Interview 1993:

Pez, the party peoples Van Gough, has established himself over the years as the countries leading flyer artist. Armed with this air brush painting and canvass this 24 year old wizard has brought to every ones life a touch of art genius. But what has made this skilled craftsmen the man he is today, let’s dig deep into the mind of a man who thinks pictures and writes poetry.

So is Pez your real name?
Well it’s the name that I am known as.

When did you first start drawing?
Way back in 1984 I used to do quite a bit of illegal graffiti work. Then in 1988 the Graffiti scene had become too bad boy and moody so I left that scene to join the happy party stuff that was starting to take off and as you all know I’m still involved in it today.

So what was you doing for money whilst you done the graffiti art?
Believe it or not I was studying to become a law student. I got a couple of A Levels and was then dreading the next 6 or 7 years studying. So, I decided to pick up on air brush in 1988 and getting drawing. Designing pictures is a lot less hassle free than being a Lawyer.

How long did it take you to learn the basics of using an air brush?
I took a good couple of years before any skills came through and I look back at some of my old work with embarrassment.

So what was your first break in the current party scene?
The first flyer I did was for Fantastic Ibiza which was just a black and white flyer. Not long after came my first colour flyer for an organisation called Beyond Therapy, from then on came lots of work. Since then, I’ve gone to around 200 flyers at a guess.

So why do you think you’ve been successful as an artist?
I think it’s due to the fact that I was involved with the scene right at the beginning. In 1988 there weren’t loads of artists so I was able to monopolise it and grow with the scene. Now it’s a little different, for example everywhere you go you find people who want to be DJs, now you find lots of people out there would like to be artists.

Is there any other artists out there you see as a threat to your crown as the best?
There are a lot of good artists out there and I can see a few improving, but no I don’t feel threatened because I know I will always improve, as well, with every drawing.

Whats the most satisfying part of drawing for you?
Seeing the artwork finished and printed well on the streets. The worst bit is when the person I’m drawing the picture for takes the artwork away.

Which flyer has been your favourite?
That’s a hard one. I like so many, but so far my favourite has been the current World Dance flyer for Lydd on the 31st July 1993.

Would you say that your artwork has a certain style?
I wouldn’t give my artwork a certain tag, but I would like to think that when people leave a party and pick up a flyer they would know that I had done it without seeing my name on it.

So what are the stages you take the artwork through to get a finished product?
The promoter gives you the name of the event, then I ask them what they don’t want, for example they might not want a space theme or a sexy flyer. This then narrows down the options to what the customer requires. From this I use the name of the event/product to inspire me to draw initial sketches followed by the actual painting which is all done by air brush.

I paint canvasses to order and at the moment I’m busy promoting the Pez Portfolio ‘Pezism’.

What goes through your mind as your doing your artwork?
I don’t even really know but seriously each piece of artwork has a meaning behind it which I rarely reveal. I leave it up to the individual who sees the artwork to come up with their own meanings.

How many flyers do you do a week?
I do on average 2 a week. The most I have ever had to do in one week is 5 flyers which was hard work.

In a 100 years where would you most like to see your work?
I would like to think that many different classes of people will like my work and that some of it could end up in galleries across the world, but knowing my luck I will be dead - well and truly Van Goughed. I hope that one day my form of artwork will be recognised as a new style of art throughout the world with myself and a few up and comin artists being the spokesmen.

So what does the future hold?
Well I’ve just formed a company Global Warning, which I hope in time I will be able to employ other artists and expand into areas such as computer game covers In addition to this I’m becoming increasingly involved in music having recently formed a band called Global Warning (as well) with a couple of guys called Barry and Adrian. We are looking forward to our first release this summer.

For those of you who are not sure what an air brush is (like I wasn’t) it’s basically a fine paint sprayer.