A couple weeks back, Nick Hampson found and purchased 200 original Flaming Lips band shirts from the original owner who worked with the band. Because of the nature of this crazy find, we had to talk to him and find out more details on how this came to be.

Crazy find, how did it come to be? 

“I own a vintage shop out here in Oklahoma City, Orange Peel. So through the venue I know a lot of people connected in the music space. I found out a dude that was at my music venue was the first creative director for the lips. he had a lot stuff he wanted to part with so I was able to purchase about 200 shirts in bulk. 

I had a meeting setup with this dude for awhile. The good news is that he says he has another box somewhere as well”.

How long were you sitting on the deal?

“I didn’t know exactly how many shirts he had, but I had this meeting setup with him for about a month. I tried not to stress about it, I knew eventually it was going to get done but it was super overwhelming when I went into a room with him and saw just how many tees he had. I tried to play cool on it”.

How was the creative director when you met with him?

He’s super cool and very involved in the music scene in Oklahoma city. He doesn’t work for the lips anymore so was just looking to move on from it I guess”.

Was he sentimental about it at all?

“There were some things he refused to sell. He’s still got some good ones he wont hand over- I think he was a little sad to see everything go”.

Did you have to keep your cool when you saw everything?

“Yeah it was crazy, I had to just sit there in silence for like 5 minutes”. 

Best shirt out of the bunch? 

“This is one of the more iconic designs they had. Wayne’s personal that he drew with all the dots and the sperm going everywhere is really one of one.  Theres no topping this, this is the best find I’ve ever had”.

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