Post Flatstock Wrap Up

So it may be a little overdue, but here it is none the less...

(the only photo we took of our own booth, nice right?)

Flatstock 20 at the SXSW Music Festival was yet another successful and rowdy time for Hero! We came home giddy, wiped out yet somehow refreshed, inspired, full of BBQ, tacos, and margaritas and for me, sicker than hell!

SXSW is the kick off to our travel (carnie) season and we look forward to it as soon as we get home from Flatstock at Bumbershoot in September. We saw a lot of old friends, met some great new people, ran into clients and even friends from Buffalo that we haven't seen since winter set in. Flatstock was 4 days instead of the usual 3 this year, and we found that part to be wonderful, a lot of the hardcore SXSWers that are too busy with day parties and all the goings on of SXSW and even some of the Austinites that refuse to leave the house during SXSW, got to come check out Flatstock on Sunday.

We got to shack up with the Strawberryluna crew again, which is always a side-splitting riot, and of course the party van with us, the 'Lunas and Doublenaut. This year we had tons of great laughs at Melrose Place (our rad pool in the center of our hotel courtyard) with all our talented friends from around the country, and even a few from Canada (check out all their links in our links section). That is where "inflatio" was born and it will never be forgotten, thank you Terry.

We ate too much BBQ (thank you again Salt Lick for accommodating over 40 insane poster artists), ate probably the best migas and breakfast tacos at Juan in A Million, which came complete with the firmest handshake in all of Texas and I even bought myself some kick ass cowboy boots from Boot City!!

Thank you to all of our friends that make Flatstock the best part of what we do, everyone that came by, chatted with us, bought some of our stuffs and made us feel welcome in Austin for the 4th year in a row!

We can't wait till next year! Yee-haw!

Check out all of our pictures here

SXSW is calling...

Hero's Flatstock 20 poster - available for purchase exclusively at Flatstock
(and on our website when we return if any copies remain)

We're leaving bright and early tomorrow morning for Austin to participate in SXSW and Flatstock (see our previous post about what these are). We're pretty stoked 'cuz the party starts REAL early this time since the second leg of our flights tomorrow comes complete with built in BFFs. The Strawberryluna crew is on our second flight and we're gonna cause a ruckus in row 18!! HOLLA! And to add to the fun, the "Hero party van" is making a reappearance this SXSW and we'll be rolling six deep with the Strawberryluna and Doublenaut crews through the streets of Austin. (ok so it's a min-van, but whatevs)

The boutique will still be open while we are away, normal business hours - but there will probably be VERY little blogging happening till I get back! Stay tuned though, when we get back we'll post photos of our adventures, show you all the new prints and tees that we've been working on that are debuting in Austin this week and probably have lots of good stories to share :)


**Oh and hey, if you are coming by Flatstock this weekend, make sure to mention that you read our blog and we'll give you a little gift. Here is the floor plan of Flatstock 20 in the Austin Convention Center to help you navigate your way to us and all of our super talented neighbors.**

Miss you, friends.

What is Flatstock??

So I am sure you have heard us mention "Flatstock" a million times so I thought I would take some time to tell you just what exactly Flatstock is:

The FLATSTOCK poster show series is presented by the American Poster Institute (API). It is an ongoing series of exhibitions featuring the work of many of the most popular concert poster artists working today.

The API is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to serving poster artists and promoting the art form. Both the API and its FLATSTOCK series were organized in 2002 as a result of conversations between interested artists and supporters frequenting the popular web site GigPosters.com. The best concert posters have always captured both the essence of the music they promoted and the spirit of the time in which they were produced. This is as true today as it was in San Francisco during the Sixties.

The FLATSTOCK shows provide the general public with an ongoing series of opportunities to see fine poster art in person and to meet the artists who've created it -- they provide the API with a way to present the poster artists collectively while showcasing the breadth of individual styles they represent.

FLATSTOCK 20 is being held in Austin, Texas in conjunction with the world's premier Music Festival South By Southwest. Poster artists from around the world will hit The Austin Convention Center for the bi-annual convention sponsored by the American Poster Institute, dedicated to the promotion of music poster art and design worldwide. You've heard the sordid tales of deluxe poster prints sold to you the fans by the artists themselves, now come see for yourself. FLATSTOCK 20 is FREE for everyone so come one come all. Show up early and be ready to be overwhelmed with amazing posters (you might want to bring some dough too since you won't want to leave empty handed.) FLATSTOCK 20 is an all-ages event.

Flatstock 20 is now a FOUR DAY EVENT and Hero has a double booth again this year, so be sure to come by and say "Hi!", we're gonna have loads of new stuff. Including brand new posters, artprints and exclusive t-shirt designs, etc.

FLATSTOCK 20 SCHEDULE:

• Thurs. March 19 from 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm.
• Fri. March 20 from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.
• Sat. March 21 from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.
• Sun. March 22 from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.

Check out this year's exhibitors here.

ALSO CHECK OUT:

To get the true music collector’s experience at SXSW, don't forget to also set time aside for the Record Convention and Guitar Show.

Flatstock Print Demos

Thursday - Sunday
All Day Screenprinting Demos

As part of Flatstock 20, the public is invited to drop by the on-site screenprinting demonstration set up by the API and its members. Andy MacDougal, author of “Screen Printing Today, The Basics,” will be leading multiple workshops during show hours. He will produce a number of original multicolor poster prints on-site Friday and Saturday. These unique workshops will allow you to see the process in action. You will learn how ideas and artwork are transformed into the thousands of amazing gigposters on display at Flatstock through the screen printing process. Participating Flatstock arists will be contributing work that Andy will be printing all four days. These works will be available for purchase when they are completed. Special guest artists will also contribute small prints which will be entirely created and produced at Flatstock.

“My Posters Stink” With Mig Kokinda
Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

Local Austin whiz kid Mig Kokinda will demonstrate the laborious mysteries of making the most kick ass rock posters you’ve seen with nothing but an exacto blade and Krylon. Come witness how to cut stencil after stencil and the process of turning those into multi layered works of art with the bonus of fumes! Mig has been making poster art and tattooing folks for well over thirteen years and few, if any, share his unique style.

For all the true poster junkies, be sure to watch the screening of Died Young, Stayed Pretty a documentary by Eileen Yaghoobian featuring many of this year's exhibitors.

Sorry for the quiet bloggy...

It's gonna be a quiet week or two around here, Hero is gearing up for SXSW and Flatstock 20 next week and besides shipping ALL of our stuff to Austin, we're printing TONS of new posters and artprints. So right now there is lots of packing, organizing, printing and a little bit of freaking out going on over here.

More info to follow on what SXSW and Flatstock are, but until then try not to miss us too much.