Happy Summer!? News for Hot Times

Indeed, yes, it is August. The Hot Time. Being, myself, a person of an autumnal-bordering-on-wintry disposition, I’ve been rather quiet through these Hot Times, as I have been quite busy hiding under a rock. With a parasol. 

I have also been — if it is not, as the kids say, TMI — having some rather life-altering health issues this summer. I'm ok(ish), and hope, by fall high season to be in fine fettle, but suffice to say I have been spending rather longer in medical establishments than one might like for one's summer holidays. More on that, obliquely, in a bit.

Nonetheless, I have decided that it is my duty to brave the elements and effects of various medications to pop onto the blug with some weather-related remarks. No! Not just that! In fact, weather-related-remarks be damned! I have actual news! 

News Item One: New Decor
There are new handmade items at Keep Salem Odd. Specifically, there is a new range of wooden coffin trinket boxes for your hiding-small-objects projects and an influx of elaborate and cornucopian one-of-a-kind handmade “art” journals (and some other, more straightforward journals, such as handy notebooks with black paper and a rubber-bound number with hand-dyed pages).

News Item Two: Music and Stories
There is now a sort of proto music section at Keep Salem Odd. Wait, wait, it’s probably not the kind of music section you you think it is. At least not yet. Though it will be someday.

Let me explain. Back in ye olde 1990s, I was in a band. It was called Rockets burst from the Streetlamps and we made music which was variously described as shoegaze, space rock, and/or loud. Long story short, we played shows, we made records, we drank to excess, and read far, far too much Anaïs Nin. You know, the things one does in one’s youth. There was much jollity. It was a time. It was the 1900s. 

Why on earth am I bringing this up now? A good question! I will make up an answer:

The answer, part one: back in The Day, we never got round to making proper “merch”. We were very concerned (ok, obsessed) with packaging and spent all our sad wee band dollars on doing things like making custom boxes to put CDs in with letterpressed typography and making a colored vinyl 45. (OK, we spent all our sad wee band dollars on alcohol and hardcovers of Anaïs Nin's unexpurgated journals, whatever.) We never even made t-shirts. And the only stickers we ever had were ones that I got for free because I was working at WGBH (the public television station) at the time as a graphic designer and they let me sneak on a little design in the corner of a press sheet of stickers. Which happened to be neon orange. Not our aesthetic. But it was kind of humorous in a beggars-can’t-be-choosers-and-how-funny-is-it-to-be-begging-from-a-PBS-station kind of way. And in that way that us GenX people sometimes think things that are bright and ugly are very funny because of sense of irony is overdeveloped and incomprehensible to those of other generations.

In the 90s, it was hard and expensive to make merch. I could regale you with a 10,000 word essay as to why and about the beauty of friends working the overnight shift at Kinko's. But it’s your lucky day and I will not. Suffice to say that then, we were always a little sad that we couldn’t make cool stuff for our (absolute legion!) of fans beyond the records. But now, in our new century, technology (thank you print-on-demand and internet disintermediation!) has progressed so as to allow me to do so. 

Yes, it is 20-years belated, but Rockets burst from the Streetlamps now have t-shirts! And stickers. And a trucker hat?! There’s a bunch of artwork, some taken from our old records and such, some reworked and some new drawings/paintings. 

Now, I know, that you, faithful reader of the Keep Salem Odd newsletter, are more than likely unfamiliar with Rockets burst from the Streetlamps and very well may not give a monkey’s monocle about the entire matter. And that is quite alright. But I did feel duty-bound to let you know that we now have merch.

Relatedly, if you *do* happen to give half a monkey’s monocle, you can listen to our records on Spotify and or purchase hard copies from our label. 

And, as I mentioned before, I do hope to expand this alleged Music section of the site to include greater diversity and relevance in future. Long live indie rock. Huzzah. 

Oh, and you want to hear something funny? Our band was also known for having a wordy newsletter that often diverged on extraneous tangents. You’ll never guess who was in charge of that. 


Why this old nostalgic band merch now, part two: As part of the aforementioned health issues, I've had to radically cut back on my paying work. In fact, for the foreseeable future, my only income is from Keep Salem Odd and a few tiny design and consulting jobs when I have the wherewithal and opportunity. Luckily, and this is somewhat of a miracle, thank you Mr Obama!, I do have health insurance. But I am otherwise somewhat unable to bring in any of the neccessary-to-live-in-our-society dollars at the moment and this is making times pretty tough. So I thought it would be a good moment to reach out to my friends and family and our band's old fans and get them to buy some t-shirts, or something else they’d actually enjoy, from Keep Salem Odd.

Purchases from the store would be most appreciated and helpful towards my costs-of-living. So that’s the deal and, consequently, if you do see something you like for yourself or a loved one, now would be an excellent time to make a purchase. But no obligation! 

OH AND BREAKING NEWS: My ridiculously nice sister just surprised me by setting up a GoFundMe for me... something I would have not asked for (but oh, can I use!!!!). If you have any interest in that (and you needn't!) it's at: https://gofund.me/a79d412f

 

News Item Three: In-person Keep Salem Odd

Keep Salem Odd IRL-season is soon upon us! As of this writing, I plan to be haunting Haunted Happenings in Derby Square, Salem this October. But even sooner, I will have the honor of vending at the Moon Over Salem Music and Community Fest on September 14, 2024. Now, here’s some relevant music news for you! This festival is right in downtown Salem and features 30 bands, vendors curated by The Salem Flea, and a venerable philanthropic mission — namely raising funds to train the next generation to book and run rock shows and allow musicians to afford to play local venues. Long live indie rock. Huzzah. Again.

Item Three Point One: Museum!
Also! Products from Keep Salem Odd are currently being featured at The Ghost Box, the Peabody Essex Museum’s cool pop-up shop at 135 Essex Street, for their upcoming exhibition “Conjuring the Spirit World: Art, Magic, and Mediums”.  Definitely check out the shop and the show when it opens in September. It’s going to be so fabulous. Yay PEM!

Item Three Point Two: Indie Biz FTW!
Also, please visit the fabulous Die With Your Boots On if you’re interested in checking out some Keep Salem Odd shirts in person along with their fine selection of goth wares (and please follow their social media because they are constantly doing amazing events and supporting good causes and generally being the kind of awesome indie biz one adores).

Item Three Point Three: Indie Biz FTW Part Two!
Finally, for now, take a gander at the new website Witch By Weekend. Yet another neat-o Salem business. It’s the place to get curated Salem goodies from all sorts of independent creators shipped to your door. And coming soon, custom Salem experiences that sound like they’re going to be categorically blissful. 

xoxo,
Annie