My Court Date with Slow Rodeo's Ryan Hamilton
Having spent the last decade producing visuals for the likes of Ariana Grande and BLK ODYSSY, Ryan Hamilton is now using his culture-maker powers to create brands that bring us closer.
Chant the words “Aesop Resurrection, Santal 33 and Blank Street Cortado” thrice at midnight in front of a blood-streaked mirror, and before you shall appear the Brooklyn dilly-dallyer.
In a social context where we’ve come to equate identity with consumption, brands have quickly become proxies that we use to define both ourselves and each other. Yet, while brands may be ubiquitously used as social signals, they’re often not so adept at creating real connections between actual human beings. Despite the potential, “Brand Communities” are unfortunately anything but.
Creative Director, Ryan Hamilton, is however on a mission to change all this. Together with his partners Tom Chen and Ryan McMahill, Ryan is launching Slow Rodeo - a new venture that aims to build consumer brands modelled after social platforms, merging digital interactions with tangible experiences.
Their first outing, ‘Court Date,’ embodies this vision. Part apparel line, part racket club, ‘Court Date’ is is an effort to build a tennis brand that not only draws on tennis culture, but actually gets people onto the tennis court. Challengers beware.
I sat down with Ryan to learn about the inspiration behind Slow Rodeo, his early influences, and his ambitious vision for the future.
You have a diverse background, having worked in music, culture, beverages, and now fashion with Slow Rodeo. Can you tell us about your upbringing and early inspirations?
Ryan Hamilton: Yeah, I was born in the Bay Area but grew up in Alabama. My mom was an art director and graphic designer, and my dad worked in commercial printing. Growing up, I was surrounded by art and design. My grandmother was an oil painter, and my grandfather was the layout designer for National Geographic. I kind of just grew up around a lot of design in a way. And then when I moved to Alabama, it was so my parents could open an art gallery. I have no formal training, but I taught myself Photoshop and the rest of Creative Suite. By college, I started working in the music industry, doing design work for artists.
Your portfolio is extensive in music. What's the connection between music and design for you?
Ryan Hamilton: Music has always been a love of mine; I played drums all my life. For me, music is at the epicenter of all things creative. You're making music, which is inherently creative and sonic, and then you create an image for yourself through styling, music videos, and album art. In 2024, it’s really easy to call yourself a Creative Director. A lot of kids grew up playing with copies of Photoshop and placed that label upon themselves — so it’s become incredibly misconstrued — but if you truly are a creative director and are really good at understanding how to build a world around something, there’s no better place to do it than music.
What drew you to the blockchain space initially?
Ryan Hamilton: Tom Chen, a former roommate of mine, introduced me to crypto. He’s one of the smartest people I know and he understands the space and technology inside and out.
During the NFT boom, the potential for blockchain as a tool or outlet for creatives became apparent to me. However, like in many nascent industries, there was a lot of misuse and bad actors that scared people off. Still, from a philosophical perspective, blockchain is an incredible technology.
My partners and I at Slow Rodeo are true believers in blockchain, but we know that adoption will only happen if people start building onchain in a different way. We need to create things that the general public wants to use and won’t disregard as internet garbage. You have to create an opportunity that people take seriously and think is cool, especially those in culture. We saw a clear opportunity for how brands could work onchain as communities.
And how did the idea for Slow Rodeo specifically come about?
Ryan Hamilton: Slow Rodeo was something I started with Tom and another friend, Ryan McMahill.
If you look at our current culture and world, we’re facing an epidemic of loneliness, which national organizations have highlighted as a serious issue. Social media exacerbates this by creating loose, shallow connections. Built on serving ads rather than fostering real connections, social media can never be the solution. We’re rapidly losing third spaces, and sometimes even second spaces, leaving people desiring meaningful connections but finding nothing to facilitate them.
In contrast, blockchain philosophically is about community and proof. Choices in brand — from the coffee you buy to the shirt you decide to throw on in the morning — are outward signifiers of your interests and identity. So why not use those signifiers to meet others with shared interests and values? Why can't a brand be a way to meet other people?
With Court Date, the first brand we’re launching, we’re creating a home for racket sports built in the mould of a social platform. Instead of selling ads, it supports itself by selling its own apparel, gear, and events. The key is to get you off your computer and into the real world.
Balancing community input and a strong creative direction can be challenging. How do you manage this tension?
Ryan Hamilton:I really believe that it’s important to listen to others — but you have to come from a strong point of view and understand where you’re wanting to go. I’m fascinated by the concept of DAOs. I’ve seen some work better than others but to me, the real flaw in the thinking is opening up the decision making to the community. I don’t think anything particularly impressive or transformative has come from groupthink and having too many cooks in the kitchen. Apple’s a good example. Steve Jobs, overly romanticized or not, had a very clear idea of what he wanted and what Apple should be. It didn’t mean that he didn’t listen to other people’s feedback or suggestions, but at the end of the day, if Jobs thought something needed to work a certain way, then that was it.
In so much of my work experience, when you have so many stakeholders in the room — and this can be for anything: a campaign, a music video, a product — the more collaborators you typically have, if there’s no clear leader to shape the vision and make the tough calls, you just end up with watered down sh*t.
My general belief is that it’s great to listen to others because people have useful and elucidating feedback, but at the same time, people don’t always know what they’re looking for. If we transported ourselves to the year 2000 and asked people with Walkmans what they wanted in a portable music device, they’d say, “Well, I have a six disc CD player in my car, so I’d love for my Walkman to be able to hold more CDs.” They’ve articulated a need, but they’re not going to tell you that they want the world’s entire library of music available anytime, on a tiny device that slips into their pocket. That’s not even a possibility that exists for them. So I’m a big fan of listening — truly listening — to people and digging past what it is they’re asking for to uncover what it is they truly need.
As an art director, how do you incorporate your vision into branding Slow Rodeo?
Ryan Hamilton: People often say they can recognize my work before seeing my name, so perhaps there’s a little bit of a fingerprint there, but I always aim to bring out the essence of a project, setting aside my personal taste to do it justice. Slow Rodeo’s name reflects our ethos. Building a business is a rodeo — chaotic and unpredictable — but our approach is to be measured, thoughtful, and strategic in spite of that. As if we’re operating from the center of a storm. We believe in moving deliberately to create something spectacular and transformative rather than rushing and breaking things. The ultimate goal is to build something enduring and meaningful.
Where do you see Slow Rodeo in the next five to ten years?
Ryan Hamilton: I’d love for Slow Rodeo to become a meaningful provider of community and third places to people around the world.
Ryan’s Taste
What are you listening to at the moment?
I’m obviously listening to a ton of BLK ODYSSY right now. Juwan [Elcock] has a track called “Changes” off the new record that isn’t out yet, but feels like it’s gonna be the one. Beyond that — right now — a lot of Mach-Hommy, KAYTRANADA, Remi Wolf, Dave, Zach Bryan, Smino, Billie [Eilish], and Jean-Michel Blais.
What’s on the wishlist?
A custom grill from Maison Raksha. Or this Raf Simons FW16 patch-covered wool coat I regret not buying when I came across it a few years ago. That one still haunts me. But if I’m being real: I’d really just love to have more time and space to experiment creatively, learn new skills, and push myself.
Where are you hanging out?
I tend not to stick to anything for too long, but you can always find me at Elizabeth Street Garden.
What are you reading?
I’m just about to finish The Algebra of Wealth by Scott Galloway. Next up is Robert Caro’s dauntingly-long classic The Power Broker. I’m obsessed with the built environment and its power over us all.