At our live shows, you can purchase download codes, art (including the prints and paintings themed to Highway Gothic songs), copies of The ABCs of Rock, and various other things. Stickers are free.
The main thing, obviously, is the music. You can download it right now, or wait to get a CD at a live show. We are planning on a limited vinyl release of Highway Gothic, so please let us know if you're interested in that sort of thing.
T-shirts and so forth
For a while we had the standard print-on-demand T-shirt shop (for the Parity and DGAF shirts), which was great in terms of workload. Less great in terms of a music ecosystem that basically expects artists to create music for free and scrounge for income via merch. Even worse in terms of environmental impact, worker rights, and ethnic cleansing.
Our current approach—and it's not perfect, but it works for right now—is slow merch. This involves manually screen-printing designs on secondhand T-shirts and hoodies. Designs include the maple-seed graphic (top right) and the ButterBean Records logo.
What to know:
Slow merch comes from the punk/DIY ethos as much as from slow fashion, but it also owes an ideological debt to several writers and thinkers who are trying to make fashion more sustainable and equitable. They include Elizabeth Cline, Aja Barber, Lakyn Carlton, and Orsola de Castro.
The main thing, obviously, is the music. You can download it right now, or wait to get a CD at a live show. We are planning on a limited vinyl release of Highway Gothic, so please let us know if you're interested in that sort of thing.
T-shirts and so forth
For a while we had the standard print-on-demand T-shirt shop (for the Parity and DGAF shirts), which was great in terms of workload. Less great in terms of a music ecosystem that basically expects artists to create music for free and scrounge for income via merch. Even worse in terms of environmental impact, worker rights, and ethnic cleansing.
Our current approach—and it's not perfect, but it works for right now—is slow merch. This involves manually screen-printing designs on secondhand T-shirts and hoodies. Designs include the maple-seed graphic (top right) and the ButterBean Records logo.
What to know:
- All garments are washed and steamed before they get to you.
- Every garment is one-of-a-kind. (When several friends requested shirts with odd printing blips and glitches, I knew I had found my people.)
- Most pieces are poly/cotton blends, but the blend differs by manufacturer. Everything is machine-washable, although—as with pretty much all screen printing—the designs will last longer if you wash the garments inside out and let them line dry.
- Sizing differs greatly by brand and gender. We've got a range of tags from XS to XXXL, and we label every piece with its pit-to-pit chest measurement. If you're looking for a particular size/color combo, let us know and we'll try to make it happen.
- This approach obviously favors in-person sales. If you want to order online, go ahead and email us, but know that it might take a while, depending on the existing stock. It'll ship in a reused envelope (we really are trying not to produce any new waste).
- This is a work in progress.
Slow merch comes from the punk/DIY ethos as much as from slow fashion, but it also owes an ideological debt to several writers and thinkers who are trying to make fashion more sustainable and equitable. They include Elizabeth Cline, Aja Barber, Lakyn Carlton, and Orsola de Castro.