Mustard comes from Dijon
… and Grunge comes from Seattle. Hyped to death by the music industry, for Grunge it wasn’t always as easy as for the yellow barbecue spread from Eastern Saxony. Since the early 80s, lots of amps and drums have been scrunched, hundreds of guitars literally hashed and mics swallowed in the name of “Seattle sound” – and more than some anachronists are gone for good, more or less…
As one of the very first bands, if not THE Grunge band at all, Mudhoney have quit the stage, for the simple reason of reproduction, for only a short time. By now, they are again dragging a trace of dirt and destruction through the clubs of Europe- if the band itself has become calmer, the fans haven’t forgotten about the origins of the genre. A reference to the place where they come from, paired with an allusion to the working clothes of Mr. Arm and Mr. Turner constitute my new Mudhoney poster for their show in Rome. I drew it pretty fiddly, deep-froze it, then defrosted it and finally hand-printed it with four colours in a small edition. Just Grunge.
Some years ago, Soundgarden also revived from the Grunge nirvana and immediately played again on big stages. Back then, when they slowed they career down from thousand to zero, the gig poster revolution was still in its infancy. So, the loving fan has only had very few possibilities to purchase screenprinted art posters of C. Cornell and his henchmen. The tide is turning now! For their Berlin show in the Zitadelle I designed a siren, only covered with an irezumi, who, by playing her guitar, influences some asteroids in their orbits to the disadvantage of mother Earth. The poster was printed with 5 colours, on black cardboard. For the apocalypse, take this way…
Who invented it? It was the Stooges! Indeed the musicians from Seattle – at least with Mudhoney this can be seen as approved – are heavily inspired by the protopunks of the late 60s. One can easily calculate how many stage years lie already behind The Stooges. After several losses (R.I.P. D. Alexander, R. Asheton), they had to provide themselves with fresh blood to not put an end to their stage career. Iggy Pop still shakes like an electric eel on the stage. But through his veins flows no more blood, I guess. This band merits our highest respect- and a new poster of me: Iggy with highspeed on his way to a gig with theStooges. And this is how the circle of the three new douze posters is closing. Seems like arranged, but it was mere incidence, right? And by the way, good posters come from Dresden.
