The Other Side with Illustrator Christopher Darling

Christopher Darling explains that he's always had a penchant for "creative things."

Although Darling's work as a professional illustrator is often

inspired by Jens Lekman,

Cake,

and the other bands he creates artwork for, he wouldn’t call himself a musician. While growing up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, there was a famous pianist who lived in his neighborhood. Although he would often mow her lawn in exchange for piano lessons, Christopher soon traded his sheet music in for fountain pens, moved to New York City, and the rest is history.

Green Light Go was able to tear Christopher Darling away from his drawing table long enough to tell us what it's like to be on the Other Side:

Green Light Go: How did you get started as a professional illustrator? Was there a defining moment that inspired you to work in this field, or was this career path always in the cards?

Christopher Darling: I earned my Bachelor's degree in Fine Art and Creative Writing at Western Michigan University. When I graduated, the creative job field and the employment rate in the state of Michigan was pretty awful. I had a friend in Kalamazoo who was a flavor chemist at A.M. Todd, which is a large company that produces mint and flavors of candy. I ended up illustrating new concept candy products for A.M. Todd, which turned me on to illustration. Later, I ordered a book on illustration written by Marshal Arisman and loved it. I wrote Arisman a letter and ended up earning an MFA in Illustration under his direction at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

GLG: Over the years you’ve created artwork for bands like Cake. How did you get involved in designing art for musicians and who are you currently working with [or would like to work with moving forward]?

CD: I have always tried to encourage other artists, writers, and musicians, including those I look up to. I believe that having a community is crucial in the art and music world, so I send emails to people whose work I like. A while back, I sent an email to Cake frontman John McCrea, to tell him how much I love his songwriting. He asked me if I wanted to do some artwork for the band. John and I still keep in touch, knowing him has been really encouraging. Currently, I’m working on a series of Robert Johnson drawings for Sony Music. Sony owns Johnson's original recordings, so my drawings will be animated to tell the story of his life and the Blues. I have been talking with Jens Lekman about doing some artwork as well, so we’ll see. I’ve always wanted to do artwork for The Sea and Cake (I must really like cake).

GLG: What tools do you use to create your illustrations and what is your creative process like?

CD: Generally, I use pen and ink, but I'll also use Photoshop once in a while. I like to mix it up occasionally and make a print or a collage...my style really depends on the parameters of the project. I like to begin drawing on inexpensive computer paper, I have stacks of it everywhere. That initial child-like attempt is really important to me; it is an energy I always want to have present.

GLG: Where do you find inspiration for your art?

CD: I find a lot of inspiration in people. I love watching people on the subway. I like to see what kind of shoes they have on, how they wear their clothes, and what kind of music they listen to. I love culture and humor as well.

GLG: From an artist’s point of view, how do you know that you are a good match for a band? What things do you have to keep in mind before agreeing to create art for a musician?

CD: I think having similar interests and sensibilities is important. The art should compliment or reflect the creative spirit of the music (or vise versa). Before agreeing to do artwork for a band, it is important to discuss a budget, a contract, or talk about what type of art direction will be involved, whether that direction comes from the label, a manager, or a member of the band.

GLG: What are the most rewarding and challenging things about being an artist?

CD: Balancing things such as relationships, money, and my ego.

The Other Side highlights the talented folks behind the scenes of the music we listen to. The Other Side features producers, engineers, booking agents, photographers, radio DJs, management teams, and label representatives.

This week’s The Other Side is brought to you by: Lauren Roberts

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The Other Side with Filmmaker Justin Lange

Brooklyn native Justin Lange declares he is something of a cultural immigrant. Although he is a filmmaker now, Lange didn’t grow up watching movies or television like his peers. In fact, a lock was placed on the family TV set that only came off for the Olympics. He explains, “My dad literally wrote a song which includes the line, ‘Why go down to the video store, bring all those monsters and werewolves through your door?’” Since he was not exposed to Hollywood culture as a child and spent “half of [his] waking life daydreaming in the woods,” Lange never had the desire to emulate the content the silver screen produced. As an adult, Lange realized that the technology of filmmaking was a way to project the dreams he saw in his head into the world. Lange’s latest dreamscape was set to the music of Lawrence & Leigh, in which the budding filmmaker created an adaptation of the Cretan Labyrinth for the band’s “Chelsea Nights” video, featured most recently in MAGNET Magazine’s Film at 11.

Lawrence & Leigh - Chelsea Nights from Justin Lange on Vimeo.

We were able to pull Justin Lange away from his camera long enough to tell us what it’s like to be on The Other Side:

Green Light Go: What are some of the prerequisites to becoming a music video director and what initially sparked your interest in this field?

Justin Lange: The medium of music videos is simultaneously home to some of the most inventive, as well the most derivative film work right now. There are assembly lines of stock music videos and totally inventive, wildly creative new work. The most important thing an aspiring music video director can do is find inspiration outside of the music video landscape. If inspiration is the product of ideas having sex, then watching music videos and trying to create something new is just going to result in creative inbreeding. I’m really inspired by interactive art and participatory arts culture, like Burning Man, FIGMENT, and all of the underground stuff that is happening in Brooklyn right now. Music videos offer a container to explore a lot of the different technologies and ideas that I’m interested in. If I weren't making music videos, I would probably give up on film and simply create installation art.

GLG: You recently shot a music video for Lawrence & Leigh. What was the inspiration for such an eerily beautiful video?

JL: My friend Jeff Stark does incredibly innovative site-specific theatre. He staged a post-apocalyptic play called the The Sweet Cheat, based on The Albertine Notes by Rick Moody, which was set in the warehouse that is featured in the Lawrence & Leigh video. The play begins on the Metro North train going up the Hudson River to the space and by the time you arrive, it’s imagined that New York has been destroyed in a Nuclear Holocaust, so the only New York that exists in the present is the one we, the theatre-goers, remember. I was really inspired by how much the location spoke about nostalgia and memory.

The action of the video pulls pretty squarely from the myth of the Cretan Labyrinth (where Theseus marks his passage into the labyrinth with string). I think that journey works well as a template for the way we all move through the complexities of intimacy while holding on to the hope that we can exit, heart intact, if things go sour.

GLG: When you set out to film a music video, how do you determine a location and how to set up the shoot?

JL: The song fertilizes that process. I might want to shoot in greenscreen against a world we created with miniatures, or a frozen swamp in the middle of winter, but I won’t know until I understand the story the song wants to tell. I’m really interested in the ways that spaces tell stories.

For example, I’m interested in a Christmas tree farm that was abandoned in the 1960s, where there are all of these wild, overgrown pines that are all planted in rows. It’s really cool. I’m waiting on the song that needs that kind of adventure...and a sacred lama, all decked out glowing jewels. [The scene will become] some kind of magical journey.

GLG: What bands are you working with now, or who would you like to work with in the future?

JL: I’m doing a lot of documentary work right now, but I’m particularly hungry for a music video project with a song that has some electronic elements; something ethereal. I’m open to intense songs of any genre.

GLG: What are some of your favorite music videos?

JL: I love Michael Gondry and I thought the feature film Dancer in the Dark was incredible.

GLG: What is the best piece of advice you could give a band that wants to hire a director to shoot a music video?

JL: Know what your song is about and be prepared to explain every mystery and metaphor without getting attached to any particular visual aesthetic.

GLG: What are the most rewarding and challenging things about being a music video director?

JL: Getting to live in a different world for a day or two. Making music videos is like interdimensional space travel, with a return ticket. It works best if everyone is willing to take risks and play in the world we’re creating.

GLG: What does the future hold in terms of your own filmmaking aspirations?

JL: I’m really interested in playing with different technologies. I have a pretty sophisticated understanding of projection mapping, generative graphics, LEDs, DMX and midi control…and I am [thankful] to have friends who know more than I do. The nexus of art and technology is exciting to me. I want to project on to stone and onto time lapses of growing things. High ISO photography can make moonlight dance. Projected lyrics can sing in time with artists on moving shapes and spaces. Anybody can copy existing processes. What I’m interested in is how I can really play with technology.

The Other Side highlights the talented folks behind the scenes of the music we listen to. The Other Side features producers, engineers, booking agents, photographers, radio DJs, management teams, and label representatives.

This week’s The Other Side is brought to you by: Lauren Roberts

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The Other Side with Fancy Lad Music's Fabian Halabou

After graduating from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications, Detroit native Fabian Halabou began to stitch together quite an impressive repertoire of career experience in the music industry. Once he had given publicity, promotion, booking, and journalism a whirl, Halabou set his sights on audio engineering. While working at various recording studios, he became an audio archivist and worked with Detroit Techno producer Carl Craig. It didn’t take long for Halabou to recognize that his strengths lie in music production and composition, so after touring as the guitarist of The Silent Years and putting out a record with a couple friends under the moniker Sea of Japan, the idea to start a local music production company began to hatch. In 2008, with the help of Sea of Japan band mate Brian Berryman, Fancy Lad Music was born and the music house has been specializing in the planning, creation, and production of original music to supplement the creative endeavors of their clients ever since.

Green Light Go was able to catch up with Fancy Lad Music’s Fabian Halabou during a guest DJ set in Ferndale, Michigan to find out what it’s like to be on the other side:

What exactly is Fancy Lad and what is your role there?

Fancy Lad Music is an outlet for Brian and I to create original music compositions for the purpose of selling songs to advertising, TV and film companies. Fancy Lad was born from our strengths; Brian and I found that we were good at creating cool little chunks of songs and it seemed obvious that this was the route we needed to take [with our musical careers]. Our collective role is to write and record the music, as well as network and make connections with people who would benefit from our services.

Do you produce the Fancy Lad Music in an in-house studio or do you create your tracks elsewhere?

We record at home a lot, because Brian and I have recording setups in our houses, but we also have friends who have studios and we’ve been able to use those when we do a bigger production. So, we have a few places at our disposal.

Does Fancy Lad also work with local or independent musicians?

Our focus now is to build our client base and a little bit of savings, so we can eventually open our own studio and grow from there. Working with independent bands in some capacity is something that has been in the back of my mind since we started Fancy Lad. We’re definitely open to the idea of working with bands in the coming year, whether it’s to try and get them licensed, or do something else. Currently, we’re reevaluating what we’re doing and what we’re going to do [with the company].

What clients are you currently working with?

Recently, we composed the music for the trailer of a documentary film called Lemonade Detroit, which is being made by Eric Proulx. Eric used to be a copywriter who worked in advertising in Boston for a long time. After he was laid off from his job, he created a website called Please Feed the Animals, which is a blog and job posting site for displaced advertisers. Through that, Eric ended up meeting people who had really interesting stories. He decided to make a documentary called Lemonade, which is about people who used to work in advertising, but got laid off and had to reinvent themselves. Through screening Lemonade across the country, Eric came to Detroit and realized that the movie he made was sort of a microcosm of what was happening here in the city. So, Lemonade Detroit will be a sequel to Lemonade.

Fancy Lad will create the score for the film and provide music supervision. Eric Proulx wants all of the talent to come from Detroit, from the filmmakers and crew to post-production, so we’ll be working with Detroit bands to see where their music might fit into this project.

Lemonade: Detroit Trailer from Erik Proulx on Vimeo.

Another thing we just got tapped to do is a Detroit Auto Show TV spot, so we’ll be writing the music for that.

What does Fancy Lad have in the works for the future?

I have always wanted Fancy Lad to be more than a music house. We want to include anyone from around town who we feel is talented. So, whether I team up with a friend to co-write a song for a Macy’s commercial, find [independent] musicians to put music on a Fancy Lad imprint, or even work on remix projects, we can find ways to do more than write “jingles.”

What are you listening to these days?

Tonight I’m spinning a lot of 50’s and 60’s rock and some soul, since we decided to play 45s exclusively. As far as music that came out recently, I dig a bunch of stuff like the Local Natives record, but I’m really trying to reacquaint myself with older music that has passed me by. Sam Cooke will always be my favorite singer and I like a lot of old soul. I’ve been getting back into hip-hop a little bit too, so I’m listening to stuff I haven’t heard in a long time. I love everything that Rza produced in the mid-90’s, [he used] the dirtiest drum sounds I’ve ever heard. Nobody tries to do that anymore. I’ve also been listening to a lot of instrumental hip-hop too, like DJ Shadow and a lot of records that were put out on Ninja Tune.

The Other Side highlights the talented folks behind the scenes of the music we listen to. The Other Side features producers, engineers, booking agents, photographers, radio DJs, management teams, and label representatives.

This week’s The Other Side is brought to you by: Lauren Mercury Roberts

Photo Credit: Josh Band

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The Other Side with UHF's Scotty Hagen

After many weekend trips from Essexville, Michigan to Detroit to visit record shops and see live music, it was only a matter of time before Scotty Hagen made the Motor City his new home. Hagen crash landed in Ferndale in the late 90’s. By 2002, he tuned up his bass, teamed up with Stevie Michael on vocals, and put together the Grande Nationals, who after a few line-up changes are back in the studio to finish their latest album, which is set to be released on Hagen's own record label, Bellyache Records, in January 2011. As an avid record collector, Scotty Hagen spent much of his free time in record stores, which eventually lead to a management position at Rock-a-Billy’s in Utica. After spending five years as an independent record store manager, he moved up to the corporate world to work for Borders’ music department in 2004. Last winter, when Lost and Found Vintage’s Tommy Dorr and former record store owner Jeff Bubeck approached Hagen with the idea to open an all-vinyl independent record store in Royal Oak, Michigan, he jumped at the opportunity to become the UHF general manager. On September 11, 2010, the doors of UHF opened for business next to Lost and Found Vintage on Washington Street and the local vinyl shop has been thriving ever since.

Green Light Go was able to catch up with UHF’s Scotty Hagen (who is pictured to the right of UHF owners Jeff Bubeck and Tommy Dorr) in between helping customers and pricing records to find out what it’s like to be on the other side:

Green Light Go: UHF has a ton of used vinyl, where do you get the inventory?

Scotty Hagen: The records mainly come from a number of connections around town. Jeff (Bubeck) has been hunting for people selling record collections for years, so a lot of the UHF records were stockpiled in storage units before the store opened. When Jeff was trying to persuade me to work for him, he took me over to the storage units in Fraser, MI. I took one look and thought, “Oh my God!” I spent hours looking through crates of crazy records that I had heard of, but had never seen in person before. UHF carries many new releases by independent bands and labels, but we have repressed vinyl as well. [Our customers] are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of rare and "hard to find" records we have.

GLG: Are UHF customers able to buy records online as well?

SH: We have an eBay store, but that is temporary until we have our website up. Right now, we only have a domain, which is uhfmusic.com. Soon, customers will be able to buy records from our website as well as in the store. Every day we are chipping away at something else.

GLG: With so many record stores closing in Detroit, what made you take the plunge and open a new record store?

SH: Well, opening a record store is always a gamble, but location is key. Royal Oak has always been one of the only window shopping cities in the Metro Detroit area. We get so many people coming into the store that are just walking by, because we’re in an ideal location and we’re next door to Lost and Found. The businesses go hand in hand.

GLG: We’ve heard you also get a number of celebrity window shoppers, like Glenn Danzig?

SH: Yeah, he just popped in! Danzig was playing at the Royal Oak Music Theater, so Steve Zing (Danzig’s bassist) was in here first. Steve was looking around the store, he saw our Elvis records and said, “I have to call Glenn and let him know there are tons of Elvis Presley records here.” I am sitting in UHF thinking, “Is he calling Danzig?!” Sure enough, 20 minutes later, Glenn Danzig walked through the door. It was crazy, he was super cool. Danzig posed for pictures with us, bought some records, and took a few of our business cards.

A few weeks before that, Paul Simonon and Mick Jones from The Clash dropped in. We have only been open for two months and we’ve had all of these punk rock gods in the store…it’s really cool. We’re hoping that UHF will become a destination, because [touring bands] are always telling us that when they’re on the road, it's difficult to find record stores to shop at.

GLG: I know you’ve started to host in-store performances recently, so when are those scheduled and how might an independent artist go about booking a show at UHF?

SH: So far we are doing an in-store every Saturday at 4pm through the winter. We’ve been scheduling the in-stores at 4pm because it has been a peak shopping time for us. We had The Wall Clocks in last weekend and right before the band started playing, we had [a surge of] people pour into the store and start shopping. If a band would like to do an in-store at UHF, they can contact me at the store by calling (248) 545-5955. We’d prefer that the band has an album to promote, so when people come in to see the band, they have something to take home with them.

GLG: Can local or independent bands sell their records in the store?

SH: Absolutely, we have a consignment program. We let the band pick the price and we’ll set up an 80/20 split. Since I play in bands, I know how tough it is to make the money back [that is spent on recording]. Many record stores offer a 70/30 split, but we want to be fair and do a good thing for [local and independent] bands, so we stick with 80/20.

GLG: Since you work in a record store, I’m sure you get this question all of the time, but what have you been listening to lately?

SH: Everything! I really like the new stuff on Jack White’s label, Third Man Records, especially the new Greenhorns album, Four Stars. I am really into the 5,6,7,8’s reissue, re-press stuff like Blues Magoos and The Lollipop Shoppe, and I'm forever listening to The Monkees and Alice Cooper. I always look for weird records to put on in the store, like the Dick Hyman album, The Age of Electronicus, which is a compilation of Beatles’ songs and other covers played on a Moog synth.

The Other Side highlights the talented folks behind the scenes of the music we listen to. The Other Side features producers, engineers, booking agents, photographers, radio DJs, management teams, and label representatives.

This week’s The Other Side is brought to you by: Lauren Roberts

UHF Staff Photo Credit: Jeremy Carroll

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The Other Side with the Agent Bishop Booking Agency

Originally, from Connecticut, the black hole for tours between New York City and Boston, Agent Bishop Booking Agency’s “Agent Bishop” moved to Boston in 2003 to attend Northeastern University and kick start his career in the music industry. While attending college, Agent Bishop bought himself a bass starter kit. Within 5 months, he knew he’d make more money selling the instrument than playing it, so he set his sights on booking instead. He explains, “I started booking national tours, then switched to [booking] locally, before settling on Boston alone.” Although they work with a number of venues in town, such as Harper’s Ferry and Great Scott, the Agent Bishop Booking Agency tends to book regularly at Café 939 and Church of Boston. Since he started his booking career, 75% of Agent Bishop’s concerts have either sold out or have had at least 200 people in attendance. This kind of track record has caused a number of publications to take notice, including The Weekly Dig, The Metro, Boston Band Crush, and Ryan’s Smashing Life, who have written up previews or reviews of Agent Bishop’s shows.

Agent Bishop managed to squeeze in a little time in between booking and promoting Boston’s finest bands, including This Blue Heaven, Sarah RabDAU, and Green Light Go’s own Neutral Uke Hotel and The Motion Sick, to tell us what it’s like to be on the other side:

Green Light Go: What is the day-to-day like as a booking agent?

Agent Bishop: I’ve taken a different approach to booking. I book one show a month, that’s it. I feel that bookers in the Boston area spread themselves too thin; they just grab bands and throw them together to [make a profit]. That may work at first, and the venues may love it, but how does that help the scene [evolve]?

I plan my shows months in advance. I pick bands that I would want to see together, bands that can help the club grow, bands I can learn from, and bands that will cause fans to say, “I can’t miss this show!” With a month to plan I can properly devote my time to promotion and marketing. What I’ve learned is that the more time I give press, the more likely I am to get coverage.

I send out my press releases and posters three weeks before a show and I’ll usually follow up via email (or personally) within a week or two of the shows. A personal touch has worked well for me. Whether a press contact gives the show coverage or not, they are on the list…that is my general rule.

GLG: Since Agent Bishop is based in Boston, is that your central market in terms of booking, or do you book national or international shows as well?

AB: I’ve had my taste of booking nationally and I’ve even managed tours while travelling internationally, but I’ve come to the conclusion that I should target a local scene. Boston is a growing market and I want Boston to be a target stop for agencies. I believe that it’s the market’s responsibility to build that confidence.

GLG: What are some of the most noteworthy artists you are currently working with or you've worked with in the past?

AB: Over the years I’ve worked with Jason Mraz, Head Automatica, O.A.R., My Chemical Romance, and The Futureheads, in terms of promotion and marketing. In terms of booking, I’ve worked with nationally touring acts HUMANWINE, Inoia, (Green Light Go's) The Motion Sick and Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling, and I even did a stint with The Warped Tour.

GLG: What is the best piece of advice you’d give a band that thinks they are ready to head out on the road for a tour?

AB: First, expect to lose money. Tours are money pits. Between renting a car and buying gas, food, and alcohol (we all know that’s part of the equation), a band has to expect to pay what they would for a vacation. A tour is just a vacation that requires you to work. With that in mind, don’t be afraid to ask friends, family, venues, or fans for a place to stay. If you want to save money, look for that third cousin, aunt, or college roommate you barely speak to anymore. Also, when negotiating shows, see if the venue is willing to put you up as part of the deal. Often times, booking agents are more than happy to offer you a place to crash. The same goes for fans.

A band also needs to map their route carefully, put in the work to promote their own shows, bring enough merch, and LOCK THE VAN! I can’t tell you how many of my colleagues have gone on tour and have had their gear stolen. Also, be aware of health coverage. Some bands have members with full-time jobs, but most don’t. If you’re injured on the road and don’t have coverage, that can be the end of the tour and the beginning of years of debt. There are websites designed to help musicians without health care, like Rock For Health, so read them.

Finally, document as much as you can. Every band expects to make it big, so packing up the van and hitting the road is the first step to realizing that dream. In the age where social media rules, fans want to experience life on the road along with the band (after all, they’re stuck behind a desk while you're out living the dream, right?). If a fan can relate to you, they’ll want to support you.

GLG: What is the best thing about booking shows? What challenges do you face as a booking agent?

AB: The best thing is seeing a show sell out, because that means I did my research and followed my instincts. When you believe in something strongly, the results will follow.

Even if a show hasn’t sold out, if I can look around the room and see people smile, or talk to someone afterward and hear them say, “That was an amazing show,” I go home happy. I also want to note that one of the reasons why I love booking all ages shows is because parents bring their kids. Kids have no inhibitions and they’re just as happy watching a show as they are running around in a circles dancing or pretending to be a ballerina. I could have 30 people at a show, and if I saw a group of kids loving the music they are listening to, I leave with a smile.

One of the challenges is finding the right mix of bands. I look for bands that people haven’t seen on stage together before, or bands that will make the fan look at the bill and say, “Wow, why hasn’t anyone put these guys together?!” The whole reason I started booking was because I thought clubs didn’t know who to put on a bill. It’s a delicate balance to find bands that fit together, but don’t sound exactly the same. When I can find that balance, everyone wins.

GLG: In addition to the bands you are working with, what current albums have you been listening to lately?

AB: I’ve been listening to Hey Marseilles’ To Travels and Trunks, Good Old War’s Only Way To Be Alone, Kingsley Flood’s Dust Windows, Aloud’s Exile, and Apollo Run’s Here Be Dragons. Volume 1.

The Other Side highlights the talented folks behind the scenes of the music we listen to. The Other Side features producers, engineers, booking agents, photographers, radio DJs, management teams, and label representatives.

This week’s The Other Side is brought to you by: Lauren Roberts

Click Here to Read More..