Hi All,
I want to share a few things & reminisce for a moment.
First off, you may have noticed we have a new logo & a completely redesigned website (again) - pretty neat. I have a little story. Earlier this year, I spent a ton of hours on an "art project" creating a virtual club environment to host an online music performance. It was actually pretty cool, like a temporary little video game, but only a few people showed up to witness it - legends, by the way. I was very optimistic going into it, and I felt it was a clever and ambitious way to combine my passions - art, music, and technology. Though I was happy with the result of the final product, I left the project feeling a little disappointed, as I tried to promote online and naively thought there would be much larger participation. The max server capacity estimate of 50 people, which I was worried about, turned out to be just fine with the "intimate attendance" of the 4 event-goers (including me lol). It made me reconsider many things about how I spend my time when it comes to Midwest Coast.
I got to thinking...
Midwest Coast has been many things - a music collective, a record label, a platform to share art & movie reviews, a podcast, a merch store, a host of crazy virtual events, and any other form it has taken over the years - all of which have had their special moments and created great memories. I am so grateful for those. But I think now is a time to use this platform for the things I enjoy most - as I hope you all do as well. Let it evolve & grow, just as we do as people, into this collage of our creative ideas. I'll share more music, videos, and art - sure. But now, my latest hobby has been sim racing, so we'll add e-sports to the list and I'll stream & make content for that too. Why not?
But back to what I was thinking... record labels are dead. Live music has changed. Everyone has their own thing. Every new piece of content is just a small droplet into an ocean that is endlessly being filled. Years of instant & continuous internet access projected 2 feet from our eyeballs every minute of every day has given us a max attention span of 12 seconds. So clothing came to mind - something physical, in addition to all these digital aspects of Midwest Coast, that can make it a part of real life too. Making clothing is something I've always done - and really enjoy. I just always did it in addition to everything else I was doing - and never actually focused on it.
So around March of this year, I began to really consider this thought, and it took hold. My obsession quickly became transforming Midwest Coast into a legitimate clothing brand. I was flooded with inspiration and ideas, and I got to the point where I genuinely fell in love the process of coming up with new product ideas, designing them, sourcing materials & product, and everything about it. I found a passion in the details of it - from creating these products to coming up with the names for them, or even finding the right fonts to adjusting the hue of white for the website background to make the products displayed look like art in a gallery. Not to mention the increase in quality, which has come a long way since I started making merch back in 2016 - when I was buying bulk tee shirt packs at Walmart, hand sponging paint through a rough stencil I cut out of an old carboard box.
Thinking through all of these things led me down this path - an idea I've flirted with throughout the years, but never fully committed - that I can create a clothing brand for creative people, as part of this community that is for creative people. So, the first collection of products, our flagship line of Signature Tees, are available now for purchase in the store. There are many color variations available, which will be a theme with our clothes to be mixed and matched to create your own unique looks & style. We'll be expanding product offerings soon - shorts, hoodies, shoes, pants, hats, etc. all to come. Midwest Coast has been, and will be, my life's passion project. It's the one thing I wish existed when I was young and lost in the world of being an artist - a welcoming community & platform to express my creativity. It's still my vision for it - a vehicle for anyone to be able to express themselves and share how they live creatively. Now, even if you do not consider yourself an "artist", I hope Midwest Coast can help you still express yourself through fashion - and know that the label on it represents something much more positive than what a global conglomerate can provide.
Lastly, to everyone to has been part of this so far - thank you. You are helping me get closer to this dream. I just want to see this community grow into something special, which I believe it will. 8 years in, and it feels like we're just getting started. Love y'alls.
-TJ
tl;dr - Midwest Coast is a legit clothing company now.