ISSUE #1
We Don’t Surf Magazine caught up with Waterford based artist Lewis Quinn this month, for a small interview about his past, present and future.
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“ he satisfaction I got from that said; Fuck yeah! I love art!”
When did you realise you wanted to be an artist? When i was a kid, in primary school, I had to do an art project and I had to draw a farm in the middle of that when I was at home I had a breakdown, because I couldn’t draw a sheep. I was crying at the fuckin’ table, it was horrible. My mother came in and said, ‘it’s okay, it’s okay. Calm down. Draw a sheep, it’s easy.. Draw a little cloud, four little sticks on it, a little roundy head. You have a sheep.’ and I did it. I drew loads of sheep all over it, and the satisfaction I got from that said; ‘Fuck yeah! I love art!’. So, from there, that’s the first time I said I got a really good time from doing this. So that’s when I realised, the first moment!
Tell us a little bit about your path so far... Path so far… ummmm… well I went through secondary school doing a lot of art. When I was there, the art we were thought was terrible, so we thought ourselves from learning from comic books and graffiti. I started doing graffiti when I was around 15, and I painted around the streets in Waterford, doing mainly in back alleys before eventually doing out in public, moved from there then I went and did a course in the tech [Waterford College of Further Education] here in town. I did a one year portfolio course after secondary school, I then went as far as the Crawford in Cork. I did 4 years down there in a 3 year course. I got through it enough, anyway, and I managed to hold onto...
.. some semblance of technique that wasn’t bet out of me, but here I am now about to go abroad and see what the fuck will influence me then. What medium do you prefer to work with? Anything on a large scale is pretty good, the graffiti works into my fine art in the way that I like to do large scale paintings. When it comes to doing canvases, if I can do a 6 foot by 4 foot canvas, say if I’m doing a portrait on it, i find that I can be much more expressive on that scale and do the right kind of marks and techniques that I want to do on it. There’s much more satisfaction being able to move all your arm in a broad stroke, than just doing a tiny, little line, I like working on that. But at the same time, I do like to work with pen on paper, I spent too much time working with pencils, I had this really sketchy style that I was really dissatisfied with. But with the pen, every mark you make has to be kind of right, otherwise you ruin the whole picture. So I like the fact that everything has to be kind of perfect straight of the mark with that. So big and small, it kind of works both ways.
Who or what influences your works? To begin with, what influenced me into art, I think comic books played a major part for art. As I said earlier, the art that I was thought in school was total bollocks. There was no art being thought. But from copying out things in comic books, look at the styles of so many different things in it. That’s what got me into drawing the illustrative style I sort of had. But when it comes to modern artists, and looking what I’m influenced by; I really don’t know, because I was a bollocks for going to art history, so I really don’t know hahaha. Also tattoo art in some way does interest me, some of the hard lines and some of the power lines that work, they make things really pop, and the colours they work with each other. Like, on skin work on wall and page.
Where are you moving to and why? I’m moving basically anywhere other than Ireland, because the country is dead on it’s feet. But in particular, I’m going to Italy. I have opportunities there to teach English. But the English teaching, because it’s so readily available to get work around the planet, it’s a good stepping stone to doing whatever I can, would it be; art, music or whatever else when I’m abroad. I feel that, when I’m here in Waterford, I’m a goldfish in a tiny fishbowl, I need to get out. I can only grow so much. Where as I need to go to the rest of the world, where it’s like diving into the ocean, where you can be surrounded by actual culture and influences, and a scene where things are actually happening and alive. Opportunities will come knocking at your door that you will not find here. So everywhere on the planet, I’m going to go and stomp around a bit. We should come visit see how you’re getting on! Do come on over boy, I’ll be medium to high level member of the Mafia by then.. Yourself and berlusconi... Yeah I have to go show him a thing or two… how to through them bunga bunga parties really swinging haha Tell us a bit about the cover picture.. The cover photo itself is also one of my favourite pieces I made. It’s a pen drawing of Harry Dean Stanton playing as a character from the film ‘Paris Texas’. In particular I like it because the words in the background come from a monologue at the end of the film. I grew up listening to an album; ‘Paris Texas’ by Ry Cooder on tape in my parents, but I’d never seen the film, but the monologue from the end was included on it. I always remember hearing the story about a man and a woman who fell in love. Well it all
went horrible, but that’s the way life seemed to work enough. When I did eventually see film then, I was waiting for this monologue. Waiting, waiting, waiting. When it came about, the whole setting of the film was really quiet, plain, sombre. There was barely a word spoken for the two hours. Then came this big, brilliant spiel.. and.. yeah I just felt some sort of link with the character after growing up hearing it, then eventually seeing it, so I had to draw him… And throw in the words too, which it seems to mean enough in itself. If anybody has seen the film or knows the monologue itself they know that it is one of the better ones in modern cinema.
Berlin based, minimal house and techno group, M.A.N.D.Y. 5th of May at RE:Publik club night, Crystal Nightclub, Waterford. Armed with two cameras I was set to document the life of the night. One camera was a Fuji Instax mini 7s instant camera, that I picked up at the local Oxfam for a quid. The quality of the pictures artistically reflected my night. It was sick! The night kicked off with tune loving punters swaying and grooving to the sounds of Warren Sauvage (RE:Publik), a Waterford house DJ and promoter. The club proved to be ideal as I laid back into the grooves surrounded by friendly faces and malfunctioning lavatories. Enjoying a bottle of cider with a mate in the smoking area, we witnessed a young lady take a slap at the end of the stairs, soon comfortably carried away by the bouncer. Back into the gig, M.A.N.D.Y. hit off their 3 hour set with some sweet deep house tracks, that got the crowd "out of control". I snatched at the chance to get in the DJ booth and get a pic with Phillip Jung (M.A.N.D.Y.), he grabbed the camera, turned it around, FLASH! (picture left). Everybody on the dance floor felt supreme, maybe M.A.N.D.Y. were too good for their ears! I floated about the club for the rest of the 3 hour set, taking the atmosphere in. The night ended with their most famous hit, Body Language. Well worth the visit.
Street art outside SOMA art gallery Waterford.
Portrait in Leather.
For this month’s on issue food we with retired For this issue month’s on caught food weup caught up with butcher;retired Mícheálbutcher; Ó’Gríofa. Mícheál is famous in Waterford Mícheál Ó’Gríofa. Mícheál is City because of his butcher shop, does sell meat. famous in Waterford Citywhich because of not his butcher We askedshop, him which why hedoes stopped selling meat what not sell meat. Weand asked himhe thinks ofwhy modern butchering. he stopped selling meat and what he thinks of modern butchering. I had to stop, they closed the public abattoir. They closed the facilities had to buy cattle, the type of cattle I I hadI to stop, theythe closed the public abattoir. was in the habit of using, they disappeared off the the cattle, market. They closed the facilities I had to buy And because the of abattoir had no option,they but the type cattle Iwas wasclosed in theIhabit of using, to buy wholesale meat. couldn’t getAnd the same standard disappeared offIthe market. because the of meat from the wholesaler, that’s I retired.. abattoir was closedand I had no why option, but to buy They hadofthe animals slaughtered in the abattoir, wholesale meat. I couldn’t get the same standard meat from the wholesaler, andpublic that’s why I up on Morrison’s road. The entrance is still there. You retired.. brought your cattle there, that you bought a public They had the animals slaughtered in the public abattoir, up on Morrison’s road. Thein entrance market or atbought a fair and is still there. You brought your cattle there, that you in a public market or at a fair and you brought him to the abattoir. The for butcher there you brought him to the abattoir. The butcher there would slaughter the cattle you, so youwould slaughter cattle forwould you, so youaround carriedthe theshop. carcass carried the carcass the following day to your shop, the where they hang the following to your would hang If the weather was unfavourable on the carcass we had day a cold room,shop, not awhere fridge,they it was a cold around If the weather room. It was kept at a normal temperature, and ifthe theshop. temperature outsidewas wasunfavourable different, weon the carcass we had cold room, not a fridge, it was a cold room. It was kept at a normal temperature, would hang it ina there. and if the temperature outside different, weYou would there. We didn’t freeze meat, we didn’twas package meat. justhang cameitininand cut the bit of meat and We didn’t freeze meat, we didn’t package meat. You just came in and cut the bit of meat and sell it. sell it. Simple. Simple.
Now what I want to say to you is; there’s no going back. Where we are now is just old, it’s hashed. I have nothing against supermarkets. There was a man in the other day, from Newfoundland, he was interested in the photograph from the the window of the hanging carcasses. I told him, regarding those carcasses, that is the best meat in the world. He said to me; “you’re telling me that’s the..?” “Yes” I said…. He went on to tell me he was going to try develop that meat in Newfoundland. I was glad to see it, but there is no question of the Irish picking it up. It’s gone. People are going to supermarkets now buying Angus steak, and they’re being robbed to the hill. They are terribly expensive, but this is the best meat available now, and that’s what they have to do now to give these Angus steaks, they have to be packaged and everything. But I’m not going down that route. You can forget about me now, as far as butchering is concerned. Mícheál Ó’ Gríofa
We Don’t Surf ’s Sam Doyle caught up with kurt Jackson from pirate radio station; Open Tempo FM. We had a short interview about running a station and the differences between pirate and commercial radio.
Alright man how’s tricks? Not too bad So tell us a little bit about open tempo fm… Open Tempo fm started out late 2011, I used to be involved in another pirate here in waterford called metal hertz fm. It was a rock and metal radio station. Last for the guts of a two good years. Then we were quiet for the guts of another year-year and a half, and had equipment sitting around, deiced, it’s about time to do something. I couldn’t bare to let this, let all the equipment we put hard earned money, time and effort into, yeh, kind of sit in the back room, absolutely nothin out of it, it wasn’t justified, so I yeah, I got in touch with one or two lads, said; “look gonna relight the fire”, and that was it, we’ve kinda been on air since.
Do you have much experience as a DJ? As a DJ i do, and i don’t. I’ve played at a couple of festivals and stuff.. Usually when i’m playing, like on open tempo, I do a rock radio show, you know what I mean? It’s like easy listening, kinda classic rock, to a little bit of the heavier stuff… But i mean i’ve played that in pubs and stuff. I played at the electric picnic festival, in the body and soul arena, played at Knockan Stockan, I played at a couple of other festivals.. and usually I play psychtrance… How does your station differ from another station? I guess we cater for genres that just are not looked after in the South-East. So I mean you’ve got beat fm, you know they cater for the younger audience and just chart music and pop music, that’s essentially all they do. You’ve got WLR fm, they’re doing their very best at the moment to kind of bring back the earlier listenership, like the younger generation… They’ve employed one or two more new djs doing different slots toward the weekend, and its keeping them relatively close to the popular end of things. But at the same time, WLR, it’s programming is keeping it to the older generations, and it’s just stuck there I guess, with the taboo of being for an older generation people. You know? With that it’s not
going to pull up much listenership, from the younger generation, of, I suppose with ourselves. We came with a blank slate. We had to define ourselves, and build on that, we chopped and changed over the last year or two. Yeah, so we’ve been going a year and five months. and we’ve been honing in defining our sound and our production values. Even down to optimising the sound particular. There are so many steps we’ve taken down the road, loads of learning curves, each one makes it stand out a bit more than any other radio station. WLR forced to play certain tracks? Under the current broadcasting laws, you have to adhere to certain rules and regulations, one of them being you have to be regulated and told what you can and can’t play, depending on your licensing. So for instance; Beat fm, they’re pretty much told at the start of the month, ‘here’s your packet for the month, this is what you play… this is how many times yeh play it’, and from there you can try squeeze in whatever you want, and it makes radio very stagnant, makes things very quiet, and just not interesting, you know? You listen to the radio, and you’re not paying attention to it, it’s background noise, rather than it being in the foreground, and actually being part of people’s daily lives.
xHow does a pirate radio station stay in business?
know, the other stations that are in the area...
Well there’s a couple of ways to staying in business regarding a pirate radio. The biggest one, obviously, is to take in ads, which we refuse to do. Basically if you’re taking in ads you’re taking in money, and a clear sign of you taking in money, and you’ll have revenue down your throat, and that’s the last thing you want. I mean you’re already pushing the boat out a little bit there by broadcasting without a licence, but when it comes to avoiding tax and stuff, that’s where you’re going to get hit hard in this country.
ABC POWER 104?
So tell us about your role on Open Tempo. Open Tempo I suppose to begin with, I was the head of the ship, I was the captain, but I was doing two or three slots a weekend as we were trying to fill the slots up to get more established. More and more people started coming out of the wood-world and getting involved. So I ended up taking a step back, and i only do one show; the opening show on a friday from 6 to 8. Other than that like I facilitate the space, I make sure that everything is good, everyone is happy, the place is clean. I take on board all the stress that comes with it so nobody else has to. I’m not very good at doing the stress side, so I regularly go away and crack up in the middle of a field, and then i come back and things are nice and cool, so like I’ll head off to a festival or something, go to a gig, or go camping, just to clear the air. Get away from the city and just calm it down a little bit. To go back to how to fund a radio, first thing is advertising, but we work on the grounds that we all pay subs, we all pay towards rent and that keeps us in. The rent the ESB the internet and then there’d be a little pinch left over, tucked away into a kitty box, so if we have a problems, regarding something to do with one of the computers i.e. one of the computers is gone down or a monitor is gone, or we have to buy new microphones or new transmitting gear, it all depends it’s week after week. there’s always a problem, and that’s the beauty of pirate radio, if it can go wrong, it will go wrong. thats how we fund it. it’s coming from our own pockets. What does the future hold? The future is kind of open, because we’re still relatively young as a radio station compared to, you
ABC, I mean, you know, they are the forefathers of pirate radio in the South-East, if it wasn’t for the likes of ABC and the lads like Andy, well it’s two Andys, you know they were behind it all there, amongst other technician heads then, you know the DJs to keep it all going as well. If it wasn’t for them, radio wouldn’t be what it was, you know, back in the 90s when piracy was still kicking across some of the major cities in Ireland, and even today I think there’s still pirates there. I maintain that I won’t be able to not do this, be it in Waterford or Dublin. Or if I move to a different place in europe I’m always going to have to be close to radio some way or another, wether it’s legitimately or not. It’s a harsh mistress, and my girlfriend understands that it’s a harsh mistress she’s not too happy about it, but you know, it’s the whole point of a mistress, you can’t let go of her. I reckon it’s snowballing at the moment, it’s getting bigger and bigger, gradually, it’s not out of control. We might be looking at putting gigs on now in the next couple of months, towards the end of the year, something along them lines. Been in the pipeline for a year now to put gigs on, but rather than me maintaining the studio and the transmitter end of things and all the work thats involved in those aspects.. and then, to go down the route of doing gigs as well that’d be an awful lot of stress to take on board. So I left it on the back burner and I said it to a couple of lads who are interested in putting on a gig, if they want to go down the road of putting on gigs to raise funds or whatever or to take in donations for the station, by all means, do. There always coming back saying the same thing; “when are the gigs gonna happen”.. and I always turn around and say, “put on a gig”. We were just down around the corner and the lads were going, “aw yeah i was talking to someone in the venue the other night”. So they’re slowly getting the finger out and going down the route of enquiring at least. So we’ll see what happens, it’s hard to tell. I mean at the end of the day we’re not invincible. At some point we’re going to get in trouble, or at some point we’re going to have our transmitter and aerial confiscated you know. We’re fairly aware of that, but at the end of the day we’re prepared as well. We’re prepared for that to happen, we just have to stay broad minded,
optimistic, try and take everything in it’s stride. You don’t even know who will turn up tomorrow. Somebody could pop their head around the corner and be like “how are yis lads can I get involved” and it could be a blessing in disguise, you know, you don’t know what it holds.I suppose it’s best to just live it in the day.
HTTP://WWW.OPENTEMPOFM.COM Listen on the web-player and also available on the OPEN TEMPO FM Android App.