Bomb Flow Magazine Interview with Todd Heath and Fred Norquist

If you use the internet, and are a whitewater kayaker, then you must have either heard about or have seen a Bomb Flow video. Epic drops, clean lines, high quality editing, and great style overall are key factors to their success. As Fred Norquist would say, "there has been a lot of winning going on". I was curious to know more about Bomb Flow. Besides Fred, Evan Garcia, Tyler Bradt and friends hucking huge drops for the camera, who is behind the magzine and overall brand? I interviewed Todd Heath, the "chief motivator / publisher" for Bomb Flow (and Bomb Snow) Magazine up in Bozeman, MT. He and Fred gave me the rundown on the print and online company, and also let us know what we can expect in the future. The interview is short, sweet and to the point. Since these guys are known for running the s#@t and not talking s@#t, we figured we would let their vids do the real talking (at the and of the review)...

Q: Who is the original Bomb Flow Crew:

Todd: There’s plenty of amazing people who have made Bomb Flow come alive, and without everyone’s involvement it would still be just an idea. That being said, here’s the original swim team: Tyler Maxwell (Tmax), Tyler Bradt (T-money) and myself Todd Heath (T.O. double) We also can’t forget the incredible efforts of the Bomb Flow TV crew: Evan Garcia (EG) and Fred Norquist. (Gnarquist.) As I said before, without the help of Friends and athletes along the way Bomb Flow wouldn’t be what it is. Here’s some other very notable players in the game of FLOW: Rush Sturges, Ben Kinsella, Patrick Camblin, Reid Morth, Benny Marr, Anton Immler, The Demshitz Crew, Jonny Meyers, Ryan Lucas, Tino Specht, Matt Baker, Mike Mckay and many others!!

Q:Who came up with the BombFlow idea:

Todd:

Bomb Flow was an idea that Tmax and I came up with after years of working on Bomb Snow Magazine together. We had already created an outlet for passionate people in the ski industry, and felt there was a void that needed filling within the Whitewater community. It seemed like a natural progression for the spring and summer seasons to go with a water-based theme. After we sat on the idea for a few months we eventually asked our good friends Tyler Bradt, Evan Garcia, Fred Norquist and Ben Kinsella to come on board to help spread their love of water and eventually Bomb Flow spawned into a moist reality. Really we wanted to do something creative to engage the kayak community and Bomb Flow had the right amount of energy and passionate people standing behind it to make it all happen. Our magazine and website has created a platform for boaters to showcase their work in a real unadulterated fashion, and it’s all current. We are showcasing adventures that are happening right now. It’s really an idea we can ALL be proud of, whether in print or on screen. We will continue to make it better as more people submit content and use Bomb Flow as an outlet to spread ideas throughout our adrenaline-obsessed culture.

Q:The mag is sick. Who prints and publishes that??

Todd:

We have been printing Bomb Snow Magazine locally in Bozeman Montana for over six years but we just switched printers with Bomb Flow and are currently printed in Denver, Colorado. All the magic happens in Bozeman where we have a creative art studio and gallery space. We have anywhere from 1 to Five employees/interns/ and dirt-bag gypsies working out of this space at any given time, and our motto remains unchanged: “If you’re not having fun, you’re fired!” Expect to see the next issue of Bomb Flow Magazine on Shelves somewhere around 4-20-2012!!

Q: What's up with Bombsnow?

Todd:

Bomb Snow Magazine is currently being worked on and will be going to print on December 1st 2011. It’s our first love and really where the idea of Bomb Flow Spawned. It’s basically the same idea and concept but focuses on skiing and snowboarding rather than kayaking and surfing. Really we’re just spreading positive propaganda throughout the snow and water worlds!

Q: Will we see more of that when Big Sky or Bridger begin to get pounded with snow? TGR.com but for Bozeman?

Todd:

YES for sure. We will be working on more ski and snowboard content throughout the U.S Winter months and have Bomb Snow TV episodes as well. We are still searching for content and constantly working on new ideas for both FLOW and SNOW.

Q: What places are on your radar for future edits? Chile?

Fred:

Yep that's right we are headed back to Chile for another season of tan foreign women and large waterfalls. I can’t wait! Evan and I have some new stuff planned out so it should be awesome. Bomb Flow TV Episode #1 pt. 1 'Pucon, Chile' from BombFlowTV on Vimeo.

Q:When will you guys come out with a feature length edit for sale? can we hope for summer 12'?

Fred:

At the end of this year we plan to do a "best of BFTV" thing although we aren’t entirely sure what the medium will be, maybe dvd, maybe download. Stay tuned for sure!

Q:Any new boats or gear that you are stoked on?

Fred:

I really like the new Liquid Logic stomper! It’s a really fun boat.

Video recap of the past year. Grab a drink and click click play: http://vimeo.com/31380790 http://vimeo.com/26069059 http://vimeo.com/26874280 http://vimeo.com/30771850 http://vimeo.com/29052846 http://vimeo.com/27640403 Last but not least, here is the direct link to Tyler Bradt's new ESPN segment on running huge stouts: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7179813&categoryid=2378529