Isac Walter collects band t-shirts. Lots of band t-shirts. He keeps them organized in a walk-in closet, in stacks outside the closet, and, recently, in giant tubs and piles in another room. It sounds a bit chaotic, but Walter has worked out a system that keeps the shirts he's worn since July 11 out of his fashion rotation. That's because on that July day he started Minor Thread, a blog documenting his effort to wear a different t-shirt from his collection without doubling up on a single shirt. "I can go at least a hundred days, if not thousands," Walter says. Walter doesn't know the exact number of shirts he owns, but he thinks it's anywhere between 1,200 and 1,500, and it continues to grow.
Walter began going to concerts and buying band t-shirts at 15. Minor Thread gives the 38-year-old the opportunity to write about what compelled him to purchase each shirt, discuss the designs, and wax nostalgic. Every day he posts a photo of his new attire, along with the name of the shirt, the color, brand, and a little description. Sometimes his selection will reflect a mood he's in, such as the day he wore a signed Red House Painters t-shirt: "Today i feel very Mark Kozelek. It feels very slow, sepia toned and relaxing. so i popped in this shirt." Other days he gets to write about a rare find of an old favorite band, like when he bought an Egg Hunt shirt from Dischord's co-founder and Minor Threat's drummer, Jeff Nelson: "i will cherish this shirt for the next 20 years of my life so thank you Jeff!" (The name of Walter's blog is a tribute to Minor Threat, as is its tagline: "Out of Stock.") The site is packed with plenty of other great backstories that are sure to win over music nerds, including the tale about the vintage Descendents shirt he bought from the band's bass player, Karl Alvarez.
"I always have been a music fan," Walter says. "I worked at a record store when I was 20." Walter also collected CDs, but "slowly CDs just became harder to get. I think a lot of that ended up having me gravitate towards the t-shirt portion of it [his collection]." Buying t-shirts has also been a way for Walter to help out the groups he loves. "There's that side of me that's always a punk rock music fan that wants to say thanks to the bands," he says. "A lot of this collection comes from me wanting to support bands."
As the music industry's traditional business model continues to erode, t-shirts and other merchandise provide artists with different opportunities to get income. After all, you can't download a shirt. Plus, it's a classic way for fans to display their enthusiasm for their favorite groups.
"When I wear a shirt of a band I'm really proud of what I'm wearing," Walter says. "It's just like the analog version of posting something on Facebook or tweeting about it." He says wearing a band t-shirt is akin to "the human version of social networking," which is something he likes and knows intimately: Walter was the Editor-in-Chief and Marketing Director for MySpace Music for almost six years. (He's now the Music Supervisor for L.A. company Hallraker.)
Walter has seen his work on Minor Thread get re-blogged on Tumblr and get attention from Boing Boing and Spin, and he has floated the idea of one day turning it into a coffee-table book, but Minor Thread is ultimately a personal project that's an end unto itself. It gives him the chance to revisit the things he loves about his collection, and what got him to purchase that apparel in the first place. People can re-post his photos, but they can't re-live the memories those band shirts represent.
