My mission is to find the phat and jazzy sound so I walk the one block to Canal to scope out the marching band. They definitely have soul. I stroll onto Rue Bourbon. The air is a mélange of smells vibrating with sound. In by now way do I mean a pretty thing oh contraire it is a steamy detritus with sound waves coursing thru it, making the senses work overtime. Laissez les bon temps roulette! It is very crowded.

The Fat Cat acquires my patronage first. A solid cover band cranks out the tunes. The guitar player is amazing. He shreds A Squire, Billy Squire model, guitar with almost photographic ability. Dead balls on he is Two front singers a Girl and a Dude. They were spirited. The joint had quite a few women in it, and they were dancing. A beautiful Mulatto woman, a waitress selling shots, begins to dance with me when Brick House is played by the band. Let me move on.

1/2/ a bloc away I wander into Singh Singh. I find my phat and jazzy sound inside.

It began last year when At Peace creator and designer, Bill Waxler, introduced his new shirts to Team Old School. Team Old School describes themselves as a skateboarding and fishing gang. Others describe them as a team that scores in misdemeanors and high grade pot. The gang would gather to pass  bongs, pipes, blunts and spliffs among the 15 or 20 friends and fans that show up at the ritual smoke time … four-twenty pm. “We all began wearing the shirts. It’s cool. We are all about peace. We surf, skate, fish and smoke” says Josh a gang founder.

Next thing Bill introduced the brand to 420 Peace Avenue, a local head shop. Soon the design was all over town.

“Not everybody will admit they bought them there. But I know they did” he said. 

Waxler says it doesn’t matter to him that the 4:20 subculture has identified with his brand. “They are definitely peaceful people. Hey, the recovery community has been some of my best customers too. That doesn’t raise any eyebrows. I would love to see Cheech Marin in one of my shirts. Dr. Phil too. I have a guy who likes to shoot his guns while he’s wearing an At Peace shirt. He says it helps him shoot better. I say more power to him!”

 It is amazing the effect the At Peace design has on all types of people. Everyone seems to identify with it.

 Waxler says: “I want to be huge in France!”

 Supplies have, up until now, been limited. Whatever At Peace creator Bill Waxler had with him at the time you were lucky enough to run into him. “I know you could find him late mornings in downtown Stuart” says Sam; a pharmaceutical salesman. “You have to have some special timing just to get one of these” Sam boasts proudly of the At Peace t-shirt he is wearing. “I am all about, peace… peace and love. I want world peace and I want to be at peace and this says it all. Bill made a 2XL just for me. I think you are looking at the only one.” Sam says inner peace is what he wants to share and wear.

 For the record there will be more. The atpeacestore.com will be stocking them. Web fulfillment for the brand is provided by jmfieldmarketing.com. At peace says it will expand the line as it grows. We are looking to JM Field Marketing to help with long term growth. Company President Jack Field remarks “Peace, peace symbols, peace signs, peace clothing and global peace are all on peoples minds. We will see if this brand responds to our SEO. I know my daughter likes it. She thinks we should do peace jewelry.”

 Yoga instructor Dave Keith says “At Peace shirts are about good karma and they made the best Christmas gifts last year. Everybody still talks about them. They tell me when they wear them.”

 At peace is looking to expand into retail stores, but admits capitol from web based sales would accelerate that expansion. Still they invite interested retailers to reach out to them in order to be among the first to carry the At Peace Brand. At Peace headquarters can be reached at 772-766-9194  

 Ultimately it will be customers who will decide. There is one thing for certain and that is the effect that the At Peace Label has on people. “My Daughter wears hers all the time. I’ve never seen anything like it” admits Field. 

atpeacestore.com

“Yes.” The man had had a bad night. He was dehydrated. He explained he had arrived at Wahoo’s Restaurant to go dancing, and had immediately taken ill and had spent much of the night heaving up. He had stumbled next door to the yacht club and passed out on the lounge chair by the pool, where Dave had found him.

Next Dave noticed the shirt the man was wearing. At Peace was spelled out on the front of the shirt using the at (@) symbol and peace symbol. He had seen it once before. “Where did you get that At Peace t-shirt?” Dave asked.

“I created it. It is my design.” The man replied.

“My friend sells those at his yoga studio.” Dave said curiously.

“Geo Yoga, I know he gets them from me.” The man said. Then, he introduced himself.  “I am Bill Waxler.”

“Dave Keith”

“Keith is my middle name. It was my mother’s maiden name.” Bill said in astonishment. Further conversation revealed they are cousins, and share an incredible number of friends.

And so it went. At Peace Clothing has been embraced by many in the yoga practice. It has proved to be an obvious fit, for those seeking inner peace or those striving for global peace. At Peace Clothing is definitely popular with Dave’s students. Several students and Yogi Dave Keith are all wearing them.

“Personal peace is my responsibility. My At Peace shirts let me express it.” Remarks Jenn confidently. She is a yoga student in Dave Keith’s class. “I have always loved peace stuff. peace rings, peace signs, peace posters, peace shirts, and At Peace is unique, and new. The timing is right. Bill turned me on to At Peace… and yoga with Dave”

At Peace Clothing is available online at www.atpeacestore.com or 772-766-9194

Now atpeacestore.com has the ‘Hottest Cool T-shirt in America’ and more! Waxler is featuring a full array of shirts and other merchandise bearing the At Peace label including T-shirts, burnout shirts, tank tops , women’s spaghetti straps, hand bags and jewelry.

“People are asking for more. Most people have something they will enjoy and identify with this brand. It could be wine for one or for another it might be clothing.  We all want to be at peace with ourselves. ..and our world” says Waxler as he looks through his Shuron Ronsur glasses while sporting a Mohawk haircut. “It wouldn’t hurt to put it on everything. What is the worst that could come of it….global peace?”

People seem to agree. “I love my shirt, it’s my favorite, I feel good wearing it “ says Ashley a 23 year old Paramedic in training from Ft Lauderdale. “I actually own two” Ashley admits.

Ashley may find she has more in common with her At Peace T-shirt than she knew. Waxler is a founder of the At Peace International Foundation, a non profit established with ‘The primary objective of At Peace International is to save lives by promoting social responsibility’

Waxler says people response to At peace as a fashion statement has been “Super.” He is frank about his goal: “to make it something more than just a brand or label.” That is why he plans to support the foundation with the brand. He says it is the right thing to do, and wants everyone to be at peace to achieve World Peace.

He sits and I tell him I know he punked a couple of reporters back in 2000 using a fake name and telling them his family was dead. I ask him if he was going to be straight with me, he smiles and says: “That was back in my George Bush days.” Waxler was a Gorge W. Bush impersonator in DC. He stars in the blistering Mocumetary Burning Bush now seen on YouTube.

I was drinking a lot then. Did not love myself had no peace, no spiritual life. Today I do. Bush is gone.

Very well I say. How did you think of At Peace I ask?

He smiles again. He admits neither global peace, nor inner peace was on his mind the moment he conceived the At Peace Design. He admits he was thinking more about a girl he liked at the time. She claimed to be a writer and was unsure if she would approve of his use of the ‘international at symbol’ or @, in his e-mails or would she think him crass.  The real the genesis of his iconic arrangement of the international at symbol and the peace sign was he recalls: “I was sending her an e-mail. I use an abbreviated texting sort of written style in informal writing. I couldn’t decide weather or not to use the at symbol because I was unsure of what she would think. Then I thought of its (@) relevance today in written communication. I compared it to hieroglyphics How was the written word was going to evolve, in say, 100 years? I asked myself what are some current symbols of communication and could some of these be used to make a phrase or sentence and then… eureka!  I thought of At Peace. I could immediately see the harmony of the two round symbols next to each other to make this iconic, cool (and) spiritual design. I guess you could say it was more about A piece of ass rather than world peace, inner peace, peace shirts or peace design, ”

My next question. What is at peace then?

He thinks a moment…”We all need to need to answer that.”

Chef Don explains, “I know it is not his fault. People see it and they just must have one. That design has such magnetism. It’s cool.” Chef Don goes on to give Bill a Mayan Astrology reading. Bill is amazed with the reading describing it as “like no other.” Chef Don comments on the timing of the At Peace design as being “perfect” for its time; an opinion shared by many who have come into contact with Bill Waxler and his At Peace Brand.

“We all want peace at some level.” Says Waxler, “Some care about world peace, for others it’s about finding personal peace.”

What was the genesis of his iconic treatment of the international at symbol and the peace sign? He tells “I was sending an e-mail. I use an abbreviated texting sort of written style in informal writing. At that moment I was using the at symbol I thought of its relevance today in written communication. Then I thought of its comparison to hieroglyphics and where the written word was going to evolve, in say, 100 years. Then I imagined our present day symbols of communication and could some of these be formed to make phrases or sentences and then… bang! At Peace was born. I immediately saw the harmony of the two symbols together to make an iconic, perhaps spiritual design.” The at symbol and the peace sign combined anew. “It was very fast.”

At Peace is now available online at www.atpeacestore.com.

atpeacestore.com.com