Big bang Theory

Moreand more often the sound of music and the passion for flashin’ comes crashing together—a cultural version of the Big Bang Theory—and there are many front-runners taking advantage. Take fashion designer and music artist Damion Thompson, whose band, 3 the Hard Way, has laced the eardrums of many music audiences for the past several years. Today his new theory of groove is suited with the UrbanSol Band (also the name of his clothing line), a motley band threaded with people of different cultures, ages and talents. In their performances the crew sports his fly fashion, coordinating in colors and chorus.

What is your vision for UrbanSol?

We are moving toward positively impacting the world through timeless music, fashion and art. Changing people’s lives through music, impacting them with the fashion, and just doing good… I think a lot of artists have a negative stigma, like we just don’t care about anything and we just do whatever, so you have this whole bad-boy image. We have a lot of attitude with our music, but it’s good attitude, so there’s a lot of character behind our music.

How would you describe your UrbanSol clothing line?

Consistent with my own personal style—unique, edgy, yet classic. As a boy you play with Army figures. G.I. Joes and war movies never go out of style, so I have a fascination with military apparel. I was selling military-themed attire years ago with an urban twist to it. T-shirts never go out of style because they make a statement. I have over 50 or 60 T-shirt designs that I have sold. A lot of my most popular selling items are just the basic leisure-wear: T-shirts, track jackets, baseball caps, sweatshirts. There are certain things that are not necessarily trendy—they’re timeless.

And UrbanSol’s debut CD, Beautiful Music?

The music encompasses a lot of classic instruments that have been around forever. We have a full horn section reminiscent of high-school marching bands or horn sections that were big in bebop or funk bands.

Talk about how you complement fashion with music in UrbanSol concerts.

They go hand-in-hand. It’s totally interactive with the models and musicians. They’re just like any other musical you would see—Dreamgirls, Little Shop of Horrors—but it’s all original music, and it’s all fashion-based. So it would be like skits and things— it’s a moving theme.

What are the next steps for UrbanSol?

One of the immediate steps is to tour. Milwaukee, unfortunately—in all its beauty—is a following city… A lot of times, they don’t appreciate their own artists as much as they should until we go somewhere else, get recognition, and come back. That’s what I plan to do: Put the UrbanSol brand on the world—fashion, music, the whole culture—and take that brand as far as it could go.

To find out more about UrbanSol, go to www.myspace.com/therealurbansol.

Photo by Corey Hengen