Philly is supposedly the sixth most populous city in the U.S. For many people who live here though, it seems impossible to believe what used to be our nation's first capital could hold nearly two million people, especially when it seems like everyone knows each other. For many, it's like cut-throat competitiveness in such close quarters with every man, boutique, brand for himself. But Brooks Bell and Joey Gothelf, otherwise known as their alter ego clothing company entity, Fresh Melt Water, don't seem to think that's a problem. If anything, they don't think Philly's big enough, "big" meaning "getting seen."

That's why they're putting Philly on the map, one screen print T-shirt and crewneck at a time. And they're fun too -- my favorite shirt the "Played Played Played & Played Out" and the NBA spoofed "Los Angeles Fakers" -- has been an example of their cynical humor. But don't be completely fooled by their wit with words, Brooks and Joey, both art grads have a slew of phrase-free designs under their belt. And as much as they express themselves through humor, Brooks and Joey are just as serious about their art -- designing, printing, and selling and shipping all by themselves out of their warehouse home.

If there's any clue as to how much love Fresh Melt Water show their Philly, it would be their support of other local artists, including myself (as a part of Yellow Rage, but that's another feature), as evidenced by Brooks' willingness to make me a shirt to wear on tour during our interview. If you take one thing away from talking to them, it's that there's no harm done in loving thy neighbor. Especially one who can inspire and wear thy shirt.

Catzie: Alright lets talk about this "so-called beef," are Philly boutiques really that competitive?

Joey: You just jump right into it huh? Yeah, Philly boutiques are very competitive, as they should be, but sometimes it gets taken to an unnecessary level. In the end they're all part of the same culture and should support each other to some extent.

Brooks: People expect a certain level of respect from the jump. That just can't be expected for nothing. Brands make the decision of where they want to be carried, so if two stores that are right near each other, both pick up the same brand, they can't realistically beef with each other over it. Everyone wants exclusivity and if they don't get it 100 percent they feel like their toes have been stepped on, that goes for the boutiques that have been here for years as well as the ones that got fresh paint on the walls.

C: But at the same time, don't you feel that it's also the brands and clothing company's responsibility to make sure that this doesn't happen with all the stores they sell to?

J: As a brand, we recognize what the other brands are dealing with in terms of exclusivity and boutique competitiveness, but it is possible and would make for a better market if the boutiques could work together to support the culture instead of trying to bring each other down. However, at the same time, this lifestyle and "streetwear" if you want to call it that, was born partially out of hip hop, so wanting to be number one and shitting on the other guy is gonna happen.

B: You gotta remember, the bottom line of this thing is the almighty dollar. Fresh Melt Water don't really care about the "so called beef." We're just trying to do us, thankfully we've had an extremely supportive boutique in Pedestrian who feels the same way we do and lets us do us. All praise due to the gods.

C: So did your company start out with that one T-shirt "played played played & played out"?

J: That couldn't be further from the truth. Our brand was born out of us being artists and wanting to show our work to the world. We started printing our art on shirts in '02. We've both been doing our work on shirts separately for mad long, we've only been incorporated as "Fresh Melt Water" the beginning of the year. We decided at some point to stop working on canvas as much and wanted to focus more on clothing.

C: So you were both visual artists first?

B: We painted things yeah, sold them occasionally. We's edumacated though as artists. We both got degrees from an actual four-year art school--

J: Somewhere.

B: My momma's got my degree on her wall.

J: Mine's in a box in my closet.

C: What separates you guys from all these little pop-up overnight hype companies that think they're "clothing designers"?

J: We're not pop-up, first off. Art is what both of us wanted to do with our lives since way back. We didn't try to be rappers, fail, and decide to start a clothing company instead. This is objective number one, ride or die. I'm doin' this for the rest of my life.

B: It began as a way to get our art out without trying to sell people canvases to hang on their wall--

J: But we'll sell you a canvas if you want one.

C: On real canvas with a wood frame?

B: Yeah but most of them are a little warped cuz we got em outta Mizkeens dumpster when they closed down.

J: 'Bout 160 of em, thanks, Mizkeen

C: You're kidding.

J: Not even slightly. We did paint over them, of course.

C: So the canvas frames we're already used, and then you painted your art over them?

B: We found mad canvases and we painted on them -- BOOM! Mo money, mo money, mo money!

C: I want to go back to the notion of doing this "all or nothing," which I find very admirable. Lots of times, people have to do this clothing company as a side hustle not because they don't take it seriously, but many times it's hard to make a living off of it. I'm pretty sure I could make a decent shirt or two, but it'd be hard as hell to keep the lights on if that was my only income.

B: Shit, we work better in the dark, anyhow. For real though, we've always printed our own shirts anyway, when we made the decision to go 100 percent with it we've always had the option to print stuff for other people -- we do contract work for other people to fill in the blanks in our checkbook -- but its becoming less and less of a need to print stuff that's not our own line.

C: What's the story behind the name?

B: You really want us to let you behind that curtain? That was an executive decision handed down from above from our founder Guztav MeltWater.

J: We on the rise like sea levels.

C: So it's based on the water that melts off glaciers?

B: If you believe Al Gore.

C: What are the things that inspire Fresh Melt Water? I've noticed you've had a lot of animal prints in your first run.

B: That's the animal in man.

J: He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man. Melt Water is a representation of the life that we live. Our influences show through in our designs, they speak of what we love and what we hate.

C: So right now you have clothing for men and women. Are there things that are specifically made for each collection?

B: More often than not our designs aren't really categorized as men's or women's. We hope that our designs come off as universal.

C: So you might have a full-fledged line with selvedge denim, flannel jackets and new eras?

J: Don't worry, Melt Water adds some new shit to our line everyday. I don't wanna say look for Melt Water denim or lumberjackets but we're definitely expanding our look all the time. We're always growing. If you're not growing you're dying.

B: I'm more bout the snap back caps personally... look out for the Vanity snap back in Spring '08.

J: Not everyone wears yellow jeans, but the tee shirt's not goin' anywhere. More immediately, though, we want to increase our online presence and sell more off of our website.

C: Would you be doing anything else besides clothing, like a mixtape or a party?

J: Yeah, we have thrown a couple of parties and definitely will be doing that more in the future. And we will be comin' out with some Fresh Melt Water mixtapes. Our last party was with DJ Slimfass from NYC and we are going to put his set from that night on the website. [We're] also a HUGE supporter of our good friend Reef the Lost Cauze (and vice versa) and would love to have him bless a mixtape soon.

B: We've also been sponsoring events around Philly like the upcoming "Dunk Xchange" where we will have a table and be doin' some giveaways and whatnot.

C: Sometimes I feel like Philly is way too small and I cant tell if that helps it or hurts. On one hand, its great because you know everybody and therefore it should be easy to round everybody up and get people together; but on the other hand, it's like after you got everybody here, the room's still not full.

B: Haha, it's like "Cheers."

J: If you throw the right party and take all the necessary steps the room will be full. Philly's got mad good people that just want to have a good time, not everyone can go out eight nights a week though, you know?

C: Where do you see FMW in the future?

B: We'll be doing this for the long haul. We want to survive on our work. In the future, we'd like to be able to work with the lights on.

C: You guys have any last thoughts?

B: Wouldn't mind listing where we sell outta - Pedestrian, Made to Order, Agent, and Topstitch, also coming soon to a couple spots in Brooklyn... and the world. Also big big ups to two.one.five magazine and you, Catzie for allowing us this opportunity. No boutiques were harmed in the making of this interview.

J: End transmission. Melt Water out.

Thanks guys, I'll be looking forward to that custom-made-and-inspired-by-me t-shirt.

Next Week: Adrian Tomine explains what being a Graphic Novelist really means.