evil design was inspired by paul reubens, for those who don’t know the story care to fill them in?
I was and still am a big Paul Reubens/Pee Wee Herman fan. I think the first time I saw him was in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. I went to see it at the local mall with my mom & sister. Classic movie, of course. Then Pee Wee’s Playhouse – Classic. The design, the characters, the humor – everything was there to make a classic show. Only later did I discover him as Howie Hamburger, another great character - “Bruce Springsteen… He’s fckn’ the whole thing up!” Pandemonium, c’mon – another one – he has created many a memorable character. I think my favorite scene is when he plays the desk clerk in the movie of his life in the Big adventure and he goes “Paging Mr. Herman, Mr. Herman” - so good. Anyways, yea, big fan - so when he got arrested & all that backlash happened, which was idiotic I think, but wasn’t the first time the Holier-Than-Thou crowd tried to save the youth of the world, so anyways, like many others, I thought his mug shot was pretty bad ass. I cut it out of our local paper & at this time I was into messing with Xerox machines, so on my next trip to the copy shop I Xeroxed the newspaper clipping a bunch of ways, then when I got home I decided to draw on one & turn Mr. Reubens into the devil. This was just my little comment on how absurd he was being treated – like he was actually out driving around in a white van with no pants on hunting little kids. I decided to write ‘Evil’ under the portrait, just to state the obvious. Mr. Paul Reubens, Mr. Pee Wee Herman was the second coming of the God of Hellfire. I just hung this on my wall for awhile, it wasn’t until awhile later that I made paper stickers of this design & then a t-shirt. That stuff was just for fun, I gave out shirts & stickers to friends – then a friend (Mr. Sunshine Boy) suggested I sell the shirt at the shop he was working at in Harvard Square. The TAANG! store ‘Kids Will Have Their Say’ (the same shop I got all my Fuct shirts from, which was cool) - anyways, they did well (I was seriously surprised when he told me the 1st batch I dropped off sold out). Then I made new designs & decided to keep the term ‘Evil’ as my “brand name” or design company name. So yea, basically that’s how it all started….
what is the wzrd crew all about? world domination?
WZRD Crew is not about domination, not of this world or of any others. Powers are held, but not abused. Many find this hard to believe, but do believe.
The WZRD Crew is about bringing out elements they have found/discovered that otherwise would have been discarded, not discarded by all – but by many & then interpreting them in their own way. How else do you learn from generations past? You dive into the knowledge & art that they have created – of course. So to say what they are all about is not an easy thing to do, I do not know if it can be done in a few sentences. What are you all about? Is that an easy question? Maybe for some it is, but I don’t know I’d want the answer from those with fast answers. Fast answers equal practiced answers. The elements are still being gathered in order to build what the WZRD Crew is all about. Elements from unknown areas as well as very known areas both help to answer the questions you must ask yourself, never mind the questions asked by others. I can say the WZRD crew appreciates electronic circuitry, whether in a Peopleodian or in Oster Classic 76 hair clippers or in Sanyo’s Big Ben, they have seen the power.
(On a side note: WZRD Crew will be working with the firm known as Super Rad in the year One {2008})
what would you say influences your art more: current events, other art, your enviroment, pop culture… etc or a little bit of everything?
Everything, everything, yes.. I think if you’re a person that does anything creative – you’re always aware of stuff around you & all that stuff provides influence in one way or another. Whenever I am asked what my influences are, I seem to go blank – then I think in my head ‘well, you must have influences… Think!!’ Then I think back to reading MAD, Cracked & Crazy magazines – that maybe was my first exposure to weirdo drawings & stuff. I used to like old Dennis the Menace books & Heathcliff books – I remember copying stuff out if them. But yea, then once you get a little older & start digging around old record shops, book shops & video stores – the world opens up. The best thing, which I now realize I think I need to more of these days, was when I’d just buy something solely based on the visuals & the instant effect they had on me. I bought The Replacements ‘Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash’ based on the cover & that record is awesome – I listened to it over & over. Same with renting random movies based on the pictures on the back – that is the stuff that builds up the references & influences I suppose – at least for me that’s the case. Talking about this reminds me of how much fun the ‘chase’ was or the discovery – having to go to Providence or Boston & go from record shop to thrift store to record shop to book store until you ran out of places to go, just to maybe find that one cool thing that you don’t even know exists yet – like Will Ferrell in that older school movie when he imagines ladies in some kind of underwear he might not even know yet, maybe not exactly – but ya know. I saw this clip of a Skewville interview ( I forget what documentary movie it was from) & one of the Skewville guys goes ‘Everybody is not suppose to know everything” or something to that effect & I kinda agree – maybe not never know, but have to put in some work in order to find out. I don’t wanna sound like that cranky old man that Dana Carvey use to do on Weekend Update (Back in my day!!!) but yea YouTube is cool an’all but also having to wait until someone finally returns a 3 times dubbed over copy of ‘Even Dwarves Started Small’ to Garage Video so you can rent it & finally see this movie you have only heard about was a good thing. It built it up and made it an event. Sorry, I kinda started rambling – influences, umm, yea, hanging out in old man bars is good too. You can gain a new way of looking at things after a few good conversations & observations. The only one person I can say was a definite inspiration on me was James Brown.
what does the future hold for the evil apes? do you plan to make say a min blind box series or maybe a bigger version?
The plan of the Evil Ape in the immediate future is that the two newest versions are being released as you read this (I think), The Skeleton Evil Ape & the Evil Ape of Death. There is also a black fur version of the Evil Kong Ape, it’s an exclusive to Previews.
The DIY GID ones did well, folks seemed to dig em – so we may do a slightly different version for a Round 2 series of DIYs. I have gotten some cool photos from folks that have customized them, they’re crazy to see. This guy Banana Virus has done a few wild ones. If you are reading this here interview and you have done a custom one, def email it over (if ya want.)
We have talked about the possibility of doing both a smaller version & a bigger version, but we’ll see. I wanna do a older style stuffed animal version, kinda like the Zippy Zip doll.
Do be on the look-out for some collaborations though…
do you like working on designs for your toys or for platform toys more? why?
Original sculpts are way better to work on of course, you get to do whatever you want. You can design the character as he/she/it needs to be designed. The whole process is fun, from first round drawings to approving sculpt to seeing the first prototype – even when it doesn’t go smooth it is still a cool process. I was super picky & probably a pain to Toy2R when we were working on the sculpt of my Evil Ape, but they were great to work with & allowed me make any change I felt was needed, no matter how small & never complained once. Of course, that’s how it should be – it doesn’t always go that way with everyone you work with – so that becomes an important factor too in how much fun it is working on an original toy.
But yea, still great.
Platform toys can be fun too, in a different way. You know exactly what your working with & you have to take on that shape as a challenge. Designing toys is cool to do no matter what you’re working on when it comes right down to it.
what is more rewarding: seeing your toys in collections or when you see an evil sticker when you know you don’t put it there? why?
Well, seeing my toys in peoples collection is a new thing to me, so it is pretty cool when folks email pics of their collections or you see something on Flickr or somewhere on the interweb. Knowing that a little guy that I did is now all over the world gathering dust (dusting toys is a pain!) on people’s shelves along with other toys & random prized possessions is really a wild thing. I did get the same feeling kind of when I’d see stickers up around Boston that I had not put up or when I’d get photos in the mail of stickers up different cities or countries. I think even more so when I’d see folks walking around town or at shows I went to wearing my T-Shirts. It’s nice knowing that some folks enjoy what ya do.
what got you into working with stones and slate?
Family business. My grandfather has been a stone cutter for the past 60 years or so.
I just recently (last few years) started to cut some of my designs in stone (granite, slate, marble). When my grandfather, who is now 90, sees a stone I have done with an ape on it or something he usually just shakes his head at me.
you recently started working with the folks at freshly dipped, what can we expect to see out this partnership? [in terms of how often you plan to contribute and what you plan to contribute].
Yes, yes I did. When they told me of the idea, having a bunch of artists’ original artwork under one roof/on one site, it seemed cool – so I decide to take part. So far I have put some smaller (8×10” or so) stencil pieces up there now. I’ll be adding some stenciled stickers on there soon. I have no clue how often I’ll contribute, I guess it depends if the folks enjoy what I lay out & decide to pick something up. But yea, check early & often – I plan on doing a few things that I’ll only sell thru the Freshly Dippers!
you like to do trades of your art/toys for other interesting things you have listed on your website, what have been some of your favorite trades?
Trades are great. One recent good one was with Le Merde, we swapped an Evil Ape for a Pony Falcone. His toys are awesome, I wish I had more Le Merde in my collection. Umm… I have traded for all kinds of stuff: shirts, stickers, pins, zines, art, toys. I did get a good juicer in a trade & a toaster, those trades are always good. I traded Ipecac some toys & stickers & stuff for a nice Tomahawk hat & shirt. Once a guy sent me a whole box of Rap Snacks, that was kind of funny. One guy sent me a box of various colors of Montana Spray paint in trade for a few shirts (including a youth small of the Godzeero classic ‘Be Kind to the Elderly’ tee for his 4 year old son). That was a good trade because having that box of paint made me start messing with doing stencils. I wish I could remember who that guy was – if you’re reading this, say hey. I have met some cool folks by trading too, like I have been trading stickers with Robots Will Kill for about ten years, same with Jeremyville (about five years with him), but yea good stuff. Bartering is the way. Everyone reading this has something in the form of goods or services that could trade with someone for something they’d want – I think that’s how folks can slightly beat the system that we are all in now (unless yer loaded). If one guy can trade a few movie passes to a guy for a free meal at the diner he works at – everybody is happy & no money has had to pass through anyones hands (although the diner owner might be pissed he didn’t get paid for the grilled cheese & fries). I know for me personally, I don’t have ‘buying toys money’ in my budget right now, but I still can trade toys I have made to other artists & collectors in order to keep my collection going & it’s cooler doing it this way (even though you do miss out on somethings like the Kaws Dissected now & then, but ya gotta get over it).
if MCA was a late night infomercial, what would he be and why? [also what would be the price]
What would I be? Like if I were turned into a product? Like a set of Ginsus? Or those new Blendy Pens? Or if it was an infomercial just for me as a person? Maybe I’d be involved in some sort of teen party chat line or maybe an elderly chat line would be the way to go, all old people talking over each other & complaining how no one listens to them – that could be an idea of the future. Set up an 1-800 number for people over 70 years old to call & just ramble on for hours, I guess it’d have to be a 1-900 number or I’d end up paying for all the calls (see, I’m not the best at these things). Imagine doing that & recording all the calls & then releasing a CD box set of the gold you have captured on tape. I’d be into that. So then you have one infomercial for the 1-900-EDER-LYY, then another for the CD set – this could snow ball. I heard on the talk radio that the baby boomers are just now starting to hit retirement, so within like now to five years from now the US will be extra full of seniors, that’s a market that needs to be tapped. Remember when the Beastie Boys put out Hello Nasty & they made an infomercial for it & bought time in NYC & other cities to run it. I remember trying to figure out how to set my VCR to tape in at some random hour that it was going to be played in the Boston area, it never worked (the VCR that is) - but I ended up seeing it, it was a good one – those guys are good with costumes, ya gotta give em that. I am not sure if I answered your question, but umm, if I had to se sold at a set price it would be $6.99/lb.
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