Les Presses Ambulatoires (FR)

Les Presses Ambulatoires (FR)

First time I saw art by les presses ambulatoires, was when I discovered the Tightrope / The Boring poster you can see on the left. For some reason, this poster made a great impression on me. I tried to find out who was the guy behind it, but, you know how it works, someone give you a name, then another one, then you send a mail, then nobody answers, then you receive a mail from a guy you never contacted and who tells you he is not the guy behind the poster, etc.... Finally you forget about...till the day you post an interview of San Miguel on facebook and someone comments : "1st book about screen printing I bought was his book about Rock Poster, called "San Miguel s'affiche" ... and then, I started screen printing. Love this guy and his work !!". What happened afteris purely professional secret, but the result is hereunder, I am both proud and happy to introduce to you, dear readers, the talented Presses Ambulatoires ! ;)

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

Hello there. I'm a huge fan of music, I grew up with tons of good bands, in every genre. So, nowadays, in my small workshop, you can find a lot of cd scattered all around, with bands like Deftones, Pantera, Crowbar, Blink 182, Dälek, Neurosis, Isis, Eminem, Body Count, Converge, Green Day, Faith No More, Lemuria, Fall of Efrafa … and some local bands or bands friend of mine, like Farewell, the Boring, Child Meadow, Oak, Sofy Major … and lots of movie soundtracks.

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

My name is Ianik, I'm 33, I'm living in a small village about 80km from Strasbourg, in the East of France, lost at the foot of our mountains. First of all, I'm not very good with English, so please forgive me for all the mistake in my answers. Actually I'm unemployed, so, I spent time wandering around my house with my dogs, I try to raise my daughter (but that's easy, it's a baby) and of course, I try to print some stuff in my workshop.

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

I think I started drawing when I got bored in class. Yep, lots of pages in my schoolbooks are now full of sketches, but, truly, those sketches are simply “bad” … all my drawings are bad I think … I have to spend a long time facing blank pages to get something in the end that satisfies me !!

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

I'm not living from screen-printing. I try to sell my posters when I go to shows, or when I play in a show with my band. But I have some cool orders sometimes, so, it helps a lot to fill my empty fridge. But my girlfriend's got a good job, she likes it, she's the one who tries to pay the house's bills :0)

Are you collaborating with magazines/fanzines, regularly?

Not at all.

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

I'm not a designer or an artist. I just try to express myself with the little things I know, things I can manage. I think when I start working on any ideas I get, first of all, I need music, lots of music, and coffee … Then, my way of process is gonna start. Sometimes, I'm just wandering on gigposters.com to see some random posters, and then, an idea begins to grow in my mind … Sometimes, I have a precise idea and I try to put it on paper. No particular influences, I make it like I feel it. And I try to make a sort of “Tribute Poster” (like the Converge's “You Fail Me” poster and the “Baton Rouge & Alligator's” poster, with the “500 days of summer” tribute drawing).

What are the principal steps in your work ? Do you do everything by hand or on computer?

Once I have my idea and project clear in my head, I'm looking for any components I need to have a final result who can satisfy me. It can be personal photos, old drawings I have in my portfolio, sketches, or photos found on Internet. Then, if I have enough time and enough strength, I try to draw everything, then scan the sketches, try to vector everything, and put all my future layers together with photoshop. Sometimes, it's only hand drawing, but in the end, I need a computer for my work, like when I work on colors and this kind of stuff ...

How long does it take you to do a poster?

I really don't know. Sometimes, if I'm only working with my computer, it can be quick. Sometimes, it takes a very looooooong time.

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 don't think I have a personal style. I love drawing or working on pictures with my computer, playing with shapes and halftones for example. But a lot of people are doing this, and certainly better than me !! I'm a small newbie, even if I print since 7 years now, I don't have enough time to spend in my workshop. I have to practice more, and I have to improve some technical stuff in my workshop, I'm such a lazy guy. I build my workshop with old materials, but it's ok for me, and I can print all the orders people asked me. So, it sounds good enough at this time.

For which band have you already worked for?

Not a lot of bands, cause in my small area, there isn't a lot of gig places, and even if there are some cool spots and people who organize shows, audience are not really into gig-posters and rock arts … It's more for a specific kind of people I think, and it makes me feel sad, cause that's what I try to change with my prints, and with the small impact I can have when I'm in a show with my portfolio. I think rock posters have to be included in big venues as in small diy shows. It's an essential component of the show !! I want people to have a new look on this “art”, and if I can contribute to this, I would be very happy.

For which band would you love to work?

Honestly, I dream to work for the lots of bands I love, that's a fact. But it won't happen, they won't call me tomorrow hahaha. So, I try to make design for them when they're on tour in the biggest town next to my village (for example, Caspian, in a few days !!)

But on the other hand, something that really matters to me, is to work with all the friends I have in our local diy punk scene. We have some great local bands here, and I really dream of seeing them asking for more screen-printed stuff, like tour posters or posters / inserts for Lp, Cd, Demo Cdr etc etc … I know sometimes it's a question of money, cause a lot of things are now very expensive in music (including screen-printing) and then, you don't have enough money to put in “goodies” such as screen-printed posters. But I think it's something important, close to the punk culture, to have such a thing with your Lp or on your merch table. There are so many ways to print, cut and fold cool things ... Finding a patch, a poster or a screen-printed insert in my brand new vinyl I just bought is just something I really love. I HATE BANDS WHO DON'T PUT AN INSERT WITH THEIR LP (PRINTED OR NOT, I DON'T CARE, EVEN A SIMPLE PAGE WITH NOTES AND LYRICS IS OK !)

Do you choose the artists yourself?

Yep, when I can, I do it !! The Abraham's poster, or the Caspian's poster are the perfect examples.

What is the most difficult part in designing a poster ?

It's finding “THE” idea … and then, trying your best to be the closest you can with the final result.

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

Definitely NOT :0)

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?

Ok .. So, you can find my work on lespressesambulatoires.blogspot.com, on Fb and Tumblr … Probably the same pictures on every pages, but Fb is probably the more updated site.

The best praise you received lately?

Lots of people liked a lot my Abraham's gig poster. I'm proud of this one. Simple and clear, kind of minimalism artwork (a forest and an owl) … Just enough, and I think it fits to the bands (the other band on the poster is mine btw)

What can we wish you for the future?

Working harder and harder to do better prints … and don't quit this amazing adventure made of passion and ink !

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

Thank you, you're doing an amazing job by running your blog, lots of cool artists. I discovered a lot of great stuff here !! You're the one !!