A fresh start.

It's been a time of transition at Out Of Step over the last few months. Having just about survived the winter living in the sticks, we're as happy to leave it behind as anyone.

I started Out Of Step just over 3 years ago when I returned from a few months in LA. At that point it was just Z-Boy shoes - don't worry a lot of other people missed it too - and I moved to Brighton where myself and Brewer set-up the original Out Of Step HQ in the Fight Club style Sillwood Street. You can see a picture of our living room above.

Soon after Z-Boy a chance meeting in New York with Chris Pastras and Jason Lee lead to us taking on a newly independent Stereo Sound Agency. This prompted Wes joining us, an old friend of mine and certified Skategeek.

Over the next year or so we spent time collecting many brands in skateboarding and streetwear. In hindsight, perhaps a few too many, but you live and learn and to be honest I had no idea what I was doing in the early days. Some brands might be surprised to hear this, other might think it makes a lot of sense...

Fast forward to Summer 08 and having outgrown Sillwood Street (the picture of our living room kinda illustrates this) we moved to The Old Coach House in Bristol. We still have a living room full of clothes rails and boxes, but it's a little more comfortable than the last place!

Moving forward I decided there was a need to focus on our streetwear brands, because I'm really stoked to be working with all our brands and they're going from strength to strength, it felt like skateboard hardware wasn't getting the attention in needed. The other reality is as much as skatebarding is dear to my heart, my involvement is in nostaglia terms these days. An occasional roll around does not make me a skateboarder - take note anyone that goes to Newquay once a year, you are not a surfer. The upshot of this is that Wes has moved on to work with the hardware brands under the new banner of Rock Solid Distribution. Myself and Brewer wish Wes every success in his new venture, and you can be sure to find Wes skating all the time, so somehow it all adds up that bit better.

We've got a few exciting things in the pipeline, which will become clear over time. Times are tough all over, but we're still just battling to keep up with the work. Not that I'd take too much credit for that, all we do pass on the great product our brands are putting out season after season.

A new phase, and a new blog. I'll try to keep this up to date with key news, like us having a veg patch in the garden, or when next doors dog comes to visit. All the important stuff. Maybe even a little stuff about clothes.

thanks to anyone that has supported us over the first 3 years.

Ross and Brewer
Out Of Step