Wilderado x Topo Designs

What’s up, everyone! Tyler here. I wanted to share a little story with you all…

We’ve been touring for 10 years now (wild, right?), and the only way we’ve ever traveled is by van. We started in a Chevy Express (pic below because I miss her and she’s cute)—a sweet little family van that we bought back in 2015 —and eventually graduated to Mercedes Sprinters, which are basically the Cadillac of long drives. Still, no matter how nice the van, you eventually realize you’re just sitting in a box on wheels for hours on end. On our last tour, we did the math and realized we’d been in the van for a total of five days. That’s 120 hours of… sitting. Rough on the lower back.

Needless to say, boredom is a constant touring companion. Back in 2016, when we weren’t on the road, I was living in Venice, CA, working at a shop called Aviator Nation on Abbot Kinney. One day on my lunch break, I wandered into another store called Burro to grab a birthday card, and in the back I saw these sweatshirts with “California” chain-stitched around the collar. My first thought: That’s cool. My second thought: How hard could that be?

So I went to a thrift store called The Dig Rig (shoutout to Jason—if you’re in Venice, go see him), bought some crewnecks, and taught myself to chain-stitch on YouTube. Surprisingly, I wasn’t half bad. At our next show, I put the sweatshirts out, and they sold out almost instantly. Turns out people love a handmade, slightly imperfect, upcycled piece of merch. Suddenly, I had something to do in the van other than rewatch The Office. I’d thrift sweatshirts on off-days, sew in the van, and sell them at shows. It was a hobby, a boredom cure, and extra income all in one. (Can’t find my first ever sweatshirt, but this was definitely one of the early ones…)

Then came 2020, when the world hit the pause button. Tours were canceled, and like everyone else, I was stuck at home trying to figure out what to do next. I started sewing sweatshirts again and selling them on Instagram—about 10 at a time. They’d sell out in minutes! My wife, Tori, and I made a whole event out of it: I’d message the buyers while she kept track of everything in our little spreadsheet. Honestly, those mornings gave us something to look forward to during a really strange and uncertain year. If you bought one back then—thank you. You kept us afloat during a very weird chapter. (Here’s a pic of my good boy, Rooney, nestled in some “covid sweatshirts”)

Fast forward to 2022, and we were back on the road. I kept sewing, and once again, couldn’t keep up with demand. The feeling of making something with your own hands and then seeing people wear it—it never gets old. I’ve lost count, but I’m pretty sure I’ve sewn well over 500 sweatshirts by now. So again, thank you to everyone who’s bought one. You’ve helped transform van-boredom into something way more meaningful.

If you’ve seen Wilderado travel, you’ve probably noticed our devotion to Topo bags. Between backpacks, water bottle slings, and accessory pouches, at least three of us are always carrying one. Their accessory bags in particular are clutch—I’ve used them for everything from chargers to guitar strings to that mysterious cable no one wants to throw away but no one remembers buying.

At the beginning of this year, we set a goal to branch out a bit—to spread the Wilderado name beyond just music. Music will always be at the core of what we do, but we thought it’d be fun (and practical) to collaborate with brands we love. Topo was the obvious choice. So we reached out to Rick over there, pitched him the idea of me chain-stitching “Wilderado” onto some of their bags, and—because Rick is a legend—he said yes.

For the past few months, I’ve been stitching away, both at home and in the van, and now we finally get to share them. On October 10th, we’ll be at Topo’s Denver store, hanging out, playing a few songs, and introducing the Wilderado x Topo bags. They’ll be available in-store that day—first come, first served—and the first 15 people in line will also get signed vinyl. If you’re not in Denver, don’t worry. We’ll have them online soon.

Hope to see some of you out there.

— Tyler