Interview: Derek Guetter

Everyone has that friend who is crazy when it comes to ATV riding. But you probably don’t have a friend who is “watch me do a backflip” crazy. Derek Guetter is one of those crazy individuals. Derek is a freestyle rider for Can-Am and has made a living doing backflips on tours with the likes of the Nuclear Cowboyz. Now he’s bringing the show to your living room by producing some of the best riding footage ever released. Butter: All Moto Flavored has been out only a few months and takes ATV movies to a whole new level. We interrupted Derek’s weekend to see what it’s like to stare down a backflip ramp and what’s next for the freestyle rider turned executive producer.

Derek Guetter

WeekendATV.com: What ATVs and Side-by-Sides do you currently own?
Derek Guetter: Me and Jon (Derek’s freestyling brother) have our Can-Am DS450’s, obviously, Outlander 800, Maverick 1000, and we’ve been collecting old quads that we grew up riding or are special to us. After our close friend Kelly Chang passed away I purchased his Suzuki LT250 QuadRacer from his daugter and had it shipped from Hawaii. Kelly was a really good friend and I’m rebuilding it back to it’s original condition. We also have Jon’s last Roll-Design PEP YFZ450, and my pride and joy, mint condition 88 Honda 250R fully built. (I’m) trying to track down an 87 Banshee and we’ll have a sweet collection!!

WATV: Describe a typical day in the life of Derek Guetter.
DG: That varies on time of the year. Putting a movie together takes a lot of planning, as well as booking our shows so I spend a lot of time in my office and at conventions and trade shows. I actually didn’t get to ride near as much as I’d liked to last year, but if I wasn’t putting this much effort into making sure we are busy all year round we wouldn’t last or be this successful.

Derek Guetter

WATV: We know you like to play guitar. What other ways do you wind down off the track?
DG: I love my guitars, it’s the next best thing to riding!  I started playing about 2 years ago and it’s so good to clear my head!  That and golf are probably my 2 favorite things away from seat time.  Spending so much time traveling and putting your life on the line as much as Jon and myself do, it’s nice to relax and stay quiet.

WATV: What is your favorite freestyle trick to perform?
DG: I can do no-footed nacs really good, it’s my biggest and easiest trick so probably that!  Flips are fun but scare the crap out of me!  Ha

WATV: How much practice led up to your first real backflip?
DG: I’d spent plenty of time in foam pits prior, but when I got offered the job on Nuclear Cowboyz if I flipped I maybe had 4 weeks time to get it down and comfortable to dirt.  It was one of the most stressful times in my life, or so I’d thought.  Once I did it, got on tour, and had to do it every weekend with little to no practice in between weekends, I aged very quickly and lost a lot of hair.

Derek Guetter and Digger Doug Gust

Derek (right) getting a different kind of air with Digger Doug Gust.

WATV: More than once while riding in the Nuclear Cowboyz tour you’ve been seriously injured from backflips gone bad. What is it like to face the ramp the next time?
DG: It really sucks.  Flipping isn’t that hard when you’re confident and do it all the time, I just had bad luck with scary setups that had little to no room for error, and being as new to flipping as I was I just hucked it every weekend disregarding any consequence that may come with it.  Looking back I was stupid putting myself in that position, but riding with those guys every weekend was a dream come true and amazing experience.

WATV: Aside from Butter: All Moto Flavored, what other ATV movies have you been involved in?
DG: Bunch of Huevos, Charge, probably some crash films.  haha 

Derek Guetter

WATV: Where did the idea of Butter: All Moto Flavored come from and what makes it different from other ATV movies?
DG: Butter is all about showing up to a perfectly groomed track, it’s watered, no ruts, sun’s out, and you’re the first one to ride it. That right there is Butter! My oldest brother Dan texted me the idea when we were brain storming, and it only took 1 day and we knew that was it!  
We got into riding because we watched every moto film ever made and idolized those guys.  Nowadays there’s only bike films and slowly you’re seeing the ATV scene die out.  We’re trying to rekindle that excitement that we had as young kids and inspire the next generation of ATV rippers!

WATV: How hard was it to get such an all-star lineup together for Butter?
DG: At first really hard, the people that did know about it thought it was a joke.  Little did they know we had this contracted to go on iTunes and all the major digital distribution networks, so once we released the trailer and they seen the quality of our film my phone wouldn’t stop ringing for guys to get in a last minute segment!

Derek Guetter

WATV: Any plans for a Butter 2 and, if so, anyone you didn’t have in the first one you’d like to have this time?
DG:  We start shooting in a few weeks!  Now that we have a solid fan base and foundation to grow, we have so many more riders, locations, and opportunities to work with. What we have planned for Butter2 is going to be all time for ATV films!

Derek, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to us and thanks for your efforts in reviving the ATV movie industry. We can’t wait to see Butter 2!

To order Butter: All Moto Flavored and to keep tabs on Butter 2 check out http://www.motobutter.com or follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ButterAllMotoFlavored