Hey everyone,
I’ve been chatting recently with Ryan from Alrightok and we recently talked more in-depth about Dance Party Massacre. He posted the interview over in AOK Mart—a section for brands he thinks people should be checking out.
Ryan was a good guy! Be talking to you soon, man!
-Alex
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AOK = Alrightok
DPM = Alex Dakoulas/Dance Party Massacre
AOK: How are you feeling today?
DPM: I actually am feeling kind of crappy. I was brought out last night to see this Chinese band called New Pants and ended up at another bar playing really loud electronic music. They were also screening Doomsday on the wall (which I loved!), but let’s just say I’m paying for the fun I had!
AOK: Before we get into DPM let’s hear the rundown of who you are and what you do currently.
DPM: Well, I consider myself a graphic designer, but that can become kind of broad. Besides running Dance Party Massacre, I’m currently a designer at Converse for footwear, but that ranges from designing graphics, to picking materials, to creating concepts. In the past I’ve worked in print, website design, silkscreening, logo design, t-shirt graphics, and photography.
AOK: What is it that you love about tee shirts?
DPM: They’re a blank canvas. A classic white tee could probably go on anyone, and adding color, graphics, and various elements changes who it’s for. It has universal appeal
AOK: Why did you decide to start your own brand?
DPM: I had been designing and selling t-shirts for years, but I wanted something cohesive. I wanted another step above doing random designs that I thought were cool or funny. Have an inspiration point to begin with starts making way for a brand, not just tees.
AOK: Give us the one sentence explanation of Dance Party Massacre.
DPM: It’s a graphic apparel line combining horror elements with a fun edge.
AOK: It’s my thought that young brands generally lack focus and I see in DPM a real focus from the tees through to the photography. How long did you sit on these ideas before you put them out there?
DPM: Well, thank you. I sat on the idea of Dance Party Massacre for months, but once I decided there was enough there to go forward with it everything sort of evolved. As I created, it I started seeing what was missing or what else I wanted to do, and I just take it on as it comes up. Since I did form a strong concept to start out, it allows for making decisions easier. I think in a world where there’s so much competition, a true way to stand out is to have a solid idea that people will remember.
AOK: I recently picked up the ‘eyeconic‘ tee which features the brand’s logo…break the logo down for us.
DPM: The eye is our soul. The knife is danger. The hands keep us moving—whether it be running, dancing, doing whatever. I wanted it to be iconic…basic, but memorable. I also really wanted it to sum up the brand in one image.
AOK: DPM is coming out of Boston, a pretty vibrant scene for streetwear, how do you feel about the Boston scene?
DPM: It’s really interesting. Part of me thinks it’s a tough sell. I don’t really view Boston as a fashion-capitol, but like you said it’s catching on with streetwear. That’s more accessible and straight-forward than glossy couture or something. It’s also a young crowd with the student population, so I think that might be why streetwear is becoming more popular. It’s exciting to see what will happen. It’s a small enough crowd to possibly get at people easier, but also small in that things may not catch on (as easily).
AOK: The overall style of DPM is very clean and straightforward…is this your own personal style of design or is this how you are specifically branding DPM?
DPM: When I was in school I tried figuring out what my style as a designer was and eventually it got to be confusing. Some people have a really specific way of drawing or designing, and I actually think that’s great, but when I tried to make a conscious decision what my style was it became contrived.
When I started designing things for Dance Party Massacre, I think there ended up being a restrain to it. Partly this is what I am comfortable making, but it was also deliberate because I wanted to separate it as a “horror” line. There’s many horror t-shirts out there based off of old film art, typical horror, messy graphics… you could even just look at a lot of what is/was in Hot Topic. I didn’t want DPM to be so obscene…It’s kind of like the difference between the original horror films of the 70s and 80s and all these remakes they’re putting out now. It’d rather try to create some originality or difference, than just rehash what’s been done.
AOK: You’ve launched www.whatareuafraidof.com as a viral extension of DPM, explain what your aim is with the site.
DPM: While I do consider DPM to be a legit brand that I’d like to see grow, and make money, and all that good stuff—it’s also just a fun project I like working on. It’s small, and I own it, and I can do whatever I want with it. I’d like to use that to my advantage, so if something interesting comes up that I want to try, I have the freedom to experiment.
Stepping out beyond t-shirts, and getting at people another way is fun. I came from an art school with installations, and video projections, and art openings, and design discussion. My interest in DPM is not just the business aspect, but what it represents to me as an idea. In an effort to try to explain that to people more I started whatareufraidof.com. It’s a dark black hole on the internet that you can throw your fears and thoughts onto without rejection.
AOK: Just recently you put up your second season of tees, how do you feel about the new release?
DPM: I really love them! I’m glad I was able to get some help with one of the designs, and also expand the inspiration more. I look back on the first season, and while I absolutely love it, it was very structured. This is good because I made a strong statement from the start, but it’s limiting and I wanted to have more room to play around.
AOK: Tell about your 3 favorite DPM tees
DPM: I love The Classic. This could sound gross (and I get this morbid-inquiry a lot when I talk about horror), but I love the look of blood as an aesthetic design element. The red is so eye-catching. The way you can have it ooze and drip or splatter just like paint gives it this natural feel. A lot of old film art (Suspiria, An American Werewolf in London) use it in really great ways.
Blood on the Dance Floor is another favorite, I think because it sums up the brand so well. The sort-of hand-drawn outline of a striking image that represents fun and danger is great.
As a personal favorite, The Sequel is a must-pick because I put all my friends names in the credits. It’s personal and limited and I wanted it for myself. It’s also a representation that I did something right with Season 1, because it was successful enough to warrant a “sequel”!
AOK: A lot of new companies starting out tend to only print their designs for guys, you’ve printed both guys and girls since the start…has this helped the company?
DPM: I’m not really sure. When I was selling shirts in the past I sold more in womens than mens, so when I started the line I wanted to keep both genders represented. Unfortunately, my designs before DPM were not gory or as severe, and probably lent themselves better towards a female mind. I actually sell more to men than women now, so it’s become reversed—which I didn’t expect. I love having the option to sell to women, but if they don’t grab on, I won’t keep making them. I am considering our upcoming designs to be just Mens (Unisex really) shirts.
AOK: What do you think is the biggest mistake young tee brands make?
DPM: As a designer, I look at just plastering your name across the chest as a mistake, but as a consumer it seems to work so I don’t know what to think about that. A more definitive answer is that people rush into things. They publish a website that isn’t finished. They throw designs on shirts without working on them long enough. I think that things need to be fleshed out (something I struggle with myself; when enough is enough). If you actually want to succeed and grow something I think you need to realize it takes time. Throwing some designs on a t-shirt isn’t going to be some instant hit.
AOK: In your time so far what’s the biggest mistake you’ve made?
DPM: I probably take on too much. I control almost every aspect of Dance Party Massacre, and not only does that take up so much time, but it can keep you in a tunnel. I might not see outside of it sometimes, and in all honesty, sometimes it’s just not fun. I wanted to start this as a way of making money off of something I love. When it starts to take up all my life, it stops me from having time for fun. I like the concepts, designs, the social aspect of having it, but I really wish one of my friends were better at business so they could control orders, website upkeep, advertising, etc.
AOK: Do you intend to expand the line into a full apparel range?
DPM: I really want it to be more than tees, but I am still a 24-year old with college loans trying to sell this on the side when I’m not doing full-time work. I can’t afford to pump money, or as I said—time, into creating something that will not have a demand. Tees are safer, and what my background is in, so it works. As time goes on and things get established I want to introduce other items (we already had bandannas), but I’d hate for it to hit and no one wants it.
AOK: What are some brands or artists you look out for?
DPM: I think Dance Party Massacre is inspired by a few things…film, fashion, design, and music. I try to keep up with similar brands so we’re not both putting out the same stuff. Because of that I’ve been looking at Electric Zombie, Johnny Cupcakes, and Mishka. I used to look at Fullbleed a lot, and I think Rob Dobi’s simple, but effective, imagery has probably indirectly influenced this line.
I was really stoked to go to Icelandic Airwaves in Reykjavik this October, but I couldn’t convince any of my friends to come. It is this crazy independent music festival in Iceland, set in what is supposed to be a really inspiring city. The festival is all about featuring artists on the brink of making it big, and I was stoked to see Steed Lord, Yelle, CSS, Vampire Weekend, Crystal Castles and I’m sure there were more.
AOK: What’s up next for DPM?
DPM: Working on new products, having fun, watching many more horror movies, and hopefully intriguing people to keep checking us out!
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