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posters, zine illustrations, comic strips and miscellaneous ephemera of my career, plus a bunch of previously unpublished stuff as well.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!

Sub-Mission

Spankin' new poster art for local garage rock heroines The Blowholes, premiering their debut CD amid the ever-dank confines of the Royal Albert later this month. These gals are my fave local band right now and I'm really looking forward to getting to hear their album. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Rock Madness!

I drew this poster back in 2002 for a benefit show featuring a bunch of Winnipeg's best rock'n'roll combos. Squareheads singer and local rock legend Anthony Bueno was the instigator of this madness, which included the debut performance by local heroines The Quiffs. A bunch of these bands appeared on the Winnipeg Riot! compilation so dig up a copy of that CD if you wanna get a taste of what these shows were like. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Super Rock Team-Up

Here's a poster I finished a few days back for a cool upcoming show featuring a bunch of bands associated with Winnipeg's only rock'n'roll record label, Transistor 66. This piece was inspired by a few hours I recently spent perusing a bunch of mid-'70s Marvel comics that I bought when I was a kid. That may seem like a pretty oddball thing to be influenced by (especially considering how terrible most of those comics are) but never fear, without a doubt I'll find something even more inane to pay homage to in the not-too-distant future. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Final Conflict

This was the poster for a planned Winnipeg show by venerable UK anarcho-punks Conflict. The whole Conflict tour was canceled and legendary locals The Unwanted ended up headlining the show. Stay tuned for MORE ANARCHISTIC ACTION!

Rock'n'Roll Animal

I probably spent more time on today's drawing than any other single piece I've ever worked on. It was the cover art for the Rock'n'Roll Animal demo release by one of Winnipeg's best bands ever, The Squareheads. Featuring former members of The Horribles, Mohosimrots and Mo Bi666sley, the Squareheads blasted out a high-energy mix of punk and rock'n'roll for the better part of a decade and are still managing the occasional reunion show. They were at their peak around the time of this demo with original drummer Brian still in the fold. Brian also plays on their one and only full length release, the amazing Persona Non Grata CD. They also have some tunes on compilations here and there, including an appearance on Winnipeg Riot!, naturally. This Animal House takeoff features our beloved dive bar The Royal Albert and caricatures of over 60 punks, drunks and random rockers that used to hang around there in the heyday of Winnipeg's rock'n'roll scene. Drawing this was maddening, especially since I was working from blurry Polaroid snapshots of these people drunkenly flailing around as reference for many of the caricatures. For a swell bonus, you can check out a sticker/logo design I did in the early days of the band below. Stay tuned for MORE U-BOAT ATTACK 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!

Devil Dogs

I kinda started at the top in this here rock'n'roll show poster racket 'cuz two of my earliest efforts in the genre were for shows by the mighty Devil Dogs! Hard to believe these guys played in my crummy hometown no less than 3 separate times back in the early '90s, including a memorable 3 night stand at the Alternative Cabaret right in my very own neighborhood. At the top is the poster for their first show at the Albert back in 1992 and the other poster is for their January '93 shows at the AC. I don't consider these to be classics of the rock poster art form or anything but I'm posting them because I'm damn proud to have had the chance to do some work for one of the greatest rock'n'roll bands of all time. Not sure which yet but one of these has just been printed in We Never Learn: The Gunk Punk Undergut, 1988-2001, the new book by New Bomb Turks chanteur Eric Davidson chronicling the garage punk onslaught of the 1990s. Yeah, all that goofy fun we had 20 years ago is now deemed to be of sufficient cultural worth to deserve to have whole big books written about it. This is what I get for not dying young when I had the chance. Oh well. Stay tuned for MORE IT'S NOT THAT I DON'T LIKE PEOPLE, I FEEL BETTER WHEN THEY'RE NOT AROUND ACTION!

This Is A Riot!

Here's the cover art for the cool Winnipeg Riot! compilation CD, released on Dionysus Records back in 2006. Documenting the Winnipeg rock'n'roll scene from approximately 1997-2004, the CD compiles a whole mess of wild garage, punk, rockabilly and surf combos, all wailin' heedlessly away in a city chock fulla squares. Top local combos The Farrell Bros, The Horribles, Hot Live Guys, Squareheads, American Flamewhip, The Hestons, The Insaniacs and The Mohosimrots are all represented on here (all of 'em have been blabbed about in previous entries on this blog) along with some equally fine but lesser known bands. You can (and should) still order this CD direct from the Dionysus Records website. My cover art was meant to illustrate the degree of indifference these combos faced playing in a city that has pretty much abandoned its rock'n'roll heritage. It is also part of my ongoing series of Grumpy Old Men drawings. For a bonus, here's the poster I put together for the Winnipeg Riot! CD release party at the Royal Albert. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

A Rock'N'Roll Nightmare On Albert Street

From way back in 2002, here's the first of the three posters I did for shows by the mighty Rock Warrior, Thor! Kicking off the evening's festivities were hard rockin' local faves The Squareheads with their original lineup featuring drummer Brian, now a rock superstar in the Demon's Claws and Primitive Hands. Squareheads singer Anthony came up with the general idea for this poster and wrote the dialogue balloons. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Revved Up Teenage Head

I made this poster a couple of years back for the last ever Winnipeg show by legendary Canadian rockers Teenage Head. The show itself was kind of a debacle with the band members a bit too drunk and not sounding very well rehearsed at all. A couple of months after this tour singer Frankie Venom died of throat cancer which cast an even more gruesome pall over the evening's events. On the plus side local powerpoppers The Sweet Nothings and pub rock revivalists The Wind-Ups both delivered great sets and it was fun to see all the local punk old timers whooping it up and downing many beers. We printed up a small run of screenprinted posters for this show and there are still a few available if anyone is interested in owning one. Click on "View My Complete Profile" at right to get my contact info. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Garage Daze

This was the poster for the 3 day Garage Days fest held way back in 2002 at the always grimy Royal Albert, home of general filth. Unfortunately I was outta town when this all took place so I can't give you any info on how it all went down. I don't think I've blabbed about The Hestons, one of my fave Winnipeg combos back in those days and the only local band who were really going for the full-on Estrus/Rip Off Records '90s garage sound. Another great local band who never had an official release, the only Hestons recordings I know of were made very late in their career and feature a more mature, serious sound as opposed to the high octane teenage trash they were known for in their heyday. There's a CDR out and about with those recordings on it and one track from the sessions turned up on the Winnipeg Riot! comp. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Royal Albert Chainsaw Massacre

Here's a poster I did for a punked out show at our venerable skid row rock dive the Royal Albert way back in 1999. The Lower East Side Stitches never showed up and I didn't care for headliners Bunchofuckingoofs so instead let's talk about Winnipeg's mighty street punk heroes The Mohosimrots. These guys got going in August of '97 and were one of the first of a wave of great rock'n'roll bands that came outta Winnipeg around the turn of the century. They played straight ahead super catchy '77-ish street rock with a strong British vibe. Sadly they only lasted a couple of years and never did any studio recording but I am told that there are good quality live tapes and video (including a vid of the infamous tomato smashing set that got them banned for life from local hippie venue the West End Cultural Centre) which will hopefully see the light of day at some point. There's a low-fi rehearsal tape circulating among fans and right now that is the only way to hear classic tunes like Now You're Gonna Listen, Left Handed Gun and Beer Here. The Mohosimrots called it quits not long after this show. Guitarist Mike went on to the Martian Graverobbers and Zombie Assault!! while bassist Jan switched over to six string and played in the Squareheads and Nervous Lugers among others. You can hear their great song Manipogo on the Winnipeg Riot! comp CD (an excerpt from the rehearsal tape mentioned above). Sadly plans for a Manipogo 7" with Merinuk sleeve art never came to pass, but I guess that's rock'n'roll. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Punk's Not Dead

...And why not? Here's the first UK Subs poster I made way back in 1999. This is the original version with Nardcore legends Dr. Know on the bill. They dropped off the tour so on the printed posters there was just a big black space where their name would have been. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Attack Of The 50 Foot Punk Chick

What the heck, here's the most recent of my UK Subs at the Royal Albert posters from back in 2007. We were hoping to do a small run of silkscreen posters of this, but those plans fell through at the last minute. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

I Lost My Love To A UK Sub

This is the second of three posters I made for Winnipeg shows by venerable Britpunks The UK Subs. This one features local rock legends The Squareheads with singer Anthony once more in the role of jilted Romeo. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Return To The Forbidden Dimension

Amazing Calgary ghoul rockers Forbidden Dimension (see my January 27 post for a bit of info on their early career) regrouped a few years back after a near decade-long hiatus and made their long awaited return to Winnipeg late in 2008. They put on a killer high energy show including many old classics and lots of great new songs from their comeback album Cool Sound Out Of Hell. Also on this power-packed bill were the garage stompin' Angry Dragons and theatrical grrl rockers The Gorgon. I was doing posters for most of the Dragons shows at the time and worked real hard to give them a cool one for such a bitchin' show but unbeknownst to me the FDs resident art monster TOMB was conjuring up his own poster for this show in his Calgary basement lair. His poster made mine kinda redundant so this one has remained mostly unseen... until now. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Rock'N'Roll Nightmare

From back in 2005, here's the second of three posters I did for Winnipeg gigs by the legendary Rock Warrior of the 1980s, the incredible Thor. You can't beat this guy for amazing, over-the-top hard rock tunes and the best live show ever featuring a zillion costume changes and carny-style feats of strength, all spotlighting Thor's larger than life warrior rock-god persona. This poster was inspired by a scene from Thor's cinematic classic Rock'N'Roll Nightmare wherein our hero fearlessly engages in hand-to-hand combat with the evil forces of Hell itself! Also on the bill for this show were always hard rockin' local heroes The Squareheads and Winnipeg's best ever surf/Link Wray-inspired instro combo The Rockdoras. What a night. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Vulcan Death Grip

Here's a brand new one, best under the sun. It's the poster for the CD release par-tay for Winnipeg's (mostly-) instrumental luv rock hooligans The Lonely Vulcans. These guys are the only modern instro combo I've heard yet with a pervasive Santo and Johnny influence. Featuring ex-members of the Squareheads, Surfadelics (Winnipeg version, not the UK '80s guys), Accosters, Moe Bi666sley and many more, these guys (and gal) will provide the perfect soundtrack for your next last date and so much more. See you at the show, kids. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

They Won't Stay Dead!

Here's an old school punk rock flyer from 1999 featuring a definitive lineup of some of the most ubiquitous bands on the Winnipeg scene at the time. I've talked about The Horribles, Insaniacs and Breath Grenades in earlier posts on this blog. The Degenerates were one of those nihilistic, beer sodden drunk-punk combos and their un-PC humor was pretty controversial for awhile. Their drummer once showed me a video of them playing at the Albert while a guy in a gorilla suit was going nuts and smashing things. I said, "Cool, you got a friend to dress up in a gorilla suit for the show." He said, "No, we didn't even know the guy. He was just some drunk hanging around the bar in a gorilla suit." I did a couple of vomitously funny illustrations for The Degenerates which I will post here at some point to mess up your mind. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!