(i recently sat down with Peter Kim, better known to the masses as Methamphibian. He is an influence to many, a trailblazer, an original.)
q. most sneaker artists consider you as an important influence on their work, are there ones that you keep tabs on or ones that influence you?
its flattering to hear that and im honored to be considered as an influence. in terms of shoes as art, i try not to think of the end product as "a pair of shoes" i just think of it as another medium for art. and in that same vein, i try to draw influence from as many different sources as possible, not only other custom shoes. it really helps to study other mediums.
q. you've collaborated with new balance and dc shoes, did you have more freedom with one more than the other? or a more positive experience with either?
i had a positive experience with both. DC gave me almost 100% free reign on whatever i wanted to do, so long as it was manufacturable which is incredible given today's strict corporate policies within the industry. when working with new balance japan, there was some red tape, but it had to do with branding more than anything (no logos on the shoes) and the process of creating the design was much different, but otherwise all the art we wanted to incorporate was approved in the end so the shoes came out exactly the way we wanted without compromising the design.
q. the work you have done with sbtg, has it come at a crossroads, do you see yourself moving in one direction or him another? his quality of work has been looked down upon by other customizers as uninspired and out to make a quick buck, your take?is there another artist or sneaker artist you would like to work with or have a similar relationship?
the shoes i have done with SBTG are some of my favorite. ive always thought it takes more than putting 2 logos side by side to call it a collaboration and i think the last few projects we did together shows that. whatever direction that we move independently, im always down to collaborate again. i think its always best when you have 2 parties that are different in some way, and then create a project together that brings the best of those worlds together rather than just a simple mixture of the 2.
i think the same could be (has been) said about the quality of my work as well. anyone can talk, but i dont think many of those people can put their own chips on the table and truly say they have accomplished as much as SBTG has over these past years. also, i think it depends on what these people are refering to when they say "quality of work". ive noticed over time that some people tend to place an unproportional amount of importance on "technical difficulty" rather than craftsmanship and composition. custom shoes isnt a contest, it isnt all about adding unnecessary hours/days/months of manual labor for the sake of overcomplicating a shoe just to get that artificial "wow factor" on an internet forum.
q. canvas vs leather, your customs have some great graphics, with the populairty of canvas sneakers on the rise, vans and all stars, do you have any interest on using them as base shoes or see it as more benneficial move to switch to them?
sure, i have been using both chucks and sk8 hi's already a couple of times. there are advantages and disadvantages. the advantages are that it is easy to paint graphics onto canvas because of the minimal preparation compared to leather. the disadvantage is that you are limited to what you start with. if you paint over the entire canvas panel to change its color (like you would with leather shoes), the canvas could just crack and disintegrate over time if it is worn.
q. currently alot of customizers are doing recons for customs, using a stock sole and building their own upper, most are dunks/forces while others have made new designs, for example these do you see yourself dabbling in this direction or do you see it is a fad?
reconstructing uppers is not really my thing. it can definitely look cool in the end, but my shoes are more about illustration than fabric or material application. and i wouldnt call it a fad, as ive seen this type of customization for several years now, at least as long as i have been customizing shoes.
q. in the sneaker world your popularity is very high and established, in the custom 1/6 world you are approaching a similar status, do you see yourself doing both or making one a priority over another?
i will always do both. the main difference is with custom figures, you can create an entire IP (intellectual property) that can later be incorporated into something else (for example, like characters for a film or video game). it becomes more than just the custom figure itself.
q. looking back on all of your work, if you had to be known for one piece what would it be?
i would just hope that i was not known for only one piece
“Souls” host Setfree is a veteran of the game. Not only is his sneaker closet one of the craziest south of NYC (Free’s homebase is Philly), but his grassroots knowledge of shoes is bottomless. He might as well have a permanent suite at some local Portland hotel, because Setfree is a fixture at the Oregon HQ’s of the worlds biggest sneaker companies. He’s plugged in.
For years, he was the driving marketing force behind AND1, taking that small company into the sports apparel mainstream. His relationship with the cream of the NBA crop helped AND1 land Kevin Garnett for the now legendary KG campaign. He also created and hosted the equally legendary And1 Mixtape Tour and almost single-handedly created the whole street ball on TV genre.
Setfree knows his sneakers and loves his sneakers. As a co-creator and host of “Souls”, his work is indeed his passion.
COMPANY (??): Nike STYLE NAME (?????): Air Max 180 iD ALIAS (??): Air Max 180 Armstrong's COLOR (?): Grey / Livestrong Yellow STYLE # (????#): 313765 991 SIZE (???): US 10 / UK 9 / EUR 44 / CM 28 COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE (???): Thailand DATE MANUFACTURED (?????): Dec 2004 CONDITION (??): A- ACQUIRED (???): 255 Elizabeth Nike iD Studio. OTHER COMMENTS (???): I'm not by any means Nike iD's #1 fan. But every once in a while, a style comes out that I feel I have to take part in...just because. After Lance Armstrong won his last Tour De France, Nike pulled all the stops on their celebration. This shoe really kicked off his 10/2 collection. (10/2 being the day that he was diagnosed with cancer.) The famed artist Futura was asked to do numerous collaborations with Lance and he developed a set of graphic icons that correlated to stages in his life. For the iD version of this shoe, you got to choose which Futura icon you wanted on the back. I took my customization one step further and ask the artist himself to sign these joints for me. He lay the perfect tag on the heel side. Thanks Lenny.
Well my mind is goin through them changes I feel just like Im in the time Every time you see me goin some where I feel like Im going out of my mind, yeah Oh, my baby she left me the other day And we were have so much fun yeah, yeah Oh, my baby she stepped out on me And thats the reason why she had to part Its alright yeah yeah Its alright What I say Its alright Ooo hooo Well my mind is goin through them changes I think Im goin out of my mind Every time you see me goin some where I think I could commit a crime know She had me runnin She had me cryin She had me runnin She had me had me had me cryin She had me runnin She had me cryin She had me runnin Had me cryin Its alright yeah yeah Its alright Clap your hands Go clap your hands Can you clap a little louder Its alright Its alright Everything goin to be alright Its alright x5 Yeah, yeah, everybody yeah Yeah x12 Oh no I want my love x3 Its alright Whaa Its alright he he Its alright
Alice Cooper: Well, I'm a regular visitor here, but Milwaukee has certainly had its share of visitors. The French missionaries and explorers began visiting here in the late 16th century.
C2 has been working with select members of the Milwaukee Brewers on some neat custom work.
Customs made for Milwaukee Brewers Outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr.
Custom made for Prince Fielder celebrating his NL leading 50 home run season.
Features woodgrain swoosh, old school Brewers logo, screened insoles, Brewer-script numbering, and one of his tattoos (in Korean it supposidly reads "Prince").
I still get questions about the custom shoes I use to do when Triumvir first came on to the scene back in 2004. Many of you guys remember and many of you guys have no idea how the brand really started. It’s cool to run into people and have them tell me that they bought a pair of my customs years ago. Four years ago I started customizing sneakers and posted them on Niketalk, and after making some noise I threw them on ebay to see if there was market potential. Of course at the time it was intimidating to see Methamphibian and SBTG’s customs go will over $1,000+ on Ebay. But I had to give it a chance and see for myself. It became a daily job afterwards customizing shoes, but I knew that this was not the way to go about it…so I started making t-shirts. And everything you see now is the evolutionary process of Triumvir. The prices listed reflects certain time periods, roughly from the time I first sold the shoe to the last pair I sold…
Nike Dunk Kill Bill 1’s 2004 - (17 ~ 22 pairs), Base Shoe - Nike Dunk Goldenrod, Note - first shoe I threw on ebay. Market value at the time was $400. ~ $750.
Nike Dunk Kill Bill 2’s 2004 - (19 ~ ?? pairs), Base Shoe - Nike Dunk Unheiny Euro Exclusive, Note - graphic was taken from a Japanese Kill Bill 2 poster. Market value at the time was $500. ~ $600.
Nike Terminator S-Troop Gold 2004 - (7 ~ 10 pairs), Base Shoe - Nike Terminator Orcas, Note - everyone was using either a dunk or af1 at the time, so I gave the terminator a try. Market value at the time was $250 ~ $350.
Nike Terminator S-Troop Black 2004 - (2 pairs), Base Shoe - Nike Terminator Orcas, Note - only shoe I made that I don’t own, this shoe was the hardest to paint. Market value at the time was $250 ~ $350.
Nike Terminator GS Purple 2005 - (10 ~ 15 pairs), Base Shoe - Nike Terminator Orcas, Note - this is when Brian joined my one man team in the garage and helped me with the mixing of colors, since I am colorblind with certain colors mixing was not possible at the time. This is also the time we released the GS Camo Tees. Market value at the time was $300 ~ $450.
Nike Terminator GS Camo 2005 - (12 ~ 18 pairs), Base Shoe - Nike Terminator Seattle Supersonics Edition, Note - each camo version took me at least 15 to 20 hours to finish. Market value at the time was $300 ~ $450.
Nike Terminator GS Multi 2005 - (8 ~ 10 pairs), Base Shoe - Nike Terminator Turquoise Asia Exclusive, Note - This pair was more limited because I had to get the base shoes shipped from Asia, more expensive too. Market value at the time was $375 ~ $550.
Nike Dunk Dutch Haze 2005 - (3 ~ 6 pairs), Base Shoe - Nike Dunk Sail Orange, Note - I was really into Jade Hsu the porn star at the time, so I put her on a pair of sneakers. Market value at the time was $500 ~ $700.
Nike AF1 High Qing Marauders / Cross Camo 2006 - (1 pairs), Base Shoe - Nike AF1 High Black. Note - This pair was the last pair I customized, Alex Wang (Retrokid) asked me to do a shoe for a feature on Sole Collector…of course everyone thought I was crazy for using an all black AF1. I think the tonal effect came out very well. Market value ???.
I don’t know if I’ll ever paint again, it was just another hobby to take up and money was offered. At the time I would rather paint in my parents garage than work at some office building. I looked at it as a long graduation break…as I sat there painting for tens of hours, I realized what I needed to do and took the opportunity to do so.
You got legs right up to your neck Youre making me a physical wreck Im talking to you Hot legs, in your satin shoes Hot legs, are you still in school Hot legs, youre making me a fool I love you honey
I wanted to let you know about the Launch of adidas’ New Spring End to End Collection made exclusively for Foot Locker. These shoes were designed by seven of the world’s most highly-respected graffiti artists from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and France. Working nearly nonstop for three days in a warehouse in East London, these guys designed and created the artwork for these shoes
Customs Flashback- Methamphibian released these custom dunks in collaboration with Essence of Japan. The colorway was dually noted as SHAMROCK/SHENANIGAN-YAYO. The first of four collaborations between these streetwear giants.
