Let’s talk about process. What’s the original spark for some of the work. Where is it coming from?

The concept of my current work stemmed from my dads fly fishing feathers. He passed away about 3 years ago. My sister and I were going through heaps of his belongings and I found this old brief case full of really colorful feathers, fur, and other nonsense he had used to make lures for fly fishing. The idea of fly fishing seemed very simple; use/manipulate nature to capture nature. I then had an immediate connection to the feathers representational value dealing with religion or other worldly aspects through ascension, transformation, ect.

The physical process of my work is very similar. I work on the floor and run around what ever I am working on, usually several at the same time, using the feathers to create the imagery. I feel the overall concept of transformation becomes more apparent in the materials I use. I seldom go to “art stores” for supplies. I shop at Home Depot. All of the material I use is extremely working class however when combined and manipulated, they achieve gallery status or that of art.

It seems to have sort of grown to be more involved from some of the earlier works of this style. Can you explain?

I think progression is only natural. When you have a strong concept there are endless combinations to present imagery within layers/partitions/applications, etc. so the sky’s the limit…..unless you feel like you have exhausted the concept or just get plain bored.

Would you consider your art to be abstract?

Some times I’m not sure. I hate to pigeon hole or label art but by popular definition, yes it is abstract: (sub-genre: conceptually representational abstraction/aesthetic traffic jam/shifty street-level cuts.

Any artists out there provide any inspiration to you?

I’m fucking in love with David Ratcliff. He is extremely inspirational in every which way possible. My uncle Richard has a direct and heavy influence on everything I produce as well, he’s almost like my mentor (do they still have those?)  My peers are also super influential: Ian Bragg, Michael Mason, Kyle Monk, Foof and Mike Meyers.  Friends and family. I guess anything that I feel connected to…..I like the following at the moment: witchcraft symbols, vintage country western album covers, Dan Colens’ art,  European book art, my dads old Dodger cards, any type of Barnum and Baileys circus programs from my childhood, The Flying Nun 25th Anniversary Box set………the list is long……

Does music play a role into anything you do?

Music plays a large roll in everything I do. I am obsessed with music and I’m not embarrassed to admit it. I listen to a lot of instrumental stuff when I paint like Growing, Earth, Bix Beiderbecke, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Wooden Shjips…or noisy stuff like, Dead C, Magik Markers, This Heat, Weird War, and Old Time Relijun. I guess the whole lo-fi pop thing is cool right now. I like the Dum Dum Girls and Mayfair Set. Pink Reason will always be the best and I really like the Sic Alps, Crystal Stilts, Beach Fossils,  Black Tambourine, Sore Eros…………I always revisit the oldies too. Those make me feel good.

Mr. Ward was kind enough to put together a little mix of music he’s be listening to lately. We like!

You can dowload from Media Fire here.

Or you can download from us too. (Right Click – Download linked file.)

Ryan will also be in a show October 17th 2009 (This Saturday) – Part of the Mickey Etinger Group Show at Cannibal Flower.

http://www.cannibalflower.com/

The address is 5797 Washington Blvd. The cross street is Fairfax.

Google Map It

If you can’t read the track list above, here it is:

1. No Sweat – Blues Control

2. To Clean – Woods

3. Batwing – The Terminals

4. 4 Cheveux dans le vent – Bainc Didonc

5. Ghost In The Trees – Thee Oh Sees

6. My Bag – The Usual We

7. Broken Heart – Ourself Beside Me

8. Smile On Your Face – Sore Eros

9. Daydream- Beach Fossils

10. Moon Dreams – Desolation Wilderness

11. Pink Frost – The Chills

12. Faith – Faith

13. Crazy Dreams – Searchers

14.Gritical – Dead Luke

15. Bells – Sic Alps

16. LP6 – Fabulous Diamonds

17. Highly Evolved – Brilliant Colors

18. Trouble  – Lindsey Buckingham

19. Don’t Talk In Your Sleep – Magik Markers

20. Kiss of Fire – Georgia Gibbs

21. Your Will – Gun Outfit

22. Aku Tetap Sadar – Dara Puspita

23. Joe 90 – Bored Games

24. Back on the Chain Gang – The Pretenders

We here in the news room are contemplating a new direction… in the meantime… a Liberty Boardshop and Liberty Boardshop Free Press contributor and collaborator, Ashlie Chavez, is having a photo show with her sister Amber this Saturday October 10th. Here are the details:

Opening Reception: Saturday October 10th (4pm-11pm).

Food and wine will be served 4pm-6pm

Here is where it’s at:

4th Street Vine

2142 E. 4th St.

Long Beach, CA 90814

562.343.5463

It ought to be a very hip evening.

Our ears are still buzzing off this new ear candy, so we bring you this update. The tribute/benefit album Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy features the track “All for the Best” from Thom Yorke and now has a video for the song. Rolling Stone premiered it earlier today. And the album is to be released September 29.

So you may ask why the tribute/benefit project. Well Mark Mulcahy has quite an eclectic music background. He was the main vocal piece for the 80′s Connecticut-based alt-rock band Miracle Legion, which released some hard to get your hands on albums. Later the band called it quits in the middle of the 90′s. Mulcahy also fronted Polaris, the group who created music for the Nickelodeon kids’ show “The Adventures of Pete & Pete“. Later, he contributed three solo albums to the world.

Late last year, Mulcahy’s wife Melissa died unexpectedly, leaving him to take care of his three-year-old twin daughters. So if Mulcahy is going to keep making music, he’ll need help. And fortunately, he’s getting it.

View Yorke’s official video for “All for the Best“ exclusively at Rolling Stone.

Apparently Thom sang the song with his brother, Andy Yorke who is the singer of the band Unbelievable Truth. So this would be the first time the two have ever appeared on a song together. Very nice!

View the unofficial video below.

Krusher

Beck’s Record Club is at it again. The Record Club is musical savant Beck’s brainchild where he and a hoard of musician buddies record a cover of an entire album in a day. For this round Mr. Hansen has rounded up the likes of MGMT, Devendra Banhart, Binki Shapiro from Little Joy and Bram Inscore and Brian Lebarton from his band, to reinterpret Leonard Cohen’s album Songs of Leonard Cohen.

The first song released is “Suzanne” available to view just below. Check out Beck.com where a new track is to be released each week. Very nice!

Record Club: Songs Of Leonard Cohen “Suzanne” from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

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Bat for Lashes were recruited to perform live on Jimmy Fallon’s NBC Late Night show last night. And the always enticing Natasha Khan and her fellow cohorts ripped it up performing the newest single-”Sleep Alone” off their second full length album Two Suns. Two Suns is one of the Liberty HQ’s favorite albums of ’09 to date. The album has also recently been nominated for 2009 Barclaycard Mercury Prize as ‘An Album of the Year’. Khan’s vocals have a dazzling yet spooky degree that gives one chills down their spine and makes the hair on one’s neck stand up all at the same time and so does this live performance!

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Julian Plenti Unleash “Games for Days” on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon! The album was released via Matador on August 4th and has contributions from guests including Mike Stroud (of Ratatat), Sam Fogarino (of Interpol), and Charles Burst (of the Occasion). In a Matador press release it was reported that, the Julian Plenti character began in 1996, as Banks played some NYC clubs, and then “went on sabbatical” just as Interpol started to rise in 2001. So if your a fan of Interpol, chances are you won’t be disappointed with JPIS. Feed your ears good sounds!

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Radiohead just blessed the world with a new song to download entitled “Harry Patch (In Memory Of).” The song is available to stream here. Now this isn’t just any song, it is a somber tribute to Harry Patch, the oldest surviving World War I soldier in combat who died on July 25th at the age of 111 (thats right one hundred and eleven) and will be layed to rest on August 6th (reported now as only three verified surviving WWI veterans alive). The download is priced at £1 ($1.70 U.S.), and the profits are going to the a veterans’ charity set up by the Royal British Legion. Buy the song here. Patch served from 1916-18, fighting on the battlefields of France in 1917. Now his memory is forever immortalized in song, inspired by Harry Patch’s words.

“The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example.” -Benjamin Disraeli

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Stereogum premiered the newest Octopus Project  (Josh Lambert, Toto Miranda, Yvonne Lambert and Ryan Figg) Video for Wet Gold. I would classify this video as oceanic-psychedelia which perfectly suits the tune. OP’s new EP Golden Beds is to be released 7/28 through Peek-A-Boo. The EP is Enhanced and is to include 5 songs and 7 new videos. If your a fan of American indietronica stream the EP here- your ears will thank you! 

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Always pleased to spread the gospel that is Radiohead. So we report that this past Sunday Radiohead’s main vocal part Thom Yorke premiered a brand new song acoustically at a Music Fest (Latitude Festival) in the U.K. where he played a solo performance. It’s not clear what the track is called but does that really matter?

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Broken Social Scene’s beautiful and Überly talented Feist collaborated with Wilco on their recent new release “Wilco (The Album)” and demonstrated their interaction on Letterman last night doing “You and I” in a notable performance.

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Beck and his Record Club performing The Velvet Underground & Nico’s VU. The concept for the Record Club is for Beck and his gang to enter the studio and re-record entire albums, and then post one song a week from that session. This is properly epic and we felt rather noteworthy. Here are the first two installments.

Record Club: Velvet Underground & Nico ‘Waiting for My Man’ from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

Record Club: Velvet Underground & Nico ‘Sunday Morning’ from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

For updates go to www.Beck.com

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