SENSE BOARDWEAR INTERVIEW

For years, Sense Boardwear has been at the very heart of this reggae-hip hop-rock music crossover in Southern California. The clothing line is not only a public supporter of this music, but a strong contributer through its amazing compilation albums and sponsoring of shows. With a new web-site launching and a compilation album dropping, Sense Boardwear creator Mikey Patti is here to tell us all about it.

The Pier: So going right back to the beginning tell us how and why you started Sense Boardwear?

Mikey: Sense Boardwear actually started by accident. I was a junior in high school and with the advice of my older cousin I took an ROP Printing and Graphics class as an elective. In that class you learn how to make business cards, letterheads and then T-shirts. Well we had block schedule. So I’d have the class every other day. So Monday our teacher told us he’d be gone Wednesday but to have the class name ready by Friday. Well on Wednesday we had a substitute teacher and rather than doing work that day with the sub, we watched a movie, The Sixth Sense. So I just scribbled SENSE on a piece of paper and later on Boardwear got added to it and I made some custom shirts for me and a few friends. Before I knew it, word got around the whole school that I started a clothing line and I had a lot of kids asking for custom Sense Boardwear shirts. From there we expanded to hats, hoodies, beanies and so on.

The Pier: What's been the best and hardest things about running a clothing label?

Mikey: The hardest thing about running a clothing line is honestly staying patient and consistent.

What I mean by that is I’ve seen so many clothing lines rise and fall over the years and I feel a lot of it has to do with the inability towards being patient and consistent. It’s easy to get inpatient when your product doesn’t take flight right away and it can be even harder to stay consistent because you’re going to go through dry spells that will make you want to take time off. Only problem is, taking time off in the clothing industry can be like starting all over once you decide to come back because the consumers have a short memory.

The best thing about doing this is honestly the interaction, the people you meet that later on become friends. Good example would be this Aussie who sent us some very flattering emails regarding our Compilation CDs that were truly inspiring. Not sure if I should give out his name or not, but I heard he later on went and started a website dedicated to the reggae-rock-hip hop scene. Having fans that later on become friends has to be the best part about it.

RAC - "We love working with all the people at Sense Boardwear, since day one with them it has been a great time. Working with Sense Boardwear is like working with great friends! Cant wait for the new CD to drop!"

The Pier: So who comes up with the clothing designs?

Mikey: I use to do the majority of the designing in the beginning, but nowadays 80% of all our designs are done by Hamachi Studio. They’re extremely professional, on time, on point. All we have to do is tell them what concept and theme we want and they hit us back with in a couple days with a proof. A lot of the times, they’ll just have a cool idea for a shirt that they think we’d like and most of the time they’re right.

The Pier: Sense Boardwear has developed a close relationship with the reggae hip hop rock music scene. Tell us how did your involvement with that all begin?

Mikey: That goes back to high school. After I started doing custom shirts and hats for friends, I was trying to brainstorm how I can spread the name of the clothing line to strangers. How can I build the comfort level to strangers in wearing my product? So I figured if musicians were on stage wearing it, it might make it a bit easier to sell it to their fans.

The first band we worked with was Pepper back in 2001. They lived right here in Vista, CA at the time and I’d catch as many shows as I could back then. Well one day I saw on their page they were looking for sponsors for a show they were doing at The Galaxy Theater in Santa Ana, CA. So I signed up to sponsor, cost me like $200 and with that I was able to get booth space, banner space and a logo on all the flyers and posters. Well it was probably the best $200 I ever spent because that was the night I met Chapter 11. Because of them and their guidance we were able to expand our clothing line to Long Beach, release compilation CDs and they really took us under their wing as a young clothing line and to this day, I have no idea why haha. I was an 18-19 year old kid with some home made t-shirts. It just shows how great those guys are and how welcoming they are to those who want to make an impact in this scene.

Cracka T (Bredrin Daddys) - "Basically Sense Boardwear IS South/Orange County. They certainly drew some attention to themselves with their compilation albums and it is never something you want to do is to refuse to be on a compilation album cause you never know who is going to hear it. They have a song on the new one from us called Sometime Life Changes. It is kind of a straightforward hip hop song and is pretty deep. We have a really good relationship with Sense Boardwear, when it is doing a compilation album and it want us to be on it - we want to be on it. It serves us and other bands well."

The Pier: What has been your favorite event to date that you have been involved with promoting?

Mikey: That’s a REALLY tough question. We’ve been involved with so many events it’s hard to choose. Obviously our first show at The Galaxy will always have a special place. I’d have to say our most recent show that we did at The Jumping Turtle in San Marcos was a blast! This show was with Mike Pinto, Chapter 11 and Close Enough. But the event I’m most excited about in progressing is our Annual BBQ’s @ The Beach. Those started out so private and small. Now with each year they’re gaining more and more notoriety that it’s honestly becoming a talked about event. Our 4th Annual BBQ was on Sunday May 18th (Check put pictures from the event here). Really loving how these BBQs are evolving. They’re free to attend, all ages, free food. It’s kind of our way of giving back to those who have invested and spent so much money on tickets for our other events; we like to do something back in return for our friends and fans.

The Pier: Your compilation albums are world famous. They certainly capture the beach culture perfectly. How do you decide what bands will be featured on them?

Mikey: Honestly, there’s really no step-by-step process we take in picking the bands for the compilation CD. We’re fans of good music and there is a lot of good music out there. So really, what it breaks down to is what is the band or artist doing with their talent? Are they actively working hard to progress or are they just putting out music here and there? We definitely want to progress with a band so we tend to favor the bands that stay consistent in putting out music, touring and networking. We get inspired by that and it makes us want to work harder as well. We definitely do-not like big egos or arrogant heads because that’s not what this particular scene is about, so as long as its an actively working band with a nice original sound that is working their ass off without having to trash talk other bands in the industry, we’ll definitely give an open ear to their music and keep them in mind. We’ll usually check up on them after awhile to see if they’re staying consistent and still producing music with a positive outlook.

The newest bands we’ve started working closely with that displays that kind of outlook is RAC, Fayuca, Ballyhoo! and from Japan, this group called Sunset Bus. All of which will be featured on the new Compilation CD Poetry In Motion.

The Pier: So what can you tell us about this upcoming album release, Poetry in Motion?

Mikey: It’s really live and in your face. We always try to give the fans something NEW and unreleased. This new CD is exactly what the title says, it's Poetry In Motion. It’s the soundtrack to a feel good lifestyle. There’s three collaboration songs. The first one is titled Poetry In Motion, which features Edley Shine of Born Jamericans, NoNeedz and Daddy Scotty of Chapter 11. Another collaboration track is called On The Rise with Mike Pinto, NoNeedz, Big Nes and Duddy B of the Dirty Heads. The final collaboration features LuLu, 1dabred and Cracka T of The Bredrin Daddys and is called Gonna Be Alright. The rest is unreleased music by Ballyhoo!, The bFoundation, RAC, Fayuca, NoNeedz, Chapter 11, Bredrin Daddys, Mike Pinto, Stone Senses, Sunset Bus and Close Enough. There is a lot of mellow reggae, good hip hop, and nice influence of rock, dancehall with a pinch of punk.

The Pier: What are some of your favorite bands to work with and why?

Mikey: Top of the list would have to be Chapter 11. We’ve had the best working relationship with them as well as the longest without ever having a problem that wasn’t easily resolved. It’s like a family reunion every time we see those guys. Same with Bredrin Daddys, Dirty Heads, NoNeedz and within the last two years: Ballyhoo!, Fayuca, Close Enough and RAC. All great guys, great music. Fayuca displayed some outstanding hospitality when going out to Arizona for a few parties and if you ever meet 1dabred of Bredrin Daddys, bug him to do his Shaggy or Christopher Walkin impression.

Close Enough is obviously the band that features NoNeedz, but it is also the band that features Justin Jones of Paradigm Studios which if you didn’t notice, Paradigm Studios is where we’ve completed all four of our previous compilation CDs. Without Paradigm, who knows how deep our mark in the industry would really be. Justin Jones is a long time close friend of mine and I’m truly excited for him and his new band Close Enough and am just excited to be apart of the fun.

Fayuca - "Our relationship with Sense Boardwear is great. Its more like a friendship - I guess thats why they call it the SB Family! Its clothes are stylishly FRESH, and the compilations are full of some good bumps. I'm glad we are friends with the guys from Sense Boardwear. They have helped us out a lot, just like any friend would. We only strive to do the same for them in every city and every gig!"

The Pier: Who would you like to have featured on a compilation album that you haven't had the chance yet and do you have any favorite up and coming new bands?

Mikey: Well prior to Poetry In Motion, I always wanted to get Edley Shine of Born Jamericans on a track and thanks to the networking possibilities of Myspace, we were able to make that happen. Shine is as professional as they come and he came correct with this project.

Chali 2na of Jurassic 5 would hands down be my most sought out artist to work with. Some others would be Pato Banton. Slug of Atmosphere I think would sound tight on a hip hop track with some reggae influence, Mr. Notch of Born Jamericans. I mean if you hadn’t noticed, I love the fusion of Reggae and Hip Hop and I have a wish list a mile long of who I’d like to get in the studio on some collaboration tracks for some future Compilation CDs.

I’d say my favorite up and coming new band would honestly have to be Close Enough. The talent in that group is second to none. Once you hear the album, you’ll see what I’m talking about. One of the best start to finish albums I have ever heard. Mike Pinto is another one we just started working with and he’s a great guy that produces awesome music. He’s extremely professional and cant wait to see where his future takes him. But thanks to The Pier I got a lot of homework to do on some bands I’ve never heard of and find myself a few times a day browsin the bands on this site, seeing who to watch out for or just looking to be “WOW’d!"

The Pier: What have you got coming up in the near future?

Mikey: Near future? A freakin website! Our website will finally launch this month (June 23rd) and that’s what we’re most excited about. The next BIG project will be our next compilation CD. It won’t feature any bands. It’s only going to feature members of different bands or groups. Our next compilation CD will be the Collaboration Compilation. See with all of our compilation CDs we do collaboration songs. This is where a producer comes up with the beat and we’ll take a singer from one band, an MC from another band and then a solo artist and have them go nuts on a track together.

Well we want to do a compilation CD where we come up with 15 collaboration tracks. For example we did a collaboration track that features Edley Shine of Born Jamericans, NoNeedz and Daddy Scotty of Chapter 11. Well there’s so many bands, so many artists to work with, it's so hard to choose who you put on a CD, so we figure, why not have all of them featured on a CD? We also think that this is the best way to network and unify the scene but having them come together on songs. That’s what I loved about Long Beach Dub All Stars is how they had so many guest appearances. How they networked with so many talented artists, so we want to try our hardest to carry on that torch on a smaller level with the hopes that it will build the scene in achieving the notoriety it deserves.

But before we release that, we really want to release an acoustic compilation CD for the winter time, January-February sometime. I think hearing acoustic renditions of our favorite bands is always a novelty type of thing that people enjoy hearing so we thought that would be cool to, not to mention pretty quick to do.

Lots of projects coming up and we’re just very thankful and appreciative that we have a website in The Pier as a place to network and help to get our name out there. So huge thanks the site for everything because it can never be said enough!

Big thanks to Mikey for a great interview and for help developing this scene over the years. To check out the new SenseBoardwear.com click on the banner below.