I am certainly not one to self promote on my blog, infact over the years I have done numerous interviews, and very rarely mention them here, not because I have something against self promotion, but more likely because I am not nearly as strategic with my own press as most, or perhaps as i should be. The interviews I do are generally very honest and probably don't earn me any favours. They, more often that not, even include things that come the time of print, i have completely changed my mind about. I wanted to bring to your attention, the interview I did with Steven Vogel for Black Lodges though, as it touches on what we consider as a new phase in the site's development. One interesting part I think is the questions about how we are treated by brands/stores...my biggest concern over this issue is infact the lack of understanding from people out there.. I genuinley believe this is a new media and can't be compared with any other, the lack of understanding comes from people comparing the site to the way a magazine is run, comparing the site to other sites who have come about since or prior to our existence, and more annoyingly the people who can't see the changes we have made.. I sometimes wonder if some of the people who email me to request their stuff be posted even read the site? or if they are just told by others to email me? or if they really can't see it? I also can't express enough, how successful some of the newer brands have become and how much I genuinely feel its about their attitude.. Steven asked me about how we are treated by some brands and also how some of the big brands don't want to be apart of the movement.. we will make changes in the near future that will ensure this is never a problem.. the only older brands and people who don't want to be a part of the new slam will be those who don't understand the new media.. we will ensure there is no other reason.. step by step. There is also a feeling out there that some of the bigger brands aren't doing as well as the smaller or newer ones anymore.. alot of this comes down to attitude.. nothing else.. there are a whole lot of people out there who need to come back to earth. im not just talking about bigger streetwear figures, but some smaller ones, some people who have merged into this genre, and others. People who do well, generally deserve to, and the people we deal with at Slam are the ones who make it easy to deal with them..

I mention in the interview that the site will change even more soon.. i have become hugely inspired in recent times to make this work for the better and there will be BIG and obvious changes over the next few months... we have changed the content somewhat, and the layout slightly, the layout will change more, the blogs will change and the content will be beefed up.

Read the Black Lodges interview here.

Thanks to Neal Santos for his Guest editorial this week.. we'll be back tomorrow.. the 21st!

Re