HashWriter PRESENTS: EVAN SHORE Bangers QUARTZ! Q&A and Discussion with the Legend!

With only a handful of artists producing quality American made quartz, Hashwriter is honored to have the quartz legend himself, @EvanShoreBangers, in the house. After some Q/A we spoke at length on his brand, his story, and his vision moving forward in the world of glass and quartz functional headies.

Maybe it's the home-team Pennsylvania vibes, but I’ve known of Evan Shore quartz since the banger concept was introduced around 2014-2015. Fresh Frozen harvests and the introduction of BHO Live Resin demanded something far-better than previous titanium nails. I'd watched enough glass dab rigs suddenly shatter as the red hot titanium nail would swell inside the glass joint. Talk about a buzzkill. By the time solventless hash and rosin appeared, the quartz was dialed in thanks to a handful of artists like Evan Shore...

Insane Slurpee Cap by Evan Shore.

Q&A With Evan Shore

H.W.: I heard something about college and traditional training as a scientific glassblower, is that right? Where? When? And why switch to headies?

E.S.: Yes, after going to school for chemistry, I decided to go to Salem Community College in 2013 to learn scientific glass. It was the only class I took and it was the best. I went there wanting to learn scientific glass so I had a base for pipe making. Pipes were always what I had in mind when going to school, although I really enjoyed learning the chemistry behind glass. When I was at school, my friend Nate opened up The Finer Things (Glass Gallery/Store) and I started volunteering there helping manage the store and take glass photos.

H.W.: What city in Pennsylvania are you from? Tell me about where you grew up and how this all began….

E.S.: Elkins Park (Township) and I took the train to Philly pretty regularly to hang out at Drexel starting around 15-16 (years old). I ended up meeting my friend Nate, a.k.a. @pweencess at some point and he had a huge collection of headies. I always had a fascination with glass starting as a kid at Wheaton Village, but didn't really know how pipes were made or what the scene was like. Once I met Nate, I realized I could and should definitely be a part of this scene. After watching Degenerate Art and going to hang out at Krushmore (glass studio), I decided to sign up for Salem (renowned Scientific Glass Program)."

Evan Shore Halo Slurper/Banger Quartz Design

Degenerates and Outlawed Art

For those who haven't seen it, Degenerate Art is the borrowed title of Aaron Golbert, a.k.a. Marble Slinger's 2011 documentary film. It reveals the early culture of glass blowing and the artists who risked imprisonment for the cause. Watching this incredible documentary myself in 2014, I realized I had grown up contributing to many of these artists, wondering the whole time where these amazing works of art came from. It was a necessary culture of silence, secrecy, and a touch of mysticism, difficult to imagine today.

To get some sense of the times, I discovered "Degenerate Art," was first coined by fascists to describe "art of decay." Thousands of pieces of modern and abstract art were stolen and confiscated for the 1937 defamatory exhibition in Munich, titled “Degenerate Art”. The styles of abstract and modern art were said to contribute to the decay of the nation, drawing a parallel to the persecution and criminalization of glass and glass artists during cannabis Prohibition. Artistic freedom and free speech go hand-in-hand.

Truth-Tech Quartz Banger by Evan Shore.

Evan Shore Bangers is Blowing-UP...

H.W.: When did it all start for you and everyone else, and when did things really take off? In the 6-7 years I was forced to abstain, the tech went crazy! Anyone in particular that helped advance the tech so fast?

E.S.: In September of 2014, I started renting space in Delaware with a quartz blower. I made pipes and quartz d-nails for The Finer Things shop and after a strange interview with QCB, I ended up making bangers. I blew up in 2015-2016 and moved to a happier studio in DE. Seeing other quartz artists do some fancy tech inspired me to dig really hard. I stayed competitive and wanted to make the best quartz, so I was always pushing myself to learn and do more.

H.W.: Heroes? Inspiration? Who taught you heady techniques? Other Artists that inspired you and your work?

E.S.: I have and will always look up to Mothership Glass. They crush and inspire a lot! They push the boundaries of what can be done with production headies and I thoroughly love that. Early people that inspired me were Krunk and Chad G. I went to a @stresslessglass borosilicate fume class, that was probably my biggest heady tech I learned from someone. After that class I was able to really explore how fume works with glass. I loved it.

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Fuming In Style

I asked Evan more about the fume and what exactly is taking place. The fume vaporizes precious metals like silver, gold, or platinum in front of the flame. The fumes attach to the surface of the glass and can then be sealed in and covered with additional layers of clear glass to create colorful effects and color changing designs. Common to the world of borosilicate glass thanks to the enormous influence of Bob Snodgrass (see Degenerate Art), fume and quartz pushes the boundaries to a new level. See the example below:

Example of Evan Shore Quartz with the colorful effect from the Fume.

Down With China Glass

I had an immediate respect for Evan's work for numerous reasons, like his Titty Banger and the intent of providing quality American Quartz at the lowest feasible price. Evan made his displeasure with all things China well-known, as he should. I argued however, that people cannot afford or are unaware of the reasoning for quality quartz and a fifty to sixty dollar option is needed. This conversation led to two important items.

One is about some of the industry players sourcing and working with China for their "so-called" American-made quartz, often sold in the fifty to sixty dollar range (no big surprise there). The other item is that quality quartz made from a reliable or reputable source and material, really cannot be made for under a hundred dollars. I was admittedly, somewhat unaware of the extensive labor and material cost required in producing quartz like the beauty sent to us below:

ESB Elemental Design Carved Quartz Banger

H.W.: Tell me more about carved quartz and who does the carving on the Trippy Banger you hooked H.W. up with? Do you do it all?

E.S.: It's a team effort. It went through a bunch of different hands to be made. The (carved) design was for our elemental series where I picked a part the fume to get 4 different fume color styles.

Truth Tech Cap from Evan Shore Quartz

Heady Glass, Heavy Pricing

HW: First of all the skill and artwork has progressed fast, but then what do you think about the rise in pricing? I’m all for artists getting paid (as I am one), but I worry that the only people who can afford top quality work, are those here for the wrong reasons, trust fund kids, and true CHADS. Any thoughts?

E.S.: Quartz and dabs are expensive, it's just hard to get around that unless you rely on China and smoke mids. This is not easy stuff to make. Definitely not borosilicate (glass used for pipes, bongs, etc.). There's lots of loss and the base materials are expensive. We try to cover all bases with the Titty Banger.

H.W.: Speak on the Titty Banger...

E.S.: We wanted to make the cheapest all American made banger possible! It's the cheapest option next to China quartz.

H.W.: What direction do you see the market heading? Will prices hold as high as they are? Or will the vastness of new artists bring prices back to earth?

E.S.: Not with how Covid has increased material prices. Every material and tool has gotten harder to get. I think new artists will price it similarly due to how hard it is! China is the only cheap escape and their quartz sucks.

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Banger Design

H.W.: I’m all about the function, as in function for the best possible dab of hash and or rosin. What I’m trying to get at is, tell me the reasons for why you designed the bangers as you have…just your style, or are there any reasons or valid arguments for why…

E.S.: It's just my style. I also try to adhere to ratios. Some people like to go really big and we want them all suited! Options are good.

H.W.: How about the Slurpee?

E.S.: I wanted to hop on the slurper bandwagon and realized they hit pretty well. It was only the natural progression.

H.W.: Other artists you really dig? Your favorites……

E.S.: I enjoy @th3ydidit, Renz Craft, Jenkins Glass, Siren Apparatus, Avantgarde Glass, BuckGlass, Soft Serve Glass, Jake C., Cadoo, *roor*.

H.W.: Future Projects?...

E.S.: Going to keep digging into different, new quartz techniques and make a state-of-the-art glass facility for my crew!

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We spoke at length about the art form and the differences between working with borosilicate glass versus quartz. I was informed that quartz requires twice the heat of borosilicate, making it far more difficult to work with, but creating new challenges to overcome. More and more techniques from the world of borosilicate glass are being applied to quartz as artists push the limits to create some wild functional designs and Evan Shore is at the forefront.

In Closing

Huge respect and appreciation to Evan Shore for personally taking the time to answer questions and converse on all things glass and quartz. He's at the leading edge of the new-school you could say, influencing quartz artistry and helping thousands to dial in. His latest Halo slurper/banger is just the latest from a passionate artist continually pushing the limits and perfecting the dab.

Glass and Glass blowing had always fascinated me to the point that I'd considered enrolling in a glass blowing class at our little community college way back in 2004. I'd watched glass progress during my early adulthood as I sought after and collected work from Snodgrass, Baker, Roor, and Illadelph. I'll always remember seeing someone's brand name and logo on glass for the very first time. And it wasn't that long ago...

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Be sure to check out EVAN SHORE at www.smallwerldglass.com and @EvanShoreBangers and subscribe to the Hash Blog for future article notifications!

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