Us Versus Them » James Banuelos

BOTTROP KUSTOM KULTURE / GERMANY 2012

admin — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 01:27:45 +0000

Got invited to this show by the organizer Michael Perrech. Hopefully I can figure out how to get my shovel out there with Kutty and ride Germany with all these crazy pirates ! Check out the video shit looks rad.

Bottrop Kustom Kulture 2011 from The Pixeleye on Vimeo.

HIPPY KILLER HOEDOWN

admin — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:29:13 +0000

Proud to say us and whole bunch of really killer brands are sponsoring my buddy and really talented builder Kutty Notebooms 4th Annual Hippy Killer Hoedown. Beards, Beers, Boots and Bikes. Be sure to make it !

The Kickdrums

admin — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 19:22:57 +0000

Been friends with Alex (Kickdrums/Producer/Songwriter) for years now. Actually used to manage them. Over the years we have stayed in touch. They are the epitome of a DIY band. We are in the process of structuring a really cool project with them next year. For updates keep checking back here or follow me on instagram @woodgrainjames. Here is a music video shot over a year ago with Alex sporting our Capitalist Pigs Tee.

Kickdrums – Perfect World from LOOSEWORLD on Vimeo.

FIRST LOOK AT MOONEYES / JAPAN

admin — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 20:30:31 +0000

Super stoked we will be there ! Few of the builders and painters in this video will have works at our artshow tabbed ” Oil & Water ” this November. For more information on featured artist and the show visit www.oilandwaterartshow.com

Kutty Noteboom / Hippy Killer Garage

admin — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:48:14 +0000

Over the last few months we have become friends. Dude is super talented and over all just a really easy going down to earth person. Kutty has been building choppers since a young kid. His father Bones Noteboom is a legend in the custom car culture. I am honored to say that Kutty is currently building me a chopper which will be on display at our Oil And Water art show this November 12th at Known Gallery. Keep an eye out for other note worthy efforts between our two brands. Left you here with a couple video’s on him and his craft. He also organizes a super rad event called Hippy Killer Hoedown, dont miss the 4th annual !

The speech that got him killed……

admin — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:22:14 +0000

One of the greatest men to ever live. Legends Never Die. Just listen………

OIL & WATER

admin — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:01:19 +0000

Only weeks away. Our brothers at Biltwell and Chopcult have organized a ride from Temecula to Fairfax. For all updates and show info please visit our microsite for the event at www.oilandwaterartshow.com Early arrival is suggested. The artist line up is crazy. Thanks again to all involved. Could not have pulled this off with out you. See you there !

PLEASE WELCOME THE NEWEST UVT FAMILY MEMBER/ STEVEN JENSEN

admin — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 06:55:48 +0000

After loosing a few fixed gear freestyle UVT team riders in the last month, I reached in the talent pool and came up with a fixed gear phenom. Expect to see a ton more on this guy. These photo’s were taken at Summer Fixed in Venice Beach this weekend by the very talented photographer Matt Lingo. Can’t even begin to explain how stoked I am to formally say welcome to the family Steven!

BORN FREE 3 / 2011

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 06:21:06 +0000

Super stoked I did not miss this years event. Will do my best to never miss one as long as I am alive. Later this year I will start a custom build to showcase. Thinking panhead, but might stick with a rubber mounted EVO. Thanks again Mike and Grant. See you all next year.

Photo’s By : Me
Shot with : iPhone 4

UVT / KNOWN

admin — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 22:33:11 +0000

Curating a show that will be held at this space in November of this year. By the looks of what is being built behind the scenes for this, this will be an event that will go down in history. Just to give you a hint, It will have things associated with Oil and Water. Get ready Fairfax here we come !

UVT x CITYFOG SURF

admin — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 02:16:45 +0000

Man you guys are in for a real treat next summer. A rare opportunity to take back all I have built with my Inland Empire family and share and create with my hometown family of Santa Cruz California. So honored to work with these guys. Here is a glimpse into a people, thier talent and a project I have been planning for almost a year. It will include a full line of merch and some other HUGE suprises. Cannot wait ! Thanks again CJ Nelson and Nick Palandrani of City Fog/Source Surfboard Co.

UVT x TOMMY MONTOYA X NEW YORK INK

admin — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 04:17:30 +0000

First let me thank Ken Herring from Heritage Tattoo again for introducing me to one of the realest muth$%%^&** I have ever met. Tommy thanks again for the opportunity to work with you. I look forward to doing big business with you in the years to come. Dues have been paid and I feel it’s our time. With that being said tonite @ 10 PM on the TLC channel is the WORLD PREMIER of NEW YORK INK. Tommy is one of the main cast members along side another brother and supporter of our brand Luke Wessman. Could not ask for any better of a family and supporters. UVT is on the rise !

STEVEN JENSEN ( HANDS DOWN )

admin — Mon, 30 May 2011 02:49:25 +0000

THE PRICKS / A MESSEGE OF HOPE

admin — Sun, 15 May 2011 21:53:35 +0000

UVT / THE PRICKS

admin — Fri, 13 May 2011 05:35:46 +0000

This month I am embarking on creating my first documentary. The subject is a band of brothers that have considered and treated me as family for some years now. I used to manage them , but they fired me ! The Pricks to me represent an authenic combination of things that translate what I feel the truth is in what Southern California is all about. People get no realer than these guys and after years of talking on an almost daily basis with Tnut (Pricks founding father) consider them a part of my family as well. In alot of ways these guys are like us in that they have endured a shit load of obsticles and naw sayers and through it all have stayed true to what they believe in and stand for. I feel very priveliged to announce that this is really finally going down. This project will be a true testimate to the fact that if we all help each other without ill will or greed we can rise and conquer together. So through a release of merchandise surrounding an all original EP consisting of 6 songs, I am proud to announce the merging of two respectful and down ass families. Release date has not been figured out yet but will be within the next 30 days. Keep both eyes open for this one. Promise to be some slumpers on it !

Photo Credit: Christion Lennon

1948 BUSINESS COUPE BUILD

admin — Tue, 10 May 2011 03:32:12 +0000

VINCE FELIX FOR US VERSUS THEM ( HANDMADE IN AMERICA )

admin — Tue, 10 May 2011 01:52:20 +0000

By necessity this project / product was born. Vince and I were speaking on how crazy it was that after a near death accident he had he was facing unemployment and financial hurdles to overcome. As real friends do for one another I started to brainstorm how I could assist a brother in need. Vince had grown up in Ventura California turned pro surfer, he is the only pro surfer to date to have been sponsored by Von Dutch. As the scene slowed up and surfers at the time were forced to do other things to pay bills Vince moved to Santa Cruz to follow his dream of surfing professionally, decided to make the jump up north to try his hand at shaping surfboards by hand. After various jobs ended up training to become a california fireman, passed the rigid physical and written tests and flew in choppers searching for missing persons and fighting fires. Vince Felix has always enjoyed a rip down the road on his Harley and one day tragically he had a car pull out in front of him while he was rippin down the street. He had no time to get around the vehicle so ended up smacking dead center into it. Injuries were non life threatening but shattered his leg and handicapped him for the rest of his life. I had known about his leather making skills so I had the idea-of asking him if he would engage in a project with our brand Us Versus Them, in creating a handmade leather foot strap for the fixed gear community. After some thought we figured it might be cool to do a grassroots project in order to give the public a american made, sturdy foot strap at the same time creating a stream of income for himself. He obliged, stoked I drove up to his hometown of Ventura , shopped for all the leather, dyes, studs and screws and over a painstaking few weeks he knocked out about 40 epics pairs of pedal straps. Each set takes about 2 hours to make by hand. Vince is an incredible artist in many ways and now is on his way to mastering the lost art of pin stripping. Hopefully I can get him to showcase some of what he is cooking with pin striping at a art show/pop-up store I am curating in conjunction with Known Gallery set for November 14th 2011 ! A special thanks to Vince and his family, you are like a brother to me and I value you and your craft. Here are some product images shot by Scott Nogrady accompanied by a short video edit filmed by Zane Meyer and directed by myself.

US VERSUS THEM / OAKLEY / REDBULL

admin — Fri, 06 May 2011 04:32:46 +0000

Pleased to announce a project I am very proud of. Big shot out to Todd Lyons (SE Racing) Steve Blick (Oakley) and Aaron Lutze (RedBull) for the opportunity. It was auctioned off benefiting The Pablove Foundation @ the Oakley store in San Francisco the weekend of the Redbull Fixed contest mentioned in my last post. Big things this year family !

Photo Credits – Russ Hennings

UVT FXD TEAM @ REDBULL CONTEST SAN FRANCISCO

admin — Fri, 06 May 2011 03:47:55 +0000

So a year back when the sport was still hardly viewed as a legit sport, I set out to recruit some of the rawest talents in the industry and build the most progressive team with hopes of pushing the sport to the next level. Well after acting as co-brand manger / fixed gear team manger for SE RACING and signing fixed freestyle riders such as Chris Fonseca,Torey Thorton, Jakob Santos to our current roster or arsenal Gus Molina, Josh Boothby, DJ Mull, Micheal Chicon, Joe Mckeag and Jamil Gray. I feel like I have accomplished what I had set out to do. This past weekend we sent our filmer Zane Myers to cover the craziness as one of the biggest contest to date bringing in talent from all over the world for the first time was kicked off. Redbull and Oakley put on an amazing contest and our team member comprised 6 out of the 10 qualified riders for the finals. UVT team rider Josh Boothby brought home a second place. Love that these guys are getting due respect and I am in a place to contribute to their careers. Future is looking good from my perspective for all things fixed freestyle. Thanks again for all the support and loyalty from our team riders, without you guys we would not be the same.

Photo credits: Redbull North America/Prolly

MIKE CHECK

admin — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 03:13:47 +0000

Stoked to have had access to recruit this kid to our Fixed Freestyle Squad. Here is a little quick edit for your viewing pleasure.

Reintroducing Michael Chicon

BROTHERHOOD

admin — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 01:40:43 +0000

Old school footage of childhood friend CJ Nelson. Guy has always been an incredible talent in and out of the water. Drinks vodka likes its water and fights like a sailor. Very proud to call him a family member and am blessed to have had him in my life as a source of influence and inspiration. As you mat already know, C.J. rides for Us Versus Them and I am stoked to announce that I will be curating a collaborative effort including CJ’s surfboard company CITYFOG some very limited hand shaped, hand painted surfboards and hand drawn graphics from him, Graham and Luke Wessman. Should be killer! “California Dreamin” as a theme will capture a combination of OG sub cultures that were very prevaliant in the 60′s and 70′s within the California surf scene. Without doubt this project will shed light and educate the younger generation on the way it was and what shaped everything to create its current form. Always good to know the roots of what you cosign in life.

The world needs more men like this

admin — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 02:18:55 +0000

Handmade Portraits: Liberty Vintage Motorcycles from Etsy on Vimeo.

FACE LIFT

admin — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 06:34:55 +0000

Last week at the launch of our Spring 2011 line, we decided to give the warehouse a facelift with some imaging from a few of the new graphics Graham cooked up for the season. We have some big news to share soon. Thanks to all for the love and support. VIVA UVT !

A DAY WITH TOMMY MONTOYA & HIS POPS

admin — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 05:29:10 +0000

Today after opening the warehouse to push our Spring 2011 line me, Christion and Will headed to finish shooting a segment on a good friend and crazy gifted tattoo artist Tommy Montoya. He has been a long supporter of our brand and since the day Ken from Heritage Tattoo introduced us , we have been cookin up some business ventures which you will soon find out about. I wanted the creative side of this mini documentary to really captivate who Tommy is on a day to day basis and to collect a little dialog and history from his pops Mike Montoya. Tommy has been selected to be a cast member on the new show NYC INK set to air on TLC in a few months. Thanks again to him and his pops in allowing access to there homes and thier stories. You will enjoy the edit guaranteed, his pops kicks ass !

FREEDOM FIGHTER

admin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 04:58:44 +0000

WATER IS THE NEXT EMPIRE

admin — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 04:24:55 +0000

Counter efforts against water barons are in progress. Good news to come from the folks at + – filtered water bottle company. Stay tuned.
US VERSUS THEM

1 OF THE GREATEST/ JFK

admin — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:49:26 +0000

He warned of the existence of secret societies over 50 years ago. Guess it fell on def ears. U N I T E & T A K E O V E R

SE BIKES / US VERSUS THEM FXD TOUR 2010

admin — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 20:54:43 +0000

A quick recap of a tour I put together last year. Was a blast hanging out and traveling with the SE Fixed Gear team. Crazy bunch of guy’s! Really stoked on the team we assembled for SE and can’t wait to do another road trip. Welcome to the SE fam Boothby and congratulations to Gus for breaking edge. Special thanks for photographers Matt Lingo and Dave Beard for the coverage.

Day 1 – The Drive to Phoenix from Matt Lingo on Vimeo.

Day 2 – Riding Phoenix from Matt Lingo on Vimeo.

Day 3 – Drive to Las Vegas from Matt Lingo on Vimeo.

Day 4 – Riding Las Vegas from Matt Lingo on Vimeo.

SE Tour Recap from Matt Lingo on Vimeo.

A WALK ON MY SIDE

admin — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 06:22:11 +0000

Been out the blogging loop for some time now. Think its been about a year or so. Lots of miles have been put in and with this new year I will start to document as much of it as possible. HUGE things ahead for all the UVT Familia !

STAND BY ME……

admin — Mon, 31 May 2010 09:51:52 +0000

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