Issue #323: An Interview with Sugi (T-Shirts Inside)
As promised, this newsletter is a doozy.
There are some semi-major updates today. After six years of productivity in this venue, I have merchandise for sale. I am selling t-shirts and hats, which I produced in very limited quantities.
This is what they look like:
The shirts are screen printed and the hats are embroidered, both produced by Panther Printing.
You can buy them here:
https://paradoxnewsletter.bigcartel.com/
The illustrations for the hat and shirt are by Akihiko Sugimoto, better known as Sugi. I am a huge fan of his work and have written about him in the past.
We talked quite a bit in the course of his work on the commission and he agreed to do an interview. I believe this is the only English language interview with him out there.
Along with the newsletter merch, I am also launching a zine distro through Paradox. The zines will be available at the newsletter webstore. I’ll also be selling them in person, mostly at shows. You also might be able to buy them off me if you see me in the street.
Right now in the shop we have Ignorant People and Never Was Turned Has Been. I have contributed to both issues of Ignorant People, so you can find my writing there. Never Was Turned Has Been is a long running zine, a favorite of mine, made by my friend Paolo. Coincidentally, he was also my first t-shirt customer.
If you have a zine that does not suck and you are too busy or lazy to sell online, let me know. We can work something out.
Why bother with a distro for hardcore punk fanzines? I want to get the culture in the hands of those who want and need it.
The shirts and hats aren’t cheap because I didn’t make many and spent more money than this newsletter has ever made by like 10x to make them. However, if you are a paid newsletter subscriber, I want to give you a $10 discount on a newsletter shop order, whatever you are buying. This means a cheaper shirt or hat or some zines for only what it would cost to ship them. The deal is also available to new paid subs.
The catch, because the free bigcartel plan doesn’t let me make coupon codes, you need to email me if you want to redeem your discount. You can do that before or after placing an order, though it’ll be easier if you email me beforehand.
I made shirts and hats because I love Sugi’s work and am very gratified to see my idea come to life through his singular art style. I also love shirts and hats. This is not a moneymaking scheme. But, some day, I would like to, perhaps, spend my time differently with a greater focus on the things that I find rewarding instead of doing what I currently do to pay my bills. One thing I find rewarding is doing this writing and trying to make this project the best it can be. Supporting my newsletter through a paid subscription or a t-shirt purchase is a contribution to making it possible for me to continue enriching the newsletter, spending more time on it, and making it better. To those of you who have pledged your money to Paradox Newsletter in whatever fashion, my appreciation is immeasurable.
Finally, for current and future paid subscribers, I am going to start releasing some letters that are paid exclusive. I can’t promise too much, but my goal is to do somewhere between four and twelve paid only letters a year. A wide band, I know.
They won’t replace the normal weekly edition, but be released in addition to my regularly scheduled publication. They might be a little more experimental than what you normally get from me. I want those of you who are supporting me to feel that your sub nets you something of substance. And I hope the paywalled writing might motivate a few more people to become paid subs. The first of these should be coming in the next few weeks.
Thanks again for reading.
“Do what you want to do”: An Interview with Sugi
When I saw Systematic Death last year, I met a guy named Masato who was selling prints of Sugi’s artwork. Pointing down to the array of available drawings, his enthusiastic sales pitch was simply “Sugi! The Japanese Pushead.”
Sugi was gratified to hear this story when I told it to him, having done work for Masato’s clothing brand, GBT.
In the course of interviewing Sugi, it wasn’t terribly surprising to learn that Pushead is one of his biggest influences. As a cultural figure, Pushead’s impact is incomparable. But Sugi commands nearly equivalent stature among hardcore punk fanatics, or “maniacs,” how Sugi referred to me repeatedly.
I conducted this interview entirely over text messages with all my questions and Sugi’s responses in English. Sugi intermittently used online translators for some of my questions and some of his answers, though he didn’t specify which Qs and As were translation-assisted.
Sugi has a reputation of being a man of few words. In some cases, that was true. In others, he was more than happy to elaborate and talk extensively about his interests or his process. The entire idea for the interview came from information and history he volunteered as we talked during his work on the Paradox Newsletter artwork.
He also peppered our conversation, unprompted, with pictures. That added a lot of texture to some of his answers, though I didn’t include every picture he sent.
Most of what I learned about Sugi didn’t surprise me. His history in the Hiroshima scene and relationship with bands from the region is well-known, documented in the form of the prolific artistic output for the bands. After he sent me process pencil drawings of the art he did for me, and the final hand drawn product being delivered to me as a highly detailed scan of a physical piece of paper, I figured he was dedicated to particular ways of drawing.
I was a little bit surprised to learn how much his artwork owes to his deep fandom of anime and manga. He has studied masters from many mediums in his drawing practice.
Sugi’s work has been anthologized in at least three books Shiro Kuro -Sugi’s Drawings 1989-2003 and Shiro Kuro -Sugi’s Drawings 2004-2006-, and the third edition of Pushead’s Hyperstoic zine.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Paradox Newsletter: When did you start drawing?
Sugi: I started drawing for bands in 1989~90.
PN: Did you draw before then as a hobby? What made you decide to start drawing for bands?
Sugi: Yes. I drew as a hobby. I did pencil drawing, oil painting, watercolor painting, pen drawing. I did portrait painting, landscape painting, reproduced Japanese manga/anime characters. Since I found out about Pushead and Tom. I thought their styles are very cool!
PN: What are some of the earliest bands you remember doing work for?
Sugi: Gudon, Warhead Junk (Hiroshima), Warhead (Kyoto), Bandit (Kita-Kyushu).
PN: What kind of thought process goes into starting a new drawing? How much of the idea usually comes from you and how much from the band?
Sugi: Various bands and various ways. When we share a common interest we have a good chemistry it’s easier to collaborate.
PN: You draw using pen and paper, right? Is that an artistic choice or just what you are comfortable with?
Sugi: Yes. Using g-pen and paper. G-pen is a Japanese comic/manga artist's classical style. I've been using g-pen since I was 10 years old. I love that style. I had a huge impact from Japanese comics and comic artists.
PN: You did some great Devilman art work for Blood Sucker Records’ 25th Anniversary. What are your favorite manga? And who are your favorite manga artists?
Sugi: Many favorites! Galaxy Express 999, Ashita no Joe, GeGeGe no Kitaro, Devilman, Kimetsu no Yaiba, Death Note. It's very hard to choose one. Recently I love Chainsaw Man. And many favorite artists. Shigeru Mizuki, Reiji Matsumoto, Tetsuya Chiba, Tatsuki Fujimoto, Go Nagai and many more!
PN: Man, I love all of those. Do you like Takehiko Inoue or Naoki Urasawa? I have been reading Vagabond and re-reading Monster recently.
Sugi: Yes. I love Vagabond! But I don't like his other works, like Slam Dunk, so much. I love Musashi Miyamoto! He is very cool!! I love Samurai stories. I also love Hiroaki Samura's samurai comic Mugen no Jyuunin. I don't like Naoki Urasawa's comics. I don't know what's fun… haha.
PN: I want to ask you a bit about your background going to hardcore shows. What were some of the venues where you went to see shows when you were younger?
Sugi: I lived in Hiroshima in my early twenties. My favorite hardcore band was Gudon! I went to the venues in Hiroshima to see them.
PN: The Hiroshima scene from that period seems very tight knit. Did you know the members of Gudon before they formed the band? Or did you get to know them after seeing them as a band?
Sugi: After they formed. They are my seniors. At that time Gudon bass player Guy was working at the record shop UK EDISON in Hiroshima. By coincidence, my girlfriend was working with him there. After she introduced me to him I started going to hardcore gigs and drawing gig flyers/cover artwork.
PN: Were the gigs at bars or live houses? Or were there other places for shows, DIY spaces, warehouses, basements etc?
Sugi: Bars and live houses!
PN: Do you still go to shows often? Any memorable ones you’ve been to lately?
Sugi: Yes. Warhead 33th anniversary one man gig I saw in Osaka last year was really great!! The best gig I saw ever is Gudon last 2 days gig in Hiroshima 1989! Gudon, Bastard, Lip Cream, Death Side, Rapes, every bands were really great!! Especially I love Acid (Tokyo)! Their gig was the best live act I saw ever. At that time all of the Lip Cream members stayed in my room in an apartment!
PN: You drew the flyer for the Gudon last 2 days gig right?
Sugi: Yes I drew it. That was the 1st or 2nd flyer artwork in my life. I remember very well I was nervous to draw so much at that time. Because so many great bands were playing.
PN: Have you been to any shows in the U.S.?
Sugi: Only one time ever. I went to Chaos in Tejas gig vol. 8, 2012. Forward (Tokyo) guys took me. I saw Antisect, The Mob, Foward, Zyanose, Reality Crisis, Skizophrenia, and many more gigs. They were really GREAT!!
PN: I was also at that Chaos in Tejas. Such a fun time. I remember seeing Reality Crisis and Skizophrenia a couple times that weekend.
Sugi: We saw the same gigs! Maybe we passed each other.
PN: You mentioned Acid and Gudon, do you have any other favorite hardcore bands?
Sugi: I love Lip Cream, Death Side, Systematic Death, Warhead, Clown, Bastard, Judgement, Rapes, City Indian, S.O.B, Nightmare, Crude, Mustang, Gastunk, Execute, Kuro, Confuse, AI, Gism, Framtid, Tetsu Array, Discharge, Chaos U. K, Disorder, Amebix, The Mob, GBH, Crucifix, Bad Religion, Dead Kennedys, Final Conflict, Conflict, Pisschrist and many more!
PN: What do you do for fun? What are your hobbies outside of drawing?
Sugi: I love watching Japanese anime/movie, building Gundam plastic models, and reading. Today I watched the anime movie DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDE DESTRUCTION in theaters. It was a great movie! I loved it!! I love building a Gundam plastic models since childhood! And I love reading. Mainly political/historical, non-fiction books.
PN: I didn’t realize you built Gunpla! I love the RX-78. I watch all the Gundam anime, but Yoshiyuki Tomino’s work is my favorite.
Sugi: I can’t wait for the RG 1/144 Gundam ver 2.0 that will be released this summer!!! I saw it on Youtube. Looks amazing!! My favorite is the first Gundam by Tomino. I saw the tv versions and also went to the theater to see the movie versions in my childhood.
PN: You have made a huge impact on the hardcore punk scene as an artist. Does it feel different drawing today because of what you have accomplished?
Sugi: Now I'm drawing Warhead gig flyer and AI album cover artwork. I'm drawing for the same bands (Koide/AI is ex.Bandit's member as a drummer) and for the same guys as 30 years ago! So I'll continue drawing the same style/same feeling from now on.
PN: Do you have any advice for aspiring artists?
Sugi: Advice? Just one word. Do what you want to do.
PN: Any closing words?
Sugi: Stay punk!
Weekly Reading List
https://agonjournal.bigcartel.com/product/the-dreamer-s-pursuit-of-a-self-referentiality-by-sr — SR’s (friend of the letter) The Dreamer’s Pursuit of a Self-Referentiality is available from the Agon Journal and shipping now.
Until next time.