Adam: First off, I am so glad to see someone fighting the good fight; promoting images of women that challenge the prevailing standards and focusing on what is unique, beautiful and sexy about all women- their curves. What is the typical reaction from women when encountering your work?
Spencer: The feedback that I get on-line is overwhelmingly positive. I've been surprised to find how many women buy them for their man. Many women thank me profusely for creating a doll that represents them in a sexy yet respectful way, whereas before, there were only thin dolls.

How do the waify, runway model, no-ass havin' types react?
The have-nots tend to snicker and, as would be expected, some people just don't get it.

Your wife Lili is a very beautiful woman - what does she think of your work? Is there ever any jealousy over the "Babe" you're spending your time with?
Only around meal time, when she has to tear me away from the computer�or maybe she just doesn't want my food to get cold (?) � Lili is amazingly supportive of my �work.' She says, "You're great!" whenever I unveil my latest creation. Lucky for us both, she has her own passion: nursing.

Tell me about your first Babe: I understand you started with a traditional 12" fashion doll, (maybe of the Barbie variety.) How did you get from "Barbie" to "Booty"?
It was really an exploration. I was just getting started with sculpting really when I added an oil based clay to the basic structure. Later I learned that �clay' is not the best material for finishing or polishing so I made a mold of this result and continued to refine the (resin) parts with automotive primer and wax, which can be fine tuned with dental tools. I only worked on it when I was inspired to and had the free time so it took a couple years.

How long after that were you able to mass-produce and offer them affordably?
After a couple more years of admiring what I had done (I realize that sounds conceited as hell) I came to the conclusion that I had to do something with this. I'm very critical of my own work and here I am, years later and I still like this(!) So I made a clear decision to have some produced. It was a giant leap of faith but I had my mind set that nothing would stand in my way. ABOUT ONE YEAR after that I had pieces manufactured, shipped and sitting in my home.

How important is it to you that John Q. Public be able to afford a piece of your artwork?
Art is, let's face it, a luxury. (My art anyway) doesn't serve as shelter, food, or clothing and so to justify spending two or three thousand dollars (or even two or three hundred dollars) on art you have to be pretty damn upper class. Having said that, art should be enjoyed by ALL. I find it VERY satisfying to know that the owner of a record label AND the common man can afford to own a piece of my art.

Are you still rockin' a day job, or have the Booty Babes been paying the bills?
Indeed, I am still working an "eight-to-five." I'm most concerned with getting my woman through school right now. When she graduates with a nursing degree � all bets are off (!)

You pump out some insanely detailed and extremely extravagant custom work, and are able to turn out custom pieces on a fairly regular basis. How do you find the time?
Live close to work and get the hell out of there at five.

What's the longest amount of time you've spent working on a custom, and which piece?
�Best on Venus" was the piece that took the longest. I worked on it off and on for about 18 months.

Are you a fan of the Japanese garage kit and custom figure phenomenon? If so, how did you become aware of the scene, how much of an inspiration was/is it to you, and what resources do you check out on a regular basis to stay informed?
Definitely a fan. When I first moved to L.A., interest in the garage kit scene was a pretty big deal. I'd go to the model conventions (Mad Model Party) to see what was new. There are a couple Japanese model magazines worth picking up � S.M.H. (Sensational Model & Hobby) is awesome and Hobby Japan is good too but mostly features GUNDAM kits. Amazing Figure Modeler is another good one (American.) Gremlins.com is a very inspiring on-line resource I check out from time-to-time. And ShiffletBrothers.com is another resource that I recently discovered.

Have you been able to make any headway into the Asian market? How is your work received overseas?
Actually, a Japanese company took a significant wholesale order, which was great news �cause that's a tough market to crack. Germany, France, and England seem to like them and we get the occasional order from Italy.

I've been really happy to see your work showing up in toy boutiques, alongside collectible vinyl and plush. I think it breathes some fresh air into that scene, and proves that there are a variety of mediums and themes to work with when it comes to collectible art. Have you faced any challenges in gaining acceptance with this crowd due to the provocative nature of your work, or has this been a pretty natural coming together of like-minded forces?
I usually have to cover up the topless version � "Free Spirit." Some shops wouldn't carry them because they were concerned about what Moms would say. Most people seem to welcome my participation in this arena though. I'm happy to be lumped with these audiences on account of the fact that my figures are honest-to-goodness artist offerings and they are considered "urban."

Do you collect toys or plush, and if so, whose work do you love?
I'm a sucker for the nostalgia and detail of good ol' 1:18th scale Star Wars figures - my first love. I have glass display cases with about 300 to date. I also love robots and was heavy into SHOGUN WARRIORS and Transformers as a kid. It's hard to keep up these days. If I'm really impressed with a design or a sculpt, I'll pick up just about anything.

I know you have some obvious influences in the lowbrow art scene. Who do you take the most inspiration from?
Robert Williams, Coop, and Kozik were the big three low brow artists that planted the seeds and fertilized my ambitions. I am bewildered by Rockin' Jellybean and it is Glenn Barr that makes me want to paint.

Your work has allowed you to rub shoulders with a lot of big names in lowbrow art. Who have you been most impressed by in person, and who have you not yet met that you'd like to?
That's true, I got to meet Ed Big Daddy Roth before he passed away. I have met Robert Williams, Kozik and Coop several times. Robert Williams is surprisingly peaceful and kind, as is his wife. Coop is witty and charming � despite what his fascination with "The Devil" might lead you to believe. Hajime Sorayama is a hilarious little man. (very animated) But hell, I'm so star-struck when I see one of my heroes, I'm just happy to shake the hands that spawned such amazing works. It would be an honor to meet Frank Frazetta, though I wouldn't call his work lowbrow.
I met Glenn Barr at the opening of his HAUNTED WORLD show in Hollywood! � Super nice guy. It occurred to me that he is a very patient man. He was happy to talk about his process with me�

Looking back a bit from the current scene, which old-school pin-up artists are your favorites? Do you find that work as inspiring as what's going on today?
George Petty, Gil Elvgren, and Robert McGinnis - These guys got it right. I like the simplicity of their work - It's in good taste and unapologetically to the point. (I like this about Coop.) -which proves that old-school pin-up goes hand-in-hand with today's work. I often reference these great oldies when designing or sculpting.

Are you motivated by music? What are you listening to right now?
I'm very inspired by music culture. In some cases, as much as the music itself. But yes, music makes the mood. I love the White Stripes. I'm also listening to the Strokes and Outkast (Andre 3000). All-time favs include The Beattles, Pink Floyd, Nirvana and Bob Marley.

You also paint and occasionally work in 2-D when not sculpting. Is that something you're hoping to do more of, or just something to break up the flow?
Yes, I plan to do more in the near future. I'll admit it, I'm slow as hell (after the initial concept sketch)�.but it's a lot faster than sculpting! I also have a PASSION for photography.

You've dealt with some pretty diverse groups when displaying and selling your work- everybody from the art gallery crowd to John Stagliano of Buttman Magazine. Am I right in assuming that the wildest bunch has to be the comic-book kids at the conventions you've attended? Do you have any good stories from the cons, and how do you feel your work has been accepted by that scene?
I can put to rest any doubt that coimc-com squids are a special lot. Between Martians and stormtroopers in full-on battle armor� I haven't yet felt the need to sucker punch any over-zealous fans for drooling on my work, as Coop once did � but this is definitely a core audience. Where there are comics there will always be girl-art. A lot of the pin-up collectors seem to dig my stuff.

I know you've got some deep roots in comics, and getting your work distributed by Diamond must have been a personal victory of sorts. How has that relationship worked out for you?
Yes, it was definitely a milestone�It served its purpose. We moved quite a few pieces with Diamond. (More than you'd expect considering that the Adult Previews �supplement' gets such poor distribution.) I hope to work with them again someday with different types of offerings.

Speaking of personal victories, you must have shat a brick when Vibe ran their piece on you! How did that come about, and how are you feeling about it?
You know, I really didn't expect a thing from that. A good fella' from Mass Appeal magazine passed my info their way. They contacted me and said that Booty Babe Art would be mentioned in a Valentine's Day, top-ten, gift idea list. I figured, "I'll believe it when I see it." Then I started getting a storm of emails and orders- before I could even get my hands on a copy. It was definitely one of the best things that ever happened to this project.

Your work inspires certain� "feelings" in people. How do you feel knowing that somewhere out there somebody is, as they say on People's Court, "taking matters into their own hands" while staring at your work?
That's flattering� I'd say that's ONE sign of a successful piece(!) One customer reported that his "Free Spirit" brought sparks to his married, love-life in the bedroom.

You've done a lot to build your brand and distinguish your work, while making it available to all comers regardless of shape or size. That idea is best expressed in your Real-Life Booty Babe Contest, and I was hoping you could tell us what inspired this, what it's all about and how to get involved.
Well, for one thing, I have always wished I could see the people (esp. the ladies!) who frequent my site. I often get emails from women who exclaim, "This describes me!" And, the absolute most frequently asked question is, "Can you make a Booty Babe doll that looks like me?" Of course I can't possibly satisfy ALL requests, but when one girl sent a picture of herself and said she wanted to be my next "inspiration" � it gave me an idea. I encourage anyone who thinks they are a Booty Babe or knows someone who is a Booty Babe (as defined in the "What's the Story" section of my site) to enter. The grand prize winner will receive a doll created in her likeness, complete with portrait sculpted likeness, skin tone, hairstyle and dress. Three other winners will win limited edition sculptures (in effect, trophies.) Should be fun for all! Check it out at: BootyBabeArt.com Contest!

    » Visit BootyBabeArt.com and get your very own!

Adam: Before I even knew who you were I was loving your work. Your redesigned series of classic kid's games for Milton Bradley had a style that just got me grinning. I was at a party and they had come up with a drinking game involving Don't Spill the Beans. I loved that game as a kid and seeing it there in a new context (whilst the brain was soaking in alcohol) was too much. It turned out that the girl who was throwing the party had all the games, and a drinking game made up for each one. (Except Cootie- they were just strewn all over her apartment.) I had so much fun that night, especially after we abandoned the drinking game pretense and got down to just old-school kid-style game-playing. I even accidentally (drunkenly) stole a Cootie from her. So thanks for the good times! I know you kicked it at Fashion Institute of Technology, learning toy design, but how did you end up with the Milton Bradley redesign project?
Attaboy: Pure stupid beginner's enthusiasm. I landed a job at MB right outta toy school. The guy who hired me was a toy maven named Phil Grant (thanks Phil!) who must've wanted to piss someone off..MB was a straight laced division of Hasbro and I was at the time a weird haired guy with strange ideas and zero experience. I moved to Massachusetts, was driving without a license and wearing a tie everyday to meetings about Candy Land and Lucky Ducks. The design people there were rock stars to me- having created Chicken Limbo, Gator Golf, Simon, and Hungry Hungry Hippos fer chrissakes. So I figured I'd better come up with as many ideas as I could before they figured out the mistake and fired me. I noticed it was Cootie's anniversary, drew up my version of the thing complete with lotsa themed parts (the Cootie's hat looks coincidentally similar to Ed Norton's hat in the Honeymooners by the way), showed it to the president of the company and he said "Redesign the whole line!". So there I was- a guy just outta school given free range (with cost constraints) to properly taint a classic line.

Since going solo you've been involved in a lot of different creative mediums- from painting and sketching to musical endeavors, literary ramblings and kick-starting I Hate Cartoons. Was it always a goal to work back towards toy design and production?
No it wasn't. And I never really thought about the cyclical nature of things until I went back to Toy Fair this past year showing the Nub Nub line in the Indy Toy Growers section with Rock America, Strangeco, the Gobler Toys Guys, Friends With You, etc. The whole trip was deja weird. I felt like I was getting away with something, like showing my underwear to crowds of business people. Any time anyone "gets" the personal stuff I'm a step closer to Nirvana (no , not a shot gun to the head , but a place where there's both flavors of Hawaiian Punch always on tap).

How proud are you of Axtrx? I keep imagining you cradling the first one off the production line in swaddling clothes, holding it to your man-breast so that it might suckle upon your tepid milk. Do you feel like a father now, or is my sicko vision completely off-base?
Man, my - teats are sore for sure! But that has nothing to do with Axtrx.

Will you be adding to the family soon? What's up next, toy-wise?
Axtrx's brother Qweshun should be next if I ever find a final version I'm satisfied with... but Pound, Coma, and Ape Ostrophe are scheduled. I'm also heavily involved in a line called the Embryo Project. Lookout, momma. And a mini line of characters with features is also in the works. That and Plush toys that hate their fuzzy selves.

I know that you're a long-time admirer of classic and vintage toys. What toys (or designers) from back in the day are you inspired by?
All the American toys and inventors from the 60's. Mr. Machine, Odd Ogg, King Zor from pioneering toy inventor Marvin Glass�

How about new-school toys? I was hoping you'd list some faves from the collectible market, both toys and designers.
Lemme take a look around this place� Dave Cooper's Pip and Norton, The Woodring toys, Alex Pardee's Bunnywith, and Friends With You gave me a Mr.T T T at Toy Fair & I'm trying to steal back from my girlfriend. Junko Mizuno's dolls are super rad as well.

What's your take on the current mass-market toy industry? What (if anything) do you like out there right now?
I've always liked the unlicensed pre-school stuff, where things can go abstract and strange, that's where a lot of the innovation lies. I've got an extensive collection of water filled teethers hanging off my drawing table but I'm not sure why�grrrrrnnnnnk.

I just heard Attaboy + Burke, your collaborative Science-Ninja-Team-esque musical undertaking. (1000Robots is now officially my favorite song by the way.) It looks like you have a lot of fun, and your performances have become somewhat renowned. Any plans for a tour?
We took some time off (a whole year actually) and have a return show in June planned and we are finishing off our first full length which will be released soon after, this time with an emphasis on doctors, filing cabinets, tractor pulls, puddle jumping, and errr. ..Mary Poppins. I await another A+B tour with these here marbles in my mouth, so someone figure out show dates quick. mmmmfff�its hard to drink liquids.

I noticed the rather large poster of Spike Jones in your studio. Aside from the Clown Prince of Musical Comedy, what are you listening to these days?
The Bouncing Souls feed my stereo nicely, as do the Magnetic Fields, TMBG, Rancid, Tom Lehrer, Tenacious D., Sifl and Olly, Morphine, Dead Milkmen, and MC Chris, for sure. Stereolab is naked time music.

Whether you're reading your poetry to school children or putting in time as a workshop panelist to help others in "Being Seen as a Visual Artist", you're a regular damn pillar of the community. Is this community service for some undisclosed crime, or are you really the nice guy I've been led to believe?
WHO TOLD YOU THAT!!? GET OUTTA MY POOL!
THIS IS AN INTERVIEW, NOTICE THERE'S NO "P" IN IT!�
LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY.

Your South by Southwest posters are really nice. Did you attend the festival? Do you have any desire to do more rock/gigposter work?
Thanks. That was a blast. I plan on doing more silkscreened prints, but not too many posters�oh wait, it says I have to do one next week for Laughing Squid,,,oh uhm yes, I'll be doing one other poster with words on it.

You seem to have a knack for whipping out endearing characters, and much of your work seems character-oriented. Do these characters each have a backstory? Is narrative structure and dialogue something, as a writer, that you inject into your work whether the audience sees it or not?
Yes. More so because things need reasons for me .. honestly its free therapy,, Except made into vinyl or put on paper. Its how I deal with things�it helps straighten things out... makes sense of it all. That's why I'm amazed when people respond the way they have been.

I understand you have a pitch for an animated series- what can you tell us about that?
Not yet�but soon. Ok, heres something:
One episode deals with an over abundance of butter.

What's going on with the "I Hate Cartoons Festival"? Are you planning to take it on the road?
Yuppers, check the site for updates� I'll be touring with the film fest as host, with the Yo-Yo King and Daniel Smith, the Rubber Boy.

With all that you've been involved in its no surprise to find your work turning up in gallery shows. Is it any harder to face a gallery crowd than it is to know that millions of people are viewing your work through Tower Record's distribution of Gush and your 2004 calendar?
I never really thought of it that way. Now I'm frightened. Damn. I hate you. You've ruined it all.

Your stand-ups draw a weird line between sculpture, canvas and installation while also calling to mind the cheesier end of point-of-purchase marketing. How have people responded to them?
I started making those for my first solo show back in 2001 at Culture Cache Gallery with the idea that I wanted the characters to , for the first time, be larger than the people viewing them. It's an idea I had since I was a lil kid�I'm working on a punch - out Diorama book (aka paper doll book) of them called Abusement Park with Tower Records that should be out this summer.

Are stand-ups something you would like to eventually offer alongside affordable prints, or are you keeping those strictly one-offs on the fine-art tip?
Hmm. I kinda like them being hand painted versions of mass produced Character schlock. But who knows ? Schlock can be good if it's honest shlock. Plus one of the character's names is Shlocky, so I guess he would be first. Because that makes perfect sense now... right? I've changed my mind now.

As someone who has been considered both a commercial artist and a fine artist, where do you see yourself and your work?
My intentions have always been the same and even when I was doing commercial work, I always thought at the end of the day, that I worked for myself. So it's all very similar to me. How you survive and manage not to kill anyone today is the true art form. People dealing with jobs they despise to feed their kids are high-end performance artists and deserve grants and awards. I consider myself a creator�. Nowadays artists tend to have extensive bios and statements about who they "studied with"... I can give you a list of the candy in my closet which is as equally un- or ultra- important. Just a guy trying to "verb" and get away with it.

Any closing comments, rants or shout-outs?
I wish I had a posse to shout out to. Maybe now's the time to make one Up� G-good, Mecha Lecha- sport it low cat�Muffin Eater, Axtrx, Qweshun, I gotcha back. A word to Precious Roy: Weasel's on your breath, man, weasles on your right.. Make mine Minolta. Lickem High Y'all. Graduate from Lickem High. Class of '00 ought know better. Peace in the Middle Yeast. Risem and thighzem. Wesley Willis: Ride that Bus ride, straight to heaven.

Visit Attaboy at     » YumFactory.com!

Adam: Your work has been lighting up Gigposters lately, sparking more conversation than a snowstorm in July. Within just a handful of postings, you've gotten some serious props from other printmakers. Is it enough to feel the love of your peers, or are you two hellbent on world domination?
James: We've been really overwhelmed by the positive reaction to our work on Gigposters.com. Everyone's been really great to us. One day, we were completely anonymous, and the next, people whose work we've respected for years knew us by name. It all happened very suddenly, and we still kind of can't believe it.
Melissa: Love don't pay the bills! Give me all your money.

Where is Little Friends of Printmaking currently headquartered?
J: We currently live and work in Madison, Wisconsin.

What got you started?
M: James and I studied printmaking at the University of Wisconsin. The facilities there are great, and there's a long printmaking tradition. At the UW, screenprinting is considered the poor sister of the other printmaking disciplines, the most non-art of the group. We both ended up in screenprinting because it was a way of escaping the precious, contentious atmosphere that surrounded the other departments.
So, last February, a local promoter approached us about doing some posters for his venue. He knew we were big music fans and that we were screenprinters, but that was pretty much all he knew about us.
J: So he lucked out, I guess.

Do you two hit the trail for poster conventions?
M: We don't get out much.
J: They make us stay inside.
M: Yes, "They."
J: Well, it's really just better for everyone if we don't go outside.
We did get to go down to Chicago recently and we got to meet a lot of the poster artists down there. Everyone was so gracious, and really generous, too. It was a real mind-blower.

Postering/printing for bands seems to be a double-edged sword. The band can become branded with an image or style that really belongs to the artist, and the artist(s) can sometimes become forever associated with the band they've done work for. How discerning are you when it comes to choosing who you work with and thus, are associated with?
J: I hate to say that we take what we can get, but we do live in a small city that gets passed over by a lot of tours, so that becomes a huge factor. Primarily, we try to do work for the artists that need us the most. We have no ambition to work with Clear Channel, or for top 40 bands, or whatever. Making posters, for us, is more about leveling the playing field�making sure that people come out and support these artists, and by extension, all of these small venues that are rapidly disappearing.
M: We've never done a poster for a band we disliked. And I don't think that we've worked with any one artist extensively enough to impact their "look," but it has happened with venues we've worked for.

What are you two listening to right now?
M: Some of the newer records I like are the new Xiu Xiu, The Unicorns, Frog Eyes, The Ponys. When we print, it's usually Brian Eno, Roxy Music, Love, Black Sabbath, X, Mission of Burma, Soft Boys, stuff like that. It's all good music but it's more about finding nice mid-tempo stuff that is still rocking so that the music doesn't mess up our printing. Rhythm is everything. A lot of bands that can't comply have been "banned" from the studio, like DAT Politics and Lightning Bolt, because our pace becomes too frantic and freaked out.
J: I listen to a lot of WFMU over the computer while I'm at work. I'm obsessed with Scott Williams' show�he's the best. I also recently found myself blown away by the second Soft Machine record. It's worth seeking out. I'm just a doofus record collector who creams himself whenever he finds a Uruguayan psych record or some ridiculous piece of pop detritus or whatever.

Who's on your dream-list of bands you'd like to poster for?
J: I'd like to do more for psych and improvisational rock groups. We never get picked for those kinds of groups (I guess people don't think we're "right" for the music), but that's the kind of stuff I listen to all day long. And the posters are usually pretty lousy because�and this hearkens back to a previous question�the artists doing them just refer back to a long-established set of imagery associated with the genres, which blows. The bands deserve a lot better than just the millionth re-hash of some old poster in a coffee table book.
Of all of the out-of-reach musicians out there, I think I'd most like to do a poster for Caetano Veloso, who gets doubly fucked because he's associated with psych-rock and he's not from this country, so if they aren't giving him a stock psych look, they give him a stock "world beat" look, which is even more insulting.
M: Honestly, I'm not that choosy. There are hundreds of bands that I'd be thrilled to do something for. Well, there's at least a hundred� We just got to do one for Old Time Relijun, who are so great�so anyway, you can scratch that one off the list.

I always imagine the poster scene as being rife with ruthless competition, split into warring tribal factions all competing for a piece of their favorite band's next tour. If that were the case, who's on your team, and who in the scene do you draw inspiration from?
J: The world of poster art is really competitive. It's so competitive that sometimes I wonder if people are going to come over to our house and kick the living shit out of us.
M: I mean, we came from an art background, so we're used to competition, but competition in an art school setting is purely theoretical�there's no real practical reason for it. Shouting someone down in a classroom won't get you a job, or deny you a job. It's all academic. Now, we're in a fairly small group of artists who are competing for an extremely finite number of jobs, and people will do just about anything to gain an advantage.
J: I would say that we're some of the meekest poster artists around. We're always just struggling to preserve our tiny little piece of territory.
M: We draw inspiration from so many poster artists, particularly the Chicago group of poster artists: Jay Ryan, Dan Grzeca, Steve Walters, Nick Butcher, Keith Herzik. We love Kevin Mercer in Philadelphia, Mike Budai in Pittsburgh, Shawn Wolfe and Jesse Ledoux in Seattle, Mark Pedini in Austin. Basically, if you've ever drawn an animal, we love you. Aesthetic Apparatus got their start here in Madison (they've since moved on to greener pastures), and they've been a big help to us as we've started out.
J: We're currently involved with Black Rainbow, which means we get to work with so many artists we've admired for so long, like Serigraphie Populaire, Gun Sho, and Jeremy Wabiszczewicz, and so many great up-and-coming artists. It's a really cool project.

You excel at exposing multiple layers in your prints, giving them a depth and presence that other printmakers struggle to produce or just ignore entirely. How did this aspect of your work develop? :
J: That kind of stuff�printing purposefully off-register, printing transparent color over black line, printing "hidden" layers underneath flats, printing varnish on varnish on varnish�that stuff is meant to engage the viewer, to involve them in the process of printing by leaving clues as to how specific effects were achieved.
M: Serigraphie Populaire and Art Chantry were both a big influence to us in that regard. Nobody gets as much out of each layer as Seripop or Chantry. They work each layer like a dog.
J: It's always been funny to me to hear fine art printmakers deride screenprinting. They always complain that the ink just sits there on the surface of the paper, and that the ink isn't opaque enough to hide the underprinting, and that each layer of ink seems to exist in and of itself, that the layers never come together into a completely cohesive whole. These things are all true, but these are the things that attracted us to the medium. Each of these things can be used to great effect, if you just approach them a little differently.
M: What we're trying to achieve is something that looks as good from twenty feet away as it does in your hands, which I think is a chief concern of most poster artists. But if the viewer bothers to take the time to really look, we want to have something in there to reward them for their close inspection, some information that isn't readily apparent from a distance. In the end, even if you don't like what we've done, we at least want to give you a hell of a lot to look at.
J: I think the main thing, which we haven't mentioned, that makes us different from a lot of other screenprinters is that we aren't using screenprinting as a tool to faithfully recreate a drawing. From the outset, we're making a screenprint, not a drawing, and so we're able to give the interplay of layers some special consideration.
M: But to an extent, we're still making a black line drawing and filling it in with color. I've got no problem with that. I like coloring books.

Since you work collaboratively, I was hoping you'd each take a turn to express your partner's strengths as a designer/printmaker/artist.
J: Melissa is one of the best technical printmakers I've ever met. My prints were a disaster before I met her. She is a veritable encyclopedia of print know-how. Whatever's not printing, she can get it back. She may scream and throw things before it's all over, but it will be motherfucking back�OR ELSE!
M: James knows a lot about computers. I went to Catholic school. I never learned these things. We had a computer�it was a Zenith brand computer, I believe. It may have been a Colecovision that someone stenciled the word "computer" onto. He's used his computer knowledge to develop a more streamlined method of making prints. Everything we do is vector-based now, and I know that people have horrible associations with vector art, but James manages to completely escape the "look" of vector art. The way we're doing things now gives us a lot more freedom to make the kind of prints we want to make. We're not as tied up in process as we used to. Which is great, because in my opinion the rigors of process should never be used as an excuse for poor printing.

How about each other's weaknesses?
J: Melissa's weaknesses are cookies and tendonitis.
M: James is, perhaps, too awesome.

Is it hard working so closely with the person you love?
J: The work isn't hard. I think it's a lot easier to work with someone that you love, because you know that no matter what disagreement you have, at the end of the day, you know that you have their total support. The only real difficulty is that people are obsessed with knowing the division of labor. They always want to know who did what, who did more, who's in charge of this element or that element, and that can be extremely discouraging and stressful. I don't even know where the impulse comes from to ask�I don't know if people are wrapped up in the idea of individual achievement, or if they just want to be able to say, "Well, I spoke to them and I know that so-and-so is the real person who does all the work. It's really crummy, considering how much work we both put in, that people want to pick it apart.
M: It's especially annoying because it seems like it's always drawn across gender lines. Girls want to believe that I don't do any work and I'm replaceable�and guys think the same thing about James.

There are a lot of woodland creatures kicking it human-style in your work. Care to comment on your predilection for anthropomorphism?
M: Well, animals are awesome� and I'm not really interested in people or their bullshit.
J: There's no commentary in our use of anthropomorphic animals anymore. It's just a part of our shared visual language.

Let's say a motorcycle-riding bear and a couple of his bunny-rabbit buddies want to get shit-faced at the local pub. What kind of beer would they order, or are they the kind of heavy drinkers who go straight for a bottle of liquor?
M: The bear would use his teeth and shotgun Natty Ice right out of a tallboy can. He'd do this over and over until he either got sick or ran out of money. I think he'd use special bear-type money, with pictures of famous bears on it. The rabbits would probably drink gin gimlets or tiny, rabbit sized bottles of doppelbock and be quietly mortified by their friend's behavior.
J: This is a ridiculous question. Now you're just making fun of us.

You have kind of an obvious love of cartoon imagery, and I was wondering if you'd break down your top ten favorite old-school cartoons for us. (If you both want to answer, you can just take 5 each.)
M: Rocky & Bullwinkle. The hand-lettered type they used totally destroys. Bill Peet-era Disney films. Black and white Mickey Mouse cartoons, when they were still violent and weird. Chuck Jones. And everyone thinks I'm joking when I say that I love Archie Comics Digest, but I do. It's so cheaply printed, it's beautiful.
J: Peanuts, in a big way; UPA animated stuff, especially commercials; Popeye and Krazy Kat, both animated and in comics; Any Hanna-Barbera cartoon where things are so cheaply done that everyone seems to be scuttling around sideways like a crab.

Do you dig any new-school animation, and if so what are your faves?
J: I really liked Futurama. We loved it when, for a split second, Saturday Night Live ran Maakies in place of Saturday TV Funhouse. That was great. The complete lack of laughter from the studio audience� it was awesome.
M: I like some of the stuff on Adult Swim. Mostly, I like that there's cartoons on late at night. Comics-wise, we really like Marc Bell and Johnny Ryan. It's funny�for all of this "TV Cartoon Revival" business, the best stuff is still in print comics.

Having seen some of the really hilarious Flash animation you've done, I'm forced to ask the obvious: Do you have a desire to work more heavily in animation, to see your characters and designs in that format?
J: As a kid, I always thought that I'd like to go into animation. As a teenager, I saw the kind of people that worked in animation, and that I was not one of them. Animators were true geektards, studying their face in the mirror for the perfect "squash and stretch," and reading big books about how to ape the drawing style of some classic animator. It struck me as kind of pathetic. Which is why it was so cool when Flash broke, because it put animation back into the hands of true amateurs�kids with a web site and a very vague understanding of the program can still make something extraordinarily cool. I'm not terribly interested in "mastery," in printmaking or in animation. I much prefer anything that pushes the limits of the definition of the medium, and that's what Flash has done to animation. I think if Melissa and I continued to pursue animation, it would be all in the Flash format.
M: The animation that we've done has always been conceived of differently than traditional animation, in that it's usually a sequence of events that repeats, or an event that goes on way too long, for comic effect (hopefully). I'm not interested in the standard story structure of an animated cartoon. I've always been much more interested in the static moment. I don't care what the bear and the bunnies did for the rest of the day�if they went antiquing, or mowed the lawn, or made out�that's their business.

Have you ever experimented with injecting some narrative into your work, giving your characters some dialogue and/or back-story? Are you interested in doing anything serialized, either as a comic strip or comic book style?
M: We have done some comics, and we're working on some more right now. It's a little handmade comic book screenprinted in stereoscopic 3-D. It'll come with the 3-D glasses, of course. Narrative was a big part of our work for a long time, but slowly all of the speech bubbles became blank. Maybe we've just run out of things to say.
J: The last comic we made, "Bad Doctor," had just the vaguest semblance of a continuous narrative. It ended up being like a series of obscene New Yorker cartoons. The reason for that was that we didn't know how many pages we could have, and needed a way to cut parts if necessary. It ended up being really fucking funny, to us at least. I think that's the direction that we're going to go with in the future. It's the best way to avoid tendencies of the dreaded bio-comic, which are really embarrassing to read at any skill level.
M: Bio-comics, boo! Nobody's interested in us! They've already stopped reading this interview!

What about 3-D? Do you imagine ever seeing your characters rendered in plastic, vinyl or plush?
J: Yes, definitely! It's a pretty common impulse among poster artists right now, to want to move into mass-produced vinyl toys and that kind of stuff. It makes a lot of sense, because we're all already working in multiples, and we're trying to keep our work as inexpensive and accessible as possible, and we're just completely berserk for material culture, as a group. So it seems like a really natural next step. And it's not as expensive as it used to be! It's getting to the point where Melissa and I might be able to do it, which is exciting. We've done a lot of 3-D work in the past, but in the end it always seems like such a waste of time, all that time and work for just one object. It must be that printmaker mentality creeping in.
M: The trick will be to pick the one character that'll get made into a toy. Every time we make a new poster, we have to come up with new characters or at least some variations on existing characters. Settling on just one would be really tough.
This winter, we did some stuffed animals out of fabric that we'd screenprinted onto, but in the end we weren't able to devote the amount of attention to the project that we needed to. We were spread so thin already. Plus, I broke four needles. One flew off and hit me in the eye. It was at that moment that I thought, "Can't I find a 12-year old to do this for me? Isn't that the American way, really?" Come on, people.

There's kind of a weird juxtaposition going on in your work between the comedic quality of your subject matter and the technical precision of your process. Looking at it inspires both giggles and "HowTheyDidThat?" gaping. If it weren't for the band names, gig dates and venue information I'd just assume I was staring at some rockin' good fine art screen-prints. Have you had any gallery experience, and is this a direction in which you'd like to take Little Friends of Printmaking?
J: We aren't currently represented by any galleries. I think that right now, we're trying to throw all of our energies into poster art. We have a chance to really establish ourselves within the community, but that means hard and continuous work, and most of all, focus. I can't help but think that if we were making art prints again, that it would diminish the quality of our posters.
M: We certainly wouldn't turn down gallery representation, and we do have a background in museum work and installation art. These are things that interest us greatly. In the past, we've worked so hard on the conceptual basis of the installation that the artwork almost became secondary, and I grew to dislike that. It was all too ephemeral.

    » Check out Little Friends of Printmaking on GigPosters.com!

&tMatthew: After reading your Essays () one gains a better understanding of what you guys were setting out to do when started Panic. Could you imagine at the time that you would still be doing what you do, and would be where you are today?
Steven: I honestly never dreamed our little company would be so successful that people would want to, say, interview us. I mean, I hoped it would be, but I didn't expect it would.
Cabel: Well, great question. I'm a notoriously optimistic person, so I always just sort-of went forward assuming everything would work out, but without ever really thinking about it. Fortunately, our "goals" are always relatively low-key ones -- we never had "LEAR JETS BY 2007!!" banners hung in the office or anything, all we ever wanted was to do what we like to do and make enough money to pay the bills while doing it. So, I guess the inspiring advice here is: "Set your sights as low as possible!" *laugh* I will admit in retrospect that my optimism didn't have a lot of logic or reasoning behind it -- in fact, had I stopped and thought about the reality of the situation for a second or two it probably would have been a lot like when Wile E. Coyote steps off the cliff and only falls when he looks down. So, I'm glad I don't think realistically!

    » If you use OS X, then go get some Panic software now, you'll wonder how you ever worked without it!

Written and conducted by Matthew Dropco

Eric: How would you describe your art and what would you say is the underlying theme?
Dave: My art can be described best as the way I see the world. My underlying theme is to challenge ones consciousness. UNLEARN.

With your latest series of unlearn/rethink pieces, what is it that you're trying to say?
My most recent work is actually a reflection of the work I was putting out 6 years ago. A revisiting and enhancement. Still putting forth the same voice through my work.

Has BLK/MRKT run into any problems with its clients over its social/political outlooks?
Not at all. People respect our artistic ways, techniques and what we offer. We do have to tone it down a bit sometimes.

Can we expect any special political messages from you in this critical election year?
Yes, I plan to do a pro-Kerry poster. It's imperative that he wins. Actually, I'd better hurry up.

You grew up around Pittsburgh, moved to Atlanta, and then California where you formed BLK/MRKT. How much influence did each environment have on your art and what effect did each move have?
The experiences I had within each environment had a lot of influence on my work. Seeing so many people in various settings put everything into perspective for me. I think all the fast movement as well made life hard for me to sit still in. I think this is why I am so attracted to new things & discovery.

How do you separate/differentiate the art of Dave Kinsey and that of BLK/MRKT, or are they interchangeable?
I love them both. Doing my fine art gives me certain personal freedom with experimentations & expression and designing; parameters and discipline I may not have had if I just were a fine artist. I go back in forth between the 2 all day long.

How does your creative process differ between working on a personal piece and working on an advertising campaign?
When designing for someone else, in addition to my personal interpretation of the project goals, I have their objective & expectations in mind; when doing my fine art I only have myself to worry about. The goal is relatively similar in both cases because I don't believe in compromising anything I do, no matter who it's for, it would only sour a project for me. That said, I would never lend my personal fine art style to something I do not believe in.

What have been the dominant influences on your art? What is it that motivates you?
Growing up in various cities around all kinds of strange people has been a dominant influence. Seeing street artists 10 years older then me doing work that would blow your mind was another. Motivation for me comes from having creative freedom and the time to create.

Is art still fun?
Hell yes.

Where do the streets fit into all of this?
They have shaped my style.

What other mediums are you interested in working with?
I really love working with music and video, maybe someday I'll take some time.

Do you find that some critics tend to trivialize the work in these circles? I've read in many interviews where you've been asked if you could see your pieces in more "established" museums. I've always seen this as somewhat condescending? What's your reaction to this sort of thing?
Yes, there is a tendency to get labeled as a skateboard artist or a graffiti artist and it does tend to be condescending and frustrating. Especially when it's simply not true, or as time goes on, no longer true. On the other hand, I've seen plenty of instances where the artists (or curators) themselves label urban-influenced artists as a "subversive" lot and act like the last thing in the world they would consider is a slot in the Whitey Bienniel. It's a bit odd right now.

Until recently you've gotten criticism for a lack of females in your work. Was it a conscience choice to include women in your recent work as a way to silence critics or did it just happen to go down that way?
I think I just happened to go that way. I like a lot of texture and lines in the faces of humans. This is something more common and easier to find in elderly or world-weary men. Women, as I see them, are often too soft for what I like to highlight, but I've had a great response to the women I've drawn and I plan to do more. There is a sexiness that I like to bring out.

BLK/MRKT was founded after "observing the widening gap between corporate marketing techniques and the youth market." That being 7 years ago? How are still bridging the gap?
I feel that as younger generations infiltrate the marketing world, the gap is naturally going to decrease, especially as people raised in the 60s, 70s & 80s take over. There seems to be a younger mind-set among adults of those eras. But there will always be a new challenge with each new generation of kids coming up, so who knows? Maybe the next group of kids will want to be talked to by orange poodle robots, you gotta stay in touch. I surround myself with like-minded people open to new things and try to break any mold that starts to harden.

Anything else you'd like to add?
Have a great day!

Extra special thanks to Jana for the exclusive photos of Dave's latest work! Thank you Jana!

    » Kinseyvisual.com
    » Blkmrkt.com

Shane: Let's get this out of the way: What's up with the name Manbaby?
Matt: 'Manbaby' is all about my desire to keep my life as simple as possible. Kids tend to have these really unbiased and insightful things to say about the world because they don't have to deal with all the absurd complications that adults swim around in. I want to be a grown man that keeps things real just like a baby does.

Where ya from and where ya goin'?
I grew up in New York, and I live in Portland now. My girlfriend and I are starting to shop around for houses, so I don't think we're going anywhere anytime soon.

So, is Portland really as cool as everybody says it is? All I think of anymore when people say Portland is Suicide Girls. Is that wrong?
Portland is pretty cool. Umm, as far as the Suicide Girls thing goes, I wouldn't say it was wrong. You're just a dirty man.

So Robot the Robot looks to have been on ice for a bit. Any plans to bring his metal ass back?
I just put up a new Robot the Robot site that includes the entire "Robot Goes to Heaven" issue. And I'm working on something right now that's way better than all the other Robot adventures put together. I can't go into specifics, but let me just say that its codename is "Project: Awesome." Consider yourself teased.

If you could choose, would you rather be a successful fine artist with packed gallery shows, or would you rather be successful drawing in the comic biz?
I'm going to go with "successful fine artist." The galleries I've shown at have been giving me free food. And that really means something to me. I've also been getting really into this idea of filling up a space - it's feels like a bigger accomplishment than finishing a book. Comics are cool, they're just a lot harder than my version of 'fine art' - it takes a lot more drawing to get an idea across.

You crank out oodles and oddles of work, your site is full-on loaded, and you're involved in your local art and music scenes. Do you ever get time to watch Friends?
It's been a while since I've watched Friends. It's actually been a while since I've hung out with my real-life friends. I get obsessed with things, which I guess is obvious. I just want to be successful, and I don't know exactly what that entails, so I end up working all the time. When I'm not working, I get anxious. It's bad, I know.

Do you really, really, really, really not like George W Bush, or do you just think that he's dumb and mean? Are you politically active, especially in this oh-so-important election year?
I think the Bush is not good. I just can't get over the fact that he wasn't actually "elected." I guess I'm naive. Or my attention span is too long. I put up a lot of stickers and flyers in the weeks before and after the start of our invasion, but I haven't done very much since then. It seems like the whole city has the same views that I do with regards to the current administration. "Bush is bad" just seems like common sense to everyone, so when I'm trying to do something subversive, like putting up posters, I'm just preaching to the choir.

What kind of 9-5 are you currently holding down, or are you a full-on full-time artist?
I don't have a nine-to-five job, and that pretty much frees me up to work on the arty stuff from sunrise to midnight.

If you could have anyone sit for you so that you could sketch a portrait of them, who would it be and why?
That's a good question. I don't know. I've heard Vincent Gallo is a pleasure to be around.

Tell all the kids about this exquisite webzine-type-thing you've been running for a while called Crane Magazine, and why it kills all takers. Where do you want to go with Crane in the future?
Hi Kids. I publish this online art magazine called 'Crane' every two months. The people who have submitted work to Crane are all really talented, and I do my best to make the magazine look legit. And that's a recipe for killing all takers.
Ultimately, I'd like to put out a printed version of Crane - maybe like a 'greatest hits' collection of the strongest work published in the online version. Maybe. I don't know.

You've mentioned that you used to hang with Craig Metzger of EngineSystem. How did kicking around with that dude affect you and your style?
When I was drawing comics, my whole outlook on drawing was very restrictive. I was trying to tell stories, and that meant that every drawing had a specific objective. Craig's work opened me up to this idea of just creating things for their own sake, not getting caught up in trying to convey an explicit message. I don't think Craig affected my drawing 'style' very much, but he did get me to think more about composition and color choices.

Do you collaborate with others these days on things besides Crane?
I have a couple of people that I want to collaborate with, we just need to find the time.

What about making music? Is that something that you do a lot of?
Not too much lately. I recorded a birthday album for my girlfriend last summer - it sounds like Kraftwerk making Nintendo music. The two of us perform sloppy heavy metal karaoke at parties sometimes. Our band name is "Kim and Matt's Karaoke Clusterfuck." I'd totally do that as my job if I could.

What else are you into? Music, art, magazines, and so on.
Musically, I'm into all the cool bands that the cool people like. But I'm not cool.
As far as art goes, I really like Anthony Yankovic's work. And I've been a big fan of David Foldvari for a while. And lots of people have picked up on the fact that Raymond Pettibon is a big influence.
I don't read too many magazines. Every once in a while, I'll flip through Tokion or Beautiful/Decay. I got a pretty awesome magazine in an airport recently - "Slam Classic." It's got a lot of great photos from the 87-88 NBA season, which is like the one year that I was really into basketball. Good times.

Now for my new favorite part of the interview: describe your work in the most contrived, long-winded, and snotty way possible. Please.
Ahhh... Well, I try to make artworks that people (mostly young people) can relate to, and the method is to examine this pervasive culture of irony. There's this whole push to declare irony dead, but why did it get so big in the first place? I think the whole fascination with irony comes from the modern deconstructive tradition. Ironic fashion is deconstructing the idea of what 'fashion' is. Ironic bands are deconstructing the really short lifespan of popular sentiment. What I'm trying to do is to deconstruct the tradition of deconstruction. How's that for contrived! Taking something apart to see how it works is science, but taking apart your own compulsion to take things apart is poetry.

And lastly, ask yourself one last question, and then answer it best you can!
Did I realy know what I was talking about in that last response?
No.

    » Check out Manbaby.com, and don't forget to buy some prints!
    » Check out a few issues of the mighty-fine Crane Magazine
    » And last but not least, read up on Robot the Robot

Adam: You two are by far the hardest working duo in the screen printing/poster business, cranking out hundreds of prints a week, and doing it all by hand. When you're not taking commissions you're working on your own fine art prints, doing design work, producing a series of custom paper dolls/puppets, cranking out t-shirts, hitting the road for gallery shows and poster conventions, and playing in a noise-rock band (and I know there's stuff I'm leaving out). How the hell do you do it? Chloe and Yannick clones? Dump trucks full of crystal meth?
CL & YD aka Seripop:

Well, we have 3 GREAT helpers- Heath Cairns, Matt Moroz and Chris Taylor.
We also drink assloads of Vanilla Coke and hardly ever sleep. The lack of rest makes us grumpy, spiteful and paranoid.

Aside from the sheer physical exertion involved, this must put an incredible strain on your creative juices. How do you keep things fresh?
Our freshness is debatable... Most of our inspiration is pretty vintage. To keep getting ideas we try to spend a fair bit of time at museums, flea markets, junk shops and we watch lots of films and buy lotsa books - mostly old dusty ones. We try to buy new art and comic books but a lot of the stuff is so slick and "hip" looking that neither of us really relate to it at all. We are pretty unhip and don't really know about most of the current cool artists. We rely on our helpers and friends to fill us in. We only found out about Barry McGee 2 months ago! Also, the cool art mags are EXPENSIVE especially here in Canada. For instance, we pay $12 for a magazine here, but for 12 bucks we can get like 20 crappy home decorating and fishing books at the Salvation Army. Mostly we get inspiration from our friends- members of our art collective BLACK RAINBOW. The work our peers are doing raises the bar for our own work. Being in Montreal and seeing the work of our hero Vittorio Fiorruci on the streets inspires us and excites us- he proves that fresh, cutting-edge graphics can be carried throughout an entire career. A lot of ideas come from listening to music and reading books.

In just a couple of years, you have really managed to distinguish yourselves within the ever-growing poster/print scene. I know that you have fought hard to get where you are, and that in a lot of ways you are still fighting- despite having made a name for yourselves. How have your lives changed as a result of the successes you've achieved?
We work a lot more and now we're getting to travel a fair bit. We still don't seem too have any more $$$.

What's the best thing that's happened to you in the past year?
Getting Black Rainbow off the ground and getting our first group project done. (This includes spending time with our crew in various cities.) Also, getting gallery shows (7 so far in 04!) and going on tour with our work. That was pretty cool. It would have been better if we had the van we have now and if we didn't bring any annoying deadweight people with us, but all in all it's been a success. We've also had some luck getting our work in magazines. Oh, and hooking up with cool bands. AND meeting Derek Meier (Solid PR). I guess a lot of great stuff has happened this year. A buncha shitty stuff happened too, but overall things are rad and hopefully will continue in that direction.

Do you two get lots of love form other designers, or does it come down to some pretty intense rivalry? Would you characterize the scene as being more like a soap-opera with lots of petty jealousies and bitterness, or more like a sitcom where everything turns out for the best and you all have a good laugh before going home?
I guess a bit of both - In the poster scene we have our enemies as well as our allies and luckily so far every artist whose WORK and WORK ETHIC we admire we've become pretty tight friends with. (In real life even!) It's sorta like a big sleep-over, we travel and also stay with and party with other poster artists. (Well, we go to comic shops, vegan restaurants and museums- that's partying poster-nerd style.) When we first started we got ALOT of flack, mostly from older artists working in a VERY different style. It got to the point where we were getting nasty emails at least once a week, saying shit like "You guys are talentless dumb kids who'll never amount to NOTHING! Plus I've never heard of the bands you do shit for, so you MUST be failures!" Doing stuff that was different from the established rock poster standard and working for some of the more DIY bands got us labeled as snobs pretty quickly. It was really fucked and we both got depressed and lashed out at a lot of people.
Now the type of art we do is getting to be semi-hip, and many of the unknown bands we were doing stuff for are turning out to be some of the biggest names in the indie scene. We just wanted to do stuff we were proud of with our friends and their bands. There was a real change-over in poster art, all these new faces came in. Many were people doing work we respected and whom we could relate to, and they felt the same way about us. We all became fast friends and as Seripop just kept doing more and more stuff and getting props from outside the gig posters scene the haters kinda shut up or just faded away. I don't think they RESPECT us by any means but at least they see that we are doing a lot of hard work and that we have engaged a totally different audience. So while they might not like or relate to our stuff it "just might be valid" after all. We try to spend more time BUILDING a scene where new types of graphics are encouraged, as well as lots of traveling, swapping, collaborating and doing group shows with our peers in the poster scene. We tend to spend a lot of time visiting other's studios and talking shop. (Talkin' shit too. shhh!)

How does the rock poster audience differ from the gallery crowd- do you find one group more critical or scrutinizing of your work than the other?
We really have no idea who likes our work. I guess our friends like it. Most of our clients seem unsure. We certainly don't get any interest from galleries here in Canada.

How does it feel to see your work in a gallery, to receive that type of attention?
Feels like it's about time! Ideally we'd love to be able to show in lots of galleries and sell more fine art stuff. As it is now, it's hard to find the time and money to do non-poster work because with posters we at least know where and how to sell them. Our art prints are a different beast entirely. Now that we have made a bit of a name for ourselves it's our year to diversify. We have lots of ideas for installations and 3-D work involving prints. We'd like to paste directly on the walls and floors of galleries, build spaces covered in prints over structures of chicken wire and wood. We have lots of ideas, it's just a matter of getting time, space, and cash to do it all. We plan on doing more fine art, as well as comics and chapbooks. We're also trying to do more theatre and cultural event posters. We have been trying to get a t-shirt line off the ground for MONTHS, so hopefully we can pull that off this summer.

What would you describe as the main differences between your gallery pieces and your other work? Is it a question of subject matter, a more involved level of printing, a smaller more exclusive run of prints, or a combination of all of this and a bunch of things I haven't touched on?
A combination of the above. Our fine art tends to be less crazy than our poster work. I'm not really sure why, it just comes out that way, I guess because we aren't relating it to anything external.

Which "fine art" piece are you most proud of?
The birds on LSD!!!!!

You have some evident influences in terms of postering and printing, though your work is certainly a thing of your own creation. When it comes to the fine art/gallery end of things, who are you a fan of and who do you look towards for inspiration, or consider to be an influence on what you do?
We don't really differentiate between influences in our fine art and poster work- our influences are the same in either field. We like Saul Steinberg, Niklaus Troxler, Vitorrio Fiorucci, Nathan Gluck, Micheal English, Jesse Ledoux, Art Chantry and a million other people, there are a lot of names we don't remember. Lots of our influence comes from junk- grocery store flyers, pizza menus, plates, fabric- just random crap.

The "Riding a Coattail to Heaven" show seems to have been a success. Was the concept for the show something that Foundation gallery came up with, something you generated, or a compromise of sorts?
We don't even remember. We met Michael and Elizabeth last summer while we were on tour showing at the Texas Ballroom in Chicago and bullied them into giving us a show. We seemed to remember them wanting to show art prints, so we made some art prints. 10 of them! And they can only bee seen at Foundation for now.

Elizabeth and Michael have done an amazing job of finding artists with a common aesthetic for Foundation, dealing with people whose work is accessible yet not excessively lowbrow, intelligent but not obscure. I think Seripop embodies those concepts. You were even able to further scramble the line between fine art and the poster by offering both during this show. Which side of what you do got the most attention?
We don't know what got more attention, we pretty much just talked to other poster artists we know in Chicago the whole time. (Chicago is like the poster art capital right now). We are both pretty quiet and shy around people we don't know and I'm not sure if most of the people at the opening even KNEW we were the artists. They probably thought we were hoboes scamming on the free food. I do know that a lot of our test prints sold. That's always kinda weird and neat that people want what is basically our garbage. We'd prefer if people were more into our art prints and posters but test prints generate a lot of interest because they are one-of-a-kind. We feel that people see them on par with paintings and don't necessarily see the editioned work as REAL ART. At the same time, with our test prints nothing is planned, nothing is laid out so they aren't really our creations but are more the by-product of our art.
On another note we are really excited that Foundation and other cool galleries are springing up. We REALLY DO NOT RELATE AT ALL to the whole lowbrow art thing- graffiti art is cool but the slickness in that scene today is really far removed from our personal experiences, so it's great to finally see support for other types of underground art coming up too.

I was hoping you could discuss the idea of the "Poster Tour"- how you've mirrored the labor of touring as a band by producing a series of gig posters that are unique to each show. How did this idea come about, and how is it working out?
We just did the first installment of it for Daughters and The Chinese Stars- friends of ours and two of our favorite current bands. The idea came when we were on tour ourselves last summer. We figured it would be a good way to get our shit on the road without having to leave our house (we like staying home) AND to support some bands we think are really amazing/exciting/relevant. The first installment of 16 posters took almost a month to do (along with our regular load) and cost us 2 grand. It was WAY more work than we expected but we feel pretty rad that we were able to get it all done and feel that as a series it's strong and represents our style well.

Which bands are you working with on this project?
Next in line are An Albatross, Death From Above, hopefully The Locust, maybe our friends The Unicorns, and some other bands. It's a bit vague right now and depends on managers and booking agents being organized and not sucky.
We'd REALLY like to ask Lightning Bolt but are WAY too intimidated by them.

I know that (more than any other members of the poster scene) you two have been very careful and specific about which bands you choose to work with and which projects you accept. Since, in turn, your work is perpetually associated with those bands, this makes a lot of sense. Who is on Seripop's dream list, in terms of somebody you'd love to work with but haven't yet?
Oh my! First of all- we are both in love/lust with Dance Disaster Movement. We met them in Detroit and missed their show but traded art for records- the records BLEW US AWAY. Then we got to see them at CMJ where they were the most exciting band we saw all week. We would be really proud to be associated with them in any way. Their music is fresh and sexy and reminds me of The Contortions in a way but very NOW. We'd also LOVE to do more stuff for US Maple.
As for other bands we'd kill to do graphics for - Pink and Brown (Do they still exist? We never go outside.) SONIC YOUTH - longtime favorite of both of ours, Sun City Girls, No Doctors, SLAYER, !!!, William Parker, Shellac, Country Teasers, Oxes, Flying Luttenbachers (again do they still exist?), Test, Mindflayer, Motorhead, and I'm sure there are a million more. We're basically just big groupies who are too dorky/ugly/lame to do more than graphics. We'd really like to go back in time and do posters for Blue Cheer, Hairy Pussy, Black Flag, Arab on Radar, UT or Led Zepplin.

I love the print you did for the "Yo! What Happened to Peace?" group show in LA, and I know you have some strong feelings when it comes to the current political climate. As Canadians, you're also subject to a Prime Minister who may or may not have been rightfully elected and who is most certainly a conservative, right-wing fuck. Those of us in the US have suffered through four years of a very similar injustice. With all the warmongering and money-grabbing going on, I thought I might give you some space to give us your take on things�.
Seriously, every time we talk about the political situation we wanna run away and live in the woods. Life is bleak right now. We live in 1984, under constant surveillance. Everything in Canada is eroding fast: culture, health care, education, environment, literacy.Farm land is being turned into condos and water is unsafe. Democracy is a scam because most people are too ignorant of what is going on to make a judgment call at election time.
The war is bullshit and we are all going to die.
Probably slowly and painfully.

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