seven stitches

We are super excited to announce that our first song is now available for your listening pleasure as part of a benefit compilation called More Than Nine Lives. All proceeds support PAWS no-kill animal shelter right here in Philadelphia. My handsome ginger cat Fredastaire was both the inspiration for the lyrics to our track, Seven Stitches, and the cover model for the comp. We were so honored to be asked to participate, proud to help support such a great nonprofit, and psyched to have our first song professionally mastered!
The compilation is $15, was printed in a limited edition of 500, and was designed by our good friend tFk! Limited edition art prints (including the glamorshot of Fredastaire) were also donated by a range of talented artists, and can be purchased alongside of the album for an additional $10. Click here to see the art and purchase the compilation. Thanks!

the mysteries of our streets

Something we take for granted as city kids is that there will always be something new and curious imbedded in our landscape. Sometimes it's temporary, like the giant YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL strapped to a fence off 2nd and Spring Garden Street that slowly lost its letters. 

Some are semi-permanent, like the little pink army men that crawled across the city one summer. They were glued in place, but it appears as though someone pried them loose and took them home. 

Even the more well-affixed symbols have grown legs and walked off- I've heard that if you can peel up one of the pavement robots, known as stikman soon after it's laid down it's a seller's market.

These opposing drives- to create and disseminate street art, and to collect it with photographs or by pocketing it- makes for an ever-changing landscape of urban art.

Have you ever seen these curious plaques in crosswalks all around the city? I thought they were exclusively a Philadelphia phenomenon, but apparently they have popped up in many other cities since 1980 when the first was photographed in Philly. Some may have been placed there by copycats, but most carry the same cryptic message. There's a new documentary called Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles that explores their history and tries to get to their roots. It looks like quite a nail-biter! Check it out here.

sonic fabric

Our friend Lisa pointed us to this textile project that incorporates fabric and sound. Cassette tapes are woven into yardage which can then be played using a tape-head (you can make your own player by modifying a walkman). The fabric has a smooth shimmery appearance and the sound it generates is a like that of a talkative warbler, heavily punctuated yet cheerful. The fabric is woven in New England and made into handbags, bowties and neckties. The sounds chosen coordinate with the object's purpose, for instance, the necktie contains tape of a collage of music and sounds from New York City. To find out more about this project, check out sonicfabric.com.

So many thanks!

A huge thank you to everyone who pledged to our Kickstarter campaign... which has come to a quiet end! We are so grateful to all of you, and for the press that began to trickle in at the end! Check out our shout out on Wired and the great interview from Kate Bracaglia on AV Club!

We are putting together an Etsy shop for an alternative way of funding the project, and we'll soon be posting the same items that we offered as rewards through Kickstarter. So don't fret! You can still get your Seamripper tote or customized pin with your official Seamripper name on it!

The great response we've gotten from everyone we've spoken to about our ideas has meant so much- we're more excited than ever to explore the sounds of our studio and share them with all of you!

Thanks again!
Rose & Jade

guerillas in the midst...

of a Kickstarter campaign! We are one week into a four week long campaign to raise some capital for the Summer of Seamripper, and we're 14% of the way there! That's nothing to shake a seamripper at (don't try that at home) but we'll need to up our game to reach our goal. Remember, with Kickstarter, funding is all or nothing! 

Front and back of one card design, with sticker attached!

This weekend we kicked off our guerilla marketing with some hand-cut and screen-printed recycled-fabric-scrap stickers sewn to logo cards with a link to our Kickstarter site. We even made a QR code for it- it is the future, after all ;) We've been busy this week spreading the word about Seamripper, attaching logo pins to unsuspecting friends and spreading stickers across the city.

front side of 3/4 of our logo cards

Can you think of a gallery or shop that would be a great match with our mission and would like to display our cards? Let us know!

XsewXsew!

Rose

guerilla marketing, now with kittens!

Today I printed some Seamripper logos on fabric with my Gocco. What a little work horse! I highly recommend it for anyone who likes making tiny art in small batches... if you can get your hands on one. They are an endangered species these days! I've had mine for ages and it still works like a dream. It's such a simple little all-in-one screenprinter, there aren't many moving parts and it's so low-tech, it would honestly be hard to break it without great effort ;)

I cut out the fabric and Moonunit helped me to enjoy the scraps in the sunshine. She was chasing light reflecting off of my fabric shears and generally being a very playful 10-year-old kitten. She watched intently as I cranked them through my Xyron to make them into stickers. We'll cut them out and add some info, then spread them across the city to spread the word. Let me know if you'd like one before they're all gone!

Kickstarted!

The Summer of Seamripper just needs a little Kickstart!

Click on our logo above to check out our Kickstarter Project!

my first machine...

It was a Strawberry Shortcake sewing machine. My granny had taught me to hand-sew and let me hand-crank her vintage in-table machine with the power off, but this was my first machine with electricity. Of course I was ecstatic. I couldn't even wait to set up a table for it, to find a level surface for the foot pedal, to think up a project, I wanted to sew on it NOW! I remember deciding I would feed the fabric through while a friend pressed the foot pedal with her hand... and then I sewed through my fingertip! Ms. Shortcake was whisked away, but I got right back to supervised sewing and have never looked back.

the magic of editing

There are several reasons why Seamripper is a studio band.

• We work in a studio all day, so it's only fitting!
• We use our instruments/machines professionally in very different ways.
• Due to the highly experimental nature of our project, a live show wouldn't be all that riveting. 
• Many of our instruments weigh more than we do.
• The magic of editing will smooth out all the creases!

If you have concerns about our ability to put something unstoppable together with just studio sounds- never fear! This gentleman is evidence that with enough patience and the right tools, it can be done...

We're proud to present our brand new logo!

One of the rewards we'll offer to those who support us on Kickstarter is a logo pin emblazoned with your official Seamripper name. Just tell us your favorite color and leave the magic up to us...

Also hot off the presses, an all-purpose logo with Gingher-inspired type. tough + crafty.

promo video and photoshoot

Today we filmed the segments for our Kickstarter video. In the process, it became clear that Jade is a natural in front of the camera, and that I have a toothier grin than I ever could have imagined, which absolutely refused to be tamed by lipstick! We filmed some clips of our "instruments" in action, and laid out our best elevator pitch for the Summer of Seamripper.

We also took quite a few band photos... a word to the wise, it's easy to get carried away when attempting to look tough while holding a deadly seamripper!! And here's a teaser:

Untitled from seamripper on Vimeo.

kickstart our hearts

Kid tested... Kickstarter approved!
We're very excited to announce that our proposal was approved by Kickstarter and we'll soon be fundraising for Seamripper's first album! Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects, and with a quickly developing project and a dearth of recording equipment, it's the perfect place for us to start. In return for supporting Seamripper at any level, we will offer a wealth of enticing hand-made rewards. And we'll need your help to spread the word!

This week we're putting together a video articulating our vision (and deciding what to wear...) and we'll post it as soon as it's complete. Check back soon for updates on our first big step towards the Summer of Seamripper!

sound capture

As a studio band, most of the magic that is Seamripper will be due in large part to the quality of our recording. We need to be able to pick up the sweet "tink" of a pin drop in all of its splendor! So choosing the appropriate recording device is high on our to-do list. Though the performance end will be decidedly low-tech, we think our project will be best served by a crisp clean recording. So do we get a pocket-sized multi-tasker that we can take with us anywhere, or a stand-alone microphone?

Here's a few of the devices that we've got our eyes on. 

microphones:

recording devices:

  

collecting ourselves

a breathtaking wall of sewing machines in Brighton

Heaven is a never-ending wall of vintage machines! I sit in a home with no less than six sewing machines, new and ancient, fully functional and door-stops... and yet I covet the gorgeous streamlined figures in that window! Image shamelessly culled from flickr (insert photo credit here).

rainbow button magic

Right now we're hoarding ideas with as much zeal as most crafters collect... well, everything really! We've entered the list-making stage of our project, and the lists are spawning lists of their own- potential lyrics and instruments intermingling on one overwrought page- there isn't enough paper to contain the stream of our consciousness. After another week of this rambling, we'll adjust the fine focus and get down to work! Stay tuned for more updates from our cold hands to your warm hearts.
xxx,
Rose

highly-wired act

This project is the polar opposite of seamripper as far as technology goes, but we share a similar goal: using a sewing tool which comes more naturally to us than traditional instruments to interact with sound. The talented ladies at Felted Signal Processing wired up the needle of a sewing machine and used it to play a conductive piece of fabric. See the video, and explore their ingenious projects.

The Sewing Machine

Intense and sassy song from the 1947 musical The Perils of Pauline delivered by Betty Hutton!

hello, we are seamripper.

we are makers of noise
It's lovely to make your acquaintance!

Seamripper is a project designed to celebrate the cacophony of the sewing studio, to dissect, organize, and to bring it into sharper focus. The discordant fog of sound that surrounds us each day at work has a comforting familiarity. We have spent enough hours in the studio to be considered masters of our art, but just how much control do we have over the aural experience? Many of the individual noises are pleasing, like the tink of pins on a magnet wand or the unzipping of large plastic zipper teeth. Some are quite harsh- the deafening whir of the air compressor and the clang of a dropped sewing platform. The daintiest noises are some of the sweetest, like the swish and click of a pair of Gingher shears. 

We are spinning ideas and songwriting as we work, in preparation for the Summer of Seamripper. 

Please check in often and join us as we explore true industrial music.