Phlegms large scale and intricate street art has taken many forms over the years. From full colour wall murals to black and white illustrations, with his current pieces looking like they’ve jumped straight from the pages of his sketchbooks on to the walls of South Yorkshire.

But aside from being one of the most talked about street artists of  this year, with work featuring on the Wooster Collective, Concrete Hermit and Vandalog to name a few, Phlegm holds a true passion for comic book publication and one could argue that he’s an illustrator, first and foremost.

Having recently declared that he’ll be turning his back on the exhibition circuit for good in order to focus on new projects, Pejhy decided to catch up with the artist for a rare interview in order to gain an insight into some of the themes behind his work, his current methods and his views on the art industry.

When speaking to artists and galleries in Sheffield I found that you had a reputation for being quite a private artist. Gaining the respect of the local artists by exhibiting only when it feels right to you and then only on your terms. What are your thoughts behind exhibiting? Are you against your art being used a source of entertainment?

I’ve done a few small shows in the past but last year I decided to I stop exhibiting altogether, even in group shows. I have a love hate relationship with what I do.

Working on walls instead of canvass and making books instead of doing shows cuts out all the crap. It puts my work in the world for people to take it or leave it, with no brands or gallery reputations attached. Too many artists these days just don’t seem driven by ideas and a burning desire to follow a body of work. It’s just constant spamming, networking and hype. For me the work is way more important than getting somewhere with it.

One aspect of your work I really admire is your mock advertisements, highlighting the naivety of consumers and the way businesses manipulate us into believing we need there products to be happy. How do you feel as a consumer yourself?

I try and just keep away from it all; apart from buying paint and ink I really don’t need anything. Most of the time I find it funny like I’m walking around in a Douglas Adams novel.

I love the fact that you can advertise a shoe with a special heel that tones your arse and that people will buy that rather than exercise properly. That you can buy face creams that cost huge sums of money because they have some extract from a herb that flowers once a year on a full moon or some shit…like we can force back the ageing process with this 0.00001% extract.

Your recent time lapse video has been well received around the web, featuring on many blogs (including this one). Why do you think more and more artists, street artists in particular, are using the medium of film to show their work?

I think for artists that work in an ephemeral and spontaneous way video has become a great outlet these days. It shows the speed and freedom that makes this kind of art what it is.

You regularly blog you work in progress and keep your site updated with recent work and show previews of up and coming comics. As an artist working today do you think it’s important to have an online presence?

My blog is for me really, I see it as a diary. I update every week and it keeps me on my toes, helping keep lulls and burnouts at bay…helps me keep my pace. I’m not sure if I can say it’s important for all artists, I can only speak for myself really. It seems that having an online presence is important whether you’re an artist or not these days so I guess it must be important.I don’t mind updating one thing every week for anyone out there interested.

Some people have Myspace, Facebook, twitter, a blog, a website, a flickr account… I think at some point you must have to take a day off to do some artwork… so yeah it’s important but I think it can easily be detrimental as an artist or just as a person too.

Your last comic publication, issue 9: the sketchbook issue was unique in that it showed the reader how one of your works would evolve over time. It seemed like quite a personal issue. What made you want to publish a comic of your work in progress?

To honest it was just knocked together because I didn’t really have time to do another issue at the time. I was working on a bigger long term book project.

I produce huge amounts of sketchbooks; I have shelves full of them. I think I’m always looking for ways to use them in some way. The old issues of my comic from one to five had sections of sketchy Shrigley style drawings all of which I used to scan from my notebooks.

I recently purchased a comic on your recommendation, “Funeral” by Barnaby Richards which was absolutely beautiful. What other comics can you recommend?

I love Chris ware and Tom Gauld. Lesser known artists like Mark Beyer too. I like a lot of outsider art like Henry Dargers mad journals or the books of insane flying machines drawn by Charles Dellschau.

I don’t read a great deal of stuff because I don’t like being influenced. Every now and then I’ll treat myself though.

Is it true you’re currently working on your first book? What other projects do you have lined up for the future?

Yes I figured that if I’m rejecting gallery work I need to look at taking my self publishing to another level. I’m working on a long story set at sea called ‘in brine’ Its going to be a few hundred pages long, a4 and with a hard spine.

I’m currently about half way through drawing it. The next issue of phlegm will be out mid to late November and then I’m going to take a long break from the comic while I get in brine wrapped up.

Unfortunately I’m unable to post all of my favorite images from Phlegm’s huge portfolio of sketches and street art, so to see more from the artist please visit his website HERE

Crystal Morey is an American based artists whose delicate work in sculpture and drawing aims to explore human emotion and our relationship with nature. Intelligently portraying raw emotion and honesty in her work through images of  open palmed hands and faces, Crystal is proving to be one of the most important figures of the ever expanding Oakland art scene.

We recently caught up with Crystal in order to find out what themes are behind her new body of work and what techniques are used when shes capturing emotion in her sculptures.

A lot of your work deals with human emotion and in a recent interview you stated that your work has become more and more introspective over the years. What mental processes do you go through in order to come up with the emotions you want to portray in a piece?

My work has actually been very introspective and personal in the past and has taken a different route lately. I have been working on a body of work that is dealing with emotion in relation to environment. I have been building sculptures with figures in full backgrounds and themes of natural cycles and man-made changes in nature.

I don’t know if I have a mental process I go through in order to portray emotion. I try not to think about how the figures in my work feel, I try to feel the emotions I want them to exude and show them in the body, face and hands.

When you have an emotion you want to portray in a piece, how do you then avoid letting your current mood and feeling effect the end result as you work on the piece over time?

I try to work really fast! If I have a new idea for a piece I try to start and finish sculpting within a week. I find that I lose ideas or an idea can be diluted even if I make detailed sketches. I like to work with vigor and potency and they both escape me if I wait to long.

In your landscape pieces you said that you have taken inspiration from, amongst other things, nature and memory. Is there any place in particular that has inspired your work recently? is this reflected in the piece?

I use imagery from nature to make statements about the environment and to give my figures a context. I spent my childhood living in the forest surrounded by tall trees, mountains, rocks, and streams. Nature is a reflective, quiet place for me, a space where my mind can wander and be contemplative. Nature is also a precious place, it is finite and ephemeral, I like to work with this idea as an over-arching theme.

You seem to get a lot of support from other artists, including John Casey who has photographed a number of your works. If you could collaborate with anyone either living or dead who would it be?

The Oakland art scene is really strong right now and filled with lots of new galleries and artists. There is a momentum and everyone is really involved. I have a lot of support from other artists in the area. We are all working towards the same goals and it is really motivating to work as a group or a movement.

I would love to collaborate with so many different artists for so many different reasons. I have found that in the past, when collaborating with other artists, that I learn so much about working with people and my own ideas. But if I had to come up with a short list of dream collaborators, I would have to include Kevin Taylor, Tiffany Bozic, Egon Schiele, Akio Takamori, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and Jay Shafer from Tumbleweed Tiny Homes.

What’s the name of the exhibition you have coming up?

I am in several group shows that are coming up, although I am most excited about a solo exhibition at Rowan Morrison Gallery in Oakland this December.  The name of the show is ‘March Into The Sea’ and deals with ideas about the death of nature.

December 2010 – www.rowanmorrison.com

I have a drawing at POVevolving opening August 7th www.povevolving.com

What’s the idea or theme behind your new body of work that you have prepared for the exhibition?

My intention is to explore the human experience of emotion, and its relationship with the environment. I want to study the tenuous, symbiotic balance between human necessities and the health of our natural habitat of forests, oceans, mountains, and deserts. Everyday we strengthen the disconnect between what we use in our lives, and the destructive effects it has on where we live, the air we breathe and the water we drink. We have made a departure from nature and the balance that should exist has been broken. In my work I want to reveal the ephemeral quality of human life and show our dependence on an increasingly delicate ecosystem.

Which of your new pieces are you most proud of in terms of how honestly it has reflected the emotion you have wanted to portray?

“The Long Wait” is a piece I am pretty happy with right now. The idea behind the work shows that in order for new life there must be death. This piece shows a cycle of disintegration and growth at the same time.

When working on that piece what were your working conditions? What environment do you have to be in, in order to capture the raw emotion in your sculptures?

I need quiet time in order to think and read about current events. I listen to National Public Radio for inspiration. I have ongoing ideas and stories that build and need regular working time in the studio to stay constant.

To see more of Crystal’s work and to keep up to date with her exhibition schedule please vist her website: http://www.crystalmorey.com/

As another academic year comes to a close, universities up and down the country present to us their finest servings of fresh faced graphic designers and illustrators. This years show at Sheffield Hallam University has introduced me to the work of recently graduated illustrator Tom Casson.

Displaying his work in the form of prints and hand made zine’s, in his up and coming self publication “A Vision Of The Future” Tom has taken examples of modern culture and twisted them to paint his own (hilarious) view of western civilization in the year 2020. Tom writes “A Facebook profile is deemed worthy enough that Birth Certificates and Passports are fazed out”. We certainly hope that isn’t the case.

Showing a great sence of fun in his work we decided to invite Tom to answer a few questions for Pejhy before he enters the working world, heres what he had to say:

I was first introduced to the work of London based illustrator Gina Baber a few weeks back by master remixer and producer Gold Panda after his gig in Sheffield when inquiring who had designed his amazing t-shirt print.

Crafting her beautiful illustrations for some of  the most prestigious names in electronic music ( including Gold Panda, Erol Alkan and Primary1), Gina has begun the move from the album cover and flyer design to build up a strong portfolio of delicate drawings and t-shirt prints. I recently caught up with her to reflect on her current works and find out what we can be expecting in the future:

First I’d like to thank you for taking the time for answer our questions, would you like to introduce yourself to our readers, any formal art training or qualifications? how did you start out as an illustrator?

Hey, my name’s Gina Baber. I studied BA Illustration at The Arts Institute at Bournemouth. I moved to London 4 years ago and started working as the poster designer for Trash & then Durrr. I make artwork for bands, musicians, clubnights & various other projects and spend the rest of my time working at Rough Trade, buying records, playing tennis and watching cookery shows and hip hop videos.

We’ve seen a fair bit of commercial work from you in the music industry. What are the benefits of working as an illustrator for other creative industries? Do you have a lot of freedom over what you produce or do you still have to work to a very strict brief?

I love working with musicians because music is my other main passion and I find it exciting to produce images that reflect the feeling of the  music. With most of the people I have worked with I have been lucky enough to have the freedom to produce images that have been inspired by  the style or feeling of the musicians work.

So what music inspires you when you work?

I am inspired by punk, post-punk, new wave disco and 50′s/60′s  rock’n'roll and the style and imagery that goes with it. I also love hip hop & RnB and listen to that a lot of the time. I really like the  type and graphics used on 90s hip hop records and music videos.  It really depends on what I’m working on or the time of day but I do  seem to work at night quite a lot of the time and disco seems to fit  that nicely.

Top 3 tracks at the moment:

1. Pete Rock & CL Smooth – They Reminisce Over You

2. Washed Out – Belong

3. Harlem – Gay Human Bones

There’s a consistent set of soft colours used in your illustrations and  I’ve noticed you like to include images of “hands” in many of your pieces. How  long did it take you to find your style, and what has inspired it along the way?

I think I have always used a lot of colour in my work. I am inspired by the paintings of Hockney, Matisse, Warhol, Keith Haring & Richard Hamilton amongst others, punk sleeves & posters, North American Indian, South American, Egyptian & Aboriginal textiles and painting. Clouds & sunset.

How would you normally start a new piece of work? What process do you go through?

It depends, but I usually do lots of drawings and bits of collage and  somehow piece them all together. I often use my own photography as  initial inspiration as well. I am currently doing a lot of screen  printing and making marbled & collaged backgrounds that I then print onto and embellish.

Where do you go for artistic inspiration? Who are your favourite artists/illustrators working today? Any favourite galleries?

Some of my favourite artists/illustrators working today include Bjorn  Copeland of Black Dice, Shawn Reed of Wet Hair & Raccoo-oo-oon who  runs an amazing label called Night People records and does all the  artwork. I also love Susumi Mukai (Zongamin). He is incredibly talented.

From your website I’ve only been able to find one print for sale, entitled “O//wl_s”. Is there anywhere else we could purchase your work from? will you be releasing anymore prints at your next exhibition?

I am currently working on a set of limited prints, zines & t shirts  which I will be selling through my website and at the exhibitions I am  currently planning with my friend Patrick.

What can we be expecting from you in the second half of 2010?

I will be doing solo and joint exhibitions with a couple of friends, and hope to start a very small clothing range (mainly printed shorts),  learn to play the drums, do more artwork for bands and start a record  label and an RnB/hip hop night with a difference.

You can find more of Gina’s illustrations on her website.

Daniel Brereton (AKA Dan has Potential) is a London based artist turned video director known for his raw style, use of bright colours, Aztec themes and geometric shapes.

Most of you will recognise Daniel’s work as a music video director, producing modern classics such as Radio Ladio by Metronomy , True Romance by Golden Slivers, Bathroom Gurgle by Late Of The Pier and Dream Off by Best Fwends amongst others.

Dan was recently kind enough to take some time out of his work schedule for a brief telephone chat, here’s what he had to say:

Where do you go in search of art?

I’m always on flickr looking up crass images, recently I’ve enjoyed the work of M Bomba and Mattew Lock from ww.puffandmagic.com his work is amazingly intricate.

You mentioned on your Flickr page that you draw inspiration from Outsider artists such as Joseph E. Yoakum. What styles really get you going?

I love Outsider art or folk art, basically anything that is figurative. I think the best art is from the imagination when you can’t see clearly in a piece that forms have been studied.

I think that a lot of my best work comes from being spontaneous; I’ll produce my best drawings with little preparation as it doesn’t help to think about ground rules.

In your self portrait you’ve made your self look very in-human, almost robotic. Has this come from your love of triangles?

With my self portrait I was experimenting with lines and shapes, building up a picture. I love looking at drawings and deconstructing them.

When directing and producing music video’s how much creative control will you have in comparison to what the record label and artists want?

I have to approach work very differently when it’s for a client, which is probably why I don’t do a lot of commercial work.

When producing music videos my level of creative input will varies on the artist and record label I’m working for. Late Of The Pier, for example had a lot of input where as someone like Metronomy had less so.

The music videos you direct can have a very strong personality, for example the video you directed for Best Fwends features your original Onionhead character and many other themes we see regularly reoccurring in your artwork. Has there ever been problems with creative differences, e.g your ideas not meeting the bands image?

It’s a strange thing, the music industry, as image is a very important thing. I understand how some of my ideas my not match the bands ideas.

The Cribs were a difficult band to produce for at first, they have such a strong image that the record label clearly wanted to preserve. When working on that project my approach was very different, I had to adapt my ideas to what would work with them.

Are there any videos are you working on at the moment?

January is a pretty dead time for the music industry so nothing going on at the moment, however I’ll soon be working on a new music video for Your Twenties, who are Gabriel Stebbing’s (From Metronomy) new band.

Do you listen to music while working, say if your thinking up ideas for a specific music video will you listen to the track in question over and over again?

When working i like listening  bands like Metronomy… ect. At the moment I’m really into Neil Young and Cat Stevens

You’ve been off the exhibition circuit for quite some time; do you have any shows lined up in the near future?

Aside from my video work, I draw every single day so I’m always working. The next show I’m involved in is called “The Art of Conversation”. The idea of the show is basically like a visual game of Chinese Whispers which each artist creating a piece in response to the one before.

The show will feature a tone of artists and will stretch from London to Berlin.

Dan’s brand spanking new handmade zine  is available now from the Chapter One gallery, a steal at only £4.00. Limited edition of 20.

Kurremkarmerruk, aside from being the master namer of Ursula Le Guin’s, The Wizard of Earthsea, is a London based DJ and electronic music enthusiast. After hearing his darkened twostep/dubstep style (found at zshare) at the alternatively popular ‘Wonderland’ parties in London, we arranged to get together for an intimate Q&A!

I want to start by deeply thanking you for agreeing to this interview, it’s been a real pleasure so far,

The pleasure’s all mine, I love your blog.

So, as a musical dynamic, what are the most important elements of electronic composition and production for you?

I have always been drawn towards music, and it is within that word that my tolerance is monitored. There are a lot of electronic songs that are not affiliated with that word which are more of a scrambling, offensive jargon of atonal, otherwise chaotic sound that is just very irritating, especially because it is created within a paradigm of music that is so severely criticized by foreign listeners. Any producer who is bold enough to really tackle the scale of musical notes consciously, with a multidimensional approach within the symmetry of melody/harmony, bassline and percussion, consciously, as if inspired, can be recognized by anyone. Just because we have the technology to condense the sound of a burning school-bus crashing into an intricate multi-coloured-glass-latticed dome, killing everything, doesn’t mean we need to release it as a song within the genre of ‘Intelligent Dance Music’, which by the way I think is the worst thing that has ever happened to labeling. I love the music at the heights of what IDM offers, it’s a major part of who I am and how I resonate, but whoever had the audacity (no doubt some marketing/PR chief inventing something catchy for the kids) to label an entire genre of music uniquely more ‘intelligent’ than the rest is terribly mistaken. That being said, I think the majority of ‘IDM’ is poor, with the hook of being able to create something so thoughtlessly abstract it’s just numbingly confusing for either an ignorant elitist audience, or an unfortunate herd of ‘simple minded’ sheep, being too big, very sharp and carrying too much bait. Keep it simple, not minimal, just simple, and clear with intended direction, keep it aware and conscious.

What do you think is necessary for our society to experience with music in this day and age?

I feel that it is of massive importance that we shake and help one another to wake up from the shackles of the corporate industry, the major music business and all of the attached attitudes that immediately follow from them. We need to move forward and up our vibration, and this can’t happen whilst innocent people are being brainwashed by an energy that prioritises making money over the development and distribution of the positive attitude. If only the industry/major radio stations weren’t afraid of constantly releasing something that forces us to validate our reality, with vibrations of real ecstasy and beauty that allows us to challenge our lives, and not crush us back into the regular grind of modern life, with the same songs, the same people and the same sound. Explore what’s happening in other places of the world, I understand that music is all one energy so why not find out how it is manifesting in other places of the world, and share it. The only thing that I’m doing is trying to keep with what is happening NOW, below the surface in little raves that are dedicated to playing contemporary electronic music, because man it’s been getting very exciting in the past few years and there isn’t a better time to be able to easily find where everything is and where it’s all coming from, not to mention what has inspired it.

What do you think is ahead of us, musically, in the next twenty years, what can we expect?

Oh, man, immediately the future is very uncertain so I wouldn’t be expecting anything from anywhere, it would be a waste of time wouldn’t it? However, one thing that I recognise is that technology and music are having much more of a symbiotic relationship, one of mutual benefit, so with the advancements of music equipment, with the techniques of producing becoming easier to refine, with the variety of sound expanding with the times and the generations of old and new experience, the quality of music is always going to reflect that. I’m waiting for someone to design a cerebral music device that just attaches to your head and you can dream all music you want into reality, without having to spend laborious hours, tasking perfection through obsolete machinery. Vision music is also something that I’m looking forward to; someway/somehow I want to experience a mass synesthetic club/dancehall experience, where sound is interacting with our ability to visualize all sorts of otherworldly, beautiful things, literally. Everything should become much more easier with time, and everything will be so accessible to us that eventually we’ll just become the music itself and open our arms and it will be there.

Cool, well, thank you for this brief interview, is there anywhere we can hear you playing, any raves you want to big up?

Sure, I’ll be playing at the Elysian Project, on the 26th of February, at Hidden, Vauxhall, London. It’s going to be a huge party as it’s the joining of three very serious alternative dance nights, under one roof so I can’t wait to see what it’s going to be like. Big love to Pejhy, all of you know what it’s about and there’s a lot of love coming from here, keep vibing!

More information about the Elysian Project can be found – http://www.elysianproject.org

Being influenced by the everyday strangeness of the world around him, Ian’s signature combination of odd words and distorted characters make his style one of the most recognisable in the world of illustration.

I’m not really sure what it is about Ian Stevenson’s work that makes you so emotionally attached to his characters, or if any love you gave to them would even be appreciated. Some of the creations that dwell in his universe would appreciate a cuddle I’m sure, others would  be just as likely to cut you up in to little pieces and bury you in their garden.  No matter you get from Ian’s work one thing is clear, once you let your self be immersed in his world, there’s no going back!

A lot of readers may recognise Ian’s work from his commercial projects, having worked for a number of A-list clients including Microsoft, Perrier, E4, MTV and Paul Smith to name a few. If you’ve been reading our posts for any amount of time then you’ll know what huge Ian Stevenson fans we are here at Pejhy, so it is with great pleasure we give you our exclusive interview with the man behind the pen:

What’s your favourite website at the moment?
Here is an amazing website that reveals the people who copy and plagiarize. Brilliant, just brilliant! get your digital pitchforks at the ready for some good old fashioned justice… www.youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com

Any superpower, what would it be?
My super power would be Sarcasm, I’d join a gang of superheroes and they would call me ‘Sarcasma’. I would be the first person to appear at the crime scene and I’d use my sarcasm skills to annoy and wrong foot the enemy, possibly I would mock the villains outfit or mimic their voice. When they are suitably annoyed the other members of the team would arrive to defeat them properly.

If you could banish any three things from the universe what would they be?
I’ve thought about this one a lot and although I would like to change many many things I have started to think that if I did have the power to remove things I don’t like, then life might be too good and I would have nothing to moan about. I’ve managed to think of a few that would make my world a better place. The first would be working for free unless it’s for charity. There could be a law to protect artists and maybe it could be called Stevenson’s law or something and would mean that all jobs had to paid for properly. I’d also have to get rid of some of the trumpet based free jazz music as it seems to make me feel uneasy. Finally I would remove some of the talentless and useless celebrities, they deserve nothing more than to be constantly ignored.

What’s the best computer game ever made?
Commuting is like game, I weave in and out of the pre-programmed human like objects in my walking space ship.

If you dug a hole through the earth from one end to the other, lets say from the North Pole right down too the South Pole, and then you jumped down that hole, what would happen?
I imagine it would be fun for a few seconds, then you’d probably black out and eventually die either by being unable to breath or by your body being shredded to bits as it bounces off the sides like a rag doll.

When will we see your “Rubbish” book?
Soon… hopefully soon, oh I do hope it is soon. I have all the photos collated and now it just needs to be made into a book.

To see more of Ians work you can vist his brand spanking new website at www.ianstevenson.co.uk

For those of you new to his work I highly recomend you check out his new group show athe the Archipelago Works in Sheffield, and be sure to pick up a copy of his “Best Wishes, Get Well Soon” book, it’s basicaly his “best of ” collection and a steal at £10.

French is a London based illustrator, known for his dark and often macabre drawings. Sourcing inspiration from his two greatest loves, Skateboarding and Death Metal, French’s work has taken him across the globe showcasing his talents in London, the USA, Denmark, France, Israel and Australia.

His Latest show “Blood Oath” at the Archipelago Works in Sheffield has so far received an overwhelming positive response, proving to the critics that he’s a talent to look out for in the future.

I recently met up with the man at his latest (and fantastic) show to talk about Skulls, Heavy Metal and London Pricks!

Tell us about you current show “Blood Oath” at the Archipelago Works?
The theme for this show is skulls, we’ve produced 12 different screen prints all of which are skull related and will be available exclusively through the gallery.

How have you managed to make each piece in this show feel unique despite the very specific theme?
I’m total fascinated by skulls. Their are so many different variations you can do on  one subject that will stop an exhibition from being repetitive. So even though the theme is specific I’m only limited by my imagination.

How would you describe yourself as an artist?
People like to fit me into the whole “Street Art/Skate Art” thing because i design skate decks but I’m an illustrator, that’s how i make a living. I don’t really know anything about street art or graffiti and am not particularly interested in whats going on today, i do however like all the old Santa-Cruz graff from like 20 years ago.

How would you normally start a new piece, would you approach a logo different to how you would a sketch or drawing?
I treat every piece i do as a sketch or a drawing, no matter who or what the piece is for. If, for example, i was asked to produce a logo, i would treat the letters as an illustration so the end result will look like a picture rather then a logo or a load of letters.

Did you study illustration at collage of university?
I have a degree in fine art, not illustration. That’s something I’ve taught myself, drawing and learning how to use computers to produce pieces.

Do you listen to music while you work, if so who are your favorites?
Oh so many, i grew up listening to Death Metal, in fact I’ve just got back from a metal festival in Helsinki. My favorite bands of all time would be Revenge, Bolt thrower, Blasphemy and Ozzy to name a few.

Who are you favorite artists?
I’m really into Derrick D’Beck and Murdock Stafford, his work is all skulls and stuff. As for more “classical art” i really like the work of Goya. I recently bought a book by an artist called “Bruegel” which is full of pictures of Hell and people being eaten by demons.

Would you say you were more influenced by the classic stuff?
Yeah, defiantly. I’m heavily influenced by dark religious art. I like pieces to have a lot going on in them.

Is their any kind of art you really dislike?
I can’t stand bland art, shit that looks like it could be selling in Ikea you know. It’s so non-offensive it’s offensive!

You’ve done a fair bit of commissioned work for Modular Records and other advertising agencies, how is the work process for a client different from private work?
The first time you work for someone it can be difficult, but once you’ve built-up a relationship both parties will know what works and what doesn’t work.

Would you let someone change your work if they were dissatisfied?
It would really depend on how big the change is, for example i recently designed a T-Shirt for the band WolfMother which had a crow sitting on a skull. the record label suggested that i changed the crow to a hawk to make the piece seem more 70′s looking. Small changes like that I’m fine with but you should be careful because whoever pays for a commission can have a huge influence on how a piece turns out.

Have you ever worked in 3D?
No, I’ve never made sculptures or anything like that. I’ve got a friend whose a fashion designer, he owns a little shop on Carnaby Street in London. I’m gonna be designing some belt buckles with him. My first design is a gas mask with horns coming out of it.

Are you living in London at the moment?
Yeah, with my girlfriend.

What do you both think about the illustration and art scene down their?
(French) I’ve done stuff with Stolen Space Gallery and have friends who exhibit in the capitol frequently, i always go to their shows but i feel separate from the London thing, East London especially is full of “Jazzy Cunts”

(Frenches Girlfriend) To be honest sometimes people can take themselves to seriously but their is a great art scene in  i can’t lie. East London can be very pretentious, French will go to his friends show but can’t stand the whole “trend” thing, he doesn’t suck up to anyone. If what the London galleries wanted matched what French wanted then he would do more shows there.

The prints featured in this interview are exclusively available through The Archipelago Works, there are twelve prints in total, six single colour and six multi-colour, all in an edition of six (666)!

To see more work by French (including his skate videos) you can follow his blog here.

Sink or Swim

Julian Callos is a Los Angeles based artist who creates beautiful dreamy water coloured illustrations full of flexible limbed humans and water washed backgrounds. His unique style has led him to exhibit widely across the globe from San Francisco to London, building an  impressive and consistantly brilliant portfolio of sculptures and paintings.

Julian is one of those artists who never produces a bland piece of work, I absolutely love everything he’s done so far and cannot wait for his next show over here in the UK. Julian recently took time out from his extremly busy scedual to answer our questions, heres what the talented young artist had to say:

You regularly blog ideas and early sketches of your work; how close do your finished pieces match what you aimed to achieve in you mind?

It really depends on the project…sometimes my final piece, after various stages of sketches and revisions, is completely different from what I had originally conceived in my mind. Other times I’ll come up with an idea that I’m happy with from the very beginning and just stick with it through the entire process. I just try to make sure that my final sketch is something that I would enjoy turning into a finished painting, regardless of whether or not that sketch was exactly what I had in mind in the beginning.

How long has it taken you to develop your style to where it is today?

Well I’ve been drawing ever since I was about three years old, and my style has evolved throughout the years along with changes in what inspires me, what interests me, etc. I guess what you see now has mostly been developed in the past couple years in college. I’ve really tried to take all the inspirations I’ve had in the past and the present — cartoons, comics, pop culture — and mash them up into my own thing. I’m still learning new things all the time, though; my tastes are changing, different things are starting to inspire me…I think these changes will certainly influence my work, as change has always done.

What is your typical work process and what conditions do you work under? Do you like to draw and paint to music for example?

I love to work while music is playing. Sometimes I’ll work with the TV on in the background, or with a movie playing. Other times I’ll work in complete silence. It really just depends on my mood.

Looking on inprint.com i noticed that you will sell any one print in a varity of sizes and prices. How important do you think it is to make your art accessible and affordable to everyone?

I think accessibility and affordability, especially in this economy, is very important. And it seems like art prints are a good market these days…It’s nice to own something by an artist, but not everyone can afford an original, so it’s pretty cool when you can buy a print.

What has had the biggest influence on your work recently?

Recently I’ve been looking to a lot of indie comics for inspiration. Pen/brush and ink stuff. You can create such beautiful lines with a brush; combine that with bold colors and lots of contrast and you’ve got a stunning piece of art to look at.

One thing i’ve noticed from reading comments on blogs and various sites is how impressed the audiance is with your ability to create soft movement in your pieces. Do you have any plans of creating an amimation?

Actually when I was younger I wanted to be an animator because I love cartoons, but I never really pursued developing that particular set of skills. I’d love to see my characters in motion, though!

Do you have any exhibitions planned for the near future, either as a group show or on your own?

I’m in a few shows in different galleries coming up before the end of the year. Off the top of my head there’s a group show with Black Maria Gallery in Los Angeles called “Skip the Mall,” as well as “Paper Pushers” at Gallery 1988 San Francisco. If you follow my blog (http://juliancallos.blogspot.com/) I’ll keep you updated on any and all shows I’ll be participating in. And I’m hoping to have my own website up soon, so look out for that as well.

What Develops

You can check out more of Julians work at: http://www.society6.com/studio/juliancallos/

Gemma Shiel is the creator, designer and owner of the Lazy Oaf; one of East London’s most beloved fashion labels, famous for its use of bright colours, cute characters and distinct style. Gemma has been producing her quirky designed clothes for years now, starting out in 2001 with a market stall in east London, today the Oaf is an internationally recognised brand with products selling in Japan, Italy and Paris as well as the UK.

With the Tate weekend over, a new collection ready for launch and an Oaf publication on the way the last few months have been pretty hectic for Gemma and the team. I recently caught up with the London fashion queen to find out about the new mag, her inspriration and how it all started.

Tell us about your background, how did the Lazy Oaf start?
Lazy Oaf has been going for as long as I’ve been illustrating so about 8 years now. I first became interested in illustration while studying textile design at Nottingham Trent University, which i absolutely hated. After finishing i moved to London and started selling my own hand screen printed t-shirts on a market stall, it all grew from there really.

What is Lazy Oaf at Loud Tate?
Well this is the first one i have been involved in and the reception so far has been fantastic. We sold out of tickets to the t-shirt workshop in the first 20 minutes. We’ve had such a wide variety of people come down today, men and women aged from 12 to 35.

On Thursday your launching the Lazy Oaf zine, how did the idea of a magazine start?
I’ve always wanted to produce a zine so i could do more illustration work and get away from the t-shirt design thing for a bit. The Oaf zine we’re producing will be out twice a year and each one will have a different theme. We’re getting guest illustrations to contribute in each one as well.

Like who?
Well i can’t really say everyone just yet, but we have been working with John Slade and Jemma Coral. The Zine gives us the opportunity to get the illustration side of the Oaf out there.

Who have been your biggest influences?
Haha, don’t tell him i said this but Ian Stevenson, he’s a friend of mine but i love his work. I also really like Mike Perry and Lesly Hall, shes amazing.

What music has been keeping you going recently?
We’re always listing to BBC Radio 6 in the office. As for bands at the moment I’m loving The Phenomenal Hand Clap Band and Young Fathers.

Whats your favorite animal?
I love Dogs, in particular French Bulldogs, oh and Chimps!

Whats next for the Lazy Oaf?
We’re having a launch party for our new zine on Thursday the 1st of October at the Old Shoreditch Station on Kings Land Road. They’ll be drinks, music, products from our new collection and more importantly we’ll have our first ever solo exhibition. It all kicks off at 7pm so be sure to get their early.

To find out more about the Lazy Oaf you can vist their website at www.lazyoaf.com

Ben O’Brien (AKA Ben The Illustrator) is a UK based illustrator, designer, animator and music video director. Working along side his wife Fi, the pair are currently running their brand “Wish you were here” from Ben’s website: http://www.bentheillustrator.com

Ben’s stunning use of bold colour and clean graphic style makes him one of the most in demand artists working today. His uniqe style has been seen across the globe having worked for major companies including Honda, Sony, Domino Records, Smart cars and Vice Magazine.

Ben recently took time out of his busy schedule to talk to Pejhy about music, otters, and babies. Read on>

What was your first paid illustration job and how did you get it?

I was already working in animation, and I’d done quite a few ‘free’ illustration jobs, just odd bits for indie magazines and flyers for bands and DJs, but then the animation studio I was working at signed with an agent, they were an illustration agency but had started to represent animators and animation studios too.  Anyway, I managed toshow them some illustration work and I got lucky when they decided to represent me for illustration work too, I was really winging it back then, so little experience, so little idea.  My first paid job was illustrating a corporate brochure for the BBC and the digital radio industry (this was the early days of digital radio in a way).  It wasn’t the coolest job ever, it was very corporate, very restricted and all very organised, and it really dropped me in at the deep end as far as illustrating for clients, but I learnt a lot, in the long run it was good to start off with such a refined brief working to super tight schedules with very formal clients.  I’m now represented by a much more enjoyable agency, and I feel blessed to have them bringing in the commissioned paid work, generally with much more creative clients and exciting projects.

Do you listen to music when you work? If so what’s been keeping you going recently?

All the time, I struggle to work well in silence!  We only just recently started using Spotify in our studio (I work with my wife, Fi, luckily we totally share music taste!).  Our current favourites are Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Speech DeBelle, Pegz, Liam Finn and a whole lot of old hiphop, as always.

How long has it taken you to develop your style to where it is today and what has inspired it?

I’ve always liked playing with bold colours and taking real things, nature, cities etc, and quirking them up a bit, but I’ve only really concentrated on seriously developing my work over the last 8 years or so.  I left college in ’99 graduating from an animation degree, then I worked in animation for a few years, but it was always the pure drawn work that I liked (and I was a really second-rate animator!) so when I started getting a few illustration jobs I felt the need to move away from animation and focus on my illustration work and define my style. I’ve taken my inspiration mostly from being out and about, crazy creative cities like Tokyo, NYC and Melbourne where you can just see colour used in such cool ways, art, architecture, music, clothing and also the more natural world, mountains, forests, fields, beaches, anywhere that makes you feel good.  That’s the key, I’m trying to take the feeling that I get from being in a good place, and put it into a picture, share it with people.

How does commissioned work differ from private work? How is the work process different?

Freedom.  Private work, whether it’s a doodle for the heck of it, or a design for an art print, I have creative freedom.  Fi and I plan some things with our prints, so I might have to use a certain colour palette or create a certain mood, depending on what’s going to sell well and be enjoyed by the public (Fi manages our homewares brand ‘Wish You Were Here’, selling art prints and home design products)  So essentially I have full creative freedom on that, I can just muck about a bit, doodle, sit and draw things in my own time, then when I’ve got the image right on paper and in my head I can take it into Illustrator and artwork it, it’s pure enjoyment.  Client work can sometimes be a completely different thing, you’re focused by their brief and the media it’s for, sometimes we have to approach it with much more of a ‘design business’ head on.  Occasionally I can just illustrate a cool picture and that’s enough, but if it’s for advertising especially, you’re part of a bigger team, along with their art directors, copywriters, all sorts of people, and you can be restricted by the client’s branding, their company ethos etc etc.  But I love both, they’re both good processes.  The personal work helps me to develop my style, to try anything I want, for mine and Fi’s enjoyment, the commissioned work gives us a chance to be a part of the design industry, illustrating work which serves a purpose, part of a larger team.

What’s the story behind your character “Speakerdog”?

He started purely as a doodle, I’d been doing a lot of character-based commercial work in a certain style, and I’d started to tire a little of it (this was around 6 years ago, when I was still finding my way), then I just doodled a couple of characters in a completely different style, one of them was Speakerdog.  I started playing with him, painting on canvasses and developing him as a character with a purpose and a personality. In time people started picking up on him and I started using him as a way into different projects, exhibitions, products like tees and posters.  I’d always illustrated him in dreamily perfect landscapes, so he appeared to me to be a bit of a mascot for good environmentalism and good times.  A few years ago I was getting into paper toys, mostly Shin Tanaka’s work, and I thought I’d try my hand at it too, so I developed a Speakerdog paper toy, since then it’s all rolled on pretty smoothly!  Fi now manages the Speakerdog Paper Toys, we’ve got hundreds of custom designs by hundreds of artists, it’s a blast, we do it all for free so people just download the paper toy templates and break out the glue stick, plus we’ve got his own shop for posters and custom hand-drawn paper toys and all sorts of good stuff. I totally recommend focusing on personal projects like that; it can open so many doors in the professional world.

Check it all out on: www.speakerdog.com.

Speakerdog certainly seems to enjoy travelling, if you could go anywhere in the world right now where would it be?

Paris.  It’s not quite a far off land or anything, but it’s such a neat city, we love it, plus I think there’s a Takeshi Murakami exhibition on right now!  If I could, I’d grab our little dog, Doze, get Fi in the car and head straight to Paris for some good food, some design shopping, check out some new graf and hit that Takeshi Murakami show!

Animals and nature are both reoccurring themes in your work, if you could have any pet, no matter how impractical, what would it be?

Haha, pygmy goats and loads of them, they’re so neat with their cool climbing skills.  Actually, more impractical but just as cool… sea otters.

Who are your favourite artists or illustrators working today?

Oh heck, so many!  S.Britt is ace (http://www.sbritt.com), really inspiring and Toru Fukuda (http://torufukuda.jp), always makes me smile, that’s probably my top two, but then there’s Simon Wild (great colours http://www.simonwild.com), C86/Matt Lyon (nice and fresh http://www.c8six.com), Stephen Chan (really sticks to his guns with a strong personal style http://www.stephen-chan.co.uk), Chris Malbon (part of McFaul design studio but does amazing stuff like this too www.sosaturdays.co.uk), anything bold, super fresh and popping with strong colours.

Do you have any exhibitions planned in the near future?

No solo exhibitions, we’ve got a baby due in January so we’ve had to cut back on a lot of plans!  We’re doing a group show in London in December, can’t announce details yet but we know it’s going to be ace!

To see view more of Ben’s work or to check up on that secret exhibition check out his sites:  http://www.speakerdog.com and  http://www.wywh.co.uk

Alex Egan (one half of Skull Juice) is well known for his eclectic dj sets but has recently begun a solo music production project under the name Astronomer. The sounds are clean on the ear, wholesum to feel and come with pleasureable cosmic melodies.

He has been kind enough to take a few moments to answer the following:

How would you best describe the Astronomer sound in five or less words?
I’m not sure I can yet. I’m still trying to figure it out myself.

Do you have a telescope?
Yes.

Whose music are you enjoying at this moment in time?
At this very moment I’m rediscovering the delights of Brian Eno’s ‘Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)’. I’d got into the habit of listening to ‘Before And After Science’ and ‘Another Green World’ over and over so foolishly blinkered off his other albums for a while.

What’s your favorite planet?
I’m thoroughly enjoying Earth these days but Saturn is also particularly appealing at this time of year.

A prophesy upon the stars; what might we expect from you in the coming year?
I’m really enjoying remixing at the moment. If things go to plan, more of my remixes will see the light of day soon. I’m also making my own music so I’m looking to have an EP complete by the end of the year.

Six remixes have been completed to date with an Astronomer EP and more remixes currently under construction; Joakim – Spiders (Astronomer Remix) coming soon! Here are two of my favourites for you to enjoy:

With all the beautiful Metronomy sounds but an increased tempo and a handful of new astronomer sounds makes this an aural delight. Listen out for incredible pitch bends on the synth from 3:10, my ears say yum!
Metronomy – Not Made For Love (Astronomer Remix)

As simple and mesmorising as the original but with deep drums and percussive bass along with more new astronomer sounds. Tremendous!
The xx – Basic Space (Astronomer Remix)

I first became aware of Cage One over a year ago via his Myspace page. I get loads of messages and friend requests from artists, Like anyone who happens to mention they’re into the odd bit of street art, but Cage One’s work showed true quality, when  i clicked on his page i was instantly impressed by the striking colours and orgianal style of his work and I’ve been following his progress ever since.

Within the past year the ”Cage” has put up a new website, has painted for various shops and  bars across the country, provided back-drops for events such as Breakin’ Convention 09 as well as various fashion shows, shoots and companies (including Diesel), has had his hand painted spay cans featured in the book ”400ml” and his painting “The Angle” featured in Empty Bell magazine and has had his first solo show. I recently court up with the man to talk about his work, style, the graffiti scene and his plans for the future.

How long have you been involved in graffiti?
I first became interested in graffiti when I was a teenager, 1987. I started painting then.

I’ve noticed that a lot of your pieces involve soft colours, others have hints of fast or aggressive movement.  How would you describe your style?
My style is influenced by everything around me, not just other artists but music, the things I read and see and people I meet.

How does painting walls differ from painting on a canvas? Which do you prefer? Which give you more freedom?
Walls and canvas both have their pros and cons. I love the scaleof painting on walls, and the unusual shapes and settings. Canvas is great, but I could do with a bigger studio to paint larger canvas. The other difference is the purpose and the permanence of the piece. My canvases are often commissioned and privately viewed, or viewed in a gallery space exhibition. Pieces on walls reach a bigger and more varied group of people. I really enjoy the comments from passers-by when I’m painting walls, compliments from 8 to 80 years olds. I think it’s this interaction with people, and the accessibility of art on walls that makes if my preference. I always feel freedom when I paint, whether it’s walls or canvas. (Any commissioned pieces are still asking for me to paint my design in my style).

In a previous interview you stated “The rise of street art into the mainstream happened over night” (this was in response to the rising costs of street art).When the graffiti scene became mainstream here in the UK a few years ago how did this affect your work? Did you have more confidence in what you were doing? Did it open up more doors?
I’m not sitting on the fence but I think graffiti becoming mainstream has numerous good and bad points. If I had to pick one for and against it’d be the following; Art is always changing. It’s a reflection of a time in history. In years to come art history books will portray graffiti and street art as an important art movement of the 21st century. Mainstream does not mean the work is less important or of a lesser quality, it allows it to be seen, discussed and valued alongside other forms of incredible art. There are a lot of bad imitations of great graffiti and street art.

At what point did you realise that you could make a living out of your artwork?
I have to make a living out of my artwork there’s nothing else I want to do. I love painting and I hate working.

What’s the graffiti scene like in Bradford?
What Bradford graffiti scene! There isn’t one at the moment, but Leeds is 15 minutes away and has some great people and events. There are some new young artists with a lot of talent in Leeds.

Do you think the graffiti scene is getting stale? Is there a problem with people jumping on trends such as the “black image on white canvas” stencil look (a method originally used by Blek le rat followed by Banksy, Nick Walker, Dolk Lundgren, SPQR to name a few) ?
I’m interested in all aspects of graffiti (tagging, dubs, stencil, big colour productions etc) if my interest was limited to one trend or style it would get tedious.

Like many artists working today some of you’re pieces have been commissioned for advertisers. Does lending your work to marketing companies or businesses get you negative feedback from fans or other graffiti artist at all?
No, not to my face. I paint because I love it and if someone else enjoys it that’s great. The commissions I get allow me to paint in my style but I don’t accept all offers of work. I turned down a commission for a train company – they wanted a poster saying ‘graffiti’s not art’. There is a line.

Have you ever considered releasing a book or your work? Can we expect to see one in the future?
No plans at the moment but I might do a small limited edition book of some pieces I’m currently working on.

Do you have any exhibitions planned In the near future?
I’m doing a few small local exhibitions (Yorkshire) in September and then will be working on some new canvases.

To see more artwork by Cage One vist www.cageone.co.uk. I highly recommend you check out the hand painted spray cans, they look amazing!

Jonathan Cooper spent ten minutes face-to-face with London based artist Pure Evil…

The Pure Evil gallery has been around for two years now. Situated on Leonard Street in Shoreditch the space is just a short walk away from Pejhy favourites Concrete Hermit and Black Rat Press galleries.

This month saw the opening of Pure Evils solo show which has had an honourable mention from graffiti store giants Pictures On Walls so I decided to pop down and have a chat with the man behind the art about what he’s been up to, where he thinks the scene is going and what his plans are for the future.

Q) So what have you been up to recently?

A) Last night I did this piece down the road; people were stopping me and asking “are you Banksy?”

Q) I can’t believe that kind of thing still happens. Does it piss you off?

A) I didn’t mind – mothers were taking pictures of me with their kids which was funny. People can be a little dumb. They see somebody doing graffiti round here and they automatically assume its Banksy.

Q) Do you think Banksy will be remembered in 50 years time?

A) Definitely.

Q) What about the street art scene? Do you think it’s dying off?

A) No Way. This scene has probably risen as quickly as the pop-art scene movement did and it’s only going to get bigger.

Q) Do you think prices are getting stupid?

A) I think they are fair for the most part. There are two really interesting films about this subject that I’d recommend “The Mona Lisa Curse” and “The Art Bubble”. I try to price the prints in a way that I think is fair.

Q) How has the scene changed over the years? What’s different now compared to lets say 2001?

A) Well back then you could put stuff up wherever you liked. In 2001 there was so much stuff on the street and it was better because pieces weren’t cleaned off as frequently. Recently there’s been a huge clean up in London due to the 2012 Olympics.

Q) Have you ever been in trouble with the law?

A) At my first show I though the police were gonna turn up and nick me. When I’m doing stuff on the street I’ll just act ignorant so I’ve never properly been ‘caught’. The police wouldn’t think I was a serious graffiti artist if they saw me in the street, they’d just think: “what is that middle aged, middle class white guy doing?”

Q) What really pisses you off?

A) People who break the rules of politeness.

Q) How do you mean?

A) I used to go to exhibitions with my dad and it would feel like we were being looked down at. I hate it when you go to a galley nowadays and the staff just look down at you from their laptops.

Q) What have you got planned for the near future?

A) Well I’ve got a show that’s coming up in Tokyo. I can’t wait; I just love how alien Japan is.

Q) And what’s next for the gallery?

A) With a bit of help from the arts council I’m flying over a load of artists from South America. They’re currently living in a squat so we’ll sort them out with a place to stay while they’re over here. The show is gonna be called “Shoque Culture”. We’re turning the downstairs space into a workshop, hopefully we’ll get a few school parties in so kids can do their own printing and sticker designs.