Daniel Nagelkerke (Promoter) (NL)

Daniel Nagelkerke (Promoter) (NL)

Following Abby Lavin from Shangai, here is the second promoter interviewed on the blog. Daniel is working for one of the main popvenues in The Netherlands: Patronaat and, the least we can say is that, when it comes to Rock Posters for the shows he is promoting, he has good taste ;)

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

The last Earth album is on heavy rotation here and they are playing Patronaat soon. The Cloud Nothings record did well in our office and while working I usually listen to a variety of contemporary electronics, from techno to moombahton. Right now it's the new Sleigh Bells: Reign of Terror.

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

I'm Daniel Nagelkerke and I do marketing and pr for a music venue called Patronaat. That's in Haarlem, The Netherlands.

When did you start your business, how did that happen?

Patronaat started out in 1984 and is one of the main popvenues in The Netherlands. I started working there almost 4 years ago, at first just promoting the dance and electronic stuff. Before that I was booking and promoting punk shows, so it was a logical step to take on the promotion for the bands in Patronaat as well.

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

I'm living from this, it's a full time job.

Which bands are you working with regularly?

There are only so many times a band can come to visit, but bands we've recently worked with were Mastodon, Battles, The Melvins, Earth, Karma To Burn, Entombed and 65daysofstatic.

Is it you, or the band, who decide which artist you are going to work with on a particular event?

Usually it's us, but in some cases the band delivers artwork from a particular artist.

How do you (do they) choose the artist you are going to work with on a particular event?

Their style should fit what the show is about. I look at previous work and if their style is in the right vein for the band and its following. It helps if the artist has heard the band, so he knows what he is dealing with.

What is the most important for you when you ask for a poster?

All of the poster should breathe the atmosphere of the show. Fans of the genre who don't know the specific band should be attracted to it.

What kind of advice would you give to a young artist who would like to work with you?

Make cool work, even if it's not an assignment. If your portfolio is stunning, the assignments will follow. I also think it helps to make artwork directly for bands, that's a good way to get your name across.

Are you a collector yourself?

Not really. I've collected flyers for gabberhouse parties when I was a kid and would visit all the presale addresses that were mentioned on the back, in order to find more and prettier flyers. I was too young to go the parties, but the fascination with artwork was there from an early age.

If so, what is your top 5 artists and top 5 posters ever?

My favorite artists are Malleus, Michiel Walrave, Boom Artwork, Peter Pontiac and Josse Blase.
There are three posters on my wall: a Malleus silkscreen for Patronaat, a Walrave silksreen and an Antistrot silkscreen (collectice including Walrave as well. They quit some time ago, but are back under the name Kamp Horst. Still really cool stuff)

A bit of self-promotion, take advantage of it, it's free, where can we find you on the web, what are you working on at the moment?

I've just asked Josse Blase for six more designs, all indie/folk/rock shows. I'm working on a design for a show with Odonis Odonis, Barn Owl, The Oscillation and Hayvanlar Alemi on April 21st and a dance party called Royal Rave featuring Knife Party and Munchi. The Devil's Blood is playing Patronaat in June, so that deserves a great poster as well.

You have a particular viewpoint on the poster scene, how do you see it evolve?

I love the fact that some designers also make silkscreens, I see there's still a demand for those in our following. We're even thinking about starting our own silkscreen workshop in our basement, like Vera in Groningen has. They have the best concert posters available in The Netherlands.

What can we wish you for the future?

Great bands visiting our venue, awesome posters for those shows and lots of people coming to check them out.

Geoff Peveto (The Decoder Ring Design Concern/ American Poster Institute (API)) (US)

Geoff Peveto (The Decoder Ring Design Concern/ American Poster Institute (API)) (US)

Most of you will probably don't know his name but you definitly know his work ! How ? If I tell you that Geoff is the guy behind every Flatstock, this should help you ;) Taking advantage of the coming Flatstock (#33) in Austin TX, we decided to contact him to have his unique point of view on today's poster scene ! I do not know how he found time to answer our questions so close to the opening date, but I really thank him for the patience he showed during the process...

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

"Coma Summer" by Weekend.  It's off their album Sports and it's badass. That or Bloodhouse - "Please Don't Meet Me"

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

I live in Austin Texas and own a design and print company called The Decoder Ring, a restaurant called Frank and I am president of The American Poster Institute which runs Flatstock.

You are in charge of Flatstock 33 which going to take place on March 14-17 2012 in Austin TX, is it the first time you do that, or were you also responsible for the previous editions ?

I've been involved with every Flatstock since the first one in San Francisco.

When did the first Flatstcok took place ?

At Cellspace in San Francisco in Sept 2002

For European and rest of the world readers, how would you explain what a Flatstock event is exactly ?

Flatstock is a poster show that showcases rock posters and prints. The cool thing about Flatstock is attendees get to meet the artists who are making the posters vs buying the work from a dealer. The number of artists showing at Flatstock ranges from 100 to 30 depending on the city Flatstock is in. Currently we host in Austin, Chicago, Seattle, and Hamburg Germany. We are hosting Flatstock 34 in Barcelona for the first time this summer.

A part from the US which, we both know, is huge, which other country is important regarding rock posters according to you ?

Canada, UK and Germany are really strong in terms of active poster makers. So is the Netherlands. But there are poster makers all over the world and as this medium continues to grow we are seeing folks pop up in Spain, Italy, Austria, Israel, France and Mexico.

Have you seen many changes since the firsts Flatstocks ?

Really just the change between the first one in San Francisco and Austin. We went from a small art space to a convention center. The only other main difference between each Flatstock is the venue. With Austin and Seattle being inside in convention centers and Chicago, Hamburg and Barcelona being outside at music festivals.

Did you chose the artists yourself, or did you "just have to" validate the requests made by them ?

All attending artists are members of the API and have been confirmed as accredited professionals who are making commissioned work. Flatstock is only open to API members so each Flatstock is made up from the best poster makers in the world.

Does it happen you have to refuse some artists, if so, why ?

We do and it is based on their body of work. Typically anyone who is not allowed to attend either aren't making rock posters, don't have commissioned work or don't have enough work.

Are you a collector yourself ?

You could say that. I got into this because I was collecting Flaming Lips posters. Now days I have more posters then I know what to do with so I don't collect as much as I use to but I do have a pretty nice collection.

If so, what is your top 5 artists and top 5 posters ever ?

My all time favourite is an Afghan Whigs poster by Jeff Kleinsmith. The few posters I have hanging in my house are a Jay Ryan poster for the Flaming Lips and Hum that is badass. A really smart Spoon poster by Aesthetic Apparatus. A Fastbacks poster by Art Chantry and all The Flaming Lips posters Wayne Coyne made in the 90s. I think those fellas would qualify for my top five in both categories.

I know next flatstock will take place in Barcelona, does this means that Flatstock and Flatstock Europe are now "the same" ?

Flatstock has always been Flatstock we used the Europe addition to help grow awareness that the event is international.

Can we expect Flatstock to come to France soon ?

We'll see.  We like to be associated with established music festivals since it gives our artists a built in demographic and allows them to be successful. I love Paris.

You have a particular viewpoint on the poster scene, how do you see it evolve ?

The internet and specifically gigposters.com and Flatstock have helped build an international community so there is a great resource for upcoming artist to get into making rock posters. Ten years ago everyone was kind of operating on their own island in whatever city they were in but once gigposters.com came online we all started seeing awesome work from all over the world and we had a forum to talk about it.

From your point of view, which artist(s) should we give a close eye to in the next few years ?

Here's some of my favorites right now. Landland (Minneapolis), Michael Hacker (Vienna) Scott Campbell (New Orleans), Sonnenzimmer (Chicago), Ryan Duggan (Chicago), Damien Tran( Berlin) DKNG (Los Angeles) Amy Jo (Minneapolis) Jon Vogl (Denver) Drew Millward (Leeds) Luke Drozd (London)

What can we wish you for the future?

I just want to see the screen printing medium continue to grow. Art and music are two of the most important things in the world and poster makers get to bring them together. Pretty swell.

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

Abby Lavin (Promoter) (Shangai)

Abby Lavin (Promoter) (Shangai)

Randomly re-reading interviews, I found out that most of the artists were referring to show promoters when I asked them how they were choosen for a particular event. And the idea grown in my head to contact directly those guys from behind the scene. After all I already interviewed collectors, site/blog owners and even few printers, so why not promoters as they are also part of the poster scene. The first one to answer is Abby Lavin from Shangai I get to know thanks to Idle Beats guys I must thanks here once again for the chinese point of view they gave me to the poster world ! Hope to have more show promoters soon on the blog and do not worry, I do not forget drawers ;) 

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

Bikini Kill. I'm stuck in the '90s.

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

My name's Abby. I'm originally from Washington D.C., but moved around a lot growing up. Started learning Chinese when I was a kid living in Hong Kong, which led to me deciding to move to Shanghai about 4 years ago and have an adventure. Ended up working here at Split Works (www.spli-t.com), a fiercely lovely group of people who organise concerts and music festivals, mostly in China with some work in other Asian countries too. We work with a lot of awesome musicians, both from within China and from overseas. We tour with different artists all the time throughout the year, but our main annual events are the JUE | Music + Art festival (www.juefestival.com) and the Black Rabbit Music Festival (www.hei-tu.com). Both of those events take place in Shanghai and Beijing.

When did you start your business, how did that happen ?

Split Works was founded just over 5 years ago, but not by me! The founders of the company, Archie Hamilton and Nathaniel Davis, are a couple people who really saw the potential for China's live music scene to develop in exciting ways. A couple of the early events Split Works produced in 2007 were a Sonic Youth China Tour, and a music festival called Yue in Shanghai, that featured a cool mix of international and domestic talent. Everyone from Faithless to Talib Kweli to lots of kick-ass bands from Beijing.

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

Nope; I'm still here at Split Works full time. 

Which bands are you working with regularly ?

We've worked with so many different acts. It's hard to keep track. I think you can see the full list here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_Works

But there are a few artists we have ongoing relationships with, including Olafur Arnalds, Handsome Furs, and Hanggai to name just a few. We've done multiple tours/shows over the years for each of those acts. 

  

Is it you, or the band, who decide which artist you are going to work with on a particular event ?

For each event we do, the main decisions about design are made by Split Works, but we always get final approval of the design from the musicians themselves. 

  

How do you (do they) choose the artist you are going to work with on a particular event ?

99.9% of our posters are done by our in-house graphic designer, Kaine. But we do sometimes work with other artists too. Especially if Kaine is too busy, then we look for a freelance artist to come up with a design. But I like working with Kaine because her style is quite versatile. We promote so many different types of music (punk, hip-hop, folk, electro, etc.) so it's great to have a designer who is able to come up with poster art that fits all those different styles. 

  

What is the most important for you when you ask for a poster ?

aesthetically speaking, i like clean lines and bright colours. but really, i'm a stickler for detail, so i'd have to say the most important thing to me is having all the key info about the event (address, ticket booking hotline, etc.) presented in both Chinese and English in a way that's easy for people to read. after all, the purpose of the poster is ultimately to drive turn-out to the show.

What kind of advice would you give to a young artist who would like to work with you ?

Assassinate Kaine. 

Are you a collector yourself ?

I'm not a massive collector, but I would like to be. My friends at Idle Beats studio have given me a few of their prints over the years, which I love. I have a framed print of that Handsome Furs Asia Tour poster in my apartment. Probably my fave poster find of all time was at a night market at Alexandria, in Egypt. there was this dude selling primary school supplies -- notebooks, pencils, etc...and I saw he had a really dusty, tattered A1 poster meant for a biology class, with a diagram of the human heart and all the text "ventricle," "aorta," etc...written in Arabic. so I bought it (for like 5 cents US) and brought it back to Shanghai and framed it. it's such a gem. 

If so, what is your top 5 artists and top 5 posters ever ?

oh man...that's a tough one. i guess i'm not a big enough collector to really have a list like that!   

A bit of self-promotion, take advantage of it, it's free, where can we find you on the web, what are you working on at the moment?

our JUE | Music + Art festival is taking place in Beijing and Shanghai March 9-25. I'm really excited about that one. It's our 4th year of the festival and it's developed organically and splendidly. people can find info about that event at: www.juefestival.com.

You have a particular viewpoint on the poster scene, how do you see it evolve ?

I'm amused/inspired by a lot of the gig posters i see around Shanghai. I hope that in China people will increasingly start looking at posters as works-of-art and keepsakes to frame. It would be great to see more screenprinting studios cropping up around the country. Idle Beats is the only one I know of, and they rule. 

What can we wish you for the future?

Health! 

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

You're most welcome. thanks for the opportunity!