shirts which were sold at Austins own Trend Bike Source. Eventually, Parrick, Club Homeless partner in crime James Shepherd and Ruben Castillo turned their thoughts to bikes. "We did it just for fun and people seemed to like the name Homeless so we used it for the bike company" said Parrick.

Homeless Bikes was oficially born in 1991. In the beginning, they manufactured two frames: The Mack, a no frills street/jumping frame, and the Soul Bro, a shorter, flatland based frame with a standing platform. Additionaly, Homeless released US made forks with 1/4" dropouts, shin guards and self sealing tubes dubbed "The Fatty", apparel and accessories. The team was a heavy cast of then unknown rippers from the Texas area, including Parrick, Shepherd and Castillo, along with Lee Sultemeier, Steve Orneales, Ed Koenning, Eben Krackau, Jeff Harris, Kevin Gutierrez and a revloving door cast of riders from the UK (Jason Davies, John Yull), California and more.

Under the direction of Parrickand Shepherd, Homeless created two videos which would go on to become legendery in the realm of BMX videos: Highway to Hell, released in 1992, and Trash, released one year later and described as "A film based loosely on the handrail". Both broke entirely new ground on the riding of the era, and I honestly dont have enough words in my vocabulary to explain why they are so integral to the progression of BMX riding. Mat Hoffman may have been the first rider to fiqure out how to grind a handrail, but it was the Homeless crew that opened up BMX's collective eyes to the possibility of what could be done on a handrail; something that is still being explored almost twenty years later.

But that wasnt the only influence that Homeless had on the BMX scene. Without even trying, the Homeless brand and team posessed a certin aesthetic and stylistic approach to BMX, which at the time, really wasnt on anyones's minds. They hired an artist named Gregg Higgins to create the look of Homelessads and graphics, mixing black and white 70's era images of pimps and cretins with progressive riding photos, such as tailwhips over spines, icepicks down rails and fakie peg stalls on street signs. Sometimes, the ads made outrageous claims (such as the Craig Grasso pro model) and sometimes, the ads simply quoted rap lyrics from the Black Sheep. It was a bizarre mix of original, technical, street riding, backlash against corporate BMX companies and subversive imagery. Maybe it was just me, but at the time, I ate it up for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Things changed pretty drasticly after the release of Trash. The brand, which was being run by James Shepherd and Gregg Hansen, was purchased from the original owner by Hansen. Following the purchase, Shepherd was pushed out of the company, leaving the Homeless entirely to Hansen. Most of the team followed Shepherd and after attempts were made by Shepherd to start two new companies, Homeless Jr. at first and later on Family bikes. Nothing ever came to frutation with either company, but once again, the ads created by both ventures were iconic.

Original Homeless partner Gregg Hansen soldiered on with Homeless for a few more years, moving all manufacturing in house to a machine shop in Austin, sponsoring the likes of Dylan Worsley and Nate Hansen and releasing new frames such as the Pornstar and the Player. Slowly, Homeless became an entirely diffrent entinty, from the product to the team to the very feel and ethos of the company. Unfortunately, this turn of events led to the demise of Homeless Bikes. But the influence that Homeless had on riding, wether you know it or not, is going to be fely for a long time.

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