Toledo artists + organizations
Friends of Culture Clash
We get by with a little help from our friends. Our record store’s legacy, evolution, and future is due in large part to the 419 community that gathers at our small cultural hub. Here are just a few of the Toledo-based businesses, organizations, and artists that we consider Friends of Culture Clash. We love to partner with new friends - contact us if you’ve got an idea!
Little Elephant
Toledo’s Little Elephant started as a recording studio and YouTube channel featuring in-house performances from area and touring punk + emo bands. The small pachyderm has evolved to offer custom, high quality lathe-cut vinyl records for bands, artists, labels, etc.
Little Elephant is an integral partner for our Live @ Culture Clash LP series, and more!
Screenin’ Fever
Mark Metzger is our kind of multi-hyphenate! When not playing on stage with any number of punk bands, Mark continues to improve his many other talents. Screenin’ Fever is Mark’s hand-pulled screen printing company, focused on supplying bands with fresh merch.
Screenin’ Fever has printed most of our shirts, and Mark’s carpentry can be seen on the record bins inside Culture Clash!
The Switchboard
Culture Clash shares its downtown corner with this fresh and essential Toledo watering hole. Pouring from one of six craft taps, cracking open a cold can or bottle, or mixing a delectable, unpretentious mixed drink, the crew at The Switchboard is always welcoming.
The Switchboard hosts live - and mostly local - music several days a week, and we look forward to making many connections in our unique shared space.
Arts Commission
The Arts Commission supports, promotes and connects visual, performing, and literary artists, arts organizations and businesses. By serving and connecting regional artists and the general public to information and opportunities that inspire a creative life, and through innovative programming, public art, artist services, inclusive youth programs, and community events – The Arts Commission inspires a vibrant community in Toledo.
Culture Clash has begun coordinating with The Arts Commission on some upcoming surprises!
Alliance of independent Media Stores
Our store’s original founder Pat O’Connor established Culture Clash as a formative member of AIMS - a group of forward-thinking music stores across the country dedicated to bringing the best music shopping experience possible. AIMS stores are all locally owned and are widely varied in “look and feel,” but are united in their dedication to putting artistic integrity ahead of mass-market commercial hype. In other words, it’s about the music. We are not a chain, but rather 28 independent stores located in 28 cities coast to coast, working together to benefit our customers and record label partners. Visit any of our fellow AIMS stores and you’ll find a wide selection of music that goes far deeper than most mass-market retailers. Through our combined efforts we’ve helped support artists from the beginnings of their careers, and we’re here to support the labels that support them.
The nearest AIMS stores we fully recommend checking out when you’re outside of Toledo are UHF Records (Royal Oak, MI), Vertigo Music (Grand Rapids, MI), Landlocked Music (Bloomington, IN), Luna Music (Indianapolis, IN), and Shake It Records (Cincinnati, OH).
The Full 90
The Full 90 is a close-knit group of Toledo-area football fans who gather to watch European Premier Leagues + Cups. In the past, Culture Clash has appeared with a pop-up shop to spin and sell vinyl during The Full 90’s tenure at The Village Idiot (Maumee, OH).
StartingFall 2020, Culture Clash welcomes The Full 90 to our very own building downtown. They’ll be served well by The Pub, and we’ll turn up the tunes for ‘em during the breaks between halves.
Beautiful Anonymous
Comedian Chris Gethard launched his Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People (Beautiful/Anonymous) podcast in 2016 with a simple premise: “1 phone call. 1 hour. No names. No holds barred.” Every week, Chris opens the phone line to one anonymous caller, and he can’t hang up first, no matter what. From shocking confessions and family secrets to philosophical discussions and shameless self-promotion, anything can and will happen!
During the few months between the passing of Culture Clash founder Pat O’Connor and the sale of the business to owner Tim Friedman, Friedman got through to Gethard and mulled over whether he should leave his market research career to take over his favorite shop.
Spoiler alert: Tim bought Culture Clash. Chris later recorded an episode of his podcast there. The two chatted for an episode of “Beautiful Follow-Ups.” This has created a secret handshake of sorts when B/A listeners make their way to the magical little record shop discussed on their favorite podcast.
Community Solidarity Response Network
The Community Solidarity Response Network of Toledo (CSRNT) is a group of mobilized and concerned citizens, dedicated to creating direct and peaceful action against police violence.
Noting that the City spends 31 cents of every tax revenue dollar on the Toledo Police Department, CSRN member Julian Mack said “there is no evidence to show that increased spending on policing brings about a reduction in crime.” Mack said that he and his fellow CSRN colleagues are calling on the City of Toledo to:
1. Redirect funds towards programs and services that address basic human needs
2. Increase public transparency about police misdeeds
3. Provide information to the public to hold the Toledo Police Department accountable.
Specifically, CSRN is seeking a reallocation of half of the TPD budget to programming for affordable housing, job transportation, education and health care.
Culture Clash supports CSRN (and other local #BlackLivesMatter organizers) by donating all proceeds from our Black Lives Matter signs.
Artist and graphic designer Erin Kunz has developed her creative and professional skills through years of experience at Interrupt and Toledo Museum of Art. Before Erin made her impact on our record store, she attended a David Bazan house show in future-owner Tim’s living room. The first thing she noticed was a piece of her own artwork that Tim and his wife had enthusiastically purchased from Handmade Toledo and hung by their front door.
Erin Kunz developed the branding and the Culture Clash universe which was unveiled in April 2019, and has already inspired contributions from more area artists.
Sailor Woody is a tattoo artist established at Toledo’s Infinite Art Tattoo - right by our legacy store on Secor Rd. He’s been adding fresh ink to skin since 1989 and is responsible for a good number of Culture Clash + spaceship tattoos.
Woody has designed two of our raddest Culture Clash shirts. The “Woody mk II” is available in the store and right here.
Rachel Richardson worked at Culture Clash’s first location in the Westgate Shopping Center and is a true asset to Toledo’s art scene.
Of her experiences at Culture Clash, Rachel says, “My life was enriched by the opportunity to work closely with Pat. His death shook me and inspired me. I feel like he is still in my heart, cheering on all of my creative endeavors just the way he did when he was living. Tim has honored Pat’s legacy while taking the shop to the next level - and downtown!!”
Rachel and her partner Yusuf Lateef have illustrated and printed a children’s book written by their 4-year-old Naima, detailing a plan for kids and grownups to collect worms so Donald Trump can eat them when he goes to prison.
Stacy Jurich is our Boochy Mama. She learned how to brew kombucha in a sustainable Hawaiian eco-village, and returned to Toledo to found Great Lakes Tonics (home of Boochy Mama’s Probiotic Tonics) in 2015.
Inspired by the beauty, essence + magic of the forest, Boochy Mama's Probiotic Tonics are living, raw, fermented, enzymatic, probiotic tonics made with intentional + inspired botanicals. Kombucha is an ancient elixir of life with seemingly boundless benefits.
Boochy Mama’s handcrafts theirs in small batches in downtown Toledo - right around the corner from Culture Clash. We proudly stock (and drink) seasonal + CBD kombucha from Boochy Mama’s.