SPOTLIGHT: Powder & Plot

1. What made you want to start up your own clothing line?

I spent 10 years of my life playing music in bands and being creative.  When that chapter of my life ended I wanted to still bring something creative to the scene and had always taken a big interest in fashion

2. Where do the influences for Powder & Plot come from?

I've always been a big fan of British history and culture, mainly the Victorian era and golden age of exploration.  We've got so much to be proud of as a nation but we also have lots of villains and pretty incredible characters in our history too.  That's also where the idea of the name comes from - Powder & Plot - The gunpowder plot of Guido Fawkes or 'Guy' as we know him.

3. You've got some interesting designs amongst your collection, can you talk us through some of them? How do you come up with the design ideas?

I wanted to put designs together that have the ability to strike an emotion from people or intrigue them.  Having somebody coming up to you and compliment what you're wearing or ask where you got it from is one of the reasons people want to buy nice clothes and feel good in them.

4. Many of your lookbook images have a countryside/forest backdrop, is this something that inspires you? 

I think one of the best parts of our heritage is that we live in a beautiful country and I'm a country boy myself so I wanted to show that in our lookbook and video, that we take great pride in where we come from and the natural beauty that surrounds us outside cement and bricks. There will always be a lot of cross over from the countryside and wildlife in our designs.

5. Do you have a favourite tshirt design? If so, why?

I've heard lots of people pick different designs as their favorite but for me my fave has to probably be the Aleister Crowley tee.  He was a really nasty piece of work and not many people know about him but he's very interesting to read about.  I recommend anybody to look him up to see what I mean!

6. I've spotted your clothes on some pretty marvellous music types, how did that come about?

Coming from playing music for a long time, I have had the pleasure of playing with many fantastic bands and artists and I keep in good contact with them.  When I told them what I was doing now and showed them the designs, they loved them and the concept behind the brand and it's nice that many were some of my first customers.

(Pulled Apart By Horses)

7. How would you describe the Powder & Plot style? 

Tshirts inspired by British history, loveable rogues and villans.  Edgy, yet elegant.

8. What can we expect from the line in 2013? 

We are currently developing more products such as embroided polo shirts, vest tops, sunglasses and hats so keep checking back throughout 2013 as it's going to be a very exciting year for us. We plan on putting on lots of competitions for our customers and followers and also have our 'Sunday Sessions' being launched later in the year.  I'm keeping that a secret for now but it's pretty exciting stuff!

Check out Powder & Plot HERE:

http://powderandplot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/powderandplot

Photo Credit: Dom Meason 

Video Credit: Rachael Lewis

Sunday Sound #2

I can't quite believe it's been a week already since the first Sunday Sound! My gosh do the days go quickly at the moment! Hope you enjoyed the first one and enjoy this second helping just as much! It'd be great to hear your feedback and you can always chat to me via twitter if you have something to say! Now, on to the music...

Young Kato

Don't be put off by their fresh young faces, despite the fact this six-piece are still in their teens, their musical abilities are far beyond their age. Based in the beautiful west country town of Cheltenham, these guys produce sweet indie anthems that can lift any dreary mood. I caught their set at Underground Fest in September and despite being the opening act for the Saturday, the room was absolutely rammed and the floor was bouncing beneath me. Single Drink, Dance, Play combines synth pop melodies with crashing cymbals and a unique vocal by lead vocalist Tommy Wright. Their self-titled EP release includes three more tracks that follow along the same brilliant indie twang as Drink, Dance, Play. They've recently announced a seven date tour for January and will soon be revealing their new music video for Breakout so it only makes sense really to keep an eye out for these guys! 

For Fans Of: Bastille, We Are Scientists, Bombay Bicycle Club

Find Them: http://www.facebook.com/weareyoungkato

 https://twitter.com/YOUNGKATO

SPOTLIGHT: HARBOUR

For a band that are on the up, you're certainly not ones to give your life stories away on network sites. So what or rather, who is Harbour?

HARBOUR is a group of five; Chris, Mike, Andy, Charlie and Adam. We started the band about a year ago now. We just got fed up with the musical projects we were involved with at the time and came together to try and build something we could actually be proud of. 

Why Harbour? Is it just a name or are you actually massive lovers of boats?

We named ourself HARBOUR for a few reasons. The first being that it's the British spelling of the word which we liked. (Americans spell it Harbor.) The second reason was it's primary definition which is a safe haven for boats and ships from stormy seas. We see this band as a safe place for our thoughts, ideas and feelings to exist so that made sense. The final reason was it's meaning of hiding things, like, 'to harbour a grudge'. It seemed to fit what our band was to us. 

These days it seems that bands are all popping up from the same locations, however not many reign from the West, coming from Cheltenham do you reckon you could be the leaders in alternative music for the old West Country folks?

haha! There's actually a massively vibrant local music scene in Cheltenham. We're really proud to be from the group of bands, promoters and music fans that we come from. 

You've already had the chance to play shows with FUTURES and The Xcerts, is there a particular show you've played that's really stood out to you guys? Or one that you're particularly hyped about for the future?

Playing with both Futures and The Xcerts was amazing for us. We're fans of both of those bands so we were honoured to be on those shows. I think our favourite show as of yet would have to be 2000 Trees Festival this year. Our tent was pretty much full up and the amount of people who knew our songs and were there to support us was incredible. 

Is there anything, or anyone, that inspires you as a band? 

Loads of things inspire us in different ways. In terms of song writing it's usually inspired by really personal things. I think that's what makes the best kind of songs. We're massively inspired by the bands around us that work so hard to achieve their goals and undoubtedly the people who support what we do. 

What can we expect from Harbour in the near future? Anything exciting you can tell us about?

We're working really hard at the moment on writing and demoing some new stuff. We're excited to be playing Underground Festival in September in Gloucester but right now we're really getting our heads down with writing.

The songs we're working on are the bravest yet and we're really keen to make everything as perfect as we can before sharing it with everyone.

Where can people hear your music and get in touch with you?

Everything we've been able to record so far is available for free from our website which is www.WeAreHarbour.co.uk  and of course we're really active on facebook as well which is www.facebook.com/harbourband

We've just got instagram as well for everyone who's on that. Our username is HarbourBand.