Mike Carrasco
(photo: Nikita Seely)
Mike Carrasco is a mixed media artist that hails from Las Cruces, NM. I've known Mike for a good five years or so but it hasn't really been since the past couple of years that I've seen his art and have come to truly appreciate it. His style is difficult to describe since I've seen him work with a variety of mediums but he's definitely got a Tenement/Amos Pitsch, Sacred Bones/Goner Records album art vibe to him. Personally, whenever I pick up a Total Control or Protomartyr record I immediately think of Mike. Regardless, Mike kills it and you'll get a chance to pick up his art on Friday, November 4th at Monarch. In the meantime, Mike gave me some of his time to let me interview him in the second part of this double header interview for his Lenguaje Humano zine release.
Favorite gasoline station snacks?
Pepper sunflower seeds or jerky depending on how much money I want to spend.
IPA's or lagers?
I love both, but if I plan on drinking more than a few I'll stick to lagers.
What would you say are your best physical attributes?
My hairless armpits.
Triangles or circles?
Triangles with tiny circles
Ping pong or pool?
I never get a chance to play ping pong, so I guess pool.
Last time you were seriously afraid for your life?
I went on a camping trip to the Gila Forest a few years ago and the road entering the forest from Silver City is insane with cliff drop offs right on the shoulder of the road. An old friend was driving and was on a mission to scare the fuck out of everyone. He was doing about 80 on this windy single car road and would have to slam on the breaks on every turn. We almost flew of the cliff a few times, everyone in the car was terrified and we all got super car sick. I'll never go on a trip with that guy again.
First question you would ask an alien if you were abducted?
Why?
Personal
What's your earliest memory of creating a piece of art? How old where you and do you remember what you drew?
I remember creating art from an early age. Both my parents were into drawing and painting to a certain extent, so I used to look through their old sketch pads all the time. The first "good" drawing I did was the kitchen of my mom's house. I think I was about 10. She still has it hanging on her fridge. haha.
Who are some of your current favorite artists?
A lot of local artists are completely killing it right now and I could honestly say some are my favorites. But, other artists I really dig are Alex Heir, Amos Pitsch, Jim Plunk, Christina Hunt, Alan Forbes, Mario Torrez, and Anna Haifisch who does this great comic called The Artist.
Who and what are some of the biggest influences on your work?
Early on I was really influenced by Raymond Pettibon. Seeing those iconic punk fliers and Black Flag/SST covers really made me want to do fliers for punk shows. Other things that influence my work are western and sci-fi movies, nature, and of course music.
What's the first flyer that you drew for an event?
I want to say it was back in 07' for a local hardcore show. I drew some shitty picture of a drummer and photoshopped all the band names. No one cared for it, and they never asked me to do anything for them again haha. I didn't really pick up fliers again until 2012 or 13'.
What are some of your all time favorite album covers?
There's a TON! Neil Young S/T and Zuma, The Stooges - Fun House, most of Dinosaur Jr's covers, all of Tenement's covers, Alex G - DSU, Lenguas Largas - Abba Daddy, California X - Knights In The Dark, Chance The Rapper - Acid Rap, Velvet Underground - Loaded, Sin Motivo's covers, Culo's covers, Destruction Unit - Deep Trip, most of Merchandise's covers - just to new a few off the top of my head.
You are heavily involved with the local music scene. What are some of your favorite shows that you've seen so far this year?
Ex Cult/ Power a couple weeks back, Awesome Fest X in San Deigo was exhausting and tons of fun, Holy Wave/Lenguas Largas, Marfa Myths was cool but had so many set backs and problems, we got there late.
Work
What medium do you both usually use?
Mostly ink. But I do a lot of watercolor, oil and collages.
What medium would you like to use more of?
Oil for sure.
Do you have any preferred subjects that you like to draw?
Right now just a lot of abstract stuff, but I do love to draw nature and portraits every now and then.
Mike, you're involved with a print collective called Rio Sangre? This is actually a pretty new collective. Can you tell me more about it?
Rio Sangre came together as a way to promote our art and host shows under one name. The collective consists of Anne Quinones, Matt Garza, Santana Lopez, KT Neely and myself. All of them are amazing artists and people. It's great to be part of a group like that. I'm not really a print maker so it has been really fun to learn and grow with them. Recently we asked Skipp White to join and will be reaching out to a few more LC/EP artists to join. We have a show coming up in November in Las Cruces, and hope to have an El Paso show in the near future. We are in the process of putting together a zine with all the artists on our team as well. Stay tuned!
Best way to end writer's block or shall I say artist's block?
Artist block happens to me all the time. Usually I'll just try to relax and put on a good movie or listen to music. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and I'll go weeks without creating anything.
What are some of your own personal favorite flyers you have done for shows you have taken part of?
Probably the P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S./Gag flier.
Local band that you haven't done art work for that you would like to do something for?
Ah man, I've done art for most of the local bands I really love. It'd be tight to do something for Slurr, Lunas, Far Corners/Germ House (ex-locals) and any of Joe Ayoub's projects.
Non local band that you would love to create artwork for?
That's hard because a lot of the bands I really like have great imagery already.
How would you describe your work to someone who is completely unfamiliar with you/your art?
It's really hard for me to describe my art because I'm not too great with words. I usually say weird images with aspects of nature and people. I don't think I have an exact style because I'm influenced by so many different things.
Your split zine Lenguaje Humano with Skipp White is coming out soon. Without spilling too many details what can you say about it and the work that you'll be including in it?
First off, I want to say a really big thanks to you for asking me to join up, Chris. My summer has been hectic working on this and other projects. 2016 has been a crazy year with all the politics and just ugliness in general. Which does affect my mindset, and I feel my art kind of reflects that in a way. The funnest part of all of this was getting together with you and Skipp and just hashing it out. The collab page Skipp and I did was tons of fun, but I ended up getting a little too drunk to function at the end haha.
Thanks Mike. Any last words?
Nope
end.
Chris









