Michael SiebenCaroline CorriganTshepang RamobaMatt ChristopherNatalie KohlheppBryant ThomasJulia MerrellBrian AholaAlex JonesJack ReeseLilly CrownElle Perez

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Caroline Corrigan

Julia Merrell

Matt Christopher

Alex Jones

Michael Sieben

Natalie Kohlhepp

Jack Reese

Bryant Thomas

Tshepang Ramoba

Lilly Crown

Elle Perez

Brian Ahola This is purrsonal. In August 2011, I began collecting interviews with people I found interesting. People who inspired me. Most were friends and acquaintances, but I soon got the confidence to begin interviewing successful people who I did not know at all, but whose work I admired. The result was this zine, a collection of interviews with people from all walks of life and parts of the country (and world). I hope you will be interested in what these folks have to say and you will enjoy reading it!

Age: 25Favorite Sound: Scratchy vinyl before a record starts—the anticipation. But if we’re talking music, I love the sound of pretty vocals drenched in reverb, or round, fat vintage sounding guitars.

How long have you been playing music/doing design work, respectively?Not very long, actually. I graduated from college in Albany with a degree in painting in 2008, so I was more on the track to become a painter, but I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be the path for me, even though I love to paint. Right after I graduated, I started playing in a side project band called The Rain in Spain with some of my friends in the band Aficionado. I started writing more of my own music, played some shows under a pseudonym called Que Caro, and eventually joined The Red Lions, where I play guitar, keys, and sing backup vocals.

I became interested in design AFTER college, realizing it probably would have been wise to study that in school as opposed to painting. I have to make a lot of promo materials for my job at The Arts Center, so I basically taught myself programs and got into it from there. For the last two years, I’ve become obsessed with mid-century furniture, modern illustration, and poster design. I’m not confident enough to make the jump to freelance, but it would be great, someday.

What do you feel has been your biggest artistic influence?Hard to say, I’m the kind of person who looks at images all day long, has way too many art books, so I’m always becoming obsessed with something I hadn’t seen before. But I guess everything seems to come back to a weird nostalgia for eras that I never experienced. Like a lot of people, the things I’m drawn to that inspire me are more things from the past. I love mid century design, early American artifacts and typography, 1950’s beat literature, late 60’s folk music, etc. My mother thinks that in a past life, I was born in 1945.

Your items available on Etsy are beautiful. How long have you had your store?I JUST started playing around with Etsy. I wish I had more time to dedicate to it. Right now I am sitting on piles of handmade cards/prints, and a bunch of vintage clothing that I want to put in the store. Check back on that!

How did your collaboration with End of a Year (now Self Defense Family) come together? Who wrote the lyrics?I’ve known the guys in End of a Year for a few years just through Albany music and friends. They’ve been around for a while, and are super open minded to trying different things. I think that Patrick and Andrew had an idea to have female vocals on some songs, and so I ended up recording a bunch of songs with them over the course of a few months. Patrick basically had already recorded vocals on songs he wrote, and then had me kind of sub in and record the lead vocal instead of him. So it’s interesting, because these songs are clearly from his point of view and experiences in his life. But when they’re coming out of my mouth, they sound completely different. I did have a lot of freedom in decision making though, if I didn’t like something lyrically, I was welcome to change it. I changed the word “balls” to “neck” in one song, haha.

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CAROLINE CORRIGAN

What do you do when you aren’t busy with music or design?I work full time right now at The Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy, NY as the education manager, so music and design really take up all of the free time I have, but other than that I love cooking, watching anything Larry David writes, buying vinyl and mid-century furniture.

What music are you into right now?I’m listening to the new St. Vincent and Feist records, I also listen to a lot of Dan Auer-bach, Dr. Dog, Francoise Hardy, George Harrison.

Also, what artists or designers are you into?I’m mostly inspired by illustrators, and early to mid-20th century design/illustration. Some of my favorite contemporary illustrators are Jillian Tamaki, Leanne Shapton, and Justin Gabbard. But I love art history as well, and adore 19th century French Painting, and modern art.

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Download Caroline’s collaboration withEnd of A Year online at stillherezine.blogspot.com.

Also, check out Caroline’s work with Red Lions at their website, redlionsmusic.com

JULIA MERRELLAge: 17Favorite sound: probably radio static, maybe the static in between songs on a record, it’s so nice

How long have you been taking photos?I mean, of course I’ve been taking photos since I was young, but I started taking photos seriously and with feeling my sophomore year.

What do you feel catches your eye visually?Quiet, hollow, and lonely scenes. Cold light.

Tell me a little about Rochester.We’ve got some good food and everyone here is pretty nice. I can’t wait to get out though

Who/what inspires you?I don’t really get inspired by specific people, I mostly just like to watch people around me. I really get inspired by other photographers work, right now I’m really obsessed with Alec Soth’s work.

What music is in heavy rotation for you right now?Why?’s album Alopecia or Real Estate’s album Days, and then I’m always always listening to Elliott Smith

What is the best thing you’ve spent money on in the past six months?Probably socks or lipstick.

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All photos by Julia Merrell.

MATT CHRISTOPHERAge: 20Favorite Sound: the sound of music

How long have you been riding, and how did you get into it?I’ve been riding since I was about 8 or so. It started with just a simple ride in the driveway, and later I was angling wood on bricks making sketchy jumps with my friends. As I got better we started making dirt jumps in our own yards, digging holes (which my dad totally appreciated) and trying to jump as high as possible. I got into riding sort of on accident. I never really thought of it as anything special until I realized only a few people in my town really did it. As I got older my parents let me ride my bike into town, and a whole new world was opened up to me: street BMX.

What kind of bike are you riding?I’m not riding one particular brand of bike. Now a days, BMX bikes are comprised of a vast array of different companies’ parts put together into one sweet (might I add, expensive) machine. If you want a list I’d say: Mutiny frame, Odyssey rear wheel with a Gsport hub. Sunday bars, Animal stem, Odyssey dirt forks, new Odyssey twombolt cranks, Odyssey Cilenski pedals (metal), Odyssey grips, Odyssey head-set, Coalition seat with a DK seatpost, and a front wheel from an old Mosh Lux 4star my friend used to have.

There seems to be an impressive BMX community at VCU, who are some of your friends that are into this?The BMX scene at VCU is actually pretty small, surprisingly. Most of the kids that go here ride BMX bikes (completes they bought at a store) but only cruise to class on them. Of the majority of the riders, only a few of my friends go to VCU and ride, including: me, Jeremy Lux, Mike Lester, Jonathan Trowbridge, and Zach White. FBM has their crew here in Richmond and we often ride with them at various spots if they show up, but they keep to themselves and aren’t necessarily very “friendly” to strangers unless you really get to know them. That’s the thing about Richmond and BMX in general; it’s very clique-y.

What do you have going on right now as far as riding, and what do you think this generation of riders is doing to push the limits?Right now, and as I always have, I just ride for fun. I like to make little edits of myself and friends (which are on youtube) and I’m actually working on another right now.

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Today kids as young as 12 are killing it. Look online or go to Woodward and you’ll see these crazy kids doing bunnyhop truck drivers and flaring out of quarter pipes. The bar is set so high now you practically have to invent your own trick to be appreciated. By the time I’m too old to keep riding a kids bike, the limit will be pushed to the point where kids are doing bunnyhop 720s. But with websites like Thecomeup, it’s getting easier for kids to get noticed and take it to a whole new level.

What music is in heavy rotation for you right now?I’ve really gotten back into Kenna lately. He actually released a new song “Chains,” the video for which was filmed here in Richmond at Rumors thrift store, and a bunch of random house shows, which is pretty cool.

Also, what are you majoring in, and how did you choose it?I’m majoring in Urban Studies, with hopes of graduating soon and becoming an Urban Planner and working in the Smart Growth Sector/Transit Oriented Design sector. My oldest brother got his degree in this and is currently working for a private firm and with FEMA, which has been pretty inspiring/influential to my decision. I want to help improve the condition of our cities and make them much more efficient and beautiful, if I can.

Both photos are stills from Matt’s new edit.

ALEX JONESAge: 16Band: VirginsFavorite Sound: burning leaves/newspapers

How did your band get started, and what was your first show like?Our bassist, Rory, has been a good friend of mine for a while, and around, I don’t know, November of last year, he asked me if I wanted to start playing guitar in a band he was starting with his friends Krist (who’s our frontman) and Joel (who plays drums and also does vocals). So I started going to practices and jamming with them and soon enough we had a full band and we started writing and practicing three or four days a week until we had a set we could actually, you know, play live. It isn’t exactly a particularly exciting story, but you know, oh fuck I just spilled pasta all over my keyboard fuck hold on.

wop[wjerpg[ersg[herghwje[pghj[oooooooooooooiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiioooooooooooooaespogihrpogwhengpowenbgopewbngopwegregfbdewgrbr

OK, yeah sorry, our first show went pretty much how I expected it would. I mean, we’re four ugly, scary looking dudes playing loud, aggressive, noisy hardcore, and we were just up there swinging our instruments around spitting everywhere to like, thirty or forty kids at this community center, so I wasn’t expecting a positive response, but everyone reacted really well to us. Some kid came up to me after we played and said that he felt “genuinely afraid” of our music, which was kind of rad to hear because that’s kind of what we’re going for as a band, you know? We set up all these Jesus candles and we got in trouble because we were breaking glass and cutting ourselves and getting blood everywhere, and the old hippie that runs the community center we played the show at won’t let us play there anymore because we made such a gross mess.

We’re running out of places to play in Rochester.

What kind of crazy shit has happened to you at shows?See above.

But besides all that, we played a show a couple days ago in Philly, and while we were playing I started nuzzling this huge skinhead’s shoulder and he wrapped me up in this really tight embrace and I played like, four minutes of our set just cuddling this dude. That wasn’t really crazy, though. That was just kind of nice. I wonder what he’s up to now. Also, I end up on the floor every show we play for one reason or another.

What are your biggest musical influences, and what are you reallyinto now?In terms of my guitar playing and what I’m going for Virgins-wise, my biggest influences are Cursed, Wolf Eyes, Horrid Cross (Who everyone reading this should listen to), Eyehategod, and Kiss It Goodbye. Now, as far as what I’m really into now, that’s a completely different story. Lately I’ve been burning myself out on like, ‘60s R&B. I don’t even listen to punk anymore. Whenever I’m listening to music, I’m always listening to like, Johnny Watson, Otis Redding, Carol Ford, and all that kind of stuff.

What appeals to you about hardcore? How did you first discover thegenre?I like how at shows, the band will play a song, and then the singer will say something profound or emotional or both, and then they’ll play a few more songs, and then the singer will say something else, and then they’ll play a few more songs, and then the singer will introduce the last song and dedicate it to someone, and then they’ll play the last song, and then they’ll walk off stage and hang out. That really appeals to me.

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Also, Black Flag got me into hardcore, just like they did for everyone else. Virgins plays soul music though, so I don’t understand this question.

If we’re ever in town, bring me some french toast or something. I haven’t had french toast in forever and my ex made some when we were dating and it turned me off of it for a long time, but I’m getting back into it now. Just like, bring me some french toast and a glass of cold milk. Please, I’m tired of people barbecuing at shows.

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Age: 37Favorite shape: Round. But for a skateboard I like 8.25” wide by however long a skateboard normally is. Best skate trick: The Nose Wheelie or the Beanplant

How long have you been doing illustration/skating, respectively?I’ve been drawing since I was a little kid. Not that there’s anything interesting or unique about that, but I just never stopped. And I started skateboarding when I was 12 (in 1987).

What do you feel the biggest influence on your style has been?Skateboard graphics and old children’s books.

So, you’ve done work for Roger, Bueno, Volcom, Thrasher, Adidas, Blood is the New Black, and Toy Machine, as well as your own fine art and album covers for bands like Sounder. What projects have been your favorites to work on?I feel blessed to have had the opportunities to work with the companies you mentioned and have enjoyed all of the experiences. But probably at the end of the day, I most enjoy doing stuff for Roger because I own half the company and I have free reign to make the most ridiculous stuff without worrying about anybody vetoing my ideas.

What is it like to work as a staff illustrator and writer for Thrasher?Well, I’m pretty removed from the magazine since I live in Austin, TX and Thrasher is based in San Francisco, CA so I don’t know if my experience is typical of a regular employee. But I can say that I attribute most of my success as an illustrator to the fact that Thrasher gave me the opportunity to share my art and words with an international audience. I seriously can’t thank them enough for taking a chance on a skate nerd in Texas.

On that note, if you had to describe your style in three words, what would you call it?Slowly Getting Better

I love this Simon sculpture you did in 2007. How long did it take to complete, and where did the idea come from?The Simon sculpture was for my first solo show at an art gallery and the idea was basically to try to create one of the characters from my paintings in three dimensions on a larger than life scale. A friend of mine (Chrissy Paszalek) is an excellent seamstress and I approached her with the idea of helping me design a stuffed sculpture for the show. Luckily she said yes, and we spent about a month working on the sculpture (with help from many other friends). It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever worked on and I have future plans for more sculptures in that same vein.

What advice would you give to a young artist who is interested in doing the sort of work you do?Be patient, don’t be afraid of hard work, and don’t follow your friends when they give up on their dreams. Also, be nice to people. People are way more likely to help you out if you’re not a turd. On a more practical side: build and maintain a portfolio website vs. using tumblr, flickr, etc. to showcase your work. Companies are more likely to take you seriously if you take yourself seriously.

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MICHAEL SIEBEN

What music is in heavy rotation for you right now?Guided By Voices, The Mountain Goats, ((Sounder)), and Paul Simon.

And, having broken my wrist pretty badly a few months ago, I have to wonder: what is the worst skate-related injury you’ve ever had?Oddly enough, a fractured wrist. Luckily it was my left wrist as opposed to my drawing wrist. It was a small fracture but it had me in a full arm cast for half the summer in TX, followed by a short arm cast for the other half of the summer, followed by a wrist brace for about a year. Other than that, it’s just been stitches and bruises.

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All images by Michael Sieben. Above: Simon Sculpture, 2007. Left: “Put on a happy box,” 2009. Below: “Wet Ramp,” 2010.

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NATALIE KOHLHEPPAge: 17Favorite Texture: Tie between raised cross hatch design and feathersFavorite Smell: Firewood

How did you get into photography?My dad used to work in realty and one day when I was in middle school he brought home his work camera. I picked it up and went outside and just started taking photographs of everything. I loved getting in close and taking pictures of the crackly banister or the blades of grass with dew. The way things feel have always been in the back of my head, walking into a room I can’t help but think of the different textures around me, and until that point, I had never thought about being able make someone else be as aware of the texture as I was. That discovery lead me on to continue taking pictures and realize that I really enjoy taking pictures of people as well.

What photographers inspire you the most right now?Maia Flore and Robert Frank. Flore’s photographs are so beautiful and whimsical and take you really magical places. Frank’s portraits in The Americans changed the way that photography is viewed, rather than being disconnected documentation, it has become an expression of experiences.

Do you think photography influences the way you see the world?Absolutely! It has given me a way to show what I see and want to emphasize, whether it be the texture of a rug or the emotion in their face. I can’t help but see photographs all around me now.

If you could photograph anyone on earth, who would it be?Abe Lincoln.

What music is in heavy rotation for you right now?I’m stuck on We Were Promised Jet Packs and BellX1.

Will you go on a date with me this weekend?If you promise to wear a top hat ;) NATALIE KOHLHEPP

All photos by Natalie Kohlhepp.

All photos by Natalie Kohlhepp.

JACK REESEAge: 16.5Favorite Color: blueFavorite Word: furfuraceous

How long have you been skating and doing illustration, respectively?I’ve been skating for 10 years, and I think the first illustration I did was when I was around 3 or 4 years old, so about 13 years.

What is the skate scene like in Cleveland?Thriving more or less. There are multitudes of skaters from different age groups and walks of life. Organizations like Public Square Group, and their traveling skatepark known as the Skate Kitchen, along with several shops, namely West Side Skates, are dedicated to keeping Cleveland a positive environment for skaters. There is also a strong DIY movement that has been making concrete ramps at the Fun Wall, a Cleveland graffiti hub. Currently, the skaters of Cleveland are working on raising the money to build an amazing skatepark in the flats, parallel to the Cuyahoga River.

What do you think this upcoming generation of skateboarders is doing to push the limits? Who, in your mind, sticks out as a real innovator?I think that a desire to be different is constant in skateboarding, and that helps catalyze innovation. Honestly, the way I see a large portion of people skating depresses me. But on the other hand, there are several skaters skating differently, truly progressing skateboarding, and I think that’s great. I think Mark Gonzales has always been truly innovative. In my opinion, he’s one of the greatest people to step on a skateboard. In the younger generation, people like Leo Valls stick out to me. I think it’s fantastic that people are actually street skating, pushing everywhere, skating everything.

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Who do you feel most influenced your illustration style?When I was younger, I was really influenced by skateboard graphics, most notably Michael Sieben’s work for Bueno and Mark Gonzales’ for Krooked. Some of my all time favorite artists are R. Crumb, Steve Powers, Diego Rivera, Francis Bacon,. But I really try to stay away from letting my work be heavily influenced by other people. When I see art that I really think is great, I get inspired to be original, to make something different.

What music is in heavy rotation for you right now?Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Abner Jay, Beck, Beirut, John Lee Hooker, Devendra Banhart, Minor Threat, Lou Reed, others...

In both skating and illustration, it is important to have style. How would you describe your style in both?For skateboarding: clumsy, fast yet lethargic. For illustration: facetious and bold.

BRYANT THOMASAge: 19Favorite Surf Spot: Lower Trestles, CaliforniaFavorite Sound: anything I can edit to

How long have you been surfing?I caught my first wave when I wave 7 years old. So I have been surfing for 12 years.

Do you travel a lot to surf? If so, where have you been?I have done a lot of traveling just because of surfing. All along the East Coast, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, California, and Brazil.

What was the best day spent surfing you can remember?It would have to be in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. After Surfing in the Easterns Championships all morning, we scored solid 6-8 foot waves at an S-turn all afternoon.

So, tell me about Thomas Brothers Productions?Thomas Brothers Productions is a production company that was started in December of 2009 by me and two brothers: Ellison and Robert. We completed our first feature surf film, Waves In Our Pocket that documented the best waves and culture of the Folly Beach area.

And tell me about the community in Folly Beach.

Folly Beach is a small beach town that is quiet in the winter and is littered with tourists in the summer. Overall, it has a good vibe and a great variety of people and things to do, including: surfing, boating, music, and local restaurants.

And finally, how do you feel about the recent boom in the popularity of surfing, or the commercial interpretation of surf culture?With any great sport there is bound to be its ups and downs. Surfing is rising in popularity which means more and more companies are pumping in the money to make it a nationally seen action sport. In a way, that helps a lot of people to make a living off of surfing in some way. In that aspect, I think it is great that surfing is becoming what it is today.

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Band: BLKJKS

Tshepang is a wonderful drummer and a nice guy from Johannesburg, South Africa. His band, BLKJKS, released their debut album, After Robots, in 2009, and it achieved some notable success in the United States. Tshepang’s English isn’t the best, but he happily answered what questions he could understand, so this is what I got from him.

How did you all get noticed in the United States and get signed to Secretly Canadian?We went to the US to play the Fader Mag party then Secretly Canadian saw us at SXSW Fest n’ contacted us.

Do you spend a lot of time on the road?Did a world wide tour for After Robots, our 1st Album.

What is your biggest musical influence?BLKJKS is inspired by African music, especially South African.

Are you planning on a sophomore album?Now we working on LP2 gonna record it in Mali soon.

TSHEPANG RAMOBA

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LILLY CROWNAge: 16 and countingFavorite Sound: when you hit your sweet spot in tennis, and film camera retractionLilly is a friend of mine who is spending the year in Japan on American military base. I miss having her around.

What is it like being an American kid living in Japan? it’s always really entertaining. Japanese are some of the weirdest people on earth. My friends and I are always the only Caucasians around haha

So, music/art stuff, what is going on in Japan that we should know about over here? Umm....honestly I haven’t had much chance to get into that. DONT KILL ME.

You’re an excellent photographer, where do you see your photo work taking you? I love taking pictures, and I love math and science. So...I’m shooting for being an architect because of how it combines the worlds of art and math, but my dream is fashion photography.

Have you been doing a lot of photography in Japan?Not as much as I’ve hoped. I did my first real “shoot” on Sunday. This is partially because the classes here are SUUPPPER hard, and partially because I had to actually get close enough with people before I could photograph them. “Hi let’s be friends; I can take pictures of you” doesn’t always seem to work.

What is the best thing about Japan, and what do you miss most about America?The food here is fantastic, the fashion is fantastic, the prices are ASTRONOMICAL, being in a city is just fabuloso. I don’t necessarily miss America, but I do often miss knowing everything. In Middlesex, I know everything about everything. Here, I don’t even speak the same language.

What music is in heavy rotation for you right now?I can’t stop listening to Idiot Pilot. And also my friend here turned me on to the Boxer Rebellion. and when I’m feeling homesick, The Strokes (weird, right?).

LILLY CROWNIN JAPAN

All photos by Lilly Crown.

All photos by Lilly Crown.

ELLE PEREZAge: 22Favorite color: #33FFFF

What inspires you? This is going to sound ridiculous, but getting angry really inspires me! Whenever I see something that pisses me off or makes me really upset, I’m always like “Wow, I should do something about that...” and sometimes it leads to something awesome, sometimes it doesn’t. And then sometimes the littlest thing will just set off an idea, like, not to get into it, but I had a really inspiring moment today in the bathroom. It was great. I’m serious. Brilliant.

What bands/artists are you into now? Right now I’m really into this band from Greensboro called Fucking Dyke Bitches. I saw them at IDApalooza this year in Tennessee and they just were incredible. I am also digging RVIVR right now... Erica Freas is a badass.

What do you think growing up in the Bronx taught you?I think the most important thing it taught me is exactly just how lucky I am that I have been well educated, that I can be a photographer, and that I can be an artist. I’m really lucky. Most of the people I grew up with are not as lucky as I am, so it grounds me in reality. It’s a good place to be from. I also picked up a mean bitch-face that screams “don’t mess with me” when I really need it. How did you discover photography? I started photographing at punk shows when I was about 14 years old and just became obsessed with it. A few of my friends had just moved away from the Bronx and I’d send them pictures I’d take at the shows. Eventually I started putting them online on this website I called “we never sleep” (now defunct) and it’d get thousands of hits after each show, I met a lot of people that way and people got so used to me photographing that I could walk up to anyone at the shows and start talking to them and have them let me photograph them. It got really addictive and it was finally something I was good at. Who has encouraged you the most to pursue what you love? The one person who i know I can always count on is my friend Paolo Morales (http://paolomorales.com). We met in high school Spanish class and realized we both loved photography, and then everything after that has been a combination of the right amount of healthy competition, skill sharing, and emotional support. We always call each other when we’re freaking out, or when something really good happens, or just to geek out about photography. There are a lot of important supportive people in my life, but Paolo is my photo brother. We’re unofficial official art siblings.

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All photos by Elle Perez.

BRIAN AHOLAAge: 20, Wow, I’m actually getting old

Favorite Shape: Um... I guess I like circles a lot. They’re not too pretentious. But I’ve heard that every MICA student becomes obsessed with circles at some point so it will probably change.

How long have you been doing graphic design, and what got you into it?I’ve been into graphic design since high school, one of my mom’s friends kind of got me into it. He taught me Photoshop and I was in love with the program. I got more interested in design and I did the MICA pre-college program in 2009, taking graphic design. Basically ever since that I knew I wanted to do graphic design work.

How is MICA?MICA is pretty great. I’m in my sophomore year so I’m finally getting to take classes in my major, graphic design and my concentration (like a minor), which is printmaking. I’m also thinking about a concentration in book arts. But yeah, my classes are going well and I’m having a lot of fun.

Also, how long have you been riding fixed-gear, and could you maybe add a short description of what fixed gear riding means in case anyone is wondering?I’ve been riding fixed for 1 year. Fixed-gear bikes are simply bikes that have one gear and you can’t coast. Keep pedaling to keep moving.

Recently (over this summer) I have been getting into fixed gear freestyle, which is a relatively new sport, about 3 or 4 years old. It’s sort of like BMX on beefed up fixed gear bikes. Fat tires, heavy duty frames, wide bars, that sort of thing. If you’d like to see what fixed gear freestyle is, some really good blogs are itswrahw.blogspot.com and ttvblog.com. I’d also like to give a shout out to my man Charles Schoen of Thunderkill.

What music is in heavy rotation for you right now?Notorious BIG, Beastie Boys, Del the Funky Homosapien, Future Islands, Sleep, Double Dagger (they’re breaking up, so sad) and Ink Spots.

What artists’ or designers’ work inspires you right now?This is actually a tough one, um, I’d say my all time favorite contemporary designer is Stefan Sagmeister, but I’ve been getting into typography and typographic designs recently so I just like to look at a lot of stuff. I really like House Industries fonts, and am into hand lettering style. Like super into digitized hand lettering. Also I know its kind of a fad but I really like letterpress, I should be taking 1 or 2 letterpress courses in the next year or two, so I am super excited for that.

What is the scene like in Baltimore?Hmm... well, the art scene I would say is pretty strong, there are some big galleries, but more importantly there are plenty of artist run spaces, like Charm City Art Space and others, that cater to more independent, less known artists. I would say these are very important in the art scene.

The music scene here is amazing. There are a lot of local bands that are super good, and the best venues for them to play at. Warehouse spaces and those very same artist run spaces allow the bands freedom and low cost for the fans. We get some big name bands too, but usually those play at the bigger venues, which aren’t nearly as fun. Overall, I would say the art and music scenes are the best I’ve ever been exposed to.

And what is the craziest thing that has happened to you in the last few months?I was mugged over the summer in Cleveland, Ohio. B

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2011, William ChapmanSpecial thanks to everyone who contributed

for making this thing possible.

I have something to tell you...

I love you.