First, tell us a little bit more about Ropeadope and how you became involved with them - the site and label.
Ropeadope has been a record label, clothing company, and daily updated webspot since 1999. As our logo says, Music * Clothing * Culture. The coolest thing about Ropeadope is that they’ve never signed a band they don’t like. and never will. It’s about the music, not the money. I first started interning at Ropeadope a little over a year ago as a “product manager”. I helped with getting everything ready for new record releases, including one sheets, artist bios, album artwork, and masters. I also posted music reviews on ropeadope.com, which I still do today and you can read here! (http://www.ropeadope.com/team/Matt/)
How did you first get pulled into the online t-shirt world? What sites do you continuously check? Who’s your favorite artist?
During the summer of 2008, I read a post about teefury.com on t-shirtforums.com and decided to check it out. I’ve been hooked ever since. There hasn’t been a day that’s passed where I haven’t looked at Teefury multiple times. Then I discovered Design By Humans and it kept going from there. Teefury and DBH are the two I check most often. Tilteed is probably my third most checked site. I love the stuff you guys are putting out and the quality of the prints is some of the best around.
Favorite artist is such a hard question cause there are so many talented designers and illustrators creating t-shirts right now. (that’s why I have over 300 tees) If I had to pick one though, it would be Wotto. I love his style and pretty much every piece of art he’s ever done. I probably own 10 or more wotto shirts at this point and I recently bought one of his paintings.
Besides Ropeadope, what are you doing with yourself? What do you do in your free time?
Well I’m really close to graduating from Temple University (2 more classes), so school takes up a good amount of my time. Other than that, I’ve been planning/organizing/creating my own apparel line. I’ve lived in Philadelphia for most of my life (I lived in Germany for a year though!), so I’m very close with the city. Other than your typical tourist shirts, I’ve never really seen any cool Philadelphia t-shirt designs. So I decided to make them. I released a hoodie in February and the first tee is being released very soon. There is much more to come from Wear Liberty. Stay tuned this summer. I’m also very involved in the local music scene. My close friends are all musicians, so I’m always helping them record and produce their new records as well as promote their music and shows.
How did the idea of starting a t-shirt line for Ropeadope come about? And explain the line’s format - how often will you release new shirts, etc…
Ropeadope has been selling t-shirts for 10 years, but for 2010 we decided to do something different. New artists, new ideas, new shirts. The Ropeadope Design Collective is an ever changing group of artists from around the world and we are releasing 8 new designs every three months. (there might be a mini summer release hint hint) They are all limited edition and only available for a one month pre-sale. The designs are screen printed on American Apparel shirts and all orders include free shipping and a free CD from Ropeadope Records.
What’s your favorite part of the experience so far?
My favorite part is definitely working with the artists. Networking is a huge part of my job for both the music industry and the t-shirt world, so working with and building relationships with all of these awesome people has been a great experience.
What’s the hardest part about starting a clothing line that you’ve figured out so far?
Getting the word out, especially for something that’s brand new. Ropeadope has been around for 10 years and has already established a name for themselves, but the Design Collective is a completely new format for our tees. As I said before, new artists, new ideas, new shirts. It’s been a lot of fun promoting the line though and I’ve gotten lots of positive comments which are always great to hear.
Your personal favorite design in the current line-up.
All of them. I’m really looking forward to wearing each of the 8 shirts when they’re printed next week. I picked and helped direct the artists to create the designs because I love them all.
As a pug owner, is it a requirement that you occasionally dress your pug up in ridiculous outfits? What are Oliver’s feelings on this?
I’ve actually never dressed him up, which I’m sad to say. But I always think about getting him a stegosaurus costume. I really need to do it one of these days. A friend of mine made him wear a dress though while she was puppysitting for me. I don’t think Oliver enjoyed it.
Final thoughts or plug about Ropeadope.
Buy a shirt! They’re only on sale for 1 more days (til May 20th). and check out some Ropeadope bands. We put out a variety of great music, so you’re bound to find something you like.
