In case you haven’t heard yet, there’s an upcoming independent art collective/design team here in Shanghai. They’re called Twin Horizon . Twin Horizon is Ivan Belcic, JC Heinbockel, Robert Ellis, and Clem Balanoff (who has just recently relocated here.) They have done the poster art for countless shows around town (like this one, this one, this one, and, of course, these), the artwork for this album, and too many other projects to name right now. However, we will be naming another of their numerous projects in this little article because, well, that’s kind of the point of the article. The project is a line of Shanghai DIY T-Shirts that they are unveiling this weekend during a grand bash at Uptown Records. Twin Horizon came up with the idea to make t-shirts inspired by the music and attitude of five local Shanghai bands: Boys Climbing Ropes, Moon Tyrant, Stegosaurus?, Friend or Foe, and Rainbow Danger Club. Then, they had to figure out how the fuck to do that. They already had the mad art skills covered. They found cheap t-shirt wholesalers, made the designs, found someone to help with printing (Idle Beats), and then printed the whole shebang themselves. Pretty cool, right? Now they are presenting the fruits of their labor with a party at Uptown. There will be music from the bands featured on the t-shirts, giveaways, t-shirts to be bought, and, of course, beer. Sweet, sweet, beer. That’s this Saturday, May 12th, at Uptown Records. We recently caught up with Twin Horizon’s Clem to get the lowdown on the project, as well as some more details about the event.     Layabozi: What’s going on May 12th at Uptown Records? Clem: May 12th is the official launch day of Twin Horizon where we will first share our label by throwing a free event for the public. Rainbow Danger Club, Friend or Foe, Stegosaurus?, and Boys Climbing Ropes will all be performing acoustic sets. Vedett will be giving out free Extra White and selling their other brews. We will be raffling off some free skateboard decks that we designed specifically for this event. There is no cover charge. Just grab a beer, listen to some tunes, and buy a t-shirt. LYBZ: Why did you decide to do a line of t-shirts featuring local Shanghai bands? C: Twin Horizon is about action, and that is one of the things we wanted to encourage with our summer line, Shanghai DIY. Ten percent of the sales are going directly back to the bands, as a thank you for being part of our first t-shirt line and to support them in their own movements. With the extra money they can get more time to practice, pay to print event fliers, produce an album, tour, or do whatever else they need to advance. LYBZ: Can people buy t-shirts on the day and then where can they be had after that? And at what price? Gimme some deets, please. C: Our shirts are priced at 150 RMB to make them available to everyone who loves our work. They are done in small editions of 100 each. If you love these bands like we do or want to help support our vision I would recommend picking one up at our launch before they are gone. For those who have work and can’t make it to the party, the best places to look are here in Shanghai: Factory Five (everyone’s favorite fixed gear bike shop), Uptown Records (dope record store where we are having our launch party), and Inferno (the spot you go when you have to hear metal with your drinks). You will be able to purchase the shirts on our website though we are in the process of having our site redone to add our lookbook and bring the focus to our clothing line. LYBZ: Were there any bands you considered that didn’t make the cut? C: We had our line idea of DIY and the first five bands that came to mind were Stegosaurus?, Boys Climbing Ropes, Rainbow Danger Club, Moon Tyrant, and Friend of Foe.  As soon as you make a Plan B you are already setting up for Plan A to fail, therefore they were the only bands we asked.  When we approached the bands with our vision we were lucky to have all of them show interest and thus we didn’t have to think of a next step in terms of who to include and were able to continue with our own DIY process. LYBZ: Tell us a little bit about the process of making the tees. What trials and tribulations did you undergo? C: Since Ivan is part of the Shanghai music scene himself, he was well acquainted with the bands and their music and had some ideas ready when we began the design process. I spent a lot of time listening to the albums as I sat in parks in Buenos Aires with my sketchbook and would look over what had been produced over the sessions and went about fleshing out some of the ones that spoke to me. As for bumps in the road? We had a lot of trouble looking for sourcing for the t-shirts because we wanted to ensure exclusivity (Each shirt is a work of art and part of an edition of 100 shirts) and when you go and talk to companies and request such a small order, they don’t take you seriously and don’t want to give you a price you can honestly work with to make it worth your time. After the order came through, we worked with Idle Beats and spent many days over a period of weeks hand printing each individual shirt. I have to say that together (JC, Ivan and myself) we are a solid team. We all have different strengths and are all great at sharing the weight that comes when carrying out any project. LYBZ: What’s up with Twin Horizon in general (what is it?) and what’s on the horizon (so to speak)? C: As I stated earlier, Twin Horizon is about adding some walk to your talk. When people see my artwork and they tell me something like, “Man your work is really good, I wish I could do something like that!” the first thing I say is, “You can, all it takes is the proper patience and passion.” Everyone has patience for different things and as Twin Horizon we want to inspire people to go forth and pursue their passions. As for what’s on our horizon? We have several ideas and a handful of designs already done, though we have not settled on the theme for our Fall Line yet. The best way to stay in the know is to follow us on Twitter (@twin_horizon) and like us on Facebook (facebook.com/twinhorizon) There you go. Twin Horizon is walking the walk so make sure you run (don’t walk) to the Shanghai DIY Launch this Saturday, May 12th, at Uptown Records.   Find more about Twin Horizon on their official website. More about Uptown Records on their official website. More about Idle Beats on their official website.