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» Biography / Interview
Geraldo interview by Marton Szylagi. Thanks again!

Germany`s capital Berlin has always had a pretty rad flatland scene and some of the best marble flatland areas to practice. Through the 80`s you could watch flatlanders all day long doing street shows for money around the "Gedächtniskirche " church in the center of Berlin. The scene kinda slowed down a bit in the early 90`s but soon had it`s revival with a new breed of BMXers. One of those guys who actually came from the skating department and now is one of the top european flatlanders is "GERALDO".

You`ve been riding for a decade now, you pretty soon got good enough to get a sponsor deal, right?
Yeah, right, after I rode for only about 4 years, I got hooked on KHE, Vans and UMD and AMPM.
How many serious flatlanders are there in Berlin these days?
I mean on pro level it`s kinda hard to say, because I`m from the western section. I`d say here about 5, in the east there are a few more good riders. But here at my main spot there is Ali Baljesteh, who`s always been around, a few hot new schoolers, who take it seriously, Pascel and Stefan.
You started riding right before the wall came down, what has changed BMX wise since it`s one united Berlin?
It`s amazing, there are so many new riders, since it was totally new to them. In the former east there was no BMX at all, now it`s raging, especially the street and dirt scene. Flatland kinda stays consistent. But that`s a general problem, kids start flatlanding, soon find out how much effort they have to put in and a lot of them switch to street riding, simply because you don`t have to train that much. When the wall came down, all of a sudden there was so many new faces, they were really enthusiastic, a totally new atmosphare in Berlin BMX was born.
Is the main spot still the National Gallery?
Oh yeah, thet`s one of the best spots on the globe man, smooth marble, the size of a football field. When rolling, you gain speed, instead of loosing speed, great. I mean, there is security, but they accept us.For the wintertime there`s the ICC, which is kinda underground spot, dry and roofed. Pretty big, we share it with the skaters, but it`s fine by us. For a flatlander it`s important to ride the same spot every day, whereas rampriders always need some new ramp because they get used to the one they always ride, but for flat all that changes is the trix, but not the environment.
Professor (an old Berlin Flatland legend) lately told me you guys are doing street shows for pedestrians again, like back in the day?
Yeah, Ali, Frank Wolf and Professor and a few Flatland skateboarders...after each show we go around and collect money from the tourists. People really enjoy watching. We even performed at the christmas market.
How much does the average BMX street performer earn a day?
About 40 quid for a 2 hour session per person. Normally street artists have to pay a certain fee for the place, but we normally go away with it. I mean it`s good money once in a while, but it`s kinda boring in the summertime when you`d rather be at the Gallery and trying new sh*t.
Are you a native Berliner?
I was born near Stuttgart, but I feel like a Berlin man. I love it here. But as usual in the wintertime I`d rather be somewhere in the south of Europe like Phil does. Hopefully next year, but this year with all the KHE promo stuff, the shoots and shows I was too busy. I mean shows is my only income, so I have to do it.
What is Ali doing these days?
He`s been a surviver all his life, as an artist, flatlander, musician, producer, actor, whatever...
Is that what you want to do?
In a way maybe, but I strictly wanna concentrate on riding and get paid for it. If I can ride in Berlin for the summer and in Spain for the winter, that`ll be heaven for me. I`m not too materialistic, I can really live on a minimum. I`m happy as can be these days. I just wanna have time and ride. I`m not riding too many hours, that was a few years ago. I now recognize if you have a day off, it works better the day after. A couple of hours a day...I just love pulling off a new trick.
Are you much of a party head?
I don`t go to parties that much, you know. The party scene here is pretty crazy. Those guys don`t do much apart from partying all week long. I`d rather go out riding and hang out with my brother. And if I do go out once a month, I can`t really get on with the party zombies.
What role does Hip Hop play in your life?
Before I was into bikes I was into HipHop, but that`s still the same, riding just came along. I`d like to be a rapper or a DJ, but then instead of being a flatlander. I`m gonna do that when `m physically not able to ride anymore. I`d like to produce HipHop backgrounds, instrumentals, that kind of stuff. Not samples, but produce the sh*t myself. My dream is my own video with my own background sound. I used to DJ, you know scratching backwards, hand sticking through my leg...that stuff, but my mixer was kind shady and the records are expensive and addictive. I`ve got about 100 good simple and plain HipHop records, no mainstream stuff, though.
Does the music influence your riding?
I just recently started to ride with a walkman, I listen either to Hip Hop or real od BeachBoys stuff or Disco70`s stuff, no samples, just simple plain stuff.
When did you firstly hit the contest scene?
I think it was back in1989 in Braunschweig, first trix, failed them all, then I was at particullarly every contest for 10 years, but never competed, because I always had problems with both feet and one knee. That was through school sports, I was not able to walk for an entire year. That was one of the reasons I started out with rolling trix, no scuffing, it `d hurt my feet. These days I`m 90% healthy. I`ve been competing for about 5 years.
There`s contest, video, photoshoot, show and practise on your own, how do you see the different skill levels?
Video is probably the most exhausting, `cos you try a trick 1000 times and it must get on the filmers nerves at a point. Practise is the easiest, most relaxed form of flatlanding, contest...nervous, nervous, most of my trix have to be pulled off first try, there`s hardly any scuffing in my style, not much to equalize. I`ve got a few new trix that are really hard and I pull 'em off in practise, but there`s no way I`d pull them in comps. Shows are cool, no prob, I just don`t like it if there`s someone of my family sitting in the audience.
You still ride front and backbrake, ever thought of taking them off?
On the one hand I`d like to tryit out, but on the other hand I try to force myself not to use them when not neccesary, for example whiplashes and hang fives. For shows you do need brakes unless you`re chase. I can imagine it being fun, when it`s just raw, pure just the bike, nothing in your way, I suppose there`s more flow once you`re used to it. Maybe I`ll try sometime.
Any final comments?
I just wanna ride and earn my living from riding for as long as I can, I don`t expect too much, I don`t wanna become rich. I wanna keep my level or increase it. I mean look at Chase or Kevin, those guys and in their 30`s and they kick ass!