Shinedown’s Barry Kerch doesn’t care about selling merch for money.
While discussing the bands’ merchandise products with Rock 100.5 the KATT FM’s Cameron Buchholtz in a new chat, the interviewer mentioned KISS and how they’ve had everything. Then, he asked the drummer whether Shinedown was approached for things like beer or whiskey. Kerch replied:
“Yeah those things have happened and here’s the thing, I’m not going to put my name or my band’s name on anything that we wouldn’t either actually use or are a part of. It’s like yeah I could sell a whiskey but none of us are really whiskey drinkers. When it comes to beer, it’s much like hot sauce. I’m the beer drinker. I’m the hot sauce guy. The rest of the guys aren’t as much.”
The rocker continued, referring to KISS and their motivation for merch:
“So it definitely has to be a passion project and something that truly represents Shinedown. We’re not just putting stuff out there. No offense to KISS but it’s not just about making the money off the merch. We also want to actually have something that we are part of.”
Zach Myers’s Comments On Shinedown Fans’ Demand For Lower Prices
Shinedown has merch products like hoodies, t-shirts, glasses, jewelry, sauces and more. Earlier this year speaking with Jeremy White, Shinedown guitarist Zach Myers talked about fans complaining about ticket and merchandise prices. He explained they had to raise prices because of economic issues. He stated:
“We try to keep our tickets super low, that’s something that we really fight for. You gotta sell a lot of tickets if you’re gonna keep a low ticket price and luckily, knock on wood, we’ve done that. But yeah, it’s a lot. The people b*tching about the shirt thing, a $40 shirt, a $45 shirt, I’m like, ‘Listen man, the venue has taken %30 of this off the rip. Then it cost another $9-$8 to print the shirt, then I gotta pay a manager, I gotta pay a businessman.’ Everyone’s making this money before all the bands are.”
KISS has made more money from selling merchandise than from selling records. Gene Simmons has managed their finances and come up with the idea to sell many products. They have over 5,000 items, including T-shirts, comic books, and even coffins. Some critics say the band is too focused on making money.
You can watch Kerch’s full interview below.