Oily Rag - The July 2026 Edition

This month, we step into the spaces where craft and culture quietly intersect.

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July 31, 2026 6:00am EDT

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This month, we step into the spaces where craft and culture quietly intersect.

Into a workshop where two decades of shared instinct have turned friendship into folklore, as Jeremy Tagand and Dare Jennings continue a conversation that's always been spoken through motorcycles. We meet AJ, one of the newest voices inside Deus, whose perspective offers a glimpse of what's next without losing sight of what came before. Then we follow Kumpul-Kumpul as it moves from city to city, proving that the strongest communities are built not by destination, but by the people who gather along the way.

Different stories, bound by the same enduring impulse: to make things with intention, to share them generously, and to leave every place a little richer than we found it.

Until August,
Team Deus

Some working relationships take years to find their rhythm. Others just click. 

From the moment Jeremy Tagand and Dare Jennings crossed paths, there was an unspoken understanding, built on a shared obsession for motorcycles, making things properly, and never taking themselves too seriously. For almost twenty years, Head of Workshop Jeremy Tagand and Deus’ co-founder Dare Jennings have been building motorcycles and solving the world’s Deus’ problems. 

To this day, not much has changed. They're still building and still finding new ways to leave their mark. This time, it's Dare's BMW GS, reimagined by Jeremy with a custom SKDA kit. As the pair walk through the thinking behind the build, the conversation quickly drifts beyond graphics and motorcycles to the workshop folklore that has shaped one of the longest-standing partnerships at the heart of Deus.

Q. What's been the biggest surprise about life on the inside at Deus Ex Machina?

A. Landing at Deus straight after graduating has been an incredible experience. I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for the collaboration, craftsmanship, and refinement behind each product, from sampling and fittings to fabric, trim development, and problem-solving. Seeing the process evolve has shown me the importance of balancing creativity, functionality, and quality, while highlighting how attention to detail and collaboration create pieces that feel considered and authentic.

Q. What's currently taking up space in your brain? How does it play into how you think about design?

A. My design thinking is influenced by a mix of film, music, fashion, and visual culture. I’m drawn to how different creative mediums build identity through styling, detail, and storytelling. I’m particularly interested in contrast, such as combining softness with structure, nostalgia with modernity, and refined details with a rebellious edge. Influences like The Crow, Coraline, 10 Things I Hate About You, Blade Runner 2049, Noah Kahan’s The Great Divide, and even childhood references like Monster High dolls have shaped my approach to creating garments with character, and pieces that feel considered, authentic, and connected to the person wearing them.

Q. If someone wanted to understand your taste, what's one thing you'd tell them to watch, listen to, read or experience?

A. I think it’s difficult to define my taste through one reference because I’m drawn to contrast and unexpected combinations. I don’t have one set aesthetic, I enjoy mixing different influences and finding the connections between them. My taste is reflected through films like Coraline and Edward Scissorhands for their unique visual worlds, music ranging from Noah Kahan to Rob Zombie, and The All-American Rejects, and books like The Virgin Suicides, Cleopatra and Frankenstein, and Hardly Strangers for their focus on individuality and complex characters. I’d describe my taste as atmospheric, nostalgic, and unexpected, with a balance of different influences that come together to create something with character.

Kumpul-Kumpul translates simply as getting together. The idea has always been just as uncomplicated.

What began as a handful of garages and riding crews joining the Deus Temple crew for a leisurely ride through Bali's back roads has steadily evolved into a travelling gathering, moving from city to city and drawing larger communities with every stop. From a few dozen riders on that first morning in Canggu to more than 800 people filling the streets of Jakarta, the scale has changed. The spirit hasn't.

Each edition takes on the rhythm of the city that hosts it. Local garages lead the ride. Artists leave their mark through live pinstriping, murals and sketch sessions. Musicians take over once engines calm to a lull. The machines themselves are as varied as the people who ride them - hand-built customs, vintage motorcycles, Vespas and daily riders - while neighbouring communities continue to fold into the experience, whether that's Bali's single-speed cycling crews or Jakarta's Sunset Drive Club bringing four wheels into the procession for the first time.

Rather than imposing a format, Kumpul-Kumpul creates space for each city to express itself.

From Bali to Jakarta and now Bandung, the journey continues.

Next stop: Yogyakarta.

'Most surfers have no idea what actually goes into shaping a board - let alone making one. The funny part is, I always thought I did. Hand me a planer and let's find out. Plane & Simple... right?'

Watch Eddy Hamaty attempt his first hand-shape, blurring the line between accident and intention, and see how it all translates once it hits the water.

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Oily Rag - The July 2026 Edition

This month, we step into the spaces where craft and culture quietly intersect.

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