In July 2014, I was desperate for ideas to regain interest in the long delayed CONNIE DUNGS LP that we were releasing. I turned to the internet to look for some advice and came up with the idea of releasing a poster with the LP. I looked through several pieces of art for friends' labels and was really surprised to find out that every single album cover, poster, flyer, and whatever was by the same artist. That man is the grand Ole O'brian from Germany. He has a style all his own while pinching flavors from great artists of the past and everyone has noticed just how much of an amazing talent he is. Below are some questions that I sent to Ole so we could get to know him a little better. ENJOY!
THE QUEERS/ANTAGONIZERS SPLIT 7" ON SEXY BABY RECORDS
Mooster: First off, tell us a little about you and what you do for peeps that dont know.
Ole: Hi Brandon! Hey guys! My name is Ole O'Brian. Actually, my name is Olaf , but I prefer Ole.
Everyone calls me Ole. "Olaf" sounds like a bloody vampire from goddamn Transylvania, Count
Olaf the unspeakably evil demon! Although it sounds really cool, haha. Well, I come from Germany
and not from Transylvania, in my spare time I draw all kinds of colorful images for nice people and
bands; things like show posters, album artwork, logos, shirt designs and stuff like that. Also,
I play the drums in the punk rock band Evil O'Brians and sing back up. That is what I
am and that is why my illustrations have also mostly a punk rock background. I just do projects for
people who are similar to me and if I am a fan of their music. It's not my job, so I can choose
my art projects. The fun of it is more important to me than the money, but of course, I'm not saying
no if you wanna give me a few bucks, haha. Drawing is a valve to relax, when I'm annoyed by
people or work, it's like a brain holiday. I need the pen in my hand, good music coming from the speakers and a coffee or a cold beer.
M: How did you get started with art making? Flyers? album art?
O: I did my first scribbles in the school textbooks. At that time I listened to a lot of metal music, so my school books were full of skulls , zombies and stuff like that. From time to time there was a caricature of my english teacher , haha. The doodles were terrible at the beginning, but I've gone ahead and practiced and now my art is quite reasonable , right? But I still love to draw zombies. My first commissions were concert posters and cover artwork for punk music tapes from local bands.
DARREN MERINUK COVER OF THE SURF CREATURE VOL. 3
M: Who are your influences and what did you learn from them?
O: First I want to name Darren Merinuk, I really love his style and his art inspires me again and again. Then there's Eric Powell, Jim Phillips, J. Scott Campbell, Chris „Coop“ Cooper, Dirty Donny, Rockin' Jellybean, Robert Williams, just to name a few. I dig bold curving black outlines. In this regard these artists were a big influence.
M: Tell us a little about your band, and where we can find music and stuff.
O: Having fun is the most important thing in my band. I've known my band mates since our school days, we grew up in the same secluded village. We are like brothers and I love those guys. We like to hang around, have fun and play shows. We have been on various compilations and
split albums, but we are yet to have a full-length album. That should and will change soon. We are
working on it at the moment and it will be released later this year. You can check out the following
links.
M: How would you describe art your style?
O: Lowbrow toon art stuff.
M: Do you make art outside of the punk community? Ive seen a lot of albums and logos but
was wondering if you made comics or anything just for yourself
O: I am currently working only for punk rock bands and labels. It's been a lot of fun and I love to get
records or shirts illustrated by me. I also did a DVD cover for an independent horror film called
Creepy Campfire Stories, I am hoping the movie comes out soon. I would like illustrate comics, but I'm scared of doing so many panels and pages. Maybe I'll do a short comic in the future again, if someone has a nice story for me.
M: Can you briefly list some of the amazing bands and clients you have done art for?
O: First of all there is the wonderful McRackins. I adore them and 'Short And Sweet' is one of my all time faves. Others are Eaten Back To Life, Horror Section, MxPx, The Queers, The Brewers,
Nimrods, The Connie Dungs, The Meeps!, J Prozac, The Putz, Kobanes, The Sheckies and Ramone To The Bone and so on.
THE MEEPS! "TROUBLEMAKER" OUT ON RTTB RECORDS
MCRACKINS SPLIT WITH NUCLEAR SANTA CLAUST ON DON GIOVANNI RECORDS
KOBANES/ PROZACS SPLIT 7" ON JERKOFF RECORDS
M: What plans for future art or projects do you have?
O: I don't really have plans but rather wishes. For example, I 'd like to do something for Kepi Ghoulie. However, I am working on new and exciting things for The Piniellas, McRackins, The Young Rochelles, Doubtfire and Ripped Records which arecoming up soon. Watch out folks.
M: List your top 5 fave bands and top 5 fave movies, so we can judge you.
O: Phew, that's a damn hard challenge.
Bands:
Sloppy Seconds
McRackins
(everthing by) Dan Vapid
(everything by) Kepi Ghoulie
The Queers
New Bomb Turks. (Oops, there are 6)
Movies:
Planet Terror
A Corpse Bride
Sin City
Rollergirl
Lord of the Rings
Use this space for plugs, web address, how to get in touch with you
Brandon, thanks a lot for the nice interview and thank you to the dear readers of all that crap here.
If you're interested go and check out my stuff on facebook: www.facebook.com/inebriatedoleart
....and chum up with me here: www.facebook.com/ole.obrian
Take care ya stoopid lowbrows!
THE PUTZ T-SHIRT
HORROR SECTION/EATEN BACK TO LIFE SPLIT 12" ON ECCENTRIC POP RECORDS
MXPX "LEFT COAST PUNK" EP ON SEXY BABY RECORDS
No comments:
Post a Comment