The Metal Mulisha Has a Twitch
Jun 22 2007 / Los Angeles, CA
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Its name is Jeremy Stenberg, and he sits with Lat34 for an exclusive interview
No other group in all sports has a badder reputation than the Metal Mulisha. In fact, the city of Temecula, Californa, where the Metal Mulisha's compound is based, had the sheriff's office at one point label the Metal Mulisha an actual “gang.” Yes, Brian Deegan's group of badass motocross riders dominate all facets of life.
Yet it's Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg, who joined the team well after its inception, who garners all the headlines these days. Nicknamed for his involuntary twitch resulting from Tourette’s syndrome (and he's dropped quite a few expletives on live television due to the disorder, including the X Games), the 25 year-old Twitch is no doubt one of the top dogs of the Metal Mulisha.
With two X Games gold medals on his resume (plus a second place finish in the 2005 AST Dew Tour season), Twitch has little to prove these days. With the first leg of the AST Dew Tour approaching this weekend in Baltimore, Maryland however, Twitch has a whole new challenge he's ready to face head-on.
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A year ago, during the AST Dew Tour's season-opening freestyle motox event in Louisville, Kentucky, Twitch hurt himself bad. He cased it on the second run of the finals, resulting in breaking both his fibula and tibula in his left leg, and breaking his ankle in his right leg. The injuries sidelined him for the rest of the season, and this weekend's competition in Baltimore will be his first since the devastating injury.
I caught up with the Metal Mulisha team member in the middle of training, as Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg gets ready to return to the competition circuit, and continue to give hardcore cred for the Metal Mulisha.
Lat34: So how are you doing?
Twitch: Good, just glad to be home. I've been in Australia for the last month on the Crusty Tour. I got home on Monday, and I think I finally got on schedule sleeping-wise.
Lat34: How was the tour? I heard that thing is out of control.
Twitch: It's good! I just wish I would have had more time to practice and get ready for the Dew Tour. I only rode, like, eight times the whole time we were there for a month. Whatever works, it was fun.
Lat34: You messed yourself up pretty bad last year at the AST Dew Tour. I watched the video over and over. Describe the injuries.
Twitch: I basically ended up going for a flip on the back of a landing, and I gassed much harder than I should have been. I actually fell from about 35, 40 feet in the air. I compound fractured my tib(ula) and my fib(ula) on my left leg. The bone actually just almost went through the boot. There was a tiny little hole inside of my boot. That was my tib(ula). That was my left leg. And then my right leg I broke my tallus, which is the main bone in your ankle. It gives you all the movement, like forward, back, circle motion, all that. I'm still feeling it now.
Lat34: That rehab must have been nuts.
Twitch: It definitely happens. You ride dirt bikes, you're bound to get hurt.
Lat34: Is that the worst injury you've ever had?
Twitch: Yeah, I'd say that's the worst injury I've had for sure. Definitely.
Lat34: A lot of freestyle motox riders like Travis Pastrana and your fellow Metal Mulisha rider Brian Deegan are switching it up to Rally Cars. What's the story with that?
Twitch: It's just in their blood, competition. It's definitely a lot safer in the car with a roll cage and stuff like that. I'm going to build me a full roll cage around my dirt bike. (Laughing)
Lat34: Have you been working on some new tricks?
Twitch: I just actually got all my tricks back (after the layoff from injuries). I'm trying to work on Superman flips, just all the new stuff. I'm a good eight months behind everyone else. I'm just catching back up now, so hopefully I'm going to be there real soon.
Lat34: How did you hook up with Deegan and the Metal Mulisha?
Twitch: I met them just from riding contests and seeing each other around. They were the only guys at the course at the time, and they invited me up a couple of times to go ride with them. And I just ended up becoming a member of the Metal Mulisha.
Lat34: You guys seem to have mellowed out a little bit.
Twitch: We've all mellowed out a lot. We all grew up. We have families and kids now, so we've definitely grown a lot over the past couple of years.
Lat34: Would you say you're “straight” now, or just “calm.”
Twitch: More like calm. Just getting what we need to get done. Getting business done, and getting everything handled. We still mess around a lot, but it's not as bad. We think about stuff before we do it now. (Laughing)
Lat34: What are you looking forward to with the first stop of the Dew Tour in Baltimore, Maryland?
Twitch: I'm looking forward to getting there, salvaging some points, and getting ready for the year.
Lat34: You're definitely one of the favorites to win the MotoX Cup. Who do you consider to be a threat to prevent you from winning the Dew Cup?
Twitch: Definitely Nate Adams. He's always on point. Everytime he goes to a contest, he's 100 percent ready to go. This year is a toss-up. There's going to be a lot of good guys. You've got Jeremy Lusk coming in. He came out last year and got second at the last event. He's been practicing his butt off. You've got a couple of Europeans and Australians that came over that all kill it, like (Blake) 'Bilko' (Williams) and Matt Schubring. I'm going to say it's going to be a pretty good year. I don't really see one guy winning every contest this year. Different courses tend to favor different people. We just have to see what happens from there.
Lat34: The last time I chatted with Brian Deegan was literally the night before his wedding. And he just came out about Travis Pastrana, calling it how it is. The dude's a total nerd, but he's got balls of steel. Or maybe he's just completely vacant up there, who knows. What's your take on him?
Twitch: (Laughing his a$$ off) That's what it is too, it's a combination of everything with him.
Lat34: Who's paying all your bills?
Twitch: Rockstar, Boost Mobile, Etnies, Yamaha, Metal Mulisha, Echo, Controversy Sells, Maxima, and Dunlop. That's about it.
- Cyrus Saatsaz
