Diskomodo

My good friend Daniele Murtas sent me a copy of his hilarious underground comic Diskomodo with a dedication featuring  a couple of my characters. I got a real kick out of that! Some time ago, I had borrowed his 'son' for an illustration for Murv/Murf magazine after a documentary by Werner Herzog, The White Diamond. Diskomodo is a grumpy techno DJ in Berlin of Komodo descent, always getting into trouble for his bad attitude. Highly recommended. You can order a copy by reaching out to https://www.instagram.com/nervomurtas/ 
 

KUTLUL #11 is out

Don't believe everything you read, but the new issue of Kutlul is out! Wild and trashy underground comics from the Rotterdam-Berlin axis. Only 5 Eypo + postage. Send a message to info@joosthalbertsma.nl to order.

Berlin - Cancer City

I don't think I've posted this one before: it's my contribution to the cool underground comics anthology APUCKALYPSE which came out about three years ago. Every artist had one page to tell what happens in their city during the apocalypse. I had the honor to represent Berlin.

Snuff 2000

Came across a short film, made after one of Miguel Angel Martin's comics. Martin has a reputation as one of Spain's most controversial underground artists, i believe, comparable to Trevor Brown.
Actually, it turned out funnier than i expected. Creepy enough, though.

SØREN MOSDAL : Comix, Illustrations, music

I discovered the work of Soren Mosdal with Gash in a comics shop in Nottingham. I've been impressed by the intensity of it and by Soren’s very personal edgy line. With the rest of his work I've realised that it contains loads of nifty graphic representations, especially when he describe the human form. He tried his hand at doing many narratives: true stories, absurd and raw short comics, satirical moral tales, silly fictions, children books… etc. You will find many illustrations and comics on his web site. Have a look at it, it is worth it.





A: In Gash your name is written Soren G Mosdal. What does the G stands for?

S: G stands for Glosimodt, which is my middle name. Its Norwegian.

A: What are you currently working on?

S: I’m working on a comic about Hank Williams, the famous country star, and the night he died.

A: Why did you choose to work on this subject?

S: Well, I've been a fan of Hank for a long time, and then I found out Paul Shrader, the guy who wrote tai driver did a manuscript about the life of Hank Williams, that never got filmed, because it was too dark, apparently. So I found the script, and though, hey, maybe I can do that as a comic. I realized pretty quickly though, that it would be too much of a mouthful, to do a comic about his entire life, which was what the script was.
So, anyway, my girlfriend is from Tennessee, so she took me to Nashville, I bought a book about Hank Williams, and then I found out that his death was like a big mystery, and I decided there and then, just to do a comic about that, the night of his death. And since my girlfriend lives in Knoxville where some say he actually died (it’s a mystery) I just took it from there.

A: So basically Paul Shrader is your script writer...

S: No, not after all, because I wrote my own script instead. I did steal bits from his script though.

A: Did you find a publisher?

S: I have one here in Denmark, Fahrenheit, if you know that?

A: Nope. I'll have a look on the internet.

S: Also, I’m pretty much finished with the comic, I just colored the last page last week, so all I need to do is text it.

A: Will it be in English?

S: I’m doing an English version, to send around to foreign publishers

A: Is it a drawing of Hank Williams which is visible in your comics about a couple arguing in NY?

S: Yeah, it’s funny, I forgot about that, until you mentioned it (when you showed me the questions), but yeah, that’s him. The first Hank Drawing.


A: There use to be a country singer on the first page of your web site as well…

S: yes, that was him too... He's good. Do you know his music?

A: Some, but not that much... What do you enjoy in his music?

S: I do like country in general, but I guess he's the quintessential country star, and in a way he's the first rock star. Also, his life is a little easier to do a comic about than the other guys, because it was pretty dramatic.
And his music is very simple and basic, and I like that quality in music.

A: It’s not the first time you’re drawing a musician: there’s a page about Lou Reed in Gash…

S: yeah. Also, there’s The Fucking Chimps in rockworld.

A: Who are they?

S: The fucking Chimps is just a parody on, like young rock bands that’ll do anything to get famous.

A: And what about Uli Van Bator whom Charley is listening to at the beginning Rock World… Is he a real musician or is he a fictional character?

S: Although the singer is based on a guy from Saybia, a real shitty band from Denmark. Uli van Bator is fictional too. Ulan Bator is the capital of Mongolia, I just learned. Ulan Bator, or Ulaanbaatar (Mongolian: Улаанбаатар), is the capital and largest city of Mongolia.

A: And who is Charley? Does his opinion about music matters?

S: Charley is based on jacob ørsted, the writer guy, and I think I'm Mickey. How do you mean if his opinion matters?

A: I just wanted to know if it was yours.

S: No, I don’t agree with Charley’s views n music. He's a big snob!

A: How do you work with Jacob? Does he send you the scripts or do you do them together?

S: All right. Erhm, usually I and Jacob come up with a storyline, then I do a primitive storyboard, show it to Jacob, then I do the real drawings, then we meet and look at them and come up with the text (and usually get real drunk too)

A: Are most of your comics autobiographical then?

S: Well, some of them to a certain extent. Like the one about the couple in NY, you mentioned earlier, but I usually change stuff around a lot, and the character is drawn from pictures of a friend of mine, instead of myself. I wouldn’t be comfortable doing a straight autobiographic story.

A: What about “Ghosts”. Is it a true story?

S: Yes, most of it is true, but again I changed some stuff around, I think I put two “true” stories together, and the character doesn’t look like me at all.

http://sm.anport.dk/

A: You made illustrations for magazines, didn’t you? What was your strategy to find people who wanted to start working with you?

S: Phoning them up!

A: Ahahah! OK! I’m not that familiar with your work as an illustrator as I’ve never read any text you worked on. But I saw somewhere that Carsten Jensen and Morten Sabroe are committed authors…

S: Yeah, those two guys are both famous authors and commentators here in Denmark.

A: Are your illustrations expressing ideas you believe in?

S: Sometimes, if I’m lucky, and sometimes not, but I like to think of myself as a professional illustartor, so you have to accommodate to the authors of the articles.
On the other hand, I never had to draw something I completely opposed to.

A: Did you add some personal statements or did you stick to the text?

S: Well, I will often try and squeeze something personal in the drawing,
But not too much, if you want them to call you again…

A: I have followed your work for years and I clearly see the different steps. I mean your line stays very characteristic. But now when you draw your gesture seems to be freer or faster than it was. Does this correspond to a personal and social evolution?

S: it's probably more to do with working for newspapers, and having tight deadlines, which has forced me to draw faster and freer.

A: I guess it had an influence on the way you approach and draw comics.

S: Yeah. I was always a pretty fast drawer though.

A: Did you try other medium… Painting, digital art, collage?

S: A little bit, yes, when I was younger. It’s a little bit of a shame, actually, because after a few years, I actually began to know what I was doing with watercolors, gouaches and that sort of things, but then the computer came, and ever since I’ve been using photoshop for colors.


A: There are two versions of Hundedgod which correspond to two different graphic styles… The texts are almost identical. Why? Could it correspond to a transition in your approach?

S: Maybe I have became faster and freer, personally over the years, but I'm not sure. Do you mean if we changed the text because the drawing style is different?

A: I don’t know for the text (Danish). I saw there was a difference concerning the cigarette. Why did you do a second one actually?

S: Good question. I’m not sure. One reason was it was done for a book, with a deadline, and I didn’t have a new story, so I decided to re-do hundegott instead. I guess I liked the story too, and didn’t feel like it was properly done the first time…

A: The first one was brilliant.

S: thanks.

A: What about the other hundegod? (There is a third hundegott which is a big interrogation because it is part of Fremok’s catalogue but it has never been on sale; the story is totally different) I emailed Fremok and they said to me may be some day they will put it out. But this project has been delayed for more than three years. Gosh! It would be cool to find another publisher to make it available for your “fans”!

S: Yeah, I don’t know what happened with Fremok there. They printed out the covers for the book 3 years ago. But I don’t know, I’m not sure it’s that great, the other hundegod. I don’t know that it deserves to be published. Maybe I shouldn’t say this, if Fremok reads it... but having said that, I haven’t looked at it myself for 3 years, who knows, maybe it’s stood the test of time after all.

A: Probably!

S: Actually, I will take a look at it one of these days. I’m pretty sure its crap though.

http://sm.anport.dk/

A: And the drones as well… We can read fragments of these comics in Gash. I’m sure there was a lot more in the first print. It was a small edition; they are just impossible to find. Do you plan to reprint them someday? Would you like to?

S: I would love to collect a bunch of that stuff, and some of the comics we have on the web some day. But actually most of the Drone things are in that gash book.


A: That would be great. Will you make this anthology with Smittekilde?

S: All right. Yeah, Smittekilde would be great, but I never talked to him about it I don’t think he has the money for that kind of book, maybe.

A: Are Daniel Milan and Zven friends of yours?

S: yeah. Me and Zven go way back, we had the same studio together 10 years ago. We have a band too. Mok Nok, have you heard about them? (listen to Mok Nok here)

A: Yes I have. Adrien told me about it. Do you remember Adrien Fregosi? I'm sure he met you.

S: Wait, that little fellah who sometimes visits Zven? Yeah, I met him. You know him too?

A: Yes I went to a concert (kind of static noise core)... I just behaved like a punk. I wanted to pogo and the public was kind of "eclectic". He was there to sell some books of Cotoreich and Smittekilde. It was crazy to meet someone like him in Grenoble!

S: So you bonded over static noise and pogoing? That’s how you found Smittekilde?

A: No I had known Smittekilde before. That's probably the reason why I trusted Adrien and respected him. Well… Also the Cotoreich book was really nice.

S: That’s cool. Smittekilde gets people together. I used to be co-editor on Smittekilde and they fired me, because I never did anything.

A: Ah really? Do you still have good relations with them?

S: yeah yeah, it wasn’t a problem. Zven fired me in front of everybody, at a dinner party. "You’re fired" was his words, it was just like Donald trump.

A: Ahahah! The night I met Adrien was good: inside this very serious anarchist crowd, And this sort of both trendy and austere noise core public. Well I must say I like this music, just the organizers were very stressed and afraid.

S: Yeah, we have the same problem here, a lot of people involved in that kind of scene can be pretty self-serious.
Self-serious, is that a word?

A: Why not? I understand what you mean.

S: Yeah. We were actually going to do a rockworld comic, with Charley exploring and making fun of the noise scene, we even did the storyboard and everything.

A: I'm looking forwards to it.

S: yeah, I don’t know if we will ever finish it. I never started on the real drawings, but I think it was because the story was a little too weak. But I would love to do a rockworld comic about "Noise" some day.

A: May be we could talk again about your band Mok Nok… What do the two words Mok Nok stand for?

S: It’s a constellation of sorts of the names of two of our favorite bands at the time, Mogwai and Smog, and Zven not being able to pronounce any of them correct.

When did you create this band?

S: In 1999, so we have our ten year jubilee next year.

What instrument do you play?

S: I try my best at drums, bass and random keyboards, but we do switch around a lot too.

A: I have a question about your first comics… You only made one copy, didn’t you?

S: The very first one? From 1982 or whenever?

A: I read a page of yours about it where someone is talking to a girl.



http://sm.anport.dk/

S: hm, that can’t be it. The one I’m talking about I did when I was like 8, and it has Jean Paul Belmondo as the hero. But it’s 21 pages long, with a nice colorcover and everything.

A: Wow!

S: yeah, you like Belmondo, don’t you?

A: I'm French you know he is a celebrity. I enjoyed some of his characters when I was a kid. He is both a joker and a macho. Funny.

S: yeah, me too. I lived in France when I was kid, for a couple of years, so I saw all that stuff. Flic ou voyou!

A: I don't share his political opinions.

S: What’s his political opinion? Is he like Brigitte Bardot or something?

A: Not as bad.

S: Well, she's pretty extreme

A: But you know it doesn't matter; actors are spoilt people.

S: Spoilt cattle. That’s why comics are easier to do. Don’t have to deal with Belmondo the real one, I mean. When you do comics, you decide, you don’t have to deal with actors. You do what you want! Right?


A: Yes you’re alone in front of your drawings!

S: I’m not a hermit, but you know it’s in comics’ nature; you do them on your own. I've been in a studio the last 10-12 years with friends, and the few times I've gone away to Berlin or something, and worked totally alone for a month, I've been going crazy after a week. But then you DO get a lot of work done, like that, so maybe it’s worth it. I don’t think I'd do it again though.

A: It's good to have the feeling that you've achieved something…

S: Alright. Well, the last time I isolated myself for a month, I ended up throwing everything out I did though, so.

A: Arch. You shouldn't have. I wish I had been there to search inside you dust bean.

S: Well, I didn’t literally throw it out, I never actually throw anything out, but I sat and re-did the same pages like 7 times, like a crazy nerd, and in the end I just gave up the entire comic.

A: I'm pretty sure they are interesting though. It depends on the way you feel when you draw. Sometime I hate what I've done just because I felt shit and people like it. Well sometime it is the other way round.

S: Yeah, I’m sure some of it was all right, but I couldn’t see it at the time

A: Drone gives me the impression that you are very keen on damned writers… Burroughs, Kerouac…

S: yeah, that’s the embarrassing question. It’s just, those things I don’t read anymore at all, I feel like it’s just something all kids do, you know read Kerouac and do stupid stuff and pretend to die young and all that. The whole romantic idea about the doomed artist. I mean, I can’t work if I’m depressed or something, I work much better, if I had a nice sleep and no worries, and some cigarettes

A: Yes I do agree. The stuff I made when I had loads of troubles please people and I do like it. But there are loads of mistakes from the graphic point of view.

S: Yeah, people love stuff you do when you have problems. Fuck em

A: Well as long as they are ready to look at the rest of your work I think it is OK. Just it's good to have the courage to show all sort of stuff, isn’t it? Mmmm… Anyway… Did you write novels, poetry or something?

S: No, but like everyone else, one day I’m going to sit down and write The Great Novel of my generation.

A: Do you consider any comics author to have had an influence on your work?

S: Yes so, actually I haven’t read a comic or almost a year, since I started working on the Hank comic, because I tend to get impressed by something in a comic, and that makes me want to start all over with what I’m doing, and that’s why I used to restart on my comics ALL the time. I mean, I haven’t read a comic in almost a year but I like a lot of the French guys a lot, like Christophe Blain and Sfarr and those people. You too?

A: I read Sfarr.

S: yeah. I think I prefer Blain, storywise though.

A: I’ve never read him. I will.

S: The one with the big warship is a good one. Actually "les orgres" is his best, I think.

A: Do you speak French?

S: A little, yeah, I used to be very good, but I don’t practice it. I can read French all right, though.

A: Danish French English German... You know a lot of languages I can see it in your work… You studied in Germany, didn't you?

S: Well, my German isn’t too hot...I never studied there, but I've been there a lot, I was in a comics studio in Berlin.

A: I must have been mistaken. From your opinion, what are the recurrent themes in your work?

S: I think my recurrent theme is girls.

A: I didn’t realize it.

S: No? If you think about it, they’re all about girls. Or in the case of the old ones, lack of girls…

A: Yea, There are this femme fatal and the countess in Gash … and the exotic dancer. And the girl with a silver space gun in Smittekilde 10… I guess I could go on. “Lack of girls”… I can relate to what you mean. That’s right, the main character in “the mud puppy” in Gash seems to be very lonely, kind of insecure and betrayed…

S: Maybe I would say instead of girls, what I mean a lot of the comics are concerned with the relationship between men and women, something you’ll never get to the bottom of, and so it can keep providing ideas for comics and little stories.
Mudpuppy, that was done at a time,where I was really mad at my girlfriend, because she left me by myself in London, where we lived together at the time – I mean, she didn’t leave me, she just went home a month before me, and loking at Mudpuppy, I must have felt very betrayed and lonely at the time, yes. But its kind of funny, when I think about it now -
that I felt so betrayed just because she went home a little earlier than me, I mean.

A: A last word?

S: All right, I like all animals, I hate humans, and I like black metal. Yeah, how’s that for values? Also, I really like Italian futurism and violence.

Pages of Soren‘s next comics about Hank Williams :


http://www.sm.anport/.

Léo Quievreux: comix, graphzines, music

Here is an interview with Léo Quievreux. His graphic style is witty, personal and elegant.
May be some of you will take the opportunity of this interview to approach his work: Léo’s website



"A: Can you tell me more about Gotoproduction? Where can we find the books?
L: Gotoproduction started as a small editorial which was realized in collaboration with two friends of mine. Between 1991 and 2000, we published about 60 books (illustrations, texts, comix). Most of them were photocopied (we were very careful in choosing the quality of the paper, the cover, etc…) while others were realized using a printer (to make more copies). One of our motivations was to make known authors like Pierre Francon or Anne-Laure Draisey, whose work we very much appreciate. Although Gotoproduction has ceased its activity, some copies might still be available in the excellent bookshops « Un Regard Moderne » or « La Comète de Carthage » in Paris.



A: I first discovered your work in 'En costume' (edition chacal puant) and I loved those three pages… What were the circumstances when working with Olive and Blanquet?
L: Well… This is an old story. It was a short contribution.


A: You have published a lot with "Le dernier cri"…
L: Indeed, the collaboration with this publisher has been constant for the last 10 years, which gave me the opportunity to meet many authors from all over the world and also persons working in the publishing business (notably people of Strapazin –Switzerland). I also discovered the screen-printing (I’ve often involved in the printing process of my books in Marseille); I find it very interesting...

A: There are many characters in Sàg… Do you make use of stereotypes or is it rather a fictionalization of real people?
L: Some of them were inspired by memories from my childhood or adolescence in Alsace (a region in France)…For instance, my grandfather used to take me to the shooting gallery (in Sàg n°1, the "author" of the bullet holes in that target is me!) I keep precious memories of these moments as well as the image of my grandfather's colleagues at the shooting sessions: an universe marked by strong influences from the right-wing politics and « a cowboyish way of things ». Schmitt and Vogel are eloquent examples of characters inspired by these memories. However, there is certainly a lot of fantasy and playing with imagination in this story (and some more bucolic memories!)

A : What is the meaning of the three-letter word "Sàg"?
L: “Sàg” means “Legend” in Alsatian.

A: Loads of crooks are present in your comix; You must be very keen on dark novels and gangster movies, I assume... Am I right?

L: Absolutely!

A: Is it true that "La mue" represents your first collaboration with a scriptwriter?

L: I had worked with Jean-Kristau before (he's an old friend of Gotoproduction) but if we refer to « La Mue » (with Tanguy Ferrand), this is the first collaboration indeed, taking into account that we are talking about a « non-confidential » publication.

A: How much freedom did you allow yourself while working on this comix?

L: A lot. As regards the drawings, they are realized in a more « classic » fashion, compared to my costumary style (the one I use in Sàg, for example). It was deliberate: I wanted something « relatively consensual » to better emphasize the perversity of this story.

A: Do you have any projects in the works that you can share with us?

L: Yes, I am working on a book with "Le Dernier Cri"- 130 pages in black and white (which will be released in 2009). I am also preparing a new comix collaboration with Tanguy, and of course my own comix projects.

There are some other things as well, you will be able to find more details on my website…

The following drawings will be part of the book which Leo is planning on making with Le Dernier Cri:

Livre Sans Poche : Interview with Yann Trehin

Yann Trehin was a member of Strategie Alimentaire which was a very inspiring fanzine editor. (You may know the work of Samuel Mann or Guillaume Soulatges or the fanzine La Commissure…) Have a look at his work it is worth it : Avancement 06 , Avancement 07. (Two brilliant web pages I think.)

He agreed to answer to some questions about the Livre Sans Poche… (livre sans poche : literally, book without a pocket)


A: I suppose I could do it. But I let you introduce the idea of Livres Sans Poches…

Y: The "Livres Sans Poches" are thin-sized photocopied fanzines (A6, black and white, 16 pages) which are distributed according to the bookcrossing principle. This means that each copy is given away or made available in a public place so it can be read by someone who in turn will make it available to somebody else etc. Thus the books circulate from reader to reader and belong to everybody and nobody at the same time. Also, there is a website where people are welcome to comment, write about the places where they found the books and the way in which they passed them on… The books are numbered, which makes it possible to trace the different routes they cover. On this website you can also print out the books and make use of them as you wish.











A: Considering the random distribution of these fanzines and their wide accessibility, do you envisage any mismatch in the interaction between the books and a public which they were not intended for?

Y: Obviously, this distribution principle is part of the book project (to facilitate comprehension, the principle is quite plainly exposed on the fourth cover so that anybody who might come across such a book can grasp the essence). Thus, total freedom being allowed, all readers are invited to involve dynamically and creatively in the physical life of these books by choosing where to make them available, by sharing opinions through the website and even by uploading photos of abandoned books. In conclusion there are no mismatches actually, but a wide range of possibilities implied by the concept. On the other hand, I can see the meaning underlying your question, given the fact that all the books fundamentally embrace the same aesthetics. However I don’t think that the concept of 'Livre Sans Poche' implies creating a book deprived of originality, just to match any taste. In other words, I just publish things that I like, and that's the bottom line.











A: On the back cover of the book which you allowed me to create I made the suggestion for readers to discreetly slip some Livres Sans Poches inside other books… This was my reaction to the prospective that some Livres Sans Poches might end up being available in bookshops. Can't this attitude be interpreted as a desire to assimilate the distribution facilities? Is this not an incentive to use these facilities for other purposes and without formalities?

Y: No doubt, I created Livres Sans Poches in reaction to the issues that the distribution of fanzines might involve in terms of price, merchandising etc.. I had a huge desire to say FUCK: nobody creates fanzines to make money; then why should we play the vendors to distribute our books? The bookcrossing concept offers the possibility to deliver books outside the merchandising system and this is very good. Your proposition to squat bookshops may be regarded as a kind of invitation to pirate the system... Ok, why not? But as far as I'm concerned I would say that there are other alternatives available, to elude the current 'culture diffusion' marketing system. It is slightly utopian but that is the reason I feel even more motivated to fight."

A: Any notable reactions from authors or readers?

Y: In general, all the people to whom I presented the concept - mostly during the comix festivals, were very receptive…. The only decidedly negative feedback came from a book dealer labeled “if I like a book I keep it”. Of course! But the Livre sans Poche concept states exactly the opposite!

G : My analogy may be far-fetched but I've noted in the Livre Sans Poche a quite strong connection to reality : the content of the book isn’t confined to what’s between its covers. I feel pretty much the same about your drawings and music (listen to Yann's music here).

Y : As regards my drawings I’m not sure we can establish a correlation with reality because my art is never mimetic. I always draw from memory. My images aren’t real: they are pure fantasies playing with this pretence of the seeming reality. Getting back to Livres Sans Poches, we deal with books, which are real, tangible objects. As to the wide range of possibilities offered by the Internet, in our opinion they represent a valid option. I think that one of the fundamental ideas of bookcrossing is to show that the exchange processes which develop by means of the Internet can also be found in the physical world. This is beyond doubt a very utopian point of view. But I believe that it opens new paths for reflection. And there’s still a long way to go!

Say A Prayer for S. Clay Wilson

S. Clay Wilson, pioneering grotesque underground comix artiste extraordinaire is in a coma with apparent brain
damage after being found unconscious lying in the street in the rain in San Francisco. His work is full of the dangerous element, pirates, demons & bikers.

S. Clay Wilson represents the good side of the 60s to me, which was not repressing your creative tendencies, upsetting the uptight squares & male chauvinism.

"Just because you depict evil, doesn't mean you are evil. People always get that confused. They expect me to be all the monsters I draw. I say, 'No, I'm a repressed Victorian. I shuffle around here and I drink my morning tea.' People show up in leathers and s**t, looking like my characters, I won't let them in my house."

"I get a lot of flak from feminists, but we all do, But within that group of feminists, there's all kinds of mentalities. Some don't understand what we're dong -- making fun of everything. Spain (Rodriguez) gets a lot of s**t about it, we all do. I like the idea of keeping the boat rocking."

Here's an interview with him.
http://sonic.net/~goblin/8wilson.html
& another one.
http://www.tcj.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=917&Itemid=48

Anyhow, just keep him in your thoughts.

An Interview With Noémie Barsolle

I emailed Noemie Barsole in order to get the new issue of Saignante ("Bleeding Woman" I guess could be an acceptable translation for "Saignante"; The blog of this fanzine is to be found here)… She draws very well. Her work is strong and true to her life. She agreed to answer some questions about it. You can have a look at her blog here… And don’t forget to hit the comment button If you wish to tell her something, I’m sure she will read them.




G: Hi Noemie. How are you?
N: Very good thanks. I have a small cold but nothing serious.

G: I’d like to ask you some questions about Vague à larmes. From my opinion it is a beautiful book. Where did you draw it ? Did you do it in a café ? In you room ? With friends ?
N: I began the sketches and the first drawings at my job (I worked at the time in a survey institute), I was drawing whilst interviewing people on the phone. Then I drew all the other pages alone in the woods, during nice sunny days of the summer time. Actually I got the collages ready at home listening to the radio and then I moved to settle down in the woods.

G: What did you feel when you drew it? Was it this sort of lonely anguishe and the vulnerability which is present at the beginning of the book?
N: Actually I was entangled with very complicated sentimental stories which inspired me most of the book. But originally the monstrous character came from a dream. All the story "vague à larme" relates to a period of my life when I felt alone confronting existential and practical questions about love, couple relationship, and what they generated inside my body. I was confused by alcohol induced euphoria and by the exaltation of affective or sexual love stories. All that created inside of me obsessions and true drifting which I needed to flush out by means of drawing.

G: In page 5 a mysterious boy, who is into bondage, appears. He looks very cute actually. The walking girl is scared when she realises that he has spied on her. Then the boy is transformed into a grotesque but reassuring monster. I’d like to know more about this… Could it be anguishing idealisation of the unknown which is transformed after a while into reassuring but disgusting trivial fact?
N: I am going to describe this character: he doesn’t physically exist. He is the fruit of the girl’s imagination. Some kind of undisclosable phantasm which is embodied in this grotesque, mysterious and scary figure. She doesn’t know him but she has known from the beginning that he has followed her. As something which she has voluntarily repressed which is quickly coming back and which you have to cope with. Somehow it is similar to waking up from a nightmare without knowing the end of it. He keeps his mask because she doesn’t admit who he is. This character (it is kind of a revelation) will give birth to anguishes and introspections which are at the core of all the rest of the book.
G: Where does symbolism appear in the work? For example could the last drawing be an overview on different possible lives for the girl we saw at the beginning ?
N: All the images are full of symbolism. Each one reveals a fragment of my intimate life. It is more or less clear to the reader and limpid for me. Sexes represent men and women , and in a way I am the young girl. The masked character is more complex. At the beginning he is hidden, he isn’t much scary but he is intriguing, he is the repressed element which gallops in the direction of consciousness and self. He becomes then a bit more monstrous when he half unveils and his sight will bring the girl into the mazes of her thoughts and she will by that means live an introspection by revisiting her innermost soul, her fantasy, her fears, her anguishes, in short everything which disturbs her and makes her doubt about the elements of her daily life. The next to last image represents her total immersion inside of herself with the possibility to start again from the beginning. The last character who is covered with eyes is the masked man whom we saw at the beginning. He comes back as a chorus but, anyway, she has moved on because she has unmasked him, she understood him. The eye could symbolise clear or guilty conscience (inside the grave the eye was watching Cain) on the contrary the masked man at the beginning belonged to repressed feelings and unconsciousness.

G: There are pictures related to everyday life and depressed feelings in Vague à larmes. Are those drawings expressing some kind of revolt?
N: Possibly… But it is an innermost revolt. I didn’t denounce anything. I just tried to express deep feelings which I encountered at a time when I felt very lonely, very lonely in "my woman’s role". A woman who drinks is not respected, a woman who flirts is a whore, and a woman who does not want children isn’t normal, she is called a nullipara. This scientific term contains the word null ! I had to encounter criticism as often from men than from women and systematically. This book came from my incapacity to defend myself by speaking and as a consequence it could be a type of revolt.

G: Do you think intimimacy and social commitments are compatible in a work ?
N: Hem… I think the previous answer could work for this one as well. But it’s true it is difficult to be understood because when you talk about yourself, you are nourished by your own universe which could be obscure for many people. And political commitments means something only if they can be shared, or could make somebody want to share them.

G: Any plans for the future ?
N: I drew a 40 pages comic which is very dear to me and I’d like to publish it by hook or by crook.
G: Thank you ! Bye.
N: Bye!

DENNIS DREAD: THE BATTLE FOR ART

I've been following the work of Dennis Dread since the mid-90s when i came across his underground art zine "Destroying Angels". Dennis works almost entirely in ball-point bic pen, in an advanced version of what i always called "jail style" art, with the hyper-rendering & the skulls & leather & all that good stuff. He mainatains the blog "The Battle For Art" with exciting pictures, how-tos, contests & all manner of excitiment, & each year he curates the "Entartete Kunts" show at the Optic Nerve Arts gallery in Portland. Most excitingly, he's done some record sleeves for Black Metal legends DarkThrone. Let's get to know this guy!

Sean: So Dennis, Wimp Art & Underground Art... i know what they are, i know what the war is about, but how can other people begin to understand what this is about?

Dennis: The Battle for Art is the struggle against complacency, stagnancy, and laziness. It is the battle against false pretense and weakness in art. Despite all my swaggering hyperbole, this has nothing to do with bonehead machismo and it doesn't necessarily refer to "hard" or "extreme" imagery. Beautiful and subtle art can be very powerful and more subversive than many self-proclaimed "brutal" artists. I also want to be clear that I don't necessarily have a problem with commercial art. In fact, many of my own influences from childhood came directly from commercial "trash culture" debris. Everything from Count Chocula cereal boxes and KISS trading cards to album covers and Wacky Packages. Commercial book cover illustrators like James Bama and Frank Frazetta also made a big impact on me as a very young kid. I also really love all the old EC horror comic artists from the 50's. Those EC covers were some of the most amazing mass produced stuff of the mid-20th century. The economical linework and stark composition just seemed to say so much. And those guys were cranking out stuff at a pace I could never imagine. They had a real solid work ethic and considered themselves blue-collar entertainers and not some precious "artistes". I identify with that spirit very much. Those EC guys also had a sense of comradery that somehow embodies an important aspect of the best underground art. They posed for each other's drawings, inked each other's pencils, helped each other get jobs and generally promoted the development of each other's individual styles and specialties. Today so many artists seem shallow and self-serving and competitive. And the lines between underground and mainstream commercial art have blurred more than ever. I guess it's difficult these days to articulate precisely what makes great underground art and what makes wimp art. But you know it when you see it!

Sean: You mention KISS cards, Wacky Packages & Count Chocula. I also remember alot of the 70s & 80s kid's stuff as being quite cool. But today, when i look around the toy stores everything seems like complete crap. Alot of it is better made, more fancily painted & all that, but there seems to be no soul and nothing cool about it. At the same time, there's all these designer toys being made for nerdy adults, but i think people are forgetting the kids! The kids Dennis. Let's talk about the kids.

Dennis: I do it for the kids every day! My daughter turned 10 this summer and published her first zine and my step-son is now 13 and already towers over me. They're both incredibly beautiful and bright children. Up the kids! It's true, there is a glut of hipster toys these days. Some of them look really amazing. There are some incredibly clever designers out there. I have a wind-up Pushead toy near my drawing table that never fails to amuse me. My problem with all these designer toys is that they're all too expensive. The price tag and "collectability" steals all the fun and they become nothing more than fossils of imagination. Toys should be played with, they shouldn't be designed to sit on some dick's computer monitor in a cubicle. My suggestion for the next D.I.Y. punk movement: Liberate the Toys!

Sean: The artists today REALLY do seem shallow, self-serving & competitive! There are some of these young aspiring professional illustrators who are cut-throat dogs. I've heard terrible stories. But, this seems to be a reflection of our society, which is shallow, self-serving & competitive. People like us come from "the scene", which gives us a built in community & set of ethos, let's talk about values.

Dennis: I don't know that I've ever been embraced by any particular scene and I don't fool myself into thinking I have a built in community. There are a lot of shit talkers and pretenders to the throne in any scene. But there are also many honorable allies out there. If it weren't for my friends in Engorged I would still be sitting in my basement drawing zombies in complete obscurity. Oh wait. I still am...haha. I pour myself into every drawing I do, regardless of how much I'm paid or how "high-profile" the project. I live my life without shame.

Sean: It seems like this period of time & maybe since the mid-nineties, there has been a resurgence of both Undergroud & Wimp art, alot of it is found in Portland... it reminds me of when Emo started creeping out of the Punk scene & us kids with spikey jackets, reeking of alcohol were no longer welcome at certain shows.

Dennis: Yeah, this stuff comes in waves. I've been around long enough now to recognize the ebb and flow patterns of art as well as "scenes". Chumps arrive on a scene like they invented something, talk a bunch of shit, contribute nothing, and then disappear two years later. Fuck 'em! Underground art and underground music will always thrive just below the surface of any scene. In fact, real underground art will probably thrive exactly where it is most unwelcome. Going underground is always an act of resistance and survival.

Sean: Commercial art... you've got some album art that is directed at people like us, is most likely some of our primary influences. Commercial art sometimes only obeys the dollar, but other times, you just happened to be being payed by someone for art that they like, the economics aside. Where is the line on selling-out?

Dennis: "Selling out" is generally the poser-speak of the rich and talentless. You can bet if some corporation ever offers me big money to draw a bunch of zombies playing basketball or drinking Diet Coke, I'll be laughing all the way to the bank! I got bills to pay! Anyone who has ever hunched over a drawing table until the sun comes up should understand the value of being respectfully compensated and I've always been a big advocate of artists getting paid. Bands should pay their cover artists well and on time. They should properly credit their artist. And they should give their artist enough freedom to develop their own style. It's obvious when a band asks an artist to rip off some 80's album cover and there are enough Pushead and Mid imitators out there to embarrass even the most well-intended fans. My feeling is that most people have an internal guiding system that rings an alarm when they're doing something lame or that goes against their true artistic and spiritual instincts. When that internal alarm rings you should ask yourself what's going on and take a closer look at your intentions. Trusting your own instincts and questioning your own motives is always sound advice.

Sean: So, the question of selling out doesn't actually have to do with money, but about being true to yourself & pursuing your own fate. What about the more public or social perception of doing "dishonorable" work. I don't think that everything is personal, there is a large social or community element to art too, so maybe your zombies become associated with a company like Coca Cola, or you only do snow boards or something like that, isn't part of it associative? On one hand, you don't want to listen to the peanut gallery, on the other hand, the peanut gallery is your fan base right?

Dennis: I probably don't have a "fan base" and I certainly don't have any wealthy patrons or clients, so I don't worry much about alienating the peanut gallery...haha. For me it has been a struggle just to get the public to consider my ballpoint drawings as art! I think people generally assume my work must be a novelty I learned in prison or while strung out on meth. For the record, I've never done jail time or been stung out on meth. But I agree that once artwork gets beyond the drawing table there is an element of social perception, especially in the image-conscious culture in which we live. Feedback is essential to creative development, but there is also a danger in paying too much attention to the opinions of others and a risk of allowing yourself to be pigeonholed. I wouldn't want to stifle my own creativity by accepting limitations forced on me by some shifting "community" or "scene". It is the challenge of the artist to create work that really engages the viewer and stirs the imagination. This gets back to the struggle against laziness in art. Even dumb art shouldn't dumb down. One of the reasons Garbage Pail Kids struck such a nerve in the 80's was because they were so well rendered. As fast as those things were cranked out, there was still a palpable love for the material in the best of those paintings. The artist was obviously having as much fun painting them as kids were having grossing out their parents and teachers. And that was John Pound, a guy who came straight from the underground. In the final analysis, I think "selling out" is less about money and more about selling yourself short creatively. There's nothing dishonorable about earning money from your craft. I often wish I could earn enough money to draw "full time" and not die starving in a gutter.

Sean: We both have "Luciferian Tendencies", however, one of the central themes of the particular secret masters that i pay attention to is "As above, So Below". So, is the evil element of your work aesthetic? We both have kids, it makes the future a very pragmatic, straight forward thing...

Dennis: At the risk of sounding ridiculously pretentious, I believe that conscious parenting is itself a magical undertaking. As thoughtful parents we are constantly - willfully - influencing our environment and the world around us. The principles of Order & Chaos are the "prima materia" of parenting. The seemingly mundane tasks of paying bills, planning healthy meals, and drawing around us an extended family of individuals who contribute to the inspired lives of our children are all imbued with the potency of sustained ritual. One glimpses the alchemical Philosophers' Stone in the changing of a diaper. As above, so below. Parenting also entails rituals of destruction and the warding off of insidious negative influence. The evil aesthetic serves this purpose well. We must be careful that in creating a "pragmatic, straight forward" future for our kin we don't unintentionally strip our own lives of the mystery and passion and ecstatic visions that make life worth living. Such a clumsy neglect of one's creative vigor would surely result in a sort of extended post-partum depression. Incidentally, "Luciferian Tendencies" sounds like a great band...

Sean: Let's say the Battle For Art is won. What does the world look like? Or is that even a goal?

Dennis: The only goal is struggle. Strength through strife!