The Jeremy Klein interview is here! This all started when the good people at Sole Tech UK asked us at the Black Sheep if we would be interested in having a little chat / interview with the man behind Hook Ups Skateboards legend Mr Jeremy Klein! It would be wrong to turn down an opportunity like that, so indeed we accepted! Have a read through the brief interview below where Jeremy talks about World Industries, The End, Skater owned companies, his recent Hookups collaboration with Etnies and more! Enjoy!
Black Sheep- To set the scene where do we find you answering the following questions and what’s on your agenda for the day? I’m sitting at my desk, it’s 8am, and i’ll be doing art on the computer today, and hopefully skating this evening.
Black Sheep- The magical era of the 90’s is something that gets spoke of a lot right now especially with all us old boys who’ve ended up running skate shops so we’ve got to ask how was your time working and skating for Rocco?
It was really fun, Rocco didn’t give a fuck what anyone thought, and to me that’s the most important thing in life and running a skate company.
Black Sheep- Moving on from the blow out of World Industries how was the early days of Birdhouse and being apart of the now legendary ''The End’' video?
"The End" was a really fun time also, me and Heath were given the opportunity to do anything that we wanted and if you saw the video we did just that. I am the most proud of the night part in “the end"
Black Sheep- That time/era in skateboarding was seeing the ‘Tony Hawk’ boom with huge hardware sales and it pretty much being the years when skateboarding became acceptable to the mainstream. Was this a period you enjoyed after seeing where skating had come from and being the outsiders in society?
No I’ve never cared about acceptance in society, and look how bad/lame it is now that it is accepted (street league, nike, oakley, red bull) all these terrible non skate companies are in our industry, fuck that.
Black Sheep- So Hook Ups was definitely a huge part of that initial boom and pretty much you’d see the now infamous anime graphics adorning board walls world wide. How was the early days starting off as a t-shirt brand to where Blitz Distribution ended up taking it at it’s height?
It was fun hook-ups has always just been a pet project for me to do, it’s what I enjoy doing so it’s easy for me.
Black Sheep- Are you stoked to be back at a grass roots level now and having complete control over Hook Ups?
It’s so much better! I can make anything I want now! and people will see that soon.
Black Sheep- The demand for Hook Ups certainly seems there from following your social media, can you see yourself maintaining production all in house and keeping your product super limited?
Yes, the demand is good and the fans want quality, and I’ll continue to give them that.
Black Sheep- Which has been your most prized graphic from Hook Ups past? Would you say which has been the biggest ever seller?
Alice in wonderland
Black Sheep- How did talks start with the good folk at Etnies about this much sort after collaboration?
James Appleby contacted me and it has been smooth sailing from there, the etnies people have been so good.
Black Sheep- Have you had a good working relationship with one of the most core skater owned shoe companies out there? Has this been in the works for a while now?
We worked on it for about 6 months and yes the relationship and experience with etnies has been amazing. Thanks James, Rick, Pierre, Mike, and Oliver.
Black Sheep- Did you have fun with English ex-pat Mike Manzoori filming the promo web clip?
Mike is so good at what he does, we cranked that commercial out in 10 days, (editing included) had a great time filming with him and Oliver.
Black Sheep- What’s on your agenda for the future with Hook Ups? Any plans to add riders, go down the whole video route?
I have skaters that i’ve always given product too, I just don’t run my companies the same way everyone else does.
Black Sheep- Massive thanks from all us here at The Black Sheep but lastly we need to know do you still enjoy a bit of van off roading?
I will always love driving over stuff, thanks guys.
You can keep up with Jeremy Klein by following him on Instagram
Black Sheep- To set the scene where do we find you answering the following questions and what’s on your agenda for the day? I’m sitting at my desk, it’s 8am, and i’ll be doing art on the computer today, and hopefully skating this evening.
Black Sheep- The magical era of the 90’s is something that gets spoke of a lot right now especially with all us old boys who’ve ended up running skate shops so we’ve got to ask how was your time working and skating for Rocco?
It was really fun, Rocco didn’t give a fuck what anyone thought, and to me that’s the most important thing in life and running a skate company.
Black Sheep- Moving on from the blow out of World Industries how was the early days of Birdhouse and being apart of the now legendary ''The End’' video?
"The End" was a really fun time also, me and Heath were given the opportunity to do anything that we wanted and if you saw the video we did just that. I am the most proud of the night part in “the end"
Black Sheep- That time/era in skateboarding was seeing the ‘Tony Hawk’ boom with huge hardware sales and it pretty much being the years when skateboarding became acceptable to the mainstream. Was this a period you enjoyed after seeing where skating had come from and being the outsiders in society?
No I’ve never cared about acceptance in society, and look how bad/lame it is now that it is accepted (street league, nike, oakley, red bull) all these terrible non skate companies are in our industry, fuck that.
Black Sheep- So Hook Ups was definitely a huge part of that initial boom and pretty much you’d see the now infamous anime graphics adorning board walls world wide. How was the early days starting off as a t-shirt brand to where Blitz Distribution ended up taking it at it’s height?
It was fun hook-ups has always just been a pet project for me to do, it’s what I enjoy doing so it’s easy for me.
Black Sheep- Are you stoked to be back at a grass roots level now and having complete control over Hook Ups?
It’s so much better! I can make anything I want now! and people will see that soon.
Black Sheep- The demand for Hook Ups certainly seems there from following your social media, can you see yourself maintaining production all in house and keeping your product super limited?
Yes, the demand is good and the fans want quality, and I’ll continue to give them that.
Black Sheep- Which has been your most prized graphic from Hook Ups past? Would you say which has been the biggest ever seller?
Alice in wonderland
Black Sheep- How did talks start with the good folk at Etnies about this much sort after collaboration?
James Appleby contacted me and it has been smooth sailing from there, the etnies people have been so good.
Black Sheep- Have you had a good working relationship with one of the most core skater owned shoe companies out there? Has this been in the works for a while now?
We worked on it for about 6 months and yes the relationship and experience with etnies has been amazing. Thanks James, Rick, Pierre, Mike, and Oliver.
Black Sheep- Did you have fun with English ex-pat Mike Manzoori filming the promo web clip?
Mike is so good at what he does, we cranked that commercial out in 10 days, (editing included) had a great time filming with him and Oliver.
Black Sheep- What’s on your agenda for the future with Hook Ups? Any plans to add riders, go down the whole video route?
I have skaters that i’ve always given product too, I just don’t run my companies the same way everyone else does.
Black Sheep- Massive thanks from all us here at The Black Sheep but lastly we need to know do you still enjoy a bit of van off roading?
I will always love driving over stuff, thanks guys.
You can keep up with Jeremy Klein by following him on Instagram
