Echo Park Surf Squad

The Surf Squad: Echo Park Lake on an East Swell, Blowing Off-Shore, Ghetto Bird circling for hours, paper-bag beer koozies, 40’s, taco trucks, police-tape detours, illegal 4th of July fireworks & surfing.

Let’s cut to the chase here. Echo Park Surf Squad is the straight up real deal. No bullshit. Masterminded by the master mind of renegade auteur Joel Knoernschild with artist Ramsey Dau. An underground clothing brand dropping bombs from the overgrown, hidden hills of Echo Park itself.

In an effort to get to the bottom of EPSS, The Poetry of Living asked Joel a few questions. He was kind enough to let us hang out at his studio, take some snaps and talk art, music, film and a ton of other inspiring things that came to mind that afternoon. Check out some of the photos below (which also include some exclusive pix taken during the screen printing of the latest EPSS tee: “Lotus Point.”) Thank you for the hang, Joel.

How did the EPSS brand come about – and is this your first clothing line?

Honestly, it started off as a joke with a couple friends and artist Ramsey Dau. Last year I Photoshopped a wave into Echo Park Lake and uploaded it onto Facebook.

The response was crazy and that’s when Ramsey created the “Surf Punx” graphic. I made 30 shirts to pass out to friends at Project Tradeshow in Vegas in 2012 and the rest is history.

I grew up surfing and worked surf companies when I was younger, so I’ve always had a connection to the industry. From 2006-2010 I had a high fashion men’s collection that I designed and was sewn in Tokyo for 3 years called KZO. I was also the creative director and designer for Creative Growth for Everybody. It was all made in Los Angeles and proceeds supported Creative Growth Art Center, the world’s oldest and largest art center for adults with disabilities. Both brands worked with amazing stores: Barney’s, Bloomingdales, Colette, Dover St. Market, Ron Herman, American Rag, Modern Appealing Clothing SF, and lots of great accounts in Japan. EPSS couldn’t be more opposite than KZO & CGFE, ha.

Generations of my family have been in Echo Park for well over 50 years & I have a deep love of the area. What does EP mean to you?

My Grandma, who’s from LA, always said that when she was growing up, Echo Park was more of a bohemian area full of creative types. I think that’s still true now with the diversity. It’s close to DTLA but you escape in the hills and canyons here. I can remember driving through EP as a kid & going to our family’s restaurant (Philippe’s french dip sandwiches) near Chinatown.

I find the cut and weight of EPSS tees to be completely spot-on perfect. Down to the use of Pima cotton, I’m assuming you guys are pretty obsessed with quality and detail. What were some of your inspirations for the look AND feel of the line?

Tees are everyday fashion. We like clothes and pay attention to the details of what makes good garments. People think t-shirts are a no brainer, but they’re honestly one of the most difficult things to fit. And, nothing is worse than when you buy a tee, throw it in the wash and it shrinks weird and falls apart. We want it to be something that you can wear for a while (and sometimes days in a row, ha).

How many runs of shirts do you usually do? It seems most are pretty limited edition?

We keep it lean and mean right now and the runs slightly vary, but they’re small. It’s special that way.

Is EPSS available online only or do any shops currently carry the line?

We sell exclusively online except for one amazing fashion store in Monte-Carlo, Monaco called Society Club. We can offer people better products this way without chasing wholesale revenue goals. Also every once in a while, we’ll do random pop-ups in the neighborhood. The last one we had was in the parking lot of Cafe Stella in Silver Lake. We usually post something on our Instagram page the week before and get the word out that way.

What are the long term plans for EPSS?

We’re not sure right now other than keep doing what we’re doing and slowly expand into different categories.

What’s your favorite surfing spot?

My favorite surf spot is a secret right point break on an outer Tahitian island. Can’t really say much more than that 😉 Love Jeffreys Bay in South Africa too.

Last question: What’s the story behind the “ICE MOZZ” tee?

Ramsey came up with that one early last year. They look so similar when seeing the shirt from afar, so it just made sense. You also get random laughs from people when wearing it. The world needs more humor.