Mike Escamilla: I was probably about eleven when I really started trying to ride BMX. I turned pro when I was seventeen.
Barspin on the cover of Ride BMX UK #8 december 1993.
Trash Dirty Deeds video.
Mike Escamilla, thecomeupbmx.net, november 2007: I do think dirty deeds has its place in history as well as nowhere fast, but if your gonna mention those 2 you have to mention Homeless Trash which for all you newbies Trash and Dirty deeds is responsible for birthing most trends in street today. I just spoke with Dave Parrick and we are all trying to get him to make a dvd combo with all these vids. Hopefully soon it will happen.
Mike Escamilla, vimeo.com/mikeescamilla, june 2011: This was my first video part i ever had the pleasure of filming.We started filming summer of 1993. The first clip i filmed was the rail to barspin at the old Huntington Beach rails.Dave Parrick asked me to have a section in his new video. I spent every saturday for a year almost filming with him so if you know Dave that was a lot of waiting around hahaha.At the time there were only a few videos a year coming out. I was 13 when i did my first rail and i just assumed everyone did tricks off them so i started trying all sorts of stuff off the end.Little did i know there was really just me and the Homeless crew doing rail variations down rails so when this came out it had a lot of rail tricks no one had scene yet.some of the first or new at the time were rail to barspin,rail to no hander,rail to icepick,crooked grind,over grinds,gap to rails,rail to manuals,rail to hop over,some manual to ice picks & over ice grinds on skatepark rails,even almost pulled a double bar out of one as well,I have no idea why i didn't try more.Even had a few jump moves like toboggan to barspin.we also filmed enough ramp stuff for a whole part but it got left out and we kept it a street part mainly which i couldn't thank Dave Parrick enough for his judgement on that.This time in BMX was very different then it is now,BMX was "dead" and it was a time when a select few pioneered street riding to help shape it what it has become.I feel very lucky to have grown up riding in that time of bmx.It was a time of Gladiator ramp riders and visionary street riding... It was released in 1995 by Dave Parrick.
Jeff Zielinski, bmx.transworld.net, july 2015: Mike’s footprint on the BMX world is huge, being one of the most pioneering street riders BMX has ever known, and he had a heavy hand in ramp progression as well. Perhaps his most fabled and groundbreaking section was in Dave Parrick’s masterpiece Dirty Deeds, released in 1995. When watching this video part, you just need to keep in mind that practically everything you’re watching was not being done in BMX at the time. Mike went on to film a lot more incredible video parts, but in my opinion, this one will always stand as one of the best video parts from the mid-school era.
RING THE GACK.
Ells Bells Ring the Gack video.
WHIP TO FAKIE.
Mike is pulling tailwhip air to fakie on mini ramps.
ROOFTOP.
People thought Mike EscamiIIa got the nickname "Rooftop" from jumping roofs but that's not the case. On a road trip to a B.S. contest in '94, Keith Treanor told Mike that if he didn't stop talking he was going make him ride on the roof for the rest of the trip. And just like every other bad nickname in BMX, it stuck.
2HIP.
In november, Mike is riding for 2hip.
ETNIES.
Mike called up skate-shoe company Etnies and became the first BMX rider to get flow. After getting tons of coverage, etnies became stoked on Mike Escamilla and BMX, so he started a team for them in 1995 and became the first Etnies BMX Team Manager.
Mike Escamilla Dirty Deeds section.
Video 20 inch issue 5.
PRO.
Mike Escamilla, thecomaupbmx.net: I turned pro in 1995 at the Oklahoma bs contest.
BS FINALS.
BS 1995 round 4 and final. Third place pro street.
RIDE BMX US COVER.
Ride BMX US december 1995 january 1996.
1995 BS round 4
Ride BMX US april 1996: Rooftop is riding for Volcom, a skate clothing company.
POORBOY BMXMEN.
POSTER.
Poster in Ride BMX US august september 1996
HB.
Mike Escamilla is a new Hoffman Bikes factory rider.
STUNT WORK.
Mike has been doing stunt work on the cable TV series Pacific Blue. Mike did some jumps on his freestyle bike, but he is also supposedly doing some mountain bike stunts as well.
BMX-MEN: Mike Escamilla from Least Most on Vimeo.
Hoffman Until Monkeys Fly video.
1997 X-GAMES.
6th place pro street @ X Games, San Diego, CA, june 1997.
MULTIPRISE.
Interview dans Multiprise #7 hiver 1997 1998.
Ride BMX US december 1998.
4th place pro street @ Gravity Games, Providence, RI, july 1999.
Mike Escamilla (K2) is a stuntman. He jumped a helicopter (yes, the blades were running). Even though the take-off ramp was almost as tall at the chopper itself, we still consider this a big stunt. Just imagine slipping a pedal right before take-off and you have fresh meat splattering all over the camera's and the blood hungry crowd. If this doesn't sound spectacular enough for you, Rooftop flipped the helicopter as well and his Etnies stuck to the pedals in case you were wondering.
GRAVITY GAMES.
13th place pro street @ Gravity Games, Providence, RI, july 2000.
DEMOLITION.
Mike is riding for the new Brian Casillo's company Demolition.
Volume, Demolition, Etnies, Hurley, Arnette, Nixon, Jones Soda, and A-1 Bike Shop.
Posters: Ride BMX US april 2001, Transworld BMX #60 october 2001.
March 2001, after months of just riding a Volume frame, Mike Escamilla is now officially on the team.
Mike Escamilla, www.expn.com: I guess I always rode for Volume. It didn't really matter, and it didn't change anything. I was riding their bikes anyway so I didn't see the rush, and it was kind of nice not having a sponsor. The K2 thing never even happened. A lot of people think I rode for them, but they never gave me anything. They said they were going to do something, and then that was it.
INTERVIEW.
www.ridebmx.com march 2001
Etnies pro model shoe.
Mike Escamilla: I'm psyched on it, but it's weird because I've been wearing the shoes for almost a year and they just came out. In fact, we're about to get the samples for our second shoe. The shoes are awesome; all the shoes are different to suit everyone's tastes.
Mike got married in september.
Mike Escamilla: My life changed a lot. My fiance, Jodi, has a five-year-old daughter, so I'm a full-on dad now and my life revolves around that.
VOLUME MEXICAN.
Volume Mexican pro model frame.
Mike Escamilla: It's basically the bike I designed when I was going to do Citizen, but I've changed a few things. It's just the bike that I want to ride
Ride BMX US #71 april 2002.
RIDE BMX US COVER.
Cover and interview in Ride BMX US august 2002.
FORWARD.
Part in the Etnies "Forward" video.
Mike Escamilla, thecomeupbmx.net, november 2007: The footage of me being on fire wasn't actually filmed for "forward" a friend and I were filming a "short film" and there was this dream sequence in it that for some reason had me on fire. thats what this was originally for. for some reason or another we never finished the film. So i had this footage sitting around by the time "forward" came along i was just like screw it just throw this in there cause it seemed like funny footage. Little did i know people were gonna take it so serious ahhahaa. While filming a clip of me just standing there burning i did get licked by a flame but it was because i had my hat on backwards and the flames were curling up underneath. we did about 10 or 11 burns that day which in "HOLLYWOOD STUNT" terms is a ton. while doing that fire burn i was actually less concerned about being burnt from the actual flame then i was from my body sweating and having my sweat boil on my body. So after ever burn i have to cool down and be re-soaked with the ice cold flame retardant gel. it was a pretty exhausting day. The footage from the snow was for the same film as well. but it seems people took bmx a little to serious at the time and couldn't see the entertainment in it...that happens alot hahahaa. The idea of the rail to backflip came from the mat hoffman video game....i built that rail and sat and stared at it for months....till one day when i looked at it i got real scared....i knew then i had committed to trying it....so soon after i sent myself off the end of that thing....
Mike Escamilla, The Albion #2, 2011: I lived like five blocks from [Dave] Parrick at that time, and all the crazy shit I filmed for that video I did in the space of about eight days. Because I know Parrick, and I know not to believe any of his deadlines, I didn’t start work on any of the big stuff because I didn’t want any of it to become old or for people to hear about it. I mean, Ruben [Alcantara] had a dope part but, for him, it would’ve been a lot doper coming out when he actually filmed it. Not to take anything away from the part, it was dope, but people had heard about a lot of what he’d done, and I didn’t want that to happen. So my real big stuff - the rail flip, swing set and big 360 tailtap - were all done in four or five days.
DEMOLITION.
Demolition video.
Mike Escamilla part in the Demolition video.
Mike is on the june cover of Transworld BMX.
January. Mike Escamilla, Rich Hirsch, and Dustin Guenther made up the new Redline team.
Mike Escamilla, www.ridebmx.com, february 2005: I asked Redline if they would be into redoing the whole freestyle program... They asked me what I would need and what I would change, so I e-mailed them a list of stuff that I thought they would say was not possible, but they basically said "sure, here's our budget, and here's what we can do..."
I guess my role is kind of Team Manager, and I'm going to pretty much reconstruct the entire Redline freestyle program. It's going to take a little bit, but over the course of the year, there's going to be a new ad concept, new bikes, and new web site. They didn't really have any thought of a team. I told them that the only way that I could really do it was if we picked a whole new team and started from scratch. I wanted to pick guys who I thought deserved more and hadn't really had a chance to get out there yet. Dustin Guenther is a Canadian rider from Vancouver and I knew he hadn't been given the opportunity to go to a lot of stuff. Rich Hirsch is a super-awesome rider. He's a real street guy, plus he's helping out with a lot of other stuff. I just wanted a well-rounded team. We all signed a two-year deal, and hopefully, by the end of the summer, everyone will be able to see some drastic changes and get a feel for the new Redline, because that's what it is. The way big companies work, I guess, is that making bikes takes 14 months. The new bikes have already been ordered, and we're going to begin work on the bikes that will come out as soon as possible. A lot of these bikes are all made at the same factories as a lot of the other companies, so they'll be bikes that are good quality and good design, and cheaper than most. I think it will be rad for kids who want to get into it and want to have a cool bike.
This is the first time I've ridden for a non-rider-owned company; for a stint there I was going to ride for K2, and it was in the magazines, but nothing ever happened. I've always ridden for small companies or companies that had just a few people in the office, so it's a little scary for me...
WORLD RECORD.
Rooftop set two world records. Wednesday August 3, 2005, Mike Escamilla set two new BMX world records. The first record was for the longest backflip-which was measured at 62 feet, 2 inches. We all know that Mike is a determined individual so it’s no surprise that he followed it up with a 50 foot 6 inch one-handed 360 and stuck it. Both jumps were accomplished on the Mega Ramp at X Games and Guiness Book of World Records was on site to document it.
STICK IT!
In 2006 Mike helped design and execute the opening stunt sequence in the movie “Stick It” which he was nominated for a “Taurus Award” for “hardest hit” in a feature film.
Etnies Grounded video.
Mike Escamilla, thecomeupbmx.net, november 2007: As far a not having a crazy section in the etnies video, there is actually a real good reason for that. First off the original version of my part shown at the premiers i was way stoked on. It was a fun part I felt with tons of slam and i was kinda stoked on it. Nothing crazy but i liked it. But when it came out my part was cut in half and some of the clips i felt were my best clips were cut out. whose call this was? not quite sure. As far as not going all out for the vid well alot of thing contributed to that. First of no real filmer. yes stu johnson was a full time filmer but he lives in austin which was great if you live in texas. now im sure some of you are gonna be like well you can go anywhere you want and they would send him. Not true kids sorry. he did send out a email of a bunch of trips he planned and i wasn't really psyched on going to the same places as the rest of the team mainly because i hate watching videos of the same spots in all the sections. i declined to be apart of those trips so i chose not to get footage from that. he did come out a few times but to truly film a part for me i need to have a local filmer i feel comfortable with ready to film on a weekly basis. had a few big things i wanted to do but they either didn't have the budget or wanted to make it a whole team thing i like to have parts different from the others,why would i wanna film the same shit as everyone else? in the end i filmed most of that in a few weeks with glenn, i had a pretty busy year with contest and tours and trips.which not to make excuse but it takes up alot of time and energy being gone on trips 3 weeks of every month.i also had just finished filming my livin in exile part and was a little low on spots in LA..which in La original spots are hard to come by..so hopefully soon i wanna start filming the section i wanted to have just for a web edit...
HUCK JAM BIKES.
In 2007 Skateboarder Tony Hawk asked Mike to come work for him as a Consultant for his new Venture “Huck Jam Bikes”, a mass market bmx bike company.
Mike Escamilla, thecomeupbmx.net, june 2007: First off I want make it clear its not Tony Hawk bikes; It’s a Boom Boom Huck Jam licensing deal. BBHJ has included Bmx, Fmx, and Skate for the past 6 years. Tony asked me to consult on the bike end of this project. After hearing the plan and amount of bikes that could get made I really didn’t see an option as if I should be apart of it or not. I approached this opportunity as a way to make low end mass market bikes better represent BMX. So as of right now I work with Dynacraft on making theses bikes look like the bikes we ride. After the first round of drawings I'm really happy with the results. I really believe that the product we are working on is at the highest level for the price point we are shooting for. And since none of the companies like Haro, Hoffman, Mirra, ect. offer bikes at this entry level the BBHJ bikes will be a good bridge for some kid to get started.
Mike Escamilla, thecomeupbmx.net, january 2008: kinda weird i have to admit at first. i was less bummed being off the team then i was just feeling like i had lost a family i had done so many things with for over a decade. for being on the team for so long the whole thing wasnt handled very well, the person who would be my bosses boss decided to take the ignore and it will go away approach. which is pretty much the fastest way to lose respect from me and everyone else who witnessed it happen. povah and I on the other hand talk all the time we have been friends for about 15 years. im not to bummed now though, after the initial shock of being ignored i just moved on. etnies was a company i truly believed in for so many years, but in the past few years with the people in charge of the etnies brand i feel like they have lost focus and the brand has become a bit stagnate. with so many resources and athletes willing to help ive found it odd that they just dont listen anymore to the people out on the streets every day with the kids buying the shoes. I know from a Bmx point of view it looks great but theres a bigger picture that most people dont see. all in all though it was a a split that was inevitable. I like things that take risk and push the envelope, which is half the reason so many people have a skewed perspective of who i am. which is fine. id much rather be misunderstood for doing what i want then loved for fitting in and following the herd. i thought thats what was so rad about bikes in the first place, we didnt have to conform. but seems like now a days you have to conform to the popular vote more and more to fit in. sometimes its like watching sheep. And the weird thing is the less and less i read and pay attention to whats going on the more and more fun i have and stuff i learn. which is why i havent been shooting photos or filming much, ive been to busy having fun riding. gonna film some stuff soon for demolition soon though, which im kinda looking forward to, the volume/demolition crew is pretty fun to hang and ride with so its always a good time.
PAUL BLART MALLCOP.
Mike is doubling Kevin James in a skit.
Mike Escamilla, mikeescamilla.net, january 2009: I get to do a backflip in a fat suit, it was a pretty fun day and also pretty humbling wearing that fat suit around all day.
OUTBOUND.
March 2010: Mike 'Rooftop' Escamilla has landed a new bike sponsor in the form of United Bike Co.
ROADTRIP.
Mike Escamilla, mikeescamilla.net, september 2010: Me, Brian Kachinsky, Biz, and Glenn Milligan are making the trek. 4600 miles in 2 weeks.
LOST IN 2010.
Mike Escamilla, www.vimeo.com, 2011: This is the longest edit I've ever made. Its a Compilation of footage from 2010 with a few stragglers and extras thrown in.Most of it is footage that never got used or was shot on a Iphone or Go Pro.There are a few clips thrown in that are from edits from 2010.But basically its a quick little view on what my day to day was and who I spent it with in 2010.enjoy.
Lost In 2010 from mike escamilla on Vimeo.