Today, the Flannel Crew is premiering The Nomad, its first full-length movie, at home in Calgary. If you haven’t heard of either, that could be because they aren’t pros. In fact, between big sends and film sessions, the crew all work full time jobs. They’re just so stoked on bikes that they wanted to make a movie.
All of that is, of course, why so many people are excited for The Nomad to be released.
To find out more about what happens when you and your friends decide to make a full-on freeride movie, we talked to the Flannel Crew’s Austen Tanney.
Freeride and good times
If you’re of a certain age, you remember the time before Instagram clips, maybe even before YouTube short edits, when every year brought a new full-length movie and an accompanying premier tour. When freeride was freeride and when the scene was as much party as it was pro.
Calgary’s Flannel Crew is doing its best to tap into, that spirit of Freeride in The Nomad.
“We wanted to bring back the vibes of those old days. New World Disorder, metal music and rock, just capturing the Raw moments and essence of mountain biking without Instagram and Tik Tok getting in the way,” says Tanney. “I went down to Red Bull Rampage with Robbie Bourdon back in the day. He was kinda like the spirit animal of Rampage and he was always my idol. I always loved his spots in New World Disorder because they were always smiling, right? You don’t really see that anymore in the new films, they’re always really artsy.”
Filming from the other side of the Rockies
While no one wants to ditch quality production or bring back the days of giant helmet-mounted camcorders, Tanney thinks the industry is growing too focused inwards and might be losing something in the process.
“One person does one stunt and you see 15 people go there the next week and do the same thing,” Tanney says of what he calls the Squamish mentality. “You’ve gotta ride the same stuff as everyone else, you’ve gotta go prove that you hit it, take the videos. It’s a copy-cat industry now.”
The Flannel Crew did start to get sucked into that world, Tanney admits, but The Nomad aims for something simpler.
“We want to bring back authenticity to the sport. Just do your own thing and love it,” the Calgarian explains. “The goal of the movie is to get people really stoked on bikes. That’s always been our mantra from day one….
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…