What's Behind The Mask?

Here's the cover I made back in 1997 for the cool local alt-comix publication Sunburn. The mag started in 1996 and lasted through to 2000 or thereabouts. At first the contents were almost entirely by Winnipeg artists but the last few issues branched out to include contributors from all over the world. I had art in most of the early issues but got kinda distracted and mostly missed out on appearing in the latter part of the run. This gratuitously hideous offering is one of several pieces of mine dealing with the idea of masks and what might be lurking behind them. The heart of another is a dark forest. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Duh!

If I had to pick a single drawing to represent what I am trying to do in the realm of art, this would have to be the one. It was originally meant to be the cover of a comic I was gonna call Horizontal Action! which was about half finished when I ran out of steam on the project. I eventually used it in the booklet for the McRackins/Manges split CD on Amp Records and there was a promotional pinback button made for that release which featured this drawing as well. This one kinda speaks for itself, I suppose. Anyway I'm not gonna try to explain it. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Don't Fear The Reaper?

So far this is the magnum opus of my Memento Mori series, though I have ideas for a few more that may yet top it. This one is unpublished. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Death To The Sickoids

I used to have a crazed artist friend who was into doing super detailed, highly textured drawing with the maximum possible amount of crosshatch and stipple shading. Since I was also into this exact kind of thing, we got into a friendly competition of trying to one-up each other in outlandishly detailed underground comix style freakout art. There was never an official winner declared in said battle of the blazing pen nibs but this was my ultimate effort; the most deranged, sickeningly detailed mad monsterpiece I've ever produced. I suppose I should try to top it someday but that day will not be coming anytime soon. If memory serves this piece appeared in a few zines back in the mid-'90s, Fiesta Germany for one. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Tiki Freakout

I am just finishing up a little project involving accurate renderings of authentic ancient Hawaiian sculpture. The piece above was a first conceptual attempt to figure out how best to approach this series. In the end it was decided to render the finished drawings in shaded pencil rather than the stipple effect used in this piece. Since I spent the better part of a day making all those little dots, I thought I would post it up here rather than just letting it rot in my Closet O'Art. If possible I'll post the rest of the series later. Stay tuned for MORE PAGAN ICON ACTION!

Be A Caveman

Made this drawing and logo a few years back for Thee Cave, a website my old friend George from Greece put together. The site features lots of useful info on the bands that made up the '80s garage rock scene and contains more photos of guys with Brian Jones hairstyles than you could shake a maraca at. I checked out the site the other day and it doesn't seem to have been updated in a couple of years. I didn't see this artwork on there anywhere so perhaps it is making its grand debut right here. Anyhow... Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight

Quickie poster for the most recent Winnipeg show by Th' Legendary Shack Shakers. These guys get tagged as psychobilly most of the time which I guess is a fair description of the straight ahead wild rockin' you get in their live show but on record they are a real eclectic and eccentric mix of just about every kind of Southern roots music from gospel to Southern-fried soul. Warmin' up the crowd at this show were the mighty Angry Dragons in one of their very first onstage appearances. 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!

Motorcycho Nitemare

Here's a little thing I drew some years back for hip Canadian sickle zine Motorcycho. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

The Scariest Band In The World

Poster for the one and only Winnipeg show by Californy creepsters Deadbolt, way back in 2000 AD. Also on the bill were Winnipeg's rockabilly weirdos The Fever Breaks with their Buddy Holly on LSD style of rockin'. It was a fun evening out. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Psychobilly Freakout

Here be my poster for the first ever Winnipeg appearance by the Reverend Horton Heat, way back in 1999. Also on the bill were the hip Link Wray meets Ramones instrumental stylings of Calgary's Huevos Rancheros and a horribly inappropriate rap-metal band. Fun times. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Wild Weekend

Here's the poster for the Transistor 66 Rock'n'Roll Weekender, which kicks off one week from today. This will be the grand debut of The Angry Dragons great 7" which I was blastin' an advance copy of all day yesterday, plus one man rockabilly combo Bloodshot Bill will be launchin' his brand new CD at the Saturday show. Throw in local rockin' legends The Farrell Bros and the sweet (mostly-) instro sounds of The Lonely Vulcans plus a batch of hip new up-and-comers and you have a weekend to remember (or dismember if you consider the location of the festivities). I spent some time yesterday signing and numbering 50 sharp lookin' silkscreen prints of this poster which you will be able to buy at the show or via the Transistor 66 website if you are so inclined. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Horror Of Rackula

Just finished this cover art for the debut CD by Rackula, an all-grrl punk rock combo from Hamilton, Ontario. The CD should be out in February sometime. See below for an extra drawing I made which will appear (in part) on the label of the CD itself. More new stuff tomorrow. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Into The Forbidden Dimension

Forbidden Dimension are a brilliant horror rock band outta Calgary, which is without a doubt Canada's most sinister city. They differ from most other horror bands in that they are as much influenced by Link Wray, Kiss and The Damned as they are by The Misfits. They played in Winnipeg several times back in the '90s and I got the call to do the poster for one such show at the Pyramid Cabaret in 1997. As the FD have the amazing TOMB as their in-house artist I knew that I had to deliver my best work on this one and I have always been pretty proud of the way it turned out. The FD guys liked it too and at the show they did me the honor of adapting the words of their song Dial M For Monster into Dial M For Merinuk... a pretty proud moment for me. This was also the show where Personality Crisis singer Mitch Funk joined FD onstage for their cover of PC classick Vampire's Dream which was another amazing thing to see. Anyhow, fast forward to 2004 when I got a rush request for a couple of posters from my pals The Independents. I decided to give the FD poster a new lease on life and recycled it into the poster for the South Carolina show headlined by '77 punk legends The Vibrators. I made the color separations for a silkscreen version of this but unfortunately that never made it to print. To top this epic saga off, here's the FD art again, bootlegged on a poster for a Hellacopters show that my eagle-eyed buddy Lee found somewhere on the net awhile back. I think this show was in Spain somewhere. Thanks, Leroy! Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Hot Rods To Hell

Here are the other 2 hot roddin' T-shirt designs mentioned in yesterday's post. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

I'm A Bongo-Beatin' Beatnik

Here's a cover I did for local alt music mag Stylus some years back. This was one of 3 Roth-style hot rod weirdo drawings that I did for the 2001 CKUW radio fundraiser. All 3 were used on T-shirts which were given to people who coughed up the bucks to keep the station on the air and there was also a poster version with all 3 CarToon cretins burning up the Highway To Hell. The Beatnik seemed to be the popular favorite of the 3 so it was chosen to appear on the accompanying Stylus cover. I'll post the other 2 at a later date. Stay tuned for MORE LIKE, ACTION!

Journey To The Center Of The Mind

The idea of this one was to start a drawing and then work on adding bits and pieces to it over a period of years. I started it in 1993 with the bridge and figure in the foreground, then added the mouth and stairs and proceeded to fill it out from there. Final touches were put on in 2007 so this one was 14 years in the making! It's unpublished. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Pussy Galore Part 2

Here's my most recent Nashville Pussy poster from 2003. This show was sponsored by Soul Survivors tattoo studio, who I also worked with on my recent Misfits project which I should finally be able to post here in about a month or so. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Pussy Galore Part 1

Rawk powerhouse combo Nashville Pussy used to play here once or twice a year. Over the years they have probably played in Winnipeg at least a dozen times. Three of these visits were accompanied by King Merinuk poster art and this is the first one from way back in 1998. Stay tuned for MORE OF THAT NASHVILLE PUSSY ACTION!

Maneaters On Motorbikes

Here are a couple of different sleeve designs I made for the Angry Dragons debut CD on Transistor 66 Records. The top one is an alternate design that will replace the original when the CD goes into a second pressing (if all goes according to plan). Right now you can get it as the cover for the cassette (!) release of the songs that are on the CD. The pink and black original design has been used on various Dragons merch and is the cover of the CD that you can buy right now from good old Transistor 66. We're counting down right now to the big release party for the Dragons 7" EP on February 5. I'll put up the poster for that show in the next day or two. Stay tuned for MORE ANTAGONIZIN' ACTION!