Sometimes it feels like the term legend is about as worn out in BMX as the bottom of a brakeless rider’s shoes. But in the case of Paul Buchanan, he is literally what legends are made of. When he first moved to the then burgeoning BMX Mecca of Austin in 1999, he quickly began to leave his mark all over the city. More times than not without any more documentation than the eternal memories of those who were lucky enough to witness it with their own two eyes. Perhaps Paul’s greatest self-fulfillment BMX moment (that we know of) was when he jumped the infamous Church Gap shortly after Jimmy Levan christened it only a year earlier on Road Fools 1, while out cruising around with Sandy Carson. Unfortunately, Paul left this world far too soon and Taj Mihelich celebrates the legend with his recent animated story, The Legend of Paul Buchanan and the Church Gap.
For people who aren’t aware, could you sum up Paul Buchanan’s riding, personality, and impact on BMX? I’m sure that’s a hard question, but it’s an important one…
Paul Buchanan was a part of the original T-1 team. Coming from Canada, he wasn’t the most well-known rider, but I recognized his creativity and riding ability right away. I wanted to support his riding because I was sure that Paul would break new ground on a bike if given a chance. He had a bit of a reputation for being camera shy, but that was fine with us at T-1. A lot of the riding he pioneered got passed around the Austin scene and eventually found its way to the whole BMX world (even though many people never knew it originated with Paul).
To me, this story of Paul and the Church Gap always represented a sense of purity in the idea of just doing something for yourself and not the search of recognition or status. Am I correct with tha thinking? If so, was Paul always of this mindset?
I was not in Austin when Paul met the Church Gap, and I wasn’t told the story until years later. My first thought was disbelief. Who attempts one of the gnarliest things in BMX and doesn’t even bother to wait for the camera to get set up? Paul told me, “I just wanted to see what it felt like.” There was no sense of him trying to be cool by acting like it wasn’t a big deal or something. He truly rode his bike from the heart, and if his heart felt like doing something like that, he let it lead. Really great riders are so much more than their technical ability. What makes them stand out is the feeling and emotion they let guide their riding.
Paul did this 20 years ago, at a spot that has since been deconstructed. Why do you think it’s important to tell this story, and why now?
Paul lost a battle with excruciating depression and took his own life in 2018. Chris Rye visited me not long after filming the Jimmy Levan Go Fast and Pull Up documentary. Chris searched high and low for footage of other riders attempting (and sometimes making) the gap, and it made me wish there was a way to show Paul’s attempt. Animation is a big project for me, so I dragged my feet on the project for a couple of years before diving into it. Interviewing Sandy Carson (the storyteller in the animation) pushed me along a lot. Sandy and Paul were close, and something inside me thought that talking about, and remembering this cool moment of Paul’s riding would be a good way for us to process the loss of our friend. I also hope my goofy little animation stands as a bit of a tribute for a really great rider who we loved.
Maybe not Church Gap level, but do you have any stories from personally experiencing Paul do something wild—where he didn’t concern himself with documenting it?
We used to have bands play on the T1 ramp, and for some event I’ve long forgotten, a band Paul and I liked was playing on the flat bottom. This was back when the ramp was a 3/4 bowl, so it made a kind of amphitheater, and the sound was incredible. Paul and I both decided to ride while the band was playing, and it felt really wild. Inside the bowl, the music was so loud we lost that sense of speed you get hearing your tires hum or the noise when you land on the ramp. We both would carve around the band (scaring the shit of out them) and did some of our highest airs ever fueled on rock n’ roll. It was honestly pretty dangerous because we would have creamed the band if we crashed, but it ended up being a great memory.
To put even more perspective on the Church Gap and just how gnarly it was, don’t you have your own story from a mental battle fought there once?
I went there during an old Ride interview a few years before it had been jumped and completely buckled with fear once the cameras were set up. Did a million run-ups where I started to sprint and then grabbed a handful of brake (back when we had brakes). It just wasn’t happening, and I had to admit that I was beaten. I got so upset with myself I had to tell the photographers I just needed to be alone and pedaled home.
Your Mat Hoffman animation video is legendary…how long did that one take you compared to this one?
Probably about the same amount of time—which is roughly a month of intense work. I had no idea how to do the Hoffman one, so I drew everything on paper and animated 10-15 seconds at a time using Photoshop (which was not ideal).
What’s the process of creating an animation like this?
I animate to an audio track, so the first step was recording the interview with Sandy. It took me a while to cut down his 45-minute interview into a reasonable size and to keep all the key parts of the story. Once I have the story locked in, I draw some rough pencil sketch storyboards to get a feel for how long certain scenes will play out. Then I draw the black outlines on paper (it still feels better to me to draw on paper rather than a computer). Next is coloring things, putting all the moving bits onto their own layers, and finally making them move in After Effects to fit the scene. I am no expert at this at all, just something I’ve been picking up as a way to tell stories stuck in my head.
Who helped you out and how?
I bounced some rough cuts off Sandy and Stew Johnson. Stew of course, has a lot of video-making experience and was super generous with his thoughts. Stew also was down to do the audio recording for the intro of James Shepherd. David Jack did the sound design, and that was incredibly helpful. It’s kind of funny, I work so hard on getting the story right and the animation done, and then just a few key sound effects make it all come alive. Oh yeah, Stew also went out and recorded a few sound effects for me, like when Sandy rides down the stairs, that’s Stew riding down some stairs in Austin. Stew also gave me some audio clips from Sean Burns Anthem part that I used when Paul icepicks the ledge and crank slides the rail. Chris Rye even dug up the original audio from Paul’s T-1 Props commercial (that Stew shot) to be the sound effects during the “Paul left behind a lot of legends” part.
Can you explain why it was important to have James Shepard do the intro?
My first thought was that Sheps would be perfect to record the intro because he is a really entertaining guy and good at telling stories. I was worried it might be hard to track him down to record him, but Sandy felt strongly that it needed to be Sheps. Paul and Sheps were good friends, and it felt somehow essential to telling the story, like maybe Paul wanted it that way kind of thing. Thankfully Sandy and Stew met up with microphones and captured Sheps reading the intro.
I know it doesn’t particularly fit, but as a dad, I’ve been loving your kids’ books. Would you mind plugging them for the people who don’t know about ’em?
I’ve done three books so far, Macaroni the Unicorn Tiger which comes with the Fairdale Macaroni bike, Bernie the Bike Builder (which is a kid’s book about making cool ideas real) and Back Before They Invented Open Face Helmets (which is a collection of my comics and is mostly suitable for kids, though it has a few F-words in it (fuck and fart)). Got a new book in the works right now too! Link:
Do you have plans any other animations in the works?
Yeah, I’m starting on another season of Anthill Film’s Return to Earth show on the Outside TV network where I animate shorts during the episodes. And, I pitched a few show ideas of my own recently too (I’d like to animate my kid’s book for one). I will also eventually animate some other stories I want to share with the world but they do take a lot of time and effort!
Thanks…
I have to thank Sandy for sharing his story and trusting me to do it justice.
