Sharing the buzz on custom stickers--branding and marketing, street art, graphic design, guerilla marketing and more.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Machine Gun Moustache: A Great Sound Deserves a Great Sticker

When multi-instrumentalists Immanual (a.k.a. "The Liberator") and Will Hatch get together, good things happen. Musical traditions are explored, updated and sometimes even exploded, as in the case of their new band, Machine Gun Moustache, which re-imagines old blues and Americana with experimental twists, such as tribal rhythms and homemade electric instruments. 

While the band is barely a year old, all told, 2010 was a good year for Machine Gun Moustache. They finished up their second self-produced/recorded album, Fish for Dinner, and embarked on their first real tour, heading up from Washington D.C. through New England all the way to Burlington, Vermont. "To be honest," Immanuel told us, "we were a bit surprised by how excited people seemed to be at our shows." He goes on to note how grateful he and Will are for the generosity of fans and friends on the road (especially to those who let the band crash on their couches).

As a new band, Machine Gun Moustache relies heavily on word-of-mouth support and fan endorsements to get the word out, and their stickers are a big part of that. The band's intriguing photo-sticker now adorns walls, poles, doors, and bathroom stalls from D.C. to Maine--which prompts the curious to perhaps visit the website, maybe download some music (by donation), and hopefully come see a show. 

Why did Machine Gun Moustache go with Custom Sticker Makers (CSM) on sticker printing? "That’s pretty simple," Immanuel told us. "Full-color and price.  Even though our sticker only has four or five colors, it would have cost us way more money to do the job at any of the other places I looked at. If I had gone with another printer, I  would have had to do the time-consuming Photoshop work of separating color vectors and such. With CSM, I just sent in a high-res JPEG and they sent the stickers back looking perfect." He goes on to note that at CSM's prices, the band can afford to give their stickers away. 

Midgemere Part One

MachineGunMustache | Myspace Music Videos

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