Kareem Shehab on Death Pedal 2

Why don’t you give a little insight into who Kareem Shehab is and what Death Pedal 2 is about.
Hey Travvy, well in a nutshell I’m a 23 year old Engineering Graduate Student at the Georgia Institute of Technology who grew up rollerblading and making skate videos. I broke my leg and tore my acl blading a few years ago and that’s why I picked up fixed gear. In my free time I like to smoke dust and kill animals.

So, what sets this video apart from Death Pedal and the other videos on the market?
Death Pedal 2 is a continuation of the Death Pedal Saga. What I’m trying to do is bring some diversity to fixed gear movies by using my background in skate videos to make a bike movie. DP is all about getting tricks and having fun.

Who’s going to be featured in the video? Any fresh faces?
Welllll…. yes. Eric Puckett, AJ Austin, Congo, and Matt Spencer are getting their first video parts in this video. We are also revisiting some old riders from the first video as well parts on Torey Thornton, Wonka, and Corey Vulture. I feel like the lineup pretty much speaks for itself.

Where can viewers expect to see riding going down?
Los Angeles, Houston, Austin, Macon Georgia, New York, Seattle, San Diego, Europe, Japan…

Why is it that you don’t shoot in HD? Are there any other defining characteristics of your shooting style?
It’s not that I don’t like HD. I just don’t think I can get the feel I want in my videos with an HD camera, although the new nike video “debacle” has kinda swayed my opinion recently. Basically, all my favorite skate videos growing up (all the Rejects Videos, The apple series, Baker, especially deathwish) are Raw and in your face shot on VX1000′s, GL’s, or the like. They’re all about the tricks and the people in the video. To me these videos are timeless because they have PERSONALITY and really give the viewer a sense of what the people who are featured are like. They have a lot of replay value and they don’t need an expensive HD camera to achieve this. Time lapse clouds/cities and slow mo shots of people riding/skating are cool and all but seeing that doesn’t get me pumped to ride or whatever. I think shots like that are quite beautiful but I think its very important to be able to give the viewer an insight to all the crazy personalities of your riders
cuz they’re all a bunch of kooks!

As for my filming style, I’d say I’m very into handheld shots, good fisheye work and long tracking shots. Straight cuts are a must. I try not to take myself too seriously which is why you’ll see a lot of humorous interludes.

For the most part you travel to the locations, film, edit and produce everything yourself, correct? How is that working out for you?
Its dope. Getting a chance to travel all these places in person gives me the opportunity to show people firsthand what its like hanging out with the riders in their cities. What I really aim to do when I put a section together is give the viewers a window to the hearts and souls of these avant garde individuals who walk the razors edge every day! Just kidding… but not really…

Do you have a projected release date for the video? What about a price?
If all goes as planned, I’ll be wrapping up with Puckett and AJ next week and then going to new york to finish up torey and wonkas parts. dvd’s will be somewhere around 60 or 70 bucks.

Anyone you’d like to holler at or thank?
I’d like to thank My girlfriend Katie, My family, my new pet cat Shanaynay, Everyone who is in the video puttin in work, Leader Bikes, Velocity Wheels, Fixkin hubs, VagX, Gost, FRSH, Loose Nuts, Fyxation Tires, Sean McCormick, Lingo, Mash and Maca crews for putting out some dope videos, Velo Cult, Adams Ave, Ye Olde Bike Shop, No Brakes, ODB and the WU, all my frooty booty friends, and anyone who enjoyed one of my videos. GG lives… Shazam!