If you love music, your wardrobe is likely stuffed full of band shirts. You might have a bunch of hoodies or a cap or two as well, or maybe something even more eclectic than that. It’s a conversation starter with fellow fans, a way of announcing that you belong to a certain scene, and a way of shouting about bands you love. On top of that, it’s also a vital way of putting money in artists’ pockets at a time where making enough money is harder than ever. Put simply, it’s the lifeblood of music.
Fresh from the release of their second album ‘Bad Star’, Cardiff rock quartet Himalayas are gearing up for a victory lap of the biggest venues they’ve played to date at the end of the month. They’re bringing with them a truckload of fresh merch for their sparkling new era, with a revamped look supporting what they describe as a commitment to building a sense of community among their fans.
Stereoboard caught up with vocalist and guitarist Joe Williams about his own relationship to merch, his love of Queens Of The Stone Age, and why he practices what he preaches about supporting bands through buying a shirt…
What was the first item of merch you bought?
“I don’t love the artist as much as I did, but I went to see a Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds show when I was a bit younger and I bought a T-shirt there. I remember wearing it on a non-school uniform day or something like that, and I felt pretty cool at the time.”
What was your most treasured item of merch growing up?
“My favourite piece of merch will always be my Queens Of The Stone Age top. I found them quite late on — my music taste has changed quite a bit since I was young, when I was more into indie music. However, now I’m more of a rock fan and my Queens Of The Stone Age top is a very treasured piece to me. I saw them at Wembley in the run-up to [2017 album] ‘Villains’. I think they're the best band around, for multiple reasons, but I think all of them are incredible musicians.”
What was the most recent item of merch you acquired?
“It was from Bones UK. Two of the band saw them at South by Southwest the first year we went, which was in 2018. I couldn’t go because I was 19, so I couldn't get into certain venues at the time. They came back raving about Bones UK. I hadn't heard of them at the time and then I remember listening to them, and there’s a cover of a Bowie song, I’m Afraid of Americans. I remember listening to that and being like, ‘This is amazing.’ I was listening to them again and I was like, ‘Oh, well, I'm just gonna go and look at the merch.’ I always try to do that, because it’s so important for a band to make some form of income. It’s super important to support other artists in any way you can.”
That said, how vital are merch sales to being able to make the band your livelihood?
“Even for us with label backing, it's really important. I don't think people realise the cost of things as a band. I think merch plays a huge, huge part in being able to go to different areas. We’ve been lucky enough to go to America twice as a band and merch always plays a huge part in that. I think my favourite bit about merch is always the merch desk and after every show, we try to go there. I think it’s because you get to meet your fans and I think that’s such a crucial thing for me. You get to see who’s listening to your music.”
What informs Himalayas’ approach to merch?
“Our drummer’s partner designs all of our merch. We try to keep our merch within Wales just to support local designers and printers. Most of the time, with designs, they’re song driven or album driven. We’ve recently changed logos, and we’ve recently changed the way we have branding. We’ve come up with this AAA club with the band — we wanted to make people feel part of the band and wanted to make it more community-based. We have a band Discord, which is always amazing, to be able to have that connection with fans and to be able to talk to them the whole time.”
You’re out on tour at the end of the month – what can we expect from your shows this time around?
“This is the largest tour we’ve ever done and we’ve put more effort into the actual show in terms of production. We want to have people feeling like they’ve come to a show and they’ve paid valuable money, and they leave thinking, ‘I'll go to see that show again.’ Feeling like you’ve got your money’s worth for the show is something that’s super important to us. We always try to be on top form, but I think this time they’re going to be the best shows we’ve ever done.”
What merch designs are you bringing with you?
“It’s going to be all new merch. We’re trying to make things that are different and we want to figure out how we make that sustainable, how we don’t do something too fast fashion with it. I think that’s super important to all of us. I think we’re looking at screen printing stuff while we’re there at the shows, so potentially there’ll be individual bits for each city. When it’s specialised for you, where you’re from, I think that makes a difference.”
Himalayas Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Wed May 28 2025 - LEEDS Key Club
Thu May 29 2025 - GLASGOW King Tuts
Fri May 30 2025 - MANCHESTER Bread Shed
Wed June 04 2025 - BRIGHTON Patterns
Thu June 05 2025 - LONDON Garage
Fri June 06 2025 - CARDIFF Tramshed
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