Interviews Videos

Jordan Hoover’s “The Plague Mixtape”

World of Echo: Yo, I love the video man.

Jordan Hoover: Right on, thank you. I’m eating some pizza while we do this.

What kind?

It’s from Blaze Pizza. It’s got spicy sauce, vegan cheese, spinach, jalapeño, banana pepper and red onion.

That’s a pie right there.

The place rules.

So what’s the story behind this project? “The Plague Mixtape.”

I got hit up by a few different people about this once quarantine started. The original plan I had when I booted up my hard drive was to do a Des Nations book with my friend Gordon Dooley (who published his own book independently, you can purchase it here), but I got sidetracked. I’m not really great with technology, so once I had the hard drive out I got caught up in all of these other projects I never finished, stuff that I hadn’t done anything with. I decided instead to make a mixtape of everything I’ve shot over the last few years that never saw the light of day.

I had footage from WW [Ranch], which was a week or two before their first national in 2019. All of these pros came out to test the track, built by Jason Baker of Dreamtraxx. He built the original track back in the day, and made sure that if they ever got a big event like a pro national, he’d get to come back and polish the place up. Once he got to work, guys like RJ Hampshire, Marvin Musquin, and Ken Roczen all came out to test the track and see how it raced. It was a cool moment, seeing them dissect that track. I’ve been involved at WW since the beginning, and what caught my eye the most were these man-made split sections that Jason built out of dirt. It was a huge dirt block in the middle of the track. A piece of art, really. Unfortunately, it didn’t make the final version of the track, but it was cool to see that.

I shot with [Justin] Barcia at his place in 2016, that was cool getting to do that with him. I had to throw that in there.

I also got some Fox Racing footage from a 2016 Dreamland shoot for their 2017 gear line. That’s Luke Renzland’s place. That was my first “big” shoot with guys like Carmichael, Reed, and Dungey. I was doing behind the scenes video for Fox, but nothing came of that project. It was just a big whip fest the whole day, really. You can’t do motos on that track. I don’t know how Luke rides that thing all the time.

Those jumps are massive, I’m surprised Stylez [Robertson] hit some of them.

Yeah man, he wasn’t even on a supermini yet. I think he was still on his 85. He was eyeing that thing up all day.

You had some infamous RedBud Lot B footage as well…

That’s the funniest section of the video for me, Lot B at the Motocross Des Nations.

There’s a part in that section where you offer your camera as collateral for someone’s scooter. Rain told me that was just some random guy? Haha

For that whole weekend, Fox had a camp set up with a bunch of little trailers that everyone crashed in. We had a pretty heavy crew. My phone died almost immediately that night, so I ended up wandering the pits alone not knowing where any of my people were. It was just madness down there. I’m great at making friends though, so that’s what I did. I met some guy who had a scooter, enjoying his campfire, and I convinced him to let me use his scooter to help find my friends.

That night, I ended up losing the camera anyway. This was Friday, by the way. I didn’t find the camera until Sunday, and once I found it I couldn’t charge it because I had no charger. Andy Dinicol gave that camera to me… he’s back in Australia right now. I was pretty pumped when I found it.

I think it’s interesting that this virus and the quarantine are an all-encompassing event. Everyone on the planet has a story for how this situation has affected them. What they did with the time they were given. I see this video as your story.

It sucks that everyone is going to have that memory, but I always take things as best as I can. I try to look at the bright side of things. I was stoked to have some time to be at home, because I never get to be home.

Sorry, my car tried to be smart and hook you up to my speakers. I don’t like how it automatically tries to switch. It’s awesome for music, though. 

Speaking of music, I liked that Ty Segall track during the WW Ranch section. What song is that?

That’s actually a band called Fuzz. Is he in that band?

Oh yeah! That’s Ty and Charlie Moothart’s project.

The song is called “Hazemaze.”

The whole soundtrack is great.

Thanks! Picking the music is one of my favorite things about making videos. What are some of the other tracks? We’ve got Hendrix to open the video, then it goes to Fuzz, then back to live music for the break, and onto Link Wray, “Big City After Dark.” Link is actually an OG, one of the originators of Surf Punk. Super old school. Lot B section has some music from The Chats, Australian boys.

One of my favorite songs in the world comes after that, though. It’s called “Terrific As Terrific Gets” by Enjoy. I used it for the intro to the Dreamland section. I thought that was the coolest, because that song starts off so hard and so good. I was able to time it up with the clack of the clapboard. That’s probably my favorite part of the whole video.

The last song is probably the most ridiculous thing I could find.

Haha!

I think it’s called “In My Blood,” by Future. You can’t find that song anywhere! It took me hours of digging on YouTube to find it, and I had to rip it. This video is very legal, very much approved.

I love that.

My brother and I were at this little sneaker boutique in LA. This was probably 2010 or 2012. These dudes working there were blasting music the whole time, and that song came on while we were in there. It’s stuck with me ever since, haha.

That’s what sets independent projects apart for me. I feel like you give a piece of yourself with each video, especially in regards to the music. You learn about someone’s life in an indirect way. I think that’s cool. Plus, you used a banger appropriately with badass riding.

It’s like if you use Black Sabbath… you better have some ripping going on.

Exactly.

I had so much help with the video, too. I mean, I “made” the video, yes, but I collaborate constantly by just talking with people. Patrick Farris, the dude that runs Euforeia Golf, he was a huge help to me. He drew some illustrations for me and made some transitions for the video. He filmed the actual mixtape sections too, when the tapes are going into the player. He just happened to find that thing at his house and we got it done. He’s a great designer and has taught me a whole lot. I’m appreciative to have him in my life. He took over my computer through Zoom once, and I was blown away. I couldn’t believe what he was doing. He’s really beneficial to my work.

My brother, Austin, is always involved as well. He’s my editor, I guess! He proofreads all of my books and watches the videos before I upload. He suggested I add the live music section to break up the rest of the video. I liked that part because I got to show all different types of music that I listen to. I don’t just listen to one genre, I like all types of music.

If it’s good, you’re fucking with it.

Yeah, exactly. It’s the same with people! I don’t care what color you are, I’m always down with good people. I’ve met plenty of bad people of every color, but I’ve also met plenty of good people in that sense. It’s the same with music. Think we got enough for the interview?

Yeah, for sure. We’ll keep talking, but thanks for doing this.

No problem man, thanks for the time!

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