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T-Shirts play a vital role in the eyes (and on the body) of the average underground music fan. In an increasingly digital world, they are tangible, just as a concert is a tangible physical experience in a shared space. For musicians trying to make ends meet in a world where recorded music garners little to no financial pay-off, t-shirts and other merchandise are a vital source of revenue. For many fans, purchasing these ‘tees’ is both a gesture of support and an important part of their identity. The right t-shirt worn in the right place will act as a beacon to the like-minded, drawing them in like moths to a flame ... if moths liked to talk about riffs anyway.
For the past 25 - 30 years, Remfry Dedman (The Independent, Metal Hammer) and Simon Clarke (Heavy Blog is Heavy, The Monolith) have between them watched thousands of bands at hundreds of venues around the world. We've been to a lot of shows, and at a great many of them, we spent a little bit of money at the merch desk. The result is an embarrassingly large and unruly collection of shirts, hoodies, beanies, tote bags and more.
Alongside these two pillars of Economy and Identity, each t-shirt in our substantial collection carries with it something more personal - a memory. The overwhelming majority of the shirts in our collection have been bought at live shows and festivals. The band selling the shirt may have been the headliners or a support act. They may have been familiar favourites, or a brand new discovery at that very show. It may have been the first - or the last - show played with a particular member or the first time certain songs were heard.
Our aim with Calculating Infinite Tees is to explore and celebrate the phenomenon of being a fan, follower and participant in the world of underground music, principally through unlocking the specific memories lurking in the t-shirt collection of our guests. This provides the opportunity to talk about bands at particular stages in their careers, venues, support acts, or anything else which a specific shirt may trigger.
After spending around ten years writing reviews, we wanted to find a way to talk/write about music without it being music criticism. What we want to do is something closer to oral histories, celebrating the condition of being a passionate music fan, the places it can take you and the things you can witness or be a part of through it.
