FFWD Exclusive: WE ARE LEVEL

Nowadays, it’s far from easy to stay ontop of a good clothing company; most seem to thin out in just a few months, possibly due to graphics, their ‘team’ or not having the faintest idea how to run a company.

Over the past few months, there is one particular brand who, in my eyes, has earned itself a respectable and recognisable name in an extremely short time.

Fast Forward is proud to announce, the addition to our close family of sponsors, ‘WE ARE LEVEL’.

I shot over a few questions to find out a little more about the company, and the guys were kind enough to let us take a sneak peak at whats around the corner, walk with me..

Q. So, who’s behind ‘We Are Level’ and how did it all start?

A. ‘We are Level’ is two Cousins, Justin & Nathan Barrow both  nuts  
on BIKES, from retro SKYWAYS to Downhill rigs, Super Bikes to Classic 
Cars, we ain’t too bad at sliding around on Snowboards too.

The idea’s been on the boil with Justin off and on for 4 years years 
now in various forms, Justin was working as an Art Director/Graphic Designer 
and working 17+ hours with a long commute was killing him, literally, 
so he quit, call it a crisis or maybe it was the bottle of JD a week, 
but it had to happen.

I had suffered a large motorcyle accident in May 2008 at Rockingham 
motorspeedway and recieved a payout from my extreme sport insurance. 
Various pain killers, long nights, Long weeks and blur of Months, 
(can’t believe its been a fucking year) and quite a few thousand pounds later, ‘We are Level’ was born.

Q.You have a few really impressive team members, a variety of styles
and some afar as the Netherlands, how did all these riders end up
becoming part of ‘We Are Level’?

A. Justin and I wanted “We are Level” to be not just a team but a
family and also a variety of styles, not just a team that just rides
park. We have the Eldest Jay Eggleston (Evil Jay) riding Vert, right
through to the youngest being Josh Turner riding Dirt. We also have
Mark Vos (Street),Tian Moses (Park), Oskars Zararskis (Dirt & Park),
Ollie Palmer (Park), Michael Faliszewski (Street and Park) and Calvin
Rogers (DH). I got together a wish list of riders I really liked and
got in touch with them.

Q. What’s new for ‘We Are Level’?

A. Everything is going a bit crazy at the moment, I have been working
on deals in the U.S, Canada, Australia, Asia and most of Europe. I
have talked to loads of different companies but as with our team
riders it needs to feel right or it won’t work.

Q. All the graphics, photos, designs etc. seem really unique, who’s
behind all of that and how did the look start?

A. I do all the good designs and Justin does the one’s you don’t like.
Ha, ha, ha. Nah, Justin is the Creative Director, he has created 
identity for our Brand.  (he also need to pull his fucking jeans up! 
and stop drinking all the coffee)  Togeher we have a very clear idea 
of our Identity and justin is consistently working on new projects to 
enforce this.  His influences” I’ll sum it up,  or he will
babble on about how is environment influences his work BLAH BLAH” it 
starts with an unhealthy love of old BMX’s the electric era of the 
80′s, mix tapes and homemade VHS tapes, kitch chic and any thing mixed 
with fresh Geo metric patterns.

Also a good ride at the park defiantly give us inspiration and ideas,
and time out of the studio to talk with out a fucking phone ringing!

Q. Describe a typical day at the ‘We Are Level’ office:

Ha, ha, ha. It’s generally a blur of swearing (mostly me), paper
flying round the room (mostly Justin).  Were always working on ideas 
for comps, creating graphics, working on edits and layouts, zines 
stickers and the admin side of dealing with selling
product all over the world. Chatting on facebook with the
team riders who dont live in the U.K, folding our T’s into their
special packaging and dealing with a never ending list of Emails!! 
That or were out riding!

Q. Any plans for the year ahead? Riders, trips, videos, new lines  etc.?

Yeah World Domination!!

We are looking at getting another family member onboard who we have
had our eye on for a while now, also a trip out with the guys to
somewhere warm. We have a video which is being finalised and should be
ready soon. We also have the guys riding at FISE, BMX Masters and
NASS. We have a bunch of new T’s not on the website yet which are
ready for wholesale purchase and another 5-6 on the drawing board
which we are really excited about.

Q.Any thanks? And how do I go about getting a ‘We Are Level’ shirt?

A. Loads, but special thanks have to go to our families. These being
the ones that put up with us working 24/7 and being grumpy bastards
and our BMX family who give everything they have everytime they ride
and sometimes shed blood for the cause.

Ha, ha, ha. Let me know  where i can get a Gen 2 Torker Sport, your
size and i will send one over.

www.wearelevel.com

Check back tomorrow to get a sneak peak at We Are Level’s new soft goods… Only on FFWD!!