I worked with Dylan McConnell a few years ago. We would walk the tracks along SE Main to go get coffee, lunch.. that sort of thing, and in the process discovered we came from similar backgrounds in photo, punk rock variance and a love for crunky design. In the interim, we stayed sort of in touch — an occasional email, bump into each other at shows every once in a while. It was only recently that I made the connection between some of my favorite flyers adorning poles along the Belmont corridor and his hand. Wide ranging and the perfect balance of xerox cut/paste and psychedelia, Dylan’s posters have been getting a lot of attention lately — and for obvious reasons. Just the tip of the mass of projects he’s got his mind set on, including a new label of his own, field hymns.

I recently decided to start interviewing the extended, extensive family here. 1000 seems like a good number, and Dylan is the first. The following conversation took place over the course of a couple weeks via the internets, timed with instances when Dylan was sufficiently loaded enough to talk about himself. 

 

What is all this, McConnell? Hammers, Snowfields, Hymns, Stereotypes… I mean, how many hats do you own?

Yeah, it’s pretty confusing. I have like eight email addresses and am continually emailing the wrong information to random places. But really its just a band, a business and two record labels.

What brings home the bacon these days? Does it still go well with too much coffee?

These days I am just clinging to life doing the freelance, the old 8 to 9. And yes, luckily it is a perfect compliment for over-caffienation. In fact, the Albina Press on Hawthorne is my satellite office.

What’s your mode of attack? One tier at a time? Do you juggle or…what?

Christ, I juggle so much i should just find a clown to partner up with. Since I work for the little guys, i gots to be doing a lots all the time to pay the bills. It sure would be nice to have a fat desk and get paid to troll facebook for old classmates on someone else’s dollar, but that’s not in the cards right now.

Tell me about process… sound, vision — on all fronts. How do they stack up against (or with) eachother?

Hmmmmmm… I don’t know - could your re-phrase that? That question hurts my head.

Sure. I’m wondering how your process compares between all the things you juggle. The music vs. the design, sites vs. posters.. that sort of thing.

It’s kinda like anything else that is creative i guess - there is no formula - there is certainly an approach that is idiosyncratic but the outcome is dependent on so many variables - the level of control one has, the demographic of said job’s audience, the pliability of the client. Since I do not get paid to make music for anyone, I cannot speak for a viable commercial process for that - i just fuck around. But for the jobby-job you gotta respect your clients vision or your quickly start spinning pizza’s for a living. When something comes in, you just try and forget about what you were doing before and concentrate at the task at hand, which probably has nothing to do what your did last week or last month. That is one of the ways in which freelance is invigorating - you don’t know what the hell is going to be in your inbox when you wake up - it’s like xmas in prison, minus the aftershave booze.

What about inspiration? Momentum?

Deadlines. The above mentioned coffee. A new toy. Rain. 8 Ω , <- that actually is a typo - i have no fucking idea how that got there. weird.

Do you use a sketchbook?

If i could draw it would be the most amazing thing ever. Sometimes if I work hard enough I can get a pretty good approximation of something identifiable but I am not a real graphic artist in the classic sense. I suppose I would have been a printmaker had I not found the computer. Not that printmakers can’t draw, but they have easy access to image appropriation, which is pretty much all I can do.

I want to know about your Snowfields kit. Yourself aside, what’s all that sound winding through?

Well its a whole host of things - I have been collecting instruments like mad in the pursuit of a finished, functioning studio. That stuff you are probably referencing (the first snowfields) is old keyboards, slide guitars, old Christian 10″s and found sounds from walking around with a minidisc recorder. It was pretty fun to do but now it is starting to cost a lot of money, as I got it into my head to build a better beast - which unfortunately is an expensive beast. I recorded all that into my computer through a little box. Now I gotta make the big box.

Are you still shooting a lot? If so, what and what with?

I have found the picture quality of my Motorola Pebl horrendous and charming. It’s so damn blown out - I have been trying to approximate that for years - if only I could make it high rez crappy. It looks like a vhs tape - oh I loves me some vhs quality images. Since my last Lomo broke I have been rather disheartened by film. Plus it is expensive. I never did build me that darkroom.

Did I ever return your electrical taped Holga?

ummm, no.

Describe your recent interests in three links or less.

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/
http://mutant-sounds.blogspot.com/
http://ffffound.com/

(and a shout out to this , though it not so relevant anymore - http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/ )

Name something both related to you and synonymous with the adverb, next.

IPA

FIN

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The Snowfields: Five feet and already on paper / My Otis is not your Otis

Deeper Concentration: tinylittlehammers / field hymns / stereotype / the snowfields / spraygraphic / WWeek: LocalCut / PortlandPosterPole

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