Bar Mitzvah Blast

I broke new ground recently with my first ever Bar Mitzvah poster designs. The first one (above) was all done by me and the second was penciled by my old pal Evan Quiring with inking and coloring by yers truly.With the rock poster scene being so overexposed at this late date, perhaps rocking Bar Mitzvah posters will be the wave of the future. Or perhaps not. Anyhow, don't be a schmoe, stay tuned for MORE MESHUGGAH ACTION! 

Routes 666

Another new 7" sleeve, this one for hip Japanese garage/beatsters The Routes. This one is gonna be a split release by two cool Spanish labels, Ghost Highway Records and KOTJ Records. There's gonna be 150 black vinyl copies and 150 white, half of 'em with the sleeve you see above and the other half with an alternate sleeve by cool cartoonist Luis Fuzzhound, so collect 'em, trade 'em and... Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Creepy Christmas

Recently finished this 7" sleeve for soul man Jeff Hershey's upcoming 7" release on the always cool Soundflat label. Looks like a release that's bound to bring a lot of holiday joy into our humdrum world... Stay tuned for MORE HAVE YOURSELF A SCARY LITTLE CHRISTMAS ACTION!

Automated Art

This is my first ever piece of trading card art, part of a set based on the life on famous music producer Dan The Automator that was available at this year's San Diego Comic Con. This card depicts some of the acts he worked with back in the '90s, including Jon Spencer and Cornershop. Stay tuned for MORE AUTOMATIC ACTION!

Twangin' In The Graveyard

More Halloween madness in today's post. Here's the sleeve art for the forthcoming 45 by Norwegian instro maniacs The Twang-O-Matics which will be hittin' the streets by Halloween 2013 courtesy of Hack Shack Records. Buy a bunch of 'em, they'll make swell treats for the hungry hordes on All Hallows Eve. Stay tuned for MORE EVEN A MAN WHO'S PURE AT HEART AND SAYS HIS PRAYERS BY NIGHT ACTION!

I Was Working In The Lab, Late One Night...

Just finished up this nutty cover art for an upcoming LP comp of rare monster-themed novelty rockers from the '50s and '60s. I went a little crazy on this project because I am a huge fan of this musical genre and have collected most of the similar comps that have come out in the past 25 years or so. This one will be out by Halloween and it's gonna be a limited edition of 500 copies so don't pass it by if you happen to see a copy. Stay tuned for MORE DON'T COME KNOCKIN' IF THIS COFFIN'S ROCKIN' ACTION!

How Sweet It Is

Sweet Daddy Siki was a well known pro rassler who put out 3 LPs worth of C&W music back in the '70s. I did this caricature of him for a forthcoming zine that is gonna cover the crossover between rassling and other parts of pop culture (rasslers who sing and act, bands and movies influenced by rassling, that kinda thing). That's a brilliant idea for a zine and I can't wait to see it. Stay tuned for MORE DO THE HAMMERLOCK YOU TURKEYNECK ACTION!

Logo A Go Go

New logo design for Winnipeg's maverick documentary filmmaker Steve Ward. Steve directed the cool Transistor 66 Records doc a couple of years back (featuring an exclusive on-camera interview with yers truly) and is currently working on a new film about the past and present Tiki culture scene in Winnipeg. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

PORK Chop

I was stoked to be interviewed by PORK magazine a few months back and the results have just been published online and in old school printed form today. Here's a link to read the digital version of the issue. I submitted the illustration above along with the interview but it didn't appear in the published article. This drawing was originally penciled back in 1997 as an idea for a Von Zippers T-shirt design. For whatever reason that project never came to fruition and the pencil drawing languished in my towering "Finish 'Em One Of These Days" stash until I decided it would be a cool little bonus item to include when being interviewed by a magazine called PORK. Never fear, I'll find a use for it someday. Maybe I should have it carved on my tombstone? Anyway... Stay tuned for MORE PORCINE 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!

The Last Wave

 Here are the last of the older pieces that I revised for submission to the Surf Graphics book, both of which made it into print. Mainly minor cleanup and editing work done on these. I had to scan the Boyz Nex' Door art from the printed CD insert as the original art for that one is long gone. Thanks to the folks at Korero Books for inviting me to be a part of such a great collection of surf art. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Bikini Blast

 Here are a couple more reworked pieces that I submitted to the Surf Graphics book. Above is the poster I designed some years back for masked French surf instro combo The Bikini Men and below the front art for their subsequent picture disc LP. I didn't do any major revisions on these, just some general cleanup work and retouching. Neither of these made it into the book so they are making their public debut here. Stay tuned for MORE BIKINI BEACH ACTION!

Surfin' Wild!

Last year I was surprised and honored to be asked to contribute to an amazing art book called Surf Graphics. I was already a fan of the great series of full color hardcover books covering the worldwide Lowbrow Art scene put out by Korero Books over in the UK and eagerly culled all the best surf related work from my archives to send to them. Some of the older pieces needed a bit of touching up so I revised, added color and made various changes wherever I felt it necessary. Over the next few days I'm gonna post all the pieces that were reworked for Surf Graphics, including a few that didn't actually make it into the final version of the book. Some of these have been posted here before but all have been revised from their previous appearances and there are a few that have never been seen before. Starting off today with the unpublished Satan's Pilgrims drawing I did for Estrus Records back in 1998 which has been revised quite a bit and is seen here in color for the first time ever. Below is a quick but fun Xmas card I made a few years back. Neither of these made it into the book so you can consider these to be the cartoon equivalent of unissued bonus tracks. Surf Graphics is available from hip bookstores and websites everywhere so check it out for a wild blast of wave shreddin' action from a wide array of great artists hailing from here, there and everywhere. More of this stuff to come in the next day or two so... Stay tuned for MORE TOES TO THE NOSE ACTION!

Fuzz Fink

New 3 color T-shirt design for Costa Rican surf/garage swingers Los Cuchillos. This is the first work I've done for a band from Costa Rica. Yet another country falls before the mighty King Merinuk juggernaut! Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

If You Dug It... More Brazilian Nuggets

Here's the long-awaited cover for the third volume in the Brazilian Nuggets series featuring yet more ultra obscure and primitive garage, instro and psych tracks unearthed from the deepest dark jungles of Brazil. Among the zillions of bands that played there in the '60s they had one called the Flintstones and another called the Jetsons and both these combos are gonna appear on this epic third volume. The limited edition vinyl version should be out real soon (as always on the mighty Groovie Records label) with a CD version to follow. Don't miss it if you can. Stay tuned for MORE JUNGLE JUNGLE JUNGLE JUNGLE ROCK ACTION!

The Gunness

Here's the cover art for the forthcoming debut CD by Winnipeg's one woman rock'n'roll band, The Gunness. Alana aka The Gunness is a veteran of a ton of great local bands over the past 10 years or so and in this solo project she plays a mix of garage, punk, alt rock and whatever else she feels like playing in a totally raw emotional style. I was stoked to help her out with this cover art and am looking forward to hearing the album, which should be out pretty soon on Winnipeg's one and only rock'n'roll label, Transistor 66 Records. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Savage Sword Of Hamzig

With the new issue of Roctober (#51) only a few weeks away I guess it's time to post the Hamzig installment that was featured in the gargantuan 50th issue a few months back. I was trying for a Williamson/Frazetta type of look with this one which didn't really come off but what the heck.  I have an amazing Roctober-related project lined up which I'll be working on later this year so keep an eye on this blog for more info on that. Meanwhile, pick up the new issue to see the latest Hamzig chapter and the usual array of weird cultural detritus that is synonymous with the esteemed Roctober brand. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Go Mental!

Hot off the greasy griddle, here's a cover design for my pal Axel's new rockin' combo Mental Shakedown. Right now this is just gonna be the cover for their demo CD but I'm sure we'll be seeing and hearing this stuff on vinyl in the not too distant future. Stay tuned for MORE BOP'N'DESTROY ACTION!

Headshrinkin' Fun

Here's a T-shirt design I recently did for one of the coolest labels on the international rock'n'roll scene, Groovie Records. Another piece that kinda speaks for itself. Stay tuned for MORE VOODOO VENGEANCE ACTION!

Smash Hits

Logo design for Winnipeg's punkiest rock'n'roll radio show Smash It Up. I guess this one kinda speaks for itself. Stay tuned for MORE NOW WE'RE GONNA DANCE TO A DIFFERENT SONG ACTION!