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.
On the cusp of releasing their debut album ‘Learning Greek’, Glasgow quintet Humour have turned heads for their striking aesthetic as much as they have their dynamic-yet-personal post-punk. It’s sprung from the brain of frontman Andreas Christodoulidis, who designs the band’s merch and shapes the visual side of their music, and he’s also designed some artwork that will be displayed as part of an exhibition at their forthcoming shows.
Stereoboard caught up with him and guitarist Jack Lyall to discuss their visual inspirations, the time they accidentally ordered shirts of such poor quality they couldn’t be sold and Andreas using Jack as a mannequin for his visuals…
What was the first item of merch you bought?
Andreas: “I think it might have been an early Ben Howard shirt from when he was really folksy. I think I went with Ross, the other guitarist from the band. We went to see him in Glasgow when we lived in Edinburgh and we must have been about 16.”
Jack: “I think I may have brought a Stereophonics T-shirt. They were my first gig, which is really funny.”
What was the most recent item of merch you acquired?
Andreas: “I got a Blink-182 shirt. I went with my girlfriend who had tickets to see them in Glasgow last year. It was the one with the big Grim Reaper on the front.”
Jack: “I went to see Billy No Mates and bought one of her T-shirts – it just says ‘cacti’ on the front. I hadn’t listened to the album that much but I just liked it.”
What was the most treasured item of merch you had growing up?
Andreas: “I had a Bon Iver shirt that I really loved, and then it just got lost when I moved house. It didn’t say anything on it — it was that album where the front cover was all these cool little patterns and icons, and it was just that. It cost me, like, £40 as well. I don’t know why.”
Jack: “I remember I had that really terrible poster of Foals in my bedroom. Growing up, they were my favourite band and I really wanted a poster. I found one on, like, Amazon, but it didn’t seem like it was made by them. It was a really bad picture of them. They all looked horrible against a white background. I just put it up, like, above my bed.”
Andreas: “They looked like they were watching you as you slept!”
Jack: “They looked hungover.”
How important are merch sales in keeping you afloat as a band?
Andreas: “I think, so far, we’ve not got it right in terms of making a profit from them, because we just ended up buying quite expensive T-shirts and then not selling them for enough. I think we're not very business savvy in that way. But I think we’re going to try and fix that for this tour.”
Jack: “Even then, when we’re on tour, sales of T-shirts allow us to pay for the petrol the next day, and sometimes accommodation. It’s so important. Even when we’re at home, as well, someone buys one from Bandcamp and it’s such an important little boost of money to keep us going. It’s so difficult. We found this company that made extremely good quality shirts, but they are quite expensive. Everyone who buys them always says to us, ‘These are the best quality band shirts that I’ve had.’ So now we feel reluctant to change it. The one time, we bought these shirts that were like see through dish cloths that we couldn’t sell because they were so bad.”
Andreas, you design the band’s merch. How did that become something you fell into?
Andreas: “It was because I was making the artwork for the album cover as well as the EP cover and single covers, and then, I think we always wanted the merch to be tied in with those visuals, just to keep it kind of consistent and recognisable. I wasn’t going to have any part in it, really, but we decided for our first EP that we really wanted to have a lyric booklet made. I spoke with our label So Young, and I put together a few pages and said, ‘Is there any way we could print something like this to sell alongside the EP?’ We still hadn’t really decided what the artwork was going to be and they suggested I design it as well.”
What informs your approach to designing merch?
Andreas: “I’m not very good at just making stuff up, so it has to come from other places. Same with lyrics, actually. Often it’s stills from films or just scrolling through Pinterest and seeing cool stuff, taking that and making a lot of drawings. I put them into Photoshop and manipulate them so it ends up being like a digital collage.”
Jack: “He sometimes uses me as a mannequin if he needs to create something and takes a photo of a person first. He’s made me do some very strange things.”
How strange are we talking?
Andreas: “We’re making a visualizer for every song on the album, which I’ve drawn. It’s like a hand-drawn animation. For one of the songs, Neighbours, which is about these evil creatures living in someone’s house, I made Jack be each of them. If you look at the visualiser on YouTube, you’ll see four skinny, naked, bald men.”
Jack: “He was like, ‘Don’t worry, I'll make it not look like you.’ It’s clearly my face.”
What’s been your favourite of your own merch designs?
Andreas: “We’ve done this T-shirt, which is a collaboration with So Young, and it’s a section of the EP artwork, which I made. It was a lino cut of a man’s face, and it zooms in in three parts. It gets closer and closer, and it’s quite a striking design, I think. People really like that T-shirt. We were only going to make a few as a limited run, but it ended up becoming a staple.”
You’re doing an exhibition of artworks at the London launch party for the record – how did that come together?
Andreas: “It was So Young’s suggestion. They’re very good at making us do stuff we should have thought of. I made an image for every song. One is the album artwork, a few of the others were for the singles, and then there’s one for each song on the album. They’ll be printed and they’ll be on display and for sale. Hopefully they sell.
Jack: “That side of our band has always been really important. I think it’s really nice to give each song its own visual space.”
Humour’s ‘Learning Greek’ is out on August 8 through So Young.
Humour Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Fri August 08 2025 - LIVERPOOL Jacaranda Club
Thu November 20 2025 - LEEDS Oporto
Sat November 22 2025 - MANCHESTER YES (The Basement)
Sun November 23 2025 - NOTTINGHAM Bodega Social Club
Tue November 25 2025 - BIRMINGHAM Dead Wax
Thu November 27 2025 - MILTON KEYNES Craufurd Arms
Fri November 28 2025 - LONDON Lexington
Sat November 29 2025 - BOURNEMOUTH Bear Cave
Sun November 30 2025 - EXETER Cavern Club
Tue December 02 2025 - CARDIFF Clwb Ifor Bach
Wed December 03 2025 - BRISTOL Exchange
Thu December 04 2025 - LIVERPOOL District
Fri December 05 2025 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Zerox
Sat December 06 2025 - GLASGOW King Tuts
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