Ghost Mansion Press

Back in action.

2012-01-17T17:51:00.000-08:00

What better reason to pull out the screens and squeegees than a show featuring Kowloon Walled City? How about a show that also features Monuments Collapse, The Body, and Thou? I figured I'd be a fool to not do something for this, considering KWC, The Body, and Thou are three of the best bands on the nebulous loud-music scene these days. (I'd never heard of Monuments Collapse, who are apparently new to shows, but I thought their set was great.) Thou (mostly) hails from Baton Rouge, so I based the illustration on the city's seal, taking steps to make it look appropriately metal and grim. Knowing how I work, I even went so far as to tell Scott from KWC that I'd make something for the show, establishing a system of accountability to ensure I'd actually make something. That still didn't prevent me from doing all of the prep and printing in the hours before the show (the ink was still tacky on a couple of them as I headed out for the show), but considering the tight timetable I thrust upon myself, I think they turned out pretty well. I printed 30 in white ink on black stock, with some copies going to members of the various bands and the rest going to KWC to do as they wished.

As captured by my phone's awful camera.

As designed.

SNAILFACE COMETH.

2010-11-10T15:24:00.000-08:00

This is the poster I worked on for the upcoming (and only, ever?) SNAILFACE show at the Hemlock. Scott approached me with the Tarot card concept, as well as ideas for what should be featured on each card. I drew them up, sent them over, and he handled the layout. His wife, Bradee, took care of the coloring. They really nailed it with the look of the cards. I think it looks awesome. There's a small chance I'll print some of these, but they would only be one-color prints, as time doesn't permit anything more. Rather than take away from the beauty of the full piece, I may keep the Snailface card aside for a limited run of shirts. It remains to be seen.

The show is on Saturday, November 20th at the Hemlock here in SF. Joining Snailface will be The Atomic Bomb Audition and Cartographer. It's going to be great. Inspired by the RPM Challenge, Snailface is Kowloon Walled City doing classic 70's-riff-rock-inspired damage, and it's awesome. They'll be celebrating the double-tape (!) box set release of their albums, I and II. Do not miss this.

Tartufi/Silian Rail/Honeycomb at the Rickshaw Stop.

2010-08-01T17:24:00.001-07:00

Fresh off of what passes for the presses around here, the poster for tonight*'s show at the Rickshaw Stop. I was happy to work on this poster, since 2 of the 3 bands performing have been near and dear to me for most of the time I've lived in San Francisco. Tart ufi, who recently released the excellent one-song epic, The Goodwill of the Scar, are headlining a show that also features Silian Rail, just home from tour and celebrating the release of their new album, Parhelion, and Honeycomb.

The poster plays off of the artwork for Parhelion, which I also created. In silver ink, on white printmaking stock, is a literal depiction of a sun dog, stylistically similar to the ones found on the album artwork. Overlaid in red is the text for the show. It's a pretty straightforward design, but I think it turned out well. I also made a few copies on black stock, with the text printed in mixed, reflective, "sunburst" ink. The white versions will be available at the show, while the black versions went straight to Tartufi and Silian Rail.

If you're local, come on out to the show, because it will be great; if you're reading from afar, check out the bands, because they will continue to be great.

*Soon to be misleading.

Kowloon Walled City/Rosetta/City of Ships/Litany for the Whale at the Knockout.

2010-07-23T15:49:00.001-07:00

Once again, I was asked to do a poster for a KWC show, and I was more than happy to oblige. All around, it was a great show; I was excited for the chance to see Rosetta and Litany for the Whale for the first time, and the opportunity to see City of Ships again (a great band, and great guys). For a little while now, I've wanted to do a series depicting classic horror movie and sci-fi monsters, and I figured this was a good time to start. I wanted the poster to be show-appropriate, while not being over-the-top or too serious. I drew the classic Robot Monster, and threw in references to the Misfits Fiend and Evil Dead II. Of all of the posters I've ever done, I'm happiest with this one. There were some printing issues, mainly involving an old, slightly-blocked screen that should have been retired long ago, but whatever. I think it looks pretty good. Four colors on white printmaking paper. A lot of these went home with the bands/show attendees, but there are a few left. (Every band that played was great, and all deserve your attention and support, so check them out.)

Birds & Batteries at Cafe Du Nord.

2010-07-23T15:36:00.000-07:00

I had been meaning to do a poster for Birds & Batteries for a very long time. We have a long, wonderful history with those kids, especially Mike. I wasn't planning on doing a poster for this particular show, but I got some new screen emulsion, and I wanted to try it out. Due to numerous schedule conflicts, I hadn't seen them play in months, and I was quite excited for the opportunity. There's a marked disparity between the mood of the poster and the mood of this particular show (Mike said it looked like a Low Red Land poster with Birds & Batteries' name on it), which is too bad. The drawing turned out way darker, and sad, than I initially envisioned it; if there had been more planning involved in this poster, I would have made something that fit B&B better. As it is, I am happy that I was able to reference an old t-shirt of theirs with the background splatter, and I mixed various amounts of blue and white together to give each poster a unique swirl/drop pattern. Everything lined up nicely, and I think they all sold at the show. All in all, not too bad for something that took about three days between conception and execution. The show was great, too. Pick up a copy of their newest, the Up To No Good EP, and be on the lookout for the upcoming full-length, Panorama.

Ludicra/Kowloon Walled City/Fell Voices at Cafe Du Nord.

2010-07-23T15:25:00.000-07:00

Scott, of Kowloon Walled Cit y (who completely slay), asked me to do this poster for their show with fellow slayers Ludicra and Fell Voices. Ludicra was celebrating the release of their excellent new album, The Tenant, and I was happy to be asked to contribute to the show, even in such a small way (I couldn't even go, because I had to work). Based on a drawing I did of some crow bones and feathers, I made a three-color print on white printmaking paper. There was a slight registration issue with the lightest red color, which really bummed me out, but all in all, they turned out okay. Another good lesson was learned. I think all of these were sold at the show or went to the bands. Pretty cool.

Mike Watt/Lite/Low Red Land at the Bottom of the Hill.

2010-07-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to play a show with the Mike Watt, the legendary bassist behind the Minutemen, fIREHOSE, a million other bands, and now the Stooges. He was playing with his band, the Missing Men, and an instrumental band out of Tokyo called Lite, who absolutely killed it. It was a great show, and a good way to wind down the band. I made a few of these posters to commemorate the show, based on a quick drawing I did. It's a two-color design on white printmaking paper, a black outline over a silver "skeleton," and I think they turned out pretty well. Mr. Watt told me he was going to hang one in his practice space, which is pretty cool, even if he wasn't being serious. There are still a few of these left.

Low Red Land/Appomattox Fall Tour 2009.

2010-07-22T19:54:00.000-07:00

This one is pretty self-explanatory. The more stuff you can bring to sell on tour, ~~the more money you make~~ the more stuff you have to lug in and out of each club. Plus, it's nice to have something to commemorate spending a bunch of time with your friends. I made about equal amounts on silver and gold stock, and a little less than half of the prints featured both LRL and Appomattox, as we spent a fair amount of time on tour together that fall. The design features more mysterious, ominous tentacles, and let's not read too much into that, okay? I was pressed for time and wasn't really coming up with anything that I liked, so I did these at the last minute. They still turned out fine, and we moved a fair amount of them on the tour.

Ghost Mansion Records - Archives.

2010-07-21T17:46:00.000-07:00

As part of Ghost Mansion Records' standing policy to put a bunch of work into things that will quickly lose our interest, the Archive (Volume I, of course, because we had grand plans to do many more) was designed to feature tracks by all GMR-associated bands. Widely-available and rare tracks were included, and we handed these things out at about, oh, two shows before we stopped caring. You know how we do. We couldn't even communicate properly about the title of the compilation, which is why the package says "Archive" and the insert says "Ghost Mansion Vibe Check Archive Compilation." Still, it was pretty sweet, featuring tracks from Low Red Land, Dame Satan (now Sands), Two Sheds, Sky Pilots, and many more.

The package was printed first in silver, and then a second color was printed over after slightly shifting the screen, creating a cool, reflective, depth effect. Overall, I think they're pretty awesome. It's a good thing, too, because there are about a million of these things in our garage and my room.

Low Red Land - Patches.

2010-07-21T17:34:00.000-07:00

Our good friend, Jared Grabb (of Scouts Honor, Thinker Thought Records, and Jared Grabb), liked to tease us about the patches I printed. "Oh, you think you're all punk rock now?" Well, Jared, who's the one singing self-styled folk songs now, huh? Hmm? Just kidding, the new album is really good, especially those gang vocals. I bet the guys who sang those are total studs. Anyway, here are some patches that got printed over the years. (Several are missing, because I forgot to save some for myself.)

Far/Low Red Land/Hot Tub at Slim's.

2010-07-21T17:12:00.000-07:00

This was my first-ever show poster, printed in honor of us opening for the newly-reunited Far at Slim's in San Francisco. This was the poster that taught me, the hard way, about registration marks, using appropriately-sized screens, and proper squeegee pressure.

You can't tell from the photo (because it, too, is awful) but there's a bunch of silver in providing little hatch marks and detailing, and it reflects in the light. It's kind of cool. I still like the concept, and the layout, but there's a lot that I wish I could change. The ink pushed out around the edges because I was using a screen that was too small, and I was doing everything I could to keep the ink off the print while trying not to get it all over everything else. I was also a bit too ambitious with my color bleed, as well. This thing was, and is, a serious mess. Oh, well. Live and learn. They're all gone.

Low Red Land - 3 CDs.

2010-07-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

The whole reason I started printing was because I wanted to be able to make things for our band, Low Red Land. When I first started, it was mostly shirts (which I'll get to posting later, maybe), and when we decided to release a limited acoustic EP, it seemed as good of a time as any to branch into packaging. I carved a linoleum block and made of bunch of these:

We decided to limit them to 333 copies, and each one is a little different. There were a lot of color variations, achieved by mixing inks and printing multiple colors on top of one another. They all turned out pretty cool, but I didn't clearcoat any of them, so a lot of people ended up getting ink on their hands if they held the case too long. Whoops.

Before we went on tour in the fall of 2007, we decided to put a "demo EP" together so we'd have something new to give people. The songs were culled from the first Dog's Hymns session, and then eventually scrapped when we re-recorded the whole album (it's a long story). This was my first attempt at silkscreening multiple colors. As you can see, my registration kind of sucked.

There were 50 made with silver tentacles, and 100 made with green tentacles. All around, it isn't the most interesting thing in the world, but it's good for context, I suppose.

After recording Dog's Hymns again, we were about to head out on tour for a few months in the fall of 2008. The album wasn't due back from the pressing plant in time for the first leg of the tour, so I printed 100 copies with entirely different artwork.

The two-color front turned out really well, and though the three-color back had a slight registration issue, I was pretty happy with it.

All of these are long gone, but the music is available in several places, so if you're interested, get on it. (I would also like to say that Stumptown Printers makes awesome, printable packaging. Check them out. They're sick.)

Mr. Tartufi goes to London.

2009-07-16T18:01:00.000-07:00

Tartufi, who we love to death, signed to Southern Records not too long ago, recently released the fantastic "Nests of Wave and Wire," and are soon to be on their way to the UK for a string of dates with Marnie Stern, culminating in an appearance at the Supersonic Festival in Birmingham. To celebrate this awesome string of events, I printed just shy of 30 of these posters, and gave 20 to the band. Three colors of increasing smaller and more "busy" leaf and tree images are layered under the tour information. I tried a few with a final green layer, but the ink was too runny and it smeared on a couple of posters (plus it was a bit too dark against the text), so the bulk of the posters were printed white, silver, gold, and black on buttercup yellow. They measure 10 1/4" wide by 20 1/2" tall. The gold and silver inks are irridescent. The photos leave a bit to be desired, but I think you get the idea. I'm pretty happy with how these turned out. Get in touch with the band if you want a poster.

4th of July.

2009-07-16T17:32:00.000-07:00

For the last 4 years, we've been throwing shows at El Rio, and they've been getting bigger and bigger. This year, the show featured Birdmonster, Two Sheds, Low Red Land, Finn Riggins (ID), Birds & Batteries, D Numbers (NM), Writer, and Murray the Thief, and sister venture Sneaky's BBQ handled the food. To commemorate the show, I made two posters using the same image. Pictured is the red/white/black version of the poster, on gunmetal gray stock. Just as before, there is a photo of the poster and one of the posters in production. Soon, I'll post the images of the gold/silver/white version of the poster, printed on a charcoal gray stock. I printed 30 of each, and due to some poor merchandise placement, most are still available. The posters measure 10 1/4" wide by 20 1/2" tall, and are full-bleed prints. There were a few registration issues, which is endlessly frustrating, but I think I'm getting closer to a good method. If anyone's interested in obtaining one, please email redandblackink@gmail.com.

Low Red Land/Fake Problems/William Elliott Whitmore show poster.

2009-05-05T18:49:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Ghost Mansion Press blog. It's my hope that this site will come to feature a number of cool, limited, hand-screened prints and other pieces made here at the Mansion. The first entry is the poster I designed and screened for the Low Red Land show at Bottom of the Hill with Fake Problems and William Elliott Whitmore. There's a shot of the poster itself, and a shot of the prints during production. The print features a drawing of a canine flea, printed in black on oversized, white backing, with gold lettering, all on gunmetal gray stock. The posters measure 10 1/4" wide by 20 1/2" tall. 50 were printed, with most sold at the show and given to friends. There are a few left, so contact me if you're interested.