Joe Niranonta & Tom Nguyen Interview

Joe Niranonta and Tom Nguyen have been hard at work on some projects for Sneaker Lab that have begun surfacing online. An interview conducted with Joe and Tom about the current state and future of BMX was posted on the Sneaker Lab website earlier today. The interview is complete with a handful of photos of Joe riding that were shot by Tom. You can view the full interview by clicking here. And although this one made it’s way online back in August, above is an edit for Sneaker Lab’s “Sneaker Wipes” featuring Joe that was filmed and edited by Tom.

Chocolate Truck | JIB: Tape #4

The sixth section from “JIB: Tape #4” was uploaded to the JIB Vimeo account earlier today. The Chocolate Truck crew hold down the third mix of the video with the help of a few friends including Grant Maddox and Mike Swift. The last clip will have you pressing rewind more than once. Be on the lookout for more sections from “JIB: Tape #4” right here as they are released online.

Don’t forget to read our in depth review of “JIB: Tape #4” by clicking here.

Review // “Sorry For Partying!”

Tom Nguyen’s new video “Sorry For Partying!” premiered in Philadelphia on Friday, June 23rd. After the release of the videos trailer online we expressed our interest in the video and a private link of the final cut was made available to us for review twenty four hours prior to the videos premiere.

“Sorry For Partying!” was filmed by Tom Nguyen using a VX2000 / VX2100 over the past two years and features a cast of fifty five BMX riders from all over the East Coast and beyond. The run time is on par with most full length BMX videos with a duration of just under twenty two minutes.

The videos party theme provides a great vibe and the intro sets the pace for the following sections. “SFP” does a great job in wasting no time building it’s momentum. The intro is a blend of random party footage, slams and teases of some of what is in store throughout the video. From start to finish the video is consistent in the level of riding being presented and the flow of each of it’s sections. The video is composed of four well structured mix sections, and a full length closing section from Andrew White.

Adem Gunaydin – 60/40 Grind
Photo: Chris Girouard

“Sorry For Partying!” is packed with diverse street riding and a wide array of styles due to the large cache of riders it showcases throughout each of the videos four mix sections. It would be impossible to talk about this video and not acknowledge the work that Adem Gunaydin put in for his footage. I went in watching this video anxious to see Adem’s footage and he really delivered. Adem closes out the second section of the video with one of the most creative and impressive rooftop moves I have seen.

The fourth mix section of the video is a Philly mix which features riding from the Chocolate Truck crew and friends. Although a lot of the Chocolate Truck crews footage has been seen through Instagram clips filmed on cell phones, it was refreshing to see those clips in DV format and edited together.

Some other highlights throughout the video include Fateem Williams who shuts down the third mix section, the LFS guys, Brett Tocco who provides some of the videos most creative riding, Brandon Bunting who drops a big three down a stair set in the first mix section, Breyon Woods for closing out the fourth mix along with the Chocolate Truck crew, Dave Raffa, Pat Schlitzer, Baboon, Court Freeman, Colin Varanyak, Chase Dehart, Jersey Joe, and too many others.

You can check out more photos from the “Sorry For Partying!” world premiere right here.

The final section of the video belongs to Andrew White who closes out “SFP” with it’s only non mix section. Andrews section is made up of a lot of technical street moves, bangers and his own unique style of riding. Having the closing and only non mix section is pretty heavy but Andrew manages to come through with some of the videos best riding. The final trick of the video is on a setup that literally has everything wrong with it and watching Andrew roll away is near perfect. Cue the credits.

Tom Nguyen did a great job all around with this project between the filming, editing, promotion, Everything was on point. I’ll be very interested to see more works from Tom in the future. Easily one of my favorite aspects of this video is how many riders it’s drawn my attention to that I was previously unaware of. “Sorry For Partying!” is a must see / own video for any East Coast BMX enthusiast. Copies of the DVDs will be available for purchase in the coming weeks. Special thanks to Tom for setting up a private viewing of the video.

In order of appearance:

Mix Section One:
Mike Ware • Sean Guest • Brandon Bunting • Matt Mazzone • Josh Vodopija • Jared Manganelli • Luke Gajtkowski

Mix Section Two:
Chris Girouard • Adem Gunaydin • Pat Cregan • Chris Schaeffer • Jake Grelli • Drew Quinlan • Chase Dehart • JD Whitehead • Matt Krumins • Court Freeman

Mix Section Three:
Old Man Dirt • Victor Behm • Menardo Simon • Eric Tkacz • Jersey Joe • Nick Maltese • Pat Schlitzer • Mike Verdecchio • Kenny Shoulders • Andrew Lettieri • Eeshond Kirk • Tenzin • Baboon • Chris Aceto • Arty Barrera • Steve Jones • Mikey Almodovar • Dave Raffa • Brett Tocco • Tenna • Colin Varanyak • Marnold • Eddie Muscle • Fateem Williams

Mix Section Four (Philly):
Joe Niranonta • John Yoh • Steve Tassone • Joby Suender • Mike Swift • Kevin Vannauker • Breyon Woods • Nick Barrett • Cody Neiswender • Chris Carter • Ryan Niranonta • Herman McCracken • Twinn

Andrew White Closing Section

“Sorry For Partying!” Premiere

The world premiere for Tom Nguyen’s new video “Sorry For Partying!” will be taking place this Friday, June 23rd in Philadelphia. The premiere will be hosted at PhilaMOCA located at 531 N. 12th Street, Philadelphia, PA between 8-11pm. There is no entry fee for the event which will also feature art galleries by Freako Rico, D’ana/Itscovl and music by Astro 8000.

“Sorry For Partying!” was filmed by Tom Nguyen over the last two years and features riding from Adem Gunaydin, Andrew Lettieri, Andrew White, Arty Barrera, Baboon, Brandon Bunting, Brett Tocco, Breyon Woods, Chase Dehart,Chris Aceto, Chris Carter, Chris Schaeffer, Chris Griouard, Colin Varanyak, Court Freeman, Dave Raffa, Drew Quinlan, Eddie Muscle, Eeshond Kirk, Eric Tkacz, Fateem Williams, Jake Grelli, Jared Manganelli, JD Whitehead, Joby Suender, Joe Camp, Joe Niranonta, John Yoh, Josh Vodopija, Kevin Vannauker, Luke Gajtkowski, Marnold, Matt Mazzone, Mcthuggin, Menardo Simon, Mikey Almodovar, Mike Swift, Mike Ware, Mike Verdecchio, Nick Barrett, Nick Maltese, Old Man Dirt, Pat Cregan, Pat Schlitzer, Ryan Niranonta, Sean Guest, Steve Jones, Steve Tassone, Tenna, Tenzin Nyandak, and Vick Behm.

You can check out the trailer for “Sorry For Partying!” after the jump.

Read More ““Sorry For Partying!” Premiere”

Niranonta Insta Edit

The Niranonta brothers, Ryan and Joe, are back at it with a new eight and a half minute long Insta edit composed of footage shot on iPhones over the past couple of years. The video dropped yesterday on YouTube and features riding from both Ryan and Joe along with a number of the Chocolate Truck crew and some of their affiliates. The footage was shot around filming for the follow-up to the Chocolate Truck crews self titled 2013 DVD release and includes a few from the Animal ‘Facts’ video as well. Although most of this footage has already been released on Instagram the Niranonta brothers are doing a great job holding us over until the release of CT2.

2016 Calendar Review

Every year, Pennsylvania is home to a number of jams, video premieres and other events. Closing out our series of year end features is our 2016 Calendar Review. The third and final installment in the series highlights some of the more notable events that took place over the last year. This years list is composed of a dozen events that helped shape 2016 and made the year one to remember. We hope you’ve enjoyed our trip down memory lane and don’t forget to stay tuned, we’ve got plenty in store for 2017.

Read More “2016 Calendar Review”

Review // JIB: Tape Four

On Friday, January 20th, 2017 the fourth installment in the JIB mixtape series, ‘JIB: Tape Four’ premiered in a warehouse in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Jib is in their own words, a project that focuses on creating footage of riders that are living & riding in the Philadelphia area.

We expressed interest in reviewing the video for the website and purchased a copy through the Berks St. website. Jonathan Schimpf was kind enough to provide us with an early online viewing of the video to help expedite the review process. You can read the entire review, after the jump.

Read More “Review // JIB: Tape Four”

Top 12 Videos Of 2016

As we approach the end of the year, it’s time once again to kick off our series of year end posts. Every year, we publish a long list of videos on this site. In the fast paced environment that is the internet they are here one minute and archived the next. But before we close the door on 2016, it’s time to take a look back at some of the videos that we felt made the strongest impression on our viewers and the scene as a whole. The list is in no particular order and is not based off of any web statistics or analytics. With that in mind, we invite you to sit back, re-watch and enjoy.

Read More “Top 12 Videos Of 2016”

Berks Street – Only In Philadelphia

Steve Tassone has been hard at work turning a dream into reality. Earlier today, Berks Street BMX officially launched their website / online store in addition to releasing the brands first promo titled “Only In Philadelphia”. Along with the launch of the website, Berks St. has also released their first zine which consists of 40 pages of 35mm photography taken by Steve Tassone. Berks Street will be hosting a photo gallery / zine release tomorrow night (Saturday, October 1st) at 7pm at the Indie Photo Lab located at 206 E. Girard Ave. Philadelphia, PA. 19125.

You can check out some more info about the promo after the jump and don’t forget to check out the Berks Street website for all your BMX needs in the greater Philadelphia area.

Read More “Berks Street – Only In Philadelphia”

Chocolate Truck Jam Videos

On Saturday, June 25th, The Chocolate Truck crew hosted their first jam in the City of Philadelphia. The spot by spot style jam started at 3pm at the 9th and Poplar DIY spot which was followed by a product toss before moving on to the streets. A few videos from the jam have surfaced online over the past two weeks including an installment in the DIG series “In The Cut”. The “In The Cut” Video was filmed and edited by Rob Dolecki and features 14+ minutes of raw footage from the jam. The second video which can be viewed below was filmed and edited by Evan Yoh with additional filming by Joe Niranonta, Tom Nguyen and Rocky Ventura.

Read More “Chocolate Truck Jam Videos”

Chocolate Truck 2 Appetizer

This morning, Ryan Niranonta released an appetizer web edit for the highly anticipated “Chocolate Truck 2”. The edit consists of clips that were uploaded to Instagram, second angles and throwaways. There’s even some footage from the recent Chocolate Truck trip to Arizona. Featuring riding from Pat Schlitzer, Ryan and Joe Niranonta, Jon Schimpf, Nick Barrett, Dave Krone, Breyon Woods, Joby Suender and many more.

Joe Niranonta | North Philadelphia

Joe Niranonta – Rail Hop
Photo: Ryan Navazio

Ryan Navazio has uploaded a new photo of Joe Niranonta taken yesterday, February 6th, 2016. The photo was taken during a day session in North Philadelphia and features Joe hopping from a crooked cement handicap ramp sideways over the flat top of a green rail hop. You can also check out a slow motion clip of Joe’s rail hop filmed by his brother Ryan Niranonta by clicking here. Don’t forget to follow The Navi Arm on Tumblr and on Instagram for more photos and videos by Ryan Navazio.