Interview with Peter Fahey - Sneaker Pimps World Tour Founder Peter Fahey (left) with Biz Markie and friend (photo: Shelby Woods) The last Sneaker Pimps USA Tour will be in NYC on October 6th, 2005. Click here for more info. ------------------------------- Who has been the driving force behind the Sneaker Pimps tour from its creation to the present day? Uhhh me…mr peter fahey, the 23 year old skate punk from Sydney, Australia! Considering you are mainly a traveling gallery and no shoes are sold, how did you come up with the name “Sneaker Pimps”? Well it was something that not a lot of thought went into, it was more like “yo lets put on a sneaker show and call this show sneaker pimps” you know it was very organic…the name definitely suits the operation though. What kind of background does the team behind Sneaker Pimps have that has enabled the tour to work so well and gain such notoriety? See that’s the thing, there has never really been a “team” behind Sneaker Pimps, I just started this show by myself and kept reaching out to everyone already in the culture, so it’s not so much a team that made this tour as big as it has gotten its more about a global network of people and companies in the culture that make this work i.e. artists, sponsors, footwear companies. How did the tour truly go from an idea to the first show and what kind of changes has Sneaker Pimps undergone since that time? Well I have always been into sneakers and putting on events so I basically brought the two together and really did what I could with what I had to make the first Sneaker Pimps show happen…it was never easy…..i really had to will this show into being a tour. Lets take the first show I did back in Sydney three years ago…I had 200 sneakers, not a single piece of artwork, two dj’s performing and we only stayed open for 2.5 hours…..now lets look at the next show I have coming up in NYC on oct the 6th, we have a venue that holds over 2000 people, we have public enemy performing live, we have a collection of over 1000 sneakers, countless pieces of amazing photography / paintings, a line up of some of the worlds greatest artists doing live instillations etc etc etc – it’s been about continually pushing the boundaries with the show….making each bigger than the last. What spot has been the most enjoyable so far? It’s a close call between Shanghai and NYC – there is so much energy and such a huge scene in both these cities but different at the same time. Describe some of the newest editions to the show and how you go about acquiring the artists for the shows. Well for the upcoming show in NYC Stash is doing a new custom, Dalek will be submitting work for the first time, Methamphibian and SBTG will be displaying the collaborative sneakers they have been working on and both painting on sneakers live at the show and JB Classics always comes with the fire. I contact artists through other artists, friends, people I work with, for instance we did a show in ATL this year and brought in LASE NYC and Ewok to do an instillation and they totally destroyed it, they did some amazing work and were both really easy to work with, so since that point on we have been working very closely with the MOTUG collective and LASE NYC has been hooking me up with some of the most legendary artists i.e. TKID, GHOTS, DOZE. For the NYC show the entire MOTUG collective will be doing an entire wall, which should be amazing. What is it about the sneakers that allows the tour to be a success internationally? The sneaker culture is essentially the same all over the world, sure each city has its own tweak to it but kids are buying, for the most part, the same sneakers. So that unity in the culture ensures that if kids are feelin Sneaker Pimps in New York they going be feelin it in Manila. The internet plays a huge part in this too. Where would you like to take the tour? Are there any additions or changes you’d like to make to Sneaker Pimps? I’m into hitting countries where I know the scene is just starting to develop, but where they are hungry for it. Next year we are hitting cities like Moscow and Puerto Rico. Also expect to see this years NYC’s line up in all the stops on the US tour next year. Last words? Just wanted to thank everyone involved with the Sneaker Pimps USA Tour this year, most notably FINISH LINE and also HEAVY.COM, RBK, Kid Robot – all the contributing collectors Sole Collector, Retro Kid, JB Classics – all the artists, all my friends who helped me in each city – you know who you are! IT’S A CELEBRATION BITCHES…..SEE YOU NEXT YEAR! Check out also: > sneakerpimpsusa.com Words and images are copyrighted. Please do not use without written permission. [著作權所有 Freshness Creative Corp. | 文字與圖片未經正式授權請勿任意轉載] © 2005 Freshness Creative Corp. Freshnessmag.com