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August 18, 2017 Posted by Metric Coffee

TDWP X METRIC COFFEE COLLAB!


A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting the fine folks of The Devil Wears Prada. Via a mutual friend (and photographer), Anthony Barlich, Mike of DWP and myself quickly started communicating and dreaming up our collaboration. 


After a few emails and a cupping with the band, our aspirations are coming together in an exciting design and coffee (one hand picked by the band themselves along with the help of their designer Micah Sedmak who helped flesh out our ideas in to an awesome mug/bag combo)!


Without further ado, here are a few questions we asked Mike about our collaboration. 


Seven Questions w/ Mike Hranica from The Devil Wears Prada


1) Tell me a little bit about you?


Hi there, my name is Mike. I was born in Pittsburgh, raised outside Dayton, Ohio, and have lived in Logan Square, Chicago for the last eight or nine years.








2) What is the origin of TDWP?


TDWP started as a means of making the music we wanted to hear. I joined simply wanting to write lyrics and express myself. Twelve years later, here we are!






3) Besides music, what do you enjoy doing while not on tour?

When on tour or not, I spend a lot of time watching sports. I’m a sports nut. I just recently started playing hockey again; so earlier this year I brought gear out on tour and was able to play at a few different spots across the states. It was awesome. I also do my fair share of reading and writing. I’ve self-published three books and am trying to complete more work now.


 


4) When on tour, what are some of your favorite coffee spots here in the states and abroad.



A few that come to mind - one of a few Cafe Grumpy locations in New York, Madcap in Grand Rapids, and One Line in Columbus, Ohio. I find that Madcap consistently sets an exceptional standard. Prufrock and Kaffeine are two favorites in London, and shoutout to Outpost in Nottingham.



5) About the collab, what attracted you to the idea of doing a coffee partnership with Metric?



A coffee collaboration has been a dream of our’s for as long as I can remember, and a local like Metric is the perfect match. To put it plainly, Metric is doing everything right. Our experience with Xavier and the team has been wonderful. We’ve come together to create a cup of coffee we can back with utmost enthusiasm and satisfaction.








6) What can the fans expect from the bag & mug design?


As always, I worked with my best pal Micah Sedmak. Micah’s band headlined TDWP’s first show, which gives an idea as to our long history. Micah and I lived together, ran a clothing company together, and now Micah has done the past few layouts for TDWP releases. He lives just down the road: I’m often over there brainstorming merch ideas or in this case, coffee bag and mug design. We took a subtle jab at ourselves reflective of a Metric motto, that’s all I can say for now. We’re excited. We took our time and came up with the perfect visual presentation.



7) Last question: besides our coffee collaboration, what other collab would be your dream collaboration and why?


It’s only a matter of time until we bug a Chicago brewer long enough to release “prada pale ale.” I also have an idea for a mosaic IPA. Beer! We need TDWP beer! We were lucky enough to collaborate with Vans for a shoe years ago, and as of late I’ve had my sights set on a TDWP chuck taylor. Turns out Converse is hard to get a hold of, though.






All photos by Anthony Barlich.