Subject : Chris Böhm and Dan Hennig
Interview and Questions : Rob Harrison
Photography : Rob Harrison
Additional comments [ ] : N/a

Location : Berlin, Germany
Date : 22/09/2003

[Ed. Note - there are alot of errors remaining in the itw text, these are mainly my fault for not understanding parts properly, sorry about this. Sometimes it reads a bit weird, but Chris and Dan are cool guys...they just talk real fast about everything]

Bit of an intro.. . These two guys are characters on the German flat scene, fast, brakeless and normally heard above the noise of others (Chris at least)! They don't share a style but since they ride pretty much everywhere together there are definite traits. If you thought the word "Fresh" was past hip, you were wrong€€tell 'em Chris - likewise if you thought that small bar style was also past then Dan'll show you otherwise. I can't remember what was happening at the time we did this but I know for a fact that it was noisy and that there isn't much that dampens the enthusiasm of Chris and Dan, Chris has something to say on everything whether it's relevant or not. I even had to take out some of the 30 minute ramblings of this guy to bring it back to the half relevant stuff.

The interview was in German but with intermittent English phrases€I left these in regardless of the translation because somehow they are part of it, There's humour in being foreign and you haven't heard anything till you heard a German saying German phrases in an English accent. Some of the stuff you might think that I'm only taking the piss, but it is like that. They laugh because I say things like "I would like to be pregnant" when asking for a stamp or something and they laugh when they remember stupid English indiums. It's all part of it. It's not the best reason to be someplace where your foreign but it's one of the funniest. I thank these guys for seeing past my shit German and taking time out for a chat.

Tell the small stuff first then, how long have you been doing this?
How long I've already ridden?

yeah, I don't mean just today€always;
Four and half years, but for half a year we were trying to get parts, it was hard to get them in DDR (Ed Note: old East Germany).

Was it hard to get parts and stuff?
Yeah sure; we were at school and we didn't get any money you know.

Yeah but it's always bad when you've no money; But you're sponsored by Parano Garage (Ed. Note: respected German distributor)
No no, Parano is not a real sponsor they just help us out alot . Neither of us have any real sponsors. We're definitely looking for a sponsor.

Do you understand? Or should we do it in English?

Do you speak English then?
I had English in school a bit, a couple of years. While I was studying medicine at 'college' (Ed. Note: It's not easy to translate how the German school system is structured, so I won't€I'll just call it college), I think that I learnt a lot because of that but It's pretty hard work, I just know that I'm probably gonna need it sometime.

What do you know then in English?
"I ride bmx, I sink it's good for me"

"I sink" - you mean you "think"? (Ed.Note: This is the kind of point when pretty stupid stuff is funny, Dan is killing himself 'cause Chris is a "sink")

My German is so bad
No your German is ok, it's better than my English for sure.

Come on then Dan, how long have you ridden?
Four years and then every day 3-4hours

Have you time for that?
It's always like that, I take the time regardless. You have to take it. I go to work, then I ride always after work "after work I ride flatland"

Have you also got work Chris?
By me it's so, (Chris has wind), sorry "I am so sorry for me" I was riding every day for three to six hours, since I was 16

You work together?
We've known each other since we played sandcastles together He was my neighbour! We have black and white photos of us together when we were younger.

So you always rode together or what?
Yeah always together. We were in the same class together, but then I moved away to Leipzig for three years to do my work experience in a children's' hospital. But from the September after that I was unemployed for three months and we rode together everyday. After that I had to go and do my social service - you know this? You work for ten months in a hospital or old peoples home or cleaning the streets or something?

What?! Ah do you still have the compulsory military service?! So did you both have to do it?
Yeah we have that or the social service which we had to do for ten months. What was it that you wanted to know? (I can't help but laughing to myself as I type this up cause there's Madness and baggy trousers playing in the background at the contest!!)

I have no idea what I asked you but anyway, What do you want to do?
Ok so I did my hospital training, so now I could go into studying psychiatry or something similar but I'm going to stick with riding.

Why did you want to study in that direction?
Because I want to help people? Since the tenth class I worked in an old peoples home and I wanted to help people€€ (Ed.Note: Dan and the others start snoring and laughing at him, this pretty much kills this questioning€€again)

Dan Starts reeling off some weird shit
" I ride flatland for 4 years , flatland is my life, I create my our tricks and my own style" Everyone is killing themselves and Dan rides off.
Chris - He doesn't talk much but he means it!

Why do you always ride at Potsdamm platz?
I come from Berlin! The others come from Bielefeld€that's not Berlin, Bielefeld is further away in the East. We ride on the 'Rial'. What's this 'Rial'€? It's the shopping centre.

Why do you keep going on about the DDR then?
DDR? I can't explain it, no shit it's too complex.

What's with all the cool clothes then?
My best friend, my ex girlfriend was a fashion designer. My gran mother also has a clothes shop - she's a tailoress. It's Fresh no?! What now then€€€€€€ Yeah and my mother, is my best friend. You have to write that down!

Have you both your parents?
No just my mother. My mother is fresh; for example I can smoke at home (Ed. Note: He doesn't mean Benson Hedges).

No shit.
Yeah she thinks it's something else or something. In the living room, I just have everything on the table. My mother comes in and she says that it smells good, I tell her that it's the herbal cigarettes and she thinks it's good. I think it's real cool from her.

What are going to do for money when you have no job?
The problem in Germany it's really hard to make a living from bmx, maybe in the whole country there's only a few riders. I think that in England it's a lot easier, maybe more people willing to back the sport. Maybe the same in Japan. There are riders in Japan who were discovered on the street but who now live in villas or something. Big houses€ I'm not so sure there are any big houses in Japan! .

But are you not living now in Bielefeld in a big house?
I live in a shared girls house in Leipzig. "A Girl flat"

Virgins?
Yeah that's right virgins. But my my ex girlfriend is there, she's the same age as me 19; but she has to stay in Leipzig to finish her work experience as a nurse in a childrens' hospital. She has to stay there for year and so I am also going to stick around a while and finish my social service. But for now I can ride flat for three months without anything, no learning or work shit. Have you got a girlfriend right now? I live with my mother, and my bike. I have a girl friend, she is very nice, she's a big too big (Ed. Note: he means in height), half a head height bigger than me.

(Ed.Note: Somehow there's a random conversation about his girlfriend by everyone€not surprising somehow - you can imagine the situation)
She thinks that we're together but I told her I have to ride.

How was the Carhartt flat jam for you?
Carhartt contest? I was the top placer of the B group, I rode pretty good in qualifying and made the top place; And the party after was pretty heavy and the next day was kaput and I was third in the end.

With the girls there? (I mention this cause I had seen Chris trying it on with some of the girls watching).
Yeah I was dancing with the girls, sexy. 14:00 I'm inspired to find a style; Every flatlander is trying to find his style. Another rider - you found your style already!

You think that you still have to find a style then?
I want to find a proper fresh "boah, I'm hot" style, one that when you see it you think shit that's hot. When he was first in Leipzig, I met him and asked if he also rode bmx. He was like yeah yeah but I'm just a beginner. In Leipzip he is definitely the best, and he's definitely the fastest. In Germany there are not many flatlanders

What!?
In the east there's really not many. In Japan there's 9,000 flatlanders! The flatcontests there are the largest in the world. [there is a whole section here where i didn't understand so good]

Gives there a 'town' style in Leipzig?
Yeah kind of, there's a hip hop firm in Leipzip who have helped out a lot of the riders there and that has kind of brought it's own style with it.

Have you only ridden in Germany? Were you in Portugal?
Amstadam, I was also in France, Paris but it was such a twat cause I lost the guys phone number I was supposed to meet and ended up getting the plane home! I just bought some clothes. [others: Yeah he was just there to buy clothes! ]

Would you come over to the UK to ride?
Yeah sure, but the money thing isn't going to help that.

Englands still expensive for you then?
Yeah sure.

When you do you should look out the Cambridge jam?
Maybe I get a sponsor who'll sort me out there ;)

And with Dan then?
Yeah we ride everything together,

Is he from Leipzip?
No no Bittefeld. We're both from Bielefeld, Him me all of us. But i moved to Leipzip, and then back again and now we're all there. He's a teacher! Three years working, after school. Bad eh?

Dan were you also in Holland?
Yeah I was there, but I didn't go to France. I went to koln with him.

You got some good times going these place together then?
Yeah every time, we have a blast.

Tell me the other flat riders whose style or theme you like?
Man we ride so often together that I get a lot from what Dan is doing with his riding.

You're inspired by that?
Absolutely, we get a lot from kind of feeding off each other, looking how stuff can be done.

When you ride so often together you must have that I guess?
Yeah, "He inspiration for me, and you for all"

And other riders, other riders here?
Vicky Gomez and Kuoppa for sure, respect.

You like the style or the tricks€?
From Matti the hard tricks and the style of Vicky Gomez. A dream style! It's the perfect I think. It's not a style to copy though, it's a style to inspire.

I was in Madrid and he was pretty much the first rider I met, he was real laid back and willing to talk and involve me in what was there.
He smokes real hard!

Yeah he knows how to put his alcohol away as well.
He can ride when he's pissed, he can ride through that shit. It's all a head thing. When you sit on the sidelines thinking, yeah I don't really feel like riding and then see him riding it brings you on. Chris has trick dreams from that, when he comes out sometimes after we've been on it, he's like "ohhh I dreamt about some new tricks" and then he starts seeing if he can sort them out. He does it as well, it wasn't all just a dream.

Can you smoke and ride?
Yeah (I think the question didn't have a single person direction 'cause everyone answers). I had yesterday a combo, hang ten to ...(Ed. Note. i have to go back to the MD cause i didn't understand this, i'll add it later)

How did you start Dan?
I saw in the newspaper the tricks€

No no wait, the newspaper? Which paper was that?
The Freedombmx ...

Ah I got it wrong, Magazine€ok keep going sorry (Ed. I understood wrong what he was saying)
Yeah the tricks in there, and I wanted to be able to do the same.

Which people were in the pictures that you saw?
I have no idea, it's too long now.

(At this point although I don't know what's going on there are people screaming in the background, repeatedly)

Normally you ride in the shopping centre here?
Yeah normally just there, good surface.

And in Leipzig?
In Leipzig we have a lot of spots, But there's a lot of hills (Ed.Note: I hope I understood that right). In Bielefeld there's more flat.

You like koln?
It's ok, it's near my uncles. The Dom platz is pretty good. But there's lots of criminals, by the Dom at night there's loads of Turks who like cause problems. In Leipzip it's also good to ride, the atmosphere is a good one but with less hassles. There are lots of peole who know each other there and it's pretty stress free.

How small is this Leipzip then? 100,000? Less?
It's pretty big, maybe a third of what Berlin has (Ed.Note: . There's a fairly small centre but then loads of places on the outskirts that are also Leipzig. For maybe three of four kilometres out from the centre there's not so complete areas but more like mini towns.

What have you for music tastes then?
'Schlager' music (I had to look this up, but I'm certain he's taking the piss because it's pop music or song contest music).

Is that the same as 'schunkle' music!? (Schunkle music is like drinking songs or sing along rock or something).
Yeah I like that as well.

Have you only ridden flat or have you been around the street setup?
Nah we only ride flat, nothing more.

What about getting to the bigger events, you said about money being a problem and maybe sponsors would help but have you like a dream sponsor or something?Maybe with the KGB guys?
Dan - Sure, sure that would be cool. The frame is definitely a good one. Chris - The felt frames I like these a lot. And the Fly frames€ Dan - yeah the Fly frames are nice, I'm with that.

What have you done with your stem, you bored it out?
Yeah I drilled it as far as it'd go, I machined out the cranks aswell.

Eh?
Yeah here, I had the solid cro-mo arms and I just machined them out from the back.

(Ed Note: Shit he wasn't kidding, Dan had himself machined the entire arms out like you would a canoe from a tree).

You got anyone you want to thank?
Nah I did everything for myself (he's joking!). You wanna big up the Leipzip crew or what (I can joke aswell) Dan - "tanks for Chris to start ride flatland" Chris - I want to thank all, I want to thank my mother. That's the most important.