“I love to use merch as a statement,” Mercedes Arn-Horn says. “Not only as a piece of our identity, but also sometimes as a social and a political statement, too.”
As the guitarist and vocalist of Canadian grunge-gazers Softcult, Mercedes has put this philosophy into practice on multiple occasions, making the band the perfect fit for the latest edition of the View From The Merch Table, where we discuss the importance of T-shirts, hoodies and other post-show staples for touring bands.
Softcult’s merch, designed by Mercedes’ twin sister, drummer and producer Phoenix Arn-Horn, is a means of showcasing who they are, but also making a stand. Not only are they leading the way in making band merch more environmentally friendly, they’ve also produced T-shirts with the aim of raising money for important causes.
Following up the spring release of their fourth EP ‘Heaven’, and with their UK tour getting underway in Birmingham on November 6, Mercedes also lifted the lid on why it’s worth it to pay more for better quality merch, and why buying stuff from ‘90s bands “hits different”.
You’ve not been to the UK in a while, right? How does it feel to be finally coming back?
We used to tour the UK twice a year, at least, so I’ve missed it. I feel like I haven’t had my fix of it – it’s my favorite place, I love coming. It feels odd that we haven’t been there in a while. The music scene is so great, and the cities we’re going to are some of my favourite ones.
What was the first band shirt you remember buying?
Probably a Nirvana one — everyone and their mom has a Nirvana shirt, you know? I mean, it’s because they're an incredible band, and they’ve influenced music in such a big way. It’s interesting how, sometimes, merch can almost turn into this iconic [image]. I remember when I was younger, there were so many shirts and buttons with Che Guevara’s face on them, and it’s almost like this portrait of Che Guevara has become bigger than him.
He’s become almost like a fashion icon, even though he was this political radical. It’s almost like the Nirvana tee has become that — people who don’t know that much about Nirvana, but love the aesthetic of grunge, will get a Nirvana tee. I don’t know how to feel about it, whether it’s cool that it’s such a thing that everybody you know recognises it, or whether it’s exactly the kind of capitalism that Kurt hated.
What was the most recent item of merch you bought?
I just bought merch at a Bikini Kill show. They’re a great band to support, of course, but they almost always have some proceeds of their merch go to a lot of great causes. I just really love the band. A lot of those bands from the ‘90s that have come back in modern times, like Garbage or Smashing Pumpkins, I always want to support them. I’m like, ‘You just never know when they're going to decide to take a hiatus again.’ To buy a ‘90s band’s merch when they’re still playing today, I feel like hits a little bit different.
What’s been your favourite Softcult merch design?
There’s two that come to mind. One’s very simple – it’s got a spider on it and some cracked glass in the background. It looks very gothy and creepy. The other one that I feel this connection to is not a huge seller, but we put it out when Roe vs Wade was overturned in the USA. It’s a rosary and a coat hanger, and it doesn't even have our band name on it. It just says, ‘Keep your beliefs away from our rights.’ The proceeds of that went to Planned Parenthood in different locations in the US. We’re Canadian, but I just can’t even imagine how terrifying that would be.
How important is merch revenue for you to be able to survive as a band?
For us, the merch sales make or break a tour most of the time. A big factor as to whether the tour is going to be profitable is to do with the merch sales. If you want to support a band in this day and age, the best thing you can do is buy merch from their merch table. There’s kind of two reasons to buy it — one is to actually monetarily support the band and help them out. Two, it's like a piece of your identity, in a way.
Your environmental ethos for your merch has been really significant — how did you improve your carbon footprint?
Fast fashion is one of the worst possible things for the environment right now, so we’re aware of that with our merch. Being in a smaller band, you’re touring in an old van, so it’s not great for the environment — one of the only impacts we can have when we go on tour is having ethical merch.
Our merch is all organic, recycled fabric with organic, eco friendly ink. It’s less wasteful, but recycled fabric has that vintage feel, so it is just a little bit more expensive to order and to make, but you feel better about it. We’ve gotten a lot of comments from our fans about how comfortable the T-shirts and hoodies are. Personally, I would pay more for something that was good quality.
Softcult Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Wed November 06 2024 - BIRMINGHAM Flapper
Thu November 07 2024 - GLASGOW King Tut's
Fri November 08 2024 - MANCHESTER Night & Day
Sun November 10 2024 - BRISTOL Lanes
Tue November 12 2024 - LONDON Underworld
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
