With the second Anthem (hopefully) soon to be released, it got me thinking of another fine video from Stew Johnson, 1201. One of the main features to the video is the New England section and one of the heavily ridden obstacles in said section is the now defunct micro mini-ramp at Dick Maul’s Bike Shop in Halifax, Massachusetts. Throughout the section, Tony Long, a Massachusetts native, current Dick Maul’s employee, and legend in his own right, does some serious work on the ramp. Iif you’re familiar with the video, you may recall Mr. Long doing extensive nosepick variations (bars backwards and forwards), all chrome Standard Lengthy, some alternative fashion sense and that really catchy Cheap Trick song. Seeing that I consider Tony a friend (interviewing your friends is always the easiest, duh) and knew he’d be down to answer a few questions from that time, I hit him up. Click below to see what he has to say.

ITG: Tony, I have a feeling filming for 1201 might have been a little different than what’s going on now with Anthem II, can you recall the filming sessions for 1201?
TL: Filming for 1201, as I recall it, was very laid back. Stew is a great guy and is lots of fun to be around, so he never really pressured us for anything, just kinda filmed whatever we were doing. Those were some great times. I’m honored to be part of what some people call one of the best BMX videos of all time. I’m sure Stew is still the same with filming these days.

ITG: True, 1201 is definitely one of favorite videos. Please inform the readers with, what you considered the best session to go down on the bunny ramp at Dick Maul’s?
TL: This may be one of the hardest questions to answer, partly because we had so many radical sessions out there. All of us were out there pretty much every day and late into the night. But if I had to pinpoint one session I would say it was the first Maul’s Brawl contest we had out there. A lot of people showed up that day and some of the stuff that went down on that ramp that day, I never thought was possible (for those who never rode it, it was basically a four foot tall vert ramp). So I guess that stands out the most to me. But I miss those days. Sooo good!

ITG: Which ramp was better, the mini-spine or the bunny ramp?
TL: I liked both ramps for different reasons but the smaller of the two is the one we all learned to ride ramp on, so that will always have a special place in my heart. The big ramp, I think everyone except me hated. It was big and steep and no one really sessioned it like the little one. So to answer your question, the little one was way more fun but the big one was just constructed better, haha.

ITG: Haha. I remember when I first went to Maul’s, that thing literally scared the shit out of me, I also remember that on that same day or the second time I went to Maul’s, this kid who I was friends with growing up, his mom went out back to the bigger ramp and told a few guys riding they should be wearing helmets. Was that you?
TL: I do remember something like that,I think she came out and started preaching to us about not wearing helmets and being the smart asses we were back then we back talked her. The only reason I remember that day is cause Joe Johnson was there and we were all psyched. He hadn’t ridden in awhile and just showed up and was like “Can I ride?” and we were like “Joe Johnson, SURE!” That’s weird that was the same day.

ITG: Damn, if it was the same day, that’s crazy that Joe Johnson was there then haha. Okay so why did you get rid of the front brakes?
TL: The front brakes came off my bike because at the time I had actually stopped riding for a bit and when I started back up, everyone I rode with had taken off they’re front brakes, gyros, and four piece bars and switched from four pegs to two. So I decided to keep up with the times I would switch it up and did the same. It was one of the harder things to get used to not having them, partly because I couldn’t nosepick anymore. To tell you the truth, I missed front brakes up until last year when I finally learned footjams. When I had my ramp at my old house I actually built up a ramp bike with front brakes, four pegs,and gyro for old times sake,that was awesome for a time,but it makes your bike considerably heavy, so I eventually sold that bike and just rode the way my bike is still set up today just rear brake, no gyro and two pegs.

ITG: Do you think if I mention that you had some alternative fashion styling, people would know you for that? Do you care haha?
TL: I think your probably refering to my many facial piercings from days back. I think people would mostly remember me for that. Back then I was pretty heavily pierced up with all the tattoos and crazy hair styles and baggy ass clothes we all wore back then, funny shit.

ITG: After the demise of the ramps at Maul’s, there weren’t any ramps for awhile. That recently changed. Can you describe the set-up over on Elm. St. these days?
TL: These days we kinda have a rad setup at the shop, it looks real ratty though.The current setup is this crazy over vert eight foot ramp called the “big air”. Thing is nuts (I don’t think anyone who hits it for the first time likes it). Then we have some weird four foot hip/jump box kinda thing and a grindbox and some little ghetto ramp that was donated. We never really talked about building new ramps it just kinda happened. We session those alot. Usually Friday nights there is a pretty good sesh. But compared to the old ramps, they kinda pale in comparison. Fun all the same, but I would rather the old setup anyday.The old ramps had way bigger and better sessions too.

ITG: Can we expect a full return from the legend himself, Mike Rotundo?
TL: Mike Rotondo has been riding. I have ridden with him a little recently. He has also been cruising around with Ferbert a little. As for him making a full blown return, only he knows the answer to that question. But I love getting calls from him asking me to ride, it’s like old times, great!

ITG: That’s awesome, he’s one of my favorite riders. How many times has Dan Webster fallen on the ramp? How many tabletops has he done?
TL: Webster has probably only ridden the ramp a couple of times, he’s a man of mystery as of late. Haven’t seen him in awhile, at least not on his bike. But it’s fair to say he’s probably done his fair share of tables and falling on that setup, just not as much as everyone else.

ITG: HAHA. Fair enough, I hope he’s riding at least a little because like Rotundo, he’s also on of my favorite riders. I’ll wrap this up now, what are the top 5 songs to be found playing at Maul’s or while riding the ramps at Maul’s?
TL: The top five songs would depend on which employee is working that day, so that’s a tough one. I’ll say that more like top five bands in no order would be Metallica, The Clash, Greatful Dead, Kanye West and Van Halen.

ITG: Awesome. Thanks Tony! For more information on Dick Maul’s, visit their website here. If you’re still curious about Maul’s old ramp there was some coverage of it on the old eWire site, which is still up here.