Part Two

Woody talks us through the responsibilities of an editor and what skills are required in order to be successful.

Angel: What skills do you think you need in order to become an editor?

You need all sorts of skills. The buck stops with me for everything. I’m in charge of quality control and selecting all the articles and working out what’s on the cover as well as editing the text and so on. You also need to be able to create a magazine as a whole, which mostly means it has to be something that people want to spend their money on but also means it has to be skewed so that sponsors will get behind you. So you need to see things from a lot of different perspectives. It’s a big job that occasionally gets the better of you but

A: Does Sneaker Freaker ever take on work experience people?

Yeah we have had some kids through here… I like the principle as I did Work Experience quite a few times when I was in high school.

A: What type of person do you look for?

Well I think you either get it or you don’t. I sound like a grandpa but some kids you can tell, they’d rather fartarse around than work. The best advice I was ever given was that that enthusiasm is #1. You can get away with a lot if you’re keen as mustard, and I can’t stand kids who are too cool to get excited. Being able to listen to instructions and concentrate is important as well.

A: What is the best and worse thing about your job?

BEST - it’s a toss up - either the feebie travel junkets or the free shoes of course!
WORST - trying to run a global business from the arse end of the world.

A: Where did you interest in Sneakers begin?

Since I was about 8 years old I guess. The first pair I recall was in the late seventies, the Dunlop KT26, which is a running shoe I think, it’s hard to tell. I think they were only made in Australia and are pretty bad by todays standards but back then they were so tough they took my breath away! A while afterwards, adidas Rome in leather and the Oregons were also very big where I grew up.

I’d love to say I was rocking Vandals or Shelltoes but I wasn’t. There’s no point trying to make myself look supercool as I was just a regular kid. Kids have so much finance now it is incredible, they seem to buy a lot of shoes but in my day we had to make each pair last all year so it was a very careful choice we had to make. But I really love those KT26 sneakers, and they still mean a lot to me, regardless of the modern scene.

A: Sneaker Freaker is only produced twice a year, how long does it take to prepare each issue?

Each issue takes over 3 months to produce.

A: Why do you think Sneaker Freaker is so popular?

That’s hard for me to answer as I’m not really able to see it from the outside. But I think people like it because it’s real. It wasn’t designed to make money, it’s full of strange stories about shoes and somehow, it has thrived and is now sold in 35 countries.

A: What has been your favourite featured article and why?

W: Well we’ve had a few. Jason Le did an insane piece on Steve Van Doren from Vans. You can read it here…. http://www.sneakerfreaker.com/ feature/history-of-vans/ At the time Steve hadn’t done much press so it was a real coup to get that. Another great piece was an interview with Sinisa Egelja who worked at Airwalk for a long time, he was their first employee. It’s not online yet but you can read it in Issue 10 of the magazine. I think the final article is 14 pages… the original interview went for almost 3 days so it was a killer to edit that one down.

The final part coming shortly

For more information click on the following link

www.sneakerfreaker.com

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