Ariel Schrag in August 2010 Issue of Juxtapoz

I interviewed and photographed artist/writer Ariel Schrag for the August issue of Juxtapoz Magazine. In the time between my conversations with Ariel and the publishing of the article, Ariel began writing for the HBO series "How To Make It In America" Season 2. This will air in Summer 2011 and is very exciting! I may have to start subscribing to HBO for that.

I wanted the readers to be able to understand who Ariel is through the opening photograph (above) of her interview. In order to do this we incorporated a self portrait cartoon of Ariel and used black and white. Below are some additional photographs from that session

AP 25 year anniversary art show at MERRY KARNOWSKY

JULY 9 was the private opening of Alternative Press' 25 year anniversary Art Show!
Norman Wonderly curated an exciting show with some surprise stand outs by musicians like Shirly Manson and Tim Armstrong and of course Juxtapoz favorites like Camille Rose Garcia and Derek Hess:

SHIRLEY MANSON of GARBAGE Crochet Vagina Fortune Cookie "Soon you will sit on top of the world"


CAMILLE ROSE GARCIA


TIM ARMSTRONG of RANCID


DEREK HESS


CARLA AZAR of AUTOLUX


GERARD WAY of MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE

Kirsten Vangsness interviews Matthew Gray Gubler

Kirsten Vangsness of Criminal Minds is an avid art collector and has a great eye! She interviews her friend and co-star Matthew Gray Gubler in the July 2010 issue of Juxtapoz Magazine.
Kirsten and I met up with Matthew on the set of Criminal Minds and hung out in Matthew's trailer where they talked about Matthew's obsession with drawing and how and why he does what he does. After they were done with the interview Kirsten went into the Hair and Make up trailer to get ready for her work day and Matthew and I trolled around the studio looking for fun places to shoot portraits of him. We had so much fun. It was my first time hanging out at a big studio like that. Everyone was so accommodating and nice, it really seems like they all love their jobs and each other. After Matthew and I were finished shooting, I got to watch Kirsten in action. It was mind blowing to watch her work. Honestly, she is amazing, belting out her lines as if it were nothing. Kirsten loves acting and it shows!





I am so excited for this issue to hit the newsstands!

Margaret Cho Album Cover by Shawn Barber

Today Margaret Cho announced Cho Dependent, her new comedy music album is set to be released on August 24th

Shawn Barber, talented painter, tattoo artist and good friend of Cho created the album cover

The lyrics on Cho Dependent, which tackle issues of sex, drugs, rock & roll (and lice), may be laugh-inducing, but Cho has made no compromises when it comes to the quality of the songwriting and production. “Over the years of being an intense music geek I got to meet a lot of my heroes and I tricked them all into writing songs with me,” explains Cho. “Most comics want to be rock stars, and most rock stars want to be comics, so it was an easy exchange.”

Musical collaborations include: Jon Brion, Fiona Apple, Tegan and Sara, Andrew Bird, Ani DiFranco, Garrison Starr, Meghan Toohey, Brendan Benson, Rachael Yamagata, Carl Newman, Grant Lee Phillips, Patty Griffin, Ben Lee and Kevin Barnes

For more info, bonus tracks in advance of the album release, and an exclusive pre-order go here: CHO DEPENDENT

Depends on how you look at it

Murder City Devils Back in Black

One of my most favorite bands ever was the Murder City Devils. A little over nine years ago I was putting together Thrasher's Skater of the Year Party and I had booked MCD to play. I can't describe how excited I was, but I can try to paint a pretty good picture of my deep sorrow I felt after getting the call from Gabe Kerbrat telling me that the band was breaking up and they wouldn't be holding it together to play SOTY. Their final show was set for Halloween and I was crushed. The kind of crushed that a child feels when they find out that Santa's not real, crushed. The kind of crushed that has me blogging about it now in 2010, kind of crushed. Devastated would work too, yes I was devastated!
A couple years ago I heard that they had reunited and were even playing at Coachella,, I think last year. But I just never was able to make it to see them. After missing them in SF, not being able to go to Seattle and not seeing them at Coachella I was convinced that it just wasn't in the cards for me, until last week. Let's just say that for me this was bigger than the Pixies reunion and that was huge. The difference was that I never ever thought that the Pixies would reunite, and I had never experienced them live so I didn't knwo what I was missing. But With MCD, I had witnessed it, I had been there and I missed it. I wanted it back, and I got it. I heard a rumor but I am not sure I can disclose it now... but expect some updates SOON!


Special Thanks to Erik at Goldenvoice (you are my hero), Gabe for remembering me, Leslie for your flawless performance! Robin and Chris for sharing the night with me!

ALL HAIL THE MURDER CITY DEVILS!

TATTOO BARLOR

The other night we went out to a bar called The Roost with Kevin Seccia and Ariel Schrag of http://invadeeverything.com/


...We all left happy...