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Local Hero – the Steve Mini interview

STORY AND PHOTOS BY SIMON MAKKER

It’s only 7.30pm on a Thursday, but Mudgee’s Oriental Hotel – or “The Ori” as the locals call it – is alive with the clattering of plates, clinking of bottles and the dull roar of hundreds of patrons catching up on the latest news, rumours and gossip of the Mid-Western NSW region.

With his girlfriend, Johannah, on his arm, Steve Mini sidles through the masses, but is constantly distracted by people wanting to shake his hand, share a few light-hearted words, say hello, or generally just keen to meet him.
The 2008 Mid-Western Sportsperson of the Year doesn’t seem to mind the people inadvertently delaying his dinner, and makes small talk, teases the waitresses as they shuffle past with plates of hot food and shares inside jokes with guys he went to school with.

If there’s ever a freestyle motocross rider who is classed as a local hero, Steve Mini is it.

“There have been times when I’ve been stopped in the street to sign autographs for kids,” Mini says. “I love it, though. It’s cool to be able to have an impact on the kids, and I’ve done a few school visits and spent time with at-risk students and inspired them to try harder with their education.”

Even once we’ve found a table and taken a seat, the Crusty Demon has people from the table behind him tapping him on the shoulder and saying g’day, but being the easy-going bloke he is, Mini is more than happy to oblige.

Born in Mudgee Hospital on May 24, 1983, Steve has never strayed too far from his roots, and it seems he knows most – if not all – of the 8500 people that live in the country town. It’s a feeling Mini enjoys, and he looks forward to the down-times between Crusty tours, when he can chill out at his parents’ home, ride his compound in the paddock next-door, catch up with old mates and return to his roots.

“I don’t spend as much time as I’d like out here any more, because I’m on the road about nine months of the year,” Mini admits. “When I first started riding I didn’t come home much and loved being on the road partying and travelling. I think I’m starting to mellow out because now I get home as much as I can; I love being around my family and being able to ride in my back yard.”

Funnily enough, while Mudgee is stoked to have a “celebrity” in their midst, no-one saw it coming, and those that went to school with him are more than a little surprised that one of the quietest kids in the class has found a career in one of the craziest sports on the planet. Even his parents, John and Christine Mini, are surprised.

“Steve never had a crazy streak growing up,” reveals Christine. “He was always really quiet, and that’s how all his school-teachers remember him. People around here who knew him as a kid can’t believe what he does for a living now. I think Steve’s got two personalities. He’s got his riding one with his riding mates where he seems to be outgoing, chatty and knows how to have a good time and be really social, but there’s also the other side when he’s at home, where he’s happy just to chill out and not talk a lot.”

IN THE BEGINNING
Mini’s journey into the world of FMX began when he stepped into the saddle of a hand-me-down Z50 from his older brother Mat (Steve is the youngest of three kids – Mat is the oldest, followed by his sister Bec), but it was soon the BMX that grabbed his attention. He spent many days practising his tricks at the local skatepark or on a couple of jumps behind the house, while play-riding farm bikes or whatever his older brother had in the shed.

However, once he got to his mid-teens and the Crusty phenomenon hit, Mini was hooked, and saved up enough money to buy an old 125cc Husqvarna race bike.

“I used to get a new Crusty movie every Christmas and it really captured my imagination,” he explains. “I never got into racing, even though there were a lot of local races. I used to spend all my time jumping and practising new tricks. By the time I had saved up for a YZ125 the Husky was a wreck, and I’ve been with Yamaha ever since.”

Then, to cement the freestyle passion, Steve’s parents gave him a ticket to the Sydney round of the Crusty Demons for his 18th birthday in 2002. From both Steve and his folks’ points of view, it was the clincher.

“We asked him afterward what he thought of the show, and he said ‘I’m going to ride for them one day’,” grins John. “When he puts his mind to something, he usually gets it, I’ll give him that.”
Christine adds: “It came out of the blue and it did surprise us, but we thought it was just one of those pipe dreams kids have. We said ‘Oh yeah, OK, Steve’ and forgot about it. We didn’t think it’d ever happen.”
On the work front, Steve had finished Year 12 at Mudgee High School – something he thought was important –  and had become an apprentice plumber. While he enjoyed it, deep down he knew he wasn’t cut out for it, and the deep-seated urge to reach his riding potential took hold.

Soon afterwards, he entered an amateur comp in Tamworth, and while it was a massive learning curve, he walked away with the prize-money.

“I had never met another freestyle rider. I’d never even jumped a steel ramp before,” Mini says with a slight shrug. “Me and a couple of mates drove there for the weekend and met a few of the guys, jumped the steel ramp – well, I over-jumped it by about 30ft to start with – then ended up riding really well and winning the competition.”

The win had an almost instant effect. The following week an email dropped into Steve’s inbox from Sydney crowd H2O Entertainment, inviting him to go to China with Matt Cole and Joel Balchin for a six-month tour. After meeting with the promoters, Steve returned home and announced to his parents “I’m quitting my job and going to China”.

“We didn’t know what to think about that!” John laughs. “But he was old enough to make his own decisions and there wasn’t much we could do to stop him.”

“It happened so quickly, it didn’t really sink in until I was on the plane to China to ride full-time for a living,” Steve explains. “I’d never really hung out with other FMX riders and it was my first time on a plane. The whole thing was a massive eye-opener for me. I still think it was one of the best things I’ve ever done, and China is still one of my most favourite countries, even though the culture-shock was gnarly. Ever since then, I’ve really enjoyed travelling.”

His freestyle career has now taken Mini to more than 12 countries, including Dubai, Switzerland, England, the US and India.

IT’S ALL HAPPENING!
As luck would have it, Showtime FMX’s founder, Garry Reid, used to waterski for H2O Promotions and the organisers put in the good word for Steve. Seven months after a quick audition in Canberra, Reid rang Mini needing another rider, as Jake Bowen had just broken his ankle in Adelaide.

“I jumped straight into the van and drove 14 hours to Adelaide, got there at 5pm and the show started at 6.30pm. I got geared up, followed Ben Jones over the jump once, then rode sweet and didn’t miss any tricks. I was all on from there.”

Impressed with the kid’s riding skills, Reid practically signed Mini on the spot and he began riding full-time for the Showtime FMX crew. Three years later, Mini still rides for them whenever he’s needed or his commitments allow.

Then, in 2005, the director of Rush Sports (promoters of the Crusty Demons shows), Mike Porra, happened to be in the crowd while he performed at the Motorcycle Expo on the Gold Coast. After the well-publicised separation of Crusty and the Metal Mulisha, Crusty was urgently looking for riders for their 10th Anniversary Tour, and Mini more than fitted the bill.

“After my show at the Gold Coast, Mike Porra and I had a chat, and it’s been on since then. Now I’ve been with the Crusty Demons for three years and I love it. It’s the best lifestyle you can imagine. I’m with all the boys, and I get to travel with my girlfriend, Jo (interestingly enough, Mini met her at the same show he met Porra), as she is on tour dancing. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Steve’s relationship with 24-year-old Johannah Read has been going for three and a half years, and while he’s not too stoked about having half of the bloke-filled stadium ogling his missus while she goes through her dance routine, the positives of having her on tour definitely outweigh the negatives.

“Jo keeps me settled down, for sure,” he admits. “ When she’s not around I tend to get a bit loose and carry on a bit. But it’s great to be able to travel together and experience a lot of stuff and see a lot of different things. You can’t ask for much more than that.”

Jo, too, is sold on the idea: “It’s so good how we get to travel together and both get paid to do it. It’d be pretty sad if he had to go away all the time and I couldn’t go with him.”

And when asked if he thinks Jo is “the one” for him, Steve’s face softens and a small smile plays across his face.
“Yeah, I think so,” he says, with a quiet, almost bashful certainty. “I can see myself settling down with her one day. She’s amazing.”

The couple is currently looking at buying a townhouse on Queensland’s Gold Coast, where Jo lives and where Steve spends his days when he’s not on tour or in Mudgee. However, while he can imagine settling down on the Goldy in the mid-term, ultimately he’s keen to head back into Central NSW’s gently rolling hills, scorching summers and freezing winters.

“I’m in the process of building a foam-pit at my folks’ place, so I’ll be spending a bit of time out here in the short-term,” he states. “When I’m here I try and practise every day, or use the day-on, day-off routine. I have a lot of fun riding at home, and a few of the racers come out and hit the ramps with me. I still like riding by myself though, because I can try different things and not worry about people watching and feeling like I’ve got to put on a show. As soon as someone shows up I think I’ve gotta do a flip trick to try and impress them!”

MORE THAN ROCK-SOLIDS AND TURN-DOWNS
Although Mini has gradually been building himself a reputation as one of the country’s finest freestyle riders, it seems every photo ever published of him features a Rock Solid, a Turndown or a Double Grab. In fact, he says a lot of people don’t even know he has several big Backflip combos dialled.

“I know I’ve got good Turndowns, Rock Solids and Double Grabs, but it’s getting to the stage where these tricks have been published so much, people don’t think I can do too anything else,” he says. “I’m not complaining, because it’s all good publicity, but I think there’s only ever been one Backflip photo of me published.”

At the same time, while Steve has plenty of big Backflip tricks including the Superflip, he still carries the label of “The Combo King” at the Crusty shows – a title that was thrust on him by Rush Sports.

“The title doesn’t bother me, but it’s not really a title I asked to have,” he divulges.  “They just started using it on Crusty before even I had any combos and told me to go and learn some. At first I had to work hard at thinking up different trick combos, but they’re starting to come easier. Now I can be driving down the road and think of a new combo and I’ll have to stop and write it down, otherwise I’ll forget it.

“I enjoy combos because it’s something different,” he says. “If you go and watch a Crusty show everyone’s doing the same Backflip tricks and the combos break it up and make it different. They tend to stick in people’s minds, rather than a Backflip Heelclicker, which everyone in the show will do at some stage during the night.”

There’s no doubting Mini has plenty of natural talent as a FMXer, but the lack of a racing background means he has to focus on jumping different obstacles and hits to build up his consistency. It’s an area he knows he has to work on, especially as he plans to head to the States next year and pit his skills against the best in the business.

“I want to spend the next eight or nine months just getting my shit together, learning a few more flip tricks and a few other things I’ve got in mind and improving my riding skills,” Mini explains. “Although I’ve only really done shows up to this point, I’m now working towards competing in the States. I ride well under pressure and if I was at, say, the Dew Tour, I reckon I could put a pretty good run together, so it’s just a matter of being able to jump the different distances and jumps quickly and not taking all day to sum up the courage for it.”

“The Euro riders are really friendly and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of rivalry among them. They were there to have fun as well as compete and they’re cool people to hang out with.”

However, the heavy emphasis on Backflips in competitions is something that irks Mini. “You can put in a lot of variation, but if you’re not flipping, it’ll hurt you,” he says matter-of-factly. “It sucks how flip tricks rule the sport now. So many other tricks like the One-Hand Lookback Hart, or Kinnaird’s old tricks, have been forgotten over the years. Those tricks were unreal and no-one’s done them ever since.”

As for the Australian freestyle scene, Mini believes that not only does it have a long way to go, but it’s not going to improve unless promoters arrange television coverage and stop relying on ticket sales to make the event profitable.

"Someone needs to step up and take ownership of the Australian comp scene if it’s going to improve,” he states. “It’s cool that the RFDmx boys are now running their own series, and it’s great for the sport that they’re doing it, but I think it’s a bit of a joke that people call the King Of The Coast ‘Australia’s most prestigious comp where all the elite riders go’ when there’s only a couple grand of prize-money up for grabs, and there’re only two ramps and one down-ramp. It definitely has potential, but I don’t think they capitalise on it.”

DOWN THE TRACK
With three years of Mini’s freestyle career already having screamed by, the 25-year-old aims to make the most of the next five years before he turns 30. At the same time, he’s taking comfort in the likes of Joel Balchin, Ronnie Renner and Jim McNeil, who have already – or are close to – crossed into their third decade.

“I hope I’ve got five years left in the sport, and I’m always thinking about what will happen after that, but I don’t want to commit to one thing, because I might change my mind in a year or two anyway,” he grins. “I just want to focus on riding for now, and when the time comes to think of what to do in the future, I’ll sort it out then. I’ve got my head screwed on all right, and I doubt I’ll go back to plumbing. It’s not for me.

“I’ve never been the sort of person to just do something I didn’t enjoy. If you’re not enjoying what you’re doing with your life, there’s no point in doing it.”

Even his mum Christine is unsure of what he’ll do once his freestyle days are over, but she knows that whatever he will put is hands to he’ll enjoy it, and be successful.

“I don’t even think he know what he’ll do later on,” she chuckles. “But he’s lucky that he’s making a living out of something that he really enjoys and when he’s happy, we’re happy. We couldn’t be prouder of him and all that he’s achieved.”