How long have you been making posters?

Since 1993, starting with flyers and moving to silkscreens in 1994. I've been down the road to ruin ever since.

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

Rarely, the only time I can remember is when Blur specifically requested me to do a poster for a show in L.A. They wanted to be portrayed as "The Children of the Corn". I thought it sounded pretty goofy at first, but as it progressed, it turned out to be really cool. They were awesome to work with, I got very kind faxes from Graham (the guitarist) telling me how much they were loving it in the process.

How did you first get in to making posters?

I used to do illustration work for a now legendary local Seattle magazine called The Rocket. Alot of people who worked there were very connected in the local music scene and I found myself hounded to do flyers for shows. Once I started I was hooked. I noticed the resurgence of silkscreen rock posters happening with Kozik and Coop and really wanted to be a part of it.

What's your day job?

This is it, I'm a professional illustrator. I do poster art as well as magazine illustration. I also recently finished an animated web cartoon pilot. It was a ton of work but it turned out very cool, it's on my website. It's being pitched around to TV networks right now, I don't know if anything will happen with it, but what the hell, it was fun.

Where do you get your ideas?

Hmmm... Everthing I guess. Movies, comics, walking down the street, a conversation with a friend, whatever inspires me at the moment. I usually have a back catalog of concepts in my head. I see something and go "That would make a cool poster!" and when the right show comes up I use it.

What are your favorite bands?

Too many to list, but here goes: Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Radiohead, STP, Tool, Bjork, Tricky, Blur, Outkast, Beastie Boys, Nirvana and so on. Music is a mood thing for me, Metalica to Mozart, depending on how I feel.

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

Man, that is really hard to narrow down. Geez... I'd have to say Nirvana at the OK Hotel in 91' kicking off their Nevermind tour before anyone had a fucking clue that they would blow up like they did. I remember being absolutely floored at the new material, everyone was freaking out. The place was only a 250 people capacity room but it was jammed with all of the locals slamming and really getting into it. I remember thinking: "It's too bad no one will ever appreciate the genius of these guys. Kurt will probably end up washing dishes somewhere in a few years" Of course we all know that didn't happen. An absolutely mind blowing show.

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

Everything is hand drawn and then inked with a brush. After that I usually design the type on the computer in Photoshop, print that out and paste it to the original. It's then shot to film on a clear film postive. I do a small color comp in Photoshop to get the colors exactly how I want them before I ultimately hand cut the separations with Amberlith over the black line film.

Which other designers have influenced your style the most?

My stuff is really more influenced by comic books than other poster artists. Although I do remember tripping pretty hard on Pablo's stuff early on and Arminski is the King of design and color as far as I'm concerned.

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

Yup, the magazine stuff as well as the occaisonal painting. I had a few gallery openings where I showed some of that stuff.

What do you consider your best poster? Why?

My best, huh? That's tough. I'd have to say my Pavement poster. It's a very striking image, your eye can't deny it's magnetism. It does what a rock poster should do, make you look at it from wherever you are, across the street, in a club or framed on a wall and make you want to know what the hell it's about. That is, after all, the job of a poster, to grab the viewers attention and get them interested in coming to the show.

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