BLOG — CRAOLA

Lucky episode number seven. We go deep with artist Greg "Craola" Simkins, from the gritty back streets of LA to fine art galleries. He tells you how he did it, spoiler alert, it wasn't easy. Midway through the podcast, we surprise Mark with a one-of-a-kind gift that will blow your mind. We nerd out in great detail on how one of Mark's guitars gets built from the ground up.

For those of you who have no idea what a "POG" is: 

The company that shall not be named, named. JNCO jeans:

Greg's painting that lives in Mark's home office referenced in the podcast:

The BIG surprise:

Robert Ortiz @robertnoise discusses the intricacies of building a custom bass for Mark:

Behind-the-scenes photography. Greg's beloved sketch book:

Mark explains the differences between a normal bass and his custom set-up: 

You're welcome, once again....

And we are BACK.....coming to you all the way from jolly olde England. This is our 6th podcast, well, more of a "PAWS-cast" but we do kick it off with talk of the I'M SCARED movie score. James and Mark brag about being big time movie scorers...hear a bit about their hard work on the Billboard exclusive trailer HERE. 

And for a more behind-the-scenes look at the making of "I'M SCARED" check out director Pete Levin's blog HERE.

For the last month, Mark and James have been holed up in the English countryside recording the new PAWS album. To hear how awful it was to work with them on a daily basis we have a whole podcast dedicated to the Glaswegian band PAWS to air their grievances.

PAWS are Phillip, Josh, and Ryan.

Phillip jots down some questions about jam for Mark. 

The infamous "shaker"

Ryan laying down a track.

Mark "producing" really hard here.

All photos by Harrison Reid.

www.harrisonreid.tumblr.com

For all things PAWS go here:

One of the most talented people on the planet is about to have an art show. We are taking about the one and only Greg Simkins AKA "Craola". May 17th at the Merry Kranowsky Gallery  in Los Angles. Why are we talking about something that's not going to happen for another 2 months? Because we don't want to hear any excuses, you need to start making your plans, book your flights, reserve your hotels..now!  You are going to look back 20 years from now and kick yourself for not seeing this in person. It would be like having the opportunity to see Salvador Dali or Norman Rockwell's art in person and not going, only to live the rest of your life in regret of what could have been, and what you could have seen with your own eyes. Maybe you need to be reminded of the talent of Greg Simkins....

We've made our point, we will see you all on May 17th.

Do you like photos of orcas turning into ducks with octopus arms morphing into celestial planets in space?  Well, you probably would, but unfortunately they doesn't exist in our universe. Lucky for us, they DO exist in the mind of Greg "Craola" Simkins.  He paints in an amazing combination of graffiti and photorealistic surrealism that will take your fragile grasp on the real world and smash it into a billion pieces. (Originally my computer autocorrected that last sentence to "...smash it into a billion pies," which is just awesome.  Maybe even better.) Anyway, Craola is turning his ideas into a stop-motion film, and you can be part of it.  The title is "I'm Scared," and here's the synopsis: Big Brother shares with Little Brother all the frightening things that inhabit the world at night as they try to go to sleep. Small concerns grow into spooky spectres as Big Brother's imagination takes over and their bedroom becomes a playground for monstrous creatures of all types. So yeah, basically it looks to be a great project. And like I said before, you can be part of it.  There's a kickstarter link you can click on right here. 

Here's a video of Craola in his studio, painting one of the very characters in the film.  Art is cool.