Raw and uncut: Pheobe’s housemate like you’ve never seen him before

A shirtless and sweaty James Wood beams over knives, mock blood and Bad Company. This is a side of Pheobe Bishop’s housemate you’ve never seen before.

The flatmate of missing teen Pheobe Bishop showcased his ute in a documentary, with knives and mock blood covering the tray of his vehicle during a muster competition.

James Wood is featured in a 10-minute documentary featuring his ute called “Bad Company”, in the lead up to a muster at Calliope in 2017.

At the front of his ute the infamous Ned Kelly-linked phrase “Such is Life” is featured on a sign on his bonnet, along with another saying “Beware of gun owner!”.

James Wood and his ute Bad Company star in the doco.

James Wood speaks of his love of ute musters.

Mr Wood is shown preparing the back of his ute tray with fake blood and knives. The ute display went on to win the muster competition.

“So this is part of your setup, your theme?” the documentary maker asks when looking at the back of the ute with fake blood.

“Yep,” Mr Wood responds.

“Which is what again?” The documentary maker asks.

“Welcome to the outback,” Mr Wood responds.

The back of Mr Wood’s ute featured in the clip.

Mr Wood’s display won the muster competition.

The video then shows his car display.

“Life is too short to worry about what other people think,” Mr Wood says of the musters.

“If you get up every day and you’ve got a purple mohawk and that’s the way you like it, then walk around with a big grin on your face.

“And when people ask you why you say ‘because I can’. I think as much as the people who want to be happy in this life could take a lesson from it, the arseholes who enjoy bringing people down could as well.

Mr Wood says the competition is friendly between people in the muster.

“You definitely meet good bunch of people in this lifestyle,” Mr Wood says in the video.

“We are all what society would call a bit rough around the edges.

James Wood working on his ute.

Mr Wood poses up in front of Bad Company.

“But they’re good where it counts and they’re honest blokes so it’s always good to catch up with the ones that you do become mates with.

“Some of them might live as far as six to eight hours away so you try to get to every muster you can because it’s russian roulette as to who can get there, and who you get to see and who you catch up with.”

Mr Wood says the muster is like any other car show.

“Bugger what everyone else says,” he says.

“Ute musters are the same as any other car shows, it’s just segregated only to utes.

James Wood gets his rig out in multiple scenes.

Mr Wood tinkers on Bad Company.

“I fall under what is classed as a feral or a feral BNS, a feral BNS is generally what you’ll find is the older cars, passed a certain age category.

“Creativity is at the heart of every part of this lifestyle and who we are and what we do, from how we dress, to how our utes are to the way we sell em.”

The documentary is available on the website of Charles Sturt University and says it was directed by Emma Woodbright.

Originally published as Raw and uncut: Pheobe’s housemate like you’ve never seen him before