Wear Many Hats Episode 33 — James Corrigan
Hey everyone it’s Rashad and this is Wear Many Hats presented by Dahsar where we talk about your main gig then we talk about your side hustle.
James Corrigan is a dear friend of mine and I don’t say that lightly, I met him with our dear friend Alicia Hogan many moons ago and he’s introduced me to many musicians such as Homeboy Sandman who I’ve also had on Wear Many Hats and is a dear friend as well.
James is the Senior Director of Visual Merchandising that oversees brands such as Allen Edmonds and Naturalizer and has been in fashion for quite some time now.
But the hats he wears closely is being a musician. James will be releasing his new piece entitled Drum Circle where it is composed of 10 tracks that expand from a wide range of music from free jazz to minimalist pieces as well as art rock.
James is one of my first friends in NYC, the first in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Warm welcome to having James Corrigan on Wear Many Hats
Good morning James.
Wanted to open up and say Congrats James for being a father of a beautiful new baby girl.
I remember when we last spoke you promised me you wouldn’t be one of those dads that post pictures of their darlings but I count 3 so far so…
But no I’m loving the setup of the crib for her, the paintings are on point, I believe they’re all from friends? See this is what I like. New Yorkers and people who live in Brooklyn, they deck their babies cribs with the most unique artwork that you can’t find, and it’s totally catered to their baby.
It’s going to be so cultured. I go to museums and galleries with my friend’s baby & kid and I’m like wow they definitely know more than me, seen more than me, like I didn’t have an avocado till I was 21.
You know so during the time I was with Alicia, I’ve never been to Greenpoint before. I do remember when we spent time at that corner bar on Nassau and Sutton, Alicia’s rooftop, snowball fights, and meeting your close friend Tremaine Emory also known as Denim Tears.
So you guys have really opened up my eyes to Brooklyn, well the good old days of Brooklyn before this mess. So it’s definitely a treat to have you on the show.
I took a deep break from the photo industry and worked with my friends over at Homecoming and to see you walking down the street again was magical I must say. Good to know that you guys are keeping Greenpoint strong.
Fashion
Did you always want to work in fashion? As a visual merchandiser?
I’ve been getting into the loafer game for the past two years obviously because of the pandemic and to become more comfy. I’m going to need that Allen Edmonds plug just saying.
DJ
You know the first time I ever saw you perform was at the Ace Hotel when you were DJing. I gave you a Homeboy Sandman collaborated tee with Dahsar but we’ve just always seen each other sporadically. Time apart.
What are some of the tracks that you like to spin out live?
Music
You recently put out “White Tiles White Walls” the single from Drum Circle and it reminds me that I’m about to watch an awesome documentary where the opening scenes and credits have this banger of a theme.
(Hold up the albums)
Drum Circle will be out on Cimiotti Recordings, how did you link up with them?
I love that the press release states that this is genre-less and takes cues from Brian Eno and Arthur Russell.
In the press release I also love and I quote “the title Drum Circle also pokes fun at itself, Drum Circles have the reputation of being performative approximations or even misunderstandings of music and their contexts.”
That reminds me of when I was in Siesta Key with Alicia and we saw a drum circle on the beach and I was like what is going on here? This is definitely peak Florida. They’re are drum circles happening right now as we speak in Florida and it’s never ending.
Although this is your solo piece, You’ve also made music before with other people called Yungst.
What do you prefer better? Working with other musicians or going solo?
Hats Off
Hats off to you to having a baby, working on your music, and also working as a visual merchandiser. With our Wear Many Hats Dahsar solutions would you ever think about incorporating your music into some of the displays or do you not like to mix the two?
Ending
Plug your socials where can people find you?
If you were to get a chest tattoo quote in olde english what would it be?
Till next time this is Wear Many Hats presented by Dahsar and I’m Rashad Peace!
