Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.
My name is Gage, I’m an illustrator and musician living in Philly. I do a lot of commissions for bands, draw stuff on paper, record music, and freak out intermittently. Oh and I play in a band called Fib with my best friends. When I’m not doing that I don’t really know what I do.. Ride my bicycle.

How were you introduced to the mediums that you work with?
Hmm. Basically just trial and error. and luck. Trying stuff out, hating it, going back to what I like, trying something else out, hating it, just that back and forth until I kinda whittled away the little pocket I like. A lot of it is accidental or happenstance. You start making stuff because your friend is, or you saw this movie, or you want to make a song just like that, or you want to get laid, or whatever, but you just pick something up one day and then boom you’re off. I started drawing in adulthood at like 20 to make some fliers for my band and looked up to my friend Nick Barnaby who made cool ones, then down the line i moved in with my current roommate and bandmember Sebastian Nicholson who is a phenomenal artist, and i was like damn, i wanna do that, and started drawing more in my free time because I was surrounded by this person who was putting me to shame. Then I was off and searching for what worked for me. If I’m being super direct about it, I love drawing on newsprint, all things faded, recording to tape, touching it with my hands, no screens, nothing harsh on the eyes or ears. I can’t say what events led me to that but I guess those are the broad strokes.

What kind of imagery are you drawn to?
I think I’m drawn to a lot of different imagery but what actually comes out onto the page is a hyper dense, to the edge kinda thing, where characters are almost popping like balloons. I think it’s just a natural reflection of how my brain works, just a “go go go go” stop. It’s maybe a reflection of how I set up my life and workspace, shoulder to shoulder, nose to nose.  It’s funny, I’ve never really thought about any of this like I am now. I’m rereading what I wrote and being like “Is that how it is?” “Is that how I feel? Whatever just keep writing haha”

The cityscapes and other scenes you depict are sometimes filled with forms or figures in every corner. Is there something that draws you to this density? Are there stories you want to tell in these scenes?
There’s never any intention at the start to create these jam packed scenes, if anything I’d like to practice more restraint in some of my drawings but I really think it’s a byproduct of how i approach illustration where I begin with something as simple as a building, a guy holding a radio, or a car, and then I force myself to make it make sense. I hate sitting and waiting and planning something out, I just wanna dive into it, so what you see is just me going fast and fluid trying to get it out and onto the page with little to no stress about what it’s going to look like in the end. Sometimes this style totally fails me and I begin something only to crumple the page minutes later and toss it to the trash, but screw it haha. I’ve started trying to force myself to use a pencil first so i can go back and hone in the madness but i think it’s important to practice both styles, all out madness flow state shit, and the patient take your time painterly approach. And to answer the last bit I think the story being told is always just a direct representation of myself at the time, the cityscapes or wall to wall illustrations just encapsulate the pinball overwhelmed bing bong ass brain i’ve got.

How did Fib come to be? What’s it been like playing in the band since then?
During covid Charlie and I were recording music in a project called Gimmick, which is how we initially started hanging out, and I don’t know exactly what steps led to Fib aside from Gimmick falling off and us just being bored. But we just started jamming in my basement coming up with these whacky ass tunes. Charlie is such a good drummer that I was basically throwing riffs at a wall and Charlie made them make sense. Once we had the core guitar and drums recorded to tape we just chipped away till we had a record. It was one of the more natural recording processes I’ve ever had. I think when you’re coming up with a new project/sound and you haven’t even played a gig yet, you’re completely free from the stress of it all, not trying to live up to expectation or trying to top the previous album. We thought it was a pretty decent EP so we started sending it off, and this lil label called Julia’s War picked it up and made us some tapes. Who would’ve known that because of this we’d essentially move to philly and begin an amazing friendship with Douglas Dulgarian. I cannot express how much gratitude I have for that man. He’s put us on more than any other person, I owe him deeply.

But dadada, if we’re talking now, I think Fib has changed and progressed tremendously. Although there’s less innocence to it now, I think we’re making better music than ever. The main reason being, the band is fully collaborative now. Since the first tape was just me and Charlie, all the songs were rigid. We essentially were just teaching our friends the riffs (logan, damien, and Nikhil) slowly everyone started feeding off each other and it turned into this much more epic thing. The most recent album “heavy lifting” is entirely collaborative, everyone wrote their own parts, and you can definitely hear the difference between the two albums. I will say that once a band has passed the 1st year mark everything gets more intense, you start thinking in terms of progression, better shows, better albums, more more more, and I think it’s a healthy thing, but at times I find myself taking it all too seriously. At the end of the day it’s supposed to be fun, and sometimes it’s not, there’s many aspects of being a modern musician that sucks, if you’re trying to make a name for yourself, or whatever. I wish we could just sit in a studio recording all the time, but that shit is expensive. The only way you make that money nowadays is by touring, aside from blowing up on tiktok or someshit, so it takes a lot of time, money, and energy to do this stuff consistently. I’m a bit of a curmudgeon, saying shit like “it’s not how it used to be” but at the end of the day, I’m grateful for all of it.

Does what you explore as a musician interact with what you explore as an artist, or do you view them as independent practices?
Hmm I don’t know if they interact? But the content and inspiration definitely come from a similar headspace, I always find myself writing or drawing when I feel isolated or lonely to some extent, sure there’s a more complex way to describe each actual feeling or intention behind each song or piece but yeah. I rarely pick up a pen or guitar when I’m feeling chipper, not that all my art comes from a place of sadness, but when I’m solid in myself I definitely have less to say. I do think one core thing that is different is I almost never approach an illustration with an end result in mind, it’s usually just one character or line the rest is like putting the puzzle together. With song writing I will for sure sit down with a feeling or idea and try to put it to words. Music can capture your current state of being like no other art form I’ve experienced. With an illustration I kinda realize what I was trying to say or convey after the piece is finished. Sometimes I look back at something a week later and go “oh thats what it was trying to say”

Is there a moment you look back on as being formative to your identity as an artist or as a musician?
Every single bad show I’ve played. Where you finish the set and the crowd’s eyes are glazed over and they give you that weak, dead fish kind of applause. God, that feeling is so brutal. I remember after one show in particular, playing a set, instantly walking out of the bar, opening my trunk and curling up in the back, rethinking my entire life. Those kind of moments make you want to give the fuck up, but if you don’t, there’s this crazy intense fire pushing you to write a good song. I think I’m fueled by that feeling. Screwing up so bad that you just wanna prove to yourself you can do it. BUT. As for another lighter, happier formative experience, one of my other projects, No Knuckle sorta active, sorta not, flew to LA from Portland to record at this immaculate studio called House of Tomothy. We practiced our asses off for three days then went to the studio for three and in a week we had a full fledged professional album. I had always self recorded stuff so it was my first experience like that. God damn did it feel good. We felt like pros, and had a good product to show for it. We were like a well oiled machine and knew exactly what we wanted. Maybe the record wasn’t super popular but we didn’t care, it felt good to set a goal and meet it. Especially with music, fuck me, sometimes it’s like moving a mountain. Write a good song, record it well, make a good cover, promote it even better, then play the songs live perfectly and constantly haha. Sheesh, music has so many formative moments. But those are two that stand out at the moment.

What is your experience like as an artist or as a musician in Philadelphia? How does it compare to your experience in Portland?
In Portland I don’t really think I knew what I wanted. My creative output was just making stuff to make it, without any real timeline or goal in mind, I had the buds of “oh this would be cool and oh i wanna make stuff like this” but when i got to philly my life absolutely imploded in a terrible and beautiful way. And on the other side of that I was woken up to what I really wanted. Also the art world here is bigger and more real to me. I know so many heads making so much good art that I’m always so inspired to try and keep up. I know that the same community lives and breathes Portland music and visuals but I think I just needed a metamorphosis without knowing it and the move really helped speed it up haha.

How does your creative community now compare to your creative community when you were younger?
The people I’m surrounded by now are my people, simple. When you’re young you kinda stumble upon some friends in high school who play the drums or draw, and you just start hanging, jamming, or collaborating. It’s all great and necessary, and if you’re lucky those are the folks who you collaborate with the rest of your life. For me though, once I had some years under my belt, I really started to know exactly what I liked and I started to seek out those with the same tastes. Now my closest collaborators and friends operate on the same wavelength and I don’t even have to say something out loud, they just feed off the energy and fill the pocket in the same way I was imagining.

What’s your current workspace like? Do you have any rituals when you settle in there?
In the photo I covered my desk with a bunch of finished artwork, but it’s not too far off from how it looks in the picture. Within a few minutes of beginning a piece my entire desk is covered in papers, scraps, pens, rolling tobacco and coffee. There’s no helping it haha. I do however surround the mess with everything I like, to the left cassette deck, record player, scanner, and to the right my little vhs tv. Not pictured is the rest of my room, every inch of wall space covered in art. At times I wish I were a minimalist but my room truly is a wall to wall ADD mess. To answer the second part, my ritual is ever changing but lately I’ve been listening to tons of director’s commentaries especially the john carpenter ones. It helps me tremendously to have some sort of background noise to get into a state of flow quicker. If I’m feeling especially fried I’ll smoke in my room late at night, usually listening to a tape. I’ll stare at a blank page until I get hit with some sort of urge, and if I don’t, eh there’s always tomorrow. The headspace I go to is usually an extreme all out freak fest page explosion, or literally not a thought on the mind till “poof” the page is full.

How do you manage tending to the variety of responsibilities in the work you do? How do you mitigate burnout or exhaustion?
I simply freak out all the time and annoy the hell out of my roommate until I crash and burn into a puddle where I watch copious amounts of movies. But for real doing commissions, personal work, recording, and trying to compile books has permanently left my shoulders tied to the back of my ears and I honestly don’t know how people do all this shit all day and night. We get the rose colored version of all these artists’ we look up to, especially nowadays. But even if you watch a documentary of an older artist you are left awestruck at just how the fuck they they kept making so much good quality work. It’s something I try to remind myself of is.. you aint them, so don’t try to be. Make your little songs and drawings whenever it is possible and when it’s not, cook a meal, ride your bike, watch a film, stare at the frickin wall, until it comes back to you then keep on. I think I naturally ebb and flow in this way, and I’m sure others have a healthier way of doing, but it’s been working for me, no matter what you’re gonna freak out about this stuff sometimes. Maybe that didn’t answer the question haha I don’t know. To tie a bow on it the best way to mitigate burnout is go outside, see your friends.

When needed, where do you look for inspiration? Have/how have these sources changed over time?
I think one unspoken inspiration for me and a lot of people comes from seeing other artists’ work. When I see or hear an amazing piece I get slammed back into my seat, totally enveloped in it, savoring every inch or sound, then I’m completely returned to reality with pure envy, which turns to this crazy desire to create something that could hold a candle to it, most of the time it doesn’t, but at least you made something haha. Sometimes you just need to see how shit you are to kick you in the ass. I think there’s lots of subconscious inspiration going on all the time that we just don’t realize, but that kinda hot blooded feeling of seeing or hearing something you wish you made is a real way to get you off your butt.

Are there any influences that are core to your work?
Hmm. I dunno… If we’re talking about other artists or musicians, I love James Ensor, Phillip Guston, Daniel Johnston, The Kinks, Robert Fripp, Brian Willson, Velvet Underground, This Heat. I could name names endlessly but more importantly than these are my friends. They all make such incredible work, auditory and visual. It is insane that I get to be surrounded by it at all times. As for overarching influence, it’s hard to say, when I’m creating art or music it’s more just a snapshot of my current state. Capturing that little feeling or moment is exactly what makes a good piece of art, I think. And what I look up to in an artist is exactly that, experiencing a piece and really understanding that snapshot of the artist’s feeling. I think records like We are the Village Green Preservation Society (the kinks), Transformer (lou reed), Ram (paul mccartney), or Evening Star (fripp and eno) really encapsulate what im saying and why i love them so much. And for visual examples, Ensor’s mask paintings, Francis Bacon’s “dying on the toilet” or literally any of Daniel Johnston’s illustrations, they all put you there and I love it. I think the honesty in the art really makes it resonate and influences me deeply.

 What do you collect?
Haha i collect everything, tchotchkes, records, vhs, cassettes, t shirts, prints, books, anything that resonates, anything that i can see myself reading or watching again and again. I wish I was one of those people who could sail through life with minimal objects and possessions but everywhere I go I end up amassing a little collection. If i had to get specific with what sorta things, these are my latest additions, Blood simple and Badlands on vhs that i got at this awesome record store in portland called strange maine, a limited run Vhs of my friends two recent graf films (awesome slice of life stuff comboed with incredible graffiti) a little porcelain cow for pouring creamer, copious amounts of beach boys cassettes, a let the power fall robert fripp cassette, a couple herman hesse books, Ubik by philip k dick, the new Wiring Cd. I could definitely keep going but you get it haha. I think it’s important for creators and artists to be collectors, at least to a small extent because if you’re not appreciating or putting your hands on people’s books, tapes or whatever, why should someone do the same for your stuff, I dunno, maybe some kind of karma thing. I’m prolly biased cause i like all this stuff so much.

 

Interviewed by Luca Lotruglio.