Guided by a relentless pursuit of ever-improved motion, New Balance continues in its quest to redefine the future landscape of footwear, pushing hybrid design language to its limits. Hailing from South East London’s underground music scene, we visited Sam Akpro and his band in their Camberwell studio, where they spotlighted some of the Boston label’s emerging lineages for AW26 – 1890, 1890A & Gator Run.

Fusing archival aesthetics with bold, architectural-inspired details, the label has been busy curating a progressive lineup that’s as playful as it is pragmatic. Complementing this era of unconfined creativity, we chatted to Sam about his roots, evolving influences, and his multi-genre approach to making music with untethered freedom.

Peckham is a diverse cultural melting pot. How has growing up in South London helped shape and foster your creativity as an alternative artist?

Sam: “There was always like lots of different places you could be in the area, you know if you wanted to play football, you could play football…if you wanted to go skate, you could go skate…and I kind of just tread the line of being in between worlds. I guess because there’s so many people from different backgrounds you kind of just naturally are drawn to many different types of things, you know, whether that’s an electronic dance night, or like going to see like a rap sci-fi or Balamii radio, there’s always something different going on so that definitely just helps you to be open to different types of stuff. I guess that’s kind of come through in my music because I like to put a lot of different things together. I get kind of restless with one type of sound or one type of genre, you know, I feel like genres are too limiting sometimes.”

You’ve made a name for yourself as an ‘alchemist’ who likes to experiment with blending genres. Have you coined your own musical form yet? And how do you strike the right balance when working in multiple mediums?

Sam: “Yeah I’d say definitely in the last six months to a year I have homed in on my own sonic palette if that’s the right phrase. When I’m mixing a lot of stuff together, I guess there has to just be like a thread through in all of that stuff so whether that’s like a guitar tone or a certain drum sample that I’ve used over and over again, stuff like that definitely helps to blend and merge things together as opposed to it sounding so you know – what’s the word – frictiony.”

New Balance originally started life as the ‘New Balance Arch Support Company’, manufacturing flexible arch supports and orthopaedic insoles before they moved over to footwear. Did you take any other paths before settling into a full-time music career?

Sam: “Yeah I guess I kind of came into music a bit later than say maybe some people who started as a teenager. I skated from the age of 11 till like 17, 18 and then after that, I was at uni for two years studying biology there. Then I kind of fell into music just through hanging around with other friends and stuff who were kind of more into it than I was, just kind of absorbing my environment you know.”

What other underground artists should we have on our radar?

Sam: “I’d say Ami Boys, they’re like a group, a rap group, and friends of mine who are really sick, they’re just about to put out a new record with Surf Gang. I’d also say Hornet, she’s an artist from America but she lives here. I really like Florence Sinclair as well.”

Are you able to tell us anything about what you’re currently working on?

Sam: “Yeah, I’m currently working on an EP. Well, it’s basically finished now. I’ve been working on that for the last few months and we’re just like starting to rehearse again as a band, getting ready for a live show at the end of October, so that’s kind of just been my main focus at the moment.”

Where’s the show?

Sam: “We’re playing at The Greyhound in Peckham which is a pub slash venue and has a really cool club basement vibe feeling to it.”

Lastly, what’s your dream music collaboration?

Sam: “I’d probably have to say Frank Ocean.”

You can shop the New Balance 1890, 1890A Slip and Gator Run lineages online and in-store at size? now and across the rest of the season.