Shabooty Interview Series: Jeremy Fish

I want to print this interview out, make a fish origami out of it, and redeem it for infinity cool points. San Fransisco-based artist Jeremy Fish was nice enough to deal with my questioning for your sake. Here’s the result, his fans are going to jizz their jeremy fisher price canvases! If you’re new to the world of Jeremy Fish, he’s the illustrator behind Aesop Rock’s album art for None Shall Pass. Do you think Jesus really wasn’t a carpenter, he just left people floored? That’s what Jeremy Fish’s art does for me. No “fish”sticks.

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SHABOOTY: Hey Jeremy, did you grow up in San Francisco, or did you go there for the art scene?
JEREMY FISH: I grew up in upstate, NY. I moved here in ’94 for skateboarding and art school.

At what age did you realize you were a mega-talented artist?
I’m hoping to realize this by the time I’m 40, but at 36 it’s not looking good.

What advice do you have for the wanna-be Jeremy Fishies out there?
Get a job, no room in this economy for wanna bees in any subculture. Grow your own identity, or get a day job and enjoy being a sheep.

What is one part of the business that you hate?
Money. It tends to ruin everything.

How did you link up with Aesop Rock?
A mutual friend knew I was a huge fan. Aes[op Rock] and El[-P] were the background music to my life waaaay before we ever met. When he moved here a few years ago, we were introduced, and started to build on some projects. One of my most favorite collaborations thus far in my career.

So, you were you a fan of his music before you all started working together?
Yes, super fan. I never asked him to sign my tits or anything, but I was that older creepy dude in the back corner of all the shows they played in the bay area for years before we met. I related to his music, and felt like we had a lot in common.

What was the first project you two did together?
Originally, we wanted to tour the USA to find the best patty melt sandwich, but that was both unhealthy, out of context, and problematic. So, I guess the first real project was “The Next Best Thing”. When we met, we found similarities in what we do. Mainly, at the time, we were both creatively frustrated. We joked about these magical solutions to creative block. The idea was built from there.

How did the Camu Tao shirts come about?
Aesop asked if would would do a design to help support his friend who had passed away. I didn’t know Camu personally, but when a talented artist goes before is time, we all lose. Aesop helped me with the idea and the direction, as it was for his close homie. I am honored to be involved, and I can only hope the shirt can help raise some money for his loved ones.

“Remembering Camu Tao”  by Jeremy Fish

Are you pretty much cool/homies with all of the Jukies? [Def Jux artists].
All of them that I know, yeah I think so. It’s a bit weird to be friends with people you admire so much. I put people of that kind of talent on a pedestal. That becomes difficult for anyone to live up to the expectations of a hero I think. That being said, all the jukies I know are stand up gentlemen, and more than live up to the heroes I made them out to be. Sorry for fanning out guys…

Do you get nervous painting in front of a large crowd?
Yes. I prefer to work alone in my studio. This is when my imaginary world can become the most real. In a crowd or around others, you are constantly reminded of the real world, and I think my stuff loses a little life painted live. However, I enjoy painting large, and trying to work faster in front of crowds and under pressure. And it’s always really nice to trade stories with fans, or random folks checking out the work.

Which tattoo artist did your sleeves? Are they your design?
Grime. They are my concept, but not my design. The key to good tattoos is finding a tattoo artist who’s style you like, and then letting them do their thing. I would never want a tattoo of one of my own drawings. It’s like wearing your own tee shirts, except you can’t ever take it off. Grime is an amazing artist, I like his artwork way better than mine. He is good as fuck at his job. www.myspace.com/thegrime

Did you like the movie Milk with Sean Penn?
Yeah, he did a good job playing Harvey Milk. It was dope how they had all those old cars parked around the Castro while they were filming it. Harsh ending, but that’s reality, I guess.

Other than Aesop Rock – who’s your favorite rapper?
Hard to say just one. El Producto, Ghostface, Slug, Doom, Biggie. Out west, I like Casual, Aceyalone and Murs… sorry, that’s a lot of favorites.

What is your personality like? Reserved? And you like to express yourself through your art, or are you extroverted?
Eh, depends on the day. I’m not the guy who gets drunk and dances on the table. Or the guy who can openly brag/blog about my life/career. But, I will puke on the occasional stripper. So maybe reserved, with a tendency to flip out at least twice a week. I’m Italian, and I have a nasty temper. I’m working on it, though.

I see a lot animals injected into your artwork – tell me about that.
They make a great metaphor for society. Cliche attributes in animals can be used to describe a trait in humans. I use these as little pieces to the puzzle in my drawings. ie: the turtle is slow, the owl is wise, ect…

Even though you’re pals with [artist] Alex Pardee, is there at all a competition or rivalry?
Yes, big time rivals. If he does anything else that is cool, I am so going to fight him. No, actually not at all. He is one of the few dudes who I like as a person, as much if not more than I like his artwork. His work is too scary and bright for me to compete with it. I can’t use bright colors ever. So, if we are competing, I will officially let him win as of this interview. Nice job, Alex!

Is there one specific licensed product (Jeremy Fish artwork), that has been your Van Gogh/best seller?
No, not really. Some things have done better than others. I’m still waiting for my big break.

Do you do a lot of ‘post production’ type work in Photoshop?
Nope, only scanning in the drawings. I do almost everything in Illustrator. Honestly, I try to spend as little time as possible on the computer.

You could essentially have your free reign of any art-groupie/hot chick out there in SF, right?
No. Only the ugly ones. However these days I’m staying groupie free. My girlfriend Isabell barely even likes my stuff. She is a keeper.

What’s your homepage/where can we find you online?
SillyPinkBunnies.com. Massive overdue update/overhaul this summer, but I’m on my friend’s blogs on fecalface.com a lot, too. I’m ‘webtarded’, but I’m working on that.

Do you enjoy hitting the road with Alex Pardee, or other artists like Alex’ Sparks tour?
No. I didn’t go on that at all. I don’t want to give kids caffeinated alcohol in the name of art. No offense to those dudes that went and painted cool shit, or Sparks, but I wasn’t down.

Speaking of which, do you like the taste of Sparks?
Oh, you mean cat pee? Yeah, I’m really into that. Actually, I like old fashioned real beer.

Is there any awkwardness at an art show that you’re at? Or are you well known enough, that pretty much fans keep you busy the whole time?
I am a bit awkward no matter what I’m doing. So for sure it still happens at shows.

Are you doing the artwork for Aesop Rock’s next record?
I don’t know. Probably not. He has a very critical eye for art, and I think he looks at mine all the time now, and is a bit over it. He will probably get something new to go with whatever new sounds he puts out on the album. Aes is smart like that. I’m hoping he lets me do a tee or a tour poster. Maybe I can play air horn or cowbell, or at the very least run the merch. table on tour.

Aside from the art scene what other scenes are you in? Hip-hop obviously… and skateboarding?
I’m 35 and it seems like I’m not really in any scene anymore. I don’t skate as much as I used to. I broke my ankle really bad a few years ago, and never really snapped back from it. I do go to a ton of hip hop shows, but like I said earlier, I’m that old creepy dude smoking and drinking in the corner at the shows. I don’t really go to art shows much anymore either. Tough to be a scenester when you are a balding brown bag of dicks.

Is your favorite late night drunk spot in San Fransisco, Bob’s Donuts? Or am I spilling the beans on Aesop’s go-to spot?
Shhhhhh! Actually, my late night spot is either Sam’s burgers on Broadway in North Beach, or the Grubsteak on Pine in the Tenderloin. Both are bangin’ burger spots. Donuts are more special, almost never drunk.

Do you ever listen to the Howard Stern Show? Are you a fan of Howard’s?
I did when I was in high school and college in Albany, NY, but not since then. I listen to it with Aesop in the car sometimes. Howard is the fucking man. I was into listening when Jackie the Joke Man was still on the show.

Give me a little inside on your work-flow/creative process? What are the steps you take to get to that final product?
1) Find something funny, sad, dramatic about real life from a friend, personal experience, a book, or a film. 2) Break it down into symbols. 3) Find a way to combine those symbols to compose a nice drawing. 4) Sketch, and then ink the image. 5) Decide if it becomes a painting, a graphic, or a turd in the trash. 6) Repeat.

Do the skulls symbolize anything? What’s the inspiration for them in your work?
Lots of things. The human soul, death, negativity, evil. I use it a lot to automatically balance something that is too cute. I still like to draw something that has been drawn millions of times throughout art history, and still find a way to make mine unique.

What’s your favorite color?
Brown town baby. Chocolate brown, all day.

Who would be your dream collaboration (other artist or musician)?
Dr. Suess, Jim Henson, or Ghostface Killah.

Last question, what are you currently working on/your newest projects?
I have a solo show coming up at the Laguna Art Museum in SoCal. in November of this year. Really just focusing on that this summer.

Thank you Jeremy!
Thanks for the interview man.

Jeremy Fish – Pigs Video (Aesop Rock)

Permalink Posted in: art, cardboard city, celebs, hip-hop, howard stern, interview, music, shabooty, shabooty exclusive, video June 16, 2009