Rolling With Racism: An interview with Pinder Singh
Pinder Singh is one nice dude, I got chatting with him a while back after seeing a few of his photos posted up in our RideUKBMX Group. I knew he was pretty handy behind the lens but didn’t realise he was such a shredder too! The dude kills it, bangs flairs out like they’re child’s play and has many tricks on lock.
Photo by Ollie Billingham
We got onto the subject of racism, which will forever be a tricky subject to approach and talk about, but it can’t be ignored. Especially after hearing that Pinder had been subjected to quite a bit of racist abuse throughout his riding career.
People deal with racism or bullying in their own way, some don’t speak out, some laugh it off, some confront the person in question. It takes a strong person to deal with it and I don’t know about you, but I’d love to put a stop to this ignorance within our sport once and for all. Hopefully this article will shed a little light and maybe help someone…
Photo by Kian Newman
What’s up Pinder… Tell us a little about about yourself, about your background and what first got you into BMX.
“Hey Neil, I’m Pinder Singh, 23 from Telford (UK) and I’m a Sikh. A good friend of mine called Ollie Billingham got me into riding. Me and him always played football and stuff, so one day he asked me if I wanted to go to the pump track but I didn’t have a clue what that was and didn’t have a bike. So I borrowed one of his bikes and went from there! Been hooked ever since!”
That’s pretty cool man, I always love finding out people’s backgrounds and the reason why they got into BMX in the first place, what would you say was the first ‘big’ skatepark you went to after the pump track then?
“My first big skatepark visit was Creation in Birmingham. I was so overwhelmed to see how big it was. It was definitely a huge step, going from a pump track to massive ramps, but I pretty much grew up riding there. The owners, Mike and Ian, have always been good guys and we still always have a laugh. Also, Paul Austin, who no longer works there was a big part of my riding, he was super supportive and introduced me to so many good riders. I can’t thank him enough!”
Don’t take this the wrong way, but I haven’t really come across many Sikh BMX riders in my time, do you know of any other Sikh guys or girls who ride? Or would you say you’re one of a kind?
“When I first started yeah, I’d say I was the first of my kind that I knew of. But now, as the sport’s growing bigger and bigger, loads of people from different backgrounds are doing it, which gets me so stoked. A couple of guys from India (Mascot BMX) are trying to keep the BMX scene going there, so shout out to them. I know growing up in an Asian family wanting to ride BMX was difficult, so I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for them.”
Were your parents supportive about you getting into BMX? Were they into the idea when you first told them you wanted to ride a little kids bike?
“When I first started, no, not at all… My dad is a music teacher and has been teaching for over 30 years and he always wanted me to be a Tabla (Indian drum player) – it got to a point where I had to sneak out to go ride, haha! But they finally came round when they saw me win at local jam. They’ve become very supportive, then when the gadget show came round I was there for 6 days doing demos and they were super proud. They’ve helped me a lot to be honest and I can’t thank them enough.”
Racism. OK… Here we go… Shit. Where do I start? I guess I’ll just ask if you can name any time (or times) you’ve been subjected to any form of racism while you’ve been out riding? What went on and how did you feel?
“There’sbeen so many that I’ve lost count now. I think the most popular one is being called ‘paki’ from the other side of the park, but there’s too many to list.”
Massive Table at Unit3Sixty. Photo by Ben Turner.
People are idiots man, you don’t deserve that dude, nobody does.
“Yeah, 100% – No one deserves to feel singled out or feel outcast. We should all be treated equally and with respect regardless of what our background is!”
Damn straight. So let’s talk about that graffiti you saw at Lightwoods Skatepark when you popped down one day for a session. Do you know who did it and how do you feel about it? The mindless idiots couldn’t even spell your name right.
“No idea who did it, and to be honest, it didn’t upset me one bit. I was saying to a couple of friends that I feel sorry for kids with different backgrounds starting BMX that might have to deal with things like this. I’ve dealt with it for years and years, so I’m used to it now.”
Yeah that’s the truth, guess you’ve just gotta try and educate them the best you can and hopefully they’ll listen. Without trying to sound too much like a hippy, we all need to learn to love each other no matter the skin colour, beliefs or race.
Huge flair at Unit3Sixty. Photo by Ben Turner.
Anyway, what’s going on with you? I hear you’ve picked up a few sponsors, who are you repping these days?
Stylin’ it out. Photo by Kian Newman at Unit3Sixty.
I saw you took a trip over to Canada recently, how was that? Can’t believe you bumped into my friend Cam Galbraith over there from the FUCKASSES crew, those guys are so wild! Such a small world eh?
“Ahh dude, Canada was insane! Everything was 10/10, the food, the people and the skateparks. Everyone at Joyride 150 was so welcoming, such an amazing park. I probably spent an hour looking around after watching Drew Bezanson’s edit and realising the gaps are way bigger in person. Yeah, I went to Allinskatepark and Cam said ‘do you know Neil Fraser?!’ Haha, I couldn’t believe it! He’s a shredder man. Derek and Santos are such nice guys, they let us stay back after hours. They are all a good bunch out there. It was definitely the best part of my trip. Canada was sick, I met so many cool people. Shout out to Kara for showing me around!”
Drew Bezanson is on another level, did you know they get the guy who builds the ramps to modify the place pretty much every time he films there? Crazy. So what’s next? Have you got any plans over summer, filming anything new or just winging it?
“Yeah man. I met that guy too. And yeah, me and my good friend Nathan Kennard are making a trip to Woodward this year. Filming-wise, it’s taking time, I want to make sure it’s perfect. I haven’t got my own edit yet, so I want to make sure the first will be a banger.”
Handplant. Photo by Nathan Bloomer.
We’re coming to the end of the interview and I wanted to recap a little… We covered racism and growing up in the BMX scene earlier, and I want to know, what advice would you give to any kids who may be experiencing the same thing?
“For anyone that’s being bullied, my advice would be just to enjoy what you do. Laugh at those who take time to throw words at you that aren’t true! End of the day, we’re all at a skatepark because we all share the love for extreme sport. We’re no different to anyone else… We’re all human beings riding wheels!”
Sick photo on a timer taken by Pinder Singh himself.
I couldn’t have said it better myself dude, it’s been a pleasure as always! Thank you for your time. Before we finish up is there anyone you’d like to thank?
“Yeah man, I would like to thank my family for supporting me 100%. Gary Meusz and James Martin for being such amazing big brothers and helping me with everything! Gav and Serena at unit3sixty for giving me the opportunity to ride and support the skatepark! Ash and Amie at Lovelace for supporting for the last 2 years & Clair at voodoo street! Also big thanks to Neil for taking time in this! Thanks so much dude!
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