Things have changed. BEINGHUNTED is a German street culture site dedicated to “collecting, curating, archiving, and communicating to and with like-minded people.” Evolved from a simple site filled with pictures and dubbed “Stunt,” owner Jörg Haas has developed BEINGHUNTED into the ultimate digital library of street culture’s accomplishments. Including a 2005 interview with Bobby Hundreds on his then up-and-coming company, The Hundreds.
In the sit down with the 25-year-old Bobby Hundreds, they discuss the brand’s Southern California context, the importance of zines evolving into blogs, Bobby’s plans to introduce a paper magazine, the Internet’s role in a self-stimulating society, and more. But the common thread between now and 11 years ago is Bobby’s purpose for The Hundreds—to stress people over product, to bring a real, tangible sense of community into a digital age. And to highlight that sense of camaraderie, the article includes a slideshow of familiar The Hundreds’ family members wearing our colors during the start of it all. Read the full interview here and check out some highlights below:
For decades, punks and grassroots-minded young people have responded with ‘zines (independently-published photocopied magazines). I’ve also utilized ‘zines to express myself when I felt like no one was listening, or worse, no one could hear me. The internet just made it a lot easier. In essence, every website is its own ‘zine, and now, everyone can claim their stake in the public space. I just read an article the other day that said within the next few years, internet speed is going to increase by 1600%. It’s a little scary, but also empowering. Now, we’re all on the same page, literally and figuratively.
“Nothing is new under the sun.” The past few years have been awash in camouflage, limited-edition, minimalism, sneakers, and graffiti-turned-gallery art. The kids are getting bored, uninspired, and scrambling for something fresh to sink their teeth into. It’s pretty exciting because we’re at a really strange, grey, place in the underground. I mean, c’mon, Bape has a store in America, and a website? New York has about 35 sneaker/T-shirt boutiques within a 5-mile radius. The music scene is dead: Pop MTV, radio, and listener complacency have left us with a skeleton of what real music is. It’s probably because we don’t really have anything to respond to. Our children are fat, PSP’d out, and clueless as to what the government is up to. We’re so fixated on our possessions, self-stimulation, and instant gratification, that we’ve lost all sense of community and progression.
With our magazine, we’re intent on featuring people, not just companies or faceless products. Behind every creative endeavor, someone’s imagination is at work, and we try to give that exposure. The vast majority of the individuals we profile are close, personal friends of ours. We’ve kicked it with, or worked together, with these people for years, and we strongly believe in what they do. Just like you’d want to see your own brother or sister succeed, we feel the same about our friends.
Perhaps the most inescapable trend is the Internet. Like Jupiter said, “the internet is f**king things up”. Beside taking all the fun out of our secret-handshake subculture by uprooting the underground and exposing it to the masses, the worst thing about the Internet Age is the loss of community. The one thing that unites all subculture and progressive trends is a solid community. I learned the art of building relationships through punk shows, skateboarding in abandoned parking lots, and hip-hop events. Nowadays, kids dork out behind computer monitors in cyberspace cliques. It’s gonna be interesting to see where this takes us. With all the information, we may be getting smarter, but our social cohesiveness is facing darker days. To bring things full circle, The Hundreds is here to counter that. We’re building a lifestyle here, not just a clothing line or magazine… taking things back to what’s important, and what’s real.
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