Flyer - 01.07.2011

(Jim Phillips is awesome)

I met Jaake outside of a Gnarboots show with For.The.Win. last year, and have since been blown away by his (and all the other San Jose kids) efforts to create an awesome DIY punk community. He asked me to do a t-shirt design for his old high school punk band Cheers To Doerr, which is the same art I used for this flyer. I guess the last time they played at Nickel City, the cops showed up. Also, the show was on 9/11. PUNK ROCK!

Here's an earlier version of the Screaming Hand art, based on Jim Phillips iconic skateboard art. First person to point out the difference between this art and the art in the flyer wins a doodle by me (leave a comment below):

Music Monday - Girl Talk / All Day

(click on the skeleton to download)

Every other blog on the planet has posted things about this release, but I'll go ahead and put it up here too since it'll cost you FREE dollars to get it, and you're bound to enjoy it.

So, I feel conflicted about this release. On the one hand, I've been listening to this a whole bunch. It's really good, incredibly listenable, witty, and it didn't cost me a dime. On the other hand, of course I'm going to like this, most of these songs were/are hits, and I already have 90% of them on my iPod. It is a stroke of genius that someone put all of these together in this manner, but the fact that Girl Talk can sell out a massive venue like the Fox Theater in a few minutes boggles my mind.

This is the perfect record for people with musical A.D.D. and a broad range of musical taste, and it might make you appriciate some songs you would have once turned your nose up at.

Help 13&god design their new album's artwork! Draw a skeleton!

From the Anticon Propaganda newsletterA message from some familiar friends:
We of 13&god, would like to ask the all citizens of the world to draw a skeleton for our new album's artwork. Whether drawn by child, middle-ager, or going grey-er, all sorts of skeltons are welcome. Please email a quality copy of your skeleton to: skeleton@anticon.com. And thanks for helping us with our bone-ridden vision.
Love,
13&god

(Here's my contribution)



Flyer - 01.15.2011

For some reason I got really into drawing wolf heads last week. I drew these guys in my sketch book, and decided it would be fun to use them for this flyer. I colored them last night while watching Dexter.
The most challenging thing about this flyer was having to make each line of text it's own layer, because photoshop spaces out the lettering too much when you just hit return. I always find it weird what winds up taking up my time when I work on these things. Anyone with a good cheat, let me know.
Here's another wolf head I doodled while answering phones last week:

Music Monday - Joyce Manor / Constant Headache

(click cover to download)

I randomly saw this band after catching the Pillowfights at Balazo Gallery and waiting for Big Kids to go on. While it's kinda lame that once you enter Balazo Gallery, even if your over 21, you can't leave to get a burrito, but it kept me from missing this band's set. I thought they were really awesome, and the kids who were there to see them were going off, singing along and dancing, which is pretty great to see at a show in SF. These songs are weird while still being catchy, and punk without sounding cliche.

The t-shirts they were selling were ugly as fuck though. DUDES: let me do a shirt design for you!

Flyer - 12.08.2010

Hopefully doing this flyer will score me one of these shirts, although I'll already be there to check out the Hard Girls set. Also, from the sound of it, bring ten toys to brighten some less fortunate kids birthday, get in for free. Sounds pretty killer to me!

Flyer - 12.18.2010

I know I already put this flyer up a few months ago, but the show got postponed, and my band got added to it. So I adjusted the colors, changed the date, and changed the opening bands! Now its a gnarboots show! Deal with it!!

Music Monday - The Pillowfights / Otessa EP

(click to go to the sketchy mediafire download linky)

Full disclosure: I haven't listened to this yet, but I like the Pillowfights (individually, and as a group) and I like Otessa (I saw pictures of her and Dani from the Pillowfights being awesome somewhere, and the first time I met her I said "Hi, you look like you like to have fun! I like fun!") and I like short recordings... Basically I'm putting this here to remind myself to go download it later. I'm guessing I know what this sounds like though without listening to it. It's female fronted pop-punk played by a bunch of fun folks from Monster Island. Am I right?

Flyer - 11.20.2010

I imagined this and then drew it. It looks just like the picture in my head, which makes me very happy.

Fresh out the sketchbook: Olehole "Guacamole" art.

(click to make real big)

Olehole has a new 7" coming out and Brian Moss asked me to do some art for it. It was supposed to just be black and white but I went a little overboard and colored them.
I really like drawing anthropomorphic items with these silly white arms and legs. Maybe I should do 100 of these!?

Music Monday / Shinobu - Exhaustive, Exhaustive

(click album cover to go to the download page)

Bob from Gnarboots is in this band, and so is Mike from Hard Girls. They broke up, then decided breaking up is stupid, started making music again, just not on a regular basis. One of my favorite sets of theirs was watching them open for a reunited Track Star. Anyhow, this is a collection of odds and ends that never found a proper release.



I Drew This: Turdus Musicus shirt design, now a tour poster!

Turdus Musicus has landed in the United States, and will soon be sleeping on my floor. The t-shirt design I did for them is now their tour poster as well. I'll be picking up 200 shirts for them from the printer tomorrow. I booked their San Jose (Texas Toast House w/ Tigon, Ventid and Primary), Berkeley (924 Gilman w/ Sabertooth Zombie) and Stockton (Plea for Peace w/ Happy Body Slow Brain) shows. You should come to one of these.

I've also somehow talked myself into playing second guitar on these shows. Yikes.

Music Monday - Three Mile Pilot / The Inevitable Past Is The Future Forgotten

After 13 years, Three Mile Pilot have dropped a new record with very little fanfare. My favorite record of theirs will always be "Another Desert, Another Sea", but this is still a really, really good record. Unlike my other Music Monday posts, this one isnt a free download, but you can watch them play a whole set in their hometown here: http://www.vimeo.com/9409613

*fun fact: I interviewed Three Mile Pilot for my old podcast Break This City, but we weren't able to use it because I was so nervous I did a terrible job! Hooray for being a total fanboy!