One of us – Band shirts are more than just a piece to cover your body

“Clothes make a man”. Clothing has other meanings in our society than acting as a warmer or covering the skin from either sight or the scorching sun. The clothes have possbility to communicate about one’s own personality, reinforce or mix different gender transformations or just, for example, to support a familiar tailor or a brand or store they value. Sometimes clothes also present status value: when you wear for example Supreme, Off-White or Gucci can the applicant can signal that he could afford to put a lot of money into one t-shirt or even Yeezy shoes.

Band shirts have become a completely unique culture. If you have ever stayed in Helsinki during Tuska festival either in the center or in the festival area itself, you are sure to come across to a very a lot of different band shirts. Large stylized logos, varied graphics, touring names and dates on your back… Today, bands also sell shirts that can look like any other designer rag even they belong to a extreme metal band.

It is not easy to locate the origin of band shirts at any given moment. Band shirts in their own way can be linked philosophically to the 50s, when popular culture as a phenomenon began to develop. When young started earning their own money for the first time and there was more free time, the music business responded to this with records and with concert tickets.

At the same time, during the sale of records and concert experiences, young people began to organize themselves into groups. Various subcultures began to emerge; punks, rockers, hippies, goths, rappers and, of course, metal heads. Each subculture had and has its own vocabulary, style of dress and of course, also music, which connects the members of the group. Band shirts fit this equation very naturally.

As stated, band shirts play an important role in community spirit. Especially for rock and metal fans among them is seen stronger than usual tribalism, with members of their own group well identified by, for example, external features. When a metal head sees a within a store another metal head wearing a band shirt they automatically have something in common. There is also tendency of metal fans to protect band shirts as a phenomenon: if any public figure is wearing a Metallica shirt, for example, fans are immediately questioning whether that celebrity knows even a single from the band of the shirt they are wearing. Common symbols and culture are important in rock and metal for fans – almost like sacred esoteric sign of belonging.

A good band shirt is also conducive to guaranteeing the band’s popularity. If you manage to develop an amusing or a great shirt model that stays alive in the genre that can be very helpful for your career. A good example is Cradle of Filth’s “Jesus is a cunt” shirt which was banned in some countries but gained the band a lot of new fans. It is necessary also to point out how today large clothing chains like for example H&M also sell Ramones, Metallica and KISS shirts in their range other than any other branded clothing.

Something about the importance of band shirts for artists and musicians, for example, is indicated by the fact that in the early 70s Australian rock giant AC/DC got more money at the box office for band shirts than their ticket revenue. With music piracy and the precursor to the current popular streaming platforms Napster fans are used to listen to music for free leading shirts to become even more important source of income for musicians. It is also needless to say that at the time of writing this article, while the gigs are mostly cancelled or postponed due to the corona, the band shirts can even be the only source of income for many.

A sure and visible way to show support for your favorite bands and local unsigned talents is to buy their fan products. When you buy a band shirt, you support the band prominently and financially in a way that has value. In return, you get a great shirt in which you can show something outside about yourself by participating at the same time into an important cultural tradition where you can experience being part of a particular group as a music fan and as a supporter of your favorite band.

Chaoszine in collaboration with EMP is sharing a 15% discount code to their webstore. Coupon code is KAAOSZINE15. Minumum order value for the order needs to be 30€ or 35£. You can visit the webstore here.

Excluded products: Media, Tickets, Books, Gift Voucher, Products with donation, Rammstein, Böhse Onkelz, LEGO, Sale

Code is valid until: 30.09.2021 and works for residents of UK, Finland and Germany.