MUSED: LA 2 HOU
MUSED: LA 2 HOU
MUSED: LA 2 HOU | Troy Murrah of Restavrant | 4 For Being Physical
Los Angeles-based Texas native Troy Murrah is a visual artist; songwriter, guitarist, and founder of the DIY punk/blues duo Restavrant; and founder of Built Quilt, which makes functional art based on traditional quilt patterns.
The post MUSED Podcast: “4 For the Physical” with Troy Murrah appeared first on CauseConnect.
Check out more in-depth articles, stories, and photographs by Melissa Richardson Banks at www.melissarichardsonbanks.com. Learn more about CauseConnect at www.causeconnect.net.
Follow Melissa Richardson Banks on Instagram as @DowntownMuse; @MUSEDhouston, and @causeconnect.
Subscribe and listen to the MUSED: LA 2 HOU podcast on your favorite streaming platforms, including Spotify, iHeart, Apple Podcasts, and more!
Welcome
SPEAKER_00:to Muse Daily to You. I'm Melissa Richardson Banks. My guest today is Troy Murrah. Until now, I only knew Troy as a musician, but he's also a visual artist. When his mother, Judy Murrah, passed away, his grief inspired a renewed passion for art making. Troy's artwork, like his music, pairs the unexpected. Drawings inspired by the masters, but using architectural renderings and black and white photography as reference material, combining geometric patterns of traditional quilts. His music combines old school blues with DIY punk, classic country hip hop techno. Cool, right? Enjoy our conversation. How would you describe your music?
SPEAKER_03:There's definitely a blues factor there because my first instinct was to play slide guitar. So it goes to that, to old, old country, like the original Hank Williams, but then it goes into punk rock. So Sex Pistols, but also it goes into even like hip hop beats. I listened to a lot of hip hop stuff and the beats that come from that and electronic music. That's my only way is to bring in influences. And I, I just try to like make a collage of music art. It's almost an experiment to see if I can make it work. Can you combine these to make it work? Or does it just sound awful? Which sometimes it does.
SPEAKER_00:The first time I ever saw you perform in Los Angeles, I had a boyfriend at the time. He's a musician like you. He played the drums. I think you do drums too, but you do drums and guitar. He played a lot of different instruments and he loved what he called experimental bands or someone that, you know, kind of the underground, if you will. And he's like, you got to go, we got to, we're going to go get this duo. They're amazing. I'm like, okay. So we went to La Cita Bar in downtown Los Angeles. And that was the first time, not only that I saw you perform and heard you perform, it's the first time I ever met you. And I remember it because it was just like, whoa, we were, you know, remember how the bar was, you would give the band, there's like the dance floor. And then you're like basically hanging on the edge if you're an observer and you not getting, getting bumped by people dancing next to you. And it was such an interesting kind of eclectic group. But
SPEAKER_03:yeah, I remember that, uh, But it was fun because, yeah, you're face to face with the audience. If the venue would give us the option to set up on the floor, we'd always prefer like, OK, well, let's turn the monitors so we can play on the floor because I'd rather be surrounded in like almost sweating with the people. And I think we feed off of that. I think everyone, I mean, hopefully most musicians that perform live are feeding off that. But yeah, La Cita was a fun place to play. Feeling other people's just sweat, you know, we're all sweating to it together, you know.
SPEAKER_00:So I know that you have connections to Texas, and I wanted to have you tell me about your connections to Texas. I'm assuming your mother was probably part of that wave of Norwegian immigrants and the German immigrants like my family that moved to Texas. So where were you born and where were you raised? I think they're two separate places.
SPEAKER_03:Born in Houston, and then when I was eight, we moved to Victoria, Texas. So I would... I still would go back every summer to visit my friends in Houston, but I definitely would call Victoria my, my, where I was raised in my hometown kind of, uh, even though now my, my parents moved back to Houston, my mom passed away, but they had moved back to Houston. Uh, and that's where my dad still is, but definitely Victoria would be like born. I'd say raised, born in Houston, raised in Victoria. And, uh, I still, uh, I think that influenced, you know, definitely my music and, and, uh, and the quilting of, and just old like folk art coming from there, even Southwest art, which I don't really involve in my artwork, the Southwest part, but I was surrounded by like old cowboy art. And I love the, the realistic paintings of like cowboys and like horses. I do a lot of horses still, but that influenced my work too. But yeah. And, uh, Being raised in Texas was big, even though I've been in California for 20 years now, which is crazy. I never thought I'd, I came out here to work and I thought I'd be like, all right, once my job's done, I'm going right back to Texas, which didn't happen.
SPEAKER_00:That's the story of what happened to me as well. 25 years in Los Angeles. And I didn't expect to move out there either and to be there and actually identify as an Angeleno. I felt really strongly for that. But I still had my heart in Texas, but I didn't think I was ever going to move back. And my father always wanted me to come back and at least... I was able to come back when he was still alive. He died about five days after I saw him when I came back. So unexpectedly. So I get it. So it's like, I knew, at least he knows I came back from the land of what he called fruit and nuts.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. My mom was always like, you gotta, you're a Texan, you're a Texas boy. You gotta come home. And I was like, I don't, maybe I will. And I did for like a year and a half. I moved back to LaGrange and basically was like a property manager. kind of ranch hand. So I went back and I loved it, but I just, I thought I'd be able to go back and forth because I was still dealing with stuff out here in California. So, but financially, I was like, this is crazy. I can't do, I can't do both. And then we went back and I sold that land that I had in the Grange, which I regret now because that, I think last, well, anyway, It's worth a lot of money now. Because everybody, Austin started just getting bigger and bigger. And so LaGrange is now not that very, not far from, it could be a suburb of Austin. If it turns out like LA, because LA just kind of, even if you're two hours outside of LA, it's almost like, oh yeah, I just commute to go into LA for work every day.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:You know, there are three parts of you that I'm really interested in exploring and then actually kind of bringing them all together. You said something earlier about how you love music is almost like a collage of music and a collage of your influences, which is kind of... coincidental or ironic or maybe not and maybe it's by design the fact is that that's what's actually brought you back to art too as was an idea of collage if you will and then quilting but i but i i want to jump back to the again at the how you with restaurant and i think that's how you pronounce it you like you you did it with a v and i think that was kind of a paying homage and you have very much a tongue-in-cheek bio on your on your website with restaurants
SPEAKER_03:the bio is
SPEAKER_00:uh
SPEAKER_03:It has hints of, of facts, but some of it, I think it's because I would read so many bios and I was like, this is boring. Like why not just get weird and make it more fun? Like who cares really? You know? I mean, when it comes down to it, I mean, yeah, here's the truth, you know, but a lot of it's not that far off, but, um, I'd say we've been, been the truth, been our history or, or where we're coming from. But, uh, Yeah. And the name, the name was like restaurant. I used to spell like a real like restaurant and, and I was a one man band and I kind of was like, it's total tongue in cheek of like almost making fun of me naming a band and where it's a one man band. And I was like, kind of like I'm restaurant, you know, I'm this guy. And, uh, you know, and I never thought I'd have to stick with that name. And, uh, then it, it, it expanded into me playing with a drummer. And then, uh, getting a residency at the Echo. And I remember talking to Liz saying, well, wait, don't put that on the marquee yet. Cause I think we're changing our name. And she's like, no, you can't change it. Like we've actually had people recommend you saying, get that band with the terrible name restaurant. Like now people know you as having, and I was like, no, no, I'm stuck with it. And then we got signed to a label and I told the label the same thing. And they're like, no, we love it. We love that. It's kind of like this, you know that's almost your personality is like you know taking the piss out of out of things that are some people take too serious so then the label is the same way like no you got to keep and then you starting to look up on myspace or googling and if you google restaurant there's no way you're going to find us so then i just changed it to the v and then that's another one like the british way of saying like f you it's kind of like f off whatever so uh So then it turned into where I like it. And then if you separate it, it's rest and rant. So your life is full of like resting and then like getting energized and resting and rant. Then there's an A and a V. So then it's like, what we were doing was almost like art installations when we play. Like the drum kit was like a bunch of junk and people would be like, what are they going to do? So I always think like the AV audio visual, like we're doing, we want you to watch us and listen. So it was just rest and rant AV. So then I was like, all right, I'm going to, I'll go with this and run with it. So I just turned it into a whole nother. And people say, we'll call us like restaurant restaurant or just rest of rant, you know? And now, uh, we just said to make things similar, we started, and this is from the black rebel motorcycle guy, Rob. He was like, you know what, you know, it's not, y'all are just res, right? Just go with res. And so now I'm like, all right. And so, We were like, oh, cool. Yeah, R-A-Z. Now we can just say Rez.
SPEAKER_00:I love that Rez, because I saw that when you did, I saw that one of the designs you did, I think you actually started incorporating your drawing. And I want to step into that, too. I mean, you actually have a degree in art. You went to school for art. And I'm assuming... It was for drawing. That was your mode or your medium when you went to art school initially. Is it drawing and painting or both? I
SPEAKER_03:originally started in architecture school at Texas A&M. I think one of my biggest influences art-wise is brutalism, architecture, which a lot of people hate. And we've lost a lot of those monumental, like, brutalist architectural. I mean, they should have. Because I think a lot of people look at it and go, that's so ugly. It's just a block of concrete. But I don't know. I like raw materials and, you know, just going straight to the point of how you're going to build something. Anyway, so I went from architecture. And at the time, I was like, I don't know. I think I just want to do art. I love drawing. I love doing art. architectural drawing, it still influences the way I draw too. And so I just left in like one semester, my parents were like, oh, would you sign up for like your junior year at Texas A&M? I was like, I'm not going back. And they're like, what? And I was like, yeah, I'm going, I'm leaving. I'm going to Austin. The funny thing is I went back to UT. I mean, I went to UT, was about to finish my art degree. And then I realized like, I only have a few more hours. I could double major and get my architecture degree and like, uh fine arts but then i talked to the my advisor and she's like you would be so swamped and like that'd be another why don't you just go back and get your master's in architecture which was my plan but then it's so hard like once you get out of school and then you make a paycheck to go back to like oh i'm gonna go pay the school some more money you know but i just got this check and especially being 23 years old you're like whoa i'm finally getting money but uh Anyway, so that never happened. Never got my master's.
SPEAKER_00:What brought you to California from Texas? What was your story? You just, you graduated, you left, you get a job offer or did you decide, you know, what brought you out there? What was your dream for going to California? I'd
SPEAKER_03:always wanted to move out of here, but it was, it was for a job. Like, uh, I, um, finished school in my last few hours. I was approached by a dance company and, uh, they had looked at some of my sculpture and they're like, Oh, can you do a, do the production design for one of our performances? And I was like, yeah, sure. But I'm going, luckily my last hours were in Italy. So I was like, I don't get back from Italy until the middle of the summer. So to make it happen, it happened. I'm going to have to like bust ass. Like right when I get back, I'm don't be worried. I'll be back, but I will. Yeah. I'll make it happen. So went to Italy, finished my hours, got my degree. And then like, flew back here or flew back to the States and started working and did this as like a modern, modern dance performance, uh, or an Austin company. Uh, so I built that. And then one, a lady from like from Cirque du Soleil had gone to one of the performances and she just talked to me and I was like, yeah, I'm interested in like getting in that, that line of work. Cause at least I'm building, you know, big sculptures, uh, where people are performing around. So it was interesting to me, but I basically was offered a job to just go carry scaffolding and be a grunt, which I was fine with. And so I came out here, worked on the production out on the Santa Monica Pier in 99 for Cirque du Soleil, just doing, yeah, carrying stuff. And then from that, got a job with the Man Show on Comedy Central, just doing... prop design and production design stuff. And then, uh, and after that I got, and so it just kept like job after job. Every time I was like, okay, I'm going to go back to Texas. I get offered another job. And again, I was making money. So, uh, I was like, Oh, I'm doing fine. I can just stay here. And the checks were decent. And, uh, And then after that, I started working for Peter Shire, who's a sculptor out here in Echo Park. So I was doing metal fabrication for his large-scale sculptures. That's where I learned to weld and work in a machine shop. Did that for years.
SPEAKER_00:When did you start making some of your instruments, though? Because I thought you fabricated a lot of the instruments that you had. Did you always do that, or is that something that came about after you were working with Peter? During,
SPEAKER_03:yeah. while I was working for him. Then that's when I started, yeah, still watching a lot of shows and live shows, going to a lot of music live shows. And I don't know, I was going to art shows and I was getting really bored with what I was seeing art-wise. And I was more excited about what I was seeing musically. And I'd put the guitar down for like the past eight years. I hadn't really played or anything. And then I got really excited about learning how to play slide guitar. There's a guy named Bob Logg III. who plays like old blues style, but speeds it up. So then I was like, oh, that's cool. Maybe I'll put a twist on kind of what he does and what old blues guys do in a more punk rock way. And then, so out of necessity, I'd find these guitars that were, that I could afford at pawn shops or, but they need a little bit of work. So I would just, but I know how to work with wood and I can know how to weld. So I would just fix these kind of, junky guitars my own way and make them make them work the best I could and so it just turned into making them really mine or you know like a lot of other people would be like man that's like a piece of shit you know like why would you want to play that but to me it's a sound that I can't get out of any other guitar and now I'm I'm loyal to old silver tones and old K guitars. And that's what a lot of these old blues guys would play because they could order them through Sears catalog back in the day, you know? And so, but I, they, they feel natural to me. And so I don't think I'll till I die. I'll just stick to these guitars and make them, make them work however I can, you know? And I even like, we'll take old pickups out of just, heavy metal guitars, like old Jackson pickups and put them into these, these old, uh, arch top, you know, forties and 50 year, uh, guitars. So it's kind of just like what I wanted to spend money on and what I could afford and then just use the skill and knowledge that I had of woodworking and, uh, and welding and just turn them into little Frankenstein guitars basically. And I wanted to save money. And so instead of, uh, Going out to the bar after work, I would just go straight home. I'd put in an old VHS tape of like old blues players. And I'd just sit there and watch these guys play like slide guitar. And I just sit there every day and just kind of watch them and see what they do and kind of take little tricks that I see them do. So I sat there and I was like, I just nerded out. I didn't do anything. I barely saw anyone. I might go to a baseball game, a Dodgers game here and there, but that was about it. And then, uh, friend came over he was like what have you been doing i was like just been playing guitar he's like oh let me hear it and i started playing and he was like oh my gosh dude like we gotta do something and i was like well i'm playing drums too and so i played him stuff that i was doing he's like well and so i did a few like little parties and stuff and then that's when the original drummer uh jonathan was like well let me jam with you so one night we just started grab whatever we could add in my old apartment for him to play on, like drums. And that's where the whole junk thing started. It was kind of like, we'll beat on this little salad bowl or hit this wooden box. And then we also had a drum machine or we had an old organ that had like, you know, pre-recorded drum track that you could adjust the tempo on it and stuff, an old Wurlitzer. So we just started the beat on the organ and then he beat on junk. And then I play a guitar and we're like, oh, we got to do something. We started recording like a week after that. And we sent all those demos off. And then somebody, a label was like, okay, yeah, we'll sign you. And then right away with like, uh, just play like warehouse parties and like parties and then got offered. People started finding out we're at the right place. It was good at that time. And so we're, so we're like an echo park to where, you know, you could just word of mouth would spread. And luckily we got, uh, Yeah, Liz hooked us up and then old Silver Lake Junction. And that was like our third show ever. We were awful. I mean, a lot of times we were bad. I think it's all about our energy. We were out there. It's literally like we're going to come drink beer and party and hopefully we sound okay. you know? So, and, and everyone has fun. Like let's create a party again. And again, it went from like seeing some live shows. I go see a band and they were just boring. I was like, this is boring, man. Like, like what happened to the whole, like, let's get, let's get loose. Let's get wild. You know, like a little dangerous, I guess. And sometimes it works. Sometimes we sounded like crap and broke a lot of instruments.
SPEAKER_00:Did anyone else in your family, an artist? My mom.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. I would say she's, I mean, she went into, quilting and, and the fabric world or, uh, seamstress slash sewing, anything that involved, uh, piecing fabric together. Uh, and she was an art teacher, uh, before kids came along and then she just became full-time mom, uh, until later until like my older siblings were basically could take care of themselves, but I was the last one and, uh, yeah, I remember my, her old bosses are the ones that gave her the first quilt teaching job saying like, yeah, she had you on your, her hip. And we told her to come teach a sewing class. So I was around that all the time. And she, she definitely, well, my dad loved, I mean, he's a huge, you know, art loves art and his appreciation of art was, it was shown to us, me and my brother and sister. So it was definitely all of us knew it was important to create and to be, go see art, go to museums. You know, that was, and it's funny. And he was, my dad was an athlete. He wasn't, I mean, what a lot of people would be a stereotypical jock or whatever, which I always am like, you can do both. It's definitely possible. You don't have to be just a meathead just because you play sports. So I always was, I love that about, the more open-minded you are about everything i think is better for everyone so i was lucky to be raised in that kind of environment music music and art were huge so was athletics so but which is still important to me i think being active and whether you're riding a bike skateboarding surfing or you're playing traditional team sports i don't care as long as you're out there
SPEAKER_00:So your mother was Judy Murrah, and as you said, sadly passed away in December 2017, the same year as my father. So I feel your pain. I know how it is. I was very close to my dad. But in Houston and beyond, I mean, your mom, she was not just only an avid quilter, as you were sharing, and an educator, as you shared. She's an author. She was a textile designer. And especially in the international quilt world, I mean, she's pretty famous. She's well-known, your mom. In her work, she really made an impact. And she really made an impact on you in terms of doing... making a transition, not really a transition, but, but maybe refocusing your love of music and kind of bringing you back full circle to fine art. Tell me how that happened for you. What's your recollection of when that moment happened?
SPEAKER_03:Sadly, it was because she passed away. I wish I would have like seen, seen the white while she was still healthy, but yeah, It is what it is. Definitely, because when she passed away, I was starting to focus again on doing art, but not so much influenced by the quilt or quilt block. But when she passed away, in my mind, I was like, all right, I need to do something as almost like a memorial for her that I was going to keep. I was going to keep the piece. So it's kind of like a way of me... uh, releasing or just kind of like a dealing with the emotional loss, basically. And she always told me like, why don't you try involving a quilt in your, your artwork and the stuff I was doing back then. I was like, how's that even go, mom, you're crazy. Like that's your world. I'm gonna do my kind of art, you know, like you, it's, I can't, I don't know where I would put a quilt in, you know? So, um, when she passed away, I was like, all right, here you go, mom. I'm going to do something quilt related. And I kept thinking about like, what am I going to do? What am I doing? Uh, and I had tons of wood and material leftover just from jobs from, uh, production design jobs or from my, I used to do, uh, uh, recording studio construction. So I had tons of lumber. I was like, well, I need to get rid of some of this. So I just started looking at quilt blocks and like, what can I do with this? I'm like, I'm going to just do a huge, like wooden quilt. and just see how it works, you know? And so I started just dissecting it and, you know, did all the math and making my cuts. And luckily through construction, all the, everything I'd learned being in that world, uh, it came, it was easy. And I already knew, like, I've been around quilts so much. I kind of already knew like, all right, here's how it's pieced together. I've seen her cut the strips and then cut all the angles. I'm like, well, I'll just do it like that, but I'm going to use wood. And, uh, So I got it together pretty quickly and everything just felt instinctually right, like natural. I was like, this is too easy and it's a lot of fun. And so I did it and I was like, whoa, I was like pleasantly surprised and how much fun I had doing it. And then I could still involve my drawings by wood burning them in by hand or using my laser engraver. So I do the drawings and then send that to the engraver and then it burns onto the wood or basically etches it. So I could still do what I like doing. And I got this new, something else that I never thought was going to happen, which was, was, was fun. And it kept me excited. And so it worked out. And then people saw that and basically kind of what happened with the music or guitar playing, they're like, Whoa, I never even knew you could do this. And like, look, can you make me one or can you do one with this color scheme? And like, so then I was getting like, all right, this is worth it. It's not just for me. Like, I'm not just doing some personal kind of my therapy or something. You know, people are liking this. And then I just kept going and I was able to make them fast and into where I wasn't getting bored. Or like, this is taking too long. Or like, this is a waste of time. And everything I was making, people were like, oh, that's awesome. And they started selling. So then I was also seeing like a financial reward. Like, okay, people really like it. They're going to give you money for it. So even if they're a friend or like some stranger. So I had a show and then everything sold. Everything's gone. And then the book. So I just kept going. So yeah, finished the book. at the beginning of the year.
SPEAKER_00:Let's talk about the book. Tell me the name of the book. I think it's called Wood Mosaic Projects, Classic Quilt Block Designs in Wood. And that's coming out in late June. And that's pretty impressive. Tell, you know, how did that come about?
SPEAKER_03:One of the acquisitions manager or like the basically the talent buyer for the publishing company, Fox Chapel, out of nowhere, just sent me an email and said, here's what we do. Here's our idea for a book project for you to do if you're into it. As I looked at it, I was like, yeah, whatever. You know, I had no, you know, I'd never heard of the publishing. And at first I was like, is this some dude just in his garage making like binding some pages together, you know? But then I was like, okay, they're legit. Like they've been doing this and it's been around for a while. Like the books are in Barnes and Noble, whatever, you know, like it's the real thing. So I was just like, all right. And so I called her and, I was like, yeah, sure. I'll, I'll try it, but I've never done this before. Like, I mean, I can just, I mean, I definitely can talk and ramble. I can go on. I can just, maybe I'll just start writing and typing and kind of, and again, it happened. I just started making new pieces and just documenting my, all my steps and going through like why I'm making this piece, where the block came from. It's everything that I document anyway, a lot of times just to like, have it for my own portfolio. So it's, but I just had to do a little bit more in depth and, and describe what I'm doing and why and, and, and write it. So that, and did the first few chapters and they're like, yeah, you're on the right track. Keep going. So did it all and got it in. Now it was crazy. I mean, I, that's all I was doing during the pandemic, which in, I mean, it's sad, but I mean, it was definitely some shitty times, but it was like, I couldn't have had it happen at a more perfect time because I couldn't go anywhere anyway. And I didn't have time to go do anything else besides focus on the book. So I was just stuck here in my studio, just working during the day and writing at night, like for six months straight.
SPEAKER_00:So paintings, drawings, sculptures, assemblages, music, what are some of the reasons why you create? I
SPEAKER_03:get visions of, uh, a lot of my drawings are like creating this world that doesn't exist. And it's usually mashing up like eras or, or styles and almost making it into some new character or, or world or architecture. So a lot of the drawings are just piecing together, like, honestly, what this, how would this look if this person or creature existed or, or, our logo look. If someone, because a lot of times I would make these fake logos for like, it was a company that didn't even exist, but I'd put that on a painting. You know, people would be like, what is it? Like, is that a, is that a beer company? I'm like, no, it's just some load. I was like at this vision, you know, like I want to see this as a logo or like, and so that's turned into like these wallpaper designs that I kind of create that go on the backs or the negative space of these quilts. So it's kind of initially that you're thinking like, ah, I wonder what that'd look like. So the only way I know how is like, I'm just going to draw it and see if I can make this world or make this, this person that doesn't really exist or this style. I mean, some of it turns into like character development, you know, for like a video game almost, you know, it's like, I'm just creating stuff. So that's where it starts or like, and then I started thinking like, well, how would that look as like a collection of boxes that you could, you could interact with? with and what does that work and a lot of times it doesn't work you know I gotta just scrap it and like this does not work and it's the same thing with music like what I was saying earlier it's like how would that sound if I combine like an old style blues like riff and a slide guitar with a beat from like say Run DMC used you know like a sound an old hip-hop beat would that work and sometimes it does sometimes it doesn't but I have that like the vision or like the, the audio, the oral vision of like, I want to just see if this will work, you know? And then, and then a lot of my writing, you know, it's like writing a story. Some of them have existed. Some of them are like my experiences are like weird situations. I've got myself into and out of somehow. So, and then some are like, I'm just making up another world or another story. So it's kind of the same thing. I'm just putting that, that story to music. Storytelling. And a lot of my lyrics are kind of abstract where people are like, what the hell are you talking about? I'm like, I don't know. I just thought those words sounded good together. And I like throwing those visuals at somebody. You just hear the word. While you're listening to music, you have a vision somehow of what that word is. Everyone has a different take on that word.
SPEAKER_00:So you mentioned specific influences and inspiration for your music. going back into, and don't go too far into the art history weeds, but going back to thinking, if I were to look, or you were showing your visual art to someone, would you, is there an influence and inspiration that maybe is not noticeable? And then, is there an influence or inspiration that would be noticeable by somebody looking at your art?
SPEAKER_03:I look at a lot of architectural books and tons of like old black and white photography just from like time life books or like just photos of life artist wise my drawing is definitely inspired from the old masters like i was trying to just teach myself to draw with that that hand of i mean this is going straight to like da vinci and michael and the stereotypical like what you think michelangelo but they the way they drew was amazing. I'd still look at their old sketchbooks and stuff like that. Sometimes drawings hit me more than a huge eight-foot painting. If I can see the artist's hand and see their skill, sometimes I'm just like, that's amazing. Somebody drew that and it's straight graphite or pastel or whatever. Their hand's right on the paper. A lot of it goes to that too, from that, just drawings. And then Joseph Cornell was an old assemblage dude from, he made these boxes and these little worlds and his little boxes. So definitely got inspired by him and trying to make, use wood and art and assemblages and multimedia. And then it goes like, and then growing up when I did and being a Basquiat was tough. I think everyone that was like my, and coming from my world of art, like we always like got excited. And it was also excited about like seeing how he became, I mean, you'd have these visions of yourself of like, Oh, I want to be an art star like that. You know, he got the look, he gets to do whatever he wants, you know, and you kind of have this, but I mean, I, so it goes from like super technical drawing and like to like that world. And yeah, So I can't help but say he is an influence, but almost like his way of, it made me kind of go, I'm going to do exactly what I want to do. Like, you know, I don't give a shit. I'm kind of like, fuck it. Basically, you know, I'm either going to, I'm going to go down trying or doing it my way or white, like what's the point or just, I'm going to go down trying. And instead of trying to do something that I'm not really into, but I know like, Other people, I don't know. He gave me at least the attitude of like, okay, just do what you want to do. And that's what happened musically too. And finally just saying like, I'm just going to do it this way. But it ranges so much. And it goes into like, again, logo design, graphic design stuff. I get inspired by that and huge... I love like huge abstract sculpture. And I don't know why, because a lot of it, sometimes initially you're like, why did somebody put that much effort into making that thing? But then I look closer at it. I'm like, well, that's actually amazing. So it's, it's hard to, there's too many, there's so many, but I, I initially it's black and white photos. So it's not even the artist. It's like just looking at that moment that that photographer caught and, black and white and like just seeing life and, and that it's easy. And that's, it goes from, that's what I would use as my reference photos to looking to see how the old masters drew and trying to draw like them. So I'd go again, watching old blues masters and I wanted to like not play like them, but try to learn how they did what they did and do it my way. And then looking at old masters and how they drew and their tricks and and tips and just take what i could from them and do it my way too
SPEAKER_00:so i love the idea that you're inspired by these old masters
SPEAKER_03:there's so many like correlations of how i make my music to how i'm making my artwork now but yeah the paintings where sometimes i just get really active and it's just like throwing paint on there but so you'll have this like big wash of just me just using colors that i like and then you'll have a detail like somebody's portrait so then it goes straight into me being like that close and getting detailed of how that person's face or body is or their clothing or like or how i paint a building i'll build i put a lot of attention to that the detail on the building or but then there's areas where it's just like me just getting aggressive and like getting a you know a house paint brush and just throwing paint on or like just getting almost scratching into the wood. I use panel. I don't really use canvas when I paint anymore because of that. Cause I almost want like I'm punching it almost. So it's like, it's the same thing with music. There's moments where I'm super aggressive musically. And then as like quiet moments where it's like breaking down to where there's attention to detail or like, let's really hit this note. Then there's other moments where it's like, I don't care. As long as I'm hitting strings, let's get a little quiet and in. and then just explode.
SPEAKER_00:I can just imagine you doing that just because I've seen you perform. And especially because, I mean, you guys are sweating. I mean, you're like, it's a very physical performance. And hearing you express how you're painting, I can envision it because it must be very physical. Where do you think this is leading you? Your influence in pairing the masters and cool, the old style blues with punk?
SPEAKER_03:Well, art-wise, visual art-wise, The aggression, too, with that comes into some of the making these quilts. I'm physically cutting and building. So that's part of my getting physically active, you know, blood, sweat and tears with the work again while I construct it. So the new line or new body of work, what I'm envisioning is still doing these quilts like the quilt block patterns and still using quilts. A wide range of wood, wood, metal, plastic, whatever I get my hands on to make these patterns, because I don't think I ever want to leave that again. The playing with the geometrics and the layout and the composition with those is endless. I think I can keep expanding with that, but those are going to stay there. But there's going to be moments of where that might be just a sky in the background and So it's all blue quilt, wooden quilt. And then the foreground is like one of my scenes that I create with these worlds. Like maybe it's two, like, you know, two men on horseback about to, you know, weirdly like some form of jousting or some kind of crazy action happening behind this surreal, like this nice blue, you know, quilt block pattern. It's going to be the sky or something. Or am I bringing in like, bring some, icons and where people can write like that's so-and-so. So like it's a character and then, but his whole suit is the quilt block pattern. So it's cut to where like it's his clothing. So it's like, you know, instead of it being just a plaid suit, it's a suit made out of like wooden quilt block pattern. But then the, then the faces painted really nicely are drawn the old classical way. Cause I think the, I want to, I, to me, it's still important to see that the artist as takes the time and can still like physically has the hand of like, like that guy's good. Like he can draw that or, you know, she can paint that like exactly how, you know, how the old master, like, I don't think we ever want to lose that as like a culture of people that are appeal, have the appeal to go look at art. I think it's, I don't, it's still important to me. And I think still important to a lot of people, but I still, again, I still love getting abstract and just, you know, making things happen and hoping, hoping that it, some of the, some of the best things happen on accident and, and, you know, just kind of like, Oh, I didn't mean for that to happen, but it, it did. And actually I like how it looks and that goes into the music too. It's like, they're like, oops. I mean, Oh wait, that sounded good. Anyway, yeah. It's going to get more where the drawings take center stage again, or that's drawing and painting, and then the quilt is going to be the environment, or going to be the mountains in the back. It turns into this rocky-looking quilt, but it's going to be the same. You'll go, oh, that's this quilt block pattern that he used, but when you step back, it looks just like a... a landscape. So that's where I'm going.
SPEAKER_00:You have a new vinyl EP release coming out. It's called Four for Being Physical. It's with new high recordings. It's supposed to come out sometime in the next month, May 29th. Tell me why Four for Being Physical?
SPEAKER_03:Hopefully it inspires you to go just take part in life. I know it's hard. Everyone's still having to wear a mask, or a lot of people are. In a world of technology, just kind of... taking over us, which again, I'm not saying I'm above it. I definitely use my computer, my phone, you know, I use my devices, but I'm saying like, separate yourself from it. Go like grab somebody. I know it's hard right now. We're still in the middle of a virus and stuff. We're coming out of it, but I think go, go do something, get physical, you know? And so it's, it's and part of it was for, for like, like there's penalties in like hockey. It's like two for, or, you know, you get put in the penalty box two minutes for, so it kind of came from that. Like you're getting penalized for, for, you know, go two minutes in the penalty box for fighting or whatever it is, you know, whatever penalty you committed. But so that came for, for being physical, it's kind of like, we want you to go get penalized for doing something, you know, and there's actually five tracks. I don't know. So again, I kind of mess with your head. There's not four songs, so there's five. So I don't know. I think four just sounded fun, like four, four. So it's me again, which a lot of people think I'm making mistakes. Like, dude, there's five tracks on here, not four. Or like, you misspelled Rushback. The first album I did was the title is Returns to the Tomb of Giuliano Medici. And it's really Medici. but I just added like the extra Medici, you know, and I remember getting it reviewed and the guy was like, yeah, these guys don't even know like how to spell Medici. And I wanted to like, I still think about like, I want to email that guy. Like, dude, I did that on purpose. It's just me like messing with the last name. Like why are you reuse the same last name? Like look at the name of our band. Like it's a dumb, like I'm just playing with your mind right now. You know, like I'm just playing with words and letters. Okay. Like don't, It wasn't meant to be really Giuliano Medici. Like I did that on purpose.
SPEAKER_00:I actually love that because I think of it as playing off the fact that you're not a good old boy, but you know good old boys. All
SPEAKER_03:these dudes from Texas don't even know like it's really Giuliano Medici. Like that guy, that review, I'm like, oh man, I wish I could talk to him. It's like, you know, no, I'm actually smarter than you because I'm making fun of you thinking that I don't know that. But I like the reverence of good old, but yeah, that's true. Like people seem like, Oh, you're from Texas. I
SPEAKER_00:love that. There's some really wonderful things happening. I love that you have your new EP. Did you design the album cover for this one as well? I'm assuming. Yes.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. And yeah, the front and the back. And then the centerfold is like a centerfold actually looks like kind of what I'm going into. Cause it's the sky is like a big, you know, quilt layout that I'm, Cause I'll do like a shop drawing before I start my real piece. So it's kind of, yeah, I do that. And yeah, that kind of gives you a vision of where I'm going and that centerfold piece that's inside the album. And then we have a couple of videos coming out, which that's another way that I'm trying to combine worlds too, is like doing, some of them are like my concepts of like, let's try this as a video, this storyline, you know, and so I'm using our music obviously, and then trying to create like a little scenario. And then also I'm doing this kind of documentary series called Wood Riddance, which with my cinematographer, Kyle, who also does a lot of my band photo stuff and in motion. So we're working on Wood Riddance, which is, kind of how I do my stuff where I get my inspiration where I go to get the wood and material from my pieces and then it goes in the history the history of certain like maybe art or music movements that have happened here in Southern California that no one really remembers or I'm going to try to bring it to the surface so people can like oh well I didn't know that happened in Pasadena or like that artist is from there or that musician started you know, working in here in Torrance, California, you know, so it's going.
SPEAKER_00:It is that it looks like that, that particular year. So people can find you on YouTube under restaurants channel, right? Is okay. Again, I'm,
SPEAKER_03:I'm really bad at, I'm trying to get better at social media and obviously me, she's really good. My, my wife helps a lot. Like I'm the, I'm just the dude behind the curtain and then she kind of gets it out in the world. Yeah. Restaurant. R-E-S-T-A-V-R-A-N-T. Rest and rant. A and a V. So that's, I think Instagram is the best way for us because I can do that quickly and I'm not like losing myself. Like, I don't know what I'm doing, but at least I can, I can manage that account somewhat, but even at that we're like one post a week, but at least that gives you an idea of what, what the band's up to and builtquilt.com or, at Bill Quilts is another Instagram that's good.
SPEAKER_00:So you have two Instagram, you have an Instagram account, a YouTube channel, and a website for a restaurant. And for Built Quilt, you have the Instagram and the website, and that's where people can see your work. And of course, Weekend New High Recordings will actually be doing the release, Fox Chapel Publications handling your book. And we hope you bring, you come here. We're looking forward to possibly having you here to do a book signing and some type of presentation with the Quilt Festival Houston coming up in October at the Thank you so much. I think it'd be really great to do that. So I look forward to having you here in Houston and I look forward to coming back to LA. I
SPEAKER_03:see the light. Good things are on the horizon.
SPEAKER_00:I think good things are on the
SPEAKER_02:horizon.