Dale Flattum aka TOOTH (US)

Dale Flattum aka TOOTH (US)

Sure thing is that Tooth drawings are hugely more readable than the picture he sent me ;)Hopefully for bands such as Faith No More, Mogwai, Meat Puppets,Killdozer, Melvins or Mudhoney who had the good idea to work with him !!!

Hello, of course as every Crewk interview, first question: what are we listening to when we come to visit you?

It would depend on when you got here, and how tired I was.
Sometimes I'll get obsessed and listen to the same song over and over and over so it might be kind of annoying.
Lately it's been: early Van Halen, REM, Warbringer, Townes Van Zandt, Simon & Garfunkel, Undead Creep, The Germs, Calexico, Slim Cessna's Auto Club... It jumps around.

Can you tell us more about yourself, who are you, where are you from, what do you do?

I grew up in a fairly small town in the mountains of Montana.
I make posters, noise, and the occasional art forgery.
I wear glasses and go by the alias: TOOTH.

When did you start drawing?

I remember lying on the floor and drawing with my brother when I was really young, then I went through an awful phase of making "serious" artwork in junior high and high school until I discovered Punk rock and Dada and the Surrealists and realized that art could be funny.

Did you follow any course or did you improve by drawing in the margins of your schoolbooks?

I went to high school when there was still a lot of funding for art classes, so we had a pretty amazing art department,but by the time I graduated it was gone. The tide had turned and they fired all but one of the teachers and gave the film equipment to the football team.
I've never actually studied any graphic art or design. All of that was learned by making flyers and stickers and album covers for different bands I played in.

Today are you living from your art, or do you do something else for a living ?

I'm the head designer for a company called Copycats here in MPLS.
And in the mornings and evenings I do my own work. Screen printing, freelance design, art projects, light janitorial work, etc.

Are you collaborating with magazines/fanzines, regularly?

I READ a lot of magazines, and I cut pictures out of magazines, but I doubt you could call that collaborating.

Where does your influence come from? Is there any artists/graphists you particularly like, what are your influences?

It all goes back to Mad magazine and punk rock. Mad magazine was great because they made fun of everybody. Politicians, beatniks, movie stars, hippies, squares...nothing was sacred, the artwork was great and they would parody lots of advertising so you began to understand really early the tricks these companies were trying to play on you. As for artists, I could make a ridiculously long list, but my top 5 today would be: Miss Amy Jo, Ron Liberti, Casey Burns, Burlesque & Lonny Unitus. (That's kind of a friends and family list.) Other big influences would be Art Chantry, Jamie Reid, Ray Johnson, Biscuit Turner, Hannah Hoch...I could go on forever.

What are the principal steps in your work ?

I wish I knew. Sometimes I get an assignment and my brain just goes blank.
But that might just be an excuse to procrastinate and watch movies.

Do you do everything by hand or on computer?

It's both. Mostly the computer, but I do a lot of collage work that I then scan into the computer.

How long does it take you to do a poster?

Sometimes it just HAPPENS, and other times you have to MAKE it happen. So it varies wildly.

You have a very distinctive style, are you doing only what you feel like or if tomorrow somebody asks you an oil painting with horses running out of water with a sunset backdrop, is it a problem or are you up for it ?

I'm open to any idea a client might have. However I will tell them "I can't paint horses running out of a sunset."

For which band have you already worked for?

Favorites: The Blind Shake, The Deaths, X, Faith No More, Mogwai, Meat Puppets, Mike Watt, Stereolab, Killdozer, Boredoms, Melvins, Mudhoney, Black Lips, Rosebuds, Imperial Teen, Negativland...

For which band would you love to work?

Green Day

Do you choose the artists yourself?

No.

What is the most difficult part in designing a poster ?

Making it not suck.

Do you think you are part of a "Graphic Scene", if so who else ?

Minneapolis has a ridiculous amount of great poster makers, so I like to feel I'm a part of that scene, if you could call it a scene. We don't really have meetings, but we should. I could help set up the chairs and make the coffee.

A bit of self-promotion, take advantage of it, it's free, where can we see your work , on the web or in real life?

I just released a 256 page book of black and white graphics that I'm really pleased with.
It's called: TOOTH - The graphic art of Dale Flattum
It comes with a CD that includes music from nearly every band project I've been involved in. (Steel Pole Bath Tub, Milk Cult, Novex, The Nein, etc)

http://www.ramenroyale.com/

http://www.ramenroyale.com/store.php?size=full&image=0

And there are more posters at gigposters.com

The best praise you received lately?

Jeff Kleinsmith said he liked my book, so I've got that going for me.

What can we wish you for the future?

Peace of mind.

Thanks for answering my questions and see you soon on the website !!