Monday, June 22, 2009

Monday Morning Playlist: Andrew Chen

For those of you who have been following our Monday Morning Playlists I would like to first apologize for the lack of consistency. With that being said this weeks edition makes up for the lack of a playlist this past Monday.

This weeks installment features the musical tastes of 3sixteen founder and co-owner Andrew Chen. Andrew started the New York-based apparel line back in 2003 with a close friend, all while maintaining a 9 to 5. After a falling out a few years into the project, the two decided to go their separate ways. After some serious deliberation, Andrew decided to stick with the brand and focus all of his energy into his passion. In January 2006 Andrew quit his job, brought on new partner Johan Lam, and re-launched the brand.

The brand, over the past few season, has evolved ten fold. 3sixteen today finds themselves in uncharted territory, straying from its initial tee shirt based collection and now making waves in the contemporary men's market. To say this is an accomplishment is an understatement with neither Johan or Andrew having any formal fashion training. The collection features an impressive array of utility shirts, denim, outwear, t-shirts, footwear and even accessories that include ties, a soon to be released overnight bag, eyewear, and leather goods.

While Andrew focus all hours of the day towards 3sixteen he also finds time to balance his side project NHTVSN. NHTVSN is a multimedia project that was founded in 2007. The NHTVSN umbrella is comprised of a clothing line and an online video magazine both heavily influenced by music, film and pop culture.

Without any further adieu I present to you Andrew Chen's Monday Morning Playlist. And I must admit he has taken the MMP to the next level.

"This wasn't an easy playlist for me to assemble. I wanted to give a broad look at the music that I listened to in high school but then realized that I'd need separate lists for rock, ska and hip hop. Thus you have this semi-focused list of early 90's alt/grunge rock - every song included has a story behind in my tortured youth. For example, the RATM song was part of a presentation that I gave to my US history class on left-wing political influences in music. I still remember my classmate playing stuff from REM and Chili Peppers (all socially acceptable music) and then me breaking out the Rage, with Zach dropping f-bombs everywhere and hating all things government. My teacher was actually quite receptive to the song (I think she was a hippie at some point) despite the clear slants against our educational system. But I'll never forget a wide-eyed classroom of kids looking fearfully at me like I was going to hurt them one day. Good times."

"I hope the playlist helps you rediscover some classics from your youth."


You can download this weeks playlist here. Enjoy.


If you feel so inclined to check out the collection first hand you can make your way over to Openhouse Gallery in Nolita for Michael Williams (A Continuous Lean) and Randy Goldberg's Pop Up Flea taking place Friday to Sunday.


(Photograph by Peter Ash Lee)