Every now and again we see horror stories of popstars and random celebs wearing heavy metal shirts without actually giving two iotas of shit about the band in question. We’ve seen Rihanna in a Judas Priest shirt, Miley Cyrus in an Iron Maiden shirt, and lately Kim Kardashian in a Morbid Angel sweater. It’s madness!
But one metalhead has grown tired of the stereotypical metal shirt designs favoured by headbangers and Hollywood alike, and decided to add some fur and a tail. Edwin created Purrodii as a reaction to the predictable imagery used by thousands of bands across the metal world, replacing skulls and bones with cats to create something unique and (more importantly) funny.
We caught up with Edwin to get the low down on Purrodii and what it’s all about.
How did Purrodii come to life? What is the story behind it?
“The idea behind Purrodii came to life due to scratching my own itch. I loved wearing metal shirts but got bored because of constantly wearing its stereotypical imagery: skulls, devils etc. etc. It’s not that I began to hate it, I still wear those shirts, but I just wanted something new.”
Why cats?
“This was sort of an insight – I already knew that I wanted to wear different kind of metal shirts. I searched for unusual stuff but couldn’t find anything cool so I decided to design the shirts myself, but weeks passed without me having any kind of inspiration.
“Then, one day, I saw one of my three cats taking a dump next to the litter box, and I thought about the song Delivering The Goods by Judas Priest. Besides getting pissed off from cleaning the shit, it also put a smile on my face when thinking about the title of the song.
“A few days later I saw one of my cats looking into the ass of my other cat when he stretched, and voila, I immediately thought of Rainbow’s Stargazer. That’s when I realised I had to do something with it – placing song titles in a different context.”
What is the connection between cats and heavy metal?
“That’s an interesting question. I grew up with cats, they’re always around me and I can’t imagine a moment without them, so first of all I don’t believe that cats are inherent to metal or vice versa, for me it was just coincidence.
“However, I certainly see a number of parallels: independence and obstinacy. Cats are very self-contained, metalheads – generally speaking – are usually seen as outsiders. They don’t blend in with the crowd that well because they don’t conform to regular norms in both looks and sayings – the latter can be uncompromising due to honesty. With regard to cats who don’t give a fuck, just do a Google search and you know what I mean.”
Have you seen the Black Metal Cats Twitter?
“Yes, I’m following it since a month or so, some pics with their quotes really kick ass.”
- Here's a bunch of cats losing their mind to metal
- The 10 most black metal cats of all time
- If only these classic album cover football shirts were real
- Read Classic Rock, Metal Hammer & Prog for free with TeamRock+
What is your favourite design so far?
“Back In Black, also because of its text on the back of the shirt. I think this is really a shirt you either love or hate, it’s a bit awkward to wear which is pretty cool, I think. For me, metal implies a certain amount of provocation.”
What other bands have you got in mind?
“Slayer, Exodus, Destruction, Kreator, Candlemass, Black Sabbath.”
The bands you cover are all ‘classic’ metal, is this down to personal taste?
“First of all, it’s my personal taste - old-school metal is still one of my favourite music genres. Secondly, it’s more practical – these band logos are very recognisable in regard to its general look and readability, compared to death/black metal bands. In addition, with regard to space, the song title should have a maximum of approximately three words.”
How did you get into heavy metal?
“I can remember the first time I heard Metallica’s Black Album. I was blown away, I never heard this kind of music before! After this first encounter I immediately bought their debut album, together with Blessing In Disguise by Metal Church. After that, the transition to a metal lifestyle went pretty fast – buying vinyl records from mostly ‘80s metal, going to concerts and of course wearing metal apparel.”
Fancy one of these shirts? Edwin has set up a special discount code for Hammer readers! Simply head over to Purrodii enter the code Metal Hammer to receive 15% off your first shirt. Pretty cool, huh?
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