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elsewhere
What have you been wearing on stage? Anything new you particularly like?
Swami (@swamisound)
I wear Gore-Tex articles on stage a lot. I feel as though it’s part of my character design but I get really hot and regret it almost always. But I personally think it’s important to feel comfortable and cool with yourself in the public eye.
A friend of mine, Nash Oh (founder of NYC based clothing brand NASH NY) has been styling most of my press and album cover art since 2021. I wore pieces from his second collection during my performance opening for Tourist at Zone One in 2022.
I’m looking forward to his third collection which I imagine is unveiling soon.
I’m also a fan of Adsum - they gifted me a jacket of my choice just in time for the Eldia Summit we held at the Rooftop in May.
Telfar’s newest Eastpak collection is also a staple for me now. It’s a perfect size and fits around my body really well - and holds my essentials.
Swami wearing Adsum jacket
"I personally think it’s important to feel comfortable and cool with yourself in the public eye."
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Gum (@gum.mp3)
I'm mostly wearing slightly oversized, breathable shirts from ACG and Arcteryx, the usual Nike x Undercover React boots that I’ve been wearing for 3 or 4 years, and ACG Smith Summit pants. They pack well, and are comfortable in various contexts. If it’s super hot I might opt for a REI tank top, and if my skin is being irritated for whatever reason I’ll opt for a dry-fit long sleeve.
Gum wearing Telfar Shirt + Girbaud Jeans
gum
I just got these wide-leg burgundy Marni jeans that I like, alongside a Marni patterned, blue, short-sleeve button-up and the Jacquemus Matisse print short-sleeve button-up.
Gum in Jacquemus Matisse button up
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Daze (@dazegxd)
I think I have a pretty standard outfit for when I'm on stage. Loose fitting clothes & a decent looking pair of sneakers.
daze
I've made it a tradition to wear a trucker hat in combination with a durag & I've done it since July 2021. In terms of new stuff, I recently got gifted this pair of Girbaud jeans that I've been in love with, & this triple box logo Supreme tee.
Daze trucker hat + durag
elsewhere
Do you collaborate with anyone? A stylist? A friend?
swami
I collaborate often with NASH NY on their look book and video shoots. We came to the conclusion that it was very fitting for a figure from NYC to represent the brand at face value.
Swami for NASH NY
gum
No collabs. I stole the idea of wearing a Kangol bucket all the time from Swami. It’s one of the only hats that looks good with my long hair.
Gum wearing C.P. Company sweater and Kangol bucket hat
gum
I got into tech wear because of him too. It wasn’t really relevant for my life growing up in the South, outside of moisture wicking stuff, but it has become increasingly important as a traveler and as someone with sensitive skin amidst the impending climate crisis. No stylist, but I’ve been interested in, worked in, and academically concerned with fashion in different levels of intensity and in different points of my life since college.
daze
Never collaborated with anyone directly on an outfit but I take input & inspirations here and there. Although, I do remember when I was 19, first starting out as a live DJ and I had a gig, my mom insisted I wear a plain black tee instead of this one white graphic tee I had. I was just like "damn mom, ur not my stylist" but she was right, the plain black tee did look better that night.
I was like "damn mom, ur not my stylist" but she was right, the plain black tee did look better that night.
elsewhere
Do you make any special pieces?
swami
No, I’ve had so many ideas though. A custom Kangol would be sick.
gum
Nope. I make merchandise via third party services and local screen printers to pay rent as a working artist, but I actually don’t like it and I wish I didn’t have to contribute to landfills by making merchandise garments just to make ends meet. I try to avoid it if I can. It’s sad though, because I love a novelty shirt, and I own way too many graphic tees. I’d like to stop having to make merch one day—CDs and vinyl included. Too much plastic, and too many resources being used for ephemera in general.
daze
Not directly. Much like Gum I work with 3rd party manufacturers to make custom tees (for merch but also to make clothes I'd think would look cool on me). I do want to dabble with the idea of making one-of-one pieces for myself though, maybe a custom durag or chain in the near future.
elsewhere
Where do you find stage clothes? Any fav shops?
swami
I don’t really like to shop. I take what I can get! REI’s clearance section is my home. When visiting Tokyo I got a couple things from Mont-Bell.
gum
I’m the Grailed and eBay demon. I used to shop at Tokio 7 and Search and Destroy when I was an NYU student before they got played out. Sometimes I buy ACG and Arcteryx retail, but I make it a point not to if I can avoid it, and I try not to buy too many redundant pieces of outerwear and pants.
daze
Brief moment of humility: I do not shop for clothes often lol. Most of what I wear on stage is also my day to day wardrobe. I usually get my clothes as gifts or from thrift shops or my friends' brands.
Gum and Swami in Montreal, dressed for the cold weather
elsewhere
Where does your sense of style come from? Any special sources of inspiration?
swami
I’m big on Gorpcore. My friend Arielle gifted me Joshua P. Matthews’ book “HARD-SHELL” and I flip through it often dreaming of owning some bright GTX jackets.
gum
Andrew Bolton’s “Supermodern Wardrobe” has inspired me greatly. I have a childlike romance of a cyberpunk future, but it’s tempered by class-consciousness and a desire for a more social-ecological relationship to the environment. I’m interested in clothing as a system, like a wearable Gundam or a Power Ranger suit.
Gum wearing 90s Arcteryx fleece, ACG Gore-Tex jacket, accessorized by Arcteryx GTX gloves
"I’m interested in clothing as a system, like a wearable Gundam or a Power Ranger suit."
gum
I like having an adjustable, thermoregulating micro-climate that I can take anywhere on any occasion. At the same time, I enjoy a little splash of contemporary notions of luxury. Sometimes it’s a Suicoke geta sandal and Jacquemus shirt day while I’m on the Boiler Room boat. Most days, I’m driving through Virginia with a bunch of ACG on, headed to the beach. I try to strike some sort of balance. I’m prepared to go for a hike, or go to some restaurant on the Michelin guide with my girlfriend.
daze
My sense of style comes from a lot of places really. In my youth I was enamored with unique character designs of the media I was into, namely video games & animations. I loved what people in '00s Brooklyn were wearing. Sometimes I used to dig through my older brother & my dad's old clothes just to get a feel of it.
I've unfortunately also grown up insecure of my body type & my face, and while I've outgrown that insecurity, some of my dressing habits I picked up kinda merged into my style. Like wearing oversized shirts + jeans & thick hoodies to cover my body, and always wearing a durag to hide my forehead. I also just wear the durag to protect my waves.
The trucker hat + durag combo that I'm most known for came from a want; I've always wanted long hair but as a kid I was never allowed to grow my hair out into locs or dreads & as an adult I don't want to go thru the "ugly phase" of growing some out.
So to acquiesce I started wearing my durags loose, almost in a sense of playing pretend. Then I got gifted a trucker hat by my friend DJ & it worked really well together with the loose durag. In the end, it fulfilled my desire of uniquely characterizing myself like the games & animations I enjoyed (kinda makes me look a lil like Corn from JSRF or how Redman looked in Def Jam FFNY).
Swami Sound + Dazegxd + Gum.mp3 is coming to Elsewhere September 29th — Buy tickets
All pictures that aren't selfies by Chris Robinson.
LINKS:
● linktr.ee/swamisound
● @swamisound
