Chinwag No.57 with Jackson Strong

We caught up with Australian FMX star, Jackson Strong, who has been turning heads more than usual this year after successfully taking the sport to a new level and routinely pulling off frontflips in competition. The 19-year-old Metal Mulisha star took out the 2011 X Games Best Trick Gold medal with his signature Frontflip and finished second in the Monster Energy Cup Freestyle event. He has travelled around with world competing in the Red Bull X-Fighters and at the age of 15 he became the youngest rider to pull off a Backflip on a motorbike – with the Crusty Demons no less! We gave him a call last week to see what he has been up to.

At the Monster Energy Cup (MEC) you pulled a Frontflip and landed it again. Who would have thought you would have ended up second?

It was a good event. It was really fun. When I pull a Frontflip and land successfully it feels like winning to me, but Aussie Mark Monea won with his variation Frontflip. I’ll keep practising the trick and see where it goes.

Have you got any other tricks in the works? At the MEC one of the riders attempted a new trick called the Scarecrow…

Kyle Loza tried it but it didn’t go to plan. He jumped off in midair and luckily didn’t injure himself. I think that trick is another gnarly one that will evolve with time. Hopefully he keeps working at it and it pays off. I don’t have any more revolutionary tricks in the works but I’ve got a month off and I’ll get back in the foam pit and see what I can pull together.

Back in late July you attended the X Games and won the Best Trick competition and were joined by fellow countrymen, Cam Sinclair and Josh Sheehan, on the podium.

It was crazy with three Aussies on the podium. Five years ago there wasn’t many Australians in the event so to see an all-Aussie podium it really cool. It just shows how hard we’ve all been working over the last few years.

You’re out shooting the final scene for a new FMX film, Black Friday. Tell us about it.

We’re out at my house in Lockheart, NSW, doing the shoot. I’ve got a whole bunch of machinery to build a freestyle course. We’ve got two dirt double double lines and a heap of dirt jumps. Jay Schweitzer [the Director of Black Friday who recently produced On the Pipe 6] is out here and we’re pre-running the course at the moment. There’s a whole bunch of lifts and platforms around the track and Jay is using new cameras for super slow-mo shots.

Who else is out there riding with you?
We’ve got Todd Potter, Wes Agee, Jimmy Fitzpatrick and local Australian guys Rob Adelberg and Truman Carroll.

What’s it like riding with everyone?

I normally ride with all those guys in the US so it’s really cool to have them come over here and ride at my place.

Is this the only shoot you’re doing for Black Friday?

Yep.

What’s the craziest thing you’ll be doing for the shoot?

I don’t know. We’re going to the Gold Coast to party for three days so I reckon that will be the craziest thing for the shoot [laughs].

Will there be any filming done from helicopters?

No. But when we head down to Melbourne for the Freestyle show at the Super X opener, there will be then.

What events do you have planned in the next few months?

I don’t have anything until early next year. I’m trying to keep my time freed up as much possible so I can spend time practising in the foam pit.

What are you doing when you aren’t riding?

Building ramps and building dirt jumps is all my life consists of. It’s my full time gig. Otherwise, I’m keeping up my exercise routine and training.

Thanks, Jackson.

No problem, guys. And don’t forget to check out Black Friday. It should be out at the end of November-beginning of December, 2011.