Adam Grandmaison Interview

Adam is the kind of guy that everyone has an opinion on. Some like him, some hate him, but that is up to the person to decide. If it weren’t for him this site would probably have flopped. He helped me out and it worked and I owe him for that. When we talked about an interview we decided on staying away from the come up as much as possible but there is times where it is neccesary. So this is what we got out of it

Name:
Adam John Grandmaison AKA Adam22 AKA The White Truth

Photo: Aaron Buckley

Location:
Originally from Nashua, New Hampshire. Currently reside in Woodside NY.

Sponsors:
Zip zero.

Years riding:
11 I think.

Your career choice is uncommon, where would you like to or where are you going to take it from here?
I never dreamed about running a website, that’s not something I’m passionate about. It’s just something I happen to be good at and I like doing it. In terms of what I am going to do in my life once I’m done running websites for a living, that’s a damn good question, I have no fucking clue.

You have a few projects in the works with music and online community going, care to share or is it still on the down low?
There are two projects in the works that I’m involved with that aren’t related to The Come Up. The first is a community/original content site that I’m doing along with Chad Shack and Harrison Boyce. Basically it’s going to be a community site like Myspace for BMXers… That isn’t a new idea, but we’re going to produce a huge amount of original videos, interviews, articles and more. The whole reason we want to start this site is because there are other sites out there making online content, but they aren’t speaking to us. If you ask around, everyone says the same thing, that they aren’t feeling any of the sites producing content ( believe me, we asked pretty much every company at Interbike ). There is a disconnect between what kids want and what those sites are doing. I can appreciate some of the stuff they do, but a lot of it is just boring and bland. With me, Chad and Harrison having to okay everything that goes up on this site, you know everything on there’s going to be dope.

The second project has nothing to do with BMX. Ever since The Come Up really took off, I’ve been thinking about how I could apply the same concept to another type of site. I’ve always been pretty into hardcore music and I really thought that a site like The Come Up but focused on Hardcore content could be huge. But I kind of lack the connections and knowledge in that department, so I put the idea on the back burner until I had the idea to team up with my friend Kris Mission on it. Kris is an older dude from Boston who I’ve known for a few years… He runs a record label, books a lot of the shows in the Boston area, owns a screen printing business and used to own a skate shop. And he has connections with pretty much every band and label in hardcore and commands a lot of respect, so I presented the idea to him and he was unbelievably stoked on it. We’ve been working on it ever since and it should be ready to launch soon.

When you first started doing things on the internet, did you ever expect it to become what it has for you?
No, I just wanted to start a blog posting cool videos that I saw on BMXBoard. I never knew that it was possible to make legit money from advertising or to get the kind of following The Come Up has.

Contrary to what all the anonymous kids think, you are actually a pretty solid rider, why isn’t there more film and photos of you popping up?
Haha, I don’t know about solid, every 16 year old kid I know is better than me these days. I don’t really see the filming/photo side of riding being my lane at this point… It’s fun to film a trick or shoot a photo once in a while but I’m not killing myself trying to learn new things, I’d rather take it easy on my body and hang out. To me, riding isn’t about going to the skatepark and killing myself trying to learn something for a few hours, it’s about chilling and fucking around on a curb for 20 minutes and then eating pizza and sitting around for 3 hours.

Photo: Evan Butts

What are some of your favorite things to do on your bike?
My favorite thing to do really is just go out with my friends on a Friday night and hang out around the city 20 deep, drink some beers, talk shit, yell at some people, talk to some girls, go to parties and shit… Trick wise, I pretty much like riding ledges more than anything else. Maybe some wedges or a handicapped rail, that’s pretty much it. My dream spot would probably be a 3 stair with a waxed up ledge in the vicinity of it that you could do manual lines on between the two.

What are some things you hate to do on your bike?
I hate riding on grass or dirt. Like there’s a time for everything, but I’d always rather ride on some smooth concrete. I also hate riding indoor skateparks more than pretty much anything. It’s seriously the most insane thing to me how gay the kids that those places churn out are. Actually riding skateparks is fun sometimes if they are outdoors and preferably concrete with good ledge set ups, but the whole indoor park experience is the worst shit on earth, dealing with the lame kids, shitty music, having to wear a helmet, having to pay etc.

How much time do you find to ride?
It varies a lot week to week… I definitely ride every day although sometimes it’s just riding around doing errands, I probably go into the city and ride with everyone at least 3 times a week. Kind of depends on if I’m in good health or not.

You get to ride with a lot of big dogs but there’s also a large number of unknown guys, who do you ride with the most or who are your favorite people to ride with?
My favorite person to ride with is Adam Tardif, this kid I grew up riding with in Nashua. In NYC I usually ride with Muffinman, Scallion, Day Day AKA Cook Crack Crookshank and a few other jerks. In terms of more well known dudes, Chase D is always fun to ride shit with, we’re into riding a lot of the same spots, he’s just 100 times better at riding them. Seth Kimbrough was really fun to ride with last summer.

Photo: Some Random Asian Girl

You have talked about a few spots you have been seen over time but never got around to riding. What are they and when are you going to get on those?
The only one that really stands out in my head is this kinked rail I really want to grind up. It’s not even that crazy, if Tom White went there tomorrow he’d probably do it first try, you just have to go really really fast and that’s always something I have an issue with haha.

If you could remove one person from anything related to BMX who would it be and why?
It’s honestly hard to even think of anyone. Like, I had an issue with Steve-O, and look where he is now. He lost all his sponsors and he’s been in fucking jail for 2 months. I fucked up his whole life til he couldn’t take it anymore and beat up his girl. There are other people in BMX that I don’t like, but none that I dislike so much that I wish they would quit riding. Even with the Borat from Grindstate situation, I don’t have anything serious against that kid, I hope he keeps riding, I hope his website does well, I just wanted to teach him a little lesson about disrespecting me so I felt the need to smack him around a little. With Steve-O it was different, that’s someone that was supposed to be a good friend and he shitted on all of us. He can’t come around anymore.

If you could change anything about BMX, what would it be and why?
Most importantly, I think people need to just get off skateboarding’s dick. The fact that Rich can’t put out a shoe without 100 comments about it looking like a pair of Vans is just lame. Rich can’t do a web video without someone comparing it to some skate video. You can’t use a song for a video without someone pointing out that it was in a skate video 8 years ago. Just shut the fuck up and get their beef out of your mouthes, skating is dope but it doesn’t have anything to do with BMX. I don’t skateboard, I ride a BMX bike and I’m proud of it.

Do you feel that if you lived somewhere else, like Texas, you would be a different person?
Every person is just a product of all of their experiences, so I’d definitely be a different person if I grew up in a different environment. But I grew up around people who were really into trails and I’ve never even hit a dirt jump, so in that way, I think I probably would have ended up a street fag either way.

What are some things bmx and non bmx related you would like to accomplish in the next few years?
Just keep running the site, work on the new sites and just get money. Travel, ride some new shit and have a lot of fun, more or less.

It seems like lately you have had the chance to travel more, where are some places you have gone and any reasons in particular?
I really haven’t been too many places recently, I went to Hawaii, all over Europe and to Thailand a few years ago though. I’m going to Mexico for Elevation on the 8th though so that should be fun. I love being home but I’m always looking for a chance to go to different countries.

With your first DVD out that seemed to do real well, do you plan on doing another anytime soon?
Probably not, I just wanted to do a DVD to be able to say I did it and see what it was like. There’s no money in it and I’m already really busy with other shit.

Who are some dudes you have been impressed with lately riding or non riding wise?
Marlon Europe and Joey Piazza come to mind, I’ve seen both of them do some wild shit lately. Oh and I went and rode Philly for a few days recently and Randy Brown impressed me a lot, that guy’s crazy.

Outside of riding and “work” what are some things you are into?
Lifting weights, running, hanging out with my friends, drinking, reading, girls, relaxing. And just trying to figure out how to be happier and more content in general.

You used to play poker and did pretty well for yourself are you done with it, still hustling, or is it just something you do for fun from time to time?
I played poker full time for like 3 years. At first I loved it, by the end I hated it. Poker was the reason I stopped all the criminal activity I had been doing, but once I realized how much money I could possibly make from running websites, I had to quit that shit, it was just so stressful. People call me money hungry and shit, but to me that’s a compliment. They don’t know the shit I’ve been through. I feel grateful every day I’m not in jail for all the shit I did when I was younger.

What are some bands you are into? Any that you would suggest?
You should check out my room mate’s band, Incendiary, they are hard as nails: www.myspace.com/incendiaryhc
Personally I only really listen to Cassidy lately.

It seems like a lot of people who have never had any sort of contact with you have this super bad image of you, care to clear that up for people or maybe share how you feel about all that?
They can all suck my dick, I could give a fuck less whether people like me or not. If you have an issue with me, ask me in person or write me an Email or something and I’ll be happy to explain myself, if not, eat my shit.

Your into tattoos, are they just fun to look at or do they have some meaning? I know you had just gotten a new one.
Most of my tattoos have a sort of cryptic anti-christianity vibe to them. I have a really strong distaste for any and all religions, primarily Christianity since that’s the garbage I grew up being taught to believe. The only reason I really like having that shit tattooed on me is just because I’m attracted to it image wise. All my tattoos definitely have a meaning to them although in some cases it’s not what you think. I have a big tiger tattooed on my neck just because I wanted to get a crazy tattoo that would make it so I could never get a normal job, to make sure that I could never consider that as an option.

Photo: Keith Romanowski

Cats, where did this weird trend start and what do you think about all of this?
I never really liked animals at all my whole life until my old girlfriend Katie got a cat about a year ago. Within a week or two of getting it, I had fallen in love and became temporarily obsessed with them. Even though her and I aren’t dating now, I still go see the cats a couple times a week. There’s something about the pointlessness of their lives that I really like.

You’ve written a few things for magazines, is that something you could see yourself doing more seriously in the future?
I wrote that Preconceived Notions article for Ride just because I thought it was a good idea and it seemed like something fun to do. It was very rewarding to see it printed. Keith and I are working on an article right now about underground riders in NYC that I’m stoked on, we already have some amazing photos for it… As for how into it I am, I don’t think I’d want to work full time for a magazine or anything but writing comes really easily to me so it’s fun doing stuff here and there.

If you could go anywhere in the world to ride or visit, where would you go and why?
I really want to go to Australia. There’s this girl I want to get tattooed by out there, and it just seems like a lot of fun. I am going to bring Liam a drive train when I go out there.

Who or what are the biggest influences in your life?
Mike Schueler, Dietrech Washington, Adam Tardif and my parents.

What is BMX to you?
A good excuse to hang out with my friends all day doing stupid shit.

What kind of advice do you have for people getting into BMX?
Buy a can of flat black Krylon and spraypaint whatever gay looking orange frame you buy, stupid colored frames = buns.

What kind of advice do you have for people looking to getting into the website business?
Don’t bother.

Do you have any shout outs or thanks?
Shout outs to Ryan Denehey for helping me get my money up, Greg Rossetti for the same thing, Katie, also my mom, dad, sister and all the young NYC blacks.

Anything else you would like to say?
Quit hating.