Disturb The Suburbs - that's the gospel of über-cööl UK alternative fashion company Disturbia Clothing. Their website - www.disturbiaclothing.co.uk - is full of awesome T-shirts featuring some truly eye-popping artwork. Rock icons Slash and The Prodigy have been impressed enough by the badass product to sling it over their backs and we think you should too! Über Röck caught up with Disturbia's creator Frank Major and got the lowdown on the company, the shirts and those friends in high places.......

Hey Frank!! I understand that you are a fashion graduate - was this line of design always a part of your future plans or did you kinda fall into it? 

It was intentional. My degree gave me a decent understanding of the market and processes involved in setting up a clothing company, so it was a natural progression, and it was a goal I had after I graduated. 

The modern shirt designs have a comic-book quality to them - was this the case when you were designing all the shirts yourself? If so, what influenced you? 

I guess the comic-book feel is us poking fun at pop culture. When I first started doing this, the designs were a lot more angry, sloganeering, and subversive. Over time I was drawn more and more to an illustrative style. But I like the way our line features both those styles, and can actually appeal to different kinds of people. Our designs are influenced by the strangeness of the world, our DIY punk ethic, and the colour purple.  

Tell us a little about the cool artists who you have designing the shirts for the company today.... 

This is our top secret recipe! A bit like the herbal combination in Tennessee Slaughtered Chicken nuggets! Actually, we've worked with Godmachine, Drew Millward, Matthew Skiff, James Callahan and a handful of others, over the past few years. Each brings their awesome distinctive style to the table, which all amalgamates to Disturbia's sweetly-sick tone. 

'Disturb The Suburbs' is a tagline that you have used to describe your company - how important is this 'message' in regards to the actual item of clothing to you? 

Well it sums up what we try to do with our graphics. Also, the name Disturbia is a portmanteau of the words 'disturb' and 'suburbia', so it's pretty apt. 

What's the downright stupidiest thing that anyone has ever said in regard to one of your shirt designs?! 

"Do your shirts come in dog sizes?" 

Rock legend Slash has worn Disturbia clothing - how did this member of rock royalty get involved with the brand? 

I sent him an email, never really expecting a reply, but sure enough he did, explaining how he loved the tees, so we hooked him up with some and that was that. He sent us a pic of him wearing one, and a few weeks later he wore one on the Conan O'Brien show. Which was a nice surprise. 

You also designed some limited edition shirts for The Prodigy - how did this project take shape? 

Again I initially approached the band, who again loved our shirts, so we went to meet up with them when they played Newcastle Arena last year, and hatched the plan to create a limited line of 'Disturbia Vs The Prodigy' tees. They were really lovely guys, and it was an absolute pleasure working with them.  

On the subject of rock royalty, who would be the ultimate star to be seen in one of your shirts? Lemmy? James Hetfield? Randy Piper? 

 I'd be really proud to see Josh Homme sporting our wares! 

What is the greatest ever t-shirt design? A simple one for you!! 

Ah, not that simple at all! So much choice. Hmm, one of my all time favourites was the Pearl Jam stick-man tee from the early 90's. Really simple iconic design. 

Another easy one for you - high street acceptance and big bucks or underground cool??? 

The underground of course. Sometimes main streams run underground.  

So what does the near future hold for Disturbia? New items? 

Yep, we release at least a dozen new tees every six months, and in the coming months, we've got some custom jackets coming out, as well as more prints and accessories in the pipeline. Followed later in the year with TOTAL GLOBAL DOMINATION.  

How did you feel when that cheesy 'Disturbia' movie came out? Free advertising or cringe-inducing? 

Good question. It was a pain to be honest, and it had us kicking ourselves for only trademarking the name Disturbia Clothing and not just Disturbia!! The more annoying thing was the Rhianna song. That is definitely not our theme tune! 

Finally, we're gonna be running a competition for our readers to win some of your shirts. Is the winner more likely to get attacked, arrested or laid when wearing his prize??? 

All three, but in reverse order.

...and here it is - your chance to win a cool shirt from Disturbia Clothing!!!! Frank mentioned rock legend Slash in his interview and all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning one of two shirts is this; tell us which legendary singer was rumoured to be the new singer in Velvet Revolver in Über Röck's exclusive April 1st news story????

Send your answer along with your name and address to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by Friday April 30th. Two lucky winners will be selected at random and will be asked to pick a shirt of their choice from www.disturbiaclothing.co.uk - they can even pick the size!!!! Usual terms and conditions apply. Winners will be announced in the News Updates section of Über Röck and on the Über Röck Söldiers forum. Good luck!!!!!!