2 Minutes with Meat Puppets
December 22, 2013
John Dean
Punk, Paint and Deliverance
2 Minutes with Cris Kirkwood from the Meat Puppets
Are your music or visual art creative pursuits relaxing processes?
I find the drawing and painting side of things to be very relaxing processes. I like to put a piece of paper under my hand and let the pen fill it up, then splosh some paint on it. It’s like reading in colours. Music making at home is always pretty tension free, the feel of the strings still a balm, the sounds waddling off into the ether. Playing live, sometimes I think I maybe try a little too hard, and can occasionally freak myself out. That’s why I'm the bass player.
When did you begin creating art?
I first started playing music at around 13, after having seen the banjo sequence in the movie Deliverance. From the five-stringed banjo I moved to the bass a few years later. One less string. Thicker, too. And further apart. The professional side of things – if you could call it that – made itself available upon the advent of the band. Punk rock afforded us the opportunity to play in front of people. For money.
Do you create much art when you’re on tour?
A few years ago for my birthday I was given a travel-size set of watercolours and have been bringing them along on the road since. Any old thing I draw, I can paint, so if I get the hankering all I need is a flat surface and a little bit of water, and I’m off to the races!
At what point do you consider a song or a painting to be complete?
That’s an easy one. The songs are done when my brother [Curt] tells me they are. The paintings are done when I’ve filled in all the lines with paint. Genius! When beginning a piece, sometimes I’ll start out with a real specific idea in mind, and it’s interesting to see if I can draw what I have in mind. But I also have plenty of drawings that come from a place that’s a little bit beyond thinking and trying. They’re hiding in my pen, waiting to get out, and I hardly have to look at the paper. And, nobody gets hurt.
The Meat Puppets are set to hit Australian shores for the first time in 20 years to play CherryRock014 in Melbourne on Sunday 25 May 2014. Tickets for CherryRock014 will be available in January 2014. Keep an eye on the Cherry Bar website and Facebook for more CherryRock014 line-up and event announcements.
CRIS KIRKWOOD
criskirkwoodart.com
MEAT PUPPETS
WEB | FACEBOOK | TWITTER
Accessed: 3/21/14
http://myveri.com.au/2-min/2013/12/22/2-minutes-with-meat-puppets
December 22, 2013
John Dean
Punk, Paint and Deliverance
2 Minutes with Cris Kirkwood from the Meat Puppets
Are your music or visual art creative pursuits relaxing processes?
I find the drawing and painting side of things to be very relaxing processes. I like to put a piece of paper under my hand and let the pen fill it up, then splosh some paint on it. It’s like reading in colours. Music making at home is always pretty tension free, the feel of the strings still a balm, the sounds waddling off into the ether. Playing live, sometimes I think I maybe try a little too hard, and can occasionally freak myself out. That’s why I'm the bass player.
When did you begin creating art?
I first started playing music at around 13, after having seen the banjo sequence in the movie Deliverance. From the five-stringed banjo I moved to the bass a few years later. One less string. Thicker, too. And further apart. The professional side of things – if you could call it that – made itself available upon the advent of the band. Punk rock afforded us the opportunity to play in front of people. For money.
Do you create much art when you’re on tour?
A few years ago for my birthday I was given a travel-size set of watercolours and have been bringing them along on the road since. Any old thing I draw, I can paint, so if I get the hankering all I need is a flat surface and a little bit of water, and I’m off to the races!
At what point do you consider a song or a painting to be complete?
That’s an easy one. The songs are done when my brother [Curt] tells me they are. The paintings are done when I’ve filled in all the lines with paint. Genius! When beginning a piece, sometimes I’ll start out with a real specific idea in mind, and it’s interesting to see if I can draw what I have in mind. But I also have plenty of drawings that come from a place that’s a little bit beyond thinking and trying. They’re hiding in my pen, waiting to get out, and I hardly have to look at the paper. And, nobody gets hurt.
The Meat Puppets are set to hit Australian shores for the first time in 20 years to play CherryRock014 in Melbourne on Sunday 25 May 2014. Tickets for CherryRock014 will be available in January 2014. Keep an eye on the Cherry Bar website and Facebook for more CherryRock014 line-up and event announcements.
CRIS KIRKWOOD
criskirkwoodart.com
MEAT PUPPETS
WEB | FACEBOOK | TWITTER
Accessed: 3/21/14
http://myveri.com.au/2-min/2013/12/22/2-minutes-with-meat-puppets