1999. It was a weird time. Y2K knocked on paranoia’s door as Jack Kevorkian discovered many weren’t down with the whole assisted suicide thing. And Barbie got her fortieth face-lift (in as many years). The final year of the 20th century also saw the advent* of the selfie. But it wasn’t a Tiger Beat tween or self-obsessed fiend introducing the craze — it was a humble, soft-spoken shredder by the name of Mike Basich.
*according to me with no factual basis whatsoever
It is no secret that we love Mike Basich here at The Inertia Mountain. Though it makes sense. After all, Mike Basich is the fucking man.
In a recent video tour of his gnarly digs tucked away in Truckee, we learned just how much he is the fucking man: “The most amazing narrative to come from his storied career is definitely the book he funded last year on Kickstarter — or at least the archives of photography the book was compiling… Basically, wanting to take his career into his own hands, and in reaction to the lack of readily-accessible camera gear, he jerry-rigged GoPros before GoPros were even an inkling to the thought of the thing. We’re talking old clunkers precariously attached to metal pole contraptions then latched onto his person. Like a scene from a really early draft of Final Destination when it was being workshopped in the nineties (if it was being workshopped in the nineties). Additionally, he would set up cams in ideal spots as only the pros would know to do and capture angles/perspectives never before seen, triggering the shot by remote.”
A couple days back he followed up that recent video’s virality and posted a new video exploring this innovative technique that would eventually be taken over by the narcissistic and the vain, but at the time would prove monumental.
Anyway, since he is the fucking man, don’t be a fucking prick, and buy his fucking book. Also, photo roll: commence.
