Interview - Nicolas Buechi/September Wheels

1.Rad and loud greetings from Peru,Nicolas! How going the things there?

Pretty good right now, we are celebrating ten years of September Wheels right now. The Beast DIY spot is growing, the whole DIY scene is growing, so everything is pretty fine.

2.Tell us how you start September Wheels? How were the beginnings?

It started in early 2008. I was going to a skatespot in Winterthur with my friend Kägi, and we talked about doing something by ourselves, to have our own thing, local and skaterowned. I was thinking more and more about the project from that moment on, ordered wheel samples from different companies, tested them, checked out how to print, and in March 2008, I set up my own printing machine on the table in my small room. It was a lot of work, followed by all the promo work, website, etc. But the response was great, people liked the wheels, shops started to order, and after a while, it got too big to print them all by myself. The team was in the beginning close friends, as Sven Moser and Paul Buner. But it grew rapidly. I never thought it would be a real brand, with people knowing it, like you do in Peru. People even got the logo tatooed, which impresses me so much. I just wanted to do something for myself, not for the money, just for the love of skateboarding.

3.September Wheels at the moment have a team?

Right now, there is not a real team anymore. Most of the people that were on the team in the beginning are now also 10 years older. And it was always a kind of friends team. But it is important to know all the people who supported September Wheels all the time as team riders. They promoted it on events, asked the shops for orders, pushed it on social media. I’m so thankful for all this support and their work. THANK YOU!

I hope I get all the names together. But the team was Sven Moser, Paul Buner, Damien Morger, Sylvain Morger, Jan Solenthaler, Robin Fischer, Reto Bösch, Ivo Weibel, Lukas Halter, Moritz Greber, Mirco Bitterli, Marco Hofer, Martin Lucuk, Hector Heredia, Alex Treter, Pero Jurkic, Domenic Hänni, Christoph Spiess, Chrigel Strupler and the intern, Theis! Thank you guys.

4.Explain some more about the DIY and Underground Skateboarding scene from your city.

Zurich has a really good and vibrant skate scene. There are many different groups, and they are really active. Like the Aitsch gang, Adi Good is always doing stuff, or the Doraydoe, always pushing out new videos. But also labels like The Straight and Narrow or the Frischholz and the Roll-Laden shop are always working on something, creating little events, movie premieres and this motivates people. Also girl gangs like the Shreddermoez are always skating and motivated. I think there is now a really good vibe in the Zurich skate scene. There are really a a lot of really good street spots, some small parks, The Beast DIY, and the big skatepark Brunau. The level is really high, everyone is really skilled. You see this also in big names as Kilian Zehnder and Sven Kilchenmann. They grew up here, pushing now clips out on Thrasher as Kilian, but still, they come back for mellow sessions in Zurich. I think this says a lot about the friends thing. Or Sven, who is teaching kids at the skatepark. The scene really grows the next generation by themselves.

5.Nicolas apart from September Wheels you have another proyect paralell?

Oh yeah, I always have a lot of different projects going on. I just finished a little bowl in the countryside near Zurich, and now I’m working on another little bowl project in Switzerland. Besides that, I’m still involved with art, photography and filming. And in the winter time, go snowboarding as much as possible. Zurich is really close to the mountains, so it’s good for me. When its cold and snowy, and you can’t go skateboarding anymore, we go snowboarding. I started to build my own snowboards a while ago, and I think my next bigger project will be in this direction.

6.You know the DIY and Underground Skateboarding scene from Southamerica?

Actually, not really much. We never had a distribution in South America, only some people from Brazil were ordering wheels. The only person I know doing stuff is Martin Nuñes from Ludica skate in Mexico City. He really does great stuff, they just released their new video Bananas. But I heard from Sam van Lani, that there will be a new DIY build in Peru this autumn. I know, that the punk and DIY culture is really big in South America, so I think, there must be also a lot of DIY skateprojects, and for sure, many good and motivated people.

7.How and where the maniacs can find the merch from September Wheels?

I’m just working to get the September Wheels website back online, as it got hacked… But follow us on instagram and facebook, there you will find the most updated information. And to buy stuff, just drop me an email to: nicolas@septemberwheels.com.

8.Morbid future plans?

Yeah, always a lot of plans. Build new concrete stuff, go skateboarding as much as possible, drink cold beer with good people. I try to find my own little peace in the world, enjoy skateboarding, snowboarding and the creativity that comes with it. I really would like to travel more, see more special places, meet likeminded people. I hope the Beast DIY stays for some more time, or if not, build something new.

9.Nicolas,thanks for your time in this interview,last words bro!

I really would like to thank all the people in the world, who supported September Wheels. It’s this people, that made it happen, that made it known. With just me, it would be nothing. All these people, riding the wheels, helping building stuff, these are the good people. Skateboarding is always a community thing. That’s the cool thing about it. Props to all the people who love skateboarding and who push it everyday! Yes!