Seven years of Bryn Bryn: Rythmatix

I’ve been experiencing an influx of energy for and interest in my business over the last month and I know it has a lot to do with these shares I’ve been doing! I’ve got some new projects in the works and am just about booked up through the summer, which feels good. Thank you for following along and for thinking of me.

Now onto the third installment of seven years of Bryn Bryn—we’re on 2018! For this year I’m focusing on Rythmatix and the legendary Mr. Wu, whose well-loved screen printed clothing brand I started supporting five whole years ago (time is weird)!

I’m grateful to have served as long term brand manager for a variety of badass brands (some of which I’ll share about in coming installments), and Chris is my longest running retainer client who also happened to become a dear friend. One of the reasons ongoing collaborations—and this one in particular—are so special is the texture and depth of ideas that can grow with spacious time.

I’m forever focused on the story at the heart of brands, so in the early days my work with Rythmatix was about identifying the motivation for and flavor of the brand and ensuring it shined across channels and platforms. Rythmatix is study of visual rhythms, inspired by dance, music and beyond. I’ve loved cultivating the brand’s connection to street and club dance culture, including featuring many dancers (and friends) in our photo and video shoots. One favorite is the #bts video of our shoot with PopnTod, featuring Todd making all kinds of waves under bridges and the rest of the team vibing in the summer sunshine. Another is a video portrait of Decimus, where Conrad (an incredible dancer himself who films and edits all our dance vids) and Chris interviewed Decimus after we filmed and I got to draw out my favorite audio for Conrad to pair with his dance. Of course the dancers all wear Rythmatix while we shoot, and it’s so edifying to see the clothes in motion as intended.

Speaking of dance, Rythmatix also threw an event that achieved something our team had long hoped to do, which was bringing together the street and club dance scene and bass music scene in Portland with an event called ELEVATE. Pre-pandemic, we had about 150 people show out for an all-styles 7-to-Smoke dance battle (judged by the talented Future) followed by a night of bass music (featuring Danny Corn, Barisone and Mr. Wu) at VMAC (now the Den in SE Portland). It was an exhilarating night, not only because it was very fun and felt like huge success but because so many friends who had never witnessed a dance battle had their minds thoroughly blown by the dedication, creativity and talent of the dancers in our community.

I appreciate the wide scope I have in my role and value getting to touch so many points of the brand from the high level to the nitty gritty of execution via social and wholesale strategy, crafting newsletters and writing product and web copy, to name a few. I even built our current website on Shopify! I usually build on Squarespace so it was a bit painstaking but ultimately very satisfying to bring everything together in a fresh and cohesive vibe.

Rythmatix has been a festival favorite for over 10 years and, especially because Chris has been a DJ for even longer, is interwoven with the bass music scene. It’s both fun and informative being out in the wild and connecting with customers at festivals over the years—checking out their style, learning what people love and what they’d love to see more of. It inspires the brand on many levels and (most importantly) gives us infinite stories to recount in the off-season. Helping Rythmatix get into Oregon Country Fair, which had been a longtime goal of Chris’s, was a highlight (we jumped up and down) and we’ll be out there again this year vending with our friend Miles Toland. You can watch the reel I made recapping our experience last summer at Fair here.

We’ll also be out vending at Lightning in a Bottle this weekend. Come say hi and don’t miss two sets by Mr. Wu! First is a downtempo set with Barisone from 12-2 am on Saturday and then a more uptempo solo set from 1-2:30 am on Sunday, both at the Compass. I’ll be there dancing! Come join me.

Shoutout to Chris for being such a solid pal and for connecting me with many top-shelf clients and friends over the years, not to mention the dance scene in Portland. I wouldn’t have become as aware and in awe of street and club dance without you, and I never would have studied house dance with the one and only DonnaMation. It’s inspiring to work with someone who rocks the whole damn process—designing art by hand and digitally, burning screens for printings and doing the printing (with help—shoutout Ian!), not to mention shipping orders, running Etsy and Shopify and countless other things. Sometimes, because I’m used to it, I forgot how cool it is. Then I remember :)