For this week’s Rockin’ the Sneaks we are kicking it old school and bringing to you the work of MAG who is the man behind the website and company punkyourchucks. If you have not yet seen MAG’s artwork and website, we highly suggest you make your way over to his site and see the mastery that he has accomplished with everyones favorite sneaker, Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars aka Chucks. If you don’t know what Chuck Taylor’s are well then you are either too young or need to learn right now!
Classic Converse Chuck Taylor All Star
RD – How did punkyourchucks get started MAG?
MAG – I have been an artist all my life and it has always been a dream to make money doing what I love. My wife came up with the name punkyourchucks after thinking about having me paint on Chucks. She bought me a pair and told me to paint on them. The next day, I gave them back to her completed…she freaked out! She put them on E-Bay and within a few hours they sold with a “buy it now”….and now here we are!
RD – We always hear and read about people painting sneakers like Nike AF1’s, why did you decide that your canvas (literally) would be Chuck Taylor’s?
MAG – When I was a kid, my mom couldn’t afford to buy me Converse All-Stars, so I had to wear the $2.00 “Skippy” specials….the Woolworth brand look-a-like. I guess I have always had a visual attraction to Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars.
RD – How did you get started in art in the first place?
MAG – I am an urban/graffiti artist originally from New York City. I started my love for painting/sculpting/sketching in the cultural chaos of the 1970’s Five Boroughs (Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island). I ran wild on the streets. My playground was the subways, parks, rooftops, alleys, museums and zoos, the Hudson River, New Jersey’s Palisades…I loved NYC and I went everywhere and did everything!
RD – Was it a clear-cut decision that you made at some point in your life that being an artist is what you wanted to as a career? Also what formal training did you have that prepared you for this?
MAG – Art was an outlet for me. I had a very neglectful upbringing…(I have been talking about my childhood on my Blog)….I spent a lot of time tagging walls, sketching, murals, etc. I needed to let out all this anger and frustration I was feeling. My creative outlets gave me some of what I needed. I missed a lot of school in my elementary to middle school years, but spent an amazing amount of time in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Natural History…kind of my own personal Master’s Degree in street curriculum education.
RD – Are you where you expected to be at this point in your life?
MAG – What really freaks me out everyday is…after all the schools I went to and didn’t go to, careers I’ve had (that’s a story in itself…I’ve kissed Tigers, been attacked by baboons, attacked by a 10-foot Boa, US Air Force, welding schools, etc.), dreams of what I wanted to do…I find myself doing what I have wanted to do since childhood….I wanted people to pay me to create/replicate art! I wish I could say that I have been trained in art….to this day, I am bothered by the fact that I did not take art classes (sometimes it shows in my work)…..but, I do have a deep love and appreciation for all types of art/sculpting, as well as, an internal passion for God’s creations -nature, animals, oceans, etc.
RD – How is your company doing? What are your plans to grow and expand your name, art & company?
MAG – punkyourchucks has been slowly growing since we started it a couple of years ago. We want to take it to the next level, though, and have been thinking about getting an investor. We think things would go gang-busters if we had national exposure, maybe even a store in NYC (downtown Manhattan). We have been getting the attention of the entertainment industry.
RD – We have to ask, who can be see wearing punkyourchucks?
MAG – Some of the celebrities that are wearing my Chucks are: Tommy Lee, Lukas Rossi, Alexa Ray Joel, Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (of “The Insider” fame), Will Smith, Brad Gethard (BMX Biker) and Kelly Clarkson.
RD – Are hand painted Chuck Taylors the only art you make and sell on your website?
MAG – I also punk out Vans, Nike AF1’s, Denim Jackets, Tote Bags. I am looking into doing T-Shirts and more!
RD – OK MAG now we have to ask you the question we ask other sneaker artists: What music do you listen to when you paint? (we are a music blog after all)
MAG – Finally, someone is asking me about my musical tastes…I am a Billy Joel FREAK, so anything Billy Joel…..also, his daughter, Alexa Ray. I love old Zebra (no one remembers them), but they were so great! Van Halen, Def Leppard, RUN/DMC, Metallica, Old R&B, anything 80’s, Mozart (we are both misunderstood, yuck, yuck), Elton John….
RD – Lastly can you give our readers a general idea of the investment they would have to make to acquire a custom pair of punkyourchucks and how can our readers find you?
MAG – We can be found at www.punkyourchucks.com …on our site you can fill out a custom order form and tell us what you would want on a pair. Let us know the color you want, your Men’s or Women’s size…send us a graphic or two or just tell us what you would want to see. We will take it from there. You can get a great pair of freehand custom Converse for anywhere from $135 up to $200 and up, depending on the detail. Custom Vans start at $170 and Nike AF1’s start at about $300 and go up from there (they have to be stripped of their factory coating…it is time consuming). Totes are around $60 and Denim Jackets are around $270.
Alexa Ray Joel in MAG’s Chucks
MAG with Tommy and Lukas of Supernova
Serengetti
Little Mermaid
Runaway Dinosaur 