Tom Wright is the man behind local streetwear label Shark Week. Along with Beach Boy, Pillow T and Josef Parties, Tom and the boys are currently on their way to Auckland from Dunedin where they played the first show of their New Zealand tour. This Friday night they take over the club for their second show before heading back to their home town of Wellington to play their final show. We caught up with Tom to chat about the mixing of fashion, music, friendship and community.
Above: Beach Boy in Shark Week’s summer campaign
Tell us how you met each of the boys; Beach Boy, Pillow T and Josef Parties? What were your first memories of them?
My first memories of Beach Boy was before I had even met him. I had only been in Wellington for a few months and I spotted this very interesting character on the street. I actually remember thinking to myself “I bet he is amazing at something”. A few weeks or so later I got to met him through a friend. I met Pillow T in a very similar way but through a different friend and then we ended up living together for a year or so. Then Josef Parties moved up to Wellington, he was already friends with Pillow T and I remember him just being so eager to work! Very lucky that I’ve got these guys in my life :)
You have been based in Wellington for a few years now, what initially drew you to move to the capital?
Yeah I think it was the start of 2014 I moved there. I was living in Mt Maunganui before hand and it was time to move to a city. I had visited Wellington a lot and always really enjoyed it and always saw myself living their one day. A few things lined up well and yeah, made the move. Wellington is awesome!
Above: Ride - Pillow T.
You guys tend to tour once a year nation wide and play minimal shows in between. Is this something you choose to actively stick to or do you just play when the time is right?
I guess it’s a combination of both. We want to be performing and touring as much as possible but yeah the timing has got to be right and NZ and our market is only small so their isn’t heaps on offer for continuous shows.
Music and the artists you hang out with are seen as the faces of Shark Week. Do you think having ambassadors is important for a streetwear brand in 2018?
Hard out! Especially when they represent the brand so well. It can really only be a positive outcome. I’m very lucky to have such awesome people support the brand the way they do. But it’s a two way street for sure.
Above: Josef Parties’ Like That (Produced and filmed by Beach Boy)
Your relocating to NYC at the end of the year, what’s next for Shark Week?
Yeah, I’m actually going next week! So this tour is really the icing on the cake and such a fun way to spend my last week in NZ with my friends. I got lots of plans for Shark Week but I’ll let them unfold instead of telling. But I really just want to keep progressing in all aspects of the business.
