T*S*P*T*R

As The Beach Boys’ seminal Pet Sounds celebrates it’s 60th anniversary this week we’d like to take you back to sometime in 1966, the year of its release…. Brian Wilson, his delusional paranoia growing, entered a Los Angeles movie theatre and sat down. On the screen John Frankenheimer’s neo-noir psychological horror ‘Seconds’, began to cast its strange spell. The film opens with a middle-aged man making his way through Grand Central Station, the camera is tethered to him using a harness that predates the steadicam, holding his face in dreadful close-up as he moves through the stifling morass of a middle class commute—his mundane trip transformed into a dizzyingly stylized nightmare The notoriously unsettling 1966 film goes on to tell the story of a man who trades his humdrum life for one of his own design, changing his name (to Antiochus ‘Tony’ Wilson!), his age, his profession, and even his face (opting for the Rock Hudson model). The transformation is provided by a mysterious organization, simply called the “Company.” This extreme makeover has one stipulation, he must leave his old life behind completely. This dream come true doesn’t quite pan out as well as he’d hoped and his past begins to call to him, drawing him back to his old life and toward a terrifying fate Suddenly a voice from the screen said “Hello Mr Wilson”. At that point during the viewing Brian Wilson figured out what the hell was really going on. ‘Seconds’ was not a benign work of art from the mind of Frankenheimer and novelist David Ely, but instead, a calculated attack on his sanity by none other than his arch nemesis... Phil Spector. Wilson ran from the theatre in terror, screaming, possibly in his iconic falsetto. If you’ve ever seen Seconds, a relentlessly bleak vision of the empty promise that is American life, you can’t really blame him for his reaction. Seconds is the shadow that haunts the lives we all build #tsptr #brianwilson #seconds #lsd #spector

The Malibu Transcendental Research Club promoted an approach that emphasised East-meeting-West - meditation, yoga, hiking, life coaching, athletic research, and personal and spiritual development as a form of lifelong learning. Traditional dichotomies of mental health and illness were rejected, and a spotlight was placed on helping individuals create more vital and meaningful lives; indeed, dualism was rebuffed, whereas the concept of ‘holism’ was embraced According to Stratton Caldwell, something of a hippie intellectual himself, it focused ‘not upon meeting the social, political and economic wants and needs of the disadvantaged and dispossessed, but rather the psychological/sociological/spiritual hunger of many affluent and advantaged citizens of Malibu and Greater Los Angeles” During the 1970’s the TRC’s contention was that society was crying out for a broadening perspective of athletics and physical education. They began to suggest that sports can become a way towards self‐development; that they can even serve as a powerful metaphor for humankind’s spiritual quest for the perfect physical and mental alignment would take on all forms of research from mind control, EST, bioenergetics and primal scream therapy to consciousness raising and various forms of yoga and biorhythms. They even began to experiment with the effects of natural psychotropics such as psilocybin and peyote on running and athletic performance #tsptr #malibutrc #flowstate

I’m a cork on the ocean Floating over the raging sea How deep is the ocean? How deep is the ocean? TSPTR x Malibu TRC Art by @danwilson1982 🌊 #tsptr #malibutrc #feelflows

Brian says Get Really Meditated! 📿 During the early 1980s Brian Wilson attended sessions at the Malibu TRC with his controversial psychotherapist Eugene Landy. The treatment allegedly included bioenergetics, primal scream therapy, consciousness raising and various forms of yoga and biorhythms These forms of human potential development were not new to Brian, his experimentation with psychedelics is well known, particularly psychedelics used in tandem with spiritually and meditation, something he started practicing with fervour in 1968. When asked about whether drugs(“opening of awareness”’) or spirituality came first Brian in 1969 said: “I think that (the drugs) sorta preceeded it, maybe. Everything just started to happen for me 2, 3 years ago. I just started to feel something happening and i didnt know exactly what it was. I started to feel really conscious of the power of love. And so many things started happening at one time I blew my mind..and ever since everything has been so groovy. Maharishi Mahesh has provided a lot of people with power frequencies, mantras, this is it, the substance of meditation , repeating these mantras and hes providing so many people with these power frequencies, theyre just instant.” #tsptr #getmeditated #malibutrc

“If there’s not love present, it’s much harder to function. When there’s love present, it’s easier to deal with life” Brian Wilson 1977 TSPTR x Malibu TRC Slide 1 Art by @danwilson1982 🌞 #tsptr #transcendentalresearchclub #brianwilson

What began as an offshoot of the Esalen Institute’s Human Potential Movement in the 1960s, eventually relocated to Malibu in the 1970s becoming the TRC and continuing to this day in their rustic Malibu hills retreat The TRC’s original directive was research into the creation of a specific state of mind - a consciousness expanding space experienced by those who engage in activities that provide a transportive or meditative state, whether it be running, reading, surfing, hiking, yoga, swimming, painting - whatever activity allows you to settle inward. They expound the belief that the development of ‘human potential’ can contribute to a life of increased happiness, creativity and fulfilment, and as a result, such people will be more likely to direct their actions within society toward assisting others to release their potential We’ve tuned into this positive frequency with a capsule range of tees, sweatshirts, hats and bags dedicated to the TRC and their metaphysical research. Each TSPTR x TRC piece comes with an exclusive TRC zine designed by our friend @danwilson1982 - available while stocks last! 🎥 by @simontemplar 💊🌞 #tsptr #transcendentalresearchclub

Just in time for summer we’ve teamed up with the secretive Malibu Transcendental Research Club for a capsule range of premium TSPTR x TRC goods 🌞 What began as an offshoot of the Esalen Institute’s Human Potential Movement in the 1960s, eventually relocated to Malibu in the 1970s becoming the TRC and continuing to this day in their rustic Malibu hills retreat The TRC’s original directive was research into the creation of a specific state of mind - a consciousness expanding space experienced by those who engage in activities that provide a transportive or meditative state, whether it be running, reading, surfing, hiking, yoga, swimming, painting - whatever activity allows you to settle inward. They expound the belief that the development of ‘human potential’ can contribute to a life of increased happiness, creativity and fulfilment, and as a result, such people will be more likely to direct their actions within society toward assisting others to release their potential We’ve tuned into this positive frequency with a capsule range of tees, sweatshirts, hats and bags dedicated to the TRC and their metaphysical research Each TSPTR x TRC piece comes with an exclusive TRC zine designed by our zen brother @danwilson1982 - available while stocks last! Available now in the TSPTR webstore #tsptr #getmeditated #malibu #trc #transcendental

We’ve just restocked our wardrobe staple TSPTR Nam Jacket in Olive 14oz mercerised sateen cotton Our take on the classic Vietnam War era US Army ‘jungle jacket”. For this edition we’ve reimagined the jacket in a soft 8oz mercerised sateen cotton twill, woven in Portugal. The prefect weight for a spring or summer layer Officially designated ‘Coat, Mans, Combat, Tropical’, Natick Labs designed the US Army tropical combat jacket and trousers in 1962 following a request from Army Material Command for a specialised uniform for Special Forces personnel in Vietnam. As with all TSPTR products, our patterns are directly developed from original vintage examples in our collection, in this case an original 3rd pattern Tropical jacket that saw action in Vietnam with a SP4 in the 75th Infantry Rangers Made in Portugal #tsptr #vietnamwar #junglejacket #lrrp

“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself” Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire 1968 #tsptr #joshuatree #edwardabbey #wilderness

Unlike his celebrated breakthrough El Topo, Alejandro Jodorowsky‘s seminal film The Holy Mountain is less like a spaghetti-LSD western and is more urban, more political, and more satirical. But the key Jodorowsky tropes are still there: the absurdism, the hedonism, the tarot mysticism. A mix of spiritual odyssey, political satire, psychedelic fever dream, it epitomizes counterculture cinema and remains as provocative and enigmatic today as it was over five decades ago Holy Mountain critiques contemporary society, highlighting humanity’s deviancy and self-destructive path. It reflects a rejection of materialism, shedding vanity derived from fear, hedonism, identity, class, and self-image. It also challenges institutions and relationships with greed and power, using oppressive regimes, Nazi imagery, and colonial references to expose our attitudes toward the cult of personality, parasitic voyeurism, cultural destruction, and religious commercialisation Jodorowsky himself plays a mysterious alchemist who purports to hold the secret of turning base metals into gold and achieving immortality. He receives nine supplicants, each associated with a different planet, and leads them all on a bizarre pilgrimage to enlightenment, up the fabled holy mountain The films ending breaks the fourth wall, with Jodorowsky addressing both his followers and the audience. Those seeking enlightenment find nothing—no immortal gods, no Holy Mountain, no secret to happiness. Only reality awaits #tsptr #holymountain #alejandrojodorowsky

Desert Nites 🌵🌓 Joshua Tree, CA 2026 *TSPTR Hopper Tee *TSPTR Zuma Knit Hat *Vintage 70s Levi’s 505 * @malibusandals 📷 @jamesrobertsharp #tsptr #dennishopper #joshuatree #stars

One of Neil Young’s most mysterious songs has its beginnings in the wilds of Peru in 1969, where an out-of-control Dennis Hopper was directing The Last Movie In Peru with Hopper was his future wife (for 8 days) Michelle Phillips and his friend Dean Stockwell, a teen star of the 1950s, later famous for playing the ‘suave fuck’ Ben in David Lynch’s seminal Blue Velvet. While filming Hopper urged Stockwell to write a screenplay saying he would get it produced. Stockwell went back home to Topanga Canyon and wrote ‘After The Gold Rush’ Precise details about the plot of ‘After the Gold Rush’ are difficult to come by. It seems to have centred on an artistic community in California’s Topanga Canyon and its destruction by a huge tidal wave. “It involved the Kabala, the tree of life and a lot of arcane occult stuff” according to Stockwell Young, a friend of Stockwell’s and a fellow Topanga Canyon resident, read After the Gold Rush and it subsequently informed his 1970 album of the same name, especially the title track Young would interpret Stockwell’s story as an allegorical tale of impending environmental apocalypse. The lyric “Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 1970s” setting the tone that increased prosperity for man ultimately has an ecological downside. The last verse offers a futuristic vision of “silver spaceships” which are “flying Mother Nature’s silver seed to a new home in the sun” presumably due to the destruction of the planet at the hands of mankind Stockwell later said that Hopper brought producers from Universal to Topanga, introducing them to potential local cast-members such as Janis Joplin, and Young, who was keen to write the soundtrack. But the execs were already having enough trouble with Hoppers’ out of control behaviour and demands, and ran a mile from the chaotic hippie utopia #tsptr #neilyoung #dennishopper #deanstockwell