Robbie Fife Interview

Robbie Fife is an amazing BMX rider and soemone that I have know of for a few years. He's from Thirsk and I would bump into him while out riding in Leeds and York from time to time I have some really good photos of him from the times I have been out riding with him. He also studies Fine Art at Brighton university. I thought I would shoot him some question for my zine.

Name, Age and Height?
1: Robbie Fife, 21, i m about 6ft 2.

How’s is it going Robbie, what are you up to today?
2: i m great, loving life. it's the evening now so i'm just chilling at home, i'm about to play some fifa with my housemates. i've been painting in the studio today and we had a seminar in the uni gallery where we just put on our second year show.


You’re from Thirsk but you went to school in York, how was that for you and where feels more like home?
3: going to school in york was such a good experience for me. it was sometimes a bit tiring having to get trains and so on but it was an awesome city to grow up in. it's quite small so its not too overwhelming but with more stuff going on than in my hometown. plus i made some of my best friends there. its good for bmx too and i wouldn't have met all you lot without being at school in york. i've never really thought of york as home though.


Thirsk is a pretty out of the way town not exactly known for its riding scene how did you get into BMX in a place like that?
4: there used to be some really good riders in thirsk but as with a lot hobbies like bmx people grow tired of them or get jobs and things like that. things change and the bmxers i looked up to stopped. i had a bmx since i was about 5 and my step brother's friend got me into doing tricks on a family holiday. i always thought it was really fun and then i think i saw some bmx on tv, i can't remember what. since then i ve been into it. watching tom raw, local hero, ride always made me want to ride more. he won backyard jam expert, i think it was the time before mat roe won. he was probably the most naturally gifted rider i have ever seen ride a bike. His bike control and style was amazing. he could have been massive if he wanted to. then i just started riding up in thornaby most weekends. ape was awesome, I loved that park.


You recently moved down to Brighton for university, how are things down there and how does it compare with Yorkshire?
4: brighton is brilliant. i love it here. i ve met some amazing people, i love my course and the place, everything is fine and dandy. its difficult to compare to yorkshire, its so different here. i love both though. brighton is good because it's near london too. like london its a big melting pot of different people, cultures etc. it's a fun place to live. it's also quite small which i like, you get to know a lot of people and you can walk to most places without it taking years.

Have you been able to get out on the bike much?
5: i go riding as much i can. some weeks i ride more than others. at the moment the weather is quite unpredictable so i get out when i can. i ride most weekends and some mornings and evenings during the week.


You have the most flowing style out of pretty much anyone I’ve ridden with! Does that just come naturally or do you have to work on it?
6: thanks mate. i don't know if i always flow or have a flowing style, but i try to be relatively smooth. thats just the kind of riding i m into. the riders i looked up to when i first started riding properly were always into flowing around. at thornaby the cool thing was to be able to tabletop and turndown. those were the tricks to do, riding has changed since i started, but that’s still the kind of riding i like to do. i love watching the other crazy technical stuff and i love riding street, i like riding anything really. i don't know if having a flowing style comes naturally, i just ride and do things i like the feel of.


You’re riding without a brake, I think for the first time. How come you decided to take it off and how are you finding it?
7: yeah i took my brake off, i think it’s been the best part of a month now. i fancied a change and wanted to see how i could handle it. for the first week every time i went riding i felt like putting my brake back on, especially with how busy the local park is. i couldn't properly air and it felt weird, now i can't see them going back on for a long while. i think i m going higher now, i love the feeling. i like the speed too. the only slight problem is that i live at the top of a really steep hill so my shoes are wearing fast.


I know you’re studying fine art painting, how come you decided to go for painting as opposed just straight fine art?
8: when i started my foundation i wasn't really sure what i wanted to focus on and after a trip to barcelona and seeing one particular artist i decided i wanted to paint. i painted in school and i enjoyed it then but i fell in love with it in foundation. i love painting, there are endless possibilities and pathways you can find yourself going down. painting is a massive subject in itself. i don't think a broad fine art course would be a bad thing to do, i just felt that i wanted to focus and explore painting as much as possible because it's what i love.


Brighton’s a pretty good place to be studying art do you feel you are getting a lot from it?
9: i've learnt so much from my course and generally being in brighton. the whole experience of living and learning in this city has been invaluable. the people i ve met have made it all worthwhile. i'm so glad i came here.


I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to fine art but who are your influences, which artists are you into at the moment?
10: the artists i look at and am inspired by increase in number fairly regularly. inevitably different artists affect my work in different ways. there is one artist who has had an unmeasurable effect on me; he's called Antoni Tàpies. seeing his work in the flesh made me understand painting and made me want paint. i would love it, if at some point my paintings or a painting of mine might have a similar effect on someone else. His paintings had a profound experience on me. In terms of other art and artists; i love a lot of contemporary painting right through to old masters’ works. the first names that come to my mind are Vincent Van Gogh, Frans Widerberg, Antoni Tàpies, Ørnulf Opdahl, Claude Monet, Phoebe Unwin, Peter Doig, Goya, Cy Twombly, Paul Cézanne, Ken Kiff, Max Neumann, Marlene Dumas, Thomas Zipp, i really like my tutors' work and they are also well established artists- Tom Hammick and Andrzej Jackowski. the list could probably go on.


What do you think you’ll do when you graduate, do you have any plans that far ahead or are you just taking it as it comes?
11: i don't know about that one. i'm just taking it as it comes. i think i will probably end up living in london at some point. i might end up living abroad too. i would love to do a masters, possibly study at the royal academy or the royal college if i could get in. but i don't know how things will happen and circumstances and ideals change so rapidly. we'll see. i hope i'll still be painting though.


Ok so I know the weathers been pretty bad lately but presuming we’re not talking about the British winter time what would go down on your perfect day?
12: i always think this is a hard question to answer when i see it in interviews. so many amazing days are possible. mine is quite ordinary. i reckon maybe wake up with the sun shining but without it being ridiculously hot, lets say crisp. have a cup of tea or coffee with my favourite people maybe add in some porridge or croissants, then go for a walk into town or a dog walk if i m home home. go get my bike and have ride. then go to the studio and paint or draw. walk home with more good people. end the day with a decent movie. throw some happy tunes in throughout the day too. pretty straight forward, i have quite few days like this.


And what do you get up to on an average day?
13: pretty much the same as above except i don't always get to ride, quite often i spend the whole day in the studio, which can be just as good if not better sometimes.

Ok this is a Question from Jonny: What are the top 3 things you would do if you were a woman for a day?
14: blimey, thats hard, i don't want to come across as a pervert. i reckon first i d have to have a look in the mirror, cus my head with a woman’s body could look pretty hilarious. i'd have a go with all the stuff men don't have. i reckon any person would do this if their gender was switched for a day. i d probably get my hair done. i'd try and piss in a urinal standing up, i ve heard that's hard. Thanks Jonny.

Anyone you would like to thank?
15: thanks for wanting to do this interview angus, and for being a ridiculously talented rider. then just my friends and family, can't thank them enough! cheers.