When it comes to fashion and sneaker culture, one of the biggest things you’ll find is its connection to music. Being in the heart of Soho, London music plays a big part of the culture where Footpatrol finds itself. Frequent Players is our first venture into the world of music.
It’s with Frequent Players that we hope to build a community feel based around our customer and bring them closer to Footpatrol and building connections with the local music scene. Recently we played host to the Real Talk Music Sessions with Future Bubblers which saw attendees join us in-store for a series of talks and Q&A sessions with special guests who ranged from musicians to PR and agencies. 2019 also saw us team up with Berlin’s 3’Hi and East London native D Double E for his 2019 tour, bringing together six shows within the UK and one special appearance at New Yorks HoLo.
As part of our Frequent Players initiative, we bring you an introductory guest mix. Over the coming months we will be inviting different guests to create a special one-off mix, exploring different genres and opening up our community to a variety of music.
For this, we sought out the legendary Mr G to kick things off!
Initially part of the KCC DJ trio, Mr G has been in and around the music scene for the best part of two decades. Hailed as a dance music legend, Mr G, has been paving the way for his unique style of electronic tech-funk ever since the late 90’s with his Phoenix G label. At his very core lies a true Philly soul fan, this paved the way for his introduction to House and Techno and explore the connection between different genres. Such is the way; Mr G has managed to go very much under the radar with those true to the music scene appreciating his vast contribution to dance music.
Throughout our ten plus years on Berwick St we have become friends with Mr G, Being a lover of sneakers alongside music, it was only right that we kicked off this series with him!
Straight off the back of Free Rotation festival, We caught up with Mr G and he took to the decks to record this special mix for Frequent Players.
Footpatrol – Taking you away from the music scene, where do you find your other inspirations from? Could you talk us through where your inspirations came from when piecing together this mix for Footpatrol?
Mr G – I went with the vibe that I felt sneaker heads would love with interesting music so decided to make it super eclectic but with that low-end funk.My mixes have to say something though, hence the deep start reflecting a mother’s pain and the uplifting end message in the music, that’s super important to me when I do these things.
FP – We know you are an avid sneaker collector also, where have you found your best sneaker find?
Mr G – Tokyo many, many times. The best one was looking for a Roshe Run leopard, I looked everywhere before finally walking into a local sneaker shop in Shibuya and there it was, one pair sat on a shelf, though not my size it fit and was on sale ……. super happy to have found them!
FP – Can you remember your first experience with Footpatrol?
Mr G – Probably when it was in the alley seeing all the great sneaks they couldn’t give away then it all changed and those OG safaris all of a sudden went twice the price!
FP – We hear on visits to Japan you’ve often found yourself sneaker shopping, is there a big culture between music and sneakers there like here in London?
Mr G – More of a hip hop edge in japan with a lot of Jordan high tops, rather than running shoes for example. Atmos is king however and usually well ahead of the pack. Although, it’s all quite boring now as you can get anything for a price, back when the joy was knowing it was only available in japan …. that’s when I took a step back from it all as now you buy something, come home and then maybe 4/5 weeks later they’ll be available in the UK!
FP – Is there any upcoming DJ’s that have made you stop and admire at what they’re doing within their genre at the moment?
Mr G – There are many that you hear of or dig but the skill is to come up with something different from the rest, but few do so it feels same ole same ole but a bear young DJ in Lausanne, Switzerland who I thought was dope!
Pleasure
