Here's an interview with the creator of numerous concert posters & most recently, the creator of the Marilyn Manson Ozzfest promo poster, artist Justin Hampton. Enjoy:

At what age did you start drawing?

Too early to remember. I think I was just born with a pencil attached to my hand.

What inspired you to draw/ paint?

I was hugely inspired by comic books and the old Warner Brothers cartoons growing up. I was always trying to get my drawings to look just like that stuff.

How did you get involved with the Marilyn Manson/Ozzfest poster?

Marty Geramita from Altered Image in Cleveland gave me a call to let me know that there was an open call from Interscope Records for sketches for a Manson/ Ozzfest poster among rock poster artists in the states. I gave it my go and turned in my comp, which was based on a drawing I had actually done back in 96' in my sketchbook, and then I didn't hear a word for months. I had actually figured that I hadn't been chosen because so much time had gone by. Then out of the blue, Marty called me while I was in New York promoting my portfolio of commercial illustration to let me know that my sketch had been chosen and that they needed it yesterday. I was very stoked to say the least and got back to Seattle to finish the piece.

Are you a Marilyn Manson fan?

Definitely. I think we always need someone like him to stir people up and push the envelope. Like his predecessors, Ozzy, Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop and Bowie, Manson does just that.

Did you get to meet the band?

Unfortunately no, I wasn't able to make the Seattle Ozzfest date. I really wish I had.

What other bands have you worked with?

Quite a few. White Zombie, Pantera, Soungarden, Thrill Kill Kult, Radiohead, Nick Cave, PJ Harvey & Bob Dylan to name a few. You can see all of my posters on my website as well as purchase them at www.justinhampton.com

I understand you do a comic book...what is the title & how can my readers get copies?

I've actually done two comic books. Rat came out back in 97', but has long since been sold out. I'll hopefully reprint that someday and finish the series. The first comic that I did came out in 94', Twitch, which is still available for sale through my site.

What are your favorite Marilyn Manson songs?

The Beautiful People and Dope Show. Both are super sick songs.

Did you attend Ozzfest?

No. Just pour some lemon and salt in my wound.

What do you think of the comic books on the market today?

I think it's pretty much the same as the movie or record industry, the majority of what's out there is crap, but there's about 10% that are brilliant. Hellboy, 100 Bullets, Transmetropolitan and a handful of others totally rock.

You've also got an animated web cartoon that's just recently launched? Tell us about that.

I'm glad you asked, I'm very stoked about the project. I'm working with a company in Seattle called Fringe City Electric Productions and we've just finished animating the Pilot episode for The Jaded Monk (seen at www.thejadedmonk.com). The project was co-created by myself and friend, Brian McDonald. He's an up and coming screen writer/ director. He actually just won the audience choice award for his short film, White Face, at Slamdance (a prestigious short film festival that coincides with Sundance) and is now airing on HBO. He's also a comic book writer and with our common interests, we'd been wanting to collaborate for quite some time and this project just really came together.

Sounds great, what's the premise?

It's based on a monk, Chang, who lives in a psuedo-Tibetan monastery and doesn't get the whole "Zen thing" and is a chain smoking irritable bastard who feels that the world is against him. The juxtaposition with the peaceful monks with spiritual serenity makes for some killer comedy.

It's cool looking stuff. It looks just like your posters come to life, was that the intent?

Pretty much, I drew the whole thing. It took four months to produce the first five minute episode with just me and one animator, Jay Barber. We really tried to make it look like something more than just the average web cartoon. It shows in the file size, it's 5 megs and it takes a highspeed connection to pull.

Wow, sounds like alot of work. Will there be more soon? And if so, how often will they come out?

We actually made the pilot with a similar intent as they have in Hollywood. Make the Pilot, see if there is any interest in the product and find someone to pick it up. The responce has been great so far and we're shopping it around to web based companies as well as television networks. If we're able to get backing, we'll expand the team and kick them out regularly. It'd be very cool, it's been a life long dream to have something of mine animated. I'm happy just to have done this piece so far, but it would definitely be cool to do more.