EVENT FOCUS
STNDBY TPi’s Stew Hume chats to the Co-Founders of STNDBY, Tom Campbell and James Murden, about their new venture, STNDBY – a clothing and technology brand designed for production crew.
Despite the variety of jobs within the production industry; from audio to lighting, and rigging to tour management, there are some annoyances that everyone on an event site shares. From tearing your T-shirt with a walkie-talkie clip, to never knowing where you put that damn Sharpie, these are common irritations that production crew will know only too well. It’s a specialised industry that has specific demands on those who work within it, but, up until now, there has never really been a central hub for crew to purchase clothing and equipment developed specifically for those working within the field – that was, until STNDBY was formed. “We’ve had the idea for STNDBY for two to three years,” reflected CoFounder, James Murden, who met fellow Co-Founder, Tom Campbell, while working on a theatre production over a decade ago. “It’s probably worth noting that we are also now brothers-in-law,” chuckled Murden, reminiscing
how during various family gatherings, both he and Campbell used to talk about the gap in the market for a company that produced clothing designed specifically for the entertainment sector. “Last Christmas, we thought that we might be the people to make this a reality, due to Tom’s extensive knowledge, experience and contacts within the touring and festival market and my own knowledge in TV and theatre.” With an unusual wealth of time on their hands, the duo set to work on the project. “With events getting cancelled and postponed, we thought there was no better time to start working on it,” stated Campbell. “We always say that we ‘never have the time’ but with more free time than we ever imagined, we both knuckled down to make STNDBY a reality.” Having been launched officially on 1 December, there are several products available, from T-shirts with built-in clips for everything from AAA 22
