While I'm not a huge fan of OBEY Clothing, I am a huge fan of Suicidal Tendencies. This cool little video is about the OBEY ? ST collab on a line of shirts, but it traces the history of Suicidal art back to the origins and back to former Bones Brigade member Lance Mountain.
OBEY Clothing teamed up with Suicidal Tendencies for release a clothing collection celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the release of the first Suicidal Tendencies record. We took the iconic graphics of Ric Clayton and the original line drawings done by Lance Mountain as the base of the collection. The idea was to pay homage to the original artists behind the Suicidal graphics as well as celebrate the history and influence Suicidal Tendencies has had on Shepard and OBEY.
From Shepard Fairley -
"I heard that Lance had found his original Suicidal drawings in a drawer after nearly 30 years. I saw the drawings and marveled at the clarity of the line work and how much the images had degraded (in true scuzzy, punk fashion) over the years. I reached out to Lance to ask if I could buy them and we began to talk about a potential Lance/Obey/Suicidal art collaboration. Glen (Friedman), who I have worked with on many projects, introduced me to Jim Muir and we began a limited edition collaboration for Dogtown Skateboards that used my illustration of Jim based on one of Glen's photographs. I talked to Jim about my chat Lance and he brought his brother Mike Muir of Suicidal by my studio to hang. Mike liked the collaboration idea and I now have the honor of presenting the 30th anniversary of their first album. I feel very lucky to know all parties who helped inspire and bring this project together. Thank you Lance Mountain, Glen E. Friedman, Jim Muir and especially Mike Muir, the creative force behind Suicidal."
About Suicidal Tendencies and their self titled first record:
Judging from their name, Suicidal Tendencies were never afraid of a little controversy. Formed in Venice, CA, during the early '80s, the group's leader from the beginning was outspoken vocalist Mike Muir. The outfit specialized in vicious hardcore early on -- building a huge following among skateboarders, lending a major hand in the creation of skatepunk -- before turning their focus eventually to thrash metal. Early on, the group (whose original lineup included Muir, guitarist Grant Estes, bassist Louiche Mayorga, and drummer Amery Smith) found it increasingly difficult to book shows, due to rumors of its members' affiliation with local gangs and consistent violence at their performances. The underground buzz regarding Suicidal Tendencies grew too loud for labels to ignore though, as the quartet signed on with the indie label Frontier; issuing Muir and company's classic self-titled debut in 1983. The album quickly became the best-selling hardcore album up to that point; its best-known track, "Institutionalized," was one of the first hardcore punk videos to receive substantial airplay on MTV, and was eventually used in the Emilio Estevez cult classic movie Repo Man, as well as in an episode for the hit TV show Miami Vice (for which the group made a cameo appearance).
Suicidal Tendencies went to release numerous records and classic recordings such as Possessed to Skate on Join the Army, You Can't Bring Me Down on Lights, Camera, Revolution among anthers. They remain active touring throughout the world and an inspiration to musicians, skaters and cycos everywhere.