Evan is that guy you ask to hook you up with a new mixtape or playlist when your current one gets old, he talks a lot of trash about basketball to everyone or anyone and he’s a Strategic Planning Director at Saatchi & Saatchi LA. At age 11 he was called a poser on the playground for wearing Vans and ever since he’s had a passion for understanding the authenticity surrounding youth, street wear, music and sports. He’s been fortunate to find a profession where his passions occasionally come in handy and is still frightened of being called a poser when he wears his Vans since he hasn’t skated in well over a decade.
What are you working on right now?
Well, I’m not really allowed to talk about what’s going TODAY, but I will say that having Toyota as a client continues to give me some of the most fascinating work I’ll ever do in my career. I’m also blessed to work with amazing people everyday.
3 Trends that excite you?
Teenagers are buying record players! My fiancé’s 15-year-old niece just got a record player for her birthday, that’s amazing. I rode my bike down to Fingerprints records in Long Beach to support Record Store Day and the staff was exhausted from selling so much in one day. I also love that record companies are releasing vinyl albums with a code to download the MP3 version of the same record for free. Hopefully the music industry has a trend on their hands and people will finally demand that their music sounds as rich and warm as their HD TV sets project colors.
LA’s comfort food revolution is amazing, all the gourmet hamburger shops. A reaction to all the stress of the recession? Could be. I love watching all the skinny hipsters act like hamburger experts when you know they were probably vegetarians a year ago. It’s good for LA though, I’m proud of it.
Being old school is always a good thing. I love that brands like GANT have shifted away from making clothes for “office casual” and can make real clothes for real dudes.
There’s something so great about authenticity isn’t there?
How do you bring ideas to life?
By understanding a truth in life or in people and connecting it with whatever it is you’re trying to communicate. Years ago I listened to a panel discussion at SXSW with Public Enemy about how to write a protest song (Fight the Power) and even artists understand that you need to find something to motivate people. They started with James Brown and went from there.
What is one mistake that you made, and what did you learn from it?
I lost the brakes on my bike when I was a kid and after amazingly dodging three trees, for some reason I gave up and decided I would just hit the fourth one and suffer the consequences. Dislocated my shoulder and still have some scars. Had I pulled off dodging the fourth tree, Evan Ferrari: BMX Legend. I don’t give up on anything anymore. I’m also a Chicago Cubs fan.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
I have this idea, I’ll probably never get to do it. It’s hardwood basketball courts for pick up basketball games, but there’s a live DJ while you play. You pay some bucks to play all day and the DJ announces your games and spins some jams when you pull off some epic moves. I’d pay $25 for a night after work for that, I doubt I’m alone.
What is one book and one tool (i.e., piece of software) that helps you bring ideas to life?
Bartlett’s Roget’s Thesaurus saves my ass all the time.
Also, I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for iMovie and Quicktime Pro. Back in the day, those two pieces of software made me look like a Planning Martin Scorsese when I didn’t have the money for Final Cut.
What’s your greatest professional accomplishment?
I got to work on The Beatles for EMI for a minute. It was mind blowing.
What’s you favorite curse word?
DANG!
Connect:
facebook.com/evanferrari
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.