Today we’d like to introduce you to Eli James.
Hi Eli, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was an international touring drummer for a bunch of local Los Angeles bands from 2007-2017. (Julien-K/ Dead By Sunrise, SKOLD and “The Eli James Experience!” to name a few). As a touring artist, I always had a hard time finding great clothing that fit my lifestyle.. going to the gym, meetings, red carpets, dinners/ music business hangs, studios, etc.. all while working seven jobs to keep the dream alive. The trick was to “be” the touring musician without showing I was juggling the side jobs. The “fake it till you make it” juggle. I’ve always altered my clothing making it more like “me” and my style so one day, I randomly decided to just make my own clothes. I mean, why not?! Mainly for stage but also for my everyday life, I call a circus. Lol…
Just wearing my own clothing out and about was really random and weird to me at the time. But next thing you know, all my friends asked where I got my clothes?… I of course said I made them… so, guess what? I started to make stage clothes for super amazing friends and bands like Frank Zummo (SUM41), Josh Dunn (Twenty One Pilots), Adrian Young (No Doubt)… to amazing illusionists/ magicians like Joseph Réohm, Joel Meyers, Spidey and so much more! Within three months of starting this new fun adventure, I was making clothes for Marilyn Manson camp to Ellen DeGeneres. Such an incredible time and also never slept. I still had to juggle seven jobs to keep a roof over my head, do the drummer/ hired gun juggle and now had my own clothing thing going on. I remember working all day, going to rehearsals, meetings, etc. and rocking out my custom-made clothes! Only a few hours of sleep per night but it seemed worth it so why not?
I never meant to make a clothing brand but things started to get out there and figured I’d have to come up with a name so I thought Ghosts were always cool and my life was like a Circus so I figured I’d coin the word “GhostCircus” and slapped “Apparel” on it as well.. and away I went! GhostCircus Apparel was born in March of 2015!
As my name and business started to become something, other brands really paid attention to my vision and artistic creations then would reach out for me to be their designer and also head of manufacturing for them so they can get designer clothes/ different garments for their brands made right here in Los Angeles. At the time, I had NO idea what I was doing. I just said, “yeah, of course I can do that!” and then figured it out. Lol, It’s like I got my college degree in a “real life” and got paid for it!
A few years of juggling that and then Covid happened. As a designer, I decided to make myself a mask.. showed my wife Tara Conner and she said I should put those up on ghostcircusapparel.com (my website). I could help a lot of people and maybe make a dollar or two. So I did.. and WOW! We ended up becoming an essential business real quick through a great friend of mine Nury and started to extend that to my manufacturers DTLA so they could stay open. Remember, everything was shut down because of the pandemic, not to mention riots and human rights all going on at the same time.. it seemed like a post-apocalyptic movie… We went from 4 people working with us to over 100 within two weeks. We ended up helping over 500,000 people all over the world in such a short time, gave amazing people work when so many were losing their jobs and donated over 50,000 face masks to local hospitals, clinics, shelters, etc. I was (and still am) extremely grateful to have helped so many.
GhostCircus Apparel blew up and the merchandising side of my company took off as well. We do print, embroidery, patchwork, re-labeling and so much more from GhostCircus HQ here in Los Angeles (North Hollywood). The whole clothing business seemed to be expanding for us and in major ways.
Now, this is just a short clip of what we went through to make all the above happen and we are now going on 8 years as a business, but if you have a dream, an idea or a vision, just go for it! Make magic happen and don’t give up! Believe in yourself! You are worth it! 🙂
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Having and owning a business hasn’t always been a smooth road at all.. the massive ups and downs through the years, I wanted to give up SO many times. But if I did then I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As an artist, I’ve always had a “not normal” outlook on anything I did… where anything is possible! In reality, it hasn’t always been that way but my mindset and heart is so strong I just out-created any negativity that came about.. either it be stops from a relationship, a peer, a bank or anything else. I am and was so used to not having much ever since I was a kid that I knew no matter what I will be okay and make it!
GhostCircus is now a clothing brand ghostcircusapparel.com and also a merchandising company ghostcircusmerch.com where we do a ton of embroidery, print, manufacturing here in Los Angeles and so much more. We do things for companies, the movie/ tv show industry to clothing brands. You have a vision and we can help you make it a reality!
I am extremely proud of us as an entity, but mainly our quality and attention to our customers and also detail really sets us apart. We aren’t the cheapest but we are fair and pay fair wages to our workers and without that, we couldn’t be here for our customers now and/ or in the future.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Support by going to our socials @GhostCircus_ and @GhostCircusMerch or @elijames. Go to our website at ghostcircusapparel.com or gh
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ghostcircusapparel.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/ghostcircus_
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ghostcircus_
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ghostcircus_
- Other: http://www.ghostcircusmerch.com
Image Credits
Kilo Alexander
