Interview with Wyatt Grant

We’ve still got a few long sleeve t-shirts available featuring artwork from Wyatt Grant, grab one before they’re gone! Check out this quick interview with the artist behind the latest Lonesome Rose T-Shirt Club tee, conducted by LSD art director Drew Ryan.

Hey Wyatt what's good?

Hi Drew! I'm doing pretty well. Just got back into studio mode working on new art and music.

Got any memories from childhood that are strictly visual?

I got my shoe signed by Charles Barkley in the 1st grade, which I proudly wore to school every day. I'd outline his signature with markers and embellish it until the original signature was no longer visible. Sadly I no longer have this shoe. Other visual memories from when I was very young: making rock necklaces, drawing comic books with mechanical pencils, Christopher Reeves as Superman, and the dirt bike ramps at Cameron Brown Park.

You're a musician too—where do you rehearse and paint and draw and record? Are these separate workspaces?

I like to write music demos in my art making space at home, so both visual and sonic stuff has the same place of origin. The difference is with music I often bring those demos to my collaborators in Pool Holograph and they change and evolve quite a bit. We also write things through improvising as a group. Nevertheless the "sketch" element of both songs and visuals has always been at the core for me.

We're both from Memphis but we didn't know each other growing up. Where would we have most likely crossed paths?

I am certain that we were in Cats Music or the Skate Park of Memphis at the same time. No way that we weren't. Possibly the Armory or the Complex. I saw your high school band play multiple times too, so I saw you but you didn't see me. :-)

Favorite Memphis rapper?

It's hard because I'm a big three six fan and all of the members have their own strengths and styles. Out of that group my favs are Project Pat and Juicy J who I recently found out are brothers, which is nice!

Favorite Eggleston photo?

I found his work through Alex Chilton and Big Star covers, so his work became synonymous with Big Star's magical southern mystique. Really nostalgic and sentimental to me. There's one that's called "Untitled (near Jackson MS)" with a coat hanging in a room that was part of a series called At War with the Obvious which is a pretty cool title and sums up who he is as an artist. "Glass in Airplane" is another favorite, but another side to him that is spiritual and intimate. Still very everyday, but somehow he makes the mundane very alien and psychological.

Pancho's or El Porton?

We were always an El Porton family 100%, however On the Border on Poplar replaced it after a while.

Do you like dub music?

Any and all Trojan-related records are worth listening to in my book. Lee Perry and King Tubby are my favorites, however I don't know anything past the 70s, so I'm sure a lot has changed since then. I love that era of dub because of the kind of "primitive" experimentation. Lee Perry would put mics inside of stumps and whack them for crazy percussive sounds. I think the only "modern" dub I'm exposed to would be on a Mitsubishi commercial or in a Lyft.

Ink pen of choice?

I just got a couple of big Windsor and Newton brush pens that I think are technically india ink. They are super great but I always feel overindulgent using them since I've usually been restricted to much cheaper materials. I like using brushes and ink the most, which is how I drew the shirt design. I get those big 2-liter bottles of india ink from Blick.

Shoutout to:

My fiancé's flower business Plein Air Flowers— https://www.instagram.com/pleinairflowers/?hl=en

Really awesome collaborator and overall person Dave Vettraino aka Public House Recordings— http://publichousesoundrecordings.com/

My friend Jake and Clare's new web site Sun Room— https://www.hellosunroom.com/

Courtesy— https://idmatic.bandcamp.com/