#7 - Tuned Air
An interview with Kenny from Dimension Six + Reader pickups from Spring 2025
What’s up, true believers? Welcome back. It’s been a real busy month for me; as I’m writing this I just got home from a tour Gridiron did. All the shows were dope and I did get to hit up a couple of cool sneaker stores… no cops, but it’s always fun to browse. Anyways, one of the next couple newsletters is gonna be more ‘core focused and should have a bunch of photos from that tour and other stuff, but I wanted to have something for you guys before the end of the month. I’m picking up the Wizard shirts tomorrow and will start shipping our orders next week, so keep an eye out for those and bumper stickers! Thanks for grabbing one if ya did.
Summer is finally here and I’m siked to be outside. Anyone busting out any Summer kicks that they’ve kept packed away through the cold season? Hit me with photos in my e-mail, I love hearing from you guys.
PLAYLIST:
Inmates - S/T
PinkPanthress - Fancy That
Soilwork - Steelbath Suicide
Who Laughs Last - Demo
Limbeck - Hi, Everything’s Great
Stiff Meds - Xcess Flesh
Reader Pickups from Spring 2025.
Thanks to everyone who’s reached out and sent photos of their recent pick ups, or just hit me up to chat. It is dope hearing from you guys and keeps me motivated to keep workin on these. Anyways, here are some cool pickups people hit me up about! [All photos below are user submitted.]
Louis from Boston hit me with the Neon 95s. Love to see it! This retro is honestly so perfect and it’s great to see people freakin’ out over a Mount Rushmore sneaker. Nice cop! I need a pair of these real fuckin’ bad man. Hopefully the news that we’re getting a mass release in early 2026 is real…
Bryan from Chicago sent me a ton of good stuff for recent pick ups, my favorite of which were these two pairs of the Nike SB x Jordan 4s, paired up with two great hoodies. I’m a little more partial to the emerald green colorway that dropped in 2023, but both pairs rock.
Aidan from Rebirth Records soldiers Who Remembers hit me with his DN8s. I’m not mad at these. As someone who absolutely despises the regular DNs, the DN8 is definitely a step in the right direction. This is a cool colorway too. Respect!
Last up for this entry, TomDom from Trail of Lies/Naysayer shared four really solid pickups with me. The Undefeated Spiridons are so clean man. I’ve really been digging the Spiridon resurgence happening lately, and may have something coming down the pipe regarding that for a future newsletter…
Anyways, keep those submissions coming. I love seeing what you guys are picking up.
An Interview with Kenny from Dimension Six.
I met Kenny through playing some shows with DIMENSION SIX, and he’s always been a dude I respect as a hardcore kid. He wears his love for VAHC on his sleeve, and if you know me, you know there are few things I get more siked about than someone who loves and rides for their scene. At UB this past year we started chatting about the newsletter, and Kenny told me about his absolutely insane Air Max TN collection. This is the type of shit this newsletter was made for, so naturally I had to interview him about it. Talking to Kenny, his love for and knowledge regarding the TN specifically is evident. Check it out…
From The Ground Up: What’s up bro? Introduce yourself/band for the readers who may not be familiar.
Kenny: What’s good! I’m Kenny, I play in Dimension Six from Virginia.
FTGU: I wanted to talk to you about your love for the Nike Air Max TN, before we get to that though I wanna hear about your first memory with sneakers in general where you were like “yo… I love these” beyond just like wearing shoes because you needed something on your feet.
Kenny: Honestly I think the first time I felt that way was either some of those sick light up shoes that kids would have in elementary school or when Shox started becoming a thing. I’d see my friends in like dope white/silver/yellow T4 shox and was always jealous. My parents were not hip with stuff like at all, so I just got stuck in random shit growing up until like 3rd or 4th grade, then I was insistent upon getting some shit like Element or Nikes, but I had no idea about specific models or anything until way later. In middle school I was very into basketball though and wanted Jordans. I remember getting some pair that oxidized pretty hard and scrubbing them so much not realizing I couldn’t just clean them up. My first pair that I remember very specifically was the Melo 2s. Also had multiple pairs of the $15 Stephon Marbury “Starburys” from Steve and Barry’s. Real ones will remember those.
FTGU: It’s crazy you mention shox, cause there’s such a big push from Nike to make those happen again going on right now. Anyways, do you remember how you fell in love with TNs specifically? What was the first colorway you ever owned?
Kenny: Yeah, when I was first really heavy into sneakers it started with wanting youth crew shit, so I had Jordan 1’s to look like the Ray Cappo We’re Not In This Alone posi-jump pic, but then I just found myself digging deeper and deeper into sneakers. For a long time I stayed more in the late 80s/early 90s realm (I owned Air Revolutions before I owned AM95s) but eventually I got pretty heavy into Air Max. My first pair was a set of the 2014 Sunsets. I got them used from a local BST shop after having been looking for a decent colorway for a while. I grabbed them immediately and the guy said it was a good thing cause people were messaging trying to get ‘em before me. If you know TNs well, the sunsets are extremely close to the same colorway as the OG tigers. So much so that people often confuse the two. I could write a thesis on Tigers vs Sunsets and the issues with the last few retros. Initially I was kinda turned off by TNs… Like I thought they looked insane, but I couldn’t imagine actually wearing them. I mean, they have to be one of the most aggressive sneakers ever made. Eventually, I had to try em and got hooked.
FTGU: No doubt. Compared to more modern sneakers they may be “tame”, but the design language of the TN is so much more futuristic looking than all the previous Air Max stuff, and coming out in the late 90’s they probably looked like space shoes. I know that eventually led to you having a huge TN collection and even having an Instagram where you were buying/selling ‘em, right? How did you get into dealing ‘em? It’s cool to see someone who’s not just a random reseller of whatever is hype but actually specializes in something specific.
Kenny: First, I found out there was a FB group called TN Talk (later Tuned Talk) which was basically the B9 Board of the Air Max Plus community. It was almost exclusively Australians with some UK collectors thrown in here and there. I found out that what I previously knew about TNs was only the tip of the iceberg. There were loads of regional releases that I had never even seen before and the only way to get access to them from America was to get hooked up with sellers from these groups. I got deep into the trenches of TN talk. My buying turned into selling when I realized how strong of a market they had over there. I originally would help send undervalued pairs American sellers has listed to buddies in Australia, then I started using that as a way to make some cash and fund my hobby. I was already pretty big into sneaker restoration, so it was pretty normal for me to buy a used pair from an American seller for like $40 bucks, then clean em up and sell em for $250 or so to an Australian buyer. Wasn’t trying to be greedy, that’s just what the market was like back a few years ago. Anyway, I would mostly sell through the groups, but I always had to get posts approved by the moderators. There was a weird American exclusive called the Ghost Greens that came out only at Ross (sounds fake but it really happened) and when I tried to sell them, the moderators kept denying my posts. Turns out they had made plans to sell that colorway themselves and were gaming the market. After that, I decided I wouldn’t rely on those groups anymore and started an IG page to sell. It took a little bit, but after a couple months my page was on fire, literally gaining hundreds of followers a month with the explicit goal of selling TNs, Tailwind 4s and rare Asics to australian buyers. Literally all my listings were in AUD and I figured the outrageous overseas shipping prices into my prices. In a 3 year span I had sold around $300k worth of shoes. I got schooled in conversion rates, international bank transfers and having to pay thousands in taxes every year. Collection wise, I ended up getting a whole lot of extremely rare Australian and Euro exclusive pairs. Favorites were the Tides, Kombats and Venoms, each were like thousand dollar pairs. Also had a pair of Fireberries which at the time went for about $2500. Luckily I sold that set before they got an updated retro.
FTGU: It’s so bizarre how the TN is such a cultural icon sneaker in Australia and not nearly as popular here, it’s something that’s always fascinated me. I honestly feel like it’s disproportionally popular with hardcore kids in America compared to like regular American sneaker fans. Do you ever get hit up by hardcore kids from here about buying shoes? Or is it mostly just international sneaker collectors who are in contact with you?
Kenny: I agree, I think either the aggressive look of the shoe or the like more initiated people that are involved in hardcore just gravitate to TNs more than your average sneakerhead. I haven’t sold to a ton of HC kids, but I think that’s mostly how I’ve marketed my selling, gearing it more for foreign market which have historically valued them more. That being said, I’ve made connections with a bunch of people involved in HC through selling. One of the moderators I mentioned earlier who fucked me over on TN Talk was a guy named Jesse who was straight edge and a former HC kid. Sold to the singer of Nasty a couple times and he actually hooked me up with a proxy on an EU exclusive pair. Many other dudes I talked to were involved on some level. TNs, crime, graffiti, hip-hop and HC seem to go hand-in-hand worldwide, but especially in UK and Australia. Basically got introduced to Drill/Garage through the TN community. TNs are so associated with street culture, that many overseas bars/clubs have them banned. There’s one guy in America who really knows what’s up with TN shit. His name is Richie, account on eBay is richiedge. HC guy from Philly area who goes hard for the birds and I think finds his whole life through reselling. Hustled so hard he got a dope house off it. Fuck the Eagles, but I respect the hell out of Richie.
FTGU: Do you wear your crazy TNs or other shoes to shows ever? Or keep ‘em on ice and wear beaters? Love hearing people’s perspective on this debate.
Kenny: I definitely will wear cool shit to shows, but I also try not to be a dumb fuck. Like if I’ve had a pair on ice for 5+ years, I don’t want the first place I wear it to be the world’s most likely place to ruin your shoes. That being said, I still do it from time to time, but I like to have gotten at least a few good wears with a shoe before I’m bringing them into spots like the warehouse, where it’s just mud and concrete. Doesn’t help that I still love dancing, so they’re guaranteed get scuffs and shit. When D6 played out of state for the first time I wore 2015 Sunburns. Not an exclusive of any kind but it was before Nike switched TN production from Vietnam to Indonesia, so they’re a very sought after set. Also, had a deadstock pair of 2012 Military [Blue Air Jordan] 4s that I brought out for FYA. Occasionally the moment warrants the risk.
FTGU: Are there any TN colorways specifically that are grails that have always eluded you, or do you feel like you’ve been able to knock everything off your checklist?
Kenny: The only pairs I wish I could have and don’t are pairs that are unwearable with their age. The first that comes to mind is this pair called the “Ashanti’s”. I wanna say the singer wore them somewhere and they were in women’s sizing, but cmon the double fade on the veins and mesh with the carolina blue. that shit is insane! need a retro bad, but i’m sure it wouldn’t capture the beauty of the originals.
FTGU: Do you have an estimate on how many TNs you own? And do you have a favorite pair/pairs from your personal collection?
Kenny: I’m guessing around 50/60 pairs, more if you count stuff I need to sell eventually. My favorite colorway has been the Tides for a long time. Was my first AU exclusive and the colorway is just crazy. Have 5 pairs of that colorway, 2 of the 2014 pair and 3 of the 2021 retro. Kombats and Dreams are 2 other favorites.
FTGU: So sick. Shifting gears before we wrap up, anything on the horizon for D6?
Kenny: Nothing crazy. Playing an interesting gig in June with Drain/Scowl/Koyo at the Warehouse. That’s gonna be hot as balls. I’d like to hit the road a bit, but everyone else in the band is doing like 3+ other bands, so we’ll see. For now, just gonna keep playing regional stuff every time it makes sense. Started this band with the intent to play Warehouse gigs and have fun, it’s certainly lived up to that.
FTGU: Hell yeah. Any last words or shout outs?
Kenny: First thing that comes to mind.. Tomorrow night is Spikepit’s release party for a tape they did called Peacewalker. I’m sure this will come out after that show, but check out that release and all the bands on the show. VA is the strongest it’s been in like a decade right now and literally from there Mountains to Virginia Beach, shit just feels united. Shoutout Virginia hardcore and all the kids who have been giving back to the scene, making a concerted effort to learn their roots. Hardcore hasn’t been this energized in a long time and it’s because of the kids who care.
Thanks for reading! Keep spreading the word and telling all your friends who like ‘core, sneakers, and most importantly anybody you know who likes BOTH!
Peace!