Author: Bradley Martinez
Last week saw Bone Soda kick off their August residency at Phonox, London in style when none other than special guest P-rallel pulled up to once again, create a memorable night.
This week, continuing on from last weeks first show, we catch up with resident DJ Debbiesthuglife. Born and raised in North London, Debbie has been a musical enthusiast since the age of four and has been crafting her work since. Now, she’s taking on the weekly resident duties at Bone Soda’s residency to take attendees on a story telling journey of global sounds that make all her sets unmissable.
Take a listen below and make sure to check out the upcoming shows here.
When you think of New Balance, you shouldn’t just see them as giants within the world of lifestyle sneakers. Often creating go to sneakers like their 990 series with greats such as 990, 991 and 992, New Balance are also known within the world of sports with their running collection.
At the height of their running collection sits their RC Elite which, equipped with a full carbon fibre plate helps propel athletes to fulfil their full potential with the latest technology under foot.
Reimagined with a new conceptual design that’s been led by New Balance’s Tokyo Design Studio and originally first introduced with the help of Italian fashion house Stone Island, now TDS bring their own vision to the brand with a classic colour palette that’s been fed through the New Balance brand since the beginning. This combination of heritage and futuristic design fuses together both of New Balances’ worlds.
Talking of futuristic, the RC Elite takes inspiration from the 574 with its dual layered upper with a jagged edge to almost strip the heritage away to reveal an exposed mesh with oversized, exaggerated logos for a modern take.
Take a closer look at this new model below and stay locked for launch information coming soon!
With the House of St Barnabas Summer Festival this weekend, we continue to shine a light on those taking part in this weekends festivities. Next up is a name that needs no introduction! Growing up surrounded by music, Jamie Rodigan is the son of legendary radio broadcaster Sir David “Ram Jam” Rodigan who, with thanks to his dad, grow up with a love of reggae.
Once again providing one of his thoughtful and energetic sets to the House of St Barnabas Summer Festival, we sat down with Jamie Rodigan to learn more about his upbringing, his journey through music and of course, he provided Frequent Players with a mix to get us ready for the weekend!
Footpatrol: Hey Jamie ! I just want to start the interview by asking how are you?
Jamie Rodigan: All good thanks!
FP: For people who don’t know how you are and what you do, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
JR: I am a DJ, label owner and ½ of production duo Crate Classics. I host a monthly radio show on Why Now Radio and play clubs and festivals dates across the world.
FP: When was the first time you realised that you wanted to become a musician?
JR: From quite a young age, probably around 8. I studied piano from then and gradually started to learn other instruments.
FP: When did you first start producing music?
JR: At school we had a room with a computer in the music department and it had Cubase on there. I taught myself how to use the basics. I must have been around 14/15. Then I got a copy of Fruity Loops and I was hooked!
FP: How does it feel to be a Grammy nominated Billboard producer?
JR: Pretty surreal. As a youth I was into underground music – Dancehall, Jungle, Garage etc and I never paid much attention to pop music or accolades. So it’s a nice feeling to be recognised for the work you’ve done in your field especially when it hits mainstream markets.
FP: Could you tell us a little bit about the work you do for ‘Whynowworld’?
JR: I host a monthly show called Jamie Rodigan’s Soundsystem Show. We have a great team of like minded souls deeply into arts & culture. It’s a great platform where I get to share the music I love.
FP: You also have your own record label too right, how did that come about?
JR: Yes, I run Crate Classics Records with Aaron Horn. We started the label 4 years ago and have been steadily building up a catalogue of music and an extended family of artists including Jodian Natty, Pesolife & Trés.
FP: What advice would you give to young people trying to make it in the music industry?
JR: Firstly educate yourself as much as you can around not only music itself but also business practices. Stay true to yourself and your sound. Seek out like minded creatives and build a network around you. And most importantly, don’t give up!
FP: To finish off we would like to thank you so much for the interview. Is there anything you would like to share with the Footpatrol friends and family? That could be anything from getting people excited about something, a message of positivity, whatever you like.
JR: Big up the Footpatrol family and look out for the new Crate Classics single “Rudeboy Sound” ft Jodian Natty dropping August 25th 2022.
There isn’t many brands that can say they’ve taken over both the household and the streets but Crocs most certainly can! Originally designed by Scott Seamans, Lyndon Hanson, and George Boedecker way back in 2002, Crocs were originally inspired by their love and admiration of sailing and it was during a sailing excursion in the Caribbean, the founders came across a boating clog that used a new material called Croslite and this is where you could say ‘the rest is history’.
Fast forward to the year 2022 and we’ve seen Crocs not only deliver a wide variety of colour ways to suit anyways wardrobe but also collaborate with some of the biggest brands and biggest names within streetwear that’s seen them propelled to a new status.
Take a lot at the latest inline styles below which are now available to shop online at Footpatrol here!
Marketing can seem like a mysterious artform, but it’s integral to how we interact with all types of products. It requires an understanding of design, culture and communication, blending a variety of creative and strategic skills to create campaign concepts that resonate with the consumer.
Have you ever wondered how these concepts come to life? How is a product story told? And what roles exist behind the scenes to bring a product to market? Now’s your chance!
Our fourth and final workshop of the series opens the doors to a behind-the-scenes look at how Footpatrol works. You’ll meet the team behind Footpatrol’s marketing output, and work alongside the individuals who help bring the heat to your feet each week.
This workshop breaks down the key components of communications, from brand marketing and creative content curation through to social media. Key members of the FP team will lead each section of the workshop, bringing their own speciality skill set, wisdom and knowledge to the fore to provide you with a first hand look inside one the UK’s most respected sneaker stores.
Spanning two days, the first day will see attendees grouped into teams of three and set a creative brief. The Footpatrol team will work alongside attendees to help ideate and refine their concepts and approach. The second day will see attendees get the chance to execute their ideas, exploring photography, brand strategy and mutli-channel marketing in order to bring their marketing campaign concepts to life.
Each member of the winning team will win £500, and their concept will then be reproduced to go live on all Footpatrol channels.
To be in with a chance of attending Workshop 4 with us, you can sign up to attend by CLICKING HERE!
London is always full of things going on. There is never a weekend or weekday for that matter where there wouldn’t be something for you to see or get involved in and last week saw some of our friends at Footpatrol host their own pop up. It’s great seeing the wider community doing great things so when Nike Server, Server Shop, Pastdown Store and inside tag hosted a 2 day pop up filled with hidden gems, we couldn’t not take the opportunity to pop down, say hello and at least try to leave empty handed… Safe to say, we definitely left with a bag or two!
Take a look below at their recent pop up in Shoreditch and trust us when we say, check out all of their Instagrams above because if you’re looking for a hidden gem, chances are, they may have it!
In line with the upcoming House of St Barnabas Summer Festival, we caught up with one of the DJ’s who will be supplying some sweet, summer tunes, Fabienne.
I guess you could still say ‘relatively new’ to the world of DJing, Fabienne has always been the one to provide the music. From creating playlists for friends at uni to now taking on DJing as full time, Fabienne hasn’t slowed down. Hot within the world of fashion, Fabienne has provided the music for the past five seasons of Stella McCartney’s fashion shows and after parties and now, she’s bringing her vibrant mix to The House of St Barnabas.
To get you ready for the Summer Festival, Fabienne was on hold to provide Frequent Players with their latest guest mix so make sure to check it out below!
Footpatrol: Hey Fabienne! I just want to start the interview by asking how are you ?
Fabienne: Hiya, I’m good thanks, just boiling! It is one of the hottest days of the year, but I love the sunshine so I am not complaining.
FP: For people who don’t know who you are and what you do, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Fabienne: I’m Fabienne, I’m a international DJ spinning in London, NYC and Europe, I just came back from Mykonos which was fun! Summer is pretty hectic for a DJ!
FP: When did you first realise that you had a love for music?
Fabienne: Music has always been played in my house. My dad’s side of the family are all musicians, my uncle is in a band, my cousin’s are singers, one of them was even a backing singer for Kanye West so music is really in the family. At uni I used to make mixtapes for people and the CD’s would absolutely get rinsed. At uni we would go clubbing and the DJ’s would be like “What songs do you want to play Fabs?” When do you ever get a DJ that asks you what you want to play, usually they hate requests! (I know I do lol). I would be like why don’t you play this with that etc etc. call me a control freak, but it was great and the crowd loved the tunes I‘d suggest. I chose to study fashion at Uni but always knew that music and fashion would collide. Thankfully, with my career they have.
Early on in my fashion career I was doing a lot of styling and the PR companies would be like ‘Oh you’re a DJ aren’t you?’ and at that point I was young, fresh out of uni and I hadn’t really DJ’ed out of my room; but I was extra confident and I was like ‘yeah I can do this!’, so after loads of practice I then started playing lots out of the house – clubnights, fashion parties, making mixes online and sending them to different venues, going around to different bars and putting myself out there basically. Word of mouth just kind of spread and then I was DJing in a nightclub and I got picked up by Stella McCartney’s music director. I then toured Europe with them, all from being spotted at a dive bar in Shoreditch. It just shows if you put yourself out there with good intentions you never know what could happen. Getting back to your question, I can’t live without music. If I have a day without listening to music, I feel like something is wrong. Music drives my soul – let’s just say that !
FP: What was it like coming out of uni of DJing for Stella McCartney and doing so many big gigs at a young age?
Fabienne: Well I was about 28 so had a few years on me after Uni and at the time I was already working in fashion, so I was used to working with big brands and going to a lot of fashion shows via that line of work. It was an incredibly fun experience and I just enjoyed every moment and still do with the exciting gigs I get. In life it’s about taking in that present moment rather than always seeking the next.
FP: What similarities do you think the fashion world has with the music industry?
Fabienne: I think they are both creative outlets for people to express themselves. People make clothes inspired by music and vice versa.
FP: How do you think music has influenced your fashion choices?
Fabienne: Well, I’m stuck in the 90’s, lol. I heard once that musically whatever genre of music you listened to between 14 and 16 is the one you will get stuck in for life. And I can’t disagree tbh. Musically & fashion wise I’m stuck in the early noughties so which is great because it has now fully come back around. I love that kind of era. It is all bright colours and animal prints that’s totally my style.
FP: So you are also a presenter, you have hosted for brands such as Nivea, YSL and music showcases for Malibu; how did this opportunity come about?
Fabienne: Again like with the dj’ing it’s about putting yourself out there. I think also these days you have to create your own opportunities so at the time I was putting presenting videos up online and I guess they came through that. The Malibu event was like a pool party where we had to get people out of their shell and participate in different games. I’ll talk to a chair if it moves so I had a great time.
FP: You also have your own ‘Let’s Talk’ live interviews that you host on Instagram, what was the motivation behind this?
Fabienne: I like to showcase different ideas with my presenting whether it showcasing a different career from the norm with ‘Let’s Talk’, or like with my ‘Fabs’ Future Sounds’ IGTV Series, upcoming artists for people to listen to. Let’s Talk was about showcasing different career paths for women in industries where we are generally underrepresented. It was about inspiring others. The series was something that I started during lockdown to showcase female businesses and the female hustle because that’s how it started with me and music i.e. I did have a day job and then the side hustle became the main hustle I guess. I want to keep going and do more of these type of series’, I’d love it to get picked up by a brand to get their support with it too!
FP: Do you think that there is more women representation in the music/DJ industry now?
Fabienne: Definitely now, but I think I see it because I am a woman in music. I think the general public might not see it, you still get people saying ‘Oh wow female DJ’ at events. There is a lot more support network as well for women in music but there can always be more.
FP: Are there any music and fashion influences that you take inspiration from?
Fabienne: Ofcourse! Music wise I’m inspired by old and new from Prince to Kaytranada, I love how he fuses old school Hip-Hop with electronic beats. There’s a load of producers now taking the Bailé sound and creating remixes or edits of old 90’s and 00’s tunes, which I LOVE! Producers such as Jarreau Vandal, Boston Chery, Hyalyte, Kensaye, Jaymie Silk, it’s such a vibe. People just love that stuff, they love that nostalgic feeling brought into a modern way which is what I do in my fashion. I love colour and clever details in fashion, like an incredible dress with pockets or like this silk shirt but in tonnes of colour. I’m inspired by fearless females who aren’t afraid to express themselves, such Grace Jones, Kate Bush, Rihanna and Madonna. I like to think I channel them whenever I head to my wardrobe. 😀
FP: What advice would you give to young people that are trying to make it in the music industry?
Fabienne: Just do you ! Do not be distracted by whatever is on social media, do not worry about what other people are doing, concentrate on you and just keep going. If you got the idea in your head to do it you need to at least experiment with it. Life is about self expression.
FP: To finish off we would like to thank you so much for the interview. Is there anything you would like to share with the Footpatrol friends and family? That could be anything from getting people excited about something, a message of positivity, whatever you like.
Fabienne: Just do you and don’t be afraid to stand out from the crowd!
As an authentic sneaker community here at Footpatrol, storytelling is at the heart of what we do. Passing down the narrative from one successive generation to another, we are always looking for ways to showcase the voices, talent and background of what makes our sneaker space so special. Whether this is from the history of the brand , through to the design process to where the sneakers end up – in the hands of the community, we’re all here for our love of sneakers.
Introducing Nike stories, our new Nike platform based within our Footpatrol Launches App where we will be feeding all things Nike content and keeping you – the community in touch with the product and the story it tells. We have dug deep into the archives pulling our favourite memories, retelling some of our most compelling stories that we are so excited to share with you.
Each week we will be updating this platform delivering some of the freshest stories to date. From our recap on lively talks, campaigns, interviews and many more, we are always looking to inspire sneaker enthusiasts all across the world as well as capturing the imagination of like minded individuals.
For those who already have the app download, head on over to the app to see more otherwise, click here to download the Footpatrol Launches App.
Some of you may remember last year when some of the Footpatrol team and friends took on the ASICS London 10km. Last years race saw the return of public events are the pandemic and provided a great day with high energy to get the runners in the feel good spirit, ready to take on the 10km.
This year, we were set a challenge from the team at ASICS to head out on this years 10km and beat our times from last year… We couldn’t not accept!
With help from their latest running masterpiece, the Metaspeed, Jake and Bradley from Footpatrol teamed up again with Henry, Kristine and Jamie from Your Friendly Runners to take on the challenge. ASICS once again provided an amazing day experience with live music, entertainment and a lively energy that helped push you through to the finish line.
Who’s joining us next year to take on the challenge again?
For our third and final instalment of the adidas NMD S1, we look towards someone who has been no stranger to the Footpatrol bubble. With adidas exploring the past, present and future of the NMD franchise, we decided to add our own spin to this by documenting ‘sound’. We kicked off this NMD S1 campaign by looking at the past, someone who has been cemented within music culture for generations, Dego before looking towards the future of sound with Ludo. Now, we turn our attention to the present with thanks to SelassieTBC!
Co-founder of London based label Pattern Sounds and part of Brownswood‘s Future Bubblers platform to which we’ve worked with before, we sat down with Selassie to learn more about him, his ventures and the music scene whilst of course, checking out once again, the adidas NMD S1 which we are excited to see where this exploration goes!
Footpatrol: Hey Selassie before we get into everything, how are you?
Selassie: I’m good thanks man. Very busy and kinda hot with this global warming ting happening but you know, keeping things moving.
FP: For people who don’t know who you are and what you do, could you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?
Selassie: I’m a DJ, Project Manager, A&R, Label Manager, Event Producer and someone who probably does too much LOL. Day to day I run a talent discovery and mentor project called Future Bubblers, run out of Brownswood Music. I’m also an A&R Manager at Brownswood.
FP: How did everything begin for you?
Selassie: In terms of my love of music, there wasn’t a particular start date or milestone moment, its just always been part of my life. I guess Limewire helped haha. Since I can remember i’ve always collected music, kinda like when I used to collect Pokemon cards, I just never grew out of collecting music. I guess professionally, when I started at Brownswood 6ish years ago. But before then i’d been doing a bunch of music related stuff throughout my youth, events, making music, first try at a label, bunch of stuff.
FP: From our perspective, you are a very influential person within the music scene being a co-founder of Record label and music platform Pattern Sounds, a DJ Nike, how did these opportunities come about?
Selassie: With Pattern Sounds, that came about pretty naturally. When I still lived at my mums, my yard was the spot everyone used to come to to chill. So all my guys would just pull up, we’d be chilling, making music, listening to music, DJing, doing what young bucks do. Was always quite music oriented. So we essentially tried to capture that essence of when the mandem were at my yard, cause we had so many musical friends and friends of friends. We tried a few different ventures before Pattern Sounds, we tried more of a music platform, then it naturally developed into a label.
FP: You also host your own monthly DJ set Selassie TBC on NTS radio, what is it like when you found out your show was going to be locked in as a regular broadcast?
Selassie: Yeahhhh, that was a good feeling I can’t lie, felt like i’d made a positive step in the right direction. It was a bit tekky though cause i’d just got an offer from another station too, so they thought i’d parred them off, but in reality NTS were interested before. But I was just happy to get back into regularly doing a show and having a musical outlet to showcase all the music I came across.
FP: The Future Bubblers platform that you are involved in discovers the latest talent in music. Why is this so important to you?
Selassie: I’ve always been a music digger, so I’ve always found and uncovered artists who I’ve felt deserved to be heard by a larger audience. Even from playground times I used to come in with a piece of paper with tracks to share with my friends. Because of music politics combined with artists just not knowing how to navigate the music world or how to promote themselves, i’ve always been passionate about giving a platform to those who I feel are great or have great potential, because there are so many artists who deserve more. Which is the reason why we started Pattern Sounds and the reason why Future Bubblers as a project aligns so well with my values.
FP: What is the best advice would you give to young people trying to make it in the music industry?
Selassie: Be honest and work on your craft. Be honest in the sense that you should create music which is honest to you – a true artistic reflection of yourself. Theres no easier way to get a one way ticket to mediocrity than just following trends. You can always hear authenticity in music. And just work on your craft. Good music travels – so get to the point where you’re at a sweet spot where you’re making music of a certain quality, so you can push on from there. Get some stuff on the internet too – if its on the internet you never know whos listening. I’ve come across artist and played artists whos profiles sly look fake lol cause they’re so bare, but there was music there that I was into so I played it.
Also, if you don’t ask you don’t get. Very rarely do things just magically happen. A lot of artists who are “breakthrough” artists have been putting in work for years without anyone seeing.
FP: We would firstly like to thank you so much for spending some time with us! To finish things off, is there anything you would like to share with the Footpatrol friends and family? That could be anything from getting people excited about something, a message of positivity, whatever you like.
Selassie: Yeah man i’m just a big believer if you don’t know who you are then you don’t know where you’re going. Its very easy to say “work out who you are”, its a process and sometimes people don’t work that shit out till they’re old and grey. But get on the journey and find out what truly makes you tick, i think navigating the world with a solid foundation is far better then tryna bulldoze through on a madness. We’re always gonna be winging it don’t get it twisted, but at least have those wings attached to your back. Or your feet, on a Hermes ting.
Also Future Bubblers 6.0 album out in November! Exclusive – you heard it here first.
