Review of 2020
It’s become something of a tradition to spend the days between Christmas and New Year writing up our review of the year’s activities. Well, it’s been a hell of year right! It felt like the world had been turned upside at times, and like many I lost a few good friends over the past twelve months. It has also been a year conducive for reflection, to appreciate each day and the opportunities that come from adversity. For us, it really heightened our role as a community hang out and made us think about how best we can accommodate things going forwards. Spinning the clock back to the blissful ignorance of January I’ll do my best to recount as much I can from the past 12 months.
We began the year on a high, rolling on the success of our Paris launch of the Bolt x Edie collection we were faced with fulfilling our first major order for Matches Fashion. Having created the initial collection from reclaimed fabrics we were now faced with the challenge of replicating it, but this time on a much larger scale. In retrospect, we had never planned for things to be easy, and to achieve what we wanted it wasn’t possible to cut corners. The use of reclaimed fabrics was the heart of the collection with each batch of garments made in a unique rare fabric with their own story of how they were found. We frantically chased every connection we had searching for the missing pieces and the final week saw all night sessions as we hand finished garments preparing them for delivery.
We were to be one of five contemporary designers to be showcased at Matches Fashion exclusive concept Store in Mayfair. The grand townhouse opposite The Connaught hotel offers a private shopping experience at the highest level of decadence, a world away from Bolt. Along with the notable brand Art School, we were chosen to host the opening launch in the middle of March. Art School are a brand that likes to make noise, and for the event they had rounded up ten ex-playboy bunnies which they were dressing as Zombies to line the entrance. Edie and myself would attend meetings in Mayfair discussing which uber hip cocktail we’d be serving and designing podiums for our dancers. It was all getting really exciting. We didn’t want to be outdone so we were bringing live saxophonists, dancers, the whole damn carnival along with a road block of shiny muscle to line the streets of Mayfair.
The evening’s music was to be shared with Art school, with them kicking things off. Word came to us that they planned a set mixing classic music and acid techno, sorry Pardon? I couldn’t imagine how that would sound, it was either going to be complete genius or utterly terrible, and surely very difficult to follow. I was already intimidated by the world of high fashion but I figure you have to let it adapt to you rather than vice versa. We knew how to bring a good crowd and have a good time, after that everything else would fall into place. Much of my excitement was the idea of bringing my parents to this uptown address and to blow their minds back to their more hedonistic times in the sixties. The last time they were able to attend an event I organised was our Bolt opening party seven years previously, and the Matches launch would have been a good insight into how things have progressed. Yeah, things were feeling pretty darn sweet at this point as we entered March and the final preparations for the party came together.
Back at the shop I had a surprise one afternoon when into the store walks Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, who at 6ft 6 towered over me. At 13 I bought my first Album on vinyl and it was Sonic Youth’s Bad Moon Rising. To meet Thurston, along with the artist Savage Pencil, was pretty amazing and then to have them move their record shop in to Bolt three days later was better still. We had renovated the space since closing the garage a year before and it made for a perfect home for the Ecstatic Peace Library. The ECP is no ordinary shop, it’s more of an experiment to create a community around music and counter culture. Its run by a collective headed up by London’s legendary Zippo Records of Soho, who have spent decades scouring the world building up a collection of Rare records, art and signed posters. Their art collection is amazing and you will find work from all the greats - Stanley Mouse, Rick Griffin, Martin Sharp and Barney Bubbles. The Ecstatic Peace Library is the brainchild of Thurston Moore & Eva Prinz and houses their personal collection of art, posters, magazines, books, poetry and guitar pedals. Together the small space is literally packed to the limit with treasures from sub-cultures dating back to the birth of rock n roll. The new record shop gave us the kick up the ass to finally open a coffee shop, and there on the second weekend of March we launched both over a great weekend. Our new additions along with a stack of new outside furniture really brought the yard into its own. Music and motorcycles appealed to a crowd of outsiders and created a hub of counter culture in our pocket of Stoke Newington. The following week with the planned Matches Launch the impending pandemic really started to kick in, suddenly we had to shut the shop, cancel the party and anxiously waited to see what happened next.
The uneasy feeling of those first few weeks of lock down still lingers, and like most I had no idea of the extent of what we were facing. Having become accustomed to being surrounded by people all the time at Bolt I was slightly terrified of having to hang out by myself for the foreseeable future. Thankfully I soon realised I was good at it, firstly I got loads of work done, and then I just well, got into it. At six foot four I’m gangly not graceful, I also hate running, so I thought there was no chance I was going to head out with the rest of the ‘johnny come latelys’. Come week three and I had cobbled together a less than convincing sports outfit, and out I headed. After years of smoking, I had no expectations of how I would fair but once I broke the first almost immediate pain barrier, I found I could go forever. And so, it went, 5km, 7Km, 15km and soon I was finding myself exhausted in parts of London with no wallet, phone or means to get home. I was Forest Gump, and as happy as he, blasting myself with endorphins and house music as I overtook along the tow paths like the ghost rider throttle down. A month or so of this madness and my knees stopped feeling great, that was the end of my running. What next, weight lifting, ok sign me up!
A friend of mine had told me about a homeless kitchen that he helped with, and with time on my hands I offered to volunteer. Since the lockdown all static soup kitchens were banned cutting off a vital service at a time when it is most needed. The hackney street kitchen, run by previously homeless volunteers seemed to be one of the few operating by delivery meals by hand on the streets. I worked in charities for almost a decade but I really only enjoyed working on the front line and it was great to do so in my local area. If you know Hackney then you know it is full of colourful characters and the communism, gratitude and spirit from doing the street kitchen has been a highlight of this year. It takes a while to build up people’s trust but then you are never free of a friendly face when out and about.
The initial lockdown fuelled a rise in creativity as people suddenly had more time on their hands and an incentive to do something positive. I’ve been working with artist Stephen Kenny of Problem Press for years and when he came to me with his latest idea I really wanted to get involved somehow. In response to the level of confusion and the anxiety inducing government messaging Stephen felt there had to be a better-ways of informing a change in behaviour. He proposed to create designs that delivered clear visual messages, that both informed and added a positive impact into the environment. The plan was 19 designs from 19 artists, with prints made by Stephen on a turn of the century letterpress. We sent posters around the world and organised paste ups of the posters in London, Los Angeles and Tokyo Japan. It was a great way to connect with people around the world on a creative project whilst maintaining isolation.
The streets of London resembled a ghost town, and with a bag full of prints and a bucket of paste, Stephen and myself headed out. Soon we realised that any air of mischief was futile, the few people we came across actively encouraged seeing the art go up and it felt like we had free rein of the city. The artist in Stephen lead him to choose his paste up locations in terms of composition, colour, negative space and how it sits in context. For me it was purely competitive, how can you get a poster in a spot that will have lasting visibility. With our cloak of invincibility, we worked our way around East London till I spotted what I felt was the ultimate hit. Brick Lane, High up, framed by an industrial panel and in line with four other art pieces by acclaimed street artist ACE. The only thing was how to get to it. I rounded up an array of street furniture which I stacked up and climbed, getting a foot on a ledge and one arm holding on to an industrial fan. I swooped down, sloshed a load of paste on my brush and just managed to slap a poster up as I felt the trembling mass below me give way. With a bang myself and the whole carbuncle came crashing down leaving the poster crudely hung.
A spell of hot weather lasted the Lockdown and when it ended summer was in full swing. We opened with a giant Paella cooked by our friend John, we thought if we couldn’t go on holiday then we would bring it to the yard. Those first few weeks of opening were quite magical, people emerged from lockdown and were so grateful to be out. The record shop brought with it a cool new crowd, suddenly Bobby Gillespie with his dog Reggie, and a whole list of musicians, fashion designers and artists passed through the yard. It wasn’t much past lunch time when the beers would be opened and by the afternoon we’d be swamped with motorcycles and lines of American cars heading off down the street. The yard became the local hang out for every freak, weirdo and outsider.
As I mentioned I worked in the charity sector for years, and to be honest I didn’t enjoy much of it. Looking back, it’s no surprise really that I run my own business because it was something I was always trying to do in my career. I felt that the fundraising teams at charities should stop asking for money and start making it themselves. The third sector exists in a world of its own, abiding by their own set of laws, and in my opinion could learn from the private sector, at least in terms of sustainability. When I was approached by the charity Two Wheels for Life, I had the opportunity to put these beliefs into practise. It was perfect a fit and something I had first-hand experience with. My first job was setting up health and education projects in the remote rural north of Mozambique. Housed in a mud hut with a sweet little Honda cb50 I’d travel along the dirt tracks visiting the local villages. Two Wheels are a tiny charity supported by the Moto Gp who provide support to health care workers reliant on using motorcycles in Africa.
We decided that the t-shirt was a great medium for delivering a message, but then controversially we chose not to include one. We wanted people to buy the t-shirts because they were great t-shirts, and that the charitable cause was an additional bonus. We decided to work with four artists for the initial capsule collection and commissioned designs from David Sanden, Ziggy Moto, Ryan Quickfall and one from Bolt. Sony award winning photographer Tom Oldham shot the collection and a few weeks later we are almost sold out. We will be continuing this project in the coming year, working with new artists and building up a definitive collection of artist led, moto-inspired t-shirts.
Over the course of the summer, we had to abide by ever-changing restrictions so we couldn’t manage many events at Bolt and those we did had to be low key. This had its advantages and with a summer sparce of things to do, when things did happen, they really went off. A highlight for me was ECP and third man records launch for Big Joanie’s new album. As the sun went down in the afternoon a storm came in bringing with it torrential rain. Thurston Moore jumped on the shop turntables and played an incredible selection of records at full volume. The small crowd left sheltered under the giant umbrella and danced like it was the front row of a festival. It was surreal to have one of your musical idols playing a set amongst the deserted streets. Such organic happenings and the community they bring together are the best things about having the space like Bolt.
Over the course of the summer, despite everything going on around us, and in part because of it, Bolt felt like it had come into its own. We have always harboured a close community but the launch of the coffee and record shop, along with extra tables and chairs in the yard helped make it a place to hang out. We were better off without a bar or restaurant, people improvised and we didn’t need to capitalise on it, rather we enjoyed the lack of responsibility. People came together for the good atmosphere, mix of people and the excellent daily soundtrack from Zippo Records.
The rule of six meant that whilst you could start to do things again the reality was that the experience seldom resembled that of pre-covid times. Over a conversation with Chris of Rebel Reel Cine Club he suggested that we team up and offer something different. The plan was to curate a night of entertainment and culture which could be enjoyed together whilst operating under guidance for social distancing. A feature films chosen were cult and underground classics from the world of motorcycles and automobile culture. Alongside this we screened photography exhibitions and had liver performances and DJ sets from Zippo records. We worked with Youth Club who have built up an archive of photography documenting British youth culture to create specially selected showreels to accompany films.
We had been organising ride outs every week over the summer to our friend’s Mark hot rod, American car and motorcycle meet ups at the Broadlakes Social Club. The venue was great, an old wooden military building complete with a porch that looked every bit a 1950’s American roadhouse. Wandering through the American muscle cars and lines of motorcycles felt like going back in time and it was the perfect place to screen Marlon Brando’s 1953 classic “The Wild One”. On the last Thursday of August, we launched the Hang Out on and evening that began with a torrential downpour. Thankfully it gave way just in time and the event went more or less as planned. We chose a new location, The Silver Building, an incredible brutalist structure on the Royal Docks with the most amazing views of the city. Finally, when the second lock down came in November, we held the event entirely online hosting it from our make shift studio in Bolt. Most events sold out and all enjoyed a great atmosphere and we enjoyed a sense of togetherness which has been in such short supply this year.
This year has really exemplified how much of the business doesn’t rely on the shop itself. Not being open gave us the opportunity to realise many of the garment designs we have been working on and to put our first full collection into production. This includes seven new jackets along a range of sweatshirts, jerseys and t-shirts. We have worked with some of the finest fabric produces from the finest virgin wool from traditional Italian family run mill Manteco, Steerhides from tanneries in Tuscany and technical wax fabrics from British Millerain. Everything has been custom made to our design, from the fabrics, vintage style zips to 1930’s replica horn buttons. We have also started expanding around the globe with new stockist in Seoul with Motorino, Hong Kong at Black Riot and back in the UK with Urban Rider. In the coming year, along with the new collection, we will be looking to grow our number of retailers across Asian, America, Europe and I hope Russia. This really is the next step I’ve been looking forward to, we’ve built our brand over the years but have always lagged behind in producing goods. This is partly due to our approach, I believe that everything we make should have a place, whether due to quality, design or functionality, it should be unique from all others. This takes time but then I guess we’re in no rush.
We approach the coming year with the same enthusiasm as we did the last, and with some great projects in the pipeline. We expect that things will take a while to get back to normal so we are continuing to explore new ways to connect through an online music platform with Sailor Jerry. We’ll be heading off for a tour of Europe, and hopefully Asian and America too as we launch the new collection. I’ve missed too many opportunities to ride over the years and feel an adventure is needed for 2021. So, if all goes to plan, I’ll be riding off road through Romania with our friends Bandisca motorcycles from Budapest. Back at the shop we’ve a few events brewing, including the launch party for the 101 run with Dice Magazine. More than anything what I’m looking forward to is simply hanging out in the yard and chatting with the folks that come by.