Rockin' Weird

Got a backlog of stuff to post but first the big news: Rockin' Weird, the first ever book collection of my work is on it's way! With 216 big pages and more than 440 drawings spanning the last 25 years, RW features the best record sleeves, rock'n'roll posters, zine illustrations, comic strips and miscellaneous ephemera of my career, plus a bunch of previously unpublished stuff as well. You can preorder a copy of this majestic tome, surely the most significant book since the Bible, here. Buy two copies in case you drop one in the mashed potatoes. Stay tuned for MORE GIVE A HOOT, READ A BOOK ACTION!

Stitched Up

New creepy art which will be the label art on the new live CD by my pals the Independents. Stay tuned for MORE ELECTIVE SURGERY ACTION!

Upgraded Graves

 Speaking of older drawings that have been recently revised, here's an oldie that I did for the Independents some years back which I did some finicky fine-tuning on a few weeks ago. Independents guitar ace Willy B used it in this ad for the recent reissues of their back catalog using the new and improved version(sorry cheapskates, I'm pretty sure these low low sale prices are no longer valid). I seem to find myself doing these kinda minor revisions on a lot of older pieces lately. Maybe I should start a new OCD tag here on the blog to group 'em all together for easy reference. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Bond... Eternal Bond

Back in 2005 I did the art and layout for the Eternal Bond CD by my old pals The Independents. This year the album is making its debut on vinyl so I was called upon to revise and update the original sleeve design and here be the result. My first idea was to do a major reworking of the original front cover design which you can see below. We finally decided to use something much closer to the CD version for the LP sleeve but the revised devil head art will be used on stickers and T-shirts. Stay tuned for MORE SATANIC ACTION!

Kreepy Kristmas

This sepulchral Sanata was drawn a few years back for my old pals The Independents. It was used to hype a Christmas merch sale on their website. More weirdo Christmas stuff coming up tomorrow so... Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

She's My Vampire Girl

Here's yet another drawing I did for The Independents. This was the CD label art for the Live From Murder Beach album on Amp Records. This drawing started a tradition of Merinuk drawings of sexy monster girls which have appeared on most Independents CDs since this one came out in 2003. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Full Moon Arise

Here's the tray card art for the Full Moon Arise CD by The Independents. This one came out back in 2003 on the Fastmusic label. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Living Dead Girl

This one was drawn back in 2006 and was used as label art for a CD by The Independents. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Murder Beach Party

After finishing the cover for Live From Murder Beach by The Independents, I drew this poster for their accompanying tour back in 2003. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Death May Be Your Santa Claus

This was the poster for a post-Xmas punk rock show at the Royal Albert way back in 1999. You can read about The Horribles and Insaniacs in previous entries on this blog. Figure IV and Reality's End were big local names in the '90s-style hardcore scene, a style of music I was never particularly interested in myself. Anyhow with this poster I was trying for the kind of bluntly unadorned style of early '80s HC flyers; a real in-your-face kinda graphic approach. Later the Reaper image from this poster was used as a sticker design for The Independents. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

I'm In Love With Dracula's Daughter

This one was drawn back in 2003 for The Independents and was used as the CD label art for their Full Moon Arise CD. It's kind of a tribute to all of those Vampirella comix I read during my impressionable teenage years. Stay tuned for MORE LIPS OF BLUE, EYES OF RED ACTION!

Beware Of Ghouls

This monster mashin' mess was originally drawn as a poster for a Halloween garage rock gig in Calgary that Tiemen from Dragsville and Teenage Depression zines put together back in 2002. I wasn't happy with the way part of the original version turned out so a couple of years later when The Independents asked me to design a poster for their 2004 tour I worked up a revised version and added some color. Independents guitarist Willy B printed up 100 silkscreen posters of this in his secret laboratory in the castle East, near the master bedroom where the vampires feast. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Do It Again!

When I drew this I thought it was gonna be the front cover art of Do It Again!, the latest CD by The Independents, but it ended up inside the booklet for whatever reason. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Back From The Grave

This 'un was meant to be the cover art for the reissue of the first Independents album Back From The Grave, though it was never used as such. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Meet Me In The Morgue

Speaking of Eternal Bond, here is the poster for the tour that accompanied the release of that CD. The drawing was also used as the tray card art for the album. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Never Bet The Devil Your Head

This devil head was the cover art for Eternal Bond by The Independents. On the CD cover it was printed in very dark gray on a black background for an almost subliminal effect which would be hard to duplicate on a computer screen. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Murder Beach

Rocketin' way back to 2003, here's the first of many things I've drawn for North Carolina-based horror/punk/ska-sters The Independents. Amp Records put out this live disc and there was also a poster design for the accompanying tour which I will have to dig out and post for you sometime. This was drawn shortly after the deaths of Joey and Dee Dee Ramone and The Independents asked me to include the deceased duo in the cover art as a tribute to them. Many more Independents/Merinuk collaborations were to follow this one, all to be revealed in due time here in the Rubber Room. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Walkin' The Dog

I drew this one a couple years back for The Independents website. Another take on the werewolf theme, this is probably my best work on that subject so far. I'm going to top it someday, though. Stay tuned for MORE EVEN A MAN WHO'S PURE IN HEART AND SAYS HIS PRAYERS BY NIGHT, MAY BECOME A WOLF WHEN THE WOLFBANE BLOOMS AND THE MOON IS FULL AND BRIGHT ACTION!

Castin' My Spell On You

This voodoo vixen was drawn last year for the booklet of the most recent Independents CD, Do It Again. Got some fun new and old stuff on the launchin' pad for later this week so... Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Vampire Devil Skull Bat

Drew this up a couple months back as the official T-shirt design for The Independents Fall 2009 tour. Much more Independents stuff coming up later. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!