Rider lands on his feet
Snappy new studio replaces stunt riding career
MATTHEW MCFERRAN has swapped a high-octane life as a globetrotting motorbike stunt rider to launch a new Gold Coast creative studio for photography and video.
The Nitro Circus freestyle rider for 12 years says a bad midair crash at a show last year in Norway left him unable to walk for three months, prompting him to give it away.
The 31-year-old had always dabbled in photography and had a small Burleigh Heads studio. At the weekend he launched a new much bigger professional studio about a block away.
“I had a bad accident where I couldn’t walk for three months. I weighed up how much I loved walking compared to travelling around the world and partying,” he said of his decision to call time on the Nitro Circus.
His new venture, simply called Gold Coast Studio, is 400 square metres — about five times the size of an original space he used nearby. It contains photograph equipment, lighting and space for shoots.
He co-owns it with videographer Alan Hardy and graphic designer Max Duff.
Mr McFerran said he didn’t miss the Nitro Circus life as much as he thought and says while it was a thrilling job he was lucky to be even “hobbling” around now after the accident.
He takes the blame for it, saying he followed fellow rider Josh Sheean too closely off a jump and collided with him in midair about 20 feet off the ground.
Both landed awkwardly — Sheean was unconscious and broke a collarbone while McFerran said he shattered his foot and was also knocked out.
“Everyone hits the ramps at slightly different speeds and I just caught up to him and hit him, it was the lightest tap but once you’re midair it can go bad really quickly.
“We knocked each other out. I woke up first and thought I’d killed him.
“We shared an ambulance and I couldn’t stop apologising. He said if you don’t stop apologising I’m going to throw you out of the ambulance. You accept there is risk doing the job.”
Now he’s looking forward to a more sedate existence running the studio while his foot recovers from being “obliterated”. His clients include surf brand Rip Curl, energy drink Red Bull, Insta-famous Australian fitness mum Tammy Hembrow and Nitro Circus when they are in town.
The studio was also available free of charge for budding creatives to use the space to hone their photography skills, Mr McFerran said, adding it wasn’t free for actual commercial shoots.
“But I want to give back. I never had a backyard to ride my bike around and people wouldn’t charge me to do that so I feel this is something I can do.”