Herb 100 Archive
A deeper dive
I met Sam Valenti IV online in the early 2000s through our mutual creative and mystic friend, Will Calcutt (Herb 69). Over the years, we kept in touch through emails, and I had the opportunity to meet Sam during a layover in Minneapolis. Being a fan of Ghostly, I appreciated Sam's generosity in gifting me white-label promos of their releases. In 2007, he approached me to create a single design for Dabrye, which led to the production of four 12” singles for Ghostly's sister label, Spectral. The rest, as they say, is history.
https://herbsundays.cinaassociates.com
Years ago, Sam and I would have conversations about his viewpoint on 'cool culture' and its pitfalls. He started a Tumblr in 2010 named "deeply uncool," which led to publicly sharing photos of “questionable music” he enjoyed on Sundays, labeling it as Herb (uncool) music. This evolved into a playlist for those moments "when nobody is looking." There are a lot of other inspiring mechanics to Herb that I won’t address today, but it’s a great case study of an idea developing into a venture.
What does it mean to be cool? If I were to define it, coolness often arises from the early acceptance of non-traditional/independent aesthetics, attitudes, and behaviors. It involves confidently embodying unconventional principles like self-sufficiency and defying cultural norms, ultimately gaining a positive status within open-minded and progressive social groups. It's a way of thinking and being that presents a resilient mirage of self-actualization.
However, delving deeper, coolness culture is superficial and shallow. It often involves a performative stance that keeps individuals a few steps away from truly connecting with themselves by chasing trends the ever-changing world. Ultimately, we all need to discover ourselves (the good, bad, and the ugly) through self-exploration in the wilderness. If we take a closer look, we all engage in deeply uncool activities. Displaying these quirks publicly requires a vulnerable maturity that is unafraid of judgment. In the end, being true to yourself is the coolest thing you can be—at least to yourself—but it comes with a social cost. We all pay, and certain choices or interests may come with a higher price tag than others.
I highly recommend reading Sam's insight on the last 100 Herb posts. If I were to distill his wisdom from my perspective, Herb represents a liberation from concealing aspects of oneself, allowing one to transition into a "post-cool" nirvana. In this state, we fully embrace and appreciate the positive aspects of our inner dork (the shadow), reaching an internal coolness that requires no external validation. It involves a deep discovery of self and genuinely loving and caring based on your metrics, even if societal norms deem it less than.
I sometimes apply this perspective when creating Herb covers but my inner designer wants the perfect aesthetic. Crafting a new piece every week using a fresh voice (aesthetic) is demanding on various levels. I strive to reach a point of discomfort, channeling different voices and ways of seeing. It’s vulnerable because I have to create a narrative and look within a short period.
To encapsulate this ethos and journey, Sam and I collaborated to document the written and visual realm of Herb via this website of all the covers, with select text and alternate covers. Thank you for reading and for your continued support.
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