INTERVIEW: SKULL WITH HAIR!

Recently I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Skull With Hair, graphic designer extraordinaire. This dude rules; the perfect combination of skilled art and moral depravity. We started the interview off by discussing his affinity for sweatpants and how to wear them, but we figure it was too punk for y’alls. Check it out.




How awesome would it be if the entire interview was just on sweatpants.

It would still be better than most interviews


Recently you have spent some time in front of a camera, with your appearance on Law & Order SVU and a Cobra Starship video, how did these come about and is it something you will continue to pursue?


Yeah those were sort of separate things. I did the Cobra video for $1 (thats actually what they gave us hah) because I am friends with the band and they asked me to come be an extra in it. Prior to that I hadn’t even given it a thought.


Then, after living in NYC for a little while, a good friend of mine who is an actual up and coming actor/comedian gave me a heads up that a lot of castings come up for like long haired, tattooed, scummy looking assholes and he thought I’d be perfect for them. So I submitted to a few things and the first real one that called me back was Law & Order to be a “perp” in the squadroom. Which I am pretty sure means I touched some little boys or raped somebody. That went well (except for being edited out of the final cut) and I got cast for a few other things like the Jay Z video for “Run This Town,” a couple TV shows, and this stupid Drew Berrymore movie that comes out next year. It is really crappy work until you get in the union, but it is still fun meeting all these weirdos you see on TV and eating the catering.


That must be an awesome feeling to be involved in two parts of the artistic community and see the behind the scenes aspect of both.





In a previous interview with Godmachine I touched on the use of twitter. Your use/posts is the polar opposite of what he is does yet is equally intriguing and funny. Do you view this new social networking site as something you can use to spread your work or is it mostly a tool to let the world know about your bodily funcitons?


Hah yeah, GM is a pretty stoic dude as far as I know and I love that about him.  I just can’t even pretend to be that serious most of the time. I admittedly fucking hated twitter when it came out (I still don’t have a facebook page or a personal myspace) but I eventually warmed up to the idea when I realized i could talk shit, literally. I almost exclusively check twitter when i am crapping so that is why it is about 50% of what i talk about. I view twitter as a sort of doo-doo chat room if you will.


Righteous, well put. Being a habitual line stepper, has there ever been a situation that you looked back on and went “holy shit, I made/said/did this” and questioned it? what is your personal finest moment in pissing someone off through your art or beliefs?


Ok well I drink, a lot, so there have been many times where I have looked back at things I have said or done and face palmed myself. As far as my “art” goes (if you want to call it that) not yet. I feel as though I am in a perpetual state of playing catch up since I started doing design full time a little over three years ago. I haven’t really had any time to do personal work. That is still probably the one thing that bothers me most about what I do. I have some pretty revolting stuff floating around in my head and until I get the time put together a proper art show I will continue to feel uneasy about my shit as a whole. I kinda feel like I am hiding something in a way.





That is a very introspective way to look at your projects. This touches on my next question, what do you feel your greatest strengths and weaknesses are in terms of both the art and ideas that you come up with? Does hiding/holding back stuff hinder your progress to live up to your full potential ?


I think my biggest strength is probably my fascination with styles and cultures far outside of the average ones that I work within. I feel that I have a different point of view to bring to the table even if it is merely a t-shirt for a warped tour band. Most times clients want nothing to do with what I would think was cool (usually because they are too dull or too young to get it) but being the professional that I am, I work around my clients personal shortcomings and usually end up producing something that still looks alright in the end.





As for the hiding part holding me back? I am not really sure about that yet. On one hand I feel like putting my stuff out there and being viewed as a more legitimate “artist” could really help me and my company financially. Then i usually come back to realizing that when I finally get time to do stuff that is 100% me with no filter (think: incest, racism, religion, beastiality, ect.) it will probably turn a lot of people off and potentially hurt my image. So whenever I do finally get around to doing shit it will most likely be under a different moniker or at least somehow separated from our business.

Speaking of your business, Deal gave me a bit of insight of what you guys do over there but our audience has a short attention span. Explain to the readers what The Black Axe is and current projects, future goals, etc.

The Black Axe is a design firm that is comprised of Me, Horsebites, Derek Deal, Kevin Doom, & Joey Doom. Hands down working with these guys is what keeps me loving what I do. I can’t even imagine being on my own anymore, working with these dudes is just too fun. We are kind of a perfect fit in that we all have a similar vision, but different strengths that allow us to do tons of shit we could never do on our own. Fortunately we always are slammed with work (we do not take that for granted at all) so we are working on everything from album art to snowboards to completely crazy flash websites that make my brain hurt just thinking about. Tons of cool stuff will be coming from us by the end of the year (fingers crossed!) that I think people will really love.





Certainly a force to be reckoned with. List some of your musical/movie/extra curricular activities you like to take part in.

Musically, aside from the stuff that everyone loves (Beatles, Metallica, Misfits, ect) i draw a lot from 90’s hardcore (no not that Victory Records garbage). Bands like In/Humanity, Mohinder, Heroin, Born Against, Nation of Ulysses, Swing Kids, MK Ultra, Behead the Prophet, Union of Uranus, and so on. As for movies i am about 95% documentaries now a days, but favorite movie is still Karate Kid with Encino Man as a close second. Other than design I am pretty scattered as of late but I am a drummer, I used to build custom drums, screen print, drink beer, snob out on records, buy all the cool shit on ebay no one knows they want yet, watch Food Network and cook like a boss, and obsessively follow the greatest sporting franchise known to man… THE ORLANDO MAGIC!!!!!

Most excellent, some righteous bands in there. Having a rich musical background helps with different concepts and ideas I’m sure. You designed a recently sold out shirt for us that came out called “The Pizzagram.” How did this amazing idea come about and did the pie taste extra satanic based on its unique slicing pattern?





Wow yeah you have no idea how stoked I am on that thing. As you are aware i had actually been sitting on that photo for about a year and a half before we decided to do it up for Rockett. I would say in my mind that thing is a combination of two of my most favorite people. One being Anton Szandor LaVey and the other being Stefan Sagmeister. If you don’t know who either of those dudes are, google it and it will make sense. As for the ‘zza itself, I actually prefer chicago cut, light sauce. Its one of the pieces I am most proud of, just a simple concept executed to the best of my abilities.


Well put. That about wraps things up. You have the mic, sir. Any shout outs, fuck you’s, etc. its all yours!





I’d S the other Axe dudes D’s a little more, but I’ve done enough of that already. I’d just like to give a shout out to some amazing clients who’s business allows me to enjoy my life as much as I do. Christian over at Thunderwear for blowing my mind away with his awesome attitude and generosity as well as all the Cobra Starship dudes and their management for being incredibly loyal and fun to work with. I won’t get into the Fuck You’s, we’d be here all night. Lastly thanks to you personally for being hillarious and Rockett as a brand for being a beacon of hope in a vast sea of suckitude. later!

Check out SWH’s work:

THE BLACK AXE.


Xo,


Travis.