How long have you been making posters?

Well, since 1992 or 93, probably. But, you know, I’ve only been taking it seriously for about, oh….three weeks or so.

Do bands or venues tell you what they’d like their poster to look like?

No, not really anything beyond “Don’t do color – we can’t afford it.”

How did you first get in to making posters?

Trying to hype my own band. I hear that’s how Albrecht Durer got his start, too.

What’s your day job?

I make graphics and animations for corporate sales presentations. Like, PowerPoint slideshows for salesmen guys. It’s sorta goofy, but the job has taught me mucho computer skills. The other cool thing is that I get to work from home. It’s just like being a freelancer, except without that sinking feeling of dread stealing over my soul when the rent’s due.

Where do you get your ideas?

Jesus, I don’t know. I come up with all sorts of stupid ideas all the time. I fill sketchbooks with ’em and don’t use most of them. To me, thinking up a good idea or concept is more fun than actually making a nice finished piece of art. I guess my only criterion for an idea is that it has to amuse me until I’m done drawing the damned thing.

What are your favorite bands?

Uhhh…. Clutch, Tom Waits, Clash/Strummer, The Police, Replacements/Westerberg, Tindersticks, Maiden, Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Smith, Bjork, Johnny Cash, Run-DMC, Nick Cave, Fugazi, Soul Coughing, Meters, fIREHOSE/Watt, random turntable people. I dunno, lots of stuff. I worked at a music store for a bunch of years, so I sort of developed that annoying eclecticism that goes along with the job.

What would you say is the best show you’ve ever been to?

Nick Cave. Amazing mix of super-pretty sorrowful piano ballads and heavy, amazingly heavy Evil that punches you in the sternum.

What techniques do you use to make your designs? Computer, silkscreen, copies?

When I actually draw, it’s Sketchbook+Sharpie+Pilot Precise pens, touched up with that ProWhite stuff. I almost always go out to coffeehouses or somewhere to draw, so I usually have to cut the ProWhite with medium roast, sugar and half & half. Everything eventually ends up in Photoshop for layout, color & cleanup. The only Photoshop filters I use are blur, sharpen, and color halftone; I arch my eyebrows suspiciously at all the other ones. My output is either laser copy or photocopy. I stay away from bright colors, usually. I avoid bright green or bright yellow like I avoid twentysomethings wearing ironic Goodwill-purchased T-shirts. I stay away from hand-lettering because my hands hurt alot when I do it and it just doesn’t come out very good. I like clipart, but only if I screw around with it. I like a limited palette.

Which other designers have influenced your style the most?

I like Saul Bass, Reid Miles, old Russian posters, Charles Shultz, Chris Ware, Ted McKeever, and I have a bunch of those Chronicle Books collections of different logo & poster stuff. I like all that junk but never really spend alot of time looking at it or thinking about it, so I’m not sure what influences the crap I’m putting on paper. And Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee influences me. His style is no-style.

Do you do any other art? Graphic design? Fine art?

I’ve done two-and-a-half buttloads of cartoon stuff in my day, most of which will never get published. I wrote a comic for Matt Smith (“Through the Wood, Beneath the Moon” from Caliber) and a hopefully-upcoming one for Mister Reusch. I’ve recorded 2 CDs with my lame-o band No-Shadow Kick and we’re working on another. I’ve done a handful of web design stuff and Flash animation. I have a rusty old Mustang that I work on myself. I have a stinky old house that I work on myself. I consider all of these half-assed endeavors to be creative art.

What do you consider your best poster? Why?

The two dudes about to get hit on the noggin by the pickup truck. Why? Because I’m not sick of it yet.

gigposters.com, October 2002