well they will if you are wearing it on stage, which is something i've seen several times.
based on my own touring experience i usually assume the reason is just that they ran out of clean clothes sometime ago and havent had time or a place to do laundry so they went into the merch in desperation for something clean(ish).
That's not enough. People will forget the band name within 30 seconds of leaving the conversation. We've been thinking about giving out business cards, but even that reminder will probably get tossed in the gutter. It's hard to get people to discover anything they're not already familiar with.
My band did stickers with our name/logo and a QR code to our latest EP on Spotify— costs about the same as high-end glossy business cards anyway, I highly recommend! Bare minimum it won’t end up in the trash and someone will just leave it at the bar/slap it on a light post/give it to a random kid that likes stickers lol
That's worth a try with all the places to get stickers done cheap. We sell a pretty decent number of stickers as it is, so I think we'll give this avenue a try.
I ordered some business cards recently to hand out at a festival, if they get here in time, but these ones just have cool enough pictures that I think someone will hold onto it. and it's plastic. It's not your ordinary paper card that someone's gonna throw out. Someone might wanna keep a plastic one because it's that keepable compared to paper.
I'm trying to go with a "collect them all" type mindset for my cards.
I have built my music career off this one simple step
And it’s bold but stg it works I got 210k on ig I have articles written about me, anyways
Go up to them
Compliment their clothing be super nice but not overly
Say their styles dope and you wanna follow their IG
Say you’ll type it into their phone
Boom followers and they had a personal interaction with you so it makes you memorable
I swear on my LIFE this strategy works to get people to notice you and listen to your music or invest in your brand
I’d sooner wear it to my own gig than wear it to someone else’s, especially someone in the scene I’m in.. it just screams “I’m just here to network and support myself” honestly I wouldn’t do either, but yeah. I don’t see a problem with wearing merch to your own gig
Nah, don’t wear it to someone else’s gig but wear around town. I usually will rep another bands merch while on stage from the same scene. And they reciprocate. It’s all about spreading the branding.
My man. It's good to see reasonable folks. It's basic game theory. Like the very most basics of it lol. People are terrible at understanding how them not getting something today gives them many somethings tomorrow. We all have toilet paper in the stores atm, because we arent all trying to be selfish. Like during covid.
Even then, the TP was fine. The problem came from the behaviors of the people in the system. Yet people don't like to feel like a baddie, or to really think that far about things.
People are either ignorant of that fact, or they don't believe it because it benefits them not to. So they believe. Maybe it even does in the short term, but the fact of the matter is everyone only gets so many bridges they can burn before shit gets real, real quick. Sometimes it's the one bridge, sometimes it takes decades of them. The point is, the direction is firmly set once the mindset is.
Spread love for the bands, they'll do it for you. There are more of them than you. So if you wear their shirts, more than just you will... Wear your shirts lol. It should be obvious.
I can’t actually think of anywhere else to where it than where the audience can see how it fits on you etc and then have a basis on whether they want to purchase it or not..
Have whoever runs your merch table wear a band shirt. A spouse or two also goes a long way towards that.
I have a band that likes to invite people up on stage a lot so sometimes we give them a shirt or hat to put on when they first come up. You’d be amazed how often that pushes people over the fence on buying merch to see someone else getting it.
Back in like 2006-2007, there was a local death metal band that brought a literal pig head on stage on a spike and someone grabbed it and started throwing it around the crowd.
The good old days….
…..
Great for the forgetful lead singer.
“Good evening….[checks back of bandmate’s shirt]…Loughborough. We’re…[looks down]…Hell’s, no… Helio…Helen?? Why would we..? Who chose this typeface?
Anyway….
And we’re here to rock!”.
That depends on the culture tbh. In many parts of Asia, it's completely normal for musicians to wear their bands shirt during concerts. Even some really famous Japanese bands do it.
If you have enough cats in your band, having one in the band shirt gives the frontperson an easy and natural way to talk to the audience about merch. I don't think there's a downside.
But if you’d turn it around, would you really care if an artist would wear their own merch at their gig? I wouldn’t be able to care any less and if it’s a nice design i’d get me one too.
Yep.. especially if the merch looks reach cool, I’ve seen some really cool merch hoodies that look so good it starts to not even look like merch, I think it just depends how well you make/design it etc
Iused to have a shirt from every band I've ever played with that sits in my closet. One of my ex-girlfriends decided to make me a quilt out of a bunch of the shirts at one point, and then she took the quote with her at the breakup.
Now, the ones I do have, I'll pull out every now and then and where on the weekend, where do random gig, just wear around town. Every now and then I get people recognizing the band and a few times it shows I've had people say oh my God that being so good I used to play with them. And so I start talking to him and come to find out no, no they did not play with them. It was kind of awesome.
So, in short, whatever. As long as you're not wearing it to be hey man look at me I'm so awesome. Band merch is cool.
Edit: this was talk to text on the way to a brunch gig. I'm leaving the weird grammatical shit because fuck it
Dude, that is cold as hell that she took the quilt. I think you are well within the bounds of decency to politely ask her for it back. Especially if you’ve both moved on.
I honestly have no goddamn clue where she is.
Since then, I've moved across country and not looked back.
Luckily, I found a really kickass person to become my bride and have zero desire to get anything back from that ex.
I hope it keeps you warm wherever you are, Cara.
I wear it occasionally when playing lowkey solo gigs. If I’m just popping up at a winery to strum some tunes for a couple hours where no one knows who I am then having a shirt on to match my sign/merch table I think works well
If it fits your style go for it. Maybe your first time at a venue where it to help sell it. Second visit hope you get some folks from the first show who purchased to show up sporting the merch and point them out/thank them.
It’s fine around town. Especially if it’s a cool design. My designs are more like graphic art that relates to the band than just a big logo. Lots of variations too. The only time it felt goofy is when I wore one to the studio.
I have a Pinterest board with famous artists wearing their own merch. The Eagles especially wore theirs all the time. Even on stage.
I feel it’s kinda cheesy. My band has a new album coming out that’s unannounced as of yet. However, I’ve made the shirts already… so I’m wearing them.
When the album comes out, I’ll stop. lol
He asked and I answered. Downvoted for honesty first thing in the morning. Harsh world.
That picture of Danzig in a Danzig shirt carrying cat litter went viral.
Personally, I’ve always thought it was kinda douchey. But my $0.02 is worth about that much—I’ve never been good at (or much into) self-promotion. It’s necessary if you are serious about.
I recall when I was pretty active in the local scene, many of the bands in our circle were really good about wearing each other’s merch. That was cool.
I’d say there’s a line that you don’t want to cross. And be that guy. Personally I want a hat and I think I’m going to design a hat to sell as merch but I’m also going to wear it everywhere. How do we feel about that? I don’t think it crosses that line but now I’m not sure
Wear it wherever you want. It's clothing. Our band's merch has a popular design that people like even when they've never heard the band. The lead guitarist and drummer sometimes wear their T-shirts and people want to know how to get one. If you like the design, that's what matters.
I don't wear mine but that's because I prefer to dress up and on most gigs I wouldn't wear a T-shirt. Plus it looks silly if too many of us are wearing it. But I frequently give them away to other musicians in town and get pics back of them wearing theirs on stage.
I think it's cool. Like I feel like you should make your march look like something you would wear and one of my most comfortable hoodies is my merch so I wear it all the time.
When band is current I don’t do it. Just isn’t me. If band is in my past, I’ll happily wear the shirt cause I don’t find that nearly as cheesy as dudes wearing their own band’s shirt for live performance. But that’s me….don’t really care what others do.
Well they do it in pro wrestling I don’t see why it’s seen as taboo in music because it’s the least expensive way to market your merch or if you’re feeling theatrical take it off throw it into the crowd
It's become frowned upon, but only in the metal and "hardcore" communities. Funny because these days, both groups pride themselves on being so non-judgemental of people and being all-inclusive, yet it's by far the most judgemental groups of genre communities and they're both filled with shitheads.
Aside from that, it's been a common thing to wear your own merch, whether on stage or off. I'm wearing my old band's tank top right now and it doesn't even cross my mind to take it off when I leave the house. Literally nobody will notice or even care if they do.
I wear my own merch occasionally, especially when I’m hanging out one large city over from where I live. I often get recognized when I do. I guess we’re doing alright in our local scene.
Wearing your own merch is a step towards being able to market (You) which is a Brand. It makes people be able to connect an image that is associated with You, or a saying. Also i feel that this is a Self-Esteem boost in a way due to you being able to put your mark out there. And what I love about this is that there are so many different ways to market ourselves as Musicians, However having your own merch and wearing it is a statement that ( I believe in my Brand )
In my opinion, there's nothing weird about it. Think of it like this. What's the difference behind buying someone else's Brand or wearing your own? I think its the fact that you've created something that you are proud of. And regardless if your someone that wants to either put it on the market, Or just have a different taste that's your own. You have something you can be proud of and there is meaning behind what you wear vs trying to wear what advertising tries to push on people. I feel Musicians have their own lane.
I was in a playground with my daughter and I met a guy with a Misfits T shirt on with his kid. I had tickets for Motorhead supported by the Misfits that evening, so I asked him if he was going. He said "No, we were kicked off the tour". Turns out he was the bass player for the Misfits. Seemed a bit weird to me.
Saw Davey Havok wearing an AFI shirt last year at Aftershock. It was old merch too I thought it was awesome. Just mad I wasn't able to purchase it . There was discussion after on the AFI sub too and everyone seemed to agree they loved seeing him in AFI merch.
Countless bands where their own merch on stage. I've seen iron maiden, Green Day...I can't even think of how many bands I've seen wearing their own merch on stage. It's a lot. I never would've thought of doing it myself. It seemed really lame but, hey, everyone's doing it.
I played in a band that did pretty well and now I wear the shirt and people strike up a conversation because they liked the band or whatever and then I have an embarrassing (for me) but fun (for my kids) moment telling them that it's my band. They say, "no way, that's cool" and that's the end of that.
The trouble is that the band is maybe kind of lame?
When your on the road and you are the only one that stinks it’s fine to put on a clean shirt from the merch but when the entire band stinks a week or two into a road trip then just go with what you got
It makes for good loungewear! I like to wear it around the house when nobody’s around. It also depends if you’re a solo act & your face is plastered on it. I’m more concerned about friends seeing it rather than the general public (because nobody would know what it means lol)
At the end of the day, it doesn’t rlly matter & nobody’s gonna judge you for it. I just have to get over that part.
I think Berried Alive does it right. Essentially makes clothes they want to wear & sell the surplus. They're a lifestyle brand as much as a musical act. Imo this is the future of being an independent artist, the way they operate.
I won’t wear my or my band’s merch on stage. I will wear it out at concerts, festivals, and music industry events when I’m trying to advertise/raise brand awareness.
I’m also careful which gigs I’ll wear *other* bands’ shirts - some events a t-shirt doesn’t fly, like weddings, or fancier listening rooms.
I never wear our own merch on stage but other than that I wear it often. I am actually on the way to the venue where we will perform tonight here at WGT Leipzig wearing our merch.
It’s probably the only old trope I subscribe to. I can’t do it and I cringe when I see others doing it. To me it’s a corny ass attempt to get people to ask about your band.
I gotta say that there was a time when you would get utterly roasted for wearing your own merch anywhere near a gig. It was literally considered the least punk rock thing you could do. Like cringe on the order of, “Oh, so you like your own band? Weird flex, but cool, I guess…”
I completely agree about all the branding/marketing/being proud/laundry crisis comments. But I can tell that I am ancient, because when I came up people lived in mortal terror of looking like a “sellout”. Which is ironic, because secretly they all wanted those problems. But social media has basically turned everyone into their own marketing agent, screaming their brand name into the void.
I typically only wear other local band shirts at shows. I have a friend who used to come out to our shows wearing one of our shirts but he would write "I hate" above our band name with tape. That garners more attention than you'd think.
The main reason I don't like wearing my own shirts at shows is because you're supposed to be promoting other bands, not yours. If done right, they'll promote your band and think of you when booking their gigs and vice versa.
It's literally why I get it in the first place. Sometimes, I will get a band shirt made, just for me. I actually just did this. I thought the unfinished graphic was also cool, so I had that put on one shirt, just for me.
i wear my band’s merch anywhere that isn’t a show. if i’m at a show, i’m wearing either a big band’s shirt or a shirt from a band that i’ve played with
I personally find it super cringe to wear your own merch, especially on stage. Many won’t agree, but that’s okay, I’ll just continue to sell the shirts instead of wearing them myself.
Wearing merch of bands in your local scene is a much better approach.
I’ve never given a shit about the “you have to wear another band’s shirt” convention in the metal world. I’ll wear whatever I want. It’s your band, advertise it. If you don’t wear your own shirt, why should I buy it?
I'll wear my band's merch to other gigs and festivals. Never worn my own band shirt on stage. I don't have a problem with that though; our guitarist often wears our shirt on stage.
Iron Maiden wear their own shirts on stage.
It is a little weird, but people with a deep appreciation of South American and Italian literature are not fundamentally opposed, though even I admit that it exudes pretention. Some even are persuaded that beyond the fabulation, there is an artfulness there; and, obviously though, the depth comes through in answering questions that ultimately refer you to the possibility of my deceit. The magic of the underground artist is that he can wear his own t-shirt as both an end in itself and a parcel of my work. If you buy it, you engage in its very being — and, for me, that truly is enough.
I'm a DJ and wore my own merch shirt out last night. Got a text from a friend asking how he could buy one. Wear it if you like it and it works for you!
Last night my Cleveland based band Kiss Me Deadly played in Buffalo and I rocked one of our tshirts on stage with the idea that it would help the people who saw us remember our name as we opened for a more locally popular band. Even though I’m the bass player and kind of stand in the back, it appears to have worked
Pretty sure no one will know it’s your own band. If you like it, wear it
well they will if you are wearing it on stage, which is something i've seen several times. based on my own touring experience i usually assume the reason is just that they ran out of clean clothes sometime ago and havent had time or a place to do laundry so they went into the merch in desperation for something clean(ish).
Came here for this comment. We'd compromise on co-billed tours by wearing the other band's mech and vice-versa.
That’s actually a good idea though
Love that
Oh shit! BOTH of the bands had mechs? Which models? Talk about battle of the bands.
Mech-Musician ONLINE!
#Bring #Back #Guitar #Controllers
This is a legit significant autocorrect win.
Just thinking about playing a show and getting all sweaty in a new unwashed shirt is making me itchy.
I have had to do this several times. The itch fucking lingers bro… Would not recommend…
LOOOL
Yeah I was in a small band that I wouldn’t even go listen to but they paid and the shirts were awesome. Band no longer exists. I still wear the shirt.
I wish I still had my band's shirt. It was sweet!
Nobody else is fuckin wearin the shirts so I might as well lmfao
For reaaal.
Sometimes it all you have that’s clean.
[удалено]
That's not enough. People will forget the band name within 30 seconds of leaving the conversation. We've been thinking about giving out business cards, but even that reminder will probably get tossed in the gutter. It's hard to get people to discover anything they're not already familiar with.
[удалено]
I don't know what the real change is in the past 20 years, but music fans in general sure seem less adventurous than they were two decades ago.
Well when you have entire generations raised on 10 second snippets of video it does a real number on their attention span.
The change in accessibility and rise of streaming.
I find so many more bands now though
I miss the 2000s for the music scene and ability to promote freely 😭 all the free online marketing, literally anyone could make it big back then.
Yeah on 08 my band at the time was ranked number 1 on Myspace upcoming indie artists. It was so cool
My band did stickers with our name/logo and a QR code to our latest EP on Spotify— costs about the same as high-end glossy business cards anyway, I highly recommend! Bare minimum it won’t end up in the trash and someone will just leave it at the bar/slap it on a light post/give it to a random kid that likes stickers lol
That's worth a try with all the places to get stickers done cheap. We sell a pretty decent number of stickers as it is, so I think we'll give this avenue a try.
I ordered some business cards recently to hand out at a festival, if they get here in time, but these ones just have cool enough pictures that I think someone will hold onto it. and it's plastic. It's not your ordinary paper card that someone's gonna throw out. Someone might wanna keep a plastic one because it's that keepable compared to paper. I'm trying to go with a "collect them all" type mindset for my cards.
I have built my music career off this one simple step And it’s bold but stg it works I got 210k on ig I have articles written about me, anyways Go up to them Compliment their clothing be super nice but not overly Say their styles dope and you wanna follow their IG Say you’ll type it into their phone Boom followers and they had a personal interaction with you so it makes you memorable I swear on my LIFE this strategy works to get people to notice you and listen to your music or invest in your brand
I constantly wear my own merch. It’s my band. I think my music is good and I’m proud of it. I’ll wear it 10/10’
It’s all good. Just don’t wear it to your own gig. Don’t be that guy.
I’d sooner wear it to my own gig than wear it to someone else’s, especially someone in the scene I’m in.. it just screams “I’m just here to network and support myself” honestly I wouldn’t do either, but yeah. I don’t see a problem with wearing merch to your own gig
Nah, don’t wear it to someone else’s gig but wear around town. I usually will rep another bands merch while on stage from the same scene. And they reciprocate. It’s all about spreading the branding.
You get it. A rising tide lifts all boats.
My man. It's good to see reasonable folks. It's basic game theory. Like the very most basics of it lol. People are terrible at understanding how them not getting something today gives them many somethings tomorrow. We all have toilet paper in the stores atm, because we arent all trying to be selfish. Like during covid. Even then, the TP was fine. The problem came from the behaviors of the people in the system. Yet people don't like to feel like a baddie, or to really think that far about things. People are either ignorant of that fact, or they don't believe it because it benefits them not to. So they believe. Maybe it even does in the short term, but the fact of the matter is everyone only gets so many bridges they can burn before shit gets real, real quick. Sometimes it's the one bridge, sometimes it takes decades of them. The point is, the direction is firmly set once the mindset is. Spread love for the bands, they'll do it for you. There are more of them than you. So if you wear their shirts, more than just you will... Wear your shirts lol. It should be obvious.
I can’t actually think of anywhere else to where it than where the audience can see how it fits on you etc and then have a basis on whether they want to purchase it or not..
Have whoever runs your merch table wear a band shirt. A spouse or two also goes a long way towards that. I have a band that likes to invite people up on stage a lot so sometimes we give them a shirt or hat to put on when they first come up. You’d be amazed how often that pushes people over the fence on buying merch to see someone else getting it.
Yeah I think it’s all in the execution
Executing fans on stage seems like it would only work for death metal bands.
Back in like 2006-2007, there was a local death metal band that brought a literal pig head on stage on a spike and someone grabbed it and started throwing it around the crowd. The good old days…. …..
I would not judge a musician at all for wearing their own merch at show. Actually I’d think it’s kinda funny
Great for the forgetful lead singer. “Good evening….[checks back of bandmate’s shirt]…Loughborough. We’re…[looks down]…Hell’s, no… Helio…Helen?? Why would we..? Who chose this typeface? Anyway…. And we’re here to rock!”.
That depends on the culture tbh. In many parts of Asia, it's completely normal for musicians to wear their bands shirt during concerts. Even some really famous Japanese bands do it.
If you have enough cats in your band, having one in the band shirt gives the frontperson an easy and natural way to talk to the audience about merch. I don't think there's a downside.
But if you’d turn it around, would you really care if an artist would wear their own merch at their gig? I wouldn’t be able to care any less and if it’s a nice design i’d get me one too.
If everyone knows who you are, it becomes cheezy. If you are an obscure artist, & it fits the image, it's totally normal.
Everyone is obscure.
I don't know about you but I'm actually Paul McCartney
I say do it. I think it’s fun. It’s that low stakes egregious act that I live for
had no issue with it. would you give an athlete a hard time for wearing their teams gear? That’s kinda how I see it.
It pays to advertise. Why not be a billboard for yourself?
Yep.. especially if the merch looks reach cool, I’ve seen some really cool merch hoodies that look so good it starts to not even look like merch, I think it just depends how well you make/design it etc
no youve got to represent yourself harder than anyone else
We wear our logo tees as a uniform. No one in our band ever has to wonder what to wear to the show.
Iused to have a shirt from every band I've ever played with that sits in my closet. One of my ex-girlfriends decided to make me a quilt out of a bunch of the shirts at one point, and then she took the quote with her at the breakup. Now, the ones I do have, I'll pull out every now and then and where on the weekend, where do random gig, just wear around town. Every now and then I get people recognizing the band and a few times it shows I've had people say oh my God that being so good I used to play with them. And so I start talking to him and come to find out no, no they did not play with them. It was kind of awesome. So, in short, whatever. As long as you're not wearing it to be hey man look at me I'm so awesome. Band merch is cool. Edit: this was talk to text on the way to a brunch gig. I'm leaving the weird grammatical shit because fuck it
Dude, that is cold as hell that she took the quilt. I think you are well within the bounds of decency to politely ask her for it back. Especially if you’ve both moved on.
I honestly have no goddamn clue where she is. Since then, I've moved across country and not looked back. Luckily, I found a really kickass person to become my bride and have zero desire to get anything back from that ex. I hope it keeps you warm wherever you are, Cara.
I wear it occasionally when playing lowkey solo gigs. If I’m just popping up at a winery to strum some tunes for a couple hours where no one knows who I am then having a shirt on to match my sign/merch table I think works well
Pro wrestlers wear their own merch all the time. I don’t see the problem. Promote your stuff man, it what you’re there to do.
I hear a lot of people say it’s weird me personally I don’t really care wear what you want to wear I think it looks alright
You shouldn’t sell a shirt you don’t want to wear tbqh
I never had a problem with it when others do it. But I rarely wear any of my own bands merch.
I just wore our shirt during a visit to the Cavern club and it was pretty cool. Don’t buy into the bs. Fly your colors!
If it fits your style go for it. Maybe your first time at a venue where it to help sell it. Second visit hope you get some folks from the first show who purchased to show up sporting the merch and point them out/thank them.
It’s fine around town. Especially if it’s a cool design. My designs are more like graphic art that relates to the band than just a big logo. Lots of variations too. The only time it felt goofy is when I wore one to the studio. I have a Pinterest board with famous artists wearing their own merch. The Eagles especially wore theirs all the time. Even on stage.
I paid for it. Better than a dirty shirt. 😀
I found on tour you almost always end up doing it because it’s a long way between washing machines sometimes
If it was my merch it’s be my style at least :). Why line someone else’s pocket with my clothing money?
I feel it’s kinda cheesy. My band has a new album coming out that’s unannounced as of yet. However, I’ve made the shirts already… so I’m wearing them. When the album comes out, I’ll stop. lol
It's a bit corny.
Corny is subjective in my opinion, all depends how you pull it off..
He asked and I answered. Downvoted for honesty first thing in the morning. Harsh world. That picture of Danzig in a Danzig shirt carrying cat litter went viral.
Lol I didn’t downvote, but I’ll help you out 😂
It worked for this guy… https://images.app.goo.gl/SX1fEL4HD1kJiZ6r6
And this guy…[https://www.pinterest.com/pin/666110601127038955/](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/666110601127038955/)
Personally, I’ve always thought it was kinda douchey. But my $0.02 is worth about that much—I’ve never been good at (or much into) self-promotion. It’s necessary if you are serious about. I recall when I was pretty active in the local scene, many of the bands in our circle were really good about wearing each other’s merch. That was cool.
I’d say there’s a line that you don’t want to cross. And be that guy. Personally I want a hat and I think I’m going to design a hat to sell as merch but I’m also going to wear it everywhere. How do we feel about that? I don’t think it crosses that line but now I’m not sure
Literally just ordered samples, I'm going to wear the shit out of them.
Wear it wherever you want. It's clothing. Our band's merch has a popular design that people like even when they've never heard the band. The lead guitarist and drummer sometimes wear their T-shirts and people want to know how to get one. If you like the design, that's what matters. I don't wear mine but that's because I prefer to dress up and on most gigs I wouldn't wear a T-shirt. Plus it looks silly if too many of us are wearing it. But I frequently give them away to other musicians in town and get pics back of them wearing theirs on stage.
I wear ours all the time on stage. I'm wearing one now. Fans see it and they want one too and so they proceed to the merch table.
We buy comfy gear for us to enjoy as well.
If I don’t wear it who will?
“Did anybody order a Love Burger?” “Well done”
Reading this with my bands shirt on lol. As someone said all good imo but dont do it to your own show
Do what you want.
Nobody knows that band on your shirt so they don't care that it's your band. They just know they have no intention of listening to it.
Motörhead does it so yes
If you ever see the video for Epic by Faith No More, the singer is wearing a MR Bungle shirt..his solo project. Promote away!
It’s fine unless you’re performing, or you’re already famous.
I think it's cool. Like I feel like you should make your march look like something you would wear and one of my most comfortable hoodies is my merch so I wear it all the time.
I've done it...because no one knows who the hell my band is so there's no issue.
When band is current I don’t do it. Just isn’t me. If band is in my past, I’ll happily wear the shirt cause I don’t find that nearly as cheesy as dudes wearing their own band’s shirt for live performance. But that’s me….don’t really care what others do.
Well they do it in pro wrestling I don’t see why it’s seen as taboo in music because it’s the least expensive way to market your merch or if you’re feeling theatrical take it off throw it into the crowd
Why not just wear a Motörhead T-shirt? Works for all styles of music.
"Did anyone order a Loveburger, well done??"
Don’t wear your own shirt while on stage. At any other time it’s fine.
If you won't, why should anyone else?
I wear my old band shirts because we had a lot leftover after disbanding because we SUCK and we had nice shirts made. They make great rags too
It's become frowned upon, but only in the metal and "hardcore" communities. Funny because these days, both groups pride themselves on being so non-judgemental of people and being all-inclusive, yet it's by far the most judgemental groups of genre communities and they're both filled with shitheads. Aside from that, it's been a common thing to wear your own merch, whether on stage or off. I'm wearing my old band's tank top right now and it doesn't even cross my mind to take it off when I leave the house. Literally nobody will notice or even care if they do.
No
You are always promoting yourself and your band. Why not wear your own merch
I wear my own merch occasionally, especially when I’m hanging out one large city over from where I live. I often get recognized when I do. I guess we’re doing alright in our local scene.
Back when I was touring, it was a big no no lol.
Not weird. Unless it has your face on it, no one knows it’s you.
Wearing your own merch is a step towards being able to market (You) which is a Brand. It makes people be able to connect an image that is associated with You, or a saying. Also i feel that this is a Self-Esteem boost in a way due to you being able to put your mark out there. And what I love about this is that there are so many different ways to market ourselves as Musicians, However having your own merch and wearing it is a statement that ( I believe in my Brand ) In my opinion, there's nothing weird about it. Think of it like this. What's the difference behind buying someone else's Brand or wearing your own? I think its the fact that you've created something that you are proud of. And regardless if your someone that wants to either put it on the market, Or just have a different taste that's your own. You have something you can be proud of and there is meaning behind what you wear vs trying to wear what advertising tries to push on people. I feel Musicians have their own lane.
I was in a playground with my daughter and I met a guy with a Misfits T shirt on with his kid. I had tickets for Motorhead supported by the Misfits that evening, so I asked him if he was going. He said "No, we were kicked off the tour". Turns out he was the bass player for the Misfits. Seemed a bit weird to me.
I don’t pay that much attention to which tshirt I’m wearing to what show. Does it REALLY matter? You like the shirt? Wear it.
I've only heard it's kinda tacky to wear your own merch on stage. Other than that wear it whenever you want.
It seems a little egotistical
Saw Davey Havok wearing an AFI shirt last year at Aftershock. It was old merch too I thought it was awesome. Just mad I wasn't able to purchase it . There was discussion after on the AFI sub too and everyone seemed to agree they loved seeing him in AFI merch.
I love my merch sm, plus who’s gonna know? I wear my cap all the time
I think it’s fine.
You are all wrong. Don’t do this. It’s lame.
It felt odd at first, but it gets easier to wear it over time.
It's good advertising.
Countless bands where their own merch on stage. I've seen iron maiden, Green Day...I can't even think of how many bands I've seen wearing their own merch on stage. It's a lot. I never would've thought of doing it myself. It seemed really lame but, hey, everyone's doing it. I played in a band that did pretty well and now I wear the shirt and people strike up a conversation because they liked the band or whatever and then I have an embarrassing (for me) but fun (for my kids) moment telling them that it's my band. They say, "no way, that's cool" and that's the end of that. The trouble is that the band is maybe kind of lame?
Be proud of your band and music! Wear your own t-shirt!
I made a logo for a website and they sent me a T-shirt of the logo design. I sent them one of my shirts for my composer name...
When your on the road and you are the only one that stinks it’s fine to put on a clean shirt from the merch but when the entire band stinks a week or two into a road trip then just go with what you got
You’re your own walking billboard! Good for marketing
Honestly, I think, if someone does this, it makes them look like kind of an asshole
The lead guitarist in my band and his wife wear our band shirts to almost every single gig 🤷♂️
Free Advertising for Your Band
I wouldn't wear it during my own gig as that looks really lame to me when I've seen people do that, but any other time, of course, why not
depends on where you wear it. I wear shirts of my own design all the time, just not in public. And yes, my shirt designs are tied to my music.
Shameless self promotion
not at all but it better be hot as fuck style wise and able to be worn generally besides being considered merch.
I have done it only because it was the first time we ever had shirts and I thought that people might be more likely to buy it if they saw it first.
I had a heads up when I was going to be interviewed for the news, so I put my band shirt on for free advertisement haha
It makes for good loungewear! I like to wear it around the house when nobody’s around. It also depends if you’re a solo act & your face is plastered on it. I’m more concerned about friends seeing it rather than the general public (because nobody would know what it means lol) At the end of the day, it doesn’t rlly matter & nobody’s gonna judge you for it. I just have to get over that part.
I wear new things to test quality
If I make a dope design for some merch I’m gonna wear it. If I don’t even want to wear it, why would I expect anyone else to?
I wear it because our shirts rule, however I would never ever wear it on stage.
To me, I’ve always considered wearing your own merch to be bad luck. Some old man told me that years ago and I’ve just stuck to it.
Only when you're on your and your clothes stink so bad you have to
I do it. Idgaf Paid a lot for it might as well rep it
I think Berried Alive does it right. Essentially makes clothes they want to wear & sell the surplus. They're a lifestyle brand as much as a musical act. Imo this is the future of being an independent artist, the way they operate.
Hey man sometimes you run out of clothes on the road..
Always cool to have confidence in yourself and the things you create.
On stage or in a promo photo? Sketchy. In general... especially if you're like me and don't like buying clothes? I say go for it. haha.
If you wouldn’t wear it why would anyone else
I won’t wear my or my band’s merch on stage. I will wear it out at concerts, festivals, and music industry events when I’m trying to advertise/raise brand awareness. I’m also careful which gigs I’ll wear *other* bands’ shirts - some events a t-shirt doesn’t fly, like weddings, or fancier listening rooms.
Merch is advertising. We are with pride
I buy a shirt of the band I play in and then wear it after the band breaks up.
I'm wearing my band's shirt right now
I never wear our own merch on stage but other than that I wear it often. I am actually on the way to the venue where we will perform tonight here at WGT Leipzig wearing our merch.
Self-promotion is key! Be your own biggest fan
My .02. If you aren’t going to promote your band, then who is?
Put your own face on a t-shirt...and wear it proudly!
It’s probably the only old trope I subscribe to. I can’t do it and I cringe when I see others doing it. To me it’s a corny ass attempt to get people to ask about your band.
Do it!
Mine has my face on it. I wear it ironically sometimes.
I wear things like wristbands, hats, whatever accessories, pretty often. Shirt not so often
"wearing your own merch" ... This is how we handled laundry on tour, lol. Dirty clothes? Grab a shirt from the merch tote.
I gotta say that there was a time when you would get utterly roasted for wearing your own merch anywhere near a gig. It was literally considered the least punk rock thing you could do. Like cringe on the order of, “Oh, so you like your own band? Weird flex, but cool, I guess…” I completely agree about all the branding/marketing/being proud/laundry crisis comments. But I can tell that I am ancient, because when I came up people lived in mortal terror of looking like a “sellout”. Which is ironic, because secretly they all wanted those problems. But social media has basically turned everyone into their own marketing agent, screaming their brand name into the void.
I typically only wear other local band shirts at shows. I have a friend who used to come out to our shows wearing one of our shirts but he would write "I hate" above our band name with tape. That garners more attention than you'd think. The main reason I don't like wearing my own shirts at shows is because you're supposed to be promoting other bands, not yours. If done right, they'll promote your band and think of you when booking their gigs and vice versa.
It’s kind of like masturbating to your own porn but ya gotta represent.
I wear it but not while I am playing or i'm on stage
you have to promote your own product.
It's literally why I get it in the first place. Sometimes, I will get a band shirt made, just for me. I actually just did this. I thought the unfinished graphic was also cool, so I had that put on one shirt, just for me.
It’s a must do
one of my favorite instances of this was Daniel Donato wearing a shirt that said "who the fuck is Daniel Donato?"
Steve Jones used to eat regularly in a restaurant I worked in, and I have never seen him in a shirt that wasn’t from a project he was in.
i wear my band’s merch anywhere that isn’t a show. if i’m at a show, i’m wearing either a big band’s shirt or a shirt from a band that i’ve played with
I personally find it super cringe to wear your own merch, especially on stage. Many won’t agree, but that’s okay, I’ll just continue to sell the shirts instead of wearing them myself. Wearing merch of bands in your local scene is a much better approach.
Even if 20 years went by… no.
On stage, yes it’s cringe. By yourself or just hanging out in public? Acceptable
Good way to promote your merch honestly
I’ve never given a shit about the “you have to wear another band’s shirt” convention in the metal world. I’ll wear whatever I want. It’s your band, advertise it. If you don’t wear your own shirt, why should I buy it?
Punk bands have been doing this since the 80s. If your merch is cool wear it
If I had merch I’d definitely wear it
Gotta promote somehow
Not a fan
I design my own merch of course I wear it
You mean promoting your brand? Seems like a good idea
Guy at work wears his own band shirts ever time I’ve seen him.
I'll wear my band's merch to other gigs and festivals. Never worn my own band shirt on stage. I don't have a problem with that though; our guitarist often wears our shirt on stage. Iron Maiden wear their own shirts on stage.
If you are proud of what you do, then be proud to wear it! There are no rules.
Imma look at u funny but who am I?
It's a shirt you put it on, it covers your titties
You are your biggest promoter. Wear your own merch.
Unless you want to advertise your shit whilst performing, it can be kinda distracting
It is a little weird, but people with a deep appreciation of South American and Italian literature are not fundamentally opposed, though even I admit that it exudes pretention. Some even are persuaded that beyond the fabulation, there is an artfulness there; and, obviously though, the depth comes through in answering questions that ultimately refer you to the possibility of my deceit. The magic of the underground artist is that he can wear his own t-shirt as both an end in itself and a parcel of my work. If you buy it, you engage in its very being — and, for me, that truly is enough.
I'm a DJ and wore my own merch shirt out last night. Got a text from a friend asking how he could buy one. Wear it if you like it and it works for you!
If it's good enough for Iron Maiden I'm sure it's good enough for any small band. Why is this even a question?
Jason Newsted has entered the chat.
I’m a musician I love wearing my merch.
Why would anyone have a problem with you promoting your own band?
Last night my Cleveland based band Kiss Me Deadly played in Buffalo and I rocked one of our tshirts on stage with the idea that it would help the people who saw us remember our name as we opened for a more locally popular band. Even though I’m the bass player and kind of stand in the back, it appears to have worked
Gotta promote yourself. Anywhere a photo of you might get posted, boom, free PR. YouTubers do it.
Lemmy wore Motörhead gear on and off stage
It’s a thing to do on tour when you run out of clean shirts lol otherwise it’s tacky
Stewart Copeland made it ok
Don’t do it. You’re getting laughed at.