Terrible Merch was founded by Tersha Willis and Jack McGruer and they provide unparalleled design, production and merchandising services and tools for artists to help them make more money from merchandise. Terrible Merch only work with projects that they truly believe in, carefully curating a roster of the best new artists and brands, including Marika Hackman, Girl Ray and Chastity Belt. They recently launched a campaign to let people invest in them. BrewDog style. And we all know what happened to BrewDog, maybe you should drop them a tenner. We chatted to Tersha to see what’s up.
Hi hi! How’s it going?
Hi hi hi! Pretty good, in the usual mid-week morning state of recovery for anyone who works in music… (The recovery I am talking about is the one where we work 16 hour days across time zones from London to LA. Music isn’t as rock n’ roll as you’d like to imagine).
So why’s your merch so terrible? Who came up with that name?
It’s nice to lower expectations so we never disappoint. We’re thinking of also opening a by-the-slice pizza place called ‘Terrible Pizza’ once we have saved music. We actually had a streetwear brand called Terrible Movement before our friends-in-good-bands started asking us to make merch for them, so it was pretty much a natural evolution from where we started.
What’s your favourite piece of merch you’ve 1) made 2) come across?
1.That’s a tough one, I think the favourites have to be the ones we really love and wear: Marika Hackman’s Egg Tees, Puppy’s Logo patches, Kagoule’s Black on Black Embroidered Sweatshirts and Chad VanGaalen’s Lapel Pins.
2. In close joint second place for us: DIIV and THE STROKES! Although, neither of their merch products last very long because of the poor quality… Come see us about Merch, DIIV and Julian! In joint first place: ODD FUTURE and Daft Punk – don’t think anyone can argue with that. Those two are the holy grail of well-considered, well-made and relevant merch.
Why have you decided to let people invest in you?
Our stockroom is now so full that it has a one in/one out policy when we’re working on orders and we don’t want to take money away from our Roster Artists who we invest in merch for. Also, we’re building a neat little app that will change the way small to mid-sized artists tour and sell merch on tour – solving musicians rent-paying problems, essentially.
How can people invest in you?
You can email us, we always write back or visit us online here to find out how: https://terriblemerch.com/investor-relations. You also need £10 to invest in us and we have to like you as much you like us.
Does everyone get a free t-shirt?
If you invest in us, or if we screw up your order, you do.
Interview: Josh Jones
Photo: Tom Medwell
