My good friend Kenny A’La Fu has just launched his new label, Vava Records.
To lauch it he has produced his own triple 7 inch called “Themes” which are
all housed some nice packing with tasty artwork courtesy of Roughe.
To check out the music just go here.

TSG :: Hi. Care to introduce yourself?

PMKFA :: I’m PMKFA, a graphic designer trying to work as diverse as I can as long as I can keep a high level of quality. Always trying to explore new styles and new mediums and techniques. That exploration is my main inspiration, repeating myself is my nightmare.
Since 2006 I’m one half of It’s Our Thing, a graphic clothing label that I design and art-direct and the production is taken care of by my partner down in Osaka.
I’m based in Tokyo since 2005.

TSG :: Did your Swedish upbringing help as a foundation for being involved in design? Having been there a couple of times the overall aesthetics level I always find as high as you’d expect.

I grew up in a small industrial city 3 hours by train north from Stockholm. The county I’m from was once described as “Swedens cultural freezer” and it’s very true. My upbringing in Sweden didn’t shape my style but probably my ambition after I moved away from my hometown. Music made me dream about the outside world, sitting listening to Jeff Mills and Underground Resistance in my middle class home and look at images of a dystopian Detroit meant a lot for me. In my hometown you don’t have ambition so when I got my first produced jobs and earned my first money almost ten years ago I had already by far exceeded my dreams. It’s not until recently I started setting up real goals for PMKFA and It’s Our Thing, because I never grew up with the culture of doing so. I see a very exciting future in front of me.

TSG :: Now that you are residing in Japan has it altered your style of work?

It certainly has and since I moved away from Sweden in 2000 I’ve been working on disconnecting my style to my my origin, but being away from Europe the past four years it have intensified. I try to disconnect the logic I was born with as and I believe through doing that I can go in directions I wouldn’t be able to go if I was living in Europe. Long before I moved to Tokyo I used to look at japanese stuff and was stunned by the total absence of the stale rationality I had myself. Some of my recent stuff that’s coming out through Sixpack next year and some other stuff I think represent the fact that I finally managed to disconnect my old logic, but I also work hard on balancing it.

TSG :: I guess today your location doesn’t matter, but a lot of your output seems to be for Europeans huh?

I haven’t promoted myself since 2005 so my clients geographical location is random. This year I’m doing a lot of work here in Tokyo, some large sized projects for a huge exhibition and another a identity for a database/research company and I feel very lucky to be able to design a sweater one week and work on a strict visual identity the next. I am endlessly happy for the clients that put trust in me even in fields that I haven’t proven skill in yet. That trust has to be taken care of and that’s why I push myself to my limits whenever that happens.

TSG :: Your own clothing label, “It’s Our Thing” has been really well received in the past, how is the new line going?

The new line is doing well thank you! It’s Our Thing needed a clearer branding and I think with the new logo and the new line that’s now in place, we got a few brand new shops too so I’m really happy and there’s a bunch of new stuff coming. Very soon we will start releasing mix-CD’s and first out is Paris biggest secret DJ Seep who’ve made a absolutely amazing mix that gives all DJ’s a run for their money. After him a friend in Sweden will do a mix, I’m doing one myself and then we gonna unleash some Japanese people. The CD’s will come in plastic 3D moulded packaging and I can’t wait to get it out.

TSG :: You’ve also been creating a Sixpack micro-line and book, has it worked out how you’d expected?

Working with Sixpack is amazing, the trust and challenges are so inspiring my focus is total when a new line has to be made, last month I finished s/s10 and it’s the best I’ve ever done. The book is just out and I’m looking forward to see how it’s received, some especially made material in there showing my “graphic” photo works of landscape models and stuff, was a lot of fun to make the book.
Sixpack have really turned into a dream client because it’s so much fun.

TSG :: Having dj’d for a Kim Jones event did that spawn any further clothing projects?

The only thing it spawned was a intense headache the next day for me and my friends. Le Baron really was like a warzone that night, we all lost our minds, but it was fun, not much time for that these days unfortunately.

TSG :: You’ve done several designs for musical artists, it seems you like your dubstep, are there any acts you’re itching to wok with?

I came into graphic design through music, I started with photography in the mid-90′s but got into graphics after getting into music and getting to know a lot of people who made music and who ran small labels so I started doing their graphics and that’s how I got into graphic design more or less. Since a couple of years ago I parted with the music industry because it’s rotten, but I’m planning to do a record for some friends and look forward to that a lot, will be quite big but as I have no ambition in getting further into the music industry I started doing things more for fun and only if I believe in the music and the people behind it.

TSG :: Would you like to do more motion graphics or are you content with the static visual world?

Yeah I guess I would like to do some motion stuff, or more like filming. I’m trying to photograph more and that’s my first step towards video, I think in video quite often but have no time at the moment to go into that direction, but one day I will. Have done some VJ’ing in the past.

TSG :: Your typography is always pretty tight, is that something you especially are interested in or does it just simply go hand in hand with graphic design?

Hand in hand, my vision is that there’s no rules in how the elements can be crossbred, illustrative typography, graphic photography etc. That’s the way I’ve thought for a long time and I think it’s contributed for me to be able to do stuff in different directions, for example Probarious, the big installation I did a bit more than a year ago here in Tokyo. I think graphic design is way more broad as a medium than the common perception, there’s really no boundaries I think, but you have to respect the medium, what works on paper doesn’t work as wall on a shirt or in 3D or whatever. I never though what I did was good enough to just transfer between the mediums, I always doubt that it’s good and wanna know more about the medium, target group etc, but still put my stamp on it. This is also the reason why I don’t have a trademark style AND WILL NEVER HAVE ONE. I’m sure it works for some people but there are many out there who I wonder how they keep the joy levels up when they go to office day after day after day doing the same thing. Unfortunately that’s the graphic design world works, do a trademark style and get up fast, for me the most important thing is to feel that in 10 or 15 years I will be as happy to make this as I am today, or even in 30 years.

TSG :: Another style I like of yours is the sort of airbrushing feel you give some parts, are their old influences there?

Yeah for sure, I love stuff from the early 80′s, it’s really a golden era for many things, music, graphics etc. I like to sort of create my own vision of that time as I was too young to remember anything in 1982, but it’s also something I’ve explored to in retrospect see what was going on in a time when I was just a little toddler.

TSG :: If you weren’t a solo designer are there studios out there you’d love to be involved with?
No.

TSG :: With printed magazines dropping like flies at the moment do you think illustrators will suffer at all?

I’m not an illustrator, haven’t made a magazine illustration for many years.

TSG :: You had a show in Japan not so long ago, it was styled on the past, present and future of PMKFA, was it diffcult in picking which works to showcase to show the timeline?

Which one do you mean? My latest exhibition was Probarious and there I only showed site-specific stuff, large size posters, the big installation and written work.

TSG :: Any future shows on the horizon?

There’s some discussions and I know exactly what I wanna do, but what I wanna do is kinda 3D and I’m developing new techniques and building machines at the moments, there’s a lot of fine tuning left but the day it’s ready it’s gonna be striking that’s for sure, next exhibition will be 3D and 2D in a way it’s never been done before, it will be great, but the work in front of me is humbling, I know where I wanna go but the path there is rocky.

TSG :: Sounds intriguing, I look forward to seeing how it all unfolds. Cheers for your time.

|^|TSG|^|

More work of PMKFA can be found on his site here. It’s Our Thing can be checked out here.

]]> http://theshadowgallery.co.uk/main-feature/pmkfa/feed/ 3 http://theshadowgallery.co.uk/features/sixpack/ http://theshadowgallery.co.uk/features/sixpack/#comments Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:12:41 +0000 The Shadow Gallery http://theshadowgallery.co.uk/?p=166

Around ten years ago I shared a small clothing company and we did alright, even international presence in stores. One of those stores was Sixpack in France. This started my interaction with Lionel Vivier, owner and creative director of the then-store and label which was fledgling at the time. I’m happy to have been involved with the label too and Lionel and co are some of the busiest, creative folks out there so it’s cool they took a minute to talk. Lionel even included some imagery of inspirational items that have helped form and shape the label through the years.
Never resting, always on the go. They’ll sleep when they’re dead.
Read on.

TSG :: We’ve been in touch with one another for many, many years now ­– even as Sixpack, the label, was beginning if memory serves – and it just gets stronger and stronger. You must be pleased with how globally well received you guys are now?

Totally stoked. Sixpack started as a shop in 1998. It was graffiti time – bombing the trains and the streets. Our goal was to sell everything you could find in our teenage bedrooms: posters, streetwear, spraycans, records, books, fanzines, comics etc. . . We were involved a lot in the local and national graffiti scene and although I don’t have time to spray anymore I’m still very interested in graffiti – I still read graffiti mags. I’m a very big fan of Honet. He’s one of my French graffiti artist heroes, he’s the best.
When Sixpack started as a small shop in the ghetto area, it was fun to live daily with prostitutes and the ghetto mood. We opened the shop with a very small budget. We built ourselves up step by step. It was very fun and very complicated as well. At that time people like DJ Feadz and TTC were totally unknown and they would come into Sixpack a lot to buy t-shirts and records.
It was very cool to discuss pop music, techno and hip-hop with them.
TTC were visionaries. They were the first French hip-hop band to be convinced that Aphex Twin and Britney Spears were the same thing. . . hahaha. I love them and I totally share the same vision. Later we moved and we opened a bigger space, where we started selling more clothes such as Stüssy, Freshjive etc. We also began to print our first Sixpack t-shirts.

TSG :: When you had the store at first, was such a prolific clothing label always a plan or did it just develop that way?

To be honest with you, we didn’t have anything planned. The plan was just to find a way and a medium to make our vision and business live and spread it. It has been very complicated, because our goal was to defend alternative and sub-culture, although it takes time to find a real audience and enough clients who understand what you are doing. We had kind of feelings we were fighting against a wall, that’s why we stopped the shop. We didn’t find the balance between underground and business reality. I decided to take the Sixpack name further, doing a brand as a label business model. I always trusted it would work and never gave up defending our background and sub-culture.

TSG :: I have run into many people who’ve been involved with you or know you and it always surprises me how much you guys get done – and around – from what is essentially quite a tight knit operation. Have you actually managed to discover the eighth day in a week or what?

Hahaha, definitely yes. But now we have a real team who work at the office. Fanny, my wife is accountant, Benoit is the logistics guy, Sylvain is the executive graphic designer and Simon handles the international strategy. But I can still remember when we started – day and night were mixed into one.

TSG :: Were you involved heavily in art yourself pre-Sixpack?

Like I said, I was involved in the French graffiti scene, but I’m old and I’m more focused on my family and Sixpack right now, but I still draw letters. Always sketching. I must focus on my artistic director part. I’ve always been interested by art – music, photography, graphic design and movies. Before Sixpack I used to be the projectionist in a small independent cinema, it was very interesting. I fed off it. and built up a big part of my cultural knowledge. Movie poster design is a treasure. I’m a big fan of Hitchcock movie posters, with graphics done by Saul Bass.
At that time I used to chill at the record store looking at record art covers. Through New Order I discovered Peter Saville; through Sonic Youth, Raymond Pettibon; through Pixies, Vaughan Oliver; through 60s and 70s psychedelic pop records I discovered the bright work of designers such as Milton Glaser, Peter Max. . .
When we started the brand, the plan was simple: print art on tees. The t-shirt is the perfect medium to spread a message and my goal is to spread art. I don’t trust underground brands so much – I want to find the balance between my own personal pleasure, doing radical graphics and business reality. It doesn’t mean I want to spread Sixpack as a mass market brand, because I take a lot of care about our positioning. But if you choose to stay underground it means you don’t want to grow up. I want Sixpack to be very popular, but with a radical artistic direction.

TSG :: It seems some of your close friends in France are some incredibly talented and respected artists, that must have been a great help in the creation of the label.

Yes, we are very lucky because most of our friends became talented and respected. But we met them before they were well known. I met Tacteel (TTC producer from Institubes) when we started the shop. Tacteel was starting Institubes. I was already working with Akroe who became Institubes’ artistic director. It was natural to print the first Institubes t-shirt together.
Our relation started naturally – no marketing plans, the foundations were real friendship. Same with Fake, he used to come to the south to spray with us. After doing graffiti he went to a very famous graphic design art school, and naturally he designed some graphics for us. Same with the guys at Clark – I met Gyom when he started a zine named Matsa. It was before Clark. We naturally hooked up when Sixpack and Clark started. Same with Krsn, Bus etc.

TSG :: The work with Akroe has often been some of my favourite products. How is the new sub-line being welcomed? I’ve got the grey jersey, it’s amazing. The print is on some mathematical winter looking style.

Yes. ‘The Future’ line is very complicated, in a good way. I love the graphics you are talking about. We want to establish a sub-line designed in collaboration with Akroe, Rory (he’s a stylist) and me. Akroe designs, Rory does the style and my own part is to coordinate and unite the project. It’s a cross of ideas between three people. I love how Akroe designs. He’s a radical designer. I love how he’s building his style and career as a long term vision. In ten years his work will have a real importance. He’s very mathematical and I love his minimal design approach. Our goal with this sub-line is to do a mature premium line, with a real total look – jackets, shirts, knits, pants etc. Each piece is more detailed, using cut and sew techniques. It was a bit boring to print only t-shirts. Our desire to do a real collection came very fast.

I’m very inspired by European brands like Filipa K, Martin Margiela, Henrik Vibskov, Cacharel etc. I like minimal design garments with crazy prints and smart details. I’m not very inspired by streetwear brands. As a side project, Akroe designed us a special micro collection for a co-branding collab we will do with DC Shoes. We did a leather jacket, shoes and some very premium garments. Stay focus. [[watch this space?]]

TSG :: Aside from the clothing product, you’ve put on many shows with contributing artists which always seem to look amazing. Do you find it an extension of the clothing or a whole separate part of Sixpack?

I see Sixpack built as a ‘label’ business model more than just a brand. We will extend our activities to publishing. It’s very logical for us to start doing books. We edited the first with Steve Harrington, the new one should be with Swedish artist PMKFA.

TSG :: Do you source most of your contributors yourself? Or how do you select who you have to create work for the label?

I source all the artists by myself, sometimes I’ve been hooked up by artists themselves, Cody Hudson introduced me with Ryan Waller etc. I try simply to re-transcribe all my cultural heritage and background – music, movies, graphic design on our t-shirts and products, working with artists who defend the same aesthetic, values and who share nearly the same tastes. I could say I have at least one thing in common with each artist I’m working with, that’s why Cody Hudson designed us the Very Moderne Kunst line. It was an homage to American counter culture, the psychedelic era; a tribute to psych-pop bands like The Byrds or 13th Floor Elevators mixed with pre-UK rave references like 808 State, hahaha. It wasn’t a new rave collection as people thought it was. . . hahaha.

TSG :: There can’t be many continents Sixpack hasn’t had an input from, huh?

We are very, very focused on the international distribution, it’s very important for us to spread Sixpack over Europe. We are distributed in about 15 countries. It’s very good to see how the echoes and feedback are good between each country. I’m not very into the underground notion today – I don’t want Sixpack as a mass market brand at all, but I believe it’s important to talk to as many people as we can regarding positioning and Sixpack distribution. The plan is to extend our network.

TSG :: You’ve always seemed like someone who, if they like the idea, will go to any length to get your output right. I totally appreciate that. (Lionel once did an 8 [8 right?] colour print to get a gradient perfect on one of my contributions) but your printers must always be nervous when you arrive?

Oh my god, yes. They must be pretty on point. My printer hates me cause I used to stand behind him too much to keep my eyes on production. It was very stressful. I still do it with very complicated print development. I’m very lucky because I have a very good French talented screenprinter and my Portuguese printers are not so bad as well. I can’t fuck up the prints –that’s my mission – to respect the artwork. The artists put their heart into the artwork process, it’s my responsibility to make it turn out like it should be.

TSG :: Has there been any concepts you’ve wanted to do but have proved technically too much to create?

CMYK on black tees are a fucking real nightmare to print. But I’ve found a solution now.

TSG :: Were you stoked on the Art of Music show in LA recently? The line-up was great and the works looked amazing.

It was very logical to sponsor the show for a few reasons. Ill Studio are good friends, they did the layout for our next SS09 catlaogue, the artists exhibited have worked (past, present or future) for Sixpack, and the theme fitted with the Sixpack values.
As I said, I built my graphic design culture through music at the record store, with zines, movies and comics as well. Everything started with these four elements: music, movies, comics and graffiti. Do-it-yourself and American indie rock (Pavement, Daniel Johnston, Butthole Surfers etc.) inspired me a lot. It said everything could happen by yourself if you believe in it. I love comics and especially authors like Charles Burns, Daniel Clowes and Frank Miller. I’ve been inspired a lot by American counter culture – William S Burroughs, Robert Crumb, Rick Griffin etc. Also 70s psych-pop rock and psych-funk (The Byrds, 13th Floor Elevators, Funkadelic etc.) and by the ‘New Hollywood’ movie revolution, with movies such as Easy Rider, Vanishing point, Zabriskie Point etc. Everything mixed with my own French cultural heritage – French pop culture, Serge Gainsbourg, Roland Topor, French cartoons such as Téléchat etc. I’m a very big fan of 60s pop music – The Kinks, The Free Design, The United States of America etc. In the mid 90s I moved to London and I was into electronic and techno music a lot, it was rave party time. Crazy. Primal Scream, Underworld, Happy Mondays etc. It changed my life. I killed rock and roll, hahaha.
I went back to France and hip-hop came to me – The Pharcyde, Company Flow, Digable Planets, Above The Law etc. In the late 90s Mo-Wax inspired me a lot. By 2000, it was time to mix everything into one – hip-hop, electro, rock, and pop music: to open a shop and to do a brand.
It’s impossible to separate Sixpack and music, that’s why we were part of The Art of Music art show. We recently printed a new t-shirt with Gaspirator, he’s half of the Parisian electro-rock duo Justice. He’s a smart designer, before doing music he was a graphic designer and he still is. His work is very bright, I don’t how and where he found time to design but we are very proud to have the opportunity to work with him, he’s very exclusive.

TSG :: There are many French companies in various fields who produce amazing output, it must be cool to have such prolific fellow countrymen and you guys do seem to get a lot of home support from them too?

Definitely, I say thanks to TTC, Tacteel, Orgasmic, Faker, Gyom at Clark, Romu at Lazy Dog and to all the artists. Thanks so much.

TSG :: If you didn’t have Sixpack, are there any other labels you’d have loved to have been involved with?

I would love to work with Charles Burns, Richard Prince and Christian Dior hahaha, but we already work with the best artists worldwide – Parra, Akroe, Cody Hudson, Erosie etc. Keep your eyes on the next line, we have new talents in the pipeline.

TSG :: Are there any special projects forthcoming you’d like to share?

We have our 2009 Spring/Summer collection coming around early February, it’s totally new, the line is very inspired by architecture, especially by the revolutionary UK architectural movement called ARCHIGRAM. It’s very ‘Utopia’ orientated, a bit experimental, a bit abstract but very pop. It includes a lot of nylon jackets and some small micro lines designed by Cody Hudson, Parra, Alex Trochut, Gasius, and Ill-Studio. We will have a new book 100% dedicated to the artist PMKFA , he’s a genius. We are working on an exhibition in Tokyo with him to promote the book.
He’s a Swedish artist who lives in Tokyo, he’s very smart and his work is awesome – abstract, colourful and very pop. It should be involved much more in Sixpack in the near future. We have a big collaboration with DC shoes, a whole micro collection designed by Akroe. Early December we will collaborate with Institubes and DJ Orgasmic on 12 inch. DJ Orgasmic produced an exclusive track for Sixpack to promote our collection, it’s totally new in marketing. The record should be available early December as a pack: t-shirt + record. The art cover was designed by Akroe.

To close, here is one of my end of the world playlists:

Primal Scream ‘Screamadelica’
Neil Young ‘Arc Weld’
The Kinks ‘Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)’
The Byrds – ‘Younger than Yesterday’
Sonic Youth – ‘Daydream Nation’
LFO – ‘Frequencies’
Dopplereffekt – ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’
Aphex Twin – ‘Windowlicker’
Underworld – ‘ Dubnobasswithmyheadman’
The United States of America – ‘The United States of America’
Serge Gainsbourg – ‘Love on the Beat’
Ween – ‘Chocolate and Cheese’
Outkast – ‘Speakerbox/Love Below’
TTC – ‘Batards Sensibles’
Stereolab – ‘Emperor Tomato Ketchup’
Marvin Gaye – ‘Let’s Get It On’
Yo La Tengo – ‘Discography’

TSG :: Thanks for the time Lionel.

You can see more of Sixpack here.

Morning Breath is the Brooklyn based studio outout of Jason Noto and Doug Cunningham. Since 1996 when the worked for Think Skateboards they’ve been creating amazing works with a good style that has seen them work with everyone from Stussy and Sixpack to Jansport and Adidas, not to mention their extensive works in the music industry. I’ve been into their works for a while now and Jason was cool for taking some time out his busy schedule to catch up on the downlow.
Read on.

TSG :: Firstly may I say great studio name. What’s the reason for it?

MB :: From the start there was never a deep seeded meaning behind the name. We had just started getting the idea to formalize a partnership in gear, and were giving some thought to company names. One night over a few beers we were listening to a band called Sweet Diesel, that we are also friends with. The name of a song on a 7″ of theirs was titled Morning Breath. We thought that would be a great name for a company. We felt the name had a sort of fucked up ring to it, but also had a dual meaning: kind of like a fresh breath of morning air. so we’ve been running with it ever since.

TSG :: The studio has been pretty prolific of late with all sorts of clients. Any particular people who you’ve worked for that you have been super to have been able to work with?

We are definitely lucky to have been able to work with some very cool people. The best clients are the ones that give us true creative control. Some of the more recents have been Queen of the Stone Age, TV On The Radio, Six Pack in France and Dan Phillips at R-Wines.

TSG :: I’m not really an AFI fan but the packing and design for their “Sing The Sorrow” LTD album is just ridiculous. It’s great that bands are prepared to go to that lengths. It must have been good to do I would imagine?

We actually were nominated for a Grammy for that package. That was another case of giving us creative control. Even though their personal aesthetic is different than what we produce on a personal level it was fun to challenge ourselves to produce something outside of our box. it was amazing project for us to be on board with.

TSG :: The music design work you’ve done is pretty across the bored. Are you always into the bands you’ve done work for?

We are not always into the bands that we work for. We have an appreciation for music that is pretty broad ranged, but we are also extremely critical of music. Many of the newer mainstream artist are not the kind of music we like, but we’ve learned to separate our taste for music from our design feelings. We have many times produced artwork we were extremely happy with for bands that we didn’t care for musically.

TSG :: Any you want to do some sleeves for?

Black Sabbath

TSG :: You’ve produced some Morning Breath material yourselves. Do you find it hard or even harder to layout and create something for yourself as others? Such as “The Early Bird” book?

The Early Bird was rather easy for us to produce, we had no one to please, but ourselves, and we arranged it from work we were already fond of.

TSG :: Some of your works are reminiscent of old advertising, such as small ads in newspapers etc. What is it about those styles you find interesting?

In a nutshell, it’s the human touch of that era. Although we love other areas of design so much of it feels machined.

TSG :: Do you think there is a certain unrecognized beauty in those kinds of designs?

The beauty of that style is in it’s naivety. The marketing guys were trying , but they didn’t master mind control yet.

TSG :: Any other particular styles you’ve into?

We’re into just a wide of range of design as we a re into music, but for now we work in a more limited scope, so we can try to master that area and get recognition.

TSG :: I find with so many studios around and the access to information we now have it’s hard to find people who have work you look and just instantly are into the style of it. Anyone of recent you’ve just been blown away by?

We run into the same problem. To be honest the stuff we’re blown away by is mostly older obscure shit. We are really bad at remembering artists names. The curse of being visual I guess, not good with names, but I remember your face. Sounds lame, but we’re trying to get better at it, so we can give credit were credit is due. The other problem is that we find all this cool shit in thrifts stores or online on blogs, and there is never a name attached.

TSG :: I know you’ve been involved with Mass Appeal. Were you gutted that they no longer publish magazines? It was a good publication. I guess the internet is gradually hitting even strong magazines harder and harder these days huh? (I don’t suppose this is helping).

All good things come to an end. Sometimes it’s better that way, before things get really watered down.

TSG :: It’s strange, so many of the people I’m into always seem to have had some skateboard interest or involvement including yourselves. Do you think it’s the freedom and creativity in skateboarding that leads so many into arts?

There is freedom in creativity in a lot of places, but sure, skateboarding in general has it fair share of expression, and it aligns itself with so many areas of youth culture that it’s bound to connect with creativity.

TSG :: I never knew it was you guys who did the Think logo, always thought it was old.

Actually the original Think Logo was done by a friend of ours Joe” Cypher” Santiago somewhere around 1990. We just updated it in ’96 while we were working at Think.

TSG :: I’m always happy when I find people who’s work I’ve gotten into and then found out I’ve already seen their works, such as your work for the former Invisibl Skratch Piklz members. Have you ever seen the Skratch Picklz at Fresh ’97 in the UK? Incredible!

Never seen them in th UK, but many times in the U.S. We’ve been working with those dudes for a long time, especially with DJ QBert. We have not done anything big recently, but there are plans in the works.

TSG :: So being so prolific you must have some treats coming up soon? Any you care to share?

We have a couple presentations in Mexico, and in the U.S. this year, an art show with “Cycle” in the beginning of next year at ADHOC gallery in Brooklyn. Other than that just the usual flow of projects some cool, some not so. We’ll know which is which once we’re knee deep in them.

TSG :: Well thanks for taking some time out for this Jason.

You can check more works from Morning Breath Inc here.

HunterGatherer and Green Lady have been big favourites of mine for quite awhile now so I’m very pleased that the man behind HUGA, Todd St. John was cool to take a few minutes and have a little chat. His work has always been super nice and his style is quite distinct with it’s natural feel so take a look and enjoy both the pictures and the words.
Read on.

TSG :: Hi, care to introduce yourself?

TSJ :: Todd St. John, dba HunterGatherer

TSG :: Having lived on both sides of the US has either influenced your style more?

I still think of myself as more of a west coast / Hawaiian person, even though I’ve lived in New York for over a decade now. My formative years were out there, so I guess I identify a little more with that side of the country.

TSG :: I’ve been into your work for a long while now, but first through printed work from and publications like Arkitip and Scrawl, you seem to be developing your animation even more now though, is that just the way things have worked out?

I did a lot more clothing and what I guess you’d call streetwear type things in the 90s, and the early 00′s. After a certain point, I started to do less clothing-related graphics. I had done some video and animation growing up, and started to get back into it about 10 or 12 years ago. For the last five years, that’s definitely taken up more of my time. It’s hard to just dabble in that world. You have to be pretty committed.

TSG :: You seem pretty handy with the tools too though huh? Is the sculpting a nice break from looking at a screen?

I always grew up with a shop in the house. My dad built a lot our furniture, and he’s an engineer, and I’ve got that kind of brain, for better or worse… It’s a satisfying way for me to work.

TSG :: Even many of your graphics are wood pattern based, any particular reason? You also seem to like shapes in nature and waves/surfing. Do you get out a lot in the sea?

I don’t get out as much as I’d like these days. As far as wood, I think there’s a connection there, insofar as 2 different kinds of work reflecting back on each other. Without droning on, I’ll say that there’s things about working with wood as a medium that seem to be endlessly interesting to me.

TSG :: Is your look the reasoning for the Hunter Gather moniker too?

On the one hand it was just the name that was settled on, but there’s also things I believe about sustainability and human nature that made it a good fit. And that fits in with the work to some degree, too.

TSG :: Your other project Green Lady, has always been pretty sick, is it still on going?

Not so much. It’s in a hibernation of indeterminate length. Gary Benzel and I have a grab bag of random ideas waiting for a home. We haven’t resolved on exactly how to put them out yet, whether its as a resuscitated Green Lady, or as something else.

TSG :: I know your shadow puppets site is still up, it’s nice, was it difficult to create?

We worked with a guy named Justin Marr who is great. He did all the flash work. Gary was heavily involved in that too. I know it was a ton of work, but I didn’t personally do much of it.

TSG :: It seems you get to work for a pretty varied but large client base, any people you’ve been super excited to have worked for, not that I’m taking away from anyone, but there must be someone you’ve so hyped to get to work with?

I did a project for David Byrne’s label about 7 years ago. I had a pretty major Talking Heads moment in high school. I’m not a star-struck kind of person at all, but when he walked into the meeting, I had to fight the urge to nerd out on the guy.

TSG :: Is there anyone out there you’d love to work with?

Sesame street has called once or twice, but they haven’t hired me for anything yet.

TSG :: Anything upcoming you can share or is it on on the downlow?

Upcoming, I guess the next thing is a show at 222 in Philadelphia later this fall.

TSG :: Sounds good. Outside of creating you also teach at Yale University, was teaching something you had always had an interest in?

Not at all. It was completely by accident. I’d gone up there a handful of times, and then they asked me to teach a class. It’s great to be in that world for a day a week. Although, I still feel like somebody’s going to tap on my shoulder and say, “We made a mistake, and just realized you don’t actually know what you’re talking about…”

TSG :: Do you ever come across any students whose work you’ve seen and thought, awww I wish I’d thought that up?

Of course, that’s one of the fun parts of teaching. And those are the best kinds of ideas…

TSG :: How do you think the US and European design styles differ? Do you think the internet has merged any global divides in styles?

I guess I see similarities determined more by genre & scene than by where you live. It would be awesome to go to a country and everything looked completely different. Seems like those days are fading though…

TSG :: Are there any studios you’d wish to have been involved with if HUGA wasn’t around?

I don’t really know. If I didn’t work for myself, maybe I’d go the completely opposite route and work in a giant place with great resources, like Pixar or Vitra. Something like that.

TSG :: That’s cool Todd. Well cheers for taking the time out for this, I’m stoked.

|^|TSG|^|

The works of Todd St. John/HUGA can be viewed here.

Another new clothing store in Edinburgh and this one is for the ladies. Kakao is up on Thistle Street and has a select Scandinavian flavour to it. If you’re in the city and after some Scandi styling then you should drop on by.

The Recoat Gallery in Glasgow launches a new show on the Saturday 16th August and is hosted by Scottish collector general, Bothan Spynet. The work on show will feature the likes of Futura, Stash, SheOne, O.Two, Dave White and many many others. It’s bound to be going off so get yourself along quick.

Here is the first interpretation of the Version project.
An ambigram from myself here at Graffictraffic.co.uk.
I will also expand on this with more.

As far as art on walls go the RockGroup™ are right up there my favourites so I’m always pleased to get some time with one of them. O.Two is a founder member the in the rG™ and his work has graced all kinds of mediums. Truly a dark destroyer he has a style which is just plain rock and roll.
Read on.

TSG :: Care to introduce yourself?

O.Two :: My name is O.Two. Born 1979. London based. Artist, malcontent & rockGroup™ co-founder. My work is rooted in teenage delinquency, traditional typography and New York graffiti.

Currently negotiating a ten year sponsorship deal with Heineken.

TSG :: So you were recently touring the states find out anything surprising about life on the road?

It was a three month road trip, from British Columbia in Canada, down the West Coast to Baja Mexico, with some detours along the way… Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and a touch on Texas. Of those three months, two of them were spent travelling alone.

What surprised me most, was how difficult it is to find real solitude. Even lost in the desert, it’s hard to feel really alone. Which is partly what I was out there for.

The other surprise was discovering that I really don’t need to be rooted in one place to do what I do. And that to be moving, can be the same as being static. I much prefer constant change and progress. It’s unnatural for artists, or anyone, to be rooted in one place.

TSG :: So did you get a lot of painting done while touring around?

It was strange. I had expected a comprehensive tour of duty, I’d equipped myself with enough paint to do some real damage. But being a stranger in foreign parts, I held the landscape with a little more reverence than I do my own territory. It didn’t feel quite right. Of course I found some good spots to paint, and met some good people, but as far as getting pieces up on walls, I wasn’t too fussed, it was good just to be somewhere new, seeing new places and new things.

There were some spots I just couldn’t pass up; an abandoned trailer park, and a trio of forties era Ford Sedan corpses slowly rusting in the Arizona desert. Too good to miss.

The Aircraft Boneyards in Tucson were ridiculous. Had they not been guarded so heavily, I probably would have spent months in them going slowly insane, painting everything in sight.

TSG :: Sounds amazing though, I saw some incredible and humbling scenery in Western Australia, but again you’d need the long haul. Are you intent on a second tour over there or elsewhere?

Absolutely. I’m not done yet, not by a long shot. A little bit of Europe before I head back to the States though.

TSG :: Would you consider doing the same in the UK, or would you end up sacking it just trying to get out of London?

I’ve thought about it. But we don’t have quite the same ‘Road’ culture in the U.K.

America is designed for the motor vehicle, it’s so big, it’s hard not to drive huge distances. England can be done in a few weeks. You need months, years even, for the States.

TSG :: Have you ever seen Hobo glyphs, like symbols for hobos to know what’s going on in that area?

Yeah, I’m dubious. Sounds like hobos having a laugh at the expense of misguided, over enthusiastic anthropologists.

TSG :: Yes, it probably is, it would be quite nice if that were the case too. Do you feel your own art gets interpreted the way you like it, or is that even an issue as long as people enjoy it?

It’s open to any interpretation. It’s so personal, I can’t expect people to clock everything, and get everything, but if they’re into it, then that’s good enough for me. It always good when someone spots the details that I never expected them to; a letter-form, a nod to Parisian hand-styles or whatever.

It’s good to hear people come up with their own, completely unexpected ideas of what the images and forms represent. It adds another layer of meaning to it, because art is as much about what the artist means it to be, as what it means to the viewer.

TSG :: If you weren’t painting in the RockGroup™, would you join a rock band?

I don’t think so. I’d probably be a roadie. I don’t play any instruments, or have the patience to learn. I’d want to be able to shred instantly, and shredibility only comes after years of blood and sweat. I don’t think I’ve got that many years left in me… so I’ll stick to what I know.

TSG :: Where would you be if black never existed?

Black would never not have existed. It’s the one, pure constant, the absence of light, it’s what remains once everything else is gone. Take everything away, everything we know and get rid, what’s left? Empty black.

TSG :: Who’s the blackest?

Those who think they are the purest, are the blackest of heart.

TSG :: Damn nice answers, I was thinking of Ronnie James Dio. Did you know he was involved in a charity record called ‘Hear’N Aid’ – a metal equivalent of Band Aid? The name is awful but the line-up was crazy. Could most defiantly be a case of too many cooks though, or just amazing/terrible.

Fuck Dio. If we’re talking black like that? Burzum. No contest.

TSG :: I know you’re into skateboarding, do you still trundle around regularly? Dunno if you’re aware of your arterior cruciate ligament, I’ve done popped fibres in mine twice and now my knee feels like it crunches around a bit, my days are over on a whizz plank.

I’m very aware of my arterior cruciate ligament – I twisted my right knee and shaved fibres from it when I was 19, my knee has never been the same. I don’t skate as much as I want to anymore. Once in a while I’ll get out, I will always own a skateboard, and will always ride it, but not in the same way I did when I was younger, with no job, no bills, no girlfriend, and nothing to do on the weekends.

I ride a snowboard once or twice a year, which is more fun than I ever thought it would be.

I used to be a purist, only skateboarding. But then a friend traded a canvas for a snowboard, and some kit, and helped me get started and that was it. It’s so yuppie it hurts, but I love it. It’s like skating, without the pain, and higher, longer airs… so much fun.

TSG :: Yes being in Scotland means you’re obliged to try it at least once, especially if you skate, plus in my youth my friend was a pro snowboarder and so went up with him a few times. Ever visited Scotland for some snow?

No, I haven’t. I haven’t even been to Scotland before. This year though, some friends and I are planning a trip to Kashmir for some powder.

TSG :: Did you hold onto any old boards for the graphics or are their any you’d love to have? I’ve still got a nice Jason Jesse Sun God, Ventures, blue grip, cell blocks etc, I also forgot how heavy they were back then.

I don’t think I have too much of my old stuff. I have a few old tees, but none of the old boards. I wish I had thought to start collecting the Hecox Chocolate boards, the portrait series they did in ’97 was so good. Some of the early Zoo boards (before Echo bought them out and all that noise) had some nice graphics.

In ’97 I was pretty young, 16, 17, so it was hard enough affording a board just to skate back then, let alone collecting them all for my wall.

TSG :: Indeed the potraits, pool and street Hecox scenes were amazing. Zoo did kill it with their look back then. Think that was Eli Gesner? Plus they had Ricky Oyola too right.

Yes, Eli Gesner and Rodney Smith. Oyola is still one of my favourite skaters. Such a sick style. That East Coast style really felt like real skateboarding, rolling through town hitting whatever came up, fluid, natural skateboarding.

I’m not so into hunting for old stuff nowadays though, that kind of nostalgia is counterproductive. Don’t get me wrong, I love it all, but I can’t be looking back. Skateboards are for riding on, not bidding on.

TSG :: Would you like to do a series for a skate company?

Absolutely. I’ve had offers to do board graphics, but they’ve never felt quite right. A snowboard graphic would be nice to do.

TSG :: I know you’re into Hot Rod cars too, what is it about that style that particularly appeals to you?

The cars and bikes are just beautiful. That’s all it comes down to. It makes complete sense to have a car, built exactly as you want it, your paint, your spec, every detail, everything down to you. Why wouldn’t you? Also, driving a car or a bike too fast, or just on the roads these days, there’s a high chance it will kill you (which adds to the ride, of course…) but it would be such a bummer to die in a shitty, factory stock car.

TSG :: Have you heard of Koolsville, it’s a Scottish rock n’ roll magazine?

I have now.

TSG :: Is there any product/place you’d really like to get up on?

I’m never too sure about putting my work on products. ‘Products’ imply mass production, and the way most artists work is the opposite to this process.

I get asked what would be my ideal collaboration or project to work on, and I usually say a top to bottom piece on a 6 Line subway car in 1981, but that aint really going to come off. Maybe a project doing backgrounds and set design for a Michael Mann film. Nose art for a UH-1 Huey.

If I wasn’t so worried about the health implications, and the Russian Military guards, Pripyat and Chernobyl would be incredible sites for some large scale work.

TSG :: I’ve met a few tweaked writers in my time, not that I’m implying anything. Do you think the fumes might have been the reason? I think I’m developing a mouse grip claw hahaha. I hope BUPA cover that.

It’s more to do with mindset. You have to be cut from a different cloth to put the kind of commitment and time into writing one’s name that most writers put in. No other artists risk so much for their art. Incarceration, heartbreak, ill health, death. I don’t know any other form of self expression that plays such high stakes.

Except maybe being a stuntman, and that’s just plain stupid.

TSG :: So let’s focus on the now and future, what’s planned before the year is out?

In the immediate future, I have some work in a group show in the Recoat Gallery in Glasgow coming up in August, and another group show in Brighton before the end of the Summer. I’ve been in the screen printing studio making some new editions, very short runs, with hand painted details.

As for the future, I try not to think too far ahead. I just want to paint more, travel more, and sweat the details less.

TSG :: Thanks man, sounds good. We’ll continue this for sure.

|^|TSG|^|

O.Two can be found on his own site here or over at Blacklodges here.

Lauriston Street in Edinburgh has a new addition in the form of the Pageant Store.
They are gonna be stocking the likes of CTRL, Rockers NYC, FjallRaven
and much more. They’ll also be hosting several events in store
Good luck to them.
Check them out here.