I had the pleasure of interviewing Jamie and Swift from the MAKUTA van, the East Coast part of the 2003 BIONICLE® Unleashed Tour. We were outside the Exodus Skatepark in Berlin, Maryland under the extended awning of the van (which reveals the big-screen TV) while it poured down rain.

MoD: How big is your screen in there?

Swift: It’s about … it’s got to be about two feet by like three feet. Around there. We’re showing everybody the new RAHKSHI and stuff, telling them about all their powers and everything.

MoD: So, you’re giving out prizes with the skateboard contests I see.

Swift: Yeah, at the skateparks we give out T-shirts, comic books …

MoD: How many skateparks have you been to so far?

Swift: About fifty!

MoD: Are you both from Chicago?

Swift: Oh no, I’m actually from New York and she’s from San Diego.

MoD: Are you headed to Houston next?

Swift: Yeah, we’re headed to Houston next. We just came back from Canada. It’s totally awesome out there on the skate scene and stuff.

MoD: Did you see some pretty good skating?

Jamie: Oh yeah! Sure.

Swift: Oh yeah! Top of the World Skatepark, by the way.

MoD: Do you skateboard?

Jamie: I’m a longboarder and yeah, he skates.

Swift: Yeah, I’m a skateboarder.

MoD: The prizes you give away, do you carry them around or do they ship them in?

Swift: They ship them in, but sometimes we carry them in the truck. But they’re mainly for the prizewinners or, even when we’re outside, we run trick contests and stuff, with the kids outside on the street sometimes. Like we’ll pull up to the corner and be like, “Somebody jump on one foot. Let’s see who can last the longest.” And we’ll give them a prize.

Jamie: We have all sorts of little contests and give out hats, shirts, and slap bracelets.

MoD: Did you stock up for the whole summer, or do you restock somewhere along the line?

Jamie and Swift: Yeah, we restock.

MoD: How do they get that to you since you’re driving around the whole time?

Swift: It comes to our hotel.

MoD: How many miles have you logged so far?

Swift: I don’t even know, it’s been so many dude!

MoD: You still have a ways to go too!

Swift: Oh yeah. Texas, Florida, back up to Jersey, back up to New Hampshire, New Hampshire to Chicago. It’s nuts!

MoD: Any idea how many comics you’ve given away?

Jamie: A good thirty thousand I’d say.

Swift: Maybe more than that. It’s hard to keep count of those things. We give them out like water.

Jamie: We’ll see kids out on the street and hand them some comics out the window.

MoD: Are they familiar with BIONICLE?

Jamie: Most of them are, yes.

Swift: So far yeah, which is really, really cool.

MoD: Do you get some fans?

Jamie: Oh yeah!

Swift: Oh yeah. When kids know like, little things they shouldn’t know, like about the RAHKSHI …

MoD: Yeah?

Swift: Definitely got to give them like a slap bracelet or something. You know it’s like brand new and you would figure that the kids don’t know about it, but they are actually really following the story.

MoD: Where were you before you were here?

Swift: We were up in Canada, up in Montreal.

Jamie: In Ottawa and Toronto as well. That was a lot of fun.

Swift: Especially when you have never been there before. Seeing the different type of environment, different type of kids, parents … it’s so cool!

MoD: How did you first become aware that there was going to be a (BIONICLE) van and that you could be part of it? Did you do a previous tour?

Jamie: No, but I knew someone that did. I just asked about it and applied for the job.

MoD: Were you BIONICLE fans ahead of time, or did you have to go to BIONICLE school?

Swift: I knew a little bit about it because I have two children also. He knew a little bit of stuff and I asked him some questions about it. But this is about, maybe my twentieth tour on the road and stuff. I’ve done “TheTruth.com”, Dr. Pepper, … a lot of cool stuff.

MoD: Is this your coolest vehicle?

Swift: Yeah, this actually is the coolest ’cause this is the only one that actually opens up. Like a lot of the other vehicles, the only one that can compare probably with this is TheTruth because it has a video game system on it, which is cool, which we don’t have. But we got a dope TV that’s like really, really big so the kids can see everything. TheTruth had a small TV.

Jamie: This is my first tour. I’m having a good time and learning a lot.

MoD: Do you think you’re going to do another one?

Jamie: Oh, I’d love too!

Swift: And for people that don’t know, look at this rain outside. Even when it’s raining, we’re still out there trying to find those kids!