About STAYMETAL

This is my story

I have always been surrounded by music. And metal.

My father was an aircraft mechanic by trade and in his spare time he restored old muscle cars. Piece by piece, he removed, replaced and repaired these cars and transformed them into the beautiful and powerful machines they were meant to be. These memories have a soundtrack - sometimes the soundtrack was provided by my father’s own smooth baritone singing songs from the 1950s and 60s, other times the soundtrack was the same songs coming through the AM dial on the old, beat up radio my dad kept in the garage. In each case, the feel of Detroit metal, the sounds of Motown and early rock and roll shaped my childhood and my love of music.

The next chapter of my musical education was provided by my older brother. In the mid to late 70's Boston, Kansas, REO Speedwagon, and Styx were on heavy rotation on the FM dial, as well as 8 tracks or vinyl in the front room of our childhood home. Every time my brother pushed his Pioneer tape deck to the limit, my young mind absorbed every chord progression and every bass line. I enjoyed this music, but I soon identified a need for something faster, something heavier and most importantly, something that spoke to me.

Enter Heavy Metal

In the early 80’s I saw Iron Maiden’s Flight of Icarus video on MTV and my reaction was visceral. It changed my life. I had become familiar with KISS before then and while I loved the spectacle and the music of KISS, it didn’t grab me the way that Maiden grabbed me. Then came Black Sabbath followed by Judas Priest, Slayer, Anthrax, Metallica and other thrash legends. Each band’s music worked their way into my psyche, but more than that, they worked their way into my life. I decided to grow my hair long, I went to rock shows and bought concert t-shirts, I immersed myself in heavy metal music and in it I found myself. Growing up in a small town I always felt like an outsider and metal provided an escape, as well as an avenue to express mysel, but it also offered a connection to other like-minded people.

Fast forward to today - I'm a 46 year old dad and I'm introducing my son to the world of heavy metal. He loves it. We watch old videos of metal pioneers and he's in heaven. Metal isn't just music, it's a way of life and (to me) a philosophy. A heritage handed down from one generation to the next. 

Why STAYMETAL

In 1999 I was living in Seattle going to art school. As I often did, one weekend I was visiting some friends in Portland and we went to the Satyricon in Old Town. I was standing in line waiting to order my beer when I overheard a conversation; one guy asked another guy when their next album was coming out and what will their album sound like, the response was, "as long as we stay metal, it will sound awesome." I remember that moment so clearly because of what “staying metal” meant to me - it was more than staying true to the music, it was about staying true to oneself - I could see it printed on a t-shirt, as a shared philosophy among metal heads. And then it occurred to me, I could print the artwork, burn the screen, and print it on a t-shirt. And thus STAYMETAL was born.

Before I started STAYMETAL Clothing, I tinkered with various methods of primitive screen printing. I created prints for shorts, shirts and sweatshirts. I cut out templates from cardboard, placed the template over the item to be printed and then spray painted. I had worked at a screen printing shop in Seattle and Portland and then it progressed to where I was printing shirts my basement. I've always been happiest when I'm creating or building, and music is often the bedrock of my design process.

The future of Heavy Metal is in all of us

I love music, I love how it makes me feel, I love how music has been a constant in my life, from the very beginning. I want to try and convey this feeling and share it with others. I want to spread the ethos of STAYMETAL with other folks who understand and appreciate it. 

Join me.