Watch: Handmade Featuring Heavy Press
words as they appeared in monster children issue 74, available now.
My name is Josh Rush and my business is Heavy Press, a screen-printing workshop located in Chinderah, in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, on Bundjalung country. We’re set up on what used to be a horse training facility, just across from the Chinderah golf course and only about five minutes from home. The location is close to town, the Gold Coast, and Byron, which makes it ideal. More importantly, it’s not an industrial zone — it’s farmland, a space that feels inspiring rather than stifling.
For me, Heavy Press is more than just a print shop. It’s a place to connect. Growing up, the shaping bay was always somewhere my friends and I would hang out with shapers, catch up, and learn. That sense of community stuck with me. I wanted Heavy Press to feel the same way — not closed off, but open. Clients and collaborators can be part of the process, even get their hands dirty with ink if they want.
My background isn’t in printing. I spent about two decades in apparel design and creative work, mostly on the corporate side. Over time, I got tired of sitting behind a computer and working for other people’s businesses. What motivated me most was the urge to work with my hands again. I explored trades that tied into my design and branding experience, and printing just made sense. It combined creativity with craft and gave me a chance to learn a hands-on skill.
In a world moving rapidly towards technology, AI, fucken chat gpt and digital everything, I find myself more drawn to “analog intelligence” — making things with your hands. There’s something deeply human about it. Screen printing adds soul to products and translates art into a tactile medium. The imperfections, the texture, the physicality — that’s what makes it interesting.
Heavy Press is about that blend: a creative space in nature, good energy, and the chance to make things yourself. I think as the world becomes more digital, people will increasingly crave these hands-on, analog processes. For me, I’m fortunate to have found screen printing later in my career, and it’s something I’ll keep doing — not just commercially, but because I genuinely love printing.
Film & Production: Tom Cole
Additional Footage: Gus Kidman
Music: LoFi HipHop Beats Radio
Art: Campbell Milligan
Featuring: Josh Rush
Project Lead: Jamie Brewer
Special thanks: Jerome Rush, Andy Biddington (RIP), Steve Phillips, Shan & Olive
