Playing at the Factory Floor

We wanted to make a T-shirt, and we wanted it to feel like us, down to every stitch. We spend months shaping a sound, so we went looking for people who shape fabric with the same care. We found them at Pedrosa & Rodrigues, a family factory in Portugal. On the day we filmed there, we set up our gear between the sewing machines and played for the people who make our clothes.

The brief

We started with the fabric: 100% cotton jersey, 240gsm, heavy enough to hold its shape. The cut is oversized. The MXGPU icon is printed large on the back, and a small loop label carries it on the front. The Royal Studio designed it. Everything is sourced and made in Portugal, and it ships in paper packaging with no plastic.

The factory

Portugal has been making textiles for six centuries, and you feel it the moment you walk in Pedrosa & Rodrigues. Ana, head of product, grew up on the factory floor; the business started in her grandparents’ garage. Amélia has run the cutting room for 42 years. Joana, the product manager, had been there a year. Tita supervised our T-shirts from the first sample to the last fold.

We filmed all four. Before each interview we handed over a pair of headphones and played an MXGPU track. Nobody had heard it before, and their reactions are the best part of the footage. Ana’s verdict, in Portuguese, was short: “É ganda banger.”

The concert

Just before lunch, the machines went quiet. We played a short set on the factory floor, between the cutting tables, with everyone who works there gathered round.

“I never imagined we’d have a concert on the factory floor,” Ana told us afterwards. “Not even in a fever dream.” Tita thought the good mood would stay in the building after we left.

For Joana, the link between the two crafts was simple: “The way we dress deeply affects how we feel in our day to day.”

The film

We cut the day into a one-minute film set to ‘ease’ (ft. Malou): the road trip, the machines, the people and the set. It ends where it began, because the story runs in a loop.

This factory was already making music long before we arrived. We just turned up the volume.

The T-shirt

The MXGPU T-shirt is in the Collection, including the glow-in-the-dark edition.

Credits

Production: Pedrosa & Rodrigues, S.A.

Ana: head of product

Amélia: head of cutting

Joana: product manager

Tita: key account manager, MXGPU T-shirts

Design: The Royal Studio

Film and photography: Márcio Enes

Road and packaging footage: João Cardielos

Music: ‘ease’ (ft. Malou)