“I’ll never forget when I was on the great wall of China with Stash, Futura and Dave White…”

mashKULTURE: Why shoes? What is it about shoes that gets people so hooked?

PF: It gives people a sense of individuality, it represents what a person is into and about. Self definition. Plus shoes make the whole outfit look right.

mashKULTURE: How has sneaker culture evolved since you first got into this game? Has it moved in a positive or negative direction? How much of an impact do you think SP has made on current sneaker culture globally?

PF: It has gone from a very niche group of people to a worldwide pop culture in 5 years. I would like to think that Sneaker Pimps displays what sneaker culture is all about, where it came from to where it is now to where it is going – I really try to highlight certain segments that make this culture what it is within the show which is why you will see live graffiti at a Sneaker Pimps show, b-boys, hip-hop music and in some cases skateboarding – sneaker culture grew out of all of these settings.

mashKULTURE: What is your favourite pair(s) of sneakers lately? What about all time favourite(s)?

PF: Haha the Sneaker Pimps x JB Classics sneaker that we just made. I have always been really psyched on the Adidas Superstar and the éS Koston one.

mashKULTURE: What sneaker companies are making the right moves for sneaker culture and which ones aren’t? Specifically what are they, or what aren’t they doing?

PF: Nike seems to always really support the sneaker culture… huge props to them for putting on events which support plus making great product… but really Adidas does a great job as does every footwear company that has supported Sneaker Pimps in the past… JB Classics, K-Swiss, Reebok, Converse, Puma… all of these companies make a really great effort.

mashKULTURE: Do you plan to do SP for as long as you can, or do you have any plans to switch in the near future to something else? If so, what?

PF: I will keep doing Sneaker Pimps as long as I am having fun and enjoying myself… every year that goes by it gets bigger we get more sneakers, we are able to do more things… for instance next year in the USA we are doing a series of block parties where we are doing live skateboarding demos, live street basketball comps, buying and selling of sneakers, street graff artists doing live paintings plus a line up of some of the biggest hip-hop artists in the world.

mashKULTURE: Did you ever think sneakers would make it possible for you to travel the globe and visit cities you never thought you’d see?

PF: HELL NO!!!! But I’m glad it did. I’ll never forget when I was on the great wall of China with Stash, Futura and Dave White – some of the biggest names in the world – and thinking to myself this happened all because of my love for sneakers. It’s incredible… for the past four years I have been living the dream, hopefully I never wake up.

mashKULTURE: What do you know about Hungary? Do you have any expectations for the Budapest show? Do you have any pre-conceptions about the post-communist country?

PF: I know that three weeks ago when I was in Vancouver I woke up to a headlining news paper article that there was riots going down due to the anniversary of the end of communism in Budapest. (ed. Actually it was the 50th anniversary of the 1956 revolution. Unfortunately, Communism did not end until much later.) I am really excited about doing this show, I have seen some of the local artists custom sneakers which were done for this show on Tisza sneakers, which looked amazing.

mashKULTURE: If you had to make a list of the 5 most important things in your life, what would sneakers rank?

PF: Well first would be Sneakers followed closely by my beautiful wife Dede hahah. I hope she never reads this interview coz I will be in a lot of trouble.

mashKULTURE: Thanks for your time!

PF: THANKS to… Renato for hooking up this show, Tisza sneakers and all the sponsors of this show plus all the artists! PEACE!!!

Part 2

mashKULTURE: What did you think about the Budapest show?

PF: It was cool… def diff crowd to what you would see in USA, but the really cool thing was that the show was up for a week and teachers brought through art classes, etc…

mashKULTURE: Were you upset that not as many people showed up to the show as usual? What did you think about the crowd that showed up?

PF: No, def not… I expected that it wouldn’t be as big as say NYC, but that’s to be expected… it’s not really about the amount of people at a show like that. It’s about the kids coming who knows what’s going on… they are the people who start trends… I think doing Sneaker Pimps in Budapest is a good thing to get the culture kick started in Budapest.

mashKULTURE: Besides the crowd, in what other ways was this show different than other Sneaker Pimps shows? What, if anything, was better? what, if anything, was disappointing?

PF: Well, every show is kind of different – at some shows we have live skateboarding, basketball comps, live sneaker customization, competitions at shows, etc… It was refreshing to see a crowd of people who came that weren’t straight sneaker heads.

mashKULTURE: What are your thoughts on the Hungarian sneaker/streewear scene?

PF: It seems very small… but I mean the structure is in place for it to take off… there is a dope store, Subvibe, internet news site, mashkultre (thanks Pete)… it’s only a matter of time before it blows up, like it has everywhere else.

mashKULTURE: You spent almost two weeks in Hungary. How much spare time did you have and what did you do with it?

PF: We skated, we checked out the city sites, did touristy things… such a beautiful city and really chill… a couple of day we sat at the Sneaker Pimps exhibition watching people come in and out all day bugging out on the sneakers. We had a great time.

mashKULTURE: Was there anything unexpected during your stay that was a pleasant surprise? About the city, people, etc… (most memorable moment.)

PF: Hanging out in a Jewish ghetto (ed. It was a bar located in a district that was a Jewish ghetto during WWII.) with a fat short American kid who looked exactly like Joe Peschi… then ending up in a Hungarian casino hahahha… that shit was ill.

mashKULTURE: Do you have any plans to return to Hungary with Sneaker Pimps in the future?

PF: Hell yea… Nike or Adidas should step up this time.

mashKULTURE: How do you see the expansion of Sneaker Pimps? Do you think it can/will get to a point where it will become self-sustaining and you won’t have to actually take part in the tour, itself and just sit in your cushy chair in some big-ass office with a dope view and take care of Sneaker Pimps and other ventures from behind your computer? Kind of like how big, multi-national companies work? If so, when do you think this will become a reality?

PF: Yeah for sure, however I would never sit in an office and not go to a show hahah. Part of the fun is setting up for 27 hours straight, dealing with all the highs and lows. The show is definitley getting bigger and is being run by more than just me but to build it to this level and not push it like I always have wouldn’t be cool…

mashKULTURE: Any parting words?

PF: Thanks to Renato and the whole team at Arc, Tisza Footwear, Sprite, Hilton, Redbull and all of the sponsors, artists who got invloved in the tour. And also thanks to mashKULTURE for taking the time to chill, diss and hang out…

See you out there!
Pete