Life/gauze flyer

Indian Ink on Paper - 594x420mm - 2017

The members of LiFe were so happy with my artwork for their 25th anniversary gig they asked me to do the artwork for the No Peaceful Purpose for Nuclear Weapons show the next year (2017). This time playing with Gauze. A pretty hefty amount of punk weight surrounds Tokyo punk legends Gauze, and rightly earned as well. The band is loved around the world, but the Gauze fans in Japan are on a whole other level. I’m comfortable drawing artwork for a crust band like LiFe because my drawing style is heavily influenced by crust. Having Gauze on the bill definitely added some extra pressure because I wanted to incorporate their sound into the artwork as well and the band is of such a high standard that I really didn’t want to fuck up.

I sent an initial sketch to Hiro trying to flesh out what LiFe wanted with the flyer. LiFe were very specific of what they wanted in the 25th anniversary flyer, giving lots of instruction and feedback. While waiting for feedback I sent a second sketch. The second sketch was received very positively and received no amendments and the only instruction was to have the information in a Crass style stencil font.

I thought of the drawing in halves. The bottom an apocalyptic crust visage, a decaying city framing a path of skulls leading to a mighty LiFe axe banner that strikes up into the top exploding Gauze logo. Since LiFe were going to playing for 2 hours and they organised the show I wanted the viewers eye to be directed to the LiFe logo first, then have the eye drift up to an inferno Gauze logo for some extra wow-factor.

I didn’t want either logo to look like a sticker slapped onto some artwork, I felt it was important for overall viewing impact that everything looked stylistically cohesive. Fans would already be excited to see both bands regardless of how the flyer looked (especially for 500 yen!). When fans looked at the flyer, I wanted them to feel like they were going to go to something truly epic and special that was absolutely not to be missed. Despite the fact that both bands play quite regularly every year.

Stoked that I had the idea nailed instantly I thought I would quickly smash out the drawing. That did not happen. The drawing was dragged out over two months due to my personal life circumstances at the time. I was living with somewhere around 8 housemates and getting a good solid sleep was next to impossible in the thin walled house. If I haven’t slept well, I don’t draw, my brain simply won’t do it, and if I force it nothing but shit comes out. Also, Buddy (my former dog) was having one of his bad periods of health periods and had to have surgery to remove his skin cancer growths and that compounded matters.

The drawing didn’t turn out as well as I wanted it to, but sometimes a drawing ends up as it has to. I was stoked it was so positively received, and really just stoked in general. At the time it was my second proper flyer artwork for bands and the entire process was a bit surreal. The flyer also prompted my friend Phil to go to the show.

In 2017 I was planning to visit Montreal for a month in September leading up to the Varning festival. Phil convinced me to come along for the LiFe/Gauze show. It was only a month before I was to be in Montreal so I figured I’d go to Japan to briefly catch up with my friends and spend my 30th birthday there, then head to Portland to visit my good friend Manny then head up to Montreal for party.

Phil wasn’t able to acquire a pre-sale ticket and was freaking out that he had bought a ticket to Japan for a show he might not be able to attend. I had already asked Nori if he could put me on the door, which I already felt kinda guilty about because I don’t like asking friends for favours, I just don’t like being a bother. I felt extra bad about asking if Nori could also add Phil to the door list, Nori agreed but said the list would have ‘Xavier +1’ and not to tell anyone because he would get into trouble (I think the statute of limitations of Nori getting into trouble are over).

Fast forward to being in Japan at the show. I had never been to Moonstep live house before. I very cluelessly stood about at the front area where it looked like there was a line too shy to ask any local what to do. Eventually someone came up to me asking if I had a ticket, I replied no, and he replied that I am to go to the back of the line, I then said I’m on the door, he looked confused, I said ‘door list’ and did some nonsensical hand gestures, I was met with more confusion. Then a dude with a United States accent said pointing at me ‘he drew the flyer’ to which the Japanese dude I was speaking to, shocked, replied ‘oh shit!’ and grab me and rushed me up the stairs to the front of the line, I grabbed Phil trying to keep him close so he wouldn’t get lost in the crowd as I was his way into the gig. We got to the entry desk and sure enough I saw my name but it didn’t have the ‘+1’, I quickly said ‘oh Xavier plus one’ in my best Japanese accent. The door person quickly wrote a ‘+1’ next to my name and Phil was safely in. My first time wielding artist status clout, I could get use to such power.

When we got inside the dude from that states who was in hanging about and I thanked him for his help. He was from Minneapolis (if my memory serves correct), he said he was a fan of my artwork. A fan! This was my first time meeting a person I didn’t know who is a fan of my artwork! I was chuffed, I never thought anyone outside of my friends knew my art existed. The dude was wearing the t-shirt of this year’s LiFe/Gauze show and underneath a t-shirt of the 25th anniversary show artwork. He also mentioned that he was surprised I was wearing my denim vest and that the venue turns into an oven. I couldn’t care about the oven remark, I was still glowing that I had fan!

I wandered about the venue very giddily looking at punks wearing my artwork (to this day I still get a weird surreal feeling whenever I see someone wearing my artwork). Without saying much, I took some photos of the people wearing the artwork because it was such a massive novelty to me. I eventually started feeling like a weirdo taking photos of strangers so I told one punk that I drew the artwork. There were a few surprised noises and the locals started taking photos of me. My first time getting celebrity photos taken of me, I could get use to such attention.

Time for the show to start! I thought LiFe was going to play first, instead Gauze walked onto the stage, I was expecting the usual tuning, introductions and mucking about that happen when a band takes stage. Instead the band took up arms and started annihilating right away with barely a second passing between picking up equipment and mercilessly assaulting the audience’s eardrums. The crowd instantly turned into a congealed mass of human’s charging in unison to scream lyrics. There was no hope for escape from the rampaging hardcore congregation. A few days prior my friend Ryota told me ‘Gauze fans are very tough’, he wasn’t wrong. Lacking healthy physical stamina, and the powerful urge not to be turned to human paste, resulted in me hanging just outside the perimeter of the chaos. I had heard that Gauze don’t stop at all during their set and they usually play for about an hour, which is exactly what happened. It was beyond impressive how the band managed to keep such an unrelenting pace of destruction. Especially given how old they all are.

After Gauze finished, I was a bit relieved due to the venue turning into a hot box and I was unsure how much more devastation my ears could handle. My denim vest was soaked through with sweat and I fully understood what the dude from Minneapolis was talking about. After a few beers LiFe were up next.

Playing a two hour set is a lofty goal. Especially in the inferno temperatures of Moonstep. I was genuinely expecting one of the members to pass out from heat exhaustion. I can’t actually remember the LiFe set too well. I know I watched all of it. The combination of the heat and excessively drinking alcohol made the whole experience of the set feel like an out of body experience. My brain occasionally snapped back to reality to enjoy LiFe’s excellent crust. I do remember Hiro having a supply of mineral jelly (the vitamin and mineral jellies in Japan convenience stores are great for fixing hang overs and continuing to party), which he would down in-between songs, a very smart idea. When LiFe finished I staggered to the bar for some much needed fluids.

The rest of the night consisted of drinks and talking with friends and strangers. At one point I strolled up to Abe-chan who was talking to some fans, he introduced me saying I did the artwork for the gig and I showed them my drawings which swiftly turned into me showing them photos of my dog Buddy. As they said their good byes they gave me some bows which prompted me to vigorously shake my head and hands sideways repeating ‘no no no no’. It definitely brought out my more bashful side.

Towards the end of the night I asked Hiro if I could get a photo with the guys form both bands. He couldn’t quite understand me as my broken Japanese English communication skills had given way due to too much booze. He then grabbed the dude who rushed me up to the front desk earlier, turns out that dude is named Naoki, and he runs Moonstep, and speaks fluent English, and is a really nice dude. Naoki explained that Hiro was a bit too shy to ask the Gauze guys for a photo, and if I wait a little, he’ll sort it out. I had a very enjoyable chat to Naoki (visit Moonstep if you ever go to Tokyo) and then we got a photo with the Gauze bass player. Afterwards Hiro excitedly asked me to send him the photo.

A very memorable night and was definitely glad my rubber arm was twisted into coming. When I meet new people I show them my drawings, it’s just my introverted way of reaching out to a stranger that I’m too shy to make actual introductory conversation with. When the stranger would flip through the drawings on my phone they’d come across the LiFe/Gauze flyer and get all excited, and every time I’d get excited that someone outside of my circle of friends had seen my artwork. However, this was all a trap, because a few flicks after the flyer were some ‘accidentally’ included photos of Buddy. I can never show just one photo of Buddy, the unfortunate soul who crosses my path must be shown a full 3 year history of Buddy photos. I won’t let the person escape until they submit that Buddy is the cutest dog that has ever and will ever exist.

Thanks to all the guys from LiFe for asking me to draw the flyer, I had a lot more requests for artwork after it came out. LiFe are among the most genuinely nicest people in punk, and I feel privileged getting to call them my friends. I want to hug them all as I write this sentence. Memories of time spent with them are flooding back to me. Getting to support my friends art with my art, and vice versa, leaves me with a very special and connected feeling that brings a very sincere smile to my face. Thanks guys!