An Interview with Nick Minnow

JEFFREY LEWIS y LOS BOLTS "SAD SCREAMING OLD MAN"

Today marks the debut of the amazingly awesome video for Jeffrey Lewis y Los Bolts' "Sad Screaming Old Man" on NPR's All Songs TV! While this is super exciting in itself, it is extra exciting for us here at Mooster because it shows off the talent of our good friend, Nick.

THE VIDEO CAN ALSO NOW BE SEEN ON MOOSTERTV IF YOU HAVE A ROKU. ADD OUR CHANNEL WITH THE CODE "mooster"!

 I've been friends with Nick since about 2006 when I'm sure we ran into each other at some random party in Bowling Green, Kentucky where we both went to college. He eventually became a roommate, bandmate, groomsman in my wedding, collaborator and all around awesome guy and a great friend. We have been on tours together and gotten kicked out of bars together. I affectionately refer to Nick as "The Octopus" because I once saw a guy pick him up for some reason and Nick just started swingin', so it looked like he had 8 arms! It was GREAT! Anyway..I got derailed. 

Nick has been honing the craft of claymation for the last few years and has been slaving away in his studio and home that he calls MINNOWLAND. In addition to the Jeff Lewis video he has also done videos for The Turbofruits and Steve Lewis(no relation to Jeff Lewis) I am super proud to call this dude my friend and very excited to share his newest work with my readers and the interview below. ENJOY!





MOOSTERBLOG: First off, tell us a little about you and what you do for peeps that dont know. 
NICK: Well, my name is Nicholas Clark, I am an artist/musician living in Nashville, TN. I've played in dozens of bands over the years, and record my own music under the pseudonym 'Nick Minnow'. I also make claymation and stop motion movies, mostly music videos. I am also a screen printer, and have made band merch for 100's of artists over the years.

M: How did you get started with art making? videos? stop motion?

N:  I've pretty much always made art, I got my bachelor's degree in visual design in 2008 from Western Kentucky University. My first jobs out of college were in the screen printing industry. Ive been making claymation videos for about a year and a half. I got started doing that just by chance, I was playing with a video app, and made a few objects 'move,' shortly before buying some clay and letting it take over my life. 

 M: Who are your influences and what did you learn from them?

N: Considering that I am spread all over the place, as far as different mediums go, I always liked Frank Zappa's idea of 'Conceptual Continuity,' meaning that everything he did was all a part of a single larger piece of art. I like that if someone sees a video, or hears a piece of music, they can still tell its me. I approach all mediums with the same mindset and philosophy, whether its visual or audio, it all has the same basic elements as far as I'm concerned. Other influences include Bruce Bickford, Art Clokey, Lee Harcastle, anybody who's cool doing weird stuff. 

M: Tell us a little about your bands, and where we can find music and stuff.

N: I currently play drums in a band called 'Freebase Masons.' We are in the middle of recording our second album now, and our first record is available here: https://freebasemasons.bandcamp.com/album/volume-5-mother-of-nothing , and we're on facebook and stuff. I also record my own stuff under the name 'Nick Minnow.' My last solo record " Nick Minnow Presents: Plant Music (an untested hypothesis)" was released by Mooster Records in 2012. I am almost done with my latest EP, titled 'Tongue Tied.' and it should be out in 2016. It sounds very different than my first 2 solo releases, especially the production value. It was recorded at Reel Love studio here in Nashville, and I'm planning a claymation project to coincide with the record. I've played on dozens of studio recordings for various artists, and I've been in more bands than I can remember. Most of them can be found on my website, www.minnowland.net. 

M: How would you describe your style?

N: Modern imperfect psychedelia for a modern imperfect world. 

M: Do you make art outside of the stop motion stuff? I like a lot of the creatures you make and stuff but was wondering if you made comics or art with them or anything just for yourself. 

N: Since Ive been making claymation videos, that's taken up most of my time, as far as visual art goes. I still do screen printing, so occasionally Ill make a T-shirt or poster, but claymation is my primary focus, as far as visual art goes. It can be very time-consuming. In the future it may be fun to do a comic, nothing is out of the question really. I have these bear characters I made, Rodney and Roosevelt, that would work great in a story format.

M: Can you briefly list some of the amazing bands and clients you have done art for?

 N: Ive made videos for Turbo Fruits, who are one of the hardest working bands in Nashville. Those guys gave me my first real paying stop motion gig, and they're really cool guys. I also did a video for Steve Lewis, who just put out a great record. My first claymation music video was for the band Tipper Whore, but Ive learned so much since then that I really dislike that particular video. Currently, I am finishing up a claymation video for Jeffrey Lewis, who Ive been a huge fan of for years, and I still can't believe that he agreed to work with me. And one time, I screen printed a t shirt for Eminem.

M: What plans for future art or projects do you have? 
N: After I finish up my current project, I plan on doing more claymation shorts of my own. I'm learning new things about the process everyday. Since I've started doing claymation, Ive been mostly working on other people's projects, so I'm going to focus on doing a few things of my own, probably with a 'darker' vibe. I am also planning another instrumental album, as a companion to my 2012 release, Plant Music. But this could all change tomorrow, there are always projects out there that I would love to work on. 

 M: List your top 5 fave bands and top 5 fave movies, so we can judge you. 

 N: This is by far the hardest question. I like all sorts of different music (except ska). I do have a soft spot for 80's metal, stuff like Iron Maiden, Megadeth and Anthrax, but I also like a lot of weirder stuff, like Ween, Zappa, Phish, Can, Butthole Surfers. Talking Heads, The Beatles, King Crimson, some old punk stuff. I could talk about music all day. Its really all over the place. As far as movies, Im not as opinionated about at all. I like the Star Wars movies, The Naked Gun movies. I am not a movie buff at all, but I know what I like, I suppose. 

M: Use this space for plugs, web address, how to get in touch with you.

N: More or less, everything is on my website, www.minnowland.net. There are links to my youtube and social media pages there, as well as music links and claymation videos. I've made a conscious effort to consolidate everything there, since in the past I feel like I've been spread over all sorts different media. If you are interested in working on a music video, or music production, my contact info is there as well. I'm always happy to talk to others about creative projects, and help where I can.