Tricking for Treats

The author wearing an outfit of awesome stuff by Mishka (jacket), Ale et Ange (hat), and Done to Death Projects (T-shirt) that he got for free .99. Another example of the few and far between times when very cool people sent him dope shit. Photo by Izzy Tuason.

Because I’m an editor for VICE, I get a buttload of free stuff from every kind of retailer you can think of. Unfortunately, most of it is so wack, I end up regifting it. Last year, I gave everyone in my family board shorts by TrukFit (Lil Wayne’s gloriously tacky skateboard fashion line)—even my baby nephew and senile Granddad got a pair. Just the other day, I received a plastic jug of water-based cooch lube; the shit was the size of a gallon of milk. I like oiling the pipe as much as the next guy, but what am I going to do with industrial quantities of skeet grease? My dick would fall off and I’d get carpal tunnel if I beat off that much. I'm contemplating just pouring it on the floor of the reception area at VICE's Brooklyn offices to make a boner butter slip-n-slide.

Most of the time, working at VICE just gets you boxes full of monstrous rubber dicks…

However, there are rare times when the stars align and the PR gods bestow me with shit I would’ve actually spent my paychecks on. Below are interviews with the men behind a couple of awesome products I was sent in the past few months. Chances are, you’re probably not going to be able to get either of these things for free because you’re not an “influencer” like me. But consider yourself lucky. I’d rather pay for streetwear and electronics if it meant I could shake off that $100,000 student loan I took out to get an advanced degree in the booming print media industry.

The best thing about both of these products, other than being dope, is that they are focused on sustainability and they donate a portion of their profits to charities. Which should be a lesson to the PR goons around the globe shucking butt lube and graphic T-shirts—if you want to get a VICE editor’s attention with your nifty new shit, try giving back a little, too.

House of Marley's Get Together Audio System

Music is one of life’s necessities. Like barbecued swine, Air Jordans, and consensual sex, you just can’t live without it. Luckily, new technology has made it so that music is super portable. You can stream Yanni Live at the Acropolis at your work desk or in a tent in the the Catskill Mountains. The problem is that, if you’re like me, you like your Yanni booming and those little built-in iPhone speakers just don't do the music justice.

There are a ton of docking stations out there. The cheap ones sound thin and look shitty, the medium priced ones sound shitty but look nice, and the expensive ones sound great and look great but are fucking expensive. House of Marley’s Get Together audio system, however, is an exception to the rule. The portable little stereo looks pretty with its elegant wood façade, sounds like it has a jet engine trapped inside of it, and won't break the bank. In addition to the good vibes, the Get Together is made with “earth friendly” materials. They also support 1Love, the Bob Marley family charity dedicated to supporting “youth, planet, and peace.”

After rocking out with a Get Together box for a couple of weeks, I hit up House of Marley’s Creative Director Tracy Anderson to learn more about the company and the cool little box.

VICE: Tell me about the Get Together.
Tracy: It’s different from everything in the space. It's wood—not plastic or shiny. And it's fabric. These materials lend it a very different look than any another speaker box.

What’s up with the wood?
The wood is Bamboo. It’s certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. You have to pass a series of tests before they will put their stamp on your product. They make sure the wood has been properly sourced and that you are working with the right tree growers. For every tree cut down and used, there is a tree planted. We are really conscious of the environment—that’s important to the brand.

Cool. It’s got a nice grey fabric on it, too.
Yeah, the fabric is recycled material—water bottles, hemp, and coffee. Also, all the plastic in the unit is recycled. With Get Together, we are really going one step forward. No one else is making recycled audio products.

I like all of that and the fact that it sounds good, too.
Yeah, that is very important. I think it sounds smooth. It has a nice bass, but the mids are pretty precise. The tuning is on point for $200. It stays stable at any volume, but it is bass heavy.

Yeah, a friend of mine has terrible taste and used my box to play some Bassnectar. The woobs nearly made my bowels move.
Bass is a big part of it since it’s coming from the House of Marley. But we're not in the office listening to reggae all day—the system works for any style of music. We wanted it to sound good across the board for all genres. It’s a neat little speaker.

Wild Soul

Sunglasses are the quickest way to switch up your style, for better or worse. When I used to rock my Clubmaster Malcolm X-style glasses, people treated me like I was some kind of dignitary. Then, when I started rocking my pop-bottle Cazals, I was treated like Steve Urkel in the Winslows' kitchen. What you put on your face is fucking important—just ask this dumb ass. Since glasses send a message, you might as well send one that says you're a fresh-ass mother fucker and you care about the world around you—which is why I've been digging Wild Soul.

They design every one of their glasses after animals, which would almost be corny if the inspirations didn't yield such unique results at a time when everyone in the glasses game is just doing their best interpretation of the wayfarer or the lemtosh. The price point for Wild Soul shades ($135) is awesome, too—considering they are made with the same kind of quality you'd expect from designer glasses that cost $300 or more. But the best part about Wild Soul is that when you buy a pair, a portion of the cost is given to a charity of your choice. After getting a few of these bad boys in the mail, I felt compelled to share how dope they are. Here's a little convo I had with the brand's founders, Marc Battipaglia and Andres Beker.

VICE: You guys are giving back. That's dope.
Marc Battipaglia: Yes, we partner up with different charities. We ask the charities to give us a tangible goal, like ten gallons of water for kids who don't have access to water or a recycled to computer to kids who don't have access to computers. That way the customer knows they directly impacted someone's life.

The styles you guys have been dropping are really cool—there are little angles or cuts that make your frames seem fresh and new.
Andres Beker: Yeah, you're not going to find our designs and styles anywhere. We created products that we would wear ourselves. It's a little crazy how it all comes together. I just sketch these animals so many ways until I bring out the special characteristics in them. And then I include those characteristics into a frame. If you look at the bat frame, it looks like a bat with its wings open. It's subtle. You might not pick up on it right away, but it's there.

Marc: Yeah, we want people to wear these glasses on a regular basis. The subtle design allows for the customer to get that element without it being over the top.

How'd you guys meet?
Marc: We met in Atlanta, Georgia, during our freshman year at Emory University. We were soul mates from then on.

Why hop into sunglasses?
Marc: People are getting ripped off. Some of the most expensive glasses felt uncomfortable. It's definitely an issue where we are overpaying for a pair of frames. I can tell you that from experience working in this industry and making glasses.

What do you make your shades out of?
Marc: Everything we do is cellulose acetate. We make all the frames in Greece. The lenses are by Carl Zeiss lens—they are incredible and we are able to include them at a reasonable price. Lenses are important, sometimes wearing sunglasses can be worse for you because sunglasses make your pupil open up more, letting in UV light. People have to be cautious of that—even expensive glasses might not properly protect your eyes.

The case is amazing, too. It's the coolest sunglasses case I've seen. 
Andres: The case you have is woven, recycled bamboo. The idea was to make everything sustainable. We actually designed a new one that collapses into a very flat case.

You guys offer insurance, right?
Marc: Yeah, why not make an insurance policy for the glasses? Losing glasses sucks. We created sunglasses insurance, which you can get by paying a fourth of the cost of the sunglasses. To get a replacement pair, we don't require you to send a tangible pair back to us. If you bought insurance, we take you on your word.

How's business?
Marc: Last year we sold 3,000 units. We are in 20 stores in New York City and five stores in Colombia. And we are developing our first store in the Dominican Republic.

Tell me about some of your experiences with the charities. 
Andres: We started working with this small charity in Venezuela. The person who started it lost a child in a pool. She started it to help kids who lost motor skills. They provide special kinds of crutches. I watched a kid who had never walked in his life use them and walk for the first time—he was eight. it was very emotional to know that it happened because of the people who gave money through our glasses.

What's the charity called?
Andres: It has a Spanish name that basically means "leaving your prints on the future." All the charitable proceeds of our eagle frames go to that charity.

Follow Wilbert on Twitter.

Editor's Note: House of Marley is an advertiser/sponsor of content for Noisey, VICE's sister music site. Wilbert, however, chose to write about House of Marley's Get Together dock on his own volition, because he thought it's the shit when it comes to playing mp3s and they give money to charity.