1. My name is, and my current line of work is:
"My name is Artoo, well not my real name but the one that gets pinned on posters or flyers when I dj or do posters or something like that. My line of work is a lot of things it is most def not a line, well at least not a straight one. I do tons of stuff that keeps me afloat, I do graphics, curate exhibitions, dj here and there sometimes I get paid for just saying what I think, sometimes I make coffee in Berlin's best bike shop, Keirin. The times have changed profoundly there is no more one line of work, if you want to stand out you have to tapped into more than one thing..."
2. I usually start off my days by:
"I try to get up early (which is not always happening), when the weather is good I get on the bike and try to get 70-100 km done, then good breakfast, then laptop open, mails, twitter, facebook "the works." Then mostly I try to hook up with some friends over coffee in the sun, newspaper and some croissants. Back to the bike shop, check if new product is needed, iphone check for mail, twitter update, back to the flat bibs and jersey into the washer more reading (mostly online) and basically around four in the afternoon my real work starts, illustrating something or laying out other things until late night."
...and then end them with:
"I usually fall asleep with the hands still on the keyboard."
3. The one thing that attracts me to your work is that your a guy of many talents. Explain the one you find to be the most beneficial to your success and why?
"The talent I have is maybe not really work related but my mom always says I inherited from my dad that we are "people collectors", meaning wherever we go we make friends around the globe. I guess my biggest talent is to be open towards other people and always trying to be warm hearted and friendly. That took me a time to learn as well but it helps a great deal when you travel lots. It also helps when you can be at home with yourself, may sound."
4. Landing a blog on Hypebeast has been one of my career goals for some time now, explain how this came about?
"Like all things come about mostly in my life, I did not plan to be on Hypebeast I just got to know some nice people and since I have been around doing what I do forever, they asked me to be a part of it. Since I like to give my thoughts and random rants out to all the time anyway it came sort of naturally I guess. I love being with my Hong Kong friends, even if its only virtual."
5. When I was were younger I had dreams of becoming a:
"When I was a kid I dreamt of being a ship designer, designing yachts and sailing boats, I always had a thing for the sea."
6. What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment to date?
"That I had a girl who married me, my son and after these things there is not much more that can come up there really, its about that, yep. The other accomplishment I am most proud of is that I rode my bike from London to Paris in two days with the ctrs crew. It was one of the most amazing things I have done and it tore down so many mental barriers that these two days changed my life profoundly."
7. In a recent episode of Maestro Knows, I got to see many of the things that Berlin had to offer. What do you like most about it and why?
"Berlin is my town, I was born and raised here, this is a special city that will take care of you in ways you can never imagine but you have to give some love back to the city as well. Berlin never let me down, ever. The city is relaxed to a point."
8. Who do you think has the biggest name in music today, and why?
"To be honest the biggest name would be Kanye, he transcends from being a musician to being a brand, I mean come on he became a fashion icon, if he pulls off pink spandex tomorrow, the whole world will be in need of pink bike shorts. He became a messiah of sorts, why I do not know since the music and lyrics are not so much different from other rappers, only my two cents here though (sorry to offend anyone here by my own taste ;)) His music is not extraordinary I think but his marketing is off another planet, he made all the right moves all the time, Kanye is a brand name with the"Midas Touch."
9. What can we expect to see from "Artoo" in the future?
"I did a shoe for the Nike ctrs project which will come out in November, cant show you the sample, still too early I guess, more writing and mos def more pics from around the globe, there will be more stuff for sure as well with my boys from "GOrilla" Bikes in Switzerland, and since i'm up to no good tons of mischief as I go along, always in the best possible way..."
10. What advice do you have for a person like my self who wants to make a career using their blog, and possibly work for Hypebeast?
"Thing is honestly man, you have a good thing going here, maybe soon people will come to you to see if you have a blog section. Hypebeast is the top of the pops i'll give you that but there will always be people like you and all the other blogs out there that will make them work harder and even harder because they see that there are guys like you out there and that's good. You give them a healthy competition. They have to be on their toes all the time and when you keep up your game the way you do people will come to you and ask you for a blog section here!"
5. When I was were younger I had dreams of becoming a:
"When I was a kid I dreamt of being a ship designer, designing yachts and sailing boats, I always had a thing for the sea."
6. What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment to date?
"That I had a girl who married me, my son and after these things there is not much more that can come up there really, its about that, yep. The other accomplishment I am most proud of is that I rode my bike from London to Paris in two days with the ctrs crew. It was one of the most amazing things I have done and it tore down so many mental barriers that these two days changed my life profoundly."
7. In a recent episode of Maestro Knows, I got to see many of the things that Berlin had to offer. What do you like most about it and why?
"Berlin is my town, I was born and raised here, this is a special city that will take care of you in ways you can never imagine but you have to give some love back to the city as well. Berlin never let me down, ever. The city is relaxed to a point."
8. Who do you think has the biggest name in music today, and why?
"To be honest the biggest name would be Kanye, he transcends from being a musician to being a brand, I mean come on he became a fashion icon, if he pulls off pink spandex tomorrow, the whole world will be in need of pink bike shorts. He became a messiah of sorts, why I do not know since the music and lyrics are not so much different from other rappers, only my two cents here though (sorry to offend anyone here by my own taste ;)) His music is not extraordinary I think but his marketing is off another planet, he made all the right moves all the time, Kanye is a brand name with the"Midas Touch."
9. What can we expect to see from "Artoo" in the future?
"I did a shoe for the Nike ctrs project which will come out in November, cant show you the sample, still too early I guess, more writing and mos def more pics from around the globe, there will be more stuff for sure as well with my boys from "GOrilla" Bikes in Switzerland, and since i'm up to no good tons of mischief as I go along, always in the best possible way..."
10. What advice do you have for a person like my self who wants to make a career using their blog, and possibly work for Hypebeast?
"Thing is honestly man, you have a good thing going here, maybe soon people will come to you to see if you have a blog section. Hypebeast is the top of the pops i'll give you that but there will always be people like you and all the other blogs out there that will make them work harder and even harder because they see that there are guys like you out there and that's good. You give them a healthy competition. They have to be on their toes all the time and when you keep up your game the way you do people will come to you and ask you for a blog section here!"
Sid Ashford: Artoo is a really down to earth guy, and extra cool. I want to thank him for taking the time out to particpate, and for the encouraging words on pursuing my blog. You can follow him on Twitter, check his Hypebeast Blog, as well as his site TheUnlimited.
