Forget Swine Flu

Because it's Monday, and you know what we got.


I wanted to do this a while ago, and I'm not sure why I didn't start. I probably just forgot, but here goes. Since we always talk about how each of our t-shirts has a deeper meaning than you might perceive, I wanted to do a little write-up on each piece from each line. Better late than never, I guess.


The Sink or Swim t-shirt.


The reason why this one is important is not only because of the image itself, but because of the process that it took to create it. As you know, up until now each one of our t-shirts that we've ever released (except for Spring 08 - fun fact!) has been printed by hand. This shirt is no exception. This was the first full-color shirt design that we've ever printed using the 4-Color CMYK Process and I think Matt did a pretty stellar job doing it by hand. Even the message on the t-shirt was fitting for the new process to print it. Sometimes that's how it feels whenever we are faced with a difficult decision with our businesses. It's either all or nothing. SINK OR SWIM. And what better way to show our dedication to our beliefs - using ink, both on t-shirts and skin.

And thanks to Tyler's friend Tom from Australia for letting us use his awesome tattoo and fists for this t-shirt!

- Vince

So Close

Last one, I swear!


Think of it like when your girlfriend tells you that she wants to wait until the right time to do it. Just one big cock TEASE.

- Vince

Family First

I know this is nearly a week late, but I figured I'd post about Matt's birthday dinner last week and use it to explain how awesome it is to have a solid family foundation in your life. We have always felt so fortunate to have the love and support of our friends and family, whether it was for L&O, our screen printing company, or even our band back in the day. It's their undying inspiration that has taken a small-time hobby and turned it into a real business endeavor. As we've mentioned many times before, the reason why we named our company the way we did was because not only do we take influence from the streetwear culture, but we take influence from our friends. When we are with them, nothing can shake us. When we are together, WE are the party.

Anyway, here's some photos of our little get-together at Banana Bay last week. Welcome to the family!
































The most beautiful thing about our group of friends and the reason why we were so inspired to do what we do is that we are always growing and always accepting to anyone who is down to be as chill/ridiculous as we are. On August 15th, we invite you to celebrate our 2 Year Anniversary and grand opening of our new office, once again. We invite you to join the family and be as ridiculous as we are. After all, we are LOUD& OBNOXIOUS.

More details coming soon.

- Vince

August 15th

We're turning two years old. You know what that means.








Stay tuned next week.

- Vince

Keep Grinding

- Vince

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!

If you've ever owned an L&O shirt, or bought a Dear Life shirt at a show, or had shirts printed by Glad Rags Ink, there is a very good chance that my little brother, Matthew Apostol, printed your shirt by hand.


It still boggles my mind that he has been printing shirts by hand for the past three and a half years. He has honed his craft so meticulously that sometimes it's hard for people to tell if it was done by machine or by hand. He and that 4-color press have become one and together they've probably pumped out tens of thousands of t-shirts. Most people would have given up by then or got bored or lazy and found some other hobby to mindlessly attach themselves to. Not my brother. Together, we were able to turn a small spare-time hobby into a potentially life-long career base. Not very many people can say something like that, let alone say that they had two registered businesses under their name at the age of 19. This boy man works harder than anyone I know and I'm thankful to have such a gifted younger brother.

HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY MATT! May all of your wildest dreams come true before you can even legally drink alcohol. I can't wait to see what kind of work we start pumping out when we move into the new warehouse and get that brand new auto screen printing press. You are unstoppable!

Your older brother,

- Vince

San Diego Fair

This past holiday weekend, I spent the first half raging with all the friends and family. For the second half, Jaimee and I decided to take it a little easier and spend Sunday down at the Del Mar Fairgrounds for the last day of this year's San Diego County Fair.

We met up with Jaimee's cousin and also met their awesome dog. His name is JJ and he's very shy. He was so afraid of my camera that every time I tried to take a photo of him, he'd run away and the shot would be blurry. Luckily this shot came out nice enough to actually have some photographic merit. Look at him quiver!


On our way to the fair, I noticed some of Shepard Fairey's handiwork on a passing double decker bus. Giant, indeed.


Finally made it to the fair!




And then it was time for the food! Started off with some Australian battered potatoes.


Then a falafel burger!


The most delicious vegetarian burger I've ever had, hands down.


Philly cheesesteak. Not sure why I took a photo with such a crappy angle. It looked and tasted a lot better than this shitty shot.


Garlic battered mushrooms!


Drum art. I think Matt, Art, and every other drummer I know is thinking about the wasted brass.


Groovy, man.


And now the animals. I really thought this guy was going to spit on my camera.


Chocolate milk?!


I also found Filbert's evil twin. Seriously. He looks exactly like Filbert, but pissed. You remember Filbert, right? See?!


This was Jaimee's favorite.


Spotlights and adoring fans at such a young age.


Be vewy, vewy quiet.


Found some space rocks, too.


Kryptonite!


By mid-day, the place was completely packed. At this point, the food comas began taking over so we decided to call it a day.


Jaimee and I each went home with a bonsai tree to decorate our respective office spaces. I need to learn how to trim this sucker. Or I could just let it grow out like my ridiculous hair.



- Vince

p.s. Are you paying attention to Brian's Twitter? I hope so because he's telling secrets. If you missed it, you may want to check our official Twitter.

Independence Day

Since we'll also be doing our share of raging for the holiday weekend, just wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a safe and enjoyable 4th of July!


Regardless of all the silly, petty, ridiculous bullshit that happens in our country, it's still a pretty awesome place to live. For us, from a small business standpoint, we feel very fortunate to have the opportunities to do what we do and we are thankful for what this country provides for its citizens.

Go USA!

- Vince

Buttery

Just a little taste of what's on the way.










- Vince

Winds of Plague

As you may have noticed from the previous post, we've picked up a 4th band to add to our arsenal of aggressive music. This time around we'll be working with a band from right here in Southern California called Winds of Plague. These guys are a testament to the D.I.Y. mentality and their hard work over the years is definitely paying off.

Last night, they invited us down to the House of Blues in Hollywood to catch the tour that they're currently on called Summer Slaughter. Before we get to that, Art actually stopped by a few weeks ago before the tour to show me his latest toy. His own custom drum pedal!


Upon closer inspection, you'll notice the band's logo and Art's freaking signature. How ballin' is that?!


Even the box is awesome!


And of course, gotta represent.


Anyway, back to the show.


After finally making our way through L.A. traffic and shitty Hollywood parking, we arrived just in time for WOP to take the stage. Epic, to say the least.






Lil John doing his thing on their song 'Reloaded'. No, not Lil Jon.


Darkest Hour took the stage next. James (The Clear and Conscious) came along with us too and DH also happens to be one of his favorite metal bands ever. Needless to say, he was pretty excited.




One of the best thrash metal bands out there.




After that madness, we wandered around backstage to hang out with some old friends and make new ones.


This is the closest I'll get to meeting Black Flag.


James with John Henry of Darkest Hour.


And the biggest surprise of the night, James and Art with Ashley from Cradle of Filth. How can such a cute little woman be in such a scary, brutal metal band? Life is like a box of chocolates.


Big thanks to Art and Andrew from Winds of Plague for showing us a good time! We look forward to working with these guys on future projects. Check them out on tour all summer including Summer Slaughter and a full US run with HATEBREED, and don't forget about their forthcoming sophomore album, The Great Stone War.


Heard a couple tracks and let me tell you, this shit is going to be unreal. Oh yeah, follow WOP on Twitter! Andrew runs it!

- Vince

Loud Music

One day, when we FINALLY update the Family, Media, and Repped sections of our website, you'll be seeing more of these guys.








We like to listen to loud music, as you can tell. I swear, I will update those sections soon. I know I've been saying that for months now, but I really mean it! Keep checking back for some projects in the near future with these fine gentlemen. Updates coming soon!

- Vince

Rest In Peace

It has been a very tragic week for people who are accustomed to being in the public eye. It reminds you that life is so fragile and can easily be taken away, without warning. Death is inevitable and it's always very humbling to find out that the people you see on TV and in movies are still human just like us. I'd like to take this time to honor and remember, not only these fine people, but all the loved ones we've ever lost. May they find rest.








-Vince

SKATE.

OR.


DIE.


LOUD& OBNOXIOUS' first team skater. Coming soon.

- Vince

Growth

In the coming months, we'll be expanding our wardrobe a little bit. Cue the dramatic music!


- Vince

VOTE FOR ME!

I entered the Kogi BBQ T-Shirt Design Contest for fun and ended up getting chosen as one of the finalists! If you could spare a minute out of your busy day, PLEASE vote for me - Vincent Apostol - I would appreciate it very much!


I went with a very simple, iconic design that anyone can wear and show love for the Kogi BBQ brand. Sometimes the most minimal designs are the most effective and straightforward.

So CLICK HERE and vote for me (Vincent Apostol)! Thanks!

- Vince

Sticky Bandits

Not sure if any of you noticed, but we've got a small collection of logo decal stickers available for purchase in our ONLINE SHOP as part of our SUMMER 09 drop. Last time these went real fast so get 'em quick!














Put them on your phone, iPod, car, window, computer, girlfriend, or anything else you think needs to be vandalized!

- Vince

Stay Gold. And Purple.

I know some of you might be getting sick of it, so today will be our final day to honor and celebrate our beloved Los Angeles Lakers' championship victory. Before I get to that though, check out what our friend Juan got us earlier this week.


Apparently, A.C. Green was at a local Dick's Sporting Goods store signing autographs. Juan happened to randomly walk in and ended up getting some copies for all of us, including one made out to LOUD& OBNOXIOUS! Thanks Juan!


Anyway, Wednesday was the Laker parade and celebration rally at the Staples Center and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Most of us had never been to one of these before so we decided to test our luck, get up early, and try to get some good seats at the Coliseum. Little did we know that 100,000 other Laker fans were thinking the same exact thing.










I've never actually been a part of a group of people this large before in my life, so this was definitely quite the experience for me. My favorite part was when Kobe was telling everyone about the chant that they did all season long, "1, 2, 3, RING!" He eventually got the crowd to do it. Watch the video and go to the 1:40 mark. Chills up and down my spine.


I tried to make a panoramic out of some of the photos I took to give you an idea of the magnitude of this event. It's my first time, so don't laugh. Click on the image to see the full size.


What a great day! I'll remember this one forever.


- Vince