The other night a few of us were in the emptees chat and I invited Travis in to come chat with us, and he was more than willing to come talk about shirts and random internet stuff. I mentioned it would be cool to do an interview for emptees and he was stoked on it. So here ya go!
Can you tell us how Rockett came into existence?
Rockett started when rob was getting shirts printed for bands like eighteen visions, atreyu, bleeding through etc. he was in a hardcore band and realized that the merch at the time was pretty bland and didnt really stick out. there was an opportunity to help out some friends of his and make some cash at the same time. the art on these shirts really struck a cord with the bands and kids going to shows so he decided to start his own thing.
I understand Rockett is a partnership, can you tell us a little about yourself and your role in the company?
Rockett isn’t a partnership per se. Rob is the sole owner. With my help along with his lovely wife and his four dogs, we run the show.
Rob is the owner of Rockett, can you tell us a little about him and how you two became partners?
Great story. I had known Rob for a long time because we were always playing shows together. When my band started picking up steam he would sell Rockett at our shows and even printed shirts for us. One night we were all wasted and he took my guitarist’s amp without asking and started playing it onstage. I went up there and turned it off and unplugged it which erupted into a shouting match and altercation in front of like 250 kids. After that we hugged it out and I think i started working there a couple months later because my other job wouldn’t let me tour and Rob was totally flexible. I knew some dudes in bands so i got them to wear our stuff and kind of took off from there.
What were some of the biggest challenges for growing Rockett in its early years?
Money. its tough to build a business without financial backing. the way the clothing business works sucks for the company because most majors are based on terms. so are the suppliers we bought our garments from. For example, if we had an 8000 dollar from zumiez, we would have to spend x amount of dollars to pay for production and the shirts without seeing the money for another 30 days after it was finished. it is still difficult but we are in a much better position than we were.
While growing Rockett, what are some of the biggest mistakes you guys have made?
Partying at work. we still do but its way more classy like wearing monocles and lighting blunts with 100 dollar bills. But seriously the biggest mistakes we made were in terms of over producing certain items and using the wrong manufacturer. A place in Los Angeles royally fucked us on some hoodies and made the sizes horrific. A xl was a size medium at best. That sucked.
I’ve been watching Rockett grow for about 5 years; has the success and direction of the brand exceeded your expectations?
Oh absolutely. When I started working there it was in robs room packing envelopes and partying all day; finding change in his room and skating down to the liquor stores to buy 40's. I looked it at as a part time job because i had no clue how long it would last. Now I’m proud to call it my career and we still have a lot of amazing things to look forward to.
What are some goals for your brand in the next 5 years?
Finding the technology to bring back Ol' Dirty Bastard and getting him into some Rockett shirts. That man is a legend and our economy is totally fucked because he’s not with us anymore. Rest in piece Mr. Jones.
You guys briefly opened a retail location on Pomona, what were the pros and cons of that situation and is it something you’re interested in again in the future?
Pros: meeting amazing kids who drove from mexico and other states to check out the store that was so rad. Also the last night we had the lease we had a party. circa survive and fear before played next door and came over after and we got totally shitfaced. I have stories/videos from that night that can’t be released to the public.
Cons: Cleaning up said parties. Also the glasshouse at the time had very lousy shows and they were hella scarce too. Shows attracted most of our business and we didn’t have any other companies in there besides Rockett. it worked out when the lease ended and the landlord didn’t want to renew based on the people that hung out at the store at all hours at the night.
How have all the resources offered today such as tradeshows and myspace helped your brand?
Both have helped out a ton. Tradeshows are great because everyone is super nice and you meet a lot of cool people from around the world that are interested in your clothing. Myspace same deal. A lot of kids find out about us through our bands who they find out about through myspace so it works out perfectly. Were going to be launching a friendster Rockett profile...what’s up 2003. Jokes.
Recently you guys have started manufacturing your own tee shirts, what have been the pros and cons of that situation?
Pros: They feel fucking amazing. Its nice to say its your own shirt when someone asks.
Cons: There is always a sizing issue despite approving samples. That and they cost a lot if you don’t go overseas which we try to avoid.
always hear designers say they’d love to design for Rockett, how do people usually end up designing for your line?
E-harmony. Blank shirt seeking art. Must live on earth and listen to Slayer. That and we get a lot of inquiries through the myspace or emails. Also emptees is a great place to find amazing artists. I’m a closet lurker and frequent the site daily. Keep up the great work, people.
What qualities do you love about a designer when dealing with them, and what qualities could you do without when dealing with them?
Flexibility and having a sense of humor is crucial. A lot of our artists are funny dudes and that shows through on their designs. That in turn makes them way easier to talk to and get stuff accomplished without it feeling like pulling teeth with someone. That being said, i love everyone who designs for us and couldn’t be happier. Some of the new stuff coming out is fantastic and can’t wait to get a hold of it. We are also talking about getting prints done of some of the designs to get better visuals of their art.
What qualities could i do without? We have only had an issue with one previous designer who was difficult to work with so its never really an issue. I won’t name names but his extreme distaste for us runs rampant on this site. I’ll take the high road and leave it at that.
I hear you guys have plenty of designs and ideas always in stock for Rockett, how far in advance do you have new lines of tee shirts planned out?
SOOOO far. its annoying but necessary for our sales reps to sell the stuff ahead of time. We have designs from some fantastic people (Derek Deal, Chris Sandlin, Colin Strandberg, Josh STOMBERG I spelt it right yessss, Filipe Olivera, Skull w/ Hair, Eletrik Suicide, etc.) that wont see the light of day until early next year. It’s like recording a record and listening to it a million times before it comes out. The day it drops its still awesome but not as fresh and exciting. We will be doing some internet exclusives to keep us and the people that buy our stuff entertained in between seasons. One that I’m stoked about is a collab with this dude Marwan. Organic shirt with hopefully a more eco-friendly ink. Together we are going to donate money to an organization that gives business' renewable energy credits which cuts back on their harm to the environment. Pretty sweet.
Are there any design trends that you’re tired of?
Again, I don’t want to talk shit but i agree with a majority of the people on this site about what is played out. I think all over prints have gone the way of the dodo and some other things like that will soon be completely outplayed.
What needs to come back are tank tops. Electric Zombie did a bitchin' one and i think we will bring back ours next summer. We had some a while ago and need new ones. Look for cut off shorts from us too. stoked!
If you had to; what would you say has lead to the success of Rockett?
David Spade wore our shirt once on some tv show on abc. After that it was a slam dunk. But in all honestly quality and having the best artists to work with mixed with dedication and not following trends certainly helps the cause.
What advice would you give to the many people out there today who are trying to start their own brands and companies?
Don’t, its hard work! Be yourself, fuck what everyone else is doing. Let your personality make its mark on the tees. If you hung out with rob and myself the shirts make that much more sense. Our artists know we are total goofballs and that we love sick humor/morbid stuff and its totally reflected on what we put out. that’s what she said.
You guys seem to work heavily with some great bands, if you could sponsor one band not on your roster who would it be?
Great question. Defunct band hands down would be Black Flag. I want to put devillock skulls in their bars so fucking bad it hurts. That and they wrote the nastiest punk songs ever then wigged out and wrote funky shit in the 80's which i still loved. That amalgamation would be so badass to work with. One band that is currently together that we don’t sponsor would have to be Mew. They are so fucking talented and I think we could do some awesome things. if you’re reading this Jonas Bjerre, hit me up.
Some artists that we are going to be working with that I am beyond stoked is Dillinger Escape Plan, Saves the Day, Say Anything, and some surprises i can’t reveal. Saves the day is one of my all time favs and to work with those guys on any level is a dream come true. Look for those collabo shirts and other goodies soon. Chris Sandlin did the saves the day one and knocked it out of the park.
We here a lot about your male model for the Rockett merch store, can you tell us a little about him?
Donny Longburger!!! Love this dude. I guess people think he looks like a chick which is awesome. He is a total lounger and kicks it hard; great guy. He used to live behind the store in Pomona and that’s how we met him. Picture the dude from big lebowski at 20 years old and you have Donny. One time someone at one of the stores we work with called me and was like "Damn dude, don’t take this personally but is that a chick or a dude? I know the one with blond hair is a chick and she’s a babe but I’m not sure about the other one." Mega Lolz.
Thanks so much for doing this super long interview! Any last words for the readers of Emptees?
My capitalization is very poor I apologize. Emptees is a great website and like i said earlier i go here all the time. I know some stuff gets said about us, some of which is true and others false but never hesitate to contact me personally at travis@ridetherockett.com if you have a question or disagreement. I will be more than happy to talk to you. I think I’m going to start posting on here too, I’m kind of creeping myself out with the whole lurker thing. Oh and shoutouts to the dudes at pyknic, thc, nefarious, kill brand, and all the other brands we are friends with. You rule!
Also here is 10% off coupon to our store!
RC150938 - 10% Off
xo.
travis.
Definitely a big thanks to Travis for taking his time to do the interview. Visit Rockett on the web:
http://www.ridetherockett.com/
http://www.indiemerchstore.com/rockett
http://www.ridetherockett.com/blog/