GOLDSWEAT
Events
Brand Strategy
Identity
Marketing & Promotion
Print and Collateral
Ragers
Back from Japan, I couldn’t stomach the San Francisco night life. By 2007, Jungle was still the prevailing party music. I craved Tokyo’s worship of new sounds — hours spent in record shops discovering labels, and entire genres. I just wanted to bring it all home. I found a like-minded partner, came up with a great name, and went knocking on venue doors.
What followed was a party and a label over 15 years in the making, and some of the most memorable times of our lives; not just new music and images, but a micro-culture that stretched from SF to Atlanta, Baltimore, Minneapolis, and beyond.
GOLDSWEAT #001 / 2007
NAIVELY NEW
It’s nearly impossible to get a new party going in San Francisco. The city is too self-conscious to be fun, too transitory for anything new to stick. We had to shoehorn our way onto the scene with a strong brand: a sick name, and print collateral unlike anything else. We didn’t have the benefit of social media. It was a word-of-mouth endeavor in a scene full of haters.
Parties that are successful get preyed on by club owners [Madrone] and promoters. Breaking even is tough, making money...basically unheard of. That was what we were up against. But not knowing ANY of that is what made us successful.
GS15
Luckily, we didn’t know, and just didn’t care how difficult the business was. We were busy printing posters, booking bedroom DJs, and navigating the small club scene. Two years in, GOLDSWEAT was a staple event. Our flyers were award winning, and our nights were legendary.
We got a residency at the now defunct Triple Crown, got a super shady promoter, and started popping up in otter cities. By 2009 we were talking about launching a label, and pressing records. But 15 years later, we exist in memory only. The question is: how strong is that memory? What would it look like if we had kept going?
GOLDSWEAT / $5.00 SINCE 2007
GS15 × BRLSQOTHEQUE: “THE PARTYIST”
GS-2.0: BLASTY—BLAST
Can GOLDSWEAT exist in the 20’s? I can’t think of a better time to bring the party back, but is the event itself what’s important, or is it the brand — a residual feeling?
If there were to be a second life for GOLDSWEAT, it should start with tangibles: posters, tees, and merch for the idea of a party. This is more feasible than asking people to come and party again. Burlesque North America springs to mind as the definitive print partner. If these releases were well received, we talk about a new event. I like the name Blasty Blast: its ridiculous, and practical, driving home the idea that if we’re not having fun, we’re failing.
NOTES ON FAILURE
Fools Gold, once a rival label, celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2023, along with a special LP release. It stung a bit becasue that could have been GOLDSWEAT. Here’s the thing: its 100% my fault. The more success GS found, the further it got away from me, and why I felt I started it. Rather than recognize the natural changes that come with growth, I grasped for control, and that grasping turned into a stranglehold.
This failure was a defining experience — something that’s helped me tackle massive projects, and straddle complex roles. I believe in the power of a singular vision, and adhering to brand values as they are originally laid out. But I understand the difference between leadership, and control: one invites growth, the other stifles it. But its a daily feat to parse the ideas that can push a brand forward from the ones that can break it.
Ultimately, I have an agreement with myself — never to be a failure-point. Sometimes that means dying on some hill. More often, it means backing off a bit. After all:
“One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important”.
