eclipse talking with catbones, about art, family and tatooing..

Session Start: Fri Jun 20 00:06:05 1997

* Logging CatBones to: [CatBones.log]

<eclipse> lets start with the basics..
<eclipse> whats yer real name and age..
<eclipse> ?
[0:06] <CatBones> My real name is Cat Spencer, I'm 32.
<eclipse> fitting =)

<eclipse> when did you get into the scene?
<eclipse> around when anyways..
[0:08] <CatBones> In 1993 i ran a PD bbs, i learned about the 'scene' through the ansi conference on a network i was carrying.
<eclipse> cool... anyone particular you were talking to?
<eclipse> anyone i'd know anyways?
[0:09] <CatBones> Well,t he guys on the PD net were all lame, i was posting some ansi stuff i was making and they turned me on to some acid and ice packs..
[0:09] <CatBones> nobody you know or i remember.
<eclipse> hehe.. cool...
<eclipse> this was in your local scene?
[0:10] <CatBones> yeah in Kansas City, in the 913 AC
<eclipse> ok..

<eclipse> did you start with ansi?
[0:11] <CatBones> yeah, but i sucked at ansi. ;) when i applied to ACiD at first i applied with ansi, but i included one vga pic in my app.. rad man declined my ansi app but asked me to send in a new app with all vga..
<eclipse> heheh.. i saw one of yer ansis.. the one of the cat.. =)
<eclipse> i guess it was re-released later or something
[0:12] <CatBones> yeah i think it was re-released as a joke or something, i was just showing how bad it was. ;) ive really never made anything worthwhile in ansi.
<eclipse> hehehe.. was ACiD the first group you were ever a part of?
[0:14] <CatBones> Yeah, I got the number to The Dark Society, a board running vision-X software, i think it was in 408.. i applied through that board and got into ACiD within that same month.. My first ACiD Project was a loader i worked on with WonderMonkey.
<eclipse> cool...... thats a pretty big accompishment.. lots of artists have only dreamed of acid =)

<eclipse> hehe.. anyways, who would you consider your favorite artist? .. besides yourself that is =)
[0:16] <CatBones> Do you mean within the scene?
<eclipse> umm.. sure
<eclipse> ehhe
<eclipse> if you have a favorite artist outside, tell me that too ...
[0:18] <CatBones> Well, within the scene.. (hold a minute)
<eclipse> hehe
<eclipse> ok
[0:25] <CatBones> ok back
[0:25] <CatBones> I had to do dad duties, tuck in the baby and the mom ;)
<eclipse> whep

*** wildcat is on IRC

<eclipse> ehhe
<eclipse> i was gonna get to the family thing later, but =) we can go there now .. hehe
<eclipse> how bout the favorite artist thingy first
[0:27] <CatBones> Right now in the scene I'm a big fan of Tomppa and WildCat and jNA.. lot of good guys getting better all the time.
<eclipse> yea.. WC is my fav too =)
<eclipse> + u
<eclipse> how about out of the scene
<eclipse> do you have someone out there too?
[0:28] <CatBones> When I first came into the scene there wasn't like a huge legacy of killer vga artists, really, iCE had Borian and Sober, ACiD had this guy I liked called Shockwave.. Visigoth (then he was Schizosynth) came in around the same time i did..
<eclipse> yea.. those were the old school days alright
[0:29] <CatBones> Outside the scene, i like Bernie Wrightson, Hajime Soryama, H. R. Giger, Alphonse Mucha, Maxfield Parrish, so many different artists out there..
<eclipse> yea
<eclipse> there are a lot
<eclipse> i know Giger's art pretty well

<eclipse> Since you brought up the fam, tell me a little about your outside world =)
[0:31] <CatBones> Yeah, when i was learning to airbrush (the conventional one, not in photoshop) I looked up to Giger's art a lot. He has a lot of really cool methods for arriving at what he creates..
<eclipse> yea.. i think so too..
[0:32] <CatBones> I'm just a plain old everyday guy, you know, married 12 years, got one little daughter named Elspeth, she's just now 2 months old.. I've been tattooing professionally for 7 years now, that's my 'career'
<eclipse> congrats on yer girl!

<eclipse> how about that tatoo biz.. whats it like?
<eclipse> yo.. cat.. you still alive? =)
[0:37] <CatBones> yeah hold
<eclipse> ok
[0:44] <CatBones> i have company @ my house for a few minutes, just hold if you can..
<eclipse> thats cool.....
<eclipse> im not going anywhere =)
[0:51] <CatBones> okay dude
[0:51] <CatBones> very unusual that my mother would be awake at this hour
[0:51] <CatBones> much less drop by to see me
<eclipse> heheh
<eclipse> wierd huh?
<eclipse> ehe
<eclipse> need me to repeat that last question?
[0:53] <CatBones> i'll tell you about the tattoo business.. it's a lot of work, but it pays good. ;) I hope i can get out of the biz in 10 years and still use my hands ;)
<eclipse> intense.. =)
<eclipse> I know i already asked you, but for the record, whats the wierdest thing you've ever had to tatoo?
[0:56] <CatBones> Some days i tattoo for 18 hours straight, imagine holding 1/2 pound of hot iron on top of your hand while you draw that long. ;)
<eclipse> damn
<eclipse> thats crazy
[0:57] <CatBones> Awe jeeZus i dunno, i've tattooed so many weird things. Once i put a pink panther pushing a mower through a woman's bush.. is that the kind of wierd yer looking for? i've had people ask for all kinds of nutty shit.
<eclipse> heeh... was she good looking?
[0:58] <CatBones> i fergot.
<eclipse> ehhe

<eclipse> where do you and your biz live now?
[1:01] <CatBones> I'm in Missouri, not too far from St. Louis, in a region called the Ozarks.
[1:01] <CatBones> Lotta hillbillies and stuff.
<eclipse> hehe
<eclipse> do you have a motorcycle?
[1:01] <CatBones> No.
<eclipse> heeh
<eclipse> you look like the kinda guy who would drive a Harley
[1:02] <CatBones> Common stereotype, i forgive you. ;)
<eclipse> thanks =)

<eclipse> so what are your hobbies aside from art?
[1:03] <CatBones> art and music, that's about it. i spend all my time drawing or painting or tattooing or composing music.
<eclipse> cool..
<eclipse> do you track? or use real instruments.. ehhe
[1:06] <CatBones> Midi.. I sequence midi music, and play a little on the keyboard, i have a roland ep-7 keyboard and a roland sound canvas in my computer..
[1:06] <CatBones> it's just a hobby though, i have no professional aspirations.
<eclipse> cool.. id like to hear some stuff some day..
[1:07] <CatBones> well, as soon as i get my first cD cut, i'll have an advert on my web page for it, you can get a copy. =)
<eclipse> cool.. advertise in amorphous too =)
[1:08] <CatBones> heh.. cool, i'll do it.
<eclipse> cool
<eclipse> just make an ad

<eclipse> back to that tatoo biz.. do you run yer own tatoo parler or do you work for a company or what?
[1:09] <CatBones> no, i'm like an independant contractor, i rent a spot in a local (somewhat local) tattoo shop where i work 3 or 4 days a week.
<eclipse> so people just walk in off the street and get some work done? or do you have to have an appointment?
[1:12] <CatBones> Since i am published pretty regularly in Tattoo mags I have clients who come in throughout the week to have work done who are form everywhere, but then on the weekends i usually do more of a 'barber shop style' work schedule where they come in and get ink on a first come first serve basis.. saturdays are hectic walk-in days..
<eclipse> makes me wanna come down there and get some work done

<eclipse> getting back to the art scene... Do you have any plans for another X-pak release?
[1:15] <CatBones> ugh.. yeah.. that's been a helluva tough project. you know how hard it is to get people to contribute to that? VERY hard.
<eclipse> yeah.....
<eclipse> Wildcat told me that he was honored that you invited him to draw in it..
<eclipse> he's always ready to draw
[1:16] <CatBones> Well, i got a pic from wC, but I still only have 4 out of 6 pics after over a year of soliciting my friends to help me out.
<eclipse> eheh

<eclipse> what are your asprirations for the art scene as of now..
<eclipse> do you plan to stay with ACiD?
<eclipse> i remember at one time you went to mOp or something?
[1:19] <CatBones> I've dual grouped with ACiD and M0p and a group called FlatLine, but I've been with ACiD for the better part of 3 years i guess, there was month where i got into it with rad man and left ACiD but came back like the next month..
<eclipse> i remember that
<eclipse> hehe

<eclipse> what do you think of RaDMaN
<eclipse> ?
<eclipse> he's gotten a lot of shit from a lot of people..
[1:21] <CatBones> What do you mean what do i think of him? He's my friend.
<eclipse> Thats cool..
<eclipse> ive heard good and ive heard bad
<eclipse> i dont know him personally, so i really dont have an opinion
[1:23] <CatBones> everyone has their good days and bad days, good attributes and bad ones, rad amn (chris) is a really good guy, if you get to know him. he's always on top of things in ACiD, he's pretty down to business a lot of the time, but i haven't really ever known hime to be unfair to deal with.
<eclipse> cool..
<eclipse> I will say that he's prett dedicated
<eclipse> pretty even
<eclipse> hehe

<eclipse> anyways.. i know a lot of new artists are moving into the scene and they are trying to imitate people like yourself.. do you have any tips or suggestions on learning how do draw? weather it be pencil or airbrush or whatever?
[1:26] <CatBones> Nah, not really, i just tell everybody just draw all the goddamned time, thats how you get good.
<eclipse> ehhee.. yea.. thats what WC told me too =)
<eclipse> ehhe
<eclipse> you still work at Fay's

<eclipse> ?
<eclipse> (ive been to Skeletal Remains)
[1:29] <CatBones> Yeah of coz.

<eclipse> i guess tahts all the questions i have..
<eclipse> ehhe
<eclipse> umm.. if you wanna do an add for your tatooing or yer CD or ACiD or X-PAK or whatever.. just do em up and send em my way
[1:31] <CatBones> Will do man, thanks.
<eclipse> also.. if you wanna do an amorphous pic =) do that too.. hehe
<eclipse> we could use some good grfx
<eclipse> thanks a lot.. it was fun.. I learned some interesting things =)
<eclipse> maybe some day i can go down and get you to do me a tattoo =)
[1:36] <CatBones> you do that
<eclipse> later on.. if i have some more Q's ill just email em.. yer prolly tired as hell after a day of tattooing
<eclipse> c-ya

Session Close: Fri Jun 20 02:00:46 1997