NINE LIVES – IN THE MINDS OF THREE CRUSTY DEMONS

Words by Goba. 

The Nine Lives Crusty Tour hit our shores again to the delight of 100-odd-thousand fans, who brought to the show their own touch of vocal expression and specially painted banners from, “Doin’ it for Ackerman”, “Metal Mulisha Rocks!”, and “If there was a God it would be a Crusty Demon”. Gods they are in the eyes of their followers, and we spent time with three of them including Brian Deegan, Ronnie Faisst and Nate Adams, leading up to and during the tour.

At The Compound 

To do the tricks modern-day freestylers are throwing down these days you’d be certain they all have at least nine lives. Brian Deegan is the perfect example after surviving his monster crash while bailing out of his famous Mulisha Twist on ice at Winter X only three months before the Australian leg of the Crusty tour kicked off in Melbourne. Deegan must have used up five of those nine lives with that one accident, and lucky to even be walking it’s a miracle he even attempted to throw his healing leg over his CR 250 to hit a ramp for the first time the day Peto and myself visited his Metal Mulisha compound only one month before the tour. While Deegan stickered up his practice bike, changed a filter and checked over every nut and bolt before hitting a ramp, I turned on my recorder so he could explain his tough road back and the pressure put on him to Twist on tour: “Basically it’s only been two-and-half-months since my accident and I’ve ridden three times already on the track, which is pretty remarkable. I mean my leg hurt a little bit but I felt good, and I think people are a little surprised I’m back on the bike so quick. I set my goal after the accident to be back ready for the Oz Crusty tour in May, and to do this I’ve done everything from physical therapy, eating right, to taking the right pills and vitamins so I can be ready in time. So far so good and I’m ready to start hitting ramps. All I need is a little bit of time on the bike as you never forget how to ride or how to do your tricks. On the 360, like no-one has tried it since the X Games because it’s so gnarly, and at this point with the way I’m feeling right now I can’t say whether I’ll be doing it at the Crusty Tour in May. It’s totally up to me and how I feel at the time. I don’t know whether it will make or break the show, but to me, I’ll be just stoked to be able to pull off a Backflip. I’m stoked to be even getting back on my bike and hitting the ramp at this point of the game after a crash like that. I think the crowd will be just happy to see me there, and like I said, who knows what might happen when I get in front of a crowd. The set-up for a trick like the 360 has to be spot-on. The super kicker has to be perfect as does the downramp. There’s too much going into that trick to just half ass it. It’s gotta be safe as I definitely don’t need to be going back to the hospital. For one I can’t afford it mentally because I can’t sit around, I’ll go crazy. I also lost a lot of blood during surgery from that accident, and went through a lot more than most people know. It’s not fun going through that shit and getting nothing for it, so it’s kinda like if I’m going to risk doing the 360 I want to get paid right for it or it’s just not worth it. You know what’s so funny, Twitch tried the 360 a few times and he almost fell out of the pit and he’s now over it, he just sticks to the Backflip. And I listen to these guys going, ‘I ain’t trying that’, which makes me think this trick must be pretty gnarley. The Backflip is fuckin’ cake compared to the 360, as you just ride off the lip, look backwards and just hang the fuck on. With the 360 it’s like ‘Boom’, you’re spinning looking left, squeezing the bike and dipping it half way through while flat, and then finding your landing and trying to straighten the thing up while getting the front wheel down to land. There’s one point during the 360 when you’re laying the bike flat while looking back at the take-off ramp, and man, it’s a whole different ball-game.”  

The Pit 

“Using the foam pit is definitely the safest way to learn any type of Flip tricks, and I wouldn’t want to try and learn anything without one these days as it’s just too gnarly dude, and way to sketchy to put it all on the line. I mean you can still get jacked up, and compress your back or jack your wrist, but it’s still the safest way to learn your Flips”, Ronnie Faisst explained not long after his fifth 75-foot Flip into the Mulisha foam pit, which seems to be one way to save one of those nine lives. But these foam pits are expensive to set up, which means Deegan has enforced strict rules to avoid any accidents or disasters similar to Metzgers that was recently burnt to the ground, saying, “The bottom line is when we built the foam pit it cost over $20,000 and four guys chipped in five grand each, and the deal is if you want to use it you have to pay each one of us a grand each. We’ve had people try and sneak it and they’ve been punished for it by either being cut from coming to the compound all together, or they get beat up, or they get assigned yard work. Then we’ll decide if they can ride again. We’re pretty strict with the pit, like we don’t want a bunch of tools jumping in it and getting hurt. It’s strickly for the Mullisha to learn tricks so they’re not getting hurt trying them on the dirt. When I try the 360 into the pit I make sure all the edges are padded, as it looks wide, but when you jump into it on a dirt-bike it’s not that wide, you just gotta hope that you land in the middle. What you have to remember is that we are the ones trying and pushing the limits with new tricks first, we’re taking the shit, which then paves the way for all the other kids. I’ve actually landed right next to the edge a few times after throwing the bike away in the air. I’ve also caught on fire after gas poured over my head while stuck underneath my bike, nearly passing out in the pit. The guys pulled my bike off of me and then a spark from the crane being activated caused a fire, but luckily we’re smart enough to have fire extinguishers to put it out in a few seconds. Metzgers foam pit burning down is a classic case of letting other people use your pit and what can happen. He wasn’t even there, like he received a phone call saying it was happening. I saw the smoke from here and thought to myself, oh my God! Something ain’t right over there.”  

Faisst Compound 

The Mulisha compound ain’t the only place the riders practice. Faisst has a crip set-up right in his backyard where he rides as much as possible, depending on who he can get over. “I have trouble sometimes getting people to come to my house for a ride, especially lately because Deegan has been hurt. He’s the guy I always usually ride with most of the time, but since he’s been hurt it’s like pulling teeth trying to get someone to come over. Twitch is lazy, he like never rides his bike and when he does he usually goes down to the track and does laps, and thinks he’s a racer or something (laughs). Now Dayne has broken his arm at the track while riding with Twitch, which sucks as he was just super into riding at the time. Doug Parsons comes and rides on and off. Sometimes he’s into it, and then at other times I won’t see him for a month or so, which kinda sucks. I don’t want a bunch of people riding at my house that I can’t trust so it’s pretty much just my friends who I know well and know how to ride a bike. If I don’t know you or don’t think you can ride there’s no way you’re going to ride at my house because I can’t afford someone getting hurt and suing me or shit like that.” Faisst has one of the tidiest houses I’ve ever seen. In his garage he has his Honda CRF 450 track bike and CR 250R in immaculate condition ready to roll. On the top of his white shelves for storage he has a collection of second-hand Fox and Alpinestar boots he has used over the years. On the floor he also has a sit-down leg stretching machine that he uses to keep his inner thigh and groin area stretched for his Kung Fu. It’s clear that Faisst likes to keep things in order, and this also is shown when you look at his carefully manicured jumps in his backyard, which he works with his old-school Ford tractor, and he explains starts with a “90-foot step-down jump, which is off one of the older style Freeride Technology ramps built. It’s a bit mellower than todays ramps, but it’s still pretty sick though and a lot of fun. Then once you land you can corner hard left and come straight back up the hill to a 75-foot dirt lip. It’s kinda like a hip or you can just jump it straight. Then if you turn hard right there’s an 80-foot Freeride comp ramp that heads up the hill in the other direction, then you can make another right and come back up the centre and choose between a 75-foot comp ramp that’s been jacked up six to eight inches to make it really poppy, or a popper ramp set at 50 feet. I built another landing that I was going to put another popper ramp that Dayne Kinnaird brought, but the company never delivered it so one day I’ll get one in so that I can jump it. I pretty much have everything here that I need, and the only thing that I want to do is add in a dirt lip that goes towards the 75, 80 and 90-foot landings so that there’s a ramp and a dirt lip at every jump. It just makes it more fun, and you can mix it up and not just ride the same shit everyday. I like dirt lips as they always get kicked and rutted out, which tests your riding skills more. I actually like the popper ramps in Australia as they’re a bit steeper and a bit taller by about one foot, which makes it a lot easier to Flip. They kick you a lot higher than our ramps. The same goes with the comp ramps, they’re also a bit poppier than ours and better to hit. With ours it’s like when we start kicking the ramps up it’s time to start building a new one that’s steeper so we can leave it on flat ground, but I’d love to get one of the Aussie popper ramps for sure as those things are so sick”.  

Dougie Parsons dropped in for a ride with Faisst the day we were checking out his set-up. They hit the jumps early before the wind flared up around mid-morning, and Faisst focused on his Flips and tricks for the Crusty tour as he wanted to have them down perfect so he could relax and have a good time on tour, saying, “The Oz Crusty Tour is one of the most fun tours that I do and I don’t want to miss it. The crew is such a fun group of people to be with and the crowds are insane every year, plus there’s chicks everywhere and we have brand new bikes with good jumps, which makes you even more amped up to ride”. After their riding session Faisst ended our conversation with a warning for the new boy Nate Adams … “We’re definitely going to fuck with Adams for sure. Just because he’s the new guy on the tour, and he’s just a nice kid, but in reality we fuck with everyone, even with each other and we’re best friends. Everyone gets shit so he’s definitely going to get some shit. It’s like you can’t hang out with this group of people and not have someone on your ass all the time just talking shit. It’s just how we are and we think it’s funny. It’s just how we entertain each other, and it’s a way to make things interesting. Things will get interesting when he tries to get some sleep and we’re getting ready to party!”