We first met Jay Carroll when he was working for homespun, Portland, Maine-based menswear label Rogues Gallery, as its fittingly scruffy and outdoorsy brand manager. Now, Carroll’s assuming a new role, as part of the brainchild behind “One Trip Pass” — a sort of “road trip time capsule” that captures and showcases some of the country’s most interesting products and ideas, often found in the most unassuming locations.
We had a chance to catch up with Carroll the other week to find out what he’s been up to, and ended up chatting about everything from his recent trip to the desert, to his early years as mixtape master…
What have you been up to since leaving Rogues Gallery?
I left Portland, Maine for San Francisco late last summer. I took my truck and zig-zagged around the country in search of unique American goods as part of the second “One Trip Pass” installation, this time a collaboration with Levi’s. It’s kind of this physical expression of the [Levi's] “Go Forth” campaign – a collection of goods and photographs of people and things found and met while traveling across the States. The installation is called “Stars and Stripes.” It’s here in the Levi’s flagship store in San Francisco through the holidays.
Other than that I’ve just been getting settled on the West Coast. I got a couple new tattoos and a new apartment on a hill surrounded by wild parrots.
What is the concept or inspiration behind “One Trip Pass?”
The goal of “One Trip Pass” is to capture and celebrate different pockets of American culture and expression by way of the great American road trip. The original inspiration was the American west, Jack Peirson, Wonder Valley California, the bicentennial, fishing with John, Gram Parsons and Denis Wilson, saying ‘yes’ to everything and blowing off the recession by using it as a reason to do what you want.
“One Trip Pass started during an unexpected West Coast vacation last winter with my friend and former Mens Vogue editor, Ned Martel. Originally it was supposed to be a vintage story for a magazine – two friends traveling the country from the west back east in search of great vintage clothing and artifacts. We started out at the home of my friend, artist/photographer Jack Pierson, in the desert near Twentynine Palms, California. That place changed our direction. The house and region are unreal and incredibly inspiring (I’ve been back four times since) We decided to buy on a very specific theme, as if we were creating a collection — that being “American high desert” — and what we thought that region looked and felt like during the summer of 1976 – the bicentennial. We tied this idea into some current parallels where there is this economic recession going on yet at the same time this renewed sense of patriotism and optimism thanks to the new administration. It felt good to have our country back, to celebrate it without irony and to express that through these great, frayed-around-the-edge but much-loved items that were made here and made well.
You have quite the eye for picking out interesting products and knick-knacks. What’s the secret? How did you develop this sensibility?
Making mix tapes. When I was a young punk, I developed a passion for finding and collecting the best things (or songs), editing and playing with their order, creating some sort of visual packaging for them and presenting it to someone in a way I was proud to say “Here, I made this.” Now it’s that same mental process for creating a look or building a room or doing historical concept research for Rogues Gallery: go with a theme, collect as much as you can and then trim the fat.
What does it take for something to grab your attention?
That’s tough to answer because a lot of it is about context; where it’s from, where it’s going, how it changes, etc. Generally I’d say I like things made from quality materials. I like handmade. I like when things have wear and custom elements that make it unique or one of a kind. But I’d also like say, a cheap plastic toy or poly-cotton bandanas with a painted picture of a sunset on them. You take that out of the strange roadside tourist shop, put it next to a beautiful leather pouch, a big sage-scented candle and a Stephen Shore book about the American west and boom – you’ve got a great little moment happening.
What’s next for “One Trip Pass” and what can we look forward to from you?
I’m launching onetrippass.com soon and I have a big “America, fuck yeah” OTP v.3 installation in the works. There are a lot of incredible things in the works…
- TC
