FreestyleXtreme Magazine Issue 16 | Page 66

Thanks for the chat, Maddo. Let’s
get the big question out of the way
first: I saw you’ve been in Morocco
recently. What were you doing
there?

sell Pipedream 2, just because of the
coverage it got. I approached the likes
of Red Bull and DC and they chose
to walk away from it for their own
reasons.

I was there doing a project for Red
Bull Media House and Samsung
filming something to release their new
high-definition TV. Samsung wanted
a setting with a lot of contrasting
colours, bright skies and really cool
action, and they hired myself, Jason
Paul, a free-runner, and Felix Georgii,
a wakeboarder, to do this cool action
sequence through Morocco.

But yeah, it looks like I’ve just sold
the concept for Pipedream 2, but
the crazy thing is they want to turn it
around before Christmas.
Yeah dude, I just left a production
meeting with the producer who’s
helping me pull this off. To save time,
accommodation, travel and expenses
we’re going to do it locally in San
Diego. I actually just registered my
bike as a water vessel, so I’m legally
allowed to launch my water-bike at
any boat ramp in the US and go for
a ride.
Hahaha! So can you give us any
indication of what we can expect
from Pipeline 2?

There were many times I didn’t think
it’d work and I had to dig so deep, but
at the end of the day, knowing you’d
succeeded and the client was happy,
it made me so proud that I kept
persevering.

I think we’re going to see freestyle
motocross on the water now. I’m
going to attempt to jump a boat full
of people and do a Double-Grab Hart
Attack, doubling waves out towards
the horizon.

Sounds awesome. It’s been a
while since we’ve heard anything
about the water-bike you used for
Pipedream.

Then hopefully a swell hits during our
film window and I get to ride a 30-40ft
barrel on a motorcycle. Something
like this will be a huge credit on my
portfolio.

Yeah the concept has got me down
the past three years and it’s been
tough trying to keep my chin up and
stay positive. But to finally pull it off,
I’m just stoked. I was able to do shit
that I’ve only dreamt about. It was an
amazing trip; it was stressful getting
through it, but by the end it changed
me as a person. It pushed a few
bushes aside in my heart; I’ve got a
more “I can do this” attitude and I’m
way more upbeat now.
So what exactly did you
accomplish?
I hit a ramp, jumped out into the water
30 feet away and rode away from it. I
rode off the beach, into the crashing
waves, hitting them like single jumps.
I got out the back of the ocean,
turned around and ski-jumped the
waves all the way back in, and rode
onto the beach popping a wheelie. It
was the best feeling ever!
Man, that sounds like something
that could lead into Pipedream 2
very easily.
You know, it’s weird. After Pipedream
1 I thought it would be so easy to

That sounds crazy. When you first
started to change paths away from
contests you were doing highprofile one-off events like Red
Bull New Year No Limits, but now
it seems you’re doing more viral
video edits and bigger projects.
Which do you prefer?
I really love the video edits. The
pressure there is the expense of
them and the content you put into
them. But edits allow me to use my
creativity. It puts pressure on me to
come up with new, creative ideas, but
I bounced some ideas off the sponsor
and my lovely wife, Amy, who always
has the bit that I’m missing, and
came up with this killer storyboard
for Pipeline 2 that blew the sponsor
away. They were picking their jaws up
off the floor.

“

I think
we’re going
to see
freestyle
motocross
on the
water now

”

You were also a stunt-double for
James Bond in Skyfall a few years
back. Are you still doing that sort
of thing?
Not really. I like doing that stuff,
but it’s tough now with a family you

© TAYLOR / DC Shoes

It was cool, man. I’ve been working
on this water-bike for three years,
but I never felt like I got the perfect
design. The night before I left for
Morocco I built a new ski, put a few
things that I’d learnt back into it,
got some advice from experts, then
showed up in Morocco and it f**king
worked awesome.

No way…