Under the Scene

HWS has recently taken a strong interest in the clothing site Under the Scene. The site offers high-quality apparel, particularly the Paninaro range, which features hoodies, t-shirts, and sweaters adorned with cool images such as the Paninaro gatherings on bikes outside Italian sandwich bars.

“Passion and love and sex and money / Violence, religion, injustice and death”

However, the owner of the site has faced significant adversity to reach this point of success. In 2018 he suffered a significant brain injury, his initial recovery included speech improvement, mobility and memory. The result of this has left him with epilepsy with some memory lapses. During his recovery, he began experimenting with various designs and artwork. Over the past year, he has taken his passion more seriously and has certainly evolved in his craft. His resilience and creativity have come together harmoniously, and here at HWS, we appreciate a strong working-class story that has emerged from any type of hardship.

BORN OF PASSION, MADE WITH PRIDE

“In life, there are moments that change us forever, moments that awaken our passions and drive us to create something extraordinary”

Welcome Dave, and thanks for speaking to us. So, where did the title Under the Scene come from?

 It actually came from the Mrs.  I started doing some artwork when I was recovering from a head injury.  It wasn’t something I’d ever done before.  It was a great way of learning a new skill; the majority of the first ones were rotten.  But like I said it was a learning curve.  But the Mrs saw some of them and suggested I put them on for sale.  I was really apprehensive about it.  Sticking something you’d done out into the public.  The name was chosen as I worked in the music industry for a long time.  You get bands and artists that are all part of a certain scene, well, I’d work with the outcasts or acts that were trying to resurrect their career.  So, I was under the scene

Your resilience has driven you onto your creativity can you tell us more about your journey?

So, back in 2019, I was at a real low point.  I’d lost my business in music, my marriage had ended, and I was in a kind of spiral.  I was out on my usual booze session, saw a sexual assault, so I intervened to stop it.  I ended up with four guys knocking seven bells out of me.  One stuck my head on the kerb and stomped on the back of it.  It has left me with a lifelong brain injury and post-traumatic epilepsy.  After the attack, I really went into a spiral.  Boozing and other stuff got really bad.  I carried a lot of anger around it.  Ended up getting arrested a few times.  It was dark.  I then met a great Irish woman who pointed me in a more positive direction.  It pretty much got me to stop whining and feeling sorry for myself, and let a single incident define the rest of my life.  So here I am.

Being from Kilmarnock, there has always been a connection to the name Paninaro, is that why you have a passion for designing those t-shirts, etc?

Yeah, so I’d go to a fair few games over the years.  I was first taken to Rugby Park back in the 80s.  They must have been in the second division back then; it was the old ground.  Then later, I went back and started seeing the Paninaro banners around the ground. So yeah, the stuff came from being at the football and seeing the guys dressed well with the banners.  Years later, I bumped into a few of the guys and we started talking about stuff like that.  That’s when I decided to stick it on a t-shirt.

When did your love of terrace labels start?

Probably around the age of 14–15.  I was a wee scruffy ginger kid right into grunge stuff.  Oasis and OCS, Cast and The Verve played Irvine Beach Park back in 1995.  I’d never really seen folk dressed like that.  There was no internet back then, and NME and other publications were still covering the American grunge movement.  So, after that, I was off. I worked at Fred Perry, adidas, and Sergio ended up doing two paper rounds and caddying on weekends to afford a Stone Island effort.  It took me about 3 months to get it.

We see you link music, football and subculture in your webpage. These are our passions, also. Can you share your musical influences with us?

Music yeah always been a big thing for me.  I’ve had the pleasure of working with some great guys. However, it did start with music playing at home constantly.  My mate’s big brother, Andrew, would have stuff like The Smiths, Jesus and the Mary Chain, and things like that on.  My mum was right into Squeeze.  Over the years, my own taste came out.  By the time I was in my mid-teens, it was the Britpop era that led me to look back at music, including groups like the Pistols, the MC5, the Beach Boys, and then soul and northern soul, as well as proper old-school hip-hop, such as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 and Run-DMC.  The music also sent me in a different direction when it came to movies, books and artwork.  So, it has been an ever-changing thing.

Is this the first time you have put together canvas prints when you started your site?

Yeah it was. Like I said before some of the early ones were awful. I still remember where I was when the first one sold. It was a Joe Strummer canvas. I was sat in my partners parents kitchen in Ireland having breakfast. The site had been live for a few months and nothing sold. Then I got this ping through on my phone. I was actually a bit scared to send it to the fella in case he thought it was shite after he bought it. It does still amaze me that folk have prints and canvas of mine in their houses. Or wearing my clothes.

We always ask this one: What would be your top three trainers?

Nike Pegasus Omega flames,

Adidas Trimm Trab rivalry pack with the Stanley park coordinates on the inner collar , Puma Roma 1968 gotta be in the blue and yellow.

It was cool to see Eddie Clarke in a recent interview wearing one of your Paninaro sweaters.

Yeah, Eddie had bought one of the earlier sweaters and with some of them the quality was questionable.  He sent a message to complain.  I knew I had to act, as he wasn’t the only one.  I went and found a new manufacturer, and he popped up when the new stuff went on sale. He was a bit sceptical about buying one.  So I sent one over, and his reaction was totally different, but he’s not been back on the site to buy anything yet.  So give him a nudge to get that sorted.

We see we have a mutual love for house music; do you have a favourite DJ?

I loved Greame Parks, guys like Ron Hardy, Jesse Saunders, Grandmaster Flash, Lee Scratch Perry stuff.  But it’s gotta be Pat Sharpe all time favourite from funhouse to the clubs.

How do you view the recent return of Oasis? Were you interested?

It’s great for the younger guys that didn’t get to see it first time round.  For guys my age it’s great for those memories.  It’s great for Liam and Noel, let’s face it the tour is paying for Noel’s divorce.

What does the future hold for your good self?

No idea, I’d love to expand the shop and have a team with me on it.  As I do not have a clue what I’m doing.  I’ve just been making it up as I go along.   In the immediate future, I’m going to catch Craig Charles in Milngavie and have a great catch-up with the Sugarhill gang and the Furious Five in Glasgow.

Thanks for speaking to HWS mate.

No probs.

Under the Scene can be visited here: Under the Scene