Subject : Gary Hall
Interview and Questions : Rob Harrison
Photography : Rob Harrison, James Cameron
Additional comments [ ] : N/a

Location : Pagham, UK
Date : December 2003

[Ed Note: For those reading who do not know, Gary is a rider from the South of England. He has spent much of his time riding around the likes of Carlo Griggs and primarily vert although he's adept at transferring all these skills into a park and street session, he's just not as well known for this side of his riding. He's made few contest appearances, preferring to ride alone and more for himself; this was his first ever interview....something i found it hard to believe. From here on is the original printed text]

To convey a sufficiently broad and yet true to life impression of a person is the hope of most interviews, It is definitely the hope of this interview with Gary. However Gary is more the rider and person than whatever is printed here can convey. This is nothing more than an introduction to a very underrated all-round rider. I bring you a conversation with Gary Hall, the quiet englishman.

Tell me a bit about yourself then?
Gary Hall, and I'm 18 at the moment.

€and riding for how long?
Since I was about 12.

I thought that you came from Bognor, but you actually live in a village nearby and not actually Bognor - is that right?
Westergate but it's only a few miles from Bognor Regis sort of way. It's all West Sussex though.

What is there in Bognor that keeps you going everyday? It's pretty popular with tourists I think, because it's on the coast is that right?
Yeah it is right on the coast, and in the Summer by the pier and the prom it's packed.

I think I've only been to Bognor when it was winter, so does the tourist thing ever get in the way of normal life?
I guess it could do but I don't go into Bognor that much so it doesn't affect me really.

There's pretty famous people near there€doesn't baby spice live there? And sting?
One time I was on the ramp and she drove past with some other famous bloke she was seeing. There was around 10 people on the ramp they all shot off to follow or something. It was good for me because then the ramp was completely empty.

Never been invited round then; off the ramp and round for tea with Baby?
Nah.

But have you ever seen any of the posh lot out drinking?
I wouldn't even know if they do cause I'm really not out so much.

In fact is there anywhere in Bognor or near you to go out, if I want to just hang out a bit where should I consider going?
Pubs and stuff in Bognor but I'm not into the nightclub thing. Down the pub for a drink or getting friends round is always a better option.

So you started getting flow from Proper bikes, how long has that been now?
I've probably been with them a Year and a half now. Haven't really kept track probably cause it's been pretty good.

And then more recently you got picked for the new Globe team?
Yeah that was maybe since May or June.

I like Globe's myself what size are you?
8, everyone seems to be bigger, like 10's but size 11 plus is taking piss. I hope my feet aren't growing more.

Shit, I'm a nine but I also hope mine aren't growing more cause then the stuff I have already isn't gonna fit. What are you riding in at the moment?
Mumford's; big difference from what I was in before, really good for riding, bit wider at the front. Of all shoes I had these are best. The sole, is really good.

Do you think you need a different kind of shoe for vert, maybe a bit stiffer?
Nothing with a thick sole - for me anyway; I like to feel the soles and the pedals through them. Only really had Etnies before, maybe one set of DC's before that but I found them a bit narrow and you can't feel anything through the soles. I don't know it's all pretty much personal preference.

No doubt you get a bit of clothing through these guys as well then? Yeah, got jeans and shirts and hats. Jeans? Globe do jeans?
They do about 5 different styles of jeans. I think it was only this year that they launched the clothing. The jeans are real nice, I don't like real heavy jeans and the globes were perfect. Something that when you put pads on underneath they give a bit, the material has to be more relaxed for that. I tried using pads over the top but found that I lost some flexibility with both the jeans and pads rammed round the back of the knee. So I appreciated being able to get the pads under them and not feel like the jeans were so heavyweight I couldn't move.

Does getting flow from companies actually help your riding, or is it more about your riding being appreciated by others?
I guess it's a bit of both. They help me out that's for sure. It means I don't have to buy the stuff, - shoes especially I go through a lot.

I know I get a fair few mails from kids asking "how do I get sponsored and what do I have to do?", and " I can jump some massive gaps and 360 whip taps am I good enough?" Is there anything you to say to them, like advice?
That's hard because i don't see myself as sponsored. Sponsorship for me is more in the realms of being a top rider and getting money from it; more your X-games stuff. I see myself as getting 'flow' from companies, not really sponsored. They help me in a way that enables me to concentrate a bit more on riding.

You really understate it, maybe that's the point? It's not everything they think it might be?
I guess. It's only the really top riders who will ever be paid to ride. So even if you're sponsored you're still gonna be a normal rider and you're probably going to have to still work and all that. It feels good to be appreciated, but it's not the be all and end all.

I know that you still have a regular job?
I work in a restaurant, but I'm usually messing in the back. Although I haven't had a Saturday off for weeks! And now that I have€.it's raining. It'll be better tomorrow and I'll be gutted I didn't take Sunday off. Restaurant? is that pretty seasonal work then? I haven't been there so long and since I started I've been finishing around 10pm, but in summer it'll be 11. I heard that it can be pretty crazy in the summer time. It's all shift work rather than seasonal and sometimes I have to work the crap 12-8 shift. But the work's ok, we have a tape player out the back, just put a tape on and the music helps.

[Ah I want to ask you about the music but later] You haven't been there so long then?
I guess not, maybe since September; sometime around then anyway. But it's not like you have to go far to work is it? Nah works maybe 5 mins from where I live in the car; I'd prefer being outside on the bike but driving there just means I can get there and get away faster. I finish pretty late and when the weather's so shitty out there's not the same motivation to ride there.

I know that there are occasions when you don't get much time to ride because of work; Do you think that work can actually motivate you to ride more? Like the desire to end one part of the day and begin the next?
It is like that. If I had the whole day I would be able to just go out for five and do nothing, bum around a bit and know that I could still rider later. When I work it's like the riding builds up inside, so when I then get the chance to be on my bike it's like a release. Somehow work increases the feeling despite the fact that at the moment I'm really not getting the time to ride at all. This becomes more like frustration so there is a bit of a negative side as well. What does riding usually entail?

Have you got some kind of routine as to where you go?
No, I just go and ride wherever I feel like it.

What types of park do you like riding?
I like all types of park, but mostly hipped stuff and flatbanks.

What is it about these that you're into then?
It's not just them it's just all round riding. I like riding dirt when I get chance. Flowing through, keeping up and getting through. It's a bit like vert - land then pump and then in the air. I like all kinds of riding but the hipped stuff is a cross between jumping and airing, lots of possibilities.

From what I have seen you usually wear your full-face when you're riding vert; is a routine to put it on because of the safety aspect or does it come first from knowing that if you nail yourself you want to be able to get back up?
I know from previous experience that it's a good idea. When I first started riding vert, I tried something stupid, went straight over, head first€and got burnt across the face and got a cauliflower ear. So that made me realise I'd rather wear a full face. That was probably pretty minor but It kind of opened my eyes to how bad it could be. I should probably wear one when I'm riding parks, but there if I have the chance I prefer not to.

I noticed that you'd sprayed the helmet again, do you go through stages of painting it or just when it looks shabby?
Before it was well chipped, almost as bad my bike. There were more scratches than there was paint left. I did modify it recently with the peak - when I first got a full face I never left the peak on cause I couldn't see the top of the ramp. This time I modified the peak, cut it down quite a lot.

What helmet is it that your using?
Bell 5 moto, pretty old version they're on like moto 9 or something. What's your opinion, is the full face helmet past it these days? I think they're OK if you're wearing them on vert.

Are there any products you see as having changed BMX? Lightweight frames and components.
Weight wasn't such a big thing when I started and my first bikes were well heavy.

But how do you think they affect riding?
If you have a heavier bike, 'it takes you'. If the bike is lighter then 'you take the bike'. The way I see it is that it gives you the chance of having more control. I can 360 hop much easier now with a lighter bike than I could before; and in the wind you can feel that a heavier bike isn't as affected, a lighter bike would be but you have the chance to pull it back, to control it.

What was your first bike part casualty?
It was a one-piece crank that snapped; just riding to the ramp in Bognor, and I was hopping over something and the crank just clean snapped. I was lucky it snapped there and not doing something bigger.

The one-piecers are lighter, so we might see more people using them again as a cool part?
Some people can ride them, depends on your style of riding. Different people can ride different stuff and not break it. I noticed that your technique is important to how and when parts break. Around the time I snapped my crank I was getting into bigger drops and jumps I learnt that it depends how you ride things out, maybe through the bars or through the cranks, there's much more to it than that, with timing and such but it's something important.

What was your first bike, do you remember?
It was a Haro, and by then I was into riding ramps. I did have one bike before it but for me this was the first 'real' bike. It was the Shredder with the 2'' downtube. Just after they'd changed it from the early 98 models, it was the one with different dropouts and seattube gusset. I had that for a year and half. Covered it in stickers - those Primo 'Made in Taiwan' stickers all over it. - I still have it.

Tell me a little about how you like to set your bike up?
I like my bike pretty light and basic, sometimes I run pegs but not at the moment. Single brake and single cable. I was ok with the gyro but after the cables snapped and I couldn't get a replacement quick enough I just used the straight through. It was only then that I found my brake was so much better and right now I prefer it.

But are you using your brakes quite a lot on vert?
Only for whips, to keep the pedals there. I set it up so that I can get maybe three b/spins out of my cable. I use a gear cable instead, it's thinner and seems to be less affected when the bars spin. I can spin them and it doesn't affect the braking or stop the rear wheel in the air like a regular cable used to.

The Proper frames are pretty light I heard, which one are you riding?
I'm on an older Houdini and chopped the dropouts down a bit, the frame's good. And you said you change your set up, are you doing that a lot? I took the pegs off but they'll go back on eventually. I don't really chop and change from week to week.

But is that pushing you to find new ways and experiment, or just like spraying your bike a new colour? Bit of a change?
It's like a new start. Progression expansion. It can make you break away from what might become normal.

Is music a big thing, what do you like in that direction?
It's pretty important to me. I listen to a lot of stuff like AC/DC, Guns'n'Roses, Led Zeppelin and the Foo Fighters. Live? No so much into going to see bands live but the live AC/DC stuff on cd is something else.

Are you a bit of a video watcher?
No, I used to but now€not sure just don't really find myself wanting to see them.

Have you less time now or did you just lose interest?
I'd just rather be out riding, don't need to watch videos to get motivated.

Ah wait, but you also don't really watch TV, is that right?
I can't be bothered, I'm out all the time and when I get home I go to sleep. What's this then party animal or too much going on? It's not like that i just like being outside; I was never into getting a playstation or similar and just preferred being outside. These are the best times, feeling the air going past my head riding, meeting up with people€it's not so easy to describe, being out just gives me more.

How much of your time do you spend checking out the BMX media that's available now?
None, only when I'm bored.

But is that more to do with time or do you find yourself with not much interest in the areas they cover?
It can be that when I see a copy on sale I buy one to see what's going on and such. The mags come out and by the time I come to buy it the next issue is often already out or they're sold out. I'd more often just read them down at the Properbikes office, it's easier. It is good to know what new stuff is out, I like reading through stuff like that.

Do you remember any cover photo from any magazine? In fact has there been any photo that really made you think? Have you ever had any picture on your wall?
Definitely i had a picture of Hoffman on the first huge ramp with "Hoffman rules" across it, and Mirra with a big no-hander. No handers are something that I'm really into.

Are there places that you have seen perhaps through videos, that made you want to visit?
Yeah, I'd like to visit America, Germany and mainland Spain.

Spain?
Yeah I saw loads of real smooth looking concrete parks somewhere near where Sergio [Ed. Layos] lives.

You mean Madrid without a doubt!
Could be but I really want to ride smooth concrete parks, it looked pretty crazy there. The US - there's just so many places to visit there I couldn't begin to list them.

If you want to ride Germany you should come over and stay with me a bit, there's not really a vert scene but the riders are sound. Interested€maybe for the Worlds this year?
Ah yeah it's just getting time off work. They told me that they need to know a week in advance but the time sheets are written three weeks in advance!?. I tried to get time off before and it didn't work with them. I can see it being a pain to get time off. And I don' t get paid if I'm off sick.

It would be good, I'd like to just come and see - maybe ride the street course a bit. Is there anything traditional from home there that you'd miss if you went away to Spain then?
Obviously family but I mean like basic things like Ma Beatons Yorkshire pudding or Kellogs? I have thought about moving away but it's 'home' here. Annoying with the weather but it's still home. I wouldn't move away permanently. Not so sure what I'd miss, I think I wouldn't know for sure 'till I left.

When are you thinking of going other places ?
As soon as I can afford to.

Are you saving for that or just keeping it in mind when you work, or do you have a real plan?
At the moment I'm paying bills I owe, but when that's paid I can start thinking about it and saving.

Do you think you'll ever be paid for riding your bike?
I see myself as always having to work, really; I mean you see incredible riders from the US that still have to go out and get a job€

But you think that the riders from the US are generally at a higher level or that the supporting and sponsorship is more advanced in supporting them?
It just seems more as though if you want to just ride it's the only place that could truly offer the potential to fully support that. It might not be right, it's just the way I see it.

Did you make any of the contests last year?
I entered the Urban Games and a contest in Knokke in Belgium. Belgium, which one was that? It was a Red Bull comp set on the on the beach, just the vert comp. On the sand and really windy even under the ramp roof. Did you enter street or vert, or both? Vert, I haven't entered street before.

Is it something that you might consider though?
Yeah maybe one day, for a bit of fun, I don't know.

But if you thought of entering a street event, would there be one in particular that you'd be most into joining. Maybe backyard or Nass was also pretty off the rails?
I would like to have a go, when I feel up to it. I went to bike2003, this was the only one I went to see. It seemed like a good atmosphere, to see Kagy and Nyquist in person was crazy. Seeing stuff on video can make you take it for granted. Real life is something else compared to how amazing these riders are in person.

You think that you'll have more time available next year then? Or would you just like to put more of a focus on your riding in 2004?
I'm gonna try and book holidays for the events this coming year. Given the opportunity I'd like to enter everything, street, dirt and vert; it's just getting the time off work to get to there.

What was your first memory of vert?
I saw a vert show when I was maybe 12, near where I live. The riders there were going high, doing 540s and I'd never really seen stuff like that.

You wouldn't remember who was riding at the time would you?
No, no idea, it was a long time ago for me.

But had you seen something of riding before that or was vert really the first thing you saw of BMX?
Yeah sure I'd seen a few videos, I think the Props ones around '98 and then the Vert demo. I'd just been riding for maybe half a year before that.

Didn't you yourself do a demo, where was that €Spain or€?
Ah yeah. They'd actually phoned and asked for Carlo. He couldn't and asked me if I was interested. It was on Fuetaventura [Ed. Canary Islands]. It was for a few days, and turned out to be one of the best times I've had through riding. There was another rider there and a few skaters€€.but the ramp!!!! It wasn't the usual ramp, they'd built it themselves and didn't know anything. One of the riders had sent plans for the ramp but they hadn't understood the plans properly and they'd put it together with a really long flat bottom and one side was over vert€.funny anyway. I think the only really shitty thing was that they charged me £30 for my bike on the return flight. Might only be a small thing but it kind of put me off flying with my bike, just adds to the cost of everything and if you're trying to keep it cheaper€.it puts you off.

Not so many people ride vert anymore, why do you think that is?
It may be because there aren't that many vert ramps around or maybe it's because of the image it has.

Image? What kind of image do you think they see?
I like riding everything so it's hard for me to quantify how others regard vert riding. I have the impression that maybe people don't think it's cool. But then on the other side I met a few riders who want to ride vert but find it hard to get to a ramp because there's not so many around.

Where's the next one to you after Pagham?
Southsea and then caterem. They're the nearest ramps after Carlo's place.

What about Epic€..'you been there?
Birmingham was great, one of the best ramps I ever rode. I just went in and rode the vert. Didn't ride anything else just that. It's really hard work to use it all 'cause it's so wide but it was a lot of fun, and a real good ramp. Why do you ride vert? I like riding everything, but there is something about just floating airs on vert.

You've been pretty big on vert, any idea how far out you've been?
Maybe around ten feet, I don't know exactly, but around there.

The ramp is pretty important when you're so far out, so where was this then?
More than likely this was on Carlo's but it's more or less where I can get to on a ramp I like.

Vert can be pretty hard on bikes, do you break much?
I bend bars and buckle wheels and stuff, but nothing too major - or it seems to be like that at the moment. They normally break on rotational stuff, like I looped out on a five [Ed. 540] and the bike shot out from under me, it landed straight on the bars and wasted them. Think I pulled too hard on that one, but I wouldn't have said I was particularly heavy on parts.

So your frame has held up pretty good then? Isn't that brown one I saw you on the same one as when I saw you the previous time€like 9-10 months ago?
Yeah it's the same one.

Who do you ride with?
It's a lot of different people but at the moment it's been Worthing and all the people that ride there

"Worthing" - this is a park right,€near you ?
Not near, maybe ½ hour drive from here. 20 miles I guess. It's Concrete, with a mini plus extension, then hipped at each side. Some weird bits, driveways, mini jumpbox,, big flat banks and a sub. It's not bad. Are you pretty 'local' there yourself? Yeah, go there a lot. More likely to be dry 'cause of the surface. Harder to fall on though without a doubt. Wood just seems to give a bit but you forget it until you find yourself falling on concrete.

Are there any particular riders there that you see there who are really getting things going?
Yeah, Sean Jinks is a local there. Others as well. One kid is pulling clean whips now and yet a month since he couldn't get back on. I tried before to explain how I would do them but it's so hard to explain something like this. Explaining any trick to someone else is not easy. I don't think I helped him but he can definitely pull them clean now!

What was your first injury?
The usual ones, ripping your shins apart, but the first one was a dislocated finger. It happened on a barspin to barspin back on vert, I did one barspin and the one on the way back hit my knee, it was totally wrong! Couldn't feel my hand properly, you know like when it goes a bit numb but I could tell something wasn't right and the finger was out.

What about your elbow? Was that later then?
That was doing something else, I fell out of a tree. We had this rope we set up to a tree down to a bush or smaller tree at the bottom, and a set of granny bars for sliding - like in Home Alone. But the rope snapped right at the top when I was on it - and I fell about 10ft. Fell right on my arse and you know the feeling when you land on the bottom of your spine, it was a dead feeling - I had like a chicken dead leg. My elbow had got messed and it was typically just before the summer holidays.

You've broken another finger as well, how did you do that?
It was a tailwhip on vert, I kind of nose-dived and I was still holding onto the brake lever and the finger got crushed when it hit the floor. When you nose dive it and the bike's not all the way round€.ah it just kind of happened €but this really hurt. It still hurts now.

What's the worst injury you've had so far?
I broke some cartilage in the back of my knee, it used to lock up when I was walking along, or when I was riding, and it used to pop out. I had keyhole surgery done on it, but it's still not the same. I wasn't out for so long, the surgery was maybe June-July time this year -I was just having problems with it before. Aching all the time. Went to the docs and he had a look and found a big (he said), piece broken off. The broken piece, as he described it, was pulling my knee apart like acting like a pivot. Causing it pop out. For me it was awful but not like these guys that have acl re-construction and worse. But it's still not the same as the other knee now.

Has this changed your perspective on how you ride, maybe made you think differently?
A bit but if you don't do stuff now you'll get to a point where you'll wish you had. I don't want that.

Does riding with friends help you to progress?
Yeah, it's good to watch each other and learn things from others.

Is there one perhaps more famous (in the media sense) rider who when you met them was totally different to what you'd thought or what had been portrayed?
I can't name one rider. Most of the riders are different from what you see in the mags. Seeing them in person is something else. Mags give a very different impression, you can't portray a complete image in words, just an idea of what the rider is like. It's important to keep that in mind because you can't know someone till you meet them.

Do you ever ride much alone?
Yeah, I do ride on my own sometimes€.

But then is it more about circumstance as in convenience to ride alone, or are you in a particular frame of mind then?
Sometimes I need to just go out and do some manuals. I guess when I ride a bit alone I just enjoy the freedom it's not because I prefer it to riding with people - I enjoy both.

Anything that bugs you about riding?
Punctures! Every couple of days I get a puncture, I fix it and then it comes back again. I've got a new tyre and everything and it still happens.

Top five albums?
At the moment, it's AC/DC live, The Best of Led Zeppellin, The Foo Fighters: The Colour and The Shape, Guns'n'Roses: Appetite For Destruction, Best of Motorhead.

Quite the metal fan then?
Yeah quite into it€

Do you ride with music?
Nah, my walkman's always bust, held together with tape and stuff but I can't ride with music anyway. The headphone wires everywhere, getting tight and pulling when you turn. It's better with the silence, just the wind past your ears, the noise of the tyres. I find that loads more relaxing. It gives me so much more than just music through tiny earphones; like a much wider experience but still somehow separated from the rest of the world. I think it's not an easy thing to put into words; somehow it's never enough to fully describe the feeling. I also like the sound of these Profile hubs [Ed. Cassette hub], the clicking from the pawls. I find that quite a positive sound somehow although to begin with I didn't like it.

It's not something that I like, I hate it when my bike makes any noise. What was the last thing you bought music wise?
Ah, this shop in Bognor was doing all the cd's really cheap. For £3 they had CD's that'd normally be at least ten quid. So I bought "if you want blood you got it" [Ed. AC/DC ] - It's with the original singer, before I think he drunk himself out. I like the live stuff from them it has a real kick in it. "Problem child" [Ed. another AC/DC track] is a real example of this, it changes in tone and instrumental stuff. € "Shook me all night long" was also way different live, they changed the notes and the singing. They're definitely my favourite live stuff.

Something else now; do you ride trails at all? When I get the chance. Horsham was the first proper set of trails I rode. Wisley€quiet a lot down there and quite a lot of riders. Steve [Bartholemew] has his own someplace and I rode there. It's just not often I get the chance.

Have you tried digging your own?
I've tried but it never works.

I have the impression that the guys at Proper bikes pull your leg a bit and you generally get a bit of flack...is that true?
Yeah, it happens a lot.

Does the dog like your hoody as well? You can also explain this a bit.
They have a dog and they kind trained it to get excited when you put your hood up and then put your head down like you're an animal or something. It didn't always work in the beginning, but this has evolved now and you only have to put your hood up and the dog goes crazy.

Actually we should discuss more about the type of 'humour' you suffer from the guys at Proper...come on let some of those stories loose....don't give me any of this i don't know crap€
Yeah they're always doing it. One time Carlo took this digi picture of me when I walked in one day and put it on a dating web site. He kept getting mails from people and then showing them to me. It's just one example but there is always something.

I have the impression that the only reason you haven't made a bigger impression at comps is that you're so laid back, could that be?
I don't wanna get all stressed out about the whole thing. I can't take it that seriously, I like to go and ride but I don't want to feel the stress from it.

There are really not many people who can come onto a vert ramp cold and having not ridden one for weeks and bust full no handers like I've seen you do? Somehow the vert comes naturally to you...would you agree...or is it something else?
Not sure if I can say. Something like this I see as being more someone else's point of view. Although the weather lately has stopped me dropping in anyway. I'm well looking forward to the summer so I can ride more. Right now I don't get to ride more than twice a week. Just like today, I had the day off but it pissed it down. Tomorrow I'll go to work and it'll be sunny.

Is there one moment that made you think more about how you do things?
For me it has been more a gradual process. Everyday has contributed to how and what I think and the way I am. Not so much one defining moment, more like the entire moment over time.

End: This is the part when you can say anything you like without a question reference?
I guess I would thank my mum, gran and granddad€. definitely. When I first started I had no job and if my bike stuff broke it was often my granddad who was helping me out. My granddad and mum gave me lifts down to the ramp and I really appreciate the help and the time they offered. It means a lot to me.