In the Know: Jochen Smuda - 06/06/19

When Jochen said, that he wanted me to write his intro for the "In the Know" I was really glad to do so! I've known Jochen for a very long time, I still remember reading about him in skating magazines and he was one of the first true European pros, when we started the Be-Mag adventure. Even before we started Be-Mag the rolling media back then titled him as a "wunderking", someone with a huge talent. And he definitely was this person. That's why we chose him for one of the first big interviews in our print mag. He busted out big time for it, being creative, stunt oriented and all that you can wish from an interview and set himself apart even more from your regular roller. He set the bar high for all following interviews and still ranks among my all time favourite Be-Mag print interviews. But he didn't stop just with that, being a great skater, but continued to be one of the most influential skaters and industry heads in Europe and is now making his influence with Ucon throughout the world, raising once again the bar, this time for everything in the clothing industry of rolling and in general the way that companies are being done. Ucon started as a small company and has grown into the ONE clothing company every other clothing company looks up to. Their lines get more and more impressive from release to release and god knows where they will stop with all of this. And as if this wasn't enough he started Clip magazine with Lukas to bring you a skating dvd magazine format, previously only known from Life Plus. Clip is still out there evolving from issue to issue and they are doing a great job to show the European skating scene. Each issue is a new surprise and tops the previous one not only from the dvd, but also the special ideas they have for each dvd (cleaning lens and pop up cover??)

For me it was amazing to see how he and his life developed over the next years, since he went from a kid who was lucky to get pro to one of the most influential people in rolling in Europe. And you will never find anyone who doesn't like Jochen, since he has his own charm to convince anyone immediately from his projects.

Why are you doing such a great job with Clip and Ucon and why do you have one of the illest styles in rollerblading?

Hahah, very good first question. Thanks a lot first of all. It’s not just me doing Ucon and Clip. I have people working with me who share exactly the same thinking on how rollerblading should be shown to the world – that makes it much easier.

If this first US line doesn't sell that well, are you going to give up, or try again with a different style of clothing?

I am pretty sure it won’t sell that good. Ucon is still pretty unknown in the US, but we are working hard on it. The prices in the US are pretty low so it’s really hard for a European company to get their foot in the door. I know a lot of people complain about the high price our garments have, so I will explain the reasoning behind this briefly. We still produce our stuff in Europe, not China or somewhere else. Then the clothing has to be shipped to our warehouse. Then it has to be packed, a company picks it up and takes it to the next airport. Then it will be re-packed again in special boxes. They fly it to the next US airport. Then all the packages need to go through the tax office which is very complicated for clothing. Then they are sent to the distributor. This distributor has to send it to the shops. Everybody in this chain has to earn some money, so it’s really almost impossible for us to ship it to the US. I think it still needs some time, til skaters realize that we don’t just make shirts and sweaters. Also the shops have to know how difficult it is for us to offer Ucon to the US market.
One thing that is guaranteed is that we will never ever change our style of clothing. We won’t sell our soul just if something or some style will guarantee some profit – no way. We will keep our style!



When is the next time you're coming to the US?

Hmm, hard to say. With Clip we will be traveling a hell of a lot around Europe this summer – getting footage for issue 4, so I think I won’t make it this year.

When will there be a tour to Eastern Europe? The scene here is blowing up and there's a lot of talent to discover.....

I already have some contacts, and we are already planning something with Clip. But it is really not finalised yet so I can’t promise anything right now. Sorry.

What gave you the idea for making the Clip series? and how long are you planning to continue the series on for?

It was while Lukas and I were travelling through the US. We came up with the idea that Europe needed something like Life+. A good video magazine for the European rollers. And that was the beginning. At the time, Europe was very divided, skating-wise. That’s what I thought personally. Maybe it’s not because of us, but the borders to all other European countries are a lot more open than they have been in the past. I now know Polish, Russian, and Scandinavian skaters. I certainly couldn’t have said that a few years ago. We will continue with Clip for as long as there are people out there who will buy our DVD’s and support our project. It just depends on the skaters. If we don’t sell DVD’s we can’t afford to travel and film. How simple is that?

What are the main influences that brought Ucon to what is is now? How do you think people outside the sport view your company?

Hmmmm, main influences.... I would say there are a lot. Other companies, life, music. There are a lot of different things, and you will find plenty of them if you walk through your life with open eyes. Martin is a great designer, and he often comes up with totally new stuff, like this years patches sweater. Everybody contributes their ideas. We also listen a lot to our friends and try to work something out with them. Really, feedback is what we thrive on, that’s why we always greatly appreciate constructive criticism.
People from outside the sport, who don’t know that we are rollerbladers, react very positively. Our friends are all big Ucon fans, and they support us a lot. And who cares? We sell clothes, and we want to be the best clothing company on the market. I personally don’t care about Skateboard, Golf or Soccer clothing. There are great companies everywhere, and my goal is to be one of the best of them.

Dear Smuzzi, first where did u earn that nickname;-)

hahah, thanks Amnon!

and secondly:
How can u drive 40 kilometers to meet up for a skating day and when u finally arrive realize that u just drove 40km without even mentoning that u forgot to put shoes on when u left the house???

Hahah, pssst. Tell nobody!

If you were given the chance to expose EITHER Clip OR Ucon to a worldwide mainstream audience, which one would you choose and why?

Too hard to answer. I would choose both. I mean if we could get Clip in with a crazy ass worldwide distribution company, I would make sure it distributed Ucon as well, because for me there is one very important difference. If you distribute through a major, you don’t sell your soul, like a lot of people think. I heard people saying: „Ah did you see ECKO at JC Pennys? That’s wack“. But for me it’s not. In my eyes it’s clever. They don’t sell their ass, because they still do the same clothing, it’s still their brand it’s ECKO. Just more people buy it. They don’t produce clothing just for JC so that they take it and people buy it. That is a very big difference.
Ok, but to come back again. Probably I would choose Ucon, because there would be more money to put back into rollerblading!

Are you mad at Stuff for calling you "Wunderking" instead of "Wunderkind" in the Text?

NO!

Jochen... come to Israel... great scene over here... definitely good sessions... and we all like UCON gear so bring a lot of it!

Hopefully I can come someday, but I doubt it this year. It’s funny because I just saw a report about people working in Israel, and it was very interesting. So maybe we will meet up there someday.

Ucon is sooo sick, how can u afford to make such nice clothes, do u have a good job other wise

Not a lot of people know that we have been around for over five years. And honestly we have put every single cent that we have made back into the company. Nobody involved in Ucon lives from that money. All of us do other stuff besides to finance our lives. That was part of the plan. Since day one, we wanted to build up Ucon as a strong rollerblading brand, and if we took out money all the time, it would not be possible to grow in the way we do. So we built up Ucon from 0. My brother, Martin and I put in 1000 Euro. That’s how we began – and now we have a 70 items strong collection. Yeah, somethimes it’s crazy when you think about it.

Will you make a winter collection with a big jacket or gloves this year?? No rolling company does that stuff......

We will have a jacket, but probably not a big winter jacket. We thought about it several times, but it is to expensive to make a really good winter jacket in low quantities.

I heard your dog was killed while filming for Clip 3.
Why didn't you mention it in the outro?
"What did really happen during the dog-incident?"
Do you think it was worth it?

Hmm, I have no dog, never had one, and I can guarantee no dog was killed while filming for issue 3.

When will we see a Ucon dvd?

We will see what’s coming up this summer. What I can promise is that we will definitely do something. Not an exclusively Ucon-based DVD, but there is coming something for sure.

What's in the future with Ucon. Why is it that you decided to make UCON so unique unlike so many other clothing companies out there?

Because it’s the difference I like about it. It’s pretty much with everything. I just like to do it a different way to everybody else. Skate, Life, Ucon... it’s all about doing something new, something that nobody else is doing. If you drop new things, something can develop, something can grow. It’s time to bring rollerblading up on it’s own feet, and that’s what is so difficult about it. Don’t copy all the shit which has been there before. Give rollerblading a new face. That’s the only way to get the respect back rollerblading deserves. For sure, it is the hardest way, no doubt. And it will take a lot more years till I see rollerblading get to where it can go. But I will try to help with my friends to move something.

Haha that "di di dididi rididi rididi " was so funny.
Did you do that after you landed that 270 back royal?

YES.

Do you know jimmy shuda?

Unfortunately not. But I think he is a cool guy!



What´s the haps with you giving high fives at the ispo all the time?!

Flobe, I just do that for you.
See you on the 16th of July on the ISPO again for high five, dude. That is if you can walk again after the big UCON RELEASE Party on the 15th!

Jochen, I can't get the J-line stripe hoodie anywhere in size L. Can you give me yours? Or get me one. Please. I'll do anything for it. You sent most of the remaining stock to the dirty Yanks since they finally caught on to how sick UCON is.

How about:
If you have a readers pic on be-mag with any Ucon garment I will send you my J-line hoodie. 3,2,1...GO!

Are you already selling ucon stuff to boutiques? I think many "non rollers" will pick up your stuff.

Yeah, we sell it to some, but really not that many. We are working on it, but this „fashion“ market is still one step to big for us. It’s very difficult to get in. The margins are really crazy – and for companies which produce all their goods in Europe it’s almost impossible. But yeah, we are on it, and we try to get more of them.

How the hell do you pronounce your name?
Watch the new trailer for the fall collection and you will hear it.

Be-mag would like to thank Jochen for taking the time and answering all these questions.

Check out this exclusive clip and see what Jochen has to say about the new UCON summer line. Oh yeah and there's a big UCON prizegiving coming up so be on the lookout for this.

Photos: Lukas v. Monkiewitsch

Tags: clip ispo jochen smuda lukas von monkiewitsch ucon xsjado