Mike Giant Podcast

Giant's interview with Adam Hathorn, a tattoo artist based in San Diego, California. Recorded in Giant's studio in Miramar on Wednesday, February 19, 2020. Topics discussed: Big Trouble Tattoo, the totem pole of talent, humility, photos of tattoos, Instagram portfolios, growing up in New England, skateboarding and drawing, filming friends, ollies and slap pies, Kien Lieu, Pushead, copying logos, mail order, herbs and druggies, Dogtown skateboards, difficulty with art teachers, ADD and meds, marry rich, Boston, Savannah College of Art and Design, good teachers, BFA in illustration, graphic design, paid to learn, magazine covers, The Hustle, postcards and envelopes, meeting Shepard Fairey, wheat pasting posters, client work vs. personal work, remembering tattoos/clients, tattoo tech talk, acetate stencils, no sketch tattoos, Sam Parker, Hardcore vs. Punk, violence at shows, skinheads, SHARPs, nazis from New Hampshire, trauma from violence, Olde English tramp stamp, underwater welder/tattooer/mentor, Chris Hou

Giant's interview with Vernon Courtlandt Johnson, a fine artist based in Santa Barbara, California. Recorded in his home on August 10, 2014 for Monster Children magazine, vcjgraphics.com Please follow this link to see a video of our meeting. https://vimeo.com/113684648

Giant's interview with Dave Persué, a fine artist based in San Diego, California. Recorded in their studio in Miramar on Monday, October 23, 2019. Topics discussed: Per-Sway, growing up in San Diego, Star Wars, sports, getting forced outside to play, drawing, Nikol Schattenstein, William Randolf Hearst, inspirational mother and grandmother, absent father, soccer, discovering alternative music (Visage, Roxy Music, Ultravox, Adam Ant, Duran Duran), Morrisey-style, electric bass, high school bands, discovering graffiti and rap music in 1988, influential older sister, began writing graffiti in 1988, Xpek, Wesk, hanging with crews, Boone’s Farm, experiments with hallucinogens, Acid Mike, Subway Art and Spraycan Art, bombing, Ken Block, DC companies, Mike Vallely, Tony Magnusson, Mike Ternasky, full time graphics work, rubylith, Circa, contracts, designing shoes for Osiris in the 1990s, skateboarding, eating concrete, basketball, graffiti friends, 1.5hr commute, living close to your office, off-site design agenci

Giant's interview with Mike Maxwell, a fine artist based in San Diego, California. Recorded in Giant's studio in Miramar on Monday, October 21, 2019. Topics discussed include: Growing up in El Cajon, isolation fostering creativity, discovering graffiti as an early teen, Tower Records, 1990s graffiti magazines, childhood drawing inspirations, reading George Orwell, Hunter S. Thompson and Jack Kerouak at 14, defying parents, atheism, altruistic anarchism, tribal life, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, tribal vs. city mode, criminal accountability, mob rules, sports as tribal/political substitute, Jiujitsu, release of aggressive energy, drinking and smoking at 12, LSD at 15, drawing, the realities of working as an artist, levels of comfort, tattoo apprenticeship in 2000, changes in the tattoo business, tough guy vibe, custom vs. flash tattoos, Ed Hardy, Sailor Jerry, Guru Tattoo, developing a sketch, the ability to draw anything, efficiency, improvement, personality in portraits, changing styles, working

Giant's interview with Bobby Ruiz, owner of Tribal Streetwear. Recorded in Mr. Ruiz’s office at the Tribal headquarters in San Diego, California on Thursday, October 17, 2019. Topics discussed include: Growing up in Los Angeles in the 1960s, Hacienda Heights, moving to south San Diego in 1972, initial exposure to lowriding, skateboarding, gang culture, moving to Mira Mesa (the suburbs), gang writing, musical influences, stoner culture, high school, Chicano Power movement, appearing in Lowrider magazine in 1981, customizing a 1964 Thunderbird, first experiences with "hip-hop” graffiti while working as a janitor, meeting San Diego writers, earning a bachelors degree with Honors at SDSU in Chicano Studies and Business Management over the course of ten years, difficulties with math, Tommy Guerrero, ska and punk music, Beastie Boys, Run DMC, NWA, Cypress Hill, breakdancing, Rocksteady Crew, the exploitation of subcultures, fashion vs. streetwear, Limp Bizkit, Korn, starting Tribal Gear in 1989, POD, Linkin Park,

Giant's interview with Francisco Agudo, a tatttooer and fine artist currently based in Los Angeles. Recorded in Francisco's guest house in Mid City, Los Angeles on July 5th, 2019. Topics discussed include: growing up in the East Bay, writing graffiti at 12 years old, playing with freight trains, the late 1990s Bay Area graffiti scene, youth sports, early drawing influences, copying skateboard graphics, Jase, the Upper Playground studio, setting goals, leaving home as a teenager, selling drugs, getting started in San Francisco, local haunts, risk vs reward balance, hassles with police, reputation, Show and Prove, asshole mode, late night transportation problems, evading a house raid, backing out of the drug trade, the college track, taking the right opportunities, storefront studio on Divisadero near Haight, Chad Mooney, Academy of Art, Skullz Press blogspot, Mark Snor, kings, studio assistants, Japanese collectors, monthly studio parties, neighborhood tree panic, city comparisons, Tenderloin studio/apartment

Giant's interview with Deb, a fine artist and muralist from Australia, currently based in Los Angeles. Recorded in a guest house in Mid City, Los Angeles on July 4th, 2019 during the set-up for a party. Topics discussed include: a difficult birth, growing up in Melbourne, art programs in private/public school, vandalizing desks, anorexia, recovery, pre-internet networking, being a female artist, getting a graphic design diploma mid-20s, the early years of computers and cellphones, pager codes, the effect of cellphones on graffiti writing, modems, the invention of email, AOL chatrooms, traditional vs. digital drawing, the earthquake, reproductions vs. originals, craft vs. idea, finding your audience, Tumblr, getting on Instagram, changes in the art economy, technology appreciation, Melbourne vs. Sydney, San Francisco, Eddie Zammit, the first studio visit, chance encounters, logistics of moving to the US, semi-legal status, working internationally, subletting Giant’s apartment, sketchy landlords in San Francis

Giant's interview with Leo Gonzales, a tattoo artist and fine art painter based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Recorded in Mr. Gonzales' home on June 30, 2019. Topics discussed include: Growing up in Pojoaque, NM, drawing at 2 years old, replicating Disney characters, Garfield, Prince Valiant, Dungeons and Dragons, The Hobbit, browsing book and album covers, frequency range, music/audio books as background noise, mindfulness, Cat Stevens, Kansas, KISS, Lorelei, Sikhs, Logical Nonsense, the punk scene, drugs, The Dark Nineties, tagbanging, Santa Fe vs. Albuquerque, backyard parties, hand poke tattoos, rites of passage, The Decline of Western Civilization, tattooing at school, The Hat, judging people by their tattoos, Dan-O Sanchez, self tattooing, dedication to the craft, apprenticeships, art school, Boris Vallejo’s advice, learning directly from artists, recognizable style, tattoo conventions, Guy Aitchison, Grime, Mike Davis, recognizing tattoos not clients, the pitfalls of getting your own drawings tattooed,

Giant's interview with Mike Peters, a custom automotive fabricator based in Denver, Colorado. Recorded in Mr. Peters' garage in Northglenn, Colorado on May 12, 2019. Topics discussed include: Moving to San Diego from Denver in 1983, skateboarding, running into cars, litho printing in high school, hot rod/custom family, car shows in the 1980s, lowrider love, El Cajon, The Phantom, ditching at the ditch, backyard half pipe, skating vert, injuries, tagbanging, witnessing murder, graffiti as a career, Aerosol Psychotics Crew, spray techniques/can control, Sake/spitter caps, (broken chair), aviation, dropping out of high school, 1973 Bulletside Datsun, the Trades, Miracles Truck Club/Negative Camber, 1960s hot rods, 1956 Merc, custom audio, Phoenix, returning to Denver, camaraderie, SEMA 2017, showing work in front of fellow professionals, the critical eye, 1980s punk rock, beach life, Tribal Gear, cruising/bass music (DJ Magic Mike), Rel, shooting, San Diego taco shops, horchata, regional cultures/styles, Cholo

Mike's interview with Jeremy Fish, an artist based in San Francisco, California. Recorded at Black Book Gallery in Denver, Colorado on April 14, 2019. Topics discussed include: Growing up in the Northeast, Saratoga Springs, smuggling, art teachers, winter activities, crafty moms, Lee J. Ames, Hip-Hop, DJ Pink Panther, BMX, skateboarding, Caroline Street, Saratoga Springs Skatepark, local pros, Lake George, Burden Lake Pool, Santa Cruz Skateboards/Jim Phillips, high school advertising class, Chuck Gaukel, class clown, Junior College of Albany/painting major, Barry McGee aka Twist, architecture, working drawings, The Twin Towers, The Art Institute, Bush Street, bus routes, silkscreen printing, Winfield Wallpaper, lunch spots, Eddy’s Diner, rubber floors, Good Vibrations/Barry the Beaver, Bear magazine, Folsom Street Fair, Printtime, Think Skateboards, Slap magazine/The Big Stupid, Silly Pink Bunnies, growing art business/traveling, commercial art challenges, Grime, Rick Griffin, North Beach, local relationshi

Mike's interview with Derek Keenan, an artist based in Denver, Colorado. Recorded in Mike's home in Boulder, Colorado on March 31, 2019. Topics discussed include: Growing up in Arvada (Colorado), ’57 Chevys, learning from older siblings, organized sports, skateboarding, BMX bikes, Yellow Designs, DIY entrepreneurship, art education, Colorado Institute of Art, industrial design, marker rendering, internships in footwear business, working as a technical aviation illustrator, working as a picture framer, The Peace Corps, The Gambia, village life, Toubobs, African Mahogany charcoal, cultural differences, meditative awakenings, International Jazz Festival of Senegal, weed/psychedelics in Africa, Palm hooch, gender-based experience, Malik Njie, inside jokes/local knowledge, Not Self, hair in a bird’s nest, construction work, work options for felons, Fuzzy, toking on the job, street photography, recycling skateboards, craft fairs, earring hustle, Mukee, $15,000 laser, AT-AT, touring, support from the ladies, viral

Mike's interview with Derick Montez, a tattoo artist based in San Francisco, California. Recorded in Mike's home in Boulder, Colorado on March 15, 2019. Topics discussed include: Growing up in the North Valley of Albuquerque, drawing, attention to detail, skateboarding, browsing at magazine racks, Scribble mag, graffiti writing at 12 years old, purpose, outdated printer paper, graffiti spots, Officer J.D. Knight, Burque writers, L.A. Underground, Jukes, road trip to San Francisco in 2002, cities after midnight, the Dubose tunnel, the Hip-Hip vibe, Baked Potatoes, DIY attitude, graffiti media, city college, Java Joe’s, first fine art show/studio, hospice, Manny at Custom Tattoo, confidence, the non-art side of tattooing, “real jobs”, character, Stay Gold Tattoo, criminal versus public introductions, apprenticeship phase, zia symbol tattoo, Henry Lewis, Mr. Went, guest spot at Everlasting Tattoo with Shawn Barber, Anubis/Haight-Ashbury Tattoo, making good money, tiers of the tattoo business, Picture Machine,

Mike interviews Damon Soule, a fine artist based in Grass Valley, California. Recorded in Mike's home in Bouler, Colorado on February 15, 2019. Topics discussed include: Live painting at Mirus Gallery in Denver, collaborating with Oliver Vernon and Mars1, the Denver art scene, growing up in Atlanta in the 1970s, H.R. Puffnstuff, childhood influences, combat play/drawings, moving to New Orleans, Varanasi, public school, mathematics, fractals, skateboarding, Thrasher, Florida, Colorado Springs, being a teenage felon, New York City, Ron English, graffiti secrecy/beef, LSD epiphanies, moving to San Francisco, communal skater living, BC Surf’N’Sport, freelance jobs, Astro, racking, Maximum Rock’N’Roll, Twist, New Deal, realizing dreams, printing skateboards, Fit Skateboards, Sam Flores, Oak Street house, Burning Man, Food Not Bombs, the first Dot Com boom, Internet Yellow Pages, buying domain names, Fabric8, 214 Clara Street, Pete the Tweak, breakdancing, Q-Bert, Club Deco, subcultural variety.

Part two of Mike's interview with Damon Soule, a fine artist based in Grass Valley, California. Recorded in Mike's home in Bouler, Colorado on February 15, 2019. Topics discussed include: The dead junkie, The Pork Store, hiding from cops, pot brownies, climbing out of closets, cafe/salon shows, drawing on discarded blueprints, Art World tiers, Juxtapoz, Acme Gallery, 111 Minna, cluster headaches, psylocibin mushrooms, micro-dosing, tripping in Tokyo, race safety, trippy visuals, artistic evolution, Dalek, abstraction from fundamentals, biting, mutual inspiration, “Same Same But Different”, Nepal and India, Eastern philosophy, Terence McKenna, Timothy Leary, prohibition, optimistic future, accountability, Millennial thinking, novelty, swarm mechanics, moving to NYC, Joshua Liner Gallery, Salvia, the egoless state, DMT, belief, art business ethics, value, reproductions, rural living in Grass Valley, overhead, living in the same apartment building on Bush Street in San Francisco, Section 8.

Mike interviews Ben Lovejoy, a creative director based in Boulder, Colorado. Recorded in Mike's studio in Boulder on January 30, 2019. Subjects include: growing up in Massachusetts, breakdancing, skateboarding, leaving high school early, working as a janitor, Innerskate 91, skate camp, the New England Hardcore scene, “friendship books”, Dave Schrieber, Tommy Guerrero and Jim Thiebaud, moving to San Francisco, screen printing skateboards, Ron Allen, Keith Hufnagel, Think Skateboards, Fausto Vitello, Craig Stecyk, EMB, House music, SF City College, photography, service bureaus.

Part two of Mike's interview with Ben Lovejoy, a creative director based in Boulder, Colorado. Recorded in Mike's studio in Boulder on January 30, 2019. Subjects include: Spacegallery, Robert Goldberg, starting an ad agency, tattoos, sobriety, meditation, Dharma Punx, Waldorf Roulette, Boulder, cycling, live speaking, “Scream to Meditate”, the Gaia network.

Mike interviews Rebecca Ashley, a tattoo artist based in Denver. Recorded in Mike's studio in Boulder on January 8, 2019. Topics discussed include: Growing up in rural Connecticut, drawing dragons, moving to Georgia, bias in teaching, Psycho Tattoo, Neurosis, heavy metal’s connection to classical music, getting started in the tattoo business, Pearl and Whole Foods, humility, making tattoo needles, working for drug addicts, traveling for tattoos, Todd Noble, Thomas Hooper, blackwork, Boulder, backpacking, tattoo exchange, patterns, tribal, Nalla Smith, spiritual tattoos, occultism, Buddhism, archetypes, psychedelics, motorcycles, tattooing at Sturgis, the zen of cycling, Coffin Cheaters, mountain living. Find her on Instagram: @blackhuntress Website: missbekki.com

Mike interviews Nani Chacon, a fine artist and muralist based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Recorded in her studio on December 14, 2018.

Mike interviews JP Rodman, custom painter and fabricator based in Raton, New Mexico. Recorded in JP's showroom on December 12, 2018.

Mike interviews Sam Parker aka CERO, a veteran graffiti writer and professional tattooer currently living in Broomfield, Colorado. Recorded in Mike's studio in Boulder, Colorado on December 5, 2018.