Dream On, Dreamer member launches watch company

In May last year Dream On, Dreamer bassist Chris Shaw launched Gearflip, a musical equipment trade-and-sell website designed to streamline the way Australian musicians exchange gear between each other. Now, he’s announced his latest venture, Oak & Jackal, a minimalist watch brand.

Speaking to TMN, Shaw said his"keen interest in fashion" sparked the new venture: “I wasn’t really sure how to apply my skill set to it. So I would say I’d been looking at an outlet for it for about 18 months, it wasn’t until mid last year when I was looking for a specific type of watch that I couldn’t find, that I decided to create my own.”

Announced yesterday, the project is listed on Kickstarter right now with a goal of $8,000 by the end of March.

“If Oak & Jackal isn’t fully funded via Kickstarter I’ll be exploring other avenues to attempt to bring it to life," Shaw said. "However I’ve already had an overwhelming response so thankfully it’s looking like I’m not going to have to.”

’Overwhelming’ puts it well, in just 24 hours it’s received $2,864 in pledges from just 33 backers.

Shaw is adamant that this new venture won’t cut into his time with his band however: “Dream On, Dreamer is still a main priority for me, and I’ve always been able to have a healthy work and life balance, so this really is no different.”

The Melbourne-based band recently independently released their third studio album Songs of Solitude, which saw a peak of #29 on the ARIA Albums chart.

After the Kickstarter campaign for Oak & Jackal finishes and is presumably successful, the website oakandjackal.com will go live and serve as the online retail platform for all of the brand’s products. Shaw says more outfit accessories are planned to be released on the website.