We chat to videographer, all-round creative ‘techie’ and Offspring Community member Tyronne Leon-Fernandez.
What do you do as a job?
I am a Videographer, Drone Pilot, Photographer and XR Content Creator which encompasses Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality.
How long have you been into sneakers and how did you get into them?
I have been into sneakers since the mid 90’s. I would definitely say a sneaker admirer way earlier because of sports, movies and TV but like a lot of parents, they wouldn’t buy me expensive kicks because “you won’t look after them!” But that was never me, I always wanted my shoes to look new for as long as possible. I remember the first pair my mum got me that I begged and begged for, and finally succeeded!
It’s 1996... Atlanta USA and the Olympic Games. Michael Johnson has his gold running spikes on ready to smash the 200m record. I’m rocking Team USA branded Nike Air Max Triax 96. My personal favourite shoe ever!
Other reasons for the shoes I liked came from looking closely at what my school friends wore back then. I can only ever remember sports stars having influence on the style in my playground, obviously Jordan & the Chicago Bulls were massive – the NBA was on the whole.
I progressed to Reebok Hexalite. I had some dope looking BB Reeboks with icy transparent blue soles – Bump n Run if I can remember. Casually it was Reebok Classics, Air Max and not forgetting the adidas Galaxy early models because a lot of shoes didn’t release in the UK back then. Air Jordans were a rare sight.
Then we leap through a low period of collecting for me in the late 90’s wearing Converse and Vans. Then I fell back in love with sneakers all over again when I moved to London early 2000’s and of all places, hitting the gym being the catalyst. I would rummage the sales stock at Offspring on Neal Street looking for something new to wear, to double up as a good walk around shoe and for gym stuff.
New gym sneakers got me in the gym. It was a great excuse to buy more and felt like being back at school – status through cool looking footwear… but maybe others didn’t have same thinking as I did.
Then to more currently times, I became a massive fan of runners with the Flyknit and Primeknit, but classics stay that way and I was still a massive fan of the Air Max. Wearing runners became casual because of Kanye and Ultra Boost, and my head turned more to wearing things less for the gym and more out and about, stepping out in Jordans, Yeezys and New Balance. I wasn’t set on a single brand.
Do you have an early sneaker memory?
Being taken to a shoe store called ‘Bacons’ and being brought shoes from brands like Gola and Hi-Tech. Shoes I definitely didn’t want as my friends would be wearing Nike or adidas but I couldn’t afford my own so obviously accepted it. Not to sound ungrateful to my parents at all, I think it just caused me to be more selective and be as up to date with releases with the sneakers as possible.
Do you have a sneaker regret? What is your sneaker grail?
My biggest sneaker regret is a difficult one. I have missed out on some amazing pairs over the years, shoes like the Sean Wotherspoon Air Max and Union Jordan 1 but I have learnt that your money is still in the bank for the next one, which is right around the corner. It’s hard to let them go. Still, not every pair I miss out on I let go of lightly. I guess I regret not having that mental fortitude to handle the L sooner.
Now my sneaker grail. Grail is thrown around far to loosely these days. I think the definition has been diluted somewhat. I feel they should be something to admire, are hard to attain and must have a story. My grail is a very obvious one for a kid of the 80’s, with a love for movies and technology. It’s the one shoe that I’m sure I will never have the privilege to own sadly.
Back to the Future Part 2 was a movie I loved. Originally set in 1985, it took us forward in time to 2015, where Power Laces are a thing! I was blown away by what I would see as the Nike MAG (Magnetic Anti Gravity). A fantasy sneaker, something I dreamed of as a kid into my teens.
With two eventual releases, a first limited run without the adapt technology (auto lace) in 2011 and then a highly limited release of the auto lace version via raffle in 2016. That shoe sits as high as it gets for me. I’m grateful to have a pair of the Adapt BB in the Mag colourway and the first ever Air auto lace shoe in the Auto Max. Some believe the MAG had AIR Tech but it wasn’t included in the shoe even though Air tech existed.
What sneakers are in your rotation currently?
Current rotation are the Red Stripe Yeezy 350 V2, New Balance 327 in a few colourways and the Travis Scott x Air Jordan Low Reverse Mocha. Had to earn that Travis WIN big time! Check out my Offspring creative comp entry below.
What else are you into other than sneakers?
Most of my hobbies revolve around technology. Obviously I love being creative with video and photos. I’m fully into VR and what’s coming in that world but currently I’m really focused on learning to fly FPV drones, the racing type that fly extremely fast. You have to wear goggles to fly and have minimal safeguards, so very easy to crash! I want to master it to a degree and add another level to my film making.
We see all your video content online. How long have you been doing this?
I have had a video camera in my hand since single digits, stealing my family camcorder to capture holidays from a Ty perspective. I don’t think that passion ever left me and led me to start the Ty Kix YouTube channel in 2016, doing vlogs, news and sneaker reviews. It was a great place to hone my video editing skills and try and produce better content all the time.
How did you get started?
Anyone who wants to start making content most likely has the key to it in their pocket. I used my phone for video and photos for over a year at the very beginning and refused to spend money on my channel unless I was going to use that equipment beyond just YouTube videos. At the start I wasn’t working in videography full time, so it didn’t make sense to waste money.
My first purchase was a lapel mic to connect to my phone. Audio is key to good videos, you don’t have to make the most cinematic video for it to be watchable but if the audio and music is bad, most switch off fast. After a year and half I picked up a better point and shoot camera and the rest is history, I’ve never looked back on making videos.
Whats been the greatest and hardest things you’ve had to come across
The greatest and hardest personally are the same thing really, being a parent while still having the desire to keep do the things I love, mainly due to having the time. It’s amazing to be able to teach and instil some of my passions into them but understanding they are young and managing them around my work and personal life ain’t easy.
My boy has plenty of amazing sneakers that he will hand down to his younger sister soon enough but I also want him to pick shoes he likes the look of, so he works out his own taste.
Whats next for you?
Next is hard to say. I would likely say the Ty Kix channel has a more relaxed schedule with video releases due to life and working commitments. I will be working towards more video creation soon and everyone’s support of the channel is amazing. I want to do more collaborations, so if anyone want to get involved, I’m open to doing some amazing things with people in the community and beyond.
What does community mean to you?
The term ‘community’ to me means being social in any way you feel happy to be. It doesn’t have to be all the time because we all have lives but what I mean is, don’t be shy to get involved and talk to people. They will have many things in common with you.
You will make some great friendships that can be more valuable than any pair of shoes you’ll own.
I may be behind the camera when I’m at events most of the time in person but I encourage anyone to say come say hi. You don’t have to be on camera to talk to me but if you want to… I’m happy to capture passionate people in their places.
Check out more from Tyronne on Instagram @ty_kix
