I apologize in advance if this is allllllll over the place, there are so many cool things happening right now and I’m aware it’s been a while since I’ve published an article on here.
I hope y’all had a great summer. If you’ve been following along with The Cold Pizza Podcast, YouTube, or Instagram, you already know how much has been going on this summer. (If not, you should take a few minutes and check out those platforms, just search ‘Horsepower & Pizza’)
Summer 2019, a brief synopsis:
Oregon Gambler 500
The 435i got rear ended on a rare vacation day
Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix
Nakai San built RWB Pittsburgh for Pat Linn
I drew a penis with the 2020 Toyota Supra in the cul de sac by PRL Motorsports (video proof)
Moving towards Fall:
My friends and I will be making the trip to Ocean City, MD for H2Oi, or the unsanctioned shitshow that used to be H2Oi, rather. We’ll be at 41st Street (Oceanside). We’ll have Red Bull & stickers so be sure to come by and say hi and hang for a bit.
While we’re in Ocean City we will be doing the photo shoot and video for the Fall 2019 Horsepower & Pizza merch release which is my main focus of this post. I’m telling you now that the video is going to be a BANGER because it’s a style I’ve never filmed or edited before, and I’m going to have help with filming. I’ve also secured permission from one of my favorite recording artists to use his music in my productions, so it’ll be good to get back into videography a little bit and experiment with cinematography a bit.
I am absolutely in love with everything that’s being released this year. After great success with the maroon Pizza hoodies that I released over the winter, they ended up getting a 2nd run in blue and mint which was also a huge hit. I opted to not release anything for the spring or the summer because I had massive plans for the fall, and here we are. We even have a new logo!
I released the designs on Instagram Live a few weeks ago while eating a ghost pepper, which can now be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2Mzu0JNmJU
I wanted to do some new things this time around, and things that not every brand is doing. I only did one piece of apparel, which will be the Hot & Ready To Die design on crewneck sweatshirts, a first for HP&P. There are 3 new stickers coming out: low maintenance girls/high maintenance cars, lick the stamp & f*cking send it, and the prevent minivans condom has finally made it to sticker form, as well. The Cold Pizza Podcast stickers are already available on the site.
I decided I needed to add an accessory to the lineup but I’ve already done cozies, everyone does jet tags or lanyards, and I didn’t think pop sockets would sell.
It didn’t take me long to decide on Zippo lighters. As a huge supporter of American manufacturing, it seemed like the right choice- and I don’t even smoke. Shout out to my boy Zach Helmick at Metlfab, Inc for laser engraving them for me with the OG HP&P logo, I’m super stoked on them!
Everything will be available at www.horsepowerandpizza.com/shop on Friday, October 4th @ 9PM EST!
This time around was different, and different in a good way. This is the first time I’ve released the designs before release night. Most of the time I bounce ideas off of friends, get opinions & influence, and nothing gets publicly released until drop. I didn’t do any of that this time. Once I passed my design ideas off to Alex Lafferty, who turns my ideas into artwork (and does a killer job with it), I waited for his version of my dreams, told him if anything needed tweaked or tuned, and went to print. I do need to credit Shannon Barnes with the Hot & Ready To Die design, which she sketched on a piece of paper and gave to me late last winter, it’s a dope idea and needed to be made into apparel!
Running this whole drop without outside influence was almost weird, but also very peaceful. Often times people try to tell me I need to do this or that, or I shouldn’t do this, or I should do this more like (insert name here) does it.
Enter my favorite phrase: talk is cheap.
It’s easy for you to tell me what I should do when you’re not writing any of the checks. None of YOUR money is wrapped up in MY dreams, so if the release is a flop, it’s not your problem; you won’t have an empty account and an office packed with unsold merch, so what do you care?
It was important for me to do precisely what I wanted to with this, and the response thus far has been incredible. I can’t wait for drop night.
I wanted to add a motivational element into this, because I feel like I’ve been slacking with that, not only on the blog, but on the Podcast, too.
Focus on doing things that you’re proud of. It doesn’t matter if its building your car, writing a book, working out- whatever you’re into, do your best and make yourself proud first. You’ll attract others that will be proud of it, too. Life’s too short to be miserable. Break out of whatever cycle you’re stuck in and go make yourself happy again. You don’t need to settle for anything less than 100% what you want, so if you choose to, that’s on you.
“There’s a lot more to life than going to work, ain’t no money in the world to tell you what you’re worth, ain’t no item you can buy that’ll heal the hurt, but love’s free, so take time & invest in yourself, you’ll see.” –Kid Quill
I prefer the old logo, like my OG sticker, but that's just just me. I'd love to get one of the lighters. The engraving looks nice on them. I might have to get another OG sticker for my new to me ride (06 accord ex V6 coupe).