Gimme A Punk

I'm grateful and flattered to share an article/interview about me by the fantastic Kitty Amsbry on her equally fantastic website, Gimme A Wristband. It's a great overview (with images!) on where I'm from, where I'm going and just what I did all those years leading to and influencing the formation of Punk Masters. It's like a more fun version of my bio!

10 in 10, day 10

GLASS PRINCESS... This one is borrowed from one of my holiday cards and is also my first four color print. Our lovely subject is Princess Cecily (aka "Lil C"), daughter of King Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth (Woodeville) of England. I've heard this image was taken for her Super Sweet 16.

The song of the day to accompany this is "My Girls" by Animal Collective. I like it here as there is something almost majestic sounding about it... as if it could be played in hallowed halls filled with stained glass images of hipsters.... It could also be an ode to his daughter from the king. Speaking of, our model today is of course Lil C's father, Kind Edward IV himself, looking quite proud no doubt.

GLASS PRINCESS now available in the shop in 2 colors and long sleeve.

10 in 10, day 9

LIES... do you ever get the feeling you're not hearing the whole truth? It's probably because you're not. So much of the overflow of information we receive on a daily basis is framed to suit various agendas. Manipulation, spin, hype... lies... the presentation of which is all in the framing. Seek the truth.

Which brings me to the song of the day, "Liar" by the Sex Pistols. Nuff said!!

LIES now available in the shop in seven colors as well as long sleeve. Our model du jour is Countess Sophia Maria de Voss, and clearly one can tell that she does not have much patience for bullsh*t (see that stick in her hand? She'll use it.)

10 in 10, day 8

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK... an ode to an old friend's ultra cool Linn drum machine. This one is all about the groove.

And what better than some deep trance grooves from Massive Attack's "Teardrop", the song of the day. Taken from this Bristol act's '98 album "Mezzanine", which incidentally is one of my all time favorite album cover designs - the image/crop, the type, the placement, the contrast, I love everything about it. Even better, this track features vocals from Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins. I love Massive Attack, and they will forever remind me of my college days as I listened to their early 90's album "Blue Lines" relentlessly while holed up in my dorm room pulling all-nighters working on design projects!

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK now available in the shop in 7 colors as well as long sleeve. Our drummer boy model today is straight out of my "Post Modern Rockers" t-shirt. He may be wearing his drum, but he's open to the technology of the Linn!

10 in 10, day 7

WILD KNIGHT... another one borrowed from my greeting cards, but this time he has traded his shield for his, well, axe. He is definitely the type to let loose with a Flying V... and to turn it up to 11.

Obviously (or not so obviously) the song of the day here is "Aerodynamic" by the amazing Daft Punk. I can so hear our wild knight playing this riff, so electro/metallic, right up his alley. And if you have ever seen Daft Punk, he actually fits in perfectly with this look.

WILD KNIGHT now available in the shop in 6 colors as well as long sleeve (no armor though.)

10 in 10, day 6

SKULL BOY... with the apt subtitle, "my only friends are in my head." I think we can all relate... or maybe it's just me! Regardless, whether this young lad has a creepy collection of skulls in his parents' basement or not, he definitely has a great sense of style. I mean just look at that plume in his hat alone! Dude is cool. (And if he looks a little familiar, I've borrowed him from one of my greeting cards.)

 

Of course, the song of the day to go along with this one is "Skeleton Boy" by Friendly Fires. Yeah, not a hard connection here. Fun, funky song by a band I really dig. Plus, I can almost see our lad listening to something like this while admiring his "collection". (This is starting to play out like an episode of 'Criminal Minds'!)

 

SKULL BOY now available in the shop in 7 color ways. Our model today... well, I have no idea who he is, but I call him Prince Plume, and he certainly shares a similar taste in fabulous headwear with our t-shirt hero.

10 in 10, day 5

ECSTASY GARAGE DISCO... Back in 1980 the origins of hip hop were seen in this Bronx club. However, legend has it Ecstasy Garage Disco goes much further back... that night in 1630, that massive rave in an 'underground' cathedral, cherubs tripping on E, and Venus just shredding on the harp... now you can have the t-shirt!

The song of the day here is "Lost In the K-Hole" by The Chemical Brothers. This song actually popped into my head while I was working on this shirt, and I'm sure would have been part of the soundtrack at this hot mess of a rave (and if you listen closely I think you can actually hear Venus.)

ECSTASY GARAGE DISCO now available in the shop in 7 colors. For some reason Napoleon is here modeling this tee (I'm sure he wishes he was there that night, though a bit before his time.)

10 in 10, day 4

LA REVOLUTION SURREALISTE... melting clocks to melting faces. An ode to Andre Breton, a former Dada-ist who was instrumental in founding and directing the Surrealist movement in Europe.

Breton himself was interested in avant-garde art, anarchistic activism, hypnosis, free association, automatic writing and the outpourings of the mentally ill. With that in mind, the song of the day to go along with this is "Human Behavior" by Bjork (even moreso the video!) Not to suggest Bjork is mentally ill (!), I love her, and she is just the right amount of 'out there' (I was almost going to go with the Sugar Cubes as most of their music is rather, well, surreal... but let's go with Bjork!)

LA REVOLUTION SURREALISTE now available in the shop in 7 (count them, 7!) colors as well as long sleeve. And quite an interesting model for this one, a ye olde anarchistic activist.

10 in 10, day 3

SYNTH & SYNTHABILITY... Jane Austen's favorite lady rocker, this one knows her way around a harpsichord, except this harpsichord is totally tricked out (word has it she taught Brian Eno a thing or two...)

Song of the day to go along with this: "Vision One" by Royksopp. I think if our lady rocker were here today she would be playing (and singing) something like this. Excellent track from this Norwegian band's third album, "Junior".

SYNTH & SYNTHABILITY now available in the shop in 5 colors as well as long sleeve. And thanks to Sir Walter Raleigh for modeling this one (apparently he has a thing for the lady rockers...)

10 in 10, day 2

Logo number two:
Rispettare La Natura... Respect Nature... so sayeth the King Crow. Words to pay attention to. Oh but wait, global warming is just a myth isn't it? And the Gulf is all cleaned up and just fine (yes, BP, I'm looking at you.) Let's have a little more respect for this place we all occupy before it's too late.

Which brings me to the companion song of the day: "Burial" by Miike Snow. Ha! Not what we want to do to Mother Nature. Such a fantastic song though by an equally fantastic band. Their debut album has been out for over a year now, but it is still on heavy rotation with me, and this song definitely strikes a chord.

KING CROW now available in the shop in 7 different colors as well as a long sleeve version. And how cool to have Queen Elizabeth I modeling this one (a little stiff)... Ms. Antoinette yesterday, who will be in tomorrow's tee?!

10 in 10, day 1

I'm launching 10 new logos (along with a new layout in the Punk Masters shop), and I've decided to do a logo a day. Also, just for fun I'm accompanying each logo with a song of the day.... something that I was either inspired by while designing or feel it just fits with the design in some sort of way. But it's just a little flavor to add and a mini soundtrack for each tee.

Without further ado...... logo one, now available in the shop:

I call it VELVET BANANA..... pop goes the logo. It's no secret that I love Warhol (obvs)... I also like The Velvet Underground.... and I also like bananas. Winning combination of a rip off... er, tribute. Also, I have some interesting models helping out with the tees this go around, and I'm particularly honored to have Marie here back from the dead especially for this, still looks great!

Song of the day to go along with this: "Pop Life" by Prince (come on, The Velvet Underground would be a little too obvious.) Pop life, pop art, pop culture, pop music..... and this little gem from '85. From the moment this album (Around the World in a Day) came out I have loved, loved, loved this song and just feel it is fitting here.

Enjoy... 9 more to go!

New Logos a Coming!

5 days, 18 new screens, 10 logos ready to go = new shirts on the way!!

New Tee Logo Preview

My first 4 color print!

Two New Items

Punk Masters logo mania! Just added to the shop, Punk Masters logo tee in long sleeves (just in time for the winter months) and Punk Masters tote bag:

Local Collection

Thanks to the folks at Local Collection for the window treatment! Nice little shout out for Art/Punk And Vinyl Pirates. Anyone in the greater LA area should check them out at the Glendale Galleria, lots of cool items from local artists and designers.

Two new color ways

Now available in the shop:

L'Esprit Nouveau in vintage white with a gradation print:

Vinyl Pirates in vintage grey with white print:

Now at Local Collection!

Punk Masters tees and totes are now available at Local Collection, a great shop in the massive Glendale Galleria that features local artists and designers in LA.

Framed Punk Masters

I made some 13x19 prints of my favorite PM cards and put them on my wall! I'm thinking about adding them to the store....

Thread Show This Sunday!

This Sunday, Aug. 22nd, I will be selling at the Thread show in Orange County at the OC Fair and Event Center from 11am - 6pm. There will be lots of cool designers (including Punk Masters... duh), lots of great deals, food and drink, and a few fashion shows! It will be a fun day, come hang and come shop if you're in the area!

RSVP here to get in for $5 (instead of $10!)

Punk Masters at the Free For All Festival

This Sunday (15th) I will be vending at the Free For All Festival at the Echo/Echoplex in Silverlake (LA). It's a cool music festival and there are no tickets, just donations if you want! It runs from 4 - midnight (though I'll probably be there until 8 or so!)

Punk Masters at Focus Apparel & Accessories Show

I've been exhibiting at the Focus Apparel & Accessories show this week, Monday, Tuesday and today at the California Market Center in downtown LA. It's my first trade show. All going well, met some great, interesting people..... will have my tees in a cool boutique in Long Beach soon, details to come! Here's some photos of the PM booth:

Nothing like punking up some expensive fabric (fabric kindly donated to me by a friend!)

If I had a shop it would look a little like this.... working on a rug of some sorts (spray painted/messed up in some way of course!)

Framed t-shirts - instant art!

Experiment

I've been playing around with some gradation printing, a technique that I think I'm going to be using on one or two new designs I have planned for August. Stay tuned!

Punk Masters at Handmade Brigade of OC Show

Exciting stuff happening this summer.. here's one of them: I will be at the Handmade Brigade of OC's Block Party/Indie Craft Show on Saturday July 10th in downtown Santa Ana at the Fiesta Marketplace from 11am-5pm. If you're in the area stop by, I'll have special prices on tees and will be debuting new Punk Masters linen scarves! Or just come over and say Hi!

Punk Masters Logo Tee

New Punk Masters logo tee now available! Black distressed 100% cotton t-shirt in all sizes, check it out...
Punk Masters Tee