“…lead singer Adam Traub climbed onto his keyboard rig in his usual no-holds-barred fashion and jumped off the stage, making contact with a hanging mirrored disco ball and setting it into motion.”

Adam, these folks just aren’t giving you enough credit, and we should really call it as it is. The way I see it you knew it was your last song and you had already unplugged Joe, unbeknownst to him, who was grossly out of tune. I saw you look at that disco ball when you climbed up onto your keyboard, before you “set it in motion.” HA HA HA! I was laughing then and I am laughing now as I write this. You saw it up there, taunting you, and you knew what had to be done! Ahh, the disco ball, like some glorious bedazzled punching bag just within reach. A fucking pop band!

I was really stoked to make this logo a while back for my friends in the death-pop band The Burning Of Rome. I have a lot of respect for this band. Ian MacKaye himself could appreciate The Burning Of Rome’s DIY ethic. They record all their own music, and their records sound great with headphones on. They constantly hold concerts/art shows in their studio, Speakeasy Studios where they are building a scene in the tragically un-hip North County area of San Diego. Anton Patzner from Judgement Day (an Oakland string metal band, yep, STRING METAL) recently said it was actually a dream of theirs to come play one of these shows, as he had experienced the art friendly vibe for himself on a previous visit to San Diego. They recently got escorted off the reservation directly following their performance at the San Diego Music Awards involving some hijinx reminiscent of a Gorgoroth concert involving pig heads on poles. It’s fun to have a band in San Diego causing a ruckus, and fairly ironic that the ones to do it sound so damn catchy.

Originally I had planned for the whole run to be printed like the green version shown above. That red next to the green really messes with your eyes, which is exactly what I was going for. I was printing late at night and the lighting was not the greatest, and after a couple of pulls they just were not looking right to me. Like a big jerk I decided to switch the run to black ink, which was stupid. Upon inspecting the posters in better lighting I quickly realized the green copies were exactly right. Don’t get me wrong, the black version turned out really good, but it isn’t as trippy. Anyway, there are 4 green copies, and Earthless got 3 of them. I guess that makes them extremely limited, right? Always, always, always, always, always, always, GO WITH YOUR GUT.

Black copies will be for sale at the merch booth at the show, and if there is any left they will be available in my etsy store Saturday.
**EDIT** Poster now available in the store.

Oh man, Basil Wolverton could really draw, and I have always admired his oddball perspective. Fans of MAD Magazine will recognize his work. This poster for the Detroit Cobras was definitely influenced by his drawing style, especially in the hair. And that color blend I printed there is metallic silver to metallic gold/bronze, so it looks great when the light hits it right.

Art show this Saturday! Come look at weird art and have your eardrums massaged by The Burning of Rome and Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra. I will be showing prints and some newish paintings. Doors @ 7:00 Bands @ 8:00.

Speakeasy Studios 2403 Industry Street Oceanside, CA 92054 MAP

I did a take on a scene from the Labyrinth where the goblins are in Jennifer Connelly’s character’s closet waiting for her to say the precise words needed to damn her little brother into slavery or whatever other terrible fate the Goblin King has in store for him.

I always wanted to make a print of that image so when I had the opportunity to participate in the “These are the Quotes from Our Favorite 80s Movies” group print show, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to do just that. The opening reception for this show will be Friday May 15th in conjunction with Salt Lake City’s monthly “gallery stroll” from 6 – 9 pm. at Signed & Numbered Gallery in Salt Lake City. 30 artists were asked to create a print based on a quote from an 80’s movie. I call this print “She’s Going To Say The Words.”

You can purchase this print here.

I’m stoked to have this weird drawing included in the second installment of the Gigposters.com Coloring Books. There are a lot of cool artists involved in this thing, and you can scribble all over their art. Look at you, Picasso! Get it here.

Show opening reception:
Friday, April 17, 2009, 6 – 9 pm at Signed & Numbered/Slowtrain Records in Salt Lake City
Saturday, April 18, 2009 Size Records in Oklahoma City and 52.5 Records in Charleston, SC.