Insolence Clothing

Be brave. Be who you are. Be insolent

[insolenceclothing]

Tasha Cowie - DIVIDES

Photo of Divides (UK) photographer - Andy Mills

We were delighted to have the opportunity to ask Tasha Cowie from Divides a few questions. She's a talented tomboy with a heart of gold and we are delighted to have her as part of the Insolence family. Let's see what she has to say.

Tell us a bit about yourself?

My names Tasha and I'm 21. I come from Motherwell which is around 30 minutes outside of Glasgow, Scotland. I'm the vocalist for Divides UK, A Sound Engineer graduate and event steward for G4S. I'm vegetarian and I love cooking, cycling, adventuring and arcades!  What got you into music?

I've been into music from a very young age, which I think is the case for most people. My parents music taste rubbed off on me and I started listening to the likes of Elvis, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong.

How long have you been singing/playing for?

I took up the Saxophone in primary school and joined various wind and jazz bands. From their on I started to get keen about other instruments and self taught myself on the guitar, bass and ukulele. The love for singing just came on naturally after exploring different music types as I grew up :)

Who are your main musical influences? My first personal musical influences were Elvis, Sinatra, James Morrison and Paolo Nutini. Songs by these guys were pretty much the first things I could play on the guitar. From a band point of view my main musical influences are Biffy Clyro, Fightstar and Deaf Havana.

Any advice or tips that you would give to someone who wants to be in a kick ass rock band someday?

My advice would be to not care about trying to satisfy everyone's musical taste, it's not going to happen. It's something I used to kick myself for because I tried to please everyone. Your music will reach out to someone whether its 1 person or 100. But you should be happy reaching out to that 1 person, the other hundreds just a bonus.  

Any bands that we all should/need to know about? Ohh that's a tricky one. There's so many great bands out there now, especially a few that are starting to stand out in the UK. We keep close with our buddy's that we play with or just have a lot of love for in general. If you visit our Twitter page @dividesofficial, we shout out to bands we think you's should have a listen too. What things/ideas are you passionate about?

Musics too obvious an answer, damn haha. I'm pretty passionate about the idea of 'What's meant for you won't go by you' I try and get that message out in my lyrics quite a bit. 

I'm also pretty passionate about trying to make people smile. If you can make someone smile, at least you know they smiled once that day even if it was the only time they did. 

Any weird or wonderful facts about yourself that will give us all a chuckle? That's usually the question that gets asked to the guys and I need to sit in embarrassment haha. Well I'm wonderfully gay and wonderfully open about it. I would say that's pretty wonderful. Everyone's a little weird, I'm sure everyone will get to see a little bit of my weirdness at some point.  How important are the clothes you wear to you?

I'd say pretty important but not in the 'I need to look fabulous' way people might think. A lot of my clothing means something to me, whether someone's bought me it, or I've been giving it. I like helping out clothing brands because I've seen a lot of lines start from barely anything to becoming a popular name.  Any other indie brands that you love and would like to give a shout out too?

There's a lot of great brands that I find on Instagram. Such as Bleak Apparel, Takk Clothing, The Wilds Apparel and Thunder Apparel. Check them out :) Here at Insolence our mantra is be brave, be who you are, be insolent. Do these words resonate with you? and how do you embody those words in your day to day life?

When you're playing shows often/gigging/doing interviews/videos you're pretty much exposing your whole life to pretty much whoever takes an interest in your band. That's pretty brave and you need to be who you are. What you see is what you get and I wouldn't want to have it any other way.

If you want to keep up to date with what Tasha and the guys are up to check out the links below.

Get your Divides tickets, Merch and there soon to be released EP HERE!

Instagram - @dividesofficial

Facebook - facebook.com/DIVIDESOFFICIAL

Twitter - @dividesofficial

Website - www.divides.co

[insolenceclothing]

Happy Valentines day you beautiful people and happy birthday to the other half of this crazy little brand! Sam turns 22 today! WHOOP WHOOP!

Sam and I met under very strange circumstances and if you want to know more about that story ask us over a pint some time. I have learnt a lot from Sam since we met and have had a lot of fun along the way. I couldn't have asked for a better friend and business partner to have this crazy adventure with.

Anyway I hope you guys have a wonderful Valentines day. Whether you love this cheesy commercial bull shit or not have fun today and be good to each other.

#BeInsolent

Kerilee

[insolenceclothing]

Cue Cheesey year review post....

2014 was a really exciting year for Sam and I as individuals, a bromance and as Insolence.

We got the chance to do some really cool stuff-

The Kickstarter campaign - This was the longest 60 days of my life. I compulsively checked our email every minute on the minute. I hope never to experience this ever again.

Open Mic Night - With the help of the awesomely wonderful Ali we had a great night at Maverick hosted by the lovely Cherrie Ontop. There was some great artists and the craic was mighty.

True Grip - We had the honor of having our brand hanging along side the awesome brands that Jordon has in his shop. If your out in Ballymena pop by and check it out.

Photoshoots - Ciara McMullan and Bekka McMaster have been the legends behind all of our photography so far. I love being around people who are so into what they do and both of these dudes are super talented.

Artists and musicians - We have met some epic and talented people this year and you will be hearing more about them this year for sure so keep your ear to the ground!

There was a lot of laughs in 2014 and I am sure this year will be just as ridiculous.

[insolenceclothing]

True Grip!

So today was a pretty cool day for us. We packed up some clothes and jumped in the Insolentmoble and headed for Ballymena to meet up with Jordan the proud owner of True Grip Skate Shop.

We are so chuffed to let you all know that you can now buy your Insolence gear at True Grip. The shop is awesome and has loads of class local brands stocked and everything you need for your skateboarding needs.

The best part of today for me was meeting Jordan. He is such a lovely guy I love talking to people who are really passionate and work their ass of to make things happen. If your about Ballymena drop into the shop and say hi to him and you'll see what I mean.

We are so proud to be a small part of True Grip. Check it out at www.facebook.com/truegripskateshopballymena 

Today was a good day!

#Beinsolent

Kerilee

[insolenceclothing]

Bekka McMaster

From our last Insolence post we mentioned heading off into the Mourne Mountains to get product photos taken for the website.

The brains behind the day was Bekka McMaster. A photographer from Belfast, Northern Ireland. You can check out her stuff at, Rebecca McMaster Photography

As mentioned before myself and Kerilee have many ideas for these photo shoots, yet usually are extremely useless at describing them. Luckily Bekka has had many years of translating my nonsense. 

Prepared as always she had a real vision for the project, in the truth of it all she completely took a vague idea we had in our heads and made it a reality. What she produced was exactly what we were looking for. The entire theme has formed from the work she produced, thankful wouldn't be the right word. 

Bekka: "Not many people have the opportunity to work alongside their best friends on a project, we both take our work very seriously, and this was hands down my favourite shoot."

The website is now up and running, you can check out some of her shots there as well.

#beinsolent

Sam.

[insolenceclothing]

So, we're really bad at writing blog posts.

We thought it was due time to have a catch up ..

The Kickstarter project has came to an end and all of our lovely backers have received their t-shirts. All the planning and posting and counting is complete and we have moved onto the next phase for Insolence .. glad to be over that hurdle. 

Over the past few months we have been working hard to get our website up and running. To get the website ready we needed to get some promotional photography of the tees. To highlight exactly what they look like. 

We headed off into the Mourne mountains to get the photos taken by the ever wonderful Bekka McMaster, keep an eye out on the blog we plan to write a small feature about her shortly. 

The day was a complete success, and looking through the photos has been an exciting process. Deciding how we plan to highlight the brand, and market it to you wonderful people has also been extremely fun. The views from the scenery where amazing and we can't wait to get back up the mountains again for our next shoot.

Kerilee made a short video of the day, have a nosey. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RetQrkkjeY&feature=youtu.be

All in all it's going well. We have big plans for the next phase of our journey, along with some interesting ideas for the next round of designs. 

Keep an eye out for insolenceclothing.com, soon it will be live to purchase all the Insolence gear your heart desires from. 

#beinsolent

Sam.

[insolenceclothing]

Progress & production.

We thought it was time we update everyone with our progress post kickstarter, a lot has been going on. 

Since the kickstarter ended a few key things have been happening. The website is nearly ready to launch for one, so all you lovely people can buy Insolence products. Like beanies ... and other goodies that we have been working on. 

The reward tees are in the production line with the hem tags just being confirmed we are getting more excited as the days go by. Can't wait to get them here and finally shipped off to our backers. 

As well as internal Insolence business we have been in talks with some very nice folk from across the globe, looking at getting into retailing Insolence Clothing gear in their stores. If you are interested in opportunities like this or know somebody who is get in contact with us via [email protected] we love to hear from you all. 

#beinsolent

Sam & Kerilee

[insolenceclothing]

"Well that was an adventure to say the least" is a phrase that is used often when Sam and I put our plans into action and today was no exception.

Just after the crack of noon Sam picked me up to deliver some of the thank you cards to local backers and what a trip it was. With the lovely Stevie in tow we set off.

Six cards………

That was it………..

Six cards to post through six letter boxes. Not a difficult undertaking you would imagine.

Well……. after many miles in the wrong directions, a hill which we thought would tip the car over, nearly reversing into a ditch and six hours of listening to the subtle tones of the Sat Nav lady we gave up on two of the cards.

So to you lucky four who received your cards today congrats and to the rest hold tight, they are being sent in the post ASAP.

In other news, the t-shirts have been finalised tonight and should arrive in our possession in the next three weeks. I am so excited to see what they are going to look like. I can’t wait to see you guys wearing them and hearing your feedback.

Exciting times ahead people!

Hope you all are good and if you lot want to ask us anything, give feedback or just want to say hi feel free to contact us on facebook or send us an email at [email protected]

Thanks for reading.

Be Insolent.

Kerilee.

[insolenceclothing]

Long time no see.

Well, as i'm sure you all heard we got funded on Kickstarter. Thanks to all you wonderful people for helping us get Insolence off the ground. We couldn't have done it without you. 

Since the Kickstarter got funded we have been up to some very cool things. All hush hush at the minute but its the reason we have been so heads down while we awaited the glorious "your funds are being transferred" email. Now that the day has came we once again must crawl out of our caves. 

With the website being crafted at the minute as well as many business discussions we are overwhelmed with the amount of interest Insolence is getting. Distributers, partnerships and even talks of selling at festivals, its all go for us. On that note, we love to hear from any of you no matter what the reason, big or small so get in touch. 

Keep an eye out for an email from Kickstarter if you were one of our lovely backers. It will be asking about sizes and other details so we can get your reward to you once they are ready. 

Thanks for your support.

#beinsolent

Sam & Kerilee

[insolenceclothing]

Open mic night at Maverick

It's been a while, and as you can imagine we have been running around like heedless chickens trying to promote the kickstarter. Sitting over 70% now we have already came along way. The nerves are starting to set in now but here's hoping we make it over the finish line. We held an open mic night in Maveick hosted by the wonderful Cherrie Ontop. It was fantastic. Helping us raise awareness for the kickstarer and get a few people pledging towards the tees.

We really owe the night coming together to a few people. To Ali who helped us organise the entire night from the initial talks to the raffle prize ideas. What a gem she is. And also to all the performers, it would be hard to hold an open mic night without singers.

It was a fantastic evening and as the night drew to an end and the prizes were announced. It was time to let the hair down and celebrate. In all honest the support and friendships we have made so far are amazing. We feel blessed to have met and collaborated with everyone.

As always we need to give a shout out to Ciara for her amazing photography skills. We would be lost without her talents. Thanks everyone for the support so far, drawing to the end of our kickstarter we are hopeful we will reach our target. So share share share, we can get there we are sure of it. #beinsolent Kerilee & Sam

[insolenceclothing]

Jamie Brown

Jamie Brown is another talent tomboy that we have been working closely with for Insolence. She is Belfast based like ourselves, a singer song writer with a tomboy style. She launched her record EROS in January 2014 and has continued to develop new songs since. 

The next digital issue of diva magazine will be featuring her song "Heavenly Restoration", so keep an eye out on http://www.divamag.co.uk/

We are working towards the goal of having Jamie play soon in Belfast, so take a mental note to make sure your free. Have a nosey on her soundcloud, you won't be disappointed. https://soundcloud.com/jamieevbrown

"Why is it important for you to have a clothing line like insolence?"

"Insolence clothing is a brand that supports a cause which lies close to my heart. Unlike many clothing lines, they are extremely unique and redefining the fashion industry which is similar to a goal that I have as a musician and I feel that working with them drives my motivation to carry out my aim. Their tomboy clothing is a very modernistic idea and something that, I feel, is needed very much in contemporary society to encourage the progressive diversity amongst people. For myself, the t-shirts are extremely comfortable and fit in with my day-to-day wardrobe which I think that the clothes will for most people as they can be worn for casual wear, business wear – everything!"

#beinsolent

Sam 

[insolenceclothing]

DJ DeadDrop

We have had the pleasure of getting to know some extremely talented tomboys through out Insolence venture so far. From musicians to artists the collaboration that has started is an exciting one.

The first tomboy we would like to introduce is DJ DeadDrop, a female DJ from South Wales. Simone is one of the Tomboys we were eager to work with from the very start. Not only an extremely talented DJ which we hope to eventually work with to run an event, but a clear tomboy who really feels the cause of Insolence is a worthy one.  

  Check Out her Facebook page and Soundcloud, you won't be sorry. 

https://soundcloud.com/djdeaddrop

https://www.facebook.com/pages/DJ-DeadDrop/126609680841047

Asking questions to these tomboys about Insolence helps us tailor the brand, feedback and knowing its importance to individuals is important to us. We are asking the tomboys we are collaborating with to answer a simple question.

"Why is it important for you to have a clothing line like insolence?"

"Having grown up being constantly reminded by parents, family and peers that what I chose to wear were 'boys clothes' or 'looked like boys clothes', without a doubt at times impacted my self-esteem and added to the isolation of being a tomboy. Having a clothing line like Insolence gives me hope that other girls and women who feel most comfortable in a baggy t.shirt for example, can now purchase items themselves or with parents etc and feel at ease doing so. From as far back as I remember I have worn boys trousers, shirts, tops, pants, hats...All whilst embracing that I am a woman. Insolence clothing is a recognition of understanding people like me and will spread that message far and wide. I am proud to be a woman, a DJ, a student, a support worker, a sister and a daughter...all whilst being a tomboy.' 'Insolence clothing represents acceptance, understanding, pride and recognises that tomboys are women too!"

Like we say over and over again, making connections and creating a network is what Insolence is all about. We will be keeping you all up to date with DJ DeadDrop events. Pop along to one, I know we will be. 

#beinsolent

Sam

[insolenceclothing]

KICKSTARTER IS LIVE!!!

Hey people. So this is the moment we have been waiting for. Our first ever big challenge as a fledgling clothing brand. We have 60 days to raise £2000! 

I am excited to see the response we get from you guys and can't wait to hear your feedback about the Kickstarter page.

The pledges available on the kickstarter are an A6 print, a black tee, a white tee and a double pack with one of each tee.

Check it out at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1640867187/insolence-clothing-launch

Let us know what you think. We would love to hear your feedback.

#beinsolent

Kerilee

[insolenceclothing]

I hope people find us as funny as we do

[insolenceclothing]

Promo & The Like.

Logically we should probably have stayed at our base in Belfast this weekend, and got everything tidied up.

Instead we headed off to wicklow to look into our business cards and other promo material. Getting more excited as the hours tick by, the countdown has really began. 

The video is now also finished. Looking amazing, combined with the photography and the content for the kickstarter. 

We also had a meeting with Helen from Hollaback Belfast, she done an interview with us which should be available soon. Really lovely girl, standing behind a really worthy cause. Check it out.

https://www.facebook.com/HollabackBelfast

Currently shooting the last bits and pieces of the Q&A video as well. If you have any last minute questions fire them through to [email protected] or message us on facebook.

Im back to burying myself in designs and web related goodness. Keep an eye out things are really starting to kick off.

#beinsolent

Sam 

[insolenceclothing]

[insolenceclothing]

But did you die though ..

Last weekend we headed off with Ciara and the girls to shoot the promo video. Heading towards the north coast of Northern Ireland for a day of work/adventure. 

It was amazing fun, not to mention a weight off our shoulders knowing the video was in the works considering the kickstarter campaign would be starting within a few weeks.

Ciara once again was the captain to our Insolence ship, putting her ideas and vision into action for the production of the video. We ended up with a lot of amazing footage, really cant wait to see how Ciara gets on with getting it all edited together. Kerilee also documented the entire day on her video camera, so a combination of it all together should make for something really exciting.

We eventually made it there, after a lot of confusion and several wrong turns. It was a great day, apart from Clara nearly falling off a cliff, and myself and Kerilee decided to fling ourselves off a massive sand dune ... we never said logic was a strong point.

The usual antics took place and after while of shooting footage we all decided it was time to unwind and stop for an ice cream. Needless to say we ended up ordering lots of Mexican food instead, and forming a plan to have an after shoot party. It escalated quickly, but sure all the best things do. 

With the video and the audio footage recorded we left the material in the capable hands of Ciara. It should be ready to nosey at within the week, we have had a few sneak previews already, and honestly we're getting really excited about it. Keep an eye out.  

Big thanks to Bekka for photoing the days antics as well. We do find it useful surrounding ourselves with talented friends, helps quite a bit.   

#beinsolent 

Sam