A little while ago I had the opportunity to chat with Lew Rubens and Maria Shadoes of Boundndetermined.com. Extremely well known for their suspension bondage, I can personally state this couple is as dynamic, fun and open on stage when they demonstrate their skills as they were when we had our chat.

Experienced bondager and suspension artist, Lew Rubens, of Boundndetermined.com has a love of bondage that shows in his work. Known mostly for his wild suspensions, Lew only joined the public side of BDSM play 2 years ago and has taken the world by storm in that time. With 40 years of bondage experience, Lew has presented workshops and demonstrations of his unique style at many BDSM and bondage industry events
Maria Shadoes has been involved in the BDSM lifestyle for 8 years and got involved in bondage/fetish modeling 2 years ago when she and Lew Rubens became involved. Since that time she has appeared on almost 100 bondage and fetish websites and in several bondage movies. With Lew, Maria travels the country modeling and giving bondage workshops and demonstrations. She also designed &webmasters 3 bondage websites including www.boundndetermined.com, www.bondagebarrix.com, and www.bondagespa.com.

TDV: Hi Lew and Maria, thanks so much for participating in this interview. Some of the questions I have will be for one of you and others are going to be for both. Hopefully this won't make things too confusing. Lew, if we could begin with you. How did long were you doing bondage before you started doing suspension bondage?
LR: Well, if you want to be technical, I tied up my first little girl when I was 4 years old. But only started suspension 2 years ago.

TDV: What got you started with suspension?
LR: I always wanted to try it but I wanted to wait till I was actually taught, even though I had been doing bondage for a long time and was quite proficient with it. TDV: So you had a mentor teach you? Take bondage classes?
LR: I saw a guy do suspension and had him teach me the basics. From there I was off and running and could bring to life all the wild suspensions I had imagined throughout the years.

TDV: I've seen some of your work...you have umm - quite the imagination :) How long was it before you started feeling comfortable enough to do presentations?
LR: I'm still not terribly comfortable. I grew up very introverted but after about a year of doing suspension, ( and 300-400 suspensions later) I realized that people were getting hurt because there was no one willing to take on the liability of teaching suspension properly/safely. The more presenting I do, the more comfortable I am with it.

TDV: The Dominant's View likes to provide information for new dominants. Can you give us any points that people new to rope bondage should keep in mind when beginning?
LR: Progress slowly, communicate A LOT and take my classes whenever you get the chance. Hahaha

TDV: I took one so I have an unfair advantage :)
LR: Really? Mind if I ask where/which one?

TDV: Bondage for sex at BondCon in Vegas. And if I get the chance - I'll take another one
LR: Vegas BondCon was so much fun! We are definitely hitting all the 'cons' we can make, it would be great to see you there.

TDV: I had a blast. It was my first 'big' convention. Now I have a 'special question' from my partner at your class. "How do they make the loops tight enough not to slip up or down the thigh, yet loose enough not to cut off circulation, what are you looking for to determine that?"
MS: You want the wraps snug enough so that you just have room to get a couple of fingers underneath if you have to.
TDV: Is the trick in the number of wraps? As in more is better?
LR: Of course personally, I don't mind cutting off a little circulation for short periods. Hahaha. More wraps/thicker ropes make for more comfort in suspension, though that is not always the goal. LOL

TDV: yeah well THAT depends on what side of the rope you're on I guess :)
LR: Hehehhe. Very True
MS: I kinda like it to hurt sometimes!!!!
TDV: nodding in agreement (sort of).

TDV: Lew, I find it interesting that you consider yourself an introvert. I found you and Maria both to be extremely dynamic at your class. I would never use the word introvert to describe either of you.
LR: Since I've found the scene, I feel like I've come home. It's the only place in the world where I've felt comfortable in my own skin and that has helped me overcome a lot of my shyness, that, and knowing I'm in a roomful of fellow bondage enthusiasts. (Maria has NEVER been shy).

TDV: Finding home - I hear that from so many people that are involved in the scene. Question for both of you. Do you think some of us are 'hard wired' for BDSM?
MS: I do. I do! I'm a firm believer in the genetic theory. Having found my biological family 2 years ago and seeing the Beauty trilogy on my moms book shelf and my sister's mirror saying 'spank me' only reaffirms that belief.
LR: From my earliest memories I had a passion for bondage, it wasn't until I hit puberty that I realized it was sexual. So yes, I was hardwired from the beginning. Maria too.

TDV: Maria: Ok that must have been really startling to see those indicators. Did you speak up or did you leave it be?
MS: Oh I spoke up. I have 3 sisters and a brother biologically and they all know what I do and 2 of the three sisters and my mom have expressed an interest, though not to the extent of my own interest. My mom is even going to do a mother daughter bondage shoot with me soon.

TDV: That is amazing, and very, very cool!
MS: I think so too!

TDV: Maria, I have referred to you, when describing you, as human origami. You are probably the most flexible person I have ever seen. How do you maintain that flexibility?
MS: Bondage, bondage, bondage, lots of stretching, more bondage, more stretching, more bondage.
TDV: lol Were you always as flexible as you are now - or did the bondage part help?
MS: Technically I should have started that with stretching since I usually do stretch first. Lew does my elbows for me. I have always been flexible in the legs (doing the straddle and stuff) but when Lew and I first hooked up my elbows would only get 3 inches apart behind my back. Now they cross. So bondage has definitely helped.

TDV: They cross? Ouch
MS: Yeah... we haven't even done a gallery with them crossed yet. Though I want to.

TDV: I'd like to see that if you ever do. I know you were a bit uncomfortable modeling when you first started, is it easier for you now?
MS: I never thought of myself as 'model quality' so it did make me feel like a fraud or a phony at first. The usual, self doubt stuff I guess. I don't like my smile yadda yadda. But with bondage shoots I don't have to smile much. LOL And now I just look at it as play with a camera turned on me and I have a ball.

TDV: Did your modeling start when you met Lew?
MS: It sure did. :) It all started because BDSM clubs don't have mirrors and don't allow pictures. So I never got to see what I looked like suspended. Eventually we started playing places where we could get pictures and soon after the website was born. Before that, believe it or not I was a chimney technician (chimney sweep). I owned a business and spent my days climbing scaffolding and carrying brick up on rooftops. I don't miss it now!!!!
TDV: Question for you both: You two have exploded onto the web, if you run a search of your names on Google you get pages and pages back. Do you ever sit back and think - how did I get 'here'?
MS: In reality, we still don't feel like we're " there", but we sure are having the time of our lives!

TDV: Trust me - you're "THERE"
Both: Aww. Thanks. We feel we will be "there" when Lew can swing Maria off the Eiffel Tower. LOL

TDV: There's an Eiffel Tower in Vegas - Might be a fun trick for a BondCon…
Both: Ooohhh Eiffel Tower in Vegas might work. That would be GREAT

TDV: Just let me know if you plan it so I can try to be there!!!
LR: I promise to let you know!
TDV: Maria: How did you develop an interest in doing a little tying yourself?
MS: Lew has been pushing me to start rigging from the beginning because he always says its better to watch a girl tie another girl than to watch a guy - plus, everyone tells me I have quite a sadistic side. *looking very innocent*
As for when I got interested though...well, I come up with some damn good rigging ideas and I got vain one day and decided I wanted credit for a few of them so I should start rigging. I've developed a totally new, unique bondage style that we dubbed 'endless bondage' Coming soon to Boundndetermined.

TDV: hmm that sounds intriguing. Can you explain a little? Or are you going to make us wait till you show it on the site?
MS: You'll have to keep checking to find out more about it but I'll tell you that you will never see rope ends.

TDV: Tease! :)
MS: Heheh Yep.

TDV: Does Lew let you practice on him?
MS: He let me practice my new hair tie on his tail the other night - but otherwise he's amazingly adept at finding me other victims when I bring it up.

TDV: I had to think a minute to figure out what 'tail' you were talking about lol
MS: Heheh Hair tail (in case readers don't know)

TDV: When it's the two of you - is it a shoot? Is it a scene? Is it a shoot that turns into a scene?
Both: All of the above at different times. Often shoots turn into scenes (especially our 'foreplay' galleries), and often times play scenes will be so cool that he can't resist a few photo's, so that becomes a scene. It's so intertwined I usually don't know which is which - nor care. LOL

MS: You just sparked a conversation of a play scene we did the other night that he didn't stop for pictures but he wants to redo it for a shoot soon. :) (I'm a lucky girl)

TDV: lol You can thank me later :)
MS: And I will thank you later!!!

TDV: Considering suspension is kind of dangerous at times...Ever have one go south? (Looking for bloopers here)
Both: Lew has never dropped anyone, nor hurt anyone but sometimes the scenes won't last long enough to get all the pictures we want. He did a beautiful quad suspension in a play space and he was stressed, by the time it was done we didn't have time for a lot of photos. That kind of thing happens a lot. He usually worries so much (cuz he's a worry wart) that he doesn't get to enjoy the suspensions until he sees them later in pictures and videos.
LR: I can't really think of bloopers during suspensions but we had some great bloopers in floor ties.
TDV: Care to share one?

MS: We had one girl (me) on a very unstable bondage chair and it was being held upright by a girl on either side with nipple clamps on their breasts tied to the chair to keep it from tipping over. The girls standing were very afraid that the chair would fall and I was trying to hold as still as possible so I didn't wrench their nipples off.
Lew made a joke about doctors being able to sew nipples back on these days. Just then, one nipple clamp slipped off of PJ Myst and she thought sure it tore her nipple off. She wasn't even hurt but it scared the daylights out of her and the photos capture big tears streaming down her face as she started laughing in relief.

TDV: I have an image from that shoot on PJ's interview, funny enough.
Pooor PJ...
MS: Yeahhh Poor her! I felt terrible as it was my butt on the chair that pulled the clamp off!

TDV: I guess the model's endurance can really affect the outcome from a time point of view. Is that a consideration when you choose models for a shoot?

LR: We adjust the intensity of the tie to each model's level. There are certain ties that I definitely save for the tougher models. And not only tougher, but how well I know them, and how well we communicate together is a factor. I don't want someone I've never worked with trying to impress me and hurting themselves because they are afraid to tell me something is wrong or they need loose.

TDV: Some of your images are so artistic, you guys have guest photographers on your site, but do you (both of you) do some of the photography as well?
Both: Yup. Too often there is no photographer handy so we both pick up the camera on occasion. Lew more often than Maria, since he shoots all the 'foreplay' galleries where Maria is uhmmmm - unable to take the photos.

TDV: Do you think your images have an artistic quality to them because of your appreciation of rope bondage? Many of your images are very unique in both the rope work and the camera angle
Both: The quality of some of our images isn't as good as we would like but we're trying to learn more and improve all the time.
LR: I started finding that I leaned my bondages towards following artistic lines even more than following my sexual urges. I find bondage so beautiful in so many ways besides only sexual. Through trying many photographers, I've learned that they don't all have 'my eye' for what a bondage guy wants to see. Consequently we have a lot of them take very LARGE images and then Maria & I crop out the exact image we want. (During the shoot we make sure they get the right angles.)

TDV: Well whatever you are doing, from the images I've seen, it's working for you.
Maria: Thanks very much Kayla. We hope others think so too.

TDV: When this interview is published you'll be getting ready for Kink in the Caribbean (ok I'm jealous), what other events have you two got planned for the future?
Both: We are taking most of September & October off since we spent literally the whole summer traveling. The next event is Kink in the Caribbean (which we are soooooo excited about). After Kink is Black Rose 2004, we're anxious to see their new venue and will be presenting there. We also hope to make ShibariCon and Fetish Con and BondCon.

TDV: You guys kind of keep busy huh?
Both: Between running this site, Maria's web mastering 3 other sites, our working for other sites, presenting and giving demonstrations as well as publicity appearances, yeah... busy is an understatement. And nothing else we could be doing would make us as happy!!!

TDV: And you think you're not 'there'. lol
TDV: That pretty much covers the questions I had for you tonight. Is there anything else you wanted to say?
LR: To all the new Doms out there - Don't try suspension until you are taught. It IS edge play and people can get hurt. But don't be afraid to learn, there is a lot of fun to be had!
MS: Play, play, play. :)