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OFFSPRING MEETS @SKG.JPEG

3 December 2025

We chat to OFFSPRING Community member Sandy a.k.a @skg.jpeg about all things DJing, community, and sneakers.

Where are you from and what do you do for a living?

I'm a British-Panjabi Sikh currently living in the 0121 (Birmingham). I was born here, but my life has zigzagged across the UK - childhood in the North East, adulthood in London, and a now a quieter (but somehow still chaotic) chapter back in Brum.

I’ve always been someone who wears many hats (and probably always will), but right now the easiest way to put it is: full-time accountant and part-time DJ.

Tell us about yourself

This question always makes me laugh because it feels impossible to fit myself into a paragraph. I’m the daughter of immigrant parents who ran a corner shop and poured everything they had into giving us a life they never got to experience. I grew up in a place where barely anyone looked like me, so music quickly became my escape. I’d put my earphones in and the world would soften - everything felt possible in those moments because I was able to create a world of my own.

As a child of the diaspora, I’ve always connected to both sides of me - the British and the Panjabi. I think having this dual identity is what has allowed me to always accept my multi-faceted nature. I’m a big believer of never putting yourself in a box no matter how much people want you to be defined by one thing. I think the beauty of being human is that you can be many things at once.

Growing up the internet became my window outwards - showing me people who loved the same things, who felt the same things, or who unknowingly opened my eyes to other ways of life and issues just by existing online. Over time, I’ve become this culmination of cultures, sounds, and people.

Eclectic is the best way to describe me. My music, my style, my humour, my heart - all stitched together from moments and memories from my life, and the people in it. I’d also say I’m an introverted extrovert.

What influenced you as a kid, what got you into sneakers?

I wish I had a single defining “this is what started it all” story, but honestly my love for sneakers and streetwear just felt like something that lived in me from the start. Growing up on rap and hip hop, you naturally start noticing what the people you see in music videos and magazines have on their body and feet - it becomes part of the culture you fall in love with.

But if there’s one person who really shaped it, it’s my brother. He’s the coolest person I’ve ever known, and honestly without even trying. When our dad had a stroke when I was seven, my brother stepped into a role he never asked for but carried so gracefully. He was my big brother, my protector, my style icon… my unspoken guide. So much of who I am is because of him. He gave me my first insight into what sneakers were and is the reason I have so many cool vintage pieces because they were originally his. He had some cool pairs growing up, and I remember just gawking at them whenever he wasn’t home - inspecting them in awe of design and material.

People assume all Indian families grow up comfortable, but that wasn’t our story. We didn’t have much at all - I was on free school meals and most of my clothes were hand-me-downs. But immigrant kids know how to make something out of nothing. We know how to be creative before we even know what creativity is. I used to sit on NikeID after school making colourways I knew I’d never be able to buy - I’d save the picture, post it on Facebook, and dream a little dream with zero expectations.

It was simply a process to fulfill and satisfy something within me.

If you had told younger me that one day I’d collab with Nike and have more pairs than I’m willing to publicly admit… I genuinely wouldn’t believe it.

What cultural/music event do you look forward to the most in the year?

For music, it’s The Originals Festival. There’s something so pure about people who just genuinely love music and want to create good energy. Shoutout to Feeva (@papafeevs) and the whole team - they’ve built something special, and are a massive inspiration to me. For culture, it’s Diwali/Bandi Chhor Divas. No matter what’s happening in life, or where my people are in the world, that time of year feels like being wrapped in warmth. A reminder that light will always find its way through, even when things feel heavy. It brings a sense of peace you can feel in the air.

What has been your favourite event to DJ at?

Without a doubt the Jawani4Eva (@jawani4eva) x Kolam Paris (@kolamparis) event this summer for Fête de la Musique. Paris is a place that changed me - I lived there during my uni exchange and it shaped my music taste, my independence, my love for raving and my identity overall.

Going back a decade later as a DJ felt surreal. It was like life quietly brought me full circle. I felt like I was holding all the versions of me; the student, the brown kid who dreamed via her headphones, the woman I’ve grown into - all in one moment.

My set was my love letter to my Panjabi people, my British roots, and the city that once cracked my world open. I’m forever grateful to Sukh (@intsukh J4E founder) for giving me that moment.

What advice would you give someone who is starting out as a DJ?

In the words of Nike, just do it. Don’t get lost in the technical stuff straight away. If you want to DJ, then DJ.

Learn your basics and get comfy with them - then the rest will follow. You do have to put the hours in though, as with anything you want to do - digging for new music, practising transitions… experimenting. But if you genuinely love music and creating a vibe for people, you’ll be fine.

And don’t rush the journey. Don’t get into it thinking you’re gonna go viral and be an international superstar in six months. Stay in your lane, keep your head down, be consistent. Your time will come the way it’s meant to.

A lot of people fear playing to empty rooms, but they’re the moments where you get to practice your sound because it’s just you and your music. Embrace them!

You're a strong female figure in the community. How have you navigated the space?

First of all, thank you, that’s really sweet. It’s funny because I’ve never consciously navigated it because I was never treated differently to the men in my family. I was raised with the same expectations, the same freedoms, the same belief in myself. So being in male spaces never felt like something I had to “overcome.”

I’m very aware of the privilege of not just having a seat at certain tables as a woman, but having a voice at them, and I don’t take that lightly. In fact it’s why I started my podcast HerStoryInSneakers back in the day - to showcase women who don’t have the same mentality or privilege due to their life experiences. I think for me it works because I’m unapologetically myself. I don’t dilute my personality, my humour, my style or my taste. What you see is exactly what you get - I’m loud when I want to be loud, and I’m soft when I want to be soft. I can exist in all spaces because I’m the product of so many people and places.

My life is basically one long thank-you letter to the men who raised me - my dad, my brother, my family. They protected me without clipping my wings. They taught me to ask “why not?” instead of “can I?”

Why can’t I DJ?

Why can’t I ride a motorbike in India?

Why can’t I do the things that guys do?

At this point, I don’t think twice. I go where I want because I know I belong there. And some of it is privilege and timing, but I also work hard to keep the spaces I’ve earned. I respect people who respect me, and never shrink myself to a version that would be more palatable. If there was ever a man that wanted to question why females should be involved, I’d want them to look at me and understand that this is why, because of what I bring to the table in knowledge, heart and perspective.

You collaborated with Nike and created your own Air Sandy. Tell us more, is there anything you would do differently this time around?

We made that shoe during lockdown in 2020, which is wild to think about. If I could do it again, I’d make it more community-driven - more of my own people/friends involved in the marketing/advertisement and more opportunities for others (especially the youth) to experience it with me…

But the shoe itself? I wouldn’t touch it. I’m so proud of what I created. Anytime I see that pair I can’t believe it came from me! I believe it’s the first Nike to ever be designed by a Panjabi, so I feel blessed to have been able to do that for my community.Seeing that people still wear it regularly five years later, including serious 110 collectors around the world, means more to me than I could ever explain.

It's the 30th anniversary of the 95. How comes you chose the silhouette?

Well to be completely honest the choice was between the 90 and the 110, and for me personally I couldn’t represent London with anything other than the 110 for the fact it’s a staple of the city, worn by all types of people doing all types of things.

I feel like it also allowed me to do more with the design in terms of colourway because I could layer the tones on the upper to give a gradient effect to mimic the transition a lot of people go through internally simply living in London - which was the foundation of my design.

It’s been nice to see a resurgence of the 110 since.

You've been a community member for a long time now, what's been your highlight?

Damn, where do I even start? I’ve been aboutttt for a minute, hahaha. There have been so many hilarious, chaotic, wholesome moments, especially at events.

But my real highlights are the old-school comment section days - everyone roasting each other, having debates over nothing, making memes and then turning up at pickups or events acting like we’d been friends for years.

The Off-White Converse event was sick and the Adidas parties were to this day some of the best I’ve been to - workshops, DJs, great goodies to take home.

Proper golden era vibes.

What does community mean to you?

Everything. Truly everything. I wouldn’t be who I am without the communities I belong to - my religious one, my cultural one, my music one, my gamer one.... They each hold a different piece of me.

Everything I do is rooted in community, whether it’s for women or the youth or my fellow Panjabis. For many people it’s just a word but for me it’s my whole existence.I lost my dad earlier this year and I can say with my whole chest that my community carried me. They held me when the world felt unbearable. They gave me reasons to smile when it felt impossible.

Without them, I don’t know how I would’ve made it through this year. They’re proof that family isn’t just who you’re born into - it’s who you grow with, who shows up and more importantly who stays.