Hey Kidz,

 

I hope everyone is well & trying to get even better.  Been working hard on getting the new QRD couples issue ready.  30 interviews slated & about ten in & I want it to go live Sunday.  So we'll see how many are ready.

 

Next week I should get everything settled about getting the mwvm remix EP available for free download.

 

I was asked to do a little interview for Pop Matters earlier this week that they probably won't use & I thought you kidz might get a kick out of it, so it's below.

 

hrt

Brian John Mitchell

 

Popmatters 20 Questions – Feb 5, 2008

 

1.      The latest book or movie that made you cry?
I've been reading the Edgar Rice Burroughs Martian Series lately.  It's embarrassing, but I'm a sucker for these over the top stories where a man travels half the planet killing everything between him & the woman he loves.  Anyway there's this one scene where a guy is going to kill the woman he leaves to keep her from being eaten by cannibals & it kinda got to me.

 

2.      The fictional character most like you?
Lately I feel like I really relate to Carroll in John O'Brien's Stripper Lessons & sometimes Cerebus from Dave Sim's comic series of the same name.  I wish I was more like Conan (the actual Robert E. Howard version, not the one from the movies).

 

3.      The greatest album, ever?
Quite possibly Neil Young's Harvest.  But I'd like to give a special shout out to PJ Harvey's White Chalk & Low's Drums & Guns, neither of which got the attention they deserved last year.

 

4.      Star Trek or Star Wars?
Star Wars.  I am really happy with Episode 3.

 

5.      Your ideal brain food?
I don't really have a need to be smarter than I am, I need something that makes me think less than I do.

 

6.      You're proud of this accomplishment, but why?
Well, everyone thinks my recent comic book is really beautiful & despite it's overtly Christian overtones a lot of my non-Christian pals like it.  So I like that idea, that my art can encompass my personal history, my emotion, & my faith & still communicate to the secular masses & strangers alike.

 

7.      You want to be remembered for .  .?
Being a good husband & father, neither of which has happened so far.

 

8.      Of those who've come before, the most inspirational are?
Varies everyday.  Pablo Picasso, Kay Sage, Charles Ives, Gyorgy Ligeti, Will Eisner, & John O'Brien are among the no longer living I always feel did something good for art.  It would be dumb not to mention Jesus Christ.

 

9.      The creative masterpiece you wish bore your signature?
"Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen maybe.  I don't know.  I hate to take credit for my own good work, so it would be hard to take credit for someone else's.

 

10.    Your hidden talents . . .?
I think a lot of people know me for different things I do & are surprised when they find out about one of the other things.  So some people are surprised by my comics, or my paintings, or my fiction, or my music, or my interviews, or that I'm athletic, or whatever.  I think a lot of people are surprised by my memory, which is pretty good & I wish a little less good a lot of times.

 

11.    The best piece of advice you actually followed?
Jarboe (Swans) told me that my life & happiness is more important than my art.  I have done my best to always remember that.

 

12.    The best thing you ever bought, stole, or borrowed?
Well, I love my Schecter custom guitar & I bought it.

 

13.    You feel best in Armani or Levis or . . .?
Dickies.  I'm a working class man & I wear working clothes.

 

14.    Your dinner guest at the Ritz would be?
I don't even think I'd want to eat there.

 

15.    Time travel: where, when and why?
If I stayed in my current body, I guess I'd go back to Good Friday & be part of the crowd yelling, "Crucify him!" about Jesus.  If I could shoot my mind back into my high school body with my current knowledge, I'd probably be a lot better off; but I would probably also be a completely different person.

 

16.    Stress management: hit man, spa vacation, or Prozac?
Hitman I guess.  I haven't been in a physical fight in probably 8 years, but I do write a comic about a sociopath who is trying to stop murdering people for being jerks.

 

17.    Essential to life: coffee, vodka, cigarettes, chocolate, or . . .?
I live a pretty Spartan lifestyle.  I fast a lot.  I try to not take in too much refined sugar.  But I do feel a connection with water.  I like to be close to large bodies of water & rarely am.

 

18.    Environ of choice: city or country, and where on the map?
I don't really care too much.  Wherever you go, there you are.  It is important to be close to the people you love who need your help in some real & physical way.  That's why I am where I am.

 

19.    What do you want to say to the leader of your country?
You did a better job than I would've done.

 

20.    Last but certainly not least, what are you working on, now?
New album from Remora due out in a few weeks on the Italian label Centre of Wood.  New Vlor album being worked on in the studio.  Editting a live disc from Small Life Form.  Editting a live radio session disc from Remora.  Working on new issues of my mini-comic xo (the one about the sociopath).  Working on new issues of Lost Kisses (stickfigure mini-comic).  Working on debut issues of two other comics, one called Marked about hunting demons & another called (R)evolution about a dystopian rebel.  Working on more paintings.  Working on a lot of themed interviews for my webzine QRD (couples in bands together is the current issue for Valentine's Day).  Trying to stay alive.  Looking for a new day job.  Trying to get my record label (Silber) to sell more records.  I guess that's it.