What makes these shirts so special?
There definitely nostalgia around owning any physical item from a past subculture you relate to, even if you weren’t there at the time - an original press of a record is one thing but a shirt which has been loved by some metalhead/grunger/punk from years ago is awesome. This ties into the unique wear and fading on a vintage tee, when a black tee has turned light grey you know that shirt has really lived, I think that’s pretty cool. The other thing that’s special is just how special the bands are, and the status they have in their respective genres. Original Mayhem, Black Flag, Sonic Youth tees for example are all the more important now when they’re still the defining bands of their genres.
How do you feel about your place in it? Do you feel any sense of responsibility to preserve these cultural artefacts?
In a way I do, but there’s enough people collecting old band tees and never wearing that I don’t need to go down that route as well. I’m enjoying engaging with genuine fans and providing tees which they’re really excited to get their hands on. Some people are dying / distressing / printing on old band tees, which I don’t think I’d do, keeping it pure and just curating for a true music fan is preservation enough for me.
Why the store? Is it not a case of merch collecting being quite a trade-based market?
Teejerker has given me a big platform to facilitate quite a lot of trades, which is always good fun. In terms of why the store I really just wanted to create the most exciting page / collection of vintage band shirts out there, there’s still a long way to go but it’s moving in the right direction. No one had all the genres covered I wanted to see, I want someone to be scrolling through like ‘Shit that’s a 1991 Bolt Thrower, ahh man look at that late 80s Dead Kennedys, damn a Slowdive long sleeve!’ you know?