Mike's interview with his friend and mentor Wane COD. Recorded in Mike's studio in San Diego, California on October 13, 2020. Topics discussed include: Agree’s tutoring, Top 3 New York writers, Wane, Hims, Know, IGT, Can Control, Ghetto Art, Bomber, Hype, Albuquerque Aerosol, Huffer, studying zines, San Diego vacation, born in London, moved to North Bronx, early fascination with subway graffiti in 1978, Min, Spin, readability of graffiti writing, Vin and Rolieo TCS, racking, Kato, Dyan, age gap ...
Oct 26, 2020•1 hr 30 min
Part two of Giant's interview with his friend Joy Shannon. Recorded in Mike's studio in San Diego, California on July 5, 2020. Topics discussed include: Ed Hardy changing sanitation standards in tattooing, latex gloves, the Old Timer Splotch, tattooing in photo booth, re-using needles, Crown Needles, cartridge needles, loupe, fineline tattooing, carving and printing, support from her students, support from fans, apprenticeships, Nalla Smith, teaching, wardrobe, wig making, learning from Black gi...
Aug 08, 2020•49 min
Part one of Giant's interview with his friend Joy Shannon. Recorded in Mike's studio in San Diego, California on July 5, 2020. Topics discussed include: Culture magazine, art/music writing, offering a tattoo apprenticeship, growing up in Santa Ana, early years in Chicago, Irish bloodline, Celtic art, history of Celtic tattooing, tattooed mummies, Viking burials, personal tattoo tools, Ancient Ink, self-tattooing, continuing ancient traditions, The Audience Will Come To You, changes in how to ent...
Aug 08, 2020•57 min
Giant's interview with his old friend Tony Bonetti. Recorded at Tony's home in Sunnyvale, CA on Sunday, June 14, 2020. Topics discussed include: Ramon Altorre, tattoo trip to New Mexico, ultra violence, San Jose, the Tech Boom, initial links to the tattoo world, The Skullz Press storefront, being an excellent tattoo collector, Chris Trevino, “A Tattoo You Can Read from Across the Room”, the unwritten rules of tattooing, seasonal mistakes, “Suited”, Amuletic, tattoos as markers of life experience...
Jun 18, 2020•1 hr 18 min
Mike presents a guided meditation in the Vipassana tradition over a digital mix he made featuring tracks by Steve Roach. Recorded April 20, 2020 by DJ Artistic at Lower Left Studios in San Diego, California.
Apr 30, 2020•40 min
Mike presents a mix of jazz vinyl records featuring outstanding percussion. Recorded on Monday April 13, 2020 by DJ Artistic at the Lower Left Studio in San Diego, CA. Playlist: (Artist, Album, "Track Title”) Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Mosaic, “Mosaic” Max Roach, Bitter Sweet, “Mendacity” John Coltrane, The Africa brass Sessions - Vol. 2, “Africa” Buddy Rich, A Different Drummer, “Barney’s Bugle” Gene Krupa, Percussion King, “Valse Triste” Elvin Jones, Mr. Jones, “One’s Native Place” ...
Apr 24, 2020•39 min
Mike presents an eclectic mix of spoken word, choir, synths, soundtracks, dub and breaks. Recorded on Monday April 13, 2020 by DJ Artistic at the Lower Left Studio in San Diego, CA. Playlist: (Artist, Album, "Track Title”) DJ Rap, Proper Talent 001, “Get Under” LTJ Bukem, Suspended Space, “Suspended Space” Underground Crew, Jungle Warfare, “Melody Madness” Dark Soldier, Falling, “Falling” Loxy & Ink, Twisted 3rd Mind EP, “Skitzaphonic” Soundmurderer & SK-1, Rewind Records, “Badman" Adam-...
Apr 22, 2020•37 min
Mike presents an eclectic mix of spoken word, choir, synths, soundtracks, dub and breaks. Recorded on Monday April 6, 2020 by DJ Artistic at the Lower Left Studio in San Diego, CA. Playlist: (Artist, Album, "Track Title”) Philip Glass, Koyaanisqatsi, “Koyaanisqatsi" Nightmares on Wax, Smoker’s Delight, "Nights Introlude" Jean Michel Jarre, Oxygene, "Oxygene (Part I)" LTJ Bukem, Earth 12001, "Cosmic Interlude" Stranger Things soundtrack, “Hawkins" Fort Knox, The Foundations EP, "Got the Funk" Tom...
Apr 16, 2020•39 min
Mike presents an eclectic mix of spoken word, synths and breakbreat vinyl records. Recorded on Monday April 6, 2020 by DJ Artistic at the Lower Left Studio in San Diego, CA. Playlist: (Artist, Album, "Track Title”) Ice-T, The Iceberg, "Shut Up, Be Happy" (featuring Jello Biafra) Digital, Portica Recordings, “Clipper" Soundmurderer & SK-1, Rewind Records, "Search & Destroy" Tangerine Dream, Rubycon, "Part I" Massive Attack v Mad Professor, No Protection, "Radiation Ruling the Nation" Lemo...
Apr 15, 2020•34 min
Mike presents an eclectic mix of spoken word, synth and breakbeat vinyl records. Recorded on Monday April 6, 2020 by DJ Artistic at the Lower Left Studio in San Diego, CA. Playlist: (Artist, Album, "Track Title”) Yogananda, Chants and Prayers, "God, Christ, Gurus” Kitaro, Ki, “Sun” The Orb - Orbsessions Volume Two, “Shem Version” Sixtoo, Antagonist Survival Kit Instrumentals, “Amphitheatre" Steven Halpern, Eastern Peace, “Ming Garden Courtyard” Audio Pharmacy, Prophecies, “Prophecies” Jean-Paul ...
Apr 13, 2020•27 min
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, marr...
Feb 20, 2020•1 hr 19 min
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
Feb 10, 2020•54 min
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,...
Oct 28, 2019•1 hr 29 min
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 ...
Oct 22, 2019•1 hr 30 min
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 m...
Oct 18, 2019•1 hr 30 min
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, g...
Jul 12, 2019•1 hr 30 min
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, t...
Jul 05, 2019•1 hr 29 min
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 sce...
Jul 02, 2019•1 hr 25 min
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 caree...
May 16, 2019•1 hr 22 min
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, Chuc...
May 02, 2019•1 hr 30 min
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 f...
Mar 31, 2019•1 hr 29 min
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...
Mar 15, 2019•1 hr 30 min
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, be...
Feb 17, 2019•1 hr 8 min
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 evoluti...
Feb 17, 2019•1 hr 5 min
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 Vitel...
Feb 02, 2019•1 hr 1 min
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.
Feb 02, 2019•1 hr 1 min
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, bac...
Jan 09, 2019•1 hr 26 min
Mike interviews Nani Chacon, a fine artist and muralist based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Recorded in her studio on December 14, 2018.
Jan 01, 2019•1 hr 32 min
Mike interviews JP Rodman, custom painter and fabricator based in Raton, New Mexico. Recorded in JP's showroom on December 12, 2018.
Dec 18, 2018•57 min
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.
Dec 08, 2018•1 hr 20 min
