Fun Bands to Work With

[Speed]

Some bands are dicks, sorry to burst yer bubble fans. Some of the very bands on this site look down their inept little noses at artwork they could never hope to rival. But then there are the sweethearts. I wanted some artists to list bands they've especially liked working with so that we can all be on the lookout to help them out when they come to town:

Here's my list.
1. Southern Culture on The Skids: They truly get into the posters people make, one of mine hangs in Rick's mantle. Mary will also party with you until like noon the next day. Also, many times they'll let you sell yer posters at their show for a small cut.

2. Man or Astroman: They make you feel special for doing a good poster for them, and they're so unassuming when not in space suits that you can't help but love them.

3. International Noise Conspiracy: They will also let you sell some work at their shows, and they rawk.

4. Midtown: Just awesome people.

5. Son Volt: But it better be a good poster or Jay won't say a word to you. Luckily he liked mine I guess.

6. Sonic Youth: Kim and Thurston let me drink ALL of their beer. They were so sweet and made the entire process of making the poster seem worth it.

7.NOFX: Cool, real guys, they dig anything that is DIY.

Okay, let's hear some more......anybody ever done a Wilco poster? I'm thinking of doing one soon and I want to know what their take is on it.

[El Negro Magnifico!]

I've done only three posters, and the club owner let me have free reign( I hope to post these someday). But I did get props from the lead singer of Fireballs of Freedom for a poster I did. It was them, the Black Halos, By A Thread and a local band called Toaster. I didn't find out until the show started that the Halos were headlining...I was so amped to hear about the Fireballs being in town that I put them on top! Anyway, I said 'Hi' to the lead singer and told him I did the poster. He told me he dug it and had a copy in his guitar case. Needless to say, I felt great for the rest of the night!

[art chantry]

i have to tip my hat at scots and mora and fof as well. all great fun folks to work with. i'd also like to add a few dozen more names - and a few i'd sooner shoot myself than work with again. i have to admit that dave crider and "the estrus family" has been damn good to me. great bands, great folks. wish i could say the same for all the other labels i've worked for.

[art chantry]

i have to tip my hat at scots and mora and fof as well. all great fun folks to work with. i'd also like to add a few dozen more names - and a few i'd sooner shoot myself than work with again. i have to admit that dave crider and "the estrus family" has been damn good to me. great bands, great folks. wish i could say the same for all the other labels i've worked for.

[Nolen Strals]

Bands that made it worth it for me:

Rainer Maria: Bill has always been the nicest guy and always likes to know what I've been up to, and he and Caitlin and Kyle are just nice people and a great band, that's why I've always done a poster for their shows in Baltimore the past 2 years.

Spirit Caravan: Wino is one of the most sincerely nice people I've ever met and he really appreciates it when I do work for their shows. Also, he's hands down one of the best guitarists alive. The first tiem I showed up at a show they were playing that I did a poster for, Sherman, the bassist asked me if I wanted to get high in the van, I dont' smoke, so I passed on it, but I took that as a way of his saying "nice poster!"

Enemymine: These guys are heavy and mean as shit seeming on stage, but offstage are really soft spoken nice guys and they always appreciate the effort I put into posters for their shows (I always try to do a little more for them coz I love the band so much). I also can talk about technical printing stuff with Mike which is cool coz he does t-shirt printing.

LeTigre: Kathleen Hannah is someone who I've admired for years now and when I did a LeTigre poster, she could only say nice things about it and we got to talk about art and zines for like half and hour...and I've met bands/band people not half as talented or well-known as her who kinda looked down their noses at me...but she was really down to earth.

Bottom: Got put on a mainly straight edge hardcore show (which is funny coz they're like stoner metal) but they were really glad just to play and loved the poster I did for it...we stayed in touch and I got to do the poster for the first half of last summer's tour for them!

At The Drive-In: I did one of the last posters for their last tour on an indie label, and they were all really nice guys.
Cedric asked if he could have an extra coz he said his girlfriend would kill him if she didn't get one.

The White Stripes: Jack and Meg were really down to earth and nice people and dug the poster a lot (Long Gone John even bought two off of me!)

The Locust: These guys have a terrible reputation and it's totally undeserved... Justin was one of the most appreciative band people I've met and traded me merch for extra posters!
they se

[philaarts.com]

xxoo

uggh old thread. im new and improved. everyone rules.

(i mentioned a few bands i had problems with that have worked out better now)

[philaarts.com]

kkyy

[Anonymous]

SCOTS IS NOT a friendly band to work with...great folks, great band...but they take a rather dismal look on poster artists. I have personally spoken to Rick about doing art for him and got a diatribe about how Coop did posters that sell in shops for 50.00 and they didn't even get any at the show.

Rick prefers ALL his posters be printed at Yee-haw on a letterpress. Unless you are the designer doing the art for Yee-Haw your blowing smoke up the wrong hillbilly's ass.

AND as far as them letting you sell them at the show....total bullshit...they sell the Yee-haw posters when they have them and THAT"S IT.

So I think the one person on here who brags the loudest in these forums about his full schedule, connections, contacts and artistic prowess is FULL OF SHIT!

I have run into many friendly bands...and many who take that dim view on the poster art community. SCOTS are a great band, but unless Rick approves it......you can't do it.

[Speed]

Okay, maybe it's cause Bill Bryson and them were such good friends. I'll tell you another band (I) found very difficult to work with, Wilco. John and everyonne but Tweedy is still real cool, but their management is pretty cocky for a band that just got dropped from its label. Oh, and it seems to me that Ben Harper is always too hung up on mooney THEY get. But with jam bands, they have to deal with bootleg posters every night, so I guess it can get mighty irritating. You know who was great? Fucking Sting! Can you believe that? Of course I can only sell it at gallery exhibitions, but he really took the time to read into it. It reminded me of Jay Farrar's reaction to the son volt I did, like actual deep thinking.

[Finch]

I just ran across this thread and wanted to give it a bump.

Who are the bands that you feel are great to work with? Which ones are pains in the posterior?

SPEED - R.I.P.