"the tension between the blissfully sacred and the horrifically profane"
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"themes of sin and redemption, heaven and hell, good and evil"
Graphic Design (in all it's aspects and the intuitive nature of...), Multimedia, Symbolism, Communication, Philosophy, Music, Films, Books (will I ever find the time to read everything that I'd like to), Human Behavior (why do what you do?), Drums (drumkit, hand percusion, drum machines), Music Video (and the art of telling a three-and-a-half minute story), conspiracy theories, action figures, comic books, LIFE/DEATH, Dark Haired Muses,,,
Vaughan Oliver (v23 & 23 Envelope)
Chris Bigg (v23)(on the far left, to the right of Vaughan Oliver)
Steven R Gilmore
Dave McKean
Storm Thorgerson (Hipgnosis)
Biggest Musical Influences:
Bauhaus,
Skinny Puppy,
Cop Shoot Cop,
Einsturzende Neubauten,
Gang of Four,
The Swans,
The Wolfgang Press
Lots of others...
Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky, Firewater, Joy Division, Sisters of Mercy, Japan, Shriekback, Pigface, Evil Mothers, Killing Joke, Snow Patrol, The Reindeer Section, Curve, Plaid, Young Gods, The Creatures, Siouxsie and The Banshees, Wire, Killing Joke, Love and Rockets, PIL, Youth Brigade, 12 Rounds, NIN, Therapy?, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Jesus Lizard, A Perfect Circle, Tool, The Arcade Fire, Husker Du, Ash, Dr Know, Black Heart Procession, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Echo and The Bunnymen, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Nitzer Ebb, She Wants Revenge, Meat Beat Manifesto, Cabaret Voltaire, Fad Gadget, Adam and The Ants, Tweaker, Autechre, Squarepusher, Roni Size, Filter, Dali's Car, Tones on Tail, Die Warzau, The Mission, UNKLE, Portishead, Foetus, Fugazi, Lush, Soft Cell, Clock DVA, Mentallo and The Fixer, Revolting Cocks, Lard, Ministry, Wiseblood, Underwater, Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Clan of Xymox, Christian Death, Dead Kennedys, The Sugarcubes, Download, cEvin Key, Elysium, Three Mile Pilot, Soundgarden, Tear Garden, Cyberaktif, Not Breathing, Numb, Jesus and Mary Chain, Doubting Thomas, Low Pop Suicide, Big Black, Rapeman, Shellac, Doggy Style, Lackluster, New Model Army, David Bowie, Machines of Loving Grace, Sister Machine Gun, Elliot Smith, Roxy Music, The Cure, Stabbing Westward, Murder Inc., The Church, That Dog, DEVO, Tricky, Placebo, The Pixies, The Bolshoi, The Cult, Gene Loves Jezebel, Spear of Destiny, The Chameleons, Plastikman, Bronski Beat, Propaganda, Ultravox, Visage, Freur, The Smiths, The The, The Europeans, The Armoury Show, Blue Zoo, Coil, Test Dept, SPK, Severed Heads, Front 242, XTC, Gary Numan, Steel Pulse, The Police, Oingo Boingo, Wall of Voodoo, X, The Clash, The Cramps, Red Snapper, New Order, Low, KMFDM, Jeff Buckley, Death In Vegas, Bjork, Blanc Mange, Yaz,
(to be continued...)
David Fincher:
Se7en, Fight Club, Panic Room
David Lynch:
Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, Twin Peaks
David Cronenberg:
Spider, Videodrome, Crash, The Fly, Existenz, Naked Lunch, Dead Ringers, Dead Zone
Stanley Kubrick:
Full Metal Jacket, 2001, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining
Luc Beeson:
Leon The Professional, Femme Nikita, Fifth Element, The Messenger
M Night Shyamalan:
Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, The Village, Signs
Kevin Smith:
Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob
Danny Boyle:
Trainspotting, 28 Days Later
Quentin Tarantino:
Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill (1&2)
Abel Ferrara:
Ms 45, Bad Lieutenant, The Addiction, The Funeral
Jean-Pierre Jeunet:
Alien: Resurrection, Amelie, Delicatessen
and...
Sin City, Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind, Dark City, Lost In Translation, Donnie Darko, Requiem for a Dream, SLC Punk, Constantine, Lord of The Rings (all 3), Star Wars (mainly 2-6), Minority Report, Hulk, Blade, Run Lola Run, Man Bites Dog, Taxi Driver, Deer Hunter, Tetsuo The Iron Man, The Devil's Backbone, The Others, Vampire Hunter D, Frida, The Cell, Stygmata, Suicide Kings, The Prophecy, Poolhall Junkies, Bladerunner, The Secretary, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, 12 Monkeys, Matrix Trilogy, Filth and The Fury, Twenty-four Hour Party People, Code 46, Night on Earth, Go, Brotherhood of The Wolf, Equilibrium, 1984, Jacob's Ladder, Way of The Gun, Usual Suspects, Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead, Talk to Her, Vanilla Sky,,,
Past and Present:
X-Files, Millenium, Carnivale, Twilight Zone (original series), Twin Peaks, Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit, Prison Break, Tales from The Dark Side, Forever Knight, Hawaii 5-0, Futurama, The Simpsons, Goodnight L.A., Request Video, MV3, Smallville, The Man from Atlantis, Kung Fu, Giant Robot, Ultraman, Space 1999, Mission Impossible, In Search Of, Tv Specials about the prophecies of Nostradamus and the end of the world, specials about bigfoot, loch ness monster and the abominable snowman, Saturday Night Live (mainly 70's through 80's), Friday the 13th (TV series), The Outer Limits (old and new), Martin, Get Smart, F-Troop, Sanford & Son, Draw Man, Electric Company,
Fiction:
"Fight Club", "Survivor", "Lullaby" and "Choke" by Chuck Palahniuk; "Books of Blood" and "Damnation Game" by Clive Barker; "1984" by George Orwell
Books on Graphic Designers and Graphic Design:
"Vaughaun Oliver: Visceral Pleasures"; "Designed by Peter Saville"; "Photographics" by Steven R Gilmore; "Trek", "End of Print", "Fotographiks" and "2nd Sight" by David Carson; "Ray Gun - Out of Control"; "The Graphic Language of Neville Brody 1 & 2"; "The Sandman - Dustcovers"
Software Manuals:
Any of the Visual Quickstart Guides by Peachpit Press; Friends of Ed Books; Sybex books; New Riders; O'Reilly; really any manual to do with some sort of design software
Biographies:
"Dark Entries - Bauhaus", "Rise/Fall - Public Image Limited"
Currently trying to start and get through:
"Tokyo Doesn't Love Us Anymore" by Ray Loriga
"I, Lucifer" by Glen Duncan
"Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre" by Walter Kaufman
Magazines:
How, Communication Arts, Wired, Print, Design Graphics, Lurzer's Intl. , CMYK, Computer Arts Projects, Macworld, RES
First and foremost, MY PARENTS... for so many things but mainly for doing their best no matter what the situation, circumstance or obstacle.
Aside from them, all other heroes fall under categories...
Graphic Design: Vaughan Oliver (V23); Chris Bigg (V23); Neville Brody (Research Studios); David Carson (Ray Gun); Shepard Fairey (Obey Giant); Peter Saville (Factory Records); Steven R Gilmore (SRG); Storm Thorgerson (Hipgnosis); Aesthetic Apparatus; Carlos Segura (Segura, Inc); Stylorouge; Studio Dumbar; Stenberg Brothers;
Video: Chris Cunningham; Mark Romanek; Michel Gondry; Spike Jonze; Peter Christopherson; Jonathan Glazer; Motion Theory; Traktor; Hello Logan; Anton Corbijn; Floria Sigismondi; Adam Jones
Art: Dave McKean; HR Giger; Salvador Dali; Robert Williams; Joel Peter Whitkins; Jon Foster; Posada; Hans Holbein The Younger; MC Escher; Coop; Tim Vigil; Russell Mills
Photography: Kevin Westerberg; Nigel Grierson; Mitch Jenkins;
Drummers: Budgie (Siouxsie/Banshees, The Creatures), Danny Carey(Tool), Phil Puleo(Cop Shoot Cop), Kevin Haskins(Bauhaus, Tones on Tail, Love and Rockets), Martin Atkins (Pigface, Ministry, Killing Joke, PIL,etc), Hugo Bonham (Gang of Four), Ted Parsons (Swans, Prong),
more to come...