I decided to go full dad-mode a while back and started building a deck. It's like the spawn for salmon, or migration for birds; we dads can't explain why, but at some point we are all drawn inexorably toward building decks. My main reason was that I wanted just one flat, utilitarian space where I could store hunting and outdoor gear without having to step over toys or worry about knocking over something decorative.
As I was putting down the feet for the deck, I had to dig around and through some roots that belonged to some old trees on that side of the house. Once you think you have a pretty good idea of where the larger roots are, sure enough a new massive artery will show up when your shovel strikes what you thought was soft ground. Texas has pretty inconsistent soil at times, and what I found striking about these root systems are all the turns they had to take to get around clusters of rock and other obstacles to find nourishment. These root systems almost look like they make no sense at all when viewed as a whole.
There is one thing that is consistent though: they all lead back to the trunk of that tree. They all started there when that tree was just a seedling, and they have remained connected to it ever since. In fact, the roots were always there in the tree's DNA, carefully cradled in that seed. No matter what twists and turns they have had to take over the decades, they have always served the same purpose in the end.
Matt and I recently took a good, hard look at our catalog of items at HVIII Brand Goods from the last few years. When we do this, we always find items that we are excited to revisit or re-imagine. There are certainly some items we wouldn't make now, but that doesn't mean that we weren't truly expressing what the brand was at that moment. Brands, like trees and people, grow. They mature, change, take damage, find new energy, and flourish. I think what is so special to us about the designs we have released so far this fall are that they are really on target for what HVIII Brand Goods is about. Not just where we are now, but also where we have been all along. Where we started. Things that were part of the seed that led us to create this entire thing.
The Grindhouse series is a set of designs we are really proud of. These are shirts we are excited to wear. I've said it a thousand times, but we only have two core values here:
Make what we want.
Tell people the truth.
Look, it's no secret that classic horror and a dark, campy vibe are right in our wheelhouse. Matt has Frankenstein's Monster and Leatherface tattooed on his arm - I mean, come on. I am an overall ridiculously happy, content father-of-three, but I write and talk extensively about how you can tap into your personal demons to create positive results. Using your negativity to become the hero. I feel like we have always struck a delicate balance between embracing the dark, not taking ourselves too seriously, and remaining relentlessly positive. Honestly, in writing that sentence just now I realize how much that describes this series of Grindhouse designs.
We sincerely hope you enjoy them.
