Circle the wagons….its the jerks!
After the amazing interview earlier in the week featuring Adam Croy , I wasn’t really sure what to do next. It was a fairly intense story, so I felt there was a need to lighten things up, While I’m not suggesting this is a joke, what better way to head into a long weekend than a club interview with a group who are unashamed at not taking life to seriously (bar the club head of discipline & chicken cooking Ants “Mung” / ”Angry man” / “No planking allowed! “Wong) and are all about mates and having fun ahead of all else . (insert spook knife- thanks Yank) 
Welcome to the world of the CJC as seen through the eyes of President Andrew “Wizz” Anderson….jerk leader and reputedly also a highly skilled burger maker.
Wizz, Firstly welcome, the Circle Jerk Crew (CJC) sure have made a big impact this year on the scene, with a different take on styling and an ethos of mates first, cars seconds. Take me on a journey into the world of the Jerk, Lets start with you, what is your role in the Jerk Kingdom? and are there any other key jerks?
My ‘real’ name is Andrew, but in Jerk circles I’m widely known as Wizz…but that’s a story for another time hah. I’m a founding member and president of the Circle Jerk Crew (CJC) club. The other founding member were Ian James (Yank) and Ants Wong of Wongs Kitchen fame. I once never dreamed that my love of cars would take me this far, and I have loved every minute of my journey being involved with CJC.
The name Circle Jerk Crew is a bit odd shall we say for a “car club” (I use that term loosely) where did it come from? Actually, where did the CJC originate?
Ha!! Yeah we get a lot of that. Well, the CJC originated back in December ‘09 as a bit of an ‘in-joke’ kinda thing with me and Ian. This was when the “Hellaflush” styling was sweeping the States, but hadn’t caught on here to the extent it has today. Basically we were modding our cars to look like the slammed Hondas with wheels that ‘didn’t fit properly’ that we saw on the net, and only a small handful of people were really into it..the rest were just hating. Someone made a crack about us “Circle Jerking” over our own cars; and we took the name from that. It turns out that most of our group of friends were also into the same styling, and had the same “mates first” ethos; they all jumped on board, and now look where we are! The crew name gets a good reaction that’s for sure.
So what is the CJC all about, I know you have a forum, but it seems like its a secret society almost to get into. Whats the deal with that?
Well, we are basically a group of mates (not “internet friends”) who just happen to share an interest in cars and the lifestyle that surrounds them. That’s it! Most of the guys I have known for a long time through NZHondas and other clubs, and eventually the time came when our group got so large we needed our own site. My good friend – and role model – James Graham set up and hosts the site, and handles the technical side of it. We decided to make it private and require an application and vouch for entry, again; just to keep it amongst the crew, and keep the idiots out. People think that purely because they have a sweet car, they’re guaranteed entry – this isn’t the case at all, if you don’t have a good attitude, you’re not Jerk material. [MGN- not sure that "good" is correct, perhaps "right" attitude is a better term]
So CJC is mates first, cars second. You guys are almost like a gang then? (you’re the smallest, skinniest , whitest gang president I have ever seen), Can you “join” CJC or do you kinda have to be invited in?
Hah. Almost a gang, but not quite! We prefer the term “large group of good friends”.
Up until very recently anyone has been able to apply for CJC – however we have had to close down applications purely due to getting so many; we feel the club is at a good size at the moment. Some people get really cut up about being turned down eh, its ridiculous. They just fail to see that it’s a private kinda thing. It’s like, say I had a party, I invite my friends round for some cake and juice yeah? I don’t invite the fat kid from down the road that I don’t even know; he’ll eat all the cake, and might steal my presents too.
The jerks made a huge impact with a 22 car stand in your first event, tell me about trying to put that together and the challenges?
My god that was an effort. Haha. Basically, Ants Wong and myself got to talking about shows, and somehow from there we decided that we had some show-worthy rides in our group. We put out the call and got something like 25 people keen!! Right away we knew we were going to do it big, but we reduced the number down to 22 just to keep it even. As Ants was going to be overseas the week of the Nats, I took on the job of organising the stand; and all the challenges that came with it. [MGN- I recall him doing lots of planning at my house over xmas...mostly with his eyes closed...perhaps deep in thought..or just asleep]
Just the sheer amount of work required for it all to come together blew my mind – for example, my flatmate Luke’s car was entered but was nowhere near complete – for about 3 weeks before the Nats, we were coming home from work (hospo) at 10-11pm, working on the car until 4 or 5,am, then getting up at 8-9am to work on it again and plan for the show, before going back to work..and that was just organising one car. There were stickers, t shirts, signage that all had to be sorted, I had to make sure everyone was going to get their builds done on time, it was like having another full time job; I was shattered when show day rolled around. I was stoked that everyone got their cars completed and to the show on time, which speaks hugely for the amount of work these guys put in to their rides.
We were VERY lucky that we just got into the show hall just as it started to rain…if we had had to towel down 22 cars there’s no way our setup would have been done on time. I’ve got to give a HUGE thanks to Matt, Paul, Royce and everyone else for helping to set up the stand and doing everything I asked of them..The crew really helped out a lot setting up the lights, flooring, polishing cars, the list goes on.
Not to mention Az and yourself making time for my stupid questions…hah! The 4 and Rotary crew were very helpful. The stand got a great reaction though, just watching the crowds slowly work their way past, checking out all the different cars made it all worth it. My favourite memory from there was just standing back from our area and just being overwhelmed by the scale of it all, and realising that the club had grown way, way beyond what we thought possible. It was great to see the guys’ hard work recognised with the awards we picked up, that just topped off one of the best weekends I’ve ever had.
You guys seem to be right into stance and “hellaflush”, but the club has quite varied membership and a wide range of cars in it? Whats the strangest or most unique ride?
Yeah, one of the things I love about CJC is the huge variety of rides, we have drifters, oldschool guys, track racers, you name it. Most other clubs are kind of based around the make of car, so this variety is something a bit different. I am really liking where the NZ scene is going at the moment, to me it feels like the focus is kinda fading away from building cars to impress, and turning to building different cars with character, with a story to tell. International blogs have really opened up NZ’ers eyes as to what is possible.The most unique ride I would have to say would be Kelvins Toyota Crown Wagon, it is a fuckin’ sweet and rare old car…and as well as looking good it has a 1JZ under the bonnet!
I heard that some of the jerks might have minor gambling problem? mates first…poker second?
Oh for sure…I tend to stay away from the Casino but quite a few members have meets at the casino and the T.A.B… I’ve attended but never had much luck – probably my youth and inexperience, after a couple of shandys I might as well be setting my money on fire.
Tell us about president Wizz’s ride, you must have something pretty special if you are the leader so to speak?
Actually for the last year or so I’ve been getting round in a Honda Shuttle (mods include Sheepskin seat covers and a picnic rug) – Prior to that I had an Integra Type R which I guess got a bit of a following, but I had to sell up as I just wasn’t driving it enough..wasn’t safe to park the damn thing anywhere, and I was always worried about getting pulled up for being too low. But as I write this I am in the process of purchasing something new. One thing I’ve learned from the CJC is that a sweet car doesn’t necessarily have to be fast or expensive…Low and slow is my new philosophy. I’ve gotten quite a bit of shit over the last year for not having a ‘cool’ car – it’s pretty funny really.
Whats an “H-town” build?
An H Town build is when you take a car off the road to say, replace a blown motor for example, and then end up spending at least a year (preferably upwards of 2 years) and a lot of money, you and your mates replacing everything on the car in a full strip down and rebuild. One thing that helps here is that the Hamilton crew are all quite close, and always willing to help out. 5 pairs of hands instead of 2 makes
things a lot faster; whenever someone is building a car generally they have heaps of assistance – most of the guys are ‘veterans’ of the car scene and they have a lot of knowledge and experience to share. I have had a lot of late nights in the garage helping the guys out as best as I can; and I always learn something new every time.BP Connect and Wild Bean Cafe always do a roaring trade when someone has a build on.
You guys were pretty heavily favoured to win new club of the year, but missed out to SSS, was that disappointing? or does it just motivate the club to come back stronger?
Oh shit yes it was disappointing. But I have no problem at all with missing out; there was some strong competition in the form of SSS and Untamed, and we are already working on some things for next year. To be honest the Nationals title was enough for me this year; I took a lot of lessons away from that and will be putting them into practice next year. I also don’t want to get too carried away as this will always be a group of mates first and foremost; and whatever else people think second. Can’t take it too seriously!
Is there ever any fighting amongst the crew? there are some strong personalities in the club, there must be disagreements?
Oh there’s disagreements alright, but nothing serious. But for sure, there are a lot of different tastes, and opinions constantly colliding; the difference with us is that because everyone knows everyone, people are mature enough to discuss things openly and there is none of the “keyboard warrior” bullshit that plagues other forums.
What does the future hold for CJC? isn’t there are quote somewhere about launching with a hiss n roar, and then fading into obscurity?
I’m not too sure myself to be honest! The next thing for me is organising the big Jerkfest meet later this year; I would love to host a trackday this year as well but that is dependent on getting enough free time to organise it. The crew had a wicked time at the Nats so we will definitely be making more
appearances at 4 and Rotary events. Honestly man, I just love getting out there and enjoying the cars….cruising on a sunny day; skinning knuckles in the garage at 4am; or just writing about them and chatting to the owners about what motivates them; as long I am doing one of those things I’m content. As for the hiss and the roar…The Nationals this year was just the start!! We have got a long way to go and much to learn; but as I said above – good times with mates is what it’s all about; there are more and more events surfacing with those good vibes and we’re going to try and get to as many as we can.
Lastly, Who does cjc need to thank for support? (apart from skycity)
This is going to be a long list. Firstly, Ants Wong, Ian James, James Graham and Lance Haysom for helping bring our vision to reality, all the behind the scenes work on the blog and forum, and keeping it all running smoothly. Wong’s Kitchen for all the support, stickers, and chicken. Falgs Patel for getting on board with us from the outset. Pedey from NZPC, Taryn from iheartstance and Arie from Ariephoto.co.nz for getting us out there in the media world. Azhar and you (blush) and the entire 4 and Rotary crew for helping us out at the nationals. Marcus from Fresh Designz for having some fucking sweet ideas. I haven’t got enough space here to name all the crew but I’ve got to say a huge thanks to everyone who has joined up for realising the vision and being there to help us out, not mention building some of the best damn cars in this country. Special thanks to Paul Sanson, Royce Mihaere, Matt Dallimore, Luke Houghton, Grant Walker ( GT Refinishers) , Tank, and Kelvin Taylor – All of these guys have helped me out and inspired me hugely. Also a special thanks to all the people that hate on trends that they don’t understand – you just fuel the fire.
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who are these cjc guys!?!
good read fullas!
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