Keep Your Senses in Check

The sound of San José is changing. On any stroll through downtown you can hear circular saws slicing through pressurized wood, jack hammers breaking up concrete, and the air traveling through paint guns. The look of San Jose is changing. Coffee shops on every two blocks, new apartment condos built in the center of downtown, flashy cars driving down Santa Clara. San Jose is changing. But that doesn’t mean we have to change.

We here at Word is Bond thought it would be good to escape for a bit. Soak up other folks culture. Drive to a different zip code, see new styles, and more importantly listen to some dope ass music.

This past weekend, we headed out to Long Beach for the Tropicalia Festival. This festival not only had a bomb ass line-up (Kali Uchis, Chicano Batman, King Krule, Los Tigres Del Norte, Madlib,) but also bomb ass tacos that were free all day until four. While standing in line to enter the festival we saw folks with brands that held close ties to LA. Reflecting upon this and various shows we have seen in the Bay Area, LA stays true to it’s roots. Everyone was rocking brands that had actual shops within the greater LA Area. Also at this huge festival, there were many local brands with tents pushing new product. Long Beach was focused on putting on their local clothing brands on a bigger platform.

Never have I seen such a space with so many people of color all vibing to music that resonated with their identity, culture, and their zip code. Everything was intertwined, with the 90’s style outfits, Kurt Cobain glasses, and the amount of low-top vans was at an all time high. Style, music, and culture was bleeding out of every single person at this festival. While stepping back from the concert, driving 300 miles down south, San José seemed more important to us than ever.

We want San José to stay the same. We don’t want it to get watered down. We are glad to see y’all repping that San José shirt up and down the block as well as stepping in foreign territory. We just want to thank all of our supporters buying our products, retweeting our new drops, and wearing our items around everywhere. The motivation y’all give to us in unexplainable. We have been supporting so many local art shows recently so keep updated with us as more events are being planned out. Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open for some new product dropping soon. Don’t let these yuppies change you…San José is here to stay. Word is Bond.

p.s the best way to keep your senses in check is to come out & support Jorge at his first solo art show! The show will take place at Uproar Brewery @439 S 1st St, San Jose, CA 95113

-Nicholas Muñoz