BLOG

Spendtime Palace is the quintessential Southern Californian beach band who, may we say, are absolutely nailing it. With Thrills' very own Jacob Pumphrey (also known as Miniskirt drummer) being long-time friends with the guys, we managed to steal a slice of what little free time that they had on their most recent tour to hang out for an afternoon and get a quick interview for you - the boys talk to us about wrangling celebrity film clip directors, touring breakdowns and their take on Australian music. All in their favourite pieces of our new collection.

Alrighty, folks. Here is part two of Pist Idiots' Thrills Radio, ready to be blasted.  The boys from the Pisties have quickly become a part of the family here at Thrills. If you've seen them live, you'll know what we mean when we say they're a band you'll never forget. With grit and guts that make them stand out from the crowd, it’s no surprise that they have gained so much attention the past few years.

LA-based model and all-around legend, Rachael Lange has quickly become a dream girl of ours. We met up with Rach at a home in the hills and let her do her thing in her favourites from our new arrivals.

Metallica and Slipknot are touring the world and TOOL just dropped a new album – Welcome to 2000 and f*^kin 1, people. From film to music to little plastic discs, we revisited the glory years to cover all things un-important from the soon to be recognised real era of cringe. So from Rage Against the Machine to jeans with the fluoro seams, I'm looking back on what's worth rehashing for the meme generation and what we should probably bury in the flip-phone graveyard.

It's that time again. We're so excited to bring you our latest Thrills Radio - curated by the one and only Pist Idiots. The boys from the Pisties have quickly become a part of the family here at Thrills. If you've seen them live, you'll know what we mean when we say they're a band you'll never forget. With grit and guts that make them stand out from the crowd, it’s no surprise that they have gained so much attention the past few years.  They’ve just dropped their first physical release a combination of all 3 of their EP’s with a bunch of new tracks and an Aus wide tour to match it so we thought we’d ask the boys to put together a playlist to get everyone excited.  When they first sent it through, it went for about 50 hours so we cut it down and then still had to split it into two. Stay tuned for part two dropping next week. Listen to Thrills Radio 9.0 now.

So, we're deep in Spring, everyone's favourite season that wings already-way-too-high daytime temperatures with the same ease as icy arvo winds a coupla hours later, reminding you that summer is just not there yet. And we hear you. Trans-seasonal styling is not the easiest of tasks and can be a slight struggle during early morning hours. It's time to bring into play the solution to all your layering dramas: the overall.

If you aren't familiar with the name "Jason Lee Parry", I'm afraid you've been living under a rock. Not just a long-time friend of Thrills, but a creative genius; Jason continues to blow our minds with the photography work he creates around the world. We're excited to announce that this is the first of our ongoing collaboration.

Whales migrate. Ducks and all sorts of birds migrate. Everyone knows that. What people might not know is that the animals that make up the Australian music industry also migrate. Once a year, early every October, they assemble en mass in Brisbane for the annual Big Sound Music Conference. The migration isn’t due to climate or breeding, although both become factors. The primary reason is to view artists with folder arms, execute a reverse crowd formation (where the room is busiest at the back and spacious at the front), send nods to each other and select the next crop of Australian musicians that’ll saturate Triple J and the youth of Australia’s taste.

  Introducing our latest collection, 'After Dark' featuring our muse, Sloan Peterson and her band, Leroy, Jesse and Clayton. Born Joannah Jackson, Sloan is a love child of 50s guitar pop and modern garage rock, and our favourite Lana Del Ray doppelgänger. With a deep love for music here at Thrills, it seemed only too perfect to capture our collection in a situation we're all too familiar with; on stage. SHOP AFTER DARK NOW.     SHOP AFTER DARK NOW.  

Spring is well and truly in full swing and we figured it’s probably time to let you know which shows we’ll be trying to get to this September. For those that missed King Street Crawl last weekend, click here for all the jealousy and “you blew its” you’ll ever need. Spring is usually the start of all things music in Australia as the weather begins to warm up and everybody crawls out of the winter hibernation that is Netflix, chocolate and foods covered in gravy. Luckily for all of us the hardworking folk in the music industry didn’t achieve nothing all winter and are here to help shake you out of your slumber, this Spring won’t disappoint I promise with some the country’s heaviest hitters touring new records through-out some of our favourite venues.

When we landed in Sydney on Saturday afternoon the weather was terrible, cold, windy, sad and grey. Waking up Sunday morning, King Street was a completely different scene. Newtown was dressed in its Sunday best as we walked through those pain in the ass small streets - that I will never for the life of me understand why you would ever own a car if you lived on - and everything was looking pretty quiet.

"That's what makes a good relationship... No routine, scared shitless out of your mind for the future. It changes every day but it's also the best time I've ever had in my life".

The Mystery Box Rally is an annual event dedicated to raising much-needed funds to support cancer research. Teams are to drive their own 25+-year-old cars along a mystery route in a unique 5-day challenge - The route is a loop starting and finishing at the same location, but all the other details are kept under wraps, only given to the teams each morning. This year, we decided to team up with our friends at Rockinghorse Studios to sponsor their particularly shit car and support their journey around Australia. Departing from our home town, Byron Bay, the team sped (or jumped) off on their expedition. We sat down with driver, Taryn McGregor to chat all things about the rally and give us a front seat view of her experience.  Firstly, for those who don't know, would you mind telling a little bit about the rally and how it came about? James, the director of Box rallies, created the Mystery Box Rally to raise funds for Cancer Council a decade ago after losing both of his parents to cancer. I believe they started out with the Shit Box Rally, added in its baby brother, the Mystery Box Rally, and over time have developed into two Shit Box rallies and one Mystery Box rally each year. This year, around June, they hit the $20,000,000 mark as funds raised between all the rallies over the last 10 years. This year was the first Mystery Box Rally to crack $1 million raised in a single Mystery Box Rally, the previous record was approx. $840,000. Was this your first year? How did you get involved? We heard about the box rallies when they left from Brisbane last year in May, thinking it would be a great way to get involved, raise funds for science and research while having a great adventure and seeing parts of Australia that we may never get around to seeing. This was our first rally and we raised nearly $6000 in all, and we have been accepted into the Autumn Shit box rally next year where we will need to raise at least $5,000 to join. However, we will also need a shitter car with the rules stating cars can have to be a max of $1000 market value and two-wheel drive. Best highlight of the rally? Best highlight... it's hard to say. You meet great people from all walks of life, the daily adventure of not knowing where we will be going next and it was great fun driving around in a 1985 Corona which brings back so many memories of being kids as well as first cars. Of course where we went was amazing, so many people forget we have such diverse and interesting country, even though it's dusty out in the outback the people from each town who supported us all driving through were just amazing and wonderful people. Assuming the car made it to the end, what happens to it now? Have you formed a bond? Yes, our car made it with flying colours, she just skips and jumps over the rough roads, not even a flat tyre. she is too good for the shit box rally next year, so will likely be left to pasture until our teenager starts learning to drive in a year or two, I think teaching kids to drive as we learnt back when cars had manual windows and no power steering gives you an appreciation and understanding of the road and how fast you are really going, a perfect thing for new drivers to learn. But to be honest I may just keep her for a fun car to drive around in, or perhaps another Mystery Box Rally. There you have it, folks. Want to know more about the event or donate? Head to the Mystery Box Rally website here.

We love all dads, but special shout-out goes to our Thrills dads. With Father's Day fast approaching, we thought we'd introduce you to them and give you an insight into what they get up to on the daily. Plus, we caught up with them to ask them about dad-life and finding a work-life balance amidst chaos. Ps - We love dads and don't want them to miss out, so now's the time to boost your street cred by finding dad the perfect gift and getting a free beanie with your order, too. We'll leave it up to you to decide whether to sneak it for yourself or gift it to dad. Find out more here. Name: Brooke McGregor I'm the Co-Founder and Brand Director at Thrills. My father was in the rag trade when I was a child, I would spend time at his office from an early age. I idolized my late father so it was my only option to follow in his footsteps.  I have the most amazing family. I married a white witch named Tabitha and we have two wild, beautiful, hilarious boys named Ace (10) and Bowie (8). Tabitha and I have been together for 15 years and have gone through almost everything.. Births, deaths, starting a brand/owning our own business, moving across the world, renovating... We are a crazy family but we make it work. Balance? As anyone that knows or works with me knows that I never switch off... I’m always thinking of wild things we could be doing. Luckily Tabitha is the same and we balance it together. Tabitha is a cofounder of Thrills as well and designs and creatively directs the women's side of the business so we operate as a team in everything we do. We have incredible friends around us who support us and we include our kids in our creative/work-life….which has clearly worn off on them as they are launching their own brand with a few of their mates. Even our boys aged 8 and 10 have launched a brand with the kids on our street. Our youngest, Bowie, launched a skate brand called ‘Skate Fire’ last year at aged 8 and placed our eldest boy, Ace, as Acting CEO because he’s good with money! They are both creative in their own way. I don’t care what they do as long as they are happy. Name: Mike Fishwick I help coordinate the design and production departments and randomly design and build the new retail stores - oh and mentor/oversee the sizing and fitting. I started screen printing at the markets in 1984, got rejected from art school for being 17 so did some shitty jobs till I had my own shops in Surry Hills and Paddington through the 90’s - got a real job at Mambo as a designer into the new millennium, got fired for standing up to idiots then worked for a bunch of surf and street brands for decades until finally Thrills! I’ve been married to Megs for 15 amazing years already and we have three beautiful daughters - Ivy (10) Violet (8) and Maple (3). We are a really close little family - we have always all slept in the same room - only now have we built a little house with plenty of rooms but we still all share! We are really close and I’m helplessly in love with all four of them! I have no idea how I hold it together with the family. I think there’s a dad hormone that kicks in and allows you to deal with 10 times as much shit as before! The trick to parenting is to remember that all rules are out and you can make new ones to suit yourselves. Eating well and sleeping well is the key to managing work and family life and handling mayhem with energy and a smile! Name: Steve Fontes I'm the Men's Designer at Thrills. Been in the industry for over 25 years working for different clothing brands from California where I’m from. I have a beautiful combined family of 4 with my future wife to be, Natalie. We have 3 daughters and 1 son. Chance 12, Kaiya 12, Chloe 10 and Mila 7. Our time with them rotates, from having all of them, to just 2 of them at a time. It's beautiful to see them all together to learn, grow and most of all have fun as a family. I’d say that one of them will follow in my footsteps for sure. They’re always asking about work that I bring home and love coming to the office. It’s a juggle for sure, but my partner Natalie and I have the best partnership and make it all flow as smooth as we can. Sleep is KEY. Name: Josh Kwanten Role: Operations Dude. I started working for Burton and Nixon about 15 years ago in the Sydney warehouse and moved into Product Warranty Manager. I still feel pretty fresh to the Dad scene, been one now for just over two years to my boy Hux. He's smarter than me already. We have another grommet due earthside October (I wanted a jet ski and my wife said Hux needs a bro/sis… I lost). I’ve been happily married to my school girl crush for 5 years. The balance - I’ve struggled with it in the past, but learnt from my beautiful wife Keli Jane to commit 100% when you’re either working or with the family (phone off for the first hour when I get home). You achieve far greater success in both pursuits and stay mentally sane.