Interview with Jim Wilcox, former drummer of Authority Zero, on his clothing line Ransom Apparel.
Dated September 25, 2007
You started out designing merchandise for Authority Zero, what inspired you to start you own line?
Really it was doing Authority Zero stuff. I had a lot of designs that I was sitting on that wouldn’t work for Authority Zero style-wise. When I met Adam he wanted to invest. So I said instead of investing, why don’t we do this together and a month later it was up and running.
Who is your favorite brand or designer?
I’ve always loved Volcom’s style because they always use such off the wall artists that most people would just look at and go “What Kind of crap is that?” I’m really into a lot of the Obey stuff and Affliction. Most of the guys I like that design stuff are tattoo artists or graffiti artists.
What sets your clothing apart from everyone else and makes you unique?
I was pretty anal retentive about not getting your average Fruit of the Loom t-shirt. I was willing to spend the extra money to get American Apparel, Alternative Apparel. My design style is a little bit different.
Can we expect to see some of your clothing available in stores or is it just online?
Right now it’s available at all of the Club Tattoo locations and at RansomApparel.com
Are you sticking to just shirts or are you going to expand?
I want to get into hats and belts, like actually leather belts. My major goal is to design suits for the underground kids. That’s kind of the ultimate goal.
Is Phoenix your main inspiration and what are your other inspirations?
We came up with the theme nocturnal, anything that flies at night. It came up when I was sketching a picture of the Virgin Mary with wings almost looking like the night time Virgin. The Phoenix just kind of came out of the flight idea. Inspiration just comes from anything.
All photography provided by Janet Zhou-Wilt
Models: Christina Campion and Tyler Carlblom
Bravura 