BROTHERHOOD

I first met the president of RedRum Motorcycle Club, Cliff Matias—a spiritual man, softly-spoken with an iron will to match—almost five years ago, and since, have slowly been introduced to key members of the club and subsequently, their wives and girlfriends. It became apparent that these people in and around the motorcycle club were earnest. They share family values and a strong bond in its most simplistic form—one that I hadn’t seen before in other cultures. It is an unavoidable honesty. So often we associate bike club members with criminals who are to be feared rather than be revered as protectors, or even thought of as regular people. The aim of the “Brotherhood” project is to show who these people really are. A part of photography that I find deeply appealing is documenting a moment that is truly honest. Posing and posturing will always have its place, but when shooting the “everyday man” the artist often finds themselves no longer in control of their subjects, but merely a bystander in the moments they capture. Much like the men and women involved with RedRum MC, after I gained the club’s trust I was fortunate enough to be given unfettered access to this insular group. When I embarked on documenting the characters I wasn’t sure what would transpire but I was afforded the opportunity to witness some genuinely soft moments: Cuddling their wives, adoring their girlfriends and playing with their children, riding in unity on charity runs and laughing with each other. They are not angels but I have never personally witnessed any group brawls, nor unprovoked aggression towards the general public. Sub-cultural, tight-knit groups such as RedRum are the ideal subject for this style of documentary photography. Peek behind the curtain and into a world that you’d never normally see or will ever be witness to again. —Sophy Holland. What has Sons of Anarchy done to the perception of motorcycle clubs? Fowler: Jeff can answer that one, because I shouldn’t say what I’m thinking. Blanchard: It blows everything out of proportion. They did show how clubs work, but it was a drama, they were killing 60 guys a week. You’d be out of members in less than a month. Fowler: We’d all be locked up and there would be more trucks exploding on the highway. Blanchard: It was entertaining. If a biker said he didn’t watch it, he’d be full of shit because every biker watched it. But it was a drama, that’s it. There are some great things that they did show, some of the great parts of the life: the hierarchies in clubs, the protocols, all that kind of stuff, but in the end it was just total entertainment. Agreed, but that is the most public representation of motorcycle clubs. Figueroa: Unfortunately, meanwhile we are the guys that would help if you really needed it. Andrews: And we want to be ambassadors wherever we go. Fowler: You want to be polite without bringing some flowers. Blanchard: I mean if we have a Prospect [a man essentially pledging the club] with us we’ll have him blow somebody. [joking] Andrews: I don’t think people know how many charitable donations are made by motorcycle clubs. It is a huge number. What philanthropy are you involved in? Blanchard: Every year we do a St. Jude run. Our president Cliff Matias organizes different rides up in the Catskills. We do a Purple Heart Association run locally. We have done book drives for under privileged kids. We do a Native American scholarship run. That has been going over 12 years. It is a fun ride, we start at the Bull [Charging Bull statue on Wall Street]…. Andrews: Well, the National Museum of the American Indian. Fowler: And we go up to Bear Mountain for their pow wow. Andrews: And we always donate, I think last year we donated $2,000 for one of the traditional dancers. That plays against the perception one has when they read “RedRum” on your back. Figueroa: I was originally with a group called Legion of Doom and there was a set of us called RedRum. We floated away and Cliff said we were going to stick with RedRum. Everybody thinks its “murder” backwards so you have to kind of clarify. Please do. Figueroa: We are all about positivity. But the first thing that pops into people’s minds is The Shining. Fowler: So many times you’ll be in a bar and somebody will come up saying “Redrum, redrum.” Shut the fuck up. Figuero: It is a badass name. Guys will say, “You got fucking murder on your back.” No we are the opposite of that life. Can we walk through the patch or is it a sacred, esoteric, thing? Fowler: The three skulls represent brotherhood, the black bandanas represent the struggle between the Mexican people and their government. The peace sign speaks for itself, the war paint are of every denomination of man: white, red, yellow, black. It’s clear that the patches mean the world to you. Figueroa: Guys work hard for it. You can buy a three-piece Sons of Anarchy patch online and unfortunately some dumb guy is going to learn his lesson, riding around his Honda with one on when an outlaw club finds him. Why are you “prospecting,” Matt? Fowler: Don’t fuck this up. Gelbke: I have always been intrigued by the club life. I am a union worker so I am fond of the brotherhood you get with groups of likeminded guys. It’s what drew me in; it’s what keeps me interested. The brotherhood, a common bond, right or wrong, weak or strong. I know I will be here for them and I trust that they’ll be there for me too. Figueroa: I have been able to watch who would fit and who wouldn’t fit for the past 15 years. Between the guys we are prospecting now to the guys we used to have, it is a big difference. I had to watch this guy who was a pain in the ass, everywhere we went there was something going on and he was involved. Where is he now? Figueroa: He passed away. So it’s life is a bitch, it comes back to bite. And I prefer what we have now to what we had when it was harder. We got rid of the bad seeds and every time we lost one we got four more great dudes. Not those guys who are going to rob, rape and do all that crazy shit. We are not hardcore, we don’t need to be, people see us and they know that we are tough. We are the guys who are going to shake people’s hands. People want what we got. Andrews: And what we got is brotherhood. We never ask what brotherhood can do for us, we ask what we can do for brotherhood. I want to help in any way I can and that is what brings us closer together. The closer you get to brotherhood the more enlightened you become. When we all come together, when we are wearing the same patch, we have the same common goal. Blanchard: The club opened my eyes to look at people differently. I am still learning constantly which is great, and it is not just about the club life, it is about life in general. Fowler: Before I met these guys I was very selfish. I had my own real family but I never felt brotherhood with my real brother. I doubted that brotherhood even existed when I couldn’t find it at home. But when I found these guys I knew I found brotherhood. I like to roll alone once in a blue moon, but nobody is more than a phone call away. If something goes down everybody zooms to the scene. That is what brotherhood is to me and I don’t think I can find it anywhere else. It took me a long time in my life, I just turned 50, and I finally feel like I fit in somewhere. I wandered through life not fitting in until I found these guys. I found brotherhood.