1. A motif that has defined your style from the earliest pen and ink drawings to the most recent digital explorations is this dystopian equation of rampant technology and human suffering. How do you reconcile your decidedly pessimistic feelings towards industrial mechanisation with your passion for computer generated artwork? How have your views on technology evolved over the years?
Well, I'm no luddite. Of course I embrace new technology to use and abuse for my own means as much as the next person. But it does fascinate and scare me in equal measures, we already know far too much and now it is inevitable that this will be mans downfall, it's just a case of when. My general feelings of pessimism I guess come from our general self devouring obsession with "progress", more often than not, regardless of the consequences. The over used sci-fi scenario of the future earth as a post nuclear over industrialised tundra - black, barren, choked and poisoned to death seems a sad inevitability. The fact that I'm sat here surrounded by whirring gadgetry…, err, I'm not really sure what that says about me as a person. I guess I'm just comfortable with my contradictions. I admire and salute all genuine eco warriors but I'm afraid I see it as a battle pretty much lost. Oh what a happy and up tempo start to this interview…ha ha.
2. As I am completely unfamiliar with this medium, how do you go about (de)constructing a digital collage? Do you generally begin with the piece fully envisioned or "sketched" or is the imagery improvised as you go through computer manipulation?
I feel I'm still learning as I go along, really I'm still fairly new to this whole medium having only been working with computers for the past couple of years. It is fair to say though that it has completely revolutionised the way I work. Before when I was working with "real" materials, it would be essential to do lots of prelim work, sketches and wot not. But now I have a vague idea in my head of some basic compositions, or I might just have a very abstract vision of a "feeling" I want to capture and then it's just a case of experimentation. The nature of the digital beast means that you can infact work very fast creating endless variations, it's completely open ended and more often than not the best things come out of happy accidents.
3. You've mentioned the uncanny capability of software programs to create innumerable variations of an image. How do you determine when an image is finally completed?
It's a problem, but it exists with what ever materials I might be working on. When is a drawing complete? When is a painting finished? But indeed it becomes magnified a million fold with computer stuff with the ability to undo and so forth, I have an inbuilt ability to overcook images, sometimes I just don't know when to stop. If you've been heavily involved in an image for sometime you just get too close and you lose all subjective reasoning. Thankfully, most of the cover art stuff I do has strict deadlines which thankfully determines when a piece of work is finished for me.
4. The great contemporary dark-surrealist painter Zdzislaw Beksinski recently began creating computer photomontages. Are you familiar with his work and if so what do you think of his newer digital images? Was his work an influence or inspiration during your own transition from hand wrought to computer generated work?
Maybe I have indeed been living a blinkered life but until I read this question I have never even heard of Mr Beksinski. I just checked on the web and found a mountain of stuff…somehow he seems to have passed me by. I have to say that from first impressions it didn't really grab me though I can imagine that if I'd have seen it about 10 years ago it might have had me frothing at the mouth. All I could find were his paintings, so I can't comment on the digital transition. Personally I am still rather struggling with the very idea of the digital image. The fact that I can create something in minutes on the computer that before took me literally weeks in paint. Part of me feels kind of cheated, yet I know that all that matters to most people is the final image, it's only me who realises the struggle, effort, skill or chance that went into creating a piece. But I think the way I utilise this will develop and I can see myself wanting to cross pollinate between the two. I suppose it has just thrown up the same questions and dilemmas that occurred for artists upon the advent of photography.
5. Your work has always been characterized by a painstaking attention to physical anatomy. Do you generally draw and paint from live models? Are you familiar with the hyper-anatomical work of the popular U.S. illustrator Derrick Hess?
I am kinda obsessed with anatomy, particularly male torsos. I have to say though that I doubt any of my studies are actually very anatomically correct, I definitely use a lot of artistic licence to create something personally aesthetically pleasing yet humanly impossible. But I think it's definitely important to make the effort to understand the body if you're going to use it as a recurring subject. I have spent literally thousands of hours drawing from live models over the years. It's a really good exercise and discipline. Lately though in an attempt to truly understand things in a more thorough way I've been working from live models sculpting directly into clay plus also going to a part time class looking at the human body from the inside out, studying the bones, muscles, ligaments etc, how it all fits together and moves.
As for Derrick Hess, well I have to confess I have only ever seen a couple of his covers, the CONVERGE / AGROPHOBIC NOSEBEED split and another I can't recall. I was certainly rendered speechless by the style, savagery and beauty. I'll have to search out more…6. Tell me about the Warehouse. Is it an artist collective? A squat? Rented studio spaces? Is there a supportive network of underground artists based around this space?
Well as the name suggests, it's a fairly large space of two converted Warehouse units. It now has studio spaces for about 30 artists, we rent the space from the local council and everyone pays rent depending on how large a space they have. It's a pretty affordable space (I pay about £60 a month for my studio) and it's great to be able to work in a kind of community rather than freezing out in isolation. It's run as a co-operative where in theory everyone helps in the day to day running of the place. There is a voluntary management committee (which I'm part of) and unfortunately quite a few members seem happy to just leave all the work to the same few. As an organisation it can be a lot better organised and supportive but we're working on it, it is exciting to be involved though and kinda keeps you in touch with the real world.
7. Your old Deviated Instinct drawing for 'Welcome To The Orgy' features ravens and two very distinctive runes. Was that simply a "tribal" artistic device or did you have a genuine interest in the mystical alphabet and indigenous symbolism of the pre-Christian Norse?
Phew, you're going back a bit there. I did that particular illustration about 15 years ago so it's not easy to recall exactly what was going through my alcohol addled brain at the time. We were quite obsessed with ravens as some kind of strong symbolic harbingers of doom. Regarding the use of runes, now you've got me. I had a genuine interest but I have to admit I didn't really dig too deep. The two runes I used were 'Hagalaz' and 'Dagaz', from these I took my own interpretation which may or may not have been very accurate. 'Hagalaz' I saw as a basic natural destructive symbol, i.e. like the power of storm, I was very much interested in the idea of the earth reclaiming itself and ridding itself of it's parasite (the human race), it also cropped up in the lyrics to the song 'Return of Frost' (On the Rock'n'roll Conformity album) which was about the same thing. 'Dagaz', I really can't remember why I used this, except it was in some way a reaction or consequence, like some kind of re-evaluation, empowerment…errrr, but then again, maybe not. It was a LONG while ago.
8. I thought perhaps your choice of the Hagal and Dagaz runes was meant to convey the principles of creation and destruction. How do these principles relate to your daily life and your artistic vision?
Hmmm, I'm not sure that I live my daily life by any principles (unfortunately). I have always believed in the basic theory "Destroy to create", so maybe that fits in a little there. I wish I could tell you that I have a great, deep underlying artistic vision and that it's all a very considered concept, but then I'd be talking out of my arse. In truth I just blunder along…blind and confused most of the time. I'm where I am through chance rather than design.
9. Do you think of yourself as a spiritual person?
No, I think of myself as a confused person.
10. Do you consider your work to be political in nature or is it more about expressing a personal vision?
It depends on the work. In my own personal work, the stuff I do for ME, there really is no kind of political message or meaning, it's simply about passion and beauty and completely open to personal interpretation. In a lot of the illustration work, c.d. covers etc. There is often quite strong political undercurrents due to the nature of the particular band etc. I often work from lyrics and most of the Punk and Hardcore bands have a basic ideology that I identify with, they often want me to illustrate a particular message or theme and without really being too blatant I find myself personalising that. Some of it is more obvious than others. Sometimes though it can be purely aesthetic, and why not, although more often than not by the time I've been through the making process it's taken on it's own meaning or message (As I see it anyway), but I always like to leave it fairly ambiguous so that you can create your own narrative. Fucking artists eh?
11. If you could single-handedly and completely restructure human society
from its present state, what direction would you take? Is the perpetuation
of human society even something worth striving for?Fuck, that's a BIG question. I really don't know, I'd probably give you a different answer every time I was asked depending on how I felt on a particular day. It's obvious that the earth would be a far healthier place without the human race, considering that relatively speaking we haven't actually been here that long we've pretty much monumentally fucked things up. An injection of the basic values of respect and tolerance wouldn't go amiss. Maybe we just need to be dropped down a few pegs on the food chain, that'd soon put things in perspective.
12. You joke about being "slack" and painfully self critical but you've amassed a substantial and inspiring body of work over the years. What ways have you discovered to help get yourself through the "artist as their own worst critic" paralysis?
It is something I struggle with on an hourly basis. Unfortunately, as much as it drives me insane, I seem to live my life by the saying "Never do anything today that you can put off until tomorrow", the fact that it's taken me months to answer this interview is testament to that. And by that token I really think I have yet to come anywhere near to fulfilling my potential. Weirdly enough I tend to thrive on stress, I leave things till the last possible moment, and then when I'm really under the cosh and all looks lost I manage to pull something out of the fire.
But there are many times when I'm just blank, everything I do looks tired, nothings working, and the frustration just breeds panic. At these times I wonder why I put myself through this, wonder why I don't just become a shelf stacker or something. But when a breakthrough does eventually come or I stumble across something new or exciting then I know why I do it. While I'm working on a piece I generally hate everything, I'm not a perfectionist but I am incredibly self critical and I can't usually begin to see if something has worked or not til about 6 months after it's finished and I've been able to distance myself from it.13. Can you tell me a little about the old Deviated Instinct days? Do you remember a favourite show or tour? How did you initially get involved in the hardcore punk/crust underground? In your opinion how have these scenes changed over the years?
The Deviated Instinct days were a big drunken blur…and I wouldn't change a thing. We were going for a mere 7 years from 84-91, most of that time was living some crazy nomadic existence, if we weren't playing, touring etc, then we'd be out hitching around visiting like minded tramps, following other bands etc. Most of the favourite stuff was in the early days, we began taking ourselves too seriously and it all got boring towards the end. But back when it was still fresh it was MAD. There used to be huge, regular big punk festivals at this big, scummy Birmingham pub called the Mermaid which was pretty much the centre of the U.K scene in the mid 80's. We played some cracking gigs there supporting the likes of Antisect and Amebix, we just used to get completely fucked on the in-house scrumpy. We'd be stumbling all over the stage, the crowd would go mental, it was total chaos really. Best tour was a crazy 3 week European extravaganza touring with Extreme Noise Terror in 1988. It was packed with incident from beginning to end, exhausting but fun and culminated in another chaotic gig playing in Zargreb in Yugoslavia just before the war. The crowd were insane and went so mental during the E.N.T set the stage collapsed.
How did I get involved in the whole shebang ? I dunno…it just happens doesn't it ?? I bought my first punk record in 1979, went to my first punk gig the following year and that was that, I was infected…and I'm still suffering from the disease over 20 years later…whoooo scary. I feel sorry for my parents who for the first 5 years just about managed to hold on to the hope that it was still a "phase" I was going through..ha ha.14. Traditionally there has been a big division between punk and metal (and industrial for that matter) and it is my understanding that in England, like America, punks do not generally support metal bands and vice versa. Has this division created any problems for your bands over the years? What's
your opinion of metal these days? What music are you listening to in the art studio these days (assuming you listen to music when you work)?Yeah there'll always be divisions, although these days the boundaries seem to be somewhat more blurred. It certainly seems to be harder to ascertain who's in who's gang these days. Things seemed to be a lot more obviously tribal before, but then again it doesn't take much effort to scratch beneath the surface to find the same old closed mindedness. People like what they like, pledge allegiance to their own personal "alternative" and fuck the rest of you. In the past I've been as guilty as the rest, I've been in the "hardcore punk" gang, the "anarcho" gang, the "crusty" gang…blah, blah and with each I've towed the party line. But I've always had a very broad taste in music under the big noise banner. In bands I've definitely come across it, D.I used to be too punk for the metallers and too metal for the punks, we were never "cool" enough for the hip and happening ukhc scene of the 80's. Spine Wrench used a drum machine when our drummer left more out of necessity than choice, but that automatically labelled us an Industrial band whether we liked it or not which immediately alienated another whole bunch of people. I guess it'll never change.
I still listen to some metal although the formularised Nu-metal stuff drives me a bit weak. But there's some really amazing fucked up stuff about that's hard to place in either camp, i.e Cave In, Botch, Converge, Canvas etc. When I'm working though I'm as likely to be listening to some really inspiring modern classical stuff from the likes of Michael Nyman or John Tavener. Or some big moody soundscapes like Godspeed you Black Emperor…or..whatever. Could be punk, Rock, indie, noisecore, emo, metal..etc, etc. It changes by the minute.15. When will the Bait album be released? Any plans to tour the U.S.?
At the moment it's more a case of "when will BAIT actually make any noise again", we haven't even rehearsed for over a year, life kinda got in the way. It's always been just a studio project really, we had ideas to expand into a full on gigging band but never managed to find the right people, plus we both have so many other commitments it's been hard to find the time to even get together. I think the offer of an e.p on Gasmask records is still there (though I wouldn't be the least surprised if John and Ginger hadn't completely given up on us). I would like to think that we might rise like the proverbial phoenix in the not too distant future though. We have some killer stuff on tape that was recorded back in 99 that I just need to add vocals to. If it doesn't get released I'll just MP3 it on my website. It'll get out there sometime.
I do have another new band though, a three piece (unnamed as yet), we've been rehearsing for a couple of months and hope to be gigging by the end of the summer. All I can say is that it's kinda going back to my roots, very raw, screaming, hardcore PUNK RAWK !!!! Watch this space, we intend to gain world domination for starters.16. Are you in contact with Jeff 'Carcass' Walker? Is he still drawing at all?
No. To be honest I was never in contact with him and I have no idea whether he is still producing any art or wot not. Back in the day D.I played with Carcass on numerous occasions but we never really socialised, actually I always got the impression that he thought we were a bit shit…ha ha.
17. Assuming anything is possible, is there any secret knowledge or wisdom which you would sacrifice one of your own eyes to acquire?
Yeesh, I dunno. I already know the meaning of life, I followed a lame pigmy hippo and found it under a cabbage, I'll give it to the highest bidder.
Considering how much I value my sight I doubt there's much worth sacrificing that for, I could always say "world peace", but shit, if the world wasn't full of suffering what the fuck would I make art about…ha ha.18. Please tell me about any upcoming projects we can look forward to and add any final words.
I don't have any definite plans at the moment although I feel like my work is at some kind of junction, I get bored of doing the same thing too long and it's important to keep things fresh. At the moment I'm doing a lot of 3 dimensional work so I guess I'm gonna see where that takes me. I like the idea of doing some collaborative work, if the right people come along. I'd also like to do some major projects with a writer, I'd really love to do some kind of book where the word and picture are one. Something very twisted. I have had the opportunity of late to do some illustration for fiction in the last couple of copies of the excellent slip-stream fiction magazine "The third Alternative", and also the "Mood Indigo" crime fiction compendium, hopefully that'll lead onto other things.
Keep an eye on my website - http://home.freeuk.net/bonehive (shit, I really must get myself a domain name) to see what I'm up to. And while you're there check out the links and have a look at all the other really amazing artists that inspire me and leave me full of wonder.
Many, many thanx Denis for giving me this opportunity to waffle on a load of bollocks, I hope some of it has been of interest. Best of luck with future issues of this wonderful publication.
If anyone wants to get in contact for any reason feel free to drop me a line - r.mid@ukgateway.net
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