mcville: Colin Smith Interview

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Colin Smith Interview

Nov 13, 09:56 AM by Marko

Interivew with Colin Smith at distortedperspective.com

Marko: Heya Colin !
Colin: Hi. How are you?
Marko: Fine tnx 4 askin’

Marko: For our reader’s could you tell something about yourself? (year old and other stuff)

Colin: I’ll say that I’m 22. I turn 23 one month from yesterday, which was November 12th.

Marko: How are you doing these days?
Colin: Horrible, but thanks for asking. I drink too much and I want everything that I’ve ever fucked up to go right.

Marko: When did you first encounter a keyboard or computer?
Colin: My dad bought a computer when I was in 8th grade, I think. Before that, my mom taught and so I had some experience with early Apple systems, but nothing more than games and text files.

Marko: What is your favorite art work /website!?
Colin: banksy.co.uk. I think he’ll go down as the most substantial artist of our generation.

Marko: when you launched aberantmuse.com are you happy with the result of the site?
Colin: Was there a beginning to this question? Anyway, no, I’m not. I think Henry Rollins says it best, that if you’re ever satisfied with something, you obviously aren’t asking enough questions, or you’re not trying hard enough. I never want to be satisfied with anything I do, not even on the day I die, because then I’ll think I was just a waste of space.

Marko: What do you do in your spare time (I do realize that spare time, in this context, is pretty relative)?
Colin: I think that I answered this one on an earlier question. I drink too much and think too much.

Marko: Do you have a favorite drink? How much of it do you drink?

Colin: I call it the Jessica after my ex-girlfriend who first made one for me. It’s equal parts Bailey’s Irish Creme, Vodka (preferably Fris), and milk. Do 8 ounces of each in a single (large) cup and you’ll be ready to take on the world.

Marko: Would you care to give us a brief overview of what a typical day is like for Colin Smith?
Colin: It depends. Usually my cat wakes me up at about 7 in the morning. I tell her to shut up until 8, at which point I feed her. She was a gift from an ex as well, so it’s a pleasure having a daily reminder of a girl in the form of a cat digging her claws into your back. Anyway, if I have to work, I go to work. It’s mundane and boring and awful, but what job isn’t. Then usually I need to motivate myself to do freelance work, which never ends up happening. I feed my cat, I walk around Portland, I think about the meaning of life and how meaningless it all is, I contemplate jupming off bridges, and then I go home and paint. Usually I pass out about 2 in the morning.

Marko: I am always wondering how people such as yourself go about getting work? How do you do it?
Colin: I don’t. I am so broke it’s not funny. I mean, this is a paradox; I’m not broke, in fact, I’m quite well off compared to the rest of the world. However, in the American sense, I’m broke. I barely afford my rent. I feel like a whore promoting myself so I just usually do my own thing, and if someone asks me to do work for them, I do it. I have a shitty job at a shitty upper class mall, and that’s how I work. Every artistic or design oriented thing I usually do for myself; my clients know this, and that’s usually why I am hired for freelance.

Marko: Who are some of your biggest influences?
Colin: A lot of people put visual artists here, and that’s bullshit. Aesthetics today are so absent of meaning. I get my inspiration from music. Right now I’m listening to the first Get Up Kids record, a lot of punk rock and indie rock (before it became bullshit like it is today) has a huge impact on my work. I never work without music on.

Marko: Is your background in design? What was the progression into web development and design like? How did that take place and why?
Colin: I’ve been drawing since I was 2. I attended school for sequential art, oddly enough. My biggest influence growing up was comic artist Joe Madureira. I got tired of drawing, I’m not sure why, I just get interested in other things. I saw Mike’s work at
Shodown.net in tenth grade, downloaded Photoshop, and have never stopped experimenting since. It’s so intriguing, I think, the ability to infringe on others work and call it your own; it’s so plentiful in this digital age that nothing is really authentic anymore.

Marko: If you where not a designer/programmer what would you be?
Colin: I’m not. I’m a shitty artist and one of those people that finds it necessary to detract from the overall well-oiled machine that is society by somehow thinking that we are above it.

Marko: How do you like our site mcville.net?
Colin: I’ve never been.
Marko: HA HAAA :)

Marko: O it’s really that bad? ( :)
Colin: I guess so.
Marko: HAHAHA :)

Marko: What kind of music do you fancy?
Colin: I agree with the ethics of punk rock the most, but I listen to all sorts. I don’t listen to corporate rock, unless it’s a band like Green Day that sort of started out in the underground. I don’t claim to be a punk, but I certainly agree that DIY is the way to go.

Marko: What’s your favorite food?
Colin: Does hydrocodiene count? I guess, if not, pizza.

Marko: Where do you get out on Saturday’s?
Colin: Usually there’s a show playing in town. Ironically, it’s a Saturday right now, and I’ve just been hanging out at home. I worked 8 hours today and I had a lot of freelance to get done, which I didn’t.

some relaxing question to follow

Marko: Chinese or Thai (food)?
Colin: Chinese.

Marko: Coke or Pepsi?
Colin: Pepsi, and if anyone tells you otherwise, they’re lying.

Marko: html or asp?
Colin: HTML, but I’ve become rusty. Mostly CSS these days seems the way to go.

Marko: Do you watch television? If so, do you have a favorite show?
Colin: I don’t have a TV, but I have seen every episode of Six Feet Under, probably the best television show ever. These days I watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report via
comedycentral.com.

Marko: What would we find in your favorites bookmarks-bar?
Colin: My blog, the Shodown Forum, my bank account (I always have to see if it’s overdrawn). Then a bunch of folders, Personal, Daily, News, Typographie, Research, Online Comics, and Blogs.

Marko: What inspires you? This doesn’t have to be design related.
Colin: Myself, because I’m a selfish asshole. Really, I draw most of my inspiration from my own life and experiences, both the things I have done, the things I wish I did differently, and the things I hope to someday do. After that, I see what others have done aesthetically and steal all that for my own use.

Marko: Thank again for having this interview, cheers m8!
Colin: Bottoms up and spirits down.

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Colin Smith Interview

Nov 13, 09:56 AM by Marko