Sadly this show didn’t pan out - Japanther had to back out last minute due to a family emergency as well as trying to book a very last minute flight ticket (no go.). Regardless, Camembert  played on as did the fine chaps from Bayonets!!! and Bebop Cortez. It was a night to remember, though were all a bit sad to miss out on what would have surely been an awesome JAPANTHER set. Until next time!

note: Camembert album is currently getting recordonated. Get ready to slay some cheese. 

I made this poster for Gabe Wong‘s really solid Where Are We Going? poster show at Latitude 53, here in Edmonton. With a total of 21 artists involved, there is an incredible range of work at this show. Much of it digital print, which I think is nice and validating. Though there are a few serigraphed posters in the show, and they made me wish I had a bit more time this month to do the same, as it has been an incredibly busy May.

1) Transport Tycoons opened last weekend at the Artery.
2) Where Are We Going?, also opened last weekend, at Latitude 53.
3) A new rock project I’m involved with, Camembert, played their first actual venue show last weekend.
4) The Royal Bison Art + Craft Fair is this coming weekend (new IBS!)
5) I have a full time job now, at the Art Gallery of Alberta

Busy.

These guys kick le butt here in Edmonton. They are falklands. When they aren’t too busy touring or recording, or judging by their tour photos, partying, they find time to ask me politely to whip up some silly arts for their many EPs. Above, my third stab at it. I’d say it’s my favourite contribution to the band thus far. A bit cute. Full of bromosexuals. A cat. The colour orange.  Can’t wait to hold a copy of it in my fingers — which should be very soon — and when I do, I’ll give one away one of my copies away to one of you… for free! Keep your eyes peeled for some contest action!

BUY THE EP HERE NOW! ONLY $3!

I was recently asked to make some posters for a short concert tour featuring Deep Dark Woods and local Edmontonian rising stars, Wool On Wolves. As I probably said before, I love making music posters – and I likes them even more when they are screen printed. So, with good pal and studio assistant Brody Irvine (multi-instrumentalist in Wool On Wolves), we headed off to SNAP and busted out 50 copies that they sold at their two shows; one in Edmonton and one in Calgary. The poster is one part fairly tale, one part creepy, 2 colours, and as some have pointed out, reminiscent of a vagina. Weirdos.

One of the projects that kept me busy for a large portion of November was Q Without U. If you own a copy of the now ultra-rare International Beauty Saloon 3, you may recognize this tale of love and letters written by Omar Mouallem, a.k.a. AOK in the world of hip-hop.

Crudely drawn when it first appeared in IBS3, Omar and I thought we’d re-examine the tale with some added colour, some freshly drawn imagery, and some killer hip-hop to see how it stands on its own as a children’s book / rap album. Yes, included within the contents of Q Without U is a download code that enables you to download AOK’s newest album. Talk about keeping it real in the digital age. It was released this past weekend at the Royal Bison Art + Craft Fair with great success, in part to Omar’s handy ways with press releases. What a guy.

So go ahead, support local independant music, and art, and buy your copy of Q Without U today for only $10.

Also: I have a copy of the book to give away! Be the first to leave a comment with a word that involves both letters Q and U, and I’ll mail a copy your way, complete with a little drawing on the inside by yours truly.

Electricity for Everybody! is releasing a CD in the coming month, and to help get the party started, good pal Sean Borchert from Birch Heart (promotions) has asked me to handle poster duties for the show. Any day, Sean! Other killer local acts to be seen include Field + Stream and Sans AIDS.

Music posters are one favourite jobs to take on. They can use imagery that has no direct meaning to the show itself, whose sole purpose as a poster is to simply catch the viewers attention and bring them to the venue. So what does that mean? Draw whatever you want! Make something weird, messed up, and irrelevant to look at, then throw some venue information into the layout, and voila, done. That’ll get them thinking! Sure. they usually pay like crap, but on the other hand, music posters let you have complete artistic control – at least under my “music poster” terms.

Click the image above to see the full image.

Just a little doodad about vinyl fairs / hardcore collectors for FFWD out in Calgary. Keep your eye’s peeled for this week’s upcoming issue as well, as I’ll have illustrated the cover for that one – Summer Guide!

Yup. It’s been a while. So to make up for it I want to begift you. More specifically, one of you. Or better even, the first of you. Playing off of the idea of the monthly contest day found on Raymond Biesingers The Daily Sentry (hands down one of the best illustrator blogs out there), I will mail out a copy of both falklands EPs, which I’ve created minor packaging for, to the first person to comment on this post. Easy as that! So you if you enjoy good local Edmonton rock and leaving comments on blogs, you can expect to see their two CD EPs, one of them fresh off the boat, in the mail!

Currently on the table keeping me busy: Some work for the Globe and Mail, due out tomorrow (you can see Genevieve’s today!). Once again, a few illustrations in the making for Euroman out in Denmark, and of course, working on chapter 2 of We Hate This Place Here; It’s Our Home.