The last interview that I planned on doing fell through, so I kind of "lost my stride". I needed to kindle the fire again so to speak. Who should I interview, the answer was quick and easy. He shouldn't need an introduction, but here we go. Most of the world knows him as Katman, some know him as Walter Mitty, and others know him as Jason Kaplan. He hails from the West Coast and has probably made an influence on most of you reading this. Whether it be from the content from his website(www.ff-squad.com) or by the "style" of his car that made you want to do something a certain way, he has probably had an impact on you. With social media, it is easier to "get to know" someone. But, lets see what else we can learn about the man they call Katman.
BA:
What was your first car and what ever happened to it?
JK: My first car was a
two tone white/puke green 1974 VW bus that I bought off my BFF at the time, right near
the the end of high school in 1992. Being that it was my first car and I didn't
have lots of money to up-keep the pile, the engine eventually seized from lack
of any kind of oil change (within a year and a half span). I would just keep
feeding it oil magically hoping it was last forever.
BA:
What got you into racing or into cars in general?
JK: Well it's funny you
ask that Brad, because the BFF I bought the VW bus from is who I call my "Honda
catalyst". If it wasn't for him I don't think I'd be into Honda's now or
into cars in general. BTW, RIP Pat. Not long after I bought the bus from Pat(whom was a pro skater at the time for Powell Peralta), he purchased a brand new
black 92 Prelude Si. He was ball hairs away from buying a Nissan 300ZX but
couldn't afford it and settled for the Prelude. Scary huh? What actually got me
interested in racing back then was stumbling upon Japanese car 'zines and
videos down in Little Tokyo downtown LA. My buddy Dylan and I, would make frequent
trips down to "Little Tokes" and peep the latest Japanese car mags(ie. Speed Mind, Racing On, J's Tipo, Option, VTEC Club, RevSpeed) and geek out
over anything Honda. Japanese and British touring car racing is what tickled
my gooch the most. Watching those videos would get me internally stoked(similar to a real good skate video), especially the on-board camera where you
can hear that sequential transmission whining away while the driver is shifting
up and down and doing business....God. It gets me stoked again just thinking
about it now.......be right back, gonna go get nostalgic..
BA:
What has been your favorite car to drive on track?
JK: I've only tracked a '92 civic hatchback and have been using this chassis since I've started tracking
which was back in 1999. I honestly love the EG hatchback the best out of all
the '88+ Civic family. I don't feel the need to try any other chassis honestly.
BA: What is your favorite track that you have driven?
JK: I guess Buttonwillow
Raceway since I'm a Southern Californian. Chuckwalla Raceway is a semi-new
track and is fun as well, I'd say second best track in SoCal. I have yet to
travel up north and try out Thunderhill, Laguna Seca, and Sears Point which I
hear are all awesome tracks that kick BW to the curb. BW is fun though.
BA:
What do you enjoy most about racing or the car community in general?
JK: I like the
excitement of legally driving fast, but also the technicalities that road racing
offers. It's all a memory game, like any other sport, but basically learning
how to drive and "feel" my car is what I enjoy about racing over the
years. It took a good long while until I learned that 'feel' and I'm glad I
stuck with it. Learning the line, late braking/trail braking, shifting points,
throttle modulation due to LSD type to control under and oversteer, tire
compounds and pressures, suspension damping and spring rates.....testing
setups...doing all of that is fun stuff to me. I like to share what I've
learned with others who want to get into road racing(via forums) as far as
community goes.
BA: You and the FF Squad guys have been around for awhile. You all still seem close, with growing families and getting older, how have you guys remained so close?
JK: You know, I don't know, we just do. I mean, we don't all hang out closely like we use to since most of us have families; life agenda's have changed that. But, we still get together, if the timing is right, and head to track events. We hang out once in a while if some kind of party plans come up. Of course, communication is lot better these days so its easy to just group text each other and make plans or see whats up. Not sure if that's the answer you were looking for. ha ha.
BA: Speaking of you and your friends, what is the deal with the Megaphone? (Laughs)
JK: Ah yesh, the Megaffone. It's some silly sh*t some old friends of mine(Steve Taylor and Max Ha) and myself came up with that sort of culminated into what it's been known as. Though I think I have to give credit to Steve mostly on this. By the way, it has absolutely nothing to do with the Illuminati! lol. Basically, it came from the gesture of hollering "oh daaaaaamb!" while simultaneously holding a "fisted" hand to your mouth when you see something that shocks or stokes you. But, instead of going "oh daaamb!" we'd say "tiiite!" and eventually, the fist turned into flared fingers, creating a megaphone-like gesture as its known as.
BA: For the FF Battle 5, you brought out your secret weapon, your '90 Civic Si. Where had you been hiding the car?! No one on the internet had seen it! (Ha!)
JK: You like dat son? You can thank JDM Wong for that.
BA: Besides your secret weapon, your "EG hatches" are well known by anyone in the Honda scene. What made you choose that platform, especially for the track?
JK: So yeah, the EG civic is my track inspired vehicle of choice as I mentioned back in question #3. It's a sexy little hatchback with nice curves, slick dash and instrument cluster, allows easy engine swaps, decent weight, easy to work on, and it is fun as hell to drive! Besides seeing them in JDM mags and videos, the EG civic left a big impression with me back when Pat was around. I use to be his co-pilot when we'd head to the local street races on Friday and Saturday nights circa 1992-94. I remember seeing this one stock black 92 Civic Si just dumped in the weeds on the stock "blade" hubcaps wheels. It looked so f*cking good, I couldn't get over it. Made a mental note that I will be an EG owner some day. We'd see that same Civic often at the same races and other EGs as well which reinforced my liking for them even more. It didn't help that during that time, it was the EG era anyways('92-95). Another reason for going EG Civic was because of Dylan's personal build 'Goldy'. Back then, Dylan, his brother(Erik), and I were hanging out a lot. So, seeing Goldy's long term build-up first hand, left an impression. I think the '92-95 chassis is one of the best all-round designed civics out of the '88-00 "legacy" chassis's...as I like to call 'em.
BA: You should know it by now, but through the FF Squad site or interwebs interaction with you, you've save a lot people during their "builds". Between that and the "style" of the FF Squad cars, do you realize the impact that you've had on the Honda scene in general?
JK: Yeah it's crazy, cool, and weird. While the 'internet fame' is an interesting fun side effect. For the record, I didn't coin the term "JDM" as I get nailed with that for some silly reason. lol. I learned that acronym from theTemple of VTEC
BA: You and the FF Squad guys have been around for awhile. You all still seem close, with growing families and getting older, how have you guys remained so close?
JK: You know, I don't know, we just do. I mean, we don't all hang out closely like we use to since most of us have families; life agenda's have changed that. But, we still get together, if the timing is right, and head to track events. We hang out once in a while if some kind of party plans come up. Of course, communication is lot better these days so its easy to just group text each other and make plans or see whats up. Not sure if that's the answer you were looking for. ha ha.
BA: Speaking of you and your friends, what is the deal with the Megaphone? (Laughs)
JK: Ah yesh, the Megaffone. It's some silly sh*t some old friends of mine(Steve Taylor and Max Ha) and myself came up with that sort of culminated into what it's been known as. Though I think I have to give credit to Steve mostly on this. By the way, it has absolutely nothing to do with the Illuminati! lol. Basically, it came from the gesture of hollering "oh daaaaaamb!" while simultaneously holding a "fisted" hand to your mouth when you see something that shocks or stokes you. But, instead of going "oh daaamb!" we'd say "tiiite!" and eventually, the fist turned into flared fingers, creating a megaphone-like gesture as its known as.
BA: For the FF Battle 5, you brought out your secret weapon, your '90 Civic Si. Where had you been hiding the car?! No one on the internet had seen it! (Ha!)
JK: You like dat son? You can thank JDM Wong for that.
BA: Besides your secret weapon, your "EG hatches" are well known by anyone in the Honda scene. What made you choose that platform, especially for the track?
JK: So yeah, the EG civic is my track inspired vehicle of choice as I mentioned back in question #3. It's a sexy little hatchback with nice curves, slick dash and instrument cluster, allows easy engine swaps, decent weight, easy to work on, and it is fun as hell to drive! Besides seeing them in JDM mags and videos, the EG civic left a big impression with me back when Pat was around. I use to be his co-pilot when we'd head to the local street races on Friday and Saturday nights circa 1992-94. I remember seeing this one stock black 92 Civic Si just dumped in the weeds on the stock "blade" hubcaps wheels. It looked so f*cking good, I couldn't get over it. Made a mental note that I will be an EG owner some day. We'd see that same Civic often at the same races and other EGs as well which reinforced my liking for them even more. It didn't help that during that time, it was the EG era anyways('92-95). Another reason for going EG Civic was because of Dylan's personal build 'Goldy'. Back then, Dylan, his brother(Erik), and I were hanging out a lot. So, seeing Goldy's long term build-up first hand, left an impression. I think the '92-95 chassis is one of the best all-round designed civics out of the '88-00 "legacy" chassis's...as I like to call 'em.
BA: You should know it by now, but through the FF Squad site or interwebs interaction with you, you've save a lot people during their "builds". Between that and the "style" of the FF Squad cars, do you realize the impact that you've had on the Honda scene in general?
JK: Yeah it's crazy, cool, and weird. While the 'internet fame' is an interesting fun side effect. For the record, I didn't coin the term "JDM" as I get nailed with that for some silly reason. lol. I learned that acronym from the
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