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In the spooky small world we inhabit there’s been a lot of coincidences lately. When we first bumped into the good folk at Boxfresh they told us about who was doing designs for them and we were inst antly hooked - Gavin Watson our favourite photographer who worked with us at Manchester International Festival and Pete Fowler who we’d admired from afar but whose toys, album covers and illustrations we all loved. Anyone at our new year’s eve party would have seen the fruits of Pete’s labours hanging up in the wardrobes…..for all of 10 minutes till they all got nicked.
We got asked to do a talk for Manchester’s newest gallery/creative hub/cafe/place that sells things like scarves that look like foxes made in fabric, about doing fanzines and gigs and club nights and we thought we’d check what else they had going on. The person doing the one before us (he was also painting a wall too) was none other than Pete Fowler so we snuck in to see what was expected of us. The talk directly after us, by the way, is Mr. Scruff, you know the world famous DJ and doodler – not sure how our name gets mixed with these big cheeses but we’ve got to admit we’re liking it.
Pete Fowler’s Top Ten Tips…
1. Eat Your Greens!
2. Do As Much Drawing As Is Humanly Possible
3. Seek Inspiration Anywhere And Everywhere
4. Be Yourself
5. Find Your Own Style
6. Be Positive And Take Positives From Negatives
7. Look Back As Well As Forward
8 Support Your Local Record Shop
9. Love The One You’re With
10. Don’t Make Lists!
INTERVIEW and MUSINGS
Pete’s imagination is best represented by the inhabitants of Monsterism Island www.monsterism.net – he told us “it’s like our world but looking 
through a lens – a monster filter. I’m inspired by folklore, nature, myths, psychedelia and native peoples. It’s a balance betwen the cute and the sinister. When I was a kid I was obsessed with UFOs, dinosaurs and BMXs and not a whole lot has really changed”
through a lens – a monster filter. I’m inspired by folklore, nature, myths, psychedelia and native peoples. It’s a balance betwen the cute and the sinister. When I was a kid I was obsessed with UFOs, dinosaurs and BMXs and not a whole lot has really changed”Most people know his work through album covers, singles and videos for Super Furry Animals, “they saw my work and got in touch with me. Because of my style they thought I was Japanese – they thought it was odd when they discovered I was from Cardiff”
“I’d worked at with sculpture, illustration and I was being asked to do things like fliers for clubs and gigs. I always liked the temporary nature of them. The day after teh event they are in the gutter and all stamped on – it;s the same thing with a skateboard deck. As soon as you’ve designed it someone’s out there trashing it….I love that”In some ways it has to be the best job in the world – doing posters for The Green Man festival, working on a kids cartoon comedy for Disney, having your own range of toys. Doing stuff for free for mates and being commisioned by the likes of Volvic and R Newbold for international campaigns.
Even the dark nature of some of Pete’s ideas doesn’t get in the way “Kia asked 
me to do a series of adverts and we thought a good way to demonstrate the fule economy of their diesel model was to show a weird serial killer waiting for his next victim in a spooky garage. Not normal themes for an advert but they loved it” and here it is
me to do a series of adverts and we thought a good way to demonstrate the fule economy of their diesel model was to show a weird serial killer waiting for his next victim in a spooky garage. Not normal themes for an advert but they loved it” and here it is“people interpret things in their own way – I like there to be a narrative in any piece of work but there’s always that little gap for individual interpretation”
“The stuff I enjoy most is just painting something onto a wall. It can’t be moved. It can’t be sold. It can only be looked at”
Pete has worked in every medium possible but still rates the pencil above the mouse “I try to balance my work between drawing and digital but there’s nothing like channeling an idea through a pencil”
Having done everything from a custom western shirt, giant inflatables, toys, the pets of toys, even his own world it seemed that there was nothing left for him to do ”I’d love to desing a hot air balloon” – crikey he’s even a DJ and can be heard at festivals each summer and in bars and clubs playing for mates – we told him about our house party and he’s up for DJing at the next one!
So if you’ve never ridden a snorse, seen a shoctopus or had trouble with a batskull – you need to whistle the tune to ‘Come On Snack’ and get a one way ticket to the goings on inside his head, with a stopover on Monsterism Island. – and if your’e stuck for what to wear…
Pictures by Barney
hey…
this is happening at
‘noise lab’ on market street.manchester.england!
january’s programme curated by doodlebug
Thanks to Barney for the photos – Join us at Noise LAB tomorrow (13th) for Same Teens and Club Brenda doing a few top tips on club nights, fanzines and gigs. After us it’s Mr. Scruff next Sunday