Flipside #39

Thanks to Brandon Werry for the article.



The interview was done by Al and Hud at the Vex.

Hud: I thought you were a short 17 year old kid with a skinhead...

What made you think that?

Hud: I don't know, just from that picture of the back of your head
with pus coming out?


Oh. No. I'm 24, a lot of people think I'm younger.

Al: Oh, why do you think so?

I don't know if it's because of my artwork, but when people meet me and
try to guess my age, I don't know, it's funny because Marc Rude is older
and there are other artists that are older.

Hud: Why do you always draw dicks?

Dicks?! I've only drawns, what, three?

Hud: But it's always masculine, men, why don't you draw women?

Uh, I don't know. I'm trying to get away from a male figure even so there's
not that much...well when I first started drawing and I did draw girls, girls
are very critical of what they look like. So when I drew them, everyone
was their own little critic-"Don't draw this, don't draw that, that's not right"
so I kinda strayed away from it and I drew a cartoon and it didn't have to be
masculine or feminine. I'm trying to get into other things besides that so i
don't make a generalization. To me, I think if you draw a girl you should draw
her the right way, not as naked or a sex object but as a feminine figure.

Hud: But that's the way you draw men?

No. But I don't want to draw naked girls because that's how girls get drawn,
you know, you can go down to Tiajuana and buy all those little velvet paintings...

Al: What kind of feedback do you get from your drawings?

Um [interrupted by Kevin Seconds, who asks..]

Kevin: Is it true you live in Boise, Idaho not in Washington, or Boston or NY?

Well, I don't have eues all over me. I'm not a potato, but that's where I live.
I live in isolation, no one can believe it.

Al: Why do you live there?

Right now, it's the best place, that's where me and Annie live... I can do more
work there. Here, I've only been here a week and I can't draw because every 5
seconds people wanna talk to you and there's always people coming to hang out,
and there's gigs... I like to draw and do that things that I do. No one bothers
me. It's like when you're an artist, everyone want to look over your shoulder,
or come up and scare you to see it you miss...

Al:What kind of feedback do you get from your drawings, like the one for
"Blood Sausage" the Meatmen record...


That is probably one of the most popular drawings I have. I don't know if
people like it because of what it is, I don't think people know what it represents,
but they just like it. People come up and say "How can you draw that" or
"What makes you draw that?" "That hurts me just to look at it" so I fulfill
a point just by that.

Al: What does that represent?

Well, like the knife represents disease and how people take advantage of their
sexual prowess and what not. And it's just like they're ruining it because
they're just fucking around, sorry. I don't like to say that word, but they
mess around a lot and they get disease and they pass around disease. I'm not
into that. I think if you love someone, that's the person you should love and
that's the person you should be with, and you should make sure you know what
you are doing. Like once you get a disease you're ruined for the rest of your
life. Just like if you cut off the limb or what not. Just like if I took a knife
and...

Hud: What about your ears?

That's a weird one, your ears ring ya know.

Al: Negative noise. They suck it in...

But what it is is like it shows frustration, the guys got frustration
on his face and his hands there, like he was masturbating, so it's like when it
came out, music came out, and a lot of people look at it like that, it gives
them a lot of enjoyment like music. That's why it's noise from nowhere.
It was meant to be very vulgar or scandalous or whatever so it brought
more attention to the record itself. It's also a drawing with meaning,
all my drawings have meaning. Except maybe for the Rough Trade stuff.
That's something that they come up with. I have definitions for all
my drawings, but I don't like to put definitions on them, I'll put a title,
but I don't want t tell them because each person looks at a drawing
and interprets it a different way. And I don't want to tell someone,
"Well this drawing means this".. it's like when you read a book and
see the movie, it doesn't work. People see different things in a piece
of art. Some people look at my artwork and say it's very violent, which
there is violence there, and some people say it's very calm.

Al: Some people think you're burning out your skull face character.

I don't know, it's I'm burning it out but the people out there who
write to me-that's the character that they want. I'm doing new characters
and changing different things because I've been in this space. I've been
here, now it's time to go to the next space. But I still get orders and
people even come up to me tonight and they want drawings and the first
thing they want is skulls. Don't ask me why, I don't know. And the way
I draw skulls appeals to them and they want THAT skull. I've got to find
a different way to change the skull around if I'm to continue doing skulls.
Most people don't know what they want and they come up with a real simple
idea... and it's usually an offset of one of my other drawings. I'n getting
to a thing where people say I'm going to get burnt out or people will
get tired of me. So I'm trying to involve myself in other things. I'm also
putting together a portfolio with Forced Exposure with new artists that
haven't had much exposure. As an artist I don't like to say "I'm the best
artist and you have to use me" I've had a lot of kids write to me for
artwork and if I know someone else who can do it, I'll let them do it.
There's a lot of people out there who have different talents and are very
good at what they do. And they need the chance to do it. Some people just
don't promote themsleves. To get to where I am, I had to do something. I
live in Boise Idaho, there's no way I could go to shows and say, "Look
I drew this piece of artwork, want some more?" I had to do everything
I did out of Boise which is 400 miles away from any major metropolitan area.
It's gotten around, my address has only been printed twice and I get so
much mail I can't believe it. I like getting mail and I try to answer it all.
Mail gets expensive.

Al:Other criticism...

Oh, there's this magazine in Philadelphia and the guy really does
not like me, he's never written to me and I don't think he knows anything
about me but... ok it goes thru waves. I'm at home drawing and I know
when all these products are gonna come out. Like at the stores all
of a sudden you have 4 records that I've drawn covers for. I have no
control over it because the people want me to do it. That guy has a good
point saying isn't there other artists, but the other artists are out
there and they're sitting on their ass waiting for something. They're drawing
and they're putting it under their couch. If they're drawing for themsleves
fine, but it's not dooing any good there if they want to draw for other
people. And there's a growing number of people using artwork. I like to see
it used.

Al:What about the drawing you drew for Touch and Go of Henry...

Oh yeah. I just had a confrontation with Henry at the Santa Monica
Civic and he's...he's got pretty hurt feelings over it. [Pushead goes
into a long story about this one, it was Tesco's idea that Pushead drew
but it's a personal thing that's too long to go into].
I still write to everybody and I write to new people, I like to write
articles. I'm getting into writing and stuff. I like what's going on in
this hardcore thing and I like to support everyone....

Al:You're doing Thrasher...

Yeah, I'm doing Thrasher. I'm doing Maximum Rock and Roll and I'll be
doing stuff for Forced Exposure and Straight Edge. Annie's involved
too writing articles for other magazines and it works out. Thrasher I
do a lot with. I do "The Puszone" which should be monthly but it's bi-
monthly due to weird circumstances.

Al:Do you skate a lot?

Yeah, I skate all the time. I'm into vertical and I've had my pictures
in the magazines. I had a 1 1/2 page color shot in Action Now and shots in...
I've been skating for years. I used to be a local at Del Mar Skatepark.
I designed their logo down there. I've designed a skateboard wheel and a
skateboard deck. There's a lot more when you're an artist-you have a level
of design. I like to design things. I'm really into creativity and
imagination and being able to use that. If you want to be like all these
people out here and youwant to get attention then you have to do it in a way
where you're different. And if you want to be so different then you got
to be creative-and you just can't be different because you need attention.
There's so many people that need attention so what they do, they beat
themselves up or cut their hair really strange. I think if you watch, the
people that stay a long time look about the same but the people that are
real drastic don't last long. It's kist people who need attention, they're
not confident within themsleves. I don't want to be an artist as a
professional living. I want to be a freelance artist but I'd rather have
another type of job where I can design and create. It's hard when you're
an artist because I don't want to be a robot...

Al: And you're in a band too.

Yeah, that's something we've had for a year and a half. We've played a
few gigs. We're playing in Portland next Friday night with Poison Idea
and Rejectors.

Al: And you call yourself straight edge.

Very

Al:You don't mind the label?

Straight edge is fine. I've been what's called straight edge for eight
or nine years and I've always called it "Anti-Poison" or "De-vice."

Hud: How far do you go, do you still drink caffeine or eat junk food?

It depends. Hostess cupcakes and stuff like that I don't eat. But there is
a limit to junk food... I dont drink coffee, I don't smoke, I never have,
or drink, never have or taken drugs. I don't even like to take medicine
when I'm sick.