Steve Nimmo (Aus)

Steve Nimmo (Aus)

With so many great bands coming from Australia, it was really a shame that I do not have more poster artists from there on the blog. This is what I was thinking about while roaming on Gigposters.com when suddenly my eyes felt on a perfect black and white Buddah. I definitly had to know more about this guy behind it. You can imagine how happy i've been when I discovered the guy was from Australia, and that he did not only draw this poster but a bunch of other killer ones also. I let you appreciate.... 


Hello, of course as every Crewk interview, first question: what are we listening to when we come to visit you?

 Lots of RZA, lots of Mike Patton and his Ipecac label, lots of the Gaslamp Killer and Low End Theory. Great Australian bands I listen to include Sexface, The Yard Apes, and Them 9s. LOUD!! Those three bands in particular I recommend people check out next time their feeling really shitty about a Design and geeking out over their minus 250pt kerning.

  Can you tell us more about yourself, who are you, where are you from, what do you do?

Im a 35 year old, mildly irritated/irritating, self employed Designer located in Ballarat, Australia. Ballarat is a lovely place. Its a bit over an hour north of Melbourne, but still has all the benefits of a capital city. Crackheads. Homeless People. Good Cafes.

    When did you start drawing?

Apparently when I was about 7 I drew a penis on my brother because he didnt have one. He still hasnt got one.

    Did you follow any course or did you improve by drawing in the margins of your schoolbooks?

I completed a Design and Multimedia degree with Honors at the University of Ballarat in 2011. It was Great. I disregarded almost everything that was said to me, and met a lot of amazing people.

    Today are you living from your art, or do you do something else for a living ?

The first one I think. I don't really work for FREE anymore...   Right now I'm working solo on the three biggest jobs Ive undertaken. None of them are really music related (well one totally is), but they each came as a result of someone digging a Poster. All pay well and Ive been given pretty much complete creative freedom, which is something a lot of designers don't get to experience, so I feel pretty lucky about that. Ive got a shitload of work ahead of me which interferes with my quest to set a retro video game world record. But Fuck It.

    Are you collaborating with magazines/fanzines, regularly?

I'm aware of some great ones around but I haven't taken the step of contacting them.  Cos I cant be fucked basically. If someone goes to the trouble of tracking me down Ill submit something for sure. Maybe. Many moons ago a good friend Adrian McNulty and I regularly published our own fanzine called 'The Throbbing Continuum O' Dirge'. It was wildly popular over here and actually won the 'Best Social Commentary' Gong at the 2006 GTV9 Logie Awards. True Story. Ill send you some copies. I haven't seen Adrian for a long time. Last I heard he was a Pilates Instructor. He never cut the Ponytail apparently. Strange World.

    Where does your influence come from? Is there any artists/graphists you particularly like, what are your influences?

Banksy, Fairey and Kozik. In no particular order. ToddSlater's posters are sick. So are Ken Taylor's and Rhys Cooper's (both Australian). All the early Disney, Hanna Barbara and Japanese stuff. Also the guy who drew the Spy vs Spy comics. He was a real Russian Spy apparently who defected to the United States. Sneaky Fuck. Rad comics though.

    What are the principal steps in your work ?

Clean my work area spotless. Do every chore imaginable. Go junk shopping. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Both Email Addresses. Anything I can to avoid starting. I stare at the screen for a fair bit blankly. Then I eventually start, and drink lots of Coffee while trying not to think of Cigarettes until I reach a point where I'm equal parts happy and sickened with the way things look. And then its finished. And then I change it about 10 times.

    Do you do everything by hand or on computer?

All the design work is on the computer. I know analog work is important to a lot of people, but I aint one of them. More and more my Wacom is getting a run, both with illustration and typography. I am also a big fan of appropriating images. I think Digging through a pile of old books and finding a sick image is the same sort of thrill a DJ digging through a crate of records for an unheard break gets. Awesome fun. I just spent a day with my scanner in a friends second hand bookstore and seriously, it was like fucking Disneyland. If said Land is actually any good...  Which I imagine it is not... But it might be...

    How long does it take you to do a poster?

I could smash one out in 4 hours if i never had to see it again. But I would prefer 20.

    You have a very distinctive style, are you doing only what you feel like or if tomorrow somebody asks you an oil painting with horses running out of water with a sunset backdrop, is it a problem or are you up for it ?

Im up for a compromise I guess, these days it seems more and more people leave it entirely up to me. That said one of the most recent posters i did was for an artist who supplied an image of herself. It was a great image which helped immensely, I just wouldnt want to work like that ALL the time. I really dig the finished piece, even if she did look a bit like a Scarecrow...  I hope we work together again.

    For which band have you already worked for?

So far mostly Australian ones. I lost track after 50 posters. Im lucky to be involved with a great music scene. I just recently picked up my first overseas clients who are LA punk bands, so Im pretty excited about that. But no more excited than the bands I already work with regularly.

    For which band would you love to work?

One Day As A Lion springs to mind.

    Do you choose the artists yourself?

Pretty Much, but its more chicken and the egg than that.

    What is the most difficult part in designing a poster ?

Deciding what music to listen to and which muse to work for.

    Do you think you are part of a "Graphic Scene", if so who else ?


Not in the real world. Its pretty nomadic. And It seems a lot of talented people i know become pretty guarded when talking about what they are actually good at. It goes without saying Designers and Musicians are fucking weirdos, but Fuck It, talk yourself up a bit. Whoever you are. Its actually Healthy.
 
    A bit of self-promotion, take advantage of it, it's free, where can we see your work , on the web or in real life?

We just pasted a couple of hundred posters up in Smith St, Melbourne last weekend... But Gigposters.com for a little while yet is still the best place. My websites built and sitting offline until I finish a couple of these bigger jobs...

    The best praise you received lately?

6 fucking times!?!

    What can we wish you for the future?

More Posters. Ill have my Screenprinting business up and running this year. Ive also got my first Solo Exhibition in October at this rockin little venue 'Cafe Muzyka' in Ballarat. After that Ive just blocked my diary in with fifty or so years of more of the same...

Peace

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