varning 2018 poster

Digital - 328.76x382.74mm - 2018

In recent years Varning has been a very special thing in my life. The first Varning I went to was in 2014 due entirely to my good friends Manny and Ash. Manny was trying to convince me to come with himself, Blake and Ash. I hadn't been exposed to the international punk scene and I was hesitant. I'm inherently a person who doesn't do things, mixed with my own self concious insecurities, makes it hard to get me out of the house, let alone go to another country. Fortunately I have quite pushy friends. Manny said he'd put money towards my ticket to Montreal which then spurred Ash to purchase my flights on her credit card.

I ended up having an amazing time and made friends who bring a smile to my face everytime I think about them. Each subsequent Varning I went to, I made new friends, strengthened bonds with old ones and found more memories to smile about when my thoughts are wandering while smoking. Especially when I think of Johnny.

A lot of the music I now enjoy on a daily basis I also discovered through Varning or later from people I met as a result of Varning. The festival has been a massive boon to my life. I secretly hoped Janick would ask me to draw poster artwork for the festival. I even pre-emptively started a drawing for it to be prepared. I got over waiting so last year while Parasytes were in Australia, I grabbed Janick and asked if she wanted to see next year's Varning poster. I can also be quite pushy at times.

After some creative direction from Janick this is the drawing. The thing I associate most with Varning is friendship, all the punks in the artwork are drawings of my friends. I wanted to draw so many friends, but it would probably be unfinished for years if I included everyone that came to mind.
Thanks Janick for letting me do the artwork and thanks to everyone involved with making Varning happen, I unfortunately couldn’t attend that year of Varning.

Oh and a very special thanks to Ash and Manny. When we got back to Australia, Manny said to me 'welcome to the international punk scene'... being apart of it has been very emotionally rewarding.