Derek Hess will be showing at the Pawn Gallery tomorrow night in Deep Ellum. Thanks so much to Alison and, especially Johnny for the great interview! Here is a portion of it and a link to the original article.
Derek Hess
Tomorrow night (10/12), Pawn Gallery is showcasing the talented Derek Hess. You might recognize him from the numerous band posters and record covers he’s designed over the years. Bands like The Jesus Lizard, The Reverand Horton Heat, Pantera, White Zombie, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, R.L. Burnside, Nine Inch Nails, Helmet, The Deftones, GWAR, Pink Floyd, Thursday, and even Cibo Matto.
His fine art is stunning, controversial, and laden with a twisted, dark satire that amuse some, and anger others.
Hey, guys, this is art. If it entices a strong reaction, positive or negative, then it’s powerful in my book.
Derek Hess lives in my home state: Ohio. He resides in Cleveland (go Indians!), and has been a staple in the art scene up there for many years.
My good friend Johnny Hardy is a huge fan of Mr. Hess’s, and I was thrilled to have someone besides yours truly do an interview on here (’cause I would have done nothing but yammered on about how awesome Ohio is, and you’d know nothing about his artwork). So, I hope you enjoy, and make sure to check out the show tomorrow night!
JH: Have you ever been to Dallas?
DH: I’ve never been to Dallas. The only time I’ve ever been in Texas was when we did a Strhessfest during SxSw a number of years ago.
JH: I understand Strhessfest to be a music and art collaboration event you’ve developed. When did that start, and what’s the concept behind it?
DH: We started Strhess in 2003, with the goal to bring contemporary music and visual art that really matters together in one event.
The music complements the art and the art complements the music, there’s a common thread. Be it hardcore rock, emo music, CD cover art, or the fine arts, a like-mindedness has evolved.
The last Strhessfest was in Austin Texas, in ‘04 for SxSw. It’s a pretty big undertaking, and our hands have been full with other things, so what we do now i
s a Strhess Tour.
JH: Is the Strhess Tour an annual event? How about booking…do you personally select all the bands for the occasion?
DH: Well, I’ve got lots of ties and friends who are agents, you know, from the years when I was booking for the Euclid. So, we’ll pick a date, and I’ll ask ‘em what bands are around the area that could be routed to participate for a day.
It is annual, yeah…but it varies from the time of year it goes on. We usually don’t do ‘em in the winter, but we did one last January in Hartford with Thursday, Murder by Death, Fear Before the March of Flames, and Heavy Heavy Low Low.
(click here for the entire interview..)
