Denton cares, y’all. In under ten days, members of our local music scene banded together for the sake of their fellow man, or in this case, fellow woman. A woman that illuminates every room she enters. They came together for Kyndall Ramsey, former Dentonite and forever honorary “Music Mama.”
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Photo by Courtney Marie.
DIME FEATURED MAKER: MATTHEW SALLACK
Every so often, we like to check in with the ladies over at The DIME Store and highlight one of the makers whose work they sell in-store. This month we hear from illustrator Matthew Sallack. We've been admiring Sallack's work for a while now and have purchased several of his prints, ourselves. This interview had us pretty excited. After all, when else can you discuss fair use, the Nintendo Virtual Boy, and wompas all in the same interview? Read on to find out what drew Sallack to illustration, why he thinks Predators are so good at fighting, and his advice for aspiring makers.
Have you ever been surprised by how well a certain piece of your art has sold?
I have this one piece called “Teeny Turtles” which is my most popular design, by far. It’s an illustration of four box turtles and a rat, dressed like the characters from the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” series. It has sold really well. In fact, I feel like that piece single-handedly saved me in my Master’s Thesis review in grad school. The director of the program didn’t care much for what I had brought into the room, but he just happened to jump online during the review and see that particular image on my website. He said, “Why didn’t you just make more stuff like that?!” He was very impressed with the style and composition, saying “I just love that rat.”
And I guess what surprises me is how timeless and universal the Ninja Turtles are. They were so popular when I was a kid and are still just as, if not more, relevant. At Dallas Comic Con back in May, I was actually next to one of the artists who works on the Nickelodeon Ninja Turtles cartoon and comic book. (He was really cool, and he did this awesome Krang illustration for me.) And it’s just crazy how popular that franchise still is. And we don’t need to talk about the new movie. Let’s just not talk about it.
So what's with the "Otter" part of Otter Illustration?
When I first set up my main website about 3 years ago, I wanted to have something other than just my name as the name of my business. I wanted to have a mascot, a moniker for my body of work. And then one day I was watching a National Geographic special (I watch a lot of these) about life in the frozen tundra and there was a part about otters. They were navigating the icy mountainside with ease...basically just frolicking around. They approached the danger of the icy terrain with agile whimsy. And I just knew at that moment, that was it. That’s the spirit I wanted to portray with my work. You could say the otter is my “power animal.” Otters have intelligence, create meaningful social bonds, and exude a quirky fervor. When people ask what my style is, I reply “whimsical surrealism,” and I think that is basically what an otter is.
The other part of this answer: I think I’ve held on to that name thus far and plan on keeping it because part of building a brand is having something recognizable, memorable, and/or relatable. I doubt many people would remember my full name walking away from my booth, but they might recall, “Oh yeah, the otter guy!” The otter is a way of establishing a connection and making the mission about something bigger than just me.
What first drew (har har) you to illustration?
I have been drawing since I was 2. My mom would bring home stacks of paper, the old school kind with the holes on the side, so I would never run out of paper to draw on. I remember drawing Ninja Turtle comics in Kindergarten with letters in random order, because I definitely knew letters, but not so much actual words. And I took art and AP art classes in grade school. I have more or less been doing art since I was born.
What’s your favorite Pokemon?
This might surprise some, but I am not really that big of a Pokemon fan. I definitely appreciate the “fandom” of Pokemon. And I definitely played a few of the games. But I really like the design and variation of the characters. I initially set out to do illustrations of all the first generation, 151 individual characters. I called it “Monsters of the Pocket Variety.” I think I have gotten through 50 or 60 of them, but I just don’t know if I can draw them all.
Oh, but my favorite? I don’t know. I like the weird ones. Let’s go with Duduo.
Your work features anything from typography to movie and video game characters to dinos--- is there a method to the madness, or do you just draw whatever strikes you at the moment?
That’s a good question. There’s definitely method. But also madness, (especially when whiskey is involved.) Sometimes, I will make something special for an event, say a poster for “Denton’s Day of the Dead Festival” in which case there is a deadline. And I feel like I actually work better with strict deadlines like that. Then there are also special requests or commissions, which I will usually knock out as fast as possible.
But then there is also this long list of “elective” illustrations that I want to do, mostly pop culture stuff, but I just haven’t got to them. For instance, I want to do a few illustrations from a series of board games: Battleship, Hungry Hungry Hippos, and Connect Four. I want to do these pretty badly, and I picture what they will look like in my head all the time, but I just haven’t gotten to them yet. There is a corkboard in my room with at least 50 different illustration ideas I have yet to get to. I even will draw little thumbnail sketches and post them up there, too. It’s like the idea is waiting there for me, I just have to put pen to paper to get it out of my head. And it’s fun to get to cross things off that list. There are so many ideas: it’s just finding the time and being in the right mindset to work on them.
I think I also work better in a series. For instance, I did a whole bunch of monkey-related pieces recently, and I remember being more focused when I was working on them all as one big project rather than individual pieces.
I get really excited about working on this stuff and I think some days I just have it going, and sometimes I don’t. And it’s good to know yourself and know when is a good time to try and bust out as much work as possible and when to lay low, recharge and binge-watch Netflix.
In addition to your work with Otter Illustration, you're also pretty involved with Spiderweb Salon. What kind of work do you do with Spiderweb and how does it differ from your Otter work?
Spiderweb Salon is a spoken word and art collective based in Denton. We host showcases and produce low-run publications with poetry, prose and artwork. When I first started participating with Spiderweb Salon, I was more of a participant, showing some art here and there, playing some songs. And then in October of 2012, I made a little fold-up ‘zine with dinosaurs on it. That would become the first of many, as we went on to make ‘zines a regular part of the Spiderweb Salon output, sometimes tying them into the themes of the shows. I am currently still in charge of the design and layout of the ‘zines for Spiderweb Salon as well as getting the privilege to do the cover art, which is always fun.
Using my talents for Spiderweb Salon is special in that I am not getting paid to do this. It is a labor of love. And it is a lot of work, but I believe in the mission of community and creation behind Spiderweb Salon, which is why I have been doing it this long. What makes it different than how I normally work is that we have to have coordination with all the many arms of Spiderweb Salon: we have workshops, we have meetings, we have correspondence over email or phone, we have to make decisions by consensus. There is a lot that goes into it. This differs from the normal Otter Illustration regiment, where I am making all the decisions, executive or otherwise, by myself. I have really cherished the opportunity to be a part of Spiderweb Salon. I admire the founders for being able to lead such a meaningful creative movement here in Denton.
How did you get involved with DIME?
When I found out about the DIME store opening, I was really excited. I knew that it would be perfect to have a store like that in Denton. So in the beginning, I think I was just a fan of what the DIME store founders were doing. Then I think I was volunteering at SCRAP one day, when Shelly (one of the founders) came by and we started talking about the store and what I do, and she was so nice and interested to hear about what I did. From there, I think the first thing I did was I went up there with a little sample pack of my stuff for everyone that worked there as a gift and a way of introducing myself. I remember going in there the first time, looking around and thinking that I didn’t really have anything that I had created at that point that would really fit with the overall aesthetic of the store. But I was fortunate enough to get a spot at the Handmade Harvest show/market in November of 2013. After that I started making stuff with the shop in mind: I think the first thing they bought from me was Christmas Cards. Which led to Valentine’s Day Cards, Mother’s Day cards, Denton postcards, Denton magnets, Denton posters, etc. It has been a wonderful symbiotic relationship that we have developed, where I will go in and we will discuss stuff I am planning on working on, sometimes showing prototypes or just spilling out ideas, and we will refine the ideas and try to figure out what might be good for the store. My relationship with the DIME store has been really beneficial for many reasons and I am thoroughly grateful for all they have done to grow Otter Illustration.
Aside from the DIME Store, where can we find your work?
I’m up at the Denton Community Market pretty much every other weekend. Plus I have booths at various local shows and markets like the upcoming Handmade Harvest as well as the Day of the Dead Festival. I have also done big events in the past like Dallas Comic Con and Alternative Press Expo when I lived in San Francisco. You can also buy stuff at my online shop: www.theOtterShop.com.
You use a lot of well known characters in your art. Explain to us how the concept of fair use allows you to legally utilize those characters.
Right. I could probably go on and on about this, because I am interested in the law itself lately and especially how copyright law is interpreted. So, I’ve done a lot of research on this because I obviously don’t want to be ignorant about the matter, and I definitely don’t want to be sued. Fair use, which is covered under the First Amendment, basically lays out what is allowed in terms of using copyrighted material in your own work. It is an extremely gray legal area and much of what is and what is not copyright infringement is open for interpretation. “Fan Art” has become so popular, it really has changed what that law is all about. For me, I always try to present my work as a new interpretation of an established idea or character. If I can claim it as parody, which is usually what I am going for, then it should be protected under Fair Use. Some companies are more stingy about it, and there are other companies that embrace it, citing that it adds to the canon of the characters or work. Also they might elect not to seek legal action as it can be a PR nightmare for them: a big-time greedy company going after an individual.
You can’t make a derivative work. It has to be dramatically different than the original. If it’s clearly satire, then it’s protected under Fair Use (think MAD magazine.) A good example of people who are infringing on copyright: the people on Etsy who are making Batman logo or Mario character decals for the back of your laptop. You can’t do that without a license from the copyright holders. But even when it’s clearly copyright infringement like that, companies generally won’t go after you until you are really making a lot of noise. That’s when they might come knocking at your door with a “cease and desist” order or worse.
Your work fits into a very specific age group. Do you feel like this works to your advantage or not?
I don’t know if I agree with that statement. I do feel like there is a certain demographic that certainly “gets” my work more than others. But working my booth at the Denton Community Market, I can tell you from first-hand experience that I have people from age 6 to 60 who come up and purchase my stuff.
For instance I have an illustration called “Toads of Battle, Frogs of War,” inspired by the old NES game, “Battletoads.” It’s an image of a frog with sunglasses, a frog with spiked bracers, and a toad with leather gauntlets. And there was a lady who really liked it and bought it. She’s like, “I love frogs!” And I said, “Yeah, that’s from a game called ‘Battletoads’.” And she had no idea what I was talking about, and she was just like, “Oh, I just really like frogs.” Even if you don’t get it necessarily, you might still appreciate it on its own. Plus, I have a lot of stuff that is just generic animal or generic Denton stuff that doesn’t have any specific pop culture reference at all that seems to sell with all sorts of people.
Are there certain areas of pop culture in your art that sell better than others? What doesn’t sell that you wish did?
Things that sell well: anything with animals. Most of the pieces that reference Nintendo games do well. The Star Wars stuff does well. I definitely have some stuff that doesn’t sell well, and I can’t necessarily predict it. But I feel like I can look at the information and derive some sort of pattern in the purchasing habits. One illustration I did that I really like but I don’t think I’ve sold even one print of is called “Virtual Insanity” which is an illustration of the Virtual Boy, with the graphics projecting out of it. It's appropriate considering that the Virtual Boy itself was a huge commercial flop.
Pikachu vs a Wompa vs Predator who wins?
Ok, this is easy. The Pikachu and Wampa would essentially cancel each other out in all-out, ice-versus-electricity battle. And if either one of them was left standing, Predator would be waiting, cloaked in the corner. And then it would be up to him whether he wanted to finish things off with a ranged attack from the shoulder cannon, smart disc, or javelin. But a Predator versus a Snorlax? Now that would be an interesting match-up.
3 S- NO WAIT... 4 SONGS
We're hosting a show at Rubber Gloves as part of their always-awesome Free Week series next Monday (yup, Labor Day). We did our best to highlight some of our favorite bands from Denton's house show circuit. Dome Dwellers, Bad Beats, Mink Coats, The Days, and The Hymens will all take the stage next Monday to kick off the week of free shows. We love all of 'em and think you will, too. We've expanded our monthly 3 Songs column to include all of the bands playing our show so you can get a little preview of sorts. Check all of the songs out below and we'll see y'all on Monday at Rubber Gloves!
Dome Dwellers - "My Halo"
Dome Dwellers will be headlining the show. Here's what we said about their song, "My Halo" a year ago. We still dig this song, and they've even gone on to release a full length that you can buy here.
We just happened to sort of stumble across "My Halo" from Dome Dwellers. As soon as that happened, everything was immediately right with the world. Seriously, this is great stuff and hopefully a precursor of more that we’ll be seeing from this trio of dudes who have a full length coming in late October. "My Halo," itself, reminds us a bit of the Canadian band, Women, before they imploded a few years back - mathy and disjointed in the best of ways. The guitars are full of 90’s-era chimey-ness and tremolo and the math rock aspect of this tune acts as more of a hook than it does a headache - let’s just say that it’s more Algebra 1 than it is Pre-calculus. Whether they’re aware or not, this slightly epic track harkens back to the days of Denton space rock and we couldn’t be happier to be reminded of that era. Do yourself a favor and give this a listen. Heck, you can even download their entire EP for free from their bandcamp.
The Days - "Roll Tide"
(Editor’s Note: We Denton Do It shares a few members/contributors with The Days, but none of them are writing this, none of them asked for this, and we're diggin' it quite a bit. Conflict of interest be damned. While we’re at it, you wanna buy a couch from us on Craigslist?) If you’ve yet to catch The Days live or hear them in any capacity before, you’ve been missing out. These dudes sound as if The Band was fronted by a younger, less smokey Mark Lanegan. "Roll Tide" is a romp of sorts through 70's -era rock songs that'll have you stomping your feet and imagining the band pointing fingers/drumsticks at each other while they're playing. The song just sounds like sweaty chest hair. Why didn't they just name it "Sweaty Chest Hair?" Check out more material on their bandcamp.
Bad Beats - "Fight"
Possibly learning a lesson from the Beastie Boys who fought and possibly died for your right to party, Bad Beats just want you to fight what you think is right. This track is an infectious minute and fifteen seconds of blasé punk anthem. This is a catchy track thrown at you with a "take it or leave it" punk for non punks attitude that, leaves you wanting more because like we said, it's only 75 seconds long, and we love that slight house show party feel it has. Fun stuff here.
Mink Coats - "Sun Daze"
Some of the best psychedelic surf-pop in Denton - if you've seen Ft. Worth's Space Beach, this is on the same field of existence. We're pretty happy there's a local psychedelic surf rock scene going on. "Sun Daze" is dripping in syrupy summer sludge and this tune will make you wipe the mushrooms from your eyes and dream of panda bears on tropical islands if you aren't careful. That's right, suck it up kids, this is the best pack of already-been-chewed bubbalicious around. Shoving every piece in your mouth and half drooling half chewing the explosion of flavor until it's a wet gray mass of spent underwear balled-up inside of your mouth. It's kind of an awful feeling, but there's no doubt you love it and aren't gonna stop chewing anytime soon.
BACK TO SCHOOL: VOLUNTEERING IN DENTON
Sara Button
““We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.””
It is that time of year again, y’all. Students are moving in, kiddos are loading busses, teachers are stressing out, and local bars are filling up again (well, on Thirsty Thursday’s at least..wait, is that really a thing?). Denton will soon wake up from its summer slumber and resume normal speed as it is Back to School time yet again. I can hear the townies crying from miles away... With all of that said, we wanted to highlight some ways that you and your friends can get involved in the Denton Community or be charitable without dumping ice water on your head. These are all different entities that will allow you to help out and give back to our community in the form of volunteering.
Volunteering is not only a great way to feel good about your place in life, but it's also a great way to meet people, network and learn about the community in which you are currently residing. Denton has plenty of opportunities for you to volunteer. Below, we've highlighted a few of our favorite Denton organizations that are in need of able bodies, but there are several more beyond this list and we encourage you to do your research and find one that speaks directly to you.
A poster for Mentor Denton
Mentor Denton – One kid. One hour a week. One year. This organization is one of my favorites in town. You can sign up, get trained & really impact an at-risk student in Denton ISD. If you are not a fit for the hours needed, that is ok! You can donate monetarily to sponsor a child. For more information and the sign up forms, check this out.
Bank On Denton County – Are you good with math? What about finances? Do you like helping people? If you answered yes to the aforementioned questions, Bank on Denton County seems like a good match for your volunteerism. Volunteer for a few hours a month conducting financial workshops for low income families in Denton County. To sign up, click here.
Denton Community Food Center – Did you know that 19% of our community population lives in poverty? That is 1 in 5 families in Denton County. Denton Community Food Center actively seeks donations year round to help feed our families. The top 3 items they ask for are: peanut butter, breakfast cereal, and canned fruits. They ask that you try to avoid glass containers when possible. If you choose to donate monetarily, you can find can click here for info. DCFC feed approximately 35-50 families a day and provided 240 TONS of food to local families last year.
Keep Denton Beautiful – You can join the KDB organization for dues as low as $10 (for students) and help out in an array of beautiful ways. Help our community stay clean by volunteering for a litter pickup day, gardening at different places around town, or you could even be a yard of the month judge! To learn more, check out their website here.
The volunteer photography crew from Help-Portrait: Denton 2013.
Help-Portrait: Denton – Denton’s second annual Help-Portrait event is just right around the corner! We posted a video earlier this year that shares more information and takes you behind the scenes at the first annual event that was actually held earlier this year (no thanks to Icemageddon 2k13). We here the volunteer application will open up very soon, and hope to see you all on December 6, 2014 at Calhoun Middle School. Follow Help-Portrait: Denton on facebook to stay up-to-date on what is happening this year! If you are able to donate photo paper, food, make up, or hair products please contact Sara Button.
Festivals - While you may not be serving the needy, we always love having festivals around town and in order to keep them going, they need help! Oaktopia, 35 Denton, Thin Line and more (we have a lot of festivals in town if you didn't already know) all need volunteers. The best part is that volunteering with these festivals normally gets you a free pass. Check out their various websites for more info.
If you want to stay hip on other volunteer opportunities in Denton, check out the sites below:
Denton Animal Shelter Foundation
Volunteerism is cool. It’s what all of the cool kids in Denton are doing this year. Tell us about your favorite volunteer experience in the comments below!
Sara Button would best be described as a professional homebody. She has been involved in an on again/off again love affair with Denton since the fall of '04, with her most recent choice to be "on again." When she is not adventure thrifting around the metroplex, she can most likely be found giggling to the goings-on of her two small chiweenies, Stevie Butts, and Lindsey Buttingham.
3 SONGS: JULY 2014
We're chiming in before the month ends with 3 Songs, our monthly column featuring three recently released tunes from local artists that we've been digging lately. Read on to get a quick glimpse into the current state of the Denton music scene for the month of July. Today, we hear from the likes of localites Layer Cake, The Holler Time and Shaheed Floww. Oh, there's some fun videos in this month's column, too. We certainly dig these tunes, and hope y'all do, too.
There's not much we can say to emphasize how amazing this video directed by Eric Michener of Fishboy is. Let's just say that it features the ladies of Layer Cake getting threatened by the ladies of Slayer Cake with a note proclaiming, "There can only be one cake band." That, plus super powers. Oh, the song is great, too. Layer Cake is playing their last show before an indefinite hiatus this Saturday at Rubber Gloves. More info on that here.
Alt-country has long been a good fit for Denton and "One Way to Know," by The Holler Time makes us want to grab a beer just as much as any other tune with keys and slide guitar. This is a fun tune with plenty of noodling and good times.
Lastly, we have a tune called "Gold Wrist" by local up-and-coming rapper, Shaheed Floww. Floww recently graduated from Denton High School and any time there's a reference to a Spongebob Squarepants character in a rap song, we obviously take notice.
Post sponsored in part by Crossfit 940. Visit their new location off of I-35 and get fit!
EVERYONE HATES CHAMBERS
Seryn members, Nathan Allen and Aaron Stoner, give their honest opinion of Chambers' soon the be released debut album, 'Inner Room.' 'Inner Room' will be released June 10, 2014 through The Record Machine.
Our friends in the band Chambers are about to drop their new album Inner Room on June 10th via The Record Machine. In fact, as they gear up for the big release, they're interviewing their buddies about the new album. We asked them a couple of questions about the new album, their evolving sound - and their newest marketing campaign (which you can.
WDDI: What was your experience writing your new album?
Judson Valdez: Making this album was a new experience for all of us I think. As it is our first as a band, making it really was a struggle to establish what we want to be. Sometimes that led to arguments and fits, but overall, it really is what brought us together as a band. There is something special and difficult about taking a bunch of pieces and ideas that are so personal, bringing them to a group of people and saying, "how about this?" I think we all had to learn to work together in that regard.
It's kind of like writing this super passionate love letter to you high school crush, spending hours and hours struggling to get the right words in hope that she will understand and think you're super cool, and then before you give it to her, you ask your friends to read over it and tell you what they think, and then they respond, " yeah, that's pretty good but what if you did this instead?"
What inspired your new marketing campaign?
As strange as it might sound, we aren't always serious and moody, even though our music may portray otherwise. Most of our time together is either serious brooding (myself especially) or joking around and playing joke cover songs. So when we were talking ideas to promote the album, we thought it might be fun to show our other side a little since our music is so serious. Our close circle of friends is mostly made up of musicians, artists, photographers etc. and when we all get together we spend a lot of time joking around about the things we take most seriously, kind of a release I suppose. So when we asked our friends to go on camera and make fun of us, they were very easily won over to the idea.
How would you describe your new album in 140 characters or less?
An attempt to give the best and worst parts of us to everyone else. It's a big risk, but hopefully it will be worth taking.
CLINT WILKINSON OF BELL & OAK
Clint Wilkinson of Bell & Oak
Clint Wilkinson, the founder and owner of the new handmade leather goods store, Bell and Oak, is a cool dude with some hardcore Denton roots. We recently chatted with him about his process, his vision for his new venture and some other stuff. If you don't already know about Bell and Oak, it's high time you did. This guy is crafting and creating some of the most beautiful handmade leather goods around. His Instagram feed alone will make you swoon. We're pretty much feeling like we need all leather everything now. Don't even get us started on the amazing 'new leather' smell that happens when you pick up a new piece for your growing wallet collection - it's addicting. Read on to find out how Clint is honing his craft and sharing it with the world below.
Yo, Clint. Share with us a little bit about your family’s history with Denton.
Well, I believe my Grandpa (Weldon Burgoon) is a 6th generation Dentonite. The University of North Texas did an excellent oral history book on his life this year. It’s 200+ pages about his descendants traveling to Denton back in the 1800’s all the way to present day. It has some really neat pictures in the back of it describing certain locations in Denton and old cowboy stories. We sell them inside Weldon’s currently.
Going back to 1957, that’s when my Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, and Uncle started Weldon’s Saddle Shop. It was located on the east side of Bell & Hickory St. but moved to the west side(our current location) in the 60’s. He started it by making custom saddles, leather goods, and tack but he slowly started carrying western wear to get a little cash flow. As years went on it’s progressed into what you see today, sorta a Denton landmark. We have western clothing for men, women, and kids but what I think makes our shop so unique, is all the Texas Cowboy Collectibles and working leather shop inside. It’s really like stepping into a western museum.
In 2011 my Grandpa got inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame because of the extraordinary Denton Junior Stampede Rodeo that he and my family created in the 70’s that was held at the Denton Fair Grounds. He’s also been inducted into the National Bit & Spur Association Hall of Fame for his contributions.
My Dad grew up in Denton and was a professional calf roper. His Dad died before I was born, so I never had the chance to meet him, but one day I will! Dad was raised a cowboy too and I remember as a kid traveling to rodeos in the back of his truck every weekend to watch him rope. Those were the good ol’ days, not a worry in the world!
So I’ve been a Dentonite for 31 years I guess. I’ve seen it change quite a bit.
Your past in design and your transition into handmade goods is inspiring. What really made you want to make the jump into doing this full time?
I could go on for days with different reasons why I wanted to make the move into this field but, the main reason is because I just had too much stuff going on at one time which led me into an extreme anxiety filled burnout. Some of you may have read My Story on Bell & Oak’s website about how ,in 2007, I helped start the worlds most popular online publishing platform for the motocross industry, vurbmoto.com. I was also working at Weldon’s during that time so one minute I would be designing motion graphics for Red Bull, making web elements, learning code, on Skype calls.. the next minute trying to sell a pair of boots or help my Grandpa fix something. On top of all that I have a lovely wife and two kids who I’m trying to spend time with. I would find myself running wide open from 6am - 1am most days, with little sleep and to much coffee. I did that for 6 years and finally my body had enough and just shut down. I told the Vurb guys I needed a break.
During that break is when I discovered how therapeutic working with leather was. There’s something about working with your hands thats really satisfying. So one day I went back into our leather shop and just made an iPad Mini case. It took me about 2 weeks to complete because I’d never made anything like it before. After that I made my Dad a belt for his birthday, fully tooled with a liner sewn in. By that time a month had passed and I could feel my body slowly getting back to normal because I cut out all the stress I was having. For the next 4 months all I did was go to work at Weldon’s and work on leather, help customers, and go home. It brought me back to when I was young before all the craziness.
After learning how to build things better and getting into a groove of normalcy I knew this was something I would love to do. So I browsed around the internet at some different brands who kinda fit the same style I’d like to create. I was confident in my ability to start a brand by myself because of all the experience I had, so I went for it and here we are today! The guys at Vurb supported me during that time period and I’m forever grateful to all of them for that.
On top of all that, I want to keep my Grandpa’s leather craft legacy alive. I would love to teach my kids how to craft things out of leather and hopefully they’re interested at an early age. I feel like this is my contribution to the foundation that started Weldon’s Saddle Shop.
Your online presence really grew incredibly quickly. What has the challenge been in creating that presence?
I still have a long way to go in order to reach my goals online, but I was shocked at the response I received after putting out the link to My Story on facebook in January. On the first day My Story received over 1600 likes on facebook which was way more than I was expecting. Heck we have over 180K Followers on vurbmoto’s facebook page and it was hard getting that many likes on posts, so it was definitely reassuring.
“I feel like this is my contribution to the foundation that started Weldon’s Saddle Shop.”
The biggest challenge I think is keeping people interested in what you’re doing. People have so many distractions in their lives these days, it’s tough to keep them interested in your posts. Think about how fast you can get information these days. People want things as fast as Google gives it to them and then they move onto the next thing just as fast. So I try to not overdue posts on instagram, I try to only post the best images once a day. From my past experience in building a world wide brand, we had to figure all of this out the hard way. So I’m truly taking what I’ve learned building past brands and applying it to Bell & Oak.
Your shop is chock full of beautiful handmade leather goods. Which of these goods are you actually using/wearing right now?
I’m always wearing the Standard Belt with Belt Key Chain because I don’t like keys in my pocket. As for wallets, I’m a Grissom guy during the week and Hickory guy on the weekend. I also love using the iPhone Sleeve compared to those huge rubber bricks that are so hard to put in your pocket.
How do you choose your leather? Can you tell us why you believe in creating a product that uses really high quality leather?
I knew that I wanted to get the best quality leather so people could tell a difference. Since I’ve been blessed to work at my Grandpa’s shop, I get to hear all the stories about how someone’s belt only lasted 9 months or that a wallet fell apart in 6 months yet, they continue to buy the same exact product. I want those people to buy a Bell & Oak product so they can feel, smell, and experience the difference when real quality leather is used. Plus the fact it’s made right here in Denton Texas, I would hope the locals can appreciate something like that. I want the customer to have the opportunity to pass down a Bell & Oak product to their kids or at the very least, be able to enjoy it for years.
If you visit the Materials Page on my website, there is an awesome video interview of the Horween Leather Tannery by Filson that explains why they believe in quality too.
Your Grandfather was an amazing at leather tooling. How has he handed down that craft? What have you had to learn on your own? What is your favorite kind of design to work on?
As a kid I remember going back into the leather shop to watch him but I don’t think I realized what he was really doing. When I got into my teens I started to understand what some of the tools did, so I would get some scrap pieces of leather and mess around with it. From time to time he would look over my shoulder and tell me how to do something right.
Back in his days tooling patterns weren’t as intricate like todays stuff. The tools weren’t as precise and the technique wasn’t as refined. Plus, learning new techniques wasn’t as easy as it is now with Youtube video tutorials. So you really had to learn your own way.
There is a great buddy of mine, Ely Ganzer, who has been a long time family friend that showed me the more modern way of tooling once I started taking it serious. He gave me tips on what tools to buy, what work to look at, and showed me a few techniques he likes to use. Once that was established I just started tooling more patterns so I could get better.
My favorite style of tooling is called the Sheridan style. It originated in Sheridan Wyoming, to me it’s the prettiest and most difficult style to pull off.
What has opening Bell and Oak taught you about the maker community and the challenges of handmade production in the age of the online world?
Well it’s given me a lot of respect towards makers who helped grow this country many decades ago. I’ve also learned that makers like to help one another. I’m talking with a few local makers, who are brilliant in their respected craft, at doing some collab work with me and they’ve embraced it with open arms. I have some cool Wood + Leather stuff I’m working on with Pastrana Studio, special watercolor prints by Mandy Cave, and lifestyle photos by Melissa Barrett.
One of the tough things about selling online is that the customer doesn’t get to experience the product until it’s been shipped to them. They have to completely trust the brand in order to make that type of commitment. I hope that’s something Bell & Oak gains, a solid reputation. Being a one man operation, I’m playing the role of many hats to keep things running seamlessly as possible.
I think if the makers can grab a’hold of the youth so they can get interested in buying American Made products, we’ll be in good shape. Thats a huge task, but technology has allowed us to reach so many different types of people that it can be done.
Where’s your favorite place to pull out that amazing wallet and grab a bite?
You can catch me at Rusty’s Taco, LSA, and The Cupboard most of the time but, you guys keep me posted on new places to try so I need to take advantage of that!
3 SONGS: APRIL 2014
We're chiming in before the month ends with 3 Songs, our monthly column featuring three recently released tunes from local artists that we've been digging lately. Read on to get a quick glimpse into the current state of the Denton music scene. This month we hear from the likes of Wiving, Final Club and a new one from Chambers. We dig 'em. Hope y'all do, too.
Oh man. We are so digging this new Chambers tune. How great is it when bands emerge from a songwriting cocoon and live up to the hype they built up with their early releases? "Inner Room" delivers on all of the things that excited folk about Chambers last year. The song trajectories have improved, the vocal melodies are spot on, and there's that damned-good deafening curl of a peak at the end. Not only that, but this is also the most instantly accessible song Chambers has released. They've found a way to harness their cinematic soundscapes into traditional song structures and we're excited to hear the rest of their album when it drops June 10th.
What?! Final Club is back? Do y'all remember Final Club? These dudes are awesome. We actually went to their house once for an interview in like 2009, but never finished it. Maybe we should get back on that... We're very happy to see that they're still around. Not only that, but they, just like Chambers, have grown as songwriters since we last heard from them. Their new single, "Tread," finds Final Club embracing rhythm and seemingly having misplaced their distortion pedals (or at least turned them down) and somehow that's not a bad thing at all. There's enough rhythm and melody here that we'd drop that Hot Snakes comparison they used to get and replace it with a Gang of Four.
Wiving has the tag #GothicLez on their Soundcloud page and that makes us more happy than probably anything else could today. This duo featuring Heather and Liz Larsen is heavy on the synths and the goth and really making us wish it was October again already. Haunting vocals, searingly cinematical synth arrangements, and a slinky-as-heck bass line make this demo version of their tune, "Bodytalk," sound like it could be right out of the intro credits scene of an 80's horror movie - but specifically a good one. Isn't that just about what we should expect from Liz Larsen considering her history with late-Denton-greats, The Undoing of David Wright and Strange Towers (is that still a thing?).
DIME FEATURED MAKER: MADELINE WOOD
Every so often, we like to check in with the ladies over at The DIME Store and highlight one of the makers whose work they sell in-store. This month we hear from Rachel Nichelson from the handmade clothing outfit, Madeline Wood. Nichelson has been making handmade clothing for both adults and children for years now and has her work sold all over the place. We think she's pretty cool and that her clothes are, too. Read on to find out what drew her to fashion, how she manages to appeal to all age groups and find out about her brand new collection!
DIME: So first of all, what's the skinny behind the name "Madeline Wood"? Because the word on the street is that your name isn't Madeline. ;-)
Rachel Nichelson: Yes, I know it might be a little confusing and I have occasionally been called Madeline at shows. But Madeline Wood is actually just a simple recognition to my grandmother. And now it is also my daughter’s name. You might say Madeline Wood embraces the past and present.
What first drew you to fashion?
I can always remember loving fashion and creating with my hands, even as a little girl. But in my early teen years I got the opportunity to work in a small womens boutique. I loved unpacking the inventory and seeing all the new styles. Dressing up the mannequins and setting up the window displays was amazing. I fell in love with fashion.
We love that your dresses and accessories for little girls are just as tasteful and timeless as your line for adults. What do you love most about designing for youngsters and adults alike?
I have always loved how little girl clothes embraces more of a whimsical feeling. A few years ago I had a strong desire to start adapting my women’s designs for little girls. But recently some of my little girls designs I have been adapting for my women’s collection. Its so fun how they can be interchangeable. But what brings me the most joy is when my daughter asks for one of my dresses in her size!
At the DIME Store, we see everyone age 20 to 80 drawn to your adorable shirts and blouses. What do you think makes your work so appealing to basically everyone?
I hope its because they are drawn to my colorful fabric and simple vintage inspired silhouettes. I love color and patterns both in modern and vintage fabrics. I am also fascinated with vintage fashion and use it for inspiration when designing. Blending these all together you get colorful timeless fashion, and I think that is what draws women and girls of all ages into Madeline Wood.
We love your material choices! How do you go about finding your eclectic fabrics?
I have been collecting fabric for years, you might say I am bit of a fabric hoarder. I buy surplus fabric, which is designer and manufacture leftovers and misprints. And I will scour the internet and estate sales for vintage fabric. I also have found some great pieces at Scrap here in Denton.
“My dream is for Madeline Wood to be in boutiques across the country and world wide.”
What are you most excited about with your new collection?
I am so excited about the fabric I found last spring and the new styles I have added to my own wardrobe. Although every piece is my favorite, I was ecstatic about the hound hunting fabric I found and for the last year would daydream about it as a mini skirt! I am delighted to finally introduce the Marie skirt to my Etsy shop.
Where are you hoping to see Madeline Wood go in the future?
My dream is for Madeline Wood to be in boutiques across the country and world wide. I would love to see the wholesale side of Madeline Wood grow. But for now I am focusing on my Etsy shop and I hope to see it flourish.
How did you get involved with the DIME Store?
Well I met Rachel and Shelly when I participated in one of the Etsy Denton Handmade shows a couple years ago. I was invited to bring in my garments when DIME opened a year ago, but it wasn’t until February this year that I finally brought Madeline Wood to the DIME Store.
Aside from the DIME Store, where can we shop your work?
You can find Madeline Wood on Etsy or in my studio by appointment.
Any advice for aspiring makers?
Do what you love, work hard at it and develop your skills. Don’t compare yourself to others or worry about mistakes, just learn from them. Trust your instincts and love what you make!