Underwear and music don’t often go hand in hand, however on special occasions they make the best of friends.
Brandon Hoogenboom is an artist and musician that works as a product designer at Ethika, Inc. For the past 2 years, his day-to-day has had him putting his artwork on different pairs of underwear. Recently Hoogenboom had the distinct opportunity to combine his passion for music to his work at Ethika.
As a lifestyle underwear brand, Ethika regularly works with musicians from all walks of life. The last two years, the brand has released a mixtape annually with a number of the artists that represent the brand. However, this is the first time that Ethika has released a pair and song for one of their own employees. It is a great opportunity that Ethika has afforded Hoogenboom by using the brand’s reach to support the music of it’s own employees and speaks to the quality of the brand and its employees.
In March, Hoogenboom flew from Southern California to Nashville, TN to spend some time in the studio at the Tiny Tape Room. It is here that he recorded his single, “Hey You.”
“The song is actually about anxiety, even though it has a happy-go-lucky kind of feel to it,” said Hoogenboom of the track. “I wrote this song when I was very sick, and was in a dark place. I didn’t leave my room for 4 days. It felt like a heavy weight on top of me that I couldn’t understand. When you don’t have control of your health it’s a very scary thing and I didn’t know if I was going to be OK. It’s also hard to open up and talk about that’s why I never say anxiety in the song, it’s more of a hidden message.”
“The song is actually about anxiety, even though it has a happy-go-lucky kind of feel to it.”
Never one to be held down for long, Hoogenboom used his music as catharsis and learned how to move past his anxiety. At the end of the video, there is a white flag waving. “The white flag is a symbol of surrender because, if you don’t surrender to your anxiety it will totally consume you,” explains Hoogenboom. “You have to look it in the face and say I know you’re there, and it’s going to be ok.”
Hoogenboom approached Ethika’s Creative Director, Paul Smith, about creating a music video for the song based on one the pairs that he had been designing. “Working at Ethika has really blossomed my creativity and when we design a pair of undies, we get to be involved in how we release it. So I thought, why not incorporate this design with this song I’m working on.” As the idea came together, Hoogenboom brought images that he had taken over the past 8 years to life in the form of the music video. “I’ve been taking photos as a hobby for a while now, and this art has a really personal connection for me. It was fun to incorporate that into the single artwork and music video.” Hoogenboom taught himself how to edit video to create the exact look he wanted for for the music video and social media assets Ethika used for the release.
“I took a handful of my favorite photos and made a collage for a pair and called it Road Trippy. I love this piece, and it feels so personal to me so it felt natural to incorporate it into my music and make a video of it. It’s kind of showing my walk through life over the past little bit. Ethika has given me so much creative freedom and has allowed me to spread my wings.”
The release of this single coincides with the announcement that Hoogenboom has been signed to Mirror Music Group. “I’m extremely excited to be working with Mirror Music Group not only because they’re an amazing management and record label, but also I’ve been friends with Kurt for years and it keeps me connected to Australia after living there for 5 years”. The future looks bright for Brandon and his music.
Check out the Road Trippy pair here.
