By Jeff Kollath

This interview will be the first in a series featuring gig poster artists both from the Madison area and throughout this fine country of ours. Our first subject is Marq Spusta, who currently resides in Three Rivers, California. A native of Waunakee and a graduate of UW-Stout with a degree in Art, Marq has been an artist since he was in elementary school, and has become one of the more popular poster artists on the West Coast. Earlier this month, Marq reintroduced himself to Madison audiences with a poster for the Dinosaur Jr. show at the Majestic Theatre. Drawing heavily on influences from both the natural and supernatural world, Marq’s incredibly unique designs have become highly sought after collectibles both at shows and in the online market.

1. While you have been well-known among West Coast music fans and poster collectors, and gaining a strong foothold in the online world too, folks in Madison probably don’t know that much about you and your artwork. How did you get into doing poster and album artwork? What was the first poster you’ve ever done? What bands have you designed artwork for?

Well maybe a few folks in Madison still vaguely remember my artwork. It’s actually where I started my post-graduate (UW-Stout) lifestyle of a freewheeling (unemployed) artist/designer. I had a good couple years there doing graphic design, a few illustration gigs and a lot of painting. Some of  those early gigs included the logo for 92.1 The Mic (Madison’s Progressive Talk), an Isthmus cover, some local band stuff and exhibiting my paintings and prints in the coffee shops and other venues around town (Art Beat Gallery, Espresso Royale, Cafe Montmartre, Che’s Lounge) as well as a lot of Burning Artist Co-op group shows up in Minneapolis/St.Paul.

Since moving out West I’ve been able work with more and more bands creating gig posters, album covers, merchandise and even a few concert backdrops. The first well-known band to give me a shot were The Black Crowes. So with the Crowes, I created my first concert poster, shirt, concert stage and album packaging. They had always been one of my favorites, so the opportunity to work with them blew my mind open to the possibilities of what I could do, and who I could work with. Since then, some of the other bands I’ve done art for are Dinosaur Jr., Widespread Panic, Tom Petty, Ben Harper, The Roots, Paolo Nutini, Jamie Saft, Moe. and My Morning Jacket.

2. Who are some of your influences? Have you worked with or met some of the great classic poster artists like Stanley Mouse and Rick Griffin?

I was part of the Festival of Rock Posters in San Francisco a few weekends ago and my booth was facing Stanley Mouse’s booth all day, and then ended up singing happy birthday to him that night – he’s 69 I believe. But yeah, Mouse and Kelley are the godfathers, ridiculously talented and iconic. Griffin is a big influence, his imagery and fluid technique make my eyeballs drool. Some other legends I get excited about are Norman Orr, Greg Irons, album artist Mati Klarwien. Of course there are many amazing artists kicking out posters and graphics right now too, but it would be hard to keep that list short. My work appears to be heavily influenced by artist’s I grew up with too, like Jim Henson and Dr. Seuss.

3. A lot of what you do involves animals, birds, fish, plants, and the like, plus a bevy of Spusta original characters. Where do you find the inspiration for your artwork? Does the music of the artist provide the necessary creative push, or do you seek it elsewhere?

When I’m creating artwork for a band, I start with their music and their established visual associations. It’s almost a ritual for me that I listen to their music while I sketch out ideas – I’m always bugging bands to send me all their music. I’m not sure how it translates exactly, but I take everything in, let it brew and spit out drawings inspired by the music and vibe.

I live on a few acres in the California foothills right now, and nature is my environment. For the past 3 years I’ve probably seen a lot more quail, lizards, vultures, hawks, rattlesnakes and tarantulas than I’ve seen humans. Much of my youth was spent waist deep in the lakes and ponds of Wisconsin. I’m forever fascinated by nature and I see it as the encompassing source of infinite creativity. Nature is just filled with characters. The characters spill out of me with ease, they have just slowly been developing from the first characters I was drawing as a 3 year old.

4. So many of your posters are so intricate and detailed as far as design, color, and layout. Can you describe your process for us – how much of it is done by hand, how much is done via PC, and what is the printing process like? Are all your posters hand-pulled?

My process starts with some very loose sketches. Then I complete a few sketches to show to the band to make sure they like my direction. The final art for the poster is then brushed with ink and/or paint on bristol paper. I scan the linework into the computer and then start to color different channels in photoshop with a big Wacom tablet. The channels represent each layer of color that will be screen printed if that’s the method of production for a particular piece. I’d say it’s about a 70/30 split in terms of hand vs compute. Then I send that file to my printer, Monolith Press, who makes it all a reality for me. I think hand-pulling editions of 300-some posters for me would hurt some shoulders, so there is an automatic press that they operate.

5. The Dinosaur Jr. poster you did for the Majestic show is one of my favorite pieces. All the characters you drew for the Farm album and subsequent tour are all pretty remarkable. Tell us how you got hooked up with the band and ended doing the artwork.

Ahh thanks, it’s nice to hear you like that one. Yeah, that poster references all the album artwork (”Farm” and the subsequent 7″ singles) I’ve done for the band, while adding new characters to the mix. I had been in touch with Brian at Bleemusic in Boulder, CO for a few years. We had talked about doing work with some of the bands he managed, but nothing ever really panned out. Then one day he drops the new Dino album cover opportunity on me. They actually had found a rough sketch of imagery on my website, so we developed it to fit the band. It was a rather quick project actually, but very exciting, I knew it would get seen by lots of people.

6. What has it been like to work with J. Mascis? I’m sure he was one of the more interesting folks you’ve ever dealt with. Did he give you any kind of artistic direction? Do most artists give you any feedback or do they just tell you to “have at it?” Or, do you usually just work with the band’s marketing and merch people?

J was certainly interesting to work with, even though we never actually spoke directly to one another. He seemed into most everything I did, In general J’s art direction was “more characters.” But there were also elements he was particular about. We went through about 20 different versions for title “Farm” to look, and in the end went with one of the earliest versions.

There isn’t really a typical way my projects are art directed, and usually I’m just rolling out fresh ideas for them to check out. There’s usually one band member who is really into it, and they’ll communicate in tandem with a manager or something. When I do get the chance to drive to the city and catch the bands live, we’ll usually chat about the art briefly backstage. Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes is one that has lots of weird ideas, and about half of the art I’ve done are concepts he envisioned.

7. The concert poster business is growing at a rapid rate – nearly every show I’ve been to this year has a show-specific poster done by the band or by a local artist. Why do you think we are seeing so a growth in popularity, or has it always been there? Do you think this upswing will continue, or will it eventually fall off? You do a lot of online business for your posters and other artwork – what kind of feedback are you getting from collectors? Are they purchasing posters for the band or for your artwork/design?

I’m not exactly sure why we are seeing such a rise in poster art now.  The internet is a huge part of it, a lot more people see these posters online than at the show or on the streets. Another factor is the changing music biz. Some of the money people aren’t spending on CDs are spilling into concert and merch sales.

The merging of visual art and music seems like such a perfect union, and in my experience it has been. So I see gig poster art as a vital component to the traveling music scene. The bands are getting huge promotion and hopefully some profits from it, while expanding upon their legacy. I’ve gotten into many bands because their posters looked so cool, that I knew the music had to be. The the artists I know doing it are having a ball, eager to create for that band they dig, regardless of how popular they may be. It seems like a Win-win-win to me.

The collector’s are great, and seem to be growing in numbers. For the most part the gig posters provide affordable artwork to people while possibly also celebrating their musical tastes and even memories from concerts. I’ve been doing more and more art prints without band info, and those have gone over really well too, so it’s nice that the gig poster community easily spills over into the art collector community as well.

Bands who you would love to design a poster or album sleeve for…

1. Neil Young – Even though my usual style doesn’t seem like an obvious fit – I’d stretch to make something very Neil.
2. Ween – It would just be a lot of fun to do.
3. Lee Perry – I’m not sure how good he is live these days, but the dude is mad genius in my opinion and I’d be honored to add some weird, spaced out art to his legacy.

Top 3 records currently in your queue…

1. Six Organs of Admittance – Luminous Night
2. Espers – III
Both 1 & 2 were delivered the other day from the label Drag City Records, and they are both gorgeous, timeless gems. Eyvind Kang is a brilliant violinist that I really dig and he play a bunch on the new Six Organs for an amazing sonic depth.
3. Black Crowes – Before the Frost…Until the Freeze

Top 3 artists or bands we all should be listening to…

I saw this band Sleepy Sun recently, curious because Alan Forbes had done some killer art for them. Holy shit they blew me away, they were the little perfect psychedelic rock show that could. I’ve also been digging the Weird Owl debut on TeePee records. And everyone should probably listen to Hall and Oates a little more, especially Abandoned Luncheonette.

Top 3 concets you’ve seen this year…

Sleepy Sun, J.J. Cale, John Zorn – Dreamers & O’ o performances at Yoshi’s in Oakland.

Top 3 things you miss about Madison and Wisconsin…

The people and fattening foods. Biking around town, especially at night. Mad City Music Exchange, that store has been so good to my record collection. When I was in town, everything I wanted eventually showed up for about $5.

Website: www.marqspusta.com