Music is a passion, a living, and a business. For many bands, it’s about inspiring and making it into the millions of iTunes libraries that walk around in iPods all day. But it’s about making a living with what you love doing most, working a career that’s meaningful and getting noticed. (hmm, sounds familiar) So when I came across Yellow Bird Project, I thought it was such a creative way for Indie bands to do just that.
I love beats, deep bass lines, funk and music that made you wish you could break dance. My friends know me as a Jamiroquai geek and it doesn’t help when a movie like Napolean Dynamite gets released and uses Jamiroquai’s Canned Heat as the memorable and geekiest dance piece in the movie. Despite that, Jamiroquai released their best work (in my opinion) back in the early 90s and helped contribute the acid jazz movement – a period that made me explore and become a connoisseur of house music, disco, funk, jazz, electro-jazz and old classics like Stevie Wonder and Curtis Mayfield. Napster combined with a sales job for a major record label contributed to my obsession for music almost 10 years ago.
Today, my passion has dwindled but Derrick’s love for music keeps our playlist fresh. The one artifact left from my glory days of music is my Jamiroquai iron-on baseball shirt. It’s 10+ years and still going strong. I’ve always had a difficult time finding souvenirs that were meaningful (ie. it wasn’t just a band logo slapped onto a shirt for the sake of making money). So with the help of Bang-On shirts, I collaged Jamiroquai band members together on my shirt and made it a masterpiece only worthy of dry cleaning. Maybe not, but it’s still one of my favourite pieces of clothing today.
For me, t-shirts are one of the best souvenirs music lovers can have. It’s art, it’s cool, it’s personal and fun. And apparently, a good way for an Indie band to market themselves.
Yellow Bird Project is a Montreal-based non-profit that collaborates with Indie musicians and artists to design t-shirts and other goods that benefit charities and socially conscious organizations. It’s like “Threadless” but designed by bands.
Find shirts from Bloc Party, K-OS, Broken Social Scene and many more…
The site keeps it casual with a personal and DIY feel. T-shirt pricing is also incredibly reasonable and despite being founded by 2 Canadians, the prices are listed in USD.
I’m still looking for a shirt that rivals my Jamiroquai baseball T today, but many of these designs come close. Have fun browsing the site.
On another note, if you live in Vancouver and are looking to try new music, try Zulu Records on 4th Ave or Red Cat Records on Main. Tons of imports to browse through and in-house experts to help you find that next gem.
Cheers,
> Christine
{ images from Yellow Bird Project }
