joe matt

joe matt

what is your name?
Joe Matt.

how would you describe what you do?
Autobiographical comic books.

what are you currently working on?
A book about the last 6 years of my life, since moving from Toronto to LA.

what has had the greatest influence on your work?
Maus and the autobiographical work of Robert Crumb.

what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?
That I’m lazy and/or a creep. Also, I think many people have the misconception that making comics is easy. Good comics, that is.

what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?
The main strength of comics is control. The cartoonist controls everything and the challenges can be overwhelming.
And I don’t think the medium has any weaknesses, other than the limits of language and communication.
Also, a weakness of comics may be its perception as a juvenile medium, but I consider that more a failing of people, as opposed to the medium. The same can be said for The Academy Awards looking down at comedies. It’s snobbery, plain and simple.

how has technology impacted upon the work you do?
I’ve chosen to ignore computers completely, as far as producing comic pages goes. Ink on paper is the only road I want to travel on.
From a publisher’s point of view though, I’m certain computers are an invaluable aid. So, I’m grateful for that.

what’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?
From a technical standpoint, my advice on comics could fill a book.
But basically, it might boil down to simply: dig as deep as you can.
My second piece of advice to all cartoonists would be: study the masters!
We’re extremely fortunate to be living in a Golden Age of comic strip reprints. And I urge EVERYONE to support such fine projects as: Walt & Skeezix, Little Orphan Annie, Popeye, Dick Tracy, Peanuts, Captain Easy, as well as countless others.

where can we find you online?
Friends can find me on Facebook; everyone else on MySpace.
Also, I don’t have the Internet at home, so my emailing is sparse.

what are you reading at the moment?
Conversations with Art Spiegelman

what are you listening to at the moment?
THE BEST SHOW ON WFMU!!! Hosted by Tom Sharpling!!
A friend burns mp3 discs for me from the archives at: www.friendsoftom.com

anything else we should know?
I am actually working, believe it or not.
Also, please buy my books. Comics are my sole source of income and I’m DYING out here in LA!
Today, I spent a whole $1.10 on a small coffee. And that was it.
I did, however, manage to drop $80 the day before on two volumes of DICK TRACY. So, don’t worry…my priorities are still in order.
SO LONG, SUCKERS!!! ~Joe

timo vuorensola of Älymystö

what is your name?
Timo Vuorensola

how would you describe what you do?
I’m a filmmaker, net overdoser and a noise musician

what are you currently working on?
i’m working on a feature film Iron Sky (www.ironsky.net), about Nazis from the Dark Side of the Moon. With my band Älymystö, we’ve just released a split with another band called And Then You Die, and are now starting planning our second full-length album.

what has had the greatest influence on your work?
definitively David Lynch and David Bowie.

what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?
that I do stuff for free just for fun. I don’t.

what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?
In film, it’s mainly my ability to do quality stuff with small budgets. In music, I’m really not sure – I’m a big guy with a loud voice on stage, maybe that’s a strength.

how has technology impacted upon the work you do?
Basically, it’s necessary to get my work done in all fields. The band and the film crews all live so widely across the world, it’s important for communication and collaboration.

what’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?
the art of compromising is not to compromise.

where can we find you online?
www.alymysto.com is my band
www.ironsky.net is my film
www.wreckamovie.com is my collaborative film production platform
www.zombieroom.net is mine and my girlfriend’s film blog
@LeonBlank is my Twitter username

what are you reading at the moment?
Ian Carr’s Miles Davis’ biography

what are you listening to at the moment?
Some random hotel lobby background music.

anything else we should know?
all these worlds belong to you, except europa. attempt no landings there.

Ilmari Haapanen of Älymystö

what is your name?
Ilmari Haapanen

how would you describe what you do?
I’m all about sound. When I’m not busy being an industrial musician, I study sound designing for movies & television at the School of Art and Media of Tampere University of Applied Sciences, and in the spare time I craft sound art for radio and do some freelance composing for games and what not. I’m also co-founder of Älymystö with Mr. Vuorensola and the main driving force behind the band.

what are you currently working on?
Skithund Records releases the 12″ vinyl version of the 19:38:00 split album on April the 1st 2010, but my work there is pretty much done now. At the moment I’m involved in three different short movies which all are in post-production. This week I’ll be doing foleys for “Pieniä Ihmeitä”, next week it’ll be dialogue edit for “Esso” and so forth. Although the rest of the band is eager to work on the next full-length album, I think that’ll be on slow motion until I get these babies out for the film festivals of the spring.

what has had the greatest influence on your work?
Amiga 500 & OctaMED and all those great trackers like Jesper Kyd and Carebear.

what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?
That I hate Star Wreck / Iron Sky / what ever Mr. Vuorensola & co. are up to. No I don’t, I have huge respect for them for what they’ve done and hopefully someday I’ll be able to work with them.

what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?
My main strength is my ability to create strong visual soundscapes that deliver different moods efficiently. Sound is all about the feeling. My main weakness is definitely my lack of skill in playing different instruments, I’m all too focused on electronic sounds.

how has technology impacted upon the work you do?
Without electricity I would be just a shaman with a drum.

what’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?
There’s nothing against you out there. Except the reptilians, of course.

where can we find you online?
I’m a bit against living online, so you can’t really find me on FB/Twitter or any of that shit.
But feel free to listen our music online:

http://www.alymysto.com/
http://www.last.fm/music/Älymystö

what are you reading at the moment?
Nothing, I find it difficult to find time for reading books.

what are you listening to at the moment?
Sounds of a decades old wooden house in a Finnish winter weather combined to sounds of a new ventilation system. It’s a strange mix, I tell you. Musicwise I’ve been into dubstep lately.

anything else we should know?
The inner space is boundless.