I am not quite sure how I am going to organize this..I think we will start with the specifics and then I'll tell you about really cool other shit later.
For all of those people who have been asking me "How on earth did you get Michael Weintrob to be your first professional collaboration?" heres your answer- I stalked him on facebook chat. Yep, thats how I did it. MW and I have known eachother for years, through the rock/jam scene. We've always said hello, chatted briefly...one time when i was working in the coat check at Irving Plaza I gave him my buisness card and said "listen, if you ever need a hand, give me a call." He never called. At the time...I wouldnt have called me either....
Fast forward- two years later...
So anywho, I came up with the idea of painting these iconic rock photos/posters, it started with Sid and Nancy and then Eddie Hazel and then Miles Davis...I thought it was cool...but I realized if i tried to actually display them my ass was going to get sued and i needed to team up with someone who would give me permission to screw around with their work...
Weintrob was the first person who came to mind, so i hit him up, told him the schtick and asked him if I could futz with some of his images on his site...he agreed...and told me to bring them up to a party he was having so he could take a look.
Im not really a nervous nilly type, so I cant say that I was nervous...probably more weary..I was all like "holy fuck, I am going to walk into this party with my portfolio and hes prolly gonna "hmm" over these proofs and vomit on them or something out of disgust." So sucked it up-walked in there with my hot rocker date and threw the portfolio on the bed, unzipped that sucker...and went for it...(not going to lie, i was freaking out)-it took about 30 seconds, Michael goes "I love it, lets do it." I played it off all cool, like all "yea man, this shits great-good times" in my brain i was thinking "seriously? thats it? thats how its done? siiiiiick."
So I came home and Michael and I got to work. He sent me a copeus amount of hi rez images to choose from, and we started what would end up being the Hard Rock Cafe exhibit. Now people are a little confused on the process so here it is- believe it or not, it very simple there really isnt alot of scientific brewhaha to my artwork, or life in general...it probably doesnt seem that way, but its the truth.
I took his photos, blew them up, made them black and white and printed them on the $125,000 printer at work.
like this:
and then I patined my dayglo acrylic directly on top of the image, like this (this is my studyo where I spent a ridiculous amount of my time this summer):
and that is how the Weintrob/Pfohl Pop Rock Posters came into being, they are 6'x4' and are all weather proof.
So while creating all of this artwork I planned the exhibit, which if you havent heard by now is called Pop! Rocks...if you havent heard about it and are my friend, you must be either deaf, blind or living under a rock because I cyber assault people about it on facebook (i am completely aware of this people.)...regardless, I found the venue, raised the money and booked the bands all while completing 30 pieces of art. Chip Gates helped me with little incidentals, like flights and emails and backlines, which was amazing...bc that shit drives me nuts.
So thanks to Heinken, Absolut, Red Bull and PRS Guitars and Kevin Lichtfuss (who installed all the work) i was able to throw down at the Hard Rock Cafe in Baltimore with Some Cat From Japan, Eric McFadden, Tom Hamilton's American Babies, WYLLYS, Tek SubPort, Rakkasan and Dinosaur Project. This was so badass because A. These people are my homies -B. I hadnt seen McFadden in almost 2 years and C. I actually managed to get all of these kick ass people out of NYC, Philly, San Fran, and New Orleans to Baltimore to ROCK. It was alot of fun and it was fucking hot as hell...the funny thing being, after the fiasco Scott Metzger's Heroin and I experienced in NYC during the blizzard last winter..i was expecting mother nature to be a bitch again, like with a hurricane or some shit...my mother's response:
"you know whats interesting about this Jess?"
"whats that mom"
"well, the first time was extreme snow...the second one is extreme heat...and well, its just fitting...because you are extreme."
"awwwe! thanks mom!"
(incase you didnt know my mom is the coolest person on this planet and my best friend.)
Pop Rocks! Baltimore via Michael Weintrob's cellular phone:
So after Hard Rock Michael and i went on a little tour together...and managed to not kill eachother. It was the first time we spent like...more than an afternoon/evening together, it was pretty funny really...to put two intense creative people together like that, who arent in a band...its a different dynamic. It was cool though, I actually really learned alot from this guy...i mean A LOT. And we became good buds, which is the coolest part. And we went through some RIDICULOUS shit together. So heres the story-
I took off up to NYC on a Tuesday to meet Michael and McFadden at MW's studio (which by the way has the coolest plants ever)...and I walked into my fucking wet dream, Eric McFadden dedicating Maggot Brain to Starchild...i practically cried, there I was, in my favorite city in the world with two of the coolest cats and the one was filming the other, playing one of my favorite songs of ALL FUCKING TIME. Just me. eric. michael. and eric's girlfriend. and Maggot Brain. ok, ill stop going on about that now....however, it was ill ok. just fucking sick. Then we went up to the roof and took some really cool photos, which are now floating around on the black market somewhere...ill get to that in a minute...
the view from weintrob's roof:
That night we rocked Sullivan Hall with EMT and SMB and ITS. Thats Eric McFadden Trio, Scott Metzger Band and Into the Sun....that was soopa fun. One of the best parts about this whole set of dates is that I was able to get two of my favorite rockers together to play some music...Watching Scott and Eric shred together was one of those things...like "fuck yea!!!!" sort of things. :)
Next day, Michael and I took off to Gathering of the Vibes in Connecticut. We get there and find this DOPE mexican joint and we get tacos. Those were yummy. We get over to the Vibes and install MWs gallery in the ART Tent, and then install what came to be known as the GOTV set, which included painted photos of this years lineup..ya know...Bobby, Phil, Damian, Nas...you get it...
so this is that:
That was alot of work and a long ass day, so MW and I were THIIIIIIRSTY!! I mean...I was anyway... I am always thirsty...mmmm I am thirsty right now actually...I am glad I thought about this, I have to go pick up my premade mojitos from the warhouse...shit, back on track...MW and I swing over to this afterparty, which was great, because my old pals TURBINE were playing (you can read more about TURBINE on my rock blog, from back in the day...) We parked the car, went inside and got some brews...and all of the sudden people start talking about what a fucking shithole bridgeport, ct. is...and michael and i just look at eachother and we have this sort of moment thats like "i wonder if everything in the car is safe" so he asks some dude and was like "so my shit in Jess' car is ok right?" and the guys like "i mean, i dono man, maybe...i mean im sure it is..." MW and I look at eachother again, and we are both like "mmm....ready to go?"
We walk downstairs and around the corner and as we approach Arthur (thats my hatchback) theres broken glass EVERYWHERE and low and behold Michaels camera is long gone. I almost peed myself, I know thats super unattractive people, but its just flat out the truth...this is MWs livelyhood, his baby...i felt awful...and it didnt help that the cop who came thought i was a raging smart ass...it was just really fucking bad, especially since we had taken all these kick ass photos together installing the work, the roof shots, etc. GONE. and MW was flying out to shoot BOOTSY COLLINS on Friday. Which meant we had 24 hours to figure out how we were going to take care of this.
Bootsy Collins:
So i wrapped arthur up in cling wrap, michael made some phone calls, i cried and dropped the F-Bomb, michael made some phone calls, i made cocktails...and by friday afternoon shit was handled, I went to the Vibes and Michael flew to Cincy to shoot Sir Boots (which I heard was fucking awesome). We sold the Les Claypool painting to a kick ass Primus fan who drove from missouri or some shit to see them rock...and the Bob Weir and Nas were stolen...so, we just figured the weekend was all about having fun and getting ripped off...and thats how we approached it, and we ended up having a really great time.
We kicked it with Wavy Gravy in MWs gallery:
Jackie Horne asked me to doodle on her hoolahhoop...and then she rocked it. And told me just how she felt in sign language...
Even though MWs gear was gone, he still rocked the view finder...
I touched up our paintings...
We gave Damian Marley Pop Damian and he dug it!
By the end of the weekend we were exhausted...late nights, early mornings...I cut that shit down and we split back to NYC...i dropped MW off, and back to Baltimore i went...and just like that the POP! Rocks tour was over.
Heres an interview I did with JR Hevron over at Hidden Track that was a soopa good time...kinda talks about how all this shit started happening and why...
I swore to myself that when I got back to Baltimore I was going to take some time off from creating shit...I think I lasted two days...I got back in the studyo! and started doodling little designs for my next BIG takeover, i just couldnt help myself...i was too excited.
And then I decided I needed some winter boots...so I painted these doc martens, they are pretty...ugh...LOUD...which makes sense id say.
And the day after those were finished I was delivered my PRS SE for this Art Guitar Exhibit here in maryland for Music4More's Maryland Chapter.
This is me, ridin dirty...starting the PRS piece...
the story behind my design
so, this project is pretty special to me...because A: it was handed off to me by my studyo! mate Ryan, who left the info on my desk with a note that said "this is fucking perfect for you" and B: i had just completed a bunch of research on guitars with the help of some kick ass rockstars who took time out to answer my email..and it was so timely really, i was able to use all this great information from these cats that actually KNOW what they are talking about to put together this idea. So i mocked up three sets of proofs, put them in a box and sent them off...a couple months later i got word that I was one of the first three local artists picked and would be included in the tour and get on the of the gutiars in the first distribution...i was all "yeaaaaaaah suckas!"
So, in the long run, this piece was influenced by 4 particular knuckleheads who's guitars and personalities just meshed well, Scott Metzger, Eric McFadden, Robbie Mangano and Jake Szufnarowksi.
This will display on tours, in venues and at festivals around and about until November, then theres a rockin party and auction in November (open bar!), and the proceeds go to music and art education in public schools - which RULES! I am soopa happy to be a part of that fo' realz.
So that pretty much concludes the ART part of summer...now lets chitchat about rockin' shows i saw and just being an ass...
MUSIC:
This is my first time i actually got PAID to take days off of work, so I totally took advantage of that and saw some really dope rock music.
RANA on a BOAT! on Rocks Off! Concert Cruises - NYC
This is RANA
This is me really pumped to be on my first Rocks Off! Cruise of the summer.
I went to the Starscape Music Festival and wanted to kill myself bc there were all these sweaty saggy neon tittys rubbing up against me...call me crazy- that shits just not my bag...then i got gut busted by an industrial size hoolah hoop and saw people who looked like this- so i got the hell out of there.
I took my mom on a Rocks Off! Cruise for her 55th birthday (which is on the 4th of July) and surprised her with Pinatas! (this is probably a good time to tell you all about how much i love Rocks Off! Concert Cruises. I went on my first one 5 years ago, and look forward to them every fucking summer...if this is something you have yet to take part in you are MENTALLY CHALLENGED and need to RE-EVALUATE how you spend your time, and I say that in the nicest way possible :). best parties of summer)
Mom on her first Rocks Off! Cruise:
Rocks Off! let me bring pinatas to celebrate...they rule.
Then we rocked the Hard Rock Cafe with some Hendrix action, if you want to listen you can do that here:
here's the link to download the mp3's. It only takes a short while: http://www.sendspace.com/file/5vyjwj
here's a link for a bit torrent that's higher quality flac/wav files: http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=537433
I finally got to see Furthur, and Primus, and Nas and I found this kid Quinn Sullivan who shreds a fatty...hes 11. That and more was all at Gathering of the Vibes...
Oh! I saw Anders Osbourne, like really saw him, sat and listened..instead of working...wow. Killer.
This is Anders and Eric Bolivar. Both soopa cool cats.
I saw Tea Leaf Green for the first time in 2 years with my favorites, the American Babies...i ended up taking a ghondala to the Marriot and having a sweet ass WEEN dance party...
This is Berta, the American Babies number one fan...she comes with me to all of the shows.
I went to the Peter Frampton/YES show, where I had my retnas burned out of my eye sockets bc the bassist from YES decided to gyrate infront of me the whole evening in his spandex...NO PICTURES OF THAT BECAUSE I ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT YOU PEOPLE.
My friend Judy and I went to Muddy Water Jam Festival where I saw Moldover perform and learned how to operate the Octomasher by the inventer...I also hung with my buddy Nicky who made me a killer Cran and Vodka and drove me around the backstage in reverse...in the dark...uggh....
Muddy Water:
And in the beginning of the summer, i went and saw WEEN with my friend Bobby, and luckily there are no pictures of this because I was reeeeetarded...this is a great segway into cool other shit from this summer...
OTHER SHIT:
I had my first photo shoot ever this summer. I rented a suite (that Janet Jackson and Mary J Blidge often stay in) at this super famous hotel on West 23rd Street and Michael and Scott came and we took all these photos and headshots. It got pretty crazy and intense, bc apparently this is NOT allowed...I cant go into detail about it...but theres some killer photos and heres one of my favorites:
I drank alot of martinis during that shoot...and poor bobby drove my fatass to Ween, and well...i think the concert was fun? ;-)
My friend Judy and I gave birth to our imaginery Cocktail Cooking Show. I think we named it "Get Drunk Like Us" or something, i mean I cant remember because we have portion control issues and make enough cocktails for the whole entire studio audience that doesnt exist....and well someone has to drink them....
these are our mango mojitos:
I learned that you can watch the internet on television now...so i made my friend sit through the ENTIRE Scott Metzger's Heroin Pop! Rocks show....and since she is cool and polite, she enjoyed herself.
um...
i cant really think of anything else....
so thats it....i mean theres alot more....but those things are sacred and what make living a life of art and rock so special. on that note, im signing off from my office...
My Mom, Scott Metzger, Michael Weintrob, Rocks Off! and Jake Szufnarowski and Steph Webster, Eric Bolivar, Jason Crosby, Ron Johnson, Eric McFadden, Will Bernard, Peter Costello, Hard Rock Cafe, Kevin Lichtfuss, Tim Buck, Ray Tan, Rakkasan, Dinosaur Project, Chip Gates, Jeff Gaines, Tom Hamilton, Nick Bockrath, David Butler, Adam Flicker, Victoria Vox, WYLLYS, Anders Osbourne, Bobby Haight, Gathering of the Vibes, Rocko, Renne and Alyson, mother fuckin RANA ya'll!!, Heineken, Absolut, Red Bull, PRS Guitars, The Faust Family and Pride Global Inc., Judy Kurjan and Tek SubPort, Moldover and everyone who has supported the development of my artwork and has believed in this project from the beginning. I love you with all of my heart and am very appreciative....thanks for sticking around.
Jess!
