Viva Brighton April 2015 Issue #26

ART
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FOCUS ON: The Jim Jones Revue gig poster
by Dan Bowden/Needs More Snakes
A2 Screen print
How did you get into screen printing gig
posters? I was in a couple of Brighton-based
punk bands that nobody will remember, and
I started doing t-shirt design and zines for
other, bigger, punk bands. This led to the
poster designs.
They are one-offs, to sell at individual
gigs? That’s right. They are official, in that
the bands endorse them and often have some
creative input into them. Then they are sold
at the gig, and afterwards on my website and
sometimes by the bands’ merch departments.
Sometimes I’m the guy at the table at the
back of Concorde 2, or the Haunt; for bigger
gigs like at the Brixton Academy the merch
guys sell them and I can enjoy the gig.
What sort of bands?
The vast majority of my posters are for bands
that I like, of varying degrees of fame. I’ve
done posters for Mudhoney, The Hives,
Rocket from the Crypt, Mclusky, Swans, The
Polyphonic Spree…
Do you contact the bands, or do they
contact you? At first it was all me contacting
them, but after a while it goes both ways, and
it’s about half and half now.
Tell us about the process of making this
one… It was the Jim Jones Revue’s last ever
tour, so I decided to represent that with a
‘Day of the Dead’ look. I pencil-sketched the
figures, then filled them out with pen and ink.
I did the same with the flowers around the
figures, though some of these were replicated
on Photoshop to create the border. I usually
hand-draw my fonts – I’m a bit of a font nut
– but I downloaded this one, as it looked just
right. It’s called Carnival Freakshow. There
are two colours – black and metallic gold - so
I prepared two different layers, ready for
printing.
Do you print them yourself? I used to go to
a place in Portslade, but now I have a son my
free time is too precious so I got it printed up
by Broadside Printers in Exeter. They do a
much better job than I could.
Do you listen to music while you’re working?
I like to listen to the band who I’m designing
for, as it helps to get me in the right mood.
Who have you been inspired by?
I like to draw inspiration from classic
psychedelic poster art, tattoo art, and old
skate graphics as well as other contemporary
artists. Spencer from Petting Zoo is brilliant;
I love WeThreeClub’s lettering and colours;
Vince Ray’s rock ‘n’ roll clichés; Tom J Newells
minimal colour palette, amongst others....
Take us to a gallery… The Black Heart bar
in Camden has got loads of great gig posters
on the wall by UK Poster Association artists.
Interview by Alex Leith
A selection of Dan’s gig posters are on display
at Hotel Pelirocco, Regency Square, throughout
April
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