Thanks for checking out Two Gun Salute!
We’re a small independent kustom kulture, motorcycle and hot rod merch and apparel brand set up a few years ago by me, Sam - and my brother, Nathan.
Like all the best ideas, we were in the pub having a few beers when the lightning bolt struck and we hatched a plan to start a brand based around our respective skills. Nath is a graphic designer by trade (he does some of the best book jackets in the business - check them out!) and he’s the creative responsible for all of our original designs. What do I do? Well, I ride my Honda monkey bike around having fun and chatting to people about our stuff at shows like Dragstalgia, The Trip Out and Nostalgia Nationals! …I know who does all the hard work…
Loads of people ask me “so what’s Two Gun Salute”, or “where does the Two Gun Salute come from?”...I get it, it’s an unusual phrase - it comes from a personal story of me and my first big bike.
It was a Honda VT750S in Championship White with red Honda logos (that’s me riding it round Belgium in the pics below) which I absolutely loved! The day I picked it up, I rode it straight over to my folks house to show Dad. Dad doesn’t ride anymore, but he used to have a Norton Big 4 back in the day (with a home made side car which Mum used to ride in when they were first dating…apparently they were stopped by the police on one occasion and he was advised that it looked like a bit of a death trap). Anyway, when it was time to head off I pulled out of the drive and set off up the road, when I noticed Dad watching from the driveway in my mirrors (doubtlessly regretting ever selling the Big 4), I thought to myself “time to give Dad the Two Gun Salute” and nailed it up the road with the 2 into 2 pipes blatting away.
I thought the phrase sounded pretty cool, and I used it as the handle for a photo blog on Tumblr (anyone remember Tumblr?) where I shared photos from my trips to bike and car shows in the UK and around Europe...I think it’s still there if you want to have a look!
Anyway, I found myself getting a bit bored just wandering round the events and shows taking snap shots, and was trying to think of a way to get more involved in all the stuff that I loved going on around me…
Which leads us back to where we started, and a conversation over a few beers in the pub with my brother Nath…and we’ve been working together as team Two Gun Salute ever since.