January 23, 2023 • 28 mins
Welcome to another captivating episode of the MenswearStyle Podcast. Today, we have an exciting interview with Justin Deighton, Co-Founder of Two Tribes Brewery, a brand that creates refreshing beers designed to bring people together and celebrate the love of the moment.
Join our host, Peter Brooker, as he delves into the fascinating founding story of Two Tribes Brewery with Justin, who embarked on this venture after a successful career in the music industry. Discover how the brewery, established in 2017, was born out of the collective experiences and influences of individuals who were at the epicenter of London's vibrant 90s club-culture movement. The values of fun, freedom, curiosity, and creative discovery that defined that era continue to form the foundation of Two Tribes' operations today.
Two Tribes Brewery prides itself on being a provocateur within the London brewing scene, constantly challenging the norms and pushing the boundaries of what is expected from a craft brewery. They foster collaboration and unity by bringing together a diverse range of creatives, including brewers, artists, musicians, filmmakers, chefs, and more, to embark on exciting collaborative projects.
In this episode, Justin shares valuable insights into the rise of independent beer brewing, offering a glimpse into the experiences and challenges of transitioning from the music industry to a new and dynamic field. Discover the intricacies of raising capital, fostering creativity, and cultivating meaningful partnerships. Justin also provides an intriguing perspective on the role of artificial intelligence in the brewing process and highlights the unique CAMPFIRE venue, which serves as a vibrant hub for Two Tribes Brewery.
Join us as we delve into the captivating world of Two Tribes Brewery, where the values of their founders' past converge with their present-day endeavors. Gain insights into their innovative approach to brewing, their commitment to collaboration, and the vibrant culture they have created within the London brewing scene. Prepare to be inspired by their relentless pursuit of pushing boundaries, fostering creativity, and creating memorable experiences through the art of brewing.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
PB (00:13):
Hello, welcome back to another episode of the menswear
style podcast. I'm your hostPete Brooker and today on the
show we have the co founder oftwo tribes just in Dayton. Two
Tribes brewery emerged fromLondon's counterculture. They
unite brewers, artists,musicians, chefs and craft
creators with shared values offun freedom, curiosity and
(00:35):
creative discovery. They are acommunity of people who come
together to share a love of themoment, their name reflects
their constant first to bringnew creatives into the fold to
explore what they can bring fromtheir tribe. To this,
essentially, two tribes is aboutcold beer and collaboration.
It's that simple. And you canalso check out two tribes online
(00:59):
to tribes.co.uk. And here todescribe the brewery and the
journey in his own words, his cofounder, just in Dayton, Justin,
are you the co founder orfounder?
Unknown (01:13):
I am the founder, but co founder, I suppose, is my
wife.
PB (01:19):
You get in trouble if I call you the founder?
Unknown (01:23):
No, she's she's been on the journey with me. And when we
originally kind of came tostarting to tribes, she actually
came up with a name. Oh, really?
So and also, you know, as I say,she was by my side when we were
doing that. And, and part ofthat journey as well. She's
(01:46):
she's gone on to do much, muchmore exciting things for me. But
she's definitely, you know, beenby my side for the whole
journey. So, I'd like to, I'mthe founder, but my wife isn't
my founder as
PB (02:01):
well, Justin, I'm going to include that in because I think
that's actually quiteinteresting. But for the
uninitiated, perhaps you couldintroduce yourself properly. And
to your friends, how do you bestdescribe to tribes?
Unknown (02:15):
My name is Dustin Dayton, and I am the co founder
of to how do I explain what twotribes is about ultimately, two
tribes is a brewery. We're abeer brand. But more than that,
we're actually a beer brand thatreally is about a lifestyle, a
(02:42):
lifestyle culture or lifestylebrand. You know, we want to
incorporate a lot of the thingsthat interests myself and my co
pilot Leo, who I work on all thecreative with throughout the
business, and you know, ourheritage is music industry,
(03:05):
design and, and just kind of,you know, kind of club culture,
fashion. All of these things areincorporated in everything. We
do it to tribes. So, yeah,
PB (03:21):
interesting. So, just take us back to when two tribes
began. You mentioned before thatyou were from Chelsea and but
you're now down in Brighton thatright?
Unknown (03:32):
Yeah, I mean, I've I've lived all over London. And the
originally from Chelsea. ButI've I didn't live in Chelsea
for.
So yeah, basically, I worked inthe music industry for 25 plus
(03:52):
years from originally, being aDJ, then getting a job or record
label,being you know, promote doing
promotions, club promotions,radio promotions, in the early
90s. And then that led me tokind of work on launch,
(04:15):
launching record labels, andthen going on to launch my own
record label. So I did that. Myfirst record label I launched in
1993. So with that, that took meon a journey where I was
(04:35):
producing, running a recordlabel a&r in a record label
promoting a record label whichwhich incorporated DJing across
the UK and then on to Europe andthe world. So it was very much
my life for a long In time,they're not around 2000 I 2001,
(05:03):
I decided to start working withmy now wife with a company that
was called a predict a creativeproduction partner for the music
(05:24):
industry. So what we did, weoriginally started off designing
record sleeves and basicallyproducing record sleeves, but it
was more project managing thewhole release. And then we moved
on to CD packaging. Working withadvertising agencies, and
(05:49):
perfume packaging fashion, grewthat business over 10 years. And
then fortunately, we were ableto sell that business. So. So
that was kind of the point whereI looked around and and so you
(06:11):
know, what am I going to do?
PB (06:20):
Now, what year is this, so what point
Unknown (06:24):
around 2012 We did that. We went on a gap year with
the kids just to kind of get outof our system, which was great.
And when we came back to the UK,we kind of looked at
(06:44):
opportunities that chimed withour skills, but weren't
necessarily in the musicindustry. And the f&b industry
was always a kind of somethingthat interested my wife and I.
So we looked at many things, butthere was there was an element
(07:07):
of what was happening with beerand the craft beer scene at that
time. That kind of chimed withmine, or our skill set, or we
felt comfortable with. And thatwas you know, back in the 90s
you had guys that were makingmusic in their bedrooms and
(07:32):
pressing up 1000 white labelrecords and driving around their
local city and selling therecords to independent record
stores. And, and you know, dancemusic was moving very fast, it
was very, was very exciting.
And, and, and these guys thatwere doing these independent
(07:54):
things and and changing thedial, we're actually creating
your movement and creating awhole new scene that these kind
of bigger, dominant musiccompanies didn't know what the
hell was going on, because theywere all dinosaurs really. And I
felt there was exactly the samething happening in kind of
(08:15):
2012 2013 with independentbreweries in the Clark craft
beer scene. Right? It was guys,there was guys brewing beer in
lockup or garage or backyard orwhatever. And, you know, kind of
filling up a van and drive himaround till the end pubs or bars
(08:37):
and, and selling beer that wasnot commonly known in the styles
that they were they werebrewery. And that's, to me is is
really exciting. And that's,that's, that's why I ultimately
got involved and started to youknow, kind of research it and
(09:01):
and see if I could get myselfinvolved in it.
PB (09:07):
So what are the stepping stones at this point? Do you
then go and buy a couple of DemiJohn's and try and get suddenly
going yourself? Or are you goingin and there'll be a higher end
and a
Unknown (09:17):
higher level? It turned out there was a guy locally
because I'd moved to Brighton bythen there was a guy locally
that I knew and he had a coupleof businesses but one of them
being a kind of a brewer craftbrewery or, you know, a small
(09:38):
brewery. It wasn't necessarilybrewing the beers that were were
interested in me. It was morebrewing ales. There was a brewer
there that had a lot ofknowledge. And the guy that had
that business basically was, youknow, fallen out of love with it
really wanting to do otherthings. So there was an
(09:59):
opportunity It's easy for me togo in there and learn and
understand the business,understand the industry and
understand the product reallylearn to brew not Not that I
ever wanted to be a brewer, butI believe, if you're gonna get
into something you need to, youneed to learn from the ground up
(10:22):
to be able to really understandwhat you want to achieve, as
interested.
PB (10:27):
So did you know this guy at all before you approached him?
Or was it just very not
Unknown (10:34):
doing this and, you know, we just talked about, you
know, what he wanted to do. Andit was that sort of thing,
really. So that, you know, I sawit as an apprenticeship really,
before I went off, did my ownbrand, or my own brewery. This
was the apprenticeship I neededto do, which you know, to be
(10:55):
honest, wasn't easy. Becausekind of, you know, someone who
hasn't kind of conformed toworking for anyone or, or
following any anyone's kind ofideas apart from your own since
they were early 20s is quitehard to kind of, you know,
(11:16):
shoehorn yourself into abusiness that you don't you're
not necessarily passionate aboutthe product, but want to learn
and understand. And that was thebest way to do it. And as I say,
well, it wasn't easy, but youknow, it was, I'm really pleased
I did it. I'm really pleased todo.
PB (11:36):
So I'm just curious, you got to you had the gap year, you've
come back and you've had a lookaround. And now you think like
this is a project, I'm going tobe an apprentice here. Did we
kind of have enough money lyingaround for you to also just,
like, take time off and do thisproject? Or was there stuff
going on?
Unknown (11:57):
It wasn't you know, I sold a business, it wasn't life
changing that I went and boughtan island instead of another
business. I knew I needed towork. And I obviously I've still
sort of only just around, youknow, late 30s. So, you know, I
needed to do something. And Iyeah, I kind of I had money
(12:23):
because of course, you know, sayI had money but I needed to you
know, I needed to be wise withit really. But you know, getting
into brewing can be quiteexpensive.
PB (12:35):
But that was going to lead me on to the next question, did
you? Did you seek kind ofcrowdfunding or in or angel
investment over this? Totallybank.
Unknown (12:46):
It kinda is.
Serendipity, really, there was ai, i got back in touch with
contacts that I knew in themusic industry. And I hoped and
are being introduced to a guycalled Paul camp, who actually
owns the tile yard complex,which is the creative quarter or
(13:09):
whatever you want to call it, ofwhere we live now, as far as in
Kings Cross where the brewery isand where our campfire Taproom
is. So I got introduced to him,he was at a point when he was
looking at investing into abusiness that would enhance
(13:33):
title yard.
PB (13:39):
Coal drops yard to this somewhere close to that.
Unknown (13:41):
It's very close out drops. Yeah, it's just your way.
So he, you know, at the timetaljaard was, is still but it
was the time it was it wasaround 100 Odd recording
studios, music companies thatwere all based in sort of the
(14:05):
same area. And there wasn't alot around there, there wasn't a
lot to keep the people thatworks there. You know, it wasn't
like anywhere where they couldreally go and have a drink after
work or socialise or whatever.
So he was keen to kind ofprovide that with me bringing
the brewery idea and obviously,you know, to tribes as a brand
(14:32):
idea, which was very muchassociated with music and my
background, it fitted so heinvested for us to basically
build the brewery which I didwith my money, his money and
and, and some asset finance aswell.
PB (14:57):
It's a very, like you said earlier quite serendipitous
meetings, I guess. And you know,combining your journey in the
past and where you are. Now, inorder to get that off the
ground, I'm just thinking of itfor anyone listening, that is
also trying to get their ownbrewery off the ground, how they
can maybe follow in yourfootsteps? And I guess you can't
(15:18):
really because it's kind of whoyou know, where you are in your
life, various passions, wouldyou say?
Unknown (15:25):
Just as any business really, I think you, you, you
just said, their passions. Ifyou've got a passion to do
something, you know, Nothing'seasy, right? Doesn't matter how
much money you've got, orwhatever. Or knowledge, you're
always going to have hurdlesthat you've got to overcome.
(15:48):
With business, and, you know, Ithink you've just got to have
the passion and drive to keep itgoing. And, and, and get over
those hurdles. And, and justmove forward always, and be
positive about what you're doingand believe in what you're
doing. Because, you know, if youstart doubting your visions,
then then it's going to make ita lot harder to overcome any
(16:12):
obstacles.
PB (16:13):
Yeah, I was just thinking this, as we're talking, you
mentioned, your, your past ofbeing a creative, I guess, a
musician being on the scene.
This does feel like one industrywhere you also get itch, that
creativity, if you know, I mean,you can also be, you can also
kind of stretch here and stretchyour wings in this industry. And
(16:35):
just I'm gonna just fire up acouple of graphics for anyone
that's happened to watch this onYouTube, but I'm just going to
walk through some of not notjust what's inside the camera,
but also what's what's outsidethe camera? Do you find it quite
rewarding? Creative creativitywise, if that's a word? To do
this stuff?
Unknown (16:54):
Yeah, totally.
Absolutely. That that's, that'skind of my, you know, that's my,
that's my happy place. You know,I'm, I'm very fortunate that I,
I was able to kind of bring Leo,on board with this journey. And,
you know, he's, he's amazing.
(17:19):
Way better than I'll ever be.
But together, we've, we'veformed this kind of creative
force that the evolved fromdoing to tribes, and, you know,
right, from the early stages of,you know, just doing the tap
badge or whatever, you know,we're now in a different space,
if you want to put a differentworld where, you know, we're
(17:40):
thinking a lot about marketingassets and brand. And, you know,
it's taught both of us an awfullot. But we've been on a journey
together. And now I feel, we'rekind of, you know, as I say,
it's our happy place, we can wecan, we can get locked in and do
do design or creative orwhatever, or even we still make
(18:04):
music. And we do that together alot. And there's our happy
place.
PB (18:14):
It must be quite convenient, also being a DJ, because you can
get to do your own launches.
Like if you've got a new productcoming out and you party, it's
like, well, who we're gonna getinto the entertainment. It's
like, well, you're looking outso you can always Yeah,
Unknown (18:26):
yeah, there is a certain there's an element of
that. A little bit of that. Idon't mind doing it. Every now
and again, is a bit of a hobby,and I do still really love it.
But you know, when I was in myprime, I used to get really
pissed off if people asked me todo the warm up and now now I
(18:46):
asked to do it. You know, we do,we, we've also partnered with a
community radio station in KingsCross called Voices radio. And
that's something I'm passionateabout is supporting younger kids
coming through. And, and, youknow, basically giving them the
(19:10):
opportunity to grow and, and,you know, sort of get their
creative juices kind of out tothe world. And, you know, that's
great. So, you know, that'ssomething we do where, you know,
it's a community radio stationfor us to if we're doing a
launch event, and we use hisvoice is DJ and you know, they
(19:34):
get it they get some money fordoing that, then then that's,
that helps them continue doingthe stuff they don't get paid
for if you're not me. So, youknow, that's really where we use
I suppose, minor Leo's musictalents, but we don't
(19:55):
necessarily perform ourselvesall the time
PB (19:58):
as a force for good And, and on that. I wanted to talk about
the AI campaign that you've,you've got going, and perhaps
you can just walk us throughthat, how has how has that come
about?
Unknown (20:14):
Well, it came about that, to be honest. Leo and I
were kind of heard through thegrapevine about mid journey,
which is basically the kind ofplatform that we've created our
sort of AI server on. And a lotof people within Creative
(20:36):
Industries, we're playing aroundwith this, this new resource of
AI, to, you know, just for funto start with. We obviously got,
you know, got intrigued by it,and it just kind of played
around there. And it justevolved from there, we were
(20:57):
like, Well, look, you know, thekind of our cans have collage
artwork on them, which aresourced images that are that Leo
and I collect over time,
PB (21:16):
it's very pop art, would you say? Or is there another name
for it? You know,
Unknown (21:22):
we're kind of, you know, we are kind of pop up
fans. How lots is one of ourfavourite pop art artists. And,
you know, that's our style. Soit made sense for us to be able
to engage with our audience,with our drinkers with our, you
(21:45):
know, call it fans or whateverto get them involved in, in the
design and, and, you know,releasing a beer, basically. So,
yeah, it just kind of evolvedfrom that.
PB (22:02):
And so this is purely the packaging, the branding, so they
get the chance to put their ownimages and artwork on the cans.
Yeah. Yeah, using a AIArtificial Intelligence.
Unknown (22:15):
Yeah, the way that the way that it works is we built
this server within the midjourney platform, which who
we've collaborated with on this.
And you know, anybody can go onthere, and, you know, suggest
different themes, or styles,colouring and come up with and
(22:35):
sort of, you know, mid journey,we'll come up with images with
your suggestions.
PB (22:47):
So cool. I've just realised what this is, I've just wrapped
my head around it. So yeah.
Unknown (22:54):
Basically, that's what it is. We opened it up to two
tribes, audience and, you know,gave them a free rein to do as
many entries as possible. And ifthey log on to our server, and
just far away and come up withideas, then they were, you know,
(23:17):
we would we will be able to viewthem and pick our favourite ones
to, to put on a cam.
PB (23:25):
Nice. And do you? Is this still open? Was it competition
running? Or are we
Unknown (23:30):
running that's closed now. But it's very successful,
I'm sure we'll be doingsomething else with with it.
Because it you know, it's a verysort of exciting project. And
it's also it's a great way toengage with with our drinkers.
Yeah, I love it.
PB (23:50):
I think it's genius. And, for example, could someone
approach you and go, Hey, I'vegot a great idea. I'm just going
to feed a load of stuff in hereand make my own label my own can
and they give it to you and yougo, I guess we could do that for
you privately, but it'll cost X
Unknown (24:08):
it's not really something we know it's really
something that I would want tospend time on if you know what I
mean. I would obviously feedback to anyone that wanted to
you know, get some advice andstuff or whatever, but
ultimately, you know, to tribestakes up you know, kind of doing
(24:30):
things just for cash is notreally kind of my my agenda,
PB (24:35):
but we'd be on that That'd be nice. Well, listen, I'm just
in where can people go to a trythe beer but also order it buy
it and get it in their homes.
Unknown (24:50):
You can order the beer on our webstore which is to type
stock code at UK and we willdeliver to your door, and then
it's in various differentindependent book shops around
London. So yeah, I better, bestplace our webstore really
PB (25:14):
awesome. And can people visit the brewery tour? Can they
come see you
Unknown (25:18):
will come to camp fire, which is our venue. We built a,
you know, it's not really a taproom. It's it's, it's a bar that
we built out of a couple ofshipping containers and. And we
also have a fire kitchen. Soit's
PB (25:40):
in Brighton. Know that thinking squats in London. Cool.
All right, so just just down theroad. Yeah, yeah. How often do
you get down there?
Unknown (25:51):
I'm in London 334 times a week, depending on my week.
PB (25:58):
Awesome. And people can come in and announced or do you have
to phone ahead?
Unknown (26:03):
It's open to the public whenever.
PB (26:05):
Oh, great. All right. Well, listen, we'll leave all the
links over on the show notesover at Menswear. style.co.uk.
But if you're in London, and bythe way, if you're in Brighton
as well. We were talking offlineabout how I used to work in
Brighton, I think. I don't knowif people realise how close
Brighton is to London on thetrain. I mean, it sounds like
it's far away because it'scoastal. But it really is just a
(26:28):
3040 minute train ride.
Unknown (26:33):
Depending whether there's leaves on the line.
PB (26:35):
Yeah, I mean, depending if there are people to drive the
trains obviously then that's ashortest trip
Unknown (26:43):
in Brighton as well.
Actually. There's a lot of pubsthat serve two tribes in
Brighton come down and visitwhen the weather's a bit warmer.
Well, that makes
PB (26:51):
sense. I mean, right. And it's also like one of the one of
the more bohemian cities still,I think in the UK, that is open
to new ideas is open to artists.
It feels like all the creativesleft Shoreditch and just went
down to Brighton mean, maybethey're already down there, but
they just joined them. Yes, soWell, Justin, It's great talking
(27:14):
to you. Love the brand. And likeI say we'll leave the link in
the show notes. And next timeI'm down the campfire hopefully
I'll bump into you.
Unknown (27:25):
Cheers man. Thanks. So Thanks Justin
PB (27:39):
you've been listening to the menswear style podcast be sure
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content and email info atmenswear style dot code at UK if
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help support the show by leavinga review on iTunes or wherever
you're listening to thispodcast. Until next time
Hello, welcome back to another episode of the menswear
style podcast. I'm your hostPete Brooker and today on the
show we have the co founder oftwo tribes just in Dayton. Two
Tribes brewery emerged fromLondon's counterculture. They
unite brewers, artists,musicians, chefs and craft
creators with shared values offun freedom, curiosity and
(00:35):
creative discovery. They are acommunity of people who come
together to share a love of themoment, their name reflects
their constant first to bringnew creatives into the fold to
explore what they can bring fromtheir tribe. To this,
essentially, two tribes is aboutcold beer and collaboration.
It's that simple. And you canalso check out two tribes online
(00:59):
to tribes.co.uk. And here todescribe the brewery and the
journey in his own words, his cofounder, just in Dayton, Justin,
are you the co founder orfounder?
Unknown (01:13):
I am the founder, but co founder, I suppose, is my
wife.
PB (01:19):
You get in trouble if I call you the founder?
Unknown (01:23):
No, she's she's been on the journey with me. And when we
originally kind of came tostarting to tribes, she actually
came up with a name. Oh, really?
So and also, you know, as I say,she was by my side when we were
doing that. And, and part ofthat journey as well. She's
(01:46):
she's gone on to do much, muchmore exciting things for me. But
she's definitely, you know, beenby my side for the whole
journey. So, I'd like to, I'mthe founder, but my wife isn't
my founder as
PB (02:01):
well, Justin, I'm going to include that in because I think
that's actually quiteinteresting. But for the
uninitiated, perhaps you couldintroduce yourself properly. And
to your friends, how do you bestdescribe to tribes?
Unknown (02:15):
My name is Dustin Dayton, and I am the co founder
of to how do I explain what twotribes is about ultimately, two
tribes is a brewery. We're abeer brand. But more than that,
we're actually a beer brand thatreally is about a lifestyle, a
(02:42):
lifestyle culture or lifestylebrand. You know, we want to
incorporate a lot of the thingsthat interests myself and my co
pilot Leo, who I work on all thecreative with throughout the
business, and you know, ourheritage is music industry,
(03:05):
design and, and just kind of,you know, kind of club culture,
fashion. All of these things areincorporated in everything. We
do it to tribes. So, yeah,
PB (03:21):
interesting. So, just take us back to when two tribes
began. You mentioned before thatyou were from Chelsea and but
you're now down in Brighton thatright?
Unknown (03:32):
Yeah, I mean, I've I've lived all over London. And the
originally from Chelsea. ButI've I didn't live in Chelsea
for.
So yeah, basically, I worked inthe music industry for 25 plus
(03:52):
years from originally, being aDJ, then getting a job or record
label,being you know, promote doing
promotions, club promotions,radio promotions, in the early
90s. And then that led me tokind of work on launch,
(04:15):
launching record labels, andthen going on to launch my own
record label. So I did that. Myfirst record label I launched in
1993. So with that, that took meon a journey where I was
(04:35):
producing, running a recordlabel a&r in a record label
promoting a record label whichwhich incorporated DJing across
the UK and then on to Europe andthe world. So it was very much
my life for a long In time,they're not around 2000 I 2001,
(05:03):
I decided to start working withmy now wife with a company that
was called a predict a creativeproduction partner for the music
(05:24):
industry. So what we did, weoriginally started off designing
record sleeves and basicallyproducing record sleeves, but it
was more project managing thewhole release. And then we moved
on to CD packaging. Working withadvertising agencies, and
(05:49):
perfume packaging fashion, grewthat business over 10 years. And
then fortunately, we were ableto sell that business. So. So
that was kind of the point whereI looked around and and so you
(06:11):
know, what am I going to do?
PB (06:20):
Now, what year is this, so what point
Unknown (06:24):
around 2012 We did that. We went on a gap year with
the kids just to kind of get outof our system, which was great.
And when we came back to the UK,we kind of looked at
(06:44):
opportunities that chimed withour skills, but weren't
necessarily in the musicindustry. And the f&b industry
was always a kind of somethingthat interested my wife and I.
So we looked at many things, butthere was there was an element
(07:07):
of what was happening with beerand the craft beer scene at that
time. That kind of chimed withmine, or our skill set, or we
felt comfortable with. And thatwas you know, back in the 90s
you had guys that were makingmusic in their bedrooms and
(07:32):
pressing up 1000 white labelrecords and driving around their
local city and selling therecords to independent record
stores. And, and you know, dancemusic was moving very fast, it
was very, was very exciting.
And, and, and these guys thatwere doing these independent
(07:54):
things and and changing thedial, we're actually creating
your movement and creating awhole new scene that these kind
of bigger, dominant musiccompanies didn't know what the
hell was going on, because theywere all dinosaurs really. And I
felt there was exactly the samething happening in kind of
(08:15):
2012 2013 with independentbreweries in the Clark craft
beer scene. Right? It was guys,there was guys brewing beer in
lockup or garage or backyard orwhatever. And, you know, kind of
filling up a van and drive himaround till the end pubs or bars
(08:37):
and, and selling beer that wasnot commonly known in the styles
that they were they werebrewery. And that's, to me is is
really exciting. And that's,that's, that's why I ultimately
got involved and started to youknow, kind of research it and
(09:01):
and see if I could get myselfinvolved in it.
PB (09:07):
So what are the stepping stones at this point? Do you
then go and buy a couple of DemiJohn's and try and get suddenly
going yourself? Or are you goingin and there'll be a higher end
and a
Unknown (09:17):
higher level? It turned out there was a guy locally
because I'd moved to Brighton bythen there was a guy locally
that I knew and he had a coupleof businesses but one of them
being a kind of a brewer craftbrewery or, you know, a small
(09:38):
brewery. It wasn't necessarilybrewing the beers that were were
interested in me. It was morebrewing ales. There was a brewer
there that had a lot ofknowledge. And the guy that had
that business basically was, youknow, fallen out of love with it
really wanting to do otherthings. So there was an
(09:59):
opportunity It's easy for me togo in there and learn and
understand the business,understand the industry and
understand the product reallylearn to brew not Not that I
ever wanted to be a brewer, butI believe, if you're gonna get
into something you need to, youneed to learn from the ground up
(10:22):
to be able to really understandwhat you want to achieve, as
interested.
PB (10:27):
So did you know this guy at all before you approached him?
Or was it just very not
Unknown (10:34):
doing this and, you know, we just talked about, you
know, what he wanted to do. Andit was that sort of thing,
really. So that, you know, I sawit as an apprenticeship really,
before I went off, did my ownbrand, or my own brewery. This
was the apprenticeship I neededto do, which you know, to be
(10:55):
honest, wasn't easy. Becausekind of, you know, someone who
hasn't kind of conformed toworking for anyone or, or
following any anyone's kind ofideas apart from your own since
they were early 20s is quitehard to kind of, you know,
(11:16):
shoehorn yourself into abusiness that you don't you're
not necessarily passionate aboutthe product, but want to learn
and understand. And that was thebest way to do it. And as I say,
well, it wasn't easy, but youknow, it was, I'm really pleased
I did it. I'm really pleased todo.
PB (11:36):
So I'm just curious, you got to you had the gap year, you've
come back and you've had a lookaround. And now you think like
this is a project, I'm going tobe an apprentice here. Did we
kind of have enough money lyingaround for you to also just,
like, take time off and do thisproject? Or was there stuff
going on?
Unknown (11:57):
It wasn't you know, I sold a business, it wasn't life
changing that I went and boughtan island instead of another
business. I knew I needed towork. And I obviously I've still
sort of only just around, youknow, late 30s. So, you know, I
needed to do something. And Iyeah, I kind of I had money
(12:23):
because of course, you know, sayI had money but I needed to you
know, I needed to be wise withit really. But you know, getting
into brewing can be quiteexpensive.
PB (12:35):
But that was going to lead me on to the next question, did
you? Did you seek kind ofcrowdfunding or in or angel
investment over this? Totallybank.
Unknown (12:46):
It kinda is.
Serendipity, really, there was ai, i got back in touch with
contacts that I knew in themusic industry. And I hoped and
are being introduced to a guycalled Paul camp, who actually
owns the tile yard complex,which is the creative quarter or
(13:09):
whatever you want to call it, ofwhere we live now, as far as in
Kings Cross where the brewery isand where our campfire Taproom
is. So I got introduced to him,he was at a point when he was
looking at investing into abusiness that would enhance
(13:33):
title yard.
PB (13:39):
Coal drops yard to this somewhere close to that.
Unknown (13:41):
It's very close out drops. Yeah, it's just your way.
So he, you know, at the timetaljaard was, is still but it
was the time it was it wasaround 100 Odd recording
studios, music companies thatwere all based in sort of the
(14:05):
same area. And there wasn't alot around there, there wasn't a
lot to keep the people thatworks there. You know, it wasn't
like anywhere where they couldreally go and have a drink after
work or socialise or whatever.
So he was keen to kind ofprovide that with me bringing
the brewery idea and obviously,you know, to tribes as a brand
(14:32):
idea, which was very muchassociated with music and my
background, it fitted so heinvested for us to basically
build the brewery which I didwith my money, his money and
and, and some asset finance aswell.
PB (14:57):
It's a very, like you said earlier quite serendipitous
meetings, I guess. And you know,combining your journey in the
past and where you are. Now, inorder to get that off the
ground, I'm just thinking of itfor anyone listening, that is
also trying to get their ownbrewery off the ground, how they
can maybe follow in yourfootsteps? And I guess you can't
(15:18):
really because it's kind of whoyou know, where you are in your
life, various passions, wouldyou say?
Unknown (15:25):
Just as any business really, I think you, you, you
just said, their passions. Ifyou've got a passion to do
something, you know, Nothing'seasy, right? Doesn't matter how
much money you've got, orwhatever. Or knowledge, you're
always going to have hurdlesthat you've got to overcome.
(15:48):
With business, and, you know, Ithink you've just got to have
the passion and drive to keep itgoing. And, and, and get over
those hurdles. And, and justmove forward always, and be
positive about what you're doingand believe in what you're
doing. Because, you know, if youstart doubting your visions,
then then it's going to make ita lot harder to overcome any
(16:12):
obstacles.
PB (16:13):
Yeah, I was just thinking this, as we're talking, you
mentioned, your, your past ofbeing a creative, I guess, a
musician being on the scene.
This does feel like one industrywhere you also get itch, that
creativity, if you know, I mean,you can also be, you can also
kind of stretch here and stretchyour wings in this industry. And
(16:35):
just I'm gonna just fire up acouple of graphics for anyone
that's happened to watch this onYouTube, but I'm just going to
walk through some of not notjust what's inside the camera,
but also what's what's outsidethe camera? Do you find it quite
rewarding? Creative creativitywise, if that's a word? To do
this stuff?
Unknown (16:54):
Yeah, totally.
Absolutely. That that's, that'skind of my, you know, that's my,
that's my happy place. You know,I'm, I'm very fortunate that I,
I was able to kind of bring Leo,on board with this journey. And,
you know, he's, he's amazing.
(17:19):
Way better than I'll ever be.
But together, we've, we'veformed this kind of creative
force that the evolved fromdoing to tribes, and, you know,
right, from the early stages of,you know, just doing the tap
badge or whatever, you know,we're now in a different space,
if you want to put a differentworld where, you know, we're
(17:40):
thinking a lot about marketingassets and brand. And, you know,
it's taught both of us an awfullot. But we've been on a journey
together. And now I feel, we'rekind of, you know, as I say,
it's our happy place, we can wecan, we can get locked in and do
do design or creative orwhatever, or even we still make
(18:04):
music. And we do that together alot. And there's our happy
place.
PB (18:14):
It must be quite convenient, also being a DJ, because you can
get to do your own launches.
Like if you've got a new productcoming out and you party, it's
like, well, who we're gonna getinto the entertainment. It's
like, well, you're looking outso you can always Yeah,
Unknown (18:26):
yeah, there is a certain there's an element of
that. A little bit of that. Idon't mind doing it. Every now
and again, is a bit of a hobby,and I do still really love it.
But you know, when I was in myprime, I used to get really
pissed off if people asked me todo the warm up and now now I
(18:46):
asked to do it. You know, we do,we, we've also partnered with a
community radio station in KingsCross called Voices radio. And
that's something I'm passionateabout is supporting younger kids
coming through. And, and, youknow, basically giving them the
(19:10):
opportunity to grow and, and,you know, sort of get their
creative juices kind of out tothe world. And, you know, that's
great. So, you know, that'ssomething we do where, you know,
it's a community radio stationfor us to if we're doing a
launch event, and we use hisvoice is DJ and you know, they
(19:34):
get it they get some money fordoing that, then then that's,
that helps them continue doingthe stuff they don't get paid
for if you're not me. So, youknow, that's really where we use
I suppose, minor Leo's musictalents, but we don't
(19:55):
necessarily perform ourselvesall the time
PB (19:58):
as a force for good And, and on that. I wanted to talk about
the AI campaign that you've,you've got going, and perhaps
you can just walk us throughthat, how has how has that come
about?
Unknown (20:14):
Well, it came about that, to be honest. Leo and I
were kind of heard through thegrapevine about mid journey,
which is basically the kind ofplatform that we've created our
sort of AI server on. And a lotof people within Creative
(20:36):
Industries, we're playing aroundwith this, this new resource of
AI, to, you know, just for funto start with. We obviously got,
you know, got intrigued by it,and it just kind of played
around there. And it justevolved from there, we were
(20:57):
like, Well, look, you know, thekind of our cans have collage
artwork on them, which aresourced images that are that Leo
and I collect over time,
PB (21:16):
it's very pop art, would you say? Or is there another name
for it? You know,
Unknown (21:22):
we're kind of, you know, we are kind of pop up
fans. How lots is one of ourfavourite pop art artists. And,
you know, that's our style. Soit made sense for us to be able
to engage with our audience,with our drinkers with our, you
(21:45):
know, call it fans or whateverto get them involved in, in the
design and, and, you know,releasing a beer, basically. So,
yeah, it just kind of evolvedfrom that.
PB (22:02):
And so this is purely the packaging, the branding, so they
get the chance to put their ownimages and artwork on the cans.
Yeah. Yeah, using a AIArtificial Intelligence.
Unknown (22:15):
Yeah, the way that the way that it works is we built
this server within the midjourney platform, which who
we've collaborated with on this.
And you know, anybody can go onthere, and, you know, suggest
different themes, or styles,colouring and come up with and
(22:35):
sort of, you know, mid journey,we'll come up with images with
your suggestions.
PB (22:47):
So cool. I've just realised what this is, I've just wrapped
my head around it. So yeah.
Unknown (22:54):
Basically, that's what it is. We opened it up to two
tribes, audience and, you know,gave them a free rein to do as
many entries as possible. And ifthey log on to our server, and
just far away and come up withideas, then they were, you know,
(23:17):
we would we will be able to viewthem and pick our favourite ones
to, to put on a cam.
PB (23:25):
Nice. And do you? Is this still open? Was it competition
running? Or are we
Unknown (23:30):
running that's closed now. But it's very successful,
I'm sure we'll be doingsomething else with with it.
Because it you know, it's a verysort of exciting project. And
it's also it's a great way toengage with with our drinkers.
Yeah, I love it.
PB (23:50):
I think it's genius. And, for example, could someone
approach you and go, Hey, I'vegot a great idea. I'm just going
to feed a load of stuff in hereand make my own label my own can
and they give it to you and yougo, I guess we could do that for
you privately, but it'll cost X
Unknown (24:08):
it's not really something we know it's really
something that I would want tospend time on if you know what I
mean. I would obviously feedback to anyone that wanted to
you know, get some advice andstuff or whatever, but
ultimately, you know, to tribestakes up you know, kind of doing
(24:30):
things just for cash is notreally kind of my my agenda,
PB (24:35):
but we'd be on that That'd be nice. Well, listen, I'm just
in where can people go to a trythe beer but also order it buy
it and get it in their homes.
Unknown (24:50):
You can order the beer on our webstore which is to type
stock code at UK and we willdeliver to your door, and then
it's in various differentindependent book shops around
London. So yeah, I better, bestplace our webstore really
PB (25:14):
awesome. And can people visit the brewery tour? Can they
come see you
Unknown (25:18):
will come to camp fire, which is our venue. We built a,
you know, it's not really a taproom. It's it's, it's a bar that
we built out of a couple ofshipping containers and. And we
also have a fire kitchen. Soit's
PB (25:40):
in Brighton. Know that thinking squats in London. Cool.
All right, so just just down theroad. Yeah, yeah. How often do
you get down there?
Unknown (25:51):
I'm in London 334 times a week, depending on my week.
PB (25:58):
Awesome. And people can come in and announced or do you have
to phone ahead?
Unknown (26:03):
It's open to the public whenever.
PB (26:05):
Oh, great. All right. Well, listen, we'll leave all the
links over on the show notesover at Menswear. style.co.uk.
But if you're in London, and bythe way, if you're in Brighton
as well. We were talking offlineabout how I used to work in
Brighton, I think. I don't knowif people realise how close
Brighton is to London on thetrain. I mean, it sounds like
it's far away because it'scoastal. But it really is just a
(26:28):
3040 minute train ride.
Unknown (26:33):
Depending whether there's leaves on the line.
PB (26:35):
Yeah, I mean, depending if there are people to drive the
trains obviously then that's ashortest trip
Unknown (26:43):
in Brighton as well.
Actually. There's a lot of pubsthat serve two tribes in
Brighton come down and visitwhen the weather's a bit warmer.
Well, that makes
PB (26:51):
sense. I mean, right. And it's also like one of the one of
the more bohemian cities still,I think in the UK, that is open
to new ideas is open to artists.
It feels like all the creativesleft Shoreditch and just went
down to Brighton mean, maybethey're already down there, but
they just joined them. Yes, soWell, Justin, It's great talking
(27:14):
to you. Love the brand. And likeI say we'll leave the link in
the show notes. And next timeI'm down the campfire hopefully
I'll bump into you.
Unknown (27:25):
Cheers man. Thanks. So Thanks Justin
PB (27:39):
you've been listening to the menswear style podcast be sure
to head over to menswear styledot code at uk for more menswear
content and email info atmenswear style dot code at UK if
you'd like to be a future gueston the show. Finally, please
help support the show by leavinga review on iTunes or wherever
you're listening to thispodcast. Until next time
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