Interviews | Quartersnacks

An Interview with Jimmy Gorecki AKA Jimmy Sweatpants

Features & Interviews July 26th, 2013 · 5:44 am · 22

This website has been known to dwell on sweatpants in some great detail. Former Aesthetics teamrider (undoubtedly one of the most fashion-forward skateboard companies ever) and our good friend, Jimmy Gorecki, recently launched a company dedicated entirely to sweatpants. So, it was only appropriate that we sat down with him to discuss this latest venture and the journey sweats have had in skateboarding.

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Why’d you decide to start a sweatpants company?

I have always just really enjoyed putting on a pair of sweats with a decent pair of sneakers and a basic tee shirt. Growing up, I looked up to guys like Josh Kalis and Rob Welsh. Obviously, these guys pioneered sweats in skateboarding. Off the board though, sweats were always though part of the cultures I enjoyed most. As a teenager, I would stare at the 36 Chambers album cover. They were wearing sweats and times. That shit was next level to me.

JSP itself happened in a weird way. One day I was just messing around with Earl Sweatshirt [of Odd Future] and said “I’m Jimmy Sweatpants.” I threw it on my Twitter and didn’t think anything of it. I showed up to one of the Street Leagues and someone was just like “Why don’t you just make sweatpants? You always wear them, and it’s already sticking with the Twitter name.” I put some thought into it. In downtown L.A., you could get anything you want made, so I started doing it as a one-off thing.

Where are you at with it right now, is it like a full brand or a small thing for one-offs?

It’s a small operation for now. I have one partner, and I want to grow it as organically as possible. I would love to make it the New Era of sweatpants down the line, but obviously that’s a ultimate dream goal. After I put the first run out, there were multiple brands that reached out to me like, “We’ve been trying to do sweats domestically for a couple years and you hit the nail on the head in a couple of months.” Everyone goes to Canada or China to produce them. I don’t know if it was the right place at the right time, but we were able to source a good fleece and sample a couple different fits that were comfortable.

An Interview With Adam Abada & Zach Baker, The Two Guys Who Skated From Boston to New York

Features & Interviews April 17th, 2013 · 5:12 am · 5

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There are obviously more serious things going on with Boston right now, but here is a quick lighthearted distraction from that whole situation. This past August, these two guys skated from Boston to New York City — twenty-five miles at a time on hard wheels — stopping in New England towns that your average skateboarder would only know from exit signs on I-95. The short video of their journey, “Backstreet Atlas,” premieres at the Jane Hotel (113 Jane Street) at 8 P.M. on April 18 (tomorrow.)

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How did this idea come about?

A: It was initially a joke. We talked about skating from Boston to New York without ever having the intention of doing it for a long time. We were having a conversation about skating distances and one day Zach was like, “I’m gonna skate back home from Boston” one day. It wasn’t an epiphany or anything, the joke just became more of a good idea. We entertained it for so long, that we just decided to go for it.

Z: We first planned to do it two years ago. First it was supposed to be in the fall, then spring, then Adam hurt his knee, so it kept getting pushed back.

What was the process of getting it from being a joke to an actual trip?

A: First, we thought we were gonna wing it and just skate, but the more we thought about it, it made sense for us to plan to hit up cool stuff along the way. We weren’t gonna make a movie. Then figured if we were gonna do it, it’d potentially be worth sharing. We planned on shooting whatever interesting things we see along the way, but nothing specific. We did want to go to all the skate shops though.

An Interview With Brian Anderson

Features & Interviews April 12th, 2013 · 7:00 am · 32

All photos by Ben Colen

B.A. already had an Epicly Later’d series, so we set aside history and spoke with him about more recent happenings — namely moving to New York, filming for Pretty Sweet, bonelesses into grinds, and his next full part.

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When did you move to New York and what brought you here?

I moved to New York in October 2011. I was in San Francisco on and off for 11 or 12 years. I love it with Thrasher, Deluxe and all my friends there. But I grew up three hours from New York in Groton, Connecticut and a lot of my family still lives there. My sisters’ kids are growing up, so I wanted to be around. It’s also cool being back and having some seasons. San Francisco is beautiful, but it’s a hoody every day, all year around. In New York, you get the nice hot summer and the cold winter, and I love that.

You mentioned in an older interview that you were trying to get more into design work. Was that part of the move back east at all? Is that something you’re trying to pursue more or are you still fully focused on skating?

It’s a bit of both. I’ve been fortunate to have a few projects since I’ve been here. One, for example, is Four Star contacted Moleskine and I went over to their offices in Manhattan, brought some art and we figured out a way to lay some stuff out. For the past year, I’ve been flying to Portland quite a bit and Nike has been showing me the ins and outs of footwear design. I’ve been focussing on making a sneaker which is going to be released in the fall, so I’ve been trying to plan for all of that.

I’m still trying to skateboard. I got to skateboard a lot in the fall with William Strobeck. I skate for CCS, but I’d like to have some stuff in the Supreme video he’s putting together. I’ve been doing a little of everything: sketches, trying to keep my legs warm with skateboarding, and designing the sneaker.

Are you focusing on any video projects aside from the Supreme video?

I might give a few more things to Bill for the Supreme video. I really want to have some stuff in the Trunk Boyz video, but the next big thing is the Nike SB Chronicles 3 video, which is about two-and-a-half years from now. They’re working on the second one now. I’m getting older — not old — I’m just stoked to have a project to work on. I want to stay pro for another four or five years, so I’m psyched to be in it.

An Interview With Yaje Popson

Features & Interviews March 8th, 2013 · 7:14 am · 31

Photo by Brian Kelley

There is no question that Yaje is one of the most talented New York skaters to emerge in recent years. Except after gaining momentum with a multi-page Skateboarder interview, some solid video parts and flow from one of the best companies around, he disappeared. Both from Tompkins and from skate media altogether. Well, we caught up with Yaje over Skype (an in-person interview wasn’t exactly possible) to talk about where he’s been and what he’s been up to. Thanks to Emilio Cuilan, Brian Kelley and Luke Clerkin for your help.

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Where are you right now?

I’m chilling in my beautiful apartment in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. It’s the third largest city in Brazil. I was born here and moved to New York when I was three, so it’s good to get in touch with your homeland. I moved back in the winter of 2011. Autumn and I left at the same time. No Autumn Bowl, no Autumn Skateshop, what’s the point?

Any other reasons for the move besides Autumn closing?

I initially came out to help heal a knee injury, but I stayed because we have a much better quality of life out here. My family lived in that one little shitty apartment [in New York], so this is luxury.

Is where you are a beach city like Rio?

No, but I have a house on the beach in Espírito Santo and one more house in the jungle.

An Interview With Eirik Traavik, Editor of Dank Magazine

Features & Interviews January 23rd, 2013 · 8:10 am · 2

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We spoke with Eirik Traavik, editor-in-chief of Dank magazine, an awesome bi-annual mag based out of Oslo, Norway. Dank is one of the most all-around unique skate publications we have come across — it’s closer to something you would see on the rack at McNally Jackson for $25 than a crumpled up Thrasher at your local shop. Eirik talks about the idea of a “grown up” skate magazine, independently running a print operation in the iPhone and Hella Clips era, and the future of mags in general.

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What is the skate scene in Norway like? What mags do you guys read up there?

The skate scene in Norway is small and relatively fragmented. You have multiple cliques in every city, and smaller scenes in the countryside. Parks are popping up everywhere, so it seems like more and more kids are getting into skating. You can only skate street for about six months a year, so Norwegian skateboarding has traditionally been presented in parts of mags also devoted to snowboarding and/or surfing. When it comes to print, people are generally into Thrasher and The Skateboard Mag. You’ll occasionally see copies of Transworld. Print seems to be losing ground a bit, I guess most kids are more into instant gratification through Hella Clips and Skatevideosite.

Most countries in Europe have their own mags. I think the geographically closest influential magazine is Fluff from Holland. Scandinavia doesn’t have many interesting print publications. I usually pay attention to Grey, Anzeige, Kingpin and Soma.

A lot of print publications are folding or becoming online only. The magazines that do remain have big websites to back them up. You guys are four issues into Dank and don’t have much of an internet presence. What made you want to start a magazine when all signs seem pointed against printed skate mags?

The decision was based on nostalgia and personal preference when it comes to presentation of skateboarding, especially photography. We’ve all grown up with physical formats, and would hate to see good mags disappear completely. Dank is an argument in favor of slowing the pace down a bit. I can only speak for myself, but I feel completely numbed by the constant online flow of footage, ads, photos and montages. It doesn’t sink in. I think print offers an opportunity to really let photos and interviews sink in. Whenever I’m on Slap and come across something interesting, I’ll usually be looking at it with at least five other tabs open. Dank doesn’t have a big internet presence, true, but it is a product of the internet. It’s a printed mag that takes the consequences of the proliferation of quicker media outlets into consideration. We don’t run stories that are shorter than four pages, we come out only twice a year, and the materials are chosen to make the mag feel more like a book.