Intro by Mike V, photos contributed by Dermo.

Here we go, some more homegrown Australian content, this time from the inner bowels of Sydney via the lens of Damien 'Dermo' Rowland and his video project titled 'Banter'.

A long-time biker and legend of the Sydney scene, it's not until 2024 that Dermo turned his attention to filming and editing and the longer-form, mixtape style project. At the age of 40, it's motivating to see the dude assume that creator role in the local scene, be it organising sessions, arranging jams, helping out the younger dudes and now filming videos (and premiering them the the local bowl). 

The Sydney BMX scene continues to suffer from a lack of cohesion, a single catalytic force to encourage and attract all the smaller cliques and energies into a coordinated scene. Having said that, I haven't experienced Sydney for a number of years now and may be misled in this view. Nonetheless, strengthening things and bringing more people together only happens through the small, incremental efforts of dudes like Dermo and projects like 'Banter'.

So, in highlighting people doing cool things in the BMX landscape, we decided to get in touch with Dermo to discuss the project and all things adjacent. Let's get into it!

Dermo, can you fill us in a little with your background in BMX and what your relationship is like with BMX in 2024?

"My name is Damien Rowland (Dermo), I’m 40 years young and have been riding BMX for about 35 years. I started BMX at a relatively young age, I was about 5 years old, jumping off gutters, making timber ramps on bricks and grass mounds that were in the park at the end of my street, it all took off from there. 

From seeing my first proper BMX tricks at the local bowl I knew this is what I want to do. I was also blessed with riding for some big name brands along the way - Standard Bykes, Demolition parts, Etnies shoes, Volume Bikes and a few more. Shout out to Terry from BMX Mafia for all the help.

BMX in 2024 is still the same to me now as it was when I first started, but I can not believe how wild it is now and how much the riding and the tricks have progressed. People that ride bowls nowadays are amazing, nobody rode bowls (as good as they do now) back then. It blows my mind watching what people can now do on a BMX, and especially on the street side of things.

Minus the hours that I’m at work I am basically always riding or doing something BMX. I am on my bike as soon as I finish work or I’m at the trails digging or recently I'm filming - which has become more of my BMX side as of late. I’m not getting any younger, so my body is taking a beating more and more every time I’m on my bike. Still, age ain't nothin but a number." 

'Banter' was released a couple weeks back now. Can you run me through how the idea for the mixtape was sparked and what was involved in the making of this project?

"This project has been rattling around in my head for the last 20 years since the time I swapped a 20 of weed for an old handy-cam. I’ve always been into filming just never had the editing knowledge or the gear that I have access to today. Since I’ve learnt how to film and edit, I have just recently put together and released 2 edits - one of Dylan Lewis and one of Oli Montague. I'm super stoked on how they both turned out. 

With the back and forth phone calls to Ozy, Mikey Moore and B-Dog with a bunch of insight and so many questions, I now thought it was time to make a full length. I wanted something with all aspects of riding; park, trails, bowls and street and having a wide range of riders to film in Sydney is rad as, the dudes are always down to send it.

Whether it be making a phone call the night before or just spontaneous ride days, we would just plan out what we’re going to do. I always make sure the boys are on for filming and just go from there. Sometimes the red light curse takes over and we gotta call it a day."

What is the significance of 'Banter' as a name?

"The name 'Banter' just comes with the experience of every day riding and living. We are constantly giving each other shit, whether it be calling each other names, stupid jokes, pulling faces, or for me, telling people to catch grips on barspins (hahahah) that’s just plain old banter. So I thought that would be a great name for a BMX movie.

The logo came from messing around in a paint program. Adding and erasing and so forth. Stoked on how it turned out."

 
What equipment did you use to make it, from cameras through to editing software?

"The camera I use is a Canon EOS M50. The settings are set to 1080p as I like the raw side of things. I use a little cage rig for the camera body which is equipped with a 5.5 inch side monitor, a Bluetooth ulanzi handle and a CK MOVA microphone. I’m quite happy with my set up, it’s just a touch on the heavy side which keeps it stable and helps when filming - I’m super happy with how it performs.

The editing program is just the factory i-Movie on my MacBook. It’s easy to use and for starting out I did not want to have an anxiety attack trying to use the best of the best programs. For up-and-coming filmers this is a great program to use, it's super easy and compatible with your phone as well."

Settling in to watch this, I was pleasantly surprised to hear the Korn song in the intro, it was equally bold and badass. The balance tracks all give off classic BMX video influences. Assume your upbringing watching BMX videos has shaped your music selection in this project. Can you talk to the music, what you're into and why you chose the songs you did?

"Yooooo stoked that you’re stoked on the Korn song as well.

I wanted a Korn song but was not sure on which one to use. So every day in my car I played a bunch of tracks and this one got my attention. With the slow vocals and up tempo yelling in between, it works so well for the riding.

Songs 2 (Yellowcard) and 3 have been on my main playlist for a long time, they have that vibe that I was looking for.

The Amyl and the Sniffers song fit so well for most of the clips when I was editing as it’s got to do with alcohol and security, and BMX is full of those things so I thought it would be a great fit. Also, super stoked on the last song and how that section came out."

 
The video is, as expected, full of contemporary Sydney based bikers, however does feature plenty of throwbacks as well as dudes from around the country. We've got Cal Eggington, Daniel Donges, Barnesy, El C, Aussie posh dudes, Josh Druce, Benn Pigot, Danger, Jacman Hins, Kris Fox, Jimmah, the list goes on. Was it your intention from the outset to get this broad selection involved, or did it happen naturally?

"From when I fist got this camera I knew it was time to make the 'Banter' movie. I wanted as many people as I could get (big tick). A bunch of throwback clips are from when I first started and had no idea what to do. I wanted to make sure I knew exactly how to use the camera before I started editing. And now with my newly found editing skills I was able to make the older clips work.

Pretty much every time I had a session no matter who was there, or what stuff was being thrown down, I would film, whether it be just the up-and-coming kids, or the best in the world.

That was the type of video I was going for and the people in it. Shout out to Jimmah for getting me in on the road trip while the S&M crew were in town.  I got to shoot some amazing riding and plenty of banter. Also a huge shout out to every one that made 'Banter' happen and the dudes that also filmed the extra clips."

Would you mind sharing some stories from the making of this project?

"When I'm filming, I feel like that dude from 'Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift'. I like my clips to be clean and not half-arsed. The amount of angry looks I get from the boys when I say “AGAIN!!” makes me laugh! Nothing against them that’s just the style of filming I like. Sorry lads for being an asshole. After all this is a movie not a one time Instagram clip.

Filming Franky-P has to be the most fun. He’s that determined to get what he is going for, from the noises he makes when he can’t get the line or trick, or from taking too long. But with a nice voice and a "that’s what I’m here for" mostly calms him down, and he gets it moments after. What I’ve learnt from editing is the hours go by fast. It can be 11 o’clock in the morning and before you know it, it’s 11 o’clock at night. You go cross eyed a lot as well, but it’s all worth it in the end. 

I understand you premiered the video down at the local bowl. Care to describe the experience of that evening? 

"First of all, huge thanks to Beech (Ben Hoystead) and Nick (Gascoine) for lending me the stuff to make the premiere happen. We basically hung a big sheet in the deep end of the bowl and projected it onto that for all to see and oh man what a time it was, from the jam we had to setting up and pulling it all down. As the movie was playing looking around and seeing so many people make their way to watch it was unreal. Stoked to see people yelling out as riders were up on the screen, from that to even more banter while the movie was playing. 

We had the premiere at Sydney Park as it’s one of the main parks we all ride - its central to every one and there is always someone there."

I love reflecting on videos, focussing in on some of the minutiae detail. With 'Banter', I noted a couple points when watching it, feel free to comment on each. 

The Benn Pigot jersey table at 4.30 was sick as hell.

"Dude Benn has the best tables in the game, and that spot made it even better."

Oli Montague shreds.

"Oli Montague is my favourite Sydney rider. The kid has a range of tricks, can go crazy high and is now killing it on the streets - he is super nice as well. Look out for this kid in the future he’s a shredder."

Dude in here at Campbelltown called 'Pipe', sick nickname.

"Pipe (Aaron Back) is number one on my shit list hahahahah. Yeah nah he’s been my mate from the age of 11. I wish he rode more but adulting gets in the way these days.

C-Town has produced amazing talent: from Colonel (Clint Bensley), Danger (Chris O’Donnell), Ronny Reap and Guy Gentle just to name a few. But Pipe takes the cake. He’s the true king of C-Town. But now he’s also king of the belly. Hahah the amount of bangers this dude has done is wild as. Props to Pipe."

Got any plans for other BMX related projects in your future? 

"As I was making 'Banter' I already started a new movie file. The next movie is now in the works so keep an eye out. Not sure if I’m going to do a mixtape again or a full section. It’s nice to just jam clips in one after another and I vibe mix stuff a bit more.

Thanks for taking the time to read along and hope you enjoy 'Banter'. Shout out to everyone that made this project happen.

Thanks!"